| Two Steps from Hell | |
| Type: | Private |
| Industry: | Production music |
| Foundation: | [1] |
| Fate: | De facto dissolution [2] [3] |
| Founders: | Thomas Bergersen Nick Phoenix |
| Location City: | Los Angeles, California |
| Location Country: | United States |
| Products: | Trailer music Commercial music E-books Merchandise |
Two Steps from Hell was a production music company based in Los Angeles, California.[4] [5] It was founded in 2006 by Thomas Bergersen and Nick Phoenix, a pair of composers born in Norway and England respectively.[1] They created the company to make trailer music demos to be circulated exclusively within the movie advertising industry for the purpose of licensing;[6] and were partnered with Extreme Music who handled licensing arrangements.[5] [7] The duo were among the most successful in their field,[8] [9] having supplied background tracks for thousands of film trailers and TV commercials.[5] [10] They composed separately but released their creations together.[1] Typically, their music was orchestral and choral based, but with modern complements and structured similar to pop songs.[1] [7] The stentorian nature of their works led the frequent use of a contemporary label, "epic music", to define their style.
They established themselves as a major player in the market of the late 2000s, providing tracks to trailers for major film franchises such as Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Trek and Twilight. As the public became exposed to their music, the pair gained a cult following online who pleaded for their compositions to be made available to purchase;[11] [7] [12] Two Steps from Hell soon released their first two public albums, Invincible (2010) and Archangel (2011), collections of their most popular demo music to date.[13] These were followed by the album SkyWorld (2012), this time consisting entirely of brand new music straight to commercial release.[14] With these albums all successful,[5] [11] the duo organized their first concert, at Walt Disney Concert Hall, in 2013.[6] [13]
A waning demand for traditional trailer music in the movie industry emerged by the mid-2010s; the pair has since focused increasingly on creating further public albums consisting of new and more varied compositions, with far less of an emphasis on composing demos for trailers,[15] while continuing to release more of their back catalog commercially as well.[16] Such music performed well in the United States; 13 of their releases reached the top ten of the Billboard Classical Crossover Albums charts, 3 of which peaked at number one: Battlecry (2015), Unleashed (2017),[17] and Myth (2022), the first also charting on the Billboard 200.[18] The 2020s began with the group consolidating their popularity by organizing their first tours in Europe.[15] [9] However, in 2024, it was announced that Bergersen and Phoenix were going their separate ways, ending Two Steps from Hell.[2] [3]
Two Steps from Hell was founded in early 2006 when Thomas Bergersen and Nick Phoenix joined forces to write original music for movie trailers. The two have composed music for over 1,000 major motion picture trailers.[19]
With the founding of the company in 2006, Bergersen was looking for a name that would draw attention with the old adage in mind, "All PR is good PR." The idea for the name came from "Two Steps From Heaven",[20] a Norwegian nightclub that, according to Bergersen, had a similar theme going on.[21]
Despite the company finding success with its music, the tracks were not officially released to the public until the May 2010 release of the commercial album Invincible. Invincible was approaching Gold record status. As of January 2017, Two Steps from Hell has published 10 public albums in addition to 20 demonstration albums, with almost 1,000 unique tracks in total.
Invincible was followed by Bergersen's first solo album, Illusions, then Archangel and Halloween, both primarily compilation albums of industry tracks. Next, SkyWorld was released as the first public album to feature mostly new tracks, followed by the primarily compilation albums Classics Volume One and Miracles.
In 2013 Nick Phoenix released his first solo album, Speed of Sound.
The album Sun, which was released on September 30, 2014, is the second solo album from Thomas Bergersen. Preview tracks were released from the album, titled "Cry" and "Sun", the former of which can be downloaded from Bergersen's official website.[22] An official music video for "Sun" was also released on YouTube,[23] preceding the announcement of a signed limited deluxe edition CD release set to include additional tracks and notes from Thomas, as well as a large-size poster featuring his artwork.[24]
Additionally, in July 2014 Two Steps from Hell released an e-book known as Colin Frake on Fire Mountain, which features a 75,000-word novel written by Nick Phoenix with illustrations by Otto Bjornik, as well as an original score also made available via a soundtrack release.[25] A sequel entitled Colin Frake: Asclepius was released in April 2017.[26]
2015 saw the release of Battlecry featuring all new songs. This album proved to be a huge success for the company, charting at position 183 on the US Billboard 200.[27] This was followed by the compilation album Classics Volume Two in 2015, and the all new albums Vanquish, Unleashed, and Dragon in 2016, 2017, and 2019 respectively.
In 2020 Bergersen released the first two chapters (out of seven) of his Humanity album. These featured mostly new tracks, with several reworked tracks from older releases.
Two Steps from Hell's main graphic artist is Steven Gilmore,[28] who has created album covers for almost every promotional and public release, including the logo of the company, with the only exception being the 2009 DVD release of their library, for which the album cover was created by Paul Zeaiter.[29] Additionally, Thomas Bergersen's Illusions solo album features design by Jesper Krijgsman,[30] while its sequel, Sun, features artwork created by Thomas himself.[31]
Their success has also been reflected in platforms such as YouTube, where they have millions of subscribers [32] and over a hundred million views on popular soundtracks such as "Victory".[33]
In April 2024 the duo of Thomas Bergersen and Nick Phoenix announced they would be pursuing solo careers and Two Steps From Hell would end.[34]
The company's music has been featured in:
Two Steps from Hell hosted a live concert on June 14, 2013, at the Disney Hall, in Los Angeles, California, performing some of their most popular songs, such as "Heart of Courage," "Protectors of the Earth," "To Glory," "Strength of a Thousand Men," "Black Blade," and "Breathe," as well as "Ocean Princess," '"Age of Gods," and "Remember Me" from Bergersen's album Illusions.[37]
The second live concert happened on April 20, 2018, and was organized by the Film Music Prague Festival. The concert was performed by Praga Sinfonietta, which was conducted by Petr Pololáník, Kühns mixed choir, Merethe Soltvedt and Kamila Nývltová as solo singers. Thomas Bergersen participated on several songs playing on violin or piano. Performed were these songs: "Strength of a Thousand Men", "Fill My Heart", "Protectors of Earth", "Everlasting", "Heart of Courage", "Fire Nation", "Ocean Princess", "Master of Shadows", "Flight of the Silverbird", "Blackout", "Winterspell", "Stormkeeper", "Evergreen", "Neverdark", "Victory", "Fall of the Fountain World", "To Glory", and as an encore "Remember Me".[38]
2020 was supposed to see the start of the Two Steps From Hell European tour, but this was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On June 15, 2022, Two Steps From Hell started their European tour in Brussels and visited other European cities. The concert was performed by Odesa Opera Orchestra assisted by ReChoir, a professional Polish choir. Thomas Bergersen and Nick Phoenix participated on several songs.[39]
The group's paramount publicly released music:[40]
| Title | Year | Summary | Peak US chart positions | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 200 | CLS | CLX | HEA | IND | |||||
| Invincible | 2010 | First collection of popular tracks from previously private demo albums. | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| Archangel | 2011 | Second collection of popular tracks from previously private demo albums. | — | 36 | — | 28 | — | ||
| Halloween | 2012 | Themed album. Collection of horror tracks from previously private demo albums. | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| SkyWorld | First album consisting entirely of new tracks straight to public release. | — | 10 | 9 | 19 | — | |||
| Classics Volume One | 2013 | Third collection of popular tracks from previously private demo albums. | — | 10 | 9 | 23 | — | ||
| Miracles | 2014 | Themed album. Collection of dreamy/ethereal tracks from previously private demo albums. | — | 3 | 2 | 9 | — | ||
| Battlecry | 2015 | Second album consisting entirely of new tracks straight to public release. | 183 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | ||
| Classics Volume Two | Fourth collection of popular tracks from previously private demo albums, plus 10 new tracks. | — | 7 | 6 | — | — | |||
| Vanquish | 2016 | Third album consisting entirely of new tracks straight to public release. | — | 9 | 8 | 5 | 34 | ||
| Unleashed | 2017 | Fourth album consisting entirely of new tracks straight to public release. | — | 1 | 1 | 18 | 41 | ||
| Dragon | 2019 | Fifth album consisting entirely of new tracks straight to public release. | — | 2 | 2 | 12 | 29 | ||
| Myth | 2022 | Sixth album consisting entirely of new tracks straight to public release. | — | 17 | 1 | — | — | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart, are unknown to have charted, or were not released in that territory. | |||||||||
Albums created by only one composer; "part of the Two Steps catalog",[41] [42] but released under the individual composer's name:
| Title | Year | Creator | Summary | Peak US chart positions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 200 | CLS | CLX | HEA | IND | |||||
| Illusions | 2011 | Bergersen | First solo studio album. | — | 13 | — | — | — | |
| Speed of Sound[43] | 2013 | Phoenix | First solo studio album. Epic sci-fi electronica and orchestral music. | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Sun | 2014 | Bergersen | Second solo studio album. Follow-up to Illusions. | 157 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 27 | |
| American Dream[44] [45] | 2018 | First symphonic suite. | — | 6[46] | 6[47] | — | — | ||
| Seven[48] [49] | 2019 | Second symphonic suite. | — | 1[50] | 1[51] | 15[52] | 39[53] | ||
| Humanity - Chapter I | 2020 | First in seven album series; third solo studio album. Start of follow-up to Sun. | — | — | 3 | — | — | ||
| Humanity - Chapter II | Second in seven album series; fourth solo studio album. | — | — | 4 | — | — | |||
| King of One[54] [55] | 2021 | Phoenix | Second solo studio album. Mix of classic and modern rock. | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Humanity - Chapter III | Bergersen | Third in seven album series; fifth solo studio album. | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| Humanity - Chapter IV | Fourth in seven album series; sixth solo studio album. | — | — | 4 | — | — | |||
| Wide World[56] | 2022 | Phoenix | Third solo studio album. Follow-up to King of One. Classic rock; big orchestra. | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Humanity - Chapter V[57] | 2023 | Bergersen | Fifth in seven album series; seventh solo studio album. | — | — | 3 | — | — | |
| Humanity - Chapter VI | TBA | Sixth in seven album series; eighth solo studio album. Future release. | Not yet released. | ||||||
| Humanity - Chapter VII | Seventh in seven album series; ninth solo studio album. Future release. | ||||||||
| Creatures of the Forest[58] | Details TBA. Future release. | ||||||||
| Underdog[59] | Phoenix | Details TBA. Future release | |||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart, are unknown to have charted, or were not released in that territory. | |||||||||
A series of previously private demo albums released for public purchase; modified to consist of just their residual tracks not yet available on other public studio albums:[60]
| Title | Year | Summary | Peak charts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CLS | CLX | ||||
| Battlecry Anthology | 2017 | All Battlecry alternative version tracks not previously commercially available. | 15 | 12 | |
| Nero Anthology[61] | Most of the remaining Nero back catalog yet to be made commercially available. | 15[62] | 12[63] | ||
| Heaven Anthology[64] | All of the remaining Two Steps From Heaven back catalog yet to be made commercially available. | 6 | 4[65] | ||
| Power of Darkness Anthology | Most of the remaining Power of Darkness back catalog yet to be made commercially available. | 10 | 9 | ||
| Illumina Anthology[66] | 2018 | All of the remaining Illumina back catalog yet to be made commercially available. | 23[67] | 15[68] | |
| Legend Anthology | 2019 | Most of the remaining Legend back catalog yet to be made commercially available. | 19 | — | |
| Dreams & Imaginations Anthology[69] | 2020 | Most of the remaining Dreams & Imaginations back catalog yet to be made commercially available. | — | — | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart, are unknown to have charted, or were not released in that territory. | |||||
Albums featuring the group as the composers of another media's soundtrack:
Albums consisting of tracks recorded live:
| Title | Year | Summary | Peak charts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CLS | CLX | ||||
| Live – An Epic Music Experience[73] [74] | 2022 | Live recordings of tracks performed during their 2022 European concert tour. | — | 5[75] | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart, are unknown to have charted, or were not released in that territory. | |||||
Albums compiled for release only in Japan:
| Title | Year | Summary | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legacy[76] [77] [78] | 2015 | Compilation of popular tracks from all public albums as of release date. | |
| Impossible[79] | 2018 | Compilation of popular tracks from all public albums released since Legacy. |
Miscellaneous albums only available on mobile devices:
| Title | Year | Summary | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Demon's Dance[80] | 2012 | Collection of tracks from previously private demo albums; only available via the group's (since discontinued) mobile app. | |
| Two Steps from Hell: Ringtones[81] | 2016 | Collection of popular tracks, edited/truncated for use as ringtones; only available via Google Play. Since discontinued. |
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The group's demo albums released exclusively to clients in the motion picture and advertising industry for the purpose of licensing. Much of the music originating from these demos has since been made available for public purchase on the commercial albums listed above.
| Title | Year | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Volume One[82] | 2006 | First ever album, featuring various genres. |
| Shadows and Nightmares[83] | Horror genre album, and a sound effects library. | |
| Dynasty[84] [85] | 2007 | Epic genre album. |
| All Drums Go to Hell[86] | Percussion album. | |
| Pathogen[87] [88] | Science-fantasy/metal album, composed by Phoenix. | |
| Nemesis[89] [90] | Epic genre album, composed by Bergersen. | |
| Dreams & Imaginations[91] | 2008 | New-age album. |
| Legend | Epic genre album, with some tracks composed by Troels Folmann. | |
| Ashes[92] [93] | Horror genre album. | |
| The Devil Wears Nada[94] | 2009 | Light-hearted and humorous album. |
| Power of Darkness | 2010 | Epic genre album. |
| All Drones Go to Hell[95] [96] [97] | New-age drones and soundscapes album; also known as Mystical Beginnings.[98] | |
| Illumina[99] [100] | New-age album. | |
| Balls to the Wall[101] [102] [103] | 2011 | Percussion album, with some tracks composed by Alex Pfeffer. |
| Nero[104] [105] [106] | Epic genre album, with some tracks composed by Alex Pfeffer. | |
| Two Steps from Heaven[107] [108] | 2012 | "Inspiring, emotional, and adventurous" album, composed by Bergersen. |
| Burn[109] | Dubstep remixed tracks, composed by Bergersen. | |
| Cyanide[110] | 2013 | Percussion album. |
| Crime Lab[111] | Electronic album. | |
| Open Conspiracy[112] [113] | 2014 | Electronic-hybrid album, with some tracks composed by Hitesh Ceon and Nick Kaelar. |
| Amaria[114] | New-age/drama album, composed by Bergersen. | |
| Too Big to Fail[115] | Sound effects library / Trailer toolkit. | |
| Empire[116] [117] | 2015 | Mostly consists of tracks from Classics Volume Two, composed by Phoenix. |
| Stronger Faster Braver[118] | "Extreme sports music"; motivational, energetic and driving compositions, composed by Phoenix. | |
| Hammerfist[119] [120] | 2017 | Percussion album, composed by Bergersen. |
| Trapstar[121] | 2018 | Experimental hip-hop album, composed by Phoenix. |
| Greatest Hits Remastered[122] | 2020 | Collection of remastered popular tracks from all public albums as of release date. |
| Catch Me[123] | Vocal music, composed by Bergersen. | |
| Landscapes[124] | Atmospheric drone album, composed by Bergersen | |
| Mind Tracer[125] | Synths and strings album, composed by Phoenix and Hitesh Ceon. | |
| Neon Nights[126] | Electronic and synthwave album, composed by Bergersen and Øivind Rosvold.[127] | |
| Daybreak[128] | Epic/dramatic album, composed by Bergersen. | |
| Insurgent[129] | 2021 | Electronic-hybrid album, composed by Phoenix and Hitesh Ceon. |
| Maze of Dreams[130] | 2023 | Epic/dramatic album composed by Phoenix. |
A handful of albums have been released under the Two Steps from Hell name which are creations entirely by third-party composers; consequently, they are not considered part of the group's primary catalog:
| Title | Year | Summary | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sinners[131] [132] | 2010 | Electronic rock album, composed by Aleksandar Dimitrijevic. | |
| Faction[133] | 2011 | Dark drones and soundscapes. Putative creator is Brad Rue. | |
| Solaris[134] [135] [136] | 2013 | Epic futuristic album, composed by Alex Pfeffer. | |
| Orion[137] [138] [139] | Epic hybrid album, composed by Michał Cielecki. | ||
| Quarantine[140] | 2014 | Sci-fi electronica album, composed by Brad Rue. | |
| Chaos Theory[141] | 2020 | Epic/dramatic hybrid album, composed by Alex Pfeffer. |
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Singles available for public purchase that are not on any public album or were initially released as pre-release tracks. All of the following pieces are written by Bergersen, except where noted:[142] [143]
| Title | Year | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| "A Place in Heaven" | 2011 | Pre-release singles from Illusions.[144] |
| "Ocean Princess" | ||
| "Starvation" | ||
| "Promise" | ||
| "<3" | Made to raise money for the Red Cross in response to the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan.[145] Later included as "Heart" on Two Steps from Heaven and Miracles. | |
| "The Hero in Your Heart" | 2013 | Made to raise money for the Red Cross in response to the Typhoon Haiyan disaster in the Philippines. Lyrics performed by Merethe Soltvedt.[146] Later included on Catch Me. |
| "Autumn Love" | 2014 | Emotional, piano-based track. |
| "That's A Wrap" | Adventurous orchestral track created in ten days, entirely from Bergersen's proprietary sample library.[147] | |
| "Into Darkness"[148] | Fusion of neo-orchestral and EDM styles. Lyrics performed by Bergersen.[149] | |
| "Final Frontier"[150] | From Sun. | |
| "Stay"[151] | Pre-release singles from Miracles. | |
| "Miracles" | ||
| "Children of the Sun" | 2015 | The original vocal version of "None Shall Live" from Battlecry;[152] lyrics performed by Merethe Soltvedt. |
| "Christmas Medley" | Orchestral medley of various Christmas songs. Also known as Two Steps From Xmas.[153] | |
| "Threnody for Europe" | 2016 | Intended as "a musical contemplation on the current unrest in Europe."[154] |
| "You Are Light" | 2018 | Ethereal vocal track; lyrics performed by Felicia Farerre. Later included on Catch Me. |
| "Imagine" | Ethereal vocal track; lyrics performed by Sonna. Later included on Catch Me. | |
| "In Orbit" | Epic rock vocal track; lyrics performed by Cinda M. Later included on Catch Me. | |
| "Brightest Smile" | Ethereal vocal track; lyrics performed by Natalie Major. Later included on Catch Me. | |
| "Catch Me" | 2019 | Epic pop vocal track; lyrics performed by Sonna. Later included on Catch Me. |
| "Next to You" | Ethereal vocal track; lyrics performed by Sonna. Later included on Catch Me. | |
| "Little Star" | Ethereal vocal track; lyrics performed by Audrey Karrasch. Later included on Humanity: Chapter III. | |
| "So Small" | 2020 | Pre-release single from Humanity; included on Chapter IV. |
| "The Stars Are Coming Home" | Pre-release single from Humanity; included on Chapter II. Lyrics performed by Audrey Callahan. | |
| "Love Suite" | 2021 | Pre-release singles from Humanity: Chapter III. |
| "Red" | ||
| "Wings for Ukraine" | 2022 | Made to raise money for UNICEF in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[155] Later included on the EP, Humanity: Songs for Ukraine. |
| "Shield of Love" |
Songs that are not on any public album or were initially made available for public listening via the group's official social media channels, but not available for public purchase at the time of publishing. All of the following pieces are written by Bergersen, except when noted:
| Title | Year | Summary | |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Bird A Short Lived Life" | 2002 | Demo tracks created using the EastWest/Quantum Leap Symphonic Orchestra. | |
| "Celebration" | |||
| "Underneath the Sea" | |||
| "Finding the Treasure" | 2003 | ||
| "Percussion" | |||
| "Welcome to Inkareth" | |||
| "Rise With the Angels" | Demo tracks created using the Vienna Symphonic Library. | ||
| "Evolutionary Progress" | 2004 | ||
| "Itineris Spiritus" | 2005 | Demo track created using the EastWest/Quantum Leap Symphonic Choirs. Dedicated to his friend Ryan Miglierina who passed away in a car accident. | |
| "Thomas J. Bergersen's first L96 mix" | 2007 | Demo track created using the Samplicity IR-Library 2: "L96". | |
| "Soaring Over Hollywood" | 2009 | Demo tracks created using the EastWest/Quantum Leap Hollywood Strings. | |
| "Just Another Happy Ending" | |||
| "Tower of Mischief" | 2011 | Intended as a preview track from Two Steps from Heaven,[156] instead included on Nero. | |
| "My Freedom" | Considered for release on Illusions,[157] instead included on Nero and Miracles. Lyrics performed by Merethe Soltvedt. | ||
| "Benedictus" | Intended as a preview track for Sun,[158] instead included on Two Steps from Heaven. | ||
| "Where Are You" | Pop-trance track with acoustic elements. Lyrics performed by Bergersen.[159] | ||
| "My Soul, Not Yours" | 2012 | Experimental dubstep track. Later included as "Not Your Soul" on Burn.[160] | |
| "Hymn to Life" | Published in celebration of Bergersen's birthday.[161] Later performed under the title "Hymnus Vitae Dedicatus".[162] | ||
| "To Die on Halloween" | Preview track from Halloween. Composed, and lyrics performed, by Phoenix.[163] | ||
| "Sun"[164] | 2013 | Preview tracks from Sun. | |
| "Cry"[165] | |||
| "Colin and Petunia" | 2014 | Preview track from Colin Frake on Fire Mountain.[166] Retitled as "Colin Frake" for its album release. | |
| "Freedom Ship"[167] | 2015 | Preview track from Battlecry. Composed by Phoenix. | |
| "Neverdark"[168] | Preview track from Classics Volume Two. Composed by Phoenix. | ||
| "Dear Mr. Alien" | 2018 | Inspired by a news report showing a video of children being shot, whilst censoring the man filming it who was cursing. Bergersen summarized, "this absurd hypocrisy baffles me to no end."[169] Later released on Humanity: Chapter IV. | |
| "One Million Voices" | 2019 | Published in celebration of one million Facebook fans and as a preview track from Humanity;[170] released on Chapter IV. |
Two Steps from Hell have expanded their catalog of creations beyond music by also releasing a series of e-books, each written by Phoenix. All are part of a planned pentalogy of sci-fi fantasy novels called Colin Frake. The series follows the adventures of the adolescent protagonist of the same name, set in the fictional world of "Reanne". Each book is accompanied by an orchestral soundtrack created by the group, and a collection of hand-drawn illustrations by artist Otto Björnik.[171] [172]
| Title | Year | Publisher | Pages | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colin Frake on Fire Mountain[173] | 2014 | BookBaby | 400 | Features 46 drawings. Soundtrack had a standalone release in 2014. |
| Colin Frake: Asclepius[174] | 2017 | 218 | Features 38 drawings. Soundtrack has no standalone release. Purchase also includes book one. | |
| Colin Frake: Sumava | 2022 | TBA | TBA | Confirmed third book. Future release. |
| Colin Frake 4 | TBA | Planned fourth book. Future release. | ||
| Colin Frake 5 | Planned fifth book. Future release. |
On 5 June 2012, Two Steps from Hell announced they would soon be launching an official mobile app for iOS and Android devices.[175] The app was subsequently released three weeks later. Downloading the app gave users access to "news, promotions... videos, photos and albums", but most notably, 19 tracks of previously private demo music available in a new limited-time digital album called Demon's Dance.[80] Gergely Vilaghy of Trailer Music News concluded that the app's creation was not revolutionary but that "it was unseen in the trailer music scene before".[176] It has since been discontinued.