Soundtrack to Slay: Owen Penglis

“My first memory of DOOM,” says Owen Penglis, “was my friend Ben, his dad used to bring home his computer from work over the holidays. And then one year DOOM showed up.”

“Punch it in DOS, punch all the cheats in, and play it all day. We were like little kids, we were hopeless at it. But with the cheats… it made everyone equal. It was perfect.”

Listen to Sydney musician and producer Owen Penglis take on one of the most charged MIDI tracks of all time – the infamous DOOM theme – with Trapped On The Moon.

Penglis is a musician and producer based in Sydney, a well-known face amongst the local punk, DIY, and garage crowds. His own band Straight Arrows have been at it for a decade – during that time he’s also had a hand in producing records for Royal Headache, Rosa Maria, and a ton of others.

But long before that, he was playing DOOM all night with his mate Ben, jamming to computer-sequenced guitar riffs he had no idea would be so influential.

“The thing about the DOOM song is it’s a very tough sounding song for a MIDI track,” Penglis said. “As a kid I thought it was such a tough song.”

For Soundtrack to Slay, a 7-inch record inspired by DOOM and the latest game in the franchise, DOOM Eternal, Penglis was asked to record a theme of his own. He called it Trapped On The Moon, referencing Doomguy’s predicament in the original 1993 title.

The track is meaty, gnarly, and everything you’d ever crave from a DOOM title. A fat bassline burns throughout the runtime like hellfire, while Penglis’ wailing vocals sing of demons, chaos, and destruction.

“It was pretty cool. I didn’t think I’d have the chance to mess around with one of the best hard rock MIDI sounds of all time.”

Soundtrack to Slay is a one-off 7-inch record created in celebration of DOOM. The latest game in the series, DOOM Eternal, is out now for PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.