Eirik Suhrke is a Norwegian freelance composer and video game designer known for his video game soundtracks and original chiptune music under the alias of Phlogiston. He has composed for Spelunky, Hotline Miami, and Vlambeer games including Ridiculous Fishing and Super Crate Box. He has also directed and designed games, being one of the main contributors to UFO 50, Mossmouth's 2024 retro-styled game collection.
He is a long-time collaborator of video game studio Nitrome as well as the independent developers Derek Yu and Ojiro Fumoto.
Early life Suhrke grew up in Oslo, Norway. He started playing the bass guitar at age five and started making VGM inspired music in 2000. He credits Nobuo Uematsu as an early influence.
Career Suhrke was educated as a sound engineer and taught himself music composition. He primarily works on video games in music and sound design. His compositions for games first began as a hobby in his early teens, for RPG Maker indie games and other projects he found on online forums. He started making and releasing chiptune music under the alias of Phlogistan. In 2006, he co-founded the netlabel PAUSE (stylized as II) together with chiptune musician and videogame composer Disasterpeace.
Suhrke composed the music and sound on the Xbox Live Arcade version of Spelunky which released in 2012. The mid-tempo jazz album was inspired by early 1990s video games and was composed over two years using a 1986 synthesizer, audio software from the early 1990s, and live instrumentation. He also worked on Vlambeer's Ridiculous Fishing and Super Crate Box, and composed a track for Hotline Miami.
In 2015 Suhrke was approached by Ojiro Fumoto to compose the soundtrack for Downwell. According to Suhrke, Fumoto initially requested the score to sound "bright and motivating" and to take inspiration from Mega Man 2. The soundtrack was later released on vinyl.
Suhrke is one of the collaborators on UFO 50, an anthology of retro-style games. He is the sole composer and sound designer of the collection. In addition, he also helped design the games Barbuta, Mooncat, The Big Bell Race, Warptank, Onion Delivery, Caramel Caramel, Divers, Pingolf, Rakshasa, Elfazar's Hat and the Campanella trilogy.
Critical reception Earnest Cavalli of Engadget described Suhrke's work as among "the finest indie gaming soundtracks in recent memory" in 2013.
Ludography Year Title Publisher Composer Sound Designer Game Designer Notes 2006Mr. BlockoPerfect Run2010Warlock BentspineLazroolSuper Crate BoxVlambeer2012SpelunkyMossmouthXbox Live Arcade version2015DownwellDevolver DigitalGunbrickNitromeMobile version2020Spelunky 2Mossmouth2024UFO 50Mossmouth
Discography Includes work released under the aliases of Phlogiston (†) and Pajjama (‡) as well as Suhrke's full name. Year Title Label Notes 2007Mode: 3 †8bitpeoplesEPCroqel †Pause2009Nectar †PauseGame music 1 †Pause2010Warlock Bentspine †PauseVideo game soundtrackSuper Crate Box †PauseVideo game soundtrack2011Geif †Pause2012Super Crate Box Special †PauseSpelunkyPauseVideo game soundtrackStarch ‡Self-released (digital) Orange Milk Records (tape)2013Jane Papaya ‡Self-released (digital)Ridiculous FishingPauseVideo game soundtrackGame music 2Self-released (digital)2014Game music 3Self-released (digital)Karakasa ‡Self-released (digital)Friends in cavesSelf-released (digital)2015GunbrickSelf-released (digital)Video game soundtrackDownwellSelf-released (digital) Black Screen Records (vinyl)Video game soundtrack2016skopulacSelf-release (digital)Video game soundtrack2017womb ‡Self-released (digital)2020Spelunky 2Self-releasedVideo game soundtrack2024UFO 50Self-released (digital)Video game soundtrackMiasma TowerSelf-released (digital)Video game soundtrack
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