With the second season of Castlevania: Nocturne recently released on Netflix, we had the opportunity to speak once again with composer Trey Toy about their work on the show.
I previously got to speak with Trey Toy about their work on season 1 of Castlevania: Nocturne and was delighted to get the chance to speak with them once again. Trey Toy is a Los Angeles-based composer, producer, guitarist and electronic musician. He is known primarily for his work in film, television and video games and has contributed music to a wide range of projects, from Emmy Award-winning shows such as Ozark (Netflix) and Vikings (History Channel) to Blizzard Entertainment’s hit game, Diablo IV.
Castlevania: Nocturne is set several hundred years after the original Castlevania series during the French Revolution and follows Richter Belmont as he and his allies work to stop a vampire messiah from rising.
Enjoy our conversation about Castlevania: Nocturne Season 2!
How much of season 2’s music is built off of what we heard in season 1 of Castlevania: Nocturne?
The score for Nocturne is heavily thematic, so the sonic landscapes and melodic
material that we developed in season one were integral to the music for season two. At
its core, Nocturne is a character-driven show, and I view every cue that I write as an
opportunity for myself to get to know Richter, Maria, Annette, Alucard, etc. a little bit
better and to elucidate for the audiences the little nuances that drive their story arcs.
Furthermore, I am a firm believer that a score should have a distinct sonic identity. I
want audiences to be able to close their eyes and let the music tell them that they are
watching Castlevania. To achieve this requires the composer to make careful choices
from a limited palette. In an age where we make music on computers, every sound
imaginable at our fingertips, we can all be guilty of painting with too many colors and
ending up with an indistinct mess.
I am very proud of the sound world that we created in season one, and I credit Netflix and the production team for giving us the freedom to experiment and really think outside the box. When you have the right sounds, you need only stick to them. Thus, approaching the score for season two required a great deal of discipline, to stay true to what we did in season two while at the same time escalating the story and taking the next step in our journey.
What were the most important new themes created for this new season?
Technically I wrote this theme for the very last scene of season one, but Alucard’s
theme is central to the drama in season two. His arrival at the end of the first season
was such a huge moment for me; he’s my favorite character from the Castlevania
games, and I found his arc in the original Castlevania series to be one of the most
profound and impactful.
I worked with Trevor Morris as an additional composer and co-producer on the score for the original series, so getting a chance to develop Alucard’s musical identity in Nocturne meant a lot to me. In the original series, his theme had a darkness and an anger to it, and while we used some of the same sounds in Nocturne, we wanted this version of Alucard’s theme to reflect the centuries that have passed between the shows. There is a heroic melancholy to this world-weary Alucard, and I wanted his theme to speak to this duality.
Additionally, when Maria Renard’s mother Tera was turned into a vampire at the end of
the first season, I knew that we needed new thematic material for her. Tera’s arc this
season is one of my favorites; on the one hand, she is now a bloodthirsty vampire, and
on the other, she still cares deeply for her daughter. Crafting her musical material thus
required a delicate balance of the horrific and the graceful, the supernatural and the
human.
The result may be the most experimental theme in the show, featuring atonal
multiphonics, dissonant electronic drones and bowed instruments from around the world
processed to hell with my outboard gear. There are still hints of Tera’s theme from
season one present (which itself is closely related to Maria’s theme), demonstrating that
amidst the newfound chasm between her and her daughter, there are still pangs of
longing and love.
How do the themes developed in season 1 expand and grow in season 2?
There are two important features to the second season that required attention, and
they greatly impacted how I developed the thematic writing. First, each character has a
distinct journey this season, which required us to tailor the respective melodies in a
more personal and intimate manner.
Thus, this season features manifold variations of the themes that we came to know in the first season, and as the characters’ stories become more intertwined in the back half of the season, we attempted to craft the music such that their themes flow seamlessly back and forth, almost like a dance. Secondly, as much as season one was replete with action, season two really brings the heat!
On some level I knew when writing the score for the first season that the second
season would up the ante, so I “left a little bit in the tank” so to speak, strategically
holding back but at the same time embedding each theme with the potential for a more
epic rendition in season two. For example, when we first meet Richter, all we hear is a
fragment of his theme, sang by Ari Mason with a gorgeous fragility. Throughout the first
season his theme becomes bolder and more heroic, and by the final showdown at the
end of season two, his melody soars to new heights in a high-octane and deeply
emotional moment of apotheosis.
I noticed there are several flashbacks in this season, does the music change very much when the story shifts back to the more distant past?
Yes, I loved the flashback sequences, especially the trips to Egyptian temples! I
relish any opportunity to enrich the storyline by taking the world of Castlevania beyond
its typical European boundaries. In the same way that flashbacks to Saint-Domingue
allowed us to explore new sonic material in season one, so too did the Egyptian scenes
give me the opportunity to employ Middle Eastern and North African instruments and
scales, sounds that would have otherwise been anachronistic to the world of
Castlevania.
What song is Edouard singing in episode 7 when the vampires attack Paris? It sounds beautiful!
I am so glad you asked about that. Though we typically hear Edouard sing opera,
this season we had the opportunity to explore his Haitian roots. The song to which
you’re referring is called “Grenadye alasso,” a Haitian revolutionary tune that was
arranged by an outstanding musician named Dr. Jean Montès.
We then worked with Sydney Harcourt (the actor who plays Edouard) and the other musicians to bring the piece to life and ensure the cultural authenticity of the performance. This piece also features our brilliant conch shell player, Don Chilton. The conch shell was the symbol of the Haitian revolution, so its presence in this piece was such a special opportunity to imbue the moment with the revolutionary spirit it deserved.
Speaking of singing, does opera continue to play a role in the music this season as it did in season 1? If it’s not too much of a spoiler, what specific examples were cited?
Yes, there is no dearth of opera in season two! I find the use of Edouard’s operatic
pieces such a brilliant device to heighten the drama, and each work is so deftly
interwoven into the narrative. Kudos to our amazing writers and of course to Sydney’s
flawless performances. This season we hear “What Power Art Thou” (also known as
“The Cold Song”) by Henry Purcell, “Si dolce e’l tormento” by Claudio Monteverdi and
“Vedro con mio diletto” by Antonio Vivaldi.
Compared to season 1, what new instruments, if any, were employed in the score for the new season?
My favorite new instrument that we used this season was didgeridoo. Funnily
enough, it was only after finishing the score for the first season that I learned that not
only can Don Chilton play the conch shells, but he is also a consummate didgeridoo
player. As soon as I found out I knew I had to find a way to use it in season two. A far
cry from his haunting and ethereal conch shell melodies, Don plays the didge with such
power and aggression that you might confuse it for a horn from the depths of hell itself.
Building upon Don’s raw playing style, I used loads of outboard gear and electronic effects processing to turn the didge into a source of doom and dread in the more brutal
action sequences this season.
When continuing with a second season, or any continuation of a story, is there ever a fear of accidentally repeating oneself with musical themes? How is that avoided?
Normally I would say yes, but because Nocturne is such a character-driven show, I
think that rooting the score in the musical foundation of thematic writing means not
being afraid to repeat ourselves. This certainly puts a lot of pressure on us as the
composers to write themes that are going to be both true to the characters and
engaging enough so as not to become boring.
Variations in both performance style and sonic palette become crucial to breathe new life into themes and keep them from sounding stale. Furthermore, on some level we must have knowledge of where the story was headed so we can deploy themes carefully and opportunistically, and I credit the brilliant screenwriters who laid out such a clear narrative and gave us all the right breadcrumbs to follow.
Did you have a favorite piece of music for season 2 of Castlevania Nocturne?
The final battle in the season finale is visually stunning, with some of the most
prodigious animation I’ve ever seen. As I mentioned above, I viewed this showdown as
a kind of apotheosis of Richter’s theme, the adrenaline-fueled, emotional climax of the
show. Moreover, this scene gave us the chance to marry his theme with the Belmont
family theme, which we wrote all the way back in 2018 for season two of the original
Castlevania series.
This was a poignant moment that bridged the gap between the original series and Nocturne and helped us to feel the weight of the Belmont clan throughout the centuries. This is just one of the many examples that illustrate why Castlevania is such an abundant source of inspiration and creativity.
I hope you enjoyed this interview with Trey Toy. Season 2 of Castlevania: Nocturne is currently streaming on Netflix.
