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.[b] 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;[8][9][23] 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.[16][24] These were followed by the album SkyWorld (2012), this time consisting entirely of brand new music straight to commercial release.[25] With these albums all successful,[5][8] the duo organized their first concert, at Walt Disney Concert Hall, in 2013.[7][16]
A waning demand for traditional trailer music in the movie industry emerged by the mid-2010s;[6][26] the pair since focused increasingly on creating further public albums comprising new and more varied compositions, with far less of an emphasis on composing demos for trailers,[6] whilst continuing to release more of their back catalog commercially as well.[27][28] Such music performed increasingly well in the United States; 13 of their releases reached the top ten of the Billboard Classical Crossover Albums charts, three of which peaked at number one: Battlecry (2015), Unleashed (2017),[20] and Myth (2022), the first also charting on the Billboard 200.[29] The 2020s began with the group consolidating their popularity by organizing their first tours, in Europe.[6][11] However, in 2024, it was announced that Bergersen and Phoenix were going their separate ways, bringing an end to Two Steps from Hell.[2][3]
History
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.[30]
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",[31] a Norwegian nightclub that, according to Bergersen, had a similar theme going on.[32]
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.[citation needed] 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.[33] An official music video for "Sun" was also released on YouTube,[34] 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.[35]
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.[36] A sequel entitled Colin Frake: Asclepius was released in April 2017.[37]
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.[38] 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,[39] 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.[40] Additionally, Thomas Bergersen's Illusions solo album features design by Jesper Krijgsman,[41] while its sequel, Sun, features artwork created by Thomas himself.[42]
Their success has also been reflected in platforms such as YouTube, where they have millions of subscribers [43] and over a hundred million views on popular soundtracks such as "Victory".[44]
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.[45]
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.[48][unreliable source?]
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".[49]
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.[50]
"—" denotes releases that did not chart, are unknown to have charted, or were not released in that territory.
Anthology series
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:[28]
Collection of popular tracks, edited/truncated for use as ringtones; only available via Google Play. Since discontinued.
Demonstration albums
Main catalog
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.
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:
Epic/dramatic hybrid album, composed by Alex Pfeffer.
Singles
Commercial singles
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:[149][150]
Made to raise money for the Red Cross in response to the Typhoon Haiyan disaster in the Philippines. Lyrics performed by Merethe Soltvedt.[153] Later included on Catch Me.[130]
"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.[154]
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.[citation needed]
"Celebration"
"Underneath the Sea"
"Finding the Treasure"
2003
"Percussion"
"Welcome to Inkareth"
"Rise With the Angels"
Demo tracks created using the Vienna Symphonic Library.[citation needed]
"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.[citation needed]
"Thomas J. Bergersen's first L96 mix"
2007
Demo track created using the Samplicity IR-Library 2: "L96".[citation needed]
"Soaring Over Hollywood"
2009
Demo tracks created using the EastWest/Quantum Leap Hollywood Strings.[citation needed]
"Just Another Happy Ending"
"Tower of Mischief"
2011
Intended as a preview track from Two Steps from Heaven,[163] instead included on Nero.[113]
"My Freedom"
Considered for release on Illusions,[164] instead included on Nero[113] and Miracles. Lyrics performed by Merethe Soltvedt.
"Benedictus"
Intended as a preview track for Sun,[165] instead included on Two Steps from Heaven.[158]
"Where Are You"
Pop-trance track with acoustic elements. Lyrics performed by Bergersen.[166]
"My Soul, Not Yours"
2012
Experimental dubstep track. Later included as "Not Your Soul" on Burn.[167]
"Hymn to Life"
Published in celebration of Bergersen's birthday.[168] Later performed under the title "Hymnus Vitae Dedicatus".[169]
"To Die on Halloween"
Preview track from Halloween. Composed, and lyrics performed, by Phoenix.[170]
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."[176] 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;[177] released on Chapter IV.
Other media
E-books
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.[178][179]
On 5 June 2012, Two Steps from Hell announced they would soon be launching an official mobile app for iOS and Android devices.[182] 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.[87] 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".[13] It has since been discontinued.
^ abcdAlso features a negligible number of all-new tracks straight to public release.
^ abcAlso features a negligible number of tracks from previously private demo albums.
^This figure actually refers to the World Albums chart position, as it was not classified on the Classical Albums chart.
^ abApple Books and Goodreads state 618 pages and 84 drawings. However, the purchase includes both books one and two packaged together as one single e-book. It can therefore be deduced that book two consists of 218 pages, since book one consists of 400, and features 38 drawings, since book one consists of 46.
^ abc"Two Steps From Hell Live". Eventim UK. Archived from the original on 21 May 2022. Retrieved 21 May 2022. The world's number one epic music producers and composers, namely Thomas Bergersen and Nick Phoenix, are breaking every streaming and follower record with their California-based production company Two Steps from Hell. With over four billion views on YouTube, one billion plays on other streaming platforms and four platinum albums, Two Steps from Hell are already one of the most successful music entities ever.
^Lebrun, Clothilde (28 October 2012). "Two Steps From Hell: SkyWorld". Trailer Music News. Archived from the original on 21 February 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
^ abSterdan, Darryl (29 April 2022). "Nick Phoenix Shows You His Whole Wide World". Tinnitist. Archived from the original on 29 April 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2022. The 2014 release of his first published written work, Colin Frake on Fire Mountain, was accompanied by a Two Steps From Hell soundtrack... and Colin Frake Sumava is scheduled for 2022.
^"Nero". MundoBSO (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 11 May 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
^ abc"Nero". TrailerMusic.info. Archived from the original on 11 May 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
^Lebrun, Clothilde (8 September 2012). "Two Steps From… Heaven!". Trailer Music News. Archived from the original on 2 April 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
^Includes typo. Year written as "2004"; should be 2014."Open Conspiracy". MundoBSO (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 11 May 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
^Lebrun, Clothilde (30 August 2014). "Two Steps From Hell: Amaria". Trailer Music News. Archived from the original on 11 May 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
^"Too Big to Fail". MundoBSO (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 11 May 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
^Lebrun, Clothilde (17 September 2015). "Two Steps From Hell: Empire". Trailer Music News. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
^"Empire". MundoBSO (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 11 May 2022. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
^"Solaris". MundoBSO (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 11 May 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
^"Solaris". TrailerMusic.info. Archived from the original on 11 May 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
^Lebrun, Clothilde (27 August 2013). "Two Steps From Hell: Orion". Trailer Music News. Archived from the original on 11 May 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
^"Orion". MundoBSO (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 11 May 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
