Hozier's new album, Unreal Unearth, was inspired by Dante's Inferno, but before he put that out, he was tasked with tackling another epic tale: the God of War video game series.
The "Take Me to Church" artist recorded a song called "Blood Upon the Snow" for the latest entry in the PlayStation franchise, 2022's God of War Ragnarök. For the track, he collaborated with prolific composer Bear McCreary, whose other scoring projects include Battlestar Galactica and The Walking Dead.
"Bear McCreary is an incredible composer, and working with him was an absolute joy," Hozier tells ABC Audio. "He's a wonder, such a creative mind."
Hozier adds that working on something like God of War Ragnarök was "different than anything I'd done before."
"You're kinda writing to the vision of a huge amount of people and the teams that have saw that franchise through its making and as it grew and evolved," he says. "I was very happy to be a part of that, it was very fun."
As for whether he's a big gamer himself, Hozier replies, "I'm not so much."
"I think there was once upon a time when I had less plates to spin, I was an adequate Mario Kart player," he says.
Unreal Unearth was released in August. Hozier will launch a 2024 U.S. tour in continued support of the album in April.