Silent Haven’s Interview with Mary Elizabeth McGlynn

Posted By: Whitney   July 20th, 2011 | 1:49 pm

Silent Haven sat down and interviewed Mary Elizabeth McGlynn!

I had the amazing opportunity to interview Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, the singing voice of Silent Hill. She is an American voice actress, ADR director, writer, and singer best known for her extensive English-language dubbing of various anime, and her singing in multiple games from the Silent Hill series, as well as the movie adaptation and Dance Dance Revolution EXTREME.

She answered question about her career as a musician as well as her career in voice acting. Mary is set to be the new ADR director in the upcoming Silent Hill: Re-Mastered Collection, as well as contributing vocals in Silent Hill: Downpour. However, Mary was not able to disclose information of her future works in Silent Hill.

Silent Haven: What is your influence when it comes to creating music? What artist(s) inspire you to sing?

Mary Elizabeth McGlynn: I have been singing my whole life thanks to my parents.. Everything from choir and chorale music to the Beatles has influenced me over the years. I loved Karen Carpenter as a kid. I’ve always had a deep tone to my voice and she was always an inspiration as a vocalist.

Silent Haven: I recently did an interview with Donna Burke who, like you, is a singer as well as an actress. When I asked her which she preferred and how it differed she said that singing is acting. What would you say? Which do you enjoy more and how does singing differ from acting for you?

Mary Elizabeth McGlynn: Well, I’m directing more than anything these days, though I still do voiceovers. The only singing I’ve been doing is with Akira. I think each discipline enhances the other, and I’m lucky enough to be able to do a bit of each these days. I’ve been singing my whole life so that definitely comes easiest. With Akira’s music, it’s all about acting though. The themes of the songs are pretty intense and I love diving into those characters.

Silent Haven: You first sang on the Silent Hill 3 soundtrack and have been a major factor since. It’s hard for me to pick my favorite track from you and Akira but if I had to pick I would definitely say Room of Angel from Silent Hill 4 although Waiting for You is very close behind. Which track that you sang for on Silent Hill would you call your favorite in terms of structure, style, and challenge?

Mary Elizabeth McGlynn: I love all of Akira’s songs, but the haunting quality of Room of Angel is one of my favorites.

Silent Haven: I have to know. Do you write any lyrics and/or play any instruments?

Mary Elizabeth McGlynn: I used to play a bit of guitar and piano. I also studied bassoon when I was a kid. Not so much now. I leave the lyrics to those who have a real talent for it. Me, I’m just the singer. 😉

Silent Haven: For you to have such an incredible voice I am surprised you have not recorded an album. Is this something you plan to do in the future? Maybe with Akira but that isn’t a part of a video game?

Mary Elizabeth McGlynn: No plans for an album. It just never happened in the past and my career took me in another direction. Although, I would love to collaborate with Akira on anything. Hopefully we can keep working together here and there, as we always have.

Silent Haven: Can you give a little information on what exactly you will be doing for Silent Hill: Re-Mastered Collection? Will you doing voiceovers? Mocap? Music? Or just directing?”

Mary Elizabeth McGlynn: Unfortunately, no. Nondisclosures prevent me from speaking about any future projects. You’ll just have to wait and see. Sorry!

Silent Haven: I just heard the Shadows of the Damned theme song and it blew me away, definitely something different than Silent Hill’s usual sound, but is probably your best performance. It is much more heavy and modern sounding. It was sad to hear Akira leaving and hearing you weren’t going to be a part of Downpour. However on the contrary Devin Shatsky came out and said you would be contributing a song for Downpour. My question is will this song be collaboration with Korn or just Daniel Licht or both? What is your opinion on Korn producing the theme song?

Mary Elizabeth McGlynn: As I said, due to nondisclosures I cannot share any information on future projects that have not yet been released. Thank you for understanding.

Silent Haven: And finally what is your reflection on how you’ve seen the Silent Hill franchise as it has evolved over the years?

Mary Elizabeth McGlynn: Working with Akria has been one of the best experiences of my life. We just did a concert in Paris for Japan Expo a few weeks ago and I was amazing. He brought music back into my life in a way I never thought possible. I am forever grateful to him. Silent Hill grew and evolved as Akira grew and evolved. I was just honored to be along for the ride.

Here is a video of the concert Mary was talking about

Source (Silent Haven)


Posted in General   Tags:

Pre Order Downpour on Amazon and Save $10

Posted By: Whitney   July 13th, 2011 | 12:25 pm

Right now Amazon has a deal where you can pre order Silent Hill Downpour on Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 for only $49! That’s $10 off the retail price! I’m not sure how long this deal will last but saving money is always a good thing 🙂

Silent Hill Downpour PS3

Silent Hill Downpour Xbox 360

Source (Amazon) Thanks Silent Haven for the tip!


Posted in Silent Hill: Downpour   Tags:

Silent Hill Experienced Podcast #14 – Silent Hill HD and Revelation Pictures

Posted By: Whitney   July 8th, 2011 | 11:04 am

We sit down and discuss the HD Collection, the drama surrounding that and Korn’s involvement in Downpour as well as the recent Revelation set pictures!

Check it out over on the Silent Hill Experienced Page!

Silent Hill Experienced Podcast #14


Posted in Silent Hill Experienced, Silent Hill HD Collection, Silent Hill Revelation   Tags:

Silent Hill Revelation: Valtiel, Nurses and Claudia…oh my!

Posted By: Whitney   June 27th, 2011 | 5:57 pm

A fan over on the Silent Hill Revelation Unofficial FB page has posted what looks to be set Revelation shots with movie producer, Don Carmody. I don’t know where these were originally taken from but as soon as I know i’ll give you guys an update. The pictures show the Revelation producer standing with Carrie Anne Moss in her Claudia costume, surrounded by nurses from what might have been a first movie flash back and sitting under a Valtiel statue!

I know some may be bummed Claudia isn’t wearing black but her costume actually looks similar to some early Claudia concept art!

Also I wonder who the heck Suki is….I hope it isn’t another Anna type of character.

Source (Silent Hill Revelation Facebook)


Posted in Silent Hill Revelation   Tags:

Masahiro Ito to Make Japanese Downpour Cover!

Posted By: Whitney   June 27th, 2011 | 10:20 am

This is great news! Masahiro Ito the monster designer for the three first games in the Silent Hill series is currently working on a game cover for the Japanese version of Downpour according to a tweet he made yesterday!

Ito was also going make the cover for the Japanese version of Homecoming but it his design never saw the light of day since Homecoming’s release was cancelled in Japan. I remember I was pretty bummed about that since I thought the cover looked really cool. Hopefully Downpour won’t suffer the same fate, I can’t wait to see what he comes up with!

Source (Masahiro Ito’s Twitter) Thanks Silent Evil for the tip!


Posted in Silent Hill: Downpour   Tags: ,

Gamestop Reveals More on the Silent Hill HD Collection

Posted By: Whitney   June 26th, 2011 | 6:22 pm

Gamestop has made a product page for the upcoming Silent Hill HD collection. According to Gamestop the collection will be called “Silent Hill Re-Mastered Collection,” will retail for $39.99 and has a September 20, 2011 release in the US. Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3 will both be remastered to HD at 720p with updated in-game voice overs directed by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn and have Full PlayStation Network Trophies support integration.

I know I’ll be getting myself a PS3 to check out the upgrades and with the September release it will definitely wet my appetite for Downpour which will release in late October.

Source (Gamestop) Thanks Silent Haven for the tip


Posted in News, Silent Hill HD Collection  

The REAL Silent Hill Experience Video Series

Posted By: Whitney   June 19th, 2011 | 5:20 pm

I’m sure most of you are already aware of the huge fan project, The REAL Silent Hill Experience, a roughly 3 and a half hour documentary/fan review of the Silent Hill series to date and a collaboration between Fungo, from site affiliate Silent Hill Media, and Rosseter and Derfuzwar from the general media site Twin Perfect and was years in the making.

The video series debuted back in October and gained both fans and critics within the Silent Hill fandom. Personally, I enjoyed watching their series… up to a point. I can’t say I was very happy how later games, especially Shattered Memories were presented and mocked nor did I agree with some of the facts presented in their Silent Hill and later supplementary videos. I was also disheartened by their impressions of past and present members of Konami staff, especially Akira Yamaoka and how they originally the placed the blame of the decline of the series and all current misinformation on the stories at the feet of Silent
Hill 2 and 3 guide author, Dan Birlew. This “Blaming Dan Birlew” section has since been removed so it’s not fair of me to harp on that point anymore, but if you are curious I did talk about it at length about it in the Hell Descent Podcast #8 which also contains my full email interview with Dan Birlew and a my summary of the deleted section.

You are probably wondering why I’m bringing this all up now considering these videos were out months ago…Well I’ve had several people tell me in email and on my youtube page that “I need to watch this,” that “Konami should hire these guys” and that they “know everything there is to know about Silent Hill” and I thought I should put it out there that: Yes I’ve watched the documentary in its entirety but unfortunately as a long time Silent Hill fan myself I wasn’t enamored with the series as much as other were and I disagreed much with what was presented. I think my disappointment first stemmed from being promised a documentary when in reality the video plays out more like a review of each individual title and eventually unapologetically just bashed the newer games. I was under the impression the series would be more neutral then that considering Fungo’s assurances in that past these games would be treated fairly.

I also wasn’t too keen on the presentation, even though the editing was phenomenal, due to a large portion of the series focusing on just two guys talking on a couch. There was just too little game footage for my taste and before the release I was picturing something more like Game Trailer Retrospectives that is made up of primarily of game footage with voice overs.

Lastly, I think my biggest issue with the series is with how they pushed their own theories as fact. Now there’s nothing wrong with discussing theories and God knows Silent Hill is filled with ambiguity but from the get go we were promised that everything presented would be backed by in game examples and I found this wasn’t always the case. Some examples include the Good+ ending in Silent Hill being canon, that Alessa made the boiler explode to set herself on fire, or that Eddie shot a football coach. Additionally, it didn’t sit well with me that they never provided provided sources for quotes presented from those involved in the movie and Konami staff and we never truley knew their context (especially that sexist Gans quote yeeeesssh). But this just how I feel and I don’t expect everyone to feel the same.

Even though I may disagree with their conclusions I’m glad it was made because it lit the fire of debate on the older games when we all thought the debate was long since gone lol. Speaking of debates, over the past couple weeks Xuchilbara from the Silent Hill Community forums has been doing her own review of each video in the series (she’s up to #7) on her tumblr account. She provides a different take on what’s Silent Hill “canon” also based on what’s presented in the games and so far I’ve found it a fascinating read. You all should check it out! 😀 and if you haven’t already watched The REAL Silent Hill Experience yet go an do so already!!

Source (The REAL Silent Hill Experience, Xuchilbara’s Reviews)


Posted in News, Site Related  

I’ve made a SHHS Facebook Page

Posted By: Whitney   June 18th, 2011 | 12:44 pm

I’ve finally made a a Silent Hill Historical Society Facebook Page! If you are a fan of the site please give it a like! Like this site I’ll post any news I find, updates to the site and photos from any Silent Hill related events I attend!

Silent Hill Historical Society on Facebook


Posted in Site Related  

Tomm Hulett on Korn in Downpour and HD Collection Being a PS3 Exclusive

Posted By: Whitney   June 17th, 2011 | 5:36 pm

Still catching up on all the Silent Hill news I missed reporting on last week while I was away in the UK (btw I’m finally back home today 🙂 ) I was able to get a couple of E3 related news posts up during my last few days in Scotland since we had internet access where we were staying but now think I’m almost done playing catch up! *phew*

Last week Downpour Senior Associate Producer, Tomm Hulett answered some recent hot button Silent Hill topics to Joystiq such as the reasoning behind the inclusion of Korn in Downpour and the HD Collection’s current PS3 exclustivity.

On Korn Tomm says:

Hulett was sure to point out that longtime Silent Hill contributor Mary Elizabeth McGlynn will also create music for the game. The reasoning behind Korn’s inclusion depended on “a lot of factors,” according to Hulett. “We had our licensing department put feelers out” for groups that would be interested in contributing to the game, he noted. Konami apparently had a few choices, and Korn “made the most sense” to the publisher. “If people don’t like it, they can hit start and skip it,” he said, adding that the song isn’t “thrown down your throat” and that Konami isn’t trying to turn Silent Hill fans into Korn fans.

I mentioned that fans seem to be upset about the song, with some even going so far as to sign a petition for its removal. “I’m a big Silent Hill fan. I can pretty much guess how [fans] are going to react to everything we do,” said Hulett, “I wasn’t wrong on this one, in how they’d react, but I think they should hopefully calm down a little bit.” To further assuage fears, he noted that the song isn’t “an integral part of the gameplay” and won’t be forced on players. “You know, Murphy won’t be listening to Korn, or Korn won’t be playing over a cutscene. It’s nothing like that.”

So there you go! Korn in Downpour isn’t going to be the end of the world, it’s easily skipable and won’t potentially to ruin hours of enjoyment in game. 😀 I know when I first heard the news it made me raise an eyebrow but I’m willing to see what they come up with before I make any final decisions on how I feel. This is mainly because I remember thinking “WTF” when Marylin Manson was chosen years ago to score the first RE movie and in the end I was pleasantly surprised and really dug the main title theme!

It’s also nice to also have a firm confirmation that Mary Elizabeth McGlynn will also create music for Downpour. I can’t wait to hear what she does!!!

Moving on to the upcoming Silent Hill Collection, Hulett offered a tiny bit of hope for an eventual multiplatform release for the currently PS3 exclusive compilation. “It’s always been a primarily Sony platform series, so right now we’re just aiming at a Sony exclusive, which isn’t to say in the future it won’t be available anywhere else, but right now it’s Sony exclusive.”

Yay! I hope they also bring it to Xbox 360, it’s a shame it’s a PS3 exclusive at the moment 🙁 but hey I had to buy a PS3 at some point lol!

Source (Joystiq)


Posted in E3 2011, Silent Hill HD Collection, Silent Hill: Downpour  

Konami Costume Contest at Comic Con 2011!

Posted By: Whitney   June 17th, 2011 | 4:48 pm

Yesterday the Official Silent Hill Facebook Fan Page posted that this year Konami will have a costume contest! LOL It figures the year I won’t be attending Comic Con there’s a cool Silent Hill related contest going on 😉

Konami is coming to Comic-Con 2011 in full force with our Konami Cos-Play Contest! Got a Pyramid Head, Snake or Frogger costume that needs to be seen to be believed? Start crafting your costume of ANY Konami character now and join us July 23rd at the San Diego Convention Center! Stay tuned for more details!

We are still waiting on contest details but I know if I was going I would have totally donned my Otherworld Bubblehead Nurse costume from Halloween last year! Anyone planning on entering?

Source (Silent Hill Facebook)


Posted in Comic Con 2011, Conventions   Tags: ,

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