The Library of Congress is preserving a little piece of Hell by inducting the soundtrack to the original Doom into the National Recording Registry. The album of demon-slaying tracks is joined by several other notable 2026 additions to the registry, like Weezer’s self-titled debut album (colloquially known as “The Blue Album”), Taylor Swift’s “1989,” Beyonce’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It) and the original “Mambo No. 5.”
“Doom” was created by Bobby Prince, a freelance composer who worked on lots of id Software games, and also scored Doom‘s ’90s rival Duke Nukem 3D. The soundtrack draws clear inspiration from metal bands, but also touches on techno and ambient music throughout its track list, making for an eclectic soundscape for tearing through enemies. That it all fits together is also impressive in its own right: All of the music for Doom was written before the game had completed levels to play through, according to Prince.
“Despite the limitations of the 1993-era sound card drivers, Prince composed the perfect riff-shredding accompaniment for the game’s demon-slaying journey to hell and back,” the Library of Congress writes. “Taking advantage of his knowledge of MIDI, Prince even worked to ensure that the sound effects he created could cut through the music by assigning them to different MIDI frequencies.”
With the Doom soundtrack and the other 2026 inductees included, the National Recording Registry now includes 700 titles, spanning multiple genres and formats. You can listen to a playlist of all the titles being added to the registry in 2026 by following a link to your streaming service of choice on the Digital Media Association’s website.
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