The Warhammer: Darktide OST goes Experimental

[@darthplagueis13]

Jesper Kyd is an absolute genius. He did some of my favourite OSTs, including Darksiders 2, the Borderlands games, a bunch of Assassin's Creed games, Vermintide, Darktide.... The man's underrated imo.

[@bearserk4151]

Hitman Blood Money is his best music for me.

[@wiseSYW]

yeah, he has been making video game music since the early 1990's but only a few got a spotlight

[@jotafonso3310]

Also did Heroes and Generals' themes, absolute bangers as well

[@bastiangugu4083]

Yeah, he composes music since he was 14, I think. Started in the demoscene on the C64 and Amiga. I knew his music before he worked for games. 🙂

[@DarkDramon]

Batman and Robin on the Genesis was my first exposure to him and that is one of my favorite osts

[@MakooWallinen]

A "short" note on the Machine Spirit and how technology works in Warhammer 40K: Humanity hates AI and anything that resembles it, this means that anything like a computer is rarely ever entirely based on motherboards etc. Generally there is a human brain somewhere, inside something called a servitor, door servitors, claxxon servitors etc. All technology including servitors are believed to be at least partly controlled by the Machine Spirit and the spirit needs to be satiated by performing rituals. Examples of rituals conducted: The Oil ritual, while chanting certain passages in binary and spreading incense certain vials of oil will be poured over, and inside containers, sometimes oil will even be removed and replaced. Ritual of Lubrication, while chanting in binary various artificial and none artificial means of lubrication will be applied, sometimes in specific areas, while spreading incense over the area. Everytime a light switch is used, a door is opened, a landing bay is used etc, the Adeptus Mechanicus wants rituals to be performed. If not everytime, then following a strict schedule. Does anyone understand why these rituals work? Not really, and most of the time trying to find out why considered heresy. This means that sometimes oil is poured on things where we would not consider it necessary etc, but the faith is the point, and due to how the Warhammer universe works, sometimes faith is all that is needed. But they do consider removing all extraneous human parts in itself a ritual to bring them closer to the machine spirit, so they have basically turned themselves into cyborgs for religious reasons. This means that any chanting your hear in music where the adeptus mechanics is concerned can either by the machine priests chanting, or a representation of the Machine Spirit itself. "There is no truth in flesh, only betrayal. There is no strength in flesh, only weakness. There is no constancy is flesh, only decay. There is no certainty in flesh but death."

[@naoisme]

I had no idea this game had such in depth lore, thanks for this, I’m gonna look into the games.

[@susaac9755]

"short" note lmao

[@gunman292929]

@@naoisme 40k lore is rather....expansive, you can lose yourself down the rabbit hole quite easily. Just be cautious when eventually deciding to buy the models lol

[@naoisme]

@@gunman292929 thank you! Maybe I’ll at least check out lore videos, this all seems really cool and elaborate

[@odinlindeberg4624]

@@naoisme It's not just a video game, the setting of Warhammer 40,000 has existed since the 80s and slowly iterated on itself ever since. This also means that a lot of writers with differing impressions of the setting have written for it. So sometimes the mechanicus is keenly aware of what they do and the religiosity is a coverup to keep those outside the order from figuring out exactly how to manufacture and maintain their gear, and the rituals are basically just proper maintenance with chanting added. Other times, the priests of the mechanicus have lost proper understanding of machinery and maintenance, operating more on the basis of upholding religious doctrine than on engineering and basic logic.

[@dtw8446]

Only in 40K could you combine klaxon, shofar, random metal percussion sound, synth, vocoder, and a choir and everyone is like "ah yes, this makes sense"

[@ilthael]

It is better to die for the Emperor, than to live for yourself! 💀

[@MakooWallinen]

Serve the Emperor today, tomorrow you may be dead.

[@cherryrook8684]

Lives are the emperors currency, spend it wisely

[@kasrathekiller9619]

I'd rather live for the emperor than to die.

[@crafterofdoom]

Die for the Emperor, or die trying!

[@bitzthe8bit668]

This new volume is genuinely perfect for the map it plays on. A long-lost foundryplex located in the middle of nowhere, (for a hive city, that is) that has been frozen over by the coolant malfunctioning, causing the machinery to sputter and choke as it grinds against the ice. It raises questions, even before we step foot in the foundry we can find graffiti of the foundry's neighbors, cursed with rain constantly falling due to the precipitation of the manufactorum's coolant, they're calling it a sepulcrum? But there's no frozen bodies of the people who once worked there. We know why we're here, and the heretics might be after the same thing as us... But what if they're not? Pure kino.

[@sensitivebeats5518]

I agree with you 100%. The special and unique thing about Jesper is that he can not only create phenomenal and sonorous, impressive soundtracks like in many of his works, no, he is also special because he always remains very loyal to the team and the project he is working on (in my opinion). He doesn't worry to much about whether the player will like the piece of music he has written, but he does it from the perspective that it will support the game in the best possible way. For me he is the maestro and the definition of music. :)

[@Kodaemon]

Regarding The Machine Spirit - it almost sounds to me as if the Mechanicus soundtrack is from the perspective of a Magos - you know, the priests actually conducting the major operations as these grand musical movements. Machine Spirit almost sounds like it's the perspective of a regular Skitarii soldier in their standard mode of operation, hearing some basic instructions that still somehow sound divinely inspired.

[@DiabloDelMer1]

This is something I 100% agree on. The game already has some music for the factoriums and whatnot, but to me the way the music plays makes me think its all music from an imperial perspective. The contrast between this and that is fascinating.

[@armagonarmagon3980]

“Prayers to the Omnissiah” is easily my favorite track from Volume 3. Coming from my musicology studies, I adore how Jesper Kyd has taken elements of plainchant and parallel organum, two liturgical musical forms originating nearly a millennia ago, and brought them to a new audience in this twisted and weirdly beautiful form that are the prayers of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Simple melodies, but paradoxically there is so much more emotional depth in them. Truly, these tracks have been blessed by the light of the Emperor, beloved by all

[@magoswes3588]

I listened to that while putting more RAM into my computer and I swear I had a religious experience

[@lakloron]

Thank you for introducing me to the wonders of prepared piano music.

[@MagusLay]

Alot of Adeptus Mechanicus codex and lore amounts to "Pray, keep praying, sing a canticle, maybe push a button, ring the bell, if it isn't working yet, try lighting incense and starting from the beginning." This music actually does a great job of invoking that spirit, where only they really know what they're chanting and eventually the ancient machine starts for the umpteenth time over several millennia. God Emperor, I love the Mechanicus.

[@therandomlaniusedward2140]

One of the most remarkable thing about them is that they see research as "rediscovering and reclaiming" old wisdom. Pretty true considering the settings.

[@aapjeStom]

this was so different from anything we have heard from darktide before but it suited the new map it was made for so well. as a anything mechanicus fanboy myself i loved every minute of it. it shows the other side of the mechanicus coin, for where guillaume david went with intense techno organ war music fighting the highly advanced necrons. jesper kyd here went with the broken derelict machines that the priests are desperately trying to keep running with prayers whilst the vents and pipes are crawling with heretics, fitting darktide to the T. such good stuff, and both are just peak mechanicus.

[@Sonicbest222]

Darktides OST has catapulted itself to one of my favourite game OSTs ever. I listen to it daily. Ever since Vol. 2 came out I just fully fell in love with it.

[@Bzuhl]

That first song really resonate with the strange frozen grandiosity of the new map

[@XTeam49]

I've been waiting for this video to drop since the album got released. Thx for covering! This album for sure was different but it fits the update perfectly.

[@Scribbled2Death]

Jesper delivers again \o/ loving the heavy percussion and heavy mechanical sounds in these

[@ephemera5171]

Vol 3 has a special place for me. Alongside the Mechanicus ost, The Machine Spirit and Prayer to the Omnissiah gives a new purpose to anything i happen to be doing while listening to them. Call me impressionable, but i do feel like any task becomes just a tad bit holy with those in the background

[@Arthion]

I absolutely love this, it convey the general lack of humanity displayed by most members of the machine cult, along with the general ambience of Mechanicus industrial installations and tension. Jesper certainly manages to channel the vibe of the Mechanicus well in a very interesting way.

[@ygorschuma3059]

I love that you talked about bleakness after Derelict Research of all tracks, the song does bring a more serious and bleak vibe and it 100% fits the grimdark setting, Derelict Research plays when you're fighting Monstrosities (bosses) in the new map, and the map itself being on a very derelict and abandoned sort of manufactorum far away from Hive Tertium, unlike other maps where the Monstrosities are let loose at you deliberately to end your strike team, this one almost make it seem like the monsters are there, roaming the facilities for quite a loooong undisclosed time and your strike team so happen to have stumbled upon it.

[@colbyboucher6391]

The whole soundtack of Darktide is absolutely wild. It really punctuates how alien the Imperium already is, despite it's obsession with "xenos". I'd love for Id Software to hire Jesper Kyd if they ever make a new Quake in the style of the original.

[@wyk997]

The Omnissiah knows all, comprehends all.

[@sojh17]

My first time hearing this as well. I'm absolutely in the "love" camp. It is so amazing to see such a talented composer get into the guts of what the mechanicus REALLY could sound like in such an experimental way. Like I don't know if this is the right term, but the whole album feels like a quest to find that diegetic sound of the tech priests and machine spirit. And to show what they consider holy and beautiful.

[@Zach-cn4lb]

The beginning of Reactivation sounds straight out of Signalis’ combat music. Like exactly like it. Artelium Foundryplex sounds exactly like the underwater tracks from SOMA too

[@xGoodOldSmurfehx]

Finally :D I knew you would like the mechanicus stuff, also you are right the mechanicus music hybrid style is super duper experimental stuff even for video games and extremely rare When you said "It sounds like a prayer" i believe thats the idea as the music was made for "Secrets of the machine god" update which was supposed be the rebirth of DarkTide but has had limited success as certain features were delayed after community feedback (Itemization comes to mind) FatShark is slowly crawling their way back up after having to rework so much of the game systems, a shame it might be too little too late considering Space Marine 2 is anticipated to completely bury DarkTide underground, perhaps FatShark will learn a valuable lesson and make a DarkTide 2 the way DarkTide was obviously originally intended to be: BattleSister class, Space Marine class, etc.

[@Vesryn240]

Saying the Secrets of the machine god update was "Supposed to be the rebirth of Darktide" is absolute cap. No idea where you got the impression that one new map and a handful of new weapons was supposed to be a "rebirth". Space Marine 2 is a completely different style of game, it's not going to be competing directly with Darktide. Fatshark has said from the beginning that Space Marines were never on the table as a potential playable class. Adding SMs or even Sisters would be a laughably huge power imbalance, and the entire premise of the game is that you are a reject fighting against impossible odds. So it's abundantly clear you have absolutely no clue what you're talking about.

[@clem7814]

I have to say though that this track for me encapsulates the mechanicus with that mechanical pipe sound mixed with that animalistic aspect just like the mechanicus machine yet some parts human and that dissonance perfectly shows how yes they where/kinda still are human but are incredibly different and strange compared to others

[@cosmiclive4437]

You talking about unconventional instrumentation made me research to try to find the right words to describe what I enjoy in music again after having given up the last few times. Everytime I looked into forums and similar websites for discussing music people talk about harmony primarily, sometimes the melody but only in how it relates to the harmony and then rarely rhythm, but only if it does not fit into the standard time signatures. But the angle of instrumentation finally yielded the term I have been desperate for for years. As far as I understand right now *Timbre* is the more general term for how a note or just sound in general sounds when talking about music. Instrumentation is the traditional version of that but beyond "just" developing more precise techniques for making instruments, computers and recording equipment have massively expanded the timbral possibilities and so it had to be expanded to keep up. From what I am seeing timbre seems to be a very niche topic even within music circles but that probably has to do with the fact that it requires knowledge of mathematics, psychoacoustics and then music theory to really understand it and make it fit into the frameworks that the academic world around music has built so far and that is really not something many people have the time and energy to learn. What Electronic artists call sound design is then a much more approachable way of looking at timbre by using the tools that community has built over the last decades but is still quite complicated and not something often talked about in the more traditional music communities. One thing that really stood out to me was a discussion about how to make a song sound like a specific type of folk music which garnered a lot of discussion about what modes and chords or common rhythmic structures to emply, though those can of course be very useful, it wasn't really getting anywhere until someone butted in with "just use the same instruments that they use". The folk music is not particularly different in Rhythm Harmony or Melody to other genres, but they have a particular set of instruments they use in specific rhythmic and melodic roles and that was what gave it its own sound. Not the fact that it's in a particular key or hexadecimal-midichlorian mode or something like that. Just the tools they had available to make music with.

[@isaacgarzams]

This is an underrated comment. Yes, timbre is the big thing that music has nowhere near been close to exploring, add to that music theory and you basically got truly new stuff yet to be composed. We aren't even close to discovering everything on the analog side of timbre so you can only imagine.

[@DominicMaez]

Track one imo: you are the void ship Morningstar traversing over Atoma Track two: perfect for restarting the electrical in the new maps event. Track three: feeels like you just toook the tram to the frozen foundry after restarting the power

[@carsontodd2443]

"I FOUND A PIIIIIIIIIIIIIPE" *hurls it at the golden throne*

[@Tyberos253]

I was surprised Marco didn't pause the video after 2 seconds

[@whateva1863]

Reminds me of American McGee's Alice sound track by Chris Vrenna

[@Kodaemon]

One of the favourites.

[@MakooWallinen]

I loved that soundtrack, it had some real mellow parts, but also some real atmospheric pieces. Or rather: I love both American Mcgees Alice and Alice Madness returns.

[@Phloggah]

FINALLY! IT IS HERE

[@mirvYT]

Absolutely love this one since it goes hard on the horror and alien vibes like Vermintide's soundtrack did. Makes me wonder if the water cartel being genestealers -fan theory might have something to it.

[@CertifiedSunset]

I agree, it's a very context reliant track, very low key and experimental with a nice industrial ambient tone that you don't hear often.

[@MakooWallinen]

If you ever run out of ideas: You could always take something that is or maybe not not is a game, but still related to the music that you have listened to when it comes to certain media and test the impressions that you have been given. Since you have heard quite a few songs where the central premise is the machine spirit or the Adeptus Mechanicus, maybe challenging that perception versus the lore could one day be interesting, this could always be done using a story etc. It would be interesting hearing if you think that your perception was true or not. A suggestion could be something like the story: "Abomination" which is about servitors and how they are made by the Adeptus Mechanicus. If you do not plan to ever play the Mechanicus game. Warning: The fact that you have a heard time playing scary games might come into play when it comes to the short story.

[@isaacgarzams]

My favorite video in a while. Sadly these aren't likely to garner a lot of attention. btw on spotify i got an "Avant-Game" playlist with quite a few unavailable songs but there I'm compiling the greats of avant/experimental vgm.

[@AngeryCrow]

It feel more like thee were made specifically for Hadron, to be her theme and not just a play on being this game theme for Mechanicus. I think we would get more of this kind of song for future updates, and for specific characters ingame. Maybe a set of themes for Morrow or Brahm since we already got something of a Rannick and Zola focused update.

[@volodymyrromanenko7165]

Could you please react to the Rouge Trader soundtrack (it's also 40k, and it's really underrated because it's a strategy game )

[@kineographBOT]

would love to see what you think of Hans Zimmer's Dune 2 score.

[@ZaydinTTV]

If you want some content to react to, I'd highly recommend Mythic Power from Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous. It is basically the player characters personal boss music since whenever it plays you are about to do something badass. The Mythic Path themes would also be good material, especially Light of Heaven (Angels theme), Starward Gaze - Song of Elysium (the Azata), Cosmic Balance (The Aeon theme) and Master of My Own Fate (Legend).

[@EeniThesian66]

Lich is a good one too. I really need to actually play and finish it.

[@quachdaivy]

I second this such a good game OST

[@thedoombroom5331]

i have my game music all the way up when i play without a mic lol

[@DatboiZyion]

I know it may sound a bit odd, but I highly recommend you give the song Search Party a listen. Coming from a roblox game of all things, it's a really good song and is also HEAVILY inspired by War Without Reason. If you do end up giving it a listen and liking it, and want to listen to some more tracks from the game, I highly recommend Closed Casket Funeral, Persistence, Eyes in the Skies, Welcome to the Ridge, and Lets Waste Some Money, among the other good songs.

[@clem7814]

Let the sacred oils flow!

[@yautl1]

Semi-related, but if you like experimental music, and music integrating machinery, I cannot recommend the youtuber Gourski enough. He's got a decent amount of content where he makes music primarily or entirely out of recordings of sounds he finds just walking around the city, and it's great.

[@TheBlafman]

BLOOD FIR THE BLOOD GOD!!!

[@captainbones-is3tx]

This is captain bones approved

[@MrVlad12340]

Also reminds me a lot of Signalis OST in places.

[@jahtimakkara5989]

great vid! man I love your content, but warhammer reaction have speacial place in my heart, you should definitely check out Rogue trader and original chaos gate ost, those are relics alongside with darktide.

[@ShadowSausage]

This Vol have hard Signalis battle ost vibes, i like it (I just dont know another example of using machinery sound as music)

[@dtw8446]

Δ Ο Ξ Ε Τ Ε Ο Μ Ν Η Σ Ι Α Χ

[@Cornchips392]

Bladerunner with hammers

[@baronvonboomboom4349]

I hope your still play, would love to run into you

[@gustogaming463]

Guess you already checked it out, but Hitman: Contracts OST also hits hard. 100% Recommended.

[@HIWTYLSL]

Gives me Iron Hands vibes

[@rabidseastar]

You should do a thing on oldschool runescape music

[@theKonfusion]

this volume is a bit more for "in context". goes very well in the game, but maybe less people will play this at the gym unlike some bangers from vol 1. Reminds me of some tracks from the game "Phantom Dust".

[@kemvaarafterhours]

Ok! You are ready! Time for you to listen to Ruiner OST

[@SuperSaiyan_Anjanath]

Pls pls pls Ceadus theme 1 and 2 from Monster Hunter 3 next pls???😁😁😁

[@CptApplestrudl]

At times it reminds me a bit of BladeRunner 2049 Dark, drab, mechanistic, hightech ambient.

[@goodoldsmoke]

Marco, please react to Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous music. You'll love the score, especially the mythic paths themes

[@TysonJones-i5h]

It’s been a while since you did terraria calamity but you should do nameless deity

[@TheChaos791]

Great content here, sir. Can i suggest a game ost a bit different of what you hear ? It's a game i recognize i'm bad at it but i can't deny it have a great game design and more importantly top tier OST. It's called "Hunt Showdown" if you want to keep a hear at.😉

[@MrTeddy12397]

listen to Cruelty Squad soundtrack sometime

[@Voltackle86]

I know you must be swamped with request but when you have the chance, please listen to FINAL FANTASY 16 The Rising Tide "Cascade". Would love to hear your thoughts on it!

[@BigBoss-nc7tz]

Marco , freedom fighters music by Jesper Kyd.. its gorgeous.. react to it pleaaaaaase .

[@sirreginaldthe8th182]

no "disposal unit" sad :(

[@wallywinker2438]

That's a clickbait of a title if ever I've seen one. That aside, love me some Jesper Kyd

[@MarcoMeatball]

It’s actually not clickbait personally. I specifically say this exact thing in the video. And I strongly feel that most people will not enjoy it because of melodic and rhythmic reasons. But it’s a good thing because it challenges how they view and resonate with music due to how experimental it is. It’s terrific.

[@perfectdoll4112]

This new ost is near perfect to me. i love dissonant and offputting pseudo ambient music.

[@sugma2501]

Marco, Please listen to Party of your lifetime by On-lyne, New Warframe song !!!!

[@TheAnBruh]

Day 3 of recommending Blue Team (Halo 5) by Kazuma Jinnouchi. Sorry to be annoying but I’m tryna get this piece the recognition it deserves despite the poor performance of the game it’s from.

[@ffritzell92]

Yeah, I can agree with the statement that most people won't like this. In a sense it's not pleasing to the ear listening to it.

[@holysecret2]

Music can be pleasing to the mind in addition to (or contrary to) the ears. I actually really enjoyed the first track.

[@maltorramus2997]

Hail the Omnissiah! He is the God in the Machine, the Source of All Knowledge. Hail the god of the Machine!