Friday, October 12, 2018

Music to Game to: Myrkur M

I listen to a lot of music (over 40 days worth in 2017 according to last.fm) and I find that few things help me keep the mood of a game foregrounded in my mind like a good soundtrack. Plus, I’ve discovered that when I’m playing music to a speaker via Bluetooth, I’m less likely to be on my phone, lest my players hear any stray sounds, letting me better model engagement during a game. To that end, I want to share some of my favorite music to game to; the albums that inspire and inflame my imagination and that I’ve found work well as background music for games as well. I’ll do a mini-review and cover the basics of what mood it helps me set.


Myrkur’s first full length album, delivers a funereal feel, with alternating wailing black metal and ethereal choral vocals. The use of Scandinavian folk instruments lends it a Norse feel and give it a bit of medieval feeling well suited to being played during a fantasy RPG setting. While the shift between the harsh screams and ghostly, beautiful melodic vocals can feel like a bit of whiplash, it will certainly help keep your players on their toes, so to speak.

  • Vocals?...Yes, in Danish
  • Music Genre(s)… Black Metal
  • Perfect for… Dark games with a Norse flavor, where intrepid heroes battle giants in dark valleys or struggle against revenants in misty forests.
  • If you only grab one track, make it... “Skaði”, which opens with thundering drums, foreboding piano and wailing vocals, before shifting midway through the song to a more operatic and epic feel and back again.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

The Saltmarsh Register - Vol 1.18 & Vol 1.19

The Saltmarsh Register is the in-game newspaper I invented for the Ghosts of Saltmarsh game I run online every other Saturday. It is reprint...