Cinematic Music for TOR (not individual tracks)

[Southron]

As opposed to listing individual tracks, I am hoping to use this thread to list groups, composers, etc... that have a stores of cinematic music that might be used for gaming.

I'll start of with:

1) Audiomachine
2) Two Steps from Hell
3) X-Ray Dog
4) Conan the Barbarian Soundtrack by Basil Poledouris

[Yusei]

If your players do not play Guildwars 2, then the soundtrack countains a lot of music than can be reused in any medieval or fantasy game.

[The Duellist]

I strongly agree about Conan the Barbarian OST... a real masterpiece! In almost 20 years of RP it was never removed from my "RPG Essential Soundtrack Collection".
Anyway, in the last few year in my games I used a lot of videogames soundtracks, mainly because I found them far less "invasive" than those of a wide-known blockbuster movie.

Most of them have a wide range of musical moments: quiet paceful tones for your Fellowship Phases, breath-taking epic parts which fits that Wargs charge very well, and so on... I think you can find something suitable for almost any moment of play.
As generic sountrack I would especially recommend :
- The Witcher 2 - Assassin of Kings OST (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ve63nrG ... 6A07E02C28)
- Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion OST (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpqSdORmCX4)
- Skyrim OST (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OWdMHI ... 3AB56938F8)
- Assassin's Creed 2 OST (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uH1wfrOcvHg)

For combat moments, I surely recommend Apocalyptica, a finnish band mostly famous for playing Metallica with four cellos. In fact, after two albums mostly composed by covers of famous metal bands, they begin to write their own music: I must admit that heavy metal palyed by four cellos gave a real boost to my battle encounters and my player found them really fitting!
IMHO, the best album for this purpose are:
- Cult (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vpuW5W ... d8FkXQDKkn)
- Reflections (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePcckx4 ... KVg-rUuScS)

Finally, for the horror moments, I would recommend a selection of tracks taken from various sources.

My first choice would surely be the Diablo trilogy:
- Diablo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcTAVQYMZv0)
- Diablo II (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VP9NZPAX_dA)
- Diablo III (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjKadwIiusA)

Shortly following, Dead Space OST. The game is really terrifying, above all for its outstanding soundtrack. Even if it's a space-themed setting, I found them suiting very well for haunted castles / ruins exploration and I imagine that some tracks could be amazing if played while your Fellowship is exploring Mirkwood.:
- Dead Space (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpuBhfg ... 0ED41025A7)
- Dead Space 2 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I4roQE ... 46B75B860C)
- Dead Space 3 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIQe4MU ... czlIUuq1Az)

My last advice are Sephiroth, a one-man-band which plays a really good dark-ambient music. He released two album under this monicker (Cathedron and Draconian Poetry), and three other under his own name, Ulf Söderberg (Vindarnas Hus, Tidvatten and Nattljus).They're all very good even if quite similar. My highlights are:
- Cathedron (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjZUYAC ... 39QmpEUGTz)
- Vindarnas Hus (unfortunately this album isn't available on YouTube, so i link a selection of tracks from all three albums - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPGFoWE ... 11E2BB7369)

For the moment, I hope that's enough!

[Valarian]

Erm ... Howard Shore's soundtracks? How have those not been mentioned yet?
Chance Thomas - Riders of Rohan (LOTRO Soundtrack)

[Michebugio]

Check out these guys, they're amazing:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wardruna

[Heilemann]

Yeah, I'm with Valerian there. I'm all Shore, all the time.

[Otaku-sempai]

If anyone has ready access to older anime OST albums, I can add some suggestions:

- Record of Lodoss War OAV soundtracks
- Escaflowne (both TV series and movie)
- Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
- Princess Mononoke

[trystero]

How about the score from the BBC radio (1981) dramatization of The Lord of the Rings? I'm not sure I'd use it as gaming music, myself, and yet I think it's a really excellent match for the book.

[Sprigg]

General:
Howard Shore'd LotR scores
Final fantasy XII OST
Dark souls

Mirkwood/ darker places:
The Haxan Cloak- extremely dark ambient with strong horror vibes.

Towns:
Final fantasy crystal chronicles OST
Stars of the lid (beautiful ambient)

Battle:
Warcraft III
Dark souls OST

[Southron]

I guess I am in the minority here ( pun fully intended) in that not only did I dislike the films aside from "Amon Hen" I disliked the score also.