Silent Hill 2 Soundtrack

I personally do not usually listen to instrumental music, but the soundtrack album for the video game Silent Hill 2 by Akira Yamaoka is definitely an exception. Meant as a background to the horror game from 2001, the album manages to be incredible by itself, mixing alternative rock, ethereal wave, and industrial music into a singular album. The video game itself is a psychological horror piece, with a very distinct design, best known for its fog-ridden streets and oxidized metal buildings, and the album manages to capture that essence sonically. It is truly impressive how immersive the soundtrack alone is to the game, since it manages to capture emotions like depressive sadness, fear, mystique, all in the chronology and story of the game. The genres are suited to the physical area the character is in during that time, and are fun to listen to even without that knowledge. Even without the visual, the hopeful, yet sadness-tinged beginning, Theme Of Laura, sounds like the beginning to a special adventure, with the type of soft rock additionally giving a sense of nostalgia for something unfamiliar. The next songs, like White Noiz, Forest, A World Of Madness, and Ordinary Vanity, feel like a dreamy landscape, as they tend to go more towards ethereal wave, sometimes using string instruments, almost similar to Cocteau Twins. However, they still manage to have undertones of uncertainty, sounding quite literally ‘foggy’. It sounds languid enough to want to relax, but too haunting to be able to. We also hear random thuds throughout sections of the songs, with these only increasing in presence as the album precedes, giving the feeling of a looming presence coming to find you. Promise (Reprise) signals that there will be a slight change in the sound, since although it still leans towards ethereal wave, it has a more distinguishable chorus made up of piano, as the prior songs, to add to the confusing sound, had less of a structured melody. Following this is Ashes and Ghost, a more industrial sounding song that feels like it would play in a boss battle. Sonically, it introduces the looming terror straight to your face for the first time. Once you are done with that, you have some of my favorite songs off of the whole album, Null Moon, Heaven’s Night, and Alone In The Town. These also have a more structured musical approach, but do so heavily with introducing a thumping beat behind more ambient music. The shift here feels like what the character is left with after finally facing the danger. They can relax more, but are under constant stress of what is to come. Unfortunately for them, the next song, The Darkness That Lurks In Our Minds, is again, more industrial, and even partially sounds like an elevator on its way down. With the name of the song in mind, it seems like we are going deeper into the terrors of the character’s mind, which, without spoiling, is perfect for the game. The next song, Angel Thanatos is another rock song, but is much heavier this time, as if danger was all around. After, the fluidity of The Day of Night is shattered by Block Mind, which goes back to feeling creepy and heavy. Once that finishes, we hear Magdalene, which is also a personal favorite, as the piano conveys such languid sadness. The following ‘foggy’ songs, Fermata In Mistic Air and Prisonic Fairytale, carry that sadness smoothly into Love Psalm, which is a soft rock song like Theme Of Laura. It feels contemplative of the journey, and even has sonic mirroring to the first song. Silent Heaven feels droning afterwards, like a combination of the ethereal wave and industrial sounds, before slipping into just ethereal wave with Noone Love You. Succeeding, The Reverse Will sounds randomly mystical, with even flute sounds flittering throughout, and the reversed audio that plays at times makes it seem like a puzzle for the character to escape these horrors. Laura Plays The Piano serves to later ground you with piano to where you are, but there is more of a sense of calm, like if the character is starting to understand what they must do. The following Terror In the Depths Of Fog is back to industrial, but with a melodic beat that you could even dance to. The songs are starting to be played more in major key at this point, and the feeling is more optimistic. Unfortunately True brings back a similar sound to Null Moon, which I mean, sounds amazing, but the strings and the cadence of the song definitely sound more melancholy, and the name of the song seems to suggest that the past hope was perhaps an illusion. Betrayal, after, is one of the heaviest of the industrial sounding songs yet. The lighter music in between sounds like choral hymns, and it sounds like almost a religiously-ornamented punishment, as if maybe the character deserved it. Blank Fairy has a repeating droning sound that dissipates into Theme Of Laura (Reprise). The melancholy violin and piano suggest that the end to this danger is near, but it is not a happy ending. With Overdose Delusion, we have another rock song, this one a bit on the heavier side, which signals again, that the end is near and that the character just has to push through. Pianissimo Epilogue is very smooth and calm, signaling the end of danger, and the album is finally closed out by the amazing Promise, which is an epic soft rock song that seems to reflect on the entire album. It isn’t hopeful by any means, but it shows that the character has learned their lesson and that the story is over. The entire album takes you through so many twists and turns, that you can enjoy a story on your own without needing to play the game. Many songs are catchy by themselves, but the whole album in chronological order is definitely worth its own experience. It can be listened on basically any place you can stream music, including Youtube.