Dungeon Music: The Good, the Bad, and The Surprisingly Appropriate

[Eloah]

So with the release of Patch 4.4, and the beautiful dungeon that is The Burn, it got me thinking; what pieces of dungeon music do other people enjoy and for what reason. The music of a dungeon should capture a certain feeling; depending on its atmosphere, setting, or place in the story. Which ones do you believe do it best? Try to include the name of the track if you can.

But first a slight breakdown of certain dungeons. Certain dungeons fall into certain "categories" I'm gonna call it. These are the Dungeons placed within the story as a whole, and what emotions they are trying to convey. I can't say the categories will be exactly what others would call them, but they'll at least give the general idea. Dungeons are basically broken up by expansions, and further divided by Initial Story and Expanded Story. (Dusk Vigil is the only exception as, although it is story related, it is an "optional" dungeon. optional in quotes since it is needed to get an aether current; is it still needed?)

Introduction Dungeon - This is the first(lowest level) in the Expansion and sets the stage for what is to come. These include: Sastasha, Dusk Vigil, The Sirensong Sea

Climax Dungeon - This is the dungeon that represents the turning point in the initial story. For better of worse something in the story changes drastically in relation to these dungeons. These include: Stone Vigil, The Vault, Doma Castle

Penultimate Dungeon - This is the second to last dungeon in the initial story line. These include: Castrum Meridianum, The Great Gubal Library, Castrum Abania

Denouement Dungeon - This is the last dungeon of the initial expansion's story line. These include: The Praetorium, The Aetherochemical Research Facility, Ala Mhigo

Transition Dungeon - This is the dungeon that marks the "prequel" to the next expansion. It slowly glimpses you what is to come in the next story. These include: Snowcloak, Xelphatol, The Burn

Epilogue Dungeon - This is the last dungeon in an expansion and bookends the entire expansion with the introductory dungeon. It might, in some way, reflect the intro dungeon in some form, example(s) below.
These include: The Keeper of the Lake, Baelsar's Wall

The final boss of both Dusk Vigil and Baelsar's Wall is a/the Griffon. One could say that both Sastasha and Keeper of the Lake are both "water themed" in a way, as well.

Okay so here are some that I personally enjoy:

I'll start with The Burn: A Land Long Dead - What can I say about this, it was just beautiful. The melancholy, the mystery, the adventure. This track captures all you want from it and so much more. The music is even divided into three distinct pieces, that seem to correspond to each section of the dungeon. First is a piano piece, very somber and filled with a sense of isolation, being closed off by the hills and mountain ranges. The second piece then incorporates a synthesizer, a modern instrument, which works well with the sudden modern setting you find yourself in. And the last part changes to an adventurous tone filled with strings and horns, with a slight sadness, as you suddenly find yourself in this great expanse before you. This Music is just Beautiful.

The Lost City of Amdapor: The Scars of Battle - This is another piece that just conveys such sadness and mystery. It also uses a piano in a remarkable way. The piece starts off almost happy, with chimes and a more uplifting string piece; it's as if you could see flowers dancing, but they are really spores. But then it transitions into the piano piece with a jarring "screech", (I'm gonna call them screeches) almost like waking up from a hallucination. You get the sense that what happened to the city was very unnatural. The screeches juxtapose really well with the somberness the piano creates, almost like you are in a constant haze and need to be awoken over and over. It makes you feel sorry for the city, almost like it was a living being.

The Lost City of Amdapor (Hard): The Ancient City - This is another arrangement of the normal theme, but changes things up to become its own piece. It's still a sad theme, but you almost get the sense that the city is healing. A melancholic piano piece plays at the beginning; since you are already aware of the city's current state; but it almost sounds like rain, washing away the sadness. The transition between the intro and the main piece is also less jarring, it's softer and flows more naturally. And gone are the screeches, well most of them, there is still a final one when the music loops, but it's softer; almost like a self realization instead of a forced one. A good way to put it is you've freed the tortured soul of the city. It's still "dead" but it's now free to move on and thanks you. It's bitter sweet

Doma Castle: Gates of the Moon - This theme, this theme was surprising. The music you get for this dungeon is not what one would expect. We are storming a castle and it's something that could mark a major change in everything that was happening in the story thus far. One would expect something more covert or somber, but we got something upbeat and energetic; and it couldn't be any more perfect. We knew this would be a point in the story to change things, and while we would presume victory, cause, you know, plot armor, it was't assured. This juxtaposition between the setting and the music just guarantees victory. It starts with an upbeat, almost jazzy intro, then segues into a repeating piece filled with strings and horns, very reminiscent of a victory fanfare. As someone on Youtube said:

this somehow increases my combat efficiency by 100%

[Ameela]

It's a reused track from 1.0 but I absolutely love Hullbreaker Isle's theme, to me that dungeon perfectly encapsulates the feeling of adventury and discovery that's promised to you at the start of the game, and I think like 75% of it is due to the music lol

Antitower is just beautiful, I love the instruments, the melody, everything... it might be my favorite dungeon theme in the whole game.

Lastly shout outs to Swallow's Compass, I'm not a big fan of the flute at the start but it ends up transitioning into one of the most heroic tunes in the game, even if the dungeon and the story around it don't entirely reflect that.

[Floortank]

I generally love the music in XIV, but whatever plays in Hullbreaker Isle is terrible. Any sense of tension goes out the window with that silly theme.

[ryouma17]

snowcloak song is really good however if the tank is doing small pulls then the song will put you to sleep, Dusk Vigil song is nice too its a remix of the heavensward theme, i cant remember the songs for any of the other dungeons

i absolutely HATE the titan and alexander songs HATE them with a passion i always mute the music when i do any of those


"edit" forgot about them when posting this but i absolutely love shivas oblivion song and lakshmi's Beauty's Wicked Wiles song i listen to them both on youtube quite often

[OgruMogru]

From Mud's [Arboretum HM] fuzzy nostalgic tone really emphasises the feeling of abandonment the Hinterlands already established. It reminds me of a mix between Jimbo Rehearsing and Concourse both by Boards of Canada and it was such a lovely surprise when I first went in there. I've seen a lot of people not liking it for various reasons, one being that it's just a recycled version of the Hinterlands theme, then in the same breath they [rightfully] praise the o11 song which is itself a remix of the Azys Lla theme.