Music Producer CAPTIVATED by Alan Wake 2 Soundtrack (Herald of Darkness & more) 

Totally enjoyed this, thank you! 😊 - Thor / Old Gods of Asgard, AKA Captain / Poets of the Fall

Heralds of Darkness isn't the same without experiencing the dance moves

Fun fact: during the musical number in the game there is a floor marker on the stage floor that says “wait for solo” 😂

I loved Herald of Darkness but man not enough people talk enough about Dark Ocean Summoning. A stunningly brutal song, we getting out of the dark place with this one boys!

The real band behind OGOA is called 'Poets of the Fall' a 6 piece band of Lead Guitarist Olli Tukiainen and second guitarist Jaska Makinen. They have been making music for 20 years, their first song for Remedy games is called Late Goodbye for Max Payne 2.

Poets of the Fall is the real life band behind the Old Gods of Asgard. And they are just amazing.

There's no way people say Herald of Darkness is nothing without the dancing, you guys are completely ignoring the whole 13 mins of this masterpiece 💀

For the record: “Herald of Darkness” is the music for an entire musical section of the game where you’re progressing through a maze-like area fighting enemies and solving simple puzzles, and the music progresses when you progress and has looping sections for when you are moving too slow and/or stalling. Also it’s kind of a catch-up on the plot of Alan Wake 1 plus a VERY out of place section to shake the game up😂👍🏻

Alan Wake 2 is very much more than just a videogame, its a expiremental cross-media work. Its a written story, its a videogame, its sometimes a movie, or why we are here, a powermetal album with a musical mixed in. Only by playing the game can you truly appreciate how they all come together. Iam not usually someone who enjoy Meta Commentary or stories revolving around the concept but here it just all fits.

One of my favourite parts of the musical scenes of the game is that Bob Baldur (the character who plays the main guitar) has passed away in the game, but he's clearly performing in these songs. Like his spirit comes back to rock with his friends when they need him the most.

Your DEAD on, Alan wake is trapped in some sort of dark alternative dimention, he has been stuck there for 13 years after the events of the first game, its always looping and his memory is always fading, so he wrote this musical to remember his life and the events of alan wake 1. This song is a whole chapter in the game and you play through it with the song, and at the end wake is addressing the player to help him stop the song so the game can progress

The Hareld of Darkness segment in the game is a very genius way of telling the Story of Alan Wake 1, Matthew Porretta (Alan Wake's VA) is a very good singer

What people don't seem to talk about, is the prnouncation of the lyrics in Dark Ocean Summoning. Remedy loves their name puns. Max Payne, Alex Casey (A. Case) Alan Wake (A wake) Dark ocean summoning is trying to summon Alan Wake back from the dark place and into reality. People say "By name I summon him" but they don't say the name. Except they do. The lyrics read as "So alike a land awake" "land" has an extemely soft 'D' sound, so it sounds like "Alan Awake" Then followed imemdiately by "Come save your soul awake new and whole" A. Wake. So no, the name is said, it is just embedded in the lyrics. Man so many layers to this game I love it.

1:28 that's because the section with this song IS a musical

Old Gods of Asgard(in Alan Wake Universe) = Poets of the Fall(in real life) Marko has a really soothing voice and they make great music Also, Herald of Darkness is nothing without the dance moves.

That second song Anger's Remorse is inner monologue of one of the band members for his daughter, who he pushed away, and they never reconnected.

Best part about Dark Ocean Summoning is that the band wrote it in the 10 minutes on the drive to play it… in the game not in real life.

Their lead guitarist is just godlike

I would have to say, in context these songs are 10x better. Every time I listen them, it makes me want to replay Alan Wake 2

I can just imagine how fun for Poets of the fall, who are more modern rock band with, predominantly, more chill and mellow stile of music, to play those old school hard rockers, which they were probably listened from their early days, and go absolutely crazy with that. I mean with this soundtrack they made such a tasty and awesome hard rock album.

Since every one is already talking about 'Harald of Darkness' I'll give some love to 'Anger's Remorse' and the awesome 'Dark Ocean Summoning'. While Harald is very clearly a big rock opera musical number. Anger's Remorse has an interesting in universe backstory and significance. It's canonically an unreleased single writen as an apology by Tor Anderson, the drummer for Old God's of Asgard and the protagonist Saga Anderson's long lost grandfather, to his now deceased daughter (Saga's mother Freya) for being a terrible dad and driving away Saga's father. Locating the record and playing it acts as a key in game to progress the story. Dark Ocean Summoning is played while the elderly Anderson brothers channel the spirit of their younger selves and deceased band mate while performing on top of a bus/makeshift stage on the shore of Cauldron Lake. Saga fights waves of enemies as the song plays in the background. Oh, they're also setting off concert pyro throughout. The song and performance is a literal ritual to summon Alan Wake back to reality from the dark dimension accesesed via the lake. All the lyrics very specifically referrence Alan, his circumstances, and has very deep layers of narrative meaning.

while you're on the Alan wake 2 soundtrack you should totally check out Yötön yö and all the songs by Poe!

The whole game is a treat for the ears. Not just the music.

I think Dark Ocean Summoning is probably my favourite. Definitely has those boss music vibes!

I already saw them live twice and yes i must admit, seeing guitarist live is a treat indeed. Theres even a section during concert when they just let him play for like 3 minutes ^^

It's so amazing to hear peoples reactions to Olli's guitar playing. He truly is incredible.

Its so awesome to hear musical analysis on the old gods of asgard! As many of the commenters have said, the Old Gods are a fictional band in the Alan Wake universe, with their IRL personas being the Poets of the Fall. However, all of the lyrics are written by Sam Lake, the video game Director (you saw him accept the awards for AW2 during the game awards!) And as such the lyrics usually have hidden messages that explain the lore of the Remedyverse! For example (no spoilers, dont worry!) in the game "Alan Wake's American Nightmare" there is a song called Balance Slays the Demon that while on the surface it is a fun rock song with elements of 80s glam, beneath its a coded message that explains what Alan needs to do to get out of the Dark Place--and below even that, it has a coded message about the town of Ordinary and hints about Jesse Faden who would appear in their next game, Control! In the Vinyl version there is a message about the influences for the Old Gods being a combination of Metallica and Led Zepplin, but there are also some lore influences to their music as well. When they have a different producer the sound is different! Also, there is a reason why there is so many incredible Guitar solos in AW2's sountrack! In the first game, the old Gods were just two guys--singer and drums. And they were always talking about their old Guitarist Fat Bob Baulder! The band was "never the same" without him. The Old Gods are in their best form in AW2 and Fat Bob is back! So of course, they had to make him shine. I could honestly talk about this all day. 😅 thank yoi for the incredible video SPG! Looking forward to the next one!! ❤

olli is an incredibly underrated guitarist. i love poets of the fall so much

I grew up listening to kiss, Montley crew, Cinderella, etc thanks to my dad and haven’t listened to this era or rock/ metal in recent years so hearing PotF as Old Gods give that era gives me such a feeling of nostalgia but also the hype of new music.

Awesome to see your reactions! There are amazing songs plenty in the game, would love to see your reaction to Poe - This road and Ahti - Yötön Yö from the game too, two very different vibes, also very diegetic songs like these!

I was super lucky to tune into a streamer at this part and it blew me away, Put the song on my phone ever since. Love it!

SHOW ME THE CHAMPION OF LIGHT!!!!

On the same channel of Old Gods of Asgard you can find a musical-video version of "Herald of Darkness". Or search for walkthrough of "We sing" mission from Alan Wake II

It might be intersting to know that some of the songs are for ingame events like the ingame musical, that recounts the story of Alan Wake I and was performed in a abbreviated version on the stage of the game awards, or a summoning peformed by a rock concert. And those are the two you already pointed out! Other songs are used intermissions / outros for sections of the game.

I'm glad someone out there pointed out the Uematsu style riffs during Herald of Darkness, the song dipping into a kind of Black Mages style JRPG prog rock for a full 4 minutes is pretty much my favorite part

Aw man, I was hoping This Road by Poe would show up. Shows off a very different side of the soundtrack, introspective, haunting and just plain weird. Probably the game's actual theme as far as I'm concerned.

Thank you! I can tell that you know a lot about music and games. This was really interesting. Take Control is another really good song from Old Gods of Asgard. It's from another Remedy game called Control. I love it how Old Gods of Asgard sound like an old 80's metal band because that is exactly what they are (in the game). Poets of the Fall, the real band behind Old Gods of Asgard, are not necessarily a metal band (and not from the 80's) but more of a rock or like rock-pop band. You really should listen to their song Carnical of Rust. It has a great music video too.

I'm quite late on this, but one of my favorite parts of Herald of Darkness is how when you hear it in-game, the line about "still he's the torchbearer" (seen in this video at 8:25) plays right after you pick up the Flare Gun - one of the most powerful weapons in the game, capable of one-shotting most enemies with its explosive blasts in exchange for its ammo being very limited (although that's less of a problem in this section, as it's the big musical number and the game thus decides to give you enough ammo to be able to play with it for the rest of the sequence). If you're wondering how a flare gun could be so powerful, the tldr is that most enemies are weakened by powerful light sources, and flares tend to be *really* powerful light sources. as for Dark Ocean Summoning: as far as I'm aware having not played the game myself, it was written in-universe as the catalyst to a ritual that would summon Alan Wake from the alternate dimension where he was trapped. When you get to the part where it plays, it's a big survival setpiece where you fight off a bunch of enemies while the Old Gods play the song in the background and your other allies give you support via supply drops and tactical floodlight activation. One extra note - according to some people on the Internet, "Herald of Darkness" and the segment where it plays were incredibly close to being cut, and it was Sam Lake (Remedy's head honcho and the face of Max Payne) who fought for it to be kept in. They performed an incredibly truncated 4-minute version of Herald of Darkness *live* during the 2023 Game Awards, and there are likely tens if not hundreds of different uploads of that segment (as well as the gameplay that goes alongside Herald of Darkness) available on this very website if you want to see it on your own time.

Old Gods of Asgard are simply divine, heh. Their music is just so much goddamn fun. Remedy also have a couple songs in their games recorded by the actor who plays the character Ahti, the mystical Finnish janitor - He did one called Sankarin Tango for Control, and for Alan Wake 2 he did one called Yötön Yö, which means Nightless Night, and it's absolutely stunning. Martti Suosalo has a positively heavenly voice. I'd be really interested to see what you think of them!

In the game, the song IS being performed onstage in a broadway / Late show style show. And that violin of yours is sexy as hell.

It's actually my first time hearing the full herald of darkness and it's everything I love in this genre! Alan Wake 2 is an entirely different league of its own.

I love this section. Cause it's literally describing the game, and also it just kicks ass.

in the game, herald of darkness is a musical section that you play through, the official music video explains the context and all the long guitar sections are there to pad out the music as the player walks through it at their own pace

The champion of light was Alan, but the herald of darkness was his alter persona Mr.Scratch the dark places version of him

You’re right, Olli must had so much fun playing those long guitar solos! The scene in the game is quite long (depending how long does it take to play it through), and the music goes on and on. I could listen to Herald of Darkness 24/7. 😄

Those are so epic in-game

poets of the fall had thier first real break out moment on the first allen wake game and i've followed them ever since. I have to say seeing them make a return here is just awesome.

The way the songs are implemented in the game is extremely powerful. For instance, Angers Remorse, you start up the song on an old jukebox, meanwhile, there is otherworldly shizz is happening outside. as you step outside, the environment changes and the music gets louder and more powerful. Its amazing. With Dark Ocean Summoning, its being played during a huge gunfight with shadow monsters. The band is playing it on the top of their van, while video of the band in their younger years plays in a haze behind them.

u should check the previous songs too. I personally recommend The Poet and the Muse and Balance Slays the Demnon

Everything Poets of the Fall do is fantastic. Their music is super varied in style and has lots of great little details. Please check them out. Their normal stuff is even better than their Old Gods-music.

Dark Ocean Summoning I am getting strong John Petrucci (Dream Theater) vibes in his playing.

Your channel helps me hear things in music I never could hear before. Thank you for sharing your talent and insights with us! 🥰

Always a pleasure to listen to professional commentary, thanks man 🖤

Such a cool reaction video! You mention all the things I love about Poets of the Fall, I mean Old Gods of Asgard. And so cool Ollie receives praise for his guitar skills, he is fantastic!

Oh SNAP I’m early- Found this guy a couple months ago, and it’s awesome to see someone who gets as hyped about video game music as I do! (I happen to be a vgm composer myself. Calamity mod esque stuff.)

Olli Tukiainen is next level with his guitar playing.

You can tell your overwhelmed with the song dark ocean summoning

So happy you did anger's remorse, I love it.

These guys are so good. And when you add the context of the game, it's pure pleasure to listen.

you hit the nail on the head for angers remorse, it is a monolougue of the inner thoughts the grandfather of one of the protagonists, about his regrets with how he treated his family

The last chorus they all sing together… astonishing.

What's funny about that last song, Dark Ocean Sumoning, is that in-game, it was written in 30 munites.

been looking for this

You gotta listen to Take Control! It's from Remedy's other game "Control" and is a absolute jam.

Fantastic video! I’d love to see you cover some of the Silent Hill game music (Silent Hill 2, 3 and 4 specifically, all very different from each other. Theme of Laura from Silent Hill 2 is legendary)

Probably the three top songs of the album "Rebirth". Well done! The Poet and The Muse would've been interesting too although its a track from the first game

Spot on in the call about them sounding like classic 70s rock vibe. That is exactly when the band was in its heyday in the Remedy Universe

The Old Gods of Asgard are a band pseudonym for a finish band called Poets of the Fall, and the guitar player shredding is Olli. The man is a beast not just of shredding, but of gorgeous melodies and masterful tone and feel. If you are not familiar with their music you should check them out. Their last studio album, Ghostlight, gives you loads of the guitar sound you have here, but in a more restrained and focused way. But the musicality with these guys is insane. Poets of the Fall is by far one of my favorite bands of all time, specially as songwriting for synth pop/rock. You can hear the metal influences, but nothing like this.

I would love for you to react to some more music from the game! There are really great End Chapter Songs!

Love from a Bricky and Vaush fan!

Thank you for the video!

Nice to see that "angers remorse" makes it so clear what it is about. It is song from the point of a father about his regrets that he let his anger become the better of him and drove his daughter away (he wasn't happy about her choice of husband) and the regret is even greater because the daughter is dead already and only his grand daughter gets to hear his apology.

15:31 you're absolutelly correct! Smooth.

You are right about figuring out how to end the song. The main character is one of the people singing and is the one trying to end the song to escape. Fun fact about the musical part: it was on the choping block for cut content, but was included by request one of the people working of the game (I think the writer, don't remember).

On Poets, there is no so much hard guitar parts. Though, Olli and Jaska are somewhat not so much at front... They are EXCELLENT guitarists 😊 I love the whole bands work on "Old Gods Of Asgard" and Remedy. Love them. What a band!

Just found your channel. I'm sure I'm not the first person to ask but would be very interested to see your reaction to the Hyper Light Drifter tracks. Some of my favourites!

I loved it so much, reminded me of the 90s japanese opening songs ❤

you need to check the dance moves

Oh man, these are great but for variety you should check also the other Chapter Songs from the game which they released as an album. Rakel - Follow You Into the Dark, and Roos+Berg - No One Left to Love for example. Or pretty much any other song on the Soundtrack is great.

Herald of darkness tales place in a late night talk show where Alan Wake is being interviewed about a book he doesn't remember writing. In game, we see a version of him on video screens being interviewed while singing, the player version of Alan Walks through different puzzles trying to wake up from a dream where this is taking place. The on screen version needs to end the song, at the end he collapses into a chair tired of singing and dancing. Angers remorse is part of a puzzle. The old gods are 2 brothers in their 90s at this point. (They're possibly actual Norse gods). The song is an apology to The drummer Tor Anderson's daughter, and his grand daughter Saga. In this scene we play as Saga, using the record and a jukebox to open a rift to another world to rescue our grandfather.

I would recomend listening to Yötön yö and the Sankarin tango (from CONTROL), Both are really cool songs in the Remedy game universe and entirely in finnish. They are both sung by a in-game character named Athi. Yötön yö has been stuck in my head for days now.

Hello there Mister, just discovered your channel, and must say, i love your hability to play different instruments, you really know how to play them, i discovered your channel thx to the Team Fortress 2 reactions and the Plants vs zombies Musics, you got my sub, and also just for asking, did you react to the Plants vs zombies 2 Soundtracks? If you didnt i really recommend you to because they are quite cool, have a nice day😁

Now u need to react more Old Gods of Asgard songs✨ - The Poet and the Muse - Children of the Elder God - Balance Slays the Demon - Take Control (this this this this this this!!!)

POETS OF THE FALL! Whole band resurrected from the dead for this...

The great thing about this song is that it retells the story of the first game and basically how you're going to play to end the second game

Olli Tukiainen is the lead guitarist and he is fantastic

I need someone that is a fan of alan wake to analyze this song, so it can help me put into words and technicals terms how well herald of darkness represents the fight between light and darkness/alan wake and scratch. I don't know about music to put it into words, but you can hear so clearly how it is playing the story going through the life of the character and his fight against the darkness within him manifesting

Your mind will be blown if you examined how this works during gameplay. Extremely impressive stuff.

You should check out how these songs are actually used in game. Also, Take Control in the game Control is both the same game company and band and is incredible in the way it's woven in... I'd love to see how you react to the way they're woven in with gameplay. EDIT: Your playing along with the songs make them sound even more Kansas-like. XD

There is a Tifa and Selphie Playarts behind, i love it! ❤️🤟

The thing about any old gods songs they are written to be very specific to what is happening or what its about in game rather than poetic like many rocks songs. So in context the songs are much more powerful than they would be as just a rock song on the radio. Outside of context they are still great but really hit home inside the game

The guitar work in Herald of Darkness has absolutely no business going so hard. Some parts soung like something from a G3 with Satriani and Petrucci playing, it's amazing. Also, damn, you should really watch gameplay, you've got to see how this plays out in-game. It's fucking genius. The weird dance moves/musical vibe are the centerpiece.

I think you should really check out some of the full third party songs from the soundtrack as well, Superhero in particular.

The entire song segments play on loops while you figure out what to do in the level ... the smooth jazz section play over and over until you figure the last part out ;)

Interesting to get a music expert's POV. We ordinary people are not even aware of the numerous musical elements and sources in the background, coming and going. Nice to see them pointed out here.

You might want to check out take control too

Anybody told him the main singer of the musical parts is Alan Wake’s voice actor himself, Matthew Porretta?

You should absolutely check out their song "Take Control"

It took me like five minutes to remember the name of SABATON. That's what the last song reminds me of.

I highly recommend you listen to Take control and Lost at Sea and the Poet and the muse from this game.