Opera Singer Breaks Down Riven of a Thousand Voices || Destiny 2: Forsaken 

Fun fact #1: This theme and its alternate (Mists of Memory) were composed by Brendon Williams, someone not on the main music team at Bungie, and this is the only track group he’s ever done for Destiny. When he wrote this theme, Michael Salvatori told him “You used multiple different motifs better than I ever could, wow.” Fun fact #2: the “phase 2”, more formally known as the “High Action”, doesn’t actually play in the riven fight, apart from the first 30 seconds and the ending. Keep of Voices isn’t really even Riven’s music. All of the Dreaming City tracks were composed generally for the destination without specific missions or encounters in mind, and then they were just slotted into the places that fit them best afterwards. Keep of Voices is also just a patrol track for the Dreaming City and can play in multiple missions and the shattered throne dungeon as well. Shattered Throne is still the only place in the game where you can hear the full Ascendant version of the High Action. Fun fact #3: All dreaming city music actually has 3 separate variants. “Normal”, “Cursed”, and “Ascendant”. The normal versions have orchestral and elegant elements like strings, choirs, flutes etc. The cursed versions replace those elements with synths, horns and electric guitars. The ascendant version takes everything from the cursed version and adds a “spook” layer on top of it, which is those eerie high-pitched strings that horror movies often use. Normal versions play in patrol during week 1 and 2 of the curse. Cursed versions play during week 3 of the curse. Ascendant versions play when in the ascendant plane. For last wish specifically they used the cursed versions, since it doesn’t take place in the ascendant plane, but they did want to make use of the heavier elements that the normal version doesn’t have. Hence, riven uses Keep of Voices *Cursed*!

I always ALWAYS love it when they manage to throw in "Inner Light", aka the "guardian theme" into the raid boss' theme. It's the game telling you it's YOUR time to strike.

Now imagine listening to this theme song for like 8 hours. The first team to beat this raid took 18 hours and 49 minutes to finish the raid, and I think they’re were stuck on Riven herself for 8 of those.

In my humble opinion, the absolute BEST soundtrack in all of Destiny. The intensity, the marriage and clashes of leitmotifs, the gravitas, the brilliance of tempo and rhythm, the blissful union between fantasy and science fiction. Absolutely Majestic!

Now do "Shell of what was" :D It follows up this encounter, and genuinely slaps

i was just cheesing her last night and was thinking hey marco should cover this so i can listen to the second phase 😂

Man when that second phase hits,it hits hard, to go into the raid to stop the last wish dragon to save a cursed people from damnation and then when you finally start killing the dragon and it change to Second phase and it makes you feel like heroes

21:59 this rise up in the chords just makes you feel the power and epicness of the entire scenario of facing Riven. It feels triumphant and yet daunting.

I really enjoy this Marco, understanding the music with Lore.

I have something like 70 clears of this raid. I could pick this song playing on someone's phone during a noisy concert. It's just engrained into my brain. The sad part is that if you don't cheese her, it's one of the most satisfying boss encounters in the game. My personal fave section of music in the raid is what's played at the end, it's called "Shell of what was" ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-8Si8qzVmkAQ.html

Man i love it when marco starts speaking in orchestra. Cant wait to see a whole performance thats just marco instruments.

16:27 It might be a stretch, but since Forsaken also started as a western revenge tale, those first trumpet notes always remind me of The Ecstasy of Gold from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Just a triumphant moment.

Bless your soul, Marco. Always putting something up when I need it.

Oh you have to do Last Wish at some point. Still one of my favourite raids. It's beautiful and is still D2's biggest and longest raid. It's definitely not as difficult as it was originally since we've become so powerful since then but I would recommend doing it. I'd also recommend trying the Riven encounter legit once as it's intended. It's really cool to see and hear more of the music than just cheesing it.

OH MY GODS!! this is the best surprise ever!! I just beat riven legit for the first time two weeks ago, and have been in love with this theme since! Thank you so much for this amazing review :DD

Excellent choice, O singer mine.

Much love to you, Marco! I always enjoy seeing your reactions!

Love these Destiny breakdowns Marco, keep em coming!

This has to be my favourite destiny track by far, I am so glad that you have gotten round to listening to it too.

yet again marco, you made me redownload a game i dropped just from listening to you talk about it. not even anyone in my personal life is capable of that. ive been binging your destiny videos and no matter how much i hate the paywalls, im blasting through em if it means i hear the soundtrack again doing all the raids

Adoro le analisi che fai sulle colonne sonore di Destiny, Marco. Sappi che mi diverto sempre a guardare i tuoi video e spesso imparo anche qualcosa di nuovo! Un saluto dall'Italia! Keep up the good work!

Wow never heard this from Destiny 2 since I only did up to Witch Queen and didn't do Raids, but this tracks pretty damn epic and magical

to me forsaken and the last wish raid is the pinnacle of design of destiny, there are multiple times were Bungie devs call Destiny fantasy sci-fi and you can see it most when you describe the raid as going to outerspace to kill a dragon in a curse city with guns and magic. Sorry I had to put your editor through that much work.

Probably this + shell of what was make last wish one of my favorite raids in Destiny 2. Trying to solo riven I’ve had my fair share of this one. The buildup goes so well with the fight, goosebumps to this day.

Love your channel, great stuff!

One of my favorite things about this track is those strings in the back. Just the constant quick, very intense stings makes me love it. Edit: Also can I just say, I love how you really get into the music and move with it because I do the exact same thing and it makes me feel seen

Funny not funny thing is, I adore these music ost and always have my own interpretation on them but rarely listen to them properly since most of the time is focusing on gameplay like Monster hunter, Genshin boss and here Destiny 2. Marco's video and channel is the perfect platform for me to sit down and listen fully, not feeling alone (mainly not feeling alone) then process those interpretation with the video as if Marco is my imaginary big brother and I'll be like "YO EXACTLY, RIGHT?" from inside while he giving more professional terms and vocabs for the breakdowns. I might be cringe but I'm so glad I found this channel, thank you for being you. Appreciate the content and effort. All love.

"Gunslinger" and the Forsaken Intro mission it's from is one I would really love a breakdown of from you, because it's such a good theme for the action that goes on. Always made me feel heroic and like it's a high-action movie.

It's literally me on my first (and others) playthrough, listening music and shaking my head like you :)

so happy you finaly listened to this one, this theme is why Riven is my favorit raid boss

One of my favorite Destiny songs, so glad u looked at this

I've been looking forward to this one.

18:45 is my favourite part. its absolutely amazing

This is probably my favorite theme in D2. I absolutely adore how it captures the size, danger, urgency, heroism, the thrill of the hunt, the magnificence of Riven, all of it. It's such a complex and beautiful piece.

I’ve been waiting for this reaction. In my opinion the best single OST from the franchise

Simply fantastic, these video analyses have been a particular pastime of mine to watch, may I recommend queens deception from the Destiny 2: Witch Queen OST soundtrack?

this is the only music in my leg workout playlist for 2 years now

This track is so good, and you only listened to the Taken side of it! The non-Taken version is amazing as well. Lots of vocals in that version. Highly recommend finding a version around 10 mins or less though as these long versions tend to loop the same motifs over and over a bit TOO much. Shorter versions line it up better like an OST would.

incredible video mr marco meat ball

The thing about this whole fight is that she wants us to kill her as we wish to and she feeds off wishes twisting them into her own outcome like we kill her but she isn’t actually dead and still is alive through her heart which we can’t destroy. The whole raid we wish to kill her so the outcome lore wise will always lead to her death. Essentially we got outplayed by this thing by doing what we were told not to and that’s to have an ambition as that’s what riven uses to become stronger. Also after her death she’s free no longer stuck here. “Paradise is a prison when you can’t leave” plays around after second encounter area showing riven views this place as a prison made to contain her there forever

"Shell of what was" and the Vault encounter theme is the other ones that are amazing to listen to

You should definitely take a look at the track "Shell of What Was" in the 'Queenswalk" encounter right after this. It's a fitting end to this legendary raid and a similar theme to this. One of my favorites; Last Wish as a whole is just a top tier raid experience.

God what a beautiful track

Chills every time

I was just thinking to myself, its been forever since I did this Raid, I need to do it again

You need to listen to Shell of What Was (Queenswalk Variation) as it's the theme that plays immediately after Riven during the heart encounter. One of the most stressful parts of the raid besides the vault.

now this is gonna be good

Ugh hearing this brings back PTSD trying to get that damn exotic to drop.

This game hit its peak At Riven for me, no other time in its life-time was it as fun and challenging. Best ost of The game for me

The moment i heard this i could tell that the whole theme is about each side dealing blows, first the travelers theme and then rivens and then back so fourth

This is why I listen to the music before I raid. I jam out so much

One of the best raids in Destiny. And the songs are amazing

The music really sells the urgent and impending feeling when doing the encounter itself, sadly too many people don't bother with doing the encounter properly

I always listen to that one when i do wow raids XD

You're one of the reason i got back to destiny 2,no't sure i hate you or love you for it day 9 of askin marco for a musical letsplay of titanfall 2

One of the things I love the most about this track (Keep of Voices) and other Dreaming City tracks is that they not only have the standard Action and High Action versions, but also the regular and Cursed versions. If you listen to the regular version of Keep of Voices, it's very high fantasy-like, using only a traditional orchestra, which really appropriately represents the mystery and grandeur of the Awoken and their architecture. But then you have the cursed version (the version that plays during the raid), and you can hear a lot more electronics and non-standard orchestral instruments, like electric guitar. It's just a really cool touch that they even represent the taken curse in all aspects of gameplay, going so far as to have it even corrupt the music. God I love the music in this game

YES my favourite OST from my favourite raid.

I've only ever seen Riven twice in my time of playing the game (quit the game entirely, though)) and both were during a solo run to give it chocolate. What makes me remember it is the fact that I looked up when I got into the chamber and oh man did I get so terrified that I actually ran to put the chocolate where I was supposed to. Good thing too because I died two seconds later and I had no idea why. The second time I just ran, gave the chocolate and then made the mistake of looking up again.

I highly recommend the darkest dungeon and darkest dungeon 2 soundtracks, they're incredibly atmospheric and intense, and it shocks me nobody ever talks about them. A couple of my favorites are Sluice Combat, Foetor Combat, The Hamlet theme, and Town in Chaos, specifically the torchless version.

It’s a huge shame because 90% of Phase 2 isn’t even in the game. This song goes really hard, I’ve listened to it alot at the gym haha

dayum finally the masterpiece from Destiny

Once again.... YEEEEEEESSSS!!!

Can't wait for a The Sanctified Mind reaction

Riven's theme is so spectacular.

salute to marco's editor XD

I love all the weird stuff the strings are doing in part 1

Came here from the Sisyphus analysis, and I thought it was a great in-depth look at the character of Sisyphus. Thought I'd suggest a song I personally absolutely love, and it's "The Gift" by Kevin Sherwood and Elena Siegman for Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 Zombies. I'd love a bit of insight as to what the song means as, even though it's one of my favorite songs, I really get the lyrics messed up with all the characters and what's going on in the map at the time it plays (Revelations).

wish this song was on spotify.

It’s been so long since I fought Riven and I’ve never fought her legit, every time was the cheese 😂 once I got the raid exotic I never went back. This brings back memories.

The orchestral version of this piece is named Keep of Voices (Action) on RU-vid, it’s the non-cursed version actually 😂

Man Destiny's Ost just never misses

It is time for the Shell of What Was

MARCO have you given Iron Tomb a listen from the rise of Iron dlc from destiny 1?

BYF needs to watch this, this analysis is awesome

It's implied that Riven as she is is pretty close to the Ahamkaras true form; there's a statue of her form in the Dreaming City and Shuro at one point claims (paraphrased) that Ahamkara shape themselves to suit expectations but the Awoken had none.

Petition for Marco to react to some of the Bannerlord battle music. Specifically, the track called "Divide and Conquer" as it involves some pretty interesting instruments.

25:02 - 25:15 As someone who did Riven legit for around 4 hours straight, it's exactly how I felt XD. Riven legit is one the hardest and most fun challenge I have had in a video game

I love all the resemblance to other destiny songs in this ONE song

I would also recommend "Shell of What Was"

wow, i was literally thinking about how this is one of my favourite d2 tracks when i woke up this morning and now im seeing a full analysis on it. You just made my day a whole lot better

Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any decent uploads of The Vault in it's entirety, but what do you think of it?

Ah Destiny! Would love to hear your thoughts about View from Orbit :)

Theres another version of Keep of voices where theres orchestra on the background would recommened since its the same as the riven soundtrack

All the songs in this raid are great. Nothing beats the Vault Encounter though, five minutes of ticking then fear.

Best Destiny raid theme with Crota ❤

you have got to do last wish some time man

are you still playing DMC5 I really loved the gameplay and music analysis

Marco of a Thousand Voices, fufilling our Wish to hear him react to this track: "I've waited so long to grant one Last Wish" :3c

Oo ya gotta listen to the rise of iron soundtrack. Definitely got some good ones in there. It personally got me into destiny in the first place.

you should make a video about the first diciple and shell of what was

The bit at 0:58 always reminded me of the Spider-Man soundtrack 😂

I know you may not see this but I would totally recommend listening to Dominus Ghaul! Its a track from the original Destiny 2 soundtrack and the theme for the main bad guy in that campaign, it has some great military/cabal call backs and has one of the best "Light" themes I think Bungie ever made!

I really want to ask if you could react to Replicate from destiny 2 beyond lights Deep Stone Crypt raid. It plays during the fight with Atrax

1:57 always gets me!

Oh wait, that little video is myne. 😄

After subscribing your channel. My prospective of music have changed alot. Now it makes me listen and question if i am listening to some generic background music or is there meaning behind it.

Can you please do a reaction video to the theme The Hangman (Baron High Action) from Destiny 2: Forsaken?

Hey, I know this is a long shot, but I think you’d enjoy some music from Bionicle Heroes. A game from the ps2 that I feel had some really great music, and that fit in with destiny’s really well sometimes.

Hey guess what... _Cuts off hand with lament_ For those who dont know, the way to cheese riven is to one phase with swords on her hand lol

I ll just say Shadowkeep Track 10, Necropolis is my favorite piece from D2. It’s vibest moodiest sh!t ever