For me, it´s a tie between Midra and Bayle. Midra has better OST (Bayle is amazing too) and Bayle has better fight, IMHO) both very close tho, but probably tied for 1st place for both
If we're counting side souls as well, so Bloodborne and Sekiro, I think Ludwig is no.1 and it's not even close. His theme, his lore and story, his fights, his design, all absolutely top tier. Midra is 2nd to me only because his lore is not as in depth and significant in ER's story than Ludwig is in BB's story.
14:59 i can’t see that anyone said this yet (i likely missed it) but this chaotic little violin coming in is the melody of the merchant clan in the game, who were buried alive in an underground tomb due to accusations of heresy and service to the three fingers/ frenzied flame. super cool reference. i recommend checking out alex roe’s beautiful rendition of the merchant song, it’s heartbreakingly beautiful.
The first half is to me like a huge building being slowly engulfed in flames. We hear the igniting spark, the slow destruction and the pure CHAOS, that just grows and grows until the entire house collapses in the end. The second phase I find is more personal to the Lord himself, with more harmonious elements and chord progressions and increased drama. In a way, it tells you all you need to know. The track does a great deal more than just serve its purpose
Midra's theme goes unreasonably hard xD I love watching people have eargasms to it! Edit: I love the dance-y vibe towards the end of the theme, it reminds me of another fromsoft theme: Ludwig The Accursed & Holy Blade from the Bloodborne soundtrack. I really recommend you check that out sometime!
Davi Vasc made a fantastic reaction video to this song with revelations about each distinct melody, harmony and chord progression. Through only the undertones and without knowing who Midra is in the game, he absolutely NAILED what the music tells about his story with insights to learn about the composition.
What you start talking about at 18:00 is pretty spot on. You are fighting what is essentially madness incarnate. If you let this thing get out of the room the whole WORLD is doomed. The whole ost has a feeling of wrongness and danger that fits the theme of the boss to a T.
I love how about halfway through, you explain a part of the music sounds like a pole being dragged across the floor. The boss whose music this is for has a quite dreadful polearm-shaped weapon that he swings quite recklessly at you lmao
To explain the descent into “hell”: This boss is the lord of frenzied flame. It’s the avatar of the God the Frenzied Flame, who wants to destroy everything in the universe. It causes madness to anyone who comes into contact with it. Midra, the guy you fight, was once going to be a lord, but he failed, and was tortured for this since the Flame is feared by EVERYONE in the game, so containment of it was priority. He is told to endure thousands of years of unending pain including crucifixion and impalement. When you finally get to him and kick his ass to the curb, he decides he cannot bare the pain anymore, and offs himself, giving into the madness and insanity of the Flame. If you don’t put him down right here and now, he will end the world, and the universe with it. This is the highest stakes boss fight in the game.
It's like descending into hell and coming across someone struggling to contain that deeper evil. Phase 2 is the evil winning out. It's almost celebratory, maddening. Chaos!
dude I love how you go into detail & break down everything.. fantastic content so far! I would highly recommend checking out The Promised Consort if you haven't already, an absolute magnum opus as far as fromsoft osts go
It’s funny how you said “it’s too much”. That’s something you would normally say if you were playing the game, but honestly your not wrong, their is a lot going on.😂
What I love about the way they used the 3/4 signature is the way the strings in the phase 2 section follow a 4-on 2-off pattern, with the 4th note being that rising note with the symbol crash accompaniment, so it still has that waltzy danciness of the 3/4 signature but falls into a VERY different rhythmic pattern from a traditional waltz that still makes it feel weird and arrythmic at the same time.
I was the 700th like! lol…..you at 8:15 was literally me after I beat the boss. Listened to this song after the fact dozens of times….love your reaction!
If you think *this* is one of your best ones, you have GOT to check out the Bloodborne Soundtrack - one of Elden Ring dev's previous game, of which almost ALL of the tracks were done with REAL orchestra, due to a higher budget from Sony. I would recommend: * Queen of the Vilebloods (extremely horrific and strange, one of my favorites) * Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos (Majestic, tragic... powerful) * Father Gascoigne, the Hunter (You are being hunted) * Living Failures (Personally, my favorite track in Bloodborne) * Laurence the First Vicar (must listen.... No I WONT elaborate) * Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower (must listen) * Gherman, the First Hunter (must listen, very sentimental, and beautiful....) * Ludwig the Accursed & Ludgwig the Holy Blade (must listen... No I WONT elaborate)
I definitely thought this song had major bloodborne vibes, especially the dance-y feel of it, just like how I feel Bayle the dread has ds3 vibes! (You should check out Bayle the dread it’s super good as well)
The fear instilled and the horrors you witness along your path to meet Midra is immense and when you finally get to this fight it's a intensely horrifying and difficult boss. The madness that is the frenzied flame and he who is it's Lord.
This is by far my favorite ost from Elden Ring and i thought the others i had in mind were hard to beat but no this cleaves the way right into my heart 😅❤
great reaction! midra is such an cool boss, and his theme is one of my favourites, but i must say messmer's theme is my favourite out of all the elden ring dlc boss themes, recommend checking it out as well
The frenzied flame is a god of destruction and nihilism incarnate. Brought forth by the despair of the oppressed and the tortured, to fulfill the wish of all those so filled with despair that they wish it would simply all burn away. You aren't fighting a regular boss, lore wise. Not some monster or yet another madman, it is destruction incarnate, the flame of frenzy able to burn away even souls. Midra in his torture, has become a conduit for this force. You are fighting the very embodiment of the end of the world, of everything. The song matches the boss's movements, regal and measured, like a dance. Like whe you reach such a level of despair you cease to care and simply revel in it. And the violin, played by the merchants who once called down the frenzied flame in their false imprisonment, the melody burned and bent and blown away by the sheer volume of the surrounding music. Theres no quelling the madness now, only a whirlwind of destruction. Those base drops are probably my favorite part, it fills you with a primal fear that perfectly fits the frenzied flame. Probably the best ost from has made, at least one of my favorites.
I commute every day for like an hour per direction and this is my go-to track. I activate noise cancellation on my AirPods and just vibe to this on a bus. Am I sick? Maybe? But ohhhh… yes.. this get’s keeps me going
There have been other impressive orchestral tracks in FromSoft's catalogue, but I don't think any other feels as precisely tuned to the gameplay/narrative experience as this one. It's just so perfectly fitting step for step, really intense and emotional. Only other one that comes close is Ludwig's set from Bloodborne
