Entry 577 - Darkwood

 

Style: VGM, dark ambient

Primary Emotions/Themes: Deep horror, things that lurk in the shadows, darkness vs. light

Thoughts: Close your eyes. The horrors that lie in the darkness will not only tear away at your sanity, but they seek to devour your very soul. This is the terror for all those that would enter the Darkwood. No one has ever left unaffected. 

Yes, yes... some do depart with their lives. Even those that do manage to find their way out are forever changed, part of their sanity has left them and stayed forever within the reaches of these woods. 

No one speaks about these woods. For you see there is an evil in these woods that goes deeper than folklore. Ancient it is,  before the written word, before the first words were spoken, some believe before time itself. 

Shield your eyes, for the horrors of the Darkwood come for you.

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Darkwood is a dark ambient album. The fact that it is a video game soundtrack is secondary.

The music contained within the forty or so minutes of this record feels like being stuck in a deep fog. it freezes and consumes everything that it touches. It's cold, calculating, and entirely unavoidable. 

The majority of Darkwood is carefully crafted soundscapes that conjure base fears coming from the primitive brain. At times they are accompanied by a deep pulsing beat. Samples resembling wind or other woodland sounds round out the music that is found within the album. 

These tones and rhythms at times build to an overwhelming degree. They create stress on the listener and do so exceptionally well. Paranoia is the active term in these parts, resulting in a deep seeded suspicion of everything. 

Is that a shadow moving or is there something there? Is my light bright enough? Am I going crazy? What are these things that are hunting me? Why can't I find a way out of here??

Darkwood sadly omits some of the best tracks on the digital soundtrack on LP version. As much as I wish the entire soundtrack was on wax the selection on the record is serviceable - the album works fine for what it is. While the full soundtrack would have been better, this condensed version is certainly more welcome than not having this on wax at all. 

Written October 11th 2023