The music of Wrath of the Lich King
Aug 20th, 2008
Music in World of Warcraft has always been a point of pride for Blizzard, with their work on Karazhan being widely praised for setting a great mood and being enjoyable overall. The music in Wrath continues that tradition with scores from Blizzard veterans Russell Brower, who composed the login screen theme for the new expansion. Brower was also behind the music for The Burning Crusade login screen as well as the affecting melodies of Eversong Woods and the Ghostlands (some co-written with New Age musician David Arkenstone and fellow Blizzard veteran Jason Hayes).
Dragonblight has one of the most haunting background melodies I've heard in the game so far, and its music is part of why WoW Insider's Elizabeth Harper considers it to be her favorite zone. Composed by Derek Duke, who has also done work on other Blizzard games such as Warcraft III, the themes vary from day to night and set a somber tone throughout the scarred zone. It's not something that jumps out at you when you play, but certainly sets the ambiance even when played at a moderately low volume.
In the game files, there are contributions from Blizzard musical director Glenn Stafford, as well, who composed my favorite themes from Warcraft III such as Lordaeron Fall and Frostmourne. Although I haven't heard all the music for all the zones -- the game files suggest that they're not entirely done, either -- I'm looking forward to the music in higher level zones such as Icecrown Glacier and of course, my favorite zone, Lake Wintergrasp. There's certain to be some chilling music in the Caverns of Time: Stratholme, too and I'm excited to finally hear the sounds inside Naxxramas. With the attention that Blizzard is paying to every aspect of the game, I'm not surprised it's taken them this long to come out with the expansion. If anything, hearing the music of Wrath of the Lich King has only gotten me more excited for the much-anticipated cinematic rumored to be due in Leipzig this weekend. Hopefully, they'll include a soundtrack in the Collector's Edition just like they have in the past. For me, it's certainly one more reason to order one.
Recent Posts
- Wealth category removed from Armory statistics (12/03/2008)
- Debuff limit removed (12/03/2008)
- Ghostcrawler and Vaneras on the classes that GMs play (12/03/2008)
- Child's Play auctioning off a Warcraft Wolfrider statue (12/03/2008)
- Wrath Dailies: Preparing for the Worst (12/03/2008)
Debuff limit removed
Chinese MMO accused of stealing art from World of Warcraft, others
Realms up after extended maintenance
Downtime extended to 1 O'Clock PST
The Guild episode 2 of season 2 out now
Wrath Dailies: Preparing for the Worst
The Queue: Trinkets, sigils and death by Orcs
Encrypted Text: Emblem of Heroism rewards for Rogues
Guildwatch: "I'm a #(*$ing fantastic Rogue"
15 Minutes of Fame: Disabled player goes hands on with joystick
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
8-20-2008 @ 4:38PM
Elmo said...
the music is always awesome, although I know a lot of players play with the game music off and just a long list of MP3's
I just put it off at Kara because it's too present and starts to annoy after a while.
Reply
8-20-2008 @ 4:42PM
DCoW said...
Personal Soundtrack FTW.
I just love listening to kamelot and sonata artica while raiding. screw the atmosphere.
Reply
8-20-2008 @ 4:46PM
Idu said...
Kara-music, praised? You gotta be kiddin xD By whom, the composer? :D Haven't heard a single player praise it, rather expressing their strong dislike innit.
Reply
8-20-2008 @ 4:59PM
Falcio said...
I personally like Karazhan's music. Suits the atmosphere nicely and if you do listen to it, it does have a haunting feel to it.
The problem is, Kara is the first real entrance into TBC raiding and a popular place for badge-farming, so you have a 3-hour raid with that theme playing...it kinda deludes it. I mean, not a lot of PVE progression guilds in T5 can say they really enjoy raiding Kara anyway...even the theme could be annoying to them.=P
If you either listen to it before you raid it for the first time or maybe long after you're all done with Kara, the theme IS pretty nice.
8-20-2008 @ 5:37PM
Roxton said...
I think a lot of players get turned off the kara music by the fact that after a long raid it sounds overly repetitive. However, if you actually listen to it rather than just have it drive you slowly mad in the background, it's a very tight, very neat composition. It's got an extremely baroque style, with some bits removed almost verbatim from the Bach organ fugues, which suits the academic and learned ambience of Medivh, most powerful of mages.
8-20-2008 @ 5:40PM
Cap said...
I like to leave my music settings to have "Loop Music" turned OFF. That way, when I enter a new zone or instance or major area, I hear the appropriate music *once*, then it stops at the end of the track and is silent again until I changes zones/areas/instances.
I do like Kara music, but like Falcio says, a whole raid night of it gets VERY old VERY fast.
8-20-2008 @ 5:41PM
Cap said...
I like to leave my music settings to have "Loop Music" turned OFF. That way, when I enter a new zone or instance or major area, I hear the appropriate music *once*, then it stops at the end of the track and is silent again until I changes zones/areas/instances.
I do like Kara music, but like Falcio says, a whole raid night of it gets VERY old VERY fast.
8-20-2008 @ 5:57PM
Avi said...
Yeah I love it personally. Makes me feel like I'm raiding Disney's Haunted Mansion.
8-21-2008 @ 12:16AM
ScorchHellfire said...
ive done kara quite a few times and i still love the music... especially when you are near the opera area and the organ joins in
8-20-2008 @ 4:46PM
Jason said...
That is some nice music. Any idea when they'll announce the Collector's Edition so I can pre-order it (gotta get my pet!).
Reply
8-20-2008 @ 4:55PM
dcmetrocoaster said...
Is the access to iTunes in WoW only in the Wrath beta? If it is available now please tell how I can use that feature.
8-20-2008 @ 5:01PM
Doffencrag said...
"Is the access to iTunes in WoW only in the Wrath beta?"
AFAIK, it's a feature patched into the client in 1.12 (although it was for Macs). Dunno if this works on PCs now.
8-20-2008 @ 5:45PM
Thander said...
The built in mp3 player through iTunes is only available to Mac users. PC users can download an mp3 player addon but it's clunky because you have to move all your mp3s into the WoW folder to play them ingame. It's a lot easier just to use Winamp in the background with all your favorite songs and turn off music in WoW.
8-21-2008 @ 9:55AM
Badger said...
"It's a lot easier just to use Winamp in the background with all your favorite songs and turn off music in WoW."
Bingo - although, since I'm an iPod user, I typically use iTunes instead. (And before anyone asks: I despise DRM.)
8-20-2008 @ 4:54PM
Kyane said...
Only time I play my own music is raiding or doing dailies....In the beta and when first exploring all the new dungeons and areas it will be with Blizz music :)
Reply
8-20-2008 @ 4:59PM
Zenboras said...
Now that we have done Kara gazillion times, its not special, but the first times I was there, it was special, mainly the music in Prince room, it was very exciting the first few times I did it (because it was actually a hard boss, when I was still in mostly blues)
I'd say its still good, just, again, we have done Kara too much to care about it.
Reply
8-20-2008 @ 5:02PM
Jay said...
http://www.vimeo.com/1060882
Has a better selection of Wotlk music imo ;)
Reply
8-20-2008 @ 5:29PM
Faar said...
I was a sad panda when I heard (very recently!) that Matt Uelmen had left Blizzard! That sucks. His work on Diablo (2) was just outstanding.
I wonder what he's doing now. His pages on Wikipedia and Wowwiki doesn't mention anything about his present occupation...
I really hoped to hear more of his fabulous music in Diablo 3, but alas, that seems to not be in our future now. :P
Reply
8-21-2008 @ 8:44AM
Draumha said...
I agree completely, or maybe overzealously. Matt Uelman is the greatest musical genius Blizzard has ever had on their team. To this day I keep DII soundtrack pieces on my mp3 player. Yes, Wrath will sound fantastic, but Matt's influence will be missed.
8-20-2008 @ 5:31PM
Roxton said...
Eh, the original WoW music by Jason Haynes was better IMO. Few things compare with the Westfall music, or the powerful uplifting themes of Stormwind or Darnassus.
Reply