I've been playing around with Last.fm and I found their Dark Ambient tag pretty much fits my background music needs. Just set it going and you will get a random loop of (roughly) suitable music. Main reason I'm going to try is is it is easy to setup a laptop with a feed from it in the room. Just keep it within reach in-case something non suitable comes on to hit fast forward!

http://www.last.fm/listen/globaltags/dark%20ambient

The only time I've used music in a game was during the final session of one of my campaigns. The PC's alliances had all broken down and ended up fighting each other to the death atop one of the highest spires in a hive as the cityscape below was torn apart by riots and daemon insurgents. It was a pretty doom-laden session so I chose to set it to Godspeed You Black Emperor!'s Dead Flag Blues album. I always felt their music fitted 40k really well.

Group called "Lustmord" makes excellent dark and creepy ambient music. Can't go wrong. It actually sounds like it was made for DH. Actually, now I think of it, one of their albums is called "Heresy". Coincidence?

Snidesworth said:

While the lyrics usually hit the spot, the music is pretty bad yes. There are better metal bands that have that Chaos-y feel to them. Vader for instance, a polish death metal band are quite good and have nailed the lyrics really good. Slipknot would also suffice, but till im somewhat against the idea of using music with lyrics as background music while playing. BG-music for gaming sessions should be songs without lyrics so as not to jumble together with what the GM and the players are saying.

Slaunyeh said:

Uhm, excuse the somewhat late response (thank the Emperor for forum thread-necromancy ). I have a folder on my computer with MP3's gathered for Dark Heresy gaming only, but im not sitting at my own computer right now so I can't write up a list from memory alone. But if anyone's still interested in exactly which songs I use and from what sources I'll be happy to summarize a list.

sure go ahead

I play in a pretty agressive party, usualy spending hours on a fight and minutes on the douwn-time.

We usualy got in the mood by listening to Manowar (gods of war album), but the GM and I are now busy on a more complete soundtrack too.

Up to now we've come up with this:

- For battle: Heavy metal, Folk/ viking Metal or power Metal, songs that have powerfull riffs or melody and a somewhat Epic sound (Manowar, Thurisas, Hammerfall, ect. )

- For moments of suspense: the song: coma - Apocalyptica.

- And we're going to let every player pick a theme song for their character.

Manowar, Hammerfall and Thurisas are great bands to listen to, when you have to get your party in a Fighting mood. The songs have powerfull riffs, melodies and lyricks. a few titles: Last man standig, Gods of war, Battle metal, Heeding the call and Once more.

Deesje said:

How could you forget Hand of Doom by Manowar in that list?

I mean, it's THE Warhammer song they have made.

We are high atop the mountain with hammers in the wind, lusting for blood and death again.

In a flash of lightning strike, now the house of death invites you, body and soul to come within.

I see the fear you have inside, you can run but never hide! I will hunt you down and tear you limb from limb!

Nothing shall remain, not your memory nor name, it will be as though you never, ever lived!

What about Battle Hymns?

By Moonlight, we ride!

Ten thousand, side by side!

With swords drawn, held high

Our whips, and armour shine

Hail to thee, our infantry

Still brave, beyond the grave

All have sworn, the eternal vow

The time to strike, is now!

Oops (I only have Gods of War album) I just listed songs that came to mind.

But since you guys posted them the damage has been repared.

Ow and I just foud the Dungeons and Dragons role playing soundtrack, it's a bit fantasy style but all instrumental and pure atmosphere music.

Hello All

I think I have a rather radical view on music in roleplaying sessions...When I was a player in our WFRP campaign, we used to listen to MANOWAR and other Hero Metal bands, but since I started to gm in DH, I have started to use the music both to set the mood, but also as a stress factor. I have just run the Red Cages using Nine Inch Nails' Year Zero and Ghosts albums, the music really stressed the players and helped bring out the stressing conditions their characters were in. Now I use Nox Arcana's Carnival of Lost Souls over and over again, of course I also break it up with other tracks, or else I too would lose my mind...

I have used or will use the following in my campaign:

Dawn of War II Soundtrack

Disturbed, except their debut album (I do not have their debut album).

Earth: Hex and The Bees made Honey...

E S Posthumus: Unearthed and the Cartographer

John Bergin: Traitor General Soundtrack

Nine Inch Nails: Year Zero, Ghosts, and The Slip

Nox Arcana: Necronomicon, Darklore Manor and Carnival of Lost Souls

I know it is weird mixture, but it works for my group Perhaps you can also use or be inspired by some of the bands above.

Several of the albums above, I have found due to this thread, so I would like to thank everyone who gave advices to their fellow players.

Buyman

PS I would like to recommend a Finnish viking folk metal band called Ensiferum, their music is perfect for battles

Simply for setting the appropriate mood via background music I cannot recommend the Eve Online soundtrack enough. It fits Dark Heresy perfectly and some of the tracks are available off of the Eve Online website for free.

Replicant253 said:

Yep, some tracks from Eve are actually quite good. However I don't know really how many of them really fits Dark Heresy (some of them are in my opinion a bit to "happy" and "high spirited" to fit the dark setting). Although almost the entire soundtrack could be used for Rogue Trader (since Eve Online is a game about space ships, the sound directors probably wanted "spacey" music, which will work equally well for RT).

Ok, here are the songs i found in my Dark Heresy soundtrack folder. They are listed by gamename or movie first, song name second and then description and recommendations for when to use it. All of the songs are without lyrics (except for the choir songs that is). Note that there are an abundance of horror-themed songs and this is very deliberate on my part, because I envision Dark Heresy being more of a horror RPG than an action RPG.

Fallout 1 - "Brotherhood of Steel" (has a pretty calm and monastic pace with military drum-rolls coming in towards the ending. Works perfectly for when PC's are interacting with Space Marines or Imperial Guard during briefing and non-combat situations)

Fallout 1- "Wasteland (desert)" (pretty creepy and desolate sounding song, works perfectly for dead worlds and... well "wastelands" of any sort)

Fallout 1 - "The Masters Lair" (an obvious remix of "Wasteland (desert)" but even more creepy, would work perfectly for situations where psykers or the warp are assaulting the PC's in mental ways)

Fallout 1- "Followers of the apocalypse" (mood-setting song. Could be used during that major "aha!-situation" where the plot unfolds and all the horrible answers about the nature of whatever the PC's have been investigating are revealed)

Fallout 2- "The Den (raiders)" (drums and rattles and a somewhat mystery-mood to the song, could work on feral worlds during encounters in the few civilised areas, or perhaps even underhive settings)

Fallout 2 - "Vault City" (this song has "Forge World" written all over it)

Fallout 2 - "Gecko" (this could work during similar settings like "Wasteland (desert)", but inventive GM's will probably find other uses for it as well)

Fallout 2 - "New Reno" (now this is the song for all underhive situations. Really sets that depraved mood with the threat of swift, criminal violence lurking around every corner)

Terminator 2: Judgement Day - "Trust Me" (scene setting song, works for when the acolytes are gearing up for war, or perhaps when their shuttle is setting down upon an extremely hostile world. Could also work when the Titans starts stomping in, apocalyptic guns blazing)

Devil May Cry - "Mundus II" (unfortunately a little rock/metal sounding but it could work for those really apocalyptic battles against huge daemons)

Devil May Cry - "Mundus III" (a continuation of "Mundus II")

Devil May Cry 2 - "DIVINITY STATUE 2003" (obvious ecclesiarchy song with beatufil choir voices)

Devil May Cry 3 - "Stage Music 9 (Demon World)" (the beginning sort of starts of like "DIVINITY STATUE 2003", but sounds a lot better. Really beautiful choir at work here. The rest of the sound has an ominous feel to it which I havent found any use for yet)

Aliens - "Atmosphere Station" (scary tunes from the second movie in the alien franchise, what Dark Heresy soundtrack would be complete without songs from there?)

Aliens - "The Unknown" (another fitting song from Aliens)

Silent Hill - "My heaven" (this is challenge for the psyche. This is what I'd use when the warp starts too spew out it's infernal creatures attacking the PC's. Stressful and with a lot of disturbing noises)

Silent Hill 2 - "The darkness that lurks in our mind" (Akira Yamaoka really is the master when it comes to psychologically disturbing noise. Works for several horror situations)

Resident Evil Remake - "Statue with a map" (this song really has the horror mood going for it. Works perfectly for investigations in hostile areas where monsters might be lurking. Really adds tension)

Resident Evil Remake - "Drainage" (just the simple sound of running and dripping water and nothing more. Good for when you need that kind of ambience sound without any music)

Resident Evil Remake - "Stained Ambience" (another ambience song where the only sounds recorded are howling winds and faint sounds of howling animals in the background. Works for many situations)

Resident Evil Remake - "Attacked" (combat music for horror scenarios. Stressful and pounding. Works best when an enemy just "jumps out" but is relatively easy dispatched)

Resident Evil Remake - "In the closet" (more horror combat, this makes for severe panic and stress)

Resident Evil Remake - "Underground" (well, what can I say, the name pretty much reveals the purpose. Works well for spooky tunnels and mines)

Resident Evil Remake - "Contaminated" (spooky and moody, with a sort of despair sound to it. Works for several situations, like when talking to that strange, possibly mad person you just stumbled upon in dark, supposedly abandoned places)

Resident Evil Remake - "Enrico" (more sounds of running water along with sounds of a trembling underground. two minutes in, ominous instruments starts playing and then fall silent)

Resident Evil Remake - "Lisa's Lair" (this song is great for horrifying cavern/mine exploration, has background sounds of dripping water along with a really creepy song. I used this for great effect during the scenario "Shattered Hope" when the PC's had just found the mutant infested area called "The Shatters")

Resident Evil Remake - "Lab Entrance" (another creepy song, nice atmospheric build-up at the beginning)

Resident Evil 0 - "The Leech" (another horror combat song. This one has really high stress-factor. People who've been playing Resident Evil 0 and met the creatures that show up during this song know EXACTLY what im talking about)

Unreal Tournament 2004 - "Infernal Realm" (for use at the traitors/heretics base or stronghold)

Unreal Tournament 2004 - "Slaughter" (could work as a battle theme to areas using "Infernal Realm")

Unreal Tournament 2004 - "Skaarj Assault" (orchestral song. Works for both space battles and for ground battles involving lots of troops and tanks)

Unreal Tournament 2004 - "Metallurgy" (a sort of metal/electronic hybrid. Usually a bit out of place in a Dark heresy setting, but it has a good tempo and could work during fast-paced combat situations, perhaps at fighting pits or gladiatorial combat)

Unreal Tournament 2004 - "Hyperblast Redux" (orchestral/electronic song. Could work during several situations, particularly chase scenes by vehicle or as another fast paced combat song)

Unreal Tournament 2004 - "HELL" (well, just look at the title of the song and figure it out)

There are more good songs to be found, but these are the definite ones that I have found use for or that I am going to use sometime during Dark Heresy gaming.

If you want to find them along with the rest of their respective soundtracks then these are the albums your supposed to look for:

Fallout 1 and 2 soundtrack, Terminator 2: Judgement Day Original Soundtrack, Devil May Cry 1, 2 and 3, Aliens original soundtrack, Silent Hill 1, 2 and 3, Resident Evil Remake and Resident Evil 0 (Zero), Unreal Tournament 2004 original soundtrack.

Note that i do not actively encourage piracy here, im just pointing directions. And whatever you do with that information is on your responsibility.

But if you are trying to find video game music or movie soundtracks using the internet, be sure to try out search words like: "Soundtrack" or "OST" (Original Soundtrack) along with the title you're trying to find.

A somewhat late contribution to the discussion:

Some highlights from my DH-playlist: (most of it´s available on e.g. Itunes)

• Age of Conan (game soundtrack): Feudal/ tribal world, WAR type stuff.
• The Dark Knight (movie sountrack): Hive world, ACTION/ SUSPENSE.
• Aliens 1-3 (movie soundtrack): Void/ spacehulk/ underhive. HORROR.
• Dead Space (game soundtrack): HORROR.
• The Last Winter (movie soundtrack): Frontier worlds. HORROR.
• The Dark (movie soundtrack): HORROR.
• Gears of War 1 (game soundtrack): Straight up KICK MUTANT ASS-type music.
• Max Manus (movie soundtrack): CHARACTER RELATION. SENTIMENTALITY. HEROISM.
• Valkyrie (movie soundtrack): SUSPENSE/ SENTIMENTALITY.

I also use stuff like Lustmord and Darkroom (the Fallout 3-album) for general ambience.

Keep on rollin´ em dice!

Not sure if this has been mentioned before, but I always find The Fat of the Land record by The Prodigy really suits 40k, for me at least . Particularly the track entitled Narayan (sp?).

I haven't used any music while GMing yet (I've only run one session so far), but I fully intend to use some of the suggestions from this thread next time.