Searching for gloomy music

[Jacque]

Hey all,

In the near future my players will meet a fairy like organisation/society based on theatre, carnivals, festivals, fairs and such, focusing on luring victims into sins and mischiefs. To make the session more enchanting I want to create a music playlist with appropriate gloomy mystical music. Does anyone have any suggestions for appropriate music?

I've found music like Hedwig's Theme from Harry Potter to be somewhat suitable - at least the first 20 seconds of it or so.

[Shinizak]

Hey all,

In the near future my players will meet a fairy like organisation/society based on theatre, carnivals, festivals, fairs and such, focusing on luring victims into sins and mischiefs. To make the session more enchanting I want to create a music playlist with appropriate gloomy mystical music. Does anyone have any suggestions for appropriate music?

I've found music like Hedwig's Theme from Harry Potter to be somewhat suitable - at least the first 20 seconds of it or so.

Nox arcana, anything by them. especially music box.

[Frozen_Feet]

When I think of gloomy, the first thing I think of is bands like Viikate, but I think they might not have the mystical edge you're looking for. E Nomine might be closer to mark.

[Shadowleaf]

Gorgol Bordello

[Angry Bob]

Gloomy Sunday.

[SillySymphonies]

(...) a fairy (...) focusing on luring victims into sins and mischiefs.

The soundtrack of Coraline seems appropriate: [sample].

Ghost in the shell's intro music may not be exactly what you are looking for, though it is mystical and somewhat gloomy.

EDIT: Witchyworld's theme from BanjoTooie seems to fit the 'creepy carnival' theme.

[The Big Dice]

Creepy carnival? Years Ago by Alice Cooper should fit the bill perfectly.

[Ormur]

The soundtrack from The Ninth Gate.

[Tiki Snakes]

Nox arcana, anything by them. especially music box.

Nox Arcana - Music Box
I'm going to go ahead and second that.

[Telonius]

"Black Chamber," by Blind Guardian, particularly the revised track from Forgotten Tales. (At work and can't link to youtube).

[Force]

Kielo, by Battlelore. It's an instrumental.

[TroubleBrewing]

Bohren & Der Club of Gore. They're a German "Black Metal" band, which is not at all what it sounds like. Imagine jazz music being played by corpses. It's a personal favorite of mine during Call of Cthulhu, Savage Worlds, Vampire, basically anything that needs a "gloomy/classy" vibe.

Also appropriate for the carnival theme is one of my favorite bands of all time, Murder By Death. (Ignore the video. It's totally unrelated to the song, it was just the only video I could find that wasn't a live performance of the song.) This song in particular (The Organ Grinder) is perfect for a "dark carnival" vibe, but the entire album (In Bocca Al Lupo) will work.

[Ramza00]

There are many songs from Chrono Cross that would fit the bill, and since there are almost 3 hours of music on that soundtrack it would be easy to pick a few songs out of the 67 offered.

Lost Pieces

[BraveSirKevin]

The original Ghostbusters score by Elmer Bernstein is full of the right mix of gloom, creepiness and theatricality. Ghostbusters II's score, also by Elmer Bernstein, adds even more.

A more subtle kind of gloom can be found all over the Dark Knight score, particularly in piece like "Harvey Two-Face" or "I'm not a hero"

[aldeayeah]

Some Final Fantasy 6 music can fit the bill.

Kefka's Theme (not so gloomy)
Another world of beasts
Phantom Train

[Jacque]

Awesome feedback, guys. I haven't heard all of the proposed yet, but Nox Arcana is definately great for my purpose!

[Dr.Epic]

Requiem for a Dream

[Cieyrin]

Look into anything by Midnight Syndicate, they specialize in making gloomy background music and even did a D&D soundtrack a couple years back. Born of the Night and Realm of Shadows probably fit you bill best. You can find a lot of it on YouTube if you want to sample through.

[Radar]

If theatre and such are in the picture, I'd venture into classics:
- this particular waltz by Khachaturian has sort of a "decadent fall" feel to it (it would really fit as the music being played on the sinking Titanic, if it wasn't written way later),
- you can't go wrong with Wagner either,
- for a particularly disturbing scene you can amplify the mood with a very famous part from Mozart's piano concerto (such contradictions can work to great effect). His Requiem is an obvious choice as well, but not as a contrast.

Aside from that, Danny Elfman might be the right composer for the task.

Some games like The Witcher have distinctively dark soundtracks.

Some other unrelated tracks worth checking:
1, 2

edit: fixed some bad typos and such.

[Swooper]

I've gotten some mileage out of the soundtrack from Pan's Labyrinth.

Also: Portishead.

[TechnOkami]

If this isn't gloomy enough for you, then I don't know what else is.

[Fax Celestis]

Camille Saint-Saens, Danse Macabre. Even the NAME is gloomy. Enjoy.

[Radar]

If this isn't gloomy enough for you, then I don't know what else is.

This reminds me of Dead Can Dance.

Music I've overseen earlier:
Tom Waits,

[Jarveiyan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QHxzGDbop4 , this good enough? It's called Lilium and is a very depressing song in my opinion.

[wizuriel]

seconded for midnight syndicate

http://youtu.be/MHLwwscxpl0