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If there’s one thing you ought to know about me, it’s that as soon as any sort of folklore is put into a videogame, I’m there frame one. More so if it’s in a horror capacity. So, when Bramble: The Mountain King, an action adventure horror game inspired by Nordic folklore, was released in 2023 it’s no surprise that my entire personality became based around this game for a good few months after playing.
Welcome to Soundtrack Sunday, where a member of the PC Gamer team takes a look at a soundtrack from one of their favourite games—or a broader look at videogame music as a whole—offering a little backstory and recommendations for tracks you should be adding to your playlist.
But as much as I adored the world Bramble: The Mountain King built, alongside the beasts both big and small that inhabited it, my obsession with the game wasn’t just restricted to playing it. It didn’t take long, but its soundtrack became my go-to for things like working, commuting, or whenever I wasn’t sure what to put on. You might be sitting there wondering how the soundtrack of a horror game could become such a consistent fallback for me. After all, aren’t they designed to induce fear? The answer is a mix of both yes, and no. Sometimes you just need a melodic playlist to accompany your mundane tasks, and Bramble offers exactly that.
It’s not just about tense, droning strings that keep your shoulders next to your ears and your jaw clenched. Don’t get me wrong, this soundtrack does feature plenty of that which is perfect for all your moody, rainy days spent daydreaming out of the window. But, there are plenty of tracks which somehow trigger a hopeful feeling despite the bleak setting of the game, and it’s easy to get lost in the enchantment of its melodies without having to even play the game for yourself.
A track for every mood
Created by Swedish composer Martin Wave, alongside Dan Wakefield, an English composer based in Norway, Bramble: The Mountain King blends tense strings with harmonic vocals that perfectly balance out into a soundtrack that is so haunting yet still so motivational. Although it’s just one component of what makes Bramble: The Mountain King such an impressive game, it’s undeniably the most prominent factor in immersing you into its story.
If you’ve played the game, re-listening to the soundtrack on its own easily takes you back to exploring its endless woodlands and wondering what folk horror waits around the corner. But if you haven’t, the best way for me to describe its audio design is by asking you to imagine what you think a woodland party with gnomes and fairies would sound like, before a creature from your worst nightmare comes and interrupts.
It’s by no means a small soundtrack either. Taking another of my favourite indie horror games as an example, Little Nightmares—a game with a reasonably sized soundtrack of 24 tracks—Bramble boasts an impressive 75. Of course, these aren’t all epic ballads, and while there are some incredibly impressive boss battle themes threaded throughout such as Näcken’s Polska and Skogsrå’s Labyrinth, there are plenty of more subtle melodic tracks that would accompany the sections where you’re just left to explore in the game.
My favourite track, Blomstertid, strays from the traditional minor chord melodies and opts for something a little more hopeful. Pairing an optimistic backing track composed of major note, droning strings layered with almost angelic vocals by BJOERN, every time I listen to this tune I’m reminded of the sequences in the game where Olle, the little boy you play as, realises that he may be able to save his sister from the trolls after all.
Just as you feel like you’re being swallowed by the nightmares of the twisted world you’re essentially forced to make your way through, this track is always there to remind you why exactly you’re doing it in the first place. If you’re fans of artists like Aurora, and game soundtracks like Journey and Sky: Children of the Light, then Blomstertid could easily make its way into your daily rotation.
If you want some alternatives outside of the standard, bleaker tracks, then I’d thoroughly recommend Gnome Pond, The Gnome Village, and Spark of Courage. All three give off a folky, tavern-esque vibe perfect for milling about and doing your chores.
Though if you want something to make you feel a little more tense and give you the push you need to get something done, Fairies & Trolls, Coless The Butcher and Skuggrotta offer more of that traditional horror game vibe. Basically whatever mood you’re in, there’s probably a track on the Bramble: The Mountain King soundtrack that perfectly suits it. It’s no wonder I’ve listened to it more times than I’ve played the game.
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