Scariest Music Track From Ultimate DOOM ( PC Version )

[Lost_Soul]

Hey guys! With Halloween being just around the corner now let's have some more spooky fun with DOOM! Hahaha!!

 

Warning: May Contain Spoilers

 

When it comes to game music that is designed to be fear-inducing, some of the first titles that will invariably be mentioned are the famous "Resident Evil" and "Silent Hill" franchises ( and rightly so ). But what about DOOM? I always felt that the spooky songs from DOOM were rather underrated for what they were at the time of release. I'm not even gonna bother with DOOM II because it did not have the same spooky atmosphere that the original had despite the bigger bestiary roster with additional monster types. I think the devs did the music wrong on DOOM II. I actually felt terrified as a child when certain tracks would play while navigating through the dark corridors of Episode 1 and then later the hell textures in the backgrounds of Episodes 2 & 3. I usually played it on the easier difficulties before working my way up to "Hurt Me Plenty!" Very seldom have I ever played vanilla DOOM on "Ultraviolence". I would consider myself to be a fairly skilled player but I was never really a pro at using berserk packs very well like certain Doomtubers such as Big Mac Davis; this created problems for me once I made it to Episode 2, to the point where I was eventually forced to dodge some of the extra Barons that this difficulty adds to the maps due to shortage of ammo. And no, I was not well versed in using monster infighting as a tool at the time ( even though it's mentioned in the manual - I did read it ). On rare occasions the AI would also do something unexpected which would have a similar effect to a jumpscare. The most memorable happened to me once on E2M7 Spawning Vats...inside the Baron Room ( the one that always appears there ) -- this one actually happened after I had cleared this map in other marathon play sessions, having already somewhat learned the layout and where the enemies are found. Long story short, instead of me spotting him where he was supposed to be, the Baron was the one who found me instead! That was brutal! I'll save the details of that story for a different thread but it was nuts.

 

Now back to the main idea of this thread...which song in vanilla DOOM is truly...the most disturbing? There are several worthy contenders for that honor. "Suspense" ranks very high ( especially being the first one used ), "On The Hunt" was perhaps the most startling with its more dramatic intro, and then there is "The Demons From Adrian's Pen".  For me personally...out of all the tracks in the game that made my skin crawl, I honestly do not think any of them outspooked the track "They're Going To Get You" from Deimos Lab ( E2M4 ). This song absolutely scared the bejeezus out of me. I literally spent weeks ( maybe months ) building up the courage to play that map all the way through even though I had done it on some console ports before at that point already ( the PC version of the map having slight differences ). That was how powerful that this horror tune was at setting the tone for me. If anyone was actually scared by "Dark Halls" on their first play then you probably weren't ready for this game. I also didn't include "Nobody Told Me About Id" in the choices but I would even consider that one to be scarier than the Toxin Refinery Theme. The theme used for the battle with the Cyberdemon at the end of Episode 2 is vaguely reminiscent of the opening of that 70s film "A Clockwork Orange" - did anyone else get those vibes from that track?

 

Oddly enough, I think the SNES version of the E2M4 Theme is perhaps the best version of it despite being a vastly inferior console port of the game...

 

 

SNES Version ( Extremely Dark! )  :

 

Spoiler

 

 

Which song from the original DOOM do you consider to be the most unnerving and why?

[TheMightyWhoosh]

I went with E1M5s “Suspsense”, with E2M4s "They're going to get you" coming in a close second. 

[volleyvalley]

E2M4 is the first level I consider the first scary level in the original Doom, and for a good reason.

 

The first time I made it to E2M4, it was already nighttime, so I was playing in the complete darkness, except the light monitor of course, and it's MIDI in OPL3 format made the level more unnervning and sinister than it was before.

 

And for that first experience alone, I pick: "They're Going To Get You"

[Async Unicorn]

They're Going To Get You, definitely, especially in OPL3 because of the buzzing in the background, and I think Suspense is also a creepy track, kinda in style of George Romero movies.
As for other tracks - it varies, some of them are catchy actually.

Edited October 13, 2023 by Vanilla+Unicorn

[thiccyosh]

Spookiest? "They're Going To Get You". Scariest? "Sinister".

[Lost_Soul]

7 hours ago, thiccyosh said:

Spookiest? "They're Going To Get You". Scariest? "Sinister".

 

Interesting choice. The creepiness and menacing tone of "Sinister" certainly cannot be denied.

 

7 hours ago, Vanilla+Unicorn said:

As for other tracks - it varies, some of them are catchy actually.

 

This is actually true. My personal favorite was, "I Sawed The Demons". The AVGN actually did a skit where the eponymous character complained about the Playstation port's absence of those metal themed tracks. The Playstation DOOM had so many horror tracks that it made it much more difficult for any one song to stand out alone as the most terrifying, although most people seem to think Hodges' "Mt. Erebus" and "Geryon" Themes were the pinnacle. And honestly...I think I agree.

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 14, 2023 by Lost_Soul
fixing

[Psychagogue]

Maybe it's just me, but I've never considered "On the Hunt" remotely scary or unsettling. I've always thought of it as fast-paced, upbeat, even kind of "cheerful" to some extent? Agree about the rest though. 

Edited October 21, 2023 by Psychagogue

[Sonikkumania]

Definately E2M4.

Fun fact, when you play the main riff on guitar you'll have an believable black metal song.

[Lila Feuer]

E2M4 is surprisingly unsettling, as many times I've run through that level I always get low-key anxiety, it also has a lot of effective traps and strange side areas. You can tell it's a very converted part of the Deimos base, much closer to hell than previous locales.

Edited October 21, 2023 by Lila Feuer

[Cutman 999]

Sinister is pure dread, that's why i consider it my favorite doom 1 track. Like there's nothing close in the iwad music to capture that feeling, except horizon from tnt.

Edited October 23, 2023 by Cutman 999

[Maximum Matt]

And I think we have to talk about how these tracks may have a bit more impact to them when they're not used more than once in an IWAD - that they evoke the 'feel' of a certain level that is not 'shared', if ya know what I mean.  So (not counting Episode 4), of the tracks featured above, only E1M5, and E2M2, 4 and 6 are completely unique in Doom I - that may be a factor in some people feeling that Episode 2 is the creepiest one.  

(And of course, stupid me decided to vote for the E1M7 track, that despite its oppressive and plodding sound that I really like (kettledrumsfuckyea), is the only track featured in every episode. I guess I would pick E2M2 or 6 for best 'unique' Doom track.) 

^{(also, Tower Of Babel track should be an option)}

[Lila Feuer]

@Maximum Matt A similarly odd case can be made for Heretic as well where episode 2 has a lot of music you don't hear in any other part of the game, not even episodes 4-5, the red sky never got reused or the sliding ice flat.

E: I'm a FOOL who's stumbled into my own BUFFOONERY, episodes 4 and 5 literally copy the music order of episodes 1 and 2, but the SKY and ICE still stands!

Edited October 23, 2023 by Lila Feuer

[TheCarsEdge]

when i first played doom last october i got stuck really easily in episode 2 maps

so you know, i have pretty bad memories of both they're gonna get you and sinister

 

sign of evil is more cool than scary or unnerving

[netcurse2000]

Sinister

[Somniac]

They're Going to Get You. Its a great piece of quiet and suspenseful music, the barely audible high-pitched strings patch in the background, the plucked cellos that sound like creeping round corners, the dissonant sounding choir harmonies, and the bass drone towards the end all add up into this subtle but unnerving piece that builds on itself really well as it progresses.