Hey, I have a lot more videos on Hollow Knight music over here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/o7mcjb1yyJqcco0.html&pp=iAQB

This song is so underlooked compared to some of the other songs in the OST. Also the way Davi analyzed this theme was spot on.

Fun fact: many of the mistake and folly enemies arent even aware of their condition, or their circumstances. Like, when you dream nail them (an item that lets you read a bug's thoughts, basically) you get a blurb like "did it work?" and other similarly unaware statements.

It's honestly astounding how Team Cherry managed to get the entire idea and lore of the sanctum squeezed in to this song, and your incredible ability to unravel the message within, leaves me starstruck every time. The soul sanctum is a place where the soul master and his followers experimented with soul magic to combat the infection, thinking "if the disease targeted the soul, having multiple would prevent their minds from being taken over." This of course led to THOUSANDS of citizens to die in order to get what they thought enough, however souls aren't meant to inhabit more than one body, leading to some members mutating into the mistake and folly enemies. But those who did manage to survive, had all their research go to waste, the king shut the experiments down and they all ended up being infected anyway.

Lore time! Soul Master was the head of the Soul Sanctum and during the countless experiments he discovred a method for stopping the infection. He discovered that by attaining a "pure focus" (noone is sure about what that is) you would become immune to the infection. But attain a pure focus required absorbing a great amount of souls, which would be extracted by living bugs. But absorbig that amount of souls you risked becoming a formless blob (the thingies in the Sanctum). The Pale King prohibited these experiments, but in his delusion the Soul Master didn't listen, probably because the infection already got to the Sanctum. And so they continued in their research, hoping that one day they would be free, but all was in vain.

Dude, with the thumbnail alone I can tell you nailed it. “Delusion” is the exact way I would describe this song, and this area as a whole. I love how you’re able to determine these things so quickly. Okay, I just watched the video, and realized you’ve played it before. Still, I’m keeping this, because I know you’d still have called it, even without playing the game first.

This track always creeps me out, even more than deepnest. In deepnest the intention is clear that the place is supposed to be creepy, but Soul Sanctum tries to hide that some messed up stuff is happening

This is one of my personal favorite area osts in the game right next to greenpath. If only i could listen to it in peace.

I never noticed the same melody because I was drawn to the harmony in Soul Sanctum, and the melody in City of Tears. And I'm someone that likes listening to a song over and over again to find hidden things in the music

Oh wow, I’m more used to fighting the bosses in the pantheon, so I forgot/didn’t realize how the Soul Sanctum theme _turns into_ the Soul Master’s. Excellent. I’m no music expert, but this really feels like it completes the piece.

8BitMusicTheory made a great point when saying that Hollow Knight's Soundtrack feels like it's one big piece of music that evolves as you explore. I very much agree, given the strong use of leitmotifs and the fact that many pieces are rather lowkey and atmospheric, making transitions to other music relatively smooth. I am also glad to see that I'm not the only one who does that fist pump thing when listening to epic music.

I actually had to remove this song from my Hollow Knight playlist the first time I fought the Soul Master because I was so sick of hearing it. 😂😂😂 Thankfully, I can enjoy listening to it again now. It's beautiful and the haunting melody fits perfectly in the Soul Sanctum.

5:20 Didn't realize two of my fav video game dungeon themes share the chord pattern, wow👏

Just to let you know, there is a cut lore tablet that confirms that the "goal they wanted to achieve" is something called a pure focus, which according to the soul tyrants dialogue after being defeated, would help them get immunity from the infection and other powers

8:35 feels to me like the strings are symbolizing our protagonists attacks while the heavy drums and the choir are the ones from the soul master. The masters attacks are relentless and constant while we are way more adaptive and agile to what’s the master is actually doing. He is the base for all of this going on in that OST. He is able to set the tempo while we just go with it and carefully maneuver between and around his heavy moves.

now when you see the source of their pain, and hear the anguish of their voices, you understand the relation back to the city of tears

This is easily my favorite song from Hollow Knight. When i got to the Soul Sanctum, i just stood there listening to the music for some time. So Davi... when are you going to play this on a church organ for us?

I loved this area so much. It made me weep! They all tried so hard to cure the curse of The Radiance thinking to extract the souls would do it. Those poor people all lined up to be drained. The corpses upon which we walk in that game makes it so intense too. The lore of this game is so intense it is deserving of its love. I wish you luck doing the part to get to the Radiance, I know I have done it and kinda wanna do it again XD...It was so good my poor redbull brain was overstressed and my thumbs talc'd up to not slip XD I feel this song especially in its second phase is giving me Godskin Apostles a bit too, same grandeur and madness and religious righteousness. I am so glad you are playing these games. They really are masterpieces.

Finally I needed more hallow knight music

The transition to Soul Master's theme happening so smoothly made me ascend, because it is ons of my favorite bosses and one of my favorite themes. Side note you should do the theme of the Broken Vessel

Soul Master is one of my favorite bosses

What a tale this track conveys! It started with the earnest experiments initiated by the Soul Master and his adepts in order to fulfill the mandate of the Pale King, the joys and sorrows of their journey, where for every success they spawned a hundred, a thousand horrifying failures in their pursue of the true power of soul. How their fanatical devotion to the goal given to them by the Pale King spurred the Soul Master and his adepts to disregard more and more the ethics of their studies, until they fell into a precipitous spiral of insanity as they climbed to the heights of ever more unstable power. A journey which, nonetheless finally culminated in abject failure as they still fell to the curse, which gained some of its most unyielding zealots, ready to carry on their endless pursuit long after it had gone beyond not only its original, lost purpose, but beyond the outer reaches of madness. And the battle theme of the second half, with all its cords that convey just how far gone the Soul Master became, are not the culmination of his story, but the final, violent death knells of a once proud and mighty scholar, lost beyond sanity in the obsessive pursuit of his unattainable goal. A truly majestic symphony that depicts the tragic plight of the souls of the Sanctum, lost, broken, corrupted.

Muito feliz de ver um brasileiro compositor reagindo e analisando essas músicas incríveis com tanta precisão e maestria!!! Parabéns, Davi Vasc!!

I love this theme because it is both an area theme and boss theme in one. Which is also annoying if you ever want to listen to one or the other in the OST.

Ayyy I loved Soul Sanctum music ngl. It was considered one of my most underrated tracks. Also, please do Risk of Rain, a dive on Coalescence!

As an All Radiant player, I love that you do these.

Underrated track, ngl. One of my favorites of the soundtrack!

This soundtrack gives me chills and goosebumps every time, I love it. It's unsettling and beautiful at the same time

Two other Underrated Tracks your really need to listen to are: Dragonslayerarmour and champions gravetender from DS3. The Second one is in my Opionion the most underrated track, Fromsoft ever created.

Incredibly graet vid as always :D ! Also i suggest listening to "Resurrections" from Celeste. Really one of the best tracks in game in my opinion.

YES!!! Been waiting for you to listen to this one. One of my favorite tracks

The word I would use to describe the "mysterious" chord (or suspended chord) is liminal. Much like a liminal space, a liminal chord is a chord that exists between the realms of existence, in an space not meant to be occupied for too long by conscious presence. The chords are liminal in that they are "in between" the others chords they lead to and from, and they provide a tension that wants to be released, not usually meant to be lingered upon too long. So, much like photos and art of empty liminal spaces, songs where these chords are the main theme feel... liminal. In the realms betwixt reality. And there is a sort of peace, there, a peace of being free of all the burdens of normal reality, the promise being able to just fade away into a void... Christopher did a stupid good job capturing this.

I'd love to hear your thoughts about The Collector and the wonderful way that it twists the leitmotif of Decisive Battle.

I absolutely love how much meaning you can find in every piece of video game music you cover. Do you think you’ll ever look at the music of portal 2? It also has some interesting parts in my opinion.

Finally! I've been begging for this since your first HK review! So many things I never noticed

Hell yeah, one of my favorite themes in the game

Me gusta que este temazo tenga que ver con las almas, porque es nuestra habilidad fundamental para terminar con nuestro viaje.

I strongly feel that a large pull of the soundtrack of Hollow knight is how deeply intertwined it is with the world itself. It feels as much a part of the world as the art and level design. So much so that without it and the lore of the game you miss so much connection. I almost feel listening to the soundtrack without the game is a disservice to whomever is listening to it. Thank you for going through these songs. I feel like understanding them helps me understand the world of hollow knight better.

I'm just hyped that you played it :) :) :)

As always: great work! 💕

1:12 I had basically the same exact reaction when I first played the game and heard that bit haha

Epic & Awesome! Great break down! Thank you Davi!

I know it's been a year, but I have something to contribute. If you're familiar with the lore of the Soul Sanctum, this boss theme could easily represent a scientists' desparation and failure to solve a problem. Disturbing byproducts, glimmer of hope, failure, success, success.. failure, back to square one. He's stuck in a loop of obsession seeking that one eureka moment that ultimaly pans out, one that never comes.

Man i'm so curious and can't wait to see you listen "slave knight gael" from dark souls 3 !

When you mentioned the mysterious chord you contrasted it to the happy/sad chord. I would've loved if you elaborated more and gave examples. As always, awesome video, loved it :)

I’m not sure if there is a small resemblance or I’m just imagining things, but that rise and decent seems like it’s in a lot of different boss tracks but mainly it reminds me of radiance a bit.

Fun fact, the organ at the begging that continues for the whole song is also the melody of the dungeons in the first game of legen of zelda

I just wanted to thank you for making these kinds of videos, you're great at describing the emotions in songs while making it entertaining and engaging, and it really makes my day how enthusiastic you seem to be about music. I've always found music theory interesting, but over the past year your channel has helped me get into it more. Thank you for being you!

The first time I got to the Soul Sanctum, I stayed focused more on the music, its so calm, yet so emotional. One of the thinks I love in videogames its when the level/world/stage theme its also part or a leitmotiv of the boss theme. One example that comes to my mind its also Galaxy Mage Amulvaro's theme from Death's Gambit and his stage level (I recommend you to hear the soundtrack as well, its really beautiful).

glad you made this video. its one of my favorite hollow knight songs

I've listen to this song a bunch of times. Great music!

Eyyyyyyy covering my favorite HK song now!!! _YOU DIDN'T LET IT FINISH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO_

wow.. it's amazing how just music can tell such a vivid story

I’m all my years of playing hollow knight i never actually knew that both ost’s were the same just goes to show how well team cherry planned this game

I played Hollow Knight without searching nothing about the lore because i got lazy and without time to play and started viewing video lores about games. I was trying to find something new. My first playthrough of HK was on my job vacation pretty chill until i reach soul sanctum. I dont know why but the lore about the entire kingdom being victim of a disease never really hitted hard. The game has cool art and even when the i heard the Shade music for the first time, it never really hitted how sad that is. I explored literally everything that is possible before reaching the City of Tears. I was making sure nothing was left behind even when everything that i wanted was to see the so-talked city. The city impression to me was great. The statue of the Hollow Knight, that cool wanderer npc, the city itself. This whole thing was constructed under a lake. Everything could go wrong anytime and screw it. 😂😂😂 I have a kind of bad luck that i always choose the "right path" when in a crossroad on games, i always entered the area just to mark on the map that new area. Soul Sanctum was the path i choose after much thoughts about where to go. The exact moment i heard the piano after that little silence moment everytime the music changes, i got caught on it. I stopped moving and started to listen the music, trying to figure out the music, because it was different of every theme until now. The first organ that start playing got me like (hmm, i like organs, it is going good.) When the strong ones came to play, i got chills. My whole body stiffened. I was playing full laid back on my chair, relaxing and vibing the game. To me that was a just a fun game to play when doing nothing, a beautiful and fun game. I saw the bodies through the background and was like "wtf happened here? are these shells? they changed shells? But the song is terrifying, it cant be this. Are these bodies? When everything got so dark?" I could not stop myself from going futher and exploring, i wanted to know what happened there. And when i discovered... Damn... I changed position to sitting the moment i decided to move again, i felt that the game said to me "Its time to play serious". Died like 10 times to Soul Master. My heart going crazy when i killed him. This moment onwards i started loving the game and played it like crazy. All pantheons and replayed to do the other path of quests like Grimm one. I started playing Vigil The Longest Night after Blasphemous (i played it too in my job vacations, finished 3 times in a row, i personally loved it more than HK) but I had to stop playing the game nearly the end, i plan on playing it again. The music is pretty good. I love the menu theme. The music's name is Vigil: The Longest Night. Give it a try. About Blasphemous, Su Beso de Plata Redux is the best by far to me.

All the music from Hollow Knight fucking kicks ass so hard

Oh wow I never realized it was the same melody as Cost. Great catch

>Sees "Delusion" in thumbnail *_correct_*

OMG mind is blown. I never made that connection with City of Tears.

OMG Zelda dungeon theme and soul sanctum!! I’ve never noticed!!

My favorite Hollow Knight ost track

OMG so spot on with the legend of Zelda reference!

Super cool that you played the game. I would love to see an Omori playthrough whenever you feel like making another. It's an Earthbound descendant like Undertale

That's a great description Considering the leader of the sanctum, the soul master went completely delusional and insane in order to fight the infection and killed thousands to absorb their souls

Was waiting for it

When I made it to the soul sanctum my first thought was "wow this place is beautiful." Then I heard this theme and I thought "oh something's wrong here." And i was super creeped out. Then I read the hunters journal entry for the mistakes and I was like "oh God something bad happened here" then I beat the soul master and suddenly everything made sense. Then it took like 20 tries to get the hell out of there

I don't know if you'll see this but I love seeing these kinds of videos! as a pianist and an avid HK enjoyer, thank you so much! If you're doing more, can you please do either Gods & Glory or Truth, Beauty and Hatred.

Even though I already know all of this, the way he’s reacting to it makes it so cool

Worked all night to give my school work in 2 hours, thanks for the video Davi :)

This theme is one of my favorites! Thanks for analyzing it!

Fantastic analysis as always. I love listening to you talk about the different chords and the way they mesh together, and hearing music like this often reminds me of themes I'd otherwise look over-- I'd forgotten just how amazing these tracks were until you showed up in my recommended videos again, haha. Video game music is some of my favorite just because of how versatile the tracks can be. You can find a track for almost any mood. It's really awesome to see your enthusiasm for these themes and to hear you explain the brilliance of them in a way I can understand. Thank you for sharing.

There are parts of Mantis Lords theme in Soul masters theme here and there, sounds interesting

All the music in game tells a story this is a sad story

One of my favorite tracks from the OST! So good to see people talking about it

This is honestly my favorite piece of music in the game, really cool you've covered it, detailing a lot of the reason I adore it

I too found the similarity to Zelda Dungeon OST striking!

One thing I noticed was that the bits near the end (of the Soul Master's part) shares some similarities with the main Hollow Knight theme (It's like bam......bam.........(extra pause here)........bam bam bammmmmm bam).

I've been waiting for this one!

I do have to suggest this song. I've been saying "The World Revolving" for a bit. I've changed my mind. You need to hear "Chaos King". Yes, it's still a Deltarune song. I just love Deltarune and Undertale

Soul Sanctum is my favorite area of the game. This song is one of the biggest reasons for it.

Another great video! I love being able to take a deeper look at my favorite songs through your videos

I really apreciate these kinds of videos, because they make me apreciate music i love more. Even as a oerson who is not a musical genius your simplfications of the music helps a lot.

This is definitely one of my favourite themes. Soul Master theme hits haaaard

Your analysis is superb, you should give the track of grey prince zote a shot as well. It's pretty cool

Hollow knight has some of the most fantastic songs I’ve ever heard

Im just now finding this and Pure Vessel is my favorite track in the game. Its very similar to Sealed Vessel but has a completely different tone

I'm gonna enjoy it very very very much. This is track so majestic yet dark, spooky and of course evil.

Holy...I know you'd already played the game, more or less knew the story, and all that. Still, the connections you made were amazing. I was particularly impressed by the twisted version of the City of Tears theme and all that you got out of the organ. I just thought it sounded cool!

Have you seen the video of someone playing the Soul Master boss theme over the Radiance boss fight? It works. It genuinely works.

I need to catch up on your vods! Your knowledge of the lore is lovely

Why i always want Davi review right behind you or dream of crueltiy from tf2

The song hit harder then the boss itself

pride and religious is definitely how you'd describe the boss of this area

Woah more hollow knight

Davi, when people say it is an amazing skill to be able to decompile music like this, you said any music composer could do this and thats true but that doesn't make it any less amazing. As a top 2% tetris player i can achive feats people could hardly imagine but for me it feels extremely natural and "easy" in a sense. So take it from me, its really cool what you can do, whatever that means anyway i just like watching people analyze stuff whether it be tetris, chess, music, tone indicators, how people talk, bug anatomy, video game bosses, story and plot structure, video game endings, etc.

First time seeing one of your videos. You're so enthusiastic and passionate about what you do, keep it up! ;)

The first time I heard the soul sanctum theme, it really reminded me of the Light Of The Seven theme from Game Of Thrones.

The soul sanctum is actually just a slowed down city of tears

wow I didnt notice it's city of the tear bgm

I do like to hear you say you have started playing the game the music you're analyzing is from