Awesome Music / Destiny 2

Continuing the trend set by the first Destiny, Destiny 2 boasts an impressive soundtrack with range.

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The Red War

• "Inner Light", the game's main theme. A reworking of Rise of Iron's main theme, it features a majestic and grand melody, while also incorporating the original game's main theme as a snippet. The last third of the song is an action-oriented variant of the theme, and gets to shine when you finally get to reclaim the powers of your character's class in the prologue ^note The Titan's Striker, the Warlock's Voidwalker and the Hunter's Gunslinger.
• "What We Fight For", the stirring orchestral theme that accompanies Zavala's narration in the cinematic trailer.
• "Journey", the sorrowful string quartet that permeates your escape from the City following its fall, hammering home your failure and its consequences. It's so emotional that it even drowns the sounds of your struggle as you are being pursued by the Cabal. It it reprised again during your return to the City, though this is meant to convey that your journey has come full circle. The choir version of "Journey" (sadly not included in the OST but can be heard in the Beta and randomly when opening the Director) is pretty much Destiny's version of "Ghosts of Reach," and somehow manages to be even more somber than both of its sources. A lot of this is due to the influence of the performing artists: the Kronos Quartet, a contemporary classical group known for their cinematic sounds.
• "The Farm", the background music for the titular social space. A safe haven from the devastation caused by the City's fall, featuring a soft and carefree ambience likened to The Legend of Zelda and Final Fantasy.
• "Nessus", a haunting One-Woman Wail that plays during your journey to the titular planetoid. It's spliced with eerie electronics that brings to mind the Vex's invasive influence on Nessus.
• "Resist the Legion", the orchestral piece that signals the presence of a heavy Cabal resistance, further reinforced by electric guitar and a chorus when nearing victory. Notably played during the boss fight with Bracus Zahn and, of course, your little trek in the EDZ's tunnels with the Drake.
• "Payback", another piece that plays in the thick of battle. It's a slow chant that rises as you defeat wave after wave of Cabal forces, not unlike "The Last Array" from Destiny.
• So, you thought that regaining the prologue's character class was exhilarating with "Inner Light"? "Be Brave", which instead plays when you regain the power of The Taken King's classes ^* The Titan's Sunbreaker, the Warlock's Stormcaller and the Hunter's Nightstalker, pushes it further by making you feel glorious as the brass and drums blare in your ears.
• Though an unreleased track, the Royal Pools encounter of the Leviathan raid features a fast-paced renditionof "Be Brave" that's also ornate with a regal orchestra, much like the raid's overall theme.
• "Forge Ahead", the song that plays when you're fighting your way aboard the Almighty, then take a teleporter towards its core, all while witnessing one of the most awesome views of the Sun itself.
• "Untold Legends", a track that originally went unused in the first game, makes its glorious in-game debut in the penultimate level when you're disabling and destroying the Almighty, either alone or with friends.
• "Dominus Ghaul", which plays during the final battle with the eponymous Cabal Emperor. Menacing, heavy, imposing, and even mixing "Cabal Stomp" from the previous game, it sounds every bit a harrowing battle with a mighty conqueror would. But when you have Ghaul on the ropes, it shifts to a heroic and triumphant overture. The tables have turned and the end is in sight. It is no longer Ghaul's theme, but yours. Cast down the usurper and save the Traveler.
• "The Last City", the theme for the rebuilt Tower as a post-story social space. It's a serene melody that underlines the fact that the City will slowly but surely recover after the Red War's end.
• "Hunted", the theme for when your Raid team is in the Pleasure Gardens to face off againt Calus' Royal Beasts, is foreboding and tense with soft drums that erupt into a choir and triumphant drum beats if you set one of them off. You'd better enjoy it since you'll be hearing it for quite a long time.
• Not released in the official soundtrack, but the theme for "The Taken" qualifies. While it doesn't sound quite as threatening as "Visage of Oryx", it similarly conveys the alien enigma these creatures pose.
• The unreleased background music on Titan is fairly impressive. Alternating between orchestral bits, ambient hive noises, techno sounds, human screams, and guitar riffs. All while in a perpetual storm over a methane ocean.
• Savathun's Song is another unreleased music when you fight the aforementioned boss, keeping up the high-pace chaotic Hive tempo.
• Hive Theme makes its return for whenever you get into heavy Hive presence such as the Public Events or Strike, what makes this interesting is that its a heavily remixed Temple of Crota music to be even more chaotic techno music that befits the Hive.
• The Whisper, a four-part track that accompanies the titular secret mission on Io. Each segment perfectly encapsulates one part of your tread into the rabbit hole hidden in the Grove of Ulan-Tan that Xol invites you to.
  • "The Grove" plays in the beginning, as you discover the Grove has been abandoned, along with a hidden ledge just above the entrance and a blight covering up a hole leading to the rest of the area.
  • "They Grow Louder" plays during most of the jumping puzzle. It's a series of chords that punctuates how vast yet surprisingly empty the Grove really is, even though most of the active machinery is still in operation.
  • "Echoes" plays once you reach the grassy chamber just below the surface, with an upbeat synth accompanying the newfound sense of discovery as you finish off the jumping puzzle.
  • "Reincarnation" plays during the finale, where you fight off three waves of undead Taken, led by some familiar faces from Destiny 1, in an effort to reach the end and claim the Whisper of the Worm for yourself. Although it's blatantly obvious that this part represents the Aspects and not you, repeated runs of the quest after getting the catalyst will beg to differ as the Whisper grows stronger from assimilating the Taken's strength in the area.

Forsaken

• "The Fanatic" is used in Forsaken as the Scorn's theme music and for the boss himself, an oppressive and harrowing theme with help from the brass to convey the danger of these undead Fallen.
• "Gunslinger", which exclusively plays in Forsaken's first mission as you quell a massive prison break in the Prison of Elders alongside Cayde-6. As your very first piece of introduction to the expansion, it is a daring, pirate-esque song that goes hand in hand with the chaos that ensues in the mission.
• "The Man They Called Cayde", which starts with a melancholic cello riff, then is followed by a Lonely Piano Piece; a perfect sendoff for Cayde-6's passing. The song then slowly picks up as the violins and brass start building momentum, culminating in a glorious chorus; an allegory to the player acquiring their third and final subclass path and unleashing its power for the first time.
• "Shell of What Was" plays during the Warden of Nothing Strike, where you must go back to the Prison of Elders to fight the new Warden. Who is it, you ask? Why, it's Variks' own High Servitor from all these years! "A remixed version" plays during the last encounter of the Last Wish raid where organs are added to make the song more ominous to reflect the dire situation that the Guardians are in. Spoiler warning as the video includes context for where it plays: the race to purify Riven's heart before it consumes the raid fireteam.
• The "Keep of Voices" serves as the overall theme to the story of the Dreaming City and Riven the last Ahamkara. Its overall tone is one of awe at the city but at the same time sorrow of what was lost on the journey there. Both Cayde's death and Riven's taking were catalysts that led to the Guardians appearing in the Dreaming City. It's used not only during the exploration of the Dreaming City, but also during the battle with Riven. The faster portion of the song is used during the final boss fight of the raid, where it plays when the Guardians begin dealing massive damage to Riven.
• "Watchtower" is the secondary theme of the Dreaming City, starting with a somber basso choir and unraveling into a majestic symphony, marking a shift from the Tangled Shore's space western to the Dreaming City's space fantasy. The latter, frantic half of the song is used as a boss theme for major Dreaming City encounters, notably the Voice of Riven and the third phase of the Vault Access in the Last Wish raid, which sneaks a variant of the melody alongside electronic beats.
• "Siriks, Loyal to Eramis", which plays during the boss fight of the Zero Hour mission where players can get Outbreak Perfected, has elements of "Journey" in it, amongst other parts of the soundtrack.

Shadowkeep

• "Eye of the Storm" plays on the way up to fighting Hashladûn, conveying a sense of urgency that makes fighting just that little bit more badass.
• "Hashladûn’s Fall", which plays during the fight atop the Scarlet Keep against the eponymous Wizard, has shades of Oryx's "Regicide" theme, bringing in an absolutely bombastic orchestra topped by the choir. Once Hashladûn does indeed fall, the final seven seconds of the track seals her defeat with a climactic crescendo.
• After being recreated by the Pyramids, Zydron gains the theme "Servitude" as his new Leitmotif, a dramatic yet melancholic piece conveying the titular sin he represents in the Nightmare Hunts and Eris's remarks that the Gate Lords are a lot like her in that they only continue to pursue what they consider the right thing out of their (programmed) Undying Loyalty.
• The battle theme for Sanctified Mind, Sol Inherent in the new Garden of Salvation raid from Shadowkeep is amazing. It's an otherworldly track combining electronic beats and bass with an eerily robotic-sounding choir, with hardcore guitar riffs kicking in once the boss's health is drained enough. Fitting for a battle against a titanic Vex monstrosity in the heart of the Black Garden.
• "Heretical Omen", the battle theme for Zulmak, the final boss of the Pit of Heresy dungeon, is a violent clash between Destiny 2's symphony and the Hive's rave motif, giving you little respite as you rush to kill the hordes of Hive protecting the Instrument of Torment. Once you manage to break Zulmak's shield, you are given around 50 seconds to damage him, with the main motif from "Be Brave" triumphantly cheering you on for that brief opening.
• "Hexahedron" and "Kell Echo" from the Prophecy dungeon provide a simply beautiful soundtrack as you solve the Nine's puzzles and discover their answer to your question of "What is the Darkness?"

Beyond Light

• The music for Beyond Light's Launch Trailer is as haunting as it is beautiful. Better yet, it's a cover of the Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black."
• Beyond Light's menu theme immerses you in the initially violent tone of the Pyramid motif, showing the prologue of our first proper encounter with a power of the Darkness, then varies between the tones of the Guardian and Europe, expressing the heroic quest for Stasis and its secrets.
• "Deep Stone Lullaby" is a somber piece that's as beautiful as the moment it plays, during the Deep Stone Crypt raid when the fireteam leaves an airlock to space walk to another part of the Morning Star. Its accompaniment of the sights of Europa and Jupiter really hammer home the fact that for the first time in the series history, you're truly fighting to save a planet from its complete destruction and witnessing the plans to do so be set in motion, and doing whatever it takes to get there.
• It's only fitting that your first encounter with Taniks Reborn features a reprise of his theme, now with the addition of some of the Darkness' Leitmotif to signify not only his working with House Salvation, but also the ties the Darkness has to both the House and the Deep Stone Crypt.
• "Look Within", the boss theme for the final encounter of the Deep Stone Crypt raid. The orchestra solidifies its presence around Beyond Light's motif, unimpeded by the House Salvation's own. Destiny's main jingle then emerges when it is time for your fireteam to inflict damage on Taniks, the Abomination.
• "A Remix of Dust Giants" is used as the boss theme for the final boss of the Proving Grounds strike and the Season of the Chosen overall. It boasts a heavy rocking guitar that is appropriate for facing the Champion of the Cabal Empire, Ignovun, Chosen of Caitl. What makes this even more awesome is that Ignovun knows that he faces an insurmountable challenge in the Guardians who can resurrect, and that his own final death is a likely outcome; despite this, he fights on. This theme reflects not only the challenge the Guardians face, but Ignovun's own sheer will to succeed in face of those odds. It also includes a sombre guitar solo of the Guardian theme if you win at the end.
• The compilation "System Collapse" plays when fighting the Subjugated Minds in Override and the Oppressed Minds in the Expunge story quests. It's a tense, distorted synth piece that includes the game's main theme, representing the heated conflict between the Guardians and the darkest depths of the Vex collective as their homes threaten to collapse from not only the constant fighting, but the subsurface tensions amongst themselves.
• The theme for the Grasp of Avarice Dungeon not only gives us a soundtrack worthy of a swashbuckling adventure, but is also composed of multiple different themes from the game, stitched together into one amazing track to celebrate Bungie's 30th Anniversary.

The Witch Queen

• "The Witch Queen". The expansion's title/menu theme, and a chilling, sweeping piece for the Queen of Deception herself, Savathûn, underlaid with the leitmotifs of Darkness and Light in places, highlighting the clash between the two forces and the Witch Queen's plan to transcend them to her own ends.
• "The Dethroned", the theme of the final confrontation with Savathûn herself, is the culmination of years of build-up to facing down the Witch Queen once and for all, with her themes from the expansion and Savathûn's Song being pushed back by "Guardian" and "Inner Light" as you slowly, but surely, chip away at her defenses until, shaken by the revelation that her entire life has been molded by a lie, she's finally left open for one last counterattack to put an end to her reign.
• "The First Disciple" serves as the backdrop to your showdown with the Witness' first Disciple, Rhulk, and this song drips with Darkness as you chip away at Rhulk's defenses, culminating in Destiny's main jingle emerging as you finally begin deal damage to him.
• "For Ketch and Crew", "With Full Sails", and "Captains and Cuttthroats" all serve as music for the Ketchcrash activity in Season of Plunder and captures the Space Pirate motif perfectly as you board the enemy Ketch do some serious damage to the Old Crews.

Lightfall

• "Lightfall", the title theme for the expansion, contrasts heavily with previous themes with its very somber, melancholy tone almost reminiscent of the original Destiny's music. The theme transitions into a Darkness-fueled rendition of the classic Cabal Stomp motif, oppressive and loud to represent the Shadow Legion and their approach to Neomuna... only to then transition into a positively ethereal vocal section, and a hopeful, almost triumphant rendition of Lightfall's "Strength" melody. Lightfall's title theme is a rollercoaster through and through, though it's one that very much sets the tone for not only the story itself, but the year ahead too, as we advance closer and closer to the end of the Light and Darkness Saga.
• "Distant Sky" is this expansion's Tower theme, which was incorporated into the game two weeks early as part of Season of the Seraph's finale. After Rasputin's sacrifice and the Traveler's departure from the Last City, this soft and solemn track serves to hammer in the hollow feeling washing over the Tower, as you stare out into the vast empty sky devoid of the Traveler's form... until you see the Vanguard, Imperial Cabal and House Light ships looming over the Last City, at which point the track turns somewhat triumphant, signifying that in spite of what we have lost, humanity and its allies still stand united to protect our home.
• "Battle Ready" oozes with '80s training montage music and serves as the theme for the second half of the "Headlong" mission as you hone your strand skills by swinging through the Vex Network.
• "Oneirophobia" ("The Fear of Dreams") is an appropiate name for the final track of the final encounter against 'Nezarec, Final God of Pain', the entity who commanded at first the Nightmares. It's a culmination of most of the mixes of Destiny, from the Cabal theme to the Pyramid and Guardian motif, all of them together embodying the battle against one of the most twisted Disciples armored with Light and Dark (with the new addition of the angelic tones of Lightfall).

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