Bloodborne: The Old Hunters (2015)
Composed by Tsukasa Saitoh & Yuka Kitamura
Arranged by Peter J. Tom-Wolverton & A.C. Menes
Video Editor: Eli Obus
Audio Engineer: Bill Rouse
https://billrouseaudio.com

Laurence, the First Vicar

“Fear the old blood… by the gods, fear it, Laurence.” So spoke Master Willem of Byrgenwerth College, and the scholar Laurence, even as he left the college, promised to remember this adage. But the temptation of the potential behind the old blood was more than Laurence and his cohort could ignore… and so they founded the Healing Church of Yharnam and spread the miraculous healing blood throughout the city, gaining power, prestige, and what they truly wanted: attention from the cosmos.

Laurence is an optional boss in the The Old Hunters DLC of Bloodborne. A curse has him trapped after death in the Hunters’ Nightmare, a realm meant to punish the blood-drunk Hunters of Yharnam. The music itself evokes a haunting atmosphere with a somber mood throughout the piece. The lyrics range from scholarly, thirsting for knowledge and the potential to surpass humanity, to scolding, repeating Willem’s warnings to fear the blood. In some ways, they form a prayer meant to honor the first Vicar of the Healing Church, while at the same time warning against his final fate… one of beasthood and flame. In the piece’s conclusion, there is a desperate ecstasy, as Laurence is depicted clinging to the blood as the one thing he can trust even as his soul falls apart from it. Listeners will notice the shrieking strings (and vocalists!) in a technique inspired by the orchestral works of Krzysztof Penderecki. A standout cello solo is a tragic moment of lucidity and relative calm before the tutti climax.



Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower

“A corpse... should be left well alone. Oh, I know very well. How the secrets beckon so sweetly. Only an honest death will cure you now. Liberate you from your wild curiosity.”

Of the many characters depicted in Bloodborne, Lady Maria is the most intriguing. She is consumed by guilt for a sin we, the player, are not yet privy to. In her story, a clock tower has been turned into a hospital/laboratory filled with desperate patients/subjects who willingly volunteered to undergo horrific experiments in a desperate attempt to communicate with the great beyond. However, this was not enough to assuage Maria's guilt, and she took her life at the top of the clock tower. Even in death, Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower is denied her peace and is determined to conceal the final secret of the Hunter's Nightmare from the player by any means necessary.

The music itself is an expression of Maria’s grief and suffering, with a distinctly gothic approach. Clarinets provide the main melody from the very beginning of the piece and weave in and out alongside the strings. As expected from a game with a horror-esque setting, the listener can expect a few “jump scares” with a sinister organ crying out in distress accompanied by wailing vocals. Though reflective of a tragic story, the music isn’t without its glimmers of hope; a standout moment of triumph echoes near the finale before fading out into a brief yet haunting solo from the contrabass clarinet. The famous Verdi Requiem served as an inspiration for this particular arrangement.

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