Crushing orchestral weight that sounds like stone walls closing in. Dark Souls redefined action RPGs in 2011 and Motoi Sakuraba's score is inseparable from that experience. Firelink Shrine is barely there, just a faint melody that somehow feels like the loneliest place in gaming.
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Then Ornstein & Smough explodes into this frantic layered choir and string assault that matches the most infamous boss fight in the series. Gwyn, Lord of Cinder is just piano. Solo piano for the final boss. It broke everyone's brain and it still does.
Great Grey Wolf Sif carries this tragic weight that hits different once you know the lore. Nameless Song over the credits is the kind of track that makes you sit in silence after. Essential listening for anyone who thinks boss music peaked in the PS2 era.