A majority of ULTRAKILL's soundtrack was composed by Hakita himself, with the exception of several public domain tracks and a handful of guest artist contributions. The OST is available on Hakita's Bandcamp under the alias Heaven Pierce Her.
Much of the soundtrack is fast-paced metal or rock with breakbeat, mixed with some calm songs interspersed throughout. Many of the songs use MIDI tracks as a base, overlaying actual instruments to add depth, giving the game's soundtrack its classic yet modern feel. Frequently sampled by ULTRAKILL's songs is the Amen break, an insanely widespread drum sample that is frequently used in popular music.
The ULTRAKILL OST is divided into albums corresponding to each of the game's acts, plus addendum EPs released with each Prime Sanctum. The soundtrack for ACT I: INFINITE HYPERDEATH and ACT II: IMPERFECT HATRED are available now. Act 3's soundtrack will presumably become available after it launches.
ULTRAKILL: INFINITE HYPERDEATH[]
This album makes up the music of ULTRAKILL's Prelude as well as most of the music in ULTRAKILL Act I.
Released on Bandcamp and YouTube September 11, 2020.
Released on Spotify sometime in June 2023.
Number | Name | Other Composers | Duration | Appearances | Specific Appearances | Trivia |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | The Fire is Gone
(for Piano, Saxophone and Trumpet) |
2:40 | 0-1: INTO THE FIRE (Full Intro)
Main Menu |
Plays during the boot-up sequence | This song originates from the end of "The Fire Is Gone, and I Remember It Best: The Closing" by redherring, another musical alias of Hakita's. Though the clip is the finale of its original album, it instead is the opener for ULTRAKILL's soundtrack.
Originally used only for the intro, to contrast the chaos of the game with a slow, delicate start. It was then reused for the main menu as a placeholder in a later demo version, though it ended up fitting well enough that Hakita decided to keep it. | |
2 | Into the Fire | 4:00 | 0-1: INTO THE FIRE (Full Intro) | 0-1: Different parts play in different sections.
First section plays during the tutorial Second section while approaching the Piercer Arena. Third clip plays during the title drop. Fourth section plays through the rest of the level. 0-3: Fourth section plays throughout the mission. |
The tutorial ambience is an unreleased 2016 dark ambient track called "Maw", by Hakita. Parts of "Maw" were also used in the intro of "Threnody for a Mockingbird", by Heaven Pierce Her.
The title drop stinger samples a chord from an old, low-quality recording of "Mars, the Bringer of War" from Gustav Holst's Planets Suite. The clip is sourced from a later track, "Cerberus", which used to play in the earliest version of ULTRAKILL's intro. The slow-paced, bass-heavy segment in the soundtrack release originates from early experiments where the soundtrack adapted to the weapon in use, which was scrapped for interrupting tempo and combat intensity. The full unused bass version can be listened to here. | |
3 | Unstoppable Force | 3:36 | 0-2: THE MEATGRINDER | Though one of the riffs is often compared to "At Doom's Gate" from the Doom soundtrack, the similarity is purely coincidental.
An early version of this track's calm loop plays in the soundtrack version's intro. The full loop can be listened to here, and its unused combat loop counterpart can be listened to here. | ||
4 | Cerberus | 2:21 | 0-5: CERBERUS | First part plays until entering the Cerberus Arena; progresses once Cerberus awakens. Amen break is added once the second Cerberus awakens. | Cerberus is the very first song Hakita composed for ULTRAKILL, and can be heard in his very first dev video.
As aforementioned, this track samples a low-quality wax recording of "Mars, the Bringer of War" from Gustav Holst's Planets Suite. The guitar hits are reused from "Threnody for a Mockingbird", by Heaven Pierce Her. The intro is the main part of the song, slowed and pitched down. In-game it plays at 33% speed, but for the soundtrack release it plays at half-speed due to sounding better in isolation. | |
5 | A Thousand Greetings | 5:42 | 1-1: HEART OF THE SUNRISE | 1-1: Plays until the first enemy spawns.
1-2: Plays until V1 begins leaving the second floor with the Blue Skull. |
A section of a 2016 piece titled "A Thousand Greetings #2", by redherring. The soundtrack release uses the full song, since Hakita likes how it flows with the rest of the album. | |
6 | A Shattered Illusion | 3:04 | 1-1: HEART OF THE SUNRISE | Plays after the first enemy spawns | This song was made exclusively using samples from "A Thousand Greetings", Amen break drum samples, and a sine wave for bass. | |
7 | A Complete and Utter Destruction of the Senses | 2:08 | 1-2: THE BURNING WORLD | 1st part begins when V1 exits the second floor with the Blue Skull. Progresses once V1 enters the lower floor. | The song is rather loud and harsh, living up to its title. | |
8 | Sanctuary in the Garden of the Mind | 2:26 | 1-S: THE WITLESS | Track progresses every 2 rooms. | The song is made up of various ambient synth drones, all from a 2016 song called "She Slept on a Bed of Flowers", from the same album as "A Thousand Greetings". Some of these drones are also identifiable in the earlier 2016 track "What the Sea Left Behind", from the same album as "The Abyssal". | |
9 | Castle Vein | 5:40 | 1-3: HALLS OF SACRED REMAINS | This song is an homage to the musical tropes of the Castlevania series. Hakita identifies it as a turning point in finding ULTRAKILL's musical identity, shifting greater focus towards melody and chord progression. | ||
10 | Clair de Lune | Claude DeBussy | 5:01 | 1-4: CLAIR DE LUNE | The recording of "Clair de Lune" heard in ULTRAKILL is performed by Laurens Goedhart. An audible page turn can be heard around the 2:17 mark. Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata was another candidate for the theme of 1-4, but Hakita decided against it due to the composition's ubiquity. | |
11 | Versus | 4:11 | 1-4: CLAIR DE LUNE | The battle theme for V2. | This song has 3 layers of drums: the original MIDI drums, amen breaks added on top, and electronic kick and snare added to give more weight to the original drum patterns. | |
12 | Cold Winds | 4:13 | 2-1: BRIDGEBURNER | Split into two parts; the second part begins after V1 exits Tower A. | The beginning ambiance of this song is a "paulstretched" section of an old jazz song called "Sourire d'Avril" by Maurice Depret.
Outside of amen breaks, the song consists entirely of MIDI soundfonts. Hakita was going to record guitar for the song but decided against it. | |
13 | Requiem | 3:18 | 2-2: DEATH AT 20,000 VOLTS | Hakita had trouble starting this song before he decided to just constantly change time signatures. The song is typically either 4/4 or 5/8 with occasional 6/8 and 7/8 flairs. | ||
14 | Panic Betrayer | 3:53 | 2-3: SHEER HEART ATTACK | With this song, Hakita decided to go even further than Requiem with time signature changes. The warbled guitar heard is inspired by The Mars Volta. | ||
15 | In the Presence of a King | 4:12 | 2-4: COURT OF THE CORPSE KING | The battle theme for The Corpse of King Minos. | The ambient intro is a very heavily modulated version of the paulstretched "Sourire d'Avril" sample used at the beginning of "Cold Winds". The combat portion is a thick drone made from samples Hakita previously recorded, put together as an exercise in Plunderphonics techniques. Amen break percussion is added during the second phase of the main fight. | |
16 | Guts | 2:46 | 3-1: BELLY OF THE BEAST | The first half of the mission | This song is just Glory but slowed down by exactly 66.6%. The titles of both songs are a reference to the phrase "No guts, no glory." | |
17 | Glory | 2:09 | 3-1: BELLY OF THE BEAST | Begins after entering the Glory Gauntlet | Glory is based on one of Hakita's multiple failed attempts at the climax of 2-2's track: Requiem. The final result has an added piano and is extended slightly. | |
18 | Bach: BWV 639 "I call to you, Lord Jesus Christ" | Johann Sebastian Bach | 2:30 | 3-2: IN THE FLESH | The song is simply a MIDI version of Bach's BWV 639. | |
19 | Divine Intervention | 2:36 | 3-2: IN THE FLESH | The battle theme for Gabriel | The song was originally going to be much longer and reincorporate sections of BWV 639, but the current rendition looped so well that Hakita decided to keep it. | |
20 | Disgrace. Humiliation. | 1:50 | 3-2: IN THE FLESH | Plays shortly after the player exits the level, accompanying a lore based cutscene. | ||
21 | Take Care | Russ Morgan Orchestra | 2:59 | Varied | The New Blood splash animation
The Shop Terminal, the Cyber Grind Settings Terminal and results screen, "Thanks For Playing" development endscreen |
The song is entirely sampled from the song "Were You Foolin'" by the Russ Morgan Orchestra. The aged sound of the track is a reference to "Everywhere at the End of Time" by The Caretaker, a music project that explores memory and its deterioration.
The first loop (sampled from 0:08 to 0:37) is used by all yellow Shop Terminals, while the second loop (sampled from 2:05 to 2:34) is used by the blue Cyber Grind Terminal and in the Cyber Grind results screen, as well as the "Thanks For Playing" Early Access endscreen that appears when the player reaches the end of the currently-released campaign levels. The version of "Take Care" that plays in the Cyber Grind Jukebox loops the first (0:08 to 1:06) and second (2:05 to 3:03) instrumental sections three times before finally playing one loop of the vocal segment (1:06 to 2:05). |
22 | The Cyber Grind | meganeko | 4:30 | The Cyber Grind | Available by default from the Cyber Grind Jukebox | Originated as a mood piece for meganeko to sketch out the sound he might do for ULTRAKILL. Hakita ended up liking the prototype track a lot and felt it was perfect for an endless survival mode, so the two decided to flesh out the mood piece into a full song and Hakita made an entire gamemode to use it in. |
23 | The Fire is Gone (for Music Box) | 2:50 | Secret Missions | The Testament Terminals, the Sandbox Terminal, and the secret Sandbox Terminal | This song originates from the bookends of the album The Fire Is Gone, and I Remember It Best, by redherring. Fittingly, it too bookends the ACT I soundtrack. |
ULTRAKILL: CHAOS/ORDER[]
An addendum EP comprised of music added to Act I in the Soul Survivor Update.
Released on Bandcamp and YouTube April 13, 2021.
Released on Spotify sometime in June 2023.
Number | Name | Other Composers | Duration | Appearances | Specific Appearances | Fun Facts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | The Spinal Staircase | Maurice Depret | 1:27 | P-1: SOUL SURVIVOR | Plays during the level's initial segments and becomes more and more corrupted the more V1 descends the staircase. | The song within the ambience is once again "Sourire d'Avril". Unlike Cold Winds and In the Presence of a King, the sample here is the 1906 original recording of the waltz. |
2 | CHAOS | Quetzal Tirado | 2:18 | P-1: SOUL SURVIVOR | The battle theme for Flesh Prison. | There is an early version of this song that can be listened to here. It utilized many more MIDI instruments than the finished product. The bass clarinet and soprano saxophone heard in the finished product were played and improvised by Quetzal Tirado. This song utilizes changing time signatures just like 2-2 and 2-3. |
3 | ORDER | 7:00 | P-1: SOUL SURVIVOR | The battle theme for Minos Prime. | The song contains leitmotifs from Requiem, the song that plays in 2-2. These leitmotifs also bear resemblance to the song in 3-1, Glory, which is itself a scrapped version of Requiem's climax. | |
4 | Sunshine (Mirage) | 2:28 | 2-S: ALL-IMPERFECT LOVE SONG | Parts of this song are used across the entire level. The first upbeat melody plays during the introduction of Mirage. As Mirage's existential dread is revealed, the song distorts, then fades into static. The final choir segment plays as Mirage's dread is resolved by the player. A distorted version of the first part plays at the end of 5-S. | The upbeat melody used in the song mimics the typical cheery soundtracks used in a visual novel dating simulator. |
ULTRAKILL: IMPERFECT HATRED[]
This album makes up most of the music in ULTRAKILL Act II.
Released on Bandcamp and YouTube September 2, 2022. Standalone Greed OST released on Bandcamp July 2, 2021, taken down with the release of the full Act II soundtrack.
Released on Spotify sometime in June 2023.
Number | Name | Other Composers | Duration | Appearances | Specific Appearances | Fun Facts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | [Insert Disc 2] | 0:33 | Plays when transitioning from Act I to Act II, and Act II to Act III. | This is not really a theme, just an ambiance track that mimics the process of inserting a second disc, something people had to do in the past when a game released its parts on multiple discs. According to Hakita, the sounds were recorded from an actual PlayStation 1 console. | ||
2 | Dune Eternal | 4:39 | 4-1: SLAVES TO POWER | There is an early version of this song that can be listened to here. The song's title is a reference to the game DOOM Eternal, a fast-paced FPS that bears many resemblances to ULTRAKILL. | ||
3 | Sands of Tide | 3:54 | 4-2: GOD DAMN THE SUN | There is an early version of this song that can be listened to here. In addition to electric guitar, some acoustic string instruments and woodwind instruments are added in. | ||
4 | Dancer in the Darkness | 3:37 | 4-3: A SHOT IN THE DARK | First part starts to play after lighting the first fire. The second part starts to play after lighting the first fire in a room with four rising pillars. The final part starts to play during the final arena. | The song utilizes stereotypical "cave" instruments used in many crypt-style levels in other retro games. This first and third part of the song also utilize changing time signatures (10/4 and 5/4). The first section is an homage to Steve Reich's "Clapping Music", and the church organ climax was inspired by soundtrack of Warhammer40k: Mechanicus. | |
5 | Duel (Versus Reprise) | 5:53 | 4-4: CLAIR DE SOLEIL | The intro plays during the build up to V2's fight, with segments transitioning at each jump pad. The main segment plays when the battle begins. The outro plays from the moment V2 meets the ground with the V2's leitmotif disappearing once V1 is halfway across the final area. | Contains leitmotifs from "Versus", for obvious reasons.
The low drone at the start of the intro is once more a paulstretched sample from "Sourire d'Avril", even slower than the versions used in the Lust layer, and plays until the first jump pad is taken. This version of the drone also plays in the Sandbox when the "Time of Day" setting is set to heavy fog. The intro's main drone plays upon taking the first jump pad, and was made with (a soundfont of) an instrument called the Tanpura. The "bass" guitar kicks in when the second jump pad is taken (on either branch of the path), and is actually the original guitar intro from Versus played at 50% speed. This one is the loudest songs in the soundtrack as Hakita found that mixing it with normal levels made the song too weak. | |
6 | Deep Blue | Quetzal Tirado | 5:21 | 5-1: IN THE WAKE OF POSEIDON | Two parts. The main part after the intro starts after entering the area with three pedestals. | There is an early version of this song that can be listened to here. The main piano section is from the 2016 song "The Abyssal" by redherring, played at double speed with the original pitch maintained. The second section fuses clean guitar patterns from "What the Sea Left Behind" with a low piano riff from the 2014 song "Last Train to Denver" by Hakita. This is one of two songs in the soundtrack with live saxophone instrumentals, performed by Quetzal Tirado and edited by Hakita. |
7 | "He is the Light in My Darkness" | 3:31 | 5-2: WAVES OF THE STARLESS SEA | Notably, music in a level that lacks any backing track for its majority; this is reflected in the album version with a short vignette of environmental ambience. The slow melody starts playing only after the ship is raised. | There is an early version of this song that can be listened to here. The first phase of the Ferryman fight has 7/4 time signature to mix things up; as the second phase starts and the player gains the upper hand, the track transitions to an even 3/4 time signature. | |
8 | Death Odyssey | 8:30 | 5-3: SHIP OF FOOLS | There is an early version of this song that can be listened to here. There are some usual shenanigans with time signatures that change from 3/4 to 5/4 midway. The song makes obvious use of MIDI instruments that is especially apparent during the non-combat part. | ||
9 | Death Odyssey (Aftermath) | 3:16 | 5-3: SHIP OF FOOLS | Sister composition to Death Odyssey, after the ship capsizes and keels over. Has multiple parts. The second part starts when the door to the hologram room opens. | Very melancholic, as compared to the other track. Fitting. | |
10 | The Abyss and the Serpent | 4:26 | 5-4: LEVIATHAN | The intro reuses the same bells and chimes from the start of "He is the Light in My Darkness", being played at different speeds and layered on top of each other as well as reversed. It is also one of the few tracks in the game to feature pipe organs. Amen break percussion is added during the second phase of the fight. | ||
11 | Chord of the Crooked Saints | 8:26 | 6-1: CRY FOR THE WEEPER | Heavy, distorted drones from first half of the level. Different layers of sound phase in and out as the player progresses. | Brrrrrrbrrr. | |
12 | Altars of Apostasy (incl. "Hall of Sacreligious Remains") | 7:40 | 6-1: CRY FOR THE WEEPER | Plays upon dropping into the outdoor section of the level. "Hall of Sacreligious Remains" plays in the final combat encounter. | Very strong combination of strings and electric guitar. Altars of Apostasy features the return of the leitmotif from 3-1: BELLY OF THE BEAST. Hall of Sacreligious Remains is a reference to 1-3: HALLS OF SACRED REMAINS in both name and melody, which is fitting given the blobs of fun that await. | |
13 | Fallen Angel (adapt. Bach BWV 639) | Johann Sebastian Bach | 1:59 | 6-2: AESTHETICS OF HATE | Plays at the beginning of the level. | Very heavy use of cleric pipe organs, along with chimes. This is a stripped-down arrangement of the intro in [ 3-2: IN THE FLESH ], reflecting Gabriel's loss of all he stood for. |
14 | The Death of God's Will (incl. "Horns of Insurrection") | 5:12 | 6-2: AESTHETICS OF HATE | Plays as soon as you start fighting Gabriel. | Hakita began writing "The Death of God's Will" nine hours before the ACT II update was slated to release, and finished composing and soundfonting the piece in four hours. This early version was used in the game from versions 11a to 11c (which can be listened to here), and used MIDI guitars as a placeholder for Hakita's guitar and bass recordings. The live instrument recordings and audio mixing for the final version were done the night before the release of the ACT II soundtrack, or around three days after the release of 11c. This final version replaced the placeholder in version 12a.
"Horns of Insurrection" samples a clip from the end of a 2014 dark ambient track called "A Blinding Light Shattered The Stars", by Hakita. | |
15 | Silence. Introspection. | 1:45 | 6-2: AESTHETICS OF HATE, cutscene after Gabriel fight. | Cutscene music. | Despite the title, this piece is, in fact, not almost two minutes of silence. | |
16 | 7th Symphony, 2nd Movement: Allegretto | Ludwig Van Beethoven | 3:26 | 6-2: AESTHETICS OF HATE, cutscene | Plays after Silence and Introspection. | An excerpt for the piano. |
ULTRAKILL: PANDEMONIUM/WAR[]
An addendum EP comprised of music added to Act II in the Wait of the World Update, plus "The song that plays in the level colloquially known as 4-S" which was excluded from the Act II OST release due to its tonal dissonance from the rest of the album.
Released on Bandcamp and YouTube March 18, 2023.
Released on Spotify sometime in June 2023.
Number | Name | Other Composers | Duration | Appearances | Specific Appearances | Fun Facts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Intro (Weihnachten Am Klavier) | Adolph Gluck | 1:00 | P-2: WAIT OF THE WORLD | Plays during the level's initial segments. | The song samples "Weihnachten am Klavier", with periodic, unsettling distortions. |
2 | PANDEMONIUM | 03:30 | P-2: WAIT OF THE WORLD | The battle theme for Flesh Panopticon. | There is an early version of this song that can be listened to here. Shares its main riff with its predecessor theme, CHAOS. | |
3 | WAR | 6:25 | P-2: WAIT OF THE WORLD | The battle theme for Sisyphus Prime. | The song contains leitmotifs from Sands of Tide, the song that plays in 4-2. | |
4 | Lakeside Songbook | 07:19 | 5-S: I ONLY SAY MORNING | Parts of this song are used across the entire level. | The part that plays depends on the amount of fish the player has caught. | |
5 | The song that plays in the level colloquially known as 4-S | 2:28 | 4-S: CLASH OF THE BRANDICOOT | Final part also plays during the rocket race in Developer Museum. | The song is in Dorian mode. About two minutes in, the time signature switches to 3/4. | |
6 | Tenebre Rosso Sangue | KEYGEN CHURCH | 03:53 | P-2: WAIT OF THE WORLD | Plays after clearing the first enemy encounter. | The Calm loop features piano and the Combat loop predominately uses organ and blast beats. The title translates as "Blood Red Darkness" in Italian, befitting the city streets where it is played. |
ULTRAKILL: GODFIST SUICIDE[]
Music that plays throughout ULTRAKILL Act III. Currently, only music from the Violence layer has been released, with more to come. Thus, this list and its ordering is subject to change.
Violence OST released on Bandcamp December 21, 2023. Relased on Spotify in the first week of January, 2024.
Number | Name | Other Composers | Duration | Appearances | Specific Appearances | Fun Facts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | The World Looks White | 2:38 | 7-1: GARDEN OF FORKING PATHS | Plays after entering the labyrinth, stops after picking up red skull. | ||
2 | The World Looks Red | 6:39 | 7-1: GARDEN OF FORKING PATHS | Plays when the first fight starts. Ends after falling down a deep hole. | Contains a motif from Order. | |
3 | Bull of Hell | MandaloreGaming | 3:42 | 7-1: GARDEN OF FORKING PATHS | The battle theme for the |
Several things to note here.
|
4 | Do Robots Dream of Eternal Sleep? | 2:15 | 7-2: LIGHT UP THE NIGHT | Plays in the Starting Area of the level. | A reference to the novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick. | |
5 | Hear! The Siren Song Call of Death | 5:19 | 7-2: LIGHT UP THE NIGHT | Plays for the rest of the level. | Was originally called "Hear! The Siren Song Call of the Dead". Has time signature switches (e.g. 5/4 and 7/4). Also contains motif from Death Odyssey. | |
6 | Suffering Leaves Suffering Leaves | 2:18 | 7-3: NO SOUND, NO MEMORY | Plays after feeding the first red tree. | ||
7 | Danse Macabre | 3:35 | 7-3: NO SOUND, NO MEMORY | Plays after first free-for-all fight begins. | Danse Macabre translates to "Dance of Death" in French. This song also includes time signature switches with 3/4, 4/4 and 25/4 being present. Also contains motif from Panic Betrayer. | |
8 | War Without Reason | 6:48 | 7-4: ...LIKE ANTENNAS TO HEAVEN | Starts to play after leaving the entrance corridor. The most dynamic music yet. Subsequent different parts start activate during following events:
1. After Earthmover gets distracted by another Earthmover for the first time. |
Does not contain a motif from Requiem. |
Unlisted Music[]
The following tracks are songs that are present in ULTRAKILL, but not in any current release of the OST:
- Theme of Cancer: Battle theme for the Cancerous Rodents, the Mysterious Druid Knight (& Owl), and Big Johninator.
- Take Care ~ Prime Terminal: Another loop sampled from "Were You Foolin'" (from 2:34 to 3:03), used by the silver-and-gold Terminals found at the end of Prime Sanctums.
- The Fire Is Gone (Halloween): Plays in the Main Menu while the system clock is set from October 25th to October 31st.
- The Fire Is Gone (Christmas): Plays in the Main Menu while the system clock is set from December 22nd to December 28th.
- The Fire Is Gone (Easter): Plays in the Main Menu while the system clock is set from Good Friday to Easter Sunday.
- the cerberus room (feat. A Ferryman): The rising drone that plays in the infamous first room of [ P-2: WAIT OF THE WORLD ], repurposed from an alternate version of the main drone in "Chord of the Crooked Saints". The drone uses a Shepard tone to give the illusion of a continuously rising pitch.
- Erik Satie - Gymnopédie No. 1: Plays in the 5 YEARS of ULTRAKILL video in the Developer Museum. The particular performance used is by Robin Alciatore.
- Music for Virtual Museums: Plays in the Developer Museum.
- KEYGEN CHURCH - UltraChurch: One of three default music tracks for the Cyber Grind. Was originally a bonus track awarded at the end of Part 1 of the P-2 ARG.
- HEALTH - HATEFUL: One of three default music tracks for the Cyber Grind. Its inclusion in the game was the single's premiere release. An instrumental version has also been made available as of the Violent Night Update.
- Theme of Dawg: Plays inside of the Earthmover's brain where the ActionDawg plush is, hence the name. Also used in the official New Blood Game Launcher.
- The ambient track, sampled from a song "Take A Look At Molly", that plays at the beginning of 7-3 until the tree is fed.
- After Hours: Plays 7-S after the player starts using cleaning tools.
Upcoming Music[]
None so far...
Technically the rest of the music for Act 3.
Trivia[]
- Several of ULTRAKILL's songs reuse material and occasionally wholesale tracks from Hakita's previous works.
- Part of Hakita's stated goals with the ULTRAKILL soundtrack is to have experimental music that is made accessible to general audiences by the contexts in which they are used in-game, and consequently lead them to good music in genres they might have not given a chance otherwise if not for their inclusion in the game. This is inspired by the Silent Hill soundtrack, which despite being primarily dark ambient industrial noise music is fondly remembered by fans due to being an integral part of the game's experience.[2][3][4]
- Due to being bad at playing the drums, Hakita makes frequent use of Amen breaks sourced from packs he found online. For instance, "A Complete and Utter Destruction of the Senses" makes use of the Creek Break and Bibop Break from a free pack titled "Amen Breaks vol.3" on Rhythm Lab.[5]
- The development video previewing rocket surfing (and the accompanying Twitter bonus clip) features a MIDI rendition of Goldfinger's "Superman", a song popularized by the video game Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. The video's description offers an ULTRAKILL-themed parody of the song's first verse.
- The Twitter announcement for Act II makes reference to the Swans song "Screen Shot".
- Most of the songs in Act 1 are generally between 2-4 minutes, while Act 2 varies between 5-8 minutes.
- Into the Fire, Unstoppable Force and A Thousand Greetings are the only songs in the game to play in more than one main level.
- Sunshine (Mirage) and The song that plays in the level colloquially known as 4-S also appear in both another secret level and the Developer Museum respectively.
- This does not apply to any themes that play on terminals.
- Hakita, redherring, and Heaven Pierce Her are Arsi Patala's artist pseudonyms, made to separate the different styles and production processes of music he releases under different names, so that his audience knows what kind of music to expect when they see a new release under a particular name.[6]
- Ironically, ULTRAKILL's soundtrack was originally released under the Heaven Pierce Her name to boost attention to the game via his Heaven Pierce Her audience, but the game's popularity instead ended up completely overshadowing the following for his old music.
- Hakita now releases all his solo work under Heaven Pierce Her, since the name has stuck.
- "Heaven Pierce Her" is a corruption of "heaven piercer", from the phrase "your drill will pierce the heavens themselves" from Gurren Lagann.
- In January 2024 interview, Hakita mentioned how he is reluctant to add separate music tracks for 0-3 and 0-4 due to fear that they would sound out of place or overproduced.
- The poses the Mannequins assume in the Violence cover art spells out the word "GAY" in flag signals. This is a reference to the fact that the majority of ULTRAKILL's fanbase is gay.[7]
References[]
- ↑ TWITTER /// @HakitaDev - "Always found the 204-207 range of Bull of Heaven really interesting..."
- ↑ In The Keep Podcast - #58 Hakita Returns (ULTRAKILL) (45:20)
- ↑ ULTRAKILL Developer Commentary Stream with Hakita and PITR (2:49:20)
- ↑ ULTRAKILL Developer Commentary Stream with Hakita and PITR (2:56:25)
- ↑ Amen Breaks vol.3: Creek Break, Bibop Break
- ↑ ULTRAKILL Developer Commentary Stream with Hakita and PITR (2:26:14)
- ↑ These mannequins are spelling "GAY" in flag signals - r/ultrakill