Those who've been following my
Battlegrounds project from the early days might remember that originally I had chosen as Pathfinder theme Two Steps From Hell's "Strength of a Thousand Men":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIxas0a-KgMThat was a perfect theme for Pathfinder, but soon after Paizo announced its
Strength of Thousands Adventure Path, and that screwed me over since now "Strength of a Thousand Men" obviously had to become this campaign's theme.
Ever since, I've been looking for a replacement Pathfinder theme, with no luck. The problem with many of these nu-epic tracks is that they're VERY SPECIFIC in the kind of story they're telling. Every piece of music tells its own story, and what I needed for the Pathfinder theme is an extremely broad piece in terms of the narrative it projects that could encompass not merely an adventure or a campaign, but an entire WORLD. And Pathfinder is the grandest fictional world ever, the scope of its metaplot is awe-inspiring. So when Two Steps From Hell puts out a sizzling track called "Archangel" for example, or "The Colonel", or whatever, I can't use this stuff. This stuff can only be used in very specific situations and scenarios within certain campaigns; it absolutely cannot go at the very top page of the overworld. What I needed was a composition that totally overwhelms all the others, not so much sets them aside but SWALLOWS them and quiets them down and incorporates them. What I needed was a piece of unquestioned epicness that towered over all the others.
So after months of fruitless research, I had come up with nothing. Disgusted with myself and running out of time (as I am about to unveil my overworld very soon), I finally just entered "Pathfinder epic music" into the YouTube search. Hilariously, the second result was a "Powerful Heroic Adventure Epic Music" piece titled... "Pathfinder".
Pathfinder theme: "Pathfinder"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG8BFGddn-EMy first impression was "meh", but I played it over a couple more times just to make sure because you never know; music can grow on you, and the better it is, the more time this can take. And so it did. Every time I listened to it I appreciated it a bit more, and by the third or fourth time I was being blown away with every listen until I was saying "This is it. This is Pathfinder."
I think the reason I didn't catch on immediately were the folksy sounds at the start. I think they deceived my brain into thinking the track's scope was small, and since I was looking for something truly grand, really of gargantuan scope, I think my ear just gave up and wasn't really paying attention beyond that.
Now every time I listen to this piece, I hear, "Now sit down and let me tell you of the grandest story ever..."
It's not a complex piece, because it shouldn't be. It's a, let us say, meta-piece. It only tells you "This is Pathfinder", not the story itself. It's a
signpost to the story, an enormous billboard, and then you have to go closer and look deeper, and then you'll see the tapestry of campaigns with their interweaving plots and complex themes. And that's where you get involved and decide what will happen. But at the level of "Pathfinder", you have no choice: others have designed this world, and the design is "Epic Fantasy": precisely what Sami J. Laine's "Pathfinder" turns into music.
Incredibly, the piece has been on YT for two years with only 24K views, which is basically a crime. I could put 24K views on it myself, I am already listening to it 20 times a day. The composer has his own YouTube channel and he also hosts the piece there (but his background image isn't good for my purposes, so I won't be using this version). Incredibly, THAT version has been up for THREE years with 8K views! Nigga The Cult's videos almost get more views than that lmao, wtf. I was about to write a long post to that effect in his comments, but in the end I deleted it all and just posted:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h4lFP8 ... AC14AaABAg★★★★★