Game Composer Breaks Down GRIMM from HOLLOW KNIGHT

I'm slowly learning more about Hollow Knight music. Today's lesson was: HK music can be VERY surprising. If you haven't seen my other Hollow Knight videos, they're over here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uTcGHliPoc&list=PLOVEmfXEEAUB0YPkuVn1PGy0Mhdzwsrfa&index=1

One of the rare times Christopher Larking pulled out drums in Hollow Knight :D It's so different yet manages to fit the game and the battle so well

If you love this theme, youd adore his other theme, Nightmare King

“Disturbing” yet “glorious” is a very apt way to describe Grimm. Despite being so clearly inspired by Dracula and have a sinister appearance, he isn’t a villain. He is a performer who wishes to please the crowds. Yet he doesn’t want the praise and glory all for himself. He wishes to share it with the main character. “Dance with me, my friend. The crowd awaits. Show them you are worthy of a starring role.”

One of my absolute favorite transitions , it's like Grimm himself is getting into it

One of my friends described this song and his other theme perfectly as a “rock opera”

The mantis lords have an amazing theme that i think you’ll like

This song teally makes you heart beat go wild while dodging

Listen, if you liked the suspense and glory of grimm, the radiance's theme is where its at. It truly makes you feel what the game wants you to feel, a pipsqueak fighting THE SUN.

Nightmare King is basically what I would consider a phase 2 for this track where Larkin really emphasises on the terror. And it works wonderfully. Fight as a whole keeps you on your toes the entire time as minor slip ups can so easily cascade into loss of rhythm and panic inputs. Truly my favourite fight in the entire game, maybe along with Mantis Lords.

I know a lot of people are suggesting you listen to more boss themes but I would highly recommend giving the song White Palce from the Hollow Knight OST a listen. It is really beautifully composed and I feel often overlooked as it appears in a very noisy area in the game.

bro was really using hive blood in a boss fight

Man, i suggested this before but screw it i'm gonna do it again. You really should do a video on Soul Sanctum. Based on the reaction to the Baroqueness and that sinister organ quality of this piece i imagine you'd really like Soul Sanctum.

Yes! This is one of my favourite tracks. You also break things down so well, even though I don’t understand music theory.

I love seeing a composer reacting to this theme because the guitar drop always makes their chins also drop 💀 it’s by far my favourite hk song and boss/area of the game in general

Glad to see more HK songs! Its cool to see someone who actually knows what they're talking about react to something

Yes! Gosh this theme rocks and your analysis is making me rethink this theme again. Grimm as a character was inspired by a ton of things, he is like a circus leader, but also a spooky bat monster who likes to sup on the remaining fire of dying kingdoms. And the whole fight is supposed to be a dance sort of. Grimm is testing you if you are worthy to help him complete his ritual. So he fights you in his troupe tent and as you fight him an audience of his followers watches you and there are some cool theatrical details in the fight, like whenever you stagger him he turns into a bat for a bit and then returns with a drum roll followed by audience cheering and when he does a certain big attack the music goes full rock like in the second half of this theme for a bit as the whole arena lights up for the duration of the attack. But this fight is just a small taste of what's coming, once the ritual is nearly finished the last act is to defeat and actually kill Grimm himself in his true form "The Nightmare King" and that fight has its own theme titled "Nightmare King". "Nightmare King" has a bit more going on than this theme I think and it would be interesting to hear your thoughts on it. Thanks for the video, made my evening!

Troupe Master Grimm is my favorite boss to fight. He's a fun fight to learn.... but have yet to even fight his Nightmare King variant, which makes him faster, more aggressive, and adds trails of fire to his attacks. Thinking on it, Grimm is a bit like Hollow Knight's version of Dracula from the Castlevania series. He even takes on a similar stance to what Dracula does when throwing out his fire balls.

You could do a whole series on every Hollow Knight track and it probably wouldn't get boring. "Hornet" and "Mantis Lords" are also heavily baroque influenced, as is "Soul Sanctum" - a foreboding ambient track that seamlessly transforms into boss battle music. The ambient tracks are great in their own right - "Greenpath", "Crossroads", "Crystal Peaks" are all beautiful pieces, creating unique atmospheres with their own sense of progression. And hearing "City of Tears" for the first time in the game while descending into the titular metropolis was a magical moment that made me fall in love with Hollow Knight. There's just too much great stuff to choose from. :)

I love this sooky theme. I actually listen to this song on loop when I do my homework because nothing is scarier than my homework and it psychs me up haha