Beginning as a PS1 title that initially flew under the radar in 1999, the Silent Hill franchise grew over the years into a cornerstone of the survival horror game genre – and while it laid dormant for the last 12 or so years, the success of the 2024 Silent Hill 2 remake has brought the IP back into the public consciousness. An especially important component of the series is its consistently fantastic soundtracks – what follows are the arguably best tracks from each of the mainline game releases.

My Heaven (Silent Hill, 1999)

Utilized as the theme of the final boss encounter, My Heaven is a highly cacophonous and disorienting piece that wonderfully illustrates composer Akira Yamaoka‘s brilliant implementation of sound design blurring the lines between music and environmental ambience. Reportedly incorporating a distorted sample of a whirling dentist’s drill, this track seemingly serves the in-universe purpose of signifying that the horrific presence of the cult’s “god” is causing the protagonist’s pocket radio (which blares static around monsters) to go completely haywire.

Betrayal (Silent Hill 2, 2001)

Betrayal – the track played for Silent Hill 2‘s penultimate confrontation between James Sunderland and two Pyramid Heads – is a simultaneously terrifying, depressing, and (if you’ve been closely following the game’s storyline) cathartic piece that fully supports the encounter’s immense symbolic weight. While I greatly prefer the track as it was presented in the game’s original 2001 release, the two new versions recorded for the 2024 remake are still fairly serviceable in their own right.

Memory of the Waters (Silent Hill 3, 2003)

Included on this list for simply being the very first sample of music that was released online during the then-long and exciting lead-up to Silent Hill 3‘s official release in the latter part of 2003. Having a notably ponderous and ethereal sound to it, Memory of the Waters is a fairly short, minimalistic piece that nonetheless provided an intriguing sense of mystery at the time about what Silent Hill 3 was even going to be like – while also adding a very important emotional resonance in the key scene that it would actually be featured in (which, of course, I won’t spoil here).

Remodeling (Silent Hill 4: The Room, 2004)

Also included on this list for similarly being the very first music sample released to tease the then-upcoming Silent Hill 4, Remodeling is a bizarrely arranged but strangely catchy “trip hop” track that set high anticipation for what the game would be like – however, it was actually just a promotional piece and not included in the final release. Despite this fact, as well as the still-contentious nature of SH4‘s unique gameplay and presentation, the tracks that were included in the game featured well-crafted standouts like Silent Circus, Resting Comfortably, and Drops of Shame.

Real Solution (Silent Hill: Origins, 2007)

Silent Hill: Origins – jumpstarting a line of Western-produced titles moving forward for the series and serving as a direct prequel to the plot of the original game from 1999 – highlighted that Yamaoka’s musical talents were still a very integral part of the franchise’s experience. Titled Real Solution, this track is both an extremely alluring and ominous mixture of a jazz-like rhythm with other layers of moody ambience: particularly great in its implementation during a set piece puzzle involving the placement of lightbulbs for a stage spotlight in an abandoned theater.

Voodoo Girl (Silent Hill: Homecoming, 2008)

Even though Silent Hill: Homecoming is seen by some as accelerating the series’ downward slope (with its near-identical narrative and “twist” to Silent Hill 2), the game still had its moments – in this case, the exploration of a dark, decrepit, and monster-infested hotel. Voodoo Girl, the track featured throughout this fairly expansive area, does an admirable job playing up an overarching sense of danger, paranoia, and claustrophobic anxiety that makes for a memorably creepy excursion.

Devil’s Laughter (SH: Shattered Memories, 2009)

In what was (at the time) Yamaoka’s “final” contribution to the franchise as its main composer, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (a very loose conceptual “reimagining” of the original Silent Hill game’s premise) still featured some amazing pieces of music – such as the track Devil’s Laughter. With combat completely removed in lieu of harrowing chase sequences leaving players utterly powerless and defenseless while running from bizarre (and disturbingly childlike) monsters, the second of said chases is made even more terrifying by the track’s repeating, distorted “laughter” and heavy bass.

Town Rain (Silent Hill: Downpour, 2012)

Before last year’s debut of the aforementioned Silent Hill 2 remake, Downpour – an ambitious, quasi-open world title from 2012 with interesting but ultimately lackluster story and gameplay elements – was the last major release seen from the franchise. Downpour would see the late Daniel Licht stand in as the game’s main composer following Yamaoka’s departure, who – in my opinion – did an admirably decent job providing a different but enjoyable aesthetic to the soundtrack: I particularly like Town Rain, a medley of tracks heard while exploring the town’s streets and fighting monsters.

Honorable Mentions

UFO Credits Theme (SH1, unreleased); Final Boss Theme (SH2 ’01, unreleased); Flesh Lips Boss Theme (SH2 ’24, unreleased); Queen of the Rodeo (SH3, Sounds Box exclusive); and Until the Stars Go Out (SH4, Sounds Box exclusive).

Memory of Helen Grady Boss Theme (SH: Origins, unreleased); Scarlet Boss Theme (SH: Homecoming, unreleased); Main Menu Theme (SH: Shattered Memories, unreleased); and Prison Cage Ride Theme (SH: Downpour, unreleased).