Intellectual Rapist is great, though I like Ver-X than Ver-C. Also Chains is really good, it’s by Sayaka Ohara. It’s unofficially Beatrice’s theme.
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Motoki Zakuro, or M. Zakky, is very underrated. I mean, many appreciate her music and vocals, but I see very few people discuss how talented she is. I just want to take a moment to honor her.
For those who don’t quite know her by name, she sings ACTIVE PAIN, Birth of a New Witch, and End of The World. And those are just the tracks that appear in the VN. She also sang other songs from those albums, like Wonderful World and CORE BLUE, and songs from various other albums, like Hymn and Hitotsu Dake Negai wo Kanaete Ageru. Besides that, she also composed several BGMs, which is where the infamous Monochrome Clock comes into play.
A great example of her talent is Cry which, to my knowledge, she composed, wrote, and sang:
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My favorite pieces are usually the more uptempo pieces like WorldEnd Dominator and You Destructive, but I do have some favorites that are more lowkey, like End of The World. But I wanna use this post to list off some of my favorite pieces that I think are really overlooked:
Witch in Gold - It’s creepy and ominous, and it makes great use of the harpsichord.
Scorpion Entrails - This song is just snazzy. It isn’t very simplified like a lot of Luck Ganriki stuff can be, but I really do think this song demonstrates the best things about the organ.
Haruka - This song is just soothing. No other word for it.
Discode - One of my favorite vocal pieces from the WTC franchise.
The Girl’s Witch Hunt - I used to find this song really boring, but after hearing it played in the Japan vs. Italy shootout in Requiem, it shot up in my list and it’s now one of my favorite high octane pieces in the franchise.
Ballade-Continuer - It’s really beautiful, and its melancholy tone definitely suits when it’s played, because this song is the piece we hear when we meet Beatrice Castiglioni.
So yeah, those are some of my favorite underrated pieces from Umineko! What are some of yours?
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My favorite underrated tracks from Umineko (that appear in the VN) are Moon (EP 2 I believe?) and Battlefield (EP 6).
Moon is so relaxing and emotional at the same time, and it makes me feel really invested during the scenes in which it plays. Something about the intensity of the piano is so captivating.
Battlefield gets me so pumped. I listen to it whenever I have something important to do or if I’m going for a run. The heavy rhythm and severity gets my blood pumping.
The interesting thing is that (Spoilers for Umineko EP 6) both of these songs play at some point during Kanon’s quest to save Battler.
My favorite underrated tracks from Higurashi (again, that appear in the VN) are Demonic Institute (arc 1), Soak (arc 5), and Fascism (arc 2).
Demonic Institute is so simple, and some could probably argue that it’s overplayed, but it always evokes a feeling of fear and atmosphere (especially with high-quality headphones).
Soak is such an ambient track, but I like it for roughly the same reasons as Demonic Institute. Listening to it makes me feel… really, really anxious. (Spoilers for Meakashi-hen) Following Shion’s thought process about Satoshi’s disappearance wouldn’t be half as unsettling without the music.
Fascism’s beauty can only really be explained in context (Watanagashi-hen spoilers): When Mion says over the phone that bit about how keeping a hostage alive is unnecessary trouble, you can really sense Keiichi’s fear and disbelief that his friend would say something like that. For me, Fascism amplifies that feeling tenfold.
Edit: I just now realized that I didn’t have to tag the Higurashi spoilers, but I suppose I’ll keep the tags there just in case.
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My favorites are definitely haze, dreamenddischarger and Ougon Cross arrangement of liberatedliberater.
Haze is just so smooth and chill, some people say it’s boring but I like how it’s so simple and relaxing.
Dreamenddischarger is like an epic mix of worldenddominator and goldenslaughterer. zts does a really good job at creating classical trance progressive pieces. It has a lot of variety in it, but it doesn’t became too disjointed. There are a lot of dynamic subtlety and layers to zts songs, just like in the game itself. Not only it constantly evolves, but also creates pleasant harmonies along the way. It’s surprising how in song with such diversity, everything can be clearly heard. Sometimes I wonder if I would have actually loved Umineko, if it wasn’t for the music.
I don’t think there are any bad tracks in Umineko. But I composers made a really good job at creating this magical, haunting and epic atmosphere.
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I truly love the music in 07th VNs, some have been listed already but if I had to pick some favorites
From Umineko;
System 0 is an amazing track, although what genre would it be considered?
Voiceless always manages to make me reflect on how sad the story really is.
(Episode 6 Spoilers) Rog-Limitation is one of my absolute favorites. The made that scene one I’ll never forget!
(Episode 7 Extreme Spoilers) Yomitsu Hirasaka Corruption Is another great one that really makes me both love and hate Kyrie & Rudolf.
And from Higurashi Originals,
Fascism gives a retro vibe, but still nice.
Unseen Future I love Shion <3
(Tsumihoroboshi Spoiler?)Night When the Invisible Scares You Probably my favorite Higurashi one.
(Tsumihoroboshi Spoiler) Wandering Words Lead to Heaven I respect Keiichi so much . . .
(Matsuribayashi (Final) Spoiler)Beyond the Sky Have yet to read the VN of this part, but from the anime alone, I do feel some pity towards Takano for all she’s been through, And this song makes it so much worse.
Haah. I hope I didn’t make this list too long, there’s just too many great tracks to pick from!
EDIT: (Episode 6 Umineko Spoiler Image) Whoa I don’t know how I could’ve possibly forgotten Birth of a New Witch - For sure in my top 3, and even better with the amazing vocals!
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I think that I fell in love with the Umineko soundtrack very early on. Towards the middle of Episode 1 in fact, with this beauty:
Core is, in my opinion, the most criminally underrated track of Umineko. It evokes the feeling of mystery, suspense, and joy of solving a puzzle so perfectly to me. I get sad when it gets seemingly overlooked in favor of most of the later songs, which I will admit, probably do leave more emotional impact on people. But give Core some love, too!
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Core sticks out to me because of when it’s used. It almost works like Battler’s “Objection!” theme during the Question Arcs, if you’ve ever played any Phoenix Wright games.
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Core is basically Dread of the Grave before Dread of the Grave. Also, is it just me, or does Dread of the Grave sound like something from Mario Kart?
Yeah, Dread of the Grave is Battler’s Pursuit theme and noone can tell me otherwise. Especially the More Fear Version.
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Here’s an interesting question for all of you: Which arc do you think overall had the best new music?
For me, I’d have to say EP 5. Future, The Great Detective Knows, Totem Blume, Resurrected Replayer, The Girl’s Witch Hunt, Aci-L, Justice, Patchwork Chimera, Final Answer, and most importantly Discolor, are all fantastic tracks. 2nd Place goes to EP 8 and 3rd goes to EP 3.
For me it’s EP 8. Every new track added was amazing, especially Soar, Mysterious Divertimento, Lastendconductor, lixAxil, Revelations and Ricordando Il Passato.
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EP 7 for me, hands down. There isn’t a single BGM from EP 7 that I find mediocre.
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Heh, then I’m interested how this is going to change for me once Chiru hits, as for now Ep 3 is the one I’d choose, but I’m an Question Arcs only child right now, so I only have half to choose from.
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EP 3 is a good choice. 
I found this playlist of classical remixes of some of ZTS’ pieces for Umineko, and I think y’all need this in your lives.
My favorites of these have to be Goldenslaughterer and Witch in Gold. This Goldenslaughterer sounds a lot more polished than the original in my opinion, and the brass section of Witch in Gold makes the track have so much more impact than it has any right to have.
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Wow. I would pay to read more of these. Please tell me that you’re continuing this.
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That’s all absolutely accurate. Thanks for that lovely analysis. It’s always amazing to see how well Umineko’s music connects to its story.
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I love it <3
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These always connect so well to the piece you’re analyzing! I really liked the comparison of the percussion to her boyfriend, and as a violin player, I can reaffirm that style and the way the instrument is played do matter. The trills in this piece scratch my orchestra itch.
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