It shouldn't come as a surprise that Warframe has an excellent soundtrack: Digital Extremes did a good job in picking Keith Powers for their composer. From the harsh, oppressive industrialism of the Grineer's themes to the fast, furious, and inspiring drums of the Tenno, the game's soundtrack is top-notch. It's also available on Bandcamp!
UNMARKED SPOILERS AHEAD.
- "Corrupted", the Void battle theme. The sweeping orchestra and choir perfectly illustrate the splendor - and arrogance - of the ancient Orokin, while the pounding drums represent the Tenno's intrusion upon their 'sacred' ground.
- "This is What You Are" is the main theme of the Tenno and captures the essence of what the theme of a Heavenly Emperor should be, sounding both regal and elegant yet bold, commanding, and furious through its use of Japanese Erhus and powerful Taiko drums. The One-Woman Wail and the childlike Ethereal Choir that do a call-and-response routine throughout the song also serves as the Leitmotif of the Operators. The song's main melody can also be found in "The Second Dream" when your Operator first comes out of the Reservoir on Lua, and the Taiko drum solo that appears toward the end - symbolizing the rage and fury of the Warframes - also shows up in "Wretched Things" when your Warframe breaks the War Sword and stops Hunhow during The Second Dream's climax.
- "Hunhow" is the oppressive, metallic theme of the Sentient Destroyer of Worlds and father of The Lotus. It first appears in full during The Second Dream's opening as Hunhow converses with The Stalker, and later shows up in "Wretched Things" as The Stalker impales your Warframe on the War Sword and begins strangling your Operator during The Second Dream's climax. Its use of the Drone of Dread makes it a suitably frightening theme for a terrifying villain.
- "The Witches Lair" is the Leitmotif of the Grineer Queens and blends the cruel, brutish industrialism of the Grineer's motifs with the eerie, pristine beauty of the Orokin's motifs to create a regal and horrific piece of music entirely appropriate for your adventures aboard the Kuva Fortress, whether you're confronting the Twin Queens during The War Within or simply meandering about.
- The song for The War Within's finale, "Your Decisions Make You"note , is a beautiful, mournful piece of music befitting the meeting of an old, weary Dax Soldier and the Operator he had to betray for his Twin Queens. It also includes a beautiful rendition of the Operator's motif found in "This is What You Are" that ultimately leads into a nightmarish sound once your Operator makes their choice of what to do with the Kuva they now have and the Outside-Context Problem first appears, before closing out with uncertainty as the Operator thinks on how much more heavily the world weighs on them.
- The Operation: Ambulas Reborn event included a faux-eighties promo featuring Frohd Bek and the instantly-memetic term "Grofit". The promo also included a music track that helped to sell the whole thing, rife with synthesizer-flavored Stylistic Suck.
- The main theme of the Apostasy Prologue, "Apostate", is a Dark Reprise of "This is What You Are" that features the Ethereal Choir of children from the latter, now desperately calling out for the Lotus - who was symbolized by "This is What You Are"'s One-Woman Wail - following Ballas taking her away. There's also a deep, masculine, and droning vocal that continually plays throughout the track that represents Ballas.
- The Sacrifice has a lot of really good music going for it. "Old Friend", a harsh, metallic tune that transitions into a frighteningly regal orchestral piece with an ominous Ethereal Choir in the background, serves as the main theme of the quest and as Ballas' Leitmotif within it.
- "Smiles from Juran"/"To Take Away its Pain" is a beautiful, bittersweet song played on a shamisen that first plays when you finally give comfort and solace to the grieving Excalibur Umbra. As the last shamisen notes fade into the night, the melody of the song blossoms into a majestic, sweeping rendition played on a full orchestra.
- During TennoCon 2018 DE showed a preview of the new Venus zone in their upcoming Fortuna content patch. And how did they do that? With a Chain Gang song. It also plays when entering into Fortuna. It starts off with a catchy whistling tune before the song goes into a beautiful chorus about uniting and working together as one, describing the situation of the Solaris in Fortuna having to unite with one another in order to survive. It's a very fitting song for the Solaris rebellion.
- Profit Taker plays during login and during the final parts of the Vox Solaris quest after the Fortuna update. It really gives spacey and futuristic vibes with the electronic techno instruments. And during the final parts of Vox Solaris, it starts playing when the Tenno helps the Solaris United rebellion fight against Nef Anyo and the Corpus enemies. It really sets the mood of rebellion and triumph in Fortuna.
- Update 30: Call of the Tempestarii, focuses on the titular Ghost Ship, and brings with it a frigging Pirate Song, Sleeping In The Cold Below. Not only is it one of the few songs with vocals during warframe, it accompanies an epic (if somewhat Mind Screwy) battle where Sevagoth's Shadow duels an army of Corpus.
- With the Corpus Ship Tileset rework came a whole suite of new music to accompany the new visuals. Many of these new tracks incorporate leitmotifs heard in the original tileset. None of the new tracks would be out of place in a Deus Ex Universe game; all of them are hauntingly beautiful, relying on cold, melodic synths that play together like a well-oiled machine.
- As Warframe's so far largest quest, The New War saw the release of a number of tracks:
- The second mission's combat track turns the Corpus industrial sounds into a piece both oppressive and heroic, as you watch a lone man face impossible odds.
- "For Narmer", the third song with vocals, is a haunting and melancholic reprise of "We All Lift Together" sung by the Solaris as they now slave away for the glory of Ballas. It really hammers home that Ballas and Erra have won.
- As you leave Fortuna and enter the Vallis, you are greeted by the Narmer ambient track. For all its beauty, The New War's leitmotif immediately conveys the bleakness of this new order.
- The Archons' theme, "Hybrid Abominations", combines a Sentient motif with synths and vocals into a tense and unnnerving experience as you face Erra's champions.
- The music in the Tower of the Unum sells it as a place of significance for the enslaved Ostrons. The combat track then turns up the intensity as you race to the tower top.
- The Murex ambient is almost mournful, mixing "Sentient Tombs" with The New Wars instruments. Although encountered at a prior point, it rises again into prominence when you and Erra race to stop Ballas, and all the while Praghasa comes apart around you.
- The final boss theme, aptly titled "Sunkiller" and the combat counterpart to the Narmer Ambient track, uses wind chimes and choir to create something befitting of one of the Seven.
- The Epilogue, evoking "This is What You Are". As she once carried you, it is now your turn to carry her.
- The second mission's combat track
- Veilbreaker brings us "Final Stand", one of the combat themes of Break Narmer missions and Archon Hunts. Using similar instrumentation to "Hybrid Abominations" but with a stronger melody and driving percussion, it serves as a fittingly intense backdrop for both Kahl's incursions into Narmer territory and the Tenno's clashes with Pazuul's forces.
- "Whispers in the Walls" has a section where you briefly play as Arthur on New Year's Eve 2000. The change is scored by the first licensed song in Warframe: Nine Inch Nails' "Into the Void", a dark, yet groovy Industrial Rock song that's perfect for the gritty urban setting of the chapter.
- "Redline", the song used in the Gauss Prime trailer, has been praised for deviating from the more moody pieces usually heard in Prime Access trailers in favor of fast-paced, intense Drum & Bass mixed with rock, fitting the energetic personality of the Gauss Prime who we see wreaking havoc on the Jupiter installation. The reaction to it was so positive that Digital Extremes announced they are releasing it, and other Prime trailer songs, as in-game somachords in 2024.
