King Diamond - Catacomb

This heavy metal song is excellent musically, but it is the lyrics which makes it such a good song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtiLt_Gb9QM

Down into the dark I go, armed with just a candle and then my soul
Cryptic messages written on the floor
Rats are nibbling at my feet, I send one off to nevermore
Too much darkness, spiders on my eyes
Webs are hanging from my thighs, the fatter ones must die
I see shadows walking straight and tall
I don't know how they move, dancing on the walls
Presence of fear, a presence so near
I wonder what could be so powerful beyond the dark

Human bones... in little chambers all along the narrow halls
Catacomb, death over life... Catacomb, am I here to die?

I see a light, I push some bones aside

Down into the dark I go, another chamber, a chamber with a glow
Could this be a doorway to another world?
Or darkness playing tricks, with my little mind?
The virgin Mary is standing tall
A full size figure carved in wood up against the wall
Her face is peeling from all the years gone by
Is it just a statue, or is it what I'm looking for?
I break her face and see another one instead
The mummy's face appears as the bandages they fall
Dried out face with hate upon me gaze
How grotesque... the mummy wears a crown of thorns
From the empty sockets where its eyes should be
An entity of light is pouring out towards me
And then the sound... Jesus Christ, what have they done to you?

I'm running for my life, I'm running from the night
But it's so hard to breathe, the stench down here is much too much
Satan help me, help me God
Help me anyone, anyone who hears my cry of fear
Cold winds from far beyond the dark
Chasing through the catacomb and breathing down my neck

Human bones... in little chambers all along the narrow halls
Catacomb, death over life... Catacomb, am I here to die?
I know I'm here to die

Ain Soph - Ars Regia

This album is a very atmospheric ambient record that sounds a lot like a Catholic Mass performed in a dark church, only it is not an ordinary mass. They are obviously going for an occult feeling, and they are very successful at it. Compared to the ambient music in Diablo, this is very repetitive but is has a great hypnotic feeling.

Ain Soph - V.I.T.R.I.O.L
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WunsIfsHmHE

Ain Soph - Credo (G. Kremmerz)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhbekmqXUz8

Ain Soph - Honorii Ponteficis Evocatio
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2bETTvOQ0A

King Crimson - The Devil's Triangle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KHtvRCgmH8&list=PL3PhWT10BW3Vn8nLL3YiLEJ43kxVl7baM&index=8&t=0s

(Unfortunately the great third part of song is missing.)

There are some similarities between this 1970 progressive rock masterpiece and the intro to Diablo. Perhaps Matt Uelmen found some inspiration in this piece both for the intro as well as some other tracks? I know that he has said
that his go to artist for inspiration for the music at first was Led Zeppelin when he knew that he was going to compose music for a fantasy game. He didn't want to use an orchestral semi-classical type of composition, which was (and still is) the most common way to score a fantasy game.

Led Zeppelin really is a good source to use for inspiration with some really classic fantasy songs like "Battle of Evermore", but I can't really hear their influence on the Diablo soundtrack, except the use of acoustic guitar on the Tristram theme.