Marc Van Der Meulen is a magician of dark music, creating enchanting work for all sorts of spooky settings.

“What do Bach’s Harpsichord Concerto in D minor, Lindsey Stirling’s Shatter Me and Opeth’s Demon of the Fall have in common? A darker style of writing. I’ve always loved dark music. My favourite songs span all genres but have this one thing in common. All compositions would fit dark fantasy stories perfectly.”

Description from his website at marcvdmeulen.com.

“As being completely in love with the dark sound of the viola, my music is mostly about bringing out that dark style that the viola possesses,” he explains in an interview with Switching Styles. Read more of this interview here!

To get this dark sound, he uses a range of techniques. Firstly, it starts with his instrumental talent. Next, guitar, violin and viola are his three main instruments that blend together for the ambiance in his work. Using modern technology, he’s able to utilize different techniques in postproduction to manipulate the sound in any way needed such as reversing sounds, shortening pieces, distorting them or changing pitch and tone.

Marc Van Der Meulen’s Projects

Beyond cover music, he also creates original music for the macabre. Providing music for horror productions, video games, films and events School projects, local radio shows, Book trailers, D&D recordings and the like. He releases tracks through Ghost Stories Incorporated with royalty-free music with the option for a custom-made complete soundtrack made by yours truly.

Fun Fact: his music has been used within several horror movies including Leder Huisje Heeft Zijn Kruisje (2018), Fear Level (2017), Strike at Dawn (2016), and The Man Who Knew Too Much coming in 2021.

Madness Manifest is his latest single described as “an intense, dramatic”. With the vocals of Christina Rotondo, this single is enchanting.

“Madness Manifest combines dark classical music or neoclassical music harmonies with symphonic rock and symphonic metal vocals. Singers accompanied by live violins, viola’s, octave viola’s, guitars both electric and acoustic and many other instruments all recorded live to create an atmosphere of a bombastic ensemble.”

Highlighted Covers

Below are some dark and twisted covers by Marc Van Der Meulen for your listening pleasure. Don’t listen to these with the lights off!

“Our Truth” Originally by Lacuna Coil

“Whispers in the Dark” Originally by Skillet

“Breathe into Me” Originally by Red

“If I had a heart” (Feat. Alina Lesnik and Marco Paulzen) Originally by Fever Ray

“Never Enough” (Feat. Creia Wraith) Originally by Epica

Let us know what you think in the comments below!!