Mausoleum Suite

Mausoleum Suite is a suite of soundtrack included in the Halo 2: Original Soundtrack. It includes Destroyer's Invocation, Falling Up, Infected, and Shudder.

The last two minutes of Destroyer's Invocation (from 2:35 to the end), which plays when the Arbiter gets his armor, is often referred to as the Arbiter's theme, as it is always played in Halo 2 during Arbiter missions. It is also heard on the level Floodgate in Halo 3, heard when the Elites join up with the Marines inside the Flood infested Voi, indicating that the theme has come to represent the Covenant Separatist movement as a whole. The beginning of the soundtrack, and the end of Shudder, use sound effects from the stand-alone soudtrack Ancient Machine. Infected starts with a slow tribal beat, and vocals similar to Ancient Machine, before descending into cascades of chaotic synth effects and distorted guttural vocals (which may be another secret message). Shudder is an arrangement of Shadows from the Halo: Original Soundtrack. This melody is usually played in association with the Flood, as their de facto theme.

Hidden Message

When the track is played backwards, a hidden message can be heard. At normal speed it is inaudible; however, when speed up words can be heard. Whoever is the owner of the mysterious voice is debatable, though the generally accepted theory is that it is Mendicant Bias.

“

I have walked among men and angels for 3,000 years. Time has no end, no beginning, no purpose. I wandered the earth seeking forgiveness for my horrible crimes against God and man. I live to see death and destruction. Evil over the light, but the light cannot be extinguished. I live in a prison of my own demise. I am lost in time.

”

Trivia

• The beats of the soudtrack have a striking resemblance to the beats heard in the theme music for Marathon 2: Durandal.
• The Mausoleum Suite as a whole can be seen as the progression of High Charity from being the holy city of the Covenant to nothing but a tomb