Wails in the Marsh — Banshee Cries and a Vow of Mercy

The Song & the Story

Wails in the Marsh is the second track of Fangs of Valdoria. After Moonlit Howl — the werewolf chase and the Wolf Elder's howl that let them pass — the five push into the marshes. In the audiobook, the marshes are not a rotting sinkhole but a place of strange, sad beauty: fog clings to the water, the world holds its breath, and frost turns reeds and roots to crystal. The cold sharpens. It isn't ordinary winter — the curse feeds on it. And through the silence comes a sound: a ghostly wail, so sad it freezes the blood. Elarion recognises it. A banshee — a spirit bound to a forgotten name. When no one left alive remembers who you were, the soul cannot rest.

What happens in the story: The five don't run. Lyra says: Maybe she just needs help. They follow the wail. Dancing snowflakes — like frozen tears — show the way. The frost has turned the marsh into a kind of palace of ice; at the end of the path stand ruins: old walls, blackened by fire, that still feel like a place that was once a home. The banshee is there. She is beautiful and full of endless sorrow. She has forgotten her own name. In the audiobook, the full unravelling of who she is — Zori, the Witch of the Dawn, betrayed by her three sisters — and the breaking of her bond belongs to the next chapter, among the thorns. Wails in the Marsh is the moment the five choose to hear her instead of fleeing: to follow the wail into the frozen refuge and learn that even the dead deserve to be heard once. Some ghosts don't need to be slain; they need to be met.

How It Was Created

We made Wails in the Marsh with Suno. The goal was a track that moved from dread and haunting to release and light — banshee cries in the reeds, then ethereal vocals and epic crescendos as the curse lifts — and that could sit in a dark fantasy trailer or a D&D session.

We gave Suno a blend of genres and electronic texture: nu metal with full orchestra, synth-pop, and ethereal female vocals — plus studio quality. The style field spelled out the verse–chorus contrast: punchy, driving beats and shimmering synths in the verses, and epic orchestral-synth crescendos in the chorus with vocals that soar. The scene was haunting nu-metal fused with synth-pop and electronic textures — mist, marsh, and release.

The lyrics told the arc: intro through outro, with clear section labels — [Intro], [Verse 1], [Pre-Chorus], [Chorus], [Bridge], [Final Chorus], [Outro] — so Suno knew where to apply different energy. We could have added mood tags (as in Moonlit Howl) for finer control; for this track the structure and imagery did a lot of the work. Style and lyrics were built to reinforce each other: the style set the sonic palette (driving verses, soaring chorus), and the lyric structure and imagery (reeds, wails, blood-dark waters, mercy, dawn) steered the mood.

How to Recreate It with Suno

In Moonlit Howl we covered the basics: style tags, lyric structure, and mood tags. Here we focus on verse–chorus contrast and how the style field can describe different sections.

1. Style of Music

For tracks with strong verse–chorus contrast, spell out what happens in each part. For Wails in the Marsh:

nu metal with full orchestra and some electronic pop and female vocals, studio quality,
Haunting nu-metal fused with synth-pop and electronic textures; punchy, driving beats and shimmering synths power the verses,
while ethereal female vocals soar over epic orchestral-synth crescendos in the chorus.

Why this works: The style explicitly contrasts verses (punchy, driving beats, shimmering synths) with chorus (ethereal vocals soar, epic orchestral-synth crescendos). This tells Suno to keep verses tense and driving, then open up in the chorus. "Haunting" sets the overall mood before the dawn payoff.

2. Lyrics and Structure

We used clean section labels (no mood tags here) and let the style's verse–chorus contrast do the work. The lyrics provide structure and concrete imagery:

[Intro]
Icy winds through hollow reeds,
A phantom wail that none can heed.

[Verse 1]
Through mist-bound reeds we press in dread,
Banshee cries wake the long-forgotten dead.
Our breath like smoke in silvered air,
Each scream a chain that we must bear.

[Pre-Chorus]
Her sorrow strikes the soul's frail core,
Yet in our hearts we reach for more…

[Chorus]
Wails in the marsh, our spirits rise,
Shattering night with freedom's cries.
From frozen tears to dawn's release,
We stand unbroken, granting peace.

[Verse 2]
Blood-dark waters hide her face,
A shattered soul in death's embrace.
We press ahead where shadows wane,
Bearing hope through endless pain.

[Pre-Chorus]
Her sorrow strikes the soul's frail core,
Yet in our hearts we reach for more…

[Chorus]
Wails in the marsh, our spirits rise,
Shattering night with freedom's cries.
From frozen tears to dawn's release,
We stand unbroken, granting peace.

[Bridge]
In ghost-lit stillness, truth is found—
A vow of mercy breaks her bound…

[Final Chorus]
Wails in the marsh, the curse undone,
Silvered dawn reveals the sun.
From mournful cries to morning's grace,
We bring the light to this dark place.

[Outro]
Mist retreats as hope prevails,
The banshee's wail at last exhales.

Why this works: The style's contrast (verses = driving, chorus = soaring) steers the arrangement. The lyrics' concrete imagery (icy winds, hollow reeds, phantom wail, banshee, blood-dark waters, vow of mercy, silvered dawn) gives Suno a scene to lock onto. Repeated motifs ("Wails in the marsh," "We stand unbroken, granting peace") work as hooks.

3. How Style and Lyrics Work Together

Style sets the verse–chorus contrast (driving verses, soaring chorus). Lyrics provide structure and imagery. Together they steer the arc: dread in the verses (driving beats, shimmering synths), release in the choruses (ethereal vocals, epic crescendos), and the mercy/dawn payoff in the bridge and final chorus.

Play the card above — it's wired to the same player as the album. For the full story: Fangs of Valdoria, Fänge von Valdoria (audiobook), and the D&D 5e campaign.

— Scarlet