Motoi Sakuraba's soundtrack for Dark Souls.
I actually got into the guy with Baten Kaitos and Tales of Symphonia, for both of which he has provided a boatload of splendid material. I'd say he is a bit of an acquired taste when taken on his own, because the similarities in his compositions show once you listen to multiple in a row (the general bombast of his songs, the prog undertones, the use of keyboards as a leading instrument in more energetic tracks, etc). That issue lingers a bit in the Dark Souls OST, but he generally does an excellent job. There's no synths, yet he works that orchestra like a champ, and there's a lot of variety in the boss themes ("Bed of Chaos", "Dark Sun Gwyndolyn" and "Ornstein & Smough" don't have much to do with one another, for example). Most importantly, he knows not to overdo things: many of the slower themes ("Firelink Shrine" and "Gwyn, Lord of Cinder") are among the best cuts on there. The restraint in the compositions is something that I find very missed in the later Souls games, especially Dark Souls III. 8/10.