Werendia – Folkvandringen [Sweden, Atmospheric Black / Dungeon Synth] (2020)

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Self Released | 4-10-20

Well, here it is. Years of searching through dungeon synth I am starting to stumble on the mixture between it and its parent genre of black metal. This is not the first black metal / dungeon synth combination ever made nor even one in recent memory. There has been a dizzying array of experimentation either with dungeon synth being used as mood intros or even as distant atmosphere. Werendia pays tribute dungeon synth’s history with a record worshiping the structure of bands like Summoning and Caladan Brood. With the black metal vocals pushed to the past and the synth march up front, the music constructs a stage for a deeply folkloric record concerned with Scandinavian tales and history. This commitment to the theme makes up for the album’s shortcomings which include long meandering songs that nail an aesthetic but doesn’t travel much out of their own kingdom. For all its faults, Folkvandringen is a stellar record which pleases both black metal fans and dungeon synth dabblers with marching music across strange lands.