The Longing is a recent video game which has garnered a bit of attention from major reviewers. Currently on Steam, it is an idle exploration game based on a character who spends 400 days underground. What is interesting about this whole affair is the soundtrack which is a smattering of dungeon synth artists who contributed music to the game. Dungeon synth and games have never been that far apart as the nature of the music lends itself to atmosphere. The majority of The Longing is created by Lord Redstone, who seems to be a composer taking on a dungeon synth persona. Scattered among the soundtrack is previous work from Erang, Erdstall, Spectral Kingdom, and dungeontroll. I would be a little bit more critical about dropping in tracks from 7 years ago into a new video game had it not been for the effectivness of this soundtrack. The mood and atmosphere exuded by its composer and guest stars make for an exciting time where dungeon synth crosses over and introduces themselves to people who never expected such a thing.

Continue reading

This is probably the weirdest release I have written about and it is wonderful. Back when I was writing about dungeon synth heavily, there was a small niche of creators experimenting with chiptune music and combining it into a CRPG aesthetic. This was music that sounded like the soundtrack to video games that never existed but you could almost envision it in your head. I have not heard much music since that time and Goblin Priest was something that brought me back to the reason why I love this genre in the first place. While chip music has a style and sound, each composition takes on unique life. In the case of Dank Vision Sewer Crawl, the life is a sidescrolling rougelike 8-bit cartridge game. With matching album art and tongue in cheek description on the Bandcamp, this whole production is irreverent and successful in everyway.

The IXth Key is a project based in Secret Corridor Records. Secret Corridor is less a label and more of a universe with different projects ostensibly all by the same person who goes by “S”. The IXth Key is one entity along with Spectral Castle, Medieval Secrets, Winter Pathways, Forgotten Passage, Royaume des Brumes, Secret Corridor, and Filicophyta. I could be wrong about some of those, but this is what I am guessing. It also would not be the first time an artist has split their creativity among a menagerie of outlets and considering that each entity possesses a unique yet familiar composition, it is safe to assume that this is all revolving around one person. The IXth Key is perhaps the most magical of alll of the Secret Corridor releases. “Upon My Frozen Land,” is emerging as one of the best releases from The IXth Key out of earlier experimental recordings. Though the release is 20 minutes in the same tonal space, it makes use of the atmosphere in a demo(?) that is accomplished and touching.

Continue reading

Archana is the second release from Mystic Timbre I have reviewed and comes since the first, Alloch Nathir, was a wonderful journey into forest synth. Before I get into this current release, I want to make special mention to the rest of Mystic Timbre’s catalog as it is a free form menagerie of electronic, progressive, experimental releases all with their own unique outlook on life. Rites, from Archana, is no different as its tone and demeanor differs from Alloch Nathir. Where one was meditative cloaked in mature ambiance, Archana is more ancient with classic stoicism at its roots. Overcast in comber silence, Rites pays tribute to dungeon synths tradition of solitary wanderings through glacial melodies and grey dawns. Both Archana and Alloch Nathir draw lineage from the same post black outfit Abhasa and these releases, much like the history of dungeon synth, are intimate meditations on immersion.

Continue reading