I have been following Vaelastrasz around for years and misspelling the name of this project probably even longer. Over the course of the time since finding The Plaguelands in 2017, I have seen an artist continue to push boundaries in this genre and never really content on standing still. Death In Its Decadence is perhaps one of the least dungeon synth records in Vaelastrasz catalog and perhaps even one of the best in my personal experience. This record, influenced heavily by Current 93, Dead Can Dance, and Coil, showcases a lesser recognized influence of neoclassical darkwave on DS. There are vocals and there is even acoustic guitar but the melancholy, nostalgia, sorrow, and morbid irrelevance which is a part of dungeon synth is still present just with a different voice. Death In Its Decadence follows a long line of album covers which continue to intrigue. The photograph from Krisztina-Marie
showcases a hand grasping a sword but the seductive luxury of the objects combined with the claustrophobic frame, much like the music, is both enchanting and ambiguous. Perhaps this is why I have enjoyed Vaelastrasz’s music for so many years as I never know what she is going to do and all I know is it’s going to be different than anything that has been done before.
It might have been easy to miss but Faydark is a new project by dungeon synth veteran Vale Minstrel. Faydark is exclusively a Dungeon & Dragons themed dungeon synth project using almost exclusively a Roland JV-90. That sentence I just said would lead some people to believe this will have a very gritty old school or even naive sound. For anyone who has seen Vale Minstrel both at Northeast Dungeon Siege or Texas Dungeon Siege, one will know that the artist aims to fill the room with a sound which feels like it is from a different world. Faydark plays music which is the opening credits to hours of flipping through splat-books for fun and reading textboxes of descriptions that are both informative and escapist. Lost Empires is a soundtrack to getting lost in the Forgotten Realms and being entirely knowledgeable on its lore. The album is an astounding achievement in fantasy music which is both reverent to the days of yore as well as being a cinematic experience.
I have been talking to the person behind The Tidal Charm for a while about other things and during our last conversation they mentioned a very popular recent release in a very casual and off handed manner. Perhaps a release like “Lego Castle: 1979-1998” should have been presented differently as if they casually handed me a sheet of blotter acid and then walked away. Lego Castle: 1979-1998 is the soundtrack to an hour long experimental film that I’m just going to link here because I don’t have enough room to explain it all. Lego Castle: 1979-1998, very much like the entire Tidal Charm label, has a thesis of under appreciation as the bonkers pants on head weirdness of their products going entirely unnoticed by perhaps swathes of people who would be into it. When I shared this album with people after finding it probably at an inappropriate hour, the response was split between “no thank youβ and “holy shit.” If you are the type of person who likes Legos, fantasy vaporwave, or heroic doses, you are in for a treat.
One of my favorite memories of TXDS was staying at the artist Airbnb and me walking into a room with a cup of morning coffee and finding Spife on the floor stitching cowls for their performance like this was a town in an RPG and they had a quest for me. This figure floated around the festival weekend much like a real life bard who was cruising through life with a maxed out charisma stat. Battle Gnome is one character from the world of Spife which is set in the world of Eldslunds — the artist’s homebuilt setting. Battle Gnome is different from Spife, who is more of a traveling bard in the fictional world. The reason for all of this information is to give the scope of this artist who both on record and in real life feels like they are a fictional character who found themselves wandering around in this reality. Gnomish Passage is challenging at times while always being welcoming to a sort of weirdness that is perfect for a tape release through Fiadh Productions.
I feel at times I use Grimestone releases as a weapon that I drop in normal conversations. Returning To The Dungeon Rave is a combination of gabber techno and dungeon aesthetics in a seemingly crossover genre no one asked for but hell this kinda works out. It is weird and wild and completely expected from a label that treats its listeners like test subjects in some cartoon castle. The best comedy comes from absurdity done with craftsmanship and Returning To The Dungeon Rave shouldn’t be as good as it is but that can be laid at the feet of its creator and the label that seems to enable this type of behavior.
“Recorded on a 4 track throughout the Autumn, Winter, and Spring (2024-2025) using a pair of dusty, old Casio keyboards, some effects pedals, and a hand drum. All music, field recordings, and art by TG. Dedicated to Sunken Grove and the fine folks of Verdant Wisdom.” This is really all of the information I need. Also don’t even look for copies of these hand-dubbed tapes; they just exist in concept. Tree Gardener has been championing a style of dungeon synth that I call raw ambient which cherish low fidelity, handmade art, and a sense of dreamlike liminality which make up the foundation of this record. Rustic Rituals is another chapter in a storybook that feels like it is read to you as you fall asleep safe from the world.
The Bandcamp for this artist has the motto “May we exist forever in the dark / Demo tape label / Long live the grim arts! / Long live the underground!” which feels like a call and response that is echoed throughout some grim medieval tavern. Lone Sentinel is a part of the GLDS and very in the vein of that whole scene is a dedication to minimal dark dungeon music with morose undertones. One Last Sunset is made as tribute / mourning to some sort of passing and details remain vague but the sentiment is felt by the listeners. Lone Sentinel operates much by emotion and each release feels like it is a deluge of feelings before walking away. One Last Sunset is entirely sorrowful and full of darkness but with traces of empathy, compassion, and a desire for love.
Woodland Crown Records is a newish entry into the DS world with an art style which looks like it could be spray painted on the side of a van in 1979. The wild styles of the water colored art and lettering matches the aesthetic of the music which also possesses a restless spirit which stirs in a world far from here. Eternal Wisdom is the latest record from Woodland Crown, a inhouse label doing exceptionally crafted watercolor art for its covers. Svardens is an Indonesia based artist who has already done a split with Silent Garden. Both of them combined present a record which is a magical ambient record which sounds like its cool and fuck and probably knows where the great parties are.
My favorite thing about Serpents Sword is the Bandcamp declaration that “I am not interested in releasing or even listening to your music. All submissions will be ignored.” While this sounds rude without context, Serpent Swords is an artist label with music from mostly one person or curated by one person. The output is music entirely devoted to black medieval music and ultra minimal dark dungeon music. XI is the 11th demo in the Under the Branches of Old Trees and comes with yet another declaration that “ππ₯π¦π° π‘π’πͺπ¬ π¦π° π«π¬π± π£π¬π― π±π₯π’ π£ππ©π°π’ π¬π― π±π₯π’ π΄π’ππ¨.. π£π²π π¨ πΆπ¬π² ππ©π©. π₯ππ¦π© π±π―π²π’ π¬π²π±π°π¦π‘π’π― ππ―π±.. π₯ππ¦π© π±π₯π’ π±π―π²π’ π‘ππ―π¨ π‘π²π«π€π’π¬π« πͺπ²π°π¦π .” Serpents Sword has many shades and tints from the suffocating brightness of Arthel to the escapism of Dungeontroll to the despondency of Under the Branches of Old Trees everything they do is an intentional declaration and they are not interested in whether or not you enjoy it since they will continue making things they way they want.
Earthen Shield is one extension of Nicholas the Gnome who runs Weregnome Records as well as heads Hermit Knight. Earthen Shield is the mirror image of Hermit Knight. Where one is bright and manic with emotion, the other is morose and entirely melancholic and despondent. Endless melancholia comes to us through Dale Of Shadows, a slightly mysterious label which curates and re-releases albums in gorgeous packaging.There are a few things about Earthen Shield many do not know because they are not shared — or shared through printed zines. While this could be a project entirely about sadness, it has turned into a vehicle for the creator’s short fiction that is Lovecraftian and apocalyptic in nature. There is sadness but also unknowable horrors which will consume us all. The thing about Earthen Shield is it sort of welcomes this consumption and everyone in the world is glad for the coming oblivion.
The Mildew Blade came to me through email asking to listen to the record. I noticed the name since the artist contributed to some of the Dungeon Reddit compilations including The Black Keep. I was also intrigued with the combination of “meditative” and “dungeon noise” as descriptors on the page. A Prison of Stone and Void is a fever dream of sound which possesses dungeon synth but also unravels in a nightmare of sound. This is dungeon synth which is deconstructed and all of its parts are laying across a cobblestone floor. The person who took it apart knows how to put it back together but is content in its disassembly.
Tags: electronic experimental ambient comfy synth crypt hop dream synth dungeon synth fantasy synth food synth liminal wave mallwave synthwave uncomfy synth vaporwave Seattle. Hell Yeah. Snack to the Future could have begun just as a funny name and then it was turned into something monstrous. This is complete abandonment of anything sacred or serious into something that revels in its madness with even an invited slogan of “Welcome to SYNTH & SAVE = Where groceries groove and ghosts approve!” There is no place I want to live that doesn’t at least smile at a project like this or the fact I have to write out the album title of Synth ‘N’ Save Evermart: The Taste Of The Future… TODAY! and make sure it fits into the sentence like an clown at a nice dinner. No gods, no masters, all fun, party ends at ???.