Regal Daydream
Fief is interesting because is an artist who has seemingly come out of nowhere with production skills to which sound like kings napping in the afternoon sun. While not being too ostentatious regarding the sound, Fief presents a regal daydream which is subtle in its charm yet epic in its scope. Fief continues to push the light orchestral variety of this sound which acts as a counterpoint to the haze ridden crawl that usually accompanies the sound. Do not ask me anymore about this act as it seems mystery is a card being played by this silent prince.
Kaptain Carbon. 2016
The above, my 2016 blurb for Fief I which ran in my original dungeon synth digest series on Hollywood Metal, showcases a few things–outside of me still laughing at my decade old jokes. One is that this artist was entirely mysterious and it would be years until we would learn that Fief, Thangorodrim, and Sequestered Keep were the same person. This fact was a surprise to pretty much everyone outside of the ten people who kept the secret for almost ten years until it was announced as an aside in Jordan Whiteman’s 2025 book Dark Dungeon Music: The Unlikely Story Of Dungeon Synth. This obfuscation was also less clandestine and more of “Well, no one asked, and I wasn’t going to say anything.” The second point for using my hilarious quote is that Fief in 2016 was marked as an artist with a sound that was somewhere beyond the dungeon, and offered a potential future of variety and craft in a sound which was only about five years into its revival era. While things were still being figured out in 2016, Fief was an artist who felt like they were going to be talked about for many years to come.
Fief is a project that has managed to have its own sound signature with also its own interpretation, after only a few moments, you know you’re listening to Fief and it’s always very pleasant. That kind of identity is rare and is one of the reasons the project has remained so influential over the years. To me, Fief has always stood apart through its ability to create a vivid sense of place and atmosphere while remaining deeply rooted in melody. It can be nostalgic, adventurous, but mostly immersive. I think he played a significant role in introducing many listeners to Dungeon Synth these last years, while also helping expand the genre’s possibilities beyond its traditional boundaries. Fief has inspired magnificent projects in the Dungeon Synth scene currently like Descort or even DIM, Estoc and many others. When I listen to some of his releases, it makes me nostalgic for a time, but it also reminds me of many different moments when I listened to him on numerous occasions.
-John Lordswood, member of Weress and proprietor of Ancient King Records. 2026
Dungeon synth in 2016 was small, slowly growing beyond the MP3 blogs, and artist-run Bandcamps of its earliest revival days. In 2016, one could talk about the genre on The Facebook Group (depending on access to and/or how much tolerance for drama one possessed), VK (if you were in Russia and had the same tolerance for drama), or on the Proboard forums (shout out to the best place to talk about DS). Instagram wasn’t really used, and Discord groups were still a nascent idea. Since dungeon synth was an internet microgenre, fans of the sound experienced the same watershed releases as a collective because fans of the genre were all in the same place and buying things through the same early labels. Many of these early labels of the genre were little more than just dungeon synth fans with the ability to produce and ship merch in a reasonable timetable. One of these early labels was Out of Season.
Out of Season was a label with a vast catalog and accessible storefront, whose 2016 releases would go on to become classics in the genre. Sequestered Keep’s The Land Beyond Dreams (OOS8), Thangorodrim’s Taur Nu Fuin (OOS14), and Fief’s – I (OOS21) were all released in the same year, alongside other classics such as Chaucerian Myth’s The Canterbury Tales (OOS19), Foglord’s Winter Dreams (OOS1), and Skarpseian’s Fragmenter Av Trolldom (OOS2). This deluge of releases was the result of the label not only approaching new artists at the time, but artists themselves pitching the label different styles projects. Sequestered Keep, Thangorodrim, and Fief were all vastly different and arranged on a spectrum between light and dark. Sequestered Keep, perhaps the lesser known of the three, was in the middle. Thangorodrim was perched in the shadows. Fief slumbered in a regal daydream under an afternoon sun. With a blazing bright cover, Fief’s I offered a serene medieval atmosphere for people, sounding like being stoned at the Renaissance Faire. Fief’s music was haunting, surreal, gentle, and, above all else, unassuming. The project’s eventual success with sequential album titles and liberal use of public domain art was one of the strongest pieces of evidence that this style of music was not just one thing, but merely a prompt for creative people to make art from. Fief would be one of the pioneers for a quiet revolution within the scene which would eventually yield a greater comfy and cozy community, but also served as encouragement to do whatever you want in this genre.
Fief is the needed contrast to the frostbitten forests and forsaken lairs. Emerging from the same age of revival, but as a restorative memory, or fantasy, of idyllic times. Tales of merry evenings by the hearth give greater depth to the forlorn and desolate darkness of night. Their fleeting warmth is long past and too brief.
– Attic Shrines label proprietor. 2026
Fief’s covers have always been interesting with an array of medieval visual material. It wasn’t until a hour before publication I was told that VII, much like VI, was written around the artwork. VII uses a full artwork from “The Happy Warrior” (1884) by British Symbolist artist George Frederic Watts. The painting’s armored figure is being comforted and embraced by an ethereal figure, leading to a feeling of serenity without the need of physical conflict. The choice of album artwork is perhaps beyond the “it looked cool,” and while we might never know the full intent, this painting showcases the ability for things to be fantastic and otherworldly beyond tradition. This artwork mirrors the artists work in the genre as I am hard pressed to think of anyone who was as successful in challenging tradition. Arranged between marquee tracks and short interludes, VII’s breadth passes through short interludes of taverns, churches, and dungeons, before showcasing longer tracks’ serene atmospheres. While this music can be used as background to almost anything (I used it while writing this review) the ability for it to become its own attraction is almost probable. There is an enchanting effect to Fief’s music that perhaps started out as the most lighthearted of ideas in a world of dark dungeons and vampyric crypts to have music that feels like taking a nap in the afternoon with a gentle breeze over your face. Something I didn’t realize however was the ability for that fleeting and fanciful idea to become so immersive where even the late blooming bassline of “Holy Ecstasy of the Cellarer” can feel like the Earth just shifted. Fief perhaps embodies the term “unassuming” while simultaneously being one of the most respected names in dungeon synth.
Fief in 2026 has continued to show that there is interest in medieval ambiance even outside of it being music played during D&D campaigns.This artist has shown there is a world of fantasy inspired ambience which is not only vast in its scope, but also attractive to people who might not even know the name of the genre they are listening to. There is a universal attraction to this type of music which feels like the ghosts of the past arriving to dance, jest, and drink in the current era. There has always been a connection with this vague time period and the legacy of this artist can partially be connected to the foresight of speaking to an audience beyond tradition. Much like the figure in the cover the specters of the past come not through conflict or tradition rather through ephemeral spirits which soothe and comfort those in need.
Fief needs no introduction at this point! His music has reached the hearts of many, and he has solidified his own sound and a unique identity over the years. Beyond his music, I was introduced to him via email by Peter Beste when I was working on my collaborative album The Kingdom Is Ours in 2024. I was the first to be surprised and truly humbled when he literally replied to me that Another World, Another Time was one of a small handful of albums that inspired him to write music. It was very exciting to work on this track together, and what he did was, as usual, brilliant! Then, we met “in real life” during Albion Fest in London in 2025, and it’s always better when someone artistically talented like him happens to be a very cool human being as well. Long live Fief!
-Erang, solo artist and dungeon synth revival visionary. 2026
FIEF VII is available via Out of Season on LP/CD/tape/digital formats. This artist’s (and label’s) work will undoubtedly continue with what I assume will be more genre watershed releases. When I saw Fief for the first time in 2025 it was a moment for me to see a historic performance after so many years of talking about this artist’s work. In the fall of 2026, Thangorodrim will be preforming at both the Out of Season Distant Strong Hold Fest in Maine as well as the Great Lakes Dungeon Siege in Detroit. Perhaps one year I can complete my collection with a Sequestered Keep performance but even if not, I am grateful for being around for these brief bits of history.
