Loud Ghosts
Questfest was an inaugural event hosted by Vermilion Towers — an art collective / rehearsal space in the remnants of the Brandt Cabinet Works in Hagerstown Maryland. Vermilion Towers is Timothy and Elizabeth Ulrich with Tim also the founder of the death grind act Organ Trail and Elizabeth making things like Halloween masks and horror salt and pepper shakers. Brandt Cabinet Works, founded in 1901, manufactured furniture providing a robust industry to pair with the areas historic train system. At one point this building provided jobs for the community and from various reflection pieces on social media, locals remembered fondly either working at the site or owning furnishings from the factory. In 2026, various tenets rent out the space including commercial, industrial, and artisans ranging from the mundane to the intriguing. Vermilion Towers is on the top floor of the building and exists in a patchwork of original stonework, flooring, and unfurnished partitions. Its inhabitants is a medley of band gear, brightly colored Halloween masks, 3d printed statues, and all manner of esoteric furnishings which seem to thrive in a place with a few established rules.
Questfest was a showcase of two metal acts, Cultic from Pennsylvania and Athame from Maryland, along with three dungeon synth acts from various state lines. Hagerstown, despite its unconventional location in the Maryland Panhandle, provided a meeting point between multiple states for musicians, attendees, and vendors. The musicians gathered here all shared a common sentiment that this space could not exist in places like DC or Baltimore since it would probably be made into mixed retail condominiums with extremely mid ass burger restaurants. With the sun streaming in from the original factory windows, the vendors for Questfest set up wares such as bootleg shirts, vinyl, antique crucifixes, and all manner of things cool people would probably collect. The place became a night market which looked like a happy marriage between a renaissance faire and trespassing. Walking around in the gravel parking lot not knowing is the businesses were in operation you outside you could hear the drone of music which floated above the junkyards and across the street liquor stores solidifying the feeling that we were far enough away from anyone who would care.
Dungeon synth, for all of its euro medieval flirtations, is predominately a US centric live scene which lacks the castles and ancient structures of its European relatives. Playing in a castle or something more fitting to its expected themes is difficult to impossible in this country. Vermilion Towers may not exist in a castle or actual dungeon but its occupation inside history is still present. I have always been fascinated with dungeon synth’s spectral qualities with its ambience feeling unearthly when seeing it in person. The dungeon synth acts present all strained the very definition of the genre ranging from berlin school, drone, noise, and abstract folk which at times might have sounded like tavern music but turned up to an engulfing volume. Though many were dressed for the a medieval occasion, others were dressed how they felt most comfortable and the night became a celebration of the odd with experimental music being played at volumes needing ear protection. I dont think I will ever see dungeon synth in a castle (never say never) but events like this I feel showcase the true spirit of dungeon synth as loud ghosts which come alive at night in abandoned ruins
