#dungeonsynth — Public Fediverse posts

So here's a fun thing I did… A friend I've known for decades has a podcast about gaming conventions, so he and his cohost interviewed me about @jococruise.bsky.social, gaming, music, and plenty of inscrutable digressions into our shared history.

https://shows.acast.com/all-year-i-dream-about-gaming-conventions/episodes/episode-205-cruise-con-redux-with-a-joco-twist

#Gaming #Conventions #JoCoCruise #DungeonSynth #IndieMusic #Pathfinder

Free download codes:

Arcis - Numen

"Cinematic ambient."

https://getmusic.fm/l/NbNorX

#ambient #electronic #darkambient #cinematic #dungeonsynth #darkfolk #music

Recently someone shared Mountain Realm with me. He said it’s called “dungeon synth.” Cautiously I trusted him and dove in.

So glad I did. I’ve been listening to their library SO much over the past few weeks while working. It’s perfect background music for design, code, and writing.

https://cryocrypt.bandcamp.com

#Music #BackgroundMusic #DungeonSynth #MountainRealm

Recently someone shared Mountain Realm with me. He said it’s called “dungeon synth.” Cautiously I trusted him and dove in.

So glad I did. I’ve been listening to their library SO much over the past few weeks while working. It’s perfect background music for design, code, and writing.

https://cryocrypt.bandcamp.com

#Music #BackgroundMusic #DungeonSynth #MountainRealm

Recently someone shared Mountain Realm with me. He said it’s called “dungeon synth.” Cautiously I trusted him and dove in.

So glad I did. I’ve been listening to their library SO much over the past few weeks while working. It’s perfect background music for design, code, and writing.

https://cryocrypt.bandcamp.com

#Music #BackgroundMusic #DungeonSynth #MountainRealm

Recently someone shared Mountain Realm with me. He said it’s called “dungeon synth.” Cautiously I trusted him and dove in.

So glad I did. I’ve been listening to their library SO much over the past few weeks while working. It’s perfect background music for design, code, and writing.

https://cryocrypt.bandcamp.com

#Music #BackgroundMusic #DungeonSynth #MountainRealm

Recently someone shared Mountain Realm with me. He said it’s called “dungeon synth.” Cautiously I trusted him and dove in.

So glad I did. I’ve been listening to their library SO much over the past few weeks while working. It’s perfect background music for design, code, and writing.

https://cryocrypt.bandcamp.com

#Music #BackgroundMusic #DungeonSynth #MountainRealm

Free download codes:

The Mountain King - Pike Dreams

"This is not a dream - it is a reckoning of dreams. Pike dreams are human lore in music form."

https://getmusic.fm/l/w0eApp

#drone #noise #electronica #synthwave #instrumental #soundtrack #dungeonsynth #triphop #postpunk #doom #postmetal #postrock #dronedoommetal #music

Ourobonic Plague – slow pollination

A long, slowly evolving drone set that explores texture deeply while finding inspiration in kosmische & dungeon synth.

https://ourobonicplague.bandcamp.com/album/slow-pollination

@ourobonicplague.bsky.social

https://www.etherdiver.com/2026/04/03/opm-second-anniversary/#OurobonicPlague

#Drone #DungeonSynth #kosmische

New album is out 🎉

Few words and links to streaming https://barhamon.com/music/SELF_CARE%20by%20Serhiy%20Barhamon.html

#modularsynth #electronicmusic #dungeonsynth #ambient #industrial

BASIC DUNGEON – HDK 43 † Perils in the slums scenario 2: the corrupt magicians
#8bit #DungeonsDragons #Electronic #chiptune #commodore64 #dungeonsynth #rpg #soundtrack #zxspectrum #Milan
CC BY-NC-ND (#CreativeCommons Attribution Non Commercial No Derivatives) #ccmusic
https://heimatderkatastrophe.bandcamp.com/album/hdk-43-perils-in-the-slums-scenario-2-the-corrupt-magicians

https://www.tkhunt.com/2241881/ SHOWCASE: 山本彩 (Sayaka Yamamoto) #ambient #celebrity #DarkAmbient #darksynth #darkwave #DungeonSynth #ElectronicMusic #electronica #mashup #mashups #MelodicDeathMetal #Metal #music #musician #OriginalSong #OriginalSongs #retrowave #rock #RockMusic #synthwave #山本彩

I love black metal, but it certainly has a reputation for taking itself too seriously. Now and then, though, a few bands remember that this is the genre that gave us pseudonyms, corpse paint, and grown adults pretending to be forest demons. Acts like Old Nick and Ordo Vampyr Orientus have been a welcome slap in the face, embracing black metal’s inherent goofiness and piling on the camp without collapsing into total self-parody. Which brings us to Night of the Vampire, the latest addition to this batch of kitschy kvlters. This is the handiwork of one “Astral Shadow,” whose 2022 EP hinted at something genuinely fun—a danceable, blackened darkwave hybrid that didn’t sound like it hated the listener for existing. Now our Gothic overlord returns with a full-length debut, modestly titled The Enchanting Winds of the Dreamweaving Masquerade. The question is simple: can this gloriously silly idea survive album-length scrutiny, or is it doomed to be background noise for a vampire-themed goth night attended by six people and a fog machine on its last legs?

Night of the Vampire’s take on blackened darkwave is oodles of fun. Across Enchanting Winds, songs are led by gaudy synth lines atop simple distorted guitars, classic 80s drum patterns, and finished with a blackened rasp. This is an effective formula that’s as fun as it is addictive, evoking the playful jubilance of vintage synth-led sounds and sharpening it with black metal’s frostbitten cudgel. The result is campy and over-the-top, but Astral Shadow has plenty of tricks up their satin sleeve to make this formula more delectable. Whether it’s adding tasteful lead guitar and campy clean vocals (“Children of the Immortal Blood”) 1, going full Simple Minds with a driving synth pop rocker (“Sacrificed to the Night”) or deploying some ignorant mid-tempo chugs underneath the ocean of synth (“Casting Shadows in an Ocean of Time”), there’s no shortage of clever adornments to spice up the core blackened darkwave sound. Night of the Vampire might sound more like Depeche Mode than Darkthrone, but that’s fine when this pernicious platter is this delectable.

The Enchanting Winds of the Dreamweaving Masquerade by NIGHT OF THE VAMPIRE

Enchanting Winds provides meaningful variety in its execution, keeping this rave from getting too stale. Night of the Vampire goes full Blade nightclub with “The Cosmic Darkness Calls me,” a delightful goth rager which ditches the guitars for a throbbing synth bassline and icy, programmed drums. The faster tempo of “Mother Moon of the Astral Dawn” is a nice, energetic break from the dancefloor, utilizing effective drum pullbacks to keep its forward momentum, and “Misty Illusions” is a solid dungeon synth closer that eases you out of the whole vampiric experience. With relatively short song-lengths and a curt 30-minute runtime, this is also a record that doesn’t overstay its welcome, allowing for repeated spins without running the risk of blood withdrawal. Enchanting Winds is an enjoyable, blackened journey from start to finish. I only wish it set its sights a little higher.

The main thing preventing Night of the Vampire from reaching sanguine ecstasy is the relative lack of ambition in Enchanting Wind’s songwriting. Astral Shadow’s approach is simple: latch onto a catchy synth melody and then ride it for the song’s entire duration, with minor variation for choruses. This works exceedingly well on shorter pieces or in conjunction with more inventive additions, but falls a bit short when it’s the only tactic on display. As a result, songs built almost entirely around a single synth line, like “The Prince of Many Faces and the Lady of the Night” or “Beyond the Howls of the Celestial Wolves,” end up feeling one-note, with little development or variation. Once you notice this pattern across the record, the impact of individual tracks diminishes. That’s especially frustrating given that “Children of Immortal Blood,” with its contrasting choruses, proves Astral Shadow is capable of writing dynamic, multi-part songs with distinct elements. As it stands, the straightforward songcraft doesn’t prevent these tracks from being exciting in the right context, but it does keep Enchanting Winds from evolving beyond its initial premise.

The Enchanting Winds of the Dreamweaving Masquerade is a charming debut from Night of the Vampire. The essential idea of “black metal meets 80s synths” is effective, entertaining and often moves beyond the simple proposition, even if the straightforward songcraft detracts from my enjoyment at times. I’ll gladly place Night of the Vampire alongside their unserious contemporaries in my “kvlt cheese-maxing” playlist and look forward to whatever Astral Shadow produces next.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Profound Lore Records
Website: nightofthevampire.bandcamp.com | Instagram
Releases Worldwide: February 6th, 2026

Worms are rich fodder for metal band names,1 and it’s not hard to see why. They’re gross, alienlike, and carry connotations of death and decay; and that’s before you start spelling it with a ‘v’ and thereby reference dragons, sea monsters, and the Devil himself. While sharing the collective imagination, this Worm definitely distinguishes themselves. After a shaky start, it was Foreverglade that first saw Worm realize their potential with a lean towards doom-death that retained just enough synth-forward black metal and balanced a murky soundscape with syrupy sweet guitar solos. Since then, Bluenothing and Dream Unending split Starpath developed this characteristic sound, extending further into the spooky and atmospheric, whilst never losing sight of the slimy heaviness that apparently makes their music inaccessible to around 99% of the human population. Necropalace being released on Century Media indicates the kind of meteoric rise the band has recently enjoyed,2 but far from selling out, it’s this album that feels like Worm being the most entirely and unapologetically themselves they’ve ever been; and it pays off.

Necropalace is instantly identifiable as a Worm album: disEMBOWELMENT-esque cavernous doom-death, a dungeon-synth level of fondness for keyboards, and surprisingly beautiful lead guitars all echoing in a cavernous mist. However, following the trajectory set by the interim EP and split, the music now channels a different subgenre of horror. The grandiosity is more theatrical than imposing, the tone is haunting not by a sense of dread, but by an almost camp spookiness, and more time than before is given over to explosive forays into faster tempos. That may sound bad, but it’s brilliant. This expansion into pretty much all black metal has to offer musically gives Worm’s signature interweaving of sinister heaviness and eerie echoey melody room to spread its wings and express all the otherworldly magic and brooding drama it always teased. In Necropalace, Worm transform fully from the swamp beast of yore into the haunted-castle-guarding dragon out of some weird dream nightmare.

Necropalace (24-bit HD audio) by Worm

Everything unique and great about Worm finds a new, more vibrant side on Necropalace. The drawling doom is gloomier; the guitar melodies more exuberant; the reverb and distortion more huge; the atmosphere richer; the synths, ominous choirs, and bells, and distortion more delicious. Guitarist Wroth Septentrion—a.k.a Philippe Tougas of First Fragment—holds nothing back. Dazzling flourishes (“Halls of Weeping”) and lush, crooning refrains (“The Night Has Fangs,” “Blackheart”) spill across the resonant black(ened doom), and arc upwards in great swoops (“Necropalace,” Witchmoon: The Infernal Masquerade”). It’s the most beautiful Worm has ever been, yet retains that layer of grime Worm is so recognisable for. It works so well thanks to supernaturally perfect interplay between keyboard and guitar, where each is expressive and layered in their own right (“Gates to the Shadowzone (Intro)”), and picks up or embellishes the other’s lines. A vibrant dance of strings comes naturally from tense chords of choir (“The Night Has Fangs”) or piano cascades out of dirt-laden riffs (“Necropalace,” “Witchmoon”), and the purring rhythms of synth bleed seamlessly into extreme metal (“Necropalace,” “Dragon Dreams”). The crashing drums and clattering swords, rising synths and bold keys, and the way Phantom Slaughter’s shrieking or apathetic spoken-word echoes phantasmally—all folded into these strikingly melodic forms—together create a kind of operatic melodrama that is endlessly fun to experience.

At this point, I’d normally be adding a caveat, and I’m not starved for choice, in theory. Necropalace is just over an hour long, which might be too much time in the Shadowzone for some, but the time absolutely flies by. A reluctance to edit is also implied by the typically unpopular use of an intro with instrumental “Gates to the Shadowzone (Intro),” which—unlike on Foreverglade3—actually is a shorter track. As its title implies, however, its ominous dungeon synth and shimmering soloing work well to induct the listener into the weird world that follows. And the guitarwork of Marty Friedman—who guests on closer “Witchmoon”—fits so brilliantly with everything Worm has crafted up to this point that it acts as a final, epic flourish that more than capitalises on his—and every member’s—skill.

Despite committing so fully to the spooky and loosening the reins on compositional structure and melody, Worm has not lost their grip on writing heavy, engaging songs. With its bombastic sense of fun and theatricality and a beauty that stays firmly entrenched in the dark and dirty, Necropalace shows Worm evolving in a way that magnifies rather than dilutes their personality. If more people hear it due to signing with a bigger label, then that’s only a good thing. I can’t stop listening myself. This is the album Worm was born to create.

Rating: Excellent
DR: ?4 | Format Reviewed: Stream
Label: Century Media
Website: Bandcamp | Instagram
Releases Worldwide: February 13th, 2026

Nameless Cartographer – Endless Ruin
#Experimental #Hypnowave #doom #drone #dungeonsynth #fantasymusic #fm #frequencymodulation #NewYork
CC BY-NC-SA (#CreativeCommons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike) #ccmusic
https://isobelbess.bandcamp.com/album/endless-ruin

Swords and sorcery have served as metal muses since the genre’s earliest days and for the most seminal acts. Indeed, many a writer here at AMG Studios has indulged in a game or three hundred of Dungeons & Dragons, and I imagine the same can be said of our esteemed commentariat. So, on the rare occasion that dungeon synth, the correct soundtrack for all D&D games, falls into the promo sump, it’s picked up fairly quickly. Old Sorcery’s newest full-length, The Outsider, didn’t even make it that far before Mystikus Hugebeard and I had a Canadian standoff about coverage and settled on this appropriately lengthy double review.

Old Sorcery is the dungeon synth project of Lahti, Finland-based multi-instrumentalist Vechi Vrăjitor.1 The Outsider sees Vrăjitor continuing the “Masks of the Magi” trilogy that began with 2025’s delightful and exploratory The Escapist. Small excursions from Old Sorcery’s core sound yielded great results, incorporating sweeping cinematic textures and classical instrumentation. That adventurous spirit lives on here, but The Outsider ranges much further afield. Vrăjitor ventures into territory once explored by early Emperor, but he emerges with a sound more atmospheric and raw. 12-grit tremolo walls, blast beats aplenty, and echoing rasps like howling storm winds provide a base upon which Old Sorcery centers icy synths (“Magick Triumph,” “Barrowgrim Asylum”), folk-minded woodwinds (“The Interior Gates of the True Soul,” “Where Sorrow Reigns”), and the searching reverence of Sojourner or Eldamar. Rather than an end in itself, Vrăjitor uses black metal on The Outsider as a malleable vehicle to further explore the concepts introduced in The Escapist.

The Outsider by Old Sorcery

The result is a 71-minute behemoth. Following The Escapist’s comparatively trim 50 minutes, The Outsider was a daunting prospect, to say the least. I still think it could lose ten minutes or so—“The Pain Threshold,” early sections of “Innigkeit” and “Magick Triumph,” and the quirky Gothic section of “Where Sorrow Reigns”—but repeated listens showed me that I was missing the forest for the trees. And like the moss that grows on those trees, The Outsider grew on me. Both black metal and dungeon synth are well-suited to fostering atmosphere and emotive landscapes, and Vrăjitor harnesses this shared propensity to his advantage. With turns at times subtle—the synths and guitars shifting into lockstep at the end of “Magick Triumph”—and at others, explosive and invigorating—the phenomenal triple attack of gritty guitar, ephemeral synth licks, and breathy woodwind solo in “Where Sorrow Reigns”—The Outsider is a journey, not a destination.

And it is the compositional vistas and narrative musicality of The Outsider that make it a journey worth taking. The bones of a story are hidden within The Outsider, and Vrăjitor intends them to be found. While there are presumably lyrics to The Outsider, Vrăjitor’s vocals are pushed back in the mix and filtered, allowing this to be a functionally instrumental album. Such Old Sorcery as this will naturally whisper different tales to different listeners, but I defy the skeptic to stand on the moon-kissed snowfields of “Magick Triumph,” tarry by the campfire and tender acoustics of “Innigkeit,”2 or emerge from the airy, crystalline caverns “Where Sorrow Reigns” and conjure no dreams of the titular outsider’s adventures. Not merely a pairing, The Outsider weaves wintery synths and raw, blackened atmospherics into a single spell and adorns it with grand, evocative structures and diverse instrumentation to create a story that needs no overt narration, but reveals its bones through music alone.

Established through the excellent “Castle” trilogy,3 Old Sorcery is a mainstay in dungeon synth circles, and if The Outsider proves anything, it’s for good reason. While The Escapist took day trips beyond Old Sorcery’s core sound, The Outsider bravely departs familiar territory while never forgetting its heritage. While there are certainly passages and pathways I trudged through rather than enjoyed, The Outsider is a singular, grand tapestry, cleverly composed and beautifully arranged. Old Sorcery’s latest is a work best basked in and consumed organically, rather than dissected microscopically, and has only gotten better with each spin. Set aside an hour on a cold, snowy day (there should be plenty of them right about now), cozy up with a warm drink, and hear The Outsider’s tale.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Avantgarde Music
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: January 30th, 2026

Mystikus Hugebeard (a practitioner of old sorcery, as it were)

Whenever the yearning for old-school dungeon synth takes me, Old Sorcery has long been one of my first choices. However, I’m embarrassed to admit that during my preparatory research, I was rather shocked to learn that Old Sorcery debuted as recently as 2017 with Realms of Magickal Sorrow. I’d just assumed Old Sorcery has been around since, I don’t know, time immemorial, only because Old Sorcery so effortlessly plays that sort of raw, old school dungeon synth that you’d find on a cassette tape tucked away next to a Jim Kirkwood or Depressive Silence. I’m grateful that Spicie Forrest clued me in on this release and allowed me to double review with him, such that I could further inform our readers of the truly quality dungeon synth act that Old Sorcery is. This opportunity has not presented itself in a way I’d anticipated, however, because The Outsider is not merely dungeon synth like most Old Sorcery releases, but also an album of raw, wintry black metal.

As The Outsider opens in “Magick Triumph,” rumbling horns and scattered synths set the stage for a classic Swords n’ Sorcery experience typical to the Old Sorcery oeuvre, until a grimy guitar chord descends like a fog. It’s worth mentioning that Old Sorcery has traveled this blackened road before with 2020’s Sorrowcrown, but it’s done exceptionally well here. It’s the kind of frigid black metal you’d hear from Paysage d’Hiver and Lunar Aurora, with a similarly raw production style to boot. An overly raw-sounding mix that sacrifices too much listenability for “authenticity” is an immediate album-killer for me, but The Outsider is in that perfect sweet spot. The tremolos and blast-beats buzz with wintry chill and the vocals are way, way in the back, and the synths are always able to cut through the din. The mix has that nice, approachable sort of buzz, like just a little too much wine.4 Still, headphones will definitely be your friend for this album.

Old Sorcery weaves dungeon synth and black metal together such that each is stronger for the other’s presence, effectively playing off each other’s strengths. The dungeon synth elements in The Outsider enjoy an active melodic role in the heavier songs, the inviting, pleasant tones of old-school dungeon synth exuding warmth amidst the cold black metal. It makes for some standout moments, like frostbiting synths fading in and out through stormy guitar riffs (“Magick Triumph”), or a crystalline melody ringing hopeful above rhythmic tremolos and strings (“Where Sorrow Reigns”). “The Interior Gates of the True Soul” is an exquisite blend of synths and metal with an energy that almost reminds of Khonsu, a percussive, mystical synth melody warping, shifting, driving the song forward atop rolling tremolos. There is, naturally, a great deal of care in The Outsider’s construction of atmosphere, but the melodic focus given to the synths in relation to the black metal feels quite refreshing for the genre. As such, The Outsider rarely feels passive even across its length and maintains a strong sense of engagement from moment to moment.

Speaking of length, The Outsider is notably on the longer side, clocking in at over 70 minutes. But I find that Old Sorcery manages the time well with a healthy spread of longer and shorter songs, coupled with their diverse songwriting approach. The Outsider begins and ends with its dramatic epics, as the bulk of the album swirls through cackling, malevolent melodies (“Barrowgrim Asylum”), softer dungeon synth proper (“Innigkeit,” “The Pain Threshold”), and fantastical electronic/metal harmonies (“The Interior Gates of the True Soul”). There’s nary a weak link on the album, but while the staccato, electronic synth tones work wonders in “Magick Triumph” and “The Interior Gates of the True Soul,” I wish they were utilized a bit more in the ambient tracks. “The Pain Threshold” technically fits that bill, but it’s written in such a way that’s more sweeping and orchestral. It would’ve been nice to see the sharper synth tones common to Old Sorcery’s other works explored in a space less dominated by chaotic black metal, that I might appreciate them in clearer focus.

All in all, The Outsider is another rock-solid album by an artist who has consistently delivered great music, even though this album is a rare break from the Old Sorcery mold. It’s well-paced, well-written dungeon synth/black metal that is always good, and often great. I’ve often joked that this hellsite needs more goddamn dungeon synth, and The Outsider is my perfect specimen: just metal enough to bypass Steel’s gaze, yet with enough dungeon synth that I don’t look out of place wearing my wizard robes while listening to it. I furthermore suspect that my Spicie friend has delivered similarly positive tidings, so now that you’ve had two exceedingly trustworthy goobers tell you how good this album is, just go listen to the damn thing.

Rating: Very Good!

Best Combo at the moment:

Playing #brogue and listening to #dungeonsynth or #epicmetal .

#valheim is fun, but it's definitly for Multiplayer and i'm Not the Person for Multiplayer.

#gaming

TIMELESS NECROTEARS (Catalunya) presenta nou àlbum: "Awaik Ms710 (Quadrant of Videogamers)" #TimelessNecrotears #Gothic #BlackMetal #DoomMetal #AvantGardeDoomMetal #Ambient #DungeonSynth #Febrer2026 #Catalunya #NouÀlbum #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal

TIMELESS NECROTEARS (Catalunya) presenta nou àlbum: "Jurzikum: The Video Game" #TimelessNecrotears #Gothic #BlackMetal #DoomMetal #AvantGardeDoomMetal #Ambient #DungeonSynth #Febrer2026 #Catalunya #NouÀlbum #Metall #Metal #MúsicaMetal #MetalMusic

Free download codes:

Skeleton Mage - Midwinter Tales

"Ten tales to warm you up in a cold winter day."

https://getmusic.fm/l/v03wLU

#ambient #folk #dungeonsynth #fantasysynth #fantasymusic #medievalambient #neomedieval #rpgmusic #tavernmusic #music

Free download codes:

Skeleton Mage - Midwinter Tales

"Ten tales to warm you up in a cold winter day."

https://getmusic.fm/l/v03wLU

#ambient #folk #dungeonsynth #fantasysynth #fantasymusic #medievalambient #neomedieval #rpgmusic #tavernmusic #music

Free download codes:

Skeleton Mage - Midwinter Tales

"Ten tales to warm you up in a cold winter day."

https://getmusic.fm/l/v03wLU

#ambient #folk #dungeonsynth #fantasysynth #fantasymusic #medievalambient #neomedieval #rpgmusic #tavernmusic #music

Free download codes:

Skeleton Mage - Midwinter Tales

"Ten tales to warm you up in a cold winter day."

https://getmusic.fm/l/v03wLU

#ambient #folk #dungeonsynth #fantasysynth #fantasymusic #medievalambient #neomedieval #rpgmusic #tavernmusic #music

Still no snow but the mood works out somehow. Music for waking to the day under a cool blue sky.

snowmoon.bandcamp.com/album/sn…

#music for mornings #bandcamp #snowmoon #winter ambient #dungeon synth

Moukeprabbeli – A Palustrine Sojourn
#Ambient #ambient #atmospheric #bog #dungeonsynth #fantasysynth #naturesynth #swamp #Luxembourg
CC BY-SA (#CreativeCommons Attribution Share Alike) #ccmusic
https://moukeprabbeli.bandcamp.com/album/a-palustrine-sojourn

#Caturday

"Katzenjammer (Metallkatze)"
by Annelieses Zerstörung unter gefrorenen Monden (AZugM)

#AudioArt about a dead tomcat, including the sound of him biting into the edge of his food bowl

inspired by:
#GarfieldMinusGarfield
#Gorefield
I'm sorry, Jon
Lasagna Cat

Genres:
#HarshNoise
#DungeonSynth
#BlackMetal / #DSBM (vocals)

lyrics:
"Max minus Max
I'm sorry, Max"

#Noise #BlackMetal #DepressiveSuicidalBlackMetal #Garfield #Cats #CatsOfMastodon #FediMusicians #FanArt #Music #weird #Horror

What better than listening to dungeon synth about goblins while writing dungeon stories about goblins? Though ours will be much more goofy. Love this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEsuJoBKAvA

#narrativegames #dungeonsynth #gamedev

Onoskelis – Before Ishtar's Portal #cd #MutilationRecords #BlackHeartsRecords #idBLACK120 #LimitedEdition #500copies #Digipak #DungeonSynth #cdpost #cdcollection #discoécultura #compactdisc #digitalaudio #GradienteS96 #PanasonicDVDS29 #kombi #noise
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQ1wWHNDhxC/?igsh=cWYwOXhhdHF6Z3J0

Onoskelis – Before Ishtar's Portal #cd #MutilationRecords #BlackHeartsRecords #idBLACK120 #LimitedEdition #500copies #Digipak #DungeonSynth #cdpost #cdcollection #discoécultura #compactdisc #digitalaudio #GradienteS96 #PanasonicDVDS29 #kombi #noise

I adjusted the volume pitch and fixed a Firefox bug. Still not happy with the visualizer.

https://dungeonsynth.caffeine.computer/

#theStudio #dungeonsynth #algomusic #javascript

From what I learned from toying with pure C Oscillators for making music [1], I've been trying out something even more weird. It's still a work in progress, so it's just for your ears for now [2].

1: https://caffeine.wiki/jerdehl.html
2: https://dungeonsynth.caffeine.computer/

#theStudio #dungeonsynth #algomusic #javascript

One of Nine – Dawn of the Iron Shadow Review

By Thus Spoke

If you aren’t already familiar with One of Nine, how quickly did you catch the Nazgûl reference? The Tolkien vibes are fairly obvious,1, but it took me an embarrassing amount of time to connect the band’s actual name and concept with specific LOTR lore. You might therefore accuse me of being severely under-qualified to write this review. However, One of Nine’s music is not just nerding out about iconic fantasy, it’s black metal. And I learnt from Stormkeep’s fantastic Tales of Othertime, that while my knowledge of and passion for the Tolkien-inspired pales in comparison to say, Felagund‘s, I do know that fantasy-themed dungeon-synthy meloblack kind of slaps; at least when it’s good. Dawn of the Iron Shadow, One of Nine’s sophomore, may not break any moulds, but it is definitely good.

Dawn of the Iron Shadow rides straight out of the gate with its heart on its banner. Opener, “Parley at the Gates,” sets the precedent for frequent bouts of booming, solemn narration as the speaker entreats mysterious lords for their service to a malevolent leader. We later get midpoint exposition (“Bauglir”) and the final lines of closer “Death Wing, Black Flame” are spoken with gravitas over the rumbles and crashes of thunder. Harplike, flutelike keys and soft horns playing quaint refrains, and syrupy synth choirs interrupt or duet with the tremolos, pushing percussion down to a tempered crashing, and planting the vibe firmly in the medieval camp.2 The echoing roars, variously jaunty and galloping tempos, in combination with the above, are indeed reminiscent of Stormkeep, while some more theatrical tendencies dimly recall Dimmu Borgir, and more explosive guitar melodies Mare Cognitum. Much like the tales of magical quests and battles it outlines, Dawn of the Iron Shadow is event-filled, grand, and charming, sustaining its audience with well-crafted music, and an uplifting sound.

One of Nine capture the spirit of their conceptual world and the listener’s attention by integrating their musical threads brilliantly. Dungeon synth elements are woven seamlessly into the fabric of the soundscape, prefiguring a theme (“Behold the Shadow of my Thoughts,” “Quest of the Silmarilion”), enhancing drama or emotion (“Dreadful Leap,” “Death Wing, Black Flame”), or just adding that extra flair (“Age of Chains”) to create passages that make you smile and take a guitar line from vanilla to vibrant. But it’s not as though the tremolo melodies themselves are even that plain, as One of Nine wring an impressive amount of expression from such refrains, which, emphasised by their keyboard companions, are downright anthemic; “Dreadful Leap” stands out in particular here. The effect of these predominantly cheerful—dare I say major—melodies, whether chimes sprinkled amidst the drums, or a plinky upbeat interlude, is that even the most mournful of tremolos herein becomes uplifting and hopeful. These songs sound like fantasy quests, and the narration, the shift between marching and galloping tempos (“Desperate Valor”), the group chants (“Death Wing Black Flame”), the horns and the harps, all work together to make it happen.

Dawn of the Iron Shadow is epic in nature, but it is not epic in length, and that makes it even more digestible. The music is so endearing in its sweeping soundscapes and so-serious commitment to its subject matter, that it ends far sooner than anticipated. This is excellent for replayability, but also works against the record’s overall impact if you’re not overly invested in the story or listening actively enough to pick up on One of Nine’s idiosyncrasies. That isn’t to say you won’t have a good time—you probably will. But a lack of big stand-out moments like those in “Dreadful Leap” and “Death Wing Black Flame” means that while the songs are enjoyable and the atmosphere is impeccable throughout, it doesn’t demand attention not willingly given.

I say all the above as someone with a layman’s interest in the source material. The music speaks for itself, and there’s plenty to enjoy for any fans of the hearty, happier side of black metal. Whether you come for the stories or not, the dreadful Nine’s tales of Middle-earth are fun and winsome enough to make you stay.

Rating: Very Good
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320kbps mp3
Label: Profound Lore
Website: Bandcamp
Releases Worldwide: October 31st, 2025

#2025 #35 #BlackMetal #DawnOfTheIronShadow #DimmuBorgir #DungeonSynth #MelodicBlackMetal #Oct25 #OneOfNine #ProfoundLoreRecords #Review #Reviews #Stormkeep

On 16 October 1995, Austrian's Summoning released what many fans and the band themselves refer to as their true debut album, Minas Morgul.

Deviating significantly from the second wave orthodoxy, branching into what would soon be called atmospheric black metal.

"It was the most massive turning point and formed the sound as you know it today.
We lost a lot of old BM fans, but a whole new generation followed."

03. The Passing of the Grey Company

#Summoning #BlackMetal #DungeonSynth

Inlustris – De Angelis
#Ambient #MedievalAmbient #ambient #chillout #dungeonsynth #electronic #electronica #fantasy #fantasymusic #medieval #neomedieval #newage #rpg #soundtrack #space #spacemusic #Munich
CC BY-NC-ND (#CreativeCommons Attribution Non Commercial No Derivatives) #ccmusic
https://inlustris.bandcamp.com/album/de-angelis

Inlustris – De Angelis
#Ambient #MedievalAmbient #ambient #chillout #dungeonsynth #electronic #electronica #fantasy #fantasymusic #medieval #neomedieval #newage #rpg #soundtrack #space #spacemusic #Munich
CC BY-NC-ND (#CreativeCommons Attribution Non Commercial No Derivatives) #ccmusic
https://inlustris.bandcamp.com/album/de-angelis

Inlustris – De Angelis
#Ambient #MedievalAmbient #ambient #chillout #dungeonsynth #electronic #electronica #fantasy #fantasymusic #medieval #neomedieval #newage #rpg #soundtrack #space #spacemusic #Munich
CC BY-NC-ND (#CreativeCommons Attribution Non Commercial No Derivatives) #ccmusic
https://inlustris.bandcamp.com/album/de-angelis

Inlustris – De Angelis
#Ambient #MedievalAmbient #ambient #chillout #dungeonsynth #electronic #electronica #fantasy #fantasymusic #medieval #neomedieval #newage #rpg #soundtrack #space #spacemusic #Munich
CC BY-NC-ND (#CreativeCommons Attribution Non Commercial No Derivatives) #ccmusic
https://inlustris.bandcamp.com/album/de-angelis

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"Instrumental Post-Metal from Ukraine"

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Old Machines – The Cycles of Extinction Review

By Thus Spoke

Picture the scene: it’s 3 am, and the bar is about to close. the last remaining customers—a table of four1 long-haired, denim and leather-clad men—are being shooed out. As they stagger, laughing, out the door, the bartender hears one of them (who he doesn’t know is guitarst Brian Rush of Ænigmatum, et al) saying, “Wait, wait, ok ok yeah so you’re on the keyboards doing the melody, and then I’m—what are we going for—black, death, thrash?…Yeah, awesome…” In this imagined world, the unsuspecting eavesdropper just witnessed the birth of Old Machines, who may well have begun work on their 2024 demo Backwards Through Space that very night. A year on, the crew—whose notable members also include Oxygen Destroyer percussionist Chris Craven—make their full-length debut with The Cycles of Extinction, which takes their craft and their concept from zero right to infinity, and beyond.

Cycles of Extinction is steeped in lore billions of years old, telling stories of peoples and times spanning aeons and light years—which may or may not be plotlines from many cherished video games—and sporting a runtime spanning an hour. Old Machine’s chosen format could perhaps best be described as being to symphonic death metal what Old Nick is to raw black metal.2 The bulk of the music is led by the keys, which do not attempt to disguise their jam-core sound that fluctuates between dungeon-synth camp and the kind of ambient sound-healing hum you’d get at the end of a yoga session in 2002. Guitars largely follow the rhythm and timbre of the synths—with many a hammer-on and pull-off ascending and descending alongside the identically clambering keys—if they don’t chug and gallop along to the next dramatically marching beat. There are some acrobatics, but they never usurp that keyboard’s position at centre-stage. Fast and mostly straightforward drumming keeps things at a vibrant up-tempo, with just a hint of thrashy energy, and croaking snarls share roughly equal space with booming spoken-word narration. It’s uncomplicated, but not without a certain charming passion and weirdness.

If nothing else, Cycles of Extinction sounds like Old Machines had a lot of fun making it. The tongue-in-cheek melodrama of the unadorned keyboard swooping through a movement, whilst the drums batter and riffs riff meanly, (“Glory to the Terrans of the First Contact War”) like something out of an N64 game fight scene (“The Sundering of the Irradiated Sons, and the Rebellion Sparked by the Gene-Plague”) is so silly it kind of works. There are moments where it’s almost genius: the deceleration and acceleration of “Cycles of Extinction,” complete with well-timed spoken word and manic screams; or the sudden vivacious grace of the guitars on “They Are Legion: The Tragic Exodus of the Veiled Creators ” that breaks the mould and outdoes the keys for just a moment, before the twain tumble back down a scale together. The first (“Cycles of Extinction”), and maybe even the second (“Extinguishing the Light of the Preludian Empire (Upon the Apex of Their Glory)”), time you hear that choir effect, played in an on-off jaunt that betrays their origin as having nothing at all to do with a human voice, it’s nigh impossible not to smile. But the question is: at what point are you no longer laughing with Old Machines, but laughing at them?

Unfortunately for Old Machines, the very synthetic-sounding synths with their repeated use of the same effects, chuggy, fast guitars, and prevalent spoken-word gets old. The pattern changes but little until the final two tracks “They Are Legion…” and “Glory to the Terrans…”—which in fairness do account for nearly a quarter of the runtime—when all of the best riffs, melodies, and moments are hastily stuffed in next to all the above. This is odd enough, and yet far more baffling is the decision to include two extended passages of ambience. The first one opens the album on a decidedly slow and tonally incongruent note as the first third of the 11-minute opener “Twilight of the Old Gods and the Dawning of the First Cycle.” The other slams the breaks on mid-album for a full eight minutes and 38 seconds of uneventful vagary (“Dark Space and Beyond – The Continuance of the Evolution of the Final Cycle”). If you were vibing with Old Machines’ weird keyboard blackened death metal before, then this ice cold shower kills the mood and exacerbates the irritation of following track “Crescendo of Carnage: Warsong of the Singing Swarm (Swarm Wars I)” and its especially jerky, stabby riff and key combos.

At the end of the day, Old Machines had an idea, and they ran with it. Maybe it’ll tickle some listeners enough in just the right way, because it is at times kinda fun. But even looking past the goofiness, the album’s structural issues—the monotone ambience and behemoth length—are sure to test the most saintly of patiences. If we can believe the band, The Cycles of Extinction is only the beginning; we’ll just have to wait and see whether Old Machines double down on the cheese, or evolve.

Rating: Mixed
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320kbps mp3
Label: Self-Release
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: August 22nd, 2025

#25 #2025 #Aug2025 #BlackMetal #DeathMetal #DungeonSynth #ElectronicMetal #OldMachines #OldNick #Review #Reviews #SelfReleases #SymphonicDeathMetal #TheCyclesOfExtinction #ThrashMetal

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Tets​ü​o ii - Summoning Sickness

"Combining our interest in early Krautrock, noise, industrial, and industrial music, Summoning Sickness is a distillation of Tetsüo ii's ethos and obsessions that would be an ideal soundtrack to killing skeletons in a torch-lit dungeon."

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