Dungeon Crawl VI
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Time has lost all meaning on your long journey deep, deep into the catacombs of the wizard (authorβs note: sorry yβall, lifeβs been busy!), but at last the relic you seek is before you. A mouldering tome, indescribably ancient, sits atop a crude stone dais. The dank air of the crypt grows febrile with magic as you approach. Intricately woven arcane wards lay heavy on the book, but have become brittle with age. A simple cantrip is sufficient to crumble and disperse them like so much dust.
You delicately open the book. Spells indescribable and forbidden to mortal eyes are scrawled in a cramped, messy script upon the decayed page. As you attempt to transcribe the writing an intense and otherworldly force begins to bear down you. Your ears ring and pop, and your nose begins to bleed as you struggle to maintain your composure against the immense pressure.
Quickly, roll a d10 to decipher a spell from the book!
1
Steaming Woodlands β The Melancholic Eons
Independent | January 30, 2025
1
A brief dose of beautiful dungeon ambience. No gimmicks, no wizards (maybe?), just wicked cool synth tones and melodies with that pleasant melancholia (as you would assume). Fans of the first few Quest Master records will dig this, and then probably be confused and mad at me because thereβs no obvious references to dragons or castles or fair maidens. Use your imagination, you big nerds!
2
Amser Segur – The End of Arcadi the Ivy King – Potion of Enfeeblement Version
Independent | December 23, 2024
You probably shouldnβt have trusted those potions you bought off that gnome you just met behind the tavern. Chopped & Screwed remixes of a late breaking favorite of mine from last year. Little known fact: after pioneering the sound that would define the Houston scene, DJ Screw went on to invent dungeon synth too!
3
Rusty Pilgrim (Multi-artist comp.) – Knights Don’t Cry: A Dungeon Synth tribute to The Cure
Rusty Pilgrim | December 15, 2024
Little known fact: after pioneering the sound that would define goth rock, Robert Smith went on to invent dungeon synth too!
4
Mondholz – Atlantean Echoes
Dream Journal Institute | April 1, 2025
This is just a Pure Moods concept album (it kicks ass). All proceeds go to supporting local libraries. All my homies love their local library.
5
Zireael – Upon Her Bladeβ¦
Arcane Chapel | April 25, 2025
You know the dungeon synth is gonna be good when the choral fx are all like βHOO! HAH!β to close out the first track. And you know itβs from New Zealand when you spin track 4, βTir nΓ‘ Lia,β and it sounds like the Uruk-hai being birthed deep in the bowels of Isengard. Supremely rad, with a touch of foreboding and mystery!
6
Lakanys – To The Pass Of The Twilight Mountains
Independent | February 1, 2025
Iβm a total mark for βlone rider on escarpment overlooks otherworldly fantasy castleβ art so boy howdy I was glad when Lakanys wasnβt all talk and no castle. Cinematic, burnished fantasy synthesizer that eschews the lo-fi dungeon for soaring amidst the scenic vistas (as you would assume!). Dramatic orchestral swells and thundering timpani included.
7
Sublime Solitude – My Kindled Malice/Fantasy And Seclusion
Independent | April 16, 2025
Itβs always βsublime solitudeβ or a βsequestered keep,β never a βgregarious fellowship,β βa close knit group of citadels,β or βtwo wizards that are long term roommates.β No wonder we have a male loneliness epidemic (and a bunch of dudes starting dungeon synth projects). Our castles are too secluded. Our fortresses, too obscure and inaccessible. So break your oath of silence or penitence or whatever, crack open some cold ones, and talk with your buds and/or lovers about Lord Bakartiaβs kick-ass My Kindled Malice/Fantasy And Seclusion today. Maybe hold hands too! Itβs OK to feel things, even when those things are sad!
8
Howling Fjord – Utgarde Keep
Independent | February 14, 2025
Tapes & CD via Barrow Hoard Records
World of Dang Warcraft Dungeon Synth. Sorry, recovering dorks, you gotta shake your ass to βValgarde Pt. 2: The Local Bards Premiere Their New Songβ and reflect on all the lost hours of your youth spent trying to pull a raid together for Molten Core now.
9
Old Forsaken Realm – Β Relics of A Sunken Past
Independent | January 25, 2025
Dungeon Doom is the OUGH-iest dungeon synth subgenre. Allow me to elaborate: itβs not about the tempo, or having someone literally βOUGHβ at you. Itβs the big ol’ echoey drums, the warble and grit of the recording, the dark ‘n spooky aesthetics. Really makes you think of goths, or cemeteries, or Tom G. Warrior. Anyways, Old Forsaken Realm makes me go OUGH with their three-track debut album of that Double B, Double D Big Boi Dungeon Doom. OUGH!
10
Magic Hilt β Saga of Glinting Steel
Independent | February 28, 2025
After warming us up on a series of 6, count βem, VI, lauded EPs (Enchanted Plays) of fantasy ambience, Magic Hilt has finally had enough foreplay and unsheathed their full-length. Warm, redolent synth odes to the sword wielders of olde. And wow, OK, all these sword wielders are kinda dreamy and also secretly super into you? What are you waiting for? U gripping that magic hilt or naw?π©βπ¦ FFO: sword and sorcery classics, like ACOTAR or Fourth Wing; scantily clad dudes licentiously wielding big swords a lΓ‘ Conan and Elric.
