Dungeon Crawl: KAME – The Turtle Hermit Way
A brief sidequest to Universe 7.
When we last left our hero Erestor, he was laying down the finest dungeon-beats this side of the southfarthing. Now having extricated himself from the ancient halls of Khazad-dûm—and dropped no less than 5 new Ancient Kingdom records in the intervening months—our tireless fantasy synth champion sets his sights on becoming the Worlds Martial Arts Champion and finally uniting the Dragon Balls.
Enter KAME.
KAME is a fantasy synth project themed around the manga/anime Dragon Ball, which I refuse to describe further because the Venn diagram of TovH Readers and People Familiar With Dragon Ball is a circle. What I will say is while I bemoan many of the changes to day-to-day life and childhood the streaming era has ushered in, I’m glad my kid will never be exposed to Dangerous Levels of Weeb Shit from Toonami after school like I was as a red-blooded, corn and soy-fed, Millenial American boychild.
EXCEPT for Dragon Ball. That shit rocked hard.
To make The Turtle Hermit Way KAME must have spent some time in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, cuz my scouter says the Power Level of these fantasy synthesizer jams is over 9000. Just check out that opening hi-hat and hand percussion in the opening of “The Secret Technique of Kamehameha” or the cheeky wood block and chimes in “Kame House.” We groovin’ now, dawg.
And if you’re feeling down on dungeon synth cuz it always seems a little like, well, a downer? Think again, nerd, this is “Comfy Music from Universe 7.” We got moods out the wazoo. Srs moods for fighting evil with the power of goodness and friendship (“Red Ribbon Army”), lighthearted, cozy moods for camaraderie and relaxation (“Milk Delivery”), solemn moods for tragedy and personal growth (“Remembering Grandpa Gohan”), and good ole fashioned training montage moods (“Intense Martial Arts Training”). A full Dragon Ball story arc rolled into a convenient 30-minute package.
So what are you waiting for? Embrace the Turtle Hermit Way (“Work hard, study well and eat and sleep plenty”) and slap play.
“Will Master Roshi and Erestor’s teachings be enough for our stalwart heroes to overcome their dungeon dorkiness and degeneracy? Will Megachiles ever write about metal music again? Is all of dungeon synth really just side-projects from 2-3 different dudes and Fogweaver? Find out next time on Dungeon Crawl Z!”
