Many music blog sites at this point of the year will give you their best albums of, insert year, so far… Well, I am going to do that as well… Kind of.
A genre of music that I love is Dungeon Synth. I think it is relaxing, I think it is great as background music while you do any number of activities (including the writing of this blog). I usually don’t talk much about it because of how polarizing it is, and I also don’t have a lifelong appreciation of it. This is something that is rather new to me. I just know when I like something, and when I don’t. So, let’s highlight just a few of my favorite Dungeon Synth/Lo-Fi releases of 2022… So far.
Wraith Knight – Deep in the Dungeons of the Dragonlord
Based in the United States
Released June 1st, 2022.
I think one of the reasons why I love this kind of music so much is that it sounds like RPG music from the SNES era. Well, some of it does. But Deep in the Dungeons of the Dragonlord sounds exactly like the long-lost RPG soundtrack I never got.
From the creative mind of Nick Superchi, AKA Old Nick the machine that just pumps out music with varying different outlets with vastly different sounds. It’s actually quite mind-boggling how many of my favorite dungeon synth records are all from the same people under the same moniker.
From the very first note, you have transformed back to your early 90’s bedroom as the new game you saved up for kicks on. you’re presented with this epic synth that beckons you into the darkness of a world that is no longer safe. You get the feeling that it’s going to be up to you to bring peace back to this sorrowful and darkened land. You got that without any vocals or lyrics. Nothing. That’s why this genre is so great, and specifically this album. Also, I might add a great replacement album for a game that might have a rather lackluster soundtrack.
Ithildin – Arda’s Herbarium: A Musical Guide to the Mystical Garden of Middle-Earth, Parts 1 & 2
Based in Canada
Released April 1st, and June 1st of 2022
It was only last year that Ithildin released their first piece of material entitled, A Long-Expected Party. Since then they have released four more releases all centered around Tolkien’s charming universe of Hobbits and interesting landscapes.
Now, if you have spent any time with me, you know I love Tolkien and all the universe caries. Some people have Star Wars, Marvel, or Harry Potter. I have Tolkien (but we don’t need to bring up the three Hobbit movies). This two-volume set released a couple of months apart, is inspired by the book, “The Flora of Middle-Earth”. That’s why I love Tolkien so much, you can find inspiration in any facet of the universe, including the flora and fauna of the land. I won’t be able to do it justice, but let me share the exact thoughts of the artist behind these releases.
“Humans suffer from a condition referred to as “plant blindness”, which leads those afflicted by it to the inability to recognize the importance of plants in the biosphere and to appreciate their role in human affairs.
Tolkien’s bushy legendarium is truffled with multicolored flowers, trees, and leaves, all deeply meaningful to the professor’s work. Some of these plants were born in the mind of the author. Others already grow in our own backyard; thereby blurring the lines between Earth and Arda.
These endeavors into Tolkien’s botanical garden try to answer one question: What if these marvelous – and not always silent – beings each had melodies to whisper to our ears?”
I mean how charming is that?!
Frostgard – Valaquenta II
From the Forests of Beleriand
Released on February 20th, 2022
Look, I never claimed to not be biased on the subject matter. This is the second part of the Journey of Valar, based on the tales from Professor J.R.R. Tolkien’s, “The Silmarillion”. Both parts one and two are dungeon synth royalty to me. Frostgard does such a great job of releasing a record that feels familiar and intertwined within the atmosphere of the story that Tolkien is telling but also has made lovely music that anyone, even somebody who has never touched a Tolkien book would find enjoyable and inspiring.
The Silmarilion is a tough one to tackle and contains almost a biblical text worth of information, which is how it was intended. But this piece of music makes it that much more enjoyable to get through. I hope when everything is said and done we have an entire musical accompaniment by this self-proclaimed dark elf to the Silmarilion that makes people more inclined to jump in. She has already said that her next project will be centered around the story of Aredhel and Eöl in the land of Nan Elmoth
On a personal note, I particularly had fun playing through both of these releases on a loop while I have been playing the CRPG, Pillars of Eternity, which does not have the best soundtrack.
OK, so those are a few of my favorite Dungeon Synth releases so far in 2022. I can definitely keep going and I will probably have a list of at least 20 I can talk about at the end of the year. but let’s get back into the extreme with this month’s best of extreme metal!
EPs/Demos
Caustic Phlegm – Putrefying Flesh Demo
Death Metal from the United Kingdom
Released Independently
I’ll be honest with you, I like to pepper in some facts regarding each release. Who they are, what they’ve done, and where they are going. But I really don’t know much about Caustic Phlegm, other than that they are from the United Kingdom, and they play a type of disgusting lo-fi death metal that most try very hard to achieve, but CP has managed to nail the sound with their very first demo.
This is a quick listen, 3 tracks coming in just over 13 minutes, but their statement is made with authority in that little time, showing that CP doesn’t get paid by the hour. Also, in each song, they have this very eerie synth that usually shows up that reminds me of so many killer horror movies from the ’70s. An excellent touch.
Body Asphyxiation Science- Gravitational Blood Art
Death Metal from the United Kingdom
Released by Grurgling Gore
Space-themed death metal is kind of becoming the new trend. Good! I absolutely love it. Blood Incantation is literally one of my favorite bands and Astral Tomb from Colorado released an absolute banger earlier in the year. But Body Asphixiation Science really caught me off guard. I literally had never heard of them until yesterday! This brings up the argument that Bandcamp really needs a revamped site/app. Please, Epic, you own it now. Overhaul it!
Anyway, Gurgling Gore scooped up the tape distribution for this album and I am so happy they did. The production quality, album pacing, riffing, and structure are all on point. This EP is an incredible sign of what is coming with these folks from East Sussex. They already have a pretty good demo and a split under their belts, I assume next year will be that full length that I am out-right craving.
Hulder – The Eternal Fanfare
Black Metal from Washington State
Released by 20 Buck Spin
July has sucked for me personally/ I had to not only miss Left to Die due to me having Covid, but I also had to miss Hulder.
Hulder to me is one of the most interesting Black Metal projects going right now. Last year She released her debut full-length album, Godslastering: Hymns of a Forlorn Peasantry. If I were to re-rank the albums I ranked as the top 10 albums of the year last year now, I would include this album. I just missed it until it was too late. Which is honestly the worst part of being a music fan. FOMO am I right?
Anyway, when I saw she was releasing an EP or as she called it, a mini-album, I hopped on the physical pre-order right away. Longer than most EPs are nowadays, sitting at nearly 26 minutes I can see why she would want to refer to it as such. However, this doesn’t feel like anything less than an absolute quality Black Metal release, but to me. This is a top two or three album of 2022. The emotions conveyed in the music are universally felt throughout its lifespan. the nature of the Pacific Northwest combined with the beauty of Belgium really shines through as her spirit leaks all over this material.
LPs
Protector – Excessive Outburst of Depravity
Thrash/Death Metal from Germany
Released by High Roller Records
Another band that I have absolutely missed throughout the nearly 25 years of listening to metal. Germany’s Protector has been making absolute kick-ass thrash metal since the year I was born, 1986. They have had some insanely unstable lineups through the years but that hasn’t slowed them down in the quality department, and when so many bands that are 35 years in, they, for the most part, aren’t releasing their best work. Protector said, fuck that, and decided to release, literally their best album to date.
When I think of German thrash bands I often think of bands like Kreator, Tankard, Destruction, Sodom, etc. But from now on, and I hope this is universally felt after the release of Excessive Outburst of Depravity, Protector will be talked about in the same vein.
Production quality is on average with where the genre is these days, but the musicianship is where the bands absolutely shine. The guitar work, the percussion, everything is so meticulous, yet natural. Nothing feels forced. So many bands have to seek out that sound, but not Protector. you can tell they are comfortable with how they make music and that love and safety really stars on this album.
Abhorrency – Climax of Disgusting Impurities
Black/Death Metal from California
Released independently with physical releases from Goat Throne Records and Stygian Black Hand
This was one of the first releases I listened to back on the 1st of July, and I immediately knew that this month was going to be an absolute punishing one. Maybe made worse by the Texas heat. I don’t know, but I will take this kind of punishment all day.
What you have here is what Blackened Death Metal should sound like. An absolute unrelenting death metal onslaught with underlying tones of an inexplicably evil force. This is not an album I would show a friend just getting into metal. This is an album that you graduate to. A dizzying whirlwind of absolute perverted chaos that gives off some Covenant-era Morbid Angel vibes. The riffs never stop from this trio’s first full-length release, and I hope they never do. This release came into 2022 way too quiet, and I need you guys to be making some more noise about Abhorrency.
Wormrot – Hiss
Grindcore from Singapore
Released by Earache Records
21 tracks, 33 minutes. You know what this is. Or do you? What you have here is grindcore that has matured. Grindcore that shows it has grown up with its audience and has progressed into something just as monstrous as before, but in a way that doesn’t seem tired and out of date.
I remember thinking the exact same thing when I first heard Wormrot way back in 2016, with their release, Voices. This band does it all. If they feel like releasing a punk track, sure, how about a pure death metal track? Absolutely! I love that they don’t feel forced just to be one thing. That attitude really punches itself to the forefront of Hiss. Such an absolute killer release that will keep the audience guessing what is next from track to track. Also, if you’re a physical collector, the cassette edition is beautiful.
Sadly, right before the release of Hiss, it was announced that Arif, the band’s vocalist would be retiring from his position due to familial commitments. The band is continuing but what a shame as his presence and vocal abilities truly stand out.
Grima – Frostbitten
Atmospheric Black Metal from Russia
Released by Naturmacht Productions
The theme of this month is, “bands I have been absolutely overlooking throughout the years.” Grima from Russia is at the top of that list. Frostbitten is a powerful album. But I’m sad, as it is the only Grima album I have listened to at the time of writing.
Grima is a two-person Atmospheric Black Metal project from Russia. The two members are twin brothers; Morbius and Vilhelm. They are both members of a band I a definitely familiar with in Ultar. They claim to be a studio-only project, even though they have a live album they released in 2021 (I assume it’s more of a rehearsal release). My good friend on Instagram, MetalDad313 informed me that these guys were the real deal.
So I am excited to dive more into the back catalog, but for now, let’s talk about Frostbitten.
The first thing I noticed is that they don’t really lean into the traditional, and very cliche at this point, color by numbers of Atmospheric Black Metal, which at this point, for the most part, is just a label black metal bands put on their music in the same vein death metal bands add Progressive when they want to believe they are unique. No, the atmosphere built here is fantastic and absolutely cultivates a sound where the listener immediately knows they are somewhere within a harsh and cold climate that is not easily escapable. Frostbitten is the journey through a frozen hellish landscape of nothing but ice and grimness. It’s clear these two brothers know what they are doing, and clearly, their familial chemistry comes through in spades on this record.
is this the best Grima album? I’m not sure, but if it isn’t I am certainly in for a treat. I am very excited to explore Grima!
Altars – Ascetic Reflection
Death Metal from Australia
Released by Everlasting Spew Records
Warning! This is an album-of-the-year contender. I don’t want to overhype something into oblivion, but if any records deserved it this month it is the second album from Australian Death Metal trio, Altars. Also, this is their second album, yes, but their first came out all the way back in 2013!
In the review for the Grima album, I talked about bands adding on buzz words like Progressive, and Atmospheric just to make them sound different. Well, the word I would tack onto this record is dissonant. This album doesn’t progress comfortably and typically into a new transitive area of the song. Altars pick up and change directions on a dime. This is the abruptness that makes horror such an interesting genre of film when executed right. The build-up is fine, but the element of surprise and swift action are what cause the biggest feelings and emotions. I hate comparing bands, but the band that does that best is Portal. Portal has the ability to release hard-to-digest albums that challenge the listeners to find whatever it is they come to this kind of music looking for. However, Portal has some competition or at least a tag team partner that may end up turning on them when the time is right with Altars. I just hope we don’t have to wait almost ten years before their next outing.
However, something that may not be prevalent upon first listening makes itself apparent when you go back for seconds. The groove they find themselves in when you reach the meat of a song is hauntingly unique and unmatched. What sounded like chaos before sounds like a completely different beast a second and a third time. Like the best of the best in Jazz music, without all the cocaine.
Easily, the album of the month and a contender for album of the year.
And with that, we close out July! For us, in the south that means we have about a month and a half left of absolute Hell on earth heat before we get some kind of respite known as Texas “winter”.
What did I miss this month? I know it was a killer month and I had the hardest time narrowing it down to these five. Huge shout out to; Hissing, Vomit Forth, Molder, Maul, Seep, Uzlaga, and The Elder Flame for really making this month a challenge. How would you count down the month? Come join the party on Instagram! Click the link below or scan the QR code.
Stay Disgusting.
