|
Post by jondexter on Dec 23, 2016 7:22:16 GMT -5
Hmm I really enjoyed reading the above album commentaries thanks andrew. But I just need you to make clear that these are just meant to be first time impressions yeah? Not properly contemplated reviews? It is just you appear to make( unintentionally I am sure) a couple of really very cool albums sound kinda crap ( Verminaard and Chaucerian Myth) - without seemingly bothering to take the time to fully unlock their secrets? But I am jumping the boat here yes - these are just meant to be commentaries on what strikes you first hand with these recordings?
|
|
|
Post by andrewwerdna on Dec 23, 2016 7:49:33 GMT -5
Listening to Sequestered Keep - Magic Amidst the Falling Leaves. I remember the first time I encountered SK's bandcamp page, my initial thought was "So many releases so close together, he must not be spending very much time on them." That skewed my listening of his stuff a bit. It took me too long to realize that he puts far more into his music, consistently, than most other ds artists. But at the same time he makes it so effortless. Clearly he has fully tapped into that strange improvisational magic that makes dungeon synth great, but with an approach that allows for top-notch production values. I actually almost finished writing up a commentary on Longlost last night, but I accidentally closed the tab, and so now that commentary is long lost. But I'm sure I'll end up saying the same thing, that Sequestered Keep is amazing. It's by-the-numbers dungeon synth and it's excellent. It's emotionally stirring, atmospherically unique, well produced but still provides raw, unique, simple, well-loved rompler synth sounds. Fall Forest Shade is beautiful. Ironically it is extremely bright. But beautifully bright. I'm rarely transported by such frolicking fairy jams, but this one is stirring for me. Definitely makes me picture a scene like the album cover, but much more richly colored. It's like a shimmering morning fog obscuring crystalline dew-drops on undying technicolor leaves. Old Magic Ruins. Are those saxophones at the start? Or are those mute trumpets? In my exploration with romplers I've always thought the saxophone could have a very dungeony quality if used in the right way. These are probably mute trumpets, but they sure do sound like some saxophone presets I've heard. I thought the same thing when listening to Longlost. I'm glad Sequestered Keep utilizes that crusty, nasally old sound because he does it well. This is very regal. Like ancient halls of a glorious king. Perhaps this album could use more conflict for some listeners, and y'know that would make it more "exciting," but sometimes I don't want exciting. This isn't necessarily happy or sad, but it's just beautiful and atmospheric. Great album. I wouldn't say Sequestered Keep has put out a masterpiece yet, but his entire discography has been one gem after another, consistently top-notch. The rate at which he puts out such wonderful audial-atmospheric experiences however is simply astonishing. These album have hardly had any time to age, who knows, maybe ten years from now we think of them all as masterpieces. I'd say it's certainly not outside the realm of possibility.
|
|
|
Post by andrewwerdna on Dec 23, 2016 7:56:34 GMT -5
Hmm I really enjoyed reading the above album commentaries thanks andrew. But I just need you to make clear that these are just meant to be first time impressions yeah? Not properly contemplated reviews? It is just you appear to make( unintentionally I am sure) a couple of really very cool albums sound kinda crap ( Verminaard and Chaucerian Myth) - without seemingly bothering to take the time to fully unlock their secrets? But I am jumping the boat here yes - these are just meant to be commentaries on what strikes you first hand with these recordings? Yes, absolutely! I'm just writing as I'm listening, certainly not doing justice to the full accomplishment of the work, but I think it's worthwhile to document such experiences because first-impressions matter. I might comment on albums I've heard plenty of times too, but it will still be very off-the-cuff and casual in this thread. I think the immediate experience of listening matters just as much as the long-evolved memory of a work.
|
|
|
Post by jondexter on Dec 23, 2016 8:01:51 GMT -5
Thanks! I hear you and agree wholeheartedly.
|
|
|
Post by nahadoth on Dec 23, 2016 10:39:30 GMT -5
Old Magic Ruins. Are those saxophones at the start? Or are those mute trumpets? In my exploration with romplers I've always thought the saxophone could have a very dungeony quality if used in the right way. These are probably mute trumpets, but they sure do sound like some saxophone presets I've heard. I will say that: a) although his sound does keep improving, the full album that has struck me the most is one of his "old" albums, The Gift of Men, and partially because I've had the chance to absorb it more fully b) the saxophone sound figures into Hliðskjálf (ironic, really) but yeah I think most MIDI sax sounds sound so little like their real life counterpart that they take on a new context in DS.
|
|
|
Post by Verminaard on Dec 23, 2016 19:11:51 GMT -5
Hmm I really enjoyed reading the above album commentaries thanks andrew. But I just need you to make clear that these are just meant to be first time impressions yeah? Not properly contemplated reviews? It is just you appear to make( unintentionally I am sure) a couple of really very cool albums sound kinda crap ( Verminaard and Chaucerian Myth) - without seemingly bothering to take the time to fully unlock their secrets? But I am jumping the boat here yes - these are just meant to be commentaries on what strikes you first hand with these recordings? For what it's worth, I don't think that he was being off the mark, at least from the perspective of his thoughts on my release. He was critical of parts of it, yes, but he also pointed out what he enjoyed. It's really useful for me to see that type of stuff!
|
|
|
Post by andrewwerdna on Dec 24, 2016 7:00:19 GMT -5
Listening to Hades Oniria - Ab Aeterno and Der Feuerbringer. These are just two single tracks. I've been aware of this artist for a few years now, so I'm glad to see he has a bandcamp page even for such a small output. It's very raw, standard orchestral keyboard synth tones. But both tracks have a really interesting, engaging composition, with pronounced structural peaks and valleys. The phrases themselves might be simple, but the journey is complex, and so it maintains a very direct dungeony tone while taking the listener on a dynamic wandering. Ab Aeterno sounds like a glorious march into final battle. Der Feuerbringer has a menacing sort of glory to it. The drone behind the triumphant horns starting it off is great. And then when the two horns start up together, magnificent, grandiose, and very believable. It sounds like a final battle on the edge of existence. No warrior shall be forgotten in this fight. It's about the fate of eternity. There is no fear of death because life means victory. But the battle itself is obscured in fog, lost to the mysteries. It's the cosmic struggle of forgotten lives, whose echoes still color the waking. This guy has a lot of talent, and when he releases a full album I think it will make a splash, so keep an eye out.
|
|
|
Post by jondexter on Dec 24, 2016 7:26:17 GMT -5
Hmm I really enjoyed reading the above album commentaries thanks andrew. But I just need you to make clear that these are just meant to be first time impressions yeah? Not properly contemplated reviews? It is just you appear to make( unintentionally I am sure) a couple of really very cool albums sound kinda crap ( Verminaard and Chaucerian Myth) - without seemingly bothering to take the time to fully unlock their secrets? But I am jumping the boat here yes - these are just meant to be commentaries on what strikes you first hand with these recordings? For what it's worth, I don't think that he was being off the mark, at least from the perspective of his thoughts on my release. He was critical of parts of it, yes, but he also pointed out what he enjoyed. It's really useful for me to see that type of stuff! I never said he was off the mark, I was just clarifying that he was making commentary regarding his first hand impressions of releases -instead of 'reviewing' albums which he had listened to overtly. I wasn't even really disagreeing with him, I think this style of analysis is very important and I am really enjoying his commentaries thus far
|
|
|
Post by andrewwerdna on Dec 25, 2016 8:22:25 GMT -5
Listening to RævJäger - Lord of the Fairies. Starts quite nice, very epic and exciting, but not too over-the-top. I haven't really listened to RævJäger at all yet. I briefly listened to a song or two off of one of the other albums, and I thought it sounded very happy and decided immediately it wasn't for me, haha. Also it sounded a bit over-produced to my ears. But this was not a thoroughly-analyzed judgement, merely a passing glance, so I thought now I'd give another one of his albums a listen. Listening now, I'm at the second track, and I'm pleasantly surprised. I was prepared to say, "Oh well, it's Christmas, great time for some truly jolly music." But listening to this album it doesn't seem so jolly, not morose by any means, but here it really does sound like straight-up dungeon synth, excellent dungeon synth I might add. It might be a little too active and orchestral for me personally, a bit more neoclassical than ambient, but I certainly have a great deal of respect for such music, especially when it still manages to capture the elusive dungeon magic, as this does for me. Yeah, this definitely at times sounds more like film and video game soundtracks than proper dungeon synth. There isn't anything wrong with that, of course, and I like that it blurs the gap because there really isn't a lot of other music that does so. Back when I was initially developing my list of ds albums, I mentally referred to this kind of stuff as "Radio Rivendell music." Back then I would probably say this isn't dungeon synth, just because it has a structural complexity that is rooted in other traditions. But now I think dungeon synth can be a lot of things. Dungeon synth or not though, this is excellent, very engaging. It's like a fantastical roller-coaster. Very bright and colorful. You know what it really reminds me of? Thou Shalt Suffer - Somnium, which is a style I actually quite like in certain moods. That album too though I had a hard time saying definitively whether it was or wasn't ds, but I think it's still a very important part of the keyboard tradition coming out of black metal. I'm now on "We are the Knights of Four-leaf Clover." The key to enjoying this album is just to relax and allow yourself to have a good time. Oh well, it's Christmas, great time for some truly jolly music C'mon, we're on a great new bulletin board with amazing play-by-post rpg adventures about to start up, what's not to be optimistic about? We don't always need to be so grim and morose. Every now and then we should crank some RævJäger and just have fun. It's healthy. The title track sounds like straight-up Christmas dungeon synth. I like it, still very effectively atmospheric. I chose this album to comment on tonight because I expected it to probably be the most fitting time, and this track absolutely confirms that choice. A lot of work obviously went into this album. This was a very fun listen, but it's not for me, fun is rarely what I'm looking for in music. But if one thinks dungeon synth is getting a bit too boring and depressing, RævJäger - The Lord of the Fairies might be the solution.
|
|
|
Post by andrewwerdna on Dec 26, 2016 6:51:02 GMT -5
Listening to Kirst - Topsy-Turvy. I was glancing through my old list the other day and was like, "Huh, what's this? Strange name for dungeon synth." So I looked it up and it has an even less dungeony album cover. I figured I must've had a good reason for adding it, so I gave it a listen and it actually sounded pretty cool, definitely ds music-wise. It comes from 2002, an interesting time, a bit of a "dark age" of dungeon synth. From the get-go it has some very icy cold atmosphere, starting with a lone piano line soaked in reverb. This is followed by a similarly chilly organ. And when the percussion kicks in you have a general idea of how it's going to go, a familiar funeral march in a below-freezing graveyard, but still not miserable, somewhat stoic actually. It's pretty relaxing and unobtrusive, good background music for sure, even though it's quite cold. The primary riffs are pretty static and consistent, more or less dominating the entire tracks (usually the piano), but the subtle long-term variations with the complementary strings gives it an essential, minimal, but in contrast very powerful dynamism. This is the best sort of minimalism, where unless you're really paying attention, you will rarely think "ok, so what's next?" It's so hypnotic that the subtle variations are like setting up a fire when outside, and feeling the important shift in temperature, only to put it out again and return to the cold. The percussion here, especially on beginning of track three, is quite a bit different than the traditional timpani heartbeat of dungeon synth. That's great. Even here it still clearly is dungeon synth despite those eccentricities. The middle part of track three falls into some white noise wind stuff, might as well be a long pause between tracks, which maybe was the intention, but I don't think it adds anything to the experience. I think if you going to do this kind of non-musical dark ambient you should make it a separate project. Although I have to admit when the strings kick in again it is a pretty cool feeling with the silence as contrast. It's a pretty great riff, simple as it is. And the backwards echo is subtle and very pretty. I love the synths at the beginning of track four, with the vocals, a very unique texture that I haven't heard before as far as I recall. This track does tend to drag a bit. It's clear that not a whole lot of effort went into this album, but it still generally works despite that, or perhaps even because of that. It definitely has that unique sort of ephemeral quality, like it's meant to be forgotten. The asking price for a download is a bit much for what it is, but it's certainly interesting for a stream or two.
|
|
|
Post by jondexter on Dec 26, 2016 7:12:13 GMT -5
Listening to RævJäger - Lord of the Fairies. Starts quite nice, very epic and exciting, but not too over-the-top. I haven't really listened to RævJäger at all yet. I briefly listened to a song or two off of one of the other albums, and I thought it sounded very happy and decided immediately it wasn't for me, haha. Also it sounded a bit over-produced to my ears. But this was not a thoroughly-analyzed judgement, merely a passing glance, so I thought now I'd give another one of his albums a listen. Listening now, I'm at the second track, and I'm pleasantly surprised. I was prepared to say, "Oh well, it's Christmas, great time for some truly jolly music." But listening to this album it doesn't seem so jolly, not morose by any means, but here it really does sound like straight-up dungeon synth, excellent dungeon synth I might add. It might be a little too active and orchestral for me personally, a bit more neoclassical than ambient, but I certainly have a great deal of respect for such music, especially when it still manages to capture the elusive dungeon magic, as this does for me. Yeah, this definitely at times sounds more like film and video game soundtracks than proper dungeon synth. There isn't anything wrong with that, of course, and I like that it blurs the gap because there really isn't a lot of other music that does so. Back when I was initially developing my list of ds albums, I mentally referred to this kind of stuff as "Radio Rivendell music." Back then I would probably say this isn't dungeon synth, just because it has a structural complexity that is rooted in other traditions. But now I think dungeon synth can be a lot of things. Dungeon synth or not though, this is excellent, very engaging. It's like a fantastical roller-coaster. Very bright and colorful. You know what it really reminds me of? Thou Shalt Suffer - Somnium, which is a style I actually quite like in certain moods. That album too though I had a hard time saying definitively whether it was or wasn't ds, but I think it's still a very important part of the keyboard tradition coming out of black metal. I'm now on "We are the Knights of Four-leaf Clover." The key to enjoying this album is just to relax and allow yourself to have a good time. Oh well, it's Christmas, great time for some truly jolly music C'mon, we're on a great new bulletin board with amazing play-by-post rpg adventures about to start up, what's not to be optimistic about? We don't always need to be so grim and morose. Every now and then we should crank some RævJäger and just have fun. It's healthy. The title track sounds like straight-up Christmas dungeon synth. I like it, still very effectively atmospheric. I chose this album to comment on tonight because I expected it to probably be the most fitting time, and this track absolutely confirms that choice. A lot of work obviously went into this album. This was a very fun listen, but it's not for me, fun is rarely what I'm looking for in music. But if one thinks dungeon synth is getting a bit too boring and depressing, RævJäger - The Lord of the Fairies might be the solution. I understand how you could come up with this kind of attitude upon first listening, but to me this is an album that unweaves itself quite rapidly upon further listens, and before you know it you are raising a flag in a strong wind attempting to let it take its due course with respect.I too usually go for the darker stuff, but this -although I agree it may sound 'fun' -is not like 'catchy' music which I generally hate but rather demands further investigation through its inherent complexities - and what at first may seem a bit slapstick or bright turns out to be DEADLY serious and earnest indeed, if ya get my drift?
|
|
|
Post by andrewwerdna on Dec 26, 2016 7:41:14 GMT -5
I do. It's certainly deserving of a few more listens.
|
|
RævJäger
Verified Account
Sword & Trickery
Posts: 27
|
Post by RævJäger on Dec 26, 2016 10:49:19 GMT -5
Thank you honorable sir andrewwerdna for such detailed and honest feedback. This kind of words is the most motivating thing for me. And also this is real honor read this from tallented composer and musician like you. LotF was the wirst album there I tried to realise main mood conception of Rj - mix of fun and serious things. It was a good experiment, now I warking on a 3d album, hope to finish it to summer 2017, and I can already said that It satisfied everyone and all who loves fairytale trickster fun and all who loves serious and drama tracks. And there will one track maded in memory of one of my most favourite projects Morgan the Bard wich really sad, but "light" in mood. And thank you jondexter! You are the one of the oldest and the most loyal supporters, I always remember that. If you haven't a tape of that album, PM me please on a FB, I have a Christmas present for you.
|
|
|
Post by jondexter on Dec 26, 2016 18:23:41 GMT -5
Thank you honorable sir andrewwerdna for such detailed and honest feedback. This kind of words is the most motivating thing for me. And also this is real honor read this from tallented composer and musician like you. LotF was the wirst album there I tried to realise main mood conception of Rj - mix of fun and serious things. It was a good experiment, now I warking on a 3d album, hope to finish it to summer 2017, and I can already said that It satisfied everyone and all who loves fairytale trickster fun and all who loves serious and drama tracks. And there will one track maded in memory of one of my most favourite projects Morgan the Bard wich really sad, but "light" in mood. And thank you jondexter ! You are the one of the oldest and the most loyal supporters, I always remember that. If you haven't a tape of that album, PM me please on a FB, I have a Christmas present for you. No worries at all mate . Yeah i already have the tape but thanks anyways that is very kind of you!
|
|
|
Post by andrewwerdna on Dec 27, 2016 7:52:57 GMT -5
Listening to Xaaron - Looking for the Saint Grail.A bit less than a week ago this was posted by the (already legendary) Dungeon Synth Archives youtube channel. On the first listen I thought it was amazing. It sounds very modern for 2002, like it could've been released yesterday. Honestly at first I had a hard time believing this was that old for having just heard of it, but I guess this just goes to show that there are still old classics yet to be uncovered. This is relatively well-produced orchestral soundscapes, but it still has the short simple repeating riffs and raw keyboard tones, and generally static mood of each track that is distinctive of dungeon synth. It basically sounds like pure dungeon synth. The riffs come and go in quick, but careful, transitions, never leaving one bored in listening. I'm strongly reminded of the music of the first two Age of Empires games, which I loved. I haven't actually heard any dungeon synth as close to that sound as this is, and a lot of ds does tend to generally have that sound so that's saying a lot. This is a very unique album, which is also just really enjoyable to listen to. That flute in Sleeping Knights is ironically shrill though, could wake the dead. A lot of this music sounds like perfect battle music. If you want to prepare a battle playlist for a tabletop gaming session, I think the tracks here would be a good resource. Tell me you don't want to roll some dice while listening to March to Orient? I take back what I said about the mood being static in each individual track. Rain and Thunder contradicts that soundly. It's just that the emotional transitions occur so gradually, and always seem so natural, so that you don't notice how far you've traveled. I think this is the best kind of structural complexity, that which is done so efficiently that it's not even noticed. It should seem simple, even when that's far from the case. And look at the album cover! That's fucking perfect, there's no way that can be improved upon. That's about as OG as it gets. The last track is... interesting. Definitely a "last call" sort of song, glad it's at the end. This album is excellent to my tastes. I highly recommend giving it a listen.
|
|