Dungeon Synth Digest

[Tyrannus]

Dec 20, 2016 11:33:49 GMT -5 thekeeper said:

Dec 20, 2016 11:24:28 GMT -5 maximus said:

I especially enjoy the interviews. A good subject for one would be Erdstall, given nobody has clue what happened to him or whether or not he will release new music.

It's the Abandoned Places guy (Loremaster, Mystic Towers, Zweilicht, Siliniez). He stopped doing AP, but considering he made a new Mystic Towers release after he ended AP, maybe he'll do more for Erdstall. I have a feeling he won't, but I hope I'm wrong.

It blows my mind that this is all one person!

[kaptaincarbon]

Feb 22, 2017 10:07:53 GMT -5 Tyrannus said:

Great publication! Thanks for the shoutout to my project and keep up the good work!

Edit: I think you may have made a typo in the introductory paragraphs where you say "curse of things" but might have meant "course of things" but I could be wrong. I just thought I'd point it out

I like curse of things at any rate. It sounds like an album title. 

[Tyrannus]

Haha I like it!

[lusitano]

Excellent edition. That last one is really something else, but in the sense that I hated it, because, personally, I cannot for the life of me find any redeeming quality in harsh noise, so all it gave me was a big headache. Yet, everyone seems to be pretty hyped for this style.

I really liked Det Svarta Landet and can't wait to hear more, I absolutely love ethereal sounding music. And Faery Ring also sounds really good. Excellent stuff!

[kaptaincarbon]

Feb 22, 2017 14:09:41 GMT -5 lusitano said:

Excellent edition. That last one is really something else, but in the sense that I hated it, because, personally, I cannot for the life of me find any redeeming quality in harsh noise, so all it gave me was a big headache. Yet, everyone seems to be pretty hyped for this style.

I really liked Det Svarta Landet and can't wait to hear more, I absolutely love ethereal sounding music. And Faery Ring also sounds really good. Excellent stuff!

If You haven't listened to the first Faery Ring record, do that first. As for noise, I am not 100% on things like harsh noise wall or formless noise but I enjoy and seek out raw black metal and can appreciate alien sounding landscapes. I think the Einhorn demo is an interesting exploration in something I never thought would be combined. 

[Tyrannus]

Yeah I totally Understand the criticisms for it. I just found it funny the way you said that, "but in the sense that I hated it" ahaha. No but for sure, it's pretty abrasive stuff. Thanks for giving it a shot at least!

[lusitano]

<abbr title="Feb 22, 2017 19:16:41 GMT" class="o-timestamp time" data-timestamp="1487791001000">Feb 22, 2017 19:16:41 GMT</abbr> Tyrannus said:

Feb 22, 2017 14:16:41 GMT -5 Tyrannus said:

Yeah I totally Understand the criticisms for it. I just found it funny the way you said that, "but in the sense that I hated it" ahaha. No but for sure, it's pretty abrasive stuff. Thanks for giving it a shot at least!

I'm obviously trying not take any merit from it. Ultimately, I've come to terms with myself and have accepted that noise or harsh noise or that kind of static sounding aesthetic is simply not for me. And I'm a guy that takes pride in being quite receptive and acceptive of pretty much any form of music, but I simply cannot listen to this kind of things because I literally get headaches.

Do you like, actually enjoy that kind of sound? I've seen many talk passionately about noise and how they love the unrelenting pulse of energy, or how exciting it sounds, or the sense of not knowing what will come next. But, I genuinely can't enjoy no matter how much I try.

[Tyrannus]

Oh I enjoy it for sure! I mean it's just like guitar distortion or tape hiss but turned up to the Nth degree. I find it warm and atmospheric. I mean I used to hate it but then the more I got into black metal, especially progressively more raw acts, the more that harsh noise just seemed like the logical next step. I was listening to a lot of Striborg at the time that I was getting into harsh noise and so maybe finding the right entry point is key. But I mean you can't force it, and it's not something everyone will like. I think listening to it a lower volume might help with headaches but don't force yourself to listen to stuff you don't like, I'd say!

[kaptaincarbon]

I am also coming to terms with where to look for merit in things like noise since it is difficult to separate the well crafted from the not or if those things matter in the aesthetic. raw black certainly helped not only embracing the sound but telling what was interesting and what was just uneducated garbage. One of the large criticisms or ideas people have (like abstract art) is that they could do the same thing but listening to enough noisy / lo-fi / raw material, you can start to tell what is well crafted and has the atmosphere compliment the music and what is garbage.

[nahadoth]

Feb 22, 2017 16:04:12 GMT -5 kaptaincarbon said:

I am also coming to terms with where to look for merit in things like noise since it is difficult to separate the well crafted from the not or if those things matter in the aesthetic. raw black certainly helped not only embracing the sound but telling what was interesting and what was just uneducated garbage. One of the large criticisms or ideas people have (like abstract art) is that they could do the same thing but listening to enough noisy / lo-fi / raw material, you can start to tell what is well crafted and has the atmosphere compliment the music and what is garbage.

Yeah this is totally it - you have to at least listen to more than one project/album/performance and try and form an opinion about what you liked better. My city used to have a noise scene, so it helped me to be able to see it live more than once a year - one of the things people seem to really focus on is the sources of the sounds, and if there is some novelty there. I think there's also a performative aspect that doesn't usually come across on records unless there are vocals.

But for me it's all about texture - the stuff that always made an impression on me was messy and chaotic, sure, but the people behind those projects had clearly thought about how all the sounds come together, and made adjustments as they went on, so there was a sense of life, of breathing, of evolving.

I also think that the very long time I spent listening to Ulver's drone-y glitchy stuff on the Silence EPs helped to get me used to non-pitched, non musical texture, even if it was as a backdrop to these nice melodic passages.

[Tyrannus]

Feb 22, 2017 23:12:33 GMT -5 nahadoth said:

Feb 22, 2017 16:04:12 GMT -5 kaptaincarbon said:

I am also coming to terms with where to look for merit in things like noise since it is difficult to separate the well crafted from the not or if those things matter in the aesthetic. raw black certainly helped not only embracing the sound but telling what was interesting and what was just uneducated garbage. One of the large criticisms or ideas people have (like abstract art) is that they could do the same thing but listening to enough noisy / lo-fi / raw material, you can start to tell what is well crafted and has the atmosphere compliment the music and what is garbage.

Yeah this is totally it - you have to at least listen to more than one project/album/performance and try and form an opinion about what you liked better. My city used to have a noise scene, so it helped me to be able to see it live more than once a year - one of the things people seem to really focus on is the sources of the sounds, and if there is some novelty there. I think there's also a performative aspect that doesn't usually come across on records unless there are vocals.

But for me it's all about texture - the stuff that always made an impression on me was messy and chaotic, sure, but the people behind those projects had clearly thought about how all the sounds come together, and made adjustments as they went on, so there was a sense of life, of breathing, of evolving.

I also think that the very long time I spent listening to Ulver's drone-y glitchy stuff on the Silence EPs helped to get me used to non-pitched, non musical texture, even if it was as a backdrop to these nice melodic passages.

I feel like when it comes down to it, no amount of us (or anyone) explaining the merits of noise will make you (or anyone) able to enjoy it.  I mean I think maybe more exposure, perhaps at a lower volume initially, might help you get used to it and eventually you might like it with time.  But I don't think just getting "the idea" behind it will make it enjoyable, if that makes sense.  

edit: in other words, if you don't enjoy noise it's not because "you don't get it" but because you're not used to it

[Ananoriel]

Well written again, there were plenty of good releases out there, 18 is a lot! I didn't know a few of the projects you wrote about and about a few you made me curious, so going to check that out.

I was already curious about Einhorn, and he shows that dungeon synth and harsh noise work pretty well together. I like the contrast between the rough noise and the lighter melodies. Makes it very unique.

[andrewwerdna]

Great stuff, I'm always impressed at how much ground you're able to cover, and this time it certainly seemed to be a lot. Did you get a chance to listen to Ykcowrebbaj at all?

[kaptaincarbon]

Feb 23, 2017 19:41:29 GMT -5 andrewwerdna said:

Great stuff, I'm always impressed at how much ground you're able to cover, and this time it certainly seemed to be a lot. Did you get a chance to listen to Ykcowrebbaj at all?

Damn it. I missed that. Saved for next month. I loved Journeys Adrift so I am wondering how it slipped away. Probally becasue of the dark cover. 

[andrewwerdna]

Yeah, it looks like it doesn't show up on "new arrivals" for the bandcamp dungeon synth tag, maybe because it's free download.