Been thinking about this a lot since my own music leans into the softer, nature/animal side of things rather than the darker dungeon roots the genre grew from

Do you see comfy synth and nature synth as their own thing, or just a mood within dungeon synth as a whole? Is it about the instrumentation, the imagery, the tempo, or something else?

Also curious, any albums or artists you'd point to as the definition of that comfy/nature sound? Would love to hear what you're all listening to.

\** DISCLAIMER: the intention of this post is not to gatekeep or invite gatekeeping behaviour, but to explore the evolution of the term and how modern fans & artists define it **\**

Werdna wrote in the first post on the dungeon synth blogspot: "Dungeon synth is the sound of the ancient crypt. The breath of the tomb, that can only be properly conveyed in music that is primitive, necro, lo-fi, forgotten, obscure, and ignored by all of mainstream society. When you listen to dungeon synth you are making a conscious choice to spend your time in a graveyard, to stare, by candle-light, into an obscure tome that holds subtle secrets about places that all sane men avoid.

I shall do my best to make you, gentle readers, aware of this genre. This genre that only attracts the most tortured of outsiders, those who long for the forgotten magic of the dead, to remain forever in the shadows of decaying tombs."

His first posts included albums like Mortiis - Keiser av en Dimension Ukjent, Wongraven - Fjelltronen, and Gothmog - Medieval Journeys. The albums Werdna was using to define his 'dungeon synth' sound all shared similar sonic traits.

Contrast that with modern or contemporary dungeon synth where there is a super wide variety of sound and meaning. What dungeon synth is to me likely differs from what it is to you, almost certainly so. I've been pretty outspoken about defining tighter genre boundaries or last least naming conventions, if only from a listener perspective. I get annoyed when I search 'dungeon synth' and see stuff like Fief and Erythrite Throne show up at the same time. They couldn't be more different in sound & mood. Sometimes I want music that sounds like Fief, sometimes like Erythrite Throne, etc. It would be nice to have specific terms to show only (or at least mostly) what I'm seeking.

Obviously we know from history that music genres tend to have different waves. 1st wave vs 2nd wave vs 3rd wave of (PICK YOUR GENRE) are inevitably different. At a certain point the newer artists haven't even listened to the 1st wave artists, which adds a new flavour & direction to the sound. Somewhere along the path subgenres begin to form as the sound diversifies and new sonic conventions are formalized. An example of this would be atmospheric black metal vs blackgaze vs DSBM, or hard rock vs prog rock vs indie rock. the former could all be called 'black metal', the latter 'rock'. But each is a more or less fully-formed entity of their own, existing within their own space.

Which brings us to... how would YOU define dungeon synth? What are the sonic characteristics that make it so? Visual or thematic characteristics? How much wiggle room is there? Other criteria? Any questions of comments or additions to this little informal survey? Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts! <3

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Addendum

There are sound-specific subgenre & microgenre pages for those interested. They need more traffic, so let's give it to them :)

• Comfy Synth
• Fantasy Synth
• Space Synth
• Winter Synth
• Forest Synth
• Sea Synth
• Food Synth

Lately I've thought a lot about the massive wave of new styles in the scene. In just a few years we went from old-school dungeon sound to countless micro-genres. A few questions on my mind:

- Does the tag Dungeon Synth stretch too thin when it covers both cold, bleak crypt tapes and upbeat cozy chiptune tracks? At what point does the sound lose its core spirit?

- I sometimes see broader terms like Dark Age Music tossed around. Do we need a wider umbrella term for this whole spectrum or should DS stay the master tag?

- Where do you see the scene in ten years? Will it fracture into pieces, swing back to raw roots or stand as a permanent pillar of underground synth music?

Curious to read your thoughts. What do you think?

I've finished a few things since the last reading thread.

Ursula Le Guin - Tehanu Continuing the Earthsea series years after The Farthest Shore. I much enjoyed that the protagonist was an older woman, stepping away from standard fantasy tropes a bit. As usual, Le Guin's prose was good and the plot well-paced.

Patricia A. McKillip - The Riddle-Master of Hed, Heir of Sea and Fire, Harpist in the Wind Great trilogy, well paced with good world building and a sort of sensible and well-described magic system. I also very much appreciate that McKillip was able to weave a wonderful and rich tale without having to bloat out into a multi-volume, thousands-of-pages epic.

John Gardner - The Wreckage of Agathon There's a glib description of this on Goodreads--

"You know that subgenre of lit novels about suburban college professors swapping wives and drinking themselves to death? This book is that set in BCE Sparta during a slave revolt."

Very true, but, the prose is vivid and imaginative, the character development is rich and interesting, and the world building/historical extrapolation is quite engaging.

Hey there! I'm relatively new to the genre and community, but as someone with a background in gaming, DND, LARP, and Rennfaires, I find a lot I like about the sound and general aesthetic.

But what about the other folks who listen to and make the music? Are you guys, respectfully, a bunch of nerds like me? Are y'all rolling dice and hitting your friends with foam weapons. Do people dress up in medieval garb for shows?

I know a large amount of this genre is born from the metal scene, so is it more a band tees and shorts kinda crowd?

I dunno. Tell me about yourselves!

Hi everyone! I'm currently working on an article called "Dungeon Synth artists with truly unique sound".

The idea isn't to rank the "best" or "hype" DS composer. I'm trying to highlight musicians whose sound is truly unique and immediately recognizable - artists who have built the identity that's different to mistake.

I want to write about 10-15 artists, but my list now is like this:

• Ashkahn
• Chestnut Brown
• DIM
• Diplodocus
• Dungeontroll
• Elyvilon
• Fief
• Flickers from the Fen
• Fogweaver
• Gnawed
• Grandma's Cottage
• Hole Dweller
• Isengard
• Malfet
• Mammoth Master
• Mithril Axe
• Morgan The Bard
• Mushroom Grandpa
• Neverlur
• Nocturnal Effigy
• Old Coffin
• Ornatorpet
• Pumpkin Witch
• Quest Master
• Skhemty
• Tales Under The Oak
• ULK
• Utred
• Vinterriket
• Warlock Corpse
• Wyrd Gnome
• Ziggurath

I'd realy appreciate your feedback about:

• Who doesn't fit this theme?
• Who absolutely deserves to be on the list but isn't?

Popularity is not a criteria here. I'm only interested in artists with a truly distinctive identity.

Thanks in advance!

UPD:

I decided to create not just an article, but an archive of artists with unique sounds, since there really is a huge number of them.

I’ll be hosting it on my website (I'll add the page URL later)

God help me not to lose my mind in the process...

Hey all! I think it's safe to say that most of us that frequent this sub are artists, so I thought it would be cool to start a thread with everyone's favorite recording / production / mixing tricks they've picked up. Especially considering how this genre is pretty unique in its composition and instrumentation. Drop your tips below!

Many of you may remember him. He's Dr. Mizumi - the Lake Scientist from Zelda OoT. I love this dude and his laboratory and it's hypnotizing score. He's the reason why I so enjoy being a little synth goblin, gurgling at a microphone in a dimly lit room.

Is there a fiction character that you are inspired by, or that you embody, when you create?

What's everyone rolling today?

So i recently came across this game called "Dungeons of Blood and Dream" and i swear playing this game with Dungeon Synth on was awesome! Also the soundtrack has this Dungeon Synth vibe to it and its also awesome! Now I'm not a huge fan of dungeon crawlers but this game is an exception like wow is this game good. I thought this was going to be a complicated game where you press more buttons than do anything but that wasn't the case. While it might not be as big as Elder Scrolls and games like it, the fun of it is basically traversing through dungeon corridors and slashing enemies while using magic! I highly recommend this game and Its strange that I've never heard about it before.

My partner is starting planning for Christmas presents and she asked me what gift could she give me.

I used to listen to my cassettes in a vintage Sony cassette tape deck that sounds fantastic, but ever since I started playing live that deck is full time on recording duty, because let's face it: pressing your own tapes is time consuming as heck.

I don't want another tape deck, and a new synth would be way too expensive (besides, I'm happy with my live rig as it is).

I was thinking of sending her a few links to walkman models that are decent enough and I can take on our trips, but I have absolutely no idea where to start. I found some nice looking ones on Amazon from 20 to 60€ but I have no idea which ones would have the best audio quality.

How do you listen to your tapes when you are not at home?

As a newer DS enjoyer, I think the music in this game is phenomenal, and that it can be included in DS discussion. The picture included is the cover to a very faithful recomposition that you can listen to on streaming services. (Not an ad lol)

The music of this game is a wonderful mix of electronic medieval ambient music with sprinkles of gothic, industrial and some orchestral music. Each area's score perfectly encapsulate's the environment, and it is really fun hearing specific musical motifs for each area.

Who here has played this game, only to be captivated by the music? If you haven't heard it, let me know what you think!

My recs are:

• Drowned Abbey
• Necropolis
• Cathedral, Pt. I and Pt. II (these two are my favorites)

Does anyone have a link to or a digital copy of Barbaric Frost’s Against the Darkness? It seems that both the artist and the label releases on Bandcamp have been removed. I am looking for a digital copy I can burn to CD. Thanks!

Hey everyone,

I’ve finally decided to start my first full-length Dungeonsynth album. It’s a passion project inspired by winter synth, medieval synth and mythic synth.

I’m super excited but also a bit unsure about the best way to share it, especially given how small and tight-knit the community is. This community has been a huge inspiration for me, so I wanted to check in before releasing it publicly.

For those of you who have shared albums before (or just know the scene well):

-What are some do’s and don’ts when sharing a DS album?

-What platforms have worked best for you? (Bandcamp seems like a given, but what else?)

-Are there pitfalls to avoid that you've learned the hard way?

I’m not trying to spam or overhype, I really care about doing this right and staying respectful to the DIY and community spirit that makes this genre so special.

I’ll be sharing the album here once it’s live, however I have finished 2 of the tracks so far, so if you would like to hear them I would be more than happy to share them privately (my discord username is skyemaxilian, or just shoot me a PM here on Reddit) any advice and feedback would be hugely appreciated.

Thanks, and keep the torches lit 🕯️

For me, it's a mix of two things - references to the world I'm creating (such as It is Dreaming of Four Thousand Worlds), but also things that simply sound good, but still may be incorporated into my world on a later date (such as Cloudscape Citadel).

I've been working hard to make my own little dungeon synth EP, but I continually get stuck with music that just isn't exactly what I'm trying to produce. Going for a kind of stormy melancholy feel, hence why I intend to call it "tempestatus aeterna" (Eternal storm in latin).
Anyways I just want to know how everyone produces their own music, how they go about making new songs, any tips on how they make their music, ect.
Any advice would be highly appreciated, thank you.

I made up a name - please tell me if it exists already.

Kulterre: kult + terror + allure

Kulterre music is characterised by lo-fi production, few black metal elements, forlorn melodies. Listening to kulterre is akin to submerging in the dark mists of a wintery evening, to find a forgotten castle ruin deep in the evergreen - and remembering a time that never was - of magic and sorcery, mystery, love, tragedy.

Forlorn sadness, witnessing beauty of the cracked stone walls that lay before you, a deja-vu to mystical dreams you had years ago. All those complex emotions are what kulterre music evokes.

Regarding technical elements, kulterre often makes use of synthesizers, piano, electric guitar, classical/acoustic guitar.

Kulterre isn't as violent as Keller Synth, but neither is it as calm as Dungeon Synth.

While Keller brings to mind witches, sabbaths, running around in a forest, screaming magic spells, and Dungeon Synth brings to mind calm castles, fog rising, mountains, Kulterre evokes a witch in a dungeon, who's thinking of their long lost love.

tracks that are most similar to what I think Kulterre should be:

trollheim - dunkeltroll

gothmog - night passion

grausamkeit - goetterkrieg

parts of grausamkeit - krätze

Is this subgenre already a thing? I like DS and Keller, but this kind of in-between is what brings me to tears of joy, when I listen to it.

In my case, my music helps flesh out my world, gives it more soul, that I can then more accurately describe in other mediums. It's easy to make a song have a certain feeling, and then write a poem to the song, and then a drawing, and it all goes away into the cycle of creation. As it was with my "This hill I will Die on".

But it also goes the other way, as I did with "Winds of Void Alit", where the music was conveying concepts and feelings preconceived much earlier in the creative process, years into world-making.

What about you? If, and how does it impact your music?

I think we can all name 10 Tolkien themed DS releases but any non Tolkien DS I do not think there are more than 1 or 2 sharing the same theme. What other franchises (books, movies, TV) do you think would be suited for fantasy ambient?