More True Than Time Thought: Dungeon Synth Live!
The Second Wave
(Northeast Dungeon Siege in Worcester MA, 3/28-4/1)
[Note: More photography for both shows is available on Kap's blog - Synth Digest]
I am just joking about the second wave of dungeon synth, by the way (I also have a joke about post-dungeon synth.) Though if you were to entertain the idea of dungeon synth, since the pandemic, growing into another era, I think you could find evidence about it being something new and being steered by passionate artists, promoters, labels, and fans. It's almost as if, following the 2023 installment of the Northeast Dungeon Siege (NEDS), live dungeon synth blossomed across the world spurring affiliated and unaffiliated offerings of in-person synth events. Just five years ago, people were conceptually wargaming what dungeon synth would be like as a live event. Now you are literally missing a once in a lifetime show happening probably next week. The amount of live outings offered in 2023 was dazzling, if not slightly nerve wracking, as now you had to actually travel to see unique shows sometimes within months of each other. I think we all just got used to not being able to get tapes from Gondolin or Windkey if we were not quick enough and now we have to worry about missing out on shows. Goddamn it, dungeon synth.
This moment in time did not occur by happenstance, as the work of NEDS could honestly be thanked for laying the foundation for the next era of dungeon synth. Last year's installment showed everyone that this type of music could exist offline and be curated by people from the community. NEDS also did not occur by happenstance as the show has been operating since 2018, only slightly interrupted by the pandemic. This isn't a synth person opening for a black metal band, or dungeon ambient at a noise show. Rather, this was an entire event dedicated to music that up until a few years ago existed entirely in a virtual space. It is little wonder the entire show sold out within a matter of days (maybe hours) which is near insanity considering the type of music for the weekend. This moment perhaps could have occurred a few years earlier, but I feel the pandemic not only incubated a new wave of artists but also bolstered the number of fans who were aware that this music even existed.
For a weekend, Worcester, Massachusetts was the largest in-person collection of dungeon synth, not only with fans, labels, and performers, but luminaries just in attendance. You could hang out in the backroom and eat pizza and be surrounded by a bunch of artists you most likely have been in contact with for years. You could sit at the bar and have a drink with the next performer since much like the genre, the space between artist and fan was low to non-existent. There was a feeling of excitement which pranced through this year's show, which not only this article documents, but the work of other archivists and journalists as well including photographer Peter Beste. If I were to express a feeling, it would be that NEDS 2024 was special, but since history hasn't fully unraveled, there is no way yet of knowing its full effect.
…
…
Gothic Aristocracy
(Friday)
The first day for NEDS was the most exhausting. Since music started at 6pm and travel usually takes an entire day, you were already 12 hours deep on Friday just arriving for an entire night of fantasy ambient. This was also, for me, coupled with the fact Worcester had quite possibly the worst AirBnB I have ever tried to stay at which included a communal bathroom, unsecured doors which led into the street, and most likely a gas leak in the kitchen. None of this mattered though upon getting to the venue–and after settling into my new luxurious hotel down the street -- since the Raven could be considered a wardrobe into Narnia, where Narnia is a magical land of dungeon synth and outside of it a slightly industrial stretch of New England.
Ozeregroth was honestly a great opener for the entire fest since everyone had nervous energy, so what better way than to plunge everyone into a bath of ethereal drone. Ozeregroth is a mysterious entity from Rhode Island whose set was great – I had to ask three different people to get their address to send them pictures. I am sure they live in a castle somewhere in New England. If I were to pair show slots, then Elminster would fit right into the same atmosphere with their old school take on barbarian battle marching music. Elminster was someone I showcased with my Ithildin Tape Production article and it was amazing to see them joined with Lone Sentinel on vocals, who I also covered in my The Great Lakes DS article.
...
...
As the night went on, I started to group acts together based on mood. The next pairing of Aura Merlin, Vanishing Amulet, and DIM represents, for me, dungeon synth artists branching out with new aesthetics. While dungeon synth has a default aesthetic of dark magic and brooding castles, I feel these three artists brought differing takes on them both in music and style. Whether or not it was Aura Merlin's ethereal wave / 80's gothic aesthetic or Vanishing Amulet's dinner with the count at Strahd Manor, or even the drowning in light devotion for DIM, these three artists commanded the crowd. The fact that DIM was adorned with gold crosses and a soft white translucent shirt never felt out of place since the artists seem to be the ones indicating what dungeon synth is and could be.
…
…
Perhaps my favorite person to photograph at NEDS is Seregost. I do not know if this artist is naturally comfortable with a camera or just does these power poses alone at night but they are captivating. Sure, there is some comedy in the keytar, plastic chain, and stances which look like wrestling fanfare, but, surrounded by a probably unhealthy amount of fog, Seregost makes the room explode. Dungeon synth doesn't have many mosh pits and I always smile when the pit opens up to a few smiling and very confused concert goers.
Cernunnos Woods closed on Friday and though they went on past midnight, it was a momentous occasion. The act was celebrating their 30th anniversary with their first live performance. Bard Algol, founder of Dark Age Productions, started Cernunnos Woods in 1993 with their first tape Tears Of The Weeping Willow released in 1994. If anyone could fathom the breadth of how far dungeon synth has come it would most likely be Bard, who stood at a wooden pulpit wearing a skull and preached to their congregation. Northeast Dungeon Siege is always full of surprises and though the curtain was thin and at times you could see what was going on, the reveal for Cernunnos Woods was momentous. I read back the transcripts of the Twitch chat which was live streaming the whole event and people were excited, calling the whole thing a dungeon synth supergroup, which perhaps marks some watershed moment for the genre. Bard was joined on stage by a host of dungeon synth dignitaries including Nahadoth, Wyrm (Erythrite Throne), Spirit of Wrath (Sorrowmoon) and Phranick the Wizard (Sombre Arcane). The entire production wasn't just playing the songs from the 1994 tape, rather a reworking of the music to be a full production for more than one person. If any moment could mark how far dungeon synth has come, this would be it.
…
…
Into the Deeps of Ulmo's Realm
(Saturday)
Last year at the festival, the organizers had games on Saturday. This was to give people something to do and also to celebrate the music in the realm of fantasy. Even I laughed last year over something like "of course they would have miniature games." This year, I volunteered to run an old-school tabletop one shot since I don't plan well and wanted my entire Saturday to be filled with things. I had no idea what to expect or if anyone would show up. It was wonderful and exhausting.
.
Under The Dice (UTD) is a gaming community and podcast dedicated to running esoteric games with the ethos and aesthetic of crust punk. There was little planning before this point, and I knew I could probably run games on little resources. It was a marvel when I met the people from UTD, since they operated on the same sort of forward thinking. At one point, there was a question about what the plan was, to which the response was, "There is no plan; if you want to play a game, we are going to play a game."
I forgot how easy it is sometimes to bring people together under the auspices of gaming since the central activity gives everyone a goal. The rest of the group was dedicated to a series of esoteric mini games which were stored in containers with stickers professing “Kitbash or Die.” My experience with UTD was pleasant since it felt like a post apocalyptic gaming caravan roaming the Fallout world looking for games.
Up to this point I have not run a game since the pandemic, breaking a long five-year streak of regular Pathfinder / 5e campaigns. My RPG game (Old School Essentials combined with an even lighter homebrew system) was set up at the merch table with me sitting on a comically high barstool. For the event, I set an adventure based in Erang's Land of Five Seasons with intrepid explorers out to capture evidence of the Last Stone Giant.
Erang was kind enough to supply me with lore notes and the entire experience was the beginning of a DS RPG project which will take place in various worlds created by artists. I always felt that DS lent itself to fantasy and always thought it would be cool to use the imaginary worlds for high adventure and comedy about fantasy adventurers sneaking outside water into a tavern.
Vanhellig was one artist I was unfamiliar with until they went on. From New Hampshire, this act proclaims themselves "funeral synth" which might sound silly but given the slow dirges of the music and the fact that the drum machine hit every five to seven business days, the atmosphere of a grief laden procession was felt. To add to this feeling of somber surrealism was Mors Vitaque, the GLDS act who, despite being brand new, has already captured a large segment of interest for their visual presentation of cloaked figures representing life and death. Mors Vitaque's sparse synth combined with gothic liminality was something which felt otherworldly, existentially cold, and regal past the point of living.
...
...
I was actually unaware of Hillsfar and their new record on Out of Season until seeing the merch at the show. Released 3/30 during the show, Hillsfar projects a classic revival era sound of gentle fantasy ambient with an adventurous spirit which sports nearly 20 minutes for each of the two songs on the new record. This was synth out on an adventure and could honestly be the theme for Bilbo's first journey out of the Shire. Fen Walker was another act which I have been following for many years and when someone before the set asked me what type of music they played, I could only respond with the words "progressive" and "space" in some sort of sword and planet descriptors. The set was dazzling showcasing an artist who could never be confined in a fantasy town but rather on a distant planet far far away.
To close Saturday night were the three acts which might have traveled the furthest to play. Frostgard, from Spain, was perhaps one of the acts I was most looking forward to after following their releases for many years. This tolkien based act exuded grace and atmosphere spotlighted by a gentle projection of light.I have seen many pictures of this set and even am using her picture to lead this article. All pictures from that set look exquisite owing a large part to the sense of atmosphere she commands.
Talvi, from Finland, perhaps had the most minimal setup using only a laptop, small synth, and a projection of woods which they stood in front of cloaked like some dungeon figure of death. Talvi's set was theatrical with winter synth pouring out of the very sparse equipment amid a backdrop which made the mysterious figure look like a ghostly specter in a theatrical production.
...
...
Quest Master perhaps had the longest trip from Australia (I actually don't know the distance) and was using NEDS as one stopping point on an American tour. Out of the entire weekend, Quest Master seemed the most unique in not being costumed with long hair pouring out of a hat and an outfit of denim jacket and jeans. Quest Master looked less dungeon synth and more stoner rock fan who just wandered on stage and probably knows someone who could get mushrooms. This worked, as Quest Master's music begins with dungeon synth but soon travels through time and space, embracing all manners of sounds.
I have been interested in Quest Master's embrace of the tag new age, and this music was something which led me to investigate the potential links of dungeon synths history which travels beyond the 1990s. His set was crystalline and by the time of playing the "single" Cloudy Gateways, the entire venue turned into a crystal infomercial.
…
…
By Way of Torchlight
Sunday
I mentioned before about grouping of bands, since a fest needs a flow. The closing day began earlier. The cold broke outside, and it was a sunny 50F degrees. I have to thank Out of Season for not only being a great label but also social planner for inviting me out to hangout with DIM, Quest Master, and Talvi at a park in downtown Worcester. We were joined by the people from Duplication.CA which honestly were in the right crowd for potential customers looking for cheap.
There we talked about seeing squirrels in America, dreams, and the fact some of the artists were so nervous about the performance they woke up scared in the night. There was talk about a future NEDS barbeque in the same park. I laughed and also desperately wanted to hang out with other DS artists and eat potato chips.
Despite the seasonably mild weather, the inside of the Raven was perpetually cold since the afternoon lineup was filled with what I call crypt synth (not an actual genre)—a melange of black metal, dark ambient, and dungeon synth. This is what dungeon synth began as and for the longest time festered (in the best terms) during the 1990s and 2000s.
Sorrowmoon, Forgotten Lore, Obsidian, and Cold Sanctum all brought their own unique presentation which was pulled from an abandoned cemetery. These presentations included videos, an unhealthy amount of fog and scenes from the 1922 film Häxan. I would also include Khand in this list even though they did not get to play due to technical problems. I was standing in the back and expressed my sympathies to them when they walked by to which they gave me an emotional hug even though this is the first time we met. I don't know if they thought I was someone else, but this place seemed like a haven where everyone is already acquainted with each other and connected by their love of weird dark synth music.
Wraith Knight was one of the few returning acts from last year. I remember last year's performance being memorable, but it wasn't until this year that I distinctly remember someone in a robe shouting at the crowd and hyping them up while they rocked back and forth, almost throwing their instrument into the crowd. The thin drape which covered the synth began falling off. There was a moment where people got excited as the level of energy of one person at the synth was making an entire facade crumble. Despite only having one 2022 debut, Wraith Knight kept the spirits high going into the final leg of the show.
...
...
I got to talk to Hedge Wizard before the show and out of everyone, I think this was the set I wanted to atleast film one song. "More True Than Time Thought" was the opening track on the Masmorra Dungeon Synth Zine compilation CD which I got in 2015. This song became the track I showed people when they asked what dungeon synth was and for me became the marquee example of what this genre could be. It was bedroom escapism mixed with a naive magic in exploring a sound without any questions.
Hedge Wizard and I talked about times long past and marveled at how something that began on the internet dedication to a style of music decades earlier would result in a multi day festival. The visuals for Hedge Wizard was a mix of vintage cartoons segmented with non fantasy instructional videos and even shots of their tapes and bandcamp. This was a fantasy ambient which pierced the veil and showed an artist who might be a luminary in the scene but isn't content with resting on laurels. Hedge Wizard just came out with a new record this year and just yesterday was announced to be joining the Great Lakes Scene for future shows.
Jääportit closed the show and people who made it all three days were grateful to close out the show with transcendent winter synth. I do not know how Kauan Koskematon was received in 1999 upon its release but since then has become a touchstone record for fans of dungeons and cosmic space synth. Im sure everyone's feet were tired at that moment and those who had been drinking for three days im sure there was a blissful astral projection which happened amid the simple projection of falling snow. Jääportit transformed the last day and final hours of NEDS into a kingdom of ice where feelings of both loneliness and magic existed for a brief moment.
…
…
The Dungeon of Columbia
(Questmaster, Jenn Taiga, Vaelestraz in Washington DC on 4/5)
"Tonight's show is sold out, you can not get back in without a stamp." The door person is warning everyone who is going to smoke about the current nature of the show. Jenn Taiga mentions to me while she is setting up her synth rig -- which is currently attracting a bevy of gear dorks -- "can you believe this is all for dungeon synth?" The Questmaster show in DC is sold out and I believe the one in Maine the day before was the same. I am aware that the UK shows in the future have also sold out. Last year Vaelestraz and Jenn played The Runaway and even that was far from being empty. DC has a sizable metal scene due in part to the tireless efforts of Ripping Headache Promotions. I wonder what the promoter thinks of a packed crowd of metal vests here to see Vaelestraz hold up a sword and loudly decree this spot being the Dungeon of Colombia like some baroness of dragons.
If this was people's first experience of live dungeon synth, the collection of acts couldn't be more fitting and unorthodox. Weather or not it is Vaeletraz's minimal synth segmented by bouts of jesterlike theatrics, or Jenn Taiga's dark berlin school synth with sadomasochistic performance art, or Questmaster's new age influenced and costumeless performance, I can't imagine what it would be like to come here expecting awkward people behind keyboards who didn't talk to the crowd. This show, along with the preceding NEDS was full of people who were confident. Be it confidence in their identity or the way they express themselves to the crowd, this was a group of extroverts who wanted to have fun for the night. Sometimes that fun included playing a synth with a sword, or maybe putting on a bondage show for the crowd, or even playing dungeon synth so loud it felt like a block party. Whatever it is, this show, and I assume future shows, are just a manifestation of this music disseminating into an offline scene.
Both the NEDS show and the Questmaster show showed me important things about this style of music in the live sphere. There were many different variations on how people played. Some of the artists played sparse keyboards over mostly a backing track while others seemed like professionally trained musicians doing most of the musical heavy lifting. Some acts were composed of multiple synths while others had near toy keyboards with looping pedals. While this music varied in actual "live" playing, little did it matter once the music started. Dungeon synth, music like the rest of live electronic music, seems to rest on the ability for the artist to command a crowd. Whether or not that artist is power posing for the crowd,, whipping someone else with a flail, or using a sword to play a synth, dungeon synth seems to be carried on the wings of imagination and the ability of an artist to connect with a crowd.
...
...
There and Back Again
I was looking for a synonym for crossroads to express the allusion of dungeon synth being at a point in history where it would disperse into various local scenes. I stopped at Dungeon Junction which sounded like a western town. My attempt at finding this metaphor was to illustrate a scene which existed in a central virtual hub as it now disperses through various local scenes still connected but now moving at its own pace. Some of the artists at NEDS and future shows were expressing how far this scene has moved, which used to only exist in three places on the internet but now is in so many venues. It might be harder to keep up with dungeon synth as there are now local hubs in the Great Lakes and Texas to complement the ones in New England. This isn't even accounting for all of the local scenes around the world that we may not even be privy to.
For almost a decade I have tried to keep up with most things going on in dungeon synth since it was easier when the entirety of a genre was in a few places on the internet. NEDS and Questmaster in DC taught me that it is okay not knowing everything. It was easy to keep up with something when you could listen to most of the things that came out in a year. That hasn't been possible for quite some time as dungeon synth is now bigger than a few places on the internet. I'm sure there exists some hesitancy that things will get too big or some sort of essence will be lost but I have always supported a fully chaotic embrace of music and the directions it wants to go. Who knows, maybe we will travel so far that the combination of live instruments and vocals will result in dungeon synth becoming black metal once again and thus completing a three decade journey.
On a personal note, and sinceI know most of you haven't read this far down so I feel more comfortable talking, live dungeon synth has pushed me to be more social. Since the pandemic I feel everyone has gotten used to staying at home -- at least I have. Before 2020, going to local shows was a thing I enjoyed and looked forward to doing. I just started to go to concerts again and never imagined I would be going to three synth shows so close together in a year. I'm going to Texas in a few weeks and maybe a few other places as of yet unannounced. I spend most of my time at home and for most of the days it is me and the dogs listening to tapes and doing domestic chores. I miss my dogs whenever I go to these shows but it's good for us both that we do it. This is something my wife tells me that my dogs want me to go to dungeon synth shows and write about them. This one's for you dogs..
...
Want more dungeon synth in your life? Read Kaptain Carbon's Dungeon Synth Digest.
For more information on Northeast Dungeon Siege, see their website.
