Belbury Poly

Belbury Poly (Jim Jupp) has a new album of electronic music heading our way with the forthcoming "Sorcery."  The artist adds elements of fantasy and dungeon synths to his usual mix library sounds, kosmische psych, UK folk, and old school analog synthesizers.  Good stuff as per usual.  Check out "Dreamthief" below and pre-order the LP here from Ghost Box.

Hawksmoor

Having already released one of my favorite albums of the year with March's analog synth opus "Am I Conscious Now?," Bristol artist Hawksmoor is back again with new album "Yclept Thorn."  The new record has a more ritualistic dungeon synth vibe going for it, as evidenced by the slow and crawling dirge of the title track.  Check it out below and pre-order the LP here from Library of the Occult.

Mistaedre

I just spent the last 30 minutes battling a web app with a very unfriendly user interface.  Serenity now.  Here's a mix of dungeon synth and library new age music to soothe my nerves.  Check out "Dark Beneath the Clouds" from electronic artist Mistaedre's new album "Wanderer in Exile" below and get the cassette here from Per Musica Ad Astra.

A Somber Funeral

I love it when you hear a band name and immediately know what you're about to get into.  With Germany's A Somber Funeral, my guess was either dark and gloomy dungeon synth or noisy, lo-fi black metal.  Turns out it's both!  Check out "Maybe She's Dreaming" featuring Winterherz below and grab the "Since You Left These Shores" LP here from Silent Watcher Records.

An Old Sad Ghost

Dungeon synth is one of those niche genres that will always kind of be an enigma to me.  Don't get me wrong, the pairing of medieval imagery with lo-fi synthesizers and dark ambient textures is super fucking cool.  What gets me is that the people who love the genre, really really really really love the genre.  The cassette tapes these artists release seem to sell out in literal minutes.  Wild.  Anyway, here's some dour new music from An Old Sad Ghost from new album "A Letter for Carmilla Part VI & VII: Lamentation & Old."  Listen to anguish-ridden "Lamentation I" below and download the whole thing here from Gondolin Records (naturally the tape is long gone).

NIMF

Irish experimental artist NIMF combines dark ambient tones, dungeon synth vibes, and old, worldly folk music to craft a fantasy sonic world on new album "Sirnoscape."  And opening track "Solar Excess Sacrificial Ecstasies (Willie O' Winsbury, Sumer is icumen in)" completely immerses you in that world.  Check it out below and pre-order the album here from the artist.

Poison Ruïn

The excellent and nerdy Philly band Poison Ruïn is back in April with a new album of Medieval-tinged punk for the Renaissance Faire set.  Check out new tune "Eidolon" below and pre-order the upcoming "Hymns of the Hills" LP here from Relapse.

Shadow Knell

Philly punk band Poison Ruïn have always mixed elements of dungeon synth into their sound to fill things out and set them apart from the fray.  It rules.  And now it appears members of the band are diving head first into that particular genre with the upcoming new project Shadow Knell.  Dig on the medieval synths of "Night River" below and get the debut self-titled album here from Relapse.

Vikorra Doom

Bruce Moallem performs as Vikorra Doom with the dark ambient project God Body Disconnect.  New album "The Ghose from Sheol" finds the artist working solo in the sonic waters of dungeon synth.  Check out the dark fantasy sounds of "From the Realm of Dust and Darkness" below and get the cassette here.

Yellow Eyes

New York experimental black metal band Yellow Eyes just dropped a new album, "Master's Murmur," a dark and weird prelude to a companion album coming our way sometime next year.  The album plays like industrial folk, the sounds of creatures slowly emerging from the shadows.  Check out the title track below and get the cassette here.

Poison Ruïn

Philly band Poison Ruïn make a rad mix of dungeon synth and punk rock.  The result is a moody and lo-fi blast.  New album "H​ä​rvest" is out in April on Relapse.  Pre-order it here and listen to the title track below.

Trhä

A lot of black metal incorporates dungeon synth into its sound these days, and the pairing of the two genres is really quite wonderful.  The latest from Trhä continues that trend.  Check out the raw and lo-fi "endlhënven" below and download the new "endlh​ë​d​ë​haj q​á​shm​ë​na ëlh vim innivte" album here for a dollar.

Calderum

I've written before about how a lot of black metal bands have begun to infuse their sound with elements of dungeon synth, and vice versa, and the latest from Spanish band Calderum meshes the two genres together nicely.  The closing track from their upcoming new album "Mystical Fortress of Iberian Lands," however, is pure dungeon synth.  Check out "The Enchanted Forest" below and pre-order the album here from Death Prayer Records. 

Poison Ruïn

Philly punk band Poison Ruïn has a new 7" out with all the dungeon synth-tinged, lo-fi punk you could want.  Listen to "Not Today, Not Tomorrow" below, download it here, and get the record here from Roachleg Records.

Erang

French artist Erang is one of the originators of the dungeon synth sound that's been in various corners of the underground this last decade, and he's just released an epic new collection of music entitled "Land of the Five Seasons" released in 5 parts.  Beginning with "A Season of Frost," and moving on with "A Season of Leaves," "A Season of Sand," "A Season of Bloom," and finally "A Season of Magic," the project meshes dungeon synth with elements of black metal, synthwave, electronica, drone, and more to essentially create and soundtrack a whole world.  It's pretty cool stuff.  Listen to "The Absolute End of Everything Human" from "A Season of Magic" below and download everything here.

Teeth of Glass

I just stumbled upon a pretty neat project from Italian artist Teeth of Glass and the Milan, Italy label Heimat Der Katastrophe (HDK).  On the "Autopsia Edstrom" cassette, the artist presents the first in what is to be a series of interpretive scores to a horror/sci-fi TV show that never got off the ground in Italy in the '80s, using old scripts, notes, and the pulp magazines and stories the show was to be based on.  This is an idea right up my alley...and maybe yours too.  Check out "Prologue" below, dig on the awesome album cover art, and download it all here from HDK.  The cassette and accompanying material is already sold out.

Powerplant

UK post-punk group Powerplant just released a new album of what is essentially a dungeon synth soundtrack for a roll playing game.  It's weird and quirky and kind of mesmerizing.  Check out "White Keys" below and snag the "Stump Soup" cassette along with an adventure module book here from the band.

An Old Sad Ghost

I continue to be fascinated by the dungeon synth genre.  Dark, bleak, atmospheric music often made by mysterious and unidentified artists with an intense and devoted fanbase.  The parallels to black metal are abundant, with the difference being dungeon synth sounds like the score to "Myst" or something.  One of the latest releases is the instantly sold out new cassette from An Old Sad Ghost.  "Fullmoon Over Videna" actually pushes the dungeon synth/black metal comparisons further by adding in some screaming, undecipherable vocals buried deep in the mix.  Well played An Old Sad Ghost.  Well played.  Check out "Obscurity of Forgotten NecRomantic" below and download the album here from Gondolin Records.

Mütterlein

I came across some wonderfully dark and weird music during my COVID delirium the last couple of days from Mütterlein.  The project of Marion Leclercq, the French artist fuses the sounds and vibes of gothy post punk, black metal, industrial noise, and dungeon synth to create something mysterious and ritualistic.  Music for dark spaces.  Check out "Mother of Wrath" below and get the "Bring Down the Flags" LP here from Debemur Morti Productions. 

Ghoëst

Over the last three months, Swedish artist Ghoëst has been dropping a series of demo tracks consisting of long and moody synth instrumentals.  At their heart, they're dungeon synth pieces with elements of darkwave and dark ambience interspersed.  Check out the cavernous sound of "Demo XI (Through Secret Structures)" below and get it here along with the rest of the demo series.