Dungeon Synth

Night of the Vampire – The Enchanting Winds of the Dreamweaving Masquerade Review

By Samguineous Maximus on February 22, 2026 in Reviews, Black Metal, Dungeon Synth, post-punk, Synthwave, 24 comments

“I love black metal, but it certainly has a reputation for taking itself too seriously. Now and then, though, a few bands remember that this is the genre that gave us pseudonyms, corpse paint, and grown adults pretending to be forest demons. Acts like Old Nick and Ordo Vampyr Orientus have been a welcome slap in the face, embracing black metal’s inherent goofiness and piling on the camp without collapsing into total self-parody. Which brings us to Night of the Vampire, the latest addition to this batch of kitschy kvlters.” Bite or suck?

Worm – Necropalace Review

By Thus Spoke on February 16, 2026 in Reviews, Black Metal, Death Doom, Death Metal, Dungeon Synth, 118 comments

“Worms are rich fodder for metal band names, and it’s not hard to see why. They’re gross, alienlike, and carry connotations of death and decay; and that’s before you start spelling it with a ‘v’ and thereby reference dragons, sea monsters, and the Devil himself. While sharing the collective imagination, this Worm definitely distinguishes themselves. After a shaky start, it was Foreverglade that first saw Worm realize their potential with a lean towards doom-death that retained just enough synth-forward black metal and balanced a murky soundscape with syrupy sweet guitar solos.” Worm turning?

Old Sorcery – The Outsider Review

By Spicie Forrest on February 9, 2026 in Reviews, Black Metal, Dungeon Synth, 48 comments

“Swords and sorcery have served as metal muses since the genre’s earliest days and for the most seminal acts. Indeed, many a writer here at AMG Studios has indulged in a game or three hundred of Dungeons & Dragons, and I imagine the same can be said of our esteemed commentariat. So, on the rare occasion that dungeon synth, the correct soundtrack for all D&D games, falls into the promo sump, it’s picked up fairly quickly. Old Sorcery’s newest full-length, The Outsider, didn’t even make it that far before Mystikus Hugebeard and I had a Canadian standoff about coverage and settled on this appropriately lengthy double review.” Crawl and brawls.

One of Nine – Dawn of the Iron Shadow Review

By Thus Spoke on October 24, 2025 in Reviews, Black Metal, Dungeon Synth, Melodic Black Metal, 48 comments

“If you aren’t already familiar with One of Nine, how quickly did you catch the Nazgûl reference? The Tolkien vibes are fairly obvious, but it took me an embarrassing amount of time to connect the band’s actual name and concept with specific LOTR lore. You might therefore accuse me of being severely under-qualified to write this review. However, One of Nine’s music is not just nerding out about iconic fantasy, it’s black metal.” Nerd ringing.

Old Machines – The Cycles of Extinction Review

By Thus Spoke on August 18, 2025 in Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, Dungeon Synth, Electronic Metal, Thrash Metal, 34 comments

“Cycles of Extinction is steeped in lore billions of years old, telling stories of peoples and times spanning aeons and light years—which may or may not be plotlines from many cherished video games—and sporting a runtime spanning an hour. Old Machine’s chosen format could perhaps best be described as being to symphonic death metal what Old Nick is to raw black metal.” Machine yearning.

Ancient Mastery – Chapter Three: The Forgotten Realm of Xul’Gothar Review

By Killjoy on April 13, 2025 in Reviews, Black Metal, Dungeon Synth, Melodic Black Metal, 15 comments

“Certain musical genres lend themselves well to fantasy themes, and Ancient Mastery has its finger firmly on the pulse of several. Perhaps the most recognizable of the many projects of Austrian artist Erech Leleth, Ancient Mastery doubles as a storytelling conduit for the land of Valdura. Doom_et_Al penned a TYMHM piece for Chapter One wherein he heaped deserved praise for the spellbinding integration of triumphant dungeon synth into epic black metal compositions. While we didn’t cover Chapter Two, I personally enjoyed its unexpected pivot toward blackened power metal even more. Upon receiving Chapter Three, I was intrigued to learn that its story is set long before Chapters One and Two, and I was eager to hear what surprise twists Ancient Mastery had in store from a musical point of view.” Master of the niche.

Fell Omen – Invaded by a Dark Spirit Review

By Thus Spoke on February 25, 2025 in Reviews, Black Metal, Crust Punk, Dungeon Synth, 36 comments

“If you’re especially in the know, you might already be familiar with the artist behind Fell Omen, Spider of Pynx. Having contributed hurdy-gurdy and electronica skills to two different Spectral Lore records under this moniker, he has also created cover art for Auriferous Flame, Cirkeln, and Μπατουσκα, under the name Gilded Panoply. After years of lurking about the black metal scene, with Invaded by a Dark Spirit, the Spider has the chance to step out of the background and begin their officially ‘metal’ musical arc as Fell Omen.” Bad omens.

Flickers from the Fen – Stoned in Gielinor II Review

By Mystikus Hugebeard on September 9, 2024 in Reviews, Dungeon Synth, 41 comments

“I love dungeon synth, but the albums reviewed at AMG are usually from the more traditional, spooky scary dungeon synth artists with harsh, raw instrumentation that hearkens to the genre’s roots as an offshoot of black metal. Being a powerful wizard, I’ve always been more into medieval tavern gnomecore; the good stuff with comfy synths. What a blessing, then, that the promo Palantír would reveal Stoned in Gielinor II by Flickers from the Fen unto me, a comfy synth album based on the world of the timeless MMORPG Runescape.” More proof that it isn’t safe to use the Palantír, as the others are not accounted for.

Örnatorpet – Evigt Främmande, Evigt Fjärran Review

By Thus Spoke on May 2, 2023 in Reviews, Ambient, Dungeon Synth, 22 comments

“Dungeon synth. ‘That might be a nice palate cleanser. That might be something chilled and easy to listen to.’ So thought I when I read the promo. This is somehow the seventh album from Swedish dungeon synth/ambient project Örnatorpet. Even after reading Dear Hollow’s not especially glowing review of their previous, I maintained a grain of optimism, because how bad could it really be?” The death of optimism.

Dryad – The Abyssal Plain Review

By Cherd on January 23, 2023 in Reviews, Black Metal, Crust Punk, Dungeon Synth, 12 comments

“When one considers the state of Iowa, one is unlikely to think of black metal. Be-masked hard rock radio metal? Yes. Black metal, no. Likewise, Iowa conjures images of corn fields, wind turbines, college football Saturdays and James Tiberius Kirk. But the ocean? Not unless you’re a paleontologist. You see, the verdant rolling hills of all those Grant Wood paintings were once covered by an enormous prehistoric inland sea. As a result, the place is absolutely lousy with fossils of trilobites and giant sea scorpions. I wonder if this was at least part of the inspiration for Iowa City, Iowa’s very own crusty black metal quartet Dryad as they were writing their debut full-length, the marine-themed The Abyssal Plain.” Flyover seas.