Dungeon Synth

[Tonberry]

Dungeon synth is a genre of electronic music that merges elements of black metal and dark ambient.
It’s one of my favorite sounds, blending a darkness and a reverence seldom found. It brings to mind old fantasy imagery of black forests, dark dungeons and mysterious castles. A world of soundscapes full of mystery, contemplation and magic.

Personally, I love listening to it on late night walks, especially in the wintertime, where it transports me away to strange lands.

Here are some of my favorite songs from some of my favorite projects:

https://open.spotify.com/track/2iWXZ3Ec15LVROIOzMQa2i?si=5KIwWswBSC6JRTo4xgwRfA

 

[Yousef]

Sounds really nice.

 

[Zooey]

I've enjoyed some dungeon synth, the likes of Mortiis, Old Tower, Thangorodrim, Neverlur, Forgotten Pathways, etc etc. Its nice music for Dungeons & Dragons sessions, meditation music, also good study music. I think the genre though suffers from being flooded by failed black metal artists, the type that maybe cant play guitar or drums well enough, so they turn to dungeon synth, make a 10 minute track of wind noises and a synth pad droning on a single note. There's still some really dope stuff though. "Crypt of the Wizard" by Mortiis is one hell of a album.

 

[Clippy]

I never expected to mention it in this context but OG Diablo OST definitely deserves a shout out.

 

[Zooey]

I never expected to mention it in this context but OG Diablo OST definitely deserves a shout out.

Totally. Dungeon synth is really one of those genres that was made for people who played Diablo, and were like, "I wish there was an entire genre of fantasy dungeon crawling music." Its also not one of those genres that demands your full attention, so it works really well for Dungeons & Dragons sessions because it sets the mood, and you can still talk over it.

 

[Tonberry]

I think the genre though suffers from being flooded by failed black metal artists, the type that maybe cant play guitar or drums well enough, so they turn to dungeon synth, make a 10 minute track of wind noises and a synth pad droning on a single note.

Yeah this definitely is true to an extent, but I think some of it is growing pains from the sound being discovered more and more on the internet, so people who aren’t as experienced want to make their own things. Which isn’t bad in and of itself but it’ll make it a bit tougher to trudge through the uninspired music to find the greats (lo-fi music went through a similar thing I recall)
I don’t plan DnD but I use it when playing board games with my friends too, to indoctrinate them.

I never expected to mention it in this context but OG Diablo OST definitely deserves a shout out.

100% agreed!

 

[99nereids]

dungeonsynth thread ohhhn yesssssss

listen to quest master i beg of you

 

[Zooey]

Yeah this definitely is true to an extent, but I think some of it is growing pains from the sound being discovered more and more on the internet, so people who aren’t as experienced want to make their own things. Which isn’t bad in and of itself but it’ll make it a bit tougher to trudge through the uninspired music to find the greats (lo-fi music went through a similar thing I recall)

I cant tell you how many times someones messaged me to check out their Dungeon Synth album, and its like a 20 minute track made up of stock wind noises, swords clanging, and a single melody on a cheap synthesizer. But i still check on the genre from time to time. Its like the Sega Saturn of music genres, there's alot of crap in it, but theres some real gems too. Thangorodrim's "Taur-nu-Fuin" was a nice album.

 

[Tonberry]

I cant tell you how many times someones messaged me to check out their Dungeon Synth album, and its like a 20 minute track made up of stock wind noises, swords clanging, and a single melody on a cheap synthesizer. But i still check on the genre from time to time. Its like the Sega Saturn of music genres, there's alot of crap in it, but theres some real gems too. Thangorodrim's "Taur-nu-Fuin" was a nice album.

That’s the good shit.
Yeah much of it leans a bit too much on the ”ambient” side of things, and maybe not too much on the dungeon bit!