Entry 1216 - Quest Master - The Twelve Temples

Style: Old school dungeon synth, dark dungeon music 

Primary Emotions/Themes: The sister album to one of the greatest modern dungeon synth albums

Thoughts: I'm so happy this album exists. I'm so happy that these two albums exist. They bring me so much joy. Where the Twelve Castles was more barebones and stripped down, the Twelve Temples fleshes out the sound a tad bit more, adds in a few more chords while still retaining the joy of the early dungeon synth albums.

This album sounds just a little bit more modern than it's sister album, like it came a few  years after. The sound design is just a little bit fuller, the synths sound like they have been developed a bit more. The melodies remain simple, but there are now a couple more things going on in the album. None of this is a bad thing, it's simply an evolution of the concepts found on The Twelve Castles. 

Quest Master has created two of my favorite dungeon synth albums. They compliment each other perfectly and act as a beautiful introduction to someone wondering what dungeon synth sounds like or can sound like. They are treasures and need to be protected.

Entry 1215 - Quest Master - The Twelve Castles

Style: old school dungeon synth, dark dungeon music

Primary Emotions/Themes: This album truly embraces the origins of the genre: one dude in a basement with a Casio keyboard

Thoughts: We need to protect Quest Master. His ability to create dungeon synth is rare these days. This sounds like it could have come straight out of the early 90's with the way this is composed and produced. It's a true gem of an album.

Anyone listening to this may think that it's too simple, or too childish. They could be forgiven for thinking that... in reality this is one of the greatest tributes to the origins of the genre, before it even had a name. This is Mortiis' dark dungeon music, neowave, Berlin school... all the phrases that were being used to describe dungeon synth before it was crowned with it's genre name.

This album needs to be enshrined and cherished forever. It so perfectly encapsulates the sound of yesteryear that I can't help but find myself wanting to listen to it for hours on end. Is it simple? Yes, of course it is. There's hardly anything going on besides basic melodies and counter melodies throughout the entire thing. The sound design is straight out of the 80's keyboards that so many of these early albums were written on... all of this is what makes this album a treasure.

Entry 1214 - Purzum - Felosofeline

Style: dungeon synth, comfy synth

Primary Emotions/Themes: a purrfect self aware album

Thoughts: We've come full circle. The cycle is now complete. What began with hate, now completes with nothing but comfiness and purring. 

All jokes aside, Purzum has actually created quite a good comfy synth album. The music has a lullaby quality to it that lulls me into a deep sense of security. Like curling up by a warm fire after a hard days work, the music's warmth covers me and allows me to rest.

The whole album is made up of soft tones that reverberate through my speakers. The melodies are hardly complex and they dance around each other in playful motions. There's never more than three or four things going on at any given time, making this sound an awful lot like tavern music... just with synths. 

I'm normally not too into comfy synth, but this one was too much to pass up. The self aware nature of the album title as well as the project name made me audibly laugh the first time I heard it. The fact that this got a vinyl pressing is just too much. Absolutely adore this one.

Entry 1213 - Project Lazerus - ждите Нас Звезды!

Style: synthwave, sovietwave

Primary Emotions/Themes: an analog journey through space.

Thoughts: There is some music that hits different. It's different than anything else in my collection. Project Lazerus is one such project.

The music here feels vintage. Like the music feels like it is from ages past. I had the pleasure to speak with Boris a few years ago about his recording process, and everything in his studio is analog. Reel to reel recorders, analog synths... the works. The resultant music is incredible.

The twenty (!!) songs on this album all have a similar quality to them thanks to the production. It's essentially two albums in one, as each record feels like a complete entry, yet they also work together. The real star here is the synths though. They feel like they are coming out of a speaker on the Jupiter 2 as it's Lost in Space. Everything feels so natural and pure and... analog. 

This is the kind of album that stays in my collection forever. It's unique amongst all my other records and has a specific time and place to be played. There are several moments a year where that happens, and I'm pleased that this is one of them.

Entry 1212 - PowerPCMe - Endless Summer

Style: Vaporwave, chillwave

Primary Emotions/Themes: A collection of songs that exemplifies what chilled out synthwave/vaporwave is capable of when done right

Thoughts: There are a ton of records that I forget I have when I'm not systematically going through my collection. Unfortunately for me, this is one of those. Every time I put Endless Summer on it makes me smile, but it's not a record I go out of my way to listen to very often.

Every time I put this record on I find myself relaxing near instantly. The music has this groove to it that lures the stress and anxiety out of my body. It's like I can see it floating away in the distance. The synths are so calm and touch all the right parts of my brain to achieve this.

The songs themselves are short and varied... yet all chill. Some sound a bit more like a sunset and other sound more like the sun rising, but they all sound like a bright sunny day. The melodies are bright, the tempos never accelerate past a nice bobbing head walking down the road level... the whole thing just works. 

I really need to listen to this album more. I enjoy the hell out of it every time it's on the table. I'm finding that I say that about a lot of the records in my collection as I'm going through them one by one. This one has been added to the list of great records I forgot about.

Entry 1211 - Portcullis/Maiden Hair - Towers of Albion

Style: dungeon synth

Primary Emotions/Themes: A tale of two artists

Thoughts: When I bought this I had no idea it was a split. I should have figured with the multiple artists name on the side. It turns out that upon further inspection the two styles of dungeon synth present here are quite different. 

Portcullis' music is soothing and recalls a string quartet throughout most of their side. It reminds me of a movie soundtrack where a hero is staring out over a huge swath of land and we, the audience, are expected to take it all in. It's one of the better 20 minutes of dungeon synth in my collection if I'm honest about it. 

The Maiden Hair side is quite different. Instead of telling the tale of a land untouched we have music that feels like it should be played in a village square. Simple melodies played on flutes and lutes are what Maiden Hair brings to this split, and it works as a wonderful contrast to the other side of the record.

Towers of Albion is a fantastic split. Two types of dungeon synth all contained in one record, the two complimenting each other with both their styles and musicianship. I don't have many splits in my collection, but this certainly is among the best of them.

Entry 1210 - Portal - Avow

Style: Experimental death metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: the most straight forward the band has ever been, defined riffs and moments are scattered throughout the album

Thoughts: I'm not sure which way is up, or witch way is down. I have lost myself in a vortex of... something. The void has taken me, destroyed my sanity and removed my conscious self from my body. They now function independently of one another and yet somehow one controls the other. Welcome to the paradox that is Portal.

Avow is without a doubt a Portal album. There is nothing else on this planet that could have created these sounds. It's a horror ambient album that's only desire is to see you suffer. It's an obscure death metal album who's only aim is to see the listener tormented. It is both of these things at once, yet it is neither. This is the Paradox of Avow.

On the six songs contained in this record they are simultaneously  an ambient album and an experimental death metal album in the style of Portal. They are both of these things yet none of these things. Sometimes the band will give us a riff that decays into ambience. Sometimes we get ambience that decays into a riff. Sometimes we have a riffing ambient or ambient riff or god knows what decaying into something else... the only thing that's real here is that there is audio happening and that it is in a constant state of decay. Nothing else is real, nothing else matters.

Entry 1209 - Portal - Ion

Style: Experimental death metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: I don't even know

Thoughts: I must be losing my mind. Trying to process two Portal albums in one evening is asking for disaster. Regardless of my mental state, the band is here to provide another... thing... of their creation. I truly hope that I'm up for this.

Ion is quite different than other albums in Portal's dicography. While much of the album is their typical... style, they have created an album that... does something a bit different. I am hesitating so much because it's hard to put the music that these guys create into words. They are truly unique in their approach. There is literally nothing else like this on the planet... for better or worse Portal are Portal and nothing else is like this.

If I had to attempt to put Ion into words I would say that the band is even less structured than before. Outside of a few moments here and there the band is almost more ambient in their song writing. The songs decay and distort in a way where all structure is lost... what little was there to begin with. There are minutes on end where the drums are playing random notes and the same can be said about the guitars... are they even notes? Or is it just insanity? I don't know anymore, but these guys sure seem to know what they are doing... or they are so lost in their on insanity that they will only be content when the rest of us are dragged down with them.

Entry 1208 - Portal - Swarth

Style: experimental death metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: An incomprehensible mess of guitars drums and vocals

Thoughts: Every time I listen to Portal part of my mind loses itself. Part of my sanity is lost to the void. Every album of theirs defies all logic, defies all conventions, and perhaps none more so than Swarth.

In many ways Swarth is the most "musical" album that the band has ever released. This is due to the actual presence of riffs rather than just... events... happening. There is some loose definition to the songs... if you can call them that. Some moments that sound remotely like something somewhat conventional... maybe... I'm not sure. It could just be the band playing tricks on me again.

Regardless, the insanity that is captured by the band on their third record is one that plays with my mind more than almost any other. The fact that the music sounds somewhat similar yet so completely alien is what distorts my sanity. There should be something here to grab on to, but just as I think I'm hearing some structure the band ruthlessly yanks it away into the void again. 

Entry 1207 - Jon Porras - Orilla Oscura

Style: ambient

Primary Emotions/Themes: droning ambient based on guitar chords and other atmospherics

Thoughts: Guitar driven ambient is rare. So rare that this may be the only such album in my collection. 

Jon Porras utilizes a ton of effects on his guitar resulting in simple melodies fading in and out, chords trickling in, and layer upon layer of guitar drones creating the backdrop of the music. The end result feels like the music is coming down a waterfall. Small at first but as it gains speed the notes start cascading faster, eventually creating a mighty roar.

I cane across this album in a bargain bin. The cover looked cool so I picked it up. There have been a few of those kinds of albums in my collection and I'm proud to say that this is one of them. I've always had it in my mind that I need to look up some more music from this guy but I never have done just that. Maybe this is the catalyst that I need to finally get off my butt and do it.

Entry 1206 - Phobocosm - Deprived

Style: cavernous death metal, atmospheric death metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: death metal that scours the line between intensity, atmosphere, and brutality

Thoughts: It's interesting how a band can change from one album to another. This is the debut album from Phobocosm, and it sounds like it's a completely different band than Bringer of Drought. 

There are two major differences here than the sophomore album: song length and the energy at which the songs are delivered. Firstly the songs are about half the length here than they are on the follow up. The ideas are more concise and I think that works in the bands favor. The feeling of being lost in the riffs is gone, and as a result the band has a more active approach to the riffs and as an extension the music itself.

The riffs here are the main difference maker. They are still muddy and nasty as they are on the follow up, but god damn do they keep my attention more. There are multiple parts on the album where the band will come out of no where with a massive riff that makes me stop what I'm doing and pay attention (listen to the ending of Drowned and tell me that's not killer). It's night and day to compare the two albums, with Deprived coming out the victor by a long shot.

Entry 1205 - Phobocosm - Bringer of Drought

Style: cavernous death metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: four songs that are intent on dragging my ears through the mire and muck

Thoughts: This album is a paradox for me. I usually love albums that have fewer songs. It lets the band focus on making those songs as good as they can possibly be. I also tend to like nasty death metal that has a strong atmospheric bent to it. Both of those things are present here, yet I find Bringer of Drought lacking.

The riffs, while intense don't really go anywhere. They don't grab me... they just sound like a whirlwind of... nothingness. What should be massive riffs end up feeling flat and directionless. The four songs each feel too long for what they are. While the riffs are well constructed, I feel like the album doesn't really warrant the extended run time from the longer songs. 

Phobocosm can write good music, and there are points in here that are cool as hell - the massive ending to Tidal Scourge being first and foremost amongst those. But overall the album leaves me... empty? It leaves me like I've listened to nothing, silence gives me an equivalent emotional response. I feel like I'm missing something fundamental with this album, but at the same time I have so much other stuff to listen to that I don't really feel like I'm missing out.

Entry 1204 - Don Philippe - Between Now and Now

Style: instrumental hip hop

Primary Emotions/Themes: A jazzy excursion into instrumental hip hop, complete with improvised sections

Thoughts: So much of the instrumental hip hop I've been listening to of late has been the chill variety. I needed something to switch up. That's where Between Now and Now comes in.

This album takes the ideas present in jazz and adopts them to an instrumental hip hop framework. Instead of the music being a peaceful and chilled out as possible, there are some actually musically challenging moments in the album. Points where the music feels a little bit off... or makes me wonder "why would they do that?"

There's a deep connection with the jazz staple of creating music for the sake of art, not necessarily for the ears of a the listener. There's a lot of choices in here that I find fascinating, and are not immediately likable... but they keep me coming back. It stimulates my mind and makes me wonder exactly what happened for the music to be composed in this manner. A great break from the norm with this genre.

Entry 1203 - Philanthrope & Flitz & Suppe & Omarue - Todai moto Kurashi

Style: hip hop

Primary Emotions/Themes: a trippy and relaxing foray into the realm of the unknown

Thoughts: I'm truly loving my journey through hip hop as I continue through my collection. These last few Philanthrope albums in particular have really rekindled my love for the genre. 

I've been sitting here vibing to this album for well over an hour now. This thing is so chilled and relaxed I feel like I'm on a natural high. All I want to do is to melt into my chair and become one with everything around me. This music melts my brain in the best possible way. Maybe it's just the mood I'm in or maybe it's the music that put me in this mood, either way it got me into this state where I don't give a flying care about anything anymore. It's glorious.

Normally I would try to write a bit on how the music sounds, but this is instrumental hip hop. I know what this sounds like... what's different tho is how this makes me feel. Somehow this one got into the deepest part of my heart and anxiety and was able to chill me out. Not sure if I have another album that's been able to do that recently. A keeper for sure.

Entry 1202 - Philanthrope - Clockwork

Style: instrumental hip hop

Primary Emotions/Themes: Short and sweet suites to celebrate the joy that is instrumental hip hop

Thoughts: Going through my collection piece by piece has reminded me of plenty of albums that I completely forgot I had. I remember picking this up from Juno records years ago and then promptly forgetting about it after listening a few times.

Philanthrope has to be one of the better producers in the instrumental hip hop - and lofi - sphere. I always find his music interesting and well composed. I'm not sure how much of it is sampled vs how much of it is generated for the album, but regardless the end result is excellent.

Like all good instrumental music this album knows when to ebb and when to flow. It pulls back when its needed, be it a trumpet solo without a beat or some nice atmospherics it's always welcome when the music becomes just a little bit less. The album also knows when to layer it on. This doesn't happen very often, prefering the more subtle approach throughout the record... but when it does happen the moments are memorable. 

Clockwork balances the line between typical instrumental hip hop and a bit of jazz thrown in there. It's a great album to throw on at the end of a long week with a nice glass of scotch to wind down to before bed. 

Entry 1201 - Phelios - At the Mountains of Madness

Style: dark ambient

Primary Emotions/Themes: a slow descent into the mountains and with every step my sanity is more forfeit 

Thoughts: Fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of that what we cannot understand. Fear is the great equalizer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. Fear is the mind-killer.

What is fear? What causes us to fear? These are questions that I'm not sure I have the answers to. These questions are questions I'm not sure I want the answers to. What I do know is that Phelios has managed to tap into exactly these emotions that cause fear and bring them to the surface with At the Mountains of Madness. 

With a title like that this is obviously a tribute to H.P. Lovecraft's writings. In the spirit of his writings the music has little definition or form. Rather it morphs and contorts in ways that it's hard to wrap my brain around. A rhythm here, a soundscape there... all of them should be easy to follow... yet somehow they manage to elude my conscious thought. They leave fear in their wake, and I am left with a sense of unease unlike any that I have felt in a long time. 

Fear. What is fear? Fear is what lies in the mountains... these mountains.

Entry 1200 - Pertubator - New Model

Style: Darksynth

Primary Emotions/Themes: Pertubator sheds the synthwave and ends up fully embracing the darksynth side of his sound

Thoughts: My god. What an EP this is. Something like this I never thought would happen, even from the likes of Pertubator. 

This album fully embraces the dark side of synthwave... darksynth as it were. It throws away almost all melody, embraces rhythm and pulses in it's place. The more it progresses the darker the music becomes. The darker the music becomes the more it draws me in to the depths of Pertubators mind. 

Previous albums had threatened the takeover of machine from men... the album shows that transition completing... both visually and musically. What was only shown in moments before is now on full display throughout the album. This is violent. This is searching for prey. This is the New Model.

Unfortunately this is where my love affair with Pertubator stops though. After this he would go more goth rock, which in itself is not a bad thing... but for whatever reason Pertubator's take on the genre did not work for me. That said, this is one hell of a way to say farewell to the style that defined the first part of your career. 

Entry 1199 - Pertubator - The Uncanny Valley - Bonus

Style: Synthwave, darksynth

Primary Emotions/Themes: a continuation of the insanity that was The Uncanny Valley

Thoughts: Sometimes life is kind to you. Sometimes when you want more of something, it provides just that... more. 

The Uncanny Valley is one of the best pieces of synthwave/darksynth that I have in my collection... no scratch that. It's one of the best albums I have in my collection. I wanted more... and fortunately for me, here we are. 

The music contained in the bonus section of the album is essentially the B-Sides of the album. The music that didn't quite make the cut for the album proper but still was good enough to be released. We are very fortunate that this came to pass, because this music - even though it's not as high quality as the album proper - still is of immaculate quality. It's exactly what I needed to reset my brain. Everything that can be said about the main album is also applicable here... more is not always better, but here it most certainly is.

Entry 1198 - Pertubator - The Uncanny Valley

Style: Synthwave, synthwave

Primary Emotions/Themes: Humans are being integrated more and more with machines, the fusion is inevitable

Thoughts: Whoa... that intro. A crazy sound is coming out of my speakers. What are these synths? they sound c r a z y. My mind is warping as these thing wreck havoc on my brain. 

The Uncanny Valley is probably one of the best designed albums I've ever heard. In terms of the instruments, the sounds, the production... everything sounds so alien and yet so intensely familiar. It's as if the sound design is living up to the title of the album... the music has entered The Uncanny Valley along with humans and machines.

The overall quality of the album matches the sound design. Intense. Immediate. Insane. I can't stress enough how well made this is. There is so much going on in the music that my brain short circuits more than once. This is the full realization of the synthwave that Pertubator set out to create when he started this project. Absolutely essential album.

Entry 1197 - Pertubator - I am the Night

Style: synthwave, darksynth

Primary Emotions/Themes: Hard driving synthwave that strikes a resonant tone with the way the world is right now

Thoughts: "Things are bad. People know they are bad." What a way to start an album, a line that resonates through every bone in my body. Things are bad, and are only getting worse with every passing moment. It's this reality that Pertubator is showing with I am the Night.

Dystopian music can come in many forms. This iteration comes in the form of synthwave... and oh boy does this album kick ass. There are very few people out there who could create synthwave as good as Pertubator did in his hayday. These melodies and instruments are among the best I've heard in the genre. They make me feel like a terminator is chasing me down a closing hallway, life will soon come to an end if no action is taken.

This is the first album of Pertubator that I really took to. The debut album was not as good as this and a few of the EP's were ok, but not consistently good. However I am the Night realizes the potential of the artist and puts him on a set of albums that would define the genre for me.

Entry 1196 - Persona 4 - The Golden

Style: video game music

Primary Emotions/Themes: an extension of the main games soundtrack, it's Persona music

Thoughts: "It's Persona music, it all sounds the same" was a comment that one of my friends made a few weeks ago and now I can't get that thought out of my head.... I don't think there's been a truer statement uttered to me in recent memory.

It was a bit of a revelation to me. I love Persona music... but I also felt burnt out on it. How could this be? Well it's because all of the music sounds so similar that it's essentially the same thing over and over again. I think that's what my problem with this release is as well. I can't get into it. I enjoyed the hell out of the base game but alas The Golden is not something I find myself getting into.

There is such a thing as too much of a good thing.  The Persona music is a shining (golden) example of that. I think I'll just stick with the base game for both Persona 3 and Persona 4 and call it a day. Anything more is overkill. 

Entry 1195 - Persona 3 - Portable

Style: video game music 

Primary Emotions/Themes: a lackluster extension of the main game's excellent soundtrack

Thoughts: Persona 3's soundtrack is outstanding. It set the standard in video game music when it came out and it remains a fantastic listen decades later. The additional songs that the PSP version brought in tho were not as strong as the base game.

I don't remember much of this record, pretty much as soon as I finish listening the music is gone from my head. It's not the kind where I remember what I felt either during this time... it's simply... there. It's like listening to a blank tape.. I recall nothing. I don't see myself coming back to this record very often.. if ever.

Entry 1194 - Paysage d'Hiver - Winterkalte

Style: black metal, ambient

Primary Emotions/Themes: the depth of winter is held within these grooves 

Thoughts: Paysage d'Hiver has a deceptive discography. It's incredibly easy to write everything off as raw black metal and be done with it. This couldn't be further from the truth. 

The variety of the entire Paysage discography can be found within Winterkalte. The ambience, the harsh black metal, the acoustic work, the field recordings... everything is here. This is perhaps the most diverse work in the entire discography of Wintherr. 

These past few days I've been listening to a lot of Paysage, and this is a fitting end to that journey. There are so many albums and each one brings their own flavor to the table. With Winterkalte all of these things are summed up in to one record and it bookends one of the greatest black metal projects that is still active today.

Entry 1193 - Paysage d'Hiver - Das Tor

Style: Black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: a cold wall of sound that reflects a blizzard in the heart of winter

Thoughts: Sometimes I struggle to explain why I like one album over another. I feel like no matter how many words I use to describe Das Tor it will sound like any other black metal album, but it is so much more than that.

Somehow these four epic songs have managed to create the near perfect atmosphere. The music conforms to everything you would expect from black metal: constant blast beats, repeating riffs, unintelligible vocals, production so raw that it bleeds... the works. But this is an instance where the music is greater than the sum of its parts.

The individual components do not do much on their own, but as they get combined they create this harsh and unforgiving atmosphere. It's cold, ruthless and completely desolate. For 80 minutes I'm transported to a realm where life ceases to exist and only the ghosts of those who have attempted to traverse this frozen tundra exist. It is a ruthless landscape... and it is the very essence of Das Tor.

Entry 1192 - Paysave d'Hiver

Style: Raw black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: quality through obscurity

Thoughts: I think my perception of black metal has been tainted. I'm so acclimated to the style that albums that once sounded obscure and raw no longer do so. This is a prime example. The first time I heard this album is sounded like pure static coming out of my speakers. I could tell something was going on, but I could not begin to tell you what it was.

After listening to this and other raw black metal albums I can definitively make out the guitars, vocals, drums and violin on all the tracks. This is exactly the kind of album that rewards the listener for their patience. The riffs are fantastic, the inclusion of the violin is a beautiful and subtle touch, and beneath the wall of noise is some truly beautiful music.

Raw black metal is not for everyone. There is some truly wonderful music to be had in the style, but there is also some real junk. This is one of the albums that make the acclimation process worth it. If someone were to ask me where to start to try and get into the style, this would be that album.