Entry 702 - Mortiis - Født til å hersk

Style: Dark dungeon music

Primary Emotions/Themes: Mystic lands far away, the art of medieval music

Thoughts: This is the album that started everything for what we now call dungeon synth. Back then there was no name for the genre. It was called dark wave, electronic, ambient, or my personal favorite from Mortiis himself: dark dungeon music.

When I first heard this I thought it sounded like an extended intro to a black metal album. In fact the entire album may as well have been a black metal intro the way that it played out. Fifty minutes of poorly played, out of time, overly simplistic keyboard music. There was nothing else like this when it first came out. 

Sure there were other electronic outfits out there at time, but nothing that came from black metal sounded like this. The closest thing would be some of the ambient tracks that Burzum was experimenting with on his albums. 

The fact that this contained nothing else but the dark dungeon music was significant though. This was a shift. There was no more black metal here, there was only the keyboard. Through the use of this singular instrument the atmosphere changed. It was no longer bleak and dark, it now revolved around exploration and discovery. A more fantastical atmosphere as it were.

Instead of hell, we had mountainous landscapes. Instead of worshiping satan we are exploring forests and misty hills. Instead of belting out the screams of hell, we have a slow contemplative melody that poorly resembles its synthesized instrument.

I remember the first time I saw the CD for this album. It was sitting at a Border's book store and it looked interesting to me. I had no idea that how influential this would be, it was just a cool album to have back then. 

Mortiis has gone through a lot of changes to his art. For my money the 1999 album The Stargate is my favorite, but there is something about these mid ninety's albums that will always have a place in my heart. There is a purity to this music and its simplicity that it not found in his later works. 

Despite the poor keyboard playing, despite the horrible vocals, despite the overly simplistic nature of everything, despite the fact that the melodies repeat themselves way too much. Despite all that, this album is worth listening to, every single imperfect moment is worth listening to. 

Written February 6th 2024