Style: Video game tribute dungeon synth
Primary Emotions/Themes: Epic tales of far away lands through the lens of the Sega Genesis sound chip
Thoughts: Dungeon synth has become one of the main genres in my collection over the past few years. Ever since I first got back into it the style has grown in appeal with me in ever increasing fashion. The genre fills the void that was left by video game music when I decided to leave that community.
So much of the music feels like it was composed for video games that never existed. Some albums are better at it than others, but every now and then you get one like Hillsfar and The Moonsea Saga that feels like it was made exactly for this purpose.
Raiders of the Moonsea and Jewel of the Moonsea remind me of an rpg for the Sega Genesis (Megadrive). As they are presented here the sound design and composition remind me greatly of that system's sound chip - in an uncompressed form.
The Sega sound chip had this graveliness and grittiness to it that no other system had at the time, nor has replicated since. Hillsfar has created a set of two albums that take that style of synth to heart and in doing so has created two incredible dungeon synth albums.
Raiders of the Moonsea is the more active of the two, often reminding me of a soundtrack focused on revenge, violence, and discovery. Jewel of the Moonsea is the calmer and more contemplative of the two. It has tender melodies that caress my ears over the playtime and make me wonder what the land of the Moonsea was like in times of peace.
The Moonsea Saga is two incredible albums. The melodies channel the same feeling as the early 90's rpg's in an uncompressed form. It's albums like this why I love this genre so much. It has the same feel as VGM but at 1/3rd the cost of the records. The longer time goes on the more I'm drawn into the dungeon and it's various sub genres and further away from the actual soundtracks of yester year.
Written June 2nd 2024
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