Entry 1517 - Shadow Dungeon - A Crypt of Mysteriis

Style: dungeon synth

Primary Emotions/Themes: the dead, their crypts, and the great unknown

Thoughts: There truly is something wonderful about the dungeon synth genre. No matter what iteration of the music I hear there is almost always something to like. 

Shadow Dungeon is yet another entry into the classic dungeon synth realm. There are two long compositions that fall very much in line with the early Mortiis albums. That being that they seem to be a combination of a bunch of smaller compositions before being combined into the twenty minute long epic that they are in their album form. 

I'm not opposed to this style of creating songs. It forces the listener to take the entire side of the record in at once without skipping tracks - something I am naturally inclined to do regardless. There is a part of me though that would love to have individual song titles and track lengths, if nothing more than to see a bit more into the artist's mind. Song titles go a long way to seeing what the artist intended when they created the music. Though without them I am also allowed the freedom for my own interpretation.

So in the spirit of interpretation A Crypt of Mysteriis is exactly that; an exploration of the unknown, the dark depths of the earth and the realm of the dead. The album is - again - a collection of smaller compositions that range from small musings to epic sprawling opus'. The resultant album does indeed feel like a journey to some unknown destination... a dark destination. 

Perhaps we are searching for a lost relic. Mayhaps an heirloom. Or perhaps we are simply taking a stroll through the more moribund parts of the earth. Regardless the synths and melodies that Shadow Dungeon has produced on these two tracks are fitting for any of the above endeavors and a near infinite more. 

A Crypt of Mysteriis is a fine classic dungeon synth album. It falls in line exactly with what you would expect from the early black metal/dungeon synth movement. Even though this album was written 25 to 30 years after the initial movement the spirit remains the same. Not something that can be said about much modern dungeon synth.