Galdur: "Age of Legends"

Un-cheesy dungeon music masterpiece

Though at first glance micro-genres like dungeon synth can sound rather restrictive and samey across numerous artists, there are several roads you can take as an artist. Some opt for a folk-inspired approach with many classical, real life instruments, while others emulate the midi-soundtracks of old fantasy RPGs for a more synthetic feel. Others still resort to a more true-to-life orchestral feel. You can count Galdur's 2016 opus Age of Legends among the latter.

Ieschure: "The Shadow"

Mystic debut which forms a thorough impression of style and concept

Black metal is dangerous territory if you don't have what it takes. There's so much competition, that any band lacking in talent or concept will get snuffed from existence in the blink of an eye. Iescure is an artist that, while dabling in the black arts with some degree of artistic ability, teeters on the edge that separates the bands of tomorrow with those that are bound to be forgotten sooner rather than later.

Nonsun: "Sun Blind Me"

Ukrainian duo delve into the darkest depths

Slowly, the ponderous, stoned out riff of Rain Have Mercy tunes in, accompanied by the soft yet intense sound of an organ. As the guitar gains momentum, the drums find their way inside, until finally the droning composition reaches some sort of culmination in a full-fledged clamour of heavy, sludgy, droning doom metal at the 4 minute mark. Goatooth's moribund vocals emerge from the shadows like a funeral dirge, and soon after the track slows down to a slower, improvisational tempo until once more it lurches into motion, exposing the consortium of trippy organ pieces and psychedelic guitars that were hitherto halfway hidden in the deeper layers of Nonsun's music. Alpha's drumming betrays a fascination for post rock atmospheres that Goatooth's ethereal strumming over the original riff only enhances.

Narrow House: "A Key to Panngrieb"

Gloomy moods with a graveyard backdrop

Funeral pyres burn in the wake of Narrow House's A Key to Panngrieb album. The band hails from Ukraine, from where they launch their crusade of bleak doom metal, prensenting the world to their eldritch sounds first in 2012. Like the strange creaking and moaning of that long-abandoned house succumbing to decrepitude up on the hill outside town, the four tracks on A Key to Panngrieb seems almost like a natural force.

Deviator: "Way of Warriors - Hymn to Immortals"

Illustrations of mediocrity

Compilations can various purpouses. Some are merely a collection of a band's best efforts, while others yet portray a group's evolution, tracking their progression through styles or as songwriters. While most ambient black metal isn't normally associated with change and transformation bands within the genre obviously aren't immune to progression and stylistic change.

Moloch: "Illusionen Eines Verlorenen Lebens"

No delusions, only ambience and black metal

Black metal is in many ways about the mindset. You can rasp your vocals and shred your fingers to pieces with a thin guitar tone all you want, but if you haven't got "it" you haven't got anything. The Ukranian one-man band Moloch is a busy one. In 2008, as an example, the band's driving force Sergiy Fjordsson release over 20 splits, albums and demos total. Obviously quantity rarely equals quality, and the quality of a band's material usually worsens with frequency of release.