Victorian Witch - Eerie Tales
Dungeon synth on a Compact-Disc is a rare thing, even rarer when the artist describes the music as a Victorian synth. We´re dealing with a project by the Italian mastermind, who also was responsible for the proto dungeon-synth act Sagenhaft! (see former review). A beautiful limited 100-copies physical release, a glossy 4-paneled digipack inside a wax-sealed black letter with blackened print on. The album works as a sort of complete recordings compilation since it compiles the two mini-albums Eerie Tales and Cold Embrace. Love the whole feeling of energy pulsating from this otherwordly cover artwork!.
The first track on the album is called The Tomb of Sarah. Not exactly who Sarah is, but we´re dropped right into a kind of musical style between Dead Can Dance and Endvra. Some might say Lovecraftian and some would say dark-medieval. Evocative melodies crawl over synthy strings like the legs of spiders, while eerie will-o-wisps produce disturbing light over a ruined graveyard. A perfect intro track, telling the listener straight away that we are bound to be on a fantastic trip into another world.
The second track Witch´s Mansion goes further into a classic death-ambient sound. What do I mean by that sound? Check out the classic Death Odors compilation from Slaughter Productions. Heavy and doomish bells with some added metallic percussive on top, very kind of Megaptera´ish if you ask me. Interesting eldritch electronic sound effects going on as well. Is that new sport-shoes I hear on the gym floor, or is it the sounds of bats?... Not sure, great track nonetheless!
According to the track listing on the physical cover, the third track The Haunted Organist (which is according to the Bandcamp track listing actually being the track called Aungier Street ) contains an interesting rhythmic rhythm with some very cool synth-based atmospheres. Fans of SPKs Zamia Lehmani will surely dig this I am sure. A nice touch of atmospheres piano notes enlightens the mood beyond description.
The fourth track Aungier Street (which actually is the real Haunted Organist of course) perfectly sums up the mood for the perfect gothic-horror tale from the older days. Lovely played organ synth, with a touch of dread and moaning within. Perfect for an Edgar Allen Poe spoken-word performance of the Raven!
The fifth track The Shadow of a Shade further enters a neo-classical dark ambiance with a touch of the paranormal. Love the ancient and almost mythical archaic sound, a sound which sadly seems rarer and rarer these days. I'm getting watery eyes here people, beautiful track!.
The sixth track The Body Snatcher might even be something from one of those older Carpenter flicks. A retro sort of 80s horror thing here, the feeling of evil forces at work being present here. Synth-based horror ambient with some cool distorted guitar sounds going on (I think). The evil version of Steve Roach anyone?.
The seventh track Twilight Encounter kind of goes "back" to that classic Sagenhaft-sound. Elegant piano, martial drums, and synthy soundscapes. VERY nicely done indeed. Again, I would love some kind of vocals here... again, spoken words would be awesome.
The eighth (and last track) Cold Embrace further explores the retro soundtrack with added post-rockish guitar work. A good and moody outro track to end the album, although the track (on the CD) ends maybe a bit too suddenly... but that's ok I think!.
And that ends the journey. A cool, honest, and decent album delivering what the album promises to deliver. Esoteric dungeon synth, with a nod or two to the world of classic gothic horror literature. I Would love to see that there would be more artists within the dungeon-synth realm, that would dip their fingers into something like this. It´s great, but again... I would also (for some reason) love it if there were some deep male vocals here, again spoken words. Maybe we can hope ( in the near future) that there would be an upcoming spoken-words album? Bored of Dungeons & Dragons-based synth music, go and check out Victorian Witch!.
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