Month: September 2016

Voices From The Past: Conversations with Grimrik

Kaptain Carbon

Grimrik was one, if not the first compatriot I met during my journeys into dungeon synth. After one of my articles on the history of the first “wave” of dungeon synth, here was a guy who was speaking with authority on a topic I believed to be unknown to most. Grimrik is a living artifact. One of the few still surviving titans of the original black metal scene which fostered this weird side genre that would eventually become dungeon synth. Since that time, Grimrik has seen this genre evolve over…

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DUNGEONMASTER (1984)

Kaptain Carbon

This article starts my relapse into the world of 80’s fantasy films. Though I seemed to have covered a broad range of classics like Fire and Ice, Conan The Barbarian, and Highlander, there exists a wider landscape of movies that all are either terrible or wonderful or both. Whether nostalgic for some or completely new to others, these films come equipped with some of the greatest taglines in history: “A demonic wizard challenges a modern-day computer programmer to a battle of technology vs. sorcery, with the programmer’s girlfriend as the…

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INSOMNIUM – Winter’s Gate

Kaptain Carbon
insomnium - winter's gate

It has not been long since its release but people have already lost their damn minds over Insomnium’s 7th album Winter’s Gate. Before we really get into this, let us review that Insomnium is a Finnish melodic death metal band whose albums have been largely popular for people looking for epic sounding landscapes which revolve around mysticism and internal strife. Winter’s Gate presents itself as a single 40 minute track which settles itself into a hall of single track albums like Sleep’s Dopesmoker, Edge of Sanity’s Crimson, and a dozen…

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MONARCH WOODS release sci-fi book

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Wergild Atlas

In nontraditional metal news, Canadian gothic symphonic metallers MONARCH WOODS have released… a book! Monarch Woods was founded by guitarist Jonah Kay and vocalist Jay Ivaree in 2013. The duo initially wrote folk metal songs based off of literature Ivaree studied at university. In 2014, Ivaree began writing her own sci-fi story and the two decided to launch a symphonic metal band dedicated to the events in the series. Ivaree’s work promotes scientific values, racial diversity, and her ideals of family ethics. It’s also notable for its anti-religion themes and…

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WITHOUT FATE release self-titled debut album

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Without Fate

Progressive / Symphonic metallers WITHOUT FATE have released their self-titled debut album. Known for their epic and melodic technique, Without Fate was formed in the summer of 2015 and consists of several experienced musicians who have distinguished themselves on the provincial metal scene in their native Québec, Canada. Included in the 6-track release is “In Via Veritatem” — an 18 minutes opus about 5 stages of grief: I Denial I, II Anger, III Bargaining, IV Depression and V Acceptance. It is available on bandcamp and other major platforms. Without Fate…

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DUNGEON SYNTH DIGEST XV

Kaptain Carbon

This is the 15th installment of column series which was originally designed to help me process through all of the new dungeon synth material. Since then it has aided me in cataloging all of the newer material being released and in turn allowed me to cultivate a master list which I have been giving to new people who are interested in the genre. This list was done more as an initial recommendation but it soon has grown into a list of things I find important in this genre. While I…

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The Lost City (1982)

Kaptain Carbon
The Lost City

This article represents my continuation into the world of old school roleplaying games. The adventure for me has been to try to replicate, piece together, and imagine the experience of roleplaying in the 1980’s. This has been done by introducing my current play group to clones of older systems and even the preserved systems themselves. I took them last time through haunted halls with Labyrinth Lord and Stonehell Dungeon. Because most of them threatened me with bodily harm if we were to ever dive into a massive megadungeon again, I…

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