Well hello again my dudes! I’m back with yet another dungeon synth album for you. I am finding myself here a lot lately. Anyway… Onto the music!
Today I bring you an album that tells a very specific story. From the artist, Meadow Grove:
When Sir Laendric Laernmoth returned to Rh’nosia, the homeland of his ancestors, their keep was still in ruins. He did what he could to cleanse the place from the horrendous events of yore, and reconciliation with the Tarrenblade clan was achieved. But he still dreamed of rebuilding the castle.
As time went on, and events unfolded, Laendric realised the time had come to fulfil his goal. This album tells the story of the Rebirth of Laernmoth Keep.
This album is put together start to finish in a way that tells their intended story beautifully. The titles of the tracks are as follows:
1. Of Dreams the Once Were Lost
2. A Far Greater Purpose
3. Clearing Away the Rubble
4. Stone Masons From Aldharia
5. A Steady Stream of Workers Arrive
6. Walls Rise Ever Higher
7. ‘round the Keep, a Town Is Built
8. A City Guard Is Formed
9. A Letter from Laendric Laernmoth
10. Laernmoth Keep
11. A Garrison of Aldharians
12. Inauguration of the Keep
The entire album was made with a virtual synthesizer and includes some notes that are reminiscent of old school Legend of Zelda games. The sound is very fantasy-esque and feels like it belongs in the score for a high fantasy film or AAA game. Track 3, Clearing Away the Rubble, includes a delightful organ that brought me goosebumps. I love an organ used in a non-traditional, non-spooky way.
It begins to get more serious around track 7 (‘round the Keep, a Town Is Built) and you can feel the tension rising as the story moves into a high point. There are moments that feel very serious and moments that feel very whimsical (the chimes in track 8 remind me of fairies). I do need to point out, however, that sprinkled in throughout some of the songs, is a voice over of a man speaking what I assume is Finnish into a microphone.
The sound of his breath in the microphone does trigger my misophonia a little bit, and so I did not enjoy those parts. That being said, those parts were pretty brief and therefore did not detract much from my experience here.
Overall, I would rate this album pretty high. It was a very definitive journey that was easy to follow and I honestly really enjoyed it.
Head on over to the Meadow Grove Bandcamp page and check it out for yourself.
