Artist: LORESPINNER
Album: Lakeshrine
Label: DIM CHAMBER
Released: 8/26/2022
Country: Australia
Written by: Aaron Michael Kobes
One of the more engrossing trends within the last couple of weeks has been to render AI generated images of beloved source material into dark 80’s movies, such as the original Diablo computer game, Lord of the Rings, etc.. However you feel about AI generated art (I’m personally against the monetization of, or passing it off as “art”), it is at the very least, an interesting concept, insofar as it revitalizes an interest with that sort of overly dramatical stylized escapism for the public at large. This is much the case with LORESPINNER’s Lakeshirne, which may not be as overly dramatized as the dark fantasy films of the 80’s, but is nonetheless a shining example of stylized escapism that feels like more akin to a wistful indie fantasy film if it were created a few decades in the past.
The album begins with Approaching Humming Falls a solemn and slow moving piece. Throughout its sedate unfurling the track contains flitings of flute-like synths that recreate a feeling of being within a hazy-dream and having Fae creatures float and dive about your head as you follow a riverbed or stream. There is an easy tranquility that is conveyed, and expounded upon, as the main portion of the first half of the track is an overly fuzzy yawning of a chord progression that is somewhere between Ambient and lulling white noise. This then serves as the undercurrent for the latter half in which a more traditionally discernibly melody comes into focus by way of a whining, yet serenely executed set of keys. The serenity continues into the next track, The Drowned Portico, albeit with a slightly less ethereally quality and one that feels more inspired by momentary awe- a new level reached or area unlocked within the scope of an expansive videogame or tabletop RPG, the later of which is served by additional downloadable content when purchased on Bandcamp that serves as either a D20 scenario or lorebuilder. The track structure itself follow a similar pattern as Approaching Humming Falls, inasmuch as it builds on the first Ambient portion of the track with an introduction of a more structured melody following that simultaneously continues its atmospheric effect, while altering the “location” of the atmosphere enough so that it doesn’t feel stagnant, hence the feeling of a new level being uncovered.
The second half of this album begins with the track A Tomb Unburied, A Tide Recedes, marking a more solemn and contemplative approach. The title of the track, as it turns out, is aptly named, as the opening moments feel more like a yawned opening to a once aqua-hidden chasm. There is a brief and slightly jarring braying type synth that comes on sharp and strong but winnows away to a less abrasive form as it meanders in and out of the textural softness created by the rest of the track. This, to me, symbolizes flashes of resplendent buried treasure that saw whatever poor fellow was interred within gloriously to the next life. Such fantasy-like imagery then is conjured up through the atmospheric tempering, and only goes to further highlight the form of stylized escapism that articulates the best of the genre. Wrapping up the album is the track Morninglight & Bloomward, the shortest, and perhaps gentlest of the tracks that gives off scrolling end credit vibes if anything. The melody seems to emerge from the Ambience, swaying serenely before the addition of a marching themed percussive track is added to the background, elevating an already burgeoning feeling of grandiosity that swells momentarily to triumphant, before elements of the track drop off one by one. The final moments of both the track and the album come in a vibrating shimmer of sound that increases in volume and ferocity that is over almost as soon as it begins leaving a shuddering echo of what was. All of the aforementioned is an incredibly impressive feat of masterfully crafted Dungeon Synth musicianship, made all the more enormous given the brief span of time it occupies to accomplish these ends.
Simply put, this is an exemplary piece of Dungeon Synth that could easily be utilized to re-stoke ones love for the genre if ever that flame were to burn low.
Be righteous by listening to and supporting LORESPINNER on Bandcamp:
