Retiring the List

The era of my list, in its current exhaustive incarnation, is now over.  I will probably replace it with a list of what I consider to be quintessential dungeon synth records, the best ones to start out with, or simply the ones that I feel deserve attention, but I will no longer be an archivist of ds.  That was originally part of the intent, but that was when I thought that this was essentially a dead genre, and that there would be a point when I'd have to barely update it at all.  Clearly that's not the case.  But my main goal with the list was merely to establish what I considered this genre to be, and I think it served that function long ago.  The right people are all in pretty solid agreement on what this stuff is.  Of course there was also the value in it that allowed folks to discover obscure and forgotten works, however I think that is better served through an organic process such as reviews.  That way, as well, people won't be bombarded by a massive amount of forgettable redundant slush.  Just because something belongs to a genre doesn't mean it's worth listening to.

More personally, it just takes the fun out of it for me.  I'm beginning to get uncomfortable spending most of my dungeon listening time drawing lines in the sand.  I'm too biased, not a particularly great authority (in terms of black metal scene experience), and it takes me too long to properly digest records.  Also, it has become easy for me to just toss truly notable albums on the list and think that my job is over, without giving it a review or saying any words on the album at all.  Without the list I'll feel more obligated and enthusiastic to give these works their deserved attention.  And I'll feel more free to speak my mind, to be more critical about albums, since I won't feel like an official representative of dungeon synth, a spokesperson persuading the uninitiated.

Besides that, it is just somewhat presumptuous for one person to act as an arbiter for a genre.  Everyone should be deciding what does and doesn't count as dungeon synth.  So anyone is free to take the list, change it in any way (or not at all), and post it anywhere.  I don't need any credit.  I'm going to delete it from the blog in probably a month or so.

I feel more comfortable stepping back from this position now that other voices are speaking on the style.  If you're unaware of them:

Dungeons of Darkness Magazine - I mentioned this a few posts back.  It's great work, a more traditional zine format.  There's a lot of in-depth content and it's absolutely worth checking out.

The Dungeon Grimoire - A new blog that popped up a few months ago, with a writer who seems to have an endless well of enthusiasm and is quite prolific in his posting.  Very good stuff, and covers a wide territory.

Dungeon Synth Facebook - To be honest I haven't been keeping up with this page, and stumbled on it again in the process of writing this post.  It looks like something that we all should be keeping up with.  

Dungeon Synth VK - This is the Russian dungeon synth community that has been around a while now.  It is a bit difficult for English speakers to navigate, but it's well-worth using one of the internet's free translation programs, since it has by far the most content of any ds page.

Winter Synth - Not many posts or very active, but what has been posted is high quality and covers a neglected gap in the black metal related ambient genres.

Asmodian Coven - Doesn't have a dungeon synth focus, but often posts very obscure and hard to find (or even discover) works in the style.  Was around long before my blog, and should be a cornerstone for anyone into obscure black metal-related music.

I know that the list was probably the main attraction of this blog, so perhaps I'm shooting myself in the foot.  But anyways, without the list taking up my time (or more like avoiding it), I should be able write here more regularly.  I intend to post around this time every week from now on, so be sure to check in.  

Thanks for reading.