Saturday, January 6, 2018

SKARPSEIAN – FRAGMENTER AV TROLLDOM (REVIEW)

Title: Fragmenter av Trolldom
Artist: Skarpseian
Rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Dungeon Synth
Year: 2016
Country: Russia
Label: Self-released / Out of Season (cassette version)

Skarpseian is a project that I have meant to feature in the zine since day one, but have never had the chance to until now. I have followed Skarpseian since his first release “Skygge Slottet”, which was a dark and primitive dungeon crawler. The second album from Skarpseian “Tan Gil” showed a progression in the project, as the songs took on a more epic style. Fragmenter av Trolldom is most likely Skarpseian’s finest work to date, and the perfect definition of traditional Dungeon Synth.
Musically Skarpseian relies on the repetition of melodies that are almost always accompanied by timpani or orchestral drums. What sets Skarpseian apart from other projects is that these repetitive sections are extremely well composed. Despite being simple in theory, each section is memorable and full of atmosphere. These sections seamlessly transition from one to the other, taking the listener on a journey. While a project like Barak Tor carries a rich “high fantasy” atmosphere, Skarpseian is definitely a “sword and sorcery” Dungeon Synth project. The images that the music evokes are that of far-away lands, roaming nomad warriors, epic and dangerous quests, and the days of high adventure that Robert E. Howard wrote extensively about. The use of timpani percussion always gives the songs an adventurous and heavy feeling, while the melodies themselves feel mysterious and full of power. The production is also improved compared to previous releases, although the music still carries a raw, unpolished sound throughout. There is also a great Burzum cover (Der Tod Wuotans) featured near the end of the album, which gives a unique perspective to what is actually my favorite Dungeon Synth song of all time (Der Tod Wuotans to me is the pinnacle of Dungeon Synth).
This review is based off of the digipak CD version of the album, which comes with a cool Skarpseian magnet, but a tape version is also available. Skarpseian has improved with each album and has already proven to be one of the best Dungeon Synth projects around today. Fragmenter av Trolldom serves as a great introduction to Skarpseian and is sure to appeal to fans of the previous albums as well.