Title: Gold Box Renditions
Artist: Synth Bard
Rating: 3.5 / 5
Genre: Soundtrack
Year: 2015
Country: USA
Label: Self-released
Synth Bard is a project that is a bit different from anything I’ve featured in the zine before, but I feel this excellent cassette tape is right at home within the Dungeon Synth scene. Synth Bard is a collaborative project made by die hard Dungeons and Dragons fans, playing all analog interpretations of songs from the “Gold Box” Advanced Dungeons and Dragons video games made by SSI in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Old role-playing games have undoubtedly been the influence of many Dungeon Synth projects, as the atmospheres and themes are always consistent, and projects such as Abandoned Places and Lord Lovidicus are their legacy. The music featured on these early fantasy video games also helped to establish the connection between role-playing games and epic synthesized music.
These renditions made by Synth Bard are not simply “video game background sounds”, but legitimately enjoyable compositions in their own right. Although the songs themselves were not composed by anyone involved in Synth Bard, the use of analog synthesizers and old guitar pedals give these songs a strong feeling of power and mystery. While the 8-bit MIDI songs featured on many old video games have a charm of their own, the analog synthesizers used by Synth Bard are exceptional and demonstrate the diverse dynamics of synths from the pre-digital era. A fitting example would be the song “Pools of Darkness”, sounding both mystical and foreboding at the same time thanks to the fantastic synths used. The song “Death Knights of Krynn” is also a perfect display of the synths used, as the analog “voice” and resonating oscillators create an almost sci-fi vibe, while still creating the feeling of danger and dread that only a classic role-playing game could provide.
I highly recommend purchasing the physical tape version, as the cover and layout is perfectly done to match the “vintage” presentation of the video games, and the tape also comes with a character sheet that will allow you to play as Synth Bard in your Dungeons and Dragons campaigns (a character who is armed with a Korg MS20 as a weapon)! Dungeon Synth fans and fans of old synthesizer electronic music should not be disappointed with this release, which is truly “retro” without trying to be. Synth Bard is a genuine homage to Dungeons and Dragons, old video games, analog synths, and all lovers of the fantastic and archaic.
