Review: Depressive Silence II by Depressive Silence
Depressive Silence - Depressive Silence II
(1996, self-released, reissued on Unborn Productions in 2016)
Dungeon synth is a little funny to me. I admire it, but definitely have to file it in the list of things I don’t fully get (alongside John Mayer, ??). I hope listening to this helps me understand it a little more. DS music is all pretty rare which is cool and its aural aesthetic is super refined from what I’ve heard, which is almost nothing. This is the second DS tape I’ve listened to (I’m listening on YouTube). The visual aesthetic is wonderful, I love fantasy themed stuff. Swords, mountains, monsters, dragons, armor, wizards, etc. This stuff is so cool and my point of reference for it is film but I find that oftentimes, movies don’t quite capture as much of the mood as I’d like. Sometimes pure imagination is the best way to really live in this essence. This could be a huge strength of dungeon synth, perhaps music like this is stronger without any concrete narrative that’s tied to it. It would be really fun to put on some Depressive Silence and run around in the woods pretending to be a wizard. Or even just play with action figures in your room. Maybe play a couple rounds of Heroscape with the guys. Or maybe even just make up your own story to the music.
The biggest similarity between dungeon synth to its forefather black metal must be the chord progressions. I really know quite little about black metal (far more than most laypersons, but far less than any real fan of metal) but the whole sort of medeival and gothic melodic foundation thing that seems to be present in that sort of music is strong here. And just about all other components of black metal seem to be left behind. Interesting stuff.
The tones and textures are nice on this tape. Each track is solid, though none stand out too far from the others. These guys are capable of getting a lot of tones out of their instruments. Choral pads are present as well as little percussive moments. Would be interesting to see the process of recording an album like this, especially in 1996.
Ok so I think the big takeaway for me here is how much extra-musical aspects of a record (especially one like this) shape the sound and feeling. Albums with great art are better than ones with crappy art. And any given band with a great name is better than any given band with a bad one. Many people are averse to this sort of idea but I think this sort of stuff shapes how we hear it. This tape, this genre at large (from what I’ve heard), understands that and uses it to its advantage. The photocopied b&w image of the castle on the original 1996 cassette of this release holds so much intrigue and makes the album as a unit feel more exciting. It works in conjunction with the music. Super cool. Of course, the mysterious nature of Depressive Silence and the rarity of the physical media adds to all this as well.
