#Castle Zagyx

[albumarchives]

Castle Zagyx | Oath of the Dark Chivalry (2023)

[dungeonsynthguide]

Castle Zagyx Dungeons of Despair (2019) Medieval dungeon synth / Gothic dungeon synth

A solid EP alternating between medieval and gothic tracks before ending with a more ambient-leaning piece. Despite the flip-flopping, it's pretty consistent in both quality and atmosphere, demonstrating Castle Zagyx's respectable talent in making several styles of dungeon synth. It's just a little bit lo-fi—devoid of exaggerated effects but has enough reverb to set its mood.

[acapellapotato]

Castle Zagyx - Oath of the Dark Chivalry (2022) (Full Album)

[we-are-knight]

Watch "Castle Zagyx - Cavaliers of the Western Heartlands (2019) (Dungeon Synth)" on YouTube

[musicmakesyousmart]

Castle Zagyx - Dungeons of Despair

Self-released

2019

[hearthedungeons]

Castle Zagyx - Doors to the Battlefields of Ertbe

This one is a ride. Like other recently covered releases, it has a bit of a feeling of walking the border of DS and something else, but given the clear inspiration from orchestral fantasy scores, I suspect this one will be more widely embraced by stodgy DS fans.

There's quite a lot to like here. Of course there is always the chance that a DS composer, when aiming for 'orchestral', will miss the notion of 'orchestration' which is what tends to make those classic film scores classic. It's not just the melodies and pounding percussion, but the balance and interplay of instruments that makes the texture so effective. "Forty Sails, Dragons of War, Breaking the Waves at Night" is an incredible demonstration of this - starting with a simple, familiar melody in bowed strings that expands and pivots with the addition of choir, brass, and subtle percussion as this track continues. There's a sense of phrasing here that also makes an impact - wherein the instruments are edited so well that it truly does feel like a conducted orchestra, with slight adjustments in volume and tempo from phrase to phrase. The attention to detail, especially in dynamics, are one of the things that make this music so listenable - not immediate builds and fades, but some gradual that happen over the course of whole sections of music, like the final section of "The Sacred Oriflamme", which add a subtle emotional impact to the music. Or the fadeaway from dynamic march to softly sustained strings in the middle of "The Runic Sword of Halskpa". I could spend this whole review calling out individual moments like this that make a profound impression, but rest assured there is no shortage of them.

It is undeniable that Basil Pouledoris' score for Conan the Barbarian made an impact on the shaping of the sound of dungeon synth, and on this album. But here, I hear profound influences from Ennio Morricone, another prominent film composer with an expert touch at orchestration. I hear it in particular in the almost playful syncopation in the harp and percussion of "Mountain of the Worm Astiborax", and the high strings that drive the melody forward have an almost swaggering quality to them. Maybe a bit of Bernard Herrmann in the cloudy harmonic tension sometimes giving way to dissonance in the string swells of "Spoils of War". (Anyway, this short aside is a moment to namedrop, and to remind DS fans that OTHER film composers exist besides Pouledoris and Howard Shore.)

Of course, with this focus on creating a realistic orchestral timbre has, to my ears, two limitations. The first is that there are a number of moments that feel melodically familiar here - not a copy by any means, but with the influence so clear it is sometimes harder for me to imagine the composer's intended narrative suggestion because I am so reminded of some music cue from a distantly remembered film. The second is that, when balancing the palette of an entire orchestra, composers will frequently reuse a motif, either reharmonizing or transposing it. Sometimes it crosses a line where the idea slightly overstays its welcome. I hear this in particular in "Bascinet, Hauberk, and Flamberge". The track begins with a very properly epic fanfare at the top, but then spends a good chunk of time kicking a motif around in various keys, from instrument to instrument. It sounds like a Black Metal riff LARPing as an orchestral motif, and the repetition is slightly too much for my ears. Also, there's one brass note in "Marching through High Pass" which loudly juts out to me amongst the otherwise delicately constructed musical texture - truly the only moment on this album where I'm reminded that I'm not listening to a proper orchestra. The list of complaints are few.

Ultimately, though, this release sets a HIGH watermark for high-fidelity, orchestral-inspired dungeon synth. I am usually biased toward more purely synthesized work but this album makes quite an argument. The closing track, "The Eternal Wheel..." with its subtle organ beginning and patient build over the course of its nearly 8 minutes, sends me off into horizons unknown, full of questions that can only be answered by simply playing the album again. Special mention to the album cover by Slava Gerj, which seems a deliberate nod to recent Summoning covers, but steps up the level of detail to a frightening degree - an image that could, like the music within, be studied for hours without fully comprehending all of the details within.

[georgy-stuff]

Encloaked / Mortwight / Castle Zagyx - Beacons Burning on the Winter Hor...

[dungeonsynthguide]

Castle Zagyx Cavaliers of the Western Heartlands (2019) Medieval dungeon synth / Cinematic dungeon synth

[albumarchives]

Castle Zagyx | Doors to the Battlefields of Ertbe (2021)

[albumarchives]

Encloaked/Mortwright/Castle Zagyx | Beacons Burning in the Winter Horizon (2020)

[musicmakesyousmart]

Castle Zagyx - The Frozen Moor of Your Memories

Self-released

2019

[albumarchives]

Castle Zagyx | Dungeons of Despair (2019)

[albumarchives]

Castle Zagyx | Cavaliers of the Western Heartlands (2019)