Artist: Gilgareth
Title: Zwei Schwerter
Type: Album
Label: Dale Of Shadows
Imagine, if you will, a thankfully trouble free journey on a busy Imperial Road. A well known inn, The Two Swords, as your resting place for the night. The weather is good, but as all journeys can turn on an instant the inn is a welcom site as its reputation is impeccable. You leave your mount to the care of the stable hands and open the door.
It is calm within. Warm and happy and filled with the smells of fine food and fine beer. The low murmur of travellers fills the air, accents from across the empire and you settle in. All is good. You are welcomed, offered a table. And around you the talk turns to tales and the tales are offered to all.
That is the setup for this album, meticulously laid out on the Gilgareth bandcamp page. Every track has its tale, every tune designed to evoke the atmosphere.
The intro is calm, gentle fantasy synth. A sway, a sweet melody and soft percussion. A homely feeling, a warmth.
The first tale is one of an Emperor told by a faithful warrior. It is full of electronic pomp, an almost dance rhythm to it. Proud and clear, ostentatious perhaps, but it paints a glorious backdrop. To balance, as all things need, the next tale is from a woman who in sylvanian tones and music like sunlight just reaching through ancient trees, shows us that the world of the anicent natural world holds great wonder and power too. It casts a few shadows with a sombre twist but there is a sense that shown respect there is little to fear. The third tale is of fighting off Orcs and Goblins; a frantic dance of light notes, a sombre ending for the fight’s end but still one of victory. And then the mage mutters his words. The music slides into more old school dungeon synth of drakness and demons, artifacts that should not be hidden away and evil still lurking.
And so it goes; a new teller of tales takes the attention, a shift in atmosphere, a change in perspective. Honour and survival, remembering the dead, loyalty, exploration. Each tale is outlined and the music settled into that niche. We get uptempo rhythmic electronic passages, slower and darker atmospheres as the tales turn to troll hunting, epic tones that hint of the darkness to come.
All take their turn at the dance until the light fades and slowly beds are turned to and the inn falls quiet for a while.
This is intricately put together. From the lengthy descriptions of each track to the mix of styles it becomes like an anthology all of its own. The music, beautifully put together and arranged, moves from pastoral fantasy synth, through true dark dungeon music to synthwave stylings and many road markers in between.
It is a gentle but lovely album, a breath of fresh air and sunlight. Open the door, step over the threshold and and relax.
Gizmo
Walking The Liminal Space 