Album art is a powerful thing. Its not just the eye-catching, spur-of-the-moment influencer for helping with making a decision on buying a particular album or not, but it also provokes the mind with setting a scene for the theme of the music and the direction the art takes our imaginations. In turn, this allows us to open up more freely to enjoy the musical journey that much more. The album cover for Lost Tales debut album, ‘An Old Wizard’s Secret’, is a mesmerizing piece of art that speaks in volumes of the despondent life of a wizard and the trials that he’s gone through just to make it out alive. Although probably finishing out his life as a desolate hermit, life has not always been this way. Musically, this fantasy synth adventure takes us on a daring adventure through various life events of the wizard, as he reflects on the good times and the bad. These six decadent tunes have an overall engaging and peaceful vibe and will leave you wanting more.
Brazen album opener, “Following One’s Singular Vision”, begins with a simple arrangement, soon followed by the delightful sounds of quirky dungeon synth effects that quickly shine a bright light on the theme of this amazing project. Moving in a totally different direction, “Defrocked; Expelled From The Academy” starts with a luminous jazzy sound that is serene and peaceful. The tones of winter synth keys come into play, as various melodic structure take turns conquering the open space. The deep bass effect gives this track a rich, unique quality and even has a bit of a middle eastern influence at times. “When What Was Loved Left This Plane” is a slow, melodic dirge, with a beautiful harmony keyboard part that is extremely unforgettable. I find myself humming this tune quite often and I easily imagine getting lost in a mystical forest and suddenly finding an oasis of enchantment, remaining enthralled with no sense of time or space. “Synthesizing The Reversal Of Death” continues the same musical theme as the previous track, as the soothing melodies draw you in, placing you in a relaxed state. When the main keyboard melody starts to play, an overwhelming sensation of being drawn to an era of magic and charm takes over. The layers of keyboard euphony hits the spot and succeeds in transitioning the listener back to ancient times. “The Opportunity To right Wrongs” is a wondrous dungeon synth effort with expeditious playing and excellent harmonizing with the slower keyboard parts. The standout solo arrangements are quite the delight and provide a magical moment for this song. The albums final track, “An Honor And A Blessing To Have Served The Court”, combines many different keyboard effects in a congenial effort that is full of grace and positive substance. The horn effects really standout and are the perfect addition to this final stance, as it adds balance to the album and closure to the overall theme of the wizards story and life.
Lost Tales is a prodigious artist that provides a considerable amount of balance to the dungeon synth genre. ‘An Old Wizard’s Secret’ is a wonderful debut effort and I love the direction of the music that is contained within. It’s a great balance of all of the elements that I love about dungeon synth music and although this hasn’t been officially released yet, I’m already looking forward to hearing more from this artist. You won’t be disappointed in this so I highly recommend downloading this as soon as it’s available or even pre-ordering it now. Mystic Timbre will also be doing a cassette release so keep you’re eyes peeled for that as well.
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