Goblins are grotesque and fabled creatures that are known to do malicious harm to humans. Imagine a market place in a chimerical village completely dedicated to these diabolical beings. I can conceptualize a forlorn situation for any outsider as goblins would completely terrorize anyone that visited this sacred location. Filled with mischievous activity and crude actions that are borderline malevolent, but at the same time, there is a sense of whimsical solidarity in this close nit area. Criptadel supplies an amazing soundtrack to amplify the necessity of this heinous village district simply titled, ‘The Goblin Market’.
Album opener, “The Goblin Market”, sets an abhorrent scene as various soundscapes and inaudible narrations provide an unhinged welcoming to the market place. After a quick, harsh black metal-esque vocalization, the Market opens for business as glorious & melodic synths – along with compounding percussions – provide an addictive jingle to display a sort of pleasantry for those that wish to conduct business in the Market. “Trolls Atelier” begins with a bold synth tone and the builds upon layers of clean synth sounds. A drum beat soon kicks in, playing a fast-paced anthem that is both cheerful and anxious. At about the halfway mark, the music gives way to a drone sound with a grotesque narration before picking back up with a more discordant melody. “The Coal Shop” plays a galloping harmony that features a soothing combination of beats and buoyant synths. After a few minutes of cheery tones, the song takes a more cinematic approach and changes things up a bit. However, it soon gets back to the original melody and closes out the track this way. “Dragon Spa” starts with a beautiful, classical moment and then dives right into a traditional dungeon synth part, along with some inaudible narrations that sounds like a old goblin explaining the details of his store. The last half of this song has a real soothing vibe, complimented with some middle-eastern beats. “No Sales” is a delicate little piece that unifies deeper synth chords with blissful overtones. There are several solo synth moments that provides a musical consonance throughout the track. “Frog Store” properly begins with the sounds of multiple croaking frogs, as the music crescendos into a bright mix of clapping percussion and richly layered synth effects. Deep horn sound effects are featured on this track and fit in perfectly with the theme that this track is portraying. “The Mush Room” is a short interlude that features someone walking up to a door and then knocking on it. Afterwards, creepy and inaudible narrations take over with some hallucinogenic-type laughter at the very end. “The Trasgo Inn” ignites things with a fiery field recording that molds into a hypnotic synth tune that strides alone with a jubilant beat and robust keyboard sound in the background. The track picks up the pace toward the end and fades out on a dashing note. “Cirque Cadavre” begins with a quirky keyboard chop as if you’ve stepped foot in a bizarre circus tent and madness of sorts is happening all around you. However, intricate synth melodies are interwoven to make this an intriguing, yet outlandish listening adventure. The final track on the album, “Ghoul Funeral Service (feat. Uxor Mortis)” is an eight minute finale of what all can be expected once you step foot inside ‘The Goblin Market’. From the slightly twisted intro and grand cathedral organs to the slower theatrical parts, this epic track completes this unique album in the most fascinating way.
‘The Goblin Market’ is an intriguing, conceptual Dungeon Synth album that is sure to entertain die-hard fans of the genre from start to finish. Not only is the music astonishing, but the production is pristine and the additional field recordings and vocal narrations are all done in good taste. I highly recommend checking out this album as it’s definitely a contender for Dungeon Synth album of the year. Please support this unbelievable artist and recording by downloading it from the link below.
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