(For more on Jim Kirkwood you can read about his Eternal Champion Trilogy HERE and his Sandman Trilogy HERE)
Jim Kirkwood is a bit of a legend in the dungeon synth community, almost a myth for a while, really, before folks eventually tracked him down. In the 80s he was a guitar player into rock and metal, but over time he became enamored with synths, and by 1990 made his first foray into what would, a few decades later, become known as dungeon synth. Kirkwood’s music was primarily self-released and as the 90s progressed and bled into the 2000s his style moved more towards ambient and Berlin school electronica.
The elusive Kirkwood was interviewed in Dungeon Synth Zine #7 and acknowledged the influence of fantasy on his 1990s works, starting with Where Shadows Lie. “Inspired as it was by my other great love, fantasy literature, especially Tolkien and Moorcock, but also numerous other writers such as Frank Herbert who wrote the Dune series, R.E. Howard who wrote the Conan books.” Certainly these are some of the same writers who influenced the next generation(s) of dungeon synth artists, but when Kirkwood was producing his works the scope was much more limited – sure there had been a couple of Conan movies and David Lynch’s version of Dune, but for the most part all you had were the novels and your imagination, which in many ways makes Kirkwood’s albums more personal.
“These were exciting times,” Kirkwood told DSZ. “Everything was new to me, but the fact of the matter was, no one was interested in my cassettes.” Time has changed that, however. In 2023 DSZ re-released Kirkwood’s first three albums on a very limited (50 copies of each) cassette run, and earlier this year Out Of Season put out Where Shadows Lie (1990), King Of The Golden Hall (1991), and Uruk-Hai (1992) across all the formats in limited, though substantially larger, runs – CDs and cassettes in editions of 300 each per album, and two different vinyl versions totaling 800 copies per title. It is the Out Of Season cassettes I discuss below.
Where Shadows Lie (1990 / 2024)
The Tolkien influences are quite apparent here based on the song titles – “Helms Deep”, “Morgoth”, “The Ruin of Gondolin”, “Smaug”… Sonically Where Shadows Lie feels like a soundtrack, the soundscape denser and richer than many contemporary dungeon synth artists. The instrumentation goes beyond pure synth sounds, bringing forth huge bass drums, horns, lonely strings, and pleading woodwinds. It’s not full orchestral in richness, but definitely evokes the sensation of being played by a chamber group of varied and talented musicians.
We’re also treated to some purely synth compositions such as “The White Rider” with a stylish quality removing them from the distant past while still retaining an epic feel that fits with the overarching theme. The same holds true of “Morgoth”, though here Kirkwood brings a darker mood and the incessant low strings create an anxious sensation, a feeling of both movement and being pursued by some kind of unseen entity, the tension building with the introduction of distant bass drums before coming to an abrupt finish. Did our hero escape, or did they fall?
Where Shadows Lie feels like two separate albums, the first four tracks taking a more chamber orchestral soundtrack approach and the following six a more synth-heavy tack. That’s not intended as a criticism, as it all holds together nicely and can be heard as a progression across time and place as the story unfolds.
King Of The Golden Hall (1991 / 2024)
King Of The Golden Hall earns pride of place in the recent book, 101 Dungeon Synth Albums You Must Hear… Before You Rot In A Dungeon. The book approaches the 101 “must hear” albums chronologically, and King Of The Golden Hall holds down the very first spot on the list, quite literally making it the king of our golden dungeon synth hall.
What a gorgeous opening “Tol Erassëa” provides, it’s somber yet hopeful current setting the stage and the seagulls at the end letting us know we have reached the sea. The sonic density of Where Shadows Lie continues, as do the synths, but the electronics evolved, the at-times sci-fi sounds of the first album coming across more like analog instruments (or, at times, theremin, which still has an old-world feel). Kirkwood also ventures further into sampling, from the environmental noises of the aforementioned seagulls to choral vocals and even to barely audible voices to further enhance the emotional impact. “Rohirrim” and “Dark Elves” are great examples of this. I can see why 101 Dungeon Synth Albums... landed on this one – it’s the most dungeon synthy of the group from start to finish.
Uruk-Hai (1992 / 2024)
Kirkwood put out four albums in 1992 (!), so I’m not precisely sure where this fits with regards to the first two. What I do know for sure, though, is that Kirkwood kicks it up a notch yet again, the opener “Forever Darkness” giving off a terrifying vibe that bleeds into the pounding, ancient mechanical beat of “Nirnaeth Arnoediad”, an almost pre-industrial industrial feel.
We feel Kirkwood’s progress toward a more Berlin school, less dungeon synth sound as Uruk-Hai progresses. By the second half of “Nirnaeth Arnoediad” the synths have taken on an 80s movie feel – they sound precisely like synths, regardless of what is happening around them. “Mearas” completes the transformation, the fantasy elements moving away from dungeon and more toward science fiction. And lest you believe that’s a criticism, it is not. It’s simply an observation that Kirkwood is moving in a new direction.
The quality of these Out Of Season cassettes is quite good. I initially toyed with the idea of buying these albums on vinyl, but ultimately dungeon synth is a very cassette oriented genre and it just felt “right” somehow to buy the tapes. And I obviously wasn’t alone in feeling this way, as the cassettes are all sold out as of this post, while the CD and vinyl versions are still available. So if you’re interested, check ’em out at the Out Of Season Bandcamp page HERE, where you can also listen to the albums for free.