Erang's 'MEDIEVAL NOIR' Is a Defiant Masterpiece of Homemade Dungeon Synth
MEDIEVAL NOIR appeared on 16 October, self-released, eleven tracks, no label. Erang wrote, recorded and mixed it himself; Arthur Rizk mastered it, Myle shot the cover photo and Will-Helm Arts handled the layout. The album notes close with a dedication: “In Memory of David Lynch.” They also contain the line the whole record is built on — “I will never tell anybody what to do, but I will no longer accept anyone telling me what to do.”
The Sonic Breakdown
The Production & Mix
The Low-End: Deliberately cold. Blessed Altar Zine’s Ioana, who scored it 9/10, describes the shift from his earlier work precisely: “The synth effects are sharper, colder, minor melodies dominate and dissonance is employed more often than not.” This is not the warm, mossy dungeon synth of a decade ago.
The Spatial Dynamics: Bandcamp Daily’s J. Edward Keyes — a long-time champion who interviewed Erang back in 2019 — picks out “a Phantom of the Opera pipe organ melody striking a note of palpable fear.” Ioana hears the counterweight: “an immersive, epic yet gentle soundscape which invites daydreaming and reflection.”
Standout Performance
Erang alone, which is the point. The track titles carry the argument by themselves — “Neo-Feudalism,” “The Death of Democratia,” “A Giant Skeleton Arises to Kill the Fake Emperor,” “Reality Was a Memory.” Keyes notes that the opener, “I Will Never Apologize for What I Am,” is “genuinely heartbreaking.”
Why It’s Certified
⚡ Keyes on what has changed: in a genre “often (unfairly) accused of being one-note,” Erang “hits on reservoirs of emotion he’s never quite realized before.”
🌈 On the ending: the title track, which closes the album, “feels bright and hopeful—a balm for everything that has come before.” Eleven tracks of dread that resolve into something generous.
⚡ Ioana’s summary — “a somber and melancholic, but rebellious meditation on the current state of the world” — and from the notes themselves: “We should never allow fear to be a driving force in our lives.”
Keyes: “Erang’s music has always been about togetherness, about finding your tribe,” and “that idea is more important than ever.” Certified great.