Transmissions from the Dark
Transmissions from the Dark is devoted to all permutations of blackened esoteric artistry from the extensive underground of black metal, with Sundays showcasing dungeon synth, dark ambient, folk and other bm-adjacent musics.
I do consider submissions from bands and labels. If you would like me to upload your releases, send an email to the address below, or message me on IG, FB or Twitter - BUT BE AWARE, I receive a huge number of requests, and cannot respond to them all. Also note that I am unlikely to feature your release or even reply to you if you are using AI artworks.
I do not monetise videos or make any money from this channel. Labels or third party agencies may monetise albums by themselves. I believe bands and artists should receive compensation for their work, and hope that funds received by these agencies find their way to the creators.
This channel was formerly part of Order ov the Black Arts, until July 2022 when I parted ways.
Transmissions from the Dark
A new month means a new artist for the Dungeon Synth Sunday banners, and here is my regular monthly post to introduce them.
October DSS streams will feature the artwork of Hirō Isono - a Japanese artist born in 1945, graduated from the Aichi University of Education's Fine Arts department in 1968, and proceeded to work as an illustrator and painter throughout his life, passing away in May, 2013.
In the 90s he worked on the art direction of the Seiken Densetsu ‘Mana’ series of video games, which spun out of the early Final Fantasy releases. All his works reflect his passion and intrigue for the forests of the world, and he published several books throughout his life, in collections with titles such as Emerald Forest, Emerald Dream, Rainforest of Life, the Heart of the Forest.
His works are characterised by a dreamlike utopian quality, presaging the nu age vaporwave aesthetic with their lush luminosity.
Website (in Japanese): emerald-forest.jp/
#HiroIsono #ForestArt #JapaneseArt #VideoGameArt #SecretofMana #SeikenDensetsu #DungeonSynthSunday #DSSundayArt
2 days ago | [YT] | 55
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Transmissions from the Dark
Last seen on a Forbidden Keep-released split with the mysterious, imperious Obsidian at the end of 2024, Virginia’s Spectral Kingdom emerged in 2016 from the grim ambience of black metal, as one of the most captivating artists of the revived era of dungeon synth.
This phantasmal presence of magisterial bleakness arrived with minimally monochrome demos of melancholic, flagstone-haunting paeans to solitude and eternal isolation, before releasing the debut full-length Glamour of Mercy through Forbidden Keep, and now, this coming February, the awe-inspiring wraith of the catacombs will cloak the Albion Dungeon Fest in the most potent of dark subterranean atmospheres.
Early bird tickets still available from the Forbidden Keep Records website ⚔️
Full lineup announcement coming soon.
www.forbiddenkeep.co.uk/
#dungeonsynth #albiondungeonfest #forbiddenkeeprecords
2 weeks ago | [YT] | 33
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Transmissions from the Dark
From the distro wing of the Forbidden Keep comes the recent batch of Manidoo Gathering tapes.
Raw ambient inhospitable elemental atmospherics from the harsh eternal winter climes of the Canadian wilderness:
Zesab - Ondaanimad
Waawoono – Sky Wolf Trail
Isputinaw – Naawinaagoz
Dibikimitig – Aandeg
Wakewaji - Winter / Spring
In an unreachable place between black metal, noise, ambient, drone and field recordings, lies the Manidoo Gathering sound
#mailday #blackmetalcassette #forbiddenkeep #rawblackmetal #ambientblackmetal #canadianblackmetal
4 weeks ago | [YT] | 43
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Transmissions from the Dark
Recent cassette acquisition from Fogged Entity - the whimsical winter forests synth of Shire Oak - Sempervirens
Self released by the artist in December 2024, the snow-laden wintery vignettes found their way to tape this summer and have been cooling my decks for the past few weeks (probably longer, time seemingly evaporating at the moment).
Beautifully rustic nature ambience from the Ottowan north
#dungeonsynthtapes #foggedentity #wintersynth #forestsynth #dungeonsynth
1 month ago | [YT] | 39
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Transmissions from the Dark
A new month of Dungeon Synth Sundays means a new artist for the intro banners and backgrounds behind each video, so before today;s album features, I make my regular post to introduce them.
For September, DS Sunday will feature the art of Jean Honoré Fragonard (1732–1806); a prolific and inventive French painter, draftsman, and printmaker, chiefly known for his exuberant and fluid manner, and elaborations on Rococo idioms favoring the playful, the erotic, and the joys of domesticity.
In addition to producing richly detailed Romantic oil-based panel portraits, and overgrown gardens full of mythological statuary, he also displayed a mastery of the rustic red chalk medium, depicting endearing visions of nature as a welcoming and wondrous experience – and it is these pieces which I shall be using as background for the month.
#jeanhonorefragonard #redchalk #frenchrocococoart #dungeonsynthsunday #dssundayart
1 month ago | [YT] | 26
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Transmissions from the Dark
Albion Dungeon Fest welcomes a uniquely enigmatic figure among the pantheon of dungeon synth artists to its stage this coming February.
Min Naing's Vaelastrasz straddles the worlds of fantasy and reality, with surreal perspectives of the modern blurring with escapism, meditation and mythic yearning, bound and threaded about a visceral quality that keys into emotional states capable of felling the sternest of unsuspecting listener. The path of Vaelastrasz's sounds have wended through the old school of Gondolin Records and Dungeon Tapes, into the fantastical realms of Out Of Season and Pacific Threnodies, and on to forge a new path of spiritual exploration of the self in latest album Death In Its Decadence, which fuses dark dungeon synth and neofolk into a sublime transportive creation.
We keenly await the appearance of this most experiential mystic to the Albion Dungeon Fest.
Early bird tickets still available from the Forbidden Keep Records website ⚔️
Full lineup announcement coming soon.
www.forbiddenkeep.co.uk/
#dungeonsynth #albiondungeonfest #forbiddenkeeprecords
1 month ago | [YT] | 31
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Transmissions from the Dark
A recent acquisition fitting for DS Sunday, and one of my favourite albums of the year - the self-titled demo from Barbarian Ring.
A truly dark and visceral demo of primitive drone and atmospheric stone-carved melody, presented in old-school xeroxed form, with a cool hand-drawn map depicting the track titles.
Great audio and physical release all round to start new label Blaggard Records
#barbarianring #blaggardrecords #dungeonsynthcassette #dungeonsynth #dungeonsynthtapes
1 month ago | [YT] | 46
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Transmissions from the Dark
Fief must rank among the most revered artists in the pantheon of Dungeon Synth mages; opening a portal to an alternate medieval world in 2016 with his debut album, I, the ambient folk harmonies played with seemingly familiar motifs, yet shimmered into a uniquely unreal and liminal realm, with an untouchable, elusive aura that few, if any, other dungeon synth producers have been able to find their way to.
Despite the popularity of his six full-length albums and a clamoring fanbase building over the past eight years, Fief is an artist who has successfully maintained a mystique and magical otherworldliness…..until now.
After revealing the man behind the music and debuting live performances in the United States in recent months, Albion Dungeon Fest has the rare honour of presenting the first European appearance of this most enigmatic and inspiring artist.
Tickets available now!
www.forbiddenkeep.co.uk/
#dungeonsynth
2 months ago | [YT] | 57
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Transmissions from the Dark
It’s the first Sunday of the new month, which means I have a new intro banner artist for the next few weeks of Dungeon Synth Sunday. So as I have made a recent tradition of, I am introducing the artist I am using this month.
For August, intro banners and background feature artworks by Josef Mandl; a Czech impressionist painter of landscapes and the supernatural, who lived between 1874-1933.
He was born into the family of Pilsen goldsmith, Josef Mandl, studied at the Academy in Prague, which he entered at the age of 14, becoming a student of religious and historical painter František Sequens, though his work developed over time to become most influenced by the symbolist expression of Max Pirner.
Mandl’s work is often tense, dark, and haunting, as a commentary on contemporary tendencies towards decadence and the inevitable transience of existence.
#dungeonsynthsunday #dungeonsynthsundayartist #josefmandl #supernaturalimpressionism
2 months ago | [YT] | 44
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Transmissions from the Dark
I'm writing the band intros for the Albion Dungeon Fest again this year. February 2026, New Cross, London. See you there.
First band introduced - Hole Dweller. Follow the Albion fest on IG: www.instagram.com/albiondungeonfest/
'...Through the trilogy of ‘Coop albums and several standalone releases, Hole Dweller offers a personal Hobbit-themed vision of fantasy synth, spun from spirited charm and aching melodies into a world of comforting melancholy with an enchanting timeless energy....'
Early bird tickets still available from the Forbidden Keep Records website ⚔️ full lineup announcement coming soon!
2 months ago | [YT] | 50
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