My first memory of interacting with Forgotten Relic (also: Hidden Passage, Gray Friar, Moonlight Mourning, Spectral Sorrow, Fourthpeak, Cloakwood, you can find all his links at his linktree. For the sake of simplicity, and also to distinguish the person from the project, let's call him Joe) is tied to a tape sim plugin. It was mid-2023 and I mentioned in an online community how I was going to try out said tape sim plugin on a somewhat experimental release of mine. It was my first time using that effect, and Joe spoke highly about it. I asked if he wanted a sneak peek at my song, and his enthusiastic agreement kickstarted our friendship over music. But I'm getting way ahead of myself. Let's take a few steps back and see where my story with Forgotten Relic actually began.
Music-wise, my first encounter with Joe and Forgotten Relic was Seers of the Keep, a 2022 split with Ancestral Sword.
Back then, I was new in the Dungeon Synth community and was trying to get my bearings. One of the approaches I had was to listen to music shared by members of said online community (that I still frequent daily). Everything was a blur: an overwhelming output to keep up with, so many names to remember, so many discussions on nuances I hadn't still understood... And, in all that chaos, I still distinctively remember being striken by Seers of the Keep. The atmospheres evoked by the music and the story sketched with the song titles embodied so perfectly the spirit of Dungeon Synth as I understood it at the time. I would have loved to hear more of such terrific music... In a sense, my wish came true: in time, I've got to know so many great releases from Joe.
Browsing my collection, I see that the next two projects by Joe I've listened to are splits as well.
At the time (it was Autumn 2022), I probably didn't realise that Moonlit Mourning was the same artist behind Forgotten Relic. However, that didn't stop me from being fascinated by the nocturnal piano melodies, somewhat unusual for the narrow idea of Dungeon Synth I had back then, but still fitting the mood and atmosphere of the genre. (Since then, my view of Dungeon Synth has considerably evolved, as I have told in the journal entry on Evergreen).
Speaking of great evocative piano music, it's impossible not to mention Sjöhäxan's November Gale.
A love story imbued with eldritch horrors, terrific mastery of the piano, impressive running time for a debut: November Gale was an instant hit with so many people. Joe himself spoke of "an elegantly composed and performed release that is both sorrowful and comforting", and his words are a very apt description of that album. It is a nice coincidence that another piano album by Moonlight Mourning was released exactly one day after Sjöhäxan's debut.
Back to my retrospective on Joe's music, I'm pretty sure that I didn't immediately realise that Gray Friar is another of his projects.
As I have already mentioned quickly in another journal, Gray Friar brings unique themes to DS: inspired by the life of a Medieval monk, it offers a more mellow and soft version of the Forgotten Relic sound (one of Joe's strenghts is how he manages to juggle so many different project without much overspill of themes, mood, sonic palette). The intimate themes (meditations, lamentations, quiet moments in the scriptorum or at the abbey's organ), plus the little stories accompanying most releases offer a moment of rest and seclusion that gives me so much solace and respite from daily duties.
Another project that swept me off my feet as soon as I listened to it is Spectral Sorrow.
It was the beginning of 2023 and I was trying to make heads or tails of drone and slow music. Spectral Sorrow's unique take on the genre, ranging from soft and haunting to low and terrifying, passing from every possible nuance in between, was absolutely lovely and an easier access point to this genre for a metalhead like me. And, I assure you, the next Spectral Sorrow release is going to be incredible!
The little story I mentioned at the beginning happened a few months later, in June 2023. Since then, our friendship helped me to dig even deeper into Joe's discography, and to find my sweet spot among his many releases.
Fourthpeak is inspired by Forgotten Realms (it's lovely how the theme of memory is shared with his other project Forgotten Relic, but in a very oblique way): the names of the places all come from a certain region of that roleplaying setting. However, I prefer to pretend it refers to an imaginary world without a map and lore of its own. This way, I can create a geography of my own, inspired by the themes of the music and the places dear to my heart. All Fourthpeak releases are amazing, in that they both encourage to go out on adventures and vojages of discovery, but also offer intimate safe havens. Icebound at Northlook, my favourite so far, plays on the theme of northward journey that I've come to appreciate since I first read Journey to the centre of the Earth when I was a kid. North is cold, dark, but also a spiritual home, a safe haven. North is a place of rest, but also of great power. North is home to majestic mountains, endless ice, amazing vistas... Does this description ring any bells?
Yes, ᚼᛁᛆᚱᛐᛆᚿᛋ has an icelandic theme. You can find more in my 2023 interview with Wyrd Daze.
Hidden Passage is probably my favourite among Joe's projects.
As I have already mentioned in a previous journal, Grottos and Groves was one of the albums I listened to the night my second daughter was born. It includes one of my favourite DS tracks ever: A Silvery Moon Lights the Way, by Hidden Passage. The first time I listened to it I had it on repeat for something like 15 minutes, and in the next days I revisited it over and over. Such is the allure of the song that I had to record a version of my own. It first appeared in Open your heart to the Night, and then on Polyphony.
However, the beauty of Hidden Passage doesn't end with that song, but rather branches to liminal spaces not unlike those of Keys to Oneiria and Windkey Tapes.
Joe is also behind a project that, despite the initial anonimity, between 2022 and 2023 took the DS world by storm.
I have to admit I'm not an expert on Magic Hilt, but I am aware it was an instant hit right from the first releases. Transmissions from the Dark described it as a "solemn soundscape, enveloping and transportive lo-fi dungeon synth, and the reverberations of crushing melody, spoken in the language of the old ways. Themed around medieval weaponry, battles, and valour, where these demos excel is capturing the profound moment of reflection after the glow of heroic deeds has faded, and the scars begin to sting". Writing this journal reminds me that I need to explore this project soon.
My story about Joe and his music started with some splits and by me sharing a work in progress with him. It's fitting to conclude it on similar notes: Joe's encouragement and support of that first experiment was crucial both for Arrhythmias and Páska (Joe also provided valuable advice also for many other of my releases). Since that initial contact, we started discussing the possibility of a split based on our "long music" projects. Finding common themes was an interesting challenge, and once again Joe's knowledge of Medieval history came in handy, as he was the one to suggest the theme of Confessions. I love how we interpreted it through the lenses of the themes dear to our heart: the history of christianity for Gray Friar, and modern literature for me (Golem Dreams was the first, but not the last of my releases inspired by books and poems that spoke to my heart). It was a great joy and privilege to have worked together on such a split, and I am lucky to count Joe among the friends I have made since I started ᚼᛁᛆᚱᛐᛆᚿᛋ.
ᚼᛁᛆᚱᛐᛆᚿᛋ, August 2024