[Review] Fimbulþul - 'The Spectre and the Lunar Gate' [Icelandic Dark Ambient / Dungeon Synth]

Call this a flash review if you like, of a little something that caught my fancy today. A single track release on Bandcamp from Icelandic one man dark ambient project Fimbulþul, 'The Spectre and the Lunar Gate' encapsulates for me everything that is great about Iceland.


I've visited Iceland twice in the last few years and the music on offer here speaks to me of the stark, majestic beauty of this winter paradise. Fimbulþul is like Iceland in that there is also an icy beauty to it's sounds, but also a watchful, bleaker quality. Something dangerous lurks within 'The Spectre and the Lunar Gate', something cold, brooding and fierce. It's also as haunting and as melancholy a piece of synth work that you'll hear this year!

Yet also when you stand looking across the bay in Reykjavik, or you go out into the open countryside on a dark chilly night, this would be the ideal soundtrack. As the moon glints off of glacial peaks, imagine if you will sitting quietly under the stars whilst these slow, moving melodies play for you under the Northern Lights. This is just a small taste of Fimbulþul for ow, but I'll endeavour to review the 'Skuggahliðar' demo very soon! [8 out of 10]

https://fimbulthul.bandcamp.com/album/the-spectre-and-the-lunar-gate