Hail, travelers!
Joyous news abound! Hole Dweller has embarked on his first European tour, and brought along a number of friends as an international fellowship for this special occasion. This is a gig report of the stop they did at a unique location in Antwerp, Belgium. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of my own making this time around, because the lighting in the venue was unsuited to take any pictures with a smartphone when taking my woefully inadequate technical knowledge into account. I only share pictures of my own if they don’t detract from the experience or the performances of the artists. That’s only fair, and saves me from sharing my embarrassing attempts. However, what I lack in images I will try to make up for in words and promotional pictures of the projects.
The acts for tonight were (in chronological order):
Portcullis (UK)
DragonKeep (FR)
Seregost (USA)
Hole Dweller (USA)
The Setting - St. Amanduskerk
Tonight’s venue was the cellar of the Sint-Amanduskerk in Antwerp, a beautiful neo-gothic church smack dab in the middle of the multi-cultural neighborhood Seefhoek. The entrance was kind of confusing and awkward to find, but this was not the organizers’ fault. First of all, I wasn’t sure whether I could enter the cellar through the front door or a sideways entrance. Secondly, there was a small communal event going on right in front of the church with loud music, which drew a decent amount of attention from the neighborhood, so it wasn’t exactly easy to spot people looking for an evening involving Dungeon Synth acts. I tried my luck by entering the church through the front door about fifteen minutes prior to the start of the event, but found nothing remotely resembling a gathering of Dungeon Synth enthusiasts. I then went outside again and walked alongside the flank of the church, where I eventually found a sideways entrance leading right into the basement.
There I was greeted by the promoter of the evening (“Only Death is Real”) and was kindly invited to enter the venue, even though I was a little bit too early. Once inside, I was bombarded by the astounding amount of merchandise and the atmosphere the cellar evoked. I cannot overstate enough how excellent the underground environment of the cellar was for an evening of Dungeon Synth. The interior reminded me of a blend between a wine cellar and an actual dungeon. Its low ceilings, the massive rectangular pillars, its arched niche walls made of stone bricks, and the limited lighting served as the perfect backdrop. Furthermore, the bar offered a small, but curated selection of Belgian beers which I appreciated greatly. Many attendees sampled some of the heavier stuff, which I thought was fun to observe. It takes a special kind of audience to carry wide glasses with heavy beer whilst enjoying an ensemble of Dungeon Synth artists playing their music live.
The St. Amanduskerk
The cellar
Portcullis (UK)
I was familiar with the works of this UK-based project. As such, I’m quite a big fan of “A Fellowship Renewed” (in particular the track Ambush), so I kind of knew what to expect. He was the only artist to use a dynamic backdrop, although the limited visibility and the small size of the projection left most of his visuals indistinguishable. He was not to blame for this situation; the projection was poorly placed, but I think they did not have any other choice in the matter. He did not have a costume as such, but he did wear an elegant circlet which I thought was very tasteful.
He played a dignified blend of ambient and medieval melodies brought to life by a keyboard, a hand drum, and a headless electric guitar. There was a very light folk touch to his music, which was in large part because of the hand drum. I’d like to regard the setlist as a short story; he Opened the Portcullis to reveal his Night Thoughts and took us for a nocturnal walk through the Deepwoods so that we may reach the Moonchamber. There were magical moments of introspection and sadness to be found (the guitar melody during the first half of Deepwoods was deeply moving), as well as brief moments of profound heroics you will only find in ancient sagas. For example, the finale of the last track in which he pounded his drum vigorously whilst passionately cheering the audience definitely put me into the bygone age of the old Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms where powerful myths still held sway over the land. Unfortunately, the overall sound was a bit too loud, rendering the rhythm of the hand drum close to inaudible. An additional mic attached to the hand drum might have done wonders. This is a small remark in the greater scheme of things, because I think it was a great performance. I would have loved to hear Ambush live, but you can’t have it all. 😉 He can look back at his first gig outside the UK with pride.
© Portcullis
DragonKeep (FR)
Of all the acts I would see this evening, it was DragonKeep (a project of Lila Starless) I knew the least about. I had listened to some of her work rather absentmindedly, but found myself unable to focus on her music at the time, so I eventually decided to go in nearly blind. She was all dressed in black when she entered the stage, including a ditto face cover mask obscuring the entirety of her lower face. We got dreamy, old-school fantasy synth with a deliberate slow approach you would find in the works of Thangorodrim, although her tracks were not as robust, leaving a more delicate touch to her compositions. She wasn’t afraid to experiment, either. At one point, I even thought I heard some light electronica influences which reminded me of Jim Kirkwood, which I appreciated greatly!
As pleasant as this experience was, I feel I need to address one factor which hampered the immersion a little bit: her performance felt more like an exercise (a jam, if you will) in conjuring moods than a true performance due to a contextual disconnection. There was not really a structure to the tracks as far as I could tell, nor was there progression during the course of the gig which I could discern. Usually, this is not an issue for Dungeon Synth, but the lack of a backdrop, the lack of a striking detail on her costume (apart from the black face cover), and the unchanging nature of her mannerisms meant the audience only had the name to hold onto in a contextual sense. This point of criticism turned out more elaborate and probably sounds harsher than I originally intended, but I do want to point out I enjoyed her performance. I did see dragons and an imaginary world in my mind’s eye, but I think she could have done with a little more decoration or a thematic hint to make the experience truly immersive.
© DragonKeep
Seregost (USA)
I’ve seen Seregost back at the Dark Dungeon Festival in 2025, so I knew I would have to buckle up for a wild ride in the best possible sense. The contrast between the introspective fantasy synth Dragon Keep could not have been bigger: Darkly epic, unapologetically fast (for Dungeon Synth standards), impressively dynamic in structure, and at times more metal than Dungeon Synth courtesy of double bass drums conjured up by a drum computer. Gone were the tranquil Anglo-saxon forests and mighty dragons brooding silently in their castles, here was the triumphant march of the demon slayer! Seregost wore an impressive costume, which included black leather body armor and a skeleton mask combined with an iron crown whilst holding his signature keytar which had been fashioned into a brutal weapon. Last time I saw him, I had the feeling I was witnessing a battle of angels fighting demons with humans fighting on both sides. I now had the impression of a lone slayer (who happened to be a king) going through all sorts of hardships in a world of dark fantasy who ultimately becomes victorious. There were no voice-overs or not as much epic choirs this time around, which could have been a double-edged sword, but I think he handled it masterfully. He was by far the most communicative and expressive of all the acts we would see this evening. This had a great effect on the audience. It was one of those evenings when the stars aligned, allowing the artist to transcend beyond the belief of his own potential. Was it the Belgian beer giving strength to the slayer? I’m not sure, but he was positively inspired.
© Seregost
He had a very different setlist when compared to 2025, so much so that I’m not really sure which tracks he played. It is also important to note that his live performances are way faster and more bombastic when compared to the recordings of his releases, making them more difficult to identify. What I did notice was that his tracks became increasingly melodious as the gig progressed, using his keytar as a true blend of the two instruments. He even went the extra mile by throwing in a couple of solos. People who think Dungeon Synth is a genre of slow repetition should check him out; he is proof that fast, dark Dungeon Synth can work magnificently well. It was awesome, leaving both the audience and himself elated. The only piece of advice I can give him is to work a little bit on the transition between his tracks, because there were brief moments of silence in between some of his tracks. Other than that, I can safely say this was a performance for the ages. Venit, vidit, vicit!
Hole Dweller (USA)
Tim Rowland is a name of renown within our neat little scene. Not only is he the mastermind behind Hole Dweller, but projects such as the Dark Souls-inspired Bellkeeper or the enchanting Spell of Unseeing are also of his making, so it’s safe to say he’s very adept at treading the different paths of Dungeon Synth. However, there is no question he is a veritable champion when it comes to the subgenre Comfy Synth. Most of his songs focus heavily on the pastoral lives Hobbits or the dark adventures some of them have endured during the lifetimes. His “Flies the Coop” series is highly influential in this regard, and I regard the wonderfully atmospheric “Dreams of Hereafter” as his magnum opus (although “Long Road Home” might surpass that status in time). What makes his compositions so extraordinary is that he manages to capture a very organic sound to keep the “hobbit” spirit alive whilst retaining the old-school vibe Dungeon Synth is known for. Tonight, he focuses his musicianship solely on an amplified mandolin, leaving the synth play for the computer he brought along.
Unfortunately, his first EU tour got off to a bad start. His custom-made mandolin got misplaced or lost at Heathrow Airport, putting his performances into jeopardy. I’ve seen posts on social media where people were trying to. As I came to understand it, the lovely folks from Dungeon Synth Antwerp arranged for a replacement for tonight’s performance.
© Hole Dweller
Hole Dweller has the aura of a veritable Hobbit troubadour, but for this performance it would seem he chose the persona of one stricken by darkness and a deep longing. A case of homesickness which gnaws at your soul with a perpetual hint of palpable sadness, which is very reminiscent of how the hobbits in the Lord of the Rings trilogy felt about their situation. He also wore a black metal inspired t-shirt in reference to Sauron, which in combination with the often light-hearted compositions exuded a feeling of duality.
Many Dungeon Synth artists use a keyboard to imitate other instruments, but Hole Dweller does it the other way round (kind of). He uses his mandolin to create an authentic Dungeon Synth sound while retaining that very organic sound he is loved for, even though he did not use a keyboard for this occasion. It is laudable and bold, and worked wonders to create that fuzzy Hobbit vibe, even though the perpetual darkness would never be lifted. I saw a comparison between him and Frodo after he had finished his quest by throwing the One Ring into the Crack of Doom.
As to the setlist, I find it difficult to identify Hole Dweller’s individual tracks by name, but I recognized enough to realize that Tim had made a careful selection of older and newer tracks. My personal highlight was the opening track of Long Road Home, which happened somewhere in the first quarter of the setlist. It describes that feeling of duality and emotion so very strongly. I love it to bits, so I was glad he chose to include it.
Epilogue
All in all, I’ve had a wonderful evening. Aside from the musical enrichment in a unique environment, I’ve had a nice chat with Seregost prior to his show in which we discussed the earlier years of Blind Guardian (courtesy of the backpatch on my battle jacket) and got to meet some really nice folks from the Netherlands (if you are reading this; you know who you are!). Hats off to the folks of Dungeon Synth Antwerp and Only Death is Real for making this special evening a reality; they deserve a lot of credit for tonight’s success.
I'm sorry I didn't include any pictures of my own. I will spend my experience points wisely to make sure I will do so next time, which will be next month. Some of you might know what this entails...
Until next time!
#dungeonsynth #gigreport #holedweller #seregost #lilastarless #livedungeonsynth #livemusic #portcullis #filmhuisklappei #antwerp #music
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