‘The Wanderer’ by Moonglow
‘The Wanderer’ by Moonglow (artwork by Shannon Wild Smith)
Do you want an album that feels like Bloodborne soaked in 80s darkwave goodness? The Wanderer is that record.
Moonglow’s recent release announces its ambitions early in the opening track. There are howling winds that meet a gothic, organ-esque synth that strums and marches through an atmosphere of chilling frost and snow. What sets it apart immediately from other dungeon synth releases is the darkwave undercurrent, with dramatic, 80s-inspired beats pulsing beneath it all and giving the track a propulsive theatricality. That fusion of dungeon synth's medievalism with darkwave's gothic vibes runs throughout the album, giving The Wanderer its distinctive spine.
"Eververdance" follows with harp- and lute-like plucks layered over a groovy drum cadence, crafting the sense of a majestic landscape, the kind that makes you feel like you've just crested a hill into Rivendell or landed on the shores of Gielinor. "Moonblade" shifts into more urgent and sinister sounds. "Nosferatu Zodd" is genuinely daunting. It brings low gothic choirs and menacing drums to introduce some form of villainy with real conviction before choral-infused synth sweeps the whole thing skyward. Then, "Skyward Rumination" pivots toward contemplation, with church bells ringing above choir-esque synth that gives way to tubular melodies, invoking the sensation of gazing into a vast sky through monastery walkways.
Forje Favorite:
The album's emotional core arrives in its two longest pieces. "Shores of Dust and Ash" opens with creeping, dissonant piano and synth that build a remorseful yet strangely driven atmosphere, as if marching across a desolate beach, stunned by the ocean's vastness, and choosing to see it as an expanse rather than a void. It erupts into a medieval orchestral landscape that wrestles despair with hope and determination. Closer "The Crystalline Age" gathers the album's accumulated motifs, windchimes, hurdy-gurdy-inspired synth, sweeping orchestration, and choral swell, into a single panoramic image, as if watching the sun rise across a land still draped in mystery. It’s a fitting seal on an album that earns its sense of arrival.
The synth layering throughout is genuinely impressive, orchestral in scope and intricate in execution. It’s fluid enough that you can forget most of these songs exceed the five-minute mark. It never lags.
If your dungeon synth diet skews exclusively lo-fi and raw, The Wanderer may feel too polished. But for listeners drawn to world-building as a form of meaning-making, to music that constructs somewhere to go rather than just something to hear, this is a rich and rewarding record. Moonglow has helped dungeon synth in 2026 start on a strong note.
You can follow Moonglow on Bandcamp, Spotify, and Instagram.
