Take a Nostalgia Trip back to Cyrodiil with Culak

Culak is a proficient multiinstrumentalist, with a style that actually does encompass many genres - power metal, black metal, thrash, progressive, and even dark ambient. The prolific artist returns with another album in his lengthy career, this time with a dungeon synth epic spanning the world of The Elder Scrolls, and more specifically, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. As a fan of the series, I was no doubt curious to review this artist’s aural interpretation of the fantastic universe delivered to us in the games, and was pleasantly surprised with the result.

XV does not weave a chronological tale of the story of Oblivion, rather taking fundamental aspects of the game and story, such as different settings, and giving us music which they inspired. The album begins with the track Jaws of Oblivion, and the synths used immediately cause my mind to wander to one of my favorite games of all time, Heretic. Following the starter track, we are lulled by a calming tune and melody in Night at the Oak and Crosier. This is a chiptune dungeon synth romp which propels you through the environment, while the underlying layers of strings and synths keep you well-grounded in the dungeon synth atmosphere. The tracks consist of melodies and sounds that merge between aggressive and mysterious, to lighter-hearted fare of gentle and passive tones.

Artwork in dungeon synth is just as integral (and sometimes moreso) as the music, and the artwork provided is a handsome homage to the game, showing the tower of Cyrodiil and an Oblivion Gate opposite.

In all, XV is a fun journey through Cyrodiil, with chiptune stylings that also make me nostalgic for the games that came before, those glorious days of NES and nothing better to do than grind levels in an rpg for days on end. XV will be released on Bandcamp on June 16, 2022 on the Culak Bandcamp page.