Proto-dungeon synth[edit]

Since the coining of the term, dungeon synth fans have on occasion identified disparate influences on early dungeon synth pioneers and on the rare occasion, have had their suspicions corroborated. Namely, Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze have been cited by Mortiis as early influences,^[36] as well as Skinny Puppy and Enigma.^[37] Varg Vikernes has cited Das Ich, Dead Can Dance and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky among his own influences.^[42] Finnish dungeon synth musician Tuomas M. Mäkelä of Jääportit^[43] has cited Dead Can Dance and Arcana among their influences. Robert Nusslein (founding member of Ritual) of Casket of Dreams has listed Tangerine Dream, Velvet Acid Christ, Dead Can Dance, and Death in June among his influences.^[44]


Several industrial and post-punk artists are often invoked as proto-dungeon synth artists or influences on early dungeon synth pioneers including Nurse with Wound, Death in June, In the Nursery, Cocteau Twins, Throbbing Gristle, and many other prominent industrial artists of the 1970s and 1980s.

Traditional heavy metal[edit]

Though almost universally associated with the orchestral, atmospheric, and ambient intros, interludes, and outros of 1990s black metal albums, proto-dungeon synth can also be found heavily interspersed in many of the same sections of traditional heavy metal and other extreme metal genres of the 1970s and 1980s.


Similar instances of fantastical ambient, orchestral, or neoclassical music can also be heard in Rainbow's "Gates of Babylon"^[45] from Long Live Rock 'n' Roll.^[46]


While less prevalent in the black metal albums of the 1990s, heavy metal has borrowed heavily from high-fantasy imagery and motifs since its fledgling days.^[47] This indelible link between heavy metal and high fantasy would eventually lead to the colloquial moniker "castle metal" to describe acts of the genre that are mired in the motifs typical of high fantasy art and literature.^[48] Mortiis has cited Venom, W.A.S.P., Angel Witch, Kiss, and others among his own heavy metal influences, even citing their high-fantasy leanings on occasion.^[53] Sigurd "Satyr" Wongraven has cited Rainbow, Black Sabbath, and other heavy metal bands among his own influences,^[54] and the members of Summoning have made similar claims regarding their earliest influences.^[55]