DRAVEN - Silver Casket
Foreword by C Z A R I N A. Review by KIZUNAUT.
Horror Synth has been growing more and more in popularity over the last couple of years as a subgenre of dark synth. Drawing inspiration from horror cinema, Horror Synth is informed by sounds and aesthetic of 80s slasher films and edgier, provocative visuals. Several artists in this genre have mentioned that part of their creative process is diving deep into horror cinema and reimagining a brand new score for films as they go about their composition. The visual component translating into a vast depth of dark, haunting soundscapes is what makes this genre so particularly appealing and fascinating. Despite of what the name and concept entail, a lot of Horror Synth is hyper dynamic with layers and layers of lush atmospheric sounds juxtaposed with gritty saw basses, rapid-firing dark arps and up-tempo dance beats. Notable names in the genre include Dance with The Dead, Perturbator, Carpenter Brut, GosT, and of course, the godfather of horror himself - John Carpenter. Greece-based synth artist, Draven is one of the latest to emerge in this genre.
DRAVEN is a video game and horror film composer and dark synth artist who loves to combine his love for horror cinema and metal. Just in time for Halloween, Draven's newest single Silver Casket offers horror-themed darksynth with a rather varied structure. It opens with deep bass and a piano line that sits halfway between sounding melancholic and creepy. Soon enough track quickly opens into a more traditional darksynth section, dominated by a rapid-fire gnarly bassline and punchy beats. The dark piano line hovers over the track, untill a brief pause comes in. The piano vanishes, leading to a brief section with just the darksynth bass and drums. Soon enough an additional sinister sounding synth pattern comes in, leading to an interlude featuring drums and a darkly mysterious piano line along with some ambient synths.
Following the interlude there is a section where the synth bass plays longer notes in a dark, ascending pattern, with a sinister, mysterious piano line dancing over it. The piano line gets doubled by lead synths and the bass plays a faster pattern, picking up the pace before going into another interlude featuring a vibrating, choir-like synth and sampled strings. The gnarly synthline from the start repeats, as does the creepy lead synths, leading to a new section featuring the sampled string prominently. The track climaxes in a section featuring a mix of choir-like synths and a wonderfully dark synth lead pattern, finishing off with a deep orchestral hit and a quick burst of deep bass.
Overall, the track is a very solid example of the horror synth style and an example in Draven's skill at composing high-quality dark melodies more than well-fit for a horror movie.
