Friendship in Trying Times
Both myself and Magic Hilt are from the same area. Oddly we have never crossed paths outside of vaguely talking about riding up together to the Mortiis show in Baltimore. I would like to think of the DC area being apart of some DS scene with some local flavor but we don’t have many castles or keeps around here. We do have a volatile political landscape and the encroachment of fascism into our everyday lives but I don’t know how that translates to cloaks and swords.
I have been in contact with Realm and Ritual for some time and when asked to do a premiere I instantly trusted them for they have always been harbingers of quality. I have been aware of the artist known as Gray Friar and projects such as Magic Hilt and Fourthpeak but to be honest I think I wrote about them without knowing they were done by the same person. Saga of the Glinting Steel was the first time I sat down fully knowing the artist, past works, label presenting the new record, and the short physical distance between us. Saga of the Glinting Steel, for me was an introduction into this world and seeing how it is the first full length following a series of demos it is perhaps the best material to start on this romantic jounrney.
Dungeon synth’s relationship with history is interesting if not near comedic. In the 1990’s dark ambient and black metal musicians made instrumental landscapes devoted to medieval history or some fantasy interpretation of that history. The “dark dungeon music” of 1990s became a point referenced decades later by archivists and fans discovering the genre who eventually gave it the name “dungeon synth” we use today. Over time this relationship with the 1990’s expanded with some paying reverence to it while others wandering away from its original scope. The contemporary community has a complex relationship with the past with some swearing fealty to it while others abandoning it for new horizons. This is why I find artists like Magic Hilt interesting as there is devotion to medieval history, or some fantasy interpretation of that history, yet Saga of the Glinting Steel has few signposts associated with dark dungeon music. With an academic background (and master’s thesis) in medieval history, Saga of the Glinting Steel chooses new lenses in which to view history and elevates themes like friendship, exploration, and the romanticism of adventure.
Saga of the Glinting Steel is a realization to a project which used sequential demos as a proving ground. The first six demos, which were given Roman numerals, possessed a neutrally aligned sound which basked in its low fidelity. Over time and through the series the sound warming taking on the shape we hear today. It would be reductive to call this new sound comfy or cozy as there exists a wealth of emotions which are sewn into its sonic fabric. Songs like “Weathering the Snowflake Mountain” could mean many things including the wonder of conquering an natural obstacle or succumbing to its wilds. ” A Friend Felled” could be a song of great tragedy or silent tribute or somewhere in between. What Magic Hilt doesn’t do is tell you what to feel as Saga of the Glinting Steel are a series of prompts for one to discover their own unique adventure and the emotions which come from it.
Part of Saga of the Glinting Steel success lies in the hands of others. This success through community and unity seems to be the foundation of the project. Whether or not it is the packaging and promotion by Realm and Ritual, the pen and ink art of Avery Bradshaw, or the initial support seen from preview tracks on social media, Saga of the Glinting Steel celebrates others rather than the individual. This feels like the inverse, both musically and visually, of what one would expect from dungeon synth. I feel the themes of adventure resonate with everyone as we all have had some relationship with the unknown and traveling into it with a modicum of preparation. Tolkien, R.A.Salvatore, and a host of others write stories which venerate sojourning characters often times with loyal friends. It feels good knowing others are by your side especially in the face of great uncertainty. It is a light in a world of darkness which I find most fascinating as Saga of the Glinting Steel feels like a beacon for those in trying times.
Interview with Magic Hilt
KAP: How did Magic Hilt (and maybe your other projects ) start and what was before that ?
Gray Friar: I started Magic Hilt as a way of writing music without the pressure of continuing an already-established project. By that point, I had been juggling several projects, each of which had (and continue to have) their own sounds and styles, but I thought it’d be neat to just release music anonymously and impulsively. I eventually attached my name to the project with the release of the sixth demo.
I began making synth music during the pandemic, when I bought my first keyboard. I had been playing in a band that was hovering somewhere between doom and proto- doom (depending on the time and lineup), but the pandemic precluded us from practicing and playing shows, which caused us to eventually part ways (amicably). By April 2021 I had pretty much stopped playing guitar and had begun working on blending synth with my doom roots, which I had been calling “dungeon doom.” These early songs would become the first Forgotten Relic album.
Coupled with learning how to design covers and template j-cards, my fascination with learning a new instrument and being able to write music without disturbing my partner and our roommate while we were staying isolated led to my obsession with this genre. I still love listening to synth and ambient music but have become a bit more selective in which projects I listen to, sticking with the work of my friends and tapes released by labels I trust, such as Realm and Ritual and Fiadh.
Between all of your projects, Forgotten Relic, Fourthpeak, Hidden Passage and Gray Friar, where does Magic Hilt fit in?
Magic Hilt explores themes of swordsmanship, warfare, friendship, exploration, and conquering those who are evil and, while it started as a grittier-sounding project, has embraced more of a fantasy-driven sound. I think of it as a complement to what I do with Fourthpeak, which is just full-blown Forgotten Realms worship. Lately I’ve been leaning more into fantasy themes and sounds, whatever “fantasy sounds” even means.
Saga of the Glinting Steel is the debut for this project yet this is preceded by six demos titled I-VI and released throughout 2022 and 2023. Why a full length now compared to a series of shorter releases?
I began working on what would become “Saga of the Glinting Steel” in January 2024. Initially I had planned for it just to be another 15-minute released entitled “VII” but wanted to challenge myself and make a more robust that explored a more mature sound. When it became clear to me that I had a bigger corpus of material (~55 minutes) that I liked—and additional songs and riffs that I trashed—it solidified my decision to break from the precedent I had set. SG (of Realm and Ritual) and I sat down at TXDS 2024 and chatted about the prospect of releasing “Saga” on vinyl. My earliest drafts for a cover featured some public domain art, but I eventually began talking with my friend Avery (of Disquieting) about commissioning him for artwork. Avery drew such a neat piece for this release, and I’m so happy to have him on board with such a critical part of the artistic direction of the album. Jeff Black (of Encloaked) lent me his ear and expertise, mastering the album for its vinyl release. I am stoked to have worked with three amazing people in the scene on this album.
Outside of a few outliers like Windkey and Vicious Mockery, Realm and Ritual seems to be the main place you release your music if not self release. What is it about them that keeps you connected?
SG is just an incredible person, whom I am fortunate to work with and whom I am beyond fortunate to now call my friend. He took a chance releasing Magic Hilt’s first two demos via Realm and Ritual’s Demo Series, and he’s the only person now I would trust to release anything for the project. We established our initial working relationship when he did a special edition of Gray Friar’s “Etymologies.” Alongside Windkey, Vicious Mockery (RIP), and Fiadh, he’s among the few labels running right now who actively avoids platforming fascist artists in the scene. Essentially, I began working with him because I valued his values, and I have stayed working with him because I value him as my friend.
Aside from regularly working with SG, I love releasing tapes myself and recently started a small label, if you can call it that, called Antiquity Tapes (I’ll be more comfortable calling it a label once I’ve released music from other artists). Before this venture, I started making home-dubbed releases in early 2022 in order to get more acquainted with the process and have learned a ton over the past few years of doing it. I put a lot of time into ensuring that the music I release is accompanied by a quality physical presentation.
“Dedicated to the swordwielders of olde”; is a tag on your bandcamp. Would you say this project is dedicated to the old ways of DS?
“Dedicated to the swordwielders of olde” has nothing to do with the “old ways” stuff. In fact, I find the “dedicated to the old ways” and “mistakes left in for authenticity” incredibly cliché. The “swordwielders of olde” are the folks whom I read about while I was studying medieval history in undergraduate and graduate school—people like Roland (d. 778), Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar “El Cid” (d. 1099), and Joan of Arc (d. 1431). I myself don’t derive any direct inspiration from 90s artists and instead embrace as inspiration the community of people I surround myself with, who are thoughtful, kind, and welcoming people who also happen to make music that I like.
Book Recommendations
While I love listening to music and deriving inspiration from it for my own music, doing so hasn’t necessarily been the case for Magic Hilt. Instead, my inspiration from this project comes mostly from books that have impacted and/or challenged my growth as a reader.” I feel that any list of inspirations provides the foundations for a project and through musical or literary interest,s one can see a project sculpted by the hands of these inspirations. The hands in this case are an array of fantasy and historical manuals.
The Song of Roland – possibly a poet named Turoldus (11th century)
The Song of the Cid – authorship unknown (12th century)The first time I read The Song of Roland and The Song of the Cid, I was in an undergraduate comparative history class looking at various interpretations of war, conquest, and honor. My love of these books stems partially from their interesting subject matter and partially from being challenged in a class by a professor who inspired me to apply to graduate school. I think about these two stories regularly, The Song of the Cid especially, even though I’m a bit over a decade out from my undergraduate studies. They informed my work on studying memory and conquest for my master’s thesis, and medieval history in general—and saints’ cults specifically—are central to the themes and inspiration for many of my projects (Forgotten Relic and Gray Friar are grad-school-inspired through-and-through).
Homeland, Exile, and Sojourn – R.A. Salvatore (1990-1991)
I picked up my first Salvatore books by mere chance around 2002. I was at a small bookstore in one of the western suburbs of Saint Louis and convinced my mom to buy me The Crystal Shard, Streams of Silver, and The Halfling’s Gem because the covers looked cool. I had known about the Forgotten Realms through the Baldur’s Gate games, but these were my first books based in Faerûn. A couple years later I received The Dark Elf trilogy books as a gift, and they’re still displayed prominently on my bookshelf. Homeland, Exile, and Sojourn were among the very few fantasy novels I brought with me on my move from Missouri to DC, and I read them every year or two because of how much I love the atmosphere that Salvatore managed to put on paper. There’s just something sweet about an exiled drow surviving in the Underdark and combatting the dark tendencies of followers of Lloth. No doubt, the swords he acquired in The Icewind Dale trilogy, Icingdeath and Twinkle, serve as inspiration for Magic Hilt.
The Shadow of the Torturer – Gene Wolfe (1980)
Wolfe is a challenging writer to read. I think back on my first time opening The Shadow of the Torturer and closing it for a second on the first line because I needed to look up the word “presentiment.” I don’t think I’m alone in being challenged by Wolfe’s writing. The narrator Severian’s sword, Terminus Est, his use of it in a duel, and his subsequent use of it for a climactic execution is something I dwelled on while writing Magic Hilt’s “VI.” I’ve since put down The Book of the New Sun to read other things, but I’ll return to it one day when I have the stamina. Until then, it’ll hang out in the back of my mind.