Get ya self some tapes. (w/ bonus lost codices table!)

December 11, 2023

I was already a hipster collecting vinyl. I knew it was kind of silly, but hey, I was supporting my favorite artists at shows and often getting a rare, collectible, sometimes signed copy of something I loved. And they really do sound better (when mixed for high dynamic range).

Then I went to a show and bought a tape because it was $8 and I didn't like the band enough to blow $25 on a vinyl instead. Now THAT'S silly. They don't even sound good. Of course, neither does a lot of black metal. So that's what I get, primarily, is the black metal that sounds good, but not because of its sound quality or mixing. Dungeon Synth is also a great genre having its revival on tape, and a lot of those come with cool OSR content or at least vibes.

Disclaimer: Many of these may not be available as tapes can be pretty limited in quantity. If not, just listen to the streaming version then imagine it sounding slightly shittier.

Clipping. - Splendor & Misery Ambient noise instrumentals and dense sci-fi rhymes about a deep-space slave ship revolt and the doomed drift through the void.

Candle Fantasy Audio Magazine Compilations of dungeon synth that come with OSR zines, currently 3 volumes.

Axeslasher- Anthology of Terror vol. 1 Excellent death/thrash. Lots of momentum- you'll want to flip this over and over again.

Faerie Ring- Weary Traveler Dope fuzzed out stoner metal. I would describe the riffs as "intuitive"- you feel the vibe so strongly you can just tell what's coming next, and it's awesome.

The Body- O God Who Avenges... Noise/Sludge with a nice dose of energetic electronic beats. Staticy and harsh but also hooky and groovy.

Krallice- Mass Cathexis Technical black/death? Psychedelic. Hellish. Lo-fi but also precise and layered. A total mixed bag from one track to the next, but in a cool way.

Precious Blood- Absence of the Master 13 minutes of atmospheric black metal that holds immaculate vibes.

church fire- pussy blood At first I couldn't tell which was the band name and which was the album name. Works either way. Dark wave/witch house/kind of noisy but with some catchiness.

Leviathan- Förmörkelse No, not that Leviathan, though that's who I thought it was when I bought the tape. Good black metal.

Spirit Possession- s/t A Portland hipster black/thrash metal project who really know how to produce their stuff. The vocals are excellent and it's looking like it might inspire a new sound.

leafbutterfly- Blackfire in the Cold of Neon Cave A sentient flame stumbles into a Svirfneblin birthday party. What?

AJJ- Good Luck Everybody Peak-irony folk punk. AJJ can be quite beautiful, or fuzzy, or lo-fi, or whatever. Here it's perfect for a cassette and hilarious and catchy. Vote for MegaGuillotine.

Check out more dope tape lists here and here. Gameable content included!

Bonus Gameable Content: d8 Lost Codices

More like lost texts, but that doesn't sound as cool.

d8	Lost Codex
1	Splendor & Misery: A faintly glowing crystal which will recount the last records of a lost astral traveler.
2	Anthology of Terror: Childish horror stories, but will get a laugh or a shiver depending on the audience. +2 to storytelling in taverns, but only once per town as the stories are retold quickly among the populace.
3	Faerie Ring- Weary Traveler: Not a book, in the human sense, but a baggie of hallucinogenic mushroom caps, which is totally a valid medium for publishing fae poetry. Induces hours of rapt auditory tripping to Bombadil- acious verse. Makes you hungry, but anything edible counts as a ration and won’t poison or harm you.
4	O God Who Avenges…: A verse in a phylactery. If worn, it curses the wearer to think spiraling thoughts of victimhood, impotent rage and insatiable, violent loathing to someone who wronged them recently, no matter how minute. When removed, Save versus Magic or have the verse (Psalms 94:1-7) scarred into your skin beneath the strap. Successfully enacting disproportionally violent revenge on the target of frustration removes the marks.
5	Mass Cathexis: A unique scroll (Magic-User level 1) which infuses items with a persistent emotion channeled into it by the caster. For instance, heartbreak, self-loathing, jealousy, joy, arousal, etc. It is distinctly tinged with the caster’s subjective emotional timbre, though not their memories, so those who touch or possess the item will feel the emotion in the way the caster would, which could be quite different from their own and yield bizarre responses. Can affect 1 item per level of the caster. If inscribed in a spellbook, it curses it to make the owner suspicious to a Gollum-like degree of anyone so much as knowing about it, but can then be used/cast normally.
6	Absence of the Master: A lament at the defeat of an infernal general and the scattering of his legions. Provides a breadcrumb trail through the second layer of hell to the place where Carnaethon, disgraced archduke of rot and worms hides, licking his wounds.
7	Church Fire/Pussy Blood: A torn diary page. One side is a secret confession to a conflagratory act, the other is a disturbing combination of fetish and family recipe. It implicates someone the PCs have met recently and would definitely make good blackmail material.
8	Formorkelse of the Leviathan: A prediction of the next lunar eclipse event, which will release the shadow worm who hides behind the moon, devouring all light forever. Either tomorrow or in 2d1000 years, but probably true.