Secret Stairways - Enchantment of the Ring (1997) (Dungeon Synth) 

Imagine if you told this guy in '97 that his cassette would be getting heard by a quarter of a million people around the world via the Internet, where many of them were commenting on the kitties

why is no-one mentioning that he thanked "kitties of the world" in the cassette sleeve?

The dungeon synth club is my favorite hidden corner on youtube.

i've got two things i want to say in regards to the discussion happening about this album: 1) this album is strong beyond the 1st song, even if the 1st song is amazing. (lammas tide???) and much more importantly: 2) i don't think this album is "the sound of someone who was suicidal or troubled". of course we all know that the composer did kill himself several years after creating this album, but when i listen to this music, i hear someone with a vision who committed themselves to making that vision a reality. that's a powerful thing to do, and something which gives a life purpose and meaning. the results speak for themselves, this album is comparable to the LOTR soundtrack in magnificence to my ears. whatever tragedy or spanners ended this man's life, i don't hear it in this music. instead, i hear an incredible victory someone made over their own demons. RIP matthew davis, and thank you for making this from beginning to end.

Some label NEEDS to contact his family and release this in a physical format. I feel like so many artists like this fly under the radar, this album is miraculous.

It sounds like he poured his soul into this. I'm just getting in to dungeon synth, and this blew me away...

This is by far my favorite dungeon synth album, and the guy lived 20 minutes from my house.

First song is so sad, so melancholic, so deep... it makes you even more sad when you read that the composer killed himself. R.I.P. and thanks for this beautiful music that deserves to be one of the best Dungeon Synth release ever.

this is the sound of desolate adventure. you set out to accomplish something grand, but it never happened and never will. you have realized your quest is in vain. there is no resolution. all you can do is descend deeper into the dungeon. you are too far deep into the pit. the only way forwards is down.

I have slightly more trust in this world upon the realization that hundreds of thousands of people from many different places and lives can put aside 29 minutes to enjoy an album from a niche genre and experience some respite. R.I.P., I wish Matthew could know just how many people think this music is beautiful and moving.

I own a lot of Matthew's music. Extremely evocative to the imagination, and makes me cry regularly. Old school dungeon synth masterpiece.

Sometimes you hear a song that makes you rethink your life choices.

Burialgoods Conan video brought me here. 👋 Love the music.

Matthew listed on the cover the equipment used to create this timeless classic. It’s a fitting testament to his talent and vision that he created it with such modest synths and effects, and sequenced it all in hardware.

Every age has it's own spirit. This music is the spirit of the 90's.

As long as Secret Stairways' music is available for listeners, what might be the most vulnerable and intimate part of Matthew's very being lives on. Beautiful, isn't it?

Its strange that I find things like this which resonate with me so deeply. Everyone will feel different things when listening to this... What I feel is the enchantment of a dark forest and the precipice of a great legend. What else could be so beautifully shadowed and mystical, other than this mans strange creation? I only hope I can capture some of these wonderful feelings in the fiction I write.

That first track is maybe the most hauntingly beautiful piece of music I've heard in a long time

Getting into dungeon synth just now, and this is the first album to genuinely blow me away. Rest easy Matthew

R.I.P Matthew Davis 8 years after your suicide! i absolutely love this masterpiece!

Such a beautiful, magical album. It was sad to hear what became of Matthew, but that only immortalizes the music further. Beware The Ring!

pretty sure i played with this guy's other band at a planetarium in central mass in like 1999 or 2000... wish i had the foresight to grip the tape, i listen to it a lot now.

This is beautiful. R.I.P. Matthew Davis

What can I say? Just incredible... RIP Matthew Davis

Lammas Tide might be the most melancholic Dungeon Synth Classic I can think of. There's a lot of cheesy sad dungeon synth, but you can really hear the cathartic out put in Lammas Tide for sure.

My favorite dungeon synth album to date. Sounds more like it should be a score to an 80's Legend-like film.

This is just beautiful, magic, melancholic, this make me feel so much things, is a fuel to my imagination

In my opinion, this is the best dungeon synth album ever.

Its been maybe nearly two years since ive listened to this album... really? two years? What is all that I have done in that time. It feels but an instant. I don't kknow who I was when I first listening to this, but if not the man I am today. But how could I hve been when years have passed. I'm staring into the mirror, but I can't tell what the reflection is looking at. My emotions swell.

can't stop listening to this album. RIP Matthew

God bless you wherever you are, Matthew Davis. Hope that Ring never got you, I'll be keeping an eye out myself. And for kitties.

The guitar on 1) What Lies Beyond the Door is out of this world; absolutely DRIPPING in reverb!

This album is the most beautiful type of melancholy

This album is just...out of this world, extraordinary. RIP Matthew, It makes me sad that i won't be able to tell you how highly i think of this album to you personally.

Oh my Gods, this is seriously probably the best dungeon synth album I've ever heard. There's such a 'soul' about this album that I haven't heard in any other dungeon synth releases to date. There's an incredible depth of emotion present within these songs that resonates with something deep within me. R.I.P. Matthew Davis. If you were anything like your music, you were one of a kind.

This is a really imaginative, magical sound! R.I.P. to the wonderful artist who created this.

One of the best ambient artists of all time, along with Depressive Silence and Jaaportit. I hope it gets a new physical release soon.

I've listened to this easily about 20 times in the last couple of days, I can't get over how beautiful it is. It's a damn shame about Matthew Davis, he seemed like a really awesome guy, and exceptionally talented.

A genre I never knew existed or knew that I needed. I love RU-vid.

Thank you Matthew for this beautiful album. It was genuinely moving. Rest in piece my friend.

I CAN ONLY HOPE THAT IN TEN, 20, 30 YEARS, MY MUSIC HAS THIS IMPACT ON SOMEONE.

Pleas everyone try to buy this album, even though the autor is dead now, is like a retribution to him. One of the best Landscape/Dungeon synth albums ever. The immense beauty of this music must be shared so others can be inspired.

I'm always coming back to this incredible album. Collecting primroses might be my favourite DS song ever.

This is amazing, just finding music like this in 2022, it brings back part of the mid 90s feeling in a way that you can only understand if you were there. RIP Matthew

3. Eve of the Snow Queen 07:54 THIS IS AMAZING

coming back to appreciate this masterpiece again. it's even better the second time.

I came here out of curiosity for a form of music new to me, this is excellent stuff! It sounds like music from a little-known fantasy movie, it pulls you in and enchants you every step of the way, interesting that the musician references the mythical isle of Hy Breasail, not many people know of that.

Notice how the drums in the first song are off tempo for the first minutes, even the guitar hits some wrong note, maybe on purpose as an artistic choice. Notice then, how everything magically synchronizes at 2:36 That, to me, is the most beautiful moment.

One of the best dungeon synth albums out there, a true classic

R.I.P Mathew. Your music is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I have ever heard and I got very touch by it. I can’t really put my finger on what feelings I get but it’s beautiful non the least. May your soul slumber in eternal rest.

Thank you Matthew, for the beautiful music you put in this world for all of us to enjoy. May you rest in eternal peace.

I've been listening to a LOT of dungeon synth lately, and I have to say, this is up there with the masters. Truly haunting and powerful.

Can not stop listening to this. Thank you very much for sharing this piece of art. It makes me so sad to hear about Mathew. Hail

This beautiful piece of music is what I desperately needed in this awful year. R.I.P. Matthew, pure talent

How is it possible for something to be so perfect?

must try... this is a Dungeon Synth classic! ⚔

Thank you Matthew Davis! May you wander the secret stairways to your own paradise.

I've been listening to this whilst illustrating for the past week. absolutely absorbing, the strongest Dungeon Synth release I think I've heard.

I believe this was my first experience of the Dungeon Synth genre, and what a masterwork this is.

Not paying attention for a decade and suddenly medieval dark ambient has become dungeon synth and there are tons of new bands. The internet is a miraculous thing for sure!

i've had this on repeat for days. it is lovely & haunting, filled with visuals that calm and entrance the mind. looking into the vinyl, as the artwork and handwritten sleeves are just as stunning. rip Matthew, thank you for creating this experience.

This work is so precious and unique that when I listened to it for the first time, I felt my soul press to leave my body and float into endless but familiar spaces on a 30-minute journey. Every time I listen to this tape again and hear this guy's soul resonate in his music, I am moved.

Wow, just reading the dedication, I can tell this man was troubled. I'm definitely seeing some inflections used by people I know who struggle with really bad depression. It's so unfortunate that sometimes great music like this can only come from such a sorrowful place, and in the process encourage people to live in that darkness. All in all, this is a beautiful album. Take care of yourselves, all of you. Remember that you matter.

I Just found this - Has a really strong essence of Ras Algethi - If anyone has ever heard them - at least so far as the first song - very emotional, very powerful, much more so than most out there - RIP we will all see you there someday.

Don't forget to check out and support this awesome blog ! Great quality uploads of rare and beautiful releases of Dungeon Synth ! dungeon-excavation.blogspot.fr/2016/07/secret-stairways.html

This is literally fucking amazing, Onward to Hy Breasail is a serious masterpiece

I just got recommended this!!! I’m 17 so be reassured that there will be a new generation of dungeon synth lovers

Woaw, i just discovered dungeon synth and I just don't know what to say about this album... it really vibrate into my soul and resonate in harmony. Thanks Matthew for creating this beauty, you were too pure for us

Old masterpiece.

Just like sleeping with a load of Synths and Mellotrons,Pure heaven

Frpom the start it reminds me of MUM...The ruler of secrets and mystery...I miss her soo much...:(

my feelings to the author I would just like to thank you for this beautiful album that inspires me so much

Lammas Tide is just... glorious... What a treasure!

"Collecting Primroses" is the first song from this genre to make me cry, also "Onward To Hy Breasail" reminds me a little bit to the song "The First Snow" by Drudkh

I love the guitar on the first track.

So many 'ive just now discovered dungeon synth' comments. And fittingly so. It's been waiting for you, buried deep.

I just discovered this whilst at work today. It’s utterly amazing. It’s so sad that the artist passed on. But this wonderful work lives on.

Thank you, Sam Sutherland, for linking us to this when we needed to know where to find it.

I've had Lammas Tide in my ambient rotation for months. Never knew where it came from. Dungeon Synth is really cool because it's like finding forgotten relics.

beautiful music, RIP to a wonderful composer

I always come back to listen this album. Gives me chills all the time. Best DS i ever hear, Lammas Tide is definitley my fav track. Thank you Mathew, you will never be forgotten

goodbye matthew. if only you knew how much you had helped. gone far too soon, but remembered by so, so many.

This is the best. What a melancholic ending had this project, huh? It deserves so much more recognition.

taht's so sad.... thx for uploading this, since it has been put online Secret Stairways got the recognition he deserves, rip

One of the best DS album.

Oh my, Onward to Hy Breasail

MASTERPIECE!! Sad, melancholic, divine...We will always remember you!!! Sublime work!!!!!

so deeply moved. rip, beware the ring

najpiękniejszy album jaki słyszałem w życiu

THANK YOU FOR THE CHANNEL

Always find myself coming back. Rest in peace king.

Secret Stairways came closest to what Tangerine Dream did with their score for Legend: utterly immersive, melancholic music. The compositional detail on this is incredible.

A very hypnotic work with some amazing arrangements....One for evoke..........

Incredible Work, RIP.

RIP Matthew Davis. Great album from start to finish.

Such an beautiful piece, wish we could hear more of it. A masterpiece

hermoso disco, recién entrando a este mundo, o calabozo jaja, del dungeon synth. Una pena lo del compositor, que tanto talento se pierda siempre es una tragedia, que descanse en paz..

great channel. thanks for the window into a unique genre

amazing album, could listen to it over and over again

i love that he listed the different instruments he used in the sleeve