Weekly Update August 19, 2026
Hello! My name is Bob, and both Allen and I are overlapping vacations! No, that doesn’t mean we are the same person! Please stop with all these conspiracies!
What both of us traveling this week does mean is that I’m writing this newsletter well in advance of when it’ll actually be sent. Since I am writing this one so early, for all I know everything below could turn out not to be true by the time you receive it!
What do you mean that’s no different than any other issue of the newsletter?? Sheesh! You lead the newsletter with a completely fictionalized interview one time - ok, I’ve done it two times - and people just assume everything you write is inaccurate.
Well, this week’s lead event is very real and sounds awesome. If you’ve been to the Tap Room at any time over the past few weeks, you’ve seen the posters and flyers for this week’s lead event and already know what I am referring to. Let’s get right to it:
FEATURED EVENT
An Evening of Dungeon Synth in the Beer Garden on Saturday, August 22nd!
For those, like me, who have no idea what Dungeon Synth even is, let’s start there. Dungeon Synth is a musical genre that’s been around since the 1990’s. I’ve been around a lot longer than that, and I’d never heard about it until the flyers for this evening started appearing in the Taproom! So, I had to do a little internet research.
Dungeon Synth has roots in the black metal scene in the 1990’s, and if you listen to any Dungeon Synth you can definitely hear that influence. However, I wouldn’t call Dungeon Synth metal at all. It’s heavy, to be sure, but you won’t hear any growling Cookie Monster vocals or bone-rattling riffs in Dungeon Synth.
Dungeon Synth is synthesizer-based (obviously!) dark, sort-of-but-not-really-ambient music, and it sounds to me like what would have been created if they actually had synthesizers in those old medieval castles in Europe. Especially if that castle was inhabited by wizards and maybe also some disease-infected rats, which I assume is what lived in all dungeons in the middle ages. It may evoke something else for you when you hear it. Here’s a good article I found on Dungeon Synth, if you want to learn more:
https://www.deadendfollies.com/blog/metal-outsiders-journey-dungeon-synth
Whether you’re a big fan of the genre or, like me, curious to hear more, there’s going to be a whole night of Dungeon Synth on Saturday, August 22nd in the Beer Garden!
The headline will be Sombre Arcane. You can find their music on all the usual music streaming services. I’m listening to them right now, and based on my extensive knowledge of Dungeon Synth (I read some stuff on the Internet about 5 minutes before writing this newsletter) they sure sound like an excellent example of the genre. They even had one track where I said to myself “This sounds like riding horses through the forest in medieval times” and then I looked down at my phone and the name of the song was “A Day’s March Through the Ancient Elven Forest”. So I’d say this is a band that can capture a mood extremely well!
Editor’s note: Sombre Arcane is New England’s preeminent dark dungeon synth and fantasy ambient duo.
The opening acts for Sombre Arcane will be Greendeath and Mystic Realm. The whole show kicks off at 6:00pm in the Beer Garden. There is a suggested donation of $8 to the bands, but no one will be turned away for a lack of funds.
Saturday night promises to be the biggest musical event in the Beer Garden since the infamous Nest of Infection/Goblin/Karate Steve concert a few years ago! Sombre Arcane will likely appeal to folks (again, like me) who fondly remember that concert, but their music is so much more approachable that I think it will appeal to many more people. And I would guess there will be quite a few less complaints from the neighbors too!
So come on down to the Beer Garden on Saturday night for an evening of Dungeon Synth starting at 6:00pm.
FEATURED DRAUGHT
An Evening of Dungeon Synth Call for a Dark, Dark Beer!
I mean, you can drink whatever you want at Dungeon Synth night. But for me, I’ll be choosing the darkest beer Amory’s Tomb has on draught now, and that would be the darkest brown ale you will ever see: We Don’t Even Need a Reason.
This fantastic beer has been available for most of the summer, and if you haven’t given it a try yet you really should. The brown ale style can range all the way from watery and boring to full bodied and super-flavorful, and We Don’t Need a Reason is definitely the latter. It has a super roasted malt flavor. I get quite a bit of chocolate when I taste it, even though there’s no chocolate added to it. There’s also a bit of coffee as well, though that’s more subtle, and again is not the result of any coffee actually being added to the beer.
There’s one thing, though. It’s may be called a Brown Ale, and it sure tastes like a Brown Ale, but it definitely doesn’t look like a Brown Ale. Actually, it doesn’t look Brown at all, it looks black! Maybe if you hold it up right in front of a light you’ll see the brown in it, but otherwise it’s going to look black to you.
Editor’s note: This isn’t some Newcastle wannabe, its a rich American brown ale with deep chestnut hues. I digress.
Allen swears it is a Brown Ale, though, which led Justin and I to suggest he create a new t-shirt with the slogan “None More Brown” on the back. Allen has not acted on this suggestion yet for some reason.
The color may not be what you are used to seeing for brown ale, but it sure is perfect for consuming while listening to Dungeon Synth in the Beer Garden! Actually, it’s been a great one to drink all summer, and I would imagine it’ll only start to taste even better when (if??) the weather starts cooling off soon. If you haven’t had this one so far, I’d highly recommend giving We Don’t Even Need a Reason a try!
COMING ATTRACTIONS
Here’s what’s coming soon at Amory’s Tomb
Aug 19 Wheat & Water Crafted Doughz
Aug 22 An Evening of Dungeon Synth with Sombre Arcane, Greendeath and Mystic Realm.
Sept 5 Assabet Craft Beer & Food Truck Fest - Stow, MA
See you at the concert!
