No album artist credited

Style: Symphonic metal, progressive metal, RPG soundtrack (mostly instrumental, some clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Yasunori Mitsuda, Lorien Testard, Darren Korb, Log Horizon
Country: Netherlands
Release date: 29 May 2026

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It takes a certain sort of personality to strike out on one’s own into the chaotic, unforgiving, and not-particularly-profitable lifestyle of a fully independent musician, especially in a relatively uncommercial genre like prog. To be capable of casting aside the shackles of what capitalism deems as “marketable” and what society deems as “cringe” and fully embracing the whims of that muse within, one must be a little… eccentric. And few modern musicians demonstrate this principle quite like Dutch musician, multimedia auteur, and “part-time cartoon lion” Tom de Wit, who has been a somewhat notorious figure amongst the writers here at the Subway ever since his response to a review our founder Sam posted critiquing his band Dreamwalkers Inc for being, among other things, cheesy and overlong. The post, in which de Wit sarcastically thanked us for the “extremely constructive and not-at-all bitter review”, garnered an astonishing 82 comments (some of which even came from musicians we’ve covered in the past¹), largely calling us a bunch of haters². This quickly led to the man becoming something of a meme in our circles, with other artists’ responses to our reviews being jokingly compared to “The TDW Incident”.

Two and a half years later, though, we find ourselves facing down another gargantuan release from our favorite mad Dutchman, one that makes his previous work seem downright modest by comparison. Bane of the Talebearer is not just an utterly colossal album but the soundtrack to a sprawling multimedia passion project, including a fantasy audio drama and (apparently) an eventual video game. Thus, the music on offer is largely instrumental, aiming to blend TDW‘s existing prog metal interests with the sounds and styles of JRPG soundtracks, and while this may seem like a bit of an abrupt stylistic shift, it makes an odd amount of sense as a reaction to critiques like Sam’s. People criticize your heavily accented singing? Make it mostly instrumental! Can’t self-edit worth a damn? Make it a game soundtrack—those go on for hours and people still love them! People say you’re cheesy and blunt? Why not lean into it and make it the OST to a fantasy story where big goofy emotions are the point? That said, I am a different person from Sam. I have my own tastes, and unlike him I have no personal beef or history with de Wit; plus I’ve got a bit of a soft spot for cheesy and overlong albums if they’re done well enough. Thus, I shall do my best to approach Talebearer on its own merits, and find out whether it truly is a tale that deserves to go down in legend or if we have another salty Facebook response in our future.

Of course, there is the question of whether it’s even fair to review Talebearer as an “album”. It’s a soundtrack, after all, something that’s meant to be experienced as background music to accompany other media. For example, the Expedition 33 soundtrack has (justly) been hailed as one of the best game OSTs of the decade, but if I tried to listen through the entire 7-hour thing from front to back as if it were an ordinary album, I’d go insane around the eighth consecutive iteration of the same damn Lumiére theme. The thing with Bane of the Talebearer, though, is that its associated media largely doesn’t exist yet. There’s a season of the audio drama out³, sure, but said season is only around two hours long and incorporates less than a quarter of the album into its background music. The game, meanwhile… doesn’t exist. At all. Sure, TDW has apparently written reams of lore and a full narrative outline, but from what I can gather there’s no sign of any actual studio, not even a scrappy indie team, having signed on to start development. Basically, Bane of the Talebearer is currently about as much of an actual video game as the Zelda fangame I wrote an embarrassingly large amount about when I was thirteen, and thus its “OST” must stand largely on its own, at least for now.

With all that out of the way, though, it may come as a surprise to find that the album itself is actually quite charming! On the whole, the music on offer here is a fairly even mix of the lush, dramatic orchestrations of a standard “fantasy music” soundtrack with a liberal dose of distorted guitars and pounding drums, a combination that often ends up reminiscent of the heavier, rock-inflected battle themes of modern JRPGs like Octopath Traveler or Bravely Default. And while not quite up to the level of those games’ vaunted compositions, TDW & co. execute the formula quite well in multiple tracks, often playing a theme once through with the orchestra before the metal band comes crashing in to give it a brawnier reprise. And indeed, that metal side of things is well-performed, with pounding drums from Ihlo‘s own Clark McMenemy alongside big riffs from Dreamwalkers Inc collaborator Lennert Kemper acting as a powerful engine pushing the orchestra forward while numerous guest shredders (including Galen Stapley of Twilight Force and Azure) deliver intricate solos aplenty. Say what you will about de Wit as a writer and a personality, but the man’s networking capabilities are undeniable.

Enjoyable as those big, dramatic symphonic metal battle themes are, though, there are plenty of other styles and moods sprinkled throughout Bane of the Talebearer, which is welcome given its length. Indeed, though no amount of variety could ever make its utterly brobdingnagian 174 minutes easy to sit through from front to back, there’s a clear effort being made to ensure enough track-to-track variety and flow that a full listen isn’t a complete slog. There’s a considerable array of moods and styles on offer here, from folksy, pleasant town themes (“Serenity Next Door”, “Time Crawls By”) to sparse, melancholy elegies (“Leo’s Memories”, “Not Here Anymore”) to mystical Chrono Trigger-core (“The Floating Forest”, “Imprisoned in Grace Itself”). And though the big “full orchestra” sections seem to be largely synthetic, TDW has brought on real musicians to play the various strings, harps, and choirs of the softer tracks, and it makes the soundscapes feel considerably warmer and more organic.

For all the effort that’s been put into those calmer tracks, however, they don’t end up leaving much of an impact. They’re well-produced and pleasant to listen to in the background (well, aside from the obnoxiously chipper and goofy “Ever Watchful”⁴), but they hew closely enough to standard JRPG tropes that there aren’t really any highlights in there for the mind to latch onto. There are plenty of standout moments sprinkled through Talebearer, to be sure—the gnarly talkbox and intricate bass tapping in “Suffering Is What Drives Me”, the way McMenemy’s increasingly kinetic drums duel with some absolutely bonkers sax work from Laurent Barbier on “City Between Life and Death”, etc.—but these moments are primarily in the heavier tracks, where the collision between prog, symphonic metal, and fantasy tropes can produce something genuinely novel. Unfortunately, there’s a massive stretch in the album’s midsection with nary an electric guitar to be found, and while the tracks there certainly offer their fair share of distinct, evocative moods when taken individually, when listened to in sequence they all just blur into a vaguely fantasy-shaped blob of sound. Maybe they’ll sound better in the context of the game when it releases sometime next decade.

By the time the listener reaches the end credits in closer “Remembrance”, they’ve certainly been through one hell of a journey. The path had its breathtaking highs, and a couple annoying lows, but mostly it was a lengthy trek along scenic yet flat terrain that simply went on too long. What awaits them at the end is a big, triumphant finale, with the main cast of the Talebearer drama each singing a verse about their quest in the album’s only conventional song with vocals. It’s a proudly cheesy affair, with big symphonics, three (!) separate Stapley shredfest solos, and genuinely solid vocals from the cast⁵, but to be honest, when I first heard it as an advance single I was a bit nonplussed by just how extra it was. Now, though, having gone through that massive ordeal alongside those heroes and come out the other side, something about its grandiosity feels… earned. Bane of the Talebearer, for all its excesses and flaws, is an indisputably ambitious work of pure passion with a massive amount of talent behind it, and it’s got an earnest charm that’s hard to deny. Sure, it won’t be topping any AOTY lists, and it sure as hell isn’t something I’ll be listening to straight through anytime soon, but if you’re looking for background music for any gaming sessions, Talebearer just might work to set that fantastical mood. 

P.S. Tom, if you’re reading this, know that any clowning we do on your work is solely from a place of love, and that the world is genuinely a better place with unabashedly singular art like yours in it, cheese and all. Hopefully this review is taken a bit more graciously, and if not, well, at least I can look forward to whatever weird things it inspires you to Photoshop next to your head this time. Cheers!

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Recommended tracks: City Between Life and Death, Suffering Is What Drives Me, On Your Guard, Remembrance
You may also like: Eye of Melian, Günter Werno, Dreamwalkers Inc
Final verdict: 6.5/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram

Label: Layered Reality Productions

TDW is:
– Tom de Wit (rhythm guitar, percussion, keyboards, orchestral arrangements, lead vocals on “Remembrance”)
With guests:
– Clark McMenemy (drums, percussion)
– Tristan Turner (electric and upright basses)
– Lennert Kemper (rhythm, lead, and acoustic guitars)
– Stan Eimers (percussion, backing vocals)
– Selene Broers (harp)
– Laurent Barbier (flute, saxophone)
– Vincent L. (koto)
– Rikke Linssen (violin, viola)
– Remco Woutersen (cello)
– Luigi Guilbot (guitar solo on “The Ghost Writer”)
– Remco van den Berg (guitar solo on “Another Round, For All You Bastards!”)
– Rutger van den Noordenburg (guitar solo on “One-Eyed Brute”)
– James Delbridge (guitar solo on “Heart of Gold, Brain of Iron, Claws of Steel”)
– Georgia Bell (guitar solo on “On Your Guard”)
– Phoenix van der Wynden (guitar solo on “Unexpected Saviour”)
– Bryan Ramage (guitar solo on “Defying Insanity”)
– Galen Stapley (other guitar solos⁶)
– Mika Marbles (lead vocals on “Remembrance”)
– Pipi Gogerl (lead vocals on “Remembrance”)
– Felix Luca King (lead vocals on “Remembrance”)
– Mariana Jonas (backing vocals on “Remembrance”)
– Sara Weeda (choir vocals, “elf vocals”)
– Iris van ‘t Veer (choir vocals)
– Ron Brouwer (choir vocals)
– Iris de Boer (additional vocals)
– Char Bernatchez (additional vocals)
– Eveline Dorrestejn (additional vocals)
– Joy Schouten (additional vocals)
– Björn van Toorn (additional vocals)

1. Including Mirko Pelgrom of Project Xanadu, who complained about their album getting its own 5.5/10 from yours truly. That was one of my very first reviews here, and if anything I was too generous of a reviewer back then. Also former Pain of Salvation bassist Kristoffer Gildenlöw was in that comment section which is wild. ↩︎
2. It was then followed by another post over two months later in which he took a live photo of himself and edited in images of glowing cheese and an AI-generated hammer in reference to the review’s accusations of “cheesiness” and “blunt artistry” respectively. ↩︎
3.  For the curious, yes, I did listen to the entire first season in order to approach this project with the proper context, and I found it… alright. It takes a while to get going, and the voice acting is pretty damn stilted in spots, but once its pieces are in place it’s a fun little D&D-esque romp with some entertaining shenanigans to be had. ↩︎
4. Yes, I am aware of how well this theme fits its associated character in the narrative. That does not change the fact that the little “la-la-la-la” bits make my soul curdle just a little every time I hear them. ↩︎
5. Though this is less surprising when you realize that most of the cast, such as Novena‘s Pipi Gogerl, are musicians first and voice actors second. ↩︎
6. Bizarrely, Galen seems to not show up in any credits list (including on Metal Archives) despite plainly appearing in the “Remembrance” video, being listed on the Talebearer website, and mentioning performing a solo for “one other song” on Instagram. ↩︎