Album Review: Bulgae (불개) by Edictum & Pashang 爬上
Album Review: Bulgae (불개) by Edictum & Pashang 爬上
Written By: Dan Eachus
Release Date: August 1st, 2025
Genre: Synthwave / Experimental
Introduction
Bulgae (불개) is a bold synthwave / electronic collaboration between Austrian project Edictum and South Korean artist Pashang 爬上, weaving together modern electronic production with Korean traditional instrumentation and mythic narrative. The album retells the ancient Korean legend of the “Dogs of Fire” (Bulgae), creatures sent to retrieve light for a shadowy kingdom, and mixes in audio-drama scenes in both English and Korean to deepen its narrative texture.
Context & Concept
This isn’t your standard retrowave or outrun record: Bulgae interweaves gayageum, janggu, aejang, hun, and other “gugak” (traditional Korean) sounds into the fabric of electronic layers, giving it a cultural specificity while keeping a cinematic, expansive electronic sensibility.
Lyrically and via narration, the album moves through scenes (e.g. “Once Upon a Time,” “The King’s Order,” “In Pursuit of the Light,” “Catching the Sun,” etc.), presenting a story arc. These narrative interludes are not decorative: they anchor each musical track, giving purpose to melodic motifs and transitions.
Artists: Edictum & Pashang
Edictum
Edictum is based in Klosterneuburg, Austria, and describes itself as a kind of nocturnal synth alchemy: “after escaping chemistry lab, the urge to synthesize on is burning the midnight oil. Test tubes are replaced with knobs and keys…” The project has a discography of 30+ releases across synthwave, electronic, retrowave, and collaborative works. Edictum often leans toward cinematic, polished production, and genres that flirt with darkwave, outrun, and ambient-electronic hybrids.
Pashang 爬上
Pashang is from South Korea; the name means “to climb up.” In his own words, Pashang’s project is “an attempt to use music to rise above my own brain chemistry and share that struggle with the world as I climb.” Pashang cites influences across synthwave, post-rock, metalcore, and more, and is particularly invested in fusing Korean traditional aesthetic with modern electronic sound.
Their collaboration shows strong synergy: Edictum brings precision, cinematic scope, mixing / mastering consistency; Pashang brings cultural texture, narrative imagination, and melodic daring. Together they push Bulgae beyond many synthwave releases, toward something hybrid, ambitious, and emotionally resonant.
Track Flow & Musical Highlights
The album is structured into scenes and musical tracks that alternate narration, atmosphere, and full compositions. The Bandcamp listing reveals track names such as “Once Upon a Time,” “엿날 엿적에,” “The King’s Order,” “In Pursuit of the Light,” “Show Me the Way,” “Catching the Sun (feat. Sol-i So & Isidor), “Cold Mountain,” “Carve a Crescent,”* and more.
Here are some standout sequences and musical observations:
- “Once Upon a Time / 옛날 옛적에”
The opening narration sets the mythic stage: the Land of Darkness, a king weary of shadow, and the plea of creatures to find light. These spoken-word scenes are poetic, not overbearing—they feel like prologue in a filmic score. - “The King’s Order / 여행의 시작” → “In Pursuit of the Light”
These tracks transition from story to momentum: Edictum & Pashang develop motifs that evoke quest, urgency, and hope. Synth arches climb, percussion pulses, and traditional instruments punctuate the modern lure—jangles, plucked strings, airy pads. “In Pursuit of the Light” in particular frames the initial impetus: the Bulgae must depart the shadow realm to retrieve the sun and moon. - “Show Me the Way / The Chase / Catching the Sun (feat. Sol-i So & Isidor)”
Here the album’s conflict emerges. The single “Catching the Sun” is a focal point: cinematic leads, vocal lines by Sol-i So, textural tension, and narrative stakes. The track imagines the Bulgae confronting a dragon, absorbing its fire, but being repelled by its intensity. The music matches that struggle: dynamic contrast, filtered distortion, rising synth arcs, percussive drive. - “Cold Mountain / Carve a Crescent / The Summit Calls / Kingdom of Light”
In the latter scenes, the epic reaches its emotional convergence. The Bulgae approach extremes: mountainous cold, lunar confrontation, hints at achieving light. Motifs reappear—glow, arcs, restraint vs. explosion—but now recontextualized: what sounded hopeful earlier now sounds earned, fragile, haunted by sacrifice. The climactic “Kingdom of Light” suggests arrival nonetheless; even if the darkness doesn’t vanish, there is transformation.
Overall, the sequencing is smart: narration frames, tracks rise and fall, motifs reappear in variant forms. The pacing resists fatigue; tension is sustained but given space to resonate.
Production, Texture & Instrumentation
One of Bulgae’s strengths is how meticulously it handles texture, mixing, and balance. In many synthwave records, heavy bass or lead synths can swamp quieter elements; Bulgae often allows its traditional instrumentation to surface, giving the record breathing room. The performers of the Korean instruments (이동민, 박지수, 이서연) are credited, and their parts are not strictly background—they interact.
The lead synths and chords are polished but expressive: not cold or clinical, but emotionally calibrated. Use of saturation, delay, reverb, and layering gives depth. The percussive programming includes both electronic drum patterns and textures that nod toward traditional rhythmic idioms—blending clarity with slight grit. The mix is spatial enough to give each instrument room; the dynamic movement helps individual tracks breathe.
Narration tracks are smoothly interleaved—not jarring transitions. The sonic crossfades and ambient beds behind spoken lines make the story integral, not an add-on. The mastering and vinyl preparation were clearly attentive: the vinyl edition is mastered for the vinyl medium per the listing.
In short: Bulgae doesn’t feel overproduced. It’s cinematic without being bloated; ambitious without being self-indulgent.
Vinyl Editions & Packaging
A particularly compelling part of Bulgae is its vinyl presentation. Edictum & Pashang are offering a Limited Glow-in-the-Dark Gatefold Deluxe 12″ vinyl edition, pressed on white glow-in-the-dark vinyl, with a gatefold deluxe cover and gloss-finished artwork by Minz Cho. This edition is strictly limited to 300 copies.
Beyond the stand-alone vinyl, there are bundled vinyl packages:
- Vinyl Bundle: Bulgae + A Cosmic Scale
The Bulgae G-I-T-D edition plus A Cosmic Scale on royal blue-white splattered vinyl. - 3× Vinyl Bundle
Bulgae + A Cosmic Scale + Bear Me, Darling. I Just Want to Dance (translucent blue vinyl). - 4× Vinyl Bundle
Bulgae + A Cosmic Scale + Bear Me + Athena (180 g black vinyl)
These bundle options show both ambition and care: collectors get matched aesthetics and multiple works in a single package. The glow-in-the-dark edition is especially eye-catching—vinyl fans love that kind of visual flair—and it fits Bulgae’s mythic, luminous-dog motif (dogs of fire, light in darkness). The limited run makes it collectible.
Also, the vinyl’s gatefold design and gloss-finish artwork make the physical packaging part of the experience, not just a shell. The vinyl is sealed, includes the digital download, and is shipped with tracking.
Emotional Impact & Themes
Bulgae is rich in thematic resonance. It’s about darkness and light, quest and struggle, sacrifice and transformation. The myth of the Bulgae (Dogs of Fire) chasing the sun and moon becomes allegory: for struggle, for identity, for shining despite constraints.
One of its strengths is how it refuses simple optimism: light is not wholesale conquest. The narrative suggests cycles—light vanishes, is pursued, is regained, is challenged again. That ambiguity deepens the emotional texture and aligns with the musical tone (sometimes radiant, sometimes shadowed).
The incorporation of Korean mythology and instrumentation gives the album weight beyond genre tropes. It’s not just “’80s aesthetic + neon”—it is synthesis: tradition + futurism. It invites listeners not just into nostalgia but into a cross-cultural mythic space.
When the synth melodies echo the plucked strings of gayageum; when narration gives voice to mythic turns; when bundles of vinyl glow in the dark—those details reinforce the idea that this is more than music, it’s world-building.
Listening Advice
- Listen in order, ideally with the narration and ambient interludes intact
- On a good stereo or headphones—details like traditional instruments and fades matter
- As a vinyl owner, use the glow aspect under low light—it fits the mythology
- For fans of synthwave, darkwave, electronic storytelling—this is a rewarding deep listen
Conclusion
In Bulgae (불개), Edictum & Pashang have crafted an album that stands out in the crowded synthwave landscape. It’s ambitious without being indulgent; cinematic without losing heart; mythic without being alienating. The glow-in-the-dark vinyl edition and bundle options add real substance to the collector experience, not just gimmick. And the collaboration between an Austrian synth visionary and a Korean cultural storyteller gives Bulgae a hybrid vitality: futuristic yet rooted, narrative yet musical, luminous yet haunted.
If you’re seeking a synthwave album that moves beyond neon nostalgia into story, texture, and atmosphere, Bulgae is a luminous dog you’ll want to follow—into darkness, into myth, into light.
You can listen to the entire album and purchase the vinyl here on Bandcamp:
https://edictum.bandcamp.com/album/edictum-pashang-bulgae
