AKARSH SHEKHAR
A Lovecraftian Love Affair :
WHY DOES METAL LOVE HP LOVECRAFT ?
Heavy Metal is one of the last genres of music that most outsiders would consider to be literary . In fact , for most of them , it couldn ’ t be far from it . For the uninitiated , Heavy Metal ’ s lyrical themes just deal with violence , bloodshed and copious amounts of drug usage . While those subjects do form a minor chunk of metal music , a lot of people would be surprised by how much of metal is influenced by works of literature . From Iron Maiden ’ s interpretation of Samuel Taylor Coleridge ’ s Rime Of The Ancient Mariner to the entire Lord of The Rings based catalogue of Summoning , metal is filled with songs based on popular literary works . Given the aggressive and abrasive nature of the music in general , horror literature goes even better with it . And no horror author has inspired metal bands more than the American sci-fi / horror pioneer H . P . Lovecraft .
In the Lovecraftian universe , humanity resides on the ruins of a horrific prehistoric age . One dominated by monstrous amphibious creatures and giant gods . These creatures possess magical powers and a level of intellect which go far beyond human comprehension . This strange pantheon of gods features the squid headed Ctulhu , the crawling chaos Nyarlathotep , the pustule god Yog Sothoth , the aquatic god Dagon and a number of other tentacled creatures . These creatures combined science with magic and their only goal was to cleanse earth of its carbon based life and become its unopposed rulers . These horrific gods were the ultimate misanthropes , they didn ’ t just hate people , they wanted to kill ‘ em all . Total brutal metal . Here are some of the most legendary metal songs written about Lovecraftian nightmares :
Metallica - The Call Of Ktulu
No Metallica track captures the interdimensional horror of Lovecraftian nightmares better than The Call of Ktulu , the album closer for Ride The Lightning . There are no lyrics , but Ctulhu doesn ’ t need to speak for you to feel the terror .
Morbid Angel - Angel Of Disease
Morbid Angel ’ s driving force is the arcane guitar wizardry of Trey Azagthoth . That surname is enough to tell you how much of an influence Lovecraft will have on the band ’ s music . Off Covenant , the best selling death metal album of all time , this song has the line Chanting to the Ancient Ones ... Shub Niggurath , the goat with a thousand young , enough said .
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Massacre - From Beyond
This iconic death metal song is named after a popular Lovecraft story about strange beings that attack humans once they use their pineal gland to transcend the normal boundaries of existence . Can you even get more metal ?
Rigor Mortis - Re-Animator
This gory Lovecraftian story of bringing the dead back to life was also made into a cult classic movie featuring Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton in the 80s . The song pays homage to both the story and the movie .
Mekong Delta - Age Of Agony
Black Sabbath - Behind The Wall of Sleep
Based on Lovecraft ’ s famous Beyond The Wall of Sleep , this Sabbath classic is on the band ’ s debut album , which is considered by many to be the first metal album . How perfect is that !
Christian Muenzner - Shadow Over Innsmouth
The second instrumental track on the list . Christian Muenzner , the German guitar genius ( ex Necrophagist and Obscura ) leaves no stone unturned in bringing the horror and dread of Innsmouth back to life through a little over five minutes of guitar wizardry .
The opening track of the incredible album , The Music of Erich Zann ( based on a famous Lovecraft story ), Age of Agony is a wonderfully composed track with astral riffs , spectacular playing and some suitably weird vocals which would sound terrible on any album except on this odd , charming and original classic .