Howard Phillips Lovecraft (Providence, Rhode Island, August 20, 1890 - March 15, 1937) was an American fantasy and horror writer. He is known for placing his horror stories in a science fiction-like framework. Lovecraft was a relatively unknown writer during his lifetime. Almost all of his stories were published in pulp magazines such as Weird Tales. He was not widely read during his lifetime, but his work proved to be very influential among later writers and fans of horror stories. The Cthulhu Mythos, a fictional universe, that he described is still a source of inspiration for writers. Stephen King, Michel Houellebecq, Bentley Little, and Paul van Loon, among others, have cited Lovecraft's work as a source of inspiration. But also rock bands such as Halloween, Universe Zero, Metallica, Cradle Of Filth, Therion and Rage, among others, have cited Lovecraft's work as a source of inspiration. And now we even have a compilation album about his work released by the Italian label Black Widow Records. It was compiled by label owner Massimo Gasperini. Officially it was already released in 2023, but lucky for us we got this great looking release two years later in 2025. But you know what they say. Better late than never. I will go through the songs together with you and tell you what Il Sogno E L'incubo - Vita E Opere Di H.P. Lovecraft (The Dream and the Nightmare - The Life and Works of H.P. Lovecraft) has to offer music wise. CD1: Death SS - Necronomicon. This is an Italian metal band formed in 1977 in Pesaro. Their music combines elements of horror and occultism. This track sounds like speed metal with a Church organ intro and outro. Mortiis - Descending Into A Dream. His real name is Håvard Ellefsen and he is a Norwegian musician. In his career he has made black metal, ambient and industrial rock. This one moves towards ambient music. It is rather mellow instrumental electronic music with beautiful synthesizer and sequencers parts. La Janara - La Casa Stregata. They are a is a heavy metal band with strong folk and singer-songwriter influences, formed in 2015 in Grottaminarda Italy. So metal music again with of course heavy guitars and screaming vocals but also with a mellow interlude. King Daimond meets Judas Priest. Runaway Totem - Nodens. They are an Italian rock band formed in 1988 in Riva del Garda. They make complex technical progressive rock combined with Zeuhl. The song shows influences from Hawkwind, King Crimson, Magma and Univers Zero. Paul Roland - The Cats Of Ulthar. Paul is an English singer-songwriter, author and music journalist. Roland typically writes his songs in the form of stories, often addressing historical figures, characters from literature and film, or his own creations. He has explored genres including gothic rock, psychedelic pop, folk and baroque. This one is his first of two contributions and sounds like a mix of sixties and seventies English folk/pop music. Ralph McTell meets Donavan. L'Impero Delle Ombre - Dagon. This is an Italian Doom metal band from Apulia, formed in 1995.Sometimes they use progressive rock influences in their music. The name means "The Empire of the Shadows" in Italian. The band refers to their music as "cemetery rock". Once again you can enjoy heavy guitars and vocals. However the track has a very melodic ending. Taking it into progressive rock territories. Il Segno Del Comando - K'n-yan. This band was founded in Genoa, Italy, in 1995. Their music is full of classical gothic atmosphere, spooky overwhelming arrangements, cinematic drama and eerie nightmare soundscapes that crawl under your skin. Complex lyrics based around a fascination of gothic literature and esoteric texts are a highlight, frequently contrasting the normality of everyday life with the mystery of the paranormal. Typical R.I.P. with male operatic vocal parts. They very well know how to play dual guitar solos. Soul Of Enoch - Festival In Kingsport. An Italian doom metal band formed in 2005. The band is a project of Tony Tears and Necro Krieg, blending epic doom metal with an Italian dark sound. This track features a lot of great progressive rock parts mixed with with heavy guitar riffs. Salem Cross - Red Hook. Another Italian band as to be expected. They describe themselves as Mediterranean Heavy Witchy Music. Inspired by the 70s occult rock. Influenced by Black Sabbath, Warhorse and Blue Öyster Cult which you can hear throughout the whole song. CD2: Witchwood - The Shadow Over Innsmouth. They are an Italian Hard Rock band founded in 2014. Their sound is a mix between Classic 70's Hard Rock, Progressive, Psychedelic and Southern rock. A nice mellow progressive rock tune featuring the Mellotron! Vitam Aeternam - The Anachronic Geminae. This is a dark experimental musical project formed by entities from US, México and Norway. The common denominator is their love for the Slovenian-Italian cult band from the 80s, Devil Doll. This is a rather mellow experimental tune with influence of prog rock as well. Paul Roland - The Music of Eric Zahn. The second contribution by this Englishman. Again a laidback piece of music with lots of spoken words. Dunwich - Whispering Darkness. This is an Italian symphonic/gothic metal band founded in Rome in 1985 by multi-instrumentalist Claudio Nigris. They were among the first to use a female vocalist and symphonic music elements, especially brass instruments. You can considers them forerunners of the modern symphonic metal. Sounds like Within Tempation and Nightwish. It's a great rock opera kind of tune which also made me think about Ayreon. Blue Dawn -The Dunwich Horror. Another Italian band whose sound is a mixture of seventies hard rock, Black Sabbath being the most important influence, doom metal and more progressive experimental stuff, like king Crimson, Celtic Frost, Roxy Music, Voivod. It's all included on this rather heavy prog tune. La Morte Viene Dallo Spazio - The Colour Out Of Space. The song title already indicates it. This is a Space ritual project from Milan, Italy. Inspired by sci-fi Italian horror movies and soundtracks, its occult atmospheres are a free-form journey with no defined destination. The band combines guitars, drums and an alien flute. Two Female Entities craft an obscure landscape of sound through Theremin/moog and bass, enriched by cutting and delayed vocals. Hawkwind and other Space rock bands come to the surface! La Stanza Delle Maschere - Aria Fredda. This is another Italian Doom Metal/Horror Rock band from Milan, formed in 2015. Lots of spoken words in their own language. Creepy and dark music. Freddy Delirio And The Phantoms - On the Threshold. This is the new project of Freddy Delirio (vocals and keyboards) and his son, Chris Delirio (drums, keyboards and guitars). A great mellow prog tune as I expected from this, for me, well known Italian musician. The Magik Way - Hypnos. Black/doom/dark ambient band from Alessandria, Piedmont, Italy. The project started in December 1996 by three former members of Mortuary Drape. The band broke up in 1999, but in 2012 Sad Sun Music decided to release their unreleased works, and the band reformed. A more laidback track with lots of Italian spoken words. Eminence Noir - Dagon. Another composition with the title Dagon. This is the solo project of Sylvan Auve. Well known for his work with the French doom band Northwinds. A mellow song mainly performed on the guitars with occasionally some death grunts. Listening to more than a hundred minutes of music is of course quite a task. But it is worth listening to, as it turns out. Because for the umpteenth time you discover new names that you didn't know existed. Unfortunately, not everything on this double CD can be qualified as progressive rock. There are of course borderline cases and some songs that can't always remain captivating. But for the most part I was able to enjoy what the 19 songs had to offer musically. That is why I invite you to also listen to the adaptation of stories by H.P. Lovecraft that have been converted into musical pieces. Maybe you are also pleased to hear this wonderful tribute to the master of Fantasy and Horror narrative with Italian and international bands interpreting the tales of H.P. Lovecraft. And it is also beautifully packaged with a very nice cover, you can only enjoy this valuable musical document! *** Henri Strik (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
