Casey Rae-Hunter's Eldritch Musicks Reviewed

Eldritch Musicks is a bold new multi-media initiative that drips with a sound inspired by H.P. Lovecraft, Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood, and Thomas Ligotti, unleashing its tuned voice in a musical amalgamation of all these entities. The main component is a handsomely encased CD spearheaded by Casey Rae-Hunter, the intellectual media personality behind The Contrarian blog. Orbiting around the main feature are several sideshows offered via digital download (a link to this is received via e-mail after ordering the CD). Readers will immediately wonder how the star attraction--the Eldritch Musicks CD or the Eldritch Musicks MP3 album--stacks up, as Lovecraftian musical projects on this scale are rarely attempted. Fortunately, the Contrarian's courageous gambit has paid off, as Eldritch Musicks is not a failure or even a one-trick pony, but a gripping musical extravaganza listeners will return to often for its catchy tracks and weird saturated atmosphere.

Arguably, the most important component of any musical experience--however complex or intriguing its message--is the ability to drag the listener in with unique vocals, instrumentals, and style. Those versed in previous musical projects linked to weird fiction such as Darkest of the Hillside Thickets, Current 93, and others will recall the diverse sounds originating from these successful efforts. Eldritch Musicks, taking its musical cue from Blue Oyster Cult (whose manager, Sandy Pearlman, helped originate the idea for the album), is sufficiently formed to take its place alongside these other ethereal products.

Rae-Hunter clearly mounts a focused effort at molding his creation into the first modern Lovecraftian rock album. An eerie balance of vibrant guitar chords, rumbling drums, and a few synthetic effects generates an instrumental backdrop derived from the lineage of great rock artists. Four short instrumental tracks named "Eldritch I-IV" give the sharpest example of this. These are more experimental, atmospheric performances than the other nine songs with spoken words, but they mime their own voiceless tales of awesome cosmic spaces and Ligottian arcana very well. The instrumentals bound in the "Eldritch" tracks and drawn throughout the rest of the CD also complement the haunting vocals assembled by the Contrarian: poetic recollections of a bygone, psychedelic age.

The lyrics of Eldritch Musicks offer a host of bizarre imagery and atmosphere, but they are activated as more than words, transformed into strategic catalysts of the album's overall gestalt. The opening song, "Sunken City," employs the repetition of one phrase in such a way that it almost sounds like an incantation--perhaps to pry open the gateway to the Lovecraftian dimensions that follow. "Dweller on the Threshold" is another excellent example, hiding lines of electric warnings within a repetitive shell, like bullets chambered in their revolver.



Other turns of phrase are essential to creating the right mood, and re-imagining certain themes. "The Cove" and "Haunter of the Dark" are rich homages to H.P. Lovecraft packaged in Rae-Hunter's own brand of musical mystery. "Crimson Village" conveys a Ligottian atmosphere with lyrics drafted from Arthur Machen's terrible wonders. Here, there is derangement, and occultic transformation in a story of magic, town relics, and implications of rituals. Similarly, "Nyarlathotep" relays the crawling chaos of Lovecraft's wily deity, and avoids sinking into slavish pastiche. The song's themes are original, and whisper words that are as much an emissary of a greater blackness as Nyarlathotep (perhaps) is for Azathoth.

Only "For Lavina" breaks rather dramatically from the Lovecraftian journey. It is a darkly pleasing composition, but exhibits more shadows of Poe than Lovecraft or Machen. This is mildly jarring, in retrospect, but hardly enough to derail or otherwise cheapen the broader immersion into strangeness. "Brothers of the Yellow Sign" holds an obvious connection to Robert W. Chambers' cycle of weird tales. It is an uplifting finish that closes the album, not with any promise of rebirth for the human spirit, but a subtle invitation for listeners to merge into the Brotherhood we are all already members of--whether we realize it or not--and to recognize and imprint the Yellow Sign upon our psyches, with a little aid from this eldritch experience.

As with most albums, listeners will naturally infer a multiverse of conclusions from Eldritch Musicks. Fortunately, one is not stranded to drown in their own search for this project's meaning. Casey Rae-Hunter tosses several lifelines in the form of the digital extras included with the CD. A behind the scenes/making of video presents the actual process of the artist. An audio podcast chronicles its origin, and also illuminates a deeper, but not orthodox understanding of its messages, thanks to a running commentary on each song. "The Cove" is a competent weird tale tied to the CD track of the same name. An illustrated version of this is available for download as an extra, but even non-customers can listen to an audio production of this story at Shadowcast. Finally, a beautifully presented PDF file of the lyrics rounds out the extras, the final tier propping up an artwork that crosses mediums as easily as Lovecraft's terrors bleed across space-time.

Although Eldritch Musicks must be filed under "music" for its main attraction and taxonomic convenience, it is much more than that. Striking tentacles of visual, comprehensive terror jut out from the main hive of creepy melodies. Aficionados of the weird will be lucky if Rae-Hunter is inspired and encouraged enough to develop more illuminated labyrinths of this kind. Eldritch Musicks might be the jumpstart needed to revive Lovecraftian rock, and a nutritious boost to weird media as a whole.

-Grim Blogger