The Heavy metal band is in the studio working on a new album titled:
"Hymns of the Cthulhu Mythos"
You can get more info at the web site:

www.geocities.com/zigguratmetal

Hail Cthulhu!!!

Thanks for the warning. I'll be sure to avoid it.

It's going to be hard to top the sublimities of "The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets" but good luck with that.

[www.holycow.com]

Can there possibly be too many Lovecraft bands?

And why not some Thasaidon-themed songs for this audience?

I don't think you can go wrong just singing "Tsathoggua" over and over again to a thunderous beat. It might even grace you with a materialization.

The materialization of Tsathoggua might be good for a couple of laughs. Smith's description of the deity was a bit comical, if I remember correctly, a kind of sleepy-eyed, smiling, furry, frog-like being... picture a black, giant-sized Kermit the Frog.
There are probably those that are more familiar with Tsathoggua than I. Is my memory of Smith's description pretty close or way off?

That slight whirring sound you hear, would be Clark spinning in his
grave if he had one.

Dr. F

There are a few of Smith's Tsathogguas, I believe, among the carvings and illustrations at this very site.

Dear Doc,

While I would not presume to argue with you (about whether or not CAS would spin in his grave because the kids are making their music and taking him as part of their inspiration), since you are our only personal link to Smith and certainly know your own mind and recollections. But I get the feeling that Smith would have been sympathetic to artistic endeavor in general, even if his taste would lead him elsewhere. I don't care for heavy metal, mostly, but it is tantalizing to see how much of it incorporates fantasy elements and that makes me rather wish that I could enjoy it more. You and I haven't had the chance to discuss music, but I suspect that you are well up on forms of standard "legit" music literature. I'd be interested to learn what all you like in music, you may even be a jazz fan. I'm gonna step out on a real comfortable-looking ledge and guess that you don't care much for Elvis Presley. But could CAS enjoy (if he had the chance) a nice, lyrical, non-raucous Beatles song? It'd be interesting to learn.

I sure would love to hear any special instances of any musical types that you know CAS did appreciate. Like Lovecraft, he may simply not have thought much about music, one way or the other.

Of course, I know infinitely less than Dr. Farmer would about CAS's feelings about music, but my sense is that, although it was not a huge part of his life, CAS enjoyed classical music. There is a reference in the Selected Letters, for instance, to a piece by an African-American composer, some of whose work CAS enjoyed hearing on the radio, I believe. I, too, wonder whether CAS enjoyed any of the popular music of the day. Lovecraft, it seems, preferred lighter fare, and admitted that he had no ear for more complex musical works. What I suspect would bother CAS about the heavy metal appropriation of his and Lovecraft's themes is so much not the music, per se, although I'm almost positive that it would sound like noise to him, as it would to almost anyone of his generation. Rather, I imagine that he would dislike intensely the cartoonishness of the thematic treatments. Most Lovecraftian or "Satanic" heavy metal makes the milieu of the pulp magazines seem like the acme of sophistication by comparison. Anyway, let's hear from Dr. Farmer.

Thanks for asking friends - there is a note on this subject in my
memoir in "sword of Zagan".

Clark's attitude toward what he heard on the radio/juke boxes in his
his various excursions into metropolitan Auburn was one of alarm, though
in the "decadent state of decline" in which society found itself in
those days, not a surprise. He, as I, ignored Elvis Presley et al.
as irrelevant to important matters. Insofar as "heavy metal" and
so forth, I would remind you that while he describes the cacaphony of
hellish environments, his protagonists are usually anxious to get away
from them. His parents would have rhapsodized about having heard
Caruso and Lehmann etc... His earliest "friends" were the fine music
community of Auburn.
I once played for him at my home, Villa Lobos "Bachianas Brazilieras"
sung by Bidu Sayao (whom I had heard at the SF opera with del Monaco
in Boito's "Mefistofeles"). This haunting, extraordinary wordless
music thrilled him with its suggestive power. He also very much
enjoyed the Peruvian modern music interpreted by Yma Sumac (5 octave
range). Segovia had only recently been discovered by the American
public, and his stunning performance of "Leyenda" overwhelmed us all.
I also played for him Bjoerling and de los Angeles performing the
love duet from "Madama Butterfly" - his comment - "that almost
becomes too racy to present on an American stage" - as indeed it does!

Clark had been part of many evenings of string quartets and fine piano
music among the Sully's and their circle - He found those kinds of
music allowed him to set his spirit free, much as he found the solitude
of his canyon rim. Harsh, torso grinding, gonad thumping Music(?)
demands that it itself be the center of attention as opposed to the
soaring majesty of (say) Brahms invites you to accompany him on a
journey where unknown and uncharted vistas of the mind and spirit
are continuously being opened to view, and at the end, one aches to
hear it again.

Most of what is contemporary merely causes one to ache.

As to my own tastes and skills - I have sung roles in most of the major
Operas, as well as Broadway shows; acted in many plays and dramatic
readings; recently directed the music for "Jesus Christ Superstar"
and am shortly to conduct tryouts for "Damn Yankees". Before my
heart transplant I played "Duncan" in "Macbeth"(you get to go home
after the first act), and produced and directed Menotti's "The Telephone" and "The Medium" (this last by the way came out on records
in 1955 and I played it for Clark - he loved it.). In 1999 I
conducted a performance here of "Porgy and Bess" and in 2001 Hammersteins's "Carmen Jones." My appreciation of Jazz stops
pretty much with Louis Armstrong - "progressive Jazz" bores me to
death, and "New Age" is just silly wandering about aimlessly among
the major chord groups, obviously performed by folks who only learned
C major and its inversions.

Afterthought to the previous:

As to other forms deriving inspiration from Clark's work:

We had an entire evening's discussion (referred to often on other
occasions) on the subject of the fact that an artist's work, once
released from him to the world, takes on a larger life of its own;
that in fact, resources, concepts, and cognate relationships far
wider than he had envisioned may be expected to emerge.

For example: Hemingway's "Look Homeward, Angel" title and understructure
taken wholesale from Milton - or -- how people buy Beethoven's ninth
recorded by different orchestras and different conductors - and each
is unique. I own an old record with ten tenors singing the "nessun
dorma" - each thrilling, each unique, the throat and soul of each
singer making it new. These are trivial, but simple examples and
endless more profound are surely already known to you all. Therefore,
while Clark himself would certainly not like listening to a Heavy
Metal band - that others have been inspired to do so would set very
easily with his philosophy of art and literature -- he would just think it would
have been nice to get some residuals on the sales.

Much affection and applause to all in their endeavors to promote the
old master whenever, whereever, and however.
Dr. F

I do agree that many people do not like heavy metal in general. Lovecraft and Clark, even Brian Lumley, would probably hate heavy metal. But I'm sure they would be glad to see that they have inspired yet another group of people to persue a different form of artistic expression, based on their own literary works.

The point of this Cd is this: This is My tribute to Lovecraft and how he has influenced me and my life. And my music. I find that I am inspired over and over again by these stories and I feel that I must express the Horror and Intensity of the Unknown in my music.

I cant explain how it feels when I play a riff that I feel sounds like Cthulhu. Or Azathoth. I can play a new song and immediatly see, visualize things and scenarios from the Mythos. (sometimes this doesnt happen of course) But, it has affected how I write and how I percive my own music.

Anyway, I think that even though people may not like heavy metal, they will appreciate what I'm doing. Othere people are inspired and write a story. Others paint a picture.
I write a song that I can hear, see, smell and almost...ALMOST touch. Metal heads will love it. Fans of Lovecraft will love it. And hopefully Lovecraft wont roll over in his grave.

Thanx for your time.
D Boyd

[www.geocities.com]

I like good metal, I look forward to hearing this cd. Let any one who wants to - role over in their grave. The dead are worm food - life is for the living.

B.

Go for it kid!
DrF

Thanx guys,

and what is this "Go for it Kid" about?
Is there a kid here?

lol

D Boyd