// you’re reading...

Interview

Iron Cthulhu Apocalypse p1

READERSVOICE.COM aims to collect some interesting reading tips. The dark ambient music of Iron Cthulhu Apocalypse has been called uncanny, atmospheric and chilling. But a lot of people listen to his music to chill out. He especially likes the stories of H.P. Lovecraft.

H.P. Lovecraft’s genre has been described as cosmic-horror: the horror of the unknown or unknowable in the universe. His stories have a strong influence on ICA’s music. Song titles include Two thousand years of Blight; Ghost Failure; A Thousand Black Heavens; and the particularly popular Circumference.
Other literature is referenced in the titles of Iron Cthulhu Apocalypse’s minimalist dark ambient music. The song The Night Lands comes from William Hope Hodgson’s novel of the same name. ICA liked Hodgson’s condensed version of the novel, called The Dream of X. But Lovecraft’s fiction is referenced the most.
Lovecraft’s premise was that the universe was full of incomprehensible cosmic forces. It’s a universe that is indifferent to humanity. And it’s a universe without God to offer protection. Whether you buy those views or not, and I don’t, Lovecraft has written some intriguing stories. He also writes in a stylish, creepy, anachronistic Victorian voice.
Not all Lovecraft’s stories are from the horror genre: The horror genre requires a supernatural element. Some of Lovecraft’s stories are more science fiction for example. But he wrote some great short stories for Weird Tales magazine, and some longer dreamlike stories. ICA talks about some of his favorites, and he gives a lot of other good reading recommendations in this interview.

READERSVOICE.COM: Cthulhu is the fictional cosmic entity created by HP Lovecraft, first appearing in a short story in 1928. And you have an album called Necronomicon/ Dead Names. And a song called H.P. Lovecraft on the Conversations in a Dead Language album. I was wondering what is it about him or his work that you like?

IRON CTHULHU APOCALYPSE: Lovecraft knew how to make things dreadful and sublime all at once. In the case of his monsters like Cthulhu, Azathoth, etc. they’re not just props in a weird horror story. I think they embody and convey a feeling of cosmic malevolence that is very real. When you’re out at night looking at the night sky and realize that the universe not only doesn’t care about you, but will soon kill you, and destroy every plan you’ve ever made, that’s a lot more horrifying than a pack of pudgy gremlins taking over a laundromat. Lovecraft really conveys that. But, beyond that, his prose reads like poetry a lot of the time, and he mixes a very intoxicating degree of over-statement and under-statement. I would recommend everyone read the book, Weird-Realism: Lovecraft and Philosophy, by Graham Harman. It’s a great take on Lovecraft and explains a lot better than I’m doing here.

RV: What are some of your favorite stories by HP Lovecraft?

ICA: His most popular ones are the ones I have most nostalgia for, as they were the first I read. The Call of Cthulhu, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, The Dunwich Horror, etc. Some of his collaborative works are excellent, too. A lot of people dislike Through the Gates of the Silver Key, but I was blown away by that one when I first read it.

– continued next page
– copyright readersvoice.com