Master of horror John Carpenter will release a new album titled Cathedral on August 7 via Sacred Bones Records.
It serves as a musical accompaniment to his graphic novel of the same name, releasing August 4 from Storm King Comics.
Carpenter and bandmates Cody Carpenter (synths) and Daniel Davies (guitar) have debuted the first single from the album, “Lord of the Underground.” Check out the visualizer below.
Designed as a fully immersive project, Cathedral functions as both soundtrack and narrative engine: each track aligns with a chapter of the graphic novel, with liner notes guiding listeners through the story.
The press release calls it “the closest approximation to a new movie from Carpenter since 2010.”
Inspired by a vivid dream John Carpenter had in 2024, the story centers on an abandoned church in downtown Los Angeles that shifts from a forgotten building to the site of a waking nightmare.
After the killing of a police officer draws attention to the long-ignored cathedral, Lieutenant Christine Marks and detectives Paul Hernandez and Steve Mayfield are pulled into an investigation that leads them deep into its catacombs and toward a centuries-old evil imprisoned within.
“It was so cinematic and vivid,” Carpenter says of the dream that inspired the story. “I thought, ‘I have to score this.’ It’s kind of our first heavy metal album.”
“The story informed everything,” adds Davies. “John would describe a scene and say, ‘We need a heavy riff here.’ We didn’t set out to make a metal record, but it evolved that way.”
“It’s all about making the music work,” Carpenter notes. “This is somewhat different sounding stuff that we’ve done, but it’s done with the same desire in mind. In other words, put this thing on and imagine you’re watching a movie. That’s what we want you to do.”
Cathedral‘s 120-page graphic novel is written by Carpenter, editor (and wife) Sandy King, and Sean Sobczak, illustrated by Federico De Luca and Luis Guaragna, colored by Ryan Winn, and lettered by Marshall Dillon.
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