Cthulhu Mythos in Music

Music has frequently been inspired by the Cthulhu Mythos and other works of H. P. Lovecraft, going back at least to the 1960s psychedelic rock band H. P. Lovecraft. The heavy metal genre in particular has often drawn imagery and themes from Lovecraft's work.

The following is a non-comprehensive alphabetical list of musical and audio works that contain references, allusions or themes that have their origin with Lovecraft, or appear likely to have been inspired by his fiction.

Examples

• Adams, Ryan (alt-country musician): wrote a song called "Arkham Asylum," which he and The Cardinals have performed live since September 18, 2006.
• Arzachel (English Acid-Rock/Heavy Metal band): Their 1968 self-titled debut EP contains a song "Azathoth"; a hymn-like piece with lyrics praising the Outer God, that descends into a repetitive rhythm with slow pounding drums and droning, dissonant guitar and organ parts, much like the "maddening beat of vile drums" and "the whine of accursed flutes"
• Blue Oyster Cult: "The Old Gods Return" is a track from the 2001 album Curse of the Hidden Mirror.
• Ballif, Claude (French composer): wrote stage music by the name "Erich Zann".
• Bejelit (Italian heavy metal band): recorded a song titled "The Haunter of the Dark," based on the story of the same name, for their Bones and Evil EP.
• Black Dahlia Murder (death metal band): recorded a song inspired by "The Call of Cthulhu" titled "Thy Horror Cosmic." Lyrics include: "“For vast aeons has slept, lurking 'neath the haunted deep / Sea soaked perversion, arise / Named of the foulest tongue, his will ebbs within me / Beckoning -- what was shall once more be.”
• Black Sabbath (metal band): The song "Behind the Wall of Sleep" on their self-titled debut album evokes Lovecraft's "Beyond the Wall of Sleep".
• Burning Star Core (band): The song "Nyarlathotep" is on their album The Very Heart of the World.
• Common Market (hip hop collective): wrote a song called "Escaping Arkham" one of five songs on the album "The Winter's End EP".
• Conan (British doom metal band): The music video for their song "Foehammer" depicts Nyarlathotep.
• Congress (Belgian metalcore band): has a song intro titled "Nyarlathotep" on their Angry With the Sun album.
• Cradle of Filth (extreme metal band): recorded "Cthulhu Dawn" for the album Midian; "Mother of Abominations", from the album Nymphetamine, begins with the mantra "Iä Iä, C'thulhu fhtagn".
• Cthulhu (heavy metal band): Rochester, N.Y., band.
• The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets is a Canadian rock band dedicated to promoting the literature of H. P. Lovecraft and the Mythos, with tongue often in cheek. Albums include Cthulhuriffomania (1994), Cthulhu Strikes Back (1995), Great Old Ones (1995), The Shadow Out of Tim (2007), and The Dukes of Alhazred (2017).
• deadmau5 (electronic music producer): has made songs referencing Cthulhu and the sunken city of R'lyeh.
• Deathchain (death metal band): the last track of the album Death Gods is titled "Cthulhu Rising".
• Demiurg (Swedish death metal band): reference "The Doom That Came to Sarnath" in several of their tracks, "City of Ib", "Sarnath", and "Opus Morbidity".
• Discordance Axis (grindcore band): recorded a song entitled "Radiant Arkham".
• Drake, Bob (avant-garde rock artist): his third album, Medallion Animal Carpet, Bob Drake and a collaborator retell the story of "The Dunwich Horror" under the title "Dunwich Confidential". Also, the song "Kaziah's Pet" is about Keziah Mason's supernatural familiar Brown Jenkin; whether the incorrect spelling of Mason's name is intentional or not is unclear.
• Dream Theater (band): recorded a song titled "The Dark Eternal Night" which is adapted from Lovecraft's writings.
• Electric Wizard (stoner/doom metal band): Their 2007 album Witchcult Today features "Dunwich", based on the short story "The Dunwich Horror". Also, "We Hate You", from their 2000 album Dopethrone, contains sound clips from the film.
• EMA (noise rock singer/songwriter): Has a song called "Cthulu" on her 2014 album The Future's Void. She also has a song "The Grey Ship" that evokes Lovecraft's "The White Ship".
• Flint Glass (experimental electronic project): has an album titled "Nyarlathotep"; all music on this album was inspired by the Cthulhu Mythos.
• Forma Tadre (German ambient band): titled their 2008 album The Music of Erich Zann.
• The Great Old Ones (French black metal band): "Al Azif" (2012)
• GWAR (American heavy metal band): references the snake god Yig in its song "Horror of Yig".
• H. P. Lovecraft (1960s psychedelic rock band): adapted "The White Ship" into a song of the same name on their debut album H. P. Lovecraft. They also released a 2005 compilation CD Dreams in the Witch House.
• Hemlok (Rhode Island-based rock band): recorded an instrumental entitled "Nyarlathotep" for their debut album Shades of Passing (2008).
• High On Fire: metal band whose 2010 song "Frost Hammer" contains the lyric "Plateau of Leng"; the song "The Face of Oblivion" from their 2005 album Blessed Black Wings references Arkham. The band's sixth album, De Vermis Mysteriis, bases its title track on Robert Bloch's tome, while its lead number, "Serums of Liao", references the drug Liao from "The Hounds of Tindalos".
• Iced Earth (american heavy/thrash metal band): recorded the track "Cthulhu" for their album Plagues of Babylon.
• Iron Man (doom metal band): The 2013 album South of the Earth contains the song "Half Face/Thy Brother's Keeper (Dunwich Pt. 2"), based on "The Dunwich Horror".
• Jupp, Jim: uses the pseudonym Eric Zann.
• Legion of the Damned (Dutch thrash/death metal band):
  • "Black Wings of Yog-Sothoth", a song from 2008's album Cult of the Dead;
  • "Ravenous Abominations", a song from 2014's album Ravenous Plague.
• Lorelei (symphonic deathcore act): recorded a song named "The Dunwich Horror".
• Luo (British experimental music project of Josh Trinnaman & pals): have recorded and performed a song named Eldritch Rhythm
• The Lurking Fear (death metal band): a Swedish group who take their name from the short story.
• Manilla Road (American heavy metal band): adapted "From Beyond" to a song of the same name featured in their 1990 album The Courts of Chaos.
• Massacre (American death metal band): released the Lovecraft-themed album From Beyond in 1991.
• Mekong Delta (German technical thrash metal band): titled their 1988 second album The Music of Erich Zann.
• Mercyful Fate (Danish metal band): The band's 1994 album Time has a song called "The Mad Arab", telling the story of "the son of a shepherd, Abdul Alhazred". Their next album, Into the Unknown (1996), features "Kutulu (The Mad Arab, Part 2)".
• Metallica (American heavy metal band): have made several references to the Cthulhu Mythos in their works, including "The Call of Ktulu", a song on the 1984 album Ride the Lightning.
• Morbid Angel (band): mention the Outer God Shub-Niggurath in their song "Angel of Disease".
• Mountain Goats (indie folk/rock band): Their song "Lovecraft in Brooklyn" on the album Heretic Pride references Lovecraft's anxious stay in New York City.
• Nile (band): has an album titled Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka, a reference to Nephren-Ka, the avatar of Nyarlathotep. Several other Nile songs make Lovecraftian references, including "4th Arra of Dagon" and "Von Unaussprechlichen Kulten".
• Ningen Isu (Japanese progressive metal band): recorded a song "Dunwich no Kai" ("The Dunwich Horror") on their 1998 album Taihai Geijutsu-ten.
• Nox Arcana (dark ambient and Halloween-themed duo): Based the 2009 album Blackthorn Asylum on "From Beyond"; recorded a song titled "Nyarlathotep".
• Opeth (Swedish progressive metal): Alludes to Lovecraft's "Beyond the Wall of Sleep" in the song "Pyre", which sings, "familiar voices speak behind the wall of sleep”.
• The Order of the Solar Temple: Their self-titled album includes the track "Jervas Dudley", referring to the main character of Lovecraft's short story "The Tomb".
• Payne's Gray (German prog rock band): released the 1995 concept album Kadath Decoded, based on "The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath".
• Rage (heavy metal band):
  • "Lost in the Ice" from the album The Missing Link ^{(connection?)}.
  • some songs from the Soundchaser album, especially "Great Old Ones" and "Secrets in a Weird World".
  • "In a Nameless Time" ^{(connection?)}.
  • "The Crawling Chaos" from Black in Mind (seemingly about the destruction of the earth by Nyarlathotep).
• Revocation (American thrash metal band): The song "Madness Opus" for their 2014 album Deathless is based on "The Music of Erich Zann".
• Ripping Corpse (death metal band): Their song "Beyond Humanity" is inspired by Lovecraft's story "From Beyond" and the Stuart Gordon film adaptation.
• Rudimentary Peni (British anarcho-punk deathrock band): have made several references to the Mythos, including a depiction of Erich Zann on the original cover of their 1988 album Cacophony, and their song "Arkham Hearse".
• Sapthuran: The 2007 EP The Beast in the Cave is based on the short story.
• Septic Flesh (Greek death metal band): referenced Erich Zann in the song "Lovecraft's Death" on their 2008 album Communion.
• Shub-Niggurath (French band): take their name from the Outer God.
• Shub-Niggurath (Mexican black/death metal band): take their name from the Outer God.
• Sleep (American stoner doom metal band): The Lovecraft devotees included the song "From Beyond" on their classic 1992 album Sleep's Holy Mountain. Their 2018 album The Sciences features the 14-minute epic "Antarcticans Thawed" based on At the Mountains of Madness.
• Solitude Aeturnus (doom metal band): Their debut album Into the Depths of Sorrow includes the song "White Ship."
• Univers Zéro (1981): The album Ceux du dehors includes a track titled "La musique d'Erich Zann". According to drummer and bandleader Daniel Denis, all members read the short story in the studio and promptly improvised the piece.
• Voytenko, Alexey: composed "The Music of Erich Zann" for violin solo in 2009.
• Wilding-White, Raymond (1980): The American composer created a "The Music of Erich Zann" piece for violin and electronics which featured Eugene Gratovich of DePaul University in the role of the university student.
• Without Face (Hungarian metal band): recorded a song called "The Violin of Erich Zann" for their 2002 album Astronomicon.
• XCross: released a concept album titled Kadath - The Dream Quest (2007).