Nyarlathotep

McClellandtown, PA USA

May 30, 2006

1,164 plays
6,183 views

"Nyarlathotep...the crawling chaos...I am the last...I will tell the audient void."

So begins 's classic tale . Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos, embodies in audio sculpture and experimental classical music the same sense of cosmic isolation, horror, and insanity represented in Lovecraft's works. Be you a Lovecraftian scholar, an avid  RPG player, or merely a fan of avant-garde music compounded of classical and contemporary attitudes, ambient soundscapes, synaesthetic melodies, and bizarre mutations of sound...Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos, no noubt has something to offer you! Turn up the speakers, chalk an Elder Sign above the door, and immerse yourself in the murky vastness of Lovecraftian space.

Band/artist history

Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos, was founded in 1993 when electronic experimentalist  discovered an odd, cylindrical metal object lying in his backyard after a particularly fierce storm. The cylinder proved to be a Mi-Go support casque (or "brainbox") containing the still-living brain of renowned early-20th-Century horror author . Much of what Lovecraft had passed off as fiction was, indeed, true--or partially true; upon his death-bed in 1937, the Mi-Go had removed his brain, cased it in a suspension cylinder, and hauled him off to Pluto (or Yuggoth) for "interviewing." After nearly half a century, the Mi-Go returned him to earth and left him in Pegritz's backyard for reasons unknown to either HPL or Pegritz. The two quickly became close creative partners and HPL abandoned wordplay in favor of crafting strange, eldritch soundscapes, synaesthetic dance tracks, and weird noises utilizing some of the alien Mi-Go technology installed in his brainbox. Taking the name "Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos" in honor of the Soul and Messenger of the Other Gods--a name also representative of their wild, anything-goes approach to creating audio sculpture--the duo released a debut album, , on the shortlived Optikon Rekords label. Since then, the original co-creators have been joined by further chaoticians: Jeremy Long on guitar, piano, and mixing; Alexx Reed on synths, real instruments, and effects; and aRvin Clay on alien devices and atmospherics. This incarnation of The Crawling Chaos has released two EPs of incidental music for the works of dark-fantasy author --, and --both released through Subterranean Press. Now joined by Megan Irvine on violin and Mike Violette on percussion, the Crawling Chaos have gone back into the labs at  to redo and remasted the original first album as well as record all-new material for the follow-up album, . All tracks will shortly be available as free, Creative-Commons-licensed downloads on the official HPL Labs website, which will be launching soon.

Have you performed in front of an audience?

We've played live in Pittsburgh...but we're primarily a studio project. We're rather cautious about dragging some of the devices we use out into public settings: some are notoriously temperamental, and technical difficulties can potentially lead to great loss of life if a singularity or a manifestation of Yog-Sothoth should occur.

Your musical influences

Our primary musical influence is, of course, the works of H. P. Lovecraft and other Lovecraftian writer (especially Caitlin R. Kiernan). As far as influential musical artists go, we tend to find inspiration in: Skinny Puppy, Gary Numan, Aphex Twin, Otto von Schirach, Download, Doubting Thomas, Front Line Assembly, Delerium, Coil, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Egyptian classical music, Arthur Schoenberg and other modernist composers, Tangerine Dream, Vangelis, Tool, Haujobb, Architect, Iron Maiden, Wojciech Kilar, Johnny Cash....Pretty much anything and everything. As the Crawling Chaos, we cannot limit ourselves to any particular style, genre, or school of music.

What equipment do you use?

PCs and Macs, ten- or twelve-thousand soft synths, guitars (both electric and acoustic), digital pianos, violin, live percussion, a Mi-Go "sound processor" of some sort, an various other highly-volatile devices we've received from the Old Ones, the Great Race, and the Other Gods themselves.

Anything else?

Ia!

#nyarlathotepLovecraftCa

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