Horror Prog

Unreal City - Horror Vacui

An exceptional blend of 70's Italian Prog, vintage horror music and... cartoon underscores.

Cosmiclawnmower wrote: ...

omphaloskepsis wrote: ^ Great to see another reader of Dennis Wheatley.

A lot of "Horror Prog" is written around the idea or belief that there is a deity called Satan. In some cases it has been portrayed through a made up story or a Black Mass. For example...Black Widow , Coven, or Jacula. The subject matter itself has a theatrical presentation and through the lyricism or sing-song chanting you can feel acting.


On a personal level I enjoy Univers Zero, Art Zoyd, and Goblin who all seem to focus on mysterious sounding music ...much more than the aforementioned. When listening to Univers Zero, Art Zoyd and Goblin you can interpret the music differently than a piece which rubs off on your consciousness as a Black Mass.

Throughout the history of Avant Garde, Electronic Music,Classical, Jazz and many sub-genres of Progressive Rock it is evident that some composers were occultists. In some cases...( though delusional), they felt a connection to the "spirit world" and pursued supernatural experiences of their own through music they created. Steve Jolliffe is an ideal candidate, but there are many others.

Instead of going the distance to purchase Aleister Crowley's house they extend their interest in the "Black arts" by sitting on a fence, ( so to speak) and their state of being undecided over what they read and believe surfaces through their music...while other musicians are pure occultists that have an inordinate interest in dangerous magic.

Some composers were subjected to a occultism environment as children and have triggers in adult life. Nightmares are a source to draw from when composing a piece that is dark. Not in all cases would you even think about that as in most cases your creativity is influenced by your Nightmares and is a feeling that cannot be described with words...not unlike Gnosis.

The music channels through you. It all occurs naturally. You have come into being...like the shadows and phantoms of the night. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to not think of theory during this creative process. It's a better connection between you and the music if your mind is wiped clean. You think of nothing at all and the music controls your mind...

Musicians writing dark sounding pieces often utilize the tri tone interval. Supposedly there has never been any evidence of the tri tone interval being banned from churches throughout history...but are you pulling my leg?? Are going to perform a piece which repeats the tri tone interval in a Christian church? I don't think so. No...playing Larks Tongues In Aspic Part I in a church where people believe in Christ? How do you think that would work out? You wouldn't allow it...correct?

You can write variations of the tri tone interval..
you can create a harmony which is uneasy to the human ear. The unsettling nature of its tone when played on various instruments simultaneously can be luring, hypnotic and bewitching. I don't believe in the supernatural...but I'm merely stating a fact about the music and it's affect on people who are swept up by it ..when subjected to it.



Edited by Jacob Schoolcraft - February 09 2025 at 20:33

I would tag the Legendary Pink Dots' album The Museum of Human Happiness as progressive horror-pop. I believe it would be adequate.

Jacob Schoolcraft wrote: meAsoi wrote: Horrors Waiting in Line by Vaisseau is an album that screams for attention in this thread! Somewhat impressionable to me. It brings back some haunting memories of a occultism environment as a child. ...not so much horror movies and music as much as real people around me. To be precise...occultists. Wealthy people dressing in costumes you might recognize seeing on Dark Shadows. Strange people. Odd people who believe in the devil. Who seem to be deluding in life...who have multiple personalities..

Is it an occult oligarchy? That's cool, man!

meAsoi wrote: I would tag the Legendary Pink Dots' album The Museum of Human Happiness as progressive horror-pop. I believe it would be adequate.

meAsoi wrote: Jacob Schoolcraft wrote: meAsoi wrote: Horrors Waiting in Line by Vaisseau is an album that screams for attention in this thread! Somewhat impressionable to me. It brings back some haunting memories of a occultism environment as a child. ...not so much horror movies and music as much as real people around me. To be precise...occultists. Wealthy people dressing in costumes you might recognize seeing on Dark Shadows. Strange people. Odd people who believe in the devil. Who seem to be deluding in life...who have multiple personalities.. Is it an occult oligarchy? That's cool, man!

People believed it was . It would be interesting to cross paths with someone one day who may have had similar experiences and have conversation. It's highly unlikely.

In my youth I was subjected to people who were into Duo Worship. God in the day, Satan in the night. It had nothing to do with the Church Of Satan short of people turning against LaVey and leaving it for a different belief system which they had been forbidden to pursue.

This group had an inordinate interest in Luciferian practices and or occult practices. They practiced a particular ritual which derived from a Judeo-Christian concept.

They were interrogated by police after a body was discovered. They discovered a box made out of metal with carvings of Egyptian hieroglyphics on the outside. On the inside were hallways that led through a maze. An animal would be placed inside the box ..then slamming the door piercing the animal with sharp nails located on the inside. ...having similarities to an "iron maiden".

They would lower a child into a pit full of dead snakes and they would stand above the pit chanting and trying to channel a demon through the child. They applied the same thing with "Automatic Writing " using a feathered pen to write messages on paper as they chanted. As if they tried to communicate with the dead.

Their main interest seemed to revolve around demons having hierarchies and legions..leagues. They were completely delusional...imo...to believe that a human sacrifice could be a cause to gain power...or the Philosopher's Stone..or whatever??? They displayed multiple personalities and they were delusional to trust in ancient books or scriptures that say so. Something written centuries ago and you don't know how many hands it's passed through or if the desert fathers Writing it were hallucinating. And they just cave in and completely trust in something that had existed before recorded history . It's not fact based...there's no evidence...its just made up stories. Everyone belonging to this cult ...aside from a selective amount of occultists...ended up in mental hospitals throughout the remaining 70s and were never able to function properly in the community again...and that was a lot of people.

The single most unintentionally funny thing about LaVey is that he died completely broke. He was living on handouts!