Fiat600 - Erich Zann Part 1 (Archive.org)

Immediately, there is a sense of teetering delicately on the edge of the abyss, its foreboding presence firmly pressing upon the listener. As with a lot of Lovecraftian works, this presence is forever imminent though it seems often, being just around the corner is sufficient to send the characters soul into paroxysms of fear and terror. Y-NN follows on from the first track Abyss. Here the relationship with the forbidding presence becomes more actualised, though still tenuous. Spook appears to give further form, or indeed formlessness which is usually the Lovecraft perspective.

Within Spook there is an intimation of the vital connection between Zann's music and the protection it affords with the threatening presence outside his dark window. The tension throughout is maintained extremely well. The fourth track, No, gently but firmly asserts the strange music of Erich Zann keeping the indescribable, dark terror at bay. The waves of formless depth lapping at the edge of reality. A reality that is so easily undermined. The writhing presence of that which dwells without, between the spaces in between, begins to become more evident. Finally, D'Auseil pitches the listener on the threshold. The ultimate Lovecraftian gateway into oblivion. This album captures the essence wonderfully.

The creation of this album, Part 1 of 2, is fantastically dark, ambient soundcrafting. And craft is integral to this excellent achievement and its inspiration. It captures the imagination and provides a brilliant soundtrack to a classic tale. In this day and age, oblivion is never far away. Which brings the prophetic into the contemporary. That prehistoric energy appears so relevant to our postmodern world. A world that seems ill-fated, if not downright damned.

Download 'Erich Zann Part 1'