Musica Cthulhiana - The Fourth

Horror Soundtrack

'The Fourth' by Musica Cthulhuhia is a horror soundtrack published in association with Pegasus Spiele, the German Call of Cthulhu publishers.

The 78 minute audio CD features fourteen tracks grouped into four 'cycles':

Cycle one: From Beyond
Cycle two: 46 - 18B
Cycle three: Earth
Cycle four: Sin

The music is predominantly instrumental (electronic and acoustic) and I would best describe it as an ambient synthesis particularly well suited to its goals: as background music for horror roleplaying and as a reflective work to relax and cogitate to.

Reviewing music is never particularly easy as likes and dislikes are a matter of personal taste. All I can say is that since the CD arrived through the post I have been playing it every day for several hours, often while administering Yog-Sothoth.com. The audio presentation is highly crafted and Götz Müller-Dürholt and John Alexander Bell have done a professional job in the writing and performance of this work.

This audio CD is not just a general 'Horror Soundtrack' but specifically relates to moods and themes for Call of Cthulhu. The accompanying insert booklet features a two page advertisement for Pegasus' Cthuloide Welten magazine and the German Call of Cthulhu RPG, so that would seem pretty clear.

The only language to be heard on the soundtrack is on track 7: 'By a Mad Mind' - English with a Germanic accent, quite gothic.

This CD is the best Lovecraftian audio production I've heard since Fedogan and Bremer's lauded 1988 'Fungi from Yuggoth' sonnet cycle. While Musica Cthulhiana is different in its approach, they've produced this soundtrack with the same loving care.

More please.

To make up your own mind, sample MP3 tracks are available to listen to via the fourthcycle.de web site.

The CD can be ordered from Pegasus Spiele or Amazon.de directly at 14.95 (euros) or less.