John Carpenter Goes Metal With New Book & Companion Album, Cathedral
Legendary filmmaker, composer & synthesist John Carpenter has announced a new book and album project, Cathedral.
Best known for his films, Carpenter directed classics like Halloween, The Thing, Escape from New York and They Live. But he also composed and performed many of his scores, and has had a successful second career as a musician and performer.
Cathedral is a multimedia horror experience that combines his first graphic novel with a companion album. The graphic novel was co-written by Sandy King and Sean Sobczak; illustrated by Federico De Luca and Luis Guaragna; and with colors by Ryan Winn and lettering by Marshall Dillon. The album was created by Carpenter and longtime collaborators Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies.
The album is designed to function as a soundtrack to the graphic novel, with each track corresponding to a chapter. Carpenter has described it as “kind of our first heavy metal album,” combining cinematic synth textures with heavier guitar-driven music.
Here’s the synopsis of the project:
“An abandoned cathedral. A gruesome murder. A powerful supernatural entity living in the catacombs. It all comes to a head in downtown Los Angeles. What will happen and who will live to tell the tale? Such is the storyline of Cathedral, the thrilling new album and terrifying graphic novel from legendary director and musician John Carpenter, based on a dream he had in 2024. “It was so cinematic and vivid,” the director recalls. “I thought, ‘I have to score this.’ It’s kind of our first heavy metal album.”
It’s true: Cathedral has all the drama, dark atmosphere, and frenetic pacing of a classic heavy metal record. On it, Carpenter is joined by guitarist Daniel Davies and Cody Carpenter, a synth wizard in his own right. The music retains all the eerie atmosphere and sinister propulsion of the epochal scores Carpenter created for his iconic films Halloween, The Fog, and Assault on Precinct 13, but this is a much heavier, riff-driven enterprise.
Cathedral awaits. Immerse yourself in John Carpenter’s universe all over again.”
The album is available to pre-order now in a variety of formats, and the book is available to pre-order via Amazon.
