Time to get spooky!

As a reminder of the format, I’m writing one of these columns and filling it with songs from a variety of genres of music. I don’t expect anyone to listen to all of these songs! Some months, you may even not be interested in any of them, and that’s fine!

However, it is my sincere hope that some of you might find some new songs and artists that you like. All of these songs are widely available on streaming services and by doing some quick searching on Youtube and such, and if I want to highlight something harder to find, I’ll include detailed instructions on how to do so.

Here are my picks for this month:

Hang — Cellar Darling

Let’s start off with something that isn’t explicitly horror themed, but fits October’s ghostly, ethereal vibes. Cellar Darling was formed in 2016 by three offshoot members of Eluveitie, so if you liked that song from last month’s list, make sure you check this one out.

The song starts off with a nice, peaceful lull — it feels reminiscent of the fall woods to me, personally. But then about halfway through the song, the tempo shifts abruptly to an absolutely incredible poetry-slam-style spoken verse section which is, in my opinion, the coolest part of the song. It ends satisfyingly, but man… that spoken verse.

This song is off their 2019 album, The Spell, and I am very eagerly waiting for more from this trio. At least there is this album and its predecessor, 2016’s This is the Sound, so if you like this, between their own work and Eluveitie’s back catalog, there’s plenty here to listen to.

I’m Always Walking as Somebody Else — American Murder Song

Technically, I already wrote about these guys in January — but Halloween is the perfect time to toss them another mention, and this is perhaps the perfect song with which to do it. This is the song the algorithm presented to me which got me into this group — and, realistically, which got me into Southern Gothic as a whole genre.

The counting at the start sets the mood, while the dueling vocalists trade stanzas back and forth, building the mood and the scene. Fun fact, if you listen carefully to the backing arrangement, you can hear what I believe is a tuba — an instrument that I hear show up very rarely, but does a great job here.

Build Momma a Coffin — Blood on the Harp

For as much as American Murder Song helped me get into Southern Gothic, realistically, I can’t talk about that without name-dropping the horror anthology podcast, Old Gods of Appalachia, which set the stage. In fact, I encountered American Murder Song while trying to find some of the music from the podcast.

This song is one of those, from one of my personal favorite stories that they’ve told so far. If you like creepy Appalachian-fueled tales — and I mean, look where we live, who doesn’t love that — definitely check out Old Gods. And even if you don’t want to dedicate the time and energy to listen to the podcast, much of the music from it can be excellent for Halloween festivities.

Pale, Pale Moon — Sinners OST

What a movie “Sinners” was. There’s a lot to talk about there, of course — but I want to talk specifically about the music from the movie. The soundtracks are absolutely fantastic, with this song serving as my pick for the best October song among them.

The driving, percussive beat does a lot of work in this song with holding your attention, but then while your attention is held, it can have a lot of fun both with the soaring jabs of vocal work and also the backing swamp sounds, with frogs and bats lurking amidst the tune. For as much as there is to discuss about “Sinners,” the soundtrack is filled to the brim with just as much depth. The more you listen to these songs, the more you get out of them as you notice more and more details.

The Necromancer — Carach Angren

Alright, so there’s some caveats with this one. Unless you’re very accomplished at listening to black metal, you’re going to want to have the lyrics in front of you, either online as text or in a lyric video format. Usually, I’m of the opinion that lyrics don’t matter that much with most black metal — the wails, shrieks and screams are more for the vibe than to be actually understood.

Carach Angren, however, specializes in cinematic horror styled black metal, and their lyrical work is at times cheesy (and funny) and at other times actually very strong. The Necromancer is, in my estimation, one of their best songs, and when Carach Angren is firing on all cylinders, they are ridiculously good.

This song is off a concept album about Dr. Frankenstein (and his monster), and this song itself is from the perspective of Frankenstein as he is assembling his monster — and bringing it to life. The last third of this song is breathtaking. From the interjections of “it’s alive!” while the character describes his actions to the backing vocals chanting “live, live,” throughout the final chorus… pure art.

Horror Code — Profane Burial

Normally, I don’t like to do two metal songs for the same month. However, this is the only month where I would reference these guys, and it draws a great comparison to Carach Angren above, so now seems like a good time. This song is a great example of how the lyrics for black metal very rarely matter.

I actually like how the intelligibility of the lyrics in this song end up working out — I have no idea if it’s intentional or not, but the most impactful lyrics are far more clearly articulated than most of the song. “Who closed the gate behind me,” to be followed swiftly by subtle hints of operatic wailing in the background, is a great example around the one-third mark.

I also appreciate the sporadic bursts of instrumentation. This song does a great job of baiting you into thinking it’s just a wall of metallic sound, and then it will suddenly crescendo into a triumph of horns or pause altogether and give you a few moments of peace in the middle of the tempest. Near the end of the song, a piano cascades into one of those pauses, which itself builds to an enormous orchestral swell in one of the grandest moments of the song.

Contrasting this song with The Necromancer is fun because for as strong as the theming and lyrics are in that song, Horror Code is — in my opinion — a more interesting piece of music to listen to. But, when it comes to October, The Necromancer’s themeing easily wins out and it receives far more plays on my speakers and headphones than Horror Code does. Something to consider, if you’ve stuck with me this long, is not just what you like about a song…but why, and why that is significant to you. It may draw you to some interesting conclusions!

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Arianna McKee is design editor for The Express.