The Great Old Ones Unveil Kadath: A Journey into Lovecraft’s Dreamlands
French atmospheric black metal architects The Great Old Ones have returned with their fifth full-length album, Kadath, released through Season of Mist. This album marks a bold departure from their prior explorations of the oceanic horrors within the Cthulhu mythos, embarking instead into the ethereal and enigmatic dreamlands of H.P. Lovecraft’s The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath. The band follows the odyssey of Randolph Carter, a recurring Lovecraftian protagonist, as he navigates a twilight realm filled with capricious gods, monstrous entities, and the haunting allure of a city just out of reach. Through seven expansive tracks, Kadath weaves a tapestry of longing, determination, and existential dread, blurring the lines between fantasy and terror while showcasing a masterclass in immersive storytelling.
Recorded at Studio Sainte-Marthe in Paris under the meticulous guidance of producer Francis Caste, Kadath is a sonic alchemy of grandeur and intimacy. The album’s production amplifies its mythic scope, featuring Benjamin Guerry’s harrowing vocals and guitars, Aurélien Edouard and Alexandre Rouleau’s intricate riff craft, Gregory Vouillat’s seismic basslines, and Julian Deana’s thunderous drumming coming together to create a work of profound emotional resonance. The band’s signature post-black metal foundations remain intact, but Kadath introduces warmer textures and increased dynamism, reflecting the Dreamlands’ surreal duality of beauty and menace.
Since their formation in 2009 in Bordeaux—a city rich in mystery like the tales that inspire them—The Great Old Ones have established themselves as Lovecraftian sonic scholars. Their ascent through the metal underground has been marked by milestones such as their 2016 concert film, The Call of Cthulhu, acclaimed performances at Roadburn and Hellfest, and shows alongside Behemoth, Shining, and Der Weg Einer Freiheit. Yet, Kadath feels like a culmination—a testament to their evolution from cult storytellers to architects of aural epics.
The band’s lineup has developed a chemistry that balances technical precision with raw, emotive force. Kadath channels this into a journey that is both vast and deeply personal, guided by Polish artist Jakub Rebelka’s cover art, which captures the album’s themes of dark wonder in a single, striking image. In the interview below, Benjamin Guerry discusses the influence of Lovecraft’s The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath on the album’s tonal shift, navigating Lovecraft’s controversial legacy while honoring his literary genius, and more.
J. Donovan Malley (FMP): How did you initially come across H.P. Lovecraft, and what aspects of his writing struck a chord with you and inspired your music?
Benjamin Guerry: I started when I was a kid, when I played role-playing games, like many people. I was particularly passionate about The Call of Cthulhu when I was about thirteen. Initially, I didn’t know Lovecraft, but I came across his stories through the game. I wanted to know the writer who had inspired the game. From that moment, I started reading all the Lovecraft books I could find, and I fell in love with them. The feeling of discovering forbidden knowledge, a whole cosmogony, linked to a rather nihilistic feeling, really resonated with me.
About music, Lovecraft’s writings can be set to music in many ways. We can focus on the horror side, the entities, but also the places, the atmospheres, or even the emotions of the protagonist of each story. So ultimately, each person puts a part of their own imagination when they use the author’s universe in their art. The way we draw inspiration from Lovecraft’s work is therefore our own vision and interpretation. It is very focused on atmosphere and emotions, and not only on the dark and creepy side. This is all the more true with Kadath, so the short story contains, by its subject, more light than usual.
FMP: How did your work on The Call of Cthulhu concert film, which allowed the band to explore new sonic and compositional territories, influence the creation of this new album? Were there particular elements or techniques from that experience that were carried over?
Guerry: The concert film was really a unique experience. But it’s a totally different exercise from composing an album. For the concert, we really wanted to create an original soundtrack that would fit perfectly with the images. So we were free without really being free. For the composition of Kadath, we were able to make our own mental projections of the short story The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath. But perhaps a long piece like “Leng” could have been influenced by the instrumental nature of the concert film.
FMP: The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath stands apart from Lovecraft’s other works, such as The Call of Cthulhu. The story offers a unique blend of both violent and breathtakingly beautiful imagery. How did this influence the music on the album, particularly regarding tone and atmosphere, or structure?
Guerry: You have perfectly captured the difference between Kadath and our previous albums, just like the difference between the Dream Cycle and the Cthulhu mythos. The music remains pure The Great Old Ones of course, but with a more epic mood. As explained above, this is really due to the story addressed. We had to offer songs that call for a journey different from the other albums.
Moreover, each time we released a new album, it was in line with its concept. Cosmicism, both in its composition and in its production, was placed in a cold and infinite cosmos, Tekeli-li in the icy mountains of Antarctica, etc. Here, the whole had to be varied, warm, sometimes dark, and desperate in order to follow the emotions that were also varied of the protagonist. The landscapes are also of capital importance. They are brighter than in other Lovecraft stories, and this is felt in the music.
FMP: Lovecraft’s fascination with the cosmos, the abyss, and the incomprehensibly vast is a recurring theme in his works. How have these themes inspired or shaped the music and lyrics on this album?
Guerry: Indeed, this fascination and fear of the unknown greatly influenced Lovecraft’s work. This is also what we find in his literary philosophy, cosmicism, the common thread of our previous album of the same name. We are nothing on the scale of the cosmos. And, like him, when we consider the subject, we feel the immensity of the universe, which is dizzying.
But it is quite different in the Dream Cycle, and it is also another mysterious aspect of the human psyche. The dream is an opening to all possibilities, without limits and without barriers. As explained previously, this resulted in an album without limits, with very varied emotions and situations. So to answer your question, the notion of mystery and fear pushes us to create music that touches on the unreal, on mystery, with particular attention to atmosphere.
FMP: As an underground metal band from Europe, what frustrations or obstacles have you encountered while touring in the United States? Do you have any plans to tour in support of this album in 2025? If so, what can fans anticipate from the live performances?
Guerry: Of course, the main obstacle is money. Touring the USA is very expensive, both in terms of travel and visa costs. We would really like to be able to come and present our music live and share our passion with you. I hope we will have the opportunity to do so because we know that some American listeners are very eager to see us live. Our show brings a different dimension to our music, a greater power, and is conducive to an inner journey.
FMP: The album cover is striking and appears to connect with the themes of the music. Could you share the creative process behind the artwork and how it enhances the album’s concept?
Guerry: I discovered Jakub Rebelka’s work through a comic about Lovecraft (The Last Day of Howard Phillips Lovecraft). I was so impressed by his work that I immediately wanted to work with him. He’s a huge fan of the author, with a deep understanding of his work. He therefore had a great deal of freedom in developing Kadath’s cover art. The only recommendations we gave him were that it be epic, dark, and yet warm, and that we feel the urge to enter the world of the Dreamlands. And we’re very proud of the result.
FMP: The album appears to adopt a heavier approach compared to your earlier works, leaning less towards post-black metal and more towards pure BLACK METAL. Was this a deliberate shift, and how does it reflect the themes or narratives you’re exploring, especially in relation to The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath?
Guerry: Nothing is deliberate in our composition process. Everything was done instinctively, based on the book obviously. However, I don’t necessarily have the impression that all the “post” elements have disappeared. They are just better integrated, better digested. I think that for some time now we have really had our identity, a style apart. But as I said, this is also linked to the story, so Kadath is inspired. The epic aspect was pushed by the fact that this time we adapted a story close to Fantasy. The next album will certainly be different, the future will tell!
FMP: Lovecraft’s political views, especially as expressed in his 1933 essay "Some Repetitions on the Times," are often seen as reactionary, oligarchical, and fundamentally racist. How hard has it been for the band to distinguish the art from the artist concerning these issues?
Guerry: Lovecraft is a complex character, and we realize this when we read his biography, I Am Providence, by S.T. Joshi. Obviously, some aspects of his personality are not very attractive. His racism, his view of societal change, and his feeling that the world is collapsing because of multiculturalism are thoughts that are not in line with our way of seeing things. However, this has nourished his work in a way, and we must study things to understand them. At the end of his life, he had evolved in certain aspects, thanks to his exchanges with other authors. I like to hope that if he had lived longer, he would have continued to evolve. I don’t think we can completely separate his life from his work. We must criticize him so that we are able to concentrate on his work.
With Kadath, The Great Old Ones have created a magnum opus that transcends their already impressive legacy. By shifting their focus from Lovecraft’s abyssal horrors to the kaleidoscopic Dreamlands, the band has unlocked new dimensions of emotional and sonic depth. Tracks like “Leng” and the opening piece “Me, The Dreamer” balance ferocity with introspection, weaving melodic grandeur and blackened intensity into a narrative that feels both ancient and urgent. This is not just an album but an odyssey—one that invites listeners to lose themselves in its labyrinthine soundscapes and emerge transformed. The band’s growth is palpable: Kadath showcases a refined mastery of atmosphere, a willingness to embrace warmth and light without sacrificing their signature darkness, and a collaborative spirit epitomized by Jakub Rebelka’s evocative artwork. By confronting Lovecraft’s problematic legacy head-on, The Great Old Ones also demonstrate that reverence need not exclude critical thought. As they stand on the precipice of broader recognition, Kadath solidifies their place as not just interpreters of myth, but as mythmakers themselves—a band unafraid to gaze into the void and channel its whispers into something transcendent.
