Full Length Review: "H.P. Lovecraft’s I Notturni Di Yuggoth" (Cadabra Records) by Dave Wolff

Full Length: H.P. Lovecraft’s I Notturni Di Yuggoth

Label: Cadabra Records

Format: Vinyl

Release date: September 16, 2019

Just released by Cadabra Records is a collection of poems written by the legendary H.P. Lovecraft. As we know, Lovecraft is a classic American author in the tradition of Washington Ivring, Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelley and Bram Stoker, having published his complete body of horror fiction and weird fiction by the age of forty-six. “The Rats in the Walls,” “The Call of Cthulhu,” “At the Mountains of Madness,” “The Shadow over Innsmouth” and “The Shadow Out of Time” were unlike anything written before his time, influential to contemporary authors but never quite equaled. Cadabra Records is taking the task of preserving his work for the millennial generation of horror fans with extreme care and planning. Millennials who may be familiar with Lovecraft’s fiction will discover he was as gifted at writing verse. The poems featured here were written in the late 1920s, and their imagery would be elaborated upon in “Madness” and “Innsmouth.” Lovecraft’s ability to bring eldritch creatures too horrible to imagine to life is more than convincingly reproduced by stage/screen actor Andrew Leman of the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society. Composer Fabio Frizzi who contributed to the soundtracks of the horror classics “The Beyond” and “City of the Living Dead” and Quentin Tarantino’s grindhouse movie “Kill Bill” delivers acoustic compositions to accompany Leman, ensuring your attention is firmly, unbreakably held. “H.P. Lovecraft’s I Notturni Di Yuggoth” is an anthology you should listen to well past midnight with a single light on close by, as it will produce the same effect as reading a book of his poems in this setting. You might even find yourself looking over your shoulder every now and then, just to see if something is lurking in the dark behind you. Leman and Frizzi work together as if they’re painting a wall mural with every word recited and guitar note played, the acoustic guitars complement each verse creating a fitting mood for the gripping images read to the listener. Frizzi’s interpretations of Leman’s animated narration creates a monumental cinematic panorama inside your mind that’s infinitely better than virtual reality because you’re free to put your imagination to work and explore. The exclusive vinyl release comes with instrumental versions of each track, commissioned artwork by Jeremy Hush, liner notes by Frizzi, an essay by weird fiction scholar S.T. Joshi, a foldout insert and poster. -Dave Wolff

Lineup:

Andrew Leman: Spoken word

Fabio Frizzi: Acoustic guitars

Track list:

1. H.P. Lovecraft - The Book-Pursuit

2. H.P. Lovecraft - Star Winds

3. H.P. Lovecraft - A Memory

4. H.P. Lovecraft - Night-Gaunts

5. H.P. Lovecraft - Nyartathotep

6. H.P. Lovecraft - Azathoth

7. H.P. Lovecraft - St. Toads

8. H.P. Lovecraft - The Familiars

9. H.P. Lovecraft - The Book-Pursuit (instrumental)

10. H.P. Lovecraft - Star Winds (instrumental)

11. H.P. Lovecraft - A Memory (instrumental)

12. H.P. Lovecraft - Night-Gaunts (instrumental)

13. H.P. Lovecraft - Nyartathotep (instrumental)

14. H.P. Lovecraft - Azathoth (instrumental)

15. H.P. Lovecraft - St. Toads (instrumental)

16. H.P. Lovecraft - The Familiars (instrumental)