Halloween Music Recommendations

For Halloween, there are so many movies to watch to get into the spirit of the season, as well as books to read, and, of course, music to listen to.  I already wrote a bit about Denial of God's most recent album, The Hallow Mass in my post about the book, The Reel Ghoul, so here are a few more that I think really capture the spirit of Halloween.

Acid Witch: Evil Sound Screamers


This is the third full-length album by Acid Witch, a band that has referred to its own music as "Halloween metal".  That makes Acid Witch a natural choice for Halloween music.  The lyrics often incorporate horror movie themes and Halloween.  There is also some of the stoner doom kind of stuff, which initially put me off from the band, but then I heard some of the band's music and was able to look past the stoner stuff, which I have never really been a fan of.  Evil Sound Screamers, to me, seems to be the most Halloween-oriented album thus far.  Though still present, the stoner element is a bit more downplayed and the Halloween elements are more consistently present on the album.  The band even incorporated samples from an old Halloween safety film in various part of the album.  Then there are songs like "Mr. Beistle", which is about the Beistle company which became famous for Halloween decorations in the early 20th century.  The songs are catchy and the mood is dark, morbid, but also fun.  That is a key element-- there is a sense of humor and that has always been part of Halloween.

Samhain: November-Coming-Fire


Now, I wrote about this album last year, so I won't say much here.  This is simply one of the best albums ever recorded, in my opinion.  The mood and the lyrics really fit the season.  There is also a reworked version of the Misfits song "Halloween II" on the album, which is outstanding.  "November's Fire" and "To Walk the Night" are a couple other songs that especially stand out for Halloween on this one.

John Carpenter: Halloween 


The soundtrack for Halloween is a no-brainer for Halloween.  I have often played this one while carving a jack-o-lantern.  It is a great, if simple, score that is memorable and creepy sounding.  If you don't have this one, go get it and give it a spin for Halloween this year.

Midnight Syndicate: Realm of Shadows


Honestly, most any Midnight Syndicate album is a pretty fitting choice for Halloween, but this is one of the albums I have, as I do not have all of them.  This is also one of the earlier albums, which I think makes it fit the holiday a bit more.  It used to be that when I would go to the Halloween store each year, there would be a display of all these different Midnight Syndicate albums, but they don't seem to pop up as much these days.  It is keyboard-oriented with an orchestral feel and sound and generally is mostly instrumental, although sometimes there is some narration.

Mortician: House by the Cemetery


Of course, if you are really just in the mood for something super heavy and brutal as hell, filled to the brim with horror movie fanaticism, then Mortician is a natural choice.  A long-time favorite band of mine, Mortician is not a band for all, or even most, for that matter.  Any Mortician release is a pretty good choice, but I think House By the Cemetery is a good choice as it is one of the band's best releases and is arguably the band's most "classic" release.  Originally released as a 7" record featuring five songs, this EP was expanded for a CD release, including five more newly-recorded songs (two cover songs and three originals).  The expanded edition was also later released on record by Hell's Headbangers and is an excellent release to pick up, if you can.  Between the brutal musical onslaughts of the band, there are various samples from horror and exploitation films, such as Deranged, Cannibal Apocalypse, The Evil Dead, and naturally, House by the Cemetery.  It ain't subtle, but it isn't trying to be, anyway.

I think that is enough for now.  There are certainly plenty more albums that are an excellent fit for Halloween, so maybe I will do another post like this next year to talk about some of those others.

                            Happy Halloween

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