The Shadow Out of Time

CADABR-96 2022
4 LP
In undertaking a release of H.P. Lovecraft's The Shadow Out of Time, Cadabra Records shows itself once more to be utterly committed to the audio interpretation of not just the strange, terrifying, or macabre, but also to the author's wide-ranging embrace of the unexpected. The introduction, wherein Nathaniel Wingate Peaslee states that "man must be prepared to accept notions of the cosmos, and of his own place in the seething vortex of time, whose merest mention is paralysing" is explored so thoroughly in The Shadow Out of Time, one feels they have a hidden history of the world by the end of it. 
The story, such as it is, sees Peaslee, journeying through time and space and driven nearly to madness – all things which are standard issue for most Lovecraft tales – but the bulk of The Shadow Out of Time is devoted to Peaslee's observation of the Yithians and their history. It is the most clear and straightforward recitation of facts and descriptions to ever come from the author's pen, and while the cosmic implications are ably conveyed, Peaslee's relating of these details is entirely immersive, thanks once again to the impeccable reading given Lovecraft's words by Andrew Leman.
Leman has read innumerable Lovecraft tales for Cadabra, but The Shadow Out of Time sees him getting to unleash the full width and breadth of his talent. Lovecraft's novella is expansive in its mythos, and sprawling in the implications the details revealed within might spell for the human race, thus allowing the reader to lean into the whole of his talents. Whether it be the breathless excitement of Peaslee's recitation of his time on the world of the Yithians, the calm declamation of Robert Mackenzie's letter, or the utter gibbering madness of the story's end, Leman commits himself utterly to the story.
Chris Bozzone has created a soundscape wherein the music is completely in tune with the tale being related. His music creates an audio environment wherein the listener is at once entranced and simultaneously terrified as to the possibilities offered up. While vast – as needs be for music which must travel across millennia and throughout worlds and amongst people and creatures – it is tied together perfectly. The musical journey of these four long-playing vinyl records sees Bozzone deploy an array of drones, arpeggios, and chimes to craft an all-encompassing musical world to accompany the aeon-hopping tale which it scores.
Thus, by the end of the final side of this set, the listener will find themselves to completely transported to other worlds and times, they might also require “an odd amount of re-education in the use of my hands, legs, and bodily apparatus in general.” Please allow one's self an appropriate amount of time to reconcile the world to which you have returned with the one where you were and – if possible – try not to worry as to whether there are indeed “those shocking Elder Things of the mad winds and daemon pipings” within the “hellish basalt vault” under the Western Australian desert. If you can.
Credits:
Written by H.P. Lovecraft
Artwork by Karmazid
Calligraphy by Josh Yelle
Liner notes by S.T. Joshi
Read by Andrew Leman
Score, liner notes by Chris Bozzone
A		The Shadow Out Of Time, Part 1
B		The Shadow Out Of Time, Part 2
C		The Shadow Out Of Time, Part 3
D		The Shadow Out Of Time, Part 4
E		The Shadow Out Of Time, Part 5
F		The Shadow Out Of Time, Part 6
G		The Shadow Out Of Time, Part 7
H		The Shadow Out Of Time, Part 8
150 gram colored vinyl
8x panel "M Pack" gatefold jacket
24" x 36 promotional poster
The wax mage variant came with a numbered card instead of separate sleeve
Variants:
Grey translucent with white smoke (subscriber variant)
Black
Black swirl over white
Hand poured black & white splatter (40 copies)
Wax mage (25 numbered copies)
Test pressing (25 numbered copies)