For those among you who might not yet know, Wes Craven has sadly passed on it was announced this morning. Dying at the age of 76 we can all take comfort in the fact that the man well and truly lived his life, though after death there is still life. In the shape of his absolutely archetypal films his memory will forever live on. Making some of the most Metal movies and being one of the heroes of horror we thought that we would make a quick list of five Metal songs to do with the classic concept, dreams.
First exhibited in Craven’s incredible A Nightmare On Elm Street, Immortally personified by Robert Englund the man brought one of Horror’s most charismatic, tongue in cheek and downright terrifying villains to life, Freddy Kruger.
Death – See Through Dreams
Though the theme of the song might be on a more cosmic theme the classic Human track is to this day one of the classics of Death Metal. Detailing the incredibly abstract concept of dreams itself is an incredibly hard task, used to create metaphors often shrouded in subliminal meaning much of the same was done in Craven’s Nightmare.
Carach Angren – The Sighting Is A Portent of Doom
Another characteristic of the dream state among others is the ideas of a false perception of reality. Causing the dreamer to question whether or not what he or she had experienced had actually happened. This later affects our protagonists when they abstain from sleep in order to be free from Freddy’s clutches, yet one by one their visual dementia takes a hold on them leading to their untimely demise.
Suffocation – Dismal Dream
Yet another aspect of the nightmare come dream world is landscape. With your mind in full control the dreamscape is able to be changed in just a second. Summoning all sorts of different backdrops for what may sometimes begin as a dream but can drastically change at a mere moments notice changing your tranquil state into that of absolute terror morphing yr state of safety into a Nightmare. Yet another element that Kruger has on lock down.
Nile – To Dream Of Ur
Among others the track might be a slightly slower affair than what we are used to but the sense of mance that is felt throughout it, particularly when the haunting trumpets chime in echo the ideas that dreams can in fact become incredibly sinister. Similar to the excellent film the song brings a sense of true terror. Similar to some of the scariest moments in horror history from all sorts of places you might feel safe, that bathtub scene anyone?
Cannibal Corpse – Shredded Humans
Not particularly to do with the idea of dreams but nevertheless Cannibal Corpses‘ “Shredded Humans” pretty much sums up what many of the fates of Craven’s protagonists suffered. Particularly a certain young megastar who I believe was his frost feature length film, what a way to go!
A sad day for any fan of the macabre today that demands that either The People Under The Stairs, The Hills Have Eyes, Scream or A Nightmare On Elm Street be watched!
