Kyron : Ascending Plume Of Faces

Another stunning album from the always forward-thinking label Library Of The Occult is the recently released Ascending Plume Of Faces by Kyron. In some respects it seems to reside in the same sonic world that LOTO is known for; mysterious, subtle, moody, and engrossing sounds. But Kyron also sounds wholly their own thing; electronics coalesce […]

Missionary Work : The Ash tree

There’s something stately and haunting about Missionary Work’s new album The Ash Tree. Renato Montenegro has built an ornate castle of sound that is part parlor music, baroque Gothic, and classical music from beyond the grave. Music to accompany M.R. James’ tale of the same name, the harpsichord melodies intertwine with haunting synth and regal […]

Missionary Work Returns With ‘The Ash Tree’, Out 10/1; Listen To “Thou Shalt Seek Me in the Morning…”

Library Of The Occult returns 10/1 with a gorgeous slice of baroque horror in Missionary Work’s haunting new album The Ash Tree, a musical companion to M.R. James’ tale of the same name. Witches, hangings, trees, and things that go scratch in the night are at the heart of James’ tale. Missionary Work gives us […]

The Unseen : The Goatman

The latest release from Tom McDowell’s Library Of The Occult label is a “lost soundtrack” of sorts, this time from the band The Unseen(Klaus Morlock). Locking into a mixture of late 60s psychedelia, Gothic ambient, and just enough of those things that go bump in the night, The Goatman sounds otherworldly and aged like a […]

Dream Division : Legend of Lizard Lake

The latest release from record label Library of the Occult is from none other than Dream Division, aka Tom McDowell. McDowell locks into the mystical quest of Legend of Lizard Lake, a Gothic and candle-lit ode to the ‘Choose Your Own Adventure‘ series of books and games that, for me, were the highlight of my […]

Get Lost In Ivan The Tolerable’s “Gold Hat”; ‘White Tears’ Out 4/2

Man, leave it to Tom McDowell and his Library of the Occult record label to lay some serious musical mojo on my brain. McDowell, in less than a year, has turned his label into a musical breeding ground of dark synth and forward-thinking musical escapades. Records that run the gamut from haunted drones to psych […]

Drew Mulholland : Messer’s Circulating Library

Drew Mulholland’s Messer’s Circulating Library, the latest release from Tom McDowell’s Library of the Occult record label, is quite unlike anything that’s come from the label. Melodic-driven songs are replaced by winding, drone-driven long form works that sound and feel more like traveling through dimensions and realities. Industrial swirls and resonating machinations give the impression […]

The Heartwood Institute : Witchcraft Murders

The Heartwood Institute is quite the Gothic and haunted musical world. I’m new to Jonathan Sharp’s musical project, but I’m quickly becoming obsessed. It’s a mix of vintage and modern sounds, like a childhood dream replayed with modern equipment. The fidelity is sharp, but the intention is still opaque and drifting towards morose. Listening to […]

The Heartwood Institute Returns With ‘Witchcraft Murders’; Listen To “Who Put Bella Down The Wych Elm?”

There were a series of brutal murders that took place in the English countryside back in the early 1940s. A man impaled on his own pitchfork, the remains of a woman found stuffed inside a tree, and clues that led to the possibility these murders were witchcraft-related. What became known as The Lower Quinton & […]

Occult of Personality : Tom McDowell’s Library of the Occult

In a year of no concerts, quarantine, isolation, and Zoom meetings being the closest thing to getting together, it seems as though this may not have been the best time to start your own record label. Tom McDowell begs to differ. McDowell makes music under the name Dream Division, and has released several albums and […]