Now playing - The Caretaker

    

        If you like seriously dark music -- if you're looking for eerie, haunting, melancholy, nostalgic music with more than a little touch of slow-burn creeping dread -- The Caretaker might be the musical artist for you. It's heavy on an entirely different level than you might expect. 

    At first listen, the musical style is that of old 78 records playing distantly in an empty, dusty room. A fair warning, however - this is not easy listening music. This is subtle horror at an almost visceral level. These two albums in particular it might be some of the most emotionally disturbing music you'll ever hear. If you have a deep fear of growing old and dying, and/or if you know someone who has suffered from dementia/Alzheimer's, proceed with caution.

    I recommend starting with the much shorter and more accessible 'An Empty Bliss Beyond This World' to give you an idea of what you're in for. It's more bittersweet than horrifying, but spooky enough that it would be a great accompaniment for a haunted house setting. It feels like the music of old ghosts that still linger around the earthly plane. Other reviews have compared it to a Lynchian dreamscape, or possibly the music of The Backrooms. 

The Caretaker - An Empty Bliss Beyond This World

Purchase on Bandcamp here.

    If you've managed to make it through 'An Empty Bliss Beyond This World'  and want more, much more in that same vein, then move on to 'Everywhere At The End Of Time,' a 6-part, six & a half hour long recording. Each section is described as a 'stage,' as in the progress of a fatal illness.

    'Everywhere At The End Of Time' begins much the same as 'An Empty Bliss'; Stage 1 is more old 78 records, nostalgic and seemingly harmless. In Stage 2, however, a sense of loneliness and dread begins to creep in. And it's a slow descent from there, the feeling of helplessness, gradual dissipation and disappearing from existence. The music becomes more distorted and eerie, echoing like faded memories. 

The Caretaker - Everywhere At The End Of Time - Stages 1-6 (Complete)

Purchase on Bandcamp here.

    Once you get through this one, you might want to get outside for awhile and take a walk in the sunshine. Seriously heavy shit. You've been warned.