The Madness of Glass Hammer

The horror!  The horror!

Ok, it’s not yet the Feast of St. Valentine, so I won’t go into complete terror.

If you have a moment and if you (in the U.S. at least) possess $.99, there’s little better you can do with that money than purchase Glass Hammer’s latest single, “Cool Air.”

It’s their only contribution to a project exploring–through prog–the stories of H.P. Lovecraft.  It’s cleverly subtitled “A Synphonic Collection.”  Here’s the link at amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Cool-Air/dp/B00ASHC30A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1359585412&sr=8-1&keywords=glass+hammer+cool+air

Considering the typical Glass Hammer themes of nobility, whimsy (Steve and Fred can be hilarious), and struggle, the lyrics to “Cool Air” are a bit shocking.  I can’t quite piece the whole story together, but I think it’s about a man who tries to use science (and some kind of gnostic magic) to preserve and extend his life.  He, of course, fails, and the story of the song seems to take place 18 years after his death.

The horror, indeed.

The song has everything: brilliant Glass Hammer music; narration; and creepy lyrics.

I doubt if I’ll listen to the song over and over again, as I do with other Glass Hammer songs and albums, but only because I don’t think I want all of the lyrics running around my head or soul.  Still, it is pretty great, if unusual.