John Carpenter Announces New Graphic Novel With Companion Heavy Metal Album

Horror icon John Carpenter has announced his first-ever graphic novel and companion album, Cathedral.

Carpenter originally announced the graphic novel back in March and is now sharing that the album will make it a more immersive experience. Although the narrative is true to Carpenter’s horror roots, Cathedral will be a heavy metal album, and he shared the first listen with the track “Lord of the Underground” and an accompanying animated video. Carpenter first previewed the song at live shows in the fall of 2025.

The story of Cathedral was inspired by “a nightmare he could not shake” in 2024, which is set around an abandoned cathedral in Los Angeles that’s the site of the gruesome murder of a police officer. The investigation leads police into the cathedral’s catacombs and the evil lurking within. Each track of the album corresponds with a chapter of the book, and the album’s liner notes will guide listeners through the narrative. Carpenter originally envisioned the project as a movie, but felt it would be too expensive to make.

Carpenter Is Best Known for Directing and Scoring Horror Movies

“This is somewhat different sounding stuff that we’ve done, but it’s done with the same desire in mind,” Carpenter said in a statement. “In other words, put this thing on and imagine you’re watching a movie. That’s what we want you to do.”

Carpenter collaborated on the album with his son Cody Carpenter, who played the synthesizer, and godson and longtime bandmate Daniel Davies, who played guitar. The three most recently worked together on Carpenter’s Lost Themes album series. Carpenter co-wrote the graphic novel with his wife, producer Sandy King, and writer Sean Sobczak.

“The story informed everything,” Davies said. “John would describe a scene and say, ‘We need a heavy riff here.’ We didn’t set out to make a metal record, but it evolved that way.”

The graphic novel will be released Aug. 4 via Storm King Comics, an imprint dedicated to horror he and King launched in 2012. The album will follow on Aug. 7 via Sacred Bone Records and is currently available to both pre-order and pre-save on streaming platforms. It is available on both deep blue and amethyst vinyl.