#cabal things

A mix of dead languages, sharp strings, and symphonic control issues.

Classical / Romantic-Era (But Only the Bleak Stuff)

• Camille Saint-Saëns – Danse Macabre (Theme music, obviously)

• Gustav Mahler – Kindertotenlieder (Yes, he knows what the title means. That’s the point.)

• Dmitri Shostakovich – String Quartet No. 8 in C minor (A soundtrack for regret and scientific inquiry)

• Johann Sebastian Bach – The Art of Fugue (Cold, brilliant, emotionally void—perfection)

🕯️ Dark Cabaret & Gothic Chamber Music

• Vernian Process or Emilie Autumn on a rare whim—when he’s feeling like he might let his cynicism sing

• Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Red Right Hand (More about tone than lyrics—but oh, how he relates)

• Rasputina – Transylvanian Concubine (If Maeve ever caught him enjoying this, he’d deny it to his grave. Again.)

Vintage Radio & 1920s Jazz

• Cabal enjoys the idea of jazz but only the meticulously arranged stuff—no chaotic improvisation, thank you.

• Django Reinhardt or Benny Goodman, but played on a crackling gramophone while reading autopsy reports.

German Art Songs / Lieder

• Schubert – Der Erlkönig and Wolf – Mörike-Lieder

Because nothing says “emotionally stunted immortal necromancer” like dramatic German poetry set to ominous piano.

Soundtrack / Instrumental for Thought

• Clint Mansell – Lux Aeterna

• Max Richter – On the Nature of Daylight

• Jóhann Jóhannsson – IBM 1401, A User’s Manual

(He finds the combination of melancholy and machine language… oddly soothing.)

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What He Wouldn’t Listen To:

• Anything with repetitive, saccharine lyrics. Pop music would send him into a quiet rage.

• Folk music: Too raw.

• Country: Please.

• Dubstep: “This is what the apocalypse sounds like when no one’s in charge.”

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