December 14, 2020 — John Carpenter is a legendary horror movie director known for classics like Halloween and The Thing, but he is so much more than that. What many do not know about this writer/director/producer is that he is also a composer and is responsible for the iconic music featured in many of his films. Carpenter recently dropped a new track and some exciting news along with it.

The song “The Dead Walk” is classic Carpenter; heavy on the synth with a steady beat that makes you feel like you are being relentlessly pursued. The track is co-written by Carpenter’s music partner Daniel Davies who lends his guitar skills to the song, and Carpenter’s son Cody put in some work on the synthesizer as well. The most exciting news is that the Carpenters and Davies didn’t just collaborate on a single track; there is a whole new album in the works!

In 2015 and 2016, Carpenter released the albums The Lost Themes and The Lost Themes 2, both collections of music that Carpenter says were inspired by his movies. Now, five years since his last endeavor, Carpenter, along with Cody and Davies, is set to release The Lost Themes 3: Alive After Death. The album is scheduled to drop on February 21st, 2021, and although Covid-19 has done a number on release dates this is one scheduled release that seems reliable. The same unfortunately cannot be said for the new Halloween sequel — Halloween Kills, based on Carpenter’s killer Michael Myers, and scored by Carpenter himself — as the pandemic has delayed production by a year.

John Carpenter is a legend in the movie industry, but he does not get the mainstream recognition he deserves for being a musical genius. His music has inspired many artists including Strontium Cop, whose track “Halloween 1984” twists the classic movie theme into something that is somehow even more sinister than the original. With Carpenter’s Halloween Kills score not being released until October 2021, and the full Lost Themes 3 album not coming out until February, we will have to be content with listening to “The Dead Walk” on repeat for a while.