John Carpenter and his longtime bandmates, Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies, are gearing up to debut the second track from “Cathedral,” the companion album to Carpenter’s highly anticipated, first-ever graphic novel of the same name. The track, titled “The Ferryman,” arrives on June 30, 2026, alongside an accompanying visualizer featuring previously unreleased artwork.
“Cathedral” marks Carpenter’s return to the realm of audio-visual narrative storytelling. The graphic novel is slated to arrive on August 4 via Storm King Comics, with the companion album dropping just days later on August 7 via Sacred Bones Records.
Inspired by a vividly cinematic dream Carpenter had in 2024, the Cathedral storyline centers on an abandoned church in downtown Los Angeles that becomes the site of a waking nightmare. After the killing of a police officer draws attention to the long-ignored structure, Lieutenant Christine Marks and detectives Paul Hernandez and Steve Mayfield are pulled into an investigation that leads them deep into the catacombs—and toward a centuries-old evil imprisoned within.
“It was so cinematic and vivid,” Carpenter says of the dream that sparked the project. “I thought, ‘I have to score this.’ It’s kind of our first heavy metal album.”
Because of this unique setup, “Cathedral” functions as both a traditional soundtrack and a narrative engine. Each track directly aligns with a specific chapter of the graphic novel, and the liner notes are designed to guide listeners through the pages. The result is a story that unfurls like a film, offering the closest approximation to a new John Carpenter movie since 2010.
Rich with River Styx iconography, the upcoming single “The Ferryman” scores a pivotal scene where characters encounter a subterranean entity.
“The story informed everything,” says Daniel Davies of the writing process. “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. I like [‘The Ferryman’] because it really seems to feature all three of us in a special way. It has interesting harmonies that Cody put together and John’s signature pad-style string parts. It’s more of an electronic metal track in a way, but we just wanted to make it as heavy and driving as possible.”
Fans can pre-save “The Ferryman” on all major digital music platforms now. The accompanying visualizer is scheduled to premiere on YouTube on Tuesday, June 30.
