Darkness descends, floating upon strings stroked by the grim reaper himself. What could be the sound of tortured crows emanates throughout with a regularity you plead to cease, though when they inevitably do, a sense of even more disconnect invites them back to provide an uneasy comfort. More haunted than haunting. Solemnity dominates.

The pain so evident it makes you want to sob, to offer whatever empty words you can muster. They will never heal though, as nothing can ever reverse this ultimate loss.

It’s all laid bare for the world to see, to share in the mourning, yet dreading every new morning, another day to be endured, not celebrated. Jesus Alone cannot save anyone, and where he has always failed, Cave has succeeded. If he wanted us to feel and share his pain, there can be no question that we do. These words are witness.

The new album from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds promises to be the darkest hour of a dark life, a life of work now punctuated by a too real darkness that surpasses any of the places Cave has taken us before. Like children standing at the entrance to a carnival ghost train, we look in with trepidation and rather than retreat, take the final step off the platform, from where we can’t return, perhaps not wanting to.

The film One More Time With Feeling premieres on September 8, and Skeleton Tree is released the following day. The demons are already free.

*Since this article was written I’ve come to discover many disturbing things about Cave, their cohorts and practices. I can no longer listen to their music, and the knowledge of how these people and the wider entertainment industry operates has sickened me to the core. It’s very saddening to realise our heroes are scum.