Franckensteina Strataemontanus | Carach Angren | Story Explained
Here is my interpretation of the story behind Carach Angren’s 2020 album, Franckensteina Strataemontanus.
** What follows is my personal interpretation of the concept based on the lyrics.
The concept is inspired by Mary Shelly’s classic novel: Frankenstein, also known as The Modern Prometheus, (originally) written in 1818. If you haven’t read the book, it’s not exactly what you would expect—it’s more so a character study that focuses on the theme of what it means to play God and what makes a monster. I enjoyed it though, and I suggest you give it a read (it’s very short). In case you’re not familiar with the book, a few things to know is the monster in the story is not Frankenstein. Frankenstein is the name of the doctor who created the monster. The monster is referred to in the book as the daemon.
The story of this concept album actually follows a fictionalized version of the real-life inspiration behind the book. Franckensteina-Strataemontanus refers to Johann Conrad Dippel whose experiments, eccentric behavior, and questionable belief in God led to plenty of rumors that continued long after his death.
Track 1) “Here in German Woodland”
Prologue: A young boy is playing in the forest in Darmstadt, Germany, near Castle Frankenstein. However, when he gets home, he gets very sick and dies.
Track 2) “Scourged Ghoul Undead”
The family has a funeral for the boy. As the family mourns his passing, they begin to have terrible nightmares about the boy. One stormy night, the boy awakes and digs himself from his grave to return home. Upon arrival, this zombified version of the son attacks the mother and begins eating her alive.
Track 3) “Franckensteina Strataemontanus”
This track is about Johann Conrad Dippel—the real-life inspiration behind Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. He was a German man born in 1673 at Castel Frankenstein. He was exceedingly brilliant and studied philosophy, theology, alchemy, and anatomy. In his time he created a number of questionable concoctions and potions that could presumably—among other abilities—exorcise demons.
Another example of this sort of mad scientist eccentricates is he claimed to have discovered the elixir of life. In his pursuit of science and alchemy, he spent plenty of time dissecting animals as part of his many experiments. These dissections, along with his unusual theories and philosophies, inspired many rumors—the most famous of which was that he dabbled in soul-transference where he attempted to transfer the soul from one dead body to another. He was also accused of consorting with the devil, grave robbing, and sorcery.
In this song, we see Dr. Frankenstein (aka Johann Dippel) down in the depths of castle Frankenstein playing God by performing the famous scene of bringing a corpse to life.
Track 4) “The Necromancer”
Here we find Frankenstein preparing the corpse that he is to bring to life. The corpse of course being an amalgam of body parts from different dead bodies. The scene is more evil sorcery than science as we see Dippel has sold his soul to the devil to assure the success of this macabre experiment.
In real life, Dippel was accused of selling his soul to the devil in exchange for discovery of the elixir of life. However, these claims were most likely due to the church amounting his loss of faith in God to satanic intervention.
Track 5) “Sewn for Solitude”
This is from the perspective of the monster. I really think this song and the lyrics closely follow Mary Shelley’s character from the book where the monster is actually sort of a sympathetic character who loathes his existence. The isolation he experiences is what drives him to truly become a monster. The lyric, “Monster to many, friend to none” really exemplifies this character—this creation’s loathsome existence.
Track 6) “Operation Compass”
This song is about a battle against an army of zombies in Egypt. How does this relate to the concept? Well, Johann Dippel created what was known as “Dippel’s Oil” which is this nasty, smelly, black oil derived from animal bones. At the time of creation, Dippel claimed its use for many things including: tanning leather, “relieving the pregnancy pains,” insect repellant, for curing colds and fevers, and as a treatment for epilepsy.
However, this oil was highly toxic and was later used by the British in WWII to poison wells to make the enemy’s water undrinkable. This little historical tidbit was expanded upon with a little fantastical twist where instead of just poisoning the enemy, the oil turned them into zombies.
Track 7) “Monster”
At first listen, you may think this song is about Frankenstein’s monster. However, armed with the source material, a deeper analysis shows the real “monster” is Frankenstein himself. A deranged alchemist who sold his soul to the devil to create an abomination certainly fits the definition of a monster more than the undead creation. It also goes to show that while someone might look scary on the surface, in reality the most devious of monsters are normal looking people who you would never suspect. Much like how serial killers tend to be wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Track 8) “Der Vampir von Nürnberg”
Here we flash forward a few centuries from the 17th century to the 1970’s in Nuremberg, Germany where the writings of Johann Dippel inspired a young man by the name of Kuno Hofmann. Now Kuno Hofmann is a real person, whether he was influenced by Dippel is not based on any evidence, but the story of Kuno Hofmann is true: Deaf and dumb after being beaten by his father, he grew up a troubled child who did time for theft and eventually became obsessed with the occult. He would perform horrific rituals with dead bodies which included necrophilia, drinking the blood of the dead, gnawing on the corpses, and cutting off their heads. Later, in search of fresher blood to drink, he shot and murdered a couple in their car. Because of his blood drinking crimes, he was dubbed “the vampire of Nürnberg.”
Track 9) “Skull with a Forked Tongue”
Here we go back to Frankenstein (or our fictionalized version of Dippel). We dive into his obsession with finding the elixir of life. Here he consults this “skull with a forked tongue” which is how he speaks to the dead—likely in the form of a demon who guides him to commit darker and darker crimes in search for a breakthrough. Until the day he finally finds the right concoction that successfully allows him to live forever!
However, it comes at a price—as all things do. His body begins to rot and fall apart, but he does not die. Forced to live in this monstrous existence forever—unable to move or do anything as he rots away for all eternity.
Track 10) “Like A Conscious Parasite I Roam”
Here Dippel—or the conscious form of him that still exists—comes to regret his dark ambitions that led him to become trapped in his decaying bones, slowly going mad. He begs for redemption—for a chance to do it over again. But unable to do anything, he waits for an opportunity for a new body to steal.
And now we find ourselves back at track one where a young, innocent boy finds himself in German Woodland where the soul of Dippel possesses his body.