5 Albums I Want To Be Buried With #22: Culak!

After the captivating, enthralling and spellbinding twenty two minutes that is “Omnivory” from Culak, an amalgamation of Drone, Death, Sludge and Doom Metal with elements of Post-Rock, Shoegaze and Progressive Death Metal, we asked mastermind Christian Culak about 5 albums he wanted to be buried with. A near impossible decision for a mere mortal and a even more so for a veteran of twenty one albums since 2013 who is currently working on the next…

The premise is simple: “Back in ancient Egypt they believed that the items their Kings were buried with would travel with them into the afterlife and so part of the burial ritual would see the mummified bodies surrounded by chariots, gold and more. Fast forward to now. If there were five albums that you’d want buried in the coffin with you to take to the afterlife, what would you choose?”

Foreword from Christian Culak: “Asking a musician to entomb only five albums for eternity may itself take an eternity to decide. But a handful of albums have intertwined with my being upon listening to them in full. Here they are, in order of first listened”

1. “Octavarium” by Dream Theater

“Back in Fall 2008, I was a deathcore kid (14 years old) who skated and played a lot of Rock Band 2. “Panic Attack” was killer, but I knew nothing else of Dream Theater. A year later my friend Martin–in high school band–praised “Octavarium”. I went home, listened through, and suddenly realized I love the music equivalent of a literary epic. Now I mostly nestle in it as nostalgia of my nescient youth.”

2. “Februus” (discs 1 and 2) by Uneven Structure

“Fast-forward to Winter 2011. By now I’m consumed by progressive metal and djent. I found the “Awaken” and “Frost/Hail” Basick Records music videos on YouTube and felt connected to the music unlike anything I’ve heard before. It was a time in my life when I began trying to gain a sense of my place in the universe. I believe my tinnitus began with this album, too. For I would regularly listen to disc 1 as loud as my iPhone 4 would allow through my Skullcandy earbuds. Disc 2’s atmosphere suspended me in my own mind. And it was perfect. 14 years later, this is still my favorite album.”

3. “Silver Tongue” by Light Bearer

“I grew up Catholic. Catholic school, Catholic church, Catholic family. None of it made sense to me, but it was all I knew. By Fall 2012 I was enrolled in college, and Martin–same friend from earlier–had left for the Marines a Catholic and now returned an Asatru Pagan. Fascinated by this new (to me) world of views, frustrated with the world I knew, I began to question everything. Autonomy became my identity. This led me deep into occult philosophy (precursor to my career as an academic philosopher). Around this time, I regularly hung out with a local band called Celladora. I can’t remember who, but one of them shared on Facebook the song “Silver Tongue” off the same titled album. This album solidified and dignified the being I was becoming: philosophical and self-honest”

4. “Olias of Sunhillow” by Jon Anderson

“November 2024, Amanda (my wife) and I visited a local record store. No expectations, just looking. Among a stack of unrelated records, the peculiar art and font of an original 1976 “Olias of Sunhillow” drew me in. No idea who Jon Anderson is. No clue about the music. I opened it, became captivated by the album’s narrative, and bought it immediately. I think that very night I ran through both sides of the vinyl. Take it for exactly what it is, and it is as magical as it is primal. My experience with this album is akin to that of what I have with “Februus”. Every time I listen to it in full, I feel like my body is artfully chiseled off of my soul, so that some inner being can swim in a cosmic ocean.”

5. “Eisenhower” by The Slip

“Christmas 2005, 11 year-old me is gifted Guitar Hero for PlayStation 2. “Even Rats” was a track on it that I always enjoyed. I was also really into The Sims games around that time. Something about the “Even Rats” intro and mid-to-end break reminds me of Sims games’ menu soundtracks. My autism dropped those related episodic memories for a blend of those associations, which makes for pleasant nostalgia. Then in Spring 2025, nearly two decades later, it finally dawns on me to listen to the rest of “Eisenhower”. From beginning to end, I feel my life unfold from childhood through adulthood under a tranquil gaze. Not because of the lyrics. Simply the tones and rhythms of the instruments, vocals, and sound effects do this to me. “Eisenhower” is playing as I write this, and I still feel it.”