Probably very few people have ever thought of what is depicted on the cover of the Dreadful Shadows’ debut album “Estrangement” (1994). To my mind, all the details have their meaning, and the cover design cannot be detached from the general concept of the album. Some idea can be just as well conveyed to a listener through a graphic image.

The cover raised a lively discussion, and various suppositions appeared. As a culture expert, I could not stay indifferent to this subject, and I tried to formulate the meaning of the symbols. It is just a guess, and I cannot be sure if they are true. I am not going to beat about the bush, so I will go on straight with the analysis.

To begin with, I draw your attention to the human figure. Who is portrayed there: a monk or a warlock? I am inclined to choose the first variant, as I cannot find any attributes showing that the figure has something to do with black magic. If it were a real warlock, there would be a black poodle near him instead of a cat. An inverted cross does not indicate that the person is occupied with occultism, alchemy or Satanism, because it is an ordinary cross (in the Roman Catholic tradition), called also St. Peter’s cross. Peter was crucified on an inverted cross on his own request, because he thought he did not deserve to die like Jesus Christ. An inverted cross is used as a symbol of obedience and humility, but it has become notorious recently because of pseudo-Satanism. Besides, there are religious references in the lyrics (e.g. Her Devotion: “I remember I was standing on a deep blue sea”), again it does not let us interpret this image in a dark way.

So, my version is that it is the monk depicted in the cover (it is a symbol of his voluntary renunciation of worldly life; estrangement means “alienation”). But, judging by his garment, we see a monk-inquisitor. One can interpret this image as a symbol of power, because inquisitors were free to dispose of human lives the way they wanted to. To make my interpretation clear, I will quote Resurrection, the first track on the album:

By the Holy Resurrection and by the torments of damnation
I raise you and I command thy, ghost of the deceased,
To answer my call
And to follow these holy ceremonies
That thy will not be distressed by eternal torture.
Praise, Praise!
So I demand, so I command thy.

But on the other hand, a human figure may just as well be a Templar, not an inquisitor. This idea is suggested by the presence of a nearby cat. It’s a well-known fact that the Inquisition accused this Order of various sins, and one of them was the veneration of a certain cat, which was present at their meetings. So I proceed directly to the image of a cat.

The cat is not black, so there is no reference to anything magical. In the ancient world cats were associated with the cult of the sun (except the black cat Bast, the personification of the moon), and were seen as a symbol of power (that is why I was initially inclined to the image of an Inquisitor.) A red cat was a symbol of Ra, who was also called “the great Cat”. In the ancient Egyptian language the words “cat” and “seeing” had the same root. In China it was believed that cats were able to banish evil spirits. Scandinavians believed these animals to be the embodiment of beauty (one can remember the goddess Freya, whose carriage was drawn by cats). But Celts saw them as a chthonic personification of strength; they used cats as a symbol of a funeral and even sacrificed them.

As far as the arch is concerned, it is undoubtedly decorated as the entrance portal, but in another picture we can see that it is a mirror. Such mirror frames were common in the Baroque era. That time people’s way of thinking combined rationalism and mysticism; the pursuit of scientific knowledge often had something mystical within. Mirrors of that time acquired a special meaning; they were regarded as a door between the worlds. Mirrors in the castles were usually mounted opposite each other, and they were huge – from the floor up to the ceiling – and were decorated by the input window or an arch. In this regard, the cat is not just a witness to an event, it is the conductor. The fact that the mirror is a symbol of transition from a measurement or state to another is confirmed by the lines from “Through the Mirror”:

If you want to find me
Look for me at the other side of the mirror.

Amenable to treatment of the most difficult to image the young man in the mirror. If you connect him with the cover, it turns out that the monk is on the other side of the mirror. Can this be regarded as a true reflection of the young man or as a result of the transition?

The last page of the booklet is even more confusing. There are a body lying on the other side of the mirror and a cat looking at it. Does it mean that the movement has ruined the young man? It is possible, because on the other side we saw a monk – a symbol of a voluntary renunciation. Perhaps this was a complete renunciation of life (We can remember the lines from the “Funeral Procession”: “I don’t feel well ‘cos it’s me who died … ”). Perhaps the transition (if the monk is regarded as an inquisitor, and not as a Templar), revealed a dark ulterior motives, and they played a fatal role for the boy?

Now let’s turn to the artwork of the compact disc. First of all, the eye catches an image of the Hatter. He refers to the mysterious world through the mirror (not superfluous to recall that this character proposed an unsolvable riddle, and it is definitely links him with Sven Friedrich, whose lyrics are quite difficult for understanding). Historically real hatters suffered from mercury poisoning, causing symptoms such as extreme pallor, confusion of speech, vision distortion, uncertainty, anxiety, desire to be alone (hence the expression “mad as a hatter”) and it led them to early death. Therefore the image is gothic enough. But we have come across another opinion why there is a picture of the Hatter on the CD and also on the cassette. There is an astrological quotation, which says: “Communicating with people of the Gemini sign resembles being a guest of the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland”. We know that Mr. Friedrich is Gemini as well, so he might associate himself with this character.

The pentagram is not contrary to the accepted version of a monk (Inquisitor or Templar), because it is the guarding symbol which is known since ancient times. In Babylon, it symbolized the power of the ruler, which extends to all corners of the world (this is common with “Resurrection” already quoted above). In addition, the pentagram proves once again that this is not a warlock, because it symbolizes sacred Pentateuch. For early Christians, the pentagram was a reminder of the five wounds of Christ on the crown of thorns on his brow and of the nails in his hands and feet. But it will be better to perceive it as a talisman of the Gnostics, a symbol of intellectual power. And once again come up the Templars, for whom the five star’s sharp ends symbolized the five knightly virtues: generosity, courtesy, chastity, courage and piety. We should not also forget that the pentagram was a symbol of fertility and feminine. Only in the era of the Inquisition the value was distorted.

The skull creates a contrast with this symbol, because it personifies the frailty of all things, but in the Christian and Masonic traditions, where the interpretation is broader, it symbolizes the salvation and liberation from death.

So, let’s summarize. “Estrangement” is replete with symbols of power and constantly refers to the fact that this power is given above. But it is not given for free; you should pay for it with your life. The power involves bodily or spiritual death.

After all, I have tried not to create some concept but to analyze the images, because it will help to simplify the symbolic value in subsequent discussions.