Songs of Metal and Flesh
Encyclopædia 0.1

Characters

Audience

They were "the informed and fashionable." The two Cenobites that were summoned by Jason's song ripped them apart and took them to Hell.

Cenobites

Two Cenobites appeared in Jason's dreams and guided him through his musical quest. They were "blue angels singing the songs of metal and flesh, wordless and sublime." The taller Cenobite has an exposed brain, with wires holding the skin to his clothes. His chest is pried open to show his organs. He has spikes coming out of his shoulders and forearms. On his belt, he carries three large butcher knives. The shorter Cenobite has no neck. The bottom of its nose is hidden by his collar; only the top of his head shows. His eyes are sewn shut. When Stephen finally played his piece, they arrived from Hell and took Stephen, Jason, and the mutilated audience to Hell with them.

Deborah

"She sounded sweeter than running water through reeds. She smelled more beautiful than meadows after spring rain. The taste of her shamed honey. Touching her was like pressing your hand to the beaches of heaven." She began sleeping with Jason, while seeing Stephen behind his back. She introduced Jason to sadism while Stephen snuck into Jason's place and rigged his piano. Stephen became famous after Jason's maiming and cheated on Deborah every chance he could. Deborah eventually died of cancer.

Marlowe, Mrs

Jason's mother. She took him to the doctor in 1960. After the doctor told her Jason would never see again, he "comforted" her in her pain.

Marlowe, Jason

A blind musical prodigy. He discovered a love for music at a young age. He performed his own piano concertos for large audiences. He always felt that he was not inventing music, but rather uncovering it's hidden patterns. The more he uncovered, the more he wanted to uncover. He performed a concert on the day he was accepted into the scholarship program at the academy. At the academy, he met Deborah, with whom he slept with. He thought "the sounds of her pleasure were the nearest song could come to those hidden melodies, those mysterious harmonies that I knew circled somewhere between our world and the next." He got even closer to this hidden song when Deborah tied him up and sliced him with a knife. "The mixture of pain, pleasure and secret agendas was the closest [he] got." When he returned home from the experience, he mutilated his fingers on his rigged piano. Stephen had placed razors in-between the keys while he and Deborah were playing. This forced him to drop his concert career. He became a professor of ethno-musicology at the academy and used this position to search for the hidden song. "The Parisian lunatic, Gerard de Nerval... unlocked one door: 'Let us recompose the dissonant scale and we will gain power in the world of spirits.'" Jason decided that he had to move beyond study: "To unlock the puzzle, [he] had to unlock [him]self." He embedded nails and razors in an old door and crawled across it naked. This gave him the insight he needed and he composed his piece. He arranged a concert, and asked Stephen to play the piece. He had the orchestra practice with "related pieces." When Stephen played his song, the gate to Hell was opened. Two Cenobites arrived and took Jason, Stephen, and the entire audience to Hell. In Hell, Jason was made to see, but his senses of touch, smell, taste, hearing, and his ability to move were taken away.

Middleton, Stephen

The second best piano player at the academy. He was sleeping with Deborah behind Jason's back. He was extremely jealous of Jason; "His envious hatred swam in the air around him each time [he and Jason] spoke, despite his friendly words." While Jason and Deborah had sex, he snuck into Jason's apartment and planted razors in-between the keys of his piano. After Jason's maiming, "Stephen got glamour. The tours. The recordings. He betrayed Deborah in every town he performed in." After Jason composed his Hell-song, Stephen was chosen to play it. Upon hitting the first notes of the piece, Hell's chains ripped him to pieces and he was taken to Hell. In Hell, he became an instrument of the Cenobites.

Locations

The Academy

Where Jason furthered his musical training. He was accepted into their scholarship program. The mutilation of his fingers lead him on a path to becoming a professor of ethno-musicology here. He used the academy's libraries to do research for the hidden song.

 

Concert Hall

Where Stephen played Jason's Song and summoned the Cenobites.

Doctor's Office

Where Jason was diagnosed as blind, and where he sensed the doctor's desire for his mother despite his lack of sight.

Things

Ethno-Musicology

The department at the academy in which Jason became a professor.

Piano, Jason's

Stephen secretly planted razors in-between the keys. Jason mutilated the fingers of his right hand when he tried to play the piano.

Related Pieces

Jason made the Orchestra rehearse with these.

Song, Jason's

The result of a decade of research. This song, when played by an orchestra and piano, opens the door to Hell.

Timeline

1960	Jason Marlowe diagnosed blind.
1980	Jason Marlowe gives a concert upon his acceptance into the scholarship program at the academy.   Jason becomes involved with Deborah.   Deborah and Stephen plot behind his back.   Stephen plants razors in Jason's piano.  Jason becomes mutilated.
1980s	Deborah dies of cancer.
1990	Jason solves the puzzle and writes a symphony.  He has Stephen play it.  Jason, Stephen and the entire audience are taken to Hell.

References

Clive Barker's Hellraiser, Book 3: "Songs of Metal and Flesh" by Peter Atkins, Dave Dorman, Lurene Haines & Phil Felix