At the Threshold of the Underworld: Deep Time, Music, and Ecstatic Truth

The article engages with filmmaker Werner Herzog’s theory of ecstatic truth to explore how music can open a pathway into a reckoning with deep time. Coined by John McPhee, deep time refers to vast geological scales of time. The discussion is focused on Lawrence English and Lea Bertucci’s 2023 experimental ambient album Chthonic. Herzog’s theory of ecstatic truth refers to moments that transcend logic and reason, entering a realm of imagination. “Chthonic” simultaneously refers to the mythological realm of the underworld and the subterranean world studied by geologists. The combination of field recordings and instrumental performances, along with the song titles, album title, and cover image alludes to an imaginative world that blends mythology and geology. This combination creates the conditions for a reckoning with an ecstatic truth about the story of our planet and an imaginative understanding of deep time.