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‘The Bene Gesserit can kill with their voices. That’s what I try to do’: the musicians mining Dune for tunes
Iron Maiden, Fatboy Slim and Grimes have all made music inspired by Frank Herbert’s 1960s sci-fi epic. So what makes ‘Dunecore’ different to other interpretive genres?
Although the book is particularly beloved fodder for 70s and 80s prog musicians, its influence has leached into everything from underground pop to Fatboy Slim’s No 2-charting 2001 hit Weapon of Choice, with successive generations finding new ways to reinterpret Herbert’s images of monstrous sandworms, blue-eyed freedom fighters and superhuman nuns through music. Over a decade after reading the first novel, Harris incorporated the language of Dune into one of his songs, ending Iron Maiden’s 1983 album Piece of Mind with a churning epic inspired by the series’ messianic protagonist Paul Atreides: “He is the Kwizatz Haderach / He is born of Caladan / And will take the Gom Jabbar.” Since Harris wrote To Tame a Land, many more metal musicians have found inspiration in Dune, including legendary stoner outfit Sleep with the 2018 song Giza Butler, and Australian trap-metal MC Zheani, who has referenced the book’s Litany Against Fear prayer.
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