The Living Dead of Film Scores
or: The Lasting Appeal and Influence of Horror Film Soundtracks
There
is no way around it. The soundtracks and scores for films are among the most
powerful pop-cultural rallying points, and have remained so for quite some time.
In many ways they help define generations, while in other cases they transcend
age groups. John Williams' Star Wars theme seems to be the prime example -
Literally anyone knows it right off the bat. Let It Go from 2013’s smash hit Frozen
lingers too, and will in all likelihood be this
generation's Circle of Life (from The Lion King, duh).
The Reign of Kings,
Past and Present
Sure, it may be big-time Hollywood soundtrack
masters like the aforementioned John Williams, or Hans Zimmer, James Horner and
Howard Shore that rack up all the praise on a mainstream basis. After all, who
doesn't know the score to Jaws, Lord of the Rings or Pirates of the Caribbean
off the top of their head? The composer elite of Hollywood has authored some of
the most memorable and epic tunes in history to go with their equally iconic
blockbusters. In a way these songwriters have taken over for classical
composers like Bach or Beethoven in terms of those household melodies that
everybody knows, making songs like You’re the One That I Want from Grease
(1978) this era’s version of Ride of the Valkyries.
But you don't see many bands emulating or aping
the likes of Hans Zimmer. Basically, it is just not feasible for most amateur
musicians to imitate a multi-million dollar production with dozens of
exceptionally talented musicians, producers and composers involved. That
doesn’t lessen the impact these compositions have – far from it. It does mean,
however, that their influence on contemporary music is in all likelihood fairly
limited, aside from the odd album intro or concert intermission.
Where Dark Horrors
Lurk
But then what about the soundtracks to less
popular horror films? In essence these films mirror their soundtracks, usually
being produced with substantially less people and money involved than their
large Hollywood counterparts, being driven instead by the passion of
individuals. Certainly it stands to reason that the vibes of 60s, 70s and 80s
supposed "b-movies" are more easily captured by regular musicians.
Is that all, though? Is it just that the style
is more easily approachable, or could there be some other, more primordial
reason why horror film music has garnered a cult following? When asked about this, Magnus Sellergren – Mastermind of Call Me
Greenhorn and Videogram – commented, “I'd guess it's the suspense it
creates. A lot of people, me included, love to get scared, and horror
soundtracks - at least a good one - enhances that.” Continuing, he said “Fright
is a very primal emotion, so maybe horror music … cuts through the more evolved
parts of our psyche and touches us on an animalistic level, making our response
to it stronger.”
Regarding
the appeal of horror film music, Ustumallagam, vocalist of 30 Silver Coins and
Denial of God – and connoisseur of the finest horror, offers the following
insight, suggesting that the secret lies with the subtle nature of horror and
fear: “The interesting thing about the
music in horror films is actually whether you notice it or not. It's always one
way or the other, I feel.” Carrying on, Ustumallagam too suggest that primal
allure of fright: “Sometimes the music completely melts in with the picture and
you don't pay any conscious attention to it, but it plays with your brain, and
therefore works perfectly.” In relation to more prominent examples like Goblin
or Frizzi, he adds “At other times … the music is really coming alive and in
your face and ‘on top’ of the pictures, but still adding that certain oomph to
the film that is needed.” The soundtracks to fright films are just as much
works of art as any other soundtrack or album. Cutting corners and just going
with some standardised music, to Ustumallagam, is inexcusable: “It seems a bit
like a forgotten art nowadays. Nothing is worse than when someone adds ordinary
pop music or death/black/grind to the soundtrack of a movie.”
 |
| John Carpenter |
Director John Carpenter (known, of course, for The
Thing, Escape from New York, Halloween and many more) took it upon himself to
compose the themes to his films, using a minimal amount of equipment and ending
up with eerily simplistic but incredibly powerful scores. From the stalking,
3-tone piece for Halloween, to the award-winning score to Vampires, he has
composed his share of great music. He has even begun releasing music unrelated
to his films, but in the same dark synth style. Other honourable mentions
include the Italian progressive rock band Goblin, fronted by Claudio Simonetti
to this day, who are well known for their frequent collaborations with
legendary Italian giallo director Dario Argento, and especially their main
theme for the 1977 film Suspiria. Another must-mention is Fabio Frizzi, whose
slow rhythms are mostly known through Italian gore-maestro Lucio Fulci's films
like Zombi 2 and The Beyond. The list goes on with the involvement of Keith
Emerson from Emerson, Lake & Palmer fame, who composed the soundtracks for
films such as Dario Argento’s Inferno and co-wrote and performed parts of the
soundtrack for the occult horror film The Church.
 |
| An example of a Waxwork Records reissue |
The Vinyl Resurgence
and Obscurity
As testament to these unsung heroes of horror
cinematography, smaller, independent record labels have begun releasing the
original soundtracks, usually in phenomenal packaging, on vinyl once again. As
the format everyone thought was dead and gone (This has already been explored
in thousands of articles) has returned, so too has horror soundtracks risen
from the dead. Death Waltz Recording Company and Waxwork Records stand out as
the prime examples, having released over 100 should-be classic soundtracks
between them. Other than relatively well-known themes, like Jerry Goldsmith's
composition for The Omen, these are films and soundtracks that have by and
large remained in relative obscurity to the average moviegoer, but have at the
same time found a deep crevice-like niche of followers around the world. These
composers usually have what seems like a much more dedicated audience, many of
which pay tribute through their own compositions. While the recent surge in
synthwave popularity is mainly fuelled by longing nostalgia for 80s
pop-culture, many of the involved musicians can't renounce their inspiration
from 70s and 80s film scores as well, or from the far-reaching influence of
simplistic electronic artists like John Carpenter or Tangerine Dream (who, in
turn, are also responsible for a few soundtracks).
Diving Head First Into
the Depths
While horror films - both for their
anti-establishment history, their visuals and their sounds - are frequently
referenced and used for inspiration in many off-kilter music scenes like heavy
metal or darkwave, in this write-up we'll be focusing on a few select artists
that pay homage to or at the very least are highly influenced by the
underappreciated soundtracks of horror films. Whether their inspiration stems
from the creeping synths of John Carpenter and Tangerine Dream, the tribal, repetitive
rhythms of Fabio Frizzi, the macabre, slithering latino-vibes of Francesco de
Masi or the rough progressive rock themes by Goblin and Claudio Simonetti,
these are the tales of Call Me Greenhorn, Slasher Dave, Zombi, 30 Silver Coins,
Somnambulist Red and Nightsatan. Take it for what it is; A chronicle of horror
film music’s lasting influence, a testament to its greatness, and most of all:
The shameless plugging and recommendation of a bunch of musicians who keep the
spirit of horror alive.
Call Me Greenhorn -
The Slithering Voodoo Nightmare
 |
| L'Isola Dei Morti Viventi, the "film" in question |
Usually going by the common name Magnus
Sellergren, Call Me Greenhorn has found inspiration in Sweden through a great
variety of channels, one of them being the soundtracks of horror movies.
Sellergren even went so far as to compose a faux soundtrack to a film that
never existed. Sporting the catchy and likely title of "L'Isola dei Morti
Viventi" - "The Island of the Living Dead", from equally likely
"director" Fabrizio Ardente, the supposed OST sounds like the bastard
child of Fabio Frizzi and Francesco de Masi, taking you to that tropical hell
where ritual zombies eat the flesh of the living. Complete with Frizzi's
trademark rhythms lurking behind the cheap, layered keyboard choirs, Call Me
Greenhorn's format is almost a carbon copy of the classic Italian zombie
soundtracks, in all its cheesy glory. There are hints of de Masi's salsa-like Latino
aesthetic crawling near the ground, jazzing up the formula every so often. A
worthy homage indeed from a musician who not only has done his homework, but
also excels at the curriculum. Sellergren’s other brainchild – Videogram – has
been hailed by Doc Terror – Internet horror aficionado extraordinaire– as “the
musical equivalent of renting your favourite horror movies from the mom and pop
shop of yesteryear”, capturing the more synthy aspects of horror music. Citing
films like Evil Dead II, The Thing and Zombie Flesh-Eaters, and the OSTs for
Halloween, Phantasm and The Boogey Man as some of his overall favourites, regarding
the origins of his fright-fuelled projects, Sellergren declares “A friend got me into creating music electronically. Call Me Greenhorn
was an outlet for my more experimental side and Videogram is a marriage between
my love for music and horror films, especially the 1980s VHS boom.” According
to himself, Videogram has on occasion been referred to as “retro synth”, with
Call Me Greenhorn being much harder to define. Additionally, he mentions
Giallo’s Flame as another must-listen in recent horror music.
Slasher Dave - The
Cheesy Synth Wizard
Less stripped-down than John Carpenter, and
more ambitious than Tangerine Dream, this American musician doesn't just take
cues from the tunes in question - He makes the sound his own. Though probably
better known as one of the integral members of psychedelic death/doom metal
band Acid Witch, his solo project is by no means an offhand hobby. Acid Witch
has always been highly inspired by horror films, both in lyrical subjects and
visually, their newest EP Midnight Movies featuring cover versions of rock and
metal songs from horror movies, but musically Dave's love for the genre is best
expressed through his numerous albums as Slasher Dave. He doesn't go easy on
the synthesizer, and organs often chime in to add an extra, unexpected bone-finger
touch. His albums, from his debut Spookhouse to his latest opus Exorcisms, are
very varied, some bordering more on the campy Halloween-spookfests you'd expect
from latenight television, and some perfectly capturing the best elements of
the films we know and love. Their common ground lies somewhere between all that
in an engaging and often spooktacular mayhem that really makes you want to put
on Escape from New York just one more time. Labelmates on Bellyache Records,
Voyag3r, are also responsible for some exploitation film inspired electro-rock
worth checking out.
30 Silver Coins - The
Creeping Lurkers at the Threshold
A group of three - two Danes and one
Argentinian residing in Germany, 30 Silver Coins could be described as a super
group of sorts. Ustumallagam from Danish black metal veterans Denial of God
handles vocals and lyrics, Evil Spirit's drummer slash vocalist Marcelo Aguirre
takes good care of percussion and various gongs and bells, with M. Ramdas -
known from a variety of Danish bands - lastly touches upon most melodies and
effects. Having thus far resulted only in a 2-song EP, entitled Death Waits in
the Wing, there is precious little to go upon - But what en EP it is! The
titular track greets you with a spoken word litany on top of layers of
masterfully crafted atmospheric vibes. The second track, named after an H.P.
Lovecraft poem, again touches on Fabio Frizzi-like rhythmic percussion with a
subtle but noticeable framework of synths and vague, lingering melodies, the
arrangements emphasised by the creepy tinkering of bells. A result of an
interesting collaboration, 30 Silver Coins deliver those creeping, sepulchral
tunes we crave. Speaking again to Ustumallagam, he proposes the following
description of his two bands “Denial Of God play black
horror metal while 30 Silver Coins play soundtrack inspired dark wave for a
lack of better explanation. And even if both bands are driven by horror, it's
two different universes we deal with here.” Delving further into their sound –
and true to the theme, also putting it into pictures – he offers “Denial Of God
would be a Hammer horror movie, while 30 Silver Coins would be more like
Creepshow. Not that the band is comical, but because with that band there are
no rules and we go wherever the music/lyrics take us. No rules, no
boundaries.”
 |
| The latest incarnation of 30 Silver Coins |
Somnambulist Red - The
Revolting Paranoia Lurking in Your Head
The knife-wielding hand of giallo emerges from
a dark, urban alleyway, New York Ripper-style. Somnambulist Red draws upon the
progressive rock influences of Goblin, but also a variety of esoteric
electronic elements and looping phrases of vulgar artsy post-rock in their
evocations of paranoid delusions. Sean Townsend, the bedrock underneath a
revolving door lineup and primary songwriter in Somnambulist Red, describes it
as "cinematic soundscapes for the outer reaches of your cortex", and
the description is morbidly accurate. Though the project's roots stretch back
to 1995, the first official Somnambulist Red release wasn't out until 2007, and
ever since then the band has been consistently active, often coupling their
music as score for films. Citing a number of various artists, both in film and
music, as influences - including David Lynch, Swans, Goblin, Popol Vuh, King
Crimson and more - Somnambulist Red isn't wholeheartedly one or the other, but
rather an amalgam of many currents, chief of which is that macabre atmosphere
originally captured by Simonetti and company.
Nightsatan - The
Chrome Knights of Northern Europe
 |
| Nightsatan and the Loops of Doom |
With the three Finns in Nightsatan - Wolf Rami,
Inhalator II and Mazathoth - there are definite nods to John Carpenter's simple
synths and programmed drum rhythms. Apart from that, their music is also highly
reminiscent of the tunes you'd find gracing the soundscapes of your odd apocalyptic
exploitation films and Mad Max rip-offs of the 70s and 80s. As much as action
exploitation cinema is a close cousin to horror films, so is the score, and as
such the combination doesn't fall out of place. Going so far as to making their
own film to score - Nightsatan and the Loops of Doom - this northern European
trio are probably among the more dedicated of the lot. The film in itself isn't
half bad, but the soundtrack is truly memorable. Having coined the term "laser
metal" to go along with their debut album Midnight Laser Warrior from
2010, their style does perfectly encompass the 80s' infatuation with
progressive technology.
Zombi - The Reanimated
Corpses from the Morgue
An American duo, their music is anything but
American in sound. Steve Moore and A.E. Paterra, the brains behind the project
- most likely named after the Italian title for George A. Romero's zombie
classic Dawn of the Dead, began in 2001 and quickly gained a small following,
after which their debut album - entitled simply Zombi - was sold out. Largely
inspired by the works of Fabio Frizzi, John Carpenter and others, their style
plays the same tangents while yet leaving room for a progressive edge that
developed over time. As such their creepy keys and droning synths are
accompanied - and this is especially true for the 2003 EP Twilight Sentinel -
by gorging bass lines, busy drumworks and assertive guitar tracks. Their large
discography tells many stories - Much like the films and soundtracks from which
the duo draw inspiration. Having toured with many prominent bands, a crowning
achievement of sorts could well be their tour with Italian prog kings Goblin,
who did the soundtrack for the film from which Zombi took their name.
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| Unforgettable final scene from Lucio Fulci's classic "The Beyond" |
Links
30 Silver Coins on FACEBOOK
Denial of God on FACEBOOK // OFFICIAL SITE
Zombi on FACEBOOK // SOUNDCLOUD
Nightsatan on FACEBOOK // BANDCAMP // OFFICIAL SITE
Slasher Dave on FACEBOOK
Cineploit OFFICIAL SITE
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