Soundtrack Saturday

Italian band Goblin have been releasing soundtracks since 1975 and still tour. Their music is a fusion of prog, metal and jazz- rock but don't let that put you off. They make the perfect musical accompaniment to the horror/ slasher/ suspense films that Italian director Dario Argento specialised in. Their debut was the score to Profondo Rosso in 1975, released as a half hour soundtrack album (and re- released in 2005 in an expanded format). The title track was released as a single and went to the top of the Italian charts, its vampy organ chords, rumbling, nimble bass, synth notes and crashing drums finding an audience in mid- 70s Italia and beyond. 

Profondo Rosso 

Death Dies is frenetic prog rock, the drums and horns battling with the guitars, a stop- start masterpiece. 

Death Dies

In 1977 Goblin provided the score to Suspiria- Mellotron, bazouki, tabla, Fender Rhodes, Moog synths, all finding space in the mix. DJ Shadow was surely listening two decades later. Suspiria is a supernatural thriller telling the story of a young American ballet dancer who takes up a place at a prestigious European dance academy but following a series of murders comes to the awful realisation that it is a front for a coven of witches. Don't you just hate it when that happens? 

Suspiria

Dario Argento's Zombi- Dawn Of The Dead came out in 1978, a re- edited version of George A. Romero's original zombie classic. Argento got Goblin in to re- score the film. There followed a slew of zombie films that claimed to be the sequel to Romero's original, an Italian movie sub- genre in itself- not a field I'm an expert in admittedly but Goblin's soundtracks and scores are fantastic. In 2018 this Zillas On Acid edit of Safari came out, Goblin re- tooled for the modern dancefloor, a delicious reworking that fills the dark corners. 

Safari (Zillas On Acid Edit)

Goblins

Many years ago I was at a wedding reception talking to a man who I knew locally by sight and who was a friend of a friend. We chatted for a while and then began talking, as middle aged men sometimes do, about music. It turned out we were both big fans of krautrock. He said he was going to a gig in the upcoming weeks, a gig by a reformed Italian prog band who  made lots of soundtracks in the 70s and 80s. 'Oh, that'll be Goblin' I said. And we both fell about laughing, neither of us expecting to be at a wedding reception discussing Goblin and obscure film soundtracks.

Goblin performed the scores for several definitive horror/ slasher/ psychological thriller films in the 70s and 80s, and in various incarnations have been playing and recording up to the present day. They formed in the early 70s, initially calling themselves Oliver and then Cherry Five before settling on Goblin. Over the decades they've had a revolving door membership with musicians and players coming and going. As a result they've formed and reformed and at various times renamed themselves The Goblins, Back To The Goblin, New Goblin, Goblin Rebirth and Goblin Keys. In 1975 they collaborated with Dario Argento to create the soundtrack for the film Profondo Rosso and then again in 1977 for Suspiria. 

Suspiria

Suspiria was released as an album and the title track as a single. The twinkling keys and wind up toy melodies are a little deceptive- the ominous drums and whispering voices add a little eeriness and then the track gathers pace in the second half, heading into full prog territory, before breaking apart with some looping synth whooshes and then the creepiness returns. 

Suspiria tells the story of an American ballet student who gets a place at a big time dance academy. There are a series of brutal murders and it transpires that the school is a front for a supernatural conspiracy. There are maggots, dog attacks, bats, a coven of witches, peacocks, invisibility and human sacrifice. 

In 1985 Goblin contributed three tracks to the soundtrack of the film Phenomena, an Italian supernatural horror/ slasher movie directed by Dario Argento (released in the UK as Creepers). Phenomena is centred around an American girl who attends a Swiss boarding school. She discovers she has psychic powers and can communicate with insects and then uses these powers to track down a serial killer who is murdering young women around the area. Goblin have three tracks on the OST along with songs by Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Bill Wyman, Andi Sex Gang (formerly Sex Gang Children), Motorhead and Iron Maiden. Jennifer's Friend is a more 80s sounding track than Suspiria, more synth based and bigger sounding, similar twinkling toplines but with a deep 80s bassline. 

Jennifer's Friend