Review from Metalteam UK

From Metalteam UK by Pete Woods

http://www.metalteamuk.net/june11reviews/cdreviews-anima.htm

This is the first of two discs I am reviewing here featuring virtuoso Swede Fredrik Klingwall (the other is Rising Shadows). He is currently active in both these bands as well as Loch Vostok and is a composer, producer and sound designer so is really immersed in music at many levels. The album title here may have you thinking along the lines of Discharge and that this is a bit of a crust punk tribute but you could not be further off the mark. A clue may be found in last album release title which was ‘Face The Sea Of Darkness’ and when you fans of Mr Lucio Fulci RIP put two and two together you should come up with the fantastical soundtracks of the golden age of Italian horror and cult cinema. What we have here is not a tribute to the likes of Goblin and Frizzi et al but certainly contextually in line with their great works. As I listened the more my jaw dropped and it has remained close to the floor as well on repeated plays as Klingwall really has got the essence of the era down and completely nailed it here with some fantastic compositions which lovers of the films as well as heads who grew up on a diet of 70-80’s prog will absolutely love.

Klingwall plays an array of keyboards; synths, mellotron, Rhodes, Taurus as well as additional guitars and has gathered a cast around him playing everything from violin, to upright piano and bouzaki. You do not know if you are in horror or giallo territory as we enter at ‘Voices From Beyond’ the song twists and turns with a heady feel about it going into over zealous excess ala Dawn Of The Dead and sounding both incredibly futuristic and retro at the same time. There is always a feel of the 70’s and ‘Corridor Of Blood’ coagulates with a gentle progressive feel which the films used to have running through them which had a distinct lounge / disco feel about them. I love ‘The Revenant’ it has the feel of black gloved hands clutching a knife going down a dank dark spiral staircase stalking its prey. There is intrigue and mystery as it meanders, the sleuth of the piece staying just in front of their would be killer having stumbled into a labyrinthine plot of their own undoing. Slightly cheeky perhaps calling a number ‘Contamination’ considering that Goblin have already done a soundtrack to said movie by Luigi Cozzi. It has a real hook laden central motif running through it and in truth does not feel like it particularly alludes to the film itself. ‘Passage Of Darkness’ is incredibly atmospheric and sinister and actually reminds me of an alien world ala Oziric Tentacles but I guess there must be a certain amount of crossover along the line as the ambience of that group comes through.

Another track that really got to me on first listen is ‘Delirious’ with its gentle and sorrowful melody. It is the sort of piece that would go great with a scene of savage cruelty along the lines of Cannibal Holocaust and it’s main theme, working as complete contrast to what you see unfolding on screen. The title track itself kind of reminds me of the futuristic scenes at the nuclear power plant towards the end of Bruno Mattei’s totally underrated Zombie Creeping Flesh, a film that had itself culled Goblin’s Dawn score. If you listen to it and know the film hopefully you will see where I am coming from but there is no denying that towards the end of the album we are really in living dead territory. The last creepy track ‘The Dead Will Walk The Earth’ sums that all up with aplomb.

I love this style of music and collect soundtracks from the era myself. Since the Italian horror film industry went into decline and sputtered along till finally drawing its last breath in 1994 with Soavi’s Dellamorte Dellamore, music of this nature died a death with it. Therefore it is brilliant that someone is composing new music of their own in remembrance, especially when it has been done as brilliantly as this.

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