ZOMBI [AKA: DAWN OF THE DEAD] (OST)

A cult masterpiece like "Dawn of the dead", by horror maestro George Romero, deserved an atmospeheric, sinister soundtrack. Goblin did it. Usually soundtracks come out with several fillers, and Zombi (the italian title of the movie) has its not quite memorable moments. But tracks like "Dawn..." or "Zombi" are really well structured and played, the way Goblin superbly did during their golden age. A rewarding listening for those who, like me, are not particularly passionate about OST.

This is the soundtrack of George Romero's classic nasty gore movie. Consequently some songs are directly in the vein of Goblin's proggy eccentricities, including bizarre arrangements and some others are totally reserved for the film and off course difficult to listen to outside of the context. The introduction theme figures among Goblin's ultimate classics, it delivers a massive, lugubrious atmosphere for doom bass lines, scary synth melodies and heavy drums. The title track takes back the same gloomy ambiences but put it into a more bombastic, groovy dimension (including nice percussion parts). "Safari" cannot be heard without watching the film (pseudo African percussion sequences), same thing for the absolutely kitsch "Torte in faccia". "Ai Margini Della Follia" is an efficient cheesy drumming fusion trip. "La Caccia" is an other dynamic kitschy synth projection, including a catchy melody . A lot of funny moments and super freaky instrumentals (without being creepy outside the main theme). Not as essential as "Suspiria" or "Red Blood" but definitely cool stuff for fans Globin-esque heavy horroscapes.

Goblin's ZOMBI- DAWN OF THE DEAD is the soundtrack to "Zombi," the Italian version of the classic horror film "Dawn of the Dead." Goblin's discography consists mainly of soundtracks to Italian horror films, and they are very good at. Of course, the problem with this is that you can't really make a masterpiece from background music to a campy horror flick. I haven't seen "Dawn of the Dead" or "Zombi," so I really can't say how each song correlates to the film.

The album opens up with "L'alba Dei Morti Viventi." This song is very ethereal and brooding, and really sends chills down your spine. Like most tracks by Goblin, this song is very synth- based, and make all sorts of sounds to emulate a choir and an organ. The guitars also give it an intense atmosphere, and a high-pitched synth note also adds to the horror. This is a great track, and sets the mood very well.

"Zombi" is the second track. This track is very intense and confrotational, opening with the pounding of a single chord rapidly, which alternates multiple times with different chords more spaced apart. One thing that really impressed me with this track is the drumming, which ends the song with a loud crash. "Zombi" is also a great track, and it really gives the idea of suddenly being attacked by a zombie.

"Safari" is the third track. It's very short, and is not as synth-based as the first two tracks. It has tribal chanting and timpani drums, which is very interesting in a horror soundtrack. If you enjoy world music with a dark tone, you'll like this song, but it probably won't impress anyone else.

"Torte in Faccia" is the fourth track. This track is pretty much a novelty song, being only a quick ditty on the piano. Apparently, it translates as "Pie in the Face," which is very apt as it is nothing more than a humorous throwaway track. There's not a lot to appreciate here, except some charming piano playing.

"Ai Margini Della Follia" is the fifth track. It is based mostly around ethereal textures, with the same confrontational chord from "Zombi" sneaking it's way in. There isn't a lot to this track, and it's pretty much a throwaway.

"Zaratozom" is the sixth track. The guitar is the dominant instrument in this track, and similar to "Rhayader Goes to Town" by Camel, it's very exciting. The synths add some nice touches here and there, and this is all-around a fine track.

"La Caccia" is the seventh track. For the most part, it's very triumphant, but the single pounded chord from "Zombi" pops up and here and there. I really love the synths that come in at 1:10, which gives the song a very positive and uplifting feeling, even if there is some darkness underneath the joyful mood.

"Tirrasengo" is the eight track. Like "La Caccia," this track is very positive and uplifting, and this time there is no implied danger. There is a violin here, which sounds very pleasant, and the riff from what sounds like a banjo is very light-hearted as well. This is a pleasant track to listen to, although I can't see how it fits in a horror film.

"Oblio" is the ninth track. This track has a very dreary and remorseful mood, which is communicated as the guitar plays the melody, and the piano plays an emotional if repetitive theme. Some parts of this track are actually quite beautiful, particularly in the sections with mellotron and saxophone, but I still think that all the instruments all are played very well here. This is quite an emotional track, even though it's instrumental, and almost reminds me of "Us and Them" by Pink Floyd.

"Risveglio" is the tenth track, and is another very piano-centric track. This one is very short, and while it's starts out beautiful, it then sinks and ends on a dark and paranoid note. A strange way to conclude the album, but I think that it wouldn't have made much sense if it ended happily, would it?

ZOMBI- THE DAWN OF THE DEAD isn't essential Italian Prog, but I'm sure it's a great soundtrack for a film. The album is fine background music, and as I said before, that's all it well ever amount to: background music. If you like instrumental music with lots of synths, pick this one up (although I think ROLLER is a bit better.) Just don't expect you're life to be changed.

3 Stars- Good, but non-essential

One thing that really surprised me the first time I heard this soundtrack was the fact that I almost didn't recognize any of the compositions. Being a huge fan of the movie which I own on DVD in both its original version and the Dario Argento's European Cut I just couldn't figure out how this music was overlooked by me! The explanation to that was actually very simple. Soundtracks are delicate and atmospheric pieces of music that when done just right don't overshadow the context of the movie. Just think of all the great John Williams and Ennio Morricone soundtracks that may at first seem familiar due to the title theme of the movie but the rest of the tunes might seem unfamiliar and still they are there in your subconscious memory!

This is exactly the case with Dawn Of The Dead which in my opinion makes it a superior in comparison to both Profondo Rosso/Deep Red and Suspiria! The first two tracks are theme pieces from the movie and what a great combination it is. L'Alba Dei Morti Viventi is a chilling atmospheric piece that has a great keyboard melody played over it while Zombi takes things up a notch by transforming that chilling feeling into pure horror! These two pieces are in my opinion alone worth the price of admission!

The rest of the compositions consist for the most part of atmospheric pieces that actually work surprisingly well on their own! There is of course a minor exception in the form of Torte In Faccia that sounded annoying when Emerson Lake & Palmer did it on The Sheriff and Benny The Bouncer but here it's even more out of place than ever.

This is a soundtrack that I have no problem of recommending to everyone since the music does a great job of distinguishing itself from the movie. Hence it's an excellent addition to any prog rock music collection.

***** star songs: Zombi (4:24)

**** star songs: L'Alba Dei Morti Viventi (6:04) Safari (2:11) Al Morgini Della Follia (1:32) Zaratozom (3:36) La Caccia (3:38) Tirassegno (2:51) Oblio (5:13) Risveglio (1:04)

*** star songs: Torte In Faccia (1:57)

I have never seen Dawn Of The Dead, either the original or the recent remake. That film was of course George A. Romero's sequel to Night Of The Living Dead. Goblin got involved due to their association with director Dario Argento, who wanted to help out with Romero's new film. In most countries, this film became known as Zombi. This is a good soundtrack, but I might slightly prefer Profondo Rosso and Suspiria to it.

As usual, these guys are instrumental, and the keyboards and bass generally stand out. "L'alba Dei Morti Viventi" is the theme song I take it. Based around a heartbeat like bass drum and a 4-note bass line. The music is slow moving, almost like...a zombie! Great synths in this song. There is some choir vocals but I'm not sure if they are real or done on keyboards. This song is perfect music for a horror movie. "Zombi" is one of the better songs. It starts out very energenic and fast paced. I like the polyphonic synths used here. Later some Santana- like percussion and droning voices, while the band plays a funky vamp.

"Safari" as would be expected, is a very African sounding song with percussion and vocals. "Torte in Faccia" is the kind of honky-tonk/barrom piano music you would hear in some old black and white movie. Similar to the piano playing in ELP's "Jeremy Bender" and "Benny The Bouncer". I couldn't listen to this kind of music all day, but this song is nice. "Ai Morgini Della Follia" is spacey synth sounds, almost hypnotic at times. "Zaratozom" is New Wave with hard rock guitars.

"La Caccia" is the best song. Starts with some interesting synth and drumming in a start/stop fashion. I like how the music is all dark and dramatic, then leads to sunny mandolins and polyphonic synths. Later settles into a jazz-funk vamp with great synths. "Tirassegno" is a country-rock song(!) A good one too with nice violin. "Oblio" is a laid-back ballad type song based on piano. Cool sax in this song. Sounds like Mellotron about halfway. The bass almost solos at times. "Risveglio" is just a short piano piece.

Soundtracks, by their very nature, are not very consistent. You get music that could stand on it's own mixed with stuff that is obviously supposed to be 'background music'. If you are just starting to get into Goblin, I would suggest getting their non-soundtrack Roller album instead. As far as soundtracks go, I would hear Suspiria before this. Like usual, the sound and playing is top notch. The better songs here are great examples of good prog rock from the late 1970s. I'll give this a 3.5 but round it up to 4 stars.

Though Dawn of the Dead is one of my favourite films, I can't say the same about the Goblin soundtrack album. To be fair, this isn't necessarily Goblin's fault; George Romero deliberately used music in a range of styles, both produced for the film by Goblin and stock pieces dragged out of public domain vaults, because part of the point of the film is juxtaposing the horrors of the zombie apocalypse with the sterile atmosphere of the shopping mall within which most of the film is set, as well as bringing out the artificiality of the existence the survivors create for themselves within the mall.

Consequently, the album doesn't have a consistent, coherent mood in the same way that Suspiria or Profondo Rosso do; sometimes Goblin are playing their accustomed horror-prog, sometimes they are making a stab at hard rock, sometimes they are producing pseudo-African beats, sometimes they are playing muzak. The end result is an album which is just a collection of musical pieces as opposed to a cohesive listen in its own right. Interesting, but you'll probably find yourself skipping a track or two.