REVIEW: Dr. Hell – Drunken Zombies

Yikes! I would not want to run into this ghastly bunch in a dark alley.

Dr Hell's 11-track offering Drunken Zombies is a catchy, fast-paced and, above all else, angry collection of monstrous punk rock genius. Scoffing at the idea of ripping off Danzig vocally and spitting on the idea of radio-friendly melodies, Dr Hell instead let rip with eleven songs of visceral, ruthless aggression that sounds like a group of pissed off monsters have somehow found themselves at an open mic night.

Even if we ignore the music, which is admittedly difficult considering this is the musical equivalent of having a Werewolf snarling in your face, the song's titles alone are just...awesome! Charming little titles like 'I Won't Pay For Sex With Rotten Bitches' and 'Carl The Metro-sexual Werewolf' should give you some sort of clue as to what's on offer here.

Drunken Zombies is one of the most exciting horror-themed releases I've heard in a long time. It is angry, audibly vicious and downright awesome. It's a shame that more horror-themed bands don't sound as punk rock as these guys do. I'd love to see these guys in a live setting, though part of me does worry I wouldn't come out alive!

If there is a demon festering away inside you just screaming to come out, this is the release for you. I hope they get their name out there because they've been hiding under the bed for far, far too long!

8 out of 10 skulls


Available from:
http://bloodypunkrock.bandcamp.com

Reviewed by Ben Smith

REVIEW: The Newton Brothers - Proxy (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Prior to this release, I was not familiar with The Newton Brothers. Doing a little research, it seems they've been composing for films for nearly 10 years. The biggest horror release they've done, from what I can tell, is the newly released Oculus. Proxy is set to be released soon and is billed as a Hitchcockian film. The synopsis sounds to be much more psychological than most horror/thriller movies of late. This is very welcome by me. Something that makes you think a little is good once in awhile.

When I first played this album, it was apparent that the movie, itself, is not the only thing Hitchcockian here. The Newton Brothers have put together a score that could have been in just about any Alfred Hitchcock movie. These guys really pulled off something great.

From the beginning of the first track, "Prelude for Proxy", I was transported to a time when the screen was black, white and shades of grey. Back to a time when you actually had to think when watching a horror/thriller movie. As do most of the songs in this score, this one feels very much like it could be a lost track from Psycho.

I'd go so far as to say that you could throw any of the first nine songs in with a remastered Psycho score and ninety-five percent of the people who heard it wouldn't even notice. That is how remarkably similar this is to the Hitchcock scores. I, also, can't stress enough that it's not just similar, but very well done.
The tenth track, "Group Counciling" is a bit more sorrowful. It feels different than the rest. There isn't much of a Hitchcock vibe to it but the strings bring it home as one that sticks out from the soundtrack but still stands out as a great one.

Towards the end of the score, there's a little more of The Newton Brothers, themselves (I'm guessing), mixed in with the songs. It still sounds like it could be from a Hitchcock movie, but there's something a little different and updated going on.

"End Titles" is another great piece. It starts with the strings swelling in a "newer horror" sort of way with the crescendo dropping out to a very "Hitchcockian" solo, low note. After this, it takes a trip into a Danny Elfman-ish world with a slightly deeper tone than what they had done before this for the score. The tensions builds again to a Hitchcock-like finish to end the score brilliantly.

The Newton Brothers didn't reinvent the wheel here. They didn't even make a score that was completely different than anything that has been done before. However, they put something together that, because it's different than anything in any current movie, is a standout score overall. It's not a new sound, but it's a refreshing sound and it was done so well. I'm definitely thinking it's time to seek out more of their work.

8 out of 10 skulls


Available from:

http://moviescoremedia.com/screamworks/2014/04/15/proxy-the-newton-brothers/

Reviewed by Chris Cavoretto

INTERVIEW: 13 Questions with Michael Daniel

Michael Daniel is a composer who recently won an award for his score for the feature film, Blood Rush. Here he answers 13 questions for us on his experience in music and horror!

1. What was your first experience of watching a horror film?

The first horror movie I ever saw was Jaws. I was in the third or fourth grade and it remains, to this day, one of my favorite movies, horror or otherwise, of all time - and one of the best film scores to boot.

2. What can you tell us about your musical upbringing?

My mother was a piano teacher, so music was an inevitability in my household. I was playing the piano as far back as I can remember. Mom didn’t teach me herself, but she had one of her other piano teacher friends take me under her wing, starting around the age of five or six. I continued to take piano lessons until I was fifteen, at which point my parents let me trade out piano lessons for music composition lessons. I started writing musicals pretty much instantly. I started writing my first rock opera, an adaptation of Frankenstein, around sixteen.

3. How did you come up with the idea of doing a musical about Victor Frankenstein and his monster?

This one started in high school when I just started composing music. I wanted to write a musical ever since I saw a Phantom of the Opera and my passion was re-ignited when I saw a local state college production of Sweeney Todd. This inspired me to do something horror-themed and I considered stories like Jekyll and Hyde or The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Dracula was a close second, but I finally chose Frankenstein because I always preferred science-fiction horror.

4. Your other genre musical is Sleepy Hollow which was done a few years later. What did you learn in the time that passed?

Frankenstein took me two years to write because when I started writing I had no idea how to go about formatting the score for a musical. This was mainly because I always had to go back and redo things I've already done - now I knew better. My compositional style also changed greatly, Sleepy Hollow is a lot more experimental - I discarded all the harmonic rules and played with the notes until I got something nice in the end.

5. Were these musicals ever produced / recorded. If yes, how can we hear them?

So far the only musicals of mine that have been produced are three of my comedies, The Show Must Go On, Alone and Miserable Lesbians (a parody of Les Miserables). I recorded Frankenstein as a demo with me singing all the parts (badly) - some of it is available on my homepage, but it's not something I would make readily available. If I ever had all the time and money necessary, I'd love to have good quality recordings of both Frankenstein and Sleepy Hollow.

6. Let's talk about your new score, Blood Rush, a cool zombie flick whose soundtrack was issued by MovieScore Media. What's your favorite zombie film/story?

I will probably outrage the readers by admitting this, but my favorite zombie flicks are the more comedic ones: Shaun of the Dead, Fido, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and so on. I enjoy the “serious” zombie horror films, too, but personally I’ve always kinda found zombies more comedic than scary, so I really enjoy it when other people show that I’m not alone in that. That’s one reason why I enjoyed working on Blood Rush.

7. How does Blood Rush compare with/differ from other zombie films from the last few years?

One thing I really liked about the concept of Blood Rush (and in the recent trend of zombie flicks) is that the zombies can actually MOVE. They aren’t those drooling, sluggish zombies that we usually think about when we hear the term movie zombie - these zombies can run, they can think and they can tear your head off!

8. How did you get involved with scoring Blood Rush?

I met filmmaker Kerry Marlowe(at the time, Kerry Finlayson) at the Toscars, a fun short film competition that poked fun at each year’s nominees with brief parody videos. We kept in touch and a few months later I saw Kerry posting that she was looking for actors for a new zombie film. I replied that she probably didn’t want me acting, but that if they needed some music, they could give me a call. Few more months down the road, she and Evan sent me a clip of the scene with the cat (no spoilers!), they had me write a mock-up for that and this got me the gig!

9. How did working on this film differ from your previous experiences?

I only had one more “professional” experience before to Blood Rush and that project was somewhat frustrating. The director was like all the student directors I had know - he didn’t know what he wanted, but he didn’t want to admit that. We had a lot of discussions, but then ended up with a two hour film with less than 20 minutes of music! Kerry and Evan are the exact opposite of this; they understand the importance of music and that it intensifies the experience and doesn't detract from it. Evan gave me interesting guidelines like like, “I want this to sound like frogs jumping in a frying pan” or something like “the sound of a dolphin being strangled to death.” Perhaps this explains a lot about the score.

10. What’s your favorite sequence from the film?

It's very hard to pick only one, but here it goes. There's a scene where an old, injured guy is lying on the ground, doing this five minute rant about he was separated from his son on his birthday and so on. While he's going on and on, there's this zombie just standing there, looking hungrily at him and our hero Danny is just shaking his head, not wanting to interrupt the guy, but he also realizes that if the he doesn’t shut up, they’d get eaten. That was great scene to score!

11. You've recently completed Horror House for the same team of filmmakers. What can you tell us about that score?

Horror House was a real blast to work on. Perhaps the most challenging thing about it is the fact that it's an anthology picture, so Evan wanted me to come up with a completely different instrumental palette for each piece. One dominant instrument from one scene couldn't appear in the others - but I enjoy a challenge!

12. What is your most recent score?

In terms of film scoring, my most recent work is a new horror/soap opera web series called Bennington Gothique. You can see the first three episodes online at www.benningtongothique.com. My score has been nominated for best original score in the 5th Annual Indie Series Awards.

13. Are you planning on doing more horror themed musicals?

Yes, I've just started working on a new musical called Dark Lord: The Musical. My co-writers and I are still only in the draft stages right now, we aren’t putting out too much information plot-wise, but I would describe this musical as if the Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along-Blog was about a fantasy super villain (think Sauron or Voldemort) instead of a comic book super villain. The website should be up later this year, but you can already follow us on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/darklordthemusical

The score to Blood Rush is available now from Screamworks records:

http://moviescoremedia.com/blood-rush-michael-daniel/

For more information on Michael Daniel, check out:
http://michaeldaniel.net

Chris Cavoretto - "My Top 10 Horror Soundtracks/Scores"

Coming up with a list of favorite horror scores/soundtracks is tough.  There are hundreds, maybe thousands of quality soundtracks out there.  The hard thing is trying to figure out which ones you remember the whole score to and which ones you remember one theme to.  Some almost made the list but after rethinking, maybe the movie was dark in tone or content but not necessarily horror.  Everyone single one of you who reads this list is going to be like, "how come (insert title you're appalled isn't on this list) isn't on this list?!"

  I've adjusted and readjusted and still had to leave out some greats.  This list contains soundtracks and scores I can listen to pretty much all the time not get sick of any of them.  Let's face it, this could easily be a top 20 or even 50 and I'd still end up leaving out some near-perfect selections.  So, without further ado, here are my top 10 horror soundtracks/scores:

10- Suspiria

Goblin did a phenomenal job scoring Suspiria.  It's creepy and driven.  A great combination for a horror score.  There is a lot going on here and haunting moments are everywhere.

9- Hard Rock Zombies

I'm not sure a movie has been made that makes less sense than this one and it's score is just as weird.  Paul Sabu and Holly Moses captured every sense of nonsense with this one.  The love ballad, Cassie, is just pure cheesy, hair metal gold.

8- A Nightmare on Elm Street

Such a great score.  The synths all over this one are so perfect for an 80's slasher film.  It's easy to make synths fun, not always so easy to make them creepy, but Charles Bernstein did it.

7- Zombie (aka Zombie Flesh Eaters aka Zombi 2)

Fabio Frizzi was the perfect composer to do this score.  The theme has become a cult classic but it's got so much more throughout.  Jungle rhythms as well as 70's horror synth collide to make a classic score here.

6- Halloween

Now, the theme song is probably the most recognizable horror theme out there but this whole score is great.  John Carpenter was great at setting tone with a reoccurring theme brought back throughout a movie and knowing that repetition can bring a sense of panic.  This is a masterpiece.  The tension you get from songs like The Shape Stalks is just awesome.  Nothing bad about this one at all.

5- Maniac (2012)

This is a mix of throwback 80's style horror synth and a new breed of horror synth.  Rob captures what few do (John Carpenter being the HUGE exception) by bringing back a melody throughout so many of the songs.  It adds a theme for the whole score.  Doll is automatically one of those songs that, if you dig 80's-style horror synth, you're going to love it.  The rest keeps up nicely and the song Juno somehow manages to pull you in even though you know you shouldn't like a song like it.  It's just so goddamn good.

4- City of the Living Dead (aka The Gates of Hell)

Fabio Frizzi had a hell of a score under his belt with Zombie, but his work on City of the Living Dead is just a touch better in my opinion.  The theme melody comes back more.  While the music seems to have more repetition (with some songs not being different enough from others to tell which is which), it's just amazing.  The tension is great and a few songs are sort of a throwback to Zombie while others break down walls to lead you on new paths.  For me Zombie was quite a bit better than City of the Living Dead but the scores tells a different tale.

3- Chopping Mall

I have to admit, I don't own this score.  I have the theme song and it's on several of my playlists.  I've only heard the score in the movie.  With that said, it's still good enough to have made number three on my list.  Chuck Cirino knocked the synth thing out of the park for this.  Every bit of the movie was made more awesome by his music.  The only copies I've found online for sale are a partial score with the score from Death Stalker 2.  However, Waxwork Records will be giving it a proper reissue this year.  Great news for anyone who loves horror synth.  This one is just plain fun!

2- Sinister

Christopher Young usually has big, orchestrated scores he composes.  This time he went with computers and synthesizers.  What he ended up with was some of the creepiest, most intense music I've ever heard.  To get the full effect, I suggest you do what I did and seek out the other songs used in the movie.  The score, itself, is amazing.  Adding the soundtrack songs is even more amazing.  Sure, it makes it over an hour and a half but it's well worth it.  Songs by Boards of Canada, Sunn O))), Aghast, Ulver, Judgehydrogen and Accurst are just as intense as Young's work and a huge part of the film.  The movie was pretty okay for a new horror movie but the music within is some of the best of any horror film.

1- The Fog

It seems this film has grown in popularity the last couple of years.  Rightfully so.  It's one of the true classic horror movies.  John Carpenter made it all the better with his score.  Like Halloween, everything fits perfectly.  This one is just a little better.  The recent full score reissue by Death Waltz Recording Company gives you everything.  Like much of Carpenter's work, the melody themes are present throughout the entire score and it ties the whole thing together so well.  If you need creepy music for any occasion, look no further than this score.  Pretty much any track off of this can be played over anything to give it a sense of eeriness.  I used it as walk-up music outside for trick-or-treaters last year on Halloween.  The score for The Fog is what every horror score composer should aspire to.  Period.

By Chris Cavoretto, the synth-fiend behind Werewolves in Siberia! http://werewolvesinsiberia.com

REVIEW: Zombina and the Skeletones - Charnel House Rock

Coming back from the grave (not that they weren’t still busy!) and bringing you the latest blood-drenched-bubblegum noises from their crypt; Zombina and the Skeletones had a lot to live up to since their 2008 release, Out of the Crypt and into Your Heart, and they definitely did much more than that. Featuring the usual horror punk structures and sounds, all the organs and brass/horn you could hope for, spacey-electronics and theremin to top this horror masterpiece off.

We begin our gruesome journey with “Tonight, There Will Be No Survivors” and it really kicks off the album with a bang. From the screeching, jazzy guitars and fast-paced drums that it starts with, to the country-twang feel, you get what you really crave from the Skeletones right from the beginning. One of my next favourites off of this release is “Mortuary Academy”, which has a heavier, punk sound to it, wailing organs to compliment it and such a great sing-a-long chorus that you’ll have stuck in your rotting noggin all evening!

“Walk with Me”, another solid hit on this amazing album, really hits on all the things I love about Danzig and the Misfits kind of sound, with Zombina herself sounding as though she may be Danzig's younger sister. “Don’t go into the Light” is one I must speak about, as it is such a great song with a big horn and guitar intro that leads into a dark, horrorpunk/rock n' roll sounding track that really makes you feel as though you’re in an undead jazz club. Finally, “Ginferno” really rocks this album over the top with surfy, reverb-drenched guitars and amazing sounding horns, once again polishing off the soundscapes.

Overall this album front-to-back is a killer. It doesn’t have a single weak song, with each progressing track getting more and more interesting. From the tribal sound of “How to Make a Monster”, to the upbeat, more pop-punk style of “The Negative Zone” (talk about a juxtaposition!) it just rocks and rolls its way along. It’s a must have if you dig Zombina and the Skeletones, and if you like horror-themed rock and roll or punk as well. Even if you are a rockabilly or just a country fan there’s a solid track on there for you!

Rating: 9/10 Skulls


Available on CD/digital from:
http://zombinaandtheskeletones1.bandcamp.com/album/charnel-house-rock-2

Reviewed by the Ghoul

REVIEW: Christopher Young, Todd Bryanton & Joel Douek - The Tall Man (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Three composers were brought in to score The Tall Man.  I'm not going to lie and say I'm familiar with all of these guys, I've not come across Todd Bryanton or Joel Douek before, but the one composer here that sticks out big time, is Christopher Young.
Young has scored some big productions, both in and out of the horror realm.  Let's just throw a few names out there; A Nightmare on Elm Street 2, The Fly 2, Hellraiser, Hellraiser 2... and I wouldn't dream of skipping mentioning the creepy score for Sinister (one of my personal favorites of the last couple years). His accolades aside, this is a piece all on its own and it will only work if the full score works well together. Bringing in less-known composers alongside Young will possibly elevate them in the future if this works.

Until I got this score to review, I had put off seeing this movie.  I stayed away for a few reasons: one, it's a newer movie and those are almost always terrible; two, Jessica Biel is the "star attraction" to the movie and I honestly just don't care for her; three, the title makes this sound like some sort of Phantasm rip-off (spoiler alert: it's not). Now, with this review looming, I had no excuse not to watch the movie. I'd have to say it was a lot better than I expected. The music definitely helps out the mournful scenes as well as some big jump scenes. All in all, it just fits really well together.

I actually listened to the score by itself before I watched the movie.  I did this because a score for a terrible movie can still be a great score.  The score can also be used horribly by the filmmaker and thus put it in your head that the score, itself, isn't any good. Luckily, that isn't the case here, but let's get to the music.
This score immediately takes me back to the main theme from Friday the 13th (by Harry Manfredini).  As I listened more, the "big scare" parts reminded me a lot of the new Evil Dead score (by Roque Baños). Regardless of what you thought of that movie, the score is amazing.
If you're looking for a soundtrack full of pop songs, this isn't for you.  If you're looking for a score you'll hum along to, again, not for you. This is a huge, orchestrated score. It really does sound immense. I didn't even hear about this movie until it hit Netflix so I have no idea what the budget was but this is way bigger than I expected it to sound.

Each composer brings something different to the table. After listening through a couple times, you can pick up on which composer did which piece. I do wish it hadn't been sectioned, more or less, by composer and been in actual movie order instead. This allows the listener to sit back and see the movie as it happens in their head time and time again with each listen.
Bryanton's songs seem to be quiet to build tension and make way for some big, loud crashes. Swirling strings provide the perfect soundtrack for frantic running scenes. It's a formula used time and time again for horror movies. The reason for this is that it works. It does here too.
"Julia Chases the Tall Man" and "The Dog Attacks" are a couple of my favorite songs of his on this soundtrack. They do a great job of keeping a good tense, understated song going while adding some melody to it. It really helps give these songs a little more to the listener.

What we get that isn't quite so normal, is a few softer pieces. These are the songs from Douek. The piano and string-based songs he put together really open the whole thing up. There are a lot of scenes in The Tall Man that need a softer touch and that's exactly what we get.
Douek's "We Got Too Comfortable" is one of those cinematic gold-type songs. It's probably the closest this score comes to having a "theme song". It's soft and you get the feeling of desperation and confusion, then comes a great melody that just screams "theme".
There are a couple of songs intertwined in the soundtrack that are from performers other than the three composers. These are more background pieces from Pascal Laugier, George Acogny and Dale Williams. The Dale Williams piece has some vocals but is an easily forgettable one minute piece, as is Pascal Laugier's "Tall Man Lullaby". However, the lullaby is pretty creepy sounding. While there's a specific place in the movie for each of these songs, they're haunting on their own. The George Acogny song is a quick acoustic/piano piece that fits nicely within the layers of the soundtrack as a whole.
Christopher Young's five tracks come at the end of the soundtrack and as great as this stuff from Bryanton and Douek has been, Young really takes this in a more profound direction.  The solemness, tension and beauty his songs bring forth are a cut above the rest. I'm not demeaning the other composers at all. There's just something more memorable and heartfelt to this section.

In older movies (horror and not), we have a song instantly identifiable with the movie. You can watch Halloween, The Fog, The Good, the Bad and The Ugly, Superman, Batman (1989) and so many more just once and if you hear the theme a year later, you know what it was from. Unfortunately, we don't get that here. It doesn't diminish the soundtrack a whole lot, it's just kind of a bummer to not get that very much anymore.
If you want a huge, orchestrated soundtrack that brings forth horror, vulnerability and tension, this is definitely for you.  For a movie that escaped the masses upon initial release, I really didn't expect that this score would sound this immense. Adding Christopher Young was a great move in the fact that Bryanton and Douek have put together great pieces with big scares and creepy vibes throughout but Young brings a more meaningful (for lack of a better term) side to the whole thing.

Rating: 7/10 Skulls


Available on CD/digital from:
http://moviescoremedia.com/the-tall-man-todd-bryanton-joel-douek-christopher-young/

Reviewed by Chris Cavoretto

REVIEW: Bloodsucking Zombies from Outer Space - Toxic Terror Trax

Most of us are used to hearing small EP’s and short demos these days, but from BZFOS comes a 19-track delight that never lets up. It's definitely different from the rest of the releases they have put out, featuring lots of sampling work throughout for intros and whatnot, as well as other elements that are not at all out of place in these songs, including: organs, theremin, keyboards and I believe (don’t quote me on it) I heard some brass in one particular track. They have a very defined style for sure, though I can definitely see the influences from bands like Calabrese, Nekromantix, and of course a lot of classic Punk and Psychobilly.

Starting off strong right away, the disturbing, perturbing and oh so lovely intro sets the rest of the album up perfectly, with keys and organs that really draw the listener into this world BZFOS have created. “Radio Active” is the next delicious number and another strong one at that; it definitely has a classic psychobilly/deathrock sound to it, in addition to some punky and even almost synth-rock parts. The music video that goes along with it is a must-watch as well, featuring some very ghoulish colour schemes and as always from these guys, amazing looking special FX/make-up.
“Werewolf in a Girls Dormitory” is another solid track from the album with its hopping, jumping rhythms and beats that make you want to dance with the dead! As always it has a catchy sing-along chorus, like many of the tracks on this killer release. Not to discredit the album, but it does have a lot of tracks, and I cannot talk about how much I love them all here… So to end of on a solid note, a final (and possibly this ghouls favourite) track; "G.H.O.U.L." kicks off with a barbershop quartet-style vocal intro and then almost shockingly drops back into the psychotic chaos that is the Bloodsucking Zombies.

This is definitely a highly recommended release, especially for how many tracks you’re getting! Who puts out 19 track albums anymore?! Regardless, it’s a must-have if you know anything about BZFOS or if you find that you have an inkling for horror-themed rock/punk.

Judge for yourself, though I think it's their best work to date!

8.5/10 Skulls

Available on CD and double-vinyl from:

http://www.zombies.at

Reviewed by Ghoulshow