Everywhere I go
I see Phil’s face through the crowd
I hear his voice clear and loud
He is the light that I seek
The Old Man has found me
So, Phil “Philip H.” Anselmo (Razor White, Pantera, Down, Housecore Records) co-curated a horror and metal festival the weekend before Halloween. The Old Man (as he referred to himself several times), with the help of crime/ horror writer Corey Miller, managed to get three original members of Goblin— evil Italian prog rock band best known for scoring several Dario Argento films in the ‘70s and ‘80s—to the States. Not only would they be playing a mixed bag of their soundtrack hits for their Friday night performance; they would be live- scoring Argento’s Suspiria—one of my all-time favorite movies—on Sunday night. This had me scrambling to get to Austin. Lots of cool stuff planned, but I wondered what would happen when it came time to actually do it. Three days of metal—some good, some bad—and horror—mostly of the gore/ slasher/rapey variety—at the new Emo’s and the new Antone’s, connected by an abandoned strip mall. One of the screening rooms, the Zombie Room, was actually a Zumba workout room. I think the autograph room was the front office of a pet grooming business. I enjoyed the hopeless “Where am I?” atmosphere this created… and the A&W Steak-n-Shake Drive Thru across the street.
The latest Goblin lineup featured original members—going back to ‘72— Massimo Morante (guitar, mandolin, yips) and Claudio Simonetti (synth master, witchy whispers), with almost- original keyboardist—off and on since ‘75—Maurizio Guarini (uncredited on the Suspiria soundtrack, but he’s there). The rhythm section was filled by two members of Simonetti’s Goblin tribute band Dæmonia. Seems to me original bassist Fabio Pignatelli and/or longtime drummer Agostino Marangolo, who have their own occasional Goblin tribute band, have some kind of deep- seated beef with Simonetti. But if I had to choose, I’d always choose Simonetti, whose Moog-Mellotron-etc wizardry and casual involvement with homoerotic Italo Disco, puts him in a whole ‘nother ballpark from the rest of these goombas. Goblin’s set drew from various scores: Argento’s Deep Red (Profondo Rosso) and Tenebre, plus George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead (Zombi). Anyone paying attention had a smile on their face. And then Down played, unfortunately drowning out the first 30 minutes of Jörg Buttgereit’s quiet Nekromantik being screened in a tent out back. I’d already grown weary of the Old Man, but still appreciated his enthusiasm and vision.
Second to Goblin, the best thing about this festival was all the great shorts and feature films showcased, old and new… and the chance to shake hands with sleazeball directors like Ruggero Deodato (Cannibal Holocaust, House on the Edge of the Park) and José Mojica Marins, aka Coffin Joe (At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul, This Night I’ll Possess Your Corpse)… and, Jörg, who’s no sleazeball. If you could manage getting to the Emo’s/Antone’s complex as early as 9:00 a.m., you could start your day with a screening of I Drink Your Blood or The Evil Dead or Scum of the Earth. Best I could do was noon with the Lucio Fulci-(The Psychic [Sette Note in Nero], Zombie [Zombi 2], The Beyond [L’Aldila])-acted/directed Cat in the Brain. It was great seeing Lamberto Bava’s Demons on a big-ish screen. And there were some excellent shorts like Ethereal Chrysalis (Syl Disjonk) and Don’t Move (Anthony Melton). I highly recommend all of the above to any horror fans out there (except maybe Cannibal Holocaust). No shortage of stuff to watch between the three screening rooms. My only suggestions for next year’s viewings would be (1) COMFORTABLE CHAIRS, (2) popcorn, and (3) allowing in drinks from the bar.
And why not hold the event in New Orleans next time? Outside of good, cheap Mexican food, Austin doesn’t have much to offer (me). Thank goodness the Austin Record Convention was also happening this weekend. This ultimate collector scumfest did cause me to miss proto- grindcore boys Repulsion, as I spent too much time haggling over some unknown 12” that had a drawing of a bear with an electric guitar strapped to its back. They shouldn’t have been scheduled for 4:00 in the afternoon anyway. They could’ve easily been scheduled in place of some other junk… like Gwar’s Saturday night slot. Instead, it was the Melvins who stole the show Saturday, reverting back to a three-piece with Jeff Pinkus (Butthole Surfers, Honky) on bass. I do not support this five-piece Melvins jam band they’ve apparently been touring recently. This was my first time seeing Goatwhore at a venue the size of the new Emo’s. They handled the very large stage and the three-quarters full, 1,700-capacity room with their thrashy black metal like pros. Later that night, mad Hungarian Atila Csihar (legendary frontman of Norway’s Mayhem and Hungary’s Tormentor) provided a creepy electronic/voice score of the 1920 silent horror film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Another nice touch!
Goblin returned Sunday night to score Suspiria live, which meant sitting through the Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals set to reserve a good spot. Even got a crowd-pleasing Pantera cover out of that. And plenty of between-songs banter hilarity: “Who out there likes the younger ladies? Well, the Old Man here does… Age breaks a woman!” Man, oh man. Good stuff. Earlier that night Eyehategod returned to the stage for the first time since Joey LaCaze’s death. Filling in was one of his favorite drummers—Dale Crover of the Melvins. Though I heard they were only able to get together a couple times, everything sounded well-rehearsed and natural. Warmed my heart to see it come off so well. In addition to the usuals like “Sisterfucker,” they threw in a cover of the Melvins’ “Easy As It Was” …Back to Gah-bleeen. Although I think I enjoyed their mixed bag performance the most, seeing them play their sinister Suspiria score, while the movie rolled behind them, felt like a real once-in-a lifetime experience. John Carpenter puts the Goblin/Suspiria match-up the best: “One of the most contained films I’ve ever seen. Everybody flips their lid over the [Techni-]color scheme—and rightfully so—but the sound is equally as involved in the creation of this unique nightmare world.”
Selected Goblin (and related) Giallo/Horror/Fantasy soundtrack work
- Deep Red aka Profondo Rosso [Directed by Dario Argento, 1975]. Goblin.
- Roller [1976] Music from this Goblin album was used in the erotic sci-fi film Spermula, without permission.
- Suspiria [Dir.: Dario Argento, 1977]. Goblin.
- Shock aka Beyond the Door II [Dir.: Mario Bava, 1977]. Libra, ft. Guarini.
- Martin aka Wampyr [Dir.: George A. Romero, 1977]. Goblin score for the Italian cut of the film only.
- Dawn of the Dead aka Zombi [Romero, 1978]. Goblin score is prominent in the Euro version of the film only.
- Il Fantastico Viaggio del ‘Bagarozzo’ Mark [1978]. Two tracks were used in Guardian of Hell [Mattei, 1981].
- Bloodstained Shadow aka Solamente Nero [Dir.: Antonio Bido, 1978]. Goblin w/ Stelvio Cipriani.
- Ring of Darkness aka Un’ Ombra Nell’ Ombra [Dir.: Pier Carpi, 1978/79]. Goblin w/ Stelvio Cipriani.
- Patrick [Dir.: Richard Franklin, 1979]. Goblin score for the Italian cut of the film only.
- Beyond the Darkness aka Buio Omega [Dir.: Joe D’Amato, 1979]. Goblin.
- Zombie aka Zombi 2 [Dir.: Lucio Fulci, 1979]. Fabio Frizzi & Giorgio Tucci, ft. Guarini.
- Contamination [Dir.: Luigi Cozzi, 1980]. Goblin.
- The Beyond aka L’Aldila [Dir.: Lucio Fulci, 1981]. Fabio Frizzi, ft. Guarini & Marangolo.
- Tenebre [Dir.: Dario Argento, 1982]. Goblin.
- Conquest aka La Conquista [Dir.: Lucio Fulci, 1983]. Simonetti & Guarini.
- Creepers aka Phenomena [Dir.: Dario Argento, 1984]. Goblin + Simon Boswell.
- Demons aka Demoni [Dir.: Lamberto Bava, 1985]. Simonetti.
- Midnight Killer aka Morirai a Mezzanotte [Dir.: Lamberto Bava, 1986]. Simonetti.
- Body Count aka Camping del Terrore [Dir.: Ruggero Deodato, 1986/87]. Simonetti [uncredited].
- Opera [Dir.: Dario Argento, 1987]. Simonetti.
- Primal Rage aka Rage, Furia Primitiva [Dir.: Vittorio Rambaldi, 1988]. Simonetti.
- Dial: HELP aka Minaccia d’Amore [Dir.: Ruggero Deodato, 1988]. Simonetti
- Nightmare Beach [Dir.: Umberto Lenzi, 1988/89]. Simonetti.
- Nightmare Beach [Dir.: Umberto Lenzi, 1988/89]. Simonetti.
- The Church aka La Chiesa [Dir.: Michele Soavi, 1989]. Goblin + Keith Emerson.
