Chilling Synth (Cosmos - Zombi)

Member Name: Burning_Darkness

Product:	Cosmos - Zombi
Date:	14/02/09 (91 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: hugely atmospheric, varied, well constructed songs

Disadvantages: Some may consider their retro stylings dated (but that would be missing the point)

I love zombie movies- not the modern garbage that Hollywood has taken to pumping out of late, but the eerie and unsettling classics of the 70s and 80s such as Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead and Lucio Fulci's Zombie Flesh Eaters. One of the things that afforded these films their timeless quality was that they all featured soundtracks by 70s Italian progressive rock/synth composers such as Goblin, giving them a creepy quality that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up straight in a way that modern horrors never seem to manage.

Zombi are a two man group hailing from Pittsburgh USA who pick up where Goblin left off, creating sinister yet proggy soundscapes of pulsing analog synths, funky basslines and jazzy drums. Their output is purely instrumental, and guitars are also absent, the songs being essentially keyboard-driven. Rich waves of synthesized sound bleed into one another, as the album ebbs from urgent, throbbing beats to psychedelic ambience to prog-rock indulgence. John Capenter influences are frequently apparent as well, with the track 'Sarpens' bringing to mind the ominous and unsettling scores of The Thing and The Fog, whilst elsewhere the album conjures up the helicopter scenes from Dawn of the Dead, in which a lone chopper flies forlornly above a cityscape overrun by endless swarms of the living dead.

'Cosmos' manages to be easy to listen to without boring the listener, the songs constantly evolving and alternating between suspenseful, slow-building ambience, up-tempo funky bass sections and and spaced out soaring keyboard solos. A hugely atmospheric and enjoyable album, 'Cosmos' will appeal to anyone with a soft spot for 80s horror, prog, space rock, or synthesizer music in general. Highly recommended!

Summary: Hugely eerie and enjoyable synth/prog