Nightcrawler - Strange Shadows

You're young, sitting in the middle of your living room in the middle of the night as your parents are well asleep, but you have access to the TV all for yourself. In the cabinet are the films that your parents have told you countless of times to stay away from, but curiosity gets the best of you. You reach into the cabinet, and pull out one of the VHS films; a hand holding a knife with the frightened eyes of a poor soul serves as the cover art.

You slip the title out from it's cardboard sleeve, and pop it into your VCR. A few static moments later, you find yourself subjected to haunting music that would be well served in a gothic cathedral, and the action on the screen seems far too intense for you to handle. You cover your eyes with your hands, shivering and shaking at the macabre, cheesy horror film that you put on. When the movie ends, so do your fears. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the exact feeling that rooted itself deep down inside me as I went through Nightcrawler's latest EP, Strange Shadows.

I've been eyeing up this producer for quite some time now, wanting to write of and about his music, but never really having the spare moment to do so. But, that changed when George Gold, the man behind the music, shot me an E-Mail describing his music and wanting to know if I could touch upon it. After already having a sustained interest in his sounds, I simply couldn't resist the chance to talk of his music.

Strange Shadows is a throwback to Giallo and horror cinema of the 80s, containing five original tracks followed by four different remixes. These songs are mostly short, sweet, and to the point; they last just as long as they have to, and the synthwave/retrowave influences found within each staggering track is beyond lovely. This is the type of artist that I love; the type who takes his passion to music and can reflect that enthusiasm with each sound produced. This is what a true musician is.

Macabre Serenade begins us off, locating us in the middle of a desolate swamp. Our heroin is shivering, walking away from a rough date with nothing but a short dress on, heels, and a leather jacket to cover her. She continues on her path, knowing that something lurks in the background, stalking her every movement. And the drone musical structure, occasional animal screech, and moody synth work easily tells this story. As the organ-like sounds hit, the chase is on; the monster, be it man or not, is chasing her, but she cannot see it; she only knows that she need to get far away from it. From the ending sounds and whispering, along with the sounds of faint footsteps, I would like to think that she made it home safely. At least this time.

Una notte violenta continues the story, this time relocating efforts into finding out what exactly was stalking her. The sound inspires discovery, but within discovering a part of what was coming after her, she gets caught red handed by her masked stalker. A frightening frenzy of glass breaking, gun shots, and pumping 80s work ensures that she got away safely.

The interlude Omicidio nella sala rossa shows that our heroin has been captured; samples of screaming and arguing shows that. But, as the lead horror moves away for a bit, leaving our heroin alone, she manages to break out of her bonds, leading to the final confrontation.

Pendulo Oculto plays out the final, bloody confrontation. More slow moving, it's another horrific cat and mouse chase, with our heroin using every wit she has to undermine the stalker's every move. She's had enough; it's time to end this. As the close of the song comes about, the stalker lies dead, and the heroin walks away victorious. But, just as the title credits roll, Calvary featuring Vincenzo Salvia plays out. Gothic in sound, and very sombre, the after credits show a twitch of the stalker's finger. His bloodlust isn't done just yet; prepare for a sequel.

Alas, the journey has yet to end. I suppose the remixes could be considered the deleted scenes of this tasty Giallo. If there would be any one remix that I adored more than the next, it would have to be the OGRE Remix of Macabre Serenade. Awesome organ keys play out and the beat is revamped and more heavy than the canon; it was incredible.

Alas, even as the movie ends. an ever lingering shadow beckons over your shoulder, causing you to constantly look behind your back and in every dark crevice for whatever lurks in the dimmest corners of your home. Nightcrawler has done a fantastic job of not only bringing back nostalgiac moments of my childhood, but also making an extremely solid soundtrack to a film that I wrote in my head as I went through this album.

Don't miss out; get this album and let 80s Giallo roll through your mind. Apr 03 2015