GOBLIN REBIRTH

Goblin Rebirth is a new germination of Goblin, the historic Roman prog band best known for the soundtracks of horror films such as Deep Red or Dawn of the Dead. The project was born in 2011 on the initiative of two veteran Goblin's members, Fabio Pignatelli (bass) and Agostino Marangolo (drums) and the line up was completed by Aidan Zammit (keyboards, vocoder), Danilo Cherni (keyboards) and Giacomo Anselmi (guitars). The band started performing live some pieces from Goblin's old repertoire but also managed to work on original compositions. In 2015 they finally released a brand new album on the independent label Relapse Records: it's simply entitled Goblin Rebirth and it was conceived as the soundtrack of an imaginary film whose plot is described in the liner notes. During the recording sessions the overall sound was enriched by some guests musicians such as Arnaldo Vacca (percussion), Francesco Marini (cello), Roberta Lombardini (vocals) and Dorraine Zammit Lupi (vocals) and I'm sure that Goblin's fans won't be disappointed by this work...

The excellent opener "Requiem For X" conjures up an atmosphere of mystery. According to the liner notes, it describes a scene where a strange character is observing a funeral ceremony from a hidden spot... Well, the strange character is a goblin who looks at his own final journey towards the pyre. How could it happen? He remembers...

The following "Back In 74" takes you back in time and features vintage sounds that recall Italian seventies scores full of car chases and action... According to the story-line here the protagonist begins a strange experience that drives him across space and time. He relives his childhood and early adult life, he can see all his many errors and feels that he has to follow a new way...

The dark "Book Of Skulls" describes the climbing of a mountain and the discovery, in a palace carved into the rock, of a mysterious book. The protagonist can't understand the symbols written on the pages of the book and their secret message but he puts the book in his pocket and leaves the palace...

The following "Mysterium" takes you through the labyrinth where the protagonist gets lost after leaving the palace. The atmosphere is tense and disquieting, you can feel fear and a sense of loss looming large. The protagonist feels he's being manipulated like a guinea pig in an experiment by an unknown entity...

On "Evil In The Machine" the rhythm rises and the atmosphere becomes almost unreal. The music veers to frenzied electronic soundscapes and here every now and again it reminds me of bands such as the Rockets, Kraftwerk or Alan Parsons Project. What did it happen? Well, you'll never know how, but the protagonist is now trapped into a video game and in this surreal world created by humans he meets a beautiful female goblin: short circuit! The game is over...

On the following "Forest" the rhythm calms down and we find the new formed couple in a kind of garden of Eden, surrounded by the beauty of nature. Now the atmosphere is relaxed, you can hear a church like organ and the suggestive, ethereal female vocals of the guest Roberta Lombardini while an electric guitar solo evokes a love dream on the dark side of the moon... Is this love?

The Gothic "Dark Bolero" conjures up obscure suspects, sins and betrayals. The music for a while takes you back to the time of Inquisition trying to describe a love that is falling apart, poisoned by jealousy and infidelity. Eventually the protagonist realizes that a goblin can never love and gives up: he just closes his eyes waiting for the end of his painful days on earth...

The closer "Rebirth" marks a new beginning. The protagonist awakes in a new mood, you can here exotic percussion and acoustic guitar passages while the keyboards weave the fabric of a new spiritual dimension. Mr. X is back home now and his family welcome him. He can start a new circle with a new awareness, while his nightmare slowly melts in the light of a new day...

Well, I doubt that this album will ever become the soundtrack of a real film, so all the images are up to your own fantasy that the power of music can stir, you can even elaborate a different screenplay if you like... Have a try! You can listen to the complete album on bandcamp...