GOBLIN REBIRTH

GOBLIN were masters of 70s soundtrack magic creating the perfect spook-filled vibes that gracefully accompanied various film scores. The band started out as Cherry Five and wisely changed their name to the more catchy GOBLIN and by 1977 had several well selling albums to their credit. Fast forward several decades later when it seems every classic prog rock entity is giving it a go and trying to catch the new wave of 21st century progressive music and not only do we get one GOBLIN, we get SIX! That's right, since 2010 there have been several bands named New Goblin (2011-13), The Goblin Keys (2012), a new version of the original Goblin (2013 - present), Claudio Simonetti's Goblin (2014 - present), the new version of Cherry Five (2014 - present) and my favorite of all this stunning synth-laden spookfest by GOBLIN REBIRTH (2011 - present ) which contains original members Fabio Pignatelli (bass) and Agostino Marangolo (drums). Joining the team are Aidan Zammit (keyboards), Giacomo Anselmi (guitars) and Danilo Cherni (keyboards).

This team really churns out the horrific and satisfying "Exorcist" type vibes as well as some stellar symphonic heavy prog rock that playfully dishes out one churnin' groove after another with enough variation to keep my ears pricked up for the album's entirety. Pretty cool for a bunch of guys who have been around the block a few times. More often than not older prog bands only deliver a stale watered down version of yesterdecade, but none of that nonsense with GOBLIN REBIRTH. This album successfully integrates the past with the present and utilizes the most beautiful production values that current technology has to offer.

"Requiem For X" is exactly what the doctor ordered for me to get all excited about a new GOBLIN album. The cool embryonic fetus on the cover is the perfect visual representation for this newly tweaked sideshow in the greater GOBLIN universe and instantly makes me think of the movie "Rosemary's Baby" and lo and behold with the very first introductory chimes accompanied by a subdued whistle, indeed remind me of that very soundtrack that accompanies that movie. It's just similar enough to evoke the whole Devil's spawn concept but doesn't go as far as completely feeling like a ripoff and as soon as it plays itself out we get a full-on symphonic prog assault with classical piano runs dancing with moog synthesizers and hard rocking power chords on the guitar all the while rhythmically powered by a groovilicous bass line.

The soundtrack laden themes build upon one another cementing the fact that the GOBLIN sound is not only relevant to the current era but still quite electrifying as well and best of all we still get some surprises on the way. One of the biggest of these modern day developments comes with the track "Evil In The Machine" which not only delivers a seriously hard rocking groove and synth laden dark atmosphere but aspires to Kraftwerk with some dark and haunting processed robotic vocals. The track is absolutely brilliant in how it combines dungeon synth atmospheres melding with a pummeling bass and guitar attack all the while adding a detached and emotionally charged edge.

"Dark Bolero" is another treat with a pulsating cello line churning out the famous slow-tempo Spanish music form with a dark atmospheric touch and a healthy dose of a progressive rock infusion to create a stunning concoction of sonic bliss. A perfect display right here of the musicians on board each becoming a sum of the whole to make a beautiful melodic flow and once the female vocals join in reminds me a bit of something Cirque Du Soleil would incorporate into their evocative performance art.

There are really no bad tracks on here, just good and great. GOBLIN REBIRTH is a brilliant side project of one of the greatest spooky movie soundtracks artists the world has spawned and as the band themselves claim on their Bandcamp site that GOBLIN REBIRTH is very much a classic album that will thrill prog-heads and score-heads alike and sits comfortably next to the older classics "Suspira," "Profondo Rosso" and "Tenebre." And those are statements that i would totally agree with as GOBLIN REBIRTH has elements of all the previous incarnations of the band and plenty of surprises that pop out in the most unexpected ways. One of my favorites from 2015 actually.