PROFONDO ROSSO [AKA: DEEP RED] (OST)

"Profondo Rosso" is the debut full-length studio album by Italian progressive rock act Goblin. The album was released through Cinevox Recordsin 1975. Goblin formed from the demise of the two Italian progressive rock bands Oliver and Cherry Five. The latter released a self-titled English language debut album in 1975 which featured a symphonic progressive rock sound influenced by artists like Yes and Genesis. The Goblin monicker was adopted after the band was offered to make music for the Giallo movie "Profondo Rosso" (English title: "Deep Red") by Italian director Dario Argento (the band would make many soundtracks for Dario Argento´s movies from then on).

The Italian Giallo movie genre was influenced by the crime fiction Giallo novels which was made famous in the late twenties and thirties. Their trademark yellow cover art gave the genre its name as Giallo means yellow in Italian. The Giallo movie genre had its heyday in the sixties and in the seventies. "La ragazza che sapeva troppo" ("The Girl Who Knew Too Much") from 1963 by director Mario Brava is widely considered to be the first Giallo movie. Other than Dario Argento and Mario Brava, Lucio Fulci is also considered one of the main directors and producers of Italian Giallo movies. All three directors are also considered to be very influential horror movie directors and sometimes the line between Giallo and slasher/Horror is very thin. Many Giallo movies have extented and rather bizarre murder scenes in addition to lots of suspense and thriller elements. "Profondo Rosso" is no exception. Lots of bloody and creative murder scenes which includes a decapitation as a result of a necklace being caught in an elevator (you have to see the movie to fully picture the sophisticated and sadistic nature of that murder).

The tracks for the movie were composed by Goblin and Italian classical/jazz composer Giorgio Gaslini. The original vinyl version of the album features 7 tracks. The 3 tracks on Side A were composed by Goblin while the 4 tracks on Side B were composed by Gaslini. All tracks are performed by Goblin. There´s a rather distinct difference in compositional style between the tracks on Side A and the tracks on side B. The Goblin composed tracks are suspenseful instrumentals which definitely sound like they were composed for a horror/giallo movie soundtrack, while the Gaslini compositions are more energetic and jazz rock/fusion influenced (and some more subdued and classical in style). The rhythm section whip up an organic and funky fusion groove and the listener is also treated to a lot of great organ and minimoog work.

"Profondo Rosso" is a well produced album, featuring a warm, organic, and detailed sound production, perfectly suiting the material. It´s not the most consistent release in terms of style, and while being eclectic is rarely a bad quality, there are some parts of "Profondo Rosso" that aren´t that interesting. Upon conclusion a few flaws an sub par moments don´t mean that it´s not overall a good quality release, so a 3.5 star (70%) rating is still deserved.