SUSPIRIA (OST)

Most people got introduced to Goblin's music by either watching Profondo Rosso (Deep Red) or Suspiria and I'm a proud member of the latter category. If you haven't seen them then I definitely suggest to do so since they are two of the most stylish and elaborate horror/mystery movies of the '70s. But now I digress...

After hearing the main title theme for Suspiria I fell in love with the mysterious and somewhat Gothic-like atmosphere that was embedded in the music so purchasing this album as my introduction to Goblin was an obvious choice. I remember that the first time I played the album on my CD-player I turned the volume way up high which made the high pitch sounds really unbearable. After adjusting the volume I could finally fully appreciate the opening composition in all its glory. I'm saying this because the main title theme is mainly know for the intro section and not many have ever bothered to discover the wonderful composition that follows. The same goes for Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells which most people recognize from the opening sounds of the movie The Exorcist.

I'm not really a fan of the next couple of numbers because they are mainly atmospheric pieces that work well in the context of the movie but fall relatively flat while experienced on their own. Luckily Markos is a nice piece that basically picks up where the main title theme left off but this time the synthesizer sound slowly pan from one side to another as if to indicate the present danger in the context of the movie. Black Forest is definitely the most progressive piece of music off this album which even features some nice saxophone sections. Unfortunately I often get tired of the slow build-up that this composition tries to establish before getting to the two minutes of pure bliss, so it's never been one of my favorites. Blind Concert on the other hand manages to do everything I lacked on the previous track and even beyond! It's also probably the only of these tracks that would have worked well outside the soundtrack setting.

It's a real surprise for me to find out that I actually don't like this album as much as I originally assumed. Suspiria is a great soundtrack that I can't recommend to everyone because of some compositions that can only be enjoyed once you've seen the movie. I think that good, but non-essential rating is definitely in order here!

***** star songs: Suspiria (5:57)

**** star songs: Markos (4:03) Blind Concert (6:11) Death Valzer (1:51)

*** star songs: Witch (3:10) Opening To The Sighs (0:32) Sighs (5:15) Black Forest (6:06)