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Getting The Spins: Goblin – Profondo Rosso OST

(Death Waltz Recording Co., 2018)

One of the great horror soundtracks by one of the great prog bands of the last four decades. 1975’s Profondo Rosso (Deep Red) was the first collaboration between Italian director Dario Argento and Italian band Goblin (who were going by the name Cherry Five prior to recording the soundtrack). Goblin would go on to score Argento’s Suspiria two years later, universally considered the band’s best work. But Profondo is fantastic in its own right, bringing in elements of rock, jazz, funk and prog, with much of the focus on the rhythm section of drummer Walter Martino and bassist Claudio Simonetti. The mood throughout is unsettling, even when the band funks up, and the synthesizers used would become a blueprint for a decade of horror flicks to come. This expanded reissue from Death Waltz (and distributed by the fantastic Light In the Attic) sounds phenomenal. Goblin went on to cult status…and beyond, now performing somewhat regularly in the United States. I actually interviewed keyboardist Maurizio Guarini in 2013 for what was their first U.S. tour, who joined Goblin around the time of Suspiria, and also played on the band’s only American soundtrack, 1981’s St. Helens. Quite a career I’d say–imagine if Pink Floyd granted Argento’s wish to score Profondo Rosso 45 years ago?