The
debut album from ANIMA MORTE, "Face the
Sea of Darkness", is now available from
Dead Beat Media! This is pure Italian horror-soundtrack
worship at its very best! Incredibly talented,
creepy, dark, and haunting...this 11 song debut
album is a MUST for fans of Goblin, Fabio Frizzi,
and Morte Macabre. These zombies from Sweden
have crafted a wonderfully mesmerizing and diabolic
piece of work and we are very proud to bring
it to you. Dead Beat Media's very first release!
Visit
the DEAD
BEAT MEDIA MYSPACE page to hear
"Wandering" - a brand new mastered
song from the album. Or visit the ANIMA
MORTE MYSPACE as well.
CLICK HERE TO BUY "FACE THE SEA
OF DARKNESS" FROM RAZORBACK RECORDS!
Non-US
Customers:
Click Here
To Order!
$10 US / $12 World ppd.
ANIMA
MORTE
"Face the Sea of Darkness" CD
Dead Beat Media 2007
Review from Unholycult.com
http://www.unholycult.com/Anima_Morte.html
(Album of the Week 1-7-14-2008)
Those
of you that routinely go to the music section
to listen to a few song samples while reading
the album of the week review are probably a
tad shocked to hear Anima Morte, a band not
playing Metal. But those that are aficionados
for Italian horror flicks featuring tasty cannibalism,
yellow-jacketed pulp fiction turned cinematic
Giallo by influence of Dario Argento, or zombies
rising from a tub drained of its brackish water
will not be surprised to hear 'Face the Sea
of Darkness,' an album inspired by the musical
arrangements found in those types of films.
Anima
Morte isn't music meant to be pigeon holed,
in that it is filled with a convoluted substance
that belies the slasher flick ambiance. In other
words, the instrumentals found on 'Face the
Sea of Darkness' can be appreciated by all listeners
just on the basis of inventive diversity. Most
exceptional is the bands ability to create a
simple melodic riff that seemingly blankets
the 70's progressive rock complexity. Flashes
of jazz piano slither in minutia, electric guitar
is brilliantly distorted enough to convey gigantic
heavy notes, acoustic guitar is portentously
heart wrenching, and bass is beautifully prominent
with a timely funky dynamism or contemplative
lurch that matches the drums in ghostly movements.
Choral passages are eerie and songs have powerful
hooks that present a level of musical anxiety,
like watching a killer stalk prey.
The
overall use of keyboards (It would surprise
me to learn they are using organ, piano, Mellotron,
and Moog synthesizer) is extraordinary in its
ability to express suffering or dramatic seconds
of tragedy musically in much the same fashion
as hypnotic cinematography trailing blood garishly
spotting a marbled floor. Other passages in
songs have the keyboards weaving an almost mawkish
70's disco psychedelia balanced against a progressive
rock vibe, which creates a mysteriously thrilling
aura. Most awesome is that massive organ, whose
keys are hammered and seemingly held down in
deliciously dexterous moments of climax, like
watching a murderer stab a victim through a
sultry white dress.
'Face
the Sea of Darkness' is a CD embodying a smattering
of Goblin with Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and
a hint of progressive era Genesis to create
Anima Morte, a band ingeniously capable of crafting
music that is spooky and thought provoking.
Moreover, the smart people at Dead Beat Media
have essentially fused forward thinking with
a glimmer of retrospective by putting out Anima
Morte, for this is music that hearkens to the
70's and 80's where the art of film was bound
in equilibrium to music's ability to create
tension, terror, drama, and pathos. Unfortunately,
seeing most of today's rehashed lowbrow horror
films is like watching a sports highlight reel
featuring beautiful teenagers splattered by
killers while Nu-Metal or Metalcore dubiously
jams in the background.
Being
a horror film fan is not necessary for listeners
to enjoy or even love 'Face the Sea of Darkness.'
The music is brilliantly retro but intoxicatingly
modern. Arrangements are near genius, and the
production is stellar thereby enhancing the
suggestion of supernatural homicide. The mix
is robust in that it gives all the instruments
their cohesive space. But best of all is the
fact that Anima Morte is band whose music is
layered with enough complexity that it never
grows tiresome to hear. Despite its late 2007
release date, 'Face the Sea of Darkness' is
certainly one of the best recordings of the
year past, but the reality is that its sheer
brilliance is timeless.
By Mike Lidia
ANIMA
MORTE
"Face the Sea of Darkness" CD
Dead Beat Media 2007
Review from http://www.metalteamuk.net
Anima
Morte have followed things up with their debut
album which is the first release from Dead Beat
Media who are a subsidiary of the Razorback
hive. This should certainly have you in no doubt
that it is a project that comes bloodthirstily
approved as the people behind that label certainly
know a good gore score when they hear one.
In
perspective though, you do not have to be a
splatter aficionado to appreciate this. The
creepy musical constructions are purely instrumental
and rely heavily on the progressive rock structures
of the likes of Goblin who are widely respected
as the innovators of the genre (read the Claudio
Simonetti interview here for more information).
Indeed
the nail is hit well and truly into the head
here as ‘He Who Dwells In Darkness’
illustrates. There is a maudlin and dismal air
of futility and hopelessness running through
the downbeat melody here, one that really is
reminiscent of Riz Ortolani’s main theme
from Cannibal Holocaust. The track is however
bolstered by cascading keys with a real 70s’
flavour about them and the more forceful Goblinesque
bombast behind the numbers driving force.
‘Rise
Again’ has that ghostly chanting choral
behind it that summons images of skeletal hands
thrusting out of decayed earth to grab the ankle
of the unsuspecting (and incessantly screaming)
soon to be dismembered victim. The prog laden
flurries race ever forward, on to deaths delirium
expelling one hell of a hook laden rhythm, which
will take you over like a zombie flesh wound.
‘Devoid Of a Soul’ is a feast that
will have beards stroked and the likes of King
Crimson and ELP mentioned with fond reminiscence.
Knowing
when to inject a sense of pathos into the mix
we are presented with ‘Wandering’
which does just that in tribute to the likes
of Ennio Morricone as an intrepid doomed investigator
finds themselves hopelessly lost in a labyrinth
of despair. Whilst the musicianship here is
oft complex the themes are in essence simple
and compelling and this is why things work so
well. I could certainly envisage Anima Morte
actually taking things to the next level and
scoring an Italian movie like those from the
font they worship. Unfortunately there are so
few genre survivors, Argento is the exception,
Deodata is still alive and there is always Lamberto
Bava and it’s high time Michele Soavi
made another movie so who knows, they may get
a chance. In the meantime if you are looking
for some vintage blood, the well overfloweth,
drink deep.
http://www.myspace.com/animamorte
http://www.animamorte.com
http://www.livingdeadbeat.net
Pete Woods
