Urlaubshits

80s horror soundtracks have been providing fertile ground for producers for years. It’s easy to forget that John Carpenter was a genuine pioneer with his use of synthesisers to evoke terror and tension in his films (at least before his output stagnated). The difficulty I have with this type of music is that the tropes used are so tied in with those early synth soundtracks, that it’s often difficult to avoid sounding derivative. Spectral Empire are an exception. They take the best parts of 80s horror soundtracks, and meld them with the aesthetic sensibility of early Warp Records releases, creating a unique sound that is as much house music as it is arcane synth prog.

“Black Shark” starts off in a fairly melodic manner, albeit a melody, which, in combination with the clockwork drum sequence, creates a real sense of creeping dread; it eventually breaks into full on terror with some distorted drones and metallic strings. It’s a particularly heavy moment that belies the track’s slow 100bpm pace. It ends with a particularly funereal bell tolling somewhere in the background, gloomy, but nothing compared to the second track. “KM-50 (Spectral Assault Mix)” completely does away with melody; it has a skeletal composition at the beginning comprised only of drones which sound like a swarm of insects together with a metronomic drumbeat. A single bass drone is the cue for the track to take you further into the depths, before the track finally explodes. Trevor Jackson has called it “the heaviest thing I’ve heard for eons”, and I find it hard to disagree; the only thing I could say is comparable is the recent Black Meteoric Star material.

The Chateau Flight remix of previous single “Innerfearance” is a completely different animal to the other two tracks. It keeps the 100bpm pace of the other two tracks, but trades the fear for something altogether more cosmic. It starts off with the kind of atmospheric bleeps and rough synth effects of the original, but the big moment comes when it drops some big balearic chords and a meandering cosmic melody. Given Spectral Empire’s bleakness, it’s completely unexpected, but works incredibly well, offering a bit of release from the crazed laughter and sinister vocals which echo from within, and makes the eventual drop back into the doom which follows that bit more terrifying. It’s an awesome track, and one of my favourite remixes this year.

Black Shark is out now on Thisisnotanexit

Listen:> Spectral Empire - KM-50 (Spectral Assault Mix)

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