CLAUDIO SIMONETTI’S GOBLIN

The Finnish Live Soundtrack Experience SVART

Vibrant performances of two classic horror soundtracks.

Dario Argento and Goblin are among the most effective director/composer combinations in cinema history, the Italian band’s music adding immeasurably to the disturbing weirdness of Argento’s films. In 2019, the current incarnation of Goblin played the scores they composed for Argento’s 70s masterpieces Profondo Rosso and Suspiria live in Helsinki, to accompany the screening of both movies.

Both of those shows are collected in this lavish box set (and available separately), and it’s testament to the scope and ingenuity of the music that the absence of the films never matter.

Profondo Rosso (sometimes called Deep Red) is menacing and brooding, as befits the storyline it illustrates. But Suspiria is on another level. This is arguably the apogee of Simonetti and Goblin’s career. In fact, many of the compositional signatures are iconic in their own right, and you can hear the audience occasionally singing along.

While there’s understandably little room for deviation from the originals, given that the music is locked into what’s on the screen, the chilling atmosphere summoned is hugely effective even without the visuals.