While Claudio Simonetti's proggy heavy metal outfit Daemonia generally foregoes the strange, spooky atmospherics of his main band Goblin even when doing their own renditions of legendary material from the Italian horror-prog masters, their bombastic, pummeling interpretations of classic Argento soundtracks are still a blast. Anyone who saw Goblin on tour in 2013 already got a taste of Daemonia's approach, as several members of Simonetti's crew were incorporated into the live Goblin lineup for those US dates, and their more aggressive, metallic-leaning tendencies came through both live and on the four song tour EP that Goblin put out on Death Waltz. With this new LP on Italian psych/prog label Black Widow, though, those metallic elements are completely let loose, as Daemonia tackles one of Goblin's most well-known scores, 1978's Dawn Of The Dead (aka Zombi).

    Combining the eerie winding arrangements of Goblin's original score with an amped-up level of percussive power and metallic crunch, this classic soundtrack is transformed into something distinctly heavier; while Simonetti's synthesizers are instantly recognizable and the musical structures stick pretty close to the originals, the rest of the band brings a much more boisterous feel to the material, the metallic crunch of Bruno Previtali's guitar and the weight of the drumming from Titta Tani (a former member of cult death metal band Necrophagia) transforming these atmospheric tracks into something decidedly different. One of the most noticeable changes is Previtali's addition of wailing, blues rock leads that add a brashness to the music, and there's some crazed funkified jamming on tracks like "Zombi" that gets pretty wild, as well. The tribal freakout "At The Safari" is downright ridiculous, complete with jungle animal cries, and tracks like that (as well as the honky-tonk goofiness of "Torte In Faccia" and the romantic easy-listening of "Zombi Sexy") are a reminder of how comical Goblin's original soundtrack could get amid all of the pulsating, tension-building dread. Other tracks on the LP are in more of a blues rock style, or organ-drenched 70's style jazz-rock, while "Zaratozom" dispenses some killer organ-drenched prog over galloping, almost Maiden-esque riffery, and "Oblio" ascends into gorgeous, Floydian spaciness.

    The LP also includes a selection of non-soundtrack material towards the end, including a killer rendition of their classic "Roller" that updates the original with a heavier, more chugtastic groove, and man does it swing; that's followed by a fucking killer speed-metal version of Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" and a thrilling rendition of Simmonetti's theme from Argento's 2004 film The Card Player. While it's more of an interesting diversion for Goblin / spook-prog fans than anything (fans of Anima Morte should particularly take note), Simonetti devotees would be advised to check this one out, as his playing is at the forefront of Daemonia's sound, given more breadth to let loose with some extended soloing and longform Moog outbursts that you don't often hear on his other recordings.