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CARPENTER, JOHN + ALAN HOWARTH  Halloween III: Season Of The Witch (2014 Edition)  LP   (Death Waltz)   27.00
Halloween III: Season Of The Witch (2014 Edition) IS CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE FOR ORDER

��� Finally back in stock, this classic Carpenter score has been reissued yet again by Death Waltz for a newly revised 2014 edition that was re-mastered from the original analog tape and includes six previously unreleased cues that did not appear on the previous Death Waltz release. The packaging includes a new obi-strip, 12" by 12" booklet and poster.

���Finally have several of the recent releases from Death Waltz in stock here at C-Blast; this new boutique label from the UK has been putting stuff out for over a year now, but just about everything they have done has quickly sold out. It's one of the coolest new imprints out there, a vinyl-only operation that is curating a fantastic selection of cult horror / exploitation film soundtracks from the 1970s-1980s "golden age" of electronic film scores, with a couple of high quality newer works appearing every now and then as well. With a signature sleeve design aesthetic, a killer logo and impeccable taste in the best in cinematic electronic darkness, every single one of Death Waltz's releases are amazing collectors items for fans of classic horror sounds.

���It really wasn't until fairly recently that the third entry in the Halloween series began to develop the cult following that it currently has; when Season Of The Witch was originally released in 1982, it caught a lot of flack from horror audiences for not featuring series boogeyman Michael Myers and not being directly connected with the previous two films. That's exactly why it became one of my favorite films in the series, I loved John Carpenter's idea that the series should feature a different stand-alone story with each annual entry, and while the concept didn't fly after this movie, it's become much loved by hardcore Carpenter fans in the decades since. Season Of The Witch's bizarre tale of Druidic conspiracies, Silver Shamrock Halloween masks, child sacrifice and android horror is easily one of Carpenter's strangest, and while he didn't sit behind the camera for this one (Tommy Lee Wallace handled directorial duties on Season), Carpenter (along with Alan Howarth) did craft the eerie, throbbing synthesizer score for Season Of The Witch, and its one of their best.

��� The Season Of The Witch soundtrack was originally released by MCA back in 1982 and has been a tough score to find on vinyl up till now, with used copies collecting hefty collectors prices; this new Death Waltz edition features the exact same track listing but is newly re-mastered, and comes in the signature Death Waltz designed sleeve with printed inner sleeve and liner notes from Howarth and Jay Shaw, and a gorgeous poster reproduction of the album art. The record starts off with the track "Main title", the theme music that appears in various permutations all throughout the score, an ominous arrangement of dark droning synths, buried pulsating drones, and strange computerized melody all backed by sinister synth-bass rhythms fits the movie's weird, surrealistic tone and quickly gets under your skin. The rest of the soundtrack shifts between those subsequent variations on the Season theme, with that creepy electronic melody becoming wrapped in throbbing black synths and tension-wracked rhythms, and pieces of minimal, murky ambience formed from simple, pulsating synth chords. Of course, being a Carpenter/Howarth score, there's some terrific action pieces in here as well like "Chariots Of Pumpkins", pulse-pounding bass-driven tracks with minimal kettledrum-like pounding that backed the film's harrowing chase sequences and which do a pretty good job of creating unease in the listener even when divorced of the film's frightening visuals. Some of the other tracks have unique little touches that make them stand out, like the harpsichord / synth sounds on "Drive To Santa Mira" that carry faint echoes of Carpenter's original Halloween theme. And then there's that perversely catchy Silver Shamrock jingle, the one that every fan of the film has been unable to get out of their head for more than thirty years, right there at the end, reminding all of you children to be in front of the TV set for the Horrorthon, don't miss it, and don't forget to wear your masks...


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