����� Jesus, they were really trying to distinguish this reissue of Carlo Maria Cordio's Absurd score from the original 1985 version on Creazioni Artistiche Musicali Records, weren't they? That original release of Cordio's amazing horror-prog score came with one of the most unassuming album covers you'll ever see for a horror score. And boring. The damn thing looked more suited for an old test-tone record. But on this eye-popping new reissue of Absurd, Death Waltz / Mondo dressed this beast up with all-new chunk-blowing artwork from the mighty Wes Benscoter. And it's one of the crazier-looking Death Waltz records so far, with fistfuls of entrails splayed across the gatefold cover, printed with raised-print embossing. Very nice. Very gross.

����� I was pretty unfamiliar with the film and the score up until recently though, in spite of my long-running love of Italian horror. Released as a sort-of sequel to Joe D'Amato's cannibal freakout Antropophagus, Absurd was really only connected to the previous film by the presence of lead star George Eastman, once again playing a bloodthirsty, seemingly indestructible Greek maniac. It's a pretty dopey movie, but it sure delivers on the gore front, bursting at the seams with splattery knife murders, decapitations, impalings, and disembowelments. And the score smokes. This was one of just a couple horror-related scores that Cordio did, others including work on Claudio Lattanzi's Killing Birds, Lucio Fulci's Aenigma, and Frederico Prosperi's awesome Curse II: The Bite, and he's not all that well-known outside of hardcore film-music circles. But his score for Absurd is a real blast.

����� It's basically divided into two halves: the earlier material is more atmospheric and melancholy in tone, while the latter half of the score shifts into a more electrified, energetic vein of pulsating progginess. Even earlier on, though, Cordio busts out some serious deathfunk, moving from rollicking Goblin-esque instrumentals into swells of delectable dark synth, with smattering of dramatic piano arrangements and languid jazzy instrumentals that utilize some spectacularly nostalgic 80's style blues-guitar action that sometimes borders on the Floydian. I'm always a sucker for that stuff. Analogue synths are draped all over this score, a mix of lush cosmic textures and haunting electric piano tones, and Cordio has a haunting, seven-note piano motif at the center of it all. Some of those funkier, more action-oriented pieces are reminiscent of Goblin's Zombi, but there's also some killer flourishes of gothic Hammond organ amid the noodling guitar and blasts of cosmic synth that give this stuff a unique touch. Honestly, Cordio's work feels more sophisticated than this grotty little Video Nasty really deserves, and that pulsating spookprog really elevates the atmosphere for this flick. A killer piece of early 80s obscurity that's one of the label's coolest releases of the past year.

����� Comes in that deluxe embossed gatefold package with a lobby card insert.