As much as I’m a huge “Walking Dead” fan, it drives me nuts
when I might compare a segment from the series to a specific one in a George A.
Romero film—and get a blank stare. Worse yet, I get ever
more perturbed if I’m at a mall and reference a scene from “Dawn of the Dead”,
and I’m told, “That didn’t happen in the movie”, because my companion is only familiar with the 2004 Zack Synder version. Romero deserves better than that, and I’m pleased
as punch when folks do acknowledge his contributions and celebrate his legacy.
A grand case in point is Romerology: a new, electronic-musical
anthology salute to the late, great filmmaker, available through Black Box Recordings.
In its sounds and selections, the album creates a fulfilling experience that not only pays roundabout tribute to Romero’s seven “Dead” films, but
the filmmaker's other eerie productions,
including “The Crazies”; “Martin” and “Creepshow”.
- Duo Occhi Diabolici by Ian Haygreen
- The Day We Die by Soundshift
- Last Post for Bubba by Mangabros
- The Coil by Belial Pelegrim
- Escape from Somewhere Nasty by Jeff Appleton
- The Crazies: Why Do All
the Good People Have to Die? by Zombi Killer Extreme
- WitchesBurn by Bedtime for Robots
- Hide and Deep by Asleep with
Headphones
- Barbara in a Lonely
Place
by Plainastralchurch
Some of the tracks invoke a distinct, zombie uprising flavor, such
as Bedtime for Robots (Michael Ferentino)'s "WitchesBurn", which made me initially think of the
living dead slowly but surely surrounding a farmhouse, (though upon the second listen, the fiery psychosis of "Jack’s Wife"/"Season
of the Witch" seeped through in a tremendous way). The fine art of zombie infestation can also be detected in Plainastralchurch (Christoph Chianese-Lopez)’s "Barbara in a Lonely Place", though
anything bearing "Barbara" can’t help but conjure thoughts of
“Night's” damned damsel; to supplement it, we get a full-fledged, zombie-character tribute in Mangabros (Craig Manga)'s "Last Post for Bubba", where we darn well sense Sherman Howard's friendly, flesh-eater listening in. Additionally, Soundshift (Wes Kane)'s "The Day We Die" sounds like an pounding, alternate/bonus track to "Day of the Dead", and Ian Haygreen’s "Duo Occhi Diabolici" ("Two Evil Eyes"), though an obvious nod to the Romero/Dario Argento Poe team-up, elicits enough Italiano build-up to imply portions of the maestros' earlier collaboration: "Dawn of the Dead"/"Zombie".
In another instance, the invasive styling is completely “The Crazies”, with Zombi Killer Extreme (Clint Cancer)’s slow-burn "Why Do All the Good People Have
to Die?". On the other hand, Belial
Pelegrim’s "The Coil" reminds me of the forlorn, blood-sipping disturbances of "Martin", or perhaps the domestic anguish of "Monkey Shines";
while Asleep with Headphones (Jason Mowry)'s "Hide and Deep" and Jeff Appleton’s "Escape from Somewhere Nasty" cover the mean, downtrodden character breakdowns of
“Bruiser”, "Creepshow" (any of the original film's segments) and “The Dark Half”. (Of course, these are just my personal views, but whether I'm precise in my assessments isn't as important as the overall Romero-ish feelings the compositions make, and they do stir many aplenty. Gosh, I guess if one desired, one could even connect the musical strokes to "Knightriders" and "There's Always Vanilla". Romero is Romero, after all.)
To delight the Romero fan base further, traces of such composers as Donald Rubinstein, Goblin and John Harrison surface among these crafty, cherry-picked gems. These insinuations strengthen a commonality among the tracks that's unmistakably and symbolically Romero. It
all snaps and fizzes with perfection, based on a love, respect and knowledge of one of the greatest visionaries ever to blood-stain celluloid.
So, put those headphones on and in the style of dear, ol' Bub, listen to one's tormented heart’s content.
Romerology can be unearthed at … https://blackboxrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/romerology-a-tribute-to-george-romero.
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