KOTIOMKIN
KOTIOMKIN “The Satanic Rites of Cobram”
By Octopi Mills
What we have here is an Italian duo that does soundtracks to non-existent films. This I can applaud as it is a very good idea and if done right, can make a great a mark as anything. Sporting a vintage album cover with interesting art somewhere between horror cinema and horror comic, it lends a unique feel to the music. As the promo states : "A wall of distortions and analog synthesizers in eclectic sauce sonorizes the dark erotic-vampire misadventures of the geometra Calboni, a fictional character, appearing in Italian literature and film, created by Paolo Villaggio (Fantozzi)."
I was a bit surprised by the grinding guitars which distort and make a lot of noise in places where certain spaces blur. The electronic segments are certainly more interesting for the most part and offer a strange, blurry, fuzzy sort of carnival feel. The heavier music places are more band like in the sense of a metal band buzzing away with lots of effects on the instruments. There is that bizarre-o sound of the strangeness of Italian horror cinematics coming through and one can see how they would reference GOBLIN or Ennio Morricone, in some ways, of course. There is also a latent strangeness to it that is cold and maniacal. And of course, there is some extreme experimentation and outright button mashing going on in places here. At times there are samples thrown in and something that resembles the risk of slap bass of funk even. A strange one here that sticks out in the bin, surely.