Dressel Amorosi : DeathMetha

I’m not sure what’s happening on Dressel Amorosi’s dark and slinky DeathMetha, but I sure as hell like it. Prominent Rickenbacker bass lines, Fender Rhodes, and an array of vintage synths all come together to make the coolest, funkiest soundtrack to a movie you dreamt up on an absinth fever dream.

The band is synthesist Heinrich Dressel – aka Italian musician Valerio Lombardozzi – and ex Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin bass player Federico Amorosi, now playing with the Fabio Frizzi ‘Frizzi 2 Fulci’ band. These two have cooked up a divinely analog-heavy ode to 70s prog and under the radar horror scores that were in large part far better than the films they were scoring. In other words, get ready for all the vibes.

If you’ll recall, Heinrich Dressel released the excellent Shapeshifting late last year on Spun Out Of Control. That was an album of richly-layered electronics and dark intentions. It was a tour-de-force of mood and musical prowess. Combine those musical superpowers with that of Federico Amorosi, the four-string wizard behind first Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin, then maestro Fabio Frizzi’s Frizzi 2 Fulci. The proggy dark funkiness is gonna be overwhelming and intense. And it is.

What I love about DeathMetha is that it not only locks into the slinky funkiness of those classic Goblin vibes, but it goes well beyond horror pastiche. Opener “Naked Body Found In The Campitelly” builds slowly and assuredly. There’s a dark groove that rises up from the depths, bringing to mind Alan Parsons Project. The Rickenbacker bass is undeniable, and when the track kicks up the groove that bass is the foundation. Touches of Carpenter, synth/prog duo Zombi, and of course Goblin comes through. It’s a striking introduction.

Title track “DeathMetha” brings the Mike Oldfield vibes in a big way with a synth/key line that is a touch reminiscent of “Tubular Bells”. But all similarities fade in the mist when the drum/bass combo put this in almost sultry territory. I’m reminded of Darkside, the electronic/guitar duo of Nicholas Jaar and Dave Harrington. Like Dressel Amorosi, they combined 70s deep album tracks vibes with the warmth of analog electronics. Of course Dressel Amorosi has the advantage of Italian horror DNA coursing through their veins.

From the electro rock funk of “Thassete” to the melancholy dread of “Tema Di Monika” to the Goblin-esque bass fury of “Zombiscurry”, Amorosi and Lombardozzi don’t waste a single note here. This is a vast soundscape of horror-flavored funk and prog-heavy intent. And of course they end the album on the meditative and beautifully melancholy “Asylum Coronae”.

If you love the horror scores of Goblin and Fabio Frizzi, or the dreamy prog and next-level production of Pink Floyd and Alan Parsons Project, as well as the more modern works of Zombi, Darkside, Hawksmoor, and synth-heavy horror scores, then you need Dressel Amorosi’s DeathMetha in your life. Like now.

8.5 out of 10

‘DeathMetha’ will be released 11/30 via Spun Out Of Control. Preorder here.