Symphonic Holocaust [Import]

Morte Macabre, Morte Macabre | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 1, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Musea Records France
• ASIN: B00004VI7J
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #794,128 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

MORTE MACABRE is both a unique and fiendish project, consisting in revisiting the musical themes of the greatest horror movies ("Rosemary's Baby", "Beyond The Darkness", "City Of The Living Dead", "The Beyond"...) in the Scandinavian School’s style. A wise choice, as the melancholic and oppressive sound of King Mellotron, combined with Robert FRIPP-like guitar riffs, conveys brilliantly the darkness, the tension and the anxiety developed by the classics of the genre. Behind the controls, old acquaintances such as guitarist Nicklas BERG and drummer Peter NORDINS (ANEKDOTEN), here associated with keyboards player Reine FISKE and bass player Stefan DIMLE (LANDBERK), are back. Both released by Musea and the well-named Mellotronen label, "Symphonic Holocaust" (1998) is worth as much for its quality and originality as for its rarity. The splendid sleeve suits quite well the music provided: dark and beautiful ! You shouldn’t miss the eighth track, which is an unreleased suite that nearly lasts 18 minutes, and that should remain the only original composition ever written by MORTE MACABRE. By pleasure or fright, each note will make you shiver ! --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mellotronic Paradise!, June 23, 2005

By 

"Crystal Plumage" (Sneek Netherlands) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Symphonic Holocaust (Audio CD)

This is one awesome record.
Featuring musicians from two of my favorite Swedish bands,Anekdoten and Landberk.
Their music is influenced by the Italian music of Museo Rosenbach,Goblin and Fabio Frizzi (aka. Vince Tempera).
This collection is an interpretation of several "well known" themes from Italian Horror movies.
Also some newly written pieces.
Buy it if you can find it!!
Recommended!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Outstanding Example Of 'Nineties Progressive Rock, June 11, 2008

By 

Carnamagos "Carnamagos" (Northeastern U.S.A.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: SYMPHONIC HOLOCAUST (Audio CD)

To be blunt, the glory days of Progressive rock ended during the 1970's. While I have appreciated the good intentions of many of the bands who have since tried to recreate those glories, unbiased observation yields the sad conclusion that most of the later groups who try to carry the banner are mere unoriginal tribute bands.

Most evident is these bands' general lack of compositional skill and, in particular, their inability to compose memorable themes (although several of these musicians can fly up and down the keyboard or the fingerboard with the best of their predecessors!). Morte Macabre, however, has resolved the problem of general lack of original compositional skills by covering the works of better composers than they. In doing so, they do not spread their own compositional or improvisational abilities too thin, which makes their original contributions to this CD quite memorable.

What is more, Morte Macabre has for the most part taken an original path. Not only do they cover mostly horror film themes, but, in particular, they cover themes from neglected Italian horror films of the 1970's. This approach also works well because, although most of the composers' original work covered here is not Progressive rock, it does partake of the same 1970's *Zeitgeist*, and therefore has a "feel" that is very compatible with Progressive rock, in general.

Contrary to the assertions of those who over-emphasize the "dark" aspects of this work, there is great variety here. From the "classic" progressive Mellotron sounds of "Apoteosi del Misterio", to the near-atonality of "Sequenza Ritmica e Tema", to the gentle and melancholic atmospheres of "Lullaby" and "Quiet Drops", *Symphonic Holocaust* displays both versatility and good taste. The musical arrangements are varied and imaginative, the selections are outstanding, and the playing is tasteful, yet virtuosic. What more can an admirer of Progressive rock ask?

As for the comparatively low review scores that *Symphonic Holocaust* has received here and elsewhere, I can attribute them only to incomprehension*, to queasiness over the subject matter of the CD, or to a simple backlash against the extreme (and perhaps overstated) acclaim that this CD received when it was first issued. No matter: *Symphonic Holocaust* stands as one of the very finest examples of post-1970's Progressive rock that I have heard. Highly recommended.


*The logic of the one Amazon reviewer who states that this CD "might not be as progressive as you might expect" completely escapes me, as does his assertion that Progressive rock doesn't get any darker than this. Has he ever heard any Univers Zero, I wonder?

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Masterpiece Of 'Nineties-Era Progressive Rock, June 14, 2008

By 

Carnamagos "Carnamagos" (Northeastern U.S.A.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Symphonic Holocaust (Audio CD)

To be blunt, the glory days of Progressive rock ended during the 1970's. While I have appreciated the good intentions of many of the bands who have since tried to recreate those glories, unbiased observation yields the sad conclusion that most of the later groups who try to carry the banner are mere unoriginal tribute bands.

Most evident is these bands' general lack of compositional skill and, in particular, their inability to compose memorable themes (although several of these musicians can fly up and down the keyboard or the fingerboard with the best of their predecessors!). Morte Macabre, however, has resolved the problem of general lack of original compositional skills by covering the works of better composers than they. In doing so, they do not spread their own compositional or improvisational abilities too thin, which makes their original contributions to this CD quite memorable.

What is more, Morte Macabre has for the most part taken an original path. Not only do they cover mostly horror film themes, but, in particular, they cover themes from neglected Italian horror films of the 1970's. This approach also works well because, although most of the composers' original work covered here is not Progressive rock, it does partake of the same 1970's *Zeitgeist*, and therefore has a "feel" that is very compatible with Progressive rock, in general.

Contrary to the assertions of those who over-emphasize the "dark" aspects of this work, there is great variety here. From the "classic" progressive Mellotron sounds of "Apoteosi del Misterio", to the near-atonality of "Sequenza Ritmica e Tema", to the gentle and melancholic atmospheres of "Lullaby" and "Quiet Drops", *Symphonic Holocaust* displays both versatility and good taste. The musical arrangements are varied and imaginative, the selections are outstanding, and the playing is tasteful, yet virtuosic. What more can an admirer of Progressive rock ask?

As for the comparatively poor reviews that *Symphonic Holocaust* has received here and there, I can attribute them only to incomprehension, to queasiness over the subject matter of the CD, or to a simple backlash against the extreme (and perhaps overstated) acclaim that this CD received when it was first issued. No matter: *Symphonic Holocaust* stands as one of the very finest examples of post-1970's Progressive rock that I have heard. Highly recommended.