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The soundtrack of Fantasmi: interview with cinematic horror maestro Dolore



Fantasmi is the new album from cinematic horror project Dolore. This record plays like the soundtrack to a classic Argento film, with creeping bass lines and heavy synths to build a supernatural ambiance.

Dolore mastermind G
iorgio Trombino is a busy ghoul. 

This Italian multi-instrumentalist also plays in death metal bands Haemophagus and Assumption, as well as the stoner rock band Elevators to The Grateful Sky. Even more impressively, all these projects have released new albums within the last three years.

Fantasmi will be released on October 31 via Philadelphia's Horror Pain Gore Death Productions. I conducted this email interview with Giorgio Trombino on the topics of his new record, and the scary elements of music and film. 


Congratulations on joining up with HPGD. What's on the horizon for you in the future?
Thank you. Dark clouds are always gathering actually! I'm already working on a new concept and on some ideas for the third Dolore album. It's going to be a little different from what I've done so far, as I'd like to investigate other sides of obscure cinematic and theatric music. Anyway, I couldn't be happier with Mike's work over at the HPGD headquarter.

What inspires you to create your music?

Real and imaginary movies, dreams, the woods and abandoned houses scattered around the place I live.

What's your favorite movie, and why?

The Big Lebowski. Definitely not a horror flick but still, in my opinion, one of the most brilliant, exhilarating and effective pieces of art ever crafted. It's quite hard to pinpoint my favorite horror movie. The one I admire most is De Ossorio's undying (all puns intended) 1971 masterpiece La Noche Del Terror Ciego. Its build-up, atmosphere, setting and score are simply unbeatable.

What is your favorite film score? 
It is extremely difficult to find and answer to this as I'm constantly changing my mind about top lists, but Suspiria is Goblin's highest peak and one of the finest moments in the history of so-called "horror music" and genre OST in general. Goblin outdid themselves with that one. It's astonishingly creative, dark and variegated. You can hear the band's most progressive facet as well as an unprecedented, dreamlike approach to certain sequences where the irrational element takes over. Of course, this exceptional opus is the perfect counterpart to Argento's best movie ever.


What's your favorite on screen death scene in a horror film?
Possibly the death of Helen Chester in "The Drop of Water" in Mario Bava's classic Black Sabbath. The curse of the re-appearing medium is obsessively terrifying. By the way, the Italian title of the film is as iconic as the English one (I tre volti della paura, which should be translated into "the three faces of fear"), and Čechov's original tale is definitely as relevant as the movie's episode itself.

What's your favorite track off the new album, and why?

The opener "Registri dell'Incubo" gives the entire album the right introduction. It's the most 70's sounding song on "Fantasmi" and its mysterious mood sets a hazy blueprint for the rest of the record. 



For your new album, is there a specific theme that goes with the songs? Tell me about this creative process?
The concept of Fantasmi is loosely based on a non-existing ghost movie. Namely, the teaser, graphics and promo images were conceived for the release of such movie. I began collecting ideas while walking on some lonely countryside avenues in the area of Possagno, the small town I live in, in the Northeast of Italy. I've come across a few abandoned buildings, mostly farms and old granaries but also houses. They silently appeared among bushes and trees, ruined, looking as though they had some stories to whisper. I subsequently thought of a series of narrative titles to give the whole project a cohesive structure.

What else have you been listening to, lately?

I've been quite busy with my other projects Assumption and Haemophagus. We just played Germany, the Kill Town Death Fest in Copenhagen and Darken the Moon, a very cool doom fest in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium. I'll carry on with more shows in Japan in the first half of October (Asakusa Death Fest) and I'll be touring with Haemophagus throughout the month of November. There are new albums and projects in the pipeline for all my current projects.

Thank you Giorgio for going one on one with the GRIM-1. What would you like to say in closing? 

Thank you so much for your time. Stop at nothing - raise the dead!

Any dude who quotes Venom lyrics and digs The Big Lebowski is cool in my grim book. Check out Dolore via Horror Pain Gore Death. Fantasmi arrives October 31.  


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