While there exist earlier synthesizer pioneers such as Vangelis, Giorgio Moroder, and Tangerine Dream, it is ever since Italian prog-rock outfit Goblin (and in particular the keyboard work of Claudio Simonetti) began soundtracking classic Giallo and horror films by revered master Dario Argento, and fellow Italian composer Fabio Frizzi began collaborating with Lucio Fulci, synthesizers have been the sonic implement of choice to capture a certain aural dread.
Director/Musician John Carpenter is a close contemporary in popularizing synthesizers in film music with the purpose of evoking fear and uneasiness and largely popularized it to American audiences beginning in 1974 with his use of the portable analog VCS 3 in the score of Dark Star. Four decades later, when Stranger Things debuted in 2016, the marketing campaign positioned the soundtrack front and center, essentially putting a fresh coat of nostalgic paint on the haunted house that was built by Goblin and Carpenter in the form of Synthwave.
One reason keyboard synthesizers are perfect for evoking feelings of fear, anxiety, dread, or quite the opposite, sublime beauty, is precise because these sounds are often identifiable as artificial, with no relation to sounds that occur in our natural world. It is this constructed artificiality that will be the thread that leads through some synth-laden albums to soundtrack your own anxious October and beyond.
Terrortron – Orgy of the Vampires
Terrortron has a melodic major-key orientation that will draw in listeners that enjoy Pop, House, or EDM. The cleanly rendered samples, un-distorted drums, and ultra-symphonic passages will get listeners enticed to listen beyond some artists mentioned below. This album is equally suited for a workout, an ax-grinding session, or a video game that is not of the Castlevania franchise.
Casualist fans of horror-influenced synth music should begin here, and get excited for the layers of the substrate to come, upon digging deeper. For the adventurous interested in subterranean levels of creeping horrific sounds…read on…let’s explore some caverns…
Keygen Church – ░ ▒ ▓ █
Keygen Church is a side-project of hyper-prolific chiptune/metal impresario Master Boot Record. There exist flourishes of metal, to be sure, but this is essentially a neo-classical synth wave at the core. Sweeping seemingly-endless arpeggios, scale exercises, and complex piano/keyboard work make this project a perfect accompaniment for skulking in the minor-key opera house or a goth swingers’ ball.
The information-based complexity of this project cannot be overstated: this project is an active listening experience and not simply baroque-inspired background music.
VHS Glitch – Night on the Dark Hill
A masterful and dynamic synth-wave piece, this 2014 album simulates old-school horror movie soundtracks with organic, analog, and a hefty dose of digital instruments. In particular, the 1980s-toned electric guitar is employed effectively, taking us to Fright Night or Dream Warriors territory.
VHS Glitch has continued to release detailed and well-crafted horror-inspired instrumental music with each passing year, but this touchstone release remains a high-water mark.
Old Sorcery – Realms of Magickal Sorrow
Dungeon Synth is a microgenre of Dark Ambient but has aesthetics rooted in Black Metal and overt themes inspired by the fantasy genre of literature and film. This 2018 project from Finland’s Old Sorcery is an exemplary representation of the “old-school” expression of the genre.
It retains sparse minimalism throughout but lends lilts of classical melodies expressed in recognizable virtual instruments and percussive elements atop subtly swelling pads, conjures imagined expanses of vast horizons, and invites quiet contemplation on our weekend hike through Mordor.
Skeleton War – Bonechief Derizog
While I might personally prefer the debut EP “The Keep of Gorp,” Skeleton War’s second release is a more refined laboratory distillate of the concept. If you enjoy Castlevania, Ghouls ‘n Ghosts, or any other 8-bit arcade games of the undead variety, this slice of minimalist chip-tune is for you. For those not familiar with chip-tune, the overarching sonic palette may feel jarring upon first listen, as electronic music (and music of most genres, to be clear) has been striving to become evermore glassy and cleanly produced in the past 20 years and the essence of the genre goes against the ideas of “more-is-more” and polished production.
This project is purely electronic, retro-arcade music with zero studio veneer. 8-bit Nintendo melodies slither across the tinny crunch of primitive electronic percussion, guiding our side-scroll to the final boss, functioning as the soundtrack to a haunted Gameboy cartridge that doesn’t exist.
Marie Davidson – Un Autre Voyage
From the colder climates and cultural crucible of Montréal, Quebec, Marie Davidson’s third album is an exploration of Synthwave without neon. With a foreboding spoken and sung lyrical delivery in both French and English sitting atop a bed of sparsely pulsing reverb-laden synths, we can, in turn, picture ourselves on a late-night drive or listening silently in an art gallery.
Minimalist retro-synths and danceable tempos push against tasty out-of-key embellishments, and even a few melodic organs and basslines to surprise us over this 6-song 38-minute run time. Although my command of the French language is negligible, Davidson’s cold delivery of her personal journalism conveys honesty and dead-serious intent.
The Night Monitor – This House is Haunted
Blackpool, UK’s Neil Scrivin provides his own soundtrack to Guy Lyon Playfair’s credulous 1980 “non-fiction” novel/endorsement of the Enfield Poltergeist case, This House is Haunted, and the results are far more substantive than the inspirational source. Scrivin combines analog synths, radiophonic, pseudo-EVP effects, and digital manipulation to bring us a dark-ambient field of warm sound, with hints of recognizable sounds arising from waves of textures.
This serves as a perfect soundtrack to a pregnant mood of foreboding or a solid grey noise floor to hide hushed conversations in the smaller hours.
