There have been a slew of electronic artists cashing in on 80's horror soundtrack mayhem recently. Umberto, Xander Harris and Gatekeeper are just a few of the synth driven artists currently re-soundtracking b-movie Zombie flicks and Italian gorefests. Well before Goblin and John Carpenter became the lodestone for so many young musicians, Zombi were dusting off their Dario Argento soundtracks and creating retro-horror soundscapes as the remnants of post-rock burnt down around them. At the time of their first recordings in the mid-aughts it was genuinely unique for a band to traffic in instrumental music that wasn't indebted to Godspeed You Black Emperor or Mogwai. It was even more aberrant for an instrumental band to rock synthesizers instead of guitars. Much has changed since then, now that a glut of retro synth acts have overrun our current musical landscape (although truth be told I am enjoying much of it). Yet even with so many imitators and competitors, Zombi remains at the head of the class when it comes to this stuff. Equal parts krautrock and synth-horror, "Escape Velocity" is their sleekest and most hypnotic record yet, and easily their best since the groundbreaking "Surface To Air." "DE3"
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