Music & Reviews: Welcome to the Horror Show by Sam Haynes

Track Listing:
1. All Hallows
2. Ghost House
3. Shadows
4. Scarecrows
5. Zombie
6. Doll House
7. Ghost Train
8. Midnight
9. Seance
10. 31-13
11. The Dark
12. Halloween Night
13. Midnight at the Funhouse
14. Endless Nightmare
15. Ghost House (Fettdog remix)
16. Scarecrows (Cheekyboy Dub)
17. Witching Hour
18. Spirit Box

Welcome to the Horror Show, the second album from Sam Haynes, is a collection of tracks that were created to be used in Halloween haunts and on horror movie soundtracks. There are sixteen individual pieces, plus two remixes; Fettdog's more aggressive remix of Ghost House and Cheekyboy's darker take on Scarecrows.

The album is very atmospheric throughout and tracks such as Ghost House, Spirit Box, Doll House, Midnight and 31-13 are particularly ominous and would be perfect for haunts and horror movies. There are, however, some more up tempo, danceable and almost "cute" tracks like Zombie, Halloween Night, Ghost Train, and Witching Hour, which would be great for Halloween parties and spooky fairgrounds.

While the influences of 70's, 80's and 90's horror soundtracks - everything from John Carpenter's Halloween and Christine scores to the Phantasm and Suspiria soundtracks by Fred Myrow/Malcolm Seagrave and Goblin respectively -  are overt, Sam Haynes manage to mix in their own brand of creepy to Welcome to the Horror Show as well. Many of the tracks have a familiar feel to them, but are simultaneously unique. 

Overall, Welcome to the Horror Show is an enjoyable and creepy album, with a great balance between horror-influenced scares and mischievous fun. It's definitely one for those with a love for movie scores and Halloween haunts.

Sam Haynes are giving away 5 free digital copies of Welcome to the Horror Show and all you have to do to win one is head over to their Facebook page and hit the "Like" button! Winners will be chosen at random on August 13th, 2013.

Websites:

• Haunt Music (Sam Haynes website) 
• Facebook
• Twitter
• iTunes

Music & Reviews: Vacant Tombs & Full Moons by Tommy Creep

Track Listing:

1. Death Beach
2. More Zombie Than Zombie
3. Pull The Switch!
4. Electronic Voice Phenomena
5. The Gravediggers
6. Haunted House Party
7. The Cemetery (Creepy VIP)
8. Castle Dracula
9. The Cemetery (Original Mix, with Ghoulshow)
10. More Zombie Than Zombie (VIP)
11. Stiff Wagon

Label: Graveyard Calling

Release Date: 29th July, 2013

Vacant Tombs and Full Moons is the new album by Tommy Creep, being released through UK-based label Graveyard Calling Horror Records on July 29th, both in digital formats (via BandCamp) and on limited edition cassette tapes. The release consists of 11 horror EDM (electronic dance music) tracks, including The Cemetery (Original Mix), a collaboration with fellow Graveyard Calling artist, Ghoulshow. 

The album opens with the up-tempo EDM track Death Beach, which features samples from 1960's b-movie The Beach Girls and the Monster for vocals. The song - much like the movie it samples - has a fun, somewhat comical feel, with a spooky electronic organ being used to create a 60's beach vibe. 

From there, the album takes a darker tone with great use of samples from classic horrors and sci fis, such as The Day the Earth Stood Still, Atom-Age Vampire, The Corpse Vanishes and The Body Snatcher, among others. Sometimes the samples can be a little too long, and there are sometimes too many within one track. However, the samples create some interestingly creepy music; especially when intertwined with the glockenspiel, harpsichord and theremin synth melodies, and set to bass saws, occasional screams, squelches, evil laughs and all sorts of other horror sound effects.

If you're a fan of classic horror/sci-fi b-movies and EDM, you'll love this album and even if you don't, give Vacant Tombs and Full Moons a listen -  you might just change your mind!

Websites:

• Bandcamp
• Twitter
• Facebook

Music & Reviews: Tales from the Netherworld by Ghoulshow

Track Listing:

1. Spookhouse
2. Monster Closet
3. Nethervator
4. Jungle Voodoo
5. The Cemetary (Ghoulish VIP)
6. All Hallows Eve (Samhain)
7. Zeta Crash Landing
8. He Who Stalks the Night
9. The Cemetery (Original Mix)
10. Spookhouse (VIP)
11. Necromancy (Dead Roam Free)

Label: Graveyard Calling

Release Date: 29th July, 2013

Tales from the Netherworld, is the new release by electronic horror artist Ghoulshow, coming from the UK-based label Graveyard Calling. The album is being released both in digital formats and on limited edition cassette tapes, which are available through the Bandcamp page. 

It's a spooky yet danceable collection of tracks, from the theremins and saw bass of Spookhouse and menacing beat and xylophone of Jungle Voodoo, to The Cemetery (Original Mix) - a classic horror movie sample-laden collaboration with Graveyard Calling label-mate, Tommy Creep. Unusual sound and genre combinations are used throughout the album, not least on the track He Who Stalks the Night. It begins with gothic horror-esque harpsichords, before transforming into dub, then picking up the tempo with some EDM and dubstep at the end. 

Two songs on the album - Nethervator and Zeta Crash Landing - have a somewhat different feel to the rest of the album. Whilst they retain the spooky vibe of the other tracks, by way of foreboding synths and minor chords, they're distinctly different. Zeta Crash Landing has spacier sound and is definitely more influenced by sci-fi than horror, while Nethervator has an appropriately mechanical sound, even incorporating elements of experimental jazz into the mix. 

Overall, Tales from the Netherworld has a creepily sinister atmosphere, without losing the synth sound or tempo of EDM (electronic dance music), dubstep and drum & bass. Even if you're not usually into this type of music, it's still an enjoyable listen for fans of classic horror film & game soundtracks.

Websites:

• Ghoulshow on BandCamp
• Facebook
• Twitter
• SoundCloud

Music & Events: The Candy Spooky Theater US Tourdates / Pandemonium Tour Vol. 1

Tainted Reality, who are the US management of horror rock band The Candy Spooky Theater, have announced that the band will be on tour in the US again this autumn as part of the Pandemonium Tour Vol. 1. DJ SiSeN, GPK, and Mighty Mike Saga will also be taking part in the tour. At this time, all information is subject to change, but the current dates are as follows:

• Sep. 27th - Bellingham, WA (TCST only)
• Oct. 2nd - Bellingham, WA (DJ SiSeN & GPK only)
• Oct. 4th - Bellingham, WA (DJ SiSeN & GPK only)
• Oct. 5th - Bellingham, WA (TCST only)
• Oct. 9th - San Francisco, CA (TBA)
• Oct. 11th - Das Bunker, Los Angeles, CA (All artists attending, performance by DJ SiSeN only)
• Oct. 12th - Complex. Los Angeles CA (All)
• Oct. 13th - Phoenix, AZ (TBA)
• Oct. 14th - San Antonio, TX (TBA)
• Oct. 16th - Boston, MA (TBA)
• Oct. 17th - New York, NY (TBA)
• Oct. 18th - Philadelphia, PA (TBA)
• Oct. 21st - Columbus, OH (TBA)
• Oct. 26th - Mexico City, MX (DJ SiSeN & GPK only)
• Oct. 27th - Mexico City, MX (DJ SiSeN & GPK only)
• Nov. 1st-3rd - Nekocon (All artists attending, performance by DJ SiSeN only)
• Nov. 4th - Norfolk, VA (TBA)

You can buy tickets for the two TCST solo shows via NeonPromotions at TicketLeap here: TICKETS

For up-to-date information, check the official TCST website or Tainted Reality's website.

Music: SOPOR AETERNUS' New Album POETICA

SOPOR's new, long awaited album 'POETICA -All Beauty Sleeps' is about to be released on 19th of September this year. The pre-order is already available at InfraRot! Both CD&Book and Vinyl editions are available for now.

This album's every song are poems by Edgar Allan Poe, and as we who are familiar with SOPOR know, Anna has sung his poems for many, many years. So quite exciting to get an entire album with poems by Poe.

The tracklist is as follows:

01. The Oblong Box
02. Dreamland
03. Eldorado
04. The Sleeper
05. Alone (I)
06. The Conqueror Worm
07. Alone (II)
08. The City in The Sea
09. The Oblong Box (II)
10. The Haunted Palace
11. A dream Within a Dream

For more information on the release, kindly click here.

Events: Spend your Halloween with Wednesday 13!

Hello there little monsters! Long time no see!

I'm bringing you some awesome news to make it up for the missing time :D

If you live in London or somewhere around, and have no plans for Halloween, or even if you actually have plans... get rid of them, because Mr. Wednesday 13 and his guys are coming to town! They will be at Club Koko (Candem Town) the most amazing day of the year, 31st of October! Also, the guys from "Fearless Vampire Killers" will be there as their support act. Pretty awesome band I must say! You should give them a listen too!

Can't wait to get your tickets? Me neither! And you can do it right now by clicking here!
I'm so excited I'm gonna die and come back as a zombie and eat his delicious brains on Halloween's eve, ahhh....

Music: Santa Hates You's new album

Santa Hates You will be releasing their newest album "It's ALIVE!" on September 28th!

This will be their second album this year, Jolly Roger was released earlier this year.

Kindly check them out!

Official Webpage 

YouTube 

Infrarot

Music: New Wednesday 13 album - Calling All Corpses

Scan from FuckYesWednesday13

Big news to all the Wednesday 13 fans out there!


Horror-themed band Wednesday 13 will be releasing a brand new album titled "Calling All Corpses"
The release date is due to October 11th in North America and October 10th overseas.
I'm SO thrilled by this, been wanting a new 13 album for ages!

And here's the tracklist!

‘Blood Fades To Black’ ‘I Wanna Be Cremated’
‘Ghoul Of My Dreams’
‘One Knife Stand’
‘Calling All Corpses’
‘Miss Morgue’
‘Silver Bullets’
‘Bad At Being Human’
‘London After Midnight’
‘Candle For The Devil’
‘We All Die’
‘Something Wicked This Way Comes’
‘Blood Fades To Black (Reprise)’

Music: The Creepshow Tourdates

The Creepshow

Canadian "country-tinged, psycho punk rock n’ roll" band, The Creepshow, have announced some live shows, with more to be added soon! The dates so far are as follows:

APRIL:
14/04/11 - Mavericks, Ottawa, ON, Canada
15/04/11 - MANSION, Kingston, ON, Canada
16/04/11 - Foufounes Electriques, Montreal, PQ, Canada
22/04/11 - THE BLIND DOG, Windsor, ON, Canada
23/04/11 - Call The Office, London, ON, Canada

JULY:
15/07/11 - Back to the Future Festival, Glaubitz, Germany
17/07/11 - Mighty Sound Festival, Tabor, Czech Republic
19/07/11 - Cafe Central, Weinheim, Germany
20/07/11 - MTC, Köln, Germany
21/07/11 - Musikbunker, Aachen, Germany
22/07/11 - Serengeti Festival, Schloss-Holte, Germany
23/07/11 - Punkaci Detom Festival, Piestany, Slovakia
27/07/11 - Club Vaudeville, Lindau, Germany
28/07/11 - Zwoelfzehn, Stuttgart, Germany
29/07/11 - Rockfest, Schimerikon, Switzerland
30/07/11 - Dynamo, Zurich, Switzerland

AUGUST:
01/08/11 - The Dome, London, England
02/08/11 - The Fleece, Bristol, England
03/08/11 - Face Bar, Reading, England
04/08/11 - The Crown, Middlesbrough, England
05/08/11 - Rebellion Festival, Blackpool, England


For more on The Creepshow, visit the following sites:
Official Website
Twitter
Facebook

Music: Horror song of the day - Puppy Dog Snails

by British band 'Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster'.



Listen: http://bit.ly/g9Sq6V

Lyrics:

He climbed the tallest spire
To see what he could see
Far across the town, they came
One hundred and one and thick as a plank
Onto the teeth and ugly as sin
He called across the town 'Here they come!'

What do we do with a puppy dogs tails?
What do we do with a bucket of snails?
What do we do with a boy like you?
We put them in a pot and we throw them on the fire!

He met them in the meadow
He fought them them tooth and nail
They tried to take him back but they failed
The boy was from the mountain
Made of solid stone
They tried but were defeated
He can't be overthrown

What do we do with a puppy dogs tails?
What do we do with a bucket of snails?
What do we do with a boy like you?
We put them in a pot and we throw them on the fire!

Oh oh oh oh

What do we do with a puppy dogs tails?
What do we do with a bucket of snails?
What do we do with a boy like you?
We put them in a pot and we throw them on the fire!

What do we do with a puppy dogs tails?

Music: More on Creature Feature's new single - The House of Myth

Hello there little monsters~!

A few posts ago we were talking about Creature Feature's new single.

Well, more information has been revealed~

Its title will be "The House of Myth" and it will be released this Friday (18th of March) at 5:oo pm (Pacific time) on http://creaturefeature.bandcamp.com/ , where you will be able to listen to the song or you can also download it for $1,29.

There's more new interesting information about the band and their future projects on http://villainsandvaudevillians.com/ so please go and check it out!

Let us hear your spooky voices when you listen to the single & tell us what you think about it! :P

Music: New Creature Feature single

Creature Feature

From the mad vault of Curtis Rx, Creature Feature is preparing to release a new single, possibly in March. The Horror-pop band haven't released anything new together since their first album 'The Greatest Show Unearthed'. Instead, the members have been focusing on individually composing songs and playing lives on the West Coast of the US.

Curtis Rx announced in his blog the break from their horror will soon be over, so stay tune for new maddening melodies from the duo.

Source: http://villainsandvaudevillians.com/

Music: Suberutons

It's not strictly horror, but it is a little bit of strangeness from Japan, featuring three guys dancing around in skeleton suits! Suberutons (スベルトンズ) theme song~!

Thank you to Gabrielle for showing us this video!

For more info on Suberutons you can visit the sites below:
Official Site
Twitter

Music: REMNANT

REMNANT

Tokyo electro/gothic/darkwave group, REMNANT,  began in 2009. Original members, Marie (vocals & lyrics) and Takmi (guitar & programming), were active as a two-piece over the next year, before adding a new member, Rober__tJ (narration & performance) in 2010. The band also performed their first live at the 'Machinery Heaven Vol. 9', alongside Vanished Empire, Toxic Strawberry, Gregor Samsa, Sredni Vashtar, Burst Head Lollipop Honey and zwecklos, in December of the same year.

From the dark and eerie 'Sleeping Beauty', to the electro-industrial tinged 'Darkness eve' and fast-paced 'Ceremonie', REMNANT create a horrorific fantasy world, weaved together by Marie's hauntingly innocent voice. The scenes in horror movies, in which lullabies are being sung sweetly to children whilst something malevolent lurks in the shadows, instantly come to mind.

Aa an unsigned band that have only officially been together for around a year and a half, REMNANT have already developed a great sound and have the potential to improve even further in the future. A definite recommendation to anyone who likes melancholic fantasy horror mixed with varying musical genres.

For more information and to listen to the band, you can visit their official MySpace page:

http://www.myspace.com/remnantxxxx

Events: The CANDY SPOOKY THEATER 8th Anniversary The Monsters Showcase

It's been 8 years since horror band The CANDY SPOOKY THEATER first formed and, to celebrate the occasion, they're holding what promises to be a super spooky and frighteningly fun anniversary event!

Date: Wed, 2nd of February, 2011
Venue: Chelsea Hotel, Shibuya, Tokyo
Title:
The CANDY SPOOKY THEATER
PRESENTS
8th ANNIVERSARY The MONSTERS SHOWCASE
FRANKENSTEIN

Open: 17:30
Start: 18:00　
Price in advance: 3000 yen  (+mandatory drink charge)
On the day: 3500 yen (+mandatory drink charge)


【Featuring】
The CANDY SPOOKY THEATER
Calmando Qual

【SPECIAL GUEST】
highfashionparalyze 

【SPECIAL GUEST】
Közi


Ticket Info:
You can get the tickets from the following places:
e plus tickets（No.001～No.200）
Chelsea Hotel Shibuya (in person)
Book tickets with TCST via their website ticket form

Venue Details:Address:
Chelsea Hotel Shibuya
4-7 B1, Shibuya-ku
Udagawa-chou
Tokyo 150-0042


tel. 03-3770-1567 

I'm not sure if there's any tickets left, but you can try. Since TCST, Calmando Qual, Közi and highfashionparalyze all have their own fanbases, if you're thinking of going, you should probably get tickets ASAP. Have fun, to any of you that are lucky enough to go!

Music & How-To Guides : Custom Doll Head Theremins

Some time ago I came across these fantastic doll head theremins by XLPC and got 2, which I subsequently named Samedi and Dead Boy. I also painted them and added some little details, using epoxy putty, so that they looked more to my taste. When it arrives, each theremin comes looking something like the photos below (though the face shapes and expressions vary) and has red LED lights in its eyes, which you can turn on and off via the red button.

Photo from XLPC Theremin, LEDs off

My two theremins, unpainted, in the dark with LEDs on

The theremin's extra large photo cell reacts to any type of light - light bulb, natural light, flashlight, laserpointer, TV etc. - and then you can control the volume and pitch by moving your hands over the cell. You will need to use it with an amplifier though and distortion units are recommended to get the most interesting sound out of the instruments. There are also no jack leads included, so you'll need to get one yourself. However, the uniqueness of XLPC's products far outweighs those minor details and I highly recommend them!

After customising them, using epoxy putty and model paint, this is what mine looked like:


Samedi and Dead Boy

   Theremin Specs
The XLPC Theremin:

• 8 ohm speaker (very small, low volume, hence the need for an amp)
• Red On/Off Switch (for the LEDs)
• Silver pitch/volume knob 
• Extra large photo cell 
• 1/4" Output jack (amp. cable not included)
• 1 C Battery
• Doll head and heavy duty plastic case

Customisation

 1. After lightly going over each theremin with fine sandpaper and making sure the surface was free of dust, I then added lips and fang details to Dead Boy, using epoxy modelling putty (from Games Workshop)

 2. I left the putty to dry completely and become hard (I used Green Stuff rather than polymer clay as it air sets and I didn't want to put the theremin in the oven!) and painted Dead Boy. I used model paint from Games Workshop, since there's a store in my town and their paint goes on very smoothly and evenly, but any good-quality acrylic paint will do and it can be found at most craft/art supply stores.

3. I painted Samedi. When painting, be really careful not to get paint on the photo cell on top of the head as it needs light and won't function correctly if covered

4. Using matte, clear varnish (also from Games Workshop), I then covered the whole of both heads (excluding the photo cells) with two coats, leaving them to dry between the first and second

Obviously you can customise the theremins however you like. I chose to make Dead Boy a vampire baby and Samedi has symbols, which are loosely based on his namesake Baron Samedi's veves, on his face.

Scary Sounds: Halloween & Horror Music 3

Part 3: Horror Soundtracks 2

The next 7 in the series of entries about horrifying soundtracks!

In no particular order:

• Psycho (1960) (Bernard Herrmann)
• A Nightmare on Elm Street (Charles Bernstein)
• Phantasm (Fred Myrow/Malcolm Seagrave)
• Rosemary's Baby (Krzysztof Komeda)
• Night of the Living Dead (Scott Vladimir Licina)
• Dead Silence (Charlie Clouser)
• Ju-On (Shiro Sato)

Videos after the cut↓

Halloween: The Candy Spooky Theater x SaTaN

Two of my favourite Tokyo horror bands, The Candy Spooky Theater and SaTaN are playing a show together on Halloween! 'Tokyo Horror Fes. Vol. 2' is the follow up to Vol. 1, which was last year in February. The first event, featuring the same two artists, was amazingly fun and both bands were wonderful live, had spooky stageshows and the crowd were very energetic too. Sadly, I won't be in Japan on October 31st, but I definitely recommend going to see this event if you can!

HALLOWEEN 2MAN SHOW !!!!!!

The CANDY SPOOKY THEATER × SaTaN

PRESENTS

TOKYO HORROR FES. VOL. 2

『 HAUNTED HALLOWEEN 』

Venue: 目黒鹿鳴館 (Meguro Rock May Kan)
Price: 2,800yen (in advance) or 3,300yen (on the day)
         +500yen drink charge (seperately)

You can reserve tickets with the bands or contact the venue for more information.
All the websites linked in this entry are in Japanese, so if you need any help, leave a comment and I'll try to answer your question.

Scary Sounds: Halloween & Horror Music Part 2

Part 2: Horror Soundtracks 1

Ever since I was a child, it was always the sounds in horror that really set the eerie scene and sent chills down my spine. What is heard but not seen is always far more frightening, as it lets your imagination conjure up your worst nightmares long before you ever see them on the screen. So therefore, this entry is dedicated to the first 6 in the series of entries about excellent soundtracks!

In no particular order:

• The Omen - Ave Satani (Jerry Goldsmith)
• The Exorcist - Tubular Bells / Fantasia for Strings (Mike Oldfield / Hans Werner Henze)
• Halloween (John Carpenter)
• Suspiria Theme (Goblin)
• Candyman Theme (Phillip Glass)
• The House on Haunted Hill (1999 version) (Don Davis)

Videos after the jump↓

Music: The Candy Spooky Theater - SPOOKYWONDERLAND

I know I promised horror soundtracks for the next music entry, but, since one of my favourite bands just released their new album, obviously I need to write about that instead. :P Tokyo horror rock band, The Candy Spooky Theater, have just released 'SPOOKYWONDERLAND'! 

"Summary: After years of waiting, The Candy Spooky Theater have finally released their first official full length album! Containing a mixture of new songs and Candy Spooky classics, the album is a must have for fans of the band, and people wanting to liven-up and fully grasp the Halloween season!"

[SPOOKYWONDERLAND] on sale Oct. 1st, 2010
Distribution: Tainted Reality
Disk number: TRCS-004
Limited: 20copies
Price: 30.00USD

Tracklist:
01. SPOOKYWONDERLAND PARADE -Introduction-
02. PRINCE OF DARKNESS
03. The LIVING DEAD
04. SPOOKYWONDERLAND PARADE -CABARETTA-
05. La Dance Macabre
06. SPOOKYWONDERLAND PARADE -SPOOKY HALLOWEEN-
07. THIS IS HALLOWEEEN(Danny Elfman cover)
08. SPOOKYWONDERLAND PARADE -Kill You!-
09. Alice
10. SPOOK HOUSE
11. SPOOKYWONDERLAND PARADE -Finale-
12. TRICK or TREAT -End Credits-
13. Let's Meet With Chocolate And Candy


If you're outside of Japan you can buy the album from Tainted Reality's web store but copies are limited to 20 (13 left) or, if you live in Japan you can purchase it from one of the following stores: GURUGURU (also ships overseas), little HEARTS, RISKY DRUG STORE, Like An Edison, 自主盤倶楽部 (Meguro Rock May Kan) and ZEAL LINK.

This is technically the band's second album, but since the first was a collection of previously released singles, I suppose it doesn't count. Anyway, I had high expectations for this album, and honestly, I was not disappointed. The new songs are wonderful and all in English and the reworkings of the 3 previously released tracks are great too. Full review after the jump ↓