NEVERMANN - Giallo
Review by KIZUNAUT
NeverMann is an electronic musician from south Sweden. His musical ventures began at the early age of seven when he started playing the drums. Early 90s saw him taking up composing and producing, using FastTracker 2 to create scores for “no-budget movies”, mostly horror. During high school and beyond he played in various bands from ska, to rock to schlager. NeverMann started his current project with 2017’s The Tragedy of Mann EP, and has since released a slew of singles and the GentleMann (2020) and Vallmostigen 6 (2021) albums.
Giallo EP is NeverMann’s latest release, and it sees him paying tribute to the movie genre of the same name. Italy established itself as a horror and thriller superpower in the 60’s and 70’s with giallo all’italiana, gruesome murder-mystery movies offering a stirring mix of violence, paranoia, sexuality and alienation. Offering shockingly gory deaths, vivid colors and highly aesthetic camera works, giallo movies were like nothing before. The giallo craze left an everlasting impact on the film industry, serving as precursors to slasher films which took the masked killers from the Old World to American suburbs.
Beyond their thematic and visual impact the giallo movies were notable for their soundtracks, frequently featuring heavy use of synthesizers, which was exceptional for the time. It is from these soundtracks made by Goblin, Fabio Frizzi, Roberto Donati, Stelvio Cipriani and many more that this EP finds its musical inspirations from.
It’s not just the compositions of the album that reflect these inspirations. There are no gnarly darksynth basslines here, it’s all definitively more on the retro side of retrowave. A lot of the sounds are such that they could have plausibly been used in the early 80s. There is a certain dreamwavey airiness and softness to it all. The mixes are clear, but I found some of the choice of sounds perhaps a bit thin. It does capture the vibe of early 80s soundtrack music well though, which I believe to be the intention here.
The cover art of the EP pays homage to the genre in a kind of abstract way, the yellow background being a reference to the word “giallo” simply meaning yellow in italian, a throwback to the genre’s root in pulp literature that frequently featured the color prominently in cover art. The blood spatters and the knife are of course a reference to the subject matter of the films and while the idea is good, the execution is perhaps a bit lacking. Since it all is mimicking a real physical object, I feel like it would have worked better if it was just a real object that had been photographed. Still, the inspirations come through more than well on the current cover art.
The EP begins with the gnarly arps, sinister chants and synth bells that serve as the intro to Dr. Menard. From sinister chants the song moves to a section featuring an interplay of synth arps, resonant swells and Dimi Kaye’s guitarwork that casts a waiting atmosphere. A bit before the halfway mark the song burst into life, the beat and basslines picking up speed, Dimi’s guitarwork turning into fast rhythm guitar work with occasional melodic flourishes. Dimi also gets to show his solo skills on the latter half of the piece. Flourishes of dark synth melody cast a sort of triumphant, but dark atmosphere. The song eventually fades out to the mix of dark chants and bright bells that it began with.
L’ascia Rossa begins with piano and airy synths that create a melancholic atmosphere. Soon, a dark, fast synth bassline comes in, and a knife stab sound effect leads to the main body of the track that offers a fast, dark fix of instrumental synthpop. The choruses are brighter yet have a tragic minor-key quality to them, while the verses feature the dark, intense bassline with additional layers of melodic synth work being built upon it after each repeat.
Slowly fading percussive loop and low, dark strings and woodwinds serve as the intro to Voodoo. A powerful buildup featuring a drum roll and dark, mysterious arps follows. The main body of the track consists of a slow, moody bassline and a spare beat that keeps the tempo at a lurking pace. Atmospheric arps loom in the background, and every now and then the arp from the intro makes a comeback. The track builds up elements, adding a vibrating theremin-like lead towards the end.
The EP ends with Il Commissario, which begins with sounds of thunder and sinister pads. A reverbing synth melody that casts an atmosphere of dark mystery comes in, followed by a slowly building up bassline and low, dark synth hits, then followed by a buildup featuring a moody synth arp that stays as the beat comes in. The walking-pace beat, arps that have an almost classical quality to them and the bright bells create a strong mental image of exploring some kind of old castle or mansion. Nevermann skillfully builds up and alternates between various elements until the track fades out into sounds of thunder.
Overall, Giallo EP is a cinematic treat for the dark season. Nevermann skillfully pays tribute to his inspirations while also managing to sound like himself. The tracks are full of melodies that are appealing in a dark way, and Nevermann is talented at building up the various elements that make up the four tracks. Even those who are not fan of the movie genre may find enjoyment in the dark, cinematic compositions found within the EP.
