Category Archives: Music Review

Horror Song of the Day: Season of the Witch by Donovan

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Since we are now almost halfway through October, it only seems appropriate to share what may be the most famous (and perhaps the most covered) song about witchcraft, Donavon’s Season of the Witch!

This song was originally recorded in 1966 and it’s gone on to become a Halloween mainstay.  One fan of the song was future director Martin Scorsese, who originally planned to borrow the song’s title for one of his own films.  However, George Romero beat Scorsese out the gate with a film called Season of the Witch and Scorsese ended up renaming his film, Mean Streets.

Music Video of the Day: Ride On by Lulabox (1992, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

This song appears on the Pet Sematary 2 soundtrack, which might be the best soundtrack to have never been given an official release.  In the film, this is the song that plays over the end credits.  The video follows the film’s story of the dead rising back to life.

Enjoy!

Music Video of The Day: The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg by Iron Maiden (2006, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

When Iron Maiden released this song, they knew that their fans would try to find out who Benjamin Breeg was so they created a website about Breeg.  According to the site, Breeg was a painter of disturbing images who later found work in a cemetery and then as a paranormal investigator.  He disappeared in 1978.  Of course, this was all fictional.  There was no Benjamin Breeg.  The “Breeg” painting that was displayed on the site was actually a painting of Eddie, the band’s mascot.

The video features footage of Iron Maiden performing mixed in with a montage of early band pictures.

Enjoy!

Horror Song of the Day: Mater Tenebrarum by Keith Emerson

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Inferno (1980, dir by Dario Argento, DP: Romana Albano)

Today’s horror song of the day comes from Keith Emerson’s soundtrack of Dario Argento’s Inferno.  Emerson did not have an enviable task, having to follow up Goblin’s soundtrack for Suspiria.  But Emerson pulled it off, crafting a score that compliments Goblin’s earlier work while maintaining an identity of its own.

Music Video of the Day: Spellbound by Siouxsie and the Banshees (1981, directed by Clive Richardson)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Spellbound was the lead single off of Siouxsie and the Banshee’s fourth studio album, Juju.  In later interviews, Siouxsie would describe Juju as being an accidental concept album as all of the songs dealt with dark themes and subject manner.  Juju was a horror-themed album but the horror was psychological and not supernatural.  As a sign of that theme, Spellbound was named after an Alfred Hitchcock film about a man who is troubled by disturbing dreams.

Clive Richardson directed several videos from Siouxsie and the Banshees.  He also worked with Depeche Mode, Steve Winwood, Big Country, and Tears for Fears.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: I’ll Bite Your Face Off by Alice Cooper (2011, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

To quote Alice Cooper himself:

“This is my tip-of-the-hat to early Rolling Stones.  Like in 1964/65 when their songs were very Chuck Berry orientated. They just feel so good, in the pocket. This song was begging to be in the live show. We’ve done it in four different continents now and no one had ever heard it. By the second chorus, the whole audience is singing ‘I’ll Bite Your Face Off.’ It’s the perfect little 3 minute hit single.”

I’ll Bite Your Face Off was the first single to be released off Welcome 2 My Nightmare, Alice Cooper’s 26th studio album and a follow-up to Cooper’s 1975 album, Welcome To My Nightmare.  Each song represents a different aspect of a bad dream.  In I’ll Bite Your Face Off, Alice dreams about being introduced to the devil.

The video was filmed at several different live venues.  One of these performances was at the 100 Club in London, where actor Johnny Depp joined the band on guitar.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: You Could Be Mine by Guns N’ Roses (1991, directed by Andy Morahan, Stan Winston and Jeffrey Abelson)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

In this video, Arnold Schwarzenegger is sent to the past to eliminate Guns N’ Roses but ultimately decides that it would be a waste of ammo.  Obviously, he knew that fulfilling his mission would change history and the world would never get to hear Chinese Democracy.

This song (and this video) were used to promote Terminator 2: Judgement Day.

Enjoy!

Horror Song of the Day: Main Title Theme From Alien By Jerry Goldsmith

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to the one and only Sigourney Weaver.  Seen here with Jonesy the Cat, Weaver will always be best-remembered for bringing to life Ellen Ripley and totally revolutionizing both horror and science fiction!

Today’s song of the day comes from Jerry Goldsmith’s iconic score for Alien.

Music Video of the Day: Bewitched by Candlemass (1988, directed by Jonas Akerlund)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

The lesson of this video is don’t try to bury Messiah Marcolin.

Marcolin was the lead singer of the Swedish doom metal band, Candlemass.  In this video, for their song Bewitched, Messiah Marcolin not only comes back to life and rises from his own coffin but he uses his powers of awesome singing to create an army of brainwashed zombies.  This would be scary, except for the fact that Messiah Marcolin spends most of the video looking like this:

And this.

He does somehow manage to entrance a cute girl about halfway through the video.

I guess that’s the power of Swedish doom metal.

This video, which has been called one of the most enjoyably bad metal video of all time, is significant for being the first video to have been directed by Jonas Akerlund.  From working with Candlemass, Akerlund went on to direct videos for everyone from U2 to Jane’s Addiction to Beyonce to The Rolling Stones to almost everyone else who has ever had a hit song.