Review: “Cyberflesh” by Fulci

“When Time To Kill and Hollow Press asked us to collaborate on creating a soundtrack for the game ‘Cyberflesh’, we immediately accepted. ‘Cyberflesh’ is a very splatter and violent comic. Moreover, the project had many similarities with the legendary collaboration between Games Workshop, Earache, and Bolt Thrower for the release of the album “Realm of Chaos” in 1989.

The title ‘Cyberflesh’ inspired us to create a soundtrack capable of blending human sounds (instrumentals) with cyber sounds (electronic). To compose the two tracks, we involved our friend and artist Talpah, whose sound design managed to amplify both the sonic violence and the eerie atmospheric parts of the tracks.

Even the choice of audio media was not random. We chose to release the tracks on super limited floppy disks and CDs with graphics similar to CD-ROMs. These media, along with a dedicated comic book illustrated by Genchi, will be included in an ultra-exclusive long box. Thanks to Time To Kill and Hollow Press for making all of this possible” ~ Fulci

Having previously collaborated with TV Crimes for tracks on their 2021 album “Exhumed Information” which takes its concept from the 1991 film “Voices from Beyond” by cult Italian film director Lucio Fulci, it comes as no surprise that notorious Italian Death Metal force Fulci would collaborate once more. This time out they do so with Italian electronic project Talpah over a pair of tracks for the Hollow Press video game and comic book “Cyberflesh“, the whole collection being described as “a new entity where extreme music, horror comics and dark weird experience merge“.

Taking a sound that you might expect to hear on a Death Metal remix album from the mid 90’s Talpah create primitive and disturbing electronics over which Fiore Stravino spits slow death growled vocal lines for opening cut “file01_cyber_chainsaw_massacre“. Rather than looking to create a club anthem like Fear Factory did, the collaboration gives us electronically altered vocals designed to fit around the sound and rather than with moments of peeling flesh, odd time signatured programmed drums and a random selection of samples. A chainsaw, a siren, the occasional fleeting moment of guitar and you might be left wondering what you’ve just heard. It’s almost like a snuff film in that sense, a little weird, a little awkward and a lot unhinged. Starting with the riffs, the second burnt offering “file02_advanced_psychotonic_flesh_dismemberment_project” continues in the same vein with similar components building the image. Compared with the first cut this one has a better flow to it with better timing of silences between programmed drum beats going a long way to that. The sound of knife blade on knife blade, bass drops and randomly a horse give this one a life of its own and you can argue until the cows come home about whether it works better in the context of the game itself. As a soundtrack these cuts feel like something of a stop-gap release to bridge between last years “The Morrisound Session” record and the next album proper even if it is interesting. They might have been better served in a mind altering compilation with remixes from their rich history rather than as a two piece standalone [6.5/10]

Track Listing

1. file01_cyber_chainsaw_massacre.wav
2. file02_advanced_psychotonic_flesh_dismemberment_project.wav

“Cyberflesh” by Fulci is out 24th May 2024 via Time To Kill Records and is available over at bandcamp