Earthset has released their new album titled ‘Nosferatu’. A soundtrack to the F.W. Murnau classic that was originally meant to be ‘Dracula’, but became so much more on its own, now has a lucid modern-esque soundtrack from a brilliant group of artists who shows that their main talents lay within the spaces set by the visuals as well as the moods of the moments.
While the album is a clear inspiration of the film, this really stands on its own as a solid and singular set piece of music. Part Avant Gard, part cinematic orchestration, part concept, and all original. Earthset, a band I have repeatedly said is one of those bands that have long ago found their sound, takes that sound and marries a past classic to a future one. This is sonic brilliance.
Check out our other features with Earthset HERE.
About Earthset & ‘Nosferatu’
Earthset, rock band from Bologna (Italy) continues its dialogue with the early ‘20s movies, presenting “Nosferatu, eine symphonie des grauens”, a masterpiece of the German Expressionist cinema, directed by F.W. Murnau (1922).
The Band
The project started in 2012, with Luigi (bass) Costantino (guitar) Emanuele (drums) and Ezio (vocals and guitar). Earthset translates into music a continuous state of alteration, evolution and dynamism through a non-linear structural composition, sharp and acid sounds, transitions between heavy distortions and limpid, clean sounds, generally cold psychedelic atmospheres disturbed by noise inserts.
After their debut album “In a State of Altered Unconsciousness” (2015), the EP “POPISM” (2017), the LP “L’Uomo Meccanico” (2020) and the live album “bound” (2022), they are now about to release “Nosferatu”, a new LP which contains the musical scores and themes written for the silent movie “Nosferatu, eine symphonie des grauens”.
The cinematic concert project was realized for the SOUNDSCREEN FILM FESTIVAL 2020 edition, then the COVID crisis forced the band to postpone the programmed tour.
Now, they decided to release the musical score, in a reduced version that keeps the musical themes in a less repetitive and more enjoyable form.
The band is also working on a tour to present the cinematic concert, playing the musical score along with the screening of the film.
The Movie
“Nosferatu – Eine Symphonie des Grauens” is a 1922 silent German Expressionist horror film directed by F. W. Murnau and starring Max Schreck as Count Orlok, a vampire who preys on the wife (Greta Schröder) of his estate agent (Gustav von Wangenheim) and brings the plague to their town.
Nosferatu was produced by Prana Film and is an unauthorized and unofficial adaptation of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula. Various names and other details were changed from the novel, including Count Dracula being renamed Count Orlok. Although these changes are often represented as a defense against copyright infringement, the original German intertitles acknowledged Dracula as the source.
Film historian David Kalat states in his commentary track that since the film was “a low-budget film made by Germans for German audiences…setting it in Germany with German-named characters makes the story more tangible and immediate for German-speaking viewers”.
Even with several details altered, Stoker’s heirs sued over the adaptation, and a court ruling ordered all copies of the film to be destroyed. However, several prints of Nosferatu survived, and the film came to be regarded as an influential masterpiece of cinema and the horror genre.
Credits
- Music composed and executed by Earthset (Luigi Varanese, Costantino Mazzoccoli, Emanuele Orsini, Ezio Romano).
- Live recorded by Claudio Adamo;
- Mixed by Claudio Adamo & Costantino Mazzoccoli (Fonoprint/OL Studio)
- Master by Claudio Adamo (Fonoprint)
- Artwork by Ezio Romano
LINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/Earthset
https://www.instagram.com/earthset_/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/27FihPbgJOaSdAyq9kgb9t
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCflPJZXoRcY5hGvGrXZbEeQ
https://earthset.bandcamp.com
https://open.spotify.com/album/5YYJf90FktsQTRRMZWNInT
https://www.deezer.com/it/album/270196352
