The trio of pioneering horror film director
John Carpenter, his son
Cody Carpenter, and godson
Daniel Davies cultivated a somewhat self-referential musical chemistry, creating not just film scores that returned to the chilling atmospheres of
Carpenter's self-taught synth work on the soundtracks for his movies in the 1970s and '80s, but also a series of albums of original music in the same vein but not directly associated with any existing films. This series of soundtracks for imagined movies was dubbed
Lost Themes, and the fourth volume,
Noir, takes a subtle turn away from the shock and dread of earlier entries in favor of crackling cinematic tension. The main thing separating
Noir from earlier
Lost Themes chapters (and the trio's work on multiple 2010s and 2020s remakes of horror classics) is the arrangement.
Carpenter's style from the very beginning was one of brooding minimalism, with most of his pieces consisting of a few aggravated synth parts rubbing uncomfortably together or an uneasy swirl of toxic ambience.
Noir is maxed out by comparison. Opening track "My Name Is Death" begins with a dirty bass guitar, and slowly waves of synth pads, angsty guitars, drum machine kicks and claps, and more all swarm together into a buzzing drone. It's explosive and dynamic, complete with a ripping guitar solo that feels more suitable for an early-'90s cop movie than a grainy slasher flick. "Last Rites" is frantic and uptempo, with chugging industrial guitars and sludgy breakdowns, while the brittle synth leads, spaced-out melodies, and unexpected organ interlude of "He Walks by Night" imagine what
The Exorcist soundtrack would have sounded like if it had been a sci-fi film.
Noir still has some of the gruelingly slow and terrifyingly spare sounds that
Carpenter does so well. "The Burning Door" is made up of acoustic piano and dramatic synth swells, and the high-register arpeggios and insistent percussion thuds of "The Demon's Shadow" feel like direct evolutions from
Carpenter's original
Halloween theme from 1978.
Noir evokes more than just fear and anxiety, exploring a plethora of uncertain emotions with its ten pieces of heavy moods and dissonant thrills. ~ Fred Thomas
