4 out 5

Label: Waxwork Records

Produced by: Thomas Dimuzio (mastered by)

Once again, the musical accompaniment feels much more inspired than the work its scoring, with our tracks stepping inpressively further away from a template of Carpenter and darkwave beats.

The Waxwork theme is still cool as heck, riding a nice balance between genre typicals (that cool nigh-industrial club beat; Halloween synths) and a kind of cheeky, digital style that feels right for a modern music label.

However, we also somewhat see the limitation of that when we get to the first track: Sean Yseult’s The Nowhere Wolf. While this is ultimately really cool and moody and subtle, making use of a slightly off-time banjo plucking for a down-home atmosphere, the light circus synth background and some of the effects feel like they’re culled from a darkwave toolbox. It is a really effective track, to be clear, but, again, hints at how this stuff can easily cross over into cliche.

B-side Time Capsule, from Douglas Pipes, sidesteps this by going more atmospheric and digital, kind of setting aside the genre remit and allow the emotionality to stretch out more cosmically; its sprinkling of “horns” and keys nail a sense of unnerving wonder.