So obsessively enamoured by the cinematic gems, specifically the horror and exploitation films, of their fellow countryman, the late, great and infamous Italian director Lucio Fulci, Italian Death Metal band Fulci not only named their band after him, but each of their albums has been a concept and tribute based on one of his films.
Fulci – Duck Face Killings (20 Buck Spin)
Release Date: 9 August 2024
Words: Jools Green
Their fourth gore-infused full-length, Duck Face Killings, focuses on Lucio’s 1982 Giallo film The New York Ripper. Cited as one of his most depraved and reviled films, this film is about a New York Police Lieutenant tracking a sadistic killer who slashes women with switchblades and straight razors. All whilst talking in quacking sounds (which is hilarious in its own right).
It was described by the British Board of Film Classification’s Carol Tpolski as “simply the most damaging film I have ever seen in my whole life”, and was subsequently banned for twenty years. Although I imagine I am preaching to the converted regarding this film, I am sure many of us are uttering under our breath, “Calm down, Carol, it’s not that bad!!”
Such is the popularity of horror and exploitation films within the Metal community, including myself, for me, it is a classic gem that I confess to having enjoyed watching immensely.
Lyrically, Duck Face Killings delivers suitably graphic content, and musically, it is as atmospheric as it is brutal, mixing old-school elements with melodies alongside brutal slams, making it as irresistibly good as the film it honours.
The thirty-two-minute offering delivers fourteen short sharp tracks, opening on Vile Butchery, which starts on a quote from the film before bursting forth with a sharp wall of undulating riffing and deathly growls. The lyrics have a good clarity here. It is a meaty and brutal chugger of a track which slides seamlessly into the instrumental interlude, A Blade In The Dark.
A moment of calm before the brutal storm that follows.
Fucked With A Broken Bottle, a punch-packing, is a raw death driver with a satisfying chug and vocal growls that carve a jagged swathe through the riffs. There is a superb reflective swathe in the second half that courses unhampered beneath the vocals.
Morbid Lust continues to blast forth those deathly riffs with a range of precise hypnotic repeats with the growling vocals unleashing more terror upon your ears. Maniac Unleashed boasts dark undertones, sharp riffs that reflect early Slayer and early Six Feet Under. I love the addition of the squeals to the vocals.
Fulci starts mixing it up a bit with Knife, adding rap-style vocals courtesy of Lord Goat of Non-Phixion alongside the harsh growls. A contentious choice for some people, maybe, but I rather like it. For me, it sits well over those crawling dark riffs and ominous melodic elements.
Another punchy chugger is Slashereality, where the harsh vocals bark at you with menace. I do like how the pace picks up speed as it progresses, adding a sense of imminent danger and menace. The squealy, thrashy closing lead burst and the final line, “You will die!” adds closing impact.
The predominantly up-tempo chugging driver, Human Scalp Condition, is at times positively groovy and melodic. Fulci continues to mix it up with guest vocalist Sherwood Webber from Annul/Skinless, delivering vomiting (style vocals) alongside more thrashy squealing leads and breakdowns, all in under two and a half minutes.
The title track, Duck Face Killings, is a superbly created and varied piece. Initially an old school driver, opening out into punchy Black/Death riffing, the deep growls also manifest into a few squeals. Further on towards the close, it develops a haunting Bolt Thrower style repeat.
After the very amusing opening soundbite of female screams and quacking Rotten Apple develops into an absolutely crushing beast of a track. There are punchy riffs, a rapid-fire growling delivery, squealing thrashy leadwork, classic Death riffs and parts where you think it’s going to drop into a massive breakdown. But it just crushes with insane intent instead, delivering an off-the-scale addictively brutal groove also.
Moving onto Sadistic Murder, which delivers punchy and spiralling riffs that become sharper and more intense, the vocals are well phrased and brutally delivered with nice protraction. It eventually develops an addictive death groove with spiralling leadwork, followed by another soundbite from the film and a final breakdown with a sinister growling delivery.
Lo Squartatore (The Ripper), an eerily atmospheric cinematic interlude, quickly followed by Stabbed, Gutted and Loved. This is another punchy, well-phrased piece that delivers sinister undertones and more thrashy leadwork with a very dramatic haunting close, again with a touch of Bolt Thrower in style.
This fades into the eerily reflective outro Il Miele Del Diavolo (The Devil’s Honey) which features Mario Luce on saxophone, adding a retro feel and reflecting the era and origins of the albums inspiration.
The cover artwork for Duck Face Killings is by Wes Benscoter, who has done covers for Autopsy, Vader, Kreator, Cephalic Carnage, Broken Hope and Nile, to name but a few.
I do love this very fitting piece of artwork with the New York skyline in the background. He has captured the ’80s slasher feel perfectly, with the blood-soaked body, one missing eyeball on the skull, and the other getting sliced through with a switchblade.
Given that many of the Fulci film victims ended up getting stabbed in the eye, it’s a nice observational touch.
Duck Face Killings is essential listening for all Death Metal/slasher fans. It’s a superb slab of Death Metal and will be available as a limited-edition vinyl in a choice of four colours (I hope one of those is blood splatter), CD, cassette or digital download and available via Soulfood.
