Fulci Duck Face Killings

Italy’s Fulci occupy a specific lane of death metal. They take it back - way back - before death metal was even a thing, to the Italo-gonzo goresploitation era of horror films of the director they’re named after, Lucio Fulci. They captivated me with their last LP, Exhumed Information, in 2021 prompting a visiting of their back catalog which was more of the same, but exemplary of their dead-ication to the craft complete with creeping synth accouterments just as those films’ soundtracks had encased like a tomb.

Duck Face Killings is a laughable title on the surface, something a more lighthearted, parodic metal band might get away with given its modern connotations, but it’s a reference to Fulci’s (the director) own work as every Fulci (the band) album is, this time based on The New York Ripper. Even the album cover is very reminiscent of the film’s Italian release poster with a beautiful woman lying dead in the open streets of New York City, indicative of the depravity and terror realized by a screechy, duck-voiced killer - it’s more off-putting than it sounds.

Put the music in a vacuum, you get solid death metal standards. Thematically and lyrically, there’s death, objects in holes, spraying blood, and icky song titles, all materialized through Fiore Stravino’s Nathan Explosion-ass vocals (compliment). Instrumentally, heavy tones and carnal riffs dominate at mostly mid-tempo. It’s good, but not particularly impactful on its own. Opener “Vile Butchery” or the singles “Fucked With A Broken Bottle” (which references one of the more perverse kills in The New York Ripper) and “Rotten Apple” do well to set the stage with savage, guttural, visceral (really hitting all the buzzwords here) metal with soaring moments. The latter of the three tracks even has a sound bite from the movie where you can hear the killer’s creepy Donald Duck-esque cries as he relishes a kill.

The power of Fulci, and by extension this album, is when all the elements coalesce. To be real, I find more raw thematic value in a song like “A Blade In The Dark” which isn’t metal at all - it’s a throwback synth interlude that could play during the opening credits of a film like the one this album’s based on, or perhaps during a montage of shots where a grisled, pack-a-day detective wearily drives his police cruiser to the scene of a bloody murder. It’s atmospheric, lovingly produced and put together with the help of TV-CRIMES who Fulci have collabed with since Exhumed Information, and reminds of similarly-toned artists and bands like Xander Harris or Zombi (also a Lucio Fulci reference). Similar tones are struck with “Lo Squartatore” (“The Ripper” in Italian) and “Il Miele Del Diavolo” (“The Devil’s Honey”), the latter having some awesome saxophone to occupy what’s to be our closing credits moment of Duck Face Killings.

The only genuine surprise was hearing someone rap on “Knife” which will definitely polarize Fulci’s fans deeply. Upon hearing it, I found it quite familiar and looked it up to confirm my suspicion - it was Lord Goat, formerly known as Goretex of Non Phixion fame, on the mic. The verse is pretty standard hardcore/horrorcore rap fare molded with The New York Ripper in mind, certainly befitting of a death metal album, but it still brought me back to the days of listening to Non Phixion’s The Future Is Now, or other adjacent/involved artists like Necro, Ill Bill, Jedi Mind Tricks, and more. Real underground heads that know what “death rap” refers to or general appreciators of extreme music of all kinds will appreciate this as I did. It’s a big risk that pays off well enough.

Duck Face Killings has a lot going on. It’s kind of all over the place, but endearingly so. Dense ‘90s death metal provides the brutality, classic John Carpenter-styled horror movie synth interludes elevate it to a cinematic level that does it some great favors, and an unexpected throwback to hardcore, violent rap just as much inspired by the same films Fulci (the band and director) revel in make for an album that’s anything but creatively scant. Nothing quite hits those highs from before, and I wonder at this point how long the band can stretch this overarching concept out without becoming stale, but for now it’s very much worth the attention of the gore obsessed horror metal enthusiast.

Bottom Line: Fulci went more form over function with this one and it works. The deep cuts do indeed cut deep, there’s undeniable riffage all over this thing, and the concepts of adhering to Lucio Fulci’s work while also playing to the history of death metal and its genre mixing through the decades are quite admirable. Have I heard better out of them? Yep. But just like the films this music is built on, it’s sickeningly alluring all the same.