First time ever on vinyl the entire score to Nicole’s classic giallo score pressed on 2 x 180g Black vinyl records housed inside a 425gsm gatefold sleeve.

Art and Layout by Eric Adrian Lee, Mastered for vinyl by James Plotkin.

Death Waltz Recording Co. is ecstatic to be able to shock and thrill you once again with another classic slice of senseless violence and beautiful melodies from the giallo playbook with Bruno Nicolai’s score to the 1971 Sergio Martino mystery THE CASE OF THE SCORPION’S TAIL (a.k.a. LA CODA DELLO SCORPIONE). After Lisa Baumer’s husband dies in an airplane explosion, she becomes the beneficiary of a huge life insurance payout in his name. But things are never as they seem, and after being confronted by her husband’s mistress demanding a cut, Lisa is murdered, leaving an insurance detective and crime scene photographer to solve the titular whodunnit.

Doubling the film’s effectiveness is the hypnotic score by Nicolai, who himself was a master veteran of the genre with soundtracks for ALL THE COLOURS OF THE DARK, THE CASE OF THE BLOODY IRIS, and THE RED QUEEN KILLS SEVEN TIMES. TAIL opens with the main theme, a haunting melody on guitar that repeats while a thick bass lurks in the background to underline the hard edge that comes with the genre tropes. A beautiful jazzy waltzing piece on strings and piano brings some real class while electronics and brass provide nailbiting tension, which Nicolai capitalises on with avant-garde jazz techniques, the omnipresent bass grounding the more surreal and dissonant elements. A soundtrack enthusiast’s wet dream, THE CASE OF THE SCORPION’S TAIL is one of the greatest scores ever recorded.

Charlie Brigden – Editor, Films On Wax.