UK purveyor of imaginary retro horror scores, Kish Kollektiv, returns with a third studio album, “Elevator Game”, the quasi-sequel to 2018’s “Children of the Cambion”. The new release is influenced somewhat by the tragic story of Elisa Lam, a young Canadian lady who died under the most mysterious of circumstances at a supposedly haunted hotel in Los Angeles and the urban legend of the “elevator ritual” which originated in east Asia.
With its roots firmly planted in the golden era of low budget electronic horror soundtracks, “Elevator Game” aims to take you back to the much-missed days of synth-driven and guitar-led sonic backdrops and eerie sound design. Once again featuring guest vocals from regular collaborator Alyssa Penchanski on a reworked version of the never-officially-released song “Dark Eyes”, Kish Kollektiv has orchestrated another musical thriller where the movie can only be seen with your mind’s eye…
This is the story that underpins the sequence of retro soundtrack cues:
“Paranormal investigator Ruscara Laudanski reluctantly returns to undertake one last case when her wild, thrill-seeking younger cousin Danica disappears under mysterious circumstances.
Traumatised and run down after her experiences with the so-called “black-eyed children”, Ruscara is convalescing in a rural retreat when Danica’s Uncle Stash requests her help in locating his niece, whose fascination with the darker side of the Occult has led her to increasingly reckless behaviour. Stash has reason to believe that Danica was obsessed with something known as “The Elevator Game”, a ritual that originated in the Far East. The player can gain access to a deserted parallel version of Earth via an elevator if he or she follows the necessary steps, which involves travelling between the floors of a building with at least ten floors in a predetermined sequence.
Ruscara initially refuses, having previously decided to withdraw from paranormal investigation work altogether for the sake of her own mental health. However, her conscience gnaws at her until she eventually caves in.
Her investigations lead her Hattersley House (or ‘Fort’ Hattersley as the locals call it owing to its imposing appearance), a Brutalist 20-floor apartment block which has a colourful reputation for supernatural occurrences dating right back to the time of its construction in the 1960s.
Ruscara becomes convinced that Danica has played the Elevator Game at Fort Hattersley and is now trapped in the potentially highly dangerous parallel dimension her foolhardy behaviour has led her to.
Her only option is to perform the ritual herself in order to gain entry to the empty and silent world beyond.
Assuming Danica is still alive, will Ruscara be able to locate her cousin and bring her back?
Is the Earth’s “dark twin” really as deserted a place as it initially seems?”
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