This is the expanded and remastered edition of all the music
Mark Reeder created for the Original score to Jörg Buttgereit's controversially iconic movie, Nekromantik 2.

Mark Reeder became an integral part of the film, not only for making the music, but he also stars as the movie's leading male role.
From which the cover artwork image is taken.

As the first Nekromantik film was scored by Daktari Lorenz, using mainly an Ensoniq sound sampler, Mark also wanted the music to be compatible to part one and equally as synthetik. Popular 90s films like Terminator, Dust Devil or Blade Runner were a huge inspiration to move away from the traditional big orchestral score.

The film itself, was made during the summer months of 1990, and is only one of two movies made in post-communist East Germany between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany in October 1990.
The other film being The Party - Nature Morte by Cynthia Beatt starring Tilda Swinton, and which also featured a brief appearance by Mark Reeder.

After the initial filming of Nekromantik 2 was completed, the score was recorded in Sven Röhrig's Kreuzberg Studio during the commencement of the first Gulf War in 1990.
Jörg decided to cut most of the film to Marks score, and as there wasn't a rough-cut available to go on, Mark had to imagine how the scenes he had performed in, would look together with the music.
The television reports of Iraqi Scud missiles raining down from the skies around Tel-Aviv and coalition bombs falling on Baghdad, provided the perfect poignant End-Zeit atmosphere for the scoring.

As the editing process for Nekromantik 2 developed, some of the cues featured on this album, didn't make it into the final cut of the film and were replaced by tracks performed by Monika M, John-Boy Walton and Hermann Kopp, which can be heard on the original Debil or Arrow CD releases.

Restored and remastered in 24Bit HD by Mark Reeder & Micha Adam at Monumental Studio, Berlin

----------------------------

Nekromantik 2 - Aural sex with a saw.
Making the music for N2 by Mark Reeder

When Jörg Buttgereit asked me if I would play the leading male role in Nekromantik 2, he didn’t just get a two-bit actor, but also the use of the Pinguin Bar, of which I was a part owner, and also someone to compose the film score.

The previous Nekromantik film’s score was written by Daktari Lorenz, a member of The Imperial Dance Band. He was also that movies main male actor and, not wanting to break with tradition, I was asked too.

Even before we had finished filming all the scenes, I had already started work on a demo idea for an outro/end-credits song.
I recorded my Nekromantik End Theme demo onto a cassette tape in Vielklang Studios, where I had a few days free.
As we all saw Nekromantik 2 as a kind of black comedy, I thought I would compose a comical song to play out over the end credits, inspired by dark or death-themed songs like The Monster Mash,
or I Want My Baby Back.
Knowing Joerg though, I actually didn’t hold out too much hope that he, or Manfred would choose it, but thought, at least they’d have an option, if nothing else.
The song never left the cassette demo stage, and it is included on this release for the very first time.
Naturally, as Monika was also a musician, she too wanted to include a piece of her own music in the film too, but that would come later.

After the filming was complete, I booked the studio of Sven Roehrig (of the techno project 3Phase) in Kreuzberg and he became my studio engineer.
The studio was situated in the rooftop space of a slightly derelict building, directly near Kottbusser Tor, which was considered the main Turkish quarter of West-Berlin.

After playing the scenes we had filmed, over and over in my head, I decided I wanted to create a dark and mysterious, electronic sounding score, more like the atmosphere of a John Carpenter soundtrack. Generally, I wanted my score to be slightly synth-surreal sounding.

As I didn’t have a cut of the film to actually work on, I had to make it up, and imagine all the scenes we had filmed and what they might end up being like.
I didn’t even have a script, and I never saw one for the entire time we filmed, although Monika told me many years later while we were making the Barrel DVD commentary, that she had been given a script, but I think that was reserved exclusively for her.
The only thing I had ever received from Joerg, was a basic location timetable and so I had to rely on that, and the memory of all the places and scenes we had filmed.

The only real directive from Joerg regarding the music, was that he wanted me to use the main theme from the first Nekromantik film as the main theme for N2.
I suggested that I adapt that idea and make a version, so that it was not exactly the same.

One night in the Pinguin, I told my pal Paul Browse, another ex-pat friend of mine stranded in Berlin, about the subject of the film and he was fascinated by my recollection of a scene we had just filmed.
Paul was formerly a member of the notorious Sheffield band,
Clock-DVA, but had been washed up in Berlin since the late 80s.
A few years later in 1995, Paul would proudly boast that Milwaukee murderer Jeffrey Dahmer was a fan of Clock-DVA and how, when he was caught, he had been playing Buried Dreams.
The grim reality was that he probably also killed his victims to that soundtrack, too.
We were discussing the emotional and psychological upheaval of a person faced with having to dismember someone they loved, and what kind of soundtrack should accompany such images.
I was considering what kind of music should be playing when Monika carves up her lover in the bath, and I asked Paul if he could play
Ave Maria on his electric clarinet.
I thought that would provide the possibility to manipulate the sound easier and use the notes to create string and synth patterns.
Rather than having a dramatic piece of bombastic music to accompany the horrific images, I wanted it to provide a total contrast, make it something slightly more etherical and emotional sounding, while being quite melancholic and traditional too, after all, she’s slicing up her deceased lover.
I chose to cover this familiar religious piece mainly using the Ensoniq strings, simply to set the scene of mental conflict, but then again, Monika is not all she appears to be, and soon the routine and colder, darker side takes over, and the music changes.

Reoccurring themes run throughout the film and I wanted the music to reflect that, too.
I tried to create recognizable motives for Monika’s character, as well was my own, which I decided, as I play the pleasant, yet unsuspecting boyfriend, needed to have a more light hearted approach.
Whilst, on the subject of reoccurring themes. As my on-screen parts were mainly improvised, I decided to purposely insert comical actions into my scenes without telling Joerg.
I thought, he would only notice these when he came to actually cutting the film.
For example, all the time pieces you see in N2, I secretly set to around three o’clock.
Another such action revolved around smoking.
In the past, it was considered cool to smoke in films. If an actor didn’t know what to do next, they just lit up a fag. I had a problem with that.
I have never smoked a cigarette in my entire life and I didn’t want to start now. So, every scene where normally I would have smoked a cigarette, I eagerly grab for the packet, only to find it empty.
That way, I got out of it and so you never see me smoking.

As for the other tracks, they were probably all influenced in one way or another, by the historical events which had started to unfold upon the World stage, while we were recording.
Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussain had invaded Kuwait in August of the previous year, and the coalition of forces lead by the USA, had finally deployed their troops and carried out air-strikes on Baghdad.
A week into recording and the first Gulf War began.

I remember the atmosphere of fear and worry that this rapidly evolving crisis was creating.
It had only been a year since the Berlin Wall had fallen, and I can remember how relieved everyone was, that the threat of nuclear holocaust had been finally lifted from the shoulders of the city.
Suddenly, the threat of a Third World War loomed, and it looked very real indeed.
It was playing out in real-time on our TV screens every night.
Fascinated and not wanting to miss a thing, we had the TV on in the studio, just in case there would be an announcement that the US had nuked Baghdad.
As I recorded the music for N2, the scary images of News readers in Israel reading the News in gas masks while Saddam’s Scud rockets rained down on Israeli towns, provided a very stark and dark image to work against.

After I had finished recording, Joerg and Manfred had a selection of musical compositions to finally cut their film to.
I knew Joerg wouldn’t use every take.
Some tracks were just different versions or mixes of the same theme, which I had made to give him alternatives. As I had no idea how long a piece of music needed to be.
I just left that decision to Joerg and Manfred.

Whilst working on another film project a few years ago, I rediscovered my original N2 DAT tapes.
I reworked and remastered them together with my studio partner Micha Adam.
These outtakes appear on this release for the very first time, and give an impression of a work in progress.

As the film slowly came together during the editing process, it was obvious that other pieces of music were required to generate different atmospheres, these were provided by Hermann Kopp and John-Boy Walton and Monika.
Which in the end, ensured for a nicely balanced mix of sounds and styles on the Nekromantik 2 Film soundtrack.