Angels & Demons Soundtrack Review
Exhilarating New Score from Zimmer is Definitive of His Career
May 27, 2009 David Abraham Dueck
Hans Zimmer is certainly no stranger to action films and thrillers. His anthemic, masculine themes have empowered such colossal films as Ridley Scott’s Gladiator, Michael Bay’s Pearl Harbor, Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean series, and Christopher Nolan’s new Batman films, among dozens of others.
His collaboration with renowned filmmaker Ron Howard on projects such as Backdraft, Frost/Nixon and especially The Da Vinci Code made him a natural choice to score Howard’s follow-up to The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons.
Angels & Demons Soundtrack Characteristics
With the tone of the new film more focused and straight-laced, Zimmer’s new score provides a similarly more focused, thematically developed atmosphere. Although he retains many themes and styles from The Da Vinci Code, he tones down the orchestral involvement to chamber ensemble levels, increases the pulsing synthetic electronics in a manner very reminiscent of The Dark Knight, and develops the role of the choir to terrifying levels of chanting menace.
Finally, he employs the stunning talents of violinist Joshua Bell for select passages, bringing the score a level of elegant classicism which is thoroughly engaging. The result is a score which incorporates nearly every style and sound that Zimmer has used throughout his career, and it is the perfect score to which one should refer when asked about a “definitive” Zimmer score.
Thematic Continuity and Differences in Angels & Demons Score
The main attraction in Zimmer’s earlier score to The Da Vinci Code was his magnificent theme heard in “Chevaliers de Sangreal,” and while that theme is indeed used often and intelligently in Angels & Demons, one will not find any full performance as noble and robust as “Chevaliers de Sangreal” on the new album.
An exceedingly gorgeous arrangement of the theme for pipe organ and solo violin (performed by Joshua Bell of course) closes the album for Angels & Demons in an exquisite fashion, but the cue lacks the resonance and full-throated passion of the rendition found in The Da Vinci Code.
Bombast Balanced with Ambient Beauty in Zimmer's Score
The album begins with the mind-blowing “160 BPM,” a relentless cue for full adult choir, organ and synthesizer which is irresistible despite its overpowering bombast; it is not a sound we haven’t heard from Zimmer before, but the levels of power and complexity he brings to this cue make for a very refreshing and stimulating listening experience.
The cue is perfect tone-setter for the remainder of the score, which balances this aggressive, heart-racing style with some exquisitely contemplative ambient music (such as “Science and Religion,” a definite album highlight) to create a well-rounded album which is superbly satisfying. Joshua Bell's solos, not nearly as prominent in this score as in James Newton Howard's Defiance, nevertheless saturate Angels & Demons with a distinctly noble and altogether appealing sound.
Summary
Some may decry the score for the simple fact that it is composed by Hans Zimmer, and therefore falls into all the usual traps associated with Zimmer’s blockbuster scores; over-long tracks, abstract track titles, overbearing bass levels, and a continued reliance on synthetic samples, brass anthems, and choir chants.
But Zimmer, arguably the original pioneer of this style of action score, remains the most skilled in their composition, and his skillful blend of all his trademarked sounds and styles into this one score make it a powerful, compelling and overall completely worthwhile investigation for any fan of film scores. Recommended!
Angels & Demons Album Cover
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Hans Zimmer, Composer
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