CD REVIEW - MUTANT CHRONICLES


Mutant Chronicles
Music by Richard Wells
Silva Screen Records SILCD1287 (UK)
19 Tracks 55:40 mins

This new release from Silva Screen presents yet another new name to me, that of Richard Wells, who previously scored such films as Razor Blade Smile and Ong-bak, as well as the BBC comedy series Being Human - all unfamiliar to me, I'm afraid.
Mutant Chronicles is the second feature for Simon Hunter and stars Ron Perlman and John Malkovich. It tells of the final futile mission of the last humans on Earth against the Mutant army.
Composer Wells has written an orchestral/choral score for the film, which commences with an heroic, horns-lead theme for "Take Off, enhanced by choir, getting things off to an impressive start. Choir again features in elegiac vein for "The Night Before," which foreshadows the "Mutant Attack," with its savage opening dissonance leading to pacy action, before ending on a tragic note with what sounds like boy soprano voicing a brief wordless lament. "Give me Twenty Men" starts out heroically, only to be met with a wall of dissonance, going down nobly in the end.
A brief moment of respite can be found in the delicate piano and strings of "Mitch and Adelaide" though even this has an underlying feeling of doom. "The City Burns" is suitably powerful, as one would expect, with horns and choir, giving way to more dissonance. The pounding action of "The Killing Fields" gives way to an impressive and fateful choral, and is followed by the brief nobility of "McGuire."
"The Lost City" is a nervy affair, with the following "How Much Do You Weigh?" having something of a Spanish feel to it, complete with acoustic guitar. It's then back to the action for "Bonecrusher," with the choir again presumably heralding another heroic death. The main theme returns for "Steiner Rescued," though the track ends in desolation, complete with wind effect.
"Monastery," though choir of course features, has something of an ethnic feel to it, and gives way to the largely suspenseful "Lift Shaft," though a burst of furious action ends the cue. "Tunnel of Bones" adds further desolation, before "Leap of Faith" offers up some hope, only for soprano and acoustic guitar to end the score in a brief elegy for those lost. The "End Credits" reprises the main thematic elements of the score in a lengthy suite.
I always welcome the chance to sample the work of a composer hitherto unknown to me, and my first impressions of Richard Wells are very favourable, and he's certainly a name I shall look out for in the future.
For further info, samples and to order your copy, go to www.silvascreen music.com/ishop/299/Richard Wells/324864/Mutant-Chronicles.aspx.