CD REVIEW - SHIVER


Shiver
Music by Fernando Velazquez
MovieScore Media MMS 10006
23 Tracks 62:51 mins

MovieScore Media dips into the recent past again to bring us Fernando Velazquez's score for the 2008 Spanish horror film Shiver (Eskalofrio). Velazquez is of course best known for his music to another Spanish horror The Orphanage.
The Shiver album kicks off with "Sunrise," which builds ominously to the kind of crescendo that brings to mind James Bernard's distinctive work for the hammer horrors. The main theme follows, a questing piece with a familiar repeating woodwind figure, though I can't quite put my finger on where I've heard it. "Welcome Home" starts quietly but develops dissonant shock moments for dissonant strings. Of course, as one would expect from the genre, there's much mystery and suspense, with plenty more powerful and dissonant shock moments in the cues that follow, but these are seldom sustained long enough to hold the interest; the best of these being "Panic" and "The Murder," timing in at just 1:18 and 0:47 respectively.
There are few melodic moments, but I would pick out "A Place Where the Sun Cannot Shine," a strings-dominated variation on the main theme; and the gentle, flute-lead opening of "Alone in the Forest;" whilst "A Friend" ends the album on a tranquil note for harp and strings.
At the end of the day, there's nothing really here that you haven't heard before in countless recent genre scores, but if you're into that kind of thing, you may well wish to add this to your collection.
Go to www.moviescoremedia.com/shiver.html for samples, a trailer for the film, and details of how to obtain your copy on CD or as a digital download.