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| Debney |
End of Days: (John Debney) Oh, how wonderful it was
to prey upon the fears of fools who honesty thought there was a chance
that the world was going to end at the conclusion of December 31st,
1999. As if the fear inherent in religious faith wasn't enough to alone
inspire mass suicides across the planet on that regular day, Hollywood
had decided a few years before to unleash its own spectacle of horror
just in time for the over-hyped turn of the calendar. The most widely
advertised such film was Peter Hyams'
End of Days, marking the
return of Arnold Schwarzenegger from three years of absence and serious
medical problems. Schwarzenegger leads as a suicidal security cop who
alone realizes that Satan, in the delightful form of Gabriel Byrne,
walks the city in search of a woman with whom he can produce the heir to
a reign of Hell on earth. This all takes place, of course, in the final
days and hours of the year, and Schwarzenegger, who had been berated for
the poor quality of his roles in the mid-1990's, was praised for his
attempt to expand his career. Still,
End of Days, like the turn
of the millennium, never achieved the promised level of interest and the
film has become little more than a footnote for both cultural insecurity
at large and several members of the production. One such person was
composer John Debney, who ironically was nominated for his first Oscar
five years later for the antithesis to
End of Days,
The
Passion of the Christ. Both scores are extremely accomplished in
their duties, though
End of Days is a far, far more challenging
listening experience. Debney had been one of those composers every film
score fan was rooting for but who, more often than not, never received
the kind of assignments to launch him to the top of the A-list of
composing talents in Hollywood.
End of Days was a chance to truly
tap into the mainstream, however, being that it offered the largest
blockbuster venture of his career at the time.
In response to the opportunity, Debney pulled out all the
plugs for
End of Days. With a massively eclectic selection of
featured instruments and styles, Debney utilizes a large orchestra,
ethnic instrumentation, choral solos and ensembles, and a variety of
finely tuned electronics. With so many popularly recognized motifs used
in religious horror scores of the past few decades, Debney attempted to
lead the genre in a refreshing new direction. He made a conscious
decision to avoid the "Carmina Burana" style of thought, instead
choosing to define the satanic millennium thriller score with electronic
textures, ethnic curiosities, and solitary vocals. Debney's work in the
horror genre had been significantly underwhelming, with
The Relic
and
I Know What You Did Last Summer not maintaining much identity
beyond the end of their running times. The significant scope of
End
of Days, however, makes those two previous efforts sound like only
practice runs. Debney's contribution to the film is both monumental and
engulfed with sinister attitude, and unlike his previous horror works,
this one captures the terror of the film with a relentlessly brutal,
more intelligent stature. Recalling his intentions when beginning the
scoring process for
End of Days, Debney stated that he wanted the
score to have a sharper edge than any of his previous efforts, and upon
hearing the results, many of his collectors could agree that he
succeeded. Recorded over three days in Los Angeles, the score features
much more depth than a typical 80-player ensemble will normally produce.
Credit this enhancement to Debney's attention to the aforementioned
textures that he mixed into the finished result with the assistance of
Skinny Puppy band member Cevin Key. The striking style of
End of
Days, with these plentiful and unique techniques, makes it an
interesting album experience even if it isn't readily accessible
harmonically through most of its length.
Because Schwarzenegger's character of Jericho is suffering
from a spiritual crisis of his own, Debney sought to strongly emphasize
the character's loneliness. To do this, he employed the voice of boy
soprano Theo Lebow, and his performances of the haunting four note theme
for
End of Days are an excellent and consistent representation of
Jericho. Leow's vocals open and close the score, and he can be heard
during even the most horrific and noisy pursuit cues throughout the
endeavor. The stylistic highlight of Debney's music for the film, these
soprano solos bring back memories of Elliot Goldenthal's
Alien 3
and, to a lesser extent, James Newton Howard's
Devil's Advocate.
Some might argue that this Agnus Dei-like motif panders to the cliches
of past religious thrillers, and while in concept that may be true,
Debney's execution of the theme against the backdrop of industrial tones
is what keeps it fresh. The larger, adult choral ensemble can be heard
occasionally throughout the score as well, with a grand performance of
brief Latin and Sanskrit lyrics in the title cue. The last minute of
"End of Days Main Title" is as close as the score comes to "Carmina
Burana"/
The Omen territory, and variations on the mature choral
mass (with majestic, overlapping mixes) is heard again at length in the
final cues of the film. The only really harmonic member of these cues is
"Redemption," which concludes the pounding orchestral horror motif for
the score with a faint, dying whisper of the soprano's four notes before
offering a stirring, beautiful, and tingling finale similar in many ways
to Don Davis'
The Matrix Revolutions and Debney's own
Dragonfly (both later). On that note, the struggle between harsh
electronic and industrial tones, the orchestra, and the choral layers
(all in a dissonant battle for eventual harmonic victory) throughout
End of Days will likely please fans of Davis' work for the three
films in the franchise of
The Matrix.
In between these impressive opening and closing cues,
Debney relies strongly on the ethnic and electronic elements to spice up
the partially orchestral suspense material. With the use of Tibetan long
horns, shofar, duduk, and Tuvan throat singing, the score offers a
frighteningly foreign edge to the Western orchestra. The most
interesting (and obvious) of these extra elements is the throat singing,
which most film score fans had recently heard from the monks who
performed in Philip Glass'
Kundun and John Williams'
Seven
Years in Tibet. More so than any of the other ethnic tools, the
throat singing adds a bass-heavy and awe-inspiringly dark undertone to
the entire score. The electronics further the same cause, with scraping
metallic sound effects and a pulsating heart beat often in the
background at some level. After the main title cue, the score features
one chase cue after another, with brief interludes of gritty,
suspenseful, ethnic and electronic fright that rarely disappoint in the
creativity of the sounds you hear. The larger orchestral pieces will be
the greatest attraction for fans of the composer's other works; both
"Helicopter Pursuit" and "Subway Attack and Escape" are fantastic
sequences with all of the major elements (the orchestra, chorus,
soprano, electronics, and ethnic texture) in synchronous union. A brief
choral preview of the "Redemption" cue in "Jericho Finds Faith" is a
short respite from the darkness. An alternate version of the "Main
Title" cue, likely the unrestrained work of Cevin Key, features a more
enhanced electronic rhythm and adorns the cue with the sounds of crying
babies, satanic laughter, and thunderclaps. It would be an appropriately
wicked way to end the score if not for Key's intolerable "Dance Mix"
appended to album for no apparent purpose. Although the album was
initially publicized as an orchestral and techno product, the only true
techno performances come in that last track, and the majority of film
music fans will have no use for it.
Overall,
End of Days is pure horror. Its immense
volume, harsh pounding, and bass-driven intensity cause it to be a tough
listening experience on its own in many parts. Its loyalty to its
primary theme is admirable, and its guises in the score are interesting
to follow. The secondary, straight forward pounding motif for Satan is
perhaps not eloquent enough for the character's inherent appeal, but
it's satisfying enough. The extent to which the metallic grinding noises
will get on your nerves will greatly vary. Debney's score in the film is
remarkably effective, though its inconsistency and menacing dissonance
on album are difficult to contend with. It's the kind of relentless,
rambunctious product that will terrify your neighbors during almost all
of its length. With a total of 72 minutes of music written for the film,
Debney cut the length down to 40 minutes for the Varèse Sarabande
release. It has only a few breathers, resulting in an exhausting
experience, though Debney's creativity gives it an attractive style
worth an occasional revisit. Perhaps one of the most effective cues of
his career is "The Eternal Struggle," which (at 0:10) uses the low
brass, timpani, and snare to mimic the struggle of a steam engine train
as it chugs up a hillside, increasing in tempo as the scene progresses
and that train gets rolling. With lofty choral accompaniment, the cue's
robust percussion almost foreshadows the majesty of Howard Shore's music
for
The Lord of the Rings. And although the constant chanting,
grinding, and pounding might not entice every film music fan to the
album, Debney certainly succeeded in creating a colorful horror score
that stood for a few years as the mainstream pinnacle of his career.
Unfortunately, with the film never gaining much traction,
End of
Days did not catapult the composer to the blockbuster assignments
his fans had hoped for. The effort and creativity that he contributed to
the production remains, however, among the most dynamic successes of his
career.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
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| Bias Check: |
For John Debney reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.33
(in 56 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.09
(in 49,879 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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