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Separately, Kamen's orchestral music isn't spectacular, but the London Metropolitan Orchestra does offer a basic and somewhat predictable backdrop for a film of this genre that aspires for front-line attention. The only thematically developed cue is the remarkable "Turbulence" piece in the second suite on the album. An impressive orchestral rhythm maintains considerable, brassy excitement during that cue (and a chorus joins in harmony this one time), but the rest of the orchestra's recordings are held to a minimum of volume and exhibit practically no coherent organization. The players do handle all of the short bursts of brass necessary for moments of shock in the story. At times, Kamen seems to be inspired by Elliot Goldenthal's avant garde tendencies, even utilizing a similar brass-slurring effect at times. On the other hand, the drum and dance-like loops conjured by Orbital explode with in-four-face attitude that rocks the score at maximum volume for minutes at a time. These techno rhythms continue without interruption for lengthy sequences, setting a distinct mood but often ignoring the necessary synchronization points for the film. They begin with extreme brute force in the first half of the score, relentlessly shouting their arrival and drowning out the orchestral accompaniment. At times, electronic whisperings and other vocal distortions are heard during these rhythms, which is effective for the genre (though not aiding in the listening experience at all). At the end of the third suite, one of these rhythms has a seemingly lost, longing theme faintly heard in the background. The problem with all of this work is that a terrible job was done to combine the techno with the orchestral. Orbital's music is mixed too loudly to coincide with Kamen's conducted music, and Kamen's bland work is conversely written and recorded without enough power to sustain itself next to the techno elements. The distortion in both the two styles sets a proper mood, but it causes the score on album to lose cohesion to an even greater degree. Thus, the score is an overall failure of mixing and integration. The album presentation creates another major problem. With several cues mixed into four lengthy suites, it's difficult to hear any particular part of the score with ease. Most parts you remember from the film will not exist at all. Thus, the music for Event Horizon was a good idea in the conceptualization phase, but it was muddled in the process of combining the differing styles of music into one cohesive product.  *   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For Michael Kamen reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.14 (in 14 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.22 (in 33,383 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.

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