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FILMTRACKS.COM
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VIEW 
Review of Priest (Christopher Young)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you seek Christopher Young's proof that fads in today's
blockbuster film score conventions can be re-packaged in ways that
diminish the lesser composers who rely solely upon them.
Avoid it... if you have no interest whatsoever in ever exploring Young's bombastically gothic side, because Priest is about as easily palatable in its majority as any other score in his career.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Priest: (Christopher Young) Every time you think
that movies about vampires at war with other species of humans have run
their natural course, another variant of the idea hits the big screen.
Languishing in production limbo for years was Priest, an
adaptation of a Korean comic that details an alternate reality in which
humans and vampires have been in conflict for centuries. The largest
pockets of humans are protected in massive, fortified cities by the
equivalent of the Roman Catholic Church, which has used warrior Priests
to keep the vampires at bay on reservations for years. For those
familiar with the 2010 film Legion, the style and substance of
the religious tones in Priest will not surprise, especially with
the overlap of director Scott Stewart and star Paul Bettany.
Unfortunately, the production experienced countless delays over the
course of several years, even after it was finished, because the studio
must have realized that the movie just plain sucks, and an
overwhelmingly negative critical response didn't help the film do much
more than break even at the box office. Aside from the stylish design of
Priest and a minor but satisfying role for Christopher Plummer as
the Monsignor running the Church, the only redeeming aspect of the film
is Christopher Young's predictably humongous score. Young's career has
proven time and time again that his capabilities in all genres of music
are keenly developed, with jazz and R&B talents that never cease to
impress. The composer remains best known, however, for his knack for
creative and engrossing horror scores. The best of these have typically
involved religious elements, spanning decades from his two
Hellraiser scores in the 1980's to the fiendishly wicked Drag
Me to Hell in 2009. While these gothic powerhouses for large
orchestra and chorus overwhelm the listener with sheer bombast, Young's
horror and suspense works have also tended to feature highlights in
their development of quietly alluring performances of their primary or
secondary themes. Thus, even if a Young score in this genre occupies the
majority of its time with ear-shattering dissonance, you'll typically be
treated to ten minutes or so of delightfully creepy, easily digestible
music. It's not often that Young stays accessibly tonal for the bulk of
these genre scores, whether immensely religious or subtly unnerving, but
such is precisely the case with Priest.
On a technical level, in terms of compositional intellect, Priest is nowhere near being Young's most complex creation (Drag Me to Hell arguably prevails in that department), but its fluid streamlining of his own style for this assignment makes this score among his most (if not the most) enjoyable of his career. There has been a substantial amount of film music collector discourse in the 2010's about how many of the industry's most talented composers with an orchestra have succumbed to the techniques made popular during the era by the Hans Zimmer/Remote Control blockbuster sound machine. Overbearing synthetically-enhanced bass, an emphasis on lower brass, and the omnipresent cello ostinato all represent this influence, and outside of the Zimmer clone factory, you hear studios and filmmakers pushing this sound on composers that have already proven their chops in the more purely orchestral realm. To a degree, Brian Tyler has lost his own musical identity to this phenomenon, though Patrick Doyle impressively proved with Thor in 2011 that the Zimmer/RC sound can indeed be utilized by a composer without sucking all of the dynamism, intelligence, and personal style out a score. This point is reinforced by Young in Priest, the composer's trademarks easily dominating the score despite the application of all the popular, mainstream techniques mentioned above. Whereas some listeners claim that Doyle went too far in "selling out" to this style, there is no doubt that Young has found the right balance in Priest. He begins with his standard orchestral ensemble in full bravado and majesty mode and layers it with tasteful electronic rhythms, organic choral tones, solo female voice, and synthesized accents in such a way as to always place the performance emphasis on the orchestral players. The pulsating electronic pace-setter, emerging as an important contributor especially in the latter half of the score, is remarkably similar to the one employed by James Horner for the end titles of Apollo 13 (under Annie Lennox), effectively supplying a muscular, modern bass edge without sacrificing the whole soundscape. The vocal layers in Priest do indeed include a massively layered ensemble of singers and the typical mourning female wails that some find insufferably overused these days. But even here, Young adds a twist. The female soloist is none other than Lisa Gerrard, uncredited on this score but providing the same intoxicating tones from Gladiator to this context. In addition to her, Young carries over some of the same unusual vocal techniques from Drag Me to Hell, including some outstanding throat singing in several cues. The remaining electronic elements in Priest are handled with just as much care as the vocals, an electric guitar applied as almost a source of ambient dissonance to create tension and terror in the background of softer moments. It seemingly meanders through the background of the Priestess material as to generate almost an alluring haze of uncertainty. A few of the meatier cues use a blatantly synthetic edge in keyboarded contributions to afford the scenes an appropriate technological emphasis. The last minute of "Detuned Towne" cranks up the volume of this element, but not even this muscle can overshadow an immense choral and orchestral crescendo to conclude the cue. In the end, however, it's the organic pieces that make Priest really work. An Armenian Duduk in "Eclipsed" is one of those unnecessary but pleasantly creative surprises. A wild percussion section is another outstanding asset to the score, emulating Brian Tyler's best ethnic tendencies at times. The pure "Youngisms" in this score are the real treat for his collectors, though, starting right off the bat with rhythmic devices in "Priest" that will remind heavily of Species. And even if the puffed woodwind and struck woodblock rhythms don't identify this score as Young music for you, the beefy low brass theme sharing melodramatic progressions with the title identity from Drag Me to Hell definitely will. Young's presentation of the primary theme in this cue is typical to his past as well, a slowly growing series of presentations of the theme eventually yielding to an interlude that bursts with organ and choir straight from Hellraiser II: Hellbound. The closing performance of the score's themes in "A World Without End" contains powerful trombone and horn counterpoint that is another striking reminder of Young's past and is perhaps the most clearly enunciated such brass usage since Debbie Wiseman's sleeper hit, Lesbian Vampire Killers. The relentless action sequences also carry Young's usual sense of rhythmic momentum, bursting for minutes of explosive force that never loses focus. The opening minute of "Detuned Towne" contains high choral hints of Craig Armstrong's work, but the driving, percussion-backed rhythms sound like the kind of ruckus that people expect to hear more out of Brian Tyler. The snare drum sets a fantastic pace in The Vampire Train, though "I Have Sinned" and "Sacrosanct Delirium" are a little more haphazard in their shifts of direction. The action music in Priest is generally more palatable for non-horror fans than Young's often shrieking and challenging music for that genre. When the choir enters the fray in full singing mode, you can't help but recall the most immense highlights of Don Davis' sequel scores for the franchise of The Matrix. Thematically, Priest is as satisfying in a gothic sense as you'd expect Young to be in this circumstance. As mentioned before, the title theme in "Priest" owes quite a bit to Drag Me to Hell, though in fainter references, as on piano in "Never One for Love," the resemblance is less of a factor. Interestingly, the score's two secondary themes actually overshadow the primary one. The first is the heroic major-key idea that announces itself in the middle of "Faith, Work, Security" and, with its brass counterpoint, is quite optimistic. In this cue, "Cathedral City Blue," and "A World Without End," this theme is ultimate redemption, using trilling woodwinds and shifts from major to minor keys that are once again pure Young in style. The length of this theme's development in "A World Without End" is very satisfying. The final major theme in Priest is its most intoxicating and, unfortunately, its most infrequently conveyed. This idea for Priestess is the domain of Gerrard's vocals and receives an absolutely gorgeous series of renditions in "Fanfare for a Resurrected Priestess," one of those cues that uses a ton of stereotypical ingredients but somehow manages to entice you nonetheless. The theme comes in two parts, its initial half for elegant solo voice heard in this cue and foreshadowed at the end of "Blood Framed Hell" with stunning full choral and gong accompaniment. Over the thumping bass pacer, the theme's second half is explored in "Fanfare for a Resurrected Priestess," and despite the melody's strange Irish style and a sequence in the middle that seems to have had Gerrard in mind from the get-go because of its similarity to "Now We Are Free" from Gladiator, it cements the score as a clear winner. Gerrard's distinctive contributions extend into the opening and closing portions of "A World Without End," her tone in this cue a bit more recognizable in its wailing mode. That track does end curiously, however, with Young choosing to simply fade out the cyclical phrases of the theme without coming to any definitive conclusion. Perhaps that's recognition that the film leaves its story open for a sequel (however unlikely) at the end. Overall, Priest may not be the intellectual marvel of Drag Me to Hell, but it's even more entertaining. Its well-balanced 55-minute album is a download and Amazon.com "CDr-on-demand" product, and the latter option is very highly recommended. The sound quality of Priest is extremely impressive, with a wet ambience supplying ample reverb to the mix without losing individual accents, and this fact alone should merit your interest in a lossless presentation. Most importantly, like Patrick Doyle earlier in the same year, Young proves that the fads in today's blockbuster film score conventions can be re-packaged in ways that diminish the lesser composers who rely solely upon them. *****
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 55:09
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes a note from the director about the score and composer.
As in many of Amazon.com's "CDr on demand" products, the packaging smells
incredibly foul when new.
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The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from Priest are Copyright © 2011, Madison Gate Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 5/27/11 (and not updated significantly since). As one evangelical mother said, "That movie is a vomit-inducing abomination!" |
