It's a surprising assignment for Birgisson, who is well known for providing songs to films, most notably the How to Train Your Dragon entries, but had only scored the relatively obscure feature films We Bought a Zoo in 2011 and Aloha in 2015. That said, he had provided numerous scores for short videos and television series, so his duties for Without Remorse aren't without any reason. Joining him and providing additional music is regular Marco Beltrami collaborator Brandon Roberts. About this score, Sollima has stated, "For one whole year, Jónsi has devoted himself to finding the soul of Without Remorse. The complexity, sophistication and elegance of his composition adds incredible depth to the story, which I recommend experiencing on vinyl." Everything about that sentence is extremely humorous, for there is nothing complex, sophisticated, or elegant about Birgisson's music for this film, and if he spent a year creating this music, then God help him. Likewise, few people should be shelling out $40 to hear this score on vinyl. Something about the music for Without Remorse must have tickled Sollima just the right way, for most everyone else will hear a poor impression of Guðnadóttir and a number of composers whose careers are mired in sound design applications as music. The credits indicate that an orchestrator and conductor were employed, and there are indeed a few hints of organic presence in the work, especially near the end. But otherwise, Birgisson has taken his modular synthesizers and percussion to the realm of dreary ambient muck, providing music with absolutely zero potential to define a franchise. The droning, thumping, grinding, and slashing noises that comprise the score are often rooted simplistically on key, sometimes pounding away in pointless rhythms and reverberating through your skull with the wet ambience of its mix. The standard "long suspenseful crescendo" technique is applied by Birgisson, as in the insufferable "True Patriot," but otherwise the score is mostly an exercise in dialing up and down the ambient mood.

There are some marginally pleasant chord shifts in Without Remorse that suggest the potential for thematic development, but Birgisson's progressions move so frustratingly slowly that only a sloth might be able to identify them without artificially speeding them up. Those chord shifts also root around on key, of course. They do, to their credit, supply some vaguely tonal moments of quasi-Vangelis resemblance in the family and lamentation moments of "Campfire" and the long crescendo of chord shifts in "Arlington," these tones extending to "Hallway." As vengeance is realized late in the film, the slight tonality returns, hints of relief heard when Birgisson resolves on key in "Aftermath." Muted organ and string optimism occupies "Funeral" before a sudden cut-off without resolution to close out the score, suggesting more revenge to be sought in the next flick. For enthusiasts of the new-agey Vangelis inclinations, expect some Aquaman-like pitch slurring in "Swim." Outside of these moments, the score for Without Remorse is a challenging bore. The highlight of the suspense and action material comes in "SCIF," where Birgisson takes a page from the abrasive industrial rhythms of Paul Haslinger while offering some decent tonal shifts on top. If you prefer masculine pronouncements of a slightly exotic nature, the pulsating low notes on key in "Rykov" will stir the loins. The nascent thematic chord shifts struggle to congeal in the action of "Rooftop," yielding instead to annoyingly accelerating percussion over total dissonance in "Stairs." Those wanting Remote Control Productions atmosphere may gravitate towards "Potomac," in which brass shades emerge with a touch of organic texture. Some of the more recognizable percussion in the score is obnoxiously and frenetically layered, with emphasis on the volume of sound rather than any points of punctuation. Overall, Without Remorse is a pointless exercise in sound design masquerading as music. It is none of the things the director says about it, and on album it will test your patience with its mean-spirited tone and unpolished redundancy. That product is 73 minutes in length, definitely long enough to dwell deeply on someone you need revenge against and be miserable because of it.  *   @Amazon.com: CD or Download