{"id":2845,"date":"2011-05-04T17:22:58","date_gmt":"2011-05-04T21:22:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=2845"},"modified":"2011-05-04T17:22:58","modified_gmt":"2011-05-04T21:22:58","slug":"cd-eagle-the-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=2845","title":{"rendered":"CD: Eagle, The (2011)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews<\/a> \/ <\/em>E<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Rating: Excellent<\/p>\n

Label: Silva Screen Records\/ Released: February 22, 2011<\/p>\n

Tracks & Album Length: 18 tracks \/ (48:41)<\/p>\n

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Special Notes: 8-page colour booklet.<\/p>\n

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Composer: Atli \u00d6rvarsson<\/p>\n

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Review:<\/p>\n

Although Atli \u00d6rvarsson\u2019s formal debut for soundtrack fans was the action thriller Vantage Point<\/strong> (2008), scored with heavy electronic and processed percussion textures, he sort of stumbled by selecting a series of lesser projects \u2013 notably The Fourth Kind<\/strong> (2009), and the rescored clunker Season of the Witch<\/strong> (2011) \u2013 and only revealed his knack for writing atmospheric and dramatic cues via epic films.<\/p>\n

As clunky as Babylon A.D.<\/strong> (2008) was, it contained lovely choral passages, and The Eagle<\/strong> builds upon that film\u2019s variety of melody, ethnic instruments, and lesser electronic sounds to create the ancient world of Roman-conquered Britain.<\/p>\n

The Eagle<\/strong> is \u00d6rvarsson\u2019s best score to date largely because it captures the scope of an ancient era through abstract thematic concepts \u2013 the rustic, coarse string tones in \u201cBarbarians\u201d being a perfect example \u2013 and the flawless use of acoustic instruments with light orchestral and electronic elements.<\/p>\n

Because little remains of Roman music, composers often have to make educated guesses based on known instruments, and likely cultural influences from nearing countries or conquered lands. Being set in ancient Britain \/ Scotland, \u00d6rvarsson was free to incorporate percussion, pipes, harp and fiddles, giving a rich impression of a nascent Anglo culture finding its own identity under the duress from an occupying force.<\/p>\n

The score\u2019s main theme is more like a call for citizens and rebels to be wary, rather than a straight character theme, and it gives \u00d6rvarsson a wide berth to create variations for softer renditions (\u201cHonorable Discharge,\u201d or the cimbalom gem \u201cEdge of the World\u201d) as well as the ominous \u201cFleeing the Village,\u201d dominated by a swirling cluster of gnashing metallic textures and exotic pipes.<\/p>\n

The brief \u201cEdge of the World\u201d showcases a solo male vocal with droning, gnarling tones, and \u201cEsca\u2019s Freedom\u201d is comprised of abrasive sounds under which a child\u2019s voice softly hums a delicate melody. The final cue, the percussive ripple \u201cBeyond the Territories,\u201d runs under a minute, and closes the album rather quickly, but even at 48 mins., this is a satisfying work by a composer who\u2019s slowly stepping away from the influences of the Media Ventures sound, and finding his own voice.<\/p>\n

Silva Screen\u2019s CD is also a gorgeously mastered album, and several cues were mixed to envelope the listener, layering sounds to the point where one is right in the center of \u00d6rvarsson\u2019s wonderful acoustic menagerie.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2011 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

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External References:<\/p>\n

IMDB <\/a>— Soundtrack Album<\/a> — Composer Filmography<\/a><\/p>\n

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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack Reviews<\/a> <\/em>\/\u00a0E<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Return to:\u00a0Home \/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews \/ E . Rating: Excellent Label: Silva Screen Records\/ Released: February 22, 2011 Tracks & Album Length: 18 tracks \/ (48:41) . Special Notes: 8-page colour booklet. . Composer: Atli \u00d6rvarsson . . Review: Although Atli \u00d6rvarsson\u2019s formal debut for soundtrack fans was the action thriller Vantage Point (2008), scored with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[453],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-JT","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2845"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2845"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2845\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2848,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2845\/revisions\/2848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}