Special Notes:

8-page colour booklet.

After an apprenticeship & association with Hans Zimmer, Henry Jackman’s revealed his own style through a series of animated (Monsters vs Aliens), family (Puss in Boots [M]), and action-oriented films (Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class), but Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is his first real foray into horror with a large orchestra and some minor electronics.

Jackman’s scope is grand without being oppressive, and if there’s any similarity to a prior Zimmer work it’s the churning sustained chords reminiscent of The Dark Knight [M] (2008). The scope of Lincoln quickly moves from the genteel vocal solo in “Childhood Tragedy” to grim chords and busy orchestral writing with brass and strings. The dominant theme appears in a grungy minimalist version with heavy electric bass (“What Do You Hate?”) that recurs between the grander orchestral expansions. Perhaps the apex of the score’s action material is “The Horse Stampede” with various passages nicely co-mingling and separating, and involving all orchestral and electronic sounds, including a thick, unwinding bass drone.

Sony’s CD could (and perhaps should) have been longer), but at just under 50 mins. the album delivers a good representation of Jackman’s  addictive score. His writing is direct and to the point, and the CD closes with the electrified theme variation “The Rampant Hunter” which (oddly) shares a similar bass line and bluesy twang to The Blaster’s “Dark Night,” used effectively in From Dusk Till Dawn (1996).

© 2012 Mark R. Hasan