Newcomer Richard Wells clearly had fun crafting a large-scale orchestral score for Mutant Chronicles, the latest filmic variation on rogue mutants in need of some discipline.

Wells starts off with his own militaristic/heroic theme, but the album contains a number of diverse variations and atmospheric cues, ensuring the score has a lot of diversity. The approach is mostly classical, although cues such as “Mutant Attack” have some great dissonance. Wells stirs up a wealth of aggressive metallic sounds, shrilling strings, and searing intersecting aural effects. Low piano hits propel a thickening surge of sounds before the orchestra’s brass and synth percussion are added before a brooding conclusion, and a tragic theme restatement with orchestra.

That modernism is counter-balanced by some beautiful chorals in “The Night Before,” a piece glowing with religious formalism, as well as a the quasi-Renaissance feel of “The Corporate Council,” with plenty of long, drawn-out vibrato on bass, and short female voices at the intro. Large male and female chorus with liturgical vocals dominate “The Killing Fields,” and voices also provide a regal pause in the center of the action cue “Bonecrusher,” shifting from bassy synth percussion to tonal warmth before a brief return to percussion and dissonance.

Also of note in Wells’ writing is the use of high register strings which tremble and plead much in the way Alfred Newman applied strings in The Song of Bernadette; Wells keeps the little nods to classical Hollywood brief, but the gestures provide a potent emotional stab for listeners amid more contemporary writing. “Lift Shaft” also pushes the boundaries in coordinating metallic effects into eddying waves. Hard, anvil-like slams set off ripples of snarling brass with pinched timbres, and Wells mimics human screams by seemingly blurring veiled voices with high-pitch, shimmering metal.

Silva’s mastering of this dynamic score is typically first rate, and the album is available via iTunes and on CD.

© 2009 Mark R. Hasan