Army of Darkness
Joseph LoDuca
" This is my boomstick "Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the regular release
Whenever someone combines Sam Raimi and horror together, you get Evil Dead. These are the most insane, wacky, gruesome horror flicks with super fast editing and camera movements that you can find on the market. This all resulting in the popular cult status they maintain to have today. Joseph LoDuca is thereby no stranger to the fans as well, considering he was on board from the first cult classic to the last. In 1982 it was the first motion picture he scored and in 1987 he was back to the sequel Evil Dead 2. Perhaps you couldn't notice it when you read the biography of both Raimi and LoDuca but there was a third Evil Dead. However this one was carefully retitled to give the audience a not so careful idea of the horror that was Evil Dead, but more the fun that was Army of Darkness.
This is the latest in the trilogy and stars again Bruce Campbell as Ash, the man with the not so clever comments and machine or chainsaw as right hand. This time he fights against stop motion skeletons of the dead in the past, when Excalibur and Merlin where reality and myth together. This movie received a different feel due to Danny Elfman's March of the Dead theme. It might not mean much to most of you but I consider LoDuca's own theme to be much better than Danny Elfman's one. Since it is LoDuca’s theme that makes Army of Darkness that much fun.
First of all, Varèse Sarabande was at the time not releasing especially long releases. So the 50 minute presentation was most welcome and surprising at the time. The score itself sounds like a mix between Warlock 2, his own Hercules adventures and a dark sense of Elfman bringing that little extra spark. And so it is not too surprising that there is a choir that links itself with the demonic chants of McKenzie's Warlock 2 score in the first track "Prologue".
Yet it is as said the theme of LoDuca which makes Army of Darkness so cool at times. I simply downloaded the poor quality trailer of Cutthroat Island to hear it, making the trailer superb since it captures a bit of the heroism and adventurous spirit of a pirate classic. "Building the DeathCoaster" could totally benefit from a better orchestral performance and a choir (not containing one here) and it would make this theme a classic amongst any film music fan (I'm not kidding). The sole problem I have with it is with the occasional lack of power coming from the orchestral performance. This due to recording I assume because the orchestra doesn’t do a bad job at all.
The theme also appears further along in the score in "Manly Men" and the "End Titles". The theme of Elfman which is a typical dark menacing brass laden march is fine by me and receives air time in the concert suite "March of the Dead". The way it underscores the pace in "The DeathCoaster" is neatly done and appears equally further near the end of the score, when the skeletons also appear in the film like for instance in that "Skeletor" cue.
There is also romance with the expected flute and light theme in "Give me Some Sugar / Bone'anza" and "Manly Men". And finally there's more demonic / epic choir in "The Forest of the Dead / Graveyard", holding whispering scary lyrics.
However there's also a lot of insane music, spotted when big Ash receives company of several little Ashes, heard during tracks 4, 5 and 6. These are not the finest of the album and actually it lasts until track 10 to 11 to get back on track.
This is of course typical. Army of Darkness captures good moments but also several tracks were you suddenly lose focus. Perhaps due to the (Elfman) way of scoring, with bombast and melody so wrapped into one another that it becomes simply too much to handle. Yet the own thematic material of LoDuca isn't bad and the choral use as the thematic ideas are at times riveting. He sets a perfect mood for the era and just as Ash does in the film, he kicks some major ass with his boomstick. Whether the boomstick of Bruce Campbell in the film as Joseph LoDuca's one are the same is still a mystery.
Tracklisting
1. Prologue (2.58)
2. Building the DeathCoaster (1.56) Excellent track
3. Give me Some Sugar / Bone'anza (2.00)
4. Time Traveler (2.42)
5. Ash Splits (2.19)
6. Little Ashes (2.43)
7. Ash in Chains (3.03)
8. Night Court (1.41)
9. The Forest of the Dead / Graveyard (2.51)
10. The Pit (2.06)
11. God Save Us (1.31)
12. Foul Thing (1.10)
13. March of the Dead * (3.54)
14. Whites of Their Skulls (1.37)
15. The DeathCoaster (2.03)
16. On The Parapet (2.44)
17. Ash Bucklers (2.33)
18. Skeletor (1.56)
19. Soul Swallower (0.48)
20. Manly Men (1.52)
21. End Titles (5.27) Excellent track
* Composed by Danny Elfman
Total Length: 50.37
This is the latest in the trilogy and stars again Bruce Campbell as Ash, the man with the not so clever comments and machine or chainsaw as right hand. This time he fights against stop motion skeletons of the dead in the past, when Excalibur and Merlin where reality and myth together. This movie received a different feel due to Danny Elfman's March of the Dead theme. It might not mean much to most of you but I consider LoDuca's own theme to be much better than Danny Elfman's one. Since it is LoDuca’s theme that makes Army of Darkness that much fun.
First of all, Varèse Sarabande was at the time not releasing especially long releases. So the 50 minute presentation was most welcome and surprising at the time. The score itself sounds like a mix between Warlock 2, his own Hercules adventures and a dark sense of Elfman bringing that little extra spark. And so it is not too surprising that there is a choir that links itself with the demonic chants of McKenzie's Warlock 2 score in the first track "Prologue".
Yet it is as said the theme of LoDuca which makes Army of Darkness so cool at times. I simply downloaded the poor quality trailer of Cutthroat Island to hear it, making the trailer superb since it captures a bit of the heroism and adventurous spirit of a pirate classic. "Building the DeathCoaster" could totally benefit from a better orchestral performance and a choir (not containing one here) and it would make this theme a classic amongst any film music fan (I'm not kidding). The sole problem I have with it is with the occasional lack of power coming from the orchestral performance. This due to recording I assume because the orchestra doesn’t do a bad job at all.
The theme also appears further along in the score in "Manly Men" and the "End Titles". The theme of Elfman which is a typical dark menacing brass laden march is fine by me and receives air time in the concert suite "March of the Dead". The way it underscores the pace in "The DeathCoaster" is neatly done and appears equally further near the end of the score, when the skeletons also appear in the film like for instance in that "Skeletor" cue.
There is also romance with the expected flute and light theme in "Give me Some Sugar / Bone'anza" and "Manly Men". And finally there's more demonic / epic choir in "The Forest of the Dead / Graveyard", holding whispering scary lyrics.
However there's also a lot of insane music, spotted when big Ash receives company of several little Ashes, heard during tracks 4, 5 and 6. These are not the finest of the album and actually it lasts until track 10 to 11 to get back on track.
This is of course typical. Army of Darkness captures good moments but also several tracks were you suddenly lose focus. Perhaps due to the (Elfman) way of scoring, with bombast and melody so wrapped into one another that it becomes simply too much to handle. Yet the own thematic material of LoDuca isn't bad and the choral use as the thematic ideas are at times riveting. He sets a perfect mood for the era and just as Ash does in the film, he kicks some major ass with his boomstick. Whether the boomstick of Bruce Campbell in the film as Joseph LoDuca's one are the same is still a mystery.
Tracklisting
1. Prologue (2.58)
2. Building the DeathCoaster (1.56) Excellent track
3. Give me Some Sugar / Bone'anza (2.00)
4. Time Traveler (2.42)
5. Ash Splits (2.19)
6. Little Ashes (2.43)
7. Ash in Chains (3.03)
8. Night Court (1.41)
9. The Forest of the Dead / Graveyard (2.51)
10. The Pit (2.06)
11. God Save Us (1.31)
12. Foul Thing (1.10)
13. March of the Dead * (3.54)
14. Whites of Their Skulls (1.37)
15. The DeathCoaster (2.03)
16. On The Parapet (2.44)
17. Ash Bucklers (2.33)
18. Skeletor (1.56)
19. Soul Swallower (0.48)
20. Manly Men (1.52)
21. End Titles (5.27) Excellent track
* Composed by Danny Elfman
Total Length: 50.37