Inferno

Hans Zimmer

 
" Inferno literally sets my filmmusic future on fire "

Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the regular release

Fanboy'ishm is a crazy thing. Take Inferno for instance. The third score in the Da Vinci Code series gets an abomination of a soundtrack, and yet most praise it for being Zimmerish (meaning defining, original, loud). You know what I call it? Obnoxious, mere sound, a score unworthy of the Zimmer stamp. Hell I'm a Zimmer fan too, but I know my limits. And even if he didn't need to copy The Da Vinci Code, he still needed to bring music. This is sound and bad sound to begin with. Up until the 11th track you're getting nothing more than droning sounds, representing the fragmented state Robert Langdon is in. Okay, it will be effective but don't tell me there isn't a more musical way to represent this? Because it are sound effects with occasional sampled portions of the Sangreal theme and a bit of the Angels & Demons rhythm. Nothing more, and still they worship him for it. The second part suddenly transforms into something decent. Nothing to write home about, but the sounds are becoming rare. Eerie dramatic music for piano ("Elizabeth" which has the full Sangreal theme for the first time), and occasional suspenseful rhythms in the vein of Angels & Demons ("The Cistern"). I mean it doesn't become what I wanted, but at least it's acceptable to a degree. At least there's a musical idea behind it. Even the full "Chevaliers De Sangreal" returns (though sampled) in track 16. At least there we have some momentum to hold on to. In short, Inferno is a disgrace in the first 11 tracks, a disgrace for Hans Zimmer standards. But I wonder how much of Zimmer is actually in here, because the difference between The Da Vinci Code and this one is too massive to ignore. Then again I didn't need another The Da Vinci Code, I just needed a musical score. And Inferno became that somewhat in the second part of the score. Fans of Hans Zimmer will probably go wild over this one again, but those wanting a real Zimmer experience can't ignore this is yet another droning soundtrack experience that I've heard too much of these past few years, delivering not even something in the vein of the thing I admire to be memorable filmmusic.

1 star for the first 11 tracks, 2 and a half for the remaining ones.

Alas, there is a big plus point, the return of that wonderful Sangreal theme in "Life Must Have its Mysteries" (even if its sampled)
Luckily the noise stops around the 12th track, very lucky about that!
SFX, soundscape, ambience, noise? What the hell are you doing here? Oh right setting down the tone!
The first tracks are hideous, unworthy of the name Hans Zimmer. Or was it someone else who ghost wrote these?
The first 3 tracks were hideous, and then "Seek and Find" still had to come. Pure atonal noise. An abomination of SFX.
Oh wait, things could get worse. "Vayentha" raises the stakes with ... more SFX
I wonder if this is not a score by the additional composers, and not Hans Zimmer at all?

Track Listing

1. Maybe Pain Can Save Us (3.03)
2. Cerca Trova (3.18)
3. I'm Feeling A Tad Vulnerable (2.08)
4. Seek and Find (2.04)
5. Professor (4.27)
6. Venice (5.44)
7. Via Dolorosa #12 Apartment 3C (4.21)
8. Vayentha (4.38)
9. Remove Langdon (3.17)
10. Doing Nothing Terrifies Me (3.25)
11. A Minute to Midnight (1.53)
12. The Cistern (6.43)
13. Beauty Awakens the Soul to Act (5.58)
14. Elizabeth (4.34)
15. The Logic of Tyrants (5.08)
16. Life Must Have its Mysteries (3.55) Excellent track
17. Our Own Hell on Earth (6.20)

Total Length: 70.56
(click to rate this score)  
 
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(total of 12 votes - average 2.71/5)

Released by

Sony Classical 88985301922 (regular release 2016)

Conducted by

Johannes Vogel

Orchestrations by

Òscar Senén & Joan Martorell