Various Artists -- 'Saw IV' soundtrack [review]

Music from and Inspired by Saw IV
Artists' Addiction Records (10/23/07)
Hard rock / Metal/ Industrial


Rather than a true soundtrack, Saw IV seems more like a collection of songs. Sure, some of them will appear in the movie, most probably during the closing credits, but this is more of a mix with a theme.

In this case, the theme is aggression. Fans of metal, industrial music and hard rock will find plenty to love with this album. Producers did a good job hitting a slew of bands from each genre: Ministry, Nitzer Ebb, Skinny Puppy and Dope Stars Inc. fom the industrial department; Everytime I Die, The Red Chord, and Avenged Sevenfold for those who like their metal heavy; newer metalcore acts like Saosin, From Autumn to Ashes and Sixx: A.M.; and filled out with tracks from Drowning Pool, Submersed and Emlie Autumn. There's even some nice instrumental mood music from Charlie Clouser to close the set.

With 19 tracks offering over an hour of music, it's hard to miss with this set. And since a collection like this might not really sell in this age of music downloads (Why buy a collection for a handful of songs when you can download one or two?), Artists' Addiction is actually offering a digital version of the soundtrack with a couple of different songs not available on the CD (due out, according to press materials, in November).

Saw IV is one of those enjoyable soundtracks, simply a collection of songs for people who are into a certain type of music. There's no underlying message or mood, and you can't find fault because the music was crafted specifically for the movie (like, say, the soundtracks for Once or Into the Wild released earlier this year, where the songs were specifically crafted for the film). While the set lacks any big "get" (a song released by a big, notable band specifically for the album), there's enough balance in everything on here (obscure bands vs. bigger acts, for example) to make this work. It's not fantastic, but it's good enough.

Various Artists -- 'Resident Evil: Extinction' soundtrack [review]

Resident Evil: Extinction Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Lakeshore Records (9/18/07)

Metal/Electronic


After two soundtracks under the Roadrunner umbrella, the Resident Evil franchise releases its third offering on Lakeshore Records. Lakeshore handled the two Underworld soundtracks, and anyone familiar with those releases has a pretty good idea of what to expect here.

Gone are the big-name artists Roadrunner was springing for (Fear Factory, Marilyn Manson, Slipknot, Killswitch Engage, and on and on), but even without the name value, Extinction presents a cutting, little raw collection of music. It's not all unknowns -- Poison the Well offers up a steamroller of a track, "Wrecking Itself Taking You With Me", while It Dies Today tears it up with "Sixth of June", which sees the band abandon the screaming vocals of its earlier material. And perhaps the soundtrack's best song, Shadows Fall's "Stupid Crazy", further shows why the group is at metal's forefront these days with its chunky rhythm and blistering solos.

There's a pair of remixes from up-and-comers Flyleaf ("I'm So Sick") and Aiden ("One Love"), both by The Legion of Doom. The Flyleaf track is a little too electronic, sounding waterlogged at times, but the Aiden song receives a nice edge. Chimaira continues its slide into death metal with "Paralyzed", which is by far the heaviest track on the album. And Collide offer up a remake of "White Rabbit", a melancholic electronic number that showcases the flipside of what Extinction has to offer.

The rest is a hodgepodge of bands -- Throwdown, The Bled, Emanuel, Searchlight and City Sleeps. There's a handful of instrumentals from Charlie Clouser, which is most probably mood music from the upcoming movie, but far too short to do anything but add atmosphere to the album. It's nice, but sound clips from the movie would almost do the job better (see the past two releases from Rob Zombie's movies).

Overall, this is a good collection of music in the vein of the movie, but it lacks that must-have feel. With no huge "gets" on the album, it's hard to completely recommend this release. But if you're a fan of any of the bands on here, you might find a couple more you'd never heard of before to add to your library.