Jeff Grace’s soundtrack to Jim Mickle’s Stake Land starts with a bang, as the “Main Title” sets the recurring themes and principal instrumentation (sweeping violins, piano and guitar) that will compose the 26 songs to follow, while also introducing the various emotional regions that the soundtrack will explore: from epic to thrilling; hopeful to hopeless. “Lockdown Town” starts off with a fantastical barrage of chimes, evoking an air mystery before bursting into a beautiful bit of raw violin, backed by guitar and piano. Extremely powerful in its Southern folk quality, that section is sadly too short but leads perfectly into the melancholic “Orphans”, which features a haunting piano motif that is similarly interrupted by the tense “Barn Attack”. As a listening experience alone, it becomes clear, 4 songs in, that Jeff Grace’s soundtrack is inseparable from the images of the film, as some incredible melodies are cut short as soon they’ve exhausted their cinematic use. It can be quite frustrating because the Stake Land OST is filled with haunting melodies and beautiful textures one wishes were extended buying generic cialis mexico rx beyond the usual 90s runtime. “Barn Attack” shifts into a soundscape of echoes, reminiscent of certain atmospherics found in the work of Montreal post-rock bands Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Silver Mt. Zion. “Sister Agatha” brings back the epic chase motif introduced at the beginning, turning the previously quite serene listen into a more thrilling experience, Grace adding horns to the instrumentation drug generic propecia for maximum effect. The track “Nothing Out There” brings to mind Hans Zimmer’s work on Inception in its use of reverberated guitars, before becoming quite chilling and intense, as drums come in strongly, turning the dreamy song into a relentless horrific theme. “Belle and the Family” bring back the very intimate and raw violin theme and from then on, the soundtrack oscillate between established textures, making great use of its core instrumentation, and constantly shifting tone between the hopeful, soothing and naked sounds of violin and piano, the suspenseful use of electric guitars and the epic orchestra pieces, clearly set to move the viewer from its comfort zone and even making use of electronic sounds (“Jebediah Done In”) to achieve chilling results.

With so many different moods, this OST doesn’t flow as well is it could, but the overall sense of dread and moving loss – or is it hope? – make it well worth the listen. The soundtrack is at its strongest when it is profoundly stirring, tragic and soft in songs such as “Leaving Strivington”, “Moving North”, “Not Your Daddy”, which, like the aforementioned “Lockdown Town”, are painfully short and inevitably interrupted by the film’s action or horror motifs. “Taken” is an excellent mix of all sounds and textures found so far, leading the way for the soundtrack’s last 8 songs, which are more of the same, with interesting variations. The appropriately titled “New Eden” suggests happiness and relief in its hopeful guitar melody, leading in the straight-up folk tune “Strivington Band” as an added bonus. “Training” closes the soundtrack with the opening chimes “Lockdown Town”, closing the curtain on a fantastical and beautifully dual world of life and death, hope and despair.

Jeff Grace’s soundtrack is stunningly emotional and upon many listens, it is hard to imagine Stake Land as purely horrific, no-brainer vampire film. The soundtrack shines with moments of pure beauty, which, once coupled with their respective images on screen, should prove to be quite touching.

Stake Land shows only once on July 30 canadian online pharmacy no prescription needed at 16:55, Hall Theater. More info on the film page HERE

-Ariel Esteban Cayer

About the author:

Ariel Esteban Cayer

Ariel Esteban Cayer is a film student, programmer for the Fantasia International Film Festival, writer for Panorama-Cinema and an occasional contributor to Fangoria Magazine.