Steve Moore’s soundtrack to last year’s US sci-fi/horror flick The Mind’s Eye has finally seen the light of day, and it’s terrifying. A rumbling, taut affair pitched somewhere between John Carpenter’s spooky electronica, Kosmischer Läufer’s cosmic krautrock and Hans Zimmer at his most demented, every track is a masterclass in tension and release.
Synths grumble and swell, clattering drums appear out of nowhere, and everything is designed to emphasise the hideous nature of whatever’s happening onscreen. Take away the visuals and it’s still extremely effective, from the thundering percussion at the climax of The Shot to the unexpected arrival of screeching keyboards on Zack’s Out Of The Bag. Sweet respite is provided by the uplifting It’s Complicated, but even this takes a sinister turn before the end as a single demonic blast shatters the calm. Later, Psychic War and Slovak Express provide the kind of churning finale that sounds like an orchestra booked to play an End Of The Universe party. It’s an album perfectly suited to headphones, provided the listener can get past the gnawing feeling created by the music that it’s only a matter of time before someone creeps up and attacks them from behind.
