Shot by First Lieutenant Mike Scotti on his Mini-DV camera, and told through his own journal entries, Kristian Fraga's Severe Clear is a first person account of the Marines who were on the front lines of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In this digital age of embedded reporters and filmmakers directing their "war" pictures from the internet, Severe Clear strips the barriers between audience and soldier, personalizing the fear, moral conundrum and sheer adrenaline rush of life on the battlefield. The personal story of Mike Scotti and the Marines in his unit is the backbone of this intimate, extreme and often times horrific tale...

Cliff Martinez's soundtrack for acclaimed 2009 documentary Severe Clear is an interesting album, as modern soundtracks go. I have to admit I'm not usually a fan of scores that try to be "modern" as these usually age very quickly.

However, Martinez's use of electric guitar on tracks like 'Chaos' works incredibly well and as synth-based scores go, this is a particularly good one.

While it won't appeal to everyone, there's a lot here to champion Martinez's work and it's certainly an album worth checking out.

7

Darren Rea