Finnish composer, Panu Aaltio, delivers an impressive score that showcases another side of his musical vocabulary: this is an epic and powerful adventure score where an outstanding thematic approach to the heroic aspects of the story forms the backbone of the soundtrack. Dawn of the Dragonslayer is an epic fantasy...

Back in 2009 we reviewed Panu Aaltio score to The Home of Dark Butterflies, a soundtrack we rated highly. And his latest score, for Dawn of the Dragonslayer, is every bit as impressive.

This is an epic score that is packed to bursting with bold and beautiful themes. It reminded me somewhat of Hans Zimmer's music for Gladiator - in essence not in substance. In addition, the track 'Forbidden Love' reminded me of Ennio Morricone work on Baaria; 'Brindisi' being the most obvious example.

'Will and Kate' and 'Alone in the Cold' house this album's most beautiful tracks. However, the majority of the music here is of the epic adventurer variety.

This album contains 15 tracks and lasts for 43 min, 11 sec. There's a wonderful balance of styles, and Aaltio shows much emotional depth in this impressive score.

9

Darren Rea