ScreamWorks Records releases Arnau Bataller's music for The Brotherhood (La Hermandad), the moody Spanish thriller written and directed by Julio Martí. The film tells the story of Sara (Lydia Bosch), a successful horror author who survives an accident just outside a secluded Benedictine monastery in northern Italy. Even though she should stay in bed, Sara soon finds intriguing secrets about the monastery: strange stains on the ceiling, an infant crying in the night, an old photograph and a chilling book on the Brotherhood and their disturbing customs...

I have to admit that Arnau Bataller's score for The Brotherhood caught me completely off guard. I was expecting yet another collection of cliched atmospheric tracks that usually accompany horror movie scores - the sort of music that works wonderfully in the film but sounds dull and lifeless when listened to in isolation.

What we get here are 13 tracks (47 min) of incredibly beautiful themes, creepy choral set pieces and action/adventure music. The whole album is a pure delight from start to finish.

'Main Titles' starts the album off on the right foot. The main theme is incredibly uplifting and sets the pace for what is to come.

There were a couple of track ('Discovering the Past' being probably the best example) where I was reminded of Tommy Tallarico & Michael Richard Plowman's score for the 2006 game Advent Rising. There are also tracks that wouldn't sound of place in a James Bond movie (for example 'Isolated'). And 'My Daughter' reminded me (ever so slightly) of Howard Shore's score for David Cronenberg's Dead Ringers (1988).

The album closes with easily the two most memorable tracks 'The Confession' and 'The Brotherhood'.

This is one of those rare scores where not a beat is missed. Bataller nails it from the very beginning: he hooks you in and keeps you listening for the album's duration.

10

Darren Rea