Silva Screen Records release Mark Ayres's score for Scar Tissue, a gripping British mystery thriller which is both shocking and unsettling. Starring Charity Wakefield and Danny Horn the movie follows a young man and a detective who are on the hunt for a serial killer who supposedly died decades ago, but a recent murder would indicate that he is still very much alive...

Mark Ayres's score for Scar Tissue throws so many different themes at the listener that it's almost like hearing several different albums. There's the eerie, electronic tracks (which fans of his work on the Sylvester McCoy era of Doctor Who will be familiar with). There's the impressive orchestral elements, sometimes overlapped with electronic sounds. And finally we have the main theme, which pops up throughout the score, This reminded me of a cross between the theme songs for The 4400 and Ultraviolet.

This is the second time Ayres has scored a Scott Michell project. He also wrote the incredibly beautiful score for Michell's conspiracy thriller The Innocent Sleep. Scar Tissue contains 24 tracks (1 hr, 18 min, 34 sec) and not a minute of the album is wasted. There are atmospheric builds, but these aren't just background filler tracks that go nowhere. They help to pave the way for some of the later, more emotionally charged, tracks.

Just as you're getting comfortable with the atmospheric electronic tracks, Ayres throws 'Caliban' in to shake things up. I'd argue that this is the most emotionally charged track on the album. It's painfully beautiful. Other beautiful tracks include 'The Darkest Soul' and 'One Day at a Time'.

Once again Ayres delivers an incredible and beautiful score - which works just as well when listened to in isolation as it does when accompanying the visuals of the film.

9

Darren Rea