Varèse Sarabande release Rupert Gregson-Williams's score for Hacksaw Ridge. The film tells the extraordinary true story of Desmond Doss who, in Okinawa during one of the bloodiest battle of WWII, saved 75 men without firing or carrying a gun. He was the only American soldier in WWII to fight on the front lines without a weapon, as he believed that while the war was justified, killing was nevertheless wrong. As an army medic, he single-handedly evacuated the wounded from behind enemy lines, braved fire while tending to soldiers and was wounded by a grenade and hit by snipers. Doss was the first conscientious objector awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor...

Rupert Gregson-Williams's score for Hacksaw Ridge contains 16 tracks (53 min, 49 sec). At the current moment it's my score of choice - I can't get enough of it. It's a beautiful collection of themes in its own right.

This is one of those rare albums where almost every track relies on the previous pieces. The whole thing is akin to an organic, growing entity, in that it naturally progresses, building on themes as it goes.

It's also a score that you'll get more enjoyment out of the more times you listen to it. The themes are wrapped up in layers of intricate segments that reveal themselves the more you explore.

If I had to choose highlights, I'd have to give special mention to 'Okinawa Battlefield'; 'Rescue Continues'; and 'Praying'.

10

Darren Rea