Milan Records release Umberto's original electronic score for the superhero mystery-thriller Archenemy. Max Fist claims to be a hero from another dimension who fell through time and space to Earth, where he has no powers. No one believes his stories except for a local teen named Hamster. Together, they take to the streets to wipe out the local drug syndicate and its vicious crime boss known as The Manager...

Umberto's score for Archenemy is one for lovers of electronic scores. It's certainly "otherworldly" and technically interesting from a production point of view, but for me it wasn't the sort of soundtrack that I would want to put on to listen to on its own merits. A lot of its power is diminished by not having the onscreen imagery to draw on.

Talking about the music, composer Umberto said: "Part of the film takes place on Earth and the other part takes place in another dimension on a planet called Chromium. For that world, I used a lot of metallic electronic sounds as well as multiple layers of arrhythmic banging on metal objects with loads of effects. I used atonal and microtonal harmonies to give it a more alien sound. Adam [director by Adam Egypt Mortimer] wanted a krautrock influence on the overall vibe of the film. I incorporated elements of that throughout the film in both dimensions."

While technically flawless, it's just a little too bland and emotionless to enjoy on its own merits.

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Darren Rea