Lakeshore Records releases the original series soundtrack for Terminator Zero featuring music by composer duo Michelle Birsky and Kevin Henthorn. The Netflix original anime series introduces a new generation to the Terminator franchise while paying homage to the original films. By mixing styles and leaning into a modern direction, they focus on the emotional drama of the series and capture the feeling of existential dread inherent in the story...

For fans of the Terminator franchise the animated Netflix series adds another dimension to the series. The year is 2022 and a future war has raged for decades between the few human survivors and an endless army of machines. 1997: The AI known as Skynet gained self-awareness and began its war against humanity. Caught between the future and this past is a soldier sent back in time to change the fate of humanity. She arrives in 1997 to protect a scientist named Malcolm Lee who works to launch a new AI system designed to compete with Skynet’s impending attack on humanity. As Malcolm navigates the moral complexities of his creation, he is hunted by an unrelenting assassin from the future which forever alters the fate of his three children.

I have to admit that I've never been a huge fan of the Terminator scores. I think this is mainly down to never really being able to get on with Brad Fiedel's original music for The Terminator. It came out at a time when I was enjoying traditional, orchestral scores by the likes of John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner and John Barry. In comparison, Fiedel's score felt instantly dated and that it wouldn't stand the test of time. Likewise, his score for Terminator 2, as atmospheric as it was, just wasn't an album I could listen to in isolation.

Discussing the release, composers Michelle Birsky and Kevin Henthorn say: "With this score, we sought to create a fresh, new sound for a new generation of Terminator. In a time when we are all grappling with the concept of humanity vs. artificial intelligence, our score sought to highlight this dichotomy by using electronic instrumentation interwoven with human voice and electronically-altered acoustic instruments. The score is brash and bold, while also getting to the heart of the characters and the complexity of being human in a digital age."

I have to admit to being pleasantly surprised by this release. Birsky and Henthorn certainly capture the overall feel of the franchises previous scores, but here they lean into deep and melodic themes. It's eerie in places, as you'd expect, but the electronic sound is used to heighten the themes that underpin the score. Whereas, in the past I felt that the electronic sounds were used more as background atmospheric noise more often than building solid, memorable themes.

The music works well in the series and if you're a fan of electronic scores you'll find much to enjoy here. While it's still not an album I'd want to listen to all that frequently, there are enough themes here to make it worth adding to your collection if you're a collector of solid sci-fi scores.

7

Darren Rea