A low budget sci-fi/western? Well that’s what this is, I have not seen the movie, but by the look of stills etc that I have seen it looks pretty action packed and certainly has originality about it. The score by composer Chuck Cirino is also something of an action packed and powerful item. It has everything that a collector of film music, sorry that should have read quality film music, requires. High octane powerhouse action cues that are pure drama and propel forward at break neck speed creating tension filled musical passages that have the listener sitting on the edge of their seat even without the images the music was written for. But this score has many aspects to it and also many styles and musical twists and turns, as well as the hard headed action material we are treated to softer and more poignant moments, as in track number 3, “The Train Station”, which utilises solo guitar played in unison with vibes and underlying strings supported by synths and a hint of piano, which is a welcomed haunting and touching melody amongst a score that is in the main an actioner. Track 4, “The Dig” too has to be mentioned, it is in this cue that we hear for the first time the composers gentle but obvious homage to the Spaghetti western score, a GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY drumbeat is present underneath an opening of atonal sounding woods which soon segues into a more threatening and ominous sounding composition, complete with martial sounding percussion and urgent use of woods, rasping brass and low sounding almost guttural choir interlaced with strings that reaches a crescendo and then melts away back to the drum beats. Track 5, “Sable Ranch” has a definite spaghetti feel to it, the composer utilising chorale sounds and a harmonica which are enhanced by percussion; this is a short lived but highly atmospheric composition. Track 6, “Pow Wow”, is a return to a softer sound, again solo guitar takes forefront supported by underlying strings that act as a perfect backdrop to a haunting melody, and this is one of the longest cues on the compact disc running at almost 4 minutes. It is not really until track number 7, “Ghost Rider” that we hear the full extent of Chuck Cirino’s homage to the spaghetti western score, racing snares, whips and full blown electric guitar are heard backed up by exciting brass and growling voices in this wonderfully exhilarating tribute to the music from the genre of the Italian western.
The composers attention to authentic sound on this is fantastic as the guitar sounds as if its straight out of a score by Nico Fidenco, Francesco de Masi or Bruno Nicolai, it has that ‘60s rawness to it. Other sounds from the Italian western can be heard on the score i.e., bells, whistles, choir, trumpet, guitar and fuzzy sounding electric guitar, and are probably more prominent in tracks 12 and 16, and it is track 16, “The Showdown” that is for me the highlight of the work, and what a showdown this must be too, the music is double high octane, triple powerhouse and must have references to more than a fistful of spaghetti musical trademarks within its 6 minute running time. It begins with a rousing opening, then the return of the GBU drumbeats that themselves develop into a more frenzied and substantial piece, these melt away and are replaced by a lone trumpet supported by strident sounding strings and determined and proud brass, add to this woods and choir with that electric guitar and a piano picking out the theme and we have one hell of a cue here, and it does not end there things get upbeat and more forthright, Cirino goes to town and throws everything into this track, it’s a spaghetti fans dream come true. To say I recommend this release is something of an understatement, let’s just say, if you don’t go and buy it you must be loco, it’s the best thing I have heard for a long while. There is so much music here and good music too, it’s hard to think it all comes from one movie.

John Mansell