Zanobard Reviews

Tom Holkenborg’s Mad Max: Fury Road is a relentless unstoppable force of a score, with aggressively chaotic percussive action being front and centre for most of its runtime. In-between the sheer anger of the majority of the tracks here though are standout moments of quiet solemnity and thunderous heroism, gems that make facing the musical chaos so utterly, incredibly worth it.

Fury Road begins with “Survive”, and several dramatically moody string notes set a tense volume seconds after the track opens. With an ominous tone established, eerie electronics and additional, more horror-like strings then build to a worrisome crescendo before those same downtrodden opening string notes then double down in the cue’s final few seconds. The tense tone then continues into the subsequent “Escape”, with bursts of angry electronics opening the track before those signature Holkenborg drums start to thunder in and a loudly malevolent motif rears its head for the War Boys, villain Immortan Joe’s slave soldiers in the film. Action then bursts into centre stage for the final thirty seconds of the piece, with said War Boys motif thrashing its way thunderously along. The eight minute “Immortan’s Citadel” then sets a moody, low-pitched and rather serene tone for much of its runtime with solemn strings, creepy electronics and threatening brass, though intermittent minute-long bursts of additional, deafening brass and crashing electronics also help to cement a bleak sense of dour and dramatic hopelessness. Towards the end of the track though a small bit of hope then arises, as gentle strings enter the fray that build to a rather wondrous crescendo. This gentleness doesn’t last for long though, as action cues “Blood Bag” and “Spikey Cars” quickly kick off a frenetic pace; the former practically bursts into centre stage with deafeningly grandiose war drums and a thunderous electric guitar, and the latter builds on this rising tension with continually imposing drums, electronics and brass reprising the emphatic War Boys motif.

Both of the aforementioned cues however are merely introductory pieces for the next track, six minute action setpiece “Storm Is Coming”; the frenetic war drum and electric guitar combo reprises alongside frequent bursts of brass here, alongside an electronic undercurrent that seeds continual and unrelenting tension through the majority of the track’s lengthy runtime. At the two and a half minute mark however the building tension stops briefly, as a sudden burst of grandiose brass pulls the music up into hopeful and almost heroic territory. The strings motif from the end of “Immortan’s Citadel” reprises loudly and epically here – now revealed as a theme of sorts for Furiosa – before the crashingly chaotic action from earlier then retakes the reigns and the track thunders to a deafening crescendo finish. Quietly sombre strings then give the action a brief respite through the ninety second “We Are Not Things” and the opening minute of “Water”, until eerie electronics start to overtake the aforementioned gentler instrumentation in the latter cue and percussion-heavy action then flares frenetically for the track’s final two minutes. The malevolent strings from “Survive” then reprise in “The Rig” with the surrounding instruments seemingly shaking in anxiety as a result, until low-pitched ominous brass kicks off another three minute burst of chaotic action.

The subsequent and standout “Brothers In Arms” starts off in a similar manner, with the frenzied War Boys motif in centre stage on crashing brass and drums until about a minute in when suddenly – the music starts to turn. The frantic brass and drums simmer down as powerful, unrelenting strings firmly take centre stage, with more rhythmic percussion running alongside. Heroic brass and bursts of thunderous, emphatic electronics also join the fray and the track just starts to go, with volume & intensity building and hope rising and the music overall just absolutely, breathtakingly soaring as a result. It’s probably the score’s most famous cue, and for good reason as this brief burst of sheer heroism is by far its finest moment. Absolutely incredible. With the musical hope now simmering back down, subsequent cue “Bog” then seethes in moody malevolence with ominous electronics and bursts of dramatic brass alongside the occasional sinister reprisal of the War Boys motif. The solemn strings from “We Are Not Things” then reprise in the minute-long action break “Redemption” as well as the subsequent and lengthier five minute “Many Mothers”. These gentle strings are the emotional core of the score here really, as they provide a much needed respite from the endless drums – as fun as they are in parts – and said strings combined with similarly gentle piano notes in this latter cue make for an enjoyable track overall.

With the album fast drawing to a close, “Claw Trucks” brings the thunderous action back with crashes of the Holkenborg drums and frantic strings in the first half, and deafeningly malevolent brass then taking front and centre in the track’s final minute. Tension then reaches fever pitch in “Chapter Doof” with the War Boys motif held high above the drum and brass-heavy action on a loudly chaotic electric guitar across the first five minutes until Furiosa’s theme then bursts tensely yet heroically into fray in a similar manner to its appearance in “Storm Is Coming” to crash out the track. With the action now dissapating, “My Name Is Max” reduces the volume significantly as quietly solemn strings play Furiosa’s theme at the start before then building to a dramatic crescendo. Final track “Let Them Up” then continues where the aforementioned cue leaves off in its opening minute, this time with brass joining the serene strings, until hope then starts to emerge at the minute mark with a final rendition of Furiosa’s theme, and the score then ends on a thunderously glorious crescendo finish.

Overall, Tom Holkenborg’s Mad Max: Fury Road score is an absolute chaotic force from start to finish, though I think that was the intention in all honesty. Crashing drums, bursts of angry and aggressive electronics and thunderously malevolent brass occupy the majority of the album’s runtime, with the imposing War Boys motif leading the frenetic charge for most of these action-centric moments, and while this crashingly relentless score does indeed fit the film, I find it’s actually in the other moments where it really shines – the gentle string appearances in “We Are Not Things”, “Redemption” and “Many Mothers” for example introduce a wonderfully serene edge to this otherwise harsh and bleak soundtrack, and by far the standout aspect is the bursts of sheer orchestral heroism that shine through Furiosa’s powerful theme – see the latter halves of “Storm Is Coming” and “Chapter Doof” – as well as of course through much of the standout “Brothers In Arms”. Don’t get me wrong, the thunderous percussive powerhouse that the War Boys often dominate here is enjoyable, I suppose, but its unrelenting chaoticness honestly gets a little tiring at times, and so I find myself much more drawn to the rarer emotional and powerfully heroic moments this score has to offer as a result.

It’s a typically deafening percussion-heavy offering from composer Holkenborg here, so if you like that kind of thing – you’ll love this. And I imagine Furiosa will be much the same.

Score: 7/10

Standout Cue: 10. Brothers In Arms

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