Zanobard Reviews

While the show itself is perhaps a bit controversial, Sean Callery’s incredible music for it surely isn’t; the composer perfectly matches his own heroically memorable main theme with Martin O’Donnell & Michael Salvatori’s iconic motifs from the games, making for some not only truly stellar orchestral performances but a score overall that should’ve been released years ago, it’s that damned good.

I genuinely never thought I’d see the day. When the first season of the… shall we say controversial Paramount-produced Halo show came and went back in 2022 there was no sign whatsoever of a soundtrack album for composer Sean Callery’s music, which was a proper shame as despite the general unpopularity of the series – who’s main complaint stemmed from a lack of adhering to the much-beloved source material – Callery’s music was not only really good in its own right, but also took thematic inspiration from Martin O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori’s impeccable music for the Halo games. The iconic gregorian chant wasn’t used constantly in the show but it was used effectively, and that combined with a genuinely stellar new main theme from Callery himself made the desire for a soundtrack release – at least from my side – very palpable indeed, and so it was pretty sad when not only season one but also season two of the show premiered and wrapped up, and there was no sign of any albums at all. Now however, bizarrely, with season two long gone and the show itself now cancelled – we have a soundtrack release! Not that I’m complaining – I’m so unbelievably grateful that we’ve finally got it, so now I can show off just how genuinely great Callery’s work here is. Let’s get started.

I will just preface the review with this actually – imperfect as it was, I’d like to say I actually genuinely quite enjoyed the Halo show. Season one was rough but season two was fast improving the issues with story and characters, and – spoilers ahead – its depiction of the Flood was properly terrifying, and the season ended right as the story for Halo: Combat Evolved would have started, so I am very sad to see it all go and I do hope a new streaming home for season three is found one day. But anyway. The score album for season one begins with “Opening Salvo”, and its the Standout Cue for a reason despite only being a minute long. Quiet pensivity opens the piece before ethereal, wondrous vocals then chant out O’Donnell and Salvatori’s iconic Halo theme, and then things really get going. Pulsing electronics and dramatic synth quickly overtake and a loud burst of brass then debuts Callery’s own theme for the series – its a rousing, heroic piece overall that fits Master Chief like the glove of his suit (when he actually wears it in the show, anyway) and it stands tall alongside the iconic Halo gregorian chant across much of the score, to some genuinely amazing results (but we’ll get to those later). For now it’s a fist-pumpingly epic introduction for both main themes, and it never failed to put a smile on my face when it opened an episode of the show.

Gentle, wistful woodwinds then open “Warning Signal”, with a peacefully serene atmosphere establishing itself for the first half of the cue. Tensions however then rapidly arise at around the two minute mark, with moodily malevolent electronic action quickly overtaking alongside eerie electronic screeches. It’s unfortunately that kind of in-your-face, ear-piercing modern approach to horror-like action scoring that for example Benjamin Wallfisch used in bits of Alien: Romulus, but thankfully – much like that score – it doesn’t encompass all the action here. Indeed, worrisome orchestra starts to overtake and build dramatically into centre stage towards the end of the track with tense bursts of brass rising to a final crescendo. The subsequent “Breach” and “Correction, One Survivor” cues then continue where this leaves off, with the former bringing loudly villainous brassy and percussive bursts to the forefront alongside tense chanting vocals and the latter starting to lean into cautious heroism with thunderous hints towards Callery’s grandiose main theme and the entire orchestra surging in grand intensity as a result. Better. Things then slow back down for “The Dig”, a moodily ambient piece with eerily ominous vocals and wondrous synth in centre stage for the most part until a piano rendition of the main theme mysteriously closes out the track.

“Kwan’s Theme”, at least compared to the main theme, is a much gentler and more thoughtful piece. Its two minute dedicated track opens with quiet strings and optimistic woodwinds, then cementing the titular character’s motif rather hopefully all across this enjoyably peaceful cue. The subsequent “Vitruvia” is then a comparatively much more electronic and lively track, with the aforementioned instrumentation building to dramatic intensity together with great brass surges and crashes of thunderous percussion throughout this tensely emphatic three minute setpiece. Coldly echoing vocals and vibrating electronics then occupy much of the eerily ambient “High Charity” before action setpiece “Strategic Retreat” then really kicks things back into gear. Deafeningly tense brass and electronics set a frantic pace right off the bat, with this orchestral/electronic combo continuing thunderously until O’Donnell and Salvatori’s Halo theme suddenly arcs wondrously overhead, with Callery’s main theme then heroically propelling forwards for its tensest but grandest playthrough yet. It really is an amazing theme, and the final minute of this track showcases that impeccably. With the heroic action fading, intriguing piano & string notes and echoing twinkling percussion then occupy “Very Personal Assistant”, a much gentler cue dedicated to Chief’s iconic AI-powered assistant that joins him throughout many of the games – Cortana.

Orchestral thunder returns to incredible results in “Duty Bound”, with hope and heroism swelling pretty much immediately as the track begins and a rapid pace ensues. Hints toward Callery’s main theme on electronics surge inbetween notes of rising hope as the track builds until the theme fully unleashes at the two minute mark for a powerfully triumphant rendition, with the orchestra and electronics then continuing to build in both volume and intensity until both the Callery and iconic O’Donnell & Salvatori themes return at the end for a thunderously heroic sendoff. Those wistful atmospherically synthy swells from “Very Personal Assistant” then return in “Strings Attached” alongside – funnily enough – gently serene strings, with “Trust Issues” afterwards continuing in much a similar vein. A gentler strings rendition of Callery’s main theme then plays serenely in “Touchstone” with echoingly tranquil vocals in tow hinting again towards Cortana before building to a dramatically deafening electronic crescendo. Some rather Dune-esque ethereal electronics then take over in “Shared Vision” with O’Donnell & Salvatori’s Halo theme dramatically central, making for a very surreal but enjoyably atmospheric musical experience overall.

This gentle ambience continues into the subsequent “Humans Being” with echoes of the iconic Halo theme playing alongside hopeful strings before action thunders back in as the centre of attention in “Wrestling Demons” as tense brass and pounding percussion thunder frenetically along for four rather deafening minutes. Things then get a little more rousing however in “Parting Company” with soaring strings and brass playing centralling in the first half and gently hopeful vocals in the second, before we start to head into the action finale of the album with “There Will Be A Reckoning”; a quietly foreboding rendition of the Halo theme starts things off before grandiose brass and thunderous electronics reprise Callery’s main theme. This then segues pretty much straight into “The Drop”, where tense electronics take centre stage together with pulsing brass building loudly in intensity for four rather anxious minutes before the action payoff then grandly arrives in “Brute Force Entry”… and oh man, does it arrive.

The track starts off similarly to the prior few action cues with tense brass, strings and drums before suddenly an electric guitar thunders into view, and none other than a roaring orchestral rendition of the main action motif from Halo: Combat Evolved then practically blasts onto centre stage. It’s loud, it’s grandiose and it’s utterly, unapologetically heroic, and the only way it could be more perfect is if it was just a little bit longer. But still – other than the main title piece, this is absolutely the standout moment of the entire album, it’s so damned good. Callery’s main theme then brings the cue to a tense close, with final track “Unacceptable Losses” closing the book on the action with one last burst of tense brass and percussion before O’Donnell & Salvatori’s iconic Halo theme fades the track – and indeed the score – to a wondrous close.

Overall, Sean Callery’s score for season one of the Halo television series is far better than it has any right to be. The show has been controversial to say the least – even though I personally quite enjoyed it – but the music here is just fantastic, being a pretty perfect blend of thematic love letter to Martin O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori’s classic music for the iconic games while also very much forging its own dramatically orchestral and electronic path (and while the action can air on the side of generic at times, when it goes – it goes). Callery’s main theme particularly is the absolute star of the show here, showcased impeccably in Standout and main title cue “Opening Salvo” as well as in thunderously heroic form across “Strategic Retreat” and “Duty Bound”. It’s a versatile and indeed quite memorable piece, fittingly grandiose for Master Chief, and it fits superbly alongside the iconic original theme for the games which appears quite frequently across the score – its best renditions being in “Strategic Retreat” and “Shared Vision”. And the classic gregorian chant isn’t the only thing to come from O’Donnell and Salvatori here either as the rousing action motif from Combat Evolved thunders amazingly through “Brute Force Entry” in one of the most impeccable fist-pumpingly epic moments on the whole album, and if that together with an excellent main theme from Callery, an enjoyable atmospherically electronic & triumphantly orchestral combo style and an unequivocally Halo thematic feel to it all doesn’t sell you on this score, I don’t think anything will.

Seriously, “Opening Salvo” and “Brute Force Entry”. Check them out.

Score: 8/10

Standout Cues: Opening Salvo/Strategic Retreat/Brute Force Entry

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