movie soundtracks / albums

Not surprisingly, Roadrunner's soundtrack to Freddy vs. Jason is an acid-eating torture fest of screaming metal insanity. What did you expect, good-timin' reggae and ska grooves? This is, after all, the final battle between two of Hollywood's greatest hell spawns. But it's telling that such a battle is necessary. Without even seeing the film, its premise smacks of cheap and easy marketing and ham-fisted bombast. Likewise, the original motion picture soundtrack is the predictable rogue's gallery of metal heavyweights, up-and-comers, and pretenders to Hades' throne. For every brutal kick to the solar plexus from Hatebreed or Killswitch Engage (both of whom contribute previously unreleased material), there's a weak spot from Powerman 5000 or Blank Theory. The former's "Bombshell" could be an early version of "Theme to a Fake Revolution" from its Transform LP, while Blank Theory's "Middle of Nowhere" is a blatant Korn reset. This mix of the solid with more inconsistent material is to be expected on a summer movie soundtrack. That almost half of the bands here record for Roadrunner is not surprising in the realm of the summer soundtrack, either, although the label might have gone a little overboard in its zeal to stock the waters. Nevertheless, the comp's producers do seem to have loud rock fans in mind -- over half the set is previously unreleased. That includes a Slipknot demo dating to 1997, which is accompanied by unreleased material from Stone Sour. As blatant a premise as it is, Freddy vs. Jason likely offers enough thrills and chills to justify the price of admission. Its clanging, churning, and mostly O.K. soundtrack finds the same blood-drenched middle ground. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide