It's brawny and brash, with processed strings and horns blasting away over thunderous drums, but it at least manages to suggest a sense of heroism that much of the rest of the score utterly lacks. While the muted, industrial aggression of the first half of "Greeks Are Winning" evokes more General Zod than Themistocles, the second half of the cue features a major-key theme for the Greeks uncharacteristic of much of the rest of the score.
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So, yes, many of the same grievances critics had regarding Man of Steel will indeed carry over to this score. Such tactics do render some of the music an inaccessibly violent, often distorted wall of sound but, much to my own surprise, I've managed to glean a few select moments of guilty-pleasure fare from Junkie XL's score. Few moments of subtlety abound here, as each and every note is ferociously slammed out to affect an absolutely mind-numbing sense of ballsy magnitude. While 300: Rise of an Empire frequently veers into the territory of hard rock (or some hard rock / "orchestral" hybrid), much of the score's soundscape remains strikingly in tune with the more brutal portions of Man of Steel. Though it's anyone's guess as to what exactly a "rhythm designer" does, the fruits of Junkie XL's labor on that process no doubt informed much of his approach to 300: Rise of an Empire. In a role conceivably similar to that which he played on previous projects (if not more involved - it's always murky), Junkie XL served as a composer of additional music, a co-conductor, and a rhythm designer for Man of Steel, tackling much of the industrial sound for Kryptonian General Zod. What informs his contribution to 300: Rise of an Empire most is a prior effort for which he scooped up such a credit, that is, Hans Zimmer's divisive Man of Steel. Since moving into Hans Zimmer's Remote Control Productions studio, Junkie XL (or should I just call him XL from now on?) has collaborated with the Oscar-winning composer on numerous projects under the all too familiar "Additional Music" credit.
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But, as with so many new names of late, we've actually heard more from Junkie XL than we realize. Holkenborg, better known to the world as electronica artist and producer Junkie XL, was largely introduced to film music enthusiasts through his efforts on the middling techno-thriller Paranoia. Enter Argentinian composer Federico Jusid. So in short, the composer selected for 300: Rise of an Empire wouldn't have very big sandals to fill. Bates' score for 300 has therefore become the shamed poster-child for film music plagiarism in recent years, the most frequently referenced example of a composer blatantly stealing from another's work and barely attempting to cover up his transgressions. That's right - blatant plagiarism - not just in the theme's chord progressions but in nearly every aspect of the piece's production.
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What is perhaps the most recognizable theme from that film, the grandiose identity for Leonidas and Sparta heard in "Returns a King", was quickly revealed to be an exact rehash of Elliot Goldenthal's "Victorius Titus" from the 1999, Shakespearian revenge-tragedy Titus. Furthermore, anyone even remotely familiar with Tyler Bates' contribution to the original 300 will also understand why that composer's return might rub salt into a few, deep wounds. Given the altered focus of this new installment and Zack Snyder's comparatively minimal involvement, it's not surprising that a new composer would come on board to tackle it. Promising to be every bit as graphic, theatrically-staged, duochromatic, and testosterone-pumping as 300, this companion film focuses on Athenian politician and general Themistocles (guess which profession we'll get to see more of) as he commands the Greek allied navy at the battles of Artemisium and Salamis against the ferocious, Greco-Persian Commander Artemisia I of Caria (Eva Green). Concurrent with many of the events of Zack Snyder's original smash-hit 300 (and indeed, many things were smashed), Noam Murro's 300: Rise of an Empire revolves around the less frequently referenced naval battles of the second Persian invasion of Greece.