Not surprising, the soundtrack to The Matrix Reloaded takes off where the Matrix soundtrack left us, raising a mixture of techno, industrial and hard rock.
While this kind of musical direction for a soundtrack has turned into a cliché these last few years, one must recognize that these musical choices are, contrary to other films, perfectly suitable with the cyber-cool look of the Matrixian universe: Seeing Neo take on the heap of Agent Smiths with languorous techno in the background is decidedly more exciting than the thundering brass bands of Hans Zimmer.
Some regulars are back: Rage Against The Machine, always effective on a soundtrack (Audioslave is essential as a logical continuation on the Matrix Revolutions soundtrack), Rob Zombie and especially Marilyn Manson, who offers one of the strong points on this CD with "This is the new Shit", taken from the very convincing new album, The Golden Age of Grotesque. The other good surprise is the presence of Rob Dougan, who with two pieces brings a dose of bewitching symphonic techno.
The emblematic Propellerheads were replaced here by Fluke and Oakenfold, with the result that one does not lose too much in the exchange.
While the instrumental opening by Linkin Park proves to be decent, one will especially notice in this register "The Passportal" by Team Sleep which is reminiscent of the music of John Carpenter, in particular Escape from New York .
P.O.D and Unloco give a first impression of the hell re-examined and corrected by the Matrix where the ultimate punishment would reside in listening AD infinitum to their greasy, high calorie hard rock.
On the second CD one finds proper film music, with the laborious Hollywood contributions of Don Davis, fortunately spiced by the syncopated techno of Juno Reactor, who should without any doubt take the reins of the next opus.
The CD also contains trailers for the film and for Animatrix as well as other goodies.
The Matrix Reloaded Soundtrack
