28 WEEKS LATER

(C) 2009 La La Land

 "John Murphy first gave Rage-crazed “zombies” an alternately insane and blissed-out alt. vibe in 28 DAYS LATER. And for this arguably better sequel (and score), Murphy took his eerily effective sound to new, fearsome lengths. Not since Goblin’s DAWN OF THE DEAD has a progressive rock and roll approach for the undead (well, technically speaking here) made such an impact on the horror genre, especially with the slow, lethal groove of Murphy’s “Rage Theme,” a Zen-to-insanity tune that’s since been made instantly recognizable in every movie trailer with an attitude.

 Though WEEKS’ soundtrack has been out on iTunes, this hard-copy 28 offers plenty of new cues, including an especially gnarly bit of guitar slice n’ dice for its helicopter homage to DEAD. And topping the album off is a fifteen-minute interview with the composer, who proves to be funnily self-effacing in describing some of the decade’s most influential genre music. Rock on, Rage Virus!"

- Daniel Schweiger