Piranha 3D Score (Original Motion Picture Score)

Album Review

Composer Michael Wandmacher can't have had too much trouble understanding what the assignment was in coming up with a score for a movie called Piranha 3D. He has fulfilled that assignment using the expected tools, including low, throbbing strings for the moments of anticipation and sharp, stabbing strings for the violent sequences. Heavy percussion, played by the composer himself, underlies both. Not surprisingly, there are passages that recall John Williams' music for Jaws as well as Williams' primary influence, Bernard Herrmann, in some of his scores for Alfred Hitchcock. But neither Williams nor Herrmann had anything to do with heavy metal rock, while Wandmacher, who also plays electric guitar, clearly is familiar with it and throws it in for such cues as "Marina Attack, Pt. 2" and "Massacred." The music isn't subtle, by any means, but that could hardly be expected given the subject matter.