Paul Haslinger

Former Tangerine Dream member Paul Haslinger, who composed the background score for the first film in the Underworld franchise (the one just called Underworld) returns for the third one, a prequel called Underworld: Rise of the Lycans. (There is also a soundtrack album full of heavy metal music.) Haslinger's accompaniment to this tale of the conflict between vampires and werewolves is predictably full of fast-paced chase music, loud action music, and slow, quiet interludes that have practically an ambient feel. Even in those quiet passages, however, there is an ominous tone; it's like the sound of percussive industrial noise being made a couple of floors below or a couple of doors down. Like the monochromatic look of the films, the music all comes in one tonal color, as much echoey, sustained soundscapes and electronically enhanced percussion as music, and in that sense, consistent with the film's sound effects and its other industrial and goth contributions. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide