Damien: Omen II
The deluxe edition


Colosseum (4005939-630928)
Varèse Sarabande (00030206630923)
Movie | Released: 2001 | Format: CD
 

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# Track   Duration
1.Main Title5:03
2.Runaway Train2:38
3.Claws3:14
4.Thoughtful Night3:05
5.Broken Ice2:19
6.Fallen Temple2:55
7.I Love You, Mark4:37
8.Shafted3:00
9.The Knife3:21
10.End Title (All the Power)3:24
11.Main Title2:03
12.Face of the Antichrist2:20
13.Fallen Temple1:33
14.Aunt Marion's Visitor0:36
15.Another Thorn1:18
16.A Ravenous Killing3:07
17.Snowmobiles1:11
18.Broken Ice2:21
19.Number of the Beast1:33
20.Shafted3:00
21.The Daggers1:56
22.Thoughtful Night2:36
23.I Love You, Mark4:12
24.Runaway Train1:10
25.The Boy Has To Die1:24
26.All The Power and End Title3:14
 67:10
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Damien: Omen II - 08/10 - Review of Tom Daish, submitted at (English)
After winning a well deserved Oscar for his original Omen effort, it was fairly inevitable that Jerry Goldsmith would at least be asked onto any sequel. In the end he not only scored this, but also the third in the original trilogy of films. Those familiar with the original, will find themselves in familiar territory, albeit on a slightly grander scale. This expanded edition from Varese contains the original Silva Screen release which was a re-recording done for the album as well as the original tracks as used in the film, available for the first time on CD.
Much of Omen 2 is based on ideas from the original that are expanded and built upon - the harsh brass, eerie strings, the demonic chorus chanting and jeering its way through several nerve jangling episodes. Whereas the more romantic The Piper Dreams melody broke up the grinding set pieces, there is precious little of anything so gentle here. It is that which is perhaps the score's biggest problem. One can cope with several minutes of unremitting horror, but when it appears track after track, the effect is just a little wearing. It is pretty well left to the suspense building music to be the quiet part of the score and moments such as Thoughtful Night are quite welcome relief, even if they are still incredibly eerie. Most of the quieter moments eventually end up more vibrant, most notably Runaway Train which musically suggests the very thing and in the film is another example of why Goldsmith's scoring made the first film and does so again here. The relentless acts of evil are seen on screen, but only through the music are they made so genuinely horrific. Strangely enough, the album actually becomes less abrasive as it moves towards a reprise of Ave Satani for the End Title, but the atmosphere is so tense that it's hard not to remain unnerved to the end.

The original album is presented in the same order as it originally was, but the original tracks are presented in film order. Both are equally satisfying and there isn't honestly a great deal to choose between them. The re-recording does have a slightly richer sound, the original sessions occasionally sound a little thin and The Boy Has to Die has suffered a little tape damage, however the fact the tapes were found at all is impressive and a result of an exhaustive search of the Fox vaults after it was feared the originals had been lost forever. The extra couple of tracks don't add a great deal, although the almost totally cheerful Snowmobiles makes for a pleasant change of pace and tone, albeit briefly. Although not much over half an hour, the original tracks represent all the music written for the film, which makes it even more sparsely spotted than the original. The lack of a melody such as the gentle Piper Dreams tune means that the music is simply there to unnerve or terrify of the viewer and little else. Worked for me.

On a side note, the liner notes mention that it was originally cheaper to re-record in London with a different orchestra for the album than pay the re-use fees at the time. Fortunately the fees aren't quite so stringent these days, but it gives a good idea as to how unions manage to shoot themselves in the foot. Still, in this case, we get two similar, but equally excellent readings of the same score and with excellent liner notes too.Compared to the hair raising original and the more expansive Final Conflict, Omen 2 isn't quite so impressive, but is still an impressive entry to the series. If this music doesn't give you nightmares, then none will.
Damien: Omen II - 08/10 - Review of Arvid Fossen, submitted at (Dutch)
Voor Damien, oftewel de sequel van The Omen, lag het na de Oscar voor The Omen voor de hand dat Jerry Goldsmith nogmaals tekende voor de muziek.
De muziek van The Omen II is vrijwel volledig een verderzetting van de eerste film, met opnieuw een - veel meer aanwezig - demonisch koor in het genre van Ave Satani, griezelige en krassende strijkers, met op de achtergrond een zware koper mars en hier en daar een synthesizer. Het geheel is minder origineel en afwisselend dan The Omen daar Damien track na track onverminderd horror muziek brengt, de muziek is dan op zijn minst wel veel angstaanjagender geworden.
De soundtrack bevat de originele score, eigenlijk een re-release en daarnaast een nieuwe opname van de score zoals ze in de film voorkomt. Varèse Sarabande brengt deze re-release uit naast de twee andere The Omen films, The Omen en The Final Conflict, releases duidelijk gericht naar de collectors.


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