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Balfe's technique for handling Luther: The Fallen Sun is fairly predictable, he and his army of assistants providing a mash-up of suspense genre staples while only barely maintaining a musical narrative. There are glimpses of intrigue in places, but there are also action cues as distinctly awful as the composer's score for Ambulence the prior year. The work is the emotional polar opposite of something like Ticket to Paradise, which at least exhibits Balfe's versatility despite also reminding that he can generate largely unlistenable music at will. Instrumentally, there are real strings and brass from three credited orchestras (really?) in Luther: The Fallen Sun, but nobody would have noticed if they had been synthetic. Percussive and synthetic effects dominate, as does ambient, non-music groaning in early cues like "S.A.T." and "Meet Me in 15." Expect extended sequences of totally generic suspense, as in "The Phone Call," "Eye for an Eye," "Calling the Enemy," and "Crossing." A pitch-slurring effect is employed from strings and brass for fright in "Let Them Come" to very unpleasant ends that continue in "Robey's Past." Heavy breathing noises sometimes interfere, as in "Piccadilly Circus." There is some compelling string drama at times, as in "Jailhouse Knock" and the middle of "Tunnels," but you won't remember it by the time the album ends on its truly disturbing, pounding ensemble hits in "Telling Lies." The only interesting stylistic element comes from quasi-religious tones from vocal manipulations throughout. This usage is interrupted by atonal pounding in "Prison Kicking," accelerated with a synth overlay in "Twisted Flames," overtaken by dissonant, wind-like effects in "Watching Her," and mixed with uneasy synthetic and string shades in "Red Lights." This layer is reduced to singular disembodied voices calling through the haze in "Approaching the House" and "Go Inside," latter cue burdened by a horrendous ending of terror. The vocals punctuate dramatic string tones late in "Are We Alive?," struggle against synthetic pulses in "It's Him or Her" and "Everybody's Wet," and dwindle to a solo, oddly Eastern voice by the end of "Telling Lies."

Amongst this collection of depressing muck is some minimal attempt by Balfe to supply thematic cohesion. The bulk of the credit to the songwriters of "Paradise Circus" is focused on the material in the cue "The Rising Sun," though the wayward melodic lines of the song do influence hapless thematic inclinations elsewhere in the work. In reality, the song's extremely obtuse melody isn't really adaptable anyway, only the ascending three-note bass motif remaining memorable as a standalone entity. Balfe does allow the idea to bleed into his summarization of "Luther's Theme," but without the distinctive bass motif from the song. That bass motif emerges in "The Rising Sun" under a long crescendo that more closely sticks to what little the song has to offer. Thereafter, the ineffective melodic passages include slight string fragments in suspense during "Taken," the bass motif twisted to malice in "On the Radio" under clicking effects. This material tries to define the crescendo in "Luther Over London" but largely fails, becoming heavily fragmented in "Transmitter Tracking" amongst standard suspense ambience and badly mangled keyboarding over aggressive stabbing in "Victim Farm." Some minimal semblance of hope begins to emerge as the thematic core regains some dramatic footing on strings throughout "En Route" and finally returns in the first half of "Everybody's Wet," invoking the "Luther's Theme" cue again in "Closure." Don't expect any sense of true salvation or relief from these cues, though. In the end, the brief positive turn during the conclusion doesn't really matter in such a muddled atmosphere. Devoted enthusiasts of the song may be able to pick out the various guises and references, but it's a song of mood rather than melody, so don't expect intellectual development. There's nothing as truly terrible in Luther: The Fallen Sun as the most unlistenable parts of other Balfe scores in the genre, but that's a pretty low bar. Few listening experiences are as unpleasant as this insanely long album, with the thematic summaries at the beginning and end not compelling enough to justify everything in between. Even the song's cover is a downer compared to the original. There's no reason to drown in the mean-spirited, largely atonal nightmare that Balfe and his team created here. That is, unless you want to feel depressed about humanity.   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

• Music as Written for the Film:  **
• Music as Heard on Album:  *
• Overall:  *

Bias Check:

For Lorne Balfe reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 2.83 (in 30 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 2.86 (in 23,478 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.

Total Time: 93:55