Music from and Inspired by Saw IV
Artists’ Addiction Records (10/23/07)
Hard rock / Metal/ Industrial
Rather than a true soundtrack, Saw IV seems more like a collection of songs. Sure, some of them will appear in the movie, most probably during the closing credits, but this is more of a mix with a theme.
In this case, the theme is aggression. Fans of metal, industrial music and hard rock will find plenty to love with this album. Producers did a good job hitting a slew of bands from each genre: Ministry, Nitzer Ebb, Skinny Puppy and Dope Stars Inc. fom the industrial department; Everytime I Die, The Red Chord, and Avenged Sevenfold for those who like their metal heavy; newer metalcore acts like Saosin, From Autumn to Ashes and Sixx: A.M.; and filled out with tracks from Drowning Pool, Submersed and Emlie Autumn. There’s even some nice instrumental mood music from Charlie Clouser to close the set.
With 19 tracks offering over an hour of music, it’s hard to miss with this set. And since a collection like this might not really sell in this age of music downloads (Why buy a collection for a handful of songs when you can download one or two?), Artists’ Addiction is actually offering a digital version of the soundtrack with a couple of different songs not available on the CD (due out, according to press materials, in November).
Saw IV is one of those enjoyable soundtracks, simply a collection of songs for people who are into a certain type of music. There’s no underlying message or mood, and you can’t find fault because the music was crafted specifically for the movie (like, say, the soundtracks for Once or Into the Wild released earlier this year, where the songs were specifically crafted for the film). While the set lacks any big “get” (a song released by a big, notable band specifically for the album), there’s enough balance in everything on here (obscure bands vs. bigger acts, for example) to make this work. It’s not fantastic, but it’s good enough.
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