Pressed in a limited run of 1,000 copies, the soundtrack CD from TNT’s troubled two-season wonder Witchblade is just a few years late to the party, but no less welcome for the wait. (Then again, any kind of DVD release for Witchblade is also long overdue.) Even with the CD being confined largely to cues from a small number of first season episodes, it presents a wildly different style of music from Goldsmith’s well-worn Stargate repertoire. Heavy on ethnic instruments, pounding percussion, distorted guitar, eerie synth pads and trippy tastes of prog-rock, Goldsmith’s Witchblade music fits well alongside the show’s preoccupation with classic rock (excerpts of Blue Oyster Cult and Jefferson Airplane weren’t uncommon, and when the Witchblade itself finally spoke in season 2, it spoke with the voice of Grace Slick).
If this description sounds a little familiar, it’s no coincidence – if you like the music of the new Battlestar Galactica series, this isn’t just like it but it’s in the same neighborhood. The score cues are interspersed with several original songs composed by Goldsmith that featured prominently in the show. Those numbers tend to be rocked-out but very atmospheric techno-metal, with the vocals heavily processed. “The Gauntlet Suite” in particular lives up to the show’s prog rock pedigree, with its trippy synth work and its sheer length.
There are a small number of tracks that appear to have been composed for, but not used in, the series, including one of the aforementioned songs; if there’s just one thing missing from the otherwise fine liner notes booklet – in which the show’s writers and producers wax nostalgic for the challenge of keeping the show on the air and the wonders of hearing Goldsmith’s music for the first time – an explanation of what happened with these pieces of music is it.
Witchblade may have faded into obscurity – there’s been more buzz about the anime version, which has already generated at least two soundtrack CDs of its own, then there’s been reminiscing about the short-lived live action series – but this soundtrack is proof that its brief existence was a flashpoint of intense creativity for all involved. Hopefully Joel Goldsmith will have a chance to spread his wings, with the Stargate franchise losing a bit of steam, and demonstrate this kind of intensity again. Well worth the wait.
- Danny’s Funeral (1:18)
- The Church (1:58)
- Brotherly Love (2:27)
- Strange Days (3:36)
- Fire Breather (1:27)
- Maelstrom (1:00)
- Walk Swiftly (1:48)
- The Gauntlet Suite (7:44)
- Missing Link (2:06)
- The Fire Dance (1:58)
- A Fine Dream (1:05)
- Sarah’s Home (2:16)
- Emergence (3:02)
- Retro Motorcycles (2:06)
- Vague Reckoning (4:47)
- Matters Of Truth (2:06)
- Milk And Honey (2:57)
- Conundrum (1:23)
- A Violent Prayer (2:43)
- Patience (2:51)
- Bad Man (2:14)
- A Walk In The Park (2:11)
- Very Dark Days (1:58)
- Sarah’s Metamorphosis (6:17)
- Witchblade Main Title (0:46)
- Walking Lightly On Delicate Mist (9:45)
Released by: Free Clyde Music
Release date: 2007
Total running time: 73:48
