When AMC produced Into the Badlands, they were looking to repeat the stratospheric success of The Walking Dead sans zombies while still holding onto the portentous uneasiness of an apocalyptic near-future. Well, actually not that near, the action of Into the Badlands takes place at least half a millennium from now in a devastated world that is populated by murderous nomads, psychotic gangs and feudal lords. And through that world walks a warrior and a young boy in search of mythical enlightenment, sword-slashing and karate-kicking their way through countless ruthless obstacles in a way that only the very best dystopian martial arts parodies know how. And, for AMC, the recipe seems to have worked with knobs on – Into the Badlands has just completed its third season and the appearance of this OST seems to suggest there is probably more to come. After all, how many TV shows get their own CD release? Very few, and you’ve only got to play the first few tracks of Into the Badlands to remember why.
Soundtrack scores are a weird artform when it comes to playing them as standalones. After all, the purpose of a soundtrack (mostly) is to emotionally heighten whatever is happening onscreen without drawing attention to itself. But the scores for feature films can often be played independently and enjoyed as great music in their own right because many of the cues sustain over several minutes and contain symphonic textures that can keep them interesting. That usually isn’t the case with the slam-bang nature of TV scores, when the main theme probably lasts barely a minute and the music that follows is equally as brief and one-dimensional, serving simply to push us through one scene and get us to the next. There isn’t time for subtlety or nuance, or to introduce any kind of thematic storytelling. With very few exceptions, TV scores are workmanlike and some workmen (like The Walking Dead’s Bear McCreary or Game of Throne’s Ramin Djawadi) do their job so well that we can believe there’s more substance to their scores than usually exists if you listen to them more closely. Unfortunately, David Shephard’s score for Into the Badlands doesn’t possess that sleight of hand.
Like the show itself, anyone who knows their martial arts soundtracks well enough won’t be surprised by any of the cues on this disc. There are frenetic taiko drums, distorted guitars, howling wind instruments, wordless chants and the occasional clashing of gongs, and even though most of the cues are barely two minutes long they tend to overstay their welcome pretty quickly. Probably not unsurprisingly the best entry is the theme tune itself, which lasts a paltry 39 seconds but should have been treated to a bonus extended mix at the end of the disc to reward the listener’s patience. Maybe fans of the show will appreciate this but all except the most fanatical soundtrack collectors should probably avoid.
INTO THE BADLANDS – MUSIC FROM THE ORIGINAL AMC SERIES / COMPOSER: DAVID SHEPHARD / LABEL: VARESE SARABANDE / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
