Pathology

With director Marc Scholermann's medical thriller Pathology, up-and-coming film composers Johannes Kobilke and Robert Williamson combine for the first time. Kobilke has worked on many TV movies in his native Germany, but this is his first Hollywood credit. Williamson has been working his way up in Hollywood, contributing to such films as Underworld: Evolution and Crank. Like those horror and action flicks, this one requires a lot of scary, heart-pounding stuff, and Kobilke and Williamson (who are also credited as performers, along with the City of Prague Symphony Orchestra conducted by Adam Clemens) provide it with a state-of-the-art score that typically mixes acoustic strings and piano with synthesized sounds. The electronically produced thunder- and wind-like passages are part of the music, although they might just as well be part of the sound effects track. The composers move from the atonal percussion of "The Morgue" to fast-paced electronic rock on "Ted Runs," while "Gwen's Theme" is a delicate piano track. The soundtrack album begins with a few rock numbers, notably the Circle Jerks' 1983 punk rock anthem "Parade of the Horribles," and concludes with a contemplative, Philip Glass-like piece by Ryuichi Sakamoto. ~ William Ruhlmann