Electronic music composer Tomer Baruch — who previously brought you the audio-visual delights of Synthesized Sounds of the Sea — has teamed up with drummer Alex Brajkovic to produce an entirely new musical score to accompany the legendary silent film Metropolis from director Fritz Lang. Since its release in 1927, Metropolis has been celebrated for its aesthetic influence on, well, pretty much the entire science fiction genre. So it's only fitting that someone would come with a computer-derived, synthesized soundtrack for it.
From the press release:
One of the most significant themes in the dystopian feature is the blurred-to-nonexistent line separating man and machine; Human-like machines, Mechanical-humans, real-life android deepfakes, and above all the city of Metropolis, an enormous machine and within it men, slaved to maintain its operation. The theme that was disturbing in the beginning of the 20th century is as relevant as ever with the latest developments in AI, forcing us to rethink again what makes us human.
In analogy to that the soundtrack is based on archive recordings of early 20th century machinery, on top of which Tomer Baruch and Alex Brajkovic play analog synthesizers and drums. They interface with the machines and embody a relentlessly repetitive mechanical motion, one which is usually sequenced or programmed. By creating music which is in itself blurring the line between man and machine, by subjecting themselves to machine-like patterns, the musicians become a part of Metropolis, creating a disillusioned, intensified and darker than ever soundtrack for the film.
You can listen to the full 2-and-a-half-hour album on streaming services, or watch it along with the film on YouTube.
