300: Rise of an Empire (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Dutch DJ/composer Junkie XL (a.k.a. Tom Holkenborg) turned award-winning scoring work in his homeland into a wildly successful collaboration with Hans Zimmer (Dark Knight Rises, Inception, Megamind, Divergent). The pair’s work on Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel led to this solo JXL score, one “that was very brutal but fresh at the same time,” the Dutch musician explains. “Something strongly rhythm-oriented, with sound design on original instruments from that time period. It was very important to underscore the fact that this is not your typical historical drama.” With much of the story at sea, JXL echoed the waves in his rhythms, then turned to ancient Persian musical scales for melodic inspiration. “I also wanted to make sure that I had an overall sound that is not necessarily from any of those cultures,” he says. To that end, JXL took an ax to an old piano, attached electric guitar pickups, then played it with drumsticks: “That instrument has become very important throughout the whole score. Not a traditional instrument of any of those cultures, but I just thought it was a really cool element to have.”