Englar alheimsins

This seems unfortunate because the often diaphram lifting spatial and, of course, glacial music of the Icelandic four-piece would seem appropiate accompaniment for film. The two songs are spliced onto the end of Hilmarsson's score which loses impact in comparison. It is, as is often the way of OSTs, many variations on a theme. Hushed and orchestral, it is beautiful music but contains not songs per se, as the music here dwells in the shadows; possibly a good thing in cinema, but a problem when considered independently of the movie.

Of the two Sigur Rss additions the first, 'Bmum Bmum Bambals' is apparently an old Irish lullaby which has been sung in Iceland for hundreds of years. It is given a slow, deliberate bent, like a Russian funeral march mixed by My Bloody Valentine. It is effortlessly the strongest piece on the album. Keeping the theme, the second, 'Danarfregnir Og Jardarfarir' is a belting but again deliberate version of the music that has been played on Icelandic radio to herald the reading of death notices and funerals (the literal translation of the title). What can you say?