Soundtrack Review: Blood of Zeus: Season 1 (2020)

Milan Records has released the original soundtrack for season 1 of Blood of Zeus, with music composed by Paul Edward-Francis. The album features score music written by Edward-Francis for Netflix’s hugely-popular original anime series set in the world of Greek gods and goddesses.

Paul Edward-Francis is a British composer from Manchester who today lives and works in L.A, California. Paul started working as a composer back in 2006 when he co-compose the music for an all-star adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s classic novel Hog-father. The two part TV series was a huge hit and Paul went on to score the follow-up, this time being The Color of Magic, which once again featured an all-star cast of greats such as Jeremy Irons, Tim Curry, and Christopher Lee and Brian Cox among others. Paul has worked on numerous productions for film and television with some of Hollywood’s biggest studios including Warner Brothers and Nickelodeon. He has also worked with some of the world’s leading orchestras which include the likes of The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and The City of Prague Philharmonic.

Of the soundtrack for Blood of Zeus, composer Paul Edward-Francis had the following to say:

“Working on Blood of Zeus was an experience I shall always treasure. The moment we sat down to watch the first episode we knew the score would play an important role. Just as we had seen on screen, we wanted to pay homage to Hollywood’s Golden Age within the score, but without losing sight of the world we were creating. The music ultimately had to ensure that Blood of Zeus had its very own unique themes and distinctive sound. As much as the music had to be big grandiose (“A Call to Arms”) or dark and threatening (“Heron Vs the Demon”), it also had to be heartfelt and provoke an emotional response (“Zeus and Hera’s Theme”). I could not be prouder to have worked on Blood of Zeus. It was simply an honor and I hope the music we created brings you as much joy to listen to as I had making it.”

The music for Blood of Zeus certainly does play an important role throughout the season, though I still struggle to describe in words how awesome it is. It feels ancient and modern all at the same time, with pompous fanfares giving way to music that comes straight out of a modern horror film. Edward-Francis. I really like this recurring fanfare motif that puts me in mind of Mt. Olympus every time I hear it. It’s everything that music about gods, goddesses and Ancient Greece should be. I wish I could get more specific, but that is the phrase that describes it best for me: the music just feels right.

One thing is for sure, Blood of Zeus would not be nearly as good as it is without this fantastic music. My favorite track has to be “The Titans.” It starts out like a piece by Ligeti and quickly grows into something bigger (no pun intended). The Titans being the insanely powerful primal forces that they are, Edward-Francis needed to create music to match them and he succeeded. Listening to this track, you get the feeling that you’re staring down something immense and ancient, with more power than you ever dreamed possible. All of that is what I feel while listening to “The Titans.”

I also really like how Edward-Francis was able to inject some humor into the music as well. For example, “Training a Demigod” includes some funny moments where you can almost see Heron’s epic fails in the early stages of his training (you know, when that robot flings him across the arena). I love when composers can replicate those little moments in their music and it’s just one of the details that make up why I love the music of Blood of Zeus so much.

BLOOD OF ZEUS (MUSIC FROM THE NETFLIX ANIME SERIES)
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