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Just from the first track "Prologue," the listener should prepare him or herself for an immense orchestral and choral score. Here lies the first appearance of the, dare I say, sweeping main theme. This is can most effectively be described as the heroic anthem for Ash. Joseph LoDuca has a very firm grasp of strong thematic usage and his application here is nothing short of stunning. "Give Me Some Sugar/Bone'anza" introduces the softer, more medieval flavored love theme. This theme doesn't linger very long, because, as those of us who have seen the film know, Sam Raimi wasn't aiming for a love story in A.O.D. In fact, the love theme shows up in only two or three tracks at appropriate times in the score's duration. What little time it has to shine are quite lovely ones.
The majority of the rest of the score is taken up with bulging action cues. LoDuca's talent for scoring scenes like "The Deathcoaster" and "Ash Bucklers" is immense largely in part because each has a sound of its own. The central theme is still there, but every respective action track holds its own separately. Not all of these cues are serious in nature. Many express the dark humor which was rampant in a few scenes in the movie. "Little Ashes" goes purely for the comedic effect and is quite entertaining in its results. It perfectly fits the scene where Ash breaks a mirror and each piece has a small reflection him on it. Shortly after, these diminutive little guys escape from their reflective homes and torment their "giant" counterpart. Great fun.
Another high-point of this score comes with Danny Elfman's small contribution to the project. His "March of the Dead" exhibits all of his trademark dark orchestrations yet its perpetual marching nature makes it unique and a blast to listen to. As stated previously, one can definitly pick up Elfman's influence on LoDuca's score, but the music has a much different feel to it. For ARMY OF DARKNESS to be Joseph LoDuca's first major Hollywood project, one sure could be fooled mainly due to its musical ingenuity. The music has you believing the forces of good will win against evil. It takes nothing short of a brilliant score to drive this home in your mind. In the words of the unflappable Ash, "Groovy."
