Score composer Kevin Lax has made his mark on a wildly successful horror series, having masterfully styled the orchestral music for The First Purge, due out this Independence Day.

Along with the theme of The Purge franchise, Lax’s score is intense, pulsing with raggedy grit and creating a sensation of corporate fear/foreboding.

The first piece is entitled “Chance To Purge” and – while lasting only 29 seconds – it sets the tone well for the rest of the score. A mechanical, industrial base note lays the piece’s foundation, building momentum over time and rising in register. Immediately, the audience is primed to associate American industrialism with fear – a main tenet of this series.

Lax’s score progresses with pieces called Rising Anger and Do Not Participate. Unlike “Chance To Purge,” these pieces sew a sense of hurt and discord; violin and piano music beat a rapid yet morose tune, one that suggests the notions of agitation, civil unrest, and distrust. Obviously, a tension between the forces in power and the U.S. citizenry has emerged.

“Blood Baptism,” on the contrary, returns The First Purge’s score to its intro song’s slow, churning rhythm. Harsh spikes in the music’s progression must imply corresponding jump cuts, and it seems that this song signifies a turning point. A radical choice has been ma de, but what is it?  

Like most horror films, the root of The First Purge’s terror emanates from a deep, psychological pain. (Think of the movie Scream; the basis of horror is rooted in the murder of Sidney’s mother.) The audience gets a chance to sense The First Purge’s base of pain during the piece called “History of Hurt.” Maintaining the notion of Americana, an electric guitar slowly strums a series of chords that somehow force the emotion of betrayal onto the listener. It’s impossible to listen to this song without knowing what it’s intention is – to evoke the pain of the populace, to evoke how wronged by their own government they feel.

As often happens in life, the score’s evocation of betrayal and sorrow in “A History of Hurt” scrapes and morphs itself, disgustingly, into a rage. The song “Very Angry” truly kicks off the score into an unyieldingly violent direction. Violent spikes in the score continue, and the people who were hurt before are now clearly angry. Following songs “Sounding The Alarm,” “Nowhere To Run,” and “Geared Up, Loaded Up” carry this vein of rage; the basis of terror has been explained and felt, and now it’s time for bloodshed.

Additionally, Kevin Lax has composed for productions such as The Walking Dead television series, 2017’s Chris Brown: Welcome To My Life, and thriller 9/11, among others. A dynamic creative, Lax’s résumé also includes musical composition for children’s television, video games, and commercials.

Kevin Lax also has an upcoming release for Netflix- Juanita. The feature-length drama adapted from Sheila Williams’ 2002 novel, “Dancing on the Edge of the Roof”.

Visit: https://www.thefirstpurge.com/

https://soundcloud.com/kevin-lax