Death Waltz Treat The The's 'Hyena' Soundtrack to Vinyl Release

BY Gregory AdamsPublished Jul 8, 2015

Death Waltz Recording Company has hooked up with The The leader Matt Johnson for a vinyl release of his score to 2014 crime drama Hyena. If you want to cop a copy, the soundtrack masters put the platter in online stores today (July 8).

Johnson prepped the score to his brother Gerard Johnson's film, described in a press release as "an utterly brutal and devastating look at police corruption and human trafficking." This is the second time the two have connected through film, with Matt having also prepped the sounds to his brother's 2009 directorial debut, Tony.

Longtime The The fan and Death Waltz founder Spencer Hickman said in a statement that he's honoured to work with the project and praised Johnson's work on Hyena, which he noted was "a fantastic doomy mix of electronics and more traditional instruments, touching on everything from Krautrock to industrial to techno."

The The had previously retired from performing in 2002 so Johnson could focus on instrumental film work. This is the first official material from the act in 13 years to feature vocals, as Johnson sings on the score's "Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven (But Nobody Wants to Die)."

As for the packaging, the double LP comes in "a leather look gatefold sleeve," which also holds a lobby card, a full colour booklet featuring liner notes from Johnson, and more. One of the records is on red vinyl, while the other is a one-sided slab of blue vinyl that features an etching of The The's logo on Side 4.

The Hyena score had been issued on CD earlier this year through the Lazarus imprint. Vinyl copies of the soundtrack are being sold through Mondo today, and you can stream a preview of the soundtrack below. 

Also for sale on Mondo today are a special edition, purple vinyl variant of Goblin's Four of a Kind and copies of Wild in Blue, a soundtrack to an imaginary film that features music by Goblin, Antoni Maiovvi, Vercetti Technicolor and Umberto.

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