Danny Boyle’s 2002 film 28 Years Later heralded a veritable zombie renaissance. With a guerrilla-like handheld style, its relentless violence and deep-rooted melancholy, the film revived the entire genre from the undead for years to come. A crucial element of this success was the movie’s groundbreaking soundtrack. The score was noisy and unnerving as the lonely main character roams through a deserted London or gentle and melodic as all hell breaks loose in an old English mansion. It’s contradictions like these that have made 28 Days Later an iconic piece of horror cinema even today. A no less successful soundtrack album contributed to the fact that the track In the House, In a Heartbeat by composer John Murphy became some of the most frequently used trailer music ever.

#1: 28 Years Later (Original)

#2: 28 Years Later (Custom)

#3: 28 Years Later (Custom)

#4: 28 Years Later (Custom)

#5: 28 Years Later (Custom)

#6: 28 Years Later (Custom)

Now, 20-something years later, the world has moved on. While Weeks was still a logical sequel to the first film, the creators of the original decided to break entirely new ground for Years, including and particularly in terms of the music. I’m sure many fans were hoping for a return of John Murphy and his iconic themes, but the new score makes a single, but very clear reference: Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s East Hastings. This 1997 post-rock masterpiece underscored the most iconic scene of the first film, and it seems that director Danny Boyle requested exactly this eerie and sinister tone for his new film. No other way to explain why the score by the Scottish progressive hip-hop group Young Fathers is in the very same vein.

Gone are the days of melancholy leitmotifs. The score of 28 Years Later wants to be painful and uncomfortable, which is particularly evident in the already iconic track Boots. Here, the Young Fathers skillfully blend their nerve-wracking music with the poem of the same name by English author and poet Rudyard Kipling, which depicts the psychological toll of endless marching in war. The mind-numbing repetition of “boots-boots-boots-boots-moving up and down again” is chilling to the bone! Apparently a 1915 recording by actor Taylor Holmes has historically been used in U.S. military training for its unnerving effect.

I decided to include this track as a fictitious single release (#10) and used some of the hand-drawn images from the official lyrics video for my custom cover. Another shout-out goes to NSFX Studios for creating an authentic tribute poster to the first movie, which I turned into a matching album cover (#7).

#7: 28 Years Later (Custom)

#8: 28 Years Later (Custom)

#9: 28 Years Later (Custom)

#10: 28 Years Later (Custom)