Rating: 2
The White Buffalo is very derivative of its peer group. The first half is dominated by a thick, gloomy sound built from the orchestra’s low instruments; rasping flutes; pounding drums; and wailing synthesizer — a by-then familiar sound cultivated from King Kong, The Deep, and the climax of The Day Of The Locust. It is unmelodic, even grating. As pure music, a turn off. However, as film score, deep, myhtical, obsessive and psychological.
The droning subsides as the characters and relationships take shape. A typically sad but dignified and statesmanly theme takes hold. This is where the score starts to reward on the listening level. This is where Barry starts to show some of that familiar mettle for writing an engaging and sympathetic theme.