Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power may not have been able to bring back anyone from the Peter Jackson trilogy, but the series still tries very hard to adapt the source material in the same manner, from the characters to the music.
Though fans already have specific expectations for the fantasy genre, composer Bear McCreary (God of War) has revealed he will add a new element to the series motifs: heavy metal.
Rings of Power Soundtrack Has a Heavy Metal Theme
In a recently released featurette for Rings of Power, McCreary discusses the music he’ll introduce to the second season. For the new character Damrod the Troll, he’ll use heavy metal as his theme.
Check this out:
“Damrod is a troll, and [he] makes a mighty entrance,” says McCreary, “There are elements in heavy metal music that are undeniably appropriate for this troll. We couldn’t help but expand it into a song, like an anthem for this troll.”
Besides collecting some heavy metal instrumentalists for the theme, McCreary has also brought in Jens Kidman, the vocalist for a Swedish extreme metal band. “[Kidman] screams the way an expert violinist plays,” says McCreary.
It also hasn’t been confirmed, but previous scores for Lord of the Rings had featured lyrics based on the language from the books. While there were songs with elvish lyrics in the movies, it looks like the lyrics for The Ballad of Damrod are going to feature Sauron’s Black Speech, a language he created by corrupting Valarin and Quenya.
Who is Damrod in Rings of Power?
The first season of TROP had introduced Adar and the orcs, but there were more creatures that ended up working for Sauron in Middle-earth. This season will introduce trolls, and the first one fans will meet is called Damrod.
Damrod the Hill-troll has been described as the “eater of dragon bones” and is “ready to deal out serious damage with its significant stature and grouchy demeanor.” Breaking Bad fans will also find it funny that one of the main inspirations of Damrod in the series is Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks).
Previews for Rings of Power Season 2 have shown Damrod facing Adar, so it’s possible that he’ll end up being recruited for Adar’s orc army first before the orcs are forced to work for Sauron. Though it would have been natural for Adar and Sauron to just team-up and combine armies, it does look like Adar doesn’t trust Sauron just as much as the elves do, and it seems the two will have a clash.
Too bad for Adar, because fans know that the orcs will inevitably end up working for Sauron during the War of the Last Alliance. It’s just a matter of speculating what happens to Adar and how Sauron will gain influence among his armies of orcs and other creatures.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 premieres on Amazon Prime Video on Aug. 29.
Explore new topics and discover content that's right for you!