Lakeshore Records will release the Only The Dead See The End Of War – Original Documentary Soundtrack digitally on April 29, 2016. The album features the film’s original score by Michael Yezerski (THE DEVIL’S CANDY, DRIFT).

“The only comment that the score really makes is to point to the profound tragedy of war and its consequences,” said Yezerski.

HBO Documentary Films ONLY THE DEAD SEE THE END OF WAR is war correspondent Michael Ware’s searing account of witnessing the birth of ISIS, and one of the most shocking war documentaries to come out of Iraq. Ware arrived in Baghdad in 2003 as a novice reporter on a three-week assignment to cover the invasion of Iraq. He left seven years later, having gained unprecedented access to the Iraqi insurgency and American troops, as well as a myriad of demons – the after-effects of witnessing seemingly endless, horrific violence.

Examining the Iraq War and its moral consequences through the story of the rise and fall of jihadi terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the founder of Al Qaeda in Iraq and the progenitor of ISIS, ONLY THE DEAD SEE THE END OF WAR is a harrowing and graphic account from both sides of the war zone, as well as an illuminating window into the origins of a modern terrorist organization. Directed by two-time Oscar® winner Bill Guttentag in collaboration with Michael Ware, the documentary debuted just days after the 13th anniversary of the Iraq invasion on HBO. ONLY THE DEAD SEE THE END OF WAR is told through visceral hand-held video footage culled from hundreds of hours that journalist Michael Ware shot while reporting over the course of the war. This unique, on-the-ground view is combined with eye-opening narration for a frank, unsparing look at the Iraq War unlike any before.

“We realized very early on that the music had to tread carefully,” Yezerski explained. “We never wanted to portray a sense of triumphalism or (worse) colonialism so a ‘big cinema’ sound was abandoned very early. I worked closely with music supervisor Andrew Kotatko and editor Jane Moran to craft a palette that supported the story without commenting too much.”
To achieve this, Yezerski used strings at the heart of the score, interspersed here and there with lower brass, percussion and electronics. He described, “There are echoes of an Oud but it’s not actually an Oud. All the things that sound like Middle Eastern instruments are actually electronics. I used the Arabic mode ‘Rast’ a little but not overtly. The lower strings often provide a pedal over which I’ve laid slow, rich melodies. I wanted to create a sense that the music is coming from the depths of the planet - an earth cry if you like.”

Download the score from Amazon.com.