Exclusive Premiere: Stream Title Track From New Liam Neeson-Starring Netflix Movie “The Ice Road”

By: Staff –

Composer Max Aruj (Lanksy, Crawl) is back with the soundtrack for the new Liam Neeson-starring Netflix movie, The Ice Road, (out June 25th), which you can stream exclusively via Aesthetic Magazine below, and pre-save the soundtrack here.

With the soundtrack, Aruj’s main goal was to really play into the classic action tropes and create a next level, bombastic score. Having an archetypal character (led by Neeson), allowed Aruj to really dig into the storyline. Once Aruj had the thematic tapestry nailed down, the rest of the music flowed out.

“It is a challenge to gracefully shift from action to emotion multiple times over within one scene, but is so rewarding when the picture edit (Douglas Crise) and music go hand in hand,” said Aruj. “We recorded a live orchestra to get our strings soaring and the brass punchy. It’s a lot of preparation, but so worth it to take the score to the next level.”

The Liam Neeson-starring action-thriller demanded a next-level, bombastic orchestral score and that’s exactly what Aruj delivered in this 26-track album.

After a remote diamond mine collapses in northern Canada, a group of miners is trapped with only thirty hours of oxygen. A team of veteran ice road truckers is hastily assembled to come to the rescue. Mike McCann (Liam Neeson), along with his younger brother Gurty (Marcus Thomas), a gifted mechanic coping with aphasia, and Tantoo (Amber Midthunder), a fellow ice road expert whose brother is trapped in the mine, are recruited by Jim Goldenrod (Laurence Fishburne). The crew is tasked with the dangerous mission of driving across an ocean of thin ice in eighteen-wheeler trucks to deliver lifesaving drilling equipment before the oxygen runs out. Unbeknownst to them, there is another threat to their daring plan waiting to emerge from an unexpected place. Forced to conquer a litany of obstacles including stalled engines, cracking ice, and violent pressure waves, Mike and the team race to get to the mine before they end up beneath the ice.

Aruj says, “Jonathan Hensleigh was such a blast to work with—fun from start to finish! The movie had a classic structure, so once we had the thematic tapestry nailed down, the rest of the film score flowed out. Bombastic orchestral music over the truck action sequences makes for pure entertainment. Having archetypal characters, like Liam Neeson’s portrayal of our hero Mike, made it a joy to dig into the storyline and follow everyone on their journey. It is a challenge to gracefully shift from action to emotion multiple times over within one scene, but is so rewarding when the picture edit (Douglas Crise) and music go hand in hand. We recorded a live orchestra to get our strings soaring and the brass punchy. It’s a lot of preparation, but so
worth it to take the score to the next level.”