Stigmata has been compared plot-wise to The Exorcist, so it's interesting to note that this score is a series of short electronic pieces--as was the case with the use of Tubular Bells in the classic shocker. There's nothing even vaguely approaching the melodic content of that earlier work however. Composers Corgan and Garson have created a slow-dripping icicle of unease and discomfort by atonal effect ("Distrbnce", for example). The occasional beat will drift in to lend momentum to a segment of the two or three-in-one cues ("Sustain"), but what you'll really remember is how the eerie mix has you looking around for a tap left on or the source of animal-like scratching. Preceding the score cues are six superbly chosen songs: the flow from one to the next is comfortably smooth (a soundtrack rarity), and touts its collection of names with deserved pride. Bowie's "The Pretty Things Are Going To Hell" is an apt piece of wreckage and rock, and both Natalie Imbruglia's "Identify" and Björk's "All Is Full Of Love" are memorable balladic dirges. --Paul Tonks