Year: 2026
Label: Ambirial Mvsic Productions/Misantropia Records

Though not by this name, M W Daniels is a familiar name to long-time followers of both ODIR and Misantropia Records. Prior to this, the label has released and we have reviewed two albums by the same musician: the rather brilliant, ghostly dark ambient of The Suspended Apparition (here) and hte less brilliant faux folk/horror soundtrack of The Cult Of Sunlight (here).

Both stylistically and qualitatively, Daniels’ soundtrack to the indie horror movie he also wrote, produced and directed falls somewhere between the two.

Stylistically, Beyond Mamushi’s soundtrack is closer to The Suspended Apparition. Most tracks are either abstract, minimalistic, droning dark ambient, or more emotional pieces built around (synthesized) strings. Especially the former type of tracks bring to mind the haunted ambience of aforementioned project, whereas the latter are your pretty standard soundtrack fare.

That’s the good bit. Sadly, the bad bit is where this album reminds me of The Cult Of Sunlight. The compositions are exceedingly simple, rarely having more than the most minute development throughout their duration. Sometimes not even that. The grating Kate Goes Beyond is a perfect example of this: the entire track consists of a simple five-note melody played with plucked strings, behind which an infuriating chaotic chatter of strings plays for the entire four minute duration. The track goes absolutely nowhere.

It’s rather typical of a movie soundtrack or score to be a bit wobbly on its own legs. These are, after all, compositions meant to support and frame scenes in a movie. Listening to Beyond Mamushi’s soundtrack on it’s own makes it glaringly obvious: this is music that doesn’t stand on its own.

I was fortunate enough to be able to see the movie before writing this review. Beyond Mamushi is a psychological thriller/horror movie with a subtle and ultimately suitably vague supernatural element. It sort of reminded me of a modern take on Roman Polanski’s classic Repulsion in that it describes the decay of it’s protagonist’s mental health; without spoiling too much, an abusive relationship is a triggering element. Beyond Mamushi isn’t the same kind of masterpiece Repulsion is, but in a similar way it keeps the lens closely on its main character and allows the viewer to partake of her madness through this focus. The movie’s won awards at indie horror festivals, so the general reception has been positive – and it’s easy to accept its shortcomings seeing as it is a low-budget, indie flick.

But, I digress. We’re reviewing the soundtrack here, so let’s return to it. Where on CD the soundtrack displays its musical limitations, when placed into the movie, Daniels’ stripped-down compositions serve their purpose more than well. The buried percussions and the haunting drones create sensations of unease and foreboding, the strings bring a bit of tender emotion where it’s needed. In the movie, the score works.

But as a standalone album… well, I’m sad to say, not so much. The album never really feels like anything more than a collection of fragments that don’t jell together. This wouldn’t be so egregious if the compositions were a bit more complex and engaging, but in this case, their simplicity is the downfall of the album. The situation could be redeemed if the CD was edited to form a more seamless whole, perhaps by injecting choice lines of dialogue or some such, and omitting some of the soundbyte-length brief tracks that on CD serve only to disrupt whatever mood the listener manages to get into.

But alas, no such luck.

In a way, I feel like I’m being unreasonably harsh towards the soundtrack, because in the movie itself, the music works well. But the fact is that on a standalone album release, which a soundtrack album ultimately is, Daniels’ score is just too rudimentary, too monotonous, and too fragmentary to really work. Many of the tracks, especially the droning dark ones, have the kernel of something good in them, but remain woefully underdeveloped as standalone music.

So, to wrap things up: go see the movie if psychological indie horror sounds like your thing. Approach this album with care.

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