"The music of Chernobyl feels tangible. This is by design. To really capture the mood that she wanted, Guðnadóttir got into a hazmat suit and visited an old nuclear power plant in Lithuania. The plant was in the process of being decommissioned and is similar to what Chernobyl would have been like before the accident. Guðnadóttir, along with her score producer Sam Slater and sound-recoding specialist Chris Watson, walked the premises, recording everything. She later took that audio and mixed it into the music. The sounds of the power plant run through the entire album. It gives it an authenticity unmatched by most other film scores.
Compositionally, Chernobyl is strong from the start. “The Door” begins as staccato beats rattle softly, indiscriminately. A bellowing groan of instrumentation joins in. The tempo of the bottom instrumentation hastens while a piercing noise climbs overtop. “Vichnaya Pamat” is another tri-umph. Here, Guðnadóttir enlists the talent of The Homin Lviv Municipal Choir. The choir sings slow, sad. Beneath them, bumps of hushed field recordings. The track, a dirge, is easily the most emotive song on the album. “Liður” is yet another excellent track. The first half of this song is vocal and piano piece that would be on home on a Grouper album. Guðnadóttir’s voice rever-berates gently as a single piano note is struck with varying intensity. A cello swoops in around the midway point, leading other instrumental touches and further spotlighting the hushed singing."
- Richie Corelli. horrordna.com
