Trent Reznor's journey from 'Pretty Hate Machine' to an Academy Award has been a fascinating, yet curious, one.

Alongside Atticus Ross (the English musician who, after working with Bomb The Bass, relocated to the US where he teamed up with Reznor to work on four Nine Inch Nails albums and is a part of the NIN mainman's mysterious How To Destroy Angels project) Reznor won both a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Best Score for their work on David Fincher's celebrated 'The Social Network' movie in 2010: the transition from music industry enfant terrible to Oscar winner, via the darkest depths of depression and substance abuse, seemingly, perhaps unbelievably, complete.

Or so it would seem.

As I write Reznor and Ross are mere days into celebrating another Golden Globe nomination, another Best Score nod, this time for the US remake/interpretation of 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo'.

Any Fincher/Reznor collaboration may, on paper, appear as exciting and edgy as they come, for counter culture connoisseurs especially. That the Academy sided with these at the turn of the year was startling given the rebelliousness and creation associated with the pair of artists working in different fields yet so obviously intertwined in attitude. An association long tarnished with accusations of safe bets and safer PR, the fact that 'The Social Network' was nominated for eight Academy Awards, winning three, should not be read lightly. The film's subject matter (the creation of Facebook by Mark Zuckerberg) may have been as in vogue as anything but if the Oscar nods were in any way associated with the cultural phenomenon that the social networking site featured laid claim to then this follow up project threatens to do the same: the book on which the movie is based had sold over 15 million copies in the US alone by the Summer of 2011. Whether the Academy, however, will celebrate a story that features brutal sexual violence at its core remains to be seen. If the Golden Globes are, as is usually the case, an indicator to the Academy's choices then Reznor and Ross could well be celebrating another famous victory, this time with a score that will absorb all willing listeners into its bleak, stark soundscapes.

For any readers who have found themselves living on another planet and/or listening to AOR and believing it to be a valid form of music, Stieg Larsson's 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo', the first book of the 'Millenium' trilogy completed by 'The Girl Who Played With Fire' and 'The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets' Nest', is an information-heavy bestseller with a story almost as intriguing as that of the author himself. Larsson, a famed Swedish journalist and political activist whose exposing of various Neo-Nazi organisations would result in many death threats, died of a heart attack, aged fifty, in 2004 before any of his novels had seen publication: a rumoured, incomplete, fourth entry in the Millenium series haunts a protracted legal battle between his family and partner (who he would not marry as Swedish law dictates that all marriages are to be made public knowledge, thereby giving the gangs who targeted him access to his home address), its existence worth countless millions to its current owner....and that of the missing laptop said to house it.

'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo', or 'Men Who Hate Women' as its Swedish title translates to, is a complex yet hugely impressive tale of a missing girl and the attempts by a troubled Swedish journalist (see what he did there?), Mikael Blomkvist, to find out what really happened to her decades earlier. The novel's real star though, anti-heroine is perhaps more appropriate, is Lisbeth Salander, a punk rock, bisexual computer hacking genius who kicks her way into the story to find that it (the eventual trilogy) all revolves around her sad, and sickeningly violent, life. Larsson's book was made into a BAFTA award winning Swedish movie in 2009 and featured (as did lower budget adaptations of the second and third books in the series) an incredible performance by Noomi Rapace as Salander. The inevitable US remake has, like with every other impressive example of World Cinema, now followed and, while lovers of the Swedish movie (myself included) may be doubtful of its qualities the fact that David Fincher attached himself to the project appears to have choked back some hate, his back catalogue of work smeared with genius.

While Fincher appears perfect directorial material for the dark tale, Reznor and Ross's involvement seems a tight, essential fit. The film's story, intelligent yet with bursts of violence littered throughout, could, you would imagine, not have been better for the pair to work with: as much as the subject matter will be described as basic crime fiction, its main female character is as left field as they come and the horrors of the violent anal rape that is essential to the story provides an edge that morality teeters on. The shift in tone from social networking to horrific crime should inform you that this score, tonally as well as sonically, is nearer to the Nine Inch Nails canon of work than the previous OST.

The use of a skewed cover of Led Zeppelin's 'Immigrant Song', featuring the off-kilter vocal talents of Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, in the movie's teaser trailer bordered on genius too; this noisy interpretation of a classic rock song seeming to encapsulate the essence of the entire project in its virtual grooves. The full version of the song which opens this soundtrack (and I'm guessing the film itself which opens on Boxing Day) is blackly majestic; not one for the Zeppelin purists maybe, but a bold, confident opening jab. Another cover version closes this release, a version of Bryan Ferry's 'Is Your Love Strong Enough?' performed by the afore-mentioned Reznor/Ross project How To Destroy Angels, featuring the vocals of Reznor's wife Mariqueen Maandig. This song, sure to play over the latter part of the movie's end credits, is highly accessible and perhaps wasted on people trampling on spilt popcorn as they leave the cinema, hopefully provoked of thought by what they have just watched: a music video to accompany this track should be made and spattered across music television for educational purposes.

These two great cover versions bookend almost three hours of material that will see its creators making room on their respective mantelpieces for shiny new trophies, for sure. The Academy may find new Best Score beaus as is their want, but this piece of work will win awards. While I am, admittedly, engrossed in the whole 'Millenium' legend, to sit through three hours of soundtrack music on a number of occasions isn't usually easy going - this time felt different, the sounds not just background music but wholly engrossing. For Reznor/NIN fans segments (there are 39 segments/tracks) like 'A Thousand Details' will impress.

Available in many formats, including various download options and two great physical editions: a 3 x CD digipack and a limited signed and numbered vinyl boxset also featuring a razor blade shaped USB drive containing the full album, 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' OST is, perhaps incredibly, sombre yet uplifting. Reznor described the piece, "all based on performance, nothing programmed," as having a really interesting organic, layered feel - his words, as with this score, fit perfectly. Here's hoping Fincher's visual interpretation is equally as inspired.

http://www.nullco.com/GDT/gbp.php

http://www.dragontattoo.com/site/