Mutant’s physical editions of Bear McCreary’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season three score have different track lists. The vinyl spreads 18 tracks across four sides, while the two-disc CD includes 22, adding four pieces and changing the running order.
Both formats are listed for release through Mutant’s collection page on Friday, November 13th at 10 am PT. The announcement also describes that time as the start of pre-orders, so it isn’t a confirmed shipping date.
The artwork puts Sauron, the Nazgnagôl and the Balrog front and center, with fiery discs that resemble molten lava and a Balrog inferno inside the gatefold. Nerdist’s first-look coverage praises the design for reflecting the season’s darker turn. Its Mount Doom comparison describes the appearance, not how the discs were made.
The CD packaging has the same threatening mood, with Sauron and his new ring-servants surrounded by a Mount Doom-like haze. Pricing is murky: the announcement lists the two-disc CD at $20, but it also gives a $40 price for the CD. That conflict leaves the vinyl price unconfirmed.
For collectors comparing the music rather than the packaging, the CD-only selections are “Crown of Khazad-dûm,” “Fell Beast,” “Under Sun and Star” and “For Gerda and Gamli.” Every vinyl track also appears on CD, though several sit in different positions.
The voices behind McCreary’s darker score
Mutant says McCreary created a whole new sound for this season. Its release details the recording sessions, ensembles and featured singers:
“Recorded at AIR Studios and Abbey Road Studios in London, Synchron Stage in Vienna, and studios across Bulgaria, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Los Angeles, the score features The Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices, the Trinity Boys Choir and Finland’s shouting men’s choir Mieskuoro Huutajat, with lyrics sung in Tolkien’s Quenya, Black Speech and Khuzdul. Jens Kidman returns alongside vocalist Morgan Sorne for ‘Nazgnagôl,’ a Black Speech setting of Tolkien’s verse for the Nine. Katrine Stenbekk performs ‘The Most Devoted’ in Quenya, while series stars Sophia Nomvete and Morfydd Clark lend their voices to ‘Searching in Stone’ and ‘Echoes of Ancient Music.’ The album closes with ‘Where the Shadows Lie (for Children’s Choir),’ a new arrangement of the Ring verse first sung by Fiona Apple in Season One.”
Nerdist is especially enthusiastic about the “Nazgnagôl” rap and its fit for Sauron’s corrupted Nine. The outlet also praises Clark’s singing and describes Nomvete’s performance as darker and fiercer this season. Its broader verdict is that McCreary balances the score’s darkness with delicate, hopeful passages. It expects vinyl playback to heighten that contrast, though it doesn’t report a listening test of this pressing, and it gives the release a thumbs-up.
Complete vinyl and CD track lists
The vinyl sequence puts “The Balrog” at the end of its opening side and saves “Searching in Stone” for the start of side four. Here’s the full breakdown.
Vinyl, side one
- 1. Morning Shall Come
- 2. Nazgnagôl (feat. Jens Kidman and Morgan Sorne)
- 3. Hold Back the Shadow
- 4. Insurrection in Númenor
- 5. The Balrog
Vinyl, side two
- 1. Thrain
- 2. The Most Devoted (feat. Katrine Stenbekk)
- 3. Celeborn
- 4. Battle at Gundabad
- 5. Mûmakil on the March
Vinyl, side three
- 1. Sammath Naur
- 2. One for the Dark Lord
- 3. Embarking from Barad-dûr
- 4. Echoes of Ancient Music (feat. Morfydd Clark)
Vinyl, side four
- 1. Searching in Stone (feat. Sophia Nomvete)
- 2. Gandalf and the Dark Wizard
- 3. The Doom of Men
- 4. Where the Shadows Lie (for Children’s Choir)
The CD’s first disc ends with “Under Sun and Star,” while its second opens with Nomvete’s featured performance before moving into “For Gerda and Gamli” and “The Balrog.”
CD, disc one
- 1. Morning Shall Come
- 2. Nazgnagôl feat. Jens Kidman and Morgan Sorne
- 3. Hold Back the Shadow
- 4. Thrain
- 5. Insurrection in Númenor
- 6. The Most Devoted feat. Katrine Stenbekk
- 7. Crown of Khazad-dûm
- 8. Celeborn
- 9. Battle at Gundabad
- 10. Fell Beast
- 11. Mûmakil on the March
- 12. Under Sun and Star
CD, disc two
- 1. Searching in Stone feat. Sophia Nomvete
- 2. For Gerda and Gamli
- 3. The Balrog
- 4. Sammath Naur
- 5. One for the Dark Lord
- 6. Embarking from Barad-dûr
- 7. Echoes of Ancient Music feat. Morfydd Clark
- 8. Gandalf and the Dark Wizard
- 9. The Doom of Men
- 10. Where the Shadows Lie (for Children’s Choir)
Check Mutant’s ordering page for final format pricing and shipping information when placing a pre-order.
