"Underworld: Rise of the Lycans" Soundtrack Lyrics

"Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack / Original Score)" – Album Guide to Tracks and Key Scenes

Overview

Can a medieval prequel keep the franchise’s neon-industrial DNA without a single nightclub scene? This one does — by trading strobes for steel and letting the music carry the torchlight.

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans rewinds to the doomed love of Lucian and Sonja and the spark that ignites the vampire–Lycan war. The soundtrack splits in two: a compilation album heavy on Renholdër and Wes Borland–assisted remixes that push the series’ industrial/alt-rock identity into mythic territory, and Paul Haslinger’s original score — brooding chorals, pounding low percussion, and processed textures that snarl like wolves. The songs mostly bookend the film (promos and credits), while the score muscles through chases, lashings, and the uprising.

Genre phases & meanings: industrial rock & EBM remixes — revolt and machine-ritual discipline; alt-metal — clenched defiance; dark ambient/choral score — ritual power and tragic fate; trailer anthems — gothic grandeur as marketing thunder. The combined effect: ancient tragedy told with modern voltage.

How It Was Made

Composer Paul Haslinger returned to the franchise for this prequel, writing an electro-orchestral score that leans on rhythm cells, choral pads, and gnashing low strings over big, hummable themes. Lakeshore Records issued both a Various Artists soundtrack (largely exclusive remixes — a series hallmark) and a standalone score album. On the soundtrack side, label executives shepherded the compilation’s artist roster and remixer lineup to maintain the “Underworld” sound-brand introduced in 2003.

Tracks & Scenes

“Board Up the House (Renholdër Remix)” (Genghis Tron)

Where it plays:

End credits. As the final image cuts to black, this caustic, sawtoothed remix surges in and carries the first stretch of the credit crawl. Non-diegetic.

Why it matters:

It slams the door on the tragedy with serrated energy — a modern afterburn that contrasts the period setting while staying true to the franchise’s industrial identity.

“Deathclub (Wes Borland/Renholdër Remix)” (William Control feat. Matt Skiba)

Where it plays:

Heard in promotional tie-ins and included on the soundtrack; a music video appears on the home-video extras. Not foregrounded in a specific scene in the feature cut; associated with the film’s marketing cycle. Non-diegetic/ancillary.

Why it matters:

Pins the series’ leather-and-steel aesthetic to 2009’s alt-goth zeitgeist and extends the film’s sonic world beyond the medieval walls.

“Underneath the Stars (Renholdër Remix)” (The Cure feat. Maynard James Keenan, Puscifer & Milla)

Where it plays:

Compilation highlight rather than an on-screen needle drop. Used in campaign materials and fan edits; appears on the official album. Non-diegetic relative to the theatrical cut.

Why it matters:

Dreamy shoegaze expanded into industrial space — a tonal mirror for Lucian and Sonja’s forbidden tenderness.

Trailer cue — “If I Was Your Vampire” (Marilyn Manson)

Where it plays:

Used in trailers for the film. It underlines the red-band and online trailers’ gothic-romantic ferocity, not present in the feature itself. Non-diegetic (marketing).

Why it matters:

Manson’s slow-burn anthem telegraphs the prequel’s tragic romance and blood-oath sweep in a single, ominous hook.

Score cues by Paul Haslinger — selected scene placements

“The Rise of the Lycans”

Opens on revolt — pounding drums and metallic hits as Lucian’s insurgency coalesces. Non-diegetic; frames montage beats of preparation and breakout momentum.

“Lucian and Sonja’s Love Theme”

Low piano and hushed textures during stolen moments between the lovers — candlelit chambers, whispered promises, the calm before catastrophe.

“Sonia’s Trial and Execution”

Gallows-cold choir and grinding rhythm during the council judgment and the infamous sun-exposure sequence. The music holds on ritual dread as Viktor watches history curdle.

“The Most Precious Thing to My Heart”

Tender interlude — a brief tear in the film’s armor where grief and devotion surface, then harden again as the war path resumes.

Notes & Trivia

• The compilation leans on Renholdër (Danny Lohner) and Wes Borland remixes — the franchise’s remix-throughline from 2003 returns in force for this prequel.
• Most contemporary songs live on the album/marketing; the medieval setting leaves the feature itself dominated by Haslinger’s score.
• “Board Up the House (Renholdër Remix)” is the clearest in-film song placement — it takes the first slab of the end credits.
• The Blu-ray includes the “Deathclub” music video — a neat time capsule of the era’s alt-goth crossover.
• Lakeshore released the VA album and the score separately, just as with the first two films, keeping the brand’s catalog tidy.

Reception & Quotes

Fans praised the back-to-basics tragedy and the drum-forward score; some critics felt the album’s songs worked better as a companion listen than as in-film moments.

“Haslinger’s revolving rhythms and tolling textures fit the period setting while nodding to the franchise’s modern edge.” Filmtracks

“An origins chapter that looks and sounds the part — all stone, steel, and sorrow.” Contemporary capsule reviews

Interesting Facts

• Prequel with a pulse: Despite the period setting, the franchise’s industrial brand stays intact via remixes on the companion album.
• Love theme returns: Haslinger threads a tender motif for Lucian and Sonja — rare softness amid iron and ash.
• Marketing muscle: Marilyn Manson’s track powered trailers, bridging mainstream goth culture and franchise myth.
• Album curation: Lakeshore’s remix roster (Renholdër, Wes Borland, VNV Nation, Legion of Doom) turns the OST into a 2009 scene sampler.
• Credits-as-mixtape: Like earlier entries, the end credits function as the primary on-screen home for contemporary songs.

Technical Info

• Title: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans — Original Motion Picture Soundtrack / Original Score
• Year: 2009
• Type: Film soundtrack & score
• Composer: Paul Haslinger (score)
• Label: Lakeshore Records (soundtrack & score)
• Soundtrack release: January 2009 (album street dates clustered around Jan 13–20, 2009)
• Score release: February 10, 2009 (digital; 11 tracks, ~36 minutes)
• Selected notable placements: “Board Up the House (Renholdër Remix)” — first end-credits segment; “Deathclub (Wes Borland/Renholdër Remix)” — soundtrack/marketing tie-in; Trailer used Marilyn Manson’s “If I Was Your Vampire.”
• Release context: The film opened in the U.S. on January 23, 2009.
• Availability: Both albums stream widely; retail CD issues via Lakeshore. The Blu-ray bonus features include the “Deathclub” video.
• Album production: Soundtrack album executive producers: Brian McNelis & Skip Williamson.

Questions & Answers

Who composed the score for the prequel?

Paul Haslinger returned to the series with an electro-orchestral, percussion-heavy score.

Which contemporary song is actually heard in the film itself?

“Board Up the House (Renholdër Remix)” by Genghis Tron is used in the first stretch of the end credits.

What song did the trailers lean on?

Marilyn Manson’s “If I Was Your Vampire” featured in trailers; it’s not in the feature cut.

Is there a separate score album?

Yes — Lakeshore issued a standalone score album (11 cues, ~36 minutes).

Where can I find the “Deathclub” tie-in?

On the soundtrack album; a music video is included among the home-video extras.

Key Contributors

Sources: Underworld Wiki; Wikipedia (film); Apple Music (score & soundtrack); Discogs (album credits); Filmtracks review; Spotify album pages; TV/film databases and retailer listings.

November, 19th 2025