Renowned composer and filmmaker John Carpenter and his musical foils Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies have just released the original motion picture soundtrack for the second installment of the new Halloween trilogy, Halloween Kills, through Sacred Bones Records in a wide range of variants (details below). The soundtrack arrives simultaneously with the film release, which is in theaters today from Universal Pictures, Miramax, and Blumhouse, directed by David Gordon Green and starring horror icon Jamie Lee Curtis. To celebrate the soundtrack release, John and his collaborators took to YouTube last night for an exclusive album playthrough paired with a live chat Q&A with fans.

The hypnotic theme to John Carpenter’s 1978 horror masterpiece Halloween has embodied slasher-stalker anxiety for generations of filmgoers, and woven itself so deeply into pop culture that it’s become musical shorthand for the entire horror genre. Like the film itself, the Halloween Kills score stays true to the spirit of what made the 1978 original great while bringing it firmly into the present. The music is unmistakably Carpenter: the sinister vintage synth tones, the breath-stealing sense of menace conjured with just a few dissonant notes. But with a broader sonic palette, new digital techniques at his disposal, and a deeper sense of musicality, the Halloween Kills score is the work of a master artist who, nearly 50 years into his career, continues to push his creative limits and find new ways to thrill and terrify his fans.