Godzilla: King of the Monsters composer Bear McCreary dropped a nice surprise yesterday when he unveiled the complete soundtrack of the movie. The soundtrack is available online for listening in its entirety. The best thing about the score though is his rendition of the original 1954 Godzilla theme. That’s right, Akira Ifukube’s iconic 1954 Gojira theme will be heard in the movie and McCreary has created an upgraded version that’s incredibly faithful to the source material, before morphing into its own thing. Listen to the chilling score below.

For anyone who’s revered the classic Godzilla theme, this is pure magic. It’s hard to believe how true to the original McCreary’s theme is. Ifukube’s Gojira theme has been a staple of the monster for almost the entirety of its Japanese run, accompanying Godzilla’s entrances in all movies. Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla avoided using the theme in its entirety but Mike Dougherty looks open to embracing the past rather than eschewing it. The result makes King of the Monsters the first Hollywood production where Godzilla’s theme will be heard fully as it was meant to be.

I’ve refrained from listening to the other tracks or even checking out their names for fear of spoilers being revealed. Tracks are often named after events in the movie and some of those might be spoiled inadvertently so I’d best experience the score online. That said, if you’d like a listen, head on over to the score producer Watertower Music’s YouTube channel to check it out. Rodan and Ghidorah get their own themes as well and there should be some good stuff to listen to, which I’d rather experience first-hand on the big screen.

What do you think about this theme? Has McCreary been faithful to the original? Or do you think the new theme has butchered the old one (far from likely, but still)? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters releases in theaters on May 31, 2019.