'Pacific Rim,' Tom Morello Contributes to Guillermo Del Toro's Action Film Soundtrack

Guillermo Del Toro wasn't satisfied with a regular ol' film score when it came to hi upcoming sci-fi flick "Pacific Rim." He felt that the soundtrack should appropriately reflect the battles between giant robots and sea monsters, which meant guitars and futuristic sound effects.

Composer Ramin Djawadi has worked with guitars before (for the "Iron Man" film series), so he and Rodriguez had one name in mind when they went to record for "Pacific Rim": Tom Morello, the axe-man from Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave.

It didn't take too much explaining to get Morello onboard.

"When they asked me to put some giant robot riffs and screaming underwater monster licks on the film score, I was all in," the guitarist said.

Morello's base riff, reminiscent of Led Zeppelin more so than Rage Against The Machine, provides the rhythm for the track "Pacific Rim." Soon the violins and cellos one expects to hear in a film score join in. The timpani are featured more prominently than one would expect from typical classical fare, to add to the feeling of modernization. Morello gets a number of solos where he utilizes his collection of pedals to produce the hip-hop guitar effects he's renowned for. All in all, the track sounds like "Pirates of Caribbean"...from the future.

Take a listen here:

The film "Pacific Rim" opens on July 12. The movie stars Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Ron Perlman and Charlie Day as the operators of gigantic robotic suits used to find gargantuan monsters that suddenly emerge from the bottom of the sea.