It was too much of an adventure feel, and it was all about saying 'Okay, well how do I do that same idea but in a darker way?' It’s all about finding the right chords and substitutions that you are using with those melodies – and how did that alter the melody? It’s constantly trying to bend and twist things so you feel that theme from the previous film, but it’s being used in a different way. "There’s a moment when the Enterprise is taking off, and they are going off on their mission, and I thought 'This would be fun to bring back that similar moment from the first film,' but it wasn’t working. One of Giacchino's main tasks with the sequel, later entitled Star Trek Into Darkness, was to evolve the themes from the previous installment and create new ones to reflect the film's darker tone. Over a month prior to the commencement of the film's principal photography, composer Michael Giacchino announced that he would return to score the sequel to 2009's Star Trek. The soundtrack album was released in physical form on May 21, 2013, through Varèse Sarabande, as the follow-up to the critically successful 2009 soundtrack album Star Trek. It was performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony in conjuncture with Page LA Studio Voices.
The score was recorded over seven sessions at the Sony Scoring Stage in Culver City, California, on March 5–9 and April 2 and 3, 2013. Star Trek Into Darkness: Music from the Motion Picture is a soundtrack album for the 2013 film, Star Trek Into Darkness, composed by Michael Giacchino. Star Trek Into Darkness: Music from the Motion Picture Sony Scoring Stage, Culver City, California