Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer is back on scoring duty, filling out the trilogy.  His co-composer on Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, James Newton Howard, is sitting this one out, but as you can tell in listening to the thirty second snippets below, the sound here hasn't changed radically.  While it is perhaps a bit colder than its predecessors, this score actually incorporates familiar elements from the previous installments, including at least one mournful theme we've not heard since Batman Begins.

The well-named Batman-News brought these samples to the world's attention.

The official score will be available to purchase on July 17th, just a few days before The Dark Knight Rises arrives in regular and IMAX theaters on July 20th.

Word has been for months, maybe even years, that Christopher Nolan, along with story collaborator David S. Goyer and co-writer Jonathan Nolan, would be looping his series back to its beginnings, wrapping up the story that started in 2005.  Thematically, that seems to be very true, as you can tell if you recognize the sound of that last track, "Rise."

Christian Bale growls from under the cowl one last time, facing off against Tom Hardy as Bane.  Anne Hathaway joins the party as Selina Kyle, while Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Juno Temple, and Matthew Modine are also new to the franchise.  Don't worry, though, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, and Morgan Freeman all wrap up their trilogy-long roles.