FRIENDS, Romans, countrymen -- hail the thunderous soundtrack to Ridley Scott's eagerly awaited epic, Gladiator, comes out this month.

The soundtrack is scored by Academy Award winning composer of The Lion King Hans Zimmer and musician/composer Lisa Gerrard. The music is both majestic and powerful, reflecting the epic nature of the movie with sweeping orchestral sound, enhanced by the haunting vocals of Gerrard.

As one of the most prolific composers in Hollywood, Zimmer has earned himself seven Oscar nominations for film scores including Rain Man, The Thin Red Line, As Good as it Gets and The Prince of Egypt. In 1994, his music for the Disney box-office smash The Lion King, won him a Grammy, an American Music Award, a Golden Globe and the Academy Award for best score.

Gladiator marks the first collaboration between Zimmer and the Australian born Gerrard who burst onto the film-scoring scene after composing the music for Michael Mann's The Insider.

In Gladiator, director Ridley-Scott -- of Thelma and Louise, Alien and Bladerunner fame -- brings the glorious battles of the ancient Roman Arena back to the big screen in this epic tale of courage and revenge.

The film is set against the splendour of the Roman Empire in 180AD and includes and all-star cast including Russell Crow, Derek Jacobi and Oliver Reed.

It is a joint production of DreamWorks and Universal Pictures and opens nationwide soon. The soundtrack to the film is released on Decca on May 12.