If you didn’t notice, Cleopatra Records gave us an early Christmas present by releasing this 2.5 hour compilation of new and old bands from the goth rock, post-punk, industrial and synth wave genres.
It features Creux Lies, 1919, Eva O, Sex Gang Children, Leæther Strip, both Peter Hook and Ministry’s Dancing Madly Backwards, and many more. There are 37 tracks, to be exact! So it has a wide range of artists from all around the world, some better known and some not, as well as lots of different genres.
Whispering Sons sets the mood with Waste, which Creux Lies and Holygram continue with their songs Silhouette and Signals respectively. After 1919 and Astari Nite we have Egrets On Ergot, a band I have never heard of before, with Mangkakulam, which starts off really weird, and it’s a very experimental song, but still has the goth / post-punk vibe. After Peter Hook’s Dancing Madly Backwards we’re flung into industrial metal full speed with Ritual Aesthetic’s The Analog Flesh. Then we slow down a little bit, but Eva O’s 11 minute Mister Death I thought was TOO slow to put on here. Jyrki 69 (why) gently picks us up again with Call Of The Night, but it isn’t until MGT comes in with All The Broken Things we really get going. The pace goes a little up and down for the rest of it, along with genre changes, but not in a whiplash manner. There are a couple of songs though that I found really weird.
Overall it’s not a bad compilation, but I think you’d have to have a broader taste in music to enjoy it all. Not everyone who likes post-punk and goth rock likes the more electronic and experimental stuff. And since it covers such a broad range of genres and tempos, I don’t really think it would fit a particular situation other than just having it in the background at home. Some of it will make you dance, but some of it is so calm that you can concentrate on other things. I say it’s at least worth checking out if you have an open mind!
The whole thing is available for only $9 here! There are links to most of the bands towards the bottom of the page, if you discover something new you like that you want to check out.
I’m gonna retreat back into the darkness and watch some Dark Shadows now, the never-ending TV series…