Disc 1 ("The Old Testament") focuses on post-punk founding acts like Bauhaus, Legendary Pink Dots and Virgin Prunes. Ministry's "Everyday Is Halloween" is hilarious, given the wrath of every Ministry album since "The Land of Rape and Honey." Their alias tune (1000 Homo DJs - "Supernaut") is a big, fun rock-stomp. Die Form ("Kagami") sounds as goofy and random as ever. There's a consistent new wave/punk feel on this disc.

Disc 2 ("The New Testament") moves forward a few years to more darkwave, danceable stuff. Spahn Ranch's "An Exit" has a creepy, well-sung appeal. Nosferatu's "Torturous" continues the Fields of The Nephilim tradition. Corpus Delecti has the most gothety song with "The Lake." The second half of the disc is weak and synth-heavy except for Greek band Into The Abyss' rocker "Malvasia."

Disc 3 ("The New Revelations") introduces more female singers. Rhea's Obsession's "Waves (Take Me Alive)" has ethereal with some guitar guts. Burning Retina's "Write My Name in Blood" is a standout, with a slinky 80s style and blues bass. Numeralia's "Seasoned" is sweet in a Christian pop manner. Santeria's "Untitled" is a great piece of surf-punk. The other highlights are The Cruxshadows' goth/new wave/darkwave "Monsters" and Trance to The Sun's "You Can Never Cut Your Hair, both dancefloor gems. Magenta closes the disc with an ABBA-goth tune, "One Mind."

Disc 4 ("The Apocrypha") gathers the tracks they couldn't quite place in discs 1-3. Rasputina's "Transylvanian Concubine" survives the Marilyn Manson treatment. Chako's "A Flock of Birds" is dignified and memorable, mostly piano and voice. Christian Death's "Mirage" must be somewhere on the "Cabaret" soundtrack. Eerie Von and Mike Morance give us one of the weirdest throwaway cuts ("Cinerarium Waltz"). The last two tracks are excerpts from interviews with Siouxsie Sioux and Robert Smith (The Cure); both have a "Spinal Tap" quality.

The content is hit-and-miss like always, but the packaging is awesome. So, if you're a collector, it's a pretty good deal.


"goth" you might say   February 1, 2004
 4 out of 5 found this review helpful

There is indeed goth rock on here, but there is also way too much industrial and Darkwave.... It is a decent c.d. but not exactly good. There could have been some really good older bands on it instead of really bad over redundant industrial/ebm/darkwave.
I don't really recomend this cd unless you like industrial. Industrial is nothing like goth or goth rock, and I wish compilations would just do one or the other.


Wonderful   April 3, 2006
 4 out of 5 found this review helpful

I purchased this album yesturday and simply can't get enough of it.

I'm not sure why exactly it seems to be getting so many bad reviews; sompe people seem to be complaining that its not just one genere of music: "Goth rock", "Goth", "Darkwave" or whatever else when apparently they haven't even read the booklet that came with this compliation cd

"Orginally, this collection was going to be similar to previous releases such as Goth Box, in that it would feature only "Gothic music", When compiling began, it became blatantly obvious that the material needed a fresh approach." etc. etc.

As for the people that say that the songs choosen for this album were "mundane" or unorginal, or whichever else; I wonder why they purchased this set in the first place without even looking at the back of the box; everything is clearly marked there plane as day.

I don't mean to start any kind of "Flame war" here, but I feel that the negative criticism that this album has recived is un-fair based on the incompetence in its authors.

Oh, the person I had purchased this compilation from also meantioned that it seems that this is also going out of print, so if you manage to track down a copy I would highly suggest not passing up a chance to get this.


Fantastic   February 7, 2000
 2 out of 3 found this review helpful

This is a fantastic 4 cd set of the absolute best selections of goth/industrial music. It's great for long time listeners of underground music but it could also be a great introduction into the goth/industrial music scene. Great layout as well- beautiful disks featuring the brilliant artwork of celebrated masters. I would expect to see this set in popular music stores selling for at least fifty to sixty dollars- thirty dollars is a steal for such a great compilation set. I bought this on a whim, it's well worth it.