VA - Messages Beyond Dark Dreams 2

VA - Messages Beyond Dark Dreams 2 2CD
(2016) Darkpage

This is a neat gothic rock compilation CD. I forgot to write about the first CD of this series, when it was released late last year. Maybe I'll mention it in a later post... Lots of good songs on here, like: Sweet Ermengarde, Long Night, Night Sins and my new favourites The Drowning Season.

VA - A Change Of Speed A Change Of Style

VA - A Change Of Speed A Change Of Style
(2015) OVR

This is a great Joy Division tribute CD. It doesn't seem that promising when looking at the included bands. The only thing I don't like about this record is that the Mp3 download version holds three bonus tracks. Don't you want to sell CD's? Well then, don't release CD's. I want the three bonus tracks in decent quality (flac, wav or aif), but I haven't found them anywhere...

VA - Dependence 2015

VA - Dependence 2015
(2015) Dependent

A new sampler CD from Dependent records is one of my personal highlights each year. It's been two years since the last Dependence CD and three years since Septic X was released. As usual with the Dependence series, there's a lot of unreleased or exclusive tracks from the Dependent roster on this CD. The stand-out tracks for me are the new Encephalon and Edge Of Dawn songs plus, of course, the Pride And Fall Immortal-cover "Norden On Fire". There's not a bad song here. All top notch Dependent quality!

VA - This Is Gothic Rock Vol. II

VA - This Is Gothic Rock Vol. II
(2014) Gothic Music

It's already time for the second CD in the This Is Gothic Rock series. This CD was supposed to be CD2 of the first volume, but Oscar decided to go with separate releases instead of  double CD's. I think it was a problem with printing the booklets. They're massive 20 pages each, and I don't think a 40 page booklet would fit a standard CD case, or a nice digipac, whatever was the original plan. Nevermind, here it is! Bands featured this time are Merciful Nuns, The Wake, Ikon and a whole lot more! Great music for a great price.

VA - 10 Years Of Progress Productions 2CD

VA - 10 Years Of Progress Productions 2CD
(2014) Progress

Finally, the compilation album I've been waiting for all year! It's a double CD packed with 28 exclusive tracks. Well, some songs may not be that exclusive... But for the most part, they are. Bands included are; Cryo, Kite, Henric De La Cour, Spark!, Wulfband - basically the whole Progress roster. I like most of the bands on Progress, so this was a must buy for me!

VA - Pagan Love Songs Vol. 3

VA - Pagan Love Songs Vol. 3 2CD
(2014) Alice In...

This is the third new and really good gothic rock compilation CD I've written about in just a couple of months. There must be a gothic rock revival going on, but I haven't heared or read anything about it.
This compilation is very similar to the other two, "God Is Goth" and "This Is Gothic Rock Vol. I", featuring a mix of both new and old bands.
I really like this album. Go get it!

VA - God Is Goth 2CD

VA - God Is Goth 2CD
(2014) Wave Records

Continuing with my rediscovered love for gothic rock. This Brazilian compilation album features a lot of, at least for me, new third wave of gothic rock bands. Buy this 2CD together with the This Is Gothic Rock series and you're all set and updated on what's hot in this new era of gothic rock!

VA - This Is Gothic Rock Vol. I

VA - This Is Gothic Rock Vol. I
(2014) Gothic Music

This is the first sampler released by this, relatively new, goth rock label. It features a lot of the labels forthcoming artist, as well as, almost exclusively new bands, or, at least, artists still active today.
Call it the third wave of gothic rock, if you want. I'm just happy to hear new goth bands delivering high quality music. This album is a must have - and be fast about it. It's limited to 500 copies!

VA - Electostorm Vol.5

VA - Electostorm Vol.5 (2014)
Out Of Line

Sadly, the years of the great electronic/industrial compilation series seems to be over. I haven't heared anything about a new compilation in the Septic and Dependence series for quite some time. The Advanced Electronics series seems to have ended. One of the few series that's still going is Electrostorm and the massive Electronic Saviors. This fifth Electrostorm CD features all the usual Out Of Line stuff; a great Client song (remixed by Chrom), a new Ashbury Heights song, some Melotron, Combichrist, Hocico, Suicide Commando, Blutengel and Rummelsnuff. All in all, a pretty decent compilation. Especially considering it's low price.

VA - Gastarbeit: A Finest Selection Of Delicious Remixes By Patenbrigade: Wolff

VA - Gastarbeit: A Finest Selection
Of Delicious Remixes By
Patenbrigade: Wolff 2CD (2012)
Zweieck

30 tracks, all remixed and mashed up by Sven Wolff between 1995 and 2010. There's some well-known electronic artists like In Strict Confidence, Sas Ich, Sara Noxx, Glis and The Eternal Afflict featured. But I was mostly interested in the supposedly exclusive Behind The Scenes track "Behind The Scenes (Remix By Essexx)". I'd never even heared of this track, and that was no surprise. It was not an exclusive song, the song is "Nearer (Remix By Essexx)" with wrong name.

VA - Dependence 2012

VA - Dependence 2012
(2012) Dependent

Now it's time for the 4th Dependent records label sampler. It's packed with unreleased or hard to get tracks from most of the active bands on their rooster. On top of that they introduce an exclusive song by the new act Radioaktivists. The album also features the first tracks in a very long while from both Seabound and Pride And Fall. This album gives me hope that there's still a lot of great upcoming releases from Dependent!

VA - Electronic Saviors Volume II 8CD

VA - Electronic Saviors
Industrial Music To Cure Cancer
Volume II - Recurrence
(Premium Edition) 8CD (2012)
Metropolis

This massive 6CD (regular edition) + 2CD (premium edition) box, the second incarnation of the Electronic Saviors series, compiled by Jim Semonik is truly fabolous. I think that maybe 8CD's is a bit over the top, but why the hell not?
The two bonus discs in the premium edition consists mainly of

artists new to the scene.
Otherwise the box features, just like the first installment of the series, a varied who's who tracklist of the electronic world. The bands of most interest for me are: Tenek, Edge Of Dawn, Solitary Experiments, System Syn, Binary Park, Aesthetic Perfection, Ashbury Heights, God Module, Bella Morte, Alter Der Ruine, Ghost & Writer, iVardensphere, Spetsnaz, Mesh, Caustic, Everything Goes Cold, Espermachine, Covenant Feat. Necro Facility, Neuroactive, Syrian, Decoded Feedback, Hocico, FGFC820.
There's 141 tracks in total, so I'm pretty sure everyone's gonna find something they really like!

VA - Septic X

VA - Septic X (2012)
Dependent

It's already time for part ten of this classical industrial compilation series. This CD is maybe among the weakest ones, but it's still a recommended purchase. You get exclusive tracks from Dependent artists like Acretongue, Edge Of Dawn and Ghost & Writer. There's also some new and interesting artists to discover such as Volt 9000 and Radical G. There's even a piano ballad of Legacy Of Music Feat. Mesh. The best song is possibly "Mauerradio (Extended Version)" by Patenbrigade: Wolff, and this is a bit sad because the track is five years old. I thought the Septic series was all about getting new songs to be recognized, and maybe get some playtime at clubs?

VA - Another Gift From Goth

VA - Another Gift From Goth
2CD (2011) Strobelight

I've been writing alot about samplers on this blog the last couple of months. There haven't been as many good album releases as I would like, and sadly I'm a bit bored of my music collection right now. Hopefully this will change soon. But there's nothing wrong with a great compilation album. And this one is surely great!
This is a sort of "who's who" of the '90's gothic rock scene. You can almost find all my favourite bands on this disc. And I'm glad that they haven't featured the most obvious hit songs. This is a fresh take on the often too nostalgic genre samples. It's been a joy rediscovering all these bands and songs. A must buy!

VA - Born Evolve Progress 3

VA - Born Evolve Progress 3
(2011) Progress

Swedish label Progress Productions is back with their third label-sampler.
It features unrealesed or tracks from most of the labels bands. Highlights are a Leaether Strip remix of Kite's "Ways To Dance" and Spark!'s "Popkomplex". New or unreleased tracks from Henric De La Cour, Red Cell and Cryo is also worth mentioning.

VA - Das Bunker: Choice Of A New Generation

VA - Das Bunker: Choice Of A New Generation
(2011) Das Bunker

If I've understand this right Das Bunker's an Industrial/EBM club in Los Angeles. This is the fifth compilation CD they've released. This CD is a bit special because it contains exclusive industrial/EBM/futurepop covers of songs popular in the eighties. It features bands like Modcon Feat. Leaether Strip, Combichrist, God Module, Straftanz, System Syn, Northborne and my favourite "Don't Change" by Assemblage 23.

VA - Kinetik Festival Volume Four

VA - Storming The Base Presents:
Kinetic Festival Volume Four 2CD
(2011) Artoffact

This is the official album for the Kinetik Festival, held in Montreal, Canada between May 19-23, 2011. I soo wish that I could afford going there! The CD is filled with tracks from industrial bands like Aesthetic Perfection, Front Line Assembly, VNV Nation, Assemblage 23, Mind.In.A.Box, Covenant. But that's not all. It also includes the third Bruderschaft song ever to be released, "Trigger (Edge Of Dawn Mix)"! And, by the way, Storming The Base is one of the best online shops for industrial music there is. Check them out!

VA - Dependent Club Anthems

VA - Dependent Club Anthems
(2011) Dependent

This is a great introduction to the electro/industrial world of Dependent records - or to the scene in general. I like 13 of the 15 featured songs, but sadly I didn't find any new favourites - which is the main reason for me to buy compilation albums. But it's a hell of an album! Get it immediately (it's available on midprice, so there's really no reason for not buying it).

VA - Dependence 2011

VA - Dependence 2011 (2011)
Dependent

A taste of this years artist roster of Dependent records. The only thing this record's missing is some Mind.In.A.Box updates. Otherwise it has it all; A great new song from Encephalon, a new Stromkern song, some cool remixes and the excellent Urcerous Exit remix of Edge Of Dawn's "All The Time" previously only available as download. If I'm correct this record should be sold as mid-price, so there's really no excuse not picking this up!

VA - Electronic Body Matrix

VA - Electronic Body Matrix 4CD+DD
(2011) Alfa Matrix

This is a massive who's who compilation featuring artists from both past and current EBM scenes.
The 4 CD's feature a total of 72 tracks and the exclusive download card gives you access to 40 more songs.
I'm no big fan of the Alfa Matrix artist roster, but thankfully this compilation includes artists from all big electronic/industrial labels (except for quality labels as Mute, Dependent and Metropolis).