Goth Compilations music reviews

When Roadrunner Records first started out, there were a handfull of bands that kept the label rolling, and while this compilation has a few good moments, it misses the mark for the most part. Sure, Slipknot helped catapault Roadrunner to superstar record label status, but they don't belong on here, and neither does lead singer Corey Taylor's Stone Sour band either. Of all the Sepultura songs that could be included on here, they picked "Roots Bloody Roots", which was the band's only real hit. Anything from "Beneath the Remains", "Arise", or "Chaos A.D." would have been a better selection. Coal Chamber and Killswitch Engage helped find the label success as well, but they don't belong on here either, and neither does Max Cavalera's Soulfly. Not to mention that material from Fear Factory and Type O Negative should have been from their debut albums, instead of the more recent hits. Thankfully, someone remembered the band's that made Roadrunner a force to be reckoned with at one time: Deicide, King Diamond, Life of Agony, Obituary, and Nailbomb; but where is Mercyful Fate, Death, and Biohazard? Who knows, but for everything this compilation does wrong, it does a lot right. Thankfully they decided not to include any tracks from Nickelback.

This is a great cd Ididn't expect much from.I bought it for 4.99
at my fav record store.here are the best tunes and why i chose
them.
1. Fear Factory-Replica.Fear Factory kick ass and this is one of
their best songs.Never slow and always crunchy and heavy
2.Killswitch Engage-In the Unblind.KSE kick the sh@t out of every
one,I like Howard Jones,But Jesse was the man.
3.Sepultura-Roots Bloody Roots.A classic tribal/metal tune from
the Calvera brothers and co.
4.Chimaira-Fascination St.Melodic and relentless at times.GREAT.
5.Decide-.Got to have some all out death once in a while.
Well those are stand outs the rest are good though.

this incredible album is a compilation of artist from roadrunner records back in 2003! i highly recomend this cd to anyone who is or has become interested in metal. the heart of roadrunner records compilation has a very very VERY good selection of talented artist new and old.
and about a half of the songs are exclusive, like the remix of "spit it out" by slipknot and "unreal" by ill nino. it also includes the cover of the cures dark "fascination street" by chimara, which is actually pretty good even though its about 5 minutes long. the classic song "roots bloody roots" by sepultura is very catchy song and was a great way to kick of this cd. what i enjoyed the most on this compilation though was the song "brujeria" by brujerizmo! which is a very unique mexican heavy metal band. during the song "dead by dawn" by deicide they scream like frogs croaking, which is interesting i guess... i like all of the other songs to although i am sort of disapointed by the soulfly song because its kind of retarded and anoying, it sounds more punk rockish and is only a minute and 30 seconds long. but the song i really hate is the song "abigail" by king diamond. the guy screams like a little girl, its sounds really anoying. but other than that this is a great compilation and the inserts include long list of roadrunner artist during 2003 and small portrates of all the bands on the inside cover except Nailbomb and Brujerizmo. o'yeah song number 3, "In the unblind" is by Killswitch Engage!

Me llamo la atencion este disco, porque lo comparaban con Enigma, pero esa afirmacion se queda corta. El artista hace una fusion soberbia de operas conocidas, electronica y ambiente, pero lo hace con pasion. No se trata de musica para pasar el rato, sino de musica pasional y con un claro elemento erotico (para muestra, la primera cancion, Willow, la recomendaria como fondo musical para hacer el amor con tu pareja!!!).

Este disco lo compre en sus primeras semanas, y me lo robaron. Ahora parece que esta descontinuado y estoy esperando que este dispnible una segunda edicion o tendre que comprarlo usado.

Definitivamente, es una adquisicion que no debe faltar para los amantes de la electronica y ambiente. Para los puristas de la musica clasica, tal vez se sientan ofendidos de que se "profane" estos iconos operisticos, pero ya todo esta inventado, ahora se trata de reinventar.

Alvaro Salgado

This Cd always brings me great pleasure. I have listened to it over and over again with great success.......and I count myself as an opera buff who loves proper opera singing...........
Highly recommended.

Here you are a great ambient CD, who mixes the classical music style with the new ambient rhythms. You'll hear a lot of great voices.

Angelic Upstarts, Vice Squad, The Outcasts, One Way System, 4 songs by The Vibrators "Baby Baby," "Dragnet," "Guilty," and "Hang Ten." This CD has 23 songs on it!! It roxx.

While 'Unquiet Grave 3' had its moments they were unfortunately scattered with ridiculous amounts of filler. I found myself programming the songs I actually enjoyed and then disregarding the rest. One thing I've always loved about this series, though, is how you really get your money's worth with 2-discs that sometimes contain an upwards of 15 songs each, and at an incredibly affordable price too! But still, I would rather have 10 GREAT songs as opposed to having to search for the good ones. However, here on 'Unquiet Grave 4' they have vastly improved on that problem and I am very impressed with the selections picked for this latest volume. It's certainly not flawless, and though the more ethereal "Sweet Side" (CD2) sounds a wee bit rushed to me, like it was quickly thrown together, CD1 ("Bitter Side") is the perfect example of what a Goth/Industrial compilation SHOULD sound like! The songs flow together seamlessly and, for the most part, are very upbeat. The range of style is also very eclectic. You have your obvious groups, such as Lacuna Coil playing a hypnotic rock ballad on "Ghost Woman and the Hunter" and The Gathering on "Debris", but there's also some lesser known groups featured here as well that have just as much talent to offer to the Gothic subgenre. Most notable tracks include "Wonderland (No Illusions Remix)" by The Morticians (think synthy future-pop); "Frozen" by Celldweller (an aggressive yet catchy electronic rock song similar to the likes of Orgy); "The Flower That Sears in Silence" by How Like A Winter (melodic death metal); and the surprisingly cheery alternative-Goth anthem, "Vote For Love" by Tiamat.

All in all this is a worthy addition to anyone's Goth collection.

This is the best way to get into indie/goth music. The track selections on here are completely amazing. There's hardly a track on here that I was displeased with. This compilation is like a gateway drug when it comes to underground music!

You've gotta here this...

Jason Myers has assembled two discs that (finally) match the quality of the first "Unquiet Grave". For one thing, some of these bands are already known outside the goth community. The bold decision to NOT include a Bauhaus track is a sign of Cleopatra's confidence in this compilation. The gatefold is loaded with photos and bios of each band/artist.

Disc One:
After a meandering opening track, "The Ghost Woman and The Hunter" is one of Lacuna Coil's best songs. Mortiis's "Monolith" sounds like the darkest thing Bryan Ferry would ever perform. Tiamat's "Vote for Love" belongs on a Judith (past-tense New York goth band) album. Birthday Massacre channels the Human League with better vocals on the insanely danceable "Horror Show". I think Celldweller ("Frozen") is Scott Klay from Circle of Dust, and he has probably influenced Android Lust. If you like techno, Razed in Black (Am I 2 Blame?) is always a good fit. Five weaker techno (and one black metal) tracks round out the disc.

Disc Two:
Peter Ulrich's "At Mortlake" is refreshing after all the electronics of Disc One. Black Tape for a Blue Girl's ether-folk is always a love-or-hate thing, and "All My Lovers" labors under the same burden. "The Last Day in June" is vintage shoegazer with tons of reverb and pleasant vocals. Steve Von Till is a standout with "Dawn" - death-folk that slows the blood. Gary Numan's "Absolution" sounds like every song on his past three albums. Corpus Delecti ("Dragon Song") revives the "gothityness" I've been missing the past few years. After some more songs that didn't grab me as much, Mototov Elysian offers another highlight with "Today a Mountain Has Been Moved". The vocals are soulful, and the etheral music has some depth. Pariah Project ("Reena") seems to lay their music over news reports of an actual murder. The Lvrs finish the compilation with a Lydia Lynch-esque spoken word piece, "The Sum of Her Parts". This is probably not a good listen for women who've been attacked, or are sensitive to "triggers".

And, on THAT heavy note, enjoy the fourth "Grave".

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.

A nice mixture of different dark styles. From the usual suspects of Spahn Ranch, Ministry, Bauhaus and Switchblade Symphony to some of less well known stars of the dark side.
Some surprising choices from those bands, like choosing a song off of Ministry's keyboard album instead of the even darker stuff that was to follow.

While most of the people buying it probably already have a lot of what's here, the things you don't make it worth it. If you like Darkwave, industrial/goth, etc., etc. it's well worth the price.

I suppose it's difficult to please fans of Goth, who tend to look on the gloomy side of things by definition, but I think this collection is very good! There are four CDs in a nice case and the extensive liner notes are quite informative and entertaining.

Here you'll find cuts from Alien Sex Fiend, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, Magenta, Die Krupps, Mission UK and many others, many of them on a compilation or for US distribution for the first time. Of course not all of your favorite groups will be here and you would undoubtedly have put on a different song than the one selected, but with the great range of music and the great written information, chances are you will learn something as well as discover a few new favorite groups.

If you're unfamiliar with the who's who in melodic metal nowadays, you owe it to yourself to pick up one or two of these Metal Dreams CDs, courtesy of Nuclear Blast, the best metal label on the planet. Vol. 1 features 17 metal ballads, branching into the genres of neo-classical power metal (Hammerfall, Stratovarius, Sinner), symphonic gothic metal (Therion, Amorphis) and melodic death metal (Hypocrisy, Dismal Euphony). Personal favorite cuts come from Primal Fear, Love Like Blood, Therion, Lacrimosa and Hypocrisy. Crematory's "Tale" is probably my overall favorite, with its beautiful keyboard intro and soaring vocals. A few weak tracks prevent this compilation from besting its successor, Metal Dreams Vol. 2, and I think it could have included a few songs from Nightwish or the Gathering. All in all, a very solid effort from Nuclear Blast. I also highly recommend Vol. 2, which is significantly better.

Very good cd, not as thrilling as vol. 2 though... wonder why. A must buy, keeps the legacy going.

I approached this first compilation album from Nuclear Blast with a little bit of trepidation. Bands with names like Sinner, Primal Fear, and Hypocrisy generate images of goth and death metal, but I was pleasantly surprised by my first listen. Each song adds a unique perspective to life and it's obstacles. And most of the songs have seriously depressing lyrics. But the music will just take you away. The songs are all written in a way that can touch one's heart. The best cuts are from Therion, whose "Seawinds" is an enchanted journey through darkness, and from Primal Fear, who provide the "Tears of Rage" for the listener to absorb. The only reason it didn't get 5 stars is at 17 songs, some of them get repetitive, and start to sound alike. But the great songs stand out, and make you hungry for more, which has come in the form of the just released Metal Dreams II. I haven't heard it yet, but if it's half as good as the first, it will be well worth your money. As for Metal Dreams 1, it's a must have for any metal fan who doesn't mind a little bit of melody with their doom.

It had very dark tones which I liked, but some of the music was very repetitive. Still, pretty good.

This was my first purchase of Witchcraft, and I was blessed.
The CD automaticly captured my sole, and spoke through my
heart. It was a magickal work of art, dedicated to remembering
the "Old Ways", and enhancing the spirit of the witch.

Aside from a few ridiculous vampire-wannabe bands and some irrelevant
aspiring clones that have given black metal a bad name, Cradle of Filth
is truly responsible for starting fashion trends, fake teeth, infantile
imageries and,of course, a style of metal that you either love or hate.
I believe their first 4 albums to be their decent best work, but they
kind of lost me after that. It seemed like the more popular they got,
the more they stagnated. A tribute album was inevitable. The good thing
about this cd is bands like Mirzadeh, Noctuary, Wehrwolfe, Born of thorns,
Willow Wisp and especially Kekal, who did their respective covers and
not only sounded almost as good as the original, but they added something
slightly different to make things absorbing. The bad, well, pretty much
the rest of the compilation. Some of those vocalists were trying to hard
to sound like Danni, but failed miserably, while the other bands were
either badly covering an already mediocre song or butchering a good one.
Buy at own risk!

Well hooooooly shiznit! After reviewing that God forsaken terrible AFI tribute, I went in search of other tributes of groups I enjoyed, only expecting to be let down..some (NIN tributes) did. But, this one, the tribute to Cradle of Filth, definantly did NOT let me down! I didn't listen to this expecting or even hoping that the groups on here sounded remotely close to Cradle of Filth, infact I prayed that they wouldn't. It's a good thing they don't really, either. Anyways, yes this is a good tribute, a really good tribute. DDT do a top notch cover of the Cradle cover "No Time to Cry." I enjoy it alot. The Wehrwolfe cover for "Principle of Evil Made Flesh" is also quite good, if not that, one of the best covers on here. Serpents Aria doing "Born in a Burial Gown" kind of bothered the living Hell out of me for awhile, because it's just...instrumentally sped the Hell up and sounded so different. But after awhile, I got used to it. Kaul's version of "Suicide and Other Comforts" is quite good, but sounds really nothing like the original. And despite what another reviwer had said, Dark Army's rendition of "From the Cradle to Enslave" is an okay track, while I won't say it's great, it still is quite ok, not terrible or anything.
All in all, Cradle fans should get this souly to see how Cradle of Filth have inspired many bands out there, and how well they sound being inspired. This cd is 80% good, but yes, some of the songs are quite pointless. Get it only if you're a devoted Cradle fan looking to hear some decently played covers. But I urge you, do NOT be looking to hear things that sound exactly like Cradle of Filth, you won't find them on this tribute. Infact, you won't find anything sounding exactly like a band, on ANY tribute for that matter. Tributes are ment for renditions by a band, while yes they perform the song, they perform it THEIR OWN WAY, not the exact same way it was heard on the original artist's cd.

These bands are all top-notch! It's hard to believe they are underground bands! They all added their own identity to the CRADLE tracks! DDT even did a wonderful cover of a cover, totally crushed it!!!!!! Wehrwolfe tear your head off with the opening track and set the pace for the rest of this ULTRA-HIGH CALIBER CD! Nice packaging as well! I like this better than some of the CRADLE CDs simply because of the production quality, much better sound! Enjoy It, It's Pounding Metal At It's Best!

This album is nothing more than a catalogue of all of the synthpop/futurepop dreck that has been masking itself as goth and industrial music since the late 1990's. Having heard these bands played in clubs I can honestly say that I couldn't tell one from another. Why? Because ALL of them sound exactly the same.They have the same exact beats and same exact angst driven lyrics. I can see why some teens would like them, but if you are above the age of 30,like I am,they will most likely annoy you and make you want to bang your head against a wall.

To those of you who have been calling this music goth please think again. In the 1980's there was a clear distinction between synthpop(Depeche Mode,Book Of Love,etc...) and goth(Christian Death,Sisters Of Mercy). Please don't confuse the two, because they are not the same.

i have been listening to industrial since the early 90's, skinny puppy, thrill kill, REVCO, and i am still heavily into industrial, android lust, i, parasite, ect. I bought this CD to maybe check out some enw industrial bands, man was i suprised at what they are passing off as industril, this is nothing more than the cheesiest, rave till dawn, K-mart clearance bin techno i have ever herd, with vocals on top, this is NOT INDUTSRIAL music, industrial music is dark and noisy and intense, not trance with vocals. If you are looking for some real industrial, email me, i will point you in the right direction, if you are new to industrial DO NOT BUY THIS CD, it is not industrial.

This album singlehandedly introduced me into a thrilling new genre. I'm very eclectic in my tastes, but I had no idea what I was missing before listening to NeoGoth. Being a NIN fan, I thought it might be worth buying, but MY GOD! It is fantastic! If you like any kind of techno, you may find something new here to appreciate.
If you are a neogoth/darkwave/dark electronic fan, you will definitely want this album. Even if you are an industrial/EBM fan, you may find that this album is worth your time. Yes, there are a few artists/songs on here that are gar-bahj. But altogether, it is wicked.

I'm not into Evanescence AT ALL and I heard this cd by coincidence. I only thought Imaginary (Origin) was okay. And as if Evanescence didn't cover My Tourniquet badly enough(yeah it's by SOUL EMBRACED actually), this horrid band must make it even WORSE.
Compared to this, Evanescence is God -and me saying that, says a lot...I kinda dislike Evanescence-..
Suddenly I feel so much more respect for Evanescence, that they arent as horrid as this band...

Not great. The singer's voice is weak and whiny compared to Amy Lee's powerful vocals. But I have to give it two stars for the music. The music is great.

This CD is not nearly as bad as people make it out to be; folks, get over the fact that the singer is someone other than Amy Lee!

Static Heaven definitely has some talent here. The songs My Last Breath, Everybody's Fool, and even Bring Me To Life were done better by Static Heaven, in my opinion. However, the songs Whisper, My Immortal, and Taking Over Me sound better by Evanescence. Also, the bonus Electro remix of BringMeToLife is nothing to get excited over...

All in all, it's a quality cd (and usually cheaper than Fallen).