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Fxxk The Mainstream

What does 30 euros get you these days? Well in this case it gets you a 4CD set of Gothic-Industrial from Alfa Matrix in partnership with Vampirefreaks.com

In the booklet which comes with the box set, Jet, founder of Vampirefreaks.com states that:

"In the past few years we have seen the gothic/industrial scene slowly declining in popularity. Our club nights are closing down and disappearing, industrial CD sales are going down ... our future as a community has really looked bleak at times."

Well listening to this set of CD's all I can say is thank Fxxk for that.

Don't get me wrong. I am not a hater when it comes to EBM.

Nitzer Ebb's bleak industrial electronic take on Killing Joke style late punk is unsurpassed to my mind. Recently I was pleasantly surprised by elements of Endzeit Bunkertracks ( Act II ) (a better compilation). I enjoy aspects of EBM / Psytrance crossover like Implant. I smile at the un-dead fused plodding synth-pop of Zombie Girl. I rave about the the minimal body music of 'Ebbheads' Motor. Yes I am mostly a Batcave / Art-School Punk Rock kind of guy, but that doesn't stop me appreciating other stuff out there too.

And you know, there is plenty of stuff on these CD's that I could like. Mix it up on random with crossfade on your MP3 player and you could start your own EBM'ish club. I might even drive to it. But very little of it seems to be going anywhere. Do we really still want to hear Dark Trance with distorted vocals? The same bass lines? The same epic synths? The same Matrix Industrial Synth-Rock anthems? Maybe some folks do.

There is nothing technically wrong with this compilation. There are some tracks that stand out like Proyecto Mirage's 'Big Holy Machine', Implant's 'Don't Feed the Robots', and a maybe half a dozen more you might already have on other compilations.

Maybe I am being cruel. I could put the good stuff from these CD's on one CD. Maybe others would say the same but pick a different set of tracks. Maybe that is what a scene sampler should be? But compared to the New Dark Age samplers there just isn't enough here to suggest that the gothic-industrial scene has much life in it. It plods on, shambling, crying out for brains to do something original and exciting again.

In the late 80's Goth-Rock went stale, caught up in stadium rock and drum machine dullness. But the musical influences from the first wave continued in the wider Indie music scene. Gothic-Industrial has definitely gone stale, detached from its experimental Post-Punk roots much like Goth-Rock was. There is good industrial dancing stuff out there, but now you have to look outside the scene.

(2/5)

Fxxk The Mainstream:

CD1
101. XPQ-21 . jesus was gay
102. THE LOVECRAVE . little suicide
103. HELALYN FLOWERS . e-race generation *
104. REAPER . twisted trophy hunter (vampire freaks edit) *
105. SEABOUND vs MINDLESS FAITH . domination vs. bound *
106. CELLDWELLER . switchback
107. CRISK. . beute *
108. SKINNY PUPPY . politikil
109. LEAETHER STRIP . dirty little secret (bite & suck edit) *
110. CYAN . holocaust of love (remix) *
111. TAMTRUM . tantrum (dancefloor mix) *
112. SERVO.HATRED . genesis *
113. DAS ICH. opferzeit
114. ENGELMACHER . carrion (edit) *
115. STRAY . break me free (unfixed version) *
116. PROYECTO MIRAGE . big holy machine (alfa mix) *

CD2
201. APOPTYGMA BERZERK . you keep me from breaking apart (IMPLANT mix) *
202. DISKONNEKTED . prayer (v.f. mix) *
203. SEBASTIAN KOMOR . electro body music (freak edit) *
204. KMFDM . free your hate
205. DOPE STARS INC . braindamage
206. STAR INDUSTRY . out of my head *
207. THE BIRTHDAY MASSACRE . violet
208. I:SCINTILLA . cursive eve *
209. EDGE OF DAWN . pray for love (nils schulte remix) *
210. COVENANT . happy man
211. IMPLANT . don't feed the robots (radio edit) *
212. THE CRYSTALLINE EFFECT . when you're asleep (remix) *
213. INTERFACE . nobody's hero (vengeance version) *
214. FRONT 242 . welcome to paradise (live) *
215. MIND:STATE . black angel (f**ked up mix) *
216. SUICIDE COMMANDO . conspiracy with the devil (INFLAME RESOLUTION remix) *

CD3
301. COLLIDE . tempted (IMPLANT mix) *
302. EMILIE AUTUMN . opheliac
303. THE CRÜXSHADOWS . sophia (radio edit)
304. PROPULSION . dreams in black & white (spanish version) *
305. FROZEN PLASMA . warmongers (dj edit) *
306. MONOSEX . sex in limousine *
307. ZOMBIE GIRL . gonna getcha (freak edit) *
308. TEMPLE OF TEARS . wreck me (radio edit) *
309. SAM . 24 stunden (7 days a week mix) *
310. NECRO FACILITY . jigsaw
311. ANGELSPIT . 100% (COMBICHRIST rawmix)
312. REGENERATOR . offering *
313. JESUS ON EXTASY . assassinate me
314. FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM . straight to the light
315. KLUTAE . monkey say monkey do (spank the monkey mix) *
316. UNTER NULL . this is your end (HELALYN FLOWERS mix) *

CD4
401. 32CRASH . isomodia *
402. AYRIA . six seconds on all sides *
403. MILCOM . neuropa (thomas jaldemark mix)
404. MANKIND IS OBSOLETE . still right here *
405. VNV NATION . nemesis (divine command version) *
406. NOISUF-X . hit me hard (club mix) *
407. :WUMPSCUT: . we believe we believe
408. DIE FORM . relics *
409. NEBULA-H . 69 *
410. NEIKKA RPM . girls with no fear *
411. PSY'AVIAH . in silence *
412. FADERHEAD . dirtygrrrls / dirtybois (electro for the masses remix) *
413. DIORAMA . exit the grey
414. MORTIIS . underdog (ZOMBIE GIRL mix)
415. FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY . unleashed
416. GRENDEL . void malign (AMDUSCIA mix) *

(*) exclusive tracks or mixes

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