Unquiet Grave, Vol. 1

 

 

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This was the first real goth cd I actually bought. I'd heard of a few of the bands on it from hanging around the Chamber and the Vault in Atlanta, but I'd never actually gone out and bought a CD like this one. I'm very glad I did! Previously, I had been into Type O Negative, KMFDM, Wumpscut, and the like, however this was an excellent choice to showcase more of the "pure" goth sound, instead of the industrial/metal point of view that I had previously enjoyed.
This CD had me at hello, with the poppy intro of "Eccentricity" by Magenta. I was certainly not expecting to hear something that sounded like it had crawled out of the 80's, however after 5 seconds I knew EXACTLY what gothic synthpop was. This song is truly a diamond in the rough. The next song, by "Slave" by Trance To The Sun is kind of whiny and freeform. Think of it as being the musical equivalent of one of those modern paintings...at least it makes sense to someone, right! After that comes "Vision in Black" by Advent Sleep. I like it when goth has organs in it, just because I like the sound of them, and if you're into the "organ" thing then you won't be disappointed here. Great song. Machine In The Garden offer up a great tune to keep the ball a rollin', and some really Ethereal stuff comes next (I'm not a big fan, but I really enjoy the selections here.) The next highlight here is Gossamer's "Run". Dark and dancable all in one. Definitely made for the clubs, and with amazing lyrics to boot. Jennifer Hope checks in somewhere in this part of the first disc too, her song, "The Sky Is Blushing" is amazing. "The Sky Is Blushing" is a must have for long airplane rides, looking out over the clouds and listening to this song is an unreal experience, if you don't believe in God, you probably will after you try this. Moving right along, the next selection worth mention is "My Sweet Nothing" by Second Skin. This song is simply amazing. Move over Andrew Lloyd Webber, because Second Skin just wrote a new ending for Phantom of the Opera! "Do You Believe In Angles" by The Last Dance is the next song. This song has amazing lyrics and a dancy beat. This is probably the closest to happy goth you'll ever get, and the guitars are a nice touch here, too.
The second disc begins with a song by Rhea's Obsession called "When I Was In My Prime". In all honestly, I haven't listened to this song all the way through in the 2 years I've owned the disc, so I can't really say much about it. I've listened to the intro a few times though, and they did a great job with that. "Crucifixion" by Spiritual Bats is an interesting track. It's kind of similar to the Advent Sleep track on disc one, but the singer has some kind of an accent. It could be spanish or european, I'm not sure, but it's a nice touch to a great song. "Restraining Order" by [someone] Williams comes next, it's only a minute or so long, and this is one of the only weak points on the album. This guy sounds like he's begging the gothic crowd to tell him he has a good voice. Anyway, next is Android Lust. She is simply amazing. This is a very very hard dance track with a melody that sounds like the song from "Unsolved Mysteries", only alot more spooky. If you're into cyberpunkish type of stuff this is right up your alley, definitely one of the high points of the record. The next honorable mention is "Il Regno Del Vento" by Burning Gates zips right along, and the next goodie is "Butterfly" by Tapping The Vein. Intersting lyrics and incredibly strong female vox give this dark grunge band a well earned spot on this disc's roster. Diary of Dreams show up with "You -Das You", a dancy track with some good mixing of instruments and great vocals. Bella Morte have an organ laden somber dance romp with "Funeral Night", which is another highlight of the CD. Bella Morte is definetly going places. The only problem with this track is the consistent use of a cowbell, but you only really notice it until you've listened to the song 1000 times like I have. Some instrumental Lycia-ish thing closes out the record, and is, again, a song I haven't listened to all the way through yet.
The bottom line is: Get this CD! I got it at Newbury Comics in Boston for 7 bucks. You can't beat that. It's priced very well, and well worth the price. This is a great who's who (also a great what's what if you're a newbie like I was) of gothic/darkwave/and ethereal music. This opened some new doors for me musically, and I'm definitely glad I took a chance on it!

wanting to listen to something different from my usual extreme metal tastes, i tried this album out of pure curiosity. a double album for 11$ so there's nothing much to lose here. with that in mind, i pushed the play button. a couple of hours later came the verdict (please check the rating). I barely know about no more than 2 bands out of the 32 featured on this compilation but at least 20 of them can make some really awesome music; a quite high "quality material" ratio for a compilation. this is goth, alright, but it might be closer to a blend of dark pop and techno then to the usual "Gothic" flavor of Type o negative and the likes but still this is an essentially dark music playing here and it's sure to satisfy any gloomy-minded sicko like me.

The CDs are both quite diverse in the music they present, but lack a certain something. Call it consistency, call it progession from one track to the next, I can't quite place it, but something came up missing for me. While some of the tracks are very, VERY good, those that are not worth the time aren't quite paid for by those that are.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Alright, Cleopatra - you NAILED it with this one
One of the best dark music samplers of the year. The low price almost seems like a mistake, but it's a terrific deal. Read more

Published on Jan 31 2002 by Scott Sweet

5.0 out of 5 stars Unearthing The Gems
CD: The Unquiet Grave Vol. I
Band: Various Artists
Reviewed By: Mike Ventarola

The Unquiet Grave compilation released by Cleopatra Records remains one of the most... Read more

Published on Nov 18 2001 by Mike

4.0 out of 5 stars Cleopatra does something right
This is a compilation whose example should, in a perfect world, be followed by all record labels for all genres - collect a large collection of songs by unknown artists and sell... Read more

Published on April 19 2000 by Serge

5.0 out of 5 stars Music from the Gothic, Darkwave and Ethereal Underground
-Music from the Gothic, Darkwave and Ethereal Underground. 2 CDs, 32 great dark gothic tunes, 140 mins. Less famous artists, but high quality. Read more

Published on Feb 4 2000 by Ryo Kirimura

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