Search - Various Artists :: Beauty in Darkness 4

Best comp I've heard in a few months

08/07/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Being an aficanado of bands like In Flames and Dark Tranquillity, I purchased this CD on a whim. At first, I thought of this compilation as a spectrum of musical genius. At one end, I was enchanted with the beautiful ballad "Walking in the Air." On the other end, you have the songs "Therein" and "Only for the Weak," which throw me into a state of euphoria. But the rest of the album had me sitting there twiddling my thumbs wandering I was to do. Well, I gave the album a few more turns in the CD player and to my surprise, I was hooked. The best songs on the album would have to be "Sympathy for the Devil," "Only for the Weak," Enter Vril Ye," "Therein," "Aoede" and "Walking in the Air." All the rest of the songs are alright. The only blemish would be "New World Order," which would be a killer song if it wasn't warped and left alone. So there you have it, not an instant classic, but a decent compilation that will either keep your head banging or your mind wondering."

Great Gothic Compilation

andrew smith | tuscaloosa, AL United States | 12/15/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"On first listen of this compilation a year ago, I was hooked, and have been since. I was already familiar with "Therein" and the mesmerizing "Aeode". Most of the other tracks pulled me in instantly, namely "only for the weak", "Stars" and "Walking in the air". In Flames' tune is insanely catchy, and Christina Scabbia and Tarja give angelic performances in their respective tracks. "In the Heat of the Night" is a nice cover with duelling female/clean male vocals, and Love Like Blood keep the Sisters of Mercy end of the spectrum alive on "Remember." Some of the other tunes are not as instantly accessible but prove perfect for those dark nights of the soul, examples being Pain's "Dark fields of Pain" and Saturnus' "Noir." Only skippable tracks are New World Orders awful clubmix and Lacrimosa's tune (but only because I don't know German). Take away the ill-suited growl vocals on Macbeth's "Forever..." and you would have a pleasing atmo-metal dirge. Overall, though, about 3/4 of this album totally kicks."