This lenghty compilation is a follow-up to the Pentagram-themed compilation released by the label Quartier 23, and is also the second-last part of the series. This time around the listener might have a more clear vision of what is to follow due to the more evident theme, and if this is not the case I can sum it up: the compilation features almost eighty minutes of ritualistic, hypnotic, gothic, and even in some way erotic soundscapes.
Urfyr kicks things into motion with it's dark psytrance, and even though I found it to be too minimalistic it does set the mood right for the rest of the release. The follow-up by Barbarossa Umtrunk is a crude but appealing martial industrial -piece that consists of cut-up loops and simple melodies. The backing horns and the spoken vocals make the song turn constantly more aggressive, which makes it interesting to follow its progress. After the aggression, the third track from the group that's nowdays known as Schattenspiel sounds even calmer than it actually is. It's a pleasing mixture of neoclassical, industrial and electro, but despite its capabilities and promising first image it doesn't seem to really develop during its lenght. It's intriquing but not fulfilling, and thus a disappointment.
ATF seems to suffer from a too low volume level once again. This piece of ritual music consists of various organic metallic beats and clangs played so that they progress with variation and unpredictability to keep the listener's interest up, but still withholding enough repetition in their patterns to create some stability and overall sense that keeps the track from becoming a mess. In addition to the above, the track has some sharp and also metallic background droning to fill the soundscape a bit. It all sounds very minimal and I bet a lot of people will skip it due to it standing out after the previous tracks, but it doesn't remove the fact that it's an intriquing listen. Equally bare comes Void Of Course with very minimalistic and calm seven minutes of ambient music. The song relies on some waving ambience and simplistic repetition to create some rhythm and to deepen the trance. It's not the most innovative one for sure, but it's safe sounds and calm nature make it a pleasing listen nonetheless.
Next up is Emme Ya. The song's steady, really powerful and violent mid-pace beat gives it an even oppressive feel, amplified by an echoing horror-esque horn-synth loop that sound disturbing due to its illogical and even otherwordly nature. The artist also added some hoarse whispers in the mix, but in my opinion they only took the scariness away by adding a human voice to the atmosphere. It could be quite a bit better, as its flow and overall atmosphere lack in cohesion, but it is still promising. Akronia's noisy and harsh, droning wall of sound takes over the listener with it's irregularly pulsating and powerfully waving nature, and the harsh and distorted vocals mixed in the drone give the track an even more magical and appealing atmosphere despite it's hostile and unfriendly elements and soundscape. This one really appealed to me.
Stylistically a bit similar to the above comes Kristus Kut. Tribal beats mixed with a more or less annoying static sound begin and go on faster and faster, until they calm down a bit and give way to the CD's first porn sample and some vast and harsh background droning. The echoed percussions, the moaning couple, and the most likely guitar-based droning vary in patterns and volume levels throughout the ten minutes, and that's pretty much it. Its variation, crudely crafted soundscape (especially when it comes to the percussions) and experimental progression makes the track quite difficult to grasp, but the powerful drone-parts really saved the track for me. It's not the greatest cut on the compilation, but it's one of the most experimental and surprising ones. Eight minutes of loop-based electronics creating a nicely layered but still unified whole of calmness, deep rhythms and mystique are to follow, performed by Z-Axis. Similar to the fifth track, this one is good listen and of overall good quality, but overall plays it too safe and thus doesn't really rise up to shine.
Two more songs to go. First comes mixture of programmed drums, tribal synths and soft and simplistic bass sound creating a varying and partly rather bizarre backdrop for some really raw electonic guitar notes and improvisation-likes, along with deep, mystical and close to spoken vocals on top of everything - you have now met Gothick. The song is a mixture of different rhythms and sound sources colliding to create a really mystical, partly psychedelic and occult song which defies logic in many ways, and topping it with some gothic rock-esque vocals doesn't make the listening experience any easier - even though they bring a dimension of catchiness to the song. The vocals could be more in the back in my opinion, but otherwise I can't really comment the track. If you're looking for actual music it might annoy you to death, but if you're looking for something new with a deep occult atmosphere it just might work for you. It takes quite a few listens to get into the track, but for me it was worth it - even though i still can't quite grasp how i feel about the band. dead.circuit presents a repetitive and dark piece that's partly based on spoken vocals in the background. Its percussion work is minimalistic, as are the synth patterns, but these sounds team up really well in creating a calm but still interesting darkwave-tune. It doesn't really lift off at any point, but it doesn't matter as the track serves as the perfect way to end the compilation with - especially due to it's slightly noisy ending.
Overall, it's unlikely that a person will appreciate all the songs on the compilation, as they vary from highly experimental to safe ones and from noisy ones to really calm ambient-ones - and the compilation is really lenghty when thinking of the variation. On the other hand, it does present a vide variety of artists working on a same theme and thus shows how much the artists' visions actually differ from each other, and might even widen your perspectives this way. Depending on which of the two is more important to you, you should either add or subtract a point from the album's grade.