Beauty in Darkness Vol. 3 – Review

Beauty in Darkness

Vol. 3 (Nuclear Blast)
by Scott Hefflon

I can’t get enough of these comps, although I do have a tendency to get them confused. Beauty in Darkness Vol. 3? Call on the Dark2? Dark, Scary Music to Drip Wax on Your Bound Lover and Rut Like Savage Beasts To Vol. 666? Who knows, who cares? This is the shit. Part black metal, part Goth rock/metal, all excitingly scary and sexy. For anyone into darkwave, Goth, or whatever else they’re calling it these days, ya gotta get this. Perhaps it’ll turn you onto a great band, perhaps it’ll just be nice to stop playing those lousy Cleopatra comps all the time cuz ya can’t find anything else. Well, here’s another option, kiddo. Sure, half this material stems from metal (or is metal straight-up, no ice)… like Goth figurehead Marilyn Manson doesn’t use distorted guitars more prominently than keyboards? Get off it, it’s all metal. Anyway…

While a good percentage of Beauty in Darkness Vol. 3‘s 76 minutes is moody, dark’n’dreamy’n’danceable, trying to have an intimate moment with Cradle of Filth or Dimmu Borgir screeching at you is kinda tough. Unless you like it that way. If so, throw on FireStarter (Century Media). On the whole, Beauty in Darkness Vol. 3‘ll give you something new to play on repeat for hours on end. And the loop is long at 76 minutes per playing. Hell, I rolled around on a floor for three hours, knocking over drinks and ashtrays (candles were smartly placed on higher surfaces I’m somewhat ashamed to say we never explored, and the kitties wisely made a run for it early on) to Bauhaus’ “Bela Legosi’s Dead” single. Three hours, one song, didn’t notice. Ditto with “Cry Little Sister” from The Lost Boys soundtrack, but I think I’m dating myself here (though I wasn’t at the time – ha, ha!). I think the point here is that you should buy this and all dark and moody comps like it to spice up yer sex life. Really, how many times can you play those same Type O Negative CDs? Bands to fuck like wild beasts to: Liv Kristine featuring Nick Holmes of Paradise Lost, Crematory, My Dying Bride, Godgory, Him, Sculpture, Moonspell, EverEve, Cradle of Filth, Darkseed, Dimmu Borgir, Anathema, Daemonarch, and Dismay Euphony. And yes, for those of you into such details, there are demo versions, live versions, and previously unreleased tracks here.
(PO Box 43618 Philadelphia, PA 19106)