Gothika CD

2cds Mixed By DJ Rib. Godhead, Razed In Black,Damned,Christia

Audio Mixer: DJ Rib.
Audio Remixers: Front Line Assembly; Julian Beeston ; Pzychobitch; Wayne Hussey.
DJ Rib (Razed in Black, Transmutator) mixes together whatever goth the Cleopatra label had readily at hand for the double-disc set Gothika. Anyone -- goth fan or not -- would have to give massive props to Rib for being able to smoothly transition this mish-mash of tracks. Unlike his This Is Neo-Goth mix, Gothika dips all the way back to the glory days of goth when the guitar ruled supreme. Red Lorry Yellow Lorry and .45 Grave's tracks weren't recorded with the club in mind, but the DJ does an excellent job of dropping them in a way that not only makes sense, but also serves to keep the excitement building. The guy doesn't even take the easy way out by putting the non-club music at the beginning but after the electronic stomp of Athamay, Nekromantix, and Godhead. It makes for an excellent first disc, one that isn't matched by the much more obvious collection of club music on the second disc. The floor-fillers for eyeliner-boys stomp along soberly until Rib closes the set with five excellent numbers, raising the excitement level notably. The tracks are almost entirely pulled from Cleopatra and Zoth Ommog's back catalog, so you can't blame Rib entirely for the lack of quality control. How he handles the tracks is another thing. If the set list excites you at all you're in for a treat. ~ David Jeffries