VARIOUS CYBERPOLIS - A DARKER DANCEFLOOR VOL 2 DOUBLE COMPILATION CYBERPOLIS RELEASE: JUNE 3, 2002 REVIEW: SEPTEMBER 4, 2002

This is a compilation aimed directly at the dance floor, and features two discs filled with stomping beats and bass lines.
I don't know about you, but I'm starting to get a very bad feeling about the state of EBM today. The first thing that strikes me when listening to this compilation is that this genre is really going down the drain. That sounds rather pessimistic, but I'll try to explain.
There are 28 different artists on this release, including God Module, Feindflug, Run Level Zero, E/Craft and Accessory. A terrifyingly high percentage of them are sounding astonishingly similar. Where has the originality gone, I wonder? Simple semi techno dancebeats, fast bass lines, distortion, keyboard presets and growling vocals. Apparently this is the way EBM should sound today, and it's pretty sad that so few make something new and fresh with it. Of course, all these are dance tracks, but surely more variety can be squeezed out of electronic devices capable of producing any sound imaginable?
As always there are tracks that stand out above the rest, but they are scarce. H_M_B sound a bit more sophisticated, and so does Assemblage 23, but those offer old tracks, and provides little incentive to buy this compilation. Buy it if you desperately need some tracks to play on your club, but otherwise don't bother. Please.

JOHAN CARLSSON