Why am I reviewing, on a progressive-rock website, an album consisting of goth-metal songs remixed as techno/dance? Two reasons: Lion Music sent the CD to DPRP for review; and I like it, dammit!

Satyrian, under that name and their former name and former configuration, Dance Macabre, have released several albums; this one features remixes of six songs from their last album (and the only one they’ve released as Satyrian), Eternitas. I should begin by saying (as if I had to) that this album is not for everyone. It may not even be for everyone who likes gothic metal or everyone who likes techno music, though I’m going to recommend it to such people. It’s the combination of those two genres, though, that makes the CD very interesting, even unique. Were it not for the two female singers (Kemi Vita and Judith Stüber), I’m not sure the combination would work, because the growly vocals of Roman Schönsee, which also feature prominently, sound pretty bizarre in the techno setting; but those lovely female voices hold the whole thing together.

Not having heard the original album, I am, I guess, at a bit of a disadvantage, because I can’t compare these songs to their originals. However, it may be that I think as well as I do of this album because I don’t know the original one. Surely if a techno remix album is better than the original, the band is in trouble? So I’ll talk about this album only on its own terms. I’ll start by pointing out that there are three versions of the title song of this album (though which came first – the title or the decision to include three mixes of The Dark Gift? I don’t know). The album’s final track is the original version of the song from Eternitas, and it’s also my favourite. Interestingly, though it doesn’t have the same insistent dance beat throughout, even this version is propulsive and peppy . Like the most effective of the other songs, it features a balance between Schönsee’s growly vocals and the women’s ethereal ones; also like many of the others, it’s heavy on keyboard work, most particularly a lovely but simple piano but also a stabbing Eighties-sounding synthesizer.

But the remixes of that song are good, too, each offering a different enough take on the song to justify the three versions’ inclusion on one short album. Of the other songs, the best is probably Eternitas (on which Schönsee’s voice reminds me very much of that of Christofer Johnsson of the mighty Therion). The techno beat slows down two-thirds of the way through this one, too, and we get a very tasty guitar solo – a nice treat on an album such as this. Another particularly good track is No Tears, No Embrace, which has a Middle Eastern feel to it and which, for all its insistent percussion, is haunting and effective. And Ewigkeit, the last proper track (the original The Dark Gift is a bonus track), eschews the dance beat (though not the electronic percussion) entirely in favour of gorgeous singing by Vita and Stüber – very nice indeed.

So, yes, I like this CD. Is it “progressive,” even given the somewhat liberal range of definitions we allow that term? Hell no! But it’s fresh, fun, even in an odd way experimental. And I’ve listened to the damned thing two dozen times already with pleasure, so I can add that it’s infectious. If you’re interested in Goth music, symphonic metal, or techno, you’ll probably like this album. At the very least, it’ll certainly stand out from anything else in your collection, no matter how large or eclectic that collection is.

Conclusion: 8 out of 10