Amongst ‘bands of the moment’ this collection includes the new Rammstein single ‘Mein Tiel’, and the titles tracks of Killswitch Engage’s highly-rated The End Of Heartache, plus the first taste of Cradle of Filth’s Nymphettamine.

It’s not all new tracks, and given those old ones can’t be ‘inspired by’ the film perhaps they’re actually featured in it. I’m talking staple album tracks from the likes of Lacuna Coil, The Cure and Massive Attack. The last I thought would jar a bit against the other material, but actually fits in quite well at the end after a Rob Zombie remix. Deftones’ cover of Duran Duran’s ‘The Chauffeur’ is available elsewhere, but also interesting enough to deserve a mention.

It’s the promise of rare or exclusive tracks that really make these compilations potentially exciting though. In that respect, there are several new versions of tracks, but only A Perfect Circle really come off well. Rob Zombie’s ‘Girl On Fire’ remix isn’t anything special, and the voc up edit of 36 Crazyfists’ ‘Bloodwork’ is barely distinguishable from the original (though at least that was good enough any way).

Cold’s ‘Alice-in-Staind’-wannabe rock is just as dreary in an acoustic version, but then I never liked the band much – and the same can be said for CKY and Thrice, so it’s not a particular condemnation of what appears here. Overall, the album’s certainly mostly good – probably a dozen or so of the eighteen tracks – but unfortunately most of the highlights are already or soon available elsewhere, while the rare and more exclusive material is largely a disappointment.

(3½/5)

Release Date: 30 August 2004

---

Resident Evil 2: Apocalypse