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It's been years now that my gaming group and I, in our various World of Darkness chronicles, have commented that we wished White Wolf would make a soundtrack for the game. After all, we'd made plenty of soundtracks for our own; my glove compartment is littered with the mix tapes we made to encapsulate storylines, settings and characters to our games. We had plenty of suggestions for White Wolf, already, in terms of songs to use -- but they went and made one without us. Those dogs.

The people to whom they went, however, were Dancing Ferret Discs, an apparently very groovy collection of folks who handle recording for some equally groovy bands. Approached by White Wolf, they set out to make a compilation CD of thirteen songs, one for each clan, each by a different group, all appropriate to the gothic-punk world of White Wolf's WoD games. I was a bit skeptical at first, fearing that it was just going to be a collection of bad goth bands. When my CD arrived from DFD and I popped it in the changer, however, I was very pleasantly surprised.

One of the first things that struck me about the disc was the variety of "sounds" that had been assembled. I recognized a couple of the band names (Nosferatu, Mission UK), and knew I could count on them for quality music. The "unknowns" (in my world, anyway) were the most entertaining part of the CD, however. The disc gets off to a strong start with the Cruxshadows' own "Deception," representing Clan Ravnos. It's dark, with some very appropriately ambient lyrics, while remaining fast-paced and engaging. Best of all, you can understand what the singer is saying on the first run through, unlike so many other groups in the goth/electronica/industrial meta-genre. From there, the CD winds through a variety of styles (Seraphim Shock's heavy industrial sound, Paralysed Age's almost Erasure-esque upbeat goth-pop feel, Sunshine Blind's less-polished-but-more-sincere piece, and Beborn Beton's utterly delicious orgy of musical styles borrowing from Depeche Mode, the Cure, Erasure, the Chemical Brothers, and others), and as one listens to each song, one can't help but feel that yes, each song is appropriate to the clan it represents. My biggest worries were what sort of music would represent Clan Malkavian, my favorite (and the most often poorly handled) of the thirteen clans, but Carfax Abbey's "Soul to Bleed" was powerful, heady and appropriate to the clan of madness.

To be sure, there are some tracks that stand out more readily in my mind. Of the thirteen, my favorites would be:

"Cold from Fever," Sunshine Blind (Ventrue)
"Hemoglobin," Beborn Beton (Assamite)
"Soul to Bleed," Carfax Abbey (Malkavian)
"Bloodsucker 2000," Paralysed Age (Tzimisce)
"Deception," The Cruxshadows (Ravnos)

I was surprised at how much more quickly I was drawn to the, as I said, "unknowns" on the CD than I was to two previous faves, Nosferatu and Mission UK. However, it's all good. The talent assembled does, to be sure, comprise some members of some goth bands who really wish they'd been born fifteen years earlier so they could have jammed with Siouxsie and the Banshees or Lori Yates, but hey -- so do I.

The real test of this CD, and the bands on it, however, in terms of the quality of the music presented, is in whether or not one goes in search of other work by the featured artist. Since getting this one CD, I've acquired two Sunshine Blind CD's, four Beborn Beton CD's, and have one apiece of Paralysed Age and The Cruxshadows winging their way towards my mailbox, thanks to the wonders of the WWW.

The other test of this is whether the songs themselves feel appropriate to the game, the setting, or the clans -- after all, according to the title, this is the music perhaps Helena herself would choose for the Succubus Club, a landmark from the now-classic Chicago by Night series for V:tM. The answer to that is, I think, a yes. "Blind in Darkness" seemed perhaps only vaguely appropriate for Clan Tremere, but "Superficial" is a flawless choice for Clan Toreador. Overall, I felt eleven of the thirteen tracks were dead-on choices for their respective clans.

The final test was when I popped it in the stereo while my players were gathering and settling down for a session of Vampire. When asked what I was putting in, my response of the new soundtrack for the game, from White Wolf and Dancing Ferret, earned a couple of snorts of expectant derision from my players. When it was done, though, everyone nodded their head and agreed: it worked. It even added to the game -- new music, fitting for its topic, and appropriate for the setting. How can you go wrong with that combination?

Don't be fooled, though -- unless you're a fan of goth, industrial, dark electronica and the like, you're going to be bored to tears. If you're one of those people who whines that too much Cure or Depeche Mode or Metallica gets played during Vampire games, steer clear of this CD. If you like to hear new tunes put together well and coming, considering the number of artists on it, at a yummy price, I suggest you trundle on over to Dancing Ferret Discs' site for the disc, and have a gander. They have band information, CD information, and samples of each song (and whereas White Wolf is listing the CD as out of stock, DFD can ship it right away).

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Music from the Succubus Club: a Soundtrack to Vampire: the Masquerade
Author: Various Category: Music Company/Publisher: Dancing Ferret Discs Line: Vampire: the Masquerade Cost: $14.99 Page count: n/a Playtest Review by Michael G. Williams on 04/29/00. Genre tags: Fantasy Modern_day Horror Espionage Conspiracy Vampire Gothic Diceless	It's been years now that my gaming group and I, in our various World of Darkness chronicles, have commented that we wished White Wolf would make a soundtrack for the game. After all, we'd made plenty of soundtracks for our own; my glove compartment is littered with the mix tapes we made to encapsulate storylines, settings and characters to our games. We had plenty of suggestions for White Wolf, already, in terms of songs to use -- but they went and made one without us. Those dogs. The people to whom they went, however, were Dancing Ferret Discs, an apparently very groovy collection of folks who handle recording for some equally groovy bands. Approached by White Wolf, they set out to make a compilation CD of thirteen songs, one for each clan, each by a different group, all appropriate to the gothic-punk world of White Wolf's WoD games. I was a bit skeptical at first, fearing that it was just going to be a collection of bad goth bands. When my CD arrived from DFD and I popped it in the changer, however, I was very pleasantly surprised. One of the first things that struck me about the disc was the variety of "sounds" that had been assembled. I recognized a couple of the band names (Nosferatu, Mission UK), and knew I could count on them for quality music. The "unknowns" (in my world, anyway) were the most entertaining part of the CD, however. The disc gets off to a strong start with the Cruxshadows' own "Deception," representing Clan Ravnos. It's dark, with some very appropriately ambient lyrics, while remaining fast-paced and engaging. Best of all, you can understand what the singer is saying on the first run through, unlike so many other groups in the goth/electronica/industrial meta-genre. From there, the CD winds through a variety of styles (Seraphim Shock's heavy industrial sound, Paralysed Age's almost Erasure-esque upbeat goth-pop feel, Sunshine Blind's less-polished-but-more-sincere piece, and Beborn Beton's utterly delicious orgy of musical styles borrowing from Depeche Mode, the Cure, Erasure, the Chemical Brothers, and others), and as one listens to each song, one can't help but feel that yes, each song is appropriate to the clan it represents. My biggest worries were what sort of music would represent Clan Malkavian, my favorite (and the most often poorly handled) of the thirteen clans, but Carfax Abbey's "Soul to Bleed" was powerful, heady and appropriate to the clan of madness. To be sure, there are some tracks that stand out more readily in my mind. Of the thirteen, my favorites would be: "Cold from Fever," Sunshine Blind (Ventrue) "Hemoglobin," Beborn Beton (Assamite) "Soul to Bleed," Carfax Abbey (Malkavian) "Bloodsucker 2000," Paralysed Age (Tzimisce) "Deception," The Cruxshadows (Ravnos) I was surprised at how much more quickly I was drawn to the, as I said, "unknowns" on the CD than I was to two previous faves, Nosferatu and Mission UK. However, it's all good. The talent assembled does, to be sure, comprise some members of some goth bands who really wish they'd been born fifteen years earlier so they could have jammed with Siouxsie and the Banshees or Lori Yates, but hey -- so do I. The real test of this CD, and the bands on it, however, in terms of the quality of the music presented, is in whether or not one goes in search of other work by the featured artist. Since getting this one CD, I've acquired two Sunshine Blind CD's, four Beborn Beton CD's, and have one apiece of Paralysed Age and The Cruxshadows winging their way towards my mailbox, thanks to the wonders of the WWW. The other test of this is whether the songs themselves feel appropriate to the game, the setting, or the clans -- after all, according to the title, this is the music perhaps Helena herself would choose for the Succubus Club, a landmark from the now-classic Chicago by Night series for V:tM. The answer to that is, I think, a yes. "Blind in Darkness" seemed perhaps only vaguely appropriate for Clan Tremere, but "Superficial" is a flawless choice for Clan Toreador. Overall, I felt eleven of the thirteen tracks were dead-on choices for their respective clans. The final test was when I popped it in the stereo while my players were gathering and settling down for a session of Vampire. When asked what I was putting in, my response of the new soundtrack for the game, from White Wolf and Dancing Ferret, earned a couple of snorts of expectant derision from my players. When it was done, though, everyone nodded their head and agreed: it worked. It even added to the game -- new music, fitting for its topic, and appropriate for the setting. How can you go wrong with that combination? Don't be fooled, though -- unless you're a fan of goth, industrial, dark electronica and the like, you're going to be bored to tears. If you're one of those people who whines that too much Cure or Depeche Mode or Metallica gets played during Vampire games, steer clear of this CD. If you like to hear new tunes put together well and coming, considering the number of artists on it, at a yummy price, I suggest you trundle on over to Dancing Ferret Discs' site for the disc, and have a gander. They have band information, CD information, and samples of each song (and whereas White Wolf is listing the CD as out of stock, DFD can ship it right away). Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Music from the Succubus Club: a Soundtrack to Vampire: the Masquerade