re_laborat
re_animat
1999, Danse Macabre

reviews (in german) are also found within the discography on Das Ich's site.

Each song here is remixed by a big name band in the scene, including And One, Funker Vogt, L'ame Immortelle, Dance or Die, :wumpscut:, VNV Nation, In Strict Confidence, Kalte Farben and more. Since I've never heard the original versions of these songs, I can't judge how these remixes compare to them. But I do know that almost each and every song offered here is great.

Thankfully, none of my usual complaints with best of remix CDs are present here. There's no repeated songs, and every song is recorded at the same volume level. Basically, you're given fifteen of Das Ich's best songs remixed by some of the best artists in the scene. How can you go wrong with that?

What is so great about this CD is the amount of variety it offers. While most of the tracks are energetic and aggressive dark electro-industrial, there's moody deep and dramatic songs as well as industrial metal songs with chugging guitars. Every song sounds different, and are all placed in a great order.

The overall sound present throughout this long player is dark German industrial music created with nicely layered energetic electronic programming, heavy beats, dramatic melodies and angry growling male vocals. Sometimes in the mix are guitars as well, but fear not, electro purists, as they blend nicely with the music without ever overpowering it.
Darklight, on wrappedinwire.com

As I got this CD, I wasn't very confident in it. A 10th anniversary CD means very often uninteresting stuff "for die-hard fans only". A double-CD with 21 remixes, two old songs and a new one reminded me strongly of the bad "Totmacher" from :Wumpscut:... Well, I'd always liked Das Ich, so let's check on this double-CD.

First, the choice of the remixers is quite accurate, as we have here bands coming from the electro corners (Funker Vogt) as well as goths (Catastrophe Ballet) or metallheads (Atrocity). Old serial remixers are of course present (And One) but the chance is given to young and fresh bands (L'Ame Immortelle). Then, thanks to the intelligence of Das Ich, the remixers have worked on several songs, ranging from old classics to new tracks, which means you don't get bored listening over and over to a new recipe with the same ingredients (have I already written somewhere I'm not fond of :W:'s "Totmacher"?).

As soon as you listen to some seconds of the first CD, you understand that the sound is going to be huge. The remixing bands have done a great work on the production, and you're assaulted with thousands of beats and melodies, all of them vrey well recorded. As always with Bruno Kramm's band, it all sounds vrey professional.
But, the most important is that the remixers have done great songs. I've had to listen to the CD several times to get tracks I don't like. Most of the bands have successfully tried to turn the Das Ich songs into tunes they could have written. As a matter of consequence, it's very pleasant to hear how Funker Vogt would have done "Unschuld Erde" or how would have sounded "Erde Ruft" if it has been a PNE track. On the other hand, this means you have to like both Das Ich and the remixing bands (check the tracklist) to appreciate the CD. This is the case for me, so "Re_Laborat" made me very happy.

The first CD is, in my opinion, the best. It gathers remixs by newer bands. For instance, the best remix of the record is, for me, the one VNV Nation did of the Egodram song "Destillat". It combines Stefan Ackermann's voice with the tyipical clear beats of VNV Nation, producing a very danceable song which will very probably be part of every dark party in some time. The remix by L'Ame Immortelle is also very good, as they have also produced a very dancefloor-oriented "Dem Ich den Traum", the song remaining dark and aggressive. Then, :Wumpscut: has done great work here, turning "Aura" into a typical (good) :W: song, with the old sound of his first records. If you except the And One remix ("Das Ich im Ich" becoming a very poppy and boring piece), this first CD contains only good track. I've been really surprised by the work of Atrocity. I usually don't like this band, but their bombastic and hymn-like version of "Des Satans neue Kleider" is great.
totentanz
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