Music is but one of many artistic mediums, one that possesses a universal power that transcends all human barriers; be they ethnic, national, political, or emotional. In the world of cinema, the role of music has undergone many changes over the years; once regarded as mere background sound for the advent of moving pictures, it wasn't long before filmmakers realized that they had to appeal to audiences on more than a visual level. In the silent film era, music was often the only sounds heard, registered only on the level that it provided a soundtrack to the movie, but without being given much credence by the filmgoer. In time, people began to realize the importance of the music they were hearing as a complement to the visuals, stimulating more than their eyes, but their intellect and thus their emotions. As classical music composers have become something of an anachronism in the pop-dominated music market, films have gradually become one of the last best outlets for music from all genres and walks of life to find an audience.

Naturally, as electronic music was steadily gaining momentum in the '70s with such albums as Wendy (then Walter) Carlos' classic Switched on Bach, a record of renowned Bach pieces performed on a Moog Modular synthesizer, solo artists like Kitaro, Vangelis, and Tomita, and even pop/rock/progressive groups like Genesis, Emerson Lake & Palmer, and Pink Floyd utilizing advanced electronic techniques, it was not long before the world of cinema caught on. An excellent early example would be Andrei Tarkovsky's 1972 film Solaris, whose soundtrack was composed and produced entirely on the ANS synthesizer by Eduard Artemyev. By the time of the '80s, electronic music was finding its niche as a means to create truly groundbreaking experimental sounds and compositions, while the pop market embraced it fully with the advent of new wave and synthpop in the mainstream and industrial in the underground. Since then, synthesizers and electronic and industrial music as a whole have become but another facet in the multi-layered world of cinema soundtracks.

As film soundtracks and scores have also become a means by which the masses can discover new music that they might otherwise not be exposed to, many bands and artists in the goth/electro/industrial scene have taken advantage of this to reach beyond the confines of the underground. Over the years, the scene has enjoyed quite a large number of films that have appealed to their visual and emotional aesthetics; be they such Victorian-esque horror/romance films as Neil Jordan's adaptation of Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire or Francis Ford Coppola's version of Bram Stoker's Dracula, or quasi-intellectual cyber/sci-fi films like Richard Stanley's Hardware or even The Wachowski Brothers' The Matrix, and even animation films like Heavy Metal 2000 or Ghost in the Shell. Even video games have embraced the genre, perhaps more readily than cinema, with several prominent industrial and rock acts contributing soundtracks to video games. And so, it is with this that ReGen Magazine is proud to present to you our list for theTop 10 Goth/Electro/Industrial Soundtracks of All Time, as compiled and voted on by our various staff. This the crème de la crème, those soundtrack albums that have made a significant impact on the underground music scene, all given the ultimate promotional vehicle in the films in which they were presented.










As the only video game soundtrack to make the list, Quake is a rather unique entry. Composed and produced by Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor, the music presented on Quake was an impressive undertaking that took the distorted textures and blackened ambience of Nine Inch Nails into a disturbing new direction. As the game combined cyber-warrior action with demonic atmospheres and creatures inspired by H.P. Lovecraft, the soundtrack complemented both the visuals and the frenetic gameplay, composed entirely of extended pieces of dark ambient and industrial noise to create a chilling and beastly sonic mode befitting the game. So profound was Reznor's contribution to the game that the designers even included the NIN logo on a box of ammunition (for the "Nail-Gun" no less) within the game. Quake proved to be a successful test run for established artists in the pop market to produce soundtracks for video games as David Bowie and Reeves Gabrels would do the same for Omikron: The Nomad Soul, KMFDM for Spider-Man II, 16volt for Primal, the list goes on. Quake was also immensely popular, both in and out of the scene, producing several sequels and extension packs, although they would take on a more sci-fi atmosphere and thus Reznor would not be involved beyond this first entry. Still, the impact of Quake can not be denied, and while it is not an official Nine Inch Nails album, it could very well stand as not only one of the best soundtracks of all time, but one of the artist's finest works to date.











When underground electronic and industrial music began to gain attention in the mainstream in the '90s, it was only natural that film soundtracks would latch onto the trend. One of the most prominent examples of this was the soundtrack to the 1995 Paul W.S. Anderson film Mortal Kombat, an adaptation of the popular video game series. While promotional soundtracks for the games had been produced up to that point, featuring several "Techno-Syndrome" mixes by The Immortals (in fact, producers Praga Khan and Oliver Adams from Lords of Acid), the film soundtracks proved to have the most impact. In spite of KMFDM's long history and devoted fan base, many will remember them for their hit "Juke Joint Jezebel," featured very prominently in the film. Similarly, Juno Reactor would be recognized on the soundtrack for their remix of the Traci Lords track "Control," acting as a precursor to that group's future work on The Matrix soundtracks. The rest of the soundtrack would be a mix of techno, industrial rock, and metal, with industrial rockers Bile, Sister Machine Gun, and Gravity Kills placed alongside metal groups like Fear Factory, Type O Negative, and G/Z/R, and techno artists Orbital, Utah saints, and Psykosonik, making for an eclectic and frenetic soundtrack that was to be just as - if not more - popular with audiences than the actual film. Even songs by Stabbing Westward that were featured in the film itself were left off of the soundtrack due to the band's belief that the film would not do well in theatres. They would, however, agree to be on the soundtrack for the sequel, which also had a prominent soundtrack, although the film would fail miserably. As if Quake wasn't already an excellent example of video games as a legitimate means for an artist to make a dent in the soundtrack market, Mortal Kombat, a film based on a video game, stands as a prime example of the musical attitude in films of the mid-to-late '90s.











When Fight Club was released in 1999, director David Fincher's films already had a reputation for being rather bleak and sardonic to the point of disturbing and almost nihilistic in their tone, which has brought him renown in both the mainstream and in the underground. Based on a novel by Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club dealt with themes of anti-consumerism, anti-corporatism, anti-pop culture, and above all anti-mainstream. As these themes are often seen as the very basis of the underground music scene, especially in goth/electro/industrial music, it's no wonder the film has been incredibly popular. The soundtrack to the film was equally non-traditional, produced by The Dust Brothers, whose Grammy-award winning work has been heard on albums by artists like The Beastie Boys and Beck. Just as the film is stylishly edited and arranged, with numerous visual effects to create a disorienting feel complementary of the characters and themes, so does the music feature a heavy use of frantic breakbeats and drum loops, turntable scratches, and pounding electronic bass textures as schizophrenically composed as the film itself. While it could be heard as somewhat typical of The Dust Brothers' work up to that point, it can also be said that when taken in the context of the film, it was a rather groundbreaking piece of work, and the producing team's only original release to date. It's also fair to say that in some ways, it paved the way for Paul Oakenfold to compose the soundtrack to the 2001 film Swordfish, though that film and soundtrack would hardly measure up to the success of Fight Club.











In 1998, Darren Aronofsky's film Pi (π) was an unexpected hit for the independent film community. Filmed in black & white reversal film to produce a high contrast of light and shade, the film proved popular with audiences in search of new forms of sci-fi, dealing with intellectual and philosophical connections between the natural and the artificial world. The pulsating electronic score composed by Clint Mansell, formerly of the group Pop Will Eat Itself, was but one of many factors of the film's success, the heavy use of drum & bass breakbeats and sparse but spacious synthesizers evoking an atmosphere of tension and paranoia that so wonderfully complemented the film's main character, a maniacal migraine-suffering mathematician. Mansell's music was also a good example of a more mainstream artist flexing his experimental muscle in a film score, much like Wang Chung had done with their score for 1985's To Live and Die in L.A. The soundtrack also featured tracks by prominent electronic and techno artists like Autechre, Spacetime Continuum, Banco de Gaia, and Massive Attack, producing a hit song for them with "Angel," which would go onto be used in several other film and television soundtracks for years to come. Interesting to note also is Mansell's brief cameo in the film as a student photographer whose random encounter with the unstable protagonist in the pre-Giuliani New York City subway and Times Square is set to the rapid-fire pace of Orbital's "P.E.T.R.O.L." The soundtrack to Pi could also be credited for contributing to the mainstream public's awareness of underground experimental electronic music, particularly the genre of IDM with the inclusion of Autechre and Aphex Twin (though the latter's track was not actually in the film itself). So impressive was Mansell's contribution to the film that Aronofsky would continue to work with him on his later films Requiem for a Dream and The Fountain, and while they are impressive works of music in their own right, their impact in and out of the goth/electro/industrial scene is not nearly as profound.











The late '90s saw a resurgence of films based on comic books, though this trend would not reach its peak until several years later. One of those films was Spawn, based on Tom McFarlane's popular series, and while a modest box office success, the soundtrack would achieve its own tremendous level of popularity. Each song on the soundtrack merged mainstream rock and metal acts with underground DJs and electronic groups, a concept similar to the rock/hip-hop hybrid employed on the 1993 film Judgment Night, though to lesser effect. As industrial rock and edgy electronica were the popular trends of the late '90s, it is no surprise that Spawn's soundtrack produced two hit singles. The first, "(Can't You) Trip Like I Do" by Filter and The Crystal Method, would prove to be a significant moment in both bands' careers, leading to The Crystal Method's inclusion on various film and television soundtracks to come and bringing mainstream success to their 1997 debut album Vegas, which included the original instrumental version of the song, and with Filter continuing to perform the song in their live sets even a decade later. The second hit belonged to Marilyn Manson and Sneaker Pimps for "Long Hard Road Out of Hell," combining the latter band's trip-hop production style with Manson's predilection for shocking imagery and horrific atmosphere. Oddly enough, the collaboration was a tumultuous one as both bands proceeded to downgrade each other in the media, although Manson would adopt the song's title for his autobiography at the height of his fame. Other songs on the soundtrack include Stabbing Westward with Josh Wink, Orbital with Kirk Hammett, and Slayer with Atari Teenage Riot, making for a raucous and hellish soundtrack befitting the film.











Foreign films often have difficulty finding an audience in the US market, be it due to cultural differences or the language barrier as it seems that most people prefer to not have to read subtitles while also being critical of bad dubbing. However, when a film like Lola Rennt (titled Run Lola Run in the English-speaking market) comes along with a strong concept, strong execution, and a strong soundtrack, it will almost certainly get noticed. The film is made up of three vignettes presenting variations of a central series of events, and while the pace of the movie is incredibly tense throughout, this tension is only heightened by the equally electrified soundtrack. Like the film, the soundtrack is made up of variations of a theme, supplementary to the narrative; composed by director Tom Tykwer in collaboration with Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil, the throbbing techno club music maintains a rapid pace that does well to accentuate the predicament of the characters. Also interesting to note is the music's quotations of string chords from The Unanswered Question by American composer Charles Ives. While the film may not have been a tremendous hit, it did make an impact on the market to become something of a cult hit due to its unconventional exploration of cause and effect and alternative timelines, such that the soundtrack is still regarded by many in the goth/electro/industrial scene as something to behold.











While Vangelis would win an Oscar for his score to 1981's Chariots of Fire (and deservedly so as that music is still heard in film, television, and sporting events to this day), he is perhaps most remembered for his epic score to Ridley Scott's 1982 film Blade Runner. Regarded by many as the first cyberpunk film, and like the book upon which it was based, Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, the film dealt with many complex philosophical questions relating to the issues of humanity and reality. Its combination of groundbreaking special effects and prophetic visuals mark it as one of the most influential sci-fi films ever produced, recently released in a Final Cut after 25 years. The score to Blade Runner, composed, produced, and performed entirely by Vangelis remains a landmark for the world of synthesizer-based music, of and ahead of its time. From the thunderous kettle drums that introduce the film to the dense layers of ambient pads and ethereal, almost mystical melodies, right onto the intense closing titles with its dramatic loops and devastating swells carried via analog synthesizers, Vangelis creates an enormous and all-encompassing array of sounds and motifs that has stood the test of time as a truly futuristic piece of work. Strangely enough, the soundtrack would suffer a series of misfortunes over the years, not being released officially until 12 years after the film, and even then in an incomplete form that only presents a handful of tracks from the movie along with some unreleased material; however, as Vangelis is an artist in the truest sense of the word, his soundtrack album (both the 1994 release and the 25th anniversary three-disc edition) are meant to be taken not so much as soundtrack albums, but as Vangelis albums with a central theme, and as such would not necessarily contain each piece of music from the film. While this has met with some derision from longtime fans of both Vangelis and Blade Runner, it stands as a testament to how film scores and soundtracks have taken the place of the great classical composers, producing music as epic and as timeless as those created by Mozart or Beethoven. As it stands, it’s fair to say that even in today's technology-fueled world, Blade Runner will still be played for many years to come. Hey, it's lasted this long, and let's face it... it's Blade Runner!











Gregg Araki has been an independent filmmaker for quite a number of years, and while he has a reputation for exploring themes related to alternative sexuality, he's also gained a reputation for having an excellent ear as his movies often contain soundtracks chockfull of prominent acts in the goth/electro/industrial underground. The Doom Generation presented what was perhaps his most diverse and yet cohesive soundtrack to date, from the opening club scene with actor James Duval slamdancing to Nine Inch Nails' "Heresy" to the closing scene with Rose McGowan driving off into the proverbial sunset to the lush shoegazing ambience of Slowdive's "Blue Skied an' Clear." Rarely ever utilizing an original score, Araki has often relied on his undoubtedly expansive and diverse album collection for inspiration. From the noise rock of Medicine's "Slut" and The Jesus and Mary Chain's "Penetration," to the psychedelic goth of Love and Rockets' "This Heaven" and the thundering electro rock of Curve's "On the Wheel," The Doom Generation's soundtrack mirrors the apocalyptic despair and the sexually-charged indifference of the characters in the film perfectly. Granted, the film itself has been criticized for its sub-par execution, relying more on style than substance, and for its plot being a teenage-version of Natural Born Killers, but even in these post-millennial times, the film still maintains a rabid cult audience. Adding to the movie's musical connections - and perhaps to its continued appeal - is a cameo appearance by the members of Skinny Puppy as the gang assaulting Jonathon Schaech's character in the beginning, with Nivek Ogre being especially memorable for the line, "Wake up, cocksucker! Time to die!"











David Lynch has long stood as an example of the alternative auteur, the underground artist striving to achieve notoriety in the mainstream. Revered by many as the ultimate post-modern surrealist filmmaker, his films often deal with the decrepit recesses of American society, those evil forces that bring decay and desecration festering beneath the surface veneer of a world unable or unwilling to see the darkness that surrounds them. From the aesthetic standpoint, the music and sounds Lynch employs in his movies have been equally surreal and evocative, running the fine line between happily appealing and disturbing trepidation. One of his biggest successes, one of his biggest failures, his 1997 film Lost Highway was perhaps Lynch at his strangest, a dark neo-noir trip through the highway of a man's mind on the brink of total collapse. Besides its overall dark themes and characters, the music of Lost Highway played a tremendous part in finding its way into the annals of cult movie success. The score featured longtime Lynch collaborator Angelo Badalamenti, whose off-kilter style of jazzy abstract classical has played the perfect supplement to Lynch's visuals, producing music that one would just as likely hear in a seedy nightclub at 2:00 am as they would in a horrible nightmare. But if Badalamenti wasn't enough to propel the film, the soundtrack was equally unsettling, featuring Barry Adamson's brand of avant-garde jazz befitting a gangster story, the haunting distorted electro of Smashing Pumpkins' "Eye," and the sleazy industrial rock of Marilyn Manson, including his grim take on Screamin' Jay Hawkins' classic "I Put a Spell on You." Also interesting to note is a cameo in the movie by Marilyn Manson and Twiggy Ramirez, as well as Henry Rollins. Of course, the most significant contributions come from Nine Inch Nails, producing not only some industrial vignettes the likes of which Lynch has so often used in his past films, but also the hit song "The Perfect Drug." Not only that, but the soundtrack is also credited with launching German industrial metal band Rammstein into the US music market with two songs from their debut album featuring very prominently in the film and the soundtrack. Also like the film, the soundtrack is bookended by David Bowie's "I'm Deranged," from his 1995 album 1. Outside, appropriately playing the perfect lyrical hook to Lost Highway's central character. Though the film was denigrated by critics and mainstream audiences alike at the time of its release, the soundtrack proved immensely successful in and out of the goth/electro/industrial scene, although one should be warned that it is not a soundtrack to listen to when actually lost on a highway in the middle of the night; it's that disturbing.











It has been called the ultimate love story and the ultimate tragedy, achieving a stature of almost mythic proportions that could even surpass Shakespeare's classic Romeo & Juliet. The original comic book by James O'Barr was written during a turbulent time in the man's life when he had suffered a senseless tragedy that left him filled with despair and rage, emotions that he poured into each violent frame of The Crow. O'Barr's creation was inspired both lyrically and visually by music; scattered throughout the pages of the book were references to goth rock and post-punk groups like The Cure, Wire, and Joy Division, and even the protagonist's gaunt appearance drew from Peter Murphy and Iggy Pop. The graphic novel even produced a soundtrack of its own, written and performed by fellow comic book artist and underground musician John Bergin of Trust Obey, featuring an apocalyptic set of songs that ranged from gothic ambient to industrial hardcore. O'Barr's work may not have brought him solace, though it did become an unprecedented success in the underground. The story of a man who returns from the dead to avenge his and his fiancé's murder at the hands of a street gang resonated with the underground scene that it has become something of a modern classic, as heralded as any classic works of literature from the likes of Bram Stoker or Emily Bronte. The film version would bring about its own sad circumstances as the film's star Brandon Lee, who had yet to step out of the shadow of his father, martial arts legend Bruce Lee, died during production from an accidental gunshot. Adding to the sadness was his engagement, eerily mirroring the character he was portraying. Of course, there is a saying: "There is no such thing as bad publicity," and surely enough, The Crow was a major success in 1994 both in the mainstream and in the underground. Adding to the film's appeal was the soundtrack, which begins appropriately with The Cure's "Burn," a devastating display of atmospheric goth rock that stands as perhaps the best song the group has ever composed. Also featured was Nine Inch Nails' cover of Joy Division's "Dead Souls," and Rollins Band's cover of Suicide's "Ghost Rider," further connecting the film's musical backbone to that of the original graphic novel. The rest of the soundtrack ranges from the industrial rock of My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult's "After the Flesh," which the band performs in a cameo appearance in the film during a climactic shootout, and Machines of Loving Grace's "Golgotha Tenement Blues," to the alt. rock and metal fury of Helmet's "Milktoast" and "Slip Slide Melting" by For Love Not Lisa, to the shoegazing noise rock of Medicine's "Time Baby III" and The Jesus and Mary Chain's "Snakerider." Arguably, the biggest hit from the soundtrack came from Stone Temple Pilots with the depressing yet engaging "Big Empty," a song that helped to catapult them into great recognition as a staple of the '90s. Also interesting to note is the score, composed by industrial musician-turned-film composer Graeme Revell, formerly of SPK. While this was not his first film score, it would prove to be among his most celebrated works, featuring a haunting range of ethnic melodies mixed with ghostly ambience and raging industrial undertones. The centerpiece of his work on The Crow, besides the recurring theme, is his collaboration with singer Jane Siberry on the heart-shattering "It Can't Rain All the Time," serving not only as the perfect thematic complement to the story's romantic elements, but as an appropriate eulogy for the film's departed star. Despite the grim circumstances that have surrounded it (or perhaps because of it), The Crow stands as the ultimate musical/cinematic masterpiece for the goth/electro/industrial scene, achieving massive success and critical acclaim to such a degree that it's almost become the ultimate cliché.



As with any topic, it's difficult to narrow down the wide range of selections down to 10, especially in such a field as diverse as music and film. Given the aesthetics of the goth/electro/industrial scene, it's not so easy a task to separate the mainstream from the underground as many denizens of the filmmaking community are no different from the average artistically-minded individual trying to make some small amount of impact in the fields of art, cinema, music, literature, etc... Case in point, David Lynch has often cited Shostakovich as a composer he admires, using his music as a reference for Toto in their score for Dune and the actors in Blue Velvet, yet he would end up working with artists on a radically different end of the musical spectrum such as Nine Inch Nails and Rammstein. It can be said that soundtracks are but another extension by which the mainstream and the underground collide, providing further indication that music is a truly universal form. Similarly, music and cinema share common ground in being artistic expressions on the part of those involved, be they directors, writers, actors, or musicians, and often there are cases in which they are all of those things. It's no surprise that many films, both conventional and unconventional, find an audience in the goth/electro/industrial scene as well as they would in John Q. Public, and as such, their soundtracks and scores would be given just attention as well; so much so, that it would be criminal not to give them an honorable mention in this list.

Indeed, the soundtrack to Queen of the Damned, while produced primarily by mainstream alt. rock and nü-metal musicians like Jay Gordon of Orgy, Wayne Static of Static-X, and Jonathan Davis of KoRn, still resonates as a dark set of music with gothic and industrial undertones befitting the film's vampiric rock star themes. But then again, the score for Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange comes from another angle as Wendy Carlos' synthesized renditions of classical pieces form an eerily retro-futuristic backdrop for the film's unique visual style that has been cited numerous times since; one need only look at Rob Zombie's video for "Never Gonna Stop" for proof. Another soundtrack worth mentioning would be Coil's music for the Clive Barker film Hellraiser, a collection of the group's trademark industrial atmospheres and avant-garde synthesizer constructions so wildly unconventional that the producers rejected the score all together. Coil would then release it as an album unto itself, earning the adulation of many industrial music fans. The list continues, from the clanging metallic percussion and analog synthesizer hits of Brad Fiedel's score for The Terminator or Der Eisenrost's score for Tetsuo: The Iron Man, to the soundtrack for Hideaway featuring KMFDM, Miranda Sex Garden, Sister Machine Gun, Godflesh, and Front Line Assembly.

So many films, so much music, so profound an impact they have had, and yet so little time to give all of them due credit. Suffice to say that ReGen Magazine's list for the Top 10 Goth/Electro/Industrial Soundtracks of All Time will at least provide the smallest cross-section of some of the most significant musical/cinematic moments in the underground music community.

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