Blutengel
History - The Vinyl Collection Volume 2

Listening notes

Released in 2018 on Out Of Line (catalog number OUT 813 I 814), History - The Vinyl Collection Volume 2 is a box set from German darkwave and synth-pop act Blutengel. The set spans five vinyl records and works across sides A through T, making it one of the more expansive physical releases the band has put to wax.

The box set draws from several distinct source albums, each presented here as its own discrete section. The opening records collect material associated with Schwarzes Eis and Soultaker, the latter of which also supplies a dedicated remix side featuring contributions credited to Ashbury Heights, Lost Area, and Miss Construction. Tränenherz follows as a complete program running from a prologue through an outro across sides I through L, with Monument occupying sides M through P in a similarly full presentation. The final two records are given over to Black Symphonies, a collection of symphonic versions of tracks drawn from across the band's catalog, including reworkings of "Soultaker," "Behind The Mirror," "Kinder Dieser Stadt," "Monument," and others.

The genres logged against this release — darkwave, electro, electronic, and synth-pop — reflect the range of material gathered across the set's approximately seventy-two tracks. The tracklist includes songs in both English and German, consistent with Blutengel's established practice of working across both languages.

As the title indicates, this is the second volume in a vinyl history series, implying at minimum one preceding installment in the same format. Beyond what the catalog data confirms, further details regarding pressing specifications, edition size, or packaging remain unverified and are not addressed here.