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My CD collection is packed with its fair share of compilations, and out of them all this is by far one of the best. Rise | Converge has enough well-known names to easily draw an audience, but after hearing it in its entirety it's clear that there aren't any tracks that stand out farther than the rest, nor is there any mediocre filler. The entire disc plays as though each of the 14 artists anticipated the tracks before and after their own. It's like a collaboration -- a single cohesive whole -- rather than your standard compilation, and this is no accident. Kurt Gluck (su8m3rg3d), who sequenced the material, had a specific goal in mind: to take different forms of electronic music and assemble them, as disparate as they may be, into one continuous collage of sound. Each track bleeds into the next, with cross fades revealing hidden similarities and common threads that link every sound from start to finish.

With Nigel Ayers' (Nocturnal Emissions) "The Abolition of Memory," casual, bassy, melodic loops are juxtaposed with the occasional bursts of frenzied break beats. At first glance this couldn't seem further from the mellow, introspective ambient hums of Zerfallmensch, but once they are seamlessly connected side by side the progression is entirely natural. From here we shift again into the rhythmic terrain of Mothboy, funky loops of percussion encased in sheets of textural drones and subtle, contemplative melodies. Zenopede slows down the pace as ribbons of cold, chiming harmony direct the slow, heavy beats.

Mick Harris teamed up with Arkkon's David Knight to record Scorn's "Stinger," a disorienting stretch of dark beats with layers of soft feedback and dilapidated, downward engine drones. This eventually fades into Aube's quiet, atmospheric "Muse of Thrum," a relatively sparse and methodic, experimental piece. A disconcerting ringing noise gradually builds up volume until it reaches its piercing boiling point, and Tactile's "Growth and Form" takes over. This strange track sounds like something from David Lynch's Eraserhead -- cavernous, pseudo organic noises worming their way around a constant buzzing sound. It sounds wet and sticky, like it belongs in an aquarium. Kanal has the last word with the ominous "Ocularis," a three minute outro of stark, frozen soundscapes anchored with a host of intricate little details.

Gluck holds that no matter what genre the music may fit into it can all make sense and be enjoyed in the same listen, and with the diverse array of sounds covered on Rise | Converge nothing could be more evident. Complete with a decadent, spiral bound, shiny copper-coated booklet, the top notch, hand made packaging only adds to this remarkable release.