There's probably not one Goth kid worth their silver piercings who hasn't at least heard of seminal post-punk “Death Rock” band Christian Death, founded in 1979 by the late Rozz Williams and a key player in the rise of the post-punk Gothic movement. One of the principal elements of the band's sound at their absolute peak was the voice of Gitane Demone, the torchy bleach-blonde crooner who provided a distinctively eerie angelic counterpoint to Rozz's gloomy, profane and angst-ridden lead vocals.

Demone left the band in the late '80s to pursue her own solo career, fueled by her lifelong love of old standards – especially the songs of her first creative idol, the legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday. With a raw, intense vocal style that runs the gamut from silky seduction to shrill, anguished banshee wails, she forged a creative path of her own, achieving success across several musical genres – particularly in Europe, where she further defined her image by wrapping her sad-sexy croon in an assortment of leather and latex dominatrix outfits. This persona led to her being embraced by Amsterdam's booming S&M and fetish community, further transforming her experimental live shows into full-on kinky performance art. Footage from this period includes Demone performing songs while bound and blindfolded, riding a PVC slave-boy like a pony, and furiously spanking a woman in a buttless catsuit before strapping on a large... uh, I should probably stop here. But you get the general idea.

Although this well-rounded collection may not be consistently strong, there are many high points – including The Dark Side of Life, a short but effective documentary for Dutch television in which the singer reclines in an appropriately Gothic candlelit setting to discuss her life and art, including some interesting accounts of dabbling in occult and sex rituals; and two featurettes (including one from legendary fetish magazine Skin Two) chronicling her aforementioned rise to prominence as an S&M icon. Another great segment includes several strange but compelling live duets from Demone and Williams' “Dream Home Heartache” tour, wherein the pair, dressed in ritzy cocktail threads, share singing duties on covers of David Bowie and Roxy Music, often relaxing between songs at an onstage dining table, smoking and drinking champagne. It's a surreal and touching experiment that's unlike any club performance you've ever seen.

Produced by Demone's one-time partner Nico B, experimental filmmaker and founder of Cult Epics (who specialize in obscure horror, experimental and erotic films), this DVD represents two distinct facets of Demone's career after leaving Christian Death. The first DVD compiles interview and performance footage documenting her early love of jazz and her works which followed that path; the second DVD details the darker, naughtier side of Demone's artistic journey, from her fetish goddess years to her reunion tour with Rozz Williams and later with Christian Death in 1996.

Given the wide range of source material involved – from crude hand-held '80s camcorder footage to European cable TV broadcasts – the visual quality varies widely throughout both DVDs, but improves greatly after the oldest club performance clips, and for the most part the audio quality ranges from fair to excellent, particularly in the professionally-produced promos on the second disc, such as the kinky Alice-in-Wonderland tale “Heavenly Melancholy.” The most recent concert footage – taken from a Christian Death reunion concert in 1996 – would have benefited from a better mix (Williams' vocals are hard to make out once the band really gets ripping), but it's still an excellent document of a bygone era.

Also included in the limited edition is Times, a CD of previously unreleased tracks and demos, most of which being cover songs which work fairly well as an avant-garde jazz album. The set is bundled in a nice digipak with a 12-page booklet containing a well-written 2008 memoir from Demone which provides more insight into her creative motivations and adds enough detail to tie the whole package together nicely.

Overall, Life After Death is a slickly-produced archive and a fascinating portrait of a very unique artist. Fans of Christian Death will definitely want this in their collection, but those unfamiliar with Demone's solo work who are looking for the angry, blasphemous edge of their classic early post-punk masterpiece Only Theater of Pain may want to proceed with caution – there's still a subversive power at work here, but stylistically it's a world apart from what you might expect. But if you're looking for a dark, sensual thrill with a bittersweet chaser, this might be just your poison.