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Choose Euphoria is the latest album from UK project The Resonance Association, released in 2023. The brain child of Daniel Vincent and Dominic Hemy, has been around since 2006, and according to their Bandcamp page…. ‘They seek to produce hallucinatory music to transport the listener to uncharted realms of space and time.’

The first track off the rank, “Force Majeure,” leaps out at you, its enthusiastic rock guitar with walls of sound bursting forth joyously, adventuring like a cosmic snake. The electronics continue this journey of sound with “Invocation,” more subdued than “Force Majeure,” but equally full of intonations throughout, as if the solar winds are gracing your ears in the background. “The State of Things” is semi angelic, though some of the effects are near paranoid inducting, especially with the slowly played guitar and it has been combined with a rather psychedelic froopy video. Cool liquid bass lines are the backbone for “No Fear of Falling,” with wailing synths crystalline and smooth, even when faced by the solo guitar reaching out the listener.

There is something very early 80s about “Some Kind” that I just cannot quite put my finger on, but it is hypnotic and all together far too enjoyable, even with the computer created sirens. I somehow doubt the track “Trip Hazard” is about unfortunately falling over one’s own feet, but rather, flights of fancy, and as we all know, some journeys are fraught with real dangers, such as minding the gap, which perfectly leads into “Elsewhere.” Again, we are within the winds that whip around the meandering guitar, courting you to go along for the laid back ride. We finish with prog odyssey “Space Time Politics” which kind of reminded me of a scaled back version of Pink Floyd’s “Journey to the Heart of the Sun,” full of lulls that build up into Hendrix like explosions of guitar.

Choose Euphoria is an eight track album, and indeed The Resonance Association have done exactly as they said they would, using music to transcend our space and the current limitations, opening up movement and achieving wonder, as well as creating textures via experimentation and instrumentation alone. Choose life and Choose Euphoria.

Choose Euphoria | The Resonance Association (bandcamp.com)

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Natural Darkness is the new album offering from German born, London based Madil Hardis, with twelve original tracks and six remixes, meaning not only is there quality, but you are getting quantity too!. Hardis is known for her gloriously angelic vocals, married with very emotive musical scores that she has created.

The first cab off the rank is “Absence,” settings the tone for the album. Crystal like shards of life experience and poignant, filled with longing that is heart felt. “Crucifixus” has those deeply religious tones of devout exultation given by angels to the heavens in the form of vocals. The track “To The Heart” floats with an internal rhythm and the ever-present piano, caressed by the synths, as if trying to bring comfort, all the while Hardis‘ vocals soar above. Just one of the songs that showcase her talents.

One of the shortest numbers is also, for me, one of the most sublime. This is “Disintegration,” and it is one of those songs that can just cast you adrift on a forlorn sea. The title track, “Natural Darkness,” has a rather preternatural echoing air, haunting and ethereal, as if yesterdays spectres are waiting at the vale.

The remixes are done by the likes of Ashbury Heights, Vortex Four, Wandering Stars, Bérèche You, and Electro Spectra. There is a version of “Natural Darkness” that isn’t really a remix but rather features the cello talents of Michael Hyman, which just creates a feeling of welling beauty and haunting desperation. The others range from modern, through to experimental electronica, giving you new and intriguing ways of perceiving each track.

That is just a taste of Natural Darkness, from a lady with an abundance of natural talent. Madil Hardis carefully entwines classical tendrils with electronic ones, weaving music that is otherworldly and, at the same time, grabs your heart strings.

Natural Darkness | Madil Hardis (bandcamp.com)

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In the early 90s, we were experiencing the second wave of goth, and one band to grab our attention was the French group Corpus Delicti, with the album Sylphes, instantly becoming a classic. After five years Corpus Delicti disbanded, and now, twenty eight years later, they are finally back with the single “Chaos,” which has William Faith (Faith & The Muse, Shadow Project) in the role of producer.

Just the vocals alone make you know that this is Corpus Delicti, as Sebastian’s singing style has not really changed. Serpentine guitar coils around your senses and the bass guitar is truly gorgeous. The chorus sends shivers down my spine with the breath taking soaring quality, that becomes almost attacking in its veracity, and the synths build the underlaying tension.

They are no longer those youngsters, but that has been replaced by a maturity and a conviction to the music. Everything about “Chaos” screams that this is the same band even down to those guitar flourishes, and I am transported back in time to when I picked up a purple covered CD, with a black and white art piece, discovering songs that became a part of who I am today. Oh how I have missed you Corpus Delicti, for now you have released the “Chaos” and we want more…..

Chaos | Corpus Delicti (bandcamp.com)

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It is always lovely to hear the guitar artistry of Karl Morten Dahl, aka Antipole, and he has joined forces with German based Deus Ex Lumina, the darkwave project of Gonzalo Schwindt, for the single “Destroy.”

Dahl’s guitar is ghostly and ephemeral, a presence in the background and melding into synths which glimmer star like from the murky memories that are uttered on the lips of Schwindt. The vocals weighted, sonorously deep and smooth as liquid black velvet.

It is undeniable that there is an 80s electronic, almost coldwave electronics sound to “Destroy.” There is a gentle fragility within the music though the lyrics more than hint to some sort of violence. “Destroy” is a beautiful act of dancefloor tragedy by Deus Ex Lumina & Antipole.

Destroy | Deus Ex Lumina & Antipole | Deus Ex Lumina (bandcamp.com)

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Matt Webster is a man with the soul of a poet and storyteller, creating alternative rock with his Bradford based project, Signia Alpha. With the latest album Entropy, he has been joined by Paul Gray (The Damned) on Rickenbacker bass guitar with other musicians making appearances on tracks. Harris (Chaing, Grim, Nowt, Zed), Is one of these, who has co-written and sings on six of the tracks. To quote the release ‘Guitarist Wulf Ingham lends his psychedelic solos to a couple of tracks’ and ‘jazz saxophonist Keith Jafrate and flautist Chris Walsh sprinkle their melodic flourishes over several songs.’ I say flourish away!

Punk meets Pink Floyd is how one might sum up the track “Such A Shame,” with its pogoing rhythm married to bewitching guitar work. Simon ‘Nogsy‘ Nolan (SpyBand, Zed) sings on and co-wrote “On Diego Garcia,” a commentary on the disputed Island which is currently owned by the British, with a US Naval base present, while all the previous inhabitants were forced to leave. This was found to be illegal by The Hague, but was ignored by the UK and “On Diego Garcia” is a protest song about the injustices.

“A New Dawn” has a undercurrent dirge like the ocean water pulling and pushing at boats, a alluring sadness, perhaps the subject matter within the lyrics are looking for safety, only to be faced with another shoreline to leave and more dangers ahead. The bass is sublime in “Hourglass,” which goes through a gamut of emotions such as loss, longing and sadness, for as we get older, we realise the fragility of all. This is reflected by the music ranging from introspective to a guitar filled rage. Those flute flourishes can be heard in the “The Price Of Admission,” in conjunction with a more thoughtful sound that echoes with a life maybe less lived or rather, perhaps, limited in their choices.

The paisley park feel to the music is in stark contrast to the bleak words in the single “Feels Like Rain,” and that bleak story telling, which only those who have lived it or watched it first hand, can be experienced in the next track, “Building Castles In Spain.” Mathew Seamarks (Disciples of Spess) is the vocalist and co-wrote with Webster, with its endearing dreamer quality and the beautiful jangly guitar backing up those vocals. The airiness of the flute and saxophone, wants to fly you away but the vocals of Harris weigh you down in the knowledge that life is “Waiting.” Waiting for the end and the inevitable. I have to say that “The Atmosphere” caught me by surprise with harkening back to David Bowie yet having that XTC musical sensibility. It is a simply a post-punk gem, while the last track, “Kaleidoscope Wheels” is a psychedelic trip with a hurdy gurdy of circling sounds and voices, melding into a maelstrom, destined to collapse.

Hard to pick a favourite out of this lot as everything is just class, but for me, probably, “The Atmosphere” definitely transports me back to another place. The attitude throughout is very much a punk one, pointing towards what is wrong with the world, but not the anger of young men. Rather, we are seeing these issues through the eyes of the world weary, knowing that life is precious and telling you the stories that deserve to be heard. The musicianship is grand and you really couldn’t ask for a better bunch contributing. Entropy is the measurements of thermodynamics, and the energy given by Signia Alpha is nothing short of pure musical wizardry.

Entropy | Signia Alpha (bandcamp.com)

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Fancy a bit of deathrock bilge? Argh nothing like the accursed sound of those scurvy naves Sea Lungs, whom seem to flotsam and jetsam between Melbourne and Sydney. Those salty dogs, Jarrad Robertson and Andi Lennon, with a little bit of brass ball handling help from Dase Beard, are back with a new single, “Teignmouth Electron.”

Ah yes, you can feel the sea beneath you with the rolling guitars, as the drums crash against your senses. Black Sabbath want their guitar riffs back and it is possible to see in your mind’s eye, young Ozzy shaking his head in glee. Glam and rock collide, though this does not seem to deter Lennon from his demonic wittering, as he imbues the insanity of a captain who is all but lost to the watery deep with the “Teignmouth Electron.” The lads have also resurrected the track “Eel Pie,” giving the eels more teeth, filling it out with delicious ringing guitars, filling it up with the juicy waves of noise.

What is a “Teignmouth Electron,” one might ask, and the answer being, it was a trimaran sailing boat created for a race in 1968, and the one man crew that was David Crowhurst, seems to have completely lost his bottle during said race, and more than likely ended his life, for he was never seen again. The ship still exists, though now is a wreck on a beach, somewhere in the Caribbean Islands. “Teignmouth Electron” is yet again, something different from what the guys have so far presented us with, definitely heavier with that goth/glam seduction and the revamped version of “Eel Pie” is no poor cousin, easily holding its own even as a b-side. Join the crew and get yourself some Sea Lungs.

Teignmouth Electron | Sea Lungs (bandcamp.com)

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Mobile phones have become a staple of modern living. We constantly check them and break into a cold sweat when we cannot find them. New Zealand’s Frau Knotz, explores our dependence on social media, though the single “Cellular,” as more and more people live their lives online rather than in the real world, and where popularity is the acknowledgement of others on these platforms.

There is a delicacy about “Cellular,” and maybe it is something to do with the lack of a rhythm section, relying on the piano to carry the music, but it is also in the vocals, a blatant honesty. You can hear the British early 80s, post-punk influence in the track, where there is a purity of simplicity and passion, giving the song a core of undeniable strength.

Mizaan Turner is a fourteen year old dancer from Taranaki, and it was they who choreographed the video for the single, making the video for Frau Knotz, aka Lauren Nottingham, an alluring affair. Mobile phones are a marvel that have definitely changed a lot of things for the better, and yet, as “Cellular” soulfully points out, it has also caused isolation, anxiety and changed the way we see ourselves in relation to the world..

Cellular | Frau Knotz (bandcamp.com)

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ESA (Electronic Substance Abuse) met Moaan Exis while playing a show in Prague in the beginning of 2020, just before Covid-19 shut down the world. Out on Negative Gain Productions, “Spit/Spite” is the end result of the UK’s Jamie Blacker (ESA) and France’s Mathieu Caudron (Moaan Exis), going head to head in a battle of the industrial power noise versus industrial punk. The plague has come and kind of gone, but now we have been hit with a much better outbreak in the form of this split single.

“Spit” does not let up with the energy, pushing you higher and further with an intoxicating mixture of scintillating synths, techno styled rhythms that max out the bass and duelling vocals. Even in all of this, I hear hints of a Middle Eastern flavour to the music creeping through.

Yeah, from the beginning of “Spite,” you are already left a veritable shell of a human, drooling over the abrasive rhythms that pound into your chest. The two vocalists taking turns in eviscerating your ears to the pounding beats and off kilter electronics, setting your teeth on edge. Magic.

Who was the winner in this battle royale? The answer is easy…us the listeners. Both tracks are fucking awesome. Crunchy textures, beats to rupture organs, and enough angst to wet the panties of any self-respecting industrial noise purveyor. ESA Vs Moaan Exis have me just me wanting more.

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Spit & Spite | ESA vs Moaan Exis | ESA (bandcamp.com)

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We live in a world full of amazing things. Germany’s Neon Insect is pretty amazing and Nils Sinatsch has released the latest single “LOVE SEX + ROBOTS,” which features the vocal and lyrical talents of KVMILLA.

Slow and metered is the rhythm, a heavy mechanical sexuality, brought to life, and offset by KVMILLA. Her vocals expressing base human desires for connection, even if hurts. There is a guitar that is gently plucked away, as the music tantalizes your senses.

The track feeds into the New Moscow storyline, that Sinatsch has been carefully crafting, about a reality much more different to ours, due the fact that the USSR won the Cold War, invading the US. The populace have found the only way to survive is through cybernetics, and with procreation controlled by the powers that be, they now go underground for their sexual desires to be fulfilled by mechanical means. This is much more subdued than what we are used to from Neon Insect, and it shows a changing style with the changing storyline. “LOVE SEX + ROBOTS” is delicate with a undercurrent of a sexually harder edge. This begs the question….what comes next? Watch this space…..

LOVE SEX + ROBOTS | Neon Insect (bandcamp.com)

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One might wonder what Fundustrial is, and the only answer can be, STAHLSCHLAG! I have been rather slack covering the new releases from Sebastian Sünkler, but every time I think he’s going to take a hiatus due to work commitments…. BOOM, there is another album/EP. The man is almost as much machine as the computers and synths that he uses, with the exception that he is one of the nicest guys in the industrial scene, though he does have the Terminator haircut. I’m just saying.

So, I have compiled the three Fundustrial EPs, Alpha!, Beta! and Gamma! into a bouncy castle, filled with clowns and glow sticks to give you an idea of what you need in your life. The Alpha! EP is just full of aggrotech dance with noise and it really smokes, like with the track “This Is Fundustrial,” being the prefect example of flesh pounding rhythms to make even the most tired cybergoth, want to stomp their New Rocks. “Whatever You Say” will make your blood pressure rise as a swirling dance floor filler, or the more rhythmic noise influenced “Dance Of Doom.” Honestly, who doesn’t like a bit of doom dancing?!

The second EP, Beta! does rather seem to be where Sünkler may have contemplated he needed a break, then thought ‘nah, it is all good,’ and so we have gotten something very much more off the wall. Glitching fast paced beats follow you through the EP, poking you with the feather of no mercy, so you can be cyber romanced by “My Generation,” or enjoy the wonderment of how potatoes and tomatoes are very entertaining with a huge techno helping of “Something Different.” Kill or be killed in the style of Tron, in the track “Get Ready,” or get lost in “I Have A Dream.”

‘Fundustrial is back, it’s fast, it’s hard and will make you crack,’ proclaims the female voice, about Gamma!, in the first track, “Make you Crack,” or how about being lost in the trance inducing “Anthem,” that might have been instigated the secretive lizard people. The track “Milk” could be the first industrial track I have ever heard with mooing cows and some animated voice threatening to make you drink the creamy white stuff. How can you go wrong with a titles like “Let’s Get Goth,” or a revamping of “Popular Slut Club,” which, by the way, has has the treatment Singery[Cdio], creating a echoing mind fuck, pushing you over the edge with its wonderous layers of noise.

Are these EPs fun? Yes. Are they industrial. Absolutely. So there is no doubt in my mind that this is indeed Fundustrial at its very best. It is nice to see a kooky side to STAHLSCHLAG, and it is really interesting to see the progression of this series. Party hearty with Fundustrial and for the people with clown phobias…. sorry but you’ll get over it.

Alpha! | Fundustrial | STAHLSCHLAG (bandcamp.com)

Beta! | Fundustrial | STAHLSCHLAG (bandcamp.com)

Gamma! | Fundustrial | STAHLSCHLAG (bandcamp.com)

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