In 2021, Finland’s Suzi Sabotage released the anthemic single “Nazi Goths, Fuck Off.” Three years later, on the label Strict Tempo have dropped a version, remixed by the UK’s The Cassandra Complex, and one has to wonder if this song is needed now more than ever with the frightening rise of right wing politics around the world and the insidious tendrils tainting the dark alternative scene.
‘Far-right ideologies are not compatible with goth. Goth is rebellion against the mainstream and celebration of diversity – whereas Nazis and conservatives advocate for rigid conformity, which makes them at war against what goth is all about.
The goth movement has always taken pride in being a safe haven for people from all backgrounds, and if Nazis are made [to] feel welcome, it will become dangerous for people of colour, LGBTQ, women, and just anyone who doesn’t harbour fascist views.
So let’s show Nazi “goths” the door and keep our scene safe.’ – Suzi Sabotage
Rodney Orpheus of The Cassandra Complex has created a sense of urgency with the pulsating synths, which are like light against the stark vocals from Sabotage, plunging in a knife that exposes the reality.
For people that say that gothic/post-punk music is not meant for protesting and voicing dissent, we have to say what bin have you been living in?! “Nazi Goths, Fuck Off‘ is still relevant, now with extra polish and always enjoyable.
Florida based AstariNite, has clocked up ten years on the dark scene, playing people their brand of goth music. The latest album, out on Negative Gain, titled ResolutionofHappiness is their fifth, and one might say, most interesting yet. The band has been incorporating a more shoegaze feel into the music, a throwback to their influences such as DavidBowie and Lush. In between touring, lead singer MychaelGhost, was gracious in talking to us about the band and the new album, which seems to have been born of both grief and the strong bonds of friendship that hold this group together.
Congratulations on Resolution of Happiness, which I believe is your fifth full length studio. Astari Nite has been releasing music since 2014, so I am wondering how the dark alternative scene has changed since you first started out?
Thank you Adele! You know, I am not too certain about what I have released in the past though “Here Lies” and “Resolution of Happiness” are still mint to me.
Sometimes it’s easier for me to leave songs that I write in specific periods of my life, far away and alone. I find it to be therapeutic that way. At least for today, I feel that way.
During the band’s travels throughout the U.S., UK and Europe, I met DJs, Promoters, bands and wonderful people who support this vibrant scene.
With social media platforms available, it also seems that more and more people enjoy sharing playlists, spinning music online and being very vocal on what they love or hate. This world is massive and there is space for everyone to share and love.
I have heard the Florida darkwave scene is pretty big, so could you tell us how you started up the band?
I met Illia, the drummer for Astari Nite at a Roller rink. I was sipping on a soda pop, and he walked up to me and said, “I like your Jeans.” Shortly after he offered me some candy and he and I ended up skating to disco for hours.
We decided to start a band influenced by what we had blasting on the jukebox religiously!
It took some time to find our guitar player Howard Melnick and bass player / Keyboardist, Danny A.E. I guess it was all fine and dandy once we agreed that Abba, Bowie and PULP rule the school!
The new album has a dreamy quality about it, through the echoing guitar work and yet it has a beating goth rock heart. Can you tell us a bit more about the concept behind the album?
I guess jumping in from putting out the Here Lies album a couple of years ago, we wanted to steer away from the gloom. We wanted to do something a little bit brighter as a nod to the nineties, which we were heavily influenced by during this record. And I think jumping down and speaking about facts in my life kind of put color to what the boys in the band were putting together musically. I was able to tell more of a story rather than hiding behind this shade of gloom, I guess you could say.
PHOTO BY WENDY DARLING
I am gathering a lot of the writing and recording for the new album happened during the height of covid. How did all this help or hinder the creative juices?
The death of my brother and father had a great deal to do with my creativity. The decline of my mother also played a part! I can’t really speak on behalf of the band, though I know they guided me through what I was going through mentally at the time. They walked with me and allowed me to sing or say whatever the fuck came to mind. The three of them saved my life! They showed me how to breathe again without being so shy.
You gradually released a few singles in the lead up of the album, one of those being the mesmerizing “Bowie in Daydreams.” How did you end up writing this track, and for you personally, how big an influence is Bowie’s music?
This was a special time for the band and I! This period is what we call the “Summer of Love.” A lot of traveling with our circle was happening. We were totally in bloom.
David Bowie was the soundtrack to our lives during all these magical memories being created. This song was a perfect way to pay respect to his beautiful soul along with telling our own story. For me, it was another way of saying goodbye to my sweet brother, Ryan. I miss him every day!
Another single is “Necessity Meal,” and I am curious about the story behind it….so what is it all about?
Danny from the start was engaging a hybrid bass line very reminiscent of The Doors and Funkadelic. His idea was to have Howard add additional guitars in respect to an alluring Hendrix style anthem, which would surely elevate the chorus. Once it was gift-wrapped, the song met its glam rock introduction. Staying true to my sincerity, I speak of feeling messy during strange and unusual occurrences while normalizing innocence.
I hear hints of early Christian Death in this album and vocally sounding like Rozz Williams, especially in the track “Tongue Tied Galore.” Was this a conscientious thing or a complete fluke?
I’ve heard so much about Christian Death and how Rozz Williams was such a beautiful person. His music is something that I have never traveled through. Some of my friends around the block mentioned that I would love his records. In time, I am certain that I will get around to it. There is a time and a place for everything. Perhaps I am not mentally prepared as of yet. Maybe sometime soon fate will come my way!
Is there a favorite track off the album?
Tongue Tied Galore
Astari Nite is very much a live band, so has it been a joy for you bring new music on tour?
I do enjoy it a bunch though at times, not having enough space to play other favorite tracks can be such a drag at concerts. I want to make people happy! It’s just a crying shame at times that I can’t play every song that is expected.
Oh, the choices that we must make in life can really make you want to swim in the deepest ocean sometimes.
After ten years, what is it about being in this band and scene that compels you to create great music?
The goth / alternative scene is a big inspiration for Astari Nite to continue to write music! The people that I have met at concerts really make me smile the most. Our band has been fortunate to share songs with the world. I am also very passionate about meeting everyone at our shows. It is important for me to attempt to say hello to everyone who took the time to make the night special.
PHOTO BY ALEXA JAE PHOTOGRAPHY
Which bands right now do you enjoy or find inspiration in?
Abba, The Beatles, LUSH and Rosegarden Funeral Party! Yea that is where it is at currently. I’m digging all the colors that their songs throw into the sky.
What is next for Astari Nite?
Finishing up a new single that will come to life fairly soon, followed by an EP slated for a 2025 release! I’m in love with writing music. I feel happy and pretty in my current state of mind.
Although the Resolution of Happiness album was released this past June, being in the studio once again with the bandmates is the closest I will ever get to redoing a childhood that was stolen from me. I am at my best when I’m in a room with Illia, Danny and Howard. You know what I mean, love the ones you’re with!
Run To Sleep is a very, very new band and their debut single is the industrial “Purity of Sin.” Based in Naarm (Melbourne), this is the project of Jarrad Robertson (guitar) and Michael Johnson (modular synth), and if the name Robertson is a bit familiar, you might remember he is also is member of the dark, gothy rock group Sea Lungs.
The guitar is the focus, however it is the electronics that paint the tone. Heavy and fuzzed out bass like intonations, often breaking down into bleating miasmas of sound, whilst the delicate guitar sinews its way across the wasteland, almost apologetic for the abrasiveness.
There is something very early Sisters of Mercy about this track and I am talking the first EPs. Though an instrumental, it struck me that it is kind of in this vein due to the stark drum machine in sync with the melodic guitar, and the big difference being the heavy concentration of synths. This might be called darkwave industrial and I have to say I am quite enjoying Run To Sleep already.
There are a few gothic rock bands that have captured the ears and imaginations that bring back people to listen time and again to their back catalogues. Sisters of Mercy, Bauhaus and Siouxsie and the Banshees come to mind as well as The March Violets. There is never a gothic nightclub that doesn’t at least play one of their songs in my experience, with “Religious As Hell” or maybe ultra catchy “Snake Dance,” filling the floor with the children of the night. Starting in Leeds in 1981, the band has popped up time and again to tantalise us, before going quiet again.
Original members TomAshton and RosieGarland are back with the phoenix that is The March Violets, bring with them a new bass player, Mat Thorpe into the fold, signing to the label MetropolisRecords and releasing the full length album Crocodile Promises. The new album is full of that lovely guitar work from Ashton, Thorpe holding down the infectious rhythms, and, of course, Garland’s very recognisable vocals. I was lucky enough to be able to speak to Rosie, Tom and Mat about the past, present and very importantly, the future of The March Violets, as well as the new album. On a side note, new member Mat is already awesome because he mentioned New Model Army, let alone joining a legendary gothic rock band.
It is almost guaranteed if you attend a goth nightclub, you are going to hear a track from The March Violets. What do you think it is about your back catalogue that has grabbed the imaginations and hearts of several generations?
Rosie – The March Violets were not, and never have been, ‘Goth-By-Numbers’. We never tried to fit into a category – after all, there was no category of Goth when we started out. Leeds in the early 1980s was an exciting place and time for music, one of those rare moments when bands try out new things and new technologies. We wrote songs, recorded them, performed them and all at blistering speed and with blistering energy because we were in the moment and living from day to day. Whatever bubbled up, we grabbed it and slammed it onto recording tape.
Tom – Hopefully our originality and the catchiness of the songs themselves. There was a definite energy to all the bands surrounding us which we picked up on and I think a lot of music from that era has an indefinable quality that has help up very well over the decades.
The band started in back in 1981 in Leeds, and since then has been around in different incarnations, so what has kept you coming back to this project and do you feel differently about the music scene now as opposed to the 80s?
Tom – Can you be haunted by a band? Asking for a friend! For me it’s always been in my life and threw me out into the world at a very young age. It is like an old friend and guardian, and I can’t imagine being without the creativity it pulled out of me and continues to do. Long may it fly!
Rosie –The March Violets still have songs bubbling up and bursting out. Writing and performing wasn’t a phase I went through in my 20s, after which I settled down into beige normality and became a corporate lawyer. Creativity is a lifelong passion, and I have no intention of giving up. Ever.
THE MARCH VIOLETS EARLY 80S
Coming from the Leeds hot bed of gothic rock, and contemporaries to such bands like Sisters of Mercy and Red Lorry, Yellow Lorry, how do think the dark music scene has changed and is it for the better or worse?
Tom – I loved it in Leeds then, and I still love it now. The current scene is full of talented artists building on the foundations laid in the early 80’s and onwards. I like to think we are still part of that process, and the new album is testament to that. Back in the day technology made it harder and more expensive to record music and I’m all for the advances that have democratized access and methods of distribution.
Rosie – Today, it’s far easier to reach – and stay connected – with fans worldwide. We can build up followers via Spotify & streaming services that simply didn’t exist in the 1980s. However, it’s heart-breaking to see so many live music venues closing down across UK, EU & the USA. It makes touring much more problematic. In addition, Brexit & other visa issues have made things incredibly confusing, let alone more expensive.
The band is now based in Athens, Georgia, so has this brought about a renewed vigour from The Violets?
Rosie – Well, Tom is based in Athens, while Mat & I are based in the North of England… it makes things interesting!
Tom – Now we have arrived at our 3-piece line up it has definitely brought a new energy and we are looking forward to working on our next release.
This year is a massive one with The Lorries releasing their last studio album soon and The March Violets bringing out your new full length called Crocodile Promises. The theme running throughout seems to be a bit of a creature feature. Can you tell about the title and theme behind Crocodile Promises?
Tom – For me it’s about rediscovering our punk roots from the 70’s and blending all we’ve learnt musically in the time since then. It’s full of protest songs that delve deeply into personal relationships and politics as well as firing back at the deeply flawed systems we are facing in the 21 st century.
Rosie –Don’t believe a crocodile: it may promise the world and the moon on a stick. It can’t be trusted. It’s lies, lies, lies.
“Hammer the Last Nail” was the single released just before the album and between the highly recognisable vocals of Rosie and Tom’s classic guitar riffs, it felt right as a March Violet’s track. Can you tell us more about this track and also the video created for it?
Rosie – Tom created the video – it really captures the disruptive energy of 1980s Violets, while channelling everything we’ve learnt in between. Over to you, Tom!
Tom – The music came from something I wrote for a solo project back in 2004. It’s very much its own thing and a bit other worldly and in the video I wanted to kind of put us in that world in an alluring way that matched Rosie’s impeccable vocals and words.
Always hard to pick a favourite track, but for me is the amazing “Heading for the Fire.” Do you have a favourite track so far?
Rosie – I love how reviewers each have their favourite track from the album. It’s a wonderful compliment. It’s hard to pick a personal favourite, because I love them all. Maybe “Bite the Hand.” I enjoy growling the lyrics & wish my voice were deeper than it already is. Hey, Iggy! If you’re reading this and fancy a collaboration…
Tom –All of them lol! Yes, very hard to pick a favourite but maybe “This Way Out,” it has a line I love to play on guitar and that glam sensibility we all loved back in the day plus the words are just so damn relevant to this day and age.
Mat – I have to agree with Tom, “This Way Out” is a lot of fun to play… Not as easy as it might sound, but lots of fun.
THE MARCH VIOLETS 2024
How did you guys decide it was time for an album and how did you bring new member, Mat Thorpe into the fold?
Rosie – Mat played bass at our Homecoming gig in 2007, and has been lurking behind the scenes ever since. Now the lurking is over and he’s a full time member of the band. We could not be happier.
Tom – We love Mat! His jumping in at this point couldn’t have been any more helpful. And as far as timing for a new album, we wanted to make a new statement pulling in all that we loved about The Violets past. We had a lot of material waiting in the wings and it told us to do our job with it.
Mat – I’ve been lurking in the wings on and off since I played bass in the Violets 2007 reunion show. After doing front of house sound for them last summer, the stars aligned in 2024 and I joined Rosie and Tom in early January, recording my parts for Crocodile Promises and preparing for UK, European and USA tour dates.
On the technical side, where did you record and who was involved in bringing it all together?
Tom – I had a lot of musical ideas from the early 2000’s and we also had stuff that hadn’t made it onto Made Glorious so we combined and wrote/re-wrote the new stuff at my studio on Athens, GA. To save money and make sure it came out how we wanted it made sense to self produce and although it’s a little harder to be that involved in the finished work it definitely paid off as so many reviewers have stated.
Rosie –in January 2023, I flew over to Athens where Tom lives and we basically got together for a month and just wrote. A magical alchemy happened: we got rid of external distractions and just worked on songs. Tom had sent me some riffs and I’d sent him some words but when we finally got together it was like it was waiting to happen.
What do you think has changed about your attitude towards creating music?
Tom –I think I still have the same scenario where I tend to hear a riff and then imagine what else might be around it but the key is open mindedness. The next album might throw some surprises at our fans, but we’ll also build on familiarity and see what we can improve on. It’s definitely easier these days to throw an idea down and develop it cooperatively than when we started.
Rosie – Tom and Mat are supportive and encouraging. Which is the perfect environment when it comes to creating new music, I’d go as far to say this is vital for the Violets. We’re not our own tribute band, only playing the old tunes. We are alive. We grow, we develop, we create.
Mat – I’m looking forward to getting in a room with Rosie and Tom to work on our next album at the end of the next run of US dates. It will be the proper writing sessions together and I can’t wait.
What bands got you into music but more importantly, what are you listening to these days?
Mat – Adam & the Ants, Alice Cooper, New Model Army. Today I am listening to English Teacher, Sprints, Idols, Fontaines DC, Hania Rani. Ask me again next week and it will probably be different again.
Tom – The Sex Pistols, Buzzcocks, Magazine, Bauhaus and countless others. These days I’m listening to Vowws, Lebanon Hanover, Tears for the Dying and Vision Video.
Rosie – I get earworms on tour. On leg #1 of the Crocodile Promises USA tour, Rosegarden Funeral Party’s songs got stuck in my head. Which is no bad thing at all… their music is amazing. Go check them out.
As we get older, there is a certain amount of clarity we are privileged in finally realising, especially in doing things for the sheer joy of it, and for me, this is what the current March Violets’ album sounds like. Do you think this is true?
Tom – Absolutely! I’m so glad that that comes to you from listening to the record. It feels like a celebration of all things that have been and will be coming for The Violets!
Mat – It’s definitely a joy for me to playing and creating music with Tom and Rosie after being a long time fan of the Violets. Long may it continue!
Rosie – You nailed it with the word ‘joy’. Rebecca Solnit says it better than I ever could, so I’ll leave it to her: “Joy doesn’t betray but sustains activism. And when you face a politics that aspires to make you fearful, alienated and isolated, joy is a fine act of insurrection.”
I gather you are playing live again so what is it like playing new music to an adoring crowd and is this something you really enjoy?
Rosie – I never get tired of performing & connecting with a crowd. It’s such a buzz. Our fans span all ages and it’s amazing. In fact, on the recent tour we noticed around 70% of our audiences are under 30 years of age. They weren’t even thought of when The Violets started out. I have fans describe me as a Scary Gothmother, & that I’ve inspired them to take pride in their weirdness. It’s intensely moving.
Tom –It’s been a revelation playing the new songs and seeing them go down so well with our fans, what more could you ask for? We can’t wait to head out on the road in the USA again later this October and do it all again!
Mat – Playing live with Rosie and Tom this year has been perhaps the most relaxing and enjoyable gigging experience I have ever had. The fans have been so enthusiastic and welcoming too which has been amazing to see.
What is next for The March Violets?
Tom – Ooooh! Well, we will be working on new material this year for release in 2025 so keep your ears pricked for news of that. The journey should never end!
Rosie – On leg #2 of the North American tour our main support is Die So Fluid. Plus, we had such a wonderful time with Rosegarden Funeral Party on leg #1, we invited them to join us on some dates… and they said yes! Can’t wait…
Mat – What Tom and Rosie said, but in a Mancunian accent 😉
French goth rock band CorpusDelicti, were pretty big in the 90s, and after several acclaimed albums, they kind of disappeared. In 2022, the band reformed and with the release of the single “Chaos,” in 2024, it was plain to see that they had not lost any of that magic. Their fan base in Mexico is huge and so in April, 2023, they played Mexico City, recording the whole thing in order to release the live album From Dust To Light.
PHOTO BY LOIC SWINY
What really hits you is the quality of the recording. So absolutely crisp and clear, with Pietrapiana’s vocals never swallowed by the music and the guitars that Delicti are famous for clean in the mix, so a shout out to the guys mixing this in the form of TéoSarfati and FranckAmendola. . Even the drums are beautifully picked up and this album is a joy to hear. I found myself singing along with “Saraband,” “Lorelei” and “Patient,” wishing I was at this live event and yet mesmerised by how good these tracks are live and that they are as fresh as they were thirty years ago.
It is a privilege to hear SébastienPietrapiana (vocals), FranckAmendola (guitar), ChristopheBaudrion (Bass) and LaurentTamagno (drums) playing classic tracks drawn from across four epic albums. The band are incredibly talent musicians and there is just something magical about hearing songs played that are not hinged on backing tracks. Everything rests solely on the shoulders of players and Corpus Delicti are pure class. From Dust To Light is a wander down memory lane… another place and another time, with songs that are timeless and I have to say, I am so happy Corpus Delicti are back.
For many of us, we cannot think of early 80s British post-punk/gothic, without including Leeds band, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry (RLYL). They were an amazing juggernaut, with other key bands such as Sisters of Mercy and The March Violets, giving us dark, guitar driven songs of nihilism from an era that was seeing a great deal of social upheaval, and also a music scene spewing forth a slew of new styles. Something Lorries fans having been holding out for was another studio album. We knew there was one in the wings, but no one, including the band, knew if it was going to see the light of day, having been recorded ten years ago. Not only is that album, Some Kind of Paradise, due for release, there is also the bonus of an EP DrivingBlack, that is out in December. However, for now, the first single has been dropped, which is also called “Driving Black (Ding’s Remix)“. It has been thirty-three years since the last Red Lorry Yellow Lorry single and all this goodness is being brought to you via COP International.
Chris Reed’s vocals are unmistakable with that biting edge of venom matched with near derision, that brokers no arguments, for it is what it is. The percussion is savage between the drums (Martin Henderson) and bass (Simon Archer), that sets the stage for the driving guitars of Reed and David Wolfenden.
The Ding is Simon ‘Ding’ Archer, music bassist for RLYL as well as being a music producer in his own right. There is a coarseness that grates over your skin with “DrivingBlack,” as it is with most music in the past from The Lorries. I think this is due to the fact that the song is so real.. as in you feel it in your bones and it resonates in your head, becoming another integral piece of fabric in memories, because it is a great and gritty rock song. It isn’t long now for those of us who have loved Red Lorry Yellow Lorry and I am beyond excited knowing that the journey isn’t quite over yet.
UK record label, We Are Horror Records, have released the debut single for psychobilly band MidnightFeature, which is called “FromTheGrave.” Following in the great tradition of horror rockabilly groups, the band has four members with amazing names. There is Joshua Alucard (vocals/guitar), Markus Aticus (bass), Dr. Richard K. Straker (guitar) and THE BRAIN (drum machine). Well, okay, technically the drum machine isn’t alive, but after all, it is a horror outfit.
You are greeted with the famous line from Frankenstein (1931), ie ‘It’s Alive!!,’ so you already know you are going to be on a winner. You are then hit by the, frankly, coercively silken crooning vocals of Alucard, the wonder axe wielding and devastatingly thumping bass… oh, and of course TheBrain keeping that undead heart beating.
It seems these lads have been brought up on a diet of Hammer Horror and B Grade black & white horror, which I admit are my favourite types. All this lends itself to the imagery of both dead and undead ladies, such as vampires and reanimated corpses, whom we all know make the best goth girls. I love this track. It moves and shakes, incorporating all the best things about the horror punk genre. A great tune and a well wicked sense of humour. Is it gothabilly or is it psychobilly? Eh, I will let you be the judge, but I really hope people pick up on MidnightFeature and give “From The Grave” a listen.
Kentucky based, Who Saw Her DIe?, have started the spooky season with their latest track “Shadow Man.” StephenBeasey and BrianCain make up the Louisville post-punk/darkwave duo.
From the oddly, almost out of place tinny rhythms, to the discordant beginning, there is already an air of foreboding, further played upon with the not quite monotone vocals. They snap out of this with the far more menacing chorus of this very anguished and troubled individual. All is dark and brooding.
I am not going to say this could be about the demented killers in the slasher thrillers, but they don’t sound far off it. Indeed, “The Shadow Man” might be lurking just around that corner waiting and with a soundtrack like this, with its unhinged lyrics and crazed vocals. well it is shaping up to be a pretty good Halloween. What do you expect from a band named after an Italian 70s horror movie? More of this hopefully.
MeaFisher may no longer be a vocalist for LordsOfAcid, but she is back with her new project Me And My Nightmare, and what better way to celebrate than by dropping the single, “DevilInside” featuring the vocals of EnEsch (Slick Idiot, <PIG>, Pigface, ex-KMFDM) Just when you thought your industrial dreams were fulfilled, DannyLohner, guitarist for Nine Inch Nails just happens to be on the track as well.
Techno inspired synths and rhythms complement the purring vocals of Fisher, when she isn’t letting that devil out in the chorus. Esch brings the demonic to Fisher’s fallen angelic, with his gravelled vocals, and Lohner’s guitar work drives home the grittiness below the sheen of the electronics.
There are also two remixes that go with the single, including one by SebastianKomor (Icon Of Coil, Strategic Command, Zombie Girl). I can see Fisher going from strength to strength, if this is the calibre she is serving up. Have to admit I did first first think of the INXS song of the same name at first, though no fear as this is a completely different beast or should that be devil? Come join Me And My Nightmare and find the sensual “DevilInside.”
Swedes Hatif have released a new single called “BrokenBucket,” which is the first track off the next to be dropped album, on the Town And Towers Records label.
The lilting guitar swaps at will with the intense synths, which sprinkle everything with their illumination. The vocals are sonorous and call us to the lyrics, where you can hear a message that is about broken systems and the turmoil that follows, destroying all before it.
The line ‘from the thought to the pull of in your index finger, from the plan to the act never stop to linger‘ in the chorus is exceptionally powerful. That act of pulling the trigger on a weapon has ripple effects that can be far reaching. The more I hear Hatif, the more they feel like a really exotic reincarnation of fellow Swedes, Covenant, and I think their stance in using music to take a stand is both compelling and wholly enjoyable. Don’t be the “Broken Bucket” for it holds nothing and this song means everything.
Onyx Music Reviews 