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Something is a stirring at the end of 2025. International gothic super group, Beauty In Chaos have an extended single release in the form of two covers. Oh Lordie, there is going to be a reconning. The first is a folk cover, recorded as far back as 1956 by Odetta called “God’s Gonna Cut You Down,” and also under this title in 2009 by the original Man In Black, Johnny Cash, as well as Marilyn Manson (2017). It has also been reproduced as “Run On” by Elvis Presley (1967) and Moby (1999), as well as others.

Photo by Anabel DFlux

You just know before a single note has been struck, this is going to be a southern gothic affair, where the coyote blues is just waiting there to bite and preacher is sizing you up for the next wooden box he’ll be sermonising over. Sure enough, there is that heavy guitar twang that rings out, joined by the gospel styled hand claps, as well as the rat-a-tat of the military drum, all calling on the day of judgement.

Back in 2003, Joe Strummer And The Mescaleros released the album Streetcore, which brought forth the single “Get Down Moses.” Oh yes, nothing like that reggae flavour, mixed with that unmistakeable Strummer guitar, and the brass section reminding us that ska is the voice of the streets. It is sassy, eexy and still runs true for the modern day.

After “God’s Gonna Cut You Down,” I feel like going to listen to Concrete Blonde’s version of “God Is A Bullet,” for will there be redemption?? I don’t know, but there is a cinematic darkness that tastes like dust and smells of gunpowder. Meanwhile, “Get Down Moses” is like the medicine you never knew you needed to soothe and heal your soul. Easy to listen to and still make you realise that the more things change, the more they stay the same, A bit like “Ghost Town” by The Specials. On a side note, Michael Rozon and Michael Ciravolo are the lynch pins of Beauty In Chaos, and we all know, Michael is God’s avenging angel.

Have mercy on us everyone…..

“God’s Gonna Cut You Down” b/w “Get Down Moses” | BEAUTY IN CHAOS

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Beauty in Chaos

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F.I.V.E, also known as Fear Increases Violent Emotion, is the soon to be released fifth album for Italy’s darkwave group, Christine Plays Viola. Massimo Ciampani (vocals), Fabrizio Giampietro (guitar), Marco Di Ianni (bass guitar) and Gianluca Orsini (drums) have dropped the single “My Redemption” as your first taste for the new album.


The deep resonance of the vocals sets the shadowy mood, while the guitar sparkles and spars for equal billing. Easily danceable and even easier on the ears, “My Redemption” is pure darkwave goodness and definitely has that European sensibility. One might say a cool touch that burns the skin, so you might want to catch up with Christine Plays Viola, and check out the vintage gothic video for “My Redemption.”

Music | Christine Plays Viola

Christine Plays Viola – Official Website | The Dark Is Coming

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There is an ill wind and hark….is it an EP or an album??? We aren’t quite sure, but we know it is Sinister Fate when we see them. Also, that the album is called Profit of Doom, which was released back in August by the guys from Chicago, and it is a monster mash of singles, new tracks, covers and remixes.

There are the two singles, with the first on show being “beLIEve,” a cross between the horror movies that are The Purge series and real life unrest on the home front. The rich verses poor and ideologies burning in the veins of the zealots. It is pure grimy rock with a punk ethos and a guitar solo that sings out. The other is the horror infused “Meet Mister Scratch,” who is the thinly disguised devil with an agenda to sell to those whose moral compass might be a little off target, for the simple low price of a soul.

I thought the title of the track “Hey Man, Nice Shot,” was very familiar, and it turns out that is indeed a cover of the Filter song, which has that heavy hanging bass at its core and although not a cover, “VVitch” feels like an ode to The Cure through the guitar work and drums sounding like they could of come off the Pornography album.

Sinister Fate carry on the proud tradition of goth horror rock, which is full of symbolism and often tongue in cheek observations about the true monsters of the world. I wonder if the band is somewhat inspired by the late, great Pete Steele, especially with the inference of the title of the album and the Type O Negative’s track “The Profit of Doom” off the 2007 album Dead Again. Profit Of Doom is a nice mixture old and new, with the remixes that just give another facet to the band. It is part goth, part rock and all horror babe..

Profit Of Doom | Sinister Fate | SINISTER FATE

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• SINISTER FATE • (@sinisterfate) | AllMyLinks

• SINISTER FATE • (@sinisterfateofficial) • Instagram photos and videos

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Italy’s Vidi Aquam released the album Lights and Shadows, in September. Full of post-punk goodness by members Daniele Viola (electric guitars, bass, drum machine) and
Nikita (voice, lyrics, synth, programming), we are going to look at the single “The Last Man on Earth.”

Purposely dark, with the only true brightness being the guitar as it twinkles between the drum machine, the heavy bass and grave vocals of Nikita. Even the synths creep through the cracks in a bleak manner, as is befitting a tale about a man who is truly alone in a apocalyptic world, living each day with only the memories of what used to be. The music video is an absolute must to watch with a nuclear nightmare vision rendered in animation. There is such sorrow in being “The Last Man on Earth” and it is beautifully conveyed by Vidi Aquam.

The Last Man On Earth | Vidi Aquam

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I saw Aquam

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German label Dependent, dropped the new Fïx8:Sëd8 album Octogram, in the month of October, which seems oddly apt. The guys from Wiesbaden, have really put a lot of thought and heart into Octogram, with there being eight tracks, which all have a running time of approximately eight minutes each. Further more, each track has the last words of a imprisoned person, about to receive the ultimate penalty of death.

“The Unborn” is your introduction to the concept of last words integrated into music. There is a undeniable truth is the fact that ‘everybody dies,’ but not everybody gets to choose when, The synths are sublime at times, almost serene in acceptance of the awaited fate, though there is a darkness within and it accented with the high pitch electronic feedback, breaking into your conscious.

There are probably no more powerful words than ‘I don’t want to go,’ when you know they were the last utterances from a human, who was euthanised, and “New Eden” is electronically beautiful, compared to the voice of this woman. The synths simply sparkle like stars in the sky, that will never be seen again and there is an urgency, with the metallic vocals that morph at will into otherworldly singing.

“Darkness Visible” has a delicate tone, carried with the almost oriental lines that ring out making me think of Depeche Mode, broken by the guttural vocals. It sails on mercurial synths. There feels like a righteous reign of fire just waiting to break loose in “Oathbreaker,” as if the track is on the knife’s edge, waiting to break open, throbbing and building in tension. The beats become heavier and evolves into semi rhythmic noise.

There is a point in Octogram where you begin to wonder if humanity has the right to snuff out the life of another, as you run the gamut of emotions where the music and vocals sometimes builds on the psychological state and in other tracks, can almost be diametrically opposite. The music, as always, from Fïx8:Sëd8 is really breath-taking, putting forth creations that are not just danceable, but also take you from your safe place and make your heart beat just a bit faster.

Octagram | FIX8:SED8

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Dependent – SPKR.store