Knock twice, your fate sealed, A CloudOf Ravens does reveal. Indeed, the 11th of November was the date for the release of the second single, “Nature If Artifice“, off the LOST HYMNS album, set to come out on the 24th of February, 2023.
It sucks you in from the beginning with elegant simplicity, from the beats to the build up into vocals. That guitar in the background like a warning siren, with the very deliberate heavy keyboard chords begging you to give them your attention. The vocals sombrely remind you that not all is well in the world.
The video alludes to past mistakes of humans only in the last century and yet maybe A Cloud Of Ravens is also tying to point out that we are making those mistakes again, though even if you aren’t a history buff, the music is brilliant. This is the “Nature Of Artifice“.
It can’t rain all the time but sometimes it “Feels Like Rain” which also happens to be the Signia Alpha single, released on the 11th of November. The band is made up of singer/lyricist Harris (yes just one name like Prince), multi instrumentalist composer Matt Webster (drums, guitar), flaunting his flute style is Chris Walsh, along with jazz master Keith Jafrate on sax and some bloke called Paul Gray who normally plays bass in some kitch band called The Damned.
Every time I have listened to this, I think Paisley Park, as in the 60s. Could be the use of the flute or the happy go lucky vibe of the music, though not all is as it seems. Lyrically it is about poverty and how it sucks away all until you only live under a constant weight and greyness, which is not living.
The Bradford area is in the North of England and since the industrial revolution, suffered high levels of poverty and unemployment. A breeding ground for musicians who are great storeytellers. “Feels Like Rain” rolls along just like the days do but with a social concious.
Mix one part Danish with one part United Kingdom and you get a spark of magic called Perpacity. Martin Nyrup (Den) and Ian Harling (UK) dropped their new single, “Little Death” on November the 11th.
Don’t Let the shamanistic wails at the beginning fool you. This baby is all electronic, suave and suggestive, with the synths rolling in all the right curves and the vocals entreating you in “Little Death“. There is also the ‘b’ side, “Feel My Pain” which is far more reflective and sorrowful, mirrored by the sombre tones of the music.
The title track has a decidedly DepecheMode vibe with those graduating synths and sexy lyrics, while the backing track, “Feel My Pain” is the quiet and brooding type that gradually creeps into your head. As the French say, petite la morte and really we all need a “Little Death“.
Time for a quickie.. and honestly, who doesn’t like a bit of a quickie?! Recently, our hero, Sebastian Sünkler aka STAHLSCHLAG, has released the new, epic album, A Zone Of Silence. Soooo, what do you do from here? Where do you go?
Why, you throw open a remix project for musicians around the world to participate in, releasing it with 34 artists and calling it More Zones Of Silence. And what a collection it is, with a wide array of styles for one to choose from.
From more synthwave lead remixes, dark ambient, rhythmic noise, EBM, harsh noise, experimental and everything in between under the industrial banner are represented. MATT HART, Non-Bio, Blue Ant, MissSuicide, Mikrometrik, SublimenalStimuli and Dirty K are just some of the bands/projects whom have taken these tracks and twisted them to their will, creating their own monstrous machinations. Very worth of your listening time and then explore the other artists. Immerse yourself in More Zones Of Silence.
Garrett Cooper is a musician who hails from South Australia. We had all had enough of 2021, but Cooper decided to give himself the goal of writing one song a month and putting it up on Bandcamp from November. He named the project Brave Mistakes, which may or may not have been hinting at how he felt about the task ahead. Now, Brave Mistakes is not the first to do the one song a month challenge, but one must remember that Cooper started this with a change from his usual harder rock style.
And now we are in November 2022. Single number twelve is here…. or is it? There seems to be two singles in the form of the tracks “Can’t Fear” and “The Goon“, which make up a trilogy of songs called Shadow Pals and Brave Mistakes is no longer a solo project, but now a fully fledged band. The sound has filled out with those jangly guitars tumbling beautifully over each other and Cooper’s vocals have gotten stronger each track, dare I say giving Chris Isaak a run for his money.
Obviously not content on just one song for this month, we are going out with a bang. On Bandcamp you will also find a new rendition of “Charlotte Street“, which was the first to kick everything off and it has been stripped down, full of overwhelming emotion. I was actually surprised to also see the release of a cover of one of my most favourite bands of all time. The Church, for me are the epitome of superb composition, poetic lyrics and more cool than the Arctic (and good grief they were so hot looking in their paisley and winkle pickers). The cover of “Under The Milky Way” kind of blew my mind and in all honesty, I actually cried a little.
Over all, the general ambience is dark and moody, with definite overtones of country music, which gives Brave Mistakes a quintessentially Australian sound. The music follows in the footsteps of such acts as stalwart NickCave, rockers Beasts Of Bourbon, The Johnny’s or the wonderful and sadly missed Triffids. It is music that speaks of longing, loneliness and separation in a land both expansive and ancient, where one can lose themselves in the terrain or simply in your own head. Southern Australian gothic or dark country? Maybe it defies pigeon holing but it is terrific rock music no matter how you look at it. Brave Mistakes sometimes pay off.
Sweden has a rich history of electronic bands and Stockholm’s Hatif have joined these illustrious ranks. The duo released their debut full length album “Everything Is Repetition“, on September the 30th with the label Town And Towers Records.
From the start of the first track, “A Small Scratch“, your senses are wrapped in the gorgeous folds of the electronics, heightened by the Middle Eastern influence, pervading like the delicate smoke from a beautiful incense. “Pool” is imbued with the sights and sounds of a Moroccan bazaar with silken like darkwave and those are just the first two tracks
Even in the smooth electronics, there is an undercurrent of tension such as the sexuality in “Repetition“, the dispossessed in “City Beneath The City” or the entrancing “Close to None“, which is about loneliness, yet so utterly hypnotic and mesmerising… possibly one of my favourite tracks.
In some ways, Hatif remind me very much of the great Deine Lakaien. The vocals effortlessly creep under your skin, saturating the senses with sensual perfection. It is extraordinary electronica with the divine infusion of the exotic East, creating a glorious album where not “Everything Is Repetition” with the rather darkwave cool that is Hatif.
Fox Nova Project is the combined forces of Mach Fox (Zwaremachine/USA) and Craig Saunders (NOVAkILL/AUS). Their latest project, out on the Phage Tapes label, is an album, titled PredatorPrey, which leads on from their debut EP, The Haunted The Hunted, remixing those tracks to give a storyline.
The overall sound of this remix album is heavily rooted in the harsher EBM style of the 80s. The breakout growling guitar amongst the analogue sounding synths and Fox’s bleak vocalisations. The mixes for the predator, full of bravado and snarling certainty, while the prey are crippled with fearful racing heartbeats and heightened alert. With PredatorPrey, Fox Nova Project goes old school on this one
The 31st of October was a rather busy time for releases that I’m working my way through. In that vein, the Boston based label, Info Sec Records has put together a compilation of electronic artists called Music For Hacking.
INFO SEC RECORDS
TheNeon Droid brings a “Cloud OfAshes“, sailing across the net, floating in the electronic world, while “terminus” from Rap2h has its video games inspired tones.
There is the cool beats and ambience of Inter Gritty’s “The Chase” or you can go full cyber angst with Psi Drive with the tracks, “Master’s Revenge” and “Hail Overlords“…. plus there is the synthwave crossed with crunchiness of “REJUVENATE” by TWINKLE MARIA きらきら マリア.
Not all is instrumental, with Neon Tuesday covering “Rhythm Of The Night” which is a bit more calm that the original and later also providing another cover in the form of the Amiga game theme from “Lotus III” which is full on cheesy and amazing. ThyHarvest has this wonderful techno sound, with synths trickling down, making you think of the Matrix code in “Net Terminal“.
M73 is surfing the “Interlinked” data, like a stream of conciousness, with dark synth intent and, oh my, _NetNomad with “Build“, makes me think of the old games like Prince Of Persia, with its whimsical chip tune style.
This is another project where a label is showcasing independent musicians to help raise their profiles but also garner more interest in the electronic scene. There is an inclusiveness in this compilation with synthwave along side darkwave, chip tune, ambient and even industrial, all sharing a deep passion for experimental electronica. So plug in and become one with the interface with some Music ForHacking.
Halloween brought us the spooky release of the latest Simon Carter & Fabsi EP, Witch But Not Famous. With two new tracks, nine remixes and three guest mixers in the ghoulish countenance of Studio-X, C-Lekktor, Teknovore and Ruinizer, what is there not to love?!
“Omens” is just a smooth techno/ electronic filled track with Fabsi’s vocals meandering through the mix, predicting your doom. There are three remixes of this track but we will turn our attention to the Studio-X mix. You can picture the light show on the dance floor for this reimagining and Studio-X almost literally wind this up to maximum effect, before dropping the explosive techno.
The next new track is “Witch Hit” like an out of control steam train on its way to wild woods where you just know some crazy shit is going to happen. Again there are three remixes and we take the guest artist’s version, C-Lekktor doing the honours. They have taken the wonderful Fabsi’s cackle and used it to perfection in this heavier industrial customisation.
Next we have the track “We Are The Witches“, that was previously released on, The Bitches Potion. So we look to the last two remixes of the three by Teknovore and Ruinizer. Teknovore just has this beautiful symmetry between mesmerising soundscape and glorious danceability. He has stripped back the track and injected a magical night ride. Love the hint of something exotic within while launching into a rhythm infused piece of joy by Ruinizer.
Fabsi brings the Witch vibes with her vocals and lyrics while Carter pulls it all together with his enormous talent for amazing techno industrial music. With that talent also comes some wonderful friendships, and these musicians definitely help showcase that artistry as well as their own. More fun than a naked night dance in the moonlight because we are Witch But Not Famous.
Dissonant Hymns Records released the album Father Of Serpents by US band Diabology. The band is made up of Jesse Bergen (lead vocals, guitars, bass), Jack Kleinman (guitars, bass *tracks 5 and 9*) and Matthew Morales (drums, backing vocals), with them describing their music as thrash, though I think that is a far too simplistic summarisation.
I’m not an expert on metal, though musically, I know what is good when I hear it. I’ve really struggled to do this review, not because Diabology are awful, far from that, but rather I’m probably limited by what I have listened to. The heaviest, metal music in my collection is possibly Amorphis and Sentenced .
These guys are young, I mean really young and yet they are excellent at what they do. The music pours out of them, talented and charismatic, while you can hear hints of other influences within. This is my advice… if you like thrash music then you should listen to it, if you like most metal then you should definitely have a listen. It is focused, raw and has no compromise.
Onyx Music Reviews 