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Have you people in your life, where every time you interact with them, you feel flat, tired and just plain drained? You could be dealing with “Emotional Vampires,” a serious parasite and also the title to the latest single from Toronto’s Spectral Eyes. Rosie Cochrane, the gothic soul behind Spectral Eyes, has described the single as a cross between Kate Bush and Death Grips….. feeling the intrigue yet?!

Cochrane’s vocals waver between spoken word and sickly imploring, for she inhabits the psyche of an anima sucking being, drawing you down into her vortex of selfishness and self obsession. There are erratic rhythms, bleeping electronics and synths that all come together, and when that voice soars, looped into singing in harmony, the track takes on a whole new level of wow. The last line really hits home. with the vampire finally telling it’s victim, ‘Don’t tell me I can’t have it all‘.

“Emotional Vampires” is quite experimental in many ways, using tone and pitch of the vocals to great emphasis of the character, as well as glitchy beats giving a sense of instability. It is a bit groovy, a bit dark and a lot of spectacular. So, remember when out in the big, bad world, use your Spectral Eyes, and do not let the “Emotional Vampires” bite.

Emotional Vampires | Spectral Eyes

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The 2024 album, Age of Loneliness, by Vamberator, is a commentary on the modern phase of human existence, in a world that is more connected than ever with social media, and yet people feel more isolated than ever before. Jem Tayle (Shelleyan Orphan) and Boris Williams (The Cure) are Vamberator and their latest single off said album is “I Need Contact,” and Rolo McGinty (The Wild Swans, The Woodentops, The Jazz Butcher) has remixed said single.

A build up of low and building elements greets you, before Tayle’s mellow vocals caress your ears. The music wanders with his singing, a testament to an ongoing, internal ache. Slow and measured, there is a sweetness in the sorrow and longing for something more.

As we get older, we have a lot of acquaintances from throughout the years, but true friends, those circles shrink. Youth is full of excitement and love, then at some point, you realise love in the modern age is hard to find. “I Need Contact” is a poignant reminder from Vamberator that you aren’t alone in how you feel and Rolo McGinty has delicately taken the track and given it an almost classical feel.

I need contact | Vamberator

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One of the beautiful aspects of the dark alternative scene is the inclusiveness for the disenfranchised, acceptance of sexualities and ethnic backgrounds. Second Idol are a group from Sydney, on the Gloomshift Records label, who play post-punk music and exemplify that diversity can create wonderful music. Kate Farquharson (vocals, guitars), Theia Joyeaux (bass), Sunny Josan (guitars) and Afeef Iqbal (drums, percussion) are Second Idol and they dropped a new single in October, called “Spineless Wonders.”

Nice, heavy bass is an instant attention grabber, before the drums clatter in and we are met by the swirling guitar. The vocals are strong and there is resemblance to the singing style of Brian Molko (Placebo). The chorus has teeth, with a veritable cacophony of guitar noise and it is glorious.

There is also a remix by INAUGURAL, who are label mates, and it has a dreamy, echoing texture. Think Siouxsie and the Banshees’ “Fireworks” as a reference, and that somewhat gives you an idea of how excellent it is.

“Spineless Wonders” is sonically perfect, and there is a very professional music video, directed, shot and edited by Jack Fontes, in black and white, full of sexual tension and innuendo. It is a song about those that present as something they are not, who lie and have no honour, which seems to be more pertinent than ever in the modern world of social media. Don’t be a “Spineless Wonder” and listen to Second Idol.

Spineless Wonders | Second Idol

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New single SPINELESS WONDERS out now | SECOND IDOL

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Let’s go back to January of this year and visit an EP from Copenhagen’s Sanity Overdrive called god.clear (). The man behind this project is Paweł Mielcarek (Anthropoid Idol, ex-Haemorrhagic Diarrhea), and he meshes dark synthwave with nihilistic industrial.

We kick off with the short lived intro “Invocatio,” which leads into “L’autoportrait binaire,” filled with the drone of an electric guitar, the focal piece, while the synths is the softer foil, making the grinding guitar even more aggressive as it gathers speed.

The electronic knocking rhythm is soon joined by the guitar in “Nur-noch-leben,” building up the growing suspense. The air is becoming thick with the ever pervading pressure of the pounding beats and driving guitar.

The final track is the galvanic “Black Screen,” as the guitar buzzes angrily with the pounding beat. It is a cohesive explosive attack from a well oiled machine, asserting its dominance, thundering in fury, with the ominous synths raising the foreboding portent of something this way coming.

There is a bleakness to the music that the industrial aspect feeds into and the synthwave is often used as the emotive over tones, seeking to coat each track in variants of darkness. Sanity Overdrive’s gods.clear() EP is an abrasive sonic journey.

gods.clear() | Sanity Overdrive

Sanity Overdrive (@sanityoverdrive.bsky.social) — Bluesky

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Melbourne’s Velatine are back with a new single, as well as a new singer. Loki Lockwood dropped the single “Oh See Me, The Siren,” with Holly Purnell debuting as the vocalist.

‘I love coats, leather coats, biker jackets, military coats, I’m obsessed. So I’m down the local thrift shop and trying on some women’s furs [love them too]. But I never seem to find the right one but I try. I put one on, the sleeves are too short, I push them up and I hear someone say ‘looks cool’. I turn around and I’m looking at this striking woman who says to me ‘you’re looking for a singer aren’t you’? ‘How do you know’? I replied.  ‘I’ve seen your ad and I’ve been thinking about it’. Why hasn’t she I think? She looks the part so I ask. I get the ‘not sure whether I’m good enough or my voice is right’. ‘Well if you don’t try you’ll forever wonder’ I say.’ – Loki Lockwood

In the video, our siren Holly is saturated in deep red tones, and somewhere in the back of my mind, there is a knocking. Something familiar and then it hits me. She reminds me of a young Shirley Manson and not just vocally. The attitude is sassy and she is not going to put up with anyone’s preconceptions. In that vein, the music is equal parts sneering nonchalance and peerless seduction, for this composition created by Lockwood.

Lockwood has used synths in the chorus in such a way that heightens the feeling of suffocation and in his chameleon way, he has the ability to fluidly change from gothic rock to a more electronic sound, and everything in between, without a second thought, which keeps everything fresh. It seems Velatine might have found their gothic goddess in Holly and this means there are exciting things in the works. Find yourself drawn to “Oh See Me, The Siren,” because no one can resist creatures of the night.

Oh See Me – The Siren | Velatine

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– VELATINE – Gothic | Darkwave

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“Cold Heart” is the debut single from Vox Umbra, a darkwave project started in 2025 by Tiffany in Seattle, USA and Florian from Amiens, France. A song for those who want to lose themselves in an ancient forest and live with the sprites, for the world of men can be cruel.

Tiffany’s vocals are the first to gift our ears, with a lilting quality that adds to the romantic ambient quality of the music. Like in a dream, Florian chimes in with the vocalised lament of the psychological damage done. Both singers are mesmerising in the way they compliment each other.

The accompanying video is beautifully made with pagan/wiccan overtones. The feminine is delicate and otherworldly, while the masculine is more forceful, yet questioning, but what ever is happening, you are focused utterly on the singers of Vox Umbra. The music itself is simply there floating in the background for atmosphere. The debut “Cold Heart” is a magical darkwave introduction to Vox Umbra.

Cold Heart (Single) | Vox Umbra

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𝐕𝐎𝐗 𝐔𝐌𝐁𝐑𝐀 (@voxumbramusic) • Instagram photos and videos

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Diana Ringo is a Finnish film maker, who also makes avant-garde post-punk music. She released in August the single teaser “Happy Mealz” off the album Cyberwolf, which dropped in October. You might say, Onyx, you are a bit late….*pointed stare ensues*…. aaaaand you would be correct, but we aren’t talking about that. It is all about this cool single “Happy Mealz.”

Ringo’s vocals are unique, with the closest comparison I have being Diamanda Galas when she is hitting them low notes with her keening tones, matched with the spoken word veracity of Nico. It instantly spins you around after hearing the intro of sparkling synthwave and wailing guitar.

Is “Happy Mealz” about the children’s boxed meal that comes with a plastic toy from the place with the golden arches?? Where artificial food meets short lived joy, but it keeps the masses peachy keen and wanting more. It is the disconnect of a world that is swamped in mediocrity, because the common folk have been convinced, what the media and corporations sell you is your only choice. Choose life, choose freedom and choose to listen to something a bit different with Diana Ringo.

Happy Mealz | Diana Ringo

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Diana Ringo – Film Director, Pianist and Composer

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Huzzah! Halloween is in full swing, and as tradition has it, this is the time for gothic tunes to celebrate the spooky season. Behold the track “Witches‘ from Costa Ricans, Ariel Maniki and the Black Halos as a musical gift to all those that like to go bump in the night!

Eva Red’s voluptuous bass is the meat in this track, deep and the rhythmic backbone, with the drum machine in back up. The synths are the domain of Jan Black, which are willowy, echoing and haunting, only matched by the saxophone that is played by Ariel Maniki. Maniki’s vocals always have this really nice deep tone that are the icing on the gothic cake. so to speak.

‘Dancing with the devil

At the edge of dawn

They are always hungry

For a human soul‘

This not a track about those good and kind witches. Oh no, these are the “Witches” that sustain their lives through the centuries through the ruination of ordinary folk. A danceable gothic tribute to the not so lovely ladies of the night by Ariel Maniki and the Black Halos.

Witches | Ariel Maniki and the Black Halos

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When you are a band who is all about horror in real life and movies, the Halloween season is very important. Who Saw Her Die? (WSHD?) get very excited around this time, gracing us with their joy of all stories gruesome. Recently they released the Mothman EP, which you should check out, but they have dropped the fresh corpse of Dead or Alive’s track “Something In My House.”

This is not the disco version. It has been pared down to its bones and rebuilt like Frankenstein’s monster. It rumbles and groans, with the slow stalking beat and slightly lisped growled vocals of a broken and murderous heart. The synths add to the ghostly atmosphere.

A curse on the houses of Stock, Aitken and Waterman for their perversion of Dead Or Alive, who originally started off as the far more gothic Nightmares In Wax, but I will concede that without them, we might never had “You Spin Me,” (which I hated for several decades after spinning it every Friday night for two years) and “Something in My House.” The WSHD? cover is so different and yet so much in the vein of tongue in cheek that it was always was meant to be taken for. Hello? Police? There is “Something in My House” and it is all the fault of Who Saw Her Die?!

Harbinger (Mothman) | Who Saw Her Die?

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Portland’s Ceremony Shadows released the single “Future Past Collapse.” in September. This diverse trio, made up of musician/composer Timo Kissel, with vocalists/lyricists Anastasia Darkwater and Jakub Jerzy, and for the single, they are joined by Jana Cushman (Darkswoon) and Annalisa Rose (Glori) vocally.

Jerzy’s vocals are the anchor in the human world, deep and unfazed by the electronics, while the backing singing is so precise and together, it almost seems unreal, as if they could be the computer code, enticing you in with their glossy cadence, All is enhanced by the dreamy synths, which could belong to a much more ‘innocent’ era.

The band has said that “Future Past Collapse” was written about how AI could soon rewrite what it means to be a human, where talent and artistic ability no longer will be required for mass production, leaving us longing for the days of old. Indeed, this track feels like a link between when we were the masters of our tech and the onset of AI controlling what we hear and see, however, for now you can revel in the non artificial intelligence of Ceremony Shadows.

Future Past Collapse | Ceremony Shadows

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Ceremony Shadows

Ceremony Shadows (@ceremonyshadows) • Instagram photos and videos