Brutal Resonance have signed, Philadelphia’s Her Noise Is Violence, to their growing list of acts. With her soon to be released, first EP with Brutal Resonance, Out Of Time, coming soon, the first single, “Apathy” was dropped on April 15th, 2022. Her Noise is Violence is making a name for herself as a creator of industrial music with dark techno.
The beats and electronics rotate around your head, maybe in a state of confusion or a mind infected by a malaise. A male voice says everyone is dead and if they were dead, what would you? Deliberate and slow fuzzing rhythms plod on until….nothing. A sudden stop.
This is a lot more sedate than her normal fare, but as the artist herself explains, ‘Apathy’ is a chilled-out tune, it’s the last track on the EP and what I wanted to convey is the feeling of, well, apathy.‘. With this in mind, we await the EP and more of those beats with Her Noise Is Violence, plus get a load of the awesome artwork by Psyklon Industries.
Estetica Noir are darkwave/post-punk group, founded in 2013 in Turin, Italy and they released their second album this year on the Red CatRecords label, called This Dream In Monochrome. The band is comprised of founding members Silvio Oreste (vocals-guitars-programming) and Rik Guido (bass), as well as Paolo Accossato (drums) and Marco Caliandro (synth-programming-back vocals).
There is something beautifully serpentine about the track “Room Of Masks“, as we are introduced to Estetica Noir and their lead vocalist’s ringing tones. Basically if this is the quality of what is to follow, then the whole album is going to be a treat. The second single off the album is “Sweeper” which is simply a divine myriad of guitars, synths and vocals. So utterly catchy.
“Striate Body” has a harsher tone to it in the beginning but that all melts in the chorus, only to return for this song, that was the first single released. The contrast of abrasive vocals and sweeter singing is quite delightful. The rain greets you in “Autumn” with unaccompanied keyboards, building a soundscape where if you listen carefully enough you hear the heartbeat. I still suffer from the pain of hearing the old internet dial up sound. “N.U.” uses this effect within the track. There is a cyber coldness as you feel the icy tendrils of the synths.
Such a wonderful build up of guitar in “Dawn Of Pluto” that drives it along on a sonic wave and echos throughout the whole piece. Do you have a strong preference for the night or darkness? You might suffer from “Nychtophilia” and the track is sexy with a soaring chorus about those that inhabit the shadows. “X” could mean a kiss in this spine tingling track. Smooth and slick with the breathy chorus. In the next number, a short instrumental, truly feels like it is on a precipice and maybe that is why it is called “The Fall“. We hit the last track, which is the retrospective “Climbing Up The Loneliness“. Such a superb balance of vocals with the haunting instruments backing up the lament of never being satisfied,
This is perfect darkwave music. Expressive, melancholy with great bass lines and lyrics that grab you by the heart strings. Throughout there are the wonderful guitar lines that ring out and the synths that create a beautiful synergy. I love Oreste’s vocals, a really strong singer who seems to very competent in his role. Each track has this beautiful dark crystal sound to it, smooth and clean on the surface but smoky beneath that shine. EsteticaNoir’s “This Dream In Monochrome” should be on your have a listen list, so what are you waiting for?
Der Prosector is a project from Florida, that seems to have come to life around 2020. Made up of four members, Ged Denton, Andy Kenealy, Jules Seifert and Digby Denton, found themselves at a loss over the state of affairs in the US during the Trump administration, as the country turned inwards with internal fighting and backwards looking. So was born the single, “Standing In The Embers“, which came out on April 15th, on the label, Armalyte Industries.
There is definitely a punk aesthetic to “Standing In The Embers“, mixed with a mid 90s industrial guitar sound, topped with more modern synths. The beats are fast and furious while the vocals are sincere and imploring you to wake up because – ‘The problem is some people want to watch the world burn And it’s on fire‘. There are also two remixes included. The UCNX mix is understated and like a creeping doom, while the Gordon Young version, named The Pyroclastic mix is stripped back with a feel of anxiety and burgeoning insanity.
They sing of Covid, violence and extreme ideology which has touched everyone’s worlds in the last few years. Ironically, we now watch another power hungry despot, happily destroying countries for his own purpose. The world burns and if we do nothing, we will burn with it. A powerful statement in a time of great upheaval from Der Prosector.
Things I am not an expert in… how much time do you have? While you contemplate this, I will tell you that Portland band, Supplemental Pills, released a seven track offering, Volume 1, on April the 8th. Never will I say that I am very offay with prog rock, though I have seen my fair share live. The band consists of Mark Folkrod (drums, vocals), Aron Christensen (bass, synth), Joel Meredith (guitar) and Ezra Meredith (vocals, guitar).
There is a bite to the guitars with electronic fuzz on the first track “Run On“. It is like an opus and an introduction to what will be awaiting you on this journey. “Freedom March” has a native American feel it is and also could be on psychedelic drugs it seems. With the tracks “Feel It ” and “Floating Mountains Over Rivers“, there is this yearning for the open spaces, as the guitars wend their way through the natural world, looking for passage to places unknown. “Feel It” has an angrier edge to it, meanwhile, “Floating Mountains Over Rivers” has a shamanistic texture.
“What The Wizard Said” actually starts off sounding a lot like the Jesus And Mary Chain with all the feed back. The wizard could be real or a hallucination of a fever dream. It is not often an eleven minute track is chosen as a single but this is the case with “Gonna Be Alright” which is a dirty dirge number with laconic droning guitars and vocals. Last track is “Mary Marrakesh” and this track reminds me very much of the other set of Scots, Teenage Fanclub, with the great vocal backing. I think this is probably my favourite track off the album.
The band was brought into fruition due to Covid and lockdowns at the time, and it not hard to see it has cemented a bond between these musicians.There is a harkening back to the late 60s and early 70s psychedelic rock with the darkness of The Doors pervading. Not a fan of purely instrumental progressive rock but the vocals and heart injected into this make Volume 1, make this genre far more interesting , especially when you can hear a melting pot of so many styles within.
The Dreadful Dead of Hoop Snake Hollow was the last album we heard from LA deathrockers, Black HeroinGallery, in 2016, but fear not. As of February the 20th, 2022, they released their third album, Feast Of Bats, on Pestilent WindFolk Records. Founding member and lead vocalist/writer/synths, Eyajo December Joseph, created this project in 2007 and was joined by drummer, Tony F Corpse, both having previously been part of the seminal deathrock group, Astrovamps. Over time, they have cemented the positions of lead guitar in 2015 with KrystalFantom and most recently, Dracul Grotesque in 2021 on bass and live keyboardist, Skye Lee Vague.
“I Cover Her Horns” kicks off the album, with a carnival in the distance with an off kilter mayhem. There is almost a genuine pain in the vocals for what maybe the love for a demon girl with her devilish horns. A lament to an unreasonable God that won’t keep his promises. The guitar work is just gorgeous in “Gargoyle Projekt“, a pulsating medieval hell of the black death that overtakes your senses in the eagerness to away from the victims of the plague.
There is a “Taste Of Worms“, a vortex of clashing drums and guitars, that whirls like a hurricane dragging you in with a sound of a siren. The classical elements are beautifully presented, giving this track gleaming facets. The track “Dreadful Wish” reminds me a hell of a lot of early Christian Death in the tone and tempo, about spiritual death. The guitars are often purposefully and yet then seem to almost meander in a psychedelic dream.
A tale of a demon who wished to see more than he should is told in “His Beautiful Darkness“. Grated out vocals from December Joseph, give you the sadness in finding a new world and losing it all again.”As She Slumbers” is dramatic and epically huge, images of a girl gone mad, who dreams of murdering her family and eating them. The guitars drop with the drums giving the effect of chopping into soft bodies. Even though there is a barrage of guitars and vocals, with the drums, tearing their way into your eardrums, “TheBoy Who Married The Spider-Face Girl” is actually a song for a girl that the world does not understand but is beloved by a boy.
Honestly, has there ever been a bad song written about the bogeyman? For the track “Hush, Hush, Hush, HereComes The Bogeyman“, this is no exception. Written originally in 1932 this cover version of the track is haunting, violent and wicked funny all at the same time. There is a wonderful heaviness that pervades. Expressive spoken word about the adventures of the “Twig Skeleton“, which sadly is only an interlude as I wanted to hear more about this character. A shamanistic atmosphere to “Take This Rose“, the last track on the album and rather than being romantic, a litany of what can never be.
There are black metal elements to the music that cannot be overlooked. It is in the use of classical aspects which is far more commonly used in black metal and crafted beautifully into the tracks on this album. Those elements indeed, enhance rather than detract from the overall sound. A Feast Of Bats is undeniably deathrock though with those angular, shredding guitars and tortured vocals. Stories of love, loss, death, decay and murderous intent….could one ask for anything more from an album? For me it is perfect gothic fare. You might have to venture in for yourselves and see if you get hooked on this release from Black Heroin Gallery.
TurboWave is the metal crossed with electronics style that Seattle band, Dual Analog describe as their musical sound. They very recently released their debut album. Lust, Worship And Desire, so there seemed no better time to talk to the two originators of the group, Chip Roberts and Kurtis Skinner, about their turbowave genre, origin story and of course about the new album.
Dual Analog, welcome to the Onyx rabbit hole of reality versus the Id. We hope you will enjoy your flight with us as we traverse dimensions.
You are from the Seattle scene in Washington. What is the alternative scene like there?
Chip: The most popular original groups are metalcore or singer/songwriter acts, but there’s a growing goth/darkwave scene coming up. The climate in the Northwest lends itself to dark, brooding music. Unfortunately, the “Seattle scene” of the early 90s kind of typecasted this whole area it has taken a while to move past that as a city. It’s been almost 30 years now, it’s time to move on!
Let us clear something up. You describe your musical style as turbowave. One of the Onyx cats is called Turbo as well, however he does not write music in the style of new wave, industrial and metal (though he does disappear for large lengths of time so who knows). Can you explain your style a little more?
Kurtis: Personally, I like to branch out to different genres to see what I can do and what will work. A “Dual Analog” song to me would have drum machines and/or acoustic drums, some guitar, vocals, and various synths, as well as possibly some orchestral and sound design elements.
Chip: Saying it’s “synthwave metal” puts us in a difficult spot, because if it’s not synthwave enough, people get uppity. Similarly, if it’s not metal enough, people get uppity. We knew it had to be a “wave” genre of some kind, but we didn’t want to paint ourselves into a corner. Plus, “turbo” makes me think of the Judas Priest record, which incorporated heavy metal guitars with keyboards and drum machines.
Kurtis: We just like to combine interesting grooves and melodies into a more or less traditional song format.
Chip: The songs off of “Lust, Worship, and Desire” comprise just one portion of our catalog; we have lots of different kinds of songs from danceable, gothy affair, to straight up pop. We wanted something that hadn’t already been defined so that we could stretch out a bit.
What were Chip Roberts and Kurtis Skinner up to in the Seattle music scene before joining their collective super music powers together?
Chip: We were playing together in Perfect Zero, but I was also playing or subbing in cover/tribute bands in the area. I played lead guitar in a Prince tribute, which is how I met Libby B.; she sang backup. I was also playing the casino circuit with a female fronted funk/RnB cover band.
Kurtis: In addition to Perfect Zero, I was and still am composing for various independent films, mostly shorts.
We gather the name Dual Analog, has something to do with the fact there were two members originally in the band, so how did you guys become involved with each other and create this project?
Chip: Kurtis and I have known eachother since elementary school. We started our first “band” in 7th grade, broke up in high school, and then reformed in college. We played in Axis of Symmetry and Perfect Zero, both of which erred were melodic death metal. After playing the Northwest metal scene for a few years, we found, if you were a metal band, that there wasn’t a ton of room for innovation; it’s very black and white. We put out an EP with Perfect Zero before dissolving the band; it had just become too much compromise and damage control. However, Kurtis and I still wanted to work with eachother, and we were sitting on some very strong material for what would have been the second Perfect Zero record.
Kurtis: Right after Perfect Zero ended, we got together and discussed how we each wanted to go forward musically. We had the same ideas of what we wanted to make, and so the beginnings of Dual Analog started.
Can you tell us who else is part of Dual Analog?
Chip: Kurtis and I are the primary songwriters and recording musicians. All of the instrument parts you hear on the record were written and recorded by the two of us, but we have some of our backing band members helping out on harmony vocals throughout the record. The live backing band is Sarah Anne Campbell on drums, Lindsey Ferrari on backup vocals, Libby B. Franklin on backup vocals, and Alika Madis on guitar. Sarah and Alika do live backups as well; it’s a really powerful and strong group of players.
Lust, Worship And Desire is your debut, after releasing six singles. Did you feel it was time to put out an album or was it planned this way?
Chip: We had an EP written, tracked, and sent off for mixing, but the person we sent it to for mixing and mastering flaked on us. During that waiting period, we wrote a number of songs that we were excited about, so we decided to shelve that EP and just make a full album of all-new songs.
I have to say I really like the mix of modern electronics with vocals in Golden Temple. Do you have a favourite track off the album?
Chip: I like every song on the record, and they’re all a little different from one another, which I love, but the song I’m the most proud of is the title track “Lust, Worship, and Desire.”
Kurtis: I like some more than others, but I’m very happy with “Among the Living”. It’s also one of my favorites to play live.
Four of the six singles made it onto the album….what happened to Neon Dreams and Wasteland?
Chip: “Neon Dreams” was more of a soft open that we put out to give people a sample of our new project. Originally, I had it arranged with acoustic drums and 7-string guitars, but we decided to do just the electronic version as a single. We had floated the idea of putting out the heavy version for the album, but it didn’t really fit with the rest of the songs musically or lyrically. Live, that song always goes over really well, especially with the guitars added. “Wasteland” was kind of similar in that we thought about putting it on the album, but it just didn’t fit with the rest of the material.
The album has a premise or a storyline running through it. Can you tell us about the boy and his search?
Chip: After receiving an unsolicited kiss from a, seemingly, complete stranger, he sets out to become actualized sexually. Taking the affection as the one thing missing from his life, he devotes his existence completely and utterly to attaining physical perfection and achieving enlightenment through sex. He practices asceticism, studies the ancient, lost art of lovemaking, and worships the goddess who gave him a taste of what he was missing before disappearing. I liken the concept to a “coming of age” story.
It is said that this is an ideal based in Buddhism, and is this a lesson learnt?
Chip: Now, that would be a spoiler.
I also noticed that a lot of the synths create chiming bell like sounds. Was this a preferred addition or a way to tie in the karmaic storyline?
Kurtis: I can’t speak to the storyline, but for me the bells add an interesting organic element and has contributed to how we define “our sound”.
Chip: In terms of whether the sound is intentional or incidental, I think it’s a chicken or the egg scenario. Certain songs need a certain sound, and certain sounds bring a certain song. I’ve always felt that every song we write has a “setting,” some kind of visual backdrop that pops into your head when you hear it. Songs like “Among the Living” or “Pantheon,” for example, feel like a Tibetan monastery. “Dynasties Behind” makes me think of a hot summer afternoon in Angkor Wat. When a certain setting comes to mind, I just go with it and the rest comes together pretty quickly.
There seems to be an 80s retro feel to the music, especially with the synths and the vocals. Would you say this is the era that influenced you the most?
Kurtis: I listen to a lot of modern electronic music, which has a lot of 80s influence in it these days, so I think that’s more what I was going for – a modern version of these types of sounds.
Chip: In previous projects, I always sang tenor. That kind of voice works at times for this kind of music, and you can hear it in a few songs on the record, but the rounder, more baritone flavored vocals just kind of found themselves into the sound. It wasn’t a foresight driven decision to say “I’m going to try to sound like Depeche Mode” or “I’m going to make this one more like Duran Duran,” it’s just that the music lends itself to that kind of vocal style. As we got more organized and focused, I had to get back into voice lessons. As I learned more of the proper technique, my voice just sort of naturally changed. It was kind of odd since I had always tried to sound more like Sebastian Bach than Roland Orzabal, but I like the way my voice sounds now, and I can still sing like Bas when I want to.
What music and bands inspired you to get into the music world?
Chip: KISS and Bon Jovi were the two biggest ones starting out.
Kurtis: Chip was basically the first person to introduce me to music, so KISS and Bon Jovi, but also AC/DC and Guns n’ Roses.
What bands/acts do you listen to now?
Kurtis: I’m all over the place, so this is always a hard question for me. Rufus du Sol is one of my favorite bands right now, but also Above & Beyond, Porter Robinson, Lane 8, This Will Destroy You, Lights & Motion, Halestorm, Dance with the Dead to name a few.
Chip: I’m listening to whatever my girlfriend has playing in her car. Lately, it has been mostly Wu Tang Clan and LaRoux. I’m getting into some Fates Warning right now and also stumbled across this obscure New Wave band called “Zee,” particularly their album “Identity” from 1984. Sounds kind of like Dead Can Dance, but poppier.
If you met Buddha on the road would you ask him the meaning of life, kill him or have a beer with him?
Chip: A cup of tea.
Kurtis: I would ask what he was doing sitting on the side of the road.
What is in the future for Dual Analog?
Chip: Hitting the promo as hard as we can and lots of meetings with promoters. We have a video for “Into the Unknown” coming out in May, then we’ll be shooting another video for the title track “Lust, Worship, and Desire” around late July.
Kurtis: Also, tons of new material, we have no shortage of ideas. There will be a lot of music coming from us for the foreseeable future.
Thank you for astral travelling with us today. Glad to see no one became motion sick or became spiritually lost.
What do you get when Mexico meets Finland? The single “Verenkiertohäiriö [Circulatory Disorder]” is the outcome. Mexico’s Exemia in conjunction with the Fin, TFG from TONTTU, have thrust into the world, this single on April 13th, 2022.
An merry dance you will get from this track as it bursts to life in all the vocal ferocity TFG gives to his performance, while Exemia simply kill with the amazing electronics that assault your senses. The whirl of angst and synths is a brilliant cacophony.
Industrial beats definitely make this feel so utterly alive and ripple under the skin. Great aggro-techno industrial music is often hard to get just right and this definitely ticks all the boxes. It is out on Bandcamp for name yourprice if that helps curry your fancy, but most importantly….. beware of the gnomes and their nefarious ways.
Disfigured Mistress is probably a project I should have talked about sooner but better later than never. Since 2010, Brisbane’s Disfigured Mistress has been releasing his experimental, industrial noise and as of the 8th of April, released the single, “The Depths Of Black Hatred“.
As the title may indicate, this is not a happy go lucky piece. It is an instrumental number full of harsh crackling electronic fury, that lashes your ears, in mounting waves. Primal with a dark brooding undercurrent of unrest which floods through senses without remorse. All until the last tick. You should definitely check this track out on Soundcloud or on Bandcamp where it is name your price and then check out more of the Disfigured Mistress back catalogue, as it is well worth your while.
Pure Obsession And Red Night have come a long way since their early days. Originally known as PORN, this French band, over the years has matured and evolved, especially in their sound. This brings us to the latest album, Let Your Obsessions Run Wild, which was released on April the 22nd. Philippe Deschemin is the lead singer as well as the composer for the band and on top of that, has done the mixing and producing.
The thing you need to know is that this is mostly a collection of singles, in album form. Now some would say that is a bit odd, but I am going to say to you, that this means you are getting all the good stuff. In other words, each of these tracks was considered good enough to be a single and the whole album is honestly excellent.
I think for me, my favourite tracks are “The Call Of Your Life” and “The Night Is Dancing In Your Eyes“. The music is a mixture of seductive electronics, vocals to entrance you and beats to move your body. The tracks are a synthpop joy to listen to and we think that this incarnation of Pure Obsessions & Red Nights is well worth listening to, as they have developed a deft touch for this ephemeral form of music. Exhilarating and poignant, so Let Your Obsessions Run Wild.
Thieves are those that steal from others. Possessions, jewels or maybe even a life. VAZUM also have a double single out called “Thief“, which was released on March 25th, 2022. The dynamic and prolific duo of Zach Pliska and Emily Sturm have given you two versions of this track for your listening pleasure.
The original is full of those lovely post-punk twanging guitars and soaring vocals with Emily in the lead. She is going to take your all and everything because she is the undead and in the end you will willingly let her thieve everything. The second version is an electronic affair, where “Thief” the Dagger mixis maybe, and more so, a much darker creature that seems a little unhinged as it crawls to you for your (un)dying love.
It is always an interesting proposition to hear a song performed in two different ways by the same band. You can tell VAZUM get a bit of kick out of this experimenting in variation. So you get a goth track with a creepy electronic track which is well worth checking out. And the best thing, you can get this for a steal on Bandcamp as it is name your price!
Onyx Music Reviews 