David Lawrie is The Royal Ritual and November, 5th was the release date for the second single “Empires“, that will be on the new album, MARTYRS which is being released in the first half of 2022. Lawrie is the live guitarist with London After Midnight but also a composer/producer in his own right as well as sound engineer for television and movies, experience which he brings to his music,
DAVID LAWRIE – THE ROYAL RITUAL
There is something a little epic about the beginning, the pomp and ceremony of a bygone era. It evokes the images of India Raj and colonization in a movie. The vocals are deep and resonant enough to give you shivers up and down your spine. I am going to assume that the lyrics refer to the Victorian age of Empire, where being British came with a lot of privilege to plunder other cultures and yet there were so many rules to abide by in polite society so as not to lose face or standing. There is in the background a sad version of “Land Of Hope AndGlory“, a testament to fall from grace.
There is no empire anymore, as time and world events have wiped it away and only a shadow of a ill remembered memory of something that was glorious. Or was it? Don’t speak of the poor houses, match girls and slums of merry England at the time. Lawrie is looking into the very British psyche of the stiff upper lip and he has found it lacking but more to a point, given us an almost cinematic and thought provoking track.
Plastic Assault Network (PAN) is a new super group to hit the scene. Founded by singer/songwriter Robert Andrew Bowman (Randolph’s Grin) who has pulled talent from across three continents, including fifteen musicians into his cyberpunk collaboration. Their second single was released in November called “Wall Breaker“.
Walls are funny things. They have been built to keep people safe while keeping others out, then others have been built to hold humans in so they cannot escape. Those are the physical walls but even when they crumble the mental ones remain. “Wall Breaker” is about overcoming all barriers that cause conflict, hatred and bias. The vocals are passionate about the fear used to control the masses. This gets nice and bass heavy, with the electronics swirling and filling every space with sound, making the song come crashing down on your senses.
As you would expect from a project with several studios involved, the sound is seamless and crystal clear production. Have to say it is always satisfying hearing a real drummer smashing it in the rhythm section and this is Jörn Schwarzburger (Randolph’s Grin). Co-producer is Per-Anders Kurenbach (ex Psyche, The Eternal Afflict, Shock Therapy, Dark State, reADJUST, Nine Circles) who is well known for his mixing skills and keyboard wizardry, while on backing vocals duty as well as drums and guitar is Reyka Osburn of Death Valley High fame. So what is next for Plastic Assault Network? I guess we watch this space but it is a rather exciting prospect where they take this. Industrial music is the beating heart of resistance, speaking for those who that cannot.
There are some albums that come around and they make you stop in your tracks with the pure musical delight they are. Brisbane based Jerm is Stephanie Ganfield and she released her debut, self titled album on October 22nd. Jerm’s style I would describe as experimental electro-industrial with gothic overtones.
The delicate fluctuating rhythm free flows into the distortion and the gorgeously sensual vocals alight it all and this is just the beginning of the album with “White Lies“. It graduates in power and the synths sprinkle down. The single. “Make Your Mind” is a little creepy with the whispered lyrics asking you to make your mind up and yet there is this glorious chorus that sweeps you skyward. “At Night” has an odd syncopation but it works giving the song an even more languid feel, as though there is a hopelessness in the darkest hours of the night.
Her voice is mesmerizing in “Left Behind“, a single released back in 2018 under the moniker Germ, and the electronics just highlight the sweetness and purity of the singing. It is exciting to hear something that is experimental and so stimulating, which brings us to “Gem” with bursts of noise like mini fireworks erupting in the background. Slow and thought provoking with so much movement within the track. There is the brief interlude with the instrumental “Dissect” just before another single, “Brain Candy” and it is just extrodinary. Musically it is beautiful and expansive, with harsh edges, ready to hook into your skin and the concept if you take away what makes a female look feminine, still the sweetness and colour is all in the brain, that which makes you. Final track is “Beg”, that takes on a heartbeat that will, at any given moment, go into tachycardia. A beautiful way to end.
The production is great and the music has such near visible texture and a vibrancy that is breathtaking. As for Ganfield’s vocals, they are true and clear, combined with the darker lyrical content, you could be forgiven for thinking she is an angel who lost her way in this dirty world and to be fair, lucky for us. Even if you are not into industrial music, do not let this deter you from having a listen to Jerm.
Daniel Allen is one half of Dirt Factory and after releasing their third album, found himself in lockdown in Melbourne for quite a long time. So was born the new solo project Exo-Kult, which spawned three singles and the album, Knife Wounds, that was launched by Viral RecordsAustralia on the 30th of October, 2021.
DANIEL ALLEN – EXO-KULT
Apparently this is not music, “This Is Shit“. Welcome to the intro to Knife Wounds but then we are treated to hearing Allen singing in “Shutting It Down” and he has a quite pleasant voice, though we still get the obligatory growled lyrics as well. The slow beats of “Eliminate” is the list of modern life’s disappointments and the want to see it all wiped away with the sweep of a hand. “Cold” is one of the singles off the album with wandering synths over a never shifting rhythm and the anguished vocals about never belonging.
Another single is “Ready To Blow” which is more bass heavy and reminds me of late 70s industrial such as Cabaret Voltaire, which follows into “I Will Not“, a commentary on religious orders. Sludgy and grubby is probably the best description for “Dancing“, which of course is not actually very dance like at all. Voice clips of a bomb run from possibly the 1950s, informing you of how it is done as the instrumental runs in the background for “Untitled“. The last single, “Bring Out The Dead“, is one of those uncomfortable songs about human nature and violence.
The relentless synths and beats combined with Allen’s raw vocals. We bringing down the pace with the near hypnotic “Breath” and then it is straight into the more futuristic “Satisfaction“with it’s drone like quality because the ‘man’ wants you complacent. An apocalyptic future or is the future here in the dark and abrasive “Predetermined Error“?! It feels like Allen left “Crematorium” as our lucky last parting shot at the money hungry religious establishments, honestly the concept is actually is a very interesting one along with this song.
You can still hear glimmers of Dirt Factory but this is a very much stripped down affair that Exo-Kult has given us. More basic and darker in content, written in isolation but plugged into the world via the internet, watching the world drowning in a sea of intolerance, mismanagement, war and death. Wonderfully mastered by Roger Menso of Nyte Shayde Music in Brisbane and Exo-Kult is the second artist to be signed to Viral Records. You will hear from Allen soon again because the new Dirt Factory album is hitting us in December.
Well let me tell a little story of a man named Jed, who lived on the Gold Coast of Queensland and proved he was not dead, who started up a solo project called Chiffon Magnifique and the post-punk was very chic. Jed A.Walters recently laid to rest his previous band, Tesla Cøils which made us a little sad, however since releasing the first single “Abomination” last month, things are looking up!
JED A. WALTERS – CHIFFON MAGNIFIQUE
I should warn you that this will be stuck in your head for a while, though your good fortune is that it’s a brilliant song. There are the bright synth lines and gorgeous jangly guitar, that lead you to Walters’ brooding vocals because baby he wants to be your abomination. He really is a master at creating wonderful catchy tunes that get under your skin.
This small taste has me desperately needing to hear more. For a one man project it is lush and ChiffonMagnifique definitely is as good as other current post-punk acts such as TRAITRS, She Past Away and Twin Tribes. We like this musical “Abomination” and now wait with baited breath for what comes next.
Hybrid Blak Records is an up and coming label run by Keith Kamholz who is Mechanical Vein and also a member of Biomechanimal. He has gathered together, from across the globe, tracks from artists in the electronic and industrial scene to create Blaktracks II, which is indeed a second compilation they have released. BlaktracksII came out on October the 29th, 2021 and the mastering was shared by Zardonic, Keith Kamholz and a few of the bands doing their own.
Kicking off is MORIS BLAK x KALCYFR with “A Touch Of Malice“. I don’t expect any less from MORISBLAK than something that will blow us away and we are not disappointed. Metal vocals over huge drum beats, massive guitar riffs and those bass drops that you feel in the pit of your stomach. “King Of Cups” is the offering from Biomechanimal and it is a short but lethal punch to the throat with their mix of perverted metal dubstep.
Sinister Souls x Mechanical Vein’s “No LightCity” is a mix of hip hop and drum & bass with a healthy dose of cyber punk attitude. It reminds me just a little of “Freestyler” by Bomfunk MCs, except with teeth. Duo, SO CALLED, are DJs/producers and they are behind the glitch electronica of “Hypno“, who are trying to influence your mind through their catchy rhythms.
Don’t let the beginning of Sentinel Complex’s “Last Judgement” fool you. The sedate flow does not last and launches into an amazing, crazed Bach like musical opus but with synths. For a second bout, we hear from MechanicalVein, this time joined by Saltee. “All Gods” has a great exuberance in tandem with the fierce and outraged lyrics. If you are looking for something immense with huge beats and a bass drops that just throw you down, then look no further than TriS and their “Warcall“.
Static Starlight’s track “Linkin Bizkits” gives us electronic screams within the depths of frizzing synths, as it pummels your senses with the dance beat. Let the insanity ensue with “KIRA“. I believe Kofin may have been inspired by the Japanese anime Akira, from the Japanese vocal clips to the emulation of the the epic soundtrack. It is definitely amazing and you can’t help but bounce around to it.
Prophectical with “Aletheia” go from breaking beats to electronically created soundscapes and there is a lot of finesse in the buildups and near classical lulls. They are coming to get you, for this is “DEHUMANIZE” by Truly Significant. You can feel them in the song stalking and the panic between the driving guitar and rhythm, only to lull you into oblivion at the end. Sadly we are at the last track, “King Of Nothing” by ER4SE. This is probably the most calm of all the tracks with it’s use of auto tuned vocals and more laid back style. After having being bombarded with all that heavy bass, ER4SE is the cool compress.
Hybrid Blak’sBlaktracks II is a very slick production with a lot of very talented popular acts and no so known but equally skilled musicians whom are on the rise. It is nice to see the industrial/electronic scene supporting each other this way. The music is red hot, cutting edge and will probably blow your mind…. in the best possible way.
Matt Hart is continuing his musical odyssey of humans being hunted down by machines with his November 15th release of the single, “To The Core“. Terra3808 is the album that first brought you this tale, but what has happened to the humans since the alien machines took control?
MATT HART
If you lived in an apocalyptic world, I’m pretty sure you would feel the desperation and anger in this song. The humans are burrowing into the earth to escape certain death, should they remain on the surface, with the machines who are intent on cleansing the planet.
The insistent and pounding rhythm on the heels of the fleeing survivors, the harsh guitar, Hart barking and snarling to go faster and deeper, all adds to the claustrophobic atmosphere. As always this is going to sound so good on a dark dance floor. So now we are waiting to hear the album because Mart Hart does fine industrial but more importantly, we need to know how this turns out for the last traces of humanity…
Gravity Corps is a new project from Denver, Colorado but the man behind it is no stranger to the industrial music scene. Mark Sousa is best known for Voicecoil, though currently, on November the 5th, he has launched an EP, Zero Grav, under the Gravity Corps name.
There is definitely a science fiction feel to Gravity Corps and this is evident from the first track “Scared ToDeath” from the whispers and echos to futuristic synths. The single off the EP, “Another Day“, is very danceable, because, and may I dare say it, there might be a little bit of disco hiding within. It is a bloody good track!
What would happen if you lived the high life for long enough? One would guess parts of your fragile human body would stop working which is the premise of the rolling track, “Decadence Is Dangerous” while “Cold And Elegant” seems the perfect song to follow up. The chorus is so catchy and I would have to say my favourite track. Oh, wait, “Selling Sorrow“with it’s future pop soul, that drags you along with it, is great as well. So, the moral of the story is, the longer you listen to this EP, the more it sucks you in and converts you. Well played Gravity Corps, well played. You got me hooked with you bag of rather good tunes. In space, no one can hear you scream but in Zero Grav you can have a jolly good time.
Some bands are pivotally important to certain scenes and for myself, Red Lorry, Yellow Lorry (TheLorries) is definitely one of those bands. Leeds was a hotbed of post-punk acts which included the likes of Sister Of Mercy, The March Violets and in 1981, The Lorries. Though they have never claimed the mantel of goth, they are well beloved by the scene and highly influential. Between ’81 and ’92, The Lorries released five studio albums with Chris Reed (lead singer) and David “Wolfie” Wolfenden (guitar) as the longest serving members, Reed being a founding member and lead songwriter with Wolfie as his co-writer.
RED LORRY, YELLOW LORRY
In 1992, the band decided to call it a day and did one last tour which according to some, was the best TheLorries had ever played. Their show at Batschkapp in Frankfurt, was recorded from the mixing desk but remained unreleased with the band. In 2015, when a very limited amount of CDs were sold at two exclusive concerts, they contained four rare studio recorded tracks. Fans have tried to track these down and there have been incomplete bootlegs of the live show, so with the consent of all the band members, GENERATE has been created for all fans, released on November the 1st, 2021.
For those who know and love Red Lorry, Yellow Lorry, this is going to be a walk down memory lane to a time when music was defining us as a sub genre and music was an escape from the worries of the world. Those that that may be unfamiliar, these guys helped define the genre that is post-punk, from the deep bass to the distinctive guitar jangles to the serious vocal tones.
There are all up twenty-three tracks on this album and I don’t think I want to pull them apart but rather invite you to enjoy such tracks as “Talk About The Weather” which is possibly their most famous track, strained with the insistent short guitar strokes while Reed sings about talking to someone who wants to small talk while he is soaked to the skin. Or “Monkeys On Juice” with those warm, undulating guitars, the gunfire drums and deep resounding vocals.
The quality of the recording is really brilliant and in all honesty, this album is so worth listening to. Yes, there is a little nostalgia but the music is still fresh and doesn’t feel like it has aged. So load up on some Lorries because this is something magical.
When the title of an album is You Are Happy, they aren’t asking but rather telling you. Non-Bio have this new album out called just that and it is a harsh industrial look at the modern age. Howard Gardner is the man behind Non-Bio, resident of London and this is the first album release since 2018.
This is your “Induction“. You will obey, you will fear, you won’t question and accept what is given to you. There is no resistance because it is not in your interest… or that is what you are told and that is solidified with “Death To The Beat“, an angry litany of how people have been led astray with false promises and fears. It is heavy and brutal in it’s criticism. “Create Problems” has that great experimental feel with the off beats, adding to the idea that not all is well in the world.
Fourth track is “Crush” and it is full of rhythmic noise, lambasting your senses under it’s weight to push you down. Not as insistent but sludgy and dark is “CollapseNoise” and I am not sure if it is me or are there electronic crows/raven in the background ready to pick over the bones? The instrumental title track, “You Are Happy” is a combination of static beats, hissing electronic modulated noise and verbal snippets taken from speeches, such as Gandhi and the alike on human happiness. I never knew the calorific count of the human body but I do now due to “Zombie Influencer“, so thank you Non-Bio if I ever should feel the need for some soylent green. Creepy and unsettling, Gardner quantifies how much you will satisfy the hungry zombie hordes.
“Nerve Market” has an industrialized, militarized timing and it is about the mechanization of humans and the loss of their ties to what makes them human. Pounding pounding into the ground as you become the dust, as you “Worship Dust” because you are a part of the industrial machine. The instrumental, “Are You StillListening?” creates the impression of unease by being slightly off as it chirps at you, which leads you into “Positron Pill” and it is abrasively trying to pry your head open and wants you to burn everything. “ReallyExisting People” could be called the crunch dance track and herein lays the juxtaposition between the gritty sounds and the clinical words.
Such an odd title for a song, “Oppressor, She Loves You” and the lyrics could be from a science fiction and yet this is based in the current world. The drone and constant rhythm lull you into obedience, so you give your all before your disintegration. The theme continues in “Docile Thunder” that does indeed thunder on, wending its way into your ears. Last track, “Taint Of Tomorrow” is driving rhythmic noise that nails home the intent of the album… the expectation that you accept and don’t question.
if you haven’t guessed by now, this is an album with an agenda, inspired by the current policies and political landscape of the United Kingdom and watching others further afield. A commentary on society, where those who have little, also have the most to lose. It may also be a reflection that the population had been cowed into general acceptance unlike the civil unrest of the 70s and 80s which spawned industrial experimental artists like Test Dept, CabaretVoltaire and ClockDVA. Non-Bio is following in their footsteps, under their own flag of angst ridden, fervour because in times of social injustice and inequality, industrial music seems to come to the forefront. You AreHappy is a great album with a lot of heart and soul and just maybe, Non-Bio will be part of the revolution!
Onyx Music Reviews 