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Sometimes gothic bands try to sound far too much like previous bands because that is considered “goth”, however originally it was born out of the counter-culture of the punks and therefore extremely experimental. In some ways we have lost this genuine expression to be different and sound different.

From Chile hails the duo Humanfobia with their highly experimental style on the album Bailo con mis Pesadillas with 15 tracks in all. Mist Spectra is the female vocal while Sábila Orbe is the programmer and male vocals.

“Fantasma en la Carretera (Dance Version)” starts this off….it’s not so much dance as a hypnotic beat with Mist Spectra cooing to you. No idea what she is saying as my Spanish is non-existent and yet language has never been a barrier with music.

As is much of this album, “Adios Mundo Cruel (Cancion para Suicidarse)” is off kilter and uneasy. Haunting could be the word as they say goodbye cruel world.

Sequenced drums and bleeps gives us the feeling we aren’t quite in a chanting raising of the dead, not yet anyways on the title track “Bailo con mis Pesadillas”.

The beginning of “Vacio Hermetico” makes you think you are about to get a dance track but no and that beat recurs and grows becoming less friendly. A nightmare revisiting and maybe a portent.

Ever have a song make you think of whales? “Arboles Deshojados” sounds like the song of humpback whales, that beautiful calling out while a tape runs backwards, or so it seems.

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Sábila Orbe and Mist Spectra

The unnatural creaks like Diamanda Galas are reminisent in “Calles Lobregas” while “Colapso Dimensional II” is a little more etheral but still with that air of uneasiness as the tempo is always in flux.

“Mareo Lugubre” is atmospheric with its computer enhanced vocals. Orbe lends his growling vocals to “Sombre Nigromante” until we land in the “Mausoleum of Ruins” with the eerie female vocals of Spectra and electronica that warbles in and out and a pervasive fuzzy tone.

One of the longer numbers is “Chant from the Grave (with Wertredgreen)” which makes me think of Twin Peaks, with that feel that things are going backwards rather than forwards.

“Buried By Mistake” at just over a minute long is an interlude to the next song “Catalepsy”. Does this mean catatonic death like state after an epileptic fit? In fact this really was a thing and some poor suffers were put into the ground alive. This fits in to the whole buried by mistake.

We revisit “Arboles Deshojados (Atmospheric Version)” and just when you ask how could it get much more atmospheric, it sounds like we are in a pea soup fog with extra shadows thank you.

Aaaaaand lastly for all you that absolutely love the whole death and spectral show, there is a 30 second EVP done at San Fernando cemetary. If you dare, what will you hear???

Those who remember Diamanda Galas, will see much in common with Humanfobia. Theatrical and highly avant-garde though more spooky and haunted than Galas who was far more like a full on demonic ritual gone very wrong (or very right depending on your stance). Mist Spectra is far more mellow and laid back.

This is most definitely mood music and won’t be something you hear on the dance floor. It is quirky and atmospheric and will more than likely scare your normal friends but then that’s half the fun. Ghostly haunting, buried alive, the unmentionable things that inhabit the graveyard and then there is Humanfobia with Bailo con mis Pesadillas which literally means I Dance With My Nightmares.

This album is for free download on their Bandcamp site.

bandcamp: humanfobia-official.bandcamp.com
hearthis: hearthis.at/humanfobia/
facebook: www.facebook.com/humanfobia/

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From the Ukraine, hails the band Mirratal. Since 2013, these guys have been honing their skills by releasing singles and E.P’s but now have unleased their debut album, “Castaway”. These natives of Kyiv describe their style as progressive symphonic metal.

“Abyss Of Lunacy” begins with an actual real cello playing which is really nice to hear instead of the normal computer generated classical instruments which can be very prevalent in this genre of music. The frentic cello is the intro of a band about to give us a really big sound and then the blast beats of the drum kick in. This is a powerful first song with nice harmonizing and a good use of creepy whispering as well as play off solo’s of guitar and synth. They even managed to fit in a choir behind. This has started well.

Then next song has a hail of guitar before the synths break through. The lead, Igor Roshenets doesn’t sound like Vile Valo but something is the way he sings makes me think of him. Maybe it is the passion he sings “Poison” and other songs. I really like the slightly middle eastern sound they incorporate into this and yet there is much wailing guitar.

With the title “Timeless Sea”, you expect a more sedate piece, an oboe wistfully plays and some fellow is talking about psychology…… and then…. it goes full bore. No taking it easy for these guys. This is pretty deep talking about multiverses and time beyond us all that is the endless journey to this timeless sea.

Duelling synths and guitar of Andrii Pavlenko and Sergii Stygar respectively, mark the beginning of “Distinguished Phrases”. Then Roshenets wastes no time launching himself right into the middle of the maelstrom. A song about depression brought on by the cruel words of others. This goes though lulls and then frenetic neck breaking speeds.

No fooling me this time with a nice sedate piano and violin. You know that isn’t going to last and true to form “Mystery” takes off but it is very pretty in some ways. The harmonies and the poetic lyrics though no less metal. The charged piano playing is quite delightful.

MIRRATAL

Number six has a lovely intro of classical proportions and joins with a nice clear guitar. “Find Your Name” is a duet with female singer, Kateryna Kapshuk (Scarlet) . It is one of those pieces that builds and builds apon itself, with layers of music, instruments and vocals.

Next is “Run” which evokes all sorts of ideals. Monastic choral singing with bells tolling with a provincial French over tone… getting a ‘In The Name Of The Rose’ vibe. This is a slower power number with doomsday is nigh connotations.

And so we come to the title track. They have blown me away already with the electronic beginning changing it all up. Clearly these guys like to be constantly giving themselves a challenge but by using different techniques even within the one song. This goes from power and questioning to ambient and peaceful. Of course this doesn’t last, so bring on the metal choir!

Ever feel like you are going insane but unable to tell anyone? Then you will understand “Sounds” perfectly. Was it the loss of something or someone? Love, love, love the sound of a harpsicord and it is used to blinding effect to help create that disquiet, uneasy tension. I somewhat wonder if this song is what it would be like inside the head of one Captain Jack Sparrow.

BONUS TIME!!! and last number on this album is called “The Wind”. Fabulous percussion with again that wonderful use of orchestration. This shows a great appreciation for the art of music and an ability to incorporate real symphonic instruments with metal and bring a purely instrumental piece to life.

For fans of good drumming which Sergii Ivanov delivers in spades (that guy must be so tired after shows because I felt exhausted just listening to the blast beats he was putting out} or those that really like great guitar solos or thoughtfully crafted music with a very classical grounding, then this is for you. The vocals are strong and soaring for those that want that revelling high.

This album has obviously had a lot of thought put into it by Mirratal as well as passion. This is one of the better symphonic releases in a while and I urge you to check out “Castaway”.

iTunes: https://apple.co/2RxD4aj

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2Be6kgQ

Google Music: http://bit.ly/2WD4ejv

Youtube Music: http://bit.ly/2DQDWDd

Deezer: http://bit.ly/2UEGYA9

CDbaby: http://bit.ly/2SkZxvt

Soundcloud: http://bit.ly/2BjnLN3

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Xentrifuge are an aggro-tech/industrial band from the US, a duo in the form of Chris X and Lisa Hellen, who might we say are on the up and up.

Their debut album is out on Cleopatra Records called Desensitized Parallels which many of their fans have been waiting for with eager anticipation after the release last year of the single, “Circles of Dust”.

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Chris X and Lisa Hellen – XENTRIFUGE

“Irra” kicks this off with an almost slow ambient beat, for an industrial group, as it serpentines it way along with the electronic whispers. This is just to whet the appetite so to speak.

Now the pulsating “A Summoning” takes the stage and it has that dark guilty pleasure of beats and synthesisers duelling with each other. This definitely will be summoning the industrial/goths.

Industrial music is known for being cold and dominating and there is “Winter Machine”. Hellen’s keyboard winds through this piece as the sequencers keep up their eternal beat.

The hopelessness of the cyber age, of lies and deception seem to be a theme and this is most definitely felt in “Encrypted in Visions”. Chris X snarls, ‘We sift through debris born of lies, in this place of deceit’.

“Fated” just rolls like the surf, crashing in then pulling back before crashing in again with sound. That use of sound control is very appealing and builds you up before dropping you in those waves.

Have a funny feeling “Unknown Divine” is about religion. Is this belief real or something contrived and self-delusion? Not unusual to question this especially in the electronic age, an age where even people put themselves up to be worshipped on social media. It’s a good steady number.

The 8th track seems to be a play on words. “N.M.E” or enemy, they will take on those whose existence offends the dark and be the avenging cyber angel of dark doom as they vanquish their doubting foe.

The single, “Circles of Dust” is apocalyptic and nihilistic and most certainly a number fans would be moshing to with great abandon. This is raw industrial cool and yet the band has not relied on a booming back beat, as it is almost inferred which is really amazing.

Last song is the title track, with its intricate beats and strained synth sounds creating a vision of discord and ultimate futility as it wraps up the album.

Xentrifuge really seem to like playing not only with the variation the rhythms but also whilst doing so, creating spaces within. Lulls that then suddenly project you forward. You can hear the echo’s of influences such as Front 242 and Nitzer Ebb but in a modern vision of the post apocalyptic cyber age.

These guys are on Bandcamp so check them out and if this is your thing, then please support them.

https://xentrifuge.bandcamp.com/album/desensitized-parallels?fbclid=IwAR1NxShTwFUIMXuqZL4W8B0FxftO1nEN09bfDzorZ48tl3T-91NsvVZkGss