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Choose Euphoria is the latest album from UK project The Resonance Association, released in 2023. The brain child of Daniel Vincent and Dominic Hemy, has been around since 2006, and according to their Bandcamp page…. ‘They seek to produce hallucinatory music to transport the listener to uncharted realms of space and time.’

The first track off the rank, “Force Majeure,” leaps out at you, its enthusiastic rock guitar with walls of sound bursting forth joyously, adventuring like a cosmic snake. The electronics continue this journey of sound with “Invocation,” more subdued than “Force Majeure,” but equally full of intonations throughout, as if the solar winds are gracing your ears in the background. “The State of Things” is semi angelic, though some of the effects are near paranoid inducting, especially with the slowly played guitar and it has been combined with a rather psychedelic froopy video. Cool liquid bass lines are the backbone for “No Fear of Falling,” with wailing synths crystalline and smooth, even when faced by the solo guitar reaching out the listener.

There is something very early 80s about “Some Kind” that I just cannot quite put my finger on, but it is hypnotic and all together far too enjoyable, even with the computer created sirens. I somehow doubt the track “Trip Hazard” is about unfortunately falling over one’s own feet, but rather, flights of fancy, and as we all know, some journeys are fraught with real dangers, such as minding the gap, which perfectly leads into “Elsewhere.” Again, we are within the winds that whip around the meandering guitar, courting you to go along for the laid back ride. We finish with prog odyssey “Space Time Politics” which kind of reminded me of a scaled back version of Pink Floyd’s “Journey to the Heart of the Sun,” full of lulls that build up into Hendrix like explosions of guitar.

Choose Euphoria is an eight track album, and indeed The Resonance Association have done exactly as they said they would, using music to transcend our space and the current limitations, opening up movement and achieving wonder, as well as creating textures via experimentation and instrumentation alone. Choose life and Choose Euphoria.

Choose Euphoria | The Resonance Association (bandcamp.com)

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Natural Darkness is the new album offering from German born, London based Madil Hardis, with twelve original tracks and six remixes, meaning not only is there quality, but you are getting quantity too!. Hardis is known for her gloriously angelic vocals, married with very emotive musical scores that she has created.

The first cab off the rank is “Absence,” settings the tone for the album. Crystal like shards of life experience and poignant, filled with longing that is heart felt. “Crucifixus” has those deeply religious tones of devout exultation given by angels to the heavens in the form of vocals. The track “To The Heart” floats with an internal rhythm and the ever-present piano, caressed by the synths, as if trying to bring comfort, all the while Hardis‘ vocals soar above. Just one of the songs that showcase her talents.

One of the shortest numbers is also, for me, one of the most sublime. This is “Disintegration,” and it is one of those songs that can just cast you adrift on a forlorn sea. The title track, “Natural Darkness,” has a rather preternatural echoing air, haunting and ethereal, as if yesterdays spectres are waiting at the vale.

The remixes are done by the likes of Ashbury Heights, Vortex Four, Wandering Stars, Bérèche You, and Electro Spectra. There is a version of “Natural Darkness” that isn’t really a remix but rather features the cello talents of Michael Hyman, which just creates a feeling of welling beauty and haunting desperation. The others range from modern, through to experimental electronica, giving you new and intriguing ways of perceiving each track.

That is just a taste of Natural Darkness, from a lady with an abundance of natural talent. Madil Hardis carefully entwines classical tendrils with electronic ones, weaving music that is otherworldly and, at the same time, grabs your heart strings.

Natural Darkness | Madil Hardis (bandcamp.com)

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Matt Webster is a man with the soul of a poet and storyteller, creating alternative rock with his Bradford based project, Signia Alpha. With the latest album Entropy, he has been joined by Paul Gray (The Damned) on Rickenbacker bass guitar with other musicians making appearances on tracks. Harris (Chaing, Grim, Nowt, Zed), Is one of these, who has co-written and sings on six of the tracks. To quote the release ‘Guitarist Wulf Ingham lends his psychedelic solos to a couple of tracks’ and ‘jazz saxophonist Keith Jafrate and flautist Chris Walsh sprinkle their melodic flourishes over several songs.’ I say flourish away!

Punk meets Pink Floyd is how one might sum up the track “Such A Shame,” with its pogoing rhythm married to bewitching guitar work. Simon ‘Nogsy‘ Nolan (SpyBand, Zed) sings on and co-wrote “On Diego Garcia,” a commentary on the disputed Island which is currently owned by the British, with a US Naval base present, while all the previous inhabitants were forced to leave. This was found to be illegal by The Hague, but was ignored by the UK and “On Diego Garcia” is a protest song about the injustices.

“A New Dawn” has a undercurrent dirge like the ocean water pulling and pushing at boats, a alluring sadness, perhaps the subject matter within the lyrics are looking for safety, only to be faced with another shoreline to leave and more dangers ahead. The bass is sublime in “Hourglass,” which goes through a gamut of emotions such as loss, longing and sadness, for as we get older, we realise the fragility of all. This is reflected by the music ranging from introspective to a guitar filled rage. Those flute flourishes can be heard in the “The Price Of Admission,” in conjunction with a more thoughtful sound that echoes with a life maybe less lived or rather, perhaps, limited in their choices.

The paisley park feel to the music is in stark contrast to the bleak words in the single “Feels Like Rain,” and that bleak story telling, which only those who have lived it or watched it first hand, can be experienced in the next track, “Building Castles In Spain.” Mathew Seamarks (Disciples of Spess) is the vocalist and co-wrote with Webster, with its endearing dreamer quality and the beautiful jangly guitar backing up those vocals. The airiness of the flute and saxophone, wants to fly you away but the vocals of Harris weigh you down in the knowledge that life is “Waiting.” Waiting for the end and the inevitable. I have to say that “The Atmosphere” caught me by surprise with harkening back to David Bowie yet having that XTC musical sensibility. It is a simply a post-punk gem, while the last track, “Kaleidoscope Wheels” is a psychedelic trip with a hurdy gurdy of circling sounds and voices, melding into a maelstrom, destined to collapse.

Hard to pick a favourite out of this lot as everything is just class, but for me, probably, “The Atmosphere” definitely transports me back to another place. The attitude throughout is very much a punk one, pointing towards what is wrong with the world, but not the anger of young men. Rather, we are seeing these issues through the eyes of the world weary, knowing that life is precious and telling you the stories that deserve to be heard. The musicianship is grand and you really couldn’t ask for a better bunch contributing. Entropy is the measurements of thermodynamics, and the energy given by Signia Alpha is nothing short of pure musical wizardry.

Entropy | Signia Alpha (bandcamp.com)

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Label, 4000 Records, on September the 1st, saw the debut release of post-punk, Brisbane band, Start Together, which also, is sadly, their farewell album, called Founder In Oddity. The line up for the recording of the album is Gerard Lawrence (guitar, vocals), Emma Walton (bass, backing vocals), Demetry Malahoff (guitar, synths) and James Boothroyd (drums).

Photo by Madeline Randall

“Impostering The Nascent” or pretending to come into existence, is the jangle shoegaze filled starting instrumental that introduces you Start Together, wandering from brusque to enchantingly dreamy. One cannot help if the heart cares, and so there is the sweet “Squire Jefferson Care Instructions“, as the music cries out, while we are introduced to the dulcet vocals of Lawrence. You might think the track “Lookfar” is a quiet affair, but you are plunged into peeling walls of guitars for the chorus and vocals that are filled with longing, and the poetic lines ‘Assemble me Tireless moil And mark An incendiary soul‘ are simply golden.

There is a joy in the music of “Separate Beds,” yet the lyrics bely this with a certain amount of cynicism, while I hear echoes of The Strokes mixed with The Church. Another instrumental in the form of “Skeptics,” in truly entrancing as the music dances around your ears, propelled by the rhythms conjured by the drums and delightful light guitar that graces your senses, and drops into a murky morass of sound, changing up the feel. Last track is also the title track, and befitting this role, “Founder In Oddity” encompasses the essence of Start Together’s poppy hooks with the robust guitars.

Not the first time 4000 Records has brought us a release that marks first and last album of a project, and yet we should be eternally grateful, because they have captured the crux of Start Together, as well as fellow defunct Meanjin band, Balloons Kill Babies, giving us heavenly slices of glorious brilliance. Start Together has given you post-punk, drenched in shoegaze goodness and Founder In Oddity deserves your utmost attention.

Founder in Oddity | Start Together | 4000 Records (bandcamp.com)

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Ashes Fallen are a band that have been releasing music, in the goth rock/post-punk style since 2019, and September brings us the offering of a new album, Walk Through Fire, recorded at The Chapel 1898. Members are James Perry (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboard, drums), Michelle Perry (keyboard, vocals, percussion) and Jason Shaw (guitar). If the name James Perry seems familiar, then you would be correct as he is also a member of industrial rock group Deathline International.

Photo by Kevin Vonesper

Your pointy buckle boots are going to be knocked off just from the opening track. “Damn Me” is steeped in guitar fuelled angst, while the chorus of “The Last Mistake” is punchy with a punk vibe, though shrouded in gothic peeling synths. Southern gothic is alive and kicking with “Reborn In The Cleansing Fire,” as you are immersed in the Fields OF The Nephilim like drawling guitar and ride across the high plains of self destruction.

“Remember Who You Are” is a really glorious track in my humble opinion, between chiming synths, clean guitar, and the soaring vocals in the chorus, just make this so dynamic and anthemic. The idea that everything is far too busy busy oozes from the “New Normal” as the majority in the lower socio-economic strata struggle with less money and higher expenses.

Social media has made a mockery of what is normal in many ways, and this is reflected in “Anxiety Society” and the recognition 6 representations. A festering wound will become a “Scar” and though there is a lament within this track, there is still a whisper of hope and there is a hint of Killing Joke’s “Love Like Blood” in the guitar work.

Even in the face of doom, real love is often all we have to hold onto and “At The End Of All Things” is an ode to this love without condition in the face of insurmountable odds, bleak and yet heart touching. The last track is another brilliant number in the vampiric vein, “The Blood Is The Life,” as the delicious synths and evocative vocals drench you in dark delights of the creatures of the night.

This is an album with a lot of commentary on modern living and is politically charged, which for me is great to hear because music can often express ideas and emotions far better than other conduits. The rage in “Remember Who You Are” is palpable, as the band observes the erosion of basic human rights….even autonomy over our own bodies. Ashes Fallen are definitely nailing the post-punk ideal of music that matters, and with each release, they just keep getting better, so please check out Walk Through Fire.

Walk Through Fire | Ashes Fallen (bandcamp.com)

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Just when you thought you might finally be safe from space invasion and laser beam, pew pew extermination, you find more DEATHCOMET in your life, and he’s back with album DEATHCOMET 16!! Hmmmm…. the last one we reviewed was DEATHCOMET 14. Sooo, it seems we skipped an album, however, that just means more for your experimental electronic listening pleasure, from the New South Wales region of Australia.

I find my teeth are set on edge listening to the disturbing drone of “new hunt for alien life” which stops and becomes the guitar torturing oddity, “desperate attempt,” as it tumbles over itself, creating a tubular vortex of sound. A looping guitar screaming greets your ears, perpetuating an overload for the ten minute long “neptune belial,” as you wait for the subtle changes in pitch, but this does nothing to prepare you for the track “satanic dimensions,” where you are almost assuredly hearing the anguished voices from the pit itself, as the harsh noise eviscerates your senses.

“all systems go” continues from where “satanic dimensions” left off, however it has incorporated an eerie demonic electronic choir, which is driving the unholy star drive straight into the inferno that is “cosmic ball,” yet another track clocking in at over ten minutes. The psychedelic effect of “masks” really hits you after listening to such constant noise, and it feels as if the aliens really are invading your brain, which leads in nicely to the last track, “aliens calling“. Yes, finally the little grey guys are melting your brain with their sonic vocals as everything burns to the ground.

DEATHCOMET 16 is experimental noise that starts by rubbing your brain against sand paper, and then just builds into a new world order, intent on cellular annihilation, so the alien hordes don’t have to worry about cleaning up the carbon mess. Alien industrial metal in the form of DEATHCOMET is a mighty powerful thing.

DEATHCOMET 16 | DEATHCOMET (bandcamp.com)

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Since their inception in 2013, Costa Rican band, Ariel Maniki and the Black Halos have been creating guitar based gothic rock music, which very much pays homage to the brilliance that is The Cure. Maniki has always been the driving force, however, 2023 has seen a change with the line-up including members Janice Black and Eva Red in creative roles. As expected, this has brought about a change in sound, which can be heard in their sixth studio album FRACTALS. 

When you come to the end of this existence, most people will dwell on how that life was lived and how we treated the ones we love the most. “The Last Light” is a moving tribute to the nearest and dearest, that any slights, or reservations to show care were regretted. The synths wind their way through the guitar flourishes and the touching lyrics are icing on the cake.  Next is the sonically sublime single “Supernova” with the thrumming bass, mimicking the unbridled desire for your lover. Moody and punctuated synths, herald in “Hyenas”, a slower track with weighted singing, that are highlighted by feminine vocals, giving the track an eerie atmosphere of impending doom. 

The tendrils of sax coil through your speakers, binding you within the dead sexy ambience of “The Cell”, a track in a 1930s noir throe.  “Once And For All” is about the passing of your one true partner in crime, and the hole that is indelibly left, which can be heard in the words Hiéreme de muerte! or Wound me to Death!. This is yet another single and the bass echoes that wound, while the synths capture our attention converging into a funerary vortex of sadness, for nothing lasts forever. The serpentine feel of the music in “Into The Sun” is quite fitting. The image of a snake is part of this lament, of earthly destruction by the normally unseen, and unnatural forces, where the Morning Star has won.  

The vignette called “Paralysis” is a sweet duet accompanied only by a lone guitar, and is followed by the intoxicating “Love You Like The Ocean,” with it’s delicate timelessness that encapsulates a passionate devotion. Languid and deep like that huge body of water, twinkling with refracted light and hues of darkening blues. The sunlit shores of a “A Different World,” with the profound swirling ownership of a place that is yours alone and yet it will decay around the immortal. There is a taste of Latin flamenco in the evocative “Remember Me,” and yet the track waivers with the rich vocals and even richer instrumentation.

FRACTALS can be viewed as a exploration of one’s mortality but, for myself, it is revelling in the warmth of a life lived, having known a great love, a story of joy that transcends death. Ariel Maniki and the Black Halos have made FRACTALS an album that questions does love go on after the body ceases in this world? A part of my shadowy being truly hopes that love defies death and lasts an eternity, and FRACTALS is a gorgeous gothic exploration of abiding rapture.

Fractals | Ariel Maniki and the Black Halos (bandcamp.com)

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Today, we explore the album Lesser Gods by the Los Angeles project BARA HARI, which was released at the end of May, and the limited edition vinyl on the label Re:Mission Entertainment, The exotic BARA HARI is musician and producer Sam Franco, whom is also known for her darkwave and industrial collaborations.

Your ears are greeted by the sublime “Siren Song“. Delicate and short lived, a beautiful warning of the dire events to come. For her name is “Tempest“, she who will bring the ensuing storm to clear away the lies and deceit. Such foreboding in a pop like song, as BARA HARI casts her gaze over those that cause consternation, stalking them down. The guitar is heavy, matched by the thudding drums, for we are given the story of sexual double standards and moral gatekeeping in “Immoral Tales“.

The synths bring in “Violence Rising” and it is indeed about the abhorrent acceptance that it is alright to be brutal to one another. There are wonderful rounds of vocals joined by trumpet. Lust, love and “Looking For Oblivion” is an electronic buzzing gem, that settles in your brain. The buzzing is palpable but wait hold that thought. The next track, “House Of The Devil” is simply huge between the falling vocals and melancholic piano, as Franco gives us the modern version of “I Will Survive“.

Does going outside make you nervous or dealing with crowds bring on anxiety attacks? Maybe you are “Agoraphobic” and as this number plods along, almost unwilling to leave, while the first affirming lines, ‘Started off as a joke Now I can’t walk out my own front door’, fulfil the prophesy. The rock is fused with electronics and “Delusions Of Grandeur” is both angelic and full of angst, while “Easy Target” is a sassy and alluring track. The final track is the superbly dark and disturbing “Immortal” with the chiming keyboards and up beat rhythm, whilst the lyrics tell of the fact that as we age, what made us beautiful fades and many see our worth is only wrapped up with youth.

Fairy tales and fables were often stories to teach people wise lessons, and when I listen to BARA HARI’s Lesser Gods. this album is very much in this vein. Modern fables of not judging others, through to when good people do nothing to prevent evil. Colourful and descriptive language within the lyrics are carried by the melodious electro/indie pop, topped off with the gorgeous vocals of Franco. Lesser Gods indeed when it comes a goddess like BARA HARI.

Lesser Gods | BARA HARI | Re:Mission Entertainment (bandcamp.com)

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Many Australian musicians are amazingly talented, and Melbourne’s Body Maintenance, saw in April, the release of their debut album Beside You, with the vinyl LP out on Drunken Sailor Records and cassette on Unwound Records. Now I am going to tell you that if you love post-punk music, and if you haven’t listened to Body Maintenance, then maybe you aren’t as cool as you think you are.

The tendrils of “Silver Yarns” wind around you and unleash the gorgeous guitars, that run and take flight. The vocals are within the mix and yet still ring clear, and you know that any song that mentions sinners and martyrs has got to be good. In fact it is an amazing start. It is a gothic gun duel at high noon in “Circles“, or at least the dark spaghetti western guitars say be there or be square. The synths swirl between and you wonder where the rattle snakes are hiding.

“The Spiral” feels like the most glorious vortex, berating your ears with tribal beats, and that is at complete odds with the far more reticent and thoughtful “Time Enough” that curls within your chest, like a hand gripping your heart. The bass guitar steadily pushes forward in “It’s Theatre“, and again those synths soar in your ears, which has a beautiful chorus and the guitar playing that could take your breath away.

The title track is the heavenly forlorn “Beside You“, which is about dedication no matter where it leads, and it has the air of freefalling. “The Fools, The Frauds” is verbose and has tinges of Virgin Prunes. The rhythm section pulls this track tightly in, while the guitars fight to contain themselves, all the while caressed by the vocals. The vocals in “Ends” catches your ears as does the big guitar sound and before we know it, there is the last track, “A Compliment“, which wanders in the ether of ghost like memories, gently roaming the shadowy paths.

Damn… how do I summarise this album. It is like chills down the spine due to the familiarity of the style, as it reminds me of British post-punk bands from another era, especially Play Dead, Danse Society, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry and closer to home Ikon and The Church. Probably because it is very much guitar driven, with the use of reverb and pedals, and yet for me, it is the fact there is an air of magic in Body Maintenance’s sound, so richly dark and so invitingly warm at the same time. I am sure their influences are far more modern, but my hot take is Beside You is a brilliant post-punk album by Body Maintenance and I can’t wait to see what they do next.

Beside You | Body Maintenance (bandcamp.com)

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Athenian post-punk project Reflection Black’s inception was in 2022, with the EP Entering Dreamtime. March of 2023, saw the debut album released on SwissDarkNights, titled ominously, Last Stop To Nowhere. Elis Alex is the man behind Reflection Black, who previously cut his musical teeth in the huge Greek black metal scene, with the bands Ravencult and Nigredo.

“With Last Stop To Nowhere I can say that I have made an album that I am truly happy with. One record, eight tracks, each one different from each other but still forming a very consistent big picture without any fillers. One should expect quite a few surprises in the album, from catchy riffs to heavily layered atmospheric synths and even guitar and saxophone solos. When it comes to the album’s lyrics, themes such as sleep, death, dreams and the occult are being explored extensively. In the end, most of the lyrical themes come down to a general context of mental and spiritual escapism with the questioning of current realities of all forms.” – Elis Alex

The first thing you notice in “Post Sleep Trauma” is the clinking sound like a hammer in a cavernous void, that is until there is a whirl of guitars to join the rhythm, along with bright synths. Alex’s vocals smoothly light up the track with their dark mourning of not wanting to see any dreams in his sleep.. The guitars chime and sparkle but there are “No Stars In The Sky” for this mesmerising and soaring apocalyptic piece, with the heavens being consumed by a black hole, but the chorus is far more riveting.

In amongst the gloom, true love always shines eternal, and this is the theme for “Under Your Shine” as it reverberates with the melting lyrics/vocals and consuming synths, entwined with the guitar. There is an 80s synthwave vibe to the title track “Last Stop To Nowhere“, bound on a ship going to a destination that is likely doomed. “Call My Name” is atmospheric and is filled with that beautiful echoing post-punk jangling guitar. The track soars with conviction and longing in Alex’s singing.

The entrancing “Let The Spirit“, delicately picks you up and bears you along on strong and gentle hands. The bursts of synths are truly magical and one could almost believe those spirits have been freed. When you sleep, there is a vividness not experienced in real life which is explored in the dreamhouse of the track “Yet Unseen Colours“, like a prayer for more than what reality can give. “Why Believe” is the final track, and what a track to finish with. Brooding, as if the angelic and devilish sit on each shoulder, pushing their agenda. Again there as the spiralling guitars that are forever drawing you in.

Elis Alex just has this voice to die for. Smooth, evocative and sensual. The music he creates takes the wonderful saturated guitar sound, made popular in the 80s with such bands as The Cure, March Violets and The Mission, and then it is mixed in with the modern synths, to give each track a wonderful dark velvet sumptuousness. All this is topped off by those vocals giving us some rather stunningly perfect tracks, as Reflection Black takes us to the Last Stop To Nowhere.

Last Stop To Nowhere | Reflection Black (bandcamp.com)

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