by on

I was warned that this was coming by Craig Saunders, one half of Sydney’s NOVAkILL. What you may ask? Why the EP Therapy I: Aversion. Saunders with Warren Bones have been doing their post-punk inspired, synth thing since around 2003 with their first album, Hard Tech For A Hard World. Don’t expect anything new on this four track EP but rather there are two re-recordings of older NOVAkILL songs and two covers.

Still back and get your socks knocked off with the reworked “Deliverance 2022“. Those synths are just magical and deliciously meaty. Bones’ vocals rip into you and you happily bounce away to the waves of beats and synths. If you are old enough to remember. Simple Minds had released quite a few albums before people discovered “Don’t You Forget About Me“. NOVAkILL cover the wonderful “I Travel“. They take this little gem and give it teeth. A dark and brooding maelstrom of post-punk synth which is still every bit relevant today.

The baleful air of the beginning of “SHOkNOVA” culminates into a buzz of noise, beats and glorious keyboards. Hell yes we need to be set free with the powering rhythms of “SHOkNOVA“. The last track is a cover of a track that is close to my heart. The luminous “Underpass” that was originally written and performed by John Foxx, has been taken to hand and the crux of the song is very much present in those sparkling synth lines but Bones has not tried to emulate Foxx but rather stayed true to his vocals, giving this a far more gritty sound along with more modern electronics. I like this version very much.

Okay, my suggestion is to go to Bandcamp and download this. It is name your price and it is well worth paying a little something for. It will make you want to dance and wonder at how brilliantly skilled these guys are at what they do. It will be nostalgic for some hearing the new versions of NOVAkILL songs or for others, the 80s classics. Saunders has this magic touch where everything becomes just so damn tasty. With Therapy I: Aversion under their belts, let us see what next gets the treatment.

https://novakill.bandcamp.com/album/therapy-i-aversion-ep

𝙉𝙊𝙑𝘼𝙠𝙄𝙇𝙇 | Facebook

by on

Those that know the US act, Strap On Halo, will know of their singer, Layla Reyna and if you don’t then you are in for something a bit special. After relocating to Seattle and finding Strap On Halo on a hiatus, Reyna created Licorice Chamber for herself and in doing so, released the EP, “The Taste Of Falling“. This is a project that she not only does the vocals for, but apart from the guitar work, impressively, everything else is her including writing the music. Four of the five tracks, feature Michel Rowland of New Zealand bands Disjecta Membra and Dreams Are Like Water on guitar and as you will find out, he was not the only guest.

If “As The World Breathes” is any indication of what this album is going to be like, then this is going to be a treat. A mixture of electronic beats, melancholy guitar, and Layla’s vocals just flowing seamlessly into your ears. What catches my attention is the heavy down notes of piano and guitar. The beautiful, “This Love Is Dark” is mesmerizing and this it the Codename:Lola remix. Codename:Lola is the project for UK artist Lee Meadows. Full of lament and longing of wanting a little bit longer. The synths are just wonderful, along with the jangle of guitar make it a truly haunting number that gets under your skin.

The sliding notes of the guitar again are spine tingling in “Just Like The Horror Movies” as Rowland out does himself. Reyna makes horror movies so far appealing with those sensual vocals, luring you into a gorgeous nightmare. “It’s An Illusion” just floats and while it has a Siouxsie Sioux vibe, it is definitely all Reyna. New Zealander, Blair Wotton (Columns Of Sand, Froithead, The Flickering) provides the fuzzing guitar that fits in perfectly with the electronics. The final track is the original version of “This Love Is Dark” which is far more stripped back than the remix yet it does not detract as you hear all the nuances that make up this shadowy fantasy.

There is something inextricably deep and sensuous about “The Taste Of Falling“. It could be the composition or the beautiful singing. Maybe the guitar work that harkens back to albums like Pornography that give you goosebumps. Whatever it is, Licorice Chamber has it in spades. There is a palpable texture of velvet and satin to lay your fevered brain and rest as the quality of the recording, mixing and mastering is perfect. Just for good measure, it was mastered by Gordon Young of Children On Stun fame. This is a cracker of an EP and I am left craving more………..

Music | Licorice Chamber

Licorice Chamber | Facebook

Music | Disjecta Membra (bandcamp.com)

Head Damage EP | Column of Sand (bandcamp.com)

Head Damage EP | Column of Sand (bandcamp.com)

Children on Stun Official Website

by on

From Darlington, in the north of England, Ian Hanratty and Lee Teasdale are Analogue Blood and their latest EP dropped on January 14th. Equinox is the fourth EP to be released since 2019, as they continue crafting their industrial dance floor music.

So kicking off with “Celestial Equator“, you are going to smashed with the high energy from the start, between the pumping guitar and enslaught of beats. Ooh a female vocal can be heard within the frenetic mix, sometimes sweet, on occasion robotic and often other worldly for the title track “Equinox“.

The male vocals by Teasdale are a nice balance for “Invisable” as it builds in strength with the guitar fuzzing behind and the synths wandering with tendrils of feathery lightness.

“Let’s Keep On Dancing” is probably my pick of all the tracks. With its eastern inspired vocals married with a techno style and industrial sensibility. The female vocals somewhat remind me of the late 80s/early 90s Eurodance style.

Final track, “Hypnotise” allows the guitarist more free reign but it melds perfectly with the electronic side. The female vocalist is the siren catching your attention amidst the tempest.

Analogue Blood seem to be getting better with each new release as they hone their style. It can be fast and furious, with a vocal eye of the storm that anchors you to a point from being blown away.

https://analogueblood.bandcamp.com/album/equinox

https://www.facebook.com/analogueblood

by on

We are going back into the year to bring you an EP that was released in May of 2021, called Beautiful Hell by Orcus Nullify. Orcus Nullify is the project for Bruce Nullify who lives in South Carolina. On this EP he plays bass, guitar as well as being the vocalist, while enlisting Ant Bannister (Sounds Like Winter, Def FX) to help with drum programming. Bannister is also Mantravision Productions who mixed and produced four of the six tracks.

There is a sonic appeal of the beginning of “Beautiful Hell” the title track. An ode to those who have taken power by the throat and wield it unjustly whilst telling you it is for your own good. The guitar work very much stands out in a whirling maelstrom. Even though the drums are programmed, they sound super good on “Night Dance” and this unearthly, witching hour two step takes you away to the edge of what is real and that which exists in the night. I am going to guess “Under The Eye” was written about Trump and his administration, as he divided a country and made others unwelcome in a country they called home. The music evokes a certain circus feel, though a creepy one with a full freak show attached.

Pete Burns of Kill Shelter, produced “Fall From Faith“, a title that probably needs no explanation. I hear little bits of Southern Death Cult in this, such as the guitar riffs. A nice bit of bass playing is highlighted in “Night Bird“. Again the drums harken back to something a bit more old school. The last track in “Pandemonic” is an instrumental with the voice overs that could be heard on the news in the US speaking about the shocking speed Covid-19 overran countries and that governments acted so slowly. It is the litany of missed opportunity to a sludgy drone of music.

I hear a lot of influences in this EP. From Bauhaus to Christian Death and Southern Death Cult plus a few others as well. It is gothic darkwave but I would even say this definitely crosses into deathrock as well because I think the songs would have suited Rozz Williams’ style very well. But Beautiful Hell is also an creation of it’s time, written in isolation with political tensions running high and a wish for something more eloquently dark to drag them away..

https://orcusnullify.bandcamp.com/album/beautiful-hell

ORCUS NULLIFY | Facebook

Mantravision Productions | Facebook

by on

If you drive west of Brisbane, through the beautiful countryside, you can reach Mount Nebo on the land of the indigenous Jinibara people. This is also the home of Ghostwoods, a new project by musician James Lees. Lees is better known in the scene for the more rock’n’roll style bands he drums with but he has found this didn’t quite feed his soul.

“During lockdown last year, I lost most of my work, so I had a lot of time and was pretty much isolated here at
my place in Mt Nebo so the seclusion and influence of the environment throughout the winter was really
strong. I had made a start on the project prior to this, but the lockdown made me turn back to the music for
solace. Another element of the project is for me to do some music with my partner Karl who plays bass and
some acoustic guitar – he also loves playing super-dark spooky music, so he agreed to this pretty readily!” – James Lees

JAMES LEES – GHOSTWOODS

There is the magical tinkling of chimes that heralds the dark tones of the slow, deep piano and cymbal that is “Dark Moon“. It might be a flute that mournfully cries like a storm bird in the night. Soon joined by an electric guitar that languidly plays as if it is somewhere on a grim bayou. Anticipation fills the air and dissipates again with chimes like the frost in the heat of a new day. There is something austere and aloof about “Spiral Up” and yet a sadness pervades throughout, until the saxophone invades to bring a sense of longing. All the while the synths swirl of pulsate beneath, a creature wanting to escape. The recording of parrots crying out at the beginning and end of the Panoptique Electrical remix of “Dark Moon” is so utterly Australian. The mix by Jason Sweeney, is such a powerful noise inspired soundscape that almost is on the edge of becoming overwhelming and yet does not. You could swear it was trying to consume the light and air around it as it becomes a vortex, circling. Final track is “Spiral Down” and this is a much more electronic in feel than “Spiral Up“, however oddly the flute in the back ground gives it an unearthly feel in combination. The morose tones of the blues sax in juxtaposition with the ground swell of electronic noise .

Though this is James Lees’ project where he played piano/synths/drums/percussion, he fortunate enough to collaborated with Mark Angel on electric guitars, Karl O’Shea on bass guitar/ acoustic guitar and who is also in the band Daylight Ghosts, as well as Andrew Saragossi playing flute/clarinet/saxophone. These are very emotive pieces created in a time of uncertainty, in a remote and timeless landscape and a lot of that seeps into music.The Ghostwoods are mysterious and once you go in, you might not come out the same way…….

https://ghostwoodsau.bandcamp.com/album/dark-moon

Ghostwoods | Facebook

by on

We seem to ending the year with an explosion of great gothic fare and New York’s Crimson Brûlée released their debut EP onto the world on December the 7th. Gustavo Lapis Ahumada explained how the band came about…

It was early 2019, Billy Keith and I were sitting around in the studio listening to tracks from our new EP at the time, “Don’t Let Go”. As we listened, the idea of incorporating keyboards into our band “The Witch-Kings” came up. There was only one person that came to mind and that was Nicole Eres from my first band “Bitter Grace”.

Sadly, halfway into the night it had become obvious that the chemistry wasn’t there. Out of respect for our brothers in “The Witch-Kings” we decided just to assemble another project keeping the Kings intact along with its dark, heavy-handed guitar-only vibe.

Nicole, Billy, and I got together to play and it was magic. We then chose Crimson Brûlée as the official name. After the departure of our bassist, Johan, we picked up Jaime Filomio on bass and then Oscar Arias on guitars later on.

The synergy and the tunes were fantastic – more melodic and brighter, yet painfully melancholic. Then in early 2021, we got word that Johan had passed away. A real tough loss, as he was a brilliant musician and one of the coolest cats ever.

We spent the latter half of 2020 through 2021 recording our EP “Tragica” which was released in December. The EP is dedicated to Johan. It is important to us to play live shows in 2022.  

Crimson Brûlée

“I Came Back To You” is the first single to be lifted from the EP and it is has one of those really joyous choruses that belies the actual horrifying reality that someone forgave the person that they love of any misdemeanor. Talk about a suffering for love. But this really is a jewel of a song with the female backing vocals and wonderful guitars. The ominous electronics bring in the monstrous “Nothing Dies Forever“. This is goth and roll with all the trimmings of horror references and undying love.

There is the brooding darkness of what has been in “Restrained” while you will endeavour to find “Where Tarantulas Roam” which is yet another corker of song. The rhythm section is heavy and fluid while there is is a sublime mix of synths and vocals, an unholy religious experience. “Why I Wear Black” is probably the most electronic heavy of all the tracks as the synths duel with the guitars. It reminds me a lot of the movie The Lost Boys with the vampire references and the struggles of a vampire hunter.

The rest of the EP contains four radio friendly edited versions of the first four songs or in other words shortened versions. In a way it is a shame to cut these tracks back as they are good the way they stand. After all no one told Bauhaus “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” was too long and Andrew Eldritch decided “Temple of Love” should get a twelve minute remix and both always fill dance floors. I can hear why there is the comparison to The Awakening both vocally and musically. The combination of electronics with solid guitars and those strong vocals just ticks all the boxes. This is a really strong debut and gothic rock is undead and doing it with style.

https://crimsonbrle.bandcamp.com/album/tragica

Crimson Brulee | Facebook

by on

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 To Death” 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.

https://gravitycorps.bandcamp.com/album/zero-grav-ep

Gravity Corps | Facebook

by on

Unitcode:machine is the very talented Eric Kristoffer from Dallas, Texas and earlier this year he released the album, Themes For A Collapsing Empire, on which you could find the single “Falling Down“. In November, an EP of remixes has been released of this single, re imagined by other acts.

ERIC KRISTOFFER – UNITCODE:MACHINE

The first remix goes to Stabbing Westward and it so clean, polished and so utterly likeable. It almost is like listening to Depeche Mode in the way it grabs you. Next is the wonderful Batávia’s groovier version. Oddly sounds like Tom Shear from Assemblage 21, which is not a bad thing but how did they manage that and it really is a thoughtful remix that gets under your skin. Who doesn’t like a bit of electronic funk that descends into into brilliant synth lines?! Steven Olaf brings hints of the 80’s and it bops along very nicely…. I totally adore that synth line and trust me you will know what I mean when you hear it. The Gravitation remix by Antonym starts slow but this is a ruse and soon beats happen and it all becomes a whole lot of epic. There is something so spine tingling and satisfyingly about the Glass Apple Bonzai remix in all it’s synth wave, juicy goodness. It is rhythmic zen and beautiful, dutifully followed up with the solid club edit. The final re working featuring fellow Texan, Dwayne Dassing, ex-Mentallo and the Fixer, and the flavour is near futuristic in this purely instrumental version.

No matter how you look, or is that listen to “Falling Down“, it is a stonking number that can be remixed to reflect the style of each contributor and of course each remix is unique, basically there isn’t a bad track on this release. Not bad for a revisited single and I rather think this would be fabulous to hear on the dance floor..

Falling Down Remixes | unitcode:machine (bandcamp.com)

unitcode:machine | Facebook

by on

Permafrost began as a post-punk band in Norway, in 1982 and released their first album in 1983. Recently, this five piece launched three singles, all on vinyl only and due to the positive response they received, decided to collate these into a self titled EP, released October the 15th, 2021.

PERMAFROST

It is evident from the beginning that the guys from Permafrost never lost their love of the post-punk sound from the 80s. The prominent, deep plucked bass and energetic drums are all prevailing, the bread and butter for those with a penchant for Joy Division. “Sugarcubes” definitely tips the hat towards Magazine and is instantly likeable with it’s playful manner. A far more sombre tone for “Kingdom” which is slower and conveys a mind full of doubt, yet the music is incredibly beautiful in the seriousness of it. In complete juxtaposition is “Lifetime Commitment” which is actually quite poppy, full of life and strands of forever love. The final track is a Japanese remix of “Sugarcubes” with additional female vocals that are really quite cute.

These are carefully thought out songs and although they harken back to a time when punk had fallen out of favour for a more nihilistic and shadowy style of music, this still feels fresh and modern. Permafrost’s EP will infinitely draw in those that are moved by the music of Joy Division or Interpol.

https://permafrost3.bandcamp.com/album/permafrost-ep

by on

If you are old enough or a devotee to the 4AD label, the name Robin Guthrie brings up memories of dreamy guitars and iconic melodies due to being a driving force of the eternally beautiful Cocteau Twins. Since the end of Cocteau, Scottish born Guthrie has still been involved in the music scene with solo projects and working with other artists. Now based in France, he released the EP, Mockingbird Love on October the 15th, 2021.

ROBIN GUTHRIE

There are four instrumental tracks, which starts with “Copper“. Slow, near sensual piano strokes, whilst eventually the guitar chimes in. It is unhurried and simple and flows into “Eight East” which feels like a stream of consciousness, as it floats through, though a part of my mind is aware of a tinge of sorrow.

Again, “In Love And At War” bathes in a warm light and still a darkness slips through in the background. Something so beautiful as love can make hardships better and yet break your heart when that bond is stretched or broken. There is definitely a yearning in the the piano lines. Last track, “My Courtesan“, just speaks of passion and longing. It is the most verbose of the tracks and it swirls away like the sands of time.

I can hear what made the Cocteau Twins sound so unique still in this EP. Guthrie has always had this amazing talent for filling in the spaces with nearly imperceivable, harmonic noises.The EP is gorgeous with the ambient, ethereal sweetness based in real life and it is almost too short.. well that’s my complaint because I was enjoying it far too much. Luckily for us, Robin Guthrie will be giving us an album on November the 5th, called Pearl Diving. In the end this is a graceful and sublime release, however one cannot help but wonder if the title Mockingbird Love refers to the birds that hide the product of their mating in other bird’s nest…maybe that interpretation is up to you.

https://robinguthrie.bandcamp.com/album/mockingbird-love

(3) Robin Guthrie Official Site | Facebook