David Brichard is the vocals and Frédéric Hyat the guitarist for Belgium electronic band Dresscode, who released the single “Get Rid of Fears” in October. In the video is FlorianGilot who plays live with Dresscode.
Do our fears freeze us into being unable to act or live? This is essentially what the track is about, especially when it comes to matters of the heart. Those first notes strike in and as we go on, I am starting to think some of that might actually be the guitar being plucked. The singing is congenial until we hit the chorus, and then they erupt into a far more glorious and harmonious raising of the voices at end the track. “Get Rid of Fears” finishes for me far too soon as I was really getting into, and then it ended, even though it is approximately three minutes long. Ah well, I love the whole finishing with a bang, and Dresscode have made this track smooth and it subtly ends up sucking you in.
Boston based dark electro project Pneumagnosis has collaborated with Dissonance on the single “Let The Flowers Fall.” Cat Hall (Dissonance) has contributed vocals and lyrics while the music was composed by ScottTheleman (Pneumagnosis).
The electronics bleat and dance while Hall sings about finding the courage to walk away from a relationship, without trying to fix it or ponder what you did wrong. Her vocals waver and bound back in a cacophonist choir around the techno rhythms, which punctuate the wisdom of the words. This is a nice little collaborating trance inducing dance track between Dissonance and Pneumagnosis, in “Let the Flowers Fall.”
SEVERIN NI-ARB of X-MARKS THE PEDWALK has joined forces with his son LMX, and the collaboration resulting in the electronic project DUOPHONIC NOISE CONSTRUCTION. The single “Trauma,” has been released on the MESHWORK MUSIC label.
From when the rhythm kicks in, this is going to be a dancefloor killer. Looping electronics with NI-ARB’s vocals low and visceral, are at complete odds with the more dulcet tones of LMX, that create a dawning break in the overall frenetic pace.
There is something a bit old school about “Trauma” and maybe it is that connection to X-MARKS THE PEDWALK, yet the influence of LMX is felt with the more modern vocal style. It is a kin to talking about rough and smooth or steel and silk, and it works so very well together.
Religion and governance should never be mixed, but in the US currently, it is hard to see any evidence of common sense versus religious fanaticism. “Dead Gods” is the latest single from Vision Video, off their new new album Modern Horror, where Athens based Dusty Gannon and co. rage against the pricks.
PHOTO BY JEREMY SAFFER
A dissonance of guitar heralds the beginning and one cannot help but revel in the heavy post-punk bass. The synths strike like a high organ peeling while the giving of hymns in holy prayer, except they have the silken vocals that are calling out the double standards and misogyny that nationalistic Christians hold before them like they are actual scripture.
“Dead Gods” is catchy…. no it doesn’t break new ground, but it doesn’t need to do so. Gannon’s singing the chorus is still stuck in my head and you should take that as a good sign of a great track. You can hear the influence of The Cure and Chameleons, and as I always say, we need songs that unify the dark scene and politically push all the wrong people’s buttons.
October is always a good month for dark alternative releases and Berlin based VV & TheVoid dropped the single “DEVOTION(Release the Bats – Halloween Remix).” ValentinaVeil is the VV (vocals, guitar, synths, programming) with Brandon Robert (bass guitar) and Phillip Haut (drums) making up VV & The Void.
Ringing, twisting and echoing envelops your senses between the dreamy guitars, billowing synths and VV’s romantically clandestine vocals. The bass deep and drone like, holds the ethereal rest of the track from floating away as it gradually becomes a wall of melodic noise.
The band is originally is from Melbourne, and any Australian goth type will tell you that “Release the Bats” brings forth the vision of Nick Cave and The Birthday Party and even though “DEVOTION” is not as punk, there is a rawness to them, like an open wound that never heals and they are wallowing in that experience. You can enjoy drowning in the experimental shoegaze of VV & The Void with “DEVOTION (Release The Bats – Halloween Remix).”
As part of their spooky season, Kentucky’s Who Saw Her Die? religiously drop in October a few singles, and the latest is another horror movie inspired release in the form of “Pleasure and Pain” and “One of Us.”
If you haven’t guessed before, “Pleasure and Pain” is exactly how a cenobite from Hellraiser is going to love you and this is the premise behind the single. The version the band have put up first is the EBM mix and I have to agree in their choice as it really has that classic sound of Hellraiser’s weird modern techno wonder, plus that wandering synth line, matched with the spiritual abyss in the vocals, that vary from seduction to anguished.
The second track goes a bit more old school in the way of The Body Snatchers in “One ofUs.” It is a retelling of the motives of said snatching aliens, a morose dirge that is actually sympathetic of the horror baddies.
Even when October is done and dusted, there is always Halloween to be enjoyed for the rest of the year in tunes like this. To quote The Divinyls, ‘there’s a fine line betweenpleasure and pain,’ so why not choose both with Who Saw Her Die? They have such wonders to show you.
Somewhere in Victoria, Canada, you can imagine there are bears and elk but if in the woods, you might be jumped by the Skull Cultist, also known as Steve Saunders, man of rocking industrial beats. His latest album is named HardcoreRituals.
The first track, “ChwibanMarwolaeth” sets the scene of something tribal and ancient, yet with the encroaching modern music bearing down. This is the lead up for you to drop into the title track “Hardcore Ritual,” and the magical mythos of a bygone era reverberate through the vocals and electronic tones. It builds and breaks down over and again. The cyberpunk influenced “Rivethammer” pounds and loops, revelling in the violence of the hammer. It is probably me, but I keep thinking I hear ‘timber‘ being yelled over and over again.
“Mover” features the crystalline vocals of Gaby Gustafson, who is also know as Eva X along side Saunders, as the music strikes up a rapid pace, while the electronics rattle and throb to keep up. She is the angelic in comparison to his demonic, crying ‘die, die, die.’ Nicole Turner of Orthokeras is the guest vocalist on the “Floor Sadist,” and does anyone have to ask when or where we assume the position?! This track is a mixture of rhythmic noise and dark sexual overtones, which is instantly captivating and bewitching. The last track of the album, “Duskfall,” also features Turner’s vocals, which feels expansive and sounds futuristic
Hardcore Rituals has a grand total of eleven tracks and Skull Cultist keeps you guessing what style he is going to use next, though I like to think the main style is rhythmic industrial. Having the two ladies guest on tracks is a really nice additional, taking things up a notch and I have to say that I really did like “Floor Sadist.” Maybe it is that skull crushing crunchiness but it is very satisfying. In the end, there is a primordial brooding throughout, married to something that lurks within the shadows.
Naarm (Melbourne) based Velatine are back with a third single in quick succession, called, “Orange to Black.” It feels like I just blinked after the previous single, but this goes to show how prolific LokiLockwood is and he is showcasing yet another with female vocalist Nocturna.
The rhythm is both lethargic and rolling, yet constant, and it is joined by a trickling piano that dances around Nocturna’s singing. Her voice is cool and bluesy, with a certain enigmatic air, creating a bleak and beautiful gothic tribute to where everyone ends up in the end….as dust.
It really is a treat to hear so many different female vocalists performing with Velatine, and Nocturna really makes “Orange to Black” a brilliantly sultry experience. The video is a gothic delight, filmed in a cemetery giving the track a noire ambience. Finding the sombre allure at the end has never been so good.
In 2021, Finland’s Suzi Sabotage released the anthemic single “Nazi Goths, Fuck Off.” Three years later, on the label Strict Tempo have dropped a version, remixed by the UK’s The Cassandra Complex, and one has to wonder if this song is needed now more than ever with the frightening rise of right wing politics around the world and the insidious tendrils tainting the dark alternative scene.
‘Far-right ideologies are not compatible with goth. Goth is rebellion against the mainstream and celebration of diversity – whereas Nazis and conservatives advocate for rigid conformity, which makes them at war against what goth is all about.
The goth movement has always taken pride in being a safe haven for people from all backgrounds, and if Nazis are made [to] feel welcome, it will become dangerous for people of colour, LGBTQ, women, and just anyone who doesn’t harbour fascist views.
So let’s show Nazi “goths” the door and keep our scene safe.’ – Suzi Sabotage
Rodney Orpheus of The Cassandra Complex has created a sense of urgency with the pulsating synths, which are like light against the stark vocals from Sabotage, plunging in a knife that exposes the reality.
For people that say that gothic/post-punk music is not meant for protesting and voicing dissent, we have to say what bin have you been living in?! “Nazi Goths, Fuck Off‘ is still relevant, now with extra polish and always enjoyable.
Run To Sleep is a very, very new band and their debut single is the industrial “Purity of Sin.” Based in Naarm (Melbourne), this is the project of Jarrad Robertson (guitar) and Michael Johnson (modular synth), and if the name Robertson is a bit familiar, you might remember he is also is member of the dark, gothy rock group Sea Lungs.
The guitar is the focus, however it is the electronics that paint the tone. Heavy and fuzzed out bass like intonations, often breaking down into bleating miasmas of sound, whilst the delicate guitar sinews its way across the wasteland, almost apologetic for the abrasiveness.
There is something very early Sisters of Mercy about this track and I am talking the first EPs. Though an instrumental, it struck me that it is kind of in this vein due to the stark drum machine in sync with the melodic guitar, and the big difference being the heavy concentration of synths. This might be called darkwave industrial and I have to say I am quite enjoying Run To Sleep already.
