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Imagine a world where people didn’t judge each other by the colour of their skin, nationality, creed/religion, sex and sexual orientation…. we sadly don’t live in that world and it feels like it slipping further from our sight. This year saw the overturning of an important American law, Roe Vs Wade. A law that gives autonomy of a woman over her own body and her reproductive cycles. The Joy Thieves, on Armalyte Industries, have released the maxi single “6 To 3“, on the 25th of November, which happens to be International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to remind people that this is a boot on the neck of the female half of the world. There are three new tracks and seven remixes.

“6 To 3” is the raising of female voices, the anger is palpable and is joined by the grating guitars and throbbing electronics. This is women forcing you to hear their grief that they are entitled to an opinion, entitled to be sexual beings, to choose for themselves and no government should be able to take that away. There is a heavy Ministry taste to the track “Property” and yes, the premise is that women are becoming simply chattels or possessions, to use and abuse, because in the end, what does it it matter if girls and women die, as long as bible bashing half wits can sleep at night. Through the use of voice clips, we have the heavy, subordinate noise of “Power Through Discipline“, the calm spoken words in complete contrast to the musical onslaught. Remixes by Stoneburner, Eva X, StabWalt and The Joy Thieves, give you more honey for your money.

Now people might say that this only applies to North America….but does it? The US is a first world country and many look to it, copying the laws and legislation. Others will see it as a chance to have power over females, pushing back hard earned rights, reducing women to simply vessels to please men and push out babies without thought for the wellbeing of the female, mental health aspects and keeping many in abject poverty. We stand in solidarity with our sisters because if it can happen there…..it can happen anywhere. All monies made are going to the National Network of Abortion Funds but more importantly, this is keeping the subject in plain view and calling it for what it really is. Slavery and child abuse. Support The Joy Thieves and amplify the message.

6 To 3 | The Joy Thieves (bandcamp.com)

The Joy Thieves

https://www.facebook.com/TheJoyThieves

https://www.instagram.com/thejoythieves

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Brisbane based, gothic band, Sacred Hearts have been gaining a solid following, and released the newest single “Catholic Guilt“. The Meanjin (Brisbane) trio, however, doing something a little different. Two singles, same track but done in two different styles. Nice to see Jed A. Walters (Chiffon Magnifique) doing their production as well as the talented Kyle Hallam (Doggie Heaven) .

Whom does the bells toll for? That drum machine just pops and the guitars kind of roll in light noisy motes that drown your ears in beautiful chiming. The vocals are so vibrant and in a way angelic, amidst the churning, jangling guitars.

Version two is far more what is on the slab in the laboratory style of deathrock with those hazed out guitars. The angst oozes forward, staining the air, the vocals venomous in their disgust. The Lord’s Prayer that they have used, has become a cultish chant for the disenchanted.

I get where lead singer, June, is coming from, having been in the Catholic school system. They use the religion to scare you and control you. You are being judged, if not worthy then you will go to Hell and I remember at school, being told sex was for procreation only and not for enjoyment. Yeah, let’s not even get into the creepy stuff with the priests. At some point you either stay with that stuff or you walk away. Maybe that just added to the way we turned out but it makes for interesting conversation and, indeed, topic for a single, where Sacred Hearts are stretching those dark wings and pushing their sound into new and varied territory. I think they are only going to get better and “Catholic Guilt 1 & II” are pretty damn hot.

Catholic Guilt | Sacred Hearts (bandcamp.com)

Catholic Guilt II | Sacred Hearts (bandcamp.com)

Sacred Hearts | Facebook

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Swedes, Hatif released their very impressive debut album Everything Is Repetition, recently via Town And Tower Records. They have now released the single “Pool” as remixed by fellow Swedes, Agent Side Grinder.

“It was fun to work with. I tried to make it more direct, highlighting the chorus and the 303” – Johan Lange of Agent Side Grinder

Agent Side Grinder have looped those beautiful Middle Eastern excerpts, twisting them marvellous into extra rhythm keepers. The vocals now have a cavernous quality, mysterious and timeless, while the electronics have become the swirling storm.

This is very much a match up, made in heaven. “Pool” was already a really great track and Agent Side Grinder have increased the dance floor appeal without removing the bits that make this track so likeable. This version is stellar and if you haven’t checked out Hatif, I cannot advise you strongly enough to get out there and do so.

Pool (Agent Side Grinder Remix) | Hatif (bandcamp.com)

https://facebook.com/hatifband

https://instagram.com/hatifband

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When I received an email from someone called Emperor Of Ice Cream…. well my eyebrows did go up a fair way. I was to find out that this is not a person, but rather a collective, from Cork in Ireland and they were releasing their newest single, “Winter Pages“, on November the 18th. John ‘Haggis’ Hegarty (vocals), Graham Finn (guitar), Edward Butt (bass) and Colum Young (drums) are the Emperor Of Ice Cream, and they are on the label, FIFA Records. These guys have been a thing since the early 90s but are only put out their debut album in 2020, which came out under the title, No Sound Ever Dies.

A chiming wall of guitar embraces your senses, dragging away your thoughts and the singing is as sweet as the nicest of memories of love, entangles you in the sonic web of glorious noise. They reach into a place where longing and loss are powerful body blows, leaving you in the cold.

Wow. Just ohmygod….wow. You would never think anyone calling themselves Emperor Of Ice Cream would sound like that. They truly did blow me away with that one song. Utterly beautiful in both lyrics and musically. Shoegaze, when done correctly, is magical and in many ways, these guys remind me of early Ride, whom I consider to have been the pinnacle of creating amazing walls of tone and sighing harmonics that take you away to some other place. Play it, play it, play it and then play it again. The Emperor Of Ice Cream has gifted you “Winter Pages“.

Winter Pages | Emperor of Ice Cream (bandcamp.com)

Emperor of Ice Cream | Cork | Facebook

FIFA Records – Forever In Financial Arrears | Cork | Facebook

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MATT HART has been a busy lad of late it seems, and now has unveiled his new single, as of the 18th of November, “TERRAFORM“, a completely new track that carries the story on from the previous album. There are also two guest remixes from Blue Ant (Matteo Seduta) and Sirus (Josh Rombout), as well as the mixing and mastering done by Krischan Wesenberg of Rotersand.

Oh, here is a short story synopsis——> bad robot aliens take over the planet, make it really cold and try to knock off the humans, so they go underground. 🙂

First thing that hits you is that “TERRAFORM” is kind of serious business. The rhythm and the music are measured and work like, no messing about here, heavy electronics that drop down on your senses. There is purpose in the not only the music but also HART’s vocals, pushing on the survivors to carry out their tasks.

Woohoo, the Blue Ant version is going deep down and on the low down, the electronics nowhere as heavy and just popping, rolling along. Damn it, I found my head bobbing away with that catchy rolling beat. Someone just pushed the track into techno territory and that would be Sirus. Again, this huge, both threatening and exhilarating at the same time.

What I found a little disturbing about the original track was the fact the vocals had started to become metallic. This we had come to expect from the alien invaders, so does this start to point to the fact the humans are starting to lose their humanity….the one thing that separated them from the robotic overlords? They have fought so long to survive, that this seems to have become consuming. All three versions could be played on a dance floor and I think I can best sum up the three styles as electronic menace (MATT HART), electronic supreme cool (Blue Ant) and electronic bitch slap you up the side of the head/you better dance fool (Sirus). Love it.

TERRAFORM – SINGLE | MATT HART (bandcamp.com)

https://www.facebook.com/djmatthartuk/

https://www.instagram.com/matthart3808/

Music | SIRUS (bandcamp.com)

Music | Blue Ant (bandcamp.com)

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“The Precious Ones” sounds like it could be from Lord Of The Rings, however, it is the single that deathgaze rockers, VAZUM, dropped on the 18th of November. Emily Sturm and Zach Pliska are gearing up for an album drop next year, called V Sessions, but in the meantime you can listen to the new single with it’s complimentary two b-sides.

Pliska is the main vocalist this time for “The Precious Ones” and venomously spits out the lyrics, while the guitars are violently loud, rolling like thunder in their discontent and the drums emphatic. Sturm’s vocals wind around the chorus almost stealing it. “Actor” really slides into deathrock mode with the buzzing guitar work, that occasionally breaks out then returns to the fold. The way the rhythm moves is very snake like. The last track sees both the vocalists sharing the duties, screaming out guitars and what feels like intense pressure in the build up for “Skooge“.

I actually had to look up “Skooge” and it was in the urban dictionary as basically describing an idiot. These tracks definitely have a common theme running through all of them…..pretty much go fuck yourself and go fucking die. I mean I could be wrong but I don’t think I am. “The Precious Ones” is a dig at a scene that often is constantly looking backwards at what has been, rather than the new music there is now. Many, many moons ago, I used to run a club and if you played all the classics, you were guaranteed a full dance floor. Introduce something new but great, suddenly the floor was clear. If I go out, I still hear all the same music….it is boring and like going back in a time machine. Plus, I guess there are probably certain musicians today that will have everyone pandering to them, while others will miss out on coverage even though they deserve to be heard. In the meantime, the single and extra tracks are fantastic. I love the furious guitars and VAZUM being all prickly has made this all the more interesting. Watch out for “The Precious Ones“…….

The Precious Ones | VAZUM (bandcamp.com)

https://www.facebook.com/VAZUMROCKS/

https://www.instagram.com/vazum_/

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There is nothing better than introducing new music, especially when it gives you tingles down the spine. Connecticut based Jayson Munro and George Moore are goth rock/post-punk band, Midnight Psychic and their debut single is “String Of Fate“, released on the 16th of November.

There is that beautiful bass, along side the skittering guitar, inspired by Bauhaus, in the beginning of “String Of Fate“. The vocals are smooth and velvet, all the while recounting the many varied ways people past away in quite ignominious tragedies. Striking chords and sweet, mournful singing that do indeed induce those very tingles down the spine.

You know a song is either really good or really bad when it gets stuck in your head. I am glad to say that “String Of Fate” is brilliant and quite acceptable rattling around in the old noggin. It throws you back in time and the track would have fitted nicely into the gothic 80s UK scene, with the lovely guitar flourishes and unhurried, wonderful vocals. The Midnight Psychic is in session and they have foreseen your “String Of Fate“.

String of Fate | midnight psychic (bandcamp.com)

Midnight psychic | Facebook

https://instagram.com/midnight.psychic?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

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In South Carolina, if you listen carefully, not all is banjo music. The gothic/deathrock explosive power of Orcus Nullify is back baby, with a new single, “All The Way“, released on the 11th of November.

From the drums through to the guitars, this is all Nullify. The guitars soar and Bruce’s vocals derisive of the old guard, the far right in their inability to accept anything other than their own narrow view and that if they aren’t right then it should all be left to crumble into anarchy. Discordant deathrock from Orcus Nullify with a message and a mosh worthy chorus.

https://orcusnullify.bandcamp.com/track/all-the-way-2

https://www.facebook.com/onullify

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Knock twice, your fate sealed, A Cloud Of Ravens does reveal. Indeed, the 11th of November was the date for the release of the second single, “Nature If Artifice“, off the LOST HYMNS album, set to come out on the 24th of February, 2023.

It sucks you in from the beginning with elegant simplicity, from the beats to the build up into vocals. That guitar in the background like a warning siren, with the very deliberate heavy keyboard chords begging you to give them your attention. The vocals sombrely remind you that not all is well in the world.

The video alludes to past mistakes of humans only in the last century and yet maybe A Cloud Of Ravens is also tying to point out that we are making those mistakes again, though even if you aren’t a history buff, the music is brilliant. This is the “Nature Of Artifice“.

https://acloudofravens.bandcamp.com/track/nature-of-artifice-3

https://m.facebook.com/acloudofravens/

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It can’t rain all the time but sometimes it “Feels Like Rain” which also happens to be the Signia Alpha single, released on the 11th of November. The band is made up of singer/lyricist Harris (yes just one name like Prince), multi instrumentalist composer Matt Webster (drums, guitar), flaunting his flute style is Chris Walsh, along with jazz master Keith Jafrate on sax and some bloke called Paul Gray who normally plays bass in some kitch band called The Damned.

Every time I have listened to this, I think Paisley Park, as in the 60s. Could be the use of the flute or the happy go lucky vibe of the music, though not all is as it seems. Lyrically it is about poverty and how it sucks away all until you only live under a constant weight and greyness, which is not living.

The Bradford area is in the North of England and since the industrial revolution, suffered high levels of poverty and unemployment. A breeding ground for musicians who are great storeytellers. “Feels Like Rain” rolls along just like the days do but with a social concious.

https://signiaalpha.bandcamp.com/track/feels-like-rain

Signia Alpha | Facebook