Mix one part Danish with one part United Kingdom and you get a spark of magic called Perpacity. Martin Nyrup (Den) and Ian Harling (UK) dropped their new single, “Little Death” on November the 11th.
Don’t Let the shamanistic wails at the beginning fool you. This baby is all electronic, suave and suggestive, with the synths rolling in all the right curves and the vocals entreating you in “Little Death“. There is also the ‘b’ side, “Feel My Pain” which is far more reflective and sorrowful, mirrored by the sombre tones of the music.
The title track has a decidedly DepecheMode vibe with those graduating synths and sexy lyrics, while the backing track, “Feel My Pain” is the quiet and brooding type that gradually creeps into your head. As the French say, petite la morte and really we all need a “Little Death“.
Garrett Cooper is a musician who hails from South Australia. We had all had enough of 2021, but Cooper decided to give himself the goal of writing one song a month and putting it up on Bandcamp from November. He named the project Brave Mistakes, which may or may not have been hinting at how he felt about the task ahead. Now, Brave Mistakes is not the first to do the one song a month challenge, but one must remember that Cooper started this with a change from his usual harder rock style.
And now we are in November 2022. Single number twelve is here…. or is it? There seems to be two singles in the form of the tracks “Can’t Fear” and “The Goon“, which make up a trilogy of songs called Shadow Pals and Brave Mistakes is no longer a solo project, but now a fully fledged band. The sound has filled out with those jangly guitars tumbling beautifully over each other and Cooper’s vocals have gotten stronger each track, dare I say giving Chris Isaak a run for his money.
Obviously not content on just one song for this month, we are going out with a bang. On Bandcamp you will also find a new rendition of “Charlotte Street“, which was the first to kick everything off and it has been stripped down, full of overwhelming emotion. I was actually surprised to also see the release of a cover of one of my most favourite bands of all time. The Church, for me are the epitome of superb composition, poetic lyrics and more cool than the Arctic (and good grief they were so hot looking in their paisley and winkle pickers). The cover of “Under The Milky Way” kind of blew my mind and in all honesty, I actually cried a little.
Over all, the general ambience is dark and moody, with definite overtones of country music, which gives Brave Mistakes a quintessentially Australian sound. The music follows in the footsteps of such acts as stalwart NickCave, rockers Beasts Of Bourbon, The Johnny’s or the wonderful and sadly missed Triffids. It is music that speaks of longing, loneliness and separation in a land both expansive and ancient, where one can lose themselves in the terrain or simply in your own head. Southern Australian gothic or dark country? Maybe it defies pigeon holing but it is terrific rock music no matter how you look at it. Brave Mistakes sometimes pay off.
From County Cork, in Ireland, we have the darkwave act, Arctic Lights with their new single “Belong“, released on November the 4th. Liam O’Callaghan (vocals, guitar) and Edward Butt (bass guitar)are the duo that are the nucleus of Arctic Lights, with Max Mac joining them on drums.
Low vocals greet your ears with acoustic accompaniment of a guitar, though all this is an illusion as the electronics break through. There is a sonic component, a see saw between vocals, synths and guitar that is quite mesmerising.
Darkwave with that shoegaze wall of sound and the sublime singing that creates a wonderfully textured track about the very human desire to be apart of a relationship of some description. Come and “Belong” with Arctic Lights.
The latest single from M73, has just been released, off the album Motor Romantik., on the record label, LÆBEL. “Vampire” has been given a lush video, care of Anna Tartaglia, exploring the visual concept that not all vampires live off blood but many are regular humans who feed off the power of controlling another person. As always the synth lines are stunning and John R Mirland completes the track with his vocals.
Seattle based Vance Latta is a musician of the darkwave persuasion whom previously released the EP, The Ravening. October the 27th marked the drop of his latest single, “Mysterious Places“.
No special effects or over production here and it is refreshing in a way. The synths are bright, while the drum machine keeps the score and Latta’s vocals caress the lyrics. Latta and the electronics delivering a stark and heart felt eulogy to another they love, who is caught up in religious zealotry. Definitely coldwave feels from this track, so support an upcoming talent and check out “Mysterious Places“.
Need an injection of gothic rock to perk up your dark soul? Then the debut track “DarkenedEyes” from st///ll might stoke the fires. The three members are scattered between the UK and Ireland but have the common love for the post-punk genre.
The drum machine starts pistoning away, joined by the chiming out guitar, before the Ian Curtis like vocals invade your concious. Then you are plunged into a sonic sweetness, due to the bass being there, ramping up the tension and dueling the lead guitar. It’s a bit like being transported back to the early 80s.
I think there is not only a love here for Joy Division but I can also hear Pink TurnsBlue, which is tangible in both the vocals and guitar. Given a chance, “Darkened Eyes” could easily become a gothic dance floor anthem. There is no excuse for not popping off to Bandcamp to secure this little beauty as it is name your price, for a seriously strong debut track from st///ll.
This month we brought you the review of “RIP (Dead To Me)” by AILSHA and the 28th of October has seen the spooktacular release of the accompanying video. Electro goth pop about the modern inconvenience of ‘ghosting’, which means baby…. you are Dead To Me. Don’t say we never give you anything nice!
What better way to celebrate Halloween, than to release a vampiric cover song, so that is exactly what BeautyIn Chaos have done with the Concrete Blonde track, “Bloodletting (The Vampire Song)“, which was from the 1990 album of the same name, Bloodletting.
Video still by Vicente Cordero
Is that buzzing sound a blood sucking mosquito in the room? Not exactly as it resolves into revealing itself to be the sax of Mars Williams (Psychedelic Furs), to accompany the flourishing guitars. There is a drawn out sassiness that only increases with the introduction of the vocals from Michael Ciravolo, the man behind the creation of Beauty In Chaos, inducing the feel of New Orleans, because as a native, he has that Southern drawl. The progression becomes almost like a drug fuelled dream, as everything wavers, intoxication settling in and we become part of the undead parade march, into the nightmare that is the lair of the vampire, with the lovey ladies, Whitney Tai, Kat Leon and TishCiravolo joining in on vocal duties.
For me, there are two female singers that I hold in very high esteem. The first is the iconic Siouxsie Sioux and the other is the amazing Johnette Napolitano, so Concrete Blonde is very close to my heart. Her vocals alone were a good reason to love the band. I am going to say I am glad that it is different but kept to the essence and core of the “Bloodletting“. A new spin to a classic and you can see the love not only for the song but the inspiration, New Orleans and Anne Rice’s vampire’s who often called it home, conjuring visions of warm nights, strong brews, voodoo and the smell of wisteria and death. The video is also a treat so you should also check it out as well, full of shadowy characters, sexy vamps, obligatory vampire hunter and the secrets a mask can hide.
If you are into gothic/deathrock music then you should know the name William Faith. If you don’t then I am giving you the hard stare….now. Faith’s (vocals, guitars) current project is The Bellwether Syndicate, created with his equally famous wife Sarah Rose Faith aka Scary Lady Sarah (vocals, guitars), which will see their debut album, Vestige & Vigil, released next year. Meantime, there is the newest single, “Dystopian Mirror“, giving you a taste of what is to come. The band is rounded out with musicians Philly Peroxide (keyboards, percussion), Stevyn Grey (drums) and Corey Gorey (guitars)
Kicking arse from the beginning, no small intro but rather straight into it. That amazing wall of guitar in the chorus builds the tension and swells, before the drops to rebuild again. What can I say about the chorus other than breath-takingly monumental, especially with the passion in Faith’s vocals. The bass and drums are tight, giving the track a great rhythmic platform with the synths..
Faith has said that the track was written about a friend from his younger years, that was caught up in mental health issues and spiralling out of control with the use of drugs and alcohol, which eventually brought them to an early demise. There is definitely that feeling of being out of control, of manic highs and deeps lulls within “Dystopian Mirror“. For many of us that lived this lifestyle in black for many years, we have survived many of our peers and watched them disappear down that dark hole, never to return. There is a certain pain that goes with those memories but we honour them in those recollections. And if nothing else, it is a rip snorter of a gothic rock song.
When i was younger, Ministry and Rammstein were considered industrial metal. Meet DunwichDreams of Albuquerque, who dropped the single “Rise Of The Seventh Sun” on October the 21st.
The beginning seems pleasant enough with synths playing until the drums come in and it all changes. The vocals roar and bellow at that unnaturally low tone that constitutes death or black metal, though you can still understand the lyrics.
“Rise Of The Seventh Sun” is heavy, visceral and like a punch to the guts. It bangs along, savage and cryptic. I have the disclaimer of not being a metal expert but have the feeling there are others out there that will love this heavier style of industrial metal from Dunwich Dreams.
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