Label Negative Gain Productions, is dropping the new Hasswut album, Sauerstoff, on April 25th, but March sees the release of the title track as the first single and, indeed, first taste. “Sauerstoff” is German for oxygen, while Hasswut, who have been around since 2013, are from Alicante, Spain, with members Daniel NQ (vocals), JaviX (guitar) and Zufo (keyboard-synth/backing vocals).
Aggrotech vocals always sound extra gruff when sung in German and Hasswut pours it on heavy and thick, just like the unrelenting beats. The guitar is a chainsaw, throwing down the metal, which leaves the synths at odds, brightly highlighted and as light as oxygen.
In the vein of Rammstein or Hocico, Hasswut mix metal with industrial and a pinch of techno synth, getting both something you can dance to as well as bang your head. Do I know what the lyrics are about? Nope. Does It matter? Absolutely not. Inhale the “Sauerstoff.”
The Funeral March was breathed into life in 1987, also known as The Funeral Marchof the Marionettes, a US band heavily influenced by the early 80s post-punk scene. Original member, JoeWhiteaker, decided that the thirtieth anniversary might be time to revisit this project, and consequently added new band members Wayne Thiele (guitar) and longtime friend Darius McCaskey (bass). 2023 had the band recording the album It All Falls Apart, with musician/producer William Faith, at his 13Studio. It wasn’t until the end of recording Whiteaker was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which took him from his wife and children, as well as his music family in 2024. A video for the title track, “It All Falls Apart” has been released just before the album drops.
JOE WHITEAKER (1968-2024)
“I’d like people to know how proud Joe was of this record. We had a great time recording what would become It All Falls Apart with William Faith in 2023, before Joe was diagnosed with cancer, and he was able to hear the final mixes before he passed away. Joe didn’t have a specific theme in mind – each song was written independently, some even several years ago – but as tracks were selected and refined, this idea of things and people breaking down and falling apart emerged.” – DariusMcCaskey
The crying and echoing guitar curls your toes and it does not get much better than this. Whiteaker’s vocals are forlorn and calls out with the guitar, reaching for lost dreams and ideals, knowing everything is falling apart. His sighed ahs are the angelic acceptance.
This is a poignant tribute to a man and it fucking hits so hard. It already was a beautifully tragic song and with the passing of Whiteaker, just ramps up the overwhelming feeling of loss. It can be said that this is not like The Funeral March’s other work and you see them in a whole different light. There is a bigger point to all this that all monies raised from sales of It All Falls Apart can go towards his family. It is a good cause, and from someone who has heard the album, it is phenomenal and just highlights the dark wonder of a truly gothic heart.
Laurent Audouin (bass, keyboards, programming), JulienBrevet (guitar, keyboards, vocals, programming) and VincentLechevallier (drums, percussion) make-up Nantes based post-punk band LOWPKIN. Their new single, released at the end of February, is called “Vacancy.”
There are electronics keeping time with the drums, but the guitar stands out as it wails in the chorus. “Vacancy” has this really silken feel to it, as if it might have been a track from the past, especially with the guitar and vocals, yet it is the programming that makes it modern. Very danceable and, more so, I just found ‘Vacancy” truly enjoyable. The French are so good at cold new wave styled music and LOWPKIN follow in this tradition.
London’s testplan are back! The latest single is called “MyTeeth,” and I have to say, this is not the video to watch if you are having a current altered state of mind. I will just point the finger and say, it all the fault of Max Mason (drums, vocals), MichalisFragkiadakis (guitar, backing vocals) and RoryDickinson (bass, backing vocals).
Frenetic is the word that hits my tongue, as the bass is tortured into booming deeply, and the drums slash and cut through all. The vocals are diabolical, screaming at point blank range that you have no choice but to listen about teeth falling out.
As someone that knows teeth, I have to say that I saw a lot of nice dentition in the video, but also the horror come real in the form of large teeth. As a dental student, it is one of those fever dreams, being chased by rogue molars down the street. What is “MyTeeth” all about? I don’t plan on looking too hard into what testplan are ranting on about, but it’s bloody great!
Lo-fi grit-ware is a new genre for me, so here is Dead Atlantis, from the USA, which is the project of Jeffery Carrico. The newest single is called “Whitewash.”
I am pretty impressed that this style of music is not done of a computer and does not contain any loops, but rather what you hear is basically all done live when recorded, apart from the drum machine. The noises Carrico wrings from his synths is incredible. The oscillating, whirring and creating a vastness that only experimentation can do.
The vocals waver between yelled punctuation, impassioned singing and guttural growling. All this and the lyrics are about mental health, where doubt colours every move, thought and breath. given power by those vocals. Pretty good this lo-fi grit-wave stuff and so is Dead Atlantis with “Whitewash.”
Things I know. The band The Dark Wave formed in 2019, and is a new wave/post-punk from the Netherlands. Jelmer Luimstra of April Afternoon, joined them in 2023, and now they have released their second single “One of These Days.”
There are chiming guitars and the synths have a breezy, light feel. The hint that this track is not all sunshine and lollipops, is the heavy bass below everything, and of course, those lyrics about being trapped. Smooth as silk vocals are the cheery on top.
If you enjoy eating sea food, you might feel rather remorseful after watching the music video, though the lyrics are using the lobster as a metaphor for once being free and if you aren’t aware of what is happening around you, that freedom can disappear. Kind of pertinent for the current political climate. “One of These Days” is the more modern equivalent of The Manic Street Preacher’s “If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next,” and TheDark Wave are poking you to open your eyes with good indie pop.
Portland based Mercury’s Antennae are back after a break with a new single, “The Reflecting Skin,” which has been released on the Sett Records label and mixed by WilliamFaith (Faith & the Muse/Bellwether Syndicate). Multi-instrumentalist, Erick r. Scheid of The Palace of Tears, vocalist Dru Allen and bassist Cindy Coulter, who are both from This Ascension, make up Mercury’sAntennae and an interesting tid bit you might not know is that Coulter and Faith are siblings, and Coulter was a live member of Faith&TheMuse.
“This track has quite a storied history! I originally came up with the primary bass part back when I was in This Ascension with Dru in the mid 1990s! I presented it to the band, I jammed it out with our drummer Matt and Dru a number of times, but it was one of those ideas that just never took flight. It got shelved for decades, but I always felt like maybe it would find a home somewhere. Erick was very energized by the part and was like “we need to make this a song!” I didn’t have a chorus written, so we collabe’d on that, Dru added her wonderful lyrics and voice, and it all came together very nicely”. – Cindy Coulter
Allen’s voice has matured, and, to my ears become more powerful and evocative. Now that guitar, which happens to be a twelve string… it is sinuous and writhes in a glorious way, and yet it smoothly entwine with the synths, creating an echoing, dark ambience that feels timeless. This is a track that has waited until now to emerge, and maybe this was fortuitous, as it has received the sparkling Faith workover, and “TheReflectingSkin” is now a gothic gem by Mercury’sAntennae.
THEODOROS is the solo project of TheodorosDimitriou, who is also a founding member of Greek dark rock band LefkiSymphonia. With all new acts, there must be a debut single, and so we have “Every Day I Die,” which is off his first album of the same title.
The guitar is ominous from the start and Dimitriou’s vocals are laid back which feels utterly befitting, even with the rolling, danceable rhythms and occasionally wailing guitar riffs. The synths are subtle in the mix and this all highlights the dramatic lyrics and singing.
‘Every day I’m born again, Every day I die‘ and I am left wondering if this track is about when we sleep, if this is the death or if it is just fancy dark imagery. In any case, this post-punk song is easy on the ears and Dimitriou’s Greek accent adds to the mysterious allure. THEODOROS’ “Every Day I Die” will most likely lodge itself in your brain for a while and is a most worthy gothic club track.
New year and new single from the transatlantic team LunarPaths. DianeDubois and KevinHunter have dropped a technoir terror in the form of “Zero Trust Mentality.”
The clatter of looped rhythms, first started as drumming that Hunter laid down, have been fed into Dubois‘ sequencer, and it almost thunders, distorted and melding with the synths. An urgency from the electronics as they pulse frenetically, exploding around the cool vocals, that are almost spoken word, building the tension.
Apparently Meta in Facebook, at the end of last year (2024) left people wondering if they had been hacked, and honestly, in recent times, our online data has come under attack from individuals and even other countries. That is what this track is about, where we are finding new ways to protect our electronic lives. “Zero Trust Mentality” is kind of like Lunar Paths’ “Sleeper in Metropolis” and this might be an unconscious nod to Anne Clark. Not to mention the synths in the beginning have an 80s feel as it kind of reminded me of Japan’s excellent “QuietLife.” This is Lunar Paths’ most industrial and dance floor friendly track in this era of “Zero Trust Mentality.”
That’s right. We are covering two remixes by two bands who remixed each other’s last singles. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania boasts having both HemlockFor Socrates and Take MeWith You, and it seems a shame to not review both these darkwave acts together.
We reviewed the Hemlock For Socrates’ original version of “You’re Not Here,” and it was a perfect song about a relationship that has gone sour. Now there is the Take Me With You mix, and it is has echoing and glitching vocals build the tension. The electronics are, for the better use of a word, prominent, with meatier rhythms. They do great justice to Shore’s singing, which is seductive and at some points, it almost sounds like a call to prayer at the house of sorrow.
“Chameleon” was released back in 2022 by Take Me With You, and the original is this cool dark electronic music with a vocalist that, at least in this track, sounds like KateBush. Wow, the remix by Hemlock For Socrates in a whole different creature, with bubbling programmed loops, making everything feel so light and space age. There are vocal distortions and odd bleeps that warm you further to the track.
There are no versions of these remixes on YouTube, but I figure you should still indulge in the singles before you have a listen on Bandcamp. It is wonderful to see independent musicians working with each other in the dark scene and I already knew about HemlockFor Socrates, but now I have another band to watch in the form of Take Me With You. They have reworked each other’s music and Interestingly enough, one is about losing a lover to indifference and the other about (I believe) an individual that needs medication but finds it changes everything about them, so it is never their true self. All this has brought us a whole lot more joy.
Onyx Music Reviews 