F.I.V.E, also known as Fear Increases Violent Emotion, is the soon to be released fifth album for Italy’s darkwave group, Christine Plays Viola. Massimo Ciampani (vocals), FabrizioGiampietro (guitar), MarcoDiIanni (bass guitar) and GianlucaOrsini (drums) have dropped the single “MyRedemption” as your first taste for the new album.
The deep resonance of the vocals sets the shadowy mood, while the guitar sparkles and spars for equal billing. Easily danceable and even easier on the ears, “My Redemption” is pure darkwave goodness and definitely has that European sensibility. One might say a cool touch that burns the skin, so you might want to catch up with Christine Plays Viola, and check out the vintage gothic video for “MyRedemption.”
There is an ill wind and hark….is it an EP or an album??? We aren’t quite sure, but we know it is SinisterFate when we see them. Also, that the album is called ProfitofDoom, which was released back in August by the guys from Chicago, and it is a monster mash of singles, new tracks, covers and remixes.
There are the two singles, with the first on show being “beLIEve,” a cross between the horror movies that are ThePurge series and real life unrest on the home front. The rich verses poor and ideologies burning in the veins of the zealots. It is pure grimy rock with a punk ethos and a guitar solo that sings out. The other is the horror infused “MeetMister Scratch,” who is the thinly disguised devil with an agenda to sell to those whose moral compass might be a little off target, for the simple low price of a soul.
I thought the title of the track “Hey Man, Nice Shot,” was very familiar, and it turns out that is indeed a cover of the Filter song, which has that heavy hanging bass at its core and although not a cover, “VVitch” feels like an ode to TheCure through the guitar work and drums sounding like they could of come off the Pornography album.
SinisterFate carry on the proud tradition of goth horror rock, which is full of symbolism and often tongue in cheek observations about the true monsters of the world. I wonder if the band is somewhat inspired by the late, great PeteSteele, especially with the inference of the title of the album and the TypeONegative’s track “The Profit of Doom” off the 2007 album DeadAgain. Profit Of Doom is a nice mixture old and new, with the remixes that just give another facet to the band. It is part goth, part rock and all horror babe..
The 90s was such an odd time for music. Grunge had broken forth into the mainstream, electronic dance music was no longer something that was just heard in clubs and raves. People were mixing influences and genres such as post-punk, brit pop and shoegaze, while industrial musicians, such as Ministry, had grown teeth incorporating rock, or pursued a more techno, harsh edged dance style like TheProdigy. There was something very fluid in how musicians drew from whatever influence caught their fancy. Now, you may ask why I speak about the 90s and I will say that after listening to New York’s HeavyHalo, they have that sound…. that edge of possibility, of writing anything they wish with those influences and melding it into songs that are definitively theirs.
HeavyHalo are McKeever, who is from a more tradition post-punk/grunge band background and Gosteffects, who cut his teeth as a DJ on the illegal rave scene. Together, they have created music heavily influenced by gothic melodrama and melodies, while firmly planting their feet in industrial EDM. One part harmony, one part resonating cacophony and lashing of personal themes and dreams might be one way to begin to describe their sound. Vocalist, McKeever kindly let Onyx interrogate him about the latest album, Damaged, and most things Heavy Halo.
What prompted you in the first place to combine forces, creating Heavy Halo?
Gosteffects and I had been orbiting similar circles in the NYC underground, I’d been more in the indie/punk DIY scene and he’d been in the techno/rave scene. When we met we realized we had an ideal Venn diagram of musical tastes and focuses. We always say I’m the starter of songs and he’s the finisher. So when we came together to make music, the process flowed naturally.
Can you tell us a bit more about what you were both doing musically before Heavy Halo?
I played in noise rock bands growing up but also sang in choir and played jazz guitar. I came to NYC to study classical composition and poetry at Columbia which took me on a detour of writing string pieces and chamber pop. After graduating, I moved to Brooklyn and was working the door at venues like 285 Kent watching artists like HEALTH, Dan Deacon, Pictureplane, Deafheaven, Diiv, Vivian Girls, and endless others rip these warehouses to shreds. During this time I had an indietronica noise-pop type band called Life Size Maps. When that band imploded I knew I wanted to create its EVIL TWIN. That became Heavy Halo.
Gosteffects grew up in the Oklahoma City rave scene, throwing renegade techno parties in abandoned buildings. He was also DJing and producing, buying a Kurzweil sampler with money he saved from working at a pizza joint for two years. Eventually, he started the long-running OKC bloghouse party ROBOTIC that hosted hundreds of DJ’s like Skrillex and Steve Aoki at the height of the dance music explosion. This eventually led him to move to NYC to DJ and produce there, being a regular DJ at clubs like Webster Hall and The Box.
It could be said that you inhabit your music, that pieces of you are melded into the textures and lyrics. What is it like to hear that from the music you create?
It is definitely a strange phenomenon hearing your own music back. It is constantly shifting, when you first write something, hearing it back elicits a surprise of like: “wow this came out of me and exists now.” Then you go through a variety of phases of feeling differently about it while completing the song and it can be difficult to let a finished version go.
This question also reminds me of something a mentor of mine told me, “when you’re going to sing a song you have to think of 2 things: why you wrote it originally and why you’re singing it now.” The more time goes by, the more separate those feelings can be, but that’s what keeps a song vital and alive rather than being a museum piece.
Music is, for many cathartic, and many musicians say it is a kind of anchor, helping to deal with anxiety, stress and some mental disorders. What does music mean and do for you?
If you reach a true impasse and wall in your life that you can’t solve using logic or conventional means, sometimes writing a song is the only way to psychically overcome it. You have to write your way out of hell.
Heavy Halo dropped the album Damaged Dream back in the middle of the year, and I was wondering how long had it taken to write and then record?
It took a couple years to write and record the album, we did everything ourselves from production to tracking to the mix and master. Getting the final versions right took some time because we were balancing so many layers and trying to find just the right degree of bite vs clarity.
I read that the line ‘damage me’ comes from going to a show and seeing a bunch of beautiful punks, but can you tell the readers what the track is about?
So the whole song of Damage Me was written but I didn’t have the right chorus mantra. That weekend I ended up at a crust punk show at a scuzzy dive bar with a bunch of deathrock baddies and was like damn, I want someone to “damage me.” The song is about fucking each other to escape the fact that the world is fucked up.
The first single is also the title track, featuring Georgi Bangs on vocals. How did you get the gothic pop princess Georgi to be on “Damage Me” and why did you pick it as the taster for the album?
So, following the last question, after I had tracked vocals for the song, Gosteffects thought it was missing that final x-factor and suggested coed vocals. We had just met Georgi through the Brooklyn goth scene and realized she would absolutely crush the part, the rest is history.
We spent a rigorous but entirely fulfilling weekend shooting the videobrilliant Max Novaenergy of the track we decided to make it the first single we dropped for Damaged Dream.
I hear a lot of The Prodigy in the single, plus it has that high energy associated with a lot of the industrial music of the 90s. Is this an era that has a lot of influence for you both, considering both indie rock and electronic dance music were ripping up the charts back then?
The 90’s were such an incredible decade for music in several ways.
On one hand, you had some of the rawest and darkest music ever to be in the zeitgeist. Grunge, alternative, and metal were forces of nature. It’s unreal to me that music that honest and self-aware was able to bulldoze into the mainstream consciousness the way it did.
On the other hand, you had the invention of incredibly futuristic production techniques and styles of music based on those cropping up and pushing the envelope forward. From techno to big beat to triphop to IDM to drum and bass. Sampling and digital recording cracked open new worlds to explore sonically and emotionally.
Industrial is the perfect marriage of these two perspectives. Also, given how many vital new artists are mining that tradition and reinventing it today, it’s safe to say there’s a lot of lifeblood left and territory to explore.
The second single “New Blood” could not be more different, with that haunting guitar and mournful attitude, lit up brilliantly by the synths. The track definitely has a more gothy/darkwave vibe, so is it a vampire thing or a metaphor for finding connection in the world?
New Blood is probably the most straightforward and direct song on the record. It was written about livewire desire, wanting to find someone to have an explosive romance with to shake you both out of the doldrums of stagnancy and mundanity of everyday life. The vampire metaphor fit like a lace glove.
PHOTOS BY TORI MCGRAW
The video for “New Blood” is pretty lush as well, so what was the thought behind it and was it intentional to shoot it in black and white film noir style?
We worked with the awesome director Brendan McGowanknowledge of old monster movies as well as silent film shooting techniques and aesthetics. It was his idea to go with black and white as well as use subtitles and an antiquated aspect ratio to evoke the shadowy atmosphere of the early days of horror film.
It was definitely a conscious choice to have Damage Me be super cyberpunk and New Blood to be the total opposite. It’s fun to try and give people whiplash.
Is there an overriding theme for the album or a flow?
Simply put, a “Damaged Dream” is what you’re left with when the ideals you hold shatter. Cruel reality brings the hammer down on the purity of innocence, joy, youth, love, energy, creativity, optimism…
But while the Dream is Damaged, it is not totally destroyed. In fact, desperate times call for desperate measures, and you can use the longing spark deep within you as fuel to wage war against the negative forces pulling you down. You can reject nihilism and strive to reclaim your agency and meaning in a chaotic world.
Do you have a favorite track off the album and if so why?
Bloodrush is probably my favorite because it accomplishes everything I want a Heavy Halo song to be: melodic, melancholic, driving, romantic, aggressive with a marriage of synths, drum machines, guitars and orchestral choir samples blended beyond recognition.
Please tell us about the new remix you have done for the man with the angelic vocals, Andy Bell (Erasure) and how you have put your spin onto it?
We were honored to be asked to remix “Godspell” from Andy Bell’s new album Ten Crowns. We had to finish it within 3 days after getting home from our summer tour with Light Asylum. After sleeping for a solid 24 hours after getting home, we got right to work. The song was already really interesting melodically and lyrically and Andy Bell’s vocals are otherworldly so it was hugely inspiring to work on.
The lyrics are laced with castigating vitriol and disdain for grifters and selfish hangers-on. We tried to echo this venom in the instrumental we created and up the darkness. Musically it was also really cool to reharmonize Andy’s melody with mysterious chord progressions.
Talking of remixes, you have done quite a few for other artists, including one small band called Duran Duran. What is it like having other musicians trusting you with their baby and do you find joy in tinkering with tracks that are not yours?
Gosteffects has more experience with this as he is a mixing and mastering engineer by trade. Living together I watch him help countless artists discover their voice and get to the finish line with singles, albums, and dance mixes. When he works with already established artists it’s endlessly inspiring to see how he brings a different angle to their work.
You live and record in a converted 19th century hospital. I am curious how you managed to find such a cool place to occupy and do you think it influences your music and mood?
It is a pretty classic New York City story. The building was a historic Jewish hospital built in the 1800’s. If you were born in Brooklyn at that time it was probably in this building. Albert Einstein was also treated here in a life saving procedure where they wrapped part of his brain in cellophane. It worked and he lived another 5 years.
This neighborhood we live in was plagued with race riots in the 1990s around when the hospital was closed down. The laundromat in the basement was the morgue. The super of the building told me when they took over the building a body was left in the basement. Apparently the city or whoever owned it before just completely abandoned the building. That’s how bad it was here at the time. He said he just told people in the neighborhood to come take the computers and beds and everything.
The biggest influence the building has on us is more pragmatic than supernatural. Since we have 2 studio rooms in our apartment it makes it very easy to work on different aspects of tracks at the same time.
The next burning question is do you share your residence with ghostly types, and if so, what have you seen or heard?
Honestly, if there are spirits lingering around here, they seem to have good vibes. Being a hospital, maybe the doctors and nurses did a valiant job caring for the patients. If anything we are more angry and disturbed than the poltergeists…
Heavy Halo is now on the Silent Pendulum Records label. Do you find them a better fit for the band and how did you end up signing to them?
Silent Pendulum is an awesome NYC-based label run by musicians, for musicians. We ended up working with them because our band and their label are deeply ingrained in the Brooklyn underground music and art scene. The modern world tries to convince you that any creative endeavor can be accomplished over the internet, but there’s nothing quite like hashing out projects face-to-face.
What musicians or acts were your original influences?
Early in our friendship I was living in Silverlake in LA and Gosteffects was visiting and checking out the beach at Santa Monica. I drove to pick him up and it took FIVE HOURS to get there and back. In that time we listened to the same scratched Smashing Pumpkins and NIN cd’s on repeat along with some futuristic club shit like Rustie, DBridge, and Dark0. I believe the genesis of our sound formed through that arduous ordeal.
Who do you listen to now and is there anyone out there you think people should really check out?
As a side quest from Heavy Halo, I play guitar in a band called Coatie Pop. We toured with Pixel Grip and Patriarchy, both incredible bands that dropped banger albums this year, check them out!
Last question, which you don’t have to answer… If you could dig up any famous person, musician, artist, poet, writer etc, and Onyx could reanimate them for a conversation, who would you pick?
I would pick Carl Jung, his theories on the shadow self and being possessed by ”creative illness” are so deep and ahead of their time. He was a real innovator and fearless creator. In pursuit of his unique ideas he went against his mentor Sigmund Freud’s theories and was ostracized from the psychology community at large. But he won out and received recognition in the end. A true artist.
Author Edgar Allan Poe, is recognised as one of the progenitors of gothic story telling, writing tales that are both beautiful in prose, and full of lurking and foreboding grimness. Canadian Ian Revell has retold the Poe story, The Tell-Tale Heart, via his project Double Eyelid, which is an EP in four parts, set to its own gothic soundtrack.
Revell’s low and gravelled spoken vocals rumbles forth, in track one and behind him, wavers a lone violin, eerily scratching away, high pitched. The words are unhurried, with a sense of menace, and with the inclusion of a guitar, piano and drums, the singing begins. It is akin to listening to RozzWilliams (ChristianDeath), which sends me down the rabbit hole of wondering if Williams would have loved to do this. I think so. The guitar is the major driving force for the first rack, while track two, it is mostly a lone piano, that wanders and is yet to hint of the on coming terror.
The third track is where the murderer hides the body, and the proud fellow whistles along, assured of his cleverness. It is most interesting that the music has taken on, one could say, a more militaristic semblance, with the rat-a-tat of a snare drum, a popular instrument of British and American armies of the 18th and 19th centuries. Track four has a delicacy with the singular piano and when you perceive the stringed instruments, the atmosphere is quickly changing, with Revell perfectly putting across the spiralling mind of the murderer, lost in the culmination of alarm and dread.
The Tell-Tale Heart was first published in 1834, yet, like most of Poe’s compositions, it is ultimately about the human condition, the recognition that people are flawed and more to the point, we are able to see this is all still relevant. A narrator speaks of planning and murdering an old man, thence hiding the dismembered remains under the floorboards. They lie to the constabulary, but knowing the truth causes guilt and the narrator begins to mentally breakdown. It is the fear of being found out, and the overwhelming terror as they believe they can hear the heartbeat of the dead man, haunting them until they confess their wrongs. Already a powerful short story, DoubleEyelid has brought The Tell-Tale Heart to life in all its true gothic glory, letting you listen to a man’s decent into psychological torment, and every moment is a pure delight.
It is Onyx’s great pleasure to premiere the new single from Melbourne’s goth-tastic duo, Velatine. “We’re Not Suburban” is HollyPurnell’s second single with the band, after joining fellow musician and producer Loki Lockwood, on the darkwave journey to create fabulous songs, and it comes out on the label Spooky Records.
Let the night sweep you away into its dark embrace, as the synths sensuously ask for surrender, and the sirens of emergency services, reminds us the city after sunset it full of life. Purnell’s singing is unhurried and so easy on the ears, as she elucidates about how being suburban can be perceived as being suffocating and ‘normal’, something artistic types are constantly at war with. At times, the synths caress the vocals, before becoming spikey. You can hear Lockwood’s vocals, deep and in unison with Purnell, as the track goes on and the sirens become increasingly intrusive.
Lockwood told me the track is autobiographical, until the lines ‘Despite the odds, The un-dead, you’re not, So be a little reckless, And make the life you’ve got,’ which is more of an ethos that many of us should take note of for ourselves. Velatine have made a lush video, walking and driving through those same suburban streets, so you can see those two beautiful people haunting your screen. The song itself is slightly reminiscent of that Portishead style, and I think Holly’s vocals are perfect. I can’t wait to hear go from strength to strength as she proceeds. “We’re NotSuburban” is yet another showcase of Lockwood’s composition mastery and proving Velatine don’t care to be run of the mill, because boring is for other people.
Have you people in your life, where every time you interact with them, you feel flat, tired and just plain drained? You could be dealing with “Emotional Vampires,” a serious parasite and also the title to the latest single from Toronto’s Spectral Eyes. Rosie Cochrane, the gothic soul behind Spectral Eyes, has described the single as a cross between Kate Bush and Death Grips….. feeling the intrigue yet?!
Cochrane’s vocals waver between spoken word and sickly imploring, for she inhabits the psyche of an anima sucking being, drawing you down into her vortex of selfishness and self obsession. There are erratic rhythms, bleeping electronics and synths that all come together, and when that voice soars, looped into singing in harmony, the track takes on a whole new level of wow. The last line really hits home. with the vampire finally telling it’s victim, ‘Don’t tell me I can’t have it all‘.
“Emotional Vampires” is quite experimental in many ways, using tone and pitch of the vocals to great emphasis of the character, as well as glitchy beats giving a sense of instability. It is a bit groovy, a bit dark and a lot of spectacular. So, remember when out in the big, bad world, use your Spectral Eyes, and do not let the “Emotional Vampires” bite.
The 2024 album, AgeofLoneliness, by Vamberator, is a commentary on the modern phase of human existence, in a world that is more connected than ever with social media, and yet people feel more isolated than ever before. Jem Tayle (Shelleyan Orphan) and Boris Williams (The Cure) are Vamberator and their latest single off said album is “I NeedContact,” and Rolo McGinty (The Wild Swans, The Woodentops, The Jazz Butcher) has remixed said single.
A build up of low and building elements greets you, before Tayle’s mellow vocals caress your ears. The music wanders with his singing, a testament to an ongoing, internal ache. Slow and measured, there is a sweetness in the sorrow and longing for something more.
As we get older, we have a lot of acquaintances from throughout the years, but true friends, those circles shrink. Youth is full of excitement and love, then at some point, you realise love in the modern age is hard to find. “I Need Contact” is a poignant reminder from Vamberator that you aren’t alone in how you feel and RoloMcGinty has delicately taken the track and given it an almost classical feel.
One of the beautiful aspects of the dark alternative scene is the inclusiveness for the disenfranchised, acceptance of sexualities and ethnic backgrounds. Second Idol are a group from Sydney, on the Gloomshift Records label, who play post-punk music and exemplify that diversity can create wonderful music. Kate Farquharson (vocals, guitars), Theia Joyeaux (bass), Sunny Josan (guitars) and Afeef Iqbal (drums, percussion) are Second Idol and they dropped a new single in October, called “Spineless Wonders.”
Nice, heavy bass is an instant attention grabber, before the drums clatter in and we are met by the swirling guitar. The vocals are strong and there is resemblance to the singing style of BrianMolko (Placebo). The chorus has teeth, with a veritable cacophony of guitar noise and it is glorious.
There is also a remix by INAUGURAL, who are label mates, and it has a dreamy, echoing texture. Think Siouxsie and the Banshees’ “Fireworks” as a reference, and that somewhat gives you an idea of how excellent it is.
“Spineless Wonders” is sonically perfect, and there is a very professional music video, directed, shot and edited by Jack Fontes, in black and white, full of sexual tension and innuendo. It is a song about those that present as something they are not, who lie and have no honour, which seems to be more pertinent than ever in the modern world of social media. Don’t be a “Spineless Wonder” and listen to Second Idol.
DianaRingo is a Finnish film maker, who also makes avant-garde post-punk music. She released in August the single teaser “HappyMealz” off the album Cyberwolf, which dropped in October. You might say, Onyx, you are a bit late….*pointed stare ensues*…. aaaaand you would be correct, but we aren’t talking about that. It is all about this cool single “HappyMealz.”
Ringo’s vocals are unique, with the closest comparison I have being DiamandaGalas when she is hitting them low notes with her keening tones, matched with the spoken word veracity of Nico. It instantly spins you around after hearing the intro of sparkling synthwave and wailing guitar.
Is “Happy Mealz” about the children’s boxed meal that comes with a plastic toy from the place with the golden arches?? Where artificial food meets short lived joy, but it keeps the masses peachy keen and wanting more. It is the disconnect of a world that is swamped in mediocrity, because the common folk have been convinced, what the media and corporations sell you is your only choice. Choose life, choose freedom and choose to listen to something a bit different with DianaRingo.
Huzzah! Halloween is in full swing, and as tradition has it, this is the time for gothic tunes to celebrate the spooky season. Behold the track “Witches‘ from Costa Ricans, Ariel Maniki and the Black Halos as a musical gift to all those that like to go bump in the night!
EvaRed’s voluptuous bass is the meat in this track, deep and the rhythmic backbone, with the drum machine in back up. The synths are the domain of JanBlack, which are willowy, echoing and haunting, only matched by the saxophone that is played by ArielManiki. Maniki’s vocals always have this really nice deep tone that are the icing on the gothic cake. so to speak.
‘Dancing with the devil
At the edge of dawn
They are always hungry
For a human soul‘
This not a track about those good and kind witches. Oh no, these are the “Witches” that sustain their lives through the centuries through the ruination of ordinary folk. A danceable gothic tribute to the not so lovely ladies of the night by Ariel Maniki and theBlack Halos.
Onyx Music Reviews 