Some things are worth staying up for which includes horror filled Midnight Feature, and by luck, the UK trio have released a new single called “Rite Here.” The spirits are going to rise with this one.
Is that a cowbell? Oh, there should definitely more cowbell in our punk rock, and so behold the bell from the beginning of this track. It rings in the sawing guitars as we go down to swamplands, infested by creatures of night as they bide time in their place of rest, because it is ‘Rite here, rite here, buried in the graveyard,’ and they await your arrival.
Midnight Feature always seem to have a lot of fun when writing and performing their tracks, possibly because they don’t take themselves too seriously whilst immersing themselves in the gothic B grade movie thrillers that ignite their imagination. It’s “RiteHere” and right now, so get on down with the ghouls of MidnightFeature. And more cowbell!!
There is a finality with the release of the new single “Stars At Night” for The Funeral March of the Marionettes. This is the last music video single off their last ever album, It All Falls Apart, since frontman and original member JoeWhiteaker, succumbed to cancer.
“I wasn’t much into post-punk or goth rock before I met him, but I quickly became a fan of The Funeral March. What Joe and company were doing spoke to me in a way other genre bands didn’t. That I got to join the band and participate in creating some fantastic songs is a real gift, one I’ll always cherish.” – Darius McCaskey (The Funeral March)
Whiteaker is joined by Ria Aursjoen (OctavianWinter/AURSJOEN)on vocals for this track, her singing angelic in its mirroring . You hear the influence of the early 80s gothic guitar and it is magnificent, making your chest swell with joy for this alone. Having William Faith (The Bellwether Syndicate/Faith and the Muse) on production takes the sound to another level.
The music video was created knowing Whiteaker was ill, and yet, for me, it is wonderful to have him immortalised forever with a great track like this, and anyone that had dealings with Joe will tell you that he was a truly honest and delightful human. The single is full of soul and indeed as bright as the “Stars At Night,” leading you to The Funeral of theMarionettes, and that can never fade away.
GonzaloSchwindt, based in Germany, and KarlMortenDahl from Norway are no strangers when it comes to working with each other musically. Schwindt is DeusExLumina, releasing the new single “Facade Of The Decay,” while Antipole (Dahl), has brought to bear his wonderful guitar work.
DEUS EX LUMINAANTIPOLE
The echoing guitar of Dahl is a perfect intro into the track and leads us to Schwindt’s mercurial deep tones. The lyrics ‘Every silent ache I keep, Every buried memory, And I’ll pretend that I’m okay, (With) This facade of the decay‘ elude to dark secrets and great losses, and still there is a romanticism. The interplay of synths with guitar is sublime.
The music video is a wonderful addition, emphasising an austere loneliness in one’s own memories, pretending that everything is okay. “Facade Of The Decay” is definitely one of those songs that you feel never goes long enough, only to be surprised it goes for three minutes, and I can only put this down to the amount of pure enjoyment you get listening to Deus Ex Lumina and Antipole play together.
For some of us, we live our lives through art, seeking beauty in what others reject due to dark subject matters. Melbourne’s Velatine are still among the living, spreading their magical gothic music, though there are some that would say one foot in the grave with the latest single “TilDeath We Do Art.”
The purpose filled guitar has that southern gothic twang, as if we are going to have a duel at 12 paces as the clock strikes midnight, backed by the mourning tones of the synths, and this is a song about mourning, with the first dulcet tones giving us the lyrics ‘when the funeral is over.’ A loss of an artistic twin flame and partner, with the ache of the vocals, like a knife twisting in your heart. That turn of phrase that makes up the title, ‘til death wedo art‘ is equally devastating as it is a gorgeous tribute to a lost love, encapsulated in a chorus that rises like a phoenix from the ashes.
LokiLockwood has partnered up again with singer Nocturna for this heartfelt darkwave song, with a personal origin. Lockwood recounts how a female friend in Ukraine, an artist, lost her other dark half to the unjust war raging there. How do you reconcile the loss of a lover, a muse and a best friend? “Til Death We Do Art” is about that grief but also the wealth of wonderful memories, so Velatine have created the perfect track full of sadness and gothic grace
Adam Cresswell (vocals, bass), Nat Guest (drums), Martin J Langthorne (guitars) and Adrian Taylor (guitars) make up UK dark shoegaze band Cloud Studies, who came into being back in 2024. They have released their second single “Cloud Cartography,” out on HappyRobotRecords.
PHOTO BY ALISON AHERN
The world just comes alive between those guitars and keyboard, full of sonic joy. Having a proper drummer creates a wonderful symmetry when it comes to shoegaze bands. The sonorous vocals are hazy and dreamlike, set on an equal level as the instruments. All the while there are tiny squeals of feedback intermittently piercing the track.
“CloudCartography” was written after visiting Derryveagh Mountains in Ireland, and turned into a story about two humans trying to map clouds, which is kind of a metaphor for life. No matter how hard we try, there is no confirmed map or even permanence, for just like clouds, we are in perpetual motion, blown on the whim of the wind. My favourite shoegaze band of all time is Ride and this track would easily sit in the earlier phase of Gardner and Co. CloudStudies’ “CloudCartography” is sonically pleasing between the guitar feedback and jangle, with vocals taking you on a vapour trail adventure.
Fans of The Birthday Massacre have been waiting with bated breath, for the release of a new album, and it seems they don’t have much longer to hold on. Pathways will be out on the label MetropolisRecords, however for now, you can immerse yourself in the new single “SleepTonight.”
There is a nice, harsh edge to the electronics to compliment the guitar. Chibi’s vocals are so much of what defines The Birthday Massacre’s sound, both sweet and strong… and occasionally creepy. For “Sleep Tonight” she is like an angelic dream, haunting, next to the weighty drum beats and raucous guitar, that hints at the promise of violence.
I remember first seeing The Birthday Massacre on a German music compilation video and proceeded to find the first album, and I thought it was amazing that these kids where putting out some great songs. Yeah, we won’t go into how old I feel now, but this band have never lost sight of their purpose in life and it has kept them accountable when creating music that is artistic and pleasing for themselves. “SleepTonight” proves that the wait was worth it, so bring on Pathways.
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.
DanielEdgar, DavidBattrick and GeoffTripoli make up the US electronic band Monody, and February 21st saw the release of the EP, AbandonedWisdom, out on DistortionProductions label. The EP is seven tracks long and is comprised of four original songs and three remixes by guest artists.
With AI creeping further into our lives, there is a healthy fear that they will take over human contact, but not be working in a human’s best interest. This is the theme of the darkly smooth “ArtificialIgnorance,” which says the road was laid with good intentions that have been distorted. The clean vocals are easy on the ears, as are the synths. Second track “Drowning,” further drags you under the spell of Monody with the echoing singing and danceable rhythm, The “Drowning” is about choosing the best or easiest way for yourself, by feeding others to a system that doesn’t care about these individuals and groups. When this happens, we will all go down with the ship and message is probably more important than ever.
“Stand” has a lovely gravitas and has the feel of a self perpetuation rhythm device as the beats thrust the song forth. For me, this is about finding inner strength and the synths burn so brightly. The Hitchcock movie Gaslight is where the terminology began for making someone feel as if they are losing their mind, though it is all deflection and lies. There is a slightly oriental tone in the beginning of “Gaslight” and it is both intricate in sound and subject matter.
GeoffPickney (Tenek/CycloneEye/TheNine) remixes “Drowning” and I have to admit he has really changed up the whole track where the electronics kind of have this DepecheMode edge. You just know the “Stand” remix by RedLokust is going to be kicking as the beats are doing overtime and the creepy growling vocals invade track. Crane11 remixing “ArtificialIgnorance” tricks you at first into thinking this is going to be an extremely laid-back affair, though it is still stripped back and heavy on the electronics.
Abandoned Wisdom is a carefully crafted EP, with a lot of thought going into vocals, synths and textures. Monody to my ear, almost sound like they could be from Europe, in the ilk of bands such as De/Vision and Beborn Beton. Perfect future synthpop.
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!
Onyx Music Reviews 