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Nikk Fail is an Italian retro synth project and his second EP, End Of The Line, was released in June. Consisting of six tracks, now Nikk Fail has brought some friends with him to play this time!!!

As soon as I heard the title “Bugstompers,” all I could think of was Starship Troopers, the rather questionable 90s movie about taking on alien bugs. The track itself has science fiction effects at play and seems to be promising slightly violent intent. First guest vocalist is Eleonora Ferrari on “End Of The Line,” an ominous portrayal that she is the end of everything, and will happily end everything. Ferrari goes from cooing into blood curdling gurgling squeals within a split second. The next instrumental is “Living Dead Lights,” and the music is both eerie and haunting, to the point that one could say, light as an apparition and cool as a tomb.

You cannot get many more light years away than Star Wars, so in a galaxy far, far away the synths pass and whirr as if they are lightsabers in a duel in “Anakin Rampage (The Ballad of Vader).” If you listen carefully, I am sure you can hear the Cantina band. Next guests are BelvaSXE and William Baxter featuring on the track “Troma Boy,” and here we hear a harsher side to Nikk Fail, between the growling guitar and the equally growling vocals, and all the while the electronics keep up to the wailing pace. Last track is the contemplative “Commuting Paradise,” though this song, in its own way, is sassy and has teeth, with vocals from Giulia Finazzi and guitar by Baxter again.

Already, you can see since the first EP, Nikk Fail is evolving and incorporating more into his sound. Collaborating with other musicians is a great way to extend yourself and push what you can do, and I think you can hear this on End Of The Line. Makes you wonder what is next for Fail and who he might tap into the helping him fly even higher.

End Of The Line | Nikk Fail (bandcamp.com)

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https://www.instagram.com/nikkfail/

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The return of Nils Sinatsch’s Neon Insect, has arrived in the form of the latest single “THERE IS BEAUTY IN NOISE.” From Hanover, Germany, the cyberpunk flavoured industrial Neon Insect has a message…”Dictatorships must fall…”.

Laboured electronics greet your ears, as you are plunged into the chaos that is the grating industrialised melody, tortured and extruded, seemingly screeching in metallic convulsions. Sinatsch’s vocals bleed like verbal lacerations on a world that is the noise inhabits.

It is gritty and severe, set in a time of uncertainty, where making noise is the only way to be heard in a world that is already in turmoil. Indeed “THERE IS BEAUTY IN NOISE,” so check out Neon Insect.

THERE IS BEAUTY IN NOISE | Neon Insect (bandcamp.com)

https://facebook.com/neoninsect

https://www.neon-insect.de

https://www.instagram.com/neoninsect

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We live in a world full of amazing things. Germany’s Neon Insect is pretty amazing and Nils Sinatsch has released the latest single “LOVE SEX + ROBOTS,” which features the vocal and lyrical talents of KVMILLA.

Slow and metered is the rhythm, a heavy mechanical sexuality, brought to life, and offset by KVMILLA. Her vocals expressing base human desires for connection, even if hurts. There is a guitar that is gently plucked away, as the music tantalizes your senses.

The track feeds into the New Moscow storyline, that Sinatsch has been carefully crafting, about a reality much more different to ours, due the fact that the USSR won the Cold War, invading the US. The populace have found the only way to survive is through cybernetics, and with procreation controlled by the powers that be, they now go underground for their sexual desires to be fulfilled by mechanical means. This is much more subdued than what we are used to from Neon Insect, and it shows a changing style with the changing storyline. “LOVE SEX + ROBOTS” is delicate with a undercurrent of a sexually harder edge. This begs the question….what comes next? Watch this space…..

LOVE SEX + ROBOTS | Neon Insect (bandcamp.com)

https://www.neon-insect.de/

https://www.instagram.com/neoninsect/

https://www.instagram.com/kvmilla/

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We have been following the catastrophic tale of humans versus alien machines, unfolding in the musical exploits by MATT HART. The London based industrial musician and DJ, has released his latest single “DEEP DOWN CITY.”

Imagine living 6000 levels below the surface of the planet, a new shadowy world where humans have finally settled from the reach of the machines, trying to recreate what they had above ground. The guitar is there, building the tension, but the synths are the smooth heroes of this track, however the big surprise is the vocals. Not only do we have HART’s growls, but we get to hear the man actually sing, letting us hear his dulcet tones.

“DEEP DOWN CITY” is a something a little different from MATT HART, with its mingling of harsher industrial and retro synthwave, creating a wonderfully pulsating dynamic. The track portrays a cyberpunk styled domain where life is lived in the constant gloom, that is only broken up by the need for sleep and entertainment. One wonders what the aliens are up to on the surface and I am guessing we might find out soon.

DEEP DOWN CITY | MATT HART (bandcamp.com)

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

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

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German industrial project Neon Insect has released another single as of May, with the title “Implant“. Nils Sinatsch is Neon Insect, whose forte is delving into a cyber-punk future of apocalyptic proportions.

The flesh screams in defiance as the cybernetic additions consume the body, taking away pain and everything else that makes a human feel. Nils‘ gruff vocals are the programmes and nano bots seeking to assume control, as they pulsate through their victim,

It starts with a few changes of enhancement, until the machines decides mankind is frail and prone to breaking. The road to human race’s doom seems to be paved in the industrial dance rhythms of Neon Insect and his “Implant“.

IMPLANT | Neon Insect (bandcamp.com)

https://www.neon-insect.de/

https://facebook.com/neoninsect

https://www.instagram.com/neoninsect/

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The industrial machine that is Mach FoX, has teamed up with producer/EBM musican, Zeven Odd Gods, aka D.Corri, and the end product is the single, “A Sickness“, released on the 16th of December.

Slick EBM beats ooze into your ears, picking up your heartbeat. Subtle synths waver in the background, while the electronics deliver the jolts to make your body move and FoX’s vocals are the mantra. The sickness is all consuming, a fever of needing to replace the soft human flesh, that is so unreliable, with cybernetics.

The constant augmentation to become more machine has become “The Sickness“. FoX’s vocals/lyrics/arrangement, really blends in very well with the music production of Zeven Odd Gods, complimenting each other. So, if this is the sickness, hopefully there is no cure.

A Sickness | Mach FoX & Zeven Odd Gods | Mach FoX (bandcamp.com)

Mach FoX | Minneapolis MN | Facebook

Zeven Odd Gods | Facebook

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Covid decimated the music festival scene, around the world for 2020, 2021 and a good chunk of 2022. Things are coming back to normal and in fact, you can add a new festival to endeavour to attend. Dark Force Fest will kick off in 2023, over three days, March 31st to April 2nd, in New Jersey, USA.

The event is being run by VampireFreaks, at the Sheraton Hotel, in Parsippany and this is not the first time the venue has been used by the VF crew. The hotel was built like a castle, including crenulations (just in case you find yourself in a siege situation with all those goths).

There will be over 100 vendors, to buy things that make your little dark heart happy, clubs, costume competitions and sideshow performances. However, the most important thing is the music… there will be 30 plus bands/artists ranging from darkwave through to industrial. A chance to see pioneers such as Das Ich and Suicide Commando, big hitters Combichrist, Solar Fake, HEALTH, Empathy Test and ACTORS plus brilliant acts like MORIS BLAK, Third Realm, Bootsblack and Rabbit Junk.

That is a whole lot of music and an amazing line up, so you are spoilt for choice. As the inaugural show, you want to be able to say you were there for the first ever…. unlike myself, stuck in another country, half way around the world, who will have to live vicariously through others, and the buckets of fun they are having. (Insert gothic weeping).

Home

https://m.facebook.com/darkforcefest/

https://vampirefreaks.com/

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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 label Machina ad Noctem, is back with another compilation, inspired by author Philip K. Dick, called PDK II. As like the first compilation, this is a group of musicians whom have pursued their love of the science fiction, written by Dick, though the music they compose.

The beginning of “VALIS” by Edge Of Decipher, starts off hesitantly but soon grows in sweeping assurance, waking out of dream perhaps, into another plain of reality. Cumsleg Borenail gives us “Man Has Not Eaten God, God Has Eaten Man” is as quirky as the name suggests, synths like synapses sparking in a metaverse, unable to be contained by man or God.

A train has set the rhythm in “Second Variety” by Non Union, on a journey to who knows where, but it seems otherworldly and ominous, before we are met again by Edge Of Decipher. The track, “The Future We Create“, inspired by Ubik, speaks of stars, moons and whirling galaxies beyond ours. The experimental HyMettus Woods, bleeps, fades in and out of static in “A Scanner Darkly“, trying to find the rapidly fluctuating channel but constantly on the knife’s edge until the fuzz clears momentarily, rapidly gaining veracity.

The only track with vocals is Priestessdeath and their “Like Tears In The Rains V” with smoldering female singing that meanders like rivulets of water down a pane of glass, inspired by the Orient. A change of pace for Edge Of Decipher as the music becomes urgent and the synths are trying to catch your attention for “The Agentic State“. There is a movie like quality to this track which leads onto the final number, “Eye In The Sky” by Non Union, as the electronics reach out in waves, invading all spaces and detecting all.

The music is eclectic, electronic and often experimental just as science fiction is. The tracks are like points of light in a sea of literature and dark electronic music, bidding you to further sink into the worlds of Philip K. Dick with them. So I bid you adieu on your journey as you experience this new adventure with PKD II.

PKD II: Philip K. Dick | Machina ad Noctem | machina ad noctem (bandcamp.com)

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“Menticide” is when you try to brainwash another person with the intent of control. It is also the new single from Miss FD released on August 5th and let’s face it, I know a fair few people who wouldn’t mind being brainwashed by the lovely Miss FD.

The unrelenting rhythm is the constant background noise that media outlets use to influence your thoughts and memories. Global gaslighting. The vocals convey the act lulling you into a false sense of security, while the electronics glitch and frizz.

A serious message within a dance track, of an era where everyone is plugged into some type of online construct, owned by a few who want to control the masses. The music is indeed hypnotic and alluring with synthpop princess, Miss FD.

https://missfd.bandcamp.com/track/menticide

https://www.facebook.com/MissFDMusic/