Glaswegian band, Hanging Freud have a new single, out on the Belgian Spleen+ label, just before the release of their seventh studio album, titled Worship. The track is called “Falling Tooth,” and the name alone made me feel all creepy. Not sure what Paula Borges and Jonathan Skinner have been up to, but I’m not sure if I’m up to hearing about falling teeth.
The rhythm sounds like a clock, ticking down, while Borges vocals gracefully wander the soundscape like a ghost searching for completion. Electronics whir and drone, building the tension, as time ignores all of it, matching on.
Beautifully avant-garde and engrossing, like a fever dream that takes you down a path of your mind, you never knew existed. Hanging Freud’s first offering off the new album leaves you wondering what is next… though I am rather relieved to say no teeth were hurt nor fell in the creation of “Falling Tooth.”
Today, we explore the album Lesser Gods by the Los Angeles project BARA HARI, which was released at the end of May, and the limited edition vinyl on the label Re:Mission Entertainment, The exotic BARAHARI is musician and producer SamFranco, whom is also known for her darkwave and industrial collaborations.
Your ears are greeted by the sublime “SirenSong“. Delicate and short lived, a beautiful warning of the dire events to come. For her name is “Tempest“, she who will bring the ensuing storm to clear away the lies and deceit. Such foreboding in a pop like song, as BARAHARI casts her gaze over those that cause consternation, stalking them down. The guitar is heavy, matched by the thudding drums, for we are given the story of sexual double standards and moral gatekeeping in “ImmoralTales“.
The synths bring in “ViolenceRising” and it is indeed about the abhorrent acceptance that it is alright to be brutal to one another. There are wonderful rounds of vocals joined by trumpet. Lust, love and “LookingForOblivion” is an electronic buzzing gem, that settles in your brain. The buzzing is palpable but wait hold that thought. The next track, “HouseOfTheDevil” is simply huge between the falling vocals and melancholic piano, as Franco gives us the modern version of “IWillSurvive“.
Does going outside make you nervous or dealing with crowds bring on anxiety attacks? Maybe you are “Agoraphobic” and as this number plods along, almost unwilling to leave, while the first affirming lines, ‘Started off as a joke Now I can’t walk out my own front door’, fulfil the prophesy. The rock is fused with electronics and “DelusionsOfGrandeur” is both angelic and full of angst, while “EasyTarget” is a sassy and alluring track. The final track is the superbly dark and disturbing “Immortal” with the chiming keyboards and up beat rhythm, whilst the lyrics tell of the fact that as we age, what made us beautiful fades and many see our worth is only wrapped up with youth.
Fairy tales and fables were often stories to teach people wise lessons, and when I listen to BARAHARI’sLesserGods. this album is very much in this vein. Modern fables of not judging others, through to when good people do nothing to prevent evil. Colourful and descriptive language within the lyrics are carried by the melodious electro/indie pop, topped off with the gorgeous vocals of Franco. LesserGods indeed when it comes a goddess like BARAHARI.
Kicking off July with a bang. We are talking the new industrial single “ROTATIONS” from UK artist MATTHART, with the added extra bonus of a remix by SERAPHIMSYSTEM, aka JonStancil, from the USA. This is the ongoing human versus machine, cyber saga of epic proportions.
“8 HOURS AWAKE. 8 HOURS ASLEEP.THIS IS THE WAY OF THE TIME MILL.” This is the mantra here, for there is not time for anything, except digging into the ground beneath, for the humans to escape their electronic assassins. The synths are ripe and juicy, while the beats are rampaging, forcing you to move that body. HART’s vocals broker no argument for this is how thing must be, as the shifts rotate through continuously, like a colony of ants, slaves to the rhythm for survival.
The SWAGGROTATIONSREMIX has the massive slamming beats and screaming electronics. It summons a feeling of utter panic, suddenly dropping into drum and bass, before whirling off, pounding your skull into a pulpy mess.
MATTHART’s original version is chock full of scintillating synths, club floor filling rhythms and rounding vocals, building the air of a will so stubborn, one shall do whatever to avoid elimination. With the SERAPHIMSYSTEM mix, we definitely find ourselves with a different beast. Harsher electronics, mixed with dub and dropping bass, combined with the crushing beats. All of this is a reflection of the desperation and even loss of humanity by the survivors…. ah well, at least they are doing it in style, while carrying out “ROTATIONS“.
MurmursinSpace is the rough translation for the new EleventhFear EP, MurmelnimRaum. Out on NerisRecords, EleventhFear is the electro-goth child of Frenchman, LudovicDhenry. We last heard from this project in 2022 with the release of the first EP, Waldhexen.
“Drachenblut” or dragonblood, hears Dhenry hissing like the very mystical creature itself, over an amazing, minimalistic electronic dance piece, with grand swirls. The bass reverberates through your chest and the keyboard playing shines through the top of your head in “HexendesMeeres“. The music is about the watery wenches, the witches of the sea, whom want to steal away sailors and bathe in their blood. There is definitely a chill down the spine with the first serpentine words whispered on a seething tongue for “Wirwerdenleben“. Low fuzzing tones and vocals are offset by the angelic lighter keys, making the track feel expansive and cavernous all at the same time.
Dhenry’s persona is EleventhFear, and he pulls on those primaeval superstitions of what lays in the shadows, awaiting the unsuspecting victims, triggering the imagination. You can almost feel the dankness of the witches, or the greedy harbingers, rubbing together their hands, watching other’s untimely deaths, as they, themselves will never die. The music of Murmeln imRaum is evocative and darkly pleasing, so go check out EleventhFear.
Plasmata is a gothic project from the windy city of Chicago, with TrentJeffries as the man behind it all. It all began in 2012, with a full band, being courted by music labels and on the verge of a debut album…..that is until tragedy struck. Jeffries suffered an aneurysm, which then led to a stroke. He nearly didn’t survive the whole affair and had some major hurdles to get over in order to return to the music he loves so much. Luckily for us he did, because after the release of a few singles, came the powerful EP, PortraitsOfPain in 2021.
Throughout, you can hear his love of old monster and horror flicks, which he has also connected to his near death experience, such as not dying to rise another day and that nightmares lurk in the dark crevices of your mind awaiting to take your life at their whim. This journey has also forged some deep friendships and powerful musical collaborations. What is a glampire, do they drink your blood or raid your velvet coats and can they haunt your dreams? Well darlings, better start reading to find out……..
Dear Trent Jeffries, he who is Plasmata. Welcome to the hallowed ground of Onyx.
Trent, you live in Chicago, which seems a hotbed of gothic music. Have you always lived there and what is it like to be a part of this darkwave renaissance?
I’m a lifelong Chicagoan. The only other place I could imagine living is London. I really enjoy being part of the music scene here. The city is rich with genres and sub-genres of music, and bands from adjacent styles will often play shows together. The audiences are very open minded, which leads to some wide ranging and surprising bills. And I think that’s great.
You describe yourself as a glampire. Does it surprise you to find out many do not realise the gothic scene very much has its roots in 70s glam music?
It does. Even a cursory glance back at the glam movement will show the participant’s goals were in line with today’s scene. The theatricality, statement-making attire and the blurring or eliminating of the lines of convention. The Gothic community chooses to marry that aesthetic to the more macabre, dark side of life.
What does it mean to you being a glampire of Chicago?
The city of Chicago, especially its creative community, appreciate those who show who they are and fly their flag proudly and it is very freeing and rewarding. Its an amalgamation of all that I love, and all that I wish to convey visually. People are much more interested and attracted to roses than to crabgrass. If people take the time to come see you, then I feel you should bloody well give them something to see!
Plasmata isn’t a new band, with its inception in 2005.What was the concept behind the creation of the project?
Plasmata came about because I had music in my head, and lyrics, that I was not finding elsewhere. My love of horror movies definitely shaped my creativity, and the attraction/fear/repulsion of popular vampire lore led me to various avenues of exploration for expressing myself. Nosferatu was hideous, Louie and Lestat were golden gods, Count Dracula somewhere in between. Some people fear what they don’t understand, some are intrigued and some are drawn to it. I compose to play to the myths and also dispel them. Communally, we all experience similar things in life, so I also dive in personally to exorcise demons and hopefully relate to someone who’s going through similar things.
We come to 2012 and the band suddenly disappears from the scene. Since then we have discovered you had a major health issue, which actually involved an aneurysm. What happened?
Plasmata had an entire debut album recorded, and were being courted by a few record labels. In January of that year, I suffered a subarachnoid haemorrhage, which is a ruptured aneurysm that causes bleeding in the brain. That also triggered a haemorrhagic stroke. After 6 months ofrecovery and rehabilitation, I was released back into the world. The band members, understandably, had each gone elsewhere since the chances of me being able to function or create at even a fraction of what I was previously seemed remote at best.
That must have been a bloody scary time for you, but you managed to survive and even thrive. Are there any issues for you since this awful period in your life and how has it impacted on you creatively?
There are, although I’ve come to accept them. It was an episode I was not supposed to survive, therefore I move forward with purpose knowing I’ve beaten the odds. I’m playing with house money from here on out, so I strive for personal happiness which aligns very well with my passion to create. But in regards to the effects of the trauma; large parts of my memory are gone, I have vertigo issues, migraines, hand/eye coordination deficiencies. I have difficulty on stairs at times. My ability to play guitar vanished. I’ve become more impulsive, which as a glampire could be both a blessing and a curse.
2020 saw you return to releasing music. How good did this feel?
It took that long to regain enough ability to translate all that I had in my head to music. Initially, I was unsure if what I was creating was any good. Fortunately I was able to have my friend William Faith listen to some of the first songs I’d done and provide encouragement and understanding. Honestly I’m not certain the EP would have happened without him. The feeling of release, of validation, was overwhelming.
By 2021, we see you releasing your EP, “Portraits Of Pain”. The music is a mixture of gothic rock and industrial, but it is the imagery I would like to touch on. The EP feels painted, like a Victorian Hammer Horror set and indeed it would not feel odd to see Cushing, Lee or Price loom out of the darkness. Was this something you purposely did or did it just end up that way?
It was definitely an unconscious occurrence. Thank you very much for the compliment! William and I have a lot of similar musical and celluloid references and that probably had a lot to do with the way the songs were developed and executed. I cannot say enough about how he understood exactly what I was trying to accomplish, and the right brushes to use for the “painting”.
The EP was recorded at 13 Studio by the masterful William Faith. This seems to have become a firm friendship, with Faith mixing your single “Leviathan”. There is also your friendship with Michel Rowland (Disjecta Membra). How important are these relationships to you?
My friendship with Michel came about via a recommendation from William as to whom I should trust to handle my publicity. He’s become a dear friend and confidant, we get on famously, and I tell anyone who will listen that working with Michel has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made musically. Its a wonderful thing when you get to work closely with people who truly understand you as an artist and a person. I also treasure my friendship with William for similar reasons. He just gets me. Our friendship grew exponentially during the recording process. I would describe a particular sound I was looking for, and he would reference a band or particular song that was immediately spot on. Lots of time swapping stories and laughing at all that we’ve been able to experience. I admire and respect both of these gentlemen immensely.
The last single “You Call Him The Devil”, is originally the track “Ten Bells” off the EP, which also features Aly Jados, the lead singer of Blood People. The single version a re-working by Ben Christo (Sisters Of Mercy), so how did all this happen?
Ben and I met through a mutual friend several years ago. He was already playing in Sisters at that point, plus we were both endorsed by the same guitar company at the time. So lots of things to bond us. And I’ve been to London several times. I knew I wanted Ben to try his hand at remixing one of the tracks, so I sent him links to the EP. Well, being a Brit and having lived in London, He was eager to have a go at Ten Bells. He said he could give it a proper reworking since he was very familiar with the story of Jack. I gave him free reign to do what he liked with it, and was blown away with the results.
The track itself is about Jack the Ripper. How much are you into the Ripper lore?
Very much. And to my surprise (and extreme pleasure), William was very well versed on the story as well. That enabled us to really give it a raw, visceral feel. Aly’s vocal was the icing on the cake. I love her voice; its powerful, raspy, smoky, seductive and urgent all at the same time.
So far, do you have a favourite track you have released and if so why?
I was just talking to a friend recently who asked the same question. Its funny, but on different days any one of them could be a favorite. But If I had to choose one, it would be Death of Hope. That song was written in the absolute depths of despair, and is a challenge to perform live because I invariably float in that dark water as I deliver the lines. But every show I look forward to baring my soul and showing that its ok to be vulnerable. It has become a centerpiece of our live set, and is a powerful moment that we get to share with the audience.
Trent, you blew life into this project when the world seemed to be going to hell in a hand basket. Now with Covid no longer shutting down cities, are you planning on more live gigs, and is this something you enjoy?
Collectively, we live for the stage. The live band is a juggernaut. We have been playing a show every month since February and will continue to do so. We’ve been offered some touring opportunities which we will probably agree to, with sights set on a UK swing in the spring of ’24.
What are the musicians that first lured you into the grasp of gothic music?
Bauhaus for sure. The Sisters of Mercy, the Cure, and although they are probably not on a lot of “Goth” checklists, Black Sabbath. Also, horror movie soundtracks have shaped me musically.
What do you listen to now?
I am obsessed with Chelsea Wolfe. I’ve also been listening to Then Comes Silence, Gary Numan, Peter Murphy, Killing Joke.
You are putting together a compilation of your favourite darkwave tracks. Who is making the cut?
That’s a tough one. A lot of what I listen to has hints of what would be considered Darkwave. I suppose it would include Bootblacks, Actors, Clan of Xymox, Panterah, The Bellwether Syndicate, early VNV Nation, Wolfsheim
What is in the future for Plasmata?
We have new songs written, and I have about 8 or 9 other ones that are in progress. We will be recording a new single soon, with an accompanying video to be released at that time. More shows, photo shoots, interviews, dark mayhem.
German industrial project NeonInsect has released another single as of May, with the title “Implant“. NilsSinatsch is NeonInsect, 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 NeonInsect and his “Implant“.
Some music projects go on hiatus, but they never truly go away. After twenty years, DCAstro and Martha A. Hoffmann, have breathed new life into their electronic/darkwave band DeepRed, and what better way to celebrate this than with the release of a new single, “BattleLines” which features Element104.
The low tones are heavy and bass driven, giving the track a voluminous depth, and a long with the rhythm hurtle this track forward. Hoffmann’s vocals range from whispered to clear and true, just as the synths chime out and spin about a relationship gone sour, and the fight to be able to walk away from other person.
In 2002, the album Chimera was released, which has the original version of “BattleLines” on it. I can hear why they wanted to, in a way, resurrect this track and give it another run, modernising it. A note of interest is that the mastering was done by DorukÖztürkcan of ShePastAway fame. The over all feel of “BattleLines” is a big break through track bound for the dance floor, which will ensure we will be hearing more from DeepRed.
The first half of the year has seen a lot of really great new darkwave albums, and this includes, Crystalline, the latest from Norwegian KarlMortenDahl, also known as Antipole and Brit ParisAlexander. This album is now out on the Young&ColdRecords label with it being recorded between the UK and Norway, and the production, mixing and mastered by Alexander at his BlueDoorStudio.
The album starts with “Perceptions“, which is one of three singles and it is a smooth affair between the synths and Alexander’s vocals, raising your heartbeat with anticipation with the rising guitar. “Nightshade” has been known to kill, yet the solemn delicacy of this track might make you want to live just that little bit longer so you might be able to hear “Bleached“, another single. Bleak and creeping with sorrow, but yet you cannot but be mesmerised by the sensual vocals and dirty electronic bass.
The desolate lushness of “Disjointed” brings a delicateness that sets you up for the third single, “MidnightShadows“, where you can almost feel the spirits are reaching out to you through the echoing and enticing whispers. that draw spectral fingers up your skin, catching your breath. The rhythms knock away and the guitar draws you into its embrace as you share with Alexander, his hope and anguish in “Marble“.
We find ourselves at the gently flowing “Infractions“, bathing in its warm heart. The track has a JohnnyMarr glazing with a pop sensibility. The final track is the sublimely elegant “Sentiments” with the low bass electronics balanced by the both the sweet guitar work and high end synths.
The production of the album is clean and so fluid, making it almost ethereal, and yet the tracks will also guide your feet to the dance floor. ParisAlexander’s vocals truly convey a lot of emotion, sometimes bordering on dark seduction, while KarlMortenDahl’s playing in this conjures reminders of RobertSmith’s tantalising guitar prowess and form. Each track is devastatingly beautiful, unveiling the never ending cycle of the dark versus the light, with hints of all the shades of grey in between, as Antipole&ParisAlexander take you to the places that yesterday’s ghosts still haunt, in perfect Crystalline.
From sun drenched Florida, VioletSilhouette are back with a new single, titled “Strange Wind“. This single is off the soon to be released EP Feverblue, which is the follow-up to the 2021 EP, SEMI-PERMANENTDEREALIZATION.
The metronome drum beats are twinned with the extruded electronics reverberating, which are joined by a classic post-punk heavy bass. The clean guitar breaks through, which heralds a burst of joyous, danceable sound. The vocals complete the booming shivers down the spine, as the music runs circles around your pleasure centres.
Longing and need are palpable in this track, along with the cascading layers of instrumentation. VioletSilhouette has mixed post-punk with both industrial dance and dark pop to give us the sublime “Strange Wind“.
The wizard of techno-industrial dance, SimonCarter, is inviting you to join your weird brothers and sisters in the mystical coven through the latest EP, Initiation. Released at the end of May, Simon has said that these four tracks were cut from the up coming 2nd album with collaborator Fabsi, because they didn’t quite fit the overall sound but gelled well together for the EP.
The curtain raiser is “Seher(Initiation Countdown),” a call to the floor for all the warriors of dance and a taste of what is to come. There is a mixture of psytrance with EBM in “HexennachtRave” that interchanges, giving the track ebb and flow, building the energy, bewitching your senses. Big bass beats wub into your chest cavity, cut by the voice speaking at you about reality versus dreams, and you are waiting for your next techno hit in “DancefloorDelusion.” The last track, “TheMagicCoven(Welcome To the Coven),” is slower and pulsating with power, hypnotic suggestion from Carter’s deep spoken words, that you join the witches circle.
May black cats and bats fill your dreams while Carter fills your ears with techno delights of the strange kind, bidding you to indulge in the Saint Vitus dance macabre. Welcome to the Initiation.
Onyx Music Reviews 