Melbourne based, synthpop/darkwave act, Suburban Spell, have released the single “Fools And Clowns“, with a lushly produced music video. This latest single, comes from the Split Levels album that was released in February and the video was shot and edited by Adam Calaitzis, of Toyland Studios.
From the very beginning there is the shoegaze electronics, that swirl and envelope your senses in a gorgeous blanket of sonic emotion. It is about being out in the wee hours of the morning and the temptation of a one night stand, perhaps also the regret of the aftermath too.
You are taken to spots along Victoria’s Great Southern Road, which is a truly beautiful trip, though I must say in black and white, can look almost menacing at times but also shot in inner Melbourne. Peter Endall has taken his song and pared it down from around six and a half minutes, to a neat, just a smidge over four, yet the track has lost none of what makes it quite beautifully tragic and is only enhanced by the video.
Brutal Resonance have signed, Philadelphia’s Her Noise Is Violence, to their growing list of acts. With her soon to be released, first EP with Brutal Resonance, Out Of Time, coming soon, the first single, “Apathy” was dropped on April 15th, 2022. Her Noise is Violence is making a name for herself as a creator of industrial music with dark techno.
The beats and electronics rotate around your head, maybe in a state of confusion or a mind infected by a malaise. A male voice says everyone is dead and if they were dead, what would you? Deliberate and slow fuzzing rhythms plod on until….nothing. A sudden stop.
This is a lot more sedate than her normal fare, but as the artist herself explains, ‘Apathy’ is a chilled-out tune, it’s the last track on the EP and what I wanted to convey is the feeling of, well, apathy.‘. With this in mind, we await the EP and more of those beats with Her Noise Is Violence, plus get a load of the awesome artwork by Psyklon Industries.
Estetica Noir are darkwave/post-punk group, founded in 2013 in Turin, Italy and they released their second album this year on the Red CatRecords label, called This Dream In Monochrome. The band is comprised of founding members Silvio Oreste (vocals-guitars-programming) and Rik Guido (bass), as well as Paolo Accossato (drums) and Marco Caliandro (synth-programming-back vocals).
There is something beautifully serpentine about the track “Room Of Masks“, as we are introduced to Estetica Noir and their lead vocalist’s ringing tones. Basically if this is the quality of what is to follow, then the whole album is going to be a treat. The second single off the album is “Sweeper” which is simply a divine myriad of guitars, synths and vocals. So utterly catchy.
“Striate Body” has a harsher tone to it in the beginning but that all melts in the chorus, only to return for this song, that was the first single released. The contrast of abrasive vocals and sweeter singing is quite delightful. The rain greets you in “Autumn” with unaccompanied keyboards, building a soundscape where if you listen carefully enough you hear the heartbeat. I still suffer from the pain of hearing the old internet dial up sound. “N.U.” uses this effect within the track. There is a cyber coldness as you feel the icy tendrils of the synths.
Such a wonderful build up of guitar in “Dawn Of Pluto” that drives it along on a sonic wave and echos throughout the whole piece. Do you have a strong preference for the night or darkness? You might suffer from “Nychtophilia” and the track is sexy with a soaring chorus about those that inhabit the shadows. “X” could mean a kiss in this spine tingling track. Smooth and slick with the breathy chorus. In the next number, a short instrumental, truly feels like it is on a precipice and maybe that is why it is called “The Fall“. We hit the last track, which is the retrospective “Climbing Up The Loneliness“. Such a superb balance of vocals with the haunting instruments backing up the lament of never being satisfied,
This is perfect darkwave music. Expressive, melancholy with great bass lines and lyrics that grab you by the heart strings. Throughout there are the wonderful guitar lines that ring out and the synths that create a beautiful synergy. I love Oreste’s vocals, a really strong singer who seems to very competent in his role. Each track has this beautiful dark crystal sound to it, smooth and clean on the surface but smoky beneath that shine. EsteticaNoir’s “This Dream In Monochrome” should be on your have a listen list, so what are you waiting for?
What do you get when Mexico meets Finland? The single “Verenkiertohäiriö [Circulatory Disorder]” is the outcome. Mexico’s Exemia in conjunction with the Fin, TFG from TONTTU, have thrust into the world, this single on April 13th, 2022.
An merry dance you will get from this track as it bursts to life in all the vocal ferocity TFG gives to his performance, while Exemia simply kill with the amazing electronics that assault your senses. The whirl of angst and synths is a brilliant cacophony.
Industrial beats definitely make this feel so utterly alive and ripple under the skin. Great aggro-techno industrial music is often hard to get just right and this definitely ticks all the boxes. It is out on Bandcamp for name yourprice if that helps curry your fancy, but most importantly….. beware of the gnomes and their nefarious ways.
Pure Obsession And Red Night have come a long way since their early days. Originally known as PORN, this French band, over the years has matured and evolved, especially in their sound. This brings us to the latest album, Let Your Obsessions Run Wild, which was released on April the 22nd. Philippe Deschemin is the lead singer as well as the composer for the band and on top of that, has done the mixing and producing.
The thing you need to know is that this is mostly a collection of singles, in album form. Now some would say that is a bit odd, but I am going to say to you, that this means you are getting all the good stuff. In other words, each of these tracks was considered good enough to be a single and the whole album is honestly excellent.
I think for me, my favourite tracks are “The Call Of Your Life” and “The Night Is Dancing In Your Eyes“. The music is a mixture of seductive electronics, vocals to entrance you and beats to move your body. The tracks are a synthpop joy to listen to and we think that this incarnation of Pure Obsessions & Red Nights is well worth listening to, as they have developed a deft touch for this ephemeral form of music. Exhilarating and poignant, so Let Your Obsessions Run Wild.
Thieves are those that steal from others. Possessions, jewels or maybe even a life. VAZUM also have a double single out called “Thief“, which was released on March 25th, 2022. The dynamic and prolific duo of Zach Pliska and Emily Sturm have given you two versions of this track for your listening pleasure.
The original is full of those lovely post-punk twanging guitars and soaring vocals with Emily in the lead. She is going to take your all and everything because she is the undead and in the end you will willingly let her thieve everything. The second version is an electronic affair, where “Thief” the Dagger mixis maybe, and more so, a much darker creature that seems a little unhinged as it crawls to you for your (un)dying love.
It is always an interesting proposition to hear a song performed in two different ways by the same band. You can tell VAZUM get a bit of kick out of this experimenting in variation. So you get a goth track with a creepy electronic track which is well worth checking out. And the best thing, you can get this for a steal on Bandcamp as it is name your price!
If you search the name Elenor Rayner, you can be quite overcome with the amount of musical acts and bands she is involved in. Most recently, she released two singles for her project, Robots In Love as well as a remix of the JA/VI track, “Good Cocaine“. We were fortunate enough to be able to speak to the delightful Elenor about the music she has been involved in, what she is up to now and ….oops we may have created a monster. If you want to know how then read on!!
Welcome Elenor Rayner, the creative mind behind Robots in Love, to the Onyx mainframe, which is far dodgier than the holodeck in Star Trek and tinged with the macabre.
You started your musical career in Melbourne, Australia, but you now live in Dunedin, New Zealand. Are you a Kiwi or an Aussie, as inquiring minds want to know?
I was born in Australia but I now have New Zealand citizenship. I adore Dunedin. It’s a creative, eccentric place with more musicians per capita than anywhere else in the country. Everyone plays in 3 different bands and they’ll put on gigs anywhere. I do keep a keyboard at a friend’s place in Melbourne though, so I can pop over and play shows.
Elenor, you have had a varied and successful music career, which we’d like to touch on. Soulscraper was the first industrial band you were in, starting in 1991. That must have been a really exciting time to be getting into the scene?
The technology at the time was so exciting. To be able to sample anything and change it however you like was mind-blowing. We sampled a lot from movies, especially sci-fi, and playing those mangled cinematic sounds live through huge PA systems was really satisfying.
In fact, I met up with the other Soulscrapers last week and we talked about playing shows later this year. We’re all keen to play those songs again.
The next big thing was The Crystalline Effect with Pete Crane, which started in 2002. Pete definitely has a darker take on electronic music, so how do you think working with him affected the way you write music and is there a chance we might hear from The Crystalline Effect in the future?
The Crystalline Effect released 6 albums I think, so it was a prolific period for us. We wrote two songs before we even met. We used to send cds through the mail because we both disliked the sound of mp3s. I really enjoyed the subtlety of Pete’s programming, it was amazingly delicate and there was room for me to experiment with vocal melodies and harmonies. Some of those songs are incredibly beautiful. I still listen to them. Maybe one day I’ll do a show with all my bands on the line-up.That would be a rollercoaster of emotions.
Recording for yourself as Sobriquet and Sobriquet Nation, how different was this for you as opposed to writing and making decisions with a band?
In a band there’s a lot of compromising. Probably most bands do this, but I remember developing a theory that the singer should have the ultimate say because they’re the ones who have to really believe it. With Sobriquet, being on my own I learnt a lot, delving into the tiniest detail of a song and tweaking it until it’s perfect. Nowadays on about a quarter of tracks I am the producer, on a quarter I am the vocalist and on half I do both. On the ones where I do both I do tend to talk to myself. Vocalist-Elenor says to Producer-Elenor: “we need a dropout there”.
In 2019 you released the haunting album, July, under your Sobriquet moniker and before that, in 2018, another album, My Very Essence. You are very prolific, as each album has around 15 tracks, so do you find the process of creating music easy?
Yes, I do find it easy, and it is essential to me. I’m not very good at talking about feelings so I tend to pour everything into songs instead. It’s like: “I can’t say this to you, so here, listen to this song”. All the main events of my life, and my friends’ lives are there for anyone to hear.
This brings us to your project Robots In Love. 2017 saw you drop the 5-track self-titled release followed by various singles, including two new tracks in March of this year, the slower ‘Wish’ and the bass heavy hitter ‘The Raven’ (which actually made think of Paul Raven Killing Joke/Ministry). Can you tell us a little about these tracks?
Usually, I produce the music first and then when I listen to the song, I figure out what it’s about and the words come into my head. The Ravens is stompy and quite upset. It is about dementia. Wish is sad and resigned and it’s about inequality.
There was also the rip snorting dancefloor remix of the JA/VI song, ‘Good Cocaine’, that you recently let loose. What was it about this track that spoke to you?
As soon as I heard it, I could relate to the feeling of love lost. It’s a universal thing but I loved the melody and the sadness in JA/VI’s vocal. I kept the vocal as it was and added the music. I think smashing your emotions out on the dancefloor is a healthy thing to do. I really enjoy playing that song live, it definitely gets everyone moving. I’m glad it’s getting airplay.
Is creating remixes under the Robots In Love name a new thing for you and how much fun do you have reimagining someone else’s music?
I do quite a few remixes each year. The next ones coming up are for Tiny Fighter, a Swedish band, and IKON.
I never have a pre-determined idea of what I’m going to do, I just start and see what happens. One cheeky thing I like to do is alter the melody of the vocal somewhere in the song and add harmonies. Cellmod added harmonies to one of my vocals in a remix of “How I Get Out” and I thought it was great and wished I’d come up with it.
Sometimes I do remixes of remixes. For instance, I remixed the first Human Confusion single, ‘Overwhelmed’, then I decided I liked it as an instrumental then I accidentally found myself singing new words and melodies to it so now there’s a completely new song.
Will there be an album coming out soon?
Yes, and there’ll be a variety of styles on it. I’ve written a few Goth Trap songs lately.
You describe your sound as ‘darkly beautiful, emotional, melodic electronic music’. What is it about this style of music you love?
The emotion is the main thing for me. Songs are like little capsules of things you need. If I’m sad I will listen to a song like “Equilibrium” and by the end I’ll be back to equilibrium. Magic.
You are involved with David Thrussell’s Snog as a live member. Please tell us what that is like, and is it utter insanity?
I’ve been playing live in Snog for 23 years. Even though the song topics are as serious as you can get, David loves humour and so do I, so being on tour with him is great fun.
I’m looking forward to the Snog shows in Melbourne and Sydney supporting PWEI.
When you were young, what bands and people inspired you to get into industrial/electronic music?
I remember going a lot to a club called Thrash and Treasure in Richmond, Melbourne and jumping around to music there like Nitzer Ebb and Young Gods. I liked the dual bass guitars of Denial and Pre Shrunk and I remember being very happy when I discovered bands who had both bass guitar and electronic bass.
Who inspires you or makes you happy now in musical terms?
I have a few other projects which I really enjoy. My band Human Confusion consists of me doing all the programming and Miriam Leslie the vocals. Her voice is like warm salted caramel sauce and her lyrics have a twist to them. Our first single “Overwhelmed” has a line in it – “I tried setting fire to it, but it burned too bright and took the bridges with it”. We’ve almost finished an album.
I like doing vocals for DevilMonkey. Our collaboration “Deluxe” is my favourite song. Live, I play a combination of the original track and my remix. It’s a powerful way to end a show.
An artist called Dead Caldera released their first single last year which I listen to all the time. I keep asking them to release more. The intricate programming of Sirus excites me. And anything Ehsan Gels creates is always satisfying.
What sort of robot would you want to be, if you could choose between a replicant as seen in Blade Runner or a cyborg, with your memories and personality downloaded into it, like Ghost In The Shell?
That is a good question. I always thought I’d be the little sad boy in A.I. but now you’ve got me thinking – I could be something really innovative. I will ponder that. You may have created a monster 🙂
What do you see in your electronic dreams for the future of Robots In Love and Elenor Rayner?
I always just feel a need to create more music. I have three new band members of Robots In Love and that’s been great. We can play live some of my older songs like “July” now, and they bring their own interpretations. Also, it’s fun to have others on stage to jump around and interact with.
So I just see more songs, more releases, more gigs and endless moving around of sounds on a computer screen to make sure they make me feel.
Thank you, Elenor, for joining us in this electric dream.
Over the last two years, we have seen some amazing unions of international musicians, creating super-groups. One of these is Heatwave International, a band made up of Mario Alberto Cabada (No Devotion Records, Bolaspace), John Bechdel (Ministry, Fear Factory, False Icons), Roberto Mendoza (Panoptica, Nortec) and Ant Banister (Sounds Like Winter, Lunar Module, Sequential Zero). They released their debut single, “We Won’t Be Silent” on the 8th of April, on the label GIVE/TAKE, ahead of their impending EP.
I would know Ant Banister’s vocals anywhere and the message is there that they can’t be silenced any longer. There is a wonderful purpose to this track and I can definitely hear the Depeche Mode influence, through the graduations of the synths. There are two remixes of the single, the sublimely smooth Union Divine mix with those sparkling synth lines and the eerily wavering tones and cyber-punk style of the Tokee re imagining.
With such a plethora of musicians, all creating this track, I wondered how this was going to turn out. Actually, it’s pretty bloody good in all honesty. From the electronic to the vocals….it all meshes wonderfully and even with the serious nature of the lyrics, there is a seductive undertone. I say watch this space closely for HeatwaveInternational.
The end of last year saw the Athenian’s, Siva Six, release DeathCult, their fifth studio album, which came out on the label, Alfa Matrix. There were two years poured into the creation of this stunning album and the tracks are amalgamations of synths and beats with classical elements, all tied up with Z’s guttural vocals. It is a truly beautiful opus on the dark delights that await those that pass the veil. The lovely Z spoke to us about DeathCult and what makes Siva Six tick.
Welcome to the downward spiral that is Onyx! Please ignore the harpies, as they are grumpy because we put them on a diet.
You released your first album, Rise New Flesh, back in 2005. Did you ever think Siva six would still be releasing albums in 2022?
Z– Hell no… we thought we could have a good ride for approximately 10 years but as always, making plans is a part of reality. The other parts are a complicated equation, nevertheless I feel proud of what we have achieved so far. I assure you, it was not easy starting an Industrial/Dark Electro band in 00’s in Athens /GR
Can you tell as how the band started back then in Athens?
Z– We where just a couple of youngsters full of dreams and love for music, we had a hunger for life, to explore, to create, to do it our way. We started very young, we should have been around 15 years old when we had our first gig, trying to play some hardcore/punk/metal stuff. As soon as we got into Goth and EBM a whole new great world appeared and we wanted to be part of it. Since then we spent countless hours on the project and with faith, love and will, we made it happen.
You guys are also involved in the Greek metal scene as well, so when the band first started, what was the industrial/metal scene like back then and do you think it has changed?
Z– Along the way and more precisely, during our demo days, we were offered to play keyboards in 2 of the biggest Greek bands, me with SepticFlesh and Noid with Rotting Christ. Although our skills were not that great, I guess they loved our looks lol…Seth from SepticFlesh, once said that you guys look like pinheads son’s…,as for the Industrial /Metal scene, it was great back then, everyone wanted a piece of it in their music. Rob Zombie, Manson, NIN, Rammstein, that was the heydays of that scene and sure we were enjoyed it as well. Yes, its not a trend anymore, you hardly hear the good stuff with the exception of 3Teeth and a few more I guess…
Photo – VAIA
November 2021 saw you release your fifth studio album, DeathCult. It took 2 years for you to give life to brilliant album, so what took so long?
Z– Thank you for the compliment! I have been hearing it a lot about “DeathCult” and honestly puts a smile on my face. It always takes too much time to do an album that I am happy with. It takes me more than a month to do the pre-production for 1 track. I was into some deep personal shit, living in Leipzig at the time and it was hard for me to focus. We changed producer and that was not an easy one to deal with, especially when you work with a certain producer for 15 years
The 2 year wait was well worth it. You said in an interview that you enjoyed the work of Erik Saite. What was it about Gnossienne No 1 that inspired you to incorporating it into the mesmerising track Ghost Dance?
Z– I love Satie’s work, its utterly unique. His works are simply haunting, so..all in all, I was obsessed with his track, “Gnossienne No1”. I wanted to do a cover of it and here you go…. It was the hardest track to deal with and it took me 2 and half months to finish the pre-production. From a point and on, I started to be delusional, thinking that Satie is punishing me because he was still not happy with my outcome. I was desperate hearing it over and over again and for many hours per day. I was stuck, hearing his piano theme in a loop, it was killing me mentally until I found a way out and finished the song. Totally happy with the final result and hopefully with Satie’s blessings. Definitely a track that has a great feedback and brought many on our ship
The album is all about death, from serial killers to the after life. Can you tell us more about this?
Z– Death and Life, that’s the total balance and opposition at the same time, although both part of the whole that is existence. In this album I chose to focus on Death, it felt more like kin at the time… so I dove into its ocean, tried to understand a bit more. I twisted the angle. I watched and I asked to learn more. I think I did. Death is vital. Death is a path. Death is the transition. Death makes life unique. Death is all around us. Our societies, since day one, worshiped Death, not in a good way….its easy to understand that if you look carefully. Which is the god we mostly obey to?…it’s Death. We hate, we take advantage of others, we step on our friends, lovers, colleagues, we will do anything it takes to fulfill our desires and twisted plans. We think we control our lives but we are mostly nothing more than just the pathetic servants of Death’s lowest quality…the vain and ignorant, close minded tourists of life’s miracle.
What is it about the grotesque and macabre that inspires you and your music?
Z– More or less that’s what has always attracted me in music, The grotesque and the Macabre. My music heroes were drug addicts, alcoholics, outcasts and dangerous, damned and the tracks that I was turned on, listened to, were always the one’s that made me feel otherworldly. I cannot really put it in a frame, as a music and lyric creator, its just a feeling and when I hear it, it rings in me, I know that I am where I want to be.
You recorded the album with Dinos Prassas, also known as Psychon, who mixed and mastered DeathCult. Can you tell us about working with Psychon and what he brings to the Siva Sixalbums?
Z– Psychon has also done the production on this album besides Mix/Mastering. We have known each other since the early 00’s. We met at the rehearsal studio that Siva Six and his band was rehearsing at the time. He is a great guy, very talented, easy going and skillful sound design wise. Meanwhile, the timing to do another album with our ex producer was not a good one, so I talked with Psychon. I asked him to do a couple of demos and when I heard with what he had come up with, I heard the ringing in my ears….Psychon brings all of his positive and artistic aura in our music, working along side with his big orchestras, guitars, basses and the rest of the weird stuff he is into. We love his work and final touch he did in “DeathCult”.
George Klontzas of Teknovore spoke to me about how much admiration he has for Siva Six and was super proud of the cover you guys did together of Save Me God. This seems like a close friendship.
Z– Its an honor and I am glad to hear George’s feelings about us! We have met a couple of times in Athens & Edinburgh. I don’t really get excited by collaboration offers, my time is limited but when he offered to me the singing position in his Dark Soho cover, which is one of my all time favorite bands, I immediately accepted! I am happy and proud at the same time for the final outcome.
Photo – VAIA
Which song do you think you are going to really enjoy playing live?
Z– I will totally enjoy to play live again dear, since it has been 2 years and a half since our last gig, so all in all at this time, what really matters to me is to get back on the stage which I feel the urge to do so but “Ghost Dance” is the one I really can’t wait to experience on stage.
Talking of live music, how has covid affected the band as far as touring and are there any plans to do so soon?
Z– Some gigs in Germany & Greece were cancelled or postponed, we had no gigs for the last 2 and a half years. Lets face it…it’s a disaster. A ray of light has come in at the moment, so we will take the chance to do 4 live shows in Greece and hopefully our agent will sort out some gigs in Europe but its way too much complicated at the moment, since the line up bills and tours are full with the 2020 schedules. It’s sad but at least, since we get this feedback on a daily basis, that “DeathCult” is our best album so far but unfortunately the doors are not opened as wide as it would probably be pre-covid era.
You have toured with some legendary acts, so who was the most fun?
Z– We have shared the stage with some really great bands indeed. Tuske Ludder are great and funny people. We have became good friends with Hein from Theatre of Tragedy. Type o Negative were such a good people and Clan of Xymox are very cool and funny, I love Ronnie and we used to hang out a lot.
What music and bands got you into the EBM/industrial scene?
Z– I think it was mostly Ministry in the very early 90’s, Aphex Twin, Front 242, Einsturzende Neubauten but at the time the whole scene was on a launch and so many new bands were going out with a bang!
Who really gets you excited now about music?
Z– Without a doubt NIN and Trend Reznor projects, Chealsea Wolfe, 3TEETH, Wulfband, Perdubator, Soundtracks
Right at this moment in time, you have the ability to teleport to a beautiful sunny beach with blue waters or a gloomy cemetery full of mausoleums and famous artists……. where do you choose to go and why?
Z– If the cemetery would be the resurrection spot of a few of my favorite artists…. I would definitely wanted to be around and chat with them…. if not I would rather enjoy the sea thinking of them.
What is in the future for Siva Six?
Z– Our contract with Alfa Matrix is over and we have started some demo’s but as usual, it will take time to finish the pre-production. To be totally honest with you….I have no idea. There is too much mental strain all around us and the times we live in seem relentless. Hardships and setbacks are on the daily menu on everyone’s table. We will do some shows hopefully…and we will take it as it comes, you know..thinking a lot about the future does not really make sense, good things or bad things will happen or they will not.
Thank you for the dance while Chaos has her way with the world and thank you for your exquisite music!
Z– It was my pleasure and honour dear Adele ! Thank you.
Berlin based, Paradox Obscur, are soon to drop a new album, MORPHOGENESIS, on May, 6th but the first single has been lifted, called “Animal Reactor“, out on Metropolis Records. A video directed by Sheng-Yang Su in what looks to be in one take, has been unleashed, which to my mind is very much in Paradox Obscur’s style.
From the very beginning this grabs your attention and you feel it in the pit of your chest. There is a brilliant array of electronic sounds that assault your senses and make you want to move your body. Fingers of synths drag across your senses in a scintillating fashion.
The duo from Paradox Obscur, Toxic Razor and Kriistal Ann, pride themselves on playing everything in real-time, which means no sequencers and the like. A cross of synth pop and dark electronic music which culminates in an absolutely delightfully danceable track . Bring on the album!
Onyx Music Reviews 