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US label Re:Mission Entertainment dropped the latest album from Warm Gadget called Sorrows. Tim Vester (vocals, lyrics, samples) and Colten Williams (guitar, bass, keyboards, drums, production, vocals) are the main components of this machine and they are joined by Page Hamilton (guitar), Austin Williams (bass), Davey Hemm (bass) and Dani Scythe who added additional drum programming on “Digging.”

Sit down and buckled up as they smash you with “The Masses,” which is the bouncing metal influenced first single, with its angry guitars and even angrier Vester, screaming out his disappointment with the world. “Annoyed” is yet another single and I have to say that the Nine Inch Nails game is strong for this track, and the Dread Risks‘ remix just ramps it up even further. It is contentious and instantly likeable.

Going with the single theme, “Debutante” is yet another, featuring not only the corrosive vocals of Vester, but joining him, with far more buttery tones is Page Hamilton of Helmet fame, carving up the track with his screaming hot guitar. I especially liked “Like Bats,” with its brazen chorus, tempered with the idling intermediary pieces. It kind of harks back to Stone Temple Pilots with the tone and harmonisation.

With tracks like “Annoyed,” you are dragged back to the flourishing 90s industrial rock scene that was exploding out of the North America at the time with bands such Ministry, NIN and My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult. Warm Gadget might be paying homage to those that influenced their sound with Sorrows, but this does not mean they are sticking to a formula, as they write music that suits their taste. So far, this has to be my favourite release of theirs to date. Music with a social conscious and it also slaps hard.

Sorrows | Warm Gadget | Re:Mission Entertainment

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Somewhere in Victoria, Canada, you can imagine there are bears and elk but if in the woods, you might be jumped by the Skull Cultist, also known as Steve Saunders, man of rocking industrial beats. His latest album is named Hardcore Rituals.

The first track, “Chwiban Marwolaeth” sets the scene of something tribal and ancient, yet with the encroaching modern music bearing down. This is the lead up for you to drop into the title track “Hardcore Ritual,” and the magical mythos of a bygone era reverberate through the vocals and electronic tones. It builds and breaks down over and again. The cyberpunk influenced “Rivethammer” pounds and loops, revelling in the violence of the hammer. It is probably me, but I keep thinking I hear ‘timber‘ being yelled over and over again.

“Mover” features the crystalline vocals of Gaby Gustafson, who is also know as Eva X along side Saunders, as the music strikes up a rapid pace, while the electronics rattle and throb to keep up. She is the angelic in comparison to his demonic, crying ‘die, die, die.’ Nicole Turner of Orthokeras is the guest vocalist on the “Floor Sadist,” and does anyone have to ask when or where we assume the position?! This track is a mixture of rhythmic noise and dark sexual overtones, which is instantly captivating and bewitching. The last track of the album, “Duskfall,” also features Turner’s vocals, which feels expansive and sounds futuristic

Hardcore Rituals has a grand total of eleven tracks and Skull Cultist keeps you guessing what style he is going to use next, though I like to think the main style is rhythmic industrial. Having the two ladies guest on tracks is a really nice additional, taking things up a notch and I have to say that I really did like “Floor Sadist.” Maybe it is that skull crushing crunchiness but it is very satisfying. In the end, there is a primordial brooding throughout, married to something that lurks within the shadows.

HARDCORE RITUALS | Skull Cultist (bandcamp.com)

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Naarm (Melbourne) based Velatine are back with a third single in quick succession, called, “Orange to Black.” It feels like I just blinked after the previous single, but this goes to show how prolific Loki Lockwood is and he is showcasing yet another with female vocalist Nocturna.

The rhythm is both lethargic and rolling, yet constant, and it is joined by a trickling piano that dances around Nocturna’s singing. Her voice is cool and bluesy, with a certain enigmatic air, creating a bleak and beautiful gothic tribute to where everyone ends up in the end….as dust.

It really is a treat to hear so many different female vocalists performing with Velatine, and Nocturna really makes “Orange to Black” a brilliantly sultry experience. The video is a gothic delight, filmed in a cemetery giving the track a noire ambience. Finding the sombre allure at the end has never been so good.

Orange to Black | Velatine

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From Brooklyn, New York, the project Dilemma has released the new EP, Becoming Alive on Halloween. Producer Alex Elias is the man behind Dilemma and this EP is his darkwave/industrial ode to the gothic scene in the form of a story in four parts.

PHOTO BY SHERVIN LAINEZ

Title track, “Becoming Alive,” most certainly has a dark cabaret noir tone and possibly about vampires, whom come alive at night after the sun has gone to rest. Next is the far more industrial sounding “You Can’t Make Me (Want To Dance),” with its swirling electronics, which are obviously created to get one onto a dance floor.

The oddly named “No Comment” I feel has a very Marylin Manson vibe about it at times. Maybe this is due the vocals in the chorus, though I am rather impressed by the creepy street groove attitude. I do like the guitar in “Peripheral” as it gives this track yet another feel and one feels that Elias is channelling Sopor Aeternus’ Anna Varney at times.

Each track is a song dedicated to a sub genre of the scene…. and if you want to know then you are going to have to have a listen yourself as I think that is half the fun. Full of synths and dark pop hooks, Dilemma are showing the way to Becoming Alive.

Becoming Alive | Dilemma

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Reza Uhdin first created gothic/industrial project Inertia, back in 1992, based in London. His new album, Estranged Icon, has been released in October on the label Distortion Productions and joining him are Andrew Lowlife (additional synths, programming), Andrew Cater (guitar), Time Stephens (guitar) and Blue Jigsaw (drums).

The opening track, “New Format” features the violin of Matt Howden of Sieben, and you know an artist is confident of their product when they kick off with a single, which bodes well for the rest of the album. It is a song that feels exotic, speaking of other worlds and foreign places, and the chorus creeps up on you, swelling and building. It also gives you the opportunity to hear Uhdin’s vocal range from near growling to melodic in the hypnotic “New Format.”

Speaking of singles, the second track, which features KMFDM and PIG’s Steve White on guitar, is the far more energetic “Scowl.” White’s guitar work buzzes, emphasizing the chorus and giving us a kick butt interlude, and there is also yet another guitarist on the single, Nick Bayford helping filling out the industrial sound. You might notice there is a soul filled female backing vocalist in the form of Alexys B, and you can appreciate her as she wails up a storm against White’s solo break..

Mika Goedrijk of This Morn’ Omina have collaborated on the track “Heartbeat,” and from this union has come a throbbing and pulsating electronic kick start, full of emotion filled singing combined with stirring synths. Both surreal and spinetingling, “Heartbeat” is a dance floor filler guaranteed to raise more than a few resting rhythms.

I have to admit that I’m always a little afraid of being disappointed with projects that have been around a while. I have no such fear here as Inertia really excels at what they do. The album is this wonderfully crafted electronic odyssey.  “Estranged Icon” drags you to the highest peaks on the glorious wings of the music and then can bring you crashing down harder than Icarus with dark imagery. Be captured by the Inertia and bow down to their “Estranged Icon.”

Estranged Icon | Inertia

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In 2021, Finland’s Suzi Sabotage released the anthemic single “Nazi Goths, Fuck Off.” Three years later, on the label Strict Tempo have dropped a version, remixed by the UK’s The Cassandra Complex, and one has to wonder if this song is needed now more than ever with the frightening rise of right wing politics around the world and the insidious tendrils tainting the dark alternative scene.

‘Far-right ideologies are not compatible with goth. Goth is rebellion against the mainstream and celebration of diversity – whereas Nazis and conservatives advocate for rigid conformity, which makes them at war against what goth is all about.

The goth movement has always taken pride in being a safe haven for people from all backgrounds, and if Nazis are made [to] feel welcome, it will become dangerous for people of colour, LGBTQ, women, and just anyone who doesn’t harbour fascist views.

So let’s show Nazi “goths” the door and keep our scene safe.’ – Suzi Sabotage

Rodney Orpheus of The Cassandra Complex has created a sense of urgency with the pulsating synths, which are like light against the stark vocals from Sabotage, plunging in a knife that exposes the reality.

For people that say that gothic/post-punk music is not meant for protesting and voicing dissent, we have to say what bin have you been living in?!  “Nazi Goths, Fuck Off‘ is still relevant, now with extra polish and always enjoyable.

Suzi Sabotage – Nazi Goths, Fuck Off (The Cassandra Complex Remix) | Suzi Sabotage | Strict Tempo

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Run To Sleep is a very, very new band and their debut single is the industrial “Purity of Sin.” Based in Naarm (Melbourne), this is the project of Jarrad Robertson (guitar) and Michael Johnson (modular synth), and if the name Robertson is a bit familiar, you might remember he is also is member of the dark, gothy rock group Sea Lungs.

The guitar is the focus, however it is the electronics that paint the tone. Heavy and fuzzed out bass like intonations, often breaking down into bleating miasmas of sound, whilst the delicate guitar sinews its way across the wasteland, almost apologetic for the abrasiveness.

There is something very early Sisters of Mercy about this track and I am talking the first EPs. Though an instrumental, it struck me that it is kind of in this vein due to the stark drum machine in sync with the melodic guitar, and the big difference being the heavy concentration of synths. This might be called darkwave industrial and I have to say I am quite enjoying Run To Sleep already.

Purity Of Sin | Run To Sleep (bandcamp.com)

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Mea Fisher may no longer be a vocalist for Lords Of Acid, but she is back with her new project Me And My Nightmare, and what better way to celebrate than by dropping the single, “Devil Inside” featuring the vocals of En Esch (Slick Idiot, <PIG>, Pigface, ex-KMFDM) Just when you thought your industrial dreams were fulfilled, Danny Lohner, guitarist for Nine Inch Nails just happens to be on the track as well.

Techno inspired synths and rhythms complement the purring vocals of Fisher, when she isn’t letting that devil out in the chorus. Esch brings the demonic to Fisher’s fallen angelic, with his gravelled vocals, and Lohner’s guitar work drives home the grittiness below the sheen of the electronics.

There are also two remixes that go with the single, including one by Sebastian Komor (Icon Of Coil, Strategic Command, Zombie Girl). I can see Fisher going from strength to strength, if this is the calibre she is serving up. Have to admit I did first first think of the INXS song of the same name at first, though no fear as this is a completely different beast or should that be devil? Come join Me And My Nightmare and find the sensual “Devil Inside.”

Devil Inside (Ft. En Esch) | Me And My Nightmare (bandcamp.com)

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Swedes Hatif have released a new single called “Broken Bucket,” which is the first track off the next to be dropped album, on the Town And Towers Records label.

The lilting guitar swaps at will with the intense synths, which sprinkle everything with their illumination. The vocals are sonorous and call us to the lyrics, where you can hear a message that is about broken systems and the turmoil that follows, destroying all before it.

The line ‘from the thought to the pull of in your index finger, from the plan to the act never stop to linger‘ in the chorus is exceptionally powerful. That act of pulling the trigger on a weapon has ripple effects that can be far reaching. The more I hear Hatif, the more they feel like a really exotic reincarnation of fellow Swedes, Covenant, and I think their stance in using music to take a stand is both compelling and wholly enjoyable. Don’t be the “Broken Bucket” for it holds nothing and this song means everything.

Broken Bucket | Hatif (bandcamp.com)

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Metropolis Records have welcomed Texas based electro-rock project SINE on-board, with the first single on the label released at the end of September, called “Trauma Bondage.”. Rona Rougeheart (vocals/drums) is the nucleus of the group and this single has Curse Mackey (Pigface, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult) contributing musically, mastered by Jurgen Engler of Die Krupps, and cowritten/coproduced by producer AwareNess with Rougeheart.

The rhythms are a guarantee that this is taking you to the dance floor to strut your sexy stuff. The synths are a mixture of techno nostalgia and cocktail noir, which are divine and work so very well with the mostly spoken lyrics by Rougeheart, which she imparts her intention to make her target undergo great anguish.

“Trauma Bondage” works so very well. It has this very classy sound and you really cannot pick anything bad about this track as it flows in perfection. You don’t need to suffer to enjoy “Trauma Bondage” by SINE….unless you really want to.

Trauma Bondage | SINE (bandcamp.com)

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