When The Soft Moon’s Jose Luis Vasquez suddenly passed away, it sent a ripple of shock through the darkwave/industrial community worldwide due to the refreshing influence of his songs. LOVER/ABUSER is a relatively new band from Arizona and they have covered TheSoftMoon’s track “CHOKE.”
Though the time signature is the same, this new version is saturated with reverberating guitar, so not necessarily less electronic but with a more metallic taste. You can definitely recognise “CHOKE,” but it is nice to hear that it isn’t a carbon copy with the cleaner vocals from possibly more than one singer. A tribute to a lost icon from LOVER/ABUSER, and maybe check out their other track, “Star Nursery” with it’s classical piano lit with moonlight.
Out on the British label UtopianMechanics, Stockport based ThroughTheGloom have just released the new ambient electronic EP, DarkPatterns.
Opening track “PerfectDark” gives the atmosphere of an anti sunrise, as if the shadows are creeping forward, encroaching on all. Deep tonal aberrations escape from the virtual abyss, with a tribal electronic twist in “HostileArchitecture.” An ancient drone with a female vocalisation, almost Middle Eastern in sound, creating a mystical allure. There is a reverence in the beginning of “WhispersWithin” and indeed there are the hushed voices within the mix. The piano wanders, as if a lost train of thought, trapped in a slowly decaying cycle.
“Llanto” is gently laid before you, analogue sounding keys greeting you intermittently, which is nothing like the track “Cut Their Tongues.” Finely abrasively with foreboding, building with divine and ancient righteous portent, setting your teeth on edge. The vocals are strained and full of warning as the background is filled with tribal rhythms. Final track, “NostromosReckoning” is like a breath of fresh air after being compressed by the last track. It soars on gossamer wings, expansive and billowing into an infinite horizon
For me, this style of experimental and soundscape electronic music should fuel the imagination, taking you away from the mundane, inspiring joy, wonder and even fear of each new world opened to us. Through The Gloom has this in spades on Dark Patterns.
HeatherShore and KeganHeiss are the cool kids from Pittsburgh. Their cool factor lays in the fact they are duo behind the avant-garde post-punk project Hemlock For Socrates, who have a new single out, titled “You’re Not Here.”
Shore’s vocals are the focal point, lilting and mesmerising within the pulsating electronics. The guitar adds an air of experimental surrealism, as the track divulges a relationship where one never seems to get close enough to truly understand or know the other, as if they are hiding who they really are.
With “You’re Not Here,” you can almost taste the traces of sadness and frustration, while the static electronics give the impression of a glitch in the human. HemlockForSocrates always seems to pull off the coupling of ethereal and bohemian, creating something beautifully evocative.
There are many women from the small screen whom gothic culture adore, such as LilyMunster, Elvira and Vampira, but today it is the iconic “MorticiaAddams” which coincidentally is the debut single from the London based electro-industrial band PinkPantherProject. Record label, TheCircleMusic, will be releasing the double album IntoxicatingEmbrace from members Uela, AlexK and EtherMu in September.
True to form, the electronics are there, up front, promising a cracking darkwave dance piece. Uela’s vocals are breathy, perfectly complimenting the subtle electronics and all lyrics are sung in German, leaving you somewhat intrigued.
The Circle Music have put together a rather charming music video consisting of cuts from TheAddamsFamily (1964/65) television show, which fits the track well. “MorticiaAddams” is definitely worthy of not only being played on dancefloors, but also in personal playlists when you want a bit of pep in your darker music listening. I think we will be watching this space when it comes to the Pink Panther Project as I think they could be doing some amazing things.
The end of June saw the new single from the UK’s ParisAlexander and Eirene called “BloodLine” released. The duo often collaborate creating dark synth music and the best place to find their music is on Bandcamp.
There is no disappointment with “BloodLines,” from the pulsating synths that revolve building up the tension, spilling into Eirene’s exquisite vocals. There is even delicate vocal play between Eirene and Alexander and if you listen carefully a guitar also subtly creeps into your subconscious.
You could say there is tension in this track and maybe it is from the knowledge that even though we live, we are also in the process of dying. Eirene and Alexander are very good at creating sensuous music that can hypnotise the listener into moving involuntarily to the rhythm. “BloodLines” is yet another example of this prowess.
RobertBenaquista brings you Cucurbitophobia, the project so grim, it is named after the fear of pumpkins, and after sowing the seeds, he has reaped the new album called IV. Cucurbitophobia is a darksynth/neo-classical project hailing from New Jersey.
You have entered the time of nightmares where nothing seems real and all is covered in a pall of dusky sorrow. The fires burn cold in this hellish wasteland that is “IgnisSatanae,” dragging you into the shadow realm. “GaleofLucifer” is the quiet before the oncoming storm, an entourage of building anticipation of dark angelic release, ticking like a timebomb, never getting any faster, as if your doom means nothing in the whole scheme of things. The solo guitar sets your teeth on edge in opposition to the piano. You are now on the “SoilofBelial,” and the devil is going to welcome you. From within the cacophony, if you listen carefully enough, you might hear the voices of lost souls wailing in the distance.
Like something from BlackSabbath, the guitar holds sway, the creator of organised chaos and then, yet, there are periods of reflective electronic dismay, distant and disconcerting. You shouldn’t be here and the tension rises for whatever is in the dark is baying for your blood. The creature in the “Bay of Leviathan: Chapter I” calls out from the deep and it almost feels like sanctuary, a ray of light in the gloom. The piano takes its place, making you feel most uneasy, rippling through the surrounds, and into the murky unknown. Unlike the previous track, “Bay of Leviathan: Chapter II” starts so differently, tasting of gentle breezes and fingers of sunshine breaking through to the shimmer water’s surface….though is it almost a lament in a way, the piano plinks in a sporadic wandering, modern avant-garde style. Final track “Memento Vivere” continues in this vein, conjuring shadows of memories along with raising the ghosts of what is lost.
If you haven’t quite caught the drift yet, Cucurbitophobia is very much entrenched in the horror genre. Music that imprints on your psyche and tugs at your base human instincts that recognises fear and aberration. Why is the album called IV? It isn’t the fourth album. Curiosity abounds. Benaquista has said that the inspiration is from John Milton’s “Paradise Lost,” a poem about the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden… a loss of innocence that can never be regained and the full realisation that what we do not know terrifies us, captured in a mirror like reflection by Cucurbitophobia.
MarkusMajdalani and JohanEckerström are the duo that make up Sweden’s darkwave act Hatif. In 2022, they debuted their album EverythingIsRepetition and there you can find the track “City Beneath the City,” which has been given a music visualiser.
The song eerily rings true of current events, countries enduring a state of war where the streets, houses, schools and everything people have ever known are obliterated in air strikes, searching for family and trying to survive. A man on a loop, walks down a street, surrounded by debris, towards the light while you listen to the dulcet tones of Hatif, “City Beneath the City” is a great track to revisit, and if this is your first time listening to Hatif, then you should check out their album.
When creating music, is the artist doing it for themselves to induce joy or for the audience, who may not be so receptive or critical? The latest track from Melbourne’s Velatine delves into this quagmire, delightfully called “FCKYOUALL,” out on the SpookyRecords label.
This is not some punk song, as this is doom coming to get you with death tolling bells and Lockwood is joined on vocals by BarbDwyer. There is a more industrial tone to the electronics and indeed the chorus is a resounding ‘fuckyouall.’
The commentary of the lyrics is about the toll of being an artistic type in the alternative genre, where it can be a thankless slog to gain recognition, often leading to mental health issues, then relying on substances like alcohol and drugs to get that kick. This is a much darker and harsher sound for Velatine, if that is possible for a goth project, and it is accompanied by a music video, shot in black and white by MarkBakaitis , as the duo stalk through the night-time streets of Melbourne with no fucks given. And honestly, I think we all need to occasionally let off steam and say “FCKYOUALL.”
CharmaineEvonne (vocals), TraceyWhorton (drums), DirkMiller (guitar) and PeterGuellard (bass, programming) make up Pittsburgh dark rock band dichro, who dropped their latest single with video, on the label Distortion Productions, called “Mercy.”
A sassy double bass in southern bayou swing, greets your ears, while the guitar wails in the blues of “Mercy.” Evonne’s vocals goes from vibrato to singing the rock from her soul into your bones. There is also the extra bonus bombastic Psycho-Brutalist remix by Psychotribe which ups the electronic factor, glitching and fritzing delightfully.
“Mercy” is a groovy number that shimmies and shakes seductively, holding you in awe, which might just mean that there be some sort of voodoo magic spell placed on you by dichro.
Darkwave/industrial three piece, MatteBlvck are based in San Diego, California, and on the verge of dropping the new album Vows, have released the single “PupulaDuplex.”
The cool vocals announce ‘I am nothing‘ above the electronic clacking, pulling you into the track straight away. There are huge lulls followed by intense punching rhythms and synths, inviting you to re-join the manic dance whilst facing your own inner demons.
“PupulaDuplex” most certainly is a throwback to the 90s, recalling the bass and drum filled music of iconic bands such as Prodigy and AphexTwin, which drop you like a rollercoaster and then build up that tension again. But then, they aren’t a carbon copy, as MatteBlvck inject their own underlying darkness into this genre. Gritty and bleak.
Onyx Music Reviews 