by on

Sweden’s Hatif are on the verge of releasing their next album, Small States, with Town And Towers Records. The electronic duo have dropped the last single for this album in March called “Direction.”

PHOTO BY DANIEL KWON

Pulsating and bouncing rhythms match perfectly the smoky synths, and that recognisable voice invites you into the hypnotic dance. The lyrics for the chorus ‘What we have to wish, what we have to do, what we have to look at when the sun sets on you,’ seem to speak of dreams and a past remembered, but also the end of those days .

I really love how Hatif always manage to mix the exotic strains of Middle Eastern music with modern electronic, that gives their tracks a really wonderful timeless feel, using invisible threads, tying us to other cultures. “Direction” is catchy while conveying a certain amount of introspection and observation, and is utter Hatif perfection.

Direction | Hatif

Facebook

Hatif (@hatifband) • Instagram photos and videos

by on

Fans of The Birthday Massacre have been waiting with bated breath, for the release of a new album, and it seems they don’t have much longer to hold on. Pathways will be out on the label Metropolis Records, however for now, you can immerse yourself in the new single “Sleep Tonight.”

There is a nice, harsh edge to the electronics to compliment the guitar. Chibi’s vocals are so much of what defines The Birthday Massacre’s sound, both sweet and strong… and occasionally creepy. For “Sleep Tonight” she is like an angelic dream, haunting, next to the weighty drum beats and raucous guitar, that hints at the promise of violence.

I remember first seeing The Birthday Massacre on a German music compilation video and proceeded to find the first album, and I thought it was amazing that these kids where putting out some great songs. Yeah, we won’t go into how old I feel now, but this band have never lost sight of their purpose in life and it has kept them accountable when creating music that is artistic and pleasing for themselves. “Sleep Tonight” proves that the wait was worth it, so bring on Pathways.

Sleep Tonight | The Birthday Massacre

Facebook

by on

Holy Toledo Batman. Pawn Pawn are a band from Ohio, birthed in 2018 and on the No Focus Records label. It is no long Halloween, but this is the title of their three track EP, released at the end of January.

The title is Halloween and you cannot have it without a bit of “Trick or Treat.” The beat is like the hurried footsteps of someone being followed by the neighbourhood friendly stalker. The vocals are slightly echoing and the lines ‘All the souls you steal will never be enough, The only thing that turns you on is unrequited love’, sung so sweetly, so you know this person is a keeper.

“I Can Only Tell You With My Eyes” could be at any disco night, hanging out, surrounded by dance music, with your obsession that you can’t pick up the nerve to tell them how you feel. It is wishing they could see those hints in your eyes. and while this plan won’t probably work, the track is still a sexy ode to the unwary.

What would you do anything to hold onto someone? “Jealousy Looks Good On Me” has mean streak with spikey guitars and even more abrasive electronics. The green eyed monster minces its way, sinuous and unable to accept rejection.

Let’s face it, it is always going to be spooky season for most of us, year round Halloween is an extension of this joyous, never ending fest, with three tracks exploring the darker side of the human condition. Let’s face it, humans are pretty much the scariest monsters on this planet. Pawn Pawn have mixed their take on obsession, jealousy and unhealthy one sided relationship, with music that is equally as dark and very enjoyable. This is Halloween.

Halloween | Pawn Pawn

Facebook

NoFocusRecords: Pawn Pawn

Pawn Pawn (@pawnpawnmusic) • Instagram photos and videos

Pawn Pawn (@pawnpawn.bsky.social) — Bluesky

by on

The Funeral March was breathed into life in 1987, also known as The Funeral March of the Marionettes, a US band heavily influenced by the early 80s post-punk scene. Original member, Joe Whiteaker, decided that the thirtieth anniversary might be time to revisit this project, and consequently added new band members Wayne Thiele (guitar) and longtime friend Darius McCaskey (bass). 2023 had the band recording the album It All Falls Apart, with musician/producer William Faith, at his 13 Studio. It wasn’t until the end of recording Whiteaker was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which took him from his wife and children, as well as his music family in 2024. A video for the title track, “It All Falls Apart” has been released just before the album drops.

JOE WHITEAKER (1968-2024)

“I’d like people to know how proud Joe was of this record. We had a great time recording what would become It All Falls Apart with William Faith in 2023, before Joe was diagnosed with cancer, and he was able to hear the final mixes before he passed away. Joe didn’t have a specific theme in mind – each song was written independently, some even several years ago – but as tracks were selected and refined, this idea of things and people breaking down and falling apart emerged.” – Darius McCaskey

The crying and echoing guitar curls your toes and it does not get much better than this. Whiteaker’s vocals are forlorn and calls out with the guitar, reaching for lost dreams and ideals, knowing everything is falling apart. His sighed ahs are the angelic acceptance.

This is a poignant tribute to a man and it fucking hits so hard. It already was a beautifully tragic song and with the passing of Whiteaker, just ramps up the overwhelming feeling of loss. It can be said that this is not like The Funeral March’s other work and you see them in a whole different light. There is a bigger point to all this that all monies raised from sales of It All Falls Apart can go towards his family. It is a good cause, and from someone who has heard the album, it is phenomenal and just highlights the dark wonder of a truly gothic heart.

It All Falls Apart | The Funeral March of the Marionettes

Facebook

The Funeral March (@thefuneralmarch) • Instagram photos and videos

by on

Warsaw is a hotbed for darkwave music, and Grief.Christ are hitting you with their 2025 demo, called Make me wish I couldn’t beg.

They have mastered the ability to create a pall of claustrophobia in the creeping “Sinner Messiah,” that oozes the intent of a want-to-be saviour that cannot leave the entrenchment of death. An air of insanity taints “Safekeeping” with clattering electronic rhythms and fuzzed out vocals that wind over the retro science fiction sounding synths. “Child of hate” is going to grind you up and spit you out with the whirring drone, and yet it is not the fault of the child. It is a modern litany of pain and hopelessness, culminating in the ultimate end.

Blood and bone are good plant food and the track “Blue blood makes the roses grow so red” suggests that the more upper class the blood, the better the quality. A duel of female and male vocals are the present reminder of a relationship gone very wrong. Final track is “Push me back,” and it echoes the sentiment of “Blue blood makes the roses grow so red,” reiterating the ideas of blood and roses, and for me, pays homage to the Bjork single “Army of Me.” in the turbulent rhythm and humming electronics.

This is a name your price on Bandcamp and that is pretty good for a five track EP. Most tracks average out at about three minutes, with each entrenched in heavily morose imagery combined with an industrial edge. This is Grief.Christ and Make me wish i couldn’t beg (demo 2025).

Make me wish i couldn’t beg | Grief, Christ

Facebook

Grief, Christ (@griefchrist) • Instagram photos and videos

by on

Portland based Mercury’s Antennae are back after a break with a new single,  “The Reflecting Skin,” which has been released on the Sett Records label and mixed by William Faith (Faith & the Muse/Bellwether Syndicate). Multi-instrumentalist, Erick r. Scheid of The Palace of Tears, vocalist Dru Allen and bassist Cindy Coulter, who are both from This Ascension, make up Mercury’s Antennae and an interesting tid bit you might not know is that Coulter and Faith are siblings, and Coulter was a live member of Faith & The Muse.

“This track has quite a storied history! I originally came up with the primary bass part back when I was in This Ascension with Dru in the mid 1990s! I presented it to the band, I jammed it out with our drummer Matt and Dru a number of times, but it was one of those ideas that just never took flight. It got shelved for decades, but I always felt like maybe it would find a home somewhere. Erick was very energized by the part and was like “we need to make this a song!” I didn’t have a chorus written, so we collabe’d on that, Dru added her wonderful lyrics and voice, and it all came together very nicely”. – Cindy Coulter

Allen’s voice has matured, and, to my ears become more powerful and evocative. Now that guitar, which happens to be a twelve string… it is sinuous and writhes in a glorious way, and yet it smoothly entwine with the synths, creating an echoing, dark ambience that feels timeless. This is a track that has waited until now to emerge, and maybe this was fortuitous, as it has received the sparkling Faith workover, and “The Reflecting Skin” is now a gothic gem by Mercury’s Antennae.

The Reflecting Skin (William Faith Remix) | Mercury’s Antennae

Facebook

‎Mercury’s Antennae – Apple Music

by on

THEODOROS is the solo project of Theodoros Dimitriou, who is also a founding member of Greek dark rock band Lefki Symphonia. With all new acts, there must be a debut single, and so we have “Every Day I Die,” which is off his first album of the same title.

The guitar is ominous from the start and Dimitriou’s vocals are laid back which feels utterly befitting, even with the rolling, danceable rhythms and occasionally wailing guitar riffs. The synths are subtle in the mix and this all highlights the dramatic lyrics and singing.

‘Every day I’m born again, Every day I die‘ and I am left wondering if this track is about when we sleep, if this is the death or if it is just fancy dark imagery. In any case, this post-punk song is easy on the ears and Dimitriou’s Greek accent adds to the mysterious allure. THEODOROS’ “Every Day I Die” will most likely lodge itself in your brain for a while and is a most worthy gothic club track.

Every Day I Die (Single) | THEODOROS

Facebook

DREAM RITUAL – Record Label and Publishing House

THEODOROS DIMITRIOU – Musician – Λευκή Συμφωνία/Lefki Symphonia

THEODOROS (@theodoros.dimitriou) • Instagram photos and videos

by on

New year and new single from the transatlantic team Lunar Paths. Diane Dubois and Kevin Hunter have dropped a technoir terror in the form of “Zero Trust Mentality.”

The clatter of looped rhythms, first started as drumming that Hunter laid down, have been fed into Dubois‘ sequencer, and it almost thunders, distorted and melding with the synths. An urgency from the electronics as they pulse frenetically, exploding around the cool vocals, that are almost spoken word, building the tension.

Apparently Meta in Facebook, at the end of last year (2024) left people wondering if they had been hacked, and honestly, in recent times, our online data has come under attack from individuals and even other countries. That is what this track is about, where we are finding new ways to protect our electronic lives. “Zero Trust Mentality” is kind of like Lunar Paths’ “Sleeper in Metropolis” and this might be an unconscious nod to Anne Clark. Not to mention the synths in the beginning have an 80s feel as it kind of reminded me of Japan’s excellent “Quiet Life.” This is Lunar Paths’ most industrial and dance floor friendly track in this era of “Zero Trust Mentality.”

Zero Trust Mentality | Lunar Paths

Facebook

Postpunk, Darkwave, Music | LUNAR PATHS

Lunar Paths (@lunarpaths.bsky.social) — Bluesky

by on

That’s right. We are covering two remixes by two bands who remixed each other’s last singles. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania boasts having both Hemlock For Socrates and Take Me With You, and it seems a shame to not review both these darkwave acts together.

We reviewed the Hemlock For Socrates’ original version of “You’re Not Here,” and it was a perfect song about a relationship that has gone sour. Now there is the Take Me With You mix, and it is has echoing and glitching vocals build the tension. The electronics are, for the better use of a word, prominent, with meatier rhythms. They do great justice to Shore’s singing, which is seductive and at some points, it almost sounds like a call to prayer at the house of sorrow.

“Chameleon” was released back in 2022 by Take Me With You, and the original is this cool dark electronic music with a vocalist that, at least in this track, sounds like Kate Bush. Wow, the remix by Hemlock For Socrates in a whole different creature, with bubbling programmed loops, making everything feel so light and space age. There are vocal distortions and odd bleeps that warm you further to the track.

There are no versions of these remixes on YouTube, but I figure you should still indulge in the singles before you have a listen on Bandcamp. It is wonderful to see independent musicians working with each other in the dark scene and I already knew about Hemlock For Socrates, but now I have another band to watch in the form of Take Me With You. They have reworked each other’s music and Interestingly enough, one is about losing a lover to indifference and the other about (I believe) an individual that needs medication but finds it changes everything about them, so it is never their true self. All this has brought us a whole lot more joy.

You’re Not Here – Take Me With You ‘Hands on Your Skin’ Mix | Hemlock for Socrates

Facebook – Hemlock For Socrates

Hemlock for Socrates (@hemlockforsocrates) • Instagram photos and videos

Chameleon – Hemlock for Socrates ‘Never Be a Girl Again’ Mix | Take Me With You

Facebook – Take Me With You

Take Me With You (@tmwyband) • Instagram photos and videos

by on

Summer is not ideal weather for the average gothy type, but Melbourne’s Velatine are powering on through with a new single “Granulated Sky.” I have a feeling Loki Lockwood might be part vampire, and only braves the outside when the sun has left the sky, and he is joined by the equally darkly delectable Nocturna on vocal duties.

There is a quality to Nocturna’s voice that reminds me of Johnette Napolitano, which could be the raw power, or, even more so, the raw conviction. Who is Bridget, and what has happened to her? Lockwood pulls out the slow southern gothic guitar strains, that speak of something unseen and lurking in the shadows.

The music video superimposes the dynamic duo over a snow covered forest that flips into a negative image, depending on the mood of the track. We might never know what happened to Bridget, unless Velatine decide to follow on a Hitchcockian theme, The music and especially the guitar work is immersive, and those vocals will haunt you in your sleep…. just the way we like it darlings under a “Granulated Sky.”

Granulated Sky | Velatine

Facebook

velatine – Link in Bio & Creator Tools | Beacons