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Recently we reviewed the full length album, Isolated And Alone by Schkeuditzer Kreuz, which is a journey in some ways, into the mind of the man behind SK, Kieren Hills. How did this power house record come into being and what makes Hills tick? Read on and find out……..

KIEREN HILLS – SCHKEUDITZER KREUZ

Welcome to the weird side Kieren Hills. You started off in the punk scene. What drew you to this music?

I first got into punk some point in the 80s when I was a teenager, starting with some of the more standard, commercial bands like the Clash/Sex Pistols etc and then delving deeper form there. All the time I was looking for music that sounded “more” – angrier, louder, more real, more intense. I didn’t want to hear anything nice but at the same time didn’t know what I wanted. I lived in town in New Zealand where the access to such things were kind of limited. I am not exactly sure what the first “industrial” song I heard was but it may well have been AFFCO by The Skeptics. A song that is musically intense but also had a pretty full-on video that was played about once on TV and then was banned. It resonated with me quite strongly and I loved the driving rhythm of it and the noise and the heart behind it. From there I started looking out for more industrial stuff as well as punk stuff. I didn’t see the two as separate really. They were different ways of expressing anger through sonic violence and aural assault and they both worked for me. Punk had always been (to me) more about energy than talent – not that you can’t have talent but if your music was more about showcasing your abilities than getting out your frustrations then it seemed to miss the point for me. And that feeling seemed to flow in the industrial stuff I was hearing – it was a raw release of energy, not the showing off of chops. So, most of the early industrial bands I saw – Cell, Invisible Dead, Children’s Television Workshop etc were slightly older (than me) punks who had just gone in a slightly different direction – away from guitars and more towards performance and making their own stuff.

Congratulations on not only the new SK album but also the new Dark Horse album as well. You always seem to be involved in a project, so how many are you currently a part of and will the gothic/post punk Death Church also be recording again?

Thanks! Right now I am mainly doing SK and Dark Horse. Darkhorse has been around for somewhere over a decade and I have been in it for 7 years or so. In normal times we play a lot, tour a lot, and release a record every couple of years. These times are not normal, so we are a bit stuck. Normally we would be overseas this year. SK is a full-time thing. I work on it almost every day. I will run through my songs at least once a day and when I am developing a set for tour that gets upped to twice a day. I also make the music videos, compose the art, write the songs, do all the booking and communication and all the other stuff that a band needs to do, and it takes a lot of time. I am not complaining here – it is just true that if you do a solo thing that wants to release and play a lot, it takes a heap of work. I have recently started jamming with a couple of friends with an intention towards Japanese metal/punk kind of stuff. It remains to be seen how much time I can put into that though. Once Dark Horse really kicks off again and SK is in full flight it might not leave a lot of down time.

As for Death Church – it is definitely dead. We never wanted to do anything with different members, or any kind of lineup change so with a guitarist in NZ, a singer in melbourne and a drummer doing her own thing, it is definitely over. It was a fun ride though.

Is Industrial music something you have always been interested in or has it been a music that you have found yourself being draw to?

As mentioned before – I saw industrial as an extension of punk. Most of the people I met who were doing it when I was young were punks who were a generation or two older than me who had gone that direction via the likes of Butthole Surfers, Big Black etc and the Neubauten, Laibach etc side of stuff kind of came to them and me later even if they were working on similar ideas. Obviously, there was no internet then to find music on and those European experimental records just didn’t turn up in NZ very often. But I always loved what I heard when people were getting percussive and experimental with their sound. My first attempt at actually starting an industrial band was with Glenn Maltby and a couple other friends in the 90s. It was never going to work though. Already the ideas of what industrial was had diverged sufficiently that we didn’t have as much common ground – from Insurge to ministry to NIN, Consolidated or whatever, industrial was entering into popular music and was getting more refined and more defined. And that has continued to where industrial can mean anything from a person beating a piece of sheet metal to club music with slightly harsher/more attacking drum tones than what you might hear at a mainstream nightclub.

Something I was pondering the other day – Punk is a noun. And it gets a bunch of adjectives attached to it: crust, hardcore, pop etc.

Industrial is really an adjective which gets attached to various nouns – dance, metal, hip hop, goth etc

This may seem like a pretty wanky thing to spend time pondering but the reality of it shows in the way that people react. People who like punk will often check out anything that comes under that heading. People who like one kind of industrial often have no time at all for other types of industrial. So, whereas punk community pages (for example) often have hundreds of comments and reactions to every post. Industrial pages usually have nothing at all. Because it is not a community, but just a description of different factions of other communities.

You lived in Germany for a time and that is where you got the name Schkeuditzer Kreuz. Can you tell us what is the Schkeuditzer Kreuz and why you decided on this as a project name?

If you are driving from Berlin, south, on Autobahn 9 and want to turn onto the 14 to go Leipzig, the intersection where you would do this is Schkeuditzer Kreuz – literally the kreuz (cross) near the town of Schkeuditz. I was making that trip once (in the opposite direction) and I drunkenly said to my friend who I was in the back of the car with that I would call a band that one day. So I did. It is also the oldest autobahn cross in Europe but that is pretty irrelevant. Before I called it that, I did make sure there wasn’t any particularly fucked history attached to it. I did not want to call my rather silly band after a place which had war atrocities associated with it or anything like that. But no. It doesn’t. It is just an intersection. Every now and then I will run into some random German who is somewhat perplexed as to why I would name my band after an intersection, and I never have a satisfactory answer for them. They usually buy a record from me anyway.

There was a lot of Laibach influence on the first EP with the more pronounced pomp but Isolated And Alone feels a little more raw. Does it feel that way for you and was part of the frustration being in lockdown for periods of time due to covid?

In between the Give Me Nothing EP and the LP I did the D-Beat Raw Synth Punk EP and I think some of the attitude I took into that one came across into the LP. There is more noise, more anger, more distortion and more layers of synth and samples. The Give Me Nothing EP is relatively sparse in comparison, I think. Even the songs that I used on both have changed in that way. I have no idea if my next recording will continue that way or not. I have two new songs in my set now that are not on any records and not only do they not really fit in with either sound, they are not even that similar to each other. I think when I find a bit more time to sit and write I will find a direction to head in next. Give Me Nothing was interesting for me – I was learning the machines I was using and working out how I wanted to express myself with them. I still have a lot to learn but I think I have developed a bit of a workflow. Each song on the GMN EP was written in a completely different way from the others as I tried new things. I hope not to get too settled though. There are a million things I don’t know about making noise and I want to try all of them.

Did you find writing and recording the album easy or was it a labour of love?

Musically, it is not so much easy as natural. I have always written songs in my head along to the sounds I hear around me – that could be the sound of musical instruments but could also be the pumping of the coffee machine, the sound of a train I am sitting on, the slight misalignment in the wheels of my car, the cracking of the machines in a factory I used to work at or the beep beep beep of a laser level. I would write riffs in my head to them. But now I also created the beats based on them. Some songs start with something that is actually musical – a synth line or whatever, but more often than not it is with a percussive pattern which I will put noise or voice samples to, to give it direction. Sometimes this is something traditionally musical – for example on Traitor I had a melody I had recorded on my phone of the painfully loud music played from the Tannoy in the street outside of a funeral in Siem Reap in Cambodia. It is piercing and confronting and played so that everyone in the neighborhood knows the funeral is happening. I had recorded this years ago and then looped it and based the whole speed and layout of the song on that loop. Other times it might be downloaded field recordings that other people have made – from factories, in the street, in conversation…. recently I found some recordings from the deck of a North Sea oil rig and wrote a song around them. From there I will follow up with synth lines – bass, melody (sort of melody anyway), drone etc. For each synth part I will create the sound from scratch. I use an analog synth, so I start with that single wave sound and develop it until I have what I want using both the inbuilt stuff on the synth and the array of distortion pedals I use. In the end – the hard bit is the vocals. I don’t think of myself as a singer. I struggle with my lyrical output. But I have worked out a way to at least write words I can live with and then I vocalise them. I think this is probably the weakest part of my sound but I am coming to terms with it.

The most punk thing in the world is to be found to be subversive by a Communist country, however it must have been galling to have your original pressing of Isolated and Alone confiscated by the Chinese government.

Fuck but this was so weird. I had the records pressed through a broker in Melbourne who uses a pressing plant in China. So we went through the process – sent them my master and they cut it to their stamper plates and sent me the test presses. I was happy enough with them and asked them to continue (all standard up to this point) and then a couple weeks later I got a phone call – the factory had pressed my records and boxed them up to send but before they were sent, they were inspected by some official or another who decided that due to content they were not suitable for export. So they destroyed the lot. Everything. I have heard words like “subversive content” and similar but who really knows? They didn’t like it so I couldn’t have it. So we started again from scratch. New plates, new tests, new records. In the end I am just happy to have them in my hands.

Punk and industrial seem to have, for the most part become the social conscience of the music scene. How do you think this came about and does it resonate with you?

The politics of punk is what got me in there and kept me there. And industrial for me has the same feel. I don’t mean big P politics necessarily – just some kind of social conscience and attitude. Angry music without a conscience is just a temper tantrum and doesn’t hold my attention for long. This is not to say that every song must be a specific political doctrine. There are definitely SK songs that are quite personal but they are still aware of how the personal crosses over to the political.

The proceeds of the album sales are going to a charity that helps and support young Trans people. Tell us about this and what other causes you find yourself drawn to.

Yeah, all digital proceeds go to Transcend. Transcend is run by a wonderful woman named Beck in Melbourne who has been helping young trans people for many years now. I have met her personally a few times at various events but known of her for longer. She and her family are a large part of the reason for some of the trans positive law reform of the last few years. Trans people, and particularly trans youth, are often left out of any conversation on the rights of the population so I figured I would do my small amount to help. I have been involved in various causes over the years both through my music and through my actions – refugee assistance, trans support, anti-racism work, pro-choice advocacy. Mostly stuff where my big mouth and (where necessary) big body can help back up people whose voice is being ignored.

What music formed your formative years and by progression, who do you find now inspires you?

First band I really got into was The Clash. And I still love them now. Although some of my feeling for them has changed – when I first heard them, they seemed quite shouty and punk or whatever. What I really appreciate about them though, and how their influence has stuck with me over the years was their willingness to try different things and go in different musical directions and to create new sounds. From there I went through the normal run of punk bands that one does – Sex Pistols, Exploited, Siouxsie, SLF etc until one day in about 1987 when I was in hospital for an extended visit and one night nurse turned up with a tape he had made for me from a punk radio show – this opened my eyes to so much amazing music – Subhumans, Conflict, and Crass for a start but also bands like Puke from Sweden and then further down into European hardcore. I guess that was a pretty life changing moment for a 15 year old. Now days I feel I am getting inspired by something new every day. All the time I am coming across so much amazing music being made by people from around the world. From grindcore like Self Deconstruction (Japan) to evil doomy sludgy stuff like Religious Observance or Whitehorse (Melbourne) to dark curst bands like Ego (Germany) or black metal like Black Kirin and Zuriaake from China to weirdness out of the States like Hustler or whatever. Pretty much not a day goes past where someone doesn’t go “hey Kieren – check this!” and there is always something incredible attached. There is so much amazing music being created right now and most of it is available directly from the bands on their Bandcamp.

You have tour dates established for the East Coast of Australia, so what will be the plans for SK after the tour? Will there be another album and/or were there rumblings about touring overseas at some point?

So, yeah, after the tour… I am not sure. I really want to go and play in Europe. I have toured there with various hardcore bands I have been in, but I would very much like to take SK over there. Of course, that depends on what happens with the virus though. If it starts to settle, I will start looking at booking shows there. I am trying not to put too much mental energy into that yet though. Likewise, I was going to go to NZ but that is out for now. I want to add more to my Australian travels. I haven’t been to Tasmania or W.A with SK yet so will get that happening. My next recording I am not sure what I will do with that. Maybe a split with someone inappropriate. Maybe an ill advised single. I don’t really know. But I will keep going and keep creating stuff until it becomes too much like work and then I will stop. Can’t see that happening in a hurry though.

Thank you so very much for your time and looking forward to the latest tour!

Thanks for the interview. See you soon!

https://dorfpunk.bandcamp.com/album/isolated-and-alone

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Sometimes you are privileged enough to meet extraordinary people who are talented, make a difference in the world around them and most importantly are very human. Kieren Hills is definitely one of those rare humans. From Lawson, in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, he runs the label Dorfpunk, Dark Horse is his crust punk project, he has turned his hand to gothic fare with Death Church and has been involved in the music industry for a fair while. Schkeuditzer Kreuz is his one man industrial project and the first full length album, Isolated And Alone, was released on the 14th of December, which is a follow up to the EP, Give Me Nothing. I once described the music style as very Laibach and it still is but those harsh elements of industrial are very much present.

KIEREN HILLS -SCHKEUDITZER KREUZ

The song that kicks this off is the single “Broken“. From the start, you are going into Hills’ world with the warning that this is the representation of a brief psychotic episode. Massive reverb flies with the static, consuming your ears as the vocals savage your brain. It is the explanation of an episode where everything is over stimulating, you don’t want to die but the effort to actually live seems far too hard. The klaxons hail in “Warning” that has the drum machine pounding away as the music blares in.

All shall be reduced to the same particles of dust when the “Wraith” comes. The synths are almost ear bleeding in their pitch and give a sensation of dysphoria. All is lost as love and hope are wiped away to be replaced with fear and ultimately nothing. “State Violence State Control” has the blaring sirens of Australian emergencies services screaming in the background (so this is not the sort of song I will play in the car while driving because it always scares the crap out of me!!). If the title is familiar, that is because it is a cover of punk legends, Discharge, who are the godfathers of d-beat and this was also released on a split single but since then reworked and mastered for the album. It is every bit as angry as the original version, in electronic form, throwing two finger in the air to politicians, cronies and violent suppression of the masses.

Normally an interlude is a short piece to give the audience a break with some light music, that then soon gets back to the main entertainment or a bridge. “Interlude” is the interlude you are going to get and you better just hunker down and stick to the programme. It starts lightly enough with flowing synths before the rhythm picks up and Kieren informs you – It’s happened before It’s happened before And millions have died And millions have died And millions have died And millions of people have died. A warning that history is repeating itself because people either don’t want to see it or don’t educate themselves. The vocals bring forth visions of holocausts, military coups/enforcement, genocide and war.

Full of loathing and dark thoughts is “Disappointment” starting slowly and picks up speed as the those thoughts become a swirling overload. There is a beautiful synth line hidden within if one listens closely. It is like a veritable scream of fury into the aether, with the metallic beats. When someone refused to go to war because they were a conscientious objector, they were called cowards and “Traitors” to their country because they didn’t want to carry a gun and kill their own kind. Their is an urgency to this track like life itself depends on movement. Fittingly, the “Last Dance” is the final track and the track about finality. When the end comes will you have the last embracing waltz into the darkness? So I guess in a way though it sounds bleak there is a romantic side to it as well.

I am privileged to call this man a friend though I had seen him live before I had met him. In short his show blew us away. He is warm and charming, loves his family, music and pottering around in his garden because it brings him closer to nature. These things are also his sanctuary from the world and especially the last two years have been mentally difficult for many people.

100% of proceeds from digital sales will go to Transcend to help create a world where Trans, Gender Diverse and Non-Binary children are embraced and given every opportunity to thrive and flourish – the man has a beautiful heart and a keen ear.

Get in quick if you want the vinyl or cassette as they always go fast. Just to prove how hard core Schkeuditzer Kreuz truly are, the original pressings of the vinyl were done in China, finished and then confiscated after some complete and utter bastard had a listen, ending up in the whole batch being deemed subversive. That is so punker that thou. It’s an emotional roller-coaster but its well worth every moment and maybe you will find it as cathartic as Kieren Hills does because in the end we are not so Isolated And Alone.

https://dorfpunk.bandcamp.com/album/isolated-and-alone

Schkeuditzer Kreuz | Facebook

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Bad Habit Records | Facebook Bad Habit Records

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Michael Gillman (Gillie) and Daniel Allen are the brothers that make up the band Dirt Factory. Gillie is in Brisbane and Allen lives in Melbourne which means since the outbreak of the plague (covid) they have been in lockdowns for well over a year and unable to meet up or play live gigs unless doing them solo. This hasn’t slowed them down one iota because December the 3rd saw the third album released in two years, called Systems Deleted on Brisbane based label Viral Records Australia. Interestingly Dirt Factory almost exclusively use analogue equipment.

MICHAEL GILLMAN & DANIEL ALLEN – DIRT FACTORY

Oh yes from the start you can already hear how good this really is. “Delete The System” growls Allen, ‘fuck your commands‘ over rampaging rhythms that give this it’s bang. Second single, “Microscopic“, has guest, Roger Menso (ex-Dogmachine) on guitar and good grief, this is a new level Dirt Factory. It is a grimy, sexy beast of a song that takes your breathe away and gives you shivers up your spine. Allen sounds like a very angry dalek that has fully gone industrial and it sounds brilliant. Dirt Factory want to “Factory Assimilate” you and quite frankly I can think of worse things to do as the music beast down in industrial precision convincing you that you will obey. There is something symphonic and other worldly about “Hammer“. It experiments with low tones that sound like abused piano wires and high synths in direct opposition, while Allen is the bloody butcher. The original single is “Crash Landing“, because you know they are out there and they have those stellar synth lines and beats. Yes the aliens are here and you can listen to a report of an eyewitness and Allen’s inhuman screams.

Swallow the pill and “Suck It Up” is a dirge ridden number and I honestly can hear far too much innuendo. “Dive” is just a superb piece with sweeping electronics that fritter out and arc around you like electrical tendrils. Soundscape mixed with such hostile vocals. Jethro Hilliard (RAZRWHIP) guests on this track providing drums and sound effects. This has to be one of my favourite tracks on the albums. But wait, they then slam us with “Digital Media” with guitar provided by another member of RAZRWHIP, Johnny Ryall, who nails the electronic fuzzy tones that help propel this forward in real rock style. The next track is all about the animated dead…spooky. “Flesh” is horror inspired zombie fare with glitching beats and vocals as they stalk you. In the “Exstream” they are observing you, surveillance of every aspect of your life and you can be brainwashed but are you too involved in the conspiracies? Final eleventh track is “Ghosts” and this just is just a great bouncing track and probably the most reminiscent of Skinny Puppy and it pumps.

I love what they have done with Allen’s vocals and Gillie is just so talented with synths. This is a monster of an album, again beautifully mastered at NyteShayde by Menso. If this doesn’t get your heart rate up then you might be dead. The really scary part is that I already know that the lads have almost finished their fourth album which is both mind blowing and disturbing all at the same time. Gillman also revealed that the next album is already darker. So before they stab their way repeatedly with rhythmic timing through your chest, do listen to “Systems Deleted” because it kicks arse.

https://dirtfactory.bandcamp.com/album/systems-deleted

Dirt Factory | Facebook

https://nyteshaydemusic.bandcamp.com/

NyteShayde | Facebook

https://viralrecordsau.bandcamp.com/

Viral Records Australia | Facebook

https://viralrecords.com.au/

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When brothers Eric and Jeremy Hanes of Spankthenun released the album Bunker Tapes Vol I, in the beginning of 2021, they found they had created enough material to record Bunker Tapes Vol II, which hit us on October, the 27th. Spankthenun have been on the scene since 2019 and yet they are already an integral part of the American and world wide industrial scene with feature artists, other bands remixing their music and a huge number of guest remixes for other acts under their belts.

ERIC HANES & JEREMY HANES – SPANKTHENUN

The lads roped in Claus Larsen of Leæther Strip fame, to guest vocal on the single “Off Beatings” which of course had to be a single. This is a slow burn of angst that Larsen pulls off so well. There is something about the beginning of “I Self Me” that invokes goosebumps, it is possibly the scintillating synths mixed with the gritty vocals. Is it just me, or does the little electronic voice sound like the robots aboard the Cylon mother ship of the original Battlestar Galactica in “The Smoking Gun”? Nefarious things are afoot. It was never you says Jeremy in his abrasive metalized observation before we are hit with the rather dance-able “Right Father“, a call to keep the bastards in power honest and accountable, because it is true that the more the wealthy will continue to reap the cash and watch the poor fade away.

“Sick Pathos” again has those brilliant beats that propel it along and lead into “Man In The Moon“, who sounds like a rather vicious fellow who spreads descent and mistrust with the music taking on the dark oppressive attitude. “Industrial Beats” definitely have industrial beats that pound on because there is a specific list of things this industrialist likes and needs. Hard to tell if this is tongue in cheek or not but make sure you get your beets (sic) as they are now stuck in my head. We all live in the broken machine,lockdown is “Lockdown” and honestly two years ago, the term lockdown was used for security facilities mostly and not civilians but now it is common vocab in this dystopian feel track.

The nonsensical “I Am The Fire” is a bit of a fun and the last track before the four guest remixes of which the first is the Mirland remix of “Off Beatings” with it’s more crunchy textures that the Europeans do so well. Nature Of Wires polishes “Right Father” and it is given a more sci fi feel while “The Smoking Gun” is given the treatment by Planet Damage and this becomes a different creature. Last of these great remixes is the Psychosomatik and they take “I Self Me” to dance floor heaven

Listening to Spankthenun really is a bit like a timewarp and landing back in the 90s when there was a turn towards a heavier, gritty tone lead by Skinny Puppy, Ministry et al. There are tell tale signs of the 80s industrial influences that graduate into the 2000s by the end of the album which was done on purpose. The remixes are the modern cream on top so to speak. Social concious mixed with great music never goes wrong and Spankthenun has both.

https://spankthenun.bandcamp.com/album/the-bunker-tapes-vol-ii

https://www.facebook.com/spankthenun/

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Plastic Assault Network (PAN) is a new super group to hit the scene. Founded by singer/songwriter Robert Andrew Bowman (Randolph’s Grin) who has pulled talent from across three continents, including fifteen musicians into his cyberpunk collaboration. Their second single was released in November called “Wall Breaker“.

Walls are funny things. They have been built to keep people safe while keeping others out, then others have been built to hold humans in so they cannot escape. Those are the physical walls but even when they crumble the mental ones remain. “Wall Breaker” is about overcoming all barriers that cause conflict, hatred and bias. The vocals are passionate about the fear used to control the masses. This gets nice and bass heavy, with the electronics swirling and filling every space with sound, making the song come crashing down on your senses.

As you would expect from a project with several studios involved, the sound is seamless and crystal clear production. Have to say it is always satisfying hearing a real drummer smashing it in the rhythm section and this is Jörn Schwarzburger (Randolph’s Grin). Co-producer is Per-Anders Kurenbach (ex Psyche, The Eternal Afflict, Shock Therapy, Dark State, reADJUST, Nine Circles) who is well known for his mixing skills and keyboard wizardry, while on backing vocals duty as well as drums and guitar is Reyka Osburn of Death Valley High fame. So what is next for Plastic Assault Network? I guess we watch this space but it is a rather exciting prospect where they take this. Industrial music is the beating heart of resistance, speaking for those who that cannot.

https://plasticassaultnetwork.bandcamp.com/track/wall-breaker

Plastic Assault Network | Facebook

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There are some albums that come around and they make you stop in your tracks with the pure musical delight they are. Brisbane based Jerm is Stephanie Ganfield and she released her debut, self titled album on October 22nd. Jerm’s style I would describe as experimental electro-industrial with gothic overtones.

The delicate fluctuating rhythm free flows into the distortion and the gorgeously sensual vocals alight it all and this is just the beginning of the album with “White Lies“. It graduates in power and the synths sprinkle down. The single. “Make Your Mind” is a little creepy with the whispered lyrics asking you to make your mind up and yet there is this glorious chorus that sweeps you skyward. “At Night” has an odd syncopation but it works giving the song an even more languid feel, as though there is a hopelessness in the darkest hours of the night.

Her voice is mesmerizing in “Left Behind“, a single released back in 2018 under the moniker Germ, and the electronics just highlight the sweetness and purity of the singing. It is exciting to hear something that is experimental and so stimulating, which brings us to “Gem” with bursts of noise like mini fireworks erupting in the background. Slow and thought provoking with so much movement within the track. There is the brief interlude with the instrumental “Dissect” just before another single, “Brain Candy” and it is just extrodinary. Musically it is beautiful and expansive, with harsh edges, ready to hook into your skin and the concept if you take away what makes a female look feminine, still the sweetness and colour is all in the brain, that which makes you. Final track is “Beg”, that takes on a heartbeat that will, at any given moment, go into tachycardia. A beautiful way to end.

The production is great and the music has such near visible texture and a vibrancy that is breathtaking. As for Ganfield’s vocals, they are true and clear, combined with the darker lyrical content, you could be forgiven for thinking she is an angel who lost her way in this dirty world and to be fair, lucky for us. Even if you are not into industrial music, do not let this deter you from having a listen to Jerm.

https://jermnoise.bandcamp.com/releases

Jerm | Facebook

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Hybrid Blak Records is an up and coming label run by Keith Kamholz who is Mechanical Vein and also a member of Biomechanimal. He has gathered together, from across the globe, tracks from artists in the electronic and industrial scene to create Blaktracks II, which is indeed a second compilation they have released. Blaktracks II came out on October the 29th, 2021 and the mastering was shared by Zardonic, Keith Kamholz and a few of the bands doing their own.

Kicking off is MORIS BLAK x KALCYFR with “A Touch Of Malice“. I don’t expect any less from MORIS BLAK than something that will blow us away and we are not disappointed. Metal vocals over huge drum beats, massive guitar riffs and those bass drops that you feel in the pit of your stomach. “King Of Cups” is the offering from Biomechanimal and it is a short but lethal punch to the throat with their mix of perverted metal dubstep.

Sinister Souls x Mechanical Vein’s “No Light City” is a mix of hip hop and drum & bass with a healthy dose of cyber punk attitude. It reminds me just a little of “Freestyler” by Bomfunk MCs, except with teeth. Duo, SO CALLED, are DJs/producers and they are behind the glitch electronica of “Hypno“, who are trying to influence your mind through their catchy rhythms.

Don’t let the beginning of Sentinel Complex’s “Last Judgement” fool you. The sedate flow does not last and launches into an amazing, crazed Bach like musical opus but with synths. For a second bout, we hear from Mechanical Vein, this time joined by Saltee. “All Gods” has a great exuberance in tandem with the fierce and outraged lyrics. If you are looking for something immense with huge beats and a bass drops that just throw you down, then look no further than TriS and their “Warcall“.

Static Starlight’s track “Linkin Bizkits” gives us electronic screams within the depths of frizzing synths, as it pummels your senses with the dance beat. Let the insanity ensue with “KIRA“. I believe Kofin may have been inspired by the Japanese anime Akira, from the Japanese vocal clips to the emulation of the the epic soundtrack. It is definitely amazing and you can’t help but bounce around to it.

Prophectical with “Aletheia” go from breaking beats to electronically created soundscapes and there is a lot of finesse in the buildups and near classical lulls. They are coming to get you, for this is “DEHUMANIZE” by Truly Significant. You can feel them in the song stalking and the panic between the driving guitar and rhythm, only to lull you into oblivion at the end. Sadly we are at the last track, “King Of Nothing” by ER4SE. This is probably the most calm of all the tracks with it’s use of auto tuned vocals and more laid back style. After having being bombarded with all that heavy bass, ER4SE is the cool compress.

Hybrid Blak’s Blaktracks II is a very slick production with a lot of very talented popular acts and no so known but equally skilled musicians whom are on the rise. It is nice to see the industrial/electronic scene supporting each other this way. The music is red hot, cutting edge and will probably blow your mind…. in the best possible way.

HYBRID BLAK | Facebook https://hybridblak.bandcamp.com/album/hybrid-blak-blaktracks-ii

MORIS BLAK | Facebook https://morisblakngp.bandcamp.com/

KALCYFR | Facebook

Biomechanimal | Facebook https://biomechanimal.bandcamp.com/music

Sinister Souls | Facebook https://bandcamp.prspct.nl/

Mechanical Vein | Facebook https://mechanicalvein.bandcamp.com/

SO CALLED | Facebook https://socalled.bandcamp.com/releases

Sentinel Complex | Facebook https://sentinelcomplex.bandcamp.com/

Saltee | Facebook https://saltee.bandcamp.com/

TriS | Facebook https://trisedm.bandcamp.com/

Static Starlight | Facebook https://officialstaticstarlight.bandcamp.com/

Kofin | Facebook https://kofin.bandcamp.com/

Prophectical | Facebook https://prophectical.bandcamp.com/releases

Truly Significant | Facebook https://trulysigni.bandcamp.com/

ER4SE | Facebook https://oaktopus.bandcamp.com/

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Matt Hart is continuing his musical odyssey of humans being hunted down by machines with his November 15th release of the single, “To The Core“. Terra 3808 is the album that first brought you this tale, but what has happened to the humans since the alien machines took control?

MATT HART

If you lived in an apocalyptic world, I’m pretty sure you would feel the desperation and anger in this song. The humans are burrowing into the earth to escape certain death, should they remain on the surface, with the machines who are intent on cleansing the planet.

The insistent and pounding rhythm on the heels of the fleeing survivors, the harsh guitar, Hart barking and snarling to go faster and deeper, all adds to the claustrophobic atmosphere. As always this is going to sound so good on a dark dance floor. So now we are waiting to hear the album because Mart Hart does fine industrial but more importantly, we need to know how this turns out for the last traces of humanity…

https://matthart.bandcamp.com/track/to-the-core

MATT HART | Facebook

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Gravity Corps is a new project from Denver, Colorado but the man behind it is no stranger to the industrial music scene. Mark Sousa is best known for Voicecoil, though currently, on November the 5th, he has launched an EP, Zero Grav, under the Gravity Corps name.

There is definitely a science fiction feel to Gravity Corps and this is evident from the first track “Scared To Death” from the whispers and echos to futuristic synths. The single off the EP, “Another Day“, is very danceable, because, and may I dare say it, there might be a little bit of disco hiding within. It is a bloody good track!

What would happen if you lived the high life for long enough? One would guess parts of your fragile human body would stop working which is the premise of the rolling track, “Decadence Is Dangerous” while “Cold And Elegant” seems the perfect song to follow up. The chorus is so catchy and I would have to say my favourite track. Oh, wait, “Selling Sorrow“with it’s future pop soul, that drags you along with it, is great as well. So, the moral of the story is, the longer you listen to this EP, the more it sucks you in and converts you. Well played Gravity Corps, well played. You got me hooked with you bag of rather good tunes. In space, no one can hear you scream but in Zero Grav you can have a jolly good time.

https://gravitycorps.bandcamp.com/album/zero-grav-ep

Gravity Corps | Facebook

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SINE is Rona Rougeheart, who is a singer, drummer and Texan. Rougeheart has been unleashing music under this pseudonym since 2016 and on the 29th of October, a new remix of the latest single, “Realitease” was released called “Virtual Realitease“. The bonus is that it has been remixed by Andee Blacksugar who is Black Sugar Transmissions and also the guitarist/composer for industrial group KMFDM.

From the breathy, electronic incantations of virtual to the funky guitar that takes flight into a magnificent solo, this is a pretty classy piece. Actually it reminds me a lot of Prince’s tracks from around the late 80s that were always heavily funk beat based and always tied up with that virtuoso guitar playing.

The original single and this remix can be found on the album Desire, Denial and Paramania that was released at the beginning of October this year. This is an odd mix of mellow versus electronic/electric sparks and it damn well works. Have a listen and then check out more SINE.

https://sineofficial.bandcamp.com/track/virtual-realitease-black-sugar-transmission-remix

https://www.facebook.com/SINEbandofficial