Woohoo and the year kicked off with a bang. German industrial meisters, ROTERSAND hit the ground running with a new single, “Higher Ground” as of New Years Day 2023, on the label MetropolisRecords. It is has been exactly a year since the release of the previous single “Grey“, and though we have been able to hear the guys performing remix magic last year, the exciting news is that “Higher Ground” is heralding the countdown to a new album!
From the beginning, already, the skin is goose fleshing in anticipation with the build-up. Nikov’s vocals really are just silken and ever smooth, an observation that some people will always be a beacon of hope and sanctuary, even at their own discomfort. I even detect the strumming of an acoustic guitar. That is before it all just takes flight with that fabulous synthie pop beat and surging electronics coming at you in waves.
The Evendorff remix is fresh and intense, like a blast of concentrated ROTERSAND,which makes it pretty electric. Beautifully recorded and mastered. Also, there is the radio edit version, but that is neither here nor there as “Higher Ground” is a little piece of EBM magic
The industrial machine that is Mach FoX, has teamed up with producer/EBM musican, Zeven Odd Gods, aka D.Corri, and the end product is the single, “A Sickness“, released on the 16th of December.
Slick EBM beats ooze into your ears, picking up your heartbeat. Subtle synths waver in the background, while the electronics deliver the jolts to make your body move and FoX’s vocals are the mantra. The sickness is all consuming, a fever of needing to replace the soft human flesh, that is so unreliable, with cybernetics.
The constant augmentation to become more machine has become “The Sickness“. FoX’s vocals/lyrics/arrangement, really blends in very well with the music production of Zeven Odd Gods, complimenting each other. So, if this is the sickness, hopefully there is no cure.
A new single was released on the MachinaAd Noctem label for electronic project, Edge Of Decipher, which features the vocals of Priestessdeath. “The Waves” will also appear on Edge Of Decipher’s soon to be unleashed album, in February 2023.
The cool electronic waters wash over you, submerging your senses, while Priestessdeath is the voice and embodiment of the waves, giving them a spiritual quality…. deities that are free flowing and unquantifiable. The poetic lyrics are by Edge Of Decipher, an ode to an unquenchable passion.
The b-side is a track called “High Rise“, lyrics penned and performed by Priestessdeath. Shimmering synths are at odds with the fuzzed vocals, singing spiralling through space, caught by the gravitational pull of heavenly bodies, leaving a trail of tinkling notes in the wake.
The last two tracks are instrumental versions of “The Waves” and “High Rise” which are Edge Of Decipher’s bread and butter, flowing effortless, a journey on space tide, controlled by moonbeams. That’s the beauty of these tracks. The vocals by Priestessdeath give the music another facet and yet you can easily let your imagine run away with the instrumental. I suggest you let “TheWaves” take you.
Ludovic Dhenry is back with his darkwave project, Eleventh Fear and a new EP. Out on Neris Records, the EP is called Waldhexen, and released on the 29th of November.
From the outset of “Waldhexen“, the build up alludes to a electronic trip of beat filled ebony darkness. The hissed whispers are the promise of portent. The flickering and stalking atmosphere of “Wald der Seelen“, has those beautiful synth chords that choke the air around you like a smoke imbued room. Tod basically means death and maybe death is awaiting you in the track, “Wie im Tod“, as it slowly creeps through and it is followed by “Waldhexen“, the remix version with its far more dance floor stylings, which sounds amazing.
As far as gothic electronic projects go, Eleventh Fear is really interesting, with the use of German lyrics by the French Dhenry, that gives the ambiance of a movie like Metropolis mixed with dulcet tones of Voldemort concocting a dangerous spell. You might need some Waldhexen in your life.
What happens if you get two blokes, Gary Watts and Jay Taylor, to create music? The answer is Nature Of Wires vs j:dead and the new single “Thrive“, which came out on the 8th of December.
From the outset, there is the thumping rhythm and energetic synths, which points to a floor filler, and although there are lulls, this is just gathering you up for the roller-coaster ride. The j:dead vocals are spot on. Imploring, pleading and plumbing the emotional depths of the drudgery that is everyday living. Things such as job and general existence are weighing down on your shoulders, sucking the joy out of everything.
The music is very much Watts and you can hear it in the way the synths are crafted into this sophisticated industrial whirlwind, that supports and cradles the vocals. There is also the added extra bonus of being able to hear the Nature Of Wires remix of “Afraid“, which was originally only released on the physical copy of the EP, Vision Of Time.
Covid decimated the music festival scene, around the world for 2020, 2021 and a good chunk of 2022. Things are coming back to normal and in fact, you can add a new festival to endeavour to attend. Dark Force Fest will kick off in 2023, over three days, March 31st to April 2nd, in New Jersey, USA.
The event is being run by VampireFreaks, at the Sheraton Hotel, in Parsippany and this is not the first time the venue has been used by the VF crew. The hotel was built like a castle, including crenulations (just in case you find yourself in a siege situation with all those goths).
There will be over 100 vendors, to buy things that make your little dark heart happy, clubs, costume competitions and sideshow performances. However, the most important thing is the music… there will be 30 plus bands/artists ranging from darkwave through to industrial. A chance to see pioneers such as Das Ich and Suicide Commando, big hitters Combichrist, Solar Fake, HEALTH, EmpathyTest and ACTORS plus brilliant acts like MORIS BLAK, Third Realm, Bootsblack and Rabbit Junk.
That is a whole lot of music and an amazing line up, so you are spoilt for choice. As the inaugural show, you want to be able to say you were there for the first ever…. unlike myself, stuck in another country, half way around the world, who will have to live vicariously through others, and the buckets of fun they are having. (Insert gothic weeping).
No Devotion Records is based in the Mexico, Phobos Reactor are German and TFG (TONTTU) likes to normally yell at gnomes in Finland. Keeping up so far? So of course, the natural progress is to put out two tracks on imbibing alcohol rather heavily. “Kangastuksia” and “Tomaatteja” are the songs in question, which most of us would have issues saying sober. Together they are Delirium Tremens, also known medically as the DTs where the subject is having the worst form of ethanol withdrawal.
Finnish for mirages, “Kangastuksia” feels pretty real from the the wubbing beats to TFG’s howled vocals. Everything is spinning around in the possible club setting, free flowing drinks and the strobing lights in your eyes as the main character completely loses his shit.
“Tomaatteja” means tomatoes and tomatoes can be squeezed of juice, so maybe Bloody Mary’s! Maybe science fiction Bloody Mary’s as the music goes for a change of pace. The electronics are lighter and free flowing whilst the vocals has become utterly anguished. It seems the hair of the dog (hangover cure) for someone has become his undoing.
Sooooo, it seems we have part one, the raucous night out getting wontingly smashed, yet again, until you are ready to up chuck (vomit) and part two, the screaming pain and nausea the next day and looking for a cure which for some is having another drink. Phobos Reactor has created a dance whirlwind in “Kangastuksia” with TFG’s fun vocalisation, while “Tomaatteja” is serene compared to the pained, gurgling rhetoric bursting forth. Remember kids, drink responsibly because the only Delirium Tremens you want to suffer is by PhobosReactor and TFG (TONTTU).
MATT HART has been a busy lad of late it seems, and now has unveiled his new single, as of the 18th of November, “TERRAFORM“, a completely new track that carries the story on from the previous album. There are also two guest remixes from Blue Ant (Matteo Seduta) and Sirus (Josh Rombout), as well as the mixing and mastering done by KrischanWesenberg of Rotersand.
Oh, here is a short story synopsis——> bad robot aliens take over the planet, make it really cold and try to knock off the humans, so they go underground. 🙂
First thing that hits you is that “TERRAFORM” is kind of serious business. The rhythm and the music are measured and work like, no messing about here, heavy electronics that drop down on your senses. There is purpose in the not only the music but also HART’s vocals, pushing on the survivors to carry out their tasks.
Woohoo, the Blue Ant version is going deep down and on the low down, the electronics nowhere as heavy and just popping, rolling along. Damn it, I found my head bobbing away with that catchy rolling beat. Someone just pushed the track into techno territory and that would be Sirus. Again, this huge, both threatening and exhilarating at the same time.
What I found a little disturbing about the original track was the fact the vocals had started to become metallic. This we had come to expect from the alien invaders, so does this start to point to the fact the humans are starting to lose their humanity….the one thing that separated them from the robotic overlords? They have fought so long to survive, that this seems to have become consuming. All three versions could be played on a dance floor and I think I can best sum up the three styles as electronic menace (MATT HART), electronic supreme cool (Blue Ant) and electronic bitch slap you up the side of the head/you better dance fool (Sirus). Love it.
In September, the latest Mach FoX album was released. Titled, VideoLogico, Mach FoX of Zwaremachine, is unleashing his vision of a cyber western world….Mad Max meets The Good, The Bad And The Ugly, shaken and poured into an industrial martini glass (which probably looks more like a beer stein). VideoLogico is the big baddie in this tech tale, out on the label Phage Tapes.
The networked links are exchanging data in “DigitalNations“. The electronics convey the movement of information in the modern era, the synths glide lightly with the backing of the rhythm, though this starts to waver. The single, “LowTech“, can be heard, phasing, glitching and yet serene, like the stranger on the horizon riding into a town. Does low tech refer to the analogue electronics or is the stranger a person who has been implanted with cybernetics? “MainFrame” suggests that the general public are logged into the hive mind of VideoLogico and the music is suppressed and mellow. It seems to wander and never settle, lest you find yourself able to think clearly.
They are being chased down by the “ModTracer” sent by VideoLogico to find the aberrations, those that have not succumbed to the system, There is a tenseness, the beats going in and out of rhythm and the machines scanning for the rebels, metallic and menacing. VideoLogico is trying to create absolute order and “No Design” would not fit into the ideal perfection. The music wavers from flipping around to a far more permanent sound.
Is “TheOne” the stranger, a cybernetically enhanced warrior of the wastelands? Cobbled together tech is keeping the survivors going, with the only solace, that when the power grid goes down each morning, they must regroup for the next round of battle. “VideoLogico” is the mastermind. Phasing in and out like an untuned radio, the sparks of being self aware from the artificial intelligence, taking off and asserting itself through brainwashing.
Of course, this is a storyline in my head, inspired by the music and the few words on the Bandcamp page about the story. It may or may not be correct but then this is only limited by your imagination. A lot of care has gone into the not only the creation and manipulation of the music but also the concept. I like to think of that stranger on his steel horse, riding into town to bring justice to those who need a person/totem to galvanise themselves behind. The industrial cyber western scene is set in Mach FoX’s VideoLogico.
MATT HART is your friendly, neighbourhood cyber industrialist and his latest block rocking release, came out on October the 24th, in the form of a three track remix EP, titled INFINITE HORIZON REQUIEM. One and three are mixed by Adi Calef while track two is mixed by the man himself.
The DNA mix of “INFINITE MARCH” fair rattles your teeth with the crackling bass, sweeping all before it with monumental contempt. EVENT HORIZON is named for the movie and it feels like we are going to hit the black hole at maximum warp speed accompanied by the blood curdling screams and voices of dissent.
The final track is the TERRA TANZ mix of JUDGEMENT (REQUIEM). A requiem is an orchestral piece for death or loss, stately and noble which is exactly what you hear but the angelic chorus has been hijacked by screaming electronics and the distorted vocals. A perfect vision of terminators in their robotic cold fury, wiping the fleshy humans out of existence.
HART’S music already has that harder edge which translates well to ramping the industrial to a grandiose flurry of rhythm and noise. I love how JUDGEMENT (REQUIEM) turned out, both powerful and fragile. It is name your price on Bandcamp so now find your INFINITE HORIZON REQUIEM.
Onyx Music Reviews 