US industrial rock band, Warm Gadget have signed to the label Re:Mission Entertainment and soon will be dropping their new album Sorrows, but for now you can get a taste with the second single “Annoyed,” with a b-side remix by Dread Risks.

The drums of discontent lumber forth, herald in the the heavy bass that blasts your senses, while the vocals are violent, directing you to the maelstrom, coated in bombastic floods of tarred frustration. The Dread Risks remix pulsates with an electronic smirk, pulling off a perfect balance of dance and crushing noise.

Tim Vester (vocals, lyrics, samples) and Colten Tyler Williams (guitar, bass, keyboards, drums, programming, production, additional vocals) are bringing on the heavy in a throwback to the late 80s, when industrial metal was taking off and the choice of having Dread Risks doing the remix is the icing on the cake. We are not “Annoyed.”

Annoyed | Warm Gadget | Re:Mission Entertainment (bandcamp.com)

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On the day of his birthday, Sebastian Sünkler released the single “Bohdi” with his main industrial project, STAHLSCHLAG. The German noise master never fails to amaze with how productive he is, and before we know it, the new full-length album will be upon us.

Become one with the drone of “Bohdi” as STAHLSCHLAG take you into another realm, outside of your being, to where celestial souls transverse the stars, god like, as the rhythms continuously make you aware of your own heartbeat. The combination of luminous and mystical vocals with noise is perfection. The second track, “Sri Stuti,” continues this journey, with more purpose, demanding your attention be completely focused on the fragging beats while a winding synth line wanders though.

The maestro of power noise keeps his sound fresh whilst plumbing the depth of your spiritual psyche, pulling on ancient tendrils within our genetics. With the brilliance of “Bohdi,” we await the album and wish Sünkler another wonderful year making music around the sun.

Bodhi | STAHLSCHLAG (bandcamp.com)

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2007 saw the birth of Swedish EBM group Spark!, with original members Stefan Brorsson (vocals) and Mattias Ziessow (synths, programming), dishing out the beats. However, in 2013, Brorsson left the band, citing personal reasons, leaving Ziessow to continue on. Fans can rejoice, as the lads are back together in 2023 with the single “66 Ton Krom,” which will be on the new album out in 2024, on the Progress Productions label.

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The direct translation is ‘66 tonnes of chrome‘, and with the frenetic pace of the rhythm, they can only be referring to a large vehicle, such as a big shiny truck. And behold there is a big shiny buff truck on the cover! Brorsson’s vocals dance between the programmed electronics that come on in rapid succession, while the synths rip down the road burning rubber with those beats.

There is something quintessentially Swedish about the EBM that comes out of that country, and it not just singing in the native tongue. A lot of joy can be felt from “66 Ton Krom,” as if the break the guys have had from each other, galvanised their sound. Industrial electro-pop from Spark! that is going to get your motor running.

66 ton krom | Spark! (bandcamp.com)

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ESA (Electronic Substance Abuse) met Moaan Exis while playing a show in Prague in the beginning of 2020, just before Covid-19 shut down the world. Out on Negative Gain Productions, “Spit/Spite” is the end result of the UK’s Jamie Blacker (ESA) and France’s Mathieu Caudron (Moaan Exis), going head to head in a battle of the industrial power noise versus industrial punk. The plague has come and kind of gone, but now we have been hit with a much better outbreak in the form of this split single.

Spit” does not let up with the energy, pushing you higher and further with an intoxicating mixture of scintillating synths, techno styled rhythms that max out the bass and duelling vocals. Even in all of this, I hear hints of a Middle Eastern flavour to the music creeping through.

Yeah, from the beginning of “Spite,” you are already left a veritable shell of a human, drooling over the abrasive rhythms that pound into your chest. The two vocalists taking turns in eviscerating your ears to the pounding beats and off kilter electronics, setting your teeth on edge. Magic.

Who was the winner in this battle royale? The answer is easy…us the listeners. Both tracks are fucking awesome. Crunchy textures, beats to rupture organs, and enough angst to wet the panties of any self-respecting industrial noise purveyor. ESA Vs Moaan Exis have me just me wanting more.

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GIVE/TAKE are the US based label bringing you the new single from Grammy Amplifier nominated artist KPT (KEPT), whom is one half of DEATHDANCE. The new single is called “Collared,” from the Minneapolis based dark electronic musician, who has worked with the likes of En Esch, My Life With The Thrill Kill Cult and Martin King of Test Dept, but to name a few.

Photo by Jason Larkin

An eerie static load grates your ears, swelling like a tsunami far out to sea, building in destructive force. A noticeable click click holds its own until there is an explosive release, frenzied and consuming. A tension between the electronic elements threatening to rip at the seams and yet still holding together, joined by the rumbling vocals, just perceivable above the tumultuous mixture of textures.

Collared” is about the sexual ownership of another and exploring that dynamic of dominator versus submission. Aggressive control of the buzzing electronics is tempered by the flow of power… just as a good psychosexual relationship should be. KPT have created a vast and engrossing track with an equally delightful video.

https://kptfrsh.bandcamp.com/album/collared

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For those getting into the dirtier industrial metal of the 2000s, Sweden’s Deathstars has to come to mind. “Blitzkrieg” was a single off their second album, Termination Bliss. Fellow countryman, Fredrik Croona, aka Against I, has covered “Blitzkrieg,” released on September the first.

August also saw the release of Against I’s first album, Carnival of Excess, however, “Blitzkrieg” is not one of the tracks and appears to have been recorded on a whim by Croona. Whatever, it is a harsher, more stripped to the bones version…. or is it? It carries the same intensity, but there is a heavy electronic pall pervading and the vocals are screamed over all, because in the end this is Against I with “Blitzkrieg,” which overwhelms the enemy in a singular swift strike, taking you by storm.

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https://advoxya.bandcamp.com/album/carnival-of-excess

In January of 2023, electronic musicians, R. Missing (USA) and Levingtquatre (Belgium), released the single “Death In A Constellation“, but August has seen the track given a second breath of life via a remix, from the Norwegian Antipole, aka Karl Morten Dahl.

That delicate guitar work, so prevalent in Antipole, trickles over your senses, invading that space under your skin that raises goosebumps. R. Missing’s vocals are sweet and light as air, lulling you into an intoxicated stupor, and the electronics are never far from the surface.

The original version is definitely a more electronic affair, whilst the remix has a far more warm quality, and I think this gives it a very intimate feel. Also, it is produced by Pedro Code, of the equally wonderful IAMTHESHADOW, and that darkwave touch shines through. There is a simplicity to the whole track, which is just divine to listen to, echoing in the depths of a star cluster… a dark shoegaze dream that is “Death In A Constellation,” the Antipole remix..

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Should you dare slip into the wooded areas of Marietta, Ohio, after dark, you might happen upon the ambient and industrial musing of Pressed Flowers. Blake Pipes is the man bringing forth the electronic magic/madness in the single, “The Ascension.”

I composed “The Ascension” using, among other things, the sounds of hammers on large nails, the sounds of vehicles barely able to bear the weight of their load, and a mess of synthesizers. These elements were each stretched to their limits and sculpted carefully into place. In the track, there is a choice to make, a choice to stay or to go. The choice is made to go. The path forward is not necessarily a pleasant one, but neither is the path back. Too often, we can only hope to outrun what we try to leave behind.’ – Blake Pipes

This track is saturated in growing dread, from the scraping metal into the nails being knocked in. There is a near Hitchcock shower scene , which prevails and then collapses into what could be described as the warblings of an estranged classical orchestra, which is oddly satisfying. It is an intriguing use of elements and experimentation. There is a horror filled majesty with “This Ascension” by Pressed Flowers.

http://pressedflowers.bandcamp.com/

51 Pegasi is the designated name of a Sun that was once called Helvetios and 51 Peg is an industrial rock band from Washington. They released their first album back in 2000 called Strange Appointments and now in 2023, 51 Peg unleash latest album named A/Version.

Kicking off with the mood filled “The Distance Between“, which is a bit like an industrial version of Stone Temple Pilots, where the synths wail more so than the guitars. “Cursory Rhymes” is a swelling and emotional track with imploring vocals, which is at complete odds to “Roots Into Sand“, as the ancient mysteries of the Middle East merge with the industrial, as a beast that can not be stopped, forever invading. The modern era is the age of the “Digital Disease“, where computers mean you can exchange information and thoughts across the globe, yet this hasn’t translated to harmony. There are big vocals and soaring guitars throughout.

The beginning of “In Return” actually made me think of the wonderful Japan but then the rock explodes this reminiscing, searing with vehemence. “Werewolf” could simply be about the shapeshifters, but I think the deeper meaning might allude to the animal that resides inside every human, under the skin, waiting to come out if we let it. It is a slower and more thoughtful number. The last track is a cover of the Billy Idol single, “Eyes Without A Face” where musically and especially vocally, 51 Peg give a very Idol performance, without a need for the female backing singers.

For me, it was odd hearing a cover of the Billy Idol’sEyes Without A Face“, which is one of his slower songs, because most bands seem to cover “Rebel Yell” or “White Wedding“, so that is a refreshing change. In a way, this is true of the whole album, as I was not sure of what it would sound like by the description but was delighted how well the different influences meld together. The band cite Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, Depeche Mode and Gary Numan, yet I also hear Stone Temple Pilots, Faith No More and an undercurrent of 80s electronica. A/Version by 51 Peg is a nice slice of hot industrial rock.

A\Version | 51 Peg (bandcamp.com)

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Someone told me they were going to have a rest from creating music. They so lied!!! STAHLSCHLAG released in February, the EP Avalanche. German, Sebastian Sünkler has been busy, tinkering up a storm and he even brought along some friends for the ride.

Mental Machines” is a bit of a treat because you get to hear the man himself, Sünkler, providing the vocals in this track of amalgamated power noise and techno. The machine, through Sünkler, speaks to you in its metal voice about loss of control, slamming against the electronic cage.

Non-Bio’s Howard Gardner is the guest vocalist/lyricist on ” Do You Think?“. Grand internal reverberations punch around Gardner’s monologue, threatening to overwhelm and consume.

There is yet another guest vocalist/lyricist on the track, “Before I Was Broken” in the form of Kimberley of Bow Ever Down. With a slower and more synth lead sound, Kimberley’s singing flows above the spike barbed beats that attempt to puncture the sincerity of the vocals, telling of a time of happiness that no longer exists.

The final track is the instrumental “Burn“. The glitching and crunchy rhythm is over laid with an eerily tinkling keyboard, like the embers starting to ignite, fuelled by the music and taking hold. It can’t be stopped as it hungrily bursts forth, those synth lines feeding into the blaze.

Honestly, I don’t think Sebastian can help himself, and the winner is us, the listeners. Each time he puts out new music, you hear him changing things up or reinventing his sound, plus having great vocalists is just the cherry on top. Maybe Avalanche refers to the onslaught of rhythmic noise, but I like to think it’s because STAHLSCHLAG is just like a force of nature.

https://stahlschlag.bandcamp.com/album/avalanche

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