French gothic rock group, Divine Shade, is finishing off a year that saw them with a remix by ex-Nine InchNails member Chris Vienna, a twenty date European tour as support for Gary Numan, with the release of the newest single “Stars“, that also features the vocal talents of Shan Moue and production by Ren Toner.
Sometimes there is a longing to go back to our childhood, a time that is meant to have a blend of safety, everything was new and dreams seemed possible, like starring at the star laden sky in wonder. In this vein, the longing in the vocals builds, with the rising of the heavy electronic influence and Moue’s singing, gently caressing the lead vocals in the chorus.
Chic cool darkwave, mixed with an electronic sound bearing the marking of 90s era NIN is how I would I describe “Stars“. Brooding and full of of wanting to be able to touch those lights in the heavens again, DevineShade, through belief and heart, are bringing you the “Stars“.
Not all darkwave heroes run around, brandishing you over the head with big beats and synth confectionery. Today, we are introducing you to German solo artist Meersein and his new single “Speechless” which is an acoustic version, and third single to date from this project.
There is such an extraordinarily palpable melancholy to Meersein’s beautifully clean vocals, only supported by an acoustic guitar and piano. His singing is beseeching to one he loves, to recognise the fact that he isn’t like other people and desperately wants to talk to them but has become speechless.
“Speechless” was Meersein’s debut release, back in around June of this year, and it was a far different track in a completely electronic vein. The Germans seem to have this affinity to take a song, break it down to the bare bones, and imbue the track with an even more eloquent heart. It made me think a lot of Lord OfThe Lost and the times they have done this with tracks or orchestrated them. A yearning heart from the dispossessed is “Speechless“.
Alexander Leonard Donat... teacher, marathon runner, musician, man behind the label Blackjack IlluministRecords, co-conspirator for several musical acts, driving force behind his own project Vlimmer and very possibly a crime fighter by night (just saying Vlimmer man has a certain ring to it!). November saw Vlimmer’s second, full length album, Menschenleere, enter the watery light of day.
The first tastes of forbidden fruit came our way in the form of the two singles, the rhythm filled darkwave tendrils of “Erdgeruch” and the wondrously 80s inspired eccentricity of “Kronzeuge“. There are such gems hidden within, such as “Mathematik” with its giddy synths that remind me so much of the electronic trailblazer, John Foxx, even more so for the fact his backing band were The Maths.
“Noposition” has a magical trance like quality within its warm embracing beats, while “Schwimmhand” leaves you not only amazed by the sheer brilliance but also experiencing tingles through your extremities. Even the title track has an ancient feel, whilst playing with time signatures. “Menschenleere” is vast and echoing in the chamber of what might not be a pained reality.
Yes you can dance to Vlimmer, but for me, there is something akin to multiple storylines. Each track is crafted just so, this one with a more science fiction vibe, another with more sombre tones and yet another with a spinning glorious shoegaze vision. All held together by Donat’s vocals, be they happy, sad or even imploring.
Vlimmer is the centre of this world he has created, and has the knack of spinning his musical tales that capture us up into this web of darkwave delights. Even better is the fact that Alexander touches back to the styles that have influenced him but he never let’s them consume him, rather experimenting to create tracks that encapsulate his music journey. Beautiful, fragile and ashened songs to drink, dance to, and watch the moon…Menschenleere(Deserted)
People that know me well, will tell you….I don’t much like Christmas tunes. Might be a leftover from being made to listen to the Chipmunks (I blame my brother for that one) and that I only really endure the classical ones. UK bunch, In Isolation told me about their cover of a Greg Lake festive classic called “I Believe In FatherChristmas” just in time for the crinkly season. I am guessing Greg Lake was a member of Emerson, Lake & Palmer but this song is completely new for me. After research, the single was originally released in 1975, highest chartings at Number 2 in the UK, 17 in Ireland and 98 in Australia.
Photo by Simon Parfrement
I hear the sleigh bells ringing and I wonder what I’m getting myself into…. actually the guitar work is really beautiful and of course the vocals aren’t cheesy. As bright as the music is, there is something of a sad quality to the lyrics. There is also the Matt Pop mix you can check out, which is an electronic version, that is sure to warm the cockles or you folk that like their synth music.
Trust these guys to pick a song that they could rock out to a bit but also has a much darker meaning. Even with the bells and explosive orchestration, the lyrics actually talk about that loss of childhood belief. Okay I’m not reviled by this track, and in fact could listen to it a few more times as it isn’t the normal Christmas fare. Still not sure if “I Believe In Father Christmas” but I believe In Isolation.
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.
Parisian, ManuH’s darkwave project, Distance H, has released the next single, “Reason To Rush“. In line with their previous singles, which feature a female singer, this time they have Cuban born and French based Liset Alea, gracing their track.
Alea’s dulcet tones are warm and inviting, like a lover’s breath, skipping over bare skin, drawing you into promise of more. The electronics are running there, besides the vocals, with the electric guitar breaking through, respectfully and even hauntingly in the background.
This is definitely music to zone out with, escaping the humdrum of regular life. Alea’s voice and lyrics are both soothing and inviting, coupled with ManuH’s music, it all becomes sensuous and a “Reason To Rush“.
It seems The Bellwether Syndicate, lead by William Faith and Sarah Rose Faith, is teasing us again with another single off the soon to be released debut album, Vestige & Vigil. “Beacons” was released on the 2nd of December, on the Sett Records / Nexilis Records labels.
PHOTO BY DAVID STAUDACHER
Stabbing, deathrock styled guitars, combined with the low tidal tow tone of William Faith‘s singing and surging swells of vocals in the chorus, make for a rollicking track of nautical proportions.
In times long past, one’s kith and kin would create bonfires to lead you safely home in the worst weather. It is that premise that loved ones, family and friends are the “Beacons” guiding us to our safe havens…. even in the darkest of times when nothing else makes sense. It is truly a lovely sentiment, wrapped up in a majestic gothic guitar laden track of mercurial proportions, from The Bellwether Syndicate.
Not going to deny it. I do love a bit of rockabilly/psychobilly and horror punk, so you can imagine how pleased I was to be introduced to the new album, Brains For Friends on the Russian label Bubblegum Attack Records. This is a split release between four bands, Romero’s Nation, The Dead Friends, Molly Fancher and the Chaneys, with each of them contributing three tracks.
Romero’s Nation will blow you away with the rollicking starting track “More Brains!“, the apocalyptic “Darkhangeisk After Midnight” and the beautiful horror love song “When Your Girlfriend Is Dead“, of course, completely punk style. The fabulous goth rocker styled tones of “Area 51” greet your ears, heralding in The Dead Friends, followed by the more punk ravaged “Endless Fear” and the frenzied guitars bursting out in “Sin City“.
You should brace yourselves for the rock stylings of Molly Francher, where we get a taste of the band singing in Russian for the first track. Ha! There is the brilliantly creepy “The Kid And His Story” which you know might not end so well, especially with the whole hearing voices thing and the wailing warning tale of the “Victim Of Psycho“. The psychobilly is strong with the Chaneys and they literally go hell for leather. They are going to make you feel like you are trapped in B grade 50’s horror movies, initially with “Invasion” and the green men are going to shrink ray everyone. I guess the victim was full of “Vim & Vigor” before they suddenly departed this mortal coil (suspected happy killer song), followed by the speeding “Harbingers Glow” with those absolutely amazing harmonising vocals. Fucking ace!
You need this music in your life. All four bands are bursting at the guts with talent and each track is superb. It is all fun and games until someone loses an eye or their head falls off while in the mosh pit, but if you are a horror punk fan then that is part of the appeal. Even if you are not into horror, most punk and psychobilly fans will get a real kick out of this. So remember to be kind to others and give Brains For Friends.
Soooo, fancy a bit of gloom with your goth? I may have the answer to your lachrymose prayers, in the shape of Sacramento duo, Venetian Veil and their EP, released on November the 11th, called The Lands Of The Living And The Dead, on the Dune Altar label. That title alone should have peaked your interest dare I say. The EP was recorded by Jim Willig in the Sinking Room between 2020-2021, and then mixed & mastered by Patrick Hills at Earth Tone Studios.
First we must be “Asleep In The Land Of The Living“. The guitar strums delicately over the droning noise, an electric guitar in sonic overload in the maudlin atmosphere. The shotgun drum machine rhythm and understated synths in “Quiver” really harken back for me to the early 80s. So simple and so effective, especially with the male vocals. There is something so utterly gentle about “The Lamb“. The soft, feminine vocals, the low and controlled bass belie a great sorrow and shame, for the blood of the Lamb was supposed to wash away the sins.
“Awake In The Land Of The Dead” is the instrumental bridge and the mirror image to its sister, “Asleep In The Land Of The Living“, where now most is quiet but for the strumming guitar. “Treeline” offers perhaps the view point of a soul leaving it’s earthly bonds, heading for the void. Slow and thoughtful, with stirring vocals. The Cure like “Phantom“, tinkles with those sweet guitar notes and sweeping synth chords. The lyrics are not so much sad but almost an acceptance of something that can never be.
I hear the experimentation and in a way, it greatly reminds me of the early 80’s when The Cure created Faith, 17 Seconds and Pornography, albums that truly pulled you into their misty, Victorian era like, dark and tragic romanticism. Light the candles, a drink of what you please and settle down to the Venetian Veil, as they take you to The Lands Of The Living And The Dead.
In 2009, Lisa Hammer released her first solo album, named Dakini, which in the Buddhist belief is a female spirit, be this a goddess or a demon. Before all this, Hammer had already made a name for herself as the lead singer for the deathrock/goth rock band Requiem In White and then the more medieval based Mors Syphilitica. Since then, she has thrown herself endlessly into many different projects such as writing, filming, acting and producing both television shows and movies, but the music has always been there as well.
French label, The Circle Music, has joined forces with Lisa to re-release Dakini this year, with beautiful coloured vinyls and also three extra bonus tracks. The album features Hammer’s heavenly operatic vocals, which can dissolve, almost, into chattering demonic verse, and that is the great thing about Dakini…it is not formulaic but rather a spiritual journey you are following, that experiments with sound and voice, in a difficult time. With this in mind, we have the opportunity to ask Lisa about what has lead her up to this point in time, this re-release and what is in the future of this goddess/demon, plus you really need to know which dead people we will exhuming just for the fun of it.
Photo by LiAnn Grahm
Lisa Hammer, welcome to the lands of Onyx that time forgot… which is really a house and the lands my rather overgrown garden of scary delights.
Hello!
Born in Salem, did you grow up there and do you think it had an influence on you artistically or was it more so your family?
Definitely both. I lived next door to Laurie Cabot, the famous Salem witch. It was the 1970’s so I remember seeing her walk around in her black cape with her big black hair. She often commented on my little lamb toy I pulled along. On certain nights I could see across the alley to her window, where there would be a red light illuminating a group of people in a magic circle. When I moved to another state I was convinced that I was also a witch. Musically, my family always had singalongs or “Hootenannies” and everyone played and sang beautifully, especially my mother Roberta Stockton. What a voice and boy could she play guitar! We took great pride in our harmonies and beautiful tones.
A woman of many talents, musician, actor, director and writer. Which of these first brought you into the gothic fold?
TV. It was the Addams Family, and film – my grandmother and I watched a lot of old silent films together, and that is where Siouxsie and Exene got their makeup from.. I identified with them at a very young age. But then as I got older it was music, but the term Gothic had not been invented yet. We were Deathrock or Deathpunk. My roots were in Punk music, mixed with Classical/Medieval and campy 60’s Pop/Mod.
Lisa, you have been in the alternative/gothic scene for a while and the front woman for the ethereal goth rock band, Mors Syphilitica and before that in Requiem In White. Requiem In White struck me as being influenced by Christian Death, while Mors Syphilitica was tapping into that blooming period of medieval/renaissance style music. What drove you to create these styles of music and do you feel it was a time of musical awakening, so to speak?
Yes, we all loved Christian Death and were so happy to open for them a few times. Requiem in White was considered Death Rock because of the hard guitars, we thought we were Black Sabbath with an opera singer, Black Sabbath being one of my favorite bands of all time. With Mors we wanted to explore as many alternative styles as we could, there are heavy rock songs, but also very lovely
Most of this was happening in New York, so what was it like living in that period of time and what was the scene like back then for you?
New York in the 90’s was so fun. There were so many music venues to play, you could draw a crowd any night of the week. Rent was cheap and time was unlimited. We played CBGB and The Limelight more times than I can remember. We all hung out a lot – no one really needed to work 80 hour weeks, we were free to create music, film, whatever we wanted. I remember one night at the Limelight very fondly. We were opening for Type-O Negative, at Peter Steele’s request. The club was so packed they had to lift me and carry me over the crowd to and from the stage! I remember looking up during our set and seeing Peteron the balcony with Kirk Hammett from Metallica watching us perform. The audience were writhing to our music, some were kissing, some crying, some lost in meditation. I will never forget that night.
In 2009, the first solo album, “Dakini” was released on the famous Projekt label and now in 2022, it is seeing a revamp in the form of beautiful vinyls and three previously unreleased tracks. What was the reasoning behind giving “Dakini” this new lease of life currently?
The Circle Music approached me about re-releasing Dakini, remastering it, and they asked for bonus tracks. I had recorded Alte Clamat Epicurus during the pandemic lockdown and thought it would make a great bonus track. That song is another one of the 12th century Carmina Burana Codec songs written by radical monks. I love vinyl and couldn’t resist the color vinyl!
When you brought forth this album, how important was it for you?
I recorded it and finished it while both my mother and my guitarist of Radiana/childhood friend Steven Deal were dying. The music is dedicated to them. I was too full of grief to fully enjoy or even promote the CD back in 2009. But now, years later, I feel like dedicating my music to them even more. I can see with more clarity and enjoy moments of celebration. It is hard to keep making music without them, but I have to push myself to do it. Especially after having cancer myself in 2016. Everything is harder now, but more urgent and important to me.
The production is flawless and the music certainly feels as fresh as when it was first recorded. Do you feel a certain amount of pride that it has weathered so well?
Yes, thank you. Every artist I know is full of doubt about their music. But the original recording by Dan Kohler (with Steven Deal on guitars) is already so lush, and the genius re-mastering by The Circle Music and the gorgeous artwork has renewed my pride. I credit the label with reviving my spirit of creation.
For me there seems to be influences such as Dead Can Dance and Autumn Tears through to Diamanda Galas, mixed with a spiritual searching, would you agree?
I have never heard Autumn Tears, never really got into Diamanda even though she is insanely talented, and I remember hearing Dead Can Dance’s first album being played at Newbury Comics in Boston, getting really mad because Requiem in White was exploring this neo-classical style and they beat us to it, lol. But eventually they won me over and I became a big fan. Dakini is a mix of my influences, it is a hybrid of classical, folk, world music, experimental and ambient.
How important is spirituality to you?
I am fascinated by spirituality, it is really fun to explore. But I don’t claim to know anything – how can we know until we die where we will go? Is it spiritual or is it science? Is my mom in another dimension or is she in heaven? It is mind-blowing to contemplate, I even get chills looking at photos of outer space, does our consciousness float around and get sucked into black holes then spit out again? I DO believe she is somewhere nearby, as my aunt is a spiritual medium and received messages from my mom that she would have had no knowledge of unless they were directly from her.
Why did you decide the 3 unreleased tracks should see the light of day?
They were requested by the label.
Who or what bands and musicians first got you into this dark and beautiful scene?
Black Sabbath, Klaus Nomi, Nina Hagen, Lene Lovich, Christian Death, The Sisters of Mercy, The Damned… Too many to list.
Who do you find yourself listening to now?
Still going strong with Black sabbath and the 60’s-70’s classic rock bands (Radiana even did a Kink’s cover song for WFMU and now for Wicked Opossum Records) All my old Punk favorites, Opera, Indian and Nepali Classical, lots of Shoegaze and Britpop, King Crimson (Just saw them perform last year!) all the Gen X indie rock from The Pixies to Stereolab…Black Metal, world music, ska, campy 60’s pop – whatever mood strikes me that day.
Your vocal talents on this album are powerful, beautiful and on occasion….terrifying. Is there one particular track that you are particularly proud of the vocals?
I had a lot of fun with Alte Clamat Epicurus. The singer is overindulging in wine and food and by the end of the song is completely debauched. I love the hymns, I love singing the Indian classical ragas (I studied with Michael Harrison who was a disciple of Pandit Pran Nath).
You have definitely made the arts your life in a way, pursuing many aspects such as creating the Blessed Elysium Motion Picture Company to produce German Expressionist styled films, writing movie scripts and even voice acting, with one of your most famous characters being Triana Orpheus on The Cartoon Network’s Venture Bros. Is there one of these things that adore over all else or do you need all of it?
I think right now I’m more obsessed with film-making, but I also really need the music. Voice acting/acting is not my favorite. I was just doing it because I was married to Doc Hammer. Now I make films and music with my husband Levi Wilson. We are working on several film and music projects all at the same time. We need to take a break but we can’t stop ourselves.
We have heard on the grape vine, which creates a fine wine, that a new Lisa Hammer album is in the works as well as another album for your other project, Radiana. Is this true and what can we expect?
You heard correctly. The Circle Music has asked me to record a follow-up album to Dakini for next year, which is 1/3 recorded, and they will be releasing all of the Requiem in White music on vinyl, possibly Mors Syphilitica as well.
I am also halfway done with the new Radiana album, which, without Steven Deal’s indie-pop sensibility, is going to be much darker and post-punk-shoegazey than our debut album. For both albums I will be working with musicians from Wheatus, Late Cambrian, Paul Ash will be appearing again (Unto Ashes), a tabla player from the Nepali group Sur Sudha, and my husband Levi.
If you could make a music video anywhere, where would it be and whom would you get to direct it (we don’t mind digging up famous corpses or going back in time)?
I insist we dig up Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali and make them direct my music video, in the spirit of Un Chien Andalou.
What else is in the future for Lisa Hammer?
A TV series called Great Kills, where we portray documentary filmmakers who follow a hitman around Staten Island, NY as he does his jobs, callously ignoring the pleas of the victims – Streaming soon. Our film “Luke and Emma” which is in development, we have a short excerpt film in post production now and will submit to festivals. More and more music, and hopefully live shows in Europe, starting in Greece where our record label resides. So many projects, I hope we have time and energy to do them all.
Thank you Lisa for joining me in the garden of good and evil for this chat. Be careful of the ley lines on your way out!
The ley lines should be careful of ME on THEIR way out 😂. And thank YOU for supporting indie music artists and keeping the dark passions alive.
(What is there not to love about this fierce demonic goddess?! ❤ )
Onyx Music Reviews 