Melbourne’s Velatine are going from strength to strength, solidifying their line-up of founding member Loki Lockwood and vocalist Holly Purnell, and at the end of March, releasing the single “Whisper Park,” out on Spooky Records. This is Velatine covering Velatine, as “Whisper Park” was originally released in 2022, though now it has become a different beast.
We are going Fields of the Nephilim style, with that southern gothic guitar twang, and the track builds and builds on itself in thick waves of powering guitars and welling drums. Purnell is sultry and makes “Whisper Park” her domain, inhabiting it with her drawled vocals, like she embodies the personality of Marlene Dietrich.
‘We’re aligned on where we want to go, how we want to be seen, even our basic thoughts on humanity connect. It’s spooky.‘ – Loki Lockwood
The original version, which you should check still check out as well, is very much more electronic, whilst this latest is far heavier, imbued with a streetwise griminess, as if “Whisper Park” is the place to meet all those weird goth kids, and, of course, Velatine. It is not a whisper, but rather a call to the disenfranchised.
Italy’s Christine Plays Viola dropped their latest album F.I.V.E, also known as Fear Increases Violent Emotion back in January, and now have released the single “Desolate Moments,” out on Cleopatra Records.
There is a definite slow maudlin air to the track, slow and deliberate. The guitars trace up and down the scale building tension and the synths are the light lifeline that sparkle in between. The vocals almost feel in sync with the drums, creating a heartbeat, sown with regret and a forlornness.
Classic goth. A dirge about contemplating promises unkept and love lost, and possibly my only complaint is that I wish during the chorus, the synths could have been bulked up to sound like a church organ…. yeah, I might be asking a bit much, but I could hear it in my head! Christine Plays Viola makes beautiful music, even in the “Desolate Moments.”
Shadows Forming is new album from Helsinki based witchy rockers, Hauntees, which will be released on the 28th of February. out on Xonoring Records. Members, Aiju Salminen (bass, vocals), Heini Kauppinen (guitar, vocals, organ), Piia Jalkanen (guitar, backing vocals) and Teemu Kumpulainen (drums), have dropped the single “All Over Again” as a touch stone for Shadows Forming.
The drums are clean and punchy, with fellow rhythm section partner, the bass guitar, up and front, dusting the tune with heavy intent. There is a lilting sadness from the guitars and the vocals fluctuate from singular to the harmonies in the chorus.
“We want to reach toward other worlds with our music, beyond everyday reality, When we write songs, we describe them to each other through places, films, and moods.” – Hauntees
I really like the fact the single is not overly processed, as if I could expect them to sound like this live, which lends an air of feeling fresh and not bound to being absolutely perfect. In other words, a rawness as the Hauntees wrap their vision around your ears. We don’t mind listening to the Hauntees “All Over Again.”
Something is a stirring at the end of 2025. International gothic super group, Beauty In Chaos have an extended single release in the form of two covers. Oh Lordie, there is going to be a reconning. The first is a folk cover, recorded as far back as 1956 by Odetta called “God’s Gonna Cut You Down,” and also under this title in 2009 by the original Man In Black, Johnny Cash, as well as Marilyn Manson (2017). It has also been reproduced as “Run On” by Elvis Presley (1967) and Moby (1999), as well as others.
Photo by Anabel DFlux
You just know before a single note has been struck, this is going to be a southern gothic affair, where the coyote blues is just waiting there to bite and preacher is sizing you up for the next wooden box he’ll be sermonising over. Sure enough, there is that heavy guitar twang that rings out, joined by the gospel styled hand claps, as well as the rat-a-tat of the military drum, all calling on the day of judgement.
Back in 2003, Joe Strummer And The Mescaleros released the album Streetcore, which brought forth the single “Get Down Moses.” Oh yes, nothing like that reggae flavour, mixed with that unmistakeable Strummer guitar, and the brass section reminding us that ska is the voice of the streets. It is sassy, eexy and still runs true for the modern day.
After “God’s Gonna Cut You Down,” I feel like going to listen to Concrete Blonde’s version of “God Is A Bullet,” for will there be redemption?? I don’t know, but there is a cinematic darkness that tastes like dust and smells of gunpowder. Meanwhile, “Get Down Moses” is like the medicine you never knew you needed to soothe and heal your soul. Easy to listen to and still make you realise that the more things change, the more they stay the same, A bit like “Ghost Town” by The Specials. On a side note, Michael Rozon and Michael Ciravolo are the lynch pins of Beauty In Chaos, and we all know, Michael is God’s avenging angel.
F.I.V.E, also known as Fear Increases Violent Emotion, is the soon to be released fifth album for Italy’s darkwave group, Christine Plays Viola. Massimo Ciampani (vocals), FabrizioGiampietro (guitar), MarcoDiIanni (bass guitar) and GianlucaOrsini (drums) have dropped the single “MyRedemption” as your first taste for the new album.
The deep resonance of the vocals sets the shadowy mood, while the guitar sparkles and spars for equal billing. Easily danceable and even easier on the ears, “My Redemption” is pure darkwave goodness and definitely has that European sensibility. One might say a cool touch that burns the skin, so you might want to catch up with Christine Plays Viola, and check out the vintage gothic video for “MyRedemption.”
There is an ill wind and hark….is it an EP or an album??? We aren’t quite sure, but we know it is SinisterFate when we see them. Also, that the album is called ProfitofDoom, which was released back in August by the guys from Chicago, and it is a monster mash of singles, new tracks, covers and remixes.
There are the two singles, with the first on show being “beLIEve,” a cross between the horror movies that are ThePurge series and real life unrest on the home front. The rich verses poor and ideologies burning in the veins of the zealots. It is pure grimy rock with a punk ethos and a guitar solo that sings out. The other is the horror infused “MeetMister Scratch,” who is the thinly disguised devil with an agenda to sell to those whose moral compass might be a little off target, for the simple low price of a soul.
I thought the title of the track “Hey Man, Nice Shot,” was very familiar, and it turns out that is indeed a cover of the Filter song, which has that heavy hanging bass at its core and although not a cover, “VVitch” feels like an ode to TheCure through the guitar work and drums sounding like they could of come off the Pornography album.
SinisterFate carry on the proud tradition of goth horror rock, which is full of symbolism and often tongue in cheek observations about the true monsters of the world. I wonder if the band is somewhat inspired by the late, great PeteSteele, especially with the inference of the title of the album and the TypeONegative’s track “The Profit of Doom” off the 2007 album DeadAgain. Profit Of Doom is a nice mixture old and new, with the remixes that just give another facet to the band. It is part goth, part rock and all horror babe..
Italy’s VidiAquam released the album Lights and Shadows, in September. Full of post-punk goodness by members DanieleViola (electric guitars, bass, drum machine) and Nikita (voice, lyrics, synth, programming), we are going to look at the single “The Last Man on Earth.”
Purposely dark, with the only true brightness being the guitar as it twinkles between the drum machine, the heavy bass and grave vocals of Nikita. Even the synths creep through the cracks in a bleak manner, as is befitting a tale about a man who is truly alone in a apocalyptic world, living each day with only the memories of what used to be. The music video is an absolute must to watch with a nuclear nightmare vision rendered in animation. There is such sorrow in being “The Last Man on Earth” and it is beautifully conveyed by VidiAquam.
Author Edgar Allan Poe, is recognised as one of the progenitors of gothic story telling, writing tales that are both beautiful in prose, and full of lurking and foreboding grimness. Canadian Ian Revell has retold the Poe story, The Tell-Tale Heart, via his project Double Eyelid, which is an EP in four parts, set to its own gothic soundtrack.
Revell’s low and gravelled spoken vocals rumbles forth, in track one and behind him, wavers a lone violin, eerily scratching away, high pitched. The words are unhurried, with a sense of menace, and with the inclusion of a guitar, piano and drums, the singing begins. It is akin to listening to RozzWilliams (ChristianDeath), which sends me down the rabbit hole of wondering if Williams would have loved to do this. I think so. The guitar is the major driving force for the first rack, while track two, it is mostly a lone piano, that wanders and is yet to hint of the on coming terror.
The third track is where the murderer hides the body, and the proud fellow whistles along, assured of his cleverness. It is most interesting that the music has taken on, one could say, a more militaristic semblance, with the rat-a-tat of a snare drum, a popular instrument of British and American armies of the 18th and 19th centuries. Track four has a delicacy with the singular piano and when you perceive the stringed instruments, the atmosphere is quickly changing, with Revell perfectly putting across the spiralling mind of the murderer, lost in the culmination of alarm and dread.
The Tell-Tale Heart was first published in 1834, yet, like most of Poe’s compositions, it is ultimately about the human condition, the recognition that people are flawed and more to the point, we are able to see this is all still relevant. A narrator speaks of planning and murdering an old man, thence hiding the dismembered remains under the floorboards. They lie to the constabulary, but knowing the truth causes guilt and the narrator begins to mentally breakdown. It is the fear of being found out, and the overwhelming terror as they believe they can hear the heartbeat of the dead man, haunting them until they confess their wrongs. Already a powerful short story, DoubleEyelid has brought The Tell-Tale Heart to life in all its true gothic glory, letting you listen to a man’s decent into psychological torment, and every moment is a pure delight.
Huzzah! Halloween is in full swing, and as tradition has it, this is the time for gothic tunes to celebrate the spooky season. Behold the track “Witches‘ from Costa Ricans, Ariel Maniki and the Black Halos as a musical gift to all those that like to go bump in the night!
EvaRed’s voluptuous bass is the meat in this track, deep and the rhythmic backbone, with the drum machine in back up. The synths are the domain of JanBlack, which are willowy, echoing and haunting, only matched by the saxophone that is played by ArielManiki. Maniki’s vocals always have this really nice deep tone that are the icing on the gothic cake. so to speak.
‘Dancing with the devil
At the edge of dawn
They are always hungry
For a human soul‘
This not a track about those good and kind witches. Oh no, these are the “Witches” that sustain their lives through the centuries through the ruination of ordinary folk. A danceable gothic tribute to the not so lovely ladies of the night by Ariel Maniki and theBlack Halos.
US goth rock band, Sunshine Blind stopped releasing music about twenty years ago, with members going their own ways, including Caroline Blind (vox, lyrics), developing her successful solo career, and CWHK (guitars, bass, drum programming, production and mixing). The band has surprised us in unveiling two new tracks on the single release Scarred but Fearless, which was mastered by Ariel Maniki at MediaLuna Studio, San Jose, Costa Rica.
How do you move on when you were left behind? Just because someone is driven, does not mean they are coping with loss, but rather, sometimes, they are just holding on and this is the ‘GhostofYou.” A powerfully worded track that makes you feel the strain of sorrow and dogged weight of hope, set to a soundtrack that dares to be bold with rattling rhythms and thrumming bass.
“Ghost of You is basically another great driving song, the music evokes the movement and speed. Driving is often where I do all my best thinking and working out of whatever I need to think through, so you hear me relating all my processes into driving terms, making the connections, ‘driving as a metaphor’.” – CarolineBlind
The second track is the equally energetic “Unsinkable,” with its very vigorous guitar work by CWHK, that flies hard and fast, never allowing you to wallow in the aspect of what could have been. An anthem for courage in the face of adversity.
“Unsinkable is basically a song of triumph over adversity, a little peptalk to myself: my ‘I Will Survive’, if you will. It’s a rallying cry to those going through a lot of injustice (women in particular), so it feels very timely to me. It’s a pushing back against all the projection and gaslighting that people try to saddle us with, with the chorus of “We’re sick of carrying that which is not our shame”.” – Caroline Blind
CarolineBlind’s voice has matured, not dulled by age, but rather becoming bigger and bolder than when she originally started with SunshineBlind, adding a sonorous tone that reflects a life lived, which I don’t feel was there in the 90s, and has seeped into her later works. The band have always been fearless proponents of gothic rock and it is nice to hear them playing together again, a familiar partnership. One wonders if this is a one off new recording, or if it will lead to a possibility of more new material. For now though, that future has not been revealed, so for live today and enjoy Scarred but Fearless.
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