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Dark alternative music doesn’t seem to have any borders as to where it originates in the world and even the language used. Good music transcends all it feels, when everything is conveyed through sheer talent. Label Musica Tenebris are based in Warsaw, and they have released the four way split album Warsaw After Midnight, that features Polish gothic/deathrock bands Marie Laveau, Natures Mortes, Eat My Teeth and Nameless Creations.

The set list is arranged in blocks for each act, and first off the benches is Natures Mortes with four tracks, “Liar’s Web” is the most recent release for this group, and indicative of their goth rocking style. You will be swept up from the beginning with the swift paced rhythm and ghoulish signature guitars, all the while being serenaded by the tortured sweet vocals that give no quarter and full of conviction.

Screaming fuzzed out guitar is utterly and instantly attention grabbing for the track “Salt In My Eyes,” by Eat My Teeth. The lead singer’s vibrato style is unforgettable, especially when he hits the high notes. as she almost seamlessly melds into the shrieking guitar. Discordant and rousing, all at the same time and a shout out to the drummer massacring the skins.

Natures Mortes (Facebook)
Eat My Teeth (photo Sophie Louise)
Nameless Creation (photo Lukasz Larakczyk)
Marie Laveau (Facebook)

I get a really interesting vibe from Nameless Creations, and their use of electronics gives the track “Pain-Powered Machine” an early 80s feel, almost Alien Sex Fiend like, and strengthened by vocals. The music is relentless, swamping your senses like a kaleidoscope with the pulsating psychedelic assault, and this is just one of three tracks.

From the crypt comes Marie Laveau with four treats, and they are going to cast a spell on you with “Are You Blind?“. These guys ooze European gothic cool and this latest single harkens back to stylings of France’s Corpus Delicti. The lead has a lovely dark quality to her voice and everything about this song is alluring from the classic goth rock guitars through to tight rhythm section.

Personally, I have always had a soft spot for sampler albums, and I have put that down to getting a taste of different styles and band, which opens up new musicians to further investigate. This is a great compilation from a scene that is obviously burgeoning with talent. Yes, I have picked one track from each band, but these are just the ones that first off caught my attention and in all honesty, the whole album is chock full of deathrock goodness. It is a delight to listen to these brilliant gothic aficionados from Poland and now, after falling deathly in love with Natures Mortes, Eat My Teeth, Nameless Creations and Marie Laveau, I want to visit Warsaw After Midnight.

Warsaw after midnight | Various artists | Musica Tenebris

Facebook – Musica Tenebris

Bruises | Natures Mortes | Bat-Cave Productions

Facebook – Natures Mortes

Music | EAT MY TEETH

Facebook – Eat My Teeth

Liar’s Web | Natures Mortes | Bat-Cave Productions

Facebook – Marie Laveau

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Inga Habiba and Peter Guellard are Death By Love. Signed to label Distortion Productions, these Polish veterans of the gothic-industrial scene, released their debut single on January the 31st, called “Strong Inside.” Habiba has been involved in music since she was sixteen, with her long term project being Lorien, while Guellard has been involved with bands such as The Electric Hellfire Club, Venus In Furs, Mace, and Dichro, as well as a producer and lead in his own band Blitzkrieg.

The Middle Eastern influence is undeniable, exotic and alluring, a nod to Habiba’s ethnic roots, their tendrils wrapping themselves around the electronics. They are not a constant companion, rather gently tantalising you and more so, it is Habiba’s vocals that will hold your attention. From breathy spoken word, to brash and throaty singing, she is the focal point with synths her supporting undercurrent.

The lyrics are extremely relatable, because it is about how leaving yourself open to others can lead to trauma, yet if you close yourself away, you will possibly miss out and suffer loneliness. So, in the end, finding the strength within, often means you are growing as a human. The music traverses cultures, and delves into inner working of the human psyche, mixing trip hop with industrial, tinged with darkwave. Death By Love are going to make waves with the highly danceable “Strong Inside,” and the added bonus is two extra remixes included.

Strong Inside | Death by Love

Facebook – Death By Love

Facebook – Distortion Productions

Distortion Productions

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Metropolis Records dropped the single “Sharing Skin,” by Night Ritualz on January 31st. Vincent Guerrero IV is Texas based Night Ritualz and in March, his self titled debut album will be released. Interestingly he has coined the term ‘fuck wave‘ to describe his cauldron of mixed styles such as goth, electronic and EBM.

‘Fuck Wave’ is anything horny, erotic and sensual that just makes people feel good,” he explains. “I feel like my music puts people in that mood and allows them to just be themselves without judgement of any kind. Another reason is because, at the end of the day, ‘Fuck’ what everyone thinks. We only have one life, so spend it doing stuff you like and that makes you happy. I see it as an empowering term.‘ – Vincent Guerrero IV

A simple guitar and echoing fuzzed vocals greet you, haunting with the slow drawl, telling of a longing of the heart for another. Like a call to arms, the rhythm kicks in, speeding up the world around this track, and you can hear the delicate synths in the background twinkling. ‘Sharing skin and secrets‘ is cherishing those intimate moments whether that is sex or telling secrets they would never share with anyone else. Night Ritualz understands that most people long for that attachment but also the fact that humans motivation comes from that which brings joy. I think the description fuck wave is very apt, for it is a dark and sexy serenade in the form of “Sharing Skin.”

Sharing Skin | Night Ritualz

https://www.instagram.com/nightritualz/

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We are going back to February of 2024, when the album If Blood Comes First was released by Dallas based Happy Phantom. This five piece is made up of songwriter Jackie Legos (vocals, guitars), Zack Bigalow (drums), Colby Sias (percussion), Josh Prater (keyboards, synth), Phillip Sozansky (bass guitar) and Brendan Ladan (guitars).

It is important that the first track off an album grabs your attention, and “A Stranger Walking Shadows Through the Dark” has this in spades, from the sparkling intro, which continues through, and emotion filled jangling guitars, that harkens back to The Cure. Even Lego’s vocals remind one of Robert Smith, lending it to the feel of the legendary album Pornography, which will continue throughout. The title track is a swirling and echoing piece with the synths at the front in a winding classical soundscape domination, only broken by the vocals and occasional guitar. The lyrics in “If First Comes Blood” are beautifully poetic, and where does a relationship go to after we pass this mortal coil?

‘Waiting for the night and captured by the moon saving our goodbyes it’s over much too soon there’s nowhere left to hide when she comes to my bed with nothing but a lie dancing in my head…‘ – If First Comes Blood

“No Illusions” has great bass lines and the mood of the whole track is almost joyful, yet the lyrics tell of a loss where one cannot stay as the situation is eating them up, but they want to because of unreasonable hope. Let me guide you to track six, “I Dare To Love You,” with its booming drums rolling and subtle guitar. The conjoined voices could be a coven’s chant and the wonderful imagery of dancing on graves in a passionate tryst with a ghostly lover. The rangy guitar work is a throwback to early Cult in the track “Lust,” which is about the lack of emotion compared to love that requires as much give as take.

If you haven’t guessed, If Blood Comes First is about finding another dark soul that completes yours, bring the ultimate overwhelming gothic romance and the devastation of being bereft of that person, which leaves you a husk of your former self that yearns for what was lost. I think this album is heavily inspired by real life and also The Crow, which is about devotion, but on a deeper level, trying to be worthy enough to embrace love in death or knowing when you have to let go of those feelings that drag you under the waves of grief. Legos has professed that this is his favourite album so far, and we can hear why. If Blood Comes First is a brooding and heart wrenching ode to love, in the ideal sanctuary of a forever romance, set to a gothic serenade by Happy Phantom.

If Blood Comes First | Happy Phantom

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As I write, California is on fire, and Vince Grant, the man behind LA project The Sea At Midnight, sent me an email about his new single, “Our Beautiful Destruction,” and all proceeds from the song will be donated to victims.

Was this track written before the fires? The vocals wrench at my insides with the lyrics about the world being consumed in flames and Grant’s voice is truly gorgeous and swept up in the whirling guitar and synths in the chorus.

‘burning so brightly
against the night sky
the ashes are raining
sparks and ashes
are all that’s left
the smoke hides the pain
of all that remains
of our brilliant destruction
our brilliant destruction
smoke hides the pain‘

My heart aches listening to this track. I live in a country where every Summer is a terrifying wait to see if bush fires will take hold…. the last huge infernos being in 2019. Lost lives, lost property, watching both wildlife and domestic animals perishing. “Our Brilliant Destruction” sadly seems to encapsulate this situation perfectly. If it were released without the LA fires, it would be considered a evocative song, but currently it means everything. It is name your price on The Sea At Midnight’s Bandcamp, so I encouraged you to give a little to help in “Our Brilliant Destruction.”

Our Brilliant Destruction | The Sea At Midnight

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Antipole, aka Karl Morten Dahl, from the currently frozen land of Norway, and Paris Alexander of the not quite as cold UK, have just released a new single. This post-punk/coldwave track is called “Sad Lover (Desolated),” and I am not sure if this ties into anything, about seven years ago, they had another song called “Shadow Lover.”

My breath slows as I take in the drum machine beats with the bass guitar’s deep rumbling, which is old school post-punk in the style of Peter Hook (Joy Division), drawing you in. The lead guitar work is seriously sublime, and delicately echoes, supported by the equally lightly winding synths. Alexander’s vocals are smooth and subdued, reeking of cooling dusk, and yet still intensely moving.

The music video is shot between the snowy pine forests of Norway, and an old church in England, with an attached graveyard. This heightens the stark reality of loneliness and inevitable death, but it also pulls into focus that “Sad Lover (Desolated)” is also about realising that snow covered scenery is beautiful, or that there is an austere dark peace around the tombstones of those long gone. It is finding the elegance and grace in that which could be seen as desolate. Antipole & Paris Alexander have delivered another perfect track in “Sad Lover (Desolated).”

https://www.instagram.com/antipoleband/

Music | Antipole

https://www.instagram.com/parisalexandermusic/

Music | Paris Alexander

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We have been anticipating a new release from Aotearoa (New Zealand), darkwave/industrial group Robots In Love, and luckily we have not had to wait very long in the form of the single “Crush.”

Gamer one is up and the bouncing guitar riffs breathe life into “Crush” early on. You can taste the conviction in Rayner’s vocals as she builds the anticipation that peaks in the chorus. The chorus soars with unbridled emotion and charged vocals that entwine with each other, breaking free of all expectations, with Robots In Love taking you on a musical high.

“Crush” is a track of boundless optimism, where it doesn’t matter what life throws up, that hope always springs eternal and this is kind of refreshing. It is about crushing the obstacles in your path and creating new opportunities. In the 90s, Elenor Rayner was a member of the industrial rock group Soulscraper, and it feels like she is revisiting this era when both Soulscraper and another Australian band, Insurge were changing the industrial scene. She is still breaking and rebuilding genres along with the other Robots In Love members Alex Burchell and Tony Lumsden. “Crush” has already become a favourite track in the live show and it is not hard to see why.

Crush | Robots In Love

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Robots In Love (@robotsinlove) • Instagram photos and videos

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Neo-industrial project Divine Shade is close to releasing their album Fragments Vol. 1, and from this debut, Remi  Thonnerieux has dropped the latest single,  “Hate and Oblivion. “

Reverberating electronics, tinged with feedback kick off with quirky interluding loops. This is leading you to the juicy chorus which is both ground out with Thonnerieux’s vocals and yet, still, the guitar and synths have a capacity to make you feel like you are soaring above everything. There is even a sneaky break where you think “Hate and Oblivion” has suddenly stopped.. but do not be fooled!

Divine Shade has toured with Gary Numan and it undeniable that his influence can be heard on “Hate and Oblivion.” This track is instantly likeable and indeed familiar in a way, but that might be in part to the retro ambience. Between Thonnerieux’s vocals and the rich synths, Divine Shade have absolutely served up an epic dark industrial track in “Hate and Oblivion.”

Hate And Oblivion (Single) | Divine Shade

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Divine Shade (@divineshade) • Instagram photos and videos

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2024 marked twenty years making music for Nottingham goths, In Isolation. After two decades, lead singer Ryan Swift and bassist Mike Sinclair have decided that they need to move on with life, though they have given remaining members, Tony Ghost (drums) and John Berry (guitar,) their blessing to continue with the In Isolation moniker if they so wish to do so. They are celebrating both the milestone and finale by releasing the EP Light In Dark Times.

The EP kicks off with the title track, “Light In Darker Times,” and it truly is a lovely post-punk single, dark and maudlin, with lyrics about what I can only describe as an unrequited love or the death of said love. The music is reminiscent of the Disintegration era sound of The Cure, between the curling synths and echoing guitars that speak of a deep melancholy. There is a charming innocence to “Middle Child Millicent,” until the guitars kick in. A girl with a name from the Victorian age, has found herself the unfavoured sibling, in comparison to her brothers. The Mission could have written this track I feel, especially with the wandering guitars lines and sentiment.

The name makes me think of the Japan single “Ghosts” and overall, “Phantoms” did give me a little start when I heard it, for it does throw you back into that early 80s. It is a sweet lament of wanting what the heart cannot have and unable to move on from the loss.
“Middle Child Millicent (Mat Pop Extended Mix)” rounds out the EP, with far more synthpop flare and aplomb. It is amazing how different this is to the original and yet you can hear it is the same track.

Kids in shadow filled rooms and a myriad of phantasms connected to a heart denied…. this is how you get goths. And it might be an EP, but Light In Darker Times is an epic celebration for In Isolation to release. Is it the end? Who knows, however, the music lives on regardless

Light In Darker Times | In Isolation

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Bah and humbug! Tis Christmas again, where we will be serenaded by carols both new and old, so how about something both new and spooktacular for the holiday season in the form of the single “A Very Vampire Christmas” from Who Saw Her Die?

Behold the jingling and what sounds like a drunken version of “Do They Know It’s Christmas?“, and I guess you can look at it as kindly gifting life, so that sneaky vampire is going to enjoy the seasonal cheer and get his fill of Bloody Mary’s… so to speak.

The drawling vocals are paradoxical compared to the chiming electronic music, plus coupled with wonderfully absurd concept that a vampire would like to join in the whole being a part of the Christmas joy, but they are people too….they just happen to be undead. This track was originally released last year on the Goths For Sanctuaries compilation, which is aa great cause. Grab your favourite child of the night and celebrate “A Very Vampire Christmas” with Who Saw Her DIe?!

A Very Vampire Christmas | Who Saw Her Die?

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