When The Soft Moon’s Jose Luis Vasquez suddenly passed away, it sent a ripple of shock through the darkwave/industrial community worldwide due to the refreshing influence of his songs. LOVER/ABUSER is a relatively new band from Arizona and they have covered TheSoftMoon’s track “CHOKE.”
Though the time signature is the same, this new version is saturated with reverberating guitar, so not necessarily less electronic but with a more metallic taste. You can definitely recognise “CHOKE,” but it is nice to hear that it isn’t a carbon copy with the cleaner vocals from possibly more than one singer. A tribute to a lost icon from LOVER/ABUSER, and maybe check out their other track, “Star Nursery” with it’s classical piano lit with moonlight.
If you are a fan of TheCure and David Bowie, then you would definitely heard of ReevesGabrels, an iconic guitarist, who has been a member of TheCure since 2012 and was heavily involved especially in the Bowie project TinMachine, Industrial metal aficionados, DerisionCult have created the single “Warning Signs” with fellow American Gabrels heating up the strings, released on the GlitchModeRecordings label.
Let there be rock, and there was rock with a driving force of epic proportions. The vocals of DaveMcAnally could strip the paint off a brothel, and he is joined by SeanPayne, JesseHunt and BradHuston, as they crush the metal into industrial shards. Gabrels makes his lead guitar wail and seamlessly waltz through the carnage wrought by DerisionCult. The video, created by EmpireAnimae, is kind of like watching a whacky animated apocalyptic Mad Max version of the band, hyped up on acid, and it is amazing. You really need to view it in all its glory.
The world, it feels, has been falling into a dark chasm, pushed by war, fuelled by extremism and holier than thou righteousness. How did it come to this? Depends if you were watching for the hints or the “WarningSigns.” Derision Cult are going to attack your senses and they aren’t asking you for permission. They are screaming for you to open your eyes and see the whole picture. When there are “Warning Signs,” fuck the system.
The end of the world might be nigh the way the human race is going, between the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and the Seven Deadly Sins. Pennsylvanian based MaliceMachine recently released the album “Act of Self Destruction,” showcasing the pent up fury of members Syn and Julie-X about the state of current world events, exploding out in what can be best described as a torrent of electronic rage. We asked the hive mind that is Malice Machine about the album and all the stuff….what stuff? Read on.
Welcome to the crypt of our sorrows that is Onyx, Syn and Julie-X of Malice Machine.
How did Malice Machine come into being and more to the point why?
We’ve always been a drum and bass team and spent a lot of time in various goth and industrial bands in NY before we decided to put our own project together. We went through our share of musicians looking for he right fit until we discovered we were best as a duo. Syn took over on vocals and after some thought we decided the music would have a more aggressive vibe. We decided on calling our project Malice Machine because it was an appropriate name.
Apparently Syn spits the venom and Julie-X is the eye of chaos, but could you explain your roles in the band please?
Syn became the vocalist because we just couldn’t find anyone suitable. He also took over all song writing, lyrics, guitar and studio production. Julie-X plays and writes the drums and also does the art and tech work so we have a mutually beneficial and productive relationship.
You originally started the band in New York City, but since then moved to Pennsylvania. How has this impacted on your music do you think?
NY was once a thriving scene but we left because the scene was dying and the cost of living is pretty high. We rented a small apartment with rats and roaches as room mates but worst of all, with the paper thin walls we couldn’t rehearse and rehearsal studio rates were expensive. So we wisely packed up and bought a house in Pennsylvania and now we can make all the noise we want. Writing and rehearsing is a pleasure plus the location allows us to travel easily to several states for gigs.
What is the industrial scene like in Pennsylvania compared to the Big Apple?
Where we live in Pennsylvania the goth/industrial scene does not exist. But in the cities like Philly and Pittsburgh, there’s some suitable clubs for our music. Overall the east coast isn’t the best location. We do better towards the west coast.
Your latest album is delightfully called “Act of Self Destruction,” and it is chock full of aggro tech goodness. Why did you choose that title as the all encompassing, so to speak, description?
We designed our songs to represent how we feel about our society and world are becoming dysfunctional and spiralling out of control. We’re on a path of self destruction, hence the title.
You have described your music writing technique as organic whilst also being industrial, which is very electronic. How does all this happen and what was it like writing this album?
In an era of music where people write entire songs using loops or premade elements that were written by other people, we create all our own lines, sounds and beats. Aside from this we purposely remained minimal with the vocals, giving Syn a more organic sound by using only delay and some reverb. As far as what it was like to write this album, we had an entire album written before this one but we threw it away because it felt like a continuation of our previous release. The songs just weren’t connecting well with each other and we wanted a more consistent style.
Tracks like “Delete Me,” “Damaged,” and “Desolation” are prime examples of the themes of bleak loss of hope and unyielding anger. What inspired you to write the album in the first place?
It’s hard to find peace of mind and happiness sometimes. A lot of people express their demons in different ways, Syn expresses his through music and that’s not such a bad way to exercise demons.
You guys are really DIY, and do everything yourselves including producing and mastering. Is it a challenge arranging it yourself and can you tell people what is The Morgue?
To be honest, we’ve tried working with other people for production, mastering, even collaboration, we’ve even hired professional mastering houses and spent a good amount of money only to be disappointed in the end results. In the end we realize we work best alone so the only thing left to do was to learn how to do it all ourselves. We’re still learning and that’s a continuing process. Of course all this implies that we needed to buy a lot of equipment to achieve our desired results so we built our own studio. Syn spends most of his time entombed in there, like a crypt, but “the Morgue” sounded better. Incidentally, we both once worked and lived above a funeral home on Long Island NY.
Do you guys have any particular tracks off the album that you are more drawn to, or particularly proud of?
Syn is sometimes content with a couple of them but sometimes he hates them all. Julie-X favors Hyena and Damaged but to her, they’re all good.
I cannot go past asking you about the Trans X track “Living On Video,” which you have covered and really given it a great makeover. It is an absolutely classic, so why cover this track and what was it about this song that made you think ‘hell yes, we need to do this!’?
First of all, it’s hard to find a good song to remake. All the best stuff has already been covered a million times. We did consider this song once before but didn’t feel it was going to work for us as a remake. But then Syn started evolving the concept of the song towards social media. Let’s face it we’ve all had cringe moments when looking at memes. Who knows what the hell some people are thinking when they post. That pretty much was the inspiration to actually attempt the Trans X remake. It just felt like the right vehicle to call out toxic media.
On that note, who are the acts and bands that have musically influenced you over the years?
Early industrial i.e. Front 242, Front Line Assembly, NIN, classic punk bands, some Black Sabbath, a few Nu Metal bands. To be honest we’re musically open minded and like a vast range of music from far too many artists to name.
Malice Machine is very much a live group, so what drives you to put yourselves out there in front of an audience?
We used to think live shows was the most important way to build up a fan base but in today’s musical climate, it’s more important to approach our music as a multi-faceted business and concentrate on building an online presence. We still enjoy playing shows because of the energy that feeds and flows between us and an audience. It also keeps the music feeling fresh. We also have some people discover us that wouldn’t normally be exposed to our music and that’s exciting.
This is the obligatory weird question…. if you were allowed to be little vandals, release the inner demons, and destroy something, what would you destroy and how would you do it?
Syn would say if there was a shiny red history eraser button, he might just press it. Julie-X will plead the 5th.
What is up next for Malice Machine?
We intend to be more prevalent online, building our Spotify presence, releases new songs and remixes and definitely more videos. We have some live shows coming up as well and besides working on Malice Machine, we have a few other projects we plan on doing. Lastly, Syn has been working on a stop-motion animation film for two years three quarters complete so we’re busy little creatures.
Polish industrial rock band Inside Her dropped the new single “Nikt Stąd Nie WyjdzieŻywy” in May…….. yep, unless you speak Polish, you might kill yourself saying this title which more or less translates to no one will get out of here alive. The track features the vocals of JustynaGryka and this is the second single off the soon to be released second album.
And it all started with a beat and the rumblings of a bass guitar, before the track leaps out at you. There is the introduction to the deep male vocals followed by a female whisper above, and surprisingly the synths are so light within the within the heavy crush of guitar. Gryka plays between demure and power singing, slipping easily between modes, holding her own, while the guitars soar from harsh to classical metal. Always there is that bass guitar. These guys remind me a lot of Germany’s Eisbrecher musically but Inside Her definitely pushing their own sound.
We are going to talk about Swedish act AgainstI. The three piece has a new EP out, ironically called DestructionLullaby, though to be quite frank, at seven tracks, this really could be called a full length album. Released on the TwistedFlesh Recordings label, my only warning is to prepare your ears to be bombarded with heavy industrial metal.
And so begins the assault with bludgeoning drum blasts, as the call to the dispossessed and rejected to take back what is theirs rings out with Croona’s vocals pile driving into the screaming guitars in “Darkdivine.” The electronic angelic crowd stand testament to the apocalyptic destruction of “Worldinruin,” a combination of classical meets metal, that is raised into the stratosphere by the synths.
“Thesacrifice” is a walk into damnation, raw and bleeding from the shadow of a broken soul, claustrophobic and clinging like a oily film to the skin. Following this is the ode to a million ways to die, the track “Deathdefined,” with the slamming drums and hum of slashing guitar, all the while Croona goes full demonic.
The concept of reality can be just as cruel as your worst nightmare is explored in “A violentdream,” and this track points to a far more metal background, with soaring guitar and an inexplicable Nordic intent. There is a always a “Calm before the storm” and it is the same with this track, because when it hits, it is with righteous fury, which leaves us bared for the title track “Destruction lullaby,” with the winding synths and stomping beats while the vocals vie for dominance with the guitar.
Maybe it is time to give the monsieurs three, that being MathiasBack, AndersStröm and FredrikKeithCroona, a little recognition and a listen if you haven’t before. There is no calm before the storm. There is only the storm, that is full of metal shards bound in shocking electronic power, driving rhythms and vocals of a madman unbound in a world where everything has gone to hell. This is AgainstI and they will pummel you to sleep with their DestructionLullaby, a sonorous head beating.
US industrial rock band, WarmGadget 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 DreadRisks.
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 DreadRisks remix pulsates with an electronic smirk, pulling off a perfect balance of dance and crushing noise.
TimVester (vocals, lyrics, samples) and ColtenTylerWilliams (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 DreadRisks doing the remix is the icing on the cake. We are not “Annoyed.”
NikolaStanojkovski (guitars, bass, synths) and ChristopherCronce (vocals, lyrics) make up Pennsylvania based industrial metal group Agremorta. Their single “Adrocitas” is also their debut and herald’s in the March 15th release of the EP Anomalia.
What strikes me first is the blending of styles within the one track. A combination of clean and heavily growled vocals, plus there are fluid classic guitar solos by LouisSnyder that would not sound astray in AmonAmarth or some other European band of that ilk. The chorus harmonies are a throwback to LinkinPark and tempered by the synths and howling gurgled utterances.
Verbose and powerful guitars, matched with booming rhythms, dynamic vocals and you have “Adrocitas,” a track about self loathing, doubt and never feeling good enough that soars high.
Just when you thought you might finally be safe from space invasion and laser beam, pew pew extermination, you find more DEATHCOMET in your life, and he’s back with album DEATHCOMET16!! Hmmmm…. the last one we reviewed was DEATHCOMET14. Sooo, it seems we skipped an album, however, that just means more for your experimental electronic listening pleasure, from the New South Wales region of Australia.
I find my teeth are set on edge listening to the disturbing drone of “newhuntforalienlife” which stops and becomes the guitar torturing oddity, “desperateattempt,” as it tumbles over itself, creating a tubular vortex of sound. A looping guitar screaming greets your ears, perpetuating an overload for the ten minute long “neptunebelial,” as you wait for the subtle changes in pitch, but this does nothing to prepare you for the track “satanicdimensions,” where you are almost assuredly hearing the anguished voices from the pit itself, as the harsh noise eviscerates your senses.
“allsystemsgo” continues from where “satanicdimensions” left off, however it has incorporated an eerie demonic electronic choir, which is driving the unholy star drive straight into the inferno that is “cosmicball,” yet another track clocking in at over ten minutes. The psychedelic effect of “masks” really hits you after listening to such constant noise, and it feels as if the aliens really are invading your brain, which leads in nicely to the last track, “alienscalling“. Yes, finally the little grey guys are melting your brain with their sonic vocals as everything burns to the ground.
DEATHCOMET16 is experimental noise that starts by rubbing your brain against sand paper, and then just builds into a new world order, intent on cellular annihilation, so the alien hordes don’t have to worry about cleaning up the carbon mess. Alien industrial metal in the form of DEATHCOMET is a mighty powerful thing.
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 AgainstI’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 AgainstI with “Blitzkrieg,” which overwhelms the enemy in a singular swift strike, taking you by storm.
Mmmmm, from somewhere in New South Wales, there is a man called Dan, though he might be an alien, however, still Australian (actually he’s from West Wyalong, which I had to look up to see where is was). Now Dan has a noise project called DEATHCOMET,and the most current release is DEATHCOMET 14…. yarp, so there is a lot more of where that comes from.
Like all noise music, a lot of this is going to feel like it’s shredding your ears off and brutalising all your senses all at the same time. It tastes of metal, prickles the skin, and smells of sulphur as we journey with the DEATHCOMET, while he decimates pedals “and flangers to kill“.
Even in these buzzing, throbbing, and most possibly sanguinary soundscapes, you can hear bleeding through vignettes of tunes in the miasma if you listen carefully. The final track, “in the lair of the satanic worms” brings the album full circle.
Honestly, who does not love satanic worms, skulls, and aliens?! To quote the man himself….
‘DEATHCOMET plays unholy space metal exclusively – cosmic sonic terror via electric guitar and fx pedals – “it’s like being probed in both ears by aliens with power drills!“‘
Really could say much better myself other than saying death by pedal… wwwoooaaahh! DEATHCOMET 14 is here, and your ears are not safe, but then that’s half the fun and amazing industrial noise all done on guitar.
Onyx Music Reviews 