We are going to get a bit serious here. For Peace. Against War. Who Is Not? A Compilation For The People Of Ukraine was released this month by the label Component Recordings. A whopping 199 artists have donated a track each and all money raised will go to Ukrainian Red Cross and VOSTOK SOS to help the people who are suffering. I could say it was generous of the bands on this compilation but I think every single one would say they felt it was right and the decent thing to do.
I only know a few of the acts on this release but they come from around the world and all are from the electro, synth, industrial, experimental scene. It was our friend Tim Tigersblood Vester of the band Warm Gadget that brought it to our attention and I noted Decommissioned Forests. There seems to be a lot of great music and it really is not a lot to pay for 199 tracks which includes Wolfgang Flür (Kraftwerk), Steven Mallinder (Cabaret Voltaire) and Jack Dangers (Beat Meat Manifesto)
Music in history has been used to create war fervor and march armies into battles but since the 1960s, especially, it has been a focal point to show injustice and discourage war mongering. Music can feed the hungry, call for justice and inspire people to embrace each other, creating common bonds. So please check out the Bandcamp page and consider buying this……. humanity starts with us.
George Klontzas has been in some very significant projects but the most awe inspiring, has to be his own act, Teknovore. The Greek Klontzas has been a member of Pre-Emptive Strike 0.1, Croona and Cynical Existence, but now over the last couple of years has been focusing on his solo material and remixes under the Teknovore name. The culmination has been the release of the debut album The Theseus Paradox on Infacted Recordings thia month.
Feel that base drop in “Take Me Away” which features fellow Infacted Recordings stablemate j:dead. It is utterly delicious as a starting track with the soaring vocals and cyber injections of sound. The heavenly spiral of techno beats wends its way through “Apotheosis” delightfully heavy on the rhythm and spectacularly light on the dancing synths. With a verbal warning (maybe in Greek as it is hard to tell), “The Seal Becomes The Fate” definitely feels like impending doom with the ticking of the clock while “Vox Machina” is so intense, like being over-wound and on a ride you can’t get off. In the end you don’t want to.
“Relinquish Your Flesh” features Neon Decay, almost has tendrils of traditional Greek music in the beginning but that all dissolves with the vocals. Neon Decay gives this track a sludgy and dirty feel, dragging you under the mire. We are back to the techno maelstrom again with “Make Us Whole” which gives you these perfect keyboard refrains. There is such purpose behind this track, as if on a mission. A single released before the album, “Anachronist” featuring RNZR is, of course, amazing as it pummels your senses with its cyber-tribal style whirlpool of emotion and rhythms. The calm before the storm is the perception with “Split The Sky“. Far more slow moving though no less intense, an electronic dream.
J:dead brings on the angst to wake you, with “Every Broken Bone“. All the bass with screaming vocals, only to be smashed with a wall of synth.”Olethros” in Greek mythology is a personification of destruction that will bring on renewal. It flies on the wings of the ancestors in a modern era. A bit of drum and bass mixed with piano and electronics gives you the last track “Continuity“. Deep and dark with foreboding is an excellent way to end an album like this.
If you are unaware, the title to the album refers to the ship of the mythological hero Theseus. The Athenians cared for the ship and whenever a piece was rotting, they replaced it…until there was nothing left of the original. Therefor, is it still the same ship? For the record, Klontzas is a master at this style of music. An ability wind up the music, drop and do it all over again, creating anticipation and instant gratification when the rhythms bear you away on an inspired electronic journey. There is everything from techno to harsh EBM and the choices of guest vocalists are perfect. The old tale says beware of Greeks bearing gifts but in this case let the Teknovore in.
Well….apart from some stellar remixes, we haven’t heard anything new from HOSTILE ARCHITECT since the debut album and what a debut it was. After speaking to Mitch Kenny (he whom is hostile), I have been told that the new single. “POWER OVERWHELMING (ALPHA MIX)“, is heralding the soon to be launched EP. You can find the single on the Bandcamp page of Brutal Resonance as it was released on March 18th, 2022.
Yep those dance beats just get to you and the wonderful thing is that Kenny always keeps certain tones and sounds consistently in his tracks, like a fingerprint. Oh yes, the ARCHITECT is all about the destruction with the idea that destruction and eradication causes two of whatever to become one. Intense and amazing.
It is a great dance floor single and if this is any inkling of what is to come, well then, damn it the EP is going to be stonkingly good. What also is really cool about this release is that Brutal Resonance in their wisdom, give you the opportunity to purchase this single on postcard vinyl. When I was a kid, you could get magazines with a floppy freebie and this is pretty much the same idea, as it can be sent to you via the post for free rather than a tape, CD or full vinyl, which is really neat and a bit of a collectors item. Sure the quality might be a little lo-fi but that’s half the fun and you still get to download it as well.
Most people have a fairly good grasp of what OMG stands for in social media, however the EP title of FredrikCroona’s new project, Against I, it stands for Obscene Morbid Gore. Many would be familiar with the Swedish Croona’s other bands, Menschdefekt, Croona and Cynical Existence. The EP hit us on March the 11th, 2022 and it is out on Insane Records.
Title track straight up. “O.M.G.” As soon as you hear those harmonic synths, you know you are about to hear something big and it doesn’t disappoint. The hoarse aggro vocals with the backing speeding guitars and fuzzing tech. The anguish about a society that will watch on while others suffer, no matter how bad it gets. I always shake my head in wonder how this style of music has such harsh vocals and yet there is this wondrous techno-cyber light keyboard refrains backing up all of it. The “Other Half” is a perfect example of those keyboards while Croona screeches out the lament of the loss of humanity due to people no longer finding connection to others.
“Disgust” is a really bouncy maelstrom of discontent over overtly judgmental types. It has such good momentum, The single is “Scum” which swirls and picks up pace. Croona invites you to call him scum if you want to though I feel this is a mirror reflecting the actions of other. You know the Tecknovore remix of “Scum” is going to kick arse and it just pops! Klontzas has cut back on the guitars and just gone for full on electronic immersion. “Scum” by Death Verified is a glitch tech fest, again the guitars have been dropped in favour of synths but there is no loss of veracity.
It is very angry but that is what Croona does very well. That miasma of pained, screaming vocals, guitar distortion, those fabulous synths and techno beats that underpin it all. Most of this would easily make it onto club floors and dance mixes. But when you have the time, listen a little more closely to messages as there is something in that as well.
Due to lockdowns and the like over 20/21, the Berlin based band X-Vivo decided to take a few tracks from their 2017 concept album Petrichor and remix them for an EP to be fully released on the 18th of March. The added bonus was having Nico from BIINDS also helping in the remixing, bringing in yet another style.
“Aphelion” kicks off and I get a real Deathstars feel when these guys are in full flight. This mix by aleX-Vivo is verbose and yet there is something reflective with the angst. Also mixed by aleX-Vivo is the huge sounding “Hail The King“. This is definitely the track you will want to turn up. Both metallic and cold as it speeds along at full throttle, throwing you into false lulls before taking off again. The next remix is done by BIINDS is “Echo Of The Unseen” which has a far more gentle mood than the original which was tending to be more glitch tech, while this version is full of small beats and rhythms that bear it along.
“The Waves Of The Ocean Are Gone” again is a BIINDS version where the original piano has been replaced with a far more electronic accompaniment and I perceive a male voice in this version. It reminds me of early Within Temptation. “Perihelion” has been changed into two tracks, Part 1 appears to be the culmination of female vocals which extend forth, as if in a dream. Wherein Part 2 is the male vocals like distant thunder rolling across the empty hills. These were created by aleX-Vivo.
Most remix releases normally follow the course of bringing on the big beats especially when it comes to industrial bands. X-Vivo seem to be bucking that trend. The lower and slower tracks are treated with reverence and great care to hold onto the key components that give them such refined delicacy. “Hail The King” is a banger of a tune but sometimes it isn’t always about the loudest tracks but rather the whole composition.
From the dark depths of merry old London town, there is a project by the name of VHS¥DEATH. What is this all about you might ask and I shall reply Natalie Wardle is VHS¥DEATH and along with Cruel NatureRecords are releasing the EP, Corrupted Geisha on limited tape format as of March 11th, 2022.
So we start off with “Space Bankers See You, The End Is Near” and the title alone is intriguing enough. Hip hop beats with broken pieces of conversation, singing and maybe a little Southern soul, that is until a man is telling how things are in the real world to a sweet stream of relaxation music. “Falsehood Of Man (Dystopian Mix)” is a whirlwind of soliloquy angst and breakbeats before “666 Pounds of Zero Gravity” with its electronic vocalizations. The connections between the demonic, the angelic and creation.
The dour organ plays sickly to Wardle’s distorted utterances for “Snakes In The Grass“. Like a possession gone wrong, this is part disturbing and part cute with the drum and bass tapping along nicely, Guitar distortion and multi layering are almost to the point of overwhelming in “What Is Your Worth,Vampire?“. Underneath all is this lovely guitar jangle and vocals that eventually comes to the fore.
If you are into industrial music and you don’t know the original “Everyday Is Halloween” then you should go sit in the corner and contemplate what you are doing with your life. The Ministry track is given a synth makeover, making it even more electronic, if that is possible. Wardle definitely can sing and does a sterling job in this sensuous ode to being a weirdo in a weird world.
This is experimental industrial music and it is not going to be everyone’s taste. The best way I can describe VHS¥DEATH is chaos with a zen centre. A sponge taking in all around them and then trying to make sense of so much information in order to find balance. The fusion of hip hop, drum & bass with synths and a smattering of guitar can be challenging and yet also pleasing to the ear. Well worth the listen and maybe your curiosity to listen to the Ministry cover might pull you in.
So Z Cluster have been a little quiet recently, though hardly surprising with Covid-19 locking down both Sydney and Melbourne, where one each of the duo live and then the pandemic progeny are also an after effect….so congratulations are due. However, INfest8 & Sai Jaiden Lillith, somehow have found the time to write and record a new single….which is leading to a new EP. Huzzah!! The latest tune is called “The Rapture” and it dropped on the 28th of February.
Fuzzy beats with a guitar that is trying to wind up and Sai’s vocals provocatively imploring are just the start. It is that slow burn that leads you to be engulfed in a blaze of euphoria. Cheaps Coffins has taken “The Rapture” and remixed it into something huge, which is lying in wait to rip into you. He has brought in his more metal/industrial influences and made “The Rapture” into this amazingly tortured spectacle, with a Middle Eastern touch.
Not going to lie. I heard Nine Inch Nails in the delivery, those waves of attacking lyrics that pull back like waves on the beach after they have crashed. The Cheap Coffins remix is not the first we have heard from him and at this rate definitely not the last! There really is nothing stopping you from checking out Z Cluster’s “The Rapture” especially when it is priced on Bandcamp for free!
We are going back in time but also forward if that makes any sense. Greek industrial band, Pre-Emptive Strike 0.1 dropped Declaration Of War(2006-2015), a six track release on download or collector’s nuclear slime green tape (most attractive). There is one new track, though not actually new but rather written in that era but never released, while the other five tracks are classics that have all been reworked. Founder, Jim Blaster (D. Argyrakis) and Yiannis Dseq (Yiannis Chatzakis) are the current members.
“The Base Was Overrun” is the first track and it is also the track that was never released due to the band finding at the time that it didn’t quite fit into the tempo of Epos V when written in 2014. It is definitely slower and deliberately in the contemplative mode that all hope is lost to an unknown foe. It is the track “Lethal Defense Systems” that propelled Pre-Emptive Strike 0.1 into the industrial light for fans though this version is based far more closely on the 2005 demo version. This is a actually a little more stripped down and not as harsh as the original but works so well and it will still make you want to dance. A fan favourite is “Preeemptive Strike (2021 Version)” and this revamped version has lost none of its aggression.
“Declaration Of War” was released in 2010 on TheKosmokrator, originally all in German but now performed in English by Jim Blaster. It rolls smoothly and honestly it could be in Gaelic and it would still sound so good. Blaster replaces the vocals done by guest singer Deranged Psyche from NEBULA H/EX-ES in “Robotic Disintegrator” originally for TheKosmokrator. Angry and antagonistic, the lads throw you into a whirlwind of extreme electronics because the machines are coming to get you. The last track is “Epos Of The Argonauts (Dark Mix)” which was on the 2015 album Epos V. You really can’t get more Greek than telling the tale of Jason and The Argonauts. The original has almost traditional quality to it but this has been turned into a stellar, near science fiction version of a modern age tragedy.
The original version of Lethal Defense Systems
Those wandering highlighting synths are still as wonderful as ever and the gravelly vocals were/are their trademark. I really love “Lethal Defense Systems” with fond memories of listening to it when it first came out and forgotten how dance inducing Pre-Emptive Strike 0.1 can be. Would cyber industrial been as good without these guys,,, I don’t think so. These songs still hold up and it might be time to become reacquainted with the 2021 versions.
From Fort Lauderdale in the US, electro-goth pop princess, Miss FD has released her latest EP, As Above, So Below as of the 11th of February, on Quantum Release Records. She has taken inspiration from the archaeological exploration of Göbekli Tepe, a Neolithic settlement in South Eastern Anatolia, Turkey and some spirituality as well.
There is a delightful Middle Eastern influence in the “Summoning” mixed with the electronics and perhaps conjure an ancient angel or djinn to find solace in the desert night air. “The Veil” is thought to be the barrier between the living and the dead. Only the dead may pass though and at certain times of the year, Day of the Dead/Halloween the veil is at it’s thinnest. It pulses with life and beats while wishing to dalliance with the ethereal to meet with lost loves. A bit darker and oh so alluring is the title track, “As Above, So Below” with that great driving rhythm and the alluring vocals of Miss FD sweep you away to the dichotomy that is the earthly and the mystical.
The term as above, so below is used as a reference in the belief that what we do on this earthly plane, will also be played out in the spiritual world. Through all three tracks, you can hear the references to the other worldly, intangible and karmic. The music curls around your ears, like the smoke from the hookah the Caterpillar smoked in Alice In Wonderland, permeating your being just as a drug would and Miss FD’s vocals coo and call you to the other side like a siren. Maybe time to contemplate your mortality because As Above, So Below.
You might not know it, but Hong Kong has a pretty big underground alternative music scene. Deer Mx are a Mexican duo living in HK and creating their own style of electronic/industrial music. They dropped a new single on February 16th called “אIV (Out Of The Mountain Of Despair)” and no, I have no idea how to say the symbol part. Adriana (vocals, guitar) and Miguel (synths, programming, bass guitar, piano) are the members of Deer Mx while Alfonso Rosales (drums) and Peter Enderberg (guitar) joined them in the studio. The song was produced by the band and mastered by Magnus Lindberg.
I have found Deer Mx make this great bouncy pop inspired industrial music. There are the fuzzy tones mixed with the piano, the guitars wailing out for your attention, the drummer keeping them all in time while Adriana just sings over it all. She sings of oppression, control, sanctioned violence and mentions April the 4th which is the day Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated and also the day the Hong Kong flag was also changed.
Does that sound like a mess? Absolutely not! Everything has a purpose and a place in this tune, blending to create a quirky and danceable piece. It also has something deep to say and in the current world climate there are wars for heart and minds on the world wide web as much as there are running battles in the name of freedom on the ground. Let Deer Mx prick your ears and maybe your conscious as well.
Onyx Music Reviews 