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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), Fabrizio Giampietro (guitar), Marco Di Ianni (bass guitar) and Gianluca Orsini (drums) have dropped the single “My Redemption” 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 “My Redemption.”

Music | Christine Plays Viola

Christine Plays Viola – Official Website | The Dark Is Coming

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Italy’s Vidi Aquam released the album Lights and Shadows, in September. Full of post-punk goodness by members Daniele Viola (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 Vidi Aquam.

The Last Man On Earth | Vidi Aquam

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I saw Aquam

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It is Onyx’s great pleasure to premiere the new single from Melbourne’s goth-tastic duo, Velatine. “We’re Not Suburban” is Holly Purnell’s second single with the band, after joining fellow musician and producer Loki Lockwood, on the darkwave journey to create fabulous songs, and it comes out on the label Spooky Records.

Let the night sweep you away into its dark embrace, as the synths sensuously ask for surrender, and the sirens of emergency services, reminds us the city after sunset it full of life. Purnell’s singing is unhurried and so easy on the ears, as she elucidates about how being suburban can be perceived as being suffocating and ‘normal’, something artistic types are constantly at war with. At times, the synths caress the vocals, before becoming spikey. You can hear Lockwood’s vocals, deep and in unison with Purnell, as the track goes on and the sirens become increasingly intrusive.

Lockwood told me the track is autobiographical, until the lines ‘Despite the odds, The un-dead, you’re not, So be a little reckless, And make the life you’ve got,’ which is more of an ethos that many of us should take note of for ourselves. Velatine have made a lush video, walking and driving through those same suburban streets, so you can see those two beautiful people haunting your screen. The song itself is slightly reminiscent of that Portishead style, and I think Holly’s vocals are perfect. I can’t wait to hear go from strength to strength as she proceeds. “We’re Not Suburban” is yet another showcase of Lockwood’s composition mastery and proving Velatine don’t care to be run of the mill, because boring is for other people.

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One of the beautiful aspects of the dark alternative scene is the inclusiveness for the disenfranchised, acceptance of sexualities and ethnic backgrounds. Second Idol are a group from Sydney, on the Gloomshift Records label, who play post-punk music and exemplify that diversity can create wonderful music. Kate Farquharson (vocals, guitars), Theia Joyeaux (bass), Sunny Josan (guitars) and Afeef Iqbal (drums, percussion) are Second Idol and they dropped a new single in October, called “Spineless Wonders.”

Nice, heavy bass is an instant attention grabber, before the drums clatter in and we are met by the swirling guitar. The vocals are strong and there is resemblance to the singing style of Brian Molko (Placebo). The chorus has teeth, with a veritable cacophony of guitar noise and it is glorious.

There is also a remix by INAUGURAL, who are label mates, and it has a dreamy, echoing texture. Think Siouxsie and the Banshees’ “Fireworks” as a reference, and that somewhat gives you an idea of how excellent it is.

“Spineless Wonders” is sonically perfect, and there is a very professional music video, directed, shot and edited by Jack Fontes, in black and white, full of sexual tension and innuendo. It is a song about those that present as something they are not, who lie and have no honour, which seems to be more pertinent than ever in the modern world of social media. Don’t be a “Spineless Wonder” and listen to Second Idol.

Spineless Wonders | Second Idol

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New single SPINELESS WONDERS out now | SECOND IDOL

SECOND IDOL (@second_idol) • Instagram photos and videos

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Melbourne’s Velatine are back with a new single, as well as a new singer. Loki Lockwood dropped the single “Oh See Me, The Siren,” with Holly Purnell debuting as the vocalist.

‘I love coats, leather coats, biker jackets, military coats, I’m obsessed. So I’m down the local thrift shop and trying on some women’s furs [love them too]. But I never seem to find the right one but I try. I put one on, the sleeves are too short, I push them up and I hear someone say ‘looks cool’. I turn around and I’m looking at this striking woman who says to me ‘you’re looking for a singer aren’t you’? ‘How do you know’? I replied.  ‘I’ve seen your ad and I’ve been thinking about it’. Why hasn’t she I think? She looks the part so I ask. I get the ‘not sure whether I’m good enough or my voice is right’. ‘Well if you don’t try you’ll forever wonder’ I say.’ – Loki Lockwood

In the video, our siren Holly is saturated in deep red tones, and somewhere in the back of my mind, there is a knocking. Something familiar and then it hits me. She reminds me of a young Shirley Manson and not just vocally. The attitude is sassy and she is not going to put up with anyone’s preconceptions. In that vein, the music is equal parts sneering nonchalance and peerless seduction, for this composition created by Lockwood.

Lockwood has used synths in the chorus in such a way that heightens the feeling of suffocation and in his chameleon way, he has the ability to fluidly change from gothic rock to a more electronic sound, and everything in between, without a second thought, which keeps everything fresh. It seems Velatine might have found their gothic goddess in Holly and this means there are exciting things in the works. Find yourself drawn to “Oh See Me, The Siren,” because no one can resist creatures of the night.

Oh See Me – The Siren | Velatine

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– VELATINE – Gothic | Darkwave

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Diana Ringo is a Finnish film maker, who also makes avant-garde post-punk music. She released in August the single teaser “Happy Mealz” off the album Cyberwolf, which dropped in October. You might say, Onyx, you are a bit late….*pointed stare ensues*…. aaaaand you would be correct, but we aren’t talking about that. It is all about this cool single “Happy Mealz.”

Ringo’s vocals are unique, with the closest comparison I have being Diamanda Galas when she is hitting them low notes with her keening tones, matched with the spoken word veracity of Nico. It instantly spins you around after hearing the intro of sparkling synthwave and wailing guitar.

Is “Happy Mealz” about the children’s boxed meal that comes with a plastic toy from the place with the golden arches?? Where artificial food meets short lived joy, but it keeps the masses peachy keen and wanting more. It is the disconnect of a world that is swamped in mediocrity, because the common folk have been convinced, what the media and corporations sell you is your only choice. Choose life, choose freedom and choose to listen to something a bit different with Diana Ringo.

Happy Mealz | Diana Ringo

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Diana Ringo – Film Director, Pianist and Composer

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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!

Eva Red’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 Jan Black, which are willowy, echoing and haunting, only matched by the saxophone that is played by Ariel Maniki. 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 the Black Halos.

Witches | Ariel Maniki and the Black Halos

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When you are a band who is all about horror in real life and movies, the Halloween season is very important. Who Saw Her Die? (WSHD?) get very excited around this time, gracing us with their joy of all stories gruesome. Recently they released the Mothman EP, which you should check out, but they have dropped the fresh corpse of Dead or Alive’s track “Something In My House.”

This is not the disco version. It has been pared down to its bones and rebuilt like Frankenstein’s monster. It rumbles and groans, with the slow stalking beat and slightly lisped growled vocals of a broken and murderous heart. The synths add to the ghostly atmosphere.

A curse on the houses of Stock, Aitken and Waterman for their perversion of Dead Or Alive, who originally started off as the far more gothic Nightmares In Wax, but I will concede that without them, we might never had “You Spin Me,” (which I hated for several decades after spinning it every Friday night for two years) and “Something in My House.” The WSHD? cover is so different and yet so much in the vein of tongue in cheek that it was always was meant to be taken for. Hello? Police? There is “Something in My House” and it is all the fault of Who Saw Her Die?!

Harbinger (Mothman) | Who Saw Her Die?

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Ronny Flissundet and Kristian Liljan dropped their EP Dancing Drone back in June, through their project Rule of Two. Based in the capital of Norway, this duo blend electronics with whatever moody genre takes their fancy and due to being rather prolific, in October they released the single “Cloud Nine.”

There is something classically 80s about the synths that makes you think of groups like Depeche Mode and Erasure. Maybe it is the play of dark notes with the lighter ones, or maybe the graceful vocals that intertwine in delightful harmony

“Cloud Nine” is about taking your life into your own hands. Stop waiting for the right time and permission to live in the moment because in the end, all those moments are fleeting. It is an important message that most of us don’t understand until we reach a certain age. The music is really glorious in the way it soars, with a hint of regret, but more so a joyous refrain of freedom. Also, give Rule of Two’s music video’s a look, reminiscent in style of another Norwegian band, a-ha.

Cloud Nine | Rule Of Two

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In this modern era, have you ever experienced an “Emptiness“? This is the latest single from Amsterdam based group The Dark Wave, who mix gothic rock with a new wave sensibility, on the label Walboomers Music.

Guitar slides, verses that powerup, and launch you into the chorus and jangling guitar tussling for dominance against the vocal harmonisation. All the while there is that 80s post-punk bass guitar rumbling along as the song breaks into an infectious 90s Brit pop bounciness. Who could ask for anything more alive than this?!

It is rather interesting to see the artwork seems to depict the shape of a mobile phone, a powerful mini computer that can let you see and converse with people from around the world, and yet it also makes humans feel more alone that ever before. This is the concept behind “Emptiness” where one can touch multimedia to connect to things you love, while taking us further away from real interactions. “Emptiness” is full of energy, even if you are dancing by yourself.

Emptiness | The Dark Wave

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The Dark Wave | Band Amsterdam – Amsterdam-based new wave band

https://www.instagram.com/thedarkwave.band/