Brisbane’s HOSTILE ARCHITECT has dropped the EP, ::EX-LOG:: REMANUFACTURE ME, as of the 29th of April, on Brutal Resonance Records. This is a one man, dark industrial project by the not so hostile Mitch Kenny and this EP is the follow up to the album, LOWGRADELIFE.
This is something a little different for the hostile one. “REMANUFACTURE ME” is this amazing mix of industrial and darkwave, as Kenny goes from monotone vocals through to singing. The synths are just perfection as they skim and glide across this track with a fabulous pop sensibility. In “ECONOMIES OF SCALE” you can clearly hear the HOSTILE ARCHITECT tell tale touches but even this sound is expanding. The beats never let up and just has these incredible moments of amazing electronic noises that make you wonder how Mitch has wrangled them out of a machine. The first single, released before the EP is the brilliantly, energetic “POWER OVERWHELMING” and this is the GOLD MIX and it is a bloody amazing track that pumps along at hair singeing speed at times.
Oh yes, welcome to the “TERMINAL GRIND“, which is all stellar synths twittering at you with murderous intent in this instrumental piece. All hail your overlord, the HOSTILE ARCHITECT of techno delights. Maybe inspired by the Australian yearly heat we have the expansive “BLACK SUMMER” where the ‘Sky’s onfire and so am I‘. There is something scintillating and spine tingling about this track that makes the hairs on the back of your neck raise up. Those that have followed the releases will know that “HOSTILE THEME” was on the LOWLIFELIFE album and now there is the NYTESHAYDE RMX, Roger Menso being Nyteshade, who also did all wonderful mastering. This is the metal industrial version you never thought you would hear. Wow. I know this song so well and this was just mind blowing to hear it done this way.
“REMANUFACTURE ME” just blew me away, possibly my favourite number, from the beginning and there is not a mediocre track on this EP. Not one. Kenny always fills his music with movement and you can see his evolution of the character, the HOSTILE ARCHITECT, in the evolving sound. There is definitely some synthwave/darkwave creeping in and it sounds amazing. Mitch is a really creative and talented musician and it shows in how he crafts his tunes, so I am hoping more people pick up on this project and spread the word that the HOSTILE ARCHITECT is asking…….. IF THIS IS SUCH A BRAVE NEW WORLD WHY DO YOU SEEM SO SCARED?
Back in February, j:dead dropped the EP, Visions Of Time, on Infacted Recordings. 29th of April hails in the latest single off said EP, called, “Hold Tight” and there is a bonus in the fact that the remixes included on the download, were exclusively on the CD release. Also to accompany the single is a music video, made with Mark from Mondo Cheapo, who also was involved with the making of the video for the previous single, “I’ll Wait“.
No matter the distance or what life throws at us, believe in us and in me, that I will be there…. that is the message in “Hold Tight“. Jay Taylor in this track, proves he doesn’t just scream and growl but also has a really good singing voice in this body moving track, that also contains a lot of personal sentiment. The synths billow out in ephemeral breathes with the impassioned vocals and body rocking rhythm.
Rotersand are the first remix and of course those guys are masters of electronic dance music, so the production is awesome and they give this warmth and a certain sound that is very much their fingerprints all over this. (Much bias here as I love Rotersand). The Summertime mix by The Saint Paul, is a joyously sparkling affair with airy synths and a light touch guiding the swirling electronics. I will stay true to my previous review, which was the Station Echo remix has such a heart felt pain about it and those cool guitar vibes, that add a more earthy feel to the track.
The video is a simple affair but that kind of makes it all the more powerful. The remixes are all very different, which means there is something for everyone or everything for you (and why not as you enjoy electronic music and these guys are all good at what they do!). So treat yourself to some brilliant synths and vocals or send it to that special someone that you want to “Hold On“.
Jamie Blacker is ESA, also known as Electronic Substance Abuse, and we are going to talk about the album, Designer Carnage that came out on February 14th of 2022, on Negative Gain Records. But I will digress with a little background information first. ESA is a UK project that was formed in 2002 after Blacker, who had been involved in the black/death metal scene, started to experiment in and became drawn to the sound of harsh, rhythmic industrial noise, which he has in all essence become a relative master of. The first album was released in 2006, Devotion, Discipline and Denial, then releasing albums very regularly ever since.
Straight off the bat, “LaudanumDance” is like electrodes connected straight into the brain, sparking with glorious fuzz and beats. Like a fever dream, Blacker yells his discontent. Yet, hark it that a harpsichord? Classical piano which is a gorgeous oddity, played at a decent pace to be suddenly broken by the female vocal sample of Konstantina Buhalis and break beats, that descend into the stomach wrenching, bellowing tones. Those beautiful harpsichord keys again trill away, as they and the piano are played by Frederic Scarfone. Frustration and anger are swirling in the charged track “One Missed Called” which is about repression and fear stopping one from getting further in life. It is powerful with the female sample, of again, Konstantina Buhalis, screaming how much she fucking hates the person who puts her down. The rhythms circle and pounds down, enforcing the angst.
The use of noise and techno is near perfect in “I Detach“, when out of nowhere…ragtime music. Yes, weird and yes unexpected, but it works. The ticking of a clock, alien like electronic warbles, the ragtime and Blacker’s voice just culminate into this bizarre, dreamlike world of movement. The title track, “Designer Carnage” exudes electronic smut and grime. Fantastic! The music grinds while samples repeat the title. It speeds up towards the climax like there is no getting off this ride, only to drop you and drag you along again. Bara Hari is the guest vocalist for “Disruption Only” and it just pounds away. as a good, well lubricated industrial machine should. The rhythm is a drug that you can’t get enough of while in the static, you can hear angry voices. BaraHari joins in and it becomes something otherworldly while those hammered beats carry on regardless, stuck in a groove.
“Come And Find Me” again utilises that ragtime sound throughout in a myriad of stomping beats and electronics. A hallucination induced nightmare which translates to smashing yourself on a dancefloor. Curiously addictive and no we cannot get enough as it builds apon itself in a downward spiral. Saxaphone is by Matt ‘Chops’ Thompson and female vocals by Hellsea. For the track “Hyena“, all the vocals are credited to Pee Wee Pimpin, as he goes from cajoling to viciously snarling, the synths cackling as they track you down in your last moments, but what a way to go/ “Whom Then Shall I Fear?” features Pee Wee Pimpin, as he raps which works ever so well with the heavy electronics in the background. In fact, it is almost like listening to Public Enemy’s, “Bring On The Noise” but they were all industrialised and updated. It is an amazingly strong track.
There is something wicked and it comes this way in the track, “Vast Accept“. Off kilter and deranged, on a psychopathic mission only it knows. Do not be lulled into a false sense of security as it awaits to pounce while you are off guard with those techno beats. The final track is “Saturnalia“, which is full of blast beats, raging guitar and the deep, growling Blacker vocals, that start to fritz in and out. There are also these wonderful science fiction sounding synths and classic flamenco guitar by Frederic Scarfone, that lend themselves to a western touch, while Matt ‘Chops’ Thompson gives us that sleazy saxaphone. With wailing female vocals, it all crescendos, only to die away.
I knew this new album had come out but a friend, whom is also an industrial DJ, thrust it under my nose and declared that if I was to review anything this year, it has to be this album, Designer Carnage. In all honesty, he was completely correct. If this is not in people’s top 10 industrial releases for the end of the year, then I am going have to say that your taste might be in your arse. Jamie Blacker is able to experiment with so many different styles and mould them into something cohesive, with lashings of wicked heavy rhythms, filthy grinding electronics, inject music of past eras, whilst screaming near bloody murder at you. Really can’t much better than that other than you can dance to all of it. I dare you not to find yourself bouncing to the beats. You definitely need some Designer Carnage in your life, so let ESA be your dealer.
¡-PAHL-! have released their debut album, which followed three singles, The Lepzig project dropped I on March 31st, 2022, brandishing their style of grandiose, dark synth/electronic music. The trio consists of Olaf Parusel as the mastermind behind the composition of the music, while lyrical penmanship plus production was done by Leonardovon Leibnitz and lead vocals rendered by Peter Hardlab.
LEONARDO VON LEBNITZ & PETER HARLAB
The single “Abraham” is a powerful start to the album, as the horns sound and then be lured into the depths of ¡-PAHL-!, as they make comment on the religious ownership of the figure. The next track is “Big Data” which goes from dirty growls, to soaring heights of vocals and synths with an orchestral backing. Another single is “Dyo” with its overwhelming adoration in this beautifully simple song, that showcases Hardlab’s vocal talents.
“Götter Neuen Stadt” or Gods of the New City, is deep and cinematic in sound and could easily be a favourite off the album for me. There is so much going on in the background of this track, the synths that float, the electronics that are the restless flow beneath and a stringed instrument, with what sounds like metal strings. To this end, “Mankind” is the reduction of average humans to slavish beings, with no rights, the vocals describe our reliance on technology that might be responsible for some of this. Hardlab’s voice mingles with ViolaManigk’s quite delightfully. The sweet singing is undermined by a crackling voice in “Mass Instruction“, the programming of the masses to accept everything. There is the overwhelming power of an electronic choral of angels and down beats.
Slow burn “On Conspiracies” which asks how much credence there is in these things. The harpsichord is a beautiful touch, a refined touch with the unearthly voices that are not human. The single “Telos” asks what is a person’s potential. The bleak electronics speak of sorrow, while Hardlab sincerely questions what is “Telos“. “Timeless” is a great finishing track. Full of emotion and longing yet a resignation that all might be lost, so not all is timeless. The electronics are just mesmerising and fade with the words, unless we be saved……
How do I say this…..? For music created by three individuals, it has this huge atmosphere to it, a bit like a Cecil B DeMille movie. In fact, it was that style of biblical high drama movie, that this album made me think of…… kind of a modern fall from grace where only the few may be saved. Made in Germany but relevant to many, as technology and super billionaires acquire more information about us and subvert our reality, an observance of modern society. The music itself is this wonderful mixture of divine grace, smashed together with industrial dirtiness, the lyrics are a looking glass into the modern psyche and the vocals will both catch your heart and break it.
Independent label, Fuzz Club, announced the release, on April 19th, of the track “WitchKraft Singles” by Wet Satin. Jason Miller and Marc Melzer are the men behind the project, strangely named after a psychotropic sunscreen which was in a dream about a Philip K Dick book, and were previously in the band Lumerians, based in London.
Sort of, electronic lounge music from a bygone era yet in the future, say like the original Star Trek series but with a weirder, funkier feel. The retro synths and rhythms do a calypso snake through your brain, winding around your ears.
This is a bit of electronic fun with their style that has been dubbed Kosmische Tropicale, due to the fusion of cosmic disco, Afrofunk and a few other musical sounds. Have to say that it is fairly enjoyable to listen to and probably more so, under the stars with a drink in your hand and dreaming of another galaxy.
Even though currently, INfest8 is in Sydney and Sai Jaiden Lillith in Melbourne, ZCluster are soon to release an EP but have given us a new single, titled ominously, “Death Drive“, out on the 22nd of April.
The tribal beats herald the vocals of Sai Lillith forcefully whispering in your ear to a set of dirty beats that slink along, until there is an explosion of near strangulated angst through the chorus. There is the screaming of the electronics to match the pained sentiment.
I do know that both members of ZCluster are big Nine Inch Nails fans and you can hear that influence, however, they are creating their own erotically charged, dark industrial music, born of their desires, frustrations and imaginations. It is name your price on Bandcamp so there is nothing stopping you from checking out “Death Drive“.
PANICMACHINE is the label. Phobos Reactor is the act. TFG, the gnome finder from TONTTU, is the featured guest. The single is “#FOLITWIBG” and in honesty…..yeah, you need to be told what this means. Fragments of life in the world infested by gnomes or had you already guested this? Released on April 18th, 2022, so hopefully not the beginning of the end!
There are five “#FOLITWIBG” tracks, literally numbered #1 to #5. #1 seems to be a gnome taking exception to humans in a simple trippy kind of way. It starts to get a bit groovy in #2…though the gnome is still not happy by the sound of him and by #3 the gnome is getting all sophisticated synth sounding. Maybe futuristic gnome and it is amazing like a bad trip. By #4 that gnome is become cyber mega cool in a very lurking way and track #5 is cyber loathing reloaded from #1, and so all comes full circle in the gnome of life.
Are gnomes out to get you? Probably. Do they want to steal our children? More than likely. Are they stealing our cats? Most definitely! One could ask if they (the musicians) are completely bonkers….but then again, one could say they know things most others don’t. Beware of the gnomes, for they are moving against us, so grab your cat and listen to Phobos Reactor featuring TFG (TONTTU), before the mayhem ensues.
Melbourne based, synthpop/darkwave act, Suburban Spell, have released the single “Fools And Clowns“, with a lushly produced music video. This latest single, comes from the Split Levels album that was released in February and the video was shot and edited by Adam Calaitzis, of Toyland Studios.
From the very beginning there is the shoegaze electronics, that swirl and envelope your senses in a gorgeous blanket of sonic emotion. It is about being out in the wee hours of the morning and the temptation of a one night stand, perhaps also the regret of the aftermath too.
You are taken to spots along Victoria’s Great Southern Road, which is a truly beautiful trip, though I must say in black and white, can look almost menacing at times but also shot in inner Melbourne. Peter Endall has taken his song and pared it down from around six and a half minutes, to a neat, just a smidge over four, yet the track has lost none of what makes it quite beautifully tragic and is only enhanced by the video.
TurboWave is the metal crossed with electronics style that Seattle band, Dual Analog describe as their musical sound. They very recently released their debut album. Lust, Worship And Desire, so there seemed no better time to talk to the two originators of the group, Chip Roberts and Kurtis Skinner, about their turbowave genre, origin story and of course about the new album.
Dual Analog, welcome to the Onyx rabbit hole of reality versus the Id. We hope you will enjoy your flight with us as we traverse dimensions.
You are from the Seattle scene in Washington. What is the alternative scene like there?
Chip: The most popular original groups are metalcore or singer/songwriter acts, but there’s a growing goth/darkwave scene coming up. The climate in the Northwest lends itself to dark, brooding music. Unfortunately, the “Seattle scene” of the early 90s kind of typecasted this whole area it has taken a while to move past that as a city. It’s been almost 30 years now, it’s time to move on!
Let us clear something up. You describe your musical style as turbowave. One of the Onyx cats is called Turbo as well, however he does not write music in the style of new wave, industrial and metal (though he does disappear for large lengths of time so who knows). Can you explain your style a little more?
Kurtis: Personally, I like to branch out to different genres to see what I can do and what will work. A “Dual Analog” song to me would have drum machines and/or acoustic drums, some guitar, vocals, and various synths, as well as possibly some orchestral and sound design elements.
Chip: Saying it’s “synthwave metal” puts us in a difficult spot, because if it’s not synthwave enough, people get uppity. Similarly, if it’s not metal enough, people get uppity. We knew it had to be a “wave” genre of some kind, but we didn’t want to paint ourselves into a corner. Plus, “turbo” makes me think of the Judas Priest record, which incorporated heavy metal guitars with keyboards and drum machines.
Kurtis: We just like to combine interesting grooves and melodies into a more or less traditional song format.
Chip: The songs off of “Lust, Worship, and Desire” comprise just one portion of our catalog; we have lots of different kinds of songs from danceable, gothy affair, to straight up pop. We wanted something that hadn’t already been defined so that we could stretch out a bit.
What were Chip Roberts and Kurtis Skinner up to in the Seattle music scene before joining their collective super music powers together?
Chip: We were playing together in Perfect Zero, but I was also playing or subbing in cover/tribute bands in the area. I played lead guitar in a Prince tribute, which is how I met Libby B.; she sang backup. I was also playing the casino circuit with a female fronted funk/RnB cover band.
Kurtis: In addition to Perfect Zero, I was and still am composing for various independent films, mostly shorts.
We gather the name Dual Analog, has something to do with the fact there were two members originally in the band, so how did you guys become involved with each other and create this project?
Chip: Kurtis and I have known eachother since elementary school. We started our first “band” in 7th grade, broke up in high school, and then reformed in college. We played in Axis of Symmetry and Perfect Zero, both of which erred were melodic death metal. After playing the Northwest metal scene for a few years, we found, if you were a metal band, that there wasn’t a ton of room for innovation; it’s very black and white. We put out an EP with Perfect Zero before dissolving the band; it had just become too much compromise and damage control. However, Kurtis and I still wanted to work with eachother, and we were sitting on some very strong material for what would have been the second Perfect Zero record.
Kurtis: Right after Perfect Zero ended, we got together and discussed how we each wanted to go forward musically. We had the same ideas of what we wanted to make, and so the beginnings of Dual Analog started.
Can you tell us who else is part of Dual Analog?
Chip: Kurtis and I are the primary songwriters and recording musicians. All of the instrument parts you hear on the record were written and recorded by the two of us, but we have some of our backing band members helping out on harmony vocals throughout the record. The live backing band is Sarah Anne Campbell on drums, Lindsey Ferrari on backup vocals, Libby B. Franklin on backup vocals, and Alika Madis on guitar. Sarah and Alika do live backups as well; it’s a really powerful and strong group of players.
Lust, Worship And Desire is your debut, after releasing six singles. Did you feel it was time to put out an album or was it planned this way?
Chip: We had an EP written, tracked, and sent off for mixing, but the person we sent it to for mixing and mastering flaked on us. During that waiting period, we wrote a number of songs that we were excited about, so we decided to shelve that EP and just make a full album of all-new songs.
I have to say I really like the mix of modern electronics with vocals in Golden Temple. Do you have a favourite track off the album?
Chip: I like every song on the record, and they’re all a little different from one another, which I love, but the song I’m the most proud of is the title track “Lust, Worship, and Desire.”
Kurtis: I like some more than others, but I’m very happy with “Among the Living”. It’s also one of my favorites to play live.
Four of the six singles made it onto the album….what happened to Neon Dreams and Wasteland?
Chip: “Neon Dreams” was more of a soft open that we put out to give people a sample of our new project. Originally, I had it arranged with acoustic drums and 7-string guitars, but we decided to do just the electronic version as a single. We had floated the idea of putting out the heavy version for the album, but it didn’t really fit with the rest of the songs musically or lyrically. Live, that song always goes over really well, especially with the guitars added. “Wasteland” was kind of similar in that we thought about putting it on the album, but it just didn’t fit with the rest of the material.
The album has a premise or a storyline running through it. Can you tell us about the boy and his search?
Chip: After receiving an unsolicited kiss from a, seemingly, complete stranger, he sets out to become actualized sexually. Taking the affection as the one thing missing from his life, he devotes his existence completely and utterly to attaining physical perfection and achieving enlightenment through sex. He practices asceticism, studies the ancient, lost art of lovemaking, and worships the goddess who gave him a taste of what he was missing before disappearing. I liken the concept to a “coming of age” story.
It is said that this is an ideal based in Buddhism, and is this a lesson learnt?
Chip: Now, that would be a spoiler.
I also noticed that a lot of the synths create chiming bell like sounds. Was this a preferred addition or a way to tie in the karmaic storyline?
Kurtis: I can’t speak to the storyline, but for me the bells add an interesting organic element and has contributed to how we define “our sound”.
Chip: In terms of whether the sound is intentional or incidental, I think it’s a chicken or the egg scenario. Certain songs need a certain sound, and certain sounds bring a certain song. I’ve always felt that every song we write has a “setting,” some kind of visual backdrop that pops into your head when you hear it. Songs like “Among the Living” or “Pantheon,” for example, feel like a Tibetan monastery. “Dynasties Behind” makes me think of a hot summer afternoon in Angkor Wat. When a certain setting comes to mind, I just go with it and the rest comes together pretty quickly.
There seems to be an 80s retro feel to the music, especially with the synths and the vocals. Would you say this is the era that influenced you the most?
Kurtis: I listen to a lot of modern electronic music, which has a lot of 80s influence in it these days, so I think that’s more what I was going for – a modern version of these types of sounds.
Chip: In previous projects, I always sang tenor. That kind of voice works at times for this kind of music, and you can hear it in a few songs on the record, but the rounder, more baritone flavored vocals just kind of found themselves into the sound. It wasn’t a foresight driven decision to say “I’m going to try to sound like Depeche Mode” or “I’m going to make this one more like Duran Duran,” it’s just that the music lends itself to that kind of vocal style. As we got more organized and focused, I had to get back into voice lessons. As I learned more of the proper technique, my voice just sort of naturally changed. It was kind of odd since I had always tried to sound more like Sebastian Bach than Roland Orzabal, but I like the way my voice sounds now, and I can still sing like Bas when I want to.
What music and bands inspired you to get into the music world?
Chip: KISS and Bon Jovi were the two biggest ones starting out.
Kurtis: Chip was basically the first person to introduce me to music, so KISS and Bon Jovi, but also AC/DC and Guns n’ Roses.
What bands/acts do you listen to now?
Kurtis: I’m all over the place, so this is always a hard question for me. Rufus du Sol is one of my favorite bands right now, but also Above & Beyond, Porter Robinson, Lane 8, This Will Destroy You, Lights & Motion, Halestorm, Dance with the Dead to name a few.
Chip: I’m listening to whatever my girlfriend has playing in her car. Lately, it has been mostly Wu Tang Clan and LaRoux. I’m getting into some Fates Warning right now and also stumbled across this obscure New Wave band called “Zee,” particularly their album “Identity” from 1984. Sounds kind of like Dead Can Dance, but poppier.
If you met Buddha on the road would you ask him the meaning of life, kill him or have a beer with him?
Chip: A cup of tea.
Kurtis: I would ask what he was doing sitting on the side of the road.
What is in the future for Dual Analog?
Chip: Hitting the promo as hard as we can and lots of meetings with promoters. We have a video for “Into the Unknown” coming out in May, then we’ll be shooting another video for the title track “Lust, Worship, and Desire” around late July.
Kurtis: Also, tons of new material, we have no shortage of ideas. There will be a lot of music coming from us for the foreseeable future.
Thank you for astral travelling with us today. Glad to see no one became motion sick or became spiritually lost.
What do you get when Mexico meets Finland? The single “Verenkiertohäiriö [Circulatory Disorder]” is the outcome. Mexico’s Exemia in conjunction with the Fin, TFG from TONTTU, have thrust into the world, this single on April 13th, 2022.
An merry dance you will get from this track as it bursts to life in all the vocal ferocity TFG gives to his performance, while Exemia simply kill with the amazing electronics that assault your senses. The whirl of angst and synths is a brilliant cacophony.
Industrial beats definitely make this feel so utterly alive and ripple under the skin. Great aggro-techno industrial music is often hard to get just right and this definitely ticks all the boxes. It is out on Bandcamp for name yourprice if that helps curry your fancy, but most importantly….. beware of the gnomes and their nefarious ways.
Onyx Music Reviews 