Just when you thought is was safe to get back into mother nature, a single is carelessly discarded by the lads in DECOMMISSIONED FORESTS and low it was called “Drop Brick“. It was released in January, on the 14th of 2022, ahead of the soon to be unleashed Industry album. I, your humble reviewer decided to cheekily nick this description from their bio…..
Formed around the creative axis of Howard Gardner (Non-Bio,Pillars Of Golden Misery), Max Rael (History Of Guns, Spucktute, Raelism), and Daniel Vincent (The Resonance Association), DECOMMISSIONED FORESTS create music that is dark in outlook and electronic in nature.
Not going to lie, the keys from the beginning bring forth memories of Tubular Bells, but the vocals of MaxRael save us. For the initiated, Rael very well could be channeling Coil’s John Balance, it is truly uncanny and very lucky that Coil is a band that the group are very much into. On much more serious note “Drop Brick” is empathising with a monster. The thoughts that they might go through, pain, loss, anger, loneliness and the hunger to have to what is kept from them. In the end there is no end and only the exhaustion of reality. The synths peal over and over again, cementing the ground hog perception and you feel the heaviness of wanting to pass away.
The more murky sounding “I Can Stop The Noise” is kind of the b-side, filled with a story told in a matter of fact way about a nurse in a psychiatric hospital, whom hates her husband and plans something diabolical. The electronics are so low, you strain to hear them as they dwindle to a slowing heartbeat.
There are no less than four remixes of “Drop Brick” and one deconstructed mix which I think I can safely say where done by all the band mates. The Pillars Of Golden Misery is is all prickly and angry while the Safety Deposit Box version feels like a much more lighter version with it’s cute electronics, that is until the sped up vocals join in like that mantra. The Raelism remix is like a lads night down the pub with the boys that gets thrown into the Twilight Zone. Talking about the weird and wonderful is The DOMH Deconstructed version, giving you Twin Peaks vibes with the vocals running backwards, the swell of electronics in the background that just seem out of reach yet full of promise to swallow you in the noise. The Non-Bio remix is full of the noise and cacophony of buzzing electronics trying to crawl under your skin, as they are pushed to the limit and we wouldn’t expect anything less.
The guys have also included the original demo version of the song which was originally named “Halt Program“. It is a far more keyboard friendly version, the bare bones so to speak, without the vocals but it is still a very compelling piece of music and it is interesting to see how it developed into “Drop Brick”. DECOMMISSIONED FORESTS manage to find the quirk in things and bring them to the fore. The ability to make you listen to what is almost most there or the subtle yet sudden change in direction that takes on a completely different journey. Call it experimental post-industrial or dark electro-ambient or whatever but in the end it is about that journey you take with them and in that process, the visions they can bestow.
Dima Ilyin is one of the people trying to make industrial great again. You may have heard this Russian’s name connected to the project Nova State Machine with Australian Craig Saunders (NOVAkILL) however his original solo act, that has been around since 2009, ULTIMATE SOLDIER, dropped a new album in January of 2022 called Konstruktor (and you don’t get much more industrial sounding than that!)..
The album’s title is also the first song and you will be hit by the waves of static and the female over-voice saying “Konstruktor“. The fusion of bleeps with rhythm that brings you to the angry vocals as the Konsruktor (Ilyin), konstrukts and creates konstruktion. “Control” is success or is it? From the electronic whirs comes the synths and Ilyin’s vocals, stealthily subverting you. A comfortable pace that never lets up nor ever feels out of control…..
The beginning of “Power” almost feels overwhelming in its verbosity. A cyber techno sound with a big ground swell on an industrial level. The more laid back “Lies” is a far more insidious affair as it crawls into your ears, unlike the “Selfdestruction” which is more like a drill to the head with those sharp beats. It is still bristling with angst but “U Gonna Die” is a smooth piece with those synths breaking through like futuristic sunshine.
There is a retro feel to the track “Reload“, as if the sparkling synths had come from the early 80s but the vocals growl over the top to remind you that not is all as it seems in the cyber world. It was Edward Teller who created the hydrogen bomb, who also wished to create a “10 000 Megaton” nuclear bomb which would have yielded 166 666 times more explosive power than the one dropped on Hiroshima. The track is a slightly trap influenced bleak soundscape instrumental, that travels outwards from point zero.
Love from the beginning “Cold Connected” as it is so clean and bright next to the fuzz and vocals. The techno waves within it are easy on the ears and extend to the primal. The space like “Final Mission” is a thing of beauty. Synths layer like falling stars in this bridging, short instrumental before we hit the final track, “Futuresoldier“. This is a great dance track from the ULTIMATE SOLDIER as it races ahead with no fear and no surrender to embrace the oncoming apocalyptic world order.
“Reload” and “Power” were released together, middle of last year as a remix package, which I highly suggest you check out as well. The track “Selfdestruction” reminds me a little of HOSTILE ARCHITECT and I started imagining the whole ULTIMATE SOLDIER vs HOSTILE ARCHITECT de-Konstruktor style…. I can dream! Konstruktor is gritty and grating, yet the keyboards also give this album that beautiful polish and make it fly. A mixture of cyber-industrial with the futuristic synth and techno to offset it, creating the nightmarish new world order.
New Zealand seems a long way from anywhere and maybe this is why they have developed their own rich musical tapestry. Singer Justine Ó Gadhra-Sharp, around 20 years ago, went into a recording studio in Auckland, with collaborator Iva Treskon, laid down some tracks and there they remained until another musicians, Bryan Tabuteau and Josh Wood bringing them back to attention. The tracks were given a new lease of life and the EP called Sidhe, the Gaelic pronunciation ‘Shee‘, was created with Wood (The Mercy Cage) in the engineering/production seat.
The opening track is “Charmer“, about that person that has a silver tongue and worms their way into your affections but never should have. Some songs just make your jaw drop at the pure elegance of the music and the vocals. “Stanley’s Only Hope” is one of those songs. A duet between Ó Gadhra-Sharp and Michel Rowland (Disjecta Membra) done in the broken carnival style I like to think Nick Cave pioneered. The vocals fence with each other before joining in a beautiful spiral, Rowland with his deep and smooth baritone complimenting Ó Gadhra-Sharp.
“Red Room” is the single and deservedly so. An electronic turn of the aloof, sexual kind with a catchy chorus that will stick with you for quite a while. There is a whirlwind of guitar and piano in “Hypnosis“, as if there is something unstable going on in her racing mind. Completely on a different plane is the mellow “Walking OnAir“, a minimalist piece that wanders it’s own path before the last track, a remix version of “Red Room“. TheMercy Cage are another New Zealand group who give this mix a cyber-industrial tickle.
Yes, my favourite is “Stanley’s Only Hope” because of the finesse of the vocals and the drama involved and “Red Room” will be a crowd pleaser. Her vocals are just smokey seduction and with the help of other members of the New Zealand gothic and industrial community, Ó Gadhra-Sharp has brought out an eclectic, dark electronica and cabaret style offering in Sidhe.
Feeling in the mood for some electronic beats in an 80s style? Then we have “OutAlive” by LikeWhat. This New York act released the track on January 11th, 2022 and I was reliably informed it was created on an ipad with a guitar. I honestly don’t know much more about this project yet…..
There is something so reminicent of the wonderful TobiasBernstrup. It could be the singing style and annunciation of the vocalist. The rhythm with the synths are stalking you and will find you wherever you try to hide. The guitar chiming in is extra foreboding as you won’t get out alive.
Electronic music will always lend itself to an apocalyptic vision, concealing and on the run from an unnamed, yet terrible foe. This is definitely one of those tracks that you think, at the end that it finished far too quickly. Damn it, we need a longer remix!! So you can guess by that statement I may have liked it quiet a bit. Get your darkwave on with LikeWhat and “OutAlive“.
VAZUM came onto the American music scene in 2018. The heart of the band is made up of Zach Pliska, who planted the dark seed of VAZUM, and later in 2019 joined by Emily Sturm, together creating their own style of gothic rock called deathgaze. In those three years they have put out albums and singles, even dropping a Christmas EP, Vazumnacht. We spoke to these two creatures of the night to find out what lies in the crypt of VAZUM.
Welcome to Onyx.
VAZUM have been releasing music in the current line up, since 2019. How did this project and the band come together?
Zach: Emily and I met in the Summer of 2019 at a local goth club and we bonded over bands like Bauhaus and Smashing Pumpkins. I had a few VAZUM shows planned for the Fall and Emily stepped in on bass. One of the shows we opened for The Genitorturers. When the pandemic hit we got more serious about recording and releasing music. With Emily’s help I finished the album I had been working on, Vampyre Villa. We then set to work on our Halloween inspired album Rated V which was a collaboration where we wrote and produced together. We released both albums in 2020. We realized how well we worked together and became inspired to create music videos, upgrade our recording equipment and continue writing more songs.
A lot of your music seems to be based around mythical creatures as well as dark forgotten places. Would you agree and if so, what draws you to these subjects?
Emily:I’ve pretty much been obsessed with fairy tales since I was a kid. There was a pretty big chunk of my childhood that we did not own TV in my family. So I was given lots of books to read instead. One of my favorites was a collection of Hans Christian Anderson stories. When I was a little older I got this big thick book called 1000 page book of stories for Christmas. It had Mary Shelley, Poe, Wilde, etc. and that was the beginning of the end. Totally hooked. As a result, those are the themes that still inspire me the most today.
I think in some cases you have empathy for these characters but i also hear that you paint them in the light they were originally painted in… such as vampires being cold blooded hunters of men. Do you think is the case?
Emily: Of course there are many nuanced interpretations throughout literature and legend about the exact nature of a vampire. In our lyrics for the song – vampire – we approach it as a creature that is completely self aware. At once feeling supremely powerful on one hand and yet weakened and brought low by immortality on the other. I was inspired mostly by Anne Rice’s interpretation of vampires (may she rest in peace). The fact that only the very strong willed can even deal with the actual reality of immortality and that most humans that are transformed into vampires are slowly driven insane. Once everyone they knew when they were mortal dies, society changes, that feeling of being out of touch and alone in the world, they then end their vampiric life by throwing themselves in a fire. Most of them never make it past 200 to 300 years old. We wanted to convey that feeling in the song. Being so ancient, tired, yet still lusting for blood.
So Emily, I gather you are the architect of a lot of the visuals in the lyrics?
Emily: We run our ideas off each other. A lot of the times we’ll work on a song together and build on what the other has already started. I gravitate more towards horror and fairy tales and try to tell a story. I love the visual aspect of the band, whether that’s through videos, photos, artwork or jewelry.
You have progressed to a more electronic sound while also producing more traditional goth/darkwave. Was this a natural progression and does the material also lend itself to the change in tone?
Zach: We’ve always liked re-working songs. Sometimes we’ll re-work a song and it will turn into a completely different song. With the electronic versions it’s more of a remix where we’re using elements from the original version. It’s fun because we are both fans of electronic music although Emily listens to more electronic than I do. It challenges us to think about things differently and changes our approach. I’ve been more involved with the technical side of producing and engineering and doing the remixes has definitely sharpened my skills. There’s a lot of freedom involved with the remixes, it’s our time to experiment and try new things. And people seem to appreciate the different aspects of the electronic vs rock.
Some purists say that electronics and the industrial aesthetic don’t belong in the gothic/darkwave genre. How do you feel about that kind of attitude especially seeing as most older ‘post-punk’ bands have used tape loops, synths and drum machines etc?
Emily: I think people that nitpick and try to over analyze styles just don’t have anything better to do.
Zach: I see a lot of arguments online about what’s goth, what’s post-punk, etc. I guess some people enjoy arguing and trying to prove their point. That’s one of the reasons we started calling ourselves a Deathgaze band. We want to differentiate ourselves from all of that.
As you said, you describe your style as Deathgaze. What for you creates Deathgaze?
Zach: Deathgaze is a combination of deathrock and shoegaze. It’s a way of combining our influences into our own sound. And it’s a production style which we are honing. I like to keep deathgaze in mind as we’re working on new songs and recordings. It helps us stay inspired and challenged. The best part about deathgaze is it has yet to be defined. Deathgaze is a new genre which we are shaping as we evolve. Goth, post-punk, industrial – those have already been defined and established by other bands years ago. Deathgaze is something we can call our own.
I always like to ask what music influenced you when you were younger? What do you listen to now and find inspirational/pleasing?
Zach: Smashing Pumpkins were my biggest influence as a teenager. I was a product of the 90’s so a lot of the grunge bands and some nu-metal is what got me going as I began playing in bands. Lately I’ve been listening to classical and jazz which I’m gaining more appreciation for. Emily’s early influences were new wave artists like Gary Numan, Siouxsie and the Banshees and Love and Rockets. Lately she’s been listening to Death Grips.
Covid has changed the music scene in the last two years, with acts unable to perform live, putting out music on Bandcamp, the rise of the EP becoming far more acceptable and online concerts. How has it affected VAZUM?
Zach: The pandemic set the course for the trajectory we are on now. Beforehand I was distracted with playing drums for other bands. Covid has given us the time needed to focus on VAZUM and what we want to accomplish. We’ve been able to meet our goals of releasing music and videos. We just need to start playing live again and touring.
You have released quite a few albums in a short amount of time such as Vampyre Villa, Rated V, VAZUM and so on. Why so many albums in quick succession?
Zach: We enjoy the process from start to end and are honing it in more so we can be productive. We do all the recording and production ourselves so we don’t have to wait around for engineers or other people. I’ve always been obsessive with music whether it’s practicing an instrument or listening to a favorite band. My current focus is on releasing music and keeping a steady stream of content going. I like working on songs in the moment and having a deadline to release them. That’s exciting and adds a level of pressure which we feed off of.
What is in-store for VAZUM and their fans in the future?
Zach: We feel like we’re just getting started and have a lot more to offer in terms of singles, albums, videos and content in general. And when people are ready for live shows and want to see us play, we’ll be right there waiting. I’ve spent a lot of time in previous bands playing live as a drummer and I do miss playing live. I hope for VAZUM to spend a significant amount of time touring.
John R Mirland has become one of the staple masters of driving, power noise, rhythmic noise mixed with serious techno savvy. We are grateful he took time out to talk to us about the latest Mirland album and all his creative outlets.
Welcome to the weird of Onyx, John R Mirland.
Thank you so very much for showing an interest in my music
Congratulations on Compromise Is Defeat (CID). It is truly a very attention grabbing album. How naturally does it come to you to mix such genres as techno, power noise and harsh noise?
It does come pretty natural the moment I start working on the beat I can immediately hear if this is going in the Mirland-direction or if it’s the groundwork for another project or artist.
I try to be in the studio as much as I can and just work. I’m very focused so I sit down with the keyboard or guitar and just start composing and usually I almost immediately know what the track is suited for:
The hybrid of rhythmic noise and techno/dark trance is a reflection of my own tastes and I wanted to compose evolving yet pounding music. So I’m very conscious about the variations and small details in the mix. The process is very much my own and I’m not particularly dogmatic with regards to what goes where to satisfy genre specific demands.
John, you wrote the album over a period of time and even some of the tracks have been played live. Why did it take nearly four years for CID to come into fruition?
I started working on the album just after the release of the “Antagonist” ep where I felt I’d really hit a spot with my sound. But you know plans sometimes don’t work out.
The gigs I played both around that time and later gave me an opportunity for testing very early demos of some of the new tracks. But at the same time I was composing and producing for Am Tierpark, Emergency Sequence, M73, Negant, Eisenwolf, Bitter Distrust, Mirland/Larsen and later also Gusten and Udpint while producing and remixing other artists too.
I do like to keep busy and have composed around 200 tracks the last 10-15 years of which I believe around 150 or so have been released.
But time went on and I kept working on the side with the sound design for what was to be “Compromise Is Defeat”. I guess at some point I had 30 or 40 demo tracks.
I prefer getting stuff done so I really needed to get this album done. I felt the demo recordings had something but I’d been deep in the process for far too long. So in the late summer of 2021 I finally sat down and dug into the selection and production of what would be “Compromise Is Defeat”. I recorded and mixed the final album over two months and then my dear friend Claus Larsen (Leæther Strip) did the mastering as he’s done for a lot of my releases.
For many, creating music comes from their current situation/politics/beliefs. When you compose music, especially for Mirland, what inspires you to create?
I don’t consciously search for inspiration. My mind is always racing and thinking about new ideas so I keep a lot of notes and record a lot of ideas. When I watch a movie I often make a note of certain interesting quotes or phrases. I believe some of my titles might suggest what lies behind the track but Iike to keep things open for interpretation. I think that’s one of the great things about instrumental music. It’s very much like abstract painting in that regard.
But a small key to the different projects might be: Mirland is often related to space, transhumanism and futurism. In Am Tierpark, Mirland/Larsen and Gusten Claus Larsen writes the lyrics so he defines the content and we never interfere with each other’s ideas. But very often Am Tierpark is about love/the loss of love. In Udpint I write almost entirely about war and in M73 it’s a lot about cold futures and dark erotica. My own lyrics are often written with the intent to create images.
One of your other projects is Eisenwolf… a mix of blackmetal and industrial. Do you think your love of black metal feeds into this use of harsh noise?
Eisenwolf was a side project of the now defunct Negant which also spawned the electro punk band Bitter Distrust with Michael Hillerup of Birmingham 6. I left all three bands a year ago actually.
But yes, I believe my interest in extreme metal in general blends into a lot of my darker stuff. I actually recorded a black metal mini album last year as Udpint and Claus and I released a punk rock album as Gusten.
But my use of noise and experimental sounds also stems from a very early band I was part of called VHS which was a pretty noisy and weird construction. And I’m a sucker for brutal energy whether it’s industrial or metal. But even Eisenwolf had melodic themes as opposed to just a wall of noise.
Mirland is very much a solo thing for you but you do collaborate with many other artists, especially other Danes in the scene for other projects? How do you approach your solo work compared to your collabrotative with say Negant or Eisenwolf?
I try to uncover the potential in any proposed collaboration and then present a few demo recordings for the others involved with the project. When I can’t see any more potential I put the collaboration on hiatus or leave. I don’t like to waste my own or others’ time.
When I work on my own it’s somewhat the same and I’m a firm believer that nothing is supposed to last forever and some projects only last an ep or album. And that’s absolutely fine. I have no problem with leaving a dysfunctional project.
You released on Claus Larsen’s label, Læbel and you have worked with him as Mirland/Larsen as well as producing and mixing each others music. Leæther Strip/Larsen is spoken in near reverance by many in the industrial scene, though those that know him say he is the biggest sweetheart. Did you find it nerve wracking to work with Claus in the beginning and have you found that friendship has grown exponentially, forging something a bit special?
Claus is a very close and dear friend and I consider him family.
When we work together it’s like we have a direct brain-to-brain connection and we’ve never argued even if we may not agree on everything. I’ve learned a ton from Claus. And we’re equally productive and creatively restless.
Which aspect of music making do you think you enjoy the most? As the performer, the producer or the mix master? Or is it a bit of everything that keeps the flame alive?
I love composing and producing and I’m not particularly interested in being a face or a character. I enjoy the stage not for the sake of being the center of attention but for presenting and interpreting my music in a different, loud setting and watching people’s response.
Who were the early musical inspirations that set your pulse running and made you think ‘I want to do that!’?
A: Hmm, that’s a tough one. I’d like to say something cool and leftfield but actually I grew up with a very broad range of music from Pink Floyd to southern blues to classical, constantly playing at my parents apartment. So I’ve always been surrounded by music and I can’t remember a time not wanting to work with music but for many years my main focus was on painting and illustration.
What acts do you listen to now or find their innovation sucks you into their music?
Currently I’m working my way through a big stack of obscure metal releases on vinyl. But I’m also listening to a lot of newer electronic releases. I like the distanced coldness of Julia Bondar and Rue Oberkampf and the energetic techno of Anastacia Kristensen. I enjoy listening to my friend Kri Samadhi who’s a great psytrance producer. Italo Connection’s “Metropolis” album is an extremely well executed album and possibly one of the best synth pop albums in years. And the funky neo disco of Alexander Robotnick always put a smile on my face.
And then I keep coming back to an old release by a short lived doom/black outfit called Woods of Belial. It has this dark, gritty lo-fi sound that I’d never be able to do myself.
What is in store for John Mirland and all his many, many projects?
A: First of I’ll be playing in Copenhagen on March 5th as a double bill with Leæther Strip. It’s been so long! And then I’m currently working on the follow up to “Compromise Is Defeat” which I hope will be out this year. Working title is “Bastard”. There’s a new album from Am Tierpark out this spring which I believe to be the best we’ve done so far and an Italo disco single I wrote for a Danish singer. I’m also working on a new and so far secret space disco project. And maybe something from Gusten too.
Thank you ever so much for taking the time to talk to us!
The artist, Dave McAnally, is better known for his Ministry/Rob Zombie inspired act, The Derision Cult but this Chicago based musician also has a far more synth based project called .SYS Machine. .SYS Machine is the darker, quieter sibling, with a far more reflective soul. December saw the release of Graceful Isolation, which features five tracks and eight remixes, all created in a collaborative manner. We spoke to Dave about these collaborations, inspirations and how life is changing.
Welcome down the hole of weirdness that is Onyx, Dave McAnally of .SYS Machine.
December 2021 saw the release of Graceful Isolation and this title came out of the fact none of your collaborators ever met up in the same room. How did you pull it all together? With everyone having to work remotely- whether its music or in other work life- it’s probably easier now than its ever been to work remotely. For me, it was just a matter of making a list of people I’d like to work with and then with Kim and Gabe from Microwaved (who does a remix on here) we added to that list and I started reaching out! I’d say 80% of the people who I reached out to where into it and wanted to get involved. The other 20% was either just schedules were too tough to work or they were tied up with other things. So it was actually a pretty easy process to line up.
You brought some heavy talent on the album in the form of Kimberly Kornmeier of Bow Ever Down doing the vocals on three of the tracks as well as getting the likes of Assemblage 23, Spankthenun, The Joy Thieves, Miss Suicide et al to do some rather wicked remixes. How did you lure them all onto the project? Kim came about because she’d done vocals on my buddy Gabe’s track Save Me earlier this year and I was really impressed and it just so happened I had some instrumental tracks I’d been tinkering on that I thought her style and approach would be really interesting for. She was immediately on board and she’s really great to work with (she collaborates with a ton of artists so she knows how to deliver and mold what she does to the tracks).
I knew I wanted to do remixes, but one thing led to another talking with Kim and Gabe, and we thought of people who would bring some cool flavors to the tracks and then I just started hitting folks up. Sys Machine isn’t a big name or anything on the scene so I wasn’t really sure what would happen as far as interest. Nevertheless, Assemblage 23 and The Joy Thieves jumped on straight away which was awesome. Once that happened the ball just kept rolling. Not a whole lot of luring was involved! I suspect with people unable to play shows last year, bandwidth was freed up which helped.
DAVE MCANALLY – .SYS MACHINE
The Derision Cult is your original project that you have been releasing music under since 2014 and 2021 saw you drop the album Charlatans Inc. in September before Graceful Isolation. Was it your intention to stay busy or did it all evolve naturally? It was a total natural thing for me! For a long time, I’ve always had a few projects going at once, and these two are my big ones. I work a lot slower than it probably seems on the surface. I’m one of those people that’ll start an idea, leave it alone for a month or two, and come back to it and maybe it’ll get finished. The Derision Cult tracks were marinating over the course of a year and a half and while I was working on that I was also doing things that ultimately became Graceful Isolation. By last summer, I was really excited about both and didn’t want to just sit on them for the sake of spacing out releases so I just kept on moving along.
I think my output will slow down going forward as I really found myself enjoying working with people vs. being a lone wolf. I’m happy to slow my roll and make time for other people to get involved and put more work into each release. But there’s always various things I’ve got cooking. I’ve got about 30 blues and acoustic jams I’ve amassed over the past 6 months that I would typically release as Jefferson Dust that are in various stages of completion that I’m always working on. Someday maybe 10 of those will be worth sharing with the public! Same is true for other projects.
.SYS Machine is very different to the far more guitar driven The Derision Cult. What prompted you to pursue this more electronic sound? Sys Machine has sort of been where all my science experiments go. I started putting things out under that moniker that were essentially toying with new synths, drum loops or whatever. All instrumental and not really songs in as much as they were soundscapes. In a way, it’s really just me exploring getting better with programming and all things electronic. Once Kim got involved, for me at least, Sys Machine stopped being a bunch of science experiments and started to congeal into something that felt a little more meaningful. So that’s where it stands now.
Derision Cult was and is an entirely different thing. I’m a thrash guitar guy deep down. Those riffs are part of my DNA going back 30+ years. So when I started that project, I had a very deliberate idea of what I wanted it to be and sound like and I’ve been evolving on that theme ever since.
You have spoken about how you were a heavy drinker for 25 years, then decided to give the habit up. Has that been hard to do and how has this changed your perspective on life, the music you create and the music scene? ya know it really wasn’t! And that kind of surprised me at how easy it was to just walk away from the booze. I just took stock of my life and health and what path I was on and made a decision. I think the key is actually TELLING people you’re going to stop. Like once I told my wife and friends then it was real. I’m really happy I did it. I feel better, I find myself less stressed out and I have more energy and time for things I care about– including music. It was really just the right time for me to leave that behind. I saw an interview with Billy Connolly where he was saying you can be wild and crazy in your 20’s and 30’s and it’s a lot of fun. But once you get into your 40’s it starts to be a little pathetic carrying on like you’re in a frat house. I believe that to be true. the other thing was pandemic.
I run my own businesses and I work out of my house so it’s not like I have a job to go to or anything. Boredom sets in and you’ll be sitting there like “fuck it, I’m not hurtin’ anybody!” and next thing you know, you’ve gone through a fifth of whiskey just watching TV or whatever. Once that started happening, I could feel my health starting to slide. I have had friends over the years who’ve died from things like liver failure and heart attacks and all that so I knew where this path would lead. I read that Alan Karr book about quitting drinking and that was pretty much that. Quitting drinking has definitely helped me live more in the moment. I find myself with a lot more time since my weekend mornings are free, I’m motivated to go hard all day long cos that “it’s 5 o’clock somwhere!” mindset is gone.
As far as music and art, I think it’s a lot easier to be realistic and objective. When you’re drinking or stoned or whatever, you can think everything you’ve done is the greatest thing ever. Not so much when you’re stone sober. As far as the scene, the thing that really surprised me is how little drinking really is part of people’s lives. I never really noticed that before. It might just be more evidence of how hard living I was compared to everyone else ha. That isn’t to say they don’t drink, but especially with artists I collaborate with, it just doesn’t seem like it’s as big of a deal to them as it might have been for me. By the way, I don’t mean any of this to come off as a “Drinking and Drugs don’t work kids!” type of rant – cos they do! It’s fun getting hammered and wasted. I had a great time living that life and don’t regret that period for what it was. But I’m definitely happier and more productive with where I’m at.
What bands were the gateway drug into industrial music for you? Heh, well I’m kind of weird like that. Psalm 69 came out around the same time Megadeth’s Countdown to Extinction, Metallica’s Black Album, White Zombie La Sexorcisto and Anthrax Sound of White Noise were coming out so it just fit right in with what I was into at the time. I didn’t really think of it as a new genre or door to open. Of all things, I happened to be a big David Bowie fan back then too and I thought Tin Machine- or more specifically their guitar player Reeves Gabrels was a badass.
I knew of Bowie’s other gunslingers. I’d read that Adrian Belew was doing things with Trent Reznor and NIN so that got me curious– like “hey maybe these synth people can rock too!”. That was sort of my moment of truth. This was maybe 93 or so right before Downward Spiral came out – then later on Bowie and NIN went on tour together and it was like the universe all made sense! I was living in Iowa at the time and Chicago isnt’ too far so I got wind of what was all going on with Wax Trax and I’ve been into it ever since. So I guess you could say Tin Machine-Era David Bowie was my gateway drug haha.
Whose music do you enjoy now or blows your mind into thinking ‘I wish I had written that!’? I listen to a ton of things across a lot of genres. When I’m just hanging around, especially this time of year, I’m more blues and Americana. I think the new James McMurtry album is amazing– his turn of phrase and how he crafts stories in his lyrics always blows my mind. I don’t necessarily endeavor to write like him, but those storyteller songwriters are a master class in how to take a listener on a journey. The Reverend Peyton’s new album Dance Songs For Hard Times is absolutely excellent. My daughter really likes the Rev so we’re playing that around the house a lot.
Closer to home genre-wise, this probably sounds cliche, but I really like the fusion of blues and industrial on the new Rob Zombie. The Joy Thieves Album American Parasite is great- lot of energy on there and I have that on quite a bit. I’m digging the new Ministry album too! Love Jello showing up on tracks and I’m not sure if this is a popular opinion, but I think Al’s take on Search and Destroy was awesome. There’s some “Boy I wish I thought of that” riffs on there.
What is in store for you in the future with .SYS Machine and The Derision Cult, plus will there be more collaborations? Yeah man! I’m actually working on the next Derision Cult now. Sean Payne from Cyanotic and Conformco is producing and already I feel like it’s a giant leap forward just working with him and handing the reigns over. I really love the sci-fi/robotic feel to what he does and I’d love to fuse that with what I do. Very early stages but I’ve got some guests in mind for tracks. I can’t say who yet, but there’s one that if it comes together, it’ll be a total full-circle thing cos it’s such a blast from the past and a huge influence on me personally. So that’ll be my focus for awhile bringing that to life.
On the Sys Machine front I literally have nothing in the tank at the moment. I’d definitely like to work with Kim again and she’s up for it. She’s got her own album and projects and maybe in the next year we’ll be able to share music. But I’m really happy with how Graceful Isolation came together so I’d definitely like to continue down that path!
Danish musician, composer and producer, John Mirland has released in December of 2021, his newest album Compromise Is Defeat after a hiatus from his solo project of nearly four years, his last album being Mechanic from 2017. That’s not to say that Mirland has been cooling his heels the last few years, finding himself releasing with his bands Negant and Eisenwolf plus collaborating with Claus Larsen of LeætherStrip as Mirland/Larsen. If that wasn’t enough producing and mixing music for a myriad of acts but he was still writing tracks for this album between 2018 and 2021.
JOHN MIRLAND
The slow immersion of static and beats lure you in, then “Another Form” begins to speed up and enveloping you. Before you know it, the fabulous pounding techno rhythm and synths, mixed with power noise, invade your senses. So far, this is boding to be in the realms of other worldly. “Beg For It” is just mega crunchy, ear grating goodness and has a beat like a heart on adrenaline, until the angelic heavens open over a synth-scape dream. It ripples with light, while the static growls below. Electronic bees is the best way to describe the beginning of “Fuel” before the cracking beat. The sublime synths glide effortlessly across the jarring sea of sharp tempo. The wub wub is intense from the single “Defiant“, like a rubber ball bouncing incessantly in your head, compelling you to move and dance. There might be a slight reprieve before giving you a serving of techno goodness.
“Rust” is abrasive rhythmic noise that wants to take your breath away with it’s relentlessness. The oscillations push you on… towards what? The oblivion that comes with time maybe as time is forever pushing forward. With it’s raft of a-rhythmic beat signature, this is “Headless” that goes in and out of syncopation, backed up by the less crazed, “Generator“. For a more sedate paced piece, it is brooding and insidious. The electronic vocals are the heralds for an oncoming doom of ancient wrathful gods that then descends into minimal techno torment.The glass like smoothness of “So Cold” is just magic, both ephemeral and distant. The track “Torn” is a perfect example of that techno/industrial mix that I find the Europeans do well. The last track is “Wolf Among Sheep” and it is oppressive and dark as it, trance like, invades your very being.
Wonderfully mastered by Claus Larsen and released on the label, Læbel, this is really an album that should appeal to true connoisseurs of techno, power and rhythmic noise, especially those who adore Xotox. For me, you feel those rhythms deep within you, anchoring your feet to the earth but your soul wants to fly with the synth lines. It really is a remarkable talent. Those that know Mirland are already the converted,,,so get thy self some Compromise Is Defeat.
Michael Gillman (Gillie) and Daniel Allen are the brothers that make up the band Dirt Factory. Gillie is in Brisbane and Allen lives in Melbourne which means since the outbreak of the plague (covid) they have been in lockdowns for well over a year and unable to meet up or play live gigs unless doing them solo. This hasn’t slowed them down one iota because December the 3rd saw the third album released in two years, called Systems Deleted on Brisbane based label Viral Records Australia. Interestingly Dirt Factory almost exclusively use analogue equipment.
MICHAEL GILLMAN & DANIEL ALLEN – DIRT FACTORY
Oh yes from the start you can already hear how good this really is. “Delete The System” growls Allen, ‘fuckyour commands‘ over rampaging rhythms that give this it’s bang. Second single, “Microscopic“, has guest, Roger Menso (ex-Dogmachine) on guitar and good grief, this is a new level Dirt Factory. It is a grimy, sexy beast of a song that takes your breathe away and gives you shivers up your spine. Allen sounds like a very angry dalek that has fully gone industrial and it sounds brilliant. Dirt Factory want to “Factory Assimilate” you and quite frankly I can think of worse things to do as the music beast down in industrial precision convincing you that you will obey. There is something symphonic and other worldly about “Hammer“. It experiments with low tones that sound like abused piano wires and high synths in direct opposition, while Allen is the bloody butcher. The original single is “Crash Landing“, because you know they are out there and they have those stellar synth lines and beats. Yes the aliens are here and you can listen to a report of an eyewitness and Allen’s inhuman screams.
Swallow the pill and “Suck It Up” is a dirge ridden number and I honestly can hear far too much innuendo. “Dive” is just a superb piece with sweeping electronics that fritter out and arc around you like electrical tendrils. Soundscape mixed with such hostile vocals. Jethro Hilliard (RAZRWHIP) guests on this track providing drums and sound effects. This has to be one of my favourite tracks on the albums. But wait, they then slam us with “Digital Media” with guitar provided by another member of RAZRWHIP, Johnny Ryall, who nails the electronic fuzzy tones that help propel this forward in real rock style. The next track is all about the animated dead…spooky. “Flesh” is horror inspired zombie fare with glitching beats and vocals as they stalk you. In the “Exstream” they are observing you, surveillance of every aspect of your life and you can be brainwashed but are you too involved in the conspiracies? Final eleventh track is “Ghosts” and this just is just a great bouncing track and probably the most reminiscent of Skinny Puppy and it pumps.
I love what they have done with Allen’s vocals and Gillie is just so talented with synths. This is a monster of an album, again beautifully mastered at NyteShayde by Menso. If this doesn’t get your heart rate up then you might be dead. The really scary part is that I already know that the lads have almost finished their fourth album which is both mind blowing and disturbing all at the same time. Gillman also revealed that the next album is already darker. So before they stab their way repeatedly with rhythmic timing through your chest, do listen to “Systems Deleted” because it kicks arse.
When brothers Eric and Jeremy Hanes of Spankthenun released the albumBunker Tapes Vol I, in the beginning of 2021, they found they had created enough material to record Bunker Tapes Vol II, which hit us on October, the 27th. Spankthenun have been on the scene since 2019 and yet they are already an integral part of the American and world wide industrial scene with feature artists, other bands remixing their music and a huge number of guest remixes for other acts under their belts.
ERIC HANES & JEREMY HANES – SPANKTHENUN
The lads roped in Claus Larsen of Leæther Strip fame, to guest vocal on the single “Off Beatings” which of course had to be a single. This is a slow burn of angst that Larsen pulls off so well. There is something about the beginning of “I Self Me” that invokes goosebumps, it is possibly the scintillating synths mixed with the gritty vocals. Is it just me, or does the little electronic voice sound like the robots aboard the Cylon mother ship of the original Battlestar Galactica in “The Smoking Gun”? Nefarious things are afoot. Itwas never you says Jeremy in his abrasive metalized observation before we are hit with the rather dance-able “Right Father“, a call to keep the bastards in power honest and accountable, because it is true that the more the wealthy will continue to reap the cash and watch the poor fade away.
“Sick Pathos” again has those brilliant beats that propel it along and lead into “Man In The Moon“, who sounds like a rather vicious fellow who spreads descent and mistrust with the music taking on the dark oppressive attitude. “Industrial Beats” definitely have industrial beats that pound on because there is a specific list of things this industrialist likes and needs. Hard to tell if this is tongue in cheek or not but make sure you get your beets (sic) as they are now stuck in my head. We all live in the broken machine,lockdown is “Lockdown” and honestly two years ago, the term lockdown was used for security facilities mostly and not civilians but now it is common vocab in this dystopian feel track.
The nonsensical “I Am The Fire” is a bit of a fun and the last track before the four guest remixes of which the first is the Mirland remix of “Off Beatings” with it’s more crunchy textures that the Europeans do so well. NatureOf Wires polishes “Right Father” and it is given a more sci fi feel while “The Smoking Gun” is given the treatment by Planet Damage and this becomes a different creature. Last of these great remixes is the Psychosomatik and they take “I Self Me” to dance floor heaven
Listening to Spankthenun really is a bit like a timewarp and landing back in the 90s when there was a turn towards a heavier, gritty tone lead by SkinnyPuppy, Ministry et al. There are tell tale signs of the 80s industrial influences that graduate into the 2000s by the end of the album which was done on purpose. The remixes are the modern cream on top so to speak. Social concious mixed with great music never goes wrong and Spankthenun has both.
Onyx Music Reviews 