MeaFisher may no longer be a vocalist for LordsOfAcid, but she is back with her new project Me And My Nightmare, and what better way to celebrate than by dropping the single, “DevilInside” featuring the vocals of EnEsch (Slick Idiot, <PIG>, Pigface, ex-KMFDM) Just when you thought your industrial dreams were fulfilled, DannyLohner, guitarist for Nine Inch Nails just happens to be on the track as well.
Techno inspired synths and rhythms complement the purring vocals of Fisher, when she isn’t letting that devil out in the chorus. Esch brings the demonic to Fisher’s fallen angelic, with his gravelled vocals, and Lohner’s guitar work drives home the grittiness below the sheen of the electronics.
There are also two remixes that go with the single, including one by SebastianKomor (Icon Of Coil, Strategic Command, Zombie Girl). I can see Fisher going from strength to strength, if this is the calibre she is serving up. Have to admit I did first first think of the INXS song of the same name at first, though no fear as this is a completely different beast or should that be devil? Come join Me And My Nightmare and find the sensual “DevilInside.”
Swedes Hatif have released a new single called “BrokenBucket,” which is the first track off the next to be dropped album, on the Town And Towers Records label.
The lilting guitar swaps at will with the intense synths, which sprinkle everything with their illumination. The vocals are sonorous and call us to the lyrics, where you can hear a message that is about broken systems and the turmoil that follows, destroying all before it.
The line ‘from the thought to the pull of in your index finger, from the plan to the act never stop to linger‘ in the chorus is exceptionally powerful. That act of pulling the trigger on a weapon has ripple effects that can be far reaching. The more I hear Hatif, the more they feel like a really exotic reincarnation of fellow Swedes, Covenant, and I think their stance in using music to take a stand is both compelling and wholly enjoyable. Don’t be the “Broken Bucket” for it holds nothing and this song means everything.
MetropolisRecords have welcomed Texas based electro-rock project SINE on-board, with the first single on the label released at the end of September, called “TraumaBondage.”. RonaRougeheart (vocals/drums) is the nucleus of the group and this single has CurseMackey (Pigface, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult) contributing musically, mastered by JurgenEngler of DieKrupps, and cowritten/coproduced by producer AwareNess with Rougeheart.
The rhythms are a guarantee that this is taking you to the dance floor to strut your sexy stuff. The synths are a mixture of techno nostalgia and cocktail noir, which are divine and work so very well with the mostly spoken lyrics by Rougeheart, which she imparts her intention to make her target undergo great anguish.
“TraumaBondage” works so very well. It has this very classy sound and you really cannot pick anything bad about this track as it flows in perfection. You don’t need to suffer to enjoy “TraumaBondage” by SINE….unless you really want to.
SkirtedRecords is a Pōneke (Wellington) based, Aotearoa (New Zealand) label, and they have released the EP “Pass-On-Ings” by a project called DSLB, which is the experimental electronic spawn of ChrissieButler, who is also one half of Mr Sterile Assembly.
So, we start on “1” with its gradual build-up of horn noise, with minute wavering within their held notes, so if one listens carefully, plus a growing drone in the background. Those held notes are intense and seemingly take on a life of their own. The warbling and rattling nature of “2” makes you think that this is a machine. What sort of machine? Who knows, but the rhythmic noises it makes are very pleasing, and sounds it makes are like the motor had lost its casing, as it is left to run.
In “3,” for the first minute, the sound is so low, you are not sure if anything is playing at all, but gradually you perceive the gentle beeping, as the music blooms, delicate and reverberating. Slowly emerging strains of melody are extruded, like a sea shanty in syrup, and maybe it was suddenly consumed by the waters, for all goes quiet. Track “4” is the loudest, though for me, it might also be the most poignant, as if there is a loneliness within the horn like sounds, calling out to the world without any reply, other than the random rhythms.
There is a fragility to the EP, with the music a mixture of instruments and electronic programming. The softest of sounds holds as much attention as the loudest, with each note and drone weaving a soundscape. DSLB is opening up new worlds with Pass-On-Ings.
SleekTeeth are a dark electronic duo from California, and they have released their third single “Operating” on the 20th of September. As far as I can tell, the band has been around since 2023, which is when they debuted the single “Gone.”
Instantly, you hear the old school influences like Front 242 in the electronics. The vocals are smooth and seeming sweet, though we know that not everything sweet is innocent, and there is something sinister below the surface. The clatter of rhythms and chiming of computerised bells/chimes, lulls you onto the dance floor.
This is a fine example of electropop, with its roots firmly in the industrial past, and SleekTeeth are operating in between these lines. If you enjoy “Operating” then you should check out the other singles for this relatively new project.
From the wilds of Ōtepoti (Dunedin), in Aotearoa (New Zealand), Robots In Love have crept on us, and then slapped us with a new single “The Sequel.” Elenor Rayner (vocals, production), Alex Burchell (drums, production) and Tony Lumsden (bass) are now the core of the group, which was begun a year ago by Rayner.
You are lulled into a false sense that this is another electronics only track. That is until the guitar strikes in. Robots In Love are finely balanced between punchy vocals, soaring synths and pounding rhythms, fuelled by the metal inspired guitar work. The chorus just hits me like a nursery rhyme, with its slightly sing song rhythm. but also for mentioning people and steeples, which makes me think of Here Is The Church.
Robots In Love are evolving with every single, growing in confidence as a group and it really shows. “TheSequel” absolutely kicks arse. It is heavy and ballsy, and it kind of reminds me of the 90s when you could mosh to your favourite industrial rock bands. Rayner’s vocals run the gauntlet of sweet to full on dark and brooding rock goddess. Those chords reverberate with the energy of Pop Will Eat Itself and yet…. it is modern and speaks of this generation, the children of the digitally programmed age. Buckle up people because it is about to get intense in here with “TheSequel.”
Erik Drost and Randall Frazier are members of The Legendary Pink Dots, however they have another project called orbit service together. Frazier (synths, samples, vocals) and Drost (guitars, reverb sparks, synths) recorded the EP, i’m not supposed to be here, between the US and Netherlands, releasing it in March of 2024.
At the start of the first track “i’m not supposed to be here,” there are clicks so low, that they are almost imperceptible at first, unless you are truly listening. The electronics gently wub and it takes you by surprise when Frazier’s vocals join in, not quite at a whisper, but then quiet enough to cause your breath to hitch in awe. There is a guitar being strummed creating an air of simplicity and yet this is track is far from that. The instrumental “hazyvisions” has an amazing soundscape drawl, guiding you into another realm awash in sound and light, while being swept by a stellar winds
An off-kilter unease greets us along with Frazier’s vocals in “new look.” Winding while being slow moving, there is something disconnected within the sound, as if the moroseness has broken the electronics, causing them to break free. Last track is “sedative,” and again we return to a chiming lightness, where the instrumental points the way to a calmness.. though in the end, is it all an illusion?
There is a paradox between the songs and instrumentals, though we need illumination in order to define the gloom and this is how the EP strikes me. The dichotomy makes you appreciate the finesse and musicianship orbitservice pour into their music, and i’m notsupposed to be here is perfect the way it is.
We are going to touch the dark musical mire that is the harsh, ambient electronics of German based VERFÜHRERVERGELTER, in the new EP From the Void: Silicon Signals to a Dead Brain.
“Aschewüste” is the ash desert and that wasteland is present in your ears. Abrasive and sand blasted by storms, echoing with the past where something abominable happened. The looping electronics grate and gouge at your psyche. Next is the lurking “Deathpile,” which slowly consumes the will to live and the Reaper could be knocking on that door. The music vibrates and rolls with the death throes, in anticipation of a painful cellular end. Starting to to get saggy skin due to a lack of collagen? No worries for there is a “Siliciumsale,” and in truth I involuntarily shivered a little as it has a sharp cruelty to the tone. Behold the unbridled electric guitar as it brings you into the “Untitled Abstract Void.” Shards of light try to penetrate but this is pure darkness that will break the mind of the strongest if you ponder it too long. A yawning abyss of terror echoing the fear endlessly. Maybe there is nothing more terrifying than the thought of never reaching a weekend, perpetual groundhog day for the whole week, over and over again. “Bonus: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Monday Tuesday…..” drones on without joy or meaning, only with the intense ticking letting you know that there is no rest.
What does it all mean? Hmmm, I might take a guess that this could be about a body on life support. The brain no longer present but the nerves keep trying to contact central control with no response. VERFÜHRERVERGELTER has unleashed another release of infernal doom that can drag its cold fingers and nails across your soul and make you ponder From the Void: Silicon Signals to a Dead Brain.
Nikk Fail is an Italian retro synth project and his second EP, End Of The Line, was released in June. Consisting of six tracks, now NikkFail has brought some friends with him to play this time!!!
As soon as I heard the title “Bugstompers,” all I could think of was Starship Troopers, the rather questionable 90s movie about taking on alien bugs. The track itself has science fiction effects at play and seems to be promising slightly violent intent. First guest vocalist is Eleonora Ferrari on “End Of The Line,” an ominous portrayal that she is the end of everything, and will happily end everything. Ferrari goes from cooing into blood curdling gurgling squeals within a split second. The next instrumental is “Living Dead Lights,” and the music is both eerie and haunting, to the point that one could say, light as an apparition and cool as a tomb.
You cannot get many more light years away than Star Wars, so in a galaxy far, far away the synths pass and whirr as if they are lightsabers in a duel in “Anakin Rampage (The Balladof Vader).” If you listen carefully, I am sure you can hear the Cantina band. Next guests are BelvaSXE and WilliamBaxter featuring on the track “TromaBoy,” and here we hear a harsher side to NikkFail, between the growling guitar and the equally growling vocals, and all the while the electronics keep up to the wailing pace. Last track is the contemplative “CommutingParadise,” though this song, in its own way, is sassy and has teeth, with vocals from GiuliaFinazzi and guitar by Baxter again.
Already, you can see since the first EP, Nikk Fail is evolving and incorporating more into his sound. Collaborating with other musicians is a great way to extend yourself and push what you can do, and I think you can hear this on End Of The Line. Makes you wonder what is next for Fail and who he might tap into the helping him fly even higher.
DirtFactory are a pretty industrial lot, literally, bringing out their fourth album in just as many years, on the ViralRecords label in Australia. Brothers MichaelGillman and DanielAllen have brought forth the plague in the form of DyingPlanet, that has been mastered at AbeliskAudio by the HOSTILEARCHITECT himself, MitchKenny.
Callum Dodds from RAZRWHP is on guitar duty for the first track “Destroy It All,” bringing the grating metallic taste, as well as finesse, while the lads truly are upping the ante with an electronic onslaught. “Bones” is the single and the dance of the dead goes hard, laying bare the futility of flesh and belief for everything is going to become dust. We are now in the “Houses of Worship” and there is a palpable 80s feel to the music and Allen’s vocals only add to the disillusionment in commercial religion.
We are going to be visited by the siren called Brianna Smith, the lead singer of RAZRWHP and there is no disappointment here, with her delicate vocals in direct contrast to Daniel’s almost spoken word. She is the angel of death while he is the disease in the title track “Dying Planet.” It could be said that “IndustrialJesus” is a form of worship of KMFDM and NitzerEbb, irreverent and damning of broken religious systems and in that vein is the rather catchy “Antipope,” with it’s rapid fire electronic beats and a fantastic use of vocals.
Does “Mod Matrix” mean modified matrix? A throwback perhaps to the movie The Matrix and how you could download anything you wanted to learn straight into your brain…but then do you know what is real and what is not and the music does not spark any kind of hope for a good ending. “The Body is Dead” has this very cool rhythm that instantly grabs your attention, while the synths climb and fall in tale of cybernetics gone wrong. The calm before the “NuclearStrike,” as the track slowly builds towards midnight and ultimate fallout, taking out you out with extreme prejudice. Track ten is the last and it is the menacingly named and airless “Coathanger.” Why airless? The song has the atmosphere of smothering with its oppressiveness.
This, for me, is the best vocal outing for Daniel, as he seems to be settling more into the role and having guest musicians is a nice addition. I have to say I really enjoyed “TheBodyIs Dead” and my top choice would have to be the collaboration with Brianna on “DyingPlanet.” I already know the lads are already creating more music, and watch this space for a new project from Michael. All is doom and a Dying Planet from Dirt Factory.
Onyx Music Reviews 