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Somewhere in Victoria, Canada, you can imagine there are bears and elk but if in the woods, you might be jumped by the Skull Cultist, also known as Steve Saunders, man of rocking industrial beats. His latest album is named Hardcore Rituals.

The first track, “Chwiban Marwolaeth” sets the scene of something tribal and ancient, yet with the encroaching modern music bearing down. This is the lead up for you to drop into the title track “Hardcore Ritual,” and the magical mythos of a bygone era reverberate through the vocals and electronic tones. It builds and breaks down over and again. The cyberpunk influenced “Rivethammer” pounds and loops, revelling in the violence of the hammer. It is probably me, but I keep thinking I hear ‘timber‘ being yelled over and over again.

“Mover” features the crystalline vocals of Gaby Gustafson, who is also know as Eva X along side Saunders, as the music strikes up a rapid pace, while the electronics rattle and throb to keep up. She is the angelic in comparison to his demonic, crying ‘die, die, die.’ Nicole Turner of Orthokeras is the guest vocalist on the “Floor Sadist,” and does anyone have to ask when or where we assume the position?! This track is a mixture of rhythmic noise and dark sexual overtones, which is instantly captivating and bewitching. The last track of the album, “Duskfall,” also features Turner’s vocals, which feels expansive and sounds futuristic

Hardcore Rituals has a grand total of eleven tracks and Skull Cultist keeps you guessing what style he is going to use next, though I like to think the main style is rhythmic industrial. Having the two ladies guest on tracks is a really nice additional, taking things up a notch and I have to say that I really did like “Floor Sadist.” Maybe it is that skull crushing crunchiness but it is very satisfying. In the end, there is a primordial brooding throughout, married to something that lurks within the shadows.

HARDCORE RITUALS | Skull Cultist (bandcamp.com)

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From Brooklyn, New York, the project Dilemma has released the new EP, Becoming Alive on Halloween. Producer Alex Elias is the man behind Dilemma and this EP is his darkwave/industrial ode to the gothic scene in the form of a story in four parts.

PHOTO BY SHERVIN LAINEZ

Title track, “Becoming Alive,” most certainly has a dark cabaret noir tone and possibly about vampires, whom come alive at night after the sun has gone to rest. Next is the far more industrial sounding “You Can’t Make Me (Want To Dance),” with its swirling electronics, which are obviously created to get one onto a dance floor.

The oddly named “No Comment” I feel has a very Marylin Manson vibe about it at times. Maybe this is due the vocals in the chorus, though I am rather impressed by the creepy street groove attitude. I do like the guitar in “Peripheral” as it gives this track yet another feel and one feels that Elias is channelling Sopor Aeternus’ Anna Varney at times.

Each track is a song dedicated to a sub genre of the scene…. and if you want to know then you are going to have to have a listen yourself as I think that is half the fun. Full of synths and dark pop hooks, Dilemma are showing the way to Becoming Alive.

Becoming Alive | Dilemma

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Run To Sleep is a very, very new band and their debut single is the industrial “Purity of Sin.” Based in Naarm (Melbourne), this is the project of Jarrad Robertson (guitar) and Michael Johnson (modular synth), and if the name Robertson is a bit familiar, you might remember he is also is member of the dark, gothy rock group Sea Lungs.

The guitar is the focus, however it is the electronics that paint the tone. Heavy and fuzzed out bass like intonations, often breaking down into bleating miasmas of sound, whilst the delicate guitar sinews its way across the wasteland, almost apologetic for the abrasiveness.

There is something very early Sisters of Mercy about this track and I am talking the first EPs. Though an instrumental, it struck me that it is kind of in this vein due to the stark drum machine in sync with the melodic guitar, and the big difference being the heavy concentration of synths. This might be called darkwave industrial and I have to say I am quite enjoying Run To Sleep already.

Purity Of Sin | Run To Sleep (bandcamp.com)

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Mea Fisher may no longer be a vocalist for Lords Of Acid, but she is back with her new project Me And My Nightmare, and what better way to celebrate than by dropping the single, “Devil Inside” featuring the vocals of En Esch (Slick Idiot, <PIG>, Pigface, ex-KMFDM) Just when you thought your industrial dreams were fulfilled, Danny Lohner, 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 Sebastian Komor (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 “Devil Inside.”

Devil Inside (Ft. En Esch) | Me And My Nightmare (bandcamp.com)

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Me And My Nightmare | Electrifying EDM and Dirty-Pop Fusion

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Swedes Hatif have released a new single called “Broken Bucket,” 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.

Broken Bucket | Hatif (bandcamp.com)

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Metropolis Records have welcomed Texas based electro-rock project SINE on-board, with the first single on the label released at the end of September, called “Trauma Bondage.”. Rona Rougeheart (vocals/drums) is the nucleus of the group and this single has Curse Mackey (Pigface, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult) contributing musically, mastered by Jurgen Engler of Die Krupps, 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.

“Trauma Bondage” 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 “Trauma Bondage” by SINE….unless you really want to.

Trauma Bondage | SINE (bandcamp.com)

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Skirted Records 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 Chrissie Butler, 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.

Pass-On-Ings | DSLB | skirted Records (bandcamp.com)

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Sleek Teeth 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 Sleek Teeth are operating in between these lines. If you enjoy “Operating” then you should check out the other singles for this relatively new project.

Operating | Sleek Teeth (bandcamp.com)

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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. “The Sequel” 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 “The Sequel.”

The Sequel | Robots In Love (bandcamp.com)

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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 “hazy visions” 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 orbit service pour into their music, and i’m not supposed to be here is perfect the way it is.

i’m not supposed to be here | orbit service (bandcamp.com)

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