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Act Noir - Cosmo Minimized EP (Self-released Demo) |
|
Formerly Alma Matr, the project grounded in 1994 by Sergio Calzoni, Act Noir are today (with renewed
personnel) Act Noir and Cosmo Minimized is their first output. Slow, atmospheric
and introspective, they base their sound on electronic
instruments (keyboards and samplers), exception made for
guitars and bass. I'd dare to describe them as "electronic
Tindersticks" or "Red House Painters" or something along those
lines. Excellent production-wise, with guitars blending
seamlessly with the keyboards, they enhance the production
with sparse use of ethnic percussion. Also the synthetic
drumming excels in the sound research department. A
competent release, which works very well for those quiet
moments, will no doubt gain them soon a label for a full
length release. www.actnoir.com
|
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Anne Clark - From The Heart - Live In Bratislava (NetMusicZone) |
|
Anne
Clark's
dark music has influenced many people in the new wave scene
but when I listen to this recording I find a link to
unplugged sessions by Björk
or even Lisa Loeb. It was the first time she went
to Czechoslovakia but she took the opportunity to record an
acoustic session on Slovak Radio in Bratislava on November
17th 2003. Accompanied with guitar, cello, piano and
percussion, Anne sings some of
her greatest hits. After the techno orientated remix album
she did and her regular work, this is something completely
different. And yet, the poetry works excellently with the
acoustic performance. To Music
and Elegy For A Lost Summer are just two
of the great works on this album. I just feel uncomfortable
by Sleeper in Metropolis and Our Darkness
as I will always remind them like highly danceable pieces.
Also there is a long improvisation part by the musicians.
Anne Clark
has always combined poetry with music and this calm,
relaxing album fits her really well. PJVD |
|
Ataraxia - Des Paroles Blanches (Aradys) |
|
Only tree songs and just over twenty minutes are a bit short
to enjoy the wonderful music of Ataraxia. The
very recognisable voice of Francesca is as usual combined
with calm guitar work and relaxing tunes. The first track is
about the place Etretat at the coast in France. The second masterpiece is called
Veules Les Roses and continues with the
usual combination of instruments and vocals. The last song
is different: Hovering is divided in two parts and is a more experimental track
that plays with atmospheres. www.ataraxia.net PJVD
|
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Audioplug - X-Posed (Decadance) |
|
Not many CDs beg to be played on the strength of their
artwork in the first place, and X-Posed is one
of these. It might be auto-suggestion, but the fresh and
limpid cover artwork perfectly matches (to me) the contents
of the silver disk contained therein. A newcomer trio from
Greece, Audioplug,
navigate the electro-pop world with self-confidence from
their very beginning, blending catching melodies and rhythms
with modern electronics, tight programming and great
attention for the detail. Many elements are inherited from
the technoid stream of sounds, and the wise blending with
melodic and atmospheric synth backdrops leads to a sort of
high tech synthetic pop/EBM blend somehow reminiscent of
some Fortification 55 or
even C-Tek works. Also names as Trylok (are they still around by the way?) spring to mind here,
specially considering the dark-minded vocals which are
certainly another strong argument the band offer in their
favour. The sound is consistent throughout, but the hooks
change from track to track, making X-posed a self-consistent yet varied listening which adapts very
well both to the dancefloor and to a solar listening in the
comfort of your living room. If one were to judge the book
by its cover, X-Posed will easily second that. www.decadancerecords.it/audioplug
|
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Cell Division - Promo 06/03 (Self released) |
|
Cell Division were grounded in
Zürich, Switzerland in 1995 by four people coming from
different musical backgrounds. With this promotional disc
they will seduce many people. Their music is strong,
powerful and melodic. The opening track Rá really rocks. It combines good female vocals with steady
guitar riffs. Fingerprints is quieter while
The Limetrip introduces another point of
view. Cell Division brought a good introduction
to the band but three songs are not enough to judge. While
the band is currently working on new songs for the next
album you have to take a look at their nice site. www.celldivision.ch PJVD |
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Cesium:137 - Regrets EP (Tonedeaf) |
|
Regrets
is a sweeping EBM song whose rhythm would quickly remain
impressed in your brain. Especially if you get to hear it 6
times one after the other like on this CD, in different
versions, some remixed for example by Yendri or Haujobb. The song is an interesting
song for the EBM-dance floor and its video is also included
on this CD. www.tonedeafrecords.com
Karin Zenzinger |
|
Corrosion
- Temple of Secrets EP (Self-released Demo) |
|
Corrosion are the offspring of UK goth rockers All Living Fear, in the persons of Matthew North
and Paul Roe. While planning a full-length debut, they
have released this 4-track EP, the second of their career.
They draw heavily from the traditional UK dark rock scene
and the eighties. And, unfortunately, names like Sisters,
Mission, Cult spring
to mind here. Unfortunately, I say, since their first EP
(The Elemental) sounded by large more fresh and inspired. Also
production-wise Temple...is quite a step backwards,
which is a bit strange to say the least. Corrosion don't
have a winner in their hands with Temple and the
wink at the electro dance-floor with the closing re-mix of
the title track does not exactly help. Let's wait for a full
length, fully produced album for another word on
Corrosion. www.corrosionuk.com
|
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Cranes - Live in Italy (Dadaphonic / Instinct) |
|
This is
an excellent document of the Cranes' 2002
Euro tour and includes, as the title suggests recordings
from the Italian shows, but not only, spanning the entire 14
year career of this unique band. Out of the 14 tracks, 5 are
extracted from their latest album Future Songs. Including then such sought after gems as Adoration, Jewel, E.G. Shining, Far Away, Adrift etc., proposed in their classic live versions, the album
proposes itself as a necessary completion to any fan
discography, but it's also an excellent way to introduce the
band to new listeners, as the track-list is a true best of.
Originally released in USA by Instinct Records and in Europe
on their own label Dadaphonic, it's has meanwhile been
licensed for release in several other European countries. www.dadaphonic.com |
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Cryonic - Digital Encryption (Self-released Demo) |
|
Billing
themselves as an industrial/metal band, Cryonic
taste the waters with this 6-track demo which is essentially
an exercise in the hard guitar riffs, strong vocals (yet
quite melodic), synth textures and interludes, sparse
samples and a plain drum machine. Although it being plain
raw material, the overall listen is pleasant, luckily the
metal tones are not pushed much to the front. Cryonic
might
have something in the pot, they just need to clarify and
refine the recipes quite a lot. The all-digital production,
for example is either out of place or should be worked on
extensively. Also, either a living-drummer or a thumping
machine (a la Sisters) seems more
appropriate. Intriguing premises, in Digital
Encryption, to work on. hem.passagen.se/danielsnet |
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Cyanhide - Dancefloor (Self released) |
|
Dancfloor begins with Shrapnels, which
is a dark, mysterious track kicking off close to 45 minute
worth of music by Cyanhide. People sets a powerful note with
more rough guitar lines and also industrial influences. This
is the style that continues to find its way in the whole CD.
Cyanhide's third album has influences from different genres but by
bringing different styles together they create their own
specific music without a doubt. This duo made ten pieces
with mainly guitar, samples and programming. Some of the
songs included here are Teen,
Psychiatry, Hammerland and the outsider
Missed Farewells. cyanhide.com |
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Days Of Fate - Home-Made Cake Of The Day (EFA) |
|
May be
in an other circle of music friends this album could have a
lot of success, everybody who likes Erasure, Pet Shop Boys or Human League should buy and
enjoy this CD, but for my taste this album is to much "pop"
and too less "synth". www.daysoffate.com
- www.efa.de |
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DoF - If More Than Twenty People Laugh, It Wasn't Funny (Highpoint Lowlife) |
|
A
one-man project from Philadelphia, DoF produces
instrumental music of a very weird variety, coupling
conventional instruments, such as acoustic guitars and synth
lines with electronic arrangements, mostly taking care of
percussive schizophrenic percussion tracks that clash
head-on with the rest of the music, and also some subdued
textures. It all sounds like some kind of academic exercise
leading nowhere interesting in terms of music output. www.highpointlowlife.com |
|
Drastique - Pleasureligion (Beyond...Prod.) |
|
Formerly
Drastic, we've already met mastermind Chris Buchman on issue VI, when reviewing his previous work, Thieves
of Kisses. Five years of gap and Chris shows
to have considerably sharpened his moods, shifting straight
to black metal with theatrical overtones, abundance of hard
guitar riffs, rapturous drumming (not clear whether
sequenced or human), ever changing vocal tones, a new female
vocalist assuming a more up-front role, synth layers to add
what some call gothic tones. The metal assault is toned down
towards the end of the album with two more atmospheric and
progressive tracks (Immortal Beloved and Voyage Dans La Femme) where
the keyboards assume a more important role, drumming is
taken easy and vocal-wise also the more melodic tones are
used. Were not for these two tracks (making up nearly for 20
minutes of running time), Drastique would have completely fallen outside the scope of Darklife. www.drastique.com
- www.beyondprod.com |
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Elektronische Maschine - Das Netz (Self released) |
|
Elektronische Maschine, from
The Netherlands, use samples and electronic sounds to create
their songs. Their sound leans to the instrumental
electronic bands of the eighties. The music is not poppy
enough to be synth pop, not hard enough to be electro, not
powerful enough to be EBM, but it is somewhere in between.
Elektronische Maschine succeeded in combining all
the good elements of these genres. Still the sound could use
more diversity and more catchy elements. Das Netz
contains eleven electro pop songs of this trio. PJVD |
|
Empire State Human - Liquid Blue (9th Wave) |
|
Empire State Human
introduce a new 8-track single full of catchy melodies,
beats and synth pop sounds. Liquid Blue showcases John Giacobello production and, with previously unreleased re-mixes and
collaboration with Giallo, Tycho Brache, Count to Infinity, No
Comment, One Lazy Ear and Synthetik FM, any
fan of the synth pop genre should have this CD in their
collection. Liquid Blue is a mid tempo synth track but with a strong melody.
Interesting are the different rework of other tracks by
several bands. This disc has nothing sensational to offer
but still we have to admit that it is steady synth pop you
can not deny. www.empirestatehuman.com PJVD |
|
Evereve - .enetics (Massacre) |
|
Evereve
are another bad case of over-rocking, with very little
relation to the dark scene. Plain and simple indie-rock with
a wink to metal (overheard distorted power guitar chords).
Stop sending us this stuff. www.massacre-records.com
|
|
Explicit Einsam - Auf Ewig (Cerebral Music) |
|
Dispensing
altogether with the new German trends of polluting
dark-minded music with improbable upbeat elements,
annoyingly contrived lyrics (I think I've heard the words
"meine Seele" just a few too many times...) and
un-aesthetical vocals sounding oh so devilishly like
Rammstein on their
worst day (if anything could get worse than that...),
Explicit Einsam propose
instead the fitting soundtrack to isolation and a life in
black and white. Auf Ewig
is nothing more than poems recited monotonically and with no
frills over a dry minimal electronic backdrop evoking
melancholic solitude. Some dark ambience elements drawing
dryly on the neoclassical and employing repetitiveness as a
tool to depict a bleak environment are corroborated by
occasional martial drumming, re-enforcing a feeling of
self-submission or adaptation to the emptiness. Demenz
and Fieber ought to
be the two more "conventional" cuts, also adaptable to the
dark dancefloor. Anagramm and Sequenz V are two instrumental very
well representative of the additional cinematic qualities
contained in this album. The closing 1+1=2? is the black-gloved cold hand leading you
away to nothingness. A remarkable entry in the dark
panorama, showing that simplicity can equally evoke strong
feelings. www.expliziteinsam.de
- www.cerebralmusic.de
|
|
Exposed 2 Radiation - First Diagnosis (Self released) |
|
First
Victim is the artist name that is used to create the music for
Exposed 2 Radiation. This first album brings
electro music but than without pounding beats. Beats and
bleeps are brought together, making electronic music with a
hint to the eighties and even the old new beat scene.
Besides the instrumental Techno Experiment and the short Toxic Waste you
will find the songs Behold and Razor Blade Love on this disc. This weird experimental electronic music uses
samples and techno influences. A good effort for a first CD
but the vocals, and even the lyrics could need some more
attention in the future. users.pandora.be/exposed2radiation PJVD |
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Fin de Siècle - Sans Titre (Divine Comedy) |
|
Fin De Siècle are
not another band that could be in the Cold Meat roaster.
Stéphane Flauder brings an original mix of scary
black tunes and seducing piano pieces. That there is a lot
of variety in this Frenchman's music is accentuated with
samples and the voice of Florence
Cailleux. Calm gloomy music with creepy
atmospheres could make you think you are on a mystic
graveyard on a cold winter night. The music is gentle but
still there is a dark undertone what makes it extra
frightening and mysterious, as if the music is like a
butterfly that is waiting for the right moment to turn into
a bat. www.findesiecle.fr.st PJVD |
|
Francois Testory & The Electromantics - Sarrazine (Prikosnovenie) |
|
Another
oddity out of the Prikosnovenie camp, Sarrazine is
nothing close to your average listen. The supporting cast to
Mr Testory's "pink" vocals consists of many illustrious names such as
Phil Von of Von Magnet,
Lys, Wild Shores, Mimetic, etc. Very eclectic, up to the point of loosing
consistence, Sarrazine is a listen for total avantgardists
overlooking any threading role between music and vocals.
They don't appear to work very well together in this venture
and the final result tastes of over-pushed avant-gardism. So
if you push yourself over the limits and can over-indulge in
some borrowed Marc Almond-type
vocal numbers, this is for you. www.prikosnovenie.com
|
|
[Grendel] - Prescription: Medicide (Noi Tekk) |
|
Another
good entry in the panorama of beat driven, harsh EBM, made
out of distorted beats, catchy synth hooks, underlying synth
orchestrations, distorted vocals and vocal samples or spoken
words. Prescription: Medicide is the second full length by Nederland's duo
[Grendel] who have quickly raised to notoriety in the scene already
with their first release back in 2001 on Noi Tekk who where
long sighted enough to pick up and release their second
promo CD Inhumane Amusement. [Grendel] essentially work on
the recipe introduced long ago by Suicide Commando, supplying additional testosterone to boot. If not very
original, they are guaranteed to hook the listener up with
their driving synth lines and melodies and introduce some
variation with female backing vocals in Pax Psychosis or what sounds like a
guitar (heresy!) in Pax, one of the more
atmospheric and nicest cuts in the albums, featuring female
spoken lyrics. Crucify is a "made-to-measure" dancefloor filler, Fatal Flow positively contributes to break the fast pace while
Rotting Garden goes "terror" and Kurtz chills down to the end of this 45-minutes adrenalin-fuelled
journey. One note though: the effects on the vocals sound at
times a little contrived resulting in the vocal track not
blending fully with the music. Keeping a firm eye on the
dancefloor, [Grendel]
are guaranteed to appeal to people whose tastes range from
Feindflug harsh electro with industrial tones to SC dark electro-EBM. www.grendel-base.com
- www.noitekk.de |
|
Headphone - Work in Progress 1998 - 200- (Ici D'Ailleurs) |
|
Mysterious
French project seeing the collaboration of many different
musicians playing a large variety of instruments at
different times, apparently rotating around the figure of
Jean Micheal Pires,
although I don't seem to see any mention of his name in the
cover notes. All the same, this gives the impression
(probably correct) of being a collection of improvised
sessions where the most varied instruments pop in then
quickly disappear. Organ guitar and bass are the main
ingredients, but you get also some drums, piano, vibraphone
all the way to trombone and horn, but also some noises,
feedback and electronics. There isn't any structures as such
to the tracks, they are just jamming on, or resembling
sometimes people tuning their instruments in preparation for
a session while you hear sometimes some other music playing
in the background. It is very quiet and quite fine
background music that is there but never catching much or
your attention, unless you purposedly concentrate on it. So
much so, that I realised just now (after having heard this
CD several times) that one track features a snippet from the
Pink Floyd's Atom Heart Mother album, which pops up then fades out without anyone calling
for it... Definitely avant-garde! www.icidailleurs.com |
|
Immunology - Thorn Dive (SX) |
|
Immunology make electronic music that is
somewhere between industrial and EBM. The tempo is not
really fast but still you will find some tunes to dance to.
The music and lyrics are written by Krustof Peterka
but the band counts four members. The electronic elements
are being interwoven with each other to create pieces that
are finished with raw vocals. When I have to think of bands
to compare them with I must say Mentallo & The
Fixer comes to mind. Besides the
regular songs the album is being blended with short
instrumental tracks with titles such as Sexual
Relationship,
Wasteland, Dressden or Catacomb. With the booklet comes a small
poster as well as most of the lyrics. www.immunology.cz PJVD |
|
Johnny Hollow - Self-titled (Self-release) |
|
An impressive and powerful debut from the Canadian-based
trio, Johnny Hollow. Vincent Marcone, Janine White and Kitty
Thompson present themselves less as a band and more of an exquisite
mesh of audio and visual concepts. Vincent, having
a background in art design, sets the mood with his
bittersweet melancholic story-telling visual style. Together
with Janine and Kitty (both classically-trained
musicians) the three have created an exquisite Freudian
soundtrack of songs that point a magnifying glass at
society's ideals of good, evil, beauty and ugliness. These
morality tales have been told before but Johnny
Hollow presents them in a new and unique light. Their sound is a
lush mix of electronica/exotica/gothic/classical with an
emphasis on keyboards, cellos and voices. Their subject
matter, ranges from organized religion, Russian enigmatic
figures, disturbing 19th century nursery rhymes and on to
more contemporary issues such as disposal pop culture and
consumerism. Vincent has recently branched out into video direction and his
visually stunning results can be seen in
Mushroomhead's new Sun Doesn't Rise video.
When his video direction talent is put to use to compliment
Johnny Hollow's music the results are sure to be equally, if not more,
impressive. www.johnnyhollow.com Ron Sawyer |
|
Kamikaze 52 - Destroy Yourself to Rise (Rabazco) |
|
Known in
some circles as "crossover", is the habit to overlay synths
and elementary electronic elements to distorted power guitar
riffs and fast paced metal drumming. Kamikaze 52 offer
this kind of metal/pop hybrid, enriching it with additional
guitar virtuosism and female voice (treated), thankfully not
trying to emulate for the umpteenth time Theatre of
Tragedy and their hundreds of boring
copycats. They have a couple of fine tunes, but you must be
into the power guitar game to really like this. www.kamikaze52.com
- www.rabazco.de |
|
Klimt 1918 - Undressed Momento (My Kingdom Music) |
|
Undressed Momento begins
with a strange intro after which the Pale Song
introduces the first magical sounds of Klimt 1918.
Klimt 1918 balance between gothic rock and poppy
ballads. Desolate atmospheres enshrouded by vibrant rock
guitars full of melancholia fill this 9-track album that
will certainly appeal to fans the gothic and new wave of the
eighties. This does not mean that their sound is not new.
Their music is original and quite unique. Mid tempo tracks
such as We Don't Need No Music and If Only You Could
See Me Now will seduce many listeners. Klimt 1918 do not conceive their music in an aggressive way, nor do
they make it too slow. The songs are well balanced and
brought together in a de-luxe digipak with a 12-page booklet
illustrated with amazing artwork by the obscure artist
Francesca Di Leandro a.k.a.
Nocturna. www.klimt1918.com PJVD |
|
Mik Jung - Der Herr der Ohrringe (Hörbuch) 2CD (Endless) |
|
On this
double CD Myk Jung, singer and front man of
The Fair Sex, Testify and
Nice Gods Bleed presents a funny slapstick version of
Tolkkien's Lord Of The Rings. Myk
Jung started already in 1972 with his literary early work Die
Eiskugel Im Eimer, followed from three other
works until 1974. After a break he comes back to write in
1995. From 1995 to 1999 he created three slapstick fantasy
novels, the last one was Der Herr Der Ohrringe, which was released in 2001
as a paperback. After some readings in the last two years at
example at the Tolkien Meeting, The Wave Gotik
Treffen, in cinemas and so on the audience cried for setting the
book on a CD. Out of this comes a 120 min. version of the
1200 page original Lord Of The Rings epos. The double CD is
funny and in no way against the original, the idea and some
jokes are great, also members of the story are great but
they should have used also natural sounds, because here only
a storyteller tells the listener what happened. All the
members of this story are clown versions of the originals
and the main theme is an earring instead a ring. Names like
Steffan Ackermann and Bruno Kramm (Das Ich), Darrin C. Huss (Psyche), RAZ3 (Zelle 40), the legendary Zwischenfall Bochum
DJ Michael Zöller and of course Myk
Jung gave the figures their voices. I think the work is only
available in German so its market is quite limited. www.mykjung.de
- www.endless-records.de
Karin Zenzinger |
|
Missionaries of Silence - Resurrection in June (Self-released) |
|
Russian
Missionaries of Silence are a collaboration between
Sergey Laskin from Missionaries from The Inside and Ivan Rozmainsly of
Roz Vitalis. They have recorded over one hour of improvisation using
organ sounds, some guitar and noise effects, creating eerie
atmospheres, with some cosmic feel. It has a marked retro
feel a la Tangerine Dream and it seems to drag along towards the middle with
interminably drifting organ passages. Occasionally some
percussive effects are used which start to give shape to the
execution, but their potential is not really exploited. I
guess it would be hard to find an audience among the dark
crowd, perhaps some fans of ambient experimentation might
apply. missionaries.nm.ru |
|
Nitrous
Flesh - Shadow Fracture (Tantric Terror) Nitrous
Flesh - Abominations (Tantric Terror) Nitrous Flesh - Walpurgisnacht (Tantric Terror) |
|
These CD's reached us at the same
time and so they are reviewed together. Shadow
Fracture features hard industrial songs
with tribal beats. Weird musical layers and creepy
structures in songs like Altard, Temporal Vortex and Rellik. Creatures of Aether appears also in a live version
on Walpurgisnacht. This disc showcases hypnotising
industrial that is certainly not accessible to a large
audience. On this album we mark the title track
Walpurgisnacht, the strange sounds in
Burning Shadows and samples in Nightshade. Nightshade and Creatures of The
Aether were recorded during the Dark
Electronic Underground festival in Denver, CO, USA. This
release comes in a special package, just as
Abominations. Abominations
is a collection of demos, outtakes, compilation tracks and
unreleased material. The CD begins with the very short intro
Relik and Nocturne is a live track included here.
This solo project by James Geist
is known for dark, scary sounds and ghostly long tracks.
Mentioned tracks here are Skinwalker
and Full Moon Eclipse. www.tantricterror.com PJVD |
|
La
Nuit Mystique - Aasverus (Self-released)
|
|
A duo out of Milan, Italy, La Nuit Mystique successfully revert to a gothic
style with medieval connotations, focussing on the figure of
a storyteller, evoking ancient townscapes and bygone times
when legends were passed on from generation to generation,
long before humans elected consumerism as their guiding god,
giving up their personal sensibilities in the process. The
tale in question concerns Aasverus who, believe it or not, had a raw with Christ himself and ended
up being doomed to eternal wandering as a result (well, even
Christ has got the right to run out of patience, or...). The
setting is quite mystic and mentioning Ataraxia in this context is nearly obligatory, given the subject
matter. The band interpretation is however quiet dry in
comparison, being (I believe) fully digital. They do capture
the overall feel very well, but one can feel that a whole
lot of the potential is unexplored. Aasverus is actually a great piece of work and is a well above an
average demo. Get it properly orchestrated and produced and
you have a winner. digilander.libero.it/lanuitmystique |
|
Das
Präparat &endash; Anatomie (Self-released) |
|
Karin Zenzinger |
|
Psycho D-Vein - Dust Fear of Lover (Self Released) |
Solidly
inspired from the early eighties Dust Fear of Lover
lives firmly in the footsteps of Joy Division and Jesus
& Mary Chain, Psychocandy era. Well, so firmly in
fact, that this has the feel of a sort of a nostalgic
tribute album. Enigmatic Italian project, Psycho
D-Vein are supposedly a duo, although only one of the
members is credited on the stripped down info given away on
the sleeve. The atmosphere of that far away era, when
electronic new-wave began to emerge in the post punk scene,
is well captured in the Black Silk Stocking
cover of legendary Italian duo Chrisma. From there
on, it's J&MC
meet Joy
Division with simple synth lines superimposed. The sound
is really thin, which may or may not be intended to be. A
cover of JD's
Decades
isn't much convincing either. There are interesting ideas on
this CD, but it sounds just like ideas quickly demoed by
using a cheap drumbox, a sequencer and a cheap keyboard.
Just give Dust... full
production, elaborate it outside of the Mary Chain-JD
boundary and you might have a nice piece in jour hands. psychod-vein.iwarp.com
|
|
Remain Silent - T>I>D (Brume) |
|
Another top entry in the Brume revered catalogue. Banging
rhythms, tribal percussion, spacey atmospheres, breathing
soundspheres and grey ambiences. Industrial fury and
avant-garde sonic exploration packaged up in the ca. 70
minutes of this debut work of Remain Silent aka Frenchman Yann Souetre who has
been working for about two years on the three long tracks
featured on this album. A concept album illustrating the
cycle of life in the eyes of the author, Tension, Introversion and
Destruction has a strong soundtrack feel, given by the frequent changes
of sonic landscape. This progressive approach is what sets
Remain Silent apart in a very prolific (and crowded) scene. Imagine a bit
of Mlada Fronta, a dirtier version of it and some
Flint Glass, but without the heavy layering. And imagine a film rolling
behind, those sepia-tinted images of landscape desolation,
the mechanical beast dominating the urban environment, grey
vaults filled with emptiness, the anger, finally exploding
in all its brutality in the last segment, in a crescendo of
apocalyptic dimension and bombastic proportion. Surely a key
ingredient of the work are the un-compromising and restless
rhythmic and percussion, making sure I>T>D will go
down very well with the banging industrial crowd, with the
atmospheric elements contributing to widen the range of
impact. But the work on its own has a much wider range of
appeal as it dispenses with conventions and sorts of lets
the ball rolling into undisputed and genuine dark
industrialism devoid of trend-setting elements. In other
words, a release to look after for the original industrial
crowd and a more than impressive debut for Remain
Silent. www.remain-silent.net
- www.brumerecords.com |
|
Roz Vitalis - Nice Edge EP (Self-released) Roz Vitalis - L'Ascensione (Self-released) Roz Vitalis - Paisadist EP (Self-released) |
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Roz
Vitalis is a Russian project strongly influenced by the seventies
prog rock. This reflected both in the structure of the
compositions and in the overwhelming use of keyboard sounds,
although they use both modern electronic elements and more
intimate or solemn sounds a strings, winds or organs for
more intimate and sacred moments. The first EP, Nice
Edge was produced in 2001 and is completely instrumental. Here
you get as a start those hysterical keyboard riffs you'll
find hard to digest unless you are just a fan of that music,
but also the quieter stuff and some psych atmosphere towards
the end. It's quite daring, but some sonorities need be
fully produced, instead here they are much hampered by a
home-made feel. There's no production values to speak of.
L'Ascensione marks a clear improvement, offering more organic
compositions that work well in building darkish atmospheres,
although one has still to make do with the occasional clash
with the seventies type keyboard solos. It reminds me of
Goblin, again with some addition
of modern electronics and many nice atmospheric interludes
add-ons. Also some female vocals are featured shortly, but
nothing to write home about. With Painsadist they continue to evolve in the same direction and the music
becomes even darker, more melodic and haunted, there's more
experimentation with avant-garde electronics and the
progressive substrate is now well integrated with the
overall darker tones of the compositions. Definitely the
best pick out of the three, specially for the dark minded
audience. www.mp3.com/rozvitalis
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Serca - Singularity EP (Self-released Demo) |
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London
based trio Serca present their first demo featuring six tracks of
alternative rock which is at times low-fi, fuzzy, dissonant,
disjointed, or hard guitars. Also know as industrial rock in
some quarters. A lot to be desired in the
production/engineering department, Serca
would benefit from some refinement and additional focus,
possibly shifting away from the predictably epic guitar
chords. In the meantime, NIN type people might as well check them out. www.serca.net
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Shed
- Electronic Tales (Self released)
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Existing since 1999,
Electronic Tales is Shed’s debut. It holds good calm
synth pop music with male and female vocals. Although this
album was recorded and mixed at home we must remark the good
production. This trio from France proves to be good at
romantic ballads like, Tale of A Fool and Utopian Song. Mechanical World is more dance orientated and
Far Away is almost instrumental. Eight
tracks on the counter and a bit over half an hour of music.
We hope to hear more of these beautiful songs on a next
album. www.shed.fr.st |
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SubSonic
Symphonee - Images CDs (KDP)
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A
7-piece from Australia, SubSonic Symphonee are a
club-minded act with strong interest in the
fashionable/theatrical aspect of it all. The single I've
been handed for review includes six different remixes of the
title track, plus the video. It's beats and guitars, melodic
vocals plus typical electro dance production. The thumping
re-mixes place this CD in the exclusive region of interest
of DJs, not of the dark flavour though. Stuff for
Slimelight, so to speak, or maybe Viva II. www.subsonicsymphonee.com |
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Tactical Sekt - Burn Process EP (Noi Tekk) |
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Noi Tekk
consolidate release after release their claim to the harsh
EBM dancefloor and this latest release for Tactical
Sekt is the
latest proof. Anthony Mather, the man in
question behind the machines, employs the entire arsenal of
distorted beats at high BPM, driving basslines, bubbling and
bopping synths with tight-hard programming, atmospheric
backdrops, technoid elements and, of course, distorted,
un-understandable vocals and a repertory of vocal samples to
round up. He owes a whole lot to Suicide Commando,
whose trademark sounds are often emulated and manage to
inject in every cut a catchiness that will no doubt become
TS
own trademark in the genre. Suicide Commando have produced many a catchy melody on their own, but it
seems to me that here the scholar has surpassed the master
so to speak. Take Soulless for example, a guaranteed instant dancefloor filler,
guaranteed to score as good as the best Johan Van Roy
or
the catchiest Funker Vogt hits. The other
stand-out track is The Hanging Garden with
infectious synth-work and another hooking refrain. The 7
track of the EP are complemented with 5 additional re-mixes
totalling over 70 minutes, excellent value for money that
is. At the re-mix consoles, such luminaries as
Haujobb, Solitary Experiments, DJ Rexx Arkana, [:SITD:] and Reality. Their works inject a good dose of stylistic variety to the
tracks, making this long beats-fuelled journey a very good
entry in the EBM field, on the harsh side. Whether this
music will manage to sound fresh and interesting in a few
years from now is open to debate, but for now, it's
certainly guaranteed to keep the stomping fleet firmly on
the dancefloor. www.tactical-sekt.com
- www.noitekk.de |
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The Sun of Weakness - Demo CD-R (Self-released) |
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Five
tender and intimate tracks mark the debut of this Italian
4-piece and the first thing one notices is that no drums are
used throughout while the compositions are centred around
acoustic guitar arpeggios, gentle piano passages and subtle
keyboard layers, with soft vocals, sometimes even whispered.
Some heavily effected electric guitar passages appear as
well, but I find them both badly produced and out of place
as they do not match the quiet atmosphere of the songs, nor
do they enhance them. Unfortunately the overall production
is well below standard with the sound coming across quite
muffled, strongly hampering the potential appeal of the
tracks. Some encouraging ideas and lots of work in sight for
The Sun of Weakness. utenti.lycos.it/thesunofweakness
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Threnody Ensemble - Timbre Hollow (All Tomorrow's Parties / Vital) |
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This is
one for the quiet moments. Two acoustic guitars and cello,
supported by a variety of additional musicians contributing
piano, clarinet and contrabass, to give body to six tracks
sculpted in a quite non-conformist style. With Threnody
Ensemble you won't get only
classicism per-se as the tracks progress and develop in a
very oblique way, with the end result resembling a sort of
soundtrack to a silent movie. The music seems to underline
some invisible action and, although we are far from full
orchestral action, the intensity occasionally climbs up a
few steps, only to be re-seat back to the next (imaginary)
scene. Well suited for a relaxed listen. www.threnodyensemble.com
- www.alltomorrowsparties.co.uk Gianfri |
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Velvet Acid Christ - Hex Angel (Utopia - Dystopie) (Dependent) |
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After the single Pretty
Toy we are spoiled with e new full
length album by Velvet Acid Christ. Hex Angel
is an excellent album and without a doubt the best ever to
be created by mastermind Bryan Erickson. The album is well produced, the coherency of the sounds is
great, the melodies are hypnotising. You can let the music
take a journey into the darkest corners of your imagination.
Besides the quieter Pretty Toy and Hypoxia, you can enjoy faster and more
dance floor minded masterpieces like Haunted, Collapsed,
Misery or Convex.
Velvet Acid Christ
are always evolving so we can only be curious of what is to
come. One hint for a remix is in the booklet (look for
Suicide Commando). Another remarkable quality of
the booklet is the special artwork. www.velvetacidchrist.com PJVD |
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Wolfmaster - Murder And Relegion (Self released) |
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Currently Wolfmaster is a solo project that is
composed using keyboards, software and drum samples. I do
not think that this guy is very fond of Catholicism. Some
titles are Burn Down Vatican, The Rise Of Evil and Rising Black Flags. By reading this you will
certainly not expect a happy synth pop band. And indeed, the
industrial sound of Wolfmaster is dark and filled with anger,
the vocals are raw. One remark is that he could have used
more variety in the songs because some of them sound a bit
the same. Furthermore, this is an album for people who are
fed up with Christianity and who are into dark demonic
music. www.wolfmaster.com PJVD |
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Xandria - Kill The Sun (Drakkar) |
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Another
band to jump on the bandwagon of female-fronted combos
employing a backdrop of cliché metal minded guitars,
this time joining the league from Germany. With the vocals
slammed annoyingly way (too) up front in the mix and
standard arrangements (exception made for a couple good
melody lines), there are no elements that could make
Xandria stand
out from the general crowd (e.g. the way Gathering or Lacuna Coil do). Watch out for
the track Wisdom in which a little extra imagination is thrown in. www.drakkar.de
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Zonk't
- Itching (Brume) |
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With an
history as a drummer in punk groups, label manager of Odd
Size, projects such as Nox, Cape Fear and creator of
films, today Laurent Perrier releases Itching under the name of Zonk't. From
Time To Time is the opening track, building up the
tension but never letting it go. This album is less dark and
more minimalistic, and includes remixes by Flint
Glass and
Oil10. Dreamsmaker, Dashboard and Sous Surveillance are
just some of the titles of interesting songs on
Itching. The music by Zonk't holds
good arrangements and variation brought by a good composer.
Relaxing ambient, trip hop, low fi, soft electro, you will
find it all and more on this 74-minute shiny disc. www.brumerecords.com PJVD |
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SAMPLERS |
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x |
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Branches & Routes - A FatCat Compilation 2CD - VV.AA. (FatCat) |
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A double
disc compilation containing over two hours of music,
comprehensively illustrating their 8-year long activity as a
label very much concerned about actively defying schemes and
genres. The result is a very polyhedral collection of tracks
covering a wide range of interests. There are electronic
acts, there's plenty of twisted rock, noisy bands, quiet
ones, there' schizophrenia, punky edges, melodic stuff,
atmospheric tracks, you name it, you have it right here
within the 27 tracks of Branches & Routes. What all the tracks have in common is the fact that one
would have a hard time trying to categorise each of them
within a certain genre. Very well suited for people looking
for diversity and crazy stuff outside the schemes. www.fat-cat.co.uk |
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Eclectica 2 - VV.AA. (Middle Pillar Presents) |
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The high quality sampler Eclectica Vol 2 presents a preview of tracks from upcoming releases
such as for Thread, Kobe, Sumerland, Mirabilis as well as a remix of The Mirror Reveals. Other remixes are from Zoar,
Mirabilis and Loretta's Doll. Almost
all pieces are exclusive or remixed tracks. This compilation
of ethereal and electronic music is greatly opened by
Portuguese combo Aenima. Their song Pale is
followed by Ashes Falling which is a hypnotising
remix of a Zoar song made by Carmen Rizzo.
Loretta's Doll introduce low dark male vocals and create
a creepy atmosphere. These tracks are followed by the
industrial landscapes of The Unquiet Void. Heavenly voice combined
with tribal drums, reminding me of The Cranes are
offered by Mirabilis. Other great tracks are the enchanting Finale by The Mirror Reveals and the
long Momentary Vision by A Murder of Angels which could easily be used as music for a film. Furthermore
you can enjoy the good vocals of The Changelings,
the relaxing sounds of The Machine in The Garden and Sumerland and the
instrumental industrial piece by Kobe. Also
4th Sign of The Apocalypse bring a weird industrial
mix that make me think of early Dive tracks.
Thirteen masterpieces are brought together on a compilation
album that should be in everyone's collection. A must. www.middlepillar.com
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FatCat Records Split Series 9-16 - VV.AA. (FatCat) |
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This CD
includes all the material featured in issues 9 through 16 of
the FatCat 12" split series, previously available only on
the mentioned vinyl's. Amongst the 17 tracks / artists
there's abundance of high bpm hard edged, experimental
electronic stuff, drum'n'bass and the likes, quieter pieces
of soudscaping, minimal stuff, outbursts of noise, but also
a piano piece (!), some guitar strumming and so on. So this
is a crazy and eclectic sampler (predominantly electronic)
and you must be like-minded to fully appreciate the content.
www.fat-cat.co.uk
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Fairy world 1 - VV.AA. (Prikosnovenie) |
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This compilation is a very special one and a must for every
fan of heavenly voices, faerie music and dark folk. It
presents the music of the label Prikosnovenie in a luxury
booklet/CD. The CD contains seventeen tracks and eleven of
them are previously unreleased. The trip into the unique
music of Prikosnovenie takes you to Australia, Japan,
Greece, Italy, Russia, etc. Besides the normal bands' tracks
on this sampler you will find some special collaborations
such as Lys & Louisa John Krol, Jack Or Jive & GOR and
Phil Von & The Gnawa Musicians Of Fes.
Irfan contributes the song Otkrovenie
which reminds me of Dead Can Dance. Other
recommended masterpieces are The Morning Glory by Faraway, On The Dark Side of The
Moon by Flëur and Yahil by GOR. www.prikosnovenie.com
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Synthétique - VV.AA. (Boredom) |
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Synthétique is a French Electronic Pop
Compilation and more, it is the first of its kind. So this
is not an album that tries to bring as much as possible
unreleased tracks or special remixes. It is just a gathering
of different talented French artists each in their domain.
Streeturchin kicks off this album with a song
that reminds me of Depeche Mode. After this, Beyond The Nightmare About Claudia brings gentle synth pop.
Furthermore you will discover good songs by Nouvelle
Culture or Feelings of Nowhere. Twelve tracks of synth pop, EBM
and more from France are a welcome change in the vast
panorama of compilations that are offered. Now we can get to
know some other bands as well that are not from Germany or
the northern countries. The last track on the album is a
summation of what you have listened to, in French of course.
www.boredomproduct.online.fr PJVD |
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Tantric
Terror - Project Sampler - VV.AA. (Tantric Terror) |
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This compilation album gathers
three industrial acts. Erotic Trauma contribute the first two songs on the disc. Y2K is a fast pounding song an
Fuck The Flesh is a live
version recorded at the end of March 2003. DMSO, aka DrugMurderSexOrgy, continues with 5 tracks of hard electronic industrial.
Ectoplasmagoria and Roadkill Radio are two of these crazy pieces.
Other industrial madness comes from Nitrous Flesh who complete this album with
four songs which you can also find on the CD's
Abominations and Walpurgisnacht. You get to know three
industrial acts each with their own approach to industrial
music. If you like to discover new weird industrial music
you can check out the website. www.tantricterror.com PJVD
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Thisoriented - VV.AA. / Thisobidience - VV.AA
(Thisco) |
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I have a feeling that these two compilation albums belong
together and therefore they will be reviewed together.
Thisoriented is another compilation in the Thisco series that brings some great bands together. The album
gathers elctro, trip hop, lo fi, industrial, funky and
ambient music. Ras.Al.Ghul open the 13-track disc with the song Time of Flight. Spies-Implant continue with
Instead of, which is followed by One Leg
(by Elektroplasma). Furthermore you will discover the relaxing tunes by
Sieben, the industrial minded creations of Dither and the weird sounds of Ultra Milkmaids. Rapoon are featured with a very
long track and Ah Cama-Sotz's Zaran Tulah starting slow and building up. Other good contributions are
Sunwolf, Sci-Fi Industries and the
brilliant One Eyed Man by This Morn' Omina. On the front cover of the second CD you can read "These
guys gone out!" I guess that these people submitted a song
for the Thisoriented album but just didn't get on. Perhaps this is a "rest of
the best" CD. Remarkable bands are Ghoak and L'ego. Something in Feroza
Junction (by Sci Fi Industries)
reminds me of Front 242. Furthermore there is the energetic dance
floor minded Phantom Vision, the drum ‘n'
bass The Ultimate Architects, the mid-tempo
MechanoSphere and a long piano song by Samuel Jeronimo. www.thisco.net |
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