Chemical Waves – Stories From The World Before (Album – Wave Records)
Genre/Influences: Cold-Wave, Dark-Wave.
Format: Digital, CD.
Background/Info: After having released last year albums on Unknown Pleasures Records and ScentAir Records, Italian artist Marco Cattani (Halo Effect, The Mark) strikes back with a new opus on Wave Records. Chemical Waves have again invited numerous guest singers. Vocalists from Bedless Bones, The Arch, The Purge, Death Loves Veronica, Sara Stuttgart, Then Came The Rain, Velvet Kills, Iris Capricorn, XTR Human and Social Station contributed to the work.
Content: The sound formula hasn’t really changed. Chemical Waves remains driven by the dark legacy of 80s Cold/Dark-Wave music. The singers again each inject a very personal touch to the work, which creates an interesting diversity. From sensual vocals to low, resonating vocals there’s a lot to experience while you’ll also notice two instrumental cuts.
+ + + : Chemical Waves holds on the true spirit of Dark/Cold-Wave music, which is mainly created by the magic of the guitar playing. I heard some good matches with the singers of The Arch, The Purge and especially Su Eko/Velvet Kills, reminding me a bit of Placebo.
– – – : The global approach of this project remains interesting and sometimes exciting although I’m missing ‘the’ singer of this band. I also preferred previous productions, the sound becoming a bit too predictable while the songs are less efficient. Being too prolific is sometimes undermining quality…
Conclusion: This is not the album from Chemical Waves I would recommend listening to first.
Best songs: “Rangers On The Road”, “Demon In Me”.
Rate: (6 ½).
Artist: www.facebook.com/chemicalwaves
Label: www.waverecordsmusic.com / www.facebook.com/waverecords
About Chemical Waves
Chemical Waves is the darkwave and post-punk solo project of Marco Cattani from Rome, Italy, who is also a member of Halo Effect and The Mark. Discogs lists self-released digital material between 2012 and 2015, including the album “The Garden Of Forking Paths” and the singles “The Origin” and “Murders TV” (afmusic, 2012). The project works with a rotating cast of guest vocalists on every album.
Two albums appeared in 2020: Even When We Fall Apart on the French label Unknown Pleasures Records, reviewed on Side-Line in May 2020, and Lasting Forever on the Russian label ScentAir Records, reviewed in November 2020.
“Stories From The World Before” was released by Wave Records in 2021 as a download and on CD; the Bandcamp page dates the release to 7 April 2021, while the Side-Line news item Italian post-punk act Chemical Waves returns with an all new album of May 2021 reported a 30 April release and a CD ecopack limited to 200 copies. The twelve tracks are “Kiss The Ring” (feat. Bedless Bones), “Obsession And Cure” (feat. Gerd Van Geel of The Arch), “Demon In Me” (feat. The Purge), the instrumental “Eternally”, “A Dark Prayer” (feat. Death Loves Veronica), “Alibi” (feat. Sara Stuttgart), “Sixty” (feat. Then Came The Rain), “Rangers On The Road” (feat. Su Eko of Velvet Kills), “On Another’s Sorrow” (feat. Iris Capricorn, with lyrics by William Blake), “Your Voice” (feat. XTR Human), “Field Of Static” (feat. Social Station) and the instrumental “Cruel”. Chemical Waves wrote, arranged and produced all songs and the lyrics of “Obsession And Cure”; the other guests wrote and sang their own lyrics. A video for “Kiss The Ring” accompanied the release.
The self-released digital album “I – When We Were Full Of Hope” followed in 2022, and Our Love In A Dying World appeared at the end of 2025, with a cassette edition on Violet Hour Transmissions, and was reviewed on Side-Line in January 2026. The Bandcamp page for “Stories From The World Before” announces a remastered vinyl and CD edition for 2026 through ElasticStage. The album reviewed here is the project’s third Side-Line review.
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