Astari Nite – Here Lies (Album – Negative Gain Productions)
Genre/Influences: Wave-pop, post-punk.
Format: Digital, CD.
Background/Info: The fourth full length album by Astari Nite also is the first one released on Negative Gain Productions. The American formation strikes back with seven new songs plus two remixes.
Content: Astari Nite moves on with their post-punk music exploration, which also has something pretty 80s wave-pop minded. Guitar and electronics create a harmonious match, leading the listener into pure evasion and then into melancholia. The songs are supported with sadness, sometimes reminding me a bit of The Cure. The remixes have been accomplished by Twin Tribes and Wisborg.
+ + + : I like this work for its 80s inspiration, but still for the emotional input. The songs are not just driven by usual sadness and melancholia, but there’s a kind of authenticity and true spirit emerging at the surface. Songs like “Gloomy Witch, “Pretty Something, Never Was” and “Leave The Winter On The Ground” sound right and sensitive, touching your heart and soul. The guitar playing has something magic while the electronic arrangements are accentuating the feeling of evasion.
– – – : An album featuring 7 songs comes rather closer to a mini-album while the 2 remixes don’t really inject a bonus.
Conclusion: Astari Nite is probably an underrated band –and especially in Europe, although it’s a fascinating formation, which is much more than simply an 80s emulation.
Best songs: “Gloomy Witch, “Pretty Something, Never Was”, “Leave The Winter On The Ground”, “Disease Of The Divine”.
Rate: (7).
Artist: www.facebook.com/astarinitemusic
Label: www.negativegain.com / www.facebook.com/pages/Negative-Gain/212061438836984
About Astari Nite
Astari Nite is a Miami, Florida act fronted by Mychael Ghost, active since the early 2010s with self-released material including “Waves” (2012), “Pyramids” (2013) and the album “Until The End Of The Moon” (2016), followed by “Midnight Conversations” (2018). “Here Lies” (2020) marked the band’s first release through Negative Gain Productions, a relationship that continued with “Necessity Meal” (2024). Astari Nite released the six-track “Medications In Bloom” EP on May 1, 2026 through Astari Nite TV 1993, accompanied by a video for “Dry Shampoo X”.
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