The 2022 edition of the Sinner’s Day Summer Festival will take place from 24th until 26th June 2022 at the Maria-Hendrika Park in Oostende, Belgium. About 28 new wave, EBM, industrial, post-punk, synth-pop and eighties bands are featured on 2 stages.

This year the line-up includes: Front 242, IAMX, The Mission, Nitzer Ebb, Diary Of Dreams, VNV Nation, Public Image Limited, Aesthetic Perfection, Dive, Merciful Nuns, Nosferatu, Stabbing Westward, The Danse Society, The Stranglers, Aroma Di Amore, Trans-X, Torul, Ultra Sunn, Saint Agnes, Boytronic, Test Department, Tyske Ludder and more!

There is also The Batcave, the dance-area where you can party while DJ’s spin their finest tracks. A camping area is available if you want to stay next to the festival area at night!

Tickets can be ordered here

Photo: picture alliance/dpa, Alexander Prautzsch

After a two years break, due to Covid-19, the annual Wave-Gotik-Treffen 2022 (29th edition) will take place from 3rd-6th June in the Agra-Halle and surrounded area of Leipzig, Germany.

WGT focuses especially on the gothic, (steam)punk, new wave, electro, EBM, industrial and medieval music and (sub)culture. It is a total-concept world festival including concerts, renaissance fairs, viking and pagan markets, exhibitions, CD/DVD and film premieres, lectures, artist signing events, fetish events, and (late-night) parties.

Approximately 200 artists are on the list, spread over more than 50 locations and the festival has about 20.000 visitors. As usual a lot of names out of the dark scene will play WGT: Lacrimosa, IAMX, Clan of Xymox, Combichrist, Rabia Sorda, Corvus Corax, VNV Nation, Orange Sector, Tanzwut, Xotox, Eisfabrik, Unzucht, Nachtblut, NNHMN, Linea Aspera, Minuit Machine, Dark, Fïx8:Sëd8, Letzte Instanz, Nosferatu, …

Tickets for WGT soon can be ordered here (entrance tickets purchased in the years 2020 or 2021 remain valid for the WGT 2022).

Trevor Ristow is the American author, based in New-York, of the Sisters Of Mercy biography: “Waiting For Another War: A History of The Sisters Of Mercy Vol. I: 1980-1985”. He is a television and film producer at GKW Filmworks and was the editor of “Loudquietloud: A Film About the Pixies”.

Ristow has produced and/or edited over one hundred television episodes, documentaries or narrative films for History Channel, National Geographic, PBS, NBC, Discovery Channel, E! Network, and HBO. Series he’s worked on have won six Emmy Awards, three Telly Awards, and multiple festival prizes. The book has now also been released as a numbered limited edition paperback via Rough Trade, including a special stamp and signature and unpublished photo of the band. Side-Line already did a review of his excellent book and had a chance to do a small interview as well!

Q: Is Andrew Eldritch aware of the release of your book? Did you ask him if he was interested to work together on it or was he against it?
Trevor: He is aware of the book but I doubt he knew about it before it was announced. Therefore he did not have an opportunity to be in favor of the book, or opposed to it. It just arrived, rather unexpectedly, out of the sun. At least that is how it feels to most people who have read it.

Q: Why do you think Andrew Eldritch does not like to be associated with the “Goth” scene?
Trevor: I think he finds it limiting. In Germany the goth scene is vibrant and large, but in most of the rest of the world it is a small, somewhat unserious ghetto of mediocre bands. I imagine he considers Sisters music bigger than that scene, and I agree with him.

Q: What do you think of the quality of the current concerts of The Sisters Of Mercy, compared to the old ones? According to many fans, the first line-up would still be the best?
Trevor: Obviously I have a deep love for the early years but I have seen The Sisters many times over many decades and I’ve never walked away disappointed. It’s a whole experience that is larger than simply hearing the songs performed.

Q: What side do you prefer most? Eldritch as lyricist or as composer?
Trevor: This is a very difficult question because he’s a superb lyricist, but most of my favorite songs are his compositions also. This is the man who wrote the entire “Reptile House EP”, “Train”, “Body Electric”, “Blood Money” and “Bury Me Deep”, “On The Wire”, “Floodland”, and many more. For me, personally, it’s hard to overstate his talent as either a lyricist or a composer.

Q: How do you see the future of the band?
Trevor: Mostly on YouTube, sadly.

Genre/Influences: New Wave, Gothic Rock.

Format: Book (paperback) – also available as kindle.

Background/Info: The Sisters Of Mercy are still a cult-band nowadays, although they officially only released 3 studio-albums and started their career back in 1980. They are worldwide seen as one of the founders of the gothic rock genre and are also one of the most bootlegged bands ever. The American author Trevor Ristow was already a huge fan of the band in his teenage years and released a Sisters’ fanzine in the ’80s. He collected lots of press articles, stories from close friends of the bandmembers and his own live experiences to write this book.

Content: First we learned to know the importance of certain people in the beginning period of the band as Claire Shearsby (dj, keyboard-player, sound-mixer and ex-girlfriend of Andrew Eldritch), Ruth Polsky (booker, tourguide, fixer, photographer), Kenny Giles (sound-engineer, studio-owner), Jon Langford (Mekons, The Three Jons) and many others. But most of all we experienced mastermind Andrew as the control freak inside the band which caused lots of conflicts with other people. The stories that are being told are not only about frontman Andrew Eldritch, but also about the other (former) band members Wayne Hussey, Craig Adams, Gary Marx and Ben Gunn.

Many other topics are covered such as The God Squad and The Sisterhood, the very strong Sisters-fanbases, the first American tour (September 1983) and the tough negotiations between Andrew and some major record-companies. The start and rise of the band is very well clarified, starting from the first gig on February 16th, 1981 (Alciun College – York) until the “final” concert at the Royal Albert Hall on June 18th, 1985. Here, the legendary video “Wake” was recorded and it was also the final concert for founding member Mark Pearman alias Gary Marx. Later the split with Wayne Hussey and Craig Adams would also follow, deciding them to continue as The Mission.

+ + + : We get a deeper look into parts of the private life of the band members at that time, as well as interesting stories of what sometimes happened backstage, the tension between the band members and also the relationships of the band members at that time with their girlfriends. About 50 rare pictures, very detailed information on gigs, special anecdotes, explanation of the deeper meaning of the lyrics, the founding of the Merciful Release label … it’s all there.

– – – : Most of the covered topics are about the genius Andrew Eldritch, always driven on amphetamines and not too shy to say how much he hates being labelled as “goth-band”. Some parts of the book are written from the own perceptions of the author, which can of course be different from your own point of view.

Conclusion: Every old-school Sisters-fan should own this 270 pages entertaining masterpiece for sure! The added context that the author provides to song-texts and many other topics is amazing! We are already looking forward for the release of volume II that will cover the ’90’s era.

Artist: www.thesistersofmercy.com
Label: www.gkwfilmworks.com/sisters – www.facebook.com/waitingforanotherwar

About The Sisters Of Mercy

The Sisters Of Mercy are an English rock band formed in Leeds in 1980 by Andrew Eldritch and Gary Marx, whose real name is Mark Pearman. The pair set up the Merciful Release label for their first single “The Damage Done” in 1980 and built the group around a drum machine credited as Doktor Avalanche. Ben Gunn joined on guitar, followed by Craig Adams on bass; Wayne Hussey replaced Gunn in 1983.

The singles “Body Electric”, “Alice” and “Temple Of Love” appeared between 1982 and 1983 and the first American tour ran in September 1983. The debut album “First And Last And Always” arrived in March 1985. The Royal Albert Hall concert of 18 June 1985 was the last with Marx and was filmed for the video release “Wake”. Hussey and Adams left afterwards and went on as The Mission.

Eldritch continued the band through “Floodland” in 1987 and “Vision Thing” in 1990, then stopped releasing new records in a dispute with the label WEA. The group has worked as a touring act since, playing unreleased material live. In March 2026 Side-Line reported that the band cancelled a Brutal Assault appearance to move up the recording schedule for a new album.

The book reviewed here covers the years 1980 to 1985 and is the first of two planned volumes. It is sold through the author’s own site rather than a record label, and no Bandcamp or streaming release accompanies it.

The 2021 edition of the Sinner’s Day Festival will take place from 30th October until 1st November 2021 at The Max in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium. About 53 new wave, EBM, industrial, post-punk, synth-pop and eighties bands are featured on 2 stages.

This year the line-up includes: Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft (Robert Goerl & DAF world premiere), Gary Numan, Clan Of Xymox, Praga Khan, Covenant, Fields Of The Nephilim, Suicide Commando, Funeral Dress, The Arch, The Bollock Brothers, Your Life On Hold, Ground Nero, Absolute Body Control, A Slice Of Life, Astrasonic, Blancmange, Diary Of Dreams, Agent Side Grinder, Red Zebra, Siglo XX, The KVB, And Also The Trees, La Muerte, UK Subs, Glen Matlock, IAMTHESHADOW, A Split Second, BFG, Then Jericho, She Past Away, The Foreign Resort, Minuit Machine, Leaether Strip, Haujobb, Gene Loves Jezebel, Twin Tribes, La Lune Noire, Empathy Test, Jah Wobble and more!

There is also The Batcave, the dance-area where you can party while DJ’s spin their finest tracks 13h/day. A camping area is available if you want to stay next to the festival area at night!

Tickets can be ordered here

Be aware that you need to show a valid Covid certificate/Covid Safe Ticket to get access to the festival!

The last year it has been very calm in the OOMPH!-camp. No online concerts during corona, no rescheduled festival-dates, no new album news at all. The sudden announcement that OOMPH!’s lead singer Dero Goi has left the band, after 32 years being the frontman, reached us today via the official facebook-page of the band. At this moment it is unclear if Dero will start a new project or stops with singing completely. OOMPH! however continues to exist under the same name with composers Crap and Flux and a new singer, who hasn’t been announced yet.

Some time ago Dero posted on social media that he got baptised and also announced that he’s against Covid-vaccinations. His last side-project DIE KREATUR also suddenly stopped after disagreements with Chris Harms (Lord Of The Lost) who wrote on 31st December 2020 on facebook: “Not to forget, I have released an album with a side project called Die Kreatur, which I was looking forward to so much, which I have been proud about big time, but sadly short after its release, some circumstances have rendered a continuation of the project impossible. This year I have made new friends. This year I have lost friends – some to death, some to a world of insanity, where I can’t possibly follow them to. Once more I have learned that prejudices are so damn misleading and I still can’t entirely free myself from them. Some people that I liked in the beginning turned out to be real jerks, and some others that really made me shake my head in the beginning became brothers.”

OOMPH! was originally founded in 1989 in Wolfsburg (Germany) by Crap, Dero Goi and Robert Flux. They released their first single “Ich Bin Du” in 1991, followed by the single “Der Neue Gott” and their first (self-titled) album in 1992. The band played in 1993 in the legendary Limelight club in New-York and became “crossover”-pioneers in mixing elements of EBM with groovy metal guitar-riffs, or as Billboard magazine said “Sepultura meets DAF”. Unwillingly they created the “Tanz-Metal” (Dance-Metal) or “Neue Deutsche Haerte” (New German Hardness) genre, which was the German answer on American Industrial-Metal bands as Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, Prong, etc. There is no doubt that OOMPH! has paved the way for many later bands as Rammstein, Eisbrecher and many others.

In 2004 the band received a platinum award for the single “Augen Auf!”, in 2015 a golden award for the album “GlaubeLiebeTod” and in 2018 a platinum award for the album “Wahrheit Oder Pflicht”. The last album “Ritual” reached in 2019, for the first time ever in the history of the band, the number 1 position in the German album charts. OOMPH! (featuring Marta Jandova) won the German “Bundesvision”-contest in 2007 and their music was also used in games (“FIFA”), movies (“Alien vs. Predator”) and tv-trailers (“The Walking Dead”). The band did remixes for bands as Korn, And One, Joachim Witt, De/Vision and others and worked together with artists as Nina Hagen and Apocalyptica. OOMPH! released 13 studio-albums in total and also played as support-act for Metallica, Marilyn Manson, HIM, Skunk Anansie, …

The last years the band was especially very popular in Russia although it’s not sure if the live-dvd with symphonic orchestra, recorded in 2018, will ever see the daylight.

Genre/Influences: Gothic-metal, Neue Deutsche Haerte, Industrial-metal

Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.

Background/Info: Dero Goi (singer/drummer of OOMPH!) and Chris Harms (singer/guitarist of Lord of the Lost) are two well-known names in German rock music. Both artists met each other in Leipzig in 2015 during a common dj-set and worked already previously together on the songs “Europa” of OOMPH! and “Abracadabra” of Lord of the Lost.

Content: This debut-album contains 15 songs and opens with “Die Kreatur”, an uptempo song that unleashes hell and hits you straight in the face! “Kälter Als Der Tod” was released as the second single and sounds more like a romantic rock-ballad followed by the third track “Unzertrennlich”, a dark song in the more general rock-genre. The dreamy tunes of “Durch Die Nacht” are luckily quickly alternated with “Zwei 100%”, a song that has some typical staccato-riffs and electronic tunes reminding me on older work of Rammstein. “Schlafes Braut” sounds like some kind of dark atmospheric sad waltz. “Untergang” is the highlight of “Panoptikum”, very nice guitar-riffs combined with deep dark voices and a very explosive harsh chorus to bang your head on! The very danceable electronic “Mensch/Maschine” could be a song from an old OOMPH!-album and the piano-parts on “Was Mir Am Wichtigsten Ist” reminded me a bit on Nine Inch Nails. Track 10 “Benutz Mich” is another cool uptempo song with an explosive chorus and tight drums! The calm folky miner-song “Glück Auf!” is undoubtedly one of the better songs because of the nice combination of the deep voices of Dero and Chris, the deep backing vocals and the catchy accordeon-melody. “Gott Verdammt” is one of the lesser songs while the first bonus-track, the very danceable Joachim Witt-cover “Goldener Reiter”, reminded me somehow a bit on And One and on “Algorithmus” of D.A.F. This limited digipak edition contains also two more remix bonus-tracks by Solar Fake and Faderhead.

+ + + : “Panoptikum” brings a variety of different styles including two calm sing-a-long songs, lots of uptempo Neue Deutsche Haerte parts and three danceable electronic songs. The album goes from very explosive to very calm and the lyrics are very well articulated. It also has splendid artwork and was also released as limited edition earbook and deluxe box-set.

– – – : The song “Durch Die Nacht” sounds too much pop/soft-romantic and  is in (too) hard contrast with all the other songs.

Conclusion: A perfect first collaboration in darkness between two very talented frontmen. This stuff will please all fans of OOMPH!, Lord of the Lost, Eisbrecher and Rammstein for sure!

Best songs: “Die Kreatur”, “Kälter Als Der Tod”, “Untergang”, “Benutz Mich”, “Glück Auf!”, “Goldener Reiter”.

Rate: (8½) WH.

Artist: www.diekreaturband.de / www.facebook.com/diekreaturband
Label: label.napalmrecords.com / www.facebook.com/napalmrecords

About Die Kreatur

Die Kreatur is the collaborative project of OOMPH! singer/drummer Dero Goi and Lord of the Lost singer/guitarist Chris Harms, who first worked together on OOMPH!’s “Europa” and Lord of the Lost’s “Abracadabra” before meeting in Leipzig in 2015. Side-Line covered the announcement of the debut album “Panoptikum”, reviewed here, released via Napalm Records as digital, digipak CD, a limited deluxe box featuring the exclusive “Panoptikum 1920” disc, a 3-CD earbook and 2-LP vinyl.

The German band Die Kreatur, a collaboration of OOMPH!-frontman Dero Goi and Lord Of The Lost singer Chris Harms has released its debut album via Napalm Records. ‘Panoptikum’ is the name of this first album. It was released digitally, as digipak-cd, limited edition deluxe box, 3-cd earbook and 2-lp. The limited edition deluxe box contains the exclusive ‘Panoptikum 1920’ cd, featuring recordings of all songs in the style of the swinging 1920’s, recorded on an authentic piano, as well as two vocal microphones.

Both artists met each other in Leipzig (2015) during a common dj-set and worked already previously together on the songs ‘Europa’ of OOMPH! and ‘Abracadabra’ of Lord of the Lost. On ‘Panoptikum’ the Neue Deutsche Härte style is also strongly and clearly present.

Die Kreatur: “Panoptikum comes up with a dark arc of suspense that takes the listener into the gloomy, winding alleys of the 1920s, where they meet freaks and creatures of all kinds. However, true evil awaits them not in the hideous creatures on display at Panoptikum, but behind the stuffy façade of the normal, respectable citizen that delights in their gruesome appearance. Panoptikum is the ruthless reflection of a decadent, self-indulgent and sated society. Will we be able to bear our own cruel face?”

Tracklist:

1. DIE KREATUR
2. Kälter Als Der Tod
3. Unzertrennlich
4. Durch Die Nacht
5. Zwei 100%
6. Schlafes Braut
7. Untergang
8. Mensch/Maschine
9. Was Mir Am Wichtigsten Ist
10. Benutz Mich
11. Glück Auf!
12. Gott Verdammt

Bonustracks:

13. Goldener Reiter
14. DIE KREATUR (Faderhead Remix)
15. Kälter Als Der Tod (Solar Fake Remix)

The third videoclip ‘Untergang’ (‘Downfall’) was also released today and describes the third and last phase of a falling apart interpersonal relationship.

The band can be seen live on following locations, if the corona-virus finally will stop annoying us at least:

• 18.09.20 DE – Köln / Luxor
• 19.09.20 DE – Essen / Turock
• 25.09.20 DE – Hannover / Musikzentrum
• 26.09.20 DE – Hamburg / Gruenspan
• 02.10.20 DE – Berlin / Columbia Theater
• 03.10.20 DE – München / Backstage Halle

The inventors of Death pop, Industrial pop and Dark pop from Los Angeles are back with a new single called ‘Impulse Control’ that can be ordered here. The new videoclip was shot by singer/musician Rizz and Jesse Draxler (Nine Inch Nails, Chelsea Wolfe, the Black Queen) in Little Tokyo just before the corona-crisis broke out.

Dark, doomy, dreamy, cinematic and mysterious is the style of VOWWS. Those elements can be seen again in the new clip. The band states: “It’s a unique time for humanity, the machine has stopped and we’re all in solitary having to deal with ourselves. There’s a lot of anxiety that we can’t really run from. Like everyone else, we’re processing a huge shock and experiencing things we’ve never dealt with before. We’re grateful to have an outlet for some of the angst, it feels like the best way we can work through something this intense is to capture the feeling. A lot of the song came out of nowhere, straight from the void probably.”

VOWWS earlier collaborated with Deftones singer Chino Moreno, New Wave icon Gary Numan, Danny Lohner (Renhölder) of Nine Inch Nails/Marilyn Manson and toured with The Cult in the US. Their first album ‘The Great Sun’ was co-produced by Kevin McMahon (Swans). Last year the band performed in Paris, London and Tokyo on fashion events and recently Rizz and Matt toured the US and Europe as support for Poppy.

The Belgian producer/composer/musician Oliver Adams, known for his work for techno project Praga Khan and post-industrial/techno band Lords of Acid has released a complete remake of his Mortal Kombat movie theme song ‘Techno Syndrome’.

The song is called ‘Mortal Virus Techno Syndrome Covid-19’ and is, as the title already explains, a song about the actual Covid-19 corona-virus.

And here is the original version of ‘Techno Syndrome’ released under the artist-name ‘The Immortals’ in 1994.

Genre/Influences: Industrial-metal, industrial-rock, EBM

Background/Info: The famous Wax Trax! Records label was originally much into new wave and punk music and was founded by Jim Nash and his partner Dannie Flesher in Denver in 1975. In 1978 the independent label moved to Chicago and became the most important record label and store/boutique for industrial music in the US that served as the headquarters of underground electronic and industrial bands in the eighties and nineties. The strong brand Wax Trax! offered record deals to the artists they liked (as fans) and also licensed European artists in America. The very impressive Wax Trax! catalogue featured well-known bands like Ministry, Front 242, Revolting Cocks, KMFDM, Front Line Assembly, Coil, Chris & Cosey and more!

Content: Industrial Accident has contributions of Al Jourgensen (Ministry/Revolting Cocks), Paul Barker (Ministry/Revolting Cocks), Chris Connelly (Ministry/Revolting Cocks), Luc Van Acker (Ministry/Revolting Cocks), Richard23 (Front 242/Revolting Cocks), Patrick Codenys (Front 242), Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails), Bill Leeb (Front Line Assembly), Groovie Mann (Thrill Kill Kult), David J. Haskins (Bauhaus), Sascha Konietzko (KMFDM), En Esch (KMFDM), Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters, Nirvana), Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys), Steve Albini (Big Black), Cosey Fanni Tutti (Throbbing Gristle), Ian MacKaye (Minor Threat, Fugazi) and more. It explains the rise and fall of an important musical movement as well as the details and artifacts of this entire Wax Trax! Records history that was nearly lost forever.

A lot of hilarious anecdotes are explained by the contributing artists which makes it fun to watch! Al Jourgensen: “I played in Divine’s band by the way, playing guitar for Divine was … bizarre!”. Luc Van Acker, when speaking about Laibach: “How provocative can you be? It takes intelligent people to understand that! Wax Trax! created a space where we could do whatever we wanted!”. Unfortunately the label without business model (operating on trust, without contracts with their artists) declared bankruptcy in 1992 and Jim and Danny sold it to TVT Records. Jim Nash passed away on October 10, 1995 and Dannie Flesher deceased on January 10th, 2010.

+ + + : This 94 minutes (+ 75 extra minutes bonus material) documentary was directed by Julia Nash (daughter of Jim Nash) and won awards on the Santa Cruz Film Festival and Chicago Underground Film Festival. It is also available on Blu-Ray and as download on AppleTV, Amazon Prime and Google Play/YouTube Streaming.

– – – : Just one minor point: to make the circle complete, maybe an interview with some licensed European bands that were released by Wax Trax! (The Neon Judgement, The Young Gods, A Split Second, Laibach and more) would have been interesting, to hear their point of view.

Conclusion: Although it’s a huge story to tell the complete Wax Trax! history, this documentary gives a pretty good overview of what happened in the old days. Jim and Dannie “accidentally” built up the industrial scene in the US due to their passion and love for this music and bands and will never be forgotten!

Label: www.waxtraxchicago.com / www.facebook.com/WaxTraxRecords.Chicago/

About Wax Trax! Records

Wax Trax! Records was founded by Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher, first in Denver in 1975 as an outlet for new wave and punk records. The label moved to Chicago in 1978 and grew into the main hub for industrial music in the United States through the 1980s and 1990s, signing and licensing acts on both sides of the Atlantic.

The label ran without contracts, on trust between Nash, Flesher and their artists. It filed for bankruptcy in 1992 and was sold to TVT Records. Nash died on October 10, 1995, and Flesher died on January 10, 2010.

“Industrial Accident: The Story Of Wax Trax! Records” is directed by Julia Nash, Jim Nash’s daughter, and gathers the artists who built the label’s catalogue to tell that history on screen.

To promote her third electropop/nu-metal studio album “I Disagree”, the American singer/songwriter, actress, author, YouTuber and model Poppy (Moriah Rose Pereira) will be touring in Europe soon.

Support for this tour is the American death-pop band VOWWS. Both bands are touring the US since January 2020.

Remaining US dates:
FEB 10 MON The Underground – Charlotte, NC, United States
FEB 12 WED The Orpheum – Tampa, FL, United States
FEB 14 FRI The Loft – Atlanta, GA, United States
FEB 15 SAT Delmar Hall – Saint Louis, MO, United States
FEB 17 MON Liberty Hall – Lawrence, KS, United States
FEB 19 WED Sunshine Theater – Albuquerque, NM, United States
FEB 20 THU The Pressroom – Phoenix, AZ, United States
FEB 21 FRI The Fonda Theatre – Hollywood, CA, United States

Europe:
MAR 12 THU Manchester Academy 2 – Manchester, United Kingdom
MAR 13 FRI Cathouse – Glasgow, United Kingdom
MAR 14 SAT O2 Academy Birmingham – Birmingham, United Kingdom
MAR 15 SUN Heaven – London, United Kingdom
MAR 17 TUE Melkweg – Amsterdam, Netherlands
MAR 18 WED Orangery – Brussels, Belgium
MAR 20 FRI Trabendo – Paris, France
MAR 21 SAT Zeche Bochum – Bochum, Germany
MAR 22 SUN Columbia Theater – Berlin, Germany
MAR 24 TUE Backstage Halle – Munich, Germany
MAR 25 WED Santeria Toscana 31 – Milano, Italy
MAR 26 THU Flex – Vienna, Austria
MAR 27 FRI Plaza – Zürich, Switzerland
MAR 29 SUN Razzmatazz – Barcelona, Spain
MAR 30 MON Sala Caracol – Madrid, Spain

Genre/Influences: Industrial-metal, industrial-rock

Background/Info: Al Jourgensen is the charismatic pioneer, musical genius, innovator and iconic founder of the industrial-metal genre (the fusion of repeating metal guitar riffs, samples, keyboards and distorted vocals on a danceable beat). This fully authorized visual history with 248 pages of rare and unseen photos, artwork, and other stuff that spans Ministry’s entire career, shows how the band (that everyone wanted to sound like) evolved from ’80s synth-pop, over EBM/industrial to trash-metal. Ministry has been nominated six times for a Grammy award and is definitely a band you must have seen live at least once in your life!

Content: The four-pages introduction is done by Al’s good old friend Jello Biafra, explaining some hilarious anecdotes. Then this limited 9″ x 9″ casebound book is divided into six chronological chapters starting from the early Wax Trax! era (1981) until the latest release “AmeriKKKant”. We get to see lots of nice rare (promo and live) pictures, cut-outs, artwork, flyers and posters. On almost every page there are interesting quotes or anecdotes from befriended artists like Charlie Clouser (Nine Inch Nails), Moby, Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins), Ian MacKaye (Fugazi), Gary Numan, Perry Ferrell (Jane’s Addiction), Jaz Coleman (Killing Joke), Phildo Owen (Skatenigs), Jeordie White (Marilyn Manson), Alexander Hacke (Einsturzende Neubauten), David J (Bauhaus), Robin Zander (Cheap Trick), Paul D’Amour (Tool), Page Hamilton (Helmet), Scott Ian (Anthrax), Franz Treichler (The Young Gods), Gibby Haynes (Butthole Surfers), Sean Yseult (White Zombie), Dave Lombardo (Slayer), Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top), Till Lindemann (Rammstein), Mark Gemini Thwaite (The Mission), Chris Connelly (Revolting Cocks) and many more. Just like the music of Ministry changed from soft to very hard, it is clearly shown how Al’s style has changed all over the years ending up with dreadlocks, tattoos and piercings. The author of the book is Aaron Tanner (who also created a visual history for Pixies) and features artwork from Brian Shanley and Paul Elledge.

+ + + : We get an exclusive look at Uncle Al’s personal collection of behind-the-scenes pictures together with contributions from band members past and present.

– – – : Although many well-known artists are featured in this book, some (expected ones) are missing …

Conclusion: There’s only one thing we can conclude: Ministry has had a huge influence on many artists and Al is still going strong after all these years! This book is definitely a must have for the fans!

Artist: www.ministryband.com / www.facebook.com/WeAreMinistry
Label: www.melodicvirtue.com / www.facebook.com/melodicvirtue Read the news on ‘Prescripture: The Visual History’.

About Ministry

Ministry began in Chicago in 1981 when Al Jourgensen launched the project as an outlet for new wave and synth-pop with funk and disco influences, releasing a first 12″ on Wax Trax! Records before signing to Arista for the 1983 debut album “With Sympathy”. After parting ways with Arista, Jourgensen returned to Wax Trax! for a run of 12″ singles, including “Everyday Is Halloween”, before signing to Sire for 1986’s more EBM-influenced “Twitch”. The band’s sound kept evolving toward the industrial-metal blend documented in this book, and Ministry has remained active since, releasing the 2024 album “Hopiumforthemasses” and announcing “The Squirrely Years Revisited”, a 2026 collection revisiting its early synth-pop material.

Genre/Influences: Industrial-metal, industrial-rock

Background/Info: John Bechdel is an American keyboard-player, known for his work with the industrial-metal acts Ministry, Prong, Fear Factory, Killing Joke, Murder Inc, Ascension Of The Watchers and False Icons.

Content: A bit later than expected (but better late than never) we finally present this review. Director/producer Darryl Hell was so kind to send us 3 dvd’s with not only the 2 hours documentary but also 4 hours (!) of extra interviews (including a 50 minutes talk with Al Jourgensen of Ministry), raw footage and pictures. “Killing The Joke: The John Bechdel story” features more exclusive interviews with Burton C. Bell (Fear Factory), Alison Bechdel (FUN HOME / award winning writer), Greta Brinkman (L7, Pigface, Debbie Harry, Moby), Charlie Clouser (Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson), Martin Atkins (Public Image Limited, Killing Joke), Sean Roberts (Wax Trax! / TVT Records) and others. There’s also a lot of backstage footage in the venue (The Fillmore, Washington DC) and on the tourbus, meet & greets with fans, interviews with John in his home studio and we also get to see the other Ministry members Sin Quirin, AAron Rossi, Tony Campos and Cesar Soto. Everyone knows John in their own special way, some for more than 30 years! Those connections are explained clearly without any scrupules.

+ + + : The Director’s Cut features 3 dvd’s and contains a lot of extra footage to watch. Going behind the scenes is always fun and shows another side of the artist. The documentary is also available as digital download (video on demand) on Vimeo.

– – – : Just because of the overload of footage it takes a lot of time to watch all the stuff so one might lose the track a bit.

Conclusion: This documentary shows a clear image of John Bechdel as artist but also as a father, family-man and friend. It is definitely not the usual tour-story that you expect!

Label: www.s6k.com

About John Bechdel

John Bechdel is an American keyboard player known for his work with Ministry, Prong, Fear Factory, Killing Joke, Murder Inc, Ascension Of The Watchers and False Icons, a career the press has described as “the invisible man on the keys”. “Killing The Joke: The John Bechdel Story”, directed and produced by Darryl Hell for s6k Media and Furnace Records, was first announced in 2018 with a digital release that May and a 3-DVD set that August; the Director’s Cut reviewed here adds two hours of additional interviews and raw footage, including a 50-minute conversation with Al Jourgensen of Ministry.

Today the American industrial-metal pioneers Ministry released their authorized 248 pages book ‘Ministry – Prescripture: The Visual History’ via Melodic Virtue. It is a collection of rare and unseen photos from the very beginning in 1981 until today, behind the scene pictures of Al Jourgensen’s personal collection and stuff coming from past and present members of the band.

The author of the book is Aaron Tanner (who also created a visual history for Pixies) and features artwork from Brian Shanley and Paul Elledge. The book opens with an introduction by Jello Biafra. Many exclusive quotes are featured from members of Smashing Pumpkins, ZZ Top, Cheap Trick, NWA, Ramones, Nine Inch Nails, Tool, Megadeth, AFI, Slayer, Jane’s Addiction, Rammstein, The Flaming Lips, Devo, Butthole Surfers, Static-X, Anthrax, White Zombie, Death Grips, Bauhaus, Killing Joke, High on Fire, GWAR, Einstürzende Neubauten, Revolting Cocks, and many more!

This exclusive book is limited to 2000 copies and also has a deluxe edition (500 copies only) including a t-shirt and vinyl single. Definitely a must have for the fans! You can order the book here. Read the review of ‘Prescripture: The Visual History’.

Genre/Influences: Gothic rock, cold wave, post-punk

Background/Info: Third release (but first full album release on Danse Macabre Records) for the Belgian gothic rock band from the mining area in Limburg that was formed in 2016.

Content: Opener “Litany” is an uptempo catchy song that has all typical gothic rock ingredients to make it a dancefloor-filler. “Jabez” sounds a bit calmer but very melancholic and full of nice synth soundscapes. Track 3, “Ball & Chain” is full of sadness and bitterness, for me one of the lesser tracks. The next 2 songs “Heaven Sent” and “Divergence” are especially vocally very strong and reminded me strongly on other bands in the goth-scene like The Wake, Love Like Blood and The Merry Thoughts, in a positive way. The dark atmosphere created on “Savannah” is very special because of the nice guitars and different way of singing. “Alacrity” sounds very bombastic but has a good combination of synths and guitars. And then it’s time for the best track of the album: “Today No Day” that has a sinister voice, nice guitar-riffs and danceable beats, a club-hit for the goth scene? More of this on “They Knew”, another uptempo song driven on a catchy synth melody and a very different voice. “Kitezh – The Path” is the last song, full of melancholic dark soundscapes.

+ + + : “Divergence” keeps the listener interested until the very end, especially the last 3 songs are very nice compositions. You can hear that a lot of efforts were put into creating this album.

– – – : There are not many new musical elements on this album, which is typical for this genre, although the traditional dark and doomy atmosphere is well represented.

Conclusion: The deep voice of singer Guido (Gwijde) Wampers combined with the gothic guitarplay of Nomad and the pumping bass of Peter Philtjens make from Ground Nero a fixed value in the Belgian goth scene.

Best songs: “Litany”, “Heaven Sent”, “Divergence”, “Savannah”, “Today No Day”, “They Knew”.

Rate: (8½) WH.

Artist: www.ground-nero.com / www.facebook.com/Groundnero
Label: www.dansemacabre.de / www.facebook.com/dansemacabrerec

About Ground Nero

Ground Nero is a gothic rock band from the Limburg mining area in Belgium, formed in 2016 by singer Guido “Gwijde” Wampers, guitarist Nomad and bassist Peter Philtjens. The band released the albums “Beyond” (2016) and “Scales” (2018) before signing to Danse Macabre Records for “Divergence” (2019), its first full album on the label. Ground Nero continued with “In The Blood” (2021) and “Blood Never Sleeps” (2024).

Genre/Influences: Industrial-metal, Neue Deutsche Haerte, EBM

Background/Info: DIE KRUPPS are a phenomenon in the German music scene, active since 1980 and based in Duesseldorf. Together with bands as Einstuerzende Neubauten and Kraftwerk they are seen as one of the pioneers of electronic and industrial music. They inspired many famous acts like Front 242, Nitzer Ebb, OOMPH! and Rammstein.

Content: On the first song “Vision 2020 Vision” Juergen is rapping in a smooth way all over the pumping staccato metal-riffs, this is for sure the best song of the album! “Welcome To The Blackout” was released as the first videoclip of the new album and warns us that the end of the world has definitely started. “Trigger Warning” has a deep EBM-bassline while some musical parts reminded me on the sax of Yello’s “The Race”. After the calmer “Wolfen (Her Pack)” it is time for the nice uptempo “Extinction Time”, headbanger’s ball with an electronic sauce over it. The Genesis-cover “The Carpet Crawlers” shows another (softer?) side of singer Juergen Engler. It is definitely a surprise to hear this song in between so much guitar violence although the cover is well done. Time to dance again on the very melodic “Fires” on which Juergen also sings a bit different (read: more Bowie-like) than normal. “Obacht” has german lyrics and is for sure one of the better powerful songs. “DestiNation Doomsday” and the earlier released “F.U.” are 2 more songs dedicated to the “president of darkness” also known as Donald Trump. The anti-politics song “Alllies” has a bit of Nine Inch Nails’ “Closer” in the end. “Active Shooter Situation” is driven on a deep bassline followed by the uptempo “Human” to close the album.

+ + + : DIE KRUPPS goes back to their early 90’s crossover period. The artwork of the album is really amazing! The limited edition fanbox contains, besides the digipak cd and live at Wacken Open Air 2016 dvd, also a t-shirt, a pair of sunglasses, a postcard and a sticker.

– – – : Maybe “The Carpet Crawlers” should have been better as last song, because now it disturbs a bit the flow of the album.

Conclusion: Musically, this album takes us back to the “II – The Final Option” period. In this era (1993) DIE KRUPPS defined how crossover should sound. Lyrically, this album warns us that the end is very near and that the future is not looking good at all!

Best songs: “Vision 2020 Vision”, “Welcome To The Blackout”, “Extinction Time”, “Fires”, “Obacht”.

Rate: (9) WH.

Artist: www.diekrupps.com / www.facebook.com/diekruppsofficial
Label: www.spv.de / www.facebook.com/spvhannover Read the news on ‘Vision 2020 Vision’.

About Die Krupps

Die Krupps formed in Düsseldorf, Germany, in October 1980, founded by Jürgen Engler and Bernward Malaka, who had previously played together in Male, an early German punk band. The group’s sound evolved from noise and EBM into industrial and, by the mid-1990s, metal-influenced material, including cover versions of Metallica songs. Die Krupps went on hiatus between 1997 and 2005 before resuming activity. “Vision 2020 Vision”, released in November 2019 via SPV/Oblivion Records, arrived as the band closed out the year ahead of its 40th anniversary in 2020.

Chicago-based electronic/darkwave act Black Plastic premieres its newest videoclip ‘Halcyon’ today. Black Plastic is the musical project of visual artist Kevin Grady, with the material mixed and produced by Casey Desmond.

Grady is perhaps best known as the founder of Lemon, an award-winning pop art magazine with a broad cult following. Lavishly produced and designed, the magazine has hosted a range of impressive contributors, including David Bowie, Daft Punk, Jeff Koons, Sonic Youth and many others.

‘Halcyon’ was written by Kevin Grady, mixed and produced by Casey Desmond. Dark, moody and mostly electronic, Black Plastic gives a modern, danceable twist to the dark wave genre. “It’s club music for vampires!” says Grady. Well, that’s something for you to find out!

The video was directed and edited by Łukasz Pytlik.

More info about Black Plastic (signed on Cleopatra Records) can be found here

The German pioneers of EBM/Industrial-Metal will be touring Europe again in November and December 2019. Viral (US) and Manntra (HR) will be support-acts on selected dates*. More info can be found here.

Tourdates:
21.11 Oberhausen (DE) – Kulttempel
22.11 London (UK) – The Garage
23.11 Manchester (UK) – Night People
24.11 Glasgow (UK) – St-Luke’s
26.11 Lyon (FR) – CCO*
29.11 Siegen (DE) – Vortex*
28.11 Aarau (CH) – Kiff*
30.11 Glauchau (DE) – Alte Spinnerei*
01.12 Berlin (DE) – Kesselhaus*
02.12 München (DE) – Strom*
03.12 Wiesbaden (DE) – Schlachthof/Kesselhaus*
04.12 Hamburg (DE) – Logo*
05.12 Göteborg (SE) – Musikenhus*
06.12 Malmö (SE) – Babel*
08.12 Wroclaw (PL) – Stary Klasztof*
10.12 Prag (CZ) – Futurum*
11.12 Wien (AT) – Arena*
12.12 Budapest (HU) – A38*
14.12 St-Niklaas (BE) – BIM-Fest – (Electro Set)

Tickets for Germany/Austria can be bought via FKP Scorpio or Eventim.

Genre/Influences: Electro cold-wave, new-wave.

Background/Info: DaGeist exists of Davide Schiavoni (vocals/compositions) and Frédéric Strzelczyk (bass guitar). The band was originally founded in 2008 in Lille (France) and released 1 album (“40”) before, on the same label.

Content: First track (and single) “Virgin” is a calm song that brings a very melancholic sphere because of the contrast between the light synths and low bass-lines. “Just Like You” and “So Cold So Dark So New” are both built on typical cold-wave basslines with atmospheric synths in the chorus. “Truth” is a very good song with especially a very nice voice of Davide on it. “I Am Alone” is for me for sure the best song of the album, it has a lot of true passion in it and could become a dancefloor-classic in clubs. The uptempo “Don’t Close Your Eyes” has a very catchy chorus and a funky riff that reminded me on Stardust’s “Music Sounds Better With You”, while the very danceable “Kiss Or Kill” reminded me a bit on New Order. On “Broken” the music and words sound both very emotional and sad. “Ciel De Cendres” is an uptempo song with this time lyrics in French. The music on “Curse” sounds a little bit like And One meets Diary of Dreams and has the extra female guest-vocals of Kelly on it. “Vampire” has a very poppy undertone while the last song “Roberto” is very much based on synths and dedicated to the father of singer Davide.

+ + + : 12 tracks of emotional, melancholic and dark music, brought in a modern style. The combination of the synths and bass-guitar sounds very good.

– – – : The production of some songs could here and there be better. The long repeating high voice on some songs might be a bit annoying after a while for some people.

Conclusion: DaGeist is for sure one of the better new bands in this scene. “Sexy” has some very nice songs on it and breaths the spirit of modern new-wave.

Best songs: “Virgin”, “Truth”, “I Am Alone”, “Don’t Close Your Eyes”, “Kiss Or Kill”, “Broken”, “Curse”.

Rate: (8) WH.

Artist: dageist1.bandcamp.com / www.facebook.com/dageist

Label: www.dansemacabre.de / www.facebook.com/dansemacabrerec

About DaGeist

DaGeist is the French duo of Davide Schiavoni (vocals, compositions) and Frédéric Strzelczyk (bass guitar), founded in 2008 in Lille, in the north of France. Its debut album, “40”, arrived in 2017 through Danse Macabre Records, built from electronics and bass guitar with a sound rooted in 80s new-wave and cold-wave, drawing comparisons to compatriots Trisomie 21.

“Sexy”, the second DaGeist album, followed on Danse Macabre in 2019.

Genre/Influences: Gothic rock, Post-punk.

Background/Info: The British band Rosetta Stone was for sure one of the leading Gothic rock acts of the ’90s. After the band was disbanded in 1998 founding member Porl King started releasing music in between 2007-2012 under the name Miserylab and later on as In Death It Ends. Porl wrote and produced this entire album, which consists of remakes of earlier released Miserylab tracks, with mixing duties by Jurgen Engler of DIE KRUPPS.

Content: The songs sound all very depressed and it seems that Porl is still very disappointed in this world and what’s all happening around us. All tracks are built up in the same simple way including drumcomputer, melodic guitar lines, very deep lyrics and heavy atmospheric vibes. Best songs of this 45 minutes-album are: “Children Of The Poor”, a nice uptempo song with the complaining voice of Porl all over it. On “People” Porl’s voice sounds more melodic while this very danceable song is driven on a nice bass-line. “Escape” is very atmospheric, a song that makes you dream away by daylight. The melodic guitar-riff on “When You Turn Away” is something that might stay in your head for a while. The last track “Tomorrow For Us” sounds very dark, depressive and melancholic, a typical Miserylab-product.

+ + + : Porl proves that he knows very well how to write good songs and that he’s a very good musician, playing all instruments by himself. If you don’t own any of the Miserylab releases, here’s your chance!

– – – : Some fans might be disappointed because this is not a real Rosetta Stone reunion in the original line-up and they might already know the songs from Miserylab before. I personally miss the excellent track “No Cure For Life” on this album.

Conclusion: Fans of old-school gothic rock bands will enjoy this 11-track album, which is released on cd, (limited) vinyl and high-quality digital download. This album sounds like a stripped, minimal (read: less bombastic and cleaner produced) version of the earlier Rosetta Stone.

Best songs: “Children Of The Poor”, “People”, “Escape”, “When You Turn Away”, “Tomorrow For Us”.

Rate: (8) WH.

Artist: www.facebook.com/RosettaStoneOfficial

Label: www.cleorecs.com / www.facebook.com/CleopatraRecords

About Rosetta Stone

Rosetta Stone is a British gothic rock band formed in the mid-1980s in Liverpool, England, by Porl King (guitar, vocals, keyboards) and Karl North (bass), with a drum machine and synthesizer rack nicknamed “Madame Razor”. Supporting slots with The Mission raised the band’s profile in the goth scene, and the debut album “An Eye For The Main Chance” (1991) captured its early gothic style.

The band signed to Cleopatra Records in 1993, releasing “Foundation Stones” and the “Adrenaline” album, the latter marking a shift toward a more electronic and industrial sound. “The Tyranny Of Inaction” (1995) pushed further into industrial territory, recorded with the help of an Alesis ADAT. Rosetta Stone was disbanded in 1998, after which founding member Porl King released music between 2007 and 2012 as Miserylab and later as In Death It Ends.

“Seems Like Forever”, reviewed here, rewrites earlier Miserylab material under the Rosetta Stone name, mixed by Jurgen Engler of Die Krupps. King has kept Rosetta Stone active since: the covers collection “Nothing Is Sacred” and the album “Dose Makes The Poison” both followed in 2025 on Cleopatra Records, and “Executing Nostalgia”, built partly around early-1980s post-punk covers, arrived in September 2026.

Genre/Influences: Gothic rock, Post-punk.

Background/Info: This is a re-release of the original album of 1993, in a limited edition of 600 copies only. The Wake, from Columbus – Ohio (USA), always had an own typical ’90s goth-sound existing of the deep voice of singer Troy Payne and the mesmerizing guitar-riffs of Richard Witherspoon.

Content: The deep voice of Troy on the pumping bass in “Harlot” comes out very well, while the second more uptempo track “Nazarene” has the typical ’90s goth guitar-sound. Unfortunately “Locomotive Age” sounds less interesting and convincing. “Sideshow” needs no explanation, it’s a dancefloor-classic in the goth-scene, if you don’t know that one, shame on you! “Masked” is a downtempo song that reminded me very much, vocally, on Andrew Eldritch of The Sisters Of Mercy. The sublime guitars make “Silent Siren” a very nice goth song, one of the best of this album. Although the guitars on “Audrey” sound very nice, the way of singing sounds a bit monotone. Watchtower” is driven on percussion and guitars that reminded me a bit on “Floorshow” of The Sisters Of Mercy, but it’s well done! The very danceable “Sheet Metal Eyes” is also a nice track, including high-voice screams of Troy. The tenth and last song “Submerge” reminded me (again) a bit on The Sisters Of Mercy (“Afterhours”). Disc 2, the special bonus disc, contains unreleased mixes, demos and versions released for the first time ever! I especially enjoyed the demo versions of “Masked”, “Nazarene” and “Watchtower”!

+ + + : Well, hopefully some songs of this album will be played to the new generation “goths” who might re-discover the old school sound again.
Also nice to know that because of this re-release (also on purper color vinyl and high-quality digital format) the ridiculous high prices of the original release on some websites can now be skipped.

– – – : The atmosphere on all tracks is almost everywhere the same and might bring some monotony after a while.

Conclusion: The Wake is for sure one of the most underrated goth-rock bands from the ’90s. This is obliged stuff for fans of old-school gothic rock bands such as Play Dead, Rosetta Stone, Nosferatu, The Merry Thoughts and The Sisters Of Mercy.

Best songs: “Nazarene”, “Sideshow”, “Masked”, “Silent Siren”, “Watchtower”, “Sheet Metal Eyes”.

Rate: (8) WH.

Artist: www.thewake.com / www.facebook.com/thewake

Label: www.cleorecs.com / www.facebook.com/CleopatraRecords

About The Wake

The Wake is a US goth rock band founded in Columbus, Ohio, active from 1986, built around the deep voice of singer Troy Payne and the guitar work of Richard Witherspoon. The band returned to the stage in 2022, performing in both the US and in Madrid, Spain, with a lineup of Payne, Witherspoon, James Tramel, Daniel C and Robert Brothers alongside past members Steven Creighton and Mark Gamiere.

“Masked”, originally released in 1993, was reissued here in a 600-copy limited edition through Cleopatra Records, paired with a bonus disc of previously unreleased mixes and demos. The review repeatedly compares the band’s sound to The Sisters Of Mercy.

The 4th edition of the W-Festival will take place from 15th until 18th August 2019 in Waregem Expo, Belgium. About 70 new wave, EBM, industrial, post-punk, synth-pop and eighties bands are featured on 3 stages.

This year the line-up includes: The Stranglers, Echo & The Bunnymen, Killing Joke, Nitzer Ebb, And One, VNV Nation, Apoptygma Berzerk, Peter Hook & The Light, Blutengel, New Model Army, She Wants Revenge, Lebanon Hanover, Portion Control, Tyske Ludder, Mesh, Whispering Sons, Kaelan Mikla, Collection d’Arnell-Andréa, DaGeist, Pink Turns Blue, Red Zebra, Siglo XX, Merciful Nuns, Then Comes Silence, The Human League, Jimmy Somerville, Lene Lovich band, Blaine L. Reininger plays Tuxedomoon, Nik Kershaw, Howard Jones, Tony Hadley, Schmutz, Allez Allez and more!

On the camping area are a lot of special availabilities like B and Bee, Luxury Lodge and WaveTents. Other extra’s on the festival are silent disco, outdoor quiet zone, wellness, merchandise and more!

Tickets and VIP-tickets can be ordered here.

On 10th and 11th August 2019 the annual M’era-Luna festival takes place in the area of Hildesheim-Drispenstedt, Germany. M’era Luna exists since 2000 and is one of the biggest Gothic festivals in the European scene. Gothic, new wave, electro, EBM, industrial and medieval bands are featured on 2 stages.

The last years the festival was every time sold out and had about 25.000 visitors. This year some of the confirmed artists are: Fields Of The Nephilim, VNV Nation, Lacrimosa, OOMPH!, Deathstars, DIE KRUPPS, Within Temptation, ASP, Subway To Sally, Combichrist, Diary Of Dreams, Corvus Corax, Suicide Commando, Agonoize, Funker Vogt, Mono Inc., DE/VISION, Empathy Test, Joachim Witt, Spetsnaz, [:SITD:], Zeromancer, Melotron, …

DJ’s at the afterparties are: Der Schulz (Unzucht), Bruno Kramm (Das Ich), Chris L. (Funker Vogt and Agonoize), Andy Krüger (Melotron), Ronan Harris (VNV Nation), Mike Kanetzky (Matrix Bochum).

Besides watching concerts you can also visit markets, artist signing events, gothic fashion shows, readings by Axel Hildebrand, Markus Heitz and Christian von Aster. The Gothic Garden, an oasis of calm right in front of the festival infield, offers demanding festival-goers comfort, space and conveniences to make your stay more exclusive, pleasant and more relaxing. At the M’era Luna Academy you can follow special workshops which will be announced soon on the official renewed website.

The interactive M’era Luna app can be downloaded here and tickets can be ordered here.

The new digital single from the legendary UK post-punk band Rosetta Stone is called “Tomorrow For Us” and is released today! It is the last track from the upcoming album “Seems Like Forever”, which is scheduled to be released on May 17th via Cleopatra Records.

The album can be pre-ordered via this link. The digital single can be found here on Spotify and here on bandcamp!

Watch the video first on Side-Line here:

Today is the release of the new album “Futurecide” of the British post-punk band 1919, which was originally founded in 1980 in Bradford, split up in 1985 and was reformed in 2014.

Tragedy struck as the band’s founding guitarist Mark Tighe was diagnosed with cancer in 2016 and succumbed to the disease in January 2017. Tighe insisted that the band should carry on without him, which they have done in finest form with their newest effort “Futurecide”.

The new album is their third studio album and is released via Cleopatra Records. It contains 10 tracks and is also available on iTunes, Spotify, Deezer and Bandcamp. It features brand new compositions and includes special guest performances by Tighe as well as former member Steve Madden, who also passed away this year. The new video below, “Isolation”, was released in memory of Steve Madden.

The newly revamped and reinvigorated 1919 will be touring extensively in support of this release kicking off with shows in Mexico City and Costa Rica. Difficulties with visas caused their US tour in April to be delayed until September but several dates in the UK and Europe are still planned. International travel has become ever more difficult due to the isolationist policies of both the US and British governments, an issue that band itself tackles head on in the song “Isolation”, whose chorus states “I hope your flag keeps you warm. You’d be a lucky man. Enjoy your isolation.”

Track List:
1. Anxiety
2. Isolation
3. Futurecide
4. Radicals
5. Dali Alarma
6. Speak Now
7. Aurora
8. Man, Myth, And The Curse Of The Immortal
9. Stop The World
10. Where Are You Now?

The Los Angeles Death-Pop duo VOWWS are gearing up to tour Europe for the first time, after finishing a succesful North American tour with Cold Cave and ADULT.

The tour starts in Belgium on May 15th, and will include shows in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, UK, and more, and will end on the famous Wave-Gotik-Treffen festival in Germany. VOWWS recently performed a live show for Commes Des Garçons at Paris Fashion Week.

Tour dates

15 May – Brussels, Belgium – Madame Moustache
18 May – Lohr am Main, Germany – Umsonst & Drinnen Festival
21 May – Angers, France – Joker’s Pub
22 May – Bordeaux, France – Vivres de l’art
23 May – Barcelona, Spain – Sala Meteoro
24 May – Vigo, Spain – Radar Estudios
25 May – Madrid, Spain – Trashcan
29 May – Glasgow, UK – Broadcast
30 May – London, UK – The Dev Camden
31 May – Chelmsford, UK – The Transition
1 June – Paris, France – Supersonic
2 June – Chambery, France – Brin De Zinc
4 June – Milano, Italy – Rocket
5 June – Recanati, Italy – Reasonanz
6 June – Sticna, Slovenia – Marjans Mill
7 June – Prague, Czech Republic – Kasarna Karlin
8 June – Berlin, Germany – Urban Spree
9 June – Leipzig, Germany – Wave Gotik Treffen

The iconic UK gothic rock band Rosetta Stone will release a new album called “Seems Like Forever” on May 15, 2019. Founding member Porl King wrote and produced the entire album, with mixing duties by Jurgen Engler of Die Krupps. The new album will be released on both cd and vinyl via Cleopatra Records and contains 11 tracks. The video-premiere will be right here on Side-Line next month!

Track List:

1. Be There Tomorrow
2. Children Of The Poor
3. People
4. Dark Times
5. Making A Bomb
6. Escape
7. When You Turn Away
8. Downplay
9. What Is The Point
10. Say What We Mean
11. Tomorrow For Us

Rosetta Stone was originally formed in the eighties by Porl King and Karl North, and was one of the biggest names of the gothic rock scene in the nineties. The band split up in 1998 after which Porl went on to be a remixer and producer. He also wrote music under the name Miserylab and In Death It Ends.

Genre/Influences: Industrial-Metal, Neue Deutsche Härte

Background/Info: Already the 13th album for OOMPH!, the German band from the area of Wolfsburg that exists of Dero (vocals/drums), Flux (guitars/samples) and Crap (guitars/keyboards), and that inspired bands like Rammstein, Eisbrecher, Megaherz and Unheilig.

Content: 11 tracks about war, politics and abuse are featured in this jewel-case edition that opens with the first released single “Tausend Mann Und Ein Befehl”, an anti-war song with a sing-a-long chorus. Fans of Disturbed will like “Achtung! Achtung!” that contains very nice nu-metal riffs and a dramatic chorus. Second single “Kein Liebeslied” has some riffs that reminded strongly on Rammstein, although no Rammstein without OOMPH!. “Trümmerkinder” starts with the sound of a marching army and is a very uptempo song with strong lyrics. “Europa” is a political song with a guest-appearance of Chris Harms (Lord Of The Lost). “Im Namen Des Vaters” is another uptempo rocking song and has an aggressive chorus. “Das Schweigen Der Lämmer” and “Seine Seele” are the only two calmer ballads. “TRRR – FCKN – HTLR” is an opus about terror, porn and nazis, followed by “Phönix Aus Der Asche” that in the end sounds a bit like System Of A Down. “Lass’ Die Beute Frei” was for me the best song especially because of the very nice melodic voice of Dero and the very catchy guitar-riffs.

+ + + : Singer/frontman Dero knows very well how to use his voice in different ways, high and low, screaming and whispering, harsh and soft. The guitars sound very heavy but melodic and well produced. This album sounds more metal than ever before.

– – – : This album is very guitar-oriented, not much sampling and almost no EBM-style elements were included anymore.

Conclusion: OOMPH! still sounds as fresh as almost 30 years ago, when they started their career, and show once again that they are still the leading founders of this genre. Fans of Marilyn Manson, Fear Factory and Rammstein will surely like this album! “Ritual” is also released on vinyl and the limited edition digipak contains 3 bonus songs.

Best songs: “Kein Liebeslied”, “Achtung! Achtung!”, “Trümmerkinder”, “Im Namen des Vaters”, “Lass’ Die Beute Frei”.

Rate: (9) WH.

Band: www.oomph.de / www.facebook.com/oomphband

Label: label.napalmrecords.com / www.facebook.com/napalmrecords

About OOMPH!

OOMPH! is a Neue Deutsche Härte and alternative rock band formed in 1989 in Wolfsburg, Germany. The group is often cited among the pioneers of the German “Tanzmetal” scene and an early influence on acts such as Rammstein, Eisbrecher, Megaherz and Unheilig.

Vocalist and drummer Dero Goi fronted OOMPH! from its debut album “Ich Bin Du” (1991) through “Defekt” (1995), “Wunschkind” (1996), “Plastik” (1999) and the single “Augen Auf!” (2004), alongside guitarists Crap and Robert Flux. “Ritual”, reviewed here, arrived on Napalm Records in 2019. Goi left the band in 2021 and was succeeded on vocals by Der Schulz.

Genre/Influences: Dark wave, post-punk

Background/Info: This limited edition digipak EP (300 copies) contains 7 remastered tracks that were already earlier released.

Content: “XYX” is a very good opener, a cold uptempo rhythmic song that reminded me a bit on the early noises of The Neon Judgement. “It Goes Away” is more typical “post-punk” with a deep monotone bass, melancholic guitars and the Bowie-like voice of singer Jason Corbett. The best song of this EP is definitely “How Deep Is The Hole”, a very catchy bassline driven song that has everything to become a huge club-hit. More typical post-punk on “Like U Want 2”, while the comparison with the voice of David Bowie is now really overclear on “Jacknife”. “Flesh & Bone” is a dark song with a nice repeating western-rock riff, an ideal soundtrack when driving at night on a lonely highway. “Forever” is the last song that will take you away on a dreamy and melancholic trip.

+ + + : This band knows very well how to bring post-punk in an old-school way but with its own modern touch. A very well produced EP that should not be missing in your collection!

– – – : The song “PTL (Post Traumatic Love)” should also have been on this EP to make things complete.

Conclusion: ACTORS from Vancouver (Canada) are a post-punk band you have to check out if you’re into goth/new wave music nowadays!

Best songs: “XYX”, “It Goes Away”, “How Deep Is The Hole”, “Flesh & Bone”.

Rate: (9) WH.

Band: www.actorstheband.com / www.facebook.com/actors1984

Label: actors.bandcamp.com

Listen to “Reanimated”:

About ACTORS

ACTORS is a post-punk band from Vancouver, Canada, formed in 2012 by vocalist and guitarist Jason Corbett, with Shannon Hemmett on synths and vocals, Kendall Wooding on bass and Adam Fink on drums.

The band’s debut album, “It Will Come To You”, arrived on Artoffact Records in 2018. “Reanimated”, reviewed here, is a limited digipak collecting seven remastered early tracks. ACTORS released the follow-up album “Acts Of Worship” in 2021.

The German industrial-metal trio around Crap, Dero and Flux is ready to release its 13th longplayer on January 18th 2019, called “Ritual”. According to singer Dero it’s “the most aggressive, heaviest and darkest album in a while”.

The band states further: “We are very happy to introduce you to our new album “Ritual” today! This album contains 100% OOMPH!: We wrote, produced and mixed everything in our own recording studio! We used our time in between two tours to get some fresh and very inspiring impact of the recent live experiences and composed the majority of the songs in jam sessions all together. That probably explains why the songs on Ritual are hard, riff-heavy and dark. The album artwork brilliantly supports the mystical character of our songs and lyrics and leaves plenty of scope for own interpretations.”

Tracklist:
01. Tausend Mann und ein Befehl
02. Achtung! Achtung!
03. Kein Liebeslied
04. Trümmerkinder
05. Europa (feat. Chris Harms / Lord Of The Lost)
06. Im Namen des Vaters
07. Das Schweigen der Lämmer
08. TRRR – FCKN – HTLR
09. Phönix aus der Asche
10. Lass’ die Beute frei
11. Seine Seele
12. In der Stille der Nacht (Bonus Track)
13. Lazarus (Bonus Track)
14. TRRR – FCKN – HTLR (Lord Of The Lost Remix) (Bonus Track)

The album will be available in different formats:
• Jewel case CD incl. 11 tracks
• Limited edition digipak (6 pages) incl. 11 tracks + 3 bonus tracks
• 2LP gatefold (tracklist = digipak)
• Deluxe box incl. limited edition digipak + 7″ vinyl (+ excl. track “Ich bin ein Fels”), Cover flag, Mask pendant
• Digital version (tracklist = limited edition digipak)

The stunning artwork was done by Stefan Heilemann (Heilemania).

The album can be pre-ordered here

Genre/Influences: Post-punk, gothic rock.

Background/Info: Third full-length album for Mychael Ghost (vocals), Illia Tulloch (drums), Howard Melnick (guitar) and Danny AE (keyboards) from Miami – Florida, including a cover of ‘Til Tuesday (“Voices Carry”). The first 5 tracks were produced and mixed by Tom Shear (Assemblage 23) while the last 4 tracks were earlier released as an EP “Dreams Of Majesty”, mixed by Rees Bridges.

Content: Highlights: first track and previously released single “Sunday Queen” is a worthly opener full of dark atmospheric vibes. The very danceable and melodic “Unfulfilled Promise” could become for sure a dancefloor classic in goth clubs. “I Am Nothing” is built on a nice synth-bass with a very melancholic and bombastic chorus including piano. The uptempo “Rosary Society” is another dancefloor filler in the traditional gothic rock style. On “Divination” Mychael’s voice sounds very good and deep while on “The Girl Who Tried” especially the synth-melodies play an important role.

+ + + : The sweet and warm voice of Mychael Ghost directly reminded me on the voice of Rozz Williams (Christian Death) and also of Sean Brennan (London After Midnight).

– – – : You might get the impression that after a while all songs start to sound a bit the same because of the way Mychael sings.

Conclusion: Astari Nite brings modern post-punk/gothic rock songs full of sensitive lyrics about love and despair in a soft and fragile way.

Best songs: “Sunday Queen”, “Unfulfilled Promise”, “I Am Nothing”, “Rosary Society”, “Divination”, “The Girl Who Tried”.

Rate: (8) WH.

Band: www.officialastarinite.com / www.facebook.com/astarinitemusic

Label: www.cleopatrarecords.com / www.facebook.com/cleopatrarecords

Genre/Influences: Dark wave, post-punk.

Background/Info: Debut full-length cd of this Vancouver (Canada) based quartet which already released their first single in 2012. Singer Jason Corbett wrote, produced, mixed and mastered all music at his own Jacknife Sound studio.

Content: Highlights of this album: “Hit To The Head” and “Bury Me” were both previously released as a single. “Hit To The Head” is for sure the most catchy song on this gloomy album while “Bury Me” is more uptempo, driven on a great bassline. On “Slaves” you can hear the Bowie-like voice of Jason coming through, which was especially the case on earlier releases. “Crosses” is a downtempo emotional, melancholic and very atmospheric song that consists of only 1 repeated riff and a dramatic screaming voice. Jason’s voice combined with the synths on “Crystal” reminded me a bit on MGMT. The way of singing on “Let It Grow” is very mesmerizing and reminded me a bit on The Beatles.

+ + + : If you are into Joy Division, The Sisters Of Mercy, David Bowie, The Cure and Bauhaus you should check out this band! Singer Jason knows how to reach many heights and lows with his voice. All songs are full of amazing basslines, catchy raw guitar-hooks, danceable beats and modern synths.

– – – : Some earlier released singles like “How Deep Is The Hole”, “It Goes Away”, “Post Traumatic Love” and “XYX” are really missing on this first full album.

Conclusion: Just like other acts Then Comes Silence, VOWWS and The Soft Moon, ACTORS belong to the new leading generation of “post-post-punk” bands. The awesome music combined with the charisma of frontman Jason Corbett make this album definitely one of the best releases of 2018!

Best songs: “Hit To The Head”, “Bury Me”, “Slaves”, “Crosses”, “Crystal”, “Let It Grow”.

Rate: (9) WH.

Band: www.actorstheband.com / www.facebook.com/actors1984

Label: www.artoffact.com / www.facebook.com/artoffact

Ascension Of The Watchers formed in 2002 with Burton C. Bell (Fear Factory, G/Z/R, Ministry), John Bechdel (Killing Joke, Murder Inc., Prong, Fear Factory, Ministry) and Eduardo Mussi (Still Life Decay). Recently Jayce Lewis was added to the line-up as well. It’s been 14 years since the self released “Iconoclast”, and 10 years since the 13th Planet release of “Numinosum”.

A Pledge Music campaign to fund the release of the new album “Stormcrow” was recently announced here. Many exclusive merchandise items are available including signed cd’s and vinyls, posters, t-shirts, handwritten lyric sheets, signed instruments, etc.

The album is set to be released spring 2019.

Infest is the UK’s premier festival of alternative electronic music. This year the 20th edition takes place from 23-26 August with an amazing line-up featuring: Empirion, Peter Hook & The Light, Zeitgeist Zero, Grave Diggers Union, Cubanate, Iszoloscope, Siva Six, Def Neon, SΛRIN, Mesh, Liebknecht, ACTORS, YURA YURA, Adam Is A Girl, Flesh Eating Foundation, Aesthetic Perfection, This Morn’ Omina, Strvngers, Elegant Machinery, VaLHaLL, Massenhysterie and Promenade Cinema.

The venue is the University of Bradford Students’ Union, in the City of Bradford (near Leeds), West Yorkshire, UK. Besides concerts there are also afterparties featuring renowned DJ’s from all over the world.

Additional info on the official website
Tickets are available here

On 11th and 12th August 2018 the annual M’era-Luna festival takes place in the area of Hildesheim-Drispenstedt, Germany. M’era Luna exists since 2000 and is one of the biggest Gothic festivals in the European scene. Gothic, new wave, electro, EBM, industrial and medieval bands are featured on 2 stages.

Besides watching concerts you can also visit parties, markets, artist signing events, gothic fashion shows, readings by David Grashoff, Markus Heitz and Christian von Aster. The Gothic Garden, an oasis of calm right in front of the festival infield, offers demanding festival-goers comfort, space and conveniences to make your stay more exclusive, pleasant and more relaxing. At the M’era Luna Academy you can follow special workshops which will be announced soon on the official website.

The last years the festival was every time sold out and had about 25.000 visitors. This year some of the confirmed artists are: The Prodigy, Front 242, Ministry, Eisbrecher, In Extremo, Saltatio Mortis, Apoptygma Berzerk, Peter Heppner, L’Ame Immortelle, London After Midnight, Clan Of Xymox, Das Ich, Lord Of The Lost, Hocico, The 69 Eyes, Atari Teenage Riot, In Strict Confidence, Rotersand, Nachtmahr, Tanzwut, …

The interactive M’era Luna app can be downloaded here and tickets can be ordered here.

From 15th until 19th August 2018 the third edition of the W-Festival takes place at the festival-area in the Rue Couture d’Orroir in Amougies, Belgium. More than 60 new wave, EBM, industrial, post-punk, synth-pop and eighties bands are featured on 3 stages.

This year some of the confirmed artists are: Bauhaus (Peter Murphy 40 years of Bauhaus celebration feat. David J.), Anne Clark, DAF, Clan Of Xymox, DIE KRUPPS, Dive, Front Line Assembly, Suicide Commando, Covenant, Lords Of Acid, Vive La Fête, A Split Second, Project Pitchfork, Trisomie21, She Past Away, Chameleons Vox, Red Zebra, Kim Wilde, Paul Young, Marc Almond, Midge Ure, A Flock Of Seagulls, Heaven 17, ABC, …

Besides watching concerts you can also visit markets and merchandise shops, signing-sessions, afterparties and other exclusivities like the daily screening of “Industrial Accident – The story of Wax Trax ! Records” documentary (94 min.) from the 16th till the 19th of August at 10:30am.

Side-Line gives away 10 free tickets (for 4 days)! Just enter the contest below. We will choose the winners on June 18.

Information and tickets can be found here

Genre/Influences: Industrial-metal, new-wave, electro.

Background/Info: Third self released album (EP) of this underestimated Belgian band, described as Praga Khan meets Rammstein, that was formed in 2010. Twincest Games is a story about a twin of which one doesn’t survive the pregnancy. The other one gets born with a tremendous sense of loss and needs to fill that void. A cocktail of beauty and strange relationships are destructive but a good surrogate. Every song tells another chapter of this story.

Content: “Cupid’s Dance” opens the album in a brilliant way: synth- and guitarriffs are perfectly combined with the harsh voice of singer Karl. “Twincest” is released as a first single and carries the typical Doganov concept: slowly built up verses followed by an exploding climax in the choruses. The guitars are more dominant on “Grimm”, while “Take The Night Away” has a very melodic chorus. “Receiver” is a track that easily can fill a dancefloor, a nice combination between electro and guitars, in the Goose-style! Track 6 is a smashing remix of “Endear You” (from the first album “Something Dark To Dance To”) done by Jürgen Engler of DIE KRUPPS. The very danceable Doganov-remix of “What You Need” from Goose is also featured while the last track “Whack This Guy” from La Muerte also got a nice Doganov remix-treatment.

+ + + : 8 high-quality songs are presented on this limited edition EP that was produced by the band itself. Doganov keeps following the same road as before, bringing danceable dark songs, full of modern electronics with a layer of smashing guitar-riffs over it!

– – – : This band should already have been picked up and signed by a label for a long time!

Conclusion: If you’re into electronics combined with guitars, check out Doganov! Step by step this promising band is reaching a wider audience. Make sure you see one of their explosive live-gigs as well!

Best songs: “Cupid’s Dance”, “Twincest Games”, “Receiver”, “Endear You (DIE KRUPPS remix)”, “What You Need – Goose (Doganov remix)”.

Rate: (9) WH.

Band: www.doganov.be / www.facebook.com/doganov.be

Label: www.doganov.be

On January 18th, 2019 the new album (number 13 already!) of German Industrial-Metal rockers OOMPH! will be released via Napalm Records! According the band it’s going to be as heavy, hard and dark as it has not been for a long time!

The accompanying European tour starts on March 1st, 2019! The band still will perform this year together with a big symphonic orchestra, live on stage, for the very first time in Moscow – Crocus City Hall (September 14th) and St-Petersburg – DK Lensoveta (September 16th). Before the festival season starts OOMPH! will do a show in Halle 02 – Heidelberg (DE) on June 7th and in Posthalle – Würzburg (DE) on June 9th.

European Tourdates 2019:

01.03.2019 DE Hannover / Capitol
02.03.2019 DE Berlin Astra
03.03.2019 DE Hamburg / Markthalle
05.03.2019 DE Bochum / Zeche
06.03.2019 DE Wiesbaden / Schlachthof
08.03.2019 DE Stuttgart / Im Wizemann
09.03.2019 DE München / Backstage Werk
10.03.2019 DE Dresden / Kraftwerk Mitte
12.03.2019 DE Leipzig / Täubchenthal
13.03.2019 DE Nürnberg / Hirsch
15.03.2019 DE Köln / Live Music Hall
16.03.2019 NL Drachten / Iduna
17.03.2019 FR Strasbourg / La Laiterie
19.03.2019 UK London / O2 Academy Islington
20.03.2019 FR Paris / La Machine
22.03.2019 ES Madrid / Sala Mon
23.03.2019 ES Barcelona / Razzmatazz 2
24.03.2019 FR Lyon / Ninkasi Kao
26.03.2019 CH Solothurn / Kofmehl
28.03.2019 AT Dornbirn / Conrad-Sohm
29.03.2019 CZ Praha / Nová Chmelnice
30.03.2019 PL Warszawa / Dark Electro Festival

Genre/Influences: Death pop, Industrial pop, Dark pop.

Background/Info: Second album for Matt (guitars/vocals), originally from Sydney – Australia, and Rizz (keyboards/vocals), originally from Iran (born in Costa Rica), both currently based in Los Angeles. Previous release “The Great Sun” (featuring a song with Gary Numan) was an amazing debut that clearly stated that this arty duo had a lot more to show.

Content: VOWWS presents 11 dark, doomy, dreamy, cinematic and mysterious tracks as a first full length release on the band’s own label, Anti-Language Records. The contrast in the songs between the low voice of Matt and the higher voice of Rizz sounds very good and is in perfect harmony. Matt is a very talented guitarist and singer while Rizz will take your mind away with her amazing voice and keyboards. Opener “You Never Knew”, followed by second single “ESSEFF” are both hypnotic uptempo tracks, full of great western/surf rock guitar-riffs. The melodic chorus in “One Or The Other”, sang by Rizz sounds really amazing. “Burn” and “Structure Of Love” are more downtempo songs, while “Wild Wind”, “Agents Of Harmony” and “Inside Out” especially show the cohesion and chemistry between the voices of Matt and Rizz. “Forget Your Finery” was the first single taken from this album, that was recorded in the New York studio of mentor Kevin S. McMahon (Swans) and produced by the band itself. “Charm And Demand” has a very chaotic chorus full of screaming voices a bit in the style of Marilyn Manson. Last song “Game” functions as a perfect calm outro for this great album, that could have been a perfect soundtrack for a film noir produced by David Lynch or Quentin Tarantino.

+ + + : Expect a very good working combination of melodious and catchy pop and surf rock (classic western), with haunting and seducing alternative and electronic elements that create a special compelling atmosphere.

– – – : This second album has more guitars and less electronic music than the previous one on it.

Conclusion: “Under The World” continues where “The Great Sun” stopped and is for sure one of the highlights of 2018! This unique band absolutely deserves to be much more known and should be checked out right away! The album is available as download, on cd and on vinyl.

Best songs: “You Never Knew”, “ESSEFF”, “One Or The Other”, “Burn”, “Wild Wind”, “Inside Out”, “Charm And Demand”.

Rate: (9) WH.

Band: www.vowwsband.com / www.facebook.com/vowwsband

Label: (US) www.antilanguagerecords.com / www.facebook.com/antilanguagerecords
Label: (EU) www.weyrdsonrecords.com / www.facebook.com/weyrdsonrecords

The German Industrial-Metal band OOMPH! signed a worldwide record deal with Napalm Records (Austria).

The bands explains as follows: “We are happy to announce our signing with Napalm Records. Right between both of our last tours in Russia and Europe, we started to gather new ideas for our upcoming 13th studio album! With these first new songs we contacted various record labels and were able to choose from 8 very promising offers in the end! We are extremely happy to have found in Napalm Records a strong and broad partner worldwide, who has worked extremely successfully in all different areas of Rock and Metal with their artists in recent years. Napalm Records offers exactly the right prerequisites for our next steps and we look forward to a long-term collaboration!”

Thomas Caser, CEO Napalm Records states:
“With OOMPH! we proudly present one of the most exciting and influential German Rock bands as a brand new signing on Napalm Records! We are very much looking forward to a successful future with the band!”

OOMPH! are currently working on a new studio album – scheduled for a 2019 release via Napalm Records!

John Bechdel is known as “the invisible man on the keys” for many bands, mainly industrial-metal acts, like Ministry, Prong, Fear Factory, Killing Joke, Murder Inc, Ascension Of The Watchers and False Icons.

Framed as a “day-in-the-life” of 36-hours on tour in Ministry from the meet & greet before playing The Fillmore in D.C. to leaving New York City after playing Irving Plaza, this documentary is a thrill ride through the life of John, those in and connected to his life and career; the world travelers and those behind the scenes.

“Killing The Joke: The John Bechdel story” features also exclusive personal interviews with Al Jourgensen [Ministry, Revolting Cocks], Burton C. Bell [Fear Factory], Alison Bechdel [FUN HOME / award winning writer], Greta Brinkman [L7, Pigface, Debbie Harry, Moby], Charlie Clouser [Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson], Martin Atkins [Public Image Limited, Killing Joke], Sean Roberts [Wax Trax! / TVT Records] and others.

The dvd is directed and produced by Darryl Hell for s6k Media and Furnace Records and can be ordered here soon! The digital download will be available on May 19, 2018. A special issue 3-dvd set will be released on August 23, 2018 as well.

Die Krupps have had enough. Here’s what their most recent press release says: “The answer to punitive tariffs on steel? So far it has been business, now it becomes personal! The Düsseldorf steel workers show solidarity with their fellow men, and show the POTUS the musical middle finger after another moment of madness, and shout an angry “Fuck You” in his direction!”

The new single “Fuck You” will be heard in selected clubs and at the upcoming concerts at the end of April where they’ll be joined by Front Line Assembly.

Don’t forget to check the vinyl re-issues of the Die Krupps back catalogue right here, and the Front Line Assembly vinyl reissues right here!

Tourdates

* postponed “V½” Tour 2017
** + Front Line Assembly

• 26 APR 2018 KESSELHAUS* – BERLIN (DE)
• 27 APR 2018 SCHLACHTHOF – WIESBADEN (DE)
• 28 APR 2018 PLAGE NOIRE FESTIVAL – WEISSENHAUS (DE)
• 29 APR 2018 ZAKK* – DUSSELDORF (DE)
• 17 AUG 2018 W-FESTIVAL – AMOUGIES (BE)
• 19 AUG 2018 ISLINGTON ACADEMY O2** – LONDON (UK)
• 20 AUG 2018 LA MACHINE** – PARIS (FR)
• 21 AUG 2018 DE HELLING** – UTRECHT (NL)
• 22 AUG 2018 KULTURFABRIK** – KREFELD (DE)
• 24 AUG 2018 TRUCK STOP** – GOTHENBURG (SE)
• 25 AUG 2018 KLUBBEN** – STOCKHOLM (SE)
• 29 AUG 2018 STARY KLASZTOR** – WROCLAW (PL)
• 30 AUG 2018 LUCERNA MUSIC BAR** – PRAG (CZ)
• 31 AUG 2018 A38** – BUDAPEST (HU)
• 01 SEP 2018 MAJESTIC MUSIC CLUB** – BRATISLAVA (SK)
• 02 SEP 2018 VIPER ROOM** – VIENNA (AU)
• 04 SEP 2018 BACKSTAGE HALLE** – MUNICH (DE)
• 08 SEP 2018 VOLLE KRAFT VORAUS FESTIVAL – NEU-ULM (DE)

Support on 26 + 27 + 29 APR 2018: Johnny Deathshadow & Barabaz

Side-Line also covered Front Line Assembly’s ‘Mechvirus’.

Background/Info:

Read the news on ‘AmeriKKKant’.

Genre/Influences: Dark wave, post-punk.

Background/Info: Album number 4 for solo-artist and multi-instrumentalist Luis Vasquez. “Criminal” describes Luis going to war with himself through confession and finds him battling with shame, guilt, his own sanity, self-hatred, insecurity and self-entitlement. He reveals his feelings from his violent childhood which makes it a self-reflective album, released to find relief for his own wrongdoings and for those done by others that have affected him.

Content: “Burn”, the first song, has an amazing bassline and a screaming, almost howling Vasquez, which is definitely something we’re not used to hear on previous albums. “Choke” is a very danceable song full of soft synths with a whispering voice over it. The first 2 songs remind you automatically of the older works of Nine Inch Nails. Time for some moody calm stuff then with “Give Something” followed by the EBM/industrial track “Like A Father”. The deep raw bass on the exploding song “The Pain” sounds amazing, which makes it one of the better songs! The guitars on “It Kills”, a downtempo track, will calm you down in your mind and make you think and dream away. This atmosphere is abruptly broken by “ILL”, that best can be defined as a mixture of dubstep and noise. More soft synths and whispering voices on “Young” followed by the uptempo “Born Into This”. The guitars on “Criminal” are in perfect combination with the synths, which makes it the climax of another typical Soft Moon masterpiece!

+ + + : The basslines are sounding very deep and low, something The Soft Moon still brings very well, also live on stage. Luis Vasquez definitely knows how to write songs full of darkness.

– – – : The tracks “Like A Father” and “ILL” have a deep contrast with the other songs. They are not bad songs but bring the complete atmosphere a bit out of balance.

Conclusion: Eight years already after the release of the self-titled debut-album, and The Soft Moon keeps delivering darkness and melancholy. Vasquez recorded the 10 tracks about his inner pain in his current hometown Berlin and changed like this his personal childhood traumas into something more succesful.

Best songs: “Burn”, “Choke”, “The Pain”, “It Kills”, “Criminal”.

Rate: (9) WH.

Band: www.thesoftmoon.com / www.facebook.com/thesoftmoon

Label: www.sacredbonesrecords.com / www.facebook.com/sacredbones

“Criminal” is the fourth studio album of The Soft Moon, containing 10 tracks, which is released on 2nd of February 2018 and can be ordered here.

Luis Vasquez (originally from Oakland but nowadays based in Berlin) is the multi-instrumentalist and singer behind this post-punk/darkwave project. The new album describes Luis going to war with himself through confession and finds him battling with shame, guilt, his own sanity, self-hatred, insecurity and self-entitlement. He reveals his feelings from his violent childhood which makes “Criminal” a self-reflective album, released to find relief for his own wrongdoings and for those done by others that have affected him.

Tracklist:
01. Burn
02. Choke
03. Give Something
04. Like a Father
05. The Pain
06. It Kills
07. ILL
08. Young
09. Born Into This
10. Criminal

Tourdates:
02 Feb 2018 One of a Million Festival – Baden, Switzerland
03 Feb 2018 C.S. Rivolta (record release party) – Marghera, Italy
06 Feb 2018 Pumpehuset – Copenhagen, Denmark
07 Feb 2018 Pustervik – Gothenburg, Sweden
08 Feb 2018 Slaktkyrkan – Stockholm, Sweden
09 Feb 2018 Bla – Oslo, Norway
10 Feb 2018 Grauzone festival – The Hague, Netherlands
11 Feb 2018 Urban Spree – Berlin, Germany *SOLD OUT*
12 Feb 2018 Urban Spree – Berlin, Germany *SOLD OUT*
13 Feb 2018 Urban Spree – Berlin, Germany *SOLD OUT*
14 Feb 2018 Le Trabendo – Paris, France
15 Feb 2018 Paradiso Noord, Tolhuistuin – Amsterdam, Netherlands
16 Feb 2018 The Dome & Boston Music Room – London, UK *SOLD OUT*
17 Feb 2018 Botanique – Orangerie – Brussels, Belgium *SOLD OUT*
18 Feb 2018 De Gudde Wellen – Luxembourg, Luxembourg *SOLD OUT*
20 Feb 2018 Amalgame Club – Yverdon-Les-Bains, Switzerland
21 Feb 2018 Magnolia – Milan, Italy
22 Feb 2018 Monk – Rome, Italy
23 Feb 2018 Lanificio 25 – Naples, Italy
24 Feb 2018 Covo Club – Bologna, Italy
07 Mar 2018 Feierwerk / Kranhalle – Munich, Germany
08 Mar 2018 UT Connewitz – Leipzig, Germany
09 Mar 2018 Hafenklang – Hamburg, Germany
10 Mar 2018 Gebaude 9 – Cologne, Germany
11 Mar 2018 Kleiner Klub – Saarbrucken, Germany
13 Mar 2018 Doornroosje – Nijmegen, Netherlands
14 Mar 2018 La Condition Publique – Roubaix, France
15 Mar 2018 Stereolux – Nantes, France
16 Mar 2018 L’Epicerie Moderne – Feyzin, France

27 Mar 2018 Johnny Brenda’s – Philadelphia, PA, US
28 Mar 2018 Music Hall of Williamsburg – Brooklyn, NY, US
29 Mar 2018 Théâtre Fairmount – Montreal, QC, Canada
30 Mar 2018 Longboat Hall at The Great Hall – Toronto, ON, Canada
31 Mar 2018 The Empty Bottle – Chicago, IL, US
02 Apr 2018 Turf Club – St. Paul, MN, US
04 Apr 2018 Larimer Lounge – Denver, CO, US
06 Apr 2018 Mississippi Studios – Portland, OR, US
07 Apr 2018 The Crocodile – Seattle, WA, US
08 Apr 2018 Biltmore Cabaret – Vancouver, BC, Canada
11 Apr 2018 The Independent – San Francisco, CA, US
13 Apr 2018 Teragram Ballroom – Los Angeles, CA, US
14 Apr 2018 The Casbah – San Diego, CA, US
16 Apr 2018 The Bunkhouse Saloon – Las Vegas, NV, US
17 Apr 2018 Valley Bar – Phoenix, AZ, US
19 Apr 2018 Three Links – Dallas, TX, US
20 Apr 2018 Barracuda – Austin, TX, US
21 Apr 2018 Paper Tiger – San Antonio, TX, US
22 Apr 2018 Gasa Gasa – New Orleans, LA, US
24 Apr 2018 The Wooly – Gainesville, FL, US
25 Apr 2018 Gramps – Miami, FL, US
26 Apr 2018 Crowbar – Ybor City, FL, US
27 Apr 2018 Aisle 5 – Atlanta, GA, US
28 Apr 2018 The Mothlight – Asheville, NC, US
29 Apr 2018 DC9 Nightclub – Washington, DC, US

Genre/Influences: Dark wave, post-punk, gothic rock.

Background/Info: This is already the fourth album of this Swedish act, that was founded in 2012 in Stockholm. Band leader Alex Svenson just started writing on the new album when his father suddenly passed away. Writing this album became a healing process for him. The production and engineering was done by Tom van Heesch (Rammstein, Entombed A.D, …).

Content: The sentence “The world isn’t in a better condition than in the 80s”, as the band states, typifies the gloomy atmosphere throughout this cd. Highlights: opener “The Dead Cry For No One” is a smash in the face, a kick-ass song which invites everyone to freak out on the dancefloor! Long time ago that any band could get my attention bringing such catchy guitar-riffs. “Strange Kicks” is a compelling song which lets the voice of Alex and especially the uptempo beats of drummer Jonas come out very well. The accoustic guitar on the downtempo “Choose Your Poison” sounds very nice in combination with the other guitars. “Good Friday” is one of the best songs, sadness and melancholy à gogo. The slowly built-up tempo changes make “Warm Like Blood” explode very well.

+ + + : Then Comes Silence brings tasteful songs that have more variation compared with most other bands in this genre. The band does an excellent job in creating 11 tracks full of doom, passion and soul. All tracks are very groovy and compelling and boast a remarkable energy. For sure something to check out for fans of The Sisters Of Mercy, Bauhaus and Joy Division.

– – – : The opening-riff on “In Leash” sounds nice but a bit too much like the riff of “Is Vic There?” from Department S.

Conclusion: A fresh breeze of gothic renaissance and one of the best releases of 2017! “Blood” is a must have in your cd/vinyl-collection! Then Comes Silence definitely has its own personality and these 4 musicians know damn well how to write good songs. It makes them one of the leading acts in the goth scene for now and for the future!

Best songs: “The Dead Cry For No One”, “Strange Kicks”, “Choose Your Poison”, “Good Friday”, “Warm Like Blood”.

Rate: (9) WH.

Band: www.thencomessilence.eu / www.facebook.com/thencomessilence

Label: www.nuclearblast.com / www.facebook.com/nuclearblasteurope

“AmeriKKKant”, industrial-metal pioneers Ministry’s 14th album, will be released on March 9, 2018 for the first time via Nuclear Blast Records. The album will include guest appearances from Burton C. Bell of Fear Factory, former N.W.A. member Arabian Prince, DJ Swamp and Lord of the Cello. It contains 9 songs in total of which 3 of them are longer than 8 minutes!

The new album will also be released on vinyl and can be ordered here.
Special release-packages can be ordered here.

Today the video for the first single, “Antifa”, a protest song against the current political chaos in America, was released.

Tracklist

1. I Know Words
2. Twilight Zone
3. Victims of a Clown
4. TV5/4Chan
5. We’re Tired of It
6. Wargasm
7. Antifa
8. Game Over
9. AmeriKKKa

Tourdates

March 22 – Anaheim, Calif. @ House of Blues
March 23 – Ventura, Calif. @ Ventura Theatre
March 24 – Las Vegas, Nev. @ Brooklyn Bowl
March 26 – Sacramento, Calif. @ Ace of Spades
March 28 – Portland, Ore. @ Roseland Theatre
March 29 – Vancouver, British Columbia @ Vogue Theatre
March 31 – Edmonton, Alberta @ Union Hall
April 01 – Calgary, Alberta @ Palace Theatre
April 03 – Missoula, Mont. @ Wilma Theatre
April 05 – Lincoln, Nebr. @ Boubon Theatre
April 07 – Chicago, Ill. @ Riviera Theatre
April 08 – Milwaukee, Wis. @ Turner Hall Ballroom
April 10 – Cincinnati, Ohio @ Bogart’s
April 11 – Grand Rapids, Mich. @ 20 Monroe Live
April 12 – Indianapolis, Ind. @ Egyptian Room
April 14 – Toronto, Ontario @ Opera House
April 15 – Montreal, Quebec @ MTelus
April 17 – Boston, Mass. @ Royale
April 18 – Portland, Maine @ Aura
April 19 – Huntington, N.Y. @ Paramount Theatre
April 21 – Montclair, N.J. @ Wellmont Theatre
April 22 – Buffalo, N.Y. @ Town Ballroom
April 23 – Baltimore, Md. @ Rams Head Live
April 25 – Atlanta, Ga. @ Center Stage
April 26 – Orlando, Fla. @ Hard Rock Live
April 28 – Austin, Tex. @ Levitation Festival
August 10 – Kortrijk, Belgium @ Alcatraz Metal Festival

Update: Dave Gahan’s condition has improved last night and the band will be continuing onwards to Ukraine today for the show in Kiev tomorrow night. To the fans who had tickets to last night’s show in Minsk, there will be more information in the next few days.

The British band Depeche Mode is currently on a huge tour around the world (first leg of the Global Spirit Tour). Unfortunately today’s concert had to be cancelled due to serious illness of singer Dave Gahan. A first statement was posted on the official website here.

First rumours on local social media report that the singer poisoned himself or has gastro-enteritis. The band will give an update during the next days. At this moment it is not sure if the next concerts in Kiev (July 19) and Warsaw (July 21) will take place.

Side-Line also covered Depeche Mode’s ‘Get the balance right’.

On 12th and 13th August 2017 the annual M’era-Luna festival takes place in the area of Hildesheim-Drispenstedt, Germany. M’era Luna exists since 2000 and is one of the biggest Gothic festivals in the European scene. Gothic, new wave, electro, EBM, industrial and medieval bands are featured on 2 stages.

Besides watching concerts you can also visit markets, artist signing events, gothic fashion shows, book readings and parties. The Gothic Garden, an oasis of calm right in front of the festival infield, offers demanding festival-goers comfort, space and conveniences to make your stay more exclusive, pleasant and more relaxing. A new fact this year is the M’era Luna Academy where you can follow catwalk workshops and lectures by Mark Benecke and Gerald Axelrod.

The last years the festival was every time sold out and had about 25.000 visitors. This year some of the confirmed artists are: Korn, DAF, KMFDM, Front Line Assembly, Leaether Strip, And One, ASP, Blutengel, Subway To Sally, Schandmaul, Project Pitchfork, Ashbury Heights, Haujobb, Mono Inc., Covenant, The Cruxshadows, De/Vision, Mesh, Megaherz, Solar Fake, …

The interactive M’era Luna app can be downloaded here and tickets can be ordered here.