Darkvolt, the Belgian electro-industrial project of Antwerp musician Frederik Strobbe, has released a new industrial rock single, “Gold (Louder Than Life)“, via DressCode Black. The track appeared on Bandcamp on October 17, 2026, while DressCode Black’s press materials list October 29, 2026, as the release date across Spotify and other major streaming platforms.

“Gold (Louder Than Life)” carries a heavier rock influence over Darkvolt’s dark electronic foundations, combining forceful rhythms, aggressive textures and a prominent vocal line. The single is issued as a standalone digital track, available as a stream and download on Bandcamp in MP3 and FLAC.

The single precedes Darkvolt’s next live date on November 7, 2026, at Kinky Star in Ghent, Belgium, with Belgian industrial act The Ordure as support. The Ghent concert closes out Darkvolt’s 2026 Spirits Of Angst & Despair Tour before the project moves into 2027.

About Darkvolt

Darkvolt is a Belgian dark electro and industrial project based in Antwerp, led by Frederik Strobbe. The project’s music combines EBM, industrial and experimental electronics with theatrical vocals, and its releases appear through DressCode Black, a label based in Antwerp and a sub-label of Detroit-Berlin.

Darkvolt’s debut album, “The Time Device,” arrived on September 14, 2024, through DressCode Black, with twelve tracks. The project followed less than a month later with the Halloween special “Songs for Halloween”, an eight-track release featuring guest vocalists including Marieke Lightband (Psy’Aviah) on “The Skeleton King”, Axel Machens (Placebo Effect) on “Trick or Treat”, Jan Dewulf (Mildreda) on “The Curse”, Vain Sacrosanct (CauseNation) on “Candyman”, Chesko Geert Vandekerkhof (Der Klinke) on “Midnight Stalker” and Peter V. (Pro Patria) on “The Mask”.

In January 2025, Darkvolt issued the single “White Lie”, an EBM and electro-industrial track that served as the first preview of a second album. That album, “Spirits Of Angst And Despair”, followed as a 17-track release recorded with guitarist Martyn Hanson, moving between EBM, cinematic, experimental and industrial styles; Side-Line reviewed the album in May 2026. In January 2026, the Rogue Unit vs Darkvolt collaboration track “The Truth” was reworked by industrial veteran Rhys Fulber for DressCode Black.

“Gold (Louder Than Life)” extends that run and leads into the final date of Darkvolt’s 2026 Spirits Of Angst & Despair Tour, on November 7 in Ghent.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Italian electro-wave project TourdeForce released the single “Winning” on October 13, 2026 via My Owl Music, together with an official music video. The track is a cover of “Winning,” originally recorded by The Sound for the 1981 album “From the Lions Mouth,” and marks the first official studio collaboration between TourdeForce and vocalist Neviah Luneville.

The release follows TourdeForce’s September 2026 video for “A Good Death,” taken from the album “Leaving Nothing Left Behind” (My Owl Music, February 27, 2026), which had already previewed Luneville’s upcoming vocal feature. Luneville is set to sing a significant portion of the tracks on TourdeForce’s next album, expected in 2027.

Production on “Winning” was shaped by Depeche Mode’s 1997 album “Ultra.” The track was produced and mixed by TourdeForce’s Christian Ryder at Kinniku Studio in Milan, with vocals by Neviah Luneville and guitars by Fox T. Vocals were recorded by Andrea Bergo at Musificio Recording in Monza, and the track was mastered by Rob Early at Retrogramme Studio in Alexandria, Virginia.

The accompanying video, directed by Ryder, was filmed partly in a hotel room decorated in an Egyptian theme, with one scene showing Luneville in a bathtub.

“Winning” is available as a name-your-price digital download on Bandcamp.

About TourdeForce

TourdeForce is an electro-wave and synth-pop project from Bergamo, Italy, founded in 2004 by musician Christian Ryder, initially working with vocalist Kyt Walken for selected recordings and live shows. Early releases included the self-titled album “TourdeForce” in the mid-2000s on the Bergamo-based label My Owl Music, followed by “We’re Not Underground” and “Colours in Life” toward the end of the decade.

The project later signed to EKP (EK Product), a label founded in Naples in December 2008 that split in 2010 into EK Product, for darker EBM and industrial sounds, and Space Race Records, for synthpop, futurepop and IDM; TourdeForce was released under Space Race Records from then on. The band released “Jedem Das Seine” in 2014, the first part of its “Anger Trilogy,” followed by “Very Industrial People” in 2018, the same year it collaborated with Swedish act We The North on the split EP “Split.” The album “Vargtimmar” followed in 2020, a tribute single to Death In June, “Six in the Key of Death,” arrived in January 2022, and older catalogue material was gathered on “Compendium Vol. 1 2009-2013” in 2023. TourdeForce released the album “Hail the Electronic Sun” with the single “Hey Julie (Version)” in 2024, followed in April 2025 by the single “Elektro Kommando,” a tribute to the defunct EKP label.

In February 2026, TourdeForce returned to My Owl Music with the album “Leaving Nothing Left Behind,” followed by an official video for the “LNLB” single mix in March and a video for “A Good Death,” filmed in Japan, in September. “Winning,” released October 13, 2026, is the band’s first single to feature vocalist Neviah Luneville, ahead of a new album expected in 2027.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Canadian electro-industrial duo Kill Instinct released the single “Pretty Little Nightmare” on October 16, 2026, through Freak Power. The single follows the band’s second album, “kill.two//Behavioral Sink,” which arrived in August 2026.

The Toronto-based project, consisting of Phil Gonzo and Lea Ashley, has had a busy year. Alongside the release of their second album, they also joined forces with Norwegian electronic act Apoptygma Berzerk, who contributed an official remix of their track “Control” in July 2026.

“Pretty Little Nightmare” runs just over four minutes and was written, produced and performed by Kill Instinct. Additional production credits include Alex Gonzales for vocal co-production, Philip Halloran for engineering and Mike Marra for mastering.

“Pretty Little Nightmare” is available digitally, including as a name-your-price download on Bandcamp.

About Kill Instinct

Kill Instinct are a Toronto-based electro-industrial duo consisting of Phil Gonzo and Lea Ashley. The band’s second album, “kill.two//Behavioral Sink,” arrived in August 2026. In July 2026, Norwegian electronic act Apoptygma Berzerk contributed an official remix of the duo’s track “Control.” “Pretty Little Nightmare,” released October 16, 2026 through Freak Power, is the band’s latest single.

Britta Pirkko

For almost 15 years I’ve been writing about music, interviewing artists and reviewing releases for Peek-A-Boo Magazine. Recently, I also launched my own WordPress website, where I continue to share interviews, reviews and news from the underground scene. The darker side of music has been part of my life for more than 30 years, with a passion for everything from ’80s synthpop and New Wave to EBM, Futurepop and dark electronic music in general. Also Metal and Rock is part of my world. Away from the scene, I work in a public library, where books are part of my everyday life. I enjoy both fiction and non-fiction, especially books on politics, religion, health and travel. I’m also a fan of thrillers and horror films. When I’m not listening to music or reading, you’ll usually find me exploring nature, enjoying a good sauna, experimenting with vegan cooking, or travelling to my second home, Finland. I’ve always believed the underground has the best stories. My job is simply to help tell them

German atmospheric black metal duo Urisk released their second album “CALL” on October 2, 2026, through Vendetta Records. The album is available digitally, on CD and on vinyl LP.

With “CALL,” Urisk address the loss of wilderness, Gaelic culture and the mythical in Scotland and beyond. The title plays on two meanings: the Scottish Gaelic “call,” meaning “loss,” and the English “call,” understood as a voice reaching out to remember what has been pushed aside or erased. Across seven tracks, the band pairs ecological and cultural loss – disappearing species, damaged seas and forests, lost languages and broken traditions – with long atmospheric black metal songs, harsh vocals, layered guitars and folk-rooted passages.

The tracklist comprises “Ro-Ràdh: Air Chall ‘s Gruama,” “Uprooting,” “Jaws of Dawn,” “The Hauled and the Waif,” “Night Call: To You Who Lie Buried Face to the Ground,” “A’ Choille Ghruamach” and “Fògrach // Spirit Flight.” The music on “Ro-Ràdh: Air Chall ‘s Gruama” and “A’ Choille Ghruamach” sets a poem by Iain MacAilein (1767-1848) in Scottish Gaelic; the remaining tracks were written by guitarist Benedikt Brixius and arranged with vocalist Marleen Bügener.

Most of “CALL” was produced and recorded by Brixius at The Den in Bonn. Drums were performed by Pepe Roldan Duran and recorded by Mario Dahmen at Liquid Aether Studios in Schleiden. Fabian Schulz mixed and mastered the album at Sunsetter Studios in Bremen. The cover artwork is by Theopisti Tiftikoglou (Ikosidio). “CALL” is available as a digital album, CD and vinyl LP via Bandcamp.

About Urisk

Urisk are a black metal duo from Bonn, Germany, formed in 2023 by guitarist Benedikt Brixius and vocalist Marleen Bügener. Their music combines traditional black metal, progressive structures and atmospheric passages, with lyrics shaped by personal despair, environmental themes, and Celtic folklore and myth. The duo released its debut album, “Shrivelling Lights,” on April 25, 2025. “CALL,” released October 2, 2026 through Vendetta Records, is the band’s second album.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Belgian-Moroccan artist, DJ and producer Zaatar released the single “Bahnsteigkante” on October 16, 2026, under license to Breathing Records. The track appears on the label’s compilation series “INHALE Vol. 2,” which follows “Inhale Vol. I,” the compilation Breathing Records launched in December 2025.

“Bahnsteigkante” was written, performed and mixed entirely by Zaatar and recorded in France. The track pairs a vocoder-treated vocal with raw, hard-hitting rock percussion, merging electronic production with a rock approach to drums.

The single follows Zaatar’s EP “First Crush,” released September 11, 2026, and her 2025 EP “The Sound of Z,” released October 3, 2025. “Bahnsteigkante” is available as a digital single on Spotify.

About Zaatar

Zaatar is a Belgian-Moroccan artist, DJ and producer based in France, working at the crossroads of EBM, new beat and post-punk. She first drew attention on the French label Ritmo Fatale with the track “Abiad Al Layali,” released in 2023, followed by the productions “Mortal Come Back,” “Zankat Mimosas” and “Leaving For The Sky.” Her 2025 EP “The Sound of Z,” released October 3, 2025, further defined her sound.

Zaatar has performed at venues and festivals including La Gaîté Lyrique in Paris, Macadam in Nantes, Le Sucre in Lyon, Fuse in Brussels, Else and Renate in Berlin, the Montreux Jazz Festival, Paléo Festival and the Grauzone Festival, and continues to tour internationally. Since 2025, she has run the event series “Dead-Or-Alive?,” dedicated to EBM and post-punk aesthetics. DJ Mag France named her one of its artists to watch for 2026. Her EP “First Crush” followed on September 11, 2026, ahead of “Bahnsteigkante,” released October 16, 2026 on Breathing Records.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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German synth duo Felsmann + Tiley’s track “Gabriel,” from their Mute album “Protomensch,” soundtracks the trailer for Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s documentary “You Can See Everything,” which opens in US cinemas on October 16, 2026 and in the UK and Ireland on November 20, 2026.

“You Can See Everything” follows Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes in the weeks before she went to prison. The version of “Gabriel” used in the trailer is a reworking built from Felsmann + Tiley’s original stems and differs slightly from the album recording; both versions are now available to hear.

At the heart of “Gabriel” is a question Dominik Felsmann and Patrick Tiley say runs through the Holmes story: who to believe when everyone has a platform from which to speak. “There are more messengers than messages,” the duo say of the idea that shaped the song, pointing to a stream of competing voices and narratives in which certainty becomes harder to locate.

“Gabriel” began as an experiment in writing trailer music. Felsmann + Tiley wrote the original version with the film “Dune” playing in the background, under the working title “Messiah,” adding the oversized drums, strings and effects associated with cinematic trailers, before folding it back into “Protomensch”‘s synth-only framework.

Felsmann + Tiley follow the placement with “Reinterpretations #2,” the second installment in a series of EPs reworking tracks from “Protomensch,” due October 22, 2026 on Mute. The EP features Meredi, Sofi Paez and Lambert revisiting the album’s songs in a more introspective, piano-led style, following September’s “Reinterpretations #1,” which returned to the duo’s dance-floor roots.

About Felsmann + Tiley

Dominik Felsmann and Patrick Tiley met in 2003 on the German music production forum MyOwnMusic.de and discovered they shared a hometown, Stuttgart, along with an interest in the depth and melancholy of trance pads and breakdowns. As the alias Kamui, they released the 12″ “Ghosts,” followed by releases under five further aliases on different labels. Their reinterpretation of The Irrepressibles’ “The Most Beautiful Boy” became the lead track for the second season of the Netflix series “Young Royals,” and their version of M83’s “Solitude” appeared on the British crime series “Top Boy”; both tracks, later released on Mute and Deutsche Grammophon, have reached a combined 200 million streams.

Felsmann + Tiley signed to Mute and released the track “Warum” in June 2025, followed by the album “Protomensch” on February 13, 2026, featuring guest vocalists including Pet Deaths, The Kite String Tangle, Woodes and Laius. The duo have since released a series of “Protomensch” remix EPs under the “Reinterpretations” banner. “Gabriel,” the album track now soundtracking “You Can See Everything,” marks the duo’s first placement in an A24 trailer.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Swiss dark wave act Nachtschleife released the single “Suizid” (“Suicide”) on October 16, 2026, through Echozone. The digital single previews the band’s upcoming album, “Systemabfall,” and addresses mental health crises, despair and loneliness.

“Suizid” does not try to offer simple answers to that despair. Instead, the song makes visible the moment when a person can no longer see a way out, a subject Nachtschleife say is still too often left unspoken. The band frame the release as a call to pay attention to people in crisis, describing it as a message aimed equally at those affected and at the people around them.

Musically, “Suizid” combines dark wave, dark electro and industrial textures with an expressive vocal performance. The track runs 4 minutes 14 seconds and is part of the broader theme of “Systemabfall,” which Nachtschleife describe as centered on a society in which people are expected to keep functioning even when they have reached their limits mentally.

An official animated video for “Suizid” is available on YouTube.

About Nachtschleife

Nachtschleife is a dark wave and dark electro project from Geuensee, Switzerland, formed by Stephanie Abromeit (also known for her project Beffibelle), Bernd Abromeit (Tonschleifer) and Ulf Müller, whose other projects include Projekt Ich, The Grab Society, SMOTCH, M.U.N.T Connection, Tränenwelten and U.M. Fiedel. The trio came together by chance on April 1, 2026, growing out of a series of collaborative remix projects before evolving into an independent act with its own identity.

Nachtschleife released its debut single, “Microgram,” on July 17, 2026 through Echozone, exploring medication dependency and emotional emptiness. “Suizid,” out October 16, 2026, is the project’s second single and the first track revealed from the upcoming album “Systemabfall.”

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Berlin-based darkwave act Night Nail released the single “Passion Squad” on October 16, 2026, through Icy Cold Records. The track is the second single from Night Nail’s fourth studio album, “Infinite Fountain,” due November 6, 2026 on the same French label.

“Passion Squad” retells frontman Brandon Robert’s own experience working in e-commerce alongside the artificial intelligence technology that eventually replaced his job. The song is sung from the perspective of the AI model itself, framing Robert’s obsolescence through the machine’s point of view rather than his own.

The track was mixed and produced by Sven Wolff at Cosmonaut Studio in Berlin and co-produced by Night Nail. Ruby Mai plays saxophone, Kill Shelter contributes additional bass guitar, VV & the Void adds backing vocals and Alex Lee plays additional synths. “Passion Squad” runs 3 minutes 55 seconds and is available to stream and download on Bandcamp and Spotify.

“Passion Squad” follows the lead single “Vile Train,” released October 2 and inspired by a visit to Pompeii. Both singles precede “Infinite Fountain,” Night Nail’s first full-length since 2023’s “Fates Explained.”

About Night Nail

Night Nail was founded in Los Angeles in 2013 by Brandon Robert and Justin Deaktiviere, with Michael Carpenter Jr. on guitar, David Cluff on bass and Bryan Panzeri on drums joining for the project’s early releases. The band later relocated to Berlin, Germany.

Night Nail released its debut album, “LA Demons,” in July 2018 through Cleopatra Records. The follow-up, “March to Autumn,” arrived on October 15, 2020 through Cold Transmission Music, produced, mixed and mastered by Pete Burns of Kill Shelter. In September 2023, the single “Narcoleptic Dream Catcher” introduced the album “Fates Explained” on Metropolis Records, also mixed and mastered by Burns. The band followed with the archival release “Early Demons and Demos” and the remix album “Fates Remade” in 2024.

Night Nail returned in October 2026 with “Vile Train,” the lead single from “Infinite Fountain,” its fourth studio album, due November 6, 2026 through Icy Cold Records. “Passion Squad” is the album’s second single.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Toronto-based shoegaze project AloneKitty announced the new album “wide awake,” due November 6, 2026 on CD and digital formats, and shared the advance single “I’m Wide Awake.” The record follows AloneKitty’s self-titled 2024 debut and 2025’s “sad not sad,” both released through Mint 400 Records.

“wide awake” was not written as a grief record, but became one. Michelle K’s father died while she was writing the album, and her mother died a few months later. “No one is there to save me anymore,” she says of the realization that stayed with her through the process. “As adults we still, in some quiet way, think of our parents as the people behind us if everything falls apart. Suddenly that backstop was gone.”

The band – Michelle K on guitar and vocals, Michael Small on bass and Stefan Loebus on drums – tracked most of the album live over two days at Union Sound in Toronto with engineer Darren McGill, finishing most songs in one or two takes. “That level of trust and shared investment made this the most collaborative record I’ve ever made,” Michelle K says.

More than half the songs were written using alternate guitar tunings, an approach Michelle K traced to Thurston Moore’s album “The Last Day.” “I’m Wide Awake” and “She Thinks It’s Alright” came together once she began exploring those tunings. The album was mixed by Luke Schindler, who has worked with Broken Social Scene and Alexisonfire, and mastered by Simon Scott of Slowdive, who also mastered “sad not sad.” Scott picked “I’m Wide Awake” as the lead single: “It’s a banger,” he told Michelle K.

One song, “Disappointed (For the Last Time),” was recorded separately at Harlow Sound Studios with engineer Justin McWilliams, with Michelle K playing every instrument herself. The track is aimed at the memory of a father who could not, or would not, accept who she was, and was mastered separately by Noah Mintz.

“wide awake” runs eleven tracks: “Someone,” “I’m Wide Awake,” “Nothing I Can Tell You,” “Radio Signal Fading,” “Save Me,” “Still Inside My Head,” “She Thinks It’s Alright,” “You Can’t Even Tell,” “Your Self Pity,” “Tell Me That You’ve Lost Your Mind” and “Disappointed (For the Last Time).” “I don’t write pop songs,” Michelle K says. “I write through a wall of sound and sadness and try to find beauty in it.”

AloneKitty tour dates

• October 25, 2026 – Supermarket, Toronto, ON, with Be Stil and Scummm, presented by Major Tom Records
• November 18, 2026 – Houndstooth, Toronto, ON – “wide awake” Toronto release show, lineup TBA
• January 30 – Oshawa, ON, venue TBA

About AloneKitty

AloneKitty is a Toronto-based shoegaze and alternative rock project led by Michelle Kojder, known as Michelle K, who writes and arranges all of the band’s songs. The project began as a solitary recording outlet before growing into a full band, with Michael Small on bass and Stefan Loebus on drums joining alongside Michelle K’s guitar and vocals.

AloneKitty released its self-titled debut album on November 22, 2024, followed by “sad not sad” on October 24, 2025, both through Mint 400 Records. Both albums charted on the NACC 200 college radio chart in North America.

The new album “wide awake” was tracked largely live over two days at Union Sound in Toronto, mixed by Luke Schindler and mastered by Simon Scott of Slowdive, and is set for release on November 6, 2026, preceded by the single “I’m Wide Awake.”

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Italy-based industrial rock project Noir Addiction released the single “Foreplay” on October 15, 2026, through 411 Music Group. The track reworks a song Sonny Lanegan wrote years before Noir Addiction existed; an earlier version was featured in Marvel’s “Iron Fist,” Season 2, Episode 5, but was never officially released until now.

Built around a dense, persistent electronic beat, “Foreplay” pairs its rhythm with lyrics that move between desire, disillusionment and emotional detachment. Lanegan revisited the song and reworked it for Noir Addiction after years as unreleased material.

On the band’s Bandcamp page, Noir Addiction wrote: “This track was featured in the TV series Iron Fist (Marvel) Season 2 – Episode 5. It was never officially released, so we decided to give it the Noir Addiction touch and finally make it available.”

“Foreplay” was written, produced and performed by Lanegan, who handles vocals, guitars, synthesizers and programming on the track. It was mixed and mastered by La Fucina Studio in Italy and recorded in Los Angeles. The single runs 3 minutes 35 seconds and is available to stream and download on Bandcamp, Spotify and Apple Music.

“Foreplay” follows a run of 2026 releases for Noir Addiction: the singles “Serve Me Some Crime” (March 20), “How She’s Got It” (May 8) and “Money for the Honey” (June 19), followed by the six-track EP “Pretty Things Don’t Last” on July 16 through SoulPunx Records. “Foreplay” marks Noir Addiction’s first release through 411 Music Group.

About Noir Addiction

Noir Addiction is an Italy-based industrial rock and alternative rock project founded by Sonny Lanegan, a musician and producer previously known as the singer-songwriter behind “White Pulp” and co-founder of “The Dead Good,” both based in Los Angeles. Songs Lanegan wrote during that period were licensed for American television, including “Mozart in the Jungle,” “Iron Fist” and “Z Nation”.

After a period focused on licensing work and studio production, Lanegan launched Noir Addiction and reconnected with Nessie Zorba, a former bandmate from PostHuman with whom he had toured Europe. Roberto Catanzaro later joined on drums.

Noir Addiction debuted with the single “Chemical Bride” on June 27, 2025, followed by “Lust of the Flesh” in August 2025 and the 11-track debut album “Decadent Desire” on September 9, 2025, which featured Richard Christ on vocals alongside Lanegan, Zorba and Catanzaro. The band also released a cover of Depeche Mode’s “I Feel You” in 2025.

By March 2026, the earlier lineup had split over a “difference in vision,” and Noir Addiction continued as a project fronted by Lanegan. The band signed to SoulPunx Records, the Berlin label founded in 2017 by Konstantin Dellos, and released the singles “Serve Me Some Crime,” “How She’s Got It” and “Money for the Honey” ahead of the EP “Pretty Things Don’t Last” on July 16, 2026. “Foreplay,” out October 15, 2026, is Noir Addiction’s first release through 411 Music Group.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Norwegian ambient artist Arin Aksberg and Projekt Records founder Sam Rosenthal released the EP “Homecoming” on Projekt Records on October 16, 2026.

The six-track release gathers reinterpretations of Aksberg’s track “Homecoming,” originally featured on his 2024 album “Nordic Patterns.” Rosenthal added melodic lead synthesizer parts to the original before its 2024 release, and the pair later returned to the track, working individually to build five further versions. The tracklist runs “Homecoming (Edit),” edited by Rosenthal; “Å komme hjem,” reprocessed by Rosenthal; “Homecoming,” the original track, mixed by Aksberg; “A Return to Home,” reprocessed by Aksberg; “Homecoming (Nostos),” reprocessed by Rosenthal and featuring fellow Projekt artist Erik Wøllo on electric guitar; and “Å komme hjem (Half Speed),” a further rework by Rosenthal.

Aksberg, 27, lives in Alta, Norway, north of the Arctic Circle. Rosenthal, 60, lives in Portland, Oregon, and founded Projekt Records and Black Tape For A Blue Girl.

“Homecoming” is available on Bandcamp.

About Arin Aksberg and Sam Rosenthal

Arin Aksberg is a Norwegian ambient and drone artist based in Alta, who released the album “Nordic Patterns” on Projekt Records in early 2024. Sam Rosenthal is the founder of Projekt Records and of Black Tape For A Blue Girl, and has also recorded with vidnaObmana on the album “Terrace of Memories.” “Homecoming,” released October 16, 2026, is their first collaborative EP together.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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A Shoreline Dream, the Barnum, Colorado shoegaze and post-punk duo of Ryan Policky and Erik Jeffries, released the album “Waiting” on Latenight Weeknight Records on October 16, 2026, arriving 20 years after the band’s debut album, “Avoiding the Consequences.”

The nine-track album comprises “20,” “Always in Dreams,” “Legacy,” “In the Clouds,” “Triggered,” “Bleed & Reject,” “Open My…,” “Dwell on Dwell on” and “Don’t Fall Light.” It was previewed by the singles “Legacy” and “20,” whose video stars Julianna Beckert and was shot and directed by Ryan Policky around Denver and Barnum, Colorado. All songs were written by Policky, except “Open My…” co-written with Jeffries; Policky performs vocals and all instruments except guitar by Jeffries on “Open My…,” “Dwell on Dwell On” and “Legacy.” Policky produced, recorded, mixed and mastered the album, which is distributed by The Orchard.

“Waiting is what we all do. Waiting for something to happen. Waiting for people to enter and exit our lives… Since a human life is so short, it becomes the one thing we do the most of,” says Ryan Policky. “Instead of constantly waiting, as I did in the past, I am instead… accelerating, and I think as we all age, that becomes the case for most of us. We want to secure our legacy.”

2026 has been a prolific year for the duo: in February they released the album “To Where They Have Gone,” featuring Ride’s Mark Gardener, continuing a collaboration that also produced 2024’s “Whitelined.” Over two decades, A Shoreline Dream has built a catalog approaching 120 released tracks and worked with Ulrich Schnauss, members of Engineers and Chapterhouse, Rocket Girl Records and mastering engineer Mark Kramer (Urge Overkill, Bongwater, Shimmy Records).

“Waiting” is available on Bandcamp, Spotify and Apple Music.

About A Shoreline Dream

A Shoreline Dream formed in Barnum, Colorado, in 2005 and is built around multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Ryan Policky and guitarist Erik Jeffries, who have spent two decades developing a guitar-driven sound rooted in shoegaze, psychedelia and post-punk. The duo’s collaborators have included Ulrich Schnauss, Ride’s Mark Gardener, and members of Engineers and Chapterhouse. Their partnership with Gardener produced the 2024 album “Whitelined” and the February 2026 album “To Where They Have Gone.” “Waiting,” released October 16, 2026, on Latenight Weeknight Records, marks 20 years since the band’s debut, “Avoiding the Consequences.”

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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DJ Moderno, the Madrid-based project of producer Germán Ormaechea, released the five-track mashup collection “Dark Sessions Vol. II” on Bandcamp on October 14, 2026.

The EP pairs post-punk, gothic rock and new wave tracks with contemporary electronic production: “She Sells Vagabonds” combines The Cult with New Model Army, “Lucretia Is U Tonite” combines The Sisters of Mercy with Overmono and LCD Soundsystem, “Winning Again” combines The Sound with Fred again.., “True Faith Territory” combines New Order with The Blaze, and “Love My Way On Hold” combines The Psychedelic Furs with Jamie xx.

The release continues the concept introduced on “Dark Sessions Vol. I,” connecting the darker sounds of post-punk and darkwave with UK garage, house and contemporary electronic music. Ormaechea tested all five tracks on dancefloors and mastered them for club use.

“Dark Sessions Vol. II” is available on Bandcamp.

About DJ Moderno

DJ Moderno is the recording and DJ project of Germán Ormaechea, based in Madrid, Spain. His “Dark Sessions” series reworks post-punk, gothic rock and darkwave tracks into club-oriented mashups built around contemporary electronic production. “Dark Sessions Vol. I” received coverage from Side-Line and the Spanish outlet Rockdelux. “Dark Sessions Vol. II,” released October 14, 2026, continues the series with five new reworks.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Liverpool post-punk band The Room released the video for “Magic Games”, a single from their album “Doom Pop!”, released September 3, 2026, on 9×9 Records.

“Doom Pop!” is an 11-track album distributed in North America via Darla Records, available on CD and limited mixed eco-vinyl, and digitally via Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp. The tracklist runs “Drill, Baby, Drill,” “Magic Games,” “Things Have Learnt to Walk That Ought to Crawl,” “Trespassing,” “Temptation Harbour,” “Doom Patrol,” “Continent of Lies,” “The Room,” “No One Comes Here From the Town,” “Stories” and “Drones.”

The album was recorded and mixed by Steve Powell at Ark Recording Studios in Liverpool, produced by Dave Jackson and Steve Powell, and mastered by Pete Maher, with cover artwork by Genevieve Baker. The band’s current lineup is Dave Jackson on vocals, Becky Stringer on bass, Darren Brown on guitar, Ethan Kyme on keyboards, and Clive Thomas on drums, joined on two tracks by Tom McCabe.

Where much of “Doom Pop!” addresses authoritarianism, disinformation and global unrest, “Magic Games” turns to childhood memory. “In contrast to the darker tone of much of the album, ‘Magic Games’ is based on early memories; playing with toy knights and scuba divers in my grandparents’ parlour while listening to Vaughan Monroe sing ‘Ghost Riders in the Sky’, while a distantly remembered Grandad slept in his armchair with a bottle of his favourite beer next to the fireguard.” says Dave Jackson.

Reviewing the record, Big Takeover Magazine called it “Bunnymen-infused, indie eclecticism… a heady blend of left-field pop and a progressive post-punk poise for the discerning, contemporary alt-pop picker.”

About The Room

The Room formed in Liverpool in 1979, led by singer Dave Jackson and bassist Becky Stringer. The band recorded four sessions for John Peel’s BBC radio show, appeared on “The Whistle Test,” and worked with Television’s Tom Verlaine and producer John Porter (Roxy Music, The Smiths, Billy Bragg) on the 1984 album “In Evil Hour.” Earlier releases included “Bitter Reaction” (1980), “Indoor Fireworks” (1982) and “Clear!” (1983), followed by the posthumous 1985 release “Jackpot Jack,” drawn from BBC radio sessions.

After the band split in 1985, Jackson and Stringer went on to form Benny Profane, Dust and Dead Cowboys; Jackson also recorded as The Room in the Wood with Paul Cavanagh. The Room reformed in 2022 with Jackson and Stringer joined by guitarist Darren Brown, keyboardist Ethan Kyme and original drummer Clive Thomas, releasing the albums “Restless Fate” (2023) and “The Telling” (2024), and the single “Nemesis” in February 2025, before “Doom Pop!” in September 2026.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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AD Ozium, the experimental recording project of Washington, D.C. musician Jeremy Moore, released the sophomore full-length album “Body Without Organs” on Saccharine Underground on October 15, 2026.

The 12-track album continues AD Ozium’s fusion of freak folk, no-wave and dark ambient, applying a musique concrète approach across several tracks and presenting them through a vocal and lyrical narrative. It follows the project’s debut, “In the Style of Dead Sparrows.” The tracklist comprises “CsO (intro),” “Accelerationism,” “Thug Bait,” “Terrorgramophone,” “Curse of 39,” “Space of Flows,” “Capitulation,” “Fear of Silence,” “The Illusion of Completeness,” “e/acc: Thirst For Nihilism,” “Most Beloved” and the title track, “Body Without Organs.”

Where AD Ozium’s earlier work examined psychological landscapes, “Body Without Organs” turns outward to address dehumanization, economic exploitation and systemic collapse, drawing on philosophical ideas about the dissolution of fixed identity. The album was produced by AD Ozium and engineered by Andy Baldwin at Metropolis Studios in the UK, with cover art by Steven Archer of Stoneburner and Ego Likeness.

Reviewing the album for Kolchenog, Dzianis Lesnik wrote: “Albums like this demand to be heard rather than described, for they transform the listener’s perception of music and art.” Writing for Aural Aggravation, Christopher Nosnibor described the record this way: “The experience of listening to Body Without Organs is not an easy one: it slowly drags the listener down into murky waters and a troubled headspace, one where confusion and dissonance reign.”

“Body Without Organs” is available on Bandcamp and Spotify.

About AD Ozium

AD Ozium is the experimental recording project of Washington, D.C. musician Jeremy Moore, blending freak folk, no-wave and dark ambient songwriting. The project debuted with the album “In the Style of Dead Sparrows” before following up with “Body Without Organs,” released October 15, 2026, on Saccharine Underground. The new album was produced by AD Ozium, engineered by Andy Baldwin at Metropolis Studios in the UK, and features cover art by Steven Archer of Ego Likeness and Stoneburner.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Ashes Tomorrow, the new dark electronic solo project of former Fleischkrieg vocalist and songwriter Richard Cranor, releases the single “Prey” and the six-track EP “Terminal” on October 31, 2026.

“Terminal” is available now for pre-order on Bandcamp, with the full EP following on major streaming platforms on November 14, 2026. The tracklist runs “Prey,” “Dominator,” “My Sweet Departed,” “Fcuked,” “When Angels Lie” and “Wildflower.” The single “Prey” arrives on streaming platforms on October 31, 2026, with an official visualizer video.

Based in Las Vegas, Nevada, Cranor describes Ashes Tomorrow as a move from Fleischkrieg’s industrial metal into darkwave, EBM and synth-driven alternative music, pairing hypnotic electronic rhythms with atmospheric, melodic textures. “Terminal” is built around the double meaning of its title, a final stop or a crossroads into the unknown, with “Prey” centered on the dynamics of dominance and submission.

About Ashes Tomorrow

Ashes Tomorrow is the solo project of Richard Cranor, launched in 2026 and based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Cranor was previously the lead singer and songwriter of the industrial metal act Fleischkrieg, which Side-Line has covered since 2021, including the singles “Reach” and “Relax,” the video premiere for “Eve” in 2024, and the 2025 single “Reach” featuring Militia Vox. Fleischkrieg’s full-length album “Herzblut” was released in 2021.

With Ashes Tomorrow, Cranor moves from industrial metal toward darkwave, EBM and synthpop. The project’s first release, the single “Prey” and the EP “Terminal,” arrives on October 31, 2026.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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AAAK (As Able As Kane), the Manchester, UK electro-industrial project of Paul Rawlinson and Simon “Ding” Archer, released the digital EP “Buildingscape Beats” through COP International on October 16, 2026.

The EP contains three tracks: “BSB V3.0” (3:43), “The German Factor” (6:30) and “AI Zombie” (2:42). Paul Rawlinson provides vocals; Simon “Ding” Archer wrote the music and recorded and produced the EP at his own 6dB Recording Studio in Salford, UK.

“AI Zombie” reworks “Techno Zombie,” originally released on the band’s 1990 album “Big Fist,” which also carried “The German Factor” as a CD-only bonus track.

AAAK’s affiliation with COP International dates to May 2026, when the label released the single “Crash.” “Buildingscape Beats” is the band’s first EP for COP International since that release.

In the EP’s Bandcamp notes, AAAK frames “Buildingscape Beats” as a revival of a sound the band says it originated decades earlier: “AAAK invented Buildingscape Beat in 1987. Nearly 40 years later, somebody forgot to kill it.”

“Buildingscape Beats” is available as a digital EP on Bandcamp.

About AAAK (As Able As Kane)

AAAK (As Able As Kane) is an electro-industrial band from Manchester, UK. Its lineup has included Brendan McGuirk, Paul Rawlinson and Simon “Ding” Archer. The band’s discography on Discogs begins with the 1989 release “Buildingscapebeat,” followed in 1990 by “Big Fist,” which contained the original version of “Techno Zombie” and carried “The German Factor” as a CD bonus track. Further releases followed in the 2010s, including “The Collection” (2010), the EP “Out Here” (2011), “Totalitarian Tip-Toe” (2012), “Buildingscapebeat XXV” (2013) and “Sweet Sweet Kiss” (2014).

Simon “Ding” Archer also plays in 1919 and in Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, another act on the COP International roster since 2024. He was a member of The Fall from 2003 to 2004 and contributed to later recordings by the band, toured with PJ Harvey in 2004 in a run documented in the film “Please Leave Quietly,” and played bass on the Pixies’ 2014 album “Indie Cindy” following Kim Deal’s departure. He owns and operates 6dB Recording Studio in Salford, UK, where “Buildingscape Beats” was recorded.

AAAK’s affiliation with COP International began with the single “Crash” in May 2026. “Buildingscape Beats” is the band’s first EP for the label.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Monica Richards, the vocalist of gothic rock duo Faith and the Muse and the band Strange Boutique, will release her fourth solo studio album, “Hiraeth”, on 12 February 2027 through The Circle Music. The label describes it as her first new solo release in fourteen years. Pre-orders opened on 15 October 2026 alongside the announcement.

“Hiraeth” is a Welsh word with no direct English translation, describing a longing or homesickness for a place, time or person that may no longer be reachable. Richards has said the album is built around variations of a single melodic motif she has carried in her head since childhood. The motif runs through all nine tracks, from the opening vocals of “Horae: Thallo” to the closing title track.

The album’s tracklist: “Horae: Thallo”, “Sand and Line”, “Mimir”, “Connasci”, “Horae: Eirene”, “The Lotos-Eaters”, “Spirit Night”, “Akhlys” and “Hiraeth”.

Richards co-produced “Hiraeth” with Chad Blinman, who also mixed the album at The Eye Socket studio in Massachusetts and contributed drums and string arrangements to several tracks. Josh Sebek mastered the record. Guest performers include Richards’ Strange Boutique bandmates Dennis Kane and Steve Willett, along with Neil Mckay, Steve Niles, Cindy Coulter, Brandon Hayes and Greg Scott Cruz on guitar and bass, Paul Mercer on viola, Marzia Rangel on cello, and vocalists Patty Ashara Hele and Anthony Roumanis.

Richards said the album took years to write before recording began in earnest. “I began writing the songs for Hiraeth years ago, but wasn’t able to really begin recording until 2024,” she said. “I am so deeply grateful to Maria and The Circle Music for their support and belief in me as I took this journey. I’m excited for everyone to hear the album!”

“Hiraeth” is available for pre-order through The Circle Music as a magenta or turquoise gatefold vinyl LP, each limited to 250 copies and featuring cover art designed by Richards herself. A CD edition, limited to 1,000 copies and housed in a digipack with an eight-page booklet, adds four exclusive remix tracks. The CD will also be distributed in the United States through Richards’ own label.

About Monica Richards

Monica Richards fronted Hate From Ignorance in the Washington, D.C. hardcore scene from 1982 to 1983, then Madhouse from 1983 to 1986. In 1987 she formed Strange Boutique in Washington, D.C. with Daniel Ingram and Fred “Freak” Smith. Bassist Steve Willett joined in 1988. The band released its debut EP, “Easter Island”, in 1989 and broke up in late 1993.

In 1993, Richards co-founded the gothic rock duo Faith and the Muse with William Faith. The pair released five studio albums and a double live and remix collection, and toured across the US and Europe. Faith and the Muse’s 1994 debut album, “Elyria”, received a remastered CD edition through Metropolis Records on 9 October 2026.

Richards also built a parallel solo catalogue, releasing “InfraWarrior” in 2007, “Naiades” in 2012 and “Kindred” in 2013, followed by two collaborations with Anthony Jones, the EP “Syzygy” (2018) and the album “Aestuarium” (2019). Between 2017 and 2018 she performed with the UK act The Eden House in England, Germany and Poland, and in 2026 she featured on Seventh Harmonic’s EP “And The Light Shineth In Darkness” alongside Annmari Thim Hermansson.

Strange Boutique reunited for a one-off Washington, D.C. show in 2004 and again in 2019, with a lineup that added Dennis Kane on guitar and Gregg Hudson on drums. Founding member Fred Smith died in 2017. The band returned with its first album in 31 years, “Let the Lonely Heart Sing”, in 2025. “Hiraeth” now extends that renewed activity into Richards’ solo work, due through The Circle Music on 12 February 2027.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Los Angeles darkwave and post-punk project Shadows Hold releases “Not Much to Say” on 16 October 2026 through the German imprint Cold Transmission. It is Shadows Hold’s third release of 2026, following the debut full-length album “Bound in Chains” and the single “Nosebleed”.

“Not Much to Say” is available as a digital single on Bandcamp.

Shadows Hold supports She Past Away on four Polish dates after the single’s release:

• 28 October 2026 – Gdańsk, Poland
• 29 October 2026 – Warszawa, Poland
• 30 October 2026 – Poznań, Poland
• 31 October 2026 – Kraków, Poland

About Shadows Hold

Shadows Hold is a solo darkwave and post-punk project based in Los Angeles, California. The project released its debut full-length album, “Bound in Chains”, earlier in 2026, followed by the single “Nosebleed”. “Not Much to Say” is Shadows Hold’s third release of the year, arriving as the project heads into its first tour dates alongside She Past Away.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Portuguese darkwave project IAMTHESHADOW releases “Bending Time” on 16 October 2026 through the German imprint Cold Transmission, its first new song since the single “So Long Lost” in December 2025. Pedro Code, the musician behind IAMTHESHADOW, wrote and produced the track himself.

An austere, monochromatic performance video accompanies “Bending Time”. Code said there is a quiet beauty in letting go, describing the song as about “watching time slip through our hands, trying to hold on to moments that are already fading.” The single follows IAMTHESHADOW’s 2024 album “To End What Never Began” and the June 2026 collaborative album “Future Echoes”, made with Antipole’s Karl Morten Dahl and Ja’kob.

“Bending Time” is available as a digital single on Bandcamp.

About IAMTHESHADOW

IAMTHESHADOW began in Lisbon, Portugal, in 2015 as a solo project of Pedro Code, who also records as The Dream Collision and Rainy Days Factory. The project describes its sound as a modern dark romance, drawing on the darkest and sharpest sounds of the 1980s. IAMTHESHADOW’s third full-length album, “Pitchblack”, arrived in 2020, followed by “To End What Never Began” in 2024.

Code has also worked as a remixer for other Cold Transmission-affiliated acts, contributing an IAMTHESHADOW remix to Massive Ego’s 2025 single “Hit the Kerb Running” alongside XTR Human. “Future Echoes”, his 2026 collaborative album with Antipole‘s Karl Morten Dahl and Ja’kob, arrived on 19 June. “Bending Time” is IAMTHESHADOW’s first solo single since that collaboration.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Swedish gothic rock band Then Comes Silence releases “Bye Bye Land”, the third and final preview single from its upcoming album “Requiem Ballroom“, due 20 November 2026 on Metropolis Records. It follows the earlier singles “Judgement Day”, released in August, and “Remaker Redeemer”, released in September. All three songs appear on the album.

“Requiem Ballroom” is Then Comes Silence’s eighth studio album. Singer and bassist Alex Svenson-Metés produced the record, recorded by Jörgen Wall and mixed by Tom van Heesch, whose credits include Rammstein, Apocalyptica and Backyard Babies. Johan Lange of Agent Side Grinder plays synthesizer on the closing track, “The Future Has a Silver Lining”. Svenson-Metés wrote “Bye Bye Land” about a friend who, in his words, “reached a point where he decided he no longer wanted to be here.”

“Requiem Ballroom” is available to pre-order on Bandcamp in digital, CD and vinyl formats, with a twelve-track lineup:

1. Lay
2. Dance on the Edge of the Grave
3. Bye Bye Land
4. Judgement Day
5. Lacrimosa
6. Hear the Silence
7. Remaker Redeemer
8. Witches and Demons
9. Delete Me
10. No Stranger
11. Black Magic Children
12. The Future Has a Silver Lining

About Then Comes Silence

Then Comes Silence formed in Stockholm, Sweden, in 2012 around singer, bassist and keyboardist Alex Svenson-Metés, drawing on gothic rock and post-punk with lyrical themes rooted in horror and spiritism. The band released its self-titled debut album and “Then Comes Silence II” on Novoton in 2012 and 2013, followed by “Nyctophilian” in 2015, the year drummer and backing vocalist Jonas Fransson joined. Then Comes Silence signed to Nuclear Blast and released “Blood” on 20 October 2017. Guitarist Hugo Zombie joined the band in 2018.

The band toured Europe through the late 2010s, including a 2018 run opening for Fields of the Nephilim and Chameleons Vox, before signing to Metropolis Records and SPV and releasing “Machine” on 13 March 2020, the same day much of Europe entered COVID-19 lockdown. “Hunger” followed in 2022 on Nexilis and Schubert, and the band returned to Metropolis Records for 2024’s “Trickery” and the 2025 “Boxed” EP. “Requiem Ballroom”, the band’s eighth album, arrives next on 20 November 2026.

Britta Pirkko

For almost 15 years I’ve been writing about music, interviewing artists and reviewing releases for Peek-A-Boo Magazine. Recently, I also launched my own WordPress website, where I continue to share interviews, reviews and news from the underground scene. The darker side of music has been part of my life for more than 30 years, with a passion for everything from ’80s synthpop and New Wave to EBM, Futurepop and dark electronic music in general. Also Metal and Rock is part of my world. Away from the scene, I work in a public library, where books are part of my everyday life. I enjoy both fiction and non-fiction, especially books on politics, religion, health and travel. I’m also a fan of thrillers and horror films. When I’m not listening to music or reading, you’ll usually find me exploring nature, enjoying a good sauna, experimenting with vegan cooking, or travelling to my second home, Finland. I’ve always believed the underground has the best stories. My job is simply to help tell them

German dark electro-pop duo Rotersand released “Merging Oceans / Train” on 16 October 2026 through Metropolis Records in North America and Trisol in the rest of the world. The four-track single is the first in a planned series marking the band’s upcoming 25th anniversary.

The release pairs a remastered 2001 demo recording of “Merging Oceans,” originally issued as an EP in 2003, with three new versions of “Train,” a track from the band’s 2025 album “Don’t Become The Thing You Hated.” “Merging Oceans” was inspired by a newspaper article about a sailor who set out to navigate every ocean aboard an old wooden ship. “Train” draws on a recurring nightmare vocalist Rascal Nikov had after the early death of his mother, in which he was trapped aboard a train he could not leave. The track’s industrial rhythms reflect that unresolved anxiety.

“Merging Oceans / Train” tracklist:

1. Merging Oceans (Original Demo Remaster) – 5:11
2. Train (Extended) – 6:13
3. Train (Rework – Club) – 5:31
4. Train (Rework) – 7:15

About Rotersand

Rotersand formed in Hamburg, Germany, in September 2002, founded by Gun and vocalist Rascal Nikov, with electronics producer Krischan Jan-Eric Wesenberg joining shortly afterward. The duo (Nikov on vocals and electronics, Wesenberg on electronics) describes its own sound as “industrial pop,” mixing EBM and futurepop structures with club-driven electro and techno.

The band’s debut EP, “Merging Oceans,” arrived in 2003 alongside the album “Truth Is Fanatic,” both on Dependent Records. The single “Exterminate Annihilate Destroy” and the album “Welcome to Goodbye” followed in 2005, with the “Dare to Live” EP in 2006. Dependent closed at the start of 2007, and Rotersand signed to Trisol in 2008, the same year “I Cry” was released from the album “1023” (2007). “War on Error” and “Random Is Resistance” followed in 2009, and the “Waiting to Be Born” EP in 2010. The band toured Europe with Assemblage 23 and, with Covenant, across Europe and the US, and headlined Infest in 2006.

Rotersand returned in 2014 with the remix collection “Truth Is Fanatic Again” and the new track “Electric Elephant,” then released the single “Torn Realities” and the album “CapitalismTM” in 2016, followed by the single “You Know Nothing” in 2019 and the album “How Do You Feel Today?” in 2020. In 2021, Rotersand reissued “Truth Is Fanatic” and “Welcome to Goodbye”, and the single “Higher Ground” followed in 2023. Rotersand released “Don’t Become The Thing You Hated” on Metropolis Records and Trisol in August 2025, preceded by the singles “Private Firmament” and “Sexiness Of Slow.” “Merging Oceans / Train” opens the band’s run toward its 25th anniversary, with further singles expected to follow.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Luxembourg martial industrial and neofolk project Rome released its debut album, “Nera,” on 16 October 2006 through the Swedish label Cold Meat Industry. The record turns 20 this year.

Jerome Reuter wrote, performed and recorded “Nera” largely on his own, with Patrick Damiani handling recording engineering and mixing. The twelve-track album runs: “Der Zeitsturm,” “A Burden of Flowers,” “Reversion,” “A la faveur de la nuit,” “Das Unbedingte,” “Rape Blossoms,” “Beasts of Prey,” “The Blade Unmasked,” “Hope Dies Painless,” “Nera,” “Birds of Prey” and “Les hirondelles.” Rome signed to Cold Meat Industry in 2006 and released the “Nera” album alongside the “Berlin” EP the same year, pairing military drumming and horns with acoustic guitar and spoken-word samples, a sound the project has carried through its catalogue since.

About Rome

Jerome Reuter, born in Luxembourg in 1981, founded Rome in November 2005 as an outlet for his own songwriting. “Nera,” released the following year, introduced the project’s combination of martial percussion, horns and ethereal acoustic guitar with Reuter’s own vocals and lyrics, often written in French, German and English. Rome moved from Cold Meat Industry to the Trisol Music Group label in 2009, a relationship that has carried the project through most of its later catalogue, including “The Hyperion Machine” (2016).

Reuter performs live with a rotating cast of musicians while remaining the sole constant member and primary creative force behind the project. He has continued to release albums steadily since “Nera,” including “Confessions d’un voleur d’âmes” (2009), “Flowers from Exile” (2012) and “A Passage to Rhodesia” (2014), building a catalogue regarded as among the most prominent in the neofolk genre. “Nera,” the record that opened that catalogue two decades ago, turns 20 this October.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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British new wave duo Eurythmics released their debut studio album, “In the Garden,” on 16 October 1981 through RCA Records. The record turns 45 this year.

Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart recorded “In the Garden” with krautrock producer Conny Plank at his studio in Cologne between January and May 1981, the same producer who worked with Ultravox during the same period. Lennox and Stewart wrote all ten tracks, except “English Summer” and “Caveman Head,” co-written with Roger Pomphrey. The album features Blondie drummer Clem Burke, D.A.F.’s Robert Görl, and Can’s Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit as guest musicians. The tracklist runs: “English Summer,” “Belinda,” “Take Me to Your Heart,” “She’s Invisible Now,” “Your Time Will Come,” “Caveman Head,” “Never Gonna Cry Again,” “All the Young (People of Today),” “Sing-Sing” and “Revenge.” Neither the album nor its two singles, “Never Gonna Cry Again” and “Belinda,” charted successfully at the time of release, but RCA reissued “In the Garden” in 2005 with the singles’ B-sides and three live tracks added.

About Eurythmics

Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart met in London in 1977, when Lennox was waitressing and Stewart was playing in the band Longdancer. The two formed the Tourists with Peet Coombes, releasing three albums before the group split in 1980. Lennox and Stewart then formed Eurythmics, a name coined after Plank hosted the pair at a New Year’s Eve party at his German studio, where they jammed with D.A.F.’s Robert Görl and Can’s Jaki Liebezeit and Holger Czukay. That encounter led to the “In the Garden” sessions and an RCA deal.

The duo’s commercial breakthrough came with their second album, “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” (1983), produced by Stewart alone and built around a drum machine and synthesiser after the costly “In the Garden” sessions pushed them toward a leaner approach. The title track topped the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1983, and further albums, including “Touch” (1983) and “Be Yourself Tonight” (1985), established Eurythmics as one of the decade’s most commercially successful acts. The duo disbanded as a recording unit in 1990 and reunited periodically, releasing “Peace” in 1999 and touring together as recently as 2014. “In the Garden,” recorded before any of that success, remains the record where Eurythmics first worked out its sound alongside some of the musicians who shaped German and American post-punk, and it turns 45 this October.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Finnish dark rock band Reflexion releases “Death of Dolor” on 16 October 2026, its first new single since 2010. A second song, “Bulletproof”, follows later this year. Both mark Reflexion’s return after the band went on an indefinite hiatus following its third album.

An earlier attempt at new material in 2024 took the band in a direction too far removed from its established sound, and those sessions were shelved. Reflexion went back into the studio in March 2026. Demos for “Death of Dolor” and “Bulletproof” came together over that first weekend, and the finished recordings were done between April and June. The lineup on the new songs is the one from Reflexion’s debut album: Juha Kylmänen on vocals, Juhani Heikka and Ilkka Jolma on guitar, Mikko Uusimaa on bass and Ari-Matti Pohjola on drums.

Arttu Peljo, who mixed Reflexion’s 2006 debut “Out of the Dark”, put the finishing touches on the new songs. Teemu Hostikka, the designer behind the band’s original logo, is working on Reflexion’s new visual identity. The band stated: “We didn’t set out to recreate the old Reflexion. We wanted to make music that feels right to us today, but when you hear it, you immediately know it’s Reflexion.”

“Death of Dolor” is available to stream on Spotify, where Reflexion’s back catalogue has been played in more than 150 countries and passed 12 million streams over the past year.

About Reflexion

Reflexion formed in Oulu, Finland, in 1996 under the name BarbarianZ, and took the name Reflexion in 2000. The members’ musical history together reaches back to the mid-1990s. Kylmänen also fronts the bands For My Pain… and Full Nothing.

Reflexion released its debut album, “Out of the Dark”, in 2006 on A1 Music. The follow-up, “Dead to the Past, Blind for Tomorrow”, arrived in 2008 on Mach XX and reached number 30 on the Finnish album chart. A third album, “Edge”, followed in 2010 on Mach XX, after which the band went on an indefinite hiatus and did not release new material for more than 15 years. “Death of Dolor” and “Bulletproof” open the next chapter in that story.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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The Human League, the Sheffield synth-pop band led by Philip Oakey, released “Dare” on 16 October 1981 through Virgin Records. The album turns 45 this year. Martin Rushent produced it with the band at his Genetic Sound studio in Streatley, Berkshire, between March and September 1981, and it was issued in the United States the following year on A&M under the title “Dare!”.

The record arrived after the band’s near-collapse. Founding members Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh had left in October 1980 to form Heaven 17, leaving Oakey and visual director Philip Adrian Wright to rebuild the line-up around teenage recruits Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Sulley, along with synthesizer players Ian Burden and Jo Callis. “Dare” reached number one on the UK Albums Chart in its second week of release, stayed on the chart for 77 weeks and has since been certified triple platinum by the BPI. Rolling Stone and The Village Voice both later credited its biggest single, “Don’t You Want Me”, with helping trigger the Second British Invasion of the US charts.

The Human League’s ‘Dare’ tracklist and credits

The original ten-track running order was “The Things That Dreams Are Made Of”, “Open Your Heart”, “The Sound of the Crowd”, “Darkness” and “Do or Die” on side one, followed by “Get Carter” (an instrumental cover of Roy Budd’s theme), “I Am the Law”, “Seconds”, “Love Action (I Believe in Love)” and “Don’t You Want Me” on side two. Four singles were drawn from the album: “The Sound of the Crowd” (24 April 1981), “Love Action (I Believe in Love)” (31 July 1981), “Open Your Heart” (2 October 1981) and “Don’t You Want Me” (27 November 1981), which became the UK Christmas number one for 1981 and later topped the Billboard Hot 100 in the US.

Credits on the sleeve list Philip Oakey on vocals and synthesizers, Philip Adrian Wright on slides and occasional synthesizer, Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Sulley on vocals, and Ian Burden and Jo Callis on synthesizers, with Martin Rushent handling programming and production and Dave Allen on assistant programming and engineering. Ken Ansell designed the sleeve, styled after a Vogue magazine cover, and Brian Aris shot the photography. A remix companion, “Love and Dancing”, credited to the League Unlimited Orchestra and again produced by Rushent, followed in 1982.

About The Human League

The Human League formed in Sheffield in 1977, when Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware, previously working as computer operators, began writing electronic music together and recruited singer Philip Oakey. Under the name The Human League from early 1978, the trio signed to Bob Last’s Edinburgh label Fast Product and released the single “Being Boiled” that June, followed by the instrumental EP “The Dignity of Labour” in 1979. Philip Adrian Wright joined as director of visuals around the same time, running slide projections and film during live shows.

The band signed to Virgin Records in May 1979. Their debut album, “Reproduction”, followed that August, and the second, “Travelogue”, reached number 16 in the UK in May 1980. Creative disagreements between Oakey and Ware came to a head later that year: Ware and Marsh left to found Heaven 17 with singer Glenn Gregory, while Oakey and Wright retained the Human League name along with the band’s outstanding debts. To fill out the line-up for an already-booked tour, Oakey recruited two teenagers he had seen dancing at Sheffield’s Crazy Daisy nightclub, Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Sulley, as backing vocalists, alongside synthesizer player Ian Burden. Guitarist and songwriter Jo Callis, formerly of the Rezillos, joined in April 1981 as the sixth member.

Under producer Martin Rushent at his Genetic Sound studio, the retooled band recorded “Dare”, released on 16 October 1981. It gave Virgin its first number-one album since Mike Oldfield’s “Tubular Bells” in 1973 and won Rushent the Brit Award for British Producer of the Year in 1982, with the band taking the award for Best British Newcomer. Wright, Burden and Callis had all left the band by the end of the 1980s, and the Human League continued as the trio of Oakey, Catherall and Sulley through albums including “Hysteria” (1984), “Crash” (1986) and “Octopus” (1995), the last of which produced the UK top-ten single “Tell Me When”. Forty-five years on from “Dare”, Oakey, Catherall and Sulley remain the group’s constant line-up.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Ministry release their farewell studio album, “Hate To Go (Take Out Or Delivery)”, on Cleopatra Records on 30 October 2026. The Chicago industrial band’s 17th studio album closes a 45-year career and arrives on CD, cassette and vinyl, alongside a digital edition available to pre-save.

Al Jourgensen, Ministry’s founder and only constant member since 1981, confirmed the album ends the band. The current lineup pairs Jourgensen’s vocals with guitarists Monte Pittman and Cesar Soto, bassist Paul D’Amour, synth player John Bechdel and drummer Pepe Clarke Magaña. Paul Barker, Jourgensen’s main collaborator through the 1980s and 1990s who left Ministry in 2003 and rejoined in 2024, guests on the closing track, “We’re Still Here.”

Jourgensen summed up the decision plainly: “I’m fucking done. I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished. I’m amazed at the path that it’s taken, from ‘With Sympathy’ to where we’re at today, and all points in between. It’s been quite a ride, but I’m completely at peace with the fact that it’s done. It’s time to herd goats.”

“Hate To Go (Take Out Or Delivery)” runs ten tracks on CD and digital, trimmed to nine on cassette and vinyl:

1. “Crickets”
2. “Voices of Hate”
3. “Clown Car”
4. “We Hate”
5. “Delete”
6. “Grifter”
7. “The White Man Lied” (CD and digital only)
8. “Singularity”
9. “Burned Out”
10. “We’re Still Here” (feat. Paul Barker)

Three singles preceded the album. “Burned Out,” out 24 July with a video directed by Joshua Bradford, formerly of Revolting Cocks, opened the campaign. “We Hate,” released 21 August with a second Bradford-directed video, paired the band’s commentary on the US political climate with heavy use of AI-generated imagery. “Singularity,” the most recent single, followed on 18 September with a video directed by Ben Garcia, taking anxieties around artificial intelligence as its subject.

Ministry’s 2027 ‘Goodbye Europe’ tour dates

Ministry support the album with a 21-date “Goodbye Europe” tour starting in April 2027, with Die Krupps as special guests throughout:

• 2 April 2027 – Utrecht, Ronda (Netherlands)
• 3 April 2027 – Saarbrücken, Garage (Germany)
• 4 April 2027 – Brussels, Ancienne Belgique (Belgium)
• 6 April 2027 – Manchester, O2 Victoria Warehouse (UK)
• 7 April 2027 – Dublin, 3Olympia (Ireland)
• 9 April 2027 – Nottingham, Rock City (UK)
• 10 April 2027 – London, Troxy (UK)
• 12 April 2027 – Paris, Bataclan (France)
• 14 April 2027 – Madrid, La Riviera (Spain)
• 15 April 2027 – Barcelona, Paral-lel (Spain)
• 17 April 2027 – Lausanne, Docks (Switzerland)
• 18 April 2027 – Munich, Tonhalle (Germany)
• 19 April 2027 – Vienna, Gasometer (Austria)
• 21 April 2027 – Prague, Forum Karlín (Czech Republic)
• 22 April 2027 – Warsaw, Progresja (Poland)
• 24 April 2027 – Berlin, Columbiahalle (Germany)
• 25 April 2027 – Hamburg, Grosse Freiheit 36 (Germany)
• 26 April 2027 – Copenhagen, Amager Bio (Denmark)
• 27 April 2027 – Oslo, Rockefeller (Norway)
• 29 April 2027 – Stockholm, Fållan (Sweden)
• 1 May 2027 – Helsinki, House of Culture (Finland)

About Ministry

Ministry formed in Chicago in 1981 around Al Jourgensen, who had moved to the city in 1978 after playing guitar in the post-punk group Special Affect. The original lineup featured keyboardists Robert Roberts and John Davis, bassist Martin Sorenson and drummer Stephen George, with Jourgensen taking over vocals. Ministry’s debut single, “I’m Falling / Cold Life,” came out on Chicago label Wax Trax! Records in 1981 and became the label’s first hit. Situation Two licensed it in the UK. Arista Records signed the band in 1982 and steered it toward synth-pop on the 1983 debut album “With Sympathy,” a record Jourgensen later distanced himself from. Ministry returned to Wax Trax! in 1984, then signed to Sire Records/Warner Bros. in 1985, debuting there with the single “Over the Shoulder.”

Paul Barker and Bill Rieflin became Ministry’s core collaborators through the mid-1980s after Stephen George left over the band’s move toward drum machines. With Barker as Jourgensen’s main co-writer, Ministry released “Twitch” (1986), “The Land of Rape and Honey” (1988) and “The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste” (1989) on Sire/Warner Bros., followed by “Psalm 69” (1992) and “Filth Pig” (1996). Martin Atkins joined as a second drummer for the 1989-90 touring lineup, which also featured Chris Connelly, Nivek Ogre of Skinny Puppy and Mike Scaccia. Rey Washam replaced Rieflin in 1994. “Dark Side of the Spoon” followed in 1999, still on Warner Bros.

Barker left Ministry in 2003-2004. During his years away, he revived his own project Lead Into Gold with a new album, “The Eternal Present,” in 2023. Ministry itself continued through “Animositisomina” (2003, Sanctuary), “Houses of the Molé” (2004), “Rio Grande Blood” (2006, 13th Planet) and “The Last Sucker” (2007), with a rotating cast that included Louis Svitek, Duane Buford, Paul Raven, Tommy Victor and Sin Quirin. Mike Scaccia, John Bechdel, Aaron Rossi and Tony Campos formed the touring and recording lineup after Ministry’s 2011 reunion, which produced “Relapse” (2012) and “From Beer to Eternity” (2013). Scaccia died in December 2012. Ministry’s side projects across these decades included Revolting Cocks, formed in 1984 with Richard 23 and Luc Van Acker; PTP, whose track “Show Me Your Spine” appeared in “RoboCop”; Lard, with former Dead Kennedys singer Jello Biafra; and the country project Buck Satan and the 666 Shooters, whose “Bikers Welcome Ladies Drink Free” came out on 13th Planet in 2012.

Ministry moved to Nuclear Blast for “AmeriKKKant” (2018) and “Moral Hygiene” (2021), the latter made with the lineup that still includes Bechdel and bassist Paul D’Amour, who joined in 2019. Ministry announced its 16th album, “Hopiumforthemasses,” for a March 2024 release. Cleopatra Records, which had already issued Ministry’s archival live albums since “Toronto 1986” (2015), brought Jourgensen back to the band’s early synth-pop years for the “Squirrely Years Revisited” reissue in March 2025. Drummer Pepe Clarke Magaña joined in 2024, the same year Barker rejoined after two decades away. Side-Line covered Ministry’s “Dancing Alone” revival with a Jurgen Engler remix in March 2026, a release tied to Die Krupps’ Engler, whose band joins Ministry’s 2027 tour as special guests. “Hate To Go (Take Out Or Delivery),” out 30 October on Cleopatra Records, is billed by Jourgensen as Ministry’s last studio album and the close of a 45-year career.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Finnish dark coldwave and synthpunk artist Suzi Sabotage released new single “Sacrifice” on 15 October 2026 through Out Of Line Music.

Built on a 130 BPM drum machine, synths drawing on 1980s electronic music and vocals that alternate between a low, brooding register and a lighter, airier one, “Sacrifice” was written about how unprocessed trauma can turn into anger aimed at people who had no part in causing it. “The lyrics were written about how some people’s trauma shapeshifts into sadism,” Suzi Sabotage says. “They seethe in vengeful rage against the wrongdoers, but end up hurting those who never hurt them, because they often make far easier targets.”

Suzi Sabotage wrote, mixed and mastered “Sacrifice” herself. The single’s cover photo was shot by Sasha Araya.

About Suzi Sabotage

Suzi Sabotage is the solo project of Suzi Nyberg, a singer and songwriter based in Helsinki, Finland. Before going solo, she fronted the Helsinki post-punk band Masquerade and played keyboards in the deathrock outfit Virgin In Veil. Her solo work became public in 2020 with the digital collection “Singles 2020,” half of whose proceeds she donated to Black Lives Matter. Her debut album, “Postmodern Dystopia,” followed on CD in 2021 through the Polish label Bat-Cave Productions.

She signed to the Berlin-based label Out Of Line Music in June 2022 and announced her sophomore album, “Succubus,” the same year, preceded by the single “I Am The Storm.” “Oodi Surulle” introduced a Finnish-language, neofolk-tinged direction later that year, with some tracks built around the kantele, Finland’s national instrument. “Love at First Bite” followed in 2023, the year Suzi Sabotage also featured on Corlyx’s single ‘Kill Cave’.

Her 2021 track “Nazi Goths, Fuck Off” was covered in 2025 by The Cassandra Complex and by Tears For The Dying. The same year brought the Finnish-language single “Suden synty” in June and “She-Demon,” her first international single since then, that November. In 2026 she collaborated with the British post-punk band Ausgang.

Suzi Sabotage is also the creator of the Goths For Palestine project, two fundraiser compilations that have raised more than $13,500 to date, featuring artists including Kælan Mikla, A Place To Bury Strangers, Rubella Ballet, Vision Video and Zanias. She has toured three continents, including South America, a nationwide US run and dates across the UK, France, Italy and Germany. “Sacrifice,” released 15 October 2026 through Out Of Line Music, is her latest single.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Laibach have shared a new track, ‘#US’, featuring long-time collaborator Marina Mårtensson, alongside a remix of the song by SILVERWINGKILLER. Both versions are taken from ‘Musick : Encore’, the Slovenian industrial group’s companion album to “Musick,” due on Mute Records on 20 November 2026 across vinyl, CD and digital formats.

“#US” follows two tracks already released from the companion album: “This Is The End,” featuring Slovenian singer Kaja Skrbinšek, and a PUNCHBAG remix of “Love Machine” featuring Senidah. Richard X, Fat White Family, The Lincolnshire Poacher and labelmates PUNCHBAG also contribute remixes across the album.

What’s on Laibach’s ‘Musick : Encore’

The CD and digital edition carries 14 tracks: “This Is The End” (feat. Kaja Skrbinšek), “Yom Kippur”, “#US” (feat. Marina Mårtensson), “Tales From The Crypt”, “Faith No More” (feat. Marina Mårtensson & Bojan Cvjetićanin), “Musick” (Unsick Version, feat. Wiyaala), “Resistencia” (feat. Gregor Strasbergar, Richard X remix), “Love Machine” (feat. Senidah, PUNCHBAG remix), “#US” (SILVERWINGKILLER remix), “Modern Talking” (feat. Manca Trampuš), “Fluid Emancipation” (Fat White Family meets Schopenhauer Up Town remix), “Allgorhythm” (feat. Wiyaala, Algorithm remix assisted by iTurk), “Love Machine” (The Lincolnshire Poacher remix) and “Musick” (feat. Wiyaala, Balžalorsky remix). The vinyl edition carries a shorter, 10-track sequence of the album.

Guests across the album include Manca Trampuš of the Slovenian band Koala Voice on “Modern Talking,” Bojan Cvjetićanin of Joker Out on “Faith No More,” Gregor Strasbergar of MRFY on the Richard X remix of “Resistencia,” and Ghanaian artist Wiyaala on two versions of “Musick.” “Yom Kippur” previously appeared as a standalone single, released in October 2025 featuring the Palestinian Children’s Choir via Nika. Richard X also co-produced several of the album’s tracks.

“Musick : Encore” follows “Musick,” released in 2026 on Mute, also on vinyl, CD and digitally. Laibach describe the pair of albums as a reflection on music-making itself: “perhaps these are the final moments when creating music purely for enjoyment still carries broader significance, before alien, generative intelligence outplays and outperforms us all.”

Laibach are currently touring Europe in support of “Musick,” with dates continuing into 2027.

About Laibach

Laibach formed in 1980 in Trbovlje, a mining town in Slovenia, then part of Yugoslavia. The band’s name is the German-language name for Ljubljana, a deliberate reference to the World War II occupation of Slovenia. In December 1984, Laibach co-founded Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK) alongside the visual-art collective Irwin and the Scipion Nasice Sisters Theatre, uniting music, art and theatre under a single project. The band released its debut album, “Laibach”, in 1985 through the Slovenian label ŠKUC Ropot.

From 1987 onward, Laibach recorded primarily for Mute Records, releasing “Krst pod Triglavom – Baptism” and “Opus Dei” that year, followed by the covers albums “Let It Be” (1988) and “Sympathy for the Devil” (1988/1990). “Kapital” followed in 1992, then “NATO” in 1994, reworking military and pop songs against the backdrop of the Yugoslav wars, and “Jesus Christ Superstars” in 1996, a reinterpretation of the Andrew Lloyd Webber rock opera. “WAT” arrived in 2003, its 23rd anniversary covered by Side-Line, and the national-anthem reworking “Volk” followed in 2006.

Laibach’s catalogue since has included the soundtrack to “Iron Sky” (2012), “Spectre” (2014), “The Sound of Music” (2018), the musical “Wir sind das Volk” (2021/2022) and the symphonic work “Alamut” (2025). The band unveiled the “Musick” video ahead of the album’s release, and the record itself, described by the band as their “most pop outing to date,” followed in 2026. Laibach then announced ‘Musick : Encore’ in September 2026 as a companion piece built from the same sessions. “#US” and its SILVERWINGKILLER remix are the latest tracks shared from that album ahead of its 20 November release.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Toronto dark alternative rock band A Primitive Evolution will play its first European live show on 17 October at La Bohemia in Castellón de la Plana, Spain. The appearance is part of a Rock and Metal Alliance event at Pro Weekend Festival, running in the city from 14 to 17 October. A Primitive Evolution records for Metropolis Records.

Tour date for A Primitive Evolution

• 17 October 2026 – La Bohemia, Castellón de la Plana, Spain (Rock and Metal Alliance event, Pro Weekend Festival)

Tickets are available through Weeztix via proweekendfest.com.

Led by Brett Carruthers, A Primitive Evolution signed to Metropolis Records in 2018 for its third album, “Becoming”, which mixed rock, metal and electronica with influences the band has named as Nine Inch Nails, The Cure, Tool, The Prodigy, Ministry, Radiohead and Alice in Chains. A cover of Motörhead’s “Ace Of Spades” followed as a single in early 2023 and carried the band onto North American tour dates that spring supporting Sisters Of Mercy.

The Spain show lands while the band works on a new album. Carruthers said: “We’ve spent a long time building this band, and finally having an opportunity to bring A Primitive Evolution to Europe is a huge moment for us. We’re excited to play in Spain, meet people who make up the wider European music community, and start building the relationships that can help take this band to the next level.”

The booking comes through the Rock and Metal Alliance, which has worked with A Primitive Evolution in Canada before and is using the Spain date to connect the band with European promoters, media and other acts on the circuit.

About A Primitive Evolution

A Primitive Evolution formed in Toronto, Ontario, in 2007 around vocalist, guitarist and keyboard player Brett Carruthers, bassist and cellist Stephany Seki and drummer Stu Dead. The band released a self-titled debut album in 2009 and followed it with “The Prize” in September 2012. In 2008 the group played a Canadian Music Week event at the Bovine Sex Club, and in 2009 Carruthers founded Toronto’s VIVA LOS MUERTOS festival.

Metropolis Records signed A Primitive Evolution for “Becoming”, released on 5 October 2018 as the band’s first release on the label. Keyboard player Owen Mackinder joined in 2019, the same year A Primitive Evolution took its first major North American tour, opening for labelmate PIG. The “Ace Of Spades” single and video followed in early 2023, covered at the time by Side-Line in ‘Canadian industrial rock act A Primitive Evolution lands new single ‘Ace Of Spades’ on Metropolis’ and ‘Canadian dark rock band A Primitive Evolution launches ‘Ace Of Spades’ video’, and led to the band’s North American dates supporting Sisters Of Mercy that spring.

Carruthers has also played bass for The Birthday Massacre since 2019, appearing on the band’s three most recent albums and touring with the group across North America and Europe, including the Toronto act’s 2025 album ‘Pathways’. He also works as a record producer and mix engineer, with credits for The Birthday Massacre, USS and Android Meme. He and Seki are also members of the Canadian industrial rock band Econoline Crush. The Pro Weekend Festival date on 17 October is A Primitive Evolution’s first time playing outside North America.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Amsterdam-based artist Subject Sue brings her six-track debut EP, “Details in the Dark”, to limited vinyl on 21 October 2026 through Avant!, the EBM and dark electro label. The genre is EBM, dark electro, industrial and minimal synth.

What is on Subject Sue’s ‘Details in the Dark’

The EP runs six tracks: “Details in the Dark”, “Hides”, “Way Too Much”, “Treat”, “Under My Skin” and “Cry”. Subject Sue already released videos for the title track and for “Under My Skin” ahead of the vinyl pressing. Recommend to fans of Boy Harsher, NNHMN, Mercy Girl, Minuit Machine and Tempers.

Subject Sue builds the EP around pulsating synthesizers, textured soundscapes and layered vocal harmonies, working at the intersection of darkwave and ethereal techno. The six tracks move through lust and romance, intimacy and alienation as nocturnal, cinematic club music drawn from Amsterdam’s queer nightlife.

About Subject Sue

Subject Sue is the solo project of an Amsterdam-based vocalist and keyboard player who performed in various other projects before starting it. She studied Visual Arts, where she explored alter egos and the tension between subjective and objective storytelling; what began as a stage alter ego built on those themes grew into Subject Sue, now her outlet for exploring desire, identity and nightlife through cinematic club music. “Details in the Dark” is her debut release, issued digitally before this vinyl pressing on Avant!.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Mick Harvey and Amanda Acevedo released a new track, “The Stolen Fire”, on 13 October 2026. The Australian-Mexican duo recorded it at the end of the sessions for their third album together, “Psychedelia in White”, out now on Mute. They share the song as their European tour with Mercury Rev continues, ahead of a run of headline dates that closes at The 100 Club in London on 4 November.

Mick Harvey and Amanda Acevedo keep writing past the album

“The Stolen Fire” did not make the ten-track “Psychedelia in White”, the follow-up to 2023’s “Phantasmagoria in Blue” and the covers set “Golden Mirrors (The Uncovered Sessions Vol. 1)”. The new album carries over mythology, love, hope, loss and mysticism from the duo’s debut but shifts musically, mixing seven original songs with a new recording of PJ Harvey’s “Slow-Motion-Movie-Star” (first cut by Harvey on his 2007 album “Two of Diamonds”) and translations of Silvio Rodríguez’s “Sueño Con Serpientes” and José María Cano’s “Bride of the Sea”. It is out now on white vinyl, CD and digitally through Mute.

The track arrives while Harvey and Acevedo support Mercury Rev across the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Denmark through 26 October, before their own headline dates run from 18 October to 4 November. Side-Line listed the full itinerary, which ends at The 100 Club in London, in Mick Harvey and Amanda Acevedo share ‘The Greatest Delight’ video ahead of ‘Psychedelia in White’.

About Mick Harvey and Amanda Acevedo

Mick Harvey co-founded The Boys Next Door in Melbourne in the late 1970s, the band that became The Birthday Party and then Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, where he stayed until 2009. He was also a member of Crime & the City Solution, whose catalogue Mute reissued across 2023 and 2024, and has released a long run of solo albums for Mute, including four collections of Serge Gainsbourg translations and, in 2024, “Five Ways to Say Goodbye”, his first solo album in more than a decade.

Amanda Acevedo is a Mexican singer who met Harvey in Mexico City while he was touring with PJ Harvey. Their collaboration began in 2021. The pair announced their debut album, “Phantasmagoria in Blue”, in March 2023, covered by Side-Line in Mick Harvey and Amanda Acevedo announce collaborative album ‘Phantasmagoria in blue’, and followed it two months later with a version of Pat Benatar’s “Love is a Battlefield”. The covers set “Golden Mirrors (The Uncovered Sessions Vol. 1)” arrived in 2025, and “Psychedelia in White” returns Amanda Acevedo and Harvey to original material, with “The Stolen Fire” as the latest piece of it to surface.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Veljanov, the solo project of Deine Lakaien singer Alexander Veljanov, releases a music video for ‘Nomos Shanderilan’, the first single from his fourth solo album “Shanderilan.” Prophecy Productions releases the album on 15 January 2027 as a digital release, CD digipak and gatefold vinyl LP, with a deluxe edition also available.

A song moving through several genres

Veljanov describes “Nomos Shanderilan” as moving through several genres while staying tied together by what he calls the “Veljanov cosmos.” He describes the title as a response to attempts to undermine democratic values: “The title is meant as a call to resist attempts to shred our free, democratic values and principles, and to defy the power-hungry enemies of democracy.”

About Veljanov

Alexander Veljanov, born in North Macedonia, studied theatre and film in Munich and Berlin before co-founding the dark wave band Deine Lakaien with composer Ernst Horn in Munich in 1985, taking the role of vocalist. He has lived and worked in Berlin, Munich and London, and continues to front Deine Lakaien alongside his solo work.

His solo recordings as Veljanov began with the 1998 album “Secrets of the Silver Tongue,” followed by the mini CDs “The Man with a Silver Gun” and “Past and Forever” the same year. “The Sweet Life” followed in 2001, and “Porta Macedonia,” an album covering and sampling the Macedonian group Mizar, in 2008. He has also recorded vocals for other projects, including Estampie’s 1994 album “Ludus Danielis” and Schiller’s 2004 album “Leben.” “Shanderilan” is his fourth solo album under the Veljanov name and his first single from it, “Nomos Shanderilan,” follows that discography.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Belgian synth-pop projects Infrablack and Nevel release the collaborative single ‘No Angel’ on 9 October 2026, paired with a music video. The track reworks “No Angel,” a song producer Bart Van Meulebroeck originally released in 2001 under his earlier project Propulsion, into a new version built from a vintage-synthesizer demo that Infrablack’s Eddy Scheire sent him in late 2025.

Vintage synths rebuilt with modern production

Scheire built the original demo around vintage synthesizer parts in the style of Jean-Michel Jarre, Vangelis and Tangerine Dream, references that run through Infrablack’s catalogue. Van Meulebroeck reworked the track with contemporary beats and production and revived the lyrics from his 2001 Propulsion song “No Angel,” adding new female vocals that turn the song into a different piece of music. “I always wanted to make a Moby track,” Van Meulebroeck said of the result.

About Infrablack and Nevel

Infrablack is the solo project of Belgian musician Eddy Scheire, launched in 2020. The project has released two singles and two full-length albums, “Voltage Controlled Reality” (February 2024) and “Time-Lapse,” on German label ZYX, alongside “No Angel.”

Nevel is the solo project of Belgian producer Bart Van Meulebroeck, working across psychedelic dub, ambient, leftfield electronica and dance. Side-Line covered Nevel’s single “Sunvoices,” featuring The Neon Judgement’s Dirk Da Davo, in May 2025, from the album “Subconscious Dubs.” Before recording as Nevel, Van Meulebroeck released music under the project Propulsion, including the original 2001 version of “No Angel” that this collaboration reworks. “No Angel” marks the first joint release between Infrablack and Nevel.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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GAMI, the Marseille trio playing rock built on trip-hop foundations with industrial edges, releases the single ‘Masking’ on 14 October 2026 through B-Side Prod. The track is the third single from the band’s debut album ‘Underneath’, due 23 October 2026 on the same label, and arrives on streaming platforms and Bandcamp alongside a lyric video.

‘Masking’ turns from a quiet opening into an industrial rock section

“Masking” follows the quieter “Glass” in the album’s running order and shifts partway through, from a piano-and-vocal opening into a heavier, distorted section. Vocalist and bassist Capucine Trotobas wrote the song’s words and traced its origin to a studio session with drummer David Benzazon during a creative residency, where he introduced her to the work of Flavien Berger. She described the writing process in a statement supplied with the release:

“During that residency, David introduced me to Flavien Berger, an artist I hadn’t known before. I realized how incredibly free he was, able to do whatever he wanted within a single album. ‘88888888’, with its electro-trance vibe, was killer. That inspired us to grab some gear from the studio; we improvised with it for two hours, working off a single loop. We recorded it just to keep track of it. Listening back the next day, we decided to turn it into an instrumental for the album. We revisited the previous day’s improvisation and tried halving the tempo for the intro… and then we realized, ‘Shit… that’s Massive Attack’s “Angel”!’ Oops. So we kept working on it, it was the track that took us the longest, and we tried out a lot of harmonic ideas. It was hard to reach an agreement, but we love the final result.”

The accompanying lyric video turns on Trotobas’s own words. The band describes the song as addressing autism and ADHD, through the experience of masking and of not quite belonging in a world that moves too fast and makes too much noise.

‘Masking’ is the third single from ‘Underneath’

“Masking” follows “Anymore”, the album’s first single released 28 August 2026, and “Glass”. “Underneath” runs to eleven tracks: “Underneath,” “Face It,” “Anymore,” “Glass,” “Masking,” “Fragment,” “Move On,” “Pills,” “Settle,” “To Be Hears” and “Sweet Pea.” The album is on pre-order through Bandcamp.

About GAMI

GAMI work out of Marseille as a three-piece: Capucine Trotobas on composition, vocals and bass, Rémi Bernard on guitar and arrangement, and David Benzazon on drums and arrangement. All three trained at conservatoires in the region, Trotobas in Aix-en-Provence and Nîmes, Bernard at the Cité de la Musique de Marseille and SATIS at Aix-Marseille Université, and Benzazon in Aix-en-Provence. The band describe their own sound as pop-rock with trip-hop underneath, and name Radiohead, Portishead and Jeff Buckley among their reference points.

Bernard also fronts the psychedelic rock group Avee Mana, formed in 2018, on vocals and guitar. Benzazon drums in 1003, a Marseille act that mixes industrial and electronic textures into pop.

The band’s recorded history starts with “Make A Path,” a six-track cassette released on Ganache Records on 27 October 2021 and later reissued digitally. The “Step by Step” EP followed on 17 November 2023, carrying “Step by Step (Moon),” “Kid Memorial,” “Great Sorrow,” “Wasting” and “Sun Above The Clouds,” with its title track and “Kid Memorial” issued as singles that autumn. The band then released “Broken Leg Unplugged” on 14 February 2025. Side-Line covered “Anymore” on its 28 August 2026 release; “Masking” is the album’s third and final single ahead of the album’s arrival later this month.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Wire’s “The First Letter” turns 35 this year. The English post-punk band released the album on 14 October 1991 through Mute Records, crediting it to Wir, a one-word rendering of the band’s name adopted after drummer Robert Gotobed left the group the previous year.

Colin Newman, Graham Lewis and Bruce Gilbert, the trio recording as Wire under the Wir name, recorded “The First Letter” at Worldwide International and Swanyard Recording Studios in London. Paul Kendall produced the album with Wir and handled engineering and mixing; Pascal Gabriel added production and mixed the “So and Slow It Grows” single version, with George Holt engineering that mix. Mute Records issued the album on CD, cassette and vinyl LP, with the “So and Slow It Grows” single mix added as a bonus track on the CD and cassette editions.

Most of the album’s eleven songs are credited to Gilbert, Newman and Lewis together, with “Naked, Whooping and Such-Like (Extended On and On)” written by Lewis alone and featuring a spoken-word reading by Claude Bessey. The tracklist runs “Take It (For Greedy),” “So and Slow It Grows,” “A Bargain at 3 and 20 Yeah!,” “Footsi – Footsi,” “Ticking Mouth,” “It Continues,” “Looking at Me (Stop!) Stop!,” “Naked, Whooping and Such-Like (Extended On and On),” “Tailor Made,” “No Cows on the Ice” and “A Big Glue Canal.” Wire released a second, more abrasive set of recordings from the same period, “The Drill,” the same year under its own name.

About Wire

Wire formed in London, England, in October 1976 with Colin Newman on vocals and guitar, Graham Lewis on bass and vocals, Bruce Gilbert on guitar, George Gill on lead guitar and Robert Gotobed on drums. Gill left in February 1977 after a leg injury left him unable to perform, and the remaining four-piece became the band’s lasting line-up for over a decade. Wire signed to Harvest/EMI and released three albums in quick succession: “Pink Flag” (1977), “Chairs Missing” (1978) and “154” (1979). EMI’s discomfort with the band’s unconventional promotion of “154” led to a falling out; the label cancelled studio time for a planned fourth album and dropped Wire’s option, and the band issued the live recording “Document and Eyewitness” in 1981 before falling largely silent for several years.

Wire resurfaced on Mute Records in the mid-1980s, releasing “The Ideal Copy” (1987), “A Bell Is a Cup… Until It Is Struck” (1988) and “IBTABA” (1989), followed by “Manscape” in 1990. Gotobed left the band after “Manscape,” and Newman, Lewis and Gilbert continued as a trio under the one-letter-shorter name Wir, releasing “The First Letter” and the companion album “The Drill” in 1991. Wire’s members then spent most of the 1990s on separate projects: Newman founded the swim~ label and formed Githead with his wife, Malka Spigel, while Wire itself remained only an occasional, part-time concern.

The band reconvened as a full-time act in 1999, with Gotobed returning under his birth name, Robert Grey, and went on to release “Send” (2003), “Object 47” (2008), “Red Barked Tree” (2011), “Change Becomes Us” (2013), a self-titled album (2015), “Nocturnal Koreans” (2016) and “Silver/Lead” (2017), among later records, with guitarist Matthew Simms joining the line-up in 2010. Wire marked Record Store Day 2025 with two exclusive releases. “The First Letter” remains the only album the band released under the Wir name, a marker of the lineup change that preceded its return as a full-time group.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Elsieanne Caplette, singer of Montreal trip-hop duo Elsiane, has released a visualizer video for her solo single ‘Safe Frontiers (Love Is The Answer)’ on her new YouTube channel. The release advances the solo project Caplette first announced in August 2026, when Side-Line reported that she had begun a new chapter separate from Elsiane without naming a title, release date, format or label.

Elsieanne Caplette describes writing ‘Safe Frontiers’ around a melody of bells meant to carry the song’s message

In a message to subscribers of her Bandcamp page, Elsieanne Caplette traced the song back to its instrumental starting point and the mood she wanted it to carry:

“The first notes I remember coming up with were the bells. I wanted to get this feeling of a soothing melody, almost like a lullaby. […] At the time, I was deeply affected by what was happening in the world after going through the times of Covid and then all the wars. I came up with this high-pitched melody in Safe Frontiers that, to me, represented all the souls of the people who left the world due to this war and felt this overwhelming feeling of sadness. I felt this need to share this emotion but also make it hopeful.”

Elsieanne Caplette said the visualizer is a visual interpretation of the song and its cover art, and that an official music video is in production. She has also said the song followed a period of vocal recovery after a car accident, and that she spent about a year retraining her voice before she felt ready to record it.

About Elsiane

Elsiane is the Montreal duo of Elsieanne Caplette and drummer Stephane Sotto. Caplette trained in classical music in Lima, Peru, and moved to Montreal in 1999, where she met Sotto the following year; the pair named the project by combining the first four letters of her first name with the last three of his. The duo’s sound draws on jazz, downtempo, rock, classical, electronic and world music, citing Massive Attack, Portishead, Bjork, Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel as influences.

Elsiane released its debut album, “Hybrid,” in 2007 on Vega, followed by “Mechanics of Emotion” in 2012 and the independently released “Death of the Artist” in 2017. After Sotto’s father died in 2018, the duo began writing their next record in his memory with producer David Bottrill, releasing “Sinai” in 2020 and the self-titled album “Elsiane” on October 3, 2023, the duo’s most recent release. Caplette has also lent vocals to several Delerium albums.

Caplette’s solo work remains separate from Elsiane, which she has said is planning tour dates for 2027, confirmed alongside the August announcement of her solo chapter.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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New Wave band Spoons announce ‘Nightlife’, their eighth studio album, out 6 November 2026 on CD, digital download and 180-gram red vinyl. The album is led by its first single, “Take The World”, and marks the band’s first fully independent release, with every creative decision made by the band itself.

“Take The World” is about dreaming, making those dreams real, and pulling them back into reach, even if only for one more night. Jeff Carter produced the record; Gord Deppe plays vocals and guitar, Sandy Horne plays bass and sings, keyboards come from Scott MacDonald, Jeff Carter and Matthew Deppe, and both of Spoons’ live drummers, Chris McNeil and Tony Ferraro, play drums. “Nightlife” is available on Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp and YouTube.

“Nightlife” carries ten tracks: “Nightlife,” “Take the World,” “Better Late Than Never Did It,” “Phenomenal,” “Doomed,” “Push Repeat & Go,” “Safety Lines,” “Day By Day,” “Perfect Ending For A Perfect Story” and “Your Heart Not Your Head.” “Take The World,” “Better Late Than Never Did It” and “Doomed” had already become concert favourites ahead of the album’s release.

Spoons tour dates

Spoons play four confirmed dates around the “Nightlife” release:

• October 16, 2026 – Maxwell’s, Waterloo, Ontario, with Rough Trade
• December 3, 2026 – Le Studio TD, Montreal, Quebec
• December 4, 2026 – Bronson Theatre, Ottawa, Ontario, with Images In Vogue
• December 5, 2026 – The Concert Hall, Toronto, Ontario, with Images In Vogue

About Spoons

Spoons formed in 1980 in Burlington, Ontario, with Gord Deppe, Sandy Horne, Derrick Ross and Rob Preuss in the original lineup. The band recorded its debut album, “Stick Figure Neighbourhood,” in 1981 at Grant Avenue Studios in Hamilton with engineer Daniel Lanois, and the record topped college radio charts. “Nova Heart,” produced by John Punter of Roxy Music and Bryan Ferry fame, turned Spoons into a household name in Canada and was among the first videos MuchMusic aired when the network launched.

The 1982 album “Arias & Symphonies” was recorded at George Martin’s AIR Studios in London and led to the band opening for the Police, Culture Club and Simple Minds; Chart Magazine later named it one of the 20 Most Influential Albums of the 80s, and Bob Mersereau’s book “The Top 100 Canadian Singles of All Time” included “Nova Heart.” In 1983, Ready Records brought in producer Nile Rodgers of Chic for the follow-up, “Talkback,” which yielded the singles “Romantic Traffic,” “Old Emotions” and “Tell No Lies.” Spoons also contributed to the soundtrack of Ron Mann’s film “Listen to the City.”

Under the management of Rush’s Ray Daniels, with keyboardist Scott MacDonald and drummer Steve Kendry added to the lineup, Spoons recorded “Bridges Over Borders” and “Vertigo Tango” for Anthem Records. The 1994 compilation “Collectible Spoons,” released on MCA/Universal Music, drove a successful tour as the Retro 80s movement began to take hold.

In 2010, Deppe and Horne, joined by producer and keyboardist Jeff Carter, released “Static In Transmission,” the band’s first album of new material in over two decades. Sparks Music and Ready Records marked the 30th anniversary of “Nova Heart” in 2012 with an EP featuring the original 1982 cut, remixes and a live recording, followed by a 30th-anniversary edition of “Arias & Symphonies” that reunited the original lineup for a sold-out Toronto release show. In 2013, Spoons won Music Express Magazine’s Back In The Spotlight Award, reissued “Stick Figure Neighbourhood” and “Talkback” for their 30th anniversaries, and Deppe published a band history, “Spoon Fed,” through Manor House Publishing.

“New Day New World,” again produced by Carter, followed in 2019, and the compilation “Repeatable: 1980-2020” arrived on CD and double vinyl in 2020. In 2021, Spoons released “Echoes,” a covers album of their songs by other artists, with proceeds supporting the Unison Fund’s work for musicians and live-music technicians affected by the pandemic. “Nightlife” is the band’s first album since, and its first release made entirely on its own terms.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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I Ya Toyah releases the dark pop single ‘White Walls’ on 9 October 2026, independently through her own label Femme Fatale Records. The release lands around World Mental Health Day on 10 October, and proceeds from the single’s release weekend, along with new Patreon sign-ups throughout October, go to the musician-support charity Backline Care.

I Ya Toyah describes ‘White Walls’ as a song about the distance between what we show and what we survive

I Ya Toyah wrote and composed “White Walls” herself, and produced it with Johnny K, who also mixed it; Howie Weinberg mastered the track and Angelica Dulany supplied the cover artwork. She set up the song’s premise in a statement issued with the release:

“White Walls came to life in a very personal place, on one of those days when the darkness became almost unbearable, when being inside my own mind felt louder than anything happening outside of it. […] That is where White Walls lives: in the distance between what we show and what we survive. It is the noise behind the silence. The exhaustion of carrying an invisible weight. The strange loneliness of standing among people while feeling completely unreachable.”

A companion video, directed, filmed and edited by Alex Zarek with documentary clips by Allison Ciletti and makeup by Janet Debris, accompanies the single on I Ya Toyah’s YouTube channel; a donate button on the video also directs viewers to Backline Care. “White Walls” is available on Bandcamp and on streaming platforms.

I Ya Toyah tours the UK in December

I Ya Toyah joins the performance art collective Little Miss Nasty for a UK tour in December 2026: Newcastle Upon Tyne’s The Cluny on December 9, Glasgow’s Ivory Blacks on December 10, Birmingham’s Asylum on December 11, Brighton’s Patterns on December 15, Bristol’s The Fleece on December 16, Manchester’s Rebellion on December 17, Swansea’s The Bunkhouse Bar and Music Venue on December 18, and London’s Underworld in Camden on December 19.

About I Ya Toyah

I Ya Toyah is the solo project of Ania Tarnowska, a Polish-born musician, producer and engineer based in the Chicago area; the name comes from Polish, where the spoken phrase reads as “it’s just me.” She trained on classical guitar, piano and voice as a child, studied music business and audio engineering at the SAE Institute in 2016, and started the project in 2017 with the single “Funeral For Love.” The debut album “Code Blue” followed on 26 October 2018, self-released, with the single “Farewell – Mirrors Don’t Lie” alongside it.

The catalogue moved quickly from there: “Code Blue Reloaded” and “Code Blue Revelations” both arrived in 2020, the five-part EP “Out of Order” in 2021 and the acoustic EP “Ghosts” in 2022. “Panic Room” followed in 2023, produced with Walter Flakus of Stabbing Westward, whose US dates she opened that year; Flakus also worked on the “I am the Fire” EP and the album “DRAMA,” both 2024. She has been a member of The Joy Thieves since 2019 and toured with Pigface the same year. Remixers and collaborators across her catalogue include Rhys Fulber, Tim Skold and Julian Beeston of Nitzer Ebb, and she has toured the US with Orgy and Cold, played European dates supporting Front Line Assembly, and returned to Europe as direct support on KMFDM’s tour in 2026. Her own label, Femme Fatale Records, has carried her releases since 2024, including the Nine Inch Nails cover “Closer” and now “White Walls.”

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Striped Light, the collaborative project led by Benge, shares the single ‘Foolish’, featuring Elizabeth Bernholz of Gazelle Twin on vocals. The track is the second reveal from the album “For All This Beauty,” out 6 November 2026 on MemeTune. The album follows “Atoms,” featuring Tara Busch, which Side-Line covered in September as the record’s first single.

Elizabeth Bernholz describes ‘Foolish’ as a time capsule for innocence and nostalgia

Bernholz, who records and performs as Gazelle Twin, addressed what drew her back to the song when the single was announced:

“This collaboration feels like a time capsule for innocence and nostalgia, made in a very different time and place, when I was trying to carve a very different sound of my own. I loved the chance to make something simple and sweet. Working with Benge’s beautiful, emotional synth arrangements, the song practically wrote itself and my vocals fell into place so naturally. What a dream.”

“For All This Beauty” carries nine tracks, each pairing Benge’s arrangements with a different vocalist: “Atoms” and “Between The Trees” and “Motorcade” with Tara Busch, “Foolish” with Elizabeth Bernholz, “Dive Deep” and “The City” with Hannah Peel, “Echoes” and “Wake Up” with Serafina Steer, and “Sleep” with Juliana Venter.

About Striped Light

Striped Light is the long-running collaborative project of Benjamin David Edwards, known as Benge, a synthesizer musician and producer whose other credits include Creep Show, Wrangler and John Foxx and the Maths. Benge began working with synthesizers as a child in the 1970s, built a home studio, and went on to found the label Expanding Records.

He started writing the songs that became Striped Light in 2007 with Tunng’s Sam Genders as lyricist, then recorded vocal parts with Hannah Peel, Elizabeth Bernholz, Serafina Steer, Juliana Venter and Tara Busch over the years that followed, with Kuma Harada on bass, Max Middleton on Minimoog and Mike Lindsay on guitar. John Foxx created the album’s artwork and Eoin Richardson illustrated the band. The project was set aside as Benge’s other collaborations with John Foxx, Neil Arthur of Blancmange and Wrangler took priority.

Manager Steve Malins revived Striped Light in 2023, and the album was completed and mixed at Benge’s MemeTune studio. “For All This Beauty” follows “Atoms,” the project’s first single from the album, and is set for release on 6 November 2026.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Apoptygma Berzerk, the Norwegian EBM and futurepop band led by Stephan Groth, brings its 2016 album Exit Popularity Contest to digital platforms and streaming services for the first time on 27 October 2026. The album was originally released only on CD, cassette and 2xLP through Rough Trade and The End Records; the rights reverted to Apoptygma Berzerk after ten years, clearing the way for a digital edition now that the physical stock is sold out.

Bandcamp supporters get early access to the album ahead of its wider release. The band described the move in its own announcement: “Since the album is now sold out from our warehouse and most of our distributors, the decision to release it onto the digital platforms and streaming services has been made. The point for a physical release has been made, and to all of you who bought it on a physical format and loved it in the last ten years, we salute you.”

Apoptygma Berzerk compiled ‘Exit Popularity Contest’ from three EPs

“Exit Popularity Contest” gathered reworked versions of tracks from Apoptygma Berzerk’s three instrumental EPs released between 2014 and 2016: “Stop Feeding The Beast” (2014), “Videodrome” (2015) and “Xenogenesis” (2016). Side-Line covered the album’s run-up at the time, including its teaser video and preorder campaign.

The ten-track album runs:

1. The Genesis 6 Experiment
2. Hegelian Dialectic
3. For Now We See Through A Glass, Darkly
4. Stille Når Gruppe
5. In A World Of Locked Rooms
6. The Cosmic Chess Match
7. U.T.E.O.T.W. (Instrumental)
8. The Devil Pays In Counterfeit Money
9. Rhein Klang
10. U.T.E.O.T.W. (Extended Version)

About Apoptygma Berzerk

Apoptygma Berzerk formed in Sarpsborg, Norway, in 1989, when Stephan Groth and Jon Erik Martinsen began working together on early EBM and electro-rock material. Groth has remained the band’s constant presence since, handling vocals, programming and guitar, and the project’s sound has moved across electro rock, industrial rock, synthpop and the melodic, rhythm-driven style that came to be called futurepop. The current line-up adds Ted Skogmann on drums and additional guitar, Jonas Groth on keyboards and production, Audun Stengel on guitar and Leandra Ophelia Dax on keyboards.

The band’s studio album chronology runs from “Soli Deo Gloria” (1993) through “7” (1996), “Welcome To Earth” (2000), “Harmonizer” (2002) and “You And Me Against The World” (2006) to “Rocket Science” (2009) and “Exit Popularity Contest” (2016). Between full albums, Groth built “Exit Popularity Contest” out of three instrumental EPs released in close succession, “Stop Feeding The Beast,” “Videodrome” and “Xenogenesis,” before Rough Trade and The End Records issued the physical album in October 2016. Groth has continued to revisit the band’s catalogue since, including reissues and remix editions of the 2000 single “Kathy’s Song (Come Lie Next To Me).” The digital release of “Exit Popularity Contest” puts the album in front of streaming audiences for the first time, a decade after its original physical-only run.

Britta Pirkko

For almost 15 years I’ve been writing about music, interviewing artists and reviewing releases for Peek-A-Boo Magazine. Recently, I also launched my own WordPress website, where I continue to share interviews, reviews and news from the underground scene. The darker side of music has been part of my life for more than 30 years, with a passion for everything from ’80s synthpop and New Wave to EBM, Futurepop and dark electronic music in general. Also Metal and Rock is part of my world. Away from the scene, I work in a public library, where books are part of my everyday life. I enjoy both fiction and non-fiction, especially books on politics, religion, health and travel. I’m also a fan of thrillers and horror films. When I’m not listening to music or reading, you’ll usually find me exploring nature, enjoying a good sauna, experimenting with vegan cooking, or travelling to my second home, Finland. I’ve always believed the underground has the best stories. My job is simply to help tell them

Atrax Morgue, the project of the late Italian noise musician Marco Corbelli, gets three separate CD reissues from Old Europa Cafe on October 23, 2026: ‘Alive and Dead’, an expanded edition of ‘Paranoia’, and a remastered ‘Pathophysiology’. All three arrive as digipak CDs limited to 300 copies each.

‘Alive and Dead’ reprints a cassette the label originally released in 2018, which sold out quickly. The CD edition is remastered by Devi(L)s Granziera (also known as Teatro Satanico) and adds two previously unreleased live recordings in full: a performance at Sottomondo in Treviso, Italy, on October 23, 1999, and one at Urga in Tokyo, Japan, on December 3, 2006.

‘Paranoia [expanded]’ reissues Atrax Morgue’s only full-length CD on Old Europa Cafe, originally released in 2000. The expanded edition remasters the full fourteen-track album and adds two bonus tracks, both alternate versions of “Il Forcipe di Thanatos” with text by Muzakiller, a piece that first appeared on the 2017 Old Europa Cafe 7″ “Malaplacenta.” Devis G., a longtime friend and collaborator of Corbelli’s and a member of Necrofilia and Teatro Satanico, handled the remastering.

‘Pathophysiology’ first appeared on cassette in 1995 and was reissued on CDr in 2002, when the original tape was remastered at Sweet Slaughter and four previously unreleased tracks were added, two recorded in 1995 and two in 2002. The new digipak edition reprints that eight-track version.

About Atrax Morgue

Marco Corbelli, born in Sassuolo, Italy, on April 3, 1970, recorded as Atrax Morgue from the early 1990s, building a catalog of noise, industrial and power electronics work centered on a Sequential Circuits Six-Trak synthesizer. Influenced by Whitehouse, Brighter Death Now and The Sodality, he released much of his early material on cassette during the underground tape-trading scene, starting with “Black Slaughter” on Slaughter Productions in 1993. His catalog includes “Pathophysiology” (cassette, Old Europa Cafe, 1995), “Sickness Report” (CD, Release Entertainment, 1996), “Aminobenzolmessias” (LP, abRECt, 1997), “Slush of a Maniac” (CD, Crowd Control Activities, 1997) and “Paranoia” (CD, Old Europa Cafe, 2000), among other releases. Corbelli died in Castellarano, Italy, on May 6, 2007, at the age of 37. Old Europa Cafe has continued to reissue and expand his catalog in the years since, including the three editions released this October.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Harsh noise project The Rita will see its early album ‘Possessed Nun Sleaze’ reprinted on CD for the first time on October 23, 2026, through Old Europa Cafe. The 2026 Re-Edition arrives as a digipak limited to 300 copies, carrying new artwork.

The album was one of The Rita’s first releases, originally issued in 1998 on Labyrinth Recordings in an edition of only 50 copies; the label describes it as The Rita’s first American release, following earlier Canadian cassette releases. It is counted among the recordings in which Sam McKinlay, who records as The Rita, first developed the harsh noise wall style he is now closely associated with.

Old Europa Cafe ties the reissue to its recent cassette collaboration between The Rita and The Gloria, “Sottana & Calze.” The new cover carries artwork based on The Rita’s recent drawings of a female shark attack, drawn from the murder scene in Joe D’Amato’s 1977 film “Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals”; the original 1998 release had drawn its imagery from D’Amato’s “Images in a Convent” (1979), “Play Motel” (1979) and “Behind Convent Walls” (1978). The album is dedicated to Isabella and Sister Angela. It carries two tracks, “Possessed Nun Sleaze Part 1” and “Possessed Nun Sleaze Part 2.”

About The Rita

Sam McKinlay has recorded as The Rita since at least the late 1990s, building a catalog centered on obsession and fetish, often filtered through recurring fixations such as sharks, ballet and feminine body augmentation. His early work, including “Living Dead Girl,” self-released in 1998, helped define the harsh noise wall style, built from dense, largely static layers of noise that bury field recordings and other source material beneath the surface. His catalog includes “The Nylons of Laura Antonelli,” first issued as an eight-cassette box in 2009 and reissued in 2019 as a 4CD box on Urashima, and “The Lilac Fairy,” a double LP built around the ritualized construction of a tutu with collaborators including Arlie Doyle and cellist Leila Bordeuil. McKinlay has also worked with Olivia Burr, Kristin Hayter (Lingua Ignota) and Gabi Losoncy on limited cassette releases exploring similar themes of the body and fetish objects.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Fistfun, the collaboration between Nordvargr and Claudio Frassine, will release ‘Not Nice Ever’ on October 23, 2026, through Old Europa Cafe. The album arrives as a CD digipak limited to 199 hand-numbered copies and is described by the label as a follow-up to the project’s first release.

The eight-track album runs “Hostile Scum,” “Barrage,” “Blood Mantra,” “Not Nice Ever,” “The Evil,” “Fully Charged,” “Metal Ejaculation” and “Escalation Point.”

About Fistfun

Fistfun pairs Henrik Nordvargr Björkk, known for his work in Pouppée Fabrikk, Maschinenzimmer 412 (MZ.412) and his solo power electronics and dark ambient output, with Claudio Frassine, an Italian noise musician known for the projects Mademoiselle Bistouri and North Central. “Not Nice Ever” is the duo’s second release as Fistfun, following an earlier collaboration that the label describes as the project’s “first chapter.”

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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American industrial power noise project Black Leather Jesus will release ‘Probe’ on October 23, 2026, through Old Europa Cafe, as a CD digipak limited to 300 copies.

Black Leather Jesus was founded in 1989 by Richard Ramirez, who fronts the project alongside Sean E. Matzus and a rotating cast of contributors; the lineup has numbered as many as 14 members over the years. For “Probe,” the credited participants are Sean E. Ramirez, Nathan Golub, Thomas Puopolo (also of Scarlet Diva), Richard Ramirez, Kevin Novak, JRL, Anjilla Ulfhednar (Moonbeam Terror), Scott Kindberg and Domokos. The album also features guest appearances by slowdanger, G.X. Jupitter-Larsen of The Haters, Yellow Gas Flames and The Rita.

The six-track album runs “Goodie Drawer,” “Taste of Plastic Toys,” “The Hum of Your Favorite Private Toy,” “Toy Not Included,” “Rear Seat Pull Out Toy” and “Extra Charged.”

About Black Leather Jesus

Richard Ramirez founded Black Leather Jesus in Houston, Texas, in 1989, building the project around S&M and gay-leather-subculture themes partly inspired by the kidnapping of Colleen Stan. The band has toured with a lineup as large as 14 members and opened for Sonic Youth in Marfa, Texas, in 2007; it is now based near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Ramirez, regarded as one of the earliest American harsh noise artists, also records as Werewolf Jerusalem, Priest in Shit, An Innocent Young Throat-Cutter, House of the Black Death, Martyr of Sores and Last Rape, runs the noise and experimental label Deadline Recordings, and has released collaborations and splits with Merzbow, Prurient, The Haters and Kommissar Hjuler, among others.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Swedish power electronics act Apex Parasite will release ‘Warzone Europa’ on October 23, 2026, through Old Europa Cafe. The album was recorded in July and August 2026 at NAR MATTARU with Nordvargr contributing vocals, and arrives as a CD digipak limited to 199 hand-numbered copies.

Apex Parasite debuted in 2023 with “Erosion of the Will” on Dunkelheit Productions, followed by “Everybody Should Be Punished.” “Warzone Europa” is described by the label as more focused and vocal-driven than its predecessors, recorded largely live to tape with minimal overdubs.

The album runs eleven tracks: “Tell Me to My Face,” “Nature,” “No Society,” “Wolves in Paradise,” “When You Ride Alone,” “Sabotage Solution,” “Unsafe Streets,” “Die Already,” “XXX,” “Reject the Modern World” and “Forever.”

About Apex Parasite and Nordvargr

Apex Parasite is a Swedish power electronics project that emerged in 2023 with its debut album, “Erosion of the Will,” released on Dunkelheit Productions and recorded at Studio Krampf. A second album, “Everybody Should Be Punished,” followed on the same label. “Warzone Europa” is the project’s third full-length and its first release through Old Europa Cafe.

Henrik Nordvargr Björkk, who contributes vocals to “Warzone Europa,” has worked in Swedish industrial and noise music since 1988, when he co-founded the EBM project Pouppée Fabrikk and, the same year, formed Maschinenzimmer 412 (MZ.412) with Jonas Kellgren and Jouni Ollila, a project often credited as an originator of “black industrial.” MZ.412’s debut, “Malfeitor,” appeared on Cold Meat Industry in 1989. He later launched the power electronics project Folkstorm and its successor, Toroidh, and formed All Hail the Transcending Ghost with Tim Bertilsson in 2009, the same year that project released “All Hail the Transcending Ghost” on Cold Spring. As a solo artist under his own name, Nordvargr has released dark ambient and ritual industrial albums on labels including Cyclic Law, Cold Spring and Old Europa Cafe.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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American sound artist John Duncan and Mauricio Reyes have released ‘Gloomy Sunday: The Funeral I Plan for Myself’ on Soleilmoon Recordings, a reworking of the 1933 Hungarian song “Gloomy Sunday” built from two of Duncan’s 1991 pieces and a composition he originally wrote for his own funeral. The label has issued it as a single-track CD running close to an hour, alongside a limited special edition.

Reyes approached Duncan in 2024 with the idea of revisiting “Gloomy Sunday,” written by Hungarian pianist and composer Rezső Seress in 1933 and long nicknamed the “Hungarian Suicide Song” in press coverage tied to the song’s associated urban legends. Duncan judged that the journalistic angle around the song’s reputation had already been covered extensively elsewhere. He offered Reyes something different instead: segments of “Soundtrack For An Incandescent Departure,” a piece he had originally composed for his own funeral, reshaped alongside material from two of his 1991 works, “Klaar” and “River in Flames.”

Reyes added further material drawn from recordings he located in the Telekinett archives, including a funeral mass recorded in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, and a recording referred to on the release as “Sarah’s Letter.” The piece also includes a Spanish-language narrative segment centered on a woman’s fixation on a serial killer imprisoned in Mexico City. Soleilmoon Recordings describes the result as a meditation on mortality and psychological decline rather than a conventional elegy for the original song.

The standard CD edition carries the single, roughly 60-minute title piece. A limited special edition, sold directly through Soleilmoon, is packaged as a funerary box containing photographs, letters and other memorial-style ephemera alongside the disc.

About John Duncan and Mauricio Reyes

John Duncan was born on June 17, 1953, in Wichita, Kansas, and moved to Los Angeles at 19 to study at CalArts. Working within the city’s experimental performance and radio scene through the 1970s, he co-produced “Close Radio” with Paul McCarthy on KPFK and released his debut solo LP, “Organic,” in 1979 on AQM. He relocated to Tokyo in 1982, collaborating with Japanese noise artists and running pirate radio and television broadcasts from city rooftops, before moving to Amsterdam in 1988, where he staged his “Kick” performance series across European venues between 1989 and 1993 and released “Contact,” a collaboration with Andrew M. McKenzie, on Touch in 1990. After periods in Italy and Sweden, Duncan settled in Bologna in 2005, where he has continued to teach audio art and release recordings on labels including Allquestions, iDEAL, Touch and Sub Rosa, among them “The Nazca Transmissions” (2009) and “Bitter Earth” (2016). “Gloomy Sunday: The Funeral I Plan for Myself” draws on two of his 1991 pieces alongside a composition originally written for his own funeral.

Mauricio Reyes originated the “Gloomy Sunday” project in 2024, proposing the reworking to Duncan and contributing archival recordings he located through the Telekinett archives, including a funeral mass recorded in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. “Gloomy Sunday: The Funeral I Plan for Myself” is his first release on Soleilmoon Recordings alongside Duncan.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Ambient project Rapoon, the recording name of Robin Storey, has released ‘She Dances With Fred’, a collaboration with comic book and graphic novel creator Matt Howarth. Soleilmoon Recordings issues the release as an enhanced CD, limited to 300 copies, combining a new Rapoon score with a Howarth comic story included on the disc as a PDF file.

Howarth proposed the project after an earlier collaboration with the Legendary Pink Dots, whose Edward Ka-Spel suggested Soleilmoon Recordings to him. Browsing the label’s catalog, Howarth came across several Rapoon albums and pitched a similar project directly to Storey.

Storey wrote the music around frames and a story outline Howarth sent him. “I have long been interested in comic book art and when Matt contacted me about a collaboration I was immediately interested,” Storey said. “He sent me some frames and I was blown away by the artwork. I found that adding a musical score to the drawings and the story outline came very naturally as I identified very much with the character and the situation. It was at once humorous and enchanting.”

Howarth has built his career mixing music into comics since the 1970s, with guest appearances across his titles by musicians including The Residents, Hawkwind, Moby, Klaus Schulze, Yello, Wire and Steve Roach, and with Conrad Schnitzler, an original member of Tangerine Dream and Kluster, as a recurring presence in several of his graphic novels. For ‘She Dances With Fred,’ Howarth brought Storey a deep-space science-fiction scenario, a genre he has returned to throughout his work.

“She Dances With Fred” includes ten pieces: “Winternest,” “Learning an Inorganic Language,” “Improbable Dance Party,” “The Hoomun Concord,” “Treading Water in a Psychic Void,” “Meditation on Blue Ice,” “The Exit Door Might Be Sealed,” “Proactive Desperation” and “Thunder Plunder,” plus the accompanying comic PDF.

About Rapoon

Robin Storey began recording as Rapoon in 1992, after the breakup of Zoviet France, the Newcastle upon Tyne experimental group he had belonged to since 1980. He has said he started the project to explore ethnic and non-Western musical traditions and techniques that did not fit within Zoviet France. The name Rapoon came from his then two-year-old nephew’s mispronunciation of “Robin.”

Storey’s debut Rapoon release, “Dream Circle,” came out in 1992 on DOVentertainment. Through the 1990s he released steadily on Staalplaat and Soleilmoon, including “Raising Earthly Spirits” and “Vernal Crossing” in 1993, “Fallen Gods” in 1994, and the double-disc “The Kirghiz Light” in 1995. A 1996 US tour brought him into contact with Matt Jacobson of Relapse Records, leading to 1998’s “The Fires of the Borderlands” on Relapse’s Release Entertainment imprint, alongside “Tin of Drum” and “Just Say the Faith” the same year. Rapoon has also recorded collaborations with Randy Greif and Nigel Ayers as “Oedipus Brain Foil” (1998), with Ayers again as Hank & Slim on “The World Turned Gingham” (2000), with Victor Nubla on “About Breathing” (2002), and with Black Faction on “New Cult of the Sun Moon” (2002). Storey has continued releasing through Lens, Ewers Tonkunst, Soleilmoon and Aquarellist in the years since, with “She Dances With Fred” his latest release on Soleilmoon. Side-Line previously interviewed Storey about Rapoon in 2019.

Matt Howarth has worked as a comic book and graphic novel creator since co-founding Howski Studios in 1969. His first ongoing series, “Those Annoying Post Bros,” ran 63 issues across three publishers between 1985 and 1998, set in the fictional town of Bugtown. “Savage Henry,” which ran from 1987 to 1994, centers on a guitarist from an alternate reality who plays lead guitar in a fictional insect band called The Bulldaggers, and featured guest appearances throughout its run by real musicians. He later returned to the Bugtown setting with a six-issue 2000s MU Press series, which spawned prose novels beginning in 2008 and a roleplaying game designed by James Wallis. Howarth illustrated K.W. Jeter’s “Dr. Adder” and designed album art for Birdo’Pray; “The Last of the Neon Cynics” (2012), a science-fiction western set in the 23rd century, came with a soundtrack by Bill Nelson, and he created a comic to accompany Arthur Brown’s “The Magic Hat” CD the same year. “She Dances With Fred” pairs his comics with original music again, this time built around a new score by Rapoon.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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British new wave band Ultravox released their eighth studio album, “U-Vox,” on 13 October 1986 through Chrysalis Records. The record turns 40 this year.

Ultravox and Conny Plank co-produced “U-Vox,” recording it across several studios in 1986: Plank’s own studio near Cologne, Hot Food, Music Fest, West Side and AIR in London, and Windmill Lane in Dublin. Drummer Warren Cann had left the band, dismissed over “musical differences” before sessions began, and Big Country’s Mark Brzezicki played drums on the album instead. Chris Cross, Billy Currie and Midge Ure wrote all nine tracks, which run:

1. “Same Old Story”
2. “Sweet Surrender”
3. “Dream On”
4. “The Prize”
5. “All Fall Down”
6. “Time to Kill”
7. “Moon Madness”
8. “Follow Your Heart”
9. “All in One Day”

The Chieftains featured on “All Fall Down,” Beggar & Co’s horn section played on lead single “Same Old Story,” and George Martin arranged and conducted the closing track, “All in One Day,” written about the previous year’s Live Aid concert. “U-Vox” peaked at number 9 on the UK Albums Chart, the last Ultravox studio album to reach the UK top 10, and was certified Gold by the BPI.

About Ultravox

Ultravox trace back to Tiger Lily, formed in London in 1974 around Dennis Leigh (later John Foxx), Chris Cross on bass, Warren Cann on drums and Billy Currie on keyboards and violin. Signed to Island Records in 1976, the band shortened its name to Ultravox! and released three albums, including 1978’s “Systems of Romance,” before Island dropped the group and Foxx departed in 1979. Midge Ure, a veteran of Slik, the Rich Kids and Thin Lizzy’s touring band, joined as vocalist and guitarist, and the retooled line-up signed to Chrysalis Records. “Vienna” (1980) gave Ultravox its commercial breakthrough, and “Rage in Eden” (1981), “Quartet” (1982, produced by George Martin) and “Lament” (1984) kept the band in the UK top 10 through the first half of the decade. Ure co-wrote and produced Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” in November 1984, and Ultravox performed at Live Aid the following July.

Cann’s exit before the “U-Vox” sessions left Cross, Currie and Ure to finish the album as a trio augmented by session and guest musicians, and the record’s reduced chart return compared with its three predecessors preceded the band’s split in 1987 once the European U-Vox tour, which opened in Gdansk that October, had run its course. Currie carried the Ultravox name through two further studio albums, “Revelation” (1993) and “Ingenuity” (1994), before dissolving the project in 1996. Cann, Cross, Currie and Ure reunited in 2008 for the “Return to Eden” tour and released a further studio album, “Brilliant,” in 2012, later touring UK arenas alongside Simple Minds. Chris Cross died in March 2024 at the age of 71, as Side-Line reported at the time, and Chrysalis marked the catalogue’s ongoing reissue campaign in October 2025 with “The Collection (Deluxe Edition).” “U-Vox,” the last Ultravox studio album to carry the 1980s Ure-era line-up’s name before that long hiatus, turns 40 this October.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Aethereals released the three-track EP ‘Echoes’ on September 1, 2026. The Swedish band mixes post-punk and goth into dark, melodic songs, building arrangements around expansive, atmospheric textures. The EP also previews the band’s debut full-length album, which is currently being recorded.

Aethereals ‘Echoes’ EP tracklist

“Echoes” contains three tracks: “Sleep” (4:40), “Finish Line” (3:48) and the title track “Echoes” (6:26), running just under fifteen minutes in total. “Echoes” is available as a digital EP on Spotify.

About Aethereals

Aethereals is a band from Sweden that mixes post-punk and goth. The band describes its sound as rooted in the dark romanticism of classic post-punk, built around expansive, atmospheric songwriting. Aethereals released its debut EP, “Echoes,” on September 1, 2026, a three-track release the band has said previews material from its debut full-length album, currently in production.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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