Neuroklast – Hellfire (Digital Album – darkTunes Music Group)
Neuroklast’s first two albums were released in quick succession, in 2021 and 2022. Now, following a four-year wait, the German project returns with its third full-length album, “Hellfire”. In the meantime, Kay Schäfer (formerly involved with Chainreactor) and Markus Horschig (formerly involved with ReAdjust and Fractal Age) have moved from ProNoize to darkTunes. For this new release, they collaborated with Keith Kamholz of Mechanical Vein on two tracks and introduced vocalist Rage on the closing track.
“Hellfire” follows in the footsteps of “Beyond The Blackwall” and “Streetkid”, delivering a hard-hitting, relentless brand of Electro somewhere between Industrial-Techno and Dark-Techno. The listener is immediately drawn in by pounding, roaring beats that create a dark atmosphere, enhanced by a combination of spoken-word samples and raw vocals. Neuroklast operates in the same vein as acts such as Soman and Noisuf-X. The production is solid, with cold, overwhelming soundscapes. The album contains several strong tracks, but “Succubus” stands out in particular as a genuine club gem.
The album is also available as a limited-edition box set aimed at die-hard fans. It is great to see Neuroklast back in action; this German project has clearly lost none of its power or expertise. (Rating:8).
Listen to “Succubus”:
About Neuroklast
Neuroklast is a German duo formed by Kay Schäfer, formerly of Chainreactor, and Markus Horschig, formerly of ReAdjust and Fractal Age. Schäfer handles the technical, production side of Neuroklast while Horschig composes and arranges.
The duo released its debut album “Beyond The Blackwall” in 2021 and “Streetkid” in 2022, both via ProNoize / Dark Dimensions, before moving to darkTunes for “Hellfire”.
Support Side-Line
More people read Side-Line than ever, and there is still no paywall and no advertising. Readers pay for it instead - from $5 a month.
Why we ask
Advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news organisations we have not put up a paywall, and we refuse to add annoying advertising, so we need to ask for your help. Side-Line’s independent journalism takes time, money and hard work to produce, and we do it to push the artists we like, who are equally fighting to survive.
Handled by PayPal.
I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.
