Rexx Arkana, founder of FGFC820 and Bruderschaft, has died
Rexx Arkana, the New York DJ, producer and vocalist who co-founded the harsh EBM act FGFC820 and led the cancer-charity project Bruderschaft, has died on July 3rd, 2026 after a long battle with cancer.
Rexx Arkana, founder of FGFC820 and Bruderschaft
Rexx Arkana, the New York DJ, producer and vocalist who co-founded the harsh EBM act FGFC820 and led the cancer-charity project Bruderschaft, has died on July 3rd, 2026 after a long battle with cancer. He was 57. Born Rik Millhouse, he had beaten thyroid cancer in 2015 but was diagnosed with a new Stage 4 cancer in the summer of 2025. He left hospital on June 29th to spend the little time he still had left with his family.
Side-Line extends its sincere condolences to his family, friends and collaborators.
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Rexx Arkana, a DJ and organiser at the centre of the US scene
Arkana worked at the centre of the North American dark-electronic community for close to four decades. He began DJing on Syracuse University radio in 1987 and went on to spin industrial, EBM and synth music across the United States and beyond, taking his stage name from Ministry’s Al Jourgensen. Away from the decks he wrote and edited, serving as managing editor of the magazine “Interface”, and he built the video series Statik Industrial Television, a filmed diary of North American dark-electronic events. Side-Line covered that launch when Arkana set up the Statik Industrial TV channel in 2018. He remained closely tied to VampireFreaks and its Dark Force Fest, and ran his own Haus Arkana imprint.
FGFC820 and harsh EBM
Rexx Arkana co-founded FGFC820 in New York in 2004 with fellow DJ Dräcos. The duo built a harsh EBM sound around blunt beats, hard synth lines and Arkana’s shouted vocals, and released mainly through the German label NoiTekk, with US editions on COP International. Their catalogue runs from the debut EP “The Hanging Garden” (2005) through the albums “Urban Audio Warfare” (2006), “Law & Ordnance” (2008) and “Homeland Insecurity” (2012), followed by the “American History Vol. 1” compilation on Haus Arkana in 2022. FGFC820 played festivals including Wave-Gotik-Treffen in Leipzig and Kinetik in Montreal, and appeared on Alfa Matrix’s “Endzeit Bunkertracks” series.
Bruderschaft and ‘Forever’
Bruderschaft was Rexx Arkana’s charity project, and it carried a personal history. He wrote the lyrics for “Forever” after his father, Charles Richard Millhouse, died of cancer in 1999, also at the age of 57, and dedicated the release to him. The 2003 single, out via Alfa Matrix in Europe, drew together a cast from across the scene: Ronan Harris of VNV Nation on vocals, Sebastian Komor of Icon of Coil on production, Joakim Montelius of Covenant on samples and Stephan Groth of Apoptygma Berzerk on backing vocals, with a remix set from Front 242, Camouflage, Feindflug, Melotron and others. “Forever” reached number one on the German Alternative Charts, and Bruderschaft directed its proceeds to cancer charities, raising close to 50,000 dollars across the project.
You can hear “Forever” through the Bandcamp player below.
Bruderschaft returned a decade later with the album “Return”, again released by Alfa Matrix on 22 November 2013, and again as a benefit record. The nine-song album added another line-up of guest singers, among them Tom Shear of Assemblage 23, Daniel Graves of Aesthetic Perfection, Daniel Myer of Haujobb and Clint Carney of System Syn. The first edition shipped in a carton box with a bonus disc of remixes.
A long connection to Side-Line and Alfa Matrix
Rexx Arkana’s work reached Side-Line and Alfa Matrix directly. Bruderschaft released both “Forever” and “Return” through Alfa Matrix and kept its catalogue on the label, and FGFC820 featured on Alfa Matrix compilations. Rexx was also a contributor to Side-Line and at a certain moment had his own article series in 2013, called 80sObscurities.
Originally started as a Facebook community showcasing forgotten retro electronic tracks, Rexx Arkana’s prose and music curation were later syndicated directly by Side-Line Magazine.
At Side-Line we also reported on the health of Rexx Arkana, for instance when the community rallied around him after he was first diagnosed with cancer in the mid-2010s, and in the background raised funds. That a musician who built a project to fund cancer research would later face the disease himself, and fight it publicly with the support of his wife and daughters, was not lost on those who knew him.
Tributes came quickly. Empathy Test frontman Isaac Howlett recalled Arkana reaching out early in his band’s career for an interview in London on behalf of the site I Die You Die, and described him as “a powerhouse of energy, enthusiasm and community spirit” who “always gave more than he took.”
On a personal note: just before Alfa Matrix launched the Bruderschaft project, Rexx Arkana stayed at my flat in Leuven for two weeks while working in Brussels for his day job. I got to know him as an extremely productive and gentle person (and I got to know very well his remix skills, for instance when he mixed Britney Spears and VNV Nation together). It saddens me deeply that Rexx Arkana has lost his battle with cancer. Only a few people leave a lasting legacy in this scene, and he is surely one of them. Farewell, my friend.
And to quote Rexx: “If you love someone, every day is a chance to prove it. Your chances aren’t infinite, so please don’t lose any.”
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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