Industrial rock act 16Volt will release a newly remastered edition of their 1993 debut album “Wisdom” on June 6, 2025 via Metropolis Records. The reissue marks the album’s first appearance on vinyl and includes an expanded digital version featuring five bonus tracks.

The vinyl edition will be pressed on translucent yellow vinyl, while the digital version has already begun appearing on streaming platforms with additional tracks.

Originally released on May 25, 1993, “Wisdom” was recorded at Chicago Trax Recording Studio in Illinois and Whitehorse Studios in Portland, Oregon. It was co-produced by 16Volt frontman Eric Powell alongside Dave “Rave” Ogilvie and Keith “Fluffy” Auerbach.

Powell signed his first record deal in 1991 while still in his teens and has remained at the helm of 16Volt as lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, programmer, and primary songwriter. The group’s early sound helped define the crossover industrial rock style of the 1990s.

A new studio album by 16Volt is currently in production and scheduled for release later in summer 2025 on Metropolis Records.

About 16Volt

16Volt was founded in the early 1990s by Eric Powell in Portland, Oregon. The band’s first full-length album “Wisdom” was released in 1993, introducing their fusion of industrial rock and electronic programming.

The album was followed by a series releases through the 1990s and 2000s.

Powell remained the driving force behind the project, and 16Volt eventually signed to Metropolis Records, continuing their output with albums such as “FullBlackHabit” (2007), “American Porn Songs” (2009), and “The Negative Space” (2016).

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!

side-line.com

Metropolis Records welcomes the legendary 16volt on its roster. The new release “NegativeOnArrivals” features a selection of tracks from the band’s two self-released albums, “The Negative Space” and “Dead on Arrivals”, that have been selected by the band themselves.

In addition 16volt’s founder, songwriter, lead vocalist, programmer, and rhythm guitarist Eric Powell, is working on a new album that is slated for release later this year, to be released under the title “More of Less”. “NegativeOnArrivals” is available today via Metropolis Records on CD and through all digital and streaming platforms.

About 16volt

Eric Powell signed his first record deal in 1991 at a very young age and subsequently delivered three albums: “Wisdom” (1993), “Skin” (1994), and “LetDownCrush” (1996). On those albums he worked with several co-producers including David Ogilvie (Nine Inch Nails, Skinny Puppy), Keith “Fluffy” Auerbach (Ministry), Jeff “Critter” Newell (Ministry, Angels & Airwaves, Blink-182), and special guests William Tucker (Ministry), Marc LaCorte (Schecter Guitars), and Bryan Black (Black Asteroid).

16volt then brought on producer Bill Kennedy (Nine Inch Nails, Megadeth, Sepultura, Mötley Crüe) to make the album “SuperCoolNothing” (1998, Mercury/PolyGram) featuring film composer and musician Joseph Bishara (Insidious, The Conjuring, Marylin Manson, Danzig), Chris Vrenna (Nine Inch Nails), Mike Peoples (Skrew), and Kraig Tyler (Crazytown). With Polygram being acquired by Seagrams shortly before the album release, 16volt found themselves in the middle of a legal battle while Mercury lost all funding and moved the album to Island Records as a catalog item.

In the end the band bought the rights to the album in 2000 and signed an agreement with Sony Entertainment to feature the album within the Playstation game “Primal” as well as being a double release in Europe with the game on one disc and the album on another. The band was also skinned into the game as characters and included in interviews as in-game bonus material.

In 2007 16volt signed a multi-album deal with Metropolis Records and released “FullBlackHabit” (2007), “American Porn Songs” (2009), and “Beating Dead Horses” (2012) with guests such as Paul Raven (Ministry, Killing Joke, Prong); Steve White (KMFDM); Bildeaux (Lance Herbstrong) and mix engineer Shaun Thingvold (Strapping Young Lad, Lamb of God).

In early 2016 16volt entered the recording studio in Portland, Oregon to begin writing and recording a new album with producer Marc Jordan (Velvet Revolver, The Cult, Stitched Up Heart, The Mowglis, Hyro Da Hero, Bleached, Die Antwoord). The new album titled “The Negative Space” was released independently on September 14, 2016. In early 2017, 16volt entered the studio to begin work on their 10th album effort “Dead On Arrivals” which was self-produced and released in October of 2017.

During the summer of 2021, Eric began working on material again in his private studio. In the Fall of 2022, 16volt announced resigning with Metropolis Records and began work on a new album titled “More of Less” slated for a 2024 release. In addition, Metropolis now re-issues a combined version with select tracks of the albums “The Negative Space” and “Dead On Arrivals” titled “NegativeOnArrivals”.

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!

side-line.com

Out on May 3rd via Metropolis Records is the release of the 16Volt album”NegativeOnArrivals”.

It holds condensed versions of the two most recent albums are being reissued on 3rd May as the single disc “NegativeOnArrivals”, with Powell stating: “I am excited to get this material out to a larger base through Metropolis! The collection of tracks was created during a hard time in my life and to feel them set free together is a great exorcism, I hope everyone enjoys them as we get warmed up for our new album.”

You can pre-order the album right here. Below is the artwork.

In further news, after a period of inactivity that saw 16Volt unable to tour, Powell began working on new material in his studio and re-signed with Metropolis Records for a brand new album entitled “More Of Less” to be issued later in 2024.

Here’s already the video for “The Last Time” featured on the new album.

About 16Volt

With roots dating back to the early days of the industrial rock genre, 16Volt have been successfully crossing over into multiple related genres for over three decades and retained a healthy worldwide fanbase while doing so.

Group founder, songwriter, lead vocalist, programmer and rhythm guitarist Eric Powell actually signed his first record deal in 1991 while still in his teens and delivered three albums in swift succession – “Wisdom” (1993), “Skin” (1994) and “LetDownCrush” (1996) – that saw him working alongside co-producers such as David Ogilvie (Nine Inch Nails, Skinny Puppy), Keith ‘Fluffy’ Auerbach (Ministry) and Jeff ‘Critter’ Newell (Ministry, Angels & Airwaves, blink-182), as well as guest musicians like William Tucker (Ministry), Marc LaCorte (Schecter Guitars) and Bryan Black (Black Asteroid). Earning both critical praise and pole positions on the US Alternative Chart and at College Radio, the band also built a significant live following as they toured extensively around North America and eventuallly signed a major deal with Mercury Records.

Producer Bill Kennedy (Nine Inch Nails, Megadeth, Sepultura, Mötley Crüe) was hired to help make “SuperCoolNothing” (1998), which featured appearances from film composer Joseph Bishara (Insidious, The Conjuring, Marylin Manson, Danzig), Chris Vrenna (Nine Inch Nails), Mike Peoples (Skrew) and Kraig Tyler (Crazytown), but the group soon found themselves in the middle of a legal battle shortly before album release when their label was bought by Seagram and its funding was cut. However, in a genius move, Powell was able to buy back the rights and made a deal with Sony to feature it within the Playstation game “Primal” as well as a two-disc European release that included both the album and the game with the band skinned in as characters and utilised as in-game bonus material.

The mid-’00s saw 16Volt sign to Metropolis Records and release the albums “FullBlackHabit” (2007), “American Porn Songs” (2009) and “Beating Dead Horses” (2012), which featured guests such as Paul Raven (Ministry, Killing Joke, Prong), Steve White (KMFDM) and Bildeaux (Lance Herbstrong), as well as mix engineer Shaun Thingvold (Strapping Young Lad, Lamb of God).

Meanwhile, an extensive touring schedule was maintained that included stints with KMFDM, Korn, Filter, Chemlab, Orgy, Prong, Stabbing Westward, Revolting Cocks, Fear Factory, Front Line Assembly, My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, Front 242 and more, as well as multiple successful headlining tours in their own right.

2016 saw the release of “The Negative Space”, produced by Marc Jordan (Velvet Revolver, The Cult, Hyro Da Hero, Die Antwoord), with “Dead On Arrivals” following a year later.

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!

side-line.com

Out in June is the charity 6CD compilation set “Electronic Saviors 5: Remembrance”. Out via Distortion Productions, and not via Metropolis this time, this fifth volume this volume was again compiled by cancer survivor and industrial scene promoter and DJ, Jim Semonik aided by Chase Dudley.

The 6CD boxset can be ordered here – note that it only has a limited distribution.

On this 6CD set you’ll find tracks by coldwave and industrial rock greats such as Pig, Mindless Faith and 16Volt next to Psy’Aviah, FIRES, Esther Black, Encephalon, Ashbury Heights, Stoneburner, Ludovico Technique, Red Lokust and so and so on. 105 tracks in total.

The fifth edition will be available in a strictly limited edition boxset run on only 500 copies. It also includes a wristband, bumper sticker and autographed postcard.

Here’s the album teaser:

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!

side-line.com

The 71st track on our free download compilation “Face The Beat: Session 4” (featuring 92 tracks) is by the US-based electronic / industrial / IDM act Slighter.

Slighter is the project by Colin Cameron Allrich whose work includes 2 remixes for Front Line Assembly (“Next War” and “Leveled”) and Hate Dept. (“New Ghost”). He also helped with the programming/synthesis on the 16Volt side project Black December and is currently releasing via Confusioninc.com. And last but not least, he has placed music on NBC/Universal, HBO, Showtime, FOX and more.

The track we were generously offered for our compilation kinda unites all of the influences Colin has undergone, from electronic, over IDM to industrial. It’s really all in there blended into a very enjoyable rapid paced track.

You can find the project back on Facebook, make sure to check them out.

Listen to “Backscatter” below and download it right here.

Check our “Face The Beat: Session 4” page on Bandcamp to discover the other 91 bands. All donations will go to charity.

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!

side-line.com

The most successful edition of Chicago’s ColdWaves Festival was held recently, and was completely sold out. If you missed the fun, you can still grab a copy of the “Coldwaves 5” compilation on which 14 bands have supplied exclusive tracks or remixes.

You can expect exclusives from: Bloody Knives, Stabbing Westward, Meat Beat Manifesto, Cubanate, Clock DVA, Kanga, Chant, 16Volt, Pig, Vampyre Anvil, Dead When I Found Her, Hide, Polyfuse, Not Breathing.

The 14 tracks are available now for ordering at a pretty low price right here.

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!

side-line.com