And One released “Bodypop” on 1 September 2006 through Out Of Line in Europe, with a US edition following on 7 November 2006 via Metropolis Records. The ninth studio album by the Berlin electropop/EBM band turns 20 this year. It was produced by co-founder Steve Naghavi and followed 2003’s “Aggressor,” the band’s previous studio album.

The German CD edition runs 12 tracks: “Mein Anfang,” “Military Fashion Show,” “Enjoy The Unknown,” “So Klingt Liebe,” “The Sound Of Believer,” “Body Company,” “Traumfrau,” “Stand The Pain,” “Sexkeit,” “Love You To The End,” “The Dream” and “Dein Ende.” A limited “Bodypop”/”Frontfeuer” CD/EP bundle added five further tracks: “Rearming Strafbomber,” “Master Master,” “A Kind of Deutsch,” “Steine Sind Steine” and “The Force.” Band members Steve Naghavi, Chris Ruiz and Gio van Oli are credited as performers on the album, which was mastered at Master & Servant. Out Of Line has since reissued “Bodypop” on vinyl in 2018 and 2023 and on cassette in 2024.

Two singles preceded the album and one followed it: “Military Fashion Show” (19 May 2006), which reached number one on the Deutsche Alternative Charts, “So Klingt Liebe” (14 July 2006), which peaked at number three, and “Traumfrau” (1 December 2006). Side-Line reported on a double-vinyl reissue of “Bodypop” in 2018.

About And One

And One formed in Berlin, Germany, in 1989, founded by Steve Naghavi and Chris Ruiz, who met at a Berlin nightclub and initially performed under the name Body Project. Alex Two joined before the band’s 1991 debut. The single “Metal Hammer” (1990) became a club hit ahead of the debut album “Anguish,” released on Machinery Records in 1991, the year And One won a regional “Best New Artist” award. Three further albums followed on Machinery: “Flop!” (1992), “Spot” (1993) and “I.S.T.” (1994).

And One signed to Virgin Schallplatten in the mid-1990s, releasing “Nordhausen” (1997), “9.9.99 9 Uhr” (1999), “Virgin Superstar” (2000) and “Aggressor” (2003). Chris Ruiz left the band in 1992 and returned in 2001; Joke Jay and Rick Schah joined the lineup across the late 1990s and 2000s. The band moved to Out Of Line for Europe and Metropolis Records for the United States starting with “Bodypop” in 2006. And One continued with “Tanzomat” (2011), “S.T.O.P.” (2012) and “Magnet” (2014), released alongside companion albums “Propeller” and “Achtung 80” as part of a “Magnet Trilogie.” Chris Ruiz left the band again in 2011 to co-found Pakt with Gio van Oli and Chad Hauger. Steve Naghavi remains the band’s constant member; Nico Wieditz has performed with the band since 2012.

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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It all began in 1983 under the name Xymox, a musical project founded and spearheaded by Ronny Moorings. Shortly after, the project evolved into Clan Of Xymox, marking the birth of a band destined to leave an indelible mark on the Dark-Wave scene. Signed by the legendary British label 4AD, the band released two seminal albums that would become classics in the genre. While they briefly returned to the original name, since 1997, they have been known exclusively as Clan Of Xymox. What makes Clan Of Xymox truly special is not only their pioneering role in the New/Dark-Wave movement but their unwavering ability to create valuable and impactful music over the decades.

Unlike many of their contemporaries, who often rely on the nostalgia of 80s hits, Clan Of Xymox has consistently released strong, fresh material, proving that their creative spirit remains as vibrant as ever. With a career spanning over 40 years, Clan Of Xymox has firmly established themselves as one of the most influential forces in Dark-Wave. Ronny Moorings has remained true to the essence of his sound while allowing it to evolve, ensuring a timeless yet contemporary edge. Their latest and 18th studio album, “Exodus”, released via Trisol (Germany) and Metropolis (USA), is a testament to this balance. Featuring a collection of masterful tracks, the album combines melancholic, dark, atmospheres with Pop-infused arrangements that are both haunting and danceable.

I felt it was the perfect time to take a retrospective look at Clan Of Xymox’s incredible journey. In this interview, Ronny Moorings graciously shared his insights, reflecting on the band’s beginnings, their evolution, and their current work. I am deeply thankful for his enthusiastic cooperation and for taking the time to answer in such detail. His dedication to crafting inspired music over such a long period is remarkable, as is the man behind the artist. Respect! (Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

‘I Wanted To Be A Part Of Things Which Were Happening In Front Of My Eyes’

Q: Getting back to the early 1980s which marked the rise of New-Wave music and subgenres like Dark-Wave, Cold-Wave, and Post-Punk. How do you reflect on those formative years and what do you recall from the very beginning of your career? Specifically, what events or circumstances led to the formation of Xymox and, later, Clan Of Xymox and what was your original dream when you first started making music?

Ronny: I will make this a short story because there is so much to say about how it came to be. I was in bands from on my childhood in my birth town Roosendaal (NL) where I already played live at the age of 11 with older 15 year old friends. When it was time for me to study, I first moved to The Hague, deciding after a year of Social Academy that I’d rather do a Sociology study in Nijmegen.

In the early 80’s there was a lot going on. Musically we had the Deutsche Welle and from the U.K. came New-Wave. This appealed a lot to me and DJed (what I also already did in Roosendaal as a teenager) this type of music in the local venue Doornroosje. It was volunteers work, but I got to see all the cool bands coming in.
The alternative scene was thriving in the whole of The Netherlands. Naturally many British bands were on the fore front of innovation. The Goth / Wave movement came also to Doornroosje. I remember especially Bauhaus and The Virgin Prunes making a big impression on me because they sounded and looked visually stunning. The Virgin Prunes making a complete theatre out of their show; it looked like genuine madness with a lot of stuff flying about on stage. With Bauhaus, Peter Murphy just looked the ideal part, a new ‘thin white duke’ with white light shining under his chin and the rest of the band in fluorescent colours, exposed with a black light.

Every week there was a brilliant band to be seen in Paradiso (Amsterdam) or in Doornroosje, like Echo And The Bunnymen In an army outfit with camouflage nets hanging over the stage, The Sound, Dance Society, The Birthday Party with Nick Cave swinging like a monkey from left to right from the light supports, giving it a high energetic performance, Siouxie And The Banshees, The Cure ( they played in a circus tent) and later seeing Robert Smith playing guitar with Siouxie in Rotterdam , Theatre Of Hate, Eyeless In Gaza, Black Flag, The Comsat Angels, Sisters Of Mercy, in the Milkyway Amsterdam,  of course with Wayne Hussey,  Further The Slits, Liaison Dangereuses, U2 ( played in Arnhem for 400 people) who was pretty unknown still etc. Too many to mention!

All bands not jet known by the majority of people but making a big impact on everyone alternative seeing them live. New-Wave, Deutsche Welle, Punk, Synth-Pop and New-Romantics was now a major alternative movement perfectly fitting the times we were living in.

Also the Netherlands produced influential bands who made quite an impression on me, like I already mentioned Mecano & Minimal Compact from Amsterdam, Nasmak from Eindhoven, Coitus Interruptus from Utrecht, and ‘famous’ local bands from Nijmegen like Mechanic Commando and Vice.

By seeing all these brilliant international and national bands I knew there and then that I had to start something new and interesting too. I wanted to make music like these bands. I was totally inspired. I wanted to be a part of things which were happening in front of my eyes. I wanted a band instead of just making things late at night on my own on a 4 track for no one else to hear.I wasn’t the only one feeling this way. It seemed that nearly anyone in the local scene started a band. In every squat people started a band and rehearsing was no problem in these industrial buildings we all occupied. Music was becoming a way of life, a means to express your views. There were enough opportunities for bands to play. There were always some old factories freshly squatted. One of the first shows I did was on a festival in De Plu Fabriek, a desolate disused umbrella factory. The festival had a social awareness theme about ‘Acid Rain’ of which maybe a handful had heard about. It was not taken very serious yet by the general public. It was the first ever show of Xymox there.

Round the same time at the University we had to do a video project. We had to film something about a socially significant social subject, so I started filming and interviewing the squatters local bands I knew. I still have the V2000 video tape but because of its backdated discontinued format, I haven’t been able to see it since the presentation at the University of Nijmegen.

In the beginning of 1980 in Nijmegen I had no real serious relationship with anyone. I was fairly new in town and most people I found quite uninteresting. The typical jeans and long hair student types, freshly coming from their cosy parental homes, with only one aim in life and that is to study, graduate and getting a job. Also most people were just coming out of the seventies and their clothes reflected that, very colourful shirts, a lot of blue jeans and mostly having long hair. In Rotterdam long hair in the back and short in the front was accompanied by a little moustache was the local fashion there.

Anyway, just after my initiation weeks of the University back in Nijmegen, one night I went out, going to a bar where I would normally not come with my fellow student friends. I was standing there drinking beer with my mates until I spotted this girl in the distance. She had the same kind of image as me. Out of place I thought. I simply had to talk to her and soon we were engaged in conversation and ended up spending the night together in her basement flat.. She told me she came from Nuenen, a small village close to Eindhoven but very famous for the house of Vincent Van Gogh. Her name was Anke.

In this period I wanted to start a Live band with the name I already had:  Xymox.  One day I showed her my songs I had recorded and asked if she would want to be in my ‘band’ which was just me at the time 😉 I said it would not matter that it was only the two of us because a lot of bands played with a drum machine and it would be a cool thing to do; she agreed. The songs were most of the time two or three chords so it was not too difficult for her to learn the tracks. I released this tape at the time, sold it for cheap (some people still have it). She liked the songs and decided to learn and play the bass guitar so she could play live. We started rehearsing together in 1982. I started sending my old Xymox demos to various venues and to my surprise a dozen clubs or so liked it.

Soon we played live with the two of us in various alternative clubs. I was singing, playing guitar and the synth plus operating the rhythm box. She played the bass by now and did some backing vocals . The songs were all mine, if you could call them songs 😉 For transportation I had my old cheap orange Renault 4 with a shift stick. All the equipment fitted in beautifully. Because we were just with the two of us and the fuel was very cheap, the money earned was very reasonable for those days.

Later we got asked by the locally known band Vice to support them. We did so and managed to play quite a bit of shows in the South of the Netherlands again. We felt we were getting somewhere.

Later a few friends to join our ‘band’ live. They were hitting metal pieces or doing backing vocals etc. Inspired of course by Einstürtzenden Neubauten. We started rehearsing in the empty vaults of a squatted bank building. Soundproof and safe it luckily was 😉

Anke wanted to move to Amsterdam in 1983, when she changed her study. She wanted to study Psychology and since I finished my Sociology ‘Candidates’ phase holding an official diploma. I was looking for a relevant Masters study so I decided to go to Amsterdam as well, I chose for  ‘Media Studies’ at the ‘University of Amsterdam’. Apparently you would have a lot of freedom with this study as well.

In Amsterdam I was asked by a friend in 1983, if I wanted to DJ for a local pirate radio station WHS. The show; ‘De Lege Huls’, translated ‘The Empty Shell’, would be late at night which of course I gladly accepted. I did this for quite some time well into 1985 until I got too busy with Clan Of Xymox and its many obligations.

As I already said I saved for a while every penny in order to buy my much desired object, a Teac 4 track multi tape recorder. I bought it in Antwerp, Belgium, November 1982. After many recordings of songs and ideas in Nijmegen I started a new In April 1983, frantically starting to record some new songs; the old ones were already more than a year old and I wanted to have new ones. With the help of the Teac 4 track recorder I could be more creative with writing and recording, bouncing previous recordings and build on that.

The instruments I had access to were: a Yamaha synth, Korg Poly 6 Synthesiser, Korg MS10 and MS 20, a rhythm box K500 , an electric Framus guitar, Welson Keyboard, a standard Shure 58 mike of course, my fantastic vintage space echo, melodica, guitar pedal effects and a bass guitar. A later valuable asset was later a Solina Strings but this one was borrowed once and a while.

All instruments were played in real time on tape. No sequencer used. That was too expensive.
These were the days computers were only academic and hardly used by anyone at all. Computers were just those big main frames standing in a government building or only portrayed in science fiction. Today our ears are completely trained to sequenced patterns, then it was something new, the ear was untrained to these sounds and pattern uses.

Soon things were ready. I asked Anke if she wanted to sing one song on the track I already prepared for her. It ended up with the title “Call It Weird “, so now  all tracks were done and everything was set up to bring these recordings to a mastering plant near Amsterdam called  Dureco. This was a vinyl factory specialised in producing Dutch product, the type like ‘Dutch Schlager’ like Vader Abraham known internationally for his “Smurf” songs. He was prominent on the wall everywhere in the factory offices. The main earner. Newer versions of this first EP exist: “Muscoviet Musquito” ( deliberately spelled this way) and “Going Round”. Both have various versions over the years.

‘I Felt That The Xymox Days Were Not The Right Way To Go’

Q: Xymox became Clan Of Xymox when you signed to 4AD, but later you reverted to Xymox before ultimately returning to Clan Of Xymox in the late ’90s. How do you view these shifts in retrospect? What, in your opinion, distinguishes Xymox from Clan Of Xymox?

Ronny: I started with the name Xymox and released my first EP “Subsequent Pleasures“ under this name. When Xymox got signed by 4 AD and the first debut album was called “Clan Of Xymox” I decided it was a slightly better name also because I had found people to play the songs live, so hence the ‘Clan’. I considered Xymox as my Pseudonym.

When Clan Of Xymox got signed by Wing / PolyGram USA I felt this was a significant change and wanted to underline this with shortening the name and perhaps with the reasoning that it would be easier for people in general to remember our name when it was shorter.

After 4 albums under the name Xymox, with the album “Phoenix” it had gotten too commercial in my opinion. With the 2 UK releases “Metamorphosis“ and “Headclouds” which were too Experimental and nothing much to do with the early material on 4 AD I decided in 1997 it was time to reintroduce Clan Of Xymox again with the same approach and attitude as in the earl 80’s. I felt that the Xymox days were not the right way to go and that it was better to stick to my own opinion instead of letting people influence me in one way or the other.

The result was the album “Hidden Faces” released worldwide on Tess Records and Pandaimonium Records in Germany in 1997. This was the start of Clan Of Xymox again. Since Phoenix I didn’t tour anymore. Had actually no live band anymore. I started to find again people who could play live with me and soon I had a live band ready to start promoting “Hidden Faces” and the older works on 4AD. Mojca my partner was there already since 1991 with me learning to play an instrument, keys and bass. She already designed the artwork from on 1992. In 1995 I decided to play in The Netherlands and promote “Metamorphosis” and “Headclouds”. The old live members from the 80’s Frank Weyzig and Will Anvers joined me on stage together with Mojca on Keyboards. This tour made me realise I missed playing live and soon since 1997 Clan Of Xymox played live each and every year till now and will keep on playing live.

I have a steady crew for more than a decade now with Mojca from on 1991 (of course), Mario ( more than 20 years), Sean and Daniel. I stay with the labels Metropolis (USA ) and Trisol (Germany ) as well as I run my own label Xymox Control now for decades a steady course with Clan Of Xymox, only expanding with my band, slowly but gradually. It manifests in the vast amount of sold out shows we are having each year.

‘We Were In Our Extravaganza’

Q: You were closely associated with 4AD, one of the most groundbreaking labels of the early New-Wave era. How did an unknown band from the Netherlands find its way onto such an iconic label? And how did your time with 4AD influence your evolution as an artist?

Ronny: Back in 1983 I felt that my former town Nijmegen ‘deserved’ a few copies of “Subsequent Pleasures” too. I was doing all the distribution myself. I sold 150 through Rough Trade UK, 150 in New Waves France and 150 export to Essen in Germany. Anyway, so I went to Nijmegen the night of the ‘Day of the Dead’, 1st of November.
I decided to visit a friend but he was not at home so not knowing what was going on that evening  I soon found out The Cocteau Twins were playing in Doornroosje that night, so I had to see them. There was still plenty of time left so I decided to have something  to eat in my favourite eating cafe De Plak. Whilst having dinner I heard English was spoken on another table, so my interest was aroused. Maybe this couple were The Cocteau Twins? Had to be! An English male and female.  Without any hesitation I went to their table and asked them all sorts of questions about their band The Cocteau Twins. They informed me politely that they were not The Cocteau Twins but were their supporting act called Dead Can Dance and if I wanted they could put me on the guest list; which I naturally did not decline since I was no longer active in Doornroosje anymore. In return I gave them a copy of “Subsequent Pleasures” for them to listen to.

Having seen Dead Can Dance they blew me away, just like of course The Cocteau Twins. After the show I went boldly to the dressing room and drank some beer with both the bands as they were sharing the dressing room and already established that we were all like-minded, talking to each other, or trying to, because Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau’s had a very heavy Scottish accent. Difficult to understand for a  Dutchman who knew and spoke only ‘school’ English. That night I learned then that Brendan was Irish, lived in New-Zealand, moved to Australia, met Lisa in Melbourne and moved to London to work on their musical career. A similar story was true for The Cocteau Twins who moved from Scotland to London to work on their career. All was very interesting and at the end of the night we swore to keep in contact and said our goodbyes.

During that time I kept in contact with Brendan and Lisa who lived together on the Isle Of Dogs. They invited me to their London home and I stayed at their place quite a few times. In those days I had to travel by ferry to the UK, a long journey. They lived on the 11th floor with a fantastic view over London. The flats were those typical council flats, ashen grey and reeking of urine in the elevators. They had a staggering amount of locks installed on their front door. With all their equipment at home I could understand their mistrust of their surroundings. It was all very depressing but very exciting for me. Brendan worked the same way as I did. We ended up with almost the same equipment in 1986. Brendan and Lisa were then still living together and were really dedicated to music. Every day they recorded or rehearsed. Lisa mainly singing and playing the Yang Ching. I slept in the living room and later on some visits they had a closet, like the one of “Harry Potter”. I slept there and was pretty cosy;)

Xymox started playing live in 1984 again. One day Brendan Perry called me up and asked me if we wanted to support them on a tour in the UK.  Without any hesitation I agreed to do it and almost a week later we were in London. Unfortunately when we arrived nearly all the dates of Dead Can Dance got cancelled and there were only three dates left:  one in London, Huddersfield and one in Dudley. We stayed with Brendan and Lisa, sleeping all on the floor in the living room, which I knew already too well.

During our first concert In London I nearly disappeared through the hole in the stage, I had to walk very carefully  because they did not manage to cover all the holes under the stained carpet. The father of Brendan was I believe the tour manager and his mother made sandwiches for Dead Can Dance when we went on the road to Dudley. The town looked nothing much and the bar we had to play likewise.. our dressing room was between beer barrels and if we wanted to have a drink we had to buy it at the bar said the promoter resembling “Dell Boy” of “Only Fools And Horses”. Still we had a great time hanging out with Brendan and Lisa, who were very generous to give us some money for covering our ferry expenses, which I know for sure they were paying out of their own pockets. After that we did more shows all over The Netherlands till summer.

Brendan Perry was the first one who told me about 4AD.  Before that I only paid attention to bands and not too much to record labels strangely enough.  He said he gave “Subsequent Pleasures” to Ivo Watts Russell , the label boss of 4AD, and so I followed up with sending a demo to 4AD with some newer additional tracks in July 1984, recorded in the Amsterdam Octopus 8 track studio. The demo I had sent 4AD after our shows in Paris’ old theatre La Seballe Club, several Dutch and the 2 UK dates. I was getting impatient as always. I gave Ivo Watts Russell a phone call. I was complaining about how the Dutch music industry sucked and that his label was the only independent label appealing to me. A week before that,  I had a meeting with the Dutch division label EMI but this meeting reminded me of all the cliches I ever heard about Major labels. To my absolute delight and surprise Ivo told me he liked what he had heard from the demo so far and wanted to meet, to see us in person and talk about it.

Ivo wanted to meet the band, so arriving in London, me and Anke  were heading to the private home of Ivo Watts Russell and his girlfriend Debby who also worked for 4AD as their press agent. They lived together in a residential SW12 London area. We stayed in their house for a week.

Anke and I had placed these long extra hair extensions in our hair so we looked a bit like ‘Uber Goths’ with a lot of make-up and special clothing we had designed for us by a friend who was handy with the sewing machine and wanted to become a fashion designer. I saw the surprise on Ivo’s face when he saw us for the first time. We were obviously not looking the way he expected us to look. Most of his bands on the label looked actually quite normal with no real image to speak of; so here we were in our extravaganza.

Luckily Ivo and Debby liked us or the music enough to offer Xymox a record deal and with that great news we went back home. The news had spread that we were the first band 4AD signed since two years of their last signing of Dead Can Dance. After this published fact my phone started to ring frequently and offers for radio and new Dutch live shows offers came in by the plenty.

When the self-titled album “Clan Of Xymox”’ was released funny enough nearly all the journalist thought we were Scottish by origin judging by their reviews. An Englishman is always very sensitive to accents. I saw it as a compliment though. Of course ‘Clan Of’ was suggestive enough 😉 . Most reviews were ecstatic, full of praise with five star ratings, the highest you could get. I guess we got lucky with my intention not to advertise we were Dutch. Having no names on the artwork and let the album speak for itself.

The British can be real chauvinists regarding their music industry, they didn’t take foreigners making music too seriously in those days. Of course the weekly music magazines Sounds, Melody Maker, New Music Express etcetera made up their ‘mistake’ in the eye to eye interviews, clearly pointing out us being Dutch and using the usual stereotype references, with headlines like ‘Dutch Bake’, ‘Dutch Courage’, ‘Going Dutch’, ‘Hollandaise Sauce’ and any phrase relating to the war between the Dutch and the Brits a few centuries ago. Anyway it did not matter anymore because we got the attention;  had a proper selling debut album. We did a lot of photo shoots with an English photographer using drapes in the back ground giving us a more Gothic image. This was used as our promo picture.The Music Maker and Sounds were giving us regular features and interviews afterwards, which gave us finally an international standing. Soon 4AD set up a few shows in Croydon and the University of London plus a John Peel session, which was very important to establish up and coming bands.

‘We Had To Prove Ourselves Time And Time Again’

Q: You’ve already mentioned several legendary British bands that were prominent in the 1980s and shared strong connections and camaraderie. What was your experience of the Dutch music scene during that time? How do you reflect on it now?

Ronny: I only had French, British and Scottish bands as friends. I could not get along with any band in The Netherlands in the mid-eighties. In the Netherlands there was a very strong Rock culture with no space for bands like us. We had to prove ourselves time and time again. I didn’t understand the provincial attitude towards synths coming from the Dutch critics. In a very first review the national music magazine Oor reviewed synths as magic boxes which made them nervous listening to them. When our first album came out we finally got greeted by the more alternative media which just got a foot in the door and were played on radio and TV, MTV and the like. Suddenly we were part of a movement to be reckoned with. Sometimes we even played live twice on a day in The Netherlands.

‘The Only Disappointment For Me Was That I Actually Never Got To Meet John Peel’

Q: During that period, you worked with or crossed paths with notable figures like the aforementioned Brendan Perry. But what about John Fryer, David M. Allen and John Peel? What can you share about those interactions and their impact on your journey?

Ronny: Our first John Peel session was in the beginning of  November 1985. It was pretty stressful for me. We had to record 4 to 5 songs with the live band in one working ‘BBC’ day of 6 hours or so. It didn’t occur to me that I should have taken adaptors for English power plugs with me.  Because it is the BBC, no one is allowed to change a power plug without the assistance of a fully qualified engineer, so it took them already one hour to find such a person as labour union regulations dictated that the technician supposed to have his tea break of an hour. We were already losing valuable time! We didn’t have computers in those days. My first Commodore computer with TV monitor I got in 1988 when I wrote the “ Twist Of Shadows“ album.  The Macintosh 128K a normal mortal could not afford. Clan Of Xymox did however use an 8 track recorder for the backing tracks, like Depeche Mode or The Cocteau Twins used as well. It consisted of individual drum tracks, sequenced bass triggers and strings. This made life a bit easier.  We could thanks to the ‘eight track’ finish within the timeframe of the BBC.

The only disappointment for me was that I actually never got to meet John Peel. Even then he was a legend, especially to me, because it was the best program for discovering new exciting bands. I only got to call him from the 4AD office, thanking him for the opportunity he gave us. He declared in his program that we were the pioneers of Dark-Wave. That was a huge compliment and recognition for Clan Of Xymox. Soon Dutch radios started to follow suit. We got to record a live show for Radio Veronica in Hilversum. Several TV shows invited us for music programs like the VARA. MTV picked us up too. We felt we were on a roll!

John Fryer I instantly liked as a person and sound engineer. He was the in house sound engineer of 4AD and knew what he was doing. He was not afraid to experiment with sampling sounds and replacing them. The AMS delay was his secret weapon. I remember sitting evenings together with John mixing tracks by hand. So I had to pull and push knobs on my side and he on his side. It was a lot of fun and very educational. Later in live John made me a remix for “Big Brother“ from the album “Limbo” (2021).

I worked with David M. Allen on tracks like “Out Of The Rain” and “Sing A Song” together with Jools of Nitzer Ebb. It was in Leamington Spa in John Rivers’s studio. I worked with John Rivers already on the “Blind Hearts”-EP for 4AD and several B-sides for later PolyGram. Now I was working with John on the “Hidden Faces”-album (1997) and we thought it would be very cool to have Dave M. Allen involved. This certainly worked. I wished we had the budget to work on all the songs but I was already glad these two songs worked out fantastically. Dave is a very likeable person with an air of mystique around him. He gives suggestions for you to try and they always make sense. He taught me to delve deeper when needed.

‘Without Me There Is No Clan Of Xymox’

Q: Both Xymox and Clan Of Xymox included founding members Anke Wolbert and Pieter Nooten. What role did they play in shaping the band’s identity, and how do you reflect on the line-up changes over the years?

Ronny: They were both not founding members. They joined me in the beginning of the Xymox period. First Anke as I told you and later in 1985 Pieter. Because they were the first ones joining they are seen as founding members but I am sorry to say; it was always my thing. I was and still am the driving force behind the band and it’s musical direction. No one else. They concentrated mainly on their own songs like “Masquerade” or “Stumble” and “Fall” back in the days. The bulk I wrote. I participated also on their songs as well.

Regarding the songs it is true we worked more together like a band should. In the beginning we rehearsed the songs for live shows and many got changed during this process. This was only sustainable for a short while as nobody liked to rehearse together.

We ended up as 3 individuals writers with different taste and musical directions so it was inevitable it wouldn’t work out long because we were all to egocentric to begin with. When I officially broke up with Anke it was also the end of working together as a collective. We all went our own way.

Indeed we had many changes but maybe the irony is in the word ‘Clan’, a group of close knitted people. So in the end there were many LIVE musicians joining the band for a short or longer period. Joining ‘the Clan’. The red line was and is simple: without me there is no Clan Of Xymox.

All happened really fast in those days. It was a learning process for all involved. Books about the music industry and bands hardly existed. Everyone was left to do whatever with their experiences, positive or negative.
I never knew or expected that just making music could make me enemies but also gaining a lot of friends of course. Jalousie and spite can make people really vicious and vindictive and yet equally so many fans or friends treat you with the utmost respect or even adoration. To me it is just music but soon you realise it is something more than that. 

Former friends or partners turning into your personal enemy. It is the worst thing that can happen, because they know your weaknesses and irritation points and will not shy away from using this against you if they have no pride, dignity or integrity.

Thinking back on this short period between 1985 and 1989 stir more negative emotions then positive ones in me. It wasn’t all bad of course but I can’t remember real long good periods. I realise looking back that I am only happy with the band since the beginning of the  mid 90’s to now, at least 33 years so far:)

Q: How does the young Ronny Moorings compare to the musician you are today? What traits have endured, and which aspects of your younger self do you miss in your music or approach to life?

Ronny: I was definitely very naive in the beginning. When I wrote a song for example I just split the rights between the band members because I thought it would motivate my band to pull more their weight in the band and…. after all I was a socialist and not a capitalist 😉

Soon I discovered that when people sense they don’t have to do too much and can simply lay back whilst I do the heavy lifting because they get paid anyway.

I started to get annoyed with this uneven situation and learned from this that I should not give away my rights that easily just to please band members or partner. So I ended this naive approach and never looked back.
Equally I used to work with bigger crews, managers, tour managers, lawyers and all the professional people they told you would need to have in order to make it as a band.

After many annoyances about the enormous bills I decided I could do most jobs way better. I know I am a control freak. You have to be. You have to understand the way things work. Now I have a lean machine and I like it a lot. Later I also learned to delegate things and that is also very rewarding. I guess ‘live and learn’ is true in my opinion.

‘Dark-Wave Has A Strong Hold All Over The World Like In The 80’s’

Q: Many legendary New/Dark-Wave bands achieved their greatest success in the ’80s. Why do you think those years were so special and unique for the genre? How do you see the evolution of New/Dark-Wave music from its origins to today, particularly in terms of its spirit and cultural significance?

Ronny: Yes, it was a new style taking over with fashion unseen before, It was against the Hippy culture, the jeans wearing long haired pot smokers. It was a clean break from all of this, plus the ‘no future’ feeling with all the political turmoil and nuclear threats hanging over our heads. Remember Thatchers England. Ronald Reagan as president.

These bands made the sound track of our lives and guess what? It is happening again. Dark-Wave has a strong hold all over the world like in the 80’s. Yes, it’s not on the dying radio or TV stations as we know it but streaming like crazy, this time on internet radios, YouTube, Spotify It feels a bit like maybe the pirates in the 80’s.

It feels the same to me and also we have the same nuclear threats back again. In a way it feels coming ‘full circle’.

Q: Over the decades, the music industry has undergone tremendous changes -rising social media, streaming platforms, declining physical album sales, advances in technology, and shifts in performance venues from intimate gigs to massive festivals. How have you navigated these transformations, and what are your thoughts on the (r)evolution of the industry?

Ronny: I navigate these changes just fine I think. I always welcomed change and will ever do. We need to improve. We need to move forward and not backward. When for the very first time in the 80’s I could get my hands on a computer I embraced it as a big help with sequencing and programming. It made endless rehearsing patterns on keyboards so much easier. Later it became my entire virtual studio platform. Streaming is now the most important thing now in the music industry and some artists do not like it, but remember when music was pirated and artists would get nothing from it financially and no insight how many like to listen to your music etc. I love Spotify and as an artist you have access to all date regarding what your fans are listening to.
Most music I listen to these days is from platforms, on my phone with airpods. This gives me more time to listen to music when I am on the move or outside. Everything in one device is just brilliant I think. Of course I have at home all old media devices still in place. I do play vinyl as well when I am in the mood. I still love vinyl and the looks of it. The best format for the artwork to shine.

Q: While it’s difficult for any musician to choose a single album or song as their best, is there a particular piece in your discography that holds special significance for you? Or do you believe that your most recent work is always your finest?

Ronny: I have to agree with my fellow musicians. My recent is indeed the best so far as I can see and feel 😉 It is simply because new songs are for the one who wrote and recorded it the most exciting, the most fresh and recent to your current experiences. You have to play them live which you haven’t done before and in the end they will sound different then when it came out. If you don’t have that feeling the artist should not release the album in the first place 😉

‘I Let The Listener Feel What I Feel’

Q: Your lyrics often feel deeply expressive, sometimes addressing social and political themes, other times delving into introspection. Do you see your lyrics as a reflection of your true self? What value and purpose do they hold for you?

Ronny: Sometimes yes and sometimes no. It’s complicated 😉 I definitely sing about emotions I feel or felt. Say I sing about Evelyn, Louise or Michelle. That doesn’t mean I know a person with that name or sing about a real person. All these names are fictional but the feelings and thoughts what went into these songs are real. Sometimes more than one person I think about finds its place into a song lyric. It all depends. Political themes are the ones which affected me like in the Lockdown periods in the early 20’s. It comes home, becomes personal and I describe more the situation than anything else. I let the listener feel what I feel.
Sometimes I write a song to blow off steam and feel good afterwards. Most of the time it’s about a person who doesn’t want to leave me alone almost my entire life 😉 I can keep going on like that. I always delve the lyrics out of the depths of my mind where it lay buried until I get it out through some type of instrumentation deciding for me what the topic is going to be. A new to be written song has most of the time its own will and direction.

Q: Clan Of Xymox has consistently attracted new fans over the years. What do your fans mean to you, and how does it feel to have a lasting influence on the Dark-Wave scene?

Ronny: Fans are the most important to me. Without a doubt. We meet so many dedicated fans, traveling to all of our shows they can reach within reason. We always talk to anyone after the show who’s interested, have selfies taken, give autographs, give something a fan would like to experience, a closeness you can’t give onstage. A hand shake, a look in the eye.

I am honoured to contribute to the Dark-Wave scene as it is today. All bands who are now big I met when they were still beginning and were our support one time or the other. I know that we had an influence on them but now they are an influence on me the same. So it works in the end both ways. To me this scene is the best scene ever for me.

Q: Looking back on your career, what do you consider to be your biggest milestones? And what were the most significant disappointments?

Ronny: I am still working on my biggest milestone 🙂 My quest is to see how long I can still play live with the band. That is my ultimate quest in life. Disappointments enough, especially in people, but to me that is also an inspiration to write songs about so in the end all turns out for the best. I am lucky I have many good friends in my life to compensate for the negative. Unfortunately I am a person who has to be on the darker side of things in order to feel inspired. So I don’t mind 😉

Q: How have you managed to keep finding fresh ideas and challenges over the years? Were there periods where inspiration waned, and if so, how did you overcome those creative blocks?

Ronny: I think in the beginning it was harder to write as it is now. To me writing comes very natural I think. Maybe because I have more to say now than when I was in my twenties. In that time I read a lot of books in order to get lyrically inspired. For a long time now I just write from what comes up in my mind and put it into lyrics. Way easier I think and less time consuming 😉 The music was never a problem. Finding words to it is a harder nut to crack sometimes.

A creative block I handle very easy: I put the song away and start with something else. Sometimes its years later that I have a look at it again, if I can do something with it and often that’s the case. So for me I don’t like to force a song if it doesn’t present it by itself.

‘Joy Division, The Sisters Of Mercy And The Cure Were Very Important To Me’

Q: One of the most surprising entries in your discography is “Kindred Spirits” (2012), a cover album featuring renowned songs and artists. How did you choose the tracks, and what connection do you have to those songs? Would you consider them key sources of inspiration?

Ronny: When I was young, the only means of getting to know music was the radio or “Top of the Pops” later in the 70s. In the Netherlands we had bands like Shocking Blue, Brainbox, Earth And Fire, Focus, The Golden Earring and such, which appealed to me a lot. These were the bands I was interested in. On TV we grew up with The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and of course The Monkees especially grouped for US TV. These bands made me want to play an instrument at a very young age. After that I always stayed on the alternative side of music. On my album “Kindred Spirits“ you can see and hear which artist influenced me in the direction I was going. Bands for example like Joy Division, The Sisters Of Mercy and The Cure were very important to me.

I gave or restricted myself to make a choice for ten songs of bands who had in one way or the other an impact on my musical taste. I wanted to give an ode to these bands and revive these songs in my memory to keep and make them as my own. In the end I did 11 tracks of my all-time favourite bands or songs.

Too many bands like to hide their influences or deny them. I decided to give them my own pedestal.

Q: This year marks the release of Clan Of Xymox’s 18th album, “Exodus”. What does this album represent within your extensive discography? Can you share insights into its creation?

Ronny: I finished and released the album “Limbo” in 2021 and I wrote the “Exodus” album after writing “Save Our Souls” in 2022 in 2023. The last song I wrote for this album was in January 2024 and here we are. In a way keeping the tradition of one album release in every two or three years.

We toured an awful lot so the little time I had, I spend in the studio taking my mind of things. The late general developments in the world I felt writing about. Instead of introspective lyrics I felt more like describing our current times we live in. After “Save Our Souls” I wrote “Fear For A World At War”, especially after all the rhetoric of Putin threatening Europe or the world with nuclear strikes. Because the world is massively gearing up for war.

When I was born there was the biggest world crisis between the Soviet Union and the USA about the missiles in Cuba.

It is ironic that now we are living with almost the exact conditions but this time closer to home, having a nuclear missile threat. History repeats itself . I certainly hope this is not getting out of hand but the signs are that we seem to step up our war talk more and more. SOS indeed. The world is at turmoil and nothing good will come out of this. Exodus for me as well when it gets out of hand. Anyway, this is the back ground for writing all these songs for “Exodus”.

Q: Talking about “Save Our Souls”, there clearly is a sense of commentary on the state of the world. Do you see music and this album as a unifying force in troubled times? How do you perceive its broader impact on society?

Ronny: “Save Our Souls” was specific about the invasion of the Russians into the Ukraine. It was a shocker for me. Especially after just having toured there in September 2021. I see music in troubled times more as a safety blanket you can wrap yourself in. It gives comfort and soothes your mind and well-being. An escape as it were from the daily sorrows we get bombarded with each and every minute. So far music can change or influence politics when masses cry out for social change. I don’t see that happen with this album or any of my albums;) Never intended for it either.

Q: Authenticity seems to be a hallmark of your music. Many fans describe a sense of genuine emotion and connection in your work. How do you experience this dynamic and interaction with your audience? How powerful or influential do you think music can be in bridging gaps and inspiring change?

Ronny: Wow, if you talk about the grand scale of things you might have a chance to do so but in the cult circuit we are maybe just the inspiring factor. That which might work on a small scale. I should certainly hope that our fans and other listeners get the music of Clan Of Xymox and feel the emotions I feel when I perform these songs with my band. Live you notice this the best. During the show I always look at people and there are so many various expressions on people faces, you feel that you are almost privileged to see an expression of someone when they sink into the song with mind and body. I love it!

‘Contrast Works Always The Best In A Way’

Q: Your music often combines dark, melancholic themes with an energy that makes people dance and feel alive. How do you reconcile these contrasting elements?

Ronny: Contrast works always the best in a way. I defines, it outlines. I have a lot of slow songs with equally dark lyrics but playing live I want to entertain people, want to make them move inside and out. I have luckily lots and lots of songs to choose from and during the years it taught me a lot about which songs people like to hear when they go to our concert. That means the classics are always included and never ignored.

Q: Finally, let’s end with a few rapid-fire questions:

• ‘Sex, Drugs, and Rock ‘N’ Roll’: does this resonate with you?

Ronny: During my long career all certainly resonates at one time or the other. Experimenting with drugs I steered away long time ago. It was perhaps hip in the 80’s or attractive to experiment but the same goes for smoking or anything else unhealthy. I value a healthy life style with perhaps an alternativee: Sex, Wine and Wave 😉

• Is there a band or artist you would have loved to collaborate with?

Ronny: It’s a shame I never got to work with David Bowie. I met him once in LA when he came to see our concert in the Palace. I was too starstruck to even think of asking him. What a missed chance !

• Do you feel a spiritual connection with any particular artist or band?

Ronny: Yes, plenty! I have got so many great friends in the current scene who make great music. Backstage is always fun when we meet.

• In a world without music, what do you think you’d be doing?

Ronny: Not breathe.

• Which Clan Of Xymox song would you recommend to someone who has never heard your music before?

Ronny: “A Day”, “She” or “Loneliness” as a starter.

• How many albums has Clan Of Xymox sold, and which remains the most successful?

Ronny:  Wouldn’t you like to know 😉 “Twist Of Shadows” was still the most successful in terms of hard record-CD/Cassettes sales because it was at the time people could only buy that and did. There was no piracy then, apart from the classic copying on a blank cassette. In terms of streaming and overall impact I have to point to my later works.

• What is the ultimate dream for Clan Of Xymox?

Ronny: To carry on like the last two years.

• What would you want written on your epitaph and that of Clan Of Xymox?

Ronny:  

See you on the other side.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain.

I am the gentle autumn rain.

Do not stand at my grave and weep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.

I am not there, I didn’t go.

I didn’t die, so you know. 

See you on the other side.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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.

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Last September, Alfa Matrix released the 7th studio album from AD:KEY, “0609” (available via Bandcamp): a release full of energy, strong old-school EBM basslines, catchy synth melodies, and addictive choruses, all highlighted by their unique male/female vocal interplay. NITZER EBB’s power meets KRAFTWERK’s melody for a smashing album evoking AND ONE or FRONT 242!

S. First of all, congratulations on the release of “0609” and your wedding anniversary! September 6th must hold a lot of personal significance for you both. Can you share how you spent your anniversary this year and what this date means to you in both your personal and professional lives? 

R. Thank you for your kind wishes. September 6th has a very big meaning for us indeed. We wanted to show the whole world that we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. This year we spent our 16th wedding anniversary at the NCN Festival. The night before I performed at the NCN with Orange Sector. Andrea and I met at a festival 17 years ago, married 16 years ago and gave our first AD:keY concert in Kassel on that very day. So a wedding concert!

S. “0609” is described as your most personal album to date, reflecting your deep bond as a couple and bandmates. How did your relationship influence the creative process behind this release? Were there any moments that felt especially emotional or cathartic during the making of the album?

R. We are married, but at the same time we are best friends. We can tell each other anything and don’t shy away from criticizing each other. Because we have set up our studio at home, we can work on music at any time. Alone or together, whatever suits us. Of course there are emotional moments. Especially when a track gives us goosebumps at the same time. I think especially with the songs “Your Eyes” and “Two Souls” we felt a sense of deep connection…

S. The male/female vocal interplay is a core element of your sound. How do you approach balancing your voices and perspectives in the music? Are there specific tracks on “0609” where you feel this dynamic really shines?

R. That’s a tough question! My favorite on the album is “Your Eyes.” The song is based on Andrea’s voice. My voice can only be heard in the background during the chorus. Where a female voice is needed or rather a male voice, we also use it. Andrea finds the outro of the album, the song “0609”, particularly successful. Here both voices appear in a balanced ratio…

S. This album celebrates not only your relationship but also your dedication to the EBM genre. How do you see your sound evolving on “0609,” and what were your main influences or inspirations while working on this album?

R. I think we have undergone a lot of development in the last few years. Our songs seem (at least we think so) more grown-up, more mature than on the first albums. They are more classic, melodic old school EBM songs with a somewhat rough instrumentalization. We only use hardware synthesizers, many of which are analog devices. This makes the sound warm and rich – and somehow everything sounds a little like electronics from the end of the 80s. I think this is a new quality feature of “0609”. We like that sound because we grew up with it. These are our sources of inspiration. Our song “The Evil God,” for example, makes me think a little of Bigod 20 with its sounds and samples, for example the tracks “Kreusch” and “The Big Bang.” I’m a big Bigod 20 fan. Or the sequencer runs on the songs “Heartbeat” and “By Your Side” could perhaps have come from Nitzer Ebb. Andrea has been a Nitzer Ebb fan since she was a child. Some of the sounds on “0609” sound a bit like Armageddon Dildos, which I was a keyboard player for on stage for years. Uwe Kanka, the mastermind of Armageddon Dildos, finally insisted on contributing the vocals for our song “Feel the Beat” in the chorus. We have been friends with Uwe for years; after all, Uwe is originally from Kassel, just like Andrea. They even attended the same school, except that Uwe learned there a bunch of years before Andrea (laugh).  I would perhaps mention Terence Fixmer and Miss Kittin as further influences – and of course Front 242 and Kraftwerk.

S. The album comes with a bonus CD featuring remixes by artists like ORANGE SECTOR, ZWEITE JUGEND, and even your side project RECTOR SCANNER. How did you decide which artists to collaborate with for these remixes, and how does it feel to have your music reinterpreted by others?

R. First of all, thank you again to all the remixers. Almost all of us know each others personally and are mostly friends with each other. Whenever we hear a remix for the first time, we are amazed at how different such new recordings are from the original and what new ideas the remixers have contributed. Since we know what our friends’ music sounds like with their own projects, we could already guess in advance which direction the mixes could go. With the Bodewell (Orange Sector) remix we knew it was going to be a club number that was going to be a blast. The TC 75 mix would be more ambient – and “Zweite Jugend” will sound like “Zweite Jugend”. “Aktion:Fiasko” definitely had to be there because the project is new, crisp and fresh. Franzi (the front woman) lives a few doors down from us. But we didn’t know that we would be presented with such a bright mix of “The Evil God” that will certainly attract attention in the club. The Miseria Ultima remix was also a big surprise because we had only known this band for a short time.

S. Considering the intimate nature of “0609” and your long-standing relationship as both partners and bandmates, how do you manage to maintain that balance between personal life and the creative energy needed for your music? 

R. For us, making music is part of our private lives. It mainly takes place on the weekends, after dinner on Friday or Saturday evening. If the creative energy isn’t there, we do something different: we meet up with friends, go to concerts, or go to readings in my favorite bookstore “Otherland” in Berlin Kreuzberg where we gather strength and find new ideas.

S. As you celebrate this milestone with “0609,” what does the future hold for AD:KEY? Are there any upcoming projects, collaborations, or special plans that fans can look forward to?

R. Of course we pause for a moment when a project like a new album that we have been working on for almost 4 years is finished. It’s like closing a book you’ve read. And then you look around for something new, you look around and start the next project. We will definitely play some concerts, for example in March 2025 at the E-Only Festival in Leipzig. We have some remixes in the pipeline for other bands. There are already a few song ideas for our Rector Scanner project. In the future there will be a new Rector Scanner album. At the moment we are planning another AD:keY single from the current album, which should be released in the next months.  Another AD:keY song is also finished, which was originally supposed to be on the album “0609”, but ultimately didn’t fit thematically. This song was sung by Martin Bodewell (Orange Sector). We also want to release this song somewhere!  Andrea has also been active as a guest singer with VillaBorghese (side project of Ex Trial / Trilogy) in recent months and will certainly be heard there more often. In addition, Andrea is planning a project that she would like to launch together with exclusively female musicians, including Franzi from Aktion:Fiasko and Lily from MDS 51. Female Electronic Music – “FEM”.

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-based indie rock band Love Ghost and Swedish musician Tim Skold have an all new single and video out as Love Ghost X Skold: “Nightshade And Cocaine”. The track is the latest result of an ongoing collaboration between both artists and is taken from a self-titled album to be released in late 2024.

“We are very excited to share this first single from our forthcoming album,” states Skold. “It’s not easy picking singles but this one is a favourite of mine because of the dynamics. It’s like a musical roller coaster, the highs and lows take you for a ride. This is also something that is reflected in the lyrics, which almost lightheartedly deal with some very heavy subjects.”

“This is a sonic journey that touches on many topics such as personal introspection, losing and finding your soul, witchcraft, death, the afterlife, and even politics and war,” adds Bell. “Deadly Nightshade [also known as Belladonna] is a flower that is intrinsically linked to witchcraft, particularly for flying, astral projection and as a symbol for death. This song is about altered states of mind and one’s psychology unravelling at the seams. It is dynamic, unconventional and imaginative and is one of my favourites on the album.”

Below is the video for the new Love Ghost X Skold 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!

side-line.com

Out on September 13th via Metropolis Records is the first all solo album from Bill Leeb, titled “Model Kollapse”. The 11-track album “Model Kollapse” comes in two versions, a CD in digipak and a thick 16 pages booklet, and as a limited bleach effect double vinyl. The vinyl is limited to 500 copies and comes in extra heavy gatefold sleeve with seperate printed inner sleeves.

The first single “Terror Forms” features Shannon Hemmett of Actors and Leathers and will be out on July 9.

The album was recorded and produced in Vancouver, Toronto and Los Angeles with assistance provided by production duo Dream Bullet and long-term Front Line Assembly / Delerium cohort Rhys Fulber, plus regular mixing engineer Greg Reely.

Two tracks on the album feature Shannon and Jason from Canadian Electropop act Actors and one track has American singer-songwriter Mimi Page, who already collaborated with Bill on his Delerium project.

Tracks: Read the review of ‘Model Kollapse’.

1. Demons
2. Exotic Matter
3. Neuromotive
4. Folded Hands
5. Pinned Down
6. Terror Forms (feat. Actors)
7. Muted Obsession (feat. Actors)
8. Simulation
9. Infernum
10. Fusion
11. Erosion through Time (feat. Mimi Page)

About Bill Leeb

Bill Leeb is a Vancouver-based Canadian industrial musician, founder of Front Line Assembly, formed in 1986 after he left Skinny Puppy, and co-founder, with longtime collaborator Rhys Fulber, of the ambient project Delerium, begun in 1987. Despite decades of output across those projects, Leeb had not released a solo album under his own name until “Model Kollapse,” issued 13 September 2024 on CD, vinyl and digitally through Metropolis Records.

“Model Kollapse” was recorded across Vancouver, Toronto and Los Angeles, with production assistance from the duo Dream Bullet and Rhys Fulber, and mixing by longtime engineer Greg Reely. Guest contributors include Mimi Page, Jason Corbett of Actors and Shannon Hemmett of Actors and Leathers. The eleven-track album’s title and themes reference model collapse, the phenomenon in which AI models trained on synthetic data degrade over successive generations. “Model Kollapse” is Bill Leeb’s first release under his own name, separate from his work in Front Line Assembly and Delerium.

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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(Photo by Chris Ruiz) Out now is the official music video for “Welcome 2 Nothing” by the Berlin-based electro industrial metal act Crushing State. “The lyrics reflect the current state of our global society and are more relevant than ever; the video expresses our anger, emphasizing that love and respect are far more important than hate, selfishness, and disrespect,” says the band.

Below is the video for “Welcome 2 Nothing”.

Crushing State consists of Chris Ruiz (voice, machines, guitars), Mathias Thürk (keyboards, machines), André Feller (guitars) and Vincent Viebig (drums). The band, led by Chris Ruiz, debuted with “Surveillance” and for “Welcome 2 Nothing”, they collaborated for the first time with Jens Halbauer (known from Solar Fake and Fliehende Stürme) who contributed some drum parts.

The band here also collaborated with JS Clayden from the English industrial pioneers Pitchshifter. Clayden produced a remix of “Welcome 2 Nothing“.

Chris Ruiz, formerly of the synthpop band And One, initially started Crushing State as a solo project.

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 Newcastle-based darkwave electro project 404 Error, helmed by a musician going by the name of 36663, has a new single out, “ETHAL”. This debut single comes with a new AI-generated video and features guest vocals from J.A.N.E. The track is taken from the debut 404 Error album, “Scene Killers,” which will be released on Friday. Musically, “Scene Killers” combines minimal synth, alt electro, darkwave, and synthpop influences.

Here’s the video.

Speaking about the new video-single “ETHAL”, 36663 says: “It’s a love song. Ha! The idea for ‘ETHAL’ emerged in a conversation recently with some long-term friends, and we discussed the cliché of the ‘Manic Pixie Dream Girl’ songs. But also, the prevalence of female names in iconic songs: Severina, Jasmine and Rose, Ophelia, Christabel, etc. So, why not Ethal? From there the idea evolved. My first idea was to do a love song to a sex doll, but Alice 2 already did that (‘In My Life’). They also had a song about falling in love with a girl in a chatroom (‘It’s a Crime’), and I thought, ‘What would this look like in 2024?’ So, yeah… ETHAL is about a lady who falls in love with an AI chatbot, and then implants the personality into a sex robot… A love song for the modern era.”

Thematically, the new album “Scene Killers” explores what 36663 describes as themes around regionally skewed histories and rose-tinted remembrances of the dark alternative scene (as in the album track “Nostalgia”); the pressure from gatekeepers and influencers to “support the scene” or lose it; and the persistent scapegoating of fans amid accusations of “killing the scene” when bands, DJs, and promoters fail to generate interest in their events. This is exemplified in songs like “Cancel Culture”, “Vote for Us”, and “(It’s Not Your Fault) Our Band is Shit”.

36663 adds: “The whole ‘Killing the Scene’ trope has been happening for decades, and the scene is still here. Despite all the odds, ‘dark alternative’ remains a popular subculture. And one we love. Scene Killers is ultimately about a scene that won’t die.”

“Scene Killers” by 404 Error can now be pre-ordered now from 404 Error on Bandcamp, with streaming on Spotify and all major digital music platforms to follow.

Here is the 3-track single which also holds a cover of the Slipknot song “Wait and Bleed” next to an alternative version of the track title.

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

Here’s one from a few years ago, 2021 to be precise, when Electrozombies celebrated the 30th anniversary of the And One debut album “Anguish” with a tribute album titled “Anode”. “With many bands, the release cycle gets longer and longer as they continue to exist, leading to prolonged periods of drought for fans,” says Electrozombies. “With this tribute, we aim to shorten the waiting time until And One’s next album.”

Since we didn’t feature the news back then, we bring it today.

The tribute also reflected Steve Naghavi’s admiration for Depeche Mode. Electrozombies found inspiration in a childhood photo of Naghavi surrounded by Depeche Mode posters. “There are countless Depeche Mode tribute compilations. Why not one for And One?”

Their research led them to the 2019 tribute “Cover Sind Cover”, which had too many repeated tracks. “We aimed for a tribute with more variation,” they say. Thus, “Anode (An Electrozombies tribute to And One)” was born.

“Anode” features 10 cover versions of And One tracks. The compilation also introduced new talents discovered through Submithub, alongside established scene acts like Beat Noir Deluxe, Auger, and Beata Beatrix. It is only available via streaming platforms including Spotify.

Tracklist for “Anode (An Electrozombies tribute to And One)”

1. Fatal Aim – The Only Guest
2. Noble Savage – Wild Pain
3. Ultranoire – Friends In Heaven
4. Split Vision – Shining Star
5. Mind Machine – Sometimes
6. Alphamay – Techno Man (Feat. Luftkraft)
7. Beata Beatrix – My Angel
8. Beat Noir Deluxe – Killing The Mercy
9. Orpheus In Red Velvet – Consequence Of Time
10. Auger – Military Fashion Show

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 electronic act, Ironic Sweden, presents a double single release today via the Danish label Town & Towers Records: “Lost Eden” and “Media Whore”.

Here’s what the band says about “About Lost Eden”: “We all want to find that true big love. Sometimes we think we found it, and then all of a sudden it’s gone. It’s only then we understand the importance of the unconditional love we all long for. It is a catchy synthpop song, that might remind you of the British electronic music group, The Beloved, best known for the 90’s singles “Sweet Harmony”, “Time After Time”, “Hello” and “Satellite”.”

And this is what they say about “Media Whore”: “How far are we willing to go to get likes and 15 minutes of fame. And when we finally get it, are we even aware of how long time it will take to recover or do we ever recover. This is a song in the more old fashion Ironic Sweden style. Some might think the song sounds like And One, spiced up with some Soft Cell notes…”

The two new singles were produced by the Melville brothers, more specific Callum Melville, aka Calibeats from the UK.

Dan Ritzen founded Ironic Sweden, later joined by Stefan Kauppila Johansson and Tezz Markström in 2023. They are signed to Town And Towers Records, where they released the album “Evolution”. Dan’s journey in the music industry began in the late 90s when he and Fredrik Hansson formed the band Obscene Inside. After Fredrik’s departure, Dan transitioned into DJing on an amateur basis. In the mid-2000s, he rebranded the project as “Ironic” and released a self-titled EP. In 2010, he changed the name to Ironic Sweden and produced numerous unreleased songs. The debut EP “Player” was released in December 2017 in a very limited edition on both CD and vinyl. Below is the trio’s first album, “Evolution”.

And this is the video for the track “I Believe You”.

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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Monospore is a Danish duo set up in 2009 by Jannik Vittrup and Søren Brandstrup. They last year released their second full length album “Into Darkness”. The opus features ten EBM songs driven by aggressive bass lines and carried by cold tunes. The vocals are harsh but not too much. “Into Darkness” is an accomplished production which I can only but recommend to EBM-lovers.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: You guys seem to be involved with music since quite a long time and have been busy with multiple projects and music styles. Tell us a bit more about your background, the different projects and how did you finally come to set up Monospore?

Søren: Jannik and I started in 1986-87. We made music inspired by Depeche Mode and Camouflage and a bit of Front 242/Nitzer Ebb on an Amiga computer and we added two EMAX’s to the setup. However, we never actually got anything released. During the many following years, we made several different music styles with various singers, in styles like Ace Of Base, Paul Elstak etc.

I have only made some small project alone and with a few other people, but nothing was ever released.

Jannik: Besides the projects I did with Søren I also did some solo projects called, Executor, Bioreactor & Johhny Mnemonic amongst others. I also collaborated with other musicians most know is probably my collaborations with Thomas Elers on Cellblock X, Cbx Project and Latex Empire.

After a very long break we went to see a lot of live acts like Combichrist, Nitzer Ebb in the late 2000’s, and decided to follow our hearts in our new project just doing the music that gives us energy and that we love. We have always been huge fans of EBM (Nitzer Ebb, Front 242 etc.) We started to experiment with a lot of track, sounds and vocal styles before we found our style. First real Monospore track was “Blue Haze” which ended up as a bonus track on our debut album “Control The Game, Regain Control” from 2012.

Q: Monospore has been set up in 2009, but you’ve been mainly busy releasing singles and the album “Into Darkness” during 2023. How comes and how do you perceive the evolution from the band from the first albums till “Into Darkness”?

Monospore: We had a long break after our debut album “Control The Game… Regain Control!!!”. We both have families, and in that period we both build houses. At the same time, we both had professional careers as our day jobs. Søren finished his Master-degree in Building Physics in 2016, and Jannik finished his academy degree in Business IT a little earlier. We did do a lot of demos in the time in between the albums and one track (cf. “Fall For Me”) in 2018 for the Danish Electro v.2 compilation though.

There has been a huge leap in the production from our first album “Control The Game… Regain Control!!!” to the second album “Into Darkness”. First of all, we build a new studio in between the 2 albums and second, we also decided the overall sound to be more ‘old-school’ and less distorted than on our first album.

In our opinion the tracks on the new album have a much better and dynamic sound, but we appreciate both albums and are super proud of them. In the process for album 2, we did several new tracks that didn’t fit on the new album. These take Monospore in another direction and will be included on our next album.

Q: What more can you tell us about “Into Darkness” and what do you try to reflect by its title?

Monospore: We are very much into very hard music and find our inspiration in that as well as we wanted to evolve our sound. Nothing inspired us for the album as such except some of the bands we listen to ourselves. We love the soundscapes of Gary Numan’s productions as well as Alan Wilder’s and the album also has a much more dynamic sound than our first one. The title was mainly inspired by the cover photo location as well as it is the title of the last track on the album.

Q: What makes the chemistry between both of you and who’s taking care for the different aspects of the composing- and production process?

Jannik: I see it as a very shared process, we do a lot of demos separately and then work on them together. Often, we do some details on the tracks separately and then send it to each other to listen to. We always finish it together in the studio and do the mixing and mastering together as well.

Q: What about Monospore as a live band? How do you transpose the songs from the studio to the stage?   

Søren: We always strive to make our live set as hard as possible and bring some special versions for the audience though it is important for us to keep the sounds and vibe from the original track. It is always very motivating to feel the response from the audience and see the venue boiling of aggressivity and moving bodies. We are very grateful for the very positive responses we have got from our performances so far. Now we are working on getting booked outside of Denmark which is a bit hard when you are not yet an established name.

Q: All works have been released by Delta-Ego which I think is your very own label, right? How do you manage all the aspects aside of composing music like promotion, distribution, management etc…?

Monospore: You are right, Delta-Ego is our own label that we formed in 2012. To be honest our focus is writing the songs and creating the music and eventually playing it live.

The promotion and distribution are a necessity but often take away the focus from what we love, which is producing and playing the music and it can be hard doing promotion when having a full-time job and family.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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.

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Alex Paterson and fellow The Orb original Andy Falconer release a new album under the Sedibus moniker, called “SETI”. The album will be out via Peterson’s own label Orbscure Recordings on February 23rd on ltd edition blue LP, ltd edition orange LP, CD, and download / stream.The CD will hold the extra track “The Armchair Astronaut”.

The album is the follow-up to the duo’s debut album “The Heavens” from 2021.

Falconer, engineered/co-wrote the ambient sides of the ground-breaking “Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld” album back in 1991. He was only part of The Orb around 1991.

Alex Paterson explains how the album was recorded: “The first LP had a great reception and sold so well I couldn’t even get a copy myself. Andy is brilliant at making ambient music, and working with him is always rewarding. We understand each other’s brains – it’s easy and organic – so doing another made total sense.” He adds, “SETI stands for Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence, but it’s also something you sit on, to chill out, which is why the album contains a Three Piece Suite. This record is musical ambience, which is what we like to make, rather than drone ambience, which there’s a lot of these days.”

Over email from his studio in Portugal, Falconer adds, “the first album The Heavens was very much a reflection of our shared roots, and in many ways saw Alex and I simply picking up where we’d left off 30 years ago with Ultraworld. For SETI, we still wanted to keep a connection to the sound of The Heavens, but to also crack open that musical mould and explore new ground. Part of that aspect was to further expand the use of acoustic instruments in both recognisable and processed form. We’ve always been very much on the same page creatively and one of the great things with working with Alex is that nothing is out of bounds, and we’ve just continued to build on that solid relationship of trust and shared curiosity.”

Check out these two videos to have an idea what the album will sound like.

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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Crushing State have released their debut single “Surveillance” on the Swedish label Megahype. A video is available now. Crushing State’s sound fuses electro-industrial, metal, and a nuanced sonic palette.

Crushing State is the new electro industrial metal band of mastermind Chris Ruiz (ex-And One, Pakt) and members of Seadrake and Solar Fake. Founder of the project is Chris Ruiz (ex-And One, Pakt). Ruiz’s journey began in 1998 when he first delved into crafting industrial-sounding tapes and an unreleased full-length album. Fast forward 25 years, and he is breathing new life into a project that had long been dormant.

For the occasion he teamed up with Mathias Thürk (ex-Minerve, Seadrake), guitarist André Feller (Solar Fake, Dreadful Shadows), and drummer Vincent Viebig.

Here’s the new video for “Surveillance”.

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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Genre/Influences: Dark-Wave, Cold-Wave, Wave-Pop.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: I discovered this Italian duo from their previous album “Don’t Chase The Light” released in 2020 on Final Muzik. Livio Caenazzo (guitars, vocals, programming) and Daniele Iannacone (keyboards, background vocals, programming) now joined hands with the German established label Dark Transmission to unleash this new opus featuring ten songs.

Content: The album sounds as a serious wink to the 80s Dark-Wave and Electro-Wave music. There’s a true Dark-Wave element created by guitar playing while the songs are evolving into an unexpected Electro style. Both elements are matched together and are even carried by big, danceable, kicks. The album progressively becomes more and more Pop-like and one of the tracks are even reminding me of Mesh.

+ + + : I know less bands able to achieve such a perfect balance between heavy Dark-Wave and catchy Electro-Wave. In the end I would say the work sounds more Electro driven but the guitar play however is an essential aspect of this album. The second half -which is more Electro driven, also hides alluring songs like “The Loop”, “The Fall”, “Split feat. A Copy For Collapse” and “All I Want”. But right at the beginning the dark-Wave orientated “God Is A Machine” and “Not A Saint” both are still little sonic pearls.

– – – : I regret some of the songs are a little bit too short -and that’s because all songs are great -by the exception of an instrumental intermezzo.

Conclusion: This band confirms its strong potential and has accomplished a true masterpiece. 

Best songs: “The Loop”, “God Is A Machine”, “The Fall”, “Not A Saint”, “All I Want – Bonus Track”, “Split feat. A Copy For Collapse”, “Pain Is Just A Noise”.

Rate: 9.

Artist: www.facebook.com/SunsSpectrum

Label: www.coldtransmission.com / www.facebook.com/coldtransmissionmusic

About Sun’s Spectrum

Sun’s Spectrum is an Italian duo of Livio Caenazzo (guitars, vocals, programming) and Daniele Iannacone (keyboards, background vocals, programming). The project debuted with “Don’t Chase The Light” in 2020 on Final Muzik before moving to Cold Transmission Music for “The Silence After The Fall”.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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.

www.side-line.com

The Culture and Education Committee of the European Parliament recently voted on a report titled ‘Cultural Diversity and the Conditions for Authors in the European Streaming Market‘. This vote led to a proposal for new legislation aimed at reforming music streaming within the EU. The report, adopted with 23 votes for, three against, and one abstention, seeks to address several key issues in the music streaming sector.

The European Parliament’s initiative comes amidst growing concerns over the distribution of revenues in the music streaming market, which is dominated by a few major labels and popular artists. The proposed legislation aims to create a fair and sustainable environment for music streaming and to promote cultural diversity.

These are the key aspects of the proposed legislation:

1. Transparency of Algorithms: The bill calls for streaming services to make their algorithms and recommendation tools transparent. This is to ensure that European works are visible and accessible to users.
2. Diversity Indicator: The proposal includes the creation of a “diversity indicator” to analyze the variety of genres, languages, and the presence of independent authors on streaming platforms. This aims to promote a wider range of music and cultural diversity.
3. Rights Identification: The bill would require streaming services to correctly identify right-holders through proper allocation of metadata, facilitating the discovery of their works. This measure also seeks to prevent practices like streaming fraud, which undermines the value of music content.
4. Labeling of AI-Generated Content: A provision in the bill calls for clear labeling of AI-generated tracks, allowing listeners to distinguish between human-produced music and AI-generated songs.
5. Investment in European Music: The bill urges increased investment in European music, particularly in local, niche artists and artists from vulnerable communities. This is aimed at offering a more diverse repertoire and supporting authors in the digital transformation of their business models.

Lead MEP Ibán García Del Blanco commented on the importance of recognizing the role authors play in the music sector and the need to review and improve the revenue distribution model used by streaming services to promote cultural diversity. The Plenary vote on this non-legislative resolution is scheduled for the January 2024 Strasbourg session.

As for our scene, especially the 5th key issue addressed above (aimed at niche artists) will be rather interesting. Nevertheless, the changes to the Spotify royalty model will have a huge impact on the industrial music scene, even if niche artists get more attention on streaming platforms. Its changes includes a controversial policy requiring tracks to get a minimum of 1,000 listens every year to receive royalties.

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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Genre/Influences: EBM.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Only one month after their new album “Digital Outcast” Berlin  formation Darkness On Demand strikes back with an EP featuring next to the title song and an alternative edit three new songs and one remix.

Content: “White Clouds” is fully representative for the global sound approach of Wagner and Falgalas; the mix of power and evasion. Any Second remixed “Last Attack” -which is another song from the new album, into a hard and dark edit. Among the three new cuts I noticed two potential hits revealing powerful sound production and elaborated composition. The last new cut is a kind of Ambient ‘outro’.

+ + + : This EP serves as a perfect addendum to “Digital Outcast”. “White Clouds” isn’t my favorite song from the album although it remains an interesting, and fully representative song of Darkness On Demand. I’m more into the new cuts “Volle Kraft Vorraus” and “Say Hello” which both are engaged pieces of dynamic, dancefloor-driven, Electro music with alluring vocals on top. Any Second -which is a band I really like, did a great job remixing “Last Attack”. There’s enough stuff for DJs to feature from this EP.

– – – : I regret the new songs didn’t get released on CD format but we have  to face the truth; this is the digital age! I’m a bit skeptical about “White Clouds” as the title song.

Conclusion: This EP stands for a band with a meaning while producing a styled and solid Electronic sound.

Best songs: “Volle Kraft Vorraus”, “Say Hello”, “Last Attack – Any Second Remix”, “White Clouds – Maxi Version”.

Rate: 8½.

Artist: www.darknessondemand.com / www.facebook.com/darknessondemand

Label: www.alfa-matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix

Listen to “White Clouds”:

About Darkness On Demand

Darkness On Demand is a German dark electro/EBM duo formed by vocalist Gary Wagner and producer Falgalas, who have played together since 1993, first as Dance Or Die. As Darkness On Demand the pair released two albums on Repo Records before signing to Alfa Matrix, where they issued the “Final Way” EP and the single “Hang On (Winterhart Remix)”.

The duo’s third full length, “Digital Outcast”, followed on Alfa Matrix in September 2023, four years after the album “Detoxination”. The “White Clouds” EP arrived one month later, pairing the title track with three new songs and an Any Second remix of “Last Attack”. Darkness On Demand went on to release the album “Panic In Reserve” in December 2024 and the EP “Silence” in March 2025.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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.

www.side-line.com

Today you can exclusively preview the all new album by the UK industrial project Binary Order. The forthcoming full-length LP, “The Future Belongs To The Mad”, will be out tomorrow, November 28th. You can order it right here on Bandcamp.

Work on “The Future Belongs To The Mad” took place over the course of nine months, from December 2022 until August 2023, and was written, produced and performed by Benjamin Blank. “The Future Belongs To The Mad” holds twelve tracks blending industrial metal, IDM and electronic cyberpunk inspired soundscapes.

Benjamin Blank comments the genesis of the album as follows: “It’s never easy to be honest about these kind of things, but I feel it’s important with this release to be so. The Future Belongs To The Mad was written during possibly the most difficult period I’ve ever had to get through – a period I’m not actually done dealing with – and one from which I now fear I shall never depart. This album is an expression of my own inability to find meaning or purpose in life. And the utter disdain and emotional distraught that comes from the accumulation of living like that year, after year, after year. With this album I’ve managed to turn something that is for all intents and purposes destroying me, and created what is without any doubt in my mind, the greatest accomplishment of my life. I don’t know if there is going to be anymore Binary Order after this. Finishing this album felt like an impossibility at one point, and now it’s done I feel like I am too. I hope anyone who listens to this can find something of value for within it. If not then I just appreciate having this platform to express myself in this way because it has kept me alive.”

Here’s the video for the album track: “Slow Blade”.

About Binary Order

Binary Order started in 2008 by London based solo musician Benjamin Blank as a way to combine his love for multiple genres. Fusing the intensity of alt metal, the haunting atmosphere of ambient soundscapes and the piercing electronics of IDM, “Binary Order is the soundtrack to our descent down into a hell of our own making; as we become ever more disconnected from ourselves and each other with each day, we succumb to the unrelenting fear that mankind is too far along to stop these horrors that we have set in motion; this is the sound of Binary Order.”

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

Ronan Harris from VNV Nation was in his former life the very first webmaster of Side-Line. A little known fact, but it was Ronan who gave Side-Line a first online presence, albeit on a different url and not in the format that it is now. It showed his interest in technology, something that has stayed very alive within the VNV Nation master brain over the years. It had been a while since I had spoken with him, time goes quickly, but when I was asked if we were interested in a VNV Nation interview, it was a no-brainer that this was the right time to do it now, at a time when so many things are rapidly changing in the technology field.

I phoned Ronan at his hotel in the US, and talked about the current tour, his musical sidelines, the new VNV Nation album “Electric Sun” and of course how he looks at AI being (ab)used in the music industry.

A funny anecdote, a colleague once told me – referring to the tourist guide industry she worked in – that for her “Listening to Ronan is like using the high quality infoport audioguide instead of some cheap Chinese knock-off.” It took me a bit to understand what she actually said, this is lingo for her sector, not mine, but when I looked up the device I understood her reaction. Quality.

This is just a fraction of a very long talk, but it will give you an idea of the man behind VNV Nation, his skills and his long term vision on innovation and creativity.

SL: I see the moustache is staying there.

RH: Do you want it to go? I have people still coming up to me saying, like, you have a moustache now. What was the last photograph you saw of me? I mean, I must have had hair, because I’ve had this for 13 years now (laughs). It’s just my thing. I like your beard by the way, suits you well… I’m just looking at myself thinking Jesus, I look tired. I mean, we arrived here late last night, so I’m pretty much just out of bed, so you’ll have to excuse me.

SL: You look fine Ronan. Don’t worry. So I guess you are not in Hamburg but still in the US?

RH: Still in the US, we finished up the US, the first leg of the US tour, on Sunday. It’s 11:00 in the morning here and we finished that up and then we’ve got two shows in Mexico, starting this coming weekend. We’ve got a flight and right now we’ve got five days off. Everybody went home. I’ve got five days to work. I’m working with a producer here on some tracks for them. I work with a lot of different producers and different areas, and I do a lot of work under other names because I don’t want it to be connected with VNV. I also don’t want the music that I help people with to be judged, you know, by like people going, ohh what’s the VNV connection? It should be a piece of music in its own right. So I do everything from like orchestral arranging to ambient work to all kinds of crazy processing on the laptop. The laptop I’m using to talk to you now is the one I use in my studio. So I have a whole studio with me. Like tomorrow I’m gonna be working with a guy who does some kind of dark trance, but he’s like a a big name in his own genre and then I will also be working with someone on a synth wave remix. So lots of fun. I’m telling you man.

SL: I have know for a long time you are working with different people, commercial genres or what exactly?

RH: These are really successful artists. I mean, I’ve worked with two people recently who are legendary names. I won’t say who they are. In some cases it’s a real honor because I’m working with people who’ve been an inspiration for me. I don’t see me or what I do anymore as being part of any scene. And if you look at the audience at the concerts, it’s people from so many different backgrounds and so many different styles. They all get something out of it. That’s the people who like dance music. That’s the people who like the more electronic, melodic stuff because it reminds them of other bands. People are like kind of indie electronic, you know? There’s so many different people who get something out of it and listen to it and they hear what they are looking for in it.

SL: Being well-connected is a good thing I’d say.

RH: Correct. The connection of the people I work with is so broad. I mean, here’s really weird example. I’m connected with a lot of people who work for different bands. So when we were going on this tour, I had to ask the crew from Empire of the Sun if they could help me find a bus because there’s a shortage of everything in the United States at the moment. That was the big problem we had with the first shows of the tour. We had to postpone them because there were no buses. No drivers. All the lighting companies had all their main gear rented out. You know, it’s a huge country, so you’ve got to get the logistics of trying to get a light rig from one corner of the country if it’s the only place that has it, and then get it over to Tampa, FL or something. I mean this is the distance of going from, say, Helsinki to Malta. You know, for us in Europe it’s, yeah, the logistics are insane.

SL: Is it still a result from post COVID that everybody is touring or what?

RH: COVID changed so many things. I know a lot of drivers, a lot of people involved in equipment and, you know, all kinds of things to do with touring over the years. A lot of drivers couldn’t work during the the COVID era, they went off to do other jobs. They are happy because they are getting a permanent salary, getting benefits, they were getting things they never had before, so it was a game changer. A lot of people retired and said they were sick of this. They were sick of how they’re being treated and I think a lot of change is still coming, and I hear that from a lot of people I work with that they’re tired of how they were taken for granted in the past. You do this job, that’s it. And a lot more people, I guess are thinking about themselves and how to try to get the best for themselves. So when we started planning the tour in February, we started sending out emails to companies going, hey, we want this, we want this and what can you give us? And we were also trying to find budgets that fit what we’re going to do so we can make this work. And honestly, the first thing I noticed is that a lot of companies increased their prices 30 to 50%. I don’t want this to be a financial conversation, but hey.

SL: Touring the US as a European band which VNV Nation is, is not so simple anyhow.

RH: If you’re coming from Europe and you’re going to the United States to do a tour, you have to rent a bus, You’ve gotta get the crew because there is no way to do it in a van and there’s no way to pull a whole light rig behind you. And I want to put on a show. So I’ve been doing this for a long time. I’ve been doing this for 23 years here, so I know all the aspects needed and this was really the most stressful and the toughest tour organization ever. But it worked out. Unfortunately there’s a lot of people who have become really flaky. Like they commit to you and then the last minute they pull out. You know, I’ve I’ve got another job and they don’t feel there’s anything wrong with that. There’s no commitment or loyalty in some people, so you see how it’s affected everybody. But also this, when you play concerts you realize a lot of people are still getting used to being at concerts again even though America has a COVID surge at the moment.

SL: Masks included?

RH: It’s not like the serious one we were all dealing with, you know, back in 2020. But when we played the West Coast, a lot of people were wearing masks and a lot of people won’t go out. A lot of people won’t go out like this was a really, really big thing. And we heard this from every band. We heard this from the crew who work for like urban culture meets dance meets everything kind of artists in America. There’s these two guys who have this project called Odessa, and we know a lot of the people involved with them, like the lighting engineer and some of the sound people. And then we were talking to metal bands. And they were saying that as well. It’s really crazy, like hearing from fans saying that they they’re afraid to go out. So I think we’re still in a phase where people are learning that it’s OK to go to concerts when they wear masks. It’s not. You know, anybody who reads and wants to spend some time being intelligent knows that. The mask is there to protect others, you know.

SL: Herd immunity is still not an established mentality.

RH: Masks are not a bulletproof vest. I mean, life goes on, the world goes on. And the other thing that we noticed on these shows was when we played the first show in Detroit, that’s where we had to start because that was the 1st place we could get every element we needed for the tour, is that everybody’s out on tour, like all the big bands. They’re all out on tour and taking up all the buses, all the drivers, what’s left and all of the resources. We were talking to lighting companies we’ve worked with for years and they were saying they’ve got nothing we were looking for. They just have some really old lights and I said, well give us something, we’ll put it together, you know. The Detroit show was fine, we talked to a lot of people after the show and everybody just seemed grateful.

SL: At least some joy…

RH: There’s a lot of negativity. It’s not just COVID, it’s the economy here and this perpetual political bullshit that they have to put up with every day. You know, we have a little taste of it in Europe. They’re living it like on levels I’ve never seen. It’s absolutely insane. So I feel for them. But every single concept we played was exactly the same. People were so appreciative that they got to go out and feel this live experience again. So it was quite an eye opening experience.

SL: Talking about working on different projects, did you never work on a musical?

RH: Uh, yeah, I did. Not a ‘musical’ like you’ll imagine. I worked on an arts project with somebody who combined a lot of different elements and wanted to make something really creative. I create the video elements in the background for some other projects too. I’ve had people who wanted video work done where they have a gigantic wall and they want elements playing that are part of that show that become a like scenes within the whole landscape. I’ve done that. I’ve done a lot of sound treatments and created backgrounds, sounds and elements for them, or even pieces of music. So musical? Yes but not the commercial Broadway, you know like “Full Metal Jacket, the musical” or something. These kinds of bullshit things that people put together.

I hate commercial projects. I’ll be honest with you. I mean, still to this day I can’t listen to commercial music, even if it could be a really nice song. There’s always a part of me that thinks this was created to be a hit for a big company that’s purely about shareholders and money. The artist will always be told what to do, in what way. I have a lot of friends who work in Hollywood and they have great artistic ambitions. And then they talk about how their work is then taken, changed by a long line of anonymous people. Or someone else gets credit for it. So I try to work with people who are doing underground things. There’s a lot of people who ask, can I use a piece of music for like for a video or something? And it’s not profit. I’m happy to support small creative people because that’s what I was, you know.

SL: But is that also the aim with the VNV Nation studio you have in Hamburg?

RH: I’ve used it a lot because I have the resources of all the equipment. If you want to talk technologically with two very, very experienced people in trying to recreate that on the system, I can bring it with me around the world, so. We’ve managed to set something up because I’m gonna do work. As I said, tomorrow and the day after I’m working with another guy where I can bring pretty much my studio with me, full audio interface, everything. I can have 10 microphones running, and I can produce, I have everything I need. That’s a real miracle. I’m telling you, man. But when I do a lot of my work, it’s basically when I’m back in Germany and I can do my demos and ideas on the laptop and then take them into the studio and flush them into something bigger.

SL: A couple of years back I was at the Mute event at the Roundhouse in London and during a session with Pole I told him that if you’re really working indie, then the really small bands have no budget for studios. And actually, you hear it, there’s a lot of subpar material being released.

RH: There are a lot of people who want to in a band. Yeah. This is something I noticed when I had to rent a studio space for myself. Now as far as the studio goes, if I’m going to finish an album or if I’m going to create an album, there’s a lot of equipment. It’s gotta go somewhere and it’s not going in my basements because I don’t have a basement. So I’m not gonna fill up a bedroom and annoy my neighbors with this. I have to work in a way that I can be there at four or five in the morning. What I found was when I rented a room in a studio, a commercial studio, and these guys were doing really amazing work, because they were not working with big name artists, but people who wanted music for a project. Really, very, very creative stuff.

But when I met some of the young bands, it’s suddenly clicked that there’s a lot of people who hear a band in this genre, or they go to a club and they say let’s be a band. That’s kind of an exciting fantasy, you know? They’ve got the logo. They’ve got the photos, they got the name of the band and they haven’t got a song yet. They have no idea and they get in there and it’s like we want to sound like this band and they tell a producer like as if you’re saying to someone please help me, I wanna sound like this. It just doesn’t work like that. So I find that a lot of people I meet want to be in a band. I made music. I was writing songs and I really wanted to take this to the next level. And when you say about subpar, I think one of the miracles is that we all have the technology to do whatever we want. With our laptops. With our computers. But that also means that 99.999% have never bothered to learn how any of these tools work. You know, one of the reasons why I did “Matter + Form” in 2005 with a producer, it was because I was gonna get to learn some stuff. By doing every album, I had to learn more about production.

SL: What about your older VNV Nation recordings, how do you look at those now?

RH: I can’t listen sometimes to my older stuff because it was recorded on a budget. I mean, you know, “Empires” and “Futureperfect” were recorded with almost no money. In a very basic studio. I made “Futureperfect” with just the computer. “Empires” or “Praise the Fallen” were recorded in basements with a simple console and the guy knew how it worked, but the quality that was possible with the equipment was, you know, it wasn’t fantastic. But yet today you can listen to let’s say bullshit like EDM, which is just commercial loop crap. Whatever. The production techniques which they use are not like a choice. You have to do it or no one’s gonna listen to it, so. In that sense, the tools are there. People can use them if they want to create something better.

But I’m hearing even within, as you say, like the scene, – I don’t even know what the scene is anymore because it seems to be more fragmented musically than ever – but people really are trying to apply the knowledge of other genres. And this is just basic studio knowledge. And one of the things I did during COVID was that I closed myself in, myself and my partner and I said, look, we’re gonna look after ourselves and our close ones and our loved ones. And we will use it as a time of learning. I listen to a lot of music I would never listen to. And I mean, it really expanded my knowledge of music. But I found all kinds of crazy shit online, and I loved it.

But I spent a lot of time learning better techniques and I wanted to do that because I’ve always had these sounds in my head or these unfinished ideas. Because for one reason or another, I have never felt that I reached it. I can listen to the track “Electric Sun” and think, how did I make this? It was an incredible experience and also during COVID building my own studio with other companies who could not coordinate times because nobody could schedule anything, they all said that their guys were on furlough. The Germans called it quits, and they said we don’t have enough people. So I’m sitting there with just these framework walls thinking what the fuck am I going to do? It was a really long process. But it was also very beneficial. At the time I had about 85 songs, because when you’re working on something else, you get the best ideas. It’s like a part of your brain wants to stay active to fill in for the boredom. I have a synthesizer on my phone and I’m just constantly recording myself playing all these melodies that I’m hearing. I also was using my laptop, even just to write a demo, using the physical keyboard on the laptop as musical keys. 4 songs on the album were originally recorded like that. I was just sitting there playing like OK, this key is this, this key is this. You strip away all of the big technology and you come right down to the sense of it. Is it a good song? Does it work?

SL: I recognized more developed orchestral arrangements this time, I guess the orchestral VNV Nation album left an influence?

RH: Yeah, you can’t hide it, let’s say. I’ve always had orchestral elements in the albums anyhow. There was a cinematic element to that album, a cinematic flavour. I wrote a lot of pieces for it, which never ended up on the album. There were about maybe 27 songs I picked for it. And the worst part is that you come down to a list of, say, 14 or 15 songs. And I said, let’s finish as many as we can, but you’ll always end up writing new tracks while you’re doing an album. I mean, “When is the Future?” happened out of nowhere. One night, I was bored in the studio and I was going through really old tracks and I found a track that I wrote in 2007. It’s just the bass progression and the vocal line. That’s all it is and I pulled it up and had some sounds on the keyboard and just started playing it because it stuck in my head. It was the right moment. You know when you hear it and you think, OK, it’s a simple chord progression, but it works. “All our sins” for instance is astonishingly orchestral. Even if you’re playing synthesizer sounds, you’re approaching them to create an orchestral feeling. So it was quite cinematic. Even the arpeggios and the way I was doing the arpeggios on “When it’s the Future?” are based on a piece of classical music I like.

I work with four different arrangers and they can actually tell there’s more an orchestral approach in my music than what they’re used to with other artists. With other albums it was the same. I mean with “Of Faith, Power and Glory” there were still huge amounts of orchestral elements in there. It’s what you assumed to be orchestral, because you can do a track like something more experimental and you’re still channelling something you heard from Stockhausen or Stravinsky and nobody understands that. Or you’re taking a little element of a composer no one’s heard of in the the average everyday world. But then that’s just one element of my influences.

But on “Electric Sun”, I wanted the opening to be like the opening to a film and I originally had a whole orchestration piece for the opening of the album that I just took out. “Electric Sun” does the job because in the end I want the album to tell a story from beginning to end. That’s what I was asking people to do, to listen to it from start to finish. It was the opening of a film for me, and the ending of the album was the finale, the last credits appearing on the screen. Everything in between is the elements of the story that I imagined. I felt this time round that in the studio I had all the things, all the tools I needed, the atmosphere. Also, a studio shuts out the outside world.

So it’s just you, the walls, synthesizers you bring in to used. I went crazy with analogue synthesizers I have. I’m kind of like an obsessive, I’ve been collecting synthesizers since I first got a chance to buy one. I still have two synthesizers that I owned in the 80s. I’ve had them repaired numerous times because they’ve been overused. Synthesizers are used on all the old albums. They’re still there on every album. There were always about four or five analogue synthesizers being used for most of the sounds on the album. So this time I really went crazy on it. I wanted this vibe. It’s really hard to explain to somebody when you use a plugin what the difference is. And the difference is that when you put all the elements together, you will hear this great kind of feeling. The opposite argument to that is that there are some amazing albums that have been recorded by bands – that we have a great sentimental attachment to – that used a four track.

SL: The one doesn’t exclude the other, right?

RH: Of course. And the thing is now with all this technology, you’re listening to copy paste bullshit. It’s like, look, do you have an idea? Focus on your idea, then build around that. Try to do the best you can because you’ll hear the idea through it. But if it’s just an ensemble of random sounds for 30 seconds of pleasure in a club to make everyone think, ohh, this is a bit ‘oonzee’, it’s not achieving much. It’s throw-away and that’s a kind of like a sad factor for the iPad generation who grew up playing with simple things at home and it was just push a button, make a sound and they didn’t learn more than that. I can’t say if I need the whole studio or not. One of my idols is a mixer called Andrew Scheps. His philosophy and his approach to mixing… I just love hearing him talk because he talks about so many aspects of of the audio world.

He’s an icon and he has mixed some of the biggest albums of all time and he says he’s in the box now, meaning he just uses a computer. And he has many videos where he talks about it because there will be people who just want that connection with the old world and they think it sounds better or whatever. And he said it doesn’t. It doesn’t. It doesn’t. If you know, how to use the tool so you can make it sound how you want. But if you need the tools, if you need the physical things, then if that’s what gets you the results, then that’s the right tool for you. My idea was, OK, do you have a mouse? You have one finger. That’s it. So you have all of this equipment and you’re gonna use one finger to write an album? Are you kidding me? That’s like the joke I always make, it’s like painting the hallway of a house, but doing it from outside the front door and you’re painting through the letterbox.

SL: We’ve become so normalized to this I guess…

RH: When you’re doing these big constructions and you’ve got all this software and all these plugins, you have to have better controllers and things like that. I was sitting with some of the synthesisers and just playing with controls and just creating, it got me places that I never have been. I forgot in a lot of ways what that felt like. Yeah, I mean, I’ve always seen synthesizers on the albums, but this time I had a lot of new gear because of building a new studio and I wanted to have this connection. I know the guys who work for Sequential Circuits, you know, in San Francisco. One of them was a guy who booked our first concert in San Francisco. We were talking about new synthesizers and he said ohh, we have a great new one. When I did for example, the album “Praise the Fallen” I used this old sequential synthesizer on every track. I mean, I had only had a few synthesizers, so I had to make them work for me on every single song.

So I got this new synthesizer, which is like the third generation of that thing. It’s the brand new one, wonderful, does everything. And I said to my partner, like, I’m just gonna plug it in and I’m just gonna listen to some of the sounds, get my headphones on. I’ll be in bed in 1/2 an hour. You know, that was 11:00 at night, 5:00 in the morning I went to bed. I just fell in love. There’s something that connects you with this technology. The sounds, the way you control things, the way you play with it. You can control everything and play with the sounds. It’s the person and a machine. So I programmed about three banks of sounds for the thing, and I’m just having the best fun. And that’s what became like a lot of the basis, a lot of the background to a lot of sounds on the album. This organic sound gave everything a kind of a 70s vibe. There are so many incredible electronic artists from the 70s. I went back and started listening to NEU! again. I love a lot of old krautrock. There’s so many eras that we forget about. They’re so relevant that you can listen to them today and think, why am I not listening to this?

SL: I know you’ve always been quite interested in everything that is new technologically, whether it is for social media or whatever. You’ve always been interested. Now, professionally I work a lot with AI.

RH: You know my old job, so you know that I’m heavily involved into all this new tech.

SL: That’s why I’m asking. What is commercially available now doesn’t impress me compared to what I’ve seen in laboratories where they experiment with AI as far as music goes. That really does impress me. So I wonder, would it ever come up into your mind first of all to create an AI generated album using the laboratory stuff? Do you see anything that you would use as a musician? And would you ever consider using it for vocals as well?

RH: Here’s my problem with with generated music right now, we’ll start using it like people used mp3.com. I’ll give you just that as a simple example. People loaded it with shit. There was no way to listen to most of it. We’re gonna have exactly the same problem with AI because it’s going to be companies trying to sell you tools that say ‘hey look make your own track’. And I work with a lot of producers, there’s guys in the building where my studio is, and they all wwork ith loops. It’s cut and paste. Someone else is making loops for them. They don’t know who, but they’re just using the same loops everyone else is using. I think that’s boring. One of two things will happen. There will either be a backlash where you’ll have people posting on their album ‘This was made by humans completely organically’.

The possibilities of laboratory AI where it can sing. Yeah, we use tools right now. We use Photoshop and we use tuning, we use like ways to compress the vocals and EQ. We’re using tools as it is. It’s where the line is. I don’t want fake. I mean if somebody can use it when they are a Picasso and where they describe to a computer this wonderful creativity, then you’re using it as a tool, then I’m OK with it. But if someone is basically learning a computer ‘just write me a hit song’ then you’re David Guetta, you know that that doesn’t interest me at all.

I’ve had people offering me so many AI tools or generators. I don’t need core generators. For instance, the band had so much problems even just practicing the track “Invictus” on the album, because they said it’s incredibly complicated. I’m working with people who are really, really good, very professional keyboarders. I think I could do a lot myself, but what I would like to be able to do is to say, can you save me a lot of the grunt work that I don’t want to do so I can just focus on the ideas. That’s where it is gonna matter. I want my own ideas to be the forefront. You and I both know that all technology will be used by people to make bullshit. When the Apple iPhone came out, do you know how many fart apps there were? You know that’s how humans use it. They are stupid, puerile, childish. It’s funny for about 5 seconds and then after that it’s done.

For more on VNV Nation, see Porta Nigra Festival 2024: Front 242, VNV Nation, Kosheen, … on Side-Line.

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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Genre/Influences: Indie-Pop/Rock.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Bluedaze is an Italian formation set up in 2017. “Flesh” is their second EP dealing about a transformation within Bluedaze, ‘not only as a band, but as people too’.

Content: The EP features 4 songs which are clearly driven by a powerful Pop & Rock sound. Next to the powerful side there also is a catchy touch emerging at the surface. The female vocals sometimes remind me of the passion of Emiliana Torrini. You’ll discover 3 powerful, catchy cuts and one smoother last song.

+ + + : This EP stands for a powerful, catchy, and professional production. I salute the band’s maturity but also the mix of influences resulting in an accessible and sexy Indie style. I like the very powerful “You’d Better Run” but also the somewhat Indie-Wave like “Knife” which reminds me a bit of The Smiths.

– – – : The title song isn’t my favorite one although a cool opener revealing the sound and style of the band. The last cut is the single one which couldn’t convince me because of its flatter sound.

Conclusion: Nothing groundbreaking here although an enjoyable production and a band I would like to hear more stuff from in the future.

Best songs: “You’d Better Run”, “Knife”, “Flesh”.

Rate: 7½.

Artist: www.bluedazemusic.com / www.facebook.com/bluedaze.music

About Bluedaze

Bluedaze is an Italian dream-pop and psych-pop band formed in 2017 on the shores of Lake Maggiore and based in Varese, Italy. “Flesh” (2023) is the band’s second EP, exploring a transformation within Bluedaze, both as a band and as individuals.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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.

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Genre/Influences: Gothic, Goth-Rock, Dark-Wave.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Five years after their previous full length album and one year after the excellent “Leitbild Angst”-EP we finally get the new opus by German Goth veterans Still Patient? The album deals with love, pain and melancholy.

Content: Still Patient? brings an album without true surprises but totally in the vein of the band. The songs are holding on the heavy Goth-Rock influences carried by solid guitar play and catchy elements in the choruses. The softer cuts are totally expressing the theme of melancholy although evolving into an outburst chorus.

+ + + : Still Patient? no longer has anything to prove. This band is just playing the music they like mixing different elements together although based upon a solid Goth basis. They sometimes remind me of the uncompromised approach of London After Midnight. The songs have been meticulously built up but always carried by impressive guitar play and deep, resonating, vocal lines. Songs like “Looking Glass”, “Sacrifice In Paradise”, the very Sisters Of Mercy-like “All Dead” and the EP-song “Trees Falling II” are great exposures of the band’s genius. And I also have to mention the opening cut “The Beginning” which sounds a bit different although being a master piece for its mysterious sound atmosphere.

– – – : There’re less songs to throw away which says enough about the high qualitative level of the album.

Conclusion: Still Patient? bring us a new master piece and according to me one of their best albums ever.

Best songs: “Looking Glass”, “Sacrifice In Paradise”, “All Dead”, “Trees Falling II”, “The Beginning”, “Firefly”.

Rate: 8½.

Artist: www.facebook.com/stillpatientt

Label: www.darkdimensions.de /  www.facebook.com/pages/Dark-Dimensions-Label-Group/486014725206

About Still Patient?

Still Patient? was set up in Germany in 1988 by Andy Koa. The band released its debut album “Salamand” in 1992 on Hyperium Records, followed by further Goth-Rock and Dark-Wave releases on Hyperium and Alice In… before splitting up in 1999. Andy Koa reactivated the project in 2012, first re-recording the song “Mascara Osiris”, and the band accepted an invitation to play a reunion show at Wave-Gotik-Treffen in 2013. Since the reactivation, Still Patient? has released the albums “Shape Shifters” (2015) and “Zeitgeist Weltschmerz” (2018), the EP “Leitbild Angst” (2022), and the album “Love And Rites Of Rage” (2023). The current line-up is Andy Koa (vocals, programming), Guido Holzmann (bass), Bec Kes (guitar), Pogue-O (guitar) and Wolfgang Teffner (keyboards).

Inferno Sound Diaries

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.

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UK industrial project, Binary Order has revealed details about a forthcoming full-length LP, “The Future Belongs To The Mad” due out November 28th and available for pre-order on Bandcamp.

Work on “The Future Belongs To The Mad” took place over the course of nine months, from December 2022 until August 2023, and was written, produced and performed by Benjamin Blank. Containing twelve tracks it mixes industrial metal, IDM and electronic cyberpunk inspired soundscapes.

Benjamin Blank explains: “It’s never easy to be honest about these kind of things, but I feel it’s important with this release to be so. The Future Belongs To The Mad was written during possibly the most difficult period I’ve ever had to get through – a period I’m not actually done dealing with – and one from which I now fear I shall never depart.

This album is an expression of my own inability to find meaning or purpose in life. And the utter disdain and emotional distraught that comes from the accumulation of living like that year, after year, after year. With this album I’ve managed to turn something that is for all intents and purposes destroying me, and created what is without any doubt in my mind, the greatest accomplishment of my life.

I don’t know if there is going to be anymore Binary Order after this. Finishing this album felt like an impossibility at one point, and now it’s done I feel like I am too. I hope anyone who listens to this can find something of value for within it. If not then I just appreciate having this platform to express myself in this way because it has kept me alive.”

Binary Order was started in 2008 by London based solo musician Benjamin Blank as a way to combine his love for multiple genres.

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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Maxx Maryan, one half of the popular Italian duo Helalyn Flowers, has just released a new free single called “I Love You” on Bandcamp. He’s releasing it under the name ImJudas, and it’s available through the Belgium-based label Spleen+. This single is a preview of ImJudas’ upcoming album, “Viscerheart.”

The song “I Love You” is a dark pop track that will appeal to fans of ’80s pop-wave and post-punk music. It sets the tone for an album that will focus on dark pop.

ImJudas started in 2016 as an electro-pop project with a dark twist. The music blends elements of electronic dark wave and post-punk. Since then ImJudas released several EPs (“Tulpa”, “Ritual”,”So Untrue”, and the recent one “People Of The Blame”) and one album, the 2CD “Yrjudas”. You can download all releases from the ImJudas Bandcamp page.

Eldrina Mich

As Eldrina Mich I work as a go-between and a devil’s advocate when it comes to Side-Line. If our own staff needs to be interviewed then ask the questions no one else dares to ask.

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The female-fronted future-pop duo Platronic, based in Finland and Germany, has returned with a new single titled “Memories.”

The song explores the experience of going through a breakup; however, Kay’s goal was not to create a heart-wrenching ballad about it. The single is now available through the Danish label Town and Towers Records.

Comprising Finnish composer and producer Some-E, along with German singer-songwriter and co-producer Kay Burden, Platronic initially connected over a discussion about electronic music on Instagram in 2019. What began as an idea for future collaboration materialised into a bona fide duo on EBM DAY, 24th February 2020. As of the end of March 2023, the duo has released five singles and one EP.

Below is their new 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!

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Dark-Electro.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Noise Resistance is a Russian Electronic project which released its third full length album “Stripped” early 2022 by Advoxya Records.

Content: The album features 11 songs plus 6 bonus cuts. Noise Resistance is clearly addicted to Dark-Electronics. The songs have been built up with linear, bass lines and carrying leads. Most of the tracks are danceable although there are softer cuts featured as well. I also noticed cuts with groovy parts and one minimal-driven cut. Several instrumental songs have been featured at the bonus part.

+ + + : This album reveals well-crafted, elaborated, songs carried by great, carrying leads. It also comes through at some of the instrumental cuts like “This Side Of Me”, “Psychosys” and the hardcore driven “Attack Me”. The work is maybe missing an absolute, potential, hit song but we get a list of cool songs instead.

– – – : This band clearly has a potential but is just missing a few details in the production to speak about a major success. The softer cuts aren’t their best exposure.

Conclusion: Noise Resistance is an interesting Dark-Electro project having accomplished a cool album.

Best songs: “Aggression”, “Striptease”, “This Side Of Me”, “Psychosys”, “Attack Me”, “The Belief”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.facebook.com/noiseresistanceofficial

Label: www.advoxya-records.com / www.facebook.com/pages/Advoxya-Records/265765706059

About Noise Resistance

Noise Resistance is a Russian dark electro, EBM and industrial act formed in Yekaterinburg in 2012 by Art B. Live performances feature Art B. on vocals and Andy on keyboards. The project started with industrial and power noise material on a self-titled debut EP before settling into a sound built on dance beats and acid synthesizers.

The first full-length album, “Slaves & Passion”, followed in 2017. Noise Resistance toured Russia extensively afterward, playing more than 20 shows and supporting European acts Larva and Cygnosic on the road. The third full-length, “Stripped”, was released on Advoxya Records in early 2022.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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.

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The UK-based electro-industrial project Binary Order drops a brand new single, “Slow Blade”.

Musically “Slow Blade” spans across the two contrasting sounds of IDM and metal that encompass the album. “Once I had made it work as you hear it now, I had found the sound that I wanted The Future Belongs To The Mad to have,” says Binary Order mastermind, the London-based musician Benjamin J. Blank.

For Blank “Slow Blade” is what he calls “a reflection of the decline I’ve witnessed in my lifetime (…) a decline that has gotten us to a point where we are more concerned with passing the blame than attempting fix the decay that has rotted away at us all, leaving many despondent and lost, myself included.”

The single is the first sign of the “The Future Belongs To The Mad” album due out in late November. Work on “The Future Belongs To The Mad” took place over the course of nine months, from December 2022 until August 2023, and was written, produced and performed by Benjamin Blank.

The album holds 12 tracks of industrial metal, IDM and electronic cyberpunk inspired soundscapes.

The album clearly worked as a therapeutic session for Blank: “It’s never easy to be honest about these kind of things, but I feel it’s important with this release to be so. The Future Belongs To The Mad was written during possibly the most difficult period I’ve ever had to get through – a period I’m not actually done dealing with – and one from which I now fear I shall never depart. This album is an expression of my own inability to find meaning or purpose in life. And the utter disdain and emotional distraught that comes from the accumulation of living like that year, after year, after year. With this album I’ve managed to turn something that is for all intents and purposes destroying me, and created what is without any doubt in my mind, the greatest accomplishment of my life.”

Benjamin J. Blank formed Binary Order in 2008. Below is the new single on Bandcamp.

You can find it right below on Spotify.

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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Martin Gore from Depeche Mode was the man reason why Kay Burden from Platronic started writing songs. Kay: “It was love at first listen. I was overwhelmed by the intensity and intimacy of his lyrics and could not get enough of the special warm vibrato of his voice.” Her label manager now encouraged Kay to cover one of her favourite songs, taken from the1987 classic Depeche Mode album “Music For The Masses”.

The cover is very much stripped down version as you can hear below. The single is out via Town and Towers Records, a Danish Label.

The track can also be found on Conzoom Records’ upcoming Depeche Mode tribute CD which is out now.

Platronic are Finnish composer/producer Some-E and German singer-songwriter and co-producer Kay Burden. What started with chatting about electronic music on Instagram in 2019 and the idea of collaborating in the foreseeable future, turned into a real duo on EBM DAY – 24 February 2020. Since End of March 2023 the duo released five singles and one EP.

Side-Line also covered Depeche Mode’s ‘Speak To Me’.

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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Jules Maxwell has a new single out via Archangelo Recordings, “A Rose On The Road (At The Traffic Lights)”, featuring Polly Scattergood. Next to the title track it also holds a remix from Glowlines.

“A Rose On The Road” first appeared as an instrumental on Jules Maxwell’s 2022 album “Cycles”. The title however had originated from a suggestion made by Polly Scattergood and, after the “Cycles” release, she and Jules continued to develop this vocal version.

Jules Maxwell is a multi-instrumentalist composer and songwriter. He plays keyboards for Australian band Dead Can Dance and in May 2021 released an album with Lisa Gerrard, entitled “Burn”. In 2021 he also released “Nocturnes” on Archangelo Recordings, a collection of instrumental pieces, much of it written in collaboration with the UK dance company Vincent Dance Theatre. This was followed in 2022 by a second volume of instrumentals entitled “Cycles”.

Polly Scattergood is a British-based indie electronic artist and was signed with Daniel Miller’s Mute label. She has released four studio albums, three under her own name and one as a side project called onDeadWaves with Mercury-nominated MAPS. She set up her own label and studio, Future Paradise, based on the Kent Coast and released her last album and EP through FP. Polly’s latest full-length album was “In This Moment”. She is currently in the process of writing her fifth studio album.

Here’s the video for the track.

And this is the single itself.

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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Skeletal Family is a band ‘older’ readers and fans of Dark-Wave / Post-Punk are familiar with. Set up in the early 80s this British formation gained instant success with both debut albums “Burning Oil” (1984) and “Futile Combat” (1985). The band went through different line-up changes and splits but always came back. They this year released their newest opus “Light From The Dark” by Chapter 22. The songs are still driven by good-old Dark-Wave influences but still featuring a darker Rock approach. The band is still featuring core members Roger ‘Trotwood’ Nowell (bass guitar), Stan Greenwood (guitar) and Ian ‘Karl Heinz’ Taylor (keyboard & saxophone) plus later member  Adrian Osadzenko (drums) and new singer Anneka Latta. I talked about the past and the present with Trotwood, Stan, Karl Heinz and Anneka.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Skeletal Family saw the daylight more than forty years ago now. Can you briefly draw up the balance sheet of this incredible career and story? 

Trotwood: The history of the band is well documented, in brief 6 albums; “Burning Oil” topped the Indie charts, “Futile Combat” was top 5. 6 Radio One session countless tours around  the world

Stan: A difficult question; it’s being a most enjoyable journey for me personally. I could rant on for hours regarding the hurdles and obstacles we encountered getting here but it is easily found out by a quick Google search:-

Q: It however was a tumultuous career featuring numerous line-up changes while the band disbanded several times. How do you look back at these facts which I guess must have impacted the creativity and global career of Skeletal Family? 

Trotwood: Line-up changes come from various reasons, people don’t want be in the band because of work, disagreements or they think leaving to do something else will be a short cut to more success. In the early days Stan, Karl, myself were the main writers. When Katrina joined, she did more of the lyrics and contributed musically as well.

Stan: I think the fact that three of the musicians who formed Skeletal Family (and the embryonic precursor to them, The Elements in 1979) ie Roger, Karl Heinz and myself have been playing together and writing both the music and the majority of the lyrics (until recently) for over forty years has been the most stabilising factor in the bands continued success. 

Karl Heinz: I think everyone who has been in the band has had an influence on the band. I think a stable line-up would have led to a more static musical output with less development and possibly creative stagnation.

Q: The 80s have been for sure the most successful period of Skeletal Family. I think we might affirm the 80s were very special years when it comes to music but also to historical events like cold war, Falklands war, the fall of Berliner wall etc… What did you keep in mind from this decade and what has been the impact on your music and lyrics? 

Trotwood: We were young in the 80’s the days of tomorrow never comes. We didn’t have families or responsibilities. We wrote about our life, loves etc. Didn’t really write much politically. Maybe “Burning Oil”. They were exciting times, we were learning our trade so to speak.

Stan: We lived in that era and one can only assume we absorbed the vibe and feel of the times. Obviously the feel of our music and lyrics reflected that. Was pretty bleak in the early 80’s but there was also a lot of optimism out there if you wanted it and searched for it..

Karl Heinz: To be honest the spirit of the 70s is more important musically to me a mix of Prog/Glam and Punk is what really influenced me along with my classical music education. 

Q: Skeletal Family reformed during the past few years but here again different singers -featuring original singer Anne Marie Hurst, joined in and left again till Anneka Latta became the new singer. How did you get in touch and what have been her input to the new album? 

Trotwood:  We have had 5 singers in our time. All with different qualities. Anne Marie visually, Anneka both visual and musical. After Anne Marie left in 2018 we auditioned 3 or 4 singers without success. We then got Hannah Small, who was exciting,  good to work with, we probably did more in the year with Hannah than the previous 10. Karl had re-joined on keys too. We wrote around 10 new songs and did a handful of dates. We had half an album. Then Hannah left. She moved out of the area. We knew Anneka, she had been in a band that had opened for us a few years ago. So I called and asked if she fancied helping us to finish the album. Then take things from there. We wrote around 10 more songs with Anneka, we also gave Anneka the instrumental versions of the songs already done. So she came up with her take on the songs. All done at Black Barn.

Stan: Anneka had actually supported Skeletal Family on a mini-tour we undertook around 2013 / 14 when she was fronting the rock band Exoterik. When we were looking for a vocalist to sing on our new songs and demos in 2020, she was one of the first people who came to mind. She did a great job on the demos so we decided to ask her to join the band!!

Q: Tell us a bit more about “Light From The Dark”. What kind of album did you’ve in mind and how did it see the daylight? 

Anneka: With “Light From The Dark” being the first Skeletal Family-album in over a decade and of course, with myself as a new singer, it was clear to us all that this album was going to be something a little different. We still wanted to keep the iconic Skeletal Family sound but we also wanted it to sound new and exciting. Hence why we decided upon the name “Light From The Dark”.  

Stan: We started writing songs with an intention to releasing them as a complete album around mid 2019. There were plenty of ideas floating around and we just started putting them all together. By around 2020 we had ten songs complete with vocalist Hannah who we were working with at the time but the COVID epidemic screwed everything up. 

Hannah moved away from our vicinity which made it difficult to complete the album both due to traveling logistics and the COVID isolation rules. Thankfully we approached Anneka who lived locally (the band she was fronting, Exoterik had actually supported Skeletal Family on a tour we had undertaken in 2013) who seemed really interested in doing something with them.

We basically stripped the original vocals off the tracks and Anneka came up with brand new lyrics and melodies which we then embellished with more overdubs.

In addition to this we also recorded another ten or so totally new songs which we all wrote as a team, ultimately picking our favourite ten out of them all for the finished album..

Karl Heinz: Personally I didn’t feel we had a plan, we just set out to make songs we liked and were proud of.

Q: What inspired you in the title- and lyrical themes of the album? And is there still a connection with the early, lyrical, themes of the band? 

Anneka: Many of the classic Skeletal Family song lyrics were penned by  Trotwood but when I joined the band in 2021, they allowed me free reign over the lyrics. Looking back at the lyrical content and knowing it was written during the global pandemic, the themes touch upon the rollercoaster of emotions that I’m sure everyone will feel all too familiar with but throughout it all, as the title of the album suggests, we created light from the dark.  

Stan: We discussed quite a few different album titles before deciding on the current one. It seemed a pretty apt title considering the depressing nature of the COVID lockdown and the optimism we all felt when all that was lifted and the album was ready to release.

We had already commissioned quite a few photo sessions for the band and the album title was already agreed upon. We gave Matt, who designed the cover, the working title and photos and left it up to him to complete. Apart from a few minor tweaks he presented us with the sleeve for the commercial release which we were all well pleased with.

Trotwood: Lyrics for this album are all by Anneka, so I doubt if there is any connection with the past. We like to keep moving forward. I tend to find links to the past frustrating because I feel we have so much more to offer. In the last 10 years we were held back in the writing process for different reasons. 

Q: “Light From The Dark” has been recorded and mixed in Paul Weller’s studio. What’s the connection with Paul Weller and how did the recording happened? 

Trotwood: I’m Paul’s guitar technician, have been with him for 22 years. So I have a good relationship with him. He is good at helping bands in general.

Q: Studio equipment and recordings techniques became that different from the 80s. How do you perceive these evolutions and modern technology versus internet, social media, streaming platforms etc? 

Anneka: I think it’s important to always keep in mind where you’ve come from and to appreciate the hard work, skill and challenges that we all face as musicians throughout the years but it’s also important to embrace technology. A lot has changed since the band first started recording in the early 80’s, from the limitations with studio technology right through to the use of internet and the ease of having music at our fingertips. It’s a great time to be alive, making music. 

Trotwood: Things are very different today from the 80’s. On a whole a lot better and easier. Social media is a necessary evil. The internet and computers have made things a lot easier, playback PA systems amps guitar pedals all things that are evolving.

Stan: There have been massive changes in both, how a band records and the way they can access press and social media to promote themselves. I’ve never being a retro kind of person and totally embrace the means and technology available. 

Karl Heinz: It makes life easier. Data can be transferred digitally you can record parts at home and add them to the master tracks. You don’t have to remember settings for each song when playing live as you can program everything in advance. I’ve used computers to create music since the mid 80s. One thing is certain if all the technology we currently use ceased to exist we could still make great music .

Internet and social media are great for getting information and contacting people but can be addictive. You can get obsessed with the number of ‘likes ‘ you get.

Q: I think there was a real kind of 80s spirit but how is it today? Do you still see similitudes? 

Trotwood: There’s a lot of people who want to keep the spirit of the 80’s going. Personally I like to keep moving forward. 

Karl Heinz: 80 is a number I just want to make music like I did then. The year of decade is unimportant..

Q: Are you interested in contemporary music industry and underground scene? Do you sometimes recognize yourself in the global approach and spirit of ‘younger’ bands? 

Trotwood: Yes interested in all kinds of music, good to hear good young bands. We have seen one or two younger bands covering our songs which is good.

Stan: I am still hugely interested in the current ‘scene’. There are some great new bands out there which I am getting into. I find it really humbling that we get younger bands coming up on the scene mentioning that we are / were one of their favourite bands and our music was a great influence on them!

Q: Live shows remain an important and essential side of the band. How do you see Skeletal Family as a live band and how did you see the band evolving throughout the years and new line-ups? 

Trotwood: Skeletal Family are very much a live band who will get better and better. This is probably the best line up we have had.

Stan:Maybe I sound a bit harsh, but realistically band members do come and go over the years but I feel we have always kept the nucleus of the three founder members to keep the ship sailing on the right course so to speak, hence the guitar, keyboards/saxaphone and bass retain the classic Skeletal Family ‘sound’. 

We always actively encouraged new members to be proactive in doing their own thing whilst playing in the band, that way it never gets stale and is always exciting and interesting to reinterpret the a live scenario!!

Karl Heinz: I hope people will still find us exciting live. I know I do. My old bones still have a bit of a pogo on stage.

Q: What are the further plans of the band right now? 

Anneka: We’re looking forward to taking the new album out on the road and sharing the experience with those who come to see us. It’s great to feel connected with our audience so meeting people at gigs and playing our music live is a lot of fun for us all. We also have lots of ideas for new music too so we hope to start writing and recording these as soon as we can. 

Trotwood: I’d like to see more albums and tours. Could be shows in the US later in the year. Though I think next year will be busier on the live side of things.

Stan: We are already having a great year. The new album is already receiving great reviews and feedback. Gig wise we are booked to play a few high profile festivals in UK and hopefully more on Europe, plus a week long North American tour is currently being scheduled for October/ November 2023.

We are already writing new material for the next album. The future is looking bright!

Karl Heinz: More songs, more shows. Not a complex mission statement but it works for me. 

Inferno Sound Diaries

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.

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Genre/Influences: EBM.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Brazilian duo Fabricio Viscardi – Guilherme Peres strike back with a completely new work of their Aesthetische sonic alter ego. “Boiling Over” features five songs and comes one year after the ‘back to the roots’-album “RVPRTY”.

Content: “Boiling Over” moves on there where the last album stopped. A sophisticated EBM sound which comes closer to the great Aghast View period instead of the early Aesthetische Techno-Body releases. The title song features 3 edits -one of them being a remix by Sebastian Komor. All versions stand for alluring and well-crafted, powerful, EBM. There still is a more Techno-Body driven new song and one pumping instrumental one. 

+ + + : “Boiling Over” is a great title song and I really enjoy both edits by the band and the remix of Seb Komor. This is a meticulously crafted EBM format which might appeal to lovers of Front Line Assembly during the “Caustic Grip”-period. Both songs left are much more than EP-fillers but still great cuts to get people dancing. If this EP is a teaser to a new album I can only say it will be for sure a great vintage.

– – – : No real minus points here as this is exactly what we might expect from an EP: danceable and intelligent stuff.

Conclusion: I’ve never been disappointed discovering new Aesthetische stuff and this is once more a great, modern EBM work driven through some retro elements.

Best songs: “Boiling Over – Celsius Version”, “Boiling Over – Sebastian Komor Remix”, “Boiling Over – Fahrenheit Version”, “Dopamine Hyperdrive”.

Rate: 8½.

Artist: www.facebook.com/aesthetische

Label: www.alfa-matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix Read the news on ‘Boiling Over’.

About Aesthetische

Aesthetische is a Brazilian EBM/industrial duo formed by Gui Pires and Fab Viscardi in 2012. Both musicians were previously known for their work in Aghast View and Biopsy, one of Brazil’s pioneering electro-industrial acts of the 1990s. After Aghast View, the duo launched Aesthetische as a new vehicle for modern EBM fused with trance, techno-body music, and industrial atmospheres.

The band signed with Belgian label Alfa Matrix in 2012 and has since maintained an exclusive release partnership with them, issuing a steady discography of albums, EPs, and digital singles across physical and digital formats.

Albums

• “Powerswitch” (2012, Alfa Matrix) – Issued in multiple editions, including a box version.
• “HybridCore” (2014, Alfa Matrix) – A follow-up blending hard-hitting EBM with more melodic synth textures.
• “Co3xist3ns3” (2019, Alfa Matrix) – Marked a return after several years, further exploring hybridized EBM and trance.
• “Rvprty” (2022, Alfa Matrix AM 3400DJ) – A digital-only release containing ten tracks.

Singles & EPs

• “Nachtbrenner” (2013, Alfa Matrix)
• “Statement / Amplitude Zero” (2013, Alfa Matrix)
• “Colder Lights EP” (2014, Alfa Matrix)
• “Dirt And Basslines” (2015, Alfa Matrix)
• “Cold Is Clean” (2015, Alfa Matrix)
• “We Follow Blindly” (2016, Alfa Matrix)
• “In My Aurora” (2017, Alfa Matrix) – Featuring Noemi Aurora on vocals.
• “MMXX” (2020, Alfa Matrix)
• “Overflow” (2021, Alfa Matrix)
• “Boiling Over EP” (2023, Alfa Matrix)
• “Confidence Is Silent” (2024, Alfa Matrix)

Split EP

• “4.4U [2012.11]” (2012, Alfa Matrix) – Digital compilation shared with Metroland, Mentallo & The Fixer, and Daniel B. Prothèse.

“Boiling Over”, the EP reviewed here, arrived in 2023. Alfa Matrix followed it with “Confidence Is Silent” in 2024 and “Selling Fear” in 2025.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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.

www.side-line.com

The Belgian electronica pop ensemble, 808 DOT POP, makes a return with a double EP following the well-received launch of their companion CD albums “FM88.2” and “AM1350” (plus “MW720” available on digital platforms) under the Belgian electro label, Alfa Matrix.

Now available, initially via the Alfa Matrix Bandcamp page, are two fresh EPs, “FM96.9” and “AM1040”, both emphasising the second single “Distant Voices”.

Vocal duties are handled by Lis van den Akker, who is featured on the leading song, which gets reimagined in an Erasure-esque style.

Alongside a revised version of the album track “Modulation”, there are two exclusive titles – one being “FM/AM” and the all-new track “The Boys Of Wireless”, influenced by Frank Webster’s 1912 book. There are also two new extended versions, one of “Distant Voices” and one of “Modulation”, as well as a club mix by Belgian artist Sequence 5.

A video for “Distant Voices (on the radio)” has also been launched.

Eldrina Mich

As Eldrina Mich I work as a go-between and a devil’s advocate when it comes to Side-Line. If our own staff needs to be interviewed then ask the questions no one else dares to ask.

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The Belgian electro-industrial act Suicide Commando releases an all new song “God Of Destruction (Lies Lies Lies)” through Out Of Line. The EP deals with issues of religion and mankind.

Johan Van Roy: “While religion is meant to be something constructive, positive and should bring people hope, it unfortunately often is destructive and one of the biggest dangers of mankind. Whether you believe in a Jesus or a God in whatever religion. Religion often brings war, destruction, pain … just think about all those terrorist attacks of the last decades, think about all those wars going on in Africa or elsewhere, and not to speak about the 2 faces of the church and their years of child abuse etc …”

Musically you can expect Johan Van Roy’s signature dark electro.

Besides the main song, the EP contains remixes by the American EBM project Kreign and the Greek act Siva Six. Furthermore you can find a new remake in 2 chapters of “Destroyer of worlds”.

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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Who says Dirk Da Davo thinks The Neon Judgement! Even if this band remains one of the pioneers and true references in the Electro-Underground scene, Dirk has been involved with numerous other projects. The recently released album “Retrospective 1987-2023” is an opportunity to discover those projects; a fine selection from Dirk Timmermans’ (he’s real name) work over the thirty six past years aside from The Neon Judgement. The album has been released on vinyl format by Je M’En Fish and features ten songs. Each title of the work inspired me to ask a questions to Dirk. This is a short story of this Belgian living legend of Electronic music… and more…

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: The album takes off with “King Of Fools” which is probably the most surprising song from the album. It sounds sexy while the slide guitar has something pretty American-like. What is this song all about and what does it say about the music you’re listening to?  

DDD: The song is about the feeling that got created during the lockdown and the absurdity of certain measures taken which oppressed the people like never before. And I am questioning that in the song. ‘Will you obey the king of fools? Is there a way to neglect his rules? In a way he seems modified… Do you think he is justified?’ It is about this new created normality which I can’t get used to.

Musicaly it is not that far away for me. As a young kid I grew up with my father’s western music compilation records. And the music you listen to when you are a kid, stays forever in the back of your head… It’s a bit American/Western. It’s not the first time that it shows up. With The Neon Judgement we did the albums “Blood And Thunder” (1989) and “The Insult” (1991)who also have a American Tex Mex vibe in some album tracks. 

Q: “Ozz” is a track you composed together with Jean-Marie Aerts. I didn’t exactly expect you both composing music together. How did you get in touch and how was it working together? 

DDD: I know Jean-Marie already for a long time. He produced some album tracks for The Neon Judgement’s “Blood And Thunder”-album in 1989. He played the bass on The Neon Judgement’s “Jazzbox”-single in 1998 and we even did some experimental dub vinyl releases together in the 90s. And in a way we stayed connected. I live in Spain and Jean-Marie and his wife decided to come over for a vacation. I have a recording studio in the place where I live. It took exactly 2 days after his arrival and we started recording jam sessions. We finalized an EP and we decided to call our project DDDJMX. We released the digital EP in 2017 by the same title: “DDDJMX”. At the end he visited me 3 times which resulted in 10 recordings we digitally released in 2020 as the “Oceaned”-album. It was interesting. Jean–Marie left me completely free in production , arrangements and all regarding the tracks. An honor for me that he gave me his confidence! I feel flattered.

Q: “The Unreal” sounds to me as ‘modern’ The Neon Judgement. Are you sometimes nostalgic when evoking The Neon Judgement and do you think it’s really over now -especially because you went back on stage again since the so-called farewell concert in the A.B.? 

DDD: Oh really? It was not intended like that. No, I am not a nostalgic person at all or it must be about my childhood. I always prefer to look ahead and try to find new challenges. That is where the oxygen is! We had a fantastic trip with The Neon Judgement; I’m grateful to the fans but one day you have to call it a day. But never say never, I like to keep these things open… What I enjoy now is recording new music and develop myself further as a musician, not to play the same tracks over and over again. 

Q: “Where Even Angels Fall” sounds definitely 80s like. How much of the young Dirk Da Davo from the 80s do you still recognize in your music and approach today?  

DDD: That is a difficult question. I think through all my career I kept my personal touch, but it might have been influenced with the musical surroundings at certain periods… But I still carry the DDD label over all I think. No compromises for better business.

Q: “Sexhead” definitely is my favorite song from the album which reminds me of Cabaret Voltaire. I think to know Cabaret Voltaire have been one of your influences. What did you like in their sound and did you ever got the chance to get in touch with Richard H. Kirk -who passed away in 2021?  

DDD: An influence is perhaps a big word. We felt more like-minded. I liked the way they approached music from their first album on. The sound –experiments, the search for something new and with that sound they represented the times in which we lived. I met Richard once yes; I think that was during the first half of the 80s. We shared a venue in our hometown, Leuven, a venue named Lido with as line-up: The Neon Judgement, Cabaret Voltaire and 23 Skidoo. Oh what a night full of impressive music! ! 😉 

Q: “Meat Cathedral” is another 80s song which was released by your side-project If It Moves. It’s a project you set up with Glenn Frank -who also contributed to songs of The Neon Judgement right? What was this project all about?  

DDD: The project happened by coincidence. I joined Glenn’s band Street Ducks at the time as an extra guitar player. We shared a rehearsal room and one evening I was there alone with him. We started to program some industrial beats, I took a guitar and Glenn a microphone and what you hear happened on the spot. A week later we were recording the track together with Ludo Camberlin in his studio and it got released on vinyl. Glenn was part of The Neon Judgement for a short period as a bass player, but not as a song writer.  

Q: “157” reminds me of the early minimalism from Front 242. I can’t remember you ever did something together with the guys of ‘242’. Was there a connection or friendship? Rivalry? Just respect? 

DDD: There was an undercooled friendship, for sure no rivalry no. I remember a big party we had together in the 80s in Sweden, were we shared the stage in a double bill. We ended up throwing tables to each other during the after party, but it was just for fun! 🙂 Tour stress that is! 😉

Patrick Codenys also helped me out preparing the recordings of The Neon Judgement’s “Mafu Cage”-album. We were getting into sampling, but we didn’t have a sampler ourselves. That is when Patrick proposed that I could come over to his house to prepare samples for the “Mafu Cage”-sessions because they had a sampling machine.

“157”is one of my favorite Neon Electronics recordings produced by Glenn Keteleer (Radical G) who is my partner in the project now since 10 years. 

Q: “Strive” is one of your ‘new’ songs but what are you actually busy doing? And who are you working with? And is there an artist you really would like to work with?  

DDD: I am busy doing what a musician does: making music and enjoying it. And I try to run my digital label as good as I can. 

I am all the time working on songs and demos with Sanchez (the Mexican) under DD Sanchez, solo etc… Hopefully after summer we can produce new Neon Electronics music.. After summer I will release a digi-EP with new DDDJMX music. There is always something going! There’s not really a musician that I can directly think of , but for sure I would like to deliver music for a Quentin Tarantino movie if that counts also!  

Q: Talking about Sanchez, “Cities In Dust” is a song from your project together with him. The project DD Sanchez remains one of the most surprising ones and I dare to say a kind of antidote to your involvement with The Neon Judgement. What’s the ‘bonus’ in your career of DD Sanchez?  

DDD: It’s a challenge for myself. From the beginning of the project (first release 2019 “Z”-EP) I had the intention with DD Sanchez to write and create a less dark kind of music. A real challenge when you are mostly known in a darker scene and maybe not so wise but a musician should always follow his instinct and his heart . We released a full digi-album October 2022 and it got titled “HappyGrey” The title carries the load: it not really happy Pop music and neither very dark music. So it is “HappyGrey” music. 

Q: “In Dreams” was originally written in the early 90s and sounds to me as The Neon Judgement injected with Techno. What did you keep in mind from this (r)evolution in sound called Techno?  

DDD: “In Dreams” was recorded and released on vinyl format under DDD Program in 1992. During those times I was into club music and Techno. I think the Techno scene took over the thing that we started as the next generation. They distilled it down to its essence. Nowadays I still enjoy quality Techno music. I am a secret fan of Amelie Lens, also a Belgian DJ artist, but don’t tell anyone !

Inferno Sound Diaries

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.

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Genre/Influences: Electro-Pop.

Format: CD. 

Background/Info: Nearly three years after the promising debut album “The Colour Temperature”, Metroland’s ‘Passenger S” strikes back with a new album of his solo-project 808 Dot Pop. It’s a conceptual work devoted to the magic of crystal radio and related themes. But there’s a kind of concept behind the concept as three album have been released; two on CD format and one as digital work. Each album is related to a frequency, FM, AM and MW.A few songs have been written together with Gary Hunter (Kraftman). 

Content: 808 Dot Pop remains driven by the retro robotic style of Metroland although this project  sounds ‘poppier’ and more accessible. The songs are carried by low, dark, bass lines mixed with melodic tunes and the unavoidable computer voices dealing with the concept. All songs have been mixed like a true radio broadcasting. Two songs are featuring real vocals by Lis Van Den Akker -who already contributed to the single “Suncatcher”.

+ + + : The concept is great and I salute the intelligence it has been transposed into this album. The booklet gives us brief, but essential information about topics related to the concept. It has a strong retro-like feeling which also comes back in the sound treatments. The robotic music becomes pretty accessible by its melodic side and danceable rhythms. I personally prefer 808 Dot Pop to the latest Metroland’s releases for being more polished, poppy and globally more accessible. 

– – – : I like the music and I like the heavenly voice of Lis Van Den Akker but I’m not totally convinced both are matching. I would have liked a more sterile timbre of voice. 

Conclusion: 808 Dot Pop strikes back in style dealing with a fascinating concept and simply good Electro-Pop. 

Best songs: “Heinrich Hertz”, “RCA AR-812”, “Capacitor”, “Österreich 3”. 

Rate: 7½.

Artist: https://808dotpop.com / www.facebook.com/808dotpop 

Label: www.alfa-matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix

About 808 Dot Pop

808 Dot Pop is the solo electro-pop side-project of Metroland’s Passenger S, signed to Alfa Matrix. The debut album, “The Colour Temperature”, followed three singles, “Blackbodies – pulsation”, “Blackbodies – variation” and “Jingle Pop”, and was released in 2020 on CD and via Bandcamp, with the download edition including an exclusive 20-minute megamix. Nearly three years later, the crystal-radio-themed “Pop Radio” project arrived on 25 March 2023 in three variants, “FM 88.2”, “AM 1350” and the download-only “MW720”, each featuring contributions from KRAFTman and guest vocals by Lis van den Akker. The project includes a cover of OMD’s “Radio Waves”, recorded with permission from Andy McCluskey.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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.

www.side-line.com

The Australian dark electro pair Avarice In Audio, comprised of Gerry Hawkins and Lawrie, returns with an enticing new 4-track EP titled “War Tanz”. “War Tanz” is quite a powerful track and one of my personal favorites on the band’s last album “Our Idols Are Filth”.

“War Tanz” serves as the second single from their recently launched 5th album, “Our Idols Are Filth”. Alongside the title track, the EP features three additional tracks, including a remix by Avarice In Audio’s own Studio-X, a rendition by Columbia’s Alien:Nation, and an exclusive bonus track called “Downer Grooves”.

The single is now available for download on Bandcamp.

Here’s the video for “War Tanz”.

Formed in early 2013 the project has since released a string of albums and EPs.

Albums:

• Shine & Burn – 2014
• Apollo & Dionysus – 2016
• No Punishment: No Paradise – 2018
• From The Rib Of Adam – 2020
• Our Idols Are Filth – 2022

Singles & EPs:

• Frostbite – 2014
• World Without Song – 2015
• Bleed As One – 2015
• The Cassandra Complex – 2015
• Anthracite Nights – 2016
• Crystal Tears – 2016
• Lie To Me – 2017
• Wolves At The Door – 2018
• Our Cold Hands – 2018
• Trojan Horse – 2020
• I Pray (Feat. Assemblage 23) – 2021
• The Language Of Violence – 2022
• War Tanz – 2023

Side-Line also covered Avarice In Audio’s ‘Wicked Die Alone’.

Eldrina Mich

As Eldrina Mich I work as a go-between and a devil’s advocate when it comes to Side-Line. If our own staff needs to be interviewed then ask the questions no one else dares to ask.

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Here’s an odd duck on COP International label: the Fort Worth, Texas based act G.W. Childs IV. This project delivers electro country or synthwave with a disco falsetto actually. Behind the buttons we also notice John Fryer (Depeche Mode/NIN/Yazoo) and Rodney Orpheus (The Cassandra Complex).

The 7-track EP will be out next Friday (7th of April) on Bandcamp Day and features 2 original tracks (“You don’t know” and “Infinitely You”) plus “Tarrrant County” remixed by Rodney Orpheus / Cassandra Complex, DJ Joe Virus / Solemn Assembly, Josh Pyle (Aphorism), Ashes Fallen and one by by G.W. Childs IV itself.

You can already check the title track itself.

Here’s the previous single of the project, the 5-track EP “Tarrant County”.

Christian from COP International comments: “When John Fryer send me the first track I was blown away. We both had discussed the direction we expected COP to go for but this was something else entirely. Or was it? John always finds the emotional core in a track and brings it to the surface. But he also helped GW rediscover his roots and embrace them at the same time – what a beautiful gift. With his new band everything that has shaped GW is coming together. He grew up on a ranch among farmhands and livestock. He joined the Army and they took him all over the globe. His Passion for music brought him to California and gave him the opportunity to work for Lucas Arts as a sound designer. His love for his family brought him back home to Texas. GW Childs IV “Tarrant County” is the sum of all these experiences. GW Childs IV and COP have been working together for 20 years (GW was half of the storied Dark Wave Band Soil and Eclipse). But I feel that his new band is the first time we see the real person behind the music. It combines his early love for 4AD, the great balladeers of historic country music and his love for catchy melodies.”

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 Rockford, Illinois based goth / post-punk act The Funeral March drops an all new EP, “Persephone”, which is inspired by the Greek Queen of the Underworld, Persephone. Included are five new songs.

You’ll clearly hear the influence of The Cure and Siouxie & The Banshees, with blueprints drafted by Neil Gaiman’s “The Sandman”. “Persephone” is available now in streaming, digital download, and compact disc formats. The EP was mixed and mastered by Adam Stilson (Panic Priest, Feral Ghosts, Pixel Grip, Wingtips, Ritual Howls, and New Canyons) with cover art by Greg Rolfes (eleven12 Design).

Here’s the video for “Nite Nite”.

Originally founded in 1987, The Funeral March of the Marionettes (AKA The Funeral March) found a second life when they re-formed in 2017 in the post-industrial city of Rockford, Illinois. The current lineup consists of Joseph Whiteaker (Vocals, Bass, Synths), Darius McCaskey (Bass, Synths, Programming), and Wayne Thiele (Guitar). Their work blends elements of gothic rock and post-punk music, combining a number of new and classic post-punk/gothic influences.

To date, they have released several singles, EPs, and one full-length album. You can check the new EP below.

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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Back in the 80s I was a teenager who grow up with Dark/Cold-Wave and Post-Punk music. I bought a lot of records mainly from British formations. Dark and desperate music symbolising that era. One of these bands were The March Violets. Songs like “Religious As Hell”, “Walk Into The Sun”, “Snake Dance”, “Children On Stun”, “Fodder” and many others kept my dark thoughts alive. Forty years later I still have these songs in mind and I was pleased to hear The March Violets are still alive and kicking. Jungle Records recently released a massive collector’s box  featuring five CD’s. “The Palace Of Infinite Darkness” brings us back to the golden years of the band. And there’s more good news as The Violets are actually busy working on new songs which will be released later on this year. Core members Tom Ashton and Rosie Garland kindly accepted to answer my questions.

(Picture credits by Bobby Talamine / Interview courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: The March Violets saw the daylight in 1981. More than forty years later what do you still recognise from the early musicians you were at that time?

Tom: That’s a great question! I’d like to think that although 4 decades have passed I still retain my open-minded approach to doing music. It’s not easy to ignore all the influences that creep in over the years and The Violets had a very independent outlook as to what we were trying to achieve with our music. The new album has turned out to surpass our expectations and ticks all the boxes that I wanted to carry over to this decade.

Rosie: I recognise my determination to do things, and not let life drift by. I had a drive to create, which has never gone away. In fact, it’s intensified over the years. I don’t put things off till tomorrow. I say yes to opportunities, and seek out ways to grow and develop as a writer and performer. Life is precious… and short. Do it all, and do it now.

Q: What did you keep in mind from the 80s which were real special, dark, and historical years and what has been the impact on your music and lyrical themes?

Rosie: I’ve always been a cuckoo in the nest. I write about outsiders, whoever they might be. People who won’t (or can’t) squeeze into the one-size-fits-all templates on offer and the friction that occurs when they try. I know this comes from being an outsider myself! We all have cobwebbed dungeons in the psyche. They are frightening places, and we are sold the lie that if we paint our world pastel shades everything will be all right. We ignore personal darkness at our psychological peril. Far wiser, in my opinion, is to explore the haunted castle and face those fearsome ghosts…

Tom: For me it wasn’t just an 80s thing at all. A lot of bands that influenced my playing in The Violets were products of the late 70s. Joy Division, Bauhaus, Sex Pistols, Buzzcocks etc. What was great was how we took those Punk and Post-Punk influences and tried to create something new and definitely dark! I was obsessed with VHS horror back then (Video Nasties, I had them all!) and some of my ideas came from the music in those mainly Italian films, Fabio Frizzi, Goblin etc.

Q: Your hometown Leeds was a prolific ground for legendary Post-Punk formations. Is there any specific reason to it and what did you keep in mind from the scene in Leeds and the UK?

Tom: In the early 80s Leeds was not the shiny and affluent city it is now. Back then the Victorian buildings in the centre were still covered in black industrial age soot from thousands of chimneys. I think that’s the image I’ve been seeing in my head as I’ve been working on this next album as a way to capture those feelings I had when I first arrived there. I also loved the sense of community the scene had back then. There was a tangible feeling of being in the right place and time, which has stayed with me too.

Rosie: Tom is absolutely right. Leeds in the 1980s was shabby, chaotic and poor. Which is a fair description of we four Violets: children on stun most of the time. The musical importance of the North can be summed up in a quote from the late great Tony Wilson: ‘In the North it rains and rains. And yet we managed to produce the best music, the Industrial Revolution, the trade union movement, the Communist Manifesto and even the goddam computer. Down South, where the Sun never sets, you took all our money and what did you produce? Chas and fucking Dave.’ (Tony Wilson, 2007)

Q: Considering important (r)evolutions like internet, social media, streaming platforms, modern technology and equipment… it all looks that different from the 80s spirit. How did you experience all these evolutions and what are the pros and cons?

Tom: Back when The Violets started it cost us an arm and a leg to do our recording, even on a relatively low budget. We had to be reasonably well rehearsed and very focused on what we wanted to achieve. This is great discipline for a band and one of the biggest differences that technology has brought to the table for musicians (since home recording is now such good quality) is how to not get pulled into floating on the luxury of that technology. It’s so much better to bang your stuff out in the moment and release it warts and all. Back then we had no choice.

I love that the internet has now empowered bands. You can promote yourself and communicate with fans on a direct basis anywhere in the world! Wonderful, except everyone is doing it and you now need to find a way to stand out from the crowd. Having said that it is still preferable to having the few gatekeepers we had to deal with in order to get noticed in the early 80s. We were one of the lucky ones!

Q: Your most prolific years and biggest success all happened in the 80s. How come?

Rosie: Sure, the 80s were a successful time for The March Violets, culminating in John Hughes’ ‘Some Kind of Wonderful’. It doesn’t get any better than featuring in a Hollywood movie! However, after The Violets, none of us stopped creating. Over the past 40 years, I’ve had three novels published with Harper Collins, plus a slew of award-winning poetry collections. Plus I’ve toured the USA, UK & Europe with queer cabaret. We are artists and musicians for life.

Tom: As Rosie says, we never stopped creating after The Violets folded. I played guitar in Clan Of Xymox for their US tour in support of the “Phoenix”-album. Got into FOH engineering and toured a lot in that capacity. I also spent a good few years scoring low budget horror movies culminating in the rather fab undiscovered jewel Accidental Exorcist in 2016.

Q: I think there was a real kind of unique 80s spirit. How would you explain it to kids today?

Rosie: All four Violets were at college. The Leeds Universities and colleges were massively important, bringing a diverse group of creative people together in a social environment without parental controls. The spread of Punk in the UK was initially through the universities. Also, I guess that if a band from your city makes it you subconsciously think well, if they can, why can’t we?

Tom: I’ve been out on tour in the USA a lot recently with the band Vision Video and I can actually attest that, having been there at the time, the spirit of the 80s is well and truly alive and kicking out there in the audience. It’s wonderful to see!

Q: Jungle Records recently released the massive box “The Palace Of Infinite Darkness” revealing next to the band’s biggest hits and singles still ‘Unreleased Rarities’. Who got the idea of this box and the unreleased songs? How did it feel getting back to the origins of the band and rediscovering these ‘rarities’?

Tom: The idea to do it actually came from Jungle Records, who we’ve worked with a lot over the years. Once we’d delved into the BBC Sessions vinyl album and “Play Loud Play Purple”-singles vinyl it made so much sense to dig deeper and see what we could find for the fans out there. It’s been a wonderful experience to go back and find all this stuff that never saw the light of day and shine it in public.

Rosie: Yes! I found a stash of 80s music cassettes down the back of a bookcase. Listening to them, we recovered songs we thought were lost forever. One example is “Virgin Sheep” from 1982. We’re recording it for the first time. It’s an example of how we are channelling March Violets’ history and bringing to it everything we’ve learned over the past 40 years.

Q: The box is also featuring BBC Recordings for the legendary John Peel sessions. What did it mean back then and especially getting in touch with John Peel?

Tom: John Peel gave me a huge chunk of my musical education like many others of my generation. On weekdays, aged 14 I was already in bed at 10 pm with the radio/cassette recorder under the covers, headphones on, listening raptly to his show until midnight. He would play a new album, side one and side two, without speaking between tracks because he knew we were all out there taping it! The name angel of the airwaves doesn’t even come close to describing how we felt about him. I finally got to meet him and his family when I was working on one of his Meltdown festivals on the South Bank in 1999. It was wonderful to be able to thank him in person.

Rosie: The Violets were one of many bands who thrived because of Peel’s enthusiasm and eclectic tastes. Whatever the musical style, all he demanded was it was good. We owe him everything. Simon sent him a copy of our demo tape tucked into a pot of Violets. Right away we got a phone call from him, inviting us to Maida Vale Studio. The rest is history. 

Q: I think it’s nearly impossible doing an interview without evoking Andrew Eldritch. How important has he been in the band’s history?

Rosie: Andrew supported The March Violets from the start. He even came in to KG Studios and helped us mix “Grooving In Green” and “Steam”, and we shared the bill with The Sisters on a number of occasions –including our first gig, in Keighley, Yorkshire.

Tom: I was in the Sisters briefly in ‘82 and played a couple of shows on guitar. I know he seems to have a bad rep out there but we always got on and frankly The Sisters at that moment were absolutely fantastic (not because of me lol)! A truly great band and off to do big stuff for sure no matter what. I was asked to join but it would have meant my leaving The Violets for sure and it was just too awkward to make the jump. We hung out a fair bit, lending each other records and watching movies on VHS at Village Place through the night. Stoned as idiots of course!

Q: What’s your vision about the contemporary music industry and underground scene? What do you feel when listening to young Dark-Wave / Post-Punk bands an do you sometimes recognize yourself in these bands?

Rosie: It’s encouraging to see new Post-Punk & Dark-Wave bands who honour the past whilst creating their own unique take on the scene. In fact it’s vital. Without new bands and new music, a musical scene atrophies and becomes a fossil of itself. It’s the reason why The March Violets keep writing new material, too. We are not and will never become our own tribute band, only playing the old tracks.

Tom: There is so much good stuff out there now! As I said earlier I’ve been out playing bass guitar with Vision Video in the USA. We did over 80 shows in 2022 and it’s been a revelation seeing and performing with so many great artists out on the road. Off the top of my head, Tears For The Dying, Entertainment!, Panic Priest, Secret Shame, Giallows, Bullet Ballet, Kaelen Mikla…I could go on… As far as recognizing myself in these artists, that’s too much self-ego, I’m just happy to be sharing the same dark outlook and dream and helping to translate it along with them.

Q: The March Violets are actually preparing a live tour. What might we expect and who’s coming to see you on stage today?

Rosie: Sure, we’ll play the classics. Our fans love them and we love our fans! We’re also excited to premiere new songs. And we also have numbers from the 80s no one has heard since 1982…

Tom: Yep all the classics and most definitely a couple of new numbers from the as yet unnamed 2023 album that we are currently working on. The line up for the tour in the UK is especially interesting as Vision Video are on the bill and we are thinking that we will see a fantastic mix of the old guard plus all the new acolytes to make the perfect crossover audience.

Q: You already mentioned working on a new album so can you give us more details?

Rosie: Tom, William and myself spent January 2023 in Tom’s studio in Georgia, creating and recording brand new material. It’s been so exciting: two of the most supportive, encouraging and talented guys I’ve ever had the honour to work with. Songs have been pouring out of us. Simply put, it’s been a revelation.

Tom: Yes, we just had a lot of fun in the studio and now I’ve got my nose down with writing/recording guitars and mixing for release later this year. As Rosie said, it has been wonderful to be creating under these circumstances and I think it will show in the new material. A new horizon for The March Violets!

Q: Ian Dury’s song “Sex, Drugs & Rock & Roll” became a famous quote connected to musicians. Also to The March Violets?

Rosie: Yes! To quote the title of a great movie, the 80s were “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once”. I’d always known I wasn’t like other girls, and came out in 1982. I had a gay old time exploring my sexuality. Still do!

Tom: Yes we have had our Rock ‘N’ Roll moments for sure, especially during the glorious 80s! I have many fond memories of parties and just general craziness that happened. Thankfully now we are more likely to be recording in slippers and drinking cups of tea. Maybe.

Q: If you look back to this amazing career, what comes directly into mind as most precious moment? And are you missing a few things you would like to have accomplished?

Tom: I can’t really imagine wanting anything to have worked out differently. It’s been a full life and I’ve met so many good people through music and this is going to keep on until I can no longer physically do it. Of course there are parts of the world I’d love to experience so here’s hoping we can get The Violets out to the Far East and South America and anywhere else that might have us!

Rosie: For me, a precious moment has to be getting back on stage in 2010, for the first time after throat cancer. I sang again, after fearing I’d never be able to. It was deeply emotional. As for goals – I have plenty. It’s important to have dreams, however may years pass. Right now, I’d love to play new cities and countries. Watch this space…

Inferno Sound Diaries

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.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: IDM, Minimal-Electro, Industrial.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Polish duo Bartosz ‘Kostia’ Jakubicki and Artur ‘Blacha’ Błaszczyk are back on track unleashing their fourth full length opus. This album has been released by the end of 2022 and one year after the great “(.)/dot”.

Content: The global sound and influences featured at this work aren’t that different from the previous album. Synta[XE]rror deals with Minimal-Electronic and IDM which have been seriously empowered by Industrial sound treatments. There’s an interesting contrast between the sound intelligence of the composition and its unpolished production.

+ + + : This duo confirms the strong potential and intelligence revealed at the previous work. “Element [Off] Crime” sounds in the prolongation of this album although it sounds a tiny more Industrial like. That makes me speak about a kind of ‘intelligent industrial music’ format with a perfect balance between sounds, atmospheres and minimalism.

– – – : It’s a pity the work only features 4 -extended, tracks. There however is a serious contrast between both, brilliant, debut cuts and both, last, ones which are a little less convincing.

Conclusion: Synta[XE]rror has accomplished a new, inventive piece of modern Electronics which might appeal to lovers of IDM and Industrial music.

Best songs: “Element [Off] Crime 01”, “Element [Off] Crime 02”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100061443858647

Label: www.zoharum.com / www.facebook.com/zoharum

About Synta[XE]rror

Synta[XE]rror is the Polish duo of Bartosz “Kostia” Jakubicki and Artur “Blacha” Błaszczyk from Wrocław, working together since the 1990s. The project’s name plays on the “syntax error” message the pair often saw on their Amiga computers, with square brackets added around the XE to distinguish it from other bands sharing the name. “Element [Off] Crime”, their fourth full-length, followed “(.)/dot” and was released via Zoharum in a limited CD edition of 300 copies alongside a digital version. Synta[XE]rror discussed their working method in a 2021 Side-Line interview.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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.

www.side-line.com

Berlin based producer and DJ Valya Kan releases a new EP, “Pink”, on 23 December 2022 on the Wild Nation label.

Valya Kan: “All tracks are not fully polished and finished as a bag with the laptop with all the work was stolen. All that is left is just WAV files. It’s basically a released demo, which I still decided to put out, because they are bringing me back to the moments of my life.”

All tracks except “Numb” were written in 2021, “Numb” was written in Spring 2022. An EP to check out for sure!

Berlin based producer and DJ Valya Kan began her interest in electronic music around 2007 when she connected with the deep atmospheric grooves and minimal beats that soundtrack the German capital. She began taking music seriously in 2013, and by the following year she’d compiled a collection of demos. One of the first people to bite, in 2017, was British artist Spencer Parker, who rolled some of Kan’s sketches into “Dust And Haze”, her debut album on Work Them Records. With “Remember”, released in October 2020, she delivered four more tracks of deep and sophisticated house and techno—minimal.

That release was significant because it launched Twist, her own label. After releasing “Ice Birds”, available on a compilation compiled by Seb Wildblood, and her first live set, she’s shared “Heartbeats”, which features two tracks recorded in isolation and one recorded in 2018.

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

After their recently released new EP “Witch Heart Apparition”, the Finnish dark elektro duo Miseria Ultima (Aleksi Martikainen on vocals and Kimmo Huhtala on synths) now strikes back with their 3rd studio album on their new label Alfa Matrix.

The band’s trademark sound is clearly present again, so you can expect cold melancholic atmospheres and strong melodies with harsh aggressive vocals and dark elektro assaults. “In Colors of Void” will feature 11 songs dealing with mortality and tragic death and how we are facing grief and such sudden loss.

“It is all about chaos theory, choices, and causality – and also about psychic vampirism…”, says Aleksi Martikainen. “In songs like ‘Shutter’ and ‘Devoid Of Coloration’, I write about the sudden decay of mind after manipulation and also about the total death of self-consciousness…”

You can check the full album below. The release is also out on CD, next to the download version on Bandcamp.

Also check out the below videos including the official video clip for “Witch Heart Apparition” and one for “Caressing The Pale” in a Siva Six remix. Read the review of ‘In Colors Of Void’.

Eldrina Mich

As Eldrina Mich I work as a go-between and a devil’s advocate when it comes to Side-Line. If our own staff needs to be interviewed then ask the questions no one else dares to ask.

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The UK based Cold Spring label has a rather interesting re-release out on February 23 from Psychic TV: “Those Who Do Not”. The album holds recordings of a live concert by Psychic TV in Reykjavik, Iceland that took place in November 1983 and which was organized by HÖH and GRAMM Records.

The live album will be released on CD, and in 3 different 2LP versions: a version on red vinyl sold via Cold Spring only (230 copies) and one on white vinyl (230 copies) which will only be sold via indie record stores, plus a standard black vinyl edition.

At the moment of this live recording the lineup of the band also featured Peter Christopherson and Geff Rushton (John Balance) of Coil next to Genesis P-Orridge, Alex Fergusson, John Gosling, Godkrist, Grey Wolf, Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, Thee TOPI Method and Priestess. This full show also holds the recordings of the Pagan marriage between Genesis and Paula P-Orridge conducted by Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson Allsherjargodi.

Out of print for 23 years, the material has been meticulously remastered, with the track order finally arranged into what was the original show.

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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Hailing from Leicester (UK) Wooly Woolaston is involved with Colossloth for quite a while now. After having released his first album on the Belgian label Doom Structure (2008) he next released an album on Doom Mantra Records (2009) and one on Dark Meadow Recordings (2011). Things started to get more ‘serious’ when he signed to Cold Spring Records. Colossloth this year released its fourth full length album for the British label. “Promethean Meat” reveals a harder sound driven by harsh rhythmic but still centered around noisy sound treatments. Colossloth never stops evolving in sound and influences while holding on its rough and merciless sound.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: How would you introduce Colossloth to people who aren’t familiar with your work? How would you define yourself as an artist/musician and what characterizes your sonic alter-ego? 

Wooly: I’d introduce Colossloth as a one man Experimental Electronic artist where there are no rules to recording or playing music, I definitely don’t class myself as a musician as I can’t play any instruments as such, my main weapon for recording is a sampler and loop stations.

Q: You’re already active for multiple years now so how do you see the sonic journey and evolution of Colossloth throughout the years? 

Wooly: Yeah I’ve been going for about 18 years, the music has changed massively in that time and that was always the plan, to keep evolving and moving in new directions and not following a formula, I’m really happy with how the music has transformed from the first tracks which were long guitar drones and now somehow it’s evolving into harsh electronics with sections of melody.

Q: Your work has been always centered around ‘noisy’ sound treatments although the newest album “Promethean Meat” indeed reveals an interesting evolution into harder, rhythmic, fields. What have been the main sources of inspiration to write this new work and what kind of album did you’d in mind? 

Wooly: Yeah the new album is the first time I’ve actually used a traditional drum sound, I sampled live drummers and manipulate it into something different and it seems to work. It was a bit of a gamble using drum tracks as I never wanted the music to sound mathematical and calculated but it seems to bring something new to the sound.

Q: “Promethean Meat” is an interesting and intriguing title but what did you try to express here and in which way can it be seen as a metaphor to the world we’re living in? 

Wooly: The title is based on a theory that humankind has reached its highest level of evolving and has now stared to slide backwards  we don’t need to think as much anymore as our phones do it for us, we don’t need to walk anymore as everyone is using electro scooters etc.

Q: What have been the different stages in the creation and production of the album? And can you reveal details about your way of working and eventually criteria you handle to produce your sound? 

Wooly: There is no specific way of working, I create hundreds of samples and loops and then try to make tracks out of them. A lot of the time it doesn’t work but when it does it does, I then take them to my friend Tom’s studio where it all gets recorded properly. It’s a really enjoyable way of working. 

Q: Your country is going through hard and instable political times. What impact does it have on you as citizen and artist (-especially referring to Brexit)? So what brings the future for Colossloth? 

Wooly: Funny enough I’m looking at playing dates in Europe in 2023 and the whole system has changed for me to do such. Our country has been ran by clowns for the last few years and it’s time for a change!

Inferno Sound Diaries

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.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Future-Pop, EBM.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Second mini-album in the “God & Sinners” series by Ruined Conflict, following “God & Sinners Part 1”. We get six new songs, two remixes and one reworked edit from an early song.

Content: This second part moves on in the line of the first one. Ruined Conflict becomes harder, harsher, and colder. It however remains very accessible music reminding the glorious days of Future-Pop. There are songs reminding me of the power of Leather Strip and yet it remains very Ruined Conflict-like. One of the main songs entitled “We’Ve Comde” has been remixed by Anthony H and SpankTheNun. Last but not least there’s a “2022”-edit of “Defiance” which was originally released at the debut album “A.R.M.O.R.” (2013).

+ + + : Where will Xavier Morales stop? I’m simply impressed by the way he non-stop improves his work, the global production becoming harder and more professional. The way he mixes harsh and powerful sound treatments and solid bass lines together with the melodic side of Future-Pop is simply impressive. “Anarchy”, “We’ve Come”, “Switch”, “Defiance 2022” and “Miracle” left me breathless. Power and melody are in pure harmony becoming a true Electronic symphony. On top of this production there still is the captivating vocals of Xavier Morales.

– – – : This is simply the best Ruined Conflict work to date. Both remixes are the less convincing part although these remixes aren’t bad at all.

Conclusion: The point has come Ruined Conflict simply excels in its art becoming one of the leading projects in contemporary Future-Pop music.

Best songs: “Anarchy”, “We’ve Come”, “Switch”, “Defiance 2022”, “Miracle”.

Rate: 8½.

Artist: www.ruinedconflict.com / www.facebook.com/RuinedConflict

Label: www.infacted-recordings.de / www.facebook.com/pages/Infacted-Recordings/124099254321690

About Ruined Conflict

Ruined Conflict is a Future-Pop and Synth-Pop project founded in Cleveland, Ohio in 2011 by producer Xavier Morales together with Eric Holzer. The project released its debut album “A.R.M.O.R.” in 2013, followed by “Revolutionary Mayhem” in 2014, “Triumphant” in 2017 and “Valediction” in 2019, moving from its industrial origins toward a more melodic Future-Pop and Synth-Pop sound. Ruined Conflict signed with Infacted Recordings for the “God & Sinners” mini-album series, which opened with “Part 1” and continued with “Part 2” in 2022, featuring new material alongside remixes and a reworked edit of “Defiance” from “A.R.M.O.R.”.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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.

www.side-line.com

A new vinyl boxset of The Human League is to be released. Called “The Virgin Years” it encompasses 1981 to 1990, and includes all the songs you know, including “Don’t You Want Me”, “(Keep Feeling) Fascination”, “Mirror Man”, “The Things That Dreams Are Made Of”, “Human”, “The Lebanon” and “Heart Like a Wheel”. The boxset will be released November 11, 2022 via UMe.

Between 1981 and 1990, The Human League released four studio albums and one extended EP on Virgin Records. Those albums and that extended play have been collected in a special limited edition colored vinyl box set. In addition, the remix album “Love And Dancing”, initially released in 1982, was recently reissued on white vinyl for Record Store Day.

Since 1978, The Human League have released nine studio albums, four EPs, over 30 singles and several hit compilation albums. Read the review of ‘The Virgin Years’.

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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“No Rest for the Wicked” is the debut studio album of Mentallo & The Fixer, released in 1992 by Simbiose Records. It now gets a 30th anniversary release via Mentallo Big Cartel and Re:Mission Entertainment in various limited formats holding 4 bonus tracks.

This reissue contains the original seven tracks remastered by JM Mastering.

1992’s “No Rest for the Wicked” was the band first major underground release and while the recording was low-budget it introduced their audience to the band’s dynamic energy and sense of melody. The recording sessions were completed during 1990 and 1991 but the album’s release was stalled for personal reasons by the band, with founding member Gary Dassing discussing the lyrics as being about his sister’s placement in an asylum.

The digital version will contain all twelve tracks from the original CD plus four additional songs from the 1991 “Wreckage + Ruin + & + Regrests + [Redemption]” GPC cassette tape.

Available are also two vinyls, a limited edition in black vinyl and one in silver vinyl, the latter is already completely sold out. The vinyl versions hold the restored original artwork, but also a folded poster autographed by Gary and Dwayne Dassing.

You can order these releases via Mentallo Big Cartel or via the Re:Mission Bandcamp page.

About the album

Mentallo And The Fixer was born from the minds of brothers Gary and Dwayne Dassing in 1988.
The duo began their career earlier by experimenting with traditional rock instruments such as
guitar and drums, but made their focus synthesizers and samplers with their first band
Benestrophe with vocalist Richard Mendez. From that project spouted two tapes worth of
material released via Ras Dva Records as “Sensory Deprivation” and “Auric Fires”. Mentallo And
The Fixer soon formed after Benestrophe went dormant.

Their debut album “No Rest For The Wicked” saw released on Portuguese label Simbiose
Records, whilst also gaining the attention of Zoth Ommog records.

Gary Dassing recalls: “Thirty years have passed since our first release, “No Rest For The Wicked”. Dwayne and I have been fortunate to have kept this band going in some capacity after all these years. Mentallo And The Fixer came about after our first band Benestrophe disbanded due to a number of reasons. Dwayne moved from San Antonio to Austin for better job prospects in the electronics industry. Rich Mendez had other priorities being school and computer programming. I was left to my own devices and began recording tracks on my own, continuing to work on music in the privacy of my home studio, which I dubbed The Churchyard. I had no interest in being a vocalist much less a front man. I decided to throw caution to the wind and give it a shot. I had nothing to lose and figured the only ones hearing my music, and having to put up with my nonsensical garbling gibberish at the time would be my close friends and parents.

Back in the day, technology was a far cry from what it is today. Our recording methods were quite archaic. Everything was recorded on a standard Teac tape deck. I was monitoring the mix using a Panasonic jambox, and Commodore 64 as our sequencer, taking 15 to 20 minutes to load the program off a floppy disk, a 12 channel Ross mixer which was intended for live sound, load in a 90-minute cassette and hit record.

For these tracks, nothing was structured and everything was recorded on the fly, even the vocals. I would randomly change drum patterns, effects, muting and unmuting synth sounds and levels, etc. The sequencing program would run on a loop, repeating, until I hit the spacebar to stop the song. It was a bit of unwavering controlled chaos. Half of what I was recording vocally was completely improvised. I was trying to capture a feeling, filling up one side of the cassette and selecting the best version.”

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

Finnish industrial artist Kalle Lindberg aka Protectorate launched itself on to the scene in 2016 with a self-titled debut album “Protectorate”. The new upcoming full length “II” by the Lappeenranta based artist offers eight electro industrial and EBM tracks.

Here’s the artwork of the forthcoming release.

The release was preceded last month by the single “Industrial Action” which holds 3 versions of the title track, the normal version and an Oldschool Union remix and one by Cardinal Noire.

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

American  Paul M. Graham this year unleashed the fourth album of his Tragic Impulse sonic project. It’s the third opus released by Distortion Productions. “Distant Worlds” takes the listener away to visit a dark- and danceable experience of EBM empowered by Dark-Electronics and Industrial, but also polished with Pop elements. Most elements of the production process have been improved so in the end you get a varied, danceable and efficient work.

(Picture credits by Sergei Photography / Interview courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: I remember a previous interview you were talking about growing maturity and studio equipment, which both are essential aspects in the evolution and development of an artist. How did you see both elements evolving from your very first song till the new album?

Paul: I’ve definitely had growth in my production skills since the first album (“Machine Parts”). I felt great about the writing on the first album, but I just didn’t feel the mixing and such was at a similar level. I was still very much a newbie at the time. Rather than farm out that work to a more accomplished producer, I’ve stuck with it and feel pretty good about where things are now. There’s always lots of room for improvement though and I’ll never consider myself a finished product.

As for studio equipment evolution, almost all of that has happened in the form of soft-synths and software tools. I’ve found that I can create the music I want without the extra expense and physical space it takes to keep all the hardware. There are advantages to hardware for sure, but I’ve found that for my needs, I really don’t need that anymore. “Distant Worlds” was done entirely without any hardware synths.

Q: I can imagine “Distant Worlds” was mainly –or entirely, written during the ongoing pandemic. In which way did COVID affected your artistic activities and your mood plus creativity when composing the opus?

Paul: The album is definitely a product of the pandemic and the track “Oubliette” is a great example of that. The term by definition means: ‘a dungeon with the only entrance or exit being a trap door in the ceiling’. It’s a dark song that parallels the confinement, fear, and uncertainty we all felt/have been feeling during this time. Other tracks also have hints of this mood and feel as well.

Q: What have been the different stages from the moment you started writing the first song for “Distant Worlds” till the moment you got the production finished? What have been the main challenges when composing this album and what are your biggest points of satisfaction?

Paul: I tend to ‘nibble’ with my song creation, moving around from one song to the next and back again, and this album was no different. Sometimes everything falls into place with a song and I finish it in one pass but that’s rare. Giving me time between songs helps me prevent listening fatigue and keeps me inspired. My method might seem strange to some artists, but it works for me.

For “Distant Worlds”, the bulk of the album writing was done during the pandemic and since I had spent more time indoors, I created lot more material I considered viable for the album. At one point, I had considered doing a double-album but the ten I went with just felt right. Having all that material is both a blessing and a curse because while I had a lot to choose from, deciding what stays and goes is always hard.

I’d say the biggest point of satisfaction is that the album seems to have successfully provided a little something for everyone and avoids pitfalls like repetition and predictability. I asked fans shortly after the album was released what their favorite songs were, and the answers were all over the place. Hearing that kind of feedback is always very satisfying and rewarding. 

Q: I experienced “Distant Worlds” as your most diversified album to date; from familiar EBM/Dark-Electro songs to sophisticated passages reminding me Clock DVA to a furious cover version of Ministry. Tell us a bit more about the content and different influences running through the work?

Paul: I touched on this a little bit in the last question, but I feel great about the diversification on this album and that’s probably because that’s an approach I favor in the artists I listen to as well. “Oubliette” is dark and brooding, “Failed Reality” up-tempo/high energy, and “Dance Till You Die” stompy so there’s some ground covered there. “Parasite” is also an interesting example of that diversification because it feels so very different than the rest of the album. It’s actually been a very popular track and that’s probably because of the throwback EBM vibe it has to it. As for the Ministry cover of “Just One Fix”, I really wanted to pay homage to a song that was a gateway for me getting into Industrial music. I was mostly into Metal music back-in-the-day and when I transitioned on from that I was looking for something with an edge to it and bands like Ministry, Front Line Assembly and KMFDM bridged that gap. To this day I’m still heavily influenced by those bands.

Q: I think you’ve live dates planned in the US so tell us a bit more about Tragic Impulse on stage? What might people expect when going to a live show and how do you transpose the studio sound to the stage? What about European shows?

Paul: Our live shows have always translated well from the studio and part of that is by design. For example, I never use too many FX or heavily process my vocals for that reason. When you hear me sing live, I want you to have a similar experience to our recorded material, so I put an emphasis on that. Also, I’m not sure why, but we tend to surprise people (in a good way) with our live shows. It’s happened so many times, we started referring to it as “The Response” lol.  I think this may happen because we don’t have the same name recognition as some of the bigger bands so we surprise people when they see us. So while they expect someone like Suicide Commando to be amazing (and rightfully so), us…?, not so much. We’re working hard to change that however!

As for live dates, a few months ago we played the Dark Side of the Con festival and that was an amazing experience. We also just finished performing at the Distortion Productions (Jim Semonik) 200^th show extravaganza and we had an awesome and energized crowd for that one as well.  Upcoming shows in 2022 include a date in New-York City with Rain Within, Red Lokust and Interface, and one in Pittsburgh with Solar Fake. We had hoped to tour more in support of the album this year but have had some unexpected interruptions in our schedules so we’re looking to hit that hard next year.

We haven’t played anywhere in Europe yet but that’s definitely on our ‘to-do’ list. Playing at something like WGT would be a dream for us. For you promoters out there, we can be contacted at info@tragicimpulse.com 

Q: What place did Tragic Impulse take in your life? What are the further plans and ultimate goals? 

Paul: Since the live show is my wife Heidi on keys, and me on vocals, it’s been a great way for us to travel and meet new people. The recorded music is great but the real thrill for us is live shows since we get to connect with fans, other bands, promoters, DJ’s, etc. We’ve been into the Goth/Industrial scene the entire time we’ve been together (almost 19 years) and the band is just another way we get to spend time together doing what we love.

As for the future, we’ll keep making music and keep playing shows with the intention of playing more gigs in more places. Hopefully we can keep that momentum going!

Inferno Sound Diaries

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.

www.side-line.com

Out via Nexilis on October 7th is the new 3CD set “Film, Funk & Fernsehen” by the German electropop act Welle:Erdball.

Coming as 3 seperate digipaks it is included in an inside an outer cardboards-slider holding over 2 hours of music and more than 30 tracks. The band explains the album title as follows: “The power of the media. And it is almost all-encompassing; with a theme that no longer stops at pandemics, gender and global thermonuclear war and is reflected in German lyrics, but also in songs in English, Russian and even Swedish.”

Also included are some cover versions such as David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” with female voices accompanied by Commodore C64 sounds. Also included is a complete radio play CD (in German) with several guest musicians such as Alexx Wesselsky (Eisbrecher), Ronan Harris (VNV Nation) and Steve Naghavi (And One).

Since it has been 40 years since the C64 was presented to the world (in January 1982), Welle:Erdball has also dedicated another complete CD recorded only with a C64. For those who wonder what a C64 actually is, the Commodore 64, also known as the C64 or the CBM 64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International. It is still being actively used in the demoscene, especially for music (its SID sound chip even being used in special sound cards for PCs, and the Elektron SidStation synthesizer).

Check out the video for “Das Atomboot (C64)”. A new video for “Drogenexzess im Musikexpress” will be released on September 9th.

The band has also announced a tour, the dates are available below.

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 now from the German industrial veteran Rüdiger Schuster is “Material”: The second music video off his new album “Schuster III – Final Ten Industrial Tracks” and one of three songs sung in German. A new music video for each song will be released in chronological order on a regular basis. All music videos have been produced by Nihil Media.

You might know Schuster for both “Trauma” and “Drown” which were featured on “Face The Beat: Session 7” and “Face The Beat: Session 5”, as he’s been around the scene for 40 years with bands like Stumpff, ULAA, Die Guten Deutschen and also starred in cult movies like “Kinder der Nacht” I and II.

Here’s the video for “Material”.

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

Genre/Influences: Minimal-Electro, Electro-Wave, Experimental.

Format: Digital, Vinyl.

Background/Info: Franc Kurti (Albania) and Dina Hajrullahu (Kosovo) set up I Tpame I Tvrame in 2016 and have already released a few interesting productions. This new work was released by the end of last year and features seven songs -and one more for the digital edit.

Content: If you’re already familiar with the band you’ll not be surprised to re-discover their Minimal-Electro/Wave approach. The sound production is cold, danceable, and driven by the sterile, sensual, vocals of Dina.

+ + + : This band really deserves more recognition. They deal with a cool and sexy sound, which makes me think of ‘electro for dungeon parties’. The opening- and final song both are efficient exposures of the band’s potential. Notice the last song I’m talking about is only available on the digital format. The sound is simple, but ultra-efficient.

– – – : The album is mixing great parts together with less inspired cuts, which are missing a little bit elaboration.

Conclusion: After ‘Dream-Pop’-music I Tpame I Tvrame has maybe invented ‘Nightmare-Pop’ and I can tell you it sounds great!

Best songs: “Hanging On A Thread”, “Superficial – Digital”, “I Accept Whatever Life Brings”, “Revelation”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.facebook.com/itpameitvrame

Label: www.facebook.com/periphylla.records /  www.diffusereality.net / www.facebook.com/diffuserealityrecords

About I Tpame I Tvrame

I Tpame I Tvrame is a duo formed in early March 2016 by Franc Kurti, from Tirana in Albania, and Dina Hajrullahu, from Prishtina in Kosovo. The pair mixes darkwave, coldwave, minimal wave, shoegaze, post-punk and industrial.

Their self-titled debut album came out on Distag in 2017, the same year as the cassette mini-album “Future Attitude” and the EP “Altered”, both on Black Verb Records. “Ikin Vijnë” followed on the Spanish label Oráculo Records in 2018.

“II” is their third album and was issued as a 12-inch by Periphylla in 2021, with Diffuse Reality also credited on the release. The vinyl carries seven songs, while the digital edition adds an eighth.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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.

www.side-line.com

Now a duo since the release of “From The Rib Of Adam”, Gerard Hawkins and Lawrie Masson return with a brand new Avarice In Audio EP. The duo concentrated on their sound for the past two years and this is the first new offering in the form of the 4-track EP “The Language Of Violence”.

This is also the lead single from the forthcoming 5th Avarice In Audio album, “Our Idols Are Filth”. What you get is a very sharp production with female vocals.

The title track comes in 3 versions, the regular edit, a mix by the aggrotech act Viscera Drip and one by Lawrie’s own project Studio-X. The 4th track is an exclusive bonus track called “Into The Bowels” and is musical box match between Avarice In Audio and Studio-X.

Exclusively available first via Bandcamp, later on all other platforms.

Side-Line also covered Avarice In Audio’s ‘Our Idols Are Filth’.

Eldrina Mich

As Eldrina Mich I work as a go-between and a devil’s advocate when it comes to Side-Line. If our own staff needs to be interviewed then ask the questions no one else dares to ask.

www.side-line.com