Finnish electropunk duo I Think I Broke Something has released a new single “Astral”, “Astral” is the second track of their third album “Still Not Going To” released later this year. The new single follows the release of the double single “Minus One/No Plan”.

The band debuted 8 years ago with the “Superman Sabotage Clan” EP and now the duo is mixing more breaks with industrial house/metal which brings them close to what bands like The Prodigy, Atari Teenage Riot or 3TEETH produce.

Here’s the 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.

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The Brooklyn, NY based industrial rock act Heavy Halo has announced the release of the remix album “Crushed/Destroyed”. Having released their self-titled debut album last year, “Crushed/Destroyed” features remixes of songs off the album including reworks by Atari Teenage Riot/Alec Empire, Xavier Swafford of 3Teeth, Pictureplane, Kontravoid and more.

“Crushed/Destroyed” will be released August 5th on Negative Gain Productions. The Moris Blak Remix of “Keep Me Alive” can be heard 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.

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Crystal Geometry is a project set up by French producer Maxime Fabre. As the artists says it is his ‘techno project’, which is driven by hard techno elements and minimal-electronics with some EBM on top. After having released some noticeable EP’s on labels such as Hands, Tripalium Records, RND.Records and of course Sonic Groove, the debut full length “Senestre” (Sonic Groove) has been unleashed this year. The work has been introduced as ‘a rebellion against oppressive powers’. So this is what Maxime Fabre has to say about it.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Maxime, I think you were previously involved with metal music. So how did you get in touch with electronic music? And do you see similarities between metal music and your ‘techno’ style? 

Maxime: As a listener when I was teenager I got interested in the feeling of violence in music. In a couple years, scanning through different subgenres, I went from listening to Iron Maiden and hard-rock bands alike to  Mayhem and black-metal. I was interested in the most extreme form of music.

That’s how I found out about hardcore/speedcore and how started my journey into electronic music. I guess the regular use of guitar sounds and vocals in the tracks I have produced as Crystal Geometry might be considered as similarities between metal and my style of techno

Q: Tell us a bit more about the Crystal Geometry-sound properly speaking? What’s the main goal when you start working on a new track? 

Maxime: What I am usually trying to achieve is a correct blend of influences, I am trying to sound like Atari Teenage Riot meets Burzum meets DAF and the result should be able to move a crowd of freaks raving in an abandoned weapon factory (lol).

Q: I think to have read you’re very demanding when it comes to your work. What does this say about yourself? Does it mean you consider a track as never achieved? And how would you analyze your personal evolution as artist/producer? 

Maxime: I am not really a perfectionist when it comes to production, I often think that my best tracks are the ones I spent less time on. If a track takes longer than a couple of days to produce  it almost means I won’t finish it ever.

When it comes to performing it’s all very different for me and I am almost never satisfied with my performances. I always think I should have done better and that there was so many things that went wrong.

Q: You recently released the new album “Senestre”, which is meant as ‘a rebellion against oppressive powers’. Is this an album with a message or just a kind of rebellion? How did you transpose these feelings/ideas into sounds and tracks? 

Maxime: It’s not an album with one message. It revolves around the concept of rebellion, but each track has its own focus. Some of them are straightforward (“Occupied Territories”, “No Respect For Officials”…) some are more metaphorical and are left to interpretations (“We Follow The Left Hand Path”, “Sirius Light” …).

Titles, lyrics, the use of samples or the general composition is how the message can be perceived 

Q: You clearly like to compose your music with modular equipment. I notice more and more artists are getting wild again for modular equipment, but what makes it that special for you? Can you briefly explain how you work with this equipment? 

Maxime: For a very long time I dreamed of creating a perfect groovebox for performing live, I’ve been doing it for years and I’ve used a terribly long list of machines, all with their shortcuts and qualities. My main interest in modular equipment came from this; it’s the way I found to create a system that I could use to perform how I intended it. For me, in the first place, it wasn’t about sound design or experimentation.

Nowadays I have two different systems that are constantly evolving (but that I have limited in size and don’t want to expand anymore). There is one I use to play live when I perform. The other one is designed for studio work, which I use as a sound source to create clips of material that I include in my productions or to process other machines.

Q: Tell us a bit more about the way you produce yourself on stage? How do you prepare a live performance and do you change some aspects of the live show depending the place where you play or the audience? 

Maxime: Before the last two/three years I was trying to create everything on the fly when performing live. I used a lot of generative music techniques on the modular and was completely improvising. Nowadays I perform tracks like a band would play its songs. I already know the scores, but I improvise around it. I still use generative techniques for the drums or other rhythmic elements as that kind of part are easy to create on the fly.

Very often preparing a live performance starts with tuning my system as I regularly swap a couple of modules to try new ideas. Then I work on a setlist of tracks; I never play the same set twice. I create some patterns that works with said tracks and doing so I generally rewrite some synth parts. I create banks of samples that I will use on stage, new drums, movie samples, guitar sounds …

The setlist is always thought in the context of the place and the audience (and also of the time I will play and the line-up. It’s not set in stone and while performing I can alter it but while working on it before the gig I try to visualize the party, the mood the people should be in what they would expect and how to surprise them…

For some gigs I wrote new tracks specifically aimed at the audience, for example I wrote “Occupied Territories” before playing Khidi (Tbilisi, GE) as 20% of Georgia is still occupied by Russia or before playing RAF25 (St. Petersburg, RU) I wrote an anti authoritarian track titled “Elektroshocker” featuring samples in Russian in support of the actvists being trialed in the Russian high profile ‘network’ case in the city.

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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On 11th and 12th August 2018 the annual M’era-Luna festival takes place in the area of Hildesheim-Drispenstedt, Germany. M’era Luna exists since 2000 and is one of the biggest Gothic festivals in the European scene. Gothic, new wave, electro, EBM, industrial and medieval bands are featured on 2 stages.

Besides watching concerts you can also visit parties, markets, artist signing events, gothic fashion shows, readings by David Grashoff, Markus Heitz and Christian von Aster. The Gothic Garden, an oasis of calm right in front of the festival infield, offers demanding festival-goers comfort, space and conveniences to make your stay more exclusive, pleasant and more relaxing. At the M’era Luna Academy you can follow special workshops which will be announced soon on the official website.

The last years the festival was every time sold out and had about 25.000 visitors. This year some of the confirmed artists are: The Prodigy, Front 242, Ministry, Eisbrecher, In Extremo, Saltatio Mortis, Apoptygma Berzerk, Peter Heppner, L’Ame Immortelle, London After Midnight, Clan Of Xymox, Das Ich, Lord Of The Lost, Hocico, The 69 Eyes, Atari Teenage Riot, In Strict Confidence, Rotersand, Nachtmahr, Tanzwut, …

The interactive M’era Luna app can be downloaded here and tickets can be ordered here.

Genre/Influences: Soundtrack, electronics.

Background/Info: Alec Empire will be always linked to Atari Teenage Riot, but this German artist has been involved in many other projects, labels ao. “Volt” is for sure a particular composition as it’s a soundtrack the artist composed for the same-titled sci-fi thriller movie (2016). It also is a premiere for Dependent to release a soundtrack album. Notice by the way the album is also available in a limited (double) vinyl format.

Content: Alec Empire revealed to have been inspired by the work of John Carpenter. “Volt” clearly sounds like a cinematographic experience, filled with bombastic arrangements, piano-like passages, but also music with a strong visual strength. It’s very experimental-like, but composed with industrial sound treatments and electronic passages reminding me of the real style of Alec Empire. I also noticed a passage with a saxophone sound.

+ + + : First of all you have to figure “Volt” is a soundtrack composition, which has less in common with the familiar work of this artist. But it’s an interesting listening as next to a pure and classical soundtrack approach he now and then gets back to his real sound resulting in technoid and acid-like passages. The work is also characterized by overwhelming ‘ambient’ passages revealing a more tormented sound accentuated by industrial noises. The main strength of this soundtrack however is its diversity, which can be noticed in the influences and the arsenal of sounds.

– – – : I can imagine “Volt” really means a lot for Alec Empire and is an important work in the artist’s impressive discography, but it’s definitely not a classical work, which will seduce and convince his numerous fans. It’s less accessible because of the experimental approach.

Conclusion: “Volt” will certainly not enter into history as a famous soundtrack. It just reveals another side of this talented and renowned artist and music you have to discover together with the movie.

Best songs: “Shadow Boxing Pt.3”, “Shadow Boxing Pt.2”, “Victims Of Authority”.

Rate: (7).

Band: www.alec–empire.com / www.facebook.com/alec.empire.the.destroyer

Label: www.dependent.de / www.facebook.com/dependent.records

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

Atari Teenage Riot fans, time to pay close attention because this is a release you will want to have. Out in a few weeks on double vinyl is “Volt”, the soundtrack to the movie of the same name with Benno Führmann, the latest by German-Palestinian director Tarek Ehlail (“Chaostage”), which depicts a dystopian future police state. The creator of the music is Alec Empire, head of Atari Teenage Riot.

“Volt” is being released on CD but also on double vinyl (black 180g vinyl with a gatefold cover (limited to 500 copies) which you can order right here.

For now, you can already listen to the below 2 songs.

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.

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(By Fiona K.) Looming on the summer horizon is the UK’s premier electronic music festival, Infest, on 26th – 28th August in Bradford, near Leeds in northern England. Now in it’s 18th year, Infest’s now fully-announced 2016 line-up is 3 glorious days of heavyweights of the electronic music genre, old and new.

Playing are Pop Will Eat Itself, Atari Teenage Riot, 3Teeth, Dead When I Found Her, Leaether Strip, Vigilante. to name but a few; and you’ll also get 3 days of top quality DJ’s to add to the fun.

Last year’s festival continued Infest’s long-standing reputation of impeccably-chosen line-ups of musically interesting and entertaining bands. Some of the highlights from last year included:

• a beautifully messed-up and rowdy electronic assault by ex-Ministry/Revolting Cocks’ frontman’s current incarnation, COCKSURE;
• a darkly-twisted techno set by the electronic trailblazers EMPIRION;
• an introduction to the primal industrial sound of CHANT all the way from Texas (which was a festival highlight);
• a sojourn in the incredibly polished theatrical-gothic niche that Germany’s L’Ame Immortelle dominate;
• the intense, emotive and diverse sound of KLANGSTABIL;
• the Pink Floyd of dark electronica, MIND IN A BOX, delighted with an intelligent, diverse and musically-rich performance.

And then there was the karaoke (yes, your read that correctly!), the dance-floor shenanigans and the after-parties and mayhem.

Here’s the thing about Infest though. It’s human-scale. It’s one stage. There’s no running around from venue to venue; no having to chose which of your bands you are prepared to miss because of cross-over scheduling. The staff are super-friendly; there’s food stalls and shots and outdoor seating and a general welcoming party atmosphere. If you haven’t been, go. It’s not one to miss.

Additional info on the official website. Tickets can be purchased right here. You can already watch here what to expect!

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.

side-line.com