Genre/Influences: Neo-Folk, Industrial.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Hailing from Dallas, Texas (USA) Awen has already released multiple productions. Front man Erin Powell got the idea to ask other artists to remix songs of the bands. We get a work featuring seventeen songs remixed by an interesting palette of much diversified artists.

Content: Most remix-albums are often filled with bands from the same music style. Awen voluntarily asked a very diversified number of artists. Patrick Leagas (Sixth Comm, Mother Destruction), Ostara, Nachtmahr, David E. Williams, Murderous Vision, Spiritual Front, Church Ov Melkarth, Beastinaity, ANTIchildLEAGUE, Static Of Masses, Patterson-Gimlin, Et Nihil, Boyd Rice, Samsas Traum, Thomas Nöla, Void Prototype and Delphine Coma have been invited to rework the original Awen songs. The result is absolutely surprising, mixing pure Neo-Folk (Ostara), Electronics (Nachtmahr), Tribal (Spiritual Front), Industrial (Static Of Masses) and even Electro-Minimalism (Patterson-Gimlin).

+ + + : I’ve never been a huge fan of remix-albums, but I can appreciate artists thinking out of the box. And that’s precisely what Awen has done selecting artists who’re totally different from their beloved Neo-Folk style. It’s just great to see artists like Nachtmahr, Void Prototype and Samsas Traum accepting the challenge. It’s of course also more than simply a bonus to get Patrick Leagas and Boyd Rice at board. And it also is interesting to have another Neo-Folk driven formation such as Spiritual Front. All together it creates a very eclectic work, which feels a bit like a compilation, but which is fascinating to see how other artists have reinterpreted the work of Awen.

– – – : If you’re not open-minded and just loving Neo-Folk and nothing else, this compilation will reserve for you a few bad surprises –especially some Electro-driven remixes.

Conclusion: This album tents to prove that a compilation can be also original; just asking for the creative mind of other musicians.

Best songs: “Il Re Grigio Cupo – Static Of Masses”, “The Death Of Reynard – Patterson-Gimlin”, “The Sickle And The Setting Sun – Nachtmahr”, “Brigid The Dark, Brigid The Light – Spiritual Front”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/AWENTRISKELERECORDINGS

Label: www.trisol.de / www.facebook.com/pages/Trisol-Music-Group/104166526285471

About Awen

Awen is a neofolk and martial industrial band from the Dallas, Texas area, formed in 2003 by Erin Powell. Discogs lists the band’s chronology from a self-released 2006 demo and the self-titled 2007 debut album through “The Hollow In The Stone” (2019) and the “I Was Evil” single (2021), both released via Trisol.

“Reincarnation: Remixes And Remodels” gathers reinterpretations of Awen tracks by, among others, Patrick Leagas, Boyd Rice, Nachtmahr, Spiritual Front and Samsas Traum, released as a strictly limited 999-copy digipak CD via Trisol, per the label’s own Bandcamp credits. Awen went on to release “This World And Its Spirits” (2024) and “A Nature Out Of Season” (2025), per Discogs.

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 SkyQode labelteam have some fresh news from the US-based Unitcode:Machine project.

The band is now ready to present their first release for the label – a reissue of the “Nosophobia” album, originally released in 2011. The original album was well-received and has now been re-released. The reissue features remastered tracks and remixes (by CTRL, Awen, Void Prototype and others) from the original 2011 release, plus a previously unreleased bonus track.

For the first time since 2011, the album is available in all major digital stores worldwide. You can order it right below via Bandcamp as well.

This release is the first one in a series of Unitcode:Machine releases planned for 2019 including new singles and a highly anticipated follow-up to “Nosophobia”.

Unitcode:Machine was founded by Eric K in 2000 and offered their first official release in 2004, the band established themselves as compelling mix of EBM, industrial, synthpop, and many other styles that inspire the group. In April 2019, Unitcode:Machine joined the SkyQode label roster of artists for the re-release of the “Nosophobia” album.

Below is the video for “Crush”.

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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