From March 31 until April 2, 2023 included you will be able to attend the US festival, Dark Force Fest, a three-day goth-industrial music festival. The festival takes place in Parsippany, NJ (one hour from NYC), at the massive Sheraton Parsippany, an imposing castle styled hotel that features 44,000 square feet of event space with 370 hotel rooms (which are however already sold out, but there are enough hotels in the neighborhood).

Organized by VampireFreaks, the team that brought you the Triton Festival and Dark Side of the Con, this brand new event features a lineup of international bands from the gothic, industrial, darkwave and post-punk scenes. In the line-up we find such bands as HEALTH, Combichrist, Suicide Commando, ACTORS, Rabbit Junk, Vision Video, Empathy Test, Solar Fake, BILE, Psyclon Nine, Das Ich, Bootblacks, Leathers, Josie Pace, God Module, Bella Morte and many more.

In addition to 30+ bands, Dark Force Fest will also feature over 100 vendors, a costume contest, cosplay guests, sideshow performers, fun activities and informative panels. More info can be found at https://darkforcefest.com and you can order your tickets right here.

Below is the poster for the event.

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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Dark electronic duo, MAN1K1N has just unveiled their new single, “Don’t Let Me Try”. MAN1K1N is an electronic alternative band hailing from Boston, MA. founded by singer Johnny Veil and drummer Cristian Carver (Carvr, Bella Morte).

The message of the single and video is a reaction to a personal loss and a year and a half of solitude. “It’s a time capsule of several moments all inside one”, so the band says.

And they add: “The heavy solitude of this past year during quarantine was a poignant influence in the moment this song exists in. Too often, suicidal ideation is regarded as a trope. But the anguish felt in those private moments is threatening and devastatingly lonely. We wanted this song to speak to that without glorifying an end, or without being overly direct. It is a trope mired in heavy familiarity that we wanted to capture. We invite the listener to draw their own conclusions and inspire conversation.”

MAN1K1N has drafted Tom Baker, renowned mastering engineer of iconic albums such as “The Downward Spiral”, “Hellbilly Deluxe”, “Psalm 69”, etc., to tackle their new single.

You can check the release on Spotify.

Here is the video.

In support of the new release, Man1K1N will be headlining this year’s Endless Nights Vampire Ball in Salem, MA on October 16th, hosted by Salem’s own VampFangs. This will be their one and exclusive appearance this October.

More info:

https://man1k1n.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/man1k1n_official
https://www.facebook.com/MAN1K1N

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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In honour of the 20th anniversary of the first volume of “The Unquiet Grave”, Cleopatra Records presents “The Unquiet Grave 2019”, a compilation that features 25 international Post-Punk, Goth, Industrial, Darkwave and Experimental artists from across the dark music spectrum.

The label’s original concept behind “The Unquiet Grave” varied from other Cleopatra compilations they completed such as “The Goth Box” (1996) as well as “The Black Bible” (1998), that included legacy acts such as Bauhaus, Virgin Prunes and Legendary Pink Dots along with a variety of up-and-coming bands. On the other hand, “The Unquiet Grave” (1999) exclusively featured new artists that deserved the opportunity for exposure to a larger audience. That original 1999 edition would include such bands as Bella Morte, Diary of Dreams, Android Lust and Rhea’s Obsession, to name a few.

“The Unquiet Grave 2019” applies the same formula as that original volume by showcasing 25 artists that equally deserve your attention. “The Unquiet Grave 2019” will be available on June 14th via all digital and streaming outlets.

The Unquiet Grave 2019 features: The Ink Bats, Social Station, The Sedona Effect, Antidote for Annie, Silver Walks, New Zero God, The Long Losts, Schedule IV, Hypofixx, Lorelei Dreaming, Fear Incorporated, Metamorph, Angel Metro, Abbey Death, The Drowning Season, May May Graves, Red Lokust, Acclimate, Traumabond, ENGRAM, Tragic Impulse, Spider Lilies, RCH IV, Dreamchild, Moss Garten.

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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Peter Turns Pirate (aka Neal Reed from Grendel) has released a brand new music video: “Jaw Drop”. It’s the 3rd music video for the project from Toronto (Canada) and the track itself is taken from his latest EP “View as strange”.

This video focuses entirely on the hard-hitiing drums of the track and features some of the electro scene’s most respected drummers: Galen Waling (Lords of acid, Julien K, PIG), Cristian Carver (Bella Morte, Panic Lift, Man1k1n) and Ben Tourkantonis (Grendel, Panic Lift).

You can watch the video right here.

Peter Turns Pirate was formed in 2004. In 2015 the project opened The AfterMath Festival in Toronto, and in 2016 Peter Turns Pirate supported PIG and En Esch on their 5 week North American Tour.

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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Synthpop/Synthwave artists The Rain Within announce they will be touring with VNV Nation on their upcoming North America Noire tour. The Rain Within will be replacing De/Vision on the tour. The Noire tour begins November 16th in Austin,TX and ends December 15th in Las Vegas,NV and also features German Post-Punk/Shoegaze act Holygram.

Founded by Andy Deane, the vocalist of the Alternative Goth Rock band Bella Morte, The Rain Within released their second studio album “Atomic Eyes” released on Negative Gain on Valentine’s Day, 2018. The album merges synthwave and sythpop building a bridge between the 80s and today’s audience.

In related news, do also check out this VNV Nation interview.

Tour Dates

• Friday November 16 2018 Austin, TX Barracuda
• Saturday November 17 2018 Houston, TX White Oak Music Hall
• Monday November 19 2018 Atlanta, GA Masquerade
• Tuesday November 20 2018 Ft. Lauderdale, FL Culture Room
• Wednesday November 21 2018 St. Petersburg, FL Jannus Live
• Friday November 23 2018 Philadelphia, PA Union Transfer
• Saturday November 24 2018 New York, NY Irving Plaza
• Sunday November 25 2018 Boston, MA Royale
• Tuesday November 27 2018 Montreal, QC Corona Theater
• Wednesday November 28 2018 Toronto, ON Danforth Music Hall
• Friday November 30 2018 Detroit, MI St. Andrews
• Saturday December 1 2018 Chicago, IL The Metro
• Sunday December 2 2018 Minneapolis, MN Skyway Theater
• Tuesday December 4 2018 Denver, CO The Oriental Theater
• Wednesday December 5 2018 Salt Lake City, UT The Metro
• Friday December 7 2018 Seattle, WA Neptune
• Saturday December 8 2018 Portland, OR Roseland Theater
• Sunday December 9 2018 Vancouver, BC Imperial Theatre
• Wednesday December 12 2018 San Francisco, CA The Regency Ballroom
• Thursday December 13 2018 Los Angeles, CA The Wiltern
• Friday December 14 2018 Phoenix, AZ Marquee
• Saturday December 15 2018 Las Vegas, NV Backstage Bar

Andy Deane has toured the US extensively and found his way to Europe and the UK on several occasions with both The Rain Within and his gothic rock band Bella Morte.

Side-Line also covered VNV Nation’s ‘Electric sun’.

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: Electro-rock, rock-pop, hard-rock, synth-pop, punk, experimental.

Background/Info: Fast forward 30 years.  Industrial music scene promoter, cancer survivor and musician, Jim Semonik (label owner of Distortion Productions and active in multiple bands) has brought his fundraiser “Electronic Saviors: Industrial Music To Cure Cancer” to the aid of many a cancer victim.

It is with this intent that his label, Distortion Productions, LLC and Electronic Saviors offer up a tribute to the robots in disguise with “Respect The Prime: 1986 Revisited”. For the first time ever, the classic soundtrack from 1986’s “Transformers”-movie has been rebuilt from the ground up.

Bands: Xenturion Prime feat Trulos Haugen, Ghostfeeder, Bella Morte, Victor Love, Caustic, Everything Goes Cold, Latexxx Teens, am.psych ao.

Content: This sampler features 17 formations dealing with a rather diversified inspiration. No doubt about it, the original songs probably influenced the bands to experiment in sound and style. This album reveals several hard-rock minded pieces, which is a total surprise.

Other cuts move into electro-rock and vague electro-pop. But you also will hear some elements of metal music and even punk. Several songs are instrumentals, which accentuate the soundtrack feeling. Only one band (cf. am.psych) has been featured with two songs. One of them is the theme of “The Transformers”.

+ + + : The idea to release a music compilation as a way to bring some aid to cancer victims is not new, but still a great mark of solidarity and commitment. This is a record you’ll buy because of its initial concept while the content will for sure deliver a few nice surprises. am.psych is not exactly a newcomer although not exactly a familiar name and their electro-rock music reminding me a bit of The Swamp Terrorists.

– – – : Sound-wise this sampler is really versatile and simply mixes the most different and sometimes opposites genres together. There’s not much cohesion between some songs.

Conclusion: I’m definitely into the goal and concept of “Electronic Saviors” although the content of this edition can’t totally convince me!

Best bands: am.psych, Everything Goes Cold, Thoughtform, Ghostfeeder.

Rate: (7).

Label: www.distortionprod.com / www.facebook.com/distortionproductions

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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