A few weeks ago we taled about the excellent God Is War single, “Opium Den“. Today we can announce the full debut album “Boogeyman Inc” which is out via Profound Lore Records. Behind the project God Is War we find Lebanese American artist Mack Chami who will now go on tour with Lockstep this November.

The full length album consists of glitchy-IDM type beats across 7 tracks. And it probably holds the longest song title (track 7) we ever saw: “I Remember You Told My Parents That I Was Going To Get Shot But When I Googled You, It Was Just You And Your Cute Little White College Friends”.

Formed in 2018, God Is War focusses on an excellent produced blend between noise and industrial adding extra bass on top. His work has been released on labels such as No Rent, Industrial Coast, Phage Tapes, and Deathbed Tapes. The project really took off in 2022 when both “I Have No Enemies, I Permit No Such Thing” (Federal Prisoner) and “Predation Perfected” (Closed Casket Activities) were released.

In 2023, God Is War/Andy Nolan released the collaboration album “The Hunt” (Closed Casket Activities) including more dub and hip-hop influences then on previous releases, including even a full hip-hop track with Toronto-based rapper New Villain.

God Is War on tour

• 11/01 Chicago, IL @ Cobra Lounge
• 11/02 Indianapolis, IN @ Black Circle
• 11/03 Detroit, MI @ The Sanctuary
• 11/05 Toronto, ON @ Monarch Tavern
• 11/06 Queens, NY @ Trans-Pecos
• 11/07 Cambridge, MA @ Middle East (Upstairs)
• 11/09 Philadelphia, PA @ Milkboy
• 11/11 Washington D.C. @ Pie Shop

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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(Photo courtesy of Laibach) Laibach are further celebrating their classic 1987 album “Opus Dei” with “Opus Dei Revisited” which holds new versions of the source material. “Opus Dei Revisited” is set for release on Mute on December 13, 2024 on double vinyl and double CD.

“Opus Dei” was the band’s first album for Mute for the Slovenian collective. The first disc of the Double LP / CD is a reworking by Laibach themselves which was initially crafted, and then refined, for their current Opus Dei Revisited Tour. They for instance reimagined Opus’ “Live Is Life” (as “Opus Dei”) and Queen’s “One Vision” ( as “Geburt einer Nation”).

For the second disc they invited Rico Conning (Wire, Pere Ubu, Swans, Front 242, William Orbit), who produced and mixed the 1987 version, to also revisit the material. Conning was given an open brief to explore new territories with what was on the original master tapes. To coincide with the announcement of Opus Dei Revisited they have shared a taster track from the album, “Geburt einer Nation” (Rico Conning’s Inner Ear RMX 2024).

Tracklist “Opus Dei Revisited“

Opus Dei Revisited (Disc 1)

• A1. Leben heißt Leben RE 
• A2. Geburt einer Nation RE 
• A3. Leben-Tod RE 
• A4. F.I.A.T. RE 
• B1. Transnational RE 
• B2. How the West Was Won RE 
• B3. The Great Seal RE 
• B4. Opus Dei RE 

Rico Conning’s Inner Ear RMX 2024 (Disc 2)

• C1. Leben heißt Leben RMX 
• C2. Geburt einer Nation RMX 
• C3. Leben-Tod RMX 
• C4. F.I.A.T. RMX 
• D1. Opus Dei RMX 
• D2. Transnational RMX 
• D3. How the West Was Won RMX 
• D4. The Great Seal RMX 

Laibach Opus Dei Tour

2024:

• 9/14/2024 – Portorož, Avditorij, SI
• 10/4/2024 – Split, Club Porat, HR
• 10/5/2024 – Zagreb, Boogaloo, HR
• 10/10/2024 – Mežica, ND Mežica, Big Hall, SI
• 10/11/2024- Budapest, Dürer Kert, HU
• 10/12/2024 – Leipzig, Felsenkeller, DE
• 10/13/2024 – Prague, Roxy, CZ
• 10/15/2024 – Dordrecht, Bibelot, NL
• 10/16/2024 – Arnhem, Luxor, NL
• 10/17/2024 – Vauréal, Le Forum 2, FR
• 10/18/2024 – Toulouse, Le Metronum, FR
• 10/19/2024 – Wavre, La Sucrerie, BE
• 10/20/2024 – Bochum, Christuskirche, DE
• 10/22/2024 – Hannover, Music Pavillion, DE

2025:

• 2/16/2025 – Krakow, Kwadrat, PL
• 2/18/2025- Ostrava, Barrak, CZ
• 2/19/2025 – Vienna, Arena, AT
• 2/20/2025 – Jena, F-Haus, DE
• 2/21/2025 – Sittard, Poppodium Volt, NL
• 2/22/2025 – London, Islington Assembly Hall, UK
• 2/23/2025 – Manchester, Ritz, UK
• 2/24/2025 – Southampton, The 1865, UK
• 2/25/2025 – Bristol, Trinity Centre, UK
• 2/27/2025 – Lausanne, Les Docks, CH
• 2/28/2025 – Bologna, Link, IT
• 3/4/2025 – Skopje, Macedonian Philharmonic, MK
• 3/5/2025 – Athens, Gazarte, GR
• 3/6/2025 – Sofia, Pirotska 5, BG
• 3/7/2025 – Bucharest, Quantic Club, RO
• 3/8/2025 – Beograd, Dom Omladine, RS

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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(Photo by God Is War.) Out now is the newest – and delicious – God Is War single, “Opium Den“. The track is taken off the upcoming “Boogeyman, Inc” LP on Profound Lore Records. Behind God IS War we find the Lebanese American artist Mack Chami who co-wrote “Opium Den” with Crawl Of Time.

Formed in 2018, God Is War focusses on an excellent produced blend between noise and industrial adding extra bass on top. His work has been released on labels such as No Rent, Industrial Coast, Phage Tapes, and Deathbed Tapes. The project really took off in 2022 when both “I Have No Enemies, I Permit No Such Thing” (Federal Prisoner) and “Predation Perfected” (Closed Casket Activities) were released.

You can pre-order the album below.

In 2023, God Is War/Andy Nolan released the collaboration album “The Hunt” (Closed Casket Activities) including more dub and hip-hop influences then on previous releases, including even a full hip-hop track with Toronto-based rapper New Villain.

Below is another album track to check out.

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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Genre/Influences: Electro-Pop, Punk-Pop.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: German duo Diana and Boog aka Junksista are back unleashing their fifth full length album. It also is their first album released by COP International. “0A” features ten songs and an impressive list of guest singers.  Yvette Winkler (Vaselyne), Lis van den Akker (Psy’Aviah, Die Krupps, Grendel), Noemi Aurora (Helalyn Flowers), Maria (Omnimar) and Emke (Black Nail Cabaret) got invited to sing on a few cuts.

Content: Time has passed but Junksista held on to their initial sound approach revealing a kind of ‘evil-punk-pop’ style. The songs are driven by electronics and empowered by guitar playing. The work is pretty diversified and accentuated by the different contributors. Now danceable and carried by Trance leads and then cold and groovy the album also reveals darker and colder passages.

+ + + : Junksista hasn’t lost their ‘anarchistic’ sound approach. It’s not a coincidence they sometimes call it ‘dirty-pop’ as it clearly sounds atypical; not classical Electro-Pop but with a sharp Punk touch on top. I especially recommend the last track “Fuck Your Pretty Face” which also is one of the hardest and darkest cuts but still a cut with menacing guitar play and hot female vocals. Other highlights are the opening song “Phoenix” and “Fragile” featuring Maria Mar (Omnimar).

– – – : The songs with guest singers unfortunately aren’t the most convincing ones although they for sure make this work really exciting. Junksista remains faithful to their initial sound formula although the early magic is a bit gone.

Conclusion: Junksista is Pop music for tough people.

Best songs: “Fuck Your Pretty Face”, “Phoenix”, “Fragile featuring Maria Mar”, “Do you Wanna feat. Emke”.

Rate: 7½.

Artist: www.facebook.com/Junksista

Label: www.facebook.com/copint

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: Electro-pop, indie-pop.

Background/Info: Junksista Duo Diana S. and Boog are back on track and have unleashed their fourth full length album in five years. A few artists such as LayZee (Mr. President), Noemi Aurora (Helalyn Flowers), Emke (Black Nail Cabaret) and Erlend Eilersten (Essence Of Mind) have been invited on a few songs with guest vocals.

Content: The first (and regular) disc features 12 new cuts revealing the particular electro-pop approach Junksista has always deal with. It’s an pop format sometimes mixed with minimalistic elements, but also moving on the edge of indie music. Junksista is also in for some experiments such as Monster” featuring rap vocals by LayZee.

The bonus disc featured at the limited edition features 12 extra songs, which are remixes by Psy’Aviah, Metroland, Kant Kino, Ananel’s Voices vs. At0shima 3rr0r, Wasserkraft Manifest, T-Error Machinez, Space March, Technolorgy, Nerd Revolt, XMH and 2 remixes by Flesh Eating Foundation.

+ + + : Junksista has gained their success and reputation because they have their own style, which often was linked to punk meeting pop music. This new opus is less punk-like, but still revealing a proper sound DNA. It’s a well-crafted composition moving in between minimalism and even experimentalism at one side and indie-music at the other side. There are great sound treatments featured on this work, but I especially like the menacing bass lines from “Love Makes People Stupid”. I also like the duo vocals featuring Diana S. and Noemi on “Celebration Fornication”. Among the remixes I especially recommend the work accomplished by Psy’Aviah, Metroland and Space March.

– – – : Junksista remains a very particular experience in sound, but I regret they’ve lost a bit of their original naughty and punkish sound. This work sounds ‘softer’ while I personally prefer their darker and harder work from the early years.

Conclusion: Far away from the classical electro-pop standards and clearly sounding like a solid antidote to the numerous Depeche Mode clones, “Promiscuous Tendencies” is a shocking title for an intriguing band although this new work is not my favorite one!

Best songs: “Celebration Fornication”, “Freak At Heart”, “Control”, “Bitch This Is My Party” + “Love Makes People Stupid – Psy’Aviah Remix”, “Freak At Heart – Metroland’s Art Of Bleep Remix”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.junksista.de / www.facebook.com/Junksista

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

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

Officially out today is the brand new Junksista album “Promiscuous Tendencies”. The LP is the follow-up to the band’s 2014 album “High Voltage Confessions” and offers 12 brand new songs, on the regular CD edition that is. On the bonus disc of the deluxe edition you get some 12 bonus tracks on top.

Available now on Bandcamp and via the Alfa Matrix webstore for the CD and 2CD sets. Do you use the discount code sideline2518 to get a 25% discount on Bandcamp.

On the album the duo, Diana S. and Boog, continues to venture into their well received mix of club anthems, melancholic electro-pop songs, funky electro tunes and ballads. The band worked with several artists on this new album, amongst them LayZee (Mr. President), the international Eurodance superstar of the 90s, best known for the hit single “Coco Jamboo”, Noemie Aurora (Helalyn Flowers), Emke (Black Nail Cabaret) and Erlend Eilersten (Essence Of Mind).

But that’s not all. Out as well now is the 4-track download single “Fuck for Love” which you can download right now from Bandcamp. And again, do you use the discount code sideline2518 to get a 25% discount. Next to the title track you get the exclusive B-side “Tip Top” next to two excellent bonus remixes by Aesthetische and KPT.

You can check out the new single 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.

side-line.com

Out now is a brand new Siva Six video. The track chosen is “Twenty Eight” taken from the “Dawn of Days” album. The track features George Diamantopoulos (on theremin) and Boog from Junksista (on guitar). The track itself is a cover to John Murphy’s main theme from the OST “28 Days Later”.

The animation and design was completed by Jean Christophe Tremblay with band scenes from Die Industrie. Produced by Siva Six and Pandemic Videos you can watch it below.

In further news, here are the Siva Six 2018 live dates so far:

• 5/5 Prague (CZ)
• 20/5 WGT (DE)
• 14/9 Hannover (DE)
• 27/9 Cologne (DE)
• 28/9 Landgraaf (NL)
• 29/9 Bochum (DE)
• 30/9 Hamburg (DE)

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

Next year, in February more precisely, you can expect the brand new Junksista album “Promiscuous Tendencies” to be released. The LP is the follow-up to the band’s 2014 album “High Voltage Confessions” and will offer 12 brand new songs, on the regular CD edition that is.

We had a pre-listen to the the unmixed version and could hear that the duo, Diana S. and Boog, continues to venture into their well received mix of club anthems, melancholic electro-pop songs, funky electro tunes and ballads. A band to follow closely, there’s some real talent at work here!

The band worked with several artists on this new album, amongst them LayZee (Mr. President), the international Eurodance superstar of the 90s, best known for the hit single “Coco Jamboo”, Noemie Aurora (Helalyn Flowers), Emke (Black Nail Cabaret) and Erlend Eilersten (Essence Of Mind).

For the fans, there’s also a stylish 2CD deluxe digipack of “Promiscuous Tendencies” – available for pre-ordering right here – which includes 12 extra remixes in various styles.

For now, you can listen to these 2 tracks on Bandcamp.

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

(This interview is a collaboration between Alfa Matrix – Side Line Music Magazine & Inferno Sound Diaries)

Officially out tomorrow, but already available now for free is the 4-track “50 Shades of Gay” download EP by Junksista. The EP is being released via Bandcamp to celebrate the international day against homophobia and transphobia. We interviewed a long range of artists involved on this free EP.

For the EP they collaborated with Valkyrie Beestings (The Priscillas,Lene Lovich Band), who you might remember from the Junksista track “Likeyourshoes”. And that’s not all,  2 other legendary figures from the electronic scene also joined the cause: Claus Larsen of Leaether Strip and Claus Kruse of Gaytron/Plastic Noise Experience. Both gay musicians delivered their very own, dancefloor-compatible versions of „50 Shades Of Gay“.

Also included is a collaboration with the American dancer Gezelle Za Belle (see picture above) who is featured in a smashing (probably NSFW) video for the track which you can view below.

And here is the video!

We decided to also interview the involved artists in this great collaboration project: Junksista, Claus Larsen, Seba Dolimont, Claus Kruse, and more!

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

The Athens based cult dark electro duo Siva Six return with their 4th full length studio album, “Dawn Of Days“. It took them 3 years to complete this new album since their well received “Superstition” EP (this EP is available here on CD or here as download).

The band’s harsh dark elektro style also integrates traditional eastern instruments such as oud, yayli tambur or yet theremin played by the well known theater musician G. Diamantopoulos. You will also recognise guitar parts by Boog (Junksista) on a cover version of the “28 Days Later” movie-soundtrack’s main theme.

Whilst listening to an early promo copy the album we noticed the nods to Project Pitchfork although the band was not especially looking after that sound: “We never look after a certain style, but it could be yes… will have to listen again now that you mentioned this! We get influenced by all of our favourite bands – from goth to electro to alternative – but we never try to sound like a particular band. It’s more like a variety of dark influences. So invite people to listen to the material and let us know what they think!”

You can already enjoy 2 streaming tracks on Bandcamp where the download version can be bought. The CD version, with the same track list, is available right here. An album that will please many dark electro acts due to its refined production.

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

Genre/Influences: Industrial-pop, experimental-pop.

Background/Info: Boog and Diana S. are back on track and with a real special work. “American Love Story” is a kind of mini-album featuring 7 songs plus 7 remixes. “American Love Story” is the soundtrack the German duo scored for the award winning horror short film by talented director Timur Örge (“Mumukuba”). Boog and Diana S. got 6 hours to write a song and they simply did it (cf. “Gift”). The film director seems to have been so impressed with the song, he postponed the film and asked the band to write the complete soundtrack. This is what “American Love” is all about with some extra remixes on top.

Content: The opening cut is a reworked version of “Trust No Bitch” revealing an experimental approach. This minimalism is quite characteristic for the complete tracklist. Several influences are joining in. The songs move from dubby passages towards a kind of funky touch to pure wafting pop music. The songs have been accomplished by numerous effects and the now familiar sexy, whispering vocals of Diana. This work is not exactly into pure ‘dance’ vibes and feels like having been written for a special purpose like a film.

The remixes have been made by label mates Simon Carter, Kant Kino, Diffuzion, Avarice In Audio and Acylum while there also is a remix accomplished by Flesh Eating Foundation. There’s an interesting diversity in the remixes from the great industrial-pop vibes by Simon Carter to the tormented darkness by Acylum. Notice by the way that except a remix of “Rage” by Kant Kino all the other bands have remixed “Trust No Bitch”.

+ + + : Interesting concept and Junksista revealing a more minimal and experimental style. I can imagine this release is one of their biggest consecrations as most of the artists are simply dreaming of composing a soundtrack. “Trust No Bitch” remains a great song while Simon Carter one of the hottest artists when it comes to getting a pure dance remix.

– – – : Despite of the great concept and consecration, this is not the best work of Junksista. The experimental approach is somewhat ruining the power they have composed in the past. It sometimes more like a mishmash of influences upon an industrial-pop structure.

Conclusion: No doubt about it, Junksista remains one of the hottest revelations from the past years although this is not my favorite release of the band. It however reveals an interesting concept, which I think has to be discovered together with the film.

Best songs: “Trust No Bitch”, “Rage”, “Trust No Bitch – Simon Carter Remix”, “Trust No Bitch – Avarice In Audio Remix”.

Rate: (7).

Band: www.junksista.de / www.facebook.com/Junksista

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

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: Industrial-pop & electro-clash, minimal-pop;

Background/Info: Junksista can be considered as one of the hottest Alfa Matrix singings in the past few years. After having released 2 full lengths and an impressive number of (mainly digital) EP’s Boog and Diana have a new mini-album (cf. “American Love Story”) in the pipeline. It was composed for a horror short-movie while this EP is meant as a teaser.

Content: The title song is a terrific piece of visionary electronic-pop music. The sounds are totally industrialized injecting a real raw sound to the work and yet, it remains pretty pop-like and danceable. The familiar sexy vocals by Diana are once more bringing the temperature above the boiling point.

There also is a somewhat funky-minded B-side song plus 4 remixes of “Trust No Bitch”. The remixes are pretty diversified and all attention grabbers. I’m especially into the more sophisticated approach of Venal Flesh and the Kraftwerk-wink of Dekad, but XMH and Restriction 9 did a noticeable job as well.

↑↑↑: This is precisely what I expect from an EP: a great title song, an honest B-side and a couple of great remixes! The industrial pop format of “Trust No Bitch” sounds genius.

↓↓↓: The B-side song “C.S.F.” is not the most representative one, but probably had its place on an EP.

Conclusion: Don’t trust Junksista if you need classical electro-pop music! This band is an alien and an antidote to established standards, which will rapidly contaminate you by the magic quote: “Trust No Bitch”!

Best songs: “Trust No Bitch”, “Trust No Bitch – Venal Flesh Remix”, “Trust No Bitch – Dekad Remix”.

Rate: (DP:8)DP.

Band: www.junksista.de / www.facebook.com/Junksista

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

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