German dark-electro-wave duo CattaC released the single “Close Your Eyes” on 17 July 2026 through darkTunes Music Group. The track mixes darkwave, EBM and electro-industrial elements and is available now as a digital single on Bandcamp.

The label describes “Close Your Eyes” as centered on “a story of loss, heartbreak and the painful acceptance of an ending.” Deep vocals move through cold electronic textures while a driving rhythm keeps the track anchored to the dancefloor.

‘Close Your Eyes’ mixes darkwave, EBM and electro-industrial

“Close Your Eyes” runs 2 minutes 56 seconds and arrives as a standalone digital single, priced from €1.50 and available for streaming and download through Bandcamp. No further formats or additional tracks have been released alongside it.

About CattaC

CattaC is a German dark-electro-wave duo formed in 2016 in Erfurt, Thuringia, by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Jens Helmis and keyboardist and backing vocalist Christian Schinköthe; live performances add guitarist Bernd Randow-Tepper. The project signed to darkTunes Music Group, the Heidelberg-based label for metal and gothic-leaning electronic acts, and built its early discography there with the albums “Let Us Fall Together” and “Rising Demons”, both released in 2019.

CattaC’s third full-length, “Filthy Tendrils”, followed in 2021 on darkTunes and paired eight original tracks with three remixes, including a cover of Type O Negative’s “Bloody Kisses”; Side-Line’s review of “Filthy Tendrils” rated the album 7½ out of 10 and highlighted “Wintercold” and “My Stormy Moon”. The band also contributed the track “Hold On Your Souls” to Side-Line’s free Face The Beat: Session 5 compilation.

Fourth album “Deliverance” arrived in 2023 with nine songs, including “And I Failed” featuring guest vocals from Amore Ad Lunam; Side-Line’s review of “Deliverance” rated the album 8 out of 10 and singled out “Quiet Sea” and “A Bitter End”. CattaC also released the single “Hellea Calling” in 2023 and the album “Meaningless” in 2024. “Close Your Eyes” is the duo’s latest single release via darkTunes Music Group.

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, Industrial.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: “Deliverance” is the fourth full length album by German CattaC-duo. The album features nine songs.

Content: If you’re already familiar with CattaC you’re going to easily recognize their EBM style although “Deliverance” explores new sonic paths. It all remains pretty dark and EBM driven but there’s a more explicit touch reminding me of the work of Parzival and Stiff Miners. The deep, growling, vocals are matching with this sound approach. The song “And I Failed” features clear, guest vocal parts by Amore Ad Lunam.

+ + + : CattaC isn’t exactly a common EBM formation but tries to explore different fields. So in the end you get an atypical-although recognizable, style. I like the band’s minimalism and dark, Industrial, elements they’re incorporating to their work. “Deliverance” is a cool piece of music featuring several great cuts but especially “Quiet Sea” and “A Bitter End” are the most noticeable pieces.

– – – : CattaC’s EBM format maybe isn’t the most accessible one for its unique approach.

Conclusion: CattaC is one of those EBM formations injecting something different to a music genre which is too often repeating itself.

Best songs: “Quiet Sea”, “A Bitter End”, “Six Days Left”, “And I Failed”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.cattac.me / www.facebook.com/cattac.official

Label: www.darktunes.com / www.facebook.com/darkTunesMusic

About CattaC

CattaC is a German dark electronic rock duo formed in 2016 by Jens Helmis, who handles vocals and lyrics, and Christian Schinköthe, who provides live keys and FX. Live performances are strengthened by two guitarists and a female backing vocalist. The project is signed to the German label darkTunes.

CattaC released its debut album “Let Us Fall Together” in 2019, followed the same year by “Rising Demons”. The album “Filthy Tendrils” followed in 2020.

“Deliverance”, the duo’s fourth full-length album, followed in 2023 through darkTunes, featuring nine tracks including “And I Failed” with guest vocals by Amore Ad Lunam.

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, Industrial.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: “Filthy Tendrils” is the third full length album by German CattaC. The work was released during the pandemic, which also meant they had to cancel a tour.

Content: The work takes off with the title song, which is a kind of intro. Quite progressively CaddaC reveals a particular EBM format, which has something minimal, carried by retro leads and led by deeply, cavernous vocals. They suddenly bring a cover version of Type O Negative’s “Bloody Kisses”, which also reveals an ultra-dark and doom-like approach. The next song sounds pretty similar, but they rapidly move back into dark EBM. The album features 8 songs plus 3 remixes. Among the remixes there’s one remix of Defiant Machines –which was featured with a remix on both debut albums as well, plus a remix of a song from the debut album by Chapter 11.

+ + + : CattaC mixes retro elements with something very personal, creating a surprising, but efficient EBM sound. The singer’s particular, deep timbre of voice accentuates the atypical approach of the band. CattaC mixes different ideas together and this open-minded vision brings them to explore unexpected genres as well. The Electro-driven songs are however the most convincing ones. “My Stormy Moon”, “Wintercold”, “They’re Watching Us” and “She’s The Devil” are excellent exponents of the work. I also have to mention the more melodic remix of “The Blackest One”.

– – – : The cover version of Type O Negative and “I’m Here For You” both are into a less inspired and less efficient Goth-Industrial approach. The tenebrous production of the vocals has something cool, but unfortunately a bit monotone after a while. 

Conclusion: Globally speaking this new work by CaddaC is an excellent surprise. It sounds like EBM out of the box!

Best songs: “Wintercold”, “My Stormy Moon”, “They’re Watching Us”, “She’s The Devil”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist: www.cattac.de / www.facebook.com/cattac.official

Label: www.darktunes.com / www.facebook.com/darkTunesMusic

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 12th track on our free (or pay-what-you-want to support our charity work) download compilation “Face The Beat: Session 5” is by the German dark electronic rock act CattaC.

The project is signed to the fine German label darkTunes and was formed in 2016 by the duo Jens Helmis (frontman) and Christian Schinköthe who – as the bandname already suggests – have a strong love for felines. The band is live strengthened by 2 guitarists and a female backingvocalist. We were not only impressed by the music but also by the visual approach as you can see above.

The band’s first album release via the label was “Let Us Fall Together”, an album holding 12 songs of which one is the track we feature today, “Hold On Your Souls”. Expect minimalistic electronics mixed with dark vocals. Out as well is the album “Rising Demons”, again featuring the band’s trademark approach. A duo to keep an eye on, do follow them on Facebook!

You can listen to “Hold On Your Souls” right below.

Check “Face The Beat: Session 5” on Bandcamp to discover the other bands. All donations will go to charity.

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