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

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Mondträume strikes back with a new line-up. Singer Damasius Venys is no longer on board (he’s also busy with his solo-project Mental Exile) so Pikotto VonMond joined hands with Ivan Derbenev (Antilav, Himmash) and Madil Hardis (who already collaborated with Ashbury Heights, Psy’aviah ao).

Content: Sound-wise the work is still driven by dark and melancholic Dark-Pop vibes. The EP features 4 songs plus 3 remixes. Madil Hardis’ classically trained voice injects a dreamy, elevating effect to the work. Both singers also performed as a duo. Remixes have been accomplished by Ruined Conflict, Elektrostaub and Aiboforcen.

+ + + : It’s not an easy thing and even a big challenge replacing Damasius Venys but the new vocalists did a great job. It however sounds like a new beginning for Mondträume and especially the female vocals are quite surprising. There’s something to say about each new track but I especially recommend “Something” for its danceable loops and kick plus “Loss” which is a refined and still danceable cut with a perfect match between male- and female vocals. Among the remixes I especially salute the great work of Ruined Conflict injecting an extra Future-Pop touch to “Something”. I also like the  Aiboforcen remix of the same song.

– – – : The sound, melancholia and danceable vibes of Mondträume remain all intact but it’s not an easy thing to get used to hearing new singers. Damasius Venys definitely was the soul of this formation.

Conclusion: If you like to dance to melancholic songs you better play Mondträume.

Best songs: “Loss”, “Something – Ruined Conflict Remix”, “Something”.

Rate: 7.

Artist: www.facebook.com/Mondtraeume

Label: www.alfa-matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix Read the news on ‘The Unknown Path’.

About Mondträume

Mondträume is a Spanish synth-pop project founded in 2010 by producer Pikotto VondMond, born Jose Ignacio Castaño Marquinez. Pikotto first worked with different vocalists and placed “Life Is Short” on the compilation “Extreme Sündenfall Vol. 10” before Damasius Venys joined in late 2011.

The project moved quickly into the Alfa Matrix orbit. “Life Is Short” was released in 2013, followed by the debut album “Empty” on 26 April 2014. The EP “Free” followed on 4 November 2016, and the second full-length album “Lovers, Sinners & Liars” arrived on 28 June 2019, preceded by the earlier “Still Beating” and “Free” singles.

The line-up changed again in 2022 when Venys left and Ivan Derbenev of Antilav and Himmash plus vocalist Madil Hardis entered, which is the configuration heard on the 7-track EP “The Unknown Path”, released by Alfa Matrix on 5 May 2022. By December 2023 Nicky Schulschenk of N-Frequency had become the vocalist, debuting with “Heart Machine”, and “Poisoned Love” followed in December 2024.

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

Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. During the late 1970s bands such as the Human League, Kraftwerk, and later on Gary Numan, Soft Cell and John Foxx helped pioneer a new synth-pop style that drew more heavily from electronic music and emphasized primary usage of synthesizers. Developed in the late 1970s it has seen several revival periods up until now.

We picked out the best synthpop albums from the past 4 decades (!!!). Here’s our list.

The Human League – ‘Dare’ (1981)

The Human League are ‘oldies’ when it comes to synthpop. Formed in Sheffield in 1977 and initially an experimental electronic outfit, the group attained widespread commercial success with their third album “Dare” in 1981. The album contained four hit singles, including the UK/US number one hit “Don’t You Want Me”. The band’s third studio album, it was recorded between March and September 1981 following the departure of founding members Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh, and saw the band shift direction from their prior avant-garde electronic style toward a more pop-friendly, commercial sound led by frontman Philip Oakey. A remix album based on “Dare”, “Love and Dancing”, was released in 1982.

Talk Talk – ‘It’s My Life’ (1984)

Talk Talk were an English band formed in 1981, led by Mark Hollis (vocals, guitar, piano), Lee Harris (drums), and Paul Webb (bass). The group achieved early chart success with the synth-pop singles “Talk Talk” (1982), “It’s My Life”, and “Such a Shame” (both 1984) before moving towards a more experimental approach in the mid-1980s. Not surprisingly that our next pick is “It’s My Life”, the second studio album by Talk Talk, released in 1984. The album enjoyed an enormous succes thanks to the big international success of its singles (notably “Such a Shame”). We have a soft spot for the tracks “Dum Dum Girl”, “Such a Shame”, “Renée”, “It’s My Life” and “It’s You” although the entire album is just extremely enjoyable.

Alphaville – ‘Forever Young’ (1984)

The German synth-pop band Alphaville, which formed in Münster in 1982, achieved chart success with the singles “Forever Young”, “Big in Japan”, “Sounds Like a Melody”. All these were taken from their 1984 debut album “Forever Young” which was produced by Colin Pearson, Wolfgang Loos and Andreas Budde. Despite the success of the album and its singles, the band did not tour as they felt more like ‘studio rats’. It remains the band’s best output to date.

a-ha – ‘Scoundrel Days’ (1986)

The Norwegian synth-pop band a-ha was formed in Oslo in 1982 by Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (guitars), Magne Furuholmen (keyboards and guitars), and Morten Harket (vocals). “Scoundrel Days” is the second studio album by the trio and offered a more mature sound compared to their debut “Hunting High and Low” (1985). “Scoundrel Days”, recorded in England in early 1986 and produced by Alan Tarney, sported such singles as “I’ve Been Losing You”, “Cry Wolf” and “Maybe, Maybe” which was released solely in Bolivia. “Manhattan Skyline” was the forth and final single released from the long-player.

Erasure – ‘Wonderland’ (1986)

“Wonderland” is the debut studio album by the English synth-pop duo Erasure and was released in 1986. Although it was not an immediate success, the three singles released from it did become cult tracks overtime: “Who Needs Love Like That”, “Oh L’amour” and “Heavenly Action”. Although “Wonderland” was considered a failure, especially when comparing it to Clarke’s prior successes with Depeche Mode and Yazoo, the album became an all time favourite that laid the fundament of what was to follow in 1987 with the release of “The Circus”. The album was produced by Flood who would become a long-time collaborator.

Pet Shop Boys – ‘Actually’ (1987)

Pet Shop Boys, the English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981, broke all records when they released “Actually”, their second studio album, in 1987. It was pushed forward by such great tracks as “One More Chance”, “What Have I Done to Deserve This?” (with Dusty Springfield), “Shopping”, “Rent”, “It Couldn’t Happen Here”, “It’s a Sin”, “Heart” and the majestic “King’s Cross”. In short an album filled with hits.

New Order – ‘Technique’ (1989)

New Order was formed in 1980 by vocalist and guitarist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris. The band formed after the demise of Joy Division, following the suicide of lead singer Ian Curtis and were joined by Gillian Gilbert on keyboards later that year. Their experience of the early 1980s New York club scene saw them increasingly incorporate dance rhythms and electronic instrumentation into their work which resulted in their 1983 hit “Blue Monday” becoming and absolute monster hit. However, we picked out “Technique”, their fifth studio album. Released in 1989 by Factory Records, the album incorporates Balearic beat and acid house influences into the group’s dance-rock sound. “Technique” was the first New Order album to reach the number one spot on the UK charts and had such excellent singles as “Fine Time”, “Round and Round” and “Run 2”.

Depeche Mode – ‘Violator’ (1990)

“Violator” is the seventh studio album by England’s Depeche Mode. It was first released on 19 March 1990 through Mute Records internationally, and through Sire and Reprise Records in the United States. Preceded by the singles “Personal Jesus” and “Enjoy the Silence” (a top-10 entry in both the United Kingdom and the United States), the album propelled the band into international stardom, and also yielded the singles “Policy of Truth” and “World in My Eyes”. The album is generally considered as their most accomplisched electropop album before they encorporated more rock elements in the next album, “Songs of Faith and Devotion”. The role of Alan Wilder was crucial in “Violator”, you only have to compare the first and final version of “Enjoy The Silence” to notice the huge difference.

Bel Canto – ‘Birds of Passage’ (1990)

Bel Canto is a Norwegian music duo, originally a trio, fronted by vocalist Anneli Drecker and musically powered by Geir Jenssen and Nils Johansen. Signed originally to Crammed Discs, their second album “Birds of Passage” is considered as an absolute pearl holding an excellent production (aided by Giles Martin) and a long list of guest musicians who added acoustic elements to the cold nordic synths Jenssen and multi-instrumentalist Johansen. It was also the last album featuring Geir Jenssen. It holds the hits “Intravenous”, “Birds of Passage”, “A Shoulder to the Wheel”, “Time Without End”, “Continuum” and “The Suffering”. The band remains an often well-hidden pearl in electropopland.

De/Vision – ‘Fairyland?’ (1996)

De/Vision, a German synthpop act formed in 1988, was at the peak of its electropop stardom around the mid-nineties culiminating in the outstanding “Fairyland?” album which had such great tracks as “I Regret”, “Sweet Life”, “Today’s Life” or “Bleed Me White”. The band was fronting a new wave of electropop bands in Germany but was generally considered to be the most consistent one as far as quality and output. Sadly enough the release, and also the band’s earlier material, are no longer available on Spotify.

Wolfsheim – ‘Spectators’ (1999)

Wolfsheim was a synthpop duo from Hamburg, Germany, that consisted of Markus Reinhardt and Peter Heppner. Their fourth studio album was “Spectators” (1999) preceeded by two ‘pre-release’ singles from the album. “Once in a Lifetime” was released on October 16, 1998 and “It’s Hurting For The First Time” followed on November 30th. The LP was produced by Wolfsheim and José Alvarez-Brill and held 11 new songs. To this day, “Spectators” is the best-selling album by Wolfsheim with over 250,000 copies sold. The third single, “Künstliche Welten”, was released in 1999.

Iris – ‘Disconnect’ (2000)

“Disconnect” is the debut album by the electropop group Iris. Released in 2000 via the US label A Different Drum, the synthpop label by excellence, its success was guaranteed by the now cult synthpop jewels “Annie, Would I Lie to You?”, “Lose In Wanting” and “Danger Is The Shame”. Originally formed by Reagan Jones and Mat Morris in 1993, after the release of their first album “Disconnect”, Matthew Morris was replaced with Andrew Sega, who pushed the band’s sound in a more experimental electronic direction. Sadly enough the release, and also the band’s earlier material, are no longer available on Spotify.

Elegant Machinery – ‘A Soft Exchange’ (2008)

The Swedish synthpop band Elegant Machinery defined the Swedish synthpop movement along with such bands as Page, S.P.O.C.K, Sista Mannen På Jorden and Kiethevez. Heavily influenced by acts like Yazoo, The Human League, Depeche Mode and Rational Youth, the trio Robert Enforsen, Richard Jomshof and Leslie Bayne started the band in 1988 under the name Pole Position. The band was very successful in Sweden, with a number of successful singles and various awards. But it is their 2008 album “A Soft Exchange” that earned them a place in our list. The album was extremely mature yet very melodic and features such pearls a “With Grace”, “Do You Know”, “Feel The Silence”, “Bleeding Words” and “Is This The Way”.

Electro Spectre – ‘Dangerous Game’ (2012)

The Norwegian electronic music duo Electro Spectre fronts the 3rd electropop wave. Isak Rypdal (writer-producer) and Alexander Björneboe (writer-singer) debuted in 2009 with the album “Watch It All Turn” (which was later reproduced and re-released in 2010). The duo has secured us from a steady and consistent output ever since. In our list we picked the band’s 2012 release, which is their second studio album entitled “Dangerous Game”. Included are such pearls as “Love Thief”, “Dancing Girl”, “World Keeps Turning” and “Tokyo Shuffle”.

Mondträume – ‘Empty’ (2014)

Mondträume is the creative outlet of 2 Spanish talented artists Pikotto Vond Mond and Damasius Venys. In only a few years, the duo rapidly caught the attention of concert organizers, released several songs on compilations, and secured a label contract with Belgium’s electronic label Alfa Matrix where they debuted with the album “Empty”. The hits “Life Is Short”, “Parasite” and especially the synth pop pearl “Far From Pain” show why this band became one of the strongholders in the 3rd electropop wave together with such bands as Electro Spectre, and more.

Eldrina Mich

As Eldrina Mich I work as a go-between and a devil’s advocate when it comes to Side-Line. If our own staff needs to be interviewed then ask the questions no one else dares to ask.

www.side-line.com

Patrick Knoch set up Elektrostaub in 2007. Elektrostaub  can be defined as Electro/Future-Pop and is a solo-project with guest singers. After the first official album “Birthday And Death” released in 2017 on Echozone, the German project joined hands together with Alfa-Matrix. The new album “Reliance” features guest singers Patrik Hansson (Vanguard, Uncreated), Henrik Iversen (Namnambulu), !DISTAIN, René Anke (Logic & Olivia), Stefan Netschio (Beborn Beton), Jan Dieckmann (Norderney), Alex Rush (Unity One), Claudia Uhle (X-Perience), Damasius Venys (Mondträume, Mental Exile), Alex Nórdika (Nórdika) and Darrin Huss (Psyche). The work is a diversified, danceable and ambitious piece. I asked a few questions to Patrick Knoch.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Patrick, tell us a bit more about your music background and how did you come to set up Elektrostaub? 

Patrick: I received musical education in my childhood at a Yamaha music school, mainly on the electronic organ and keyboards. In the early 2000s I founded a band and later decided to start a solo project to better implement my own ideas and ideas.

Q: Elektrostaub is clearly driven and inspired by different forms of Electronic music, but ‘Pop’ definitely appears to be the main source of inspiration.  What are your examples and references in music and how would you analyze your own composition? 

Patrick: I’ve always been a fan of Electronic music and I liked the music of Depeche Mode, Camouflage, Erasure to name a few. Later, Silke Bischoff, Vnv Nation, Solar Fake, for example. So it was relatively obvious that I should try to make music in this direction myself.

Are you looking for powerful beats, flying, melodic and dreamy surfaces as well as modern sounds and catchy Electro-Pop songs? Then you’ve come to the right place with Elektrostaub. Due to the large number of singers involved, the styles of the respective bands also flow into the project and increase the spectrum of versatility.

Q: You mentioned the large number of singers so why do you prefer working with guest singers instead of a real band singer? And what’s your connection with the guys of !Distain? 

Patrick: In the beginning, the main idea was to do remixes and write instrumentals. Later on the idea came up that I could have guest singers set it to music. 

On this album all lyrics come exclusively from the guest singers. I think it’s important that my guests can get involved in the project themselves.

I have known Manfred and Alex from !Distain since the beginning of Elektrostaub and they have become very good friends of mine. Producing songs together is similar to do house music with your family… lol.

Q: How did the writing- and production process of “Reliance” happened? And how did the collaboration with the different singers happened?  

Patrick: First I write the arrangements and instrumentals. When that happens I think carefully about which singer could sing the song best. In most cases I choose artists whose music I also like and whether I personally like the voices or would simply go very well with the song.

When the process is finished I write to the respective artist and ask if they are interested.

After receiving the vocal tracks, I embedded them into the arrangements and then created the final mixes.

Q: There’s an impressive evolution in sound and production from your debut album “Birthday And Death” (2017) towards “Reliance”. How do you look back at your debut work and the transition to “Reliance”? 

Patrick: Thanks so much. I would think it’s just a constant development and advancement. Perhaps the experience gained plays a role. I don’t really like to look back, I love to look forward 😉

Q: How do you expect Elektrostaub evolving and what are the further plans regarding aspects like live shows, remixes, singles and clips? 

Patrick: I will start work on the third album soon. I will write several arrangements and instrumentals again and then proceed as always. I still have some remixes to do in the near future. I’ve been doing a few lately and they’ll all be out soon. Live shows are not planned or very feasible due to the fact that I don’t have a permanent singer.

In which direction will Elektrostaub evolve? I can’t say that today. I’ll just try to develop myself musically and hope to take the next steps.

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, Future-Pop.  

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Four years after the debut-album “Birthday And Death” released on Echozone, Patrick Knoch unleashes his second full length featuring an impressive list of guest singers. “Reliance” was preceded by two singles/EP’s, which especially in Germany became pretty successful.

Content: Patrick Knock had some good company with Patrik Hansson (Vanguard, Uncreated), Henrik Iversen (Namnambulu), !Distain duo, René Anke (Logic & Olivia), Stefan Netschio (Beborn Beton), Jan Dieckmann (Norderney), Alex Rush (Unity One), Claudia Uhle (X-Perience), Damasius Venys (Mondträume, Mental Exile), Alex Nórdika (Nórdika) and Darrin Huss (Psyche). Sound-wise Elektrostaub brings a perfect mix of electro-Pop driven and somewhat harder Future-Pop inspired songs. The different singers inject some extra diversity to the work.

The album features previously released singles “Wake Up” and “We Are Dreamers”. There’s only one single song featuring female vocals. !Distain –being good-old friends of Patrick Knock, contributed to 3 songs, one of them featuring French sung lyrics.

+ + + : First of all we have to salute the contribution of some real great and talented singers like Darren Huss, Henrik Iversen and Stefan Netschio, but also brilliant singers from the ‘latest’  generation like Damasius Venys, Patrik Hansson and Claudia Uhle. The single female vocalist injects a heavenly touch to the album. Several songs sound like they were conceived to make people dance and get happy. I also enjoyed the somewhat harder Future-Pop driven cuts and I especially recommend “Futurism” featuring Norderney, which will appeal to VNV Nation fans. “We Are Dreamers” featuring Patrik Hansson remains a great piece of music for its boosting Electro-Pop. There’s also a cool ‘female’ version featuring Claudia Uhle who’s definitely a great singer. Last, but not least I also recommend listening to “Dust” featuring Damasius Venys who’s according to me one of the most charismatic and sexy voices of the scene.

– – – : I expected a bit more from the songs featuring !Distain –an established Electro-Pop formation I’ve always liked. It’s also a pity there’s only one single female singer featured.

Conclusion: Elektrostaub has achieved an ambitious, but accomplished album, which sounds like the perfect crossover between Electro- and Future-Pop.

Best songs: “Futurism feat. Norderney”, “We Are Dreamers featuring Patrik Vanguard”, “We Are Dreamers featuring Claudia Uhle”, “Dust featuring Damasius Venys”, “Save Me featuring René Anke”, “Loneliness featuring !Distain”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.elektrostaub.de / www.facebook.com/Elektrostaub

Label: www.alfa-matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix Read the news on ‘Reliance’.

About Elektrostaub

Elektrostaub is the synthpop and future-pop project of German musician Patrick Knoch. Discogs lists “Where In This World” in 2014 as the earliest entry, followed by the singles “Unforgotten” and “Also Without You” on Echozone in 2017, the debut album “Birthday And Death” the same year, and the single “Funeral Of Love” in 2018.

Knoch signed to Alfa Matrix in December 2020. The label released the EP “We Are Dreamers”, recorded with Patrik Hansson of Vanguard, in 2021.

“Reliance” was released by Alfa Matrix on 19 November 2021 in digital and CD formats. The fourteen tracks are “Continuation (prolog)”, “We Are Dreamers” with Patrik Hansson, “Wake Up” with Henrik Iversen, “Loneliness” with !Distain, “Save Me” with René Anke, “Mantis” with Stefan Netschio, “Futurism” with Norderney, “The Answer” with Alex Rush, “We Are Dreamers” with Claudia Uhle, “Dust” with Damasius Venys, “Psychological” with Nórdika, “The Light Disappears” with Psyche, “Politicians” with !Distain and “The Day She Died” with !Distain.

Side-Line published a Click Interview with Elektrostaub in December 2021. Alfa Matrix went on to release the EP “Mantis” in 2023, the EP “Falling” in 2025 and the third album “Humility” in 2026.

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

After the two chart-hitting singles “We Are Dreamers“ (#1) and “Wake Up“ (#4), German synth pop act Elektrostaub is about to release the 14-track album “Reliance” featuring quite and impressive list of artists who surround him on future pop / synthpop album.

On this record Patrick Knoch works with Henrik Iversen (Namnambulu), Nórdika and his good old friends from !Distain. But he also invited a sort of “who is who” from the indie synth pop scene on this release, with special additional guest singers in the likes of Stefan Netschio (Beborn Beton), Darrin Huss (Psyche), Damasius Venys (Mondträume, Mental Exile), Patrik Hansson (Vanguard), Claudia Uhle (X-Perience), René Anke (Logic & Olivia), Alex Rush (Unity One) and Jan Dieckmann (Norderney).

Impressive to say the least!

You can expect a mix of melancholic synth pop and dancefloor future pop with a harder EBM edge. The release is available now in pre-order on CD and as download via Bandcamp where you get 2 tracks already.

Check out the album trailer below. Read the review of ‘Reliance’.

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

Genre/Influences: Electro-Pop.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: After the successful debut album “Ride The Madness” (2019) Mondträume singer Damasius Venys got back to his solo-project Mental exile to unleash new songs. “Inferno Hotline” reveals three new songs plus three remixes.

Content: Mental Exile’s main source of inspiration can be found in the 80s Electro-Wave and related music genres. It’s still rapidly recognizable on the new songs and especially some good-old effects bring us back in time. The title song is a pretty danceable piece of old-school inspired Electro-Pop with some extra, personal elements on top. We next get a more dreamy cut and an instrumental piece. Remixes have been accomplished by N-Frequency, Vanguard and Beyond Border.

+ + + : Mental Exile strikes back with a solid title track, which reveals the artist’s sources of inspiration and the charismatic voice of Damasius Venys. I like the way the song evolves; taking off with cool samplings and resulting in a danceable retro-driven song. There’s also something to say about “Run Away”, which is more dreamy-like. Among the remixes I especially recommend the remix of “Renegades” (originally edited at the EP “Exile Nights”) by N-Frequency.

– – – : I was personally more convinced by previous album and EP, which were more into the 80s sound. 

Conclusion: An intriguing  title song, which could be a perfect teaser for a next album by the Spanish solo-project.

Best songs: “Inferno Hotline”, “Renegades – N-Frequency Remix”.

Rate: 7½.

Artist: www.facebook.com/mentalexileproject

Label: www.alfa-matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix Read the news on ‘Inferno Hotline’.

About Mental Exile

Mental Exile is the solo project of the Spanish singer Damasius Venys, who joined the synthpop project Mondträume in late 2011 and fronted it until 2022. The project launched in November 2018 with the six-track download EP “Exile Nights” on Alfa Matrix. Venys explained the project in a Side-Line interview in January 2019.

The debut album Ride The Madness was released on 4 October 2019 as a twelve-track digital album, preceded by the video for “Renegades” in September. A second ‘Click Interview’ with Mental Exile followed in December 2019, and the EP Exile Nights II came out in June 2020. Venys also remixed Helalyn Flowers, Aiboforcen and Acylum for the label.

“Inferno Hotline” was released on 4 June 2021 as a digital EP with three new songs and remixes by Vanguard, N-Frequency and Beyond Border. It is the project’s most recent release listed on 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.

www.side-line.com

(Photo by Daniele Jaeger) The last 15 months have been difficult and pretty challenging for most of us with the Corona pandemic raging across the world. Spanish electropop musician Damasius Venys (Mondträume) decided to avoid the toxic private exile and started recording new material for his solo project Mental Exile.

Out now, first exclusively via Bandcamp, is the new Mental Exile EP “Inferno Hotline”. The EP includes 3 brand new songs and 3 bonus remixes by Vanguard, N-Frequency and Beyond Border.

Expect melancholic dark electro pop with a melodic retro-wave touch. Read the review of ‘Inferno Hotline’.

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

Genre/Influences: Electro-pop, cinematographic, indie-pop.

Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.

Background/Info: George Gold is a Spanish producer mainly inspired by horror- and sci/fi movies mixed with electronics. After a few previously released albums he this year strikes back with “Visionary” featuring ten songs and the contribution of several guest singers.

Content: You rapidly notice the cinematographic inspiration running through the work. It’s not only about the instrumental edits of these songs, but still the global spirit devoted to soundtrack music. But there indeed is a kind of electro-pop touch on top, which has something danceable. Somewhere in between electro-pop and technoid arrangements, the songs remain fully accessible. Nightcrawler invited four guests; Celine (who you maybe remember from an album released a long time ago on M-Tronic), Maxthor, Mental Exile (aka Damasius Venys, also involved with Mondträume) and Sonja to add vocal lines on a few songs.

+ + + : The main strength of this album is for sure its diversity and interesting fusion between different music styles. You don’t exactly expect cinematographic music mixed with electro-pop and even darker techno elements. The songs with vocals inject something extra to the work while accentuating diversity. The instrumental “Gain Therapy” however is my favorite song for its hard kick and icy techno sound treatments. Another attention grabber is “Catharsis” featuring Mental Exile; I here like the down tempo plus the magic of the vocals.

– – – : I’m sometimes missing a little bit more coherence between several songs; it’s a creative format, but missing a true catharsis.

Conclusion: “Visionary” is an interesting album for its global approach and creative exposure. This is film music you can dance on!

Best songs: “Gain Therapy”, “Catharsis”, “Enter”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.nightcrawlermusic.com / www.facebook.com/nightcrawlermusic

Label: www.electricdreamrecords.com / www.facebook.com/electricdreamrecords

About Nightcrawler

Nightcrawler is the project of Spanish producer George Gold, active since the “Knight Rider” and “Bassferatu” EPs in 2012 and known for a large synthwave and horror-soundtrack-inspired discography. “Visionary” was released via Electric Dream 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

Genre/Influences: Electro-pop, wave-pop.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Mondträume singer Damasius Venys moves on with his solo-project Mental Exile. After a successful EP “Exile Nights” and an accomplished debut album “Ride The Madness” he strikes back with the second volume of “Exile Nights” featuring four new songs plus two remixes.

Content: The global sound approach remains totally faithful to the sound of the album. This is electro-pop music with a look at the past; a retro-driven electro style, which is mainly created by the melody lines and some arrangements plus effects. “Quarantine” definitely appears to be the ultimate song in the genre, reminding me of New Order for some of the sound arrangements. The composition is mainly electronic, but still achieved with guitar play.

Remixes have been made by ES23 and Eisfabrik. We here get a song that was originally released at the debut EP (cf. “One Of Us”) remixed by ES23 and another track from the album (cf. “The Night Is Mine”) remixed by Eisfabrik.

+ + + : First of all there’s the voice of Damasius Venys who clearly is one of the most talented singers from this underground scene; not typically electro-pop like, but a powerful and charismatic timbre of voice that can be put on different styles. Next there’s the sound approach, which is clearly vintage-like and yet accomplished with a personal-, contemporary touch on top. I like this EP for featuring 4 brand-new songs and especially “Quarantine” is a true masterpiece for its melody, arrangements and danceable vibes. I also have to say a word about both remixes, which are adding a real bonus.

– – – : Two from the new songs (cf. “Streets On Fire” and “Stronger Than Time”) can’t totally convince, being more the B-side cuts of the EP. The melody lines are a little less repetitive here.

Conclusion: This EP is one more nice addition to the album, Mental Exile preferring to bring new songs instead of an endless number of remixes. I like this spirit, which also is pretty 80s like!

Best songs: “Quarantine”, “The Night Is Mine – Eisfabrik Remix”, “Out Of My Life”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/mentalexileproject

Label: www.alfa-matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix Read the news on ‘Exile Nights II’.

About Mental Exile

Mental Exile is the solo project of Mondträume singer Damasius Venys.

The project released the “Exile Nights” EP before its debut album, “Ride The Madness”, in 2019 per Discogs, and now follows up with the “Exile Nights II” EP featuring remixes by ES23 and Eisfabrik.

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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(Photo by Lydia Solans) The debut album “Ride The Madness” (available here on bandcamp) by the electro pop act Mental Exile, a side-project from Mondträume’s Damasius Venys, has been extremely well received. From that album, released in October last year, you could already enjoy the “Exile Nights” EP (available here on Bandcamp) , and now part 2 is also available: “Exile Nights II”.

The EP features 4 brand new songs plus 2 bonus remixes by Eisfabrik and ES23. The EP was once again mixed and mastered by Italian synthwave artist and producer Vincenzo Salvia.

Check out the EP below which is now exclusively available via Bandcamp. Read the review of ‘Exile Nights II’.

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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Mental Exile is a Spanish solo-project set up by  Mondträume singer Damasius Venysthe. We last year discovered Mental Exile by the EP “Exile Nights” revealing a great retro electro-pop approach. Mental Exile has now unleashed its debut album “Ride The Madness”. The album is available by Alfa Matrix and reveals a danceable sound mainly inspired by eighties elements. But it also is a conceptual work, which has something sensible and emotional. The interview will give you more details about it all.

(Picture credits by j2ms; interview courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: What incited you to set up Mental Exile as a side-project to Mondträume and what do you expect from this solo-project?

Damasius: Many years ago, before I joined Mondträume, I was working with other projects as a musician.  When I started with Mondträume, my part of the work was writing the lyrics and to sing. That was okey for me, but of course the necessity of composing my own music was present all the time. For this reason I kept on working with Mental Exile, just for me and without priority.

What incited me to give it the importance that it deserves and to share it with the rest of the world, was a good friend of mine. He showed me how short life could be and we don’t have to wait until tomorrow to do the things that we really wish to do. Mental Exile is my way to talk, to feel and to see around me, so what I expect is to keep this special connection between myself and the music I create.

Q: The album has a solid 80s connotation in some aspects of the production. Tell us a bit more about your passion for 80s music and how did you try to transpose it into Mental Exile?

Damasius: The 80s left their traces in a lot of aspects and for me personally, the music and the films are a great inspiration. Here I have to mention the synth-wave genre, a music style that was growing more and more during the last years and where I found my place with Mental Exile. I’m fascinated by this genre, because it sounds totally 80s, but it didn’t exist like that in the 80s. Without any doubts, this helped me to transpose this essence to my music.

Q: “Ride The Madness” is a conceptual album, which has been introduced as inspired by this passion for 80s music and sci/fi movies, which you tried to transpose into music as a movie-soundtrack. Tell us a bit more the concept?

Damasius: If it would be a movie, I resume the conceptas an action film, with an antihero, hungry for vengeance and trying to find the sense of his life again. This is the summary of how I decorated the history, but there is a true story behind the concept. A good friend of mine was diagnosed with a cerebral tumor without cure. He was fighting during one year and eight months to live another day, although he knew that he cannot win this fight. He lived with his wife for 23 years, the most beautiful love story that I ever knew, and together they were fighting against everything to enjoy the time they had left. The reason why it was created as a movie soundtrack is because of the situation he was passing in a concrete moment. He was my inspiration and for me “Ride The Madness” is my dedication to him. Sadly he passed away one year ago and I couldn’t show his history to him.

Q: So the ‘hero’ of this concept called ‘Shadow’ was inspired by a good friend of yours, but are there still parts from yourself in this story?

Damasius: Without doubts, Shadow has the personality of my friend, but he looks and lives the situations through my eyes. I talk through Shadow from my perspective about what my friend was living and how I was feeling it too.

Q: You last year released the EP “Exile Nights” which featured songs that don’t appear at the album. It makes the EP really interesting, but do you see this EP as something apart from the album or still inspired by the same concept?

Damasius: Thanks!! “Exile Nights” is something totally apart. The concept of the album starts and ends with the album and it is something that I don’t want to touch. About “Exile Nights”, I like this kind of EP concept and I can tell you that I will repeat it.

Q: A clip has been also released. What can you tell us about it and do clips still make sense today? What brings the future for Mental Exile?

Damasius: To do the “Renegades”-video was a fantastic experience and it was a pleasure to work with the director Achilleas Gatsopoulos (Hypnagogia Films). During the production of the video we really had the impression to live in a dream and it was a feeling that I like to repeat.

About your question if clips still make sense today, I see two sides of the story. On one hand, of course they make sense because it is a way to spread and give life to the music, and for the followers it is a very positive point. Including myself as follower of other bands, it is something that I really enjoy when a group releases a music video. On the other hand, financially it does not make any sense. It is obvious that you will not get back the money you had to pay for it. My conclusion: if I can afford it, I will make more videos!

About the future, I’m working on the live shows because I like to bring my creature on stage next year. At the same time I’m working on new material for a next EP and album. Probably a new music video will come too…

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 4th track on our free (or pay-what-you-want to support our charity work) download compilation “Face The Beat: Session 5” is by the Belgian darkwave act Aiboforcen.

“In My Arms” was originally released on the “Sense & Nonsense” album while the Ocean Mix of the track followed on the “In My Arms” EP which came out earlier this year. We picked it as it brings a very moody atmosphere which perfectly fits the feeling we had when creating this compilation. The track features the lush vocals of Mari Kattman who has been working extensively with the with the band in the past.

Aiboforcen was founded by the duo Benoit Blanchart and Seba Dolimont, but is nowadays mainly Benoit Blanchart who works with guest vocalists. After the release of two CD albums (“Elixir Lytique” & “Face (of) Death”), the band disappeared from the scene to work on various other projects. They returned with a more mature and better mastered type of sound on the “Sons Palliatifs” album which closed their trilogy around the “near death experience” theme.

Released in June 2004, their 4th album “Kafarnaüm” offers a complex and modern mixture of eclectic electronic styles ranging from harsh EBM to crunching power industrial through dark trip hop with a certain future pop touch and their trademark combination of harsh male growls and sensual female vocals. The next album was released in 2011, “Dédaleé” and in 2018 Aiboforcen released the extremely dark “Sense & Nonsense” featuring amongst others Jean-Luc Demeyer (Front 242), Damasius (Mondträume) , Lars Bass (Kant Kino) and many more guest singers.

The complete backcatalogue by Aiboforcen is available here.

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!

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Genre/Influences: Electro-pop.

Background/Info: Mondträume singer Damasius Venysthe last year released the EP “Exile Nights” from his solo-project Mental Exile. It was a successful debut revealing danceable and somewhat 80s-like inspired electro-pop music. The album is inspired by the artist’s passion for 80s music and sci/fi movies, which he tried to transpose into music as a movie-soundtrack. It’s a kind of concept dealing with a guy called ‘Shadow’ who has been condemned to exile. 

Content: The 80s electro-pop vibes are more represent at this album than at the EP. It’s clearly noticeable when paying attention for the dry snares and the astral atmosphere recovering the work. This album definitely has something old-school like. It also is a melodic album, which even reminds me to Second Decay –during the chorus of “The Night Is Mine” feat. Midnight Danger. The album reveals some interesting ‘features’ like the aforementioned song with Swedish project Midnight Danger plus two other songs featuring Lightshifters from Germany. About Lightshifters I especially like the female backing vocals on both songs.

+ + + : First of all I have to say a word about the EP, which was featuring 3 exclusive songs. It’s rather unusual to see artists releasing exclusive songs for EP’s and that’s precisely what Mental Exile did, so respect for this! The other 3 songs from the EP were remixes. This album features the original songs of these remixes. The 80s approach is omnipresent, but it’s not an emulation of old pioneers. It’s just an important influence, which has been transposed into something personal and mixed with contemporary elements. The melodic aspect of the work symbolizes the elaboration of the songs. This is an album that will make you dance while still featuring emotive songs. Last, but not least, I also have to say a word about the great vocals of Damasius Venysthe who for sure remains one of the most talented electro-pop singers from his generation. I also like the duo parts together with Marthe Borge-Lunde Pfirrmann.

– – – : A great album and cool songs, but maybe not a real hit. But that’s a good reason to purchase the previously released EP as well, which features the great song “Midnight Rain”.

Conclusion: Mental Exile definitely sounds more than a side-project! This project has a real potential.

Best songs: “Delta City”, “The Valley Of The Fallen”, “Her Only Wish feat. Lightshifters”, “Falling”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.facebook.com/mentalexileproject 

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

About Mental Exile

Mental Exile is the solo synthwave project of Damasius Venys, singer of the synth pop band Mondträume. He launched the project in November 2018 with the digital single “Exile Nights”, expanded into an EP of three new songs and three remixes mixed and mastered by Italian synthwave artist Vincenzo Salvia, with further remixes by Iversen and Index Code. The EP was released via Alfa Matrix’s Bandcamp page ahead of “Ride The Madness”, the full-length reviewed here.

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

(Photo by Lydia Solans) Out now is “Ride The Madness”, the debut by Mental Exile. Behind Mental Exile we find Damasius Venys – the singer of the popular synth pop band Mondträume. The album follows the well received “Exile Nights” download EP released in November 2018. 

Musically this project stands for melancholic dark pop arrangements led by melodic vintage synth lines mixed with the electropop voice of Damasius. The album was mixed and mastered by renowned Italian synthwave artist and producer Vincenzo Salvia and also features noticeable guest appearances by Marthe Borge-Lunde Pfirrmann (from the wonderful Lightshiftersproject), adding her great voice on two songs while Chris Young (Midnight Danger) contributes with a guitar solo.

The album is available on CD (orders are accepted via Alfa Matrix) and as download (Bandcamp, iTunes, …).

You can listen to the full album 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. 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

(By our Norwegian correspondent Jan Ronald Stange)
Mental Exile, the solo project of Damasius Venys from Mondträume, debuted a brand new music video for the track ‘Renegades’ on YouTube today (see it at the bottom of the article). Although Damasius is vacationing at the Canary Islands at the moment, we managed to get some more info about the video.

Side-Line: Tell us about the video; the idea, who made it etc.?

Damasius Venys: The video was made by Achilleas Gatsopoulos (aka Hypnagogia films). I knew his work for other artists and I was convinced that he was the right person for this job (and I was right – hehe!). From the beginning my idea was to make a cool synthwave/80’s inspired video. The concept of the song is about a couple who lives at the limit, against everything and everyone, they are renegades and do whatever they want. Achilleas took this idea and he put it on a higher level, converting the couple on vampires who run through the nights of Berlin in search of chaos and blood.

S-L: More videos from Mental Exile in the making?

DV: Of course I like to do more videos, especially for the new album. Let’s see what’ll happen next year!

S-L: Soon you have an album for the Mental Exile album – got any details about that?

DV: I’m really excited for the release of my debut album. I have to say that it means a lot to me and I hope that people can feel this. For the moment the first review I received is from the Sonic Seducer magazine and it is really positive. I hope it will go on like that.

S-L: Other future plans or events for Mental Exile or Mondträume?

DV: At the moment I’m working on new songs for Mental Exile. I’m also preparing the live shows, I want to offer something catchy and I would like to start next year with the live dates. With Mondträume we have some really interesting live dates to present our new album.

The track ‘Renegades’ are taken from Mental Exile’s debut EP ‘Exile Nights’ – read more about it and listen to the songs right here!

Enjoy the video!

Jan Ronald Stange

Sometimes – when I’m not cooking, biking, listening to music or attending concerts, I write stuff for Side-Line.com. Mostly about Norwegian bands, but it’s been some Swedish, English, American, Danish, German and others too… 😉

www.facebook.com/jrstange

(Photo by Lydia Solans) To be released on October 4th is “Ride The Madness”, the debut by Mental Exile. Behind Mental Exile we find Damasius Venys – the singer of the popular synth pop band Mondträume. The album follows the well received “Exile Nights” download EP released in November 2018.

Musically this project stands for melancholic dark pop arrangements led by melodic vintage synth lines mixed with the electropop voice of Damasius. The album was mixed and mastered by renowned Italian synthwave artist and producer Vincenzo Salvia and also features noticeable guest appearances by Marthe Borge-Lunde Pfirrmann (from the wonderful Lightshifters project), adding her great voice on two songs while Chris Young (Midnight Danger) contributes with a guitar solo.

The album will be available on CD (pre-orders are accepted now via Alfa Matrix) and as download (Bandcamp pre-orders are already accepted with an immediate download of 2 tracks).

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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Spanish duo Pikotto vondMond (music & programming) and Damasius Venys (vocals & lyrics) are back on track, unleashing their second album five years after the successful debut opus “Empty”. The new album “Lovers, sinners & Liars” (available here as a 2CD deluxe edition set) remains faithful to the melancholic future-pop style of the debut work, but the global production becomes more mature and accomplished. It’s a danceable piece of music revealing elevating choruses while driven by the impressive vocals skills of Damasius Venys. The album has been released by the Belgian label Alfa Matrix and simply confirms the growing status of Mondträume. Here’s what they’ve to say about their masterpiece.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Five years have passed since your debut album “Empty” (2014). Why did it take that long to achieve this new opus? What have been the main difficulties and challenges you encountered? 

Pikotto: The truth is that I am aware that a lot of time passed by ’till the release of the new album, but unfortunately I had health problems and there was a time where I had to consult doctors, do tests etc… Fortunately everything is okay with my health. But well, I also took the positive side of this circumstance and this means that I have been able to take more care of the songs and the arrangements to have the best results. 

Q: I experienced “Lovers, Sinners & Liars” as ‘melancholia to dance on’ while the choruses have something elevating, even a bit transcendental. But what kind of work did you wanted to accomplish and what are your greatest elements of satisfactions? 

Pikotto: Like you could observe during our path, I always like to add this melancholic touch to the songs, and I also wanted to do that on this new album too. But I also added something more danceable, a delicate piano melody, a melodic pluck that is sad, but also happy at the same time, etc, etc… I think that it is a point that defines us and when you listen to our songs you know that it is made by us. I always said that music is life and in this life always exists the lovers, the sinners, and the liars… 

Q: So that’s what the album title is reflecting? But what have been the main sources of inspiration for the lyrics? 

Damasius: With the album title I wanted to reflect three kinds of personalities who are behind the lyrical theme. It reflects things that we all experienced in our lives and that we have been or we are. The fastest way to explain it could be like, to give affection while I hold a knife hidden on my back telling you that I will never fail you. About the inspiration, everything came from things that happened around me. The last five years have been a period of many changes where I saw the true faces of some people next to me. The inspiration of all the lyrics of the album are really human, in a good- or a bad way. 

Q: It all seems like image and artwork is an important item for Mondträume. Tell us a bit more about both aspects and a possible link between lyrical themes and the artwork of the new album? 

Damasius: Of course, it is very important to me because in this aspect we can show a more metaphoric vision of the concepts, making it more dramatic and of course, more eye-catching. With this new image and artwork we tried to reflect the birth of the hypocrisy without masks, the lovers and the sinners, the original skin of our human debilities. An important point for me too, was to work again with my friend Lydia Solans. It is always great for me to tell her all my ideas and together ramble on about colors, textures, make ups, etc. The link between the lyrics and the artwork is exactly our dark side.  

Q: Another essential element for bands is playing live. How would you define a live show of Mondträume and how do you transpose the songs from the studio to the stage? 

Pikotto: I think the one who has the possibility to see us live will experience all the emotions about that we were talking about. The music gets the body dreaming and this is what we try to do live, to feel this goosebumps when you hear a melody, when you hear the great voice of my mate, to feel that the things you hear make you complete. As a band we try to offer everything of us so that the audience feels satisfied and proud to see us live. About the songs, we try to put the same energy like in the studio, but with this visual extra point that fills up the stage. In this aspect I have to congratulate my friend and mate Damasius for being a great showman and for his professionalism on stage. I think that until today the audience always responded very well to our shows and we are very thankful for that. I take the opportunity to send greetings and a big hug to our audience of Poland, Spain, Germany, etc. Thanks for your support! 

Q: Do you’ve some plans in mind to next year celebrate the tenth Anniversary of Mondträume? What brings the future? And what might we expect from the Mental Exile album? 

Damasius: We were really not aware of how time flies, but it doesn’t go that fast; our tenth anniversary will be 2021, there is still some time left to think about that. What the future will bring is always uncertain, we have our plans and our ideas, but we will see what will come. About my Mental Exile album, I can say that the release date is around the corner, but I prefer to tell you nothing about it yet. When it will see the light, I will be glad to enter into details about it and about everything you want.

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, future-pop.

Background/Info: The Spanish Mondträume duo strikes back with their second full length, which comes five years after the promising debut “Empty”. In the meantime front man Damasius Venys also started with a solo side-project Mental exile, which released its debut-EP in 2018.Notice by the way this new album was preceded by the singles “Still Beating” (2014) and “Free” (2016).

Content: Pikotto Vond Mond and Damasius Venys remain faithful to their electro/future-pop style they introduced on “Empty”. The influences remain identically the same, but the global writing- and production process have been seriously improved. The songs are featuring danceable beats and melancholic, but melodic leads and choruses. I however noticed a fewer ‘happy’-like passages (cf. “Nothing”) and even a simply beautiful song (cf. “Let Me Go”), which has something sensible and poignant.

The limited edition features a bonus disc with remixes by Crytek, Massive Ego, Kant Kino, X-O-Planet, Avarice In Audio, Headzor, Evo-Lution, Octolab, Any second and Elektrostaub. Both previously released single-songs are the main songs exposed to the remix skills of other artists.

+ + + : I already talked about the impressive evolution in sound and composition. If Mondträume was announced by their label as a ‘hot’ newcomer in 2013, they for sure confirm this potential with this great work. The album brings a perfect twist between danceable songs and softer, deeply melancholic pieces. Most of the choruses have an elevating sensation, and I especially want to mention the title song, the already known “Free”, “Nothing” and the beautiful “Le Me Go”. A good ‘pop’ band needs a talented singer and here again Damasius Venys confirms to be the right man in the right place. I think it’s not a coincidence he has already been asked by numerous bands to do some guest vocals. Among the remixes I’ll mention the great contribution by X-O-Planet (featuring male-female duo vocals), Octolab for the groovy approach and Crytek for their punching remix.

– – – : This album also features a cover version of The Cure’s “Lament”, which is not my favorite song from the tracklist.

Conclusion: This album sounds as an invitation to dance to melancholia and it’s weird to say, but it will make you feel good!

Best songs: “Lovers, Sinners & Liars”, “Free”, “Nothing”, “Let Me Go”, “The Center Of Your World” + “Still Beating – X-O-Planet”.

Rate: (8½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/Mondtraeume

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

About Mondträume

Mondträume is a Spanish synth-pop and future-pop duo of vocalist Damasius Venys and producer Pikotto VondMond. The project’s debut album, “Empty”, appeared in 2014, followed by the singles “Still Beating” (2014) and “Free” (2016). Venys also records under the solo alias Mental Exile, which released a debut EP in 2018. Mondträume is signed to Alfa Matrix, which issued the duo’s limited 2CD edition of “Lovers, Sinners & Liars” in 2019 and later released the EPs “The Unknown Path” (2022), “Heart Machine” (2023) and “Poisoned Love” (2024).

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

“Lovers, sinners & liars” is the title of the brand new album by the excellent Spanish electropop act Mondträume. With their previous and highly successful “Empty” album, the Spanish duo established themselves on the top of the dark electro pop scene next to other acclaimed acts in the likes of De/Vision, Melotron, Mesh and other bands in the same league of excellence.

On “Lovers, Sinners & Liars” Pikotto Vond Mond and Damasius Venys continue to offer dark melodic electropop hovering between slower intimate synth pop songs and more dynamic upbeat club tracks. You get 12 tracks including the singles “Still Beating” and “Free” next to a cover version of “Lament” (The Cure).

Attention: There is also a limited 2CD edition (available here from the label) which comes with a 10-track bonus disc offering a variety of remixes by Massive Ego, Kant Kino, Crytek, Avarice In Audio and many more!

For now, enjoy these 2 tracks.

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

(By our Norwegian correspondent Jan Ronald Stange)
As Side-Line reported late November last year, Damasius Venys, singer of the cult synth pop band Mondträume, released the first EP from his new solo project Mental Exile, first at Bandcamp, later at other platforms too.

With ‘Exile nights’ Damasius offers three unreleased songs and three remixes from his upcoming album. Three songs full of energy, 80’s vintage synths and catchy melodies, accompanied by a voice that talk to us about our human demons, our selfish blindness, and how we try to conquer an imaginary world made of our fears and debilities. Listen to the EP @ Spotify while reading this quick interview about feedbacks a few weeks after the release.

Side-Line: How has the EP been received?
Damasius Venys: For the moment, in a very good way. Since the first day I received lot of messages with congratulations and positive feedbacks. A lot of radio stations around the world included my songs in their programs too, which i really motivating.

S-L: Have you gotten any comments about the project being different from Mondträume?
DV: Of course! I think that it was the first thing that people did, compare Mondträume with Mental Exile, but in a very positive way. I was told many times that it was a surprise that Mental Exile sounds quite different to the other project. It seems like people normally expect from a solo project a copy or something very similar to the sound of the band where you come from. I’m happy to brake this. With Mondträume my work is to write the lyrics and sing, and with Mental Exile I do everything. I have other music interests and I think that this makes the difference too.

S-L: Any more releases planned?
DV: Yes! The album is almost finished. It will be released the next year for sure.

S-L: Any live performances for Mental Exile?
DV: Until now I don’t have any intention to play, but that’s just for the moment! After the release of the album, it will be the right moment to present my creature on stage.

I don’t like to reveal so many things, so I will only try to level up the curiosity, just telling you that the album will tell a history about hate, revenge, love and death, and that I have two very special guests featuring on three songs. Another thing is the possibility of a music video before the album release, but I won’t say nothing more, just keep your eyes at the exile!

Jan Ronald Stange

Sometimes – when I’m not cooking, biking, listening to music or attending concerts, I write stuff for Side-Line.com. Mostly about Norwegian bands, but it’s been some Swedish, English, American, Danish, German and others too… 😉

www.facebook.com/jrstange

Read the review of ‘Exile Nights’.

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

Genre/Influences: Industrial-pop, dark-pop, EBM.

Background/Info: Belgian project Aiboforcen is back on track with a new work, which has been released 7 years after the “Dédale”-album. “Dédale” also saw the daylight 7 years after the previous full length (cf. “Kafarnäum”). Benoit Blanchard remains the single operator when it comes to music, but he again was joined by several guest singers. Patrice Synthea (Regenerator) is somewhat presented as the band’s singer although she only sings a few songs. Other vocalists are Jean-Luc De Meyer (Front 242, 32 crash, UnderViewer), Mari Kattman, Damasius (Mondträume), Jan Dewulf (Mildreda, Diskonnekted), Lars Bass (Kant Kino) and Dan Barrett (Venal Flesh).

Content: Globally speaking “Sense & Nonsense” remains in the purest tradition of Aiboforcen. This band always has composed a very personal sound, which is dark, sophisticated and covering different influences. I can easily affirm that the new songs are more ‘pop’ than ever before, but don’t expect to hear traditional electro-pop. “Sense & Nonsense” features many melodic passages and catchy arrangements, but the sound is also dark and has something vicious. A few other cuts are a little bit harder and walking on EBM paths.

Patrice Synthea might be considered as the main vocalist although Jean-Luc De Meyer sings on 3 songs. One of these cuts entitled “Loud” is a real special one as it’s a cover version of Front 242!

The limited edition features a bonus disc with a few new songs (featuring the title cut), and also songs featuring a few extra singers such as Diana (Junksista) and LadyHell (Lovelorn Dolls)  plus the usual load of remixes by Diffuzion, Aesthetische, Neikka RPM, Daniel B/Prothèse, Implant, Psy’Aviah and Kilmarth.

+ + + : Aiboforcen remains a unique sound project, with an intelligent electronic approach. It has something pop-like, but definitely an antidote to the classical electro-pop standards. This is darker, even somewhat tormented, but still EBM-driven. The songs are featuring great strings and the usual amount of endless bleeps and filtered sound sequences. The female singers inject fragility (Patrice Synthea) and grace (Mari Kattman) creating a delicious contrast with some orchestral arrangements. Jean-Luc De Meyer stands for the harder (male)  vocal touch while Damasius is probably one of the most talented vocalists featured. The cover of Front 242’s “Loud” (“Pulse”-album) sung by Jean-Luc De Meyer is one of the most surprising songs, but it simply confirms Belgium remains the country of surrealism. I like this pop approach running through different songs and reminding some of the band’s most legendary cuts.

Last, but not least the bonus disc features multiple noticeable remixes. Daniel B/Prothèse did an amazing job remixing “We Woke Up The dragon” sung by his old band mate Jean-Luc De Meyer. I also want to mention the remixes by Implant, Psy’Aviah and Aesthetische.

– – – : The songs featuring the most legendary singer of the EBM scene (cf. J-L De Meyer) aren’t exactly the best songs from the album and that’s a pity. The main point about this album is probably its eclectic aspect. Some songs are really too different from each other so you sometimes get the impression two hear different bands on the same disc. That’s only accentuated by the different guest singers.

Conclusion: Aiboforcen is back on track, but feels like the band has never been away. It gets you a feeling of ‘coming home’ revealing multiple brilliant songs. Let’s no hope we’ll not have to wait 7 more years to get a new album.

Best songs: “In My Arms feat. Mari Kattman”, “Etching Herself In acid feat. Lars Bass/Kant Kino”, “Ritual Control”, “Life In The Valley Of Death”, “Caresse”, “Ablation A Vif feat. Dan Barrett/Venal Flesh” + “We Woke Up The dragon feat. Jean-Luc De Meyer – Daniel B/Prothèse Remix”, “Come Clean – Implant Never Comes Clean Remix”, “Lost In Translation feat. LadyHell/Lovelorn Dolls”, “Sense & Nonsense”.

Rate: (8½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/Aiboforcen

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

About Aiboforcen

Aiboforcen is the project of Belgian producer Benoît Blanchart, also a co-owner of the Brussels label Alfa Matrix; Discogs lists the project’s discography back to 1995. “Sense & Nonsense” arrived seven years after the “Dédale” album and features Jean-Luc De Meyer (Front 242) and Mari Kattman among its guest vocalists. Blanchart discussed the writing process and the guest line-up in a Click Interview published the following month.

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

Out now is the newest Aiboforcen album, “Sense & Nonsense”. You can order the CD, 2CD right here or you can go to Bandcamp to download the bonus tracks version as well. Enjoy the full album below.

For this release Blanchart has once again collaborated with a rather promising list of special guests. The first one is Jean-Luc De Meyer (Front 242, 32CRASH, Underviewer, …) who lends his unique voice on not less than 3 songs on this album, including an upbeat EBM cover version of Front 242’s very own “Loud” and the more atmospheric and darkish “The Arrival”.

Other noticeable appearance comes from Damasius of label mates Mondträume, Mari Kattman, Mildreda, Venal Flesh and Kant Kino.

Next to the normal CD version there is also a limited edition of the album which will hold a 13-track bonus disc entitled “An End Unto Itself” revealing some 3 exclusive non-album tracks including guest vocals by Junksista and Lovelorn Dolls plus own reinterpretations of 3 other album songs. Add to this a bunch of remixes.

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

A special fan-pack has been prepared for the new Aiboforcen album. The 2CD box comes augmented with 4 signed exclusive cards inserted in a special black envelope. This unique Aiboforcen gem is retracing the band’s last 4 albums on Alfa Matrix and will be included in the first 50 orders of the new “Sense & Nonsense” album placed via the official Alfa Matrix webstore.

Still mostly centered today around mastermind Benoit Blanchart and female singer Patrice Synthea (Regenerator lead singer), Aiboforcen strikes back. The return was already hinted at on the Aiboforcen Facebook page a few weeks ago, but today the Belgian industrial label Alfa Matrix has announced more details about the upcoming album “Sense & Nonsense”.

You can already pre-order the CD, 2CD (including the special funpack for the first 50 orders) and via Bandcamp the download version of the limited edition set. Here are already 2 songs to enjoy.

For this release Blanchart has once again collaborated with a rather promising list of special guests. The first one is Jean-Luc De Meyer (Front 242, 32CRASH, Underviewer, …) who lends his unique voice on not less than 3 songs on this album, including an upbeat EBM cover version of Front 242’s very own “Loud” and the more atmospheric and darkish “The Arrival”.

Other noticeable appearance comes from Damasius of label mates Mondträume, Mari Kattman, Mildreda, Venal Flesh and Kant Kino.

Next to the normal CD version there is also a limited edition of the album which will hold a 13-track bonus disc entitled “An End Unto Itself” revealing some 3 exclusive non-album tracks including guest vocals by Junksista and Lovelorn Dolls plus own reinterpretations of 3 other album songs. Add to this a bunch of remixes.

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

Still mostly centered today around mastermind Benoit Blanchart and female singer Patrice Synthea (Regenerator lead singer), Aiboforcen strikes back. The return was already hinted at on the Aiboforcen Facebook page a few weeks ago, but today the Belgian industrial label Alfa Matrix has announced more details about the upcoming album “Sense & Nonsense”.

You can already pre-order the CD, 2CD and via Bandcamp the download version of the limited edition set. Here are already 2 songs to enjoy.

For this release Blanchart has once again collaborated with a rather promising list of special guests. The first one is Jean-Luc De Meyer (Front 242, 32CRASH, Underviewer, …) who lends his unique voice on not less than 3 songs on this album, including an upbeat EBM cover version of Front 242’s very own “Loud” and the more atmospheric and darkish “The Arrival”.

Other noticeable appearance comes from Damasius of label mates Mondträume, Mari Kattman, Mildreda, Venal Flesh and Kant Kino.

Next to the normal CD version there is also a limited edition of the album which will hold a 13-track bonus disc entitled “An End Unto Itself” revealing some 3 exclusive non-album tracks including guest vocals by Junksista and Lovelorn Dolls plus own reinterpretations of 3 other album songs. Add to this a bunch of remixes.

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

The Spanish dark electropop act Mondträume return with a brand new EP, “Free”, on November 4. Today Side-Line offers you a preview of the complete 5-track EP (which you can download right here on Bandcamp)! The material is the first new work from the band now that they are working on a new album, “Lovers, Liars & Sinners”.

Note that the Mondträume duo (Pikotto Vond Mond and Damasius Venys) have also decided to make this EP available as a (very limited!) physical release (available here). The CD version comes with a rather excellent bonus, the previously released digital EP “Still Beating” which will be available on CD for the very first time. That digital EP featured collaborations with Rotersand, Avarice In Audio, Aesthetische and Nordika.

But here’s already the exclusive preview of the digital version of the “Free” EP. The EP is out on November 4.

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

(By our Norwegian correspondent Jan Ronald Stange) Poznan, Poland was the host for the Dark Sounds Festival on June 25th. The event was  held at Eskulap Akademickie Centrum Kultury, a great concert venue (panorama picture here).

The evening started with DJ James (Grzegorz Długoszewski) spinning various 80’s synth pop/new romantic music, then the Polish electro industrial/wave duo Dark Side Eons started the concerts of the evening.

They were followed by the German/Spanish futurepop act Mondträume, and Damasius Venys was for the occasion joined on stage by back up member Daniele Jaeger due to the illness of band member Pikotto VondMond.

Third act this evening was Electro Spectre from Norway, and all members of the band – Alexander Bjørneboe, Isak Rypdal and Marlina Bjørneboe – agreed this was probably their best concert to date. Great audience and atmosphere, their performance was top notch, and Polish fans have always treated them well.

Finally Covenant, the headliner of the festival, entered the stage, delivering a set full of hits and energy, one of the highlight probably being when Daniel Myer captured the stage and walked among the audience during a highly entertaining version of ‘Lightbringer.’

The evening ended with DJ Alex Hunter doing a dark wave/future pop set, and DJ James sent the audicence home with more 80’s ear candy 🙂

Big thanx goes to the organizer Anna Butkiewicz (SynthNoir Booking & Promotion) and her helpers; Aleksander Czichos (aka. DJ Alex Hunter), Joachim Andrzejewski (aka. the language wiz kid!) and Krzysztof “Karis” Kaszkowiak (technician)  for making this a great weekend for all of us – Norwegians, Swedes, Germans, Polish and others!

Jan Ronald Stange

Sometimes – when I’m not cooking, biking, listening to music or attending concerts, I write stuff for Side-Line.com. Mostly about Norwegian bands, but it’s been some Swedish, English, American, Danish, German and others too… 😉

www.facebook.com/jrstange

Genre/Influences: Industrial-dance, techno-body music, industrial-techno.

Background/Info: Lawrie Bayldon (Studio-X, Cryogenic Echelon), Ayax (Ascension Ex, Cryogenic Echelon) and Gerry Hawkins are back on track unleashing the 2^nd full length of Avarice In Audio. Two years ago now this Australian combo took the electro scene by surprise releasing their promising debut album “Shine & Burn”.

Content: “Apollo & Dionysus” sounds more open-minded than their debut full length, but still appears to be very challenging. Avarice In Audio experiments with solid techno blasts mixed with harder and industrial-minded sound treatments. The songs are powerful and reveal multiple sound manipulations. There’s a perfect balance between the different influences, but in the end I would say it clearly sounds more into techno and dance music instead of industrial.

The harder industrial treatments make it all more underground-like and darker while the beating kick will bring dancefloors on fire. There’s certain bombast running through the songs while a few other cuts are softer and more into a kind of reverie. Most of the vocals are rather powerful and passionate.

One of the main particularities of the work is the contribution of guest artists like Damasius Venys (Mondträume) and Mr. Kitty performing guest vocals, Chris Anderson and Mixe1. The last song of the regular album is an interesting new version of “The Cassandra Complex”, which was originally released on their debut album.

The 2^nd disc features 13 remixes by an interesting list of artists. Studio-X, iVardensphere, Nitro/Noise, Alter Der Ruine, Panic Lift, Ludovico Technique, Biomechanical, Freakangel, Terrolokaust, Die Sektor, Sirus and less familiar [Snuff] and Kult Of Red Pyramid clearly are a nice selection of promising remixes. Speaking for myself I have a preference for the remixing skills of iVardensphere, Alter Der Ruine and Sirus.

+ + + : This album reveals a great progression in sound and global production featuring impressive sound manipulations. The industrial-dance style is powerful and carried by passionate vocals. The extra disc features a nice cocktail of cool remixes.

– – – : The techno input is cool, but I regret some cheaper techno blasts, which are a bit cliché. The softer tracks aren’t the most convincing ones. I’m also missing a real great hit.

Conclusion: “Apollo & Dionysus” is an accessible and well-crafted work although not exactly the most evident release to please a darker audience, which is not always that wild of techno experiments. This work is not for purists, but for open-minded souls in search of great, danceable vibes.

Best songs: “World Without Song feat. Chris Anderson”, “Anthracite Nights”, “Juvenile Desires feat. Mr. Kitty” + “Her Fire – iVardensphere Remix”, “
Crystal Tears – Alter Der Ruine Remix”, “The Cassandra Complex – Sirus Remix”.

Rate: (7½).

Band: www.facebook.com/avariceinaudioaus

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