Out now via the fine label SkyQode is “To The Moon And Back”, a new single that marks the beginning of a collaboration between Russia’s renowned darkwave / dream pop band Purple Fog Side and Elsehow, an art-pop project from Belgium.

Together, Pavel Zolin (Purple Fog Side) and Piero Delux (Elsehow, ex-Dark-o-matic), create a blend of dream pop and progressive soundscapes with 80s new wave and synthpop influences. The idea of this collaboration was born just before the pandemic, and most of the tracks were written during the lockdown in 2020.

“To The Moon And Back” is the first single taken off their upcoming collaborative album. In addition to the title track, it features an instrumental version and a remix by Russian synthpop project Elektronnoe Oblako.

You can check this new single below or buy it here.

And here is the album teaser.

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.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Dark-O-Matic duo was set up in 2017 by Greg Dovas and later on joined by singer Piero Delux. After a few singles Dark-O-Matic has released its debut album featuring ten songs plus four remixes (featured on the CD edit).

Content: I’m used to hearing electro-pop releases on the Russian label SkyQode. Dark-O-Matic is for sure a new formation dealing with good-old synth-pop music, but it’s only the basis of their work. The production has been something different, which sometimes reminds me of Moloko. The vocals have something charismatic while the music brings melancholic tunes.

Remixes were created by Unity One, Requiem4FM, People Theatre and Purple Fog Side.

+ + + : Globally speaking, this album features a well-crafted song production. The songs are accomplished and mixed with a clean, but great vocals’ production. The three previously released singles have been featured, but my favorite song is “All We Do Is Wait” featuring great sequences. Among the remixes I have to mention the great job done by Unity One and People Theatre both with a remix of “Zugzwang”. 

– – – : If you already know the previously released singles, the bonus part of the CD edit will be a little bit disappointing as the remixes are familiar ones, and the singles’ title songs unfortunately aren’t my favorite ones.

Conclusion: I can’t say this debut album left me unmoved, I am however missing a few elements in the global production to speak about a complete success.

Best songs: “All We Do Is Wait”, “Authentic?”, “Rather Be”, “Zugzwang – Unity One Remix”, “Zugzwang – People Theatre’s Drifting Remix”.

Rate: (6½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/wearedarkomatic

Label: http://skyqode.com / www.facebook.com/skyqode Read the news on ‘New Hope’.

About Dark-O-Matic

Dark-O-Matic was started in 2017 by Greg Dovas and later joined by vocalist Piero Delux. The duo enlisted sound engineer and producer George Nerantzis to record their music, described as a cross between 80s wave music and synthpop with a darker edge. “New Hope” is the project’s debut album on the SkyQode label, preceded by the singles “Zugzwang” and “Authentic?”.

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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Out now via the SkyQode label is “A Cage With Door Wide Open”, the first post-album single by Dark-o-matic. The track is taken from the band’s debut album “New Hope” released in October 2019. In addition to the title track, the single features 3 remixes by Elektronnoe Oblako, Norderney, and Mr. L3thΔL as well as a live piano version.

You can check it below or download it here.

Dark-o-matic was started in 2017 by Greg Dovas who was later joined by vocalist Piero Delux. After enlisting the help of sound engineer and producer George Nerantzis, the duo started recording their music best described as a cross between 80’s wave music and synthpop but with a darker edge to it.

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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The 16th track on our free (or pay-what-you-want to support our charity work) download compilation “Face The Beat: Session 5” is by the darkwave electropop act Dark​-​o​-​matic aka the duo Piero Delux (vocals) and Greg Dovas (music). The band found a home at skyQode records which has discovered several more great bands.

Dark​-​o​-​matic was founded by Greg Dovas in 2017. Greg switched from progressive rock music to electronic music earlier with his project Neonskylines which was purely instrumental synthwave. In an attempt to expand his experimentation, he decided to add vocals reaching a more synth-pop sound. That was the starting point of his collaboration with Piero Delux from the project Elsehow. Enlisting the help of sound engineer and producer George Nerantzis, the duo started recording their new music, best described as a cross between synthwave and modern synthpop but with a darker edge to it.

Fans of Mondtraüme, Melotron, Electro Spectre etc. will surely love this act!

You can listen to “Zugswang” right below, the first single from their recently released album “Hope”.

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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Out now via the fine label SkyQode is the debut album by Dark-o-matic, entitled “New Hope”. It consists of 10 tracks, including “Zugswang” (which is featured on “Face The Beat: Session 5”), “Make Me Blue” and “Authentic?”. A great band you need to discover pretty fast.

The album can be downloaded via various channels right here! Warmly recommended!

Dark-o-matic was started in 2017 by Greg Dovas who was later joined by vocalist Piero Delux. Enlisting the help of sound engineer and producer George Nerantzis, the duo started recording their music, best described as a cross between 80’s wave music and synthpop but with a darker edge to it. The CD version of the album features 4 bonus remixes by Unity One, Requiem4FM, People Theatre and Purple Fog Side.

You can listen to the album below. Read the review of ‘New Hope’.

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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Out now is “Zugzwang”, the first official single by the duo Dark-o-matic, which recently signed to the fine label SkyQode.

Dark-o-matic was founded by Greg Dovas in 2017. Greg had switched from progressive rock music to electronic music earlier with his other project Neonskylines which was basically instrumental synthwave. In an attempt to expand his experimentation, he decided to add vocals reaching a more synth-pop sound. That was the starting point of his collaboration with Piero Delux from the project Elsehow.

Enlisting the help of sound engineer and producer George Nerantzis, the duo started recording their new music best described as a cross between synthwave and modern synthpop but with a darker edge to it.

The single “Zugzwang” features four tracks including the title track “Zugzwang” as well as remixes by Unity One, People Theatre and N-616. With “Zugzwang”, Dark-o-matic has launched a rather attractive teaser for their upcoming debut album, due later this year. You can order the single right here or below via Bandcamp.

Here’s a video for the title track.

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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