Two years after their debut album, “Confessions Of The Innocent”, the enigmatic Swiss duo Blackbook returns with a follow-up that builds on their signature sound. Drawing heavily from ’80s Wave-Pop, they’ve transformed these influences into what can only be described as a near-supernatural copy. At times, the sounds feel so familiar that it seems as if they’ve borrowed elements from existing songs, only to reimagine them in their own unique way. The result is nothing short of stunning, enhanced by professional production. This album encapsulates everything that great Electro-Pop should be: melodic, danceable, filled with memorable choruses, and led by a compelling voice. The main downside is the total absence of originality. So, who exactly are Blackbook? Aliens? AI enthusiasts? Or simply genius copyists? Everyone will have to decide for themselves. (Rate:8).

Listen to “Painkiller”:

About Blackbook

Blackbook is a Swiss duo who perform under masks and withhold their surnames, going only by their first names, Matthias and Albert. Both had previously played in other Swiss and German acts before forming Blackbook. The project released a series of singles before compiling them into its official debut album, “Confessions Of The Innocent”, on darkTunes Music Group. The duo discussed their approach and anonymity in a Side-Line interview, two years before this follow-up album.

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

Industrial bass artist Sinthetik Messiah has just announced the release of a new album and novel, “Lies, Secrets And Death”.

The story goes something like this: In a galaxy torn by strife, a hero rises but falls to tyranny, sparking rebellion. Amid chaos, a journalist’s death fuels uprising while another leader seeks peace. War looms between factions as a loyalist questions his cause amidst shadowy manipulation, setting the stage for a power struggle.

Musically Sinthetik Messiah here fuses industrial and drum and bass, hence ‘industrial bass’. “Lies, Secrets And Death” is available on all major streaming platforms. The companion book is available on Amazon.com.

Below is the video for “When The World Is On Fire“.

Behind Sinthetik Messiah we find Cajun songwriter and sound designer Bug Gigabyte. The project has had music released in collaboration with several labels such as Darktunes (compilations), Metropolis Records, Plasmapool Records, Side-Line Magazine (compilations). DSBP Records (compilations), Crl Studios, and Wicked Wonderland Records.

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 Finnish industrial metal act The Silverblack have just released the title track taken from their forthcoming sixth album entitled “Serenades Of Hate”, the video can be checked out below.

“Serenades Of Hate” will be released by the german label darkTunes Music Group October 25th and will be available in both digital and a very limited special physical format which has not been revealed yet: “Let’s be honest, nobody buys cds anymore, not in a significant quantity anyway, so we’re thinking about some other limited edition format that will allow people that still want a physical copy of the album to hold something in their hands, being it the old fashioned vinyl or something completely different.”

The band also described the title track as follows: “It is one of the most balanced tracks on the album: it starts with an almost horror movie-like synth melody, then in gets heavy, slows down on the gothic verses and gets heavy again with an extremely aggressive chorus part. As soon as we finished recording we decided it was going to be the title track, being it an extremely complete, solid and overall balanced song showcasing all the different aspects of our sound.”

The Silverblack are already confirmed for this year’s Hellsinki Industrial festival, the biggest Industrial event in Finland.

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: Industrial-Metal.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: The second full length album of Swiss formation Morgenstern has been preceded by numerous singles. Notice by the way this band has nothing to do with the same-named project known from the Ant-Zen label roster.

Content: “Zeitgeist” is a hard and merciless production which will rapidly evoke the influence of Rammstein. The songs are driven by furious guitar parts and refined by elevating electronic arrangements. The vocals are harsh and sung in German.

+ + + : If we forget for a moment any possible sound connection with Rammstein I would dare to say it’s one of the most convincing productions in its genre. There’s a true balance between guitar and electronics resulting in a few outstanding songs.

– – – : The main point that could hurt is that there’s only one Rammstein and this band is big and unique… but who cares!?

Conclusion: Alluring and powerful Industrial-Metal music.

Best songs: “Schockmaschine”, “Para Bellum”, “Hass Ihn”.

Rate: 8.

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

Listen to “Zeitgeist”:

About Morgenstern

Morgenstern is a Swiss industrial metal band whose debut album, “Mechamorphose”, was released in 2021. The band went quiet before restarting and issuing six singles, four of them with videos, ahead of the second album, “Zeitgeist”, released on November 10, 2023 through darkTunes Music Group.

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: EBM, Techno-Body.

Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.

Background/Info: Dead Lights strikes back with their second album. The duo (half English – half Netherland) moved from Cold Transmission Records to darktunes to unleash eleven songs.

Content: The work sounds like it’s a continuation of their self-titled debut-album (2021); phenomenal, vibrating, bass lines and a solid kick will bring you to dance. On top of the production you’ll get a few elements of Techno-Body grooves. Male- and androgynous vocals are a last but essential element of the band.

+ + + : The debut part of the work left me breathless. Dead Lights improved every little detail of the production resulting in outstanding tracks carried by impressive, low, bass lines. The kick sounds like a command to dance and “Glitterspit” definitely appears to be hot dancefloor stuff. There also is an irresistible, sexy, touch emerging from the vocals.

– – – : I noticed a few softer cuts which aren’t the best exponent of the album.

Conclusion: Dead Lights confirm the strong potential of their debut album and is a band with a modern, powerful and elaborated EBM sound.

Best songs: “I Am Electric”, “Receiver – Album Version”, “Let The Ugly Out”, “Rush”, “Into The Night”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.facebook.com/officialdeadlights

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

About Dead Lights

Dead Lights is a duo split between England and the Netherlands. The band’s self-titled debut album appeared in 2021 on Cold Transmission Records; “Glitterspit” is the follow-up, eleven songs released through darktunes.

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: Dark-Pop, Electronic, Industrial.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: This is the debut album of Polish formation Her Own World. Several singles and EP’s have been previously released as an appetizer to “Tales From Another Life”.

Content: You might have discovered singles and EP’s from this band but the album gives a better view of their sound approach. The album takes off with powerful guitar playing and electronic arrangements on top. It’s a rather Industrial/Metal debut featuring powerful female vocals. Quite progressively the songs became more Electronic and even dancefloor orientated. The band now reveals a darker Electro-Pop approach carried by powerful leads and charismatic vocal parts.

+ + + : This band sounds rather diversified but I definitely prefer the explicit electronic side which they already introduced by some of their singles. “Happiness Imperative” is one of these cuts driven by an impressive lead. Another attention grabber is the very dancefloor suited “Stalker Girl”. I also want to mention “Sin” which is a bit more aggressive while featuring harsh backing vocals. I also want to salute the charismatic female vocals adding passion and spirit to the work.

– – – : The debut cuts are quite different for their Metal-driven elements. It’s not entirely cohesive with the main part of the work although I was not shocked.

Conclusion: Her Own World is one more interesting formation which joined the darkTunes roster. This band clearly hides its true potential.

Best songs: “Happiness Imperative”, “Stalker Girl”, “Sin”, “Mistrust”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.herownworld.eu / www.facebook.com/herownworldband

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

About Her Own World

Her Own World is a Polish project founded by vocalist Yu and producer ad-x, also active as Reactor7X. The act first surfaced in 2020 under the name H.O.W. with the single “A Different Kind Of Reality”, followed the same year by “Stalker Girl”.

Her Own World signed to darkTunes Music Group for the debut album “Tales From Another Life”, which followed those early singles and EPs. The band went on to release the single “The Queen” and, in 2026, toured Germany in support of Project Pitchfork.

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: Dark-Electro-Pop.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: After having released a few singles we welcome the debut full length album of Aleksandra Snork – who is also the keyboardist for Dance My Darling.

Content: Apnoie deals with the darker side of electro-Pop. Aleksandra’s sweet and fragile timbre of voice stands in contrast with the darker sound but also creates a symbiotic effect. Most of the songs have been patiently built up but the ‘harder’ cuts are emerging during the last part. One of these songs (cf. “Recollections”) has been also featured as a “Radio Edit” plus remixed by Dance My Darlings.

+ + + : This debut-album took me by surprise. I’m touched by Aleksandra Snork’s fragile but sexy timbre of voice. The music seems to have been especially written to her voice creating a delicious match. The tracklist -featuring most of her previous singles, has been built up till reaching a climax. “Splash Your Bile” and “Recollections” both are ‘new’ songs revealing the true potential of this artist; harder, danceable and catchy cuts for dancefloors.

– – – : The debut songs are easy listening pieces but without climax. The songs are quite similar till the work is progressively evolving into a great final part.

Conclusion: Apnoie definitely appears to be a project we can better keep an eye on. The Russian artist knows how to compose alluring Dark-Electro-Pop.

Best songs: “Splash Your Bile”, “Recollections”, “Recollections – Radio Edit”, “Ivory Tower”, “Magic Stuff”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100076873782973

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

About Apnoie

Apnoie is the dark-electro-pop project of Russian artist Aleksandra Snork, who also plays keyboards in Dance My Darling. After a run of singles, Apnoie released the debut album “Ivory Tower” via darkTunes Music Group in 2023. The track “Recollections” was issued as a separate radio edit and remixed by Dance My Darling.

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: EBM, Industrial.

Format: Digital.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rate: 8.

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

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

About CattaC

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

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

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

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Ilya Remaerd and Roman Ericson are now active for more than ten years as Freaky Mind. The Russian duo defines their sound as ‘Killer Body Music from Moscow!’ A right description for their powerful sound mixing EBM, Dark-Electro and Techno music which they exposed at different albums. The self-titled new album released by darkTunes Music Group probably stands for their most accomplished and powerful work to date; Industrial-Techno music for zombies or just dark, danceable Electro-underground stuff! I talked about this masterpiece with Ilya.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Freaky Mind is already active for more than 10 years now. How do you look back at this career and the different productions that were released?

Ilya: We had some highs and lows, it’s true. There were moments I wish we could act differently, more boldly and persistently, with more self-confidence. Despite all this, I am convinced that we have been moving forward all this time, albeit sometimes not very fast. I see, how we change sonically into something more powerful and qualitative. Since it’s all about music after all, it’s the most important thing to me.

Q: You by the end of last year released the album “Freaky Mind”. What did you try to express by this self-titled work and how do you perceive the work in the band’s evolution?

Ilya: The title of this album means, that this time we didn’t put a lot of meaning into the album itself. I mean, all the previous times our albums were thematic, one way or another. This one is not. Rather, it is self-presentation. We demonstrate, who we are today and how we sound.

Q: How did “Freaky Mind” took shape? What have been the different stages you’d to go through to achieve this work and what’s the input of each member?

Ilya: Making this album was surprisingly easy. Everything was just flowing. We didn’t use much of the early stuff, and pretty quickly wrote brand new songs. In almost all tracks, we achieved the intended result pretty quickly. It happens quite rarely, when you know in advance, how exactly the song should sound. On this album we had this situation quite often. So, I can say, that Roman and I, we both definitely had fun making this record.

Q: Tell us a bit more about the guest artist -Freddie K. Croona who contributed one song of the album. How did you get in touch and how did the collaboration happened? What’s the bonus working with other artists?

Ilya: Fredrik has been a friend of ours for a long time. We first met in Moscow in 2012 and had a great time. Then when he visited Moscow a couple of times with Cynical Existence, we played with him on stage. I really consider him a good friend. We often talk, ask each other how things are going. His appearance on one of our songs was a matter of time.

Q: The music clearly sounds to have been mainly composed for dancefloors. Where do your influences come from -and especially for the new album, and why is this ‘club-sound’ that important to you?

Ilya: You’re right, we really wanted to make a good album for playing on parties and DJ-sets. The list of our influences is so long. We were inspired a lot by 90s dance music, different branches of Trance, Techno and House. We love the club sound, although sometimes we allow ourselves to deviate from it, as we did on our album “Doom” (2018).

Q: I can imagine the war your country is involved in must have an impact on your music activities like live performances in other European countries, physical sales, further plans etc. What’s the real impact you can feel and how do you try to manage all these things?

Ilya: I think, our musical activities are not something we should complain about right now. The only thing I want to say is that we’re grateful to darkTunes Music Group and Raphael Beck personally for taking care of everything we worked on so hard for these years and for his responsiveness. It means a lot, really. And, of course, we hope that someday we get a chance to meet our fans, wherever they are, and have a good time together.

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

Blackbook is a mysterious Swiss duo which last year released their official debut album “Confessions Of The Innocent” on DarkTunes Music Group. They were introduced as having been part of famous bands and having composed hits. Hidden behind masks and keeping their identities secret we can only but focus on the music. An impressive number of singles were already released before the album. So “Confessions Of The Innocent” is a kind of compilation from all these singles. The work reveals an impressive maturity in writing and production and is one of the best Electro/Wave-Pop albums from the last months. I talked to both protagonists who revealed their first names.  

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: You clearly don’t want to reveal your identities, preferring to hide behind masks and mystery. Is it a kind of marketing strategy or what is it really all about? And are there details you want to reveal?

Matthias: When we started Blackbook, we had already played in several other Swiss and German acts. We didn’t want the public or the media to focus on that. That way we had a fresh beginning and we could create a little mystery. But it’s okay now, we usually say our first names. You can’t hide for long in the era of the internet.

Albert: Not revealing your identity and even wearing masks is also a great way of saying: just listen to the music!

Q: What you for sure can reveal is how Blackbook saw the daylight and what brought you to work together? Was there a kind of guiding line and specific sources of inspiration in the writing of the songs?

Albert: Years ago we were playing in a band together and decided that at some point we would start a duo project. We had no idea what it was going to be but we liked the idea of planning something that would involve just the two of us. It’s very efficient, working as a duo.

Matthias: If you listen to our album I think it’s clear that we are inspired by 80s and 90s music. It’s the music we grew up with. But our inspiration for specific songs can come from anywhere: books, TV series, songs, anything we come across. When we began, we didn’t know yet what our sound would be but as soon as we had “Love Is A Crime”, which later became our first single, we knew what Blackbook would sound and look like.

Q: You already mentioned to have been involved with other projects so how do you see yourselves as musicians and what does Blackbook mean in addition to your other projects?

Albert: At the moment it’s the only really serious musical project I’m working on, so I reserve a lot of time to work and reflect on it. I am basically a songwriter and a singer, so that’s my thing.

Matthias: I am not a car-person, but if I where, Blackbook would be my favorite car that I polish every weekend and drive to work every day, although I told myself to only drive it on special occasions and use my shitty car instead.

Q: Your debut album “Confessions Of The Innocent” was preceded by an impressive number of singles. So how did the album finally take shape and how do you look back at the writing and production of the songs and album?

Matthias: Actually, it did start out as just a series of singles, starting with “Love Is A Crime”. At some point we said, let’s just pack them all on an album, add a few songs and that’s it. But I think the reason it works so well as an album is the fact that our songs have a red thread in terms of thematic content and production style.

Albert: When it comes to the lyrics, I like to think of an album as being a reflection of what I or we have been through in a certain period of time. It’s a mood piece that covers a part of our lives.

Q: Your songs are clearly into Synth-Pop music but what does this genre of music mean to you? And what are the elements you need to speak about a great Synth-Pop song?

Albert: To be honest, I don’t even care that much about genres. It’s obvious that you can label our music as Synth-Pop and that’s fine, but what I care about more is to make something that’s consistent, recognizable and true to our inner bearings as a musician.

Matthias: I grew up in the 80’s, so synthesizers, gated reverbs and drum machines from that era still make me feel good, in a nostalgic but also rejuvenating way.

Q: I noticed you’re planning your first live shows this year. What might the audience expect from Blackbook on stage and will you try to keep your identities secret -which I think is nearly impossible?  

Matthias: We’re preparing these shows at the moment and we’re totally freaking out.

Albert: I really can’t sleep anymore.

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: Dark-Electro, Aggrotech.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Russian formation Freaky Mind has already been active for years and has released many productions. Their newest, self-titled, album is the first one released by darkTunes and features eleven songs.

Content: “Freaky Mind” is a powerful production revealing a kind of crossover between Dark-Electro, Techno-Body and Aggrotech influences. Carrying choruses featuring catchy tunes and danceable beats are leading the listener in their grip. There’s no single break but only dancefloor stuff. 

+ + + : Freaky Mind already released great works and never stops excelling in new, pumping, and merciless dance stuff for underground parties. The songs are well-crafted with constant power while supported by great leads. Songs like “Eternal” and “I Just Wanna Dance” are both potential club hits. There also is the more Technoid orientated “Freedom” and the Future-Pop inspired “Where Is My Mind?” featuring Fredrik Croona.

– – – : Some might say there’s nothing new here but I consider “Freaky Mind” as one of the band’s best exponents to date.

Conclusion: Industrial-Techno music for zombies or just dark, danceable Electro-underground stuff.

Best songs: “Eternal”, “I Just Wanna Dance”, “Freedom”, “Where Is My Mind?”, “Get Undressed”, “Everything But You”.

Rate: 8½.

Artist: www.facebook.com/freakymindband

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

Read the news on ‘Freaky Mind’.

About Freaky Mind

Freaky Mind is a Russian duo of Ilya Remaerd and Roman Ericson, active under the name for more than ten years and describing their sound as “Killer Body Music from Moscow”, a mix of EBM, Dark-Electro and Techno elements. Their self-titled album is the duo’s first release through darkTunes Music Group and includes a guest appearance by Fredrik Croona on “Where Is My Mind?”. Side-Line discussed the record with the band in a 2023 interview.

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: Dark-Electro, EBM

Format: Digital, CD, Cassette.

Background/Info: Ext!ze strikes back with their seventh full length album. Featuring label owner Raphael Beck “Monstars” is paying tribute to famous horror and sci/fi movies and features sixteen songs.

Content: Most of the tracks are easily recognizable for their familiar Ext!ze sound made of hard-pumping kicks, dark, carrying leads and the rough vocals. Somewhere in between Dark-Electro, EBM and Techno-Trance leads on top there’re also typical horror-like piano arrangements. There’re also a few surprising parts with pure Rap vocals -even in French. 

+ + +  : Ext!ze is for sure one of the weirdest projects from the Dark-Electro scene. The concept this album is dealing with is not new but creatively adapted into hard, danceable songs with harsh vocals on top. The work is pure fun and total ecstasy. The pumping kicks are there to order you to dance while thinking of some of the most famous horror movies. The piano arrangements reinforce the concept. Ext!ze is a band with a high dose of self-mockery while revealing a creative spirit resulting in well-crafted songs. “Gremlins In The System”, “Boomstick”, “The Coffin Rock Witch” and “Dirty Freddy” are some of my favorites.

– – –  : Ext!ze seems to have no rules or guidelines which sometimes lead to totally unexpected songs. “Chucky’s Rap” is hilarious but not exactly the song I would recommend. 

Conclusion: Far away from the classical desperate Dark-Electro themes Ext!ze clearly sounds different and having fun; I like this work!

Best songs: “Gremlins In The System”, “Boomstick”, “The Coffin Rock Witch”, “Dirty Freddy”, “Furious Max”, “Crystal Lake Rave”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.facebook.com/EXTIZE666

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

About Ext!ze

Ext!ze is an industrial dark electro act fronted by Cyb3rella, signed to darkTunes Music Group. “Monstars” is a concept album paying tribute to horror and sci-fi stories from the 1980s through the 2000s, released as a digipak with 3D glasses and booklet as well as a VHS-style collector’s edition on cassette.

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, Electro-Wave-Pop.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Blackbook is a new Swiss duo which has been introduced as having composed famous hits and even the title song for a famous Netflix series. However, who they are remains unknown. They released several singles during the past four years and are now unleashing their debut album.

Content: Blackbook is clearly driven by good-old Electro-Wave/Pop influences. It sounds like the common thread throughout the entire album. Most of the songs sound like ‘happy-pop’ music although I also noticed a few harder passages driven by EBM-orientated bass lines. It’s a catchy and danceable production which might appeal to Elegant Machinery fans although I don’t want to make any further comparison. 

+ + +  : Blackbook took me by surprise. The album is a succession of great and fully accomplished songs. This is an outstanding production moving from catchy, happy, sounding tunes to harder, danceable cuts carried by menacing bass lines. The global spirit however remains ‘happy-pop’-like. The songs have been meticulously crafted revealing maturity and creative writing. The choruses mainly have an elevating effect. Last but not least there also is a talented and experienced singer on top of the work.

– – –  : We get 14 songs but only both last cuts can’t totally convince me. I don’t have any single reason to complain!

Conclusion: “Confessions Of The Innocent” sounds like a blast in Electro-Pop land. This album definitely belongs to the very restricted list of ‘best of’ Synth-Pop albums of the year.

Best songs: “Lab Rats”, “Love Is A Crime”, “Minefield”, “My Beautiful Witch”, “Minefield”, “I Dance Alone”.

Rate: 9.

Artist: www.blackbookmusic.ch / www.facebook.com/blackbook

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

About Blackbook

Blackbook is a Swiss duo consisting of two musicians who go by their first names, Matthias and Albert, and perform wearing masks. Both had previously played in other Swiss and German bands before forming Blackbook, citing 80s and 90s music as a shared influence. Their first single, “Love Is A Crime”, set the direction for the project ahead of the singles collected on “Confessions Of The Innocent”, released through darkTunes Music Group.

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

(By Stéphane Froidcoeur for Inferno Sound Diaries/Side-Line Reviews) 2022 has been once again a sad, bloody and terrible year. Living in a mad world music once more remains a true therapy to appease pain and frustration. Concerts and festivals came back; the perfect place to meet friends again. Artists remain prolific releasing great studio work. So I’m once more closing the year by a personal selection of my very own ‘best of’-albums of the year.

Over 700 productions have been selected while 540  reviews have been made all over the year. Some productions have been refused because the style of music didn’t fit, while other reviews will be postponed to 2023. I’m really grateful to all labels, bands and promoters considering my work and efforts and I hope you’ll go on providing me new promos next year.

I one again have to express my deepest gratitude to Rich Bova (NEIKKA RPM) who for years and years now is reading, correcting and improving my reviews. Without Rich there would be no reviews. I also want to thank Bernard Van Isacker – chief redactor Side-Line Music Magazine – for the successful collaboration. 

Up now to 2023. I already reduced my activities this year and will move on reducing it in 2023. I made my first reviews and interviews back in 1991 (!). Some of the readers and artists weren’t even born when I wrote my first review for Side-Line. So after more than 30 years non-stop activities I think it’s not that strange to move on slowly.

I also want to express a big ‘F*** you’ to so-called ‘artists’ and label owners who don’t realise and appreciate the work I’m doing by making reviews and preparing interviews to get them in the spotlights. The attitude and less of respect shown by those people – luckily a very few number – is just unacceptable… but I’m afraid it reflects the world we’re living in… Behind a genius artist is not always hiding a great person… It’s quite strange to realise the ’biggest’- and long-time established artists from this scene often are the most accessible ones.

Writing reviews remains very ‘subjective’ and always a source of discussion, but keep in mind it will be always the perception of the reviewer. I can assure you I’m always trying to argue my reviews the best as possible. A review will be never objective, but has to be honest!

Like every year I’ve made a selection from the best albums of the year. This ‘TOP 25’ covers different styles like EBM, Dark-Electro, IDM, Synth-Pop, Ethereal, Dark-Ambient, Industrial, Cinematographic, Gothic, Post-Punk, Cold/Dark-Wave, Dark-Techno and a few related genres. It remains an exciting but tough exercise.

This ‘TOP 25’ is taken from the promotional material I got while compilations, ‘best of’-productions, EP’s and singles were not considered.

So, here’s my ‘TOP 25’ from 2022 and don’t forget to share it with your friends….

Top 25 albums 2022

1. IVARDENSPHERE: “Ragemaker” – Metropolis Records
2. DIE ROBO SAPIENS : “Robo Sapien Race” – Alfa Matrix
3. EBE04 : “Inrush – Give/Take
4. CALDON GLOVER: “Labyrintia” – Cyclic Law
5. ROME: “Hegemonikon” – Trisol
6. NEIKKA RPM: “Scorpio In The Hourglass – Alfa Matrix
7. VANGUARD: “Spectrum” – Infacted Recordings
8. SUICIDE COMMANDO: “Goddestructor” – Out Of Line
9. ELM: “Penetrator” – Alfa Matrix
10. OBERER TOTPUNKT: “Totentanz” – Danse Macabre Records
11. THE BIRTHDAY MASSACRE: “Fascination” – Metropolis Records
12. BLACKBOOK: “Confessions Of The Innocent” – DarkTunes Music Group
13. BEYOND THE GHOST: “Sundown” – Cryo Chamber
14. THEN COMES SILENCE: “Hunger” – Metropolis Records
15. PRINCIPE VALLIENTE: “Barricades” – Metropolis Records
16. DAWN OF ASHES: “Scars Of The Broken” – Artoffact Records
17. MONSTERGOD: “Ozymandias” – Space Race Records
18. STATIQBLOOM: “Threat” – Sonic Groove Records
19. AXIOME: “Field Guide To Alien Planets And Other Disco Balls – Audiophob
20. REICHSFEIND: “Darken” – Alfa Matrix
21. FIRST AID 4 SOULS: “I Am The Night” – Alfa Matrix
22. ORDO ROSARIUS EQUILIBRIO: “Nihilist Notes And The Perputual Quest 4 Meaning In Nothing” – Out Of Line
23. KILL SHELTER: “Asylum” – Manic Depression Records / Metropolis Records
24. JAGATH: “Svapna” – Cold Spring Records
25. KILL YOUR BOYFRIEND: “Voodoo” – Shyrec

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

Czarina is a project driven by Vero Faye Kitsuné. This New-York (USA) native artist is now based in Spain. She this year unleashed her second full length album entitled “Arcana” (darkTunes Music Group). Her work makes me think to an imaginary fusion between Qntal (for the Ethereal approach) and Pop/Rock influences. It’s a styled- and artistic production which I can only but highly recommend.  

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: You’re dealing with different artistic forms; being involved as music composer and producer, designer, filmmaker, performer and creative director. Do I forget something? I can’t get away from the idea you must have a true artistic background, right? Tell us a bit more about it and what means artistic expression to you? 

Vero: Growing up in a very artistic and multi-faceted family, I have always had one foot in music and performance arts, the other foot in visual arts and design. I played in a Prog-Metal band in my early 20s for several years. However, during the last 2 decades, I have been serving as a creative director and designer in the fashion and footwear industry, while my musical endeavors receded into an on-and-off passion project. Ten years ago, I launched my own footwear and fashion label called Ivy Kirzhner, through which many of my followers actually have come to know me first. 

However, after a series of challenging chapters, I regret to say that my life went through a cataclysmic shift, and I was forced to fold this remarkable golden era in my career early 2018. Even though I continued to consult in the fashion industry, I found solace in making music again -writing, composing, producing and being fully creative without being tethered to a business construct. I’ve always felt that I was handed a very complex tapestry of life experiences to substantiate into a myriad of creative and artistic expressions. Thus, just like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Czarina was born.   

Q: Is it possible for you to earn a living with your artistic activities and especially with music? And do you think there’s enough recognition and support for contemporary (underground) artists? Do you see main differences between places and countries? 

Vero:  For me (and for now), it has always been about achieving a balance between earning and artistic passion.  I work as a creative director and designer for a living, whereas what I do in Czarina -music production, filmmaking and visual arts -are primarily for the sake of artistry and creative expression. 

I’m in my 4th year with this project, and I’m only beginning to see some quantifiable return in the investments, which is promising. What matters after all is fulfilling a vision and being fulfilled.  I’m finding that a lot of contemporary underground artists similar to me who are unique, genre-bending, carrying a refined point of view, and refusing  to fit in any bucket are often overlooked, only because we are hard to place in the current algorithmic system.  But I don’t think it’s impossible to make a breakthrough. It takes a lot more work and effort, but tapping directly into a pool of like-minded folks who are looking for more uniqueness out of art and music generates a much more fulfilling and rewarding experience. 

I think most artists are fixated over streaming metrics -which is fine, even if streaming often entails passive listeners. But I believe in developing a real tangible, fire-breathing, supportive fan base who genuinely connect with the music and craft. 

After moving from New York to Spain, I definitely have noticed that Europe in general tends to provide a more supportive and healthier incubation space for innovative, emerging artists.  Especially after signing with darkTunes Music Group, it’s the first time I felt both my music and I are finally getting embraced, and I am finding myself to be at the right place.  

Q: What kind of music project did you want to set up with Czarina? What have been the main sources of inspiration and how do you try to transpose these influences into music? 

Vero: When I started, I wanted to establish an artistic and creative DNA that is entirely unique to who I am and all my facets, and can transcend several adjacent genres and media. The project revolves around my music, songwriting and production, but it is intended to be a pure, artistic kaleidoscope containing layers upon layers of visual and experiential storytelling across several media.  I want folks to know and feel right away that it’s me -my very own sound, aesthetic, perspective, and vibe -free from prevailing constructs. A lot of my music and songwriting all contain particular messages and philosophies that honestly speak of my experiences -products of self-reflection and generated awareness and openness. My sources of inspiration change from time to time depending on where I am in life, but the thematic common denominator that ties everything together and keeps the project grounded is spirituality and wisdom gained thru a very vast and yet very specific set of life experiences. 

Q: I noticed an impressive evolution in sound/production from your debut album “Painted Holograms” (2018) towards “Arcana”. What happened in between both albums and how do you perceive your own evolution in the writing- and production process? 

Vero: A tremendous amount of growth has definitely happened. My records are true reflections of where I am in life. When I decided to work on Czarina early 2018, I was still living in New York City -raw and coming out of a very difficult period following a shatter. The songs in my debut record “Painted Holograms” were written and produced during this time, and they carry out themes of healing and piecing one’s life back together. I had just started dabbling with synths and was very much into nostalgia, so I decided to blend Cinematic ‘Neon Noir’ inspired by tech noir films like “Blade Runner” with contemporary Industrial, Trip-Hop and Dark-Wave. It was also my first time producing a full record, still harnessing my DAW (I use Logic Pro), grasping techniques in music production, and leaning on a couple of good friends to help bring it to the finish line. I would say that “Painted Holograms” truly represented where I was at the time.

Then the years that followed were remarkable –ultimately finding love, getting married, getting ushered to a much better place and turning my life around. In the midst of the COVID19 pandemic, my husband (the artist DeadlyKawaii) and I decided to live our dreams and move to his ancestral homeland in Galicia, Spain.  And this has been a massive turning point for me. Galicia is so beautiful, raw, and has a very magical vibe. I could not help but be inspired by my new home and this new-found elevation in life and spirit.  Shortly after the move, I was contacted by Raphael Beck of darkTunes Music Group and was signed to the label. I took the opportunity to redefine this project and allow its evolution to synchronize with where I now stand. If “Painted Holograms” was about piecing one’s self back together after a shatter, then “Arcana” is about finally becoming whole and completely renewed. I was feeling very confident, ambitious and resolved. I wanted a big new, monstrous sound that is inspired, ethereal yet heavy-hitting. I returned to my Prog-Metal roots, brought out all my guitars and my affinity for chamber music, new age choirs and Gothic-Rock –all to create a unique new sound that I can finally call my own.  

Q: How do you look back at the writing and accomplishment of “Arcana”? What have been the main challenges in the accomplishment of this opus and are there elements you’re not entirely satisfied with? 

Vero: I’m tremendously proud of “Arcana.” I felt really empowered the whole time I was writing, composing and producing it. I feel like I achieved a very particular and finite vision and intent. Everything felt aligned.  However, the ambitiously grandiose nature of its production definitely has posed challenges on the technical sound engineering end. The writing and production are very complex, with a lot of stems and sounds that needed to be mediated properly -guitars, chamber orchestra, drums, choirs, etc. It was not an easy task. I brought in my good friend Von Hertzog (VHxRR, Information Society) as co-producer, mixing and mastering engineer to bring his expertise, and harness and finesse the vast dynamics of the record.  He also provided additional production input and atmospheric sound designs on some of the tracks.  As much as I feel I reached a new summit with “Arcana,” I believe I just scratched the surface. There is still a lot of room for growth. I could now see where I could have pushed and also pulled more. So, I’m very excited to see where the next record will take me. 

Q: I’ve been also deeply impressed by the imagery and the clips which I can imagine are just two others facets of your creativity and art. It’s styled and revealing mystic- and ritual elements, right? What do you try to express by these aspects of your work and what’s the connection between music and imagery? 

Vero: I have been following occult, esoteric, mystical and new age studies and all things arcane. I often take inspiration from global mythology, legends and all sorts of wonders from the ancient world. Something about the wondrous nature of those worlds just fascinates me and keeps me inspired, curious and hopeful. Also Costa da Morte in Galicia where we live is actually known for its sorcery, magic and actual living and breathing mages. I definitely went through a shift when I moved here as though I answered a particular calling. So a lot of what has inspired me spiritually and philosophically, I try to embed them in my work. Art is magical and alchemical already on its own. Might as well take it to the next level and constructively embed rituals and magic into the music and imagery –may they help uplift spirits and call on others who can do the same.

Q: What are the further plans? 

Vero: I am very excited to showcase the universe within “Arcana” in its entirety. I am working on bringing “Arcana” to life as a full live stage performance, which I hope to be ready come fall. I am slated to drop at least 2 of them this year and the rest next year. I’m slated to drop 2 new music videos this year as well. So lots of fun stuff in the works. I feel like I’m only getting started.  

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: Pop-Rock, Ethereal, Gothic.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: New-York (USA) native  Vero Faye Kitsuné is operating from Spain. “Arcana” is her second full length album -the first one released by darkTunes, featuring ten songs.

Content: It’s nearly impossible defining the sound of this artist which rather sounds like the offspring between multiple influences. The songs have been composed with guitar and electronic arrangements. There’s an Ethereal touch running through some songs and which is also emerging from passages with choirs. The songs are dreamy but also powerful, melodic and still into a kind of Dark-Rock style mixed with Qntal. One of the songs is a cover version of Siouxsie & The Banshees’ famous “Cities In Dust”. The album ends with an instrumental edit of the song “Lost Lands”.

+ + + : CZARINA took me by surprise for its originality. The way all different influences have been brought together is remarkable but still very efficient. I like the melodic aspect of the songs but also the Ethereal influences. I more than once got the feeling of hearing Qntal mixed with Rock and Pop music. Several songs have a true elevating effect. There are several cool songs but I especially recommend “Wonderland”, “Atomic: Ad Initvm”, “Medusa” and “Excelsior”. The final songs which is an instrumental piece also is an attention grabber.

– – – : I don’t have real minus points to mention and I’m still convinced CZARINA has the potential to do better.

Conclusion: CZARINA’s “Arcana”-album is a true artistic music piece merging originality together with efficiency.

Best songs: “Wonderland”, “Atomic: Ad Initvm”, “Medusa”, “Excelsior”, “Lost Lands”.

Rate: 8½.

Side-Line covered the release in March 2022, reporting that “Arcana” was out via darkTunes Music Group, and had presented the single “Atomic: Ad Initivm” a year earlier.

Listen to “Arcana”:

Artist: www.czarina.com / www.facebook.com/czarinanyc

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

About CZARINA

CZARINA, styled C Z A R I N A, is the project of Vero Faye Kitsuné, a New York native who works from Galicia in Spain. She writes, composes, arranges, performs, records and produces her own material at home.

The single “Atomic: Ad Initivm” appeared through darkTunes in March 2021, with additional production, mixing and mastering by Von Hertzog of The Social Club. “Arcana”, her second full-length, followed on darkTunes Music Group in March 2022, with Von Hertzog again credited as co-producer, mixing and mastering engineer.

Every track on “Arcana” was written by Czarina except “Cities In Dust”, originally written by Siouxsie Sioux, Budgie and Steven Severin. The limited CD edition carries nine tracks and the digital release adds an instrumental version of “Lost Lands”.

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 on darkTUNES is, “Oneness”, the debut album by the Polish darkwave act Agnis. The album was earlier announced by the single and video “Sol Invictus”. Expect a bit of Wiccan mystique mixed with darkwave and withhouse. You might know here from her work with Desdemona and her own band Red Storm.

“Oneness” is out as download and also on CD and can be ordered below.

Also check out this video.

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

Galicia, Spain-based New York native and dark electro artist, Czarina (styled as C Z A R I N A on all platforms) has released her sophomore LP, “Arcana”, via the German gothic label darkTunes Music Group.

Expect a mix of dark electro, synthpop, orchestral baroque pop, gothic new age, and progressive rock and strong female vocals.

All songs in Arcana were written, composed, arranged, performed, recorded and produced by Czarina in her home in Galicia, except for “Cities In Dust” which was originally written by Siouxie Sioux, Budgie and Steven Severin. Von Hertzog (VHxRR, Information Society) of The Social Club (Reading, PA) served as co-producer, mixing, and mastering engineer, providing additional production input.

“Arcana” is available as a special limited edition CD package (with an exquisite super deluxe artwork we must say) featuring all 9 tracks on Bandcamp and darkMerch.com. The digital release includes a bonus instrumental track of “Lost Lands” and is available for download and streaming on all platforms.

As a nice extra touch, the record release is accompanied by a special limited distribution of Czarina’s very own branded Smoked Black Rosé Cider also called Arcana, handcrafted and distributed by Skald Cellars (PA) in the US only. The record will also be followed up with a series of new music videos which will be released throughout the year under darkTunes Music Group.

Order your album here or right below from Bandcamp.

Watch her newest video 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

The 8th Extize album “MonStars” will be released in about 7 months from now, on September 30th. Leading up to the release the band is going to release 1 single and 1 video and here we go with their 3rd single and music video “BoomStick” which handles the cult horror comedy movie “Evil Dead”.

Here’s the video.

And if you want to download the track already, check below.

Not surprising as the whole “MonStars” album is a tribute to the horror and sci-fi stories from the 80s all the way to the 2000’s which frontman Cyb3rella grew up with. The album will be out as a digipack with 3D glasses and 3D booklet to properly take you back in time and make your listening experience even more exciting. As a bonus, the band is also releasing a collector edition in the form of a VHS box with an audio cassette version of the album and many goodies from the movies that it’s about. A bonus track is also added to the cassette called “Dusk” inspired by the movie “From dusk till dawn”.

You can pre-order the album right here.

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

Our free download compilation “Face The Beat: session 7” has stormed the Bandcamp industrial music charts in no time reaching the number 1 spot overnight. That’s faster than ever before. This ‘mastodont’ release, as someone put it on Twitter, features no less than 135 tracks featuring the broad spectrum of subgenres in the darkwave music scene and coming from bands from allover the world.

Just like last time Side-Line received a huge amount of submissions hence why it also took a while to complete it. We were at the same time also helped out by several labels who offered material to be included on this compilation including but not limited to darkTunes Music Group, Insane Records, SkyQode, Dungeon Recordings and Alfa Matrix. It thus became again a collection of new and established acts.

The release itself was compiled by our chief editor Bernard Van Isacker in Winter of 2021 during long listening sessions in an Istanbul hotel, an attic in Ypres and a holiday house in Eupen. The mastering & sound adjustment was executed by Erlend Eilertsen (Lights A.M, Essence Of Mind) in Norway. And as it happens, Shane Aungst from Seattle is already working on a next promotional surprise.

All proceedings will again go to the various charities we support and this time we will also donate to humanitarian aid for refugees in Eastern Europe due to the ongoing war there which we truly hope will end soon.

You can download the release right below. Enjoy and thanks to all bands involved!

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.

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The 8th Extize album “MonStars” will be released exactly in eight moths, on September 30th. 2022. The band will now release 1 new single and 1 new video each month till the album release. The first one is out now, “Pinheadbanger” which is about the first monster taken from the cult horror movie “Hellraiser”. Coming up next on February 11th is “Hot Like Carrie”.

The video for the first track features Mexico’s most famous female cosplayer Lorraine Cosplay and can be seen right below.

To download the track, check right below.

“MonStars” is a concept album which act as a tribute to the horror and sci-fi stories from the 80s all the way to the 2000, something which frontman Cyb3rella grew up with. The album will be released as a digipak with 3D glasses and 3D booklet to properly take you back in time and “make your listening experience even more exciting”, so the band’s label darkTUNES says.

As a bonus, Extize is also releasing a collectors edition in the form of a VHS box with an audio cassette version of the album and many goodies from the movies that it’s about. And added as well is a bonus track to the cassette called “Dusk” which was inspired by the movie “From Dusk Till Dawn”.

You can pre-order the album right here.

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 Polish Darkwave / witchpop act Agnis releases her newest single and video “Sol Invictus”. This new single is taken from her upcoming debut album “Oneness” which will be released on March 25th 2022 via the fine darkTUNES label.

Here’s the download on Bandcamp.

You can watch the video 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

Genre/Influences: Dark-Electro, Aggrotech. 

Format: Digital, CD. 

Background/Info: “Damnation” is the fifth album by Martin Schindler aka SynthAttack. We get twelve songs plus six remixes.

Content: I realize that SynthAttack isn’t really innovating, the sound and approach being comparable to the previous album. SynthAttack is once more mixing Dark-Electro elements with pure Dance music reminding me of the 90s. They already illustrated it on their previous albums and even dares to go a step further now. The ‘90s tribute’ “Call Me Insane” is a parody of Culture Beat’s “Mr. Vain”. I already thought to have heard a comparable connection to the previous album so they now simply covered this song into a very own, but recognizable style. “Damnation” also features a few heavenly female vocals next to the cavernous, pitched vocals of Martin Schindler. 

Remixes have been accomplished by Basscalate, [X]-RX, C-Lekktor, Synapsyche, Reactor7x and Freaky Mind. 

+ + + : This band remains a true challenge, but it clearly becomes a successful formula to conquer the dancefloors. So the title of the album is totally matching with the ongoing pandemic and its consequences for the music scene: closed clubs and no more dancefloors. SynthAttack sounds like food for dancefloors; the sound formula is a true challenge, but it has this terrific kind of dance elixir, which will make you dance. I personally like the tracks with male- & female duo vocals, “Dark Days” being one of my favorite cuts. It also sounds a little bit different from the rest, but the female vocals are adding an artistic and heavenly touch on top of the work. The list of remixers is an extra noticeable element of the album.

– – – : The work sometimes sounds like a copy-paste of its predecessor; no single innovation, but why changing a winning formula? The work becomes a bit predictable and that’s a pity as this band also shows a few ‘different’ ideas, which are more than promising. Despite the great list of remixers, none of them really add a bonus to the album and the original edits. 

Conclusion: I would be not surprised to see SynthAttack once covering some of the greatest 90s Dance-hits and reworking them in their typical darker Dance style. God was a DJ and SynthAttack must be Judas…

Best songs: “Dark Days”, “We Are SynthAttack”, “Dirty Dark electro – Stomp Edition”, “Magic vs. Toal – Special Edit”. 

Rate: 7½. 

Artist: www.facebook.com/synthattack 

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

About SynthAttack

SynthAttack is a dark electro and aggrotech project from Hannover, Germany, driven by Martin Schindler, who handles production, lyrics and live vocals. Side-Line first covered the act in July 2017 with the Face The Beat profile piece Side-Line introduces SynthAttack – listen now to ‘Afterlife (Suppressor Remix)’ (Face The Beat profile series).

The debut album “To The Floor” appeared on darkTunes Music Group in 2015, followed by Synthattack – Club Takeover (CD Album – Dark Tunes Music Group) in 2016, SynthAttack – Harsh Is Back (CD Album – darkTunes Music Group) in 2017, the “Salvation In Hell” EP in 2018 and SynthAttack – Join Us (CD Album – darkTunes Music Group) in 2019. The single “Dirty Dark Electro” also appeared in 2019, and the EP SynthAttack – Harsh Will Never Die (EP – darkTunes Music Group) followed in 2020.

“Damnation” was released on 22 October 2021 by darkTunes Music Group as a digital download and on CD. It holds eighteen tracks, opening with “Into the Void (Intro)” and including “Magic (vs. TOAL) (Special Edit)”, a collaboration with Toal, followed by six remixes. The label states the album is about lockdown isolation, “the inner turmoil, the feeling of a never ending cycle to the long awaited redemption”. Schindler continued with the single “Circle Of Pain” in 2022 and announced the album “Immortal in Hell” for 11 September 2026 together with fall tour dates.

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Industrial-Rave, Trance-EBM.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: German project Basscalate was set up during the lockdown. Driven by SynthAttack front man Martin Schindler, and he got some vocal assistance from Julia. A first single “Feel this Beat” was released last year while we now get an EP featuring three songs plus two remixes.

Content: Basscalate clearly sounds like a fun project to set dancefloors on fire. It sounds rather like a mission impossible during lockdown, but once the clubs will open their doors again; this EP has the potential to lead visitors into an ecstatic dance. As the name of the project indicates, the songs are driven by solid bass lines mixed with pumping rhythms and pure Trance arrangements. Julia’s vocals are produced in a half spoken way, sometimes creating the effect of a sampling. Martin does the backing vocals, which sounds like growls. Remixes were done by ES23 and Basszilla. 

+ + + : The main focus is to compose Electro for dancefloors and Basscalate clearly succeeded in their goal. The title song is hitting hard, mixing Techno and Trance with a dark touch on top. The lyrics are hilarious, but it fits with this kind of stuff. Both remixes add a cool extra.

– – – : It’s hard to say if we should treat Basscalate as a serious project; it’s just fun and music to drive you mad. 

Conclusion: Basscalate sounds like an antidote to Covid-19; the ultimate vaccine to get clubs open again!

Best songs: “Bass Bitch”, “Feel This Beat”.

Rate: 7½.

Artist: www.facebook.com/BasscalateHQ

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

About Basscalate

Basscalate is a side project from Hannover, Germany, started during the 2020 lockdown by Martin Schindler, frontman of the dark electro act SynthAttack, with vocalist Julia. The Discogs profile describes it as an outlet for “their frustration of abstaining from clubs and parties”. The single “Feel This Beat” came out on 11 December 2020.

The EP “Bass Bitch” was released digitally by darkTunes Music Group on 19 February 2021. It holds “Bass Bitch”, “No Love Song” and “Feel This Beat” plus “No Love Song (ES23 RMX)” and “Feel This Beat (BASSZILLA RMX)”. Later Bandcamp releases are “Wir drehen auf” (25 February 2022), “Electro In My Body” with SynthAttack (2022), “Schau Mich An”, “Demons Call” and “Time To Thrive” (13 February 2026).

Schindler’s main project released the album Damnation on darkTunes Music Group in October 2021, reviewed on Side-Line that December. “Bass Bitch” is the first Basscalate EP.

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

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

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Russian formation Omnimar has released their fourth full length album four years after the previous one. The duo Maria Mar – Alex Vrt invites you to embark on a trip of thirteen songs. Several tracks of “Darkpop” were previously released as singles.

Content: Omnimar remains inspired and driven by Pop music, but “Darkpop” accentuates this influence. You’ll find no longer heavier Metal influences, but clearly Electro/Indie-Pop compositions. Some passages are mixed with darker elements. The work is achieved with a melodic approach and emotional vocals. 

+ + + : Omnimar clearly doesn’t like repeating themselves, this opus being already a new adventure and experiment. Their Pop interpretation has something atypical –which I like, and yet is easily recognizable. I like the emotional side of the work, which comes mainly through on, “Drama”. I also have to mention “The Road”, which is pure melancholia. “Circulate” is another attention grabber for its great melody line. Last, but not least I also have to say a word about the production of the vocals, Maria being clearly a talented singer for such a production.

– – – : I sometimes miss an essential catchy touch, but that’s probably what would have made the difference with the album’s ‘dark-pop’ approach. 

Conclusion: “Darkpop” is an enjoyable production, which is not only meant for ‘classical’ Electro-Pop lovers.

Best songs: “Drama”, “The Road”, “Circulate”, “Wishing For Life”.

Rate: 7.

Artist: www.facebook.com/omn1mar

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

About Omnimar

Omnimar is a darkpop duo founded in 2012 by singer and lyricist Maria Mar and producer Alex Vrt; Oleg Xaler was a third member around the time of “Poison”. Side-Line reported on the debut album in the October 2015 item Omnimar debuts with ‘Start’ album and ran the Face The Beat profile Side-Line introduces Omnimar – listen now to ‘Reason (Remix By Cutoff Sky)’ in March 2017. The album Poison followed on darkTunes Music Group in 2017 and was reviewed in October of that year. Discogs also lists the singles “Forever” and “Anger” (2018), “Dream On”, “Humans” and “The Road” (2019) and “You & I” and “Red” (2020).

“Darkpop” was released by darkTunes Music Group on 12 February 2021 on CD and as a download. The thirteen tracks are “Wishing For Life”, “Serenity”, “Oxygene”, “Red”, “Music Is My Everything”, “Drama”, “Humans”, “First Snow Day”, “You & I”, “Circulate”, “Secret Plan”, “Feels Like Velvet” and “The Road”; “The Road”, “You & I”, “Humans” and “Red” had been issued as singles. The label describes the album as one “in which Dark Pop and Storytelling become one”.

A series of remix singles by Zardonic, Extize, Lazerpunk, Imperative Reaction, Frozen Plasma, Assemblage 23, Rroyce, Cold Vigor, ES23, Rotersand, ESA and Ruined Conflict led to the collection “Darkpop Remixes” on 26 May 2023, and the singles “Save Me Tonight” and “So Cold” (2024) and “WET” (2025) followed. The duo also appears on the darkTunes compilation Hard Pop, Vol. 1 (2021). “Darkpop” is the fourth Omnimar album.

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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 via the nice colleagues of darkTunes is a compilation called “Hard Pop, Vol. 1”. The compilation basically turns radio hits from the past 3 decades into metal and goth.

The compilation starts with “Seven Nation Army” by The White Stripes covered by Blackbook. What follows is a series of bands including Omnimar, Dust In Mind, Toal, Extize, Basszilla and many more taking us on a journey through nostalgia up to today’s tunes by artists such as Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Madonna, Katy Perry, Lmfao, t.A.T.u, P!Nk, Christina Aguilera, Rihanna & Calvin Harris.

Further covers include “Back to Black” by Amy Winehouse, “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” by Green Day, and even “Complicated” by Avril Lavigne.

Next to these ‘older songs’ we also find modern era covers songs such as “Radioactive” by Imagine Dragons, “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd, “Around the World” by Daft Punk and “Rolling in the Deep” by Adele.

In total 17 pop hits were reimagined by the metal and gothic bands signed to the darkTunes label.

The compilation is also available as a 6 sided digipak (500 copies only) with 16 pages booklet and stickers and of course as download.

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: Dark-Pop, Wave-Pop.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: German formation Toal released a debut-EP entitled “Timeless”-EP in 2019 and last year struck back with their debut full-length album. The work features ten songs plus seven remixes.

Content: Toal deals with a sound, which is not that easy to define. It however clearly sounds inspired by a dark approach in Electro-Pop. The songs have something evasive, sometimes moving into Cinematographic passages and even touching ground with a kind of ‘Cabaret-Noir’-style. The female vocals are sometimes reminding me of a mix between L’Âme Immortelle and Kirlian Camera while the production might appeal for lovers of Blutengel.

Remixes have been accomplished by [:SITD:], L’Âme Immortelle, Chrom, ES23, Mental Exile and HzweiG. There’s also one remix featuring SynthAttack.

+ + + : I like the mix between the different influences, but globally speaking Toal deals with a rather personal Dark-Electro-Pop approach. This band is not a new emulation of an idol, but tries to bring something different merging different influences with each other. The now sensual and then dreamy-like vocal parts create a delicious match with the music. The album is missing an ‘absolute’ hit, but features multiple cool songs instead. I also have to say a word about the impressive list of remixers. L’Âme Immortelle, Chrom and ES23 did a really great job.

– – – : I think this band has more potential than what came out at this work.

Conclusion: “Ritus Ex Silenti” is a very promising debut album resulting from a creative process. 

Best songs: “Ritual”, “Unreal World”, “Trapped Heart” + “Trapped Heart – Remix by Tom Chrom”, “Unreal World – L’Âme Immortelle Remix”, “Unreal World – ES23 Remix”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/toal.band

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

About Toal

Toal is a German quartet from Braunschweig and Herford, formed in autumn 2017. Frontwoman Luzi Lacole entered the electronic music scene in 2017 as keyboardist, dancer and singer of SynthAttack, and is joined in Toal by Rob Gee, Oak and Tian. The band released the “Timeless” EP in 2019, followed by the “Trapped Heart” single in 2020 and the debut album “Ritus Ex Silenti” on darkTunes Music Group.

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: EBM, Industrial.

Format: Digital.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rate: (7½).

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

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

About CattaC

CattaC is a German dark-electro-wave project built around Jens Helmis, who handles all instruments, vocals and lyrics, joined by Christian Schinköthe on live keys, FX and backing vocals, with Bernd Randow-Tepper as a guest live guitarist. “Filthy Tendrils” is the band’s third full-length album, released on darkTunes Music Group during the pandemic.

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 DarkTunes is the newest single from Galicia, Spain-based American artist Vero Faye Kitsuné aka Czarina: “Atomic: Ad Initivm”. The futurist synth and dark electro track was written, composed, arranged, produced and performed by Czarina with additional production, mixing and mastering by Von Hertzog of The Social Club.

A video was also created and can be viewed below.

And here’s the single on Spotify.

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: Dark-Electro, Aggrotech, Industrial-Dance-Pop.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: After their last year released fourth full length album “Join Us”, German SynthAttack strikes back with a new EP featuring a title song, remixes and a B-side track.

Content: The success of SynthAttack is according to me due to their mix between different music genres. That’s what this new EP already illustrates. Some will recognize typical Dark-Electro elements, which are powerful and extremely danceable while driven by harsh vocals. Others will be captivated by the Dance/Trance catchy leads, which reinforce the dance format of the work. SynthAttack brings all these elements together. Remixes have been done by Reactor 7x, Noise Resistance and Device Noize. The B-side song moves a bit further into Industrial-Dance music.

+ + + : SynthAttack remains a real merciless project when it comes to compose dancefloor music. Even if the sound is harsh and dark, it also has something ‘commercial/dance’-minded, which will appeal for a wider audience. The title song is the ultimate fusion between all the aforementioned influences. Among the remixes I want to mention the great job done by Russian project Noise Resistance and the cool remix by Reactor 7x.

– – – : The B-side cut “All Of My Life” features a too ‘Dance’ driven chorus carried by a cheap and cliché like Trance-Dance lead.

Conclusion: The title song is a kind of earworm and a new club killer.

Best songs: “Harsh Will Never Die”, “Harsh Will Never Die – Noise Resistance RMX”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.SynthAttack.com / www.facebook.com/synthattack

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

About SynthAttack

SynthAttack is a dark electro project from Hanover, Germany, formed in February 2015 by Martin Schindler and Britta. Martin handles production, lyrics and live vocals, while Britta supports on stage and keys. The band is signed to darkTunes Music Group and released its debut album “To The Floor”, followed by the extended EP “Club Takeover”. “Harsh Will Never Die” is the group’s latest EP, featuring remixes by Reactor 7x, Noise Resistance and Device Noize.

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

SUPPRESSOR is a solo-project hailing from Chile. You might have discovered this hard- and dark minded Electro-Trance project on one of the famous “Endzeit Bunkertracks”-compilation series or by a remix for SynthAttack. Suppressor already released a few EP’s, but has now released the debut full length “Into A Deep Void” on darkTunes Music Group. The work is an astonishing sonic fusion between Psy-Trance and Dark-Electronics.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: You are already active under the Suppressor moniker for several years now, but can you briefly tell us who you are, where do you come from and how did you get contaminated by the electronic-music virus? What have been your sources of inspiration?

Bergen: My name is Bergen Schlitzie, I am from Santiago, Chile. Since I was a child I started listening to Techno and growing up I got interested in Electronic music. In my adolescence I got interested in Gothic- and Industrial music plus hard Electronic beats.

It was in 2004 when together with Ignacio J. Vera (Traumatic Injection, Don Baphomet) we set up our first project called NEUTRAL KONNTROL and so, our way in the music production. I always quote Noisuf-X, Xotox, as a source of inspiration, as well as more neural rhythms such as Psy-Trance and Goa

Q: You this year released your new album “Into A Deep Void” revealing a true sonic fusion between Industrial- and Psy-Trance music. How do you perceive your own evolution from the previous releases till “Into A Deep Void”?

Bergen: Since I started as a SUPPRESSOR, I wanted to have a different and danceable sound. I progressed and got more interested in creating something more ‘personal’.  

Then I decided to try the mixture of Industrial and Psy-Trance for the “Shaman”-EP, which generated what I was looking for to obtain that sound; that mixture that was different from the previous one that I already had published and that pleased the public in general.

Q: Tell us a bit more about the writing, recording and production work of the album?

Bergen: “Into A Deep Void” is a very personal process. The title and the album itself are inspired by the film “Enter The Void” by Gaspar Noé. In this album I reflect my desires for an introspective journey. The album itself is a process of ending and beginning, a new beginning both personally and artistically. It was a process of trial and error, but with a result that I love.

Q: The Psy-Trance influences are very present in the album, but still in the clip of “ Śūnyatā”. Tell us a bit more about the clip and the way you get in touch with Psy-Trance music? What does this genre of music mean to you?

Bergen: “Śūnyatā” or “Void” is a Buddhist concept that opens the inner being, empty of feelings and memories, to return as you wish.

Psy-Trance is a music genre that attracts me by its message and connection with nature, it transports me to another place within the subconscious, it creates my “Void” and restart as many times as necessary.

Q: I think it’s not an easy thing to release a new album during the Covid-19 pandemic. How do you experience this situation and does it have a real impact on your activities?

Bergen: This pandemic has been quite difficult to live, both creatively and personally. I should mention that this record was an escape valve. I was able to concentrate on writing it, arranging it, mixing it, and thus freeing myself from many burdens. Enjoy the process, that’s all.

Q: You are hailing from Chile so what can you tell us about the scene (bands, labels, clubs, promoters, organizations etc) in your country? What do you expect to be signed on an European label?

Bergen: There are good bands and musical projects like Say Just Words, Die Braut, Traumatic Injection, as well as good places to play and show your art… but there is a lack of support from the public.

The Chilean scene is many years away from what has been achieved in Europe or Mexico where bands are getting a bigger support. I hope to have more opportunities of diffusion together with other European labels (apart from DarkTunes) to show my art to many more people and to get far with my project.

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: Techno, Rave, Industrial, Dance.

Format: Digital, 2 CD.

Background/Info: Behind Basszilla is hiding Ext!ze front man ‘Cyb3rella’. After having released a few EP’s we now get the debut full length of Basszilla, which is also available as a double album featuring twenty songs.

Content: I didn’t know who was hiding behind this project during the listening. But I immediately heard a strong 90s techno/rave influence while some ‘darker’ passages made me think to Ext!ze. The Ext!ze touch and global approach –especially with the techno influences, is easily noticeable although this project moves a step further… of a step back into the past. Basszilla is driven by solid bass lines, but the sound is filled with endless 90s techno elements and effects. This is pure vintage and also reminiscent of the early years of Lords Of Acid. The vocals are often pitched, which reminds me of Brooklyn Bounce. Some cuts are indeed a bit harsher and darker, but it all remains driven by the same old retro-style.

+ + + : This kind of album is a challenge and I always like challenges; they’re made to make thing evolving! What I like in this work is some of the bass lines, but especially at the harder parts of the work. I’ve to admit this kind of project is not totally my cup of tea, but there’s something to say about songs like “God Of Bass” and “Bells Of Kaoss”. On the second disc I especially recommend “The Vampire Of Heidelberg” and “Bass Monster”.

– – – : There was great techno/dance music in the 90s, but this kind of retro-style mixed with some extra dark elements doesn’t really convince me. It’s fun, but outdated! The main point is that the production features too much of these elements.

Conclusion: Ext!ze is great, but Basszilla is just fun for retro techno lovers.

Best songs: “God Of Bass”, “Bells Of Kaoss, “The Vampire Of Heidelberg” and “Bass Monster”.

Rate: (6).

Artist: www.basszilla.net / www.facebook.com/BasszillaOfficial

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

About Basszilla

Basszilla is a nu-rave/EDM project started in 2014 by a French-born producer based in Heidelberg, Germany, also known as Cyb3rella from Ext!ze. The project’s first EP was released in May 2014 through darkTunes Music Group, which also issued the full-length “Support Your Local Apocalypse Dealer” in 2020.

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: EBM, dark-electro, dark-wave.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Nathan Rainer is active under the Third Realm moniker since 2000. He released multiple albums on labels such as Radio-Active Music and Distortion Productions plus self-released different works as well. He last year joined hands with darkTunes to unleash this new work.

Content: Third Realm moves on mixing EBM and dark-electro music. The album takes off with hot female moans while the harsh vocals of Nathan Rainer are joining in. This song is one of the two cuts featuring Chiasm, but is pretty representative of the album, revealing a hot and club-driven sexy EBM format. Some songs are darker and more dark-electro orientated while other passages are getting back to the dark-wave style of the project. Songs with clearer vocals are once again reminding me of Diary Of Dreams; there’s a natural power and charismatic interpretation of the songs.

The final part of the work features remixes by Aesthetic Perfection, Subliminal Code and Panic Lift.

+ + + : Third Realm moves on experimenting with different –although related, influences, but this album reveals a truly cohesive result. There’s a harmony between all songs, which naturally resulted in a few brilliant songs such as “Passion” and the dance-wave driven “Gazing At The Stars”. Third Realm has found the right balance between catchy choruses, danceable kicks and EBM power. Both songs featuring Chiasm are also noticeable parts revealing a hot balance between both singers. Last, but not least there’s also a great remix by Aesthetic Perfection.

– – – : Third Realm remains a project mixing multiple genres together so in the end you often get the feeling of hearing different bands, but I have to admit it’s not really the point of this work. 

Conclusion: It’s hard to say if this is the best work ever composed by Third Realm, but it for sure is a very efficient mix between different, although related genres.

Best songs: “Passion”, Bipolar Pop feat. Chiasm”, “Gazing At The Stars”, Tides Of The Sea feat. Chiasm”, “Bipolar Pop feat. Chiasm – Aesthetic Perfection Remix”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: https://thirdrealm.org / www.facebook.com/ThirdRealm

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

About Third Realm

Third Realm is a dark electronic project founded in 2000 by Buffalo, New York-based musician Nathan Reiner. The project signed to Distortion Productions for “The Suffering Angel” (2017) and “Dystopian Society” (2018), before moving to darkTunes Music Group for “The Art Of Despair” (2019/2020) and the compilation “Decadence – The Best Of” (2019).

After further self-released work through Morbid Attitude Records, Third Realm reconnected with Distortion Productions owner Jim Semonik for the 2023 album “Into Oblivion”.

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: Gothic, goth-rock.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Greek formation The Black Capes saw the light of day in 2016. The band’s debut album “All These Monsters” released in 2017 by darkTunes got a very positive response. The band did successful live performances and tours, and are now back on track unleashing their second opus. 

Content: “Lullabies For The Dead” moves on there where the previous album stopped. This band knows exactly how to compose a perfect mix between gothic music –often reminiscent of 80s formations such as The Mission and The Sisters Of Mercy, and dark-rock. I think it’s not a coincidence that they bring the legendary “Rain”-song from The Cult back to life. The work features 10 songs, which are characterized by carrying choruses resulting in a few cool songs.

+ + + : The Black Capes don’t really strive for innovation, but simply deal with the music they like. You can feel some passion for 80s cold-wave music, but they simply adapted this influence into their very own interpretation, which is a little bit more rock driven. I especially like the guitar  injecting this typical dark mood. The cover version of “Rain” is an excellent song, but I also have to mention “The Blood Is Life” and especially “Gotham”. This last mentioned song is pure passion!

– – – : You don’t exactly listen to The Black Capes for their originality! But if you’re nostalgic of the dark/cold-wave years you for sure gone like this work. I think the production of the vocals can be just a bit better, maybe just a more powerful way of singing.

Conclusion: The Black Capes confirm the strong potential showed at their debut work and will definitely increase their popularity.

Best songs: “Gotham”, “Rain”, “The Blood Is Life”, “Welcome To The Necroclub”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.facebook.com/Theblackcapes

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

About The Black Capes

The Black Capes are a goth/dark-rock band from Athens, Greece, formed in 2016. The line-up features Chris (Rusty) Gebhart, Thanos Tzanetopoulos, Alex S Wamp, Irene Ketikidi and Christos Grekas.

The band released its debut album “All These Monsters” through darkTunes Music Group in 2017, followed by “Lullabies For The Dead” in 2020 on the same label and “Looks Like Death” via The Council Of Bones/Ikaros Records in 2022.

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Industrial-trance, psychedelic-industrial.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Bergen Schlitzie set up Suppressor in 2012. Hailing from Chile this artist already released a few albums and EP’s. “Into A Deep Void” is his first full length album released by darkTunes and features fifteen songs –including multiple remixes.

Content: “Into A Deep Void” takes off with a pure hardcore intro, which is not exactly representative for the rest of the tracklist although an indication about some potential sources of inspiration. The majority of the tracks are a true crossover between psy-trance and industrial music with some extra dark-electro touches on top. It’s not a coincidence Suppressor claims to be inspired by artists such as Noisuf-X and Xotox, some songs reminding me of Noisuf-X, but it all sounds more psy-trance driven. “Shaman (v.2)” and “Ritual” both clearly reveal this psy-trance element while “Śūnyatā” sounds darker and more into the Noisuf-X sound formula.

The final part of the work features a few collaborative songs and remixes by Viscera Drip, Traumatic Injection, Asinaptico and Bergen Schlitzie in person.

+ + + : I’m aware this kind of productions is a truly challenge, but I simply love this fusion between industrial sound treatments and psy-trance. “Shaman (v.2)” reminds me of the great “The Prophecy”-track from Meller while other tracks are getting closer to Noisuf-X with some extra goa-influences on top. The tracks aren’t only powerful and transcendental, but still well-crafted and carried by a great production work. The tracklist presents a succession of mind-blowing tracks. I already mentioned “Shaman (v.2)”, “Ritual” and “Śūnyatā”, but still have to tip “A Través De Una Profunda Conciencia” and “A Man Called Rorschach”. Among the remixes, Suppressor also delivers a brilliant edit of “Alarma”.

– – – : A few remixes aren’t adding a real bonus, but just some diversity. I regret there’s no physical copy available of this great album.

Conclusion: Suppressor is not reinventing any kind of music genre, but has accomplished a nuclear sonic fusion between different genres! This album is absolutely phenomenal!

Best songs: “Shaman (v.2)”, “Ritual”, “Śūnyatā”, “A Través De Una Profunda Conciencia”, “A Man Called Rorschach”, “Alarma – Suppressor Remix”.

Rate: (9).

Artist: www.facebook.com/SuppressorDvx

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

About Suppressor

Suppressor is the solo project of Bergen Schlitzie, based in Santiago, Chile. Schlitzie entered production in 2004, co-founding the group Neutral Konntrol with Ignacio J. Vera (also known for Traumatic Injection and Don Baphomet) before continuing under the Suppressor name. Earlier EPs, including “Shaman”, moved the project toward a fusion of industrial and psy-trance, a direction “Into A Deep Void” expands into a full-length released on darkTunes Music Group. The album’s title and themes draw on the film “Enter The Void” by Gaspar Noé.

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

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Genre/Influences: Industrial, electro-rock.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Freak Injection is a French combo based in Paris. The band previously released a few EP’s and this year unleashed the debut album on darkTunes.

Content: After the intro cut Freak Injection directly reveals some of their influences; somewhere in between the power of The Prodigy, the punkish touch of Lords Of Acid and a carrying chorus reminding KLF! They definitely offer a solid sonic melting pot mixing guitars and electronics with heavy –and sometimes broken, rhythms. The female vocals have something hot; a fusion between sensuality and provocation.

+ + + : Freak Injection have the look, and also has a sound. Even if it’s not the most ‘original’ sound, I think there’s not enough bands in their vein. “Daddy Is The Devil” is an enraged production, mixing industrial, punk and pure rock’n’roll. “Freaky Doll” perfectly illustrates this band sound and global approach. I also have to mention the hot sounding “Sex Me”, which will appeal for all lovers of Lords Of Acid.

– – – : The ideas are good, but I’m sometimes missing a few little details to speak about a completely successful work. Especially the choruses could be a little more carrying and elevating.

Conclusion: If you like powerful- and sexy industrial music composed by punks, Freak Injection will be your dope! Not bad for a debut album.

Best songs: “Freaky Doll”, “”Sex Me”, “Daddy Is The Devil”, “Sex Voodoo & Rock’n’Roll”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.facebook.com/Freakinjectionmusic

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

About Freak Injection

Freak Injection is a French band based in Paris. The group released the single and video “Psycho” before its first EP, “Freak In Fashion”, in the summer of 2017, followed by a video cover of “Toxic” in July 2019 and touring dates that included opening slots for Vive la Fête and Ministry. “Daddy Is The Devil” is the band’s debut full-length album, released on darkTunes.

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: Metal-pop, indie-pop/rock.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: The British duo Kyle J. Wilson (singer, producer) –  Kieran Thornton (guitar) strikes back with their third full length to date. “Insurgence” features fourteen songs featuring an intro plus two so-called ‘interludes’.

Content: I experienced the band’s previous album “From Now On I” as a mix between gothic- and metal music. The metal riffs are still running through this new opus, but the gothic style feels a bit like being replaced by a catchier and ‘pop’-driven approach. Most of the songs remain pretty powerful, the menacing guitar playing boosting the global production, but most of the choruses have something catchy and melodic. There also is a song featuring female backings while the final track has something pretty Rammstein-minded.

+ + + : I experienced this new album as more original than its predecessor. Don’t get me wrong, Auger is not composing pop music, but the metal power has been a little bit polished and refined by catchy arrangements and melodic leads. The last song “We Are Auger!” is there to remind us this band isn’t making ‘music for sissies’! The guitar playing has something elevating, which together with some of the choruses creates an apotheosis. The charismatic vocals of Kyle J. Wilson are perfectly matching with the global power of the production.

– – – : The short intermezzos bring some seconds of rest, but aren’t exactly necessary nor efficient. Some songs from the second part of the work are a little bit soft, but the last song makes it all good.

Conclusion: Auger moves on exploring different ways to mix metal influences together with other styles.

Best songs: “We Are Auger!”, “Tell Me Wrong feat. Imogen Evans”, “Who Can Help Me Now”, “November Engel”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.auger.band / www.facebook.com/AugerUK

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

About Auger

Auger is a dark rock duo from Blackpool, England, led by Kyle J. Wilson alongside guitarist Kieran Thornton, fusing electronics with guitars since 2017. The project’s discography runs from the debut “The Awakening” (2017) through “From Now On I” (2019) and “Insurgence” (2020) to “Nighthawks” (2022), alongside singles released via The Big Chair including “My Heart Is Glass” (2022) and “Before It Began” (2023).

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

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

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Ashes’N’Android is a new German project driven by Jörn Marquardt. The debut album “Razors Edge” was released early 2020 featuring eleven songs. 

Content: The album takes off with a short track, kind of intro while the real first song reveals a techno-pop driven style featuring male- and female vocals. The more you walk through “Razors Edge” the more it becomes inspired by electro-pop music, which sometimes reminds me of Ashbury Heights. There also is an indie touch running through some songs while other cuts are more into ‘classic’ electro-pop. The last song is a remix by Toal.

+ + + : This debut full length is a real nice surprise; this is not just classic electro-pop music –although one of the best cuts (cf. “Can’t Count On You”) has something pretty Depeche Mode-like, but an original and elaborated production with some extra influences on top. The male-/female vocal duo is also an exciting aspect of the work revealing two complementary singers. I already mentioned the excellent “Can’t Count On You”, but I also recommend “Versuching” feat. Neoklin, which has something overwhelming and the more indie-orientated title song. In a more technoid approach “When You Were All Mine” probably is one of the most original tracks.

– – – : I sometimes get the feeling Ashes’N’Android is still in search of their own style; they’re mixing different elements together, which creates variety, but not always a real compact result.

Conclusion: This album reveals a true potential and is a successful debut. Some aspects can be improved, but this album is a solid basis to move on with. Let’s keep this name in mind!

Best songs: “Can’t Count On You”, “Versuching”, “When You Were All Mine”, “Razors Edge”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/pg/ashesandandroid

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

About Ashes’N’Android

Ashes’N’Android is a German synthpop and electro project fronted by Jörn Marquardt, signed to darkTunes Music Group. The project’s earliest recorded appearance was a track on the label’s “Gothic Music Orgy, Vol. 4” compilation in 2017, ahead of the 2020 debut album “Razors Edge”. Ashes’N’Android went on to contribute to the “Face The Beat” compilation series, appearing on “Session 6” (2020) and “Session 7” (2022), and to the 2021 “Hard Pop Vol. 1” collection.

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

Industrial metallers The Silverblack have decided to postpone the release of their brand new album “Judgment” initially scheduled for a late 2020 release given the current logistical problems linked to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

The album would feature Fear Factory’s Burton C. Bell doing guest vocals on the title track. The recordings are ready but you’ll have to wait a bit more.

Meanwhile, during the lockdown, the band has recorded an EP featuring reworkings of previously released songs in an acoustic version. The ep entitled “Lullabies For The Departed (Chapter I)” has been released by darkTunes Music Group on August 28th. Check out the video for the single “Retaliation”.

Italian industrial metal

The Silverblack was formed by multi-instrumentalist and producer Alessio NeroArgento (NeroArgento) and vocalist Claudio Ravinale (Disarmonia Mundi, 5 Star Grave). After releasing their self-titled debut album in 2014 via AExeron Media/FiXT divided into five monthly episodes of two songs each, the band quickly recorded 11 brand new tracks for the second album entitled “The Grand Turmoil” released via Sliptrick Records in autumn 2015.

After releasing a more experimental electro-driven EP entitled “The Industrial Chapters” under the monicker ‘The Silverblack Dj-Set’ and the stand-alone single “Alone” (both via Reload Music, powered by Sony Music Italy) the band finally completed the production of their third official full-lenght album “Rain On A Wedding Day”. It was released late 2018 via DarkTunes Music Group.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Genre/Influences:  Industrial-metal, crossover. 

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: The title of the Italian combo The Silverblack is clearly inspired by the Holy Bible. “Prototype 6:17” is the band’s fourth official album and the second one released on darkTunes.

Content: This band clearly knows the receipt to mix metal- and industrial music together. The electronic structures are mixed with furious guitar riffs creating a rather melodic, but heavy and doom-like sound universe. The production of the vocals sounds pretty metal-minded as well, most of the parts being rather shouted than sung. You also will notice female backings. This band seems to have found its inspiration in the work of Combichrist and related formations.

+ + + : Is this metal music for electro-lovers or a way for metal addicts to get more familiar with electronics? The answer is probably somewhere in between, but The Silverblack perfectly knows to join both influences together. Industrial-metal simply is the offspring between both styles and this is a talented band in the genre. The main strength of the work emerges from the carrying choruses revealing great melody lines. The guitar play gets the work hard and powerful. The last song is an instrumental piece, which also is my favorite one.

– – – : This kind of production however remains a challenge; too metal-like for electro heads and too electronic for metal purists!

Conclusion: The title of the album might have a biblical connection; the content definitely sounds as a demonic expression!     

Best songs: “Revelation 6:17”, “Insurrection”, “The Ghostwalker”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.thesilverblack.com / www.facebook.com/thesilverblack

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

About The Silverblack

The Silverblack is the Italian industrial metal act of multi-instrumentalist and producer Alessio “NeroArgento” Neroargento and vocalist Claudio Ravinale, later joined by Ivan King, Rob Gaia and performer Nisha Sara. The band released its self-titled debut album in 2014 via AExeron Media/FiXT. Following “Prototype 6:17” (2019), the band postponed a follow-up album in 2020 but released an acoustic EP and the single “Retaliation”, before returning in 2024 with the title track of the album “Serenades Of Hate”.

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 brand new single by Toal, the follow-up to last year’s “Timeless”. The female fronted electropop act is blessed with a great vocalist aka Luzi Lacole and on this single she reminds us of some of the best material recorded by Technoir.

The single itself has 4 tracks including the title track and 3 remixes by Jan C. Hoffmann, Ruined Conflict and Stahlklang.

Toal is a quartet hailing from Braunschweig and Herford and started as a band in Autumn 2017. The band’s frontwoman Luzi Lacole entered the electronic music scene in 2017 as keyboarder, dancer and singer of the band Synth Attack. Next to her we find Rob Gee, Oak, and Tian who all have served in other bands and projects before.

You can listen to the single below.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. 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

Out via darkTunes is the first album of Freak Injection. “Daddys is the devil” is the follow-up to their recently released new video cover of “Toxic” which was released in July 2019. The band’s music is clearly inspired by Prodigy, Nine Inch Nails, Die Antwoord, Nina Hagen, Madonna or yet Marilyn Manson. So, indeed hard to define, but I guess that their own description fits their sound the best: hybrid pop-rock-electro.

The band who after its first single and video “Psycho”, released a first EP “Freak in Fashion” in Summer of 2017, went on an ‘Evil Raccoon Tour’ including opening slots for Vive la Fête and Ministry.

You can check out 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

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

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

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

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

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

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

The 10th track on our free (or pay-what-you-want to support our charity work) download compilation “Face The Beat: Session 5” is by the Cologne (Germany) based act Binary Division.

Founded in 2012 by NeonSynth, the project signed to the darkTunes Music Group soon after and has since released several albums, including “The arrival” (2014), “Re:arrived” (2015), plus the 2 EPs “Demo 2014” (2014) and “Riot Rebellion” (2015). The most recent release is the “Midnight Crisis” single which was released in 2019.

You can listen to “Netrunner” right below.

And for those who missed the band’s contribution to our 2016 release “Face The beat: Session 4”, you can grab it below.

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

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

The 7th track on our free (or pay-what-you-want to support our charity work) download compilation “Face The Beat: Session 5” is by Auger, a UK based dynamic-darkwave duo signed to the fine darkTunes label.

You can listen to “Find My Own Way Out” right below.

Auger are Kyle Wilson (21) lead vocals, keyboards, programming and Kieran Thornton (21) guitar and backing vocals. Founded in July 2017, Auger quickly sold out their debut CD single “New Life” / “My Guardian” (Rebco Records UK) and got noticed by the darkTunes label which selected the track “My Guardian” for their “Gothic Music Orgy Vol 4” compilation.

The band debuted with the album “The Awakening” in April 2018 and offers the band’s typical hard-hitting and hyper-melodic approach which will please the fans of BlutEngel, Project Pitchfork and Gothminister to name just a few.

The band also released a video for the track we feature today.

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

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

The 6th track on our free (or pay-what-you-want to support our charity work) download compilation “Face The Beat: Session 5” is by the German solo powernoise project Antibody. The track was originally released on the single with the same name via the fine Heidelberg, Germany based darkTunes label. If you remember well, Antibody was also featured on the 4th volume of the compilation series, namely with the track “Desperation”.

You can listen to “Secrets” right below.

Antibody was formed in 2013 when Jan was only 12(!!!) years old, which also makes him the youngest artist on this compilation. From 2013 to 2015 Antibody went through some changes, hunting down and seeking out its true identity/image. Things really started rolling when he made a remix of Aengeldusts club hit “Meth Face”, all of a sudden Antibody had became a recognised name within the underground industrial scene.

One remix after the other followed including reworks for the Canadian noise act Displacer and for the German dark-elektro act Binary Division. In 2015 Antibody successfully submitted a track to the infamous Alfa Matrix Industrial Compilation Endzeit Bunkertracks (Volume 7) and saw “Shrimps” released. The “Desperation” single followed in 2016 and in 2017 the debut album “Opera of Death” got released. Last year we also got “Revolution Dance” showing that this is a project to stay! You can follow Antibody right here on Facebook.

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

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

(Interview / photo by Eldrina Mich) While the charity download compilation “Face The Beat: Session 5” is still reigning the charts on Bandcamp, we decided it was time again to speak with Bernard Van Isacker, the brain behind this compilation. He is also Side-Line’s chief editor and resides with his family (and 2 cats) in Ypres, a small town nearby the French border in what’s called the Westhoek or Maritime Flanders. During the First World War, Ypres (or “Wipers” as it was commonly known by the British troops) was the centre of the Battles of Ypres between German and Allied forces, nowadays it’s a bit calmer.

I meet Bernard on a cold Friday evening at The Times, a small pub on the border of the Ypres market square.

SL: The previous interview was in June of 2015 when the 2nd volume of “Face The Beat” had just been released. It’s like yesterday!

B: Time flies very fast indeed. Good to see you are still looking great (laughs)!

SL: The compilation has been doing quite well since its launch, it went straight to the number 1 spots on Bandcamp in the alternative, industrial and goth charts.

B: Yeps, and it even was the 2nd most downloaded release on Bandcamp the day of its release, so yes, quite spectacular. It’s not really a surprise though, all of the volumes kept on being downloaded ever since the project started and I kept getting questions when the new volume would be released. But most importantly, I think we have a very strong list of tracks on this volume.

Next to that, the power of Bandcamp has become very clear here. The moment the new volume was launched Bandcamp’s notification system sent out a huge blast to a massive amount of people informing them and as a result you saw the release climbing very fast in the charts.

SL: I don’t know of any other scene compilation which has succeeded charting that fast and so high on Bandcamp?

B: Me neither (smiles). I have already been asked by a lot of people from inside the music industry how this is possible with a compilation that doesn’t feature the biggest names from this scene like Front 242, VNV Nation, etc.. But it’s especially the fact they can discover new and less wellknown bands that makes people wanting to get hold of it. Speaking of which, I especially want to thank Raphael Beck (darkTunes), Andy Skyqode (Skyqode) and Seba Dolimont (Alfa Matrix) who have been good allies in the past few years – and again this time – in getting the series up and running. They have valued the series since day 1 and I really appreciate that.

SL: Was the start so difficult?

B: When I started with this series a few years ago, in 2011 that is, not many labels believed in the concept, some did like the ones I mentioned earlier. The hesitation was mainly because I decided to feature a lot of smaller and starting bands. For me that was THE reason to do it that way because this is actually the core idea behind Side-Line since day one: being an indie magazine that is a platform for bands to get noticed, unknown and known, starters and established acts. Since the start of the series, the influx of submissions for the compilation never stopped, a lot of bands want to be on it and especially those who stand behind the charity causes that we support.

SL: It took you a while to come up with this 5th volume, I think I have seen some preliminary cover artwork some 2 years ago already?

B: Yes (smiles). It would initially have been released in early 2018, but something came up in mid-2017 that jeopardized the whole project. Let’s say that some mainstream label thought they could just harass us in taking over the concept. It kept on causing problems till mid-2018. I won’t say more about this, suffices to say, we won, they lost (smiles). The first cover artwork you refer too (Editor’s note: you can see it below) was made in November 2017 during a stay in France, at Le Mont Saint-Michel, together with my wife and newborn son Magnus.

SL: The cover artwork produced at that occasion had ‘the final side-line’ as subline? What was the meaning of that?

B: Back then I was really doubting if I would go on with the magazine or not. So that artwork would have been my final word on the matter.

Sorry I didn’t inform the rest of the team, but it was really on my mind to pull the plug. It isn’t all that unlogical, it takes lots of time to keep this doing and with a new baby in the family, I wasn’t sure to be able to handle this all. My other ‘companion de route’, Stef, also has had his fair share of not so pleasant news, so the toxic mix was there and it played around for a while…

I think we all have those difficult moments when there’s too much going on. Plus, and that’s on a personal level, often you don’t really get any ‘thank you’ back for all of the work that you do, and I’m not only talking about Side-Line or so. When you do a lot of (mostly unpaid) work for very little return on several levels, it starts nagging.

Then in February 2018 I was in Oslo with my wife and I visited Jan Ronald Stange, our local correspondent there. We have gotten along really well since meeting I think in 2010 and when I’m in the Nordics I always try to pay him a visit. And believe it or not, his enthusiasm is kinda infectious (laughs). My wife also noticed that, and said something like: “It’s time you get the same enthusiasm like Jan in your work again”. That made me thinking… Anyhow, here we are (smiles).

As a result I binned the first cover artwork idea and went for a completely new approach. But it was only last month after visiting Maastricht in The Netherlands together with my oldest son Sebastian that I found the perfect artwork idea. I saw this great bronze lion face on a big door, watched it closely, took a picture and in the hotel I started playing with some ideas. I sent those to Simon Helm from Cold War Night Life to ask his opinion and we picked the final one.

SL: Why Simon?

B: Long story cut really short. I knew Simon was behind Cold War Night Life, and one thing led to another and I got to meet him a few months ago when he was in Brussels. Jean-Marc Lederman told me he was a decent guy so the more reason to meet up. We ended up talking for hours in a small restaurant, the Arcadi in case you wonder, about all kind of things. And Simon got to learn to eat Stoemp with saussage, a typical dish from Brussels (laughs)! Cool intelligent guy he is with a clear view on a lot of things. I like straightforward people and he for sure is one. On top we kinda share the same humor, something really important. Simon also has been writing some stuff for Side-Line since then. I trust him and value his feedback, hence why I asked for his feedback.

SL: In the press release for this compilation it’s noted that the release is by far the darkest you ever compiled. I tend to agree with this. Personally, it reminded me of “040 Hamburg Strikes Back!”, the compilation released by the defunct label Hypnobeat in 1992.

B: I love that compilation! For me it was the first time I got to hear from Fortification 55, the band formed by Björn Petersen and Jan Kruse. They made some great albums back in the days. Thanks for the compliment, it was really that feeling that I had when going through the selection here!

SL: I noticed you also had a megamix prepared to promote this release, how did that come about?

B: I actually hadn’t prepared this at all. It was pure coïncidence. Shane Aungst, who made the megamix, contacted me a few days after the release was out saying he had picked 20 something tracks of the compilation to create a megamix. It turned out to be one that was 1 hour, 33 minutes and 21 seconds in length featuring 23 tracks and the quality was excellent! After mailing back and forth I created a cover for the megamix and Shane edited the megamix into 2 because Bandcamp was unable to feature the full length in one cut. Perhaps they should increase the 600 MB limit when you want to release a megamix (smiles).

It’s a nice extra on which Shane has been working for hours. We plan an interview with him in the next days actually.

SL: Something else. You informed us a few weeks ago that Side-Line had opened a channel on the mobile app Telegram?

B: Yes, that’s correct. The reason behind this is that Facebook is more and more becoming a no-go for indie news discovery. I for instance use Twitter a lot more for my news digestion, because Facebook really is rubbish at getting decent news in my feed even though I follow some really good sources. At Side-Line we could easily write clickbait articles that would get spread a lot. But that’s not what I want, and on top the team really wants to continue bringing news about smaller bands. But that’s not what Facebook wants, so it deliberately doesn’t push those newsitems to our readers since the ‘engagement’ is lower.

Facebook is really becoming a graveyard as far as non-commercial news is concerned. Unless you pay and even then. I don’t expect Facebook to get any better, on the contrary, it will get worse, because the shareholders will want more and more. Facebook can only deliver this by squeezing more and more money out of our pocket. And with their Libra project becoming a nightmare, you can be sure we the publishers all will have to pay for it (laughs)!

You know, Facebook has censored a ton of our articles because they didn’t like the artwork used by the band’s featured. Rammstein, Apoptygma Berzerk, Siva Six, Alien Vampires, Combichrist, articles from all of these bands and many more were simply censored and banned from the network … pretty frustrating.

SL: So Telegram is the way to go?

B: Yes. The service offers you the possibility to send out newsupdates to an unlimited number of people in one go without it being stopped, hidden away or censored even. I prefer this kind of news updates where I chose what I want to get.

People can join us on Telegram via this link https://t.me/sidelinemag (install the app as well, on desktop or mobile) and they will get our news first before it gets posted on Facebook. The good thing is that the channel is ad free. You just get our news and you can leave a like or dislike, and that’s where the comparison with Facebook ends. I’m personally also using Telegram a lot more to connect with people instead of Whatsapp. If you haven’t got an account yet, make sure to sign up!

SL: What’s coming up next?

B: As far as Side-Line is concerned I’m working on a few projects, but it’s too early to announce anything yet.

SL: Last question, what keeps you busy besides Side-Line?

B: Ha, a lot of things, too many things really. Besides my daytime job as a social media marketeer and CRM responsible at the Belgian branch of a multinational, and running 2 small holiday houses, I’m still heavily involved in Alfa Matrix, Bob De Moor, collecting original drawings by comic masters and a lot of local ‘policy work’, the latter is often draining a lot of my patience (laughs). I also have started running to stay fit. Every 2 days I try to do my 5 kilometers, early in the morning before having a breakfast at the local Panos, which opens at around 5.30 AM. It’s a perfect way to start the day with fresh energy I must say.

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.

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Genre/Influences: Dark-electro, aggrotech.

Background/Info: “Join Us” is SynthAttack’s fourth album since the opening full length “To The Floor” (2015). The band is still driven by the creative spirit of Martin Schindler. “Join Us” features ten songs plus seven remixes by other artists.

Content: SynthAttack can be the best compared to an imaginary dance-ogre. The songs are boosted by electro-adrenaline made by heavy, danceable kicks, cold electro sequences and trance-like leads. The vocals feature this cavernous expression while a few cuts reveal female backings. SynthAttack is the perfect fusion between dark-electro and dance/trance music.

Remixes have been accomplished by Aesthetic Perfection, Centhron, Agonoize, ES23, Grendel, CygnosiC and Nachtmahr.

+ + + : SynthAttack clearly composes music for the dancefloor. Each new opus sounds as a sonic bomb to get fans into frenetic dance. It’s not that different for “Join Us”, which is an invitation to move. The heavy, boosting kicks together with the trance-like leads can’t leave club visitors enjoying dark-electronics unmoved. The songs reflect constant power, which feels a bit like a transcendental trip. Songs like “Join Us”, “Enjoy The Pain”, and “Addicted To The Thrill” will definitely convince you from the band’s potential and dance skills. Next to the new songs you also get an impressive list of famous artists/remixers. I here have a little preference for the remix of “Final salvation” by ES23.

– – – : SynthAttack remains a kind of challenge. The fusion of dark-electronics with some commercial-like trance leads is sometimes pretty risky and maybe a bit cheap. I’m especially referring to “Final Salvation”, which reminds me of the lead of Culture Beat’s mega-hit “Mr. Vain”. Despite of the great artists invited to remix I don’t experience this section as a real bonus to the album. The original songs are definitely better!

Conclusion: SynthAttack makes no prisoners blowing everything down! Music is their religion, the dancefloor their temple to convince new adherents!

Best songs: “Join Us”, “Enjoy The Pain”, “Addicted To The Thrill”, “Until The Dawn”, “Final Salvation – ES23 Remix”, “Join Us – Aesthetic Perfection Remix”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.facebook.com/synthattack

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

About SynthAttack

SynthAttack is a dark-electro duo from Hannover, Germany, driven by Martin Schindler alongside singer Nici. Since the 2015 debut “To The Floor” the project has built a catalogue on darkTunes Music Group, including “Harsh Is Back” in 2018 and “Join Us” in 2019. The band went on to release the EP “Harsh Will Never Die” in 2020 and the album “Damnation” in 2021, and has performed at festivals including Wave-Gotik-Treffen, Amphi Festival and E-Tropolis.

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: Goth-metal.

Background/Info: “From Now On I” is the second full length album by the British duo Kyle Wilson – Kieran Thornton.

Content: Auger deals with a rather familiar goth-metal sound, which is achieved with some electro arrangements. Most of the songs are clearly goth-metal orientated, but there for sure is also a trace of dark-rock. The album features 12 songs and especially the last part of the opus excels in power and an electro-metal harmony. The vocals are powerful and enraged, which totally fits to the sound.

+ + + : “From Now On I” clearly sounds like a powerful production revealing carrying choruses. There clearly is a melodic approach in the writing, which makes it pretty accessible. I’m referring to songs like “Do Not Wake”, “They’ll Find You” and “Alone”, which reminds me a bit of Metallica. I especially like the hard guitar creating harmony with the electronic arrangements.

– – – : The album is enjoyable, but missing an absolute hit.

Conclusion: Auger has accomplished a noticeable job during the past two/three years. I’m not sure if they’ll be the ‘next big thing’, but there clearly hides potential in this band.

Best songs: “They’ll Find You”, “Do Not Wake”, “Alone”, “I Declare”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.auger.band / www.facebook.com/AugerUK

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

About Auger

Auger is a dark rock duo from northern England, formed in mid-2017 by singer and producer Kyle Wilson and guitarist Kieran Thornton. The band blends gothic, electronic and metal influences and has built a fanbase it calls “the MINERS” through more than 60 shows across eight countries. Its debut album “The Awakening” appeared in 2017, followed by “From Now On I” in 2019. Both reached the top five of the Deutsche Alternative Charts, a placing the band’s later albums “Insurgence” (2020) and “The Old Arcade” (2026) have also matched.

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

Background/Info:

About Antibody

Antibody is the solo dark-electro and powernoise project of German artist Jan Laustroer, active since 2013. The project drew wider attention through a remix of Aengeldust’s “Meth Face” and further remixes for Displacer and Binary Division, plus the track “Shrimps” on Alfa Matrix’s “Endzeit Bunkertracks 7” compilation. Antibody’s early singles “Desperation” and “Secrets” both later featured on Side-Line’s “Face The Beat” compilation series.

“Revolution Dance”, released via darkTunes in a 100-copy CD edition, features guest vocals by Technolorgy and Avarice In Audio, plus remixes by Grendel, Cyferdyne and Kant Kino, and is 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