“The Machine In The Ghost” marks Haujobb’s first new album in six years and their tenth studio full length. Daniel Myer and Dejan Samardzic have clearly made an effort to reinvigorate their signature sound with fresh ideas, drawing inspiration from past eras of immense creativity. The result leans more heavily into Industrial territory, characterized by metal-like sounds that lend the album an Experimental and at times Cinematic feel. Despite these new elements, the familiar icy, minimalist Haujobb atmosphere remains intact, driven by slow rhythms and Daniel Myer’s distinct vocal style. At times, the album feels like a carefully constructed experiment, blending analog and digital sounds with Electro-Acoustic textures. While “The Machine In The Ghost” may not be Haujobb’s most accessible or strongest work, it stands as a visionary effort that pushes boundaries in their  unmistakable style. (Rating:8).

Listen to “Uselessness”:

Read the news on ‘The Machine In The Ghost’.

About Haujobb

When Haujobb was founded as a trio in the West German city of Bielefeld, the band was still influenced by the Vancouver school of industrial, which is quite audible on the early full-length “Homes & Gardens” (1993). On the following albums, “Freeze Frame Reality” (1995) and “Solutions for a Small Planet” (1996), the Germans moved away from their Canadian roots and began to amalgamate IDM (intelligent dance music) with industrial and EBM.

After Björn Jünemann, one of the three founders, had left, the remaining original members Daniel Myer and Dejan Samardzic decided to continue as a duo.

“The Machine In The Ghost”, released in 2024 on Dependent Records, is the duo’s tenth studio album and their first in six years.

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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Haujobb has released its newest album “The Machine in the Ghost”, the tenth full-length album by this German electro-industrial duo. The title seems a reference to the The Police album “Ghost in the Machine”. The Leipzig, Germany-based duo decided to use fieldwork recordings this time to create the overall sounds for this album.

Additionally, “The Machine in the Ghost”, features a guest appearance by Emese Árvai-Illés from the Hungarian duo Black Nail Cabaret. “The Machine in the Ghost,” is available from Metropolis Records in North America and Dependent Records in Europe on all digital and streaming platforms along with a CD version.

About Haujobb

Haujobb is a German electronic music project formed in 1993 by Daniel Myer and Dejan Samardzic. Initially influenced by the industrial sounds of the early ’90s, Haujobb became known for their fusion of electro-industrial and EBM (Electronic Body Music) with more experimental electronic genres like IDM, ambient, and techno.

The band’s debut album, “Homes & Gardens”, was released in 1993, showcasing their industrial roots. However, their sound began to evolve rapidly, and by their second album, “Freeze Frame Reality” (1995), Haujobb embraced a more complex and layered approach to electronic music, moving away from traditional industrial structures.

Their breakthrough album, “Solutions for a Small Planet” (1996), marked a significant departure from the harshness of industrial music, incorporating elements of drum and bass, techno, and glitch. This release established Haujobb as one of the most innovative acts in the electro-industrial scene.

Over the years, Haujobb has continued to explore different sonic territories, with albums like “Polarity” (2001), “Vertical Theory” (2003), and “New World March” (2011). Their work has been characterized by its willingness to push boundaries, blending different subgenres of electronic music, while maintaining a dark, futuristic aesthetic.

Daniel Myer, in particular, has been active in various other projects, including Architect, Destroid, and Covenant, further solidifying his role in the electronic music community.

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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For its 25th anniversary, Mesh make their long-time out of print second album “The Point at Which It Falls Apart” available again via Dependent Records. For the occasion the full-length has been remastered by German producer Olaf Wollschläger. The album reissue comes in a art book format with extensive bonus materials and extra tracks on a second CD.

The art book comes as a 48-page hardcover book (ca. 18x18cm) with 2 CDs: the original album (remastered 2024), an 11-track bonus CD with remixes and rare B-Sides, plus liner notes by Mark Wybrew (Electronic Cafe) & Jan Winterfeld (Pluswelt).

Mesh Mark Hockings says: “I am very proud and excited to see this album re-released with its stunning new (and yet familiar) artwork, and the pristine sound of the new remaster. This has been a long time coming. For those that heard the album the first time around, I hope it brings back some powerful memories as it has for me. For those that are hearing it for the first time, I wish I could share that experience with you.”

Richard Silverthron adds: “For me, ‘The Point at Which It Falls Apart’ marks a period in time where we found that sound that is immediately identifiable as ‘Mesh’. We were deeply into using sampling technology, creating and recording drum loops, ambient atmospheres, and guitars parts. Our pick for the first advance single, ‘Needle in a Bruise’ is an excellent example of this. This song sits comfortably between being an emotional electronic piece through the verses and then opens up with layered guitars in the chorus that turns it into an anthemic rock track.”

The recording line-up of this album consisted of Mark Hockings, Richard Silverthorn and Neil Taylor.

To introduce the sound of this remastered album, the single track “Needle in a Bruise” is available now for preview. Mark Hockings and Richard Silverthorn are currently in the process of writing the next Mesh studio album.

Tracklist bonus CD

1. People Like Me (With this Gun) (Alt.MESH.Mix)
2. It Scareas Me (Mesh Remix)
3. Not Prepared (Radio Version)
4. The Damage You Do (Perfect Porno Remix)
5. Safe WIth Me (Snare’s Epic Edit)
6. People Like Me (With this Gun) (Extended Shotgun)
7. It Scares Me (Mesh Locarno Mix)
8. Not Prepared (Mesh Club Mix)
9. This Without You (Fallen Mix)
10. It Scares Me (Fearful)
11. Not Prepared (Blowhole Mix)

About Mesh

Mesh was formed in 1991 when lead singer and guitarist Mark Hockings and keyboardist and vocalist Richard Silverthorn met, leading to the formation of the band. Richard Silverthorn composed the music, while Mark Hockings penned the lyrics. The duo was soon joined by Neil Taylor on keyboards, who had already been playing in another band with Silverthorn.

The band debuted with the “Fragile” EP in 1994 followed by the full-length debut “In this Place Forever” two years later in 1996. In 1999 came the next milestone with the sophomore album “The Point At Which It Falls Apart”.

The major label release of “Who Watches over Me” in 2002, propelled Mesh further into the limelight and marked a turning point. A surge of popularity across Europe, particularly in Germany let the UK band climb higher up the festival billings.

What followed was a collaboration with former Depeche Mode producer Gareth Jones for “We Collide” (2006). Adapting to lineup changes, Mesh continued their musical journey with the core-duo, augmenting live performances with drummer Sean Suleman and additional live keyboardists.

“Automation Baby” (2013) and “Looking Skyward” (2016) followed. Mesh also collaborated with a classical orchestra at the ‘Gothic meets Klassik’ festival in 2015.

By 2023 the band was joined by Vaughn George for their live lineup in April 2023.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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Out via Dependent Records on 6 September is a collection of the two first self released albums from the German dark electro act FÏX8:SËD8, “humanophobia:dormicum”.

FÏX8:SËD8 was founded by Martin Sane and started with two self-released albums. The debut “humanophobia” arrived in 2006 and was produced by Haujobb’s Daniel Myer, while the sophomore full-length “dormicum” that came out in 2009 was self-produced. “humanophobia” was inspired by the Cambodian killing fields and former internment camps of the Khmer Rouge regime (1975-79) under Pol Pot.

The release comes as an artbook collecting both titles in a remastering by Pyrroline’s Arnte who had already produced and mixed the band’s “The Inevitable Relapse”. “humanophobia:dormicum” will be available as a 36-page artbook with 2 CDs including 3 bonus tracks.

Below is the official single “Killing Field”.

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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(Photo by Chris Ruiz) Out via Dependent Records on 20 September 2024 is the all new Haujobb album “The Machine in the Ghost”. “The Machine in the Ghost” marks the tenth studio album of the at the present Leipzig based duo consiting of Daniel Myer and Dejan Samardzic.

For this new album the duo used a mix of software and hardware. The band adds: “This deliberate nod to a time with less software and more analogue shifting of the dials complements the theme of “The Machine in the Ghost” with a retro touch, yet without indulging in mere nostalgia for its own sake. The album revolves around the highly charged relationship between mind and matter, analogue and digital.” Guest musicians on this album include Emese Árvai-Illés (Black Nail Cabaret) on vocals, Hannes Rief (Die Selektion) on trumpet, Aleta Welling on lyrics and Felix Gerlach on cello.

“The Machine in the Ghost” will be available as a 36-page artbook with 2 CDs including a bonus CD with 12 previously unreleased remixes, on a black vinyl LP, and on ltd. clear vinyl.

About Haujobb

When the band was founded as a trio in the West German city of Bielefeld, they were still influenced by the Vancouver school of industrial which is quite audible on their early full-length “Homes & Gardens” (1993). On their following albums, “Freeze Frame Reality” (1995) and “Solutions for a Small Planet” (1996), the Germans moved away from their Canadian roots and began to amalgamate IDM (intelligent dance music) with industrial and EBM.

After Björn Jünemann, one of the three founders, had left, the remaining original members Daniel Myer and Dejan Samardzic decided to continue as a duo. Read the review of ‘The Machine In The Ghost’.

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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(Photo by Moritz Lessing and Tom Zumbraegel) Dero Goi, the former frontman of the industrial / Neue Deutsche Härte band Oomph!, has just released “Resurrected” as the second video single of his new career as a solo-artist. Dero Goi’s forthcoming debut solo album will be released via Dependent Records.

The single was released during the Easter weekend and more precisely on Good Friday for a very good reason. Dero has openly embraced his Christian faith – which apparently is not well received everywhere – and that is also clear in the opening sequence of the song where he quotes Isaiah 53:5 which refers to the passion of Christ.

“Resurrected” also contemplates what it means to face one’s own dark side. Below is the video. Dero Goi also appears on the forthcoming Lovelorn Dolls album “Deadtime Stories”, namely on the track “Dancing At Your Funeral”.

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-Pop, Wave-Pop, Experimental.

Format: Digital, 2CD, Vinyl.

Background/Info: Angelo Bergamini set up Kirlian Camera more than forty years ago now. He remains the core member and has been assisted now for a while by singer Elena Alice Fossi. The line-up for this work has been completed by Mia W. Wallace, Alessandro Comerio, Thalìa Bellazecca and Terri Harrison. Notice by the way there also is a ‘deluxe’ edit available featuring a third disc. 

Content: There’s the elegant, sensual voice of Elena Alice Fossi and the music by Angelo Bergamini. The work sounds diversified, hard to catch but always connected to an Experimental/Dark-Pop style. There are songs to listen to and simply dream away and others to dance to; songs filled with elegance and refined with acoustic instruments and others leading us towards Experimental fields. There’s a song featuring sampling parts of Julian Assange, another one as a collaboration with Solitary Experiments and there’re cover versions of Depeche Mode and The Sound.

+ + + : I have often had the feeling of repeating myself when evoking Kirlian Camera but more than ever before I believe there’s no other formation like this Italian band. This is music without compromises which makes it authentic and timeless; Bergamini and his friends don’t follow trends and established genres but simply are a genre on their own. The album is diversified and never repeating itself. I prefer the danceable side of the work but more than anything else I think that without Elena Alice Fossi it would be another band and another album.

– – – : All stuff isn’t always easy to catch; sometimes complex and then Experimental and/or Cinematic.

Conclusion: Songs to cherish and dream away or simply to dance.

Best songs: “Götter, Geht Weg!”, “Stella Ominis”, “The Great Unknown”, “C.R.U.D.”

Rate: 7½.  

Artist: www.kirliancamera.com / www.facebook.com/kirliancamera.official

Label: www.dependent.de / www.facebook.com/dependent.records Read the news on ‘Radio Signals For The Dying’.

About Kirlian Camera

Kirlian Camera was founded in Parma, Italy, in 1979/1980 by Angelo Bergamini, a pioneering act of the Italian synth-pop scene. The band’s debut vinyl followed at Christmas 1981, and Kirlian Camera became the first Italian group signed to Virgin Records. Singer Elena Alice Fossi has been Bergamini’s core collaborator for years, with the current line-up completed by Mia W. Wallace, Alessandro Comerio, Thalìa Bellazecca and Terri Harrison.

“Radio Signals for the Dying,” reviewed here, was released on Dependent Records on 23 February 2024 as a double CD, with a limited-edition 48-page artbook version including a bonus CD and a gatefold 2LP on transparent red vinyl. The album includes Julian Assange speech excerpts, a cover of Depeche Mode’s “Wrong,” a cover of The Sound’s “Winter,” and the band’s version of “The Great Unknown,” previously released by Solitary Experiments with vocals by Fossi. It followed the 2023 vinyl reissue of the EP “Communicate.”

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, Dark-Pop.

Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.

Background/Info: Hungarian duo Emese Arvai-Illes – Krisztian Arvai aka Black Nail cabaret strikes back with their sixth studio album. The title of the album is the familiar flower people put on the graves of their beloved ones. It has been transposed into some of the favorite themes the band is dealing with.

Content: Black Nail Cabaret remains faithful to their very personal creation and adaptation of Electro-Pop music; a dark and cold expression of Pop music which sounds colder than ice and darker than the darkest night in the year. The songs reveal groovier and danceable parts mixed with more evasive, sterile, atmospheric passages. On top of it all you’ll hear the charisma of ‘Ice Queen’ Emese Arvai-Illes.

+ + + : Black Nail Cabaret remains a very singular experience in sound; Dark-Pop music which sounds a bit out of the box resulting from a personal and creative process. The band however remains warrant for great songs and excels in professionalism when it comes to sound production and mixing. Everything sounds right while there’s a true symbiose between music and vocals. I’m into the most danceable cuts like “Autogenic”, “Totem And Taboo” and “Neurons” which are pumped by some Techno elements. Another great and danceable cut is “Teach Me How To Techno” featuring deep, resonating sounds. Emese Arvai-Illes’ very special and frozen timbre of voice remains pure lust for the ears.

– – – : The atypical Electro-Pop format might be a no-go for narrow minded Electro-Pop lovers.

Conclusion: Black Nail Cabaret stands for cold-, elegant-, provocative-, intriguing- and visionary Electro-Pop. Respect!

Best songs: “Neurons”,“Autogenic”, “Totem And Taboo”, “Teach Me How To Techno”, “Darkness Is a Friend”.

Rate: 8½.

Artist: www.facebook.com/bncband

Label: www.dependent.de / www.facebook.com/dependent.records Read the news on ‘Chrysanthemum’.

About Black Nail Cabaret

Black Nail Cabaret is an electro-pop noir duo from Hungary, established in 2008 with members Emese ‘Emke’ Arvai-Illes (vocals) and Krisztian Arvai (keyboards). The group initially formed in Budapest and later spent several years based in London. Sophie Tarr, an original member responsible for keyboards, left the duo in 2016 to pursue her own music project. The band’s music, often described as visual synthpop or synth noir, sometimes incorporates experimental elements.

Before forming Black Nail Cabaret, both performers were involved in the Budapest industrial/cyber party scene and co-founded a small theatre group, Art Macabre, in 2005, focused on horror-themed stage performances at the Merlin Theatre in Budapest. The duo’s music foundation was built on Emke’s transition from writing Hungarian poetry to English lyrics and Sophie’s piano compositions.

“Chrysanthemum,” reviewed here, is the band’s sixth studio album via Dependent Records, preceded by the singles “Autogenic,” “Roadtrip” and “Darkness Is A Friend.”

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

Referring to the events that unfolded globally, 2023 has again been a bloody, terrible year. Music continues to be a true therapy for soothing pain and suffering, though it seems to have a diminishing impact on the ongoing horror. Therefore, I’m once again wrapping up the year with a personal selection of my very own ‘best of’ albums.

Throughout the year, over 700 productions were selected, and 450 reviews were conducted. Some productions were declined because the style of music didn’t fit, others weren’t reviewed for not being ‘good enough’, while a final portion of reviews will be postponed to early 2024. I am immensely grateful to all the labels, bands, and promoters for considering my work, and I look forward to collaborating again in 2024.

I extend my deepest gratitude and thanks to Rich Bova (NEIKKA RPM), who has been reading, correcting, and improving the reviews for many years. Without Rich, these reviews would not exist. I also want to thank Bernard Van Isacker, chief editor of Side-Line Music Magazine, for our ongoing, successful collaboration. Last but not least, I thank my lovely wife, Katja, for giving me the time and freedom to pursue my passion.

However…

Looking ahead to 2024, I’ve been scaling back my activities for a few years and plan to reduce them further. Having started with my first reviews and interviews back in 1991, I feel the end drawing near. My aim is to reach 2025, but nothing is certain. I’ve grown a bit tired and disillusioned with how things are evolving.

That’s why I want to express a big ‘F*** you’ to so-called ‘artists’ and label owners who fail to realize or appreciate the work I do in creating reviews and preparing interviews to spotlight them. Guys, I do this for free and in my free time! The attitude and lack of respect shown by some – fortunately a very few – is very, very sad. But, I’m afraid it reflects the world we live in. Behind a genius artist doesn’t always stand a great person. It’s odd realizing that the ‘biggest’ and long-established artists in this scene are often the most accessible.

Writing reviews remains highly subjective and a source of discussion. Remember, it’s always the reviewer’s perception. I assure you, I always strive to substantiate my reviews as best as possible. A review is subjective but must be honest!

Like every year, I’ve selected the best albums of the year 2023. This ‘TOP 25’ encompasses various styles like EBM, Dark-Electro, IDM, Synth-Pop, Ethereal, Dark-Ambient, Industrial, Ritual, Cinematic, Gothic, Post-Punk, Cold/Dark-Wave, Dark-Techno, and a few related genres. It’s always an exciting yet challenging task.

This ‘TOP 25’ is based on the promotional material I received, excluding compilations, ‘best of’ productions, EPs, and singles. So, here’s my ‘TOP 25’ from 2023, and don’t forget to share it with your friends…

Stéphane Froidcoeur (for Inferno Sound Diaries/Side-Line Reviews)

Top 25 albums of the year 2023

1. CERULEAN VEINS “Black” Cold Transmission Music
2. LIEBKNECHT “Fabrikat” Ant-Zen
3. FRONTIER GUARDS “Colony” Aliens Production
4. SOPOR AETERNUS & THE ENSEMBLE OF SHADOWS “Alone At Sam’s – An Evening With…” Apocalyptic Vision / Trisol
5. WAVESHARD “Waveshard” Corvus Records
6. THE EMPATH “Black Hole” Audiophob
7. VNV NATION “Electric Sun” Metropolis Records
8. EFF DST “Incarnate” Ant-Zen
9. ENZO KREFT “XL” Enzo Kreft
10. DELEYAMAN “The Sudbury Inn” TTO Records
11. GIRLS UNDER GLASS “Backdraft” Dependent Records
12. ALIEN VAMPIRES “Return Me To Hell” Alfa Matrix
13. SUN’S SPECTRUM “The Silence After The Fall” Cold Transmission Music
14. DANIEL MYER “Hingab” Sonic Groove
15. SHROUDS “Shrouds” Hands
16. DIARY OF DREAMS “Melancholin” Accession Records
17. MONO INC “Ravenblack” NoCut / SPV
18. ROME “Gates Of Europe” Trisol
19. OHNE NOMEN “The S-Witch” Cold Transmission Music
20. THE SEVEN WHORES OF THE APOCALYPSE “All Through The Waste” Scanner / Dark Dimensions
21. SPANKTHENUN “The Bunker Tapes Vol.3” SpankTheNun
22. BLACKCARBURNING “Watching Sleepers” COP International
23. GOD BODY DISCONNECT “The Weight Of Regression” Cryo Chamber
24. MILDREDA “Blue-Devilled” Dependent Records
25. PASCAL SAVY “Simulacra” Cyclic Law

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

(Photo by Raven) Kirlian Camera have just released the first taste of their forthcoming album “Radio Signals for the Dying” with the single “Il Tempo Profondo (Radio Signal Version)” along with an accompanying video for “Il Tempo Profondo (Dark Psychedelia Vision)”.

Frontwoman Elena Alice Fossi explains: “One could say that ‘deep time’ is the temporal immensity in which humanity is immersed in its relationship with Earth and geological phenomena. Hence, our desire to bring this concept to music, focusing on liberation from the wheel-of-becoming, on which hatred, craving, and delusion are kept alive by the selfish desires of humanity.”

“Il Tempo Profondo” is the first single taken from the forthcoming new double album “Radio Signals for the Dying” which is available for preorder from Dependent Records on CD, limited vinyl and through all streaming and digital platforms with a street date of February 23rd, 2024.

Below is the 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!

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(Photo by Ghilain Vermeersch) Out now is the new album from Mildreda, “Blue-Devilled”, via Dependent Records. Together with the release the Belgian band also presents a new black and white video for “Devil’s Gaze”.

Jan Dewulf adds: “My aim was to come up with a club track but at the same time I wanted to stay true to a dark electro sound.” Based in Belgium, Mildreda made their debut with the compilation album “Coward Philosophy” in 2016 on Alfa Matrix. In 2021 the new album “I Was Never There” was released.

“Blue-Devilled” is available on all streaming and digital platforms along with a limited 60-page artbook CD edition with a bonus CD.

Below is the video for “Devil’s Gaze”. Read the review of ‘Blue-Devilled’.

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 on 23 February 2024 on Dependent Records is the all new Kirlian Camera album “Radio Signals for the Dying”. Included on this album are also Julian Assange speech excerpts. Julian Assange is the Australian editor, publisher, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. Assange has been confined in HM Prison Belmarsh in London since April 2019, as the United States government’s extradition effort is contested in the British courts.

“Radio Signals for the Dying” furthermore includes the band’s interpretation of Depeche Mode’s “Wrong” and the song “Winter” from The Sound. From a collaboration with Solitary Experiment comes Kirlian Camera’s take on “The Great Unknown”, which Solitary Experiment previously released in an own version with vocals contributed by Elena Alice Fossi.

The recording line-up consisted of Elena Alice Fossi and Angelo Bergamini augmented with bass player Mia W. Wallace and cello player Terri Harrison. The band’s current live line-up consists of Elena Alice Fossi, Angelo Bergamini, Mia W. Wallace, Alessandro Comerio and Thalìa Bellazecca.

The release will be a double CD of which you can check out the tracklist below. “Radio Signals for the Dying” will be available as a limited edition 48-page artbook including the 2 regular CDs and a bonus CD, as a gatefold 2LP on limited transparent red vinyl, and as a digisleeve 2CD.

CD1

1. Il Tempo Profondo
2. Stella Ominis
3. Winter (In memory of Adrian Borland)
4. Götter, geht weg!
5. Monarch Architecture
6. Wrong
7. Madre Nera
8. Luminous Shade
9. (incl. Julian Assange’s speech excerpts)

CD2 Read the review of ‘Radio Signals For The Dying’.

1. The Great Unknown
2. C. R. U. D (Corpse Recovery Unit D)
3. Deleted MSG
4. Genocide Litanies
5. Il Tempo Profondo (Radio Signal Version)
6. Esilio
7. We Have To Amputate
8. Homicide Aristocracy

Kirlian Camera on tour

• 09 DEC 2023 Nürnberg (DE) Cult
• 10 DEC 2023 Wien (AT) Replugged
• 12 DEC 2023 Frankfurt (DE) Nachtleben
• 14 DEC 2023 Hannover (DE) Lux
• 15 DEC 2023 Erfurt (DE) Hell
• 16 DEC 2023 Erfurt (DE) Hell
• 28 DEC 2023 Oberhausen (DE) KultTempel, Meet & Greet, Showcase
• 29 DEC 2023 Oberhausen (DE) KultTempel
• 03 FEB 2024 Roma (IT) Orion Rock Arena
• 24 FEB 2024 Berlin (DE) Columbia Theatre
• 20 JUL 2024 Schwarzenberg (DE) Black Mountain Festival
• 28 JUL 2024 Köln (DE) Amphi Festival

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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Originally set up in 1986 by Thomas Lücke, Hauke Harms, and Volker Zacharias, the German band Girls Under Glass became a renowned formation in the 90s. The band went through multiple  line-up changes. The most important ones were Axel Ermes who joined in 1989 while Thomas Lücke left a bit later. Hauke Harms left in 2017. Most albums were released in the 90s while their last studio album “Zyklus” got released in 2005. The band however moved on playing live shows but took us by surprise releasing a new album “Backdraft” this year. Volker Zacharias (vocals, guitar), Axel Ermes (machines) and Falko Grau (bass) have been joined again by the band’s original singer Thomas Lücke. Released on Dependent Records “Backdraft” is a great piece of music mixing different influences together; from Dark-Wave to Gothic to Post-Punk to Electro the album creates an imaginary sonic bridge between different genres. I asked a few questions about this ‘resurrection’ to Volker Zacharias and Axel Ermes.

(Picture credits by Chang_Bianca / Interview courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: “Backdraft” is your first new studio-album in nearly twenty years. It’s not exactly a come-back as the band went on playing live from time to time but is it more a kind of new beginning, kind of Girls Under Glass V.02? What have been the triggers to start writing new songs again and how did this ‘reunion’ finally happened? 

Volker: I would not call it Girls Under Glass V.02 because we do not re-define the band. In some way “Backdraft” even is a typical and classical GUG album which sounds familiar straight away. But the influences are kind of different this time as we go far back in time and were mainly inspired by 80s New-Wave, Post-Punk and some underground Neue Deutsche Welle stuff. Yet there are also songs with a typical Electro-Gothic flavor.

Axel and I were in the process of searching for unreleased and unfinished ideas and songs for a big box set to celebrate our 35th anniversary. By going through these songs we haven’t touched for many years we recognized how good some of them are. Same time I had many new ideas in my head so just for fun we started to write new songs as well, still with the aim to add a few of these songs to the box set. Due to this creative flow and the outcome and results we suddenly recognize that we should use this power to finalize a new album and look forward instead of looking back and care about the old stuff. We felt that it was just the right time to reanimate Girls Under Glass. That was the trigger.

Q: Can you give us more insight to the composition process of “Backdraft” and what have been the different stages you’d to go through to achieve this work?

Volker: As I mentioned the idea of doing new songs came out of the blue. We did not plan to do a new album and our label (Dependent) were as much surprised as everybody else in the band or related to the band. So beside going through our archives and finalizing some older ideas we also wrote new songs, added vocals and at some point we had to decide how to bring everything to shape because the ideas were and sounded very very different.

So the second step was to give the ideas a kind of flavor that harmonize with each other. When you go through the songs you can easily hear what I mean cause the styles are kind of different and do not seem to belong together. There are Gothic-Rock ballads beside Cold-Wave influenced songs after Gothic-Dancefloor smashers. But we needed to find an element that holds everything together with the result of having an album instead of a bunch of songs. 

Q: A few clips have been also released, one featuring the song together with Mortiis. How important are clips today and what did you try to express by these clips? And how did the collaboration together with Mortiis happened? 

Volker: In my personal opinion the promotion and marketing world changed a lot during our last album “Zyklus”. There are hardly any print magazines left, so digital places such as blogs, e-magazines but social media presence became more and more important. But I also believe that most people don’t want to read one interview after the other to get an idea about a band, their new record or their music. Why they should READ about music when you can actually listen to it?? So doing videoclips is the best way to present your music and also define a visual frame how you want to present it. You want to tell a story? You want to underline a certain atmosphere? Anything is possible when you combine music and video that’s why I believe that this is the strongest tool you have to promote your music these days.

Many years ago Axel and I were experimenting around with Electro and Industrial music while I was listening to Mortiis music a lot at that time. In my opinion he is one of the most interesting characters in our scene so I asked him if he wants to contribute his vocals to our music. Because he liked what we did he sent us his ideas. Out of this “Tainted” was the strongest one. So later we finalized this song with the purpose to end up with a Girls Under Glass-song. We tried out various styles, recorded many different guitars and it took us a lot of time to end up with a final result that was perfect for everybody involved. We were in contact with Mortiis through this whole process so he also gave a lot of feedback during the production period. It’s not a band’s song plus some external singer but “Tainted” is the result of a real ‘collaboration’.

Q: I noticed the feedback from press and fans to your new album is amazing. How important is this feedback and especially from the press to ‘experienced’ artists like you? 

Volker:In some way the fan feedback is most important. If they are disappointed it´s practically unimportant what the media says. Luckily with “Backdraft” we received incredible good feedback from both sides, from the media and from the fans. We are super lucky about it and it means a lot to us – not only from the commercial point of view but it´s simply great and important for us when our work is honored and people tell us that they like what we do. This gives us a lot of power, confidence and we feel supported. That’s all we can ask for these days, cause realistically speaking Girls Under Glass never was and never will be commercially successful in a way that we could live from the music.  So what’s left? The love we receive back for what we are giving.

Q: All over the years you’ve been all involved with different (side)-projects but what Means GIRLS UNDER GLASS to you? What does it stand for anno 2023 and how much of the early stuff and spirit do you still recognize in “Backdraft”?

Axel: Well, Girls Under Glass is the main band which still exists after almost 40 years. I would call it the ‘Mothership’. Other projects and side-projects are kind of ‘Space Shuttles’ into other worlds and genres beside our own universe. Of course whatever we do we always put our full energy into it. This is the reason why most of the side-projects also go on for several years and never really fade out. But it is always good to return to the Mothership.

In “Backdraft” I can see a lot of the original 80s spirit of Girls Under Glass. It starts with the sounds. I am still using some of the old synthesizers or at least my own sampled sounds from that time. Still have an AKAI S1100 running, and a KORG MS 20 which I bought back in 1984. Then the production is also very ‘live’ in the old tradition of 16 track tape machines even when I use the computer now. I very rarely quantize the recordings which leads to a very human feeling. 

In other projects people want to quantize the hell out of everything which sometimes makes it far too static. Regarding the production itself I must say that I am really happy about the technology we can use nowadays. When we started we had to fight for every delay and reverb and very often heard ‘Sorry, that’s not possible…’! Meanwhile everything is possible and “Backdraft” is probably our album with the most delay and reverb tracks we ever made. I love that!

Q: Did you handle specific criteria and/or references when writing & producing this album? And what has been the input and impact of Chris Harms who mixed the album? And how did it feel working back again with Tom Lücke next to Volker Zacharias?

Axel: The album is a result of many hours of looking through our archives to find rare material for our special box “35 years of GUG”. We found a lot and many songs and pieces will be in that box which will probably be called “40 years of GUG” box then but also found some ideas and recordings of songs we never finished. We took some of those tracks and re-recorded them, played around with new ideas and as if we were suddenly infected by a creative virus. It was like a sudden rebirth of GUG and we had a lot of fun with writing and recording new material.

Chris Harms was not involved in the studio production but did a really good job with mastering the whole album. Just the song “Endless Nights” had been mixed by Chris some years ago and we left it as it was because it sounded perfect to us.

Regarding Tom Lücke it was a very warm and cosy feeling. A bit like coming home again after a very long time. The recordings with Tom took a bit more time because the workflow was quite different from the usual workflow between Volker and me. But that was not a big problem. We had some help from Henning Thurow who had recorded the “Cube”-sessions and he did a brilliant job in mixing the EP in the “Artbook Special Edition”.

Q: Concerts/festivals have been already announced so what do you expect and what might the audience expect? How do you transpose the songs from studio to the stage and does a live show need a special preparation?

Axel: We are really looking forward to the upcoming live shows. It looks like the next years will be a very eventful time for us. The audience should expect a versatile setlist with a mixture of powerful up-tempo songs and some slower melancholic ballads. The ideal setlist will be a mixture of old tracks with Tom on the microphone and a kind of “Best Of…” from the 90s till now with Volker singing.

The preparations were a bit challenging in the beginning because we haven’t played most of the old songs in years. The sounds have survived but the MIDI Files were on floppy discs or even data tapes that are not easy to read nowadays. I had to reconstruct some drum programming and sequencing but thanks to Hauke (our former keyboardist) most of the data were still available.

Since Hauke left I am doing the live keys which meant a lot of rehearsals for me. The new songs on “Backdraft” also were a bit hard to perform because Volker played at least 3 or 4 parallel guitar tracks on the album but obviously cann’t do this in a live show. So we replaced some guitars with distorted synthesizer sounds or grabbed the original guitars and fed the samplers with it.

As we change the setlist very often we always have to do some rehearsals before shows.

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-Wave, Gothic, Post-Punk.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Legendary German formation Girls Under Glass strikes back with their first new studio album in eighteen (!) years. Driven by Volker Zacharias (vocals, guitar), Axel Ermes (electronics), Falko Grau (bass) and new singer Tom Lücke the Hamburger formation has achieved ten new songs. Notice by the way there also is an edition available with an extra EP whereon Tom Lücke is singing. This is a live EP. “Backdraft” was mixed by Chris Harms (Lord Of The Lost).

Content: Girls Under Glass remains faithful to their ‘old’ song which they infused with refreshing ideas. It’s hard to define the sound but it clearly appears to be a mix between different influences. From Dark-Wave to Electro with Post-Punk elements and even Wave-Rock. The songs reveal carrying choruses which have an elevating effect through the electronic melodies and the charismatic, powerful, vocals on top. One of the songs (cf. “Tainted”)  features alluring guest vocals by Mortiis.

+ + + : The comeback of Girls Under Glass is a damned good thing. This band released great stuff and it all sounds like the long break didn’t affect their creativity. This is an uncompromised production bringing different influences together resulting in a very own thing. The work stands for diversity while the songs are the exposure of power and danceable vibes although there’re dreamy passages as well. The vocals are powerful as well and especially the choruses create an elevating sensation because of the global power and melodic electro arrangements. “Tainted” featuring Mortiis is one of the absolute high lights but I also have to mention the somewhat minimal “Eiskalt” featuring DerHarms and the harder sounding “Everything Will Die” and “Heart On Fire”.

– – – : No true minus points but Girls Under Glass will for sure have to conquer the younger audience.

Conclusion: It took several years to the band to achieve this new full length but the result is worthy of examination; Girls Under Glass strikes back with a sonic bomb!

Best songs: “Tainted”, “Eiskalt”, “Everything Will Die”, “Heart On Fire”, “No Hope No Fear”, “Tanz Im Neonlicht”. 

Rate: 9.

Artist: www.facebook.com/GirlsUnderGlassEst1986

Label: www.dependent.de / www.facebook.com/dependent.records

About Girls Under Glass

Girls Under Glass is a German band originally formed in 1986 in Hamburg by Thomas Lücke, Hauke Harms and Volker Zacharias. Axel Ermes joined in 1989; Thomas Lücke left the band a while later and Hauke Harms departed in 2017. Most of the band’s albums were released in the 1990s, with the last studio album before the band’s return, “Zyklus”, issued in 2005. The group continued playing live shows in the years that followed. “Backdraft”, released on Dependent Records, reunited Volker Zacharias, Axel Ermes and Falko Grau with original singer Thomas Lücke and marked the band’s first new studio album in nearly twenty years.

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

Thirty years after their official debut album “Tybalt” German Electro-Pop formation Beborn Beton strikes back with their ninth album to date. “Darkness Falls Again” (Dependent Records) deals with the dark, contemporary, times we’re living in. Music wise the album holds on the familiar and very personal Electro-Pop style of the band; danceable and melodic songs featuring a professional production. I talked about this masterpiece with singer and front man Stefan Netschio.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: I realized that your first official album “Tybalt” has been released thirty years ago now. How do you remember the first steps of Beborn Beton and how do you see the evolution of the band throughout the years?

Stefan: After such a long time one questions the validity of one’s own memories. For sure there are certain milestones that will always stay with you, but everything else in between is a blur. There are lots of things lying dormant. It would probably require a night or two with all three of us reminiscing. I remember the nights we spent in the studio recording the first albums. And even before that, the studio time we had when recording our first songs with Carlos Peron in Switzerland and Cologne (Germany). Lots of people we met. The many different bands from that time, some are still active musicians and some have quit the business. The early tape recordings. Back then there was a tape scene with labels that put out compilations. I remember it being exciting being chosen for said compilations. And most importantly the many shows we played that had a significance for our evolution as stage performers.

I think the first era ended when we got signed to Strange Ways Records. The recordings with the late José Alvarez-Brill were a big step up, plus the wider exposure as a member of the Strange Ways roster. Super fun times. Touring with De/Vision, Mesh and Icon Of Coil.

Then getting signed to an US label and touring the states supporting Apoptygma Berzerk. An experience of a lifetime. Playing shows in Canada, Russia and all over Europe. We played many shows and festivals in the meantime, but it was only a few years later that we started writing and recording “A Worthy Compensation” with Olaf Wollschläger. That is definitely one of the highlights in our career. The work with Olaf was eye-opening. And we took more time than anticipated because it was so much fun and Olaf was more than just a producer. He profoundly understands our DNA. The new signing to Dependent Records and the return from that long hiatus with flying colours. All that time we have been independent artists. At some point, we were really young, there was the question whether or not to pursue a full-time music career. In hindsight I am so happy that we didn’t, that we are able to do what we want to do and not having to answer to anyone but ourselves.

Q: How much of the young musicians you were at that time do you still recognize in your work and global approach today? And what makes the chemistry throughout the years?

Stefan: Thirty years is a long time to evolve as an artist and of course as a human being per se. We have seen a lot, we have traveled a lot. Played shows on different continents, many still to explore. We tried a lot of things and we wrote lots of songs, spent a huge amount of time in the studio playing with technology. So, we still have the urge to write meaningful songs and use the highest possible technical standards to bring them to life. On the other hand we are not so easily impressed by music anymore. We know the tricks and we know how it’s done. But we still appreciate a good composition or a greatly executed production.

We have always been friends that make music together rather than fellow musicians. And that has not changed ever since. We party together and have spent a fair share of our free time travelling together not on tour as Beborn Beton. I believe, next year Till and I have known each other for forty years. We attended the same school when we found out that we liked the same kind of music. I met Michael in 1989 when we founded the band. That’s thirtyfour years now. I am his daughter’s Godfather and we all attended each other’s weddings. We are like family. Not by blood, but by choice.

Q: There’s already a serious gap (eight years) between your previous album “A Worthy Compensation” (2015) and “Darkness Falls Again”. It gives me the feeling there’s much more than music and Beborn Beton in your lives but how important remains this creative / artistic exposure and what does it mean to you? And what motivated you to start writing “Darkness Falls Again”?

Stefan: Beborn Beton is an integral part of our lives. That is our main outlet and means of creative expression. Sure, we all have very time and energy consuming day jobs. Some of us have another job on the side as Dad. So we do not always have time to meet all three to write music. But we still try to make time to spend some quality time together when we can. In the last few years I spent a lot of time crafting remixes and collaborating with other artists, enhancing my skills. But Beborn Beton is what we are even when we are not playing shows or writing albums. It’s not a coat that you take off at the end of the day. We believe in what we do and we mean every word we sing.

After “A Worthy Compensation” we were arguing whether or not this was the best and maybe our final album. We worked for so long on this and everything about this release was meticulously thought out and heartfelt. We wondered if we still had something to share with the world. And most of all, if we had the energy to make an album that is even better or at least similarly good as this one. Then came the era Trump and his magic box of atrocities. Racism, sexism, climate change and exploitation of earth’s resources, homophobia, sexual freedom, conspiracy theories. You name it. To us it seemed that this man spewed his venom at everything to fuel the anger of a divided nation and the world. We were on fire which resulted in us writing songs. It also made us sensitive to other topics that we weren’t aware of before. For example postnatal gender designation, even at a later stage. Then there was the pandemic that opened the floodgates to right wing extremists and conspiracy idiocracy.

And to top it off, Putin declared war on Ukraine. Dark times for humanity, great times for songwriting.

Q: The album indeed reveals a strong lyrical and engaged content which has been transposed into catchy tunes and danceable songs. I like the contrast of dancing on very serious lyrical topics but how do you see this aspect? And what’s the deeper significance of the lyrical content?

Stefan: That has always been our focus right from the beginning. Writing meaningful and serious lyrics, interesting stories and placing them in a beautiful, yet danceable and uplifting context. That is the core of Beborn Beton’s musical formula. And on “Darkness Falls Again” we address the issues mentioned before. From self-determination of gender, free love and sexual orientation to the fate of our planet and generations to come, but also existential topics, life altering medical conditions and challenges, war in the name of religion, racism and the enforcement of women’s rights. Some of the themes have been covered by songs that have not been released yet, so watch out for more to come.

Q: Can you give us an insight about the writing of “Darkness Falls Again”. What have been the different stages you’d have to go through to achieve this work and what have been the major difficulties and challenges?

Stefan:The songwriting process hasn’t changed over the years. Once the stories and topics are set, we sit together and the music is mainly conceived by playing around with the piano while the vocal melody takes form. And with the storyline in mind I vocalize parts of the vocal melody to get a natural groove and measure and once the chord progressions and vocal melodies are done, I write the verses and choruses while the beat and basslines are being articulated. And as long as I need to fix the lyrics, Till usually adds layers of sounds, percussion and additional sequences. When the music and lyrics are in a raw demo stage, we usually stop and let it rest for a couple of days. When we revisit the song to see if we still like it, we always find things that we feel could be executed better. This way we write the album tracks and in between all the songs get countless revisions. So, if – after months of songwriting -we still love the tracks we have written, chances are good that we are onto something big.

After that stage we get together with Olaf Wollschläger to refine the songs in his studio, work on the arrangements and the sound of the songs and get a cohesive album sound. This is when we record the vocals, get the mix done and give the songs that extra shine.

To be honest, fortunately there weren’t any major difficulties or challenges. In times of lockdown, when we couldn’t be in the studio together, Olaf worked on the songs on his own and gave us regular updates. But that was when all the pieces were finished in their substance and the adjustments were made on a very deep level, where mixing decisions were reconsidered and the overall sound was polished even more. Sometimes a few subtle changes go a long way.

Q: You already mentioned Olaf Wollschläger who produced the album. Less bands today are working with an external and renowned producer so what do you think about this evolution? And what’s the impact of Olaf’s work and production skills on the final result?

Stefan: A lot of bands do not have the budget to work with a renowned producer or they don’t deem it necessary to get a person on board with another professional view on things. For us it really is liberating to have a second opinion. Olaf’s creative input is very important to us and his ideas mostly give the songs that little extra. It isn’t as simple as it sounds, because to get the perfect sound another couple of weeks pass. We knew Olaf from previous album recordings and as a team we worked even better than on “A Worthy Compensation”.

There was a time when we didn’t have the knowledge to produce an album of such quality on our own. Having worked with Olaf on two albums now for a considerable amount of time has broadened our skill set immensely. We have gained so much expertise from this collaboration. But of course, our relationship has become more than just a job acquaintance. We have become friends and just being around him is so much fun. We are on the same wavelength. 

Q: A new album is often connected to live shows and tours, playing at big festivals, clips, remixes etc… What are the concrete plans right now and what brings the future for Beborn Beton?

Stefan: After the production of the album, we filmed two videos and commissioned numerous remixes from artists that we really like and admire. Some of those have been issued on the limited 2CD-Artbook edition of the album and on the “Burning Gasoline”-EP. And we are still not done with the “Darkness Falls Again” cycle. There are still songs that we recorded that did not make it on the album. Not because they are not good enough. They are just different and deserve a release on their own. And there are still a lot of great remixes that have not yet been released for different reasons. So you do the math;)

And of course we will play shows. We have played two shows now in Germany and there is more to come. A definite highlight is the co-headlining slot at this year’s Terminus Festival in Calgary, Canada. Imagine my jaw dropping when I had a look at the bill and right after the main act Nitzer Ebb there stood our name. So, as Beborn Beton, right now we are having the time of our lives.

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.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: “Darkness Falls Again” is the ninth album to date by German Electro-Pop formation Beborn Beton. It also is their first new full length in eight years. The band has mainly been active, and successful, during the 90s and early 00s.

Content: The album takes off with a sweet, styled opener which serves as a perfect teaser to the upcoming catchy, danceable song. This work features a succession of well-crafted and fully accomplished songs with a perfect balance between danceable parts and melancholic moods. I now and then notice a Depeche Mode touch but Beborn Beton first of all remains a band with a very personal Electro-Pop identity with the unique voice of Stefan Netschio on top.

+ + + : Beborn Beton has nothing to prove; being an established and recognized formation in their music style they simply seem to have fun working with their own stuff. The production reveals a true maturity which comes through in every single detail. “Darkness Falls Again” first of all is a great work featuring outstanding cuts like “Dancer In The Dark”, “I Watch My Life On TV” and “Burning Gasoline”. It’s an album with multiple potential singles and hits. What I mostly like is the way they transpose serious lyrical themes accentuated by dark sound treatments into catchy tunes and danceable rhythms.

– – – : I regret the album is only featuring 8 songs.

Conclusion: Hard to say which is my favorite Beborn Beton-album but “Darkness Falls Again” definitely belongs to my personal top 3; great and very personal Electro-Pop.

Best songs: “Dancer In The Dark”, “I Watch My Life On TV”, “Burning Gasoline”, “Last Chance”.

Rate: 8½.

Artist: www.bebornbeton.de / www.facebook.com/bebornbeton

Label: www.dependent.de / www.facebook.com/dependent.records Read the news on ‘Darkness Falls Again’.

About Beborn Beton

Beborn Beton is a German synthpop band formed in 1989 in Essen, Germany, by Stefan Tillmann (keyboards, drums), Michael Wagner (keyboards) and vocalist Stefan Netschio. The band’s debut album, “Tybalt,” arrived in 1993, compiling the tracks written during the group’s first three years, and was followed by “Concrete Ground” in 1995.

A change of record label in 1996 preceded “Nightfall,” the album that became the band’s commercial breakthrough. Beborn Beton went on to build a catalog of eight studio albums through the 1990s and 2000s before “Darkness Falls Again,” reviewed here, arrived as their ninth album and first new full-length in eight years.

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

Darkwave duo Black Nail Cabaret, consisting of Emèse Árvai-Illes and Krisztián Árvai, has released a lyric video for “Sister Sister,” the first single from their upcoming experimental album “Woodlands Memoirs,” which will be available through Dependent Records. Collaborating with three fellow musicians (Tamás Számvéber, Márton Barják, Péter Laskay) under the moniker Black Nail Cabaret And Friends, the Hungarian pair has crafted a unique, one-time project that diverges from their typical avant-garde synth-pop style by transforming their own songs into cover versions.

The lyric video for “Sister Sister” can be viewed below.

Regarding the single, vocalist Emèse Árvai-Illes commented that “Sister Sister” has long been a favorite from their “Dichromat” album. The original track, with its cold wave vibe, has been transformed into a sound reminiscent of a “Twin Peaks” score, representing the band’s goal of covering their own songs.

In total Black Nail Cabaret selected eleven tracks from their previous releases and reimagined them by incorporating guitars, drums, and saxophone through a semi-live recording process that allowed for improvisation. To emphasize the organic nature of their own ‘cover versions,’ the band included footage shot in the pine woods of the Agostyán Arboretum in Hungary.

About Black Nail Cabaret

Black Nail Cabaret is a darkwave and electronic duo hailing from Hungary. Formed in 2008, the group consists of Emese “Emke” Arvai-Illes as the vocalist and Krisztian “Sophia” Arvai as the keyboardist and composer. Their music is characterized by a fusion of dark electronic soundscapes, haunting vocals, and a strong emphasis on storytelling through lyrics, with influences ranging from Depeche Mode to David Bowie.

The band began gaining traction with their debut EP, “Emerald City,” released in 2012. It showcased their ability to craft atmospheric, synth-driven tracks with a dark edge. The duo continued to build their sound with the release of their first full-length album, “Dichromat,” in 2013. This album featured a more polished and cohesive sound, highlighting their growth as musicians.

Black Nail Cabaret’s subsequent releases, including “Harry Me, Marry Me, Bury Me, Bite Me” (2015) and “Dioskouroi” (2017), further established their reputation as a force within the darkwave and electronic scene. Read the review of ‘Woodland Memoirs’.

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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(Photo by Chris Ruiz) Out now via Dependent Records is the all new album by the German electropop act Beborn Beton. “Darkness Falls Again” offers a mix of 80s synthpop with a touch of 90s electronic influences.

Through the song lyrics the band addresses contemporary political struggles and cultural conflicts through their lyrics. They voice opposition to efforts that undermine women’s rights and challenge those who seek to limit expressions of love, gender, and sexuality. The group also criticizes racism, demagoguery, hate speech, and environmental destruction for personal gain.

The German electropop act Beborn Beton was founded by vocalist Stefan Netschio, keyboard player and drummer Stefan Tillmann, and keyboard player Michael Wagner in 1989. Their first signs of life were three self-released works, “Pyre” (1989), “Scythe” (1991), and “Die Stahlbetontour” (1992) that came out on tape. Following their first two regular albums “Tybalt” (1993) and “Concrete Ground” (1994), Beborn Beton found a label-home at Strange Ways Records where they joined renowned acts such as Wolfsheim and De/Vision. In 1996 they released the full-length “Nightfall”, followed by “Truth” in 1997, “Fake” (1999) and “Rückkehr zum Eisplaneten” (2000). Add to this the exclusive US release of a best-of double-album entitled “Tales from Another World” in 2002, which was followed by extensive touring in North America with Apoptygma Berzerk the same year. But after the release of “Tales from Another World” (2002) and the associated touring, the band went on an extended hiatus.

It took 13 long years, until the trio returned with a new album on Dependent Recordings: “A Worthy Compensation” (2015). 8 years later we now have “Darkness Falls Again”.

Check the full release below. Read the review of ‘Darkness Falls Again’.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Kirlian Camera singer Elena Alice Fossi strikes back with the fifth album of her SPECTRA*paris sonic alter ego. Her partner in crime Angelo Bergamini contributed to the work while other famous names like Project Pitchfork, John Fryer and Seasurfer ao contributed as well.

Content: The sound universe of SPECTRA*paris is clearly driven by Electro-Pop elements but also feature other sources of inspiration. Retro passages have been alternated with heavier, dramatic, parts while there’s also space for evasive, Cinematic, tracks and last, but not least a great club-driven cut with sensual, Eastern, atmospheres on top.

+ + + : The main strength of the album is its diversity. But I also salute the way this artist -and her guests, achieved a reinterpretation of Electro-Pop music. On top of it all you get Elena’s magic, sensual, fragile timbre of voice. “MoRoDERN” clearly sounds as a potential hit; it sounds clubby and driven by a hot, Eastern sound atmosphere. Another noticeable cut is the “Doctor Phibes Mix” of “Poison Fresh” which sounds much more club-driven than the original, drama-sounding, edit.

– – – : I was less convinced by the softer, Cinematic passages of the album.

Conclusion: SPECTRA*paris remains a very unique formation and definitely more than simply a side-project. It sounds like the ‘sonic boudoir’ of Elena Alice Fossi.

Best songs: “MoRoDERN”, “Poison Fresh – Doctor Phibes Mix”, “Graphic Music 1.0”, “Moondrops”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.facebook.com/spectraparis.official

Label: www.dependent.de / www.facebook.com/dependent.records Read the news on ‘Modernism’.

About SPECTRA*paris

Spectra*Paris is the electronic rock project led by Italian singer, composer and producer Elena Alice Fossi, who also fronts Kirlian Camera. Discogs describes the project as having grown out of Fossi’s earlier Siderartica work. Kirlian Camera’s Angelo Bergamini contributed to “Modernism”.

The first album, “Dead Models Society (Young Ladies Homicide Club)”, came out on Trisol in 2007. “Christmas Ghouls” and “License To Kill” followed on Out Of Line in 2010, and “Retromachine Betty” appeared on Dependent Records in 2017. “Modernism” is the fifth album and the project’s second for that label.

The album was preceded by a second single, “Poison Fresh”. Fossi has also recorded outside the project with Beauty In Chaos and with Solitary Experiments.

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: Dark-Electro, Industrial.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Mildreda is the Dark-Electro/Industrial project of Jan Dewulf. While he was already active with this project during the 90s he mainly got recognition with the Electro-Pop project Diskonnekted while he, in the past few years, was more active with the Goth/Wave formation Your Life On Hold. He now strikes back with the fourth full length of Mildreda, which also is the first one released on CD format.

Content: Jan Dewulf reveals a rather diversified piece of work, which is however dominated by Dark-Electro sound sculptures. Some songs are supported by dark, melodic strings while other pieces are more into Industrial elements. I also noticed a few cuts mixing Dark-Electro and Industrial together with overwhelming epic arrangements. Notice by the way you’ll hear Dirk Ivens (Jan composed the music for the last Dive album) and Cyan (The Eternal Afflict) singing on two songs while Don Gordon (Numb) contributed to the production of one cut.

+ + + : The album reveals different influences, but Mildreda took me by surprise with “Liaisons Dangereuses” (there also is a great clip of this song) and “Erased” featuring Don Gordon. The epic/orchestral arrangements running through both cuts are absolutely impressive, creating a kind of new Dark-Electro dimension. It’s an imaginary hybrid between Yelworc and In Slaughter Natives. I also have to mention the Industrial-driven “Echoes” featuring Dirk Ivens, which sounds like a more elaborated Dive-song. The last part of the album also reveals 3 brilliant songs. “Blame It On The Moon” features the charismatic voice of Cyan. “Opposite Choice” is accomplished with a Techno touch and “Dream Machine” sounds like a great final track. Last, but not least I also have to say a word about the great ghost-like vocals’ production of Jan Dewulf, which matches this sound.

– – – : The album has something versatile and I regret there are no more Orchestral/Epic driven songs. Both debut cuts are a little bit hesitant, but quite progressively this album reveals great surprises.

Conclusion: Jan Dewulf has already done promising things in his career, but this Mildreda album might be his best work ever!

Best songs: “Liaisons Dangereuses”, “Opposite Choice”, “Erased”, “Dream Machine”, “Blame It On The Moon”.

Rate: 8½.

Artist: www.mildreda.com / www.facebook.com/officialmildreda

Label: www.dependent.de / www.facebook.com/dependent.records

About Mildreda

Mildreda is the Belgian dark electro project of producer, vocalist and songwriter Jan Dewulf from Ostend. It started in the mid-1990s, when Dewulf, influenced by Belgian acts such as The Klinik, began working with synthesizers and home-recording equipment. The self-released cassette “II Castrato” appeared in 1995, followed by “De Laffe Denker” in 1996. Dewulf later put the project on hold and concentrated on Diskonnekted, and from 2017 on the gothic rock band Your Life On Hold, whose album Echoes From The Bardo Side-Line reviewed in April 2021.

Mildreda returned in 2016 with the digital compilation “Coward Philosophy” on Alfa Matrix. After signing with Dependent Records, the project released “I Was Never Really There” on 20 August 2021 on CD and as a download, its first physical album. The eleven tracks include “Echoes” with Dirk Ivens, “Blame It On The Moon” with Cyan of The Eternal Afflict and “Erased” with Don Gordon of Numb; Claus Larsen of Leaether Strip mastered the album. “Reinvention Of Pain”, “Liaisons Dangereuses” and “Inner Judgement” were issued as singles the same year.

The concept album Blue-Devilled followed in December 2023, and the double album “Realities” on 28 August 2026, again on Dependent; Dewulf discussed it in the Mildreda interview published by Side-Line. The live line-up consists of Jan Dewulf and Christophe “Salva” Salvatore. “I Was Never Really There” is the album that started the Dependent period.

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: Minimal-Electro, EBM.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Clicks is back on track, unleashing the second full length album of the Polish project, which comes five years after the phenomenal “Glitch_Machine” (according to me the best Electronic album of 2016). The band is still driven by ex-Controlled Collapse frontman Kr-Lik.

Content: The title of the album is somewhat misleading as Clicks remain driven by pure Electronic music. It’s a kind of avant-garde EBM format based upon blasting sound treatments and solid bass lines. Most of the vocals are rather clear, but still getting back to some robotic effect we got used to hearing on the debut opus. From pure modern EBM towards Minimal-Electro, Clicks have seriously evolved in sound, but the result is still unique in its genre.

+ + + : Clicks took time to achieve its debut album and I think it hasn’t been that different for “G.O.T.H.”. It’s not a copy-paste of “Glitch_Machine”, but a band in progress. The songs are carried by impressive sound treatments and some mind-blowing bass lines. The songs are progressively built up and often resulting in a true climax by the choruses. Just as for the previous album, nearly all songs are worthy of examination. There are several potential hits and EP/Single title songs featured. The sound intelligence and sophistication of the global production reminds me of the shock I heard discovering early Combichrist and Komor Kommando; simply an impressive sound and top notch production! 

– – – : I don’t see any single minus point here, but I simply can’t understand why Clicks didn’t get more recognition. This project comes close to perfection!

Conclusion: If you’re in search of intelligent, efficient and visionary Electronic music, you better purchase this album touched by the genius of music Gods!

Best songs: “Clicks. Dead”, “Mr. Nevergonnabe”, “Past Of My Past”, “First World Problems”, “Thermostimportantperson”, “Every Bloated Muscle”, “Connection”.

Rate: 9½.

Artist: www.facebook.com/clicks.music

Label: www.dependent.de / www.facebook.com/dependent.records

About Clicks

Clicks is a Polish electronic project led by Wojciech Król, who records as Kr-Lik and previously fronted the electro-industrial band Controlled Collapse. Discogs lists Łukasz Klaus and Tomtylor as further members. Król also worked as a producer and remixer for Polish acts such as Agonised By Love and Deathcamp Project in the late 2000s.

Clicks issued the digital singles “This Is Jeopardy” (2012) and “Oh Lord” (2013) on Machineries and appeared on the Dependent samplers “Septic IX” and several “Dependence” compilations. In May 2015 Side-Line reported that Dependent sign Polish trio Clicks; the debut album “Glitch_Machine” followed in 2016 on CD and as a limited 2CD box set and was reviewed on Side-Line in March 2016.

“G.O.T.H.” was released on 16 April 2021 on CD and as a download by Dependent. Król wrote, produced, programmed and mixed the thirteen tracks; Vincent Uhlig mastered the album and Nico J. made the artwork, which comes with an interchangeable double-sided cover. The Dependent notes describe the title and the goth-styled cover as a deliberate joke, set up by the pre-release video for “I Dream”. The same year the project self-released the limited 12″ single “The Party” and the digital single “Dropdead”. “G.O.T.H.” is the second Clicks 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

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

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Last year Hungarian duo Emese Arvai-Illes (vocals) – Krisztian Arvai (music) released their fifth full length album, which also was the first one released on Dependent Records. “Maelstrom” definitely was one of the absolute highlights from the album and now was released as the EP title track. The song is available in 3 different edits while there also is an extra track featured.

Content: The “Single Edit” of “Maelstrom” is easily recognizable by its Dark-Electro-Pop style featuring the cold and charismatic singing by Emese. It’s a dreamy, heavenly and somewhat elevating track. We next get the “Fixation Mix”, which sounds more into minimalism and a little Experimental-driven. This version might appeal for Kirlian Camera lovers. Next comes a remix by Man+Machine, which is more clubby-driven by its pumping kick.

The song “You Lessen I Die” is a kind of B-side track and sounds as an Industrial ballad.

+ + + : “Maelstrom” deserved to get released as the title song for an EP; it’s a perfect track revealing what Black Nail Cabaret stands for; a very unique Electro-Pop formation, which is hardly comparable to any other band. I’m a long time addicted to the sterile although wafting and danceable Dark-Pop of the Hungarians. “Maelstrom” is a graceful song, which inspired Man+Machine to accomplish a cool, dancefloor driven remix.

– – – : “You Lessen I Die” confirms this band’s original sound approach, but it’s not exactly the song that will catch your attention and reveal any kind of passion for the band.

Conclusion: “Maelstrom” is a cool EP for its different edits and approaches; great Dark-Pop music.

Best songs: “Maelstrom – Single Edit”, “Maelstrom – Man+Machine Remix”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.blacknailcabaret.com / www.facebook.com/bncband

Label: www.dependent.de / www.facebook.com/dependent.records Read the news on ‘Maelstrom’.

About Black Nail Cabaret

Black Nail Cabaret is the Hungarian duo of singer Emese Árvai-Illés and musician Krisztián Árvai, based in Tatabánya. The project released “Harry Me Marry Me Bury Me Bite Me” in 2015 through Negative Gain Productions, followed by the “We Like To Suffer” EP (2017, Basic Unit Productions) and the album “Dichromat” (2018, Basic Unit Productions). Side-Line covered the 2019 album “Pseudopop” on Dichronaut Records and spoke to the duo for a Click Interview the same year. The duo’s fifth album, “Gods Verging On Sanity”, followed in 2020 as their first release for Dependent Records. “Maelstrom”, the title track from that album, was reissued in 2021 as a stand-alone EP with three additional edits and the extra track “You Lessen I Die”.

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-Wave, Electro, Experimental-Pop.

Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.

Background/Info: Active under the Kirlian Camera moniker since 1980, the Italian formation driven by the creative spirit of Angelo Bergamini and the bewitching vocals of Elena Alice Fossi no longer has anything to prove. They now release albums on an irregular basis, but each new production reveals little surprises. This album has been released as a double album, but there also is a box for the fans featuring an extra disc with songs. Notice by the way the album is also available through Metropolis in the US.

Content: The first disc features 8 songs, which are mainly driven by dark electronic moods mixing a kind of ballad style together with Experimental/Wave-Pop. The angelic and sensual vocals are now driven by a psychedelic lead, but then by a more menacing, dark sphere with male backings. In the background. I also noticed the pretty Kraftwerk-ian debut of “Not True”.

The second disc reveals 8 more songs and similar influences, but sounds more into a kind of dreamy and beautiful Electro-Pop interpretation. I also noticed more Cinematographic passages. The song “Apophenia” features Blank and that’s interesting as Blank also released this song last year on its own album “Drifting Slowly”.

+ + + : Kirlian Camera is a band I’ve always linked to a kind of ‘freestyle’; disconnected from established genres and trends. A pure creative process resulting in a sound, which is hard to label, but definitely related with Dark-Wave and Electro-Pop. The first disc sounds softer and also more space-like accentuated with some Psychedelic touches. You however can feel a dark sphere hanging over the songs, which is more accentuated on the second disc. And I personally prefer this second album. Especially the second part of the disc is absolutely magic. The songs are refined and blessed by a dark, artistic touch creating an ultimate match between music and vocals. The song “Apophenia” featuring Blank is a little sonic jewel, but I also have to mention “LSDay” and “Dusk Religion”.

– – – : The first disc is an easy listening experience, but not exactly the kind of music getting me wild. It has a relaxing effect, but with a soporific touch on top while the second disc has a similar relaxing, but elevating effect.

Conclusion: Kirlian Camera remains a unique experience in sound, a kind of sonic poetry with dark notes and sexy vocals.

Best songs: “Apophenia”, “LSDay”, “Dusk Religion”, “Dreamlex”, “Not True”, “I Became Alice”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.kirliancamera.com / www.facebook.com/kirliancamera.official

Label: www.dependent.de / www.facebook.com/dependent.records

About Kirlian Camera

Kirlian Camera was formed in Italy in 1980 by Angelo Bergamini, with Elena Alice Fossi joining as vocalist in the 2000s. Side-Line covered the band’s “Sky Collapse” EP in 2017 and the album “Hologram Moon” in 2018, followed in 2019 by the “Base Box” boxset. “Cold Pills (Scarlet Gate of Toxic Daybreak)”, released on Dependent Records on May 14, 2021, arrived as the band celebrated 40 years of activity, issued as a double album with a separate box edition adding a third disc of extra material and distributed in the US through Metropolis.

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: Tribal, Industrial, Trance, Cinematographic.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info:  Four years after the “Kundalini Rising”-album, This Morn’Omina strikes back with a new opus and a new line-up. Karolus Leroq left the band he was involved with since the album “L’Unification Des Forces Opposantes” (2011). Core member Mika Goedrijk welcomed Scott Fox (Ivardensphere) to complete the quartet. Mika Goedrijk and Scott Fox last year already worked together unleashing the self-titled debut album of And Void.

“The Roots Of Saraswati” is –once again, inspired from Hinduism and has different meanings; it’s a Goddess, but also the name of a River with some mysterious power, but also a term used for scholars and seekers of truth. The common thread between it all is an element of flowing and profound transcendence, which has been transposed into this work. Notice by the way the album is also available as a double disc –limited edition, featuring extra tracks.

Content: The sound of the Belgian Tribal formation –now reinforced by a Canadian member, is quite easy to recognize because there’s not many projects composing this kind of music. It sounds more Tribal than ever before, this essential aspect of the production being reinforced by the power and magic of different real percussions. This element never has been that explicit. The main difference and I dare to say innovation is the impressive orchestral arrangements revealing a Cinematographic style, which comes pretty through in different tracks. While This Morn’Omina added vocals on its previous work, they now got back to spoken samplings adding an extra mysterious touch to the work. If you’re familiar with the band’s work, you for sure will recognize the Trance, rousing passages, blasting sound treatments and boosting kicks.

+ + + : This Morn’Omina has already released an impressive discography, but it’s unbelievable to realize this project can still take me by surprise. From a pure technical point of view this album deserves more than simply a mention; the production excels in perfection while I can imagine it’s not that easy when recording real percussion. But This Morn’Omina –probably because of Scott Fow’ addition, also renewed some elements of its sound, the heavy orchestral arrangements being very present and revealing a new path to explore. I’m also impressed by some blasting sound treatments, remaining the band’s trademark.

– – – : I don’t see major minus points about such a ‘tour de force’ although I can’t say it’s the album featuring the most potential hits.

Conclusion: This work stands for a top notch production; an absolute must have for lovers of Tribal-Trance-Industrial music.

Best songs: “People Of The Serpent”, “Nadisti Sukta”, “The Nothing Space”, “The Mangoose King”, “Naous”.

Rate: (9).

Artist: www.facebook.com/thismornomina

Label: www.dependent.de / www.facebook.com/dependent.records

About This Morn’Omina

This Morn’Omina is a Belgian tribal industrial project built around Mika Goedrijk. Side-Line covered the album “Kundalini Rising” in 2017, released while Karolus Leroq was still part of the line-up; Leroq had joined for “L’Unification Des Forces Opposantes” (2011) and left before this album. For “The Roots Of Saraswati”, Goedrijk brought in Canadian drummer and electro-musician Scott Fox of Ivardensphere, whose album “Exile” Side-Line reviewed in 2017 and whose solo album “The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner” followed in 2019. Goedrijk and Fox had already worked together in 2020 on the self-titled debut of And Void. Side-Line later spoke to Fox for a 2022 Click Interview about iVardensphere.

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

Stefan Herwig once started Kugelblitz Records and moved on with Off Beat. He set up Dependent Records in 1998. The label got an instant success thanks to famous bands like  VNV Nation, Covenant, Mesh, Velvet, Acid Christ And Suicide Commando. Dependent became a great home for intelligent Electronic artists. Other ‘big’ names like Pride And Fall, Seabound, Mind.In.A.Box, Rotersand, Click Click, Front Line Assembly, Decoded Feedback, Fïx8:Sëd8 ao joined in.

(Stéphane Froidcoeur / Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Was there a kind of ‘philosophy’ when you set up your label and did it evolve over the years? How would you define your label activities today?

Stefan: Yes, absolutely, there was a ‘label philosophy’ and it did evolve over the years quite a bit, it did actually evolve 3 times and it continues to evolve right now. When we founded Dependent we only had the plan to sign with 5 artists (hence the hand as a logo, originally) and work very intensively with those artists. We signed the artists for short-term deals, brought some of them to quite a big status and then found out that they used the first option to hop out of deals and sign with Major label companies for bigger advances. That was disappointing. Also, some artists developed a real problematic persona, when they became successful, and we struggled to deal with that as well.

So, as hard as it sounds: we had to ‘ditch’ the idealistic approach. On top of that came the industry crisis in the early 2000s, which made life as a record label very difficult. Well, to put it short: we learned a lot since then.

Q: I can imagine you must have specific and explicit criteria to sign an artist/band. Can you give us more details about this aspect and how important is it for you to know the person(s) hiding behind the ‘artist(s)’?

Stefan: Well, we are always looking for good vocals and a decisive artistic vision at first. The project has got to ‘make sense’ to us, not only the music, but everything. Sometimes we receive good demos, but they are all over the board stylistically, and then we will struggle to market this kind of stuff properly. But then again: GOOD VOCALS are one of our prime conditions. And yes, the dealings with the artists have to be smooth. If you dislike artists from the get-go, it will end up being a difficult collaboration, so if artists appear ‘difficult’ during the first talks, we will think twice.

Q: You are already active for numerous years now so you must have seen a lot of things changing and evolving; think about social media, streaming platforms, Youtube channels… but also economic crisis etc. What are the pros and cons of these changes/evolutions and in, which way did you had to adapt/change your strategy and activities?

Stefan: Well, all the promotion strategies, the timings, the ideas behind it, the distribution channels, etc… have changed -drastically. The music industry from 20, from 10 or even from just 5 years ago has little in common with what we do now. Be available on very channel, digital and physical. The one thing that has not changed is that we are being committed to great artists and releases in the long run.

Dependent has an own fanbase from people that have recognized this, this makes us very proud. But we also stick to physical release, vinyls and special editions. It is a better form to release music.

Q: The ongoing pandemic has affected all artistic life and activities so what’s the true impact on your label activities and do you think it will also affect your long term objectives?

Stefan: Well, people stay more at home, so they also listen to more music. They buy a better stereo, buy albums on vinyl, etc. Also the shortfall of festivals means that some people have more money in their budget to spend on recorded music. It is kind of ironic, but the shortfall of concerts gives the labels and the recording artists a little boost. Obviously for everybody who is in the live performance and booking business, this situation is entirely catastrophic, and I sincerely hope that it will evolve soon.

Q: Do you think media (magazines, online platforms etc…) still have an impact and a role to play today? What’s your relationship with ‘journalists’ and how important is their work?

Stefan: Well, it’s been a tough place for music magazines, especially printed ones for years now, and we have seen many big print magazines go under, that is no secret. I do have a soft spot for good journalism & good reviews that bring good music recommendations to the people. But I see that for instance streaming recommendation algorithms have become so good, that the air gets even thinner for music magazines. I hope the magazines and print people will evolve and survive. One step would be to curate own playlists on Spotify, to keep the magazine identity and recommendation function alive. But also better reviews would be helpful; some reviews are being too optimistic and not critical enough.

Q: What do you consider as your biggest accomplishment(s)? Do you have specific goals/dreams you want to achieve and how do you prepare and see the future of the label(s)? And what are your biggest regret(s)?

Stefan: Well, we have had our fair share of chart successes, and this is nice (and keeps us afloat, obviously), but the real accomplishment is to ‘develop’ artists to enable them to have a successful career and have a good input on the music scene, instead of watering it down. I think some labels are in the process of watering down the scenes’ identity instead of strengthening it. Artist development is STILL the goal, after all, we still love Electronic music. The moment from when you get a REALLY good demo is almost like the moment you fall in love with someone: your hair starts to stand up, the heartbeat is rising, you have this big smile on your face. It is amazing that music can do this to us still.

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

We all have to admit a lot of things have changed in the music industry during the past years. The evolution of social media and the increasing importance of streaming platforms just are a few, but essential elements, which had a serious impact on our habits and the way of listening to music.

I think it’s not simply a coincidence if sales of physical releases –but especially the CD format, are progressively going downwards. I was already thinking for a while to get in touch with label owners to hear what they think about it all. The ongoing pandemic has touched all artistic activities; no more live performances and no big festivals for a while now. It definitely has its impact as well.

I decided to contact some of the leading labels from the Electro scene and ask them about a reaction. Most of the label owners kindly accepted to contribute to this massive interview.

During the next six days, you’ll get an interview with one of them every day. They all got the same questions to answer, which makes it interesting to compare their points of view. It’s also an opportunity to discover who’s hiding behind these legendary labels.

This interview series took me a lot of time, but my efforts got rewarded by the detailed and informative answers I got. I want to thank Torny Gottberg (Progress Productions), Dave Heckman (Metropolis Records), Séba Dolimont and Bernard Van Isacker (Alfa Matrix), Stefan Herwig (Dependent Records), Alex Storm (Trisol) and Torben Schmidt (Infacted Recordings) for their input.

I’m also planning a similar interview later on this year with other- and smaller labels.

(Stéphane Froidcoeur / Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

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

Back in 1991 I started writing my first reviews for Side-Line magazine. I would have never thought to go on writing reviews and making interviews non-stop for 30 years. So 2021 is a special year to me, a kind of ‘celebration year’. I got the idea to celebrate this special event by interviewing people from the scene who all have a special meaning to me. I met Johan Van Roy even before I wrote my first review. He was busy composing music under the SUICIDE COMMANDO moniker. I liked the dark and tormented atmosphere of his early demos, which were reminding me of THE KLINIK. I got the chance singing on one of his early songs and we even set up together a music project. SUICIDE COMMANDO became one of the absolute leading formations from the Dark-Electro scene, playing as headliner at big festivals, selling thousands of albums and having an impressive word-wide fan base. Beyond the successful career hides an humble person. No star attitude, but an accessible and kind man who simply remains himself.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Thirty five years ago now you started experimenting with Electronic music while setting up SUICIDE COMMANDO. What incited you back in 1986 to experiment with electro sounds and noises? How did that happened and what equipment did you use?

Johan: I grew up in the early 80s with the in that time booming New-Wave scene, listening to bands like THE CURE, SISTERS OF MERCY, but also more Electronic sounding bands like DEPECHE MODE or FAD GADGET … It was because of these bands that my love for Electronic music started. Not much later I discovered bands like THE NEON JUDGEMENT, FRONT 242 and THE KLINIK (in those days these bands even got airplay on national radio stations like BRT…).

These bands had such a big impact on me that I also wanted to start making Electronic music. And so I bought my first keyboard back in summer 1986, the now legendary Roland SH101, not much later added with 2 drum machines, the Boss DR110 Dr. Rhythm and the Boss DR220E.

Very limited gear, but in those days very expensive equipment, so it wasn’t that obvious to buy more equipment. For example samplers were extremely expensive and even with a sampler you only could record a few seconds of sound…

Q: People maybe don’t realize it took you years and a lot of patience plus perseverance to get some recognition. I get the impression you couldn’t maybe directly break through because of a lack of equipment. As you said, electronic equipment was very expensive and there weren’t the same facilities as today. How do you look back at this period regarding equipment, the multiple cassettes you released, the first compilation features etc?

Johan: It obviously were totally different times, not just only because of the cost and the lack of equipment, as I already mentioned before. But there also wasn’t any social media, so that means it took way longer to get your music spread around. Everything still had to be done by post, so things took much longer then nowadays.
Today’s possibilities are unlimited, but nonetheless I don’t regret I had to start this way. It gave you much more freedom and time to work on music. You also had to be way more innovative and inventive to create and write music. Today almost everything is already canned, get yourself a PC and some music software and in one day you can write yourself a complete album …

Many bands had to start like I did, writing music with very limited gear and releasing it on tape… bands like FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY, NITZER EBB… all started this way.
It also gave me time to improve and create my own style, something I do lack in today’s music scene.
So I definitely look back at it with pleasure.

Q: You became involved with LESCURE 13, which in a way -and right in the beginning became more recognized than SUICIDE COMMANDO. I was even sure LESCURE 13 would even become the Belgian ‘next big thing’, but it finally didn’t happen that way. How comes and what do you keep in mind from the LESCURE 13 experience?

Johan:I don’t think that SUICIDE COMMANDO was less recognized, but it was much harder to get the same recognition if you don’t do live shows, and I think that was the main reason why LESCURE 13 got picked up faster. Initially I never really planned on doing live shows with SUICIDE COMMANDO, but as our first live show with LESCURE 13 at the legendary Side-Line festival at ‘VK’ in Brussels became such a success, it convinced me to start doing live shows with SUICIDE COMMANDO as well. So in a way Side-Line is to blame for that 🙂

It was fun doing LESCURE 13 with Stefan Bens (STIN SCATZOR), but since SUICIDE COMMANDO got more and more successful in the years after, I got less and less time to focus on LESCURE 13, so on the long run the combination became too difficult and stressful for me. I’ll never forget our very first live show with LESCURE 13 in Brussels.

Q: I got the privilege to start another project with you, which was TOXIC SHOCK SYNDROME. How do you look back at this experience and a few other side-projects like DB.F and KOMBAT UNIT?

Johan:I enjoyed doing them all, but just like with LESCURE 13, time became the biggest problem. The combination of doing music with SUICIDE COMMANDO + work + family just became too time consuming and stressful.

But like I said, I enjoyed doing all these side projects. As SUICIDE COMMANDO was my solo-project I enjoyed working together with others from time to time, even though it requires a different approach.

With LESCURE 13 we still do some live shows now and then, and also KOMBAT UNIT with Jan (NOISUF-X, X-FUSION) never really stopped, but it’s all just a matter of time.

Doing TOXIC SHOCK SYNDROME was fun too, but in the end you have to make choices and set priorities, but I look back at it with lots of pleasure.

Q: The split-album/compilation “Induktion, Varianz Und Deren Folgen” released by Stefan Herwig on his early label Kugelblitz in 1993 made things change! Suddenly more people were discovering SUICIDE COMMANDO! How important was this compilation in the career and development of SUICIDE COMMANDO? And how important was Stefan Herwig who finally brought you to join his Off Beat label?

Johan: Oh, for sure this was a career changer and I’m sure that without Stefan Herwig, SUICIDE COMMANDO never would have become as big as today. I already knew Stefan Herwig for a few years after he discovered SUICIDE COMMANDO through my tapes released on the German ZNS tapes label, so when Stefan started his own label with Kugelblitz Records he soon invited me to join on his “Induktion, Varianz Und Deren Folgen” split-CD.

Not much later Stefan started working for the rising Off Beat label and so he was able to get me in there as well… and the rest is history I guess.

I’m aware I was pretty lucky, being at the right place at the right time I guess… so yes, without Stefan my career would have looked totally different I guess.

Q: SUICIDE COMMANDO was often compared to THE KLINIK, which has been one of your main sources of inspiration. What has been the real impact of THE KLINIK and eventually other bands –and maybe music genres, in the development and evolution of SUICIDE COMMANDO till today?

Johan:Well, no need to deny that bands like KLINIK or yet FRONT 242 (and others like THE NEON JUDGEMENT, FAD GADGET, SKINNY PUPPY, NITZER EBB…) had a major impact on me and my music throughout the years. They not only were a major source of inspiration, these bands also were THE main reason why I started doing ‘Electronic’ music in the first place. My older brother was playing guitar so my first steps into the music scene were as a bass player, but when I discovered bands like KLINIK, FRONT 242… a whole new world opened before my eyes (and ears).
Still in 2021 a band like KLINIK remains probably my biggest influence.

Q: You last year celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the “Mindstrip”-album. This production probably became the most successful one in the band’s history, but how do you look back at this album and did it make specific things/aspects changing?

Johan: Not sure if it was my most successful album, but it sure had the biggest impact on my career. We already gained some recognition with the huge success of “See You In Hell” and to a lesser extent “Desire” and “Better Off Dead”, but the release of the “Mindstrip”-album and the “Hellraiser”-single taken from this album certainly brought us to the top of the scene. Again I think Stefan Herwig had a big part in this success as he just started his own division with Dependent Records, gathering bands like COVENANT or VNV NATION… I think SUICIDE COMMANDO certainly benefitted from their success as well.

On top of that I think “Mindstrip” filled a gap between the at that time trending Future- and Synth-Pop acts and the more harder side of the Electro scene which was at a decline at that moment, and therefore “Mindstrip” marked an important milestone in the entire scene. All of a sudden bands started to copy SUICIDE COMMANDO and harsh electro was born. In the next years many bands would jump onto the harsh ‘Electro/Endzeit’ train.

So it not only marked the start of a new subgenre in the Electro scene, it also changed the expectations of the media and the crowd.

My follow up album “Axis Of Evil” was 8 weeks at the top of the at that time highly acclaimed German Alternative Charts (DAC).

Q: You’re organizing an interesting annual ‘SUICIDE COMMANDO poll’ where the fans can choose their favorite songs. In which way is it representative for your personal favorites and what are your favorite songs? And do you’ve some songs, which remained underrated?

Johan: It’s a good representation of what the fans consider the best SUICIDE COMMANDO songs, but that’s about all. It surely doesn’t reflect my personal favorites, even though a few of my personal faves are also in the top 10 of this list.

I’ve always enjoyed doing the more slower and atmospheric songs. A few of them like “God Is In The Rain” or “The Devil” also gained club success, but personal favorites like “Euthanasia” (1998), “Body Count proceed” (2000), “Until We Die” (2010), “Severed Head” (2010), “Repent Or Perish” (2013)… remained under the radar.

Q: SUICIDE COMMANDO became the absolute leading formation from the Dark-Electro scene! I can imagine it’s a deserved recognition for hard work, but what does this ‘status’ really mean to you? What has been the impact of this success on the person hiding behind the artist? In which way did it change your life?

Johan: I don’t think it had that much impact on me personally. I always remained (probably too) humble and down to earth. Of course I’m flattered by this recognition, but compared to some others in this scene, I always kept both feet on the ground. And let’s face it, compared with the mainstream Beyoncé’s and Madonna’s of this world we’re just tiny little dwarfs…lol

Q: Do you know how much SUICIDE COMMANDO-albums have been sold today? What have been the best-sellers?

Johan: With the rise of digital downloads and sales I have no idea anymore of actual physical sales. The market completely changed in the last 2 decades. Physical sales of CD’s completely collapsed and the digital market is so diverse that it’s hard to give any concrete numbers.

On platforms like Spotify… people don’t listen to complete albums anymore, they just pick their favorite songs. Not even sure if complete albums still will be released in 10 years from now…

So it’s hard to compare, I know an album like “Mindstrip” sold over 25.000 physical copies, but it never even reached the official album charts, while my latest 2 albums even made it to a position in the top 20 of the official German album charts, even though their physical sales are way less than the original “Mindstrip”-album for example, simply because digital sales totally took over the market.

Q: Is it possible for an underground artist to earn a living with music? How important is money when you’re a renowned artist?

Johan: Yes, (in non-Covid times!) I think it’s possible for the bigger acts in the underground scene, if you do it properly, which means doing regular live touring + releasing music on a regular base.

But it takes a lot of work, time and devotion. I’m still one of the lucky few who can live from music, but since I have a responsibility towards my wife and kid, I deliberately choose to keep doing a half time job to remain financially safe.

Q: SUICIDE COMMANDO is also a live band with a solid reputation. How important is it for you to play live shows and feel the interaction with the fans?

Johan: I find it very important and I realize it even more at times like these today with the pandemic. I do miss this interaction with the fans and the crowd. It gives so much satisfaction and energy to be on stage and interact with your fans.

Q: Torben Schmidt and Mario Vaerewijck are your long-time live mates. How does it happen when you guys are on tour and what makes the chemistry between you all (and the entire crew)?

Johan: I think we all enjoy it very much to be on the road, in a way it’s also our escape from boring daily work ‘eat-sleep’ routine. A big advantage also is that we’re not a conventional band, I mean, basically SUICIDE COMMANDO is just me doing all the music, so Torben and Mario only join in on stage, so we don’t have to sleep with each other (which does happen sometimes being on tour haha…).

Usually it’s all very easy going when we’re on the road and that keeps things pleasant.

Q: You played at numerous festivals and in very different countries all over the world. Do you see noticeable differences between countries and continents and are there some specific places/venues you would ever like to play?

Johan: There certainly are differences. Not specifically because of the crowd, although we do notice a difference between playing in countries where people hardly ever get to see live bands from other continents (like Mexico or Brazil…) or countries where you can watch the same band every 2 weeks (like Germany …).

The gratitude is  bigger in countries where you don’t get to play every month or year. I do notice more differences on the technical level. Clubs and venues usually are much better equipped in Europe then across the ocean. It’s a much bigger challenge to do shows in the US for example, but what counts in the end is the response from the crowd. I can be more satisfied playing in front of 100 people in a dirty basement with a crappy sound system then playing in front of 5000 people, as long as the people had fun I’m happy.

Q: What has been your biggest satisfaction and deception so far?

Johan: I’m overall happy that I could make my biggest passion a big part of my job and life. Music has always been my passion, so I feel privileged that I could make my music my (part time) job and life. I feel privileged that I can share my music and my passion with my fans, that’s probably my biggest satisfaction.

My biggest deception? Hard to say, maybe the fact that it also takes a lot of sacrifices to combine all these things (my daily part time job + music + family + …), it already got me into a severe burn-out few years ago, my knee is fucked up after the accident on stage in the US, my ears are fucked up because of the often too loud music on stages …

Q: A lot of things have changed/evolved since you set up SUICIDE COMMANDO in 1985! What’s your perception about it all and how did you see the scene and entire music business evolving throughout the years?

Johan: Oh for sure many things have changed throughout the years, it’s really been a technological revolution… The technological possibilities became endless, maybe not all for the best though.

We’re living in an ever faster society and that’s even reflected in our music. In 1985 a song had to be 120 bpm maximum, today we’re living at a speed of 135 bpm or more… lol

The rise of the digital media totally killed the CD and vinyl market, but also brought new possibilities, so I also try to see the positive effects of it.
Social media became the new normal and brought music & bands closer to their fans, but also gave us a shallow and resentful society.

So it all has it’s pro and cons… and there’s no way back.

Q: Do you sometimes imagine the end of SUICIDE COMMANDO and are there other things in life you would like to accomplish?

Johan: I don’t think SUICIDE COMMANDO will ever stop. I tried to split several times, but it’s so hard being a one man project…lol. No seriously, I can’t imagine my life without music, so I probably will continue writing music till I drop dead. 

Q: What might we expect from SUICIDE COMMANDO for the next few months?

Johan: I’m currently working on a new album, but I don’t want to rush things, so no idea when it will be finished.

I certainly do hope we can start doing live shows again sometime this Summer, so I’m really looking forward to that.
And there might be some more surprises coming up, but wait and see…

Side-Line also covered Suicide Commando’s ‘Trick or treat’.

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.

Format: Digital, CD + lmtd. 2CD.

Background/Info: Martin Sane strikes back with the third official album of his sonic brainchild fïx8:sëd8. The album has been achieved during the pandemic, the title of the album referring to the situation. Notice by the way there also is a limited format featuring an extra CD featuring ten remixes by other artists.

Content: fïx8:sëd8 moves on there where the previous –brilliant, album “Warning Signs” stopped. We get an even more elaborated, and especially even more efficient complex Electronic composition. The influences are always getting back to early Skinny Puppy and Mentallo & The Fixer, but this German project clearly has developed its own sound. The songs feature multiple spoken samplings, which are mixed with the harsh, ghost-like vocals of Martin Sane. The songs are driven by bombastic, danceable rhythms. The dense Electronic layers are featuring subtle bleeps and good-old synth parts. The tracks are elaborated and often long-duration pieces. There’s a noticeable and more explicit ‘club-song’ entitled “Unknow To Virtue” plus a surprising and more Dark Electro-Pop cut (cf. “Tremors”) featuring guest vocals by Emke (Black Nail Cabaret).

+ + + : I already considered the previous work of fïx8:sëd8 as an magnum opus, but I rapidly realized “The Inevitable Relapse” is again moving a step further. I think it makes no longer sense comparing this project to Skinny Puppy; fïx8:sëd8 simply went on where early Skinny Puppy left off! This artist excels in the writing of intelligent Electronic music; somewhere in between early EBM, Dark-electro and Industrial. There’s not one single track to throw away. The songs have been progressively built up and even if the writing is sophisticated it always remains accessible, efficient and exciting! There are not many bands –and especially talented ones, dealing with this kind of approach. It reflects a true genius in the global production. There’s something to say about every single track, but “Unknown To Virtue” has an extra clubby touch. Another absolute highlight is the last song “Metabolite”, but I also recommend “Meltdown” and “Pale Light Shadow”.

– – – : I don’t see any single minus point; not even “Tremors” featuring Emke. The songs sound pretty different from the rest, but it also is a great song; it’s just different.

Conclusion: fïx8:sëd8 never stops improving little details from the global production work. This is probably not the ‘easiest’ underground Electro, but it’s touched by the hand of Apollo… the God of music!

Best songs: “Unknown To Virtue”, “Metabolite”, “Pale Light Shadow”, “Meltdown”, “Chlorine Clean Tears”, “The Inevitable Relapse”.

Rate: (9).

Artist: www.facebook.com/Fix8Sed8

Label: www.dependent.de / www.facebook.com/dependent.records Read the news on ‘The Inevitable Relapse’.

About Fïx8:Sëd8

Fïx8:Sëd8 is the electro-industrial project of German producer Martin Sane, based in Wiesbaden, Germany. The project’s name derives from the psychiatric terms “fixated” and “sedated”. Following “Foren6” (2017) and “Warning Signs” (2019), “The Inevitable Relapse” appeared via Dependent Records in January 2021 as the project’s third album for the label. Sane discussed the record in a Side-Line interview that April.

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-techno, techno-body-music, techno-rock, breakbeats.

Background/Info: “ADSR” –which stands for ‘Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release’ is the second EP taken from the “Resume”-album. This album stands for the ‘resurrection’ of the British formation driven by Oz Morsley and Jamie Smart.  

Content: “ADSR” was not exactly my favorite track from “Resume”, but there are so much great songs featured on this album! It however remains a hard piece of techno-body music driven with some breakbeats and a few vocals, which are more produced as a kind of effect. Remixes have been accomplished by Cubanate, Leeroy Thornhill (ex-Prodigy) and Seething Akira. Empirion remixed the title song as well and delivers 3 different versions!

Last, but not least the EP also features an exclusive B-side song with the song “I Just Like The Noise” and a remix of the song “Too Many Masters” (taken from the bonus disc of “Resume”) remixed by XMSB (aka Xavier Morel).

+ + + : Empirion stands for modern electronics, mixing multiple genres together to get a powerful and ultra-danceable result! “ADSR” symbolizes the power and energy from the band and their last album. The song is driven by an alluring bass line and terrific sound effects while the vocals also are an essential aspect of the song. Among the remixes Cubanate did a great job while I also highly recommend the “Clubbed Up Mix” from Empirion! The new song “I Just Like The Noise” is much more than simply a B-side cut, but another punchy cut to dance to!

– – – : Empirion stands for me as the ‘masters of modern electronic music’ and I don’t see any single minus point in their work or this EP.

Conclusion: “ADSR” brings us back to one of the best- and most essential electronic releases from the year! This is progressive techno/body/industrial music; music with attitude made by truly sound gurus!

Best songs: “ADSR – Empirion Clubbed Up Mix”, “ADSR – Cubanate Remix”, “ADSR”, “I Just Like The Noise”, “Too Many Masters – XMSB Rmx”.

Rate: (8½).

Artist: www.empirion.org / www.facebook.com/empirion.music

Label: www.dependent.de / www.facebook.com/dependent.records

About Empirion

Empirion was founded in 1993 in Essex, England, by Oz Morsley, Jamie Smart and Bob Glennie. The trio released the “Narcotic Influence” EP on Wanted Records in 1994 before signing to XL Recordings, which issued the debut album “Advanced Technology” in 1996.

A US tour was cut short when Bob Glennie was diagnosed with cancer; he died in 2005. Oz Morsley went on to form Kloq, while Jamie Smart stepped away from music for a period before the pair revived Empirion as a duo in November 2010. The band released the double-sided EP “I Am Electronic / Red Noise” in 2018, followed by the album ““Resume”” on Dependent Records in 2019.

“ADSR” is the second EP drawn from “Resume”, featuring remixes by Cubanate, Leeroy Thornhill and Seething Akira alongside Empirion’s own reworks of the title track.

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.

Background/Info: American duo Reagan Jones (vocals), and Andrew Sega (music & production) have achieved their sixth full length album, which comes twenty year after “Disconnect” (1999). It also is their first new work since 2014 and the “Radiant Complete Edition”. Notice by the way the album is also available in a vinyl edition and limited edition featuring a bonus disc with new songs and remixes plus a booklet.

Content: “Six” sounds pretty Iris-like, which stands for a unique blend between dark, melancholic pop music and some harder arrangements with on top the sexy vocals of Reagan Jones. Some passages reveal a kind of bombast while other pieces feature astral bleeps. The songs have something romantic-wave like and the melancholic touch is definitely running throughout the entire production.

+ + + : “Six” takes off with the alluring “Third Strike”, which is a brilliant piece of dark electro-pop with outstanding vocals. This band has always had something unique, which means they’re not really comparable to other formations. I don’t want to compare them to Mesh, but both formations have a very proper sound DNA and I guess it’s not a coincidence they’re both signed at Dependent. It’s hard to say if “Six” is the best Iris album so far, but it’s without a shadow of a doubt the most mature one. This album can make you dance, but still has to power to make you cry. There’s a perfect balance between danceable tunes and melancholia.

– – – : You don’t hear me complaining about “Six”, but I think there’s maybe even more potential in this album than what came out. It feels like some songs could have reached a higher climax. I’m really curious what it would sound like when working together with a renowned producer.

Conclusion: Iris is a band that has seriously evolved throughout the years, but “Six” has gained such a high degree of maturity it’s all the question how the next album would sound like. Iris sounds like the sonic alchemists of electro-pop!

Best songs: “Third Strike, “Take The Pain”, “Pure White Snow”, “Feeder”, “One Kind”.

Rate: (8½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/iris.radiant

Label: www.dependent.de / www.facebook.com/dependent.records

About Iris

Iris formed in 1993 in the United States as Forgiving Iris, with original members Reagan Jones and Matthew Morris. After shortening the name to Iris, the duo released its debut album, “Disconnect,” on A Different Drum in 1999, carried by the singles “Annie, Would I Lie to You,” “Danger Is the Shame” and “Lose in Wanting.” Morris left soon after and was replaced by Andrew Sega, who co-wrote the band’s second album, “Awakening” (2002), followed by four more albums including the 2014 “Radiant Complete Edition.” In a Side-Line interview tied to “Six,” Jones described the band’s approach as resisting musical trends in favor of a consistent creative identity. Iris disbanded in 2021, with “Six” standing as the duo’s final studio 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

Genre/Influences: EBM.

Background/Info: German solo-project Fix8:Sëd8 is driven by Martin Sane. After a debut period during the early millennium years Fix8:Sëd8 struck back in 2017, getting signed to Dependent and releasing the “Foren6”-album. Two years have passed and  here’s the successor “Warning Signs” revealing twelve songs.

Content: DFix8:Sëd8 always has been inspired by sophisticated EBM reminding me of Skinny Puppy, Mentallo & The Fixer and related formations. It’s not that different for the new stuff, which has a strong retro-feeling and something pretty 90s-like. The songs are dark, elaborated, carried by solid bass lines and refined with meticulous arrangements. One of the most ‘atypical’ songs is probably “Tunnel Vision” for being less dark.

+ + + : Fix8:Sëd8 belongs to this number of intelligent EBM composers. The work is styled bringing industrial bombast together with delicate bleeps and arrangements. The songs are extremely dark, sometimes feeling a bit tormented and accentuated by the growls of Martin Sane. There are multiple great songs featured, but I’ve a preference for “Within Cells Interlinked”.

– – – : If you’re not into old-school EBM this album will definitely not be your cup of tea. I haven’t been disappointed although both last songs are a little less convincing.

Conclusion: Fix8:Sëd8 moves on there where “Foren6” stopped and I think we might easily consider “Warning Signs” as the project’s opus magnum. If you’re old-school minded this album will probably become one of 2019’s favorites. 

Best songs: “Within Cells Interlinked”, “Depression Deity”, “Parasite Paradise”, “Tunnel Vision”, “Embolism”.

Rate: (8½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/Fix8Sed8

Label: www.dependent.de / www.facebook.com/dependent.records

About Fix8:Sëd8

Fix8:Sëd8 is the dark-electro project of German musician Martin Sane, based in Wiesbaden. The project released its debut album “Humanophobia” in 2006 and “Dormicum” in 2009, then returned after an eight-year pause with “Foren6” in 2017. Side-Line’s own later chronology of the project dates “Warning Signs” to 2020, though this review itself, published 27 August 2019, already covers the album. Fix8:Sëd8 continued with “The Inevitable Relapse” on Dependent Records in January 2021 and “OctAgram” in 2025.

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-techno, techno-body-music, techno-rock, breakbeats.

Background/Info: Empirion saw the daylight in 1993. Back in time there were a trio consisting of Oz Morsley, Jamie Smart and Bob Glennie. They became quite famous thanks to the legendary “Narcotic Influence”-EP released in 1994 on Wanted Records. They next signed to XL Recordings (know for The Prodigy) unleashing in 1996 their debut album “Advanced Technology”. Empirion did a support tour for The Prodigy and did a lot of remixes for great names (Front 242, Praga Khan, Cubanate…). Bob Glennie lost his battle with cancer in 2005, which also seemed to announce the end of a great band. Oz Morsley moved on setting up Kloq, but since 2010 Empirion came back to life doing live performances. They last year came up as a duo releasing new material featured at the EP “I Am Electronic / Red Noise” and here’s now their first new album since “Advanced Technology”.

Content: It always is a risky business for a band with such a great past to strike back after such a long hiatus. But those who know the sonic skills of Oz Morsley know his potential. Empirion is back and “Resume” is the ultimate release to join the past with the present. The album has something retro like featuring a few cuts with breakbeats (reminding me of The Prodigy) and the typical raw, analogue sounds, but also contemporary mixing elements of techno, industrial and EBM. This is music to dance! The songs don’t feature that much vocals, but samplings and vocals have been used more as an extra effect.

+ + + : I always get the feeling of losing my ‘objectivity’ when listening to music Oz Morsley has been involved with. But that’s because this guy is a real sonic alchemist. He transforms sounds into gold! This gold has something transcendental and hypnotic. “Resume” is mixing elements reminding me of Front 242 (for some analogue treatments), The Prodigy (for the breakbeats) and Thomas P. Heckmann (for the bass lines), but it’s first of all Empirion! It sounds retro-like and still visionary because there are not many bands in the line of Empirion. This album is total club-power featuring multiple outstanding cuts such as “S.E.T.I.”, “They’re In My Dreams”, “Stepper” and the already known “I Am Electronic” and “Red Noise”. The vocals aren’t the major element of the work and yet they’ve been produced with care; now with robotic effects and then just like a sampling effect.

– – – : I think a few more vocals could have been added now and then, but you don’t hear me to complain!

Conclusion: Empirion is back and that’s damn great news, but when a back strikes back with such a work filled with high-energy and sonic-magic you can only but be thankful. “Resume” will be without a shadow of doubt become one of my 2019’s favorites!

Best songs: “They’re In My Dreams”, “S.E.T.I.”, “Stepper”, “Red Noise”, “I Am Electronic”, “Sideswipe”.

Rate: (9).

Artist: www.empirion.org / www.facebook.com/empirion.music

Label: www.dependent.de / www.facebook.com/dependent.records Read the news on ‘Resume’.

About Empirion

Empirion formed in 1993 as a trio of Oz Morsley, Jamie Smart and Bob Glennie. The “Narcotic Influence” EP followed on Wanted Records in 1994, then the debut album “Advanced Technology” on XL Recordings in 1996, with a support tour alongside The Prodigy and remix work for acts including Front 242, Praga Khan and Cubanate. Glennie died of cancer in 2005; Morsley went on to set up Kloq before Empirion resumed live performances in 2010 and returned as a duo. Following “Resume”, the duo released the “ADSR” EP in December 2019.

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, experimental-pop.

Background/Info: One year after their last album (cf. “Hologram Moon”) the Italian duo Kirlian Camera already has a new full length (cf. “Pills”) in the pipeline. “Hellfire” is a sonic bridge between both albums featuring new songs plus a few remixes. Notice by the way “Hellfire” is also available as vinyl edit.

Content: Kirlian Camera is fascinated by science fiction, which might explain the choice of the title song, which is a cover version of a song from the “Lucifer” TV-series. It sounds as electro-pop made with industrial sound treatments. It has something experimental-like, which is an aspect that also comes back at a few other new songs. Another new song entitled “V2K” sounds as the most danceable cut from the EP confirming the ‘dance’ skills of Angelo Bergamini and Elena Alice Fossi.

There also is a remix from their compatriots of Blank, which takes us back to the previous album and the song “Polar-IHS”. 

+ + + : Kirlian Camera is a formation that has progressively evolved over the years, experimenting with different influences, but always had a nose to compose alluring (hit)songs. This new EP –which rather appears to be a mini-album, confirms this approach and the band’s move towards electro-pop driven music. The title song is an original cover song, but I personally prefer the dance vibes emerging from “V2K”. This work stands for diversity, alternating catchy passages and experimentalism. Kirlian Camera also remains characterized by the sensual voice of Elena Alice Fossi. Blank also did a great job remixing “Polar-IHS”.

– – – : The title song is an original idea, but not exactly my favorite song from the EP.

Conclusion: While fans are probably still under the influence of their last year released full length, Kirlian Camera seems to have already announced a great new work. There’s no better teaser than “Hellfire”.

Best songs: “V2K”, “Metaluna – Milano Mix”, “Polar-HIS – Rmx by Blank”, “Hellfire”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.facebook.com/kirliancamera.official

Label: www.dependent.de / www.facebook.com/dependent.records

About Kirlian Camera

Kirlian Camera is the Italian electro-pop duo of Angelo Bergamini and Elena Alice Fossi. The album preceding this EP, “Hologram Moon”, appeared on Dependent in 2018; “Hellfire” bridges it with the duo’s next full length. Kirlian Camera went on to release the double album “Cold Pills / Scarlet Gate Of Toxic Daybreak” on Dependent in 2021.

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

Jean-Marc Lederman is an artist who didn’t really need any further introduction. He belongs to the (Belgian) pioneers of electronic music and can look back at an impressive discography. He this year released a very special work under the moniker ‘Jean-Marc Lederman Experience’. The album “13 Ghost Stories” released on Dependent Records is an original concept featuring an impressive list of guest singers. The music has something pretty cinematic-like, but still revealing danceable passages and elements of pop. I’d a chat with the ‘leatherman’ and also asked Louise Fraser and Christer Hermodsson about their experience.

(Picture credits by Michel Clair / Interview courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Your newest album “13 Ghost Stories” is definitely one of the most surprising ones you’ve accomplished and I even dare to affirm your ‘opus magnum’, but do you know how many albums you’ve released?

Jean-Marc: I think I’ve released about 20 albums of my own compositions and bands if you count Kid Montana (1 mini LP, 1 album), The Weathermen (8 albums + a couple of compilations), 1 album with Ether (DJ Moens from La Muerte + Luc Dufourmont), 1 with Jules & Jim (Julianne Regan from All About Eve), 1 ambient album with Man-Dello, 2 with Ghost & Writer (with Frank Spinath from Seabound), 1 with La Femme Verte (cover versions with many singers), 1 with Leatherman (cover versions with Jacques Duvall), 2 x Jean-Marc Lederman Experience (many singers) plus some I may forget… (www.jmlederman.com).

Q: What can you tell us about the idea behind this work, its concept, the influences and the writing and what does this work mean to you?

Jean-Marc: I was looking for a new challenging and exciting idea after the demise of Ghost & Writer(name chose by Frank where he’s ‘Writer’ and I’m ‘Ghost’)  in 2017 as I didn’t know where to go musically. I was having a lunch with a friend and he asked me ‘so, how is the ghost going to come back?’ and the morning after I had the concept of the album: asking multiple singers how they would behave if they could come back… to Earth as ghosts, for 24 hours….

I had no special influences for this album but, as ever, the multiple styles music I like doing (from dark ambient to future-pop to more experimental sounds or cinematic music) got me into this direction or that direction and I didn’t want to stay on a single simple trajectory so I worked with thinking of the impact of having songs going in different directions instead of trying to stay within one genre. I didn’t care if people wouldn’t understand as I wanted to have no stop for my creativity. So, every song is a little world in itself but also serves as cement for the whole recording.

This album means a lot because I think it’s indeed a personal ‘opus magnum’, a place where I could gather all the things I liked expressing musically,  with very talented partners (which makes my work really easy). It has also a very strong image with the artwork of my wife Erica Hinyot and the novels added to the limited, and sold-out, edition.

Q: Do you believe in ghosts?

Jean-Marc: I believe in alternate relativities sometimes collapsing with each others, like a Venn diagram between different worlds.

Q: I see you as an artist who’s always ready to experiment with new ideas and music styles. You the past few years moved from electro-pop top EBM to experimental music while “13 Ghost Stories” sounds more as a soundtrack/electro-ambient composition. What does this eclecticism reveal about the person hiding behind the musician and how is it for you working on different styles and with different people?

Jean-Marc: It reveals that I’m a person interested in many things and many different aspects of life: I’m very curious of everything. It’s a great asset to be able to work in diverse areas as I rarely get bored. Plus you’re getting inspired by the people you work with as you want to serve them with a musical environment that will enhance what you like about their own work.

Q: I sometimes get the impression you composed the music after having read the lyrics while I can imagine it happened the other way round? It really sounds you’ve carefully written each song for each singer; the match or symbiosis between music and vocalists is totally accomplished. How did it really happened and what has been the main focus in the writing of this album?

Jean-Marc: Yes, the music was created before I get to read the lyrics, just after the singer said she/he wants to be on board. I contacted the people I’d like to work with, if they’re on board I sometimes send them directly a song penned with them in mind or I ask them what kind of direction they’d like me to work in: sometimes people want to do something really wild, sometimes they need to stay in their comfort zone. Sometimes I also had sketches of songs I reworked with the specific singer in mind.

Once I get their vocals, I mix the track and refine the mix until we’re both happy with the end result.

The main focus was to provide exciting moments that pleased both the singer and me. I have what I believe is a constant dictatorial quality control on my own work and I delete every attempt at a song if it bores me.

Q: I think you mainly worked with artists you know and you like for their work and voices. I can’t imagine it has been the single criteria to work with all those singers. Tell us a bit more about criteria and eventually surprises in the lyrical content and/or vocal performance?

Jean-Marc: Actually, no, I didn’t know personally most of the singers involved.
I just look for interesting tones in their voice and their lyrical talent and then I contacted them. Most of them were on board quickly cos they liked the concept and they know I do quality work. Plus I have a bit of a (good) reputation so they jump in rather quickly. Some didn’t, but it’s fine.
The criteria are there: interesting voice and good lyricist.

Q: Do you have further plans/ideas for this project? Live? Maybe a next, similar concept?  

Jean-Marc: This is a rather impossible project to take on a stage as some singers are from the USA and some from Australia…Plus I don’t like to play live: too stressful for me and the end result is never as good as when I can fine-tune details at my own speed in my studio.

Yes, I have started working on a new JML E. It’s not the same theme of course, but the same axe: providing a strong and coherent record that will surprise the listeners and me/my partners when all assembled (or on a track per track basis).

Q: Louise Fraser, what did you think when Jean-Marc came up with his idea of “13 Ghost Stories” and what’s your impression when you heard the final song and the album?

Louise: Straight off I thought this was a great idea. I mean who doesn’t love a ghost story? Moreover, beyond creating a really unique unifying concept, the question inevitably draws some really personal insights out of each singer. I thought that was very clever of Jean-Marc, who is also such a terrific guy to work with that I would have written on any theme he gave me.

I personally love the collection because it’s both unified and diverse. Jean-Marc’s musicianship weaves together some very unique, and often stunning vocal performances. As such the project really holds my attention, which is not an easy feat! I also think Jean-Marc deserves credit for his mixing skills. When he played me the first mix of our track, I didn’t have a single mix comment, and believe me, that is super rare! He just nailed it off the bat.

Q: Christer Hermodsson, how did you get in touch with Jean-Marc Lederman and what kind of artist is he to you?

Christer:  Jean-Marc simply contacted me. What kind of an artist? Hmm, talented and odd/weird/strange, but in a good way!

Side-Line also covered Jean-Marc Lederman’s ‘The Helpless Voyage Of The Titanic’.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

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

Background/Info: While you maybe heard of this ‘new’ band before (being featured on a label compilation “Dependence 2012”) “Radioakt One” is the debut full length of Krischan Wesenberg (Rotersand, Future Lied To Us ao), Frank Spinath (Seabound, Lionhearts, Edge Of Dawn, Ghost & Writer ao), Daniel Myer (Haujobb, Architect ao) and Sascha Lange (who seems to make his first steps as a band member). Notice by the way the album is also available as double CD format featuring extra songs and remixes.

Content: When some of the most genius artists from this scene come together with one of the most praised singers you only, but can expect a masterpiece. “Radioakt One” is a record on, which you can hear the input of the ‘three’ big names from the band. Some arrangements and sound treatments are clearly reminding to Rotersand while more evasive atmospheres sound like the trademark of Daniel Myer while Frank Spinath has this unique timbre of voice. The songs sound like a very personal and somewhat future-like vision of electro-pop.

+ + + : Radioaktivists clearly is the meeting between some of the biggest names active at the wider German fields of electro-underground music. And the good thing is that they clearly have injected their very own touch to the work, which resulted in a harmonious and accomplished work. The album sounds as a sonic exploration moving from evasive passages towards a few harder cuts. But in the end it all remains an album, which is more made to listen to instead of music for the dancefloor. I personally like the darker and even anguished parts such as the last track “Leere”. I also have to recommend “Radioactive” for the osmosis of Haujobb and Rotersand plus “I Want You”, which is the most accomplished and artistic piece of the work.

– – – : No doubt about it, this album will get a great response and especially in Germany, but it also is a rather complex piece of music. It’s not exactly the most accessible music, which also is hard to label.

Conclusion: The good thing is that Radioaktivists are playing live so this album might be more than a one-shot project. Let’s now hope that there’ll be a harmony between those artists instead of an ego-clash.

Best songs: “I Want You”, “Radioactive”, “Sinner”, “Leere”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.facebook.com/Radioaktivists

Label: www.dependent.de / www.facebook.com/dependent.records

About Radioaktivists

Radioaktivists is a German electro-pop project bringing together Krischan Wesenberg (Rotersand, Future Lied To Us), Frank Spinath (Seabound), Daniel Myer (Haujobb) and Sascha Lange. “Radioakt One”, reviewed here, is the project’s debut album on Dependent Records, following its earlier appearance on the label compilation “Dependence 2012”.

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, body-pop, EBM.

Background/Info: Our Banshee is one of the newest signings on Dependent. The band seems to have been set up a while ago, but because of other involvement nothing really happened till now. The band features Agi Taralas (Greece) and Stefan Böhm (Germany). Böhm is a recognized and talented artist who got involved with bands such as Pzychobitch, S.I.N.A., Mono No Aware and of course Nullvektor. “4200” is the band’s debut full length.

Content: This album sounds clearly inspired by electronic-pop standards and might appeal to lovers of Mesh, Beborn Beton, Rotersand and Informatics. It’s a refreshing piece of work mixing melancholic tracks together with harder EBM-influences songs. The songs have been accomplished by empowering guitar playing, injecting a touch of wave-pop.

+ + + : The opening song reminds me of the cool “Accidents In Paradise” from Informatics. It sounds pure pop-like, but with this extra refreshing flavor on top. But this album is quite diversified, mixing different elements and emotions. Now into melancholia and next inciting you to dance, Stefan Böhm confirms to be a musician with an open-minded spectrum. I’ve a preference for harder cuts while I also like the delicate arrangements the songs have been accomplished with. From raw and analogue-like sound treatments to astral sweeps and solid bass lines this album also reveals a great singer, which can compete with more recognized electro-pop singers from this scene.

– – – : Our Banshee doesn’t stand for ‘traditional’ electro-pop, but it’s sometimes easier to be a Depeche Mode-clone instead of a band striving for originality. Therefore “4200” needs a few listenings before you can really seize the essence and beauty of the work.

Conclusion: Dependent Records once again confirms to have a nose for original and talented formations. Our Banshee is maybe not the ‘hottest’ newcomer of 2017 although it will ravish electro-pop lovers in search of something ‘different’.

Best songs: “Down & Out”, “The Answer”, “Christ”, “It’s Not Real”, “River”.

Rate: (8).

Band: www.ourbanshee.com / www.facebook.com/ourbanshee.official

Label: www.dependent.de / www.facebook.com/dependent.records

About Our Banshee

Our Banshee pairs Agi Taralas (Greece) and Stefan Boehm (Germany), who has also recorded as Pzychobitch, S.I.N.A., Mono No Aware and Nullvektor. Discogs lists a self-released promo in 2012 ahead of “4200,” the duo’s debut full-length, released on Dependent Records in 2017.

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, industrial-body-music.

Background/Info: Canadian formation Encephalon is back on track unleashing their third official album. They already released their debut album on Artoffact (cf. “The Transhumant Condition” in 2011) and signed to Dependent Records for the second opus (cf. “Psychogenesis” in 2015). They’re now back on Artoffact to unleash new songs inspired by sci/fi and technologie. Notice by the way the album is also available with an extra disc.

Content: Encephalon is one of those bands featuring the typical Canadian electro sound. I don’t want to compare their sound to Frontline Assembly, but there definitely are common elements in the sophisticated writing and global sound intelligence. The songs are hard although sometimes moving into cinematographic passages. The work reveals orchestral and bombastic arrangements.

+ + + : Encephalon has accomplished a little masterpiece, which is carried by an efficient although complex composition. You clearly can tell that this is not the kind of production that has been accomplished in a hurry. The work is carried by high-tech production skills. I especially like the way they’re mixing EBM elements together with heavy, orchestral arrangements. The songs also reveal great bass lines, gigantic sound atmospheres and charismatic vocals. There’s a kind of evil and irresistible power emerging from this album.

– – – : Encephalon is clearly not the ‘stereotypical’ electro formation dealing with cheap EBM. It’s a somewhat difficult composition, which needs a few listening before you possibly will catch the essence of their work.

Conclusion: This is for sure my favorite Encephalon-album although not the most accessible one. This is the kind of album you each time again will notice new elements and other little details.

Best songs: “Lunacy”, “We Only Love You When You’re Dead”, “Limb From Limb”, “The Calvin Klein Of Slime”, “What Part Of Me Dies?”.

Rate: (8½).

Band: www.encephalon.ca / www.facebook.com/encephalon.ca

Label: www.artoffact.com / www.facebook.com/artoffact

About Encephalon

Encephalon is a Canadian project set up in 2005 by multi-instrumentalist Matt Gifford, working in EBM, dark-electro and a psychedelic, haunting electro-ambient style.

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, industrial-pop.

Background/Info: Ukrainian duo Ginger Snap5 is a formation I discovered on the SkyQode with their excellent debut album “Snapped By You” (2013). Roman Soroka and Alex Pavluk now joined hands together with Dependent Records to unleash this second opus.

Content: It’s not an easy thing to define the sound of this band. They’re for sure inspired and driven by electro-pop fields, but the production has been mixed with technoid elements, ambient (space)-like atmospheres and a kind of harder, industrial flavor on top. “Against The Days” sounds miles away from the stereotypical electro-pop standards and rapidly appears to be a complex and elaborated production.

+ + + : Electro-pop music is often predictable and fewer bands are really trying to innovate or create something ‘different’. Ginger Snap5 is the entire contrary and that’s precisely what I expect from a ‘modern’ electro-pop formation. But I have to add they’re not what I would call an electro-pop formation; they’re bringing many influences and elements together, which in the end might appeal for electro-pop lovers.

I like their ambient/astral dimension, which is also reflected in the somewhat robotic-like vocal parts. The songs are often carried by solid leads, but especially the song “Pieces Of Regret” is a high light! The chorus running through this song is amazing!

– – – : Complexity and originality don’t always stand for accessibility! That’s precisely what I experienced with this work. You really need to listen carefully a few times till you really can seize the welfare of their sound. Ginger Snap5 is an antidote to classical electro-pop music, but it also is their main difficulty to seduce wider masses. They’re maybe missing a bit more elevating choruses.

Conclusion: Ginger Snap5 is one of those ‘aliens’ active at the electro-pop fields. They sound related with the music genre although they’re definitely different! But in the end I like this visionary approach!

Best songs: “Pieces Of Regret”, “Beyond The Line”; “Break Me Down”, “Polaris”.

Rate: (7).

Band: www.gingersnap5.com / www.facebook.com/gingersnap5music

Label: www.dependent.de / www.facebook.com/dependent.records

About Ginger Snap5

Ginger Snap5 was established in 2004 when Roman Soroka, after leaving his previous band, shifted direction toward electronic music. Within three months the project produced two singles, including “Hunting 4 (Child Mix)”, which drew attention from DJs at Kyiv gothic parties. Ginger Snap5 went on to remix other bands’ work, and in 2006 Roman met Johan Van Roy, who invited the project to contribute to a Noise Terror Productions compilation; “Noise Terror 2 – World Wide Electronics” (2007) featured the track “Feel My Rhythm”.

In 2013 the SkyQode label signed Ginger Snap5 for the single “Break Me Down” and the debut album “Snapped By You”. “Against The Days”, reviewed here, followed on Dependent Records in 2017 as the duo’s second full-length. A later Side-Line retrospective quoted Roman describing that release as a disappointment for various reasons, and the duo parted ways with Dependent in 2018.

Ginger Snap5 explored other musical directions through 2018 and released “Insert Coin To Begin” in 2019, followed by a third album, “The Beasts Came To The Town”, in 2020 and a fourth, “Make Me Bad”, in 2022. That year the project also appeared on the charity compilation “Electronic Resistance” from Side-Line. Roman later remade “The Beasts Came To The Town” into an overhauled 2023 version.

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, body-pop.

Background/Info: Italian duo Kirlian Camera has their new album “Hologram Moon” in the pipeline. They released this 4-tracks EP as a teaser. The title song is featuring a version together with guest singer Eskil Simonsson from Covenant.

Content: “Sky Collapse” is a real strong song, maybe the most danceable Kirlian Camera song in their long history. It’s carried by a solid and danceable kick, a body-pop bass line, heavenly strings and Elena Alice Fossi’s sensual timbre of voice. The song is not what I would call a typical Kirlian Camera song and even reminds me of Covenant.

And that’s probably not of a coincidence as Eskil Simonsson is singing in duo with Elena on the other version while the more you listen to the track the more it will remind you to Covenant’s “We Dance Alone”, which by the way is a song both singers already performed together on stage.

Both other cuts are more into the traditional Kirlian Camera style.

+ + + : “Sky Collapse” –and especially the duo with the Covenant’s singer, is a genius piece of music. It’s a beautiful and styled song mixing elements of pop with heavenly strings and a darker EBM flavor on top. I especially enjoyed the evasive lead of the song. “Sky Collapse” also brings 2 great singers and performers together. “Sky Collapse” is not the most original Kirlian Camera song in history, but it could for sure become one of their biggest hits!

– – – : I just regret “Sky Collapse” sounds a bit like a reworked version from Covenant’s “We Stand Alone”. But if it’s okay for Covenant and all fans of both formations, who am I to complain!?

Conclusion: “Sky Collapse” is a real strong appetizer to welcome the new Kirlian Camera album. This is a great EP!

Best songs: “Sky Collapse feat. Covenant”, “Sky Collapse – Dancetronik Mix”.

Rate: (8).

Band: www.facebook.com/kirlian.camera

Label: www.dependent.de / www.facebook.com/dependent.records

Read the news on ‘Sky Collapse’.

About Kirlian Camera

Kirlian Camera is an Italian electronic act formed in 1979 in Bologna by Angelo Bergamini, who initially performed under the name Suicide Commando before adopting the Kirlian Camera name in 1980; a self-titled mini-album followed in 1981. Early releases mixed synth-pop and new wave; by the late 1980s the sound had turned darker and more electro-gothic, later moving through industrial, ambient and trip-hop elements. Bergamini has remained the project’s constant member across a long list of collaborators, performers and vocalists.

Elena Alice Fossi joined as lead vocalist and became Bergamini’s songwriting partner. In August 2016 the duo announced an extended collaboration with Covenant‘s Eskil Simonsson, following a live performance of “We Stand Alone” earlier that year. “Sky Collapse”, reviewed here, is the resulting duet single. It served as the first taste of the album “Hologram Moon“, released in 2018 as Kirlian Camera’s first full-length in five years for the Fossi/Bergamini line-up.

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-electro.

Background/Info: Set up in 2003 Polish formation Controlled Collapse got some instant recognition releasing their debut album (cf. “Injection”) on Dependent Records (2007). The next albums were released on Alchera Visions. The band is not releasing new work on regular basis while mastermind  ‘Kr-lik’ last year released a phenomenal work under the Clicks moniker. Controlled Collapse is now back on track unleashing their fourth album.

Content: I wouldn’t say that the sound of Controlled Collapse has seriously changed throughout the years, but there’s a kind of ‘natural’ evolution, which has seriously boosted the global production. From amazing electronic blasts and EBM influences towards heavy guitar riffs on the edge of metal, “Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder” sounds as a modern industrial electro release.

The harder cuts remind me a bit of Combichrist, but on the other side there always is this EBM boost. The vocals, mixing male- and female parts totally fit to the overwhelming sound production.

+ + + : I’m convinced that the main secret to get a great album is putting a lot of efforts in sound creation and –treatment with a great mix in the end. That’s precisely what this album is all about. It’s an overpowering production revealing a perfect balance between electronics and guitar. The songs are accomplished with bombast and knowledge, revealing the great production skills of Controlled Collapse.

This is without a shadow of a doubt the most accomplished and successful work of the band. They’ve grown towards a heavier ‘crossover’ sound featuring multiple noticeable songs with a true apotheosis at the end.

– – – : Speaking for myself I prefer the electronic side of the album instead of the metal one. But in the end it’s a perfect match between different influences so you don’t hear me to complain.

Conclusion: Controlled Collapse’s “Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder” is one made of rage and sonic violence! This is a great and accomplished production I can only recommend!

Best songs: “Unhappy”, “Simple Story”, “Create The Change” “Lust (Album Version)”, “Does It Hurt To Be Alone”.

Rate: (8½).

Band: www.controlled–collapse.com / www.facebook.com/controlledcollapse

Label: www.alchera.org / www.facebook.com/alcheravisions

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

Read the news on ‘Retromachine Betty’.

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

Read the news on ‘Lionhearts’.

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, dark-EBM.

Background/Info: Fix8:Sed8 previously self-released two albums revealed an interesting potential. Martin Sane is now back on track and this album released on Dependent Records sounds a bit like a consecration for the German artist. We also might speak about a return of Fix8:Sed8 as this album is the first one since 2009.

Content: I in a way rediscovered Fix:Sed8 with this new opus. “Foren6” will bring you back in time and it rapidly appears that the shadow of Skinny Puppy is hanging over this album. Martin Sane definitely is an adept early Skinny Puppy work and some tracks even feature sounds and arrangements reminding me to legendary hits “smothered Hope” and “Assimilate”.

But the album is more than simply an emulation. Fix8:Sed8 also injects its very own ideas, which are more ambient-like then the familiar Skinny Puppy stuff. The ghost-like vocals perfectly matches with the global ambience of this work.

+ + + : “Foren6” sounds like a ‘déjà-vu’ and yet it’s a damned great and efficient work. I don’t have anything against ‘copyists’ when they accomplish their work with intelligence and knowledge. That’s precisely what this work is all about. It’s a sophisticated composition revealing outstanding sound treatments and dense atmospheric layers. The somewhat harder sounding “High Velocity Spatter” even sounds as one of the very few dancefloor killers. “Foren6” is an album that will fully satisfy old-school EBM lovers.

– – – : The main strength of this album also is its only real point of discussion. I can imagine some Skinny Puppy fans will experience this work as a cheap copy or maybe a blasphemy. But great bands and pioneers still can inspire the new generation to create masterpieces such as “Foren6” and so you won’t hear me complain.

Conclusion: Fix8:Sed8 sounds like having fully accomplished its. Master’s degree of EBM at the Skinny Puppy university!

Best songs: “High Velocity Spatter”, “X-Shaped Scratch Mark”, “Lynch, “Flatline Friend”, “My Mistress”.

Rate: (8).

Band: www.facebook.com/Fix8Sed8

Label: www.dependent.de / www.facebook.com/dependent.records

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

“Everything” is what Seabound fans will call the definitive collection of Seabound’s work to date.

The deluxe box set contains every single Seabound track ever released (including rare demo material) spread across 14 (!) 180g heavyweight vinyl LPs and collected as lossless digital wav files on a DVD.

“Everything” is strictly limited to 500 copies and is available right here.

The set also contains a 96-page hardcover book including lyrics, photos, artwork, personal notes from the band as well as a foreword by radio host Ecki Stieg. Each box comes with a certificate of authenticity, hand-numbered and signed by Martin and Frank.

You can check the complete tracklist 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!

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Read the news on ‘Sound Mirrors’.

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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Read the news on ‘She Cried’.

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

1996: a ‘new’ band from Bristol (UK) took the electro-pop community by surprise! Twenty years have passed since Mesh’s official debut album “In this Place Forever” has been released on the Swedish label Memento Materia, but each new album became a new success leading Mark Hockings and Richard Silverthorn to the top. They actually unleashed their 8^th opus “Looking Skyward” released on Dependent Records, which already reveals multiple potential hits. I got in touch with Richard Silverthorn right before their new tour.

The new 13-track Mesh album “Looking skyward” will be released in no less than 4 formats including a normal CD (available right here), a 2LP set (available right here) and a 2CD set (available right here) which comes with a hardcover book. But next to that there is also a super deluxe boxset (available right here) including the 2CD hardcover book, the gatefold 2LP, and an additional LP with bonus tracks of the bonus CD and a numbered certificate.

(by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: I noticed that your new album “Looking Skyward” has been released exactly 20 years after your debut album “In this Place Forever”. How would you compare both releases and how do you see the evolution of Mesh all over the years?

Richard: I think back then we were trying to find our own sound. As with any band you draw on influences and bands that make you want to pick up an instrument in the first place. Maybe some of the song structures were a little awkward and not what we would do now. We certainly have many more years experience now and I think that shows in our recent material. Another huge difference is the technology. The things we were trying to achieve back then are so much easier these days with the evolution of software and sequencing platforms.

Having say all that I still look back at those early albums with fondness. It was a massive sense of achievement for us as we done everything for ourselves writing, recording, production and even had a hand in the mastering. Back then that was a very rare thing indeed. Ultimately it was good ground work for who we are today.

Q: One of the main evolution and I dare to say ‘innovation’ on the new work clearly appears to be its experimental approach in sound creation. How did you get this idea and how did you proceed?

Richard: We have always been really interested in sound and sound sculpture. The idea of using the latest synth preset or some popular soft synth has never really appealed to us. We have always started from the ground up or found something similar and reworked it. I for one was drawn to this kind of music because of the sounds. Creating a unique sound or sampling something from everyday life and making it into music is really cool.

On our early albums we experimented with sampling and just recording random things and making them into percussive loops or phrases. Although the technology was in its infancy the raw and ragged sounds really gave the music its atmosphere and tension. With “Looking Skyward” our latest album we made a conscious effort to go back to this method but using the latest hardware and software sampling systems.

Q: You just mentioned you’re not fond of easy preset sounds while I get the impression you’re more into a ‘quest’ to find ‘THE’ sound, which might symbolizing a kind of ‘holy grail’ for a musician. What have been your experiences about it?

Richard: Sometimes the sounds you create dictate the way you proceed and the path it takes. Creating drum loops and different timings give me a good base to start writing. I’m not sure there is a ‘Holy Grail’ of sound, each has their own place and becomes an ingredient of the final product. When we were in Germany at the final stages of making this album myself and Olaf Wollschlager started replacing some of the sounds with things we created using his modular system. It was very time consuming and we found ourselves just playing around for hours but the results were amazing.

One sound on “The Traps We Made” in the second verse, a kind of distant drone took ages to make. It was just replacing a guitar line that I had played but it worked so well. It may sound a funny thing to say but it is my favourite sound on the album. Just knowing the work that went into it and the fact it is completely unique is what gives it its charm.

Q: What else can you say about sounds you’ve created for “Looking Skyward” that make you really proud of?

Richard: A lot of the sounds are very subtle and not easily spotted on first listen but if you put headphones on they are all there. Many layers of all different things. We used a lot of percussive noises under regular drum sounds which gives them that organic and human feel. I get a lot of comments about my drum programming. People always think they are real drums and real drummer but everything is sampled and programmed. Just adding small imperfections to the sounds give that impression.

What we tried to do is make all these sounds not obvious. I don’t want to hear just the noise we created but to use it in a clever and musical way. Layering things up with conventional sounds gives it loads of character and the listener thinks ‘is that a guitar, or keyboard or a harp?’ etc

Certainly some of the percussive loops I feel quite proud of. One day I went out and recorded myself hitting a car park barrier with a plastic tube. It was a really interesting sound and as the car park was completely empty at the time the ambience and natural reverb was really good. This sound can be heard as part of the drums in “Once Surrounded” Again its only in there as a under pinning loop but it really adds something to the overall sound.

Q: “Looking Skyward” is an interesting title that might awake our imagination, but what’s the album all about?

Richard: It came from a lyric in “The Fixer”. It just jumped out at us after listening to it. I think the album is very dark in places and the mood is quite somber at times. “Looking Skyward” was the element of hope. The light at the end of the tunnel. It summed up that although everything seems to be lost there is still hope.

Q: The album has been again produced by Olaf Wollschläger. What’s his real impact on the final result and what makes this producer that unique?

Richard: This is the third album that we have worked with Olaf. Over those years we have etched out a really cool working relationship. He totally understand what we are trying to achieve. What we particularly like about his production is his transparency. What I mean by that is that he takes our songs and spends a ridiculous amount of time fine tuning and making small but significant changes but doesn’t change the overall sound and feel that we had. The idea of a producer that changes your particular sound really doesn’t appeal to us. He is a perfectionist in the same way we are.

Q: You guys are already working together for years and years now. What makes the chemistry between both of you?

Richard: We have many common interests not just the music. We like the same things Motocross, Mountain Biking, Cars and music technology. We have kind of grown up together. We have both had children at about the same time and have very similar stories to tell especially parental ones. We know how we work and I think we both respect each other’s role in the band. 

Q: You’ll soon start a new tour. Is it still a similar kind of feeling and excitement you probably experienced during your first tours?

Richard: Yes but I think more recent tours we have more of a sense of apprehension and nervous excitement. Every time we try and do something new which usually involves some new technology or visual trickery. This all adds to the stress of knowing whether it’s going to work ok or all go horribly wrong. We think that audiences expect something new and different and you have to deliver. In the early days of gigs things were a lot easier. Just a few in house lights and that was it. Now it’s videos, led panels and back projections etc….all good fun.

Q: I can imagine you were really excited and probably a bit nervous during the “Gothic Meets Classic”-live performance that took place in October 2015. What did you keep in mind from this particular experience?

Richard: As a musician it was the ultimate experience. Never did we think when we started we would be stood in a huge concert hall with a full orchestra behind us. It was a truly magical experience. The arrangements and the huge sound created by an orchestra was just spectacular.

Doing a show like that was so different to any other show we had done before. Walking out to a packed concert hall with several thousand faces looking at you is a quite an experience. It felt so intimate. The silence just before the first note was played was surreal.

An experience I don’t think we will forget in a hurry.

Q: ‘Looking forward’, what do you see for Mesh?

Richard: We never really look to far ahead. We take each day as it comes and we just see what happens next. We both still love making music and as long as that is still there and an audience and fan base to support it I think we will carry on.

Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries

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

Read the news on ‘Looking Skyward’.

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