Some may already be familiar with the Mexican solo project Ego Bliss through the debut album “What The Future Holds” and the subsequent EP “Future”. This follow-up took more than two years to complete, making the wait a fairly long one.

Ego Bliss remains true to its influences, delivering a style best described as powerful Electro-Pop. EBM elements provide the necessary punch, while other tracks lean more towards Future-Pop. Throughout the album, the production is polished and meticulous, resulting in a collection of consistently strong songs. “Afterlife” also offers enough variety to keep things engaging from start to finish.

While the album may not feature an obvious hit single, it more than makes up for that with a solid selection of powerful, well-crafted tracks. I particularly enjoyed the contrast between the dark, aggressive basslines and the bright, melodic Electro-Pop arrangements, a combination that gives the album much of its appeal. (Rating:8).

Side-Line reported on the album’s Infacted Recordings release in June 2026.

Listen to “Moments”:

About Ego Bliss

Ego Bliss is an electronic project from Tijuana, Mexico, and a recent signing to Infacted Recordings, the German label founded in 2001 and run by Torben Schmidt, which focuses on electro, synth-pop and futurepop. Before joining Infacted, the project issued earlier work through the Mexican label Sector Industrial Producciones; Side-Line reviewed the EP “Future” and the album “What The Future Holds”. According to the label, “Afterlife” was shaped over about two and a half years and draws on themes of loss and change. The twelve-track “Afterlife” is Ego Bliss’s first release for Infacted Recordings, following its earlier work on Sector Industrial Producciones, and is reviewed here on Side-Line.

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

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Ego Bliss, an electronic act from Tijuana, Mexico, have released the album “Afterlife” through Infacted Recordings. The twelve-track record is out now on CD and digital, and streams on Bandcamp.

The band brings a dark synth-pop sound that mixes electro and futurepop elements, built on club-driven rhythms, synth atmospheres and cinematic textures.

“Afterlife” runs twelve tracks: “Inception,” “Consequence,” “Always And Never,” “Fragile,” “Afterlife,” “We Fall,” “Ascend,” “Moments,” “Ego Nation,” “Downfall,” “The World at Your Feet” and “Afterdeath.”

The title track “Afterlife” leads the album:

About Ego Bliss

Ego Bliss is an electronic project from Tijuana, Mexico, and a recent signing to Infacted Recordings, the German label founded in 2001 and run by Torben Schmidt that works in electro, synth-pop and futurepop. Before joining Infacted, the project issued earlier work through the Mexican label Sector Industrial Producciones; Side-Line reviewed the EP “Future” and the album “What The Future Holds”. According to the label, “Afterlife” was shaped over about two and a half years and draws on themes of loss and change. The album is the project’s first release for Infacted Recordings, following its earlier work on Sector Industrial Producciones.

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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, Body-Pop.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Mario Monk aka Ego Bliss strikes back with the “Future” EP featuring four new cuts plus eight remixes getting us back to songs from the debut album “What The Future Holds”.

Content: The new songs sound a bit harder than the debut album. The composition is empowered by EBM elements while holding on to the Electro-Pop touch. Both debut songs remind me a bit of Neuroactive -and also in the production of the vocals. The remixes are bringing us back to the debut album and have been accomplished by C-Lekktor, FCH, DMT Berzerk, Elektrovot, JP90, Art Deko and Vyrtual Zociety while the first remix has been done by Ego Bliss and is featuring Marian G.

+ + + : The new songs reveal an interesting evolution for being harder and more personal. The songs are well-crafted and create a perfect sonic bridge between Electro-Pop and EBM. There’re several cool remixes featured which are adding diversity. I especially recommend the hard and Dark-Electro remix by C-Lekktor and the refreshing remix by FCH.

– – – : I get the feeling Ego Bliss still has more potential than what came out at this EP. I regret there are no remixes from “The Saviour” which was my favorite track from the album.

Conclusion: Ego Bliss remains a band to keep an eye on; this is alluring Electro/Body-Pop.

Best songs: “Elysium”, “Suicidal” + “Asylum – C-Lekktor Remix”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.facebook.com/monk1981

Labels: www.subculture.no / www.facebook.com/norwegiansubculture

www.sector-industrial.com / www.facebook.com/sector.industrial.producciones

Listen to “Future”:

About Ego Bliss

Ego Bliss is the solo project of Mario Monk, started in 2019 in Tijuana, Mexico. Monk is also a member of Para/Normal. The project mixes melodic synthpop, dark pop and EBM, and Monk writes, records and mixes the material himself.

The debut album “What The Future Holds” was released on 9 November 2020 through the Norwegian label Sub Culture Records, running eleven tracks. All music and lyrics were produced, composed, written, recorded and mixed by Monk.

The “Future” EP followed on 1 April 2022, co-released by Sub Culture Records and the Mexican label Sector Industrial Producciones. It collects twelve tracks: four new songs and eight reworkings of material from the debut, with remixes by C-Lekktor, FCH, DMT Berzerk, Elektrovot, JP90, Art Deko and Vyrtual Zociety, plus an opening remix by Ego Bliss featuring Marian G.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

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Genre/Influences: EBM, Electro-Pop, Gothic.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: This new chapter in the “Whispers Of The Future”-series reveals sixteen bands from the Mexican scene. These bands are mainly taken from the Sector Industrial Producciones roster.

Artists: Ego Bliss, Vyrtual Zociety, Neuvision, Depraved Priest, Hooverlordz, Infected Sound System, Bishop, SFX DJ, Dimitri Berzerk, Die-Go, Oxomaxoma, Dramatic, Radio Vampiro Internacional, Powerotik, Prostitutes & Proxenettes, Cid Project.

Content: This new compilation doesn’t feature as many other bands as the previous issue. It’s a new sonic visit of the Mexican underground scene and mainly Electronic artists have been featured. From intelligent Electro to heavy Dance-Pop and Body-Pop to Electro-Industrial and Techno-Industrial to EBM to Goth/Wave we get a fine selection of songs.

+ + + : I like this compilation series because the Mexican scene has a lot to offer when it comes to underground electro music, but also because Sector Industrial Producciones is worth to discover. This new compilation is also better than previous issues. Depraved Priest took me by surprise; this band can’t convince me with their last album, but they here unleash a solid Electro-Industrial-Techno cut. Hooverlordz is an interesting discovery for the dark-Electro approach mixed with some Acid sequences. Neuvision stands for alluring Body-Pop. Label owner Dimitri Berzerk is first of all a talented musician/producer, which perfectly knows how to mix solid EBM bass lines together with elevating Pop-driven choruses. I also want to mention the intelligent Electro approach of the opening song by Ego Bliss.

– – – : A few bands couldn’t convince me, but I guess that’s proper to all compilations. Prostitutes & Proxenetes is one of these bands, which has a lot to improve, but especially the production of the vocals, their vocalist singing out of tune.

Conclusion: I already like the previous compilation is this series, but this one is much better; great Mexican Electro!

Best bands: Depraved Priest, Hooverlordz, Infected Sound System, Dimitri Berzerk, Ego Bliss.

Rate: (8).

Label: www.sector-industrial.com / www.facebook.com/sector.industrial.producciones

About Sector Industrial Producciones

Sector Industrial Producciones is a Mexican label and roster built around producer and DJ Dimitri Berzerk, releasing EBM, Electro-Pop, Industrial and related electronic music from acts based mainly in Mexico. The label runs the “Whispers Of The Future” compilation series to showcase its roster alongside other Mexican underground electronic artists.

Acts on the label include Ego Bliss, the solo project of Mario Monk, which released the album “What The Future Holds” and the “Future” EP through Sector Industrial Producciones before signing to Infacted Recordings, as well as Vyrtual Zociety, the Futurepop and EBM duo of Carlos Limón and Kathya Miranda, and Depraved Priest, whose self-titled debut album was released on the label on 3 July 2020 (catalog SIP018). “Whispers Of The Future Vol. 03”, covered here, brings sixteen of these acts together on one release.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

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

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Ego Bliss is a Mexican solo-project set up in 2019 by Mario Monk (also involved with Para/Normal). He claims to be inspired by Electro-Pop and EBM. This is the debut-release featuring eleven songs.

Content: After a dreamy debut song, the album rapidly moves towards a rather classical mix of Electro/Future-Pop. The songs are pretty danceable and refined, but still featuring darker passages. The vocals are sometimes half spoken – half sung. This is an album appealing for fans of Frozen Plasma, NamNamBulu ao.

+ + + : Ego Bliss accomplished a noticeable debut-album. The production is mature, featuring well-crafted songs with delicate sound treatments. It’s a fully enjoyable album, which even features a potential hit entitled “The Savior”. This song is carried by a solid bass line and robotic vocals.

– – – : I’m sometimes missing a bit more passion in the production of the vocals.

Conclusion: Ego Bliss sounds like a promising newcomer to the wider fields of Electro-Pop music.

Best songs: “The Saviour”, “2 Victims Of Deceit”, “The Darkest Hour”, “Strange Belief”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/mario.monk.129

Label: www.sector-industrial.com / www.facebook.com/sector.industrial.producciones

About Ego Bliss

Ego Bliss is a Mexican solo project set up in 2019 in Tijuana by Mario Monk, who is also a member of Para Normal. The project mixes melodic Synth-Pop, Darkwave and EBM, built on club-driven rhythms and cinematic synth textures.

“What The Future Holds”, covered here, is the project’s debut album, released through Sector Industrial Producciones. Ego Bliss followed it with the “Future” EP, also on Sector Industrial Producciones, before signing to the German label Infacted Recordings, which released the album “Afterlife”.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Dark-electro, EBM, techno-body, minimal-electronics.

Background/Info: Next to the first volume of this series, which is devoted to gothic music, we here get a new selection of 32 bands dealing with the underground side of electronic music. The compilation has been compiled by Dimitri Berzerk.

Artists: C-Lekktor, Circuito Cerrado, Cid Project, Electrovot, Dimitri Berzerk, Neuvision, Nordika, Vyrtual Zociety, Red Industrie, Oxomaxoma, Vox Humana ao.

Content: Mexico has always been a prolific ground for alternative electronics and this sampler reveals the welfare of the country when it comes to dark-electronics, EBM and related genres. The compilation brings a nice twist between famous and established names at one side and upcoming talents at the other side. It’s first of all an opportunity to discover great danceable songs from bands you better can keep their names in mind.

+ + + : Here again I have to congratulate the efforts of Dimitri Berzerk to release such an artistic and informative compilation; great artwork and a nice selection of bands. The booklet is an essential tool to get you a bit more familiar with the featured artists. It’s an opportunity to discover great, danceable songs, which will ravish DJ’s. It will lead me too far mentioning all noticeable artists, but I hear great work from La Bande-Son Imaginaire (probably the most original song from the sampler through the addition of violin sounds), Red Industrie (for the minimalism and sound intelligence) and Infected Sound System plus Chaotic Rave System (both for composing stumping ‘oontz’ electronics).

– – – : I think it’s a pity bands such as Hocico and Amduscia weren’t featured. I know they belong to the best Mexican exports from this scene so we all know them, but it would have been cool to get them on board.

Conclusion: This compilation is a terrific exposure of the talented Mexican electro scene! It’s an absolute must-have!

Best bands: Chaotic Rave System, La Bande-Son Imaginaire, Red Industrie, Infected Sound System, C-Lekktor, C-Phalea, Neuvision, Ego Bliss, SFX DJ.

Rate: (8½).

Label: www.sector–industrial.com / www.facebook.com/sector.industrial.producciones

About Sector Industrial Producciones

Sector Industrial Producciones is a label run from Mexico City by Dimitri Berzerk, also active as a DJ, event promoter and remixer under the name DMT Berzerk. The label paired this volume with a companion compilation, “Mexico Underground Vol.01 – The Dark Side Of Mexico”, covering the country’s gothic and dark-wave side. Sector Industrial Producciones later issued the compilations “Whispers Of The Future Vol. 02” and “Whispers Of The Future Vol. 03” in 2021, both again featuring label artists from this series.

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