Colombian EBM act Resistor returns with a powerful third album, marking their debut release under the Scanner label. Four years after their “Driving Force”-album, which was released on EK Product, Resistor delivers another solid entry rooted in classic EBM elements. The heavier tracks, driven by pure, old-school EBM basslines, are especially impactful and are sure to resonate with fans. While many of the songs feature Spanish lyrics, the title track stands out with its commanding German vocals, and other tracks are sung in English. Resistor doesn’t aim to reinvent the genre -something not typically expected in EBM, but with “Lieber Über Alles,” they’ve succeeded in refining their production, elevating the overall quality of their work. (Rate:8).

Listen to “Minimos Y Maximos”:

About Resistor

Resistor is a Colombian EBM project founded in Bogotá by Leonardo Jaime in 2011, joined later by Bryan Duarte on live sequencing and drums. The project debuted with the “Breathe” EP on Black Leather Records in 2015, before continuing on EK Product with the album “Driving Force”. “Lieber Über Alles” is Resistor’s first release for Scanner.

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.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Bagger 258 is a German duo featuring members of the familiar EBM-band Projekt 26 – which released the album “Violets And Violence” in 2017 by EK Product. Bagger 258 released by the end of 2023 the debut album “Ode An Die Arbeit”. Notice by the way the album has been mixed by Daniel Hallhuber (involved with different projects and founder of Young & Cold Records) and mastered by Stefan Poiss (Mind.In.A.Box).

Content: The album is meant as an ode to the ‘pulsating rhythm of work’ but also to old-school EBM. The main sources of influences aren’t that different from their previous project but the global writing- and production process has been seriously boosted and improved. The songs are driven by solid bass lines, 4×4 kicks, metallic sound treatments and German ‘body’ vocals. Both last songs are remixes by Oldschool Union (who already did a remix on the Projekt 26-album) and Projekt 26.

+ + + : Bagger 258 doesn’t innovate but shares with us a mature, professional and fully accomplished production. This is top-notch EBM featuring all essential ingredients to get people into tough dancing. I especially enjoy the impressive, menacing, bass lines mixed with metallic percussion sounds and the few little extra noises and melodic sequences they’re adding on top of the work. Bagger 258 makes me think of an imaginary hybrid between Tyske Lüdder, Pouppéée Fabrikk and Orange Sector. The work features multiple outstanding songs. The album last year reached the highest place in the famous DAC which says enough about this band’s potential -and especially for a self-released album. I would be not surprised they’ll very soon get a label deal.

– – – : Some would say ‘nothing new’ but who cares; this is pure, authentic, old-school EBM.

Conclusion: There’s no doubt about it, Bagger 258 will be the next great big thing in EBM land.

Best songs: “Muskeln Und Maschinen”, “Stalhwerk, Jetzt!”, “Glück Auf”, “Geschafft!”, “Maschinentakt”, “Schlagwetter”.

Rate: 9.

Artist: www.facebook.com/bagger.258

About Bagger 258

Bagger 258 is a German EBM duo of Nico von der Eisenmühle and Tim Schmelzer, both also active in Projekt 26. The pair set up Bagger 258 after struggling for years to finish material together as Projekt 26, whose singer had relocated. “Ode An Die Arbeit” was released independently on 24 November 2023, mixed by Daniel Hallhuber at Young and Cold Studio in Augsburg and mastered by Stefan Poiss at Nicelabs in Vienna. The self-released album reached number one in the Deutsche Alternative Charts. A single, “Körperkommando”, followed in 2024.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Following up on his previous single (“I Love You”) as ImJudas, Maxx Maryan (male half of the Italian electro rock industrial duo Helalyn Flowers) now releases a new wave ballad, “Stjudas”. The EP is out now via the Alfa Matrix sublabel Spleen+.

The EP, includes the previous single as well and a dark cover version of The Cure’s “Boys Don’t Cry”. This EP is another teaser for the upcoming ImJudas album “Viscerheart” which will offer melancholic 80s pop-wave mixed with post-punk ingredients.

ImJudas was initially started as a noir-dyed electro-pop project in 2016 and has since incorporated a rough guitar component. The project’s debut album, “Yrjudas”, showcases a blend of electronic dark wave and a few rock elements. You can read a full interview with Maxx on ImJudas right here.

ImJudas discography

Albums

• Yrjudas: Released in 2022 under Alfa Matrix

Singles & EPs

• Tulpa (2017): This EP, consisting of 5 trackd files, was released under Alfa Matrix
• Ritual (2021): Another release under Alfa Matrix, “Ritual” is a 6-track EP
• People Of The Blame (2023): Released by Spleen+ holding 7 tracks
• So Untrue (2023): On Spleen+, “So Untrue” holds 6 tracks
• I Love You (2023): A single release under Spleen+
• Stjudas (2023): 3-track EP

Compilations

• Sonic Seducer Cold Hands Seduction – Vol. 246 – Various – Sonic Seducer (2023)
• Matrix + Downloaded 011 – I Love You – Alfa Matrix (2023)
• A Strange Play.2 – Tribute To The Cure – Boys Don’t Cry – Spleen+ (2023)
• Anthologies 4 – Ritual – Je M’en Fish (2023, JMF202302)
• The Zombietapes (Face The Beat 7 Megamix) – Various – Side-Line (2022)
• Gothic File 22 | 1 – People Of The Blame – Alfa Matrix (2022)
• Sonic Seducer Cold Hands Seduction – Vol. 237 – Various – Sonic Seducer (2022)
• The Dark Hits Of Tomorrow Vol. 4 – Ritual – Orkus (2022)
• Face The Beat: Session 7 – Ritual (Reichsfeind Remix) – Side-Line (2022)
• Sounds From The Matrix 21 – Apostatik – Alfa Matrix (2020)
• Matrix Downloaded 009 – Apostatik – Alfa Matrix (2020)
• matrixx – 20 Years Of Alfa Matrix (Best Of Electro, Synthpop, EBM, Darkwave) – Without Us You Are Nothing – Alfa Matrix (2021)
• Face The Beat: Session 5 – Various – Side-Line (2019)
• Endzeit Bunkertracks [Act VIII] – Tulpa (AD:Key Remix) – Alfa Matrix (2019, AM1276FCD, [Act VIII])
• Alfa Matrix Re:Covered Vol.3 (A Tribute To Depeche Mode) – Various – Alfa Matrix (2019)
• The Other Face Of Evil – Zombie – EK Product (2019, EKPCD062)
• Sounds From The Matrix 20 – Without Us You Are Nothing – Alfa Matrix (2018)
• Matrix Downloaded [008] – Without Us You Are Nothing – Alfa Matrix (2018)
• Matrix Downloaded [007] – Tulpa – Alfa Matrix (2017)
• Sounds From The Matrix 19 – Tulpa – Alfa Matrix (2017)
• Orkus! Compilation 127 – Tulpa – Orkus (2017/12-2018/01, 127)
• Matrix Downloaded [006] – People Of The Blame (Alfa Edit) – Alfa Matrix (2016)
• Recovery>For You< (An Alfa-Matrix Tribute to Front 242) – Various – Alfa Matrix (2016)

Eldrina Mich

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

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Launching on April 14th via Italian label EK Product, “Carnal” is the latest album by W424, a project by Lasse Alander, a Lappeenranta, Finland-based musician. Alander is best known as one half of Cardinal Noire and a contributor to Protectorate and Tyhjä.

“Carnal” marks the official and definitive debut of W424, featuring electro-industrial experimentation described by the label as “sculpted noise, operating on intuition and dream logic.”

The project has undergone various incarnations and stages of activity since the mid-late 2000s and has recently been reactivated. Previous work includes a “lost” album recorded in 2012 but left unfinished due to the commencement of Cardinal Noire. In 2021, the album “Alandlord” was self-released as a proof of concept.

Composed and recorded between 2021 and 2023, the album’s seven songs were mastered by Dirk Steyr at ACSY Sound. The release will be available on CD and as a digital download.

Below, you can find the official video for the album track “Something Violent.”

You can order the CD via the EK Product label website and as download via Bandcamp.

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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Finnish solo-project Protectorate is now active for a couple of years. Driven by Kalle Lindberg who’s also involved with Cardinal Noire, this new project sounds as the offspring between EBM and Metal music. Protectorate last year stroke back with the second album entitled “II”. Released by EK Product the songs sound as an imaginary offspring between Pouppee Fabrikk and Ministry. A hard, raw, and merciless sound.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: What do you try to express through Protectorate and how did this project saw the daylight?

Kalle: When I started Protectorate I was in an Industrial-Metal band at the time. I felt that the way that you are expected to perform that stuff live is kinda restricting the things you can do in the studio, because you have to be able to pull it off live later, with the acoustic drums and loud guitar stacks. So I started Protectorate to escape the restrictions and rules of that whole Metal thing. I liked that every song didn’t have to be arranged for the same instrumentation and I could be more creative and free to concentrate on making the best song possible rather than having to cater to a set of rules.

Q: There’s a serious time gap between your self-titled debut-album (2016) and the new opus “II” but also a serious evolution in sound and power. How do you perceive the transition and evolution from “Protectorate” towards “II”?

Kalle: We did two Cardinal Noire releases between the two Protectorate albums. So it took most my time. I did write stuff for “II” during that time, but mostly concentrated on the Cardinal Noire stuff. I think that Proctorate evolved during that time along with how Cardinal Noire progressed. I mean I learned quote a bit of mixing and stuff doing those Cardinal Noire records and I was able to use that knowledge on the Protectorate album.

Q: “II” is the perfect symbiosis between heavy, dark, EBM and Industrial/Metal music; kind of imaginary offspring between Pouppée Fabrikk and Ministry. Can you give us more details and what kind of album & sound did you’ve in mind when starting the writing of “II”?

Kalle: Ministry was definitely a big influence on the album. More specifically the era between “Twitch” – “Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste”, and I’ve always liked a good EBM bassline. The idea of “II” musically is to put all the influences I personally would like to hear to the songs. I didn’t have a set idea before writing, I just improvise in the studio and pick up the things that work and move forward with those. I also try to forget the unfinished songs when I’m not working on them actively, because I like to have a fresh perspective on the stuff when going back to those songs.

Q: What did you keep in mind from the writing- and production process? What have been the main difficulties and challenges? The main points of satisfaction and aspects that could have been improved?

Kalle: I started seriously working on “II” pretty much right after we had released the Cardinal Noire work “Nightmare Worms”. I had demos of 5 songs at that point, but maybe one of them was a complete song (cf. “Industrial Action”). I afterwards wrote “Hexz”, “Teargarden” and “Necromancer” in 2020-2021 and finished the rest of the songs. At the start of 2022 I had to write the lyrics which is the hardest part for me or the most frustrating. I’m pretty happy with the vocals though, I feel there’s some progression happening there and it’s the progression that keeps this interesting for me. I did the final mix in the summer and that was a minor break down moment for me also, I think I overdid it in a way. I was very critical of my own work and obsessed about minor details way too much. The result was that I didn’t instruct the mastering engineer (who did an excellent job, thanks Dirk @ ACSY), I tried at first, but my instructions resulted in worse sounding tracks, so I concluded that I had lost perspective due to a couple of months mixing the eight tracks. So I just asked Dirk to do what he thinks sounds best, I didn’t even listen to the finished disk until couple of weeks after it was released and the CDs had been sitting on my shelf for a while.

Q: Can you give us more details about the lyrical content and the artwork of the album? And how important are lyrics to you for this kind of music?

Kalle: I guess they are pretty important, at least they are the hardest part in making an album. Most of the lyrics are about current events, but there are couple of more personal songs. Both my cats died while I was writing the album, so a couple of songs are about that. Lasse from Cardinal Noire did the album cover and I really just gave him free reign over that, I’m happy with the cover so that approach was a good one, I think.

Q: What will bring the nearly future and I especially think about live shows, remixes, eventually a new single, clips… and Cardinal Noire?

Kalle: There are two reworked, unreleased, tracks coming out on two different compilations in the spring. A couple of live shows are already booked, but we’d love to do more, so please book us to play 😀 There are some remixes in the pipeline; I intend to release a remix thing later on also. New Cardinal Noire material is also planned, I’ll start working on that after the Protectorate-remix thing. We’ve been working and accumulating material for the next Cardinal Noire album from right after the release “Deluge”.

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.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Six years after Protectorate’s self-titled and successful debut album, Kalle Lindberg (Cardinal Noire) strikes back with this new work.

Content: “II” remains driven and inspired by old-school EBM but also empowered by furious Industrial guitar components. The sound becomes pure hardcore sometimes achieved with epic sound arrangements. You’ll hear the darkness of Pouppée Fabrikk mixed with Industrial music à la Ministry. The vocals have been produced in an enraged and rough way.

+ + + : “II” moves a step further than its predecessor. The grim sound seems to express the world we’re living in. This is perverted EBM which however sounds sophisticated and even refined with great string parts at the softer passages. The previously released single “Industrial action” opens the work with a bang but I personally prefer “Teargarden” for its great arrangements.

– – – : I regret the work only features 8 songs. Production wise I would like to hear more diversity in the vocals.

Conclusion: Protectorate definitely belongs to the restricted number of darkest and hardest hardcore EBM projects. So you better put on your seatbelt and endure this merciless ride.

Best songs: “Teargarden”, “Industrial Action”, “Lethe”, “Deathbringer”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.facebook.com/protectorateindustrial

Label: www.ekproduct.com / www.facebook.com/EKProduct

Listen to “II”:

About Protectorate

Protectorate is the solo project of Finnish musician Kalle Lindberg, also known for EK Product-signed act Cardinal Noire. Lindberg started Protectorate to work outside the constraints of performing live with acoustic drums and guitar stacks, giving him more freedom to build songs without a fixed instrumentation. The self-titled debut album followed in 2016. Between the debut and “II”, released in October 2022 on EK Product with catalog number EKPCD074, Lindberg released two Cardinal Noire albums, work that fed back into the mixing and production approach used on “II”.

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

DI*ove is a Belgian EBM project set up and driven by Eric Manchiniste. He’s a great fan of Electronic music and  started composing music at the age of 12 by tinkering with his mother’s appliances. Later on he dreamed of having a synth rather than a moped like most of his friends. After his first fee as a singer in a Rock band he bought a drum machine and the adventure began… The band DI*ove is the inversion of E-void, a more Experimental project from the early 2000s. DI*ove’s first album “DI*ode” got released in 2013 by EK Product. Later on Eric started to self-release his works. The second album “DI*vided” was released in 2016 while several EP’s got released as well. The newest EP “DI*version/Phase I” is a great piece of music mixing traditional EBM influences together with Electroclash and Minimal-Electro. An introduction to DI*ove.(Picture credits by Valsdarkroom / Interview courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: DI*ove is already active for numerous years but don’t release new work at regular basis. How did it all started and what have been the main changes and evolutions throughout the years?

Eric: I thought DI*ove was releasing an album/EP on a regular basis (lol). For the past 13 years, the project has been releasing a record every 3/4 years except lately because of the pandemic.

In 2008, I had some instrumental recordings to work on. That’s when I met Lukk. As he had enjoyed a few tracks, I proposed him to add his voice. The result was very convincing. From there on was born the first EP released on Knovel Records.

Over the years I have enjoyed collaborating with other singers (Sacha, Nina) and from time to time I also stick to the exercise of placing my voice -a bit like Martin Gore on Depeche Mode albums (lol).

Q: I always experienced your sound as driven by good-old EBM influences but what are your sources of inspiration and possible bands/artists you see as true references? What does DI*ove stands for?

Eric: I grow up with the sound of the 80’s. Going from New-Romantic to New-Wave to EBM/Indus. In the 90’s, I also flirted with post New-Beat, House-Tech… I’m still interested in what’s currently being done musically. That’s why today I pick a little bit from everywhere. It is clear that the music of DI*ove is mainly driven by Dark-Electronic music like EBM but I also like to inject more contemporary sounds; not to remain only in the codes of the past.

Q: Your debut album “DI*ode” (2013) was released on EK Product while all productions after that debut were self-released. For most artists it all happens the other way round so what does this ‘do it yourself’ approach mean to you? And how do you manage all different aspects next to music, like promotion, distribution, management etc?

Eric: Let’s say that with age the desire for artistic freedom becomes greater. Then it happens that there is a big difference between what is written on a contract and the reality. Let’s add that ‘do it yourself’ is in fashion. Besides that, I’m the kind of artist who doesn’t fancy businessman’s tasks, but still has to achieve them. I’m used to manage the functions related to promotion, distribution, artwork, concert canvassing… But I must admit that my door remains open for external help. The call is launched.

Q: Tell us a bit more about your newest work “DI*version / Phase 1”. How did this EP –or is it a mini-album (?) saw the daylight? What did you try to express and what have been the main focus in the song writing?

Eric: “Di*version” was composed right after the lockdown. I was quite happy to see people again, to party again and especially to have perspectives like releasing an EP. Nina and I had gotten into the habit of having a drink on Friday nights while listening to vinyl records. One night she said to me: ‘what if we made music together?’ The next day I plugged in my machines again and took my pen.

We rethought all the Friday night conversation topics and put the most important ones back in writing. From the living room on Friday night, we moved to the home studio to record “DI*version”.

Q: You clearly seem to like working with guest artists/singers and you already collaborated with famous names like Claus Larsen, Plastic Noise Experience ao. How comes and what are the main criteria you use to work with other artists? How do these collaborations happened; I mean what’s the real impact and input of the guest artists/singers?

Eric: Indeed, I like to collaborate with other people. On the one hand it’s an opportunity to meet interesting people and on the other hand, a different approach to work. A formula that works very well for me.

I met Claus Kruse from PNE at the beginning of the Facebook era. He had liked our 2nd EP and especially a track he wanted to remix. I didn’t hesitate for a second, knowing Claus’ work. I accepted and agreed to propose the track for the compilation “Face The Beat Vol 1”. Then he sang on “Addictions” a track from our first album.

The other Claus Larsen from Leather Strip was pure luck. We were spending our vacations in the same city and we met in a bar that we used to visit for its special food (private joke!).

We talked about music, collaboration and insisted on keeping in touch after the vacations. That was it! I had a track ready and I sent it to him. Claus recorded the vocals to finalize the track “Fly Naked”.

I feel honored to have collaborated with these artists who are part of my musical library. The impact is also felt for DI*ove in terms of credibility and visibility. On a personal level, these meetings boost my satisfaction and my work in the future.

Q: Belgium remains a prolific ground for talented EBM artists, but it also is a country with a small scene for this music genre. How do you as an independent artist manage this important aspect and what brings the nearly future for DI*ove?

Eric: Belgium has very good press abroad. The actors of the scene are very enthusiastic when it comes to spreading our music. I also appreciate the complicity and the work of the people who still believe in this kind of music by putting it forward. I would like to mention JL Marchal (Synthpop80.com), Greg and Walter for their radio show “Sampler Et Sans Reproches”. Recently, I still thought that the language barrier in Belgium was a problem. None or few traces of our music in Flanders until I met the “Luminous Dash”-team.

DI*ove is actually finalizing “DI*version Phase 2” and is thinking more and more about getting back on stage.

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

Finnish industrial artist Kalle Lindberg aka Protectorate launched itself on to the scene in 2016 with a self-titled debut album “Protectorate”. The new upcoming full length “II” by the Lappeenranta based artist offers eight electro industrial and EBM tracks.

Here’s the artwork of the forthcoming release.

The release was preceded last month by the single “Industrial Action” which holds 3 versions of the title track, the normal version and an Oldschool Union remix and one by Cardinal Noire.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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The Italian project TourdeForce, aka Christian Ryder, sees a first compilation released of his older work, called “Compendium vol. 1”, but in reworked versions.

The tracklist of this compilation includes a selection of fourteen songs made between 2009 and 2013 during the “Colours in Life” era and the material has been remixed by such bands as Syrian, Foretaste, Luca Urbani and Dekad. The remixers also added extra vocals to their reworks.

Next to this you get brand-new mixes, rare and unreleased tracks such as “Falling in The Dark” (produced in 2012 for the Japanese Eurobeat market), an episode featuring Nova Pulsar (Ecuador) and two demo versions.

Here’s a videoteaser.

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 on February 21st is “Six in the Key of Death”, a tribute to Death In June by TourdeForce, the electronic music project founded by Christian Ryder in Bergamo, Northern Italy in 2004.

The release, a mini-album holding 6 tracks, comes after the conclusion of the “Anger Trilogy” (“Jedem das Seine” – 2014, “Very Industrial People” – 2018, “Vargtimmar” – 2021). The tracks covered are: “Fields of Rape”, “Holy Water”, “The Calling”, “Nowhere Street”, “She said destroy” and “Come before Christ and murder Love”. You might want to order this release pretty fast as there are only 200 copies available.

TourdeForce are currently working on a special album for EK Product, featuring 15 previously unreleased tracks: all new songs, a cover-version for a song by Diorama, remixes of TdF-tracks by Foretaste, Dekad, Syrian and others plus a number of demos.

For now, check out the trailer for the Death In June tribute right below.

And here is a video for the track “Nowhere Street”.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Industrial, EBM, Power-Noise.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Tangent Stratery is the newest signing to EK Product. Based in the US, this Japanese solo-project was set up in 1996 by chd.y. After several productions “Revenant“ is an album that will maybe catch the attention of a wider audience. 

Content: The album features 2 parts; brand-new songs and older cuts originally released on EP. The sound is hard to define yet always driven by Electro-Industrial elements. It takes off in a rather Dive style, but rapidly evolves incorporating other influences to the work. You’ll notice EBM bass lines, but still harder cuts coming closer to pure Power-Noise. Some of the older cuts also reveal a colder electro style, which might remind you of Mortal Constraint and The Klinik. On top of it all you’ll discover ghost-like vocals while a few cuts remain instrumental edits.

+ + + : The originality of this project is its atypical approach. It’s much more than simply Industrial music, but a true offspring between Industrial, EBM, Power-Noise, Dark-Electro and even vague Techno and Acid elements. This project is a sonic chameleon, which will however appeal for Industrial lovers. I like the album’s diversity and the spooky produced vocals. The album is a discovery and a true sonic trip in Industrial music. I personally like “Dead Reckoning (Reverse/Action)” for its harder, danceable approach with a kind of Acid sequence on top. In a more Dark-Electro way I recommend “Accept Death” and “Hark! For I Am The Portent Of Misery”; both songs having a strong 90s sound. Last, but not least I also want to mention “And The Lies”, which sounds to me like ‘Industrial Prodigy’.

– – – : The main strength of the album might be also be seen as its weakest spot: a mishmash of influences.

Conclusion: Tangent isn’t really innovating although creating an atypical, original Electro-Industrial sound.

Best songs: “Dead Reckoning (Reverse/Action)”, “Accept Death”, “Hark! For I Am The Portent Of Misery”, “And The Lies”, “Fountain Square”, “The Rising Sun And The Behemoth”.

Rate: 7½.

Artist: https://tangentstrategy.net /  www.facebook.com/tangentstrategy

Label: www.ekproduct.com / www.facebook.com/EKProduct

About Tangent Strategy

Tangent Strategy is the solo project of chd.y. Discogs states that the project began in 1996 as an outlet for chd.y’s musical exploration, starting with guitars, bass and found percussion before moving into computer sequencing and sampling.

“Revenant” was released by EK Product on 26 November 2021 as a limited CD and digital download, and is the only Tangent Strategy release documented on Discogs. Bandcamp credits chd.y with voice, guitar, noise excavation and sound sculpture, and states that the songs were written and produced between 1998 and 2021, with the compiled recordings made between 2003 and 2021 in Washington State, USA, and Tokyo, Japan. The same page notes that tracks one to four come from lossy compressed sources and that “Serenade For Hana” is dedicated to Hana Kimura.

The seventeen tracks are “The Invocation”, “Engine”, “Un coeur de glace, un esprit d’hiver”, “Fountain Square”, “Dead Reckoning (reverse/action)”, “and the lies”, “The Doctrine of Overwhelming Force”, “The Execution of Zealots in the Marketplace Square”, “Angel of Black Desire”, “Meatgrinder”, “The Rising Sun and the Behemoth”, “Accept Death”, “Hark! for I am the portent of misery”, “Machigatta Guuzen”, “Floodgates Now Opened”, “MQ-9A” and “Serenade For Hana”.

This review is the first Side-Line coverage of the project, and no later Tangent Strategy release has been documented in the archive since.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

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Out via the EK Product sublabel Space Race Records is the debut album by the synthpop act Second Complex, called “Therapy”. Behind this Danish solo-project we find Dan Beck, better known for being with with Ole Ulrich Jensen one of the two members of Vaylon. Strongly inspired by the 80’s synthpop, this debut album features a wide array of guest vocalists.

The album holds twelve tracks with guest vocals delivered by Brian Hazard (Color Theory), Laura Noszczyk, Daniel Hall, Tomas Gustafsson, Ole Ulrich Jenbsen, Neil Francis and Frank J. Freda (Halovox).

Tracklist:

1. Drowned (Feat. Color Theory) 4:49
2. Troubled Mind (Feat. Laura Noszczyk) 4:17
3. Every Moment Counts (Feat. Daniel Hall) 3:43
4. Regrets (Feat. Color Theory) 5:03
5. Asylum (Feat. Tomas Gustafsson) 3:48
6. Powerless (Feat. Color Theory) 4:13
7. Lost in a Dream (Feat. Ole Ulrich Jensen) 3:27
8. Solid Ground (Feat. Neil Francis) 3:57
9. Spirit (Feat. Ole Ulrich Jensen & Frank J. Freda) 3:46
10. A Grain of Sand (Feat. Neil Francis) 4:15
11. Shadows and Silhouettes (Instrumental) 4:15
12. Humble (Instrumental) 4:49

Here’s already a track featuring Neil Francis. Read the review of ‘Therapy’.

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, Future-Pop.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Finnish project Aeronaut V was set up in 2018. This year they released the single “Discovery” and this debut-EP –which rather looks like a mini-album, featuring six songs.

Content: The songs are clearly the perfect offspring between Electro- and Future-Pop music. One of the cuts still has a bass line reminding me of the softer side of DAF. The production reveals powerful sounds and multiple analogue-like sound effects. The vocals have something charismatic; all songs are sung in English. I don’t like comparing bands, but I think this music might appeal to lovers of Covenant.

+ + + : Aeronaut V took me by surprise; the work revealing a well-crafted song writing and professional production. This band stands for maturity and even if the sound isn’t that original it however has something personal and refreshing. The music has something retro-like and still features contemporary elements. The production of the vocals has something emotional. The work features 6 different tracks and except one, they all have a true potential.

– – – : EK Product is a label I’ve always connected with EBM and related genres. Aeronaut V sounds a bit different and definitely more into Electro/Future-Pop, which is the kind of music released by the label’s sub-division Space Race Records.

Conclusion: This debut EP by Aeronaut V is a pretty cool surprise; a great electronic production, which will appeal for lovers of Electro- and Future-Pop, but also some EBM heads. This is a name to keep in mind!

Best songs: “Too Much”, “Zero Zero”, “No Wonder”, “Into Two”.

Rate: 8½.

Artist: www.facebook.com/AeronautV

Label: www.ekproduct.com / www.facebook.com/EKProduct

About Aeronaut V

Aeronaut V is a synthpop duo from Tampere, Finland, formed in 2018. Discogs credits vocals and lyrics to Arttu Korppivuori and synths and music to Ville Brusi. The project describes its material as drawn from the classics of electronic music.

The duo issued the single “Discovery” in October 2020. Finnish act Advanced Art remixed a following single, as reported in Finnish electro pioneers Advanced Art remix new Aeronaut V single in April 2021, and the band signed to the Italian label EK Product that same month, covered in Aeronaut V inks deal with Italian label EK Product.

“Late Departure” followed on 4 May 2021 as a digital release. The six tracks are “Into Two”, “Killing Time”, “Waiting”, “Too Much”, “Zero Zero” and “No Wonder”. The duo returned with “Youth” in 2024 and reissued it as an EP in 2026.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Industrial, EBM, Crossover.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Vipermilk is a Finnish quartet, which this year unleashed its debut album.

Content: the sound of this band is mixing Electronics and guitar. You’ll easily recognize EBM influences, which are mainly carrying the bass lines while the guitar sounds –often used as leads, create a somewhat Psychedelic effect. The vocals have been performed in a rather enraged way.

+ + + : The unique aspect of this band makes its originality. I prefer the songs driven by harder and more explicit EBM bass lines and sequences, “Indignation” being a true cool song. “Crimson Lie” is another attention grabber, which is somewhere in between EBM and Dark-Electro. Vipermilk is definitely shaking traditional Electro standards, injecting something different to the genre… although I’m not sure this band belongs to any specific genre.

– – – : I’m not that fond of the somewhat Psychedelic-like leads the songs have been made with. It creates an Electro-Rock effect, which is hard to label and not always that accessible.

Conclusion: “Sound Bites” is a bit of a sonic challenge and maybe a way to enlarge to Electronic horizon.

Best songs: “Indignation”, “Crimson Lie”, “Every Zero”, “Nibiru Cataclysm”. 

Rate: 7.

Artist: www.vipermilk.fi  / www.facebook.com/vipermilk 

Label: www.ekproduct.com / www.facebook.com/EKProduct

About Vipermilk

Vipermilk is a Finnish electronic band. Discogs lists J-V Hintikka, Ilari Heinäaho and Lasse Erjamo as members; the credits of “Sound Bites” add Konsta Vehkala as a fourth writer of the music, with all lyrics by Rory Winston. Vehkala also runs the dark electronic project LAHO and plays drums in the metal band Psychework.

“Sound Bites” was released on 16 April 2021 by the Italian label EK Product as a limited CD and as a download. The ten tracks are “Every Zero”, “Resist”, “Evil Heat”, “Gaslight”, “Nibiru Cataclysm”, “Indignation”, “New Drug City”, “Crimson Lie”, “One By One” and “Sound Bites”. The band wrote, recorded and mixed the album itself; Dirk Steyer mastered it at ACSY Sound and Vlad McNeally made the artwork. “Every Zero” and “Evil Heat” were issued as singles on Bandcamp ahead of the album.

Discogs lists “Sound Bites” as the band’s only release to date. This review remains the only Side-Line item dedicated to Vipermilk.

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

KLONAVENUS is an Italian duo set up in 2005 by Paolo Chemnitz (vocals, lyrics, samples) and Saffio (music, programming, mixing). During the early years of the band they self-released an impressive number of EP’s. They finally signed to EK Product and released their official debut album “Klonawelt” in 2012. The next album “Angst” got released in 2015 on Space Race Records (subdivision of EK Product). The sound of the band has been often described as a mix of EBM and Electro-Pop. And that’s what they also revealed at the last year released new album “Motion:less”. I’d a chat with Paolo and Saffio.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: KLONAVENUS is active for numerous years now. Do you notice important changes/evolutions in your sound and influences? And what have been the main facts coming directly into mind?

Paolo: Since the first days, we always have alternated a more sunny component with a more introspective one (Dark-Wave influences were prominent). Our debut album “Klonawelt” is full of funny and powerful Synth-Pop anthems. Then, starting with the second album “Angst”, our darker side prevailed. An aspect related to our growth and our awareness, perhaps we have understood that the era of light-heartedness was gone! Years ago I personally also started to read many books about existentialist philosophy (from Schopenauer to Cioran and Caraco), a mental influence that helped the evolution of the conceptual aspect of the band.

Q: You last year released your newest album “Motion:less”. 2020 has been a hard year because of the pandemic so did it have an influence and impact on your artistic activities/life and the achievement of the album?

Paolo: The new album was written before the pandemic, although its release was postponed from April 2020 to September 2020, considering that during last Spring everything was completely closed. The filming of the first video clip (cf. “My Crying Bride”) has also been postponed for several months, a situation that initially made us lose some enthusiasm. We haven’t been able to play the new songs live yet and we are very sorry about this, we hope to be able to do it as soon as possible.

Q: What kind of album is “Motion:less” all about and why did it take that long to achieve this new opus?

Paolo: After the release of the debut album “Klonawelt”, our paths divided because I stayed in Rome, while Saffio moved to Berlin. If “Angst” was composed within two years, with the third album we wanted to wait for the right moment. Living far away, is not easy to discuss ideas directly, plan/play concerts or share time in the rehearsal studio, that’s why “Motion:less” was born without any rush. We have also been really still for months, writing only one unreleased track for a compilation powered by our label and a single track released in a very limited 7” vinyl. Paradoxically, when we only did demos or EP’s ten/fifteen years ago, we played a lot in Italy and we were able to give more continuity to our project.

Q: I’ve always experienced KLONAVENUS as the perfect mix between EBM and harder Electro-Pop influences. What does it say about the sound you try to compose and do you have personal references and criteria when composing your music?

Saffio: I think our sound is not easy to label, despite being classified as EBM and Electro-Pop by the fans and critics. We certainly have a wealth of influences, first and foremost 80s New-Wave, which over the years has grown and opened up to different sounds, but always with a Dark-Electronic character that also draws on genre films, especially horrors and thrillers. The incipit of the musical composition therefore stems from the visual suggestions and soundtracks of the films we love, especially those of the 70s and 80s.

Q: What’s your way of working and what’s the input of each member in the writing/production process?

Saffio: Each KLONAVENUS song usually follows these steps: the instrumental composition that I elaborate very instinctively following my mood, but also respecting the concept of a new album defined together with Paolo, who takes care of writing the vocal melodies and the lyrics. At the same time he chooses some samples, inspired by some movies he likes (we can say there’s a touch of Industrial music in KLONAVENUS).

Q: You guys have already released several clips. What do you like in making clips and what do you try to express? What’s the link between the lyrical content of the songs and the clips?

Saffio: As explained above, cinema is probably the main influence on our music. We wouldn’t know how to create our songs without the suggestion of watching films we love. Consequently, our clips best represent the union of the two arts: cinema and music.

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

Aeronaut V, the synthpop act from Tampere (Finland) are back after the EP “Late Departure” and the singles “Discovery” and “Into two”. Arttu Korppivuori and Ville Brusi (also known as co-founder of the Alfa Matrix signed synthpop act Neuroactive) have now signed with the Italian label EKP (EK Product) to hopefully release an album pretty soon.

The first releases however will probably be the continuation of the “Into two” single series featuring remixes by local Tampere (Finland) area electronic artists. These should be released one by one over the course of this year.

More info soon!

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: EBM, Dark-Electro.

Format: Digital, 2CD.

Background/Info: Three years after the debut-album “The Worst Dream” (2018) Rebirth strikes back with a double album featuring twelve new songs and eleven remixes. Rebirth is Bruno Ruch (Sleepwalk) and singer Olivier Moser.

Content: The main disc reveals solid EBM bass lines, powerful rhythms, carrying choruses and harsh-spooky   vocals. “System:Error” reflects a cold production, which is mainly created by icy sequences and -atmospheres. The vocals are in German and English. There’s one instrumental song somewhere in the midst of the work, which appears to be a break.

The second disc reveals remixes by Atropine, Rotersand, Oldschool Union, Covenant, Struck9, Frozen Plasma, Pyrroline, AD:Key, KIFOTH, Deadly Injection and Onenine.

+ + + : I was not a huge fan of Rebirth’s debut album, but this new work sounds definitely more convincing. Bruno Ruch improved most aspects of the production, but the song writing is just better. The album features several great songs, but I especially recommend listening to “Ultimate Sin”, “Teufel In Mir” and “Streets Of The Damned”. The sound treatments reveal a professional approach. I especially like the fusion between power and haunting atmospheres on top.

The bonus disc reveals great names, but also great remixes. I especially want to mention Rotersand, Oldschool Union, Struck9, Pyrroline and KIFOTH as the most inspired cuts. Onenine is a noticeable feature as this is a solo-project of Axel Kleintjes (formerly involved with Page 12, Cyber Axis, Cycloon, Mindware).

 Last, but not least I also want to say a word about the great and artistic digipak format of this work.

– – – : This work is just missing an absolute hit to speak about a real masterpiece, but we get a real great number of songs instead. I expected a bit more from the Covenant remix.

Conclusion: “System:Error” is a work I fully recommend to all lovers of sophisticated dark EBM.

Best songs: “Ultimate Sin”, “Teufel In Mir”, “Streets Of The Damned”, “Letzte Schlacht”, “R.I.P.” + “Streets Of The Damned – Rotersand Rework”, “Teufel In Mir – Struck9 Remix”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: http://rebirth-music.ch / www.facebook.com/Dr.Tinitus

Label: www.ekproduct.com / www.facebook.com/EKProduct

About Rebirth

Rebirth is a Swiss EBM and dark electro duo formed by Bruno Ruch, also active as Sleepwalk, and singer Olivier Moser. The project released its debut album, “The Worst Dream”, in 2018 on EK Product. Three years later, Rebirth followed up with the double album “System:Error”, pairing twelve new songs with eleven remixes from acts including Rotersand, Covenant, Oldschool Union, Struck9, Pyrroline, KIFOTH, AD:Key, Atropine, Frozen Plasma, Deadly Injection and Onenine, issued on digital and 2CD formats through EK Product.

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.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Resistor is an EBM solo-project driven by Leonardo Jaime aka ‘Neuromancer’ and hails from Bogota (Colombia). I noticed Resistor previously released an EP (cf. “Breathe”) in 2015 on the excellent Black Leather Records. “Driving Force” is the official debut album featuring ten songs plus two remixes.

Content: There definitely is a match between Resistor and EK Product. The work is carried from start till the end by retro-influenced EBM. The songs are a bit cliché-like, featuring classical metallic percussion sounds and typical song structures, but there also is a kind of minimalism. The songs are mainly sung in English, but you’ll also notice a few Spanish lyrics. The songs are short and powerful. TourdeForce and AD:Key both have accomplished one remix each.

+ + + : If you’re into old-school EBM, this project definitely will get you to move your body! Resistor belongs to the classical EBM school and features a few cool songs. I especially like the kind of minimalism in the production, which also was a trademark from labels such as Black Leather Records and Black Montanas. This album reflects all the expected EBM power by its classical ingredients like metallic percussion, solid bass lines and vocals. Both remixes are adding a real bonus to the album.

– – – : The sound production is a bit compressed and that’s a pity. I think this is an important point to improve.

Conclusion: Resistor is an interesting addition to the EK Product roster and a must have for all EBM freaks.

Best songs: “Supernova”, “Reacción”, “Bodybeat”, “Driving Force”, “Reacción – TourdeForce Remix”, “Driving force – AD:Key Remix”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/resistorebm

Label: www.ekproduct.com / www.facebook.com/EKProduct

About Resistor

Resistor is a Colombian EBM project driven by Leonardo Jaime, formed at the end of 2011 in Bogota. The project released the “Breathe” EP in 2015, featuring remixes by The Horrorist, Xotox, Equitant, Grandchaos and Delectro, followed by the album “Ice Cold Gold” in 2017. “Driving Force” (2021) followed on EK Product, with remixes by TourdeForce and AD:Key.

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.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Three years after their great debut album “Panacea” the American – Australian duo featuring Rob Early (Retrogramme) and Simeon Fitzpatrick (Project K11) is back on track unleashing the new opus “Humanicide”. The work features nine new songs plus five remixes. The band again worked with some guest singers. Roy Retrofit (Red This Ever), Alicia May, Rebekah Feng and Sarah Myers (Fake Boyfriend) contributed to this work.

Content: “Humanicide” moved on where “Panacea” stopped; an album featuring intelligent and sophisticated EBM. It clearly reminds me of Frontline Assembly and Skinny Puppy, which I think rather sounds as references to be compared to. The different singers inject their proper touch, intonation and passion to the work.

The remixes were accomplished by Psy’Aviah, Sebastian Komor, C1TZN.X, Leather Strip and Red This Ever.

+ + + : 11Grams doesn’t sound as the most accessible EBM format, but they let us discover a different kind of ‘body music’; music that has been composed with technical knowledge and certain passion to create great sound treatments. The album sounds maybe a bit less powerful than its predecessor, but it has been empowered with poignant atmospheres created by cool synth sounds. Some passages are clearly old-school driven and even space-like. There’s a great diversity and yet still a balance between the different singers. The title song for sure is an attention grabber, but I definitely prefer the “Static Noises 2.0” revealing impressive writing skills of 11Grams. Among the remixes I especially recommend listening to “Ice Man” remixed in a powerful way by Sebastian Komor and “Weaponized”, which is another powerful outburst, remixed by Leather Strip.

– – – : I don’t see real minor points about this new work, 11Grams simply confirming their natural talent to compose futuristic EBM, but I just regret this kind of band never gets the deserved recognition.

Conclusion: “Humanicide” confirms the great work revealed at the “Panacea”-album; this is styled EBM!

Best songs: “Satanic Noises”, “Artificial Lifeforms”, “Humanicide”, “Ice Man”, “”Ice Man – Sebastian Komor RMX”, “Weaponized – Leather strip RMX”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: http://11grams.com / www.facebook.com/11grams

Label: www.ekproduct.com / www.facebook.com/EKProduct Read the news on ‘Humanicide’.

About 11Grams

11Grams is an Australian-American EBM and electro-industrial project pairing Simeon Fitzpatrick (Project K11) with Rob Early (Retrogramme), mixing catchy bass riffs and synthpop melodies with electro-industrial production. The duo’s 2020 album “Humanicide” on EK Product follows the 2017 debut “Panacea” and features guest vocals from Roy Retrofit, Alicia May, Rebekah Feng and Sarah Myers, plus remixes by Psy’Aviah, Sebastian Komor, C1TZN.X, Leather Strip and Red This Ever.

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, Double CD.

Background/Info: Three years after the astonishing album “Assailant” Norwegian EBM combo Atropine is back on track unleashing this double album featuring twelve new songs and thirteen remixes. Atropine is already active since 1994 and has released several full lengths. After a break the band has been active again since 2014.

Content: Atropine is doing what they do the best; composing a sophisticated EBM format, which rapidly evokes the atmosphere of early Skinny Puppy. But it’s much more than simply a new emulation of an EBM Godfather; it’s a well-crafted composition mixing harsh vocals together with tormented spheres and danceable passages. It also evokes to me the genius of Mortal Constraint. The power is rather emerging from the icy, horror-like atmospheres instead of the BPM’s. There’s also a trace of minimalism running through a few songs.

The second disc brings a nice selection of artists who for sure had some pleasure remixing Atropine. This is an opportunity to discover the remix skills of Miza[r], Kant Kino, Tourde Force, SWG, Amnistia, 11grams, Substaat, SKL, Impulskontroll, Amorphous, How Green Is My Toupee, Hexadiode and Pyrroline.

+ + + : If you think that EBM is easy music, you should listen to Atropine who reveal the most sophisticated and definitely intelligent EBM format. This is an elaborated writing composed with the magic of analogue equipment. Songs like “Missile Missive” and “Mutual Demise” definitely belong to the best exposures of this Norwegian formation. But I also have to mention the minimal sounding “Flesh Wreath” and the tormented “Dub Sermon”. If you pay attention to the explicit and horror-like front cover of the album you’ll get an idea about the universe inspiring this work. Among the remixes I heard excellent tracks, but will especially recommend the work by atropine’s compatriots Kant Kino and Substaat. And one more I’ve to add is the less familiar Norwegian artist SKL.

– – – : This is a great album so no real minus points. It remains a pity this band doesn’t get more recognition!

Conclusion: If you’re waiting for a new Skinny Puppy work in the good-old vein of the early years, you better listen to Atropine’s “Human Emulsion”. I promise you’ll not be disappointed!

Best songs: “Missile Missive”, “Mutual Demise”, “Flesh Wreath”, “Dub Sermon”, “Bulwark”, “Knife Vision” + “Missile Missive – Monotow Mix by Substaat”, “Knife Vision – SWG Remix”, “Bulwark – Kant Kino Disco”.

Rate: (8½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/AtropineEBM

Label: www.ekproduct.com / www.facebook.com/EKProduct

About Atropine

Atropine is a Norwegian EBM and industrial-experimental band active since 1994, releasing several full-length albums before going on hiatus and returning to activity in 2014. The 2020 double album “Human Emulsion” follows the band’s prior release “Assailant” and pairs twelve new songs with thirteen remixes from artists including Kant Kino, Substaat, SKL, Amnistia, Hexadiode, Pyrroline, Amorphous and 11grams, released via EK Product.

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, Body-Pop.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Paolo Chemnitz (vocals, lyrics, samples) and Saffio (music, programming, mixing) have been active under the Klonavenus moniker since 2005. They mainly self-released an impressive number of EP’s. A first official album was released in 2012 on EK Product. They next released “Angst” on Space Race Records (subdivision of EK Product) and now unleashes “Motion:less” featuring eleven songs.

Content: Klonavenus has always composed music at the edge of EBM and Electro/Wave-Pop. It’s not that different with the new compositions, which are driven by hopping sequences and rhythms. The songs are accomplished by solid melody lines illustrating the ‘Pop’-side of the band. Some of the hardest cuts remind me a bit of early Icon Of Coil, but here again polished with some extra Electro-Pop melodies. Both last tracks are remixes by A Copy For Collapse and Templebeat.

+ + + : “Motion:less” is a cool work, which is mainly carried by excellent melodies. What I especially like is the perfect balance between EBM power and Pop melodies. The work is danceable, sometimes moving towards darker fields, but always accessible. Both debut songs are noticeable passages, but I also have to mention “Emotionless” reminding me of the early steps of Icon Of Coil. Another great song is “My Crying Bride” featuring female vocals by Valerie Hely. She injects a sensual touch on top of Paolo Chemnitz’ singing. There also is a cool instrumental song (cf. “Neon Blue”). Last, but not least there’s this surprising remix of the title song by Templebeat.

– – – : I think the production of the vocals could be improved; the way of singing becomes rather monotone after a while. I can’t say this album is featuring potential hits, but we get several noticeable songs instead.

Conclusion: “Motion:less” is not the kind of album that will set the EBM and Electro-Pop scene(s) alight, but it’s an honest work, which I enjoyed listening to.

Best songs: “My Crying Bride”, “Emotionless”, “Neon Blue”, “Dies Irae”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.facebook.com/Klonavenus

Label: www.spaceracerecords.com / www.facebook.com/SpaceRaceRecords Read the news on ‘Motion:less’.

About Klonavenus

Klonavenus was formed in Rome in 2005 by Saffio (music and programming) and Paolo Chemnitz (vocals and lyrics). After two demos, the duo signed to The Fossil Dungeon label and released “Metropolights” in 2007, followed a year later by a compilation of previously unreleased tracks. In 2010 the band released the single “The Loser”, with remixes by Dismantled, Autodafeh and Ginger Snap5.

In the winter of 2013, Klonavenus released the video for “Electro Body Killer”, directed by Italian filmmaker Domiziano Cristopharo. The band’s second album, “Angst”, followed in 2015, recorded in Berlin and mastered in the US by Rob Early (Retrogramme), with remixes by Spektralized, Cygnosic and Blank. After a break, Klonavenus released the free EP “Last Life On The Left”, then appeared on the 2018 compilation “Complicity Content” on the E|K label with the new song “Welcome To Violence” featuring Elisa Tomaselli, alongside the 7” vinyl “We Fly Away”. The duo now returns with the third album, “Motion:less”, on Space Race 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

Out on September 25 is the second album by the collaboration project between the Australian Simeon Fitzpatrick (Project K11) and American ‘Retrogramme’-mastermind Rob Early. The partnership between the two artists – baptized 11Grams – debuted in 2017 with the previous full length “Panacea”.

Here’s what the band says about their new album: “On our new album “Humanicide” the listener will be wrapped by a wide variety of avveniristic modulations, sometimes threatening or full of suggestive mystery and drama. Expect midtempo dancing drumming mechanically squared by the drum-machine, sequenced symmetries, powerful bass lines and solemn synths harmonies spread an alienating musicality, while the chant adds further catchy charm to the structures.”

You’ll have both male (including Roy Retrofit) and female vocals (including Alicia May and Rebekah Feng) on the 14 track album which offers a blend of electro, endustrial, EBM and synthpop. Included as well are remixes by for instance Psy’Aviah, Sebastian Komor, C1TZN.X and Leæther Strip.

Check out the Video for “Ice Man”. Read the review of ‘Humanicide’.

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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Finnish EBM band Oldschool Union was originally set up by Seppo Ahlstedt and Janne Vilen. They released two retro- and hardcore like EBM albums on EK Product. But after “Älä Ole, Elä!” (2012) and “Perjantai” (2016) singer Janne Vilen left the band and got replaced by V-M Pekkola. The third full length album “Vartalovasara” has been released earlier this year and holds on all familiar influences of the band’s sound. Solid bass lines and hard-hitting kicks are sometimes achieved with melodic synth lines, but the main characteristic of the band remains the Finnish vocals. “Vartalovasara” sounds like being smashed by the hammer of Thor…

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: The new album “Vartalovasara” features a different line-up. How did the switch from the original singer towards V-M Pekkola happened? What has been the impact of working with a new singer and what have been the reactions so far?

Seppo: I had met Vesa previously and had seen him live with Lola Kumtus. When he offered to cover Janne for ‘Famillien Treffen’ as one time show, I asked him if he could join the band. A new singer is like starting the band from zero so it took a little time to dwell together. I think since both last two gigs, we are in a state we feel confident about what we do.   

Q: Sound wise “Vartalovasara” moves on with the hard, oldschool-EBM style, but what are according to you the main changes and evolutions in the global writing and production of the work?

Seppo: Everything is always evolving when you learn new things, but basically it stays the same. There were a little more hard-ware synths used this time. There were also a few, little experiments with more melodic songs as well.

Q: How did the writing of the album happened? What have been the different stages you went through to compose a song and finally an entire album?

Seppo: I usually have some subject in mind and then I start to write lyrics. That is the most difficult part for me.  As I do a lot of demos it becomes easier to compose the song when the lyrics are ready. Quite often when I feel that a song is not working the way I want it, I completely rewrite it. This happened a couple times on the last album. When I listened to the album in its entirety it sounded too soft. So, I ended making harder versions from a couple of tracks.

Q: You claim that you ‘want to merge the Finnish essence in to their hard hitting old-school EBM’. I think it also explains why you’re still singing in your mother tongue, but what is this Finnish essence all about? What are the main topics we have to know –and maybe learn, about this essence?

Seppo: Language is a big part of it. When I listen to Spanish, Italian, German EBM, the language brings its own flow to it. Beside the lyrics the Finnish essence to the songs is the Sisu. There is probably no good word to translate it, but it is a mental state when you are doing something impossible, but refuse to give up because you’re determined to do it. In Finland we also embrace technology, but we also love to be in nature. Our dream of perfect living is to sit in the middle of nowhere by a calm lake, in front of a sauna and listen to the noises of nature. It is also about laughing and noticing the funny things which makes us Finns.  

Q: The Finnish vocals definitely remain one of the main characteristics of your band, but it’s still impossible to understand one single word from the content. So what’s hiding behind the title of the album and its lyrical content? Is this an album with a message? Pure rebellion? Or something different?

Seppo: “Vartalovasara” means “Bodyhammer”. Long time ago we wanted to make a short film, kind of unofficial home-made sequel to the Tetsuo movies. It would have been called “Northern Bodyhammer” (“Pohjolan Vartalovasara”). The film never happened, but then I wanted to make it as a song. So, it is Tetsuo who inspired me to write this song about a man who turns into a biomechanical body hammer under the pressure of society.  We used primitive Finnish rock paintings on the cover to show how the world would look like after the ‘bodyhammer-man’ has destroyed it.

Q: I think it’s rather unlucky to see the new album being released in times of the Covid 19 pandemic! Do you feel an impact so far and what are you doing –maybe together with the label EK Product, to manage this bad luck? How do you see things evolving?

Seppo: We have a of couple gigs that have been cancelled, but other than that it has no big impact on us. This is a perfect time to build out the studio and make new songs. I feel more sorry about small organizers who had to cancel their events. This kind of cancellations hurt small organizers badly so support them in the future anyway you can.

If we look at the silver lining of this epidemic I hope we start to appreciate more the things we have been taken for granted. Also I think when the epidemic is over both performers and audience will be so full of energy that we will have 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.

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Genre/Influences: EBM.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Finnish duoSeppo Ahlstedt –  V-M Pekkola (the new singer) are back on track unleashing the third official full length album of their Oldschool Union project. The new songs have again been released on EK  Product, which remains an interesting label for EBM .

Content: It took 4 years to Oldschool Union to achieve this new work, but nothing has really changed. The influences remain driven by pure retro-like EBM. It sounds hardcore and all songs are again sung in Finnish, being the main specific of the work. The album features all classical elements of EBM; solid bass lines and hard-hitting linear kicks. Some songs are accomplished with a melodic-minded tune,   but they’re never losing the aggressive power the work has been made of. That’s an aspect which is also reflected in the vocals filled with rage.

+ + + : If you’re an adept of hard and pure old-school EBM, this Finnish duo will give you all what you want. It’s a classical EM  format, but a well-crafted one. I prefer the songs, which are a little bit more elaborated with a tune in the chorus. The language remains the main specific aspect of the band, which makes that you directly recognize –even without understanding one little word, the band you’re listening to. 

– – – : But this language is maybe also the element, which makes some of the songs a little bit less accessible. That’s maybe also the reason why this album is maybe missing an absolute hit.

Conclusion: Oldschool Union didn’t change any single aspect from their previous works and yet “Vartalovasara” is maybe their most successful work to date.

Best songs: “Sydansuruja”, “Teosto”, “Alzheimer”, “Ostovoimayksikko”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.facebook.com/Oldschool–Union-316407271848974

Label: www.ekproduct.com / www.facebook.com/EKProduct

About Oldschool Union

Oldschool Union was originally formed by Seppo Ahlstedt and Janne Vilen, releasing the EK Product albums “Ala Ole, Ela!” (2012) and “Perjantai” (2016). Vilen later left the band and was replaced by V-M Pekkola, who first appears on the project’s third full-length album, “Vartalovasara”.

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.

Hexadiode.jpg” alt=””/>

Format: Digital, CD, vinyl.

Background/Info: American duo Tim Krug and Jonas Miseh released their second full length by the end of 2019. Next to the CD-version released by EK Product –which also released their debut album “Ibex” (2016), they self-released a vinyl edition of “Metaxy”.

Content: “Metaxy” is a mix between typical EBM elements, which are mainly emerging from the bass lines and the production of the vocals, and industrial sounds. Some metallic percussion parts are perfectly matching with this sonic fusion. Some of the choruses have something elevating. The more you walk through the “Metaxy”-universe, the more there’s a Frontline Assembly connotation running through the work. It’s dark and old-school like and yet with a contemporary feeling. Both last tracks are remixes by Guilt Trip and Blush Response.

+ + + : Hexadiode accomplished an interesting opus. I like this album for the sophisticated writing, which is bringing EBM and industrial sound treatments together. The songs clearly reflect an intelligent writing, but the album also reveals several great songs. There’s also something to say about the mature production work. Among the remixes I noticed a great contribution from Blush Response, but it’s also cool to see Guilt Trip, which seems to be back into business.

– – – : There are multiple noticeable songs featured at “Metaxy”, but this album is missing a hit song from which you can’t get away from. That’s precisely what a band needs to get in the spotlight.

Conclusion: If you don’t yet know Hexadiode and you’re in search of a well-crafted and intelligent EBM production, I can for sure advise you to listen to “Metaxy”.

Best songs: “Impulse Matrix”, “Metaxy”, “13 Of 12”, “Markov Chain”, “Brain In 3 – Blush Response Remix”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.hexadiode.com / www.facebook.com/hexadiode

Label: www.ekproduct.com / www.facebook.com/EKProduct

About Hexadiode

Hexadiode is an American duo, Tim Krug and Jonas Miseh, formed in 2014 in Dayton, Ohio. The act builds hardware-driven electro-industrial and EBM around melodic hooks and experimental edges.

The duo’s debut album “Ibex” came out in 2016, followed by “Contaminated” in 2017. “Metaxy”, reviewed here, was released via EK Product on CD and self-released on vinyl in 2019, and was followed by an instrumental edition and the album “Controlled Burn” in 2020.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: EBM.

Background/Info: Slovakian duo ‘Mir  Colon’ and ‘k-head’ have been active since 1993. From the original name Kneel In Front Of The Executioner to KIFOTH this live album wants to be a kind of testimony of their career. The album has been recorded in 2017 during the ‘Extinction Of Mankind’-tour.

Content: Most EBM-heads are familiar with the harsh EBM style of the duo. The album clearly reflects some like spirit, but also appears to be a travel throughout the time. From their last released album on EK Product to their self-released album as Kneel In Front Of The Executioner, “Alive:d” has a lot to offer. The sound is rather simple, into traditional EBM and mainly inspired by the 90s movement. It reminds me a bit to bands such as Leather Strip -for some sequences and Skinny Puppy –for some leads.

+ + + : I’m not always a huge fan of live-albums, but this one is an interesting visit throughout the band’s discography. I prefer the more elaborated cuts such as “Electrosmog” and “Possessed By The Right To Modify”, but I’m also in for the harder “Clandestine And Formidable” and “Crucified Thief”.

– – – : You can hear the live spirit emerging from the audience at the end of each song, but there’s no trace of interaction between band and fans.

Conclusion: If you’re into intelligent retro-EBM strongly based upon the 90s genre, KIFOTH is for sure a band that will give you pleasure!

Best songs: “Clandestine And Formidable”, “Possessed By The Right To Modify”, “Electrosmog”, “Crucified Thief”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.facebook.com/KIFOTH.bandprofile

About KIFOTH

KIFOTH is a Slovak EBM duo formed in 1993 by K-head (music) and mirColon (vocals), who met as classmates and first performed live in 1994 at the ‘Young Apollo’ festival. In a 2017 Click Interview, the duo named Skinny Puppy’s “Too Dark Park” and Front Line Assembly’s “Caustic Grip” among the albums that shaped their sound. The project has recorded under other names, including Kneel In Front Of The Executioner and Kneel In Front Of The Hangman, before settling on KIFOTH. Two albums followed on Out Of Line and two more on Vendetta Music, then “Extensive Report” on EK Product (2017); “Alive:d” documents the band’s 2017 ‘Extinction Of Mankind’ tour. KIFOTH has since released “Lost Territory” (2026) and “Artificial Territory” (2026) on Aliens Production.

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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I will always link Peter Elm to Restricted Area. This Swedish EBM and body-pop project released a few great productions from the midst of the 90s till the early millennium years. The last productions were released on EK Product in 2010 and 2011. After a break of several years Peter Elm got back into business, setting up ELM and signing to Alfa Matrix. The album “Hardline” released in 2016 revealed a hard and pure old-school EBM. Three years later ELM strikes back with a new opus entitled “Extreme Unspoken Tension”. The album was preceded by the great EP “Death Of The North” revealing the raw power of ELM. This production is for sure one of the EBM high lights from 2019 and will appeal for all retro-EBM lovers. This is what Peter Elm has to say about it.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: You’ve just released the second Elm-album “Extreme Unspoken Tension”. What have been the main triggers and influences to start writing this work and did you’d a specific focus in the composition/production process?

Peter: It’s just honest self-expression and reflections about ’the world we live in and life in general’. If you’re pissed off, the music you make will naturally reflect that. Anyone with some integrity and sensitivity left will know what I mean and feel my sincerity in the songs. I’m not trying to fit into any genre or to be cool.

Q: “Extreme Unspoken Tension” is an intriguing title, which clearly has a deeper significance. What’s hiding behind the title and what have been the main lyrical themes you tried to express?

Peter: Yes. I like the title and the sound of it. I also find that the artwork adds yet another dimension and enhances the meaning of the title. Anyone not entirely brainwashed knows there are severe problems in Europe. Political correctness is badly disguised fascism and there are more and more restrictions about what you are allowed to say and how you are allowed to behave. There is an underlying tension. And all along Big Brother watches closely. Of course the whole atmosphere is soaked with hypocrisy. It’s disgusting. The development on a moral and philosophical level is quite devastating and is slowly and effectively removing charm and humor from our society. And the sheep follow. Nice.

Q: What did you try to achieve sound- & song-wise? Did you try to incorporate new elements in the production? What have been the main challenges?

Peter: The main challenge is achieving a solid, high-quality production and of course you need to have good songs to start with.

Sound wise I will always go towards and develop a sound that I personally am passionate about. Solid synthetic bass sounds and well-crafted bass-lines combined with honest aggression. The songs and lyrics need to be there though and need to find their place in the right musical environment.

I think there is a lot of variation on ”Extreme Unspoken Tension” and I don’t like albums where all songs sound the same. There are a lot of quite alternative song structures on the album such as ”Altitude 100”, ”Apocalypse” or ”Redemption”…

I also find that the album also has quite a more modern and fresh sound.

Q: The limited edition of this album became something very special; a great concept featuring alternative edits from every song. How did you get this idea? What did you try to accomplish with this disc and alternative edits and how did you get in touch with Rummelsnuff?

Peter: Thank you. Yes, it was a lot of work. It started with the feeling that I actually always preferred when bands did their own remixes as opposed to letting other artists do them. I used to love the 12 inch-style remixes of bands like Depeche Mode or Nitzer Ebb. I also thought it would be an easier and smoother process if I just did the remixes myself… Although fun, it turned out to be rather tedious…

In the end I found that I could have more fun and relax more for the disc B songs since they were ’only’ remixes/bonus versions. I actually prefer some of these to the originals.

I’m a big fan of Rummelsnuff and had a chat with him when he had a gig in Brussels a few years back. I contacted him about doing a translation/poem with one of my songs and we came up with ”Distracted”. Personally I find that the song suits his vagabond-style of storytelling. I also tried to make the song a bit more ’German sounding’ and stomping. Rummelsnuff is really cool since he always did his own thing. I respect that. Honest self-expression.

Q: Image is an essential item when it comes to EBM; bodies have to be muscled and sculptural while clothing is important as well! It sometimes even becomes more important than the music properly speaking. Is it an aspect you’re taking care about and where do you place image in the story of ELM?

Peter: Images and concept need to go esthetically well with the music. Once again, this is all about the art and the expression. In the case of both ”Hardline” and ”Extreme Unspoken Tension” the artwork combined with the music form a fist forged by fire from the heart. The artwork should be like a statement. This is what I have to say. Join in or fuck off.

I’ve always been a huge fan of NSK, Laibach and totalitarian art so my covers will naturally have influences from them. When it comes to superficial image or clothing I really don’t give a fuck.

The music is what is important.

Q: You’re based in Brussels since a couple of years. How does it feel living in the center of Europe and does this town and/or Belgium have a real impact on you as musician?

Peter: I like Brussels a lot because of its diversity, movement and international feel. I love the mix of languages. It’s easy to travel anywhere and I’ve come to get great friends here. There is a lot of music going on also, in a sense even more than in Berlin where I also used to live. In a way it’s like a mix between Paris and Berlin.

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

Peter Van Bogaert set up Liquid G in 1986! Inspired by the early ‘Belgian EBM school’ he started to self-release his music on the good-old cassette format (Liquid Products). His sound always remained characterized by darkness. During the years Peter got involved with numerous other (side) projects such as Liquid Trauma, Hydrom Line, SubsecTion 1, Maxx:Impact, Trauma Sutra ao. But Peter always went on with Liquid G releasing new work (also on labels such as EK Product and Dark Entries Records). He this year released the album “Barbed Wire Scrap”, still available as a very limited cassette, featuring ‘revisited’ familiar songs next to previously unreleased tracks. I consider this work as his most accomplished production to date and asked a few questions to this Belgian electronic ‘dino’.  

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: You set up Liquid G. in 1986! What did you keep in mind from the early days of Liquid G. and what do you see as the main changes/evolutions between making music in the 80s and today?

Peter: There is a great difference between 1986 and now. Back in the days I didn’t had a lot of money, so I had to make my music with limited resources. Sometimes I had to loan some synths from friends to make my music. These days I have enough resources to choose from, both digital and analogue synths. But sometimes I go back to the early days and work minimalistic with only a few little synths like Korg Monotribe and Monotrons. That also feels so good!

Q: You this year released the album “Barbed Wire Scrap”, which is a fine selection of previously unreleased material and alternative versions. Tell us a bit more about the idea of this album and the selection of the songs?

Peter: Well, the last year(s) I spent more time creating sounds om my synths and used them for Liquid Trauma. So I thought maybe it’s time to release some Liquid G. material that I made and never used. When I looked at the tracks, I find out that there were more than enough to have a new release.

Q: I sincerely think this album is your most accomplished work to date. The songs are more elaborated than ever before while I also get the impression you used some extra (maybe new?) equipment to achieve this album so what is it all about?

Peter: Some of the tracks I reworked and remixed, with some new equipment. When we were working on Hydrom Line songs, I asked Bart Verlent to play guitar on some tracks from Liquid G., that also make some different sound on those songs like “Rock N Roll Suicide Star” and “Fed Up!”.

Q: You released numerous albums on cassette format featuring different split-releases, but also a tape called “Musical Art Conjunct Of Sound” (1989) together with Vomito Negro! How do you remember this experience and did you ever got the idea to re-release this tape again on CD format? I think it’s something rare and precious, isn’t it!?

Peter: In that period of 1989, Vomito Negro and I worked with a DAW software on Atari called MACS, a very unstable program. I asked Vomito Negro if I could have some old midi tracks they never used. That’s how I created those songs and called the release “M(usical) A(rt) C(onjuct) of S(ound)” or “MACS”. But now to re-release those tracks, I don’t find them good enough, also the recording sound is very poor and I can’t rework them. But yeah, who knows, maybe someday..

Q: Nearly all of your work is self-released, but you also released two albums on EK Product and even a vinyl on Dark Entries Records. What do you see as the pros and cons working with labels and working the good-old ‘DIY’-way (especially today)?

Peter: I liked working together with labels, but when I have more than enough tracks to bring out a new release, I can’t wait until a label decides to bring  out the work in a couple of years. I know sometimes labels have too many bands on their label. And the sale of CD’s isn’t very OK at this moment, you only sell stuff when it’s something special or very limited. That’s why I only made a few tapes from “Barbed Wire Scrap”. 

Q: There’s one thing I’ve never understood with Liquid G.. Like several ‘great’ names from the Belgian EBM/dark-electro scene you started making music in the 80s and shared similar influences, but Liquid G. always remained pure underground. Why did all these other bands you’ve been in touch with (The Klinik, Insekt, Vomito Negro…) became recognized all over the world while you remained one of Belgium’s finest hidden secrets? What does it say about promotion, distribution, labels, image etc?

Peter: I always stayed low profile, didn’t do live performances in the early years, only some special guest performance with Vomito Negro. But I didn’t care, for me it was and still is a hobby. But I’m glad that the name Liquid G. is still known in some foreign countries. For next releases from Liquid G., Liquid Trauma and Hydrom Line, I normally will work together with Wool-E-Discs. If another label is interested to bring out some (old) material, they are always welcome.

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: “Taste Me!” is the debut album of the German EBM-duo Deadly Injection. They were previously featured on a few compilations and now joined hands with EK Product to unleash this opus featuring 13 tracks.

Content: “Taste Me!” is an album without any form of pretention. It’s pure old-school EBM music with a clear hardcore flavor on top of several songs. The songs clearly remind me of the 90s and especially of Leather Strip for some of the bass lines and early Cat Rapes Dog for the fast tempo and harsh production. The vocals are a little bit distorted, which is perfectly matching with the rough sound production.

+ + + : If you’re a die-hard fan and you’re still convinced the best EBM was composed during the 80s and 90s you definitely have to discover Deadly Injection. The hardcore touch injects a real punching touch to the work. I especially like the songs, which are a little bit more elaborated with good-old string parts.

– – – : Good EBM and especially the ‘hardcore’ class is often simple and efficient, but I think a little bit more elaboration –especially for some of the choruses, would be a real bonus.

Conclusion: This debut album sounds like a ‘start’. Deadly Injection has found their style and influences, which are cool, but they now have to improve some elements of the production.

Best songs: “Gulag”, “Blind Eyes”, “Castrate The Rapist”, “Bastard”, “Blind Eyes”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.facebook.com/deadlyinjection.official

Label: www.ekproduct.com / www.facebook.com/EKProduct

About Deadly Injection

Deadly Injection is a German EBM duo founded in 2013 by Louis Cyphre, joined by Feelidae. After several compilation appearances, the duo released its first albums in 2018: “Black Gold” and “Taste Me!”, the latter reviewed here on EK Product. The duo followed with the album “Zombified” in 2021 and the single “Religion” 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

 I’m always interested to discover new bands, but especially artists from countries and parts of the world you don’t immediately link with electronic underground music. Struck 9 is a Colombian duo set up in 2008 by Andres Orion and Andres Henker. They released the “Democracy”-album in 2010 on Black Leather Records (Colombia). It took a while to accomplish a new opus, but here it is! “Ritual Body Music” has been released by EK Product and will catch the attention of all old-school EBM lovers. Master mind Andres Orion answered a few questions.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: A traditional question to take off is to know how Struck 9 saw the daylight, the meaning of the band name and what have been your musical references and sources of inspiration?

Andres: Struck 9 was the first EBM song I heard in 1993 by Anstalt so I named my band that way to honor them. We are inspired by 80s and early 90s EBM, new-wave and post-punk.

Q: It seems there’s a real electronic underground scene in Colombia. How does it looks like regarding bands, labels, distributors, concerts/festivals, parties etc?

Andres: To be honest, there are a lot of parties, but not that many concerts and there’re a few distributors. The technical conditions for a festival are minimal and nobody risks losing money.

Q: Your new album “Ritual Body Music” has been released 8 years after the debut album “Democracy” so what have you been doing in the meantime and what were the influences in the writing of “Ritual Body Music”?

Andres: “Democracy” got a great recognition and had a serious impact, inspiring new bands and movements in Latin America. We played live in Colombia and Peru. After that I spent years working and learning music production and Sound Art. While Henker was dedicated to working as a brewer, the realization of “Ritual Body Music” took 4 years to get achieved… Good things take time.

Q: Tell us a bit more about the meaning and composition of “Ritual Body Music”? What kind of album did you want to accomplish and what are the elements of the album you’re proud of?

Andres: We wanted to break the standards so we integrate traditional elements of some ancestral cultures like shamanic icaros and sacred chants. In the ancestral rituals the dance has a purpose, we perceive EBM as a congregation, a tribe in a search for rhythm and sound vibration to reach other levels.

Some of the percussion was made with recyclable materials like real pipelines. On the song “Kapital” you can hear guest artist Gabriel Ortiz who built his own instruments with trash.

Q: Your new work has been released on EK Product. What does it mean to you to get signed on an European label and what might we expect from Struck 9 during the further months/years?

Andres: EK Product has been a great reason to grow up and learn even more about European music culture. Now we can´t stop writing new music. This is just the beginning…

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: Struck9 is a Colombian EBM project set up in 2008. After a debut album (cf. “Democracy”) released in their homeland on Black Leather Records (2010) the band is now back on track with a new opus. They joined hands with EK Product to unleash their “Ritual Body Music”.

Content: Struck9 stands for pure old-school EBM with a raw and somewhat unpolished production. The sound might remind you of great names such as DAF, Armageddon Dildos and co, but I also have to say this band has a very own approach. The songs are well-crafted and not just an easy and cheap EBM cliché.

Both last songs are remixes by Autodafeh and Atropine.

+ + + : This is retro-EBM, but with a personal style and attitude. The songs might appear ‘classical’, but they’re well-crafted and accomplished with little details like cool bleeps, metal percussion sounds at the right place and simple, but efficient tunes. The album features a succession of great songs and honestly there’s no song to throw away. Struck9 doesn’t reinvent EBM, but will please all lovers of the genre by this outstanding work.

– – – : The unpolished sound production is pretty vintage-like, but it took me a few minutes to get used to it. I think a more contemporary (and professional) production would give an extra to the album although the spirit would maybe be different. It’s a bit the same for the production of the vocals. So in the end it’s pure old-styled EBM in influences and production. The remixes of Autodafeh and Atropine are cool, but I personally prefer the original versions.

Conclusion: Struck9 doesn’t innovate, but this album is absolutely phenomenal. I even dare to say one of the best EBM releases I’ve heard in months!

Best songs: “No Fracking U.S.A.”, “Kapital”, “Resist”, “Bodytemple”, “Ritual Body Music”, “Interconnected”.

Rate: (8½).

Artist: www.struck9.com / www.facebook.com/strucknine

Label: www.ekproduct.com / www.facebook.com/EKProduct

About Struck9

Struck9 is an EBM project from Colombia, formed in 2008. The band released its debut album “Democracy” on Black Leather Records in 2010 before signing to EK Product for “Ritual Body Music”. The same year a companion release, “Remixed Rituals”, gathered reworks of the album, including the closing contributions from Autodafeh and Atropine.

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: Mika Rossi, Jesper Nilsson and Anders Olsson are celebrating the 10^th anniversary of their EBM brainchild commonly known as ‘Autodafeh’. The band has released 5 albums and 2 EP’s and are actually working on their new opus planned to be released this year. “The Vintage Collection” as the title indicates is a collection or compilation or simply a ‘best of’ album featuring remixed songs (by Autodafeh) taken from all their releases. The album features 14 songs while the vinyl edition only features 10 cuts.

Content: Autodafeh definitely is one of the most recognized and praised contemporary EBM bands. The Swedish formation (also involved with Agrezzior) has been always been strongly inspired by the work of Front 242 and that’s an element you’ll rapidly notice. Every single song reminds me of a track from the impressive ‘242’ discography, but it has been adapted into an own approach. The songs are driven by danceable kicks, typical electro-body sequences, good-old spoken samplings and vocals in the style of Jean-Luc Demeyer and Richard 23.

+ + + : Autodafeh is to Front 242 what Spetsnaz is to Nitzer Ebb! You could say ‘a copyist’, but I think that would be offending the genius of Mika Rossi and his mates. The work is the result of great sound treatments, intelligent structures, carrying melody lines and the right BPM’s to get you into a frenetic dance. The shadow of Front 242 supports the entire work, but the composition is styled and more an ode to the Godfathers of EBM. I also want to say a word about the great vocal lines, which are also pretty ‘classical’ like for this kind of music, but still that efficient. The use of a delay and the backings à la Richard 23 are just great.

– – – : Autodafeh has been never dealt with originality, but simply efficiency! I however can imagine some die-hard fans of Front 242 considering this kind of formation as pure blasphemy.

Conclusion: If Front 242 is commonly and world-wide known and recognized as being the Godfathers of EBM, Autodafeh is one of the best odes a band has ever accomplished to this formation. That’s why this ‘best of’ is an absolute must-have for EBM fans.

Best songs: “Exercise Your Brain”, “Divided We Fall”, “Retro Electric”, “Heaven Screams”, “Identity Unknown”, “Hunt For Glory”.

Rate: (8½).

Artist: www.autodafeh.com / www.facebook.com/autodafeh

Label: www.ekproduct.com / www.facebook.com/EKProduct

Read the news on ‘The Vintage Collection’.

About Autodafeh

Autodafeh is a Swedish electronic body music (EBM) band from southern Sweden. Formed in late 2007 by childhood friends Jesper Nilsson and Mika Rossi, the duo soon welcomed Anders Olsson into the fold, completing the core trio, with the stated aim of reviving the EBM sound of the 1980s, citing Front 242 and Nitzer Ebb as reference points.

The band’s run began with a following on MySpace, leading to a swift signing with Sigsaly Transmissions and the release of their debut album, “Hunt For Glory,” in June 2008. This was followed by the EP “re:lectro” in 2009, when the band toured Sweden, Germany, Italy, Belgium, France and Poland. Their second album, “Identity Unknown,” followed in 2010.

In 2011, Autodafeh joined the Scanner label (part of Dark Dimensions) and released “Act Of Faith.” Further albums followed with “Blackout Scenario” (2013) and “Digital Citizens” (2014). After a hiatus in 2015, the band returned in 2016 with drummer Thomas Kroell Green as a fourth member, in time to remix tracks from their back catalogue for their tenth-anniversary compilation, “The Vintage Collection,” reviewed here.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: EBM.

Background/Info: Rebirth is the story of the long-time friends, both involved with electronic music and who finally decided 2,5 years ago to set up a common project. This Swiss duo features Sleepwalk composer Bruno Ruch and Olivier Moser (vocals). Notice by the way Olivier Moser contributed to the writing of a Sleepwalk song featured on the album “Spirits From The Inside”.

Content: Rebirth is clearly inspired by good-old EBM. The sound has a retro-touch while the main characteristics appear to be the dark, haunting atmospheres and the bombast of the percussion parts. Some of the songs are a bit like awakening the spirit of Yelworc.

+ + + : After a rather hesitant debut, “The Worst Dream”  progressively reveals more exciting cuts. The doomy sphere hanging over the songs has something anguishing while the power and bombast of the drums only accentuate the tormenting body-experience “The Worst Dream” is made of. The lyrical content is not happy at all and that’s perfectly summarized in the title of the work while transposed in the music. Both last songs are great remixes by Framework (still involved with Sleepwalk) and Leather Strip.

– – – : I already mentioned the somewhat doubtful debut tracks, which even left me a bit skeptical. I especially noticed less diversity between verses and choruses, which progressively evolves throughout the album.

Conclusion: Compared to the new Sleepwalk album Rebirth still has a way to go to reach a similar level. But this band is also different and only exorcizing EBM ideas while it also is just the debut work. I hope this band will move on and I’m really wondering how the next work will sound like.

Best songs: “Teufelsweib”, “Darkness”, “Insane”, “Rise And Fall”, “Darkness – Remix by Framework”, “Pleasure Of The Flesh – Remix by Leather Strip”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.rebirth–music.ch / www.facebook.com/Dr.Tinitus

Label: www.ekproduct.com / www.facebook.com/EKProduct

About Rebirth

Rebirth is a Swiss duo formed by Sleepwalk composer Bruno Ruch and vocalist Olivier Moser, who also contributed to the writing of a Sleepwalk song on the album “Spirits From The Inside.” “The Worst Dream,” released in 2018 on the Italian label EK Product, is the duo’s debut album, closing with remixes by Framework and Leather Strip.

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

11Grams saw the daylight thanks to the internet. This project is the  meeting between American Rob Early (Retrogramme) and Australian Simeon Fitzpatrick (Project K11). After a few self-released digital EP’s they got in touch with the Italian label EK Product, which appears to be a comfortable home for their sophisticated and intelligent EBM format. I got in touch with Simeon and Rob to get a bit more about their common project.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: How did you guys met and what incited you to set up 11Grams? Does it mean you’re now longer involved with your previous bands/projects?

Simeon: Rob and I met through DJ Wolf, a good mutual friend, He’s an Australian remixer known as Digital Anodyne. Rob and Wolf were chatting on social media about a certain defunct record label and I chimed in with a comment which Wolf replied, then introduced me to Rob. I think we started talking about music software, etc.  About a year later we decided to write a song together through the net, called “Immortal” which evolved into 11grams. We both still write for our own band projects.

Q: What’s the explanation behind the band name and what’s hiding behind the album title “Panacea” expect a link with the Goddess of medicines?

Simeon: Rob actually came up with the acronym combining both our band names Project K11 and Retrogramme making 11Grams. I was writing lyrics for the album, I have a dictionary at hand and just opened it to the word Panacea, the universal remedy. It seemed quite suitable for a futuristic album about transhumanism, Rob loved it.

Q: What kind of album and sound did you’d in mind when starting the writing of “Panacea” and how did the composition finally happen?

Rob: I am a big fan of late 80’s to mid 90’s industrial music and EBM.  In my teens, I always wanted to make this music, but didn’t have the resources. As time went by, I started Retrogramme with my close friend Nikk and I started producing others as well. I decided to go back to my roots and create something from the ideas I originally had. Simeon responded to my Facebook post looking for a like-minded musician and I primarily loved his basslines so we decided to give it a go. We are both easygoing people with a crude sense of humor so we got along great and decided to make a full album.

Q: I experienced “Panacea” as a sophisticated composition, which sounds as an antidote to all ‘average’ electro releases sounding pretty similar and without real sound DNA! Do you recognize 11Grams in this ‘statement’ and what’s your perception on contemporary electronic music?

Rob: As we set off to make an industrial/EBM album, we accepted that we were more diverse than just that style, so we decided to allow some of our other influences in while trying to maintain commonalities (complex and dense sound structures, melodies, powerful drums, etc)

As far as current music, there is so much out there that it can sometimes be hard to sift through it all because there isn’t a lot of free time. I depend on friends to introduce me to new stuff, and I also stumble upon it through Soundcloud or Facebook, so I am sure I don’t know all the different genres out there now. But I know there will always be great music regardless of genre and I am just happy when I can stumble upon something that I love.

Q: You invited multiple guest singers and also musicians to accomplish this album. Why did you ask several guest singers, which according to me is much more difficult to realize and especially if you’ve plans to play live?

Simeon: Rob and I are very pedantic about our music, so after I sang on “Machine Malfunction”, “Feel It Like A Drug”, and others that suited my vocal tone, we needed other singers to complement the diversity of the remaining tracks. Roy, Lisa, Chad, Woj all did amazing vocals. Playing live was always going to be a challenge for us, Rob being in Washington DC and me in Australia, but we figured out a set list and in February 2017 I flew over to DC, we practiced for 4 days and did our first show together. Rob previously played a DJ set on New Years 2015 and in November 2017 Roy Retrofit filled in for me on vocals and they played two more shows for 11Grams. Rob is planning to join me in Australia this year for a couple more shows.

Rob: I always find collaboration fun and inspiring. I will always collaborate. I find that collaboration helps build personal friendships and expand creativity, and that to me is very fulfilling.

Q: Daniel Myer seemed to have been really inspired, realizing a great remix of “The Stalker”. How did you get in touch with him and can you analyze his version of “The Stalker”?

Rob: Through label mate Niko Kötzsch of Leipzig-based electronic band Gimme Shelter, I established contact with Daniel Myer and asked if he’d be interested in remixing a song for our album. We were super happy when he said he liked the original and would love to remix it. I’ve been a fan of his music since the early 90’s so I was thrilled when he said yes.  We have since become friends through the internet and have met in the U.S.

I love his version.  To me, it encapsulates what I love about his music.  Very precise programming, powerful drums, interesting vocal effects, and fluid but dark synth sounds. Pure Daniel Myer.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Out via EK Product later this month is the Cardinal Noire album “Deluge”.

Cardinal Noire, based in Lappeenranta (Finland) and formed in 1992, brings together two artists with a strong history in industrial and metal scenes since the mid-1990s, namely Lasse Alander and Kalle Lindberg.

“Deluge” will hold a collection of 9 new tracks, mixed by Lindberg at the Machinerie28 studios during 2017. You can order the album right now!

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: EBM, body-pop.

Background/Info: Nico (drums) and Timo T. (vocals) are brothers based in Augsburg (Germany). Projekt 26 was set up in 2013 and now has signed a deal with the Italian EBM label EK Product to unleash their official debut album.

Content: The work is clearly inspired and devoted to good-old EBM. The retro-style is a quite familiar, but still efficient EBM receipt both brothers are practicing with knowledge and efficiency. But even if the basis of all songs is EBM-minded they also seem to be influenced by electro-pop elements. It comes especially through in some choruses, which have been accomplished by melodic strings. The vocals (mainly in English language) are moving from a rather clear way of singing into harder passages.

Notice by the way Projekt 26 invited Pantser Fabriek (they already released a split album together) and Plastic Noise Experience to each join in on one song. Last, but not least you get remixes by Oldschool Union, SadoSato and Loewenhertz.

+ + + : This is an interesting and successful debut by Projekt 26. The EBM style they’re dealing with is absolutely not innovating, but the mix with carrying strings and body-pop elements is quite efficient. It resulted in a more accomplished and diversified work, which also makes the difference with the typical retro-like EBM formations. The work stands for great, dry bass lines, efficient strings, diversified vocals, danceable kicks and a great remix by Oldschool Union.

– – – : The body-pop element will maybe not convince all EBM die-hard freaks, but I rather see it as a unique touch of sound. I’m maybe missing a real hit although the title song has the potential to become a DJ’s favorite one.

Conclusion: EK Product has a nose to discover new talented formations dealing with EBM and Projekt 26 definitely is a band that will conquer new souls devoted to this genre! This is a successful debut!

Best songs: “Violets And Violence”, “Stars And The Moon”, “Satellite 2017”, “God Dag”, “Blood For Blood – Oldschool Union Remix”.

Rate: (8).

Band: www.facebook.com/p26augsburg

Label: www.ekproduct.com / www.facebook.com/EKProduct

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

Kneel In Front Of The Hangman, later on renamed into Kneel In Front Of The Executioner is already active since 1993. Set up by K-head (music) and mirColon (vocals) the Slovakian duo rapidly caught the attention of the international EBM community. After self-released albums, 2 albums released on Out Of Line and 2 more full lengths released on Vendetta Music, KIFOTH is back on track releasing “Extensive Report” on EK Product. That is what they’ve to say about it.

(by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Can you remind us how K.I.F.O.T.H. saw the daylight and what have been your sources of inspiration?

K-head: It all happened on a hot Friday in the Summer of 1994 when the festival “Young Apollo” featured amateur bands. Two teenagers put on their Amigas doing their first live show. Some people couldn’t believe what they heard. But a few enthusiastic people started to dance on the last songs. Nevertheless, the show finished the fans wanted more songs. So after the official end of the festival at 10PM both guys again expand their system. Youthful blond mirColon began to sing the songs again as it was the first time. When they started the song “Ježiš Kristus” (Jesus Chirst), the lyrics start with ‘heaven is crying …’, the storm has been started.

mirColon: We launched the first recording tracks somewhere during Spring 1993. We were classmates. We had different ways to attract, amuse and express ourselves. Firstly, we talked about improvisation. After a time, the song arose spontaneously thoughtfully. At that moment some famous albums resonated in our minds: “Last Rights”, “Too Dark Park”, “Tactical Neural Implant”, “Caustic Grip”, “Tyranny For You”. We lived for concerts of local groups like The Dark, Morbid Fancy, Vanessa, Ocean. The philosophy of KIFOTH is not a mainstream one, but it is direct and very rough. Therefore the choice of the EBM style sat very properly.

Q: There’s a hiatus of 7 years between your previous album (cf. “Violence Corporation”) and the new work “Extensive Report”. What happened in the meantime and what does this new album mean to you?

K-head: We’d to go through different phases during that break. The last album was released in 2010 and the next 2 years we played mainly live gigs, however in parallel more changes started to happen in our private lives and we both became fathers. mirColon moved from Slovakia to Czech Republic, where his leaving now. As we are not a professional band, you can imagine what happened; work, family, concerts… there was not so much time for a creative process. That was the first phase.

At 2012 started the next phase, the creative one. We composed 8 tracks from the new album until the end of 2013. The 3 tracks left were achieved in 2014 and then all material landed in the shelf for one year. Even if the style remains the same, the new tracks had far different sound from previous work and we got the idea to rework old tracks to make them fit for the next live shows.

KIFOTH played several gigs in 2015 to test how the new set list works. It worked perfect and to be honest with you during that time we also recorded material for an entire live CD, which we plan to release after “Extensive Report” as there are included tracks from that album. At 2015 we added some new layers to the tracks to get a more common sound and recorded the vocals as well. Honestly, we struggled with the final mix during an entire year because each of us had a different idea about the mixing. Once we finally finished our work our label had stopped their activities. Luckily for us we have very good friends who put us in touch with EK Product, which is a very flexible label. So, the new alum has been released on March 3rd 2017.

Q: “Extensive Report” sounds to me as your post accomplished and sophisticated work to date. Tell us a bit more about the composition of the album and how do you see this work in the long career of K.I.F.O.T.H.?

K-head: This is the album on, which I put the most efforts in production and mixing. Maybe that’s why it took so much time to get released. It’s something special to me as l had the complete sound in my head since the first day I composed the first song “Proxy War”. I had a clear image about the mood and sound of the album.

mirColon: “Extensive Report“ is clearly a shifting; desired shift. I’m talking about shifts in our sound bank. Developments in sound engineering, recording, mixing and working together. Similarly, the shift in the main concept of the album. “Extensive Report” is a call to use new methods of writing, designs, programming. The album is written in journalistic style and with a view to processing the summary report on the state of the world. It deals with the topic of overpopulation of the planet, depletion of resources necessary for our civilization. The album tells the story of manipulation, coercion, enslavement, but also the mad devastation of the planet Earth.

And back to the previous question. What means to me this album? Today, it is satisfaction. Feedback from fans, reviewers, professionals in the industry proclaims that this step didn’t work sick at the same time, it’s not a step towards the mainstream. I am happy to get notes from fans telling “I was expecting this …”. I am satisfied that there is a debate of the songs and I am pleased that despite 7 years processing of the topic, the subjects are recorded to date.

Q: I’ve been impressed by all synths and equipment you’ve collected over the years. Tell us a bit more your studio, favorite gear and global production of your work?

K-head: To be honest with you I like to buy just a few synths to get a good sound especially for the bass & strings and now I realized I got 22 synths! Bob from Samhain is currently abroad, so he brought over some equipment to my studio. We have currently around 50 PCs, so it all looks like we became collectors. On one side it’s nice to have such a variety of sounds, but on the other hand it’s disturbing in creativity. Many times when I’m in the studio I’m spending just 1-2 hours to play with sounds. It’s lot of time. I’m not composing on piano, but I just need some interesting sounds which can inspire me. Next comes a melody line and I’m already thinking about arrangements. I’m often spending a few hours to create just a loop, but sometimes when I get a good sound I can compose an entire song just in 2 days.

Usually before we release an album I create around 50 short tracks from 2-3 minutes, but in the end the album will maybe feature 12 songs from the list. I previously made more music on computer, except for “Fundamentum Divisionis“. Now all samples are made on hardware synths and I use Cubase just as sequencer.

About favorite gear I have some typical patterns, which are probably used by other musicians dealing with EBM. I like the Moog, Virus B and Nordlead for the bass lines and Yamaha, Roland plus some VST to be more complex for the strings. Aggressive synth leads are mainly taken form Waldorf or DSI and of course drums are from any gear supported with samples. To put a bit of old-school elements it’s cool to use Proteus or Ensoniq and than mixing and layering. For analogue sound effects, which I’m doing all live, there is no real programming, but just recording by turning knobs from the MS20 though Moog and Waldorf up to Novation. On the new album 16 different synths were used and some VST’s, what need a lot of effort in mixing to get a consistent sound.

Q: You’ve worked with multiple labels (VUZ Records, Out Of Line, Vendetta Music and now EK Product) so what have been your experiences so far and what do you expect from a label?

mirColon: I would take the opportunity to thank them all to have ever got the chance to get in touch with all those great label owners. I highly appreciate all of their efforts. KIFOTH is not the band in search of a full time activity (I mean we are not professional musicians). So far, we maybe have disappointed some labels, but our experiences remain positive. Fact is that KIFOTH and the label both are one team. We support each other, we spend and share energy, we love and hate as well.

About expectations: cooperation is important, positive influences, the music is made by KIFOTH, design by the team, marketing by the label; the will to make it next time different but better.

Q: A last word about the side-projects you’ve been involved to. Is there anything new in the pipeline and what will be the next steps for K.I.F.O.T.H.?

K-head: There are few: Eclipsed, Baphomet, Mindscape, but I have not that much time and I’m also doing some remix works for friends active in different groups while I’m also doing some technical support for The Dark which would like to publish some unreleased 90s tracks.

I can tell you Eclipsed, which I’m doing together with Solo  (Samhain, Last Influence Of Brain) is planning an album for next year.

I hope Baphomet will finally release some material later on this year, but I first have to see if one other member will join in; I can’t say who right now, but it will be announced soon.

For Mindscape (has been never released, but played many times live) which I’m doing together with Bop and Solo, we have tons of sessions recorded, but no idea how to use it now. We don’t know if we would just release a kind of ‘archive’ or mixing new ideas.

We plan to do a short live tour in Autumn with KIFOTH and maybe also a few gigs in Spring 2018. Then we will work on the next album. I already have some ideas in mind. It will be for sure different than “Extensive Report”; at least I will try to make as much sound design as possible.

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

Genre/Influences: Minimal-electronics, EBM.

Background/Info: Belgian based artist Cheleskov Ivanovitch is back on track with a new album full of remixes. Devoted to minimal EBM carried by analogue sound, Grandchaos became a reference in the vintage- and minimal EBM style. The third and so far last album “We Suffer When The World Changes” was released in 2014, and still serves as a source of inspiration to get new remixes.

Content: “Tempest” features 12 remixes plus one new version of “Memories In Poison”. Granchaos again selected a fine list of bands to remix 6 songs from the last album plus one cut (cf. “Ressurection”) that was originally released on the second album “Rumours Of My Life”.

There’s a cool diversity between truly minimal-EBM songs in the vein of the original edits and more personal remixes with some extra ‘dance’ elements on top or techno grooves, and also more ‘classical’ EBM and even experimental cuts. Among the remixes you’ll find bands such as Di*ove, Electro Synthetic Rebellion, Signal Aout 42, kFactor, Bak XIII, 8khz Mono, Akalotz and a few less familiar names such as Fatal Aim, Mechaload, Krawallchuck and Big Toxic.

+ + + : There’s an interesting diversity between the remixes, but especially 2 songs emerge from this remix-orgy. ESR did an impressive and pure minimal-minded work remixing “Man On Fire” while Signal Aout 42 transformed “The Tempest” into a kind of free-electro-dance and body-driven version. I expected Akalotz to transform “The Tempest” into a pure old-school EBM cut, but they still held onto the minimal format of the song achieving a cool remix. The so-called “Storm Cloud Version” of “Memories I A Poison” is another noticeable song that will please the lovers of Grandchaos.

– – – : I know Chesleskov Ivanovitch is simply fond of remixes, but I get the impression he’s a bit abusing from this recipe. After having released the EP’s “Days” and “Memories”, which already were into remixes, he moves on with the same formula. I should say it’s time now for new stuff!

Conclusion: DJ’s will for sure get some new potential dancefloor killers on “Tempest”, which I especially like for its variety and nice cocktail of interesting bands.

Best songs: “The Tempest – Signal Aout 42 Remix”, “Man On Fire – Electro Synthetic Rebellion Remix”, “Memories Is A Poison – Storm Cloud Version”, “The Tempest – Akalotz Remix”, “Tell Me You Love Me – Di*ove Remix”.

Rate: (7½).

Band: www.grandchaos.be / www.facebook.com/GRANDCHAOS-144968152245744

Label: www.ekproduct.com / www.facebook.com/EKProduct

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: Kneel In Front Of The Executioner, better known as KIFOTH is back on track with their seventh official full length album to date. After having worked together with Out Of Line and Vendetta Music they now joined hands together with EK Product to release this new opus, which also is the first one in seven years. The Slovakian duo K-head – Mir Colon sometimes take a break, but always fight back with power and efficiency.

Content: KIFOTH has considerably evolved in sounds throughout the years. They started as a promising EBM band, but “Extensive Report” reveals a mature and more elaborated songwriting plus efficient production. This is an intelligent EBM format, which might appeal to lovers of bands such as Frontline Assembly, Mentallo & The Fixer and Leather Strip.

Mixing heavy bombast drum sections together with refined bleeps, the work is made of multiple sound layers. That’s precisely what differentiates KIFOTH from the average and stereotypical EBM standards. A few orchestral arrangements accentuate the global power.

+ + + : The sophisticated sound writing is something essential on this album. It reveals a creative spirit and a smart production. I like the heavy drum sections and the judicious bleeps and other electronic noises. There’s an industrial touch supporting most of the songs. There are several attention grabbers on “Extensive Report” and especially 2 songs I want to recommend: “Global Warning” for the early FLA style and “Clandestine And Formidable”, which is an alluring EBM song.

– – – : The only point I’m not entirely convinced consists of the vocals’ production on a few cuts. I’m not that fond of the singers’ timbre of voice although I like the more spooky style of singing on a few cuts.

Conclusion: KIFOTH has found a new and comfortable home by joining the EK Product roster while this new comeback will definitely please the EBM community. This band remains for sure one of the hottest Slovakian EBM bands in history.

Best songs: “Global Warning”, “Clandestine And Formidable”, “Proxy War”, “Air”, “Crude Oil”.

Rate: (7½).

Band: www.ttx–net.sk/kifoth / www.facebook.com/KIFOTH.bandprofile

Label: www.ekproduct.com / www.facebook.com/EKProduct

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: Minimal-electro, cinematographic.

Background/Info: Gin Devo will always be linked to Vomito Negro, which remains one of the essential dark-electro/EBM formations from the early 90s. Next to Vomito Negro, Gin Devo also released music under his own artist name and I especially remember his minimal-EBM album “Errata” (2012) released on EK Product. He also released the “Surface”-album, which was something different and more experimental. A new album has already been announced and Gin Devo even revealed to be inspired by Clock DVA.

Content: “Electrotheque” has not that much in common with Clock DVA. It quickly appears to be a different work composed by an impressive arsenal of analogue gear. The front cover clearly indicates where the Belgian master got his influences from. “Electrotheque” is an old-school electro album revealing the magic of good-old (modular) synthesizers.

The songs remain instrumentals. They’re pretty minimal-like and often carried by deep, dry bass lines and beautiful, reverie synth passages. It sounds a bit soundtrack-minded, but also hides a few little surprises like the nu-disco driven “In This Heat”.

+ + + : I expected a totally different work from this new album although I have to admit that the sound of pure vintage/modular/analogue synths is something magic and incomparable. Gin Devo is a trained and talented operator who clearly knows his machines. He also confirms to have a wider arsenal of influences than only composing EBM-driven songs. The sound remains pretty dark although there are a few little surprises like the nu-disco sounding “In This Heat” featuring sequences à la Donna Summer. I’m more into the minimalism of songs such as “Adhesive” and “Echo Path”.

– – – : From time to time Gin Devo likes to take his fans by surprise revealing another side of his talent. This work has less in common with Vomito Negro although it has been composed with the same gear. The cinematographic and somewhat experimental approach is not that accessible and I’m especially missing a few vocal parts.

Conclusion: “Electrotheque” is an appropriated title, which sounds a bit like an artist who’s promoting his studio. It’s a surprising and yet well-crafted opus although not my favorite.

Best songs: “Adhesive”, “Echo Path”, “Tilted Glass”.

Rate: (7).

Band: www.facebook.com/Gindevo

Label: www.darkdimensions.de /  www.facebook.com/pages/Dark–Dimensions–Label–Group/486014725206

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

Tcheleskov Ivanovitch is already into music since the late 80s. He together with his brother set up the Belgian project Ivanovitch Dans L’Ombre, but gained more recognition during the past few years with his Grandchaos project. Several productions have been released on labels like Urgence Disk Records and EK Product and are pure lust for lovers of good-old vintage and minimal electronics. More recently Tcheleskov Ivanovitch together with Jacky Meurisse (Signal Aout 42) set up a common project Grand((Ø))Signal, which is another minimal electronic experience.

(by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: From the early days of Ivanovitch Dans L’Ombre towards Grandchaos and now Grand((Ø))Signal clearly appears to be a serious move in sound, writing and production as well. What explains this evolution? 

Tcheslov: When my brother Trevosky and I founded Ivanovitch Dans L.ombre in 1982, we were at the beginning of the ‘democratization’” of electronic instruments and recording techniques. The production costs were steep, but making music was an enthralling experience mainly because we both entered uncharted territory. It was a labor of love and a way to take part in politics for most punk acts. For Grandchaos et Grand((Ø))Signal (my collaboration with Jacky Meurisse), I took advantage of the creative possibilities offered by modern technology, but it remains quite difficult to attain a tight rhythm section and ‘solid groove’. Machines are just instruments and you need to find inspiration to write music and create magic moments.

Q: Getting back to the early years of your music career, what have been your main sources of inspiration and references in electronic music? 

Tcheleskov: As a child, I was very fond of Kraftwerk and J.M Jarre, but they were not revolutionary artists by any means. Fortunately, the punk and DIY ethic made good use of synthesizers to create spontaneous and aggressive melodies. In my humble opinion, Suicide and Cabaret Voltaire were the marquee acts of that period. “Frankie Teardrop” and “Nag Nag Nag” are absolute masterpieces that will remain engraved in my mind forever!

Q: Grandchaos clearly reveals a minimal- and somewhat vintage EBM approach, but still a passion for hardware equipment! What does it says about you as a musician/producer and your perception of contemporary electronic music? 

Tcheleskov: I’m irremediably old school! I don’t find digital synths appealing at all. Touching an instrument is essential to me. When I see my synths and drum machines I feel like a kid in a candy store. Music nourishes me. I am always looking out for new bands. Creative musicians continue to explore new sounds and they never cease to amaze me. Record labels continue to play an instrumental role in scouting new talent.

Q: Except the fact that Grand((Ø))Signal is a duo and Grandchaos a solo-project, what are the main differences between both formations and especially when it comes to aspects like sources of inspiration and global production? 

Tcheleskov: Grandchaos is a therapy to overcome my personal problems as it allows me to express how I feel. Dark themes such as suffering and death have haunted me for many years. The loss of loved ones as well as my serious health issues may have accentuated the dark tones of Grandchaos lyrics. With Grandchaos, I feel somewhat close to the ‘EBM United’ movement that gained popularity across the globe. The ‘No Pain No Gain’ slogan resonates well with the human nature. Grand((Ø))Signal, for its part, is a joint project between Jacky and me. We put in practice what we have learned throughout our long musical journey. The sound and image have been purified and geared towards the dancefloor. We would like to make retro-futurist music ‘made in Belgium’ that would appeal to fans of Gesaffelstein or Schwefelgelb. The release of our debut album “Aktivation” on Unknown Pleasures Records will definitely prompt us to pursue this project and play live shows.

Q: Tell us a bit more about the choice of the artists who contributed to the remixes on “Days + Memories” and are there some inspiring remixes for the further work of Grandchaos? 

Tcheleskov: Every time I discover the work of an artist that inspires me, I add his/her name to my address book and I contact them when the opportunity presents itself i.e when I start compiling remixes. For the “Days” and “Memories” EP’s, I ‘ve had the pleasure to work with mega-talented artists such as Nicole & Anne (2XNI), Noamm or Franck Kartel to name just a few.

Q: A new album (cf. “Tempest”) has been just released on EK Product featuring a new list of remixed songs. What do you like about remixes?

Tcheleskov: 2016 was indeed a very prolific year, and 2017 will be even busier! The “Tempest” compilation just came out on the Italian label EK Product. Many friends took part in this project such as Jacky Meurisse (SA42), Vince (ESR), Dada (BAK XIII) or Arthur Plata (Mechaload) to name a few. My last album “We Suffer When The World Changes” was reinterpreted by artists from across the globe and I’m really glad that Amedeo and his label EK Product decided to release this project. Grandchaos has a long story with the remixes. One could even say that Grandchaos took off with the double disc compilation “In Sedens” compiled by the old school electro purist Nader Moumneh who now runs the highly-regarded record label  Electro Aggression Records (EAR) specialized in old school EBM and complex, multi-layered dark-electro. Nader is also the co-founder of the rising synthpop/Italo Disco record label NADANNA with Marc schaffer of Anna Logue Records.

Grandchaos has been remixed over a hundred times and I’m a serious candidate for the Guinness records. On a more serious note, I truly enjoy the reinterpretation of my songs by other artists. It is a formidable sensation and we learn a lot when we listen to the music of other artists with an open mind.

Q: What brings 2017 for Grandchaos and your other projects? 

Tcheleskov: For Grandchaos, a mini-album titled “The Day Disappears Only To Reappear” is slated for a June 2017 release. It will be released as an ultra-limited picture disc via 2 exceptional record labels: Urgence Disk Records (CH) and Law Lynch Records (BE).

Trevosky and I would like to release a compilation featuring unreleased material by IDLO but since the original material was recorded on tapes, it is gonna be a long and daunting task. We will see how it plays out.

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

Alexander Jarlev and Tomas Kulberg is an experienced Norwegian electronic duo. They already worked together in bands like Anstalt and Pogrom Synod. Atropine is another formation they set up during the late 90s and which got reactivated after a hiatus of several years. They recently released their newest opus “Assailant” on EK Product revealing an elaborated and sophisticated dark-electro sound, which still is one of the best albums in the genre of 2016.

(by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: When did you get contaminated by the ‘electro-underground’ virus and what incited you to set up Atropine?

Atropine: In the late 80s discovering the Mute/PIAS/Zoth Ommog/Nettwerk/Volition labels (and countless others). After that there was no turning back. We’ve been a team since 1992, first as part of Anstalt, then from 1994/95 as Atropine.

Q: We clearly can speak about 2 periods in the band’s history: a first one around the late 90s till 2001 and second one, which saw you releasing the album “Recurring Nightmares” in 2014. How would you analyze both periods and do you see main changes/evolutions?

Atropine: During the first period from around 1996 to 2001 we recorded the tracks that became the “Master Raze”-album. Soon thereafter we went on an extended hiatus and didn’t really get back to recording as Atropine again until 2008. Most of the “Master Raze”-material was re-recorded from scratch to form “Recurring Nightmares”. A few years later EK Product approached us to release on their label. We thought the original album sounded very dated so we decided the best option was to just do it over with vastly improved gear. It was much more of a chore for us to record music early on when everything revolved around MIDI and a large degree of detailed programming was always required.

Things are a lot easier now and we have all, but abandoned the need for traditional sequencing after building a large modular synthesizer system.

Q: Late 2016, you released the album “Assailant”, which I consider as your most elaborated and best work to date. Tell us a bit more about the writing and sound of this album?

Atropine: “Assailant” is basically the result of around 20-25 studio sessions. Almost everything you hear was generated spontaneously within an eight hour time frame and subsequently edited as pure audio until we felt we could approve of it. There’s a strong element of improvisation permeating the whole album so bass-line tweaks, strings and percussion tracks were recorded live. Lyrics were typically written on the spot and the vocals recorded with minimal preparation. We do not go back and re-record stuff or do any sort of overdubbing.

Rather we accept the errors that creep in using this approach and use them as a challenge to improve our process and extend our range. Over the two year span after “Recurring Nightmares”, that has worked out rather well. We enjoy working under the added pressure. Things that are easy to do, usually merits nothing. But, most importantly we enjoy our recording sessions immensely. Copious amounts of beer and electronics – it can’t be beaten!

Q: “Assailant” reveals sophisticated sound treatments and a mix between haunting electro atmospheres and electro-industrial treatments, which remind me to bands like Skinny Puppy, Mortal Constraint ao. Do you feel related with the sound of other bands and what does it say about your sources of inspiration?

Atropine: We are not denying the fact that bands like Skinny Puppy are integral to what we do. But so are more than a thousand other artists. Around half-way through our sessions we stop screwing around and start building up for vocals and final assembly of the constituent parts of the track we’re working on. Our modular system is quite simply the most extreme tool an electronic musician can have. Anything else in the studio can be routed through it at any time. The options are quite frankly unlimited. You can have a complete track ready for mastering and less than ten tweaks on select controllers and you have a completely different track.

This would have taken several sessions to accomplish in the 90s but now can be done in under a minute. Our inspiration is drawn from so much music that it’s impossible to even begin listing it here. However, if you are truly interested in the vast number of artists that filter through Atropine you can begin by looking at this complete list of my listening habits since 2006:

http://www.last.fm/user/Cthulberg

Q: Next to the “Assailant”-album released on EK Product I noticed you also self-released the “Assailant::Remixed”-album on digital format. What have been your criteria to choose for these bands and do you have favorite remixes?

Atropine: Most of the artists on “Assailant::Remixed” are friends of ours going back years, while others are just really nice people we encountered along the way. We wanted a non-traditional remix album. Usually it’s a lot of beats and all remixes are of a couple of tracks from an album with more than ten individual tracks and quite often the remixers operate within roughly the same musical genre.

To counteract this, we gave our remixers complete access to everything we had recorded. It’s a lot of extra work, but it’s all about the end result. I (Cthulberg) have a couple of favorites, but I feel it unfair to name them because of the extreme variety in the remixes. For instance Kant Kino must have spent a considerable amount of time turning “Sewercide” into a pop-song, while Europ Europ latched on to the string on “See Through” and made a lo-fi funeral dirge. It’s impossible to rate these things, but we cherish every single contribution we received, but our reasons for that varied with the spirit in which it was recorded.

Q: What did you try to express in the clip of “Exterminism” and what’s the importance of a clip and a site like Youtube today?

Atropine: This is an impossible question for us to answer as we are for the most part a non-entity on social media sites. The concept in the video has only an extremely tenuous link to the concept behind the track itself and is based on an idea developed by director Christian Ryder which he had mulled over for a long time going back to his school days. We had little or nothing to do with its production and feature only very briefly at the start of the video. Our take on “Exterminism” is outlined in the cover artwork where it replaces the lyrics this time. Mainly this is because most of “Assailant” consists of songs that deal with humanity at its lowest, basest form and so reading that text will sum it up pretty well. The whole thing is too convoluted to try and explain here I think.

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

Genre/Influences: EBM, dark-electro.

Background/Info: The Norwegian Atropine duo has been active for more than 20 years now. They made a noticeable comeback in 2014 releasing the great “Recurring Nightmares”-album. “Assailant” is their newest album featuring 15 songs of horror-electronics.

Content: The front cover reminds me of Frontline Assembly while the music remains strongly inspired by early Skinny Puppy. Atropine is not exactly reinventing the EBM standards, but they simply confirm impressive writing skills. The sound is dark and filled with horror-atmospheres, but it especially reveals a sophisticated and complex writing.

“Assailant” reveals a passion for unique sound sculptures and the band clearly doesn’t spare any effort to find the right sound. It also sounds a bit industrial-like, which is mainly due to the constant sound manipulation and the use of vintage gear. The work also reveals refined arrangements accomplished by subtle icy bleeps.

+ + + : “Assailant” definitely is the masterpiece in Atropine’s history. The band here excelled in the creation of haunting and obscure atmospheres recovering a surgical sound writing carried by industrial-like slow rhythms and spooky vocals. The composition is achieved with endless details and samplings, which will notice by using  headphones. This is a brilliant and totally accomplished work revealing numerous outstanding songs, which will please lovers of Skinny Puppy and Mortal Constraint. Some of the vintage electro sounds also reminds me of early Front 242, but in a harder and more industrial format.

– – – : There are a few album without real minus points and that’s precisely what “Assailant” is all about.

Conclusion: Atropine deals with the most sophisticated format of EBM, which reflects a real maturity in writing, but first of all a creative approach resulting in genius sound treatments and outstanding songs. There are not enough superlatives to express the beauty of this album, which without a shadow of a doubt is one of the highlights of 2016 in EBM lands and for sure one of the best albums ever on EK Product.

Best songs: “Exterminism”, “Assailant”, “Forfeit”, “Hearse Hand”, “Naked Fear”, “Ultra Swine”, “Life Leash”.

Rate: (9).

Band: www.facebook.com/AtropineEBM

Label: www.ekproduct.com / www.facebook.com/EKProduct

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 ‘Protectorate’.

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, body-pop.

Background/Info:  DI⁺ove is a Belgian formation set up by Eric ‘Manchiniste’ who’s a guy I remember from his early project Escape Industry. He later on got involved in Evoid and finally set up DI⁺ove. A debut album “DI⁺ode” was released in 2013 on EK Product. Manchiniste and the new singer Sacha Delone have accomplished a new album featuring 11 tracks.

Content: DI⁺ove clearly creates some distance with cliché EBM formats. The sound is inspired by EBM and mixed with electro-pop elements. The global sound production is cold and dark. There’s always a solid EBM basis, but merged with other influences. It’s not always into body-pop, but it does reveal minimal EBM treatments or industrial sound manipulations and even influences like electroclash and new-beat can be noticed.

“DI⁺vided” is an extremely varied composition and yet pretty compact. The new singer is not what I should call a charismatic vocalist, but his way of singing totally fits with the sound. There also is a noticeable diversity in the vocals’ production and even the language. Most of the songs have been sung in English, but you also will notice several French sung pieces.

+ + + : “DI⁺vided” is a versatile work, but a fascinating experience. It all sounds like the band feels comfortable experimenting with all these influences. I noticed great body-pop parts, but also some minimal-driven songs with some Kraftwerk-elements on top and other cuts carried by some electroclash spirit (featuring cool female backing vocals) and last, but not least a kind of instrumental new-beat final cut.

DI⁺ove has accomplished a fully original piece of work while it also reveals a noticeable progression compared with the debut-album. There’re a few brilliant pieces on this album and I especially want to mention “Good Luck!”, which even reminds me a bit of Covenant.

– – – : The diversity of the work might be a point of discussion for some people. I think it makes the work accessible for a wider audience although I’m not that fond of a few ‘softer’ cuts, which are more like songs just to listen to.

Conclusion: DI⁺ove has released a tour de force; this album mixes originality with efficiency. This is great music to dance to, revealing a mature, elaborated and accomplished work.

Best songs: “Good Luck!”, “Ex”, “DI⁺and”, “DI⁺and – Shut Up Mix”, “Pfff feat. Bisougirls.

Rate: (8).

Band: www.facebook.com/diovepage

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 review of ‘Protectorate’.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: EBM.

Background/Info: Oldschool Union is a Finnish EBM duo set up by Seppo Ahlstedt and Janne Vilen. They released their official debut album “Älä Olë, Elä!” back in 2012 on EK Product. They now strike back with this new work revealing 12 songs plus 5 alternative versions/mixes.

Content: The main influence of the band hides in their name: ‘oldschool’! This a rather traditional EBM sounds with a strong retro taste reminding me of formations like DAF, Nitzer Ebb and Orange Sector. It’s a hard-core format of body music carried by dark and dry bass lines, a straight forward cadence and angry vocals reflecting themes like politicians, corruptions and society generally speaking.

The main point –and still main characteristic of the band is that all the lyrics have been sung in their Mother tongue. So it will be hard and even impossible to understand one single word if you’re not Finnish speaking. The typical ‘ahh’ and ‘auw’ shouts reminding me of Nitzer Ebb are more familiar expressions and that is typical for EBM.

+ + + : Oldschool Union main characteristic remains the Finnish language, creating a real particular element. The old-school formula is efficient, but even better when accomplished with some extra sound treatments like on “Henri” and on the “Original Mix” of “Narsisti”.

– – – : “Perjantai” is nothing new and a rather stereotypical exposure of good-old EBM. This album features no real surprises –except the language!

Conclusion: The lapse of time between their previous album and “Perjantai” didn’t really affect the inspiration of Oldschool Union, but the global production becomes more efficient and alluring. This is a cool release in the good-old EBM genre.

Best songs: “Narsisti – Original Mix”, “Henri”, “Kapinaan”, “M-N-T”, “Perjantai”.

Rate: (7½).

Band: www.facebook.com/Oldschool–Union-316407271848974

Label: www.ekproduct.com / www.facebook.com/EKProduct

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: IDM, minimal-electro.

Background/Info: Dio<X>ide is a brand-new Italian project set up by 2 veterans of the scene. This is the meeting between Andrew Lagowski and Andrea Belluci. Lagowski got involved in numerous projects and collaboration works while Andrea Bellucci got some fame and recognition with Red Sector A. Both artists joined hands to accomplish their first album under the Dio<X>ide moniker.

Content: We are used to Space Race Records familiarizing us with electro-pop and body-pop driven releases, but this one is totally different and surprising. Both artists are known for their passion to decompose and recompose sounds and noises, but they also have this intelligence to compose sophisticated and deeply artistic creations.

“Specular Mirrors” reflects this fine taste for refined writing and the taste for genius sound treatments. The work is filled with fine bleeps, deep blasts, raw sound sequences, dubstep ingredients and slow rhythms. It all together creates a pure sound chemistry, which will appeal for lovers of visionary electronic music.

+ + + : This album is mainly characterized by great sound creations and a perfect balance between the different sources of inspiration. “Specular Mirrors” is the kind of album you have to listen several times and each time again you’ll notice new details. The instrumental format of the work doesn’t really suffer from the total absence of vocals.

– – – : This is a production you may want to avoid if you’re a die-hard freak of a specific electronic genre like EBM, dark-electro, industrial etc. I can imagine fans of Space Race Records and EK Product will be surprised to discover this kind of sound.

Conclusion: Respect to Space Race Records, which enlarges their music horizon by signing a band like Dio<X>ide. This is a great and intelligent piece of avant-garde electronic music, which confirms the statement that wisdom comes with the age.

Best songs: “Biogenesi”, “Segments Of Life”, “No Hidden Places”, “Karmakon”, “Crystal Device”.

Rate: (8½).

Band: www.lagowski.com / www.facebook.com/wirescience / www.facebook.com/redsectorSub

Label: www.spaceracerecords.com / www.facebook.com/SpaceRaceRecords

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: Minimal EBM.

Background/Info: Ray Heflin is a Texas based artist who gained all my respect with his minimal EBM. Equitant released an impressive number of digital releases while the “Retrospekt 2008-2013”-CD released by EK Product was a kind of consecration for this musician.

After a long silence Equitant seems to be back unleashing this digital single on Heflin’s own label Black Montanas.

Content: “Operative” sounds in the familiar dark and minimal EBM style of this genius musician. The song clearly evokes early EBM influences reminding me to the early years and success songs of Belgian pioneers A Split Second and Signal Aout 42.

The vocals are in the good-old half-spoken format, creating a spooky touch to the song.

+ + + : Equitant confirms its fine taste for minimal and vintage inspired body music.

– – – : “Operative” is definitely not the best song I’ve heard from this project and it’s the single track featured on this release.

Conclusion: Equitant is one of those formations belonging to the newest generation of EBM although inspired by the old standards.

Best songs: “Operative”.

Rate: (7).

Band: www.facebook.com/Equitant

Label: www.blackmontanas.com /  www.facebook.com/blackmontanas

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