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.

www.side-line.com

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

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

It has been a hectic year, also for Alfa Matrix, but luckily their bands took the time to work in their studio to record new material. Out now via the Alfa Matrix Bandcamp page is the label’s 10th edition in the “Matrix Downloaded” compilation series, again offering you a – free – insight in what the Belgian label is all about. You can discover 64 tracks right here on Bandcamp.

The download holds tracks from Cubic, Psy’Aviah, Aesthetische, Digital Factor, Reichsfeind, Llumen, Zombie Girl, Diffuzion, Matthew Creed, Circuito Cerrado, Circumpolar, Venal Flesh, Mentallo & The Fixer, Freakangel, Alien Vampires, I:Scintilla, Schwarzblut, Totem Obscura, Reactor7X, First Aid 4 Souls, Lederman / De Meyer, Implant, AD:keY, Kant Kino, Die Robo Sapiens, ELM, Pouppee Fabrikk, Armageddon Dildos, Plastic Noise Experience, Synapsyche, Avarice In Audio, Elektrostaub, Junksista, First Aid 4 Souls, Benestrophe, Mental Exile, Star Industry, Halo In Reverse, Lovelorn Dolls, Helalyn Flowers, Essence Of Mind, Rector Scanner, Elektroklänge, Metroland, Lights A.M, Cosmic Armchair, Aiboforcen, H.O.W., 808 DOT POP, Suicidal Romance, Entrzelle, Technoir, Neuroactive, Mondträume, The Psychic Force, Studio-X, Studio-X Vs Simon Carter, Neikka RPM, Komor Kommando, Siva Six, Aengeldust, Acylum, Dunkelwerk and Növö.

Exclusive face masks

Next to that you can also get the download together with a face mask, out in a very limited series. You can either buy them separately or get all 3 in one. Check the set of 3 Face Masks (Blue Matrix + Endzeit + Red EBM Alert) or the separate masks.

Note that EVERY face mask order comes with a free compilation CD on top: “Sounds from the matrix 022” with 20 extra tracks.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Dark-Electro.

Format: Digital, 2CD, Double Vinyl.

Background/Info: Back in 2000 Suicide Commando released the album “Mindstrip”, which was the fourth official full length of the Belgian master of Dark-Electro music. The album became a referential work thanks to some legendary hits. Twenty years and several more successful albums later, Suicide Commando is more than ever ruling over a music genre that saw countless bands trying to emulate Johan Van Roy. “Mindstrip Redux” is a special re-issue of this important work featuring the original album next to an album with reworked versions. There also is a limited vinyl edition featuring the extra songs –and hits “‘Cry For Mother” and “Dein Herz, Meine Gier” taken from the EP “Love Breeds Suicide” (2001). Back in time Suicide Commando was signed to Dependent.

Content: Let’s start with the first disc featuring the reworked versions of the album. Ten songs featuring one of the most legendary hits of the band, “Hellraiser”! The songs are easily recognizable, but the major and noticeable difference is the global sound production. The sound got a serious boost, Johan Van Roy using more professional equipment than 20 years ago. You’ll for sure notice some little differences in sounds and arrangements while the production of the vocals is also more professional. Most of the songs became a little less short or more extended, but you’ll for sure easily recognize the different tracks.

The best way to realize the difference between the songs is to first listen to the original edit at the second disc and next directly switch to the ‘new’ edit.

+ + + : I was a bit skeptical about this release. “Mindstrip” remains to me the best ever released work by Suicide Commando, but I’d some preconception this would be just a cheap way to make some money. But if you know Johan Van Roy, who’s such a kind and humble person, you know this is not true. He reworked the songs and did a real great job improving the global production of the songs. The difference with the original work is simply impressive and I can’t imagine DJ’s will ever play again the ‘original’ edits. “Mindstrip” remains a brilliant album thanks to the already mentioned “Hellraiser”, but other cuts like “Comatose Delusion”, “Raise Your God” and of course “Love Breeds Suicide” became instant hits as well. Twenty years later this album got a sonic facelift, but remains a reference. Notice by the way the artwork has been completely reworked as well. 

– – – : A few songs are maybe suffering a little less from the weight of time, but that’s maybe just because I’m here referring to a few ‘softer’ tracks. There’s no real reason to complain.

Conclusion: When a twenty years old album, which has been boosted still, has its original power and impact, you might consider it as a masterpiece! “Mindstrip” is this kind of masterpiece!

Best songs: “Hellraiser – Post Mortem”, “Love Breeds Suicide – Endzeit 2020”, “Raise Your God – 2020 Bigotry”, “Blood In Face – First Aid Mix”, “Jesus Wrept – Resurrect v.2020”.

Rate: (9).

Artist: www.suicidecommando.be /  www.facebook.com/IIXIII

Label: www.outofline.de / www.facebook.com/outoflinelabel

About Suicide Commando

Suicide Commando is the electro-industrial project of Belgian musician Johan Van Roy, formed in 1986. For live performances the project has included Torben Schmidt on keyboards and Mario Vaerewijck on drums.

The project debuted with the self-titled album “Suicide Commando” in 1988 and released “Mindstrip” in 2000, followed by albums including “Bind, Torture, Kill” (2006), “Implements Of Hell” (2010) and “When Evil Speaks” (2013). More recent releases include “Goddestruktor” (2022), the “Bang Bang Bang” EP (2022) and “Collective Suicide Vol. 1+2” (2026). “Mindstrip Redux” revisits the 2000 album with reworked versions of the original tracks.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

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

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info:  Swedish formation Agent Side Grinder last year struck back with their fifth album entitled “A/X” and featuring their new singer Emanuel Åström. In my opinion this album belongs to the best releases from 2019. While the band is actually working on a new full length, the album has been exposed to the remixing skills of other artists while there’s also one new song featured.  

Content: The 9 original songs from “A/X” have been remixed. The tracklist is a bit different while we also get 4 extra songs featuring the previously unreleased “The Archives”. Let’s start with this new song, which has something pretty Bowie-like and yet it also sounds in the eclectic style of Agent Side Grinder.

Remixes have been done by a much diversified selection of artists: Ash Code, Antipole feat. Paris Alexander, Adsol, Tobias Bernstrup, Delphine Coma, Siri Karlsson, Luminance, Hidden Operator and Buzz Kull. The remixes are pretty diversified, moving from pure Electro-Dance to melancholic to pure minimalism to Electro-Wave.

After the 9 remixes you get a little bonus taking off with the previously mentioned new song “The Archives” plus extra remixes from 2 album songs by She Pleasures Herself and Kiss Of The Whip. There also is the song “Döden På Lätt Svenska”, which is one I honestly don’t know and has been reworked by Diskoteket.

+ + + : Agent Side Grinder already is a band with an open-minded spectrum of influences and this remix-album only increases the diversity. According to me there’s one absolute highlight, which is the pretty danceable and  intelligent remix of “Allisin Sane (No.2)” by Adsol. Other noticeable remixes are the powerful “Inner Noises” remixed by Ash Code and the ultra Minimal-sounding “MM / CM” remixed by Hidden Operator. I’ll also mention the unavoidable “Doppelgänger” remixed by Luminance. The new song “The Archives” is a nice little bonus.

– – – : I can’t say that the remixes are adding a real bonus to the original edit of “A/X” by the exception of Adsol –a Greek EBM driven project I discovered by the EP “Endzeit”.

Conclusion: This kind of album will maybe please some fans to complete the growing Agent Side Discography while DJ’s will find some alternative edits to play.

Best songs: “Allisin Sane (No.2) – Adsol Remix”, “MM / CM – Hidden Operator’s Voodoo Dub Mix”, “Inner Noises – Ash Code Remix”, “The Archives”, “Decompression – Delphine Coma Remix”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.agentsidegrinder.com / www.facebook.com/agentsidegrinder

Label: www.progress-productions.com / www.facebook.com/progresspro Read the news on ‘Rema/x’.

About Agent Side Grinder

Agent Side Grinder is an electronic band from Bromma, Stockholm, formed in 2005. The line-up has included Peter Fristedt, Johan Lange and, since the “A/X” album, singer Emanuel Åström.

The band’s albums include the self-titled debut (2008), “Hardware” (2012), “This Is Us” (2014), “Alkimia” (2015), “A Question Of Time” (2016), “Doppelgänger” (2018), “A/X” (2019) and “Jack Vegas” (2023). “REMA/X” gathers remixes and one new song built around the “A/X” album.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

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

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Dark electro-pop.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: H.O.W. (Her Own World) is a Polish duo featuring the front man of Reactor 7x ‘Ad-X’ and female vocalist ‘Yu’. Some of you might have discovered this band on the latest issue of the famous 3endzeit Bunkertracks”-compilation series. Just like Reactor7x this duo got signed to Alfa Matrix to deliver their first official EP.

Content: The title song is the already familiar “Happiness Imperative”, which got featured on “Endzeit Bunkertracks”. It’s a dark electro song featuring a carrying lead and the sensual, somewhat ethereal timbre of Yu’s voice. This song sounds like the offspring between dark-electronics and dark-pop music. The other song “Stalker Girl” mixes the same ingredients, but still has a technoid touch on top.

Both songs have been remixed by several artists. Neikka RPM and Aesthetische, both label mates, are for sure the most familiar names from the list. Other remixes have been done by Inva//id, Jeremiah Kane, Switchface and Freaky Mind (known from some productions released by SkyQode). 

+ + + : “Happiness Imperative” is a cool song and for sure the main song from this EP. It’s a cool mix between different influences, like a sonic yin and yang. At one side you get a darker, angry sound and at the other side a more refined and catchy one with sensual female vocals on top. Inva//id did a great remix, injecting some extra club vibes to the song. Neikka RPM did a great job as well, injecting its usual bombast and punch. The Aesthetische remix is also a noticeable one so in the end I should say “Happiness Imperative” is a good song and for sure inspiring for remixes.

– – – : “Stalker Girl” sounds a bit like the B-side song of the EP, but that’s not totally true. It’s a cool song as well, but the remixes are a bit disappointing here.

Conclusion: H.O.W. doesn’t bring that new, but this debut EP is however a promising production so I’m really looking forward to hearing more from this band.

Best songs: “Happiness Imperative – Inva//id Remix”, “Happiness Imperative”, “Stalker Girl”, “Happiness Imperative – Neika RPM Remix”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist: http://herownworld.eu / www.facebook.com/howherownworld

Label: www.alfa–matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix Read the news on ‘A Different Kind Of Reality’.

About H.O.W.

H.O.W. (Her Own World) is a Polish dark electro-pop project built around Reactor7x front man Ad-X, joined by vocalist Yu. The duo was signed to Alfa Matrix and released the “A Different Kind Of Reality” EP in 2020, featuring the tracks “Happiness Imperative” and “Stalker Girl” alongside remixes by Aesthetische, Neikka RPM, Inva//id, Switchface, Jeremiah Kane and Freaky Mind. The project later continued under the name Her Own World, releasing the album “Tales From Another Life” on darkTunes Music Group in 2023.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

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

You can listen to “Secrets” right below.

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

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

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

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Dark-electro.

Background/Info: Spanish formation Larva is already active since 1998. Set up and driven by the charismatic frontman ‘InqUesT’ the band has released an impressive number of productions and became a pretty popular formation on social network. This is probably the reason the band together with Advoxya Records released this DVD featuring extracts from live performances in Kiev (Ukraine), Dallas (USA) and Paris (France) plus two clips.

Content: This DVD is an opportunity to (re)discover 22 songs from Larva, but the main element is to see how the Spanish formation behaves on stage. Both cuts recorded in Paris are the oldest ones (2015) revealing a singer with a real ‘image’ plus a girl in the background behind a synth.

The gig in Ukraine has been filmed from the stage and brings 11 songs from the Larva repertory. The 9 cuts in the USA have been filmed from behind the hall and here again you can rediscover some of Larva’s dark-electro pieces.

Last, but not least you’ll get familiar clips from “Save Me From Myself” and “If I Only Could”.

+ + + : This DVD is clearly a fan item, but first of all a consecration for the Spanish project. Larva is a project I’ve seen progressively grow to reach a high level of dark-electronics. The band has composed some great pieces of music and can be considered a true reference in the ‘endzeit’ scene. I especially like both clips and more especially “Save Me From Myself”, which remains a true masterpiece!

– – – : I honestly expected a bit more from Larva on stage. The band already has an important live experience, but except for a singer with a great image, there’s not a lot happening on stage. Especially the performance in Paris is disappointing. The girl behind the synth clearly doesn’t play live and doesn’t look really motivated to be on stage. The performance in Kiev is much better, but I regret it’s filmed from the stage, which doesn’t really give us a good idea from the impact on the audience. 

Conclusion: I’m still considering Larva as a real interesting and referential band in its genre, but this DVD hasn’t really convinced me!

Best songs: “Save Me From Myself”, “Frio Y Oscuro Amanecer”, “You Are Alone”, “If I Only Could”.

Rate: (6½).

Artist: www.larva.band/index.php/en /

www.facebook.com/larva.officia

Label: www.advoxya–records.com / www.facebook.com/pages/Advoxya–Records/265765706059

About Larva

Larva is the Spanish dark electro duo of Marco InqUesT and Anoxia Larva, formed in Barcelona in 1998. The band’s eleventh studio album, “Void”, followed 2017’s “Scars” in 2021, both also on Advoxya Records, as covered in a later Side-Line article.

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: Greek musician Stelios Goulas started his activities under the Adsol moniker in 2012. Several EP’s/singles have been released. “Endzeit” is the newest work, which has been introduced as a move back to EBM.

Content: “Endzeit” is more a single format instead of an EP. We first get a cool intro-track. Next comes the title song, which is driven by ‘modern’ EBM vibes and great spoken samplings instead of vocals. The song might appeal to fans of Komor Kommando. The last song is a remix by Japanese project Human Boot Project.

+ + + : “Endzeit” is a real great song! It’s a well-crafted, elaborated piece of intelligent body-music. There’s a great and solid bass line joined by efficient sound treatments. This is pure avant-garde EBM!

– – – : The remix of Human Boot Project is not exactly adding a real bonus. The original version is definitely more exciting! I regret that there are no more songs featured at this EP/single.

Conclusion: “Endzeit” is an accomplished EBM song so let’s keep an eye on this band!

Best songs: “Endzeit”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/adsolmusic

About Adsol

Adsol is the project of Greek musician Stelios Goulas, active under the name since 2012 with several EPs and singles released. “Endzeit” marks a return to EBM, drawing comparisons to Komor Kommando, and closes with a remix from Japanese project Human Boot Project.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Martin V. Kester aka ‘Losttrooper’ is already active under the Dunkelwerk moniker for several years now. He this year released his fourth full length album entitled “Waffengang” on Alfa Matrix. The German project is considered as one of the latest real ‘endzeit’-electro projects. Even if I think that the sound of previous albums were darker, the main theme inspired by defeat and misery plus their impact, is really ‘endzeit’-minded. I asked a few questions to Martin about this new opus and his fetish theme…

“Waffengang” can be ordered straight from the Alfa Matrix label.

You can listen to the album whilst reading the interview:

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Dunkelwerk is a project releasing new albums at irregular basis and which doesn’t play live. It feels a bit like a ghost-project emerging each time again from the depths, but what’s the explanation to this situation?  

Losttrooper: I don´t have much time for music. It´s my hobby. It´s also true that I work slowly… I work on a track, then I don´t make music for two or three weeks. When a track is finished I’ll wait one or two months to listen to it again. I’m asking myself if it’s still good or if I’ve to change some elements. Dunkelwerk is not a constant workflow. For me it is unimportant if I need 2 or 5 years to release an album. So far the results were worth every year of waiting in my opinion. But I know that this is a little nightmare for every music label. Years of silence, no live performances and only a few social media activities… No one knows exactly why Dunkelwerk sells some CDs at all. But wait… I know it! But I don´t tell it… Something like ‘strong focus’ or ‘attitude’…

Q: Compared to previous albums I experienced “Waffengang” as less dark, but more elaborated, refined and accomplished. What kind of album did you’d in mind and tell us a bit more about the different aspects of the writing and production?

Losttrooper: I don´t know. For me “Waffengang” sounds dark as hell. The German lyrics are full of death, defeat and misery. The making of “Josef Ritter von Gadolla” is a good example of how I (sometimes) work. I was in Gotha (German city) and suddenly I stood in front of a memorial tablet, which told the story of this person. I read it and it became clear that it would become a theme for a Dunkelwerk song. Other tracks are the result of one very strong sample I found in the darkest speech and sound archives. ”Waffengang” starts with a beast of a sample and the rest of the composing was craft.

Q: How do you see yourself evolving as musician from your very first work “Troops” (2005) to “Waffengang” (2019) and what do you still want to accomplish in the further years?

Losttrooper: In my opinion I´m not a real ‘musician’. I can’t read music. I can’t play the melody I composed one week ago. Strange. I only have this little talent to find good melodies and combine them with noise and dark sounds. I often hear that the music of Dunkelwerk sounds very German. I don´t know. I´m happy that the vocal work starts to get better. I´m not a singer. That´s the disadvantage I have to deal with. I also don´t want to pitchshift or hardcore-overdrive my voice that no one can understand the lyrics. Future? I don´t care. Maybe it would be a good idea to leave the battlefields a little bit. Maybe I should get rid of concept albums. Who listens to albums anymore? Most people listen to personal playlists and don´t care about a concept album at all. However I will focus on defeats and misery. Trust!

Q: You say you’re not a singer and it sometimes feels a bit like you don’t feel comfortable with the vocals, which is also accentuated by the cinematographic side of the album while your early work was instrumental. What’s your perception?

Losttrooper: The vocals are important to explain the difficult Dunkelwerk theme. That´s the reason why I started to ‘sing’. It would be MUCH easier for me to stay instrumental, but to be honest it would be boring. So I fight my vocal war release after release.

Q: The main concept remains ‘the moment of total defeat; no glory, no victory just the sweet smell of discomfiture’. This theme is often always related to the horror of WWII, but what fascinates and inspires you in this dark vision of life and how does your sound has to cover this theme?

Losttrooper: For me the war setting is a metaphor. Defeat and misery can be found in many other settings. WWI and WWII are kinds of melting pots for all these terrible things. In the abyss of Dunkelwerk I deal with something far away from war. I know defeats and I know misery in a different way. No bombs, no tanks or troops….but losings and darkness.

Q: You’ve always used a lot of samplings, which because of their origin, might sound a bit controversial. I can imagine that’s precisely why you clearly indicate on your Facebook page and the back cover of the album, Dunkelwerk ‘has NO use for ANY fascist train of thought!’ Did you already encounter some negative feedback about the ‘image’ of Dunkelwerk and the controversy it might create? Controversy also is a way to provoke some reaction so it might become a marketing strategy as well. What is it really all about?

Losttrooper: So far most people understood what Dunkelwerk is about. Not everyone likes the way I do it. That´s ok. I make clear statements and don´t play the typical ‘Let´s say nothing’ promo game. I wrote these songs because the stories are promptings of my heart. I don´t sit here and think ‘How could I shock my little sister or my mother?’. Other bands work this way. I sit here and listen to very old recordings from the war times and suddenly there is this little girl singing this “Maikäfer”-song. And I know she died by VERY terrible circumstances. All what is left are her words and I used them with MUCH respect. Some fans told me that songs like “Sternensoldat” (from “Troops”) or “Pulverland” (from “Waffengang”) left them with some tears in their eyes. This IS endzeit electro with an attitude!

Marketing strategy? Hahahaha….I know the sales rates. If this is a marketing strategy it is a bad one. There might be some reasons why no other German ‘endzeit’ projects are around anymore. I quite often hear: ‘:Wumpscut: dead. Retrosic dead. You are the only one doing this stuff!’. In my opinion this fact is very sad and marketing wise unfavorable. Take this great “Endzeit Bunkertracks” series by Alfa Matrix. It collects all kinds of ‘dark evil’ music. Dunkelwerk is on it but I hardly find other bands on it doing music close to Dunkelwerk. Normally I should ask myself: is it a good idea to go on the way I do? I don´t care! I follow my heart and don´t care about marketing. You can make more money with every average EDM track. You better sell some lemonade at the street that makes more sense than booting your audio PC to start a new dark-electro song. The 90s are over! When a band like :Wumpscut: stops making music you know what time it is! It´s time for EDM or the comeback of Eurodance, but it is definitely not the time for dark-electro, synth-pop, hellectro or any other alternative gothic stuff. SAD! But who cares? We go on! Besides this I´m a big fan of Eurodance. I collect this stuff! So this situation is not only a catastrophe for me. Ha!

Thanks for being interested in Dunkelwerk!

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Dark-electro.

Background/Info: German solo-project Dunkelwerk is back on track, unleashing its fourth full length album. Dunkelwerk released new work at irregular basis and “Waffengang” comes 5/6 years after the previous work “Operation: Duesterland”.

Content: First of all it’s important to say that the ‘main theme of Dunkelwerk is the moment of total defeat. No glory, no victory just the sweet smell of discomfiture. An atmosphere of leave, loss and comedown’. The numerous samplings and the global image of the project might be interpreted another way, but the ‘Losttrooper’ clearly claims to be not driven by any fascist thought.

That said, the album features 11 songs, which stand for pure ‘endzeit’ electronics. It however doesn’t sound like the darkest album in the band’s discography. The songs have been more accomplished and refined with delicate arrangements, choir synth passages and other cinematographic influences. All the songs have been sung in German although you now and then will notice a few English words.

+ + + : I think this project has gone through a serious improvement in the global writing- and production process. There where Dunkelwerk sounded rough and unpolished, “Waffengang” sounds more subtle and detailed. The global production becomes more artistic and achieved. The album again reflects the fetish theme of Dunkelwerk, which brings us back to the atrocities of WWII. It’s somewhat controversial because of the German samplings (while I also noticed sampled parts of W. Churchill). It creates a kind of confusion, which might lead to controversy. But controversy often is an excellent strategy of marketing and in times bands like :Wumpscut: and The Retrosic have disappeared from the endzeit radar, this album might become successful.

– – – : No doubt about it, “Waffengang” is the most accomplished work of Dunkerwerk so far, but I regret it’s less dark than previous productions.

Conclusion: I can’t really say this is the most classical dark-electro releases in the genre, but it definitely is an opus with a very own sound DNA based upon a sophisticated writing.

Best songs: “Waffengang”, “Schwere See”, “GxSTxPx 4c”, Hokuspokus”, “Holterdiepolter (Love Sees No Colour”).

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.dunkelwerk.de / www.facebook.com/DunkelwerkHQ

Label: www.alfa–matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix Read the news on ‘Waffengang’.

About Dunkelwerk

Dunkelwerk is the German solo-project of Martin V. Kester, who performs under the moniker ‘Losttrooper’. The project debuted with “Troops” in 2005 and has released new material at irregular intervals since, built from historic samples around the theme of total defeat; Kester has stated Dunkelwerk has no use for any fascist train of thought. “Waffengang”, issued on the Belgian label Alfa Matrix, is Dunkelwerk’s fourth full length, and Kester discussed its sampling and themes in a Click Interview with Side-Line.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Dark-electro, EBM, electro-industrial, techno-body, power-noise, IDM.

Background/Info: The first ‘act’ from this now legendary compilation was released in 2005. Fourteen years later Alfa Matrix released the eight edition of this series devoted to dark-electronics. The massive work features 72 songs on 4 discs and 40 extra songs available as download.

Artists: Suicide Commando, Blutengel, Zombie Girl, Funker Vogt, Komor Kommando, [SITD], Angelspit, Noisuf-X, Solitary Experiments, Ad:Key, Acylum, Phillip Münch ao.

Content: It’s impossible to go in detail when you’ve to review such a compilation featuring 112 songs! But “Endzeit Bunkertracks” remains faithful to a mix of music genres dealing with electronics and a fusion between great and established artists plus discoveries. No doubt about it, the some upcoming talents have been featured here. Next to a bunch of Alfa Matrix bands the compilation also features big names from other labels such as Out Of Line, Dark Dimensions, Infacted Recordings, Repo Records ao.

There’re a lot of exclusive cuts features and/or remixes while the best bands aren’t always featured on the discs.

+ + + : A great sampler and a hard copy means so much more than the digital version. The artwork by Japanse artist Tomoki Hayasaka is absolutely great and matching with the concept. Song-wise you’ll discover interesting young talents such as H.O.W., Complex Mind, Eexee, Suppressor, Playngrain, Pax Sono, Nitek, Fabrikmutter and C-Phalea. The diversity of the songs made this ‘sonic orgy’ more accessible then releasing such a box format with only dark-electronic bands.  

– – – : Even if this compilation remains a great and successful work, 112 songs is definitely too much so this is a compilation you’ve to listen spread over several days.

Conclusion: It has been my pleasure tipping some ‘unknown’ talents, which have been selected for the compilation while “Endzeit Bunkertracks” remains a sonic bible for all dark electronic souls!

Best bands: Komor Kommando, Implant, Noisuf-X, Electronic Frequency, Funker Vogt, [X]-Rx, Suppressor, Nitek, Ice Ages, Larva.

Rate: (8½).

Label: www.alfa–matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix

About Endzeit Bunkertracks

Endzeit Bunkertracks is a compilation series released by Belgian label Alfa Matrix, devoted to dark electronic music including EBM, electro-industrial, and aggrotech. The first volume, “Act I”, was released on 21 March 2005 as a 4CD box limited to 1,666 copies, divided into four themed sessions titled Evil, Torture, Damage and Death; it reached number 1 on the German Alternative Charts and ranked 14th on that chart’s albums of the year.

Alfa Matrix continued the series with “Act II” in May 2006, “Act III” in November 2007, and “Act IV” in February 2009, each released in the same limited 4CD format. “Act VIII” follows fourteen years after the first volume, with 72 tracks across four discs plus 40 additional download-only songs, featuring artists including Suicide Commando, Blutengel, Zombie Girl, Funker Vogt, Komor Kommando, [SITD], Angelspit, Noisuf-X, Solitary Experiments, Ad:Key, and Acylum.

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

After 5 long years of silence, the German endzeit project Dunkelwerk returns with the all new album “Waffengang”. “Waffengang” is the project’s 4th studio album and this time as well Dunkelwerk explores the nightmare that both world wars were.

Note also that “Pulverland” uses elements of the German nursery rhyme “Maikäfer flieg”. Also included is “Josef Ritter von Gadolla” which is about the execution of the commandant of the German city of Gotha who disobeyed by capitulating in front of the marching American army in the last days of WW2. The next day he was shot after a short trial for what the nazi-judges said to be the ‘Aufgabe des festen Platzes Gotha’.

The album holds 11 songs which offer a clear statements against war and is being released as a special digi-sleeve packaging with extended booklet including all German lyrics.

You can order the digi-sleeve CD version right here, while the download is available from Bandcamp. You can check 2 tracks already below. Of course it’s also available on Spotify, iTunes, etc..

Dunkelwerk consists of only one person (Losttrooper) and is a pure studio project, not doing any live performances or any other public events. Dunkelwerk was signed in 2003 by the Belgian Label Alfa-Matrix and was at the time the first band on the label offering a harsher sound. Dunkelwerk was tipped to Alfa-Matrix by Cyrus of The Retrosic. Read the review of ‘Waffengang’.

For more on Endzeit, see Endzeit Bunkertracks (ACT VII) powered by Side-Line (Part 4: Gin Devo) on Side-Line.

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

Background/Info:

Read the news on ‘Mirror Terror’.

About Synapsyche

Synapsyche is an Italian EBM/industrial duo of Stefano “Mannequinetik” and Marco “Katatronik” Mantovani, active since 2008. Following a self-released debut and “The Abyss Effect” (2016, SkyQode), the duo signed to Alfa Matrix. “Mirror Terror”, reviewed here, previewed the then-upcoming third album, “In Praise Of Folly”, released on Alfa Matrix in 2019. Synapsyche has continued on the label through later EPs and the 2024 album “Anti”.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Background/Info:

About Totem Obscura

Totem Obscura is a side-project of Pedro and Nadine “Cooraz” Engel, the duo also known as Acylum, which Pedro Engel set up in 2004 before Nadine joined him a few years later. Where Acylum deals in dark-electro, Totem Obscura explores darker, more mystical themes, mixing dark-electro with medieval and Gothic-electro elements.

Totem Obscura’s discography includes “Waldgeist” and “Forgotten Time” (both 2013), “Nachtwache” (2014), the “Blutiges Eisen” EP (2016) and “Nordische Feste” (2017), followed by the “Helden” EP, reviewed here, on Alfa Matrix in 2018.

Pedro Engel discussed Acylum’s own output in a Click Interview with Side-Line, around the release of Acylum’s “Kampf Dem Verderb” album.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Available now on Spotify, iTunes and related platforms is the “Helden” EP by the German endzeit act Totem Obscura. For the occasion Nadine ‘Aengeldust’ Engel and Pedro ‘Acylum’ Engel have joined up with 80’s living legend Hubert Kah (known for his hit-songs and backing vocals for the 80’s icon Sandra).

“Helden” was already available from Bandcamp and now also has hit other platforms too as you can see below.

The EP itself holds 16 tracks including exclusive remixes of other album songs like “Blut Marschiert”, “Eisenmann” and “Bastard”. You can expect aggressive dark elektro with Middle-Age tonalities. Strongly recommended to fans of :Wumpscut:, Acylum, Heimataerde, Yelworc and Das Ich.

Check the EP on 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!

side-line.com

The band name Darkness On Demand (DoD) will for sure evoke one of the most famous electro bands from the 90s: Dance Or Die! Same initials and… same members! This is a new band set up by Gary Wagner, Falgalas (Heike Duus) and Chris L. They all have a great experience as musicians and performers and are still involved with different music projects. The debut album “Post Stone Technology” released on Repo Records is a well-crafted piece of modern and dark EBM. Gary Wagner give us more details about this new challenge.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: I first of all have to ask you why you finally decided to stop Dance Or Die and move on as Darkness On Demand plus what are the main differences sound-wise between both bands?

Wagner: Actually it was not on purpose. After some bad experiences with the former producer we decided to produce our new material ourselves. We kept Dance Or Die as a legend, but keep our lifetime achievement. Darkness On Demand is meant to be fresh modern and club orientated by staying to our typical sound.

Q: Is there a concept/philosophy hiding behind this new project?

Wagner: It mainly concerns the same themes sort of dark future and ‘Endzeit’, but it is also about personal experiences with the music monkey biz. In fact we started something new by keeping our musically roots.

Q: What is the album “Post Stone Age Technology” all about and what are the different aspects from the production you especially take care of?

Wagner: As I already said it is about apocalyptical aspects. We decided to create much more catchy melodies and grooves to transport our themes on the dark dancefloors.

Q: I noticed an interesting and somewhat ‘different’ approach in sound between the first EP “City Of The Dreamers” (which still has an epic & medieval touch reminding me of Winterhart) and the album, which sounds more electro/EBM-like. How comes and what can you tell us about the content of this EP?

Wagner: I am really surprised about this comparison. Winterhart is our other project that gets you more into the neo-folk thing. Darkness On Demand is an absolute electronic conclusion of our Body Music and Dark Electronic past. The same producer and the same voice so that could be the only reason for any paralel.

Q: The song and title of the new EP “Back To Psychoburbia” clearly is a wink to the Dance Or Die album “Psychoburbia” (1992). Is it also a kind of ‘look back’ to the earlier years of your music career and what do you think about all evolutions that happened?

Wagner: The evolution is more a revelation. The new media are a great way to become fame, but it also changes the music market not for musicians best. The “Psychoburbia” thing is my personal story about moving to the city and moving back to the subs.

Q: The album reflects a rather ‘dark’ vision about the future, but how do you see your own future as band, musicians and simple citizens?

Wagner: I have no idea about future those days. Everything is changing so fast. I believe that science fiction is going to become reality.

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: Orange Sector remains one of the most famous EBM bands from the 90s. After a hiatus of several years they came back to life in 2005 and started releasing new EBM work. “Endzeit” is a look back, kind of ‘best of’ from this second Orange Sector period. The bonus disc features an impressive list of remixes.

Content: The fans of Orange Sector will rediscover some of the band’s hottest songs and mainly EP-title songs from the ‘new millennium’-years. Hard and straight forward, driven by dry, cutting bass lines, carrying choruses which are easy to keep in mind, a danceable kick and powerful vocals are the main sound elements to define the sound of Orange Sector.

Remixes have been accomplished by NZ, Plastic Noise Experience, Angstfabrikk, AD:Key, Frontal, Zweite Jugend, Wellncocktail, Dominatrix, Ionic Vision, NordarR, Blitzmaschine, Run Level Zero, Lars Timm Felker and Martin Bodewell himself.

+ + + : This album is an opportunity to rediscover some of the bands hottest songs from the 21^st Century. I’m referring to “Der Maschinist”, “Geile Zeit”, “Glasmensch”, “Monoton”, “Stahlwerk” and “Farben”. It now becomes clear why Orange Sector remained a leading EBM formation. It’s all about power, solid bass lines, energetic body beats, commanding vocals and simply a ‘healthy load of sonic violence’. Orange Sector is a sort of transposition of early DAF into modern times. The songs are enraged and some of the lyrics and samplings are clearly engaged.

The different remixes are still history and I here would recommend the work accomplished by Blitzmaschine and the poppy “Club Mix” of “Touch” by Orange Sector.

– – – : A ‘best of’ always is stuff for discussion, but it doesn’t bring anything new. I however think a band like Orange Sector deserves this kind of release.

Conclusion: Orange Sector was one of the leading formations during the 90s, but they’re still ruling over the new millennium years. I’m not sure if the best is yet to come, but I think they’ll go on releasing EBM from a high qualitative level.

Best songs: “Der Maschinist”, “Geile Zeit”, “Krieg Und Frieden”, “Endzeit”, “Terroristen” + “Farben – Blitzmaschine Remix”.

Rate: (8).

Band: www.orange–sector.de / www.facebook.com/OrangeSector

Label: www.infacted–recordings.de / www.facebook.com/pages/Infacted–Recordings/124099254321690

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Dark-electro, industrial-electro.

Background/Info: After the astonishing “Agent Orange”-album Nadine ‘Engel’ Croona (Acylum, Totem Obscura) is back on track unleashing this extra EP featuring 3 new songs plus 10 remixes.

Content: The sound and influences haven’t changed at all. Aengeldust sounds harder than any other project Nadine is involved with. This is the industrial side of the Aengeldust ‘bitch’ and I can assure you it’s a new merciless assault.

Remixes were executed by Antibiosis, Endzeit, Acylum, Havokk, Siva Six, Kill The Sleeper, Parasite Of God, Nebelwächter, Siamgda and Kilmarth.

+ + + : Among the new cuts I especially like both opening tracks, which are mixing the dark-electro style of Wumpscut (definitely an important source of inspiration for the Acylum-gang) and pure harsh industrial music. The remixes (of songs that were originally released on the “Agent Orange”-album) are adding diversity, but can’t compete with the harshness of Aengeldust. I however like the work of Havokk for its bombast and Endzeit for the distorted power.

– – – : I expected a bit more out of Acylum, Siva Sixx and Siamgda. They’re for sure the most familiar names from the list although not delivering the most inspired cuts.

Conclusion: “Zucht” clearly is the EP that would have been originally released as extra disc on the limited edition of the album, but as the label seems to have changed its policy about limited editions we here get a nice and highly recommended EP confirming the industrial rage of Aengeldust.

Best songs: “Suicide Bomber – Havokk Remix”, “Zucht”, “Agent Orange – Endzeit Version”, “Suicide Bomber – Nebelwächter Remix”.

Rate: (7½).

Band: www.facebook.com/Aengeldust

Label: www.alfa–matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix

Read the news on ‘Zucht’.

About Aengeldust

Aengeldust is the harsher solo project of Nadine “Cooraz” Engel, also known for Acylum and Totem Obscura.

The project’s discography includes the albums “Bloodsport” (2012), “Freakshow” and “Meth Face” (both 2014) and “Agent Orange” (2017), the album that preceded “Zucht”, an EP of three new songs and ten remixes released on Alfa Matrix later that year.

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

The 75th track on our free download compilation “Face The Beat: Session 4” (featuring 92 tracks) is by the Italian hard electro duo Synapsyche.

The italian duo Synapsyche was formed in the late 2008 by Stefano Mannequinetik, soon joined by singer Marco Katatronik Mantovani (formerly in Zona Traffico Libero and Ultima Necat). Their first release is the self-produced 4-track EP “Wait/Hate” released in 2013. In 2014 Synapsyche releases its self-produced full-length debut album “Crashdown Connected”.

In march 2015, the brand new track “Breath Control” is included in the Alfa Matrix compilation “Endzeit Bunkertracks VII – The Bonus Tracks” and becomes a hit in the industrial clubs. That same year a new self-produced/self-mixed/self-mastered EP “Meds” comes out. The Russian label SkyQode picks up the band and issues the EP “Hate And Psyche” in December 2015. In 2016 SkyQode releases “The Abyss Effect” mastered by Jan L. at X-Fusion Music Production. In 2017 they produce the EP “This Is Gonna Hurt”.

You can find the project back on Facebook, make sure to check it out.

Listen to “We All Suck” below and download it right here.

Check our “Face The Beat: Session 4” page on Bandcamp to discover the other 91 bands. All donations will go to charity.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

The 66th track on our free download compilation “Face The Beat: Session 4” (featuring 92 tracks) is by the Helsinki, Finland based dark electro act Shades​:​Of​:​Hell.

Behind Shades​:​Of​:​Hell is DJ Shades FIN, co-organizer and resident DJ of Hellfire Club, Dead Souls Gathering and Goths On the Rocks. Remixer and producer of Electro-Industrial music you will probably know him from the remixes he has done for C-Lekktor (Castle Party 2014 compilation), Totem Obscura vs. Acylum, Cynical Existence, Siva Six, Kuroshio, Zombie Girl and from his high quality appearances on Endzeit Bunkertracks VII. New songs are being prepared, but for now enjoy this great dark tune!

Listen to “Bastards Screaming​​” below and download it right here.

Check our “Face The Beat: Session 4” page on Bandcamp to discover the other 91 bands. All donations will go to charity.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

The 47th track on our free download compilation “Face The Beat: Session 4” (featuring 92 tracks) is by My Dear Killer.

My Dear Killer is the solo dark electro project of James A. Hepburn. You might already know the project from its contribution to “Endzeit Bunkertracks Act VI” and from the Rgesus Factor’s “Mann der Albeit – The Remixes (Vol. 1)”. The project has had a steady output the last 2 years and is slowly but steadily gathering a following thanks to the project’s dark electro style that has its roots in the early 90s dark wave / electro. Check the band right here on Facebook.

Listen to “Sea Of Trees” below and download it right here.

Check our “Face The Beat: Session 4” page on Bandcamp to discover the other 91 bands. All donations will go to charity.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

The 3rd track on our free download compilation “Face The Beat: Session 4” (featuring 92 tracks) is by Antibody​​​. The track “Desperation” is an instrumental powernoise cut which will please those who enjoyed the early stuff from Glis for instance.

Antibody is the solo act by Jan Antibody based in Germany. The project started in 2013 but raise to the attention of many thanks to his remix of Aengeldust’s club-hit “Meth Face”. After making some other remixes, for example for the Canadian noise act Displacer or for the German dark elektro project Binary Division, Antibody ended up on Alfa Matrix’ well known industrial compilation “Endzeit Bunkertracks 7” with the song “Shrimps”.

Antibody’s first single “Desperation” was released in September via Bandcamp via darkTunes. But for now you can listen to the band’s track below and download it here for free:

Check our “Face The Beat: Session 4” page on Bandcamp to discover the other 91 bands. All donations will go to charity.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

In a Facebook update, the german act Dunkelwerk has hinted at new work which is being recorded. Here’s the Facebook update that intrigued us: “…the latest In Strict Confidence is great! As always. The latest :W: is entertaining! As always. Tonight i will render a new Dunkelwerk song. An Uboat track. I know you like submarines! “Der Kahn will nicht sinken…” Am Ende versenken wir natürlich wieder Mann und Maus. Ist konzeptbedingt.. ;)”

For the Endzeit Electro act Dunkelwerk it will be his first new material since “Duesterland” was released back in 2013. The musician behind the act is known to be of a rather recluse nature, hence why the project is a a pure studio project, not doing any live performances or any other public events.

Let’s see what the future brings. In the meantime, enjoy the last Dunkelwerk output including the clubhit “Die Unglückshaften”:

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Out by March 30 via the Xperiment XIII label is the newest 2CD album by Parasite of God, “Outcasts and Freaks”. The limited 2CD deluxe gatefold edition package can be ordered right now from Bandcamp (as well as the digital album, which only has the tracks from CD1). The complete trackless for the 2CD can be found here.

The package also includes this:

• 1x Band Autographed A6 Postcard
• 5x POG A6 Fridge Magnets with Artwork [High-quality | Vinyl material]
• 2x POG Stickers [Different Artwork on each]
• 1x POG Keyring Torch for First 30 orders ONLY

The material was mastered by X-Fusion Music Production with artwork by Tomoki Hayasaka of Sheerheart, who also made some lovely designs for recent releases by bands such as Acylum, Suicidal Romance, Avarice In Audio, Ayria, the Endzeit Bunkertracks series, Zombie Girl etc..

You can already listen to 5 tracks from this album below:

We quickly spoke to Parasite of God who have this to say about the album: “This album was made over a longer time. Our goal has always been to make music we enjoy ourselves. We have a wide range of musical influences and the result is here. We don’t make music to fit in a genre or to tie us down to certain rules, we simply do what we want. The lyrics on this album mainly follow the same spirit! Stand up proud never bow, follow your own heart and be yourself, leave the judging to the weak ones. If u enjoy this album it makes us proud; if u don’t just Keep searching for the things that makes your life richer!”

The band clearly is getting its momentum as both the videos for “Outcast” and “Through Sorrows” are getting thousands of view on YouTube. You can watch them below.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

• ACYLUM – “Hate” EP
• ACYLUM – “Venom” EP

Read the reviews of ‘Venom’ and ‘Hate’.

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

(By Eldrina Mich) The download 52-track compilation “Face The Beat: Session 2” (you can download it here) powered by Side-Line is doing very well. Since the free download was launched a few weeks ago, the compilation reached the number 1 spot on Bandcamp after a few days being the most downloaded release on the platform, it reached over 10.000 downloads as we speak and has created quite an online buzz. Compiler of the massive 52-track compilation is Bernard Van Isacker, chief editor of Side-Line. It wasn’t the first time he did this, in 2011 the first volume of “Face The Beat” attracted a whopping 24.000 downloads and got praises from allover the world. We decided to interview him for once.

SL: The compilation is quite unique in this scene. Where did the idea originate from?

Bernard: There are many compilations around, but hardly any of those focus on new (unsigned) bands from all kind of genres within the dark wave scene. The reason is that it is commercially speaking not interesting enough. Which is understandable. However, at Side-Line we have always wanted to support young bands, whether via news items or reviews and a download compilation was the only other way to promote these newcomers even further. So 4 years ago I started with the first volume which was primarily promoted via Facebook, hence the name “Face The Beat”. But anno 2015 “Face The Beat” is synonym for giving newbies a platform to showcase their work. Anyhow, Side-Line is a breeding ground for new talents since the early beginning although some people might not always realise this as we work a lot behind the scenes to push bands. Our chief reviewer Stephane Froidcoeur for instance is one of the most important headhunters for the “Endzeit Bunkertracks” series and I have been helping out a lot of starting bands to find a decent home for their releases plus I run the Official Side-Line Playlist on Spotify which has a lot of traction, probably because of the not so ‘mainstream’ track selection :).

SL: The first volume had quite an impact back in 2001!

Bernard: With over 24.000 downloads, that first volume was really a bomb unleashed on the internet and the scene. Several bands present on that compilation got a bigger recognition such as Electro Spectre who is now an established and recognised electro pop act. I’m kinda proud to have been one of the early boosters behind their career and I have been following what they have been up to ever since.

SL: Will you again reach the 24.000 milestone?

Bernard: It’s not really my target to be honest, but the new volume is doing pretty well so who knows. But most of all I’m very glad that it will enable us to finance our charity projects.

SL: I was surprised to learn that Side-Line has been supporting charity since it’s early start?

Bernard: That’s maybe for many a surprise because I have never communicated a lot about it. The charities Side-Line has funded since 1999 include Plan International (a great organisation doing outstanding work), mobile kitchens in Athens (Greece) for the poor and homeless people, social education programs for disabled people, and so on. Both Stephane and I have our daytime jobs and we have never been paid whatsoever to run Side-Line and are not interested in being paid anyhow. Side-Line is a fun project and if it generates cash, then we prefer giving it to people who need it. I have been too many times to countries where people live in poverty; it made me realise many of us, if not most, should be happy with the luxurious lives we have even when our neighbour maybe earns tenfold :). We have flat screens, a car, iPhones, Macs, Samsung Galaxies, and a roof above or head. Reason enough to give karma back to those who need it.

SL: The amount of submissions was enormous, over 5000 tracks. How on earth did you manage to listen to all these songs?

Bernard: Let’s say that it looked like seeking a needle in a haystack at first, in this case I needed to find 52 needles ;), fortunately I found a lot of those, 257 in total. I started with listening to around 50 tracks per day and that for a couple of weeks. After that I had 257 tracks which could have fit on the compilation – quite a nice catch I must say. But 250 would have been a bit too much, sure thing was that I needed to trim it down to around 50 tracks. So I replayed everything and chose those tracks that I thought delivered something extra or had potential. In the end I had selected 57 tracks, but 3 bands and 1 label never got back to me with a final unmastered version or a signed contract. A pity because there was one band in there which had lots of potential, in the style of let’s say the next Mesh. Perhaps they will change their mind the next time :). There was also a joined track by Junksista and Helalyn Flowers – a brilliant one – which originally had been recorded especially for “Face The Beat: Session 2”, but Alfa Matrix decided to release it themselves on a future Alfa Matrix compilation instead because it was so good.

SL: How did you get hold of the the dreDDup track “Etika” featuring Borghesia’s Dario Seraval?

Bernard: It was dreDDup who contacted me asking if I was interested. Since that track never has been released on an album before (the band’s latest record never had a label release), it was a God’s gift to put it mildly. The same happened when John Fryer, the legendary producer of NIN, Depeche Mode etc., told me during a diner at his place (Johny makes a delicious veggie lasagna) that he wanted to contribute a track to the compilation in order to help out. So that’s how the instrumental track “Mourningmorning 1c” ended up on “Face The Beat: Session 2”. Other early supporters included #366 A Life Lived, Bella Lune, Desireless & Operation Of The Sun Vs. Voice Of Ruin, Celluloide (via Boredomproduct who always have been big supporters of whatever we do), NoyceTM and so on.

SL: How did Erlend Eilertsen from the Norwegian band Essence Of Mind come into the picture to do the mastering?

Bernard: I wanted to master this second release. Since the bands do the effort to create a track, it’s only logical they should be offered a quality environment for it to be released. Hence why this time we also went for HQ downloads via Bandcamp. To get back to your initial question, I have known Erlend for years now, and although I also have a professional relation with him via Alfa Matrix, he has also become a good, very reliable, friend whom I always meet up with when I’m in Norway. It was written in the stars that we would work on something together for Side-Line one day and since he has been quietly mastering a lot of his own material, I thought the time was ready to give him a whole compilation to work on too. Which let it be clear is not an easy task, many other mastering professionals can testify this. On top this was a particularly difficult job for Erlend because not all the material we received was recorded in the best circumstances; some material we got was also over-edited, over-mixed, etc.. He did a great job though!

SL: So it’s not only a platform for starting bands but also a way for technicians to show what they can do mastering wise?

Bernard: Exactly. And for the next compilation I’ve already got another name in mind that I want to present. Again from Norway, let the guessing game start right now :)!

SL: What tracks have surprised you the most?

Bernard: In terms of ideas, I was particularly struck by what Nesim Celik did on “Atom Çağı”. This Turkish act mixes electronics with sufi-style instruments, all self played by the way! I hope to hear more from this act because this is an idea I have had for a few years: mixing electronics and sufi in an intelligent way. The same goes for 3jean’s “Nfn9” (2015 Edit), that track has quite some potential. It’s maybe not the most produced one, but the idea is there and that is why it is on this compilation. But on the whole every band present on the compilation offered something which I found interesting, hence their inclusion.

SL: What are the next plans?

Bernard: Stephane and I have been brainstorming quite a bit the past few months, especially after the site went down for 2 weeks – which honestly was a very stressful period, and we are still recovering from it. We are convinced that now, more than ever before, we can be a platform for labels and bands to showcase their work to a large select public. Whereas the other magazines focus on bigger bands, we have decided to nurture new talents and ideas. As a result the “Face The Beat” series will keep on focusing on new talents. But you may also expect a few more initiatives through which we will be pushing scene labels and their bands. There are also a few compilation ideas we have been thinking about that we would like to develop and now that the site is back operational we have time to do that. All these releases will be available for free with all donations going to charity and to keep the site servers up and running.

SL: Speaking of which, the site has been down for 2 weeks, I’m probably not the only one wondering what happened?

Bernard: You’re probably number 101 asking this. Basically we ran out of borrowed time on the old server. We knew we had to change servers, change CMS but as I pointed out, we all have very demanding daytime jobs and we really needed time to make the transfer. I guess that the server issues decided that the time was there, ha! I thought about killing Side-Line altogether, because you can’t imagine how frustrating it is to see the work of 16 years evaporate. Luckily our dear friend War-n (Hungry Lucy, …) has been spending all of his spare time (and he has very little believe me), to restore the old db in the current CMS. It’s currently running in a test environment. Once it’s debugged we’ll be switching it to the live site. After that we are going to match the old URLs in order to keep the external links to the site valid. Anyhow, during the downtime I worked on a couple of other sites I run.

SL: You run a lot of other sites?

Bernard: My daytime job involves about 20 other websites which I run in order to keep the daily bread arriving on my table. But those are all very business related and I doubt the Side-Line readers would be interested in that.

SL: There’s also the Bob De Moor website you run no?

Bernard: You’ve really been googling me I have the impression… I am an admirer of Bob De Moor (editor’s note: the right hand of Hergé, the famous father of Tintin & Snowy), since I was 8 years old actually and a few years ago I launched the Official Bob De Moor website. Unlike many of my ‘heroes’ he’s among the few which I’m sure I would have gotten along with pretty well. Unfortunately I was never able to meet him in person, but through his work and family I have gotten to learn a lot about him. Right now I’m digitising the De Moor family’s archives plus I’m traveling through Europe to look for previously unpublished material, originals etc. via all kinds of private collections. As a result I have even found some previously unpublished Tintin drawings Bob De Moor had made and which were never detailed in books before, let alone talked about. I also was able to ‘unmask’ a Tintin drawing sold for over 45.000 Euros as being a not so real Hergé item… much to the unhappiness of the buyer I must say :). And there is even a musical touch. De Moor was a huge jazz and blues fan, and since that is also a passion of me – you should now understand why Depeche Mode’s “Ultra” still is a very acceptable album to me – I have been diving into his private collection in order to verify musical references in his work. And there’s also a Side-Line link, because when I invited Side-Line readers to check out the website I noticed many familiar faces popping up on the site and it’s Facebook page. So as you can see, the world is such a small place :).

You can download “Face The Beat: Session 2” right here from Bandcamp.

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.

www.side-line.com

Interview of Gin Devo: dark and sophisticated electronics!

The new volume of “Endzeit Bunkertracks”  (the 7th already, available right here) will be released once again as a deluxe 4CD carton box featuring 68 songs mixing dark-electronics, EBM, dark-electro-pop and related genres. The box also contains an extended 32 page booklet masterfully designed by Japanese designer Tomoki Hayasaka. Next to the 4CD there also is a bonus download card giving you access to some 50 additional songs! Side-Line once again has been asked by Alfa-Matrix to recommend some interesting artists.  That’s why we decided to power this new volume by featuring 10 short interviews of bands that you’ll discover on this new volume plus an extra interview by the “Endzeit Bunkertracks” instigator Séba Dolimont.

(by Stéphane Froidcoeur aka DP)

SL: I personally expected a song by Vomito Negro on the new “Endzeit Bunkertracks”, but you took us by surprise with a new song of Gin Devo. Tell us a bit more about the song “Dark Frequencies”?

Gin Devo: Well, at the moment I’m working on “Garden of Evil” this album will be my third solo album,

It’s almost ready, so I thought this is the perfect timing to release some of its tracks on a compilation album, “Dark Frequencies” matched perfect for the “Endzeit Bunkertracks” so here we are, the first song of “Garden of Evil” is out before the album is.

SL: So what kind of album might we expect? 

Gin Devo: The work is very different from Vomito Negro, it sounds more digital, but is not made with computer plug ins, it took me a long time to find the right hardware instruments, to compose the right obscure digital sound, “Garden of Evil” sounds very strange, there is no other band who produces this kind of electro material at the moment.

SL: I can’t get away from the idea that Clock DVA must be one of your biggest sources of inspiration! What does this band evoke to you and what made their sound that special?

Gin Devo: Yes, I admire the fantastic Clock DVA album “Buried Dreams” released in 1989, the album has a very intense claustrophobic atmosphere what I like very much, it sounds dirty and digital, when could say that the instruments used on that album sound haunted, So I wanted to work in that direction, and it worked.

SL: You’re still working the ‘good-old’ way using a lot of (vintage) synths and hardware. What do you think about the new generation of artists mainly using software synths/programs?

Gin Devo: Those plug ins have no ‘belly’ they sound very deep and very crispy, I don’t like that. It’s exactly those plug ins that give 90% of the electro bands the same preset sounds, everything sounds the same, it’s cheap, and why they use presets? Because there is no interaction between the artist and a plug in, it’s different when you use hardware synths, there is a machine you can touch and modulate, it has its own character, it’s like you play a computer game or drive a real sportswear on a race track.

Side-Line also covered Endzeit’s ‘Waffengang’.

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

Interview of C-Lekktor + Circuito Cerrado: one of the ‘Endzeit’ leaders in Mexico!

The new volume of “Endzeit Bunkertracks”  (the 7th already, available right here) will be released once again as a deluxe 4CD carton box featuring 68 songs mixing dark-electronics, EBM, dark-electro-pop and related genres. The box also contains an extended 32 page booklet masterfully designed by Japanese designer Tomoki Hayasaka. Next to the 4CD there also is a bonus download card giving you access to some 50 additional songs! Side-Line once again has been asked by Alfa-Matrix to recommend some interesting artists.  That’s why we decided to empower this new volume by featuring 10 short interviews of bands that you’ll discover on this new volume plus an extra interview by the “Endzeit Bunkertracks” instigator Séba Dolimont.

(by Stéphane Froidcoeur aka DP)

SL: You’ve been featured by both of your projects on “Endzeit Bunkertracks”! You must be a lucky man, but what does this compilation means to you?

Markko: HI,, yeah I’m so lucky and happy and to be honest with you I wanted to take part to this compilation already a time ago. Finally it happened and with 2 of my 3 projects sounds like a dream coming true. I know “Endzeit Bunkertracks” is one of the biggest and most famous compilation series so I’m so excited about all this.

SL: Can you briefly introduce us to your newest project Circuito Cerrado? 

Markko: I started Circuito Cerrado now 1 year ago. This project is much more into hard styles such as industrial, hardcore, rhytm-noise and hardstyle genres. I know that I already experimented with these sounds with C-Lekktor, but for some reasons I decided to separate things. I want C-Lekktor now more into EBM & dark-elekktro and Circuito Cerrado for the hard tunes. I always love the club sound in music so you can find it on both of the projects,  but with a different formula.

SL: What do you expect from such a famous compilation series? 

Markko: I know this is a well known compilation series so a lot of people will listen to my music and some of them maybe don’t know we exist. It’s always so great to take part on something famous and personally I just want to share my music with all people;  definitely to be on it is one of the highlights of 2015!

SL: What brings 2015 for both of your projects?

Markko: I’m working already on a new album for C-Lekktor, but first there’ll be something very special coming soon! It’s a rather the same for Circuito Cerrado;  the idea is a new EP, but who knows maybe a new album. I also finished the album of my third project Kromak, which is influenced by trance music. I’m just trying to find the best way and moment to released it. We are doing a lot of remixes and are ready for live shows. So in the end a lot of work and music my friend.

For more on Endzeit, see Endzeit Bunkertracks (ACT VII) powered by Side-Line (Part 4: Gin Devo) on Side-Line.

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

Interview of Suicide Commando: one of the real Masters and instigators in the ‘Endzeit’-genre!

The new volume of “Endzeit Bunkertracks”  (the 7th already, available right here) will be released once again as a deluxe 4CD carton box featuring 68 songs mixing dark-electronics, EBM, dark-electro-pop and related genres. The box also contains an extended 32 page booklet masterfully designed by Japanese designer Tomoki Hayasaka. Next to the 4CD there also is a bonus download card giving you access to some 50 additional songs! Side-Line once again has been asked by Alfa-Matrix to recommend some interesting artists.  That’s why we decided to empower this new volume by featuring 10 short interviews of bands that you’ll discover on this new volume plus an extra interview by the “Endzeit Bunkertracks” instigator Séba Dolimont.

(by Stéphane Froidcoeur aka DP)

SL:“Endzeit Bunkertracks” definitely is a compilation on, which we might expect Suicide Commando; but what does it mean to you and what’s the importance of such a sampler these days?

Johan Van Roy: For me it’s still an honor to appear on the “Endzeit Bunkertracks” compilations as I also consider Suicide Commando as one of the main instigators of this harsh endzeit electronics style, like Front 242 will always be connected with EBM, I hope Suicide commando will always be linked to this style.

Not sure about the importance of the ‘Endzeit’ movement today as I think it lost some of it success over the last few years, so maybe this new sampler is a good opportunity to bring back new life into this stagnating scene ?!

SL: Can you remind us what the song “Monster” is all about and how did the remix by Avarice In Audio happened?

Johan Van Roy: “Monster” actually deals with sexual child abuse and more specifically within the catholic church over the last decades. For years priests and other catholic leaders undisturbed could sexually abuse children within the catholic church and simply get away with it without being arrested or punished.

When Séba asked me to join the new “Endzeit Bunkertracks” it unfortunately was too early to come up with brand-new material from the next Suicide Commando album, so it actually was Séba who came up with the idea of letting Avarice In Audio do a special remix of “Monster”, and so it happened. I must admit I didn’t even know of Avarice In Audio before, but I think they came up with a really good remix.

SL: Any few ‘unknown/unsigned’ bands you would have liked to see on this sampler and why?

Johan Van Roy: Well I must admit that I’m not really up to date anymore on new unsigned bands in the scene, and the few discoveries I made over the last years eventually did find their place on the new sampler. I for example love the work from 2^nd Face, a new band coming from Germany. Not new anymore, but definitely worth their spot are bands like Nano Infect, Acylum …

SL: What are the plans about this year for Suicide Commando?

Johan Van Roy: It will be a very busy year for Suicide commando with a new single coming up in summer, a new album scheduled by the end of the year, a vinyl compilation with old works and in between several new live shows in Europe and the US/Canada. And already thinking of some special things for 2016 as I’ll celebrate 30 years of Suicide Commando.

For more on Endzeit, see Endzeit Bunkertracks (ACT VII) powered by Side-Line (Part 3:… on Side-Line.

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

Interview of Seba Dolimont (one of the Alfa Matrix owners)

The new volume of “Endzeit Bunkertracks”  (the 7th already, available right here) will be released once again as a deluxe 4CD carton box featuring 68 songs mixing dark-electronics, EBM, dark-electro-pop and related genres. The box also contains an extended 32 page booklet masterfully designed by Japanese designer Tomoki Hayasaka. Next to the 4CD there also is a bonus download card giving you access to some 50 additional songs! Side-Line once again has been asked by Alfa-Matrix to recommend some interesting artists.  That’s why we decided to empower this new volume by featuring 10 short interviews of bands that you’ll discover on this new volume plus an extra interview by the “Endzeit Bunkertracks” instigator Séba Dolimont.

(by Stéphane Froidcoeur aka DP)

SL: What means the “Endzeit Bunkertracks”-series to you and what makes the success story of it?

Seba. Well… Releasing the 7^th volume now of this compilation series is quite amazing and something I did not even expect the day I came up with the idea of this sampler back in 2005!  7 editions in 10 year time. That’s a lot when you consider the time it takes to listen to all these submissions that we get and replying to every single submission with positive or negative feedback. That’s the least we can do!

The success of this compilation series is for me nothing but the result of all these great artists who have each taken part to this sonic adventure with their great music.  Add to this the collaboration with several great designers for the artwork design of the carton box and its extended booklets. My personal contribution is strictly limited to the selection of all these bands and songs and always doing my best to keep the quality level constant in my selection and focusing on diversity within a defined music genre.

What I still find the most unexpected part of this “Endzeit Bunkertracks” adventure is that in the early years of Alfa Matrix we were often seen as a ‘synth pop’ label signing mostly female fronted bands. And then we surprised everyone when signing the first ‘black sheep’ from the label roster: Dunkelwerk! And it’s after an interesting discussion with Losttrooper of Dunkelwerk that came the idea of doing a concept compilation devoted to the dark side of the electro scene.  “Endzeit Bunkertracks” was born… the rest is history and meanwhile we added a few more bands in that genre to our label family but not only ;))

SL: 118 songs and bands have been selected! Do you’ve any idea how many bands contacted you for this compilation and, which are your main criteria to get featured on it?

Seba: That’s the difficult part of the story I would say! The success of this comp makes that it becomes a dream for a lot of young dark electro bands to be some day part of an “Endzeit”-comp!  It’s also under the constant pressure of bands and fans that we decided to activate this 7^th edition.  Every volume we issue, we get more and more songs submitted to us!  We got over 2500 songs submitted for this new edition!  It can sound a lot for you, but when you know we end up with 118 bands and that many submit more than 1song at a time… you are rapidly there!  I am always surprised that there are still so many bands to discover around!  This is the exciting part of the job. It also means listening to a lot of songs that I personally did not like or from bands who still have to work to reach the correct production quality level… We also get songs submitted which do not fit the comp’s concept. Now there is no predefined recipe of success to be selected on an “Endzeit Bunkertracks”-comp! The red line for me is that the song needs to touch me in some way. I actually select songs through several preselection phases – shrinking the number of chosen songs until I have enough to fit on the comp!  This is always a quite frustrating moment cos I usually have to discard some great artists to make it all fit!  But then I keep an eye on these bands for a potential future edition. The way I do the final selection is a bit like a DJ work.  I pick them, song by song, and create the feel & atmosphere I want to give to each disc.  It’s a continuity of a DJ set for me.  And once the 4 discs are full, I move ahead with the bonus card which I forced myself to limit to 50 songs.  I always enjoy mixing established acts and totally unknown bands and I also give favor when possible to previously unreleased songs/mixes.  But above all, this comp represents my personal tastes of the moment in the “dark electro” spectrum.

SL: I’ve been surprised to see some of Alfa-Matrix’ leading bands like Ayria and Unter Null getting featured on the download card instead of the disc(s)! Is this a kind of strategy to promote the digital side of the compilation and the label?

Seba: Not really! Like I said I give priority to previously unreleased songs. So when a band – from the  Alfa Matrix roster or not – gives me already released songs – they have little less chance to be on the final track list. Some of our label bands also simply did not make it to the final selection you know! But then, still doing my DJ set selection exercise, at some point I only have 68 spots on the CD’s… When these bands/songs did not pop out in my playlist, they can show up on the bonus tracks.  For me all these songs are part of the whole compilation box.  It’s a non-stop set of 118 bands & songs! So yes some of our bands ended up on that bonus card, and some can be amongst our bigger acts like Ayria, Unter Null,  Mentallo & The Fixer, Tamtrum, Suicidal Romance, Studio-X, etc. What counts is that they are part of it.  I make no difference between bonus digital tracks or featured on the disc… You know, this time we even decided to make these 50 bonus songs available for download via our Bandcamp page.  This gives us the opportunity of offering these bonus songs for FREE to anyone, included those who did not buy the physical box.  The aim of such compilation box series that we run at Alfa Matrix is above all giving exposure to all featured bands.  I know that this comp gave lots of opportunities to a bunch of bands on the dark elektro scene, opening them new doors, giving them the chance to sign to labels, etc.  This new approach offering also the bonus songs in FLAC quality is another step forward in that direction: putting all these great bands in the spotlight and giving them some more chance to be heard and discovered. Cos we cannot as a label, sign all bands we find good cos we are limited and already have a quite large active roster of artists and a quite busy release planning for the next months!

SL: There’re a lot of new and promising bands featured on “Endzeit Bunkertracks”, but are there some bands on it, which will soon join the ‘matrix’? What might we expect?  

Seba: For every volume of our compilation box series, there have often been new discoveries that we made and some ended it up in a closer collaboration with some bands indeed! And yes there are definitely  some artists I discovered here or had the opportunity to talk with during the selection who I will continue following closely and only time will tell if more will be possible together or not.  You know, sometimes there are bands that I follow for several years before considering working with them.  Some bands also keep knocking at our door release after release they make and sometimes I have seen the gates of the Matrix opening at most unexpected moments ;))  I will not tell you now those I’m currently spotting of course, but what I can tell you is that we have a few new Alfa Matrix label signings featured on this new “Endzeit 7”-sampler who will all release something later this year… I think of Venal Flesh from Washington/USA who come with a very own atmospheric style of rhythmed dark elektro. I was happy hearing some DJ’s telling me we had signed our next Unter Null (laugh)!  Also from America, we have the very promising act Entrzelle who are a kind of darker version of Rotersand meets VNV Nation. A style we had not yet on our label!

You will also notice that we signed the Belgian band Llumen. I have been in touch with Pieter for more than 5 years now.  I have seen him grow as an artist, reaching the maturity moment to release his debut album soon. A CD that will please all fans of Assemblage 23 with the Belgian seal of quality on top! Last but not least, like you wrote it in your recent review of this comp on your great website, the cult dark elektro  from the early 90’s The Psychic Force also joined the ‘Matrix’ some months ago and are presenting their first all new song to the world on this new “EB7”-compilation – a first appetizer announcing a strong come-back! It’s just amazing that these guys have been silent for so long. So after bringing back some good old legends on the forefront of the scene like Leather Strip, AmGod, Pouppée Fabrikk, Armageddon Dildos, PNE, Mentallo & The Fixer, well, The Psychic Force are our next victims for the ultimate pleasure of your ears!

Thanks a lot for this interview and above all, for all these new bands you made me discover through the many tips you gave me throughout these 7 volumes of “Endzeit Bunkertracks”-extravaganzza!

For more on Endzeit, see Endzeit Bunkertracks (Act VII) powered by Side-Line (Part 2: Suicide… on Side-Line.

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