(Photo by Abby Laspia) Today, Cleopatra Records has reissued the Spahn Ranch album “The Coiled One”. “The Coiled One” by the Los Angeles-based electro-industrial act was originally released in 1995, and now comes with 8 bonus tracks that include album recording session outtakes that have previously never been released in any form.

The material on this reissue was digitally remastered by Jürgen Engler of Die Krupps and is now available for the first time on vinyl in a limited edition colored version that includes the original 10 songs, as well as a limited digipak “The Coiled One: Deluxe Edition” CD version (that contains the 8 bonus tracks). “The Coiled One” will also be available on all digital and streaming platforms.

Additionally, a seldom seen video created by a European fan for the song “Heretic’s Fork,” is now available once more.

“The Coiled One” was Spahn Ranch’s second studio album. Co-produced and engineered by Judson Leach, the album also included programming by Matt Green and Rob Morton, with vocals by Athan Maroulis (currently of NØIR).

About Spahn Ranch

Spahn Ranch was established in 1992 in Los Angeles by Matt Green and Rob Morton, his collaborator from New York. They pooled their savings to launch the band, having already worked together musically for the previous five years. That year, they inked a deal with Cleopatra Records and debuted with a self-titled EP featuring four tracks, with Scott “Chopper” Franklin—who would later join The Cramps as a bassist—on vocals. Franklin had left another band to join Spahn Ranch on vocals.

In 1993, Athan Maroulis joined Spahn Ranch as a vocalist, and the band recorded their first album, “Collateral Damage”. Maroulis had previously formed the New York-based group Fahrenheit 451 (1984–1986), with whom he recorded his first commercially available album. Over the ensuing years, Maroulis established himself in a number of alternative musical genres including gothic, industrial and electronic. Stints with the Philadelphia-based Executive Slacks (1987–1990), as well as Tubalcain (1991–1993), followed.

They released their second album, “The Coiled One”, in 1995 amidst Morton’s exit from the band over creative and logistical clashes. Following his departure, the lineup grew to include Christian Death’s drummer David Glass, Screams for Tina guitarist Kent Bancroft, and Tubalcain drummer Harry Lewis. This expansion ushered in a darker, more diverse electro-industrial sound that became Spahn Ranch’s hallmark. By 1997, the band had streamlined to a trio comprising Green, Maroulis, and Lewis.

Throughout the late 1990s, Spahn Ranch continued producing music. Their 1997 album “Architecture” featured contributions from Killing Joke/Prong bassist Paul Raven and Rockats/Nancy Sinatra guitarist Danny B. Harvey, taking a more experimental turn with the introduction of drum and bass, dub, and live guitar elements. “Beat Noir”, released in 1998, furthered this experimental direction and included collaborations with Bauhaus/Love & Rockets bassist David J. In 2000, the band released “Anthology 1992–1994”, a compilation including their first four releases and previously unreleased tracks.

Their final album, “Closure”, was recorded in 2000 and released in 2001.

In less than 8 years, Spahn Ranch completed a total of 5 studio albums, 4 EPs and performed more than 200 concerts in over a dozen countries before calling it a day in late 2000.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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Genre/Influences: Industrial,Experimental, Electronic.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info:  Tim Kniep and Philipp Muench are back on track unleashing four new songs.

Content: Synapscape has already experimented with different influences and has now accomplished a true sonic melting pot. The work has something chaotic and yet controlled; heavy rhythms have been merged with Psychedelic- and Industrial sound treatments. Other passages are more into minimalism while there’s another piece (cf. “Flight From Disunity”) reminding me of Insekt while the last cut (cf. “Demons Of The Past”) is reminding me of The Executive Slacks mixed with Snog.

+ + + : Synapscape is a sonic chameleon; every single work sounds a bit different and yet it remains driven by recognizable elements. Synapscape has a kind of sound DNA and remains a creative project. I like the minimalism and also the retro touch emerging at “Interactive Paradox” -featuring cool, screaming like vocals, and “Demons Of The Past”.

– – – : The opening piece “Nightfall” has something chaotic which I don’t like that much.

Conclusion: Synapscape are once again taking their fanbase by surprise; mixing retro-Electro with delicate minimalism.

Best songs: “Interactive Paradox”, “Demons Of The Past”.

Rate: 7½. 

Listen to “Point Me To Nowhere”:

Artist: www.synapscape.org / www.facebook.com/synapscape

Label: www.ant-zen.com / www.facebook.com/antzen.official

About Synapscape

Synapscape is a post-industrial duo from Bielefeld, Germany, formed by Tim Kniep and Philipp Münch. The project has released almost its entire catalogue through the German label ant-zen, starting with the self-titled CD in 1995.

The 7” “Helix / Merging” appeared in 1997 and the 10” “Remix Item” in 1998, followed by the albums “So What” (1999), “Screenwalking” (2000), “Positive Pop” (2001) and “Raw” (2002). The CD EP “Hands On Centrozoon” arrived in 2003. Later albums include “Act!” (2005), “Now” (2007), “Again” (2009), “Traits” (2011), “Rhythm Age” (2015), “The Humanoid Problem” (2017) and “Still” (2018).

Kniep and Münch also record with Imminent as The Incredible Three, a trio that issued two 7” singles on Ant-Zen in 2005. Synapscape released the album “A Journey Through Concern” and the EP “A Mutual Disagreement” in 2020, and returned in 2022 with the album “The Stable Mind” and the EPs “Close To A Comfortable Distance” and “Point Me To Nowhere”.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

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Cleopatra Records has announced the forthcoming release of “Leaether Strip: The Zoth Ommog Years 1989-1999”, a boxed set featuring 10 individually packaged CDs with original artwork and rare bonus material. This limited edition collection showcases the output of projects helmed by Claus Larsen when being signed to the German label Zoth Ommog with both Leaether Strip and Klutae.

This collection will hold 148 tracks along with a 16-page booklet filled with rare photos as well as liner notes by Athan Maroulis (Spahn Ranch, Executive Slacks, NØIR). The set will reach the shops on December 4th and will also be available via all digital and streaming platforms.

About Leaether Strip

The Danish musical project Leaether Strip was founded in January, 1988 by Claus Larsen. Its influence has been most felt in the electronic body music and electro-industrial genres.

Leæther Strip was one of the earliest and most prominent acts on Germany’s now defunct Zoth Ommog record label. For distribution outside of Europe, the music has been licensed to the U.S. labels Cleopatra Records and Metropolis Records.

After the demise of Zoth Ommog in 1999, Larsen signed to Bloodline Records, which only released a single before also going out of business. In 2005, Leæther Strip signed with the Belgian-based label Alfa Matrix until 2011.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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Genre/Influences: Electro-rock & pop.

Background/Info: Robert Eberl set up Soulimage in 2005. The band originally deals with electro-pop music, but progressively evolved towards pop & rock influences. The solo-project finally became a real band featuring 5 members. “Generator” is the official debut-EP by Soulimage.

Content: “Generator” is a cool song, which makes me think of Depeche Mode mixed with late Executive Slacks. There’s a great balance between electronics and guitar while the main strength of the song emerges during the chorus. There also is a somewhat softer, but cool remix of “Generator”.

Both other songs hold on the rock-pop approach, but they’re less melodic. One of the songs “Fall In love Again” was from the full length album “The Whole Universe”.

+ + + : “Generator” is a great title song for an EP! I like the harmony between guitar power and electronic melody lines while the vocals inject an extra power source.

– – – : Both B-side songs are not exactly adding a bonus to this EP. These songs are just average-like.

Conclusion: The title song clearly indicates that Soulimage is a band with a potential so let’s await the album to get confirmation.

Best songs: “Generator”.

Rate: (7).

Band: www.soulimage–music.de / www.facebook.com/soulimageofficial

Label: www.echozone.de / www.facebook.com/EchozoneMusic

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

Cleopatra Records has announced they’ll be releasing an exhaustive 2CD collection of the complete recordings by the Philadelphia based industrial/goth act Executive Slacks on July 10. “Complete Recordings 1982-1986” is a 2CD collection that gathers the band’s entire recorded catalogue including 22 of the 36 songs appearing for the very first time on CD.

The CD is available now for ordering right here as a low-priced 2CD set.

The Executive Slacks were formed in the 1980s in Philadelphia (USA) and were fronted by lead Matt Marrello on guitar and vocals. He was replaced in 1987 by Athan Maroulis until 1991 when the band broke up. The other band members were Bobbie Rae, John Young and Stuart Levy. Their album “Fire and Ice” (1986, Cleopatra records) included a cover of “Rock and Roll” (written by the convicted paedophile artist Gary Glitter).

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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