The Stockholm-based synthpop duo Covered in Snow – who participated on our Face The Beat 6 compilation – will release a second single, “Cemetery Club”, from their upcoming full-length album on Friday, August 23.

Cemetery Club was mixed by Aryan Marzban at Soundtrade Studios, who previously mixed Seinabo Sey, Mapei, Hov1, Benjamin Ingrosso, Jireel, Newkid to name a few.

Here’s what you can expect:

Covered in Snow consist of the Swedish synthpop duo Mikael Engström and Tom Hedlund. Formed in 2017, their music often blends elements of indie, pop, and electronic influences. The duo debuted with the conceptual EP “Collateral Damage” in 2019, and continued to release other singles like “Hurry Up to Love Here” and “Glasgow Smile”.

Covered in Snow previously also collaborated with the synthpop act Uncreated on the track “Rush”.

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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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

Genre/Influences: EBM.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Berliner trio Any Second strike back with a new EP as a teaser to their second official album. The work features two original songs plus three remixes.

Content: Any Second moves on mixing pure EBM together with Dark-Electronics. The harsh vocals in English and German accentuate rage hanging over the work. Next to both new cuts we get remixes of other songs taken from the upcoming album. Suicide Commando, Chains Of Agony and Error State have been asked to do the job.

+ + + : Any Second strikes back with a strong teaser to their new album. The songs have been well-crafted resulting in a perfect sonic osmosis of EBM and Dark-Electro. The sound might appeal for lovers of Tyske Ludder. Both new, original, songs are worthy of examination while I highly recommend the remix of “Dreamer” by Error Fate -this project was featured on one of the “Face The Beat”-samplers. I prefer “Teufelskreis” to the title song.

– – – : I’m missing power in the remixes and expected a bit more out of the Suicide Commando-remix which however remains a big name.

Conclusion: This is a powerful teaser to the upcoming album; great Dark-Body-Music made in Germany.

Best songs: “Teufelskreis”, “Scalpel”.

Rate: 7½.

Artist: www.anysecond.eu / www.facebook.com/anysecond.berlin

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

Listen to “Scalpel”:

About Any Second

Any Second is a Berlin-based EBM and dark-electro project founded in 2009 under a different line-up. Jan Kluge, a founding member, is now joined by Oliver Senger and Thomas Beschoner. The band released “Dein Schicksal” as a self-released debut in 2012 and the double-disc “Sünde: Mensch” through Out Of Line in 2018, before signing to Infacted Recordings. The label first issued the “Scalpel” EP, a teaser featuring two original songs and three remixes, ahead of the band’s third album “Enemies”, released in December 2022.

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

Encrypt10n, the solo project of NY guitarist producer Reg S., is back with an all new album in out by mid-November after several independent releases, compilation appearances and artist collaborations.

Fresh off mixing an older Encrypt10n track “Slave Scars” into a trap metal music video release (watch the video here), Reg S. explains what the new album “Hyper-Competitive Complex” is about: “It’s about abandoning all remaining genre limitations with imagining how the programming should go in any given song, relying purely on emotion crossing industrial dance with everything from hardstlye to moshing dubstep drops, a natural step for a band that has had gothic metal songs alongside nu-metal and hardcore gabber before.”

“Hyper-Competitive Complex” will be an extreme cyber metal fusion album similar to dark gaming metal soundtracks like “Doom” or “Cyberpunk”, and genre shifting bands like Fear Factory or Northlane. Reg S. adds that “the theme of the album will be unleashed in the sudden edgy dubstep drops and iron designed guitar slices of the uptempo hardcore song “Dishonest World”, a present day vision of the almost daily unfolding horrors of modern existence.”

On this album, NY artist producer Reg S. experiments with some of the latest amp sims and new sound design along with traditional guitar gear to produce diverse metal songs that genre cross intense industrial dance with the harshest modern electronic styles today.

You can already check one track, “Mobilize Yourself”, from the new album below.

Since appearing on “Face The Beat: Session 5” in 2019 with the pulsing electro industrial song “I, Targeted Individual”, Reg has released an industrial rock version of that song with guest guitars from original Dope guitarist Tripp Eisen, highlighting the industrial metal approach often heard across much of the Encrypt10n songs.

You can check that version below.

And you can compare it with the version released on “Face The Beat: Session 5”.

Since 2021, Reg is also the current bassist in the new industrial metal full band Face Without Fear, contributing programming and performing regionally around the northeast USA.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Suzi Sabotage, a dark coldwave solo artist from Helsinki, Finland, is back with a new single, “Oodi Surulle” (“Ode To Sorrow”). “Oodi Surulle” is out now both as a single and as a video. The track mixes neofolk and darksynth and on top this is Suzi’s first song in Finnish, her native language. Connaisseurs will also recognize the kantele in the music, the kantele being the national instrument of Finland.

Suzi Sabotage began her solo career in 2017 and has since also be featured on our Face The Beat compilation series where we offer a platform to new artists. She was featured with the track “Persona Non Grata” on “Face The Beat: Session 6” which you can download here for free.

You can watch the video 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

O.P.A.L., the brainchild of Puerto Rican ‘non-musician’ Jose E. Roman Garcia, celebrates its 20th anniversary this year with the release of “Pacific” and “Beatless”, two albums that celebrate the different sides of this project: ambient, dream pop, electronic, experimental, shoegaze, soundtrack, and other musical idioms. You might remember the band from its contribution to our free charity compilation “Face The Beat 6” with the track “Christin’s Song”.

“Pacific” was inspired by the ocean, several locations on the west coast of the United States, and several phenomena. It builds upon the dream pop and shoegaze sound started on the earlier “Seu Et Fang” and “Sleep Demon” EP’s, “Sleepless”, and “Insomniac” albums spread across 10 tracks.

“Beatless” is a return to O.P.A.L.’s sonic origins. A more experimental album that ventures into the ambient and soundtrack territories among five tracks averaging 8 or more minutes per track. In “Beatless”, tracks names are just numbers, placeholders for each piece. Finally “Sedative” is the project’s most recent release. Four songs showcasing the further explorations into dream pop, post-rock, and shoegaze.

Both albums and the EP are available for listening and purchase at Bandcamp as well as Spotify, Apple Music, and other streaming services.

Jose E Roman Garcia hails from Puerto Rico has not been doing music since 1991 on his label Rojo y Negro Records under his bands D35C0JóN UR84N0 (Industrial Rock), Antártica (techno), Música Casual (experimental), and O.P.A.L (ambient, dreampop, experimental, shoegaze). He recently collaborated with fellow Puerto Rican Federico Balducci for the project BR35.

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: Electro-Wave.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: This is the debut album by American solo-project Strangerscape. Fans of the side-Line compilation-series “Face The Beat” might know this project from the seventh volume.

Content: The work takes off with the familiar “All Mad Here” which was featured on “Face The Beat”. It’s the hardest cut of the work carried by a distorted-guitar like lead. The rest of the work sounds more rudimentary; the songs are driven by raw sound treatments and an unpolished production.

+ + + : Strangerscape clearly tries to deal with a very unique sound. It’s definitely minimal and rudimentary but I noticed a few songs with more potential like the opening cut “All Mad Here” and the more elaborated “Witch Hunt”.

– – – : The work is too rudimentary for my taste. The production is missing maturity and a bit more elaboration in the writing which is quite similar for the vocals.

Conclusion: This project still has to improve most aspects of the production.

Best songs: “All Mad Here”, “Witch Hunt”.

Rate: 6.

Artist:  https://strangerscape.bandcamp.com

About Strangerscape

Strangerscape is the solo project of Billy Pilgrim, based in Denver, Colorado. The project’s Bandcamp page states that Pilgrim started Strangerscape by voicemail while riding home in a cab from a Covenant show. Bandcamp tags the material as industrial, goth and alternative.

“Strangerscape Splits the Atom”, the debut album, was self-released on 29 April 2022 and holds ten tracks running about 44 minutes. Opening track “All Mad Here” had appeared earlier on the seventh volume of the Side-Line compilation series “Face The Beat”. Other tracks include “Between”, “Scream” and “The Lovers”.

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

Trepanation Recordings has announced the imminent release of “The Anchorhold Dissolution” by Leicester (UK) based Phil Stiles versus Seattle (USA) based DJ Shane Aungst on digital download and limited edition CD on 10th June. You can pre-order your copy, as well as a bundle featuring “The Anchorhold” and “The Anchorhold Dissolution”, right here from Bandcamp.

For this release the duo was influenced by the likes of Nine Inch Nail’s “Fixed” and Massive Attack Vs The Mad Professor. “Dissolution” is a fresh take on 2021’s “The Anchorhold” album with DJ Shane Aungst rebuilding the album from the ground up, remixing each of the pieces and adjusting the running order to create something entirely new. As we all know the splendid work Shane Aungst has delivered for our “Face The Beat” series, you can be sure that this album follows the same quality path.

Phil actually first encountered Shane via his remixwork for our very own “Face the Beat” series, produced in conjunction with Side-Line Magazine.

The result was not unlike the original Anchorhold collaborations, where each of the guest artists brought something wholly unique to the record, and the pair began talking. Initially, the idea was for Shane to remix one or two songs, but in the end ideas for a grander project formed – a full album remix that would allow Shane to put his own stamp on the whole record. The musical conclusion is “The Anchorhold Dissolution” billed as ‘Phil Stiles Vs Shane Aungst’.

Of the project, Phil said: “I honestly never expected that Shane would have the time or the interest to create an entirely new vision for the album. When we started talking, it was one of our various late-night rambles and we were chatting about some of the artists that we both love. Perhaps inevitably Nine Inch Nails came up, and we started talking about how amazing it was that Trent was able to present versions of his records that were substantially different and yet really added something to the experience.
The next thing I know, Shane starts sending through these amazing versions of songs from The Anchorhold. Each take offers something different, but what I didn’t release until the end was that Shane had a masterplan, creating a new sequence that saw the songs become increasingly splintered until the molten-vinyl finale of It Follows Me. For me, despite having worked for over a year on the original record, it was like hearing the album for the first time, and I am so happy that Shane was able to create something that took the intent of the original and filtered it through his own, highly individual vision.”

With new artwork, once again from Final Coil’s Jola Stiles, and additional mastering from Phil, “The Anchorhold Dissolution” is now available in pre-order. You can already check a first track, “C21H22N2O2”, right 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

Two charity releases to help Ukraine have taken the Bandcamp charts by storm in the past few weeks. There is the Side-Line powered “Electronic Resistance” compilation (and book and T-shirt) featuring 55 Ukrainian bands, and there’s the COP International powered 3-track single “Come Together” featuring members of bands including Faith No More, Stabbing Westward, Rammstein, Black Needle Noise and others.

The two releases have three things in common, they come from the indie scene, they have been created and released in record time, and both people behind the release are actually longtime friends. We decided to talk with both initiative takers, our very own chief editor Bernard Van Isacker and producer and musician John Fryer who both invested their time in creating two extremely successful charity projects.

SL: John and Bernard, you were the very first people to launch a charity project in the metal/rock and darkwave scene to help the Ukrainian people and also the ones that made it a huge success. What was the decisive moment when you said, ok, let’s do this?

John: It was late one Sunday evening and I was talking to Christian from COP International records on the phone and as always we were discussing many thing that are happening to us and the world and we got talking about the invasion and all the people suffering the effects it was having on them. So we decided to do a song to raise money. We were like yeah let’s do a song get it recorded and out by Friday of that week.

We were totally nuts to think it could have been done in such a short time. It took as 3 weeks and working around the clock not just on the music side of things but calling, emailing and texting people to get them involved in the project.

Bernard: The moment I saw the first images of the bombing, the dead civilians, I was like, I have to do something, and I have to do it right now. It took roughly 2,5 weeks to get everything done as far as the compilation goes, because I’m still working on the photo book itself which is also going to be released.

I honestly never thought Putin would actually invade Ukraine… who on earth can be so sick? It came as a big blow in my face when I heard the news. I was like, WTF, we are in the year 2022 and some lunatic still thinks it is OK to just invade another country. Looking back, we should have known this was going to happen, all the signals were there for years, especially after he invaded the Crimean with his ‘green’ men. Putin has a track record which is just plain wrong in all its facets and that was just one of the examples that should have made us realize far worse was bound to happen. Add to that that Europe acts like a junkie when it comes to oil and gas…

SL: I know you know each other rather well, it’s like same minds think alike?

John: I have known Bernard for many a moon now and he has a big heart also. Even though we didn’t discuss this with each other we have both come to the same conclusion of what a terrible thing that is happening in Ukraine and want to help in some way.

Bernard: I appreciate John a lot as well and I know he has the heart at the right place. It didn’t surprise me that he ended up with a similar idea. I think we both are very much affected by what is happening so it came as a natural thing to help in the way we know best, John by making music, me by setting up a project and use the Side-Line promo machinery to turn the project into a success.

SL: Can you both describe how you set up your projects?

Bernard: Within 3 days most of the tracks were delivered by the participating bands, some even recorded new material during those 3 days. I then had to literally chase for the necessary paperwork, because the last thing these Ukrainian bands are busy with or need now is bureaucracy, which I totally understand, but it is and was a necessary evil which took me around 2 extra weeks. In the meantime I had contacted Erlend Eilertsen (Lights A.M, Essence Of Mind) in Norway if he could make sure the sound would be ok because some of the sourced material literally was recorded while the bombs were falling like I said. Other bands had nothing left but rough demos, so there was some work needed to get everything polished.

John: Christian and I had done a similar thing before but on a smaller scale. This time we wanted to reach a much bigger audience so we decided to reach for the stars. I’ve known some of the artists for a long time but we also got a lot of help from people we asked like Geno Lenardo, Marija Buljeta, Rod Saez Chavez who also joined in asking people to join our project and we thank them and everyone else who has helped along the way and the people who have donated money to the project.

Side-Line: Bernard, you decided to get to work with Ukrainian bands only. How on earth did you get hold of 55 bands in such a record time?

Bernard: Ah yes, I forgot to tell that. Very simple, I contacted a few bands in direct, but most were actually triggered by a Facebook message I spread in Ukraine. People there reacted very quickly from allover Ukraine, also fans contacted bands after seeing the message. That’s one of the few times when I thought that Facebook did a proper constructive job.

Side-Line: John, you chose to work on a cover of John Lennon’s “Come Together”…

John: John Lennon wrote “Come Together” and we re-imagined it and added Queens [we will rock you]. It is a cover of the Beatles song mixed with a Queen song and we changed the words to [we will stop you]. As in the name, we wanted people to come together to help. This kind of invasion should not be happening. It’s horrifying to think that things like this can still happen in this day and age.

Side-Line: John, you made a supergroup – à la Bruderschaft – but this time from the metal scene featuring members of Faith No More, Stabbing Westward, Rammstein, and a lot more bands. How did this process technically work?

John: I wouldn’t say Metal Scene I would say Alternative Music Scene.

Doing this kind of thing these days is much easier I would say as you have the internet and that’s how we got everyone from around the world on the track. We would email, text or call and if they were willing to be involved we would send them the track and they would record their parts as most people these days have the ability to record at home. I ended up with about 200 tracks of audio and it was like fitting a jigsaw puzzle together and everyone is super happy with the end result.

Bernard: Now that you mention Bruderschaft, I worked on that charity project when it was released on Alfa Matrix back in 2003. You know, working on projects like these makes you realize that you can indeed help people, you just have to use your talents and network. And if everyone would do this, the world would be a much better place anyhow.

Side-Line: If I’m not wrong, this is the first time that 2 band scene players, COP International and Side-Line took the number 2 and 3 spot at the same time on Bandcamp. Kinda huge. What is your feedback on this?

John: In fact “Come Together [we will stop you] reached number 1 on Bandcamp and we have raised around 10,000$ and the artists that are involved with us in this have donated 100% from the money raised but unfortunately Bandcamp have taken their % from the donated sales and we are probably going to have to pay the publishers too even though it’s a god damn charity record to raise money for those who are suffering from this horrific and despicable war.

Bernard: Bandcamp and Paypal indeed take a big chunk. Luckily Bandcamp Friday helped a lot to recoup some of the costs that were involved.

As of this morning, Side-Line has already donated over 8000 EURO (8674,96 US$) to Ukrainian aid. Our compilation is still doing very well and I foresee to be sending hundreds of parcels with merchandise by mid-May as well.

As far as Bandcamp goes, it does make sense that we both stormed the charts there. You don’t find an artist like Rihanna on Bandcamp do you, I think she doesn’t even know it exists. Bandcamp mainly is a platform for the indie crowd, whether it is darkwave, metal, folk, jazz, blues or any other alternative (sub)style that often is not captured by the mainstream charts. So, we charted right in the indie scene, and that’s a very good thing.

Side-Line: Bernard, Side-Line is not a label, but a magazine, why was this project not released via a label?

Bernard: Good question but very easy to answer as well. These kind of projects need a very short roadmap from idea to execution, and since I worked with 55 bands things needed to be done quickly. In short you can not wait for months to get the ball rolling with these kind of projects, you need to act fast and thus instead of having this project go through various hands with different views and ideas, I decided to do it myself and handle everything from A until Z. Luckily Benoit Blanchart (Alfa Matrix, Aiboforcen) quickly volunteered to work on the book layout when I told him about the idea late February this year. Lots of work, which basically happened during long nights after my daytime job and all other work I have. But since I’m also responsible for the ‘Face The Beat’ compilation series, compiling it was not really different as far as the approach goes, just a lot faster when it came to releasing it.

The major difference however was the multitude of charities that had to be funded this time. I usually donate towards 2 or 3 charities per release. But here I spent a whole morning wiring money to all kind of Ukrainian organizations and also to bands who then did local charity. Lots of work, but I guess it’s more than worth it.

Side-Line: How do you both see things evolve in Ukraine?

John: We are hoping this ends now and the killing must stop and Ukraine can be re-built and bring back the misplaced people to their land and rebuild their lives. It’s amazing to see the resolve of these people through this tragedy.

Bernard: I’m personally not really optimistic as far as the length of this full blown war goes. If I see the increasing aggressive tone from all parts in the Russian society – just look how they have set up this huge Z-propaganda – I don’t think this will be over pretty soon. Hence why we need to support the population right now and continue to do so. The country is under heavy shelling in the east since a few days now and there is more happening. Putin started to roll a snowball downhill that is increasing in velocity and size.

I would not be surprised they’ll do sabotage acts inside Finland and Sweden to disrupt the society there since those countries clearly will choose to adhere to the NATO. Railway sabotage, massive hacking of public service networks, etc., they have done it in the past in the Baltic states so I see them returning to that modus operandi with Finland and Sweden especially. This is just the beginning. And we haven’t talked about how China is behaving in all of this.

But, one thing is quite clear, Putin seriously miscalculated what a courageous people the Ukrainians are. And especially because of that we have to start thinking of how to help Ukrainians to rebuild their country after this mad war is over and done.

Side-Line: Bernard, you are still in contact with all the band’s on a weekly basis, how are they?

Bernard: At least once a week they receive an update on the compilation, and I usually get a lot of messages back from the bands telling me how they are, where they are, where they have fled to this week, etc.. I wouldn’t say it is depressing, but it’s not really uplifting either. Having said that, I’m here, safe in my attic, they are there, unsure what will come next. So who am I to complain? I’m proud of every single one of those bands.

Side-Line: Is this the final word or do you plan to continue with this?

Bernard: I don’t know for you John, but I will most probably work on another project in the near future to help and collect funds for Ukraine. The first plans are on the table as we speak. Honestly, I am very positively surprised how our scene has been showing that they really care for the idea and purpose behind these 2 releases. A BIG thank you to all those who donated and who made these projects big successes.

John: We hope the song will continue to keep raising money. So if you have read this and want a way to help please head over to Bandcamp and buy the songs as every little bit will help in the long run. A big thank you again for everyone involved and those who have donated and to those who be donating in the future.

Below are the two charity releases.

Side-Line also covered John Fryer’s ‘Not Another Vampire Song’.

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

(Picture by Jasyn Bangert – God Module) Out now via Bandcamp is Shane Aungst’s “The Zombietapes (Face The Beat 7 Megamix)”.

Seattle (United States) based DJ Shane Aungst produced this monster megamix featuring a total of 38 tracks from “Face The Beat: Session 7” during long evening sessions in February and March 2022. He soon talked about the zombietapes, hence the title of this megamix. The original compilation is available here. Expect an interview with Shane Aungst in the next days

The release holds 3 parts being just over 49 minutes each totaling just over 147 minutes and holds extensive remix and sampling work by Shane Aungst. The full remix is available for free with all donations going to charity like every release on our Bandcamp page. This is the 3rd time already that Shane Aungst has produced a remix for Side-Line’s infamous compilation series. The two previous megamixes were “Shane Aungst vs Face The Beat 5 – Megamix” and “Shane Aungst vs Face The Beat 6 – Megamix“.

Tracklist

SIDE A

1. Intro By Viscera Drip
2. Midian Dite – Hermosa Sumisa
3. Histeria – Proceso Inquisición
4. Suppressor – Schweigen
5. Sapphira Vee – What Is This
6. Dance My Darling – Love & Hate (Centhron Remix)
7. Preemptive Strike 0.1 – Preemptive Strike (2021 Version – Face The Beat Edit)
8. Khmar – Dampfkraft
9. Reality’s Despair – The Other Side
10. Empyres – The Sirens Call
11. Blut Reaktor – Beneath The Judas Tree
12. Chem – Cieni
13. Sodomy Down The Cross – Zurück In Den Wald

SIDE B

1. Helmynthe – Aromat Ammiaka
2. Ctrl+Cmd+Destroy_Alternis (Oot Mix)
3. Eric Dillon – Come Closer (Soulchasm Mix) Instrumental Master
4. Shadow System – Smile Before The Bullets (Sitd Remix)
5. Fatherless Child – Share If You Like Shave If You Lick
6. Psychosomatik – Damage Done (Original)
7. MATT HART – I Am Overlord
8. Imjudas – Ritual (Reichsfeind Rmx)
9. Sun’s Spectrum – Intrusion
10. Last Activity – Shadows
11. Doktor Foxx – Cold On
12. LCM – Bodies Collide
13. R.I.P. (Roppongi Inc. Project ) – Bazooka

SIDE C

1. Scars Are Soulless – Eyes Of The Deceiver
2. Distoxia – Legiones Invertidas
3. Unidad Obscura – Ni Un Minuto Atras
4. Deadjump – Save Me From My Fear (Burnout Mix)
5. Notstandskomitee_Bitcrash
6. Waijdan – Rotting Gardens
7. John Bérb-Eluha – Fantômas
8. Shinigami Ind – Quiero
9. Atonal – Crash Feat. Anna Soares
10. Escupemetralla – Maldacena Duality
11. Rabbits Wear Boots – We Will Not Become A Number
12. Against I – Scum

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

Today we see the release of the new album by the London based UK dark industrial act MATT HART, who you will know from our most recent free download compilation “Face The Beat: Session 7”. “Below The Terra Pt.1” follows the first single from the album, “To The Core”, which was released late last year.

Here’s a video promo clip.

The release is a move away from the guitar driven “Terra 3808” and offers a more electronic direction through the 9 tracks and should please fans of ESA, 3TEETH, Hocico etc.. The release was mixed by Adi Calef of DNA Studios, mastered by Krischan Wesenberg of Rotersand with artwork by Vlad McNealy of Kallistidesign.

You can download the album below or order the CD right here from 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 Brazilian darkwave act AL (Anastase Kyriakos and Luciana Maria Sanches) is releasing a video for the song “Void”, which is included in our most recent free download compilation “Face The Beat: Session 7”. First recorded in 2012, in São Paulo, the video for “Void” was conceived for a song by Error Fate, but not finished at the time. Ten years later, the track was updated and edited to become the AL track “Void”.

Says the band: “That search for the essence and many other elements of the AL sound are there: the anger, the intensity, the loneliness, the dreamlike (or nightmarish) atmosphere. And most importantly, the inexhaustible search for meaning in some thing, any thing, outside or within oneself — the intention to fill the void of everyday life, even knowing how counterproductive this is in the face of human inability to control one’s own feelings. The repetition is there. The paralysis is there. The resignation is there. But also the hatred that propels, the desire to change some thing, any thing.”

The video for “Void” was directed by Anastase Kyriakos, the creator of the melodies behind the AL sound.

Here’s the version as it appeared on “Face The Beat: Session 7”.

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

Our free download compilation “Face The Beat: session 7” has stormed the Bandcamp industrial music charts in no time reaching the number 1 spot overnight. That’s faster than ever before. This ‘mastodont’ release, as someone put it on Twitter, features no less than 135 tracks featuring the broad spectrum of subgenres in the darkwave music scene and coming from bands from allover the world.

Just like last time Side-Line received a huge amount of submissions hence why it also took a while to complete it. We were at the same time also helped out by several labels who offered material to be included on this compilation including but not limited to darkTunes Music Group, Insane Records, SkyQode, Dungeon Recordings and Alfa Matrix. It thus became again a collection of new and established acts.

The release itself was compiled by our chief editor Bernard Van Isacker in Winter of 2021 during long listening sessions in an Istanbul hotel, an attic in Ypres and a holiday house in Eupen. The mastering & sound adjustment was executed by Erlend Eilertsen (Lights A.M, Essence Of Mind) in Norway. And as it happens, Shane Aungst from Seattle is already working on a next promotional surprise.

All proceedings will again go to the various charities we support and this time we will also donate to humanitarian aid for refugees in Eastern Europe due to the ongoing war there which we truly hope will end soon.

You can download the release right below. Enjoy and thanks to all bands involved!

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

CHEM formed in 2005 and recorded two demo albums in 2010 and 2011. Since 2016, the project has been performing live, the same year when a first album was released: “Norma”. In 2020, the project’s second album “Zdani” was released and in parallel, the project released various remixes and participated in various compilations, such as “Face The Beat: Session 6” and “Dark Virus X – Mas”.

CHEM is back now with a new album on Insane Records, their third so far. Titled “Aorta” the new album of this Belarusian project offers dark electro combined with various other genres.

Next to the 11 new tracks on the album you will also find 4 reworks CL-20, Code : Red Core, Portvain and Tomzigota. The album will be out as a 6 panel CD digipak – order it here on Bandcamp – as well with all copies being hand numbered.

You can check out the album via this video preview.

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

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. The last interview in this series is one with Bernard Van Isacker. I definitely had to close the circle with this interview. Being active as Side-Line’s chief redactor and as one of the Alfa Matrix label owners, Bernard and I became close friends. We didn’t always agree on some topics, which finally brought me to leave Side-Line as staff member in 2016. We remained in touch and decided to move on working together, but in a different format. A lot of things have been said and written about Bernard -not always kind things – but I got the privilege and opportunity to see how he’s working and all what he’s doing. I can only, but deeply respect his involvement. Time to ask him some questions.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Lots of people from this scene know who you are, but how would you introduce yourself and how did you get in touch with the Electro/Industrial/Gothic scene? 

Bernard: My name is Bernard Van Isacker, 47 years old, and I have 2 kids. Magnus, 4 years old, and Sebastian, 16 years old, from my first marriage. I work currently as a social media manager, web developer and CRM admin for a multinational. I also run 2 holiday houses, but for the past 2 years they have been empty due to the corona pandemic. That was a big blow to our budget, so I had to take extra work to keep on paying our bills. But we survive.

I sleep basically 5 hours per night, take a small breakfast and lots of coffee at 6 in the local Panos –both the owners Mario and Hannelore are sweethearts -before I start work at 7:30 until, 10, 11 at night. I’ll probably die working (laughs).

I first got introduced to the Dark-Wave scene when I was 14 years old and was sitting next to a guy in class who said he had heard a really sick tape. That was Nitzer Ebb’s “That Total Age”. But you have to know that I was already heavily into Depeche Mode and New-Beat (yes!) so the ‘move’ to more industrial sounds was not really a surprise. Anyhow, Nitzer Ebb had more or less the same BPM as new beat so that was easy (laughs). By the time I was fifteen I was listening to Cat Rapes Dog. Their “Maximum Overdrive” remains legendary as far as I am concerned. And after that I got hooked to Inside Treatment, Pouppée Fabrikk, and other bands from Scandinavia. I only started to listen to German acts when I went to university, and that included bands such as Fortification 55, Project Pitchfork, Psychic Force, Trial, etc..  

As we speak I’m in the middle of compiling our newest volume in the “Face The Beat”-series for Side-Line. The 7^th so far. But shoot with the questions Stephane!

Q: I guess less people know you graduated in journalism so what did you try to add/change when joining Side-Line? And how did you happen to join Side-Line magazine? 

Bernard: That’s correct, I graduated in journalism and worked at a couple of newspapers before diving into the startup world of ecommerce. That was pre-Google so SEO was still something very rudimentary and traffic was basically created via price comparison sites and massive mailings, you can call it pure spam (laughs). 

But I worked for 4 years as a journalist, was able to write a lot of solid articles, but I got fed up with the easy way things were covered (while we all knew it were lies) and the easy way things were NOT covered (because some bishop threatened to sue the newspaper –and me, for defamation). I left that world disgusted. Add to that it is one of the worst paid jobs ever. 

I got fed up with the easy way things were covered in the press

Anyhow, whilst studying one of my friends, Yves Van De Veken, told me there was this magazine that was going to be published with an attached CD compilation full of Dark-Wave music and that they would have the first issue with the sampler later that week in the Metrophone cellar, in Antwerp that is, where I studied. I got the magazine, which was in a very stylish layout, liked the CD sampler and was hooked on the review section to read about new bands. I was at that time already working part-time as journalist whilst studying, and I got access to bigger bands which I thought could fit Side-Line pretty well, so I sent a mail to Seba (who I thought was a girl) and told ‘her’ that I could arrange bigger interviews for them. Seba wanted to test the waters I guess, and I told that I could do Hooverphonic, but could also check with Dirk Da Davo  in the next week to show what I was capable of. Apparently ‘she’ really liked what I wrote and asked for more. Paradise Lost, Marc Almond, Bel Canto, … the list of interviews I did for Side-Line grew by the day.  

But I had never met any of the team. The first time I met someone from the Side-Line team back then was actually you, but I can’t recall where that was, I think it was in Brussels, but for what exactly?

A few weeks later I met Seba –who you told was NOT a girl, at a Die Form concert in Ghent I think. If I’m not wrong Cédric and Benoit were also there. Since then we were like a band of brothers who went to concerts, either together or with one or two others. Sweet times I must say, we were all very young, had not yet lived ‘real’ life with all its hurdles and accidents.

Q: Early 2008 was a turning point in the magazine’s history. Former chief-redactor Séba Dolimont decided to stop his involvement so you became the new chief-redactor. The printed magazine definitely stopped and Side-Line remained only active as online magazine. How do you look back at the loss of the printed magazine and how did the transition happen? 

Bernard: I basically had always pushed to keep the magazine alive as a print magazine, but at the same time I had launched www.side-line.com in 1999 because the initial Side-Line website –on a different url, was basically just a page, looked bloody awful and served no purpose –no offense Ronan Harris. So when Seba told me that he had decided to stop with the printed magazine, my mental switch was fast and I decided to focus on the online magazine which by then was attracting a tenfold of the printed magazine anyhow. It was a no-brainer.

Going online only? It was a no-brainer.

With Seba stopping, we also lost most of the external contributors, which is logical since a print magazine has a more loose team whereas a news website has to work with a very productive small team, as Side-Line.com was by then already producing daily news updates. A small team is always easier to work with, and I had seen that with the print version of Side-Line I was already doing most of the interviews, delivering 99% of the news, while you already did most of the reviews. So, we had a winning team anyhow, why change that?

In short, yes, it had an emotional impact, but not a practical one. We had a good run, but the times were changing. And I for sure was not planning to miss the online train as you know.

Q: I think there’re significant differences between a printed magazine and an online page. Can you give us the pros and cons especially from your perspective? 

Bernard: Yes, the differences are there for sure and I think you will agree with me, but tell me if you don’t! I will give you the pros and cons as far as online is concerned, the cons will largely cover the pros for print.

Pros: 

• Write, enter it in the CMS, add a picture and post. Simple. In short: it’s fast.
• The news goes out instantly via a wide array of tools. One post on Side-Line reaches around 5000 people in the next few minutes via our different channels, above and under the hood. By the end of the day –when syndication and newsletters have kicked in, we have a 10.000 reach per item. This doesn’t mean people have read it, it means that they have at least seen the picture and title.
• The articles can be as long or as short as you want.
• We can add multimedia, which is a good way to add metadata to your articles. This was limited back in 1999 when we went online though.
• A small team can move mountains.

Cons: 

• There is a strict daily deadline to maintain each day.
• The rapidness also gives room to errors you might not have noticed or simply wrong info (although we only had a few incidents with that).
• Getting decent daily news is sometimes difficult, other times you get inundated by news,
• Some labels and bands have no clue how to write press texts and fill it with promo blabla. If there are no 4 lines of good solid facts, I usually do not publish it.
• In our case I have to be technically savy, have seo skills and have IT skills. And I know how to write. That’s a lot if something goes wrong, and we have had times when it really went wrong.
• Online income generation as a news website is not easy. Most of the labels still have no clue what online means and still think in an old school way. 
• A small team means problems when one leaves or falls sick.
• A magazine accept slow reading, a website not.

Q: Do you’ve an idea who’s reading Side-Line and is there a kind of reader’s profile? 

Bernard: Actually I do, thanks to a combination of datasets, which are limited as I hate being followed myself. The last dataset of November shows that 31% is female, 67% is male and 2% identifies not as male or female. Most readers come from the USA, followed by the UK, Canada, Germany, France, Australia, Mexico, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Poland, Holland, Greece and Denmark. We got data from 45 countries in total once we filtered out the accidental and spam traffic.

When it comes to the profiles, we have data of a survey that happened a few months ago on our website. 8200+ respondents later we see that half (51%) has an office job, 36% has an outside or factory job and 11% is unemployed and 2% is enjoying their pension. 

The same survey also showed us info regarding age and it goes synchronically with the data from our Facebook page: 4% is between 18-24, 34% is between 25-34, 25% is between 35-44, 27% is between 45-54, 5% is between 56-64 and 3% is older than 64. That info again corresponds more or less with the survey we did.

It shows we have mostly a very active public between 25 and 54 years old.

Q: Back in time the Side-Line forum was quite ‘popular’, but unfortunately also a place for bullshit and conflicts. Did you expect this evolution and was it the main reason to stop the forum? 

Bernard: The Side-Line forum was indeed very popular and at times had 20 to 50.000 visits a day. It was so popular that it had become a full time task to keep the spammers out, to keep things civilized, etc.. The discussion there were legendary. Some were in it for the fun, others to learn something new, and others just to anonymously troll. It was the graveyard of subtleness though (laughs).

The Side-Line forum was the graveyard of subtleness…

It ran its course, but I was so glad I could kill that baby. Just with one click: bye bye! By the end it had become uncontrollable and we had to delete 90% of all posts because the trolling really went overboard. No loss, it’s part of history, but I still have to laugh when I think of the silliness of it all.

Do you know that we once launched a T-shirt line where you could have your nickname printed on it? We sold a few hundred of those… really fun times!

Q: In the meantime, you also became one of the owners of Alfa Matrix, which became one of the leading labels of underground Electro music. What’s your input and impact in the label activities? 

Bernard: I take care of the IT, web dev, communication and digital distribution. I leave the A&R to Seba, as we each have our own department. But we do have to agree all 3 for signing a band or not. I also often am abroad and try to hook up with the bands in real life.

Q: Let’s go on with a rather tricky question. I think it’s very confusing for a lot of people to understand you’re chief-editor of Side-Line and still one of the Alfa Matrix owners. That sounds pretty incestuous, don’t you think? How do you manage both activities without too much conflict of interest?  

Bernard: Nothing tricky at all. I have never hidden the fact that I’m also behind Alfa Matrix and I am proud of it. Actually, I am not the only label guy behind a magazine, check Blabbermouth for instance, it is also successfully run by label people, possible because we have intel on both sides of the medal.

As far as conflict of interest is concerned: there is none. I don’t intervene in the reviews at all, and that’s where there could be a conflict of interest because reviews are subjective an sich. When it comes to news articles, Alfa Matrix gets as much attention as for instance Metropolis, and I bring it as dry as I do with all the other articles: facts, facts, facts and no promo speech.. Actually, sometimes Alfa Matrix bands complain because they have not gotten a good score on Side-Line. I then have to explain that reviews are completely out of my control to keep a healthy balance in the magazine.

I have a very clean conscience.

That other people claim otherwise on Facebook or so is their problem. I have a very clean conscience regarding this. 

Q: It’s also interesting to see next to Alfa Matrix, Side-Line is actually releasing digital compilations; the magazine also became a kind of label! The “Face The Beat”-series became a real success story. What’s the main goal of this compilation series and how do you select the artists? 

Bernard: Well, the move is not so strange I must say. In the early days there was Side-Line Records, some kind of precursor to Alfa Matrix. Then Side-Line produced compilations to go with the magazines. I just brought it to the 21^st century when I took over and compiled and launched the first “Face The Beat” as a Facebook compilation, hence the name, 10 years ago. 

The main goal is reflected by what Side-Line has all been about even when Seba first launched it: get people to know music from established and new bands. It’s a vision I embraced since the start. I added an extra touch and that is that all revenue goes to charity. 

The compilations are compiled like this: I do a call for submissions on all channels we have, there is one reminder and then I lock myself up for weeks with the material that I have received, usually thousands of demos and completed tracks. Once a first selection is made, I go through the material again that is selected and do an extra selection to make sure the best tracks are included. After that I send out the necessary paperwork and then usually almost everyone responds quickly. There are usually only 2 or 4 bands that are too late or never respond. It’s always a race to meet the deadline I have in my mind, but I usually make it on time. In the meantime, I usually have worked on the artwork and worked through the material with Erlend Eilertsen from Essence Of Mind and Lights A.M to make sure the tracks get the best possible sound on the compilation.

After that I launch it on Bandcamp basically and the platform does its work, with some help of me (laughs). It’s all a very intuitive process where clear communication is king. 

A lot of labels and bands still haven’t learned from ecommerce.

Q: You definitely were one of the first from this scene to have understood the impact streaming platforms would have. I remember you got a lot of hard reactions about it, but today you can tell to all of your critics you were right! How do you look back at this period and how do you expect things evolving during the next few years? 

Bernard: Yes, I must say that the short sight of a lot of people in the record business was reflected in the harsh attacks I got in interviews, on radio programs and on social media. Some even went so far to send me mails accusing me of killing the industry, that I was a traitor. One of my biggest critics in the end contacted me back years later saying that he was wrong and that I was right. I still appreciate him till the day of today. Only great people can apologize and say they were wrong.

The thing is, it’s not that I like this or that evolution, it is that I just can see what is going to happen and where our music industry is heading towards. Some new techniques will never take off, but it is my job at Alfa Matrix to keep an eye on what is happening in the industry and what is going to happen and see if we should invest time and money in it.

My hunch that propriety was going to be over and done with except for a solid and loyal base has proven to be correct. The success of both Spotify and Bandcamp show that my theory on mixed digital music consumption was spot on and that my critics didn’t have a clue what was going to happen.

It’s actually not the first time that I have had a conflict with my colleagues in the music sector. Back when I worked at an ecommerce startup, some shop owners said that we were killing their business. But when I once worked together with such a critical shop owner annex distributor he was unable to deliver the goods… because we sold tenfold of what he was able to get (laughs). One of the biggest channels of sales for that ecommerce shop was actually Side-Line. To give you an idea, when Depeche Mode released their single boxes, Side-Line single handedly sold all, but literally all of the stock available in Belgium in just a few days. They had to restock with copies from all over Europe because they were in limited supply. The same for the Erasure single boxes. And as far as the Covenant boxset “Synergy: Live In Europe” is concerned. That is the release we sold 10 times what the Belgian distributor had promised he was able to get… (laughs). And still we were the bad guys (laughs even louder).

I have to thank Warren Harrison from Hungry Lucy for that way of forward thinking. He opened my eyes as far as digital music is concerned and taught me to dissociate my own wishes from that of a public’s wish, and to open my eyes for new technologies. I doubt he realizes the impact he had on me. Now he knows (smiles). A good guy he is, a pity we lost contact a bit.

And the future will continue, but more in the propriety field where things are moving rapidly, think of NFT’s. Len Lemeire planted that seed in my head actually. Add to that that we will sooner or later be faced with cryptocurrency payments on a larger scale. I have a few other new technologies in mind that might be big in the near future.

One thing though that will remain key, is data. A lot of labels and bands still haven’t learned from ecommerce –namely that it is an opportunity to know who your fans are, and  they are now again missing the boat as they have put all their money on Facebook and other platforms that lock their fans into their platform without offering you any way to communicate except via their own platform. Deadly on the long run.

There is a story to this actually. I was approached by at least 2 major Indie labels in the past few years asking if I would be willing to –listen well, sell all of Side-Line’s data in order to set up an own label of Electro-Pop music. And these are indies who have had BIG artists on their roster. But they have never ever gathered data, never had a decent newsletter, in short they were flying blind once things went sour. 

Having said that, I also see bad evolutions, the platforms work more and more via AI to push releases to people in order to keep them as much as possible on their platforms. It unfortunately also leads to tracks, which are made to trigger these AI powered algorithms. The first automatically generated tracks are very ‘promising’ and they have been released for quite some time now. I personally am not happy with this evolution, as it removes the human genius from it, but like I said, we risk to see this more and more.

Q: It all looks like ‘younger’ people show less interest to write for a magazine. Why is it and how do you expect things evolving? 

Bernard: If we look across the board, most print magazines from our scene are gone, and when we look to the online press, most online magazines from our scene are gone or are unable to keep up with the daily news pace like we do for instance. I often get requests from people if they can start writing for us, but their mail always ends with this question: ‘How much do you pay?’ Knowing that we have never received any money, it’s rather cynic that people who have never proven a thing think they can ask money… So I will repeat it again, THERE IS NO MONEY TO MAKE with an online magazine about Dark-Wave. 

As far as contributors is concerned, I am happy with the team I work with now. I can count on you and Jan-Ronald, basically the main contributors next to me. You both have a very professional attitude and we are friends most and first of all.

The evolution will depend on the fact if there will be more people willing to invest money and time in these kind of projects like running a magazine. We all know that nowadays you will not earn a living from it, on the contrary, you need some financial backup to keep a website up and running, pay the licences for plugings, data storage, and so on. And that’s without the hours of unpaid work on top each day.

Q: I already had discussions with people –including label owners, who no longer belief in the real impact of magazines today because of streaming platforms and other channels like YouTube. What’s your point of view and do you think magazines are enough taking care to adapt and renew themselves? 

Bernard: Well, this is not a problem for us honestly. Side-Line online is still about kickstarting new and young bands. And that’s mainly why people check Side-Line as we have the finger on the pulse to know what might become hot and what not. Remember Suicide Commando, Apoptygma Berzerk, etc..? They got pushed by Side-Line back in the days when they were largely unknown. Once we give these small bands an initial push they have to continue and work from their side as well and that’s when they get in the flow of things with the streaming platforms for instance nowadays.

Side-Line online is still about kickstarting new and young bands.

Take a magazine like Side-Line away and many small bands will never ever get a platform to develop. The same goes for our compilations, they serve to push smaller bands to a wider public. Consider us as an incubator for talents.

Know that I also regularly get contacted by the biggest bands in the scene directly with news, because they know we will publish it and they know we have a very good reach on a daily basis.

The AI used by streaming companies is a very big part in the music consumption and trying to trigger it is not something that is easily done especially with smaller bands on indie labels like I said earlier. The streaming Ais therefore still leave a lot of pearls untouched. Roughly 5 to 7 million songs on Spotify have never been played you know… That is HUGE.

That’s where magazines enter. Take me for instance, I basically have no time to start looking for new music, and I always look into our own review section for new material. So as a gatekeeper a magazine still has its purpose, at least from my point of view. I once did a test and played a few tracks and checked what the services would deliver as suggestions. They didn’t offer anything extra that interested me compared to what I got from your reviews, but instead offered a lot of junk extra so that I would have to weed out anyhow. It kinda proves that these Ais are still not capable of matching the human ear and feeling. Maybe that will happen in the future, I think so, or I would be really disappointed in our human genius (laughs).

That is of course as far as my own consumption goes. 

Now, I talked about the gate keeping function which has been the purpose of a good magazine. It’s my belief that a niche magazine which has a steady output of well selected news and articles will keep that gatekeepers function intact. Let me explain, most music magazines have over the years changed their focus on more popular bands, new music styles, added games, clothes, TV and showbiz in their mix just to get traffic. Look at NME for instance that is now ruled by clickbait articles and rubbish content. It has nothing left that reminds of the good old NME. All of its roots have been removed for the sake of clicks.

Another example is Techcrunch. This online tech magazine was the best back in time, but then it got taken over, and suddenly they started to pour out tons of clickbait articles, which had nothing to do with what the magazine was about in its early days and that was: talking about startups. I used to be a daily reader, I stopped simply because I couldn’t keep up with all the extra news being posted that was way out of the scope they had in the past. 

Less is often more, also for magazines. 

It comes to this, stick to your roots and make sure you have a continuous and regular number of articles posted.

From a label’s point of view, I have always worked on both. Now, since I usually work with new bands, it’s not always easy to have them launched rapidly like we could in the past. It now takes time. And I also understand the labels when they no longer see clear. There are roughly 1500 journalists out there that claim to have a magazine that handles Dark-Wave. 80% of which basically has a blog that has 10 visitors a day. Good for them, but I don’t believe in them. Basically, and we have to be very honest, there are close to no magazines left in this scene with a wacky team like ours that is day in day out constantly working to get a certain number of articles online.  

Those left still reach around 50.000 people daily on their websites and socials combined per day. And that’s a rough estimate but I’m very close, I think. Not exactly peanuts in a scene this small like ours. And quite a good crowd to for instance push smaller, unknown bands to.

In short, yes, I do believe in our future, as long as we stay loyal to our vision and mission. The numbers show it, we are reaching more people than ever, and not thanks to Facebook, but thanks to our daily newsletter, push notifications and all the other channels combined.

Q: Next to Side-Line and Alfa Matrix you’ve been also involved as organizer -and later as organizer ad hoc, of the now defunct famous Belgian underground festival ‘Eurorock’. A lot of things have been said about that festival. How do you look back at this event(s) with hindsight? 

Bernard: A bit like SABENA, such a bad experience never again (laughs). 

I’m still unable to talk about the first 2 editions I invested money in, due to some legal matters, but suffice to say you always have to look out who to trust. I lost a lot of money there, and evicted myself right on time from that very toxic situation. The 3^rd time, I was contracted – as I never wanted to be an investor again- but never got paid. In the end I had to solve most of the shit together with the stage managers who just like me were contracted and never paid. The shit thrown at us afterwards by people who have no clue is  exemplary yet not exceptional in this or any other scene. 

I made sure that every single band I had placed there was paid correctly. Most were grateful I made this happen, others cashed in and badmouthed me in public. So far for the thanks (grins). But I never forget… nor forgive (laughs).

Q: I know you prefer avoiding the question, but next to music you’re also politically engaged. What can you tell us about the subject?

Bernard: I’m not really trying to avoid it, I just think it’s not part of my work for Side-Line or Alfa Matrix, period. I always have tried to never mix it with both although some people are trying to frame me one way or another, usually because they don’t get my sarcasm. But now that you ask about it, yes I’m politically active in one of the biggest elected and ruling parties here in Flanders. That has been an excuse from extremists and activists to attack me in public, call my employer and frame me as ultra conservative, ultra catholic or even a pur-sang fascist. Well, sorry for those lunatics, but I’m as much a nationalist as any Norwegian hanging the Norwegian flag in their garden (that’s roughly every Norwegian with a garden) and as catholic as Macron. And as far as the other words used by ‘my’ critics, I don’t like the woke culture that is being pushed in our faces. Period.  

For the rest I’m happily married with a Mexicana, one of my best friend is a Turkish Muslim, one of my closest friends is transgender, and in my scarce free time I help people with learning disabilities to learn social skills. That should say enough. For the rest, I keep politics out of Side-Line and far away from Alfa Matrix because it’s basically not music. I don’t ask our readers about their political ideas either and I frankly don’t care.

However, I must say that over the years we never had remarks from readers when we post reviews or news from hardcore communist bands, but that we always get harassed by a very tiny group when a more conservative band is being covered. That’s a pure fact. I never discriminate, but I see some others discriminating people because they don’t agree with the ideas of this or that band. Rather disturbing…

I have a very good story actually regarding this. I once got an email from a guy, who started a rant because we had posted a review of a certain band on Side-Line. He called them fascists, racists, etc, etc.. But when I went checking his Facebook profile, I immediately understood why he was specifically attacking that band. His Facebook was filled with anti-semitic and anti-Israel rants… and the band he talked shit about had a Jewish singer. Shocking, but reality. 

The same for some BLM activists who have been attacking Side-Line in the past because we talk about –and I quote: ‘White men bands’. It is the same as attacking Motown Records because they have a  black repertoire. Most of the criticism can be explained by checking who is saying what about whom.

I know 2 famous bands in this scene who have made anti-semitic rants behind closed doors, I was shocked and told them this was really not right. One band member –member himself of a communist party, has since then been talking shit about me whenever and wherever he can, I guess in order to cover himself in case I make his name and emails with rants public. I also know bands who are very homophobic, but for the sake of things pretend they are pro LGTB-rights. In short, if I would write a book about the dirty wash I have witnessed over the years I think I would have a bestseller (grins). 

I personally don’t believe in left or right. I believe in doing good or doing bad.

Anyhow, I personally don’t believe in left or right. I believe in doing good or doing bad. I prefer doing good, under what political umbrella that may be. I also believe in taking responsibility for your own actions, and hard work. Locally I’m quite appreciated because I talk and listen to everyone, what their skin color, political belief or sexual orientation may be. And if they have a legitimate claim or need, I will try to help.

Q: Quite recently the Side-Line server crashed and you started a crowd funding to pay the costs. Your action was quite successful and Side-Line has been reactivated, which seems to prove Side-Line still means a lot to labels/artists and readers. How do you look back at this stressed period? 

Bernard: I was like ‘NOT AGAIN!’ when I realized it was not just an issue of rebooting the server when the server didn’t fire up as planned. We already had lost our previous site years ago due to a server issue and lost years and years of data… so you can imagine I was kinda stressed (laughs). But luckily enough, I had been working with this software engineer (editor’s note: Martin Rosselle) in another IT project. He is working for some of the biggest companies I know and he literally has made a name as being somebody who solves problems, a Winston Wolf in the software sector as you wish. I contacted him and told him we really needed the site back operational pretty fast and if he could help out. He canceled all his freelance work he had planned and asked me to come over so I could follow closely and help with the work. The error we had, was even for the engineers at our hosting company quite a real conundrum. Hell, they even asked us to please keep them informed as to how we would solve it because they had run out of options.

I took a 5 days unpaid leave, jumped in my car at 5 in the morning and drove 3,5 hours to set up shop at Martin’s place. In the car I was thinking of how to finance this endeavor… I’m already pumping thousands of Euros into Side-Line each year, but corona made that a lot of my income had completely vaporized so an extra financial blow like this was just very, very difficult. 

Then while I was having a coffee at a motorway restaurant, somebody sent me a WhatsApp message saying: ‘Hey Bernard, I saw your message that the site is down and that you guys are working on it. If you set up a crowdfund, I’ll gladly help!’ I was like, ‘really would people help out?’ So whilst doing the last hundred kilometers I was thinking ‘why not, if it gathers enough to pay half of the bill then that would already help a lot ‘. 

But it turned out to be really overwhelming… I’m still emotional when I think of it really… I saw the donations pouring in, from readers, bands, small labels, small PR companies, artists. I was actually very positively surprised that it were the smaller labels and bands next to lots of readers that came forward to support this crowdfund. I haven’t heard a word from the big labels… One of the biggest label bosses in this scene did send me an email… asking when their news would be up… no help, no question, nothing. It strengthens me in my vision that we have to stay an incubator for new talents and new and smaller labels, as they are definitely more connected with us… 

I did learn another lesson from this though, and that is that I need to delegate more. Jan-Ronald Stange has been helping with design, and I contracted Martin for our server maintenance and security so that we can intervene directly with the right people when needed. 

Q: What have been the best and worst memories from all the years you’ve been involved with Side-Line? 

Bernard: The worst: seeing others suffer. You know what I mean. 

The best: it is wonderful to stay friends for all these years with people with such different characters inside the team. And Side-Line also opened the gate towards other people I respect, I got in contact with Jan-Ronald Stange thanks to a lunatic groupie, so that ended well (laughs). And I shouldn’t forget Anne-Laure, Erlend, Marianne, Leydi, Simon and so many other people who have become close and reliable friends thanks to Side-Line.

Basically, working at and with Side-Line is the proof for me that one doesn’t need to stay in his/her own echo chamber to respect and be respected. You know that as well, I have told you that in a recent text message remember?

Q: Are you sometimes thinking about the end of Side-Line and also the end of Alfa Matrix? What should be the best way to say goodbye? 

Bernard: I have a pretty compulsive character, however, Side-Line has been a constant element in my life for the past 30 years. I always dedicate 2-3 hours per day to the magazine, writing articles, working on the site’s cms and machinery behind it, answering a ton of emails… It survived 2 marriages so far as well (laughs)! So no, it’s a part of me, and I haven’t really thought about stopping although there have been moments that I think, who the hell am I doing this for… But then you get a big thank you mail from a band or reader or label and that’s enough to kill off those negative feelings.

But if we would close shop, I guess it will be with a big bang (smiles). But so far so good.

If we would close shop, I guess it will be with a big bang.

The same goes for Alfa Matrix, as long as we can find good bands to push, we’ll continue.

Q: You and I have had some personal issues, but I think that thanks to Side-Line, we became and still are good friends. Any specific souvenir or anecdote you want to share? 

Bernard: Ah yes, we have gone through some turmoil you and me. I guess that is just part of good friendships, it’s like a marriage I guess, either you make up or you go to a lawyer (laughs). I guess we both learned from our private wars and have learned to respect each other. And that is what counts, we learned to see what unites us, not what divides us. And we never had to hire a lawyer (laughs)!

But speaking about the special moments… Well, racing on a German motorway at 200 km/h in a BMW to get home in time to drop of some equipment and then realize we could have delivered it 2 days later as well…. That was quite a memorable and especially dangerous moment we shared (laughs). Honestly, it was completely irresponsible, and I would never do it again, whatever the reason. Had we crashed, a magazine would have disappeared, a label and a few bands would never have seen the light of day and my sons would for sure never have existed and most importantly this: some others could have been injured or killed. I never drive fast nowadays, if I’m too late for a meeting so be it, but usually I start on time, it also avoids unnecessary stress and gives me the option to also have a coffee underway.

I also remember some sectarian veggie restaurant somewhere in Brussels where we ended up via John Sellekaers I think? That was quite weird for me… the food was ok though, but I’m not really into sects (laughs). But aside from that, I kinda miss sitting in a restaurant with all of us, you, Seba, Benoit, Cedric, and a few others which are still part of my inner circle, but who I don’t see enough. Luckily at least you and me did a good restaurant now !

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 synthpop / futurepop act Chrysanth has released a brand new single, “Towards The Sun”. It’s available on Bandcamp now and will be on Spotify from December 31st on.

The single contains two new songs, “Towards The Sun” and “The Sound” and a remix of “Black Rose” from the previous album. The single acts as a teaser for a new EP coming in 2022.

Chrysanth is the project of a duo consisting of US producer Andy Brennan and Canadian vocalist Jason Qiu. The project was featured on Sideline’s “Face The Beat 3” and “Face The Beat 4” and also landed on Alfha Matrix’ EBM2 compilation.

Check out the single 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

Ahead of our newest compilation mastodont “Face The Beat: Session 7”, we first deliver you a special compilation from Insane Records, “The Insane Vaults“, through which we offer you the opportunity to discover a specific label, in this case Insane Records.

Compiled by label owner Evgeniy Vorozheykin for Side-Line in the Autumn of 2021, it holds a nice overview of what this label has on offer: from industrial, harsh electro, over pure EBM to goth.

You can download the compilation for free via Bandcamp. Just like all other free compilations released via Side-Line, also this one is a charity compilation with all donations going to the projects we support.

The history of Insane Records starts at the end of 2013, but took an official format on the 21st June of 2014 when they released their very first CD.

Here’s what drives Evgeniy Vorozheykin, Insane Records labelowner: “In my youth I had a WarCraft III clan, I was a manager and we participated in leagues, although I didn’t really know how to play it myself. I also created my own industrial/gothic news site (in Russian) back then and made compilations. Apparently I like to organize things so from there on I said, let’s go for it. So I started my ‘career’ as a label owner in 2012 when I launched the Artificial Sun label. But that one closed in 2013 already as it didn’t meet my ‘internal needs’ after which I launched Insane Records with a more complex idea behind it. I hope that it’s not just me who needs all this and that we all contribute to the overall scene. I hope for your responsiveness with the material I release.”

Enjoy this new compilation!

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

This is a final call for submissions. We will extend with 5 days, until October 26th. After that we close the submissions and start compiling the actual release. So be fast, this is your last chance.

We are one year after the release of “Face The Beat 6”, which means it’s time to start work on the 7th volume of our popular download compilation series. Our 6th volume was again more popular than the record downloads we had with “Face The Beat 5”, let’s see if our 7th volume will break records again.

On “Face The Beat: Session 7” – scheduled for release this Winter – we will again be focusing on new/known talents from the industrial/electronic scene which will get a large platform to showcase their material. Just like with the previous volumes, we continue to support charity projects around the globe.

We plan to release this new volume by the end of December 2021 or early January 2022 depending on the work involved.

How can you take part in the compilation?

There are a couple of rules to respect in order to make it easier for everyone, especially for our chief editor Bernard Van Isacker who has been compiling every volume since the start of this series.

• Send 1 (!!!) mastered track in WAV format (GEMA free material and preferably previously unreleased) via wetransfer.com to info@side-line.com . We stress the fact that you can only send 1 track. Your best one that is. The reason is simple, there are thousands of submissions to go through.
• Do NOT send files via email, such submissions will not be accepted! Only use Wetransfer.com.
• We will contact you upon selection to send you some paperwork to complete.
• The deadline for submission is October 21st 26th 2021.
• We are open to all kind of dark styles as you can hear on the previous compilations that are available for free download on https://sidelinemag.bandcamp.com although we like to keep all New Wave and Post-Punk for our other compilation series which started earlier this Summer with “Post-Punk (Genesis)“.
• We are an eclectic magazine, so we bring an eclectic selection as well since we started with the compilation series.

This compilation will again be powered by Side-Line and promoted to a whole range of magazines and DJ’s. In other news, we will again invite Shane Aungst – Shane now you know – to do his magic work on the upcoming 7th volume as well… cross your fingers!

So far we released the following ‘Face The Beat’ compilations

Below are the 6 previous compilations (and 2 mega mixes) for you to check out:

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 now is the Vlimmer release “Nebenkörper”, the debut album by the Berlin based act Vlimmer. You might kn ow Vlimmer from our Face The Beat 6 compilation on which the project was featured with the track “Passagier”.

The release comes after an 18 EP series and marks a departure from the atmospheric post-punk/goth/shoegaze/electronics. Alex: “You can expect a more aggressive approach of intense (tribal) drumming, contemporary synth sounds (the new Arturia Polybrute) with vocals that oscillate between lamenting gloom, feral energy and ethereal pop, creating a vibrant, dystopic industrial atmosphere.”

Here you can listen to the 12-tracker (mastered by Pete Burns, Kill Shelter).

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

Over the past 10 years Side-Line has released various free download compilations in the Face The Beat series which are amongst the most popular in today’s darkwave scene each time getting a ton of downloads from listeners worldwide.

Yesterday night we launched the free Post Punk Bandcamp download compilation “Post Punk – Genesis”, uniting 44 Post Punk artists from allover the world. You can expect an eclectic collection of all of the colors you can find inside the Post Punk scene, from pure New Wave to contemporary mixes of Post Punk and electronics. There will be something for everyone!

The release spurted towards the number 2 spot on the charts today across all releases on Bandcamp, and that in 24 hours. That was fast…

Compiler Bernard Van Isacker: “We received material from 47 countries in total, a good part of those is also present on this new compilation, so you can say it’s quite a worldwide collaboration effort. As such it doesn’t really differ a lot from what I see when working on the Face the Beat series for instance. But I was kinda surprised though to get that many Post-Punk only tracks. It’s a scene that is rapidly growing and I’m proud Side-Line can offer a good platform for these emerging bands.”

The release is available for free or as a pay-what-you-want download release on Bandcamp.

All proceedings will again go to the various charities Side-Line supports.

You can check out the release below and download it from 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

After some compilation appearances, including our very own “Face The Beat 6”, and a collaboration with 808 Dot Pop on the upbeat “Cubic Temperature” album plus a first EP (“Alphabet Hymn”), the Belgian dark electronics act Cubic has released its debut album: “The Cubic Alphabet”. The debut album features 13 tracks.

Behind Cubic we find Franky Deblomme (ex-Darkmen) who in Cubic makes a dark mix of melodic techno and 808 electro. Add to this touches of underground body music in the background and you know what to expect. If we have to name two artists that could act as a sonic reference it would be Gesaffelstein and Terence Fixmer.

The album “The Cubic Alphabet” is out now via Alfa Matrix in 2 formats: CD via the Alfa Matrix webstore and download via Bandcamp (and of course all the other digital services). We were quite impressed!

You can listen listen to the album right below. Read the review of ‘The Cubic Alphabet’.

Other Cubic releases

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

Out on May 21st, is a brand new EP, “Feed New Hope”, by the French electronic act Nasdrowie. The EP will feature 2 tracks and a remix. One of the tracks will be premiered on Bunker Reborn radioshow this Saturday 8th May at 8PM with interview. The EP will also be presented live on Radio Rakete by Sojus 7.

The band will continue work now on another EP to be released later this Summer.

Born in the begining of 2020, Nasdrowie is a one-man operation after many years of different musical projects (Metal, Electro, Punk). A firs EP, “Protocol 1”, was released on June 2020. A 2-track release “Research/Exhale” follows on October 23rd, 2020.

The band equally got featured with the track “Contention” on our “Face The Beat 6” compilation released in December 2020.

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 German IDM industrial act Dreaming in Spanda is back with an all new EP called “Anuttara Mirror”. And it’s pretty neat to say the least.

For those who have been checking out our Face The Beat compilation series, you’ll remember that Dreaming in Spanda was featured on our recently released “Face The Beat 6” download compilation with the track “Where The East Merges With The West”.

This new EP contains 3 tracks from the band’s upcoming album and mixes industrial landscapes with ethnic melodies, noise effects and rhythmic beats.

You can check it out below.

About Dreaming in Spanda

Founded in 2017 by Leon Dinoel, Dreaming in Spanda released its very first demo “Energy Wave Dreams” in September 2017 showcasing a mix of industrial, synthwave, IDM, ethnic and experimental electro all in one. The self-released album “The Circle of Eternal Pulsation” followed in March 2018.

In April 2019 the album “From the Womb to the World”, which combines elements of the neoclassical and post-industrial style, was released on the Czech label Synth-Me. The EP “Emmersion” followed on the same label and held 4 tracks.

On July 1, 2020 the album “Where the east merges with the west”, which contained oriental elements on the background of industrial landscapes, was released on the Belgian label Haxyn Records.

Here’s the track that appeared on “Face The Beat 6”.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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Out now is Enhok’s newest single “The Night” which follows “Black Waters” and “Gone”, both were released in 2020. The single showcases yet another facet of Enhok’s sound by delivering a nostalgic dark ’80s vibe with pulsing beats and catchy synth-laden melodies. The vocals are quite reminiscent of those of Iris’ frontman Reagan Jones and at least as attractive.

The title track is accompanied by a rather fine club remix from Enhok’s label mate, the Russian darkwave act Elezoria.

Enhok was originally founded by Diego Gutierrez, a Venezuelan musician, singer and producer, currently based in Spain. If you want some decent electropop, then this is a band to check out for sure. The single can be streamed/downloaded now, check here for all the links.

There is also a video available.

It’s not the first time we cover Enhok, the band was also selected for our “Face The Beat 6” compilation with another great track “Gone”. Warmly recommended to check out this very promising band.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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Out on March 31, 2021 via Insane Records is the brand new single by the Colombian aggrotech project Alien:Nation. The new single “Misanthropic Affection” acts as a teaser for the band’s upcoming second full-length album, which will be released as a 2CD. You can order the single right here.

The single includes the original track, a remix by LA-X, and an arcade version of the track, which you can already check out below.

Tracklist:

1. Misanthropic Affection
2. Misanthropic Affection (Arcade Version)
3. Misanthropic Affection (LA-X Remix)

You can already check out “Misanthropic Affection (Arcade Version)” below.

Alien:Nation was recently also selected for our successful “Face The Beat 6” download compilation with the track “Holographic Deathsphere”.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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The Swedish EBM pop duo e:lect is preparing its full length to be released later this Summer. The new material was already teased in the spring of 2020 with the release of the EP “Blue Mind” and this month when the single “I Don’t Care” will be released.

About e:lect

The Swedish duo e:lect was formed in 2016 by childhood friends Hella and Al. Both members have been in different musical projects since several years. The music is produced by Hella and the lyrics and vocal parts are written and performed by both Al and Hella. Their music can be described as a mixture of futuristic synthpop with EBM wibes. E:lect has also been featured on a few compilations, including “Face The Beat” session 5 and 6. You can check and download both appearances below.

“Beaten By Drums”

“State Of Me”

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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After being featured on Side-Line’s free download compilation “Face The Beat 6”, dark pop artist Faith (aka Federica Sciamanna) released a new, very peculiar track: “Awake”.

Here’s what she has to tell about it: “I created this track with my good friend Serena Dong, a videomaker. I think everyone can find in it the message towards which their own consciousness is projected. One thing is certain, music is now decisive and we artists must do our best to awaken as many people as possible #keepyourvibehigh.“

You can check out “Awake” below.

Faith is featured with the track “Blankpage” on our free download compilation “Face The Beat 6”.

About Federica Sciamanna

Before starting her solo project Sciamanna founded the alternative / goth / rock band The Shiver with which she recorded the first demo “Introspection” in 2003. After a string of concerts throughout Europe, the band recorded a new demo, “Shade’s Changing”, which was released by Falp Records. Subsequently The Shiver signed a contract with the UK Division Records UK label and re-entered the studio to record “Inside”, released on 21 January 2008.

In 2008 Federica composed and recorded another album with The Shiver at the West Link recording studio in Pisa, produced by Alessandro Paolucci (Raw Power, Rebel Devil). The band closed an agreement with the Californian label Reality Entertainment for the release of the new album “A New Horizon” in the United States, while in Europe the album was released by the Dreamcell11 label (Aural Music) and then again by RoadRunner Benelux in 2011.

In June 2011, The Shiver was a supporting band for Papa Roach’s Russian tour and opened for the Misfits tour in Germany and Poland in 2012. In the same year they released the EP “Acoustic Experience #1”. In March 2014 Alternative Factory released “The Darkest Hour”, an album produced by Vincenzo Mario Cristi (Vanilla Sky).

In April and May 2016, the band was in the studio with producer Luigi Stefanini to record a new album released in 2017 (“Adeline”). In 2019 the albums “The Darkest Hour” and “Adeline” were re-released by WormholeDeath.

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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Two months after the release of “Gothenburg” on “Face the Beat 6”, Modulo One are back with the new dark electro / melodic techno single “Isolation Rave”. The track was written for Straftanz’s weekly DJ stream / Zoom parties of the same name. A crowd sourced music video is also just released, featuring people from that community and Faderhead’s Ghost City Discord.

Anders: “Straftanz / Miss X have been doing their Isolation Rave DJ streams / Zoom parties every Saturday for a year now. As everyone else, we’ve been stuck at home for the past year, and have really enjoyed this opportunity to hear new music, meet new people and have a good time! The track is a bit different from the music we usually make, and very much inspired by the genres they’ve been playing in their sets. So it was only natural to name it after them and the community that we’ve become part of.”

About the crowd sourced music video Anders had this to say: “Seeing all those beautiful faces on the Zoom party on Saturdays has been a highlight in a really boring year. So we got the idea to make a video featuring some of these people, as well as some other friends and fans from around the world. The Isolation Rave hosts also decided to join in, which we really appreciate!”

You can download the track below.

Here’s the video for “Isolation Rave”.

Modulo One is a dark electro band from Oslo Norway, started by Anders Schau Knatten in 2016 with keyboard player and long time DJ collaborator Tom André Solli. The band has been releasing singles every second month for the last year, and the next ones up are “Staring Back” on 1 May and “The king and the Priest” on 1 July.

Check out “Gothenburg” taken from our “Face the Beat 6” compilation.

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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Since “Wonderful (The Anix Edit)” from Daniel Hall’s 14th album “Dark Horse”, was released on our “Face the Beat 6” compilation, the electropop artist has been very busy.

A new single and EP “The Watchman Remixes” was released with such guests as Wave in Head, Fused, Lord & Master and Screamershock. The original single was supported by an official video which you can see below.

Hall also formed a new group called Emerge with British female vocalist Charlotte Henry and released the album “The trip” last November. Charlotte’s background is country/rock and she is best known for getting to the semi-finals of the 2002 UK Eurovision song contest competition. The recording was quite an endeavor as Hall is based in Sydney, Australia.

The album was released as a custom boxed USB as you can see above. The single “Without You” also has an official video, see below.

At the moment Hall is busy working on his 16th album which was already preceded by 2 singles earlier this year: “The Fireman” and “Corruption” both supported by official videos. Hall was also featured on Vaylon’s side project Second Complex as vocalist on the track Every Moment Counts.

Here’s “Wonderful (The Anix Edit)” from our “Face The Beat 6” compilation.

Videos available now

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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Vlimmer has just finished his EP series which started in november 2015. “XIIIIIIII” (part 18), out now via Blackjack Illuminist Records, marks the end of the journey of a young man which is getting lost between reality and delusion until he dissolves. It’s based on a book called “Jagmoor Cynewulf” which Vlimmer published in 2015.

Music-wise “XIIIIIIII” is a mix of dark electro/post-punk/coldwave and dreampop. You can check it out below.

Vlimmer is currently working on his debut album which is planned to be released in autumn 2021.

Vlimmer is available on our massive compilation “Face The Beat 6” with the track “Passagier (Previously Unreleased)”. Read the review of ‘XIIIIIIII’.

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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Good news from Argentina. At the end of 2020 Post Machinery Environment launched the singles “Ritual (Year 13)” and “Drugs Will Tear Us Apart” in all digital stores along with a video clip. They now plan the recording of two more singles for the following months of the year, in addition to a video clip, recorded during 2020 and 2021, with the special participation of the American violinist Lisa Miles.

Currently the band is preparing its participation in the online festivals “Electro Freak Show MMXXI” and “Festival Under Latinoamericano”, and evaluating the possibility of participating in more virtual festivals, due to the limitations that still exist for live performances.

Post Machinery Environment contributed the track “Drugs Will Tear Us Apart” to our “Face The Beat 6” compilation. Check out the track below.

Post Machinery Environment is a Darkwave / Industrial band established in 1997 and located on the eastern side of the Southern Andes. They were formerly known as Gotico, between 1997 and 2007.

Post Machinery Environment back catalogue

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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(Photo by Patrice Hoerner) Good news from Minneapolis , USA. The industrial act Zwaremachine is working on a new album, which the band expects to release this Summer 2021. The title track of the upcoming album “Conquest 3000” was released last year on Bandcamp as a remix EP holding 4 remixing including a single edit.

Based in Minneapolis, Zwaremachine is the project from musician/visual artist Mach Fox. Fox describes the style for the band as ‘Minimal Hypnotic Industrial BodyMusic’. Influences from some of the top acts of the genres can be heard in the songs from “Be A Light” the first full length album released in 2018. In 2020 the band re-released “Be A Light” as a special edition and also released the “Ripping At The Fabric” EP.

Zwaremachine is also featured on our massive “Face The Beat 6” compilation with the track “What We Are”, which you can download for free below.

Zwaremachine videos

Below are some videos from the act.

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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Reiskirchen’s electronica / industrial act LCM is almost ready with the recordings of the first tracks for a new EP called “Respawn” which will be released soon via the band’s bandcamp page. “I think it will be released in one month and you will hear a huge progress to the older stuff”, says Lutz Melchert.

LCM was founded in 2011 as an electro project by Lutz C. Melchert. In 2013 the first single “Solitary Screamer” became a huge club hit and several magazines declared LCM as a very promising newcomer in its genre. The band is known for its very energetic bass lines, spheric pads, melodic synthesizers, awesome beats and danceable rhythms.

And of course LCM was also featured on Side-Line’s recently released massive compilation “Face The Beat 6” with that smashing clubhit “Solitary Screamer”. You can check it out below!

LCM back catalogue

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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Connecticut based industrial metal act Decent News will be releasing a special edition cassette release of their split with Seattle based act Chrome Corpse. The split release will be out on Brutal Resonance Records later this Spring. This re-release is packed with special dance remixes and even some reworks of the original tracks.

Also the band are currently working on their third studio album.

Decent News was featured with the track “I’m Slipping Away” on Side-Line’s recently released massive Bandcamp compilation “Face The Beat 6”. You can check out the track below. Highly recommended to Cat Rapes Dog fans amongst others.

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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Iris Manta has recently completed its third album and is now in search of a record company for a possible release, in contrast to the previous two albums which had been self-released through various platforms online.

Iris Manta is the project of Manos Zafirakis. The project’s debut album “Mental equations” was released in 2014. The follow-up album “Kilonova” was released 4 years later. In both albums you’ll see a mix of influences, from ambient, space ambient, dark ambient, synthwave, dreampop, but also darkwave.

The project was featured on our most recent “Face The Beat 6” compilation with the track “Inverted Aeons” as you can hear below.

Previous releases from Iris Manta

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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Here’s a release we have been looking forward a lot! After some compilation appearances – such as our very own “Face The Beat 6” compilation – plus a collaboration with 808 Dot Pop on the “Cubic Temperature” album, the time has come for Franky Deblomme aka Cubic to launch the first release with his new project.

On the debut EP “Alphabet Hymn” (available now on Bandcamp) you’ll discover some vintage Düsseldorf synth influences next to Berlin techno, 90’s Manchester rave, EBM and the typical Belgian club sound style. Expect typical Belgian after-club sound including also a succinct usage of the female voice.

All of the material was recorded in Deblomme’s Bong 13 studio, using only hardware synths and effects. “An addiction that cannot be replaced by software synths”, adds Franky Deblomme.

This 5-track EP also features a remix by label mates 808 Dot Pop remixing the song “F”.

Check the full EP below!

And here’s the exclusive cut the project did for “Face The Beat 6”. Read the review of ‘Alphabet Hymn’.

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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Covered in Snow have recently released a new single called “Romeo”. A remix of “Romeo” done by German synthpop legends Sea of Sin has been released today, and an EP with 5 new original songs will be released in April or May.

Here’s what the band has to say about the new single: “Almost everyone gets badly affected by the pandemic. Perhaps the most affected are the ones who were in really a bad place even before it broke out. When you’re stuck behind great walls they’re getting even bigger when you get cut off from the small connections you have. This song is for them. In the writing we have tried to combine the electronics and the vocal style that is Covered in Snow’s trademark with post-rock influences. It takes you to places neither we nor you have visited before.”

Below is the new remix.

The Stockholm based act Covered in Snow consists of Mikael Engström and Tom Hedlund. They are also featured on our free “Face The Beat 6” compilation with the track “Hurry Up To Love Here” which you can hear/download 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!

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(Picture by Humo Negro) The corona pandemic does push bands to work even harder in the studio. That’s also the case for Jesus Complex who saw a German tour with Clan of Xymox postponed until end of 2021/early 2022.

Instead, the band decided to work on the follow-up of their 4th album, the 2019 released “Welcome to My Nightmare” (Insane Records). The new album should be released later this year if all goes well.

In related news, the band’s Damon is also playing guitar (and eventually performing live) with the Brazilian act Pecadores for their new album out this year.

Jesus Complex is featured with the track “Obey Me” on the “Face The Beat 6” compilation, check out the track below.

There is also video for the track.

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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Munich Syndrome has released its 11th album, “Bad Blood”, as a soundtrack / companion to the memoir David B. Roundsley (Munich Syndrome founding member) has written, “Bad Blood: A Life without Consequence”.

The book chronicles one adoptee’s search and journey to discover his birth parents and his roots in the new world of DNA testing, data aggregation, and social media. What began with a simple inquiry led him down a rabbit hole of intrigue, secrets, drug abuse, dark deeds, infidelity, attempted murder and organized crime.

The album features 8 new songs, including Munich Syndrome’s first cover song, “Out of the Blue”, originally by Alan Parsons. The album also features 5 remixes of songs from throughout Munich Syndrome’s 20-year career along with two key tracks from 2018’s “Electro Pop 2”.

The book and album are available on Bandcamp.

Munich Syndrome is also featured with the track “The Grind” on our “Face The Beat 6” compilation.

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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After months of preproduction to redefine the sound and evolution, French darkwave artist Ludovic Dhenry is about to return with a new album for his project Exponentia. This time there will be a lot more focus on synths in the mix, which differs from the project’s previous albums as you can hear on the project’s Bandcamp page.

The yet untitled album will be released later this year on CD and as download.

Ludovic Dhenry is not exactly unknown to most of you who downloaded our “Face The Beat 6” free compilation. He is also the brain behind the Zauber project although his main focus remains Exponentia.

Here’s Zauber with “Sechs Krähen” taken from “Face The Beat 6”.

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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Following on from the release of the KRAFTman single “Florian” (which included remixes by 808 Dot Pop and Maschine Brennt) and the appearance of a brand new track called “Waiting For The Day” on the Face The Beat 6 compilation, released by Side-Line magazine, KRAFTman is set to release a new 4 track EP of music heavily inspired by Kraftwerk: “Electrique Musique EP”.

This new EP will feature 7 Inch versions of 4 tracks featured on the forthcoming KRAFTman album “Electrique Fabrique”.

The “Electrique Musique EP” features the tracks “Bundesautobahn 52”, “A Face I Knew”, “Gamma Rays”, a cover of a recent 808 Dot Pop song, as well as, the KRAFTman take on the Kraftwerk track “Electric Cafe, which is unique, as Kraftwerk never released an English language version of the track.

The album, whilst not a concept as such, has a theme, most of the songs are inspired by subjects Kraftwerk have used in some of their songs, so you can expect songs about German motorways, telephones, cycling, nuclear power etc.

For now do check out “Waiting For The Day” taken from our free download compilation “Face The Beat 6”.

Other KRAFTman releases

The debut single by KRAFTman, “Florian”, was released as a 7-track Digital Download on August 14th 2020, the single featured KRAFTman’s original version (which is featured on the “We Are Machine Pop 6” compilation) and the KRAFTman Matrix 12 Inch Version, in addition the single featured remixes by Metroland and Maschine brennt, a combination mix was also included, which was the song constructed using sections of 3 of the mixes included in the release.

On September 11th 2020, KRAFTman released the single “The Robots (7 Inch Version)”, a cover of the Kraftwerk track,again as a Digital Download, that featured the lead track, as well as, a 7 Inch version of Kraftwerk’s track “Metropolis” and a special Re-Programmed 12 Inch Version of “The Robots”. This was the lead single from the album “The Man Machine (Recreated)”.

The album “The Man Machine (Recreated)” was released on October 30th and features a complete recording of all the tracks featured on the iconic Kraftwerk album, as well as, 12 Inch versions of all 6 tracks, all of which are unique arrangements. The Digital Download is available via Bandcamp 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!

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The new Cyber Monday album has been released on all platforms. “Retro Lift” features guest vocals by Equinox, Siobhan Hammond, Nine Year Sister, Maria Holt and Farisha B. Following on from “Day Wave and Night Wave” from 2019, this album offers pure dreamy 80s goodness.

“It’s about lifting our synth spirits from lockdown”, says Barrie aka Cyber Monday, an excellent idea that is! You can check it out on all platforms or download it below (you can also get it on CD or USB via the below Bandcamp link.

Cyber Monday is featured with the track “Going (Feat. Brett Dee)” on our recent “Face The Beat 6” free download compilation.

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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To be released on February 24, International EBM-day that is, is the new LP by the Italo-Belgian EBM project Pro Patria. The new LP “Godless” will indeed be released on February 24, 2021 and will count 13 original tracks.

The LP will combine both classic dance tracks and more lyrical ones but remaining faithful to their roots augmented with today’s beats. The digital version will be available on February 24 on all platforms while the CD version is expected in the label’s stock on March 15.

You can already check out “Razorblade” right here which was also the track the band submitted to “Face The Beat 6”, the Side-Line powered mega charity compilation.

The CD will comes as a 6-panel digipak with slipcase, Pit-Art technology as hand numbered copies in a limited edition of just 200 copies. Pre-orders are open now right here.

Track list

1. Razorblade
2. Tomorrow
3. War! (Till The Day We Die)
4. Godless
5. The Power Is Mine
6. One More Time
7. Dignity Under Attack
8. Limits To Madness
9. Ride
10. Landslide
11. Angel
12. The End
13. Fearless

About Pro Patria

The band was formed back in the early ’90s and released 2 demo cassettes, “Spasmaticae” (1993 ) and “In Combat – Veni Vidi Vici” (1995) before releasing their first CD “Quod Erat Demonstrandum” in 1997 on PVC Productions. That label was founded in 1986 by Peter Vercauteren to distribute all Pro Patria and 7th Avenue Revenge releases. These early demos have become real collector’s items by now.

Mostly due to personal reasons and the disappointment after the Celtic Circle bankruptcy the band took quite a long hiatus. Peter continued to work together with David Vallée (Lith) who assisted him during the last Pro Patria concerts (the last they did was in Arlon in 2002).

After the prolonged silence the band finally did return in 2017 to release “Back to Basics” followed by “Executioner” in 2019. Read the review of ‘Godless’.

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

Earlier this week we launched a mega mix of “Face The Beat: Session 6”, once again executed by Seattle (United States) based DJ Shane Aungst who seems to have really fallen in love with the series. The 100 minutes and 4 seconds long mix features a total of 24 tracks all taken from the massive setlist of “Face The Beat: Session 6”, lots of samples and is available now on Bandcamp as a free download.

Time to call Seattle again and talk with Shane.

SL: Shane, you have realized two very different sides in the megamix, Side A is more laid back while Side B is more up tempo. Was that split in approach already pre-planned?

SA: I didn’t have a set plan going into the project, I spent a lot of time listening to all the tracks and just went with what had the right groove for me. There were a dizzying amount of songs to choose from and I felt terrible for having to pass on so many. My selection process came down to my headphones, a few joints, and a couple late nights listening to the tracks repeatedly

SL: You put quite some work in getting samples etc added. Can you explain how you exactly started on this megamix?

SA: I spent a number of days just sampling for this project. I then ran through my process as the mixes will normally have a number of edits, but I generally messed around with all the tracks in this project in some manner. I like to tell stories or go with a theme with mixes and or edits and I was working with a loose theme of the overall sampling on this mix as well.

I really enjoyed working on this project and have loved the variety of music that comes across these Face the Beat compilations and the sheer size of this volume 6 compilation was by far the largest compilation I have been a part of, even bigger than the 1995 RAS DVA There is No Time compilation.

SL: Besides this megamix, can you bring us up to speed with what you have been busy lately? Also what is in the planning for 2021?

SA: I’m always working on a mix of some type, I currently have two I’m working on to be posted to my Mixcloud account, I try and keep a new mix posted weekly. I have a livestream show for Temple 3 at the end of the month and I have done a few remixes as well as released my first solo track, an ambient track which you can check out below.

SL: Has the current health crisis had any impact on you as a musician?

SA: We have been under some type of shelter in place order since March here in Seattle, closing bars and clubs down. Jason Bangert (God Module) and myself both dj a large monthly fetish event at Kremwerk here in Seattle and I have really been missing the live shows and getting to see and interact with the crowd

I feel like 2021 is going to be a bit of a holding pattern with this pandemic, at least in the states, I don’t really see shows happening until late 2021 at the earliest so its been hard to plan. I had a couple invites for festivals in 2020 that obviously fell through and I’m hoping to get out of Seattle to play more (last show out of Seattle I played was in Brazil back in Dec of 2019).

The 2021 megamix

The megamix completed by Shane Aungst for the “Face The Beat: Session 6” compilation can be checked out right below.

The tracks featured are the following.

Side A

1. Cima Muta – Change The Color
2. Munich Syndrome – The Grind
3. White Cauldron – Emptytomb
4. Iris Manta – Inverted Aeons
5. Zauber – Sechs Krähen
6. Acylum – Sieg Oder Walhalla
7. Entrzelle – Feeling Heavy These Days
8. Amorphous – Confinamiento
9. Planetdamage – Form Follows Function
10. Llumen – Lifeline-Shibari
11. Sunao Inami – 2020-0814
12. Reichsfeind – Persona (Single Edit)

Side B

1. Blue Ant – Make Me Human
2. Last Activity – Neon
3. Modulo One – Gothenburg 2
4. Alien:Nation – Holographic Deathsphere
5. Binary Division – Zero Tolerance
6. Suppressor – Śūnyatā
7. Traumatize – Comatose (Remixed By Mas-Si-Osare)
8. Antibody – Sorrow
9. Synapsyche – Viva Insanity
10. Phil Stilles – Ordoliberal Final
11. LCM – Solitary Screamer
12. Epiphaneia – Unleash!

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

Yesterday Side-Line released session 6 in the by now famous free ‘Face The Beat’ compilation series focussing on the darker side of the music world. The compilation is available on Bandcamp for immediate download. For free or as a pay-what-you-want. This time our magazine’s chief editor Bernard Van Isacker selected 139 bands to participate after a submission round was launched in Summer of 2020.

Just like last time, we took the time to sit down with our chief editor to talk about the compilation but of course also about other things including the unavoidable corona pandemic. Instead of traveling to far away Ypres in Belgium, we set up a Zoom conference call and fired some questions at him while we hear his 3-year old son Magnus shouting ‘Dinosaurs!’.

SL: Dinos?

BVI: Ha yes, he is besotted with dinosaurs and just two days ago we went to see Dinopolis, which was the most exciting event for him this year! I literally had to drag him out of the park after we had done the tour 7 times in a row, which was more than enough for us but Magnus stayed excited until the very last second!

It was the first time out for us to be honest, since we have been in and out quarantine for the past couple of months.

SL: Speaking of which, has the current corona pandemic affected you in any way?

BVI: Besides from contracting the virus and being miserably ill just like some relatives, friends and acquaintances? It has damaged a lot of people and families I notice and some close friends have been hit particularly hard… It’s something that will pass once we all get vaccinated, but it is leaving lots of scars which often go unnoticed these days. The press prefers to focus on TV-stars who get depressed, stars who get caught in sex scandals, etc. but they pay a lot less attention to those who are going bankrupt and see their livelihoods go up in thin corona air.

If you ask me what preoccupied me the most, it was keeping my mum safe at any cost. We phone a lot and zoom every week, luckily enough she has a very strong personality which prevented her from breaking so to speak. I often wondered how my late father would have reacted if he were still alive today, I don’t think it would have been a pleasant trip for him at all.

A lot of people have difficulties coping with the stress of this and they develop psychological problems, including several friends of mine… I would guess that we as a society really have to work on getting people more resilient when we get confronted with stress situations. I’m not sure how to do this, but governments should really look into this.

So on the whole, yes, it has affected me directly, but I’m quite a positive person so I’m pretty sure we’ll survive it despite the hardships endured the past few months. I’m also very fortunate to have a couple of excellent friends with whom I often talk about life in general. I guess it’s key to keep you in good spirits and motivate each other. One of them, Nico, is also part of my ‘unique social bubble’ as we call it so I was able going to exhibitions – such as the Will Eisner one in Brussels – and comic fairs with him when it was allowed.

SL: What is the first thing you will do when you are vaccinated?

BVI: Visit my mum and brothers the moment I can. And when the restaurants open, to go out to dinner with Stephane from Side-Line and Seba and Benoit from Alfa Matrix. They have been very close friends for over 20 years with whom I’ve shared quite a lot of history, the good and the bad as it should be. Next to that I’ll start planning trips to Bulgaria, Norway, Mexico, Italy, France, Germany, the UK, Turkey to visit my friends and family over there in case they haven’t been here first.

SL: Was there any fun for you in 2020?

BVI: Sure! Seeing how my two sons are growing up was pure joy. Magnus is 3 years old now and is very much into dinosaurs… I’d even say kinda obsessed (laughs)! He is being raised in Spanish and Dutch so I hear him speaking both languages which is kinda cool. My oldest son Sebastian is 15 now, and the perfect company to spend time with. We enjoy the same morbid humor and love Southpark. You get the idea I think!

Musically speaking I was very much positively surprised of how so many bands took the opportunity to reinvent themselves as far as studio work or in communication forced by the situation. I have seen lots of great experiments taking place, and I’m sure that those bands learned a lot along the way. In a way this pandemic forced many to think out of the box, so let’s hope this trend remains alive!

SL: Let’s talk about the new volume of “Face The Beat”. There were a lot more tracks included in this 6th volume I see? Over 130!

BVI: ‘Blame’ that on the bands who have been hyperactive being confined at home! I actually never put any limit on the number of tracks that are featured on the compilation. If a track is good it will get on there. If they deliver their wav-files on time that is which is not always the case unfortunately, but that’s part of the compiling process. But the corona pandemic definitely did have a huge influence on the number of submissions, there is no doubt about that. Several bands also tackle 2020 in their songs, which makes it even more visible and audible.

Time-wise my agenda was fully packed, as I work in an essential sector so I really had my hands full with work in order to redirect all marketing efforts from the company I work for towards digital communication in the broad sense of it. So when I realized that this new compilation was becoming bigger and bigger I spent most of my day offs to complete it. It had to be ready by the end of this year as was promised to our readers and to the bands that participated and who also spent lots of time on their tracks. Respect goes both ways, and all the bands and labels that helped out of course deserved that respect!

SL: How is the compilation doing?

BVI: I must say that our readers again did an excellent job in pushing the compilation forward in record time. Number 1 in the industrial charts on Bandcamp, number 2 in the alternative charts on Bandcamp and number 7 in the overal charts on Bandcamp and this just a couple of hours after it was released. Pretty good in other words! So thank you very much all of you for supporting this release!

It shows that the ‘Face The Beat’ crowd really is a true powerhouse and unique in its sort because we keep on focusing on young bands. I guess being genuine does work, I also see it in the reactions from the participating bands and labels, they do appreciate the work we put into it.

SL: The series is often being labeled as ‘cult’ or ‘legendary’, surprised?

BVI: I’m kinda modest in these things. But it’s undeniable that what once started in an obscure corner of the internet quickly has evolved into a musical mastodon with a real traction connecting ten thousands of people worldwide. It’s starting to become a very important legacy indeed if you look at it this way. Despite Facebook I must say.

SL: What do you mean ‘despite Facebook’?

BVI: Well, it all started 10 years ago as a download on Facebook, hence the title of the series. Since then the platform has only become a real money grabbing machine – no problem for me, but it has lost 99% of its original attraction. Facebook is no longer the friend of bands as the organic reach is abysmal nowadays. We do indeed promote posts on Facebook, but it’s the only way to get a decent reach there unless you get a viral post, but for that we don’t add enough kittens in the pictures. So, the data is there, you just don’t get access to it without paying. For me they have exaggerated the business model behind it, and I guess I can talk for the bands as well. Especially bands who don’t tour (2020 anyone?) find it financially unsustainable to promote their posts on the platform. The ROI is close to zero unless you can sell merchandise or tickets.

SL: So what platform should bands and labels use in order to keep in touch with their fanbase?

BVI: Facebook remains part of a band’s or label’s communication plan of course, but I would really recommend bands start getting a presence on Bandcamp as well if only to sell downloads, merchandise or offer videos for instance. The interesting thing about it is that it works particularly well for those bands and labels who have been smart enough to invest in and keep data in-house instead of focussing on an external platforms like Facebook for instance. On Facebook you do NOT posses the data at all, and that’s to be taken literally. On Bandcamp you have direct access to the data.

As far as Facebook is concerned, unless you pay you can not contact the major part of your followers. You can still count the number of bands who have worked on a good mailinglist on both your hands so to speak. I keep on recommending it to bands when they ask me what they should do first. It’s the data. No doubt about it.

Side-Line has been very data driven since the start, so we were able to drive loads of traffic to Bandcamp once we started there. As a result the number of people connected to the Side-Line Bandcamp page and getting our notifications is just enormous. Add to that that they offer a very good targeting tool within their internal messaging and you have a very good combination to get things rolling pretty fast.

Bandcamp is also a platform that keeps on developing, just look at the features they have launched the past few years like subscriptions, live streaming, merchandise etc.. It’s an allround music service platform with an own community if you want. You could argue that it’s rather weird that mainstream labels still haven’t fully embraced it, then again there are (too?) many ties between those labels and other ‘competing’ services which blocks them I guess.

It’s not the only platform, but if you want to stay in control of your data and have a direct impact on the moment you want to communicate it’s a must have. Add to this that the people behind Bandcamp are very band centered, I have had the occasion to speak with them on various occasion regarding new features and it’s quite delightful to see how they think and work. Bandcamp Fridays for example are something a ‘normal’ company would never do, but Bandcamp did. So yes, highly and warmly recommended.

SL: What is the last track you played if I may ask?

BVI: Apart from the current compilation I’m addicted to “Summer 2” from the album “Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi – The Four Seasons”. Just wonderful. I have it on repeat since last week when I heard it in the “L’Amica Geniale”, an Italian- and Neapolitan-language coming-of-age drama television series created by Saverio Costanzo. Alan Wilder should do a rendition of it, that could be truly epic… I think I’ll text him later today about that (smiles). Time we get a new Recoil album too, no?

SL: Any wishes for 2021?

BVI: A good health to everyone, lots of love and understanding (people shouldn’t always attack one another just because they have different opinions) and let’s hope we can hug each other pretty soon again. I think that is the most important stuff today. The rest we can manage with hard work!

I invite you all to check out the new compilation of course. Enjoy!

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

We are back with a very strong new volume in the by now legendary Face The Beat series powered by Side-Line, just in time to close 2020. Counting 138 tracks this new volume, the 6th so far, is available now from Bandcamp.

Side-Line has always been about getting new bands in the spotlights for a bigger public to discover them. And this new volume continues that good old tradition of course. We again went talent hunting in the dark music world so you are also getting a great selection of starting bands from allover the world which often offer here their very first public release.

You’ll also notice that we have a lot more bands on board this time than usual, 137 in total, and that’s also corona related as many if not all were confined at home and decided to record brand new material. It also explains why it took a bit longer to complete this 6th session as we received an avalanche of tracks which we had to go through once the deadline for submissions was over.

The compilation is available via our Bandcamp page as a pay-what-you-want release or in combination with a Side-Line T-shirt.

All proceedings will again go to the various charities we support. You can also help out simply by donating on Bandcamp when you download the compilation.

A BIG thank you to all the bands who have offered their material to be used in this compilation, without you this would not have been possible! United we show that we have our heart at the right place!

Stay safe, stay healthy and cross your fingers for a better 2021 and thanks for your support!

10 years of Face The Beat

Over the past 10 years we have released 5 volumes, and one remix album, in this series which you can explore below. Many bands have later been picked up by labels who are often using our series to scout for new talents. Job done!

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

UPDATE: We are prolonging the deadline with 1 week. Deadline is September 8th.

The wait is over. After being probed for a new volume by a ton of artists and labels, Side-Line Magazine has now started to accept submissions for “Face The Beat: Session 6” to be released via the popular Side-Line Bandcamp page.

The compilation series continues to grow in strength as the previous volume, the 5th, was the most ever downloaded volume, again. It reached ten of thousands of music fans worldwide and even was the most downloaded release during almost an entire week on Bandcamp – which in itself is quite an achievement since the compilation series is famous for featuring a lot of unknown bands as well.

On “Face The Beat: Session 6” – scheduled for release this Winter – we will again be focusing on new/known talents from the industrial/electronic scene which will get a large platform to showcase their material. Just like with the previous volumes, we continue to support charity projects around the globe.

We plan to release this new volume by December 2020.

How can you take part in the compilation?

There are a couple of rules to respect in order to make it easier for everyone, especially for our chief editor Bernard Van Isacker who has been compiling every volume since the start of this series.

• Send 1 (!!!) track in MP3 format (GEMA free material and preferably previously unreleased) via wetransfer.com to info@side-line.com . We stress the fact that you can only send 1 track. Your best one that is.
• Do NOT send files via email, such submissions will not be accepted!
• We will contact you upon selection to request an unmastered WAV file and will also send you some paperwork to complete.
• The deadline for submission is September 1st 8th 2020.

We are open to all kind of dark styles as you can hear on the previous compilations that are available for free download on https://sidelinemag.bandcamp.com . In the past we have featured cold wave, ebm, electro,dark techno, heavenly voices, ethnic electro, idm, dark dubstep, … Basically you can take this rule: if you see a style featured in the Side-Line news coverage, then you can be pretty sure the style will also be accepted for this compilation.

This compilation will again be powered by Side-Line and promoted to a whole range of magazines and DJ’s.

So far released are…

Below are the 5 previous compilations (and 1 mega mix) for you to check out:

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

Good news, there’s a brand new album from the electro act Chrysanth. Chrysanth was featured on the last two Face the Beat compilations and also found its way on the famous Electro Body Matrix 4CD compilation by Alfa Matrix and is widely considered as an upcoming talent.

The past 2 years producer Andy Brennan has been working on a new studio album for this darkwave/electro project. On “Fairy Tales of Eternal Economic Growth” we find vocalist Jason Qiu on 5 (of 13) tracks offering a very appealing sound developed over the years.

You can check out “Fairy Tales of Eternal Economic Growth” below, or download it right here from Bandcamp. Warmly recommended!

Below is an album preview.

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 16th track on our free (or pay-what-you-want to support our charity work) download compilation “Face The Beat: Session 5” is by the darkwave electropop act Dark​-​o​-​matic aka the duo Piero Delux (vocals) and Greg Dovas (music). The band found a home at skyQode records which has discovered several more great bands.

Dark​-​o​-​matic was founded by Greg Dovas in 2017. Greg switched from progressive rock music to electronic music earlier with his project Neonskylines which was purely instrumental synthwave. In an attempt to expand his experimentation, he decided to add vocals reaching a more synth-pop sound. That was the starting point of his collaboration with Piero Delux from the project Elsehow. Enlisting the help of sound engineer and producer George Nerantzis, the duo started recording their new music, best described as a cross between synthwave and modern synthpop but with a darker edge to it.

Fans of Mondtraüme, Melotron, Electro Spectre etc. will surely love this act!

You can listen to “Zugswang” right below, the first single from their recently released album “Hope”.

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!

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