The Bleak Assembly, a collaboration between Kimberly Kornmeier (Bow Ever Down) and Michael Smith (Fiction8), return with a new album “Until The World Stops Hurting”.

The darkwave duo added lyrical references to light and the Sun so vocalist and lyricist, Kimberly says: “I have always come from a dark place especially with my lyrics because that’s where I put all my pain — into the music. It’s my release. Whenever you have total darkness there must be some form of light. Its lyrically on so many various levels all about love which I think is the answer to the title of the album “until the world stops hurting.”

“Until The World Stops Hurting” is available on all major digital platforms including Bandcamp and Spotify.

The Bleak Assembly formed in August 2022. The duo collaborates entirely remotely—Kimberly writing and recording from Kurdistan, and Michael from Denver, CO, USA. Previously, both artists were on the Nilaihah Records label in separate bands: Kimberly with Bow Ever Down and Michael with Fiction 8. They originally connected through the Sounds & Shadows social media group. The two also collaborate as the current lineup of Bow Ever Down.

The Bleak Assembly’s name loosely references the Charles Dickens novel Bleak House.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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Genre/Influences: Wave-Pop, Dark-Wave.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: One year after their debut-EP “We Become Strangers” Kimberly Kornmeier of Bow Ever Down and Michael Smith of Fiction8 are back on track unleashing their second EP -which looks like a mini-album format.

Content: The EP features 6 songs including the previously released single “Alibi”. Sound-wise the band reveals 80s influences reminding me of Electro-Wave/Pop and Dark-Wave. Guitar and synth lines create an evasive sound with Kimberly’s vocals on top.

+ + + : I especially like the debut-song “A Night Like This” which is driven by a Depeche Mode-touch. Another attention grabber is the totally vintage -80s, like “Homesick”. This duo clearly has found a true chemistry composing a darker but evasive Electro-Pop style carried by 80s influences.

– – – : The previously released single “Alibi” isn’t the best track while the second part of the EP is a little bit too dreamy for my taste.

Conclusion: The Bleak Assembly is a band with a true potential which isn’t still totally coming through.

Best songs: “A Night Like This”, “Homesick”.

Rate: 7.

Artist: www.facebook.com/TheBleakAssembly

About The Bleak Assembly

The Bleak Assembly formed in August 2022 as a collaboration between Kimberly Kornmeier of Bow Ever Down and Michael Smith of Fiction8. The duo connected through the Sounds & Shadows social media group and works entirely remotely, with Kornmeier writing and recording from Kurdistan and Smith from Denver, Colorado. Both were previously on the Nilaihah Records label with their respective projects, and the two also continue to collaborate as the current lineup of Bow Ever Down. The name loosely references the Charles Dickens novel “Bleak House”.

The Bleak Assembly released its debut EP “We Become Strangers” in 2022, followed by “Strangers Among Strangers” in November 2023 and the album “Until The World Stops Hurting” in 2024.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

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Genre/Influences: Dark-Wave, Wave-Pop.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: We welcome the debut-EP from American duo The Bleak Assembly. Behind this new formation hides Kimberly Kornmeier (Bow Ever Down) and Michael Smith (Fiction8).

Content: The work features 4 songs which are clearly inspired by good-old New/Dark-Wave. The evasive and melancholic guitar playing reminds me of The Cure.

+ + + : The songs are literally carried by the charismatic vocals of Kimberly. The songs are covered by a delicious, melancholic, perfume which is mainly emerging at the opening song. The 4 songs are an interesting introduction to this new formation.

– – – : I like evasive productions in the Dark-Wave style however I’m missing a true climax here.

Conclusion: Let’s keep an eye on this new project which must have more potential than what came out at this debut.

Best songs: “Slow Down Time”.

Rate: 6½.

Artist: www.facebook.com/TheBleakAssembly

About The Bleak Assembly

The Bleak Assembly is a collaboration between Kimberly Kornmeier of Bow Ever Down and Michael Smith of Fiction8, formed in August 2022. The duo works entirely remotely, with Kornmeier writing and recording from Kurdistan and Smith from Denver, Colorado. Both artists were previously signed to Nilaihah Records in their respective bands and connected through the Sounds & Shadows social media group; the pair also perform together as the current lineup of Bow Ever Down. The project’s name loosely references Charles Dickens’ novel “Bleak House”. “We Become Strangers” is the duo’s debut EP, followed in 2024 by the album “Until The World Stops Hurting”.

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

“We Become Strangers” is the debut EP from the new darkwave project, The Bleak Assembly, a collaboration between Kimberly of Bow Ever Down and Michael Smith of Fiction8. You may expect a mix of post-punk and darkwave.

Regarding the nature of “change” that inspired the EP, Michael Smith states: “If there’s a theme to this EP, it’s in recognizing how we’ve changed as artists and as people. What if you met your younger self and your younger self didn’t even recognize you? That’s what “We Become Strangers” is about.”

Kimberly goes on to say: “It’s “a strong feeling of being cut from the past”. It’s a little alienating but also very liberating.”

We Become Strangers is available in digital format on all major platforms including 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