Here’s something you should check out asap. Two Swedish industrial artists have united as Det Kätterska Förbund (The Heretical Association) for the release of the album “Lidaverken Del I: Att i Vådeld Förgås”, namely Nordvargr and ᚦᛟᚦ ᚷᛁᚷ aka Thomas Ekelund (Trepaneringsritualen and Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words).

Ekelund, who also runs the label When Skies Are Grey besides, and Henrik Nordvargr Björkk (MZ.412, Pouppée Fabrikk, Folkstorm etc) have both been slowly and methodically working for almost 5 years to finish the first album of this project. The result, 7 strong industrial rhythm tracks, is rather excellent as you can hear below. Out via UK’s finest industrial label Cold Spring.

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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Sebastian Koch from Audioglobe, the biggest distributor for the dark wave scene, is informing that most (but not al) vinyl manufacturing companies are facing a huge delay in production of vinyl releases.

Sebastian: “For the past months, production capacities in the pressing plants anywhere have been extremely overloaded due to various reasons (one of them being the famous ship accident in the Suez Canal. This has led to huge delays and many pressing plants do not even accept new customers anymore.”

Below is list of vinyls, that were announced for a release this Summer, for which an aproximate new arrival date is now known. These are no ‘final/guaranteed’ dates yet, but they give you an idea, for how much longer you have to wait on certain vinyls. This list is not complete, but contains the most ‘eagerly awaited’ vinyls.

• Bjärgö, Peter – The Translucency Of Mind’s Decay [Limited Black] LP [Late August]
• Blutengel – Erlösung – The Victory Of Light [Limited Two Coloured] 2LP [17 September]
• Camlann – Circa 1983 LP [December]
• Dead Lights – Dead Lights LP [Jan-Feb. 2022]
• Death Loves Veronica – Chemical LP [Jan-Feb. 2022]
• Electric Sewer Age – Presents: Coil / Aural Rage [Limited Black] LP [30 July]
• Electric Sewer Age – Presents: Coil / Aural Rage [Limited White] LP [30 July]
• Folkstorm – Dödsabnorm [Limited Black] LP [23 July]
• Hallows – All That Is True LP [December]
• Hante. – Her Fall And Rise [Limited Glow In The Dark] LP [30 July]
• Hante. – Her Fall And Rise [Limited Half Violet Half Clear] LP [30 July]
• Hante. – Morning Tsunami [Limited Black And White] LP [30 July]
• Hante. – Morning Tsunami [Limited Black W/White Splatters] LP [30 July]
• Hante. – Morning Tsunami [Limited Clear W/Orange & Red Splatters] LP [30 July]
• Hante. – Morning Tsunami [Limited Orange And Red] LP [30 July]
• Marble Slave – Fan Fiction [Limited Clear W/Oxblood Splatters] LP [30 July]
• New Haunts – Still Dark Sky LP [Jan-Feb. 2022]
• Valentina Moretti – Same [Limited Pink] LP [September 2021]
• …

The list is however much, much, much longer.

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 via the Italian label Old Europa Café is the newest 9-track album by Folkstorm. “Nihil Total” comes in a limited edition of only 300 copies and again offers classic orthodox Swedish industrial made without computers or modern tricks. The album also is the third chapter in the Folkstormish trilogy together with “Information Blitzkrieg” and “Ortodox”.

Folkstorm was originally founded under the name Volkssturm and was considered to be a more direct continuation of MZ. 412. Behind the buttons we of course find Henrik Björkk (Pouppée Fabrikk): “I started Folkstorm because I wanted to do something similar, but unlike MZ.412. I experimented with different recording techniques and sound sources to get a raw, dirty sound.” Folkstorm is actually a one-man band, but sometimes Ulvtharm and Mrs. Nordvargr helped out.

Here’s a teaser for the new album.

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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“Alpha Ænigma” is a one-off session recorded nighttime during the winter of 2018 by Henrik Nordvargr Björkk (MZ.412 / Folkstorm…) and the Göteborg based artist Thomas Ekelund (Trepaneringsritualen).

Good to know, the project should not be confused with their other project “Det Kätterska Förbund”.

The album offers ritual sounds and is available on CD (you can place your orders here).

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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Henrik Nordvargr Björkk is an artist that has been involved in numerous, successful projects. But I know less artists dealing with different projects and becoming that recognized and famous in different music genres. Henrik Nordvargr Björkk not only is one of the 90s EBM legends (Pouppée Fabrikk), but he also –and mainly, is a kind of living legend in the dark-ambient/industrial scene. When you think about MZ.412, Nordvargr and Folkstorm (just to mention the most famous ones) you can only but agree this man is transforming every single project into sonic gold. One of his newest releases “The Secret Barbarous Names” (released on Malignant Records) is one more masterpiece and a very good reason to get in touch with this genius artist.

(by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: I’ve been always impressed by the number of music projects you’ve been involved with and the number of productions you released. How do you explain this endless creativity and productivity?

Henrik: It is just the ‘flow’ I have… I constantly get ideas and concepts in my head, and I need to get them ‘out’ or they will drive me mad. I can’t explain it, it is just the way my brain is wired I guess. There are some years that I am not that creative though, and I think I have been slowing down a bit the last years.

Q: But I can easily imagine ‘music’ takes a real special place in your existence, but what does it mean to you in terms of creative expression and what are your main sources of motivation/inspiration?

Henrik: Again, I have this flow of ideas and emotions that just comes to me -sometimes triggered by things you can’t explain or see in this dimension of existence, sometimes by input from my surroundings. Of course there are more concrete things that can motivate and inspire me, like people I collaborate with.

Q: I’m wondering about the differences and nuances you make between all of the projects and are there some specificities (like instruments, gear, modus operandi) according to the project you’re working on?

Henrik: All my projects have had some specific traits that made them unique; for example MZ. 412 -always working as a team/band.

Folkstorm -ignoring all rational thought and just go with instinct etc etc… but mostly I just start working on a piece and after a few minutes I usually hear where it belongs.

Q: One of your most recent works “The Secret Barbarous Names” reveals a great match between mystic/ritual atmospheres and dark-ambient/industrial elements. Tell us a bit more about the concept, writing and production of the work?

Henrik: The decision to work with vocals and to focus on channeling the material rather than ‘classic composing’ just came to me naturally as a product of my spiritual work. I have also been reading a lot of interesting books which have inspired the process, mainly old Gnostic texts and Kenneth Grant’s Typhonian Trilogies. Texts that contain what can be called secret barbarous names have been around much longer than the old grimoires and appear in most ancient cultures, albeit called by other names. These common traits in spiritual practice fascinates me and served as the inspiration when working with this recording.

Q: What are your personal criteria to consider if an album is accomplished or not and do you sometimes change your mind when listening back to a production years later?  

Henrik: Usually I just feel that ‘OK, done’ when working with a song/album, and after that I leave it be for a few weeks before listening to it again -then I always go back and polish the last few flaws I find. If you go back and rethink stuff you made years ago you would go mad, so I avoid that and think of my music as being done despite things that pop up in my head years later.

Q: You’ve worked with an impressive number of musicians/artists so what do you like in this artistic interaction and exchange plus what have been the most enlightening collaborations?

Henrik: You always get fresh input and help to see/hear things you did not know where there, and (most of the time) that can be a lot of fun. But then there are times when it does not work out so good also, so you never know; that is what is part of the charm.

I have been collaborating a lot during 2016/2017 and I have things coming out together with Romain Perrot, Thomas Ekelund and Eidulon just to name a few -all of those have been extremely satisfying and the results most awesome…

When it comes to the most enlightening collaboration I must choose Anima Nostra. Me and Margaux have truly created something special here, and I hope that people will realize this when listening to our album(s).

Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

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