Russian band Freaky Mind is already on its sixth album, marking their second release under the darkTunes label.

Anyone familiar with the band knows exactly what to expect: a relentless, hard-hitting sound that bridges Dark-Electro, EBM, and Aggrotech. There’s barely a moment to catch your breath, as Freaky Mind continuously pounds your ears with crushing beats, heavy basslines, and razor-sharp leads. The few moments when the tempo drops aren’t exactly their strongest, but they don’t linger there for long—thankfully. Guest appearances by Mental Discipline and Omnimar’s vocalist add a welcome touch of variety.

While Freaky Mind may not belong to the genre’s top tier, they’ve never failed to deliver — and this album is no exception. (Rating:7½).

Listen to “Dear Diary”:

About Freaky Mind

Freaky Mind is a Russian duo formed by Ilya Remaerd and Roman Ericson, based in Moscow and active for over a decade. The pair describe their sound as “Killer Body Music from Moscow”, mixing EBM, dark-electro and techno.

Side-Line introduced the project in 2017 and later ran a 2023 interview about its evolution. “Gradient” is Freaky Mind’s sixth album and its second for darkTunes Music Group.

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

Ilya Remaerd and Roman Ericson are now active for more than ten years as Freaky Mind. The Russian duo defines their sound as ‘Killer Body Music from Moscow!’ A right description for their powerful sound mixing EBM, Dark-Electro and Techno music which they exposed at different albums. The self-titled new album released by darkTunes Music Group probably stands for their most accomplished and powerful work to date; Industrial-Techno music for zombies or just dark, danceable Electro-underground stuff! I talked about this masterpiece with Ilya.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Freaky Mind is already active for more than 10 years now. How do you look back at this career and the different productions that were released?

Ilya: We had some highs and lows, it’s true. There were moments I wish we could act differently, more boldly and persistently, with more self-confidence. Despite all this, I am convinced that we have been moving forward all this time, albeit sometimes not very fast. I see, how we change sonically into something more powerful and qualitative. Since it’s all about music after all, it’s the most important thing to me.

Q: You by the end of last year released the album “Freaky Mind”. What did you try to express by this self-titled work and how do you perceive the work in the band’s evolution?

Ilya: The title of this album means, that this time we didn’t put a lot of meaning into the album itself. I mean, all the previous times our albums were thematic, one way or another. This one is not. Rather, it is self-presentation. We demonstrate, who we are today and how we sound.

Q: How did “Freaky Mind” took shape? What have been the different stages you’d to go through to achieve this work and what’s the input of each member?

Ilya: Making this album was surprisingly easy. Everything was just flowing. We didn’t use much of the early stuff, and pretty quickly wrote brand new songs. In almost all tracks, we achieved the intended result pretty quickly. It happens quite rarely, when you know in advance, how exactly the song should sound. On this album we had this situation quite often. So, I can say, that Roman and I, we both definitely had fun making this record.

Q: Tell us a bit more about the guest artist -Freddie K. Croona who contributed one song of the album. How did you get in touch and how did the collaboration happened? What’s the bonus working with other artists?

Ilya: Fredrik has been a friend of ours for a long time. We first met in Moscow in 2012 and had a great time. Then when he visited Moscow a couple of times with Cynical Existence, we played with him on stage. I really consider him a good friend. We often talk, ask each other how things are going. His appearance on one of our songs was a matter of time.

Q: The music clearly sounds to have been mainly composed for dancefloors. Where do your influences come from -and especially for the new album, and why is this ‘club-sound’ that important to you?

Ilya: You’re right, we really wanted to make a good album for playing on parties and DJ-sets. The list of our influences is so long. We were inspired a lot by 90s dance music, different branches of Trance, Techno and House. We love the club sound, although sometimes we allow ourselves to deviate from it, as we did on our album “Doom” (2018).

Q: I can imagine the war your country is involved in must have an impact on your music activities like live performances in other European countries, physical sales, further plans etc. What’s the real impact you can feel and how do you try to manage all these things?

Ilya: I think, our musical activities are not something we should complain about right now. The only thing I want to say is that we’re grateful to darkTunes Music Group and Raphael Beck personally for taking care of everything we worked on so hard for these years and for his responsiveness. It means a lot, really. And, of course, we hope that someday we get a chance to meet our fans, wherever they are, and have a good time together.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Dark-Electro, Aggrotech.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Russian formation Freaky Mind has already been active for years and has released many productions. Their newest, self-titled, album is the first one released by darkTunes and features eleven songs.

Content: “Freaky Mind” is a powerful production revealing a kind of crossover between Dark-Electro, Techno-Body and Aggrotech influences. Carrying choruses featuring catchy tunes and danceable beats are leading the listener in their grip. There’s no single break but only dancefloor stuff. 

+ + + : Freaky Mind already released great works and never stops excelling in new, pumping, and merciless dance stuff for underground parties. The songs are well-crafted with constant power while supported by great leads. Songs like “Eternal” and “I Just Wanna Dance” are both potential club hits. There also is the more Technoid orientated “Freedom” and the Future-Pop inspired “Where Is My Mind?” featuring Fredrik Croona.

– – – : Some might say there’s nothing new here but I consider “Freaky Mind” as one of the band’s best exponents to date.

Conclusion: Industrial-Techno music for zombies or just dark, danceable Electro-underground stuff.

Best songs: “Eternal”, “I Just Wanna Dance”, “Freedom”, “Where Is My Mind?”, “Get Undressed”, “Everything But You”.

Rate: 8½.

Artist: www.facebook.com/freakymindband

Label: www.darktunes.com / www.facebook.com/darkTunesMusic

Read the news on ‘Freaky Mind’.

About Freaky Mind

Freaky Mind is a Russian duo of Ilya Remaerd and Roman Ericson, active under the name for more than ten years and describing their sound as “Killer Body Music from Moscow”, a mix of EBM, Dark-Electro and Techno elements. Their self-titled album is the duo’s first release through darkTunes Music Group and includes a guest appearance by Fredrik Croona on “Where Is My Mind?”. Side-Line discussed the record with the band in a 2023 interview.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Electro-Pop, Body-Pop.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Two years after the last album “Tropical Gothic”, Too Dead To Die revisited songs of this album. 

Content: The work features a varied content, moving in between ‘happy sounding’ Electro-Pop and rougher danceable cuts. The work sounds a bit like the offspring between Faderhead, Aesthetic Perfection and even Combichrist (for some of harder passages).

+ + + : Too Dead To Die created a very own Electro-Pop interpretation; a powerful production which is not driven by sweet melody lines, but experiments with Dance and Industrial. Nothing sounds impossible and that’s the main strength of this production. “Porcelain Mary” remains a great and powerful exposure but I also want to mention “They All Were Wont” featuring Freaky Mind and “Anywhere But Home – B-Side”.

– – – : There’re a few cuts which are a bit too short to my taste.

Conclusion: There’re less bands in the genre of Too Dead To Die and that’s for sure what makes this band interesting.

Best songs: “Porcelain Mary”, “They All Were Wont”.

Rate: 7 .

Artist: www.facebook.com/toodeadtodiemusic

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

About Too Dead To Die

Too Dead To Die mixes Electro-Pop and Body-Pop with rougher Dance and Industrial passages. The band’s album “Tropical Gothic” was released on February 28, 2020, on Out Of Line, and tracks from the album have previously appeared on Side-Line’s Electrostorm compilation series. “In The Dark” revisits and reworks material from “Tropical Gothic” for the same label.

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

Out now are 2 new EPs from the Italian dark electro act Synapsyche, that includes an extended reissue of their 2017 EP “This Is Gonna Hurt”.

But first things first with the all new EP “Silvertongue” on which the duo Stefano ‘Mannequinetik’ (machines) and Marco ‘Katatronik’ Mantovani (vocals) reveal the first two songs from their much anticipated 4th studio album “Anti” that is announced for release later this year. You get two dark elektro songs, “Silvertongue” which features Daniel Graves (Aesthetic Perfection) on guest vocals, and “Anti Manifesto” which turns out to be a fast hard-hitting industrial track with heavy beats.

The EP features a total of 10 songs including a large diversity of bonus remixes and is also accompanied by the release of a highly professional video clip for the title-song “Silvertongue” which you can see below.

The full EP can be downloaded right below.

Reissue of 2017 single ‘This Is Gonna Hurt’ with bonus material

Together with new material, Synapsyche also continues their re-release series. Originally released on April 7th 2017, the “This Is Gonna Hurt” EP now gets re-released featuring the exclusive bonus track, the ‘xeno flesh’ remix by Alien:Nation of the song “The Flesh Party”.

Remixes on the original release were delivered by C-Lekktor, Freaky Mind, Unity One and fellow countrymen T-Error Machinez.

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

Freakangel is back with an all new video , “The Last White Dance”, and a download EP with the same name which is available now on Bandcamp. The EP includes bonus exclusive remixes by Dawn Of Ashes, Alien Vampires, Acylum, Avarice In Audio, Freaky Mind and a special bonus in the form of an original demo track from 2009.

“The Last White Dance” is taken from the X Anniversary version of their debut album “The Faults Of Humanity” and, in co-operation with an Estonian film director and adult photographer that goes under the name of Basket Buns, it was turned into a NSWF (Not Are For Work) video. The music video is based on the grindhouse/cyberpunk series “Reval City” directed by Basket Buns which you can watch at www.revaluniverse.com.

The video for “The Last White Dance” includes additional content that was cut from the final version of the movie, so expect kinky footage. It is age restricted and can be accessed here.

Here’s the full EP available exclusively on Bandcamp with other platforms to follow in the next weeks.

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

“Pantheon” is the third full-length album by Van Roy Asylum to be released on January 22^nd via Insane Records.

The record features contributions by Fredrik Keith Croona (Cynical Existence, Empyres, Menschdefekt, Curse Of Eibon, Agains I, Croona and many others), Alex Tepiskidis (Chamaeleon, Aftereffect) and Ilya Konklever (Freaky Mind, Revelate).

You can order the new album right here as a download or on CD available as a 6 panel digipak with slipcase limited to 100 hand numbered copies.

Here’s the video teaser for the 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!

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Dark-Electro, Aggrotech. 

Format: Digital, CD. 

Background/Info: “Damnation” is the fifth album by Martin Schindler aka SynthAttack. We get twelve songs plus six remixes.

Content: I realize that SynthAttack isn’t really innovating, the sound and approach being comparable to the previous album. SynthAttack is once more mixing Dark-Electro elements with pure Dance music reminding me of the 90s. They already illustrated it on their previous albums and even dares to go a step further now. The ‘90s tribute’ “Call Me Insane” is a parody of Culture Beat’s “Mr. Vain”. I already thought to have heard a comparable connection to the previous album so they now simply covered this song into a very own, but recognizable style. “Damnation” also features a few heavenly female vocals next to the cavernous, pitched vocals of Martin Schindler. 

Remixes have been accomplished by Basscalate, [X]-RX, C-Lekktor, Synapsyche, Reactor7x and Freaky Mind. 

+ + + : This band remains a true challenge, but it clearly becomes a successful formula to conquer the dancefloors. So the title of the album is totally matching with the ongoing pandemic and its consequences for the music scene: closed clubs and no more dancefloors. SynthAttack sounds like food for dancefloors; the sound formula is a true challenge, but it has this terrific kind of dance elixir, which will make you dance. I personally like the tracks with male- & female duo vocals, “Dark Days” being one of my favorite cuts. It also sounds a little bit different from the rest, but the female vocals are adding an artistic and heavenly touch on top of the work. The list of remixers is an extra noticeable element of the album.

– – – : The work sometimes sounds like a copy-paste of its predecessor; no single innovation, but why changing a winning formula? The work becomes a bit predictable and that’s a pity as this band also shows a few ‘different’ ideas, which are more than promising. Despite the great list of remixers, none of them really add a bonus to the album and the original edits. 

Conclusion: I would be not surprised to see SynthAttack once covering some of the greatest 90s Dance-hits and reworking them in their typical darker Dance style. God was a DJ and SynthAttack must be Judas…

Best songs: “Dark Days”, “We Are SynthAttack”, “Dirty Dark electro – Stomp Edition”, “Magic vs. Toal – Special Edit”. 

Rate: 7½. 

Artist: www.facebook.com/synthattack 

Label: www.darktunes.com / www.facebook.com/darkTunesMusic

About SynthAttack

SynthAttack is a dark electro and aggrotech project from Hannover, Germany, driven by Martin Schindler, who handles production, lyrics and live vocals. Side-Line first covered the act in July 2017 with the Face The Beat profile piece Side-Line introduces SynthAttack – listen now to ‘Afterlife (Suppressor Remix)’ (Face The Beat profile series).

The debut album “To The Floor” appeared on darkTunes Music Group in 2015, followed by Synthattack – Club Takeover (CD Album – Dark Tunes Music Group) in 2016, SynthAttack – Harsh Is Back (CD Album – darkTunes Music Group) in 2017, the “Salvation In Hell” EP in 2018 and SynthAttack – Join Us (CD Album – darkTunes Music Group) in 2019. The single “Dirty Dark Electro” also appeared in 2019, and the EP SynthAttack – Harsh Will Never Die (EP – darkTunes Music Group) followed in 2020.

“Damnation” was released on 22 October 2021 by darkTunes Music Group as a digital download and on CD. It holds eighteen tracks, opening with “Into the Void (Intro)” and including “Magic (vs. TOAL) (Special Edit)”, a collaboration with Toal, followed by six remixes. The label states the album is about lockdown isolation, “the inner turmoil, the feeling of a never ending cycle to the long awaited redemption”. Schindler continued with the single “Circle Of Pain” in 2022 and announced the album “Immortal in Hell” for 11 September 2026 together with fall tour dates.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Dark-Electro, Industrial.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: “Destrudo” and “World In Denial” are twin productions. They both have been released the same day and are also announcing the return of the infernal, Italian duo –now living in the UK, ‘Nysrok Infernalien’ (vocals, guitar) and ‘NightStalker’ (keys, percussion and backing vocals). The EP also features four songs plus five remixes.

Content: Among the 4 ‘new’ songs we get the already familiar “Destrudo” and “World In Denial”. The difference is that “Destrudo” is opening this EP. Both songs remind us the violent sound of Alien Vampires, mixing Industrial guitar play together with harsh Dark-Electro with enraged vocals on top plus clearer backing vocals. We next get 2 ‘new’ songs revealing an overwhelming, Industrial-Techno driven “10 Bags 10 Lines” and the haunting “London Paranormal”.

We now get 2 remixes of the title song plus 2 remixes of “Wolrd In Denial” by God Destruction, In3briant, Cyberlich, Freaky Mind and Nano Infect.

+ + + : Both title songs from these EP’s are strong and powerful, but just as on the other EP I prefer one of the exclusive cuts. “10 Bags 10 Lines” has something transcendental, but also injecting some diversity to the work while exploring new paths for the band. More than ever before, this EP reveals the unique style and brutal approach of Alien Vampires. They don’t exactly repeat themselves although holding on their heavy sound production. Among the remixes I recommend the one of “Destrudo” by God Destruction. There’s a better balance between electronics and guitar than on the original edit.

– – – : I’m not convinced from all the new cuts I heard both title songs are the best ones. “Darkweb” featured on the EP “World In Denial” and “10 Bags 10 Lines” from this EP are my personal favorites. I also expected more out of the remixes by Nano Infect and Freaky Mind.

Conclusion: Alien Vampires is back driven by rage and fury! Both EP’s are for sure their most diversified work to date.

Best songs: “10 Bags 10 Lines”, “Destrudo – Unholy Mix by god Destruction”, “Destrudo”, “World In Denial”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.alienvampires.eu / www.facebook.com/AlienVampires

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

About Alien Vampires

Alien Vampires is the Italian duo of Nysrok Infernalien (vocals, guitars) and NightStalker (keys, percussion, backing vocals), later based in the UK. The project’s early releases include “Evil Generation” (2005), “Nuns Are Pregnant” (2006), “No One Here Gets Out Alive” (2007) and “Fuck Off And Die” (2009).

Alien Vampires signed to Alfa Matrix for “Evil Lasts Forever” (2017) and its related releases, followed by “Evil Twin” (2018) and “Fuck The Revolution Bring On The Apocalypse” (2018).

“Destrudo” and its companion EP “World In Denial” followed in December 2020, recorded during the band’s home-studio sessions in London. Both EPs pair original tracks with remixes from God Destruction, IN3BRIANT, Cyberlich, Freaky Mind and Nano Infect.

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 harsh electro act Alien Vampires seized the opportunity of the COVID-19 pandemic confinement to spend more time recording and experimenting in their home-studio in Bricklane (London, UK) than being on the road and playing live shows. The duo of Nysrok Infernalien and Nightstalker have now released two coupled and fully complementary 9-track EP’s respectively titled “Destrudo” and “World In Denial”.

As an extra with the Bandcamp versions you also get a few band pics and… the uncensored super erotic frontcovers which were refused by the digital platforms and taken down by Facebook (that’s no surprise these days).

Each of the 2 EPs start with the tracks “Destrudo” and “World In Denial” followed by 7 more tracks each time.

On the “Destrudo” EP (available here on Bandcamp) the first tracks are followed by 2 additional exclusive songs: “10 Bags 10 Lines” and “London Paranormal”. This EP ends with 3 remixes of “Destrudo” and 2 remixes of “World In Denial” by the dark elektro acts God Destruction, In3briant, Cyberlich, Freaky Mind and Nano Infect.

On the “World In Denial” EP (available here on Bandcamp) the first 2 tracks are followed by 2 more exclusive songs: “Darkweb” and “AV Forever E9”. This EP ends with 3 remixes of “World In Denial” and 2 remixes of “Destrudo” by dark elektro partners in crimes from across the globe: Chamaeleon, Viscera Drip, Distoxia, Reaxion Guerilla and Adeonesis. Read the reviews of ‘World In Denial’ and ‘Destrudo’.

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 via SkyQode is the newest Unitcode:Machine single “Instigator”. The new single by this very enjoyable EBM / industrial act is taken from the band’s latest album “Tyranny” showcasing the band’s distinctive blend of EBM and industrial .

In addition to the title track, the single features remixes by Freaky Mind, Elezoria, and Invisible Devastation. This single should please fans of Imperative Reaction, Absurd Minds, Decoded Feedback and the like.

Unitcode:Machine is a US-based band which was formed in 2000 by Eric K.. Their first official release landed in 2004 and mixed multiple genres like EBM, industrial, synthpop, and many 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!

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Dark electro-pop.

Format: Digital.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rate: (7½).

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

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

About H.O.W.

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

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Reactor7X frontman Ad-X has launched a brand new project featuring the female vocalist Yu: H.O.W. which stand for Her Own World. Signed to Alfa Matrix, the song “Happiness Imperative” was released a while ago and featured on multiple compilations offering already a good insight on what the band is about.

Out now via Bandcamp (and other services to follow in the next days) is the debut single “A Different Kind Of Reality”, actually an EP holding 8 tracks. On this EP the Polish duo offer a mix of dark elektro, synth pop and industrial dance with a touch of trance.

The 2 tracks on this single “Happiness Imperative” and “Stalker Girl” appear in their original versions plus in remixes by Aesthetische, Neikka RPM, INVA//ID, Switchface, Jeremiah Kane and Freaky Mind.

Check out the EP below.

You can also watch the lyrics video for “Happiness Imperative” on YouTube. Read the review of ‘A Different Kind Of Reality’.

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: Industrial-EBM, crossover.

Background/Info: Cynical Existence is back on track  and has unleashed their fourth full length album to date. The band now consists of the captain on board Fredrik Croona, assisted by George Klontzas (PreEmptive Strike 01) while Erik Gustafsson is now taking care of the guitar. “Dying Light” also is the first album of the band released on Advoxya Records while all previous albums were released on Alfa Matrix.

Content: Cynical Existence never has been a band to deal with sweet music. This new opus again reveals a truly fusion between harsh and violent guitar playing and cold, but melodic electronics. With some imagination you can imagine the dark future-pop style Fredrik Croona at one side mixed with violent guitar. It creates a kind of good-old crossover music carried by the furious vocals of the frontman.

The final part features remixes by Freaky Mind, Iron Clad and Cutoff Sky.

+ + + : Cynical Existence has found its own style and sound DNA, which is mixing different influences with each other. It no longer is the typical furious dark-electronic music, but a band that has evolved over the years towards a more industrial-minded sound where guitar and electronics have the same importance. I especially like the songs carried by melodic leads and “End Of The Line” is a great cut in the genre.

– – – : “Dying Light” is a cool work, but in the end a little bit predictable. The remixes don’t really sound like a bonus to the album.

Conclusion: “Dying Light” is a source of dark energy and a reactor of sonic violence.

Best songs: “End Of The Line”, “I”, “Fuck Your Crew”, “Edge Of Sanity”.

Rate: (7).

Band: www.facebook.com/cynicalexistenceband

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

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

Read the review of ‘Freaky Mind’.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Dark-electro, EBM, gothic, new-wave, punk-rock.

Bands: PreEmptive Strike 0.1, Roppongi Inc Project, Freaky Mind, Siva Six, Wynardtage, W.O.M.P., Oniric, Acylum, Von Thronstahl, The Pussibats ao.

Background/Info: The German label based in Duisburg was rather active during the 90s and early millennium years releasing albums of bands like Forthcoming Fire, Von Thronstahl and their label compilation series “VAWS”.

It’s a while ago now since I’ve heard something new from VAWS, but they here strike back with a beautiful and deeply artistic book & double disc featuring a total of 24 songs. The title and concept of the artwork will appeal for all Nachtmahr fans.

Content: The book is absolutely artistic and focuses on –like the title indicates, ‘girls in uniform’. We get beautiful and sexy pictures of young girls in uniform. Some of the pictures clearly remind me of the image of Nachtmahr. It definitely appears to be a concept that will please the audience.

Sound-wise the 1^st disc is totally devoted to dark-electronics and some dark EBM formats. There’s an interesting selection of established- and less familiar names. Globally speaking it’s a pumping and pretty cool disc with a great song by Freaky Mind and other noticeable cuts by R.I.P. and Mordacious.

The 2^nd disc is more diversified covering multiple genres and influences. It’s not exactly what I would call a gothic album but more like bands that are dealing with orchestral arrangements, cinematographic inspiration, minimal electro-wave music, ethereal electronics, body-pop, a kind of chanson and even a punk-rock apotheosis.

+ + + : The 1^st disc will definitely please the dark-electro heads and features a nice selection of cool songs. The 2^nd disc is quite different, revealing an exciting eclecticism of influences. But the main strength of this compilation for sure appears to be the great artwork and book-concept.

– – – : There’s a serious chasm in music genre between both discs.

Conclusion: If you’re a freak of artistic music design featuring cool music and a unique artwork, you definitely will like “Mädchen In Uniform”.

Best bands: Freaky Mind, Mordacious, Infernosounds, Lucifer Christ, Von Thronstahl, Deadly Injection.

Rate: (8).

Label: www.vaws.de / www.facebook.com/vaws–musicfactory-254972201199351

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 Russian dark electro act Thornsectide, which formed in the beginning of 2015, have landed a first download single, “Queen” which is available now via Bandcamp.

Officially out since September 29., the download single includes the original song and a few remixes from Russian colleagues Freaky Mind and [ Sin.Thetic Squad ] but also from Mexican project Aim&Execute, which present their own versions of the title track.

Released digitally by Insane Records via Bandcamp it acts as a teaser for the band’s upcoming full-length album.

Also available is the recently released official lyric video of “Bathory”, a track telling a story of a bloody countess of the past. You can watch that rather funny 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