Frontline Assembly &#8211; SIDE-LINE

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.

https://frontlineassembly.bandcamp.com/track/neuromotive

Bill Leeb – Model Kollapse (Digital/CD/Vinyl Album – Metropolis Records)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Fri, 11 Oct 2024 19:00:00 +0000

Bill Leeb, the legendary frontman of Frontline Assembly, as well as Delerium, Noise Unit, Intermix, Cyberaktif, and numerous other projects, is finally releasing his first solo-album after all these years. Model Kollapse draws inspiration from the world of AI and is infused with Leeb’s signature sound. While there are unmistakable EBM influences that echo Frontline Assembly, the album also incorporates elements from his other projects, making it distinctly Leeb. “Model Kollapse” is a meticulously crafted Electro piece that balances between intense, driving sections -my personal favorites, and more atmospheric, Ambient moments carried by rhythms. The album features guest appearances from members of ACTORS, contributing guitars and female backing vocals, and Mimi Page, known for her work with Delerium, lends her voice to the final track. Longtime collaborator Rhys Fulber also returns to produce several songs. Despite its strong start, the album concludes with a few weaker tracks, but overall, “Model Kollapse” stands as a compelling and polished addition to Leeb’s impressive discography. (Rating:8).

Listen to “Neuromotive”:

Uwe H. Schmidt faces huge backlash after playing Russian Outline festival

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Sun, 28 Jul 2024 16:11:21 +0000

(The visual is AI generated) In July 2024, German composer, musician and producer of electronic music Uwe H. Schmidt (aka Lassigue Bendthaus, Atom™, Atom Heart, or Señor Coconut) headlined the Russian Outline festival, which returned after its last edition in 2016, and this amid the ongoing conflict with Ukraine.

Run by the team behind Moscow club Mutabor, the house, techno and experimental festival took place last week (18-24 July) in Taldom, a small town on the outskirts of the capital. Playing were international acts like Atom™, Margaret Dygas and Le Syndicat Electronique who joined local DJs and live acts including Tim Aminov, Denis Kaznacheev and Sofia Rodina.

Present at the festival also was a military recruitment tent and vehicles marked with the letter “Z”, symbols associated with the Russian military effort against Ukraine.

Moscow region July 2023. Outline festival. I pointed out that u should remember those artists in the lineup. Can we tell now that they are officially support genocide of Ukrainians and act as an entertainment at the points of recruiting (mobilization) of russians for the war? pic.twitter.com/gxi5G6SgJf
— Maya Baklanova (@mayabaklanova) July 7, 2023

It didn’t take long before critics, such as Ukrainian activist Maya Baklanova, said that Western artists performing in Russia were normalizing the war and supporting the Russian regime by their participation.

Schmidt responded to the criticism by calling it a “smear campaign” against him. He defended his performance, implying that the accusations were unfounded and intended to damage his reputation. And he added: “It is also painful that at this point in my career I have, for the first time, to make a non-musical public statement of that sort, yet it seems that times require this to be done. (…) I consider myself a profoundly non- or rather trans-political person. Many years ago I had decided to take the path of making true human bonds through music. Unlike politics, which is the mode of separation, I had chosen music, which is the mode of connection.”

Surprisingly Schmidt’s recent performance in Russia was backed by an official support letter, issued by the German Embassy in St. Petersburg.

Liebe deutsche Techno-Community, um @Atom_TM_news, liebes deutsches Generalkonsulat in Sankt Petersburg @germania_online, habt ihr sie noch alle? Im kriegführenden russland die kriegsbejahende Masse mit deutschen Techno-Acts belohnen und damit diesen Terrorstaat normalisieren? pic.twitter.com/8BdGFjA7z8
— Ukrainki_UA (@Ukrainki_UA) July 28, 2024

This letter was accompanied by a meeting with the general consul Mr. Schimandl of which an official post was made on VK by the German Embassy itself. We took a screenshot of said post below.

DJ Atom™ and the Consul General of Germany Milan Schimandl

Criticism continues as for instance even Russian techno producer Pavel Milyakov (aka Buttechno) accused the artists at the festival of attracting people to a war effort, stating that their performances indirectly supported the military budget used for the invasion of Ukraine.

Und wie wird sich versucht rauszureden? @Atom_TM_news will Verbindungen schaffen. Ich bezweifle, dass auf dem Festival Ukrainer sind. Zwischen wem werden also diese Verbindungen geschaffen? Zahlenden Kunden und einem deutschen DJ…? pic.twitter.com/9rfXdDRLaC
— Ukrainki_UA (@Ukrainki_UA) July 28, 2024

His official statements contains some disturbing clues, such as, “this link may be blocked in your free, democratic country,” “this situation, the one of being forced into political obedience,” and “(it) has poisoned music and other arts as it enslaves them to ideology.” He seems to suggest that condemning Russian aggression equates to political obedience.

And that is when, regrettably, we recognize a kind of responses that are typical among artists who support Russia, like for instance Simone Salvatori (Spiritual Front). It’s clear now that Uwe H. Schmidt decided to follow the Russian propaganda narrative instead of using is name and fame to condemn the Russian invasion. His defensive line as if music should be non-political is hereby completely destroyed. Rumor has it also that the DJs playing at the fest received exceptionally high fees.

Sad to see this happening from an artist we used to admire. Not anymore after this.

About Uwe H. Schmidt

Uwe H. Schmidt, born on August 27, 1968, in Frankfurt, Germany, began his musical journey in the early 1980s. Initially playing drums, he soon transitioned to programming a drum computer inspired by the sounds of the Linn Drum. In 1986, Schmidt co-founded the cassette label N.G. Medien, releasing works by international artists, including Frontline Assembly, and his own project Lassigue Bendthaus with “The Engineer’s Love”. His first official Lassigue Bendthaus album, “Matter”, was recorded over four years and released in 1991, establishing his early career.

Living in Frankfurt, Schmidt was influenced by the burgeoning house and acid house scenes. He adopted the alias Atom Heart and released several dance-oriented 12-inch vinyl records under various project names. In 1992, he produced tracks for DJs Pascal F.E.O.S., Ata, and Heiko M/S/O, contributing to the early trance movement. Collaborations with Tetsu Inoue led to the formation of the Datacide project in 1993. Despite challenges with record labels, Schmidt continued to innovate, founding his own label, Rather Interesting, in 1994 to explore diverse musical ideas.

In the mid-1990s, Schmidt collaborated with artists like Bill Laswell and Haruomi Hosono, producing albums under multiple aliases. He met Chilean musician Dandy Jack, and in 1997, they relocated to Santiago, Chile, where Schmidt completed the first Señor Coconut album, “El Gran Baile”. This period marked the creation of his “electrolatino” style, blending traditional Latin music with electronic elements. He continued to release a monthly album on Rather Interesting.

Schmidt’s last Lassigue Bendthaus album, “Pop Artificielle”, released in 1999 under the name LB included electronic cover versions of famous pop songs. His next major project, “El Baile Alemán” by Señor Coconut, featured cha-cha-cha versions of Kraftwerk songs and received approval from Kraftwerk themselves. The album’s success led to international tours, including Europe and an intended U.S. tour. During this time, Schmidt also released innovative works like Geeez ‘n’ Gosh and collaborated with Bernd Friedmann on the Flanger project.

Schmidt continued to remix prominent artists, including Depeche Mode and Air, while touring extensively with his 9-piece Señor Coconut orchestra. The album “Yellow Fever!”, featuring covers of Yellow Magic Orchestra songs, became a major hit in Japan. Schmidt also released the Señor Coconut album “Around the World”, collaborating with artists like Stephan Remmler and Louie Austen.

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.

Bill Leeb from Front Line Assembly and Delerium fame to release debut solo album on Metropolis Records

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 18:13:20 +0000

(Photo by Bobby Talamine) Metropolis Records announces the signing of industrial-electronic Vancouver-based music legend Bill Leeb for his debut solo effort “Model Kollapse”, out September 13.

“The album explores the intricacies of artificial intelligence and the survival of humanity itself,” says Bill Leeb.

The first single “Terror Forms” features Shannon Hemmett of Actors and Leathers and will be out on July 9. This album also involves Front Line Assembly / Delerium cohort Rhys Fulber, mixing engineer Greg Reely, Actors’ frontman Jason Corbett, and LA artist Mimi Page.

“We are proud to announce that Metropolis Records has signed Bill Leeb for his first solo project. Bill Leeb has had a prolific career as a founding member of Skinny Puppy, Front Line Assembly and Delerium. His music has been highly influential, and we are excited to see what this new chapter in his career will bring for him and his listeners,” says Nina Heckman of Metropolis Records. “I’m honored to fulfill my father’s (Dave Heckman who died in the summer of 2022) lifelong vision and to be doing this project with a lifelong family friend I can honestly call family (Bill Leeb). This project is near and dear to all of our hearts here at Metropolis and I know it would make my father proud.”

“Model Kollapse” marks Leeb’s very first solo venture since the mid-80s days of Front Line Assembly, when he used to make recordings in his bedroom and released them on limited edition cassette format. Almost four decades on, his new album was recorded and produced in Vancouver, Toronto and Los Angeles with assistance from Vancouver/Toronto-based production duo Dream Bullet.

The “Terror Forms” single will be unleashed digitally everywhere on July 9. The full “Model Kollapse” album will be released on vinyl and CD, as well as digitally, on September 13.

About Bill Leeb

Bill Leeb, born Wilhelm Anton Leeb on September 21, 1966, in Vienna, Austria, is best known as the founder and lead member of the industrial music group Front Line Assembly (FLA). Leeb moved to Canada in the 1980s, where he began his music career.

Before forming Front Line Assembly in 1986, Leeb was a member of the influential industrial group Skinny Puppy, where he performed under the pseudonym Wilhelm Schroeder. His departure from Skinny Puppy marked the beginning of his prolific career with Front Line Assembly.

In addition to Front Line Assembly, Leeb has been involved in several other music projects, including Delerium, which achieved commercial success with its fusion of ambient and pop music elements. Leeb’s other projects include Noise Unit, Intermix, and Conjure One, each exploring different facets of electronic music.

Bill Leeb discography

Bill Leeb has had a diverse range of musical projects, each with its own unique style and sound. Here’s an easy-to-read breakdown of the differences between his major projects:

Front Line Assembly (FLA) is characterized by a dark and aggressive style, blending industrial, Electronic Body Music (EBM), and electro-industrial sounds. The music features heavy use of synthesizers and electronic beats, often exploring dystopian and sci-fi themes.

Delerium, on the other hand, focuses on ambient, ethereal, and electronic music with a new age twist. Its sound is soothing and atmospheric, emphasizing melodies and textures. Delerium often incorporates world music elements and features various guest vocalists, achieving mainstream success with tracks like “Silence” featuring Sarah McLachlan.

Noise Unit showcases a mix of industrial, EBM, and techno influences. Over time, the project’s sound has varied, combining harsh industrial elements with more danceable EBM and techno beats. Collaborations with artists like Marc Verhaeghen of Klinik add to its diverse range of styles.

Intermix leans more towards techno, ambient, and electronic music. This project focuses on instrumental tracks, blending electronic and ambient music with techno rhythms. It is generally less aggressive than Front Line Assembly.

Conjure One presents a melodic and ethereal sound, incorporating ambient, electronic, world music, and pop influences. It features prominent guest vocalists and offers polished production with a radio-friendly appeal, blending electronic beats with organic instruments.

Cyberaktif, a collaboration with cEvin Key of Skinny Puppy, delivers a dark and experimental sound. Combining the signature styles of Front Line Assembly and Skinny Puppy, Cyberaktif features heavy use of samples and aggressive beats, resulting in a dense, experimental industrial sound.

Equinox focuses on ambient and atmospheric soundscapes, similar to early Delerium works but more abstract and experimental. It emphasizes creating immersive sound environments with a minimalistic approach.

Pro>Tech is a dance-oriented project with techno and trance influences. It features high-energy beats and repetitive, hypnotic structures, offering a clear departure from the darker styles of Leeb’s other projects, aiming for a more mainstream dance music appeal.

Below are the releases.

Front Line Assembly

The Initial Command (1987)
State of Mind (1988)
Gashed Senses & Crossfire (1989)
Caustic Grip (1990)
Tactical Neural Implant (1992)
Millennium (1994)
Hard Wired (1995)
FLAvour of the Weak (1997)
Implode (1999)
Epitaph (2001)
Civilization (2004)
Artificial Soldier (2006)
Improvised. Electronic. Device. (2010)
Echogenetic (2013)
Wake Up the Coma (2019)
Mechanical Soul (2021)

Delerium

Faces, Forms & Illusions (1989)
Morpheus (1989)
Syrophenikan (1990)
Spiritual Archives (1991)
Stone Tower (1991)
Spheres (1994)
Spheres 2 (1994)
Semantic Spaces (1994)
Karma (1997)
Poem (2000)
Chimera (2003)
Nuages du Monde (2006)
Music Box Opera (2012)
Mythologie (2016)

Noise Unit

Grinding into Emptiness (1989)
Response Frequency (1990)
Strategy of Violence (1992)
Decoder (1995)
Drill (1996)
Voyeur (1998)
Dead Sector (1999)
Deviator (2021)

Intermix

Intermix (1992)
Phaze Two (1993)
Future Primitives (1995)

Conjure One

Conjure One (2002)
Extraordinary Ways (2005)
Exilarch (2010)
Holoscenic (2015)
Innovation Zero (2023)

Cyberaktif

Tenebrae Vision (1991)
Temper (EP) (1990)

Equinox

Holon (1998)

Pro>Tech

Orbiting Cathedrals (1997)

Censor offers new ‘Black Needles’ single ahead of ‘Swarm’ album

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Mon, 17 Jun 2024 10:43:46 +0000

Censor is the brand new project from the Swedish musician Jouni Ollila who we known from his work with Pouppée Fabrikk, mz.412 and the recent solo project Ulvtharm. With Censor he tries “to capture the RAW vibes of late 80s, early 90s electronic music.”

Musically you will notice the DNA similarities with such bands as early Skinny Puppy, The Klinik, Frontline Assembly and Cabaret Voltaire.

Out now is a video for the track “Black Needles” taken from the upcoming album “Swarm” to be released on June 28 on all major streaming platforms and Bandcamp.

You can pre-order the album below on Bandcamp.

SWARM by CENSOR

dISHARMONY – Pendulum (Album – Aliens Production)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Wed, 17 Jan 2024 08:00:00 +0000

#post_seo_title

Genre/Influences: IDM, Dark-Electro, Cinematic, EBM.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Slovakian duo dISHARMONY is now active for more than twenty years. Driven by Aliens Production label owner Peter ‘Ryby’ and Robert Gajdos (Headdreamer) they both also got involved with Oxyd. This must be their fourteenth full length album (including remix albums) which has been preceded by the promising EP’s “Mindhunter” (2022) and “Abyss” (2023).

Content: The album sounds like a continuation of the “Resonance”-album released in 2021. And it even moves a step further mixing different influences together. There’s the unavoidable IDM basis of the project supported with intelligent and minimal EBM influences which might remind you of Frontline Assembly but also an Electro-Industrial style which vaguely evokes Mortal Constraint and an explicit Cinematic touch. The vocals create a ghost-like effect which is fitting with some anxious passages running through the album.

+ + + : This is for sure one of the most eclectic albums of the band although it remains carried by the refined IDM touch. dISHARMONY is fully representative for the high qualitative level of the label and has accomplished a new tour de force. They feel comfortable dealing with all different influences which have been mixed together in a strong sonic mould. The title song sounds as the best exposure of this evolution in sound; minimal, intelligent and somewhere in between IDM and EBM. Other great exponents are “Blood For Glory” and “Empty Room With Demons” wherein the anguishing, dark, atmospheric side hangs over the work. Last but not least I also want to say a word about the outstanding ‘cyber’ artwork of the front cover but especially the booklet.

– – – : A few cuts -like “The Path Of Miracles – Headdreamer Edit” are maybe too much into Cinematic exploration and less ‘classical’ dISHARMONY-minded.

Conclusion: dISHARMONY remains the ultimate showcase for the sonic intelligence of Aliens Production; again a meticulous and precious work.

Best songs: “Pendulum”, “Empty Room With Demons”, “Blood For Glory”, “Broken Paths Of Souls – HD Theme Triode Edit”, “Mindhunter – Reverse”, “Indifference”.

Rate: 8½.

Artist: www.facebook.com/dISHARMONY.Offical

Label: www.label.aliens.sk / www.facebook.com/pages/Aliens-production-label/200028820052578

The Neon Judgement presents brand new ‘Blue Screens’ vinyl compilation

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 09:14:06 +0000

In 2023, Dancedelicd collaborated with Brussels-based Je M’en Fish Records on three vinyl releases. Among these, The Neon Judgement’s compilation “Blue Screens” is scheduled for November 5th. This release will be on a 180-gram vinyl format and will come in three different colors.

In the early 1980s, Dirk Timmermans, also known as Dirk Da Davo, and Frank Vloeberghs, known as TB Frank, founded The Neon Judgement. They initially gained attention for their unique blend of stark industrial elements with intricate guitar and synthesizer work.

During the 1990s, the duo shifted their musical direction and also changed labels. They released Dazsoo under KK Records, known for artists like Bauhaus and Frontline Assembly; At Devil’s Fork with Synthetic Symphony, home to Die Krupps and Welle: Erdball; and Smack on LC Music/Dancedelic-D, Dirk Da Davo’s own label.

This 10-track compilation features a curated selection from these latter three albums, all of which have been fully remastered and are making their debut on vinyl.

Earlier this year Dirk Da Davo’s album “Retrospective 1987 – 2023” album was released in April. Additionally, June saw a reissue of The Neon Judgement’s “PIAS 40” vinyl, which includes several tracks from the 1980s.

A digital EP is planned for November 20th, involving Dirk’s side project DDDJMX and Jean-Marie Aerts (JMX). The EP is titled “23”.

Railwrx – Emergence (EP – Railwrx)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Fri, 25 Aug 2023 07:00:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: EBM.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: “Emergence” was released last year and is the debut work by Pittsburgh (USA)-duo Railwrx. This band is driven by George Cicci and Ross Beall who already worked together in the 90s under the bLaCKlaNDs-moniker.

Content: “Emergence” sounds like good-old and intelligent EBM mainly inspired by the Canadian school. The work features 4 cuts which are mainly driven by menacing bass lines, low sound treatments and ghost-like atmospheres with similar vocals on top.

+ + + : This band -and especially for a debut-EP, took me by surprise by a sophisticated EBM format. The songs are well-crafted and definitely reminding me of Frontline Assembly.

– – – : I regret this is just an EP; I want to hear more stuff from these guys.

Conclusion: I can only but encourage EBM lovers to discover this promising band.

Best songs: “Emergence”, “Corridor”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100075843371156

Interview with Bill Leeb Of Delerium: ‘Delerium Is A Healing Process, A Perfect Escape From The Aggression In The World’

Inferno Sound Diaries — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 17:00:00 +0000

Bill Leeb and Rhys Fulber have been working together since the late 80s. They got international recognition in the EBM scene with Front Line Assembly. Next to other side-projects they also worked together as Delerium. The first album bring us back to 1988. I remember “Faces, Forms, And Illusions” as a kind of Industrial-Ambient work which also was the band’s main source of inspiration for the next few years. “Semantic Spaces” (1994) and “Karma” (1997) both revealed a different sound becoming more Downtempo-like while driven by sensual, female vocals. “Silence” became a word-wide famous hit while Delerium never stopped releasing new works in a similar style. They this year strike back with “Signs” (Metropolis Records) which is the duo’s first album in seven years. Sensual, mysterious and refined Ambient-Electronics featuring a few new potential hits. I asked a few questions to Bill Leeb.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: “Signs” is your first new Delerium album in seven years. Why did it take so long to release a new opus and what was the spark to start writing “Signs”?

Bill: We were taking a little breather from Delerium when the complications of Covid extended the giant gap between releases. What ultimately made a difference is that Rhys moved back to Vancouver, Canada, so with him being close by, we were able to start working again. Being in the same room creating together is what provided the spark that we needed.

Q: What are these “Signs” all about and how did you transpose it into songs?

Bill: Well, the title of the album alludes to the sign of the times. So much has happened in the world since we released the last Delerium album “Mythologie” in 2016. Yet with “Signs” the title came last. When we were on tour Front Line Assembly, we were talking about titles for the album, our guitarist Tim Skold threw the title at us and Rhys and I both liked it so it stuck. We gave Tim Skold an actual credit for the title on the album.

Q: What have been the different stages in writing, recording and production of “Signs” you’d to go through? And what have been the main challenges and difficulties you encountered?

Bill: When Rhys moved back to Vancouver (about 40 minutes from my house), it was great to be able to get together in a room and start writing. After 35 years of doing Delerium, that is still the best way. Ideas came up and we were able to the kick them around and work on them with consistency.

It is always a challenge to find the right people to work with. Many artists are working on their own bands and projects, collaborating is a different game these days and many are doing their own thing. I think we found the right balance. Rhys had worked with Kanga in the past, some of the other great vocalists on “Signs,” we’ve worked with before including Emily Haines (from Metric), Mimi Page and Phidel.

Q: That brings me to ask if you handle specific criteria to work with vocalists? And what’s their real input and impact in the lyrical themes and singing?

Bill: I think the thing that differentiates FLA from Delerium is that when we write the music, we think in terms of what voice would work on this or that song. The singers themselves write the lyrics, the magical part is that the instrumental music often drives the vocalists to lean heavily on atmospheric vocals and that is what Delerium is all about. It is collaboration in the truest sense. Mimi Page, contributes in a different way as she often presents song ideas as well.

In general, we always know when we hear something if it is going to work. This is the zone and kind of environment we like Delerium to work in. On “Signs” we found that perfect balance with all of the songs and the singers.

Q: I’m always wondering if you handle specific criteria and/or references when you’re composing your music? Are you perfectionists?

Bill: I definitely hear music and voices that influence the compositions. In the past, I’ve heard singers that I myself have contacted to collaborate on songs.

As for being a perfectionist? When we write something and it’s done, later, I always think I could have done that better or change that. Music is never ending, like painting. Even when it’s done, I think at the end of the day you have to know when to walk away and let other people hear it and hope for the best.

Q: Did you both need a special and/or different mindset when working on Delerium than on one of your other music projects like Frontline Assembly for example? How does it happen?

Bill: That’s really easy, most artists, painters or musicians have two sides. I find when tour with FLA, afterwards, we want to turn off that side of ourselves and become someone else for a while. Delerium is a healing process, a perfect escape from the aggression in the world. Delerium opens the door for us to diversity and brings us to the Trance, Ambient side of things and remix possibilities. That Dance world has created a whole new platform for us to exist on that is very separate from the world of Industrial music. It’s like a great escape.

Q: What does the front cover of “Signs” stand for and how important is the artwork -especially in times people are more into streaming than physical productions?

Bill: Dave McKean created the artwork for “Signs.” We’ve been working with him since the Front Line Assembly album “Millennium“ In 1994. Dave’s first Delerium-album cover was “Mythologie” in 2016 and it blew us away, so it was a no brainer for us to have him do this cover. Dave is somewhat like the singers in Delerium, he collaborates with us. We give him the title, send him some songs to listen to and he sends us image ideas. It is a real collaboration, he then sends us art and it ends up being the ideal cover. Dave does his artwork from scratch. It’s not an AI thing, it is real voices with real art. The bird on the cover of “Signs,” is like a phoenix rising in the face of the way things are in the world these days.

Q: Early Delerium-albums were remastered and re-released in 2022. There’s a gap of nearly thirty five years between your debut album “Faces, Forms, And Illusions” and “Signs” but is there still a deeper sound-connection between both periods? How do you perceive this impressive evolution?

Bill: Well, I wanted to give a shout out to the late Dave Heckman for rereleasing these on Metropolis and presenting them exactly as an artist would want. As far as the evolution of Delerium from those early years, many things came into play. During the first album I was still in Skinny Puppy, so it was really a side project. I was bouncing off things like Ofra Haza, The Orb and even Pink Floyd. I started experimenting with ideas, much of it was organic and made by hand, perhaps using some cassette recorders for sampling. We’ve evolved so much with technology, it was a natural evolution for Delerium.

“Semantic Spaces” in 1994, was the first time we would write songs like that and brought in Kristy Thirsk to sing. We received legitimate radio play and it was quite an evolution from our earlier material. We were able to bridge the two parts later with monks, angelic voices and classical influences with “Silence”, featuring Sarah McLachlan, and evolved even further. Now, with “Signs” it has quickly become one my personal favorite Delerium albums. And the flow continues even after 35 years. If it all ended today with this album I’d be ok with it, full circle, old meets new, keeping all of the elements and the sincerity of the project intact.

Q: What are the plans for Delerium in the next few months?

Bill: As of now, the album is only a few weeks old and we have just released the video with Kanga. We are working on another video, this time for “Coast To Coast” featuring Phildel. Then looking at possible remixes. There’s a lot to work with.

Delerium – Signs (Album – Metropolis Records)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Wed, 05 Apr 2023 07:00:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: Electronic, Ambient, Cinematic.

Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.

Background/Info: “Signs” is the first new Delerium studio album in seven years. Thirty five years separate this new work by Canadian duo Bill Leeb – Rhys Fulber and the debut opus “Faces, Forms, And Illusions”. Delerium went through an important evolution in sound and influences and became world-wide known for their master hit “Silence” (1997).

Content: The sound formula of “Signs” is quite comparable to the past Delerium albums. They create a heavenly, wafting, Electro-Ambient composition driven by slow, sensual, danceable rhythms. Mimi Page, Phildel, Inna Walters, and Kanga have been invited as guest singers for this work. Each of the singers injecting their own, sensual, touch to the work.

+ + + : Delerium remains a very unique experience in sound. I’ve always wondered how musicians who got some world-wide fame by a dark project like Frontline Assembly transposed themselves into a more accessible, danceable -and I dare to say commercial, project like Delerium. The songs are produced with subtle arrangements and refined by elevating electronics. The down tempo and vocals create a lovely, sensual, touch which remains a trademark of the project. I like the opening cut “Falling Back To You’ featuring the talented Mimi Page -who already sung on earlier songs. Another and more classical song is “Sun Storm”. Other noticeable songs are the dreamy “Glimmer” and the instrumental “The Astronomer”.

– – – : This is a well-crafted and ultra professional production which Bill Leeb’s consider as the best Delerium album to date. I’m however missing the early magic when Delerium moves from their darker Ambient experiments into their renowned downtempo, sensual, Ambient. That brings us back to the period of “Semantic Spaces” and “Karma”.

Conclusion: If you like Delerium you for sure are going to like “Signs” which features a few more new hits.

Best songs: “Falling Back To You”, “Sun Storm”, “Glimmer”, “The Astronomer”, “Coast To Coast”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.facebook.com/Delerium

Label: www.metropolis-records.com / www.facebook.com/MetropolisRecords

2nd Face release first single ‘formula Extinction’ taken from forthcoming new album ‘utOpium’

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 05:00:00 +0000

(Photo by Plastic Hand Druck) 2nd Face (aka Vincent Uhlig) unveils a first track “formula Extinction”, which is taken from their forthcoming new full-length “utOpium”. The new album of the German progressive industrial act has been scheduled for release on May 12, 2023 via Dependent.

2nd Face has this to say about the track: “‘formula Extinction’ is inspired by humanity’s reckless exploitation of the planet’s resources – a process that will inevitably create a rather dystopian environment for generations to come”, mastermind Vincent Uhlig explains: “The lyrics revolve around a society that is tranquilised by social media and streaming platforms. Everybody is cosily wrapped up in their ‘utOpium’ and unable to elude its lethargic effect.”

2nd Face was formed in the German city of Mainz, capital of the Rhineland-Palatinate, in 2014. Following a string of five demos in the same year, a first self-released single entitled “First of His Name” hit the streets in 2015. On the basis of those demos the band got signed and released its 2017 debut full-length “Nemesis” on Dependent.

The sound of the band’s 2017 debut album “Nemesis” was described as follows by our Side-Line reviewer: “2nd Face has a Canadian sound approach, which reminds me of Frontline Assembly, but there also is a European style reminding me of Yelworc for the obscure atmospheric style and Vomito Negro for the dark sounds and menacing bass lines. The work reveals omnipresent industrial sounds and noises making the final production even more disturbing, powerful and danceable.”

A video for the track was released just now.

Interview with Stahlgeist: ‘We Just Want To Play EBM’

Inferno Sound Diaries — Wed, 22 Feb 2023 18:00:00 +0000

Stahlgeist is a Hungarian duo driven by Istvan Gazdag (First Aid 4 Souls) and Tamás Bank (Worker/Munkás). They deal with a sophisticated EBM format which will for sure appeal for lovers of early Frontline Assembly. The debut album “Escape Reality” originally self-released in 2019 got an official release in 2020 on Advoxya Records and has been now re-released by Alfa-Matrix and retitled to “Altered Reality”. Great bass lines and icy sequences resulted in danceable songs. This interview is an opportunity to know a bit more about this great formation.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Altered Reality by STAHLGEIST

Q: Who’s hiding behind Stahlgeist and how did the project saw the daylight? Was there something like a plan and/or an idea about influences, sound and approach?

Stahlgeist: Stahlgeist is Istvan Gazdag (from First Aid 4 Souls) and Tamás Bank (from Worker/Munkás). It’s just a dream of two EBM fanatics. We don’t have a plan in general, we just want to play EBM.

Q: What’s your way and procedure of working together? What’s the input of both members and did you’ve to make many compromises in the writing & production of the album?

Stahlgeist: Istvan writes the songs and sends them to me and I write the lyrics and send it back, then we meet and discuss if one of us like to change something and then we record the lyrics and Istvan masters them together.

Q: You first self-released the album “Escape Reality” which was next re-released by Advoxya Records and finally reworked and retitled to “Altered Reality”. Tell us a bit more about the progression from “Escape Reality” towards “Altered Reality”? What did you try to improve and/or change?

Stahlgeist: On the one hand, we wanted to change it because of the change of label, so that Alfa-Matrix could reach a wider audience, and on the other hand, Istvan has learned and improved a lot in his mastering skills since the recording of “Escape Reality” and it would have been a shame to miss that opportunity to make the songs better.

Q: What is the album all about and what did you try to express by the lyrical themes?

Stahlgeist: The album is about the present around us and a possible future. The reality we would escape from presents a picture of a gloomier future. Our everyday life and our expected future leaves us despondent and pained. Just as the genre was born out of a sense of hopelessness and oppression, we are now confronted with the same feelings in our daily lives.

Q: The production sounds like good-old EBM but accomplished with a true sophisticated song writing. Tell us a bit more about the sound concept and production? And how did this album took shape?

Stahlgeist: We really like old-school EBM, and Istvan involved with his Dark-Electro music project First Aid 4 Souls wanted more EBM, stronger, stompier music and I wanted to go along this journey with him.

Q: Tell us a bit more about both ‘bonus’ songs featured at “Altered Reality”? Do you’ve already new songs and ideas in mind for the further evolution of Stahlgeist?

Stahlgeist: The two new songs from our upcoming new album have been added to surprise our fans with a little gift. The musical basis is complete and the lyrics are done; now comes the singing phase. I can promise you that the tempo will not slow down and the lyrics will not become any gentler.

In Strict Confidence releases 25 years edition of ‘Face the Fear’

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 12:30:21 +0000

Out on Minuswelt is the 25 anniversary edition of In Strict Confidence’s “Face the fear” album. “Face the fear” was the second album by In Strict Confidence and was originally released in 1998 on the electro label Zoth Ommog, which was also home to bands like Front 242, Pankow, Frontline Assembly and many others in the 90s.

After the debut album “Cryogenix” 2 years earlier, “Face the fear” was a big step forward for the German act – both in qualilty of production and in the songwriting. Preceeded by the EP “Industrial Love” it also includes “Hidden thoughts”. Now, 25 years after the first release, the album is back on the market in a new design and with bonus material.

The bonus tracks are the following:

Alles in mir (ISC Remix)
Learn to Live
Hidden Thoughts (Original Controlled Fusion Version)
Industrial Love (Club Stress Version by Aghast View) 6:42

In Strict Confidence is a German electro-industrial band. Formed in 1989, they were known as Seal of Secrecy until 1992.

Stahlgeist – Altered Reality (Album – Alfa Matrix)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sat, 03 Dec 2022 08:00:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: EBM.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Hungarian duo Stahlgeist is driven by core members Istvan Gazdag (First Aid 4 Souls) and Tamás Bank (Worker Munkás). “Altered Reality” features reworked songs from the band’s self-released debut album “Escape Reality” (2019) which was re-released by Advoxya Records in 2020.

Content: If you don’t yet know Stahlgeist you better get prepared to discover a well-crafted old-school EBM opus which is clearly evoking early Frontline Assembly. Both last cuts weren’t featured on the original album.

+ + + : Stahlgeist deals with a classic EBM format but the way the songs have been written reveals a sophisticated process. This is much more than cheap EBM, but a well-thought and accomplished composition revealing great bass lines, icy sequences and raw, danceable songs. Istvan Gazdag remains a true genius musician when it comes to composing intelligent retro EBM. The sound is more ‘straightforward’ than First Aid 4 Souls so this is total EBM power & fun.

– – – : I’m convinced the production of the vocals could now and then be a bit better but you don’t hear me complaining. Both ‘new’ tracks aren’t exactly the most convincing ones.

Conclusion: Stahlgeist joined the Alfa Matrix roster which I hope will give them a wider exposure. This work kicks a**!

Best songs: “Infected Colony – Alternate Version”, “Stahlgeist – Alternate Version”, “Step By Step – Alternate Version”, “Inner Temple – Alternate Version”.

Rate: 8½.

Artist: www.facebook.com/stahlgeist

Label: www.alfa-matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix

Kevorkian Death Cycle – Injection: 01 (EP – Negative Gain Productions)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Mon, 03 Oct 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: EBM, Industrial.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Kevorkian Death cycle was set up in 1992. Thirty years later the American formation driven by Ryan Gribbin (vocals) and Roger Jarvis (music) decided to revisit songs from their debut-album “Collection For Injection”. They asked guest-contributors Rob Robinson (The Order Of The Static Temple) and Sean Whitman (A Brilliant Massacre) to join in. This EP features four revisited songs from the album originally released on Ras Dva.

Content: I perfectly remember the original album of Kevorkian Death Cycle and this ‘reworked’ production brings the original- and early sound of the album back alive. The songs stand for well-crafted EBM in the purest 90s tradition with guitar riffs on top.

+ + + : It’s a sophisticated and intelligent production sounding as the perfect offspring between EBM and Industrial. Kevorkian Death Cycle sounds like belonging to the Frontline Assembly class, which is a true reference when it comes to EBM. I like the dark atmosphere supporting the songs.

– – – : I never understood why this band didn’t get more recognition in Europe. This first EP is for sure a way to re-discover the great, early, years of the band.

Conclusion: Kevorkian Death Cycle haven’t lost their early, initial, magic; EBM with attitude!

Best songs: “Veal”, “Man Made”, “Spring Heel Jack”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.facebook.com/KevorkianDeathCycle

Label: www.negativegain.com / www.facebook.com/NegativeGain

Samhain – Xperiment (Album – Electrofrequent)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Mon, 30 May 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: Dark-Electro, EBM, IDM.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: After having released three albums on Aliens Production, the Slovakian Samhain project strikes back with their new opus which is the first one released on Electrofrequent. The Samhain members are still involved with the pure EBM project Last Influence Of Brain.

Content: This work is a true sonic symbiosis between EBM (mainly reminding me of Frontline Assembly), Dark-Electro and IDM. The composition features vintage sound treatments and is mainly driven by a slow cadence. There’s a mix of instrumental- and sung tracks.

+ + + : Just imagine a sonic offspring between Frontline Assembly, Front 242, Yelworc and Lassigue Benthaus and you might have an idea about Samhain’s new opus. The dark atmospheres are immensely powerful. The sound treatments are unpolished, raw, and yet subtle. This is a new masterpiece by this Slovakian combo but I especially recommend listening to “The Hole – Stanford Experiment”, “Project 4.1”, “Black Sun 731 – Unit 731” and “Monstrum”. I also have to say a word about the industrial-like and metallic front cover.

– – – : Those guys have accomplished a new masterpiece so no minus points to mention.

Conclusion: Samhain stands for intelligent Electronics with a vintage flavor and yet that visionary.

Best songs: “The Hole – Stanford Experiment”, “Project 4.1”, “Black Sun 731 – Unit 731”, “Monstrum”, “Guatemala Experiment”, “Project MK Ultra”.

Rate: 8½.

Artist: www.facebook.com/Samhain-music-1072520006194485

Label: www.electrofrequent.com / www.facebook.com/Electrofrequent-102179464888936

My Love Kills – To A World Of Gods And Monsters (Album – Progress Productions)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sat, 14 May 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: EBM, Dark-Electro.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: My Love Kills is a Swedish-French duo featuring Fredrik Sigeback (Erotic Elk) and Viconte Vampyr Arkames (Ad Inferna). What seemed to be just a side-project became a formation with a huge potential. The band self-released two albums and especially “Imitatio Dei” became a true masterpiece. That’s for sure why the band has been signed to Progress Productions releasing their third opus “To A World Of Gods And Monsters”.

Content: The new work moves on there where “Imitatio Dei” stopped. It’s a new merge of EBM and Dark-Electro empowered by guitar riffs and with good-old string parts on top. The vocals are harsh, sometimes enraged and totally matching with the darkness of the production. Most of the vocals have been sung in English but you’ll also notice French sung tracks. This album will appeal for fans of early Skinny Puppy and Frontline Assembly.

+ + + : My Love Kills is a band I supported from the very start. They don’t deal with the typical- and average EBM/Dark-Electro sound formula but are merging both styles together. The Pop arrangements from the previous works are less explicit but still noticeable which accentuates the unique format of this project. The work takes off with “Back To Life” which has been also released as a single but the best cuts are right in the final part of the album. I like the more EBM accentuated “La Danse Des Fantômes” featuring cool female backings vocals, “Future Hell”, “On The Path Of Last Shadows” and “The Dark Throne About”. This is pure 80s/90s nostalgia with a refreshing touch on top.

– – – : Speaking for myself I’m missing the more explicit Pop arrangements from the previous album although there’s no reason to complaining.

Conclusion: My Love Kills stands for a recognizable EBM/Dark-Electro sound with a very personal touch on top.

Best songs: “Future Hell”, “La Danse Des Fantômes”, “On The Path Of Last Shadows”, “The Dark Throne About”, “Back To Life”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.facebook.com/Mylovekills

Label: www.progress-productions.com / www.facebook.com/progresspro

Click Interview with Rhys Fulber: ‘I Wanted To Cultivate A More ‘Soundtrack-Techno’

Inferno Sound Diaries — Thu, 17 Mar 2022 18:00:00 +0000

Rhys Fulber will be always connected with music projects like Frontline Assembly, Delerium, Conjure One, Will, Noise Unit, Intermix, Synaesthesia ao. The Canadian musician remains a prolific artist who also started releasing music under his own name. Both previously released albums “Your Dystopia, My Dystopia” (2018) and “Ostalgia” (2019) were ground to explore Techno- and IDM fields. The “Resolve”-EP (2020) revealed a radical change into Ambient Music. The newest opus “Brutal Nature” released on Rhys’ own label FR Recordings sounds as the offspring between Techno and Ambient. I talked with Rhys Fulber about this new and visionary work.

(Picture credits by by Adam De Ville / Interview courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: I remember you said this solo-project all started by some jam sessions with modular synths, which finally resulted in the album “My Dystopia, Your Dystopia”. How did it happen for “Brutal Nature”? Is it still a kind of instinctive process or more a suspicious one?

Rhys: “Brutal Nature” was probably the most deliberate solo record so far, so not as much ‘jamming’ took place. It was actually made on a much smaller set up than the previous two which let to a more intimate sound in places.

Q: The album was recorded during your stay in Canada while you got inspired by elements of nature. Tell us a bit more about it and especially the connection with the album title? What has been the impact of the ongoing pandemic and the quarantine restrictions?

Rhys: The core of the album was born in the initial lockdowns in Los Angeles when I just took a few pieces of gear home to work on, then halfway through relocated to a small coastal town in British Columbia I used to live in where that environment helped me fine tune the songs and make it become an album.

I did all the test listening on a deserted rocky beach by a decaying cabin and all the bits and pieces of mankind washing up on the beaches and abandoned concrete infrastructure gave me the title. The juxtaposition of the two elements.

Q: How long did it take to write and record the tracks of “Brutal Nature”? And what are the different stages you’d to go through to achieve this work?

Rhys: A couple tracks like “Pyrrhic Act” and “Rogue Minority” were started in L.A circa 2019, then the main material was shaped from spring to fall 2020 in the lockdown era. I usually have a bunch of ideas then figure out the direction and pull them all together as an album. Like I said earlier that fine tuning took place once I got into the coastal environment in British Columbia.

Q: I can imagine “Brutal Nature” must have been a special recording as you were not working in your studio so how did it feel to work outside your ‘comfort zone’? What have been the pros and cons? And did you encounter major difficulties and/or challenges?

Rhys: Honestly I can work anywhere I can set up some gear so I kind of liked the variety. The cons would be ‘unreliable monitoring environments’ and having to use headphones. The pros in L.A were no commuting!

The studio I was using up here was a very finely tuned room so in a way it was an upgrade to my old L.A studio.

Q: “Brutal Nature” sounds to me as the offspring between Techno- and Ambient music, which makes the work pretty exciting and original. How would you analyze this album and its sound approach?

Rhys: I had started making more ambient material and instead of using it for a another project I thought it would be better to make the solo-project more honest and include all the different sides. I tried it with the “Resolve”-EP first. A few of the songs like “Chemical” and “Fragility” were going to be used elsewhere but then it suddenly made sense as part of this album and in many ways they are the core pieces now. I think there is so much Techno, EBM and club tools out there you need to find your own angle on things, so I wanted to cultivate a more ‘Soundtrack-Techno’ type sound that includes all tempos and emotions and highlights what I feel are my strengths musically.

Q: You’re now releasing your work on FR Recordings, which is your own label. What’s the idea behind FR Recordings and how do you manage all different elements like pressing, promotion, distribution, social media etc?

Rhys: I just wanted to release the music I want on the schedule I want in a more direct self-curated way. Also doing things for art’s sake like the live cassettes, with very artistic packaging and design (with Berlin artist Janina Schuetz) which most labels wouldn’t do because it is not profitable.

As far as the logistics, I used similar set up the labels I’d release on used and hired promo people etc. It’s mostly people I know from over the years of making records. I am looking to release some other artists as well this year and develop it a bit more.

First Aid 4 Souls – Beyond The Galaxy / Rework (Album – Alfa Matrix)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Thu, 17 Mar 2022 08:00:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: EBM, Dark-Electro.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Hungarian project First Aid 4 Souls driven by István Gazdag started a series of ‘reworked’ albums. The first one “Beyond The Galaxy” was originally released in 2013 by Electro-Arc. The artist completely reworked the songs.

Content: I can’t compare with the original album -which I can’t remember to have ever heard and which seems not available on digital platforms, but you rapidly recognize the elaborated EBM format of the project. It’s a sophisticated and detailed composition evoking Frontline Assembly, but still reminding me of Neuroactive. Guest singers were invited for the vocal parts. It brings a diversity of mainly male- and female vocals while István Gazdag is doing backings.

+ + + : Being re-released on Alfa Matrix this album will definitely get more exposure than its original edit, but it also is a way to re-discover a great piece of music. First Aid 4 Souls remains a talented project with an open-minded EBM spectrum. The work reveals great songs like the opening piece “The Thirteenth Floor” (there’s also another version of the song), which sounds a bit minimal-like. “Alien Implant” is the most surprising ‘rework’ reminding me a bit of the energy of The Chemical Brothers. I also recommend “Chaos Cultist”” for its overwhelming production mixed with minimal sound treatments. “Gemini”, “Visitors” and “Nebula” sounds like hard-bouncing EBM cuts for FLA fans.

– – – : I’m always a bit reticent with bands revisiting their back catalogue, but I’ve to admit this is a cool production.

Conclusion: Definitely an album for the fans of First Aid 4 Souls while it’s also an opportunity to (re)discover a somewhat forgotten opus.

Best songs: “The Thirteenth Floor”, “Alien Implant”, “Chaos Cultist”, “Gemini”, “Visitors”, “Nebula”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.facebook.com/First-Aid-4-Souls-180876236297

Label: www.alfa-matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix

Click Interview with Human Vault: ‘A Good Track Is About The Author Who Writes It And Not About The Audience’

Inferno Sound Diaries — Tue, 01 Feb 2022 18:00:00 +0000

Hungarian born Gyorgy Turoczy aka ‘Mortum’ has been releasing music as Human Vault since 1997. Operating from (USA) he released an impressive discography. While nearly all of his work has been (self)released on Exabyss Records he joined hands together with Aliens Production unleashing a kind of retrospective work featuring songs composed between 2011 and 2021. “God Under Construction 2011 – 2021” is an album appealing for lovers of intelligent and sophisticated Electronic music reminding artists like Skinny Puppy, Frontline Assembly, Mortal Constraint ao.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: You’re already involved with music for quite a long time, but can you tell us how you got in touch with Electronic music and how Human Vault saw the daylight?

Mortum: Well, in 1987 my sister bought a cassette album of Pet Shop Boys, the title was “Actually” and I did love it a lot. However, the old accountant guy next door had quite a big vinyl record collection, and he showed me 2 albums, both from the legendary project, Tangerine Dream. “Phaedra” and “Rubycon”, they were my first real encounters with Electronic music. No whining, crying and high pitched ‘male’ vocals that you can hear on almost every synth pop new wave album. No dancefloor oriented rhythms and easy listening melodies. Tangerine Dream opened a door to an entirely new realm of soundcrafting and sound miracles. It was just a matter of time for me to start seeking for deeper and more daring sounds.

A few years later, when I got myself into occult literature, I found a label with amazing music. That label was Cold Meat Industry from Sweden. I became obsessed with its releases [not the dungeon synth Mortiis] and super soon I found myself collecting European Industrial music as well.

Over the years I gradually emerged myself into creating sounds, field recordings, super cheap synths and noise boxes, tape modulations and found objects with contact mics. Human Vault as a music project slowly became part of my life. No exact date when the name was first used as the official project name, but the first cassette release of mine was named as Human Vault in 1997.

Q: You’re involved with an impressive number of projects, which makes me say music clearly is a true passion. What does music mean to you and what makes the differences between all of your projects/bands? Is there any project more important than another?

Mortum: Music means everything to me! I listen to music for hours and hours a day. I also can do both of my favorite activities together at the same time, reading and listening to music, which is great and a serious time saving, too. I know I am involved in a good number of projects and it can be many times very exhausting.

Lately I have put an end to many of my projects so that I will be able to focus on the few remaining ones in the future. Hence the answer to your question, yes I consider Human Vault, the Hungarian Nadragea and my super deep and personal project, Stone Wired the most important ones. All the rest are fun and cool, and I love them, and I am serious about them, but if they are over I will not shed tears for them.

Q: Human Vault is clearly driven by good-old EBM standards, mixing power with dark atmospheres. What are your main sources of inspiration and what’s your global approach in composing the songs for Human Vault?

Mortum: When I write a song for Human Vault, I focus on rhythms. Otherwise I would end up writing another Stone Wired Death-Industrial-track. My inspiration comes from different sources. I Love Death-Industrial, Dark-Ambient music more than EBM. I also prefer old-school Dark-Electro music and here I am not talking about this Aggrotech, Trancy, Cyber Glitch, ‘cheesy’ Electro. All these influences will eventually get in the flow of composing a new song. A good track is about the author who writes it and not about the audience. I want to express something, tell something in a way I wanna tell, and I really do not give a damn if you as audience understand it or not. The problem here is that people think they are so important that music should be about them, about their feelings, their life…. that music is made for them, to entertain them, to satisfy them. At the beginning of time music was created in order to tell you a story, a story that has nothing to do with you and your feelings. A story that gives you meaning and not the other way, you give meaning to the story. Human Vault is being written with no restrictions and limitations. Human Vault does not care about anyone!

Q: You last year released the album “God Under Construction 2011 – 2021”, which is a kind of retrospective, right? How do you perceive this ‘retrospective’ and how did you see Human Vault evolving?

Mortum: “God Under Construction” is the actual essence of Human Vault. If one does not want to spend hours and hours listening in order to get familiar with the project, then this compilation is the right and perfect way to go. Although this release does not show the entire evolution of the music due to the fact that I had to omit tracks recorded in the very first period. Anything before 2011 is considered as a constantly fluctuating Experimental era where Dark-Electro and Death-Industrial could walk hand in hand together. Another reason why I really could not add tracks from that ear to this compilation is that I unfortunately lost all the archive files of the songs and all I have left is DAT / regular tape recordings. After 2011, Human Vault has been focusing on authentic Dark-Electro sounds putting experimental recordings aside so that I focused on this era only when I selected the tracks for the compilation.

Q: Most of your work has been released on Exabyss Records, which is your own label and a platform for most of your projects. What have been your experiences so far and especially considering aspects like: distribution, promotion, physical formats vs. streaming platforms? And what might you expect from another label like Aliens Production?

Mortum: When I started distributing my recordings in 1997, I went through clubs, music related communities, from person to person interactions. I grabbed my cassettes and spread them amongst people, real people, not virtual existences. It took an enormous amount of time and effort, it drained my energy down to the core but it worked. People started asking me where to buy my releases. I had no platform for selling so I let it sink into oblivion. What a mistake I made. If I had grabbed that opportunity I could have built a good foundation of a fan base, but I missed that chance.

So in 2005, I officially launched my own label, Exabyss Records, and I faced the reality of a very indifferent market, a society that has been overrun and overwhelmed with abundant music. Just in the EBM genre now, at least 10 hours of new music can be reached via The Web with no effort daily. While in the 90’s, in my small town in Hungary, the EBM club community counted around 100-150 people and only 2 persons who wrote music, now in the same town the EBM fun club counts only 50 people at the most and 20 of them who write music. Put this standard pattern up in a big city scale like New York City where I live now. Only big names, such as Front 242 recently did, can draw in people in number over 300 for a live gig, which is far less than acceptable and way less than enough to pay the bills and create profit. There is no EBM club in NYC any more, and I am not making this up, that is the reality presently. All the darkwave and goth clubs can generate 80 to 150 people per club night, which is outrageous and sad. What about the musicians? Oh my gosh, NYC has got at least half a thousand musicians in the industrial genre and its sub-genres that regularly release music via the internet. You just can not keep up with this! Quantity over quality! You are tired already of digging through hundreds of hundred hours of new music just to find the real and good ones. In brief, as Exabyss Records, I realized that operating a record label is just adding to the global problem. I truly believe that stopping all distribution of music would give people time and space to breathe and relax as well as time to start appreciating music again. Therefore, as Human Vault, I create music for myself only. Aliens Production is willing to release my recordings and I am more than happy with that since I know there is a close circle of fans there that my sound can reach through the label, and that is enough for me.

Q: You’re Hungarian born, but living in the US. What are the main resemblances and differences when it comes to music and music culture?

Mortum: I honestly and truly have to admit that there is no difference between the music and its surrounding culture in the US and in Europe. Dead music market, ignorant audience, too many musicians and even more music, no appreciation on all levels, fashion freaks who dont give a damn about the music or its culture. There is no culture any longer! Only music! An overwhelming amount of music that no one listens to!
What we all have got, though!? An unoperational and deeply damaged society. A collective mind cracked open! People who scroll down the timeline of their social network and click on the like button without even reading the post or clicking on the link just to give at least a second listen to the song posted. People who gather virtual friends while not giving a damn about any of them! People who have no time to do something real in real life instead of spending hours and hours on social media networks where they also have no time to read or react to the posts. People, who are shallow and hollow in their heart! People like me, who are just meaningless and useless parts of the big machine… and we all know it but we just don’t care about it anymore!

Rhys Fulber – Brutal Nature (Album – FR Recordings)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Wed, 08 Dec 2021 08:00:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: Ambient-Electro, Ambient-Techno.

Format: Digital, CD, 2 Vinyls.

Background/Info: Rhys Fulber (Frontline Assembly, Delerium, Conjure One ao) strikes back with a new album under his own name. He’s now self-releasing his work while previous productions were released by the excellent Sonic Groove. The Canadian producer recorded this album while staying in Canada and getting inspired by nature.

Content: Is it because of the pandemic wherein nightlife and clubbing was restricted and even forbidden for a while or the strength and beauty of nature, but this work sounds more driven by Ambient music. But it’s not pure Ambient as Rhys injected hard, beating kicks, creating a sonic fusion between Techno and Ambient. The work evolved into colder sound treatments, which even have something Klinik-al like. A few tracks feature vocals –which sound more like an extra effect on top of the music. The last cut is something totally different and more into harsh Techno-EBM featuring enraged vocals by Sara Taylor (Youth Code).

+ + + : How many years this artist is now active composing music for different projects? Years indeed, and he rarely repeats himself. That’s exactly what he’s doing again on this album. He holds on to the Techno influences from “Your Dystopia, My Dystopia” while adding a more explicit Ambient touch on top. Rhys Fulber explores the possibilities of Techno music by bringing influences together. But above all he remains a great sound producer, creating outstanding sound treatments with powerful beats and blasting sounds. “Marginalized” and “Pressure” both are great exposures of this work, but I also have to mention the very aggressive “Rogue Minority” and the ultra-violent Techno-Body “Stare At The Sun” featuring the demonic Sara Taylor.

– – – : I can’t say that I prefer this albumover “Your Dystopia, My Dystopia” or “Ostalgia”, but the more explicit ambient approach wasn’t necessary to me.

Conclusion: The ongoing pandemic inspires great artists to release great things; “Brutal Nature” is a perfect title to summarize this visionary work by Rhys Fulber.

Best songs: “Marginalized”, “Pressure”, “Rogue Minority”, “Stare At The Sun”, “Chemical”.

Rate: 8½.

Artist & Label: www.facebook.com/rhys.fulber / www.facebook.com/rhysfulbermusic

‘Click Interview’ with Egoist: ‘I Was Always Intrigued In More Complex Alternative ‘Body’ Music’

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sun, 05 Dec 2021 18:00:00 +0000

Polish musician Kuba Włodarski set up Egoist around 2002/2003 as a solo Electro-Industrial music project. A self-released demo CD came to light in 2004, and was followed by live gigs. In 2008 Kuba had the pleasure to collaborate with ‘Jan Siuta Art Gallery’ in Krakow, which resulted in the “Phazes”-album; Industrial-Ambient music to accompany cycle of exhibitions: “Ritual, Rhythm, Harmony”. In 2020 the digital version of the album “Breaking Moment” got released by Slovak label Aliens Production and followed by a limited physical release in 2021. The album is clearly appealing for lovers of Canadian EBM reminding Front Line Assembly. The album is a well-crafted and sophisticated work. Recently the digital remix album “Phantoms” has been released on Aliens Production as well.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Egoist is an ‘older’ project, which has been reactivated, right? Can you tell us how you got involved with music and what kind of music/sound did you wanted to create with Egoist?

Kuba: Egoist is an old project indeed, but it was rather hibernated than abandoned… I was always involved in doing music, but even when I was working in some cooperative projects covering slightly different musical stylistics, I was always keeping Egoist in back of my mind, and was composing ‘Egoist’ songs –slowly but surely…

Q: Your sound is clearly driven by EBM influences reminding Front Line Assembly. What’s your perception of EBM and what’s the impact of Frontline Assembly and other sources of inspiration on your own music? How do you transpose these influences into an own sound?

Kuba: I always had a soft spot for Canadian Electro-Industrial music. Skinny Puppy, Numb, early Psyche and of course Front Line Assembly. What kept me interested, especially in Skinny Puppy and FLA, was the complexity of their sound, attention to almost every detail that emerges in the background, helping to create rich, evolving sonic atmospheres. As to the FLA –in my early stuff I might have been under too much influence regarding song structures, etc., it seems, however, that I managed to broke off that convention as you may hear in more recent songs.

I really appreciated, but was never too carried away by classic European EBM bands such as Front 242, DAF or Nitzer Ebb. I was always intrigued in more complex alternative ‘body’ music – like Haujobb, Gridlock as well as classic industrial acts.

Q: Tell us a bit more about the re-release of “Breaking Moment”, which was originally (self)-released in 2004 as an EP. And what can say about the extra songs?

Kuba: The self-released demo consisted of 5 original tracks and a remix of a Controlled Collapse song. It was received rather well by the audience and gave me opportunity for live shows. In 2005 I did a gig in Bratislava, during ‘Apocalyptic Visions’-festival, organized by Ryby (Peter Rybar) of Disharmony and Aliens Production label. During full European lockdown AD 2020 Peter contacted me and proposed releasing a full LP with tracks from my demo plus previously unpublished material. I collected songs that I thought were good enough to be released, Ryby took care of mastering and production side of things, and released it as both digital download and 13 track physical CD. I believe the extra songs are more mature, complex and showing an evolution in music I make.

Q: How do you see yourself as musician/producer? Do you’ve a specific way of working and are there specific references/criteria in the production work?

Kuba: I do not have a proper modus operandi when it comes to creating music. I try to combine the most convenient benefits of hardware synths, drum machines, samplers, whatnot and the overwhelming power of computer equipment used for musical purposes nowadays. I’m certainly not a big fan of mixing and music production in general, as I find it much less interesting than the creative process, such as sound sculpting, arranging, etc.

If you ask about the compositional process -it varies, sometimes I have a general outline of the main theme and structure of the piece or just fragments of the melody lines around which I arrange the whole song. Sometimes interesting ideas emerge during jam sessions to be developed later during work in D(igital)A(udio)W(orkstation).

Q: There’s a new album (or EP) out now featuring two new songs and an impressive list of remixes. Tell us a bit more about the writing of the title song “Phantoms”? What do you think about the remixes? Any favorite ones?

Kuba: Remixes are intentionally of different, bar electronic, stylistics, as it shows how much one can make with the same source track. It is a very interesting experience to find out what parts of the original song were most appealing to remixers, and how they transformed it, picking up different ‘start points’ and approaches.

If I had to choose my favorite remix –I think it would be Tomtylor’s one or a dancefloor killer by Procesor Plus.

Q: What are your further plans about new productions, live shows, remixes and eventually side-activities?

Kuba: I did remixes for well known Polish alternative artists, i.e.: Agressiva 69 and Clicks. Right now I am finishing a thing for legendary polish Post-Punk formation 1984. I am also preparing EGOIST live shows, which will start at the end of 2021 at ‘Energia Dzwieku’-festival in Wroclaw, alongside Frett, Liebknecht and Haujobb, as well as trying to find time and energy to finish an EP of my side-project Brud.

Outpost11 – Structural Defects (Album – Advoxya Records)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sat, 27 Nov 2021 08:00:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: EBM, Dark-Electro.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Russian project Outpost11 strikes back with a third album. Previous productions revealed an interesting EBM format with some retro-elements on top. Rodion Skityaev is back on track and brings us fifteen new cuts. Notice by the way there’s also a double CD edition available featuring a bonus disc with some remixes.

Content: “Structural Defects” takes off in a rather surprising way by a heavy, harsh approach followed by a pure bombastic song. Quite progressively the album evolves towards a more familiar sound, where you’ll notice the influence of Canadian bands like Skinny Puppy and Frontline Assembly. The tracks are supported with cold melody lines, which also come back at the harder cuts. The work indeed evolves again towards harsher pieces.

The CD format reveals two more songs than the digital edit and both cuts definitely belong to the best part of the album. One of them is a remix by Asdean.

+ + + : I should say forget the very first cuts, which are more into a kind of chaos, but the album starts to be interesting right after the debut part. We here discover a well-crafted production merging EBM and Dark-Electronics together. The obvious Skinny Puppy influence resulted in some cool songs. I especially recommend “Out Of Control”, “Bad Signal” and the more ghost-like “Wageslaves”. The remix of “Bad Signal” by Asdean is a great bonus piece and even the best cut from the album.

– – – : This work is more versatile than previous albums. Both debut tracks took me by surprise, but unfortunately in a bad way. There’s nothing wrong with fast rhythms, but it’s not in harmony with the melody lines.

Conclusion: Outpost11 for the very first time didn’t take me by surprise although the work features a few cool and accomplished Electro tracks.

Best songs: “Bad Signal – Asdean Rmx”, “Out Of Control”, “Bad Signal”, “Wageslaves”, “Destroy”.

Rate: 7½.

Artist: www.facebook.com/outpost11band

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

ESR – Into Darkness (Album – Advoxya Records)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Fri, 26 Nov 2021 08:00:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: EBM.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: This is album number eight for the French solo-project Electro Synthetic Rebellion (ESR). Driven by Vince Pujol, “Into Darkness” was composed between 2017 and 2020 and released four years after the last album. “Into Darkness” is the third work released on Advoxya Records.

Content: “Into Darkness” sounds like a continuation of this project’s previous album and entire discography. I consider ESR to be one of the numerous ‘pupils’ of Frontline Assembly and this comparison still makes sense for this work. It’s an elaborated EBM format mixing power, great sound treatments and retro-like atmospheres. The vocals still have this ghost-like production. One of the songs is a ‘new’ version of “Reanimate” originally released on ESR’s debut album “Distorted Visions” (2001). There’re also a few instrumental cuts on the tracklist.

+ + + : I guess it’s not the first time I say that ESR probably belongs to the most unrated EBM formations from the scene. “Into Darkness” once more proves the writing skills of Vince Pujol. He’s not composing original EBM, but simply a great, accomplished and alluring production. The retro touch running as a common thread throughout the album is achieved with a strong contemporary touch. The old- and reworked song “Reanimate” is a way to discover the evolution of ESR, but still confirming this project already had a nose for great EBM now twenty years ago. ESR stands for sophisticated EBM mixing power and freaky atmospheres.

– – – : ESR doesn’t innovate, but only improve the global production. I don’t think it’s a minus as the qualitative level of the production remains pretty high.

Conclusion: You like EBM and you’re in search of a great- and intelligent album, try “Into Darkness”.

Best songs: “Haunted Grounds”, “Too Late”, “Reanimate – Reminiscence”, “Broken”, “Dark Forces”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.facebook.com/DarkElectroESR

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

Eclipsed – Holyiens (Album – Electrofrequent)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Tue, 26 Oct 2021 19:00:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: EBM.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Eclipsed has already been active for several years and have previously released an album on Vendetta Music (2008) and another one on Aliens Productions (2018). The project is collaboration between Last Influence Of Brain (still involved with Samhain) and Kneel In Front Of The Executioner. “Holyiens” was released by Electrofrequent. The four (!) members also invited Don Gordon (Numb) who’s featured on the first song.

Content: The first song featuring Don Gordon is an overwhelming piece of music, which has something Industrial-like and still a bit epic. I can’t say it’s an intro, but it clearly sounds different from the other songs, which are definitely driven by the ghost of Frontline Assembly. The songs are sophisticated, elaborated and mainly instrumental edits although featuring spoken samplings. There are a few passages with vocals, but it clearly isn’t the main focus of the band. One of the most noticeable cuts (cf. “Infinite Slavery”) reveals an intelligent approach, which is more into a fusion of EBM and IDM, appearing the imaginary hybrid between FLA and Clock DVA. Last, but not least the work also features a surprising cover version of Gaping Chasm.

+ + + : This album is just great, featuring a few outstanding pieces. I especially recommend listening to “Infinite Slavery”, which is a sonic diamond. “Anal Probe Installation” is another is another great piece of music mixing power and intelligence. “Apollo Space Program” sounds like it was touched by the hand of FLA and is just another attention grabber driven by a solid, deep resonating bass line. The cover version of Gaping Chams’s “Angels” is also worthy of examination while the last track –being one of the single cuts with vocals, is a cool song. The great, analogue sound treatments inject some magic to this opus, which stands for high tech sound production.

– – – : Even if I’m not missing vocals on this work, a few more vocals would be a true bonus.

Conclusion: If you don’t know Eclipsed, I can only but highly recommend this formation to you, “Holyiens” is a great piece of space-inspired EBM!

Best songs: “Infinite Slavery”, “Anal Probe Installation”, “Angels”, “Holyiens”, “Cursed Sharpened Needles”.

Rate: 9.

Artist: www.facebook.com/solobobblazenakhead

Label: www.electrofrequent.com / www.facebook.com/Electrofrequent-102179464888936

Zwaremachine – Conquest 3000 (Album – Phage Tapes)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Tue, 12 Oct 2021 19:30:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: Dark-Electro, EBM.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: “Conquest 3000” is the second album of the American formation Zwaremachine. This band, driven by Mach Fox and completed by ‘Dbot’ and ‘Dein Offizier’ took me by surprise by its promising debut album “Be A Light” (2018) followed by a few EP’s. “Conquest 3000” was also released as an EP right before the release of this new opus.

Content: The fans of Zwaremachine will easily recognize the songs featured at the EP “Ripping At The Fabric” and the previously mentioned EP/Single “Conquest 3000”. Four new songs have been added. The sound and style of the project hasn’t really changed; mixing Dark-Electro with efficient EBM. The songs are mainly composed with electronics, but achieved with guitar sounds. The songs are powerful and there’s a constant danceable tempo running through the tracklist.

+ + + : Zwaremachine not only confirms its potential revealed at previous works, but even moves a step further. The composition is elaborated and accomplished with real intelligence. Aggressive sequences and solid bass lines have been carried by pumping rhythms, but you’ll also notice a great, dark atmosphere hanging over the songs. There’s also a perfect twist between more explicit EBM songs and pure Dark-Electro cuts. Zwaremachine brings all these influences together, like an imaginary offspring between Nitzer Ebb and Frontline Assembly. I also like the production of the vocals, which is powerful, but not abusing the distortion effect.

– – – : The single regret I can think about is that I already knew 6 tracks from the tracklist, but on the other side it’s also pretty cool to get these EP-songs now on a physical copy -and album.

Conclusion: Zwaremachine more than confirms its successful debut and potential; “Conquest 3000” sounds to me as one of the best albums of the year in the Dark-Electro & EBM style.

Best songs: “International Hero”, “What We Are”, “Ripping At The Fabric”, “Conquest 3000”, “Resist”, “Until Tomorrow”, “Parasol”.

Rate: 9.

Artist: www.facebook.com/zwaremachine

Label: https://phagetapes.miiduu.com / www.facebook.com/phagetapes

Egoist – Breaking Moment (Album – Aliens Production)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sat, 09 Oct 2021 19:30:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: EBM.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Egoist is an ‘old’ and rather unknown Polish solo-project set up in 2002 by Kuba Włodarski. Two years later he released the demo “Breaking Moment” featuring five songs plus a reworked song from Controlled Collapse. The project comes back to life with this official debut album featuring the demo songs plus eight extra tracks.

Content: “Breaking Moment” is easy to describe; this is pure old-school EBM reminding me of the best years of Frontline Assembly. The songs are elaborated, driven by solid rhythms, multiple bleeps and effects, dark strings recovering the album with an overwhelming atmospheric side and harsh vocals, which are sometimes robotic.

+ + + : Egoist definitely sounds 99% influenced by Frontline Assembly. I already heard numerous emulations of this legendary and leading Canadian formation, but Egoist definitely belongs to the best followers. It’s a well-crafted, mature and sophisticated production. The songs have been achieved with numerous little bleeps and details. I also noticed various space-like effects, but the songs remain driven by retro-EBM. One of the best cuts I recommend listening to is “Assassin”, which reveals blasting sound treatments and a ghost-like melody line. But it also stands for the power of this project. It’s also amazing to see how ‘older’ tracks haven’t suffered from the weight of time.

– – – : The only negative point I can think about is that Egoist will never be Frontline Assembly! But there’s no reason to compare both bands; this is Egoist and “Breaking Moment” sounds definitely better than the FLA-albums from the last few years.

Conclusion: If you’re into intelligent EBM inspired by the famous Canadian school, you definitely have to discover Egoist!

Best songs: “Automate”, “Whislist”, “Fallen”, “Melting Point”, “W.h.a.t.”.

Rate: 8½.

Artist: www.facebook.com/egoistsound

Label: www.label.aliens.sk / www.facebook.com/pages/Aliens-production-label/200028820052578

1st single from Conjure One’s first studio album in six years out now: ‘Animals’ – stream the first single

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Fri, 21 May 2021 17:04:59 +0000

The first single from Conjure One’s first studio album in six years is out now. “Animals” is taken from the new Conjure One album which is coming soon on Black Hole Recordings. Conjure One is the project from producer Rhys Fulber (Frontline Assembly / Delirium). The release, the project’s 5th so far, comes 6 years after the “Holoscenic” LP.

For the single Fulber has collaborated with fellow Canadian Jaren Cerf on vocals. Note also that the single is released as Conjure One + Jaren.

The single holds two versions of the title track, and extended and an original mix. You can stream “Animals” below.

Black Hole Recordings is a trance and progressive music label based in The Netherlands, it was founded in 1997 and is the label from artists such as Tiësto, Deadmau5, Paul Oakenfold, M.I.K.E. Push, BT, and so on. The promo regarding this new release also reached us via a PR company working in the dance scene.

Last Influence Of Brain – Insomnicore (Album – Electro Frequent)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Fri, 16 Apr 2021 18:00:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: EBM.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Slovakian EBM combo Last Influence Of Brain struck back last year with the great album “Insomnicons”. This new work features six new tracks plus six remixes.

Content: “Insomnicore” is a kind of extension to the “Insomnicons”-album. The Slovakian formation moves on composing powerful and well-crafted EBM, which is once more reminiscent of Frontline assembly. The tracks are sophisticated and passages have been reinforced by guitar play. The remixes have been made from songs that originally appeared at “Insomnicons” plus one from this work. The job has been accomplished by Numb, Fullcontact 69, Khead (aka Peter Hrčka known from Kneel In front Of The Executioner), Mulphia, Object and Terminal State.

+ + + : The new songs are from the same level as “Insomnicons”; sophisticated, powerful, but accessible EBM. Even if the shadow of Frontline Assembly clearly recovers the work of this band, they however compose great music. Both opening pieces stand for an astonishing debut, but “Sheet Of Artificial Skin” and “Orthotoxic” are worthy of examination as well. The ghost-like vocal production totally fits with the genre and atmosphere of this album. Among the remixes I heard great contributions from Khead and Mulphia.

– – – : I still prefer the “Insomnicons”-album, but as I said you have to see this work as an extension to this album.

Conclusion: Last Influence Of Brain is not reinventing EBM, but simply dealing with great, artistic retro-EBM.

Best songs: “Idolatry – SVK Version”, “Reverse Osmosis”, “Sheet Of Artificial Skin”, “Orthotoxic”, “Idolatry – Crash Mix By mulpHia”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/lastinfluenceof

Label: www.electrofrequent.sk / www.facebook.com/Electrofrequent-102179464888936

Seven Trees – Dead/End (Album – Progress Productions)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Mon, 29 Mar 2021 19:30:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: Ambient-Electro, Cinematographic, Electro-Wave, Industrial.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Originally set up as a trio in 1993, in 1995 Seven Trees evolved into the duo Johan Kornberg and Henrico Carlson. The band’s official debut album “Embracing the Unknown” was released in 1997 on Zoth Ommog. Twenty years later they brought the band back alive releasing the EP “Trauma Toxicity”. Last year we got the single “Game Over” and here’s Seven Trees’ second full length in history featuring nine songs.

Content: Seven Trees composes a sound, which is hard to grasp. It rather sounds as a sonic osmosis between different influences, but clearly driven by a retro-Electro style. Some tracks remind me of a more polished edit of Project Pitchfork with some Klink-al sequences on top and haunting atmospheres reminding early Frontline Assembly. But in the end it’s just Seven Trees, an extremely dark Electronic format characterized by haunting atmospheres and ghost-like vocals. Both final tracks even feature an explicit cinematographic approach.

+ + +: What I like about this album is the originality. Even if Seven Trees hold on a vintage sound they create something very personal. You can’t compare this band to another, but they mixed different elements reminding ‘older’ bands. It has something atypical; a sound where the power is hiding in the dense and extremely dark atmospheres instead of hard-beating rhythms. I can’t say this album is featuring a hit, but you get non-stop fascinating, cool pieces instead. I however have a preference for “Phased Out”, which is carried by a great chorus. I also have to say a word about the lyrical content reflecting a kind of uneasy feeling.

– – – : Both last cuts, which are definitely more cinematographic aren’t my favorite ones. They create a kind of antithesis after 7 noticeable songs.

Conclusion: “Dead/End” is the first new album of Seven Trees in more than 20 years, but this formation hasn’t lost its initial magic.

Best songs: “Phased Out”, “Pure Sedation”, “Game Over”, “Dystopic Illusions”, “End Of The Line”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.seventrees.se / www.facebook.com/embracingtheunknown

Label: www.progress-productions.com / www.facebook.com/progresspro

Frontline Assembly – Mechanical Soul (Album – Metropolis Records)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Wed, 03 Mar 2021 20:00:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: EBM, Industrial.

Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.

Background/Info: Frontline Assembly this year celebrates their 35 (!) anniversary. A very good reason for Bill Leeb and Rhys Fülber to release a new album; just the two of them! “Mechanical Soul” is the band’s seventeenth studio full-length. The work has been mixed by Chris Liebing.

Content: “Mechanical Soul” is an album where the fans will recognize the main ingredients that made this Canadian formation one of the uncontested leaders of EBM. The songs are driven by solid bass lines and driven by danceable rhythms. The writing remains sophisticated, mixing aggressive passages together with dense electronic atmospheres. Bill Leeb’s spooky timbre of voice injects an extra dark touch to the work. The song “Stifle” is featuring guitar parts by Dino Cazares (Fear Factory) while another surprising guest is Front 242’s Jean-Luc Demeyer singing on “Barbarians”. This song is a reworked edit of “Future Fail”, which originally appeared on “Artificial Soldier” (2006) on, which Jean-Luc was already singing. Last, but not least we also get a remix of “Hatevol” by Black Asteroid. The original edit of this song was featured at the previous album “Wake Up The Coma” (2019).

+ + + : FLA remains a kind of sonic lab for sophisticated, intelligent Electronic music. Somewhere in between good-old EBM (especially for some of the bass lines), Industrial music (for some of the sound treatments) and Ambient atmospheres, this work sounds a bit as summarizing the band’s history. The songs are meticulously crafted and creating a right balance with Leeb’s unique way of singing. I prefer the ‘harder’ cuts of the album like “Unknown” and “Komm, Stirbt Mit Mir” (sung in German). “Glass And Leather” is one of the most elaborated tracks reminding us of the genius of this formation, but also their very own sound DNA. There’s also something to say about “Barbarians” with great guest vocals by Front 242. But the best track, according to me, is the Industrial-Techno & Minimal-driven remix of “Hatevol” by Black Asteroid.

– – – : When you consider the impressive career and discography of FLA, this new work will definitely not enter into history as the band’s masterpiece. It’s maybe missing a bit of power here and then while none of the tracks really sound like an absolute new master hit! I also have a problem when my favorite song of the album is a remix by another formation.

Conclusion: Frontline Assembly hasn’t released their best work to date, but they simply did what we expect from them; releasing an accomplished work with some cool songs and a few little extras thanks to Jean-Luc Demeyer and “Stifle”. Don’t get me wrong, you’ll not be disappointed!

Best songs: “Hatevol – Black Asteroid Mix”, “Glass And Leather”, “Unknown”, “Komm, Stirbt Mit Mir”, “Alone”, “Barbarians”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.mindphaser.com / www.facebook.com/frontlineassembly

Label: www.metropolis-records.com / www.facebook.com/MetropolisRecords

Cellar Graves – Omen (Album – Cellar Graves)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Wed, 10 Feb 2021 20:00:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: Cinematographic, Electro-Ambient, EBM.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Behind this project is hiding Chase Dobson who you may know from his C.DB.SN-project. That was back in time when this artist was dealing with Experimental- and IDM releasing an album on Tympanik Audio. Cellar Graves is another sonic trip. The album “Omen” was already released back in 2018.

Content: “Omen” clearly sounds like an Electro-Ambient exploration, most of the tracks having this astral-like dimension. But the work isn’t entirely into ambient and still deals with early EBM influences, which sometimes remind me of Frontline Assembly. Other songs are featuring Industrial sound treatments, which are still mixed with space-like influences.

The album features 5 songs plus 2 remixes by Blackcell and Statiqbloom.

+ + + : There’s an interesting duality running throughout this work; it has something bombastic at one side and refined with subtle arrangements at the other side. The mix between overwhelming space-driven atmospheres and EBM influences comes mainly through on “Tormented”. This is for sure the best song, which also inspired Statiqbloom to make a cool remix.

– – – : I regret some songs aren’t featuring real vocal lines, Cellar Graves preferring to use the good-old spoken samplings formula.

Conclusion: “Omen” is a promising debut album by Cellar Graves and I’m sure there even is more potential hidden inside.

Best songs: “Tormented”, “The Dig”, “Tormented – Statiqbloom Remix”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.facebook.com/cellargraves

‘Click Interview’ with 6th CIRCLE: ‘The Atmosphere Is Metaphor For The Permanent Adversarial Culture That Exists In The World’

Inferno Sound Diaries — Wed, 27 Jan 2021 18:00:00 +0000

6TH Circle is not exactly a name that makes ring a bell. Set up in 2017 by American artist Matt Auxier, this American solo-project released the debut album “The Third Estate” in 2019 (Sentient Ruin Laboratories). In 2020 Matt Auxier stroke back with the second opus “The Idle Construct”, which has been released on Adam-X’ Sonic Groove Experiments. The work clearly reflects a passion for old-school EBM reminding the early work of Frontline Assembly. “The Idle Construct” brings the true spirit of EBM alive and is an absolute must have for all fans in this genre of music.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: I think it’s interesting asking you about your musical background as you got involved in different bands dealing with a totally different music style than 6THCIRCLE? What incited you to start composing Electronic music and how would you introduce 6TH CIRCLE?

Matt: Yeah I’m definitely into a lot of different styles of music. But mostly dark and heavy. As a kid I always gravitated towards Industrial and Metal and that’s really never changed. What incited me to make EBM/Industrial is I played some demos I had been working on and some people actually liked it. I never had confidence I could make good electronic music, and maybe I still can’t (lol). But to me, it’s important not to limit my creativity which means inclusion of all my influences. 6^th Circle is a love letter of sorts to my teenage love of Industrial.

Q: What kind of musician/artist are you and how do you see yourself evolving throughout the years? Do you handle personal criteria and references when composing music?

Matt: I’ve always tried to include my thoughts on the world and personal philosophies into my art. To me, that’s what makes art great, speaking the language of the people and the environment we all live in. It also allows for a personal release for me.

Q: You in 2019 released the debut album “The Third Estate” so what kind of work was it and can you tell us something more about the evolution from that work towards “The Idle Construct”?

Matt: “The Third Estate” was an evolution into what I really wanted to make 6^th Circle become. For example, inclusion of some more atmosphere and underlying noise and that continued with “The Idle Construct”. Both albums are more what I was aiming for when I started the project and I feel each shows growth for me as a producer. I try and make new albums evolve in some way, and touch on a feeling I Imagine before the writing process begins.

Q: “The Idle Construct” reminds me of late 80s / early 90s EBM and I sometimes get the impression early Frontline Assembly is a potential source of inspiration. What inspired you in the writing and global production of the work and how do you look back at the entire composition process?

Matt: Yes it is absolutely a nod to the old-school style, but I feel I add something fresh to make it my own. FLA has and will always be a huge influence and I think that comes through in the production. Belgium EBM from the late 80-90s and Def North American acts like FLA, Skinny Puppy, Ministry etc… stay on my turntables so it will always be there in my music in some way.

Q: EBM is often linked with ‘power’ and ‘rage’, but your album is clearly more into an atmospheric side of EBM. What is this album all about and what did you try to express through “The Idle Construct”?

Matt: In a way, the atmosphere is metaphor for the permanent adversarial culture that exists in the world. The underlying noise that is ever present. The atmosphere allows “The Idle Construct” to stay cohesive and gives it that dark feel that is always a part of the music. Also, the dark feel just kind of came out given the state of the world when the music was composed. It was made purposefully and also innate in the music.

Q: 2020 has been a particular year because of Covid-19, but also the election of a new president in the US. How do you as artist and simple citizen feel impacted about these things? And how do you see things evolving vs. what comes next for 6TH CIRCLE?

Matt: It’s always good when we no longer have an active fascist in a position of leadership, even though we all know nothing will really change. Biden is a welcome change, but he has been a straight line conservative throughout the years too. So hopefully I’m wrong, but I don’t expect much change from the Military complex that is the U.S. But we should always question leaders, as they’re supposed to have the tough answers.

For 6^th Circle, the world around me is always an influence and an inspiration both positive and negative. For now, envisioning what the next album will be and wishing I could do some touring, but always composing and searching for new sounds.

V/A Sonic Groove: 25 Years / 1995 – 2020 (Album – Sonic Groove)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sun, 27 Dec 2020 19:30:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: Techno-Body, Industrial-Techno, Dark-Techno.

Format: Digital, Vinyl.

Background/Info: Sonic Groove is celebrating its 25^th anniversary with a compilation featuring 12 tracks. Set up by Adam Mitchell –better known under the Adam X moniker, the American label –now based in Berlin (Germany) became a visionary company mixing Techno music with darker/underground genres like EBM and Industrial music.

Artists: The Source Experience, Max Durante, Orphx, Diagenetic Origin, Panacea, Meadon, Rhys Fulber & Portion Control, Crystal Geometry, Monolith, Adam X, Dasha Rush, Realmz.

Content: The compilation brings familiar projects from the label together; from ‘earlier’ artists such as Max Durante, Orphx, Diagenetic Origin, Dasha Rush and Realmz… to artists who joined Sonic Groove during the past few years like Rhys Fulber, Crystal Geometry, Maedon… The common thread between all artists is Techno music, which they each mixed with a darker influence. The most surprising track is a collaboration between Rhys Fulber (Frontline Assembly, Delerium, Conjure One ao) and Portion Control.

+ + + : This compilation first of all is a way to discover the great label roster of Sonic Groove while it remains one of the very few labels, which welcomed artists mixing Techno music with darker genres. Sonic Groove has been a pioneer and still remains a reference today. When you hear Rhys Fulber together with Portion Control composing a true Techno-Body-Music song with harsh vocals on top, you get an idea what this label stands for. So far I can see the featured artists have composed an exclusive song for this sampler, which makes it only more interesting. I have a preference for the Industrial-Techno style of Crystal Geometry (one of the newest projects on Sonic Groove), but I also have to mention the rough exposure by Diagenetic Origin, the Dark-Techno approach from Panacea and a more explicit track by Dasha Rush. Adam X remains another attention grabber and who better than the label owner he stands for the sound of his label: Industrial-Techno!

– – – : I don’t have real regrets, but some extra artists and tracks would have been cool.

Conclusion: This sampler serves as a perfect shop window to give you an idea about the sonic strength and visionary style of the label. I can only express respect for what this label has accomplished so far.

Best bands: Crystal Geometry, Rhys Fulber & Portion Control, Diagenetic Origin, Panacea.

Rate: (8½).

Label: www.sonicgroove.com / www.facebook.com/Sonicgrooverecords

6th Circle – The Idle Construct (Album – Sonic Groove Experiments)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sat, 26 Dec 2020 08:30:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: EBM.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Based in Columbus, Ohio (USA), Matt Auxier has been involved with different bands and music styles. In 2017 he set up his solo-project 6th Circle as a move back to his early passion for EBM. “The Idle Construct” is his second album and the first one released on Sonic Groove Experiments.

Content: The opening cut is characterized by spooky vocals, but quite rapidly you indeed will notice the love of this musician for good-old EBM. The album sounds a bit like travelling back to the 80s; the origins of EBM. Most of the songs remind me of the early, dark EBM style of Frontline Assembly. The songs are danceable without becoming hard, but supported with a dark atmosphere evoking the icy 80s years of Electronic- and Wave music.

+ + + : This production is pure old-school like and even if it brings nothing new, it first of all stands for great EBM. There’s a right balance between the overwhelming, dark atmospheres and solid EBM bass lines. Icy bleeps and ghost-like vocals are achieving this retro-styled production. This work brings the true spirit of EBM to life and that’s also because of the analogue-like effects and sound treatments. There’s something to say about nearly every single song, “Deviant” being my personal favorite one. This song reflects the raw sound approach of 6th Circle.

– – – : This is the kind of production deserving your attention so I hope this album will not fall into anonymity.

Conclusion: 6th Circle is a great surprise for all lovers of retro-EBM. This is an album I highly recommend although it’s not available in a physical format.

Best songs: “Deviant”, “Sanctuary”, “SAGW”, “Traces”, “Lost”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.facebook.com/6thcircle666

Label: www.sonicgroove.com / www.facebook.com/Sonicgrooverecords

Rhys Fulber – Resolve (EP – FR Recordings)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Tue, 15 Dec 2020 07:30:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: Electro-Ambient, Cinematographic.

Format: Digital

Background/Info: Rhys Fulber (Frontline Assembly, Delerium, Conjure One, Will, Noise Unit ao) is back with a new EP under his own name. Previous works –mainly released on Sonic Groove, revealed the Technoid skills of Rhys Fulber. “Resolve” is meant as the first EP in a series and also is the debut release on Rhys Fulber’s own label FR Recordings.

Content: Even if most previous productions were into Techno-Body music, Rhys Fulber also showed some Ambient influences. “Resolve” can be defined as pure Ambient, a dark sonic trip, which is touching ground with Cinematographic music. The work features 4 songs and has been progressively built up. You’ll also notice the more elaborated “Disused” featuring sampled voices in the background and creating a ghost-like effect.

+ + + : Rhys Fulber is a kind of ‘chameleon’ musician, who can transpose himself to write different styles of music genres. The Ambient approach is not new in his career (even FLA composed Soundtrack music), but this is a different approach. It’s dark, sometimes achieved with Technoid soundsculptures and still reminding me of some Ambient pioneers. The opening cut “Charleroi” is directly inspired by the Belgian city, which is a grey area of abandoned metal industry while the city became also famous because it was there where murderer Marc Dutroux lived. And by the way, it also is the hometown of à;Grumh. It’s a nice wink to the Belgian fans of Rhys Fulber. I however prefer the already mentioned “Disused”, which is finely elaborated with great sound treatments. Both last cuts reveal a kind of dark, inhibited reverie, definitely accentuating the electro-ambient approach of the work.

– – – : “Resolve” is an easy listening work, quite accessible, but definitely not the most exciting production I’ve heard from this sound guru.

Conclusion: Rhys Fulber goes Ambient revealing an intimate, electronic production that sounds as the perfect soundtrack for an imaginary movie.

Best songs: “Disused”, “Charleroi”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist & Label: www.facebook.com/rhysfulbermusic

11Grams – Humanicide (Album – EK Product)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Tue, 08 Dec 2020 20:00:14 +0000

Genre/Influences: EBM.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Three years after their great debut album “Panacea” the American – Australian duo featuring Rob Early (Retrogramme) and Simeon Fitzpatrick (Project K11) is back on track unleashing the new opus “Humanicide”. The work features nine new songs plus five remixes. The band again worked with some guest singers. Roy Retrofit (Red This Ever), Alicia May, Rebekah Feng and Sarah Myers (Fake Boyfriend) contributed to this work.

Content: “Humanicide” moved on where “Panacea” stopped; an album featuring intelligent and sophisticated EBM. It clearly reminds me of Frontline Assembly and Skinny Puppy, which I think rather sounds as references to be compared to. The different singers inject their proper touch, intonation and passion to the work.

The remixes were accomplished by Psy’Aviah, Sebastian Komor, C1TZN.X, Leather Strip and Red This Ever.

+ + + : 11Grams doesn’t sound as the most accessible EBM format, but they let us discover a different kind of ‘body music’; music that has been composed with technical knowledge and certain passion to create great sound treatments. The album sounds maybe a bit less powerful than its predecessor, but it has been empowered with poignant atmospheres created by cool synth sounds. Some passages are clearly old-school driven and even space-like. There’s a great diversity and yet still a balance between the different singers. The title song for sure is an attention grabber, but I definitely prefer the “Static Noises 2.0” revealing impressive writing skills of 11Grams. Among the remixes I especially recommend listening to “Ice Man” remixed in a powerful way by Sebastian Komor and “Weaponized”, which is another powerful outburst, remixed by Leather Strip.

– – – : I don’t see real minor points about this new work, 11Grams simply confirming their natural talent to compose futuristic EBM, but I just regret this kind of band never gets the deserved recognition.

Conclusion: “Humanicide” confirms the great work revealed at the “Panacea”-album; this is styled EBM!

Best songs: “Satanic Noises”, “Artificial Lifeforms”, “Humanicide”, “Ice Man”, “”Ice Man – Sebastian Komor RMX”, “Weaponized – Leather strip RMX”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: http://11grams.com / www.facebook.com/11grams

Label: www.ekproduct.com / www.facebook.com/EKProduct

Invisible Network – Overview Effect (EP – Digital Dependency Records)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Tue, 20 Oct 2020 19:30:10 +0000

Genre/Influences: EBM, Cinematographic.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Invisible Network is a new project and side-project of the UK formation K-Nitrate. This is the band’s debut EP featuring three songs, which seem to be inspired by astral themes.

Content: The songs are instrumental edits, revealing a mix between EBM elements and cinematographic music. The rhythmic sounds linear, but dense. The more elaborated “Alpha Magnetic” reminds me a bit of soundtrack music composed by Frontline Assembly.

+ + + : “Overview Effect” is not exactly what I would call a project that will catch many fans by its debut. It will for sure appeal for EBM lovers, but it’s not the kind of music DJ’s are going to play to set dancefloors on fire. But I like the elaborated writing and the mix of EBM and soundtrack music is pretty original. “Alpha Magnetic” and “Deflecting Disaster” both are cool songs.

– – – : The sound formula is rather similar for the three songs, but let’s waits for more stuff to get an idea about the potential of this new formation.

Conclusion: Invisible Network has accomplished an interesting EBM-soundtrack inspired work.

Best songs: “Alpha Magnetic”, “Deflecting Disaster”

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.facebook.com/K-Nitrate-112074565473197

Label: www.facebook.com/DigitalDependencyRecords

Human Vault – Self Rust (Album – Aliens Production)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Tue, 13 Oct 2020 20:00:01 +0000

Genre/Influences: EBM, Experimental, Cinematographic.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Human Vault is driven by the Hungarian born Gyorgy Turoczy aka ‘Mortum’. Based in New-York (USA) Human vault has been busy since 1997 and has released an impressive number of productions –mainly on the Hungarian label Exabyss Records. This first work released on Aliens Productions is maybe an opportunity to discover this project.

Content: “Self Rust” is clearly driven by good-old and worked-out EBM. The project is reminding me of early Frontline Assembly, and also to the coldness of The Klinik. Some parts are exploring experimental fields while you also will notice industrial elements. The vocals have been produced in a rather spooky way while there are also numerous spoken samplings running through the album. The dark and ghost-like atmosphere is more present than any kind of hard-danceable stuff.

+ + + : You clearly hear the maturity of this project. The songs are well-crafted and reveal a sophisticated format. There also is a kind of dramatic touch emerging at the surface, which is created by the dense ambient layers. This is accentuated by the ghost-like production of the vocals. Human Vault clearly reminds me of the magic of early EBM bands; comparing this music to FLA and The Klinik is more than simply a reference!

– – – : The album is maybe missing some hard-danceable cuts, but the strength of this album clearly lies in the impressive atmospheres instead of bouncing kicks and danceable tunes.

Conclusion: Human Vault confirms Hungary has a real talented and probably underrated electro-underground scene.

Best songs: “Damn You All”, “Fear Will Come”, “Self Rust”, “This Hate”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/mortum.exabyss

Label: www.label.aliens.sk / www.facebook.com/pages/Aliens-production-label/200028820052578

Amorphous – Moth Metaphor (Album – Razgrom Music)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Wed, 23 Sep 2020 18:30:31 +0000

Genre/Influences: EBM.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: I’ll always link Gil O. Santis with the great Morgue project, which was a true reference in the Brazilian EBM scene from the 90s. Later on the artist set up Amorphous as a solo-project and has released some great works. “Moth Metaphor” is Amorphous’ third full length studio album (there also is a remix- and live album) and the first one released on Razgrom Music. Notice by the way the CD edition features three extra songs.

Content: Amorphous is clearly driven by good-old EBM and Frontline Assembly might be seen as a potential source of inspiration, but globally speaking this project has something apart and very personal. The composition is accomplished with intelligence revealing elaborated song structures, minimalism and ghost-like atmospheres. The songs are dark, which is an aspect accentuated by the ghost-like vocals’ production. One of the most surprising cuts is “Our Deepest Fear” featuring a French poem by Belgian ‘chanson grand master’ Jacques Brel.

+ + + : Amorphous simply confirms the potential exposed at previous albums. This is a styled and accomplished EBM, an intelligent format of body music resulting in a very personal approach. The songs are sophisticated, revealing an impressive number of layers with minimal-like sound arrangements on top. There’s a perfect twist between power and atmospheres, the last part of the work becoming darker. And I especially recommend the CD version for its bonus songs “Confinamiento” and “Kingdom Of Darkness (Empire Version)”. As a great admirator of Jacques Brel I’ve been particularly touched by the samplings referring to this great artist.

– – – : I don’t have real minus points about this work, but it remains a pity Amorphous is still an underrated artist.

Conclusion: If you’re in search of intelligent and totally accomplished EBM, you better purchase this remarkable work by Amorphous.

Best songs: “Confinamiento”, “Kingdom Of Darkness (Empire Version)”, “Our Deepest Fear”, “Blackout”, “Unknown Things”, “Nonlinear Future”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.facebook.com/amorphous.sound

Label: www.razgrom.com / www.facebook.com/pages/Razgrom-Music/218060094876247

Egoist – Breaking Moment (Album – Aliens Production)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Fri, 18 Sep 2020 18:30:51 +0000

Genre/Influences: EBM.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Egoist is a polish solo-project set up in 2002 by Kuba Włodarski. He released a demo entitled “Breaking Moment” in 2004 featuring five songs plus a remix he made for Controlled Collapse. Aliens Production now released “Breaking Moment” as an album featuring next to the five original songs six more songs.

Content: From the very first notes and arrangements you clearly can hear where this band found its inspiration. This is an emulation of Frontline Assembly. The sphere and the way the songs have been composed are directly reminding me of the Canadian formation led by Bill Leeb. Even the production of the vocals has this ghost-like touch reminding me of Frontline Assembly during the early 90s period.

+ + + : This is EBM for fine tasters and especially FLA lovers. Okay, this is not FLA, but the way Egoist elaborated its composition is absolutely impressive. This is intelligent EBM made with solid bass lines, haunting atmospheres, great sound effects and danceable rhythms. The whispering vocals’ production is totally matching with this music. “Century Of Sorrow” and “Wishlist” both are my personal favorites, but I also have to mention “Remake” for its brilliant instrumental passage.

– – – : The point with such a production and especially when it all sounds that close to a giant as Frontline Assembly, is that you’ll have to admit there’s only one FLA while all copyists are remaining in the shadows.

Conclusion: Egoist brings no originality and clearly sounds as a FLA-copy, but it’s a damned great one.

Best songs: “Century Of Sorrow”, “Wishlist”, “Remake”, “Fallen”, “Melting Point”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/egoistsound

Label: www.label.aliens.sk / www.facebook.com/pages/Aliens-production-label/200028820052578

Aesthetische – MMXX (EP – Alfa Matrix)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sat, 29 Aug 2020 19:30:24 +0000

Genre/Influences: Techno-body, trance.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: The current Covid 19 pandemic forced artists to do things in a different way. The Aesthetische duo Fabricio Viscardi – Guilherme Peres decided to revisit some of their songs while inviting their old Aghast View mate, Denis Rudge, to take part on this EP.

Content: “MMXX” features 8 different songs; tracks that have been reworked or remixed. It’s a question of perception. But the songs are revealing diversity. From the opening song “One In This World featuring Mari Kattman to the darker and definitely Aghast View reminiscent of “Byprodukt” to the dark-dance driven “Red Trackers” and “Ascension” to the new version of “Barking At The Wrong Tree” featuring Sascha Klein (Neuroticfish) this EP has a lot to offer. Notice by the way the song “Brennbar” has been remixed by Civilian Reich.

+ + + : When you make a nice selection of some of your best songs and you rework/remix them you for sure will get some nice surprises. Aesthetische has always revealed to be great remixers, but revisiting your own stuff is something completely different. I especially like the darker edits like “Byprodukt” carried by a bass line reminding me of Frontline Assembly (and Aghast View). Other attention grabbers are the dark-sounding, but more technoid orientated “Red Trackers” and “Ascension”. “Barking At The wrong Tree” featuring Sascha Klein is a perfect last song for an entertaining and ultra-danceable EP.

– – – : We all hope this pandemic will soon be under control; we’re all missing artistic life and artists composing totally new songs –instead of remixes, and playing live on stage –instead of live streams!

Conclusion: This EP is a cool alternative edit on which Aesthetische revisited some of their hottest cuts.

Best songs: “Byprodukt MMXX”, “Red Trackers MMXX”, “Ascension”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.facebook.com/aesthetische

Label: www.alfa-matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix

Zwaremachine – Ripping At The Fabric (EP – Brutal Resonance Records)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Fri, 31 Jul 2020 19:30:18 +0000

Genre/Influences: Dark-electro, EBM.

Format: Digital, cassette.

Background/Info: Two years after the successful “Be A Light”-EP Zwaremachine strikes back with new songs. It also is the first work released by Brutal Resonance, which we all know as online magazine devoted to EBM, dark-electro, industrial and related styles. ‘Match FoX’ brings us five new tracks plus an extra remix on the digital edit.

Content: I was already convinced after the previous “Be A Light”-work, but Zwaremachine moves a step further at this new work. The songs are all driven by solid EBM bass lines while carried by pumping kicks and great sound arrangements. The vocals are rough, expressing anger and rage, which is totally fitting with this kind of production. Zwaremachine remains devoted to early EBM productions, but with this extra and empowering, contemporary touch on top. The songs sometimes make me think to a hybrid between early Frontline Assembly and the rage of early Combichrist. Notice by the way the digital edit is featuring an “Alternative Mix” of the title song;

+ + + : All songs are carried by impressive EBM-like bass lines. They inject a phenomenal power into the work, which is joined by heavy, pumping beats and detailed sound arrangements. Zwaremachine doesn’t only create enraged music, but the production is also sophisticated and totally accomplished. The title track is an absolute masterpiece, but “What We Are” is even better. I also have to mention “Resist” and “New Design” featuring the same ingredients and dense sound layers. Zwaremachine is much more than only power, it also is a project with a meticulous approach.

– – – : I think the only single aspect of the work that could be improved – although it’s not exactly a point, is the vocals’ production. I think the way of singing is maybe a little less too linear.

Conclusion: “Ripping At The Fabric” is a brilliant sonic exposure from an artist the dark-electro community can better keep an eye on!

Best songs: “What We Are”, “Ripping At The Fabric”, “Resist”, “New Design”.

Rate: (8½).

Artist: www.zwaremachine.band / www.facebook.com/zwaremachine

Label: https://brutalresonance.com / www.facebook.com/brutalresonance

Stahlgeist – Escape Reality (Album – Advoxya Records)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Wed, 29 Apr 2020 19:30:31 +0000

Genre/Influences: EBM.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Stahlgeist is a new Hungarian EBM duo set up in 2017. The band is driven by Istvan Gazdag (First Aid 4 Souls) and Tamás Bank (Worker Munkás). Last year the duo self-released the digital album “Escape Reality”. In the meantime they joined hands together with Advoxya Records, which released the CD format of this debut work.

Content: The album takes off a pure old-school EBM way characterized by a solid bass line. Quite progressively Stahlgeist moves into an intelligent format of ‘body music’, which is –just as First Aid 4 Souls, sometimes reminding me of Frontline Assembly (pay attention to “Infected Colony”). The songs are diversified, but all inspired by retro-EBM. This diversity also comes back in the vocals –mainly sung in English, but you’ll also notice other languages as well.

+ + + : This is a great debut work. The classical EBM format has no surprises, but the way the songs have been written reveals a sophisticated process. This is much more than cheap EBM, but a well-thought and accomplished composition revealing great bass lines, icy sequences and raw, danceable songs. There are several cool songs featured on this work. It’s a good thing this album has now been released on CD!

– – – : The link with FLA became rapidly obvious, but I’m not complaining when the result is that accomplished.

Conclusion: Stahlgeist knows how to bring the true EBM spirit to life! This is another strong and promising debut released by Advoxya Records!

Best songs: “Infected Colony”, “Step By Step”, “Nihilist”, “No Regrets”, “Escape Reality”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www .facebook .com /stahlgeist

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

Last Influence Of Brain – Insomnicons (CD Album – Aliens Production)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sun, 05 Apr 2020 19:30:14 +0000

Genre/Influences: EBM.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Last Influence Of Brain is back on track after a hiatus of eleven years. The Slovakian trio consisting of ‘Solo’, ‘Bop’ and ‘Blazena’ remained active during the past few years with their Samhain side-project. “Insomnicons” is the return of this EBM combo and is the band’s fourth full length. Notice by the way the album has been mixed by Ken ‘Hiwatt’ Marshall (Skinny Puppy, F.L.A.).

Content: This work is a perfect opportunity to rediscover the somewhat forgotten Last Influence Of Brain. The songs remain inspired and driven by good-old EBM, which is rapidly evoking Frontline Assembly. There’s a similar sophisticated EBM sound, which has been now and then boosted by guitar playing. The rough vocals create a perfect match with the powerful and dark composition. The last song “Twone” has been remixed by Ken ‘Hiwatt’ Marshall.

+ + + : First of all the CD format will catch your attention by its great artwork and digipak format. Sound-wise the music brings good-old EBM influences back to life. The powerful work and intelligent approach are clearly awakening old EBM demons and especially Frontline Assembly’s “Hard Wired” period. The most powerful cuts are the best ones; I have to mention “Binarea” and “Idolatry” are true masterpieces. The power and quality of the songs both remain pretty constant.

– – – : It’s a bit surprising to hear this kind of EBM work released by the IDM-driven Aliens Production, but on the other side it’s not that surprising as the last album was already released on the Slovakian label while Samhain is another label’s band. I’m a bit less convinced by the few softer cuts (like “Khonsu – Again On His Eternal Path”).

Conclusion: This album stands for a great comeback and definitely is a must-have for all EBM fans in search of great music.

Best songs: “Binarea”, “Idolatry”, “Hypnosphere”, “Invasion/Introverted”, “Necroptica”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www .facebook .com /lastinfluenceof

Label: www .label .aliens .sk / www .facebook .com /pages /Aliens –production –label /200028820052578

DHI (Death And Horror Inc) – Pressures Collide / 25th Anniversary Edition (Album – DHI)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Wed, 04 Mar 2020 20:00:36 +0000

Genre/Influences: EBM, industrial, crossover.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Driven by ‘Graf’, ‘Nocturne’ and ‘Vicar’, DHI (Death And Horror Inc) saw the light of day in the late 80s and released their work during the 90s. Most of their work got released by Fringe Product, but their last album from 1994 (cf. “Pressures Collide”) got also released here in Belgium on the legendary KK Records. To celebrate the 25^th anniversary of this work, the album has been remastered plus expanded by the “Bitter Alloys”-EP released in 1993 on Fringe Product. The album this way gets a total amount of twenty songs!

Content: I confess DHI is a band I don’t exactly remember. So this album was an opportunity to rediscover their work, which is alternating Canadian (that’s where they come from) EBM sometimes reminding me of FLA and industrial or pure crossover. The tracklist is different than the original “Pressures Collide”, but the most interesting aspect is the new mastering of the instrumental songs have been exposed to. I’ve been surprised to realize most of the songs still sound up to date. The guitar riffs are empowering the electronic layers while the vocals accentuate the power and energy emerging from these songs. Some passages remind me of Frontline Assembly during the 90s. The new edits of “Rage”, “Ninety-Nine Realities” and “Red Carnival” will bring you back to the dynamism of DHI. The work also features a few instrumental songs and alternative edits.

+ + + : It’s interesting to see how an album can even remain very efficient 25 years after its original release. The new mastering has for sure empowered the original work, which will appeal to crossover fans. This format mixing electronics together with guitar was quite common and successful during the 90s. But it still makes sense today! I (re)discovered some cool songs, “Ninety-Nine Realities” getting somewhere lost in my brains, but now reactivated by this celebration album. I also have to say this album was produced in a very professional way.

– – – : A few instrumental songs (cf. “Exanthem”, “Undercurrent”, “Black Hour”) haven’t been remastered, which I can understand as they rather appear to be poorly inspired album fillers.

Conclusion: This is an album for the fans of DHI and KK Records, but first of all a real good opportunity to rediscover a somewhat forgotten formation from the Canadian EBM/industrial scene.

Best songs: “Rage – Amplified Vox Mix V2”, “Catastrophe (Mix V2)”, “Ninety-Nine Realities (A Tougher Mix V2)”, “Pain and courage (Mix V2)”, “Red Carnival (Mix V2)”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www .deathandhorrorinc .com / www .facebook .com /DHI –death –and –horror –inc -560328507342651

Rhys Fulber – Baut Mit! (EP – Sonic Groove)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sat, 15 Feb 2020 19:00:31 +0000

Genre/Influences: Industrial-techno.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Rhys Fulber (Frontline Assembly, Delerium, Conjure One ao) last year released his second full length solo-album “Ostalgia”, which was a new exploration of contemporary dark-techno paths. “Baut Mit!” features four remixes from songs originally released on “Ostalgia”.

Content: The Berlin techno-underground scene is probably one of the most famous ones in the world. Sonic Groove’s owner Adam Mitchell is based in Berlin and I can imagine it has incited Rhys Fulber to get remixed by artists from the German capital of techno music. Tommy Four Seven, Headless Horseman, Traversable Wormhole and Phase Fatale took each one song from “Ostalgia” and transposed them into their own techno perception. From the cinematic-techno interpretation of “Misery Whip” by Tommy Four Seven to the brutal remix of “Apostel” by Headless Horseman to the acid-retro like remix of “Fisson” by Traversable Wormhole to the more techno-industrial driven “Right Hand Of the Free World” remixed by Phase Fatale, this EP stands for diversity.

+ + + : Diversity is for sure the main strength of this work. I heard a great remix by Headless Horseman, but Traversable Wormhole’s merciless transformation of “Fisson” is my personal favorite. I enjoyed the kind of whipping snare drum and the acid-like sequences.

– – – : This EP is food for DJ’s, but I’m missing an extra song or remix by Rhys Fulber himself.

Conclusion: Rhys Fulber remains a source of inspiration, even for artists who are not familiar with darker electronics and industrial music.

Best songs: “Fisson – Traversable Wormhole Remix”, “Apostel – Headless Horseman Remix”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist: www .facebook .com /rhysfulbermusic

Label: www .sonicgroove .com / www .facebook .com /Sonicgrooverecords

Hexadiode – Metaxy (Album – EK Product)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Wed, 05 Feb 2020 21:00:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: EBM, industrial.

Format: Digital, CD, vinyl.

Background/Info: American duo Tim Krug and Jonas Miseh released their second full length by the end of 2019. Next to the CD-version released by EK Product –which also released their debut album “Ibex” (2016), they self-released a vinyl edition of “Metaxy”.

Content: “Metaxy” is a mix between typical EBM elements, which are mainly emerging from the bass lines and the production of the vocals, and industrial sounds. Some metallic percussion parts are perfectly matching with this sonic fusion. Some of the choruses have something elevating. The more you walk through the “Metaxy”-universe, the more there’s a Frontline Assembly connotation running through the work. It’s dark and old-school like and yet with a contemporary feeling. Both last tracks are remixes by Guilt Trip and Blush Response.

+ + + : Hexadiode accomplished an interesting opus. I like this album for the sophisticated writing, which is bringing EBM and industrial sound treatments together. The songs clearly reflect an intelligent writing, but the album also reveals several great songs. There’s also something to say about the mature production work. Among the remixes I noticed a great contribution from Blush Response, but it’s also cool to see Guilt Trip, which seems to be back into business.

– – – : There are multiple noticeable songs featured at “Metaxy”, but this album is missing a hit song from which you can’t get away from. That’s precisely what a band needs to get in the spotlight.

Conclusion: If you don’t yet know Hexadiode and you’re in search of a well-crafted and intelligent EBM production, I can for sure advise you to listen to “Metaxy”.

Best songs: “Impulse Matrix”, “Metaxy”, “13 Of 12”, “Markov Chain”, “Brain In 3 – Blush Response Remix”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www .hexadiode .com / www .facebook .com /hexadiode

Label: www .ekproduct .com / www .facebook .com /EKProduct

Rhys Fulber – Ostalgia (CD Album – Sonic Groove)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Mon, 02 Dec 2019 19:30:41 +0000

Genre/Influences: Industrial-techno, IDM, minimal-electro.

Background/Info: One year after the successful album “Your Dystopia, My Utopia”, Canadian electro veteran Rhys Fulber (Frontline Assembly, Delerium, Conjure One, Noise Unit ao) strikes back with his second solo-album. The title of the album reflects ‘ a romantic nostalgia for the old but comforting ways of Communist East Germany – and a yearning for rigid systems after progression into the future has led to chaos and uncertainty’.

Content: The title of the album might be understood as a sonic metaphor from an artist in search for good-old electronic sounds. One thing is for sure, Rhys Fulber moves on exploring techno paths, which he meticulously merged together with harsh industrial sound treatments. This album sounds more into the techno direction, but still reveals the sophisticated approach of the musician/producer. The second half of the work becomes more elaborated and into IDM.

+ + + : Rhys Fulber confirms feeling comfortable composing ‘’his type of techno music.” The industrial-techno genre isn’t new at all, but this artist mixes it with some good-old sound treatments. But the album also sounds like a magic box, which features an endless number of sonic tricks and effects. Some tracks are progressively evolving towards a truly climax. Just pay attention to “12 Steppes” and the darker “Consum” and you’ll seize the complexity of “Ostalgia”. I might prefer the previous album, but what I especially like on “Ostalgia” is that Rhys Fulber evolved with his techno exploration.

– – – : “Ostalgia” made me a bit nostalgic from the more explicit EBM and techno-body approach from his previous album.

Conclusion: Rhys Fulber is a meaningful project when it comes to industrial-techno and IDM. This artist has no limits when it comes to expose his skills!

Best songs: “12 Steppes”, “Consum”, “Apostel”, “Right Hand Of The Free World”, “Misery Whip”.

Rate: (8½).

Artist: www .facebook .com /rhysfulbermusic

Label: www .sonicgroove .com / www .facebook .com /Sonicgrooverecords

First Aid 4 Souls – Increased Sensory Perception (Digital EP – Alfa Matrix)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sun, 06 Oct 2019 18:30:25 +0000

Genre/Influences: EBM.

Background/Info: Hungarian artist István Gazdag (previously involved with Vacuum) is one of the electro-underground references from his country. He released an impressive number of productions as First Aid 4 Souls and now sees all his efforts renowned by joining a bigger label of the electro scene. Together with singer ‘Mortum’ (Human Vault) this EP, which rather looks like a mini-album, reveals five new songs plus two remixes.

Content: If you’re already familiar with this talented formation, the new stuff will sound rather familiar. First Aid 4 Souls deals with an intelligent EBM format reminding me of the sophistication of Frontline Assembly. The songs are raw, elaborated and achieved with impressive sound arrangements. Sometimes into epic treatments, but always characterized by an overwhelming production, this work is mixing danceable passages together with poignant atmospheres.

+ + + : First Aid 4 Souls is the kind of intelligent EBM formation, which was maybe missing at Alfa Matrix. It’s not only about intelligence, but the global production and influences reminding Frontline Assembly is a real addition to the label’s roster. There’s a retro touch running through the songs, but there also is a very personal touch emerging at the surface. Especially the “Acid On Steel”-version of “Mortal Birth” is a phenomenal song. This is a great dance cut, but also revealing great sound treatments. I also have to mention the title song for its overwhelming and orchestral-like arrangements. This is an EP (or mini-album, however you want to call it) with no real B-side songs.

– – – : The so-called “Slow Death”-version of the title song is the single cut that left me unmoved.

Conclusion: Joining an established and leading label such as Alfa Matrix, First Aid 4 Souls will hopefully find an opportunity to reach a wider audience. This formation is a real sensation in intelligent body music!

Best songs: “Mortal Birth – Acid On Steel”, “Increased Sensory Perception”, “Phrase Fractal – Alt Bass Edit”, “Mortal Birth – Old School Version”.

Rate: (8½).

Artist: http ://www .firstaid 4 souls .com / www .facebook .com /First –Aid -4-Souls -180876236297

Label: www .alfa –matrix .com / www .facebook .com /Alfa .Matrix