Genre/Influences: EBM, Dark-Electro.

Format: Digital, EBM.

Background/Info: After having released five albums on Infacted Recordings and next three albums on Digital World Audio PreEmptive Strike 0.1 moves back to Infacted to unleash their ninth full length to date. The work comes four years after the amazing “Progeny Of The Technovore”-album. George Klontzas left the band and was replaced by Yiannis Chatzakis (Degenerated Sequences) who was a live member. Jim ‘The Blaster’ remains the band’s singer.

Content: The album sounds a bit like moving back to the ‘roots’ of the band; a perfect sonic match between elaborated EBM and Dark-Electronic atmospheres. You however will notice Technoid elements as well and even a few Cinematic parts plus a cover version of a Manowar-song. Kriistal Ann (Paradox Obscur) and Cleopatra Caido have been invited to sing each on one song. Last but not least there’s also a remix accomplished by Seven Trees.

+ + + : This album isn’t exactly a new beginning but there’s a different approach in the writing process and injected influences. I however think that there’s a chemistry between both members and the move back to the roots of the band will be noticed by fans. The songs are elaborate and I like the uplifting and somewhat Technoid sequences running through most of the songs -but especially during the second half of the album. “Pause In Chaos/Stop The Madness” is a true masterpiece but I also have to mention “State Of War – Defcon 1 Edit” and “Resurrective Hunger” featuring the emblematic vocals of Kriistal Ann. “Beyond Reality” featuring Cleopatra Caido sounds more Cinematic but is another attention grabber.

– – – : I still consider “Progeny Of The Technovore” as the band’s magnum opus so it’s not an easy thing moving on after such a blasting piece of music. Some tracks are a little less hesitant but I’m confident for the further evolution of the Greek duo.

Conclusion: PreEmptive Strike 0.1 is back and still stands for attractive EBM.

Best songs: “Pause In Chaos/Stop The Madness”, “Resurrective Hunger”, “State Of War – Defcon 1 Edit”,  “Beyond Reality”, “Lunacy Stimulator”, “Marauders From Earth”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.preemptivestrike01.com / www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100046294873850

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

About PreEmptive Strike 0.1

PreEmptive Strike 0.1 is a Greek duo fronted by vocalist Jim “The Blaster”. The band released five albums on Infacted Recordings before moving to Digital World Audio for three further albums, then returned to Infacted Recordings for “Defence Readiness: Condition 1”, the follow-up to “Progeny Of The Technovore”. Yiannis Chatzakis, also active with Degenerated Sequences, joined as a full member after previously performing live with the band, replacing George Klontzas. Kriistal Ann of Paradox Obscur and Seven Trees both contributed to “Defence Readiness: Condition 1”.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

George Klontzas got recognition being involved in the EBM/Dark-Electro project PreEmptive Strike 0.1. He got also involved with Croona and Cynical Existence. After the last PreEmptive Strike 0.1 album “Progeny Of The Technovore” (Infacted Recordings) he set up Teknovore. The sound reveals a hard mix of EBM, Trance and Industrial with guest singers. This is a modern piece of Electronic music with solid- and fully accomplished songs. I talked about this astonishing debut with George Klontzas.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: I can’t start this interview without asking you about a short look back to your involvement with PreEmptive Strike 0.1? What do you keep in mind and what has been the main goal when setting up Teknovore?

George: First of all, I’d like to thank you for reviewing my album and for this interview of course. Taking a look back, PES0.1 was a project that was born in a simpler time in my life. It was just a couple of friends having fun together, making the music we liked. Regrettably, along the way and over the years that slowly changed. I spent 16 years with PES0.1 and it gave me many wonderful experiences and the opportunity to meet so many amazing people. Leaving was definitely not a decision I made lightly, but simply put, it was time to step away and that chapter of my life is now closed and no longer has any bearing on me personally or musically with Teknovore.

As for the second part of your question, Teknovore as a wholly ‘me‘ project has given me the opportunities to make more of the music I want to make for myself, and the option to collaborate with a lot more artists for different types of vocal styles which has really let me be more creative in the sounds I make. Music is something I’ve always done for myself first and foremost because I enjoy the process so there was never any doubt that I would continue to make music. Primarily, it was just about making music as its own reward. For a while, I even toyed with the idea of releasing whatever music I made for free, but in the end I decided to put a label behind it just to give it the best possible chance of cutting through the noise and being heard.

Q: The name of your project is clearly connected with the last album of PreEmptive Strike 0.1 but what does it stand for? Tell us a bit more about the sound you’ve in mind for Teknovore and in which way is it a continuation of previous productions you composed?

George: Between 2016 and 2020 I really got back into Goa-Trance. There were some amazing new-school Goa albums that came out at that time which inspired me to start experimenting with that sound. I just love the pumping, spiraling energy and melodic peaks that Goa-Trance can achieve. At first, I thought I would start a Goa side-project with a dark or Industrial edge and that’s how “Progeny Of The Technovore” was born. Basically, the last PES0.1 album was initially supposed to be the first Technovore album. However, I generally dislike the idea of spreading my focus over different projects and abandoned that idea in favor of bringing those tracks into PES0.1.

Hence the name of the album, “Progeny Of The Technovore” -to signify that those tracks are literally ‘begotten of’ Technovore.  I switched the ‘ch’ to a ‘k’ for aesthetic reasons later on. There’s no deeper meaning to the name itself. Its definition would be ‘one who eats or is sustained by technology’ but I honestly just chose it because I thought it would be eye-catching and easy to remember.

There are clearly elements of what I did with PES0.1 in Teknovore, but I’m not trying to emulate what I have already done before. It’s a new project so, despite any expectations there might have been because of my past work, it was a chance to try new things, experiment with different genres. There are many other Electronic genres that I enjoy, Techno, Psy-Trance, mid-tempo Cyber-Punk-inspired stuff, so tried to bring all those influences into the Teknovore fold into one cohesive whole.

Q: How does the debut opus “The Theseus Paradox” saw the daylight and what did you want to reflect by the album title?

George: “The Theseus Paradox” is a reference to a well-known thought experiment known as “The Ship Of Theseus” which poses the question of whether an object that has had all of its components replaced remains fundamentally the same object or not. If the ship of Theseus were kept in a harbor and every part on the ship were replaced one at a time, would it then be a new ship? Cognitive science would view the Ship not as a thing, or even a collection of parts, but rather as an organizational structure that has perceptual continuity. What mainly interested me is how all this pertains to the Self. What is it that makes us the same person through time? Are we even the same person or are we continuously dying and being reborn through the process of cellular regeneration?

I saw this concept reflected not only in my own life, but also in how I approached making this album. I didn’t want it to be simply a collection of tracks. It had to be a singular, complete entity where each track worked as part of a greater whole in creating that continuity.

Q: You worked with guest singers so did you handle specific criteria to ask the artists you worked with? How did this collaboration happened and what has been the true input of each singer?

George: There are three guest vocalists on “The Theseus Paradox”: Jay Taylor of J:Dead, Jay Ruin of RNZR/Ruinizer and of course Fredrik Croona. I’ve worked with Fredrik on various projects over the last 10 years and we have a great friendship and understanding, so he was a natural choice.

Jay Taylor, in fact, I met in the process of making the last Croona album “Ascend”. We worked on a track for Croona that would however eventually evolve to become the J:Dead vs Teknovore-single “Tearing Me Apart” and I also contributed a remix for his single ‘I’ll Wait’. We really enjoyed working with each other and he is such an amazing vocalist I just had to ask him to take part on the album and thankfully he agreed to record two tracks. I’m sure we’ll work together again in the not too distant future.

Jay Ruin is someone whose work I’ve followed for many years and have wanted to work with for a long time. I was convinced he was a good choice because he often bends genres in his own music much in the same way I do. He also recorded some additional synths for our collaboration track. I think we were very successful in creating a track that is both instantly recognizable as being rooted in Harsh EBM but also sounds fresh. He is currently recording vocals for another track for me.

Finally, I mustn’t forget to mention Z from Siva Six who contributed vocals for a cover of Dark Soho’s “Save Me God”. It ended up being on the “Anachronist”-single, which preceded the album, but he did an awesome job too. I knew he loved Dark Soho as much as I do so there was no other option other than him.

Q: It’s quite fascinating to see the multiple influences running through your work while the songs are carried by impressive, hard kicks. It for sure says something about the music styles you already mentioned, but do you handle specific criteria and/or references when it comes to the production process?

George: Ha ha, yes, the kicks! They were a bit of a talking point in your review. So about those actually, one of the genres I enjoy listening to is Tech-Trance. I especially like the production, a defining characteristic of which is that the tracks are usually driven by a loud kick drum, while the synths and basslines are side-chained to emphasize the kicks even more. This is actually one of the first things I knew I wanted to be a part of the Teknovore sound.

I don’t have specific criteria about what my sources of inspiration will be. I listen to a lot of music for inspiration so if I hear something I like, I’ll experiment with it and see how it works and if I can consolidate it within the context of Teknovore.

Q: I noticed you already made a few noticeable remixes for other artists. How do you proceed when working on it? And what are the further plans about remixes, new Teknovore stuff, concerts ao?   

George: I was a bit surprised by the number of remixes I was asked to do especially when I hadn’t even released anything yet. Last year, I put a couple of tracks up on YouTube just to test the waters and see how they would be received –and almost immediately I got a couple of remix requests. It was quite flattering honestly and it solidified my conviction and belief in what I was doing with Teknovore. Since the release of “The Theseus Paradox” the remix requests haven’t stopped coming. In the past two months I’ve already delivered five remixes and committed to doing another three. Of course I’m also working on new tracks of my own at the same time. The tentative plan is to release another single and an EP by the end of the year hopefully, so, overall, there is a lot more Teknovore coming in the near future.

Finally, I’ll be making my live debut with Teknovore at a very special event later in the year. The announcement should come any day now, maybe even by the time this interview goes live.

Thank you again for this interview.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: EBM, Techno-Body, Industrial-Trance.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info:  George Klontzas -known from his involvement with PreEmptive Strike 0.1 but also with Croona and Cynical Existence, has now unleashed his first solo-work following the “Anachronist”-single. Neon Decay, RNZR and J:Dead (2 songs) contributed as guest singers.

Content: George Klontzas was the main sound architect of PreEmptive Strike 0.1 and you’ll rapidly recognize his sound DNA at “The Theseus Paradox”. The work is driven by ultra-violent boosting beats while different influences like EBM, Industrial, Techno/Trance are constantly joining in. Most of the songs are instrumental edits with spoken samplings but you’ll also discover 4 songs with guest singers.

+ + + : The last album of PreEmptive Strike 0.1 entitled “Progeny Of The Technovore” also was the last album by the Greek formation George Klontzas contributed to. So this project name is not a coincidence while the sound is also driven by this furious fusion between EBM and Techno-Trance. It’s an extremely violent piece of music however refined by melodic, elevating leads. The spoken samplings are cool but the tracks with real vocals are adding a bonus. But my favorite pieces “Olethros” and “Split The Sky” are without vocals and feature sampled chants creating an elevating sensation. Both cuts are pure dancefloor killers!

– – – : The kicks are extremely hard and violent which is a cool for a while but Klontzas is maybe a little bit abusing of it.

Conclusion: The debut album by Teknovore is an impressive and overwhelming piece of modern Electro underground music composed by experienced and talented artists from this scene.

Best songs: “Olethros”, “Split The Sky”, “Relinquish Your Flesh feat. Neon Decay”, “Every Beaten Bone feat. J;Dead”, “Apotheosis”.

Rate: 8½.

Artist: www.facebook.com/TeknoVoreMusic

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

About Teknovore

Teknovore is the solo project of Greek producer George Klontzas, previously active in PreEmptive Strike 0.1, Croona and Cynical Existence. The project name refers back to Progeny Of The Technovore, the 2020 PreEmptive Strike 0.1 album that closed his run with that band.

The project opened with the single “Anachronist” in 2022, released through Infacted Recordings, which also issued the debut album “The Theseus Paradox” on 18 March 2022. The title refers to the Ship of Theseus thought experiment. The eleven-track album carries guest vocals from Jay Taylor of j:dead on “Take Me Away” and “Every Beaten Bone”, Fredrik Croona as Neon Decay on “Relinquish Your Flesh”, and Jay Ruin of RNZR on “Anachronist”. Dimitris Douvras mixed and mastered the record at Lunatech Sounds Studio, with cover artwork by Nikos Stavridakis at VisionBlack.

Klontzas discussed the project and its name in a ‘Click Interview’ with Teknovore published on Side-Line in July 2022, two months after this album review.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Dark Electro-Pop, Cinematographic.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Fredrik Croona strikes back with the third full length album under the Croona moniker. He previously released three other albums as Fredrik Croona and got involved with different bands like Cynical Existence, Project Rotten ao. The Swedish artist realized this album together with George Klontzas (previously involved with PreEmptive Strike 0.1). “Ascend” has been introduced as an album with a different approach and resulted in twelve songs.

Content: The opening song takes off in a pretty cinematographic style, but progressively evolves into a heavy, pumping piece of music. Croona transposes classical Electro-Pop into a raw and powerful format. That’s definitely the main characteristic of the work. The songs are driven by danceable kicks, carrying melody lines, passionate vocals and this raw, cold production on top. One of the songs features guitar playing injecting an Industrial touch to the album. The album finally ends the way it started with a Cinematographic approach.

+ + + : It’s not easy defining the style of “Ascend”, but I experience it as a harsh, raw and icy Electro-Pop style mixed with Industrial elements. Above all it’s an atypical, powerful format. I also noticed a true progression in the song writing and global production, which is probably due to George Klontzas. But let’s not forget Fredrik Croona became an experienced artist who has released an impressive number of productions. They both together create a great match. Some raw sound treatments are sometimes reminding me of Seb Komor, the instrumental “Mindbender” being a true masterpiece, but I also have to mention “Automate” for its monstrous Techno lead and “Futurism” carried by a solid chorus.

– – – : I don’t see major minus points, but I got the feeling this project is even able to do better.

Conclusion: “Ascend” definitely appears to be the best Croona album so far. This is the sound of aggressive, raw Electro-Pop.

Best songs: “Mindbender”, “Automate”, “Futurism”, “The Search”, “The Dark Ones”.

Rate: (8½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/croonaofficial

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

About Croona

Croona is the solo project of Swedish artist Fredrik Croona, who has also released music as Fredrik Croona and worked with acts including Cynical Existence and Project Rotten. His album “This Is Goodbye” came out on Advoxya in 2018, followed later that year by the Croona-branded releases “My Sweet Revenge” and “Memento Mori” on Infacted Recordings. “Ascend”, produced together with George Klontzas of PreEmptive Strike 0.1, followed on Infacted Recordings in 2021 as his third full-length album under the Croona name.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Industrial, electronic, metal, crossover.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: After having released three albums on Alfa Matrix and one album on Advoxya Records, Cynical Existence unleashed its fifth opus at the end of 2019. Fredrik Croona got some assistance from Anders Ström and  Rodolfo Montenegro. The guitar has been played by Jimmy Bergman while Erik Gustafson played some additional guitars on the opening song. George Klontzas (known from his involvement in Pre.Emptive Strike 01) did some additional keyboards. Notice there’s also a limited edition available featuring an extra disc.                 

Content: The album “Dying Light” (2017) already was a step towards a new sound direction. “Rebirth” simply confirms this evolution in sound. The guitar has been accentuated and features several solo parts, injecting a clear metal touch to the songs.  There’s something ‘doom’-like hanging over the production,  which is an aspect you also can notice in the production of the vocals. However Cynical Existence remains influenced by electronic music as well, the electronic parts adding a melodic touch to the work. 

+ + + : If “Dying Light” could be considered as a transitional opus, “Rebirth” seems to indicate the new path of Cynical Existence. The band left its electronic roots behind –or to the Fredrik Croona-project, to focus on pure crossover. It always is a challenge to transpose your original and successful sound into something new. I enjoy the ‘doom’ sphere recovering this work. If you like hard and enraged ‘industrial’ music Cynical Existence has something of a sonic demon!

– – – : From a very personal point of view I definitely prefer the early work of the band. “Rebirth” has less in common with the electronic side, which gives the band some recognition. It even sounds a bit as music for a different (metal) scene. 

Conclusion: “Rebirth” in a way stands for the renewed sound of Cynical Existence!

Best songs: “Crawling Chaos”, “Cursed”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.cynicalexistence.com / www.facebook.com/cynicalexistenceband

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

About Cynical Existence

Cynical Existence is the Swedish dark-electro/crossover project of Fredrik Croona, who signed the band to Advoxya Records in 2016 with the single “Wasteful Scum”. The band’s other members are George Klontzas and Erik Gustafson. After three earlier albums on Alfa Matrix, Cynical Existence moved to Advoxya Records for “Dying Light” in 2017 and “Rebirth” in 2019. Croona has also released solo material on Advoxya Records as Fredrik Croona, including “The Grey Line” and “Welcome Home”.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: EBM, dark-electro.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info:  Hailing from the beautiful island of Crete (Greece), PreEmptive Strike 0.1 is back on track. George Klontzas, Jim The Blaster and Yiannis Chatzakis unleashed their seventh official album to date, offering twelve new songs to their fans.

Content: I didn’t exactly know what to expect from this announced sonic symbiosis between body-music and goa-trance, but it rapidly appears PreEmptive Strike 0.1 has accomplished their most powerful album to date. It’s a rough and merciless production driven by astonishing rhythms, carrying melody lines and harsh vocals. There’s no trace of a break, all songs hold on to the devilish cadence. I also noticed a few cuts with some extra diversity like the injecting of filtered, acid like sequences.

+ + + : I’ve been never disappointed by PreEmptive Strike 0.1, but I never expected they would ever reach this level. This is without a shadow of a doubt their best album to date. They lost a bit of their traditional/folk input, which was characteristic for the early work, but they replaced it with such an overwhelming power. The tracks are also masterfully accomplished with heavy rhythms, carrying leads, elevating choruses and extra little sound treatments. The song “Tactical Nuke Incoming” is without a shadow of a doubt a dancefloor stomper! “Global Insurgency” is another great song.

– – – : I don’t see real minus points to mention; the production of the vocals could maybe a bit more diversified, but I’m not complaining.

Conclusion: This album makes me instantly think of ‘dark-electronics on acid’! This is without a shadow of a doubt the band’s opus magnum and still one of my favorite albums from 2019!

Best songs: “Tactical Nuke Incoming”, “Global Insurgency”, “Doppelgangers”, “Sunder Every Atom”, “Constriction Process”.

Rate: (9).

Artist: www.preemptivestrike01.com / www.facebook.com/TeknoVoreMusic

Label: www.digitalworldaudio.com /

www.facebook.com/DigitalWorldAudio   

About PreEmptive Strike 0.1

PreEmptive Strike 0.1 was founded on the Greek island of Crete in 2002 to make EBM music. The band’s studio albums include “Extinction Reprogrammed” (2008), “The Kosmokrator” (2010), “T.A.L.O.S.” (2012), “Pierce Their Husk” (2014), “Epos V” (2015) and “Through The Astral Cold” (2017), released through Infacted Recordings and Digital World Audio. “Progeny Of The Technovore” is the band’s seventh album, again released through Digital World Audio, with the current lineup of George Klontzas, Jim The Blaster and Yiannis Chatzakis.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Industrial-EBM, crossover.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rate: (7).

Band: www.facebook.com/cynicalexistenceband

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

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

When you think about Greece and the beautiful island of Crete, you immediately get images of holidays in mind. But Greece also is a real prolific country when it comes to gothic music and dark-electronics. PreEmptive Strike 0.1 for sure is one of their most talented and recognized electronic ambassadors. After several noticeable albums released on Infacted Recordings they now joined hands with Digital World Audio to unleash their new full length “Through The Astral Cold”.  I got in touch with George Klontzas and singer JIM.

Make sure to complete your collection of PreEmptive Strike 0.1 albums via this fine mail-order.

(by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Your sixth full length “Through The Astral Cold” has been released, but what is this new work all about and do you see main differences (technical- & sound wise) with your previous ‘electronic’ work?

George: First and foremost, we have, to a large degree, abandoned the traditional, folk instrumentation that was present on our previous 3 albums. I felt that after “EPOS V” (2015), I didn’t really want to continue in that direction. After doing that style for all those years I felt like using the traditional elements had become restrictive to me even though it was born out of a desire to ignore the conventions of the harsh EBM genre. It seemed I had built myself into a box that I had to ‘break’ in a sense. I don’t like to commit myself to making tracks that fit a certain mold. We have a number of influences on our music, from EBM to metal and trance, and making music with a specific recipe was not satisfying for me. That doesn’t mean that I wanted to completely abandon that aspect of our sound and if you listen to “Through The Astral Cold” you clearly see that it is still present there, just not on the driving force of each and every track.

“Through The Astral Cold” has been described as a ‘return to the roots’ but I’m not sure if that’s an accurate description. I would say that it is the accumulation of and combination of all our previous albums put together. “Through The Astral Cold” was actually the easiest of all our albums for me to write. I just wrote the songs naturally without much effort in a way that surprised even myself. In addition, because I have much less free time these days to devote to music I have become very efficient in making that time as productive as possible. In general, I feel much happier making music ‘unforced’.

Q: So what are the main themes of the new album and how do you try to transpose lyrical themes into music?

George: Well, continuing what I mentioned above, writing tracks in just one style restricts other aspects of the aesthetic of an album such as the artwork and lyrics. Especially when it’s such a specific concept as Greek mythology. So although Greek mythology is incredibly rich and we could find plenty of subject matter for lyrics again why be confined to making concept albums? Overall,  “Through The Astral Cold” definitely has a more cyber/sci-fi atmosphere in a style similar to our first albums.

JIM: To be honest, it is easier for me to write sci-fi lyrics especially what concerns outer space and alien invasions than themes about Greek mythology! The B-movies of the 50-60s are an endless inspiration from me!

Q: “Through The Astral Cold” is your first album released on Digital World Audio while all previous full lengths got released on Infacted Recordings. Was it time for a new partner and what makes you sign to DWA?  

George: In the process of making “Through The Astral Cold” and seeing the kind of music we were creating, especially the metal-tracks, we realized that it was just not a good fit for Infacted Recordings any more. Thus, although we were saddened since we had been there for about 10 years, we decided it was the best for both parties to seek out a different label. DWA was the perfect choice for us in that respect because they have a roster of both electronic and metal/rock bands. We have had a friendly relationship with Jamie, the DWA label boss, for 5-6 years now so we simply decided to join forces.

Jim: I would add that we always want to get ‘challenges’ from our label such as  vinyl releases, compilations, covers of known bands from other genres, special DCD releases, digibooks, etc. I don’t think that the only option is to release a CD every 2 years and next to gain publicity for 1 month and then… again to wait for 2 years to release the next CD. It is not interesting anymore for me. Jamie and DWA know the way to keep a band on their roster ‘hot’ all the time.

Q: Before the new album you released 2 EP’s, which clearly were an experiment with metal music influences featuring a rather unexpected and unknown side of PreEmptive Strike 01. Where does this metal influence comes from and what have been the reactions plus impact of both EP’s?

George: All the guys in PES0.1 – Jim, Yiannis and I have a metal background so it wasn’t strange that at some point it would emerge at the surface of our music. We had one or two tracks with metal influences on our albums so at one point we said ‘Let’s do a whole EP in this style’. This is how the “Pierce Their Husk”-EP was made. The reception of both “Pierce Their Husk” and the “Eternal Masters” EPs has been very good from reviewers and fans alike. Some prefer one style to the other, but we have made it clear that PES0.1 is a band with a ‘split personality’ and people can understand what I think. Besides I believe people are much more open to a variety of genres these days.

JIM: We gained new fans and we spread our name outside the scene. You know there is a 10% of the black/death/extreme metal fans that like a blend of guitars and electronics. Their number is much more than all the dark-electro/ EBM scene. If someone can ‘gain’ this audience I think that the sales will increase very much.

Q: Why didn’t you consider to set up a side-project dealing with metal-music and is it an option for the future?

George: Originally, we weren’t really thinking about it to tell you the truth. We were just making tracks of both styles however we felt. But when it came time to think about how to release them it was  a bit of  ‘headache’ trying to figure out how to market these vastly different tracks which seemed to have a much different audience. Some ideas were to make “Through The Astral Cold” a DCD-release with the electronic tracks on one disc and the metal tracks on another. At one point, we even toyed with the idea of releasing them under different band names too. Ultimately, we decided release them separately but under the same band name. Besides most people are aware of both ‘sides’ of PES0.1 and this way we avoided having a disjointed or uneven album with an unlikely mix of genres.

JIM: Notice that we don’t have a guitarist in the band. All our metal releases are ‘vs…’ or ‘feat…’ The members from the collaborating metal bands contribute with the guitar parts. So I don’t think that we will ever set up a project dealing with Metal exclusively. Personally, I have the project Punishment Systems² (www.facebook.com/punishmentsystems) with the guy from the cult black-metal band AD HOMINEM so I don’t need to set up a new one!

Q: Artwork seems to take an important part in the work of PreEmptive Strike 0.1. Is it like a mirror reflecting the soul of your band and what do we have to find in it?

George: I think we have been lucky in always getting artwork that really reflects the tone of each album accurately. The artwork for “Eternal Masters” was done by Nikos Stavridakis, an up-and-coming artist from our home island of Crete. He has been a close friend since the very beginning of PES0.1 and you can expect more of his artwork to start appearing soon, especially in the metal scene. The artwork for “Through The Astral Cold” and the follow-up single “More Than Flesh” was done by Vlad McNealy who is already well-know in the electro-industrial scene for his artwork. Both did an amazing job of creating artwork that depicts exactly what we were aiming for and we will gladly work with both again in the future.

JIM: One thing I have to say is the front cover of “Through The Astral Cold” was the cover that I was always dreaming of for PES0.1! The work Vlad did left me breathless!

Thanks for the interview and greetings from Greece!

Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

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The 17th track on our free download compilation “Face The Beat: Session 4” (featuring 92 tracks) is by the Swedish combo Cynical Existence. On the – very melodic – track “Wasteful Scum” you get a mix of the typical Cynical Existence electronics with fierce guitars.

The Cynical Existence project was founded in 2011 by the Swedish musician Fredrik Croona but ended up as a trio (George Klontzas, Fredrik Croona and guitarist Erik Gustafsson) with its roots firmly planted in aggrotech. The track we offer you here was originally released back in January 2016 as a New Year’s present. Today it sees a much wider release via the Side-Line compilation.

Listen to “Wasteful Scum” below and download it right here.

Check our “Face The Beat: Session 4” page on Bandcamp to discover the other 91 bands. All donations will go to charity.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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