István Gazdag is a Hungarian Electronic musician, producer, and composer who has been part of the underground Electronic music scene since the late 1980s. I have followed his work for years and have always been impressed by his main project, First Aid 4 Souls, in which he blends a variety of genres, ranging from Industrial and Dark-Electro to EBM. He is also involved in several other musical projects, including Stahlgeist, Vacuum X, and First Aid Tech. I suspect that few people are aware of the many prominent artists he has worked with over the years. This is a testament not only to his immense talent but also, and perhaps more importantly, to his remarkable instinct for sound, arrangements, and remixes. I often wonder whether he would have gained much wider recognition had he been based in a country with a more established Electronic music scene. His talent and creativity truly know no bounds. Yet beyond the musician lies an equally fascinating individual: someone with a sharp, clear-eyed perspective on our society and the complexities of human relationships and interactions. This interview goes beyond music, delving into his personal philosophy, his observations on the world around him, and the ideas that shape his artistic vision. What follows is an account of the conversation I had with him. (Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

István Gazdag interview

Q: István, what can you tell us about your musical background, and how did you first come into contact with underground Electronic music, which eventually led you to become the musician you are today?

István: I went to music school from primary school age, but I was never really good at anything. My mother took great care that my classical music education would be outstanding. By the end of the seventies, Kraftwerk fever had reached Hungary too, and these two strong influences marked my childhood. I got synthesizers from an uncle in America, made loops on crappy cassette tapes and played over them. Then in the mid-eighties Cabaret Voltaire and Yello came along, and around 1988 Skinny Puppy. The rest was a given.

Q: Over the years you’ve started quite a few projects. What does each one mean to you individually, and do you see them as different sides of the same artist, or rather as separate entities?

István: More like moods of the same eternally rebellious character. But the main line is First Aid 4 Souls; that’s where I’m true to myself.

Q: I understand Vacuum was your first project. What have you kept from those beginnings, and what has changed radically since then in your general approach to style, composing and production? And what is the difference for you today between Vacuum, Vacuum(X), First Aid 4 Souls, First Aid Tech and Stahlgeist?

István: Vacuum was the energetic experimentation of two crazy kids inspired by Cabaret Voltaire and Skinny Puppy. Technically, even back then I was far above the Hungarian average. I lent instruments to other Hungarian bands too, and never asked for anything in return. I still work with those instruments today. I can program the Ensoniq EPS 16 with my eyes closed… I think nothing has changed, except that I can mix my songs much more beautifully now. I still compose in a kind of Trance, completely shutting out the illusion that others experience as reality.

Vacuum is ancient Hungarian Dark-Electro/EBM, while Vacuum (X) has by now become a multi-disciplinary art project flirting with contemporary poetry. First Aid Tech is my more danceable side, Stahlgeist, currently on ice for a longer period, is the playground of my old-school EBM devotion, and First Aid 4 Souls is all of this at once, multiplied.

Q: Over the years you’ve worked with quite a lot of people, especially vocalists. Do you have specific criteria when choosing who to work with, and what have you learned from these collaborations?

István: I’ve worked with an incredible number of people and bands. The number of collaborations, public and non-public, is over 100, and truly on every continent. I’m always surprised by how professional they are. Seriously. I have a kind of confident arrogance, but the other artist’s astonishing talent always puts it in its place. What I’ve learned is that all the colors are there in the darkness, and that sensitive people often hide behind toughness.

Q: Do you need a particular mood or state of mind to make music for a given project, or how does that process work for you?

István: It’s very strange, but negative or tragic things make me angry, and anger breeds creativity. I think that’s why I still have my mind, and why I still have so much to say.

Q: Perhaps not everyone knows that you’ve made remixes for big names like Coil, Soft Cell, Test Dept., Cabaret Voltaire or Einstürzende Neubauten… How did these opportunities come about, and how did you approach making the remixes? Did you have personal contact with the artists, and did you get feedback from them?

István: I’m a member of the Some Bizzare family, and I was welcomed as one. The notorious Stevo, however self-willed he may be, is a good man deep down. At least to me. He paved my way, and through him I also got my membership in the UK Musicians’ Union (MU). And yes, I received feedback from the icons of my life. Test Department wrote that they would use my remix in the backing tracks for their concerts, and The Grid was also very appreciative. Recently there was talk of me being an active contributor to a secret Coil reissue as well.

Q: In an earlier interview you said that music must offer meaningful content and be able to fill a kind of inner emptiness. I find this interesting, especially considering the role and impact of art in a world burdened by conflict, alienation, division and the like. How do you see this, and what role does art, especially music, play in your own life?

István: In my intellectual life, art and music don’t just play a role, they are the only thing that still makes me believe in humanity. Without art, a human being is less than an animal.

Q: You seem like a very artistic person, and some of your music is connected to writers, paintings and other art forms. You had the chance to work on multidisciplinary projects where different art forms met so would you like to explore this in the future again, and if so, what would you imagine?

István: Oh, I can’t even list how many such projects I’ve been part of… Besides film and ballet scores, there were signature tunes for world championships, musical identities for global companies, title music for TV shows. I haven’t just explored it, I’ve been an active shaper of it. I’m also working right now on a segment of music, typography and contemporary Hungarian poetry, but let that remain a secret for a while.

Q: Dark and bleak themes have always been a kind of muse for scenes like EBM, Dark-Electro and Industrial. But today many of these dystopian themes have simply become reality. Do they still work as a kind of muse or fantasy, or have they perhaps evolved into a form of resistance?

István: This world can only be told truthfully in a whisper or a scream. Both sound good in these genres…

Q: In countries run by conservative or oppressive leaders, music and art are often closely watched or controlled. What was the situation in Hungary under Viktor Orbán’s rule, and have you noticed any change under the current government?

István: In Hungary, nobody persecuted artists who rebelled against the Orbán regime. They only threatened to. But they did everything, literally everything, to ruin them financially and isolate them mentally. This greatly raised the quality but reduced the reach.

Orbán and his rabble are a plague. Hungary was days away from a Belarusian nightmare. At this moment it is one of the most mentally and spiritually burned-out, financially completely plundered countries in Europe. This gave my best songs their ammunition. And I’d like to tell you something. I don’t follow any political direction. Anti-fascism has been a basic human minimum expectation since the Holocaust, but that doesn’t mean I’m a leftist. Anti-communism is an obvious human reaction for anyone born into a communist dictatorship (like me), but that doesn’t mean I’m a rightist. There is one important thing I can tell you: now that the capital-funded liberal elite has unleashed chaos on you, don’t think that the far-right response to it will help. It will bring hell down on your heads. I can say this because I have lived in both. I have made music in both.

Q: Back to music: what does your studio look like, and how has it evolved over the years alongside technological changes? And what is your opinion on the use of artificial intelligence in composing music?

István: I have a serious studio and a Jack Dangers-level sound bank (well, okay, half of it 🙂 ). You’d never believe it, but until a few years ago my workstation was a crappy old PC pulled out of a school’s junk clearance. You don’t need more for MIDI, and Nuendo 2 ran nicely on it 🙂 Now I have a serious computer, but I’m still surrounded by real ‘hardware’ instruments. I only work this way now. In fact, the new Vacuum X is largely a mix of EPS sequencer and live Osmose improvisation.

AI doesn’t bother me. It often helps me think through extremely difficult philosophical or social-science work. In music it’s of no use to me. I devoted a day to it and tried it. I can make better effects 🙂

Q: Do you have any special habits or rituals when you start working on a new song or album? Could you tell us a bit more about your working method?

István: My only ritual is this: when I first catch the theme, I give it everything and try to reach the maximum, and when I feel that this is good, this will last, I shoot the system down with a hard reset, without saving. It’s a burnt offering. The burning of the ego. Then the next day I play it again. There are many hundreds of these; often I finish them over many years.

Q: I find the latest First Aid Tech album, “Back To Agartha”, a very special production because of the many influences you blend together. I especially hear the influence of Juno Reactor; Ben Watkins is an absolute god to me. Could you tell us more about the album and the inspirations behind it?

István: Ben Watkins! I think I don’t need to say more 🙂 By the way, did you know that my Psy-Trance records have reached 10,000 direct downloads? Look up my FA4S albums “Navigator” or “Back To Shambala” on the Psy-Trance site Ektoplazm.

Q: Last year you released what might be the most surprising First Aid 4 Souls album yet, “Progenitrix”, especially because of the “Divas Of The Dark” contributions, a selection of female vocalists. How did the idea for this concept come about, and how did you put it together?

István: I wrote the album for my two little daughters, and I wanted serious, mature women to sing to them about the feelings of serious, mature women. I wrote it on ancient analog instruments and drum machines, and only after the vocal tracks were finished did the songs go into a modern studio, and even there I only added to them. The result turned out very authentic and refined. A true underground success album.

Q: Meanwhile, you this year released a new First Aid 4 Souls album as well. What would you like to say about the record “Totems In A Field Of Pain”?

István: ‘The Paradox of Liberation: From Pavlov to Foucault’.

One of the important starting points of the materialist picture of modern humans is the realization that a large part of our behavior stems from biological, psychological and social influences. Pavlov’s physiological research showed that there is a close connection between the nervous system and behavior: certain stimuli can trigger learnable reactions. Later behaviorism carried this thought further and increasingly interpreted human behavior as a conditionable system. The problem becomes truly interesting when we connect all this with the functioning of society.

Marx interpreted the human being primarily as a social being: our thinking and life possibilities are determined by material and social relations. Foucault, by comparison, examined how social institutions and discourses create categories by which a person is regarded as normal or abnormal, healthy or sick, acceptable or deviant.

One of Foucault’s most important insights is precisely that power does not work only through prohibition. It categorizes, observes, normalizes, and over time the individual begins to monitor themselves according to these norms. Here, however, a paradox appears.

What happens when new and newer identity categories are born from a philosophy of dismantling categories? Certain currents of contemporary identity politics, starting from Foucault’s ideas, rightly question the earlier, stigmatizing social categories. At the same time, liberation itself can also create new categories: new identities, new community boundaries, new moral hierarchies.

Thus a peculiar turn can occur: after the old categories are dismantled, new categories appear which over time can play just as strong an identity-defining role as those we originally wanted to dismantle.

‘Insofar as social progress depends on science, specialized ‘experts’ and uncontrollable market exchange relations, the propertyless, lay citizen (citoyen) necessarily loses his autonomy. The logic of progress artificially maintains the privileges of experts, while the lay masses become vulnerable in the process and lose their autonomy’. We can call this the paradox of liberation.

The question is not whether a formerly stigmatized identity deserves respect. Of course it does. The question is rather whether social acceptance necessarily goes hand in hand with the emergence of a new identity hierarchy.

A transgender person, for example, can be a fully autonomous and free individual, but a bodily or identity change in itself does not answer the philosophical question of freedom. Physiological change and existential freedom are not the same concept. Likewise, belonging to a sexual minority or another identity group does not automatically mean greater philosophical freedom.

This matters because we can easily confuse legal, social, bodily and philosophical freedom. But we can just as easily hollow out the concepts of morality, spirituality and love. If the human being appears primarily as the sum of categories, conditionings and power relations, then morality can become mere behavior regulation, spirituality psychological self-interpretation, and love a norm of acceptance. In such a system the question is no longer how we truly turn toward the other person, but whether we use the right language, recognize the right identity, and comply with the expectations of the given community.

Thus love, too, can lose its self-transcending character. Instead of seeing in it the one-time and irreplaceable person of the other, we may easily begin to love a representative of a category, or expect love on the basis of a category. Morality then is not the search for the good but the monitoring of normative compliance. Nor does spirituality necessarily remain a space of inner transformation, repentance, self-surrender or approach to truth, but becomes an identity-signaling and self-affirming practice.

This hollowing out is especially dangerous because from the outside it looks like liberation. The system rejects the old constraints but creates new ones in the process: it prescribes not what we should believe but how we should speak; not whom we should love but in what form we must express our love; not how we should live morally but which moral positions we must publicly represent.

The real philosophical question is deeper than this: can a person define themselves without becoming the prisoner of some ready-made identity category, and can they relate to the other in such a way that love is not mere social duty but genuine personal turning-toward?

This point also allows an interesting critique of Foucault’s own thinking. For if we examine every act of categorization as a form of power, then the new identity-political categorization itself should be subjected to the same critique.

Otherwise all that has happened is that the old normative system has been replaced by a new one, while behind the moral language the good has disappeared, behind spirituality transcendence, and behind love the real person of the other.

Art is an interesting counterexample to this. The artist is not simply the product of a social category. The creator is able to bring into being a form that did not exist before. Environment, biology, memory and social experience are of course all present in them, yet creation still brings forth new meaning.

The same question appears in conversion. Neurologically, brain processes, neuroplasticity, the rearrangement of memory and changes in emotional processing can be described. But describing them does not necessarily exhaust what a person experiences as conversion. The description of a nervous process is not necessarily identical to understanding the meaning of the event. Conversion is not merely the adoption of a new identity, but can also be the realization that a person does not draw their ultimate value from themselves, and that moral life is not merely adaptation to social expectations but a response to a truth and love greater than oneself.

Therefore, at the end of the path of thought leading from Pavlov to Foucault, perhaps the most important question is not whether ‘we are biorobots’.

But rather this: if a person truly lives among biological and social determinations, are they nevertheless able to reinterpret themselves, and are they able to find their way back to the true content of morality, spirituality and love?

If they are, then freedom does not necessarily mean the complete absence of determination. It may rather mean the ability to recognize our own conditioning, reflect on it, and, to a certain extent, give it a new direction. This new direction, however, cannot be exhausted by adopting a new identity. It must include responsibility, self-restraint, attention to the other, and also the possibility that a person not merely express themselves but also give themselves away.

In this sense, the artist, the philosopher and the convert may be three different manifestations of the same human possibility: not simply suffering what the world has made of them, but trying to create something new out of themselves, and in doing so rediscovering that the ultimate meaning of human freedom is not the limitlessness of self-definition, but free openness to truth, to the good, and to the other person.

Q: What else would you like to achieve, and above all create, as a musician? And what would be your ultimate dream?

István: There are still a few icons in my life whom I respect to the extreme. With them I’d like to make the second part of the duology, the male album. Names have said yes that even I can hardly believe. My ultimate dream? To wake up.

About István Gazdag

István Gazdag is a Hungarian Electronic musician, producer and composer based in Budapest. He started out in the mid-1980s with Vacuum, a Dark-Electro/EBM project influenced by Cabaret Voltaire, Yello and Skinny Puppy. Vacuum later evolved into Vacuum (X), a multi-disciplinary project that combines electronic composition with contemporary poetry.

Gazdag’s main outlet is First Aid 4 Souls, blending Industrial, Dark-Electro and EBM. The project signed to Belgian label Alfa Matrix in August 2019 with a label-debut EP, followed by the album “Keep This World Empty”. “Fire”, released in June 2020, paid tribute to the Hungarian subculture community LD50.hu, and the “Dreambox” EP followed that October. The album “I Am The Night” arrived in May 2022, and 2023 brought the EP/mini-album “Dancing At The Abyss”, the EP “Laudator Temporis Acti” and the 70-track back-catalogue compilation “This Present Darkness”.

In December 2025, First Aid 4 Souls released the post-punk and darkwave-leaning album “Progenitrix”, built around a cast of guest female vocalists the project calls “Divas Of The Dark”. The latest First Aid 4 Souls album, “Totems In A Field Of Pain”, followed via Alfa Matrix on 26 June 2026.

Gazdag also records as First Aid Tech, a more dance-oriented outlet that released its debut EP in December 2023, and as Stahlgeist, an old-school EBM project that signed to Alfa Matrix in October 2022 with an alternate version of the album “Escape Reality”; Stahlgeist is currently on hold. Beyond his own projects, Gazdag has remixed material for Coil, Soft Cell, Test Dept., Cabaret Voltaire and Einstürzende Neubauten as a member of the Some Bizzare roster and the UK Musicians’ Union.

Side-Line has interviewed Gazdag’s projects several times, including a 2020 Click Interview with First Aid 4 Souls, a 2022 Click Interview, a First Aid 4 Souls interview in March 2026, a 2023 interview with Stahlgeist and a 2025 interview with First Aid Tech. This latest conversation, courtesy of Inferno Sound Diaries, moves beyond the music to cover Gazdag’s outlook on art, artificial intelligence and Hungary under Viktor Orbán.

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

István Gazdag, the mastermind behind First Aid 4 Souls, unveiled the debut EP of his latest project, First Aid Tech, last year. The 4 tracks from this self-titled EP are now featured on his ambitious full-length album, which boasts a staggering 22 songs. On this release, Gazdag dives headfirst into sonic experimentation, seamlessly blending genres like EBM, Hard-Techno, Acid, and Psy-Trance. His signature EBM basslines remain a standout feature, expertly intertwined with infectious, Acid-tinged sequences. These elements are propelled by thunderous Techno kicks and occasionally accented with trippy Psychedelic layers. While many tracks are instrumental, a few feature vocal elements that add a touch of accessibility to the album. The soundscape occasionally feels like a hypnotic fusion of Frontline Assembly and Juno Reactor, with subtle nods to Front 242. Gazdag’s brilliance as a sound architect shines throughout, demonstrating his boundless creativity and production prowess. Though additional vocal contributions might elevate the record even further, this album is already a triumph of composition and sound design. (Rating:8½).

Listen to “The Fortress”:

About First Aid Tech

First Aid Tech is a project of Hungarian electronic artist István Gazdag, who is also the driving force behind First Aid 4 Souls and Stahlgeist. Gazdag performed and DJed under the First Aid Tech moniker for years before the project’s first official release, the self-titled techno body EP, came out in December 2023 on Alfa Matrix with 4 tracks and 4 bonus remixes.

First Aid 4 Souls has been active since 2007, mixing industrial, EBM, dark ambient, trance, and new wave, often with guest vocalists. Stahlgeist delivers old-school EBM. In 2025 Gazdag discussed First Aid Tech in the Side-Line interview ‘Exploring a Pulsating Universe’.

“Tech Under Your Skin”, the first First Aid Tech full-length, expands the four EP tracks into a 22-track album and is the release reviewed here.

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: Techno-Body, Industrial-Rave.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Hungarian prolific artist István Gazdag (First Aid 4 Souls) strikes back with a new project. This self-titled debut-EP features four songs plus four remixes.

Content: The inspiration to First Aid Tech becomes rapidly clear; this is Industrial/Electronic music infused with heavy Techno beats and sounds. The songs are carried by solid bass lines and are featuring Trance passages while you’ll also notice very few robotic, sampled, vocals. Remixes have been delivered by Benke, Man+Machine, Ritual Abuse and Bernathy.

+ + + : During the past few years this Hungarian Electro master has unleashed a rather diversified canvas of influences for his major project First Aid 4 Souls. I think it’s a good idea to create a side-project next to the Mothership so István Gazdag can move on exposing his sonic ideas. This kind of project might appeal for lovers of Soman and related artists; hard-pumping Techno stuff melted with dark Electro/Industrial elements. The first three tracks are impressive pieces of aggressive electronic music to get dancefloors on fire. The Benke-Remix of “Bloodwit” is a cool bonus for its Acid sequences.

– – – : Except the remix by Benke all other remixes don’t exactly add an extra.

Conclusion: István Gazdag is not only a talented EBM composer but he also know how to produce powerful Techno music for dark souls.

Best songs: “Breakout”, “Bloodwit”, “Haute Tension”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083230725685

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

About First Aid Tech

First Aid Tech is an alias of Hungarian musician István Gazdag, known for his main project First Aid 4 Souls, a Budapest-based act he founded in 2007 after his earlier industrial/EBM outfit Vacuum. Under the First Aid Tech name, Gazdag pursues a harder techno and industrial-rave direction. The project’s self-titled debut EP, featuring four original tracks and remixes by Benke, Man+Machine, Ritual Abuse and Bernathy, was released through Alfa Matrix at the end of 2023.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Although Hungarian electronic artist István Gazdag (First Aid 4 Souls, Stahlgeist) has been performing and DJing under the First Aid Tech moniker for years, it’s only now that the first official release of this project comes out. This self-titled techno body 8-track EP reveals 4 tracks and 4 bonus remixes.

Musically you can expect the artist’s industrial/EBM roots merging with acid / rave influences resulting in techno body.

You can download the First Aid Tech EP right now from Bandcamp.

István Gazdag is also the driving force behind the Hungarian musical projects First Aid 4 Souls and Stahlgeist. First Aid 4 Souls is known for its blend of industrial, EBM, dark ambient, trance, and new wave. Active since 2007, First Aid 4 Souls often includes various guest vocalists. Stahlgeist then again brings EBM that refers to the old years of Front Line Assembley or yet Wumpscut Read the review of ‘First Aid Tech’.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Electro-Wave, EBM, Cinematic.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Hungarian First Aid 4 Souls remains ultra-prolific already releasing new work. Core member István Gazdag wanted to revisit his Electro-Goth roots and paying ‘tribute to the work of geniuses who laid the foundations of Synth Dark-Wave and to his personal heroes that are Bauhaus and Tones On Tail.’ The EP -which rather looks as a mini-album, features seven songs. Belgian singer ‘Vain Sacrosanct’  (Causenation) sung on five cuts while Canadian-Hungarian female vocalist Linda Daemon (Kr3ll, Black Mamba…) and UK Pop singer Mark Duffield each sang on one song.

Content: We’re used to hear First Aid 4 Souls dealing with sophisticated EBM but István Gazdag also took us by surprise exploring other sonic fields during the past years. The EBM influence is definitely present at this work but there indeed is a good-old 80s Electro-Wave influence as well. The work sounds more atmospheric and even evasive on a few passages. The Electro-Wave tribute is accentuated at a few cuts by guitar sounds.

+ + + : Gazdag has already accomplished a meaningful production which sounds different from the ‘traditional’ sound of the project although featuring cool cuts. There also is a true symbiosis between his music and the charismatic vocals of Vain Sacrosanct. My favorite cuts are the ones revealing an explicit EBM touch but there’s also something to say about both debut cuts featuring an ominous atmosphere.

– – – : I can’t say First Aid 4 Souls is too prolific but it sometimes becomes difficult to catch the red line between all the different albums and EPs of the project.

Conclusion: A very personal but accomplished tribute to some of István Gazdag’s favorite 80s artists.

Best songs: “Now You Can See Me”, “The Sweetest Temptation”, “Alpha Female”, “Laudator Temporis”.

Rate: 7½.

Artist: www.firstaid4souls.com / www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063628544089

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

Listen to “Laudator Temporis Acti”:

About First Aid 4 Souls

First Aid 4 Souls is the project of Hungarian artist István Gazdag, signed to Alfa Matrix. The prolific project moves between EBM and Electro-Wave, and the “Laudator Temporis Acti” EP was described by Gazdag as a tribute to Bauhaus and Tones On Tail.

The seven-song release features Belgian singer Vain Sacrosanct (Causenation) on five tracks, with Canadian-Hungarian vocalist Linda Daemon (Kr3ll, Black Mamba) and UK singer Mark Duffield each contributing one song.

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

Hungarian musician István Gazdag, in collaboration with Mortum, has unveiled a brand-new EP titled “Laudator Temporis Acti” under the First Aid 4 Souls banner. The EP is available for immediate download on Bandcamp.

This 7-track EP is a nod to the past, with the band embracing their electro-goth origins and paying homage to iconic bands such as Bauhaus and Tones On Tail. Additionally, István Gazdag has incorporated contemporary inspirations from the thriving post-punk cold wave genre, drawing from bands like Sextile and Paradox Obscure among others.

For this unique project, István Gazdag joined forces with old friends. This includes Vain Sacrosanct, the lead singer of the Belgian cold electro group Causenation, with whom Gazdag previously co-released an album titled “Stainless Steel Eyes”. The EP also showcases talents like the renowned industrial metal singer Linda Daemon, who has Canadian-Hungarian roots and is known for her work with Kr3Ll and Black Mamba, as well as UK’s noir pop artist Mark Duffield.

The fresh EP is available for listening below. Read the review of ‘Laudator Temporis Acti’.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Techno-Body.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Hungarian EBM/Industrial producer
István Gazdag remains very prolific and has already unleashed new work on his main project First Aid 4 Souls. This mini-album features seven songs and has been introduced as the fusion between the Hungarian artist’s Techno project First Aid Tech and his Dark-Electro/EBM/Industrial project First Aid 4 Souls.

Content: This is for sure one of the most surprising releases I’ve heard from this project. You still recognize the darker, sophisticated, EBM basis which has been infused with the power of Techno music. The result sounds as an ultra-danceable format; a kind of imaginary hybrid between FLA and Chemical Brothers with some extra Psy-Trance elements here and then. Vocals by familiar singers Mortum and Vic Willow have been added as a kind of effect/sampling.

+ + + : After the last year released Epic-Electro like “I Am The Night”-album First Aid 4 Souls strikes back with something totally different and still featuring the band’s sound DNA. István Gazdag feels comfortable dealing with different influences while holding on to the EBM touch. This album sounds like a modern Body-Techno work. The first part of the work reveals amazing cuts but especially “Burning Horizon” and “Anger” left me breathless.

– – – : First Aid 4 Souls remains creative and prolific but there’s maybe a too big gap between the familiar stuff of the band, the previous Epic album and this new piece.

Conclusion: First Aid 4 Souls doesn’t repeat itself and already explores new horizons of EBM mixed with other influences.

Best songs: “Anger”, “Burning Horizon”, “White Noise White Boys”, “Night Lies”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063628544089

Label: www.alfa-matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix Read the news on ‘Dancing At The Abyss’.

About First Aid 4 Souls

First Aid 4 Souls is a Budapest-based electronic project founded in 2007 by István Gazdag, evolving from his earlier industrial/EBM outfit Vacuum. Over time, the project has worked with rotating collaborators and guest vocalists, and has touched industrial, EBM, dark ambient and new wave influences.

Early releases appeared via Some Bizarre, Electro Arc and Poison Girls Records before Gazdag joined the Belgian label Alfa Matrix. Discography milestones include “Deathstep” (2011, CD) and the earlier “Beyond The Galaxy” era, later revisited as “Beyond The Galaxy / Rework” under Alfa Matrix.

“Dancing At The Abyss”, the mini-album reviewed here, followed in 2023. In 2025 the project shifted sound and released “Progenitrix”, a post-punk/darkwave album featuring a long list of female guest vocalists billed as the ‘Divas of the Dark’ (Aux Animaux, Emke/Black Nail Cabaret, Marita Volodina/Stridulum, Kriistal Ann/Paradox Obscur, among others).

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Out now via the Alfa Matrix Bandcamp page is an all new mini-album by the Hungarian dark electro act First Aid 4 Souls. With “Dancing At the Abyss” mini-album, Hungarian electronic music artist István Gazdag introduces techno club influences of his First Aid Tech project into the darker industrial mood of First Aid 4 Souls.

Included are 7 new songs that hang somewhere between techno body music and industrial dance mixed with the distorted or manipulated sampled vocals by Mortum and Vic Willow. All this flavored with a darker industrial touch.

This mini-album is out now via Bandcamp as an immediate download and will follow on all other streaming platforms in the next two weeks.

Veteran Hungarian artist István Gazdag, formerly of Vacuum, has been an active participant in the avant-garde electronic/industrial scene since the late 1980s. He has a diverse range of releases on various labels and has done remarkable remix work for legendary bands such as Coil, Soft Cell, Test. Dept., Cabaret Voltaire, and Einstürzende Neubauten. In recent years, he has collaborated with US-based singer Mortum from Human Vault, who has contributed darker lyrics and a harsher vocal style to their joint project, First Aid 4 Souls.

Earlier this year the project released the 70-track release “This Present Darkness” including four full-length albums (“Trash Cathedral,” “Dark Tunnel,” “Keep This World Empty,” and “I Am The Night”) plus the previously unreleased remix album “Your Social Skill Demised”. The four albums have been re-edited, reconstructed, or newly remastered, supplemented with a variety of previously unreleased bonus material. Read the review of ‘Dancing At The Abyss’.

Eldrina Mich

As Eldrina Mich I work as a go-between and a devil’s advocate when it comes to Side-Line. If our own staff needs to be interviewed then ask the questions no one else dares to ask.

www.side-line.com

“This Present Darkness” – a 70-track strong download on Bandcamp – retraces some 9 years of collaboration between the Hungarian electronic industrial artist István Gazdag and the US-based singer Mortum (Human Vault) under the First Aid 4 Souls flag.

Included are the 4 full length albums “Trash Cathedral”, “Dark Tunnel”, “Keep This World Empty” and “I Am The Night” plus the so far unreleased remix album “Your Social Skill Demised”. That latter serves as perfect appetizer for what comes next so the band’s label Alfa Matrix says.

The 4 full length albums come in a fully re-edited & reconstructed (“rework”) versions and/or newly remastered audio packs with a bunch of previously unreleased bonus material to top it all.

Eldrina Mich

As Eldrina Mich I work as a go-between and a devil’s advocate when it comes to Side-Line. If our own staff needs to be interviewed then ask the questions no one else dares to ask.

www.side-line.com

From the Budapest (Hungary) based fine harsh electro artist István Gazdag (First Aid 4 Souls) comes a brand new oldschool EBM project, Stahlgeist which he formed together with his friend Tamás Bank on vocals. Hungarian industrial fans will certainly know Tamás Bank from his other industrial music projects Worker Munkas and Interzone Inc..

The project recently signed to Alfa Matrix and presents us now a first release on the label, namely the album “Altered Reality” which is a totally revamped alternate version of the band’s “Escape Reality” debut album from 2019.

Stahlgeist is firmly rooted in the oldschool EBM genre adding a touch of aggrotech complexity. Expect fast solid bass lines, upbeat aggressive sequences and powerful angry vocals. Oldschool EBM at its finest you can say.

You can download the 13-track album immediately now on Bandcamp, the release will be available on all other platforms on October 21st. Read the reviews of ‘Escape Reality’ and ‘Escape Reality’.

Eldrina Mich

As Eldrina Mich I work as a go-between and a devil’s advocate when it comes to Side-Line. If our own staff needs to be interviewed then ask the questions no one else dares to ask.

www.side-line.com

Driven by István Gazdag the Hungarian Electro project First Aid 4 Souls remains a prolific and top notch formation. For the new album “I Am The Night” –released by Alfa Matrix, István renewed the experience working with his compatriot ‘Mortum’ as vocalist. The main difference with previous productions, which were often driven by sophisticated EBM influences, is the evolution in sound. First Aid 4 Souls injected, heavy, epic/orchestral, arrangements to the sound resulting in a heavy, bombastic work. The music creates a perfect match with the conceptual theme of the album around paintings from different international artists. “I Am The Night” is a Soundtrack for these painting.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: First Aid 4 Souls is now active for 15 years. You released multiple productions so can you draw up the balance sheet of the past 15 years? What have been the highlights and biggest deceptions?

István: We’ve started at the apex, thanks to the legendary publisher Some Bizarre, publishing us with a double CD back in 2008. I’ve had the opportunity  to mix bands like Coil, Soft Cell, Cabaret Voltaire, Swans, Test Dept, Einstürzende Neubauten or Depeche Mode on the second CD. 

Our album “Deathstep” was also a big hit, and our latest joint work with Mortum (Human Vault) entitled “I Am The Night” is considered a great success within the industry.

In the name of being unpredictable we’ve published a Psy-Rock album, full of real guitar riffs and old-school sci-fi tones. This however, caught no one’s attention.

Q: Your newest album “I Am The Night” is a particular conceptual work which seems to be a Soundtrack for paintings from different artists, right? How did you get the idea of this concept and how did you manage the different stages from the choice of the paintings till the music?

István: Back in the days I was aiming to become an art historian; I’ve had forty conscious years of picking the right pictures. Amongst the main themes are manly attitude, and a darker viewpoint of our world.

Tracks are recomposing the original paintings to the smallest details. Light, bound to canvas, can morph back into vibration this way.

Q: You already experienced working with concepts and artistic themes (like “Keep This World Empty”). What makes a conceptual release that exciting and what means ‘arts’ to you -and especially during the lockdowns where people were no longer allowed to cultural events?

István: These days, culture is not a trendy call-sign. One can only rebel against apathy and ignorance through action. A higher level of this is ‘total art’, where high culture is a starting point in composing.

People are generally devoid of all presence, being in lockdown or not. COVID did not change much about this.

Q: “I Am The Night” also brings a different approach in sound which is clearly driven by Epic/Orchestral arrangements. What have been the main sources of inspiration and references to produce this work? And did you notice important changes/evolutions in the global writing process?  

István: Will, Coil, Laibach or the In The Nursery are all fantastic when it comes to harmony and Kevin Key is still an in exhaustive source of inspiration to me.

Nowadays symphony can fit on a pendrive. This  helps a tremendous amount when it comes to creating the euphony by producers.

Q: A few years ago now you signed to Alfa Matrix. Do you notice and experience major differences being signed to a leading label? And what do you expect from labels today?

István: Alfa Matrix represents a status for us. Being an important company, financial accounting is much more manageable. 

Underground publishers are fighting for their survival these days. Promotion may be better with them, but soon enough these stars will fade…

Q: You also started to re-release ‘older’ productions revealing ‘reworked’ songs. Does it mean you weren’t satisfied with the original recordings and do you see yourself as a perfectionist? What did you try to improve?

István: In the past ten years my knowledge of mastering and audio techniques have massively improved. Yes, I’m a perfectionist, and I have a strong inner drive to be able to roar louder and more effectively.

No one can tell that we haven’t said it enough times; there is trouble ahead…

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: Cinematic-EBM, Epic-EBM.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Hungarian work addict István Gazdag strikes back with an new- and conceptual album of his First Aid 4 Souls project. He renewed the experience working with his compatriot ‘Mortum’ -who lives in the US and you might know from his own project Human Vault. The concept of the work can be summarized as Soundtracks that have been composed for paintings by international artists.  

Content: First Aid 4 Souls will take its fans by surprise. The work which is often pretty EBM-like -and reminding me of FLA for its complexity, has been adapted into a heavy orchestral approach. It accentuates the Cinematic sound of the work and might remind you of Stiff Miners and Parzival. The vocals are totally fitting with the Epic-EBM format. The opus features 13 songs plus 4 instrumental bonus cuts.

+ + + : István Gazdag is clearly not repeating himself and definitely took me by surprise. I think there’s not enough bands dealing with this kind of sound. It’s an original approach but still resulting from a creative process. Mixing elements of EBM and Epic music together is not the most accessible kind of music but I was deeply impressed. You clearly can feel the Soundtrack approach and I really like the concept behind the paintings. First Aid 4 Soul in a way reinvented its own sound. The writing is intelligent and the sound extremely elaborated. There are several great songs but I want to mention “Your Symbols Will Fall” and the instrumental “The Well Of Bones” featuring a Psychedelic touch on top.

– – – : I’m totally fond of the instrumental tracks at the final part of the album but it would have been better spreading them all over the work. Despite this great composition, it’s not exactly the easiest Electro format to catch a wider audience.

Conclusion: First Aid 4 Souls has achieved a wider artistic concept by bringing music and painting together. The Orchestral-EBM format is a successful fusion getting my full support.

Best songs: “Your Symbols Will Fail”, “The Well Of Bones”, “I Am The Night”, “The Light In Us Was Darkness”, “Not Enough”, “Compromised”.

Rate: 9.

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

Label: www.alfa-matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix Read the news on ‘I Am The Night’.

About First Aid 4 Souls

First Aid 4 Souls is a Budapest-based electronic project founded in 2007 by István Gazdag, evolving from his earlier industrial and EBM outfit Vacuum. The project has worked with rotating collaborators and guest vocalists, and has touched industrial, EBM, dark ambient and new wave influences.

Early releases appeared via Some Bizarre, Electro Arc and Poison Girls Records before Gazdag joined the Belgian label Alfa Matrix. Milestones include “Deathstep” in 2011 and the “Beyond The Galaxy” era, later revisited under Alfa Matrix. The collaboration with US-based singer Mortum of Human Vault began with “Keep This World Empty” in 2019.

“I Am The Night”, the album reviewed here, continued that partnership and was issued by Alfa Matrix in 2022, with the bonus version dated 13 May 2022 on Bandcamp. In 2025 the project shifted sound again for “Progenitrix”, a post-punk and darkwave album built around a long list of female guest vocalists including Aux Animaux, Emke of Black Nail Cabaret, Marita Volodina of Stridulum and Kriistal Ann of Paradox Obscur.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Out today is the all new album by the Hungarian electronic industrial artist István Gazdag aka First Aid 4 Souls.

The new album, “I Am The Night“, offers a darker side of the project and again sees Gazdag collaborating with the US-based singer Mortum (Human Vault) after the album “Keep This World Empty” released in 2019.

Istvan Gazdag again had a special way of working on this album, he namely selected one painting per song to draw inspiration from. The original painting he used for this recording process includes work from Thomas Cole, H. R. Giger, Gustave Dore, Zdzisław Beksiński, Mónika Préger, Odd Nerdrum, Pierre Fritel, Jenő Barcsay, Mihály Zichy, Christine Cobden, Jacques-Louis David, Hermann Hendrich and Maja Sokolowska.

The album is out on CD and as a download. Note that the download version holds 3 bonus tracks. You can check out the full album below which is available now via Bandcamp and via the Alfa Matrix webstore (for the CD). Read the review of ‘I Am The Night’.

Eldrina Mich

As Eldrina Mich I work as a go-between and a devil’s advocate when it comes to Side-Line. If our own staff needs to be interviewed then ask the questions no one else dares to ask.

www.side-line.com

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.

Listen to “Beyond The Galaxy (Rework)”:

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

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

About First Aid 4 Souls

First Aid 4 Souls is an electronic and industrial project from Budapest, Hungary, started in 2007 by István Gazdag. Gyorgy Turoczy has since joined the line-up. The project mixes noise, acid and trance elements with new wave melodies and industrial metal.

The 2CD “My Favourite Pain With Some Bizzare Remix Package” appeared on Some Bizzare in 2008. Electro Arc then released “Deathstep” in 2011, four volumes of the “Selected Electro Works” series between 2011 and 2012, and the CD album “Beyond The Galaxy” in 2013.

Alfa Matrix signed the project for the EP “Dreambox” in 2020 and the album “Stainless Steel Eyes” in 2021. The reworked edition of the 2013 album followed in December 2021, which Side-Line covered in First Aid 4 Souls re-release 2013 break-through album ‘Beyond The Galaxy’ in a reworked version.

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

(Original photo by Viviana Ball) It was in 2013 when the Hungarian electronic / industrial act First Aid 4 Souls originally released the break-through album “Beyond The Galaxy”. The band’s mastermind, István Gazdag, has now reworked that very album. And when we say ‘reworked’ we mean totally replayed and remixed. The instrumentations were fully restructured adding also live drums and guitars.

“Beyond The Galaxy (Rework)” offers a mix of catchy dark dance music and experimental industrial and everything that stands in between.

You can also hear various involved guest singers: Aaron Russell from Impurfekt, Linda Daemon from Krell, Balázs Frank from V.E:N., Vic Willow, Árpád Ciprián Asbóth from Impact Pulse and Mark Duffield from Eltel.

Judge for yourself below, the album is available as download from Bandcamp with other platforms to follow.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: EBM, Body-Pop.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info:  First Aid 4 Souls’ mastermind István Gazdag is a prolific artist who also like collaborating with other artists. After last year’s released album “Fire” on which he worked with several of his compatriots, the Hungarian artist now released this work together with Belgian artist  ‘Vain Sacrosanct’ (Causenation). They know each other as István Gazdag already remixed Causenation and mixed plus mastered the last album.

Content: This work is clearly driven by EBM influences, which is a quite familiar style for First Aid 4 Souls. The main particularity is the vocals performed by Ivan Heyligen aka ‘Vain Sacrosanct’. This guy has a charismatic way of singing so in a way it creates a sonic illusion of FLA (for the music) meeting Covenant (for the vocals). But First Aid 4 Souls isn’t that typical EBM band, but always injects a very own input, which mainly comes through in the choruses of this work. You’ll notice somewhat Pop-refined choruses getting the record pretty accessible.

+ + + : István Gazdag never stops to impress me; he has the skills to adapt himself to the singers he’s working with. So each album has something different from the previous one although there’s a common thread, which is easily recognizable in every single production. There’s this darker EBM approach reminding FLA, which always comes back. “Broken Promise” is a good exposure of this ‘Canadian’ sound. I however prefer “Skin” for the mix of EBM and Electro-Pop and “B.R.O.”, which is a harder and definitely club-driven song with a Future-Pop touch on top. This album also is an opportunity to discover a talented singer involved with the promising Belgian formation Causenation.

– – – : First Aid 4 Souls is always in search of new ideas and experiences. But I’m personally missing the sound and spirit from albums like “Dark Tunnel” and “Keep This World Empty”.

Conclusion: This is one more new collaboration by First Aid 4 Souls and the least I can say is that this work sounds like a perfect match between the Hungarian sound master and Belgian singer.

Best songs: “B.R.O.”, “Skin”, “Broken Promise”, “Who’s Gonna Walk The Line”.

Rate: (7 ½)

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

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

About First Aid 4 Souls

First Aid 4 Souls is a Budapest-based electronic project founded in 2007 by István Gazdag, evolving from his earlier industrial and EBM outfit Vacuum. The project works with rotating collaborators and guest vocalists and has touched industrial, EBM, dark ambient and new wave influences. Early releases appeared via Some Bizarre, Electro Arc and Poison Girls Records before Gazdag joined Alfa Matrix in 2019 with Keep This World Empty, followed in 2020 by Fire, an album with Hungarian guest singers reviewed on Side-Line in August 2020, and the EP Dreambox.

“Stainless Steel Eyes” was released by Alfa Matrix on 1 April 2021 as a twelve-track download, announced on Side-Line in Dark electro act First Aid 4 Souls lands new album: ‘Stainless Steel Eyes’ feat. Causenation singer Vain Sacrosanct. Vain Sacrosanct is the singer of the Belgian cold-electro act Causenation; according to the label the two met at a festival in Belgium where both performed. The tracks are “Stainless Steel Eyes”, “Skin”, “Who’s Gonna Walk The Line”, “Legend”, “The Meat”, “Broken Promise”, “Rise And Fall”, “Falling Star”, “Lockdown”, “B.R.O.”, “Media” and “The War Is Coming”. Gazdag also mixed and mastered Causenation’s Promises Of Hope And Fear (Wool-E Discs, 2021), reviewed on Side-Line in June 2021.

Later Alfa Matrix releases include the reworked Beyond The Galaxy / Rework (2022), “I Am The Night” (2022), the 70-track back-catalogue download “This Present Darkness” (2023), the EPs “Dancing At The Abyss” and Laudator Temporis Acti (both 2023), the latter again with Vain Sacrosanct, the post-punk album “Progenitrix” (2025) and Totems In A Field Of Pain (2026). The album reviewed here is the project’s first collaboration with Vain Sacrosanct.

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

Besides working together with Mortum on the next First Aid 4 Soul harsh industrial album, Hungarian artist István Gazdag also enjoys experimenting with other artists and expanding his sonic spectrum through collaborations.

For “Stainless Steel Eyes” he worked together with Vain Sacrosanct, lead vocalist of Belgium’s cold electro act Causenation. On this 12-track album, the duo went resolutely for vintage synths and the good old electro industrial sound from the 80’s. Especially the track “Who’s Gonna Walk the Line” is a real ear wurm as you hear below.

The release is available on Bandcamp as a high quality audio download and from all other services as well.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: EBM, Body-Pop, Dark-Pop.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Earlier this year First Aid 4 Souls released the “Fire”-album, which was a kind of conceptual work on, which the band’s mastermind worked together with Hungarian compatriots/singers like Emke from Black Nail Cabaret, Josef Stapel from Ultranoire or yet Vic Willow from Planetdamage. “Dreambox” is an EP taken from this work featuring a selection of fourteen songs.

Content: “Das Messer” feat. Emke and “Dreambox” feat. Josef Stapel are the main songs from the EP. Five remixes from each song have been made while you’ll also get remixes of the songs “Burn”, “Ordinary Demonism” and “Freedom” all featuring vocals by Vic Willow. As a little extra “Bring Back Armageddon” is a new song featuring Nick Sonick from Wet Lips. The main particularity of the work is that István Gazdag is responsible for all remixes. From orchestral to 80s, to more Industrial-driven to EBM to refreshing Pop he tried to create different edits.  

+ + + : “Das Messer” remains a great union between the sophisticated Dark-Body-Pop of first Aid 4 Souls and the charismatic vocals of Emke. This woman has such a charisma emerging from her voice that she cannot leave you unmoved. The “Zombie Club Mix ” has something more Industrial-like while the bouncing “Batcave”-version both are attention grabbers. “Dreambox” featuring Josef Stapel remains a cool song as well. There’s a duality between the EBM sequences and the more Pop-like way of singing, but here again it perfectly works and especially the “Club Mix” is worthy of examination. I also like the songs featuring Vic Willow while having a preference for the punchy “Club Mix” of “Burn” and the sophisticated “Club Mix” of “Freedom”.

– – – : The new song “Bring Back Armageddon” is a more pompous, orchestral song, which can’t compete with the other cuts from the EP. This EP is mainly meant for the fans.

Conclusion: The songs on this EP reveal the eclectic Electronic format from one of the best Hungarian formations in the genre.

Best songs: “Das Messer feat. Emke”, “Dreambox feat. Josef Stapel – Club Mix”, “Das Messer feat. Emke – Batcave Version”, “Freedom feat. Vic Willow – Club Mix”.

Rate: (7½).

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

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

About First Aid 4 Souls

First Aid 4 Souls is a Hungarian electro project driven by Istvan Gazdag, active for over a decade and signed early on to the Some Bizarre label, which released a double CD of the project’s work in 2008 alongside acts such as Coil, Soft Cell, Cabaret Voltaire, Swans, Test Dept and Einsturzende Neubauten. The 2020 concept album “Fire”, released via Alfa Matrix, paired Gazdag with Hungarian singers including Emke of Black Nail Cabaret, Josef Stapel of Ultranoire and Vic Willow of Planetdamage. “Dreambox” collects a selection of remixes and extra tracks from that album, all reworked by Gazdag himself.

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

Hungarian artist István Gazdag aka First Aid 4 Souls got quite some applauses for his recent conceptual “Fire” album. The album showed much more melodic and orchestral compositions compared to the previous harsh and dark EBM album “Keep This World Empty”.

On the album István Gazdag worked with such singers as Ultranoire’s Josef Stapel, Black Nail Cabaret’s dark pop frontwoman Emke or yet Vic Willow. Out now, is the “Dreambox” EP offering alternative versions of the album’s two favorite songs that are “Das Messer” and “Dreambox” again featuring said singers of course. The reworks range from retro electro new wave versions to bombastic orchestral remakes.

But next to the aforementioned songs you also get new versions of a few more album songs (“Burn”, “Freedom” and “Ordinary Demonism”). The EP holds 14 (!) tracks with most tracks being over 120 BPM up to 170 BPM. As an extra you get the exclusive and previously unreleased collaboration with Nick Sonick of Wet Lips on “Bring Back Armageddon”.

Enjoy this very club friendly release below, via download on Bandcamp or via Spotify.

And for those who prefer Spotify: Read the review of ‘Dreambox’.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

(Photo by Brigi Major) Veteran Hungarian artist István Gazdag joined the Alfa Matrix label in 2019 for the release of the dark EBM album “Keep This World Empty” (get it here on Bandcamp) which was recorded with his partner in crime Mortum on vocals. Gazdag has been very active in the avant-garde electronic / industrial scene since the late 80’s with numerous and quite diversified releases on various labels under his belt and some great remix work for such cult acts like Coil, Soft Cell, Test. Dept., Cabaret Voltaire or Einstürzende Neubauten.

On the new “Fire” album (available now from Bandcamp) you get a collaboration effort with several key-protagonists from the electro industrial scene in Hungary. As a result the release is released under the ‘First Aid 4 Souls feat. LD50’ named after the famous cult sub-culture community site LD50.hu where all the fans and artists in the country gathered. A bit like our legendary Side-Line forum (where trolling became kind of a sports we must admit).

But back to Hungary, the legacy of the LD50.hu forum van be found back on this 12-track album via studio collaborations with other Hungarian artists like Black Nail Cabaret’s dark pop diva Emke, Ultranoire’s singer Josef Stapel, provocative artist Vic Willow (and his voice evoking David Bowie and Gary Numan) or yet the writer/futurist Damage of Planetdamage.

The result is a mix of 80’s tainted moody electro wave with a dance floor edge and noir melancholic vocals. It also shows that the Hungarian dark wave scene is far from being dead, on the contrary. A daring yet very accessible release.

Check out this excellent release below, you can download it right now from Bandcamp!

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

First Aid 4 Souls is an Hungarian formation, which is already active for more than ten years now. Set up by ex-Vacuum member István Gazdag and actually completed by US-based singer ‘Mortum’ (Human Vault) the band signed to Alfa Matrix to release their new album. “Keep This World Empty” features thirteen songs, which will directly appeal for EBM freaks in love with the late 80s and 90s EBM. The work is characterized by a sophisticated writing reminding bands such as Frontline Assembly and Skinny Puppy, but still Yelworc for the dark and somewhat disturbing atmosphere recovering the songs. The band’s singer accepted to answer a few questions.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: We were in touch after the “Dark Tunnel”-album released in 2017. I remember you were already busy with ideas and a concept around your next full length album based on the work of Vladimir Sorokin. What makes the link between the writings of Sorokin and the music of First Aid 4 Souls?

Mortum: Yes, indeed we already talked about this album last time. It took us a good amount of time to finalize it. We put a lot of work into it. The connection between us and Sorokin… Hmm… Well I guess he and us, we all believe that for humanity the only way of survival is an imminent evolution of the human being; an evolving conscious mental state and a must physical improvement of the human body. Sorokin shows us a possible way of that in his book.

Q: I think to have understood the preparation and research to compose an album takes you a lot of time and also is a very important stage to accomplish an album. How did it happen for “Keep This World Empty” and can you describe the process from research/preparation till the songs are finished?

Mortum: Istvan is the man to ask about the studio procedures… I am just the vocalist and that is all. However I can tell you one thing; in order to reach the final stage of a song, Istvan usually rewrites them at least 4 times and that is not a joke… And we still are not talking about the mixing and mastering. An album for us to realize usually takes a full entire year of work. Although finding the concept for an album is not really hard for us, we are full of ideas all the time.

Q: You’re now singed on a leading label from the electronic scene so I can imagine it feels a bit like a consecration, but still maybe frustrating to have wait all these years before it happened. What does it mean to you and what do you expect from a label such as Alfa Matrix you maybe didn’t get on other companies?

Mortum: Oh yes, getting in the roster of Alfa Matrix was a great feeling; we could see that there were people out there who actually appreciated the music we created. The label is very professional and super friendly. It is surprising how much they at Alfa Matrix know about this music scene. Working with them is amazing. They do not limit any ideas from their artists! That in my opinion is very important. Istvan and me respect the policy of the label and to be honest with you, we do not expect anything from the current music industry. We do not expect anything from Alfa Matrix as well.

Going deeper and understanding the present situation where every 10th person makes music… where every single month another hundred new industrial projects grow out and another thousand albums being released… we just could not expect anything from the people too who do their best to keep up with this overwhelming market of new music.

Q: I noticed Alfa Matrix linked your sound to EBM while I remember you once said EBM is just an influence running through your work. I get the feeling First Aid 4 Souls moves further than simply one established music genre, but maybe become a ‘total happening’, mixing different artistic formats together! What is it all about?

Mortum: First Aid 4 Souls was never a real EBM project. The vivid experimental virtue was always in its vein. We have a goal to reach when we start working on an album and we do whatever it takes to achieve this goal. The only limitation is the music equipment we possess. All synths gears, no acoustic- or any other instruments. We might do rock’n’roll music if we had guitars, but of course we don’t have any (lol). Anyway in brief, we do not mix different genres in our music to show the world how unique we are; we just do whatever we need to do. For example, presently we are working on new recordings and these new demos are totally different than anything we have done before.

Q: Today there’s internet to connect people from all over the world, but I can imagine you need much more than internet when you’re an electronic underground formation based in Hungary! What are the pros and cons belonging to a small electro-scene and what might we expect from First Aid 4 Souls for the future?

Mortum: True, Hungary has no active electro-industrial scene! We have got about 6-8 still operating projects and that’s all. Here comes the benefit when you have a band. You do not care how the Hungarian scene will embrace your sound… whether they will like your album or not. Too small community to matter in the market. The cons at the same time are simple. None buys your music and none comes to your shows. Nothing to worry about (lol). Istvan and me though still step forward and never look back. Since the future is always full of possibilities, but one thing is for sure, we are at the present now and that is all that should matter.

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 EBM, dark-electro.

Background/Info: Hungarian EBM project First Aid 4 Souls this year joined hands together with Alfa Matrix unleashing the successful digital-EP “Increased Sensory Perception”. István Gazdag (ex-Vacuum) and US-based singer ‘Mortum’ (Human Vault) have now unleashed their new album featuring thirteen songs.  

Content: If you know the band’s last EP, you’ll (re) discover 4 cuts from “Increased Sensory Perception”, but in a different edit. The band remains faithful to their old-school sophisticated EBM style reminding me of bands such as Skinny Puppy, FLA, early X Marks The Pedwalk and even Yelworc. The production is dominated by poignant sound atmospheres while driven by menacing bass lines. The production is achieved with harsh and sometimes somewhat experimental sound treatments. The harsh vocals create an artistic symbiosis with the music.

+ + + : First Aid 4 Souls will maybe not become the  label’s new flag holder, but I personally consider this band as one of the most talented new signed bands of the label roster. This is not just old-school EBM! This is an intelligent electronic format characterized by solid bass lines, complex sound treatments and multiple noises, an overwhelming atmospheric layer and harsh vocals. They create original sound treatments and I refer to the song “Verdict That Condemns” illustrating the creativity of István Gazdag. This album stands for 13 high-tech dark EBM songs and is without a shadow of a doubt one of my favorite Alfa Matrix releases from this year!

– – – : I think the production of the vocals can be more convincing on a few cuts; the song “Eternity Will Never Remain” is the best example. I already enjoyed the EP and quite curiously, the featured songs from the EP aren’t my favorites from the album.

Conclusion: First Aid 4 Souls is not just inspired by old-school EBM, they reinvent the style! This album won’t leave you unmoved if you’re a fan of intelligent electronic music. This album is maybe just missing ‘the’ hit!

Best songs: “Keep This World Empty”, “Good Men Don’t Bleed Just die (La Horde)”, “Awaken Tomorrow”, “Your Social Skill Demised”, “Phrase Fractal”, “False Devotion”.

Rate: (8½).

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

Label: www.alfa–matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix Read the news on ‘Keep This World Empty’.

About First Aid 4 Souls

First Aid 4 Souls is an electronic/industrial project from Budapest, Hungary, started in 2007 by Gazdag Istvan, joined by current member Gyorgy Turoczy. The project mixes noise, trance and new wave melodies with industrial-metal grinding. Gazdag Istvan also runs the related projects Stahlgeist and First Aid Tech. First Aid 4 Souls signed to Alfa Matrix in 2019, releasing the digital EP “Increased Sensory Perception” ahead of the full-length “Keep This World Empty”, which features US-based singer Mortum of Human Vault.

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

Veteran Hungarian artist István Gazdag (ex-Vacuum) has been active in the avant-garde electronic / industrial scene since the late 80’s with numerous and quite diversified releases on various labels. In the last few years, he joined hands with US-based singer Mortum (Human Vault) who brought a darker dimension through his harsher vocals and darker lyrics to their now common project First Aid 4 Souls.

After the recently released “Increased Sensory Perception” EP, the band has now announced a new album as well: “Keep This World Empty” (out on November 1). The entire album conception is based on the Russian contemporary novel “Ice” written by Vladimir Sorokin.

István Gazdag: “Song after song, we follow the book’s awakening process, the emotional evolution shifting the mental levels of the human mind eventually influencing sensory perceptions and physical conditions. The album reflects the unavoidable collapse of our faulty human society that gets caught by an icy blast abruptly plunging the Earth into a frozen and rigid state where arts and values fade into oblivion, where the human snake ends up biting its own tail…”

You can already check the first 2 new tracks below.

And if you missed the “Increased Sensory Perception” EP, you can check it out below. Read the review of ‘Keep This World Empty’.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

“Increased Sensory Perception” is the title of a brand new EP by the avant-garde electronic / industrial act First Aid 4 Souls which is being released first via Bandcamp. Behind this project we find veteran Hungarian artist István Gazdag (ex-Vacuum) and US-based singer Mortum (Human Vault). The 7-track EP “Increased Sensory Perception” shows a musically multifaceted First Aid 4 Souls.

The EP has a mix if tracks going from dark synth pop (“Cold Frozen Arts”), industrial trance (“Dark Horizon”), cold EBM (“Mortal Birth”), percussive harsh industrial (“Increased Sensory Perception”, “Phrase Fractal”) or even acid house dance (The acid on steel mix of “Mortal Birth”).

Judge for yourself below!

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: EBM, dark-electro.

Background/Info: This Hungarian formation is maybe not the most familiar name active in the wider fields of EBM music, but has already been active since the early 90s. Multiple productions have been released (mainly on Electro Arc) while the previous full length (cf. “Trashcathedral”) really caught my attention. “Dark Tunnel” is the newest creation by the band, which has been inspired by a truly dystopian vision.

Content: Mastermind István Gazdag (aka ‘Vacuum’) moves on composing intelligent EBM, which is once more supported by the ghost of Frontline Assembly. There’s a similar taste to compose sophisticated, dark electronics revealing dense sound layers and subtle treatments. Even if the sound formula sounds familiar and inspired by old-school elements (and bands like FLA, Skinny Puppy) the production also has something refreshing. Some of the songs have been boosted by guitar parts.

+ + + : “Dark Tunnel” is a well-crafted piece of EBM revealing an intelligent writing format. This band is not dealing with easy and predictable EBM, but has achieved an album full of diversity and a particular care for the sound treatments. It’s great and polished although a dark production on which vocals and sounds create a perfect match with each other.

– – – : I now and then noticed a ‘softer’ cut, which clearly is not the main strength of this work. First Aid 4 Souls sounds as its best when moving into power!

Conclusion: First Aid 4 Souls is an EBM band deserving more recognition. It remains a pure underground experience and that’s maybe why some bands signed on bigger labels are getting more in the spotlights than this formation. I can only advise to discover this band without hesitation!

Best songs: “Nothing Keeps My Mind Clean”, “Back To Dust”, “Inside There Is No God”, “A Place To Rest”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.firstaid4souls.com / www.facebook.com/First–Aid-4-Souls-180876236297

About First Aid 4 Souls

First Aid 4 Souls is a Budapest electronic/industrial project formed in 2007 by István Gazdag as the direct continuation of his earlier industrial/EBM act Vacuum. Gazdag is the founder, producer, composer and sound engineer of the project. The project has generally operated around his work with guest contributors rather than as a fixed full band, with collaborators including Havasi Zoltán, Vető Gábor, Frank Balázs and Tamás Nimród.

The first release was the 2008 double CD “My Favourite Pain With Some Bizzare Remix Package”. Later releases were “Brutpop” (2009), “Deathstep” (2011), “Beyond the Galaxy” and “Navigator” (both 2013), and “Back To Shambala” (2014). After the Some Bizzare release he worked with Germany’s Electro Arc and later Japan’s Poison Girls Records, while also recording with collaborators including Brad Bishop, Linda Daemon and Victoria Moralez. “Trashcathedral” was released in 2016 and “Dark Tunnel,” reviewed here, in 2017.

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