Out on September 8th is a brand new label sampler from the fine Cold Spring label. “Arise – A Cold Spring Sampler” is being released as a 2CD in gatefold ecopak and holds 33 tracks.

“Arise” is the first sampler in this 20+ years old label sampler series since the “Earthen”, which was released in November 2018. Included is material from Cold Spring’s current and forthcoming releases covering industrial, esoteric, dark ambient, noise, ritual, drone, doom metal, experimental, electronica, or yet dark soundtracks.

Included is work from Kollaps, Llyn Y Cwn, Khost, Jagath, Trepaneringsritualen, Coil, Merzbow, She Spread Sorrow, Frank Hall, Dead Voices On Air feat. Cevin Key, Lull, Mz.412 , The Circular Ruins And Mystified, Common Eider, King Eider, Colossloth, We Be Echo, George Fenton, Kristian Eidnes Andersen / Lars Von Trier, , Himukalt, Sonologyst, Satøri , 400 Lonely Things, Tunnels Of Ah, Sleep Research Facility, Burial Hex, Tenhornedbeast, Fm Einheit / Lee Ranaldo, Spk, Oleg Karpachov, Drew Daniel / John Wiese, La Breiche,
Neil Chaney, Gp-Orridge & Dave Ball.

Check out the tracks below. Warmly recommended!

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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(By Stéphane Froidcoeur for Inferno Sound Diaries/Side-Line Reviews) 2022 has been once again a sad, bloody and terrible year. Living in a mad world music once more remains a true therapy to appease pain and frustration. Concerts and festivals came back; the perfect place to meet friends again. Artists remain prolific releasing great studio work. So I’m once more closing the year by a personal selection of my very own ‘best of’-albums of the year.

Over 700 productions have been selected while 540  reviews have been made all over the year. Some productions have been refused because the style of music didn’t fit, while other reviews will be postponed to 2023. I’m really grateful to all labels, bands and promoters considering my work and efforts and I hope you’ll go on providing me new promos next year.

I one again have to express my deepest gratitude to Rich Bova (NEIKKA RPM) who for years and years now is reading, correcting and improving my reviews. Without Rich there would be no reviews. I also want to thank Bernard Van Isacker – chief redactor Side-Line Music Magazine – for the successful collaboration. 

Up now to 2023. I already reduced my activities this year and will move on reducing it in 2023. I made my first reviews and interviews back in 1991 (!). Some of the readers and artists weren’t even born when I wrote my first review for Side-Line. So after more than 30 years non-stop activities I think it’s not that strange to move on slowly.

I also want to express a big ‘F*** you’ to so-called ‘artists’ and label owners who don’t realise and appreciate the work I’m doing by making reviews and preparing interviews to get them in the spotlights. The attitude and less of respect shown by those people – luckily a very few number – is just unacceptable… but I’m afraid it reflects the world we’re living in… Behind a genius artist is not always hiding a great person… It’s quite strange to realise the ’biggest’- and long-time established artists from this scene often are the most accessible ones.

Writing reviews remains very ‘subjective’ and always a source of discussion, but keep in mind it will be always the perception of the reviewer. I can assure you I’m always trying to argue my reviews the best as possible. A review will be never objective, but has to be honest!

Like every year I’ve made a selection from the best albums of the year. This ‘TOP 25’ covers different styles like EBM, Dark-Electro, IDM, Synth-Pop, Ethereal, Dark-Ambient, Industrial, Cinematographic, Gothic, Post-Punk, Cold/Dark-Wave, Dark-Techno and a few related genres. It remains an exciting but tough exercise.

This ‘TOP 25’ is taken from the promotional material I got while compilations, ‘best of’-productions, EP’s and singles were not considered.

So, here’s my ‘TOP 25’ from 2022 and don’t forget to share it with your friends….

Top 25 albums 2022

1. IVARDENSPHERE: “Ragemaker” – Metropolis Records
2. DIE ROBO SAPIENS : “Robo Sapien Race” – Alfa Matrix
3. EBE04 : “Inrush – Give/Take
4. CALDON GLOVER: “Labyrintia” – Cyclic Law
5. ROME: “Hegemonikon” – Trisol
6. NEIKKA RPM: “Scorpio In The Hourglass – Alfa Matrix
7. VANGUARD: “Spectrum” – Infacted Recordings
8. SUICIDE COMMANDO: “Goddestructor” – Out Of Line
9. ELM: “Penetrator” – Alfa Matrix
10. OBERER TOTPUNKT: “Totentanz” – Danse Macabre Records
11. THE BIRTHDAY MASSACRE: “Fascination” – Metropolis Records
12. BLACKBOOK: “Confessions Of The Innocent” – DarkTunes Music Group
13. BEYOND THE GHOST: “Sundown” – Cryo Chamber
14. THEN COMES SILENCE: “Hunger” – Metropolis Records
15. PRINCIPE VALLIENTE: “Barricades” – Metropolis Records
16. DAWN OF ASHES: “Scars Of The Broken” – Artoffact Records
17. MONSTERGOD: “Ozymandias” – Space Race Records
18. STATIQBLOOM: “Threat” – Sonic Groove Records
19. AXIOME: “Field Guide To Alien Planets And Other Disco Balls – Audiophob
20. REICHSFEIND: “Darken” – Alfa Matrix
21. FIRST AID 4 SOULS: “I Am The Night” – Alfa Matrix
22. ORDO ROSARIUS EQUILIBRIO: “Nihilist Notes And The Perputual Quest 4 Meaning In Nothing” – Out Of Line
23. KILL SHELTER: “Asylum” – Manic Depression Records / Metropolis Records
24. JAGATH: “Svapna” – Cold Spring Records
25. KILL YOUR BOYFRIEND: “Voodoo” – Shyrec

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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Genre/Influences: Industrial, Experimental, Ritual.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Russian Jagath collective is back on track unleashing a new album by Cold Spring. Operating from Russia and composing their music as a ritual from abandoned industrial areas they dedicate “Svapna” ’to the victims of totalitarian regimes’…

Content: The work holds on the modus operandi and influences from previous works. This is pure Industrial music reminding us of the early 80s experiments. The 4 tracks are progressively built up, mixing infernal Industrial sound treatments and improvised noises together with flutes and mystic chants.

+ + + : And once again Jagath reminds me of the early hours of Industrial music. They have the political engagement of Test Department but are also composing their stuff in the true spirit of Industrial bands. The tracks are meticulously built up, sounding rough and unpolished and yet with captivating chant passages.

– – – : I don’t have real minus points but the work might need a few listening before you really get into it. .

Conclusion: I’ve always been devoted to the true Industrial spirit from the early 80s and I know that there are not many formations like Jagath that are able to bring this spirit to life. Respect guys; for your music and commitment!

Best songs: “Unmada”, “Prabodhan”.

Rate: 8½.

Artist: www.jagath.ru / www.facebook.com/jagath.industrial

Label: www.coldspring.co.uk / www.facebook.com/coldspringhq

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

At the end of 2020 Cold Spring Records released the official debut album “Devalaya” from the Russian collective JAGATH. The band name is taken from Sanskrit and means ‘world’ or ‘universe’. Even if JAGATH doesn’t feel connected with the early Industrial music movement, the album and its global approach both reveal noticeable links like the use of recycled- and hand-crafted ‘instruments’. “Devalaya” is a true fusion between typical Industrial elements like percussion and Ritual elements accentuated by voices and didgeridoo-like sounds. I talked with Gregory Skvortsov about the album and the project.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Let’s start with the beginning; how did JAGATH saw the daylight? Can you introduce the band members and tell us something about the input of each other? And what’s the original goal of the project? 

Gregory: JAGATH never saw daylight, it is always in twilight… It started in 2014, we are urban explorers and we began to dig into construction shafts of a sewer collector nearly 30 meters deep. We found a very interesting reverb, I immediately decided to record something there, but Nils got ahead of me and wrote some music with a friend. It nudged me, and we began to go there and write sound samples, then made several jam sessions. Chaospasm and one of his friends brought ethnic instruments, then Max Wolf appeared with his homemade didgeridoo. We also played a big live show there, with lights, lasers and fire. All this material is still waiting to be released.

The guys wanted to make something more like Ethnic or Psychedelic, but I suppose my goal was to release inner demons, audiolize the feel of Post-Industrial age, ‘unveil life in the abyss’. I don’t really know why my concept won, and the other guys are sabotaging this interview.

Then I finally brought this party to the oil tanks located at an abandoned power station and we started recording material which later became “Devalaya”.

Q: You’re composing your music with hand-crafted instruments while recording in very special locations. This way of working clearly evokes the early spirit of Industrial music! Do you feel connected with the early Industrial music movement and tell us a bit more about this way of working? How does it happen? 

Gregory: We have only some Ethnic instruments and mostly use found objects -junk that lays in the tank like sticks, metal scrap, rocks, bottles, etc. We also make our own things, like a didgeridoo made of plastic sewage pipe (which was broken several times), a strange sounding thing consisting of an IKEA metal bowl and a bearing ball and a gong made of a metal tray. I also like using cheap contact mics, clamping it to everything.

I don’t really think JAGATH is connected with early Industrial music although the spirit still inspires me. Once when I lived in a commune in Saint Petersburg, I found some local junk and made a spring guitar-like thing, then I realized it is like one that FM EINHEIT used.

Q: You last year released your official debut album “Devalaya” which means “Temple”. Tell us a bit more about the writing and eventually concept of this work? How did you create and produce the different tracks of the album? 

Gregory: We were writing it for 5 long years, we have done multiple sessions. Then I just removed everything bad and stitched good parts together. Everything was (and still is) recorded on a single cheap Zoom H1 recorder, so it was hard to clean up the records, but I got a clear picture in mind how it should sound, and it worked. 

Some tracks were augmented with didgeridoo overdubs and smashes recorded in the final stage, like “Agadha” (Abyss). The track “Devalaya” consists of 3 parts -basically 3 different tracks from different sessions.

Our later albums –“Agni” (self-released on Bandcamp), “Inodaya” (upcoming on NEN Records) and “Svapna” (looking for a label) -were much easier for production, they were recorded fully live, because maybe we became more ‘professional’, but they sound not so rich and intense, as for me, though they are different, and that’s good. And the concept always stays the same.

Q: “Devalaya” clearly sounds Industrial, but there also is a Ritual element in the production. What does this Ritual part stands for and what means Ritual music to you? 

Gregory: Industrial Shamanism. We are getting really stoned during the recording process, by the way. It takes a lot of effort to get over the concrete fence in the end, and then get to home, especially during Winter.

Q: You already talked about abandoned industrial locations where you’re composing your music. How did you come to this idea and what’s the importance of such a location and the impact on the music? 

Gregory: Post-Industrial and Post-Cold War abandoned environments always inspired me -around Urals you may find enormously big desolated factories (like Uralmash), hundreds of dismantled nuclear ICBM positions. An abandoned power station and its tanks is one of such places showing power of something huge but eventually unneeded. (Last photos of it, 2020, before snowfall: https://yadi.sk/d/4ctzBoPGYNojeQ )

I recorded the reverb of the oil tank, so we can take it everywhere and play live.

Q: Do you’ve concrete plans to play live? And how would you transpose the sound of JAGATH in front of an audience? What brings the future?

Gregory: We’ve played live several times in Perm and in Saint Petersburg, played at an open-air forest festival Systo and at an abandoned Red Triangle factory in Saint Petersburg: https://youtu.be/okMVGH-kQb8 

We are going to perform at the Perm Wave-festival at a local jentrified factory on April, 24th, and at an abandoned warehouse, later in May, maybe we will even stream this.

I want to play live at huge Industrial locations officially, in front of the public, but I think it is impossible in our lovely totalitarian Russia, where everything must look nice. I hope someday we will play live in Europe in some Industrial museum (like Landschaftspark in Germany) or maybe even in an alive factory. Got some ideas of more electronic sound.

My personal future seems to be much more obscure than it usually is, I don’t have any job right now. And I see no future here in Russia.

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