Berlin-based industrial band To Avoid recently released the single “Diatribe” and the “1989” EP ahead of their album “All Gods Are Gone”, out December 6, via Alfa Matrix. We now have more details on that new album.

“All Gods Are Gone” will be out as a double-CD digipak. While the first CD holds 13 tracks, the bonus CD features remixes by a rather impressive lineup, including Haujobb, Portion Control, Mildreda, Circumpolar, Kifoth, Sleepwalk, Severe Illusion, Ice Ages, Forgotten Sunrise, Object, Kalt, Gettner, Tension Control and Chrome Corps.

Thematically the album tackles dark themes such as crime, corruption, and environmental destruction.

You can pre-order the album via Bandcamp or order it on CD via the Alfa Matrix webstore.

Formed in 1998, To Avoid gained early recognition with their debut “Resurrection” (2002), followed by the albums “Passion and Pain” (2009) and recent singles such as “1989”. The new album continues their legacy of hard-hitting sound and thematic intensity, further solidifying their place in the global industrial music scene. Known for pushing the boundaries of dark electro since 2000, the band fuses late ’80s EBM with ’90s melodic dark electro, creating intense soundscapes. Read the review of ‘All Gods Are Gone’.

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

“Industrial Beats” is the all new single from the Texas based EBM squad Spankthenun. The single features a whopping 10 different versions of the bouncy EBM track.

Next to a remix the EBM’ers from Kalt also made a total remake of the track with Kalt taking over vocal duties and rewriting the track from the ground up. Other remixers include DJ Matt Hart, Diverje, Dread Risks, SINthetik Messiah and an ultra-aggressive remix from Harsh R.

The single will be released on all platforms on February 24, that’s right, EBM day. The single is available now on Bandcamp for pre-order. You can see the new video for the track and get four early release tracks.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Dark Electro-Pop, Electro-Wave.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: German project The Snatcher has already released multiple singles and two albums. This new EP features six songs plus one remix.

Content: It’s not that easy defining the sound of The Snatcher, but the title song makes me think of an imaginary offspring between Welle:Erdball and Dorsetshire. With the exception of one song, all tracks have been sung in German. A few tracks feature female backing vocals. “Kalt” is mixing power and melody, rage and a sense of humor. There’s also an atypical song featured, which is a kind of unplugged ballad roughly sung in English.The last song is a remix of “Kalt” by Merry Chicklit.

+ + + : I definitely like the melodic and danceable side of the band. “Kalt” is a pretty cool title track carried with some kind of ping-pong sequences. The remix of Merry Chicklit features female backings and is another cool exposure. “Meckerziege” is another noticeable track and here again featuring female backing vocals. The Snatcher doesn’t really innovate and sounds typical German-like, but this new EP is efficient.

– – – : The EP often gives bands the opportunity to release weird and unusual tracks. The ballad-like “Lost Again” is such a song and definitely one you can better avoid.

Conclusion: “Kalt” is a cool song for the dancefloors and for sure an EP that will increase this band’s popularity.

Best songs: “Kalt”, “Kalt – Merry Chicklit Remix”, “Meckerziege”, “Damokles”, “Quarantaine-Källe”.

Rate: 7½.

Artist: www.thesnatcher.de / www.facebook.com/theofficialsnatcher

Label: www.dansemacabre-group.de / www.facebook.com/dansemacabrerec

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

Soon out via Artoffact Records will be the fourth album, “Undir Köldum Norðumljósum” by the Icelandic synth-punks Kælan Mikla. “Undir Köldum Norðumljósum” features a guest appearance by Alcest, with whom Kælan Mikla toured Europe in early 2020.

Two singles have been released from the album so far in 2021 — “Sólstöður” and “Ósýnileg”.

Kælan Mikla was founded in 2013 as part of a poetry contest hosted by the Reykjavik Library. In 2015, the song “Kalt” was released, it was followed by three LPs and touring with the likes of King Dude and Drab Majesty and as headliners. Kælan Mikla also played The Cure’s 40th anniversary show,.

The upcoming fourth album, “Undir köldum norðumljósum”, is set for an October 15th release on Artoffact.

The lineup consists of Laufey Soffía Þórsdóttir, Margrét Rósa Dóru-Harrysdóttir and Sólveig Matthildur Kristjánsdóttir.

Here’s the track “Sólstöður” taken from the new album, an excellent track by the way.

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: Minimal-electro, electro-wave, EBM.

Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.

Background/Info: Set up in 2016, “Christophe-Philippe” is the official debut album from the German trio Rue Oberkampf. The name of the band and the title of the album are clearly inspired by the French naturalized German industrialist Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf. The album features eight songs plus one remix.

Content: Rue Oberkamp is clearly inspired by Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf as their songs are all sung in French. But the main characteristic is the cold and retro-like electro style of the trio. It sounds pretty minimal and analogue-like awakening good-old 80s demons. But a few cuts are somewhat harder, revealing solid EBM lines. Julia De Jouy is the lead singer, but some songs are also featuring male vocals. Most of the songs are sung in French, but you’ll also discover passages sung in English and German.

The last song is a remix of “Agitation” (a song originally featured on the EP “Waveclash”) remixed by Björn Peng”.

+ + + : This debut is absolutely sensational! It’s not that in the style and influences, but in the achievement of the songs. There’s a perfect balance between the differences influences and a cool twist between pure minimal-like electro-wave songs and harder EBM-inspired cuts. The sound treatments are simply magic. I admit I’m a freak when it comes to analogue sound treatments, but this album reveals well-crafted melody lines and great bass lines. Last, but not least the female vocals are injecting this little touch of sensuality!

– – – : I regret the album only features 8 songs and the remix of “Agitatiuon” is not that convincing. 

Conclusion: “Christophe-Philippe” is a fully accomplished opus, but still an amazing debut album for a band I can only encourage to discover!

Best songs: “La Course”, “Glycine”, “Kalt”, “Es Versucht”.

Rate: (8½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/RueOberkampf

Label: https://youngandcold.de /

www.facebook.com/youngandcoldrecords

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Industrial, martial, experimental.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Russian based Cthulhu Biomechanical was set up by members from the metal formation Blackdeath. This new work has been introduced as the logical continuation of their previous full length “Es Ist Kalt Hier” (2006); it’s a conceptual work about our society and our planet so the title of the work has to be understood in a cynical way.

Content: The opening song has something martial and a bit epic, reminding me of the glorious days of Laibach. Similar influences are running throughout the entire work, but it also reflects experimental passages and sound treatments. From droning percussion to orchestral arrangements and some Russian vocals, this work covers several influences.

+ + + : The debut of the album is really great and I regret that all the songs aren’t comparable to “Elon Musk’s Prayer”. I like this old-school industrial/epic style. The orchestral arrangements and martial touch running through the album are the most noticeable elements. I also have to say a word about the artistic digipak format from this record.

– – – : I think there’s much more potential hiding inside this album than what came out. Some passages are too explicitly experimental, which ruins a bit of their industrial/epic format.

Conclusion: This work might appeal to lovers of old-school industrial music.

Best songs: “Elon Musk’s Prayer”, Donative Chant”.

Rate: (6½).

Artist: www.cthulhuworld.com / www.facebook.com/cthulhubiomechanical

Label: www.facebook.com/DeathKnellProd  

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: Gothic, neo-classic.

Background/Info: Ludovic Dhenry is French artist who set up Exponentia in 2012. “Abend” is the 4^th full length released on his own label Neris Records.

Content: The previous work “Ghost” (2014) revealed an interesting progression in sound and global production while holding on to the gothic and neo-classic influences of the early beginning work. “Abend” sounds quite similar in influences and writing. Dhenry takes care of every single element of the composition.

The work reminds me once more of Sopor Aeternus, but in a less elaborated and artistic format. But the neo-classic and desperate sounding moods and the orchestral arrangements are quite comparable. Exponentia composes on his own there where Anna-Varney Cantodea got the help of an entire ensemble (cf. ‘The Ensemble Of Shadows’).

“Abend” invites the listener to join in for an endless night made of long-duration, moody cuts. The sound formula is quite simple, but globally speaking pretty efficient. The songs are carried by melodic passages and a kind of cinematographic atmosphere filled with wafting darkness. It sounds pretty sad and somewhat theatrical, which is an element accentuated by the German vocals and way of singing.

+ + + : Exponentia is mainly characterized by a dark and evasive sound filled with beautiful sadness. Magic operates between the different sound layers and the German vocals. The melodic element and neo-classic inspiration both are quite noticeable elements.

– – – : The shadow of Sopor Aeternus is hanging over this work, but it all sounds more simple and a bit under-produced –although it’s an aspect that has been seriously improved throughout the years. If Exponentia would work with some talented guest musicians inject an artistic and authentic touch and maybe a producer to find the right mix between it all, this band would really become a reference in the genre.

Conclusion: Exponentia once again reveals great artistic ideas and I really like the DIY attitude of this artist, but sometimes you maybe have to reconsider some points of view like working with other musicians to get more authenticity and real emotion into your work.

Best songs: “Neblig Und Kalt”, “Abend”, “Fliehen”.

Rate: (7).

Band: http://exponentia.music.free.fr / www.facebook.com/Exponentia

Label: www.facebook.com/NerisRecords

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