Genre/Influences: IDM, Techno, Experimental.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Krischan Wesenberg will be always linked to Rotersand  but the German sound guru is involved in an impressive list of projects. One of them is the solo-project Wesenberg. After the debut album “Third Places” he last year struck back with “Counterclockwise”. This new opus is directly inspired by the idea ‘that every experience from the past reflects and modulates the present as well as the future’.

Content: The new opus features 13 songs and has been achieved by the addition of a few guests. Yuma Hampejs, Eli Van Vegas, Sola Plexus, Stolzenfelz and Liss Eulenherz contributed to this album. “Counterclockwise” sounds a bit like a ‘free-style’ album covering an impressive sound canvas. There’s a strong Techno-direction carried by groovy sequences and built up with Industrial sound treatments.  Wesenberg experiments with Rap vocals (featuring Stolzenfelz), Psychedelic Cinematic passages and even Yiddish atmospheres.

+ + + : The free style of this album reveals the eclectic and creative spirit of the artist which simply confirms to be not driven by established standards. Wesenberg’s work sounds out of the box but remains characterized by terrific sound treatments. Krischan Wesenberg is a talented sound-architect and this album is an imaginary sound lab for dance floors.

– – – : Diversity is cool but the album goes in all directions. I’m missing the cohesion of the debut album.

Conclusion: If you like Krischan Wesenberg for the phenomenal works he already did you definitely have to discover this new work but it’s not his best work to date.

Best songs: “Fan Fiction”, “Salz”, “Digging In Clouds”.

Rate: 7.

Artist: www.facebook.com/krischanwesenberg

Label: www.audiophob.de / www.facebook.com/audiophob

About Wesenberg

Wesenberg is the solo project of German producer and engineer Krischan Wesenberg, best known as a member of the German act Rotersand.

Outside Rotersand he works as a producer and mixing engineer. He produced the L’Ame Immortelle album “In tiefem Fall“, released by Trisol on 7 January 2022, and mixed the track “Frame” for Super Dragon Punch!! at his Studio-600.

The solo project started with the album “Third Places”. “Counterclockwise” is the second Wesenberg album and was released on CD by Audiophob on 6 August 2021. It runs thirteen tracks and features Yuma Hampejs, Eli van Vegas, Sola Plexus, Stolzenfelz and Liss Eulenherz as guests. Both albums deal with the presence of the past, with “Counterclockwise” built around the idea that every past experience modulates the present and the future. In 2022 Wesenberg contributed to the Audiophob compilation “Hyperakusis IV“, released on 18 November 2022.

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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Today we see the release of the new album by the London based UK dark industrial act MATT HART, who you will know from our most recent free download compilation “Face The Beat: Session 7”. “Below The Terra Pt.1” follows the first single from the album, “To The Core”, which was released late last year.

Here’s a video promo clip.

The release is a move away from the guitar driven “Terra 3808” and offers a more electronic direction through the 9 tracks and should please fans of ESA, 3TEETH, Hocico etc.. The release was mixed by Adi Calef of DNA Studios, mastered by Krischan Wesenberg of Rotersand with artwork by Vlad McNealy of Kallistidesign.

You can download the album below or order the CD right here 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!

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Genre/Influences: Dark-Wave, Neo-Classic, Cinematic.

Format: Digital, 3CD.

Background/Info: “In Tiefem Fall” is the first new album in four years by the Austrian duo Thomas Rainer – Sonja Kraushofer aka L’âme Immortelle. The new work has been produced by Jan-Krischan Wesenberg (Rotersand). The work is also available as a hardcover book 3CD edition featuring two additional full-length discs.  

Content: L’Âme Immortelle remains faithful to their familiar sound formula; a melodic composition with a melancholic mood on top mixed with the heavenly and passionate vocals of Sonja Kraushofer at one side and the harsher singing of Thomas Rainer at the other side. I also noticed a surprising Dance-driven song (cf. “Catch My Fall”).

The ‘Book Edition’ presents the band’s entire visual and musical world in relation to their album. It has been adapted into sound by a Soundtrack (cf. “Portrait Of A Shattered Mind”) released on the second disc and written by Clemens Wijers (Carach Angren) and Patrick Damiani (Sopor Aeternus). The third disc features the audiobook “Das Königreich Der Schwarzen Farbe”, which is written and read by Lukas Materzok-Lavishly.

+ + + : The fans of L’Âme Immortelle will not be disappointed, their favorites having released a new work in the sound tradition of the band. The Austrian formation remains inspired by melancholia, which Rainer masterly adapted into melodic passages. The passionate, heavenly vocals of Sonja Kraushofer create an elevating effect during the choruses while Thomas Rainer injects a darker touch to his vocals. “Everything Just Falls Apart” is my favorite track for its deeply melancholic mood, but it still is an elaborated piece of music.

If you like Cinematic music I recommend listening to the second disc “Portrait Of A Shattered Mind”. It’s surprising and has less in common with the ‘familiar’ sound of the band, but it’s a poignant and achieved composition for Cinematic lovers. The songs are instrumental edits, which are created by violin sounds. I like the few epic arrangements running through some of the songs. It’s a great and refined composition inspired by movies.

– – – : I can’t get away from the feeling that L’Âme Immortelle is a bit stagnating in their own sound formula. There’s nothing wrong with that, but using this formula I’ve already better work from this band. The more commercially driven “Catch My Fall” might become a true successful piece, but it sounds a bit ‘cheap’ to me. The audiobook featured on the last disc is mainly suited for the die-hard fans of the band, but without a true interest for non-German speaking people.

Conclusion: I have some mixed feelings with this new work of L’Âme Immortelle; they hold on to their initial spirit, but the accomplishment left me more unmoved.

Best songs: “Everything Just Falls Apart”, “Der Fluch”, “Still” + “La Folie Des Grandeur”, “Locked In”.

Rate: 7.

Artist: www.facebook.com/LAI.official

Label: www.trisol.de / www.facebook.com/pages/Trisol-Music-Group/104166526285471 Read the news on ‘In Tiefem Fall’.

About L’Âme Immortelle

L’Âme Immortelle is an Austrian darkwave duo formed in 1996 around Thomas Rainer and Sonja Kraushofer. The songs alternate harsh male and melodic female vocals, with lyrics in German and English.

The studio albums run from “Lieder Die Wie Wunden Bluten” (1997), “…In Einer Zukunft Aus Tränen Und Stahl” (1998) and “Wenn Der Letzte Schatten Fällt” (1999) to “Dann Habe Ich Umsonst Gelebt” (2001) and “Als Die Liebe Starb” (2003). The duo moved to Supersonic Records in 2004 for “Gezeiten” (2004), “Auf Deinen Schwingen” (2006), “Namenlos” (January 2008) and “Durch Fremde Hand” (August 2008), then returned to Trisol.

“Momente” (January 2012), “Fragmente” (April 2012), “Drahtseilakt” (November 2014) and “Hinter Dem Horizont” (January 2018) followed, alongside the compilations “Seelensturm” (2003), “10 Jahre – Best Of” (June 2007), “Best Of Indie Years” (May 2008), “Unsterblich – 20 Jahre L’Âme Immortelle” (February 2016) and “Letztes Licht” (January 2019).

“In Tiefem Fall” arrived in January 2022 and reached number 33 on the German album chart. The next studio album, “Ungelebte Leben”, followed in January 2024.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

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

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Four years have passed since Super Dragon Punch!!’s debut-EP “Shatter”. The Belgian based project driven by Jérémie Venganza is now back on track, unleashing the official debut album “Feral”. The work features twelve songs, which have been mixed and mastered by Racso Agroyam (Hocico) while one song has been mixed by Krischan Wesenberg (Rotersand).

Content: This project remains inspired by retro video games and 80s synths. It’s an element clearly emerging throughout the entire album, but the real sound of Venganza is hard to define. It has something EBM-driven, but still refined with Poppier passages although this Pop-element sounds pretty naughty and a bit Industrial-like. Most of the vocals have been mixed in the background.

+ + + : Super Dragon Punch!! sounds definitely Electro-like, but clearly mixes different influences together. From EBM to Electro/Industrial-Pop to a few Techno aspects, the work has an open-minded approach. It’s a kind of ‘free-style’ of Electronic underground music. I like the opening part of the work where the vintage sound treatments are cool. It’s a dynamic composition accentuated by pumping kicks and rough vocals. But this heavier side has been masterly mixed with a more melodic approach. The songs are well-crafted and here again I especially refer to the opening part of the album.

– – – : I’m a bit wondered about the mix of this album. The vocals are somewhat in the background while the sound has something buzzing. It clearly has something old-school reminding me of 90s productions so I guess it’s intentional –especially when the mix is made by an experienced artist, but I’m not totally convinced. The final part of the album is less convincing, the tracks becoming less cohesive.

Conclusion: Super Dragon Punch!! is a project with its own sound, which is hard to describe. But it’s definitely something different and personal!

Best songs: “Distance”, “Wire”, “Sutura”, “Inhale”.

Rate: 7.

Artist: www.superdragonpunch.com / www.facebook.com/superdragonpunch

Label: www.scent-air.com / www.facebook.com/ScentairRecords Read the news on ‘Feral’.

About Super Dragon Punch!!

Super Dragon Punch!! is the solo project of Mexican-Belgian musician Jérémie Venganza, based in Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve. Discogs files the act under synthpunk and industrial. Venganza managed a video game store and performed live with futurepop, industrial and EBM projects for more than fifteen years before starting the project.

The debut EP “Shatter” arrived in October 2017. “Feral” followed on 15 May 2021 as a limited CD on ScentAir Records, with twelve tracks, mixing and mastering by Racso Agroyam, additional mixing by Krischan Jan-Eric Wesenberg and artwork by Tony Midi.

Three singles appeared in 2023: “Rise”, “Haste” and the six-track “Split”, the latter carrying remixes by Dulce Liquido, ESA, SITD and Toxxic Project. The album “Thorns” followed on Advoxya Records in 2024.

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: Electro-Pop.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: After the cool debut-album “Crash”, released last year and referring to the car crash of protagonist Sascha G, the Italian artist strikes back with a new opus featuring –just as for the debut album, several guests. Krischan Wesenberg (Rotersand) did the mixing of most songs.

Content: “Werk Zwei” clearly doesn’t sound as a copy-paste of “Crash”. The songs are still into Electro-Pop, but this album is more diversified and also revealing a kind of very soft Electronic ballads. Next to Sascha’s vocals, you again will here a few songs featuring female singers. The work also features cover versions of Chris Isaac (cf. “Wicked Game”), Duran Duran (cf. “The Chaffeur”) and Iron Maiden (cf. “Run To The Hills”) plus remixes by Rotersand, Rroyce, Pacoussa and Monotronic.

+ + + : I especially like the sensitive touch supporting most of the songs. It’s a part of melancholia, but also a noticeable, emotive aspect. The songs remain well-crafted –which confirms the writing skills of the artist, and reveals a great progression in song structures. “What She Could Not Tell” is a noticeable cut illustrating this maturity. The songs featuring female vocals inject a hot, sensual touch to the album. Last, but not least the cover version of Iron Maiden’s “Run To The Hills” sounds pretty cool.

– – – : “Werk Zwei” left me more skeptical than the promising “Crash”. Even if the songs are well-crafted, they’re too often missing a kind of climax. Too many songs are rather flat while the covers of Chris Isaak and Duran Duran are lacking in depth. Even the remixes left me unmoved. 

Conclusion: “Werk Zwei” sounds a bit like a disillusion, which is rather painful after the promising debut album.

Best songs: “I Cannot Breathe”, “What She Could Not Tell”, “Nemesis”, “Run To The Hills”.

Rate: 6.

Artist: www.beatnoirdeluxe.com / www.facebook.com/beatnoirdeluxe

Label: www.echozone.de / www.facebook.com/EchozoneMusic

About Beat Noir Deluxe

Beat Noir Deluxe is the alternative electronic project of singer, songwriter, composer and producer Sascha Giacomuzzi, based in Bolzano, Italy. He plays drums, keyboards and guitar, and handles vocals and arrangements. The project has been labelled synthpop, futurepop, dark wave, indie electronic and post-punk.

Giacomuzzi started making music in the 1990s, drawn to analogue synthesizers and emerging electronic sound technologies. After a break he returned to music in 2019 and founded Beat Noir Deluxe, a return shaped by a serious car accident in 2017. He has worked with Annika Borsetto, Doris Warasin, Lisa Anesi, Thomas Varesco and Stefan Pattis.

The debut album “Crash” appeared on Echozone in 2020, followed by the single “Covid 19” the same year and the singles “I Cannot Breathe”, “Nemesis”, “That Circle” and “A Reason To Live” in 2021. “Werk Zwei” followed on 23 July 2021 as a seventeen-track Echozone CD in a tri-fold paper sleeve with an eight-page booklet. The single “Start Over Again” came in 2022, and the single and video “The Fear Of Missing Out” in December 2024.

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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Out via Trisol on January 7th 2022 is the all new album by Thomas Rainer and Sonja Kraushofer aka L’âme Immortelle. Produced by Jan-Krischan Wesenberg of Rotersand fame, the new album also gets some visual support by Oliver Schlemmer and Torsten Geyer.

The new album will also be released in a hardcover book 3CD edition featuring two additional full length discs presenting the duo’s visual and musical world in relation to their album “In tiefem Fall”.

Here’s what this 3CD set holds:

• Opulent illustrated book containing 3 CDs
• 27 tracks – over 2 hours’ playing time
• CD #1: regular album, produced by Jan-Eric Wesenberg (Rotersand)
• CD #2: soundtrack ‘Portrait of a Shattered Mind’, composed by Clemens Wijers (Carach Angren and others) and Patrick Damiani (Sopor Aeternus and others)
• CD #3: audiobook ‘Das Königreich der schwarzen Farbe’ (‘The Kingdom of the Colour Black’), written and read (in German) by the young, up-and-coming author Lukas Materzok
• The book holds paintings by Oliver Schlemmer (Janus and others) and holds 36 pages including all album lyrics

And here’s an idea how the band sounds nowadays. Read the review of ‘In Tiefem Fall’.

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.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Nattskiftet is a Swedish formation set up in 2015. The band consists of Anna Johnning, Tobias Eliasson, Christer Björndahl and Lars Björndahl (the two last members are also involved with the Electro-Pop/Italo-Disco project Disco Digitale). Nattskiftet is the Swedish word for ‘Night Shift’ while their debut album means ‘Punching In’. They previously released an EP “Aceton” in 2015 and now strikes back with their debut album.

Content: Natskiftet stands for pure old-school EBM sung in Swedish. They sound a bit like the Swedish version of DAF, but it would be too easy defining them as new DAF clones. The music is carried by strong bass lines, hopping sequences and sometimes achieved with a somewhat Pop-driven touch/tune on top. Anna Johnning is singing in a rather sterile, but charismatic way while the male vocals inject some extra power to the work.

+ + + : Nattskiftet doesn’t innovate, but they have a nose to compose great retro-styled EBM. I noticed great and intelligent sound treatments and analogue effects. The choruses are often elevating and I like the mix of male- and female vocals. “Aceton” and “Bara Jobb” are familiar tracks for those who know the band, and are some of the album’s best cuts. But I also have to mention “Folkets Sång”, which could be the perfect song to be released as single. But there are more great songs like “Nattskift”, “Ingeting”, “Adrenalin”, “Vid Dagens Slut” and “Götaverken”. The last mentioned track features a cool, icy lead. Notice by the way Krischan Wesenberg did the mixing of this work. Nattskiftet has been presented as one of the best old-school EBM bands and I can only, but agree. I can’t stop playing several songs of this album, the Swedish language adding a pretty cool- and personal touch to their work.

– – – : No real minus points, the tracklist being a succession of great songs and non-stop energy.

Conclusion: “Stämplar In” took me by surprise; what a great and accomplished EBM work from a band, which will for sure become a new sensation!

Best songs: “Folkets Sång”, “Bara Jobb – Album Version”, “Aceton – Album Version”, “Vid Dagens Slut”, “Götaverken”.

Rate: (9).

Artist: www.facebook.com/nattskiftetmusik

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

About Nattskiftet

Nattskiftet is an EBM quartet from Gothenburg, Sweden, formed in 2015 by Anna Johnning, Tobias Eliasson, Christer Björndahl and Lars Björndahl, who sing in Swedish. According to Discogs the band played its first concert at the Electronic Summer festival in Gothenburg in 2015 and signed to Progress Productions after that show. The debut single “Aceton” appeared as a download in 2015, followed by the six-track CD EP of the same name on 19 February 2016, which added “Bara Jobb” and “Arendal” plus remixes by Spetsnaz, Xenturion Prime and a “Propanon Mix”; Hans Olsson Brookes mastered it. The band also appeared on the Progress Productions samplers of 2016, 2019 and 2020 and played Bodyfest and the Progress Festival, according to its Bandcamp biography.

The debut album “Stämplar In” was released by Progress Productions on 14 May 2021 as a download and on CD. The twelve tracks are “Aceton (Album Version)”, “Folkets Sång”, “Ingenting”, “Gnissel Och Brus”, “Nattskift”, “Bara Jobb (Album Version)”, “Adrenalin”, “Skrot”, “Frukten Av Ditt Arbete”, “Sirener”, “Vid Dagens Slut” and “Götaverken”. Krischan Wesenberg of Rotersand mixed and co-produced the album, Hans Olsson Brookes mastered it, Torny Gottberg handled A&R, Vio Szabo made the layout and Marcus Johansson took the photographs. Discogs lists a limited edition of the first 200 copies with a hand-numbered card and a signed bonus CDr of remixes by Alvar, Wesenberg, Lucifer’s Aid, Digidroid and Elliot Berlin.

The band contributed to the Progress Productions 20th anniversary compilation in 2024. “Stämplar In” is the band’s only Side-Line review to date.

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

The Belgian industrial act Super Dragon Punch!! has landed its debut album: “Feral”. The debut full length holds twelve tracks of techno-infused body music inspired by retro 80s video game soundtracks. It continues the sonic path chosen with the band’s debut EP which was released in 2017 and held remixes by Assemblage23, Terrolokaust, Iszoloscope & WO††W.

“Feral” was mixed and mastered by Hocico and Dulce Liquido mastermind Racso Agroyam at Liquido Labs. Racso also added some additional punch to the creations while “Frame” has been mixed by Krischan Wesenberg at Studio-600.

Super Dragon Punch!! is the synthpunk/EBM/industrial project of frontman Jérémie Venganza. Live the band consists of Jérémie Venganza, Sem Roosen on bass and Noémi Meteors on synths.

The video for the song, “Sutura” can be watched 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

Belgium based Super Dragon Punch!! launch their 12-track debut album “Feral”. Out now is the video for the song “Sutura”, you can view it below. Expect techno-infused body music inspired by retro 80s video game soundtracks. “Feral” was mixed and mastered by Hocico and Dulce Liquido mastermind Racso Agroyam at Liquido Labs. Racso also added some additional punch to the tracks. The track “Frame” was mixed by Krischan Wesenberg at Studio-600.

Super Dragon Punch!! is the synthpunk/EBM/industrial project of frontman Jérémie Venganza who is half-Belgian, half-Mexican. The project released it’s first EP in October 2017, includiong remixes by Assemblage23, Terrolokaust, Iszoloscope & WO††W.

Below is the video for the song “Sutura”. Read the review of ‘Feral’.

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 our Norwegian correspondent Jan Ronald Stange)
Norwegian industrial synth rockers Zeromancer follow up their February release ‘Damned le Monde’ with the new track titled ‘Mourners’. The release comes as a digital EP with three remixes in addition to the original – and they’re all great! This time around we also contacted the remixers to get their thoughts about the band and this release –  it’s always interesting to hear what someone who’s both a professional and a fan have to say about their remix work.

Zeromancer core members Kim Ljung and Alex Møklebust were very happy about the end result:

Side-Line: ‘Mourners’ and the first lines indicates someone sad, but becomes increasingly uplifting – will things get better is one find someone to share it with?

Kim Ljung: That is pretty spot on I would say! Mourners is a message for the lonely. Lonely in life or lonely at heart. Never give up. There is always a twin soul out there somewhere!

Alex Møklebust: Songwriting is about expressing yourself. The last 3 years has been pretty rough on a personal level and making music becomes kind of a treatment. «Mourners» became that song for me.

S-L: Musically it’s a bit softer than usual, almost synthpop, and the singing made me think about Alex’ guest vocals on the Bermuda Triangle album ‘33RPM’, and it also made me wanna listen to ‘ZZYZX’ again – a new direction or just keeping it varied?

AM: Trying to recreate a demo is always a challenge, but with Mourners it was impossible. The demo had parts that didn’t sound great and the performance was quite bad, but had a really good feeling to it. If we removed the demo ideas or tried to replace it with new recordings, the song fell apart. It’s all about the feeling of a song. We just chased that feeling all the way until the end and. Imperfection elevated the track. It was the right decision. You can hear the the demo tracks clearly in the Rotersand remix. Love that they decided to represent the demo tracks so clearly in the remix.

KL: When you write a song, you don’t think what genre would be best suitable. You make the choices that fits that particular song the best. Mourners were meant to be exactly like this. I remember starting out with the verse on an acoustic. I never play acoustic guitar with normal chords and full notes. Never. It’s all riffs, basslines and weird shit.

The verses are quite dark. It’s the chorus that has this uplift feel that great choruses have. However the term synthpop is not so accurate I feel, at least not to me, since my idea of synthpop is a happy thing. We don’t do happy. 🙂
When you get to hear the full album, you will get the picture. It’s a classic Zeromancer album. With all the elements present. A gift from us to our devoted, loyal fans.

S-L: You also got a good, varied bunch of remixes this time too, even by Norwegians – what about their versions did you like?

AM: The remixes compliments the EP 100%. Love it. A beautiful balance. Electro Spectre with a superb version, Sebastian Komor with his awesome mid tempo hard hitting remix and the lovely moody Rotersand version. They all put in a lot of effort to make this EP as good as it can be. How they interpreted our song blows my mind. Respect to them all!!

KL: Couldn’t agree more. What amazes me the most, is how they all understood the core of the song. I’m dead serious when I say those three remixes makes the song a better song. Not that their versions top the original. That’s not the issue. It’s what they add to that song, that makes Mourners a longer lasting piece. At least that’s how I feel! So much passion and a whole lot of “fingerspitzgefühl”!

S-L: This started with ‘Damned le Monde’, and you will get it every time now – who’s in the cover picture?! 😉

KL: My mom 🙂
Holding the white lilies. A symbolic flower, often used in funerals. Perfect for Mourners.

S-L: Other upcoming highlights fans can look forward to during these slow-moving days until more restrictions are lifted?

AM: Yes, there will be more releases and a full new album. It’s important for us to promote an album release with live shows. As for now that’s impossible, but we have to keep believing that it’s happening soon.

KL: The fans are in for a treat. A lot is happening in the shadows. New label that will help out regarding issues with previous albums hard to get, both digital and analog. At this moment I can’t reveal more than that. But in the end, there’s definitely a reward for everybody!

As mentioned we also reached out to the remixers who contributed to this EP, and also asked if they had remixes of their own to share. First to reply were Isak Rypdal from Electro Spectre:

S-L: What’s your relation to Zeromancer before this remix?

Isak Rypdal: I was a big fan early on, and two major favorites from nearly 20 years ago is ‘New Madonna’ and ‘Famous Last Words’,  I think they only were included on a maxi-single or something then. In 2013 Electro Spectre supported Zeromancer on their ‘Bye-Bye Borderline’ tour at Rockefeller Music Hall in Oslo – that was a lovely event.
Alex Møklebust, aka SnifferGod, has also been so kind remixing the Electro Spectre single ‘The Way You Love‘ just a few years ago, which became a great remix.  

S-L: How did you like the new song ‘Mourners’?

IR: Personally I think it is admirable to deliver one of their very best singles to date. In my opinion not all bands only get better and better in what they’re doing as the years go by. The previous single ‘Damned le Monde’ is that kind of caliber as well! 

S-L: What was your main idea with your remix?

IR: Actually, I think it was one of the easiest songs I have ever remixed. The reason is simple; when you get a remix-kit from a major band, who delivers pure quality elements it is a lot more inspiring. Although not to say I took the challenge lightly, I spent several few weeks on the remix, adding all of what I think is my very best production techniques into the remix to get it as punchy and well sounding as possible. It was a pure joy, and I am very happy I had the time to spend that many hours on the remix process. In the end, Alex from Electro Spectre also delivered some additional spice to the final mix. I hope the Mancerheads enjoy the remix!

Across the Atlantic, in Canada, the Polish/Norwegian expat Sebastian Komor elaborated about his involvement:

S-L:  What’s your relation to Zeromancer before this remix?

Sebastian Komor:  I know the guys more as Seigmen, the Norwegian Alt Rock band. In fact, a time and place long ago I booked Seigmen to play at a venue I was working at, during their Radiowaves album tour.  Always loved their music.

S-L: How did you like the new song ‘Mourners’?

SK:  It is a beautiful song. I dig the electronic approach in this.

S-L: What was your main idea with your remix?

SK: I really dig the snare sound in the original and def wanted to make that a big element of this mix. My approach to remixes is to use as few original sounds as possible vs. making it sound like an extended 12″ mix of the original. I am really happy with the result. It promotes the emotions in the original song while taking it for a ride through my mind.

Check Sebastians playlist with a lot of his work, remixes included!

Final remixer was from Germany, Krischan Wesenberg of Rotersand:

S-L: What’s your relation to Zeromancer before this remix?

Krischan Wesenberg: Zeromancer and Rotersand are signed to the same label, work with the same booking agency and love our live-sound-engineer (which is the same person). Surprisingly it took rather long to meet in person, which luckily happened during an epic meal in Oslo while I was there as sound-engineer for Nitzer Ebb.

S-L: How did you like the new song ‘Mourners’?

KW: I really loved the depth and flow of the song instantly; its melancholic mood and I am addicted to melancholy in music anyway.

S-L: What was your main idea with your remix?

KW: Obviously with Rotersand attached to it expectations went towards a more club-orientated vibe. As there aren’t any clubs open I took the chance to search for a very electronic vibe and flow that kept a lot of the original recordings, and added some space to let the melancholy breathe and enjoy its special magic.

Listen to and buy the EP from Spotify, Apple music and other services – click here!

Jan Ronald Stange

Sometimes – when I’m not cooking, biking, listening to music or attending concerts, I write stuff for Side-Line.com. Mostly about Norwegian bands, but it’s been some Swedish, English, American, Danish, German and others too… 😉

www.facebook.com/jrstange

Genre/Influences: EBM, Body-Pop.

Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.

Background/Info: Greek duo George Sofianos – Nick Von Karma last year released their debut album “Karma Reloaded”. It was an honest debut work featuring a fusion between EBM and Electro-Pop. Prometheus Flame is now back with this EP featuring the title-song “Magic Spell” originally released on their album. The work has been released in different formats featuring a limited 7” Vinyl with only two songs. The CD and Digital formats are featuring two extra songs.

Content: “Magic Spell” was not exactly my favorite song from “Karma Reloaded”. It has something EBM driven, but there’s also something more evasive and Pop-like running through it. The way of singing reminds me of Jean-Luc Demeyer (Front 242). We next get a “Club Mix” plus remixes by Rotersand and Massive Ego

+ + + : Quite honestly “Magic Spell” caught more my attention than on the album. It’s maybe because of the different versions/remixes while the essence remains the same. It’s a cool track for the natural osmosis between EBM and Electro-Pop. The song is well-crafted and clearly inspiring Krischan Wesenberg (Rotersand) and Scot Collins (Massive Ego) who both did a great remix. The Rotersand-remix has something icy-like while Massive Ego injected cool, refreshing bleeps to the song.

– – – : I expected a bit more punch and power from the “Club Mix”, which is a bit disappointing.

Conclusion: This EP is a nice addendum to the debut album “Karma Reloaded” and once more revealing a Greek band we better keep an eye on.

Best songs: “Magic Spell – Massive Ego Remix”, “Magic Spell”, “Magic spell – Rotersand Rework”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist: www.prometheusflame.eu / www.facebook.com/Prometheus-Flame-402883157167543

Label: www.digitalworld.audio /   www.facebook.com/DigitalWorldAudio

About Prometheus Flame

Prometheus Flame is a Greek EBM and electro-pop duo formed by George Sofianos and Nick Von Karma, who released the debut album “Karma Reloaded” in 2019. The “Magic Spell(s)” EP, released via Digital World Audio in 2020, revisits the album’s title track across a club mix and remixes by Rotersand and Massive Ego, in formats spanning a limited 7″ vinyl to digital and CD editions.

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

Rotersand’s new album “How Do You Feel Today?” has been released by Trisol and Metropolis Records. The new opus features all ingredients we’re used to hearing from the duo Rascal Hüppe – Krischan Wesenberg; strong melody lines, solid bass lines, impressive sound treatments and great vocals. After having heard their new work I asked myself which Rotersand album is my favorite one? I’m not sure to have a favorite one, but this new work is for sure one of the most accomplished and best produced albums in their discography. You can call it Future-Pop or EBM or Industrial-Pop; the songs however reflect the great chemistry between both members. Rasc kindly answered a few questions about this brilliant work.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: My first question deals with the title of your album “How Do You Feel Today?”. Living in Corona-times this title has something cynical or we can also understand it as a rhetorical question! So what is it all about?

Rasc: It may not sound like that at first glance, and yet “How Do You Feel Today?” is so much more than a question asked in polite small-talk. It’s pure social dynamite in a world where emotions become moods and moods suddenly turn into opinions, uncorrectable creeds and breath taking brutalization. Truth is not holding on to facts anymore. Truth is truly becoming fanatic.

We feel our civilisatory crust breaking and we hear a grinding sound of violence. This record is the soundtrack of both: the grinding sound of brutalization and the strong feelings of love, respect and humanity as a strong answer.

Q: I personally experienced this new album as your most accomplished work to date! It feels like inspired by mathematics; everything sounds right, every single note put at the right place and a perfect harmony between sound and vocals! Where does it come from? Is it just maturity or are you guys perfectionists or wizards?

Rasc: Thank you! I also have the feeling it is well balanced. In my view it is about the time spent on song writing before production. Production and song writing went most of the times hand in hand. This time –just my feeling, songs were much clearer and much longer written before production. That could be true for all the ways, ROTERSAND songs come to life: the songs we wrote together in a real band feeling, the songs I wrote and pre-produced in Hamburg, the music Krischan wrote more on his own.

Q: When did you start the composing of this new work? Was there a kind of click to start writing new songs? Did you need some preparation, eventually research etc? How did it happen?

Rasc: The process of composing does never stop. I am writing a song almost every day. In most of the times it starts with a melody in my head, a synth line, a vocal line and then I look for chords or basslines, search for a harmonic atmosphere to carry the melody, to set the ´tone´. That doesn´t necessarily mean that this atmosphere remains. Krischan sometimes likes to take things apart that I come with. A ballad can turn into an Industrial track that way. Krischan often describes himself as an alchemist, putting things together that are already there, changing some ingredients or contexts. He describes me as a magician who usually creates something out of nothing as for me everything starts with melodies, new atmospheres, chord progressions, words.

In fact, it is a kind of magic to write songs. I do not know how it happens, it just happens, often enough in moments you do not expect it or moments that should not be interrupted. My wife is very much used to it that we can´t watch movies without me interrupting and grabbing my guitar to try out something and record it on my phone to remember it. I think these two approaches of us coming to new songs are the two main engines that drive the creative power of ROTERSAND and help to explain the uniqueness and surprises in our universe.

Q: I’m also wondered about the ultimate point of a song (and an album),  the point where you decide to say it’s finished! Can you tell us a bit more about this ‘ultimate point’ and do you handle some criteria to say the song/album is finished?

Rasc. Just deadlines & pragmatism. Songs are never finished. That´s why we like reworks as “Reloaded” now. And live shows have an impact. Songs change over their life time of course.

Q: Back to the Covid-19 pandemic, which for artists is a real tragedy; no Summer festivals, no tour, nothing… expect live streams. But you guys seem to have found an opportunity to play together with Noyce™. Tell us a bit more about this concept? Don’t you think this terrible pandemic is also inciting artists –and the entire scene, to become more creative and develop new ideas?

Rasc: Obviously yes. We wouldn´t play in a circus arena on October 2^nd with no Covid-19 in the world. I wouldn´t say ‘tragedy’. I prefer being alive and nobody is starving in our country due to Covid-19. In my case it has an impact on song writing. It´s a bit more ´blue´ what comes out in the moment. I miss meeting and hugging certain people, I miss gym halls, I miss  touring, shows on several nights in a row. I know what was at stake so I am really happy to live in Germany in the moment, but please Covid-19, please leave us soon.

Q: Rotersand is now busy for nearly twenty years. How did you see this band evolving all over the time and do you still have some new challenges, dreams?  

Rasc: We grew an incredible ROTERSAND family all over the world. Nobody can take this ever away until the end of our lives. We are rich men, we are really rich men. I know from all these occasions, meetings, talks and hugs that we reach people. That some of our songs gain an incredible power in some people. That they are able to stand up in the morning, drive to work, can fall asleep in tough times of their lives with the help and some say with only the help of our music. In dark times of life. Knowing about these moments, having looked in pairs of eyes telling you incredible stories related to your songs give me the feeling my life is not wasted. I can use my pain, I can use my joy to reach people. In some of the lyrics and atmosphere I lay my heart in the hands of our listeners. And they give it back to me in a kind of tenderness you can´t imagine if you are nota songwriter.  God gave us talent for a reason.

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

Alphamay is first of all the story of two friends. Cris Frickenschmidt and  Henning Hammoor were already playing music together before a terrible car accident. Both friends survived the crash, but Cris is living in a wheelchair since this terrible drama. But he never lost the will to move on. Both mates went on making music together and set up Alphamay in 2013. They this year strike back with the sixth full length album entitled “Conformity” (Battersea) revealing thirteen new songs. Alphamay deals with an eclectic electronic style, but which is mainly driven by electro-pop and body-pop influences. Here’s an interview with Cris Frickenschmidt

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Alphamay is already active for a couple of years now. This year you released your sixth full length album “Conformity”, but how do you look back at the past years and previous albums? How did you see your band evolving throughout the years? 

Cris: The last seven years have been quite a journey for us. We never planned the sound of an album before we work on it. It was always a surprise for us to hear how the individual albums turned out.

It is also incredible to think back to our first live shows. In the first years we played very small and very few shows. Our equipment went through a lot of evolution before we were able to deliver the shows we intended. In the past three years we played a lot more and bigger shows and started to play different countries. Last year, for example, we played Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium and Russia.

Q: Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, 2020 is a terrible year to release a new album. How do you feel about the situation and how do you try to face the situation as artists/band? 

Cris: I don’t know if I would call 2020 a bad year to release an album. Of course it is terrible not to be able to play live shows to promote our new stuff. But on the other hand we feel that the listeners have a huge demand for new music. After all we make music for the people.

But we also suffer from the situation that our music is very danceable and clubs are closed. This put us in the strange position that we have just been ranked eight weeks in the top ten of the German Alternative Charts (DAC), which is a DJ Chart -but we still could not profit from it…

We believe that we can still enjoy performing this new release at live shows as soon as this is possible again. 

Q: What were the plans about live concerts this year? Tell us a bit more about this essential part of Alphamay? 

Cris: We had more than 20 shows confirmed for 2020 and most of the dates have already been cancelled or postponed. It might turn out  we won’t be able to play live shows in 2020 at all. This seriously hurts like hell. We would have played in The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and Russia and had even more international shows planned. For a self-managed band, booking shows is a seriously, tedious business that takes a lot of time, money and efforts. It is a tragedy to lose it all and epecially with the fact that we are now entering a completely new age for live music. Lots of clubs will not be around when cultural life restarts. Each and every band is dying to play live so there will be more competition for shows and even less places to do so. 

Q: Over now to “Conformity”! What is the album all about and what were the initial ideas –and eventually influences, when you started with the writing? What are the different stages you’d to go through to achieve this opus? 

Cris: The main difference with all our prior albums was that we took a lot more time to write and to finish it. All Alphamay music starts in the same manner. I constantly compose songs and share these concepts with Henning who can always listen to them and decide to further develop a specific song. Once a song is chosen we move on to the next stage where we both sing to the music. Then we take a look at our takes and discuss which approach is the one we like the most. From this point on we write the lyrics, finish up the musical arrangements and then record the vocals.

The entire recording- and production process of the “Conformity”-album took 10-12 weeks. “Conformity“ was done over a period of 13 months. There are a lot of different reasons why it took so long this time. For example we decided to do a remix album (cf. “Trans/Fusion”) and then we later on had to prepare for our Russian shows. For these we needed to prepare a much smaller equipment to be able to travel by airplane. Finally we decided to release a double CD ‘best of’ for the Russian market (Ретрография). The reason was that we wanted our Russian fans (who’re earning less money) to get the maximum value for money with the two CD’s that are packed to the brim with songs from all of our previous albums.

But let’s get back to “Conformity“. After we finally finished recording we decided to move on a new way and worked with an external producer. We had the pleasure to work with Hilger Tintel (motel-music.de) for this album. After this highly interesting collaboration, “Conformity“ received a final polish when mastering was done by Krischan Wesenberg (Rotersand). We must say we are highly pleased with the result and fans from all over the world have given us very positive feedback.

Q: Alphamay has been always linked with electro-pop music, but I experience your sound –and especially “Conformity”, as much more than ‘classical’ electro-pop music. What are your main sources of inspiration, references and eventually criteria to know when a song is achieved or not? 

Cris: The question about music style is always the hardest one for an artist to answer. As I mentioned before we do not set an aim for the sound (or style) of a new album. We never sit down and talk about what kind of style to do next. A lot of artists have influenced us throughout all the years. Both of us are heavily influenced by the electronic sounds of the 80s and contemporary mainstream music.  This is quite simply the music we literally grew up with. Later on, in the 90s we got influenced by wonderful ‘dark’ electronic bands like the early works of Deine Lakaien. I guess you can hear in our music that we have always embraced many different styles of music, electronic or not. There is always so much amazing music around to draw inspiration from, and it is a great feeling to be able to contribute to the music world with your own compositions and sound.

Q: The name of your band refers to one of the most dramatic and horrible events you both had in life. How did you recover from such a drama and in, which way music has been the perfect cure to recover and to move on? What’s next on Alphamay ‘bucket list’? 

Cris: Alphamay was started after the accident. It was the result of my decision to pursue dreams instead of just dreaming about them. I always wanted to make electronic music, but never got around to it. By the time the accident happened I already made music with Henning for 20 years, and it is great that we were able to step into this whole new realm together. Alphamay has been an amazing experience ever since. We met great people from many different places. We have spent countless hours traveling from and to shows and constantly share thoughts.

When we look at the Alphamay bucket list, there is one entry we would have checked of this year: a full two week tour with consecutive shows. Next month would have been the “Luxfeste”-tour with three bands that are friends of ours. This is such a shame that we had to cancel this one. So yes, this one is back on the bucket list. 

Also we had plans to cross the Atlantic Ocean and play the US. This also has to wait. All in all we have a goal that will always be there, no matter what we achieve: To play more shows!

We love the interaction with our fans, many of them became friends by now. Nothing can replace a live show and we can only hope we all get through this pandemic safely. 

Please, everybody, take this seriously, protect yourself and the people around you. We will only pull through this one together. 

See you on a stage near you, hopefully rather soon!

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: Future-pop, EBM, body-pop.

Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.

Background/Info: German duo Rascal Hüppe (vocals) and Krischan Wesenberg (music & production) have been active as Rotersand since the early Millennium years. They earlier this year struck back with the seventh studio album “How Do You Feel Today?”, which also is the first one since 2016. 

Content: We have to agree the title of this work sounds like a pure rhetorical question. Rotersand remains interested in social criticism, but it first of all also remains an intelligent electronic project driven by the creative spirit of Krischan Wesenberg and the captivating vocals of Rascal. The album doesn’t sound that different from previous releases. There’s a fine twist between slower, dreamy cuts and harder, danceable pieces. It injects diversity into the work. The songs are once more elaborated and accomplished with great sound treatments and carrying leads and especially the second part of the album reveals efficient songs.

+ + + : What is the best Rotersand album in history? Maybe the first one “Truth Is Fanatic” or the second one “Welcome to Goodbye”? Or “Random Is Resistance”? I’m afraid we all have our favorite one, but this new opus will be for sure nominated to win the ward. There are several outstanding songs featured here; songs that are elaborated, sophisticated with brilliant sound arrangements and transcendental passages, but still accomplished with catchy tones and carrying choruses. On top of it all you’ll hear the charisma of Rascal Hüppe. “When You Go” is according to me one of the best Rotersand songs in history, but I also have to mention “Whatever” as other potential hit. But there also is “Hot Ashes” and “I Feel, You Don’t” and “X”. Rotersand strikes back with a bang and the dancefloors gone know it!

– – – : Some songs in the beginning of the CD are nice, but without a similar climax as the aforementioned pieces.

Conclusion: Seven is a magical number in alchemy and “How Do You Feel Today?” sounds as the work of a true sound alchemist!

Best songs: “When You Go”, “Whatever”, “Hot Ashes”,  “I Feel, You Don’t”, “X”, “Who Are We Now?”.

Rate: (9).

Artist: www.facebook.com/rotersand Labels: www.trisol.de / www.facebook.com/pages/Trisol-Music-Group/104166526285471 / www.metropolis-records.com Read the news on ‘How Do You Feel Today?’.

About Rotersand

Rotersand is a German electronic project formed in 2002 by singer Rascal Hüppe and musician/producer Gun, with producer and DJ Krischan J.-E. Wesenberg joining shortly after; the band describes its own sound as “industrial pop”, generally filed as futurepop. The debut album “Truth Is Fanatic” appeared in 2003, followed by “Welcome to Goodbye” (2005), “1023” (2007) and “Random Is Resistance” (2009), then “Capitalism TM” in 2016 and “How Do You Feel Today?” in 2020, later reworked as the remix album “Reloaded”. The band’s most recent studio album, “Don’t Become The Thing You Hated”, followed in 2025 via Metropolis and Trisol, and Side-Line spoke with the band in a 2026 interview.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Industrial, industrial-techno. 

Format: Digital, CD & DCD.

Background/Info: “Gestern” is the first new studio album by Andreas Davids aka Xotox in six years. It also is the first full length released on Infacted Recordings. “Gestern” –which is available as a double disc, was preceded by two very different EP’s (cf. “UFO” and “Sorgenkind”).

Content: Xotox is a project I’ve always linked with an electro-industrial fusion. The first EP “UFO” revealed a more technoid/rave sound mixed with industrial music. That’s also the essence of “Gestern”. It sounds hard, sometimes merciless, but definitely danceable! The die-hard freaks will also get a few more old-styled cuts, but “Gestern” definitely stands for Xotox V.2! the sound has seriously evolved, becoming more modern although still harsh and sometimes unpolished. The songs remain instrumental edits, but you’ll notice numerous spoken samplings.

The second disc features remixes by a precious list of remixes; ES23, Krischan Wesenberg, MS Gentur, Probe, Pete Crane, Laermpegel, Autoclav 1.1, Distorted Reality, Stahlschlag and 480billion. You’ll also discover 2 more songs, which are alternative edits.

+ + + : It’s hard to say if Xotox has renewed its sound, but there definitely is a more toward a more technoid approach. But this rave influence has been mixed with the old industrial elements. It creates an irresistible sound, which was already exposed at the “UFO”-EP. “Zu Tief”, “Welt Alarm” and “Ein Tagtraum Im Regen” all are similar inspired cuts, which will bring you to dance. Andreas Davids also reveals great sound treatments like taking some distance with the brutal industrial style from the past.

The second disc features some essential remixes. “UFO” has been the main song exposed to the remixing skills of artists such as ES23 and Wesenberg both doing an extraordinary job. Krischan Wesenberg probably accomplished the most sophisticated and intelligent remix of the album. I also have to say a word about the devastating groovy-industrial remix by Probe and the raw edit by Pete Crane (Shiv-R). Last, but not least Autoclav 1.1 did a great job as well, transposing “Die Neue Normalität” into an intriguing sound experience.

– – – : A few songs are ending in a rather abrupt way. I’m not saying that I’m missing vocals on this album, but I would be curious to hear what it would sound like.

Conclusion: Xotox is back and the world will take notice! Watch out for “Gestern” means ‘yesterday’, but this album is the sound of the future!

Best songs: “UFO”, “Zu Tief”, “Welt Alarm”, “Ein Tagtraum Im Regen”, “Haunted” + “UFO – Wesenberg Rework”, “UFO – ES23 Remix”, “UFO – Probe Remix”, “UFO – Pete Crane Remix”, “Die Neue Normalität – Autoclav 1.1 Remix”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.xotox.info / www.facebook.com/xotoxmusic

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

About Xotox

Andreas (Andy) Davids set up Xotox in 1998. The project released several self-published albums from 1998 to 2002, and after “Disinhibition” in 2000 began performing live at venues across Germany. In 2002 tracks such as “Eisenkiller” and “Zweischicht” caught the attention of the label Pronoize, which signed the project and released its debut album “Lichtlos”. Davids also runs the dark-ambient project Natura Est with Tony Young of Autoclav 1.1. “Gestern”, reviewed here, was the project’s first full-length on Infacted Recordings; Xotox returned in 2023 with the 17-track album “Ich Bin Da / Ich Funktioniere”, released for the project’s twenty-fifth anniversary, and with the industrial-techno album “Particles” in 2025.

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: IDM, experimental, electro-ambient.

Background/Info: We all know Krischan Jan-Eric Wesenberg as a truly sound wizard involved with bands such as Rotersand and more recently Future Lied To Us and Radioaktivists. But before his involvement with ‘dark’ electronics he was mainly dealing with more danceable and technoid music. He released numerous EP’s as Wesenberg (among other nicknames) and now strikes back with the debut full length of Wesenberg.

The work has something conceptual ‘defining the home as the first and work as the second place, while places of social interaction comprise as third places’.

Content: The concept inspired Wesenberg to achieve a diversified opus, which moves from fragmented, experimental music to IDM to technoid passages and even a kind of lounge parts. The common element between all tracks remains the exceptional sound treatments of this artist.

+ + + : “Third Places” reveals a different side of Krischan Wesenberg; an approach in sound, which sounds miles away from the previously mentioned bands. But he clearly remains a brilliant sound architect, manipulating and creating unique sound treatments. The production is sophisticated, especially the more into IDM-driven cuts (cf. “Everything Nothing”, “Planet”) are the real attention grabbers. The songs are instrumentals, but the diversity of the work makes it all fascinating to explore.

– – – : “Third Places” can’t be compared to the other EBM/future-pop/electro-pop projects of the artist. The music is less accessible or I better should say accessible for another audience.

Conclusion: This work reveals another side of Krischan Jan-Eric Wesenberg, which is perfectly matching with the sound and approach of Audiophob. More than the other bands Wesenberg is involved with, “Third Places” illustrates the composing- and production skills of this great artist.

Best songs: “Everything Nothing”, “Base”, “Planet”, “Hotel Drake”, “Temple”. Rate: (8).

Artist: www.facebook.com/krischanwesenberg

Label: www.audiophob.de / www.facebook.com/audiophob

About Wesenberg

Wesenberg is the solo project of German musician Krischan Jan-Eric Wesenberg, also known for his work with Rotersand and, more recently, Future Lied To Us and Radioaktivists.

Before those darker-leaning projects, Wesenberg released a run of EPs under his own name and other aliases in more danceable, technoid styles. “Third Places”, reviewed here, is his debut full-length as Wesenberg, released in 2018 on Audiophob. He followed it with the single “SW” in 2019 and the album “Counterclockwise” in 2021.

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: Electro-pop, wave-pop.

Background/Info: While you maybe heard of this ‘new’ band before (being featured on a label compilation “Dependence 2012”) “Radioakt One” is the debut full length of Krischan Wesenberg (Rotersand, Future Lied To Us ao), Frank Spinath (Seabound, Lionhearts, Edge Of Dawn, Ghost & Writer ao), Daniel Myer (Haujobb, Architect ao) and Sascha Lange (who seems to make his first steps as a band member). Notice by the way the album is also available as double CD format featuring extra songs and remixes.

Content: When some of the most genius artists from this scene come together with one of the most praised singers you only, but can expect a masterpiece. “Radioakt One” is a record on, which you can hear the input of the ‘three’ big names from the band. Some arrangements and sound treatments are clearly reminding to Rotersand while more evasive atmospheres sound like the trademark of Daniel Myer while Frank Spinath has this unique timbre of voice. The songs sound like a very personal and somewhat future-like vision of electro-pop.

+ + + : Radioaktivists clearly is the meeting between some of the biggest names active at the wider German fields of electro-underground music. And the good thing is that they clearly have injected their very own touch to the work, which resulted in a harmonious and accomplished work. The album sounds as a sonic exploration moving from evasive passages towards a few harder cuts. But in the end it all remains an album, which is more made to listen to instead of music for the dancefloor. I personally like the darker and even anguished parts such as the last track “Leere”. I also have to recommend “Radioactive” for the osmosis of Haujobb and Rotersand plus “I Want You”, which is the most accomplished and artistic piece of the work.

– – – : No doubt about it, this album will get a great response and especially in Germany, but it also is a rather complex piece of music. It’s not exactly the most accessible music, which also is hard to label.

Conclusion: The good thing is that Radioaktivists are playing live so this album might be more than a one-shot project. Let’s now hope that there’ll be a harmony between those artists instead of an ego-clash.

Best songs: “I Want You”, “Radioactive”, “Sinner”, “Leere”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.facebook.com/Radioaktivists

Label: www.dependent.de / www.facebook.com/dependent.records

About Radioaktivists

Radioaktivists is a German electro-pop project bringing together Krischan Wesenberg (Rotersand, Future Lied To Us), Frank Spinath (Seabound), Daniel Myer (Haujobb) and Sascha Lange. “Radioakt One”, reviewed here, is the project’s debut album on Dependent Records, following its earlier appearance on the label compilation “Dependence 2012”.

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: Future-pop, electro-pop.

Background/Info: The German trio Tom Lesczenski ([:SITD:]), Vasi Vallis (Frozen Plasma, Reaper, NamNamBulu) and Krischan Wesenberg (Rotersand) took us by surprise in early 2018 with the great “Presence”-album released on Infacted Recordings. The trio is already back now with a 5-songs mini-album released on Trisol.

Content: This production is quite easy to review; you get 2 impressive songs, 1 cool track and 2 B-side cuts. Sound-wise this mature and talented trio is once again mixing elements of high-danceable and well-crafted future-pop with rather classical electro-pop tracks. Some songs are pretty Rotersand-like and I especially refer to the sound treatments and some arrangements.

+ + + : I first of all like the format of this record; mini-albums are somewhat forgotten productions, which according to me are far more interesting than EP’s with an endless number of remixes. We here get 5 new songs and especially “Second Lies” and “Blaze In The Dark” both are intelligent and sophisticated cuts. The strength of this music is all about the sound treatments, but still the high degree of dance-ability. The global production process (music and vocals) is totally accomplished and sound high-tech!

– – – : There’s no real reason to complain. After a brilliant debut album, this mini-album simply confirms the endless potential of this formation. The “Fear And Hope”-song is maybe my single regret about this work for being less inspired.

Conclusion: When you bring little geniuses together you only, but can expect a little sonic jewel. I’m really wondering where those sound architects will end!?

Best songs: “Second Lies”, “Blaze In The Dark”, “Break Me Into Pieces”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.facebook.com/futureliedtous

Label: www.trisol.de / www.facebook.com/pages/Trisol–Music–Group/104166526285471

About Future Lied To Us

Future Lied To Us is a German trio of Tom Lesczenski (SITD), Vasi Vallis (Frozen Plasma, Reaper, NamNamBulu) and Krischan Wesenberg (Rotersand). The project’s debut album, “Presence“, was released on Infacted Recordings in early 2018. The five-track mini-album “Progress”, reviewed here, followed later that year on Trisol.

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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Read the news on ‘Atoms In Fury’.

About Lederman / De Meyer

Lederman / De Meyer pairs two veteran Belgian electronic musicians: Jean-Marc Lederman, previously of The Weathermen (with Tuxedomoon’s Bruce Geduldig) and a past collaborator of Fad Gadget, and Jean-Luc De Meyer, vocalist of Front 242 since 1982. The duo released its debut album, “Eleven Grinding Songs”, on Alfa Matrix in 2018, followed by EPs drawn from the album including “Atoms In Fury”, 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

Read the review of ‘Atoms In Fury’.

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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Genre/Influences: Gothic-pop, electro-wave.

Background/Info: The Nachtmahr commander and the Persephone nymph are joining hands again for their Mothership project; the band with which Thomas Rainer and Sonja Sonja Kraushofer got successful and word-wide recognized. “Hinter Dem Horizont” is the first new studio album in four years for L’Âme Immortelle. Next to the ‘standard’ edition there also is a limited edition featuring an extra disc.

Content: If my info is right, this must be the 13^th studio album from the Austrian duo. They hold on the basic elements, which made their sound easily recognizable. There’s the impact of Sonja’s charismatic vocals, but still the melodic aspect of the work. The songs are moving in between gothic atmospheres and dark-pop arrangements. Thomas Rainer is singing as well, creating this complementary sensation between both members.

+ + + : “Hinter Dem Horizont” doesn’t sound as a get back to the roots, but you still can hear the original melodic approach mixed with a mature and contemporary approach. This album moves on there where “Drahtseilakt” stopped. It’s album filled with harmony and an emotive content. Thomas Rainer once more confirms his skills to write great melody lines and elevating choruses. But I think it still is one of the most delicate compositions by L’Âme Immortelle. It’s the kind of composition on, which I can easily imagine both members being joined by authentic, acoustic instruments just to empower the sensitive touch of the work. So I guess it’s not of a coincidence they invited a guest musician to play piano on one of the cuts. Notice by the way the album got mastered and produced by Krischan Wesenberg.

– – – : If there’s one regret I can imagine about this work I should dare to say I’m maybe missing a hit that would enter into the band’s history. What I want to say is that I noticed multiple great songs, but maybe not a new  “Bitterkeit” and “Life Will Be Never The Same Again”.

Conclusion: No doubt about it, L’Âme Immortellle will fully satisfy their fans with their most polished and accomplished work to date… which however doesn’t mean it’s their best record ever.

Best songs: “Schwerkraft”, “Treiben”, “Am Ende Aller Tage”, “Memories”.

Rate: (8).

Band: www.facebook.com/LAI.official

Label: www.trisol.de / www.facebook.com/pages/Trisol–Music–Group/104166526285471

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: Cyber-punk, punk-pop.

Background/Info: Super Dragon Punch!! Is a Belgian project set up and driven by Jérémie Venganza. This artist is already busy with music for numerous years and has been previously involved with RANkOR. “Shatter” is the official debut of Super Dragon Punch!! who claims to be inspired by ‘retro gaming and 80s synths’.

Content: This EP features 4 songs and 4 remixes. The sound is raw and somewhat polished during the choruses. The composition is a weird, but efficient electronic punk-pop fusion. I also noticed some technoid arrangements. The vocals match the punk-pop approach.

Remixes were made by Assemblage 23, Terrolokaust, Iszoloscope and WoTTw. Notice by the way Venganza didn’t spare any effort to bring his work to a higher level, asking Krischan Wesenberg to mix and master the songs.

+ + + : Even if I already heard a lot of good reactions about Super Dragon Punch!! I was really wondering how this EP would sound. I discovered a well-crafted and elaborated composition, which is for sure danceable, but especially dealing with an interesting symbiosis between pop and punk. It’s not that easy to really seize and define the sound of this band, but it definitely is an interesting approach. Super Dragon Punch!! is not a copyist and avoids reinventing old-standards such as future-pop. The remixes have been made by an interesting selection of artists dealing with very different electronic formats. I especially recommend the Assemblage 23 remix of “Inspire”, which is more efficient than the original version. Terrolokaust did a great job as well. The remixes are quite club orientated and that’s what we might expect from an EP. Last, but not least I also want to say a word about the digipak format revealing the ambition of this artist.

– – – : This EP serves as a solid basis to go on with. I think there are some elements of the composition (like melody lines) which can be more elaborated while the production of the vocals can be better as well. But globally speaking this is an interesting debut!

Conclusion: This EP reveals an interesting approach in electronic underground music. It’s the kind of sound that will not appeal for one specific audience and that might be the strength of Super Dragon Punch!!

Best songs: “Pure”, “Inspire – Assemblage 23 Remix”, “Pure – Terrolokaust Remix”.

Rate: (7½).

Band: www.superdragonpunch.com / www.facebook.com/superdragonpunch

Label: www.echozone.de / www.facebook.com/EchozoneMusic

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

Set up and driven by the creative spirit of Florian Schäfer and Oliver Goetz, German formation Noyce™ is already active for more than 20 years now. They released their fourth full length album “Love Ends” at the end of 2017, which also was their first new opus in eight years. The album released on Focile Art Tribe belongs to one of the best productions from 2017. It’s an opus filled with delicacy and passion resulting in a truly artistic piece, which you can’t really compare to any other band. I got in touch with Florian Schäfer who perfectly transposed this ‘passion’ in his answers. A fascinating read…

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: The least I can say is that Noyce™ is not releasing new albums on regular basis. So how does it feel to have achieved this fourth full length in history and what explains the gap of time between the albums?

Florian: I know… 4 albums in a period of 21 years is at the first view not a massive output and I understand that you and others ask why there is always that big gap between the releases. Well… we are 100% independent and so we’ve to pay everything ourselves. Instruments, studio costs and mixing, CD-artwork and CD-printing, DJ- and print promotion, advertising… everything. On the other side we try to hold up the high level we build in the past with good songs and meaningful lyrics, a brilliant sound and a special artwork. So it costs a lot of money and our songs always need a lot of time to get accomplished.

Our songs are ready when we feel the goose bumps on our skin… when we think the sound pictures are now nearly perfectly painted. But nothing matters more than the fact that we do music because we love it and because it is our passion. So the best and logic answer to your question will be ‘we do music because we love music and not longing for being commercial, successful or to get 45min of fame on a festival stage’!

Q: “Love Ends” is a somewhat pessimistic and melancholic title while lyrical wise we all can feel it’s a very intimate piece of work. What did you try to express and maybe exorcize on “Love Ends”?

Florian: Even if “Love Ends” is a pessimistic- and yes… a melancholic title, the album should express love. Love is always a better answer than hate. A ‘hello’ is better than a ‘go away’. We have songs about the new nationalism all over the world, refugees, hates peech, populism… the world change because some people fear that this have an impact of their lives. but is that fear that big? I mean in “Die Ungeliebten” we count dates of terrorism attacks from the last back to the first which is 9/11. But it needs that date to understand what the song is about? Strange, isn’t it? I mean you normally should remember the closer dates. Maybe this is a kind of human protective mechanism or simply ignorance. Is it indifference or missing empathy? At the end we tried all songs should spread love and hope so that we all start questioning about our lives and that humanity and empathy both play again a bigger role in the future.

Q: Sound wise Noyce™ remain a mystery to me. Your music is not exactly belonging to an established music genre rather than bringing multiple influences together. It might also explain a part of your success, but what’s your own perception of this success story?

Florian : Oliver and me grew up with bands like Yello, Ultravox or Depeche Mode, but we also liked Nine Inch Nails, And Also The Trees, The Young Gods or Clan Of Xymox. I guess if you mix all these bands together you will get something what sounds like NOYCE™. It has always been our claim not to copy ourselves. I mean it would be easy to do an album full of “Fall[out]”-songs, but where is the creativity then? I guess most of the people buying our CDs expect something special… simply the unexpected. In my point of view nothing is more boring in music than when every song sounds the same; if just the lyrics, the bpm’s or the sounds change a little bit… but more or less every song is equal. If a band cover their own songs in the eternal loop!

Of course, it always depends on what and how you want to reach your goal with your music. If I want to earn money then it is like a job. You need to be commercial. But this is not our motivation because we love what we do. We want to make music with an artistic aspect; music with a repertoire and value in a fast-moving and instant fame-oriented world. So simply… music we love! And if you understand music as art like we do then it doesn‘t need a genre, but it simply needs the listeners and their opinion… they’ll like it or not.

Q: You didn’t spare any effort to get the album the best as possible asking famous producers like John Fryer and Krischan Wesenberg to contribute to the album. How was it working with those renowned artists and what has been their impact at the final result?

Florian: We asked John Fryer because Oliver an me love some albums he mixed and produced in the past. “Pretty Hate Machine“ from NIN, “Medusa“ from Clan Of Xymox, “Head/Down” from Moev to give you a few examples. So we contact and simply ask him if he would mix 3 songs. We’d fun working together, but he doesn‘t produced the songs, so there were no ideas or sounds from his side. It was simply not possible because when he starts with “The World Is Quiet“ he lived in Norway and when he worked on the mixes of “Brave New World“ and “Propaganda“ he lived in Los Angeles.

About Krischan, we know each other for a couple of years now and he mixed “Heimat“ and in 2012 he helped us to give “Fall[out]“ the right sound and a great mix. He would say his impact was not that big, but all the sessions in his studio plus the coffee breaks where we discussed about the music scene gave us the right motivation to start working again with him. Sadly it was not possible to do more songs because he is very busy and we… well… are very slow in producing songs.

The main part of the album was mixed by sound fetishist Adrian Le Monde. He gave “Love Ends“ that brilliant homogenous sound for that we are longing for and he did some awesome mixes as well. To make it short, it was a real pleasure working with those great people.

Q: What’s the link between the title “Brave New World” and the famous novel of Aldous Huxley? Do you feel close with the so-called ‘dystopian writers’ such as Huxley, Orwell, Burgess and co?

Florian: There is no direct link but if then our “Brave New World” describes the revolution against Huxley’s world. It is the last wake up-call for a revolution to wake up and don‘t let it happens. But if you open your eyes you can see some parts from Huxley’s world are becoming real in some countries. Turkey, United States, Russia, Syria, North-Korea have all leaders who don’t serve the people. The rebirth of nationalism in Europe, Populism where lies are sold as truth, hate speeches on internet or the end of laws and jurisdiction. We don’t need science fiction books…  we sadly write new ones.

Q: I remember your previous band Silence Gift, so are there some elements and influences you still recognize from this band in Noyce™? I’m also wondered what you think about the evolution in the music writing, production techniques, social media ao between the 90s and today?

Florian: Silence Gift was exactly what we wanted to do in the beginning of the 90s, but it sounded very pop/wave and cut our musically freedom. This is why we found NOYCE™ to do whatever we want to do.

I think most of the NOYCE™ songs sound just like Silence Gift would have sound today. I’m sure that in the future we will continue to dress Silence Gift songs in a NOYCE™ robe as we have already done with some songs.

I‘m not quite sure if there still is an evolution in the music scene. Sure it is not easy to do something completely new, but most of the newer bands just try to sound like VNV Nation, Suicide Commando or Rammstein. As I explained before, it is the best way to get your 5 minutes of fame, but musically it is boring. Production-wise it is sad that a lot of these newer bands are not able, even with today’s possibilities, to reach the production level of… for example Skinny Puppy‘s “Worlock“. I mean the song is nearly 30 years old! So some of them produce their stuff at home using some apps for free, load up at Facebook and think, after receiving 13 likes, ‘we are the ones everybody is waiting for even no producer or mixer involved’! So the quality is poor. The next step is that they pay to play at festivals. They don’t see that this is ridiculous.

The last newer band who are really brilliant and unique in my eyes is Empathy Test. It’s very well produced and mixed featuring great lyrics and well-done artwork. Sure not every new band is crap and not everything from the past is brilliant, but in my point of view there was simply a lot more variety. One thing is for sure, music has lost its value through Spotify and others. Even if people still listen to music, the result will be that in some years only equal commercial music will survive.

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: Electro-pop, wave-pop, goth-pop.

Background/Info: Düsseldorfer (Germany) formation Noyce™ is not releasing new albums on regular basis although the band driven by Florian Schäfer remains pretty ‘hot’ especially in their homeland. They now finally strike back with “Love Ends” revealing twelve songs. Among the tracklist you’ll recognize previous EP-title songs “Fall[Out] and “Sense Of Despair”. Notice by the way John Fryer and Krischan Wesenberg (Rotersand) mixed several tracks from this opus.

Content: Noyce™ took their time to accomplish this album, which is a great and mature composition. It’s not that easy to define the sound of the band, but they clearly mix different elements together, which in the end are always polished with a ‘pop’ touch. Guitar and electronics are in perfect balance, but you also will notice violin playing injecting a more sensitive and melancholic flavor.

+ + + : The songs have been masterly accomplished and I think we here can speak about the ‘opus magnum’ of the band. The work is blending delicious melancholic atmospheres with elevating choruses. The tracks have been meticulously and progressively built up, which often resulted in a truly climax. “The World Is Quiet” and “Love Ends” are the perfect apotheosis for this album. Somewhere in between beautiful melancholia and harder, pumping passages (cf. “Fall[Out]”) the work also reveals symphonic arrangements and even a cool experimental cut (cf. “Die Ungeliebten”). The songs are diversified and that’s an essential element you also will notice in the vocals’ production. Florian Schäfer sings in German and English language accentuating this diversity. Last, but not least I also have to mention the great artwork of the digipak format.

– – – : “Love Ends” definitely is one of 2017 major albums so I don’t really see minus points.

Conclusion: Noyce™ has released the ‘perfect’ album, which can’t be compared to any other formation, but strives for an original sound with strong lyrical themes.

Best songs: “Love Ends”, “Fall[Out], “The World Is Quiet”, “Brave New World”, “Propaganda”.

Rate: (8½).

Band & Label: www.noycetm.de / www.facebook.com/pg/noycetm

About Noyce™

Noyce™ was founded in 1997 by former members of Silence Gift and is built around Oliver Fritz Goetz and Florian Schäfer. “Love Ends” revisits two earlier EP title tracks, “Fall[Out]” and “Sense Of Despair”, and was mixed in part by John Fryer and Krischan Wesenberg of Rotersand.

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: Electro-pop.

Background/Info: Versus is a German electro-pop band, which I remember from the cool album “Different Twilight Places” released in 2010 on Echozone. So we might say that “Freakwaves” is a kind of return for this band claiming to compose ‘AhoiPop’. It stands for ‘catchy melodies, epic hymns, addictive ballads and smart clubhits. AhoiPop stands for honest, poignant and profound lyrics’. I guess that’s not that different from numerous electro-pop bands!

Content: “Freakwaves” is a pleasant and danceable electronic work, which is alternating German- and English vocal parts. Some of the songs sung in German remind me a bit of Beborn Beton while the most danceable and melodic pieces might evoke some Syntec elements. The Syntec-link is quite interesting as I discovered after the listening that Toby Hartwig (Syntec) contributed to one of the tracks. Other noticeable guests are Vasi Vallis (Frozen Plasma, NamNamBulu) and Nils Upahl (Beyond Obsession).

But Versus first of all is a band trying to compose a unique sound. They like diversity, and experiment with a few different influences. Some songs are softer and a bit into electronic ballad style while other cuts are carried by some EBM elements. I also noticed a song with a rather minimal-like approach (cf. “Gloaming”).

+ + + : “Freakwaves” is a successful return for Versus. This is the right work to bring the band back on the electro-pop map. The songs are diversified and well-crafted. There’s a perfect balance between melodies, danceable vibes, German- and English vocals. The album is maybe missing an absolute hit song, but there are several great tracks. Last, but not least Versus also invites interesting guests who contributed to a few songs while Krischan Wesenberg (Rotersand) did the production.

– – – : There are no real minor points about this work. As I already mentioned the album is maybe missing a real hit while the few softer cuts aren’t the main strength of Versus.

Conclusion: Versus is back on track and has accomplished an exciting piece of dance electro-pop music. The right definition for ‘AhoiPop’ is maybe and simply ‘intelligent electro-pop’!

Best songs: “Wir Sind Anders”, “Freakwaves”, “Love2Go”, “Gloaming”, “Immer Dann”.

Rate: (8).

Band: www.versus–music.de / www.facebook.com/Versus2

Label: www.darktunes.com / www.facebook.com/darkTunesMusic

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

Background/Info:

Read the news on ‘Capitalism TM’.

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 DWA’s Bandcamp page is an 8-track digital EP by Canada’s Nitro/Noise featuring remixes from Zardonic, Dope Stars Inc., Faderhead, Rotersand, Raimon and Seraphim System. The track is taken from Nitro/Noise’s second album “No Cure For Apocalypse” which came out last year in conjunction with the band’s first EU tour.

A heavyweight 12″ vinyl version holding 4 tracks per side is also in the making (and can also be pre-ordered here) and will be released in a couple of weeks. Good to know, for the vinyl edition Krischan Wesenberg’s Rotersand rework, which first appeared on the CD2 of the now sold out 2CD edition of “No Cure For Apocalypse”, was remastered – alongside the different Rotersand redub version which was subsequently released on the special DWA compilation available with Orkus! Magazin’s summer edition last year. Bass metal act Zardonic offers the opening track, plus an instrumental version for DJs pressed on the B-side of the record.

The vinyl is strictly limited to 100 units only and comes complete with hand-numbered black outer sleeve screen-printed in yellow and white, matching black poly-lined inner sleeves for maximum protection, plus of course a download code for all 8 tracks. Front cover artwork comes, like the “No Cure For Apocalypse” album itself, from Estonian artist Darius Alas.

You can preview the release 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!

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