The Danish duo Am Tierpark celebrates 10 years of music-making. Comprised of Claus Larsen (known for Leaether Strip, Klute ao) and John R. Mirland (Mirland ao), they present their fifth album, staying true to their distinctive Electro-Pop sound. Across 10 tracks, the music feels both familiar and fresh, with verses that are often darker and more intense, driven by heavy basslines, before transitioning into melodic, sometimes playful, choruses. Am Tierpark delivers what can be described as ‘dirty Electro-Pop’, a style I’ve come to appreciate. The album is filled with unmistakable 80s influences, noticeable in the typical effects, drum programming, and melodies. “In Dreams” stands out as one of the best Am Tierpark tracks I’ve heard, though the album is packed with other gems waiting to be discovered. (Rate:8).

Listen to “In Dreams”:

About Am Tierpark

Am Tierpark is the Danish synthpop and EBM duo of vocalist Claus Larsen, the man behind Leaether Strip, and programmer and keyboardist John R. Mirland, who also records solo as Mirland. The duo marked ten years of music-making in 2024 with the release of “Shameless”.

The project released a split 7-inch single with En Esch, “Do Me / No One Can Be Changed”, in 2016 on Distortion Productions. The albums followed on the Læbel imprint: “Uncaged” and “Trashy Luxury” in 2017, “Kings Of Failure” in 2019, and “Forevermore” in 2022. Mirland talked about his various projects in an earlier Side-Line interview.

“Shameless”, again released through Læbel as a digital and CD album, is the duo’s fifth full-length and the release reviewed here.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

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After a hiatus of 13 years, the Greek dark electro act Inline Sex Terror is making a comeback with a new album and a European tour scheduled for this winter. These upcoming shows will mark the band’s first performances in 15 years.

The band was formed in 2002 under the name Zerstörwut as a solo project of DV/H alias George.H, who was a resident DJ and promoter in Athens, Greece, at the time. After 5 years, DV/H decided to make fewer appearances in the club scene and focus on creating and producing music for Zerstörwut.

In 2008, the project changed its name to Inline Sex Terror. The band signed to the German label Danse Macabre Records to release their debut album in August of the same year: “11:11”. Two years later, the project returned with the “Distorted Life” EP holding three new tracks and ten remixes from bands such as Leaether Strip, FabrikC, Supreme Court, Beati Mortui, Implant, C-Lekktor, Kadaver Acht, V2A, Without Recognition, and Concrete Rage.

Shortly after releasing the EP, DV/H returned to his own studio to begin working on the next album. In 2011, the project released the album “The Architecture of Madness” under a new label (DSBP/Minusbeat). Over the following years, Inline Sex Terror became dormant due to personal problems of DV/H. Only two new songs were created and released on compilations, and in 2017, DV/H declared Inline Sex Terror inactive.

Fast forward to 2024, DV/H has brought Inline Sex Terror out of its coma and is working on a new album. After the album is released, a European tour will follow, marking IST’s return to the stage after 15 years.

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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Nearly two decades after their last official release, electro/industrial band Flesh Field returned with the album “Voice of the Echo Chamber” via Metropolis in 2023. Now comes “Voice of Reason”, boasting 5 remixes from Leæther Strip, genCAB, Panic Lift, System Syn and Terminal along with 7 new tracks, one that includes a guest appearance by Jennifer Parkin from Ayria. “Voice of Reason”, is out today from Metropolis Records on all digital and streaming platforms.

“Voice of the Echo Chamber” came 19 years after the band’s latest album “Strain” which was released in 2004.

About Flesh Field

Flesh Field is an American electronic / industrial band formed in 1996 by Ian Ross in Columbus, Ohio, US. Rian Miller joined the band in 1997 to contribute female vocals. The band’s debut album “Viral Extinction” was followed by the highly successful EP “Redemption” in 2000, which marked the big breakthrough for the project. The second album “Belief Control” (2001) became a worldwide success in the electro scene. In 2004, Rian was replaced by another female vocalist, Wendy Yanko for the 2004 album “Strain”. It would be the band’s last album.

In January 2011, Ian Ross pronounced the retirement of Flesh Field as a musical project. Some tracks were released in digital form in the same year, as “Tyranny of the Majority”. Two of the tracks off the digital album were included on some compilations but that was that. Until last year that is.

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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Out now is a special live video performance of Lore with Claus Larsen of Leaether Strip bringing “Take Me Down Tonight (Leaether Strip remix)”. The video was shot during a Leaether Strip live show in Las Vegas, NV on January 25, 2024 where Lore joined Larsen on stage.

The original track is featured on the “Take Me Down Tonight” EP which was released on June 20, 2023. This live version however features music which is 100% different from the original song.

Below is the remix as it was released.

Lore has been featured on Side-Line in the past thanks to her work with London After Midnight, her own work, including her debut album “My Soul Speaks” which also featured Sean Brennan on the track “Haunting”. Later on she released “Deadly Sessions (Live)”, including 3 songs and videos which was self released on her own label, Into Bliss Music.

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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(Photo by Maf Lewis) On Friday, January 19, Austin (TX) based band SINE (the project by Rona Rougeheart) will release a new album entitled “Luxuria”. “Luxuria” was produced by Danish industrial artist and producer Claus Larsen from Leaether Strip. The album will be available on digital, CD, and vinyl formats, and pre-orders are already open on Bandcamp through eMERGENCY heARTS and Re:Mission Entertainment.

Here’s what Claus says about working on the album: “Working on these great songs was hyper-inspiring for me. It was such a pleasure to be let into her dark universe with its slow, captivating grooves. Rona (Rougeheart) has huge talent, and working with a fellow artist with such passion is an honor for me.”

Rona Rougeheart adds: “When I sent Claus my demos for the album, I didn’t have any particular direction in mind for him. I didn’t want to influence him. I wanted him to be inspired in the moment. The final production of the songs he sent back was everything I hoped for in our collaboration and more!”

Along with Larsen, hip hop producer AwareNess from Denver (CO) also contributed to the album with a song entitled ‘Dark Matters’. It was the last song added to the album, resulting from a collaboration between AwareNess and SINE.

Rona explains how the collaboration came about: “I had been discussing a potential collaboration with the artists Time and AwareNess (who have a project called calm.) for a while. It wasn’t until one day when AwareNess randomly sent me a music sample and asked for my thoughts. I liked it but suggested, “You can go darker…like, way darker”. He quickly returned with a sample of the darkest, sexiest soundtrack, which was incredible! It’s one of my favorites, and I can’t wait to do more with him!”

The album also saw additional production, mixing, and mastering by another Denver-based artist and producer, Chase Dobson. Dobson’s resume includes production work for Curse Mackey’s two solo albums, various solo endeavors, and live production with artists such as Kanye West, Rihanna, M83, Tycho, Rüfüs Du Sol, and Röyksopp.

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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Following up on their debut album “Sins Of The Future”, the US/Danish EBM outfit Emergency Sequence return with the “The People Are Broken (The Remixes)” EP. The EP is out via Re:Mission Entertainment and available for immediate download.

The four-track EP contains three club remixes from Leaether Strip, the dark electro/synth pop duo Am Tierpark, the minimal electro outfit Divider and an industrial rock / punk version from rockers Gusten.

Behind Emergency Sequence we find Bryon Wilson and John Mirland – respectively known for diverse projects like Divider, Mirland, Am Tierpark and many more. The duo joined forces in 2020 as the EBM duo Emergency Sequence (also known as ESEQ) debuting with the single “1938”.

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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VampireFreaks announces Dark Force Fest 2024, a 3-day gothic-industrial music festival and convention. Dark Force Fest will be held April 19th – 21st, 2024 in Parsippany, New Jersey.

In addition to live bands on two stages, Dark Force Fest also features drag queen performances, sideshow acts, a live bats exhibit, band meet-and-greets, DJ club events, 100+ vendors, panels, presentations, meet-ups, food trucks, and spooky crafting activities. Dark Force Fest takes place in Parsippany, NJ (1 hour from New York City), where goths from around the world congregate and take over the massive castle-themed Sheraton Parsippany—including 44,000 square feet of event space and all 370 hotel rooms. The castle will be adorned in gothic décor and art installations for an immersive experience. Rooms in the main venue sold out within 2 days of announcing the dates, but there are still overflow hotels in the area.

The festival lineup includes live performances from:

Stabbing Westward, Nitzer Ebb, The Crüxshadows, Leaether Strip, Gothminister, Das Ich, Priest, Vision Video, Vampires Everywhere, Then Comes Silence, Ayria, Ash Code, System Syn, Dawn of Ashes, FGFC820, Moris Blak, Danny Blu, Kanga, Auger, Creux Lies, Angels & Agony, I:scintilla, Ego Likeness. Abstinence, Nite, Al1ce, Astari Nite, Mechanical Vein, The Long Losts, October Noir, Biomechanimal, Eva X, Stoneburner, Oberer and Rabbit Junk.

Activities include:

• Over 100 Vendors
• A drag queen show hosted by Onyx Ondyx
• Sideshow performances
• A live bats exhibit and presentation by NJ Batman
• Dj club events playing goth-industrial music
• Panels and presentations
• Arts & crafts activities
• Food Trucks
• Karaoke

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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Out now via Re:Mission Entertainment/ eMERGENCY heARTS is the all new single from the electro industrial act SINE, “From Beyond”. The release features Claus Larsen of Leaether Strip, on vocals.

“From Beyond” is the lead single to SINE’s forthcoming album, “Luxuria”, which is also produced by Claus Larsen.

Here’s what Claus says about working on the album: “Working on these great songs was hyper inspiring for me. It is such a pleasure to be let into her dark universe and slow captivating grooves. Rona has a huge talent, and working with a fellow artist with such a passion is an honor for me.”

SINE’s Rona adds: “When I sent Claus my demos for the album, all songs but one had lyrics and vocals, so I asked Claus if he would want to do a guest vocal on the track for fun. He agreed and said he was thinking the same thing! It was great! I did not coach him on what to do. I told him to go with his inspiration, and when he returned the track, I knew it had to be the first single! I love it!”

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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Fresh from two recently completed tour runs across the US, first as the headlining act and second alongside Ministry and Gary Numan, EBM legends Front Line Assembly release a brand new single today, a dark electronic reimagining of Rammstein’s “Deutschland” track.

“Deutschland” was released as the lead single from their untitled seventh studio album on 28 March 2019, it was their first new music since the song “Mein Land” in 2011. The song’s music video was directed by Specter Berlin and sparked controversy because of its dark, violent, and macabre style featuring various events from German history, including Roman times, the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, the Middle Ages, witch hunting, the November Revolution, the Golden Twenties, Nazi book burnings, the Hindenburg disaster, the First and Second World Wars, the Holocaust, the Weimar Republic, the Red Army Faction, and the division of the country into West and East Germany. The most obviously shocking scene references the Holocaust and the Nazi period. Four members of the band, in the striped uniforms of camp inmates, wait at the gallows, about to be hanged. They wear the cloth emblems used to identify their ‘crimes’: a pink triangle for homosexual prisoners, a yellow star for Jewish prisoners, a red and yellow star for Jewish political prisoners.

It also featured science fiction scenes set in outer space, cannibalism in which people were eating Germania, the personification of Germany, and a bank robbery featuring lead singer Till Lindemann crossdressing as Ulrike Meinhof. The song also twice uses the line “Deutschland, Deutschland über allen” (“Germany, Germany above everyone”) as a reference to “Deutschland, Deutschland über alles” (“Germany, Germany above everything”) from the Deutschlandlied.

Front Line Assembly’s cover serves as a standout track on the upcoming (August 25th.) cover compilation, “A Tribute to Rammstein”, featuring both old and new school industrial acts. Included in the 13-track strong release are renditions by Burton C Bell, Big Paul Ferguson & MGT, Front Line Assembly, Skold, Priest, Laibach, The 69 Eyes, Jah Wobble & Jon Klein, Julien-K, Stoneman, Lacrimas Profundere, Manntra, Original God and Leæther Strip.

Side-Line also covered Front Line Assembly’s ‘Mechvirus’.

About Front Line Assembly

Front Line Assembly is a Canadian electro-industrial project founded in Vancouver in 1986 by Bill Leeb (born 21 September 1966, Vienna, Austria), who had left industrial band Skinny Puppy that year. Early collaborators included Michael Balch, later joined by Rhys Fulber and Chris Peterson. Balch departed in 1990, after which Fulber became Leeb’s full creative partner. Key albums include “Caustic Grip” (1990), “Tactical Neural Implant” (1992), “Millennium” (1994), “Hard Wired” (1995), “Implode” (1999), “Epitaph” (2001), “Civilization” (2004) and “Echogenetic” (2013).

Front Line Assembly recorded a dark-electronic cover of Rammstein’s “Deutschland,” released as a single on 3 July 2023 ahead of Cleopatra Records’ various-artists compilation “A Tribute to Rammstein,” released 25 August 2023 with contributions from Burton C. Bell, Laibach, Skold and others. The “Deutschland” cover preceded Cleopatra Records’ “A Tribute to Rammstein” compilation, released 25 August 2023 with contributions from Laibach, Skold and Burton C. Bell, among others.

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: Electro-Pop, EBM

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Canadian Jonathan Kaplan is already active under the For All The Emptiness moniker for a while. After multiple self-releases he signed to Infacted Recordings. “Used And Violated” was released by the end of 2020. It was produced by Sebastian Komor while guest singers Claus Larsen (Leaether Strip), Computorgirl, Gabrielle Gustafson (Eva X) and Daniel Graves (Aesthetic Perfection) joined in.

Content: The EP rather looks like a mini-album featuring 5 different tracks. The songs are diversified, mixing breakbeats with Electro-Pop while there’s also a song with a menacing EBM bass line. It’s a powerful and catchy production with different singers.

+ + + : Jonathan Kaplan isn’t emulating Electro-Pop standards but simply brings different influences together. The way he mixed catchy Pop together with dynamic Breakbeats is a true original idea although still a challenge. I like challenges and especially when it resulted from a creative process -featuring inspired guests, resulting in alluring songs like the title track but also “Sell The Sins” featuring Claus Larsen and Daniel Graves. My personal favorite one however is the powerful and ultra-catchy “Dead Inside” featuring Computorgirl.

– – – : The last song is a poorly inspired cut which serves as the antithesis to the rest of the work.

Conclusion: “Used and Violated” is a creative Electro-Pop production which will get you into a frenetic dance.

Best songs: “Dead Inside”, “Sell The Sins”, “Used And Violated”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.facebook.com/foralltheemptiness

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

Listen to “Used And Violated”:

About For All The Emptiness

For All The Emptiness is a dark electro project from Toronto, Canada, started as an idea by vocalist and composer Jonathan Kaplan. The project released its debut album “Axioms” in 2011, produced by Yone of Decoded Feedback, followed by a 2012 remix version featuring contributions from Assemblage 23, Beborn Beton and Decoded Feedback. The band’s third release, the “mt” EP, was produced and mixed by Sebastian Komor of Icon of Coil in 2017. Komor also produced “Used And Violated”, released via Infacted Recordings on Bandcamp on December 9, 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.

www.side-line.com

Los Angeles-based Johnathan Mooney and Stockholm’s Christian Granquist otherwise known as the Trans-Atlantic post-punk project, Johnathan|Christian have released their latest EP, “Strip Me”.

The 7-track EP tells a story through a trilogy of songs, “Strip Me,” “Sway Back” and “This Too”. The topics addressed in the trilogy include acknowledging the fear of rejection, love’s often finite nature, hitting bottom and trying to find ways out. The EP is augmented with remixes by Ministry’s John Bechdel, Leæther Strip, and Steven Archer (Stone Burner/Ego Likeness). The 7th track is called “Cela Aussi (épilogue)”.

The music video for “Strip Me” was produced by Purple Tree Creative’s Nick Van Dyk and takes a subliminal approach in terms of the cuts and imagery addressing the challenges of a relationship.

The band explains: “The animated video aims to explore the different emotions and experiences that come with the life cycle of a relationship in a unique and visually striking way. By using abstract imagery, the video aims to create a powerful and thought-provoking response that can help those going through challenges to understand better and process their feelings, even if it may be on a subconscious level. The video’s goal is to convey empathy and the chaos that comes with the experience of a relationship.”

You can check out the full EP below. Read the review of ‘Strip Me’.

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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Eric Manchiniste from the Belgian electro band DI*ove informs that there is a brand new 6 tracks EP from the project. One of the tracks, “Fly Naked”, features Leaether Strip next to Nina Delaye (who offers a very cold but effective vocal line) and Sacha Delone.

The release is available as a very limited MCD and as download via Bandcamp as you can see below.

DI*ove stands for minimalistic electro focussed on eighties synthpop and has a very PNE-sound.

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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I discovered Danish musician/producer John R. Mirland by the IDM project Holm/Mirland. That was a way back and he never stopped getting involved with new- and very different projects. Together with Claus Larsen het set up the Electro-Pop formation AM Tierpark, but they’re also releasing productions as Mirland/Larsen and Gusten. Other projects like M73, Negant and Emergency Sequence are more into EBM. Eisenwolf is dealing with Metal and Bitter Distrust has something Punkish. This interview is more focalized on the last Mirland-album “Compromise Is Defeat”. The work sounds more Industrial-like while featuring Trance/Techno influences. The album has been released on Læbel, which is driven by John Mirland and Claus Larsen.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Tell us a bit more about your music background and how did you finally start to compose your own music and getting involved with all different kinds of projects?

John: I grew up in a home where music was always playing and my parents spooned me everything from The Beatles to Pink Floyd over southern blues to classical masterpieces. So I was brought up with a very broad interest in music. However for many years I didn’t play an instrument myself since I wanted to be a painter or illustrator. In high school I began playing the drums.

In 1994 I met a guy called Zwoo who was part of the C64/Amiga demo scene. He was deep into sampling and sound design and he taught me a lot. We recorded for years as an experimental noise outfit called VHS and released a demo tape at some point.

Time moved on with more bands and in 2010 I finally pulled myself together and recorded my first mini-album “Cerebral Reducing Valve”. Shortly after that I met Kim Holm (currently of Crackdown) and we recorded a series of EPs and an album as Holm/Mirland.

Since then things have been going really fast working with my close friend Claus Larsen of Leæther Strip and a ton of other projects.

Q: How do you make the difference between the numerous projects/bands you’re involved with? And how do you explain your eclecticism, moving from Electro-Pop to IDM to EBM to Electro-Industrial to Metal to Punk…?

John: I’m no musical snob haha! If it moves me it moves me.

I compose in a lot of styles and genres because that’s how I’m programmed. I love obscure Underground-Metal as much as Space-Disco, Industrial-Techno, Psy-Trance or Classical. This is reflected in the music I compose for myself or others. If I feel there’s something I could express in a certain way outside of my ‘home’ genre then I’ll try it out. That’s why I even made a Black-Metal mini-album as Udpint last year. I had an idea and a guitar so why not? But as Mirland I’m mostly in the Rhyhtmic-Noise territory.

Q: What kind of musician/producer are you? Are there specific items in the writing- and production process you put the focus on? And do you have particular references and criteria when composing songs?

John: I’m a restless person and artist. I want to evolve and try new ideas and approaches. I get bored easily, don’t like staying in one place creatively and I’m not dogmatic.

These last 10-15 years I’ve written, produced or remixed more than 200 tracks of which at least 150 have been released. I don’t search for inspiration or wait for a divine intervention. I just sit down at the keyboard or with the guitar and compose a track. I don’t waste time trying to save a bad track since it’s much easier just to compose another one.

My focus is always on the energy within a track. It could be upfront Rhythmic-Noise blasting your ears off or it could be the repressed energy of a moody track slowly evolving. But I hate tracks without a theme, an interesting beat or production. There just need to be something dragging me into the track. A lot of commercial music seem to have forgotten the instrumental part and just focus on the vocals which is incredibly boring.

Q: I should think Mirland must be your most personal project to date. What does it stand for referring to sound & influences and the global evolution of the project?

John: mirland is uncompromising and where I experiment with sound design and different textures and structures. I never have an exact plan for a Mirland track but I know immediately when it is one. It needs to work without vocals and pound the listener into the ground at best. I guess that’s why Mirland is not pure ‘Techno’ but a rhythmic noise hybrid. It started out very minimal and moody but over the years evolved to this machine-like animal.

As for influences I guess that’s a bit hard to state ‘this and that’ but of course since I’ve listened to music for decades the inspiration will always be there as a foundation. I may however be equally inspired by Techno or Metal or even Classical.

Q:  What did you try to express by the title of the album “Compromise Is Defeat” and how did you transpose the ideas behind this title into music?

John:The phrase ‘compromise is defeat’ is both an artistic ideal and a provocative statement since nothing good comes from not being able to compromise. I do believe the artist must try to never compromise on the artistic product however some compromises are often needed to actually finish and move on. The phrase is also reflected in Læbel’s credo ‘Total freedom or fuck off’.

The album is my personal vision for a hybrid of Rhythmic-Noise fused with Dark-Trance that is uncompromisingly brutal in some parts while retaining the melodic qualities of Trance in other parts. In my live sets I’m live remixing and reconstructing my own tracks on stage and I discovered I was constantly using more and more percussion and heavy beats with the melodies from the different tracks.

I’m actually not a great fan of vocals especially not in the more brutal styles of Electronic music. Too many tracks are marred by lacklustre vocals with cringy lyrics and lack space in the composition. So as Mirland I don’t use vocals except a few samples here and there. In the future I might compose a track as Mirland with vocals but they would not be the focus of the track. It would still be the music and the beat.

I like my music to be inhuman and distanced. I don’t need a face or to be a character.

Q: Since the ongoing pandemic you have been more prolific and creative than ever before. In which way do the lockdowns have been a ‘bless’ for musicians to compose new music? And what’s the importance of composing- and listening to music  in times like these? What brings 2022? 

John: I don’t believe the lockdowns have been anything but a terrible mess for musicians and other artists.

It’s been made painfully clear that society views art as a commodity or even a personal luxury for supposedly maladjusted citizens. It says a lot about the lack of cultural understanding at the political level and it says a lot about the current values of society.

Fortunately for me I’ve always kept my daytime job since I believe that not being economically dependent of the music sets me free creatively. But my heart bleeds for those who’ve tried not to compromise.

You see? It’s all about this: to compromise or not and the understanding of the consequences.

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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(Photo by GNY) Out on April 1st – but already available in pre-order via the Alfa Matrix label’s webshop – is the all new album from the Belgian dark trip electro pop act Psy’Aviah. “Bittersweet” is the last album in the introspective trilogy that started with the previous 2 albums “Lightflare” and “Soul Searching”.

The first disc of this 2CD set offers 13 new songs featuring several collaborators including Irina Markevich on violin and Polina Faustova on cello, and the vocalists Addie Nicole, Mari Kattman, Marieke Lightband, Saydi Drigger, Huong Su, Lumí, Tina Forlorn, Eli Rho,  Rebecca Schneider or yet the famous Belgian professor Dr. Dirk De Wachter. Next to the new songs the first disc also offers revamped versions of the classic Psy’Aviah songs “Tired” and the mega hit “OK”.

To celebrate the band’s 20th anniversary, this first edition of the album comes as a limited double-CD digipak holding the exclusive 15-track CD “Rediscovered (20th Anniversary)” plus a download link to 14 extra additional songs. These 29 tracks (!!) hold cover version of Psy’Aviah tracks by a long list of other bands including The Breath Of Life, Implant, Aesthetische, 808.DOT.POP, Leaether Strip, Your Life On Hold, Digital Factor, IC 434, Llumen, Madil Hardis and many more.

The 2CD (and the additional 12 download tracks) can be pre-ordered via the Alfa Matrix webstore, while you can get the full 42 tracks in one bundle right here from Bandcamp.

Below you can already listen to 4 tracks. Read the review of ‘Bittersweet’.

Eldrina Mich

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

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The 2021 edition of the Sinner’s Day Festival will take place from 30th October until 1st November 2021 at The Max in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium. About 53 new wave, EBM, industrial, post-punk, synth-pop and eighties bands are featured on 2 stages.

This year the line-up includes: Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft (Robert Goerl & DAF world premiere), Gary Numan, Clan Of Xymox, Praga Khan, Covenant, Fields Of The Nephilim, Suicide Commando, Funeral Dress, The Arch, The Bollock Brothers, Your Life On Hold, Ground Nero, Absolute Body Control, A Slice Of Life, Astrasonic, Blancmange, Diary Of Dreams, Agent Side Grinder, Red Zebra, Siglo XX, The KVB, And Also The Trees, La Muerte, UK Subs, Glen Matlock, IAMTHESHADOW, A Split Second, BFG, Then Jericho, She Past Away, The Foreign Resort, Minuit Machine, Leaether Strip, Haujobb, Gene Loves Jezebel, Twin Tribes, La Lune Noire, Empathy Test, Jah Wobble and more!

There is also The Batcave, the dance-area where you can party while DJ’s spin their finest tracks 13h/day. A camping area is available if you want to stay next to the festival area at night!

Tickets can be ordered here

Be aware that you need to show a valid Covid certificate/Covid Safe Ticket to get access to the festival!

After her work with Chiasm and John Fryer’s album ” Missed the Noise”, Emileigh Rohn has jumped right into her next adventure with Jean-Marc Lederman (The Weathermen / Fad Gadget / Front242 / Ghost & Writer with Frank Spinath from Seabound) to launch a new band: Rohn-Lederman.

Their first offering is an EP named “Watch Out!” Which comes in 4 reworked versions on the EP. Remixers on duty include Claus Larsen (Leaether Strip), Tom Shear (Assemblage 23), Mark Hockings (Mesh, Black Car Burning) and an own Rohn-Lederman remix. Also Krischan Jan-Eric Wesenberg (Rotersand) made a remix which will be released later this year.

Here’s the video for the remixed version of “Watch Out!”.

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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Out now is Planetdamage “Relapse Protocol – The Remixes” on the Black Pill Red Pill label. “Relapse Protocol – The Remixes” holds 8 tracks and as source material the album “Relapse Protocol” was used, that one was released in November 2020.

The following remixers participated: Aether Pilot, Spankthenun, Mach Fox of Zwaremachine, Freeze Etch, The Gothsicles, Chrome Corpse and Vandalaze. Mastering (and additional production on track 5) was done by Reza Udhin (Killing Joke, Implant) of Cryonica Audio Mastering.

You can hear the EP below.

Damage has been working as a producer for 5 years, landing 5 EPs and a number of remixes, collaborating with bands like First Aid 4 Souls or Black Nail Cabaret, having been remixed by musicians such as Haujobb, Leaether Strip or Attrition.

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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Cleopatra Records has announced the forthcoming release of “Leaether Strip: The Zoth Ommog Years 1989-1999”, a boxed set featuring 10 individually packaged CDs with original artwork and rare bonus material. This limited edition collection showcases the output of projects helmed by Claus Larsen when being signed to the German label Zoth Ommog with both Leaether Strip and Klutae.

This collection will hold 148 tracks along with a 16-page booklet filled with rare photos as well as liner notes by Athan Maroulis (Spahn Ranch, Executive Slacks, NØIR). The set will reach the shops on December 4th and will also be available via all digital and streaming platforms.

About Leaether Strip

The Danish musical project Leaether Strip was founded in January, 1988 by Claus Larsen. Its influence has been most felt in the electronic body music and electro-industrial genres.

Leæther Strip was one of the earliest and most prominent acts on Germany’s now defunct Zoth Ommog record label. For distribution outside of Europe, the music has been licensed to the U.S. labels Cleopatra Records and Metropolis Records.

After the demise of Zoth Ommog in 1999, Larsen signed to Bloodline Records, which only released a single before also going out of business. In 2005, Leæther Strip signed with the Belgian-based label Alfa Matrix until 2011.

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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Out on September 25 is the second album by the collaboration project between the Australian Simeon Fitzpatrick (Project K11) and American ‘Retrogramme’-mastermind Rob Early. The partnership between the two artists – baptized 11Grams – debuted in 2017 with the previous full length “Panacea”.

Here’s what the band says about their new album: “On our new album “Humanicide” the listener will be wrapped by a wide variety of avveniristic modulations, sometimes threatening or full of suggestive mystery and drama. Expect midtempo dancing drumming mechanically squared by the drum-machine, sequenced symmetries, powerful bass lines and solemn synths harmonies spread an alienating musicality, while the chant adds further catchy charm to the structures.”

You’ll have both male (including Roy Retrofit) and female vocals (including Alicia May and Rebekah Feng) on the 14 track album which offers a blend of electro, endustrial, EBM and synthpop. Included as well are remixes by for instance Psy’Aviah, Sebastian Komor, C1TZN.X and Leæther Strip.

Check out the Video for “Ice Man”. Read the review of ‘Humanicide’.

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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Jean-Marc Lederman (The Weathermen, Fad Gadget, The The, Ghost & Writer, Lederman-Demeyer) has released a new release under the Jean-Marc Lederman Experience moniker. With this project he calls up singers from different niches and countries to write lyrics and sing them on a common theme. The end result is then being packaged in a 2CD 36 pages hardcover art book with artwork and pictures by Erica Hinyot.

2019 saw the release of “13 Ghost Stories”, and now he offers “Letters To Gods (and fallen angels)” including performances from 21 different singers, from the USA to Italy, Mexico or Wales. The concept this time is very topical in this strange reset time: “You can write a letter to a God, or a fallen angel. What do you say?”

This time, the artists are:

• Agi Taralas (Our Banshee, Greece)
• Emma Barson (Promenade Cinema, UK)
• Ghost & Writer with cello by Jo Quail (Germany/Belgium UK)
• Mari Kattman (Helix, USA)
• JP Aston with backing vocals by Julianne Regan (Gene Loves Jezebel/Wales All About Eve/UK
• Coline Wauters (Atome, Belgium)
• Christina Z (comics Witchblade writer, Magnesium Burn/USA)
• Das Vintage (Mexico)
• Lucia Fairfull (Lusca And The Best Boys/ Scotland)
• Stefan Netschio (Beborn Beton/Germany)
• Hunter S. Thompson (Writer, USA)
• Elena Alice Fossi (Kirlian Camera/Stalingrad Valkyrie Italy)
• Tom Shear (Assemblage 23/ Helix USA)
• Mark Hockings (MESH/ UK)
• Jenna Fearon (USA)
• Emileigh Rohn (Chiasm/USA)
• Miriam Christina (The Other Side Of Who, 580 Miles/ Germany)
• Haydn Park-Patterson (The Ninth Wave/ Scotland)
• Rodney Orpheus (The Cassandra Complex/ EU)
• Louise Fraser (USA)
• Lis van den Akker (Holland)
• Claus Larsen (Leaether Strip/ Denmark)
• Friedrich Nietzsche (Patrimonia Universal de la Humanidad)
• With 3 novels by:
• Christina Z. (comics Witchblade writer, Magnesium Burn/USA)
• Ceratomia (USA)
• Philippe Genion (à;GRUMH /Belgium)

Check the previews below. Read the review of ‘Letters To Gods [And Fallen Angels]’.

For more on Jean-Marc Lederman, see COP International has announced the signing to their artist roster of… on Side-Line.

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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Athan Maroulis will be always linked to Spahn Ranch and Black Tape For A Blue Girl, but the past few years he got involved with NØIR. Sound-wise this project is less comparable with his previous bands. It rather sounds as the juxtaposition of different influences, but in the end it has something intimate and subtle. The newest EP “A Pleasure” features the input of programmer / producer Erik Gustafson, keyboardist / vocalist Kai Irina Hahn, keyboardist / vocalist Demetra Songs and cello player Tracey Moth.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Athan, you’ve been involved with many different bands and projects since the mid-’80s, so what does NØIR mean to you? And how much of the ‘young’ Athan Maroulis do you recognize in the experienced artist you’re today?

Athan: After an early period of transition, NØIR eventually came to represent something rather liberating. NØIR affords me the ability to drive the direction and style of the material while also remaining a collaborative forum where I can work with people I admire.

I remain somewhat similar to my younger self, I still enjoy the process of writing lyrics and performing, while also maintaining the determination of my youth, sans the anger. I would like to speak to my younger self and give him some good advice about life and music. Looking back, I have learned far more from my failures than I have from my successes.

Q: I got the impression NØIR originally started as a solo-project with the contribution of some guests while it later finally evolved towards a real band. What is it all about and tell us a bit more about the input and impact of the other members? Who’s doing what? And what about the song you did together with Jean-Marc Lederman?

Athan: Originally, NØIR had certain aspects of a solo-project, that was long ago, these days it feels like a real evolving band. Although I planned it as a short-lived project back in ’12, I brought in Kai and Demetra in 2013 as live members, both have been in the band ever since. Later, Erik Gustafson, who had played some guitar on the “Darkly Near”-album, became a full-time collaborator on “The Burning Bridge”-EP in 2016.

As a whole, electronic dark music is rather one-dimensional, I find that different contributors help add new color to the sound. Jean-Marc Lederman is a great example of that, he and I tried working on a project a few years ago, ultimately what came of it was the “Luxury”-demo. Erik completely reworked the song and added guitar, Kai did some backing vocals and Tracey Moth brought her cello to the party. Although juggling contributors from Austin, Brussels, Brooklyn, Boston and NYC was a challenge, I am really pleased by the results.

Q: What are you trying to achieve –eventually exorcize, with NØIR generally speaking and more specifically with the new EP “A Pleasure”?

Athan: For better or worse, I am always exorcising ghosts from the past. After Spahn Ranch broke up, I stopped making music for 10 long years. Afterwards, I joined Black Tape For A Blue Girl for a few years before starting NØIR, which is likely my last planned ensemble (although one never knows?) I’ve dabbled in a number of genres over the years and I believe NØIR is my opportunity to bring them all together under one banner.

At this stage of my career, each release becomes very personal. “A Pleasure” took a few years to assemble, as much as I enjoy the creative process, I have less patience for coordinating what is necessary to bring a release to completion. The title, “A Pleasure”, is partly sarcastic while also acknowledging my fetish for simple pleasures even amidst such turbulent times, the lyrics on the pair of new songs reflect that. The word ‘pleasure’ itself, was on my mind quite a bit during the process, then thrown into a conceptual stew that only exists in my mind. The title is also a nod to Roxy Music’s album “For Your Pleasure, while “A Pleasure to Burn” is a line from Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451”, the cover image features Julie Christie the star of the 1966 film.

“Luxury” is a song about serving the needs of bloated urban excess in New York City. I added the Fad Gadget cover because it fit the central concept of upheaval and raw pleasure. Ultimately, I achieved what I set out to do, which was to make a mini concept album. I was also surprised to find out that “A Pleasure” is already by far the best-selling NØIR release to date.

Q: It’s not an easy thing defining the ‘sound’ of NØIR, which in my opinion sounds like the juxtaposition of multiple influences and elements. Where does this ‘sound’ comes from and what are your references and criteria to create this ‘sound’?

Athan: Other than playing violin briefly as a child, I’ve never played an instrument, nor can I read music or understand keys. Although I can write, arrange, choose sounds and edit, my collaborators have been pivotal to my success and sound. I have many influences from the 1930s through the 1980s, although I believe the sound of NØIR is an amalgamation of each band I have ever been in. As for defining the sound, somebody once called NØIR ‘dark sophisticated pop’, perhaps that is right or perhaps that is foolish? For me NØIR is defined as a place where I can absurdly merge the imagery of old film stars with pulp novels while masquerading as a 1930s crooner in a contemporary electronic backdrop. It’s pure absurdist fun.

Q: NØIR appears to like recording cover versions. What does that mean to you and how do you manage making a cover version like the one from Fad Gadget released on the new EP?

Athan: NØIR cut “Back To Nature” for a compilation called “Under What Flag: A Tribute To Fad Gadget”. Naturally, other bands have covered the song in the past, it remains one of Frank Tovey’s best songs and that is why I did it. Aside from my admiration of Fad Gadget, it was a chance to experiment with a more aggressive approach to a NØIR song. I believe Erik Gustafson did a fine job producing the track, so much so that I decided to add it to “A Pleasure” because so few people heard the aforementioned tribute album and I wanted to recycle it.

I enjoy doing cover songs, I couldn’t give a damn if it is not en vogue these days. Keep in mind, nearly all music from the 1920s through the mid-’60s was dominated by cover songs or interpretive material, the artist brought their own approach, phrasing and style to the song and I still believe there’s room for that in 2020. NØIR has also taken part in tribute albums for Depeche Mode and Cabaret Voltaire, at some point I might collect all the cover versions by NØIR and release them as a full-length album.

Q: From a marketing/commercial perspective, I find NØIR to be a complicated band. Your debut album “Darkly Near” was released seven years ago, so why does it take so long to release a new studio album? Do you think there can be an impact releasing new studio albums at an irregular basis?  What comes next?

Athan: Spahn Ranch made five albums and four EPs in 7 ½ years, while also maintaining an exhaustive touring schedule. I really don’t know how I did it back then? These days, I am simply not a very prolific writer, so each release has purpose. The streaming era has prompted a number of bands to release singles or EPs, a shorter format for times of shorter attention spans and this has influenced me and suits me very well. I still like the idea of doing albums, it is simply that the game has changed, I believe artists can treat each release as individual complete works, regardless of length.

While NØIR has six individual releases on Metropolis Records, only “Darkly Near” is an actual album, I’d rather not wait for an album of material and instead have released EPs and such. I am ultimately planning to do at least one or two more albums with NØIR, yet I am not in a rush. I don’t feel as if I have anything left to prove, that, in and of itself is liberating. As for releasing albums at an irregular basis, I think there are other ways to keep the audience engaged such as compilation appearances, videos, performing, social media and so on. Again, the game has changed and there are no rules.

As for what comes next? NØIR was slated to perform at a few upcoming festivals, then the Corona virus naturally changed everything. Like everyone else, we wait and hope for the best for the entire world. Once the world begins to turn again, NØIR does have a new song on the upcoming “Electronic Saviors”-compilation ironically entitled “Death Is Easy,” and we are planning a new video for the song “Luxury” from “A Pleasure”.

Additionally, I wrote the liner notes on a Leæther Strip boxed set that will be released sometime this year and I am working on recordings with the New Zealand-based project Acclimate. Lastly, a toast to one and all, to the rapture of being alive! My sincerest thanks for supporting my releases over the years.

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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Alfa Matrix continues the ‘Matrix:Reb00ted’ series, this time with 2 remix albums by Belgian artist Psy’Aviah displaying his electro dance trip pop remixes cruising through the Alfa Matrix band catalogue. The releases are first released via Bandcamp and will follow on all other platforms in the next weeks.

Here’s what is available on both volumes plus also a preview of what to expect.

Matrix:Reb00ted – The Psy’Aviah Guerrilla – Zion [Electro Dance] Warfare [07]

This volume holds 15 songs from Alfa Matrix’s massive music repertoire remixed by Psy’Aviah. Offering the electro dance side of the Belgian band you can expect a harder selection of modern dancefloor assaults with these bands: Ayria, Suicidal Romance, Zombie Girl, Junksista, Leaether Strip, Essence Of Mind, Nebula-H, Diffuzion, Schwarzblut, Diskonnekted, Krystal System and Psy’Aviah. You can check all the songs below and download it from Bandcamp directly.

Matrix:Reb00ted – The Psy’Aviah Guerrilla – Zion [Trip Pop Electro] Warfare [06]

This volume also holds 15 songs from Alfa Matrix’s massive music repertoire remixed by Psy’Aviah. The “trip pop electro” edition reveals a selection of more moody and catchy synth electro songs thanks to bands like Mondträume, Metroland, Aiboforcen, Helalyn Flowers, Acylum, Junksista, Entrzelle, Llumen, Virgins O.R Pigeons, Halo In Reverse, Schwarzblut, Mildreda, Totem Obscura and Psy’Aviah, also including guest vocals by Kyoko Baertsoen, Mari Kattman and Fallon Nieves. You can check all the songs below and download it from Bandcamp directly.

Previous volumes

Here’s a list of the 5 previous volumes which Alfa Matrix released in the past with remixes executed by Kant Kino, Simon Carter, Acylum and Aesthetische !

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: Electro-pop.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Claus Larsen (Leæther Strip, Klutae, Mirland/Larsen…) and John R. Mirland (Mirland, Negant, M73, Mirland/Larsen…) aren’t only running Læbel, they’re also sharing a common passion for electro-pop music, which they’ve transposed into Am Tierpark. This is already the Danish duo’s third full length, which was released in 2019.

Content: Am Tierpark remains faithful to their basic sound, which is definitely inspired by the 80s electro-pop/wave scene and mixed with a few harder and more personal elements. “Kings Of Failure” is an album carried by happy sounding embodies, which are sometimes reminding OMD me of (especially for “No More Chances”), but still featuring a few harder passages driven by EBM-sounding bass lines. I also noticed a few more melancholic passages.

+ + + : Am Tierpark is progressively evolving and clearly confirms this is much more than simply a side-project. The melodic aspect of the work is absolutely great –mainly at the beginning of the album. Melodies and choruses –featuring the emotional singing of Claus Larsen, together create an elevating effect on the best  cuts of the album. But what I like the most is the kind of ‘feel good’ sensation listening to “Kings Of Failure”.

– – – : I think it’s quite surprising, but the title song is absolutely not my favorite song and even one of the few I would not recommend.

Conclusion: Am Tierpark is slowly moving on, getting better on each new album.

Best songs: “No More Chances”, “Calling Your Name”, “Reach XTC”, “Are We Crashing”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.facebook.com/amtierparkofficial

Label: http://laebel–music.dk / www.facebook.com/laebelmusic

About Am Tierpark

Am Tierpark is the electro-pop duo of Danish musicians Claus Larsen (Leaether Strip, Klutae, Mirland/Larsen) and John R. Mirland (Mirland, Negant, M73, Mirland/Larsen), also the two men behind the label Laebel. “Kings Of Failure” arrived in 2019 as the duo’s third full-length. Am Tierpark returned with a fourth album, “Shameless”, in 2024, also released via Laebel.

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 on April 17th is a remix album of Boytronic’s latetst studio effort “The Robot Treatment”. Named “The Robot Treatment – Remix Pack Piece Of Entertainment and Dancing Wild for You” the remixes were delivered by such bands as The Invincible Spirit, Ant People, Flemming Dalum, Leaether Strip, and Antoni Maiovvi.

Here’s the tracklist:

• You Can’t Get Fooled By Love – (Flemming Dalum Remix)
• She Gave Me Money – (Antoni Maiovvi Remix)
• No Sad Songs – (Oren Amram Club Remix)
• Venus Covers Mars – (Ant People Remix)
• Bark – People Theatre – (Eternity Mix)
• Smell Of Fire – (Antoni Maiovvi Remix)
• Under The Red – (Leaether Strip Remix)
• You Can’t Get Fooled By Love – (Antoni Maiovvi Remix)
• Wayward Sister – (The Invincible Spirit Remix)
• Venus Covers Mars – (Matt Mancid & Rename Mix)
• You Can’t Get Fooled By Love – (Neil Delta Extended Mix)
• She Gave Me Money – (Mindmodvl Extended Mix)
• All You Can Eat – (Ant People Remix)

If you want to see the band live at work, here are the first confirmed dates.

• 18.04 Golden Krone Darmstadt (DE) (LIVE PA)
• 31.05 WGT Leipzig (DE) (FULL SHOW)
• 31.10 Musikpark Halloween Party – Homburg (DE) (FULL SHOW)
• 14.11 Takt Bizzare Festival – Reutlingen (DE) (FULL SHOW)
• 21.11 Kulturbahnhof – Greifswald (DE) (LIVE PA)

More shows to be announced… Read the review of ‘The Robot Treatment’.

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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Artist/DJ Rexx Arkana (FGFC820, Coldkill, Bruderschaft) and Luke Haughwot have launched a YouTube channel – called Statik Industrial TV – to spotlight the Industrial scene. Here’s what Rexx told us regarding the reason why he launched the channel: “Industrial music has never received the kind of attention other electronic music genres have. Our history runs deeper than many of those other sub-genres and I wanted to try to capture as much of that as possible in the time I have left.”

Statik Industrial TV will feature artists, events, and culture throughout the community and will be an ongoing web series.

The first episode features the Terminus Festival which takes place annually in Calgary, AB Canada. In it’s seventh year, the Terminus Festival took place July 27th-29th and features acclaimed Dark Electro artists from around the world. The episode features performances from some of the artists who played the festival as well as interviews with artists such as Claus Larsen (Leaether Strip), Yone Dudas (Decoded Feedback), Mesh, and many more.

The first episode can be seen 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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Genre/Influences: EBM.

Background/Info: German duo ‘Freund 424’ (music) and HanZ AciD (vocals) have released multiple albums in just a few years. “Body Music” is their latest creation –again featuring Claus Larsen (Leather strip) singing on multiple tracks. This album features a total of 36 tracks.

Content: If you’re already familiar with the work of Transponder you perfectly know what to expect. This band brings good-old EBM that will remind you of the golden decade of the 80s. But they also dare to inject a few other influences such as new-beat, electroclash, techno and even a song featuring rap vocals.

The album reveals multiple familiar- and new songs. Several tracks have been sung by Leather Strip, but you also will get tracks featuring Les Berrtas, Zynic, Engelsstaub and Human Nihil.

The vocals are pretty fun-like and even like promoting the Belgian W-festival (cf. “At The W-festival). This song is featuring samplings of the legendary new-beat project Tragic Error (which they already covered in the past).

+ + + : If you like the pure and authentic EBM, Transponder will fully satisfy you. The sound is simple, but the songs are efficient. The lyrics will rapidly push you to sing along. I also have to say that Claus Larsen’s enraged vocals are totally matching with the music. Transponder is fun, but also a great project, which I can imagine on stage leading body freaks into wild dancing. They have many potential hits and especially some of the familiar cuts will again bring you into action. The sound is driven by great bass lines, typical 4×4 rhythms, metallic percussion parts, cool (and hot) samplings and furious vocals.

– – – : You really have to like this band to enjoy both albums each featuring 18 songs. It might become a little bit repetitive after a while.

Conclusion: One of the most familiar EBM slogans makes sense again: ‘move your body’!

Best songs: “Totally Bass”, “When We Return To Bleiburg feat. Human Nihil & Leaether Strip”, “Bewegt euch feat. Leaether Strip”, “Lerchenzungen feat. Les Berrtas”, “Auf der Jagd feat. Zynik”, “At The W-Featival feat. evo-lution & Tragic Error”, “The Return Of The New Beat feat. Leaether Strip”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.transponder–music.de / www.facebook.com/transponder242

About Transponder

Transponder is the German duo of Hanz Acid, from Erbach, and Freund 424, from Kassel, according to Discogs. Side-Line previously reviewed the project’s digital album “The Strength Of My Fist” in 2016 and the double-CD “Hammer And Anvil”, released on ScentAir Records, in 2017.

Claus Larsen, who records as Leaether Strip, is among the featured vocalists on “Body Music”.

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.

Background/Info: If you’re familiar with the work of Claus Larsen, you already knew the Danish master of EBM and dark-electronics likes to cover songs from artists he admires when he’s not writing new stuff for one of his numerous projects. He already accomplished numerous cover versions while the first volume of “Æppreciation” was released in 2014 on Emmo.Biz Records.

Content: Leæther Strip has covered 10 songs for this new opus devoted to the artists he respects and admires. Fad Gadget, Adam & The Ants, Dave Ball, Dead Or Alive, Sex Pistols, Kim Wilde, Marianne Faithfull, Coil and 2 songs from Soft Cell have been adapted into the darker and typical Danish body sound of Claus Larsen. It always is a challenge working on cover versions and especially when it consists of famous hits such as “Lady Shave”, “Tainted Love”, “You Spin Me Round”, “Holidays In The Sun”, “View From A Bridge”, “Broken English” and “Anal Staircase”.

The selection is very eclectic, featuring different genres, but all transposed into the typical Leæther Strip-sound revealing the heavy, carrying bass lines and the darker sound treatments.

+ + + : There’s no doubt about it, Claus Larsen could tour and only play cover versions of famous songs. He has this power to rework the original versions into the familiar sound of Leæther Strip. Even if the songs are softer than the real Leæther Strip work, you can easily recognize the different elements of Claus Larsen’s approach. I also like the varied selection of songs and it’s quite fun to see this artist moving from Fad Gadget to Sex Pistols and from Marianne Faithfull to Coil. I’m not entirely convinced but I have to admit Claus did a great job covering “Anal Staircase” (Coil), “Holidays In The Sun” (Sex Pistols), “Beat My Guest (Adam & The Ants)”, Man In The Man (Dave Ball) and “You Spin Me Round (Dead Or Alive)”. The songs have been transformed with great sound treatments and recognizable melodies and choruses.

– – – : A few cuts can’t really convince me, but that’s probably because we all have our ‘sacred’ songs; tracks where it becomes a blasphemy when an artist dares to cover them! And even if I like the cover of “Tainted Love” by Marylin Manson, this song remains to me the best track from the 80s new-wave movement and I always will have some difficulties hearing this song covered. But at the other side I also have to admit covers are a way to keep songs alive and even let them discover to the new generation. Back to this album on, which I sometimes miss a little bit more passion in the vocals (like on “You Spin Me Round”), which makes me say that even an artist like Claus Larsen sometimes might be impressed when covering some of his personal idols.

Conclusion: I like this concept and especially when it’s accomplished with respect and devotion, but this album also reveals the humble side of the artist… when an idol is covering his own idols so in the end he remains a ‘fan’ just like all of us.

Best songs: “Anal Staircase”, “Holidays In The Sun”, “Beat My Guest”, “Man In The Man”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/LeaetherStrip

Label: www.cleropatrarecords.com / www.facebook.com/CleopatraRecords

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 biggest distributor for the industrial electro scene, Audioglobe, has announced its Top 10 in best selling industrial music labels. The numbers were already out there for the labels to look at it, but here they are also for the regular fans. Note that with 2018, Audioglobe also enters it’s 25th year of existance as the distributor set up shop on 6 December 1993. We will of course have a big extended interview and more with Sebastian Koch regarding this great achievement in a very tough market.

But now the numbers many of you have been waiting for!

The Top 3

First the Top 3. The number 1 label in sales is Trisol which has bands such as Clan of Xymox, Rome, Project Pitchfork, Sopor Aeternus, Nachtmahr, Rotersand, Asp, Mantus etc. under contract. The second label in the list is the Belgian based Alfa Matrix which nurtures the talent of Front 242, Underviewer, Daniel B Prothèse, Metroland, Alien Vampires, Ayria, Leatherstrip, Psy’Aviah, Kant Kino and so many other acts. Note that this label also has a very strong e-shop presence (direct sales are not included in this Top 10 list). The 3rd label is Out Of Line with Blutengel, Combichrist, Hocico, Solar Fake, Heimataerde, Unzucht, Solitary Experiments. Also this label has an own e-shop.

The rest of the Top 10

The 4th label is Fabrika/Dead Scarlet (She Past Away, Lebanon Hanover, Selofan, Kaelan Mikla, M!R!M, Doric…) followed by ArtOfFact (Legend, Frontline Assembly, Haujobb, Psyche, Noise Unit, Dead When I found her, Pankow…) and Metropolis (Birthday Massacre, Aesthetic Perfection, God Module, Lords of Acid, Skinny Puppy, Delerium…). The 7th place is occupied by Rustblade (Morricone, Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin, Leaether Strip, Lydia Lunch, Legendary Pink Dots, Merzbow…). Also Dependent is still in the Top 10, namely on spot 8 with their label roster (Covenant, Mesh, Pride & Fall, Beborn Beton, Seabound, Encephalon, Frontline Assembly, Clicks..). Place 9 and 10 finally are for Manic Depression (Winter Severity Index, Ash Code, Schonwald, Box and the Twins, Sjoblom, Dear Deer…) and Undo (Marsheaux, Girl One and the Grease Guns, Mesh, Fotonovela, OMD, Nikonn, Mikro, Vienna, Liebe…).

And on spot 11 and 12…

2 labels didn’t make the Top 10, namely Hall Of Sermon (Lacrimosa, Snakeskin, Black Moon Secret, Eyes Shut Tight) and Infacted (NamNamBulu, Grendel, Torul, Reaper, Frozen Plasma, Ruined Conflict, Orange Sector, Syntec…). Both labels ended on place 11 and 12.

Here’s the complete list again. The bands next to the label are listed in order of sales results/total turnover per band in 2017 via Audioglobe.

01 TRISOL (Clan of Xymox, Rome, Project Pitchfork, Sopor Aeternus, Nachtmahr, Rotersand, Asp, Mantus…)
02 ALFA MATRIX (Front 242, Underviewer, Daniel B Prothèse, Metroland, Alien Vampires, Ayria, Leatherstrip…)
03 OUT OF LINE (Blutengel, Combichrist, Hocico, Solar Fake, Heimataerde, Unzucht, Solitary Experiments …)
04 FABRIKA/DEAD SCARLET (She Past Away, Lebanon Hanover, Selofan, Kaelan Mikla, M!R!M, Doric…)
05 ARTOFFACT (Legend, Frontline Assembly, Haujobb, Psyche, Noise Unit, Dead When I found her, Pankow…)
06 METROPOLIS (Birthday Massacre, Aesthetic Perfection, God Module, Lords of Acid, Skinny Puppy, Delerium…)
07 RUSTBLADE (Morricone, Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin, Leaether Strip, Lydia Lunch, Legendary Pink Dots, Merzbow…)
08 DEPENDENT (Covenant, Mesh, Pride & Fall, Beborn Beton, Seabound, Encephalon, Frontline Assembly, Clicks..)
09 MANIC DEPRESSION (Winter Severity Index, Ash Code, Schonwald, Box and the Twins, Sjoblom, Dear Deer…)
10 UNDO (Marsheaux, Girl One and the Grease Guns, Mesh, Fotonovela, OMD, Nikonn, Mikro, Vienna, Liebe…)
11 HALL OF SERMON (Lacrimosa, Snakeskin, Black Moon Secret, Eyes Shut Tight)
12 INFACTED (NamNamBulu, Grendel, Torul, Reaper, Frozen Plasma, Ruined Conflict, Orange Sector, Syntec…)

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

Since 1989, Claus Larsen has been a very important artist in the industrial / electro music world influencing hundreds of young musicians and offering some of the best dark music out there. After all these years of great music, Claus now needs your help.

As many of you may know, Claus Larsen and his husband Kurt have been going through very hard times lately due the lengthy procedures and bills accompanying Kurt’s much needed kidney replacement surgery (luckily enough Claus is a perfect match for Kurt and will be donating a kidney). The lovely couple are currently facing the significant cost of dialysis treatments for Kurt to keep him healthy until the transplant can happen.

Now is the time to help them out. A GoFundMe campaign has been started to help out with the medical bills, you can donate right here, or you can of course buy some Leather Strip stuff directly from Bandcamp.

We wish Kurt a speedy (operation and) recovery. Kudos from Belgium!

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

“Glitches” is the brand new album by Neon Insect, and offers dark electro/electronica with a combination of fast vocal tracks and rather calm instrumentals.

Good to know, Claus Larsen (Leaether Strip) is featured on one of the album tracks, namely “L.L.t.Q.”. Also audible is that compared to its precursor “Abatron”, you’ll find a lot less guitars onb this album. Other featured artists are french composer Enlia (“The Council”) and Twill.Distilled (“To The Moon And Back”).

“Glitches” will hit the stores on February, 16th. Pre order starts on January, 15th. Along with the digital release, “Glitches” will also have a limited edition on tape for those who embrace the 90s.

You can preview the album 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

We informed you a while back that the German label Emmo.biz Records was to close its doors. The Oelsnitz based label is run by Jörg Freier and was founded in 2012. The label harboured releases for bands like Leæther Strip, Harmjoy, NZ, Frontal and MRDTC.

The label has now started a massive sale to clear its stocks, and you can definitely speak of a true sale with releases being sold for as less as 4,99 Euro!

We talked with Jörg Freier to learn some more about his decision to stop the label. Jörg: “I already have another business for the past 3 years: a butcher shop. That shop requires a lot of my time. As a result I didn’t find time enough to run two business. It made me realise I can’t help ‘my bands’ enough in our music business.”

The german Label Kompuphonik Music will take some part of the label and distribution, but the webshop www.emmo.biz will be closed by the end of this year.

We wish Jörg all the best in his new professional ‘meat endeavour’ ‘Fleisch und Wurstwaren Jörg Freier‘ located at the Kammerrat Beck Strasse 8 in Oelsnitz, Sachsen, Germany!

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

1. The Wire & The Cuffs
2. Submission
3. Insect King
4. Bombs

1. Panic is Bliss
2. Romania
3. Wake Up The Punks
4. Belly-Up

1. To Be
2. We Breed
3. O.H.C.Y.S.P
4. Fucking Parasite

1. Gaytruckerlovemeatbellyrubnonstop
2. Breathe My Dust
3. Draped despairs
4. The hurt has begun

Read the review of ‘Black Piranha’.

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

Read the review of ‘Trashy Luxury’.

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

On 12th and 13th August 2017 the annual M’era-Luna festival takes place in the area of Hildesheim-Drispenstedt, Germany. M’era Luna exists since 2000 and is one of the biggest Gothic festivals in the European scene. Gothic, new wave, electro, EBM, industrial and medieval bands are featured on 2 stages.

Besides watching concerts you can also visit markets, artist signing events, gothic fashion shows, book readings and parties. The Gothic Garden, an oasis of calm right in front of the festival infield, offers demanding festival-goers comfort, space and conveniences to make your stay more exclusive, pleasant and more relaxing. A new fact this year is the M’era Luna Academy where you can follow catwalk workshops and lectures by Mark Benecke and Gerald Axelrod.

The last years the festival was every time sold out and had about 25.000 visitors. This year some of the confirmed artists are: Korn, DAF, KMFDM, Front Line Assembly, Leaether Strip, And One, ASP, Blutengel, Subway To Sally, Schandmaul, Project Pitchfork, Ashbury Heights, Haujobb, Mono Inc., Covenant, The Cruxshadows, De/Vision, Mesh, Megaherz, Solar Fake, …

The interactive M’era Luna app can be downloaded here and tickets can be ordered here.

Electropop act Snuttock has just released their latest music video for the “Spitting into the Wind” (Psy’Aviah Remix). For this video release, Fried Okra Entertainment has ‘reimagined’ the footage originally shot by L76 Media for the original “Spitting into the Wind” music video.

Says the band in a reaction: “With the awesome response this remix has received, the decision to make a new video for it was a no–brainer… this isn’t simply a re-work of previously seen footage, it contains stellar new animation as well as scenes not included in the original version!”

Check it out here:

Snuttock, in conjunction with Morphius Records, released “Rituals Redux” on September 15th, 2016 (available here). The album is the follow up to the band’s “Endless Rituals” released 3 years ago. The double CD album contains remixes by Marsheaux, Metroland, Leaether Strip, Psy’Aviah, SITD, Sebastian Komor, and many more…

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

(This interview is a collaboration between Alfa Matrix – Side Line Music Magazine & Inferno Sound Diaries)

Officially out tomorrow, but already available now for free is the 4-track “50 Shades of Gay” download EP by Junksista. The EP is being released via Bandcamp to celebrate the international day against homophobia and transphobia. We interviewed a long range of artists involved on this free EP.

For the EP they collaborated with Valkyrie Beestings (The Priscillas,Lene Lovich Band), who you might remember from the Junksista track “Likeyourshoes”. And that’s not all,  2 other legendary figures from the electronic scene also joined the cause: Claus Larsen of Leaether Strip and Claus Kruse of Gaytron/Plastic Noise Experience. Both gay musicians delivered their very own, dancefloor-compatible versions of „50 Shades Of Gay“.

Also included is a collaboration with the American dancer Gezelle Za Belle (see picture above) who is featured in a smashing (probably NSFW) video for the track which you can view below.

And here is the video!

We decided to also interview the involved artists in this great collaboration project: Junksista, Claus Larsen, Seba Dolimont, Claus Kruse, and more!

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

Tragic Impulse is a rather new EBM-minded solo-project set up and driven by Paul M. Graham. The second album “Devil On Your Shoulder” released on Distortion Productions will be for sure an opportunity to discover this American artist dealing with a dark EBM format.

(by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Tell us a bit more about your artistic background and activities, which finally brought you to set up Tragic Impulse?

Paul: I started experimenting with electronic music in the early-mid 2000’s and to be honest, I was pretty bad at. I remember getting a remix kit for one of Informatik’s songs and I gave up on it pretty quickly because I just didn’t have the skills to pull it off. I kept working at it though and in 2012 I submitted the song “Apocalyptic Visions” to the “Electronic Saviors 2”-compilation under the project name Eisengeist. The song had no lyrics/vocals and it was pretty raw from a production standpoint, but it got accepted and appeared on the bonus track section of the compilation.

Gaining confidence from the Eisengeist track, I decided to put more time and energy into making electronic music. However, I wanted to go in a different direction musically so Tragic Impulse was born.

Q: I guess you must notice a serious move in sound, writing and global production from “Machine Parts” (debut album released in 2014) towards the new work “Devil On Your Shoulder”?

Paul: I do feel that “Devil On Your Shoulder” represents a degree of maturation in my overall sound, writing and production. When I was working on “Devil On Your Shoulder”, I remember being very critical of the production value on “Machine Parts” because it felt so inferior to me at the time (still does). I think the biggest reason for this is that between albums I continue to get better at translating my ideas into finished and more refined products. New synthesizers, studio gear, and equipment upgrades always has some impact on this as well. I’ve already started working on the next album and feel that the sound, writing, and production is superior to “Devil On Your Shoulder” as well. I’m excited about it! I see all this as growth so it’s a good thing.

As far as sound goes, I dabbled with things like pitch-shifted vocals on “Machine Parts” (cf. “I’ll Be Your God” & “I Hear Footsteps”) but none of that appears on “Devil On Your Shoulder”. That’s something I probably won’t go back to but you never know. “Devil On Your Shoulder” is more representative of the vocal style/feel I’ll be using going forward. I do love a good vocoder though so that’s not going anywhere LOL.

Q: Tell us a bit more about the new work and especially the kind of album you’d in mind?

Paul: I originally considered making “Devil On Your Shoulder” a concept-album but it never really materialized. Although not electronic, I always loved Queensryche’s concept-album “Operation Mindcrime” and wanted to do something in that vein lyrically (I still might).

Beyond that, I really just wanted to make an album that had good dancefloor appeal. I love knocking back a pint or two at the local goth club to loud stompy music and Tragic Impulse I think reflects that. Otherwise, I tend to mix things up from song to song thematically.

Q: What’s the deeper meaning of the title “Devil On Your Shoulder” and what’s the importance of the lyrical content of your songs?

Paul: The song “Devil On Your Shoulder” is largely about temptation and schadenfreude. People do some horrible things at the expense of their fellow humans and the song explores that metaphorically. As for the title, I like albums with a title/track relationship and I thought “Devil On Your Shoulder” stood out so I went with it.

The rest of the album covers a lot of ground lyrically and thematically. “Flesh And Blood” is about how being different is OK. “Evolution Revolution” is about reinventing yourself  and “Lightstpeed” is about the vastness and wonderment of our universe. Ultimately though, the songs are about whatever the listener wants them to be and I have to say nothing feels better than when a fan tells you a song resonated with them on a personal level. That’s happened more than I expected on this album and it’s always a delight to hear.

Q: Do you have some referential musicians, bands, producers… and what make them ‘special’ to you?

Paul: There’s so many artists and people who have influenced me that it’s a hard question to answer in this limited space. To pick a few though, I would say that Project Pitchfork – particularly their early works – has had a big influence on me. From the music to the lyrics to their live shows, everything that band does just resonates with me. I also love the way Daniel Graves (Aesthetic Perfection) works a stage. I’ve seen him play to both small and large crowds and he brings the same amazing energy and intensity each time. Claus Larsen is also a big influence. One of the highlights of my burgeoning musical career has been sharing a stage with him. He’s an incredible artist and an even better person.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Jim Semonik (Distortion Productions/Red Lokust) as a big influence as well. I don’t think I’ve met a person with as much perseverance, passion, and dedication to the EBM/Industrial scene as him. I feel pretty lucky to have him as a friend as well.

Q: Referring to live performances, Tragic Impulse doesn’t have a real live experience so far. How comes and what kind of show might the audience expect during the next months? How do you transpose the studio work on stage and will you get some help from extra members?

Paul: Although it’s taken a while to get going, the live show is actually up and running. Over the last year I’ve shared the stage with Leaether Strip, Ludovico Technique, and Kite to name a few. The response so far has been overwhelmingly positive and future live performances, such as a “Distortion Prod”-tour in Summer and “Danse Macabre 2” in Pittsburgh around Halloween, are being planned.

The big reason the live show took a while to get going is that I wanted finished music I could put into the hands of people who wanted it after a live performance. I know a lot of bands get started doing live music before moving on to recording but I’ve always found this counter-intuitive. I’ve had people buy my music after every gig I’ve done so I think the strategy works. Another reason the live show took a while to get going was just translating the studio work to the stage. I had to invest in new portable gear and this took some time and money to sort out. It was time well spent however and I’m pretty happy with the results.

I’m definitely looking to add more people for live performances. At a minimum, I’d like to have someone on keys and maybe add a drummer for bigger gigs. I’ve talked to a few people about that so we’ll see how it goes. Other than that, I’d love to catch on with a festival or two as well. I went to WGT in Germany for the first time last year and all I could think about – other than Schwarzbier and bratwurst (yum!) – was how awesome it would be to perform there.

Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

The 67th track on our free download compilation “Face The Beat: Session 4” (featuring 92 tracks) is by the Brasilian old school electro act Signal Operator.

Signal Operator was founded in 2009 in Sorocaba,Brasil. The Band is actually a one-man by Emerson Felix, heavily influenced by old school bands such Skinny Puppy, Front Line Assembly, Mentallo & The Fixer, Leaether Strip or yet Front 242. The sound consists of pulsating bass lines and analogue synths, heavy drums and distorted vocals. Emerson Felix is planning to self release in 2017 an independent LP, he also has another solo project Êlémentaire which offers minimal wave. Check the band on Facebook!

Listen to “The Black Field (Psychological Version)” below and download it right here.

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

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

It was Record Store Day this past weekend and for the occasion the Belgian label launched a special 30% discount code ( RSD2017 ) which is available to use until the end of this week. You can apply the code in the label’s webshop or on the label’s Bandcamp page. You will get 30% off on everything that is added in your basket (except on the forthcoming Metroland and Alien Vampires box sets).

Happy hunting!

Included in this massive discount action are releases by 32CRASH, Acylum, Aengeldust, Aesthetische, Agonised By Love, Aiboforcen, Alien Vampires, Ambassador21, amGod, Armageddon Dildos, Avarice In Audio, Ayria, Bruderschaft, Cosmic Armchair, Crisk, Cynical Existence, Depeche Mode (the tribute releases), Diffuzion, Diskonnekted, Dive, Dream Recall, Dunkelwerk, Elektroklänge, ELM, Entrzelle, Epsilon Minus, Essence Of Mind, Freakangel, Front 242, Gaytron, Glis, Halo In Reverse, HausHetaere, Headscan, Helalyn Flowers, Hungry Lucy, I:scintilla, Implant, Internal, Inure, Junksista, Kant Kino, Klutæ, Komor Kommando, Krystal System, Leaether Strip, Lovelorn Dolls, Malakwa, Male Or Female, Mari Chrome, Mentallo and the Fixer, Metroland, Mind:State, Mnemonic, Mondträume, Monolith, Nebula-H, Neikka RPM, Nitzer Ebb, Növö, O.V.N.I., Plastic Noise Experience, Pouppee Fabrikk, Prozium, Psy’Aviah, Razorfade, Recoil, Regenerator, Saeldes Sanc, Schwarzblut, Sebastian Komor, Seize, Sero.Overdose, Shaun F, Simon Carter, Siva Six, Star Industry, Stray, Studio-X, Suicide Inside, Tamtrum, Technoir, The Cure (tribute), The Psychic Force, Totem Obscura, Trisomie 21, Unter Null, Venal Flesh, Virgins O.R Pigeons, Virtual Embrace, XMH, Zombie Girl, … plus a long list of compilations.

And in order to save on shipping costs, it’s recommended to combine this with the label’s 2 newest releases although they are not discounted.

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

(By our Norwegian correspondent Jan Ronald Stange. Band photo by Sebastian Ludvigsen)
As a followup to last year’s long-­awaited ‘The Great Deceiver’ album, the Norwegian alternative rock/industrial/synth act Mortiis will release the remix album ‘The Great Corrupter’ on April 21st. Deconstructed and masterfully “corrupted” by Chris Vrenna, Rhys Fulber, Die Krupps, John Fryer, GODFLESH, Merzbow, Apoptygma Berzerk, In Slaughter Natives, Raison D´Etre, Je$us LovesAmerika, PIG and many more, the record will also contain unreleased material from the original recording sessions.

Mortiis:
“The tracks on this album are very broad. They range from retro sounding, heavy industrial to very deep ambient type music to electronic/industrial club music.”

‘The Great Corrupter’ will be available in CD and vinyl formats, each with its own unique, collectible packaging, with licensed Hieronymus Bosch  artwork, dolls   It will also be available digitally – preorder @ https://mortiiswebstore.com/
True to tradition, Mortiis released not just one, but two free download singles as a taste of things to come. The first single contains a ferocious remix by German industrial legends Die Krupps, and also features a non-­album remix by club heroes Leæther Strip. The second single features remixes by Godflesh and Chris Vrenna – check’em out on the band’s Bandcamp site!

Mortiis will be returning to the UK for a 9 date strong co-headline run with PIG on the ‘Swine & Punishment’ tour.

Mortiis: “Raymond Watts is pretty much a legend in the industrial music world, as is En Esch, who is part of PIG now, and I´ve known Z Marr for years since we toured with Combichrist a couple of times back in 2011, so this tour feels very right to me. PIG has also remixed Mortiis twice, and I just did one for them. In fact I think our records are coming out  only a month apart. The UK is always a good time, and if all else fails, their beer is usually great!”

See them live at these dates and venues March 2017:
10: Nottingham – Rescue Rooms
11: Glasgow – Ivory Blacks
12: Newcastle – Think Tank
13: York – Fibbers
14: Sheffield – Plug
15: Manchester – Ruby Lounge
16: Bristol – Fleece
17: Norwich – Epic Studios
18: London – Garage

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

“Today he has no means He’s alone and anonymous, but written in his cells he’s got the marks of a genius”, with these Front 242 lyrics (“Headhunter”) the Belgian electro label Alfa Matrix has launched quite an impressive EBM day action offering no less than a 30% discount on all of it’s physical (and download releases) including the much wanted Front 242 vinyls sets.

All you need to do is use the code ebmday242 to get 30% off on all of the labels releases (ltd editions, boxsets, t-shirts, vinyls, …) purchased via the Alfa Matrix webstore and the official Alfa Matrix Bandcamp page.

The code ebmday242 is only valid today and this weekend and will be applied on all products you have added in your basket.

And that’s not all! the label has also added a huge list of VERY low priced compilations right here.

Included in this massive discount action are all physical and download releases by 32CRASH, Acylum, Aengeldust, Aesthetische, Agonised By Love, Aiboforcen, Alien Vampires, Ambassador21, amGod, Armageddon Dildos, Avarice In Audio, Ayria, Bruderschaft, Cosmic Armchair, Crisk, Cynical Existence, Depeche Mode (the tribute releases), Diffuzion, Diskonnekted, Dive, Dream Recall, Dunkelwerk, Elektroklänge, ELM, Entrzelle, Epsilon Minus, Essence Of Mind, Freakangel, Front 242, Gaytron, Glis, Halo In Reverse, HausHetaere, Headscan, Helalyn Flowers, Hungry Lucy, I:scintilla, Implant, Internal, Inure, Junksista, Kant Kino, Klutæ, Komor Kommando, Krystal System, Leaether Strip, Lovelorn Dolls, Malakwa, Male Or Female, Mari Chrome, Mentallo and the Fixer, Metroland, Mind:State, Mnemonic, Mondträume, Monolith, Nebula-H, Neikka RPM, Nitzer Ebb, Növö, O.V.N.I., Plastic Noise Experience, Pouppee Fabrikk, Prozium, Psy’Aviah, Razorfade, Recoil, Regenerator, Saeldes Sanc, Schwarzblut, Sebastian Komor, Seize, Sero.Overdose, Shaun F, Simon Carter, Siva Six, Star Industry, Stray, Studio-X, Suicide Inside, Tamtrum, Technoir, The Cure (tribute), The Psychic Force, Totem Obscura, Trisomie 21, Unter Null, Venal Flesh, Virgins O.R Pigeons, Virtual Embrace, XMH, Zombie Girl, … plus a long list of compilations.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Electro-pop.

Background/Info: After the promising debut album “Uncaged” (2015) Danish duo Claus Larsen (Leaether Strip, Klutae, Sequential Access)  and John Mirland (Mirland, Holm/Mirland) strike back with this 12” vinyl with 4 new songs. The work of Am Tierpark is clearly inspired by good-old electro-pop music.

Content: Next to a solid electro-pop basis the work of Am Tierpark sounds a bit minimal-like. It’s not the usual synth-pop music although it’s inspired by vintage sounds. Carried by dark and solid bass lines and somewhat evasive atmospheres you’ll also notice cool sound treatments, which sometimes vaguely remind me of Kraftwerk.

The title song and “I Can’t Stop” both reveal great choruses, which you’ll easily keep in mind. The title song is for sure a great piece of music and definitely the best Am Tierpark so far.

+ + + : I already mentioned “Cherry Blossom”, which has this little touch of magic transforming a song into a hit. This song also reveals the essence of the Am Tierpark sound, which is rather simple, but composed with great sound sculptures and the charismatic vocals of Claus Larsen. “I Can’t Stop” is a bit comparable in sound formula, but sounds ‘happier’. I here especially like the little space bleeps.

– – – : There’s just one single piece that can’t convince me on this 12”. “The Hunt” is what I would call the only B-side song of the EP. It’s not that bad, but this song is missing a climax.

Conclusion: There definitely is chemistry between Claus Larsen and John Mirland. They both are passionate musicians inspired by the 80s electro-pop, which they’ve adapted into thier very own and minimal contemporary and refreshing style.

Best songs: “Cherry Blossom”, “I Can’t Stop”.

Rate: (7½).

Band: www.facebook.com/amtierparkofficial

Label: www.distortionprod.com / www.facebook.com/distortionproductions

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

We enter the final few hours to enjoy a 50% reduction on all of your purchases via the Alfa Matrix Bandcamp page. You get a discount of 50% when using the discount code january50432. Just enter it when checking out. The code is valid on ALL of the releases on the label’s Bandcamp page.

Included in this massive discount action are releases by 32CRASH, Acylum, Aengeldust, Aesthetische, Agonised By Love, Aiboforcen, Alien Vampires, Ambassador21, amGod, Armageddon Dildos, Avarice In Audio, Ayria, Bruderschaft, Cosmic Armchair, Crisk, Cynical Existence, Depeche Mode (the tribute releases), Diffuzion, Diskonnekted, Dive, Dream Recall, Dunkelwerk, Elektroklänge, ELM, Entrzelle, Epsilon Minus, Essence Of Mind, Freakangel, Front 242, Gaytron, Glis, Halo In Reverse, HausHetaere, Headscan, Helalyn Flowers, Hungry Lucy, I:scintilla, Implant, Internal, Inure, Junksista, Kant Kino, Klutæ, Komor Kommando, Krystal System, Leaether Strip, Lovelorn Dolls, Malakwa, Male Or Female, Mari Chrome, Mentallo and the Fixer, Metroland, Mind:State, Mnemonic, Mondträume, Monolith, Nebula-H, Neikka RPM, Nitzer Ebb, Növö, O.V.N.I., Plastic Noise Experience, Pouppee Fabrikk, Prozium, Psy’Aviah, Razorfade, Regenerator, Saeldes Sanc, Schwarzblut, Sebastian Komor, Seize, Sero.Overdose, Shaun F, Simon Carter, Siva Six, Star Industry, Stray, Studio-X, Suicide Inside, Tamtrum, Technoir, The Cure (tribute), The Psychic Force, Totem Obscura, Trisomie 21, Unter Null, Venal Flesh, Virgins O.R Pigeons, Virtual Embrace, XMH, Zombie Girl, … plus a long list of compilations.

The discount code only lasts till January 31st midnight, so make sure to use it asap!

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

Leæther Strip belongs to the collective memory of all EBM fans. After nearly 30 years of existence, multiple hits and referential albums this Danish band set up an driven by Claus Larsen hits already back with a new album entitled “Spæctator”. The new work has been released on Rustblade and appears to be one of the best productions from late Leæther Strip work.

You can order all of his material right here. and a lot of his material can be downloaded right here from Bandcamp (use the code january50432 to get 50% off)

(by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: After years of commitment and an impressive discography what does the new work “Spæctator” means to you?

Claus: Yeah 2018 will make it 30 years since my first release as Leæther Strip. Releasing a new album has, since my first album, always been a personal landmark for me. I am very blessed to have been able to do this for so long and still have listeners. There is not a day that I don’t feel grateful.

Q: I got the feeling “Spæctator” is a real intimate album because of some recent tragic events you went through. What is it really all about and does music has this kind of magic power to heal wounds?

Claus: Yes, I lost my mother 2 years ago. Some very serious and suppressed events, and thoughts mainly from my childhood and teens, needed to be dealt with. Stuff that I should have handled many years ago, or events where people didn’t believe me. But I guess we all push stuff like that in the background because some things are just too painful. Most of my songs are very personal and kind of a diary of my life and what was going on around me, near and far. Composing songs has been my way of dealing with life events and also an escape from myself and my dark clouds. The best weapon for me against the dark clouds is being creative.

Q: One of my favorite cuts “Luc Van Acker” sounds less intimate, but what’s the story behind this song?

Claus: That song is the album’s ‘fun’ song. Back in ‘91 Leæther Strip opened up for the Revolting Cocks, and all I can say is that is sure wasn’t boring backstage. I cherish that gig so much and it’s one that stands out as one of the most fun gigs I played. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a band having so much fun both backstage and on stage. They were all super nice to us. I got kind permission from Luc and Chris to use that iconic ‘Luuuc Vaaaan Ackerrrrr’ shout from the Cocks’ love album in the song. I will be adding the song to my live set soon so I bet that will be fun.

Q: I already mentioned your impressive discography, but do you see one or more releases, which have been more important than others?

Claus:  For me they are all very special of course, and sure there are some more successful than others, and yes I do know that album like “Solitary Confinement”, “Self Inflicted” and “Legacy Of Hate And Lust” stand out in many of my listeners minds. These albums are still opening doors for me. I learn a lot doing each new song, so for me the old albums have their own life bringing back memories of good or bad times in people’s minds. I know that, because people write to me about what certain songs mean to them personally. I love getting these messages.  It’s what it’s all about. The power of music is so very strong, and it’s my therapy too.

Q: During the past few years you’ve released an impressive number of (mainly digital) cover songs from 80s formations like Simple Minds, Front 242, Skinny Puppy, Talk Talk, Yazoo, Depeche Mode ao. What do these covers mean to you and what do you precisely try to inject in a cover version?

Claus: Doing cover version of my favorite songs is kind of my hobby, and also a way to train my skills as a musician. I’ve done it for many years. I am a self taught musician and I do it all by ear, so diving into someone else’s song is good training and very inspiring. I mostly only cover songs that has had a special meaning for me and I am not trying to make the original better, as some think, I do it all with love and respect and I hope it might spark some new life into the songs and maybe make some new listeners check the original band out, in case they haven’t discovered them yet.

My cover album “Æppreciation”, which I released on Emmo.biz Records and on my Bandcamp site a few years ago is one of my most successful albums to date. Love doing them, so that won’t stop.

Q: I also noticed several songs composed for your husband Kurt. How is he doing and what’s the importance of your beloved –especially in your artistic activities?

Claus: Yes, his medicine costs are sky high and we’re struggling to make it work financially, so instead of doing a ‘go fund me’ or something like that to help him. I wrote some songs so people could support him, and us that way. All income from Bandcamp sales goes directly to his medicine account. People have been so very kind and many have been very supportive. We are still waiting for a kidney transplant, from me to him, but the doctors still do not want to do it. This sadly also means that Kurt can’t perform with me outside the EU, because he can’t get travel health insurance. It’s very hard for us, but it would be too risky to travel without insurance sadly.

It’s hard for us both being apart in this situation, but I need to make a living supporting us both. Right now he is stable, but that can change very fast, but we live one day at a time, with our heads held high. We got a live full of love and people who care about us all over the world. As long as we get each other and our friends support, nothing can beat us.

Q: What are the further plans for some of your side-projects like Am Tierpark, Klutæ and the (digital) label Body Music Records.?

Claus: I’ll soon starting to work on a new Klutæ album. It’s going to be a ‘back to the roots’-album, heavy and aggressive. That’s the plan.

With Am Tierpark, John and I just released a new EP titled “Cherry Blossom” on limited edition vinyl and digital. The next Am Tierpark is also composed and ready, so we are hoping it will be out soon too. We also hope to get some concert jobs with Am Tierpark during new year. We have had so much positive response so it’s time we take it to the stage.

With Body Music Records we have lots of exciting releases out and more to come in the next months.

As for Leæther Strip, the songs for the next album has also been composed and the tour will soon continue with shows in Madrid, Poland, Mexico, Germany, USA and many more booked. And in planning. So 2017 is going to be a busy year too. 2016 has been the best concert year for Leæther Strip ever, playing all over the world has been yet another dream come true. Thanks to my supporters I am still living my teenage dream still after almost 30 years.

Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Dark-electro, EBM, dark body-pop.

Background/Info: Claus Larsen is back on track unleashing his newest full length and the first album released on Rustblade. Leæther Strip remains one of the absolute leading 90s EBM formations, but remains very hot since his comeback in 2006. “Spæctator” has been introduced as a very special album, which took 2-3 years to achieve and meant as a mental exorcise after the loss of Claus’ mother and severe health problems of his husband.

Content: “Spæctator” reveals 10 new songs plus 2 remixes. The opening song reveals a typical EBM bass line, which reminds me a bit to Front 242, but rapidly moves into the typical Leæther Strip sound formula. The sound remains carried by hard, danceable kicks and these typical dark and bombastic bass lines. All Leæther Strip albums since the comeback of the band don’t feature the aggressive taste of the Zoth Ommog years although it remains a dark and exciting experience in sound. It’s quite similar for the vocals, which are no longer enraged, but definitely charismatic and spooky-like.

You’ll notice some songs with a kind of melodic and even dark-pop flavor on top while other passages are pure vintage-like. Claus Larsen also knows the right formula to compose carrying choruses, which remains an essential element in his work.

You’ll also feel some drama running through the work, which finally ends with a crazy song entitled “Luc Van Acker” featuring explicit samplings.

Next to the regular edition of this new opus there also is a box featuring a vinyl, an extra disc entitled “Yes I’m Limited VIII” plus the regular CD with 2 extra remixes by Retrogramme and Digital Anodyne.

+ + + : What I’ve always liked in Leæther Strip is the very own and recognizable sound-DNA created by Claus Larsen. You directly recognize the bass lines and the kicks while there also is this kind of unique arrangements on top plus Larsen’s very unique timbre of voice.

“Spæctator” sounds like a successful return revealing an elaborate album mixing different dark electro elements. There are a few potential hits featured, but I’ve a little preference for “Luc Van Acker” and the dirty samplings running through the song.

– – – : I can’t say that Leæther Strip innovates, but just holds on a successful sound formula that has been improved all over the years. Both remixes don’t exactly add a bonus to the album.

Conclusion: Claus Larsen is an EBM veteran who hasn’t lost his initial magic. The work became less aggressive and in a way somewhat inspired by 80s pops elements, but it still has this irresistible power to make people dance!

Best songs: “Luc Van Acker”, “Same Old Shit”, “So Beautiful”, “Obligate”, “Victorious”.

Rate: (8).

Band: www.leaether–strip.com / www.facebook.com/LeaetherStrip

Label: www.rustblade.com / www.facebook.com/rustbladerecords

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

In January the Norwegian dark electro duo Kant Kino will see its long awaited new album “Kopfkino” released. But before that, they have prepared a special Christmas freebie, namely a cover of the Motorhead track “We Are The Roadcrew (Robots)”.

Here’s what the band says about the track: “While we are no big fans, at least one of us enjoy some of their tracks, and we do have respect for the recent loss of their founding member Lemmy. And they have the most wicked album presentation in the history of the music industry (yeah, the colored vinyls by DM are awesome, but the leather sleeve of “No Remorse” is beyond…). The track is called “We are the road crew”, hard hitting and not a single guitar in sight, and you might recognise that it’s mixed with a riff from a more electronic oriented band you might know:-). Don’t think that crossover has ever been done before!”

The track is available for free from the band’s newly launched Bandcamp site. You can check the track below. Eventual donations will go to Claus and Kurt of Leaether Strip to help with their medical expenses. “But, this is only optional, don’t feel obliged to make a donation to get the track”, says the band.

Here’s already a preview of the band’s upcoming album which will be released as a CD/2CD and download.

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

Snuttock hits back with a fresh new video for the great track “Attention” featured on their recent album “Rituals Redux”. The video has the track featured in an excellent remix by Leaether Strip. The track is a great rework and of course was included in the tracks we recently added in our Spotify playlist. Shot and Directed by Ernie Mosteller it features appearances by Claus Larsen (Leaether Strip) and actress Alisa Baksheeva.

You can watch the video below + an interview with the band below that:

SL: How did Claus Larsen end up doing the remix?

Snuttock : When we set out to put together the remix album, I spent a lot of time on YouTube searching for remixes I liked in the EBM, Synthpop, Industrial genres, and Leaether Strip was the remixer on a lot of them. I sent a text to Ilker Yücel (Editor Regenmag) asking if he knew Claus. He replied that Claus is a great guy and I shouldn’t hesitate to contact him…he was right! When it came to choosing a song / style to remix I couldn’t make up my mind, as Claus has a lot of great Synthpop covers as well as EBM remixes. Ultimately I asked if he would do an old school EBM remix of Attention and a Synthpop remix of Advice. Glad I asked, he did an AWESOME job on both!

SL: Claus is a legend in the EBM scene, do you remember when you got in touch with his work the first time?

Snuttock : I’m a bit late to the game on this one, I’d say the 2000 – 2004 time frame. For me anyway, that was the time period where I began to learn a lot about the international music scene (thanks to the internet). Nothing like EBM was on the US airwaves that I knew of, and if you heard it in a club, good luck finding out the name of the track or artist.

SL/ Ernie Mosteller did a great job on this video, how did you get in touch with this artist?

Snuttock : Early last summer I had a music video shoot all lined up, deposits paid on the theatre rental and costume rentals, Juggler, Mime, Contortionist and more all lined up…then I could no longer get in touch with our usual director. I reached out to Mia Regalado, who has sung on our albums, appeared in our videos, and asked if she knew any directors that might be interested in shooting the video. Having worked in the film industry for years she had numerous contacts, and the first person she thought of ended up being the perfect fit…Ernie! He’s an accomplished director with his own production company ( http://friedokra.tv ) and is a BLAST to work with, we were lucky to lure him in! I ended up twisting his arm into filming the current Attention video a few months later.

SL: What’s in the pipeline for the band in the next weeks and months?

Snuttock : For the immediate future, Ernie is currently reworking a ton of our Spitting Into the Wind footage for a new music video of the Psy’Aviah “Spitting” remix…and there’s the Vaudeville style music video I alluded to above that will be released next spring / summer. Of course, we’re also working on new music…

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

Leaether Strip is back, after having worked 3 years on a new album, called “Spectator”. You can expect a mixture of old-school EBM, harsh rhythms and electronic ballads as we are used from him.

This time the album is being released on red vinyl (available here), CD (available here) and also as a special packet holding the vinyl and a 2CD set (available here).

The bonus disc included in the very limited deluxe set (available here) holds the following 12 extra tracks: “White as chalk (Maxi Mix)”, “Filling the graves (Maxi Mix)”, “Filling the graves (En Esch Remix)”, “B-side”, “Can we all forgive?”, “Don’t listen to the voices”, “I know what a man contains”, “Moonman”, “Fragments (Feat. Mirland)”, “Bear wrestler (Feat. [AndroidKˆlon:58])”, “The Art of murder (Feat. Caffetine)” and “Body Machine Body (Live in Kassel)”.

Here’s a glimpse of what the deluxe boost looks like.

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

Snuttock, in conjunction with Morphius Records, is to release “Rituals Redux” on September 15th, 2016 (pre-orders available here). The album is the follow up to the band’s “Endless Rituals” released 3 years ago. The double CD album contains remixes by Marsheaux, Metroland, Leaether Strip, Psy’Aviah, SITD, Sebastian Komor, and many more…

You can already listen to “Advice” remixed by Leaether Strip and “Advice” in a Red This Ever remix version.

You can order “Rituals Redux” as a download via the band’s Bandcamp page or as a 2CD set (available here) containing all the music included on the digital download release, presented in a radio show format by WOCD DJ Don Rogers, plus station IDs from some of the artists. The set is packaged in a double amaray case with a full color 8 page booklet. There is also a limited edition version (available here) with an autographed poster.

Here’s a teaser for the release:

Snuttock, consisting of the duo Bryan Lee and Christopher Lee Simmonds (who is also a founding member of Thought Industry) was founded in Baltimore, Maryland in 2003. Since then they have released 3 albums: “Straight Jacket Life” (2005), “Carved and Sutured” (2008) and “Endless Rituals” (2013) showing that the band takes it time to record a decent album (and to professionally work on their video output as you can see 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

(By Fiona K.) Looming on the summer horizon is the UK’s premier electronic music festival, Infest, on 26th – 28th August in Bradford, near Leeds in northern England. Now in it’s 18th year, Infest’s now fully-announced 2016 line-up is 3 glorious days of heavyweights of the electronic music genre, old and new.

Playing are Pop Will Eat Itself, Atari Teenage Riot, 3Teeth, Dead When I Found Her, Leaether Strip, Vigilante. to name but a few; and you’ll also get 3 days of top quality DJ’s to add to the fun.

Last year’s festival continued Infest’s long-standing reputation of impeccably-chosen line-ups of musically interesting and entertaining bands. Some of the highlights from last year included:

• a beautifully messed-up and rowdy electronic assault by ex-Ministry/Revolting Cocks’ frontman’s current incarnation, COCKSURE;
• a darkly-twisted techno set by the electronic trailblazers EMPIRION;
• an introduction to the primal industrial sound of CHANT all the way from Texas (which was a festival highlight);
• a sojourn in the incredibly polished theatrical-gothic niche that Germany’s L’Ame Immortelle dominate;
• the intense, emotive and diverse sound of KLANGSTABIL;
• the Pink Floyd of dark electronica, MIND IN A BOX, delighted with an intelligent, diverse and musically-rich performance.

And then there was the karaoke (yes, your read that correctly!), the dance-floor shenanigans and the after-parties and mayhem.

Here’s the thing about Infest though. It’s human-scale. It’s one stage. There’s no running around from venue to venue; no having to chose which of your bands you are prepared to miss because of cross-over scheduling. The staff are super-friendly; there’s food stalls and shots and outdoor seating and a general welcoming party atmosphere. If you haven’t been, go. It’s not one to miss.

Additional info on the official website. Tickets can be purchased right here. You can already watch here what to expect!

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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