Lights Of Euphoria &#8211; SIDE-LINE

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.

Los Angeles – from the ashes – Charity Compilation by COP International

COP International launches ‘Los Angeles – From The Ashes’ charity compilation

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Thu, 06 Mar 2025 09:43:14 +0000

COP International will release the “Los Angeles – From The Ashes” charity compilation tomorrow. You can already pre-order it now for 10 USD. The release will only be available through Bandcamp.

The devastating fires in Los Angeles also destroyed “one of the most vibrant artist communities in the world” so COP International’s Christian says. “Many of our friends, collaborators, and fellow artists were displaced, with some losing everything. Among those deeply affected was Louise Fraser of Muricidae Music, a beloved COP International artist, who lost her home in the tragedy. In the face of this devastation, we knew we had to take action. This is our response: “Los Angeles – Out of Ashes”—a massive 75-track Bandcamp compilation, bringing together an extraordinary community of artists, labels, and supporters.”

All net income from the release will be donated directly to the American Red Cross, helping fire victims and aiding ongoing relief efforts. Since it’s Bandcamp Friday tomorrow, Bandcamp will waive its fee, ensuring that every dollar goes to those in need.

The 75 bands included are: Black Needle Noise, Blackcarburning, Dogtablet, Stoneburner, Inertia, Carrellee, The Halo Trees, I Ya Toyah, Jane Jensen Music, Muricidae Music, NØIR, Die Kammer, Black Angel, Night Ritualz, SJÖBLOM, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, Chris Connelly & Dan Milligan, The Cassandra Complex, KY music, Louise Fraser, G.W. Childs IV, Junksista, Johnny Tupolev, unitcode:machine, Deathline International, The Russian White, Icon of Coil Official, Brigade Enzephalon, Monody, Lights of Euphoria, Black Nail Cabaret, Ruined Conflict, Solemnshapes, A Projection, Magic Wands, Beborn Beton, TORUL, Lost Signal, Orange Sector (offiziell), Interface, genCAB, MESH, Destroy Me Again, Sapphira Vee, Dstrtd Sgnl, Klack, TREASVRE, xotox, Frontal Boundary, nolongerhuman, Bellhead, V2A, Metamorph, Red Lokust, WESENBERG, Psyclon 9, Flesh Field, Principe Valiente, Death By Love, Winema Suehead, Sick Jokes, Chiasm, The Hunger, Vaselyne, Solar Fake, Girls Under Glass, NORMORIA, Stabbing Westward, Jesus On Extasy, The Shadow Majlis, Amulet, Suicide Queen, Ego Likeness, Schattenmann, Beasto Blanco.

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!

Lights Of Euphoria – Suicidal (Mini-Album – Infacted Recordings)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Wed, 22 Mar 2023 08:00:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: Electro-Pop, Indie-Pop.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: 2022 has been a prolific and creative year for Lights Of Euphoria. The German-Danish trio released several singles and two mini-albums by the end of the year. Both mini-albums feature the title-tracks of the singles plus some new songs as well.

Content: This mini-album features 6 songs which are totally representative for the band’s sound they’ve developed during the years. You get a danceable, ‘harder’, side with catchy passages and a ‘softer’, and more melancholic side.

+ + + : The work takes off with the cool Indie-Pop driven “The Sound Of Thunder” which reveals the band at its best. Jimmy Machon’s sexy timbre of voice is a great match with the music. I also like the upcoming cuts “Access Denied”, “Man And Machine” and “Collapsed”.

– – – : Both last songs are softer and once more the ones which couldn’t convince me.

Conclusion: This work reveals Lights Of Euphoria at its best; alluring and danceable Electro/Indie-Pop music.

Best songs: “The Sound Of Thunder”, “Collapsed”, “Access Denied”, “Man And Machine”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.facebook.com/lightsofeuphoria

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

Lights Of Euphoria – Angels (Mini-Album – Infacted Recordings)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Wed, 22 Mar 2023 08:00:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: Electro-Pop, Indie-Pop.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Released nearly at the same time as “Suicidal” this is the second mini-album released by Jimmy Machon, Thomas Gaarn, and Torben Schmidt. “Angels” also features six songs.

Content: The work sounds like it is in the same line as “Suicidal”; catchy, danceable Electro-Pop with Indie-elements on top and alternated with a few softer, moody, songs. I noticed passages with guitar sounds to boost the global production.

+ + + : I think both mini-albums -cf. “Suicidal” and “Angels”, perfectly stand for the evolution of Lights Of Euphoria. The harder EBM elements have been replaced by Indie-elements which makes the band accessible for a wider audience. But you also notice the maturity of the trio running through the writing. This work sounds like a refreshed version of Lights Of Euphoria; maybe a path they can move on with for their next work.

– – – : I’m repeating myself but the soft side of the band isn’t the most attractive one. “Soul Collector” is the illustration of this softer and less inspired side.

Conclusion: 2022 has been a great vintage for Lights Of Euphoria which maybe haven’t delivered their greatest hits to date but for sure their most mature productions.

Best songs: “Strange”, “Form And Matter”, “Puppeteer”.

Rate: 7.

Artist: www.facebook.com/lightsofeuphoria

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

Lights Of Euphoria – Suicidal (Mini-Album – Infacted Recordings)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Tue, 22 Nov 2022 08:00:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: Electro-Pop, Future-Pop.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Danish-German formation Lights Of Euphoria are back on track. They already this year released a new production every month -mainly singles, and now unleashed a first mini-album in a series of two. “Suicidal” features six songs.

Content: Without repeating themselves Lights Of Euphoria however moves on mixing elements of Electro-Pop and EBM. It in the end all sounds pretty Future-Pop like. The work is mixing soft pieces together with more danceable cuts, the opening cut “The Sound Of Thunder” being the true attention grabber.

+ + + : Lights Of Euphoria delivered a fully accomplished piece of work. I especially like the ‘danceable’ cuts. The progression of the opening song “The Sound Of Thunder” is grandiose. It takes off with piano and progressively moves into groovy, Future-Pop parts. “Access Denied” coming next is another cool cut made by fine tunes. I also like the production of the vocals.

– – – : The softer cuts like “Man And Machine” and “Deeper” aren’t exactly the best part of the work. I would have preferred to get more danceable songs and/or remixes instead.

Conclusion: “Suicidal” is alternating great passages and poorly inspired tracks, but in the end this band remains warrant for cool and modern Future-Pop.

Best songs: “The Sound Of Thunder”, “Access Denied”.

Rate: 7.

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

Supreme Court – Avid For Revenge (Album – Infacted Recordings)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Fri, 27 May 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: Dark-Electro.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Nearly thirteen years after their last album, German Dark-Electro combo Supreme Court strikes back. This is the band’s fourth full length and the second one released by Infacted Recordings. The opus was preceded by the singles “We Are Dumb” and “Face Reality”.

Content: The sound of Supreme Court remains extremely dark, carried by menacing bass lines and harsh vocals. The catchy, icy, leads and stumping kicks make it pretty accessible music for dark dancefloors. I also noticed a more EBM driven track (cf. ”Rotten Corpses”) and the more elaborated “Simplify Your Life” featuring Acid-like sequences.

The CD format reveals bonus tracks which are remixes by Feindflug, ES23, Lights Of Euphoria and Pre.Emptive Strike 0.1 which are taken from the previous singles.

+ + + : Back in time I considered Supreme Court as one of the most talented Dark-Electro formations so it’s great to see this band striking back. The sound remains extremely dark but a bit more catchy than in the past. You’ll also discover songs with a different approach which injects extra variety to the work. “We Are Dumb” remains a great and essential cut but there’re other potential singles featured like “Simplify Your Life” and “Rotten Corpses”. I also have to mention “Racheengel” for its extra catchy touch. Among the remixes, Feindflug definitely is a noticeable and surprising project. Their remix of “We Are Dumb” sounds like being mixed with the great melody-line from Simple Minds’ “Theme For Great Cities”.

– – – : Despite of the great artists that have been asked for the remixes they unfortunately don’t really add a true bonus.

Conclusion: Supreme Court resurrected with a great Dark-Electro piece which only confirms the potential of the early productions.

Best songs: “Rotten Corpses”, “Simplify Your Life”, “We Are Dumb”, “Racheengel”, “Only The World”, “Voice Of Hate”.

Rate: 8½.

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

J:Dead – Vision Of Time (Mini-Album – Infacted Recordings)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Thu, 26 May 2022 07:00:00 +0000

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

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Jay Taylor -known as the live drummer for Tactical Sekt, Tyske Ludder and Harmjoy, strikes back with a new production of his own J:Dead project. “Vision Of Time” features six songs while the CD format includes seven more songs (remixes).

Content: J:Dead remains an artist with his own approach in sound. Some might call it Electro-Pop but the harder and harsher approach rather sounds like a Dark- and/or Industrial Pop format. The vocals are switching from clear, powerful passages to harsh parts. The choruses are melodic.

Remixes have been provided by Teknovore, Lights Of Euphoria, Nature Of Wires, Rotersand, The Saint Paul, Station Echo and Life Cried.

+ + + : I especially like the atypical ‘Pop’ format of this artist. Dark, Industrial and even a bit Punkish mixing enraged sound- and vocal parts together with melodic, carrying, choruses. My favorite cuts are “A Little Time” and “Afraid” both driven by an angry production. Among the remixes I especially want to mention the extra boosting remix of “I’ll wait” by Teknovore.

– – – : I expected a bit more out of the remixes.

Conclusion: J:Dead seems to be one of last months ‘hot’ artists from Infacted Recordings and this rough approach of Electro-Pop shows you why it is.

Best songs: “A Little Time”, “Afraid”, “I’ll Wait – Teknovore Remix”, “Afraid – Nature Of Wires Remix”.

Rate: 7½.

Artist: www.facebook.com/jdeadband

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

Armageddon Dildos – Destruction (EP – Alfa Matrix)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Thu, 17 Mar 2022 08:00:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: EBM.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: “Destruction” is the second EP taken from Armageddon Dildos’ last album “Dystopia” released in 2020.

Content: The title song was one of the main cuts of the album. It’s a powerful song to take off with while there also is a darker and punchy mix. A few other songs from the album have been remixed. “Ohne Dich” has been remixed by Aiborforcen and Messiaen Noir. Alien Vampires remixed “Burn Baby Burn” and Lights Of Euphoria remixed “Dance On Dead Bodies”. There’s also the new song “Colder”, which sounds simple while carried by a forceful chorus.

+ + + : “Destruction” remains a great EBM song from the “Dystopia”-album. It’s a well-crafted and powerful EBM song. I also recommend listening to the darker “Darkroom Mix”. Another essential piece is the impressive remix of “Ohne Dich” by Aiboforcen. This version sounds more accomplished and carried by a strong and elevating production.

– – – : I expected a bit more out of the other remixes.

Conclusion: “Destruction” brings the “Dystopia”-album back on the map; a great EBM production completed by this cool EP.

Best songs: “Ohne Dich – With Or Without Mix by Aiboforcen”, “Destruction”, “Destruction – Darkroom Mix”, “Colder”.

Rate: 7½.

Artist: www.facebook.com/armageddondildos

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

Brand new j:dead EP ‘Vision of time’ out now via Infacted Recordings

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Fri, 18 Feb 2022 08:00:00 +0000

Out today is the all new EP, “Vision of time”, by the electro act j:dead aka Jay Taylor. “Vision of time” comes after the release of the album “A Complicated Genocide” in early 2021. The EP holds 6 tracks and includes the single “I’ll wait” plus remixes by Lights of Euphoria and TeknoVore.

“Vision of time” will be released both digitally and physically with the physical edition featuring an additional 7 remixes from acts such as Rotersand, The Saint Paul, Nature of wires, Life Cried and Station Echo.

j:dead explains the concept around the EP: “It covers a range of situations and perspectives on time being the only thing we cannot change. Time itself can change things for the better, worse or for change’s sake.”

As “Vision of time” is released j:dead will already be in the final production stages of their 3rd release, expected to hit the streets in late 2022.

Jay Taylor created j:dead in 2019. After the first release of their song “Haunt” the project got signed to Infacted Recordings and released 2 further singles (“Feeding on me” and “A complicated genocide”) as well as a full length feature album (“A complicated genocide”).

You can check the release below.

Vision of time (Digital and physical release) by J:dead

Here’s the video for “I’ll wait”

German cult EBM act Armageddon Dildos back with all new EP: ‘Destruction’

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Fri, 03 Dec 2021 12:50:51 +0000

Out today via Alfa Matrix is the all new EP by the German cult EBM act Armageddon Dildos. “Destruction” is the 2nd EP taken from their last “Dystopia” album featuring 6 previously unreleased songs and mixes.

Note that Uwe Kanka totally reinvented the title song through his own ‘darkroom’ mix, with different vocals and a fully revamped instrumentations. Also included is the exclusive and previously unreleased EBM cut “Colder” plus remixes by Aiboforcen, Alien Vampires, Lights Of Euphoria and Messiaen Noir. 7 tracks in total.

Note that Side-Line published an interview with Uwe Kanka just yesterday.

Here is the new EP, available right now from Bandcamp with other platforms to follow.

Destruction EP by ARMAGEDDON DILDOS

Synthpop / futurepop act Mental Discipline launches first EP – ‘Stay At Home Sessions 1’ – in a series of EPs holding live recorded tracks

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Thu, 29 Jul 2021 17:23:31 +0000

Out now via SkyQode is the “Stay At Home Sessions 1” EP by Mental Discipline (available on Bandcamp right here). It is the first EP in a special series of releases with classic Mental Discipline tracks recorded live in a home studio during late 2020. The “Stay At Home Sessions 1” EP holds 3 tracks: “Over the horizon”, “Place where I belong” and “Fall to pieces”.

The whole concept was inspired by successful online concerts that Alex Mental did during the corona lockdown time last year, where he performed his tracks with additional piano accompaniment. It is also the first time that some of the tracks previously released with guest vocalists can be heard with Alex on vocals.

About Mental Discipline

Mental Discipline is a Russian synthpop / futurepop project started by Alex Mental in 2008. He has since released two well received acclaimed albums, “Constellation” (2012) and “Past Forward” (2018), as well as several EPs, featuring collaborations with vocalists like Felix Marc, Jimmy Machon (Lights Of Euphoria), Salva Maine (Culture Kultür), Rouven Walterowicz (Endanger) and many others.

Check the release on Spotify.

Check out the video for “Over Horizon”.

And the Bandcamp release is available here.

Stay At Home Sessions 1 by Mental Discipline

Labels Interviews: File 6: Torben Schmidt / Infacted Recordings: ‘It Was Always A Moving Experience To Be Part Of Creating Something’

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sat, 22 May 2021 18:30:00 +0000

Torben Schmidt gained some experience about label activities working as A&R manager for the legendary Zoth Ommog and Bloodline. He set up Infacted Recordings in 2001 and signed bands like Orange Sector, Namnambulu, Frozen Plasma, Reaper, X Marks The Pedwalk, Prager Handgriff, Heimataerde, Grendel, ES23, Ruined Conflict, Xotox, NZ, Aircrash Bureau, PreEmptive Strike 0.1, Shiv-R, Torul, IC434, Vanguard… but still the own bands he’s involved with Lights Of Euphoria and Binary Park. Twenty years later Infacted Recordings became a reference when it comes to EBM, Electro-Pop and Dark-Electro artists.

(Stéphane Froidcoeur / Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Was there a kind of ‘philosophy’ when you set up your label and did it evolve over the years? How would you define your label activities today?

Torben: My main aim and intention when I started Infacted Recordings back in 2001 was to get independent and release/support the music I love, whenever possible detached from the economical side (which of course is not always possible). I was working for other people/companies before I started my own record company and experienced many good, but also quite some things, which were to be improved. I think the big advantage I had from the start was that I knew both sides, working in a record company and being an artist, producer myself.

Q: I can imagine you must have specific and explicit criteria to sign an artist/band. Can you give us more details about this aspect and how important is it for you to know the person(s) hiding behind the ‘artist(s)’?

Torben: Well, to be honest, for me it is basically a matter of personal taste. One rule I had from the start was to get to know the human behind every band/artist whenever possible to make up my mind about the individuals. If there is a good chemistry in between label and band/artist, that’s the most solid base you can get for a strong work together.

Q: You are already active for numerous years now so you must have seen a lot of things changing and evolving; think about social media, streaming platforms, Youtube channels… but also economic crisis etc. What are the pros and cons of these changes/evolutions and in, which way did you had to adapt/change your strategy and activities?

Torben: I think you already hit the point with the question. Time changes and we, as the motors and creators of this scene had the task to step up with the changes. We are innovators to a certain point, always at the pulse with being DJs, musicians, producers, people who initiate ideas and start projects. For me personal it was always a moving experience to be part of creating something. I think you really have to be where the heart of the scene is, at clubs, at festivals at concerts, meeting fans and supporters and have a good communication.

Q: The ongoing pandemic has affected all artistic life and activities so what’s the true impact on your label activities and do you think it will also affect your long term objectives?

Torben: The main problem we all seek is that one big part of our scene is missing, that’s the live/club thing we have with our bands and our supporting DJs. Many plans we had with touring and release events for 2020 and 2021 had to be shifted. There are fresh ideas with streaming events, but this rarely compensates the feeling most of our scene loves and lives. So well, we honestly hope that there will be perspectives again soon. On the other side I am very happy to have so many supporters out there who continuously aid me/us as a label and the bands and DJs directly.

Q: Do you think media (magazines, online platforms etc…) still have an impact and a role to play today? What’s your relationship with ‘journalists’ and how important is their work?

Torben: I can only speak for me personally here, but I think that print media is losing more and more of its impact due to various factors. Time is running fast and news are spread way more easily digital then in print media. It’s not really blaming, but print magazines concentrate too much on the same bands over and over again (of course often due to demand).

There are exceptions of course and I truly appreciate the support we get and a lot of still really enthusiastic journalists, but I experienced so many people stop buying magazines in the last years and change to digital media to get there information. For me as a label, social media and online media in general is an important key for my promotional work.

Q: What do you consider as your biggest accomplishment(s)? Do you have specific goals/dreams you want to achieve and how do you prepare and see the future of the label(s)? And what are your biggest regret(s)?

Torben: During the years I had the opportunity to work with so many talented artists, known/not so knows, small/big, which is/was truly an honor. So many relationships were started, collaborations occurred and friendships actually did result. My dream to live & work with music did already happen, so I am pretty thankful for this. I have to say that I do not really regret anything. Being in the music scene was great in almost all time periods and every phase had it great moments. Even on bad experiences you grow and make internal progress.

Beyond Obsession – Speaking Of A Devil (EP – Infacted Recordings)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sun, 13 Dec 2020 19:30:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: Electro-Pop.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: “Speaking Of A Devil” is a song taken from the fourth full length album “Revolution From Below”, released earlier this year by the project, German Beyond Obsession. They exposed this song to other artists for a real ‘remix festival’!

Content: The tracklist of the CD is different from the digital one. The CD takes off with the “Album Version” reminding us of the Depeche Mode influence. It’s a melodic and danceable song. You also will find the demo song at the end of the EP. In between “Speaking Of A Evil” has been remixed by 9 artists. Rob Dust, Ruined Conflict, Hartung & Schleinitz, Thomas Gaarn (Lights Of Euphoria), Ten after Dawn, Hidden Souls, Rroyce, Beyond Border and Missing In Stars remixed the original edit with their own touch and influences.

+ + + : “Speaking Of A Devil” is a real good choice as EP-title song; it simply is one of the best tracks from the band’s last album. It’s a melodic Electro-Pop song clearly evoking bands such as Depeche Mode and Erasure. It especially inspired artists such as Rob Dust, Hidden Souls (Electro-Pop formation from Argentina) and especially Ruined Conflict to achieve some real great mixes. The remix of Hidden Souls is a harder one. I also noticed a cool Techno inspired remix by Hartung & Schleintiz, which is not exactly the most familiar project from the list of remixers.

– – – : I never have been a huge fan of EP’s with an endless number of remixes from just one single song. Among the nine remixes you for sure will find some favorites, but 9 is maybe a bit too much.

Conclusion: If you’re a fan of Beyond Obsession, this EP will for sure find its place among your collection. I would advise listening to the album from the other music lovers.

Best songs: “Speaking Of A Devil – Album Version”, “Speaking Of A Devil – Ruined Conflict Remix”, “Speaking Of A Devil – Hidden Souls Remix”, “Speaking Of A Devil – Rob Dust’s 20 -> Remix”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.beyondobsession.de / www.facebook.com/beyondobsessionofficial

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

Armageddon Dildos – Dystopia (Album – Alfa Matrix)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Tue, 03 Nov 2020 20:30:11 +0000

Genre/Influences: EBM.

Format: Digital, Double CD.

Background/Info: Armageddon Dildos is back on track unleashing the first ‘new’ studio album since “Untergrund” (2011). Uwe Kanka introduced the new album by the solid EP “Heut Nacht” released earlier this year. “Dystopia” wants to be a critical reflection about the dystopian world we’re living in. The front cover clearly reminds me of the legendary “1984” novel of George Orwell.

Content: The regular album features 13 songs while the bonus disc features 12 extra songs/remixes. The album takes off with a unique song for the band, but still a great and overwhelming piece of music. Armageddon Dildos next moves from harder EBM cuts –including the already known “Heut Nacht”, towards slower pieces. I also noticed some interesting experiments like the minimal driven “Night People”, which sounds a bit 80s like. The song “Neon” is also a noticeable cut featuring female vocals by Malin Kanka (Uwe’s daughter). “Stay” is already something totally different and brings a surprising guitar Electro-Rock style. The work ends with a hard “Club Mix” of the title song.

The bonus disc is featuring remixes by Schramm, Intent:Outtake, First Aid 4 Souls, Inertia, Dave Anderson, Digital Factor, Orange Sector, AD:Key, Fredrik Söderberg, Lights Of Euphoria, Rico Ferenc Piller and Synapsyche.

+ + + : “Dystopia” is a diversified album driven, by good-old EBM sequences mixed with eclectic elements. The die-hard fans will be ravished discovering songs such as “Dystopia” and “Heut Nacht”. “High Up In The Sky” stands for modernism while “Night People” is a great ode to 80s electronics. “Heut Nacht” and “Destruction” both reveal noticeable melody lines. Last, but not least “Ohne Dich” is a cool Body-Pop song sung in German while featuring female French samplings. Among the remixes I want to mention the devastating remix of “Dance Of Dead Bodies” by Lights Of Euphoria. Intent:Outtake did also a great job remixing “Dystopia”.

– – – : Some cuts are clearly unexpected, and not totally convincing. I of course refer to the already mentioned “Stay”. The early and successful days of this band are clearly a way behind us.

Conclusion: I remember to have been disappointed when discovering the “Untergrund”-album while “Dystopia” reconciles me a bit with the true spirit of the band.

Best songs: “Ohne Dich”, “Dystopia – Club Mix”, “Heut Nacht”, “Night People”, “Destruction” + “Dance On Dead Bodies – Light Of Euphoria Stadium Mix”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.armageddondildos.info / www.facebook.com/armageddondildos

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

Armageddon Dildos – Dystopia Download
Armageddon Dildos – Dystopia CD
Armageddon Dildos – Dystopia 2CD

Armageddon Dildos return with ‘Dystopia’ in 3 formats: CD / 2CD / Download – out now

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Mon, 31 Aug 2020 03:28:00 +0000

In March 2020 Düsseldorf’s leading EBM act Armageddon Dildos launched a brand new download EP, “Heut Nacht” (available here on Bandcamp). Today the band releases a new album. Uwe Kanka takes the opportunity to protest against our world’s dystopia in general, and socio-political issues in particular like intolerance, abuse, disinformation or yet selfishness.

For the occasion he surrounded himself with studio gurus and old time friends Mathias Black and Sven Mouhcine. You can expect 80’s melodic influences with the 90’s power of industrial dark techno.

Below you can listen to the complete album.

The limited edition of the album includes a bonus album featuring one remix of each album song by a wide range of collaborators including Orange Sector, Digital Factor, Ad:Key, Lights Of Euphoria, Schramm, Intent:Outtake, First Aid 4 Souls, Inertia, Synapsyche, Dave Anderson, Rico Piller and Fredrik Söderberg.

Available formats:

And here are the first 2 tracks to check out.

Dystopia (Bonus Tracks Edition) by ARMAGEDDON DILDOS

Slowly but steadily

Armageddon Dildos was formed in 1988 in Kassel Germany, and the name comes from the slang term for intercontinental ballistic missiles. The band has always been popular within their native Germany but also outside of Germany they have a cult following among industrial music lovers. They released their first album, “That’s Armageddon”, in 1990 on the cult label Zoth Ommog. The rest is history.

Noticeable is that the band has always taken it time to record and release new material. Their latest full album already dates from 2011 when they released “Untergrund”, also on Alfa Matrix.

Untergrund (Bonus Tracks Version) by ARMAGEDDON DILDOS

Frozen Plasma – Pakt (CD Album – Infacted Recordings)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sun, 02 Jun 2019 18:30:05 +0000

Genre/Influences: Electro-pop.

Background/Info: Frozen Plasma strikes back with a particular album; kind of ‘featuring’-releasing on, which the German duo invited 10 guest singers to sing each a favorite Frozen Plasma song.

Content: You’ll easily recognize songs such as “Foolish Dreams”, “MurderousTrap”, “Hypocrite”, “King Of Pain”, but the vocals are different and sometimes surprising. For this concept “Pakt” features Thomas Lecszenski (SITD), Xavier Morales (Ruined Conflict), Paul (The Saint Paul), Casi (Rroyce), Charly-Barth Ricklefs (Eisfabrik), Jimmy Machon (Lights Of Euphoria), Dennis Schöber (Solitary Experiments), Daniel Pad (ES23), André Steinigen (Versus) and Nihls Uppahl (Beyond Obsession).

+ + + : The songs remain driven by the electro/future-pop style of Frozen Plasma. The guest singers inject some extra diversity to the sound. Songs such as “Murderous Trap” feat. Xavier Morales, “Hypocrite” feat. Daniel Pad and “Faith Over Your Fear” feat. André Steinigen work really well. It’s an original way to revisit 10 songs from the band.

– – – : A few songs can’t convince me and that’s maybe because some of them aren’t my favorites. I’m missing some of the band’s biggest hits –like “Herz”, “Crazy”, “Tanz Der Revolution”).

Conclusion: The idea behind this album also is a way to connect people with each other. It’s an original way to bring some old songs back to life.

Best songs: “Murderous Trap”, “Hypocrite”, “Faith Over Your Fear”, “Foolish Dreams”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist: www .frozenplasma .de / www .facebook .com /FrozenPlasma

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

Binary Park – Life On Lines (CD Album – Infacted Recordings)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Thu, 12 Jul 2018 19:30:57 +0000

Genre/Influences: EBM, body-pop.

Background/Info: Binary Park strikes back with their third full length album in the band’s history. Driven by Infacted label owner Torben Schmidt (Lights Of Euphoria and Suicide Commando live keyboarder), Alfred Gregl (who has been involved with an endless number of projects) and singer Huw Jones, this new opus appears four years after the “Singularity”-album.

Content: Binary Park has been always something part. It’s not exactly what you can call a ‘cliché’ band, but an intelligent music format composed with electro-pop and EBM influences. Some of the songs make me think to an imaginary crossover between Depeche Mode (for some vocal parts), Haujobb and Covenant. There’s a constant switch from electro-pop to EBM, but both elements are still coming together.

A few songs have been driven by energetic rhythms, others are carried by groovy sequences while a few other songs are featuring alluring EBM bass lines.

+ + + : I remember the magic from the first album “Worlds Collide”, which comes a bit back at “Life On Lines”. This is a styled and elaborated composition bringing different influences together. The songs have been accomplished with different great effects revealing all the intelligence and production skills of the band. Next to the music Huw Jones also is a talented singer who sometimes reminds to the sensuality of Dave Gahan. One thing is for sure, Binary Park is a formation with a very personal sound and musicians revealing themselves as great sound architects.

– – – : The complexity of the production is maybe a reason why some dark-electro pop lovers will turn their back to this great, but sophisticated work. Don’t expect Binary Park to compose mellowing melody lines and catchy, danceable pop-songs. I’ve to admit there’re just a few sweeter sounding songs, which aren’t my personal favorites.

Conclusion: Electronic music is sometimes comparable to mathematics; exact sciences where every single detail sounds right! That’s precisely what “Life On Lines” is all about!

Best songs: “Welcome Home”, “Cropper II”, “Machine Core II”, “Your Own Great Nation”, “How Strange”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www .binary –park .net / www .facebook .com /binarypark

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

‘Click Interview’ with Other Artists About Suicide Commando: ‘Without Him Our Scene Would Be Very Different’

Inferno Sound Diaries — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 17:00:02 +0000

Suicide Commando is a long-time leading formation from the dark-electronic scene. The band is an important source of inspiration for numerous new bands. So I got the idea asking a question to artists who are or have been related to Johan Van Roy. What do they think about his music, about the man hiding behind the artist…

I got in touch with Torben Schmidt, Dirk Ivens, Jean-Luc De Meyer, Jan L., Nero Bellum, Markko Barientos and Sakis (aka SynthetiC).

Speaking for myself I got the opportunity to work with Johan on a common project called Toxic Shock Syndrome. That was quite a long time ago now, but all over the years Johan remained the same kind and accessible guy for which I can only express my admiration for the talented artist he is and my respect for the great person hiding behind the artist. There where some artists are ‘struggling’ with their egos, he simply remains himself…

(by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Torben Schmidt is the owner of Infacted Recordings, member of Lights Of Euphoria and Binnary Park plus long-time live member of Suicide Commando.

Q: We all know Johan Van Roy as an ‘artist’ and ‘performer’, but what kind of man is he behind the scenes?

Torben: I know Johan since more then 20 years now and I have to say that he is one of the most loyal and kind guys I ever met. In fact he turned from an artist I respect into a real friend. We experienced so many cool things in the last 17 years being a part of his band which really made us friends. I’m really happy that I got to know him and that we had the chance to expand our friendship.

Dirk Ivens is a living legend of the electronic underground scene, front man of The Klinik, but still involved with Dive, Sonar, Absolute Body Control… he also was a source of inspiration for Suicide Commando.

Q: The Klinik definitely was one of the main sources of inspiration for Suicide Commando. How much of The Klinik do you recognize in Suicide Commando?

Dirk: It looks like more than 30 years after the release of the first album of The Klinik that these songs are still very much alive and were a big inspiration for a lot of bands during the years.. including Suicide Commando. Johan was one of them and especially his early work before he developed and finally found his own musical touch.

Jean-Luc De Meyer is the singer of the pioneers of EBM, the one and only Front 242! He’s also involved with 32 Crash, Underviewer and Modern Cubism. Jean-Luc De Meyer did some guest vocals on the song “The Pain That You Liked”, which was originally released as EP and featured on the newest Suicide Commando album as well.

Q: Jean-Luc, you already sung in multiple projects and did multiple guest vocals, but I never expected you singing on a song of Suicide Commando. What kind of experience was it for you and what’s your perception of the Suicide Commando sound?

Jean-Luc: I’m not that sociable you know so I lately met Johan, maybe 3 or 4 years ago now. But I’d seen numerous concerts of Suicide Commando before. Singing on “The Pain That You Like” was a rather easy job because music and lyrics both were already written and I only had to interpret the song. It was quite simple and a bit of an evidence for me as I felt like a fish in the water singing on this kind of music…

Jan L is for sure another leading artist from the electronic underground scene. From Noisuf-X to X-Fusion to Stoppenberg he ever ever set up Kombat Unit together with Johan Van Roy.

Q: You ever set up Kombat Unit together with Johan Van Roy. What did you keep in mind from this experience and what’s your perception of Johan Van Roy as an artist/performer?

Jan L: Yes, we started Kombat Unit some time ago.. and we had a lot of fun making music together. We both have very different ways of working.. but it worked very well in the end, even if we only finished 2 songs. Our problem was only our lack of time. That´s why we stopped with Kombat Unit.

You maybe know that we both know each other since a very long time and we are close friends. I respect Johan as a very nice person and as a great artist. I also love to work with him, when it comes to mixing/mastering his Suicide Commando stuff. His music inspired countless bands since a very long time and he is a very important person in our scene. Without him our scene would be very different.

Nero Bellum is the front man of Psyclon Nine and get featured on the opening song of the new album.

Q: How did you get in touch with Johan Van Roy and what kind of experience was it for you contributing to the opening song (cf. “The Gates Of Oblivion”) of the new album?

Nero: I believe that my first correspondence with Johan took place just as “Mindstrip” was being released. I had just formed my band Psyclon Nine and had just begun work on our first album. Suicide Commando was one of my biggest influences at the time and Johan was happy to give me advice.

“The Gates Of Oblivion” gave us an opportunity to collaborate in a much deeper way. While Johan had most of the music written when he approached me, I was able to bring live, modular synthesis into the picture as well as my lyrical contributions. Performing the track at ‘Wave Gotik Treffen’ 10 minutes before my shuttle arrived was something that I won’t soon forget.

Markko Barientos is without a shadow of a doubt one of the leading artists from the Mexican dark-electro scene, but he in the meantime became a word-wide recognized artist involved with C-Lekktor, Circuito Cerrado and Kromak.

Q: Do you remember the first time you’ve heard Suicide Commando and what did you think? What means this band to you?

Markko: Yeah I still remember that day, the first time I heard Suicide Commando here in Mexico city we have a ‘Music Market’ named “El Chopo” and I got the “Critical Stage” CD by luck. At that time there wasn’t internet and to find original CDs was something that became a real pain in the ass, but fortunately I found it and it was so blasting that it changed my own panorama from what I was listening to those days. ‘COLD-VIOLENT AND CATCHY’ are my favorite 3 words when it comes to dark electronic music. I just wanted to get more and more from Suicide Commando.

Suicide Commando had already released the “Stored Images”-album around that time I found the “Critical Stage”-album (so you can see how hard it was to find music in Mexico during that time?) From that day I always knew that I was so engaged with his sound and after all these years I still consider it as one of my biggest pleasures and influences in my music. For me “Construct-Destruct” is and will be always one of the best albums. To keep it short, ‘I’M A SUICIDE COMMANDO ADDICT, aren’t you?

Sakis aka SynthetiC from Nano Infect is a Greek artist who definitely found his inspiration in the cold electro sound of Suicide Commando. Johan Van Roy was guest singer on the Nano Infect’s song “Lifeless”.

Q: Suicide Commando clearly sounds like a source of inspiration for numerous dark-electronic bands. What makes the sound of Suicide Commando that special and what specific elements in this sound do you like?

Sakis: What makes Suicide Commando so special to a point that, at least to me, literally everybody is inspired, is the man behind the project; Johan Van Roy himself. He’s a loyal and simple guy while his sound features a straight forward structure plus a melody that gets stuck in your head from the very first moment. Needless to mention the groovy bass lines and that super fat sounding signature snare!
As for the lyrics, you get to see that Johan Van Roy is an everyday normal guy with thoughts like yours and mine… Songs about depression, death, the way the mind works… simple thoughts of a man who feels he has to express them…

It has been an honor to know him and I would like to thank him in public again for everything.

Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries

‘Click Interview’ with Lights Of Euphoria: ‘We Are All ’Traumatized’ Somehow And So Is Our Earth’

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sun, 05 Jun 2016 20:29:44 +0000

It all started somewhere in the 90s. Torben Schmidt was running the fan club of Leæther Strip and decided to compose a song on his own. It was meant as a one-shot project featuring Claus Larsen on vocals. The song entitled “Subjection” was originally released at one of the famous Zoth Ommog compilations. Because of this successful song, Lights Of Euphoria went on and released numerous albums and EP’s. The band was later on joined by Jimmy Machon from Godheads. A lot of guest singers like Ronan Harris (VNV Nation), Stephan Groth (Apoptygma Berzerk), Vasi Vallis (Frozen Plasma/Reaper) Johan van Roy (Suicide Commando), Kay Härtle (Supreme Court) contributed to some songs. The band finally went through a long break and is actually fighting back with their first full length in twelve years! The duo got joined by Thomas Gaarn and became a real band. The new opus “Traumatized” released on Infacted Recordings is for sure an astonishing return of this band. I got in touch with Jimmy Machon.

(by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Twelve years have passed since your previous full length album “Gegen Den Strom”. What have you been doing in the meantime and how did you finally come to reactivate Lights Of Euphoria?

Jimmy: We both got a daughter, Torben has been busy with running Infacted Recordings and playing with Suicide Commando. So a lot of work and private matters.

Q: What kind of album is “Traumatized” all about and what have been your main sources of inspiration?

Jimmy: I Jimmy Machon write most of the lyrics usually, and on this album I wrote them all. I write from experience or about subjects that I somehow have an opinion about. There is everything from lyrics about sex, fetishes, anti-religious texts, about love, about hate, about loosing or about being isolated somehow. We are all ’Traumatized’ somehow and so is our earth.

Q: I experienced “Traumatized” as your ‘hardest’ work today, but how do you analyze the evolution in sound from the early work till the new work?

Jimmy: Lights Of Euphoria have always been this strange project, where a lot of guest musicians, and guest vocalists, have been involved. So we have made pretty much everything from harsh-noise, to pretty synth-pop. This is probably the first real album where there is a red thread connecting all the songs musically or lyrically.

Q: What has been the input of each member on “Traumatized” and tell us a bit more about the production process?

Jimmy: Well Torben has been very busy, so I, and our new full-blown member Thomas Gaarn, have made most of the album. I wrote the melodies and lyrics, and Thomas is a very skilled keyboard player and is very good adding interesting elements to the production or very good at coming up with great baselines or synth parts. I did the artwork as well.

Q: Lights On Euphoria are now back on track, but what brings the future?

Jimmy: More albums, more concerts and more songs. We have already started writing new material, and hopefully it wont take another 12 years to finish another studioalbum.

Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries

Lights Of Euphoria – Traumatized (CD Album – Infacted Recordings)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Thu, 02 Jun 2016 21:08:49 +0000

Genre/Influences: EBM, body-pop.

Background/Info: Twelve years have passed since the “Gegen Den Strom”-album (2004) released on Accession Records. We got a couple of EP’s in the meantime, but “Traumatized” announced the comeback of Lights Of Euphoria. The line-up still consists of Jimmy Machon and Torben Schmidt while Thomas Gaarn joined in as a new member. “Traumatized” is the 7^th full length by the Danish-German combo.

Content: This album sounds a bit like a new start and the least I can say is that it was a long, but prolific break when it comes to speak about efficiency and sound creativity. “Traumatized” takes off a rather familiar way with body-pop music revealing vague Depeche Mode influences. Quite progressively the work becomes harder and even harsh and into pure EBM. The songs are well-crafted and meticulously elaborated. “Traumatized” reveals outstanding bass lines, aggressive sequences, raw sound treatments and Jimmy Machon singing with more rage and charisma than ever before.

Lights Of Euphoria remains faithful to some of their most familiar influences and I especially refer to the great melody lines. It sounds a bit old-styled and ‘poppy’ as well while totally matching with the harder essence of the production.

The album ends with a cover version of Depeche Mode’s “Stripped” featuring Soman. It’s an interesting cut as you rapidly recognize the original song, which has been adapted into the typical Soman-style.

+ + + : “Traumatized” is a fully successful album revealing all the maturity of the band, which mainly excels in the global sound research and treatments. The EBM influences have never been this strong and efficient. The global production –with a special mention for the vocals, is absolutely great. The song “Schwarze Sonne” which was previously released as EP title song (2012) is my personal favorite cut.

– – – : The pop ingredients referring to Depeche Mode as the debut song is not exactly the best element of the work.

Conclusion: It’s really weird what a break can do with artists, but not many bands are striking back with force and brilliance like Lights Of Euphoria did on “Traumatized”.

Best songs: “Schwarze Sonne”, “Under My Spell”, “Waiting”, “Book Of Lies”, “Questions”, “Stripped feat. Soman”.

Rate: (8).

Band: www .facebook .com /lightsofeuphoria

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

Face The Beat: Session 3 by Cylix

Side-Line introduces CYLiX – listen now to ‘Don’t Let Me Fade (Prequel Edit)’ (Face The Beat profile series)

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 15:32:26 +0000

Track 15 on our free download compilation “Face The Beat: Session 3” is CYLiX. On “Don’t Let Me Fade (Prequel Edit)” this Greek act offers dark electropop with a fresh undertone and strong male vocals in the vain of Distain!, De/Vision but stronger at the same time. They are clearly part of the new generation of electropop bands that slowly but steadily are taking the place of the frontrunners.

You can listen to the track below:

CYLiX is an electropop band from Athens / Greece, and consists of PlasmaG (synth, guitars, programming), Harry (vocals, programming) and Ilias (drums). They released their debut CD album “Alpha” in December 2010 via Life Is Painful Records (Germany) in a distribution by Nova Media. The album was mastered by Len Lemeire (32CRASH, Implant) and included 2 bonus remixes by the EBM/Synthpop acts Lights of Euphoria and Psyche.

The debut was well received and after the participation in various cd compilations and a few selective gigs, the band performed live in Wave Gotik Treffen as headliners at Moritzbastei stage (Leipzig, 25 May 2012). At present, they are working on their second album which is planned to be released in 2016. We’ll keep you informed!

You can find the CYLiX website right here.