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

Format: Digital, Vinyl. 

Background/Info: Brussels (Belgium) based Je M’En Fish strikes back with the fourth installment of their “Anthologies”-compilation series.

Artists: The Frozen Autumn, Noemi Aurora, Helalyn Flowers, The Dreamside, The Neon Judgement, Flesh & Fell, Imjudas, Am Tierpark, M73.

Content: The compilation features a few artists which are already familiar with Je M’En Fish, Alfa Matrix-artists (Italian formation Helalyn Flowers and the band members’ side-projects Noemi Aurora and Imjudas) plus a few other  names. The content is quite diversified and features songs from the 80s, 90s and 00”.

+ + + : Diversified compilation covering songs from very different and sometimes distant eras; from the very 80s Flesh & Fell Electro-Experiment (1985) to Ethereal-Pop of The Dreamside (1994) to the melancholic Dark/Cold-Wave of The Frozen Autumn (1996) to 80s inspired Electro-Pop from Danish Am Tierpark to contemporary Electro-Metal-Pop of Helalyn Flowers. There also is a live version from The Neon Judgement’s “Tomorrow In The Papers” from 1984 revealing the band during their early, glorious, days.

– – – : This compilation series sounds to me more as an item for collectors instead of DJ’s. No bad thing but maybe a reason why this compilation will remain under the radar.

Conclusion: Diversified Electro-underground music and related genres throughout the years.

Best bands: The Neon Judgement, Imjudas, Noemi Aurora, Am Tierpark, Flesh & Fell.

Rate: 7.

Label: www.facebook.com/JemenfishBE

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, Electro-Pop.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: John Mirland (Holm/Mirland, Am Tierpark, Negant, Mirland/Larsen ao) strikes back with the second album of his M73 solo-project. “Motor Romantik” is inspired by themes like love, passion and isolation in a virtual world.

Content: The songs are driven by EBM influences -which are mainly emerging right at the beginning, retro-like strings, dreamy Electro-Pop elements and minimalism. The vocals are half spoken, half singing which accentuated the minimal approach of the production.

+ + + : John Mirland clearly loves synth music and bring us back to alluring, vintage, synth lines. He diversified his work by mixing EBM and Electro-Pop styles resulting in a very personal and minimal interpretation of Electronic music. The work sounds retro and yet refreshing. I have a preference for darker cuts like “Crucify” and the brilliant title song. Another attention grabber is the solid debut track “Take It All” which sounds like cool EBM.

– – – : I would like the get a bit more punch in some of the songs.

Conclusion: John Mirland remains a prolific artist but first of all a man with very diversified- and cool projects. M73 falls somewhere in between EBM and Dark-Electro-Pop.

Best songs: “Motor Romantik”, “Crucify”, “Take It All”, “Inside You”. 

Rate: 7½.

Artist: www.facebook.com/m73official

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

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

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.

www.side-line.com

The black death industrial act Eisenwolf has its 11-track debut album “Rirual” ready and this after two years and a number of digital-only releases. You can expect a mix of martial industrial, death industrial, dark ambient, neofolk, neoclassical, horror and occult rites.

Eisenwolf consists of John R. Mirland, Tommy B-Kuhlmann and Jens B. Petersen who are known from the bands Negant, Bitter Distrust, ManMindMachine, In Absentia, Mirland, M73 and more.

You can already check out “Frygt” 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.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Negant is a Danish trio set up in 2017 by Jens B. Petersen (Neotek, ManMindMachine),  
Tommy B-Kuhlmann (In Absentia, ManMindMachine) and John R. Mirland (Mirland, Am Tierpark, M73, Holm/Mirland, Mirland/Larsen). They previously released their debut album “Nothing!” (2018) and the EP “No!” (2018). This is their third official record, which was already released during Summer 2019.  

Content: The work features 6 songs so in the end it’s more a mini-album instead of an EP. Negant moves on walking at the path of old-school EBM and especially with a 90s flavor recovering the songs. One of the best cuts (cf. “Euthanasia”) reminds me a bit of early Armageddon Dildos. A few cuts are however diversified with some extra, surprising elements such as acid sequences during the final part of “Absolution”. Except this last song, all other cuts are rather short and powerful.

+ + + : If you’re into retro-EBM this work is definitely something to your taste. But it’s not only an old-fashioned driven production, it also is a well-crafted and accomplished work revealing the EBM skills of composer John R. Mirland. The bass lines are solid and efficient, but I also enjoyed the string parts running throughout the songs. “Euthanasia” and “Terror” both are great exposures from this EBM formation.

– – – : Negant is not the kind of EBM band you are going to like if you’re in search of a progressive band; this is pure EBM for the die-hard freaks. I just have some doubt they are going to like the acid apotheosis on the last song.

Conclusion: Negant moves on composing enjoyable EBM with a strong 90s connotation.

Best songs: “Euthanasia”, “Terror”, “Triggered”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/negantofficial

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

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Electro-pop.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: 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

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.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: M73 is a project set up by Danish composer John R. Mirland. He’s already involved with multiple projects; once started in Holm/Mirland and moved on with Am Tierpark, Negant, Mirland, Mirland/Larsen ao. After a few EP’s releases M73 last year released its debut album inspired by ‘self-destruction, sex and disillusion’.

Content: M73 is John R. Mirland’s solo-project and that’s what makes the difference with his other EBM project Negant. He’s also singing on M73 (which is rather new) while the composition also has something more personal. The EBM songs have something old-styled, which means carried by solid bass lines and supported with melodic string parts. The songs are moving from softer cuts to more powerful ones. The vocals have something ‘natural’, but passionate.

+ + + : Old-school EBM fans will like “Mindbender” –which is the absolute highlight from the album, but also “Polarizer”, “Lowlife” and “Zeroes”. Even if the songs are retro-like, they’re elaborated with great strings on top. Some cuts are polished with pop arrangements, but in the end it all remains pure EBM driven by solid bass lines.

– – – : Some of the softer passages such as “Shadows” and “Clouds” can’t convince me. Let’s say they just inject a few breaks in the tracklist.  

Conclusion: I’m not saying M73 is a new EBM sensation, but “Tainted” is a promising and enjoyable debut!

Best songs: “Mindbender”, “Lowlife”, “Nomad”, “Polarizer”, “Zeroes”. 

Rate: (7½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/m73official

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

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