Two years after their masterful opus “Barricades”, Swedish band Principe Valiente returns with their fifth full-length album. Fernando Honorato and Jimmy Ottosson stay true to the core elements of their signature Dream-Pop sound, but “In this Light” has a notably more Ethereal and flowing quality. Most of the tracks are subtle, building steadily towards powerful climaxes. A few songs have a harder, darker edge, which personally stand out to me. While this album is filled with many beautiful moments, “Barricades” still holds the crown as their magnum opus in my opinion. (Rate:8).

Listen to “Facing The Truth”:

Read the news on ‘In This Light’.

About Principe Valiente

Principe Valiente is a Swedish band from Stockholm formed around singer Fernando Honorato and guitarist Jimmy Ottosson, playing a sound that mixes post-punk minimalism, shoegaze textures, and dark pop. The band released its self-titled debut album in 2011 on afmusic, followed by “Choirs Of Blessed Youth” in 2014 and “Oceans” in 2017.

With “Barricades” in 2022 the band moved to Metropolis Records, which also released “In This Light” in 2024 as a digital, CD, and vinyl album. Shortly after the album, the band announced the companion EP “In This Lights (Remixes)“. “In This Light” is the band’s fifth full-length album 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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What began as a duo project (5F_55) and evolved into Mike Brun’s solo endeavor (5F-X) saw considerable success in the Industrial scene during the early 2000s. Now, fourteen years after the last release, 5F-X has re-emerged with an impressive album that could easily be considered its opus magnum. While rooted in Industrial, the sound is infused with Acid elements and a touch of Techno, creating a thrilling combination. The mesmerizing loops often lead to a transcendent experience that’s impossible to resist. While Mike Brun may not be reinventing the Industrial genre, he’s delivering a richer, more sophisticated sound. This album is bold and adventurous, and I admire artists who embrace challenges. “Robby Road” could very well be the Industrial release of 2024! (Rate:9).

Listen to “There Will Be No Android Messiah”:

About 5F-X

5F-X is the solo project of Mike Brun, the successor to his earlier duo project 5F_55. Active as 5F-X since the mid-2000s, Brun found success in the industrial scene with releases including “5F_55 Is Reflected To 5F-X” (2005), “The Xenomorphians” (2007) and “Flight Recorder 5.0” (2010). “Robby Road”, released via Hands, arrived fourteen years after his previous album.

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 via Magnum) Siouxsie Sioux and Iggy Pop have joined forces for a new advertisement for Magnum ice cream. The duo performs a duet of Iggy Pop’s iconic 1977 track, “The Passenger”, specially arranged for Magnum’s “Pleasure Express” campaign.

The arrangement was executed by composer Sarah deCourcy and transforms the classic into an ethereal track, featuring a slower pace on a backdrop of harps and strings. Both Pop and Sioux alternate vocals, building up to a joint performance of the song’s “La la la la” chorus.

Siouxsie Sioux seems to be quite happy with the collaboration, stating, “I love this song, and I’ve always admired Iggy’s voice. It’s truly magical to blend our voices in such an instinctive and spontaneous way.” Iggy Pop reciprocated, referencing Siouxsie and the Banshees’ 1987 cover of “The Passenger”. He says: “Siouxsie’s vocal prowess is truly bird-like. Her previous rendition was already exceptional, and this duet elevates it to something truly unique—like ‘Volare,’ it soars with an orchestral elegance and joyful spirit.”

While the track isn’t available on streaming platforms, fans can check out the “Pleasure Express” campaign through two versions of the advertisement currently available on YouTube. Below we offer you the extended version. In the advertisement itself the “Pleasure Express” campaign introduces Magnum’s new Euphoria and Chill lines (in case you’d be interested), showcased by two women enjoying these new flavors during a luxurious train journey setting.

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, Dark-Electro.

Format: Digital, EBM.

Background/Info: After having released five albums on Infacted Recordings and next three albums on Digital World Audio PreEmptive Strike 0.1 moves back to Infacted to unleash their ninth full length to date. The work comes four years after the amazing “Progeny Of The Technovore”-album. George Klontzas left the band and was replaced by Yiannis Chatzakis (Degenerated Sequences) who was a live member. Jim ‘The Blaster’ remains the band’s singer.

Content: The album sounds a bit like moving back to the ‘roots’ of the band; a perfect sonic match between elaborated EBM and Dark-Electronic atmospheres. You however will notice Technoid elements as well and even a few Cinematic parts plus a cover version of a Manowar-song. Kriistal Ann (Paradox Obscur) and Cleopatra Caido have been invited to sing each on one song. Last but not least there’s also a remix accomplished by Seven Trees.

+ + + : This album isn’t exactly a new beginning but there’s a different approach in the writing process and injected influences. I however think that there’s a chemistry between both members and the move back to the roots of the band will be noticed by fans. The songs are elaborate and I like the uplifting and somewhat Technoid sequences running through most of the songs -but especially during the second half of the album. “Pause In Chaos/Stop The Madness” is a true masterpiece but I also have to mention “State Of War – Defcon 1 Edit” and “Resurrective Hunger” featuring the emblematic vocals of Kriistal Ann. “Beyond Reality” featuring Cleopatra Caido sounds more Cinematic but is another attention grabber.

– – – : I still consider “Progeny Of The Technovore” as the band’s magnum opus so it’s not an easy thing moving on after such a blasting piece of music. Some tracks are a little less hesitant but I’m confident for the further evolution of the Greek duo.

Conclusion: PreEmptive Strike 0.1 is back and still stands for attractive EBM.

Best songs: “Pause In Chaos/Stop The Madness”, “Resurrective Hunger”, “State Of War – Defcon 1 Edit”,  “Beyond Reality”, “Lunacy Stimulator”, “Marauders From Earth”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.preemptivestrike01.com / www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100046294873850

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

About PreEmptive Strike 0.1

PreEmptive Strike 0.1 is a Greek duo fronted by vocalist Jim “The Blaster”. The band released five albums on Infacted Recordings before moving to Digital World Audio for three further albums, then returned to Infacted Recordings for “Defence Readiness: Condition 1”, the follow-up to “Progeny Of The Technovore”. Yiannis Chatzakis, also active with Degenerated Sequences, joined as a full member after previously performing live with the band, replacing George Klontzas. Kriistal Ann of Paradox Obscur and Seven Trees both contributed to “Defence Readiness: Condition 1”.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: IDM, Cinematic.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Dmitry Stepnov (Diffuzion) strikes back with the third official album of his solo-project EFF DST. “Incarnate” has been released five years after the last opus.

Content: The Belarusian artist brings us a dense and elaborated IDM-work. Heavy, blasting sound treatments and transcendental sequences have been mixed with danceable, Technoid, kicks. Other passages are more evasive and driven by down tempo rhythms accentuating a Cinematic influence.

+ + + : Each time  I get flabbergasted by the unique sound treatments and also by the song structures ending in Trance and then becoming Experimental. The work features numerous great songs but I’ll mention the pure IDM-resonating “Shadowplay” and “Warped Peril”, the  transcendental sensation emerging from “Lunacy” but also “Curse Reborn” for the crashing percussion sounds. The sound intelligence and sonic welfare this album has been accomplished took me by surprise. This is the best production I’ve heard from this artist. The album features a succession of great songs so I can only but salute the genius of Dmitry Stepnow who without a shadow of a doubt has released his magnum opus.

– – – : I noticed a very few Experimental/Glitch elements which aren’t my favorites but there’s no true reason to complain.I regret there’s no physical format available from this masterpiece.

Conclusion: “Incarnate” revealed an artist who hasn’t reinvented himself but who has just reached the highest degree of creativity and perfection.

Best songs: “Shadowplay”, “Warped Peril”, “Lunacy”,  “Curse Reborn”, “Mournful Voices”, “Rebound”, “Sci Cry”.

Rate: 9.

Artist: www.effdst.com / www.facebook.com/eff.dst

Label: www.hymen-records.com / www.facebook.com/hymenrecords

Listen to “Incarnate”:

About EFF DST

EFF DST is the solo project of Belarusian artist Dmitry Stepnov, also known for his work as Diffuzion. “Incarnate” is the third official EFF DST album, released five years after its predecessor on Hymen Records, working in IDM and Cinematic territory.

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

(Photo by Eugene Richards) Vince Clarke unveils his first solo album today, titled “Songs of Silence”. This ambient album, spanning 10 tracks, is now available in vinyl, CD, and digital formats through Mute. Clarke celebrates this release with his debut solo show tonight at the LSESU in London, with Sunroof (comprising Daniel Miller and Gareth Jones) as the opening act. Additionally, a Q&A session featuring Daniel Miller is scheduled at Rough Trade East on Sunday, November 19th.

After writing numerous hits for prominent bands like Erasure, Yazoo, and Depeche Mode, Clarke has finally ventured into a solo project. The album, recorded in his New York home studio, showcases photography and artwork by renowned Magnum photojournalist Eugene Richards. Originating as a lockdown diversion, Clarke delved into the possibilities of Eurorack, a modular synthesizer known for its expansive and engaging configurations. “The process was incredibly enjoyable, and it was solely for my own pleasure initially. I never contemplated others hearing it. The learning and creative journey in my studio was the highlight,” Vince reflects. “It was a surprise when Mute decided to release it.”

As previously mentioned, Clarke adhered to two self-imposed guidelines for this album: exclusively using Eurorack for sound production and constructing each track around a single note, maintaining a consistent key. Vince humorously notes, “No one in my family, not even the cat, showed much interest in my studio work, especially after hours of drone sounds.”

Vince Clarke video singles

Here are the two previously released videos from the album.

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 Eugene Richards) Vince Clarke, known for his contributions to bands like Erasure, Yazoo, and Depeche Mode, has unveiled his first-ever solo album titled “Songs of Silence”. Set to launch on 17 November 2023, this ambient music album, devoid of lyrics across its 10 tracks, will be available on vinyl, CD, and digital platforms through Mute.

For enthusiasts eager for a glimpse, the track “The Lamentations of Jeremiah” is now available. The accompanying video was directed by Ebru Yildiz, whose previous collaborations include artists like Laurie Anderson, Mitski, and A Place to Bury Strangers. Ebru Yildiz comments, “When I first heard the song, I felt like it encapsulated an entire lifetime. It’s an amalgamation of drama, peace, anxiety, serenity, tension, hope, and more. My aim was to make the visuals echo these myriad emotions.”

Crafted in Clarke’s home studio in New York, “Songs Of Silence” also showcases the artistic prowess of Magnum photojournalist Eugene Richards through its photography and artwork. Interestingly, the album’s inception was a product of the lockdown period, born out of Clarke’s exploration of the Eurorack – a modular synthesiser known for its boundless configurations. “The whole process was incredibly immersive. It felt like I was on this continuous journey without an endpoint in sight,” Vince shares. “The surprise came when Mute expressed their desire to release it.”

During the album’s creation, Clarke adhered to a couple of self-imposed guidelines: one, the soundscapes should exclusively originate from Eurorack, and two, each composition should resonate around a singular note, ensuring a consistent key throughout. With a touch of humour, Vince adds, “My household isn’t particularly drawn to my studio sessions. In fact, even our cat would often retreat after an hour or so of listening to the continuous drones.”

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 Vitalii Mariash) The Ukrainian minimal wave duo, Bez Gruntu, has made its debut with a self-titled EP, released under the Ukrainian label OCHI.

Drawing inspiration predominantly from 70s electronica, the EP also incorporates elements of electroclash and dark wave. The duo elaborates, “What we believe to be of paramount importance is that in this EP, we have succeeded in capturing not just the atmosphere, but the very spirit of Donetsk – the city where we spent the majority of our lives, the city that has left an indelible mark on us, the city whose shadow now looms over the entire world.”

About Bez Gruntu

Bez Gruntu is composed of the couple Vadym Oliynykov and Kseniia Yanus. The project was conceived in 2022 in Uzhhorod, coinciding with the onset of the full-scale invasion. In 2014, Vadym and Kseniia had already been compelled to leave their hometown of Donetsk due to the Russian invasion. In the intervening years, they resided in Uzhhorod and Odesa, and are currently based in Kyiv.

The band’s name, “Bez Gruntu” (Without Soil), is an allusion to the magnum opus of Ukrainian writer Viktor Domontovych, a novel that explores themes of Christian heritage and cultural identity.

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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Torul is a Slovenian project originally set up by Borut Bernik aka ‘Torulsson’. Several albums have been released over the years mixing elements of Dance music and Techno together with Electro/Indie-Pop. The band went throughout different line-up changes but hold on its ‘non-compromised’ writing approach. The new album “End Less Dreams” released by Infacted Recordings appears to me as the band’s magnum opus; a well-crafted and professional Electro-Pop production with sensual vocals on top. I talked about this master piece with ‘operator’ Torulsson.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Torul has been set up in 2010. Can you draw up the balance sheet of all these years of commitment considering sound, albums, line-up changes etc?

Torulsson: It’s been quite a ride! After some really successful early releases since 2011 we begun to tour wherever possible and/or made sense for us. Our ‘main card’ has always been a wish to be and stay as independent as possible. Meaning, we felt no pressure or obligations to ‘adapt’ to any scene or mimic any style, band. We tried to keep on doing things our way. And we are obviously recognized this way these days, which is kind of fulfilling.

As Torul has begun as my solo project, I could actually work with any talented singer that is willing to work and develop and that’s how we survived a couple of front man changes. So Maj is actually our 3^rd front man. Sticking to our style and direction, there hasn’t been a big gap for our fans and audience. Currently, we enjoy really enthusiastic reviews of our new album and we feel the same about it -might be our best to date.

Q: Let’s talk about this new album entitled “End Less Dreams” which comes four year after your previous full length. So the album has been composed during the pandemic and seems to reflect feelings you encountered during this period. Tell us a bit more about it and how did the album come alive?

Torulsson: This period has been quite challenging for me. So many things have changed in my world -disintegration of a long term relationship, corona restrictions, no gigs, and also important, I sensed so many changes in society due to the new crisis and dynamics. Well, probably many people have. It’s just that it added up to my introspections, re-questioning many things etc. Far from playing a victim or anything, I’m just saying I’ve been having a personal transitional period. I’ve discovered some things that I’m still processing. And at the same time I have begun to see my music explorations even broader, started a couple of new projects that are yet to see light, i.e. Flamingo Revolt, which is a new solo Indie-Pop-Rock project of mine, first single coming out in May.

As for Torul stuff that is on “End Less Dreams”, I got a very clear picture what I wanted and I’m very happy both with how smooth I’ve been writing and producing it, it’s always rewarding when the production of a new full length is effortless in terms of frustration and considering it as work -it was more like my playground, heading to the clear goal.

Q: Music and arts generally speaking have been seriously affected during the pandemic and lockdowns. But music also was a kind of therapy and cure for numerous people to hold on. How did it happen at your side and what’s the importance of arts, music and Torul?

Torulsson: As I’ve already described above, it was very personal and like a time -stamp of a very certain period of mine. I just knew this is like the most important thing to do and the very right time to do it. That part has been one of my few joys during the pandemic. Well, I also improved my routine a bit, doing more sports etc. But at the same time I coped with some weird form of depression, not like just feeling down or something, the sensation of loneliness and sadness crawled up to me and couldn’t get rid of it easily. It’s still there, but I understand it better, I understand it’s a process and try not to fight it, I try to live with it.

Q: What have been the different stages you’d to go through to compose and produce “End Less Dreams”? What have been the influences and eventually references when it comes to writing process and production? And what have been the main challenges and difficulties?

Torulsson: I can’t talk about influences, as usually, it’s a whole broth of them and never think about that -I have an empathy and appreciation of many different kinds of music and I sense music more like mood -boards, than individual isolated pieces. If you listen to our work with some attention, you can discover things that come from different fields, I think and am often recognized as having quite unique and eclectic approach inside of the genre. That is kind of important to me, as I also hear many genre music which is so full of cliches and copying stuff more or less directly. I am really not interested in doing stuff this way for Torul. I need something that will fulfil myself in the first place, not the audience -the audience must ‘understand’, haha… not to get me wrong, it’s just my hope they do.

Q: Torul is playing live again. What does it mean to be back on stage again and how would you define yourself as a live band? How do you transpose the songs from the studio to the stage?

Torulsson: Well, it’s a bit different now for us. I’m singing more than I used to and have more presence on stage, it’s a natural progression and kind of new one to me. I’m discovering myself as a performer more than I have in the past. We really love to play new material, all of us are enjoying it. It’s a very emotional and energetic performance. We are still developing it, gig after gig.

Q: You’re hailing from Slovenia. We for sure all know Borghesia and Laibach but I’m wondering about the underground ‘scene’ in your country. How does it look like considering bands, live venues, festivals, radio broadcasts, media etc. ? 

Torulsson: There’s a lot going on in Slovenia within music, but all the scenes are more or less crumbled. We are only 2 million in total, so not every scene can develop -no critical mass. But audience can be curious and we see many different genres. A lot of concerts take place here, international ones as well. We do get radio play here, but not much on commercial radios, the same as everywhere, we know that on many radios there is no music editors really, there is a ‘model’, playlists that sell most commercial productions. That is the saddest thing for music industry really. So many great bands are overlooked these days. 

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: Cinematic, Dark-Ambient.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Anile Dahl strikes back with the ninth full length album of his sonic moniker Dahlia’s Tear.

Content: From the very first notes the artist invites us to join him on a mysterious, dreamy, sound trip. The work has been accomplished with numerous field recordings on top of delicate sound treatments. The dark mood recovers the work with a feeling of desolation.

+ + + : The last song entitled “Solitude” perfectly symbolizes by its title what the music is all about. This is a work with a very strong visual strength created by the perfect mix of field recordings, dark strings and delicate sound treatments -like the piano-like part running through “Infinite Dreamer”. The songs have been progressively built up creating an elevating effect which is mainly coming through during the final part of the album.

– – – : The work is maybe missing an absolute master track to consider the work as ‘outstanding’.

Conclusion: Dahlia’s Tear has already accomplished albums with great concepts and fascinating music but this one appears to be the magnum opus.

Best Songs: “Infinite Dreamer”, “Ravendark”, “Solitude”, “Iridescent Path”, “The Summon”.

Rate: 8½.

Artist: www.dahliastearband / www.facebook.com/dahliastear

Label: www.cryochamberlabel.com /  www.facebook.com/CryoChamber

Listen to “Tales From A Feeble Dream” below:

About Dahlia’s Tear

Dahlia’s Tear is the solo Dark Ambient project of Anile Dahl, formed in Stockholm, Sweden. The project mixes drone-based soundscapes with spatial, surreal moods and occasional industrial and experimental touches, released through Cryo Chamber.

Earlier full-lengths include “Through The Nightfall Grandeur” in 2018, “Across The Shifting Abyss” and “Descendants Of The Moon” in 2020, and “Adrift On The Edge Of Infinity” in 2022. “Tales From A Feeble Dream”, reviewed here, is Dahl’s ninth full-length album under the Dahlia’s Tear name.

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

Wie Ein Gott Records’Johannes Stabel informs us that the all new album by legendary Japanese artist Baroque, “Overexposed”, will be out on April 21st via the Berlin (DE) based label. On “Exposed” Baroque offers 7 original tracks and 3 remixes from ÆON RINGS, Magnum Opus and Blac Kolor.

You can already check out this cut. The album itself will be out as a limited cassette edition of just 50 copies and as download.

Founded in 2009 as a solo project by Sannomiya, Baroque (not to be confounded with the Japanese electro rock act of the same name) has built a solid career as both a DJ and producer over the past decade. His signature sound fuses EBM, industrial, and dark techno and his music has been released by labels such as Mille Feuilles, La Bombe, Voxnox Records & Space Factory Records.

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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Timo Revna this year released the third official full length album of his sonic alter-ego Reichsfeind. He once more brings different influences together. Techno- and Pop elements have been merged while a darker touch is hanging over the songs. The vocals are robotic-like, but you’ll also notice multiple spoken samplings. “Darken” definitely sounds as Reichsfeind’s magnum opus, but it first of all confirms the visionary approach in the way different influences have been mixed together. I talked about it with Timo Revna.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: You set up Reichsfeind in 2011 and already released several albums plus EP’s. How do you perceive the evolution of your sonic alter-ego and what do you consider to be your greatest accomplishments?

Timo: It’s already more than ten years since I self-released my first demos. When I look back I am really satisfied with how things developed over time. Listening to my old demos is quite an experience for me. Comparing them to my official albums starting with “Living In Space” (2017), I get the impression that there’s always been a certain emotional depth to my lyrics and melodies, whereas the overall sound quality as well as a certain catchiness still had to be developed. In that respect the first album was a big milestone for me. As for now I would consider my latest album “Darken” as well as this year’s performance at WGT Leipzig to be the greatest accomplishments so far.

Q: You signed to Alfa Matrix so what does it mean to you to get signed to one of the leading labels of this scene? As a German project would you not have preferred to get signed on a German label?

Timo: Getting signed to Alfa Matrix has indeed been a great honor! My first two albums were released via German label Equinoxe Records. It was a nice deal and I really liked the label mentality. However with Alfa Matrix it was clear that they would have the capabilities to introduce Reichsfeind to a bigger audience so I considered it to be the next logical step. There has never been any kind of thought on limiting possible deals with new labels to the German market.

Q: In a previous interview I asked you about the significance of Reichsfeind and you said that ‘As history repeats its darkest times over and over again, I find it of greatest importance to emphasize and preserve the inter-human qualities that make us equal in the first place. Through my music I try to reveal that behind all these walls we build around us, we’re still united by the same pleasures of love and friendship, similar joys and sorrows.’ When you see what’s actually happening in our world and society today I should say you still have to compose a lot of music to fulfill your goal… What’s your perception of the world we’re living right now and how do you transpose it to your music?

Timo: Broad levels of the population are being left behind, leading to frustration and resentment. Capitalistic driven western moral is increasingly contradicting itself in the face of a war-ridden international situation that finally appears on our doorstep. On top of that, progressing climate change is already taking a heavy toll on human lives. How do we fix all this? I don’t want to switch places with politicians who have to deal with tremendous decisions these days.
Music alone can’t change the world, we need conscientious politics and comprehensive international cooperation to change things for the better. However music still functions as a sanctuary, where you can free your mind from the overwhelming chaos surrounding us −at least temporarily. I’m proud if I can somehow contribute to that through my music.

Q: What have been your main sources of inspiration when writing the “Darken”-album? Did you’ve something like a plan and/or did you focus on specific elements during the production process?           

Timo: The songs on “Darken” are mostly inspired by real life events that happened either to me personally or to people around me. There’s been a lot of stuff going on in the last couple of years so I never really ran out of material to write about. There was no such thing as a polished plan for this album. It was more about staying in the flow over a long period of time, creating new authentic material without too much overthinking. However, I definitely had the plan to emphasize on the Pop elements this time.

Q: What have been the biggest challenges when composing/producing “Darken”? What have been your greatest satisfactions and what are the points you still want to improve?

Timo: “Darken” was produced over a timespan of 2 years. At the same time my taste in music seemed to change a bit more drastic than usual, making it kind of a challenge to maintain some sort of recognizable unity from the beat-making perspective. Fortunately I got two talented and experienced studio musicians who again proved being able to keep sight of the big picture. In general I definitely want to further improve my beat-making skills.

Greatest satisfactions during the production phase of “Darken” have always been situations where things just seemed to work out without interruption or setback, such as a whole song being completely finished in almost a day. To me that happens very rarely but when it does it’s more than satisfying.

Q: You already played a few live gigs this year and there’s more to come. How do you transpose the energy from the studio recordings to the stage –and especially as a solo-project?

Timo: I’ve loved presenting things in front of an audience since I was a kid. Having the opportunity to perform your own music in a room full of people is simply amazing so the main thing for me is to enjoy the moment. I always have a great time being on stage and hope that I can transpose this feeling to the crowd. On stage I am being supported by live musician Tom S. who does a great job in additionally heating up the audience.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Industrial-Pop, Metal-Pop, Epic-Pop.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Polish duo Monstergod strikes back with their third official full length album. The title of the album is probably inspired by a sonnet written by English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. The duo invited several guest musicians to achieve this work.  

Content: Monstergod strikes back with a heavy and meticulously composed work. The debut cut takes off as an intro and slowly evolves into Electronics to finally end in an apocalyptic Metal-driven song with cavernous vocals on top. The songs reveal different influences and numerous little details. Epic arrangements have been mixed with sensual passages, Electronic sound treatments have been empowered by furious guitar riffs while most of the songs have been driven by real drums. 

+ + + : All I can say is that Monstergod took me by surprise. This album is touched by the hand of God! It’s an overwhelming production, which has been slowly built up and often ending into a sonic climax. The title song opening the work is a perfect exposure to realize the true potential of this work. “In My Dream” is another major song from this work mixing sensuality and total bombast, but I especially enjoyed the final part featuring a children choir. It creates a divine contrast with the irresistible vocals’ production.

– – – : The one song that couldn’t convince me is the last one, which sounds a bit Rammstein driven and which is poorly inspired compared to the rest of the work.

Conclusion: Monstergod had released its magnum opus; a brilliant and overwhelming piece of music appealing to Pop-, Industrial- and Electro lovers.

Best songs: “In My Dream”, “Ozymandias”, “Perpetual”, “Cursed”, “The Grey”.

Rate: 9.

Artist: www.monstergod.com / www.facebook.com/monstergodmusic

Label: www.facebook.com/SpaceRaceRecords Read the news on ‘Ozymandias’.

Listen to “Ozymandias”:

About Monstergod

Monstergod is a Polish duo built around Milosz Sobiecki, who works as Schnitter on vocals, keyboards and sampling, and Marek Smolski, who works as Smola on keyboards, sampling and programming. The two met around 2000 and started making music together in 2003 or 2004. Their early material drew on The Sisters Of Mercy, Suicide Commando and Laibach alongside the poetry of William Blake and Charles Baudelaire, with Friedrich Nietzsche added as a source on “Ozymandias”.

The project self-released “Reborn Monster” in 2008, then issued “Resurrected” through EK Product in 2012 and “Invictus” on Space Race Records in 2018. “Ozymandias” was released on 20 May 2022, again on Space Race Records. Smolski began the demos in 2018 and wrote most of the material during the pandemic; the title track was composed near the end of the sessions.

Guests on the album include Cesar Soto of Ministry, who recorded guitars for “Austere”, and drummer Dariusz ‘Daray’ Brzozowski, who played the parts Smolski had written in MIDI. Filip ‘Heinrich’ mixed the record and contributed bass and additional synths.

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

Pierre Laplace played in different bands before he set up Beyond The Ghost. The French solo-project got rapidly signed to Cryo Chamber and released five albums plus a collaborative album in between 2019 and 2022. The newest work “Sundown” is the final chapter of the “Europe Series” trilogy. The concept is all about a futuristic and dystopian vision happening in Berlin, London and Rome. Beyond The Ghost released great pieces of Dark-Ambient and Cinematic music, but “Sundown” appears to be the magnum opus. The French artist created an ominous atmosphere by the use of analogue sound treatments and real instruments. Beyond The Ghost is definitely one of the most talented projects in its genre from the past few years. Time for a chat with Pierre Laplace.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: I think it’s interesting starting this interview to ask about your music background. You’ve been involved with music and bands/projects which are totally different from Beyond The Ghost. Tell us a bit more about your artistic odyssey and how do you see yourself as musician?

Pierre: I think I’m pretty open-minded as a musician (and music fan as well). I’ve always liked exploring different genres and styles. I started playing New-Wave music when I was 17, I was heavily influenced by The Cure and Joy Division. A few years later, I got into songwriting, playing nylon or folk guitar. I sang and played guitar in a band called Vera Clouzot for 10 years. We started out as a three-piece, with one of my friends playing the cello, which wasn’t very common at the time. We released 2 mostly acoustic albums sung in English, then 2 friends joined us on drums and on bass guitar, and our sound evolved into a mix of atmospheric Ballads and Experimental-Rock music. We released 2 albums sung in French with that line-up. I also released 2 albums of Folk songwriting as Kenyon.

Then I took a break from writing music, started setting up a home studio with no clear idea of what I wanted to do musically. Luckily, I found out that my 15-year-old niece Léonie had a beautiful voice when she played guitar and sang at a family dinner party. We worked together as The Sandman’s Orchestra. I wrote and produced the songs, and Léonie was the lead singer. We released 3 albums of original songs, mostly Atmospheric-Folk, with a touch of Electronic music, and our last album was a cover of “The Ninth Wave”, the B-side to Kate Bush’s classic “Hounds Of Love”-album. It was a huge undertaking and I spent countless hours working on sounds, textures and arrangements.

Q: How did you get in touch with Dark-Ambient and related music genres? What was the main idea and purposes when setting up Beyond The Ghost?

Pierre: Around the time I was working on “The Ninth Wave”. I started listening to Ambient music, as well as Post-Rock stuff and Dark-Jazz. When I started working as Beyond The Ghost, the main idea was to write Cinematic music that would mix organic and electronic sounds, to operate within the realm of Dark-Ambient while being open to the influence of other genres.

Q: Beyond The Ghost clearly is a prolific project as you released five full length albums plus one collaborative album together with Dead Melodies in 3-4 years of time. How do you explain this productivity and how do you go on motivating yourself and getting the inspiration to release new works in such a short lapse of time?

Pierre: Signing to Cryo Chamber was such a great opportunity, it boosted my creativity. I get bored easily, so I like having artistic projects that keep me busy and creative. As soon as an album is finished, I take a couple of weeks to think about what I want to do next, and then I start working on a new album. I find inspiration in different ways, it can be personal stuff I’ve been through, feelings of loneliness and anxiety, or the loss of a loved one for example. Sometimes I’m inspired by some work of art. Most of the time, I play a real or virtual instrument, start improvising and if I find an idea I like, I start building a track around it.

Q: You recently released the “Sundown”-album which is the final chapter of the “Europe Series”-trilogy. Tell us a bit more about this futuristic, dystopian, conceptual work where you invite the listener to visit Berlin, London and Rome in further times? What have been the main sources of inspiration and how did you transpose the concept into sound?

Pierre: After 2 albums that were deeply personal and the fantasy world we explored with Dead Melodies, I wanted to try something different, and I got this idea of working on a trilogy that would evoke the possible decline of Europe in a few decades. Honestly, I don’t know how the concept came to me, it just happened. I liked the idea of the 3 albums taking place in a specific time and place, and it gave me the opportunity to explore different genres, since I wanted each album to have its own sonic identity. Roughly speaking, “The Last Resort” is a noir album influenced by Dark-Jazz with “Twin Peaks” vibes, The “Desolation Age” is a mostly Electronic album that can be labelled as Cyber-Punk, I guess, and “Sundown” is my attempt at mixing Dark-Ambient and Cinematic music in the style of Ennio Morricone.

Q: I consider “Sundown” as your absolute master piece. It reveals a great evolution in the global production process, but also a noticeable symbiosis between electronic sound treatments and authentic instruments. Do you always consider the last album as being the best one? When do you know a track/album is finished?

Pierre:Thank you for the kind words on “Sundown”. It was the album I spent the most time working, and I think it’s my best work yet. My friend Tom of Dead Melodies called it Dark-Ambient spaghetti Western music, which is a great way to describe the album! Besides “Sundown”, I don’t consider my last album as being the best one. I don’t usually think that way. I consider each album as a new sonic venture. I don’t know if I’ve succeeded, but I would like to have a sound and style that people can recognize, and at the same time create albums that have their own identity and are different from one another. I feel that an album is finished when I’m happy with the track sequence, the overall sound and atmosphere.

Q: What are you actually working on and how do you expect Beyond The Ghost evolving throughout the coming years?

Pierre: After “Sundown” was completed, I started working on a new project, but it’s taking me longer than usual, notably because I had to move out, and other stuff got in the way. Now that my home studio is set up in my new house, I’ve resumed working on this new album. The music could go in various directions, but for now it’s a mix of early Electronic sounds, Dark-Ambient and Dark-Jazz.

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-Ambient, Cinematic.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: “Sundown” is the final chapter in the “Europe Series”-trilogy by French artist Pierre Laplace. It started with “The Last Resort” and a view of Berlin in 2060. The album “The Desolation Age” brought us to London in 2061 while “Sundown” is a dystopian view of Rome in 2062. Aside from this trilogy Beyond The Ghost released two early full lengths and a collaborative work together with Dead Melodies. 

Content: Beyond The Ghost moves on exploring dark paths of ambient music. Pierre Laplace created an ominous sound universe mixing authentic sounds like cello and guitar together with vintage electronic treatments. The production features slow rhythms and also passages with ghost-like vocals.

+ + + : Beyond The Ghost accomplished with the “Europe series” a brilliant production. The first two chapters were already noticeable works but “Sundown” definitely appears to be the magnum opus. It’s an original composition mixing Dark-Ambient and Cinematic music together while driven by slow rhythms and intriguing vocals. I’m also addicted to the magic, analogue like, sound treatments while the guitar parts inject a freaky touch. The second part of the album reveals a succession of superb tracks.

– – – : I can’t say this album is hard to label but it definitely brings different influences together so in the end it’s a production for open-minded Dark-Ambient lovers.

Conclusion: Trilogies are always a challenge but Beyond The Ghost has accomplished a true tour de force. 

Best songs: “Ghosts Marching Home”, “Obscuration”, “Chiiaroscuro”, “No Way Out Of This Maze”, “Sundown”, “The Darkest Night Ever”.

Rate: 9.

Artist: www.facebook.com/beyondtheghost

Label: www.cryochamberlabel.com /  www.facebook.com/CryoChamber

About Beyond The Ghost

Beyond The Ghost is the dark ambient project of French musician Pierre Laplace, based in Lille. Before starting it he led the experimental rock band Vera Clouzot for ten years, self-released two acoustic solo albums as Kenyon, and formed one half of the atmospheric folk duo The Sandman’s Orchestra. He builds the Beyond The Ghost sound from soft and hardware synths, live instruments such as guitar, piano and percussion, and field recordings.

The project has released everything through Cryo Chamber, starting with “You Disappeared” in 2019 and “Eternal Drift” in 2020. The collaborative album “Crier’s Bane” with Dead Melodies also appeared in 2020. The “Europe Series” then ran across “The Last Resort” and “The Desolation Age” in 2021 and closed with “Sundown” in 2022. “Neon Twilight” followed in 2024.

“Sundown”, the album reviewed here, was released on 5 April 2022. Laplace wrote, produced, performed and mastered it, Capucine Meens sings on the record and Simon Heath made the artwork. Laplace spoke about the project a few months later in ‘Click Interview’ with Beyond The Ghost: ‘I Would Like To Have A Sound And Style That People Can Recognize’, and the album was listed in the Side-Line Top 25 albums of the year 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

Genre/Influences: Experimental, Neo-Folk.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: The new album “Blue Zaxon” by Parisian (France) based artist Kentin Jivek is mainly inspired by ‘the Mesopotamian tradition, with its myths and rituals with the Moon’. The work features ten songs.

Content: Kentin Jivek remains a sonic enigma when it comes to label his music. There always is an explicit and recognizable Neo-Folk approach which on “Blue Zaxon” has been mixed with an explicit electronic composition. For the very first time the artist used modular synths. It creates a minimal sound with on top the vocals of the artist. 

+ + + : This album sounds different from previous ones. It’s probably -and mainly due to the modular synths. These prehistoric machines are complex to handle, but create magic sounds. But the work also features guitar playing empowering the Neo-Folk inspiration. I like the darker sounding “Les Centres Du Cercle” and the more Electro driven “Zoomorphia” which is a great last track. I also have to say a word about the charismatic vocals, passages reminding me of the charisma of Franz Teichler (The Young Gods).

– – – : This album will maybe become a turning point in Kentin Jivek’s career. He needs to find the balance between the different influences to achieve his magnum opus.

Conclusion: Kentin Jivek creates some distance from past releases to walk on new, exciting paths.

Best songs: “Zoomorphia”, “Les Centres Du Cercle”, “Rhadamanthus”.

Rate: 7.

Listen to “Blue Zaxon”:

Artist: www.facebook.com/quentin.moraud.9

About Kentin Jivek

Kentin Jivek is a multilingual, multi-instrumentalist singer based in Paris, France. Discogs describes his work as a form of psychedelic folk and ambient music. His discography starts with “Eight New Prophecies” on Urgence Disk Records in 2009, followed by “Now I’m Black Moon” on the same label in 2011 and “Six Diamonds” in 2013.

Side-Line reviewed “No Age”, released on Manic Depression Records in 2016, and the self-released “El Circo Cubierto” from 2020.

“Blue Zaxon” was self-released on 11 November 2021 and holds ten tracks, from “Apotropaic Magic” to “Zoomorphia”. Jivek states it is his first release built around modular synthesizers, with a flanger effect as the main source of guitar modulation and lyrics written in English and French. He followed it with “The Seahorse Complex” in 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

She Spread Sorrow – Huntress (Album – Cold Spring Records)

Genre/Influences: Industrial-Ambient, Experimental.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Italian Industrial diva Alice Kundalini strikes back with the fourth full length album of her sonic brainchild She Spread Sorrow. “Huntress” is inspired by the artist’s dreams and the ‘story of a huntress and her morbid and psychotic relationship with her prey’.

Content: The concept or theme of “Huntress” has been adapted into a poignant, and spooky Ambient-Industrial format. The song writing remains pretty minimal-like, but the atmosphere hanging over the songs has been empowered by ominous sounds. Repetitive, resonating sequences are expressing a kind of nearby danger. The half-spoken and somewhat whispering production of the vocals accentuate the ghost-like effect.

+ + + : I already enjoyed previous productions by this artist, but what Kundalini has accomplished on “Huntress” is a true masterpiece. She’s not only creating her very own kind of Ambient/Industrial music, but still a minimal production built up with poignant Electronic sequences and anguishing atmospheres. “Huntress” is a tormenting experience, but one you simply want to immediately renew after the last track. The last track “Parasomnias” is the longest and most elaborated piece of the work, but my personal favorite cut is “Stand” for the great sequences and demonic sphere. 

– – – : I only regret the album is only featuring six tracks, but quality is definitely better than quantity…

Conclusion: I don’t know where She Spread Sorrow will end and how this project will evolve, but one thing is for sure, Alice Kundalini has accomplished her magnum opus!

Best songs: “Stand”, “Parasomnias”, “Blue”, “Get Me”.

Rate: 9.

Artist: https://shespreadsorrow.wordpress.com /  www.facebook.com/shespreadsorrow

Label: www.coldspring.co.uk / www.facebook.com/coldspringhq

About She Spread Sorrow

She Spread Sorrow is the solo project of Italian artist Alice Kundalini, active since 2014. Discogs describes the project as working in death industrial and power electronics.

The first album “Rumspringa” appeared in 2015, followed by “Mine” in 2017 and “Midori” in 2018. “Huntress” was issued on 1 October 2021 by Cold Spring Records on digital and CD, with a catalogue edition also released on LP. The album holds six tracks, among them “Stand”, “Blue”, “Get Me” and the closing “Parasomnias”.

Kundalini moved to the American label Helen Scarsdale Agency for the LP “Orchid Seeds” in 2023 and the CD “The Grimorian Tapes” in 2025. Cold Spring also included the project on the 2023 label sampler “Arise – A Cold Spring Sampler”. Side-Line published a Click Interview with She Spread Sorrow on 23 June 2018.

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

Swedish formation Red Mecca was originally set up by Jan Strandqvist (music) and Frida Madeleine (vocals). Frida Madelaine left after four albums and got replaced by Susanne Jonsson. The brand-new duo first released “Truth” in 2019 and this year stroke back with the sixth album “Away” featuring eight songs and again released on Massproduktion. Red Mecca is a band mixing different influences like Electro-Pop, Indie-Pop, Shoegaze,  Electro-Wave… but “Away” definitely sounds as their most accomplished work to date. I asked a few questions to Jan.

(Picture credits by Lia Jacobi / Interview courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Red Mecca has been set up for while now. What do you consider as being the major facts in the band’s history? And what have been the main points of satisfaction so far?

Jan: As from the reboot of Red Mecca in 2013, when Frida Madelaine joined in as vocalist and together we steered in a direction of, mostly mine, Post-Punk roots, we planned to have an open mind and refused to be boxed-in into a typical genre. When we released“Electricity”in 2016 and got the chance to meet up with people working with the alternative scene in Berlin and we played at Urban Spree and the day after NCN-festival, it was like an awakening. The pieces came together.

Later that year we were nominated to best Electronic act from Sweden at the Manifest Award and we won. That was of course a confirmation, which was fun and a self-confident boost. For some days. Then I was back in doubt which seems to be 90% of my waking time.

WGT 2018 was also a fucking blast! And the soundtrack sync for two episodes of “Killing Eve”with “I See Darkness In You”was of course surreal joy. “Killing Eve” was one of my favorite TV-shows beforehand and I think the composition of the scenes were quite as sublime and perfect as I wished them to be.

But, to be honest, I think the main point of satisfaction is the privilege to be able to create something that could be important to other people. In one way or another. Something that maybe can give people strength. I don´t know. I mean, music givesmecourage and strength. It´s one of the most important ways to just to feel. And to travel in your mind. With your mind.

Q: You earlier this year released your sixth album “Away”, which is the second full length together with singer Susanne Jonsson. How did the collaboration evolved from the “Truth”-album (2019) towards “Away”?

Jan: Every album is sort of an experiment and the end result is somewhat surprising every time in comparison to the naive plan you have from start. When we made “Truth”, we hadn´t got to know each other so well in a musical sense and there´s maybe a lack of a red thread. There´s less of a pronounced integrality so to speech. When working with “Away”, we were more comfortable with what we were to accomplish. We were more secure in our roles. Susanne added much atmosphere both in various vocal style and in the lyrics, which were important for the end result. We both felt what direction it should go.

Q: Tell us a bit more about the writing- and recording process of “Away”? What is this new work all about and what has been the main focus –and eventually challenge, in the accomplishment of this work?

Jan: We always begin the process with an album to paint up a rough sketch of a plan and then hopefully launch the flow-machine and then it turns out to form into something else, haha. We were in the middle of a pandemic and the Trump administration were crazier than ever and there was much fucking turmoil in the world. The state of affairs colored the work and the album, and it came to be about just that. Not as poster politics, but in a more subtle way. What was happening to our emotional life due to what was happening… sort of.

Music is, in my opinion, all about emotions and I wanted to tune in. Receive and broadcast. But it´s always a challenge to tame and harness the flow of things that wants to come out. It´s such an abstract process and hard to describe.

Me and Susanne managed to start up a new level of interaction and interplay and the goal was clearly something we both understood.

Q: I personally consider “Away” as your greatest accomplishment so far. But do you consider each new/last album as being the best one? And how do you see and consider this album in Red Mecca’s discography?

Jan: Thanks! It´s in the nature of the work process. It would be devastating, speaking for myself of course, to feel that during work, that this is not sufficiently good enough in comparison with former work and releases. I think I would consider to stop doing what I´m doing and call it a day. As an artist, I don´t know. I think all the albums we´ve done are in one way or another an exactly mirror of the music we were able to perform in that moment of time. I´ve thought a thousand times: ‘I couldn´t possible have more music left to create’, but I´ve been wrong every time.

I´m not kidding if I say that I’ve got about one thousand songs/tracks in my computer that never will be released. It´s like a surplus of composing. “Away” is a successful snapshot, if I may say and I like it a lot. But you get a  healthy distance to every album after a while.

Q: You also have a new single out, “Into Prayer” featuring KMRS. Can you tell us a bit more about the song and this collaboration? And what do you think about people affirming releasing albums make no more sense since most of the people today are using  streaming platforms?

Jan:  I discovered KMRS by chance and liked her harsh lyrics and flow of British style Rap/spoken word and came curious if it would fit in anything. I was in the process of making “Into Prayer” and contacted her (and she really liked us)  and got an acapella and it was like perfect. The only kind of Rap I like is British artists like Ghostpoet, M.I.A, Sleaford Mods and Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip for an example. It´s not Hiphop you know. It´s something else. I was really into the Hiphop scene in the beginning of the 90’s. Public Enemy, Disposable Hereoes Of Hipoprisy and such.

Anyway, there´s more to come in that collaboration. Probaby a new really heavy club track 12″ stand-alone maxi for the dancefloor.

Well, I work in a vinyl record store and I was raised with LP’s, so I don´t really care about it´s not making sense. Since when did anything in life make sense? I still think albums are awesome in every way. I listen to albums all the time on streaming platforms as well. Yeah, I know, the kids just listen to fast playlists. They listen to music in a new way. Ok. Let them. But I really don´t think that albums are vanishing because of that. We still have books, don´t we?

Q: How do you see Red Mecca evolving and what are the further plans?

Jan: We´re currently in the finishing state of a double album, which will be released mid 2022 in shallah. May seem like hubris, but hopefully it´s going to be our Magnum Opus haha. Some remixes are on their way too. We´ve, however, decided to not play live until 2022. The unintentional pause of live performances 2020-21 have made us realize that we have to reboot and invent ourselves again before entering the stage. We have to come up with something new regarding stage plot and everything. We haven´t been rehearsing anything in almost a year. We’ve just been focused on composing.

And I´m an addict and alcoholic and after ten years of sobriety, I plunged myself into a relapse, mid pandemic, which almost killed me. So it´s been some time of rehabilitation and finding spirituality again, so to speak. But now I´m back on track. So we´re not going to tie us up with things feeling stressful. We have a rough plan, but we´ll leave the BIG plans just for now. But I´m getting eager to come out and play live again. That´s for sure.

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

Minus Habens Records announces the release tomorrow of Paolo F. Bragaglia’s “The Man from the Lab” album which is an imaginary soundtrack of a Sci-Fi TV series released in 1982, in a parallel world.

The plot is about a drama set in a secret experimental biology laboratory about unknown viruses transported to the early ’80s by a mysterious visitor from the future. A story of biological research, humans, animals, labs and travels through time, space, and different dimensions.

“The Man From The Lab” follows Paolo F. Bragaglia’s “Mystère Du Printemps” (Minus Habens Records, 2006) and “Yug” by the electro-acoustic duo project Synusonde (Minus Habens Records 2011). It’s a tribute to the sounds that influenced the origins of the path of this eclectic electronic musician from Italian Marche region.

Here’s the album trailer.

About Paolo F. Bragaglia

Author of seven albums, Paolo F. Bragaglia collaborated with a considerable number of musicians, directors and artists: Mauro Pagani (guest on the first album “Magnum Chaos” in 1999), Steve Piccolo, Monica Demuru, Howie B, Roberto Paci Dalò, Robert Lippok , Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana and the dancer Simona Lisi. He has also performed with various projects in numerous festivals such as Time Zones, Dancity, Cinematica, Rassegna di Nuova Musica, Spaziomusica, Ipercorpo, Beach Bum Festival, Inteatro, APP, Blooming, Mozartfest Wurzburg.

Paolo F. Bragaglia is the founder and director of the Acusmatiq electronic music festival (in Ancona, since 2006) and founder of the “Museo del Synth Marchigiano” dedicated to the vintage electronic instruments made in Marche.

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

(Photo by Nicolas Despis) Frédéric D. Oberland, member of Oiseaux-Tempête and Foudre plus co-founder of Nahal Records (Mondkopf, …) will release his 3rd solo album, “Même Soleil”, on july 19th on IIKKI. The record comes out on CD, vinyl and as download and also with a photobook by Gaël Bonnefon. The album is being described as ‘pretty hypnotic’ with analogic instruments, a bit of guitar, duduk and field recordings.

The hardcover artbook (limited to 400 copies) holds 112 pages, 24cm x 22cm, with 65 photos. The CD is limited to 200 copies, the black vinyl to 300 copies and the now sold out gold-black marble was limited to 100 copies.

Two singles are already out, “A Notre Nuit” and and “Augures” which you can check out below. A video is also out for the track “Quatre épaves d’acier” which you can see below the two tracks.

All music was composed, performed and recorded by Frédéric D. Oberland between March 2020 and March 2021 at his home studio Magnum Diva using analog synthetizers, mellotron, machine drum, flutes, alto saxophone, vocals, percussion, duduk, field recordings, and electric bass & guitar. The material was mixed by Jean-Charles Bastion at Mer/Noir, Paris, and mastered by Harris Newman at Grey Market.

Check Bandcamp for all order info.

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: Industrial, Experimental, IDM.

Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.

Background/Info: French artist Franck Vigroux remains a prolific musician. He has already released an impressive discography and has worked with multiple labels. “Ballades Sur Le Lac Gelé” was released in 2020 and is his first production released by the great label Raster.

Content: Franck Vigroux is mixing different styles together, which is rather usual for this artist. But the main difference with previous productions is that he may have found the perfect balance between Industrial-, Ambient-, Electro- and IDM. It’s a sophisticated and minimal-like production, mainly achieved with a kind of tearing sound treatment. It’s a heavy Industrial sound manipulation, which sounds a bit like the common thread of the work. I also noticed a few more accessible tracks; kind of danceable cuts driven by slow Industrial rhythm patterns.

+ + + : Franck Vigroux has already released an impressive number of productions, becoming a renowned and respected artist. But this album sounds to me like his magnum opus; the album people will keep in mind and, which might be seen as a sonic legacy for the further Industrial generation. It’s an intelligent writing where the musician reached the ultimate harmony between all his influences. It remains Industrial, but also mixed with great IDM treatments and supported with dark atmospheres. More than ever before he excels on this work as a true sound architect. There’s no single cut to throw away while some tracks like “Rome”, “Two” and “Beyond The Black Hole” are masterpieces. The approach remains exactly the same, but these cuts –and especially “Beyond The Black Hole”, are accessible for a wider audience. I also enjoyed this scratching, tearing sound manipulation, which runs through the entire work.

– – – : Franck Vigroux is not an artist who’s repeating himself and when you’ve heard such as masterpiece as “Ballades Sur Le Lac Gelé” you simply regret he’s not repeating himself…

Conclusion: This album is a true masterpiece revealing a modern approach of Industrial music.

Best songs: “Rome”, “Two”, “Beyond The Black Hole”, “Styx”, “Drive”.

Rate: (9).

Artist: www.franckvigroux.com / www.facebook.com/vigrouxfranck

Label: www.raster-media.net / www.facebook.com/raster.artistic.platform

About Franck Vigroux

Franck Vigroux is a French multi-instrumentalist built around guitar and electronics, active since the early 2000s. His discography on Discogs runs from “Les 13 Cicatrices” (2002) through collaborative and solo work such as “Looking For Lilas” (2004) and “Hums 2 Terre” (2007).

Side-Line spoke with the musician in a 2019 Click Interview about the balance between culture and economy in his work. “Ballades Sur Le Lac Gelé”, released in 2020, was his first production for the Raster label.

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

Back in 1991 I started writing my first reviews for Side-Line magazine. I would have never thought to go on writing reviews and making interviews non-stop for 30 years. So 2021 is a special year to me, a kind of ‘celebration year’. I got the idea to celebrate this special event by interviewing people from the scene who all have a special meaning to me. ‘Journalists’ have to remain neutral, but it doesn’t take a way we all have our own favorite artists. Juno Reactor is one of my all-time favorites. Instigator Ben Watkins is an artist who each time again takes me by surprise. His work is mixing influences like Psy-Trance, Tribal and Cinematographic music. The Juno Reactor sound has something special featuring elements you directly recognize; a true sound-DNA. I already got the opportunity to interview Ben Watkins before, but I’ve been deeply touched he accepted to answer questions for this special interview. Great artists aren’t only composing great music; they’re still accessible and humble persons. I’d an endless number of questions to ask. Ben took his time to answer and it finally resulted in one of the most informative and complete Juno Reactor interviews ever. Thanks Ben and respect!

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

‘I Was Smitten By Girls And Rock’

Q: What have been your first experiments as a musician? What have been the triggers and, which were your favorite bands as a teenager? 

Ben: I was born into a family of five kids, I was the second, my parents had both been actor’s. When I was between 5 and 6 years old I would wait for my brother in my classroom to finish his school -I would have about an hour, so about 10 of us kids and a teacher would do drawing, games etc. One day I suggested we do a “Top Of The Pops” (a popular TV show); I formed a band with air-minus-everything, sat my mate Jason down on drums as he had the biggest nose like Ringo Star, can’t remember the others; we would make what surely was a cacophony of made-up words and stamping to the beat. “She Loves You Yeah Yeah Yeah” must have rung out beyond the classroom as the headmaster, a demonstrative man, with a liking for beating kids with his sports shoe would appear at the window looking very irritated. As it was not the first time I had had the unwarranted shoe across my backside, a shiver would go down my back as his eyes and Hitler moustache bobbed above the door partition. 

These pleasant heady afternoons were soon banned due to the repetition of “She Loves You Yeah Yeah Yeah”. I noticed the rather large female teacher was pretty good at the piano, So I asked if I could have lessons, even her non-stop smoking didn’t not put me off. 

The headmaster had too much of a liking for giving me a sore ass, so I asked my parents if I could move school. I had joined the parish choir, the choirmaster was a man named Roy Massey. Roy Massey was cool and pushed me as he liked my voice. He suggested I go to a Cathedral Choir school and apply for a scholarship. 

First I went to audition at St Pauls Cathedral in London. It was a bleak audition, I didn’t prepare enough, and glad I escaped what reminded me of a Charles Dickens movie. Next was Chichester. I could breathe in this atmosphere, I passed the audition of 200 kids for one place and felt very puffed up with myself, knowing my parents didn’t have to pay for my education. 

Violin followed, along with daily practise -7 am wake up, 30 minutes piano or violin practise. 8 am breakfast, 8:30 practise piano violin, 9 am going to the classroom, 12:00 choir practise, lunch then school, sports, choir practise, choir service, dinner, do homework, play free games, practise then bed. This went on for 4 years along with a new disciplinary teacher who equally enjoyed punishment -this time a cane, up the wide massive stairs of the bishops palace, down a long dark corridor, knock, explain my crime, ‘Ben-d over Watkins’, a leather chair which when bent over lifted my behind into the perfect position. 6 whacks later, my hands firmly on my butt, dark bruises would appear later in the night. I had been born again to the boy I should have been in the first place. 

Music school and punishment always seemed interlinked. Even now it annoys me that the first headmaster refused to put my name on the scholarship board, what a cunt. His name was Mr. Sandford.

 I survived Chichester, I became the head of House, by this time I was no longer beaten, and had a champion in Mr. Ross, the disciplinary teacher, sports freak alto in the choir with a certain eye for pubescent males. I was good at winning in Rugby, as we had the biggest 13-year-old god or whoever made him, like a superhero he would destroy other schools and me riding on his coattails basked in his glory. Mr. Ross showed me how to take down a man, so we did with as much aggression as possible when he joined in. 

I left Chichester, a remnant from the stone age of how not to teach a dyslexic kid like me through corporal punishment on how to learn -I didn’t. My choirmaster at Chichester I must say was equally odd, looking like Eric Malcombe (a British comedian). He again had a draconian delight in making sure the boys of the choir feared him, his eyes would hover over you like the follow spots of a prison camp from high above us in the organ loft. He had two mirrors focused on us, and if you looked up, the Vampire of Bela Lugosi would be there. I can’t say I cried when he died a few years ago, as I still hold a dagger that was thrown too many times my way. 

So Wells Cathedral school was next, my introduction to the female sex… well, bye bye learning, OK practise the violin, do all the rest, then focus on bands, Led Zep, David Bowie, Marc Bolan, Alice Cooper, Queen, glam rock. I was smitten by girls and rock. My mate Simon Baggs was older and had a car, we would venture out of the school across to Glastonbury plateaus, a labyrinthian set of roads through old mash lands, country pubs to drink cider, smoke John Players Special fags, and listen to his 8 tracks (?) as the beams of his car entered the mists of the backcountry lanes. Alice Cooper’s “Love It To Death” album never sounded so sweet. I continued exploring musical possibilities by experimenting with my first band Spiritual Sky, influenced by David Bowie, whose concerts was the first I went to, the Aladdin Sane tour at the Earls Court Stadium.

‘I Was Listening To D.A.F. And I Realised This Is The Future’

Q: Hailing from London (UK) I can imagine the late 70s and 80s have been fascinating years when it comes to music and the (r)evolution of Electronic music. What did these years mean to you and do you still feel an impact today? 

Ben: I left school when I was 16/17 with the intent of going to a music college. At that time I played classical guitar, and would practise 8 hours a day, and got quite OK on it. I flunked the first audition as I didn’t present a second instrument. This depressing point changed the course of my life, I was so annoyed by myself, I stopped playing classical guitar and got more into songs of Dylan and people like John Martin. Smoked a ton of dope, started busking, went off to Paris with a semi pyscho guy called Lynn, a man with an addiction to Valium and a crushing right hand as a rhythm guitarist, and spent the summer playing on the streets of Saint Michelle and the Champs Elysée. After months of being arrested (and sometimes put into prison -the police were quite nice and would give me beers to play) I had had enough. I wanted to form a band! Due to my parents lengthily separation and all the conflicts attached to it, starting since I was 9, and final divorce shortly after my return home from Paris, life diverted and I ended up establishing a rehearsal room in the now deserted parental house, where I and my older brother would continue living alone, experiencing the newly found peace and evolving musical projects while rehearsing with my first band Panther. I started gigging, Punk-Rock was kicking off! I was playing, now with my band Rainstorm, the same pubs as the Sex Pistols, Japan, The Stranglers amongst others, we did a tour withThe Frankie Miller Band. A Glasgow singer that should have been born in Memphis -a great singer, wild and very much a Glaswegian. Back then I was booking shows from a red phone box -coins every 30 seconds. Rainstorm turning into I.O.U., we played pretty much every music pub in the country. I really wish I’d kept my bass player from I.O.U. for my next musical project, a guy named Ian Taylor, who I had a natural affinity with.

I was bored of being skint and driving up and down the country for 2 years in our Box Transit with 6 aircraft seats, a PA we had on HP (higher purchase/credit) and going nowhere, fun but nowhere. One time we had to be rescued by the police near Shropshire in Winter, heavy snow blocked the roads at midnight, and the Transit was stranded and being snowed in, the guitarist, also called Ben, had icicles forming on his moustache. I remember crossing fields alone to find a house, first one wouldn’t help us, onto another who did ring the rescue, six of us stuff into a police car -never felt so good.

I partnered up with some musicians an A&R man from CBS suggested. The A&R man was a guy called Chas de Whalley, the brother of a friend of mine from back in the days of the headmaster with a penchant for corporal punishment. We, The Hitmen, went on to be signed to CBS after a year of rehearsals and songs that sounded like a primitive AI had made for a pop audience. Much to the chagrin of CBS, the management and the band, we were incredibly unsuccessful despite all the money and machinery CBS provide. I hated it, the mentality of playing the same notes, in-jokes and seriously underwhelming emotions. I had to leave as I couldn’t stomach The Hitmen any more, the characters in the band were the antithesis of my mental state or desire. Luckily the second album decided to shoot itself in the head, due to too much fighting, no focus and CBS’s realisation The Hitmen were doomed.  

Phil Manzanero’s studio (the guitarist of Roxy Music) was a white circular house -I had never seen anything like it! The engineer was a guy called Ian Little. We had made the last Hitmen record there, and I got on with him well. We talked nearly the same language, as opposed to the disconnect with the band. He wanted to make an avant-garde album, free of doctrine -just do what you want. So for a few tracks I threw away all concern and I was to be David Bowie, imagining myself on an alternative “Lodger”-album. Nothing was written, all just improvised. The band was called New Asia… This set my brain off into new ways of writing, like Brian Eno, as studios were expensive and this gave me a chance to experiment. 

So in the ’70s and ’80s it felt like I was always playing catch up with what other people were doing. I had had the band signed to CBS – it sounded like another band (Elvis Costello mix), or my previous bands -we didn’t sound particularly individual. It was only when I was sick enough of all the ego’s, bullshit or the hatred that you got from possibly jealous band members, that when I got introduced to a drum machine and a sequencer I realised I could get rid of half the band. I was listening to D.A.F. -it was a two-piece and I realised this is the future.

I met Youth (the bass player of Killing Joke) in ’82, around the time when he had just left Killing Joke and was looking to start a new band, which became Brilliant. I was the only guy he knew with a sequencer so for a short time I joined. Toured UK and Spain. We went on to record under the Name The Youth & Ben Watkins on the “The Empty Quarter”-album and “The Empty Quarter” on the “Delirium” album. Both albums were extremely quick in making;  first album -the official soundtrack to Jonathan Moore’s stage play “Street Captives” -2 days. Written, recorded and mixed with predominantly pulsating bass lines, drums, early Greengate samplers and synthesizers. Second album -5 days. We recorded “Delirium”, focusing more on rhythms and Electronic elements with still some instrumental aspect, ranging from Tribal to Industrial to Gothic-Funk. So many funny stories with Youth -the time in Spain on the evacuation of the tour, as it all fell apart after Barcelona; we took all our equipment back on the train, decided to eat all of our dope before the French border. By the time we arrived at midnight, the French border police wanted to play games with this group of English stoners. ‘Who is this woman’ they said, referring to a passport. We all looked and couldn’t identify her? ‘Go find her…’ so we all went looking on the train platform, bewildered and laughing, about an hour later we returned to their pigeon hole and asked to look again, as no way was she still on the platform. Upon second look we realised it was me they were referring to… Ha. Ha.

I heard DAF and Suicide around this time, I was saved! This music spoke to me. My grandmother died and left me 200£ which I immediately spent on a Roland MC 202, a sequencer with one monophonic synth. On HP I bought a cheap drum machine and a Moog Rogue. I formed The Flowerpot Men with Adam Peters, a classical cellist, who later became Echo And The Bunnymen’s orchestrator. 

 Our first single sold well for an underground track. We toured with Dead Or Alive and Siouxsie And The Banshees. Steven Severin of the Banshee’s produced the first “Single Joe’s So Mean to Josephine”, a dark murderous story I had read in the papers. The police knew who had killed the woman in bed, but couldn’t work out how Joe had managed to tie himself up. For the track I expanded on the story a bit. The 202 was driving this with the added influences of T.Rex, sort of a suicide inspired track. It charted in the indie charts and you could hear it being played by John Peel on BBC Radio 1 and loads of underground Gothic Dj’s. “Jo’s So Mean (to Josephine)” was also on our own independent record label, Compost Records.

In 1985 we recorded a cover of Dr Johns “Walk On Gilded Splinters” with Dr John on guest vocals, at Run DMC’s Studio In Nostrand Ave, Brooklyn NY. The B side featured a track called “Melting Down On Motor Angel” which was an elongation of the new drug MDMA, which we sampled on a roof garden on 8th Street watching a shoot-out down below. “Melting Down On Motor Angel” was also the album title to Sunsonic’s only album.

Around this time also, Sigue Sigue Sputnik started turning up to our gigs in full dress, noting down all we were doing, later to make their own version of our madness. A single a year, then along came Ferris Bueller’s Day Off in 1986 completely out of the blue.

Another EP “Alligator Bait”, four songs inspired again by the time in New York… what wasn’t great about New York at that time? So much vibe, parties, gigs, the Danceteria, hanging out with artists, musicians, actors, painters, just walking down the street was like being in a Kojak episode, I loved it!

We were building a nice audience when Adam decided to go produce a Punk band in Denmark instead of headlining the Temple of Gothic achievement -the Camden Palace. The Flowerpot Men were no more.

 Yello had come into my life with the “80 – 85”-remix album, it never left the record player, Sonic Youth, Front 242, most of the Mute Records catalogue, Beggars Banquet label, ZTT were making records I could only dream of creating…

So rethink time, 9 months of thinking, writing; rave music came in 86/87, early parties hanging out with KLF in their squat. Sometimes engineering their remixes, or going on the highland adventures with the KLF, making a copy of “The Wicker Man” for all KLF’s licencees, flown onto a small island on the Western Isles (the same place they burnt a million pounds in the name of art and cocaine), so like a twat, as again I was skint I did the opposite of good, and tried and succeed in going and signing with another major label, this time Polydor Records and with my Flowerpot partner, I started Sunsonic. Part of the deal was they build us a studio to save on costs, so what seemed a cool idea -and was in some ways -was us investing into learning how (and not) to become an engineer, an album that should have taken a few months turned into two years and sounded like it: over thought under inspired.

I worked with Alex Paterson (The Orb) again and formed a short-lived band called Peace In The Middle East, same name as the track we created, a sort of goodwill floppy dance sounding workout, nothing special.

 When there was so much great quick music being made we were in creative limbo. So the impact changed. Find a new way to present a band, no longer did I want the ego of one partner, I wanted a collective or collaborators and keep the vibe and atmosphere good and exciting. 

Adam left for the USA, I stayed and started Juno Reactor.

‘Juno Reactor Was Set Up As An Art Collective’

Q: I think Juno Reactor was originally set up as an art collective/gallery, right? Who was involved? What was it all about and how did it finally become a music collective centred around you? 

Ben:  Juno Reactor was set up as an art collective, with writers, installation artists, filmmakers, etc. Norma Fetcher, my girlfriend, took a surface to air missile and we drove it around London down past Parliament Square, Big Ben, Whitehall on a flatbed truck, with armoured personal carriers front and back whilst dressed as Arabs -an anti Gulf War protest, and installed it into an art Gallery, the Diorama, that was owned by the Queen and had a perfect silo shape in the middle where the rocket was newly erected. For this, I wrote “Luciana” -really Juno Reactor’s first album, which was also a suggestion of Jimmy Cauty (KLF) that I should do an hour mix as he had just done, as an experiment. The trouble with art was funding and much easier for me to get musical backing so it folded as soon as it began. Although R&S Records did sponsor that show as I had released a track called “I Love You” under the name of Electrotete with future JR musician Stephan Holweck (who later became Total Eclipse), a crazy French guy and brilliant bass player who also lived in the Benio squat with Jimmy.

The main people in the first two Juno Reactor albums were: Mike Maquire, a great guy I met at the distribution company Greyhound, when releasing a self-released title “Pycho SlapHead”, a brutal rave track with a sense of murderous humour. Mike was great, he had been in India many times and loved the early scene where DJ’s were already playing my tracks. I had to find out more, so we went into my studio in Bowl Court and Mike turned me on to the current sound of India. As it was so close to my Electronic sound it was an easy hop onto a train – Sci-Fi Landscapes, my 202 still purring like a train, we made the track “High Energy Protons”. Mike took it to India and immediately it became a big track there and abroad: Japan, Greece, France, Germany and UK. Tracks kept on hoping out in two or three days, with Stephan Holweck and Mike and soon we had about nine or ten tracks, so I took them up to Mute Records, intending to only perhaps sell one track. They loved it and wanted the album!

No one knew what this music was, so they called it intelligent Techno, albums were selling, gigs were happening, I was feeling more comfortable about the debts of Sunsonic being paid off. 

‘For Me It Was A Sci-Fi Scene For Acid Party People’

Q: The singles “Laughing Gas” and “High Energy Protons” plus the debut album “Transmissions” (1993) were into Goa-Trance. Back in time this genre was something totally new and often introduced as ‘Electronics for hippies’. What did you keep in mind from this album and how did you see the Goa-Trance movement evolving? 

Ben: Well, I never saw it as music for hippies -for me it was a Sci-fi scene for acid party people, hippies were still listening to Dylan in my mind. I had come from the Industrial-Rock routes, with heavy sense or brutal Electronica, which was also being played out in India, so for me, it was not much of a diversion, more like an extension of what I had already been doing. So I hooked up with Mike and Johann Bley, a great writer and drummer, who lived in Goa for 6 months of the year whilst I stayed in the UK and carried on writing tracks. Youth by this time was also indulging in holidays out there. It was a great way to write with no commercial interest, and just get what was great feedback from India and the parties. Essentially it was a very positive way of producing after what was a rather grim time whilst with Sunsonic. 

“Transmissions” was the first real beginning of something special, Mike Maguire – Stephan Holweck – Johann Bley even Turnip the Swede Jens Walderbeck, had an important part to play in the new playground. Mike and Johann would go to Goa and live there for 6 months of the year, send feedback on tracks, that even in these days of fire hilltop communication, managed to pass on the vibe of the parties, as I worked on new tracks to send out, or wait for their return. I had no idea of the lazy days on the beaches, rented houses year round, with cleaners and cooks, small or large jungle parties where monkeys would be interactive with the monkeys our tracks (“Jungle High”) -I have sampled a lot of monkey sounds.

These new Cyber-Punks would network in the blessed out Goa sun, to return to their homelands, far away from paradise and the free love of this un-celebrated underground unknown music, their generation accepting of all ages, colours race. Would telegraph their passion, create parties in on hidden mountains in Japan, sex clubs in L.A, warehouse London, gymnasiums in Paris, disused airports in Germany, Outback volcanos in Australia. We were invisible to the industry of wannabe stars and bankrupt music.

This kinetic energy of knowing you were onto something new was the drug, like a secret society that anyone could join, if you had digested the shared psychedelic values.

Our new world was fresh, driven, invited around the world, “Transmissions” was transmitting on a global level, that music magazines and house DJs couldn’t fathom.

 The studio building was from the time of Jack the Ripper, a 3 story warehouse used for  god knows what, the atmosphere had not left it, along with some of the rather back street people you might expect in that area of London. Prostitutes would use the car park at the back, working their trade. Sometime city guys in suits would be aggressive and attack the women, so we kept a baseball bat by the door and if we heard their screams we would run out in the name of protection.

Q: Your next album “Luciana” (1994) was something totally different and not exactly the most familiar album from your discography. But I think there’re a few interesting things to say about this work; it revealed your interest in Soundtracks while it got released on Alex Paterson’s (The Orb) own label Inter-Modo. What brought you to write this album and how did you get in touch with Alex Paterson? 

Ben: This goes back to the Missile Project and the involvement in installation art. Alex (THE ORB) heard the album and loved it, he said ‘Can I release it?’, why not I thought, so I spent an afternoon with Alex in the studio, he added some elements over the stereo track and that became the album. I met Alex in 1986, as he is Youth oldest and best friend, an ex roadie of Killing Joke with an amazing record collection, a massive ability to smoke more than London can produce and speak in a way you need a hearing aid to listen. 

Q: I’ve always linked Juno Reactor with solid bass lines and transcendental drums. “Beyond The Infinite” (1995) perfectly symbolizes these elements, but also your interest to explore new ideas like Tribal drums. What did this work say about your perception of ‘sound’ and eventually your passion for drums? 

Ben: “Beyond The Infinite”, by this time Mute and cool London were not fans of Goa or Trance anymore, and decided to call it ‘Tarquin Techno’ in the media, because of the image that rich kids were behind the scene, which -looking at myself, was obviously bollocks, but in Goa there certainly were a few, and maybe the other scenes sensing danger, ridiculed it. They were about to steal the name of trance. Paul Oakenfold(like ‘Sique Sique Sputnick’) was hanging out at parties, listening, collecting ideas and tracks, the house was moving to Trance. Clever, to take this and add all the crap vocals and sell it off to the sheep… Their power and media savvy then became ‘Trance’. Not sure what our scene was, Psychedelic-Trance? Along come all these pigeon holes. Name it, sell it. We didn’t give a shit and stayed as far away from the cliché as possible. Mike was so great at this time, he had the best tunes of anyone, and was in great demand as an international DJ, from the USA to Japan and sometimes we would join him as a live three-piece. Brilliant days, we were a family. 

Q: I think you’re an artist with a very unique sound DNA! What I’m trying to say is that I instantly can recognize your work by the bass lines, the orchestral arrangements, the hypnotic drum sections… What makes this DNA and where does it come from? 

Ben: I have no idea. Like all musicians, I have collected and been inspired by what I needed and wanted. I love all types of music, still do, these DNA strands are unique, the hard part is how to lay them out for others to share and enjoy. I wanted to be a photographer when very young, my dad said it was too expensive, so film, TV, pictures, music all collided and formed whatever I am in my tastes for music.

‘I Decided To Become More Grounded In Earthly Sounds From The Percussion’

Q: It’s impossible not evoking “Bible Of Dreams” (1997), which revealed new ideas and collaborations. I consider this work as your magnum opus, which even today hasn’t lost its original magic. How do you look back at this work 24 years later and are there some aspects of the production you would do differently? 

Ben:  So the time of “Bible Of Dreams” came along. Robert Trunz, CEO of MELT2000 -the umbrella company which ran Blue Room, and Simon Ghahary, the managing director of Blue Room -a sub-label based in the UK specialising in Electronic music, had signed Juno Reactor to Blue Room/Melt 2000 for “Beyond The Infinite”, as Mute didn’t want it. Robert was a jazz freak, and he got me involved in his great love for African music. Robert and Simon were different, business was easy, as Robert was pretty loaded and loved to invest in his artists. He took over my shabby warehouse studio, put in a massive Raindurk Symphony Desk, massive monitors that would be anyone’s wet dream, 9 bass drivers aside, they blew the roof off. He took over landlord costs, God I was free of all these costs, and could make music without the fear of losing it all.  

I had been introduced to the African musicians on Melt 2000. All the scene was doing was still making chemical noises, and stick in an alien landscape for the acid heads. Although this is enjoyable, it became very repetitive. So I decided to become more grounded in earthly sounds from the percussion. The only percussionists I had been introduced to before Amampondo were generally white guys, flipping away on drums in a sloppy-sloppy fashion, or German-style timpani military way which I had found pretty useless and saw no advantage in it on a track. So my mind was blown away by Mabi -power, rhythmic complexity, fun, tradition, amazing rhythms that propelled the track! My eyes were opened and I felt stupid I had not seen what so many others had -say for example my favourite drummer Ginger Baker -why hadn’t I noticed African drumming that years before? Anyway, I was now awake to its potential in my world of cross over, not interested in world music in its pure form and wanted to create a fusion with electronic music and see what comes out. 

Working with Mabi was so instinctive, we both saw tracks in the same way as pictures and thoughts, I literally fell over him in a music studio corridor where he was asleep on the floor when I was producing a Zulu Band for Melt 2000 in South Africa. We got talking and I invited him and Amampondo to play all the percussion, so in a way, our future was laid out there.

I felt I knew what I was doing, none of my UK band wanted to tour the USA with Moby for just 30 minutes a night, so I called Mabi and Amampondo , did a few rehearsals and off on tour! This moment diverted the future of the project for the next 12 years where I would tour with Amampondo.

 “God Is God” could finally be added to a Juno Reactor album, as now JUNO RREACTOR was more interested in the earth sounds, leaving sci-fi behind. “God Is God” was written around the end of “Transmissions”, needed a better mix, but was ready. The album fell into place so easily. 

I wouldn’t touch “Bible Of Dreams” as it is a record of where I was musically at the time. I firmly believe people walk on our path for a reason, be it for a short or long period. How we interact with them is up to us. Some people unexpectedly turn out to be far more important than you could ever have imagined. Some you will love until you die, while other return to the mist of being.

Q: I read somewhere that after “Bible Of Dreams” you got the feeling to be done with Electronic music. What was it all about? Was it a kind of exhaustion or blank page syndrome?

Ben: It happens a lot to me, especially with Electronic music. Far too many people seem to be happy to create a platform. Be it Trance, Techno, Ambient, Drum’n’Bass, Bass music, whatever. It gets like an L.A motorway full of polluting gases all sounding the same. So I go left, maybe my mistake there, but as I am totally useless at being commercial, I prefer my way. And hope others enjoy it.

‘The Track Was Built Around My Love For Tarantino And Westerns, Clint Eastwood And “Once Upon A Time In The West”’

Q: The opening song “Pistolero” from the “Shango”-album (2000) probably became your biggest hit ever. It sounds differently because of this guitar play and yet it remains 100% Juno Reactor! I remember my reaction when I heard it for the very first time: ‘this guy is crazy’! Was this song a kind of antithesis to all what you’ve done before? And how did you imagine the future of the project right at the new millennium? 

Ben: On tour I met up with Steve Stevens. After speaking with him on the phone about the recent Traci Lords album that I produced, I invited him to play on a show in L.A, a great venue, like an old-fashioned sports hall with a running track above. Now, I think how freaked out he must have been, as I patched him into my desk, he would play, and I would cut him off at random, he kept on looking over as if to say ‘WHAT THE FUCK?!’, he must have thought I was crazy, he didn’t complain but you don’t do this to a Rock Legend. Anyway, we got on, he asked me to produce a track for his album – yep, “Pistolero”.

Steve wasn’t used to my regime of endless hours in the studio and I think after six days his eyes were somewhere down near his guitar swaying hips, exhausted he returned to the USA. He wasn’t that impressed, so I agreed to pay his costs, and I would release it. I worked on it a ton more, and out popped the track we know.

The track was built around my love for Tarantino and Westerns, Clint Eastwood and “Once Upon A Time In The West”. When it was released I named it the “Tarantino Radio Edit”. Quentin loved it and Robert Rodriguez and Tarantino then wrote “Once Upon A Time In Mexico” after being inspired by my “Pistolero” track, which they credited in the CD booklet.

Currently, I’m working on the new album, Steve Stevens, Sugizo and Amir Haddad will hopefully all on the same track.

Working with Amampondo was a dream, we never argued, just laughed a lot, after having lived in each other’s pockets on tour we got on well. I learnt more from them than they did of me. Their sense of rhythm, spontaneity, improvisation, the humour of dance, the humour of anything. We would do shows, stop the machines and go into full-on Tribal rhythms, songs of the Pondo’s. Every night was different. Mandla and Simpewe would perform acrobatics when we played “Feel The Universe”, crowds loved this, even though injuries happened, the next night they would do it again. I carried on working with them for 12 years until it became impossible to bring them from South Africa due to rising costs and falling promoters budgets. 

I should add that Traci Lords was also very cool to work with, and had several enjoyable sessions with her, which led to a top 5 USA billboard track titled “Control” and a number of movie syncs from these sessions.

‘“Matrix” Was Like Being Shot And Landing In Heaven With A Ticket Back To Earth’

Q: Your songs got more and more featured in movies and you wrote different songs for Soundtracks. I can imagine the “Matrix”-experiences must have been a kind of ultimate dream and accomplishment? But what has been the impact of all these experiences –and more especially “The Matrix”, on your career?

Ben: I love films, first of all, so for it to combine with my music is a dream job no matter what the film is. I will score a bug on a wall, and still enjoy it. “Matrix” was like being shot and landing in heaven with a ticket back to earth. After the initial meeting with the Wachowski’s I had to smash nails into my boots to keep me from flying off to the stars. Reality hit in a good way and was the toughest discipline mixed with the excitement of being able to please the directors and myself. What do I take away from it? A sense of achievement that I did something very special. I still get composers coming up to me and saying it is a landmark film for integration of Electronics and orchestra which is what the Wachowski’s wanted. It helped me believe in my writing al lot more, although confidence is like the wind, some days you have it others not.

The daily routine of waking up in heaven is not always as easy as it sounds, as even in my camp I would experience jealousy, I had brought with me a programmer (Stephan Holweck) an engineer (Greg Hunter) Singer (Taz) Stephan more turned into a cook and this frustrated his, as he wanted to be more involved, but the way out worked out there was no real room for him. Greg brought in his friend, which added to the annoyance of Greg; Greg would come in and say as I was working on “The Burly Brawl”, ‘that is a load of crap’ in-front of his friend as a light heated joke, which they all found very funny, I took Greg outside and suggested he return back to London as he wasn’t on my team, either buck up or go home. I should have sacked Greg as he would do things like after a mix was finished, he wanted to polish it more, so first time I agreed and I went back to the Paramore to sleep. I got a call from the dub stage early in the morning saying ‘what is this mix, it is horrible!!!’ I asked what time it was made they said 8 am, I replied please listen to mix from 1:00 am . They did and said thank you this is great.

Greg Hunter had in the hours between, added noises, effects I knew would be unwanted, and a rebalance uncalled for. He had become a liability to me, as now Warner were clocking his over times. I could not get rid of him as I didn’t know another great engineer in L.A. I would never use him again. These unexpected invasions add a colour I would have preferred had not happened, as these were not the only times he tried to unravel the job.

 Zig Gron (my Music Editor)  on the other hand, a man I did not know previously was my guardian angel. He walked me through all of the landmines, I asked him to teach me all he could, and I was in a 100 milesper hour world on information upload. Zig was funny, informative and such a bloody relief to have near me. God save Zig Gron and all who sail around him.

Q: The Soundtrack you composed for the “Brave Story”-animation film (2006) must have been something really special. For the very first time you composed the entire Soundtrack and here again I discovered some new aspects like the song “Juno Waltz”. How did you prepare and finally composed this work? 

Ben: This was composed under my name Ben Watkins rather than Juno Reactor. I had done another one, like “Beowulf”. I asked them why they wanted me to write for mainly orchestra, and they said we would like to hear how it sounds. So I sort of did my impression of ‘a man who knew what he was doing and what they were talking about’. There were a few production problems re-budget, as it wasn’t cheap for an Anime film. Once that was over, it was surprisingly easy, maybe a lot easier than writing for pure Electronics as the orchestra tone is defined by what you want, and once set, you have your pallet of sounds more or less. “Juno Waltz”, funny you mention that one, as it was the one I most feared to write, as again it has been so defined by other writers. I wrote it last, and it just popped out, it was also the one I felt the orchestra liked the most as they would tap their music stands like clapping. 

We recorded the Orchestra and choir in Bratislava, The Bratislavian Symphony Orchestra and a Vienna choir. I remember on the way to the massive radio sound stage all the older ladies at the bus stops had bright blue/purple hair. A hangover from communist times maybe, thought it looked great and definitely a way I wouldn’t mind my hair, like Quintan Crisp on acid.

Q: You also composed music for animation games. Does it need a different approach than for soundtracks? Any preference and/or favorite? 

Ben: “The Mark Of Kri” was a sort of nightmare, in as far as I had to create on each level two hours of non repeating music, on 0.5 MB, which now sounds insane huh. So you have an excitement engine, 0 – 100, fight mode is 50 plus. I had to build the macros to enable this. So deep learning curve, endless nights on the phone to Scott in San Francisco. This is a bit like the early beginning maybe of programs like WWise.com -which is a sampler on Crack, and hold so many possibilities for AI and VR, which makes me really excited for the future of music and sonic displacement for composers. My preference for games is really to write and hand over in stereo or 5.1. 

“PS4 Gran Turismo” -I made special mixes of tracks from the not so soon to be released album “The Mutant Theatre”, I didn’t have much involvement on this as they loved the tracks I presented and it was done.

Thanks of the Galaxy was a scored mobile game. Despite it being for mobile-only, I really enjoyed working with the team in Finland, in which I presented a Sci-fi industrial orchestral score made from orchestra libraries by George Strezov well worth checking out.

www.strezov.net  www.strezov-sampling.com

‘“Navras” Is The Biggest Track I Have Written’

Q: “Labyrinth” (2004), “Gods & Monsters” (2008), “Inside The Reactor” (2011), “The Golden Sun Of The Great East” (2013) and “The Mutant Theatre” (2018) are the studio-albums released after 2000. How would you analyze the evolution of these productions considering items like influences, technology vs. production and new collaborations? 

Ben: “Labyrinth” is “The Matrix”-album, and after the experience of the last track for “The Matrix Revolutions”, “Navras”, I couldn’t write a thing. “Navras” is the biggest track I have written, or been involved in with 120-piece orchestra, 80-piece choir, soloists, percussionists… So for three months after that I was bashing my head against a wall back in the UK. I think mainly as I was still missing the vibe of L.A, the people always around, the buzz. Until “Conquistador” Parts 1 & 2 came to save me along with guitarist Eduardo Niebla. I was mainly working very analogue, real drums, humans playing, and I still do, but now I am 75% out of the box and 25% in the box. Loads of new software have enabled me to make it more expansive. 

“Gods & Monsters”-I wanted it less epic than “Labyrinth”, write some songs that spoke to me at the time, and try a sort of Jazzy feel to some of it. Not very popular with the Juno Reactor dance crowd at the time, I still love certain tracks. A lot of artists musicians feel constrained by the genre they are in, main thing to me is to stand by what you write, and try it, it ain’t going to kill you. 

One track for example, “Tanta Pena” from “Gods & Monsters” -I was driving to the studio at Ridge Farm when a voice came on the BBC world music show, I had to stop and listen. A cross between a butterfly and a thunderstorm, it took the wind out of my lungs. As soon as the song was over I rang the station and asked who it was. Yasmin Levy! I contacted her husband who was also her agent/manager and asked if she would be interested in recording with me. 

Yasmin and the manager arrived on a beautiful Summer’s day. Ridge Farm is in the Surrey countryside, an Elizabethan Estate with grounds, a swimming pool, beautifully landscaped gardens, all made possible by Frank Andrews never-ending building work on his estate. 

I had moved into Ridge Farm after “The Matrix” films when I heard the studio on the estate was laying bare. I was able to bring my equipment and use one of Englands classic studio’s. Muse, Queen, Ozzie Osbourne and so many more had recorded here… 

Yasmin was shy, and maybe only 20yrs old when she visited the farm. I played her my idea’s, talked a little, not much really and went into record! With one take it was done on both tracks, no need to do any more, she had nailed it! It is quite amazing when this happens, like Lakshmi Shankar on “Navras”. 

I carried on working the track to bring it to her level, with an amazing Zook player from Arminia, Tigran Aleksanyan with the merciless drumming of Greg Ellis, who, when I started working with him in the studio, sounded a bit like a session player. His appearance was that of a typical tattoed L.A drummer, calm, spiritually balanced in appearance -and a very amiable personality.

I asked Greg to let his rage out for this track, really hit those fuckers! I unleashed a beast, a monster, his whole countenance changed, Fire and brimstone drumming, an apocalypse of anger and frustration came out! Drum skins didn’t last long, an inverted blister would appear on the snare within one take! Greg loved this approach, which you can also hear on “The Immaculate Crucifixion”. After this, “Tanta Pena” was complete. 

The original song dates back to the time when the Spanish ejected the Jewish population or made them convert to Christianity around 1492. It is sung in Ladino by Yasmin Levy whose father was a famous archivist of Ladino music, “No More Blood” –“Tanta Pena”.

 “Golden Sun Of The Great East” -I went to India to record a lot of the soloists, and this opened up my world to new horizons, as I found Bombay very “Blade Runner”-ish, ancient and modern all running parallel, crazy, mad, tragic and beautiful. 

Magical things happen, even when you are not looking, I was on a day trip around the studio’s of Mumbai with a potential agent for me in India. We entered a black and gold studio, very camp, I would expect Freddie Mercury of Queen to pop out and say ‘Hello darlings, welcome to my fuck fest!’ instead it was a wonderful Panjabi singer being recorded for a film. Our next appointment was with the Mozart of Indian film music, A R Rahmen. Excited I jumped in the taxi, horns blaring, rain falling, a bright night journey. Next to me in the taxi was the Panjabi singer, ‘Hey can you sing me a song into my zoom recorder, as we wait for my agent to say his goodbyes’. 4 minutes later, a song that never varied off its pitch, was in my data control. Leaving out the A R Rahmen meeting as it was nice, but nothing special, I returned to the hotel where eagles would fly high above in the morning light, I listened back, to the Mumbai traffic and the voice of a celestial being. I started writing “Invisible”, the second track on the album.

“The Mutant Theatre” was written for the show -a Sci-Fi extravaganza where choreographed performance really took over the direction. 

For me, the last two albums speak to me how I want to hear them, and possibly my favourite albums.

“The Mutant Theatre” was designed as a show album. In 2015 I was asked by the Ozora Festival to come back the next year with a new show, I had thought of a show to be called “The Mutant Theatre” 5 years before when in Russia and working with two amazing Performance groups, Agnivo, from Moscow, and Stigma Show from St.Petersburg. I presented this idea in pictures to Ozora, which they loved. It was expensive as it involved around 18 people.

Eyal Yankovich had been my agent for 5 years or so, also the head of Hommega Records. He was an OK agent, getting me the occasional gig or tour, what he was really good at was igniting my imagination with tunes, and suggest I listen to many great tracks, ‘How about a new “Pistolero” Ben?’

Eyal Hung himself before he could listen to the final “Return Of The Pistolero”-version or the album, which still a saddens me.

 Sanja Music, our tour manager, started to really help me, not only from a business perspective, but also from a listening view point. Despite being unable to discuss in a musical language, she would always hit it on the head, find a way to describe the best versions, enthusiasm, insights, referenced insights how fans can view it, how it might work on stage. Spend hours discussing and evolving ideas. I met Sanja many years before in Slovenia when we were playing with Laibach. A tall shiny girl in Japanese fashion appeared solo waiting for the doors to open, a Sugizo fan I believed. We stayed in contact through Myspace and later meeting up in Japan when I was having tours there. She came to the 2015 Ozora Festival and I’ve asked her to photograph Juno Reactor. After we went to Budapest to sight see the city, when I realised what a great addition she would me to Juno Reactor, little did I know how central to my thinking and the project she would become.

‘I Want To Give Something To The Audience That They Might Not Have Seen Before’

Q: You’ve always worked and composed your albums with guest musicians and –singers while going on tour with dance companies, drummers ao. It all feels a bit like the initial goal of creating a ‘collective’ has never changed. What did you learn from all these meetings, collaborations and exchanges? 

Ben: I want to give something to the audience that they might not have seen before. Maybe this goes back to my days of loving David Bowie, and his great performances, always looking for a new way. I feel a sense of family when we are on the road, not always possible with some people, but when it is good it is great. I am still learning how best to be, and how to navigate the waters of human interaction. I feel most comfortable in my studio along with all the other me’s talking.

Q: Your brother Simon Watkins has been often involved in the artwork of Juno Reactor. It all looks like arts is a family thing. Where does it come from and is there a next Watkins generation to hold on this artistic fire? 

Ben: Simon, my brother, helped me focus on art and how to look at it. He always had an unusual taste, a black comedy in his work that I loved. My parents were actors, and despite we were a family of 5 kids, and totally squint, I have no clue why our blood directs us to the arts, as it would be much simpler if we had just wanted a normal life. My parents gave up on their careers too early I always felt, and so I have to live with the musical sword in my hand.

Django, my younger son, is at film university learning the art of script writing and direction, Tim, my older son, is a great musician and records tracks I love. Scarlet and her friend wrote a track for a Japanese singer that was pretty successful. Scarlet at one time wanted to take over Juno Reactor, maybe she still does who knows, but she has chose marine photography for now.

‘AI, VR & AR Have So Much Potential For Young Musicians To Escape The Old Models Of Creation And Start A New Chapter In Music’

Q: A lot of things have changed/evolved since the early Juno Reactor years; think about technology, new equipment & music programs, streaming, social media etc… What have been the pros and cons? 

Ben: I started out on an MC 202 and now I have a museum, a laboratory, loads of instruments that I play. I miss the hangouts in the studio, as everyone has a studio, so we became moles. I love the independence of starting a Juno Reactor label, which I and Sanja Karin Music, who is my manager and for a number of years has also collaborated on artwork, future NFTs on knownorigin.io and other platforms, and a variety of creative projects and activities, which we will be rolling out in the coming year.

The new possibilities of NFT’s and blockchain, which might well help the independent musician into a new economic model. AI, VR & AR have so much potential for young musicians to escape the old models of creation and start a new chapter in music, independent from middlemen and greedy manipulators from the dark alleys of the old music industry. A new world awaits in the decade to come, and I am excited by it, and what it will become. This doesn’t in any way exclude the old ways, or purity of the orchestra, classical musicians, just a new voice in the galaxy.

Q: Covid-19 has seriously affected artistic activities all over the world. How did you keep yourself busy and what are you actually working on? 

Ben: I am learning the Viola, this has kept me in focus at times, writing new tracks with this has been very enjoyable, as well as testing, as I am still learning, and it will take me a long time to play the way I would like. I swim in the sea, this I love when I can afford the time -a sea swim now takes me about 2:30 hours compared to the pool of 1 hour. It blows all the cobwebs and bad thoughts away -of which there have been many through the past year, no question. I think a lot of artists had a very hard time, a lot of artists might have been forced to stop doing what they love, which is very sad. Like many others as well, I have been forced to look into the paperwork side of the project and face all the different misdemeanours and manipulations from a number of people I preferred not to face while gigs were still bringing in enough money to keep going.

‘Sooner Or Later An Autobiography Could Certainly Happen’

Q: I read in a post you got the idea to write an autobiography, which I think is a real interesting idea. Is it something concrete and are there some next ‘big’ dreams you want to accomplish?  

Ben: Well, it is odd, as I have lived long enough to tell stories other people find interesting, or so they say. Sometimes I get caught up in them, and it reminds me of talking to family members before they died. As you can ask them a historic question of how life was, and you can see their eyes glaze over as they reminisce as if they are walking the streets and cafes they used to. It is beautiful to see and hear. I don’t want to become a broken record and recite story after story, so maybe one time if I can write it OK, it might be interesting. My manager Sanja has been pushing me to write down or talk about times in my life and slowly collect all these to be turned into an entity at some point, so sooner or later an autobiography could certainly happen. It might have been silly of me to suggest I’m writing it on a simple social media travel picture that looked to me like a book cover, but perhaps having the public know and expect it will give me an extra boost to keep working on it, with my managers help, as an dyslexic person I was surprised to find that I’m really enjoying this process.

‘The Older I Get The More I Want To Do Music, Scuba, Swim, And Exploring New Horizons’

Q: An interesting item for the autobiography could be to know what you would have done in life without music? And do you have specific hobbies/passions next to music? 

Ben: I remember one day my father said ‘If you pass this exam, I will buy you a pony’. I tried my best, but still failed, and thus had to grow up pony-less. I wonder what would have happened had I passed the exam. Would I really have gotten a pony? Would I perhaps be in a completely different profession today? I should ring up my dad and ask if he actually planned to get that pony …

A lot of people through-out my life have mistook my dreamy exterior to think I am lazy, when in fact my brain has never stopped talking, the conversations I have in my mind seem to me to be more interesting than the ones outside, so I can be non responsive, come over as aloof. The reality is I have drifted off into my own world again. Where I might think I have answered a question asked by someone, just to realise it was only answered in my head. Dyslexia has strange traits, and for me it is this, I am word blinded sometimes that also raises my pulse to a train, panic. I envy people who can be logical, and competent in social exchanges. Stage is my way out, a sort of nether world between reality and dreams where I feel confident of its power.

Without music, I would be a shadow, maybe worked in a stable or farm all my life, something that didn’t need a searching brain. The older I get the more I want to do music, scuba, swim, and exploring new horizons.

Q: “Pistolero” is the Juno Reactor-song I make people listen to, who aren’t familiar with your work. Which one would you choose? 

Ben: At the moment, Ummm my latest one: “Coyote You Me And The Stars”. As it was written for a very special moment and one I will forever remember. I bought an amazing keyboard at the beginning of the crisis, which has been my main frame and primary sound source, the Quantum keyboard by Waldorf, it is such an unusual instrument. It is possible to create sonic textures I haven’t heard before, a 3D motion I have been looking for, this along with the viola.

I am more interested in how I can hold the sound in the stereo field to give depth and spatial pleasures. Political events don’t usually invade my thoughts yet this has been unavoidable.

Witten by: Ben Watkins

Co-editor: Sanja Karin Music (management & shrink services)

Side-Line also covered Juno Reactor’s ‘Let The Flowers Grow’.

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, Dark-Electro.

Format: Digital, 2CD.

Background/Info: German duo Arnte and Schmoun aka Pyrroline doesn’t release new albums on a regular basis, but they now strike back with the fourth album to date. Both protagonists were also involved with Nordschlacht, which unfortunately only released one single album in 2007.

Content: Four years have passed since the previous album, but nothing has really changed when it comes to influences. Pyrroline doesn’t innovate, remaining faithful to their old-school EBM reminding Skinny Puppy and Mentally & The Fixer. The work has a strong déjà-vu feeling, but globally speaking Pyrroline has seriously improved little details of the global production. The songs have been supported with haunting synth atmospheres while accomplished by Industrial sound treatments. I also noticed a few delicate passages. Arnte’s vocals are totally fitting to the ghost-like EBM while Schmoun is now and then injecting a female touch to the vocals.

The bonus disc features a few extra songs, which sound in the same vein as the main disc. But we also get an impressive number of remixes by The Opposer Divine, G.O.L.E.M., Sleepwalk, Amorphous, Fix8:Sed8, Jihad, Terminal State and 2 remixes by Placebo Effect.

+ + + : No doubt about it, “Struggling” is Pyrroline’s opus magnum! The production never has been that elaborated, revealing a great songwriting with dark and Industrial sound treatments. There’s a right balance between the sound and the vocals. Especially the 3 debut songs left me breathless; Pyrroline here reveals its harder side, but every single note and synth sound at the right place. I like when an album gives me the feeling of mathematics… The work is powerful, but also very atmospheric, the band here again reminding me to music from Benestrophe, Noise Unit ao.

Among the bonus disc I also discovered 2 excellent extra songs (both debut cuts) while there’s an interesting list of remixers. Most of the bands are dealing with a similar sound, but it’s great to see Fix8:Sed8 (definitely the new Master when it comes to composing Skinny Puppy-inspired Electro) and Placebo Effect. My favorite remixes are however these by G.O.L.E.M. and and especially Terminal State.

Last, but not least I also have to say a word about the cool digipak format of the album. Electro Aggression Records doesn’t release that much stuff, but each time again, it’s a very artistic and professional layout!

– – – : A very few songs couldn’t totally convince me, but you don’t hear me to complaining. I just can imagine some Electro heads will consider this band as inferior to the real masters in the genre… but it’s quite a long time ago since Skinny Puppy achieved such a masterpiece!

Conclusion: If you like intelligent old-school driven EBM, Pyrroline is for sure a great addition to your collection!

Best songs: “Song Of Deliverance”, “Battleground”, “This Dusky Faith”, “What Might Have Been”, “The Divine Image” + “State Of Things”, “Atelier Complex”, “Stop Acting So Small – Remixed by Terminal State”, “Song Of Deliverance – Remixed by G.O.L.E.M.”

Rate: (8½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/arnteANDschmoun

Label: www.electroaggressionrecords /  www.facebook.com/ElectroAggressionRecords

About Pyrroline

Pyrroline is the German duo of Arnte (production, vocals) and Schmoun (composition, arrangement, vocals). The project debuted with “Behind The Horizon” (2010), followed by “Ruins Outlast” (2013) and “In The Dawn Of Freedom”, reviewed by Side-Line in 2017 (Discogs).

“Struggling” is Pyrroline’s fourth album for Electro Aggression Records, released 14 February 2021. Its limited 2CD digipak bonus disc carries remixes from Placebo Effect, Jihad, Sleepwalk, Terminal State, The Opposer Divine, Fix8:Sed8, G.O.L.E.M. and Amorphous, according to the album’s Bandcamp credits.

Pyrroline went on to announce a sixth album, “Ambiguity”, in June 2026, followed by a “Day 45” video in August 2026 and its own Side-Line review later that month.

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: Shoegaze, Dream-Pop.

Format: Digital, 2CD.

Background/Info: After having released two noticeable studio-albums on Saint-Marie Records the German duo Seasurfer (Dirk Knight and singer Apolonia) signed to Reptile Music to unleash their third album at the end of 2020. “Zombies” features an extra disc, which is a kind of mini-album of eight songs featuring Elena Alice Fossi (Kirlian Camera, Spectra Paris).

Content: The main disc features 16 songs and reveals a rather classical mix between Shoegaze and Dream-Pop. The tracks have been accomplished with Electronic arrangements often injecting an extra melodic touch. Some tracks have something dual for the mix of melodies and raw sound treatments. Most of the songs have been sung by Apolonia, but you’ll also hear Dirk Knight singing.

The second disc features Elena Alice Fossi and brings 6 extra songs plus two noticeable remixes by John Fryer (the legendary producer of bands like Depeche Mode, Cocteau Twins, NIN ao). The sound isn’t that different compared to the main disc, but is maybe more accentuated around the Dream-Pop style.

+ + + : “Zombies” is a brilliant, creative exposure of modern Shoegaze and Dream-Pop music. It also is the magnum opus from this band. The album took me by surprise for its extended tracklist of 16 (!) songs (some cuts have been previously released as single), but also for the constant, high qualitative level of the production. I can’t say there’s one single track to throw away while there are several potential hits featured. The production sounds pretty 80s like, but with this extra, contemporary production on top. This album is dark and sensual, revealing a great fusion between guitar play and Electronic arrangements. There also is a fascinating sphere recovering the album, but which will maybe remind you of the famous “Twin Peaks”-tune at “Love Me… Dead!”. I however prefer the songs like “Tears & Happiness”, “Zombies”, “Venusberg”, “Time After Time”, Heaven”, “Dead In The Garden”.

The bonus disc is more than a little extra. Getting Elena Alice Fossi on board while getting two remixes by John Fryer makes this mini-album interesting. Dream-Pop cuts like “Fairies In Twilight” and “Blue Days” both are pretty cool songs.

– – – : Elena Alice Fossi is a great and sensual singer, but I prefer the original singer of the band: Apolonia. Her timbre of voice and especially the way of singing is more appropriated to this kind of production. I also expected a bit more from the John Fryer remixes.

Conclusion: If you like Shoegaze and Dream-Pop and you think there’s much more to find beyond Jesus And Mary Chain and The Cocteau Twins, “Zombies” is definitely an album to purchase!

Best songs: “Tears & Happiness”, “Zombies”, “Venusberg”, “Time After Time”, Heaven”, “Dead In The Garden” + “Fairies In Twilight”, “Blue Days”.

Rate: (9).

Artist: www.seasurfermusic.com / www.facebook.com/seasurfer

Label: www.reptile-music.net / www.facebook.com/reptile.music

About Seasurfer

Seasurfer is a Shoegaze and Dream-Pop project led by Hamburg, Germany-based musician Dirk Ritter. Two earlier Seasurfer albums were released on Saint-Marie Records before the band signed to Reptile Music for “Zombies,” issued in digital and 2CD formats at the end of 2020. Vocalists on past Seasurfer releases have included Dorian E and Julia Beyer, with Apolonia singing on “Zombies.” The album was mixed with input from Robin Guthrie of The Cocteau Twins, and its bonus disc, titled “The Dreampop Day,” features guest vocals from Elena Alice Fossi plus two remixes by John Fryer. In a Click Interview with Seasurfer, Ritter said the gloomy mood of the first Covid-19 wave shaped the sound of the album during final mixing. “Zombies” is Seasurfer’s third full-length and the release under review here.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Chanson, Dark-Folk.

Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.

Background/Info: Jérôme Reuter has been extremely prolific during the past few years, even releasing several works a year. “Parlez-Vous Hate?” opens the year 2021 with a new album featuring twelve songs.

Content: Rome strikes back with a very intimate work; the kind of music you imagine the musician playing alone –or just accompanied by an extra musician, in a dark and cozy pub. This work again is pretty engaged, the artist getting back to the past of his family fighting against the oppression of Totalitarian regimes. But Rome is first of all music to listen to while enjoying his somewhat Cave-like way of singing. The songs are minimal, sometimes more Noir/Dark-Folk than ever before. They’re mixing passion and emotion. Notice by the way the album is once again featuring multiple guest musicians and singers.

+ + + : The more this artist is prolific, the more he excels achieving true masterpieces. I’ve already heard numerous ‘essential’ and ‘important’ works from Rome, but “Parlez-Vous Hate?” moves beyond all expectations. It’s intimate, passionate and therefore sometimes revealing certain fragility. Jérôme Reuter has accomplished his magnum opus by maybe his most authentic work. You feel it comes right from the heart! It sounds simple, honest, but right. Every single song hides a part of magic like the accordion play at the end of “Toll In The Great Death” and the inhibited character of “Der Adler Trägt Kein Lied ” ending in a true apotheosis by the samplings. “Alesia ” is one of the most emotional pieces of the work, but I also have to mention “Death From Above”. This song is the absolute highlight; Noir-Folk in its purest format and definitely a track appealing for the fans of Nick Cave. I also have to mention the title song, which clearly stands for the album’s intimacy and engagement.

– – – : No minus points here!

Conclusion: I don’t know the point where Jérôme Reuter will ever stop, but the more he composes and releases new songs, the more I become addicted to his work. This album is touched by the talent and the grace of a true genius.

Best songs: “Death From Above”, “Toll In The Great Death”, “Der Adler Trägt Kein Lied”, “Alesia”, “Parlez-Vous Hate?”, “Born In The E.U”.

Rate: (9½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/romeproject

Label: www.trisol.de / www.facebook.com/pages/Trisol-Music-Group/104166526285471 Read the news on ‘Parlez-Vous Hate?’.

About Rome

Rome is the neofolk and post-industrial project of Luxembourgish musician Jérôme Reuter, founded in November 2005, per Discogs.

Reuter released three further albums in 2025 – “Anthology 2016-2025”, “The Dublin Sessions II” and “Civitas Solis” – all via Trisol, per Side-Line’s report at the time. Trisol label head Alex Storm discussed the label’s roster in a May 2021 Labels Interview.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Industrial-Pop, EBM.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Imperative Reaction strikes back with the band’s first album in ten years! “Mirror” is the seventh full length by the American band, which once started their career releasing their debut album on the legendary Zoth Ommog. That was in a previous Century, Ted Phelps is now unleashing eleven fresh songs.

Content: When a band is releasing its first new album in a decade, they in a way have to put their name back on the map. “Mirror” is for sure a work that will appeal for numerous lovers of Electro-Underground music. The work has something rough, Industrial-like and yet polished with Pop arrangements. That’s at least how “Mirror” takes off, but the work is progressively evolving towards harder pieces carried with solid EBM bass lines. The vocals are rather clear right in the beginning of the album, but here again there’s an evolution towards a more enraged way of singing.

+ + + : I read Ted Phelps considers “Mirror” as his magnum opus and the least I can say is that it indeed is the best work I’ve heard from this artist. “Mirror” reflects a diversified Electronic canvas, which you can’t label as one particular genre. The work sounds as a true apotheosis between different, but related influences. The main characteristic and strength of the album is the raw sound production creating this Industrial exponent. Some sound treatments also have a pretty vintage-like touch, which mainly comes through in the brilliant “Like Swine”. Another outstanding cut is “The Scales”, which are pure rage carried by a tough EBM bass line. But there’s also something to say about the ‘softer’ opening cuts, which have a raw-pop touch on top.

– – – : I don’t see real minus points about this work; except I regret a few tracks aren’t just a little bit longer (but that sounds rather positive)!

Conclusion: Imperative Reaction strikes back with a bam! This is for sure an album we’ll remember at the end of the year when making the list ‘best of Electronic productions of the year’!

Best songs: “The Scales”, “Like Swine”, “Ignite”, “Glass”, “Stranger”, “Split”.

Rate: (8½).

Artist: www.imperativereaction.net / www.facebook.com/imperativereaction

Label: www.metropolis-records.com / www.facebook.com/MetropolisRecords Read the news on ‘Mirror’.

About Imperative Reaction

Imperative Reaction is the Los Angeles-based project of Ted Phelps, formed in the mid-1990s. The act debuted with “Eulogy For The Sick Child” in 1999 on Zoth Ommog, followed by “Ruined” (2002), “Redemption” (2004), “As We Fall” (2006), “Minus All” (2008), a self-titled album (2011), “Surface” (2011) and the “Siphon” EP (2013). “Mirror”, released via Metropolis Records in January 2021, marked the band’s first full-length in ten years. Phelps discussed the album in a Side-Line interview that March.

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, Dark-Electro.

Format: Digital, CD + lmtd. 2CD.

Background/Info: Martin Sane strikes back with the third official album of his sonic brainchild fïx8:sëd8. The album has been achieved during the pandemic, the title of the album referring to the situation. Notice by the way there also is a limited format featuring an extra CD featuring ten remixes by other artists.

Content: fïx8:sëd8 moves on there where the previous –brilliant, album “Warning Signs” stopped. We get an even more elaborated, and especially even more efficient complex Electronic composition. The influences are always getting back to early Skinny Puppy and Mentallo & The Fixer, but this German project clearly has developed its own sound. The songs feature multiple spoken samplings, which are mixed with the harsh, ghost-like vocals of Martin Sane. The songs are driven by bombastic, danceable rhythms. The dense Electronic layers are featuring subtle bleeps and good-old synth parts. The tracks are elaborated and often long-duration pieces. There’s a noticeable and more explicit ‘club-song’ entitled “Unknow To Virtue” plus a surprising and more Dark Electro-Pop cut (cf. “Tremors”) featuring guest vocals by Emke (Black Nail Cabaret).

+ + + : I already considered the previous work of fïx8:sëd8 as an magnum opus, but I rapidly realized “The Inevitable Relapse” is again moving a step further. I think it makes no longer sense comparing this project to Skinny Puppy; fïx8:sëd8 simply went on where early Skinny Puppy left off! This artist excels in the writing of intelligent Electronic music; somewhere in between early EBM, Dark-electro and Industrial. There’s not one single track to throw away. The songs have been progressively built up and even if the writing is sophisticated it always remains accessible, efficient and exciting! There are not many bands –and especially talented ones, dealing with this kind of approach. It reflects a true genius in the global production. There’s something to say about every single track, but “Unknown To Virtue” has an extra clubby touch. Another absolute highlight is the last song “Metabolite”, but I also recommend “Meltdown” and “Pale Light Shadow”.

– – – : I don’t see any single minus point; not even “Tremors” featuring Emke. The songs sound pretty different from the rest, but it also is a great song; it’s just different.

Conclusion: fïx8:sëd8 never stops improving little details from the global production work. This is probably not the ‘easiest’ underground Electro, but it’s touched by the hand of Apollo… the God of music!

Best songs: “Unknown To Virtue”, “Metabolite”, “Pale Light Shadow”, “Meltdown”, “Chlorine Clean Tears”, “The Inevitable Relapse”.

Rate: (9).

Artist: www.facebook.com/Fix8Sed8

Label: www.dependent.de / www.facebook.com/dependent.records Read the news on ‘The Inevitable Relapse’.

About Fïx8:Sëd8

Fïx8:Sëd8 is the electro-industrial project of German producer Martin Sane, based in Wiesbaden, Germany. The project’s name derives from the psychiatric terms “fixated” and “sedated”. Following “Foren6” (2017) and “Warning Signs” (2019), “The Inevitable Relapse” appeared via Dependent Records in January 2021 as the project’s third album for the label. Sane discussed the record in a Side-Line interview that April.

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-Ambient, Cinematographic.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Aegri Somnia is a solo-project driven by Croatian artist Jurica Santek. “Nusquam” is the artist’s third official album released on Cryo Chamber while he also contributed to the album “Tomb Of Druids”, which is a collaboration between different artists from the label. “Nusquam” has been released three years after the previous full length “Endtime Psalms” (2017).

Content: The new opus moves on where the previous one stopped. It brings a deeper exploration of dark sonorities, mixing Dark-Ambient and pure Cinematographic music together. This is for sure the main evolution from the previous work to this composition. The tracks are progressively built up bringing electronic treatments and field recordings together. The work is getting progressively darker and even menacing. 

+ + + : The sphere is dark and like every good thriller it becomes darker and darker. Overwhelming sound treatments and blasting sound creations have been mixed together while field recordings are injecting an extra atmospheric touch to the work. This album has a strong paranoiac sensation; it feels intimate and yet you get the impression there’s an invisible danger waiting behind the corner. I like the progression in the songwriting, which mainly comes through on “Corruption Incarnate” and “Archetype Of Fraud”. I also have to mention the suffocating “Doomocalypse”, which definitely sounds like one of the darkest and most tormented cuts.

– – – : The work is just missing an absolute climax; great songs, which have been progressively built up, but not reaching that ultimate point of cold sweat.

Conclusion: Aegri Somnia confirms all the potential illustrated at previous works and yet I get the feeling this band still has to release its opus magnum!

Best songs: “Corruption Incarnate”, “Archetype Of Fraud”, “Doomocalypse”, “Throne”.

Rate: (7½)

Artist: www.facebook.com/Aegri-somnia-489456297863916

Label: www.cryochamberlabel.com /  www.facebook.com/CryoChamber

About Aegri Somnia

Aegri Somnia is the solo dark ambient project of Croatian musician Jurica Santek, built around manipulated analogue drones and processed field recordings. The project debuted on Cryo Chamber with “Monde Obscure” in 2015, followed by “Endtime Psalms” in 2017. Santek also contributed to the label’s various-artists album “Tomb Of Druids”. “Nusquam”, released in 2020, is his third full-length album as Aegri Somnia.

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: Shoegaze, Industrial-Rock.

Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.

Background/Info: Italian formation Kill Your Boyfriend has been active since 2011. The band went through a few line-up changes and became driven by the duo Matteo Scarpa – Antonio Angeli. They released a few number of productions, often mixing different influences together; sometimes more Shoegaze and Post-Punk orientated, but also exploring Industrial-, Ritual- and Experimental paths. “Killadelica” has been introduced as a work inspired by the band’s own stories and experiences resulting in eleven songs. Notice by the way the album is also available in vinyl, which has been released by Little Cloud Records in collaboration with Sister 9 Recordings.

Content: Even if this formation has already experimented with different sources of inspiration, Shoegaze however remains the main music style running throughout their works. It’s not that different on “Killadelica”. The songs are composed with heavy, Shoegaze guitar play mixed with Electronic treatments. The drum patterns are bombastic and sometimes pretty violent. The songs are constantly recovered with a dark, overwhelming atmosphere. It has something disturbing and aggressive while some songs are ending into an elevating effect. The last track is somewhat softer, and even reminds me of The Sisters Of Mercy, but it remains a dark driven cut. The production of the vocals is hard to understand, accentuating the foggy feeling recovering this work. 

+ + + : Kill Your Boyfriend has accomplished their opus magnum! This album is f****** brilliant for the way the duo merged Shoegaze guitar playing together with harsh Electronics and hard, repetitive beats. It creates a sonic hybrid between Shoegaze and Industrial music; the imaginary symbiosis between The Jesus & The Mary Chain and Suicide. It has a hypnotic feeling carried by an ominous atmosphere. It’s an extremely dark work. The song titles are all named after women first names, which accentuates a part of the mystery hanging over this work. As you don’t really understand the vocal parts –and yet, the production of the vocals is simply great, you only start to create your own stories. Tracks like “Jean”, “Agave”, “Elizabeth, “Eve” and even the calmer “Kathy” are totally representative of this work. 

– – – : I noticed a few songs, which don’t reach a similar high level, but you don’t hear me complaining.

Conclusion: I remember the early works of this band had something, but the true potential of the band didn’t emerge at the surface. A few years later Kill Your Boyfriend has now released a dark masterpiece. They’re not reinventing shoegaze, but elevating the style towards another dimension!

Best songs: “Elizabeth”, “Jean”, “Natasha”, “Agave”, “Eve”, “Kathy”.

Rate: (8½).

Artist: www.killyourboyfriend.net / www.facebook.com/kyboyfriend

Label: www.shyrec.it / www.facebook.com/Shyrec Read the news on ‘Killadelica’.

About Kill Your Boyfriend

Kill Your Boyfriend is an Italian duo from Treviso formed by Matteo Scarpa and Antonio Angeli, active since 2011. “Killadelica” was recorded and mixed by Matteo Bordin at Outside Inside Studio in Treviso and mastered by Andrea De Bernardi at Eleven Mastering in Milan, with artwork by Marta Muschietti.

The album was released on Shyrec in November 2020, with a vinyl edition put out by Little Cloud Records in collaboration with Sister 9 Recordings. The band discussed the record in a Side-Line interview at the time of release.

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, Dark-Electro.

Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.

Background/Info: Last year Crete formation PreEmptive Strike 0.1 released their seventh full length “Progeny Of The Technovore”, which in my opinion was the band’s most accomplished work to date, kind of opus magnum! A lot of things happened in the meantime, but especially the departure of core memberGeorge Klontzas has been a main fact. Jim The Blaster and Yiannis Chatzakis (also involved with Degenerated Sequences) moved on and now released their first work together. The EP is a kind of mini-album featuring four new songs plus four remixes.

Content: Both debut songs are quite representative for the sound of the band; a perfect mix between elements of EBM and dark-electronics. The stumping kicks, carrying melody lines and spoken samplings are once more joined by the harsh vocals of front man Jim The Blaster. We next get 2 softer songs, where the power has been replaced by dark atmospheres.

There are 4 remixes by Belgian artists. Llumen, Implant, The Juggernauts and IC 434 remixes each one from the 4 original songs.

+ + + : PreEmptive Strike 0.1 is back and that’s an important thing especially after the departure of their sound operator. It’s not an easy thing and even a challenge striking back after the great last album, but both debut songs reveal an interesting potential. The original sound and global approach of the band remain intact. The spirit of the band is still alive; it stands for danceable, melodic and powerful music with enraged vocals. Another interesting aspect is the Belgian connotation of this work! That’s maybe easy to explain as the last live performance of the band happened in Belgium and was organized by one of the band’s greatest fans. PreEmptive Strike 0.1 seems to have real good souvenirs from this show and that’s what probably explains the choice of the remixes. I heard a very good job done by Llumen remixing “Evolution/Retribution”. Implant and IC 434 both give a little boost to the least convincing songs from the EP. Last, but not least I also have to say a word about the great sci-fi artwork of the digipak, which fits with the concept of the work.

– – – : The opening song “Evolution/Retribution” sounds a bit compressed, creating a muffed effect. I think the new work can’t totally compete with the last album of the band, but if this is a kind of new beginning, I’m definitely faithful the best is yet to come!

Conclusion: PreEmptive Strike 0.1 gives us a solid exposure from the potential of the new line-up, kind of PreEmptive Strike 0.1 – V.2!

Best songs: “Wormfaced Cadavers”, “Evolution/Retribution”, “Evolution/Retribution – Llumen Remix”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist: www.preemptivestrike01.com / www.facebook.com/Pre-Emptive-Strike-01-100462328053194

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

About PreEmptive Strike 0.1

PreEmptive Strike 0.1 was founded on the Greek island of Crete in 2002 with the purpose of making EBM music. Early releases include “Enzymes” (2003), “Lethal Defence Systems” (2006), “Extinction Reprogrammed” (2008), “The Kosmokrator” (2010), “T.A.L.O.S.” (2012) and “Pierce Their Husk” (2014), followed by “Epos V” (2015), “Through The Astral Cold” (2017), “Progeny Of The Technovore” (2019) and the “Harbinger” EP (2019).

The “The Dread Files” EP, released via Digital World Audio in 2020, followed the departure of longtime member George Klontzas, with Jim The Blaster and Yiannis Chatzakis carrying the project forward.

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-ambient, ritual, tribal.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: German artist Marcus Stiglegger is back on track unleashing a new work from his Vortex sonic brainchild. “Helioz” is a new conceptual work based upon the ‘solar mythology throughout history, cultures and religions’. The album has been accomplished by the contribution of several guest artists (musicians and singers) like Patrick Kleinbauer (Notre Dame De l’Oublie, Rome), Lamia Vox, Nam Khar, Oliver Freund (Mars), Stephan Ortlepp (Musica Non Grata) and Kai Naumann (The Trail).

Content: The work is based on a solid dark-ambient sound, sometimes joined by slow rhythms, industrial elements and drone passages. The tracks are meticulously built up, slowly progressing while spoken vocals and later on, haunted vocals are joining in. It all together creates a haunted feeling, some of the sounds becoming even disturbing. I noticed a passage with throat singing. The track “Man Of Fire” featuring Lamia Vox is a special track for being based upon the same-titled song by Dead Can Dance.

+ + + : The sphere supporting the work creates this mysterious and haunting sensation, which is rather classical, but a must to speak about a successful dark-ambient work. Next to this ghost-like ambient approach, Vortex moves on injecting ritual elements to the work, which are totally matching with the concept of the work. The numerous spoken parts are accentuating the ghost-like sound while being essential elements to understand the concept of the work. The last song entitled “Helioz – Eternal Flame” featuring Kai Naumann is an apotheosis. Next to the dark-ambient and ritual elements you’ll also notice acoustic guitar bringing an unexpected neo-folk touch to the work.

– – – : The previous album “As Gods Fall” remains to me the magnum opus of this project. I can’t say this new work is disappointing, but far behind its predecessor. The tracks are well-crafted and diversified, but they didn’t reach a total apotheosis, which “As God Fall” did.

Conclusion: Vortex moves one exploring new concepts and inviting talented guests to achieve new, anguishing works.

Best songs: “Helioz – Eternal Flame”, “Mithras”, “Man Of Fire”, “Sowilo”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.facebook.com/Vortex.music.official

Label: www.cycliclaw.com / www.facebook.com/cycliclaw

About Vortex

Vortex is the ritual, cinematic ambient project of German artist Marcus Stiglegger. The project marked ten years of activity with the trilogy closer “As Gods Fall” (2018), following “Kali Yuga” (2013) and “Moloch” (2015), and continues with “Helioz” (2020), a concept work built around solar mythology across history, cultures and religions. Guest contributors on “Helioz” include Patrick Kleinbauer of Notre Dame De l’Oublie and Rome, Nam Khar, Oliver Freund of Mars, Stephan Ortlepp of Musica Non Grata and Kai Naumann of The Trail, alongside Lamia Vox, who released her own Cyclic Law album, “Alles Ist Ufer. Ewig Ruft Das Meer”, the same month.

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

Birmingham (UK) duo Andy Swan – Damian Bennett set up Khost in 2013. Damian explains the name of the project had a strange shroud’ feel to it, like a presence. Khost is a city in Afghanistan so in the end it sounds a bit the same as acts like Boston, Chicago, London, Berlin and Nazareth. Damian Bennett felt they all seemed to be autonomous and just generated a vibe more than anything literally city-related. Andy Swan first read about the Afghan city of Khost in a CIA book and it immediately hit him as evocative and exotic and yet slightly threatening in a non-specific sort of way. It has an air of unease about it. It’s really hard to put your finger on it which suits the sound of Khost really well. Khost this year released the album “Buried Steel” on Cold Spring Records, which sounds to me as their most accomplished work to date; an album filled with overwhelming, monstrous sound treatments and carried by a rough production. It’s a work that can’t leave you unaffected so I talked about it with both members.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: I noticed you’re hailing from Birmingham, which is a town where numerous bands and artists dealing with very diversified music genres have been established. What has been the impact of it all on your interest in music and starting to experiment yourself? And what’s your connection with JK Flesh/Godflesh?

Damian: I grew up loving acts such as Wizzard, The Move and Moody Blues, all of which are entrenched in the spirit of the city. Later bands like Au Pairs and Steel Pulse… if you know the latter, you know of Handsworth where I used to live. We love Birmingham rock, punk, metal, glam, reggae, D&B, house… from clubs to unofficial anarcho-punk. We love venues like The Asylum and I personally love Newtown and Aston. Sabbath would rehearse in the community centre there.

We both have connections to Godflesh over decades and I was really proud to have worked on music in Avalanche studio, and to play like in Techno Animal… Justin on guitar, Kev on sax, was insane. Plus touring with Godflesh in the depths of Winter, was badass.

Andy: I was born and raised in Birmingham. I left school at 16 and immediately went to work in a Birmingham factory which had a massive effect on me. Birmingham back then had a more lived-in sort of feel which it doesn’t seem to have these days -it’s all plastic and shiny which I hate. It used to have a lot more soul but it’s devoid of that in some ways now.

I was in a band called Final with Justin from Godflesh back when I was 15 or so. We go back a long way!

Q: What means Khost to you and what did you originally tried to express/exorcise?

Damian: I love the possibilities the Khost vibe/temp/mindset presents. I don’t of many acts that have done as much wide-ranging material as we have… this year alone, “Buried Steel”-album –plus videos for that, “Steel Veil”-book, “23_12”-compilation which is ongoing and another project with a USA band which is in the works.

We comprise super heavy riffs, tones and electronics –such as “Intravener” –multi visuals on stage, and have many guest artists such as Eugene from Oxbow, Stephen from Wrangler/Cabaret Voltaire, Syan –who has also played with us live –Daniel Buess, Jo Quail.

We also get some pretty hefty swipes in about what passes for modern civilization. Hardcore commentary, just not the same delivery as you would get in punk. Though we obviously love punk and hardcore throughout the decades. I want to say on the latter am a massive Will Haven fan, for their sonics, approach, vibe, lyrics, live… wow.

Andy: I think that Khost is completely genre-free. It allows any sort of expression which is very liberating.

Q: What kind of work did you wanted to accomplish with “Buried Steel” and what have been the different stages you’d to go through to achieve the album?

Damian: Many albums can be a fairly simple journey from A to B. This is not.

Some albums are just a compilation of tracks. This is not. To do the latter would be, for me, to regard a ‘film’ as being a compilation of separate visual segments then just stuck together: if done right, it’s not that at all; it’s a narrative, a continuum under the watchful eyes of a unified team.

We wrote the material immediately starting after “Governance” and it really developed organically over time, with people entering the space and delivering their part. I think the first piece written was “Kent House”.

We had mechanical mishaps on the way such as a reel to reel catching flame –this is an occupational hazard with the band, but would salvage what we could and make something new from the salvaged material: like creating twisted sculptures from burnt wreckage.

Q: You again asked several guest artists to contribute to the album. Tell us a bit more about the input of other artists, which became like a common thread in the different works you’ve released? How does it happen and do you handle some specific criteria to ask other artists?

Damian: For me some of the spoken parts were inspired by interludes and narratives from the past from people such as Gira and Rollins, and loved how spoken interludes worked with the flow of the album, not to mention live… the connection between spoken and sung lyrics was so cool to me. I loved their books too: “Black Coffee Blues” and “The Consumer” for examples.

We would work with the people over time and develop the sound design to work with the material. It develops a lot as you discuss life and ups and downs. One discussion was about insomnia. We have done this since “Buried Steel” too, with people like Syan on “5 Steps Adrift” and Daniela v.k too, check out “Every Single Lie”.

The piece with M. Liebeskind –engineer for Oxbow, Melt Banana, 16-17 -is something from late night phone discussions and is very eerie actually: about two people on a tram talking to each other without moving, like a B&W film, or painting by Magritte, with a feeling of menace. It’s hard to get the same feeling in a musical piece if you follow.

Similarly Stephen from Tunnels Of Āh and his work… but I don’t want to talk too much more as it is down to the movie that plays in the mind of the listener.

I am also inspired by Mary Ocher who works in music in a way that transcends normal ‘songs’. She is awesome live.

Andy: I go back to the early 80’s Birmingham power electronics scene with Stephen from Tunnels Of Āh. He, along with all the other contributors, ‘get’ khost so they know the score immediately.

Q: I’ve always experienced your works as a mix of different influences, but in the end it always reveals a dark, obscure and event tormenting sound! What’s hiding behind this ‘terror sound’ and what inspired and/or drives you to compose this kind of music?

Damian: This connects to the ‘menace’ point, above. If that’s there then there would be the sort of unease that films from a different era presented… as they used old technology like analogue sound, had different acoustics, lighting, film stock, video stock… that could be low budget horror from 70s; “Lets Scare Jessica To Death” for example, it could be certain scenes even in films like “Dirty Harry”, like when he is confronted by the rogue cops in ‘Magnum Force’ in an underground carpark… it could be certain scenes in Polanski films, like “Rosemary’s Baby” when Rosemary realizes that the older couple are not right or normal (pierced ears), or when she’s in the phone booth and someone has his back to her outside… and in his version of “Macbeth” where dawn comes up and the castle is bathed in red light… not to mention scene with Banquo’s ghost! Or it could be overt stuff like “Evil Dead”, Korean/Japanese horror, moments in the early ‘V/H/S’ franchise… or my personal faves, “Paranormal Activity” 1-3. So it’s usually things from unexpected sources.

And the “World At War”-series. The sound/music on that is enough to stop anyone in their tracks.

Andy: Back when I was a kid there was a TV series called “Armchair Thriller” which scared me to death. There was one particular episode that included a faceless nun which was terrifying to me as a young kid. The first movie however that gave me nightmares was “The Wizard Of Oz” which in itself wasn’t a scary film, but had that underlying unease to it which is something that we’re definitely into. Not overtly horrific or scary but disconcerting and uneasy.

Q: Khost definitely is a live project! You already did an impressive number of live performances in very different countries. So I can easily imagine you must have been frustrated –and still are, because of the restrictions due to Covid 19. So what have you been doing during the lockdown? And how do you transpose your sound and work from the studio towards the stage?

Damian: We continue to work on “23_12”, which is inspiring. We did a live to air/stream at beginning of lockdown. We recently did an hour long mix, full of interesting moments. On a personal front have also done a side-project called TRIAL, industrial-thrash-metal.

Andy: We’ve had quite a few shows and festivals cancelled this year which has been a great shame. We have however been able to work on new material some of which will appear on a split EP to be released later this year or early next year.

Khost live is a different beast altogether. We’ve had all sorts of unexplainable occurrences during live shows -lights failing, laptops refusing to boot, sound cutting out, which all adds to the unease.

Damian & Andy: Merci beaucoup!

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, dark-electro.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info:  Hailing from the beautiful island of Crete (Greece), PreEmptive Strike 0.1 is back on track. George Klontzas, Jim The Blaster and Yiannis Chatzakis unleashed their seventh official album to date, offering twelve new songs to their fans.

Content: I didn’t exactly know what to expect from this announced sonic symbiosis between body-music and goa-trance, but it rapidly appears PreEmptive Strike 0.1 has accomplished their most powerful album to date. It’s a rough and merciless production driven by astonishing rhythms, carrying melody lines and harsh vocals. There’s no trace of a break, all songs hold on to the devilish cadence. I also noticed a few cuts with some extra diversity like the injecting of filtered, acid like sequences.

+ + + : I’ve been never disappointed by PreEmptive Strike 0.1, but I never expected they would ever reach this level. This is without a shadow of a doubt their best album to date. They lost a bit of their traditional/folk input, which was characteristic for the early work, but they replaced it with such an overwhelming power. The tracks are also masterfully accomplished with heavy rhythms, carrying leads, elevating choruses and extra little sound treatments. The song “Tactical Nuke Incoming” is without a shadow of a doubt a dancefloor stomper! “Global Insurgency” is another great song.

– – – : I don’t see real minus points to mention; the production of the vocals could maybe a bit more diversified, but I’m not complaining.

Conclusion: This album makes me instantly think of ‘dark-electronics on acid’! This is without a shadow of a doubt the band’s opus magnum and still one of my favorite albums from 2019!

Best songs: “Tactical Nuke Incoming”, “Global Insurgency”, “Doppelgangers”, “Sunder Every Atom”, “Constriction Process”.

Rate: (9).

Artist: www.preemptivestrike01.com / www.facebook.com/TeknoVoreMusic

Label: www.digitalworldaudio.com /

www.facebook.com/DigitalWorldAudio   

About PreEmptive Strike 0.1

PreEmptive Strike 0.1 was founded on the Greek island of Crete in 2002 to make EBM music. The band’s studio albums include “Extinction Reprogrammed” (2008), “The Kosmokrator” (2010), “T.A.L.O.S.” (2012), “Pierce Their Husk” (2014), “Epos V” (2015) and “Through The Astral Cold” (2017), released through Infacted Recordings and Digital World Audio. “Progeny Of The Technovore” is the band’s seventh album, again released through Digital World Audio, with the current lineup of George Klontzas, Jim The Blaster and Yiannis Chatzakis.

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

Nicolas Van Meirhaeghe better known as ‘Sal-Ocin’ and involved with his solo-project Empusae for more than 20 years now, released by the end of 2019 his newest album “Iter In Tenebris”. The album is a new conceptual work around four demons, but still the exorcism of personal demons. The Belgian artist probably released his most personal-, but for sure his darkest- and most accomplished album to date. Released by Consouling Sounds, the four tracks bring together elements of dark-ambient, industrial- and epic music with a solid cinematic touch on top. “Iter In Tenebris” is a truly masterpiece, which also became one of the best releases from the past year.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: “Iter In Tenebris” is not only a dark title for an album, but it probably also is your darkest work to date! Introduced as the continuation of an exorcism, each track seems to deal about a demon. Tell us a bit more about the concept and in, which way this concept has to be understood as a metaphor of personal demons?

Sal-Ocin: I discovered, after finishing my previous album “Lueur” that I’m using Empusae as personal therapy. I think it has always been like that since the start, more than two decades ago, but I only realized it with “Lueur”. I needed to make that album to help me cope with my inevitable coming blindness. And it helped. So yes, “Iter In Tenebris” is in a way the continuation of it, but even more deliberately to confront some of my personal demons. The concept though, is that each demon can be interpreted and linked in a very personal way. The music has its own power to the listener, a musical illustration of inner demons. The inspiration came from deep down the abyss, I decided to give the compositions a certain name, but don’t let the name mislead you; each song has a link to your own demons. It’s up to the listener to find out which one. Hopefully with the same therapeutic effect. So listen at your own risk…

Q: When I saw the title of the album I immediately linked it to your visual handicap, which you’ve been talking about in different posts. What can you say about it right now and how do you see things evolving as the person you are and your artistic creation?

Sal-Ocin: Like I said earlier, my eye disease greatly influences my latest work, but not exclusively. I’ve been diagnosed about 5 years ago, the impact (in my everyday life) gets stronger every year. This year, I had to quit my job as a caretaker due to my handicap, which was extremely painful to decide, with a huge negative impact as result. At the moment I’m still trying to recover from it as well as trying to find a new professional direction. But it’s not easy, as my eye sight continues to degrade, which makes this quest very difficult.

As for my artistic activities, I didn’t gave up concerts so far (with Empusae as well as playing drums with Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio and Triarii). The people I work with are aware of my handicap and are very supportive, which enables me to continue. It’s not easy, but I really don’t want to give this up.

As for my studio work, with some small modifications and adaptations in my home studio, I can still compose nearly the same way as I used to. And I don’t plan ever to stop this, even if I’m completely blind, I’ll always find a way to produce music.

Q: Back to “Iter In Tenebris”, which I also experienced as your most elaborated and accomplished work to date. I always feel something authentic and intimate running through your music, but this album feels like the ‘opus magnum’! Can you tell us the different stages you’d to go through to achieve this work and what kind of work did you finally tried to compose?

Sal-Ocin: Thank you. I really enjoyed working on this album, as it had a different conceptual approach. Each song was inspired by a certain personal demon as starting point.

For the more practical part, I started sampling old 78rpm records from the early 1900’ I inherited from a relative. I used these recording as a starting point for each song by deforming them, manipulating the sound and structures, to be able to invoke the demons. I guess you could see those old records as the medium between the demons and myself.

The rest of the music was composed around those recordings. I used various different techniques and instruments, much less electronics/software compared to the albums I released on HANDS or Ant-Zen. So those old Century-old records combined with my voice (which I started using since “Lueur”) as well as many unorthodox home-made instruments, were a big challenge for me to make it sound like I desired. Luckily I was aided by Marc T. (with who I collaborated on the “Deugden Van Angst En Het Kwaad”), known from his projects Dirge and Dither, who did a wonderful job with mixing and mastering the album, as well as some added guitars on one song.

Q: I get the impression your work is progressively becoming more epic/orchestral in the arrangements, which I think is totally appropriated to the title of this album and the vision of darkness. But how do you perceive your own evolution as musician and possible influences/interactions in your work with all the other projects you’re involved with?

Sal-Ocin: The evolution of Empusae does not happen deliberately, it just happens. It is true that it has become more epic and orchestral. I have more experience, possibilities and resources than 20 years ago to achieve this kind of sound, but is was always on my head nevertheless. I guess projects I was involved in (Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio, Triarii, In Slaughter Natives) within the last decade, probably had an impact on that. Those projects are completely different from my solo-project and except for Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio, I’m only involved for concerts. But since they were my musical idols decades ago, they already influenced me back then, so being close to them now as friends, probably amplified it. Same for my other projects such as Tzolk’in, Onus and collaborations with artist like Marc T., Nick Grey, Lamia Vox, Sieben, etc… all these joint artistic experiences are influential for Empusae.

Q: “Iter In Tenebris” is much more than simply an album! You again collaborated with your partner Christel Morvan who realized a visual work for each of the songs. The visual side of the work is only accessible through an application on your smartphone, which is a kind of premiere in this scene. How did you get this idea and what’s the idea behind? And how did this new collaboration took place?

Sal-Ocin: The idea came from Christel. We’ve been working together for several years now. She has become the visual representation of Empusae. We had the idea of one illustration for each demon, she found a way to put the demons to life trough the technology of Augmented Reality. She worked with the company (EyeJack) which developed this in the past, so this was the perfect occasion to work together again for this project. The concept of amplifying the music with visuals has always been our concern of collaboration (for cover design as well as live visuals/animations) so with “Iter In Tenebris”, she could do both. The only frustration she has was the lack of time. It was hard to develop what she did, combined with her day job and a tight deadline. Her aim was to do something even more elaborated, but of course, time is the enemy. But personally I’m extremely satisfied with the result.

Q: Your latest productions have been released by the Belgian label Consouling Sounds, while before you were signed to Ant-Zen. The German label decided to stop printing CD formats, which simply says something about sales and music industry today. In which way are you affected by this evolution and how do you see things evolving?

Sal-Ocin: I personally never lived the golden age of music industry. My first release came out during the Napster phenomenon, so somehow, I was prepared for the changes until today. Also, it was never my aim to make a living or to make profit (other than reinvest in musical gear and instruments) out of my music. So on a personal, financial level it never really affected me that much. On the other hand, seeing cult labels such as Ant-Zen and so many others being forced to end their physical release era, if a very painful and frustrating thing.

As for Consouling Sounds, I praise myself lucky to be able to work with them. They are very smart, inventive and passionate business people, but most of all, very warm human beings. These two elements make the label more than just an ordinary one; it’s a community of friends, like-minded people with passion for art and quality, mixed with love and solidarity. Not that obvious one might think, considering the very dark nature of the artistic expression represented such as doom, black-metal, dark-ambient, post-rock, etc

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-ambient, industrial, epic, cinematographic.

Background/Info: Belgian artist Nicolas Van Meirhaeghe better known as ‘Sal-Ocin’ and still involved as live member with famous artists such as Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio, In Slaughter Natives ao is back on track unleashing his newest opus “Inter It Tenebris”. The album wants to be an exorcism of four demons, which you’ll find back in each song. The album has been released in his homeland by Consouling Records. There also is an important visual work accompanying the album and realized by his partner Christel Morvan. Each song has its visual content, which you can watch by the use of an application on your smartphone.

Content: “Inter In Tenebris” features 4 long duration and elaborate cuts. Multiple influences are running through the composition, but the main characteristics are the overwhelming atmospheres supporting the album, the empowering epic orchestrations and chants –which sometimes remind me of In Slaughter Natives, and the complex percussion patterns remaining an essential element of Empusae.

+ + + : Each time again, I make the same observation that Empusae is getting better and better album after album. This work is without a shadow of doubt the masterpiece from Empusae’s discography. The tracks have been carefully crafted, mixing numerous influences and featuring impressive sound layers. The production is totally high-tech while the writing is sophisticated –which is an aspect mainly revealed by the drum sections. The epic part of the work only reinforces the overwhelming impression while the slow progression of the song structure are ending with an apotheosis. “Shabriri” and “Iso” both are great exposures from Sal-Ocin composer skills. I also have to say a word about the great artwork (digipak) while the visual concept of this release is something ‘new’ and interesting.

– – – : I regret there are only four tracks delivered, but quality is definitely better than quantity!

Conclusion: Empusae is not only a very single project in its genre, but it also is a project that never stops to improve little details from the writing and production. This is probably the darkest- and maybe the most intimate work to date, and for sure the opus magnum from the Empusae discography.

Best songs: “Shabribri”, “Iso”, “Purah”.

Rate: (9).

Artist: www.empusae.com / www.facebook.com/empusaemusic

Label: http://consouling.be / www.facebook.com/ConsoulingSounds

About Empusae

Nicolas Van Meirhaeghe, recording as Sal-Ocin, has run Empusae for more than two decades. “Iter In Tenebris” followed the 2017 album “Lueur,” and Van Meirhaeghe later discussed the album’s four-demons concept in a Click Interview with Side-Line.

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, ambient-pop.

Background/Info: “Soul Searching” is the seventh official album for Belgian Yves Schelpe aka Psy’Aviah. The composer again invited an impressive list of ‘guest singers’ to put their voice on his compositions.

Content: Psy’Aviah is a project in constant move. “Soul Searching” features typical influences and arrangements, which are into the Psy’Aviah sound, but compared to the previous album –which was more into some dance-electronics, this work reflects maturity and impressive vocal performances. The opening cut featuring one of the most famous and ‘popular’ psychiatrists from the Flemish part of Belgium (aka Dirk De Wachter) you’ll also get songs with Roeland van der Velde, Mari Kattman, Mark Bebb, Alicia May, Kyoko Baertsoen, Saydi Driggers, Marieke Lightband, Addie Nicole, Lis van den Akker and Ellia Bisker.

Sound-wise Yves Schelpe has achieved a work, which sounds like a sonic bridge between electro-pop and ambient-electronics. It might appeal for lovers of Delerium, Conjure One, Lunascape and related bands.

The limited edition features an extra disc with remixes by SD-KRTR, Metroland, Rob Dust, 11 Grams, Mind.Divided, SNVFF, J. Wolf, The Gothsicles, Studio-X, Cosmic Armchair, Noire Antidote, Maarten Pels, Tom Bro, People Theatre, KGProject and French Skies. 

+ + + : Psy’Aviah is back with great stuff and has probably accomplished his most achieved work to date. After a rather disappointing “Lightflare”-album on which Yves Schelpe fall in the trap of easy electro-dance music, this work reflects a more intelligent approach and still a challenge in the fusion between electro-pop and atmospheric passages. The songs have been accomplished by alluring, deep sounding bass lines, elevating leads, down-tempo rhythms and a few Eastern sound treatments on a couple of songs. Yves Schelpe also selected an impressive list of talented singers (featuring some familiar Psy’Aviah guests next to newcomers).

One of my favorite cuts is the more club-friendly “New Times” feat. Alicia May (who already sang on a song of Benjamin’s Plague) while the already familiar “Voodoo Love” feat. Roeland van der Velde is a dreamy, beautiful piece of music. Among the vocalists I also want to mention Kyoko Baertsoen, Saydi Driggers and Ellia Bisker (reminding me of Lana Del Rey).

Among the remixes I recommend the 80s driven “Hold On” remixed by Metroland, “New Times” remixed by SNVFF, the wafting “Dream Fever” remixed by Tom Bro and the trance-orientated “Searching” remixed by French Skies.

– – – : The main difficulty for Psy’Aviah remains the style, which is hard to define for mixing different influences; it remains often too ‘indie’-like for underground music and too ‘dark’ for the indie-stream. It’s not exactly an album for the clubs although it sounds danceable!

Conclusion: Psy’Aviah has accomplished its opus magnum, which however remains an album hard to label and a pure challenge when it comes to ‘sales’.

Best songs: “New Times”, “Voodoo Love”, “Dream Fever”, “Searching”, “City In Flames” + “Hold On – Metroland 7” Remix”, “News Times – SNVFF Remix”, “Dream Fever – Tom Bro After Club Remix”, “Searching – French Skies Club Remix”.

Rate: (8½).

Artist: www.psyaviah.com / www.facebook.com/psyaviah

Label: www.alfa–matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix Read the news on ‘Soul Searching’.

About Psy’Aviah

Psy’Aviah is an industrial rock, electroclash and dark EBM project driven by Belgian musician Yves Schelpe, formed in Antwerp in 2004 and initially focused on live performances. The project won the Studio Brussel Demopoll that same year with “The Future Of The Sun”, then teamed up with Len Lemeire (Implant, 32Crash) in 2007 to record its first album. On stage, Schelpe has been joined by singer Marieke Lightband and guitarist Ben Van de Cruys. “Soul Searching”, the seventh full-length Psy’Aviah album, continues the project’s practice of working with a rotating cast of guest vocalists and remixers.

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.

Background/Info: German solo-project Fix8:Sëd8 is driven by Martin Sane. After a debut period during the early millennium years Fix8:Sëd8 struck back in 2017, getting signed to Dependent and releasing the “Foren6”-album. Two years have passed and  here’s the successor “Warning Signs” revealing twelve songs.

Content: DFix8:Sëd8 always has been inspired by sophisticated EBM reminding me of Skinny Puppy, Mentallo & The Fixer and related formations. It’s not that different for the new stuff, which has a strong retro-feeling and something pretty 90s-like. The songs are dark, elaborated, carried by solid bass lines and refined with meticulous arrangements. One of the most ‘atypical’ songs is probably “Tunnel Vision” for being less dark.

+ + + : Fix8:Sëd8 belongs to this number of intelligent EBM composers. The work is styled bringing industrial bombast together with delicate bleeps and arrangements. The songs are extremely dark, sometimes feeling a bit tormented and accentuated by the growls of Martin Sane. There are multiple great songs featured, but I’ve a preference for “Within Cells Interlinked”.

– – – : If you’re not into old-school EBM this album will definitely not be your cup of tea. I haven’t been disappointed although both last songs are a little less convincing.

Conclusion: Fix8:Sëd8 moves on there where “Foren6” stopped and I think we might easily consider “Warning Signs” as the project’s opus magnum. If you’re old-school minded this album will probably become one of 2019’s favorites. 

Best songs: “Within Cells Interlinked”, “Depression Deity”, “Parasite Paradise”, “Tunnel Vision”, “Embolism”.

Rate: (8½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/Fix8Sed8

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

About Fix8:Sëd8

Fix8:Sëd8 is the dark-electro project of German musician Martin Sane, based in Wiesbaden. The project released its debut album “Humanophobia” in 2006 and “Dormicum” in 2009, then returned after an eight-year pause with “Foren6” in 2017. Side-Line’s own later chronology of the project dates “Warning Signs” to 2020, though this review itself, published 27 August 2019, already covers the album. Fix8:Sëd8 continued with “The Inevitable Relapse” on Dependent Records in January 2021 and “OctAgram” in 2025.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Electro-ambient, IDM, down-tempo.

Background/Info: Martin Pavlik is now active under the Frontier Guards moniker for several years. After two great debut albums released on Aliens Production he next released an album on UTSC and another on Advoxya Records. For his fifth opus inspired by nature and the universe he joined back hands again with Frontier Guards.

Content: The sound and inspiration of this artist hasn’t really changed, but the global sound production has seriously evolved. The compositions are driven by slow rhythms and sophisticated sound treatments, mixing different influences like IDM, ambient and industrial. Most of the songs have something space-like while refined with piano-like passages.

+ + + : “You” is a masterpiece when it comes to sophisticated and intelligent electronic music. I always have liked the work of this artist, but “You” is probably his opus magnum! The sound treatments blow me away and are filled with endless little sonic details, the atmospheres create a strong visual appeal and the global sound production is high-tech! There are numerous great pieces featured at “You”.

– – – : The sound formula running through the songs are pretty similar, but you don’t hear me complain!

Conclusion: “You” is an absolute masterpiece appealing for all lovers of visionary electronic music! Simply brilliant!

Best songs: “Shelter”, “Essence”, “Synapse”, “You”, “Calm”, “Oasis”, “Hope”.

Rate: (9).

Artist: www.frontierguards.eu / www.facebook.com/frontierguardscz

Label: www.label.aliens.sk / www.facebook.com/pages/Aliens–production–label/200028820052578

About Frontier Guards

Frontier Guards is the electronic project of Czech artist Martin Pavlik. After two albums on Aliens Production, one on UTSC and one on Advoxya Records, Pavlik returned to Aliens Production for “You”, his fifth full length. Pavlik composed the album entirely in Reason 10 and discussed its writing process in a Side-Line Click Interview, describing “You” as a reflection on a specific relationship rather than a departure from his earlier work.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Electro-pop, wave-pop.

Background/Info: ‘Forrest LeMaire’ aka Mr.Kitty is without a shadow of a doubt one of the hottest electro-pop American artists from the past years. His particular style to compose electro-pop music has something different from the other bands and is for sure the main reason to his success. “Ephemeral” is the seventh studio album and features 30 (!) songs. It’s a kind of conceptual release dedicated to a friend, Kahlas Austin Stambaugh, who passed away last year.

Content: Each disc features 15 songs and you can feel right in the beginning and right in the end it’s all devoted to the loss of a friend. That’s maybe also the reason why this album sounds like the most passionate and enraged one to date. The sound of Mr.Kitty has been never that ‘hard’ although it remains pure pop-like featuring strong melody lines and elevating choruses, great bass lines and the unique timbre of voice of the artist. There’re a few songs featuring duo vocals with a virtual female singer. This album also sounds as the most diversified one and that’s for sure because of some harder EBM elements and other technoid arrangements.  

+ + + : Releasing an album with 30 different songs is a real tour de force! And especially when there’re less songs to throw away. Mr.Kitty has realized his opus magnum and this 7^th album has something like electronic chemistry! Solid bass lines, elevating melodies and danceable kicks make this album absolutely essential. It’s a punchy electro-pop style with a naughty production. There’re potential hits featured on “Ephemeral”. It also is a brilliant homage to the loss of a friend, a meaningful composition an artist can only dream of once in a lifetime.

– – – : I’m not a huge fan of Mr.Kitty’s album covers. This one is clearly related to the concept of the album, but here again it’s not my favorite aspect from this artist. But when the music is just that great there’s no reason complaining about artwork!

Conclusion: Electro-pop music is too often linked to Depeche Mode clones, but luckily for the fine tasters in search of originality there’re artists such as Mr.Kitty. “Ephemeral” is a phenomenal artist; the most accomplished one in the band’s discography and simply the best one!

Best songs: “Be Alive”, “My Weak Side”, “Trauma”, “Molt”, “Anguish”, “Not Dead Yet”, “Make It Right”, “Disconnect Lover”, “The View Isn’t The Same”.

Rate: (9).

Artist: www.facebook.com/mrkittydm

Label: www.negativegain.com / www.facebook.com/pages/Negative–Gain/212061438836984

About Mr.Kitty

Mr.Kitty is a solo electro-pop artist who has self-released music independently since the late 2000s, including the 2010 album “Until Death Do Us Part” and a long-running “R.M.X” remix series. “Ephemeral,” reviewed here, continues that independent, prolific pattern.

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

Jean-Marc Lederman is an artist who didn’t really need any further introduction. He belongs to the (Belgian) pioneers of electronic music and can look back at an impressive discography. He this year released a very special work under the moniker ‘Jean-Marc Lederman Experience’. The album “13 Ghost Stories” released on Dependent Records is an original concept featuring an impressive list of guest singers. The music has something pretty cinematic-like, but still revealing danceable passages and elements of pop. I’d a chat with the ‘leatherman’ and also asked Louise Fraser and Christer Hermodsson about their experience.

(Picture credits by Michel Clair / Interview courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Your newest album “13 Ghost Stories” is definitely one of the most surprising ones you’ve accomplished and I even dare to affirm your ‘opus magnum’, but do you know how many albums you’ve released?

Jean-Marc: I think I’ve released about 20 albums of my own compositions and bands if you count Kid Montana (1 mini LP, 1 album), The Weathermen (8 albums + a couple of compilations), 1 album with Ether (DJ Moens from La Muerte + Luc Dufourmont), 1 with Jules & Jim (Julianne Regan from All About Eve), 1 ambient album with Man-Dello, 2 with Ghost & Writer (with Frank Spinath from Seabound), 1 with La Femme Verte (cover versions with many singers), 1 with Leatherman (cover versions with Jacques Duvall), 2 x Jean-Marc Lederman Experience (many singers) plus some I may forget… (www.jmlederman.com).

Q: What can you tell us about the idea behind this work, its concept, the influences and the writing and what does this work mean to you?

Jean-Marc: I was looking for a new challenging and exciting idea after the demise of Ghost & Writer(name chose by Frank where he’s ‘Writer’ and I’m ‘Ghost’)  in 2017 as I didn’t know where to go musically. I was having a lunch with a friend and he asked me ‘so, how is the ghost going to come back?’ and the morning after I had the concept of the album: asking multiple singers how they would behave if they could come back… to Earth as ghosts, for 24 hours….

I had no special influences for this album but, as ever, the multiple styles music I like doing (from dark ambient to future-pop to more experimental sounds or cinematic music) got me into this direction or that direction and I didn’t want to stay on a single simple trajectory so I worked with thinking of the impact of having songs going in different directions instead of trying to stay within one genre. I didn’t care if people wouldn’t understand as I wanted to have no stop for my creativity. So, every song is a little world in itself but also serves as cement for the whole recording.

This album means a lot because I think it’s indeed a personal ‘opus magnum’, a place where I could gather all the things I liked expressing musically,  with very talented partners (which makes my work really easy). It has also a very strong image with the artwork of my wife Erica Hinyot and the novels added to the limited, and sold-out, edition.

Q: Do you believe in ghosts?

Jean-Marc: I believe in alternate relativities sometimes collapsing with each others, like a Venn diagram between different worlds.

Q: I see you as an artist who’s always ready to experiment with new ideas and music styles. You the past few years moved from electro-pop top EBM to experimental music while “13 Ghost Stories” sounds more as a soundtrack/electro-ambient composition. What does this eclecticism reveal about the person hiding behind the musician and how is it for you working on different styles and with different people?

Jean-Marc: It reveals that I’m a person interested in many things and many different aspects of life: I’m very curious of everything. It’s a great asset to be able to work in diverse areas as I rarely get bored. Plus you’re getting inspired by the people you work with as you want to serve them with a musical environment that will enhance what you like about their own work.

Q: I sometimes get the impression you composed the music after having read the lyrics while I can imagine it happened the other way round? It really sounds you’ve carefully written each song for each singer; the match or symbiosis between music and vocalists is totally accomplished. How did it really happened and what has been the main focus in the writing of this album?

Jean-Marc: Yes, the music was created before I get to read the lyrics, just after the singer said she/he wants to be on board. I contacted the people I’d like to work with, if they’re on board I sometimes send them directly a song penned with them in mind or I ask them what kind of direction they’d like me to work in: sometimes people want to do something really wild, sometimes they need to stay in their comfort zone. Sometimes I also had sketches of songs I reworked with the specific singer in mind.

Once I get their vocals, I mix the track and refine the mix until we’re both happy with the end result.

The main focus was to provide exciting moments that pleased both the singer and me. I have what I believe is a constant dictatorial quality control on my own work and I delete every attempt at a song if it bores me.

Q: I think you mainly worked with artists you know and you like for their work and voices. I can’t imagine it has been the single criteria to work with all those singers. Tell us a bit more about criteria and eventually surprises in the lyrical content and/or vocal performance?

Jean-Marc: Actually, no, I didn’t know personally most of the singers involved.
I just look for interesting tones in their voice and their lyrical talent and then I contacted them. Most of them were on board quickly cos they liked the concept and they know I do quality work. Plus I have a bit of a (good) reputation so they jump in rather quickly. Some didn’t, but it’s fine.
The criteria are there: interesting voice and good lyricist.

Q: Do you have further plans/ideas for this project? Live? Maybe a next, similar concept?  

Jean-Marc: This is a rather impossible project to take on a stage as some singers are from the USA and some from Australia…Plus I don’t like to play live: too stressful for me and the end result is never as good as when I can fine-tune details at my own speed in my studio.

Yes, I have started working on a new JML E. It’s not the same theme of course, but the same axe: providing a strong and coherent record that will surprise the listeners and me/my partners when all assembled (or on a track per track basis).

Q: Louise Fraser, what did you think when Jean-Marc came up with his idea of “13 Ghost Stories” and what’s your impression when you heard the final song and the album?

Louise: Straight off I thought this was a great idea. I mean who doesn’t love a ghost story? Moreover, beyond creating a really unique unifying concept, the question inevitably draws some really personal insights out of each singer. I thought that was very clever of Jean-Marc, who is also such a terrific guy to work with that I would have written on any theme he gave me.

I personally love the collection because it’s both unified and diverse. Jean-Marc’s musicianship weaves together some very unique, and often stunning vocal performances. As such the project really holds my attention, which is not an easy feat! I also think Jean-Marc deserves credit for his mixing skills. When he played me the first mix of our track, I didn’t have a single mix comment, and believe me, that is super rare! He just nailed it off the bat.

Q: Christer Hermodsson, how did you get in touch with Jean-Marc Lederman and what kind of artist is he to you?

Christer:  Jean-Marc simply contacted me. What kind of an artist? Hmm, talented and odd/weird/strange, but in a good way!

Side-Line also covered Jean-Marc Lederman’s ‘The Helpless Voyage Of The Titanic’.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Background/Info:

About Whispering Sons

Whispering Sons is a Belgian post-punk band formed in 2013, based between Helchteren and Leuven. The line-up features Fenne Kuppens on vocals, Kobe Lijnen on guitar, Sander Hermans on synths, Lander Paesen on bass and Sander Pelsmaekers on drums. The group’s debut EP, “Endless Party”, was released in December 2015 on Wool-E Tapes and reissued on vinyl through Minimal Maximal in March 2016, around the time the band won Humo’s Rock Rally, a well-known Belgian music contest.

Whispering Sons’ debut album, “Image,” reviewed here, followed in 2018 on the German label Smile Records, with a US edition released through Cleopatra Records. The band’s next new material, the single “Surface,” followed in 2021.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Background/Info:

About Sieben

Sieben is the primary vehicle of British musician Matt Howden, who set up the project in Sheffield in 1999 as a solo work built around his Kevlar violin playing and voice. Howden has released albums on his own Redroom label as well as through collaborations, with “Crumbs” arriving in 2018 as one of the project’s most varied records, expanding to a full band on its closing tracks. Sieben returned in 2020 with “2020 Vision,” and Howden discussed that album’s writing in a Side-Line interview later the same year. Howden released the album “Language For Stone” in 2026.

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: Ethereal-pop, heavenly voices, psychedelic, cinematographic.

Background/Info: This is the fourth full length album by the Scottish female duo Elizabeth Heaton – Rowan Burn. Next to the CD- and digital format “Evaporate” will be also available as a strictly limited vinyl release.

Content: Good music is something emotive and that’s precisely what “Evaporate” is a all about. You rapidly will feel entranced by the heavenly, ethereal voices joined by delicate piano playing and uplifting guitar parts. The dreamy sensation is accentuated by the delicate sound arrangements. The tracklist is progressively evolving, revealing the best cuts during the final part. “Evaporate” now becomes emotional and pretty cinematographic as well.

+ + + : This album reveals an artistic elegance accomplished by talented and sensitive artists. I don’t know if it’s because of the ‘female touch’, but the songs reflect such a delicacy you get the impression music sounds like porcelain. It’s a brilliant, but fragile composition carried by masterful vocals. It’s the kind of vocal parts that would perfectly fit to the sound of Delerium. But a good singer is nothing without great music! And “Evaporate” reveal a great writing, perfectly matching with the emotions running through this work. It’s not only about meticulous and detailed arrangements, but also the alluring guitar parts, which sometimes remind me of U2.

– – – : I don’t have real minus points about this creation, which says something more about the qualitative level of “Evaporate”.

Conclusion: I already heard great music composed by Midas Fall, but “Evaporate” is the kind of opus magnum an artist released once in a lifetime.

Best songs: “Glue”, “In Sunny Landscapes”, “Bruise Pusher”, “Evaporate”, “Soveraine”.

Rate: (8½).

Artist: www.midasfall.com / www.facebook.com/midasfall

Label: www.monotremerecords.com / www.facebook.com/MonotremeRecords

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-ambient, dark-soundscape, experimental.

Background/Info: Oleg Puzan aka ‘Dronny Darko’ is one of those artists who never sleep. The Ukranian artist has released an impressive number of productions (including collaborations) during the past few years. “Black Hive” is the final chapter in a trilogy, which started with the album “Outer Tehom” (2014) and then “Spira Igneus” (2016).

Content: “Black Hive” is an appropriate title for the 8 cuts taking off with heavy, buzzing sound waves directly leading the listener into an imaginary world of horror. Dark, oppressive sound blasts join in while judicious field recordings only reinforce the visual strength of the composition. Dronny Darko likes to experiment with his different sound- and noise sources, which makes some passages more experimental.

+ + + : I’m often a bit skeptical about the work of prolific artists, but I’ve to admit “Black Hive” took me by surprise. It definitely is one of my favorite Dronny Darko releases thus far. The sound production is so overwhelming you can only be impressed by the composition- and production skills of the artist. He constructed monstrous sound blasts joined by a wide canvas of noises and field recordings. There’s a perfect osmosis between all ingredients making me affirm this album is a little jewel in this dark-ambient genre.

– – – : The opening cuts are absolutely brilliant and fascinating while the final part of the album is maybe missing a similar climax. So the best is right in the beginning and that’s maybe a pity although a very personal point of view.

Conclusion: Dronny Darko not only is a prolific musician, but he’s also getting better and better with each new work. I consider “Black Hive” as his ‘opus magnum’ so far!

Best songs: “Numinous”, “Pale Shadows”, “Lurkers”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.facebook.com/dronnydarko

Label: www.cryochamberlabel.com /  www.facebook.com/CryoChamber

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Electro-pop, wave-pop, goth-pop.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rate: (8½).

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

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Gothic.

Background/Info: Mechanical Moth became an established formation from active on the wide roster of Scanner/Dark Dimensions. The German formation set up in 2002 and mainly driven by front man Tandrin moved through several line-up changes and is now back on track unleashing their 6^th studio album.

Content: I’ve to admit I’ve never been a huge addict of Mechanical Moth. “Neverything” however will change my point of view. The work remains inspired by gothic moods, electronic sounds, guitar and mainly zombie-like vocal parts (mainly in German). But this production sounds more elaborated. There’s more harmony between the different aspects of the work, but still subtle treatments, cool female backings and evasive passages.

+ + + : I’m not saying that Mechanical Moth has completely reinvented their initial sound, but this work is, according to me, their best production in history. There’s more maturity in the global writing, but still a fascinating merge between dark atmospheres at one side and a kind of minimal wave-pop style at the other. Some songs are a bit retro-like while others are more into a goth-rock approach. I like this variation, accomplished by great sound arrangements played with piano parts and a few outstanding choruses. “Neverything” is a beautiful work revealing several great songs!

– – – : One of the few elements, which can’t totally convince me are the more into goth-rock songs. It here only concerns a few couple of cuts while the work features 13 songs. I’m maybe missing an absolute ‘hit’, but I got multiple great and essential songs instead.

Conclusion: The fans of the band will maybe not agree, but “Neverything” is without a shadow of a doubt the ‘opus magnum’ from Mechanical Moth. There’s a great evolution in the global sound writing and production!

Best songs: “Herzbeben”, “Dein Spiel”, “Suicide Note”, “Arise”, “Abendrot”, “Flug Unter Den Sternen”.

Rate: (8).

Band: www.mechanicalmoth.de / www.facebook.com/mechanicalmoth

Label: www.darkdimensions.de /  www.facebook.com/pages/Dark–Dimensions–Label–Group/486014725206

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: Epic, drones, dark-ambient.

Background/Info: Bart Piette is the ‘body and soul’ of Dead Man’s Hill, which is a project he set up in the late 90s. He released an impressive number of work on different labels like War Office Propaganda, Old Europa Café, Bugs Crawling Out Of People, Steinklang Industries ao. But his newest work, which has been released after a break of a few years, is a self-released digital production featuring 6 songs.

Content: If you’re familiar with the sound of this Belgian composer you instantly will recognize the epic orchestration and powerful bombast. Dead Man’s Hill is a kind of Belgian In Slaughter Natives and that’s more than simply a reference.

Piette is now a real experienced musician who has found the secret formula to compose overwhelming epic music carried by drones and accomplished by intriguing choir layers. The tracks are supported by dark and often tormenting atmospheres creating the illusion of nearby danger. It’s not only epic, but also music for ghosts. That’s what you’ll experience on the final cut, which features some nasty screams mixed with heavy, industrial sounds.

+ + + : I’m not familiar with the entire discography of Dead Man’s Hill (featuring numerous collaborations with other artists), but this new work is a kind of opus magnum. The songs were achieved with knowledge and a real passion for sound treatments and a nose for drama and epic arrangements. It’s a kind of apocalyptic production with an absolute climax on “Strix Aluco: The Gates Of The Deep Way”.

– – – : It’s a damned pity this opus has been not immortalized on CD and/or vinyl format because it’s the kind of record you really want to hold in your hands and simply cherish the artwork when enjoying the music.

Conclusion: I already heard good music from Dead Man’s Hill, but this new work is the absolute masterpiece in Bart Piette’s wide discography. This opus sounds like a reference in the epic music genre.

Best songs: “Strix Aluco: The Gates Of The Deep Way”, “Crossroads”, “Warning Moon (First Quarter)”.

Rate: (8).

Band: www.facebook.com/pg/deadmanshill

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Background/Info:

Read the news on ‘Ordeal 26.04.86’.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Background/Info:

Read the news on ‘Never Surrender’.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Industrial, industrial-trance, rhythmic electro-industrial.

Content: It seems that Jamie Blacker considered this new album as the most accomplished work to date. The least I can say is that the 3rd part of “Themes Of Carnal Empowerment” left me rather breathless. I’ve known of Electronic Substance Abuse since their early work and I remember this band for its solid electro-industrial approach.

“Penance” features 10 songs, which are built up in a real progressive way, but always reaching a kind of sonic climax created by a twist of heavy, trance-industrial rhythms and dark electro-industrial arrangements. ESA has never been that hard-hitting and merciless, however the work is still elaborate and professional when it comes to speaking about the global production process. ESA is not exactly the kind of band you can compare with another, but I’m sure it will appeal to fans of This Morn’Omina and iVardensphere.

Most of the songs are quite elaborate and show a terrific progression in sound and cadence. The opening song is a good representation for the rest of the work. It takes off in a rather mysterious and somewhat ambient way, but slowly reaches a pure sonic outburst where it all becomes quite trance. “Be Still And I Shall Tell You Why” and “Master, No Servant” both are brilliant exposures of the shamanic industrial work of “Penance”. Blacker has accomplished an opus magnum where he excels in intelligent sound treatments and great artistic creation. Right at the point where you think he has reached the ultimate point he simply moves injecting some extra dynamic into his work.

The 2nd part reveals a few ‘softer’ tracks on which he collaborated with a few guest singers. Most of the songs remain instrumentals where you can only hear the addition of a few sampled words. The vocals and samplings are mainly used in a way to create an extra sound effect. It sometimes pretty bewitching (cf. “Threnody For You”). “My Church” features a nice twist between male growling passages and spoken female words.

The title song featuring Magenta S. is different and probably the single cut where we can speak about ‘classical’ vocals. The song however remains pretty industrial, but more into a dark atmospheric creation.

A last element I have to mention about this work, is ESA’s move from Tympanik Audio to WTII Records.

Conclusion: This album definitely is one of the most poignant releases of the year in the wider fields of industrial music. This is a fully accomplished and genius creation.

Best songs: “Master, No Servant”, “Be Still And I Shall Tell You Why”, “My Church”, “Men Will Only Break Themselves”, “Penance”.

Rate: (DP:8½)DP.

Band: www.electronicsubstanceabuse.com / www.facebook.com/ElectronicSubstanceAbuse

Label: www.wtiirecords.com / www.facebook.com/WTIIRecords

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