Nachtmahr &#8211; SIDE-LINE

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

Nachtmahr announces all new album ‘Verboten!’ and tour

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Fri, 20 Sep 2024 13:08:22 +0000

Austrian industrial act Nachtmahr has announced an upcoming November tour to coincide with the release of the new album, “Verboten!“, which is set for release through Trisol Music Group GmbH on November 1st, 2024. The band are set to be supported by System Noire and Antibody.

The tour will include nine dates in Germany. In addition to classics from the band’s entire back catalogue, the band will present material from “Verboten!” live for the first time.

Thomas Rainer adds: “More than any previous album in the band’s history, VERBOTEN! was a team effort, incorporating the expertise of the live band members, which led to fresh visuals and a massive sound, blending the best of old and new Nachtmahr styles.”

Below is the earlier released single “Gegen”.

Nachtmahr tour dates

01.11. Oberhausen – Kulttempel
02.11. Mannheim – Ms Connexion
08.11. Erfurt – From Hell
09.11. Dresden – Reithalle
10.11. Berlin – Frannz Club
15.11. Friedrichshafen – Caserne
16.11. München – Backstage
22.11. Nürnberg – Cult
23.11. Hannover Musikzentrum

About Nachtmahr

Nachtmahr is an Austrian industrial and electronic music project founded by Thomas Rainer in 2007. Known for its aggressive, militaristic sound and provocative imagery, Nachtmahr combines hard-hitting beats with distorted vocals and harsh electronic instrumentation.

Rainer, who is also the frontman of L’Âme Immortelle, created Nachtmahr as an outlet for his harsher musical ideas. The project’s music is characterized by themes of control, power, and dominance, often portrayed through militaristic aesthetics, drawing inspiration from both cyberpunk and dystopian narratives.

Nachtmahr’s debut EP, “Kunst ist Krieg”, released in 2007, introduced the project’s signature sound, blending pounding beats with controversial, politically charged visuals. The project gained widespread attention with the release of “Feuer Frei” (2008) and subsequent albums like “Alle Lust Will Ewigkeit” (2009) and “Semper Fidelis” (2010). Each album reflects Rainer’s fascination with authoritarian imagery and explores dark, futuristic themes through a combination of industrial noise and EBM.

Rainer describes Nachtmahr as a commentary on power dynamics in society, using confrontational aesthetics to challenge listeners’ perceptions and provoke thought.

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.

Audioglobe statistics on the darkwave music sales in 2023 out now

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Sat, 23 Dec 2023 11:54:57 +0000

Celebrating its 30th year, Audioglobe, the most important distributor in the darkwave scene, just shared a statistical review, revealing the shifts and trends in the darkwave (and related) music genre.

Our readers will surely remember that we have reported on these stats for years, until 2018, the first year that Audioglobe didn’t communicate these stats. Sebastian Koch from Audioglobe explains: “Some customers never really cared that much about these, as they have better things to do than reading boring mails from the undersigned. But… Surprisingly there are quite a high number of customers, that sort of ‘complained’ about the fact, that no stats were being done any longer… The reason is: I was simply always far too busy in past years. Anyway: Here we go with the first new stats since 2017!”

So here are some export facts.

Top 10 Bestselling Labels of 2023 (export)

FABRIKA/DEAD SCARLET
- She Past Away, Lebanon Hanover, Selofan, Kaelan Mikla, M!R!M, Doric…
METROPOLIS
- Birthday Massacre, Delerium, Front Line Assembly, A Projection, KMFDM, Legendary P.D…
ICY COLD/MANIC DEPR.
- Twin Tribes, Je T’aime, Traitrs, Kill Shelter, Closed Mouth, Talk to Her, Schonwald…
ALFA MATRIX
- Alien Vampires, Front 242, Metroland, Die Robo Sapiens, Elm, 808 Dot Pop, Helalyn Flowers…
RUSTBLADE
- Claudio Simonetti, Ennio Morricone, Lycia Lunch, Spiritual Front, Ketvector, Legendary Pink D…
OUT OF LINE
- Blutengel, Hocico, Solitary Experiments, Suicide Commando, Signal Aout42, Erdling…
TRISOL
- Sopor Aeternus, Rome, Clan of Xymox, Asp, Ostara, Skinflicks, Nachtmahr, Mantus, Soman…
DEPENDENT
- Kirlian Camera, Girls Under Glass, Spectra*Paris, Mildreda, Black Nail Cabaret, Beborn Beton…
ARTOFFACT
- Actors, Noise Unit, cEvin Key, Kaelan Mikla, Ploho, Sacred Skin, Kauan, Ken Mode, Spectres…
AUERBACH
- Spiritual Front, Sol Invictus, Tenhi, Moon and the Night Spirit, Haavard, Hekate, Orplid…

Best Export Territories of 2023

If we look at the Audioglobe stats, we notice that Germany and Greece remain the company’s strongest markets, continuing a trend that has been consistent for ages. However, the 2023 statistics reveal some notable shifts.

Canada, once a prominent market for Audioglobe, has surprisingly disappeared from the export landscape. In contrast, the United States and the United Kingdom have re-emerged as significant territories, marking their return to prominence in the darkwave music scene after several years.

The most unexpected development in 2023 is the rise of Australia as a key market. This growth stands in stark contrast to Switzerland, which, despite its affluence, has seen a sharp decline in sales. Sebastian Koch adds: “The (by far!) lowest sales of all countries where we export to, was to Switzerland… The rich Swiss don’t buy records! Since I left the country (1990), something is wrong back home!”

Here is the top 10 list of export territories:

Germany
Greece
Netherlands
Portugal
USA
United Kingdom
Australia
Spain
Russia
Poland

Not in the top 10, but France, Japan, Malta, Brazil, Sweden, Mexico, and Perù are also good export territories for Audioglobe.

Nachtmahr – Stellungskrieg (Album – Trisol)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sun, 28 Nov 2021 08:00:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: Dark-Electro.

Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.

Background/Info: Thomas Rainer took the Nachtmahr fanbase by surprise in 2020, releasing the Neo-Folk driven “Flamme”-album whereon he revisited some classical songs of his sonic brainchild. “Stellungskrieg” was introduced by the EP’s “Beweg Dich!” and “Die Strasse”, which clearly sounded like moving back to the original sound of the Austrian ‘Tanzdiktator’!

Content: No real surprises on “Stellungskrieg”! Thomas Rainer gets back to the familiar sound and style of Nachtmahr. From the 10 songs there’s only one single piece, which comes as a kind of intermezzo and more appeals for L’Âme Immortelle fans. The other tracks are pure harshness; bouncing beats, which sometimes evolves into Industrial kicks mixes with aggressive vocals and melodic choruses. I also notice a few instrumental edits where the vocals have been replaced by spoken samplings.

+ + + : The “Flamme”-album was an atypical release and probably the biggest challenge ever of the Nachtmahr project. “Stellungskrieg” moves back to the essence of the project; a hard, danceable sound carried by strong leads and melodies –Rainer remains a true melody maker, while driven by furious beats. When discovering the album, you rapidly know why “Beweg Dich!” and “Die Strasse” were previously released as EP title songs. Both cuts stand for the best of Nachtmahr. I however also want to mention “Geister” for its heavy orchestral arrangements.

– – – : “Dunkle Wasser” is the single cut, which can’t totally convince; it rather sounds as a dismissed L’Âme Immortelle piece. The image of this project remains a controversial point… but better to have a controversial image instead of none!

Conclusion: There’s enough stuff on this album to set dancefloors on fire.

Best songs: “Die Strasse”, “Beweg Dich!”, “Geister”, “Nicht Wie Sie”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.facebook.com/nachtmahr.band

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

Agonoize – 666 Degrees Below (EP – RepoRecords)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sat, 03 Jul 2021 20:00:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: Dark-Electro.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Two years after the outstanding “Midget Vampire Porn”, Berlin-based (Germany) Agonoize strikes back. This EP is an appetizer to the seventh full length album of the band.

Content: The title song also is the opener of the EP revealing Agonoize is in good shape. They remain driven by this dark and freaky (h)el(l)ectro style. All aspects are dark and I even dare to say tormented. The songs are hard and bouncing, mixed with melodic sequences and leads while frontman Chris L. is still singing as a possessed soul.

Next to the title song we get 4 more cuts from the upcoming album, but only as remixes. The “Short Cut” of “Angst Ist Macht” is probably pretty close with the album edit and remains pure Agonoize-like. Eisfabrik and Nachtmahr have remixed each one song. The track “Komakind” has been remixed by Nachtblut while there also is a pretty clubby-sounding “Klubkind Mix”.

+ + + : There’s no better way than introducing your new full length album with such a great EP-title song. “666 Degrees Below” simply confirms the status of Agonoize; there’s no other band able to push the boundaries of Dark-Electro to this degree of terror and hell… It’s an extremely powerful song filled with anger and rage, but still masterly controlled. Both remixes by Eisfabrik (cf. “Faux Amis”) and Nachtmahr (cf. “Dein Gott”) are brilliant. Notice by the way Gerrit Thomas (Funker Vogt, Eisfabrik) again did the mixing and mastering of the album. I also have to mention the dancefloor-driven “Komakind”-edit, which is another potential hit. When discovering this EP you can only, but be prepared to welcome the new Agonoize-album.

– – – : I was less inspired by the Nachtblut remix of “Komakind” revealing guitar riffs on top. It all sounds like taking a distance with the Agonoize-sound –however that’s precisely what remixes stand for.

Conclusion: Dark-Electro terror that opens the gate of hell!

Best songs: “666 Degrees Below”, “Komakind – Klubkind Mix”, “Dein Gott – Nachtmahr Remix”, “Faux amis – Eisfabrik Remix”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.agonoize.berlin / www.facebook.com/AgonoizeOfficial

Label: www.reporecords.de / www.facebook.com/pages/Repo-Records/119590774857404

Labels Interviews: File 5: Alex Storm / Trisol: ‘I’m Interested In Artists Who Want To Create Something New’

Inferno Sound Diaries — Fri, 21 May 2021 13:19:16 +0000

German label Trisol has been set up in 1997 by Alex Storm. He’s also running Apocalyptic Vision, which was his first label. Trisol is characterized by a true eclectic taste of music; from EBM to Dark-Electro to Industrial to Dark-Wave, Neo-Folk and related genres. Trisol is the home of artists such as Rome, Project Pitchfork, Die Form, Clan Of Xymox, Nachtmahr, Asp, L’âme Immortelle, Samsas Traum, Mantus, Scheuber, Persephone ao. Apocalyptic Vision is still active today releasing the work of Sopor Aeternus.

(Stéphane Froidcoeur / Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

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

Alex: To answer this question properly, I need to go back in time a little and begin before I founded Trisol. The first label I founded was Apocalyptic Vision, which I (unofficially) started in 1992, so five years before starting Trisol. In the early 90s, when lots of vinyl albums were being released on CD for the first time, I was waiting in vain for CD reissues of many of my favorite albums –albums by Clair Obscur, Esplendor Geométrico, Memorandum and others. And even back then, I was also a big Sopor Aeternus fan. So I contacted quite a number of labels to suggest they reissue various albums on CD, or that they sign Sopor Aeternus –but not a single label was interested. Completely unfathomable!

After months of investing my time and money into these activities, I thought: ‘Just do it yourself!’ In other words, Apocalyptic Vision was intended as being purely a label for reissuing some of my favorite albums by my favorite bands, as well as for Sopor Aeternus. That was of course naive, but luckily, I was able to pull it off.

It seemed I developed a good reputation with this label, and as a result I received more and more interesting enquiries from bands that I treasured, both personally and artistically (such as DIE FORM). Bands that unfortunately didn’t fit into the Apocalyptic Vision re-release concept. I therefore decided to set up a second label, which enabled me to sign precisely these types of bands.

Apart from those specific re-release intentions for Apocalyptic Vision, the philosophy behind both labels is to work with artists who pursue the ‘total work of art’ approach, and who literally live their art. Good music alone was never enough for me, even just as a fan of bands. What excites me is when artists strive for a synthesis of the arts, in order to then transcend art’s boundaries. This idea of striving for a total work of art still applies today. So nothing in my basic philosophy has changed over the last nearly 30 years.

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

Alex: As explained above, the important thing for me is the ‘total work of art’ approach. I therefore look for artists in whom I see this potential. What’s more, I’m not interested in copies of copies. Back in 1992, when I founded the label, there were countless Sisters Of Mercy clones about. Some of these were really good, but of course, some of them were really terrible. But even the very best of the clones didn’t interest me. I’m interested in artists who want to create something new, and who have this irrepressible drive; this special ‘spark’. And last but not least, the chemistry must also be right. I’m proud to run an independent label, and for me that means first and foremost that the human element must first be established before a contract is concluded, because goals and visions can only be achieved by working together.

Two examples of this ‘total work of art – individuality – partnership’ trinity are Asp Spreng (ASP) and Alexander Kaschte (Samsas Traum). At the time, I was ripped to pieces for these signings. Lots of colleagues, and above all the press, shook their heads. Today, these are two of my most successful artists, and without them ever having had to compromise their principles in any way. As well as their musical projects, both of them are meanwhile active as authors, owners of their own publishing imprints, A&R people and consultants. In short: they’re indefatigable all-rounders.

But because of digitalization, I also have bands on my roster for whom I only release a digital single here and there. In these cases, I don’t apply the above-mentioned selection criteria quite so strictly. Because of the nature of purely digital releases, this is OK, and things work on this premise.

When all’s said and done, working together should be enjoyable. But even though it’s not really the primary consideration for me: I also need to see a certain amount of commercial success. It may not fit in with romanticised conceptions, but even independent labels and their artists need to earn money. As a result of the major –or more precisely, dramatic –developments of recent years, labels need to unfortunately keep a closer eye on this aspect. If you don’t, you’re out of the picture more quickly than you think. There’s a fitting German saying that says you can’t just live on fresh air. Unfortunately, this is true!

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

Alex: Digitalization was and is the most radical upheaval of all. People even speak of it as being a new industrial revolution. The positive aspect of digitalization is the accompanying democratization of the music industry.

Today, we can no longer imagine how difficult –rather, hopeless –it was as a newly founded label back then to get a distribution deal. Especially with a distributor who was actually capable of being able to get CDs into the shops. The difficulties we faced back then, just to get an album reviewed in a music magazine, are barely imaginable! In those days, music magazines were the only medium in, which indies could make their releases known. And if that wasn’t enough: all these problems described here didn’t just apply to Germany, but to every country in the world. As a German label without the internet, and armed only with a telephone connection, how could you find out whether there were relevant magazines –and what they were called –in for example France? I can still vividly recall how, for my very first release, “In Out” (cat no AV 001 CD) by the French band Clair Obscur, how difficult it was to send the CDs over the border into this neighbor country (!) and to market it there. It was as easy as it would presumably be today to export Trisol albums to North Korea, hahahaaa!

Today, the entire world is only a mouse click away. Being able to distribute and market music no longer depends on the benevolence of just a few quasi-monopolists.

And as for the negative aspects –everybody knows what they are, so I don’t know if I still need to list them? Today it’s all about Individual songs and playlists. Whoever succeeds in getting onto popular playlists is guaranteed substantial listener figures. For example, most playlists are orientated towards the course of the day, spanning ‘Good morning!’ to ‘Beating afternoon fatigue’ and up to ‘Gently fall asleep’. The artist is no longer important. Everything is based on users’ habits instead. So it’s no longer surprising that the people listening to music are no longer called ‘fans’, but rather really are called ‘users’. But music is also a haptic experience. Apart from the cover artwork and booklet, this also includes the signs of wear that a record or CD in a fan’s possession for a long time displays. Streaming and downloads are soulless! This soulless consumption also has some quite different ramifications. In the past, you could offer a contract to ten bands that you believed in. Nine of these bands would however never make it, but there was always one band who would make a breakthrough. Earnings from this one band could then subsidize the others, which was vitally important for promoting newcomers and keeping the market dynamic. Today, this is no longer possible. Or on a related topic: protest culture and protest songs. Has anyone ever encountered Fridays for Future protest songs?

Of course, strategies need to be adapted. To explain all that, I’d need to write a reference book. I’ll try to illustrate this by means of an example: When I started, it was all about releasing albums on CD, because vinyl was dead. Furthermore, when realizing album projects, we had to take into consideration that the playing time was way over 60 minutes, because the capacity of a CD is greater than that of a vinyl record. And then, when I occasionally did release a vinyl edition, I usually received the pressing, including test pressings, within three weeks, because the vinyl presses were otherwise at a standstill. Today, when releasing albums, you predominantly have to think about the vinyl edition, and therefore a playing time of 45 minutes maximum. Ideally, this must also be easy to split across two sides of a record. But nowadays, a vinyl pressing means having to plan ahead for nearly six months. In short, virtually everything is diametrically opposed to how things were when I started.

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

Alex: The pandemic’s effects on the work of the label can be split into two groups: bands that play live lots or tour, and bands who only occasionally play live, or not at all. For more popular bands, it’s vitally important that album releases are accompanied by a tour. This means that, without a tour, the releases planned for these bands also have to be postponed. But for bands whose releases aren’t supported by tours, the pandemic doesn’t affect release strategies in any way at all. However, some of my colleagues see this aspect differently.

But the effects on physical sales are downright epochal. Because bricks and mortar shops were closed –and to an extent still are –the pandemic’s effect on the decline of traditional offline shopping has been like that of an accelerant on a forest fire. Records and CDs are hardly ever bought in local shops, but rather sold via mail order.

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

Alex: Ah, the good old days of print media… those days are long gone. Personally, I miss those times enormously, because back then I virtually devoured all the magazines: Glasnost, Zillo, Elegy, D-Side, Side-Line, New Life, Ritual, Black, Ghastly Magazine, Propaganda Magazine and Music From The Empty Quarter. The latter in particular made a lasting impression on my musical taste. In those days, if you read a good review by Zillo journalists Joe Asmodo or Dirk Hoffmann, you knew that you could buy the album in question. And you weren’t disappointed. Those were still the days of quality journalism.

Today, a lot of it is just meaningless crap. After you’ve read the reviews, you often still don’t even know what sort of music they’re writing about, and how the album might sound. The press hasn’t done itself any favors there. To an extent, they have themselves to blame for this irrelevance. Luckily, there are exceptions, and I’m glad that in Germany, we still have Orkus! as a print magazine.

So of course, I’m pleased to cooperate with journalists who turn out really great work, and I can still see a clear relevance, irrespective of whether in print or online media.

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

Alex: My biggest achievement is that, after nearly 30 years, I’m still running my two labels. My greatest dream is that I’ll be able to pursue this path for many more years to come. Ideally, literally until the end of my life. There are no special preparations in place for this –only my passion for music and a willingness to always be open to new developments, even if I may not always personally approve of them.

My greatest regret is probably the virtually archetypal A&R error: that artists sometimes slip through the net, and that you then regret this for the rest of your life.

Awen – Reincarnation: Remixes And Remodels (Album – Trisol)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Mon, 15 Mar 2021 19:00:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: Neo-Folk, Industrial.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Hailing from Dallas, Texas (USA) Awen has already released multiple productions. Front man Erin Powell got the idea to ask other artists to remix songs of the bands. We get a work featuring seventeen songs remixed by an interesting palette of much diversified artists.

Content: Most remix-albums are often filled with bands from the same music style. Awen voluntarily asked a very diversified number of artists. Patrick Leagas (Sixth Comm, Mother Destruction), Ostara, Nachtmahr, David E. Williams, Murderous Vision, Spiritual Front, Church Ov Melkarth, Beastinaity, ANTIchildLEAGUE, Static Of Masses, Patterson-Gimlin, Et Nihil, Boyd Rice, Samsas Traum, Thomas Nöla, Void Prototype and Delphine Coma have been invited to rework the original Awen songs. The result is absolutely surprising, mixing pure Neo-Folk (Ostara), Electronics (Nachtmahr), Tribal (Spiritual Front), Industrial (Static Of Masses) and even Electro-Minimalism (Patterson-Gimlin).

+ + + : I’ve never been a huge fan of remix-albums, but I can appreciate artists thinking out of the box. And that’s precisely what Awen has done selecting artists who’re totally different from their beloved Neo-Folk style. It’s just great to see artists like Nachtmahr, Void Prototype and Samsas Traum accepting the challenge. It’s of course also more than simply a bonus to get Patrick Leagas and Boyd Rice at board. And it also is interesting to have another Neo-Folk driven formation such as Spiritual Front. All together it creates a very eclectic work, which feels a bit like a compilation, but which is fascinating to see how other artists have reinterpreted the work of Awen.

– – – : If you’re not open-minded and just loving Neo-Folk and nothing else, this compilation will reserve for you a few bad surprises –especially some Electro-driven remixes.

Conclusion: This album tents to prove that a compilation can be also original; just asking for the creative mind of other musicians.

Best songs: “Il Re Grigio Cupo – Static Of Masses”, “The Death Of Reynard – Patterson-Gimlin”, “The Sickle And The Setting Sun – Nachtmahr”, “Brigid The Dark, Brigid The Light – Spiritual Front”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/AWENTRISKELERECORDINGS

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

Nachtmahr – Flamme (Album – Trisol)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sun, 09 Aug 2020 19:30:48 +0000

Genre/Influences: Neo-folk.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Nachtmahr doesn’t need any further introduction. The dark-electro/industrial project of Thomas Rainer has gained a serious reputation. Music, image and artwork have caught the attention of numerous fans. “Flamme” is for sure the most unusual and surprising album in the Austrian project’s discography…

Content: “Flamme” is a fine selection of some of the most famous Nachtmahr songs, which have been completely reworked into pure neo-folk style. I sometimes wondered why Nachtmahr didn’t innovate, but this is not an innovation, this is a cataclysm!

The songs have been composed with acoustic guitar and accentuated by bombast arrangements and drums. The only element, which is nearly the same, is the enraged singing of Thomas Rainer. You don’t directly recognize the original songs, but the die-hard fans will recognize the lyrics.

+ + + : I can’t say that “Flamme” is my favorite Nachtmahr-album, but I really respect the artist for having dared to release this opus. It’s an original way to transpose your music into something completely different. It will for sure catch the attention of a different audience while the biggest fans will probably buy the album to complete their collection. If you listen to this album you’ll have to agree the neo-folk style is not bad at all and even characterized by a very personal touch, which are the furious and passionate vocals of the singer.

– – – : This album is original, but clearly sounds like a totally different project.

Conclusion: Better than a usual ‘best of’ album Nachtmahr has selected some of their best cuts to transpose them into a different music genre; a great challenge.

Best songs: “Alpha Omega”, “Rise And Fall”, “Feinbild”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.facebook.com/nachtmahr.band

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

Miseria Ultimas releases first video from upcoming ‘Graygarden’ album: ‘Allegiance’

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Mon, 30 Dec 2019 19:11:27 +0000

Miseria Ultimas upcoming album has a release date. The album is called “Graygarden” and it will be released on January 15, 2020. The physical album will be released by Advoxya Records and the digital version of the 10-track album will be released by the Finnish based label Inverse Records. The material from the album was recorded between 2017 and 2019.

The album “Graygarden is about the denial of mortality says the band: “A haven, where a person is a kept imprisoned, an illusion of that, everything is eternal. Fighting against nature and inevitable loss.”

Members of Miseria Ultimas includes Aleksi Martikainen (vocals, lyrics) and Kimmo Huhtala (synths). You can find out more about the band right here.

Brand new single “Allegiance”

Before the album is being released, a first download single called “Allegiance” will be released by Inverse Records. You can watch the video below.

For those having Spotify, you can play it below.

Upcoming tour

The band has also a few shows lined up:

11.01.2020 YO-talo, Tampere, Finland. With King Satan & Nachtmahr
25.01.2020 Ilokivi, Jyväskylä, Finland. With King Satan & Status Abnormis
28.03.2020 Hannover, Saksa. With Nachtmahr

Nachtmahr hits back with ‘Flamme’ in January 2020 – first details!

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Fri, 08 Nov 2019 13:05:39 +0000

The newest Nachtmahr album “Flamme”, the follow-up to this year’s release “Antithese”, will be out on January 31st 2020.

The 11-track counting album is the band’s 8th studio album to date and will hold the following tracks: “Feindbild”, “Kampfbereit”, “Liebst du mich”, “Krieg und Frieden”, “Alpha Omega”, “Wo ist dein Gott”, “The Torch”, “Ich bin”, “Rise and Fall”, “Mein Name” and “Die letzten Dämme”.

Here’s “Antithese” while you await the new album…

Cygnosic to launch ‘Epiphany’ LP in October and goes on tour with Nachtmahr and labelmates C-lekktor

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Tue, 01 Oct 2019 11:46:04 +0000

Digital World Audio will be releasing 2 new albums on October 25 from Cygnosic and Technolorgy.

From Cygnosic we get the “Epiphany” digi2CD offering dark electro / harsh EBM. The release goes hand in hand with a massive European tour alongside Nachtmahr and labelmates C-lekktor. The band’s 6th studio album counts 12 tracks while the bonus CD holds 3 exclusive tracks: “Enemy”, “Still burning” and “The Walls”.

Here are the live dates for the band’s tour this Fall.

04.10. D-München – Backstage
05.10. D-Mannheim – MS Connexion
11.10. DK-Copenhagen – Lygten Station
12.10. D-Hamburg – Logo
13.10. D-Berlin – Nuke
18.10. D-Oberhausen – Kulttempel
19.10. D-Hameln – Autumn Moon Festival
25.10. D-Erfurt – From Hell
26.10. D-Dresden – Reithalle
01.11. CH-Zofingen – Oxil
02.11. GB-Sheffield – Corporation
08.11. A-Vienna – Multiversum
09.11. GB-London – Elektrowerkz

SynthAttack – Join Us (CD Album – darkTunes Music Group)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Mon, 16 Sep 2019 19:30:24 +0000

Genre/Influences: Dark-electro, aggrotech.

Background/Info: “Join Us” is SynthAttack’s fourth album since the opening full length “To The Floor” (2015). The band is still driven by the creative spirit of Martin Schindler. “Join Us” features ten songs plus seven remixes by other artists.

Content: SynthAttack can be the best compared to an imaginary dance-ogre. The songs are boosted by electro-adrenaline made by heavy, danceable kicks, cold electro sequences and trance-like leads. The vocals feature this cavernous expression while a few cuts reveal female backings. SynthAttack is the perfect fusion between dark-electro and dance/trance music.

Remixes have been accomplished by Aesthetic Perfection, Centhron, Agonoize, ES23, Grendel, CygnosiC and Nachtmahr.

+ + + : SynthAttack clearly composes music for the dancefloor. Each new opus sounds as a sonic bomb to get fans into frenetic dance. It’s not that different for “Join Us”, which is an invitation to move. The heavy, boosting kicks together with the trance-like leads can’t leave club visitors enjoying dark-electronics unmoved. The songs reflect constant power, which feels a bit like a transcendental trip. Songs like “Join Us”, “Enjoy The Pain”, and “Addicted To The Thrill” will definitely convince you from the band’s potential and dance skills. Next to the new songs you also get an impressive list of famous artists/remixers. I here have a little preference for the remix of “Final salvation” by ES23.

– – – : SynthAttack remains a kind of challenge. The fusion of dark-electronics with some commercial-like trance leads is sometimes pretty risky and maybe a bit cheap. I’m especially referring to “Final Salvation”, which reminds me of the lead of Culture Beat’s mega-hit “Mr. Vain”. Despite of the great artists invited to remix I don’t experience this section as a real bonus to the album. The original songs are definitely better!

Conclusion: SynthAttack makes no prisoners blowing everything down! Music is their religion, the dancefloor their temple to convince new adherents!

Best songs: “Join Us”, “Enjoy The Pain”, “Addicted To The Thrill”, “Until The Dawn”, “Final Salvation – ES23 Remix”, “Join Us – Aesthetic Perfection Remix”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www .facebook .com /synthattack

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

Nachtmahr sees cult mini-album ‘Mädchen in Uniform’ re-released as a picture vinyl – only 500 copies!

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Tue, 05 Mar 2019 19:04:51 +0000

Available now for ordering is a strictly limited collector’s picture-LP edition of Nachtmahr’s long deleted and sought after cult mini-album “Mädchen in Uniform” (which was originally released in 2010). This re-release is limited to only 500 copies and can be ordered right here.

Nachtmahr is the solo project of Thomas Rainer (also known for his other projects: L’Âme Immortelle and the now defunct Siechtum). Nachtmahr’s musical style is best characterized as techno industrial with a strong focus on what some colleagues call ‘sexist and fascist imagery’ (something which Rainer rejects). In September 2007, Nachtmahr had its first release, “Kunst ist Krieg”.

Nachtmahr – Gehorsam (CD EP – Trisol)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Mon, 17 Dec 2018 20:00:43 +0000

Genre/Influences: Dark-electro.

Background/Info: The upcoming Nachtmahr-album “Antithese” is the pipeline, but this EP brings us a teaser from what we’ll maybe have to endure. Thomas Rainer already strikes back with this new EP featuring next to the title song 5 remixes.

Content: “Gehorsam” clearly sounds as a move back to the origin of Nachtmahr. In times of “Kunst Ist Krieg” and “Katharsis” Thomas Rainer took the dark-electro audience by surprise, revealing a different kind of music. Hard-bouncing beats, icy electro-industrial sequences and explicit samplings were the main elements of the instant success story of this project. Later on the music became more ‘classical’, being not that different from other dark-electro bands, but focused on a strong and somewhat ‘shocking’ image.

“Gehorsam” is a track that moves back to the early magic of Nachtmahr. Remixes have been accomplished by SynthAttack, Chainreactor, DKAG, Alien Vampires and Stromtod.

+ + + : Nachtmahr hasn’t reinvented its sound, but simply moved back to the point where it all started. And that’s an interesting move as the early magic is suddenly coming alive revealing one of the best Nachtmahr songs in years. No doubt about it, the dancefloors will be conquered! Among the remixes I especially want to mention the one by Alien Vampires, which has something totally different, a bit experimental, but definitely exciting. SynthAttack did a great job as well. No need to say the artwork is once again illustrated by sexy girls in uniform.

– – – : “Gehorsam” is a great new song, but the EP is first of all food for DJ’s. In the end it’s just one new cut and 5 remixes from this song.

Conclusion: The question is now if “Antithese” will be a total move back to the beginning of Nachmahr? I sincerely hope there’ll be more songs like “Gehorsam” featured on it.

Best songs: “Gehosam”, “Gehorsam – Remix by Alien Vampires”, “Gehorsam – Remix by SynthAttack”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist: www .facebook .com /nachtmahr .band

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

Nachtmahr – Widerstand (CD EP – Trisol)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Fri, 24 Aug 2018 18:30:28 +0000

Genre/Influences: Dark-electro.

Background/Info: Thomas Rainer aka the ‘tanzdiktator’ operating behind the Nachtmahr desk became one of the most praised dark-electro artists from the last years. His success is not only due to great albums, but also for the explicit military image and propaganda style of the project. Nachtmahr strikes back again with a new EP.

Content: This EP sounds in the purest Nachtmahr strategy. First there’s the artwork and imagery and next there’s the music. The sound hasn’t changed at all –even if Thomas Rainer takes his troops by surprise ending the release with a kind of goth/folk piece.

But the other songs left “Firmament” and “Ungezähmtes Land” are easily recognizable. The songs are powerful and somewhat bombast while alternated by melodic, carrying choruses featuring enraged vocals. I sometimes get the impression listening to industrial-pop and that’s maybe what makes the difference with the average dark-electro formations.

Each song features a Russian version featuring Maria Mar from Omnimar as a guest singer –while she also is one of the models featured in the booklet and artwork. Remixes have been accomplished by ES23, Shaârghot, Affentanz and Greg Oroth while Ordo Rosarius Aquilibrio did a personal cover version of “Ungezähmtes Land”.

+ + + : This is the kind of EP that will definitely satisfy the fans and followers of Nachtmahr. All familiar ingredients have been featured, but especially the solid choruses are the most noticeable aspect. Thomas Rainer is a talented melody writer and he each time again find the right keys to please his fans. Among the remixes I especially like the Shaârghot and Affentnz edits. But the best song is the adaptation of “Ungezähmtes Land” by Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio. The lyrics have been sung in English and the song has this typical dark neo-folk/goth and industrial-like touch. The global artwork remains once more controversial, but definitely great!

– – – : I’m still convinced that Nachtmahr is repeating itself for years now. I’m missing some innovation; a few new ideas in the music, which could reinvent the Nachtmahr sound. It starts to become a little less too predictable.

Conclusion: The fans will be pleased by this new EP, but I think that Nachtmahr has to consider new sonic strategies to moving on conquering the music lovers.

Best songs: “Firmament – Remix by Shaârghot”, “Ungezähmtes Land – Cover by Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio”, “Firmament”, “Ungezähmtes Land – Remix by Affentanz”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www .nachtmahr .at / www .facebook .com /nachtmahr .band

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

You can order the EP right here on CD format.

Side-Line presents: M’era Luna festival 2018 – Hildesheim (DE)

Filip Wildhoney — Mon, 04 Jun 2018 14:07:15 +0000

On 11th and 12th August 2018 the annual M’era-Luna festival takes place in the area of Hildesheim-Drispenstedt, Germany. M’era Luna exists since 2000 and is one of the biggest Gothic festivals in the European scene. Gothic, new wave, electro, EBM, industrial and medieval bands are featured on 2 stages.

Besides watching concerts you can also visit parties, markets, artist signing events, gothic fashion shows, readings by David Grashoff, Markus Heitz and Christian von Aster. The Gothic Garden, an oasis of calm right in front of the festival infield, offers demanding festival-goers comfort, space and conveniences to make your stay more exclusive, pleasant and more relaxing. At the M’era Luna Academy you can follow special workshops which will be announced soon on the official website.

The last years the festival was every time sold out and had about 25.000 visitors. This year some of the confirmed artists are: The Prodigy, Front 242, Ministry, Eisbrecher, In Extremo, Saltatio Mortis, Apoptygma Berzerk, Peter Heppner, L’Ame Immortelle, London After Midnight, Clan Of Xymox, Das Ich, Lord Of The Lost, Hocico, The 69 Eyes, Atari Teenage Riot, In Strict Confidence, Rotersand, Nachtmahr, Tanzwut, …

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

Nachtmahr joins the resistance with their newest EP ‘Widerstand’

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Tue, 08 May 2018 08:56:58 +0000

Nachtmahr is back with a new EP, “Widerstand”, counting 10 tracks. On the release you’ll also find two brand-new songs: “Firmament” and “Ungezähmtes Land”. The rest of the EP is filled with numerous remixes, reworks and edits including an apocalyptic folk version of “Mütterchen Russland” produced by Thomas Rainer himself.

You’ll also find “Ungezähmtes Land” with Russian vocals courtesy of Michail Evodkimov (Eisenwut) and “Firmament” featuring Maria Mar (Omnimar). Add to that a couple of more remixes as you can see in the tracklist here.

L’Âme Immortelle – Hinter Dem Horizont (CD Album – Trisol)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sat, 10 Mar 2018 19:30:00 +0000

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rate: (8).

Band: www .facebook .com /LAI .official

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

Top 10 best-selling labels in the industrial music world in 2017 were…

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Tue, 13 Feb 2018 18:17:29 +0000

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

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

The Top 3

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

The rest of the Top 10

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

And on spot 11 and 12…

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

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

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

Ludovico Technique – Absence (Digital EP – Infacted Recordings)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Wed, 17 Jan 2018 19:15:43 +0000

Genre/Influences: Dark-electro, industrial-pop.

Background/Info: Ludovico Technique has released their first new stuff after a hiatus of four years. They in the meantime remained active on stage, doing the support for leading formations such as Leather Strip, God Module, Nachtmahr, Grendel. “Absence” has been released in Europe on Infacted Recordings featuring the title song plus 4 remixes. The EP has been released in the US on Metropolis featuring 4 different remixes.

Content: “Absence” is a song mixing dark-electronics and raw industrial-pop elements. The song has been empowered by extra guitar sounds. The vocals have been sung in a somewhat half-spoken, spooky way injecting a dark, moody touch on top of the song.

Remixes have been accomplished by Grendel, Leather Strip, Massive Ego and shiv-R.

+ + + : “Absence” is a cool and efficient title song, which has all required elements to make people dance. It features great dance vibes mixed with a cool chorus. This is without a shadow of a doubt one of my favorite Ludovico Technique-songs ever.

The remixes have been made by noticeable bands, which is an extra way to catch the attention. The most original remix is the more minimal-like one by Shiv-R.

– – – : The American edition features the same title-song, but remixes by The Birthday Massacre, Bestial Mouths, Encephalon and Ghostfeeder. A quite interesting program you can only discover as well, but in the end you’ll be saturated by remixes. I however expected a bit more from the remixes for this European edit.

Conclusion: “Absence” is the perfect song to strike back and put Ludovico Technique back on the map. There’s no better way striking back than getting people to dance!

Best songs: “Absence”, “Absence – Shiv-R Remix”.

Rate: (7½).

Band: www .ludotechnique .com / www .ludotechnique .com /absence / www .facebook .com /pg /LudoTechnique

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

Sun Of The Sleepless finally readies up debut album “To the elements” – out as a 2CD and various vinyl formats – listen to the first track!

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Sat, 24 Jun 2017 14:00:19 +0000

The black metal act Sun Of The Sleepless is the solo project of Schwadorf (aka Markus Stock), the mastermind behind Empyrium and The Vision Bleak.

Despite its formation in 1998, “To the Elements” is Sun Of The Sleepless’ full-length debut, following its split EP with Nachtmahr (2004), the band’s debut EP “Poems to the Wretches Hearts” (1999) and the 7″ “Tausend Kalte Winter” released in 2000, which featured a trip hop take on the Darkthrone classic “En As I Dype Skogen.”

Now, 13 years later, Sun Of The Sleepless offers an album of brand new material. Note that the album will be out as a 2CD boxset (with 3 extra bonus tracks) and as a vinyl album, all available here.

At the same time as Sun Of The Sleepless’ first full-length album, the vinyl compilation “Shadows Of The Past” will be released on black and strictly limited gold vinyl – and available now for ordering. “Shadows Of The Past” features all Sun Of The Sleepless recordings from the period 1998-2004 – “Poems To The Wretches Hearts” (1999), “Tausend Kalte Winter” (2000) as well as the tracks of the split EP with Nachtmahr (2004) – which have been remastered especially for this release.

Below is already an excerpt of “Phoenix Rise”, a song featured on the Sun Of The Sleepless’ Album “To The Elements”. This is a rough mix straight from the studio but it gives you an idea.

Nachtmahr – Unbeugsam (DCD Album – Trisol)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Tue, 04 Apr 2017 18:10:21 +0000

Genre/Influences: Dark-electro.

Background/Info: Nachtmahr was set up in 2007 by Thomas Rainer. The Austrian musician was the creative spirit behind the successful L’Âme Immortelle while he also was the instigator of the electro-industrial Siechtum. Nachtmahr was a kind of get back to harsh dark-electronics and became in no time a new dance sensation. “Unbeugsam” is a kind of 10 year anniversary release celebrating one decade of dance terror, one decade of Nachtmahr.

This double disc features 34 tracks featuring the most essential hits, but also a few rarities and even 2 new cuts. Nachtmahr has also been a band with a strong and controversial image, somewhere at the edge of controversy, but here again Thomas Rainer fully succeeded in his goal.

Content: “Unbeugsam” goes back to the early work of Nachtmahr reminding us of the original sound of the band, which back in time was somewhere linked with other ‘new’ projects in the genre like Noisuf-X and Reaper. The music was made of harshness and pumping kicks. Somewhere inspired by industrial treatments and carried by melodic strings, the songs always have been driven by the merciless and harsh –mainly in German sung, vocals of ‘Tanzdiktator’ Thomas Rainer.

This is a way to get back to mega-hits like “Katharsis, “Feuer Frei”, “Can You Feel Beat?”, Strenge Liebe”, “Mein Name” and the already evoked “Tanzdiktator”. Seven albums have been released and “Unbeugsam” is an opportunity to rediscover the hardest cuts of this band’s career.

The 2^nd disc lets us discover 2 new cuts, which are in the same, hard and merciless dance style as all the previous hits. The rarities are mainly getting back to the numerous EP songs of Nachtmahr and here again you’ll (re)discover essential pieces.

+ + + : This is a great ‘best of’ perfectly summarizing the impressive discography accomplished in 10 years. The hardest cuts have been taken, which also remain the best exponents of this Austrian formation. It also confirms the great composing skills of Thomas Rainer, which perfectly mixed rough and blasting kicks with constant, carrying melody lines. Thomas Rainer remains a great melody maker. The album also features 2 impressive booklets with familiar illustration material, sometimes provocative, often sexy and definitely controversial.

– – – : All songs are pretty blasting and in the long run creating a little less saturation although I guess the fans will not complain about it.

Conclusion: Some Nachtmahr releases sometimes made me think that the image became more important than the music, but this ‘best of’ gave me hard smack in the face confirming the amazing writing skills of this project.

Best songs: “Can You Feel The Beat”, “Tanzdiktator”, “Mein Name”, “Katharsis”, “Strenge Liebe”, “Tradition”, “Ich Bin” + “I Believe In Blood”, “El Chupacabra”, “Boom Boom Boom”, “Feuer Frei!”.

Rate: (8½).

Band: www .nachtmahr .at / www .facebook .com /nachtmahr .band

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

DrakenWerks – No Prisoners (CD Album – DrakenWerks)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sun, 25 Sep 2016 19:20:52 +0000

Genre/Influences: Dark-electro, dark EBM.

Background/Info: DrakenWerks is a band based in South Wales and driven by S.P. Draken and assisted by the technical skills of Gregor Beyele (who has worked with famous bands like Reaper, Modulate, L’Âme Immortelle, Nachtmahr ao). “No Prisoners” is the first album I heard from this project and it features 15 songs. Notice by the way that the album got very enthusiastic reactions from Germany, even entering the legendary DAC for several weeks.

Content: I fully understand the enthusiasm from the German DJ’s (mainly active in the DAC-pool). DrakenWerks reveals a good-old dark-electro formula, which will possibly appeal to fans of Funker Vogt.

The songs are pretty punching and driven by some fast sequences and danceable beats. The vocals are quite typical as well, but a powerful and aggressive way of singing remains the best formula for this kind of sound. It injects this typical dark and zombie-like touch.

+ + + : DrakenWerks clearly avoids any innovation instead of holding onto the stereotypical dark-electro format. I fully enjoyed the more elaborated cuts featuring filtered sequences and a bit more variation in the global song structure. There are a few dancefloor ‘killers’ like “Get Down” and DrakenTron”.

– – – : “No Prisoners” sounds like the kind of album I’ve already heard a hundred times before so ‘no’ it doesn’t bring anything new to a stagnating music genre. Fifteen songs is quite a lot for an album without real diversity so this is for sure an aspect injecting certain monotony to the work.

Conclusion: If you’re tired of typical dark-electronic releases “No Prisoners” will quickly suck, but fanatic lovers of the genre, will for sure enjoy this work. It for sure is a promising band on the dark-electronic planet and that’s for sure the main point to keep in mind.

Best songs: Get Down”, “DrakenTron”, “Suck It Up M***er F***er”, “Death And Taxes”.

Rate: (7).

Band: www .drakenwerks .com / www .facebook .com /drakenwerks

Plastic Planets EP by PROZIUM

Prozium launches debut single, the electro infested dubstep ‘Plastic Planets’ 7-tracker – listen here

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 18:40:10 +0000

Available exclusively on Bandcamp for now, with a release on all other platforms scheduled in the next few weeks, is the debut EP by Prozium, bring an electro infested dubstep 7-track single (or EP as you like it).

Prozium already launched a first track “Lay My Vengeance” last year which brought them comparisons with Noisuf-X, Nachtmahr or yet Soman. And you will be able to hear below who that is so. Fans of a more eclectic Deadmau5 or Skrillex will dig this one for sure while the more electro minded fans will find loads of scene references. Speaking of a crossover release, this really is one appealing to both the industrial and the dubstep scenes.

Prozium isn’t exactly a new act, as far as its personal is concerned. The duo consists of the duo Gerry (Avarice In Audio / Dream Recall) and Lawrie (Studio-X / Avarice In Audio) which explains a lot of course. Available here!

Nachtmahr – Kampbereit (CD Album – Trisol)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Tue, 31 May 2016 20:05:48 +0000

Genre/Influences: Dark-electro, EBM.

Background/Info: Nachtmahr doesn’t need any further introduction. Thomas Rainer is back on track unleashing the 6^th full length of his dark-electronic creation.

Content: Quite honestly the last Nachtmahr albums couldn’t totally convince me. I got the impression that the creative mind of this great musician got frozen and that the image became more important than the sound.

“Kampbereit” is the right title for this ‘return’ to the sources. The album has been introduced as a way back to the early years of the band and that’s rather true. Nachtmahr is hitting back with rage and merciless electronic treatments. The sound remains driven by dark-electronics and other EBM formulas, but it becomes harder and a bit industrial-minded as well. Thomas Rainer also remains a talented melody maker and that’s precisely what most of the choruses are revealing. This album sounds like the hybrid between early L’Âme Immortelle (for the melody lines) and early Nachtmahr (for the industrial approach).

“Kampbereit “is moving in between heavy cuts and a few softer, but beautiful songs. Thomas Rainer is once more singing like a possessed, but this rage and anger create a delicious symbiosis with the music.

+ + + : I like the powerful and merciless approach of multiple songs. There also is a great progression in the writing process. The songs are elaborated and driven towards a climax. Last, but not least there again is a great artwork featuring the familiar provocative, sexy and uniform-like pictures.

– – – : Nachtmahr still moves on with this fine taste of provocation and controversy. Ask about it at someone who never heard of Nachtmahr before and you’ll fully understand what the image of a band can do…

Conclusion: Nachtmahr strikes back with a new and dangerous weapon; this album is a new killing machine for dancefloors and that’s a while ago I hadn’t heard such a convincing album from this band.

Best songs: “Strenge Liebe”, “Tempus Fugit”, “Wir Sind Die Toten”, “Tanzt Für Mich”.

Rate: (8).

Band: www .nachtmahr .at / www .facebook .com /nachtmahr .band

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

V/A Mädchen In Uniform (Book + DCD Album – VAWS)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Wed, 24 Feb 2016 08:23:56 +0000

Genre/Influences: Dark-electro, EBM, gothic, new-wave, punk-rock.

Bands: PreEmptive Strike 0.1, Roppongi Inc Project, Freaky Mind, Siva Six, Wynardtage, W.O.M.P., Oniric, Acylum, Von Thronstahl, The Pussibats ao.

Background/Info: The German label based in Duisburg was rather active during the 90s and early millennium years releasing albums of bands like Forthcoming Fire, Von Thronstahl and their label compilation series “VAWS”.

It’s a while ago now since I’ve heard something new from VAWS, but they here strike back with a beautiful and deeply artistic book & double disc featuring a total of 24 songs. The title and concept of the artwork will appeal for all Nachtmahr fans.

Content: The book is absolutely artistic and focuses on –like the title indicates, ‘girls in uniform’. We get beautiful and sexy pictures of young girls in uniform. Some of the pictures clearly remind me of the image of Nachtmahr. It definitely appears to be a concept that will please the audience.

Sound-wise the 1^st disc is totally devoted to dark-electronics and some dark EBM formats. There’s an interesting selection of established- and less familiar names. Globally speaking it’s a pumping and pretty cool disc with a great song by Freaky Mind and other noticeable cuts by R.I.P. and Mordacious.

The 2^nd disc is more diversified covering multiple genres and influences. It’s not exactly what I would call a gothic album but more like bands that are dealing with orchestral arrangements, cinematographic inspiration, minimal electro-wave music, ethereal electronics, body-pop, a kind of chanson and even a punk-rock apotheosis.

+ + + : The 1^st disc will definitely please the dark-electro heads and features a nice selection of cool songs. The 2^nd disc is quite different, revealing an exciting eclecticism of influences. But the main strength of this compilation for sure appears to be the great artwork and book-concept.

– – – : There’s a serious chasm in music genre between both discs.

Conclusion: If you’re a freak of artistic music design featuring cool music and a unique artwork, you definitely will like “Mädchen In Uniform”.

Best bands: Freaky Mind, Mordacious, Infernosounds, Lucifer Christ, Von Thronstahl, Deadly Injection.

Rate: (8).

Label: www .vaws .de / www .facebook .com /vaws –musicfactory -254972201199351

Siechtum – Zeiten:Wende (DCD Album – Trisol)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Mon, 02 Nov 2015 09:22:02 +0000

Genre/Influences: Electro-industrial.

Content: When I discovered this album I first thought that Siechtum had been awakened after a hibernation of 14 years! The electro-industrial project that was set up by Thomas Rainer (L’Âme Immortelle, Nachtmahr) and Joachim Sobczak (Schattenschlag) was active right after the millennium during a rather short lapse of time.
“Zeiten:Wende” is just a re-release of their 3 full length albums (cf. “Gesellschaft:Mord”, “Kreuz:X:Feuer” and “Diagnose:Zeit”), which have been placed on 2 discs. Siechtum has been considered as a pioneer in the genre, which I think is an interesting statement.

I remember industrial music during the 80s, which was composed with an impressive arsenal of hand-made equipment resulting in a kind of ‘art-brut’ sound. Bands like Test Department, SPK and Einstürzende Neubauten were absolute masters in the genre, but there were many less famous and recognized projects dealing with a similar taste. The industrial music progressively evolved towards electro-driven compositions where the sounds got manipulated by monstrous studio effects creating this typical distorted-electro format. Esplendor Geometrico probably was one of the most famous pioneers in the genre, which would rapidly contaminate numerous other bands.

The ‘industrial’ style of Siechtum moved a bit further getting us to the point where dark-electronics and electro-industrial music merged together. I’ll not start a controversy about who really was the first one in the genre, but Siechtum were one of the precursors.
“Gesellschaft:Mord” (2000) brings us back to this early years revealing a typical electro-industrial sound carried by bombastic rhythms and haunting atmospheres. The work remains rather elementary, instrumental and repetitive. A few samplings injected some diversity, but globally speaking this album really suffers from the weight of time. It sometimes starts a bit like an improvised jam session of industrial-inspired music. This is the kind of work, which left me rather skeptical today, but I have to admit that I enjoyed it back in time.

“Kreuz:X:Feuer” (2001) sounds more diverse and sometimes reveals unexpected influences like acid bleeps (cf. “Gegenschlag”) and a kind of technoid-industrial style (cf. “Wiederstand”). The album even explores passages of cinematographic-industrial music (cf. “Die Ruhe Nach Den Sturm”) and other parts carried by metal (sampled) guitar riffs (cf. “Chaos”).

“Diagnose:Zeit” (2001) finally appears to be the most convincing album (today), but the least industrial minded. Siechtum now added real vocal parts to the work, which makes it more dark-electro driven with industrial flavors on top. It definitely is not a classical dark-electro production but rather a band exorcizing some ideas.

We again notice different influences running through the work, which move into epic passages (cf. “Follow Me”) to a kind of ritual approach (cf. “Winterstahl”). This album appears to be the most accomplished and for sure the most elaborated one. The title song remains the best example in the genre.

Notice by the way that the original albums of Siechtum were released by Matrix Tube, which was an earlier subdivision of Trisol.

Conclusion: This album is available in a beautiful digipak format while there also is a box-edition for the biggest fans of the band. I think this work is mainly meant for the fans of Siechtum and Thomas Rainer in particular.

Best songs: “Diagnose:Zeit”, “New Breed”, “Judas Ischariot”, “Gedankengift”, “Atomkernspaltung”, “Wiederstand”.

Rate: (DP:7)DP.

Band: www.facebook.com/siechtum.official