The Rockford, Illinois based goth / post-punk act The Funeral March drops an all new EP, “Persephone”, which is inspired by the Greek Queen of the Underworld, Persephone. Included are five new songs.

You’ll clearly hear the influence of The Cure and Siouxie & The Banshees, with blueprints drafted by Neil Gaiman’s “The Sandman”. “Persephone” is available now in streaming, digital download, and compact disc formats. The EP was mixed and mastered by Adam Stilson (Panic Priest, Feral Ghosts, Pixel Grip, Wingtips, Ritual Howls, and New Canyons) with cover art by Greg Rolfes (eleven12 Design).

Here’s the video for “Nite Nite”.

Originally founded in 1987, The Funeral March of the Marionettes (AKA The Funeral March) found a second life when they re-formed in 2017 in the post-industrial city of Rockford, Illinois. The current lineup consists of Joseph Whiteaker (Vocals, Bass, Synths), Darius McCaskey (Bass, Synths, Programming), and Wayne Thiele (Guitar). Their work blends elements of gothic rock and post-punk music, combining a number of new and classic post-punk/gothic influences.

To date, they have released several singles, EPs, and one full-length album. You can check the new EP below.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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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.

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: Indie-Pop, Electro-Pop.

Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.

Background/Info: This is the third full length album for the duo Farrah- and Richard West. The British duo composed this work during the lockdown in 2020.

Content: The opening song (still released as single) “Modern Living” reveals a vibrating, deep resonating bass line with some fine Electro-Pop on top and the sensual vocals of Farrah West. The song doesn’t necessarily fully represent the rest of the work, but the Electro/Indie-Pop approach definitely remains the main basis of the work. I sometimes get the sensation of discovering a more poppy format of Placebo. Some of the choruses have a true elevating effect. The songs have been accomplished with delicate piano arrangements. Most of the songs have a sweet taste of melancholia mixed with pure emotional vocals. This album sounds sweet, but also revealing a few club-friendly pieces.

+ + + : I honestly can’t remember to have heard of League Of Lights, but the opening song “Modern Living’ directly caught my attention. This song is simply brilliant for the deep, sensual bass line merged with the captivating and hot vocals of the singer and the elevating effect of the chorus. “Ghosts” and “Persephone” both have a similar impact. But the album is mainly featuring softer and sweeter songs, but here again “Dreamers Don’t Come Down” has a few nice surprises; beautiful songs with delicate sound treatments. I especially recommend listening to “The Collector”. I also want to salute the great and informative booklet of this digipak. League Of Lights this way reveals to have an eye for every single detail; a great production sold in an artistic digipak.

– – – : I was less convinced by a few ‘softer’ songs although they also have something sensitive and delicate.

Conclusion: League Of Lights took me by surprise unleashing a refreshing work with a few outstanding songs.

Best songs: “Modern Living”, “The Collector”, “Persephone”, “Ghosts”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: https://leagueoflights.com / www.facebook.com/leagueoflightsofficial

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

Out now is a brand new single and video from the female fronted act League Of Lights (Farrah and Richard West), a radio edit of “Persephone”. The full length version of the track is included on “Dreamers don’t come down”, the band’s newest album out on LP, CD and download. “Dreamers don’t come down” is the duo’s third album to date and draws influences from early ’80s synth pioneers like John Foxx, as well as ’00s exponents of the genre such as Ladytron.

Farrah explains the genesis of the song’s lyrics: “(It) came about during the first lockdown in March 2020 when I was thinking about the awful dark shadow that was about to envelop the UK and felt sadness for the families who were losing loved ones and not able to be present. I am aware of people who, facing death but living to tell the tale, have spoken of it as an actual person willing them on their final journey. I wanted to tell the story of the shadow looming, but to seek out and focus on the light rather than the darkness. We were thinking about how to talk about death without using the actual word and settled on Persephone, who was the unwilling wife of Hades and the queen of the underworld in Greek Mythology. It seemed a slightly more poetic way of singing about the topic.”

She continues: “Rich had a piece of music that seemed a bit too jolly for such a serious set of lyrics, but actually turned out to be perfect and stopped the whole song sounding morbid. I call it the jaunty song about death but it has this amazing energy to it and I really can’t wait to play it live.”

You can view the video for “Persephone” right below, it was made by North Macedonian film director Peter Zdravkovski.

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: Cabaret-gothic, neo-classic, experimental, jazzy.

Background/Info: L’Âme Immortelle singer Sonja Kraushofer doesn’t need an introduction, but some of you maybe don’t remember she also got involved with a side-project called Persephone. Four albums got released in between 2002 and 2007. Persephone has now been reactivated after a hiatus of 11 years. Sonja Kraushofer got the help from ex-Janus member Martin Höfert who took care of the composition and production. “Perle” has been inspired by the novel “Die Andere Seite” from Alfred Kubin.

Content: “Perle” is an opportunity to rediscover the sound of Persephone although a few things have changed after this long silence. Sonja’s angelic timbre of voice hasn’t really changed although she reveals certain vulnerability making the charm of the work. She sometimes reminds me a bit of Kate Bush although joined by a totally different type of music. The composition fits with this fragile expression and also reveals a delicate expression accentuated by some violin passages. From cabaret towards baroque and even a jazzy passage, “Perle” covers different, but related genres.

+ + + : This album caught my attention for its inspiration of Alfred Kubin. This Austrian artist is one of my personal favorite painters from the Symbolic movement, which in countries like Belgium and Austria revealed real famous artists. I didn’t know the novel Persephone has been inspired by, but the link with Kubin touched me. Persephine strikes back with her natural grace and an elegant production covering different sources of inspiration. It’s a very personal and minimal-like composition revealing a truly chemistry between the vocals of Sonja Kraushofer and the music composed by Martin Höfert. I like the twist between guitar parts and classical intonation by harpsichord sounds and real violin play (by a guest artist). This is a great album to listen to and dream away. Last, but not least, the artwork has been accomplished by Joachim Luetke who’s a real genius in his oeuvre and you might have discovered by the artwork he did for Sopor Aeternus.

– – – : This album must bring Persephone back in the spotlight, which is not an easy thing after such a long absence. It also is an album more to listen to instead of music to dance on.

Conclusion: Persephone stands for the truest sense of artistic creation. This album simply is about the love for arts!

Best songs: “Summer Rain”, “Dreamland Of Mine”, “Dig A Little Deeper”.

Rate: (8).

Band: www.persephone–home.de / www.facebook.com/persephoneband

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

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-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

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