Project Pitchfork – SIDE-LINE

Project Pitchfork’s ‘Look Up, I’m Down There’ turns 10 on 28 October

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Wed, 28 Oct 2026 10:00:00 +0000

German dark wave band Project Pitchfork released “Look Up, I’m Down There” on 28 October 2016 through Trisol Music Group, marking the band’s 25th anniversary. The album turns 10 this year.

Project Pitchfork released “Look Up, I’m Down There” in two editions: a standard single CD and a limited double-CD art book edition featuring complete lyrics alongside a short story by fantasy author Björn Springorum. The standard edition runs twelve tracks: “Into Orbit,” “Titânes,” “Propaganda Child,” “Blind Eye,” “Pandora,” “Look Up, I’m Down There,” “Volcano,” “Sunset Devastation,” “Open with Caution,” “Furious Numbers,” “Exile” and “Sky Eye,” with the limited edition’s bonus disc adding the exclusive track “Pendulum” alongside remixes of “What Have We Done,” “Titânes,” “Volcano,” “Exile” and “Pandora.”

About Project Pitchfork

Project Pitchfork formed in Hamburg in 1989 around Peter Spilles and Dirk Scheuber, who picked the project’s name at random from a dictionary. The band gave its first live performance in February 1990 and released its debut album, “Dhyani,” in May 1991, followed by “Lam-‘Bras” (1992) and “Entities” (1992). After moving to the Off Beat label for “IO” (1994), the band’s first charting release in Germany, Project Pitchfork founded its own label, Candyland Entertainment, in 1995, through which it released “Alpha Omega” that year and “¡Chakra:Red!” in 1997, the first record to include Jürgen Jansen as a permanent member.

Signing to the EastWest major-label imprint brought “Eon:Eon” (1998) and made Project Pitchfork the first gothic industrial band to receive German music-TV airplay. The band built its own studio between albums before releasing “Daimonion” (2001) and the “NUN” concept trilogy (2002), then moved to the Trisol label by 2011, the year it released “Quantum Mechanics.” Further albums “Black” (2013) and “Blood” (2014) followed, and Side-Line reviewed the band’s career-spanning “Second Anthology” compilation in April 2016, months before “Look Up, I’m Down There” arrived that October to mark the band’s 25th year. Project Pitchfork went on to release the “Akkretion” (2018) and “Fragment” (2018) albums, continuing with reissue campaigns and 2024’s “Elysium,” the final instalment of a trilogy begun with “Akkretion.” “Look Up, I’m Down There,” the record that marked a quarter-century of the band, turns 10 this October.

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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Project Pitchfork’s ‘Quantum Mechanics’ turns 15 on 12 August

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Project Pitchfork, the Hamburg group that mixes dark wave, electro-industrial and dark electro elements, released “Quantum Mechanics” on 12 August 2011 through Trisol. The album turns 15 this year. It arrived one year after “Continuum Ride” (2010) and appeared on CD, as a strictly limited double-CD book edition of 2,000 copies, and digitally.

Peter Spilles wrote and produced the album, Chris von Rautenkranz mastered it at Soundgarden Tonstudio, Ingo Römling created the artwork and Jens Howorka took the band photography. The ten-track album runs “Freeze in Silence,” “Lament,” “Run for Cover,” “Radical Business,” “Mute Spectators,” “Quantum Mechanics,” “The Queen of Time and Space,” “Splice,” “We Will Descend” and “You Rest in My Heart.” The book edition, bound with thread stitching and packed with a 40-page booklet of lyrics and additional artwork, adds a bonus disc holding the exclusive tracks “Tempest” and “Insomnia,” remixes of “Freeze in Silence,” “Run for Cover” and “Lament,” and an instrumental version of the title track. In December 2019, Trisol reissued “Quantum Mechanics” as a limited 2LP and 2CD set. The album streams on Spotify.

About Project Pitchfork

Project Pitchfork started in Hamburg, Germany, where vocalist and composer Peter Spilles and keyboardist Dirk Scheuber began collaborating in 1989. The pair played their first concert in Hamburg in February 1990 and recorded the demo “K.N.K.A.” that same year. Their debut album “Dhyani” followed in May 1991 on Hypnobeat, and 1992 brought both “Lam-‘Bras,” which introduced vocalist Patricia Nigiani, and “Entities.”

In 1994 the band moved to Off Beat for “IO,” whose singles “Renascence” and “Carrion” brought them into the German charts. A year later they founded their own imprint Candyland Entertainment, issued “Alpha Omega” and supported Rammstein on selected tour dates. The late 1990s produced “¡Chakra:Red!” and the concept album “Eon:Eon,” while the 2000s added “Daimonion,” the “NUN” trilogy built around “Inferno,” and “Kaskade” (2005).

On Trisol, the group released “Dream, Tiresias!” and “Continuum Ride” before “Quantum Mechanics” arrived in August 2011. “Black” (2013), “Blood” (2014) and “Look Up, I’m Down There” (2016) followed, and the space-oriented trilogy of “Akkretion,” “Fragment” and “Elysium” was completed in 2024. The current line-up centres on Peter Spilles with keyboardist Jürgen Jansen and drummers Achim Färber and Christian “Leo” Leonhardt; co-founder Dirk Scheuber left the group in 2021. The 15th anniversary of “Quantum Mechanics” places the album back in that timeline, early in the band’s 2010s run on Trisol.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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Project Pitchfork’s ‘First Anthology’ and ‘Second Anthology’ pressed to vinyl

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 08:36:56 +0000

Project Pitchfork, the German dark electro group fronted by Peter Spilles, gets a Project Pitchfork anthology vinyl release: two of its career-spanning compilations pressed to vinyl for the first time. Trisol releases “First Anthology” and “Second Anthology” as limited 3LP sets on 16 October 2026, each capped at 1,000 numbered copies.

“First Anthology” was originally issued as a double CD in 2011, drawing on the band’s early years, its own label Candyland Entertainment and its later run on the major-label imprint EastWest. The new vinyl edition spreads 31 tracks across three 180g 12″ black vinyl records, a German audiophile pressing, and includes anthem tracks such as “Timekiller”, “Alpha Omega” and “I Live Your Dream”. The set comes in a gatefold sleeve with printed inner sleeves, and the artwork draws on photos from Peter Spilles’ private archive.

“Second Anthology” followed in 2016 as a companion double CD covering the band’s catalogue from 2002 onward, built around the previously unreleased song “What Have We Done” and a remix, “Beholder (Puppet Master Mix)”. Its vinyl counterpart carries 30 tracks over three 180g 12″ records with the same gatefold, printed-inner-sleeve and archive-photo artwork treatment as its companion, and highlights key tracks “Rain”, “Acid Ocean” and “Beholder”. Both anthologies are limited to 1,000 numbered copies and are due through Trisol.

Project Pitchfork anthology vinyl arrives ahead of anniversary tour

The two anthology vinyls land in the same year Project Pitchfork mark their 35th anniversary. Side-Line previously reported on the band’s Dhyani 35th anniversary reissue, the 2LP deluxe edition of Entities, and the 35 Years in the Heart of Darkness anniversary tour running across Germany from October to December 2026 – the same window in which both anthology vinyls arrive.

About Project Pitchfork

Project Pitchfork was formed in Hamburg, Germany, by Peter Spilles and Dirk Scheuber, who met in late 1988 and began working together as Project Pitchfork the following year, picking the band’s name at random from a dictionary. The band played its first live show in Hamburg in February 1990 and released the demo “K.N.K.A.” that August. Debut album “Dhyani” followed in May 1991 on Hypnobeat, with second album “Lam-‘Bras” arriving in February 1992 and introducing Patricia Nigiani as a backing vocalist. Third album “Entities” followed six months later.

A move to the Off Beat label produced 1994’s “Io,” which gave the band its first German chart entry via the singles “Renascence” and “Carrion,” followed by a lengthy tour. In 1995 Project Pitchfork founded their own label, Candyland Entertainment, releasing “Alpha Omega” the same year and touring in support of Rammstein. “¡Chakra:Red!” (1997) was the first album written as a full group effort and introduced Jürgen Jansen as a permanent member. The band then signed to major-label imprint EastWest for the concept album “Eon:Eon” (1998), whose singles “Steelrose,” “Carnival” and “I Live Your Dream” brought the band German music-TV airplay and an Echo Award nomination for the “Steelrose” video.

Project Pitchfork released “Daimonion” (2001) and the “NUN” trilogy centered on “Inferno” (2002), then “Kaskade” (2005) and “Dream, Tiresias!” (2009). By 2011, having wound down Candyland, the band had moved to Trisol, releasing “Continuum Ride” (2010) and “Quantum Mechanics” (2011) – the same year Trisol issued the original “First Anthology” compilation. “Black” (2013) and “Blood” (2014) followed, and in 2016 Trisol released “Second Anthology,” built around the unreleased track “What Have We Done,” alongside 25th-anniversary album “Look Up, I’m Down There.” “Akkretion” (2018) and “Fragment” (2018) opened a further trilogy that closed with 2024’s “Elysium.” Co-founder Dirk Scheuber left the band in March 2021; the current lineup centers on Peter Spilles with Jürgen Jansen, alongside live drummers Achim Färber and Christian “Leo” Leonhardt. Trisol now brings both career-spanning anthologies to vinyl for the first time, due 16 October 2026 as limited, numbered 3LP editions.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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Project Pitchfork’s ‘Continuum Ride’ turns 16 on 23 July

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Project Pitchfork, the Hamburg group that mixes dark wave, electro-industrial and EBM elements, released “Continuum Ride” on 23 July 2010 through Trisol. The album turns 16 this year. It followed “Dream, Tiresias!” (2009) and arrived a year ahead of “Quantum Mechanics” (2011), appearing on CD in a Digipak and as a limited two-CD-plus-DVD edition.

Peter Spilles wrote, composed and produced “Continuum Ride” and handled lead vocals; Dirk Scheuber and Jürgen Jansen completed the band’s core line-up on the record, with Achim Färber and Carsten Klatte contributing additional live musicianship. Chris von Rautenkranz mastered the album at Soundgarden Tonstudio in Hamburg, monozelle.de created the artwork and Silent-View supplied the photography. The 12-track album runs “Way of the World,” “Stacked Visions,” “The Dividing Line,” “Endless Infinity,” “Dead Cities,” “Continuum,” “Beholder,” “Ghost of the Past,” “Supersonic Snakebite,” “Star Child,” “43rd Floor” and “Full Contact.”

The band wrote “Continuum Ride” after their 2009 US tour; in an interview with Brutal Resonance, Peter Spilles connected the record’s harder, more destructive sound to the band’s impressions of Detroit’s derelict skyline during that trip. Trisol issued a video for the track “Beholder” to support the album, and reissued “Continuum Ride” as a limited two-LP-plus-two-CD set through Trisol in 2019.

About Project Pitchfork

Project Pitchfork started in Hamburg, Germany, where vocalist and composer Peter Spilles and keyboardist Dirk Scheuber began collaborating in 1989. The pair played their first concert in Hamburg in February 1990 and recorded the demo “K.N.K.A.” that same year. Their debut album “Dhyani” followed in May 1991, and 1992 brought both “Lam-‘Bras,” which introduced vocalist Patricia Nigiani, and “Entities.”

In 1994 the band moved to Off Beat for “IO,” whose singles “Renascence” and “Carrion” brought them into the German charts. A year later they founded their own imprint Candyland Entertainment, issued “Alpha Omega” and supported Rammstein on selected tour dates. Jürgen Jansen joined as a permanent member for “¡Chakra:Red!” (1997), and the concept album “Eon:Eon” (1998) marked the band’s move to the EastWest major-label imprint. The 2000s added “Daimonion” (2001) and the “NUN” trilogy built around “Inferno” (2002), before the band returned to an independent footing with “Kaskade” (2005).

By 2010 Project Pitchfork had moved to Trisol, releasing “Dream, Tiresias!” the year before “Continuum Ride.” “Quantum Mechanics” followed in 2011, then “Black” (2013), “Blood” (2014) and “Look Up, I’m Down There” (2016), the last marking the band’s 25th anniversary. The current line-up centres on Peter Spilles with Jürgen Jansen on keyboards and Achim Färber and Christian “Leo” Leonhardt on live drums; co-founder Dirk Scheuber left the group in 2021. “Continuum Ride” sits early in the band’s Trisol-era run, between the 2009 US tour that shaped its sound and the “Quantum Mechanics” album that followed it a year later.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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Project Pitchfork reissue ‘Entities’ as limited 2LP Deluxe Edition

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 18:49:12 +0000

German dark wave and electro-industrial act Project Pitchfork will re-release “Entities” as a limited 2LP Deluxe Edition – aka the “Entities (35th Anniversary Edition)” – via Trisol on June 26, 2026.

The new edition comes on black 2x180g 12-inch vinyl. The audio has been newly remastered for vinyl by Robin Schmidt at 24-96 Mastering. The set is pressed in Germany and comes in a sturdy cardboard sleeve with two separate printed full-colour inner sleeves containing the lyrics. The edition is limited to only 500 copies. Note that the “Dhyani” 2LP and “Lam-‘Bras” 2LP sold out in record time, so make sure to order your copy on time.

Here is the tracklist for the vinyl:

Side A

“Mirror Part I”
“Song of the Winds”
“Mirror Part II”
“Pan”

Side B

“Mirror Part III”
“Entity”
“Mirror Part IV”
“Ocean of Whispers”

Side C

“Mirror Part V”
“The Refuge”
“The Abeyance”
“Hell”

Side D

“Mirror Part VI”
“Souls”
“Mirror Part VII”
“A Few Years Later”

“Entities” was originally released in October 1992 on Hypnobeat as Project Pitchfork’s third studio album, following “Dhyani” in 1991 and “Lam-‘Bras” earlier in 1992. The album marked a key point in the Hamburg band’s early releases, with Peter Spilles and Dirk Scheuber expanding their darkwave and electro-industrial sound through longer structures, repeated “Mirror” interludes and a continuous track flow.

The original CD edition contained 16 tracks, including “Song of the Winds”, “Entity”, “Ocean of Whispers”, “The Refuge”, “The Abeyance”, “Hell”, “Souls” and “A Few Years Later”. The “Mirror Part I” to “Mirror Part VII” pieces linked the album into one uninterrupted sequence, which also explains why the 2026 2LP edition required careful remastering and vinyl-side planning to preserve the original flow.

About Project Pitchfork

Project Pitchfork are a German dark wave and electronic music group from Hamburg. Peter Spilles and Dirk Scheuber formed the project in 1989. The band played its first concert in Hamburg in February 1990 and released the “K.N.K.A.” demo in August 1990. “Dhyani” followed in May 1991 on Hypnobeat, then “Lam-‘Bras” in February 1992 and “Entities” later that year.

The early Project Pitchfork catalogue moved through Hypnobeat and then Off Beat. “Io” arrived in 1994 and brought the band into the German charts with the singles “Renascence” and “Carrion”. In 1995, the group established Candyland Entertainment and released “Alpha Omega” alongside the EPs “CH’I” and “Corps D’Amour”. Jürgen Jansen became a permanent member during the period leading to “¡Chakra:Red!” in 1997. The band then released “Eon:Eon” through EastWest, an imprint of Warner Music, in 1998.

The 2000s catalogue includes “Daimonion”, the “NUN” trilogy around “Inferno”, “Kaskade”, “Dream, Tiresias!”, “Continuum Ride”, “Quantum Mechanics”, “Black”, “Blood” and “Look Up, I’m Down There”. Later releases on Trisol include “Akkretion” and “Fragment” in 2018, followed by “Elysium” in 2024.

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Trisol mark 35 years of Project Pitchfork debut ‘Dhyani’ with new black 2LP edition

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 19:27:13 +0000

On March 27, 2026, Trisol will issue a new black 2x180g vinyl edition of Project Pitchfork’s debut album “Dhyani,” marking the 35th anniversary of the German electro-industrial group’s first full-length release. Project Pitchfork’s “Dhyani” vinyl reissue arrives as a strictly limited 2LP set of 500 copies, with the black version going into regular distribution while a coloured variant is reserved for Trisol’s own mail-order channels.

Details of the Project Pitchfork ‘Dhyani’ vinyl reissue

The anniversary edition of “Dhyani” appears as a double 12-inch, cut on 180-gram black vinyl pressed in Germany. The set comes in a sturdy cardboard sleeve and includes printed inner sleeves reproducing the full lyrics. All audio has been newly remastered for vinyl by Robin Schmidt at 24-96 Mastering, a studio known for high-end lacquer cutting and catalogue work for both independent and major artists.

This 2LP configuration presents the complete original album sequence across four sides:

Side A: “Lost Youth of a Prisoner,” “Fire and Ice,” “Inside”
Side B: “Doom,” “Box of Steel,” “K.N.K.A.”
Side C: “Vietnam,” “Message,” “In the Year 2525”
Side D: “Lie on Grass,” “2nd Step,” “Suicide of the Guardian Angel”

Note that the track “In the Year 2525” is Project Pitchfork’s interpretation of the Zager & Evans song, which has appeared on all core editions of the album since the early 1990s.

The new edition follows Trisol’s ongoing campaign to bring key Project Pitchfork titles back to high-quality physical formats, which has already included multi-disc sets for albums such as “Black,” “Continuum Ride,” and “Akkretion” / “Fragment“, with bonus tracks.

How the original ‘Dhyani’ appeared in 1991

“Dhyani” was first released in May 1991 on the German label Hypnobeat, following the band’s 1990 demo “K.N.K.A.” and early live appearances in Hamburg. The album brought Project Pitchfork’s trademark mix of dark wave, electro-industrial and early EBM, mixed with Peter Spilles’ characteristic vocals.

The original CD issue on Hypnobeat (catalogue CD 21013) already carried the 12-track running order now used for the 35th-anniversary 2LP. However LP editions condensed the material to a 10-track sequence due to side-length limitations, a constraint that the new double-vinyl format removes by distributing all 12 tracks across four sides.

“Dhyani” introduced several songs that would become instant classics, such as “Lost Youth of a Prisoner,” “Fire and Ice” and “K.N.K.A.”, but the biggest hits for sure were “2nd Step” and “Fire and Ice”. The album quickly circulated beyond Germany and laid the foundation for future full-lengths “Lam-‘Bras” and “Entities,” both issued in 1992.

Over the years, “Dhyani” has seen several CD reissues on Hypnobeat and related imprints during the 1990s and early 2000s, keeping the title available even as the band moved on to Off Beat, EastWest and finally Trisol. However, original vinyl copies have remained relatively scarce, which gives this new double-LP pressing particular relevance for collectors who prefer an analogue edition built around a full-album presentation rather than compilation excerpts.

About Project Pitchfork

Project Pitchfork are a dark wave and electro-industrial group from Hamburg, Germany, founded by vocalist and composer Peter Spilles and keyboardist Dirk Scheuber at the end of the 1980s. The pair started collaborating in 1989, chose the band name by picking a random word from a dictionary, and played their first concert in Hamburg in February 1990. That same year they recorded the demo “K.N.K.A.,” which became a blueprint for their early work. In May 1991, Project Pitchfork released their debut album “Dhyani” on Hypnobeat, followed in February 1992 by “Lam-‘Bras,” which also introduced Patricia Nigiani as vocalist, and by “Entities” later the same year.

In the early 1990s, their sound on “Dhyani,” “Lam-‘Bras,” “Entities” and later “IO” was almost entirely electronic, built around sequenced drums, synth basslines, dense pads and samples, with Peter Spilles’ vocals as the main organic element.

By 1994 the group had moved to the Off Beat label for the album “IO,” whose singles “Renascence” and “Carrion” brought them into the German charts and onto larger tours. In 1995 they founded their own imprint, Candyland Entertainment, and issued “Alpha Omega” alongside the EPs “CH’I” and “Corps D’Amour,” while touring with Rammstein as support on selected dates.

The mid- to late 1990s saw the first clear shift in their sound: guest guitar parts appeared on specific tracks (notably around “Souls/Island”), adding grit and emphasis without changing the electronic backbone. With the release of “¡Chakra:Red!” and the concept album “Eon:Eon,” the overall production broadened, heavier guitar elements and live drums surfaced more often, and a dedicated live guitarist became part of the touring line-up. Guitars still did not drive the songs in a traditional rock sense; they mainly doubled synth lines, thickened choruses and provided additional noise layers.

During the 2000s, Project Pitchfork’s studio output included “Daimonion,” the “NUN” trilogy built around the album “Inferno” with the EPs “View From a Throne” and “Trialog,” and later “Kaskade.” From “Daimonion” onward, guitars and live drums became a systematic part of their studio palette. Later albums on Trisol – “Dream, Tiresias!,” “Continuum Ride,” “Quantum Mechanics,” “Black,” “Blood” and “Look Up, I’m Down There” – continued the group’s electronic focus while integrating updated production techniques and using electric and sometimes acoustic guitars as processed textures embedded in the mix.

The band then launched the space-oriented trilogy of “Akkretion,” “Fragment” and “Elysium,” completed in 2024. Across these releases, the fundamental identity remains electronic: sequenced rhythms, synth-driven structures and Spilles’ vocals stay central, with guitars functioning as integrated, often heavily treated layers that reinforce the established sound rather than replace it.

Alongside this studio work, Project Pitchfork have issued several live records and compilations, including “The Early Years (89–93),” the multi-part “Collector” series and the “First Anthology” / “Second Anthology” sets, which assemble material from across their discography and repeatedly return to the starting point of “Dhyani.”

The current live and studio line-up centres on Peter Spilles with long-time keyboardist Jürgen Jansen and drummers Achim Färber and Christian “Leo” Leonhardt. Dirk Scheuber, who co-founded the band and contributed keyboards from 1989 onward, left the group in 2021.

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Deep Red releases all German single, ‘Atom Rot’, feat. Hoffa of the band Faustan – Out now

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Mon, 16 Sep 2024 13:49:33 +0000

Deep Red releases a brand new single, “Atom Rot”. The track is the first song the band releases with lyrics in German. This track is their first all German track with guest vocals from Hoffa of the band Faustan. The single acts as a sneak peak of what’s to come when their new EP comes out. The new EP will be thematically centered around a world of double-crossing agents during the cold war.

The spy thriller-themed track draws inspiration from the film “Atomic Blonde”, whose plot centers around a sensual yet savage spy on the verge of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Faustan is a new electro pop act based out of Miami and formed by Harry V. previously of Universal Latino signed act Formula Redux and Hoffa from underground Berlin band Flying 55.

Atom Rot – mit Hoffa (Faustan) by Deep Red

“Atom Rot” is available on Spotify and all major digital platforms including Bandcamp.

About Deep Red

The band released three albums and now after a long hiatus they are back to reclaim their place in the Darkwave musical realm.

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Deep Red releases ‘Run (Jet Set Giallo Remix)’ single – Out now

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Fri, 09 Feb 2024 16:08:11 +0000

Deep Red has released a new version of their latest single “Run” in a Jet Set Giallo remix. The main theme behind Deep Red’s latest track is what happens when the hunter becomes the prey, and the victim becomes the aggressor.

The original was released on January 26th and mixes electro-industrial and post-punk. This remix adds a darker edge and an extra punch to the original version. The new remix is available on Spotify and all major digital platforms including Bandcamp.

Run (Jet Set Giallo Remix) by Deep Red

The band in the end got signed to Project Pitchfork’s label and embarked on a European tour with them. The band released 3 albums in total plus 1 EP and has since 2023 been releasing various singles.

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Absurd Minds – Gravitas (Album – Scanner / Dark Dimensions)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Tue, 30 Jan 2024 08:00:00 +0000

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

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: By the end of 2023 German formation Absurd Minds unleashed their eighth opus which came three years after “Sapta” and twenty three years after their official debut album “Deception” -which by the way was already released by Scanner.

Content: This is an album without surprises and which will be liked by the growing fanbase of the band. The songs are driven by this unique Absurd Minds Electro/Wave/Pop touch mixing harder, dancefloor-orientated songs and softer, melancholic; Ballad-like cuts. I once more experienced Absurd Minds as the sonic hybrid between Project Pitchfork and The Sisters Of Mercy.

+ + + : The band doesn’t try new tricks or innovation but simply achieved a professional and alluring production. I prefer the ‘harder’ cuts whereon the band excels in great crafted songs carried by strong melody lines. I also like the symphonic, electronic, arrangements the songs have been made of while Stefan Grossmann remains a great, and charismatic, singer.

– – – : I never have been a huge fan of the band’s softer side and these cuts aren’t still my favorites after having heard the new work.

Conclusion: Absurd Minds strikes back in style once more confirming they’re a band with a very own and recognizable sound.

Best songs: “A Million Miles”, “No restraint”, “Silicon dreams”, “Gravitas”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.absurdminds.de / www.facebook.com/AbsurdMinds

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

Gravitas by Absurd Minds

About Absurd Minds

Absurd Minds formed in Dresden, Germany, in 1995 around Tilo Ladwig and Stefan Grossmann, working with producer Francesco D’Angelo of Scanner / Dark Dimensions. The band released its debut album, “Deception”, on Scanner in 2000.

After “Serve Or Suffer” in 2010, Absurd Minds returned in 2017 with “Tempus Fugit”, followed by “Sapta”. The eighth album, “Gravitas”, followed on Scanner / Dark Dimensions at the end of 2023, with Stefan Grossmann remaining the band’s vocalist.

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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Deep Red presents first new single of the year: ‘Run’

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Fri, 26 Jan 2024 16:39:00 +0000

What happens when the hunter becomes the prey, and the victim becomes the aggressor? That’s indeed the main theme behind the newest single “Run” by Deep Red. The single, which is available now, offers a mix of electro-industrial and post-punk ingredients.

A darker, more aggressive remix of “Run” will be coming out on February 9, 2024.

Run (Original Mix) by Deep Red

Deep Red was formed in 1996 by Martha A. Hoffmann also of Distorted Reality and DC Astro of Element 104. Shortly after, their song “Holy You” would be included in Cleopatra Records’ “The Goth Box”. That paved the way to appearances in a slew of other compilations in the US and abroad (including also on our own sold out “Venusa XX” 2CD compilation from 2001 with the track “Spirits of the Past”) and eventually, being signed to Project Pitchfork‘s Candyland label and a European tour with them. The band released 3 albums and now after a long hiatus has returned.

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Project Pitchfork gives more details on ‘Elysium’ limited 2CD + book

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Thu, 25 Jan 2024 16:30:14 +0000

Out on March 28 is the all new album from Project Pitchfork, “Elysium”, as we already reported you about. We now can give you some extra details too.

The release will be out as a ‘regular’ edition in 6-panel digipak format with an extra 28-pages booklet next to a 2CD plus book version. The final chapter to the trilogy that started with “Akkretion” and “Fragment” will then be completed.

The limited 2CD + book edition will include:

Hardback picture book with 2 CDs
CD1: the album “Elysium”
CD2: contains an exclusive bonus song & 3 quite different remixes of album tracks: (“Is it You?”, “Unity RMX”, “Summer Walk RMX”, “Transformation RMX”
Outer wrap printed in colour and featuring additional metallic print
Visual worlds by SilentView
80 pages, in a large format (approx 28 x 28 cms) of the visual imagery
Contains the entire album lyrics
Fine art print on high-quality, glossy coated 150g paper, with additional metallic ink
Black front and rear endpapers
Elaborate black thread stitching

This edition is strictly limited to 2,000 copies worldwide.

Project Pitchfork – Elysium Book

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Project Pitchfork completes trilogy and launches ‘Elysium’ in 2024

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Tue, 02 Jan 2024 10:09:42 +0000

For several years fans have been waiting for Project Pitchfork to release the 3rd installment in the series they promised back in 2018. Project Pitchfork put out “Akkretion” and “Fragment“, the first two parts of a trilogy but since then 5 years went by with nothing new since. But now they launch a tour holding the name of the 3rd part, “Elysium”.

After a long silence, in spring 2024, the last act of this electro trilogy will finally follow. On the upcoming “Elysium” tour, you can not only expect songs from the album of the same name, but also a string of classics and also the new singles “The Dance” and “Learning to Live”.

As special support tAngerinecAt will join the tour. This duo from Wales was founded in Ukraine in 2008 by Zhenia Purpurovsky (Kyiv) and Paul Chilton (UK).

Project Pitchfork concert dates

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Deep Red single ‘The Art of Lust’ gets Love=Death remix treatment – Out now

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Sat, 18 Nov 2023 17:46:51 +0000

Right on the heels of the release of their new single “The Art of Lust”, Deep Red releases “The Art of Lust (Love=Death Remix)”. The remix offers a harder-hitting version of the single or as the band puts it, “this remix takes the original and punches it up a notch or two.”

And they add: “Love=Death is an obscure artist who recently approached us about a collaboration. Glad we took this chance because the remix takes the song in a completely different direction. We will definitely be working together again.”

The single is available on Spotify and all major digital platforms including Bandcamp.

The Art Of Lust (Love=Death Remix) by Deep Red

About Deep Red

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Alien Life Frequency cyberfunk duo return with new album ‘µ[SIC]’

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 12:14:50 +0000

The Alton, Illinois-based experimental duo Alien Life Frequency have been hard at work the last few years and have released a few albums. While the self-titled debut featured a plethora of strange sounds and bass lines, the second album, “Evolution AI”, had a slowed down tempo to offer a more melodic sound. The band’s newest album “µ[SIC]” offer something more akin to cyberfunk and features Tabitha Turso on six string bass with Francesco Turso taken care of the beats and synths.

This album was created live during jam sessions, and each song has a live jam session video showing the creative process. You can view these on the band’s Youtube channel. You’ll notice that the videos incorporate trippy backgrounds and funny animations.

Francesco Turso might ring a bell with our readers as he was featured under his own name with the track “The 13th Floor” on the “Face The Beat 7” compilation released by Side-Line. He was born in Italy and raised in Chicago. During the 1990’s he played in a few industrial bands before forming Iago and Friends, which was a precursor to Alien Life Frequency. His influences include Depeche Mode, KMFDM, Project Pitchfork, Front 242 and My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult.

Tabitha Turso was born and raised in the Saint Louis area and played in various rock and blues bands. Her major influences include Les Claypool, Bootsy Collins, Parliament-Funkadelic, Danny Elfman and Mike Patton.

Check out their new cyberfunk album below.

µ[SIC] by Alien Life Frequency

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Eisfabrik release title track of new album: ‘Götter in Weiß’

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Mon, 23 Oct 2023 09:47:18 +0000

Out now is “Götter in Weiß”, the first single from the new Eisfabrik album of the same name which will be out on 29th December via the NoCut label (SPV). The music video for the single is available as well, you can watch it below.

The song describes the situation of doctors. On the one hand, they bear a great responsibility and are often faced with decisions that can mean the difference between life and death. On the other hand, they are exposed to clichés and prejudices.

The album will be released as a digipak, vinyl and a limited fan box and is now available for pre-order.

About Eisfabrik

Eisfabrik, a German electro and future-pop band, emerged in the winter of 2011/2012, and was formed by Charly Barth-Ricklefs (formerly of Shadow-Minds) and Gerrit Thomas (notably from Funker Vogt). They marked their public debut on October 4, 2014, during the 7th Darkflower Live Night in Leipzig. Early 2015 saw the establishment of their music label, Eismusik. Their debut album “When Winter Comes” was released on February 13, 2015, introducing Jan Bertram as a key member of the band. That year, Eisfabrik supported Project Pitchfork on their Blood-Tour.

By the end of 2015, the band signed a takeover contract with the label NoCut, releasing the album “Eisplanet” within the same year. Their touring ventures with Project Pitchfork and Mono Inc. garnered a wider audience, leading to their first headliner tour, “Nichtsommer-Tour,” across seven cities. The release of their third studio album “Achtzehnhundertunderfroren” coincided with the tour’s commencement. The latter half of the year saw the inception of their second headliner tour, “Kaltgebiete,” which stretched into spring 2018, marked by the release of their fourth album “Null Kelvin”.

Signing with RepoRecords in 2019, they released the EP “Rotationsausfall in der Eisfabrik.” The following year, their fifth studio album “Kryothermalmusik aus der Eisfabrik” made its debut in the German album charts. Winter 2021/2022 marked their return to NoCut label, with the release of their 6th studio album “Life Below Zero”.

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The dark electronic band Deep Red is finally back and alive and kicking with an all new single: ‘Battle Lines’

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 17:47:16 +0000

The band in the end got signed to Project Pitchfork’s label and embarked on a European tour with them. The band released 3 albums in total plus 1 EP.

And behold, we now got the news that the legendary dark electronic band Deep Red has announced its comeback. It’s been a whopping 20 years since the band’s last release, “Chimera”, was released. The duo has now returned with the single “Battle Lines”, a collaboration with the band Element 104.

The band is currently working on a slew of new material to be released later this year. “Battle Lines” is available on Spotify and all major digital platforms including Bandcamp.

Here’s the video for “Battle Lines”.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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Distorted Reality drops all new single, ‘I Can’t Imagine’

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Tue, 09 May 2023 08:27:58 +0000

The synthpop/industrial band Distorted Reality is back with an all new single, “I Can’t Imagine”. “I Can’t Imagine” addresses the idea of being in a relationship with someone for a long time while realizing the relationship is essentially over. No one wants to make the scary move of ending it. It’s a difficult and heartbreaking split because you both still love each other. In this case, however, love is not enough.

“I Can’t Imagine” is available on all major digital platforms including Bandcamp.

I Can't Imagine by Distorted Reality

Below you can see a video for the new single.

Distorted Reality was formed by Martha A. Hoffmann from Miami, USA and Christian Kobusch from Berlin, Germany, the creator of musical project Berlin Banter. Martha is the lead singer of Deep Red, the American Electro-Goth formation. Deep Red was touring in support of Project Pitchfork when a chance meeting between Marttha and Christian happened at a tour stop in Germany, Martha and Christian began to discuss their ideas.

Subsequently, Distorted Reality was formed after the two kept in touch over the course of a year during which, a collection of songs were created. Distorted Reality’s debut album “The Fine Line Between Love and Hate” was produced together with Bruno Kramm (Das Ich) and released on May 17, 2002 on Accession Records and re-released on the American record label Nilaihah Records. The North American version contained additional remixes by Assemblage 23, Forma Tadre, cut.rate.box and Null Device.

In 2004/2005 Martha and Christian worked on their second album “Daydreams and Nightmares” together with Andreas Meyer (Forma Tadre, Newt). Artists like Bruno Kramm, Daniel Myer (Haujobb), In Strict Confidence, Dust of Basement and Chris L. (Agonoize) contributed remixes to this album.

During the COVID-19 lockdown, the band decided to put out a new single (performed live), “I Knew it Was Wrong”, in January 2021. 2022 then saw another collaboration with Solitary Experiments where Martha was part of a special bonus CD, “La Voix de La Femme”, with her interpretation of their song “I am”. Most recently, Christian and Berlin Banter collaborated on a single with Tricky.

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Company behind W-festival and Sinner’s Day is 2.8 million euros in debt after UK ticketseller goes bankrupt

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Thu, 03 Nov 2022 13:43:32 +0000

Again not so good news from the (dark) Belgian festival scene. The Business Court of Hasselt has allowed Wave to Synth, the company behind the W-festival and Sinner’s Day, a procedure of judicial reorganization according to the Belgian newspaper Het Belang van Limburg. The organizer received a temporary suspension of payments until March 20, 2023. There is an outstanding debt of more than 2.8 million euros.

According to the organizer, the bankruptcy of the British company that arranged their ticket sales is at the root of the financial problem. The chances are slim that the organizer of Sinner’s Day and W-Festival will see some of their money back. They are now trying to reach an agreement with the creditors to allow the next edition of the W-Festival in Ostend to take place.

The 2023 edition of the W-Festival is planned for 25-27 August 2023. Already scheduled for that festival are the following acts: Nena, Bow Wow Wow, Midge Ure, Project Pitchfork, Modern English, When In Rome, Corpus Delicti.

W-Festival attracted over 20.000 people in the Summer of 2022.

As far as Sinner’s Day is concerned, the Winter 2022 edition was already canceled and postponed to next year. In a reaction the organisation then said that it was canceled “in order to keep our company in the game and to guarantee well organized festivals as we did this summer”.

The organizers also said that the reason for all this “is the lack of enthusiasm of the Belgian scene for the scheduled line-up this year, despite our marketing efforts – both in Belgium and abroad – the (ticketing) interest in our program is not at all what we had predicted, it is even far from our worst case scenario.”

Belgium and the darkwave scene, it has always been a complicated situation.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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SPECTRA*Paris release next single ‘Poison Fresh’

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Wed, 17 Aug 2022 13:53:49 +0000

Italian singer Elena Alice Fossi has released a new single, “Poison Fresh”, which is taken from the forthcoming new full-length of her dark electro project SPECTRA*Paris. The fifth album of that band is entitled “Modernism” and will be released on August 26.

The “Poison Fresh” video can be viewed right below.

Elena Alice Fossi says this about the single: “It is a journey to unknown shores, where you learn how to free yourself from reptilian and poisonous empires. Getting on that spaceship has a price and takes you away from the known side of the world. But the dream is well worth living. ‘Plant your stigma on all dogma’!”

The new album “Modernism ” will have the following guest musicians on board: Angelo Bergamini (Kirlian Camera), John Fryer (This Mortal Coil), Fakeba, Project Pitchfork, Seasurfer, Alison Bergamini (Fleurida Videogame Music), Michael Ciravolo (Beauty In Chaos) And John Rox & Oxydion.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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SPECTRA*paris – Modernism (Album – Dependent Records)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Fri, 29 Jul 2022 07:00:00 +0000

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

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Kirlian Camera singer Elena Alice Fossi strikes back with the fifth album of her SPECTRA*paris sonic alter ego. Her partner in crime Angelo Bergamini contributed to the work while other famous names like Project Pitchfork, John Fryer and Seasurfer ao contributed as well.

Content: The sound universe of SPECTRA*paris is clearly driven by Electro-Pop elements but also feature other sources of inspiration. Retro passages have been alternated with heavier, dramatic, parts while there’s also space for evasive, Cinematic, tracks and last, but not least a great club-driven cut with sensual, Eastern, atmospheres on top.

+ + + : The main strength of the album is its diversity. But I also salute the way this artist -and her guests, achieved a reinterpretation of Electro-Pop music. On top of it all you get Elena’s magic, sensual, fragile timbre of voice. “MoRoDERN” clearly sounds as a potential hit; it sounds clubby and driven by a hot, Eastern sound atmosphere. Another noticeable cut is the “Doctor Phibes Mix” of “Poison Fresh” which sounds much more club-driven than the original, drama-sounding, edit.

– – – : I was less convinced by the softer, Cinematic passages of the album.

Conclusion: SPECTRA*paris remains a very unique formation and definitely more than simply a side-project. It sounds like the ‘sonic boudoir’ of Elena Alice Fossi.

Best songs: “MoRoDERN”, “Poison Fresh – Doctor Phibes Mix”, “Graphic Music 1.0”, “Moondrops”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.facebook.com/spectraparis.official

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

About SPECTRA*paris

Spectra*Paris is the electronic rock project led by Italian singer, composer and producer Elena Alice Fossi, who also fronts Kirlian Camera. Discogs describes the project as having grown out of Fossi’s earlier Siderartica work. Kirlian Camera’s Angelo Bergamini contributed to “Modernism”.

The first album, “Dead Models Society (Young Ladies Homicide Club)”, came out on Trisol in 2007. “Christmas Ghouls” and “License To Kill” followed on Out Of Line in 2010, and “Retromachine Betty” appeared on Dependent Records in 2017. “Modernism” is the fifth album and the project’s second for that label.

The album was preceded by a second single, “Poison Fresh”. Fossi has also recorded outside the project with Beauty In Chaos and with Solitary Experiments.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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Fusspils 11 – Halbwegs Verpeilt (Album – RepoRecords)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Fri, 13 May 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: EBM, Body-Pop, Cinematic, Punk.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Fusspils 11 is a project driven by Gerrit Thomas (Funker Vogt, Eisfabrik, Ravenous, Fictional). Two previous albums were released by Fusspils 11 while this is the first new work since 2005. The work features three original songs and a majority of surprising cover versions featuring guest singers/artists. The contributors are Bastian Polak (Intent:Outtake), Andreas Engleitner (Intent:Outtake), Charly Barth-Ricklefs (Eisfabrik), Tim Schulschenk (Alienare), Dirk Scheuber (Scheuber, Project Pitchfork), Jan Bertram (Eisfabrik), Alexander ‘Fischy’ Fischer (Tourmanagement, Yeti), Stefan Winkel (Gecko Sector), René Dornbusch (Funker Vogt, Eisfabrik) and Stephan Herrmann (J-SOC, Scheuber).

Content: Soundwise this work has less in common with previous Fusspils 11 albums except Gerrit Thomas is the steersman. The cover versions are pretty diversified ranging from Rammstein to Kraftwerk to Bots to Torfrock. Most of those bands are pretty popular in Germany and inspired Gerrit Thomas to achieve an own interpretation. The original songs by Fusspils 11 are easier to recognize. Gerrit Thomas’ typical sound arrangements reminding Funker Vogt but still his other projects are coming through while these songs are more powerful as well. He sings on two of these songs.

+ + + : This work was for sure pure fun; working on some funny- and other unexpected German covers while joined by some mates. I however prefer the original Fusspils 11 songs which are probably not as fun but definitely more powerful. It’s however cool to hear Gerrit Thomas transposing “Haifisch” (Rammstein) and “Das Modell” (Kraftwerk) into his own sound and approach. One of the most funny cuts might become a hit. I’m referring to the legendary “Sieben Tage Lang” originally written by Bots. If you remember the free adaptation of this song by Scooter (cf. “How Much Is The Fish?”) which became a famous hit you never know where the Fusspils 11-cover will end.

– – – : This album is fun and featuring some cool dancefloor cuts but it’s the less convincing work I ever heard from Gerrit Thomas -who I still consider as one of the greatest artists from this scene.

Conclusion: Definitely fun and something different from Gerrit Thomas’ studio but not totally convincing!

Best songs: “Die Drei Säulen Des Wahnsinns”, “Zombiewelt”, “Bambule In Kindergarten”, “Schwartz Zu Blau”, “Sieben Tage Lang”.

Rate: 7.

Artist: www.facebook.com/Fusspils11

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

“Halbwegs verpeilt” was released on 29 April 2022 by RepoRecords as a digital album and a CD, running sixteen tracks and just over an hour. The video for the album track “Die drei Säulen des Wahnsinns” is on YouTube.

About Fusspils 11

Fusspils 11 is the German side-project of Gerrit Thomas, who is also active in Funker Vogt, Eisfabrik, Ravenous and Fictional. The project has a thin discography: “Gib ihr einen Namen” appeared in 1998 and “Elektro-Polizei” in 2005, after which Thomas left the name dormant for seventeen years.

“Halbwegs verpeilt” is the third Fusspils 11 release. It was announced through the pre-single “Haifisch”, a Rammstein cover sung by guest vocalist Bastian Polak of Intent:Outtake, with a video produced by Gerrit Thomas. The album pairs three original Fusspils 11 songs with covers drawn from Rammstein, Kraftwerk, Bots and Torfrock, and lines up guest singers from Eisfabrik, Intent:Outtake, Alienare, Scheuber, Gecko Sector, Funker Vogt, J-SOC and Yeti.

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30 Years Of Journalism – Celebration Interview with Bernard Van Isacker (Side-Line & Alfa Matrix): ‘Consider Us As An Incubator For Talents’

Inferno Sound Diaries — Thu, 30 Dec 2021 18:00:00 +0000

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. The last interview in this series is one with Bernard Van Isacker. I definitely had to close the circle with this interview. Being active as Side-Line’s chief redactor and as one of the Alfa Matrix label owners, Bernard and I became close friends. We didn’t always agree on some topics, which finally brought me to leave Side-Line as staff member in 2016. We remained in touch and decided to move on working together, but in a different format. A lot of things have been said and written about Bernard -not always kind things – but I got the privilege and opportunity to see how he’s working and all what he’s doing. I can only, but deeply respect his involvement. Time to ask him some questions.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Lots of people from this scene know who you are, but how would you introduce yourself and how did you get in touch with the Electro/Industrial/Gothic scene?

Bernard: My name is Bernard Van Isacker, 47 years old, and I have 2 kids. Magnus, 4 years old, and Sebastian, 16 years old, from my first marriage. I work currently as a social media manager, web developer and CRM admin for a multinational. I also run 2 holiday houses, but for the past 2 years they have been empty due to the corona pandemic. That was a big blow to our budget, so I had to take extra work to keep on paying our bills. But we survive.

I sleep basically 5 hours per night, take a small breakfast and lots of coffee at 6 in the local Panos –both the owners Mario and Hannelore are sweethearts -before I start work at 7:30 until, 10, 11 at night. I’ll probably die working (laughs).

I first got introduced to the Dark-Wave scene when I was 14 years old and was sitting next to a guy in class who said he had heard a really sick tape. That was Nitzer Ebb’s “That Total Age”. But you have to know that I was already heavily into Depeche Mode and New-Beat (yes!) so the ‘move’ to more industrial sounds was not really a surprise. Anyhow, Nitzer Ebb had more or less the same BPM as new beat so that was easy (laughs). By the time I was fifteen I was listening to Cat Rapes Dog. Their “Maximum Overdrive” remains legendary as far as I am concerned. And after that I got hooked to Inside Treatment, Pouppée Fabrikk, and other bands from Scandinavia. I only started to listen to German acts when I went to university, and that included bands such as Fortification 55, Project Pitchfork, Psychic Force, Trial, etc..

As we speak I’m in the middle of compiling our newest volume in the “Face The Beat”-series for Side-Line. The 7^th so far. But shoot with the questions Stephane!

Q: I guess less people know you graduated in journalism so what did you try to add/change when joining Side-Line? And how did you happen to join Side-Line magazine?

Bernard: That’s correct, I graduated in journalism and worked at a couple of newspapers before diving into the startup world of ecommerce. That was pre-Google so SEO was still something very rudimentary and traffic was basically created via price comparison sites and massive mailings, you can call it pure spam (laughs).

But I worked for 4 years as a journalist, was able to write a lot of solid articles, but I got fed up with the easy way things were covered (while we all knew it were lies) and the easy way things were NOT covered (because some bishop threatened to sue the newspaper –and me, for defamation). I left that world disgusted. Add to that it is one of the worst paid jobs ever.

I got fed up with the easy way things were covered in the press

Anyhow, whilst studying one of my friends, Yves Van De Veken, told me there was this magazine that was going to be published with an attached CD compilation full of Dark-Wave music and that they would have the first issue with the sampler later that week in the Metrophone cellar, in Antwerp that is, where I studied. I got the magazine, which was in a very stylish layout, liked the CD sampler and was hooked on the review section to read about new bands. I was at that time already working part-time as journalist whilst studying, and I got access to bigger bands which I thought could fit Side-Line pretty well, so I sent a mail to Seba (who I thought was a girl) and told ‘her’ that I could arrange bigger interviews for them. Seba wanted to test the waters I guess, and I told that I could do Hooverphonic, but could also check with Dirk Da Davo in the next week to show what I was capable of. Apparently ‘she’ really liked what I wrote and asked for more. Paradise Lost, Marc Almond, Bel Canto, … the list of interviews I did for Side-Line grew by the day.

But I had never met any of the team. The first time I met someone from the Side-Line team back then was actually you, but I can’t recall where that was, I think it was in Brussels, but for what exactly?

A few weeks later I met Seba –who you told was NOT a girl, at a Die Form concert in Ghent I think. If I’m not wrong Cédric and Benoit were also there. Since then we were like a band of brothers who went to concerts, either together or with one or two others. Sweet times I must say, we were all very young, had not yet lived ‘real’ life with all its hurdles and accidents.

Q: Early 2008 was a turning point in the magazine’s history. Former chief-redactor Séba Dolimont decided to stop his involvement so you became the new chief-redactor. The printed magazine definitely stopped and Side-Line remained only active as online magazine. How do you look back at the loss of the printed magazine and how did the transition happen?

Bernard: I basically had always pushed to keep the magazine alive as a print magazine, but at the same time I had launched www.side-line.com in 1999 because the initial Side-Line website –on a different url, was basically just a page, looked bloody awful and served no purpose –no offense Ronan Harris. So when Seba told me that he had decided to stop with the printed magazine, my mental switch was fast and I decided to focus on the online magazine which by then was attracting a tenfold of the printed magazine anyhow. It was a no-brainer.

Going online only? It was a no-brainer.

With Seba stopping, we also lost most of the external contributors, which is logical since a print magazine has a more loose team whereas a news website has to work with a very productive small team, as Side-Line.com was by then already producing daily news updates. A small team is always easier to work with, and I had seen that with the print version of Side-Line I was already doing most of the interviews, delivering 99% of the news, while you already did most of the reviews. So, we had a winning team anyhow, why change that?

In short, yes, it had an emotional impact, but not a practical one. We had a good run, but the times were changing. And I for sure was not planning to miss the online train as you know.

Q: I think there’re significant differences between a printed magazine and an online page. Can you give us the pros and cons especially from your perspective?

Bernard: Yes, the differences are there for sure and I think you will agree with me, but tell me if you don’t! I will give you the pros and cons as far as online is concerned, the cons will largely cover the pros for print.

Pros:

Write, enter it in the CMS, add a picture and post. Simple. In short: it’s fast.
The news goes out instantly via a wide array of tools. One post on Side-Line reaches around 5000 people in the next few minutes via our different channels, above and under the hood. By the end of the day –when syndication and newsletters have kicked in, we have a 10.000 reach per item. This doesn’t mean people have read it, it means that they have at least seen the picture and title.
The articles can be as long or as short as you want.
We can add multimedia, which is a good way to add metadata to your articles. This was limited back in 1999 when we went online though.
A small team can move mountains.

Cons:

There is a strict daily deadline to maintain each day.
The rapidness also gives room to errors you might not have noticed or simply wrong info (although we only had a few incidents with that).
Getting decent daily news is sometimes difficult, other times you get inundated by news,
Some labels and bands have no clue how to write press texts and fill it with promo blabla. If there are no 4 lines of good solid facts, I usually do not publish it.
In our case I have to be technically savy, have seo skills and have IT skills. And I know how to write. That’s a lot if something goes wrong, and we have had times when it really went wrong.
Online income generation as a news website is not easy. Most of the labels still have no clue what online means and still think in an old school way.
A small team means problems when one leaves or falls sick.
A magazine accept slow reading, a website not.

Q: Do you’ve an idea who’s reading Side-Line and is there a kind of reader’s profile?

Bernard: Actually I do, thanks to a combination of datasets, which are limited as I hate being followed myself. The last dataset of November shows that 31% is female, 67% is male and 2% identifies not as male or female. Most readers come from the USA, followed by the UK, Canada, Germany, France, Australia, Mexico, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Poland, Holland, Greece and Denmark. We got data from 45 countries in total once we filtered out the accidental and spam traffic.

When it comes to the profiles, we have data of a survey that happened a few months ago on our website. 8200+ respondents later we see that half (51%) has an office job, 36% has an outside or factory job and 11% is unemployed and 2% is enjoying their pension.

The same survey also showed us info regarding age and it goes synchronically with the data from our Facebook page: 4% is between 18-24, 34% is between 25-34, 25% is between 35-44, 27% is between 45-54, 5% is between 56-64 and 3% is older than 64. That info again corresponds more or less with the survey we did.

It shows we have mostly a very active public between 25 and 54 years old.

Q: Back in time the Side-Line forum was quite ‘popular’, but unfortunately also a place for bullshit and conflicts. Did you expect this evolution and was it the main reason to stop the forum?

Bernard: The Side-Line forum was indeed very popular and at times had 20 to 50.000 visits a day. It was so popular that it had become a full time task to keep the spammers out, to keep things civilized, etc.. The discussion there were legendary. Some were in it for the fun, others to learn something new, and others just to anonymously troll. It was the graveyard of subtleness though (laughs).

The Side-Line forum was the graveyard of subtleness…

It ran its course, but I was so glad I could kill that baby. Just with one click: bye bye! By the end it had become uncontrollable and we had to delete 90% of all posts because the trolling really went overboard. No loss, it’s part of history, but I still have to laugh when I think of the silliness of it all.

Do you know that we once launched a T-shirt line where you could have your nickname printed on it? We sold a few hundred of those… really fun times!

Q: In the meantime, you also became one of the owners of Alfa Matrix, which became one of the leading labels of underground Electro music. What’s your input and impact in the label activities?

Bernard: I take care of the IT, web dev, communication and digital distribution. I leave the A&R to Seba, as we each have our own department. But we do have to agree all 3 for signing a band or not. I also often am abroad and try to hook up with the bands in real life.

Q: Let’s go on with a rather tricky question. I think it’s very confusing for a lot of people to understand you’re chief-editor of Side-Line and still one of the Alfa Matrix owners. That sounds pretty incestuous, don’t you think? How do you manage both activities without too much conflict of interest?

Bernard: Nothing tricky at all. I have never hidden the fact that I’m also behind Alfa Matrix and I am proud of it. Actually, I am not the only label guy behind a magazine, check Blabbermouth for instance, it is also successfully run by label people, possible because we have intel on both sides of the medal.

As far as conflict of interest is concerned: there is none. I don’t intervene in the reviews at all, and that’s where there could be a conflict of interest because reviews are subjective an sich. When it comes to news articles, Alfa Matrix gets as much attention as for instance Metropolis, and I bring it as dry as I do with all the other articles: facts, facts, facts and no promo speech.. Actually, sometimes Alfa Matrix bands complain because they have not gotten a good score on Side-Line. I then have to explain that reviews are completely out of my control to keep a healthy balance in the magazine.

I have a very clean conscience.

That other people claim otherwise on Facebook or so is their problem. I have a very clean conscience regarding this.

Q: It’s also interesting to see next to Alfa Matrix, Side-Line is actually releasing digital compilations; the magazine also became a kind of label! The “Face The Beat”-series became a real success story. What’s the main goal of this compilation series and how do you select the artists?

Bernard: Well, the move is not so strange I must say. In the early days there was Side-Line Records, some kind of precursor to Alfa Matrix. Then Side-Line produced compilations to go with the magazines. I just brought it to the 21^st century when I took over and compiled and launched the first “Face The Beat” as a Facebook compilation, hence the name, 10 years ago.

The main goal is reflected by what Side-Line has all been about even when Seba first launched it: get people to know music from established and new bands. It’s a vision I embraced since the start. I added an extra touch and that is that all revenue goes to charity.

The compilations are compiled like this: I do a call for submissions on all channels we have, there is one reminder and then I lock myself up for weeks with the material that I have received, usually thousands of demos and completed tracks. Once a first selection is made, I go through the material again that is selected and do an extra selection to make sure the best tracks are included. After that I send out the necessary paperwork and then usually almost everyone responds quickly. There are usually only 2 or 4 bands that are too late or never respond. It’s always a race to meet the deadline I have in my mind, but I usually make it on time. In the meantime, I usually have worked on the artwork and worked through the material with Erlend Eilertsen from Essence Of Mind and Lights A.M to make sure the tracks get the best possible sound on the compilation.

After that I launch it on Bandcamp basically and the platform does its work, with some help of me (laughs). It’s all a very intuitive process where clear communication is king.

A lot of labels and bands still haven’t learned from ecommerce.

Q: You definitely were one of the first from this scene to have understood the impact streaming platforms would have. I remember you got a lot of hard reactions about it, but today you can tell to all of your critics you were right! How do you look back at this period and how do you expect things evolving during the next few years?

Bernard: Yes, I must say that the short sight of a lot of people in the record business was reflected in the harsh attacks I got in interviews, on radio programs and on social media. Some even went so far to send me mails accusing me of killing the industry, that I was a traitor. One of my biggest critics in the end contacted me back years later saying that he was wrong and that I was right. I still appreciate him till the day of today. Only great people can apologize and say they were wrong.

The thing is, it’s not that I like this or that evolution, it is that I just can see what is going to happen and where our music industry is heading towards. Some new techniques will never take off, but it is my job at Alfa Matrix to keep an eye on what is happening in the industry and what is going to happen and see if we should invest time and money in it.

My hunch that propriety was going to be over and done with except for a solid and loyal base has proven to be correct. The success of both Spotify and Bandcamp show that my theory on mixed digital music consumption was spot on and that my critics didn’t have a clue what was going to happen.

It’s actually not the first time that I have had a conflict with my colleagues in the music sector. Back when I worked at an ecommerce startup, some shop owners said that we were killing their business. But when I once worked together with such a critical shop owner annex distributor he was unable to deliver the goods… because we sold tenfold of what he was able to get (laughs). One of the biggest channels of sales for that ecommerce shop was actually Side-Line. To give you an idea, when Depeche Mode released their single boxes, Side-Line single handedly sold all, but literally all of the stock available in Belgium in just a few days. They had to restock with copies from all over Europe because they were in limited supply. The same for the Erasure single boxes. And as far as the Covenant boxset “Synergy: Live In Europe” is concerned. That is the release we sold 10 times what the Belgian distributor had promised he was able to get… (laughs). And still we were the bad guys (laughs even louder).

I have to thank Warren Harrison from Hungry Lucy for that way of forward thinking. He opened my eyes as far as digital music is concerned and taught me to dissociate my own wishes from that of a public’s wish, and to open my eyes for new technologies. I doubt he realizes the impact he had on me. Now he knows (smiles). A good guy he is, a pity we lost contact a bit.

And the future will continue, but more in the propriety field where things are moving rapidly, think of NFT’s. Len Lemeire planted that seed in my head actually. Add to that that we will sooner or later be faced with cryptocurrency payments on a larger scale. I have a few other new technologies in mind that might be big in the near future.

One thing though that will remain key, is data. A lot of labels and bands still haven’t learned from ecommerce –namely that it is an opportunity to know who your fans are, and they are now again missing the boat as they have put all their money on Facebook and other platforms that lock their fans into their platform without offering you any way to communicate except via their own platform. Deadly on the long run.

There is a story to this actually. I was approached by at least 2 major Indie labels in the past few years asking if I would be willing to –listen well, sell all of Side-Line’s data in order to set up an own label of Electro-Pop music. And these are indies who have had BIG artists on their roster. But they have never ever gathered data, never had a decent newsletter, in short they were flying blind once things went sour.

Having said that, I also see bad evolutions, the platforms work more and more via AI to push releases to people in order to keep them as much as possible on their platforms. It unfortunately also leads to tracks, which are made to trigger these AI powered algorithms. The first automatically generated tracks are very ‘promising’ and they have been released for quite some time now. I personally am not happy with this evolution, as it removes the human genius from it, but like I said, we risk to see this more and more.

Q: It all looks like ‘younger’ people show less interest to write for a magazine. Why is it and how do you expect things evolving?

Bernard: If we look across the board, most print magazines from our scene are gone, and when we look to the online press, most online magazines from our scene are gone or are unable to keep up with the daily news pace like we do for instance. I often get requests from people if they can start writing for us, but their mail always ends with this question: ‘How much do you pay?’ Knowing that we have never received any money, it’s rather cynic that people who have never proven a thing think they can ask money… So I will repeat it again, THERE IS NO MONEY TO MAKE with an online magazine about Dark-Wave.

As far as contributors is concerned, I am happy with the team I work with now. I can count on you and Jan-Ronald, basically the main contributors next to me. You both have a very professional attitude and we are friends most and first of all.

The evolution will depend on the fact if there will be more people willing to invest money and time in these kind of projects like running a magazine. We all know that nowadays you will not earn a living from it, on the contrary, you need some financial backup to keep a website up and running, pay the licences for plugings, data storage, and so on. And that’s without the hours of unpaid work on top each day.

Q: I already had discussions with people –including label owners, who no longer belief in the real impact of magazines today because of streaming platforms and other channels like YouTube. What’s your point of view and do you think magazines are enough taking care to adapt and renew themselves?

Bernard: Well, this is not a problem for us honestly. Side-Line online is still about kickstarting new and young bands. And that’s mainly why people check Side-Line as we have the finger on the pulse to know what might become hot and what not. Remember Suicide Commando, Apoptygma Berzerk, etc..? They got pushed by Side-Line back in the days when they were largely unknown. Once we give these small bands an initial push they have to continue and work from their side as well and that’s when they get in the flow of things with the streaming platforms for instance nowadays.

Side-Line online is still about kickstarting new and young bands.

Take a magazine like Side-Line away and many small bands will never ever get a platform to develop. The same goes for our compilations, they serve to push smaller bands to a wider public. Consider us as an incubator for talents.

Know that I also regularly get contacted by the biggest bands in the scene directly with news, because they know we will publish it and they know we have a very good reach on a daily basis.

The AI used by streaming companies is a very big part in the music consumption and trying to trigger it is not something that is easily done especially with smaller bands on indie labels like I said earlier. The streaming Ais therefore still leave a lot of pearls untouched. Roughly 5 to 7 million songs on Spotify have never been played you know… That is HUGE.

That’s where magazines enter. Take me for instance, I basically have no time to start looking for new music, and I always look into our own review section for new material. So as a gatekeeper a magazine still has its purpose, at least from my point of view. I once did a test and played a few tracks and checked what the services would deliver as suggestions. They didn’t offer anything extra that interested me compared to what I got from your reviews, but instead offered a lot of junk extra so that I would have to weed out anyhow. It kinda proves that these Ais are still not capable of matching the human ear and feeling. Maybe that will happen in the future, I think so, or I would be really disappointed in our human genius (laughs).

That is of course as far as my own consumption goes.

Now, I talked about the gate keeping function which has been the purpose of a good magazine. It’s my belief that a niche magazine which has a steady output of well selected news and articles will keep that gatekeepers function intact. Let me explain, most music magazines have over the years changed their focus on more popular bands, new music styles, added games, clothes, TV and showbiz in their mix just to get traffic. Look at NME for instance that is now ruled by clickbait articles and rubbish content. It has nothing left that reminds of the good old NME. All of its roots have been removed for the sake of clicks.

Another example is Techcrunch. This online tech magazine was the best back in time, but then it got taken over, and suddenly they started to pour out tons of clickbait articles, which had nothing to do with what the magazine was about in its early days and that was: talking about startups. I used to be a daily reader, I stopped simply because I couldn’t keep up with all the extra news being posted that was way out of the scope they had in the past.

Less is often more, also for magazines.

It comes to this, stick to your roots and make sure you have a continuous and regular number of articles posted.

From a label’s point of view, I have always worked on both. Now, since I usually work with new bands, it’s not always easy to have them launched rapidly like we could in the past. It now takes time. And I also understand the labels when they no longer see clear. There are roughly 1500 journalists out there that claim to have a magazine that handles Dark-Wave. 80% of which basically has a blog that has 10 visitors a day. Good for them, but I don’t believe in them. Basically, and we have to be very honest, there are close to no magazines left in this scene with a wacky team like ours that is day in day out constantly working to get a certain number of articles online.

Those left still reach around 50.000 people daily on their websites and socials combined per day. And that’s a rough estimate but I’m very close, I think. Not exactly peanuts in a scene this small like ours. And quite a good crowd to for instance push smaller, unknown bands to.

In short, yes, I do believe in our future, as long as we stay loyal to our vision and mission. The numbers show it, we are reaching more people than ever, and not thanks to Facebook, but thanks to our daily newsletter, push notifications and all the other channels combined.

Q: Next to Side-Line and Alfa Matrix you’ve been also involved as organizer -and later as organizer ad hoc, of the now defunct famous Belgian underground festival ‘Eurorock’. A lot of things have been said about that festival. How do you look back at this event(s) with hindsight?

Bernard: A bit like SABENA, such a bad experience never again (laughs).

I’m still unable to talk about the first 2 editions I invested money in, due to some legal matters, but suffice to say you always have to look out who to trust. I lost a lot of money there, and evicted myself right on time from that very toxic situation. The 3^rd time, I was contracted – as I never wanted to be an investor again- but never got paid. In the end I had to solve most of the shit together with the stage managers who just like me were contracted and never paid. The shit thrown at us afterwards by people who have no clue is exemplary yet not exceptional in this or any other scene.

I made sure that every single band I had placed there was paid correctly. Most were grateful I made this happen, others cashed in and badmouthed me in public. So far for the thanks (grins). But I never forget… nor forgive (laughs).

Q: I know you prefer avoiding the question, but next to music you’re also politically engaged. What can you tell us about the subject?

Bernard: I’m not really trying to avoid it, I just think it’s not part of my work for Side-Line or Alfa Matrix, period. I always have tried to never mix it with both although some people are trying to frame me one way or another, usually because they don’t get my sarcasm. But now that you ask about it, yes I’m politically active in one of the biggest elected and ruling parties here in Flanders. That has been an excuse from extremists and activists to attack me in public, call my employer and frame me as ultra conservative, ultra catholic or even a pur-sang fascist. Well, sorry for those lunatics, but I’m as much a nationalist as any Norwegian hanging the Norwegian flag in their garden (that’s roughly every Norwegian with a garden) and as catholic as Macron. And as far as the other words used by ‘my’ critics, I don’t like the woke culture that is being pushed in our faces. Period.

For the rest I’m happily married with a Mexicana, one of my best friend is a Turkish Muslim, one of my closest friends is transgender, and in my scarce free time I help people with learning disabilities to learn social skills. That should say enough. For the rest, I keep politics out of Side-Line and far away from Alfa Matrix because it’s basically not music. I don’t ask our readers about their political ideas either and I frankly don’t care.

However, I must say that over the years we never had remarks from readers when we post reviews or news from hardcore communist bands, but that we always get harassed by a very tiny group when a more conservative band is being covered. That’s a pure fact. I never discriminate, but I see some others discriminating people because they don’t agree with the ideas of this or that band. Rather disturbing…

I have a very good story actually regarding this. I once got an email from a guy, who started a rant because we had posted a review of a certain band on Side-Line. He called them fascists, racists, etc, etc.. But when I went checking his Facebook profile, I immediately understood why he was specifically attacking that band. His Facebook was filled with anti-semitic and anti-Israel rants… and the band he talked shit about had a Jewish singer. Shocking, but reality.

The same for some BLM activists who have been attacking Side-Line in the past because we talk about –and I quote: ‘White men bands’. It is the same as attacking Motown Records because they have a black repertoire. Most of the criticism can be explained by checking who is saying what about whom.

I know 2 famous bands in this scene who have made anti-semitic rants behind closed doors, I was shocked and told them this was really not right. One band member –member himself of a communist party, has since then been talking shit about me whenever and wherever he can, I guess in order to cover himself in case I make his name and emails with rants public. I also know bands who are very homophobic, but for the sake of things pretend they are pro LGTB-rights. In short, if I would write a book about the dirty wash I have witnessed over the years I think I would have a bestseller (grins).

I personally don’t believe in left or right. I believe in doing good or doing bad.

Anyhow, I personally don’t believe in left or right. I believe in doing good or doing bad. I prefer doing good, under what political umbrella that may be. I also believe in taking responsibility for your own actions, and hard work. Locally I’m quite appreciated because I talk and listen to everyone, what their skin color, political belief or sexual orientation may be. And if they have a legitimate claim or need, I will try to help.

Q: Quite recently the Side-Line server crashed and you started a crowd funding to pay the costs. Your action was quite successful and Side-Line has been reactivated, which seems to prove Side-Line still means a lot to labels/artists and readers. How do you look back at this stressed period?

Bernard: I was like ‘NOT AGAIN!’ when I realized it was not just an issue of rebooting the server when the server didn’t fire up as planned. We already had lost our previous site years ago due to a server issue and lost years and years of data… so you can imagine I was kinda stressed (laughs). But luckily enough, I had been working with this software engineer (editor’s note: Martin Rosselle) in another IT project. He is working for some of the biggest companies I know and he literally has made a name as being somebody who solves problems, a Winston Wolf in the software sector as you wish. I contacted him and told him we really needed the site back operational pretty fast and if he could help out. He canceled all his freelance work he had planned and asked me to come over so I could follow closely and help with the work. The error we had, was even for the engineers at our hosting company quite a real conundrum. Hell, they even asked us to please keep them informed as to how we would solve it because they had run out of options.

I took a 5 days unpaid leave, jumped in my car at 5 in the morning and drove 3,5 hours to set up shop at Martin’s place. In the car I was thinking of how to finance this endeavor… I’m already pumping thousands of Euros into Side-Line each year, but corona made that a lot of my income had completely vaporized so an extra financial blow like this was just very, very difficult.

Then while I was having a coffee at a motorway restaurant, somebody sent me a WhatsApp message saying: ‘Hey Bernard, I saw your message that the site is down and that you guys are working on it. If you set up a crowdfund, I’ll gladly help!’ I was like, ‘really would people help out?’ So whilst doing the last hundred kilometers I was thinking ‘why not, if it gathers enough to pay half of the bill then that would already help a lot ‘.

But it turned out to be really overwhelming… I’m still emotional when I think of it really… I saw the donations pouring in, from readers, bands, small labels, small PR companies, artists. I was actually very positively surprised that it were the smaller labels and bands next to lots of readers that came forward to support this crowdfund. I haven’t heard a word from the big labels… One of the biggest label bosses in this scene did send me an email… asking when their news would be up… no help, no question, nothing. It strengthens me in my vision that we have to stay an incubator for new talents and new and smaller labels, as they are definitely more connected with us…

I did learn another lesson from this though, and that is that I need to delegate more. Jan-Ronald Stange has been helping with design, and I contracted Martin for our server maintenance and security so that we can intervene directly with the right people when needed.

Q: What have been the best and worst memories from all the years you’ve been involved with Side-Line?

Bernard: The worst: seeing others suffer. You know what I mean.

The best: it is wonderful to stay friends for all these years with people with such different characters inside the team. And Side-Line also opened the gate towards other people I respect, I got in contact with Jan-Ronald Stange thanks to a lunatic groupie, so that ended well (laughs). And I shouldn’t forget Anne-Laure, Erlend, Marianne, Leydi, Simon and so many other people who have become close and reliable friends thanks to Side-Line.

Basically, working at and with Side-Line is the proof for me that one doesn’t need to stay in his/her own echo chamber to respect and be respected. You know that as well, I have told you that in a recent text message remember?

Q: Are you sometimes thinking about the end of Side-Line and also the end of Alfa Matrix? What should be the best way to say goodbye?

Bernard: I have a pretty compulsive character, however, Side-Line has been a constant element in my life for the past 30 years. I always dedicate 2-3 hours per day to the magazine, writing articles, working on the site’s cms and machinery behind it, answering a ton of emails… It survived 2 marriages so far as well (laughs)! So no, it’s a part of me, and I haven’t really thought about stopping although there have been moments that I think, who the hell am I doing this for… But then you get a big thank you mail from a band or reader or label and that’s enough to kill off those negative feelings.

But if we would close shop, I guess it will be with a big bang (smiles). But so far so good.

If we would close shop, I guess it will be with a big bang.

The same goes for Alfa Matrix, as long as we can find good bands to push, we’ll continue.

Q: You and I have had some personal issues, but I think that thanks to Side-Line, we became and still are good friends. Any specific souvenir or anecdote you want to share?

Bernard: Ah yes, we have gone through some turmoil you and me. I guess that is just part of good friendships, it’s like a marriage I guess, either you make up or you go to a lawyer (laughs). I guess we both learned from our private wars and have learned to respect each other. And that is what counts, we learned to see what unites us, not what divides us. And we never had to hire a lawyer (laughs)!

But speaking about the special moments… Well, racing on a German motorway at 200 km/h in a BMW to get home in time to drop of some equipment and then realize we could have delivered it 2 days later as well…. That was quite a memorable and especially dangerous moment we shared (laughs). Honestly, it was completely irresponsible, and I would never do it again, whatever the reason. Had we crashed, a magazine would have disappeared, a label and a few bands would never have seen the light of day and my sons would for sure never have existed and most importantly this: some others could have been injured or killed. I never drive fast nowadays, if I’m too late for a meeting so be it, but usually I start on time, it also avoids unnecessary stress and gives me the option to also have a coffee underway.

I also remember some sectarian veggie restaurant somewhere in Brussels where we ended up via John Sellekaers I think? That was quite weird for me… the food was ok though, but I’m not really into sects (laughs). But aside from that, I kinda miss sitting in a restaurant with all of us, you, Seba, Benoit, Cedric, and a few others which are still part of my inner circle, but who I don’t see enough. Luckily at least you and me did a good restaurant now !

Inferno Sound Diaries

www.side-line.com

Interview with Trial: ‘Quality Will Stand The Measure Of Time’

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sun, 12 Dec 2021 18:00:00 +0000

Set up in 1991 by Torsten Schröder (vocals, drums) and Erick Miotke (keyboards), Trial gained instant success in the early 90s with their EP “Blut Und Eisen” and the debut album “Zero Feeling”. The icy EBM/Dark-Electro sound of the German formation became part of the collective EBM memory. A few more albums saw the daylight, but never reached a similar success. The band however remained a true reference even thirty years later. Electro Aggression Records recently released a massive box featuring three CD’s and one DVD as a celebration to Trial’s thirtieth anniversary. “Für Zwei” is a way to rediscover this unique formation, which also had a great live reputation. I got in touch with Erick Miotke and asked him several questions about the great TRIAL adventure, but also about the future…

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: You this year celebrate your thirtieth anniversary by the massive release “Für Zwei” featuring 3 CD’s and 1 DVD. This production doesn’t only feel as an anniversary tribute, but still a consecration! What does it mean to you and how did this production saw the daylight?

Erick: Wow, ‘consecration’ is a great word! Thank you very much. For me it is the last chapter of the Trial project. There were too much loose ends I didn’t want to leave behind like they weren’t worth to be tied up.

The first of the three CDs: “Für Zwei” connects the work of the last phase of the band and a solid conclusion to the project. In 2009 we finished the EP “Für Zwei” with four mixes of the title track and a bonus track for a release that unfortunately didn‘t take place anymore.

For the 20th anniversary in 2011 I wanted to release the best-of “Classic Anthology”, which was specially remastered in 2009 at Timetools mastering as a double CD with a collection of all unreleased tracks as well as various contributions to samplers. But like the planned appearance at the Amphi-Festival in 2011, this was rejected by Torsten. Under these circumstances, of course, it made no sense for me to show any further commitment to the project.

With Jens Müller, the follow-up project TRILOGY started in 2012, which can be seen as a direct continuation, both musically and lyrically, I am the author of the very most Trial back-catalogue that has been published up to then.

I looked through all the data from Trial in my archive in 2018 and stumbled upon the preselection of “Für Zwei”. Since over the years I was asked again and again about possible new material or even live shows, I made an overview of all available material for quite some time and derived an extract from it. When the tracks were fixed, I tweaked the ones that had already been completed. The actually time-consuming work then consisted of working out the selected basic demos or improvisations into finished tracks or remixes. These were at least 10 in number, so an album in itself in terms of effort.

The process took months and was associated with many mixed feelings; ups and downs. I couldn‘t always go straight to the tracks. And I was always impressed by the potential of this band -and of course frustrated by the sudden end. Since I don‘t like to give up, of course I went through with it. Because it‘s important to me that Trial ends with a straight standing and doesn‘t just sneak out the back door. A little later, if you like, as you can see now.

Under the given circumstances, I am very satisfied with the result: “Für Zwei” is not just ‘rests’ and offers those interested a full new Trial experience. At this point, it is very important for me to mention our mastering studio Timetools from Hanover with ‘our’ engineer Mo Heidrich, because only there the final full sound is created, which only professionals of this league can forge from the existing material.

I see mastering as an elementary component such as sound design, composition or vocals. So I am very happy with the result and can finally finish with TRIAL in its old form. A lot of shadows and a lot of pain fell from me when I was able to celebrate the final master loudly. Very good. We never give up.

Q: Let’s get back to the origins of the band. How do you look back at the first steps of Trial and how important has been the meeting with Kai Lotze?

Erick: Characterized by Skinny Puppy, Front Line Assembly and Front 242 ‘sang’, or rather Torsten roared a few improvised lines after a rehearsal of our than actual band The Crybabies with Gunnar Duvenhorst, completely free on my first demo-track. inspired by the vocals of Skinny Puppy and Panthera. Gunnar heard this and said ironically before leaving the practice room after the rehearsal: ‘hard as kruppstahl, or what!?’ For me it was about the fight of the machines against humans; fiction, as thematically edited in some of the films that were current at the time and are to this day.

Torsten and I recorded this track in the session room of the Garbsen music school with my Philips d8134 ghettoblaster. This device recorded an astonishingly good sound. At the time my equipment consisted of an Ensoniq Esq1 and a Roland Boss dr-22a drum computer. Torsten used an Alesis effect rack for the reverb on the voice. So we started absolutely free and as young fans of Dark-Electronic music.

We had our first gig only 6 weeks after starting off. Immediately after the first gig in the Ujz Langenhagen, Hanover, we were approached by Kai Lotze, who at the time was freshly active as a manager building up Project Pitchfork and its first album. After a short talk and mutual sympathy, we sealed a collaboration for TRIAL that lasted until 2011 with a handshake.

Q: Trial became an instant success; you got directly signed to Hypnobeat; the EP “Blut Und Eisen” and the album “Zero Feeling” became successful productions. What made the success formula of TRIAL and did you handle specific criteria and references in the writing/production of your music?

Erick:I don’t think there was a formula for the success, more a true compassion to what we did. We were young and had a pure and basic feeling to what we did. Probably naive, if I think of what my father always said to our efforts. In his eyes I was crazy. Wasting my time in some music project. Studying was the only ‘religion’ he believed in. He was probably right, of course, but I could solve this problem by finishing my diploma in graphic-design with an outstanding degree.

I believe in true compassion. I like to quote my first band of fandom: Kiss: ‘we are nothing without our fans’. We had the luck to be worshipped by loads of people from the beginning. So as I said, as naive youngsters you believe in your own impact. And you work on.

We were some kind of crazy and ‘tough’ guys, always on the edge, but straight in delivering what was necessary in production and live performance. It was no debt, it was an attitude to us. And we lived it. In full broadness.

Torsten is besides the music the only unique ‘formula’ of Trial’s impact. A simply devastating ego in vocal and on-stage performance. Dark, tough and flawless, even in vomiting on stage and still going on. He is a phenomena. Even Klaus Kinski is a novice in comparison to him in my eyes as a live performer. His and my compassion was always a mix of brotherhood not often to be found. He is the only true ‘Blutsbruder’ I will probably have in my live, cutting our veins, and drinking our blood with southern comfort on ice in 1992 vice versa. Some hit not every band would take. The chemistry was basic and true. No one will be left behind. We lived and delivered this status until early 2011.

The writing and production of all tracks went hand to hand with this attitude. We were brothers, supported us, or kicked us up if necessary. Torsten called me his ‘backbone’, his brother in arms. He always knew, when anybody came to close to him, I would interfere. And I felt the same way. This was a band; a pure team and all people we met could feel it.

Q: How did you manage the early success of the band and how did you see the band evolving from “Zero Feeling” towards “Secret Pain” released in 1994 on Electric Blue?

Erick:I don`t think we ‘managed’ the success. Probably we didn’t even felt it. We had too much to do with our personal lives, not moving into professional music business, but going on in studying in my behalf or getting into working as a barber in Torsten’s life.

The first peak to us was the opportunity in supporting Front Line Assembly in their 1993 German tour. Sadly the tour was shortly cancelled, but left a feeling of thankfulness in us. This was repeated by the possibility to support Front 242 on a short tour in the end of 2010, which couldn`t be affirmed by Torsten. So in my eyes we almost reached our personal peak in credibility as a ‘small’ band. Almost. Anyway, we were at hand.

The evolution was tough for us, keeping up with the ideas we had and true reality. Loads of hard work. But to what price? Believing in what we did was what we did. In some opinion wasting our time, in our view doing what we had to do. Now, almost 20 years later I know what we did: we lived a dream and fulfilled it. This interview shows what I am saying: Some things die, others live on. To a certain extend.

The main difference between “Zero Feeling” and “Secret Pain” is that I used more self-made sounds, besides the great Ensoniq sound library I basically used on the first album.

Q: After “Secret Pain” we’d to wait till 2008 and the self-released album “No Fate”, which didn’t gain that much recognition although revealing an evolution in sound and production. How did it happen you self-released this album and what was your perception/vision upon the scene and music industry at that moment?

Erick:We produced the “No Fate- EP in 1999 with Jan-Heie Erchinger; 9 mixes of the track. In almost all directions possible for the Trial sound in album length. Our music company told us it wouldn´t be commercial enough, and too sophisticated. We should switch our sound to more standard disco-like style. But this was not our opinion of making music. We swallowed this pill and went on.

Supported by a lot of great live-show possibilities we could gain our presence, and worked on the upcoming album against all odds. The concept sadly didn`t work out. What can I say?

We offered a broad and special range of a Trial-credible sound world. In our eyes tight until today. I presume the audience expected the typical sound of the first two albums. We delivered this attitude in 24 tracks with reworks and new material. I didn’t want to push us into the regions oF front 242, but they experienced the same problems with their album in 2003. The audience didn’t want something ‘new’, but asked for pure trademark style. That is why Front 242 and Kraftwerk are touring with their classic hits, masterfully optimized of course. So there is not much space to work on. Trial is in a different league of course, please don`t get me wrong or high-minded. Anyway, we always remained true to our roots, as to be seen in the “Für Zwei” 4-CD box.

Q: The fans never forgot Trial and you were still invited to play live and even at famous festivals. What made you going on without releasing new material and what keep you in mind from the past years?

Erick:As I said, we always went on. There is a strict continuity in the way of Trial. But without bowing to influences in the scene. This is, was and always will be unique. In our eyes it’s the only way to survive in long terms in the music scene. We always were thankful to be booked, and delivered what was expected from us. Our thankfulness to all those who appreciated us is never forgotten. We always delivered new material. Sadly there was no label who wanted our work in the way we thought was fair. It surely can`t be the failure of our management Protain by Kai Lotze, who supported us all the way round. Anyway. No one wanted us, so we had to release “No Fate” on our own behalf. As we can see, they were right. Only a small and committed fan-base wanted the product. That is as it is. But we made it.

Q: I can imagine a lot of things have changed/evolved in music industry since the set up of the band; think about technology & equipment, social media, streaming platforms etc. What are the pros and cons of this evolution and what did you hold on from the early Trial in your music today?

Erick:Well, there are loads of possibilities to bring ‘your’ sound to the people via the new platforms. Right. But, there’re too much mediocre acts, or to be honest, loads of crap are floating all channels. 30 years ago you had to overcome obstacles that are no problem anymore in these days. At first, almost everyone can blast out his stuff all the way. But is it worth it? I don`t think so, but it’s ok to me. On the other hand I see the great acts from about the end of the 80´s and the beginning 90’s, which are still dominating the scene. You ask me why? Because they learned it the hard way, had hostile machines to conquer, and had to bleed for their live performance. It is my personal opinion, but I would stand any discussion on this behalf. For sure.

It’s a new world, and is the way it is. This doesn’t has to be wrong. Quality will stand the measure of time. I am quite pleased, that Trial survived until today, just like all the other memorable acts. Credibility can’t be faked in long time measures, as I suppose. Time moves on, and we will see, when Trial might dissolve into meaningless standards. Time will tell.

Besides this I love the possibilities of making music, videos and spreading the results to loads of people. The feeling of exclusiveness in comparison to past days is a lack, of course. Today you have almost anything at hand with sounds, but the true spirit is a feeling and the true reproduction of it. We have too much messy stuff floating the music scene by the simple possibility of just clipping loops without charisma in it. This doesn’t make it easier for guys like me. So I remain in the ‘independent’ poor area of the music scene.

Q: So the sad news is that Torsten Schröder left Trial while the good news is that you’ve found a new singer (Jens Müller) to move on as Trilogy, right? How did Trilogy saw the daylight?

Erick: Sadly Trial might be out with this release. Torsten shows no interest in this release and all of my personal uploads before the finalization of this box to him. He said he is finished with this chapter of his life. So let’s be thankful for what he delivered in some pure and unique style and walk on. His ‘secret pain’ with Trial came to an end. So does mine, as disappointing as it may be.

Trilogy picks up where Trial ended. In marketing ways it was a mistake to re-name the project, but I think it is the only fair way to cope with this situation.

Jens delivers the same credible energy as Torsten, but with a more pure and energetic way. Torsten’s demon-style is changed into a kind of athletic-energetic performance. Still dark, but not as self-destructing as before. Toughness may be relative, but it is a tight approach to the project and delivers live what the Trial legacy needs to live on in my eyes. It’s no substitute to Torsten, it’s an evolution. Torsten’s performance remains, also for Jens, who admires his unique style as a fan for more than two decades. As can be seen on the live DVD of the “Für Zwei” live DVD in the “Blut Und Eisen”-track.

Q: Trilogy is active for a few years now and has already released multiple EP’s and even a live album. I get the feeling the band didn’t get that much attention so far so tell us a bit more about the ‘young’ career of the band? What are the main differences in sound and approach with Trial?

Erick:Yes, that’s correct, Trilogy doesn’t catch up with the status of TRIAL until now. We acknowledge this, but won’t back down until we deliver the album “Forced Perspective”. But we may not forget that Trial is and remains as a special band in the shadows of independent music. So is Trilogy. We can only deliver highly inspired tracks. No more. No less. As I ever did.

The quality of production is higher than ever before. The spirit remains all the way. It might be the same phenomena as in times when “Secret Pain” was released. At the time of the release it wasn’t worshipped as it may be today. Time will tell and we’ll see, how the Trilogy debut album will be accepted. Too good, that Jens and I do it for the album in itself and don’t have to make a living from it. We try harder, anyway …

Q: What brings the future?

Erick: As I said before, “Forced Perspective” will be released in 2022 via Nader`s Electro Aggresion Records as a double CD with 17 tracks and 17 remixes on disc two by great bands around the scene. This will show where we stand. And not fall. For sure.

Inferno Sound Diaries

www.side-line.com

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.

Inferno Sound Diaries

www.side-line.com

Labels Interviews: File 2: Dave Heckman / Metropolis Records: ‘The Bottom Line Is To Adapt Fast To A Changing Industry’

Inferno Sound Diaries — Tue, 18 May 2021 08:02:13 +0000

Metropolis Records was set up in 1994 by Dave Heckman. In no time the American label became a truly reference when it comes to Electronic and Industrial music. The label licensed –and still does, European productions, but also signed new artists. Among the Metropolis roster you’ll find bands as VNV Nation, Front 242, Front Line Assembly, Wumpsuct, Project Pitchfork, Juno Reactor, Assemblage 23, The Birthday Massacre, KMFDM, Numb, Haujobb, Leather Strip, Apoptygma Berzerk, Velvet Acid Christ, God Module, Covenant, Informatik and many, many more

(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?

Dave: No philosophy per se. It was just something I wanted to do for a living, so I needed to go about things in a very professional manner and always stay focused on that goal.

I am going to presume you mean label activities as compared to my activities at the label, although I will go into both.

The first step is to find the talent and that has always been my job. I am the owner and the A&R guy. Then, of course, a deal needs to be worked out and again that has always been my job too.

After a deal is done, we have to assemble the assets for the release such as artwork, photos, masters, videos, and publishing information. This is all needed to setup the releases with our worldwide distributors and to manufacture the albums themselves.

Then comes promotion. Retail, club, radio, video, press, touring, social media, etc. A lot of this is done internally, but sometimes we hire outside companies, particularly for video, radio, press, and booking tours.

Finally, the royalty statements need to be processed and payments made. A tedious and important part of the business.

So, believe it or not, as much as the industry has changed, the setup and promotion is really quite similar to what it was years ago. The revenue just comes from different sources.

Dave: Not really. In general, I sign bands I like and there is no particular sound I am looking for. I cannot really tell you why I liked Numb or Project Pitchfork, I just did. When it comes to art, whether music, film, or paintings I cannot tell you why I like what I do. In some way it has to move me.

That said, I do have a tendency to like or lean towards things dark, edgy, and innovative. Some of the bands that I was interested in were never signed, because we could not come to an agreement. Sometimes the bands had higher expectations than I did and the advance they wanted was too large or we had different ideas on promotional aspects of a campaign.

Metropolis has released over 1200 albums with over 200 different artists, so I did not get to meet and know everyone. In the beginning I just licensed from a few European labels like Zoth Ommog, KK Records and Hyperium. So, my relationships were with my licensing partners. However, as things progressed and we brought the bands over to tour and I went overseas to festivals and conferences and finally met these artists, my relationships with them developed. Always liked to travel and visit the artists where they lived and liked hanging out with them during and after shows. As we got to know each other better it just made everything smoother.

Dave: The biggest change was the death of retail record stores. That was how I started consuming music as a 10 year old kid. I mean I just did not go there to buy music, but to discover it. The cool stores played cool music and I also would just go through the record bins to find something new that caught my eye. Retail was still a force in music in the 90’s, but went really downhill after 2002 or so. As I mentioned above, retail promotion was important, but now it is almost gone.

So, of course digital comes along and I knew tons of artists and labels that were vehemently opposed to the format. Don’t get me wrong I thought 128 bit rate MP3 played on a computer sucked compared to a Compact Disc on a good stereo system. However, that is the way people wanted to consume, so we sold digital downloads.

At present, hardly anyone buys downloads and streaming revenue is going through the roof. Of course, I have artists complaining about this. More arguments / discussions with artists about streaming than any other industry issue, but it has saved the industry not destroyed it. Illegal downloads and CD burning where the real culprits.

Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Prime, Deezer, Pandora are great platforms. However, YouTube sucks. They pay a fraction of what everyone else does, but people are complaining about Spotify instead of them. That I do not understand.

The bottom line is to adapt fast to a changing industry.

The benefit of the digital world is the massive savings on manufacturing, storage, and shipping, which of course is also good for the environment.

As far as the economic downturn, we go through these all the time and readjust.

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?

Dave: The pandemic has hurt the industry considerably. We had a dozen tours lined up for last spring including Lords Of Acid, Clan Of Xymox, KMFDM, Front Line Assembly, The Birthday Massacre, and many more. All cancelled and the bands lost money to varying degrees. However, the recorded music industry saw their revenue grow since almost everything is digital or online even including physical sales. In the long run and this intermediate period, nothing will change much, people will go back to their old habits for the most part.

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?

Dave: Yes, that medium is still important. All promotional activity counts. You have to spread the word around wherever you can. However, I really cannot comment on my relationship with the journalists as I never really had one. I am talking about me, not the label. Publicity and press is one of the few things I have always delegated to someone else.

Dave: Even though I eventually worked with some big names in the industry what I liked most was taking bands that were once small and introduce them to the scene, promoting them and then selling reasonable amounts of records for them. Covenant, Haujobb, Velvet Acid Christ, Wumpscut, Combichrist, Apoptygma Berzerk, And One, Assemblage 23 were all selling just a couple thousand copies and eventually sold 20,000 to 50,000 albums in North America alone. These are good numbers for alternative music. VNV Nation sold even much more than that. Just to put it in perspective only one in a hundred artists sold over 10,000 copies back then no matter what the genre.

I have met my goals. As I mentioned I wanted to do this for a living and I did. Also, Metropolis has a good brand name and I got to meet a lot of great artists who are now my friends. I wish I could have pushed the boundaries more and could have done more outside the Goth / Industrial genre. However, that did not work out that well except with the a few bands like Mindless Self Indulgence and Electric Six.

I am content with the label’s accomplishments. The label is 27 years old and I was well into my thirties when I started in the music business. So, we will continue to do what we do and improve where we can, remembering that adopting to change is important.

Inferno Sound Diaries

www.side-line.com

‘Click Interview’ with Seven Trees: ‘Trying To Break Patterns And Challenge Ourselves’

Inferno Sound Diaries — Thu, 06 May 2021 17:00:00 +0000

There’s a hiatus of twenty four years between Seven Trees’ debut album “Embracing The Unknown” (1997, Zoth Ommog) and their new opus “Dead/End” released on Progress Productions. Johan Kronberg and Henrik Karlsson both remain the single members on board. It’s not an easy thing to label their music, but it sounds to me as the offspring between The Klinik, Project Pitchfork and Front Line Assembly. You never got the feeling this band has stopped composing music for such a long time; “Dead/End” has something retro-like, but still personal and featuring multiple great songs. I talked about it all with Henrik Karlsson.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: When evoking SEVEN TREES people are always getting back to your debut album “Embracing The Unknown” released in 1997 by Zoth Ommog. What did this album and the fact it was released by Zoth Ommog mean to you and what has been its further impact on your career?

Henrik: It meant a lot to us; it was the perfect label to be on at the time, and we got a lot of exposure. People seem to really like that album, which is equally important for a career in music; it acts as a mental booster for future compositions. Also, our tour with MENTALLO & THE FIXER most likely had an impact.

As for today… I think signing with a prominent label like Progress Productions most likely strengthened the interest in the first ‘come back’ release, the “Trauma Toxicity”-EP. Finally, the expanded re-release of “Embracing The Unknown” in Infacted’s “Classixx”-series was definitely very important too.

Q: There’s a hiatus of 24 (!) years between the debut album and your new opus “Dead/End”. Do you feel it’s still the same band with a similar approach and perception about music or is this something totally different? What are the most noticeable changes & evolutions?

Henrik: We have put a lot of effort into developing our sound to a more modern soundscape, while at the same time leaning towards the more old-school Dark-Electro. We still have the same visions for SEVEN TREES, while at the same time trying to break patterns and challenge ourselves. I think this is quite evident if comparing the EP and the new album, which has a more carefully considered neater production.

Q: Over now to “Dead/End”. What kind of album is it all about and did you’d specific ideas in mind about sound and production? In which way is there a connection between “Dead/End” and the “Trauma Toxicity”-EP from 2017?

Henrik: There is quite a strong connection, despite the differences in production. They both deal a lot with for example the consequences of being subjected to extensive and prolonged trauma. With the EP we were trying out our grounds, see how we wanted the ‘new’ SEVEN TREES to sound. It’s a very dark EP. When working on the new album we felt like we wanted to do something even darker, especially when it came to the lyrics, all the while making that work with our ‘new’ sound. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. We did not plan for a specific production, it came naturally as we were working on the album.

Q: I was just asking you about the ‘sound’ of SEVEN TREES, which according to me is hard to label, being more a kind of sonic osmosis between different music genres. What does it say about your potential sources of inspiration and do you handle specific criteria and/or references when it comes to writing and production?

Henrik: We don’t have much of criteria at all, except for that we will stay in the Dark-Electro realm. Also, we don’t really like doing club tracks or similar, it’s just not our thing. Honestly as for genre, we don’t really know where to place us either, but people say Dark-Electro so I guess that’s what we do.

We’re both very broad in our taste in music; my favorite band is PLACEBO, and Johan listens quite a bit to Black-Metal. We grew up on Electronic music of various kinds, but eventually broadened our horizons. We both listen to a lot of Electronic stuff nowadays too though, but varying it with other genres.

As for lyrics I draw inspiration from for example Brian Molko and Robert Smith, while incorporating my own style of writing.

Q: “Dead/End” is an intriguing title for lyrical themes, which are clearly evoking despair, disillusion… which can be summarized with one of your songs: dystopic illusions! What did you try to express and what does it reveal about your perception of life and society?

Henrik: Funny you should ask, because this particular song is something we’ve never done before, it’s very different from the other tracks on the album (the lyrics). It is very political, something I never thought we’d do, but with everything that was going on last year over here I guess I felt like trying it out. I wanted to do it in a rather cryptic way though, so it might not be very obvious. There’s quite the pitch black worldview in that song, and I guess in most of the other tracks too.

Q: What are the further plans and especially considering we’re actually going through this ongoing pandemic? Dystopia became reality don’t you think?

Henrik: Yeah, it certainly did. It’s been a crazy year, and it’s been tough for us all, especially being isolated, and to exercise every precaution to not get Covid. May this nightmare end soon! As for further plans, we do have a release coming up, but I can’t say anything about it yet.

Inferno Sound Diaries

www.side-line.com

Project Pitchfork founders Peter Spilles and Dirk Scheuber part ways

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Tue, 30 Mar 2021 19:06:20 +0000

Even the best marriages can go through rough times, and even the best marriages can shipwreck. That’s what happened between Project Pitchfork founders Peter Spilles and Dirk Scheuber after more than 31 years. The news is not new, but since we have received quite some questions, here’s some more info.

The split – which happened already at the end of 2020 and which is said to be amicable – was officially announced early March on the Project Pitchfork Facebook page in a German language news update. As of the end of 2020 Dirk Scheuber is no longer part of Project Pitchfork. Project Pitchfork as a band will continue to exist and will record new material. The current lineup of Project Pitchfork consists of Peter Spilles and Jürgen Jansen (The Cassandra Complex) who collaborated with the band since 1994.

Dirk Scheuber from his side is now focusing on his solo project Scheuber which just recently released “Numb”, the fourth full length for the project. You can expect a mix of different elements related to Electro/Wave-pop music. Or like our reviewer wrote: “Scheuber clearly is much more than the Project Pitchfork keyboardist; he’s an artist with a very own sound who has already released four albums featuring a couple of great songs!”

Below you can view the live music video of “Mindflux”.

About Project Pitchfork

Project Pitchfork is a German dark wave, electronic rock group from Hamburg, Germany. It was formed by Peter Spilles and Dirk Scheuber with a first live performance in Hamburg in February 1990. A first demo, “K.N.K.A” followed in August of that year and in May 1991, their debut album “Dhyani” was released.

The band’s second album, “Lam-‘Bras” was released in February 1992 featuring vocalist Patrica Nigiani. Six months later already, the band’s third album, “Entities” was released. Two years later we saw the release of “Io” and by then the band had conquered the dark wave hearts of many.

Tours followed, with even selected gigs abroad and the band started its long voyage releasing several cult albums.

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Seven Trees – Dead/End (Album – Progress Productions)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Mon, 29 Mar 2021 19:30:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: Ambient-Electro, Cinematographic, Electro-Wave, Industrial.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Originally set up as a trio in 1993, in 1995 Seven Trees evolved into the duo Johan Kornberg and Henrico Carlson. The band’s official debut album “Embracing the Unknown” was released in 1997 on Zoth Ommog. Twenty years later they brought the band back alive releasing the EP “Trauma Toxicity”. Last year we got the single “Game Over” and here’s Seven Trees’ second full length in history featuring nine songs.

Content: Seven Trees composes a sound, which is hard to grasp. It rather sounds as a sonic osmosis between different influences, but clearly driven by a retro-Electro style. Some tracks remind me of a more polished edit of Project Pitchfork with some Klink-al sequences on top and haunting atmospheres reminding early Frontline Assembly. But in the end it’s just Seven Trees, an extremely dark Electronic format characterized by haunting atmospheres and ghost-like vocals. Both final tracks even feature an explicit cinematographic approach.

+ + +: What I like about this album is the originality. Even if Seven Trees hold on a vintage sound they create something very personal. You can’t compare this band to another, but they mixed different elements reminding ‘older’ bands. It has something atypical; a sound where the power is hiding in the dense and extremely dark atmospheres instead of hard-beating rhythms. I can’t say this album is featuring a hit, but you get non-stop fascinating, cool pieces instead. I however have a preference for “Phased Out”, which is carried by a great chorus. I also have to say a word about the lyrical content reflecting a kind of uneasy feeling.

– – – : Both last cuts, which are definitely more cinematographic aren’t my favorite ones. They create a kind of antithesis after 7 noticeable songs.

Conclusion: “Dead/End” is the first new album of Seven Trees in more than 20 years, but this formation hasn’t lost its initial magic.

Best songs: “Phased Out”, “Pure Sedation”, “Game Over”, “Dystopic Illusions”, “End Of The Line”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.seventrees.se / www.facebook.com/embracingtheunknown

Label: www.progress-productions.com / www.facebook.com/progresspro

About Seven Trees

Seven Trees is a Swedish dark electro/industrial project originally formed as a trio in 1993 by Johan Kronberg, Andreas Wahlstedt and Marcus Johansson. From 1995 the band continued as the duo Johan Kronberg and Henrik Karlsson. Seven Trees released its debut album “Embracing The Unknown” in 1997 on Zoth Ommog, followed by the EP “Trauma Toxicity” (2017), the single “Game Over” (2020) and the album “Dead/End” (2021). The band later released the remix album “End/Dead” in 2022.

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Scheuber – Numb (Album – Trisol)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Tue, 16 Mar 2021 19:30:00 +0000

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

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: “Numb” is the fourth full length for the keyboarder of Project Pitchfork. Dirk Scheuber took off with the excellent “The Me I See” in 2016 and moved on releasing “Changes” (2017) and “Shades” (2019).

Content: The global approach on “Numb” is quite comparable to previous releases. Scheuber is mixing different elements related to Electro/Wave-pop music. The opening song “Mindflux” even has something Future-Pop driven. The songs are again accomplished with carrying choruses. Most of the tracks are danceable, but “Numb” also reveals a few calmer passages revealing a sensible and somewhat melancholic side of the musician.

+ + + : If Scheuber’s debut album was a great surprise, both following works never reached a similar level. “Numb” remains easily recognizable through its danceable and melodic approach, but I prefer this work to both predecessors. First there’s a real great opening song “Mindflux”, which clearly sounds for the dancefloor. Next there’s a perfect twist between danceable beats and sensitive passages revealing subtle piano arrangements and melancholic Electro atmospheres. “Tempting Fate” perfectly illustrates this approach, but I also have to mention “Chrystal Eyes” for its impressive progression. Last, but not least Dirk Scheuber once again proves he’s a real captivating vocalist.

– – – : Scheuber’s sound formula hasn’t that changed since the first album. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it sometimes becomes a bit predictable.

Conclusion: Scheuber clearly is much more than the Project Pitchfork keyboardist; he’s an artist with a very own sound who has already released four albums featuring a couple of great songs!

Best songs: “Mindflux”, “Tempting Fate”, “Chrystal Eyes”, “Prediction”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.facebook.com/scu.bar.10

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

About Scheuber

Scheuber is the solo name of German musician Dirk Scheuber, born 24 October 1969 in the GDR. Per his Discogs profile, he met Peter Spilles at a Girls Under Glass concert in late 1988 and co-founded Project Pitchfork with him the following year, with his main contributions to the band’s work beginning in the mid-1990s. He also ran a side project called “Blackhead” from 2003 and shifted toward solo work in the mid-2010s.

Scheuber’s solo discography on Trisol runs from “The Me I See” (2016) through the “Bliss” single (2017), “Changes” (2017) and “Shades” (2019) to “Numb” (2021), his fourth full length. Machinista featured Scheuber on guest vocals for a 2017 single, per Side-Line’s report at the time. Scheuber left Project Pitchfork in February 2021, shortly after “Numb”’s release, as Side-Line reported.

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Brand new Digital Factor album ‘A Chemical Process’ available now as a ltd CD digipak with 2 exclusive bonus tracks not available as download

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Fri, 19 Feb 2021 08:07:00 +0000

In October 2020, one of the most missed cult electro-EBM bands from the early nineties took everyone by surprise with the release of the “Come With Me” come-back EP and 2 associated video clips. We are talking about Digital Factor of course!

Out now via Alfa Matrix is “A Chemical Process”, the German band’s 9th studio album. The new album merges modern electro techno elements with synth pop song arrangements mixed with pure industrial / EBM elements. Interesting detail, for this album Mike Langer decided to create his new songs first on a guitar before recreating them on synths. He was helped in the process by Austrian bassist and guitarist Georg Kostron.

Music collectors should be informed that the limited CD digipak edition of this album holds 2 exclusive bonus tracks: the hypnotic dancefloor killer “Into My Eyes” and the club remix of “Come With Me” by The Saint Paul. These will not be made available for download.

You can order the download album via Bandcamp while the ltd CD digipak version with 2 extra tracks is available via the Alfa Matrix webstore.

A Chemical Process by DIGITAL FACTOR

Enjoy the official video clips for “Come With Me” and “I’m Dangerous”.

About Digital Factor

Digital Factor was founded in 1993 by Mike Langer, Torsten Heise and Tino Schmidt. The band soon played in the opening act of well-known electronic bands of that time such as Placebo Effect or X Marks the Pedwalk and quickly established itself as a popular live act on the electronic scene. In 1994 the band signed to the Danish label Hardrecords which released the band’s first EP called “Falling Down”.

In 1995 the Hyperium / Hypnobeat label (including Project Pitchfork , Die Form) took a license and released five albums.

But after the 1999 album “Over One Million Times”things got rather quiet around Digital Factor. Founding member Tino Schmidt left the band that year. After a long break and with guitarist Guido Litke on board, Digital Factor released their seventh album “One More Piece” on Wannsee Records in 2006. In mid-2007 the band went back to the studio and started working on a new album. After the online single “Dein Herz” the “Look Back To Go Forward” album was released in 2009. For this, Digital Factor worked together with artists such as Steril and Leonardo von Leibnitz.

In 2010 Torsten Heise left the band and was replaced by Leo von Leibnitz and they started work on a new studio album “Trialog”, which was released in 2011 via Black Rain.

In 2020 the band got revived and signed to the Belgian label Alfa Matrix. A first single / EP “Come With Me” was released in October. Read the review of ‘A Chemical Process’.

Come With Me EP by DIGITAL FACTOR

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Absurd Minds – Sapta (Album – Scanner / Dark Dimensions)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Wed, 27 May 2020 18:00:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: Wave-pop, dark-electro, EBM.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: The album “Tempus Fugit” (2017) marked the return of Absurd Minds after an absence of seven years. This year the band celebrates its twenty fifth anniversary. But better than releasing a ‘best of’-album Absurd Minds strikes back with their seventh full length album featuring twelve new songs.

Content: Absurd Minds moves on composing the ‘classic’ songs that we are used to hearing from them. The influences are once again covering different genres; from dark-pop and wave-pop towards a few ‘harder’ cuts, mixing electronics with guitar. The charismatic vocals of their front man Stefan Grossmann remains another main characteristic of the band. This album features several beautiful songs leading the listener into reverie. Other harder cuts are more danceable, injecting some variety to the work.

+ + + : This album is made to dream away; globally speaking there are more wafting songs featured instead of harder, danceable pieces. I however like the ‘hard’ side of the album revealed at “Dear End”, which sounds as the offspring between Project Pitchfork and The Sisters Of Mercy. Another noticeable song is “One Blood”, which is driven by great electronic sequences. This song could be a potential title track for an EP. I also like the melancholia hanging over “A Light That Shone” and the refined touch of “Turning Away”.

– – – : Absurd Minds remains a rather unique band in their genre although after twenty five years I must say the songs have become a bit too predictable.

Conclusion: Absurd Minds remains a fixed value in an electronic approach only a few bands are dealing with. I don’t consider “Sapta” to be their best work in history although it’s a fully accomplished work.

Best songs: “One Blood”, “Dear End”, “A Light That Shone”, “Turning Away”, “Carry The Flag”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist: www .absurdminds .de / www .facebook .com /AbsurdMinds

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

About Absurd Minds

Absurd Minds began in 1995 as a project of Tilo Ladwig and Stefan Grossmann. The Dresden-based act connected with Francesco D’Angelo, who records as Scanner and also runs the Dark Dimensions label, and grew from a duo into a full band. After the 2010 album “Serve Or Suffer”, Absurd Minds returned in 2017 with “Tempus Fugit” following a seven-year break; “Sapta” is the band’s seventh full-length album, released in the year of its twenty-fifth anniversary.

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Project Pitchfork reissue ‘Black’ at the end of July on 2 double vinyl (incl. 2CD) sets

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Thu, 14 May 2020 17:42:46 +0000

Out on July 31st is the reissue of Project Pitchfork’s 2003 album “Black”. “Black” will be released on double vinyl (with 2CDs included) in 2 versions: a clear and a black splatter version. The 2CD sets hold 5 bonus tracks on the second CD. Both sets will be limited to 500 copies.

“Black” is the band’s 16th studio album and was released in multiple formats, including a double-disc deluxe version, featuring two b-sides and three remixes. The song “Rain” was released as a music video to promote the record.

Below are the visuals for both sets.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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Available for free download: Auger’s track ‘Find My Own Way Out’ (Face The Beat: Session 5 profile series)

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 15:35:56 +0000

The 7th track on our free (or pay-what-you-want to support our charity work) download compilation “Face The Beat: Session 5” is by Auger, a UK based dynamic-darkwave duo signed to the fine darkTunes label.

You can listen to “Find My Own Way Out” right below.

Face The Beat: Session 5 by Auger

Auger are Kyle Wilson (21) lead vocals, keyboards, programming and Kieran Thornton (21) guitar and backing vocals. Founded in July 2017, Auger quickly sold out their debut CD single “New Life” / “My Guardian” (Rebco Records UK) and got noticed by the darkTunes label which selected the track “My Guardian” for their “Gothic Music Orgy Vol 4” compilation.

The band debuted with the album “The Awakening” in April 2018 and offers the band’s typical hard-hitting and hyper-melodic approach which will please the fans of BlutEngel, Project Pitchfork and Gothminister to name just a few.

The band also released a video for the track we feature today.

Check “Face The Beat: Session 5” on Bandcamp to discover the other bands. All donations will go to charity.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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Project Pitchfork continues reissue series with 2 more sets

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Fri, 04 Oct 2019 14:29:47 +0000

After the first two Project Pitchfork 2LP+2CD editions (“Dream, Tiresias” and “Continuum Ride”) Project Pitchfork will be re-releasing 2 more albums as extended sets. To be expected on December 6 are the albums “Quantum Mechanics” and “Look up, I’m down there!”.

The sets comes as strictly limited (500 copies) collector’s double-vinyl+2CD editions including bonus tracks. The extended sets of “Quantum Mechanics” and “Look up, I’m down there!” will each contain 6 bonus tracks.

Below are the visuals for both releases.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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Scheuber – Shades (CD Album – Trisol)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sun, 10 Mar 2019 20:00:43 +0000

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

Background/Info: Project Pitchfork keyboardist Dirk Scheuber a few years ago started a solo-career. His ‘Scheuber’ project is meant to exorcise inner demons resulting in the brilliant “The Me I See”-album (2016). “Changes” has been released one year later and featured similar influences, but not a same efficiency. Time now for the third full length “Shades”.

Content: Dirk Scheuber hasn’t change any of his influences and sound formula. It remains a kind of dark-melancholic pop music revealing delicate arrangements and noticeable vocals. Two songs have been sung together with the female singer Lilli Engelhardt.

+ + + : “Shades” is a fully enjoyable piece of music on, which Dirk Scheuber again dares to illustrates his fragility as human being. The lyrical content makes you reflect about life and maybe incite to start exorcising your personal demons. “Fame” is a poignant illustration of this lyrical approach, but it also reveals the poetic approach of the artist. Sound-wise “Shades” is mature production revealing an elaborated writing and a musician with great skills to compose carrying melody lines. Both duos together with Lilli Engelhardt inject an extra sensitive flavor to the work.

– – – : What Scheuber is probably missing is a potential hit song. His music is great, the songs are enjoyable, but I can’t really say to have heard an absolute hit song… even if I really love “Tainted Hearts”.

Conclusion: “Shades” is a beautiful album for its artistic production and intelligent lyrical content.

Best songs: “Tainted Hearts”, “Coloured Rays”, “Tempo”, “Fame”, “Recaptured”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www .scheuber .music .de / www .facebook .com /ScheuberMusic

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

About Scheuber

Dirk Scheuber co-founded Project Pitchfork with Peter Spilles in Hamburg, Germany, with the duo’s first live show in February 1990 and the debut album “Dhyani” following in May 1991. Scheuber remained the band’s keyboardist for more than three decades before the two parted ways at the end of 2020. Alongside that work he launched the solo project Scheuber, releasing “The Me I See” in 2016 and “Changes” in 2017 before “Shades” in 2019; “Numb” followed as the project’s fourth full length.

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Project Pitchfork to release limited 2LP+2CD collector set of ‘Continuum Ride’ album – get yours here (including bonus tracks)

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Tue, 05 Mar 2019 18:51:47 +0000

In 2010 Project Pitchfork released the album “Continuum Ride”, the follow-up to “Dream, Tiresias!” which was released just a year before.

The re-release comes as a collector box (strictly limited to 500 copies) holding 2LP+2CD (and 3 bonus tracks) and is available right here. There is also a 2LP+CD version, with 6 different bonus tracks, this version is available here.

The 3 bonus tracks in the collector set are the following ones: “Beholder (Puppet Master Mix)”, “Endless Infinity (God of Doom Mix)”, “Supersonic Snakebite (Iron Fist Mix)”. The 6 bonus tracks in the 2LP+CD set are: “Feel! – [:SITD:] Remix”, “Feel! – Remixed by NOISUF-X”, “Feel! – DIE KRUPPS Remix”, “Despise”, “One Million Faces (RMX)”, “Last Dream”.

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Project Pitchfork – Fragment (CD Album – Trisol)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sat, 15 Dec 2018 20:30:43 +0000

Genre/Influences: Dark-electro-wave. Background/Info: 2019 will see Project Pitchfork celebrating their 30^th anniversary. The German formation lead by Peter Spilles never stopped releasing new material and always remained one of the absolute leading formations from the electro-underground movement. They now finish 2018 the way they’ve started, by the release of a new album. Content: The album is a reflection about the world and society we’re living in, but it also is an epos for hope and love. The lyrical content has been always as important as the music properly speaking. The sound and familiar influences haven’t really changed. “Fragment” sounds into bombast, crafty arrangements, elevating leads and the usual charismatic vocals of Peter Spilles. Some songs have a little melancholic flavor, others have something poppy on top, some are more suited for the clubs and I even noticed a kind of cabaret passage. + + + : Project Pitchfork is a band that no longer takes me by surprise, but still has this genius to release alluring new songs. They in a way repeat themselves and yet the songs remain pleasant and always revealing a few potential hits. “Hearts Got Wings” is one of these potential hits. From a pure artistic point of view I would mention “There Is Much More”. What is that fascinating in this song is the kind of melody in the words and the way they’ve been sung by Peter Spilles. Every single word sounds right and in perfect harmony with the notes. That’s probably the main trademark of this band. I also have to say a word about the great and artistic digipak. – – – : Project Pitchfork doesn’t reinvent anything; they sound like on auto-pilot and that’s why the songs become a bit predictable. I get the feeling this band is still able to move on for years and years composing the same kind of songs. Conclusion: I can’t say this is the best work by Project Pitchfork, but all work remains a full guarantee for artistic and enjoyable music. Best songs: “Hearts Got Wings”, “There Is Much More”, “Peruse How Infinite You Are”, “In Your Heart”. Rate: (7½). Artist: www .project –pitchfork .eu / www .facebook .com /ProjectPitchfork Label: www .trisol .de / www .facebook .com /pages /Trisol –Music –Group /104166526285471

Read the news on ‘Fragment’.

About Project Pitchfork

Project Pitchfork is a German dark-electro project founded in Hamburg in 1989 and led by Peter Spilles. On Trisol, the band released the EP “Wonderland/One Million Faces” in 2016 and the albums “Look Up, I’m Down There” in 2017 and “Akkretion” in 2018. “Fragment”, reviewed here, closed out 2018 on the same label, ahead of the band’s 30th anniversary in 2019.

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Project Pitchfork to launch ‘Fragment’ in October as a limited 2CD edition as well

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Wed, 19 Sep 2018 18:15:31 +0000

Out later in October is the newest Project Pitchfork album “Fragment”. The album will see a limited edition version too coming in an opulent hardback picture book (80 pages) with 2 CDs. The first CD will hold the album “Fragment” while CD 2 will contain two bonus songs and three remixes by Peter Spilles himself. This 2CD set is limited to only 2,000 copies worldwide so expect to see it sold out quite fast. You can order your copy of this 2CD set right here. Tracklist CD2:

You knew it wouldn‘t be easy
And yet you are here
The Great Storm (remix by Peter Spilles)
A Fragment (remix by Peter Spilles)
In your Heart (remix by Peter Spilles)

Read the review of ‘Fragment’.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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Side-Line presents: 10 free tickets for W-Festival – Amougies (BE)

Filip Wildhoney — Mon, 04 Jun 2018 12:57:44 +0000

From 15th until 19th August 2018 the third edition of the W-Festival takes place at the festival-area in the Rue Couture d’Orroir in Amougies, Belgium. More than 60 new wave, EBM, industrial, post-punk, synth-pop and eighties bands are featured on 3 stages.

This year some of the confirmed artists are: Bauhaus (Peter Murphy 40 years of Bauhaus celebration feat. David J.), Anne Clark, DAF, Clan Of Xymox, DIE KRUPPS, Dive, Front Line Assembly, Suicide Commando, Covenant, Lords Of Acid, Vive La Fête, A Split Second, Project Pitchfork, Trisomie21, She Past Away, Chameleons Vox, Red Zebra, Kim Wilde, Paul Young, Marc Almond, Midge Ure, A Flock Of Seagulls, Heaven 17, ABC, …

Besides watching concerts you can also visit markets and merchandise shops, signing-sessions, afterparties and other exclusivities like the daily screening of “Industrial Accident – The story of Wax Trax ! Records” documentary (94 min.) from the 16th till the 19th of August at 10:30am.

Side-Line gives away 10 free tickets (for 4 days)! Just enter the contest below. We will choose the winners on June 18.

Information and tickets can be found here

Project Pitchfork – Akkretion (CD Album – Trisol)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Tue, 13 Mar 2018 19:24:37 +0000

Genre/Influences: Dark-electro-wave.

Background/Info: Peter Spilles assisted by Dirk Scheuber and Jürgen Jansen are back on track adding one more album in the impressive Project Pitchfork discography. The album is available as standard edition and as limited edition featuring an extra disc with an exclusive song and some remixes plus a book.

Content: When I discover a new album of Project Pitchfork I know in advance what will be the main ingredients. Even if that sounds ‘predictable’ it also is what we expect from the Project Pichtfork sound. It’s comparable to your favorite dessert, which you simply want to taste like it always tasted. And for “Akkretion” it means the familiar heavy drum sections featuring the usual bombast, the dark atmospheres hanging over the songs, the carrying melody lines and the typical, growling and charismatic vocals of Spilles.

This album doesn’t sound that different from what we’re used to hearing although some tracks are a bit softer and sometimes cinematographic-like.

+ + + : Project Pitchfork is a band without real surprises, however each time again and again the band seduces its audience. That’s because of this easy recognizable sound DNA and Peter’s unique timbre of voice. You directly know it’s Project Pitchfork and even after all these years of commitment, there’s no single band doing this better than Project Pitchfork itself! Some of the songs reveal a softer side, which is a bit more pop-driven, but it still is a fully accomplished piece of music with a few outstanding songs. I’m referring to “And The Sun Was Blue” and “Ascension”. The lyrical content of this band always has been very different and I’ve to say Peter Spilles here again convinced me by a sort of space-like existential themes.

– – – : The softer side of the album might be also seen as the single point that will maybe not convince some of their fans. I’m not sure this is the kind of album that will go down in history as one of their major releases.

Conclusion: Project Pitchfork is not reinventing their sound, but has just polished a few elements getting the work softer and sometimes pretty refined. A diamond can be never enough polished to glow…

Best songs: “And The Sun Was Blue”, “Ascension”, “Gravity Waves”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist: www .project –pitchfork .eu / www .facebook .com /ProjectPitchfork

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

Read the news on ‘Akkretion’.

About Project Pitchfork

“Akkretion”, reviewed here, followed in 2018 on the same label, ahead of the band’s 30th anniversary in 2019.

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Intent:Outtake – Schmerzmaschine (CD Album – Sonic-X)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Thu, 22 Feb 2018 20:30:09 +0000

Genre/Influences: Dark-electro, EBM.

Background/Info: “Schmerzmaschine” is the third album accomplished by the Leipziger (Germany) duo Bastian Polak – Andreas Engleitner. The fans of the band previously discovered the EP “Eclipse” which featured two songs that have been mixed for this album.

Content: If you never heard of this band before you quickly will recognize a sound reminding you of some famous German bands such as Project Pitchfork (for the bombastic arrangements), In Strict Confidence (for the complexity and charisma of the vocals) and Rotersand (still for the complexity, but also for the more refined approach). “Schmerzmaschine” doesn’t sound at all like a copyists, but simply composed an intelligent although somewhat ‘classical’ work featuring several great cuts. Notice by the way there’s a song featuring guest vocals by Chris L (Agonoize, Funker Vogt, Sexorcist ao).

+ + + : This is a real mature production for the writing of the songs and the great sound production. The songs have been accomplished by great sound treatments and carried by a talented singer. The song featuring Chris L is not my favorite cut although a nice little extra. The sound and influences might be familiar ones, but I really believe Intent:Outtake has achieved a great work, which is without a shadow of a doubt their most successful album to date. I don’t want to compare them to In Strict Confidence, but there’s a similar approach in sound with earlier releases of this band. Last, but not least the album features a few potential hits or at least club killers.

– – – : Despite of some potential hits, the album doesn’t have ‘the’ hit that would be recognized by all music lovers.

Conclusion: I’ve been positively surprised by this album and the progression of Intent:Outtake. I’m not affirming that they could become the ‘big next thing’ in dark-electro land and the world of EBM, but they clearly have the potential to grow to the top!

Best songs: “Eclipse – Album Edit”, “Masks”, “Fossils Of Anger”, “Raum Und Zeit”, “Schmerzmaschine”.

Rate: (8½).

Band: www .intentouttake .de / www .facebook .com /INTENTOUTTAKE

Label: www .sonic –x .de / www .myspace .com /sonicxrecords / www .facebook .com /pages /Sonic –X /223123321069481

About Intent:Outtake

Intent:Outtake is a duo from Leipzig, Germany, set up in 2014 by Andreas Engleitner (vocals) and Bastian Polak (machines). The project mixes Dark-Electro and EBM, sung in German and English, with lyrics addressing social and political themes. “Schmerzmaschine” is the band’s third full-length album. Intent:Outtake went on to release “Tic Toc Tod” (2023) and “Der Stille Tod” (2023) through Scanner / Dark Dimensions.

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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…)

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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Project Pitchfork returns with new album ‘Akkretion’ – here are the details

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Mon, 11 Dec 2017 19:00:34 +0000

“Akkretion” is the title of the newest Project Pitchfork album which will be out in early 2018. The album is the first part of a new trilogy. “Akkretion” will be followed-up by “Fragment” and “Elysium” in the upcoming months. The album will be released as a normal CD, but also as a hardcover 2CD book (which can be ordered right here). The tracks on the bonus CD are “Tree of Life (bonus song)”, “Ascension (remix feat. Sue)”, “And the Sun was blue (remix)”, “Good Night Death (remix)” and “Crossfire (We Are Temporary – remix)”.

Read the review of ‘Akkretion’.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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Hexheart – Midnight On A Moonless Night (CD Album – Metropolis Records)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Thu, 21 Sep 2017 19:30:04 +0000

Genre/Influences: Dark EBM, dark electro-wave.

Background/Info: Hexheart is a new project set up by God Module’s Jasyn Bangert assisted by Andrew Pearson (still active in God Module) and Patrick Hogan (Voicecoil). This is the debut full length, which has been introduced as inspired by bands like The Cure, Joy Division and co.

Content: When I started listening to this opus I honestly didn’t know it was a new work by Jasyn Bangert, but his typical timbre of voice and some music arrangements made me think that this work sounds pretty God Module-like although with some different influences on top. There also is a kind of bombast, which rather reminds me of Project Pitchfork. But globally speaking I don’t really see the link with Joy Division and co.

It more sounds like a mix of God Module and other dark EBM formations with some guitar on top. There’s a darker and somewhat gothic flavor recovering some of the songs.

+ + + : Whatever the inspiration of Hexheart and the sound they’d in mind, this album is an interesting production revealing great and accomplished electronic parts, sublime vocals and haunting atmospheres. Hexheart rapidly appears to be a mix between God Module, new-wave and gothic music. There are a few great cuts featured at their debut album.

– – – : “Midnight On A Moonless Night” is a cool work although not a project that will directly make an unforgettable impression. It’s maybe too close to God Module and too far away from their initial sources of inspiration for Hexheart.

Conclusion: Hexheart features elements and inspiration Jasyn Bangert couldn’t have experimented with on God Module. That’s maybe one of the main reasons why this project came alive; well at least that’s the impression I got!

Best songs: “Stars In Your Eyes”, “Nothing”, “Lunatix”, “Second Sight”.

Rate: (7½).

Band: www .hexheart .com / www .facebook .com /hexheart .official

Label: www .metropolis –records .com / www .facebook .com /MetropolisRecords

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Machinista launches new single feat. Dirk Scheuber (Project Pitchfork) on guest-vocals

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Tue, 19 Sep 2017 18:07:51 +0000

The Swedish act Machinista are working hard on the final tracks for their upcoming album “Anthropocene”. But you won’t have to wait that long to hear new material from the band as they have now released a brand new single, “Let darkness in”.

“Let darkness in” features Dirk Scheuber (SCHEUBER, Project Pitchfork) on guest-vocals and is backed by the b-side “Universe is here” taken from the upcoming album. You can listen to it below.

Let Darkness in by Machinista

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Scheuber – Changes (CD Album – Trisol)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Tue, 22 Aug 2017 19:45:51 +0000

Genre/Influences: Dark-pop, wave-pop, electro-rock.

Background/Info: Dirk Scheuber (Project Pitchfork) last year took numerous music lovers by surprise unleashing his solo-debut “The Me I See”. The album revealed an alluring and totally accomplished dark electro-pop format on, which the artist exorcised some of his heaviest inner demons. Music heals all pains! One year later Scheuber is already back on track unleashing “Changes”.

Content: The music and inspiration hasn’t changed that much. The music still sounds dark and melancholic, which is true for the lyrics as well. Dirk Scheuber again invites the listener to chase some of his dramatic life experiences. That’s an aspect that comes really true when you pay attention for the lyrical content.

The music remains melodic, sometimes a bit moving into pop-rock influences, but definitely different from established standards. Dirk Scheuber again reveals to be a talented and passionate singer.

+ + + : “The Me I See” was not just a one-shot experiment and that’s for sure an important element, especially after this successful debut. So I was eagerly awaiting the second chapter in Scheuber solo-career. He has created a sound, which you can’t directly link with any other band and that’s a damned great thing. Scheuber is not a copyist and has enough experience to make a step away from Project Pitchfork. He has found a great exit to cure his wounds, music becoming the perfect ally to beat any form of addiction. I like the melody lines and the melancholia running through the songs. The final tracks are more elaborated and definitely the best part of the opus.

– – – : “The Me I See” took me by surprise, but this album leaves me a bit skeptical. The debut album sounded more intimate while you really can feel the ‘pain’ on it while “Changes” maybe has a similar sensation for the lyrical content, but not for the composition. The songs are more repetitive and even predictable while I’m missing the climaxes from the debut album. It feels a bit like this album was more written in one and the same flow while missing the spirit that made “The Me I See” that successful.

Conclusion: I often hear artists saying that releasing a second album after a successful debut work is a bit of challenge! That’s a bit what I experienced listening to “Changes” from Scheuber. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a cool and entertaining work, but the work stands in the shadow of the debut opus.

Best songs: “Fragile”, “Spiritwalker”, “Form”, “Bliss”.

Rate: (7).

Band: www .scheuber –music .net / www .facebook .com /ScheuberMusic

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

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

Filip Wildhoney — Sun, 18 Jun 2017 14:22:29 +0000

On 12th and 13th August 2017 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 markets, artist signing events, gothic fashion shows, book readings and parties. 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. A new fact this year is the M’era Luna Academy where you can follow catwalk workshops and lectures by Mark Benecke and Gerald Axelrod.

The last years the festival was every time sold out and had about 25.000 visitors. This year some of the confirmed artists are: Korn, DAF, KMFDM, Front Line Assembly, Leaether Strip, And One, ASP, Blutengel, Subway To Sally, Schandmaul, Project Pitchfork, Ashbury Heights, Haujobb, Mono Inc., Covenant, The Cruxshadows, De/Vision, Mesh, Megaherz, Solar Fake, …

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

‘Click Interview’ with Tragic Impulse: ‘I Really Just Wanted To Make An Album That Had Good Dancefloor Appeal’

Inferno Sound Diaries — Mon, 01 May 2017 18:15:10 +0000

Tragic Impulse is a rather new EBM-minded solo-project set up and driven by Paul M. Graham. The second album “Devil On Your Shoulder” released on Distortion Productions will be for sure an opportunity to discover this American artist dealing with a dark EBM format.

(by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Tell us a bit more about your artistic background and activities, which finally brought you to set up Tragic Impulse?

Paul: I started experimenting with electronic music in the early-mid 2000’s and to be honest, I was pretty bad at. I remember getting a remix kit for one of Informatik’s songs and I gave up on it pretty quickly because I just didn’t have the skills to pull it off. I kept working at it though and in 2012 I submitted the song “Apocalyptic Visions” to the “Electronic Saviors 2”-compilation under the project name Eisengeist. The song had no lyrics/vocals and it was pretty raw from a production standpoint, but it got accepted and appeared on the bonus track section of the compilation.

Gaining confidence from the Eisengeist track, I decided to put more time and energy into making electronic music. However, I wanted to go in a different direction musically so Tragic Impulse was born.

Q: I guess you must notice a serious move in sound, writing and global production from “Machine Parts” (debut album released in 2014) towards the new work “Devil On Your Shoulder”?

Paul: I do feel that “Devil On Your Shoulder” represents a degree of maturation in my overall sound, writing and production. When I was working on “Devil On Your Shoulder”, I remember being very critical of the production value on “Machine Parts” because it felt so inferior to me at the time (still does). I think the biggest reason for this is that between albums I continue to get better at translating my ideas into finished and more refined products. New synthesizers, studio gear, and equipment upgrades always has some impact on this as well. I’ve already started working on the next album and feel that the sound, writing, and production is superior to “Devil On Your Shoulder” as well. I’m excited about it! I see all this as growth so it’s a good thing.

As far as sound goes, I dabbled with things like pitch-shifted vocals on “Machine Parts” (cf. “I’ll Be Your God” & “I Hear Footsteps”) but none of that appears on “Devil On Your Shoulder”. That’s something I probably won’t go back to but you never know. “Devil On Your Shoulder” is more representative of the vocal style/feel I’ll be using going forward. I do love a good vocoder though so that’s not going anywhere LOL.

Q: Tell us a bit more about the new work and especially the kind of album you’d in mind?

Paul: I originally considered making “Devil On Your Shoulder” a concept-album but it never really materialized. Although not electronic, I always loved Queensryche’s concept-album “Operation Mindcrime” and wanted to do something in that vein lyrically (I still might).

Beyond that, I really just wanted to make an album that had good dancefloor appeal. I love knocking back a pint or two at the local goth club to loud stompy music and Tragic Impulse I think reflects that. Otherwise, I tend to mix things up from song to song thematically.

Q: What’s the deeper meaning of the title “Devil On Your Shoulder” and what’s the importance of the lyrical content of your songs?

Paul: The song “Devil On Your Shoulder” is largely about temptation and schadenfreude. People do some horrible things at the expense of their fellow humans and the song explores that metaphorically. As for the title, I like albums with a title/track relationship and I thought “Devil On Your Shoulder” stood out so I went with it.

The rest of the album covers a lot of ground lyrically and thematically. “Flesh And Blood” is about how being different is OK. “Evolution Revolution” is about reinventing yourself and “Lightstpeed” is about the vastness and wonderment of our universe. Ultimately though, the songs are about whatever the listener wants them to be and I have to say nothing feels better than when a fan tells you a song resonated with them on a personal level. That’s happened more than I expected on this album and it’s always a delight to hear.

Q: Do you have some referential musicians, bands, producers… and what make them ‘special’ to you?

Paul: There’s so many artists and people who have influenced me that it’s a hard question to answer in this limited space. To pick a few though, I would say that Project Pitchfork – particularly their early works – has had a big influence on me. From the music to the lyrics to their live shows, everything that band does just resonates with me. I also love the way Daniel Graves (Aesthetic Perfection) works a stage. I’ve seen him play to both small and large crowds and he brings the same amazing energy and intensity each time. Claus Larsen is also a big influence. One of the highlights of my burgeoning musical career has been sharing a stage with him. He’s an incredible artist and an even better person.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Jim Semonik (Distortion Productions/Red Lokust) as a big influence as well. I don’t think I’ve met a person with as much perseverance, passion, and dedication to the EBM/Industrial scene as him. I feel pretty lucky to have him as a friend as well.

Q: Referring to live performances, Tragic Impulse doesn’t have a real live experience so far. How comes and what kind of show might the audience expect during the next months? How do you transpose the studio work on stage and will you get some help from extra members?

Paul: Although it’s taken a while to get going, the live show is actually up and running. Over the last year I’ve shared the stage with Leaether Strip, Ludovico Technique, and Kite to name a few. The response so far has been overwhelmingly positive and future live performances, such as a “Distortion Prod”-tour in Summer and “Danse Macabre 2” in Pittsburgh around Halloween, are being planned.

The big reason the live show took a while to get going is that I wanted finished music I could put into the hands of people who wanted it after a live performance. I know a lot of bands get started doing live music before moving on to recording but I’ve always found this counter-intuitive. I’ve had people buy my music after every gig I’ve done so I think the strategy works. Another reason the live show took a while to get going was just translating the studio work to the stage. I had to invest in new portable gear and this took some time and money to sort out. It was time well spent however and I’m pretty happy with the results.

I’m definitely looking to add more people for live performances. At a minimum, I’d like to have someone on keys and maybe add a drummer for bigger gigs. I’ve talked to a few people about that so we’ll see how it goes. Other than that, I’d love to catch on with a festival or two as well. I went to WGT in Germany for the first time last year and all I could think about – other than Schwarzbier and bratwurst (yum!) – was how awesome it would be to perform there.

Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries

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Absurd Minds – Tempus Fugit (CD Album – Scanner/Dark Dimensions)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Mon, 13 Mar 2017 19:10:36 +0000

Genre/Influences: Dark-electro & pop, wave-pop, EBM.

Background/Info: Absurd Minds strikes back after a hiatus of seven years! Stefan Grossmann, Tilo Ladwig, Nick and Timo Fischer are back on track with “Tempus Fugit”, which is the band’s 6^th official album to date.

Content: Absurd Minds rapidly became a successful formation and that’s probably because of their unique sound approach. Time runs by, but the influences and global sound approach of Stefan Grossmann and his acolytes hasn’t changed. Absurd Minds has always reminded me to the bombast and refinement of Project Pitchfork. “Tempus Fugit” is an appropriated title to bring us back to the essence of Absurd Minds.

The songs are still carried by bombastic and sometimes somewhat orchestral sound treatments next to subtle and refined arrangements. There’s a constant duality between powerful parts and dreamy passages. The songs are driven by solid choruses featuring sweet melodies and other easy to remember vocal lines.

A few cuts were accomplished with guitar, which now injects a new-wave touch to the work and then a more psychedelic touch.

+ + + : “Tempus Fugit” not only marks the return of Absurd Minds, but it also is a fully accomplished and diversified opus. This work has it all: powerful cuts with carrying choruses and great melody lines and softer pieces leading you into a dreamy universe. I sometimes get the impression of hearing a hybrid sound between Project Pitchfork and Depeche Mode. “Kreuzfeuer” is a great song in the genre, but I also have to mention the modernism of “For Those Who Love”. Globally speaking this new work sounds in the line of previous albums although I like its diversity and sound production. The synths are absolutely great while Grossmann remains a charismatic singer. Last, but not least I also like the digipak of this album.

– – – : I’m not that fond of the somewhat psychedelic guitar playing (on “Hourglass”), which is quite different from what Absurd Minds are used to composing. I also have a preference for the ‘harder’ cuts although some of the ‘softer’ pieces are real beauties.

Conclusion: You don’t really get the impression Absurd Minds took a break for so many years, but “Tempus Fugit” is a noticeable comeback and one of their best albums to date!

Best songs: “For Those Who Love”, “Kreuzfeuer”, “Now We Hear The Call”, “Threnody”.

Rate: (7½).

Band: www .absurdminds .de / www .facebook .com /AbsurdMinds

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

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Project Pitchfork – Look Up, I’m Down There (CD Album – Trisol)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Wed, 04 Jan 2017 19:00:27 +0000

Genre/Influences: Dark-electro-wave, EBM. Background/Info: Twenty five years after their official debut album “Dhyani”, which became an instant success, Project Pitchfork is back on track with a new opus that has been announced by Trisol as one of their most important releases to date. Peter Spilles and his acolytes featuring old servant Dirk Scheuber –who previously this year took the world by surprise unleashing a brilliant solo-opus, accomplished 12 new songs. Content: Globally speaking the new album reveals the most familiar elements of a good Project Pitchfork album. There still is the hard and impressive bombast, which you mainly can hear in the rhythm sections next to the reverie synth parts and subtle piano arrangements. Project Pitchfork once more excels in bringing opposite elements together, which finally results in a harmonious and mature writing. One of the main strengths of the songs remains the carrying chorus lines. Project Pitchfork has this fine taste to create carrying and somewhat wave inspired melody lines. You now and then will notice an industrial touch, but still hard and merciless EBM passages. “Look Up, I’m Down There” can be evasive and next hard and merciless. That’s a bit comparable to our daily life, which remains an important source of inspiration for the lyrical themes. The lyrical content remains another important aspect of the work and I especially like the kind of symbolism and metaphoric approach. + + + : “Look Up, I’m Down There” is one more accomplished album for Peter Spilles. It’s probably not his best album ever although one of the best from the past few years. The music mixes power and evasive passages while always carried by solid choruses. I like the symbiosis between rough drum sections and refined piano arrangements. I also have to mention a terrific EBM bass line running through “Titânes”, which is for sure one of the most surprising cuts of the album. This album will ravish all the fans of the band. A last, but essential aspect of this album is the great artwork. The gothic-like front cover is absolutely great and artistic and that’s an aspect you’ll never get on digital format. – – – : I can’t say that “Look Up, I’m Down There” is as surprising as announced. I can’t say that Project Pitchfork is reinventing its sound, but it remains a damn great sound! Conclusion: Project Pitchfork remains a very single sound experience in dark electro underground music and this album is there to remind us why this formation belongs at the top for years now. This is definitely one of the major releases from the end of 2016! Best songs: “Titânes”, “Look Up, I’m Down There”, “Furious Numbers”, “Blind Eye”, “Volcano”. Rate: (8). Band: www .project –pitchfork .eu / www .facebook .com /ProjectPitchfork Label: www .trisol .de / www .facebook .com /pages /Trisol –Music –Group /104166526285471

Read the news on ‘Look Up, I’m Down There’.

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