(Photo by Abby Laspia) Today, Cleopatra Records has reissued the Spahn Ranch album “The Coiled One”. “The Coiled One” by the Los Angeles-based electro-industrial act was originally released in 1995, and now comes with 8 bonus tracks that include album recording session outtakes that have previously never been released in any form.

The material on this reissue was digitally remastered by Jürgen Engler of Die Krupps and is now available for the first time on vinyl in a limited edition colored version that includes the original 10 songs, as well as a limited digipak “The Coiled One: Deluxe Edition” CD version (that contains the 8 bonus tracks). “The Coiled One” will also be available on all digital and streaming platforms.

Additionally, a seldom seen video created by a European fan for the song “Heretic’s Fork,” is now available once more.

“The Coiled One” was Spahn Ranch’s second studio album. Co-produced and engineered by Judson Leach, the album also included programming by Matt Green and Rob Morton, with vocals by Athan Maroulis (currently of NØIR).

About Spahn Ranch

Spahn Ranch was established in 1992 in Los Angeles by Matt Green and Rob Morton, his collaborator from New York. They pooled their savings to launch the band, having already worked together musically for the previous five years. That year, they inked a deal with Cleopatra Records and debuted with a self-titled EP featuring four tracks, with Scott “Chopper” Franklin—who would later join The Cramps as a bassist—on vocals. Franklin had left another band to join Spahn Ranch on vocals.

In 1993, Athan Maroulis joined Spahn Ranch as a vocalist, and the band recorded their first album, “Collateral Damage”. Maroulis had previously formed the New York-based group Fahrenheit 451 (1984–1986), with whom he recorded his first commercially available album. Over the ensuing years, Maroulis established himself in a number of alternative musical genres including gothic, industrial and electronic. Stints with the Philadelphia-based Executive Slacks (1987–1990), as well as Tubalcain (1991–1993), followed.

They released their second album, “The Coiled One”, in 1995 amidst Morton’s exit from the band over creative and logistical clashes. Following his departure, the lineup grew to include Christian Death’s drummer David Glass, Screams for Tina guitarist Kent Bancroft, and Tubalcain drummer Harry Lewis. This expansion ushered in a darker, more diverse electro-industrial sound that became Spahn Ranch’s hallmark. By 1997, the band had streamlined to a trio comprising Green, Maroulis, and Lewis.

Throughout the late 1990s, Spahn Ranch continued producing music. Their 1997 album “Architecture” featured contributions from Killing Joke/Prong bassist Paul Raven and Rockats/Nancy Sinatra guitarist Danny B. Harvey, taking a more experimental turn with the introduction of drum and bass, dub, and live guitar elements. “Beat Noir”, released in 1998, furthered this experimental direction and included collaborations with Bauhaus/Love & Rockets bassist David J. In 2000, the band released “Anthology 1992–1994”, a compilation including their first four releases and previously unreleased tracks.

Their final album, “Closure”, was recorded in 2000 and released in 2001.

In less than 8 years, Spahn Ranch completed a total of 5 studio albums, 4 EPs and performed more than 200 concerts in over a dozen countries before calling it a day in late 2000.

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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Metropolis Records welcomes the legendary 16volt on its roster. The new release “NegativeOnArrivals” features a selection of tracks from the band’s two self-released albums, “The Negative Space” and “Dead on Arrivals”, that have been selected by the band themselves.

In addition 16volt’s founder, songwriter, lead vocalist, programmer, and rhythm guitarist Eric Powell, is working on a new album that is slated for release later this year, to be released under the title “More of Less”. “NegativeOnArrivals” is available today via Metropolis Records on CD and through all digital and streaming platforms.

About 16volt

Eric Powell signed his first record deal in 1991 at a very young age and subsequently delivered three albums: “Wisdom” (1993), “Skin” (1994), and “LetDownCrush” (1996). On those albums he worked with several co-producers including David Ogilvie (Nine Inch Nails, Skinny Puppy), Keith “Fluffy” Auerbach (Ministry), Jeff “Critter” Newell (Ministry, Angels & Airwaves, Blink-182), and special guests William Tucker (Ministry), Marc LaCorte (Schecter Guitars), and Bryan Black (Black Asteroid).

16volt then brought on producer Bill Kennedy (Nine Inch Nails, Megadeth, Sepultura, Mötley Crüe) to make the album “SuperCoolNothing” (1998, Mercury/PolyGram) featuring film composer and musician Joseph Bishara (Insidious, The Conjuring, Marylin Manson, Danzig), Chris Vrenna (Nine Inch Nails), Mike Peoples (Skrew), and Kraig Tyler (Crazytown). With Polygram being acquired by Seagrams shortly before the album release, 16volt found themselves in the middle of a legal battle while Mercury lost all funding and moved the album to Island Records as a catalog item.

In the end the band bought the rights to the album in 2000 and signed an agreement with Sony Entertainment to feature the album within the Playstation game “Primal” as well as being a double release in Europe with the game on one disc and the album on another. The band was also skinned into the game as characters and included in interviews as in-game bonus material.

In 2007 16volt signed a multi-album deal with Metropolis Records and released “FullBlackHabit” (2007), “American Porn Songs” (2009), and “Beating Dead Horses” (2012) with guests such as Paul Raven (Ministry, Killing Joke, Prong); Steve White (KMFDM); Bildeaux (Lance Herbstrong) and mix engineer Shaun Thingvold (Strapping Young Lad, Lamb of God).

In early 2016 16volt entered the recording studio in Portland, Oregon to begin writing and recording a new album with producer Marc Jordan (Velvet Revolver, The Cult, Stitched Up Heart, The Mowglis, Hyro Da Hero, Bleached, Die Antwoord). The new album titled “The Negative Space” was released independently on September 14, 2016. In early 2017, 16volt entered the studio to begin work on their 10th album effort “Dead On Arrivals” which was self-produced and released in October of 2017.

During the summer of 2021, Eric began working on material again in his private studio. In the Fall of 2022, 16volt announced resigning with Metropolis Records and began work on a new album titled “More of Less” slated for a 2024 release. In addition, Metropolis now re-issues a combined version with select tracks of the albums “The Negative Space” and “Dead On Arrivals” titled “NegativeOnArrivals”.

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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Out on May 3rd via Metropolis Records is the release of the 16Volt album”NegativeOnArrivals”.

It holds condensed versions of the two most recent albums are being reissued on 3rd May as the single disc “NegativeOnArrivals”, with Powell stating: “I am excited to get this material out to a larger base through Metropolis! The collection of tracks was created during a hard time in my life and to feel them set free together is a great exorcism, I hope everyone enjoys them as we get warmed up for our new album.”

You can pre-order the album right here. Below is the artwork.

In further news, after a period of inactivity that saw 16Volt unable to tour, Powell began working on new material in his studio and re-signed with Metropolis Records for a brand new album entitled “More Of Less” to be issued later in 2024.

Here’s already the video for “The Last Time” featured on the new album.

About 16Volt

With roots dating back to the early days of the industrial rock genre, 16Volt have been successfully crossing over into multiple related genres for over three decades and retained a healthy worldwide fanbase while doing so.

Group founder, songwriter, lead vocalist, programmer and rhythm guitarist Eric Powell actually signed his first record deal in 1991 while still in his teens and delivered three albums in swift succession – “Wisdom” (1993), “Skin” (1994) and “LetDownCrush” (1996) – that saw him working alongside co-producers such as David Ogilvie (Nine Inch Nails, Skinny Puppy), Keith ‘Fluffy’ Auerbach (Ministry) and Jeff ‘Critter’ Newell (Ministry, Angels & Airwaves, blink-182), as well as guest musicians like William Tucker (Ministry), Marc LaCorte (Schecter Guitars) and Bryan Black (Black Asteroid). Earning both critical praise and pole positions on the US Alternative Chart and at College Radio, the band also built a significant live following as they toured extensively around North America and eventuallly signed a major deal with Mercury Records.

Producer Bill Kennedy (Nine Inch Nails, Megadeth, Sepultura, Mötley Crüe) was hired to help make “SuperCoolNothing” (1998), which featured appearances from film composer Joseph Bishara (Insidious, The Conjuring, Marylin Manson, Danzig), Chris Vrenna (Nine Inch Nails), Mike Peoples (Skrew) and Kraig Tyler (Crazytown), but the group soon found themselves in the middle of a legal battle shortly before album release when their label was bought by Seagram and its funding was cut. However, in a genius move, Powell was able to buy back the rights and made a deal with Sony to feature it within the Playstation game “Primal” as well as a two-disc European release that included both the album and the game with the band skinned in as characters and utilised as in-game bonus material.

The mid-’00s saw 16Volt sign to Metropolis Records and release the albums “FullBlackHabit” (2007), “American Porn Songs” (2009) and “Beating Dead Horses” (2012), which featured guests such as Paul Raven (Ministry, Killing Joke, Prong), Steve White (KMFDM) and Bildeaux (Lance Herbstrong), as well as mix engineer Shaun Thingvold (Strapping Young Lad, Lamb of God).

Meanwhile, an extensive touring schedule was maintained that included stints with KMFDM, Korn, Filter, Chemlab, Orgy, Prong, Stabbing Westward, Revolting Cocks, Fear Factory, Front Line Assembly, My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, Front 242 and more, as well as multiple successful headlining tours in their own right.

2016 saw the release of “The Negative Space”, produced by Marc Jordan (Velvet Revolver, The Cult, Hyro Da Hero, Die Antwoord), with “Dead On Arrivals” following a year later.

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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Out on March 10th via the Frontiers label is the debut album from the industrial rock act The Banishment. “Machine And Bone” will be available on CD, vinyl and as a download. A single and video from the song “Got What You Wanted” is available now.

The Banishment began in the mid-2010s as a collaboration between guitarist George Lynch (Lynch Mob, The End Machine, ex-Dokken) and programmer/multi-instrumentalist Joe Haze (Primitive Race, Lords of Acid), with artist and vocalist Devix Szell joining the duo in 2020.

The new album features guest vocal appearances by Tommy Victor (Prong) and Richard Patrick (Filter). The former even provided The Banishment with their name, which is also the title of a Prong song.

Here’s the video for the first single.

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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(Black and white photo by Derick Smith) Ministry has a livestream concert set for November 20 at 3 PM PT/5 PM CT/6 PM ET/10 PM GMT. Tickets have gone on sale now at HITKOR.com (to both stream live and watch on demand). The special streaming event will be available in more than 30 countries and was planned with European Ministry fans in mind after the band had to cancel a multi-country tour this fall due to unforeseen circumstances.

Ministry’s Al Jourgensen says: “We never intended for Cleveland with NIN to be our last show this year. Due to circumstances beyond our control we had to cancel Europe but we didn’t want to end 2022 without one last show, and this will be one for the books.”

The live set will feature the full band and possible special guests. In addition to creator and founder Al Jourgensen, Ministry’s full band will appear in the livestream show, including drummer Roy Mayorga (Stone Sour, Soulfly, Nausea), guitarists Cesar Soto (Man The Mute) and Monte Pittman (Madonna, Prong), bassist Paul D’Amour (Tool, Feersum Ennjin), and keyboardist John Bechdel (Killing Joke, Fear Factory).

The show will also feature new tracks from the latest album, “Moral Hygiene”, out now on Nuclear Blast Records.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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The last year it has been very calm in the OOMPH!-camp. No online concerts during corona, no rescheduled festival-dates, no new album news at all. The sudden announcement that OOMPH!’s lead singer Dero Goi has left the band, after 32 years being the frontman, reached us today via the official facebook-page of the band. At this moment it is unclear if Dero will start a new project or stops with singing completely. OOMPH! however continues to exist under the same name with composers Crap and Flux and a new singer, who hasn’t been announced yet.

Some time ago Dero posted on social media that he got baptised and also announced that he’s against Covid-vaccinations. His last side-project DIE KREATUR also suddenly stopped after disagreements with Chris Harms (Lord Of The Lost) who wrote on 31st December 2020 on facebook: “Not to forget, I have released an album with a side project called Die Kreatur, which I was looking forward to so much, which I have been proud about big time, but sadly short after its release, some circumstances have rendered a continuation of the project impossible. This year I have made new friends. This year I have lost friends – some to death, some to a world of insanity, where I can’t possibly follow them to. Once more I have learned that prejudices are so damn misleading and I still can’t entirely free myself from them. Some people that I liked in the beginning turned out to be real jerks, and some others that really made me shake my head in the beginning became brothers.”

OOMPH! was originally founded in 1989 in Wolfsburg (Germany) by Crap, Dero Goi and Robert Flux. They released their first single “Ich Bin Du” in 1991, followed by the single “Der Neue Gott” and their first (self-titled) album in 1992. The band played in 1993 in the legendary Limelight club in New-York and became “crossover”-pioneers in mixing elements of EBM with groovy metal guitar-riffs, or as Billboard magazine said “Sepultura meets DAF”. Unwillingly they created the “Tanz-Metal” (Dance-Metal) or “Neue Deutsche Haerte” (New German Hardness) genre, which was the German answer on American Industrial-Metal bands as Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, Prong, etc. There is no doubt that OOMPH! has paved the way for many later bands as Rammstein, Eisbrecher and many others.

In 2004 the band received a platinum award for the single “Augen Auf!”, in 2015 a golden award for the album “GlaubeLiebeTod” and in 2018 a platinum award for the album “Wahrheit Oder Pflicht”. The last album “Ritual” reached in 2019, for the first time ever in the history of the band, the number 1 position in the German album charts. OOMPH! (featuring Marta Jandova) won the German “Bundesvision”-contest in 2007 and their music was also used in games (“FIFA”), movies (“Alien vs. Predator”) and tv-trailers (“The Walking Dead”). The band did remixes for bands as Korn, And One, Joachim Witt, De/Vision and others and worked together with artists as Nina Hagen and Apocalyptica. OOMPH! released 13 studio-albums in total and also played as support-act for Metallica, Marilyn Manson, HIM, Skunk Anansie, …

The last years the band was especially very popular in Russia although it’s not sure if the live-dvd with symphonic orchestra, recorded in 2018, will ever see the daylight.

Circle of Dust’s debut album 25th anniversary celebration gets celebrated with Rabbit Junk’s remix of the track “Demoralize.” The duo’s new version pulls back the industrial roots of the track and infuses it with modern electronics for a genre-hybrid piece that is a fitting tribute to the Circle of Dust original.

Circle of Dust, the ’90s industrial project from Klayton (later known as Celldweller), celebrates the 25th anniversary of the 1995 debut album this year, with every track featuring all-new mixes of the songs. The mixes were executed on original gear with separate audio tracks for the first time in over 20 years. Along with each original song being re-released with updated mixes, each will receive remixes from modern artists/producers.

Rabbit Junk’s remix is out now on all platforms from electronic rock label FiXT. Check out the video below.

Recovering album rights for Circle of Dust and Argyle Park

The project launched 4 full-length albums in the ’90s (“Circle of Dust”, “Brainchild”, “Metamorphosis” and “Disengage”). Klayton also created a side-project around that period under the name Argyle Park, which featured a vast collection of guest collaborators, including Tommy Victor of Prong, J.G. Thirlwell of Foetus and Mark Salomon (Stavesacre/Crucified).

The rights to the Circle of Dust and Argyle Park albums were unavailable to Klayton as the original labels they were signed to shut down in the mid-90s. After 2 decades of pursuing a deal to regain ownership of the albums, Klayton was finally able to reclaim the rights in 2015.

Circle of Dust made its return in 2016 as Klayton regained control of the entire Circle of Dust catalog, re-releasing each album with remastered audio and completely re-imagined art. Later the same year, with the project fully resurrected, the new album “Machines of Our Disgrace” was released followed by a feature-length documentary, “Full Circle: The Birth, Death & Rebirth of Circle of Dust”, and full-length remix album “alt_Machines” in 2018.

Now, in 2020, Circle of Dust is releasing a 25th anniversary edition of the 1995 debut album.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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Genre/Influences: Industrial-metal, industrial-rock

Background/Info: John Bechdel is an American keyboard-player, known for his work with the industrial-metal acts Ministry, Prong, Fear Factory, Killing Joke, Murder Inc, Ascension Of The Watchers and False Icons.

Content: A bit later than expected (but better late than never) we finally present this review. Director/producer Darryl Hell was so kind to send us 3 dvd’s with not only the 2 hours documentary but also 4 hours (!) of extra interviews (including a 50 minutes talk with Al Jourgensen of Ministry), raw footage and pictures. “Killing The Joke: The John Bechdel story” features more exclusive interviews with Burton C. Bell (Fear Factory), Alison Bechdel (FUN HOME / award winning writer), Greta Brinkman (L7, Pigface, Debbie Harry, Moby), Charlie Clouser (Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson), Martin Atkins (Public Image Limited, Killing Joke), Sean Roberts (Wax Trax! / TVT Records) and others. There’s also a lot of backstage footage in the venue (The Fillmore, Washington DC) and on the tourbus, meet & greets with fans, interviews with John in his home studio and we also get to see the other Ministry members Sin Quirin, AAron Rossi, Tony Campos and Cesar Soto. Everyone knows John in their own special way, some for more than 30 years! Those connections are explained clearly without any scrupules.

+ + + : The Director’s Cut features 3 dvd’s and contains a lot of extra footage to watch. Going behind the scenes is always fun and shows another side of the artist. The documentary is also available as digital download (video on demand) on Vimeo.

– – – : Just because of the overload of footage it takes a lot of time to watch all the stuff so one might lose the track a bit.

Conclusion: This documentary shows a clear image of John Bechdel as artist but also as a father, family-man and friend. It is definitely not the usual tour-story that you expect!

Label: www.s6k.com

About John Bechdel

John Bechdel is an American keyboard player known for his work with Ministry, Prong, Fear Factory, Killing Joke, Murder Inc, Ascension Of The Watchers and False Icons, a career the press has described as “the invisible man on the keys”. “Killing The Joke: The John Bechdel Story”, directed and produced by Darryl Hell for s6k Media and Furnace Records, was first announced in 2018 with a digital release that May and a 3-DVD set that August; the Director’s Cut reviewed here adds two hours of additional interviews and raw footage, including a 50-minute conversation with Al Jourgensen of Ministry.

Ascension Of The Watchers formed in 2002 with Burton C. Bell (Fear Factory, G/Z/R, Ministry), John Bechdel (Killing Joke, Murder Inc., Prong, Fear Factory, Ministry) and Eduardo Mussi (Still Life Decay). Recently Jayce Lewis was added to the line-up as well. It’s been 14 years since the self released “Iconoclast”, and 10 years since the 13th Planet release of “Numinosum”.

A Pledge Music campaign to fund the release of the new album “Stormcrow” was recently announced here. Many exclusive merchandise items are available including signed cd’s and vinyls, posters, t-shirts, handwritten lyric sheets, signed instruments, etc.

The album is set to be released spring 2019.

John Bechdel is known as “the invisible man on the keys” for many bands, mainly industrial-metal acts, like Ministry, Prong, Fear Factory, Killing Joke, Murder Inc, Ascension Of The Watchers and False Icons.

Framed as a “day-in-the-life” of 36-hours on tour in Ministry from the meet & greet before playing The Fillmore in D.C. to leaving New York City after playing Irving Plaza, this documentary is a thrill ride through the life of John, those in and connected to his life and career; the world travelers and those behind the scenes.

“Killing The Joke: The John Bechdel story” features also exclusive personal interviews with Al Jourgensen [Ministry, Revolting Cocks], Burton C. Bell [Fear Factory], Alison Bechdel [FUN HOME / award winning writer], Greta Brinkman [L7, Pigface, Debbie Harry, Moby], Charlie Clouser [Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson], Martin Atkins [Public Image Limited, Killing Joke], Sean Roberts [Wax Trax! / TVT Records] and others.

The dvd is directed and produced by Darryl Hell for s6k Media and Furnace Records and can be ordered here soon! The digital download will be available on May 19, 2018. A special issue 3-dvd set will be released on August 23, 2018 as well.

Genre/Influences: Future-pop, electro-pop.

Background/Info: Behind Wiccid is hiding Erie Loch who got some recognition for his songwriting, video, remix and studio work with bands Ministry, Revolting Cocks, Prong, Pig, Faith No More, Skinny Puppy, Front Line Assembly, NIN, Marilyn Manson, Lords Of Acid, Velvet Acid Christ, Gary Numan, Peter Murphy and many more. “By Design” is the debut album of Erie Loch as Wiccid featuring 11 songs.

Content: “By Design” sounds pretty future-pop like and sometimes reminds me of Assemblage 23. But the sound is more powerful than the work of Tom Shear. The songs are carried by solid, pumping kicks. The choruses are powerful and melodic and sometimes revealing icy sound treatments. I also noticed a few softer cuts.

+ + + : “By design” is an accomplished production, clearly revealing the work of an experienced musician. The songs are well-crafted and accomplished with cool sound treatments. It’s a dark exposure of future-pop music, but still a kind of power-pop sound featuring furious beats and solid bass lines. Erie Loch also has a nose to compose alluring choruses. The song “Lights” is a little pearl and definitely one of the main potential hits of this work.

– – – : The few softer cuts aren’t exactly the best ones, but they’re more like bringing a break in the tracklist. Erie Loch is a talented singer, but I have to admit I’m not a huge fan of his timbre of voice. He has a particular and powerful voice, but I’m not a huge fan of it and that’s my single and very personal frustration about this work.

Conclusion: Wiccid simply confirms future-pop is alive and kicking!

Best songs: “Lights”, “Torn”, “Inhuman Nature”, “The grand Comedian”.

Rate: (7).

Band: www.wiccidband.com / www.facebook.com/WiccidBand

Label: www.cleropatrarecords.com / www.facebook.com/CleopatraRecords

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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The industrial mailorder Storming The Base has launched its Boxing Week sale. The sale holds a choice between hundreds of vinyls, CD sets all at heavily reduced prices.

Included are releases from hundreds of bands such as Depeche Mode, ∆aimon, Front Line Assembly, Tehom, Blutengel,[:SITD:], iEuropean feat. Wolfgang Flur, Merzbow, Dave Ball & Jon Savage, Orphx, Cevin Key & Ken Hiwatt Marshall, Mueran Humanos, Yoko Ono, 3Teeth, Prong and many many more! You can find the complete list right here.

Good to know for our US-readers, you get the shipping for free when you order for 100 US$ or more. EU-readers, group your orders and you’ll see the shipping costs decrease a lot!

Happy hunting!

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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Here’s a release which should please many gothic rock fans. Out in Summer, but available in pre-order now is the solo debut album of Mark Gemini Thwaite. That name will ring a bell with many readers as Mark Gemini Thwaite (aka MGT) has recorded and performed with a large variety of goth rock acts over the years.

The list includes a long tenure with UK gothic rock act The Mission, Peter Murphy (Bauhaus), 3 albums and various tours with trip hop musician Tricky and Gary Numan next to collaborations with Ministry, P.J. Harvey, Combichrist, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Revolting Co*ks, Young Gods, Prong, Primitive Race, etc..

On “Volumes” you’ll find a bunch of collaborations including Ville Valo of Finnish Love Metallers HIM (on cover-version of the Abba Hit “Knowing Me Knowing You” – see the video below), Wayne Hussey (The Mission), Miles Hunt & Erica Nockalls (The Wonderstuff), Ricky Warwick (Thin Lizzy), Raymond Watts (PIG/KMFDM), Saffron (Republica), Julianne Regan (All About Eve) and goth legend Andi Sex Gang, Ashton Nyte (The Awakening), Carlo Van Putten (Dead Guitars).

In short it features the who-is-who from the gothic rock scene. The CD can now be ordered right here.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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Genre/Influences: Metal.

Background/Info: “X-No Absolutes” is again produced by Tommy Victor himself, with Chris Collier as a co-producer, who also collaborated on the “Songs From The Black Hole” all-covers album.

Content: Expectations were high after “Carved Into Stone” and “Ruining Lives”. Both were full of the raw Prong energy the fans have come to know and love.
On this album between them Tommy and Chris polished Prong to shine brightly; at the same time making it loose some of its idiosyncrasy. You could also call it “broadening Prong’s sonic horizon” of course.
“Do Nothing” is the culmination of the polishing. Let’s hope it’s the closest Prong will ever get to a ballad.

+ + +: The musical, technical, mixing and mastering prowess on this album is overabundant. This is one well-made metal/hard rock album.

– – -: The album builds on clean vocal melodies more than the signature Tommy Victor riffs and licks, making it more mainstream hard rock sounding.

Conclusion: This rather short (45 minutes) album can gain Prong fans from a younger more mainstream audience. Long-time fans might feel the album to be rather soulless; missing the grit; the rawness; the sharp edges.

Best songs: “Without Words”, “Soul Sickness”.

Rate: (SR:6)SR.

Band: www.prongmusic.com / www.facebook.com/prongmusic

Label: www.spv.de / www.facebook.com/steamhammerofficial

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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Out in 3 weeks is the newest Prong album “X – No Absolutes”. To the industrial fans, Prong is mostly known as being one of the most influential bands for Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor. Also Fear Factory, Static X, Korn and Soulfly cite the band as having had a big influence on their work.

The power trio of guitarist, singer and leader Tommy Victor is back with this new 12-track album after a tour with Ritual and Danzig. The limited 2LP + CD set is available right here.

Formed in New York in 1986 Prong became famous during the 90s with the albums “Beg to Differ”, “Prove You Wrong”, and “Cleansing”. The sound of the New York group is a union between metal, hardcore and modern industrial sounds.

Below is the official teaser for the album.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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John Bechdel is playing keyboards with industrial-metal pioneers Ministry. Before he was already part of other famous bands like Fear Factory, Prong, Killing Joke, … . In spring 2016 a documentary about his career will be released on dvd via Furnace Records.

SL: How long ago did you buy your first keyboard ever? Which technology did it use (MIDI, 3.5″ floppy disks,…) and do you still own it?

JB: 1981 – Moog Micromoog. I had gone to New York city to see Kraftwerk and my sister’s roommate was selling a synth so I bought it. I do still own it, it probably can still make some noise but developed some major issues which I never had repaired. It’s a single oscillator monophonic synth from the late 70’s way before MIDI and, no storage or programmability features.

SL: Which computer(s) and software do you currently use in your (home)studio?

JB: Apple Mac Pro 8-core with Logic Pro X, Reason, Mackie Logic control pro, two extender pros and C4 pro. Various plug-ins etc. I use Ableton for live but haven’t really gotten into it for composing, playing clips is cool but the sequencer doesn’t seem intuitive at all, I was expecting something more. I used to use Opcode Studiovision which was awesome for pattern based sequencing but since I switched to Logic I prefer linear sequencing.

SL: Can you describe all synth gear and hardware you use nowadays? Which piece is the most valuable for you?

JB: Logic Pro and Reason mainly. Although I’m old school and have a collection of vintage synth samplers and hardware. I have gone totally virtual. I did recently buy a Kurzweil 2500 because I love to play it. Beautiful pianos choir and orchestral sounds, I sit and play for hours. I have phased out my digital mixers, real to reals DATs etc., no need for that stuff anymore.

SL: When performing live, which keyboards and software do you use on stage?

JB: For decades I used Akai samplers live mainly. When I played with Killing Joke in 1990-91 I played their original Oberheim OB-X’s live. With Ministry we just recently retired the Akai’s and use Macbook pro’s with Kontakt.

SL: According to your opinion, which are the most legendary synths ever produced?

JB: I’d have to go with the Memorymoog and PPG 2.3 Waveterm. I bough both in the mid 80’s and still have them, they are beautiful to look at and compliment each other. The Memorymoog is extremely versatile for an analog synth and the PPG system had unsurpassed digital technology with analog filters, a winning combo. I’m also a big FM fan, I used and owned the DX-7 II FD extensively and still own and use the SY-77 perhaps one of the most underrated synths of all time. As I mentioned, I love the Kurzweil 2500 for it’s playability, ROM based sounds and VAST sampling technology. I used it with Fear Factory live for years. I still have a Juno 106 and Jupiter 8, my favorite Roland synths, both are still legendary. I own an Oberheim OB-X which is the fattest OB by far. I’m a big fan of Emu Emulators and Emaxs, still have an Emax HD SE, analog filters and great library. I have a Darkstar which I’m fond of, the joystick makes it unique. Speaking of joysticks, I think the Sequential Prophet VS is a legendary synth, never owned one but it had a classic wavetable sound of it’s own, even though it resembled the PPG it was also very underrated. When the D-50 came out it turned heads with its rich sounds but it was noisy and kind of lo-fi compared to the DX-7 II.

SL: And which are according to you the biggest synth artists/bands ever?

JB: Kraftwerk, Depeche Mode, Ultravox, OMD, Cabaret Voltaire, Fad Gadget.

SL: Share with us the worst case scenario that ever happened to you live on stage or in the studio!

JB: Obviously I’ve had some interesting stories but the one I’m going to go with is my first live show with Killing Joke. I was using their old Oberheim OB-X’s and they were temperamental so I had sampled and mapped the sounds just in case. Well, right at a critical point in the set when I play the OBX, it went haywire. The singer, Jaz, had always told me to be ready for anything, ironically he wasn’t big on samplers, he looked at me like “what are you going to do now?”. I calmly switched to my keyboard and continued playing the samples. It was incredible!

SL: The unavoidable question: do you prefer analog or digital synths more? And what’s your opinion about the virtual analog concept?

JB: That’s a tough question, traditionally I would say analog since they have the warmth but digital synths gave us access to an unprecendented array of waveforms and sounds as well as control. Virtual synths always seemed a bit thin. For years I’ve been using primarily plug-in synths, many are quite good but I’m beginning to miss the real synths. The initial attraction to plug-ins is the ease of use, no cables or connections, interfaces, charts etc.

SL: Isn’t the digital technology evolving too quick and becoming too complicated for artists nowadays?

JB: I don’t look at it that way anymore, it used to be that way but things have changed. First of all: everyone’s a musician/producer/composer nowadays, it used to be a special thing to be a musician, people were impressed. Now all you need is a laptop and some basic hardware. Before, you needed a computer and software as well as a tape recorder, a mixer, some outboard gear (compressors, delays, reverbs, equalizers, etc.) samplers, synthesizers, drum machines, patchbays, cables, microphones, it went on and on, you could never have enough gear. So, things are so much easier now. I began before MIDI when different manufactures devices could rarely communicate with each other. We used calculators to determine delay times. We used real rooms for reverb. We didn’t have automated mixing so we charted everything or took Polaroid photos of the mixer. We spliced tape, used complex modular synthesizers. Nobody explores anything completely anymore, there’s preset sounds and loops all synced to the tempo. People take so much for granted now. Times have changed indeed.

SL: How will the future of creating electronic music look like?

JB: For me, the future is already here. It’s hard to imagine but I guess it will keep progressing to the point where absolutely anybody can make music at any level, you wont have to dedicate tons of time, money and energy or sacrifice family or social life, music production will be ubiquitous. The only problem will be sorting through all of it to find something interesting. There will be micro-niches sub-sub sub genres. I suppose the touring musician may even come to pass.