VampireFreaks announces Dark Force Fest 2024, a 3-day gothic-industrial music festival and convention. Dark Force Fest will be held April 19th – 21st, 2024 in Parsippany, New Jersey.

In addition to live bands on two stages, Dark Force Fest also features drag queen performances, sideshow acts, a live bats exhibit, band meet-and-greets, DJ club events, 100+ vendors, panels, presentations, meet-ups, food trucks, and spooky crafting activities. Dark Force Fest takes place in Parsippany, NJ (1 hour from New York City), where goths from around the world congregate and take over the massive castle-themed Sheraton Parsippany—including 44,000 square feet of event space and all 370 hotel rooms. The castle will be adorned in gothic décor and art installations for an immersive experience. Rooms in the main venue sold out within 2 days of announcing the dates, but there are still overflow hotels in the area.

The festival lineup includes live performances from:

Stabbing Westward, Nitzer Ebb, The Crüxshadows, Leaether Strip, Gothminister, Das Ich, Priest, Vision Video, Vampires Everywhere, Then Comes Silence, Ayria, Ash Code, System Syn, Dawn of Ashes, FGFC820, Moris Blak, Danny Blu, Kanga, Auger, Creux Lies, Angels & Agony, I:scintilla, Ego Likeness. Abstinence, Nite, Al1ce, Astari Nite, Mechanical Vein, The Long Losts, October Noir, Biomechanimal, Eva X, Stoneburner, Oberer and Rabbit Junk.

Activities include:

• Over 100 Vendors
• A drag queen show hosted by Onyx Ondyx
• Sideshow performances
• A live bats exhibit and presentation by NJ Batman
• Dj club events playing goth-industrial music
• Panels and presentations
• Arts & crafts activities
• Food Trucks
• Karaoke

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 now is the new Unhappily Ever Now single “Pleading (The Haunting Of Scars)” in a Rabbit Junk remix. The Rabbit Junk Remix includes a collaboration with JP Anderson from Rabbit Junk and offers a danceable gothwave vibe.

Unhappily Ever Now is composed of Cleopatra Records (Green Jelly) songwriter Stephen Watson (lead performer and songwriter) and Maria V (vocals, lyrics, and melodies).

“Pleading” was their first new single for the project since their 2021 self-titled debut EP. Below is the video for the remix. Stephen Watson explains that “Pleading (The Haunting of Scars)” explores “the self-doubt experienced when personal growth comes from great loss and trauma, dark, gritty, melodic and emotional, yet unique.”

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 industrial rock band, Unhappily Ever Now has just announced their first new single, “Pleading (The Haunting of Scars)”, since their 2021 self-titled debut EP. Unhappily Ever Now is available on all major streaming platforms including Bandcamp.

Unhappily Ever Now is composed of songwriter, Stephen Watson (Cleopatra Records, Green Jelly), lead performer and songwriter, Maria V (vocals, lyrics, and melodies) and drummer, Dan Milligan. The release was mixed and mastered by Joy Thieves Productions.

Stephen Watson explains that “Pleading (The Haunting of Scars)” explores “the self-doubt experienced when personal growth comes from great loss and trauma. Dark, gritty, melodic and emotional, yet unique.” Forthcoming remixes of the single include collaborations with JP Anderson of Rabbit Junk and Walter Flakus of Stabbing Westward.

The video that accompanies the single release was produced and directed by Joel Lopez of Lumbra Productions and filmed onsite predominantly at Haunted White Hill Mansion in New Jersey.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

The industrial rock band Unhappily Ever Now has just announced their first new single since their 2021 self-titled debut EP. “Pleading (The Haunting of Scars)” explores the self-doubt experienced when personal growth comes from great loss and trauma. The material was mixed and mastered by Joy Thieves Productions.

Unhappily Ever Now is composed of songwriter, Stephen Watson (Cleopatra Records, Green Jelly), lead performer and songwriter, Maria V (vocals, lyrics, and melodies) and drummer, Dan Milligan.

Forthcoming remixes of the single include collaborations with JP Anderson of Rabbit Junk and Walter Flakus of Stabbing Westward.

The video that accompanies the single release was produced and directed by Joel Lopez of Lumbra Productions and filmed onsite predominantly at Haunted White Hill Mansion in New Jersey.

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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LA’s Rabbit Junk are back with an all new album, “Apocalypse for Beginners”, the follow-up to 2020’s “Xenospheres”. Interesting detail, the album’s lead track “Stone Cold” features Australian born singer Amelia Arsenic who you surely know as DestroyX, a founding member of cyberpunk band Angelspit.

Rabbit Junk is a Seattle based band, formed in 2004 by former The Shizit frontman JP Anderson. Taking influences from diverse music genres such as hip hop, black metal and new wave, JP calls the sound of Rabbit Junk as “Hardclash”.

Apocalypse For Beginners is available now on CD and vinyl via Bandcamp and on all major digital platforms everywhere else. You can check the tracks out below.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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From March 31 until April 2, 2023 included you will be able to attend the US festival, Dark Force Fest, a three-day goth-industrial music festival. The festival takes place in Parsippany, NJ (one hour from NYC), at the massive Sheraton Parsippany, an imposing castle styled hotel that features 44,000 square feet of event space with 370 hotel rooms (which are however already sold out, but there are enough hotels in the neighborhood).

Organized by VampireFreaks, the team that brought you the Triton Festival and Dark Side of the Con, this brand new event features a lineup of international bands from the gothic, industrial, darkwave and post-punk scenes. In the line-up we find such bands as HEALTH, Combichrist, Suicide Commando, ACTORS, Rabbit Junk, Vision Video, Empathy Test, Solar Fake, BILE, Psyclon Nine, Das Ich, Bootblacks, Leathers, Josie Pace, God Module, Bella Morte and many more.

In addition to 30+ bands, Dark Force Fest will also feature over 100 vendors, a costume contest, cosplay guests, sideshow performers, fun activities and informative panels. More info can be found at https://darkforcefest.com and you can order your tickets right here.

Below is the poster for the event.

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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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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