Dark-Electro band Funker Vogt was born almost 30 years ago. Core member and operator Gerrit Thomas has already worked with several singers, but for some reason the group always continues with a new singer. The newest album “Final Construct” released by Repo Records saw Bastian Polak (Intent:Outtake) joining the German formation. The album sounds in the fullest Funker Vogt-tradition; somewhere between Dark-Electro and EBM with a slightly more melodic touch on top. In my opinion, a strong production that shows that this legendary group is far from exhausted. I talked about the latest work with Gerrit and Bastian. (Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: The new album “Final Construct” seems to be another turning point in the long career of Funker Vogt. After three albums singer Chris L. was replaced by Bastian Polak so how did this change come about and how did Bastian’s presence change and/or influenced the overall approach and production of “Final Construct”?

Gerrit: We produced three great albums with Chris, but as he started again with Agonoize we reached to a point where working together was no longer possible. I don’t want to go into that in more detail. In any case, we knew that we weren’t finished yet, we just needed a new singer. I already knew Bastian from vocal recordings with Intent:Outtake and the two Fusspils-11-songs, so it made sense to get him on board with Funker Vogt. He’s just a perfect fit. Because I knew what he was capable of, I was able to compose a little more boldly, because you simply don’t have to make any compromises with him.

In this respect, he helped to make the album more extensive and melodic than usual. I also wanted the sound to be very original to Funker Vogt, because in my opinion a new singer brings enough innovations with him.

Q: I personally experienced “Final Construct” as one of the hardest albums in years; a bit like featuring the brutal energy of the early years with the experience and knowledge you gained over the years on top of it. What is your own perception of this work?

Gerrit: Hm, I personally don’t think it’s that hard. On the contrary -there’s still a lot that can be done in that way! As I said, the album should sound as close to Funker Vogt as possible so that our fans aren’t confused when everything is suddenly completely different. I think that you’ll hear a few experiments and unusual things on the next album. But for this album, a new voice is enough of a change.

Bastian: As the new singer of Funker Vogt, I have of course made it my mission to do everyone justice and I think we have found a good way, on the one hand sounding more modern, but also like the old albums. I think “Final Construct” has everything the listener could have hoped for. Hardness, melody, profundity, but also time to take a deep breath 😉

Q: That brings me to ask you how much of the ‘young’ Gerrit Thomas do you still recognize in the approach, writing and production of “Final Construct”? And what are the biggest differences/evolutions compared to this new work?

Gerrit: Well, I would say that I still like the same kind of atmosphere in my music as I did 25 years ago. Only today the technical possibilities are much bigger and I know what I’m doing now…;-)

Q: Lyrical wise I think “Final Construct” seems a bit like a reflection of our contemporary world and all its misery. Can you be a little more specific about the content and how do you face it as human being?

Bastian: The world currently provides us with enough fuel for our music and our socially critical lyrics. However, many people keep thinking that we’re in favor of war, but that’s not the case and we’ve made that clear again on this album. We hold up a mirror to humanity, appeal to their reason, but also sing about solidarity and confidence.

Q: I think you always must have favorite songs and others where you might feel like everything was left out. What about “Final Construct” and can you make a kind of final balance sheet about this production? And do you think the latest album is always the best one?

Gerrit: Yes, we also have our favorites on every album. For me this time it’s “Rain Of Ashes”, “Tiefer”, and the club mix of “The Signaller”. In my opinion, all the others turned out great too, so I can’t say there’s a single one that doesn’t fit or should have better be left.

For me personally, the latest album is always the best one immediately after its release. Of course, I know that this is not always the case. To be able to judge this neutrally, you need to have a few months’ distance from the latest production, sometimes even years!

Bastian: I have already written the lyrics of many albums in my music career and I have to say that “Final Construct” is one of the best. For me, each of the 19 songs has something special, but my personal favorites are “Death Seed”, “Zinnsoldat”, “Die Leinen Los” and definitely “Im Auge Des Orkans” because it stands out a bit from all the other songs.

Q: Funker Vogt is now active for nearly thirty years! What were the biggest challenges you faced during this impressive career?  And do you sometimes feel like you have gotten the most out of it or do you still face new challenges and dreams? And if so, which ones?

Gerrit: Well, there were some setbacks due to the changes of singers that we had to deal with -and obviously we did so! Even though there are always a few people who recommend that we should better stop or rename the band when a new singer comes along, we stay true to our line and keep going on! That’s the ideology behind Funker Vogt. We would be questioning everything we have practiced for 28 years if we gave up. Following the well-known 242 motif: ‘Never Stop’!

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Dark-Electro, EBM.

Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl, Cassette.

Background/Info: The previously released EP “Death Seed” revealed a new Funker Vogt singer. Bastian Pollak -known from Intent:Outtake, joined hands together with core member and master mind Gerrit Thomas while René Dornbusch completes the band.

Content: It has now been 29 years since Funker Vogt released its first album. The sound DNA created by Gerrit Thomas remains recognizable throughout the heavy bass lines, typical electro sequences and hard beats. The melodies remain another and important part of the production. Bastian Polak sings in a harsh, distorted style which completely fits the spirit of the group. “Final Construct” is also a hard production where there are bitterly few resting points. The second album brings additional new scuts and 4 alternate versions of original songs.

+ + + : I remember my reluctance with the first album without Jens Kästel as the vocalist. And actually I had that a bit now too after the departure of Chris L who seemed to find his turn more and more. But the input of Bastian Polak is more than successful. He brings us back somewhat to the initial spirit of Funker Vogt; hard, loud and charismatic. The album is therefore very successful and a non-stop exposure of aggressive songs. “The Signaller” is an absolute stunner to start the album, but the “Club Mix” that opens the second album goes even further. The well-known “Death Seed” still convinces, but I also have to mention other songs like “Blessed Or Cursed” and “Labyrinth”. This work represents a definitive return to the band’s origins.

– – – : The second disc is more than okay although a level beneath the main disc.

Conclusion: Funker Vogt strikes back with their initial rage and power.

Best songs: “The Signaller – Club Mix”, “Death Seed – Album Edit”, “Blessed Or Cursed”, “Sternenstaub”, “The Signaller”, “Labyrinth”.

Rate: 8½ .

Artist: www.funkervogt.de / www.facebook.com/officialfunkervogt

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

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

(Interview by Evan South) For Me The Tiger, the journey from their last album to their new release “Envy” has been anything but smooth. The seven-year gap between albums was shaped by significant life events and the global pandemic. In this interview Jonas, Bella, and Tobias share their personal experiences and how they navigated through becoming parents, dealing with the pandemic, and the resulting silence in the music industry. As they faced delays and uncertainties, the band’s creative spark waned. They emphasize here how live gigs are the lifeblood of their creativity and energy, which was severely disrupted during these years. Now, with renewed vigor and a fresh start with a new label, Progress Productions, Me The Tiger is ready to reconnect with their audience and reignite their passion for live performances. This interview delves into their challenges, the decision to change labels, and their future plans, shedding light on their resilience and dedication to their craft.

SL: Your previous albums were released about 2 years apart. What caused the 7-year gap for the new album Envy?

Jonas: Life happened. We all became parents. We kept on working during the pandemic. Still,
when you have a gig booked that is delayed year after year, it was kind of silent in the music
business back then.

Bella: I have almost the same view. Kids were born, the pandemic came. We told our booker/manager that we wanted a pause in 2020 because I was going to have a baby. So we went on a waiting list for gigs. It was 2022 or 2023 when the waiting was over and we wanted to change labels and release a cd that made it possible for our manager to book us gigs. Because we didn’t want to release songs and waste them if we didn’t have the opportunity to play gigs! And because we played a lot of big festivals in 2016 and 2017, we knew we would need to release something new to get those big festivals again!

Tobias: One kid came before the pandemic, and we knew it was going to be some time that we couldn’t play or record songs. So we were prepared for that, and then the pandemic came! So when we were mentally and physically ready to do band stuff again, the pandemic hit us! We lost a little bit of hope of doing this ever again. I didn’t write any songs for the band for maybe 2 or 3 years. I felt unhappy when I thought about the band. It was some tough years. Even though we live so close to each other we barely saw each other for 2 years. And when the pandemic was over, we weren’t sure if we were going to do this anymore. We didn’t have any leads. Where should we go with this? But then we met and decided to finish up this record and release it! But it took a lot of years to get back on our feet! It wasn’t a decision, it just happened.

Jonas: Somehow we lost the spark!

Bella: We had played together so long now, I realized we get the energy from our live gigs! When we do live gigs we want to record music, we want to do merch, we want to do a lot of stuff! Live gigging is our soul energy, and when we don’t do live gigs, we lose our energy. Years without live gigs sucked a lot of energy out of us! I love live gigs, and it feels like our band needs live gigs to know where we’re going! So I think that was a big problem with the energy, when we don’t do live gigs we don’t know what we’re doing!

Jonas: It’s funny, when the pandemic hit, my first thought was “Oh, we’re going to be SO creative, we’re going to record SO much music, we’re going to have 3 albums ready when the pandemic is over.” But none of that happened.

Tobias: We did nothing!

Jonas: We did absolutely nothing. It was so sad!

Bella: But we got a lot of anxiety that we could use! (laughs)

SL: How much can you say about the label change from Repo to Progress Productions?

Tobias: I think we can say as much as we needed a change! We love the guys behind Repo records who released our first 3 albums. They are super good and nice. We felt during the hiatus when nothing happened that we needed a fresh start, we needed to be Me The Tiger 2.0! And we felt that Repo couldn’t really give us that at the moment. We knew that Torny from Progress was doing a lot of great stuff. We didn’t actually know him, we had met him on tour, but didn’t know him personally. We reached out to him and asked if he was interested in releasing our music and working with us, and he said yes almost on the spot! He can give us something else. He is more progressive thinking like the label name. He thinks more about the digital markets. Loosening the frame around releasing an album with 12 songs. With Torny you can discuss what is best for us, not what the market is asking for!

Bella: For me, when we played in Germany in 2022, we met Torny and a lot of other Swedish bands that had gone there together, and I noticed that they all knew each other, and we were not a part of this family. Because of the pandemic years, I felt that we need to join a music family to get some support. It was obvious they got energy from each other! I got interested in Torny and Progress because of being part of a community of synth bands form Sweden!

Jonas: We are forever grateful for the work Repo has done with us, and believing in us in the beginning!

Tobias: Without them nothing would have been possible!

Jonas: Understanding our background, we don’t know anyone in the synth genre. It’s kind of nice having a family we could not only rely on, but get inspired by! We met a lot of Swedish bands while playing abroad in Germany, Switzerland and Belgium, and they’ve always been such nice people! And like Bella said, being a part of that community, I think it’s going to inject more energy to Me The Tiger in the future!

Bella: We still have scars from this period between our albums and the pandemic, so we need to be a bit cared for. (laughs)

SL: The new album “Envy” is only 8 tracks. How did you settle on this length for the new release?

Tobias: That is one of the main things why we felt we needed a change with the label. I don’t know how other genres are, but in synthpop there are many unwritten rules. You have to follow a line, and to release an album that is short is maybe not the correct way to do it. When we presented the album for our label they said we need 2 or 3 tracks more or we can’t release it. We felt, seriously who listens to all the songs on an album that is 12 or 15 tracks long? No one is. Yeah, maybe if it is really, really good. We 3 talked about it, and none of us are listening to an album that is so long anymore, you lose interest. Many of the songs on those albums have a lot of filler, songs that shouldn’t be released. I don’t say our 8 songs on this album are perfect, but it’s the best we can do. But if we had to squeeze in another couple tracks just because, no, that’s not the way we want to release music. Maybe in the future we’re going to release EP’s
with 4 or 5 songs. Because it keeps the creativity alive. I think 8 tracks is the perfect amount of songs!

Bella: It felt like when we recorded the album, “Now we’re done!” We’re going to release this, and then we want to record more. The cake is baked!

Tobias: When we’re going on tour, we’re never going to play the whole album. We won’t even play all 8 songs in one show. So if we have released 15 songs, some of the songs you’re never going to play live, so why release music that you’re never going to perform live? For me, it loses the whole point of releasing music if you don’t even want to play it live. We put so much energy and time in writing and recording the songs. We see ourselves mainly as a live band. We only record albums to come out and play!

SL: You have made music videos in the past. Are there plans for videos for the new album, besides the lyric videos? What are your thoughts on music videos?

Jonas: I think 10 years ago the official music videos were quite powerful from a marketing standpoint. Nowadays you don’t watch music videos like you did 10 years ago. It is a costly thing to make a video if you want it good. Of course you can record something with your iPhone, and make a video quite easily, but I don’t see the point anymore. On the contrary, I actually love making music videos. I love music videos as an art form, because it tells more about the content of a song than just the audio. I’m super proud of all the videos we’ve done since the start. We had the privilege to work with super talented students at the University to make good videos for us. But nowadays, we don’t have either those connection or the finances needed to make a high-quality video.

SL: You have some notable festival shows coming up, including SubKult, Solitary Experiments 30 th anniversary show, and Progress Productions 20 th anniversary show. What are your thoughts on smaller shows vs large festivals?

Jonas: For me, and I think I speak on behalf of all the band, if it’s 2 people in the audience, or 20, 200, or 2000, it doesn’t matter. It gives us that injection of energy that really is in the DNA of Me The Tiger. We are a live band! Of course, we record music, but we record music to play live. That’s where we really shine. I love how our album sounds, but I love how we sound live even more! And I think what our fans enjoy the most is to watch us play live. Tobias: I agree. For me, what I prefer, I would say playing in a festival is something special. I love festivals myself. My first festival experience was as a teenager, and I had the opportunity to see so many bands in the same weekend! The whole environment, it’s stages, it’s people, it’s parties, it’s happiness for a long time! A concert can be fantastic, but it maybe lasts for 2 hours and it’s over, but the festival experience goes on for days and days! When we play at festivals, I feel the same energy in my body as an artist as I feel when I go there as an audience member! There is so much going on in the same place! A lot of bands to talk to, a lot of people to connect with. When you play on a festival, those who like your music will come and watch your show, but you have the opportunity to reach out to so many new people who had never heard of you, which we have experienced as a pretty unknown band.

Belle: I like to play on festivals that have more than us, that are the synthpop band. If it’s a synth festival, it is really fun because we usually have new people that haven’t heard us before. But when we are playing a festival that has a lot of diversity in the type of bands playing, it’s not an equally good experience, because maybe they don’t like the music. My experience is that if people stay and listen to us they will come up after the gig and say “I don’t normally listen to this type of music but you were awesome!” It’s harder on the festival with big artists that are mainstream to get the people to come to us because they don’t know us and they have so much to choose from.

Tobias: When we play festivals in Sweden, there are very mixed genres, from hard rock to radio pop to death metal. But if you go to Germany or other European countries, there are often genre specific festivals, so it’s easier to reach out. If we’re talking about Swedish festivals, it is almost every time a pain (laughs).

SL: How does Sweden continue to produce such a large amount of talented bands and musicians?

Jonas: There is a quite easy answer for this. We have 2 parts in the Swedish music wonder: The first one is the music schools. The second one is the non-formal adult education programs we have here. You can get a rehearsal room for free. You can rehearse with borrowed instruments for free.

Bella: You can play your first live gigs and festivals for free.

Jonas: You can get good gigs all over Sweden for free. And this is the Swedish model that nowadays is being hunted from the right-wing parties. They are into reducing the finances to the non-formal adult education societies that we have in Sweden. And probably the Swedish music wonder won’t be the same in 5 to 10 to 20 years. It is because of those programs that allows people to learn how to play together in a rehearsal room from a very young age. Sweden

has been the best country for doing that for a very, very long time! But that will probably stop due to the right-wing parties.

SL: What are the plans going forward for Me The Tiger?

Jonas: We are going to record a new album soon, that’s my feeling!

Tobias: Hopefully we don’t take another 7 years to put it out! (laughs)

Bella: And also new merch!

Tobias: And new live shows, of course. Probably not more this year than the ones already booked, but hopefully next year we will play a lot more than we will this summer. And hopefully we will come to play in the USA! I’ve been there on other occasions, and there are so many great scenes and cities and people that I would like to see again!

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.

side-line.com

Out via Repo Records on May 3rd is the new Funker Vogt album “Final Construct”. The current line-up of the band consists of Gerrit Thomas, René Dornbusch and singer Bastian Polak. The trio spent a year working on the new album and its pre-release singles “Death Seed”, “Blessed or Cursed” and “The Signaller (Club Mix)”.

“Final Construct” will be released in three versions: a 2CD digipak (including 15 songs and four in-house remixes), a colored gold vinyl and an audio cassette – both with one exclusive song each. Additionally you can also get the album via download and streaming platforms.

The 2CD set comes as a limited first edition in a 6-panel digipak.

Lyricswise the album songs handlethe constant changes in our society. Lyrics writer Bastian Polak comments: “You just can’t keep quiet when you look at all the misery in the world and you might think we’re glorifying war, but the exact opposite is the case. We hold up a mirror to you and tell you about suffering and death, but also about solidarity and courage. Each of us knows the way that would solve all these problems in one fell swoop: Peace and cohesion. Unfortunately, the human species is not yet ready for this. Together we can make a difference, because tolerance and empathy show us the right way. When will we finally learn from our mistakes? When will the change finally come?”

First confirmed Funker Vogt live-dates in 2024

• 29.06.2024: Seattle/USA, Mechanismus Festival
• 10./11.08.2024: Hildesheim, M’era Luna Festival
• 29./30.11.2024: Weissenhäuser Strand, Plage Noire Festival

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.

side-line.com

“Digital Outcast” is the third album by German formation Darkness On Demand which is available now on Bandcamp and on CD via the Alfa Matrix webstore. After having released two albums on Repo Records ‘Falgalas’ and Gary Wagner signed to Alfa Matrix where they released the “Final Way” EP, the “Hang On (Winterhart remix)” and the “White Clouds” EP. The former Dance Or Die-members now strike back with “Digital Outcast”, a powerful, sophisticated and engaged EBM work. I talked about the album and other things with front man Gary Wagner.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: After a successful career as Dance Or Die you guys are now busy for a couple of years under the moniker Darkness On Demand. Do you perceive significant changes and/or evolutions between both bands or is just a natural evolution? And do you sometimes miss Dance Or Die?

Gary: We actually don’t miss anything of our former career with Dance Or Die. Falgalas and me played together since 1993 and the old producer and composer, who did not go on stage, had not enough material for new songs anymore… that’s why we decided to continue our story under the new flag Darkness On Demand.

The idea was to leave Dance Or Die as a Cult to start with the new material Falgalas had composed. The new songs are more Industrial and EBM and got much more melodies than before. The development of the new tracks started with our first longplayer “Post Stoneage Technology” continues the near future items. Just like the second one “Detoxination” which is concerned with man-machine themes we march on in that genre to keep Science Fiction alive. The astonishing thing was that the old fans expected the new start straight away. We still are the guys they know from stage and the short logo DOD is still up to date.

Q: I was surprised you signed to a Belgian label –Alfa Matrix. Why this move from a German label to a Belgian one and are there also plans for your side-projects?

Gary: Well the main reason for signing abroad was that Belgium is the Walhalla of Electronic Body Music. We are definitely inspired by Front 242, Klinik and A Split Second which come from Belgium. We planned to get the thing more international.

The former label was more concerned with Germany which was pretty all right for the start. But the fact that we were popular in countries such as Sweden, Mexico, USA and the European East pushed us forward to be promoted worldwide. There were music colleges who recommended Alfa Matrix to start that enterprise. We are very happy about that and we know that the label believes in our work.

By the way we still work on our other project Winterhart which is Martial, Industrial and Dark-Folk orientated.

Q: Over now to “Digital Outcast” which is the third full length by Darkness On Demand. The lyrical themes are –once more, very engaged and introduced as an ‘ invitation to reconnect with nature and reality, to escape from that digital world dominated by artificial social medias and credit card consumption’ is really interesting to me. I can imagine it’s a very personal reflection but can you give us more details? And how do you see it regarding the digital world and social media which is that important today for labels, bands  etc…?

Gary: “Digital Outcast” is the digital answer to the digitalized world. We fight fire with fire, like we use Electronix for creating our answer to Goth-Rock. Real life turns into a cyberworld which is mankind created and has nothing to do with the real world outside.

In Kraftwerk’s “Computerwelt” you heard the warning of observation and a transparent mankind. The more data they get the more you are controlled by them. The problem in Germany is that they consider you as a conspiracy freak when you know and talk about this. You can have an attitude but the mass medias tell you what your attitude has to be. Quite complicated for bands that came from Punk-Rock .

This moment I feel much more free to communicate with you in Belgium than in Germany.

Q: How do you look back to the writing and production of “Digital Outcast”? Do you’ve any experiences and/or anecdotes you encountered that come directly into mind?

Gary: During the lockdown we found ourselves in ghost towns. Everything was closed, life stood still people were ill and lots of people died. It was a terrible time, we hope it won’t repeat. But in somehow it changed the attitude towards the government. Some were absolutely into the rules of authority, the others questioned it like they did before. Feelings such as loneliness and depressions came to our mind and that influenced our album conception.

One day during that period they closed Schleswig Holstein after we finished our singing recording and I had to leave this Bundesland for a return to Berlin. What a strange situation…

The EP “White Clouds” exactly describes this time I mentioned before.

Q: “White Clouds” sounds as a solid addendum to “Digital Outcast”. Is there anything more you want to say about the EP?

Gary:The EP “White Clouds” exactly describes this time I mentioned before. In some of these happy pills you find a little picture of grey clouds turning to white to take the medicine regularly. Sometimes pretty necessary to avoid a serious illness. Anyway… we still stand for the idea to make great Clubmixes on our EP’s. The dancefloor is still an important fact to communicate with the fans, besides the live activities.

Q: Gary and Heiko, I think you’re now working together for thirty years –or even more. What makes the chemistry between both of you and how do you perceive each other as ‘artist’ and the person behind the artistic creation?

Gary:As I already mentioned we both played the Dance Or Die shows since 1993. After a long break in the early 20th we decided to make new music together. Falgalas created lots of material with Classic sounds and instruments. We added real acoustic guitars and trumpets to form Winterhart. We released our albums on Danse Macabre Records. But then, once upon a time we were a little frustrated that Dance Or Die stood still. Therefore we found Darkness On Demand to return to Body and Industrial music.

Those days Falgalas lived in the middle of Berlin and we worked together at new songs every afternoon. Then he moved to Tönning near the North-Sea und built-up a New Studio he calls Dreiklangstudio. So I got to travel to the North  for singing recordings. Less helter skelter than in Berlin. Silence enough for our future stories to keep the Dark Side alive. We turn Future into Reality

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

After their album “Element 115” from 2021, Funker Vogt now returns with Bastian Polak (of Intent:Outtake fame) as their new singer. The first [limited] release from the upcoming album “Final Construct” is the all exclusive 5-tracks EP “Death Seed”. The EP will be out via Repo Records on February 22nd.

The EP contains two versions of the title track “Death Seed” as well as two exclusive new songs, “A Hundred Ways to die” and “Question their Answers”, the latter of which is included in two very different mixes.

The new album will be released on May 3, and will be available as double-CD and – for the first time ever for Funker Vogt – on Limited Vinyl and MC (Tape).

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.

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: EBM, Dark-Electro.

Format: Digital, 2CD.

Background/Info: Together with Repo Records Funker Vogt moved on revisiting the band’s back catalogue. “Blutzoll” was originally released in 2010 by Synthetic Symphony and Metropolis records (for the USA). The “Collector’s Edition” features all original songs plus bonus disc with remixes and the EP “Arising Hero”. Three previously unreleased remixes have been featured as well. Back in time master mind and ‘machine man’ Gerrit Thomas was still accompanied by Jens Kästel on vocals -and the band’s original singer.

Content: No true surprises for the fans of the band but a remastered edition getting us back to this album. “Blutzoll” was the tenth studio album by Funker Vogt revealing a band in good shape, mixing EBM and Dark-Electro with the easy-recognizable bass lines, sequences, rhythms and arrangements of Gerrit Thomas and the harsh vocals of Jens Kästel. The first disc features next to the original “Blutzoll”-album the EP “Arising Hero”. The bonus disc brings us back to an impressive list of remixes and extra songs. Remixes were accomplished by FGFC820, Rotersand, Dopestars Inc, Vigilante, Eric Van Wonterghem (Monolith), Faderhead, Die Krupps, Punto Omega,  Noblesse Oblige, Komor Kommando and Mortiis. One of the previously unreleased songs is a “2021”-version of “Terroristen”. 

+ + + : Thirteen years after the original release this album still kicks ass. It sounds in the purest power tradition of Funker Vogt and featured great songs like “Arising Hero”, “Genozid”, “Terroristen” and “Bloodthirst”. Among the remixes I especially want to mention the diversity of the versions but as main attention grabbers the Komor Commando-remix of “Arising Hero” and the totally EBM adapted “Fire And Forget” by Die Krupps. The song “Urban War” was a cool bonus at this bonus disc and the song still kicks today.

– – – : From a very personal view I would say “Blutzoll” wasn’t exactly the best Funker Vogt-album in history and probably one with the least ‘hits’.

Conclusion: This is a great work for the world wide fan basis of this legendary formation.

Best songs: “Genozid”, “Arising Hero – Club Mix”, “Terroristen”, “Ariusing Hero” + “Arising Hero – Factory Mix by Komor Kommando”, “Fire And Forget – Die Krupps Remix”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.funkervogt.de / www.facebook.com/officialfunkervogt

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

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Funker Vogt’s 8th longplayer “Blutzoll” (October 2010) is available again as a new collector’s edition via Repo Records from June 2nd on. The double digipak contains all the tracks and bonus tracks of the original CD, as well as the maxi CD “Arising Hero”. As a special extra there are 3 previously unreleased, exclusive remixes. Everything was remastered personally by Funker Vogt mastermind Gerrit Thomas.

Check out “Arising Hero” (Faderhead remix) right below.

Here’s the tracklist.

Tracks CD1:

1. Arising Hero
2. Genozid
3. The State Within
4. Fire and Forget
5. Robots
6. Hold my Ground
7. Terroristen
8. Krieger
9. My Innermost
10. Bloodthirst
11. Black Waters
12. Arising Hero – Forgiven
13. Arising Hero – Club Mix
14. Arising Hero – Redemption
15. Arising Hero – Revolution
16. My Innermost – Loop Mix

Tracks CD2:

1. Genozid (FGFC820 Remix)
2. Arising Hero (rotersand rework)
3. Fire and Forget (Remix by Dopestars Inc)
4. The State Within (Vigilante Remix)
5. Wake up
6. Genozid (Goldremix by Eric Van Wonterghem)
7. Arising Hero (Faderhead Remix)
8. Fire and Forget (Die Krupps Remix)
9. The State Within (Revolution Mix by Punto Omega)
10. Urban War
11. My Innermost (Noblesse Oblige Remix)
12. Arising Hero (Factory mix by Komor Kommando)
13. Fire and Forget (Mortiis Remix)
14. From the Flames
15. Terroristen (2021)
16. My Innermost (Demoversion)
17. Arising Hero (Minimix)

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.

side-line.com

(Photo by Ravenous & Pixel Breed) The second pre-release single “Frozen Tears” is now available everywhere as download or stream. You can watch the lyric video below. “Frozen Tears” was originally planned for a 2001 release but never got released in the end.

The new Ravenous album, “Forward to the Roots”, will be released this Friday (October 29th, 2021) on Repo Records for the band’s 25th anniversary. It is the 4th album of the trio consisting of Björn Böttcher, Gerrit Thomas and Tim Fockenbrock.

The album is a mix of new songs (“Roots”, “Here Again” and “Free Me”), unreleased tracks and rarities from the band archive ranging from unreleased versions of tracks from the 1996 debut (recorded by X-Marks the Pedwalk’s mind Andre Schmechta), to unreleased remixes, demos and rarities.

Here is “Frozen Tears”.

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.

side-line.com

(Photo by Ravenous & Pixel Breed) The new song “Roots” is the first new Ravenous release in over 20 years. It is available as a digital single in all relevant stores today. An official lyric video is available on YouTube and can be seen below.

“Roots” is the opening track for Ravenous’ upcoming 25 years anniversary album “Forward to the Roots” which will be released on 29 October on Repo Records and is the 4th album of the trio consisting of Björn Böttcher, Gerrit Thomas and Tim Fockenbrock.

The album is a mix of new songs (“Roots”, “Here Again” and “Free Me”), unreleased tracks and rarities from the band archive ranging from unreleased versions of tracks from the 1996 debut (recorded by X-Marks the Pedwalk’s mind Andre Schmechta), to unreleased remixes, demos and rarities.

Also included is the never released re-recording of the single “Frozen Tears” (originally planned for 2001 but never released).

Enjoy the official “Roots” lyric video.

About Ravenous

Ravenous was born somewhere in 1989 and after their debut album on Off Beat they would release a second album, “No Retreat And No Surrender”, on Zoth Ommog in 1998. “Phoenix” followed in 2000 on Bloodline. And after that the lights went out.

During these 20 years apart, the band members have musically gone their own ways: While Björn Böttcher, after an extensive live artist career with Funker Vogt, ultimately delved into label and artist management with RepoRecords, Gerrit Thomas took a career in music production. Tim Fockenbrock, for his part, worked with several bands outside the scene and even deployed a dubbing career.

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.

side-line.com

The German electro band returns after 21 years of silence. Björn Böttcher, Gerrit Thomas and Tim Fockenbrock are to release a new album on the 25th anniversary of their 1996 debut album “Mass Mental Cruelty” (Off Beat), November 29th that is.

The new album, “Forward to the Roots”, will be released via Repo Records and is the band’s 4th album.

The album is a mix of new songs (“Roots”, “Here Again” and “Free Me”), unreleased tracks and rarities from the band archive ranging from unreleased versions of tracks from the 1996 debut (recorded by X-Marks the Pedwalk’s mind Andre Schmechta), to unreleased remixes, demos and rarities.

Also included is the never released re-recording of the single “Frozen Tears” (originally planned for 2001 but never released).

Tracks:

1. Roots
2. Here again
3. Frozen Tears (2021)
4. Free Me
5. If you believe it (2002)
6. Roots (Alternative Vocal Edit)
7. Frozen Tears (2001)
8. Violent World (Plain Real Remix 1996)
9. Faster than Time (Alternative Version 1996)
10. Flesh and Bone (Alternative Version 1996)
11. Silverray (Radio Edit 1999)
12. Empire (Unreleased Version 1999)
13. The Last (Demo 1999)
14. Between the Worlds (Re/Work Remix 2000)
15. My Name (The Dust of Basement Remix 2000)
16. The Loop (2002)

About Ravenous

Ravenous was born somewhere in 1989 and after their debut album on Off Beat they would release a second album, “No Retreat And No Surrender”, on Zoth Ommog in 1998. “Phoenix” followed in 2000 on Bloodline. And after that the lights went out.

During these 20 years apart, the band members have musically gone their own ways: While Björn Böttcher, after an extensive live artist career with Funker Vogt, ultimately delved into label and artist management with RepoRecords, Gerrit Thomas took a career in music production. Tim Fockenbrock, for his part, worked with several bands outside the scene and even deployed a dubbing career.

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.

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: EBM.

Background/Info: Dance Or Die is death, long live to Darkness On Demand. One year after the interesting debut album “Post Stone Age Technology” the band driven by Gary Wagner and Falgalas is back on track unleashing their second opus.

Content: The previously released “Detoxination”-EP was a real tough teaser and in a way illustrating the sonic line of the new album. The debut songs are hard and merciless; probably revealing the best songs those experienced artists have accomplished in years. Darkness On Demand has created their own EBM-style, which remains faithful to Dance Or Die. The charisma and the power of the vocals are here again a noticeable aspect of the album.

The work also moves into a few softer songs, which sometimes appear like a break to move on with harder cuts again. Now and then bombastic this work is more diversified as its predecessor.

+ + + : The three first songs are brilliant cuts illustrating the great writing skills of the band. “Detoxination” remains the ‘hit’ of the band, but “Brain fucked” is another potential hit. There’s a perfect harmony between music and vocals. The sound production is characterized by multiple little details, which is the trademark of great musicians.

– – – : I’ve been less convinced by the ‘softer’ tracks such as “Stay Away” and “When The Angel Will Be Sent”.

Conclusion: No doubt about it, this album is one of the best productions in year by Wagner – Falgalas. This is a band with a very own sound and having now accomplished a highly recommended album.

Best songs: “Detoxination”, “Brain Fucked”, “Never Look back”, “Last Salvation”, “I Don’t Care”, “Ge”t Me To Another Planet”.

Rate: (8½).

Artist: www.darknessondemand.com / www.facebook.com/darknessondemand

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

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Dark-electro, EBM, electro-industrial, techno-body, power-noise, IDM.

Background/Info: The first ‘act’ from this now legendary compilation was released in 2005. Fourteen years later Alfa Matrix released the eight edition of this series devoted to dark-electronics. The massive work features 72 songs on 4 discs and 40 extra songs available as download.

Artists: Suicide Commando, Blutengel, Zombie Girl, Funker Vogt, Komor Kommando, [SITD], Angelspit, Noisuf-X, Solitary Experiments, Ad:Key, Acylum, Phillip Münch ao.

Content: It’s impossible to go in detail when you’ve to review such a compilation featuring 112 songs! But “Endzeit Bunkertracks” remains faithful to a mix of music genres dealing with electronics and a fusion between great and established artists plus discoveries. No doubt about it, the some upcoming talents have been featured here. Next to a bunch of Alfa Matrix bands the compilation also features big names from other labels such as Out Of Line, Dark Dimensions, Infacted Recordings, Repo Records ao.

There’re a lot of exclusive cuts features and/or remixes while the best bands aren’t always featured on the discs.

+ + + : A great sampler and a hard copy means so much more than the digital version. The artwork by Japanse artist Tomoki Hayasaka is absolutely great and matching with the concept. Song-wise you’ll discover interesting young talents such as H.O.W., Complex Mind, Eexee, Suppressor, Playngrain, Pax Sono, Nitek, Fabrikmutter and C-Phalea. The diversity of the songs made this ‘sonic orgy’ more accessible then releasing such a box format with only dark-electronic bands.  

– – – : Even if this compilation remains a great and successful work, 112 songs is definitely too much so this is a compilation you’ve to listen spread over several days.

Conclusion: It has been my pleasure tipping some ‘unknown’ talents, which have been selected for the compilation while “Endzeit Bunkertracks” remains a sonic bible for all dark electronic souls!

Best bands: Komor Kommando, Implant, Noisuf-X, Electronic Frequency, Funker Vogt, [X]-Rx, Suppressor, Nitek, Ice Ages, Larva.

Rate: (8½).

Label: www.alfa–matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: EBM, body-pop.

Background/Info: From Dance Or Die to Darkness On Demand not much has really changed in style and influences. Gary Wagner, Falgalas and Chris L. last year released their debut album “Post Stone Age Technology” and are already back on track with a new album in the pipeline. This EP has been released as an appetizer to the album, which will be also entitled “Detoxination”.

Content: The title song clearly appears to be one of the best songs from this ‘new’ project. It’s well-crafted piece of modern EBM with some Kraftwerk bleeps, great lyrics sung by the charismatic Gary Wagner. The song has been presented in 3 different versions featuring a remix by Intent Outtake.

Next to the main song we also get 3 more songs. These songs can be seen as exclusive B-side cuts and are more into an atmospheric approach.

+ + + : No doubt about it, “Detoxination” is an accomplished track and maybe the first ‘big’ hit for Darkness On Demand. It’s powerful and reminding the good-old Dance Or Die. I also like the lyrics. The remix by Intent Outtake and the “Maxi Version” are damned good versions. The band illustrates their composing skills and their taste for efficient sound treatments. Among the other tracks left “Why Don’t You Tell Me” is much more than simply a B-side track.

– – – : “Detoxination” is such a great song the other tracks left are a bit disappointing and especially “Gates Of Heaven” left me unmoved.

Conclusion: There’s no better way to announce a new album than releasing an EP with a brilliant title track!

Best songs: “Detoxination – Maxi Version”, “Detoxination – Intent Outtake Remix”, “Detoxination – EVO-lution Remix”, “Why Don’t You Tell Me”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.darknessondemand.com / www.facebook.com/darknessondemand

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

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

The band name Darkness On Demand (DoD) will for sure evoke one of the most famous electro bands from the 90s: Dance Or Die! Same initials and… same members! This is a new band set up by Gary Wagner, Falgalas (Heike Duus) and Chris L. They all have a great experience as musicians and performers and are still involved with different music projects. The debut album “Post Stone Technology” released on Repo Records is a well-crafted piece of modern and dark EBM. Gary Wagner give us more details about this new challenge.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: I first of all have to ask you why you finally decided to stop Dance Or Die and move on as Darkness On Demand plus what are the main differences sound-wise between both bands?

Wagner: Actually it was not on purpose. After some bad experiences with the former producer we decided to produce our new material ourselves. We kept Dance Or Die as a legend, but keep our lifetime achievement. Darkness On Demand is meant to be fresh modern and club orientated by staying to our typical sound.

Q: Is there a concept/philosophy hiding behind this new project?

Wagner: It mainly concerns the same themes sort of dark future and ‘Endzeit’, but it is also about personal experiences with the music monkey biz. In fact we started something new by keeping our musically roots.

Q: What is the album “Post Stone Age Technology” all about and what are the different aspects from the production you especially take care of?

Wagner: As I already said it is about apocalyptical aspects. We decided to create much more catchy melodies and grooves to transport our themes on the dark dancefloors.

Q: I noticed an interesting and somewhat ‘different’ approach in sound between the first EP “City Of The Dreamers” (which still has an epic & medieval touch reminding me of Winterhart) and the album, which sounds more electro/EBM-like. How comes and what can you tell us about the content of this EP?

Wagner: I am really surprised about this comparison. Winterhart is our other project that gets you more into the neo-folk thing. Darkness On Demand is an absolute electronic conclusion of our Body Music and Dark Electronic past. The same producer and the same voice so that could be the only reason for any paralel.

Q: The song and title of the new EP “Back To Psychoburbia” clearly is a wink to the Dance Or Die album “Psychoburbia” (1992). Is it also a kind of ‘look back’ to the earlier years of your music career and what do you think about all evolutions that happened?

Wagner: The evolution is more a revelation. The new media are a great way to become fame, but it also changes the music market not for musicians best. The “Psychoburbia” thing is my personal story about moving to the city and moving back to the subs.

Q: The album reflects a rather ‘dark’ vision about the future, but how do you see your own future as band, musicians and simple citizens?

Wagner: I have no idea about future those days. Everything is changing so fast. I believe that science fiction is going to become reality.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Dark-electro.

Background/Info: Repo Records goes on re-releasing some albums from Funker Vogt’s back catalogue. The so-called ‘collector’s Edition’ is always something special. Next to the original full length released in 2007 on Synthetic Symphony you’ll get a bonus CD featuring rare- and/or unreleased tracks, the EP’s “Club Pilot” and “White Trash” plus a DVD with extras.

Content: “Aviator” revealed Funker Vogt at its best. Driven by the creative power of Gerrit Thomas and the heavy, charismatic vocals of Jens Kästel this work revealed a few new hits in the band’s impressive discography. The band’s trademark always been a powerful, danceable sound carried by solid bass lines, this unique bleeping sequences and elevating choruses with Jens’ impressive vocals on top.

The 2^nd disc features interesting rarities and unreleased material plus 2 EP’s, which weren’t easy to get back in time. And here again Funker Vogt reveals great songs and a constant power. This extra disc is not made of crappy CD fillers, but brings a real bonus to the disc.

Last, but not least you’ll get a DVD with a surprising opening chapter featuring 5 tracks of the album in 5.1 Dolby surround sound, interviews about the making of the album, the making of the photo gallery and the photo gallery properly speaking and last, but not least a trailer about WWI.

+ + + : We all have our favorite Funker Vogt albums and even if “Aviator” isn’t my personal favorite one, it’s a great production, which revealed several new ‘hits’ for the band. Funker Vogt became a leading dark-electro formation because Gerrit Thomas created a very personal sound DNA, which you can directly recognize. His music is elaborated and punchy while Jens Kästel was a great singer and live performer. But this album also is a must have for all fans. Funker Vogt and Repo records always took care to release something ‘unique’ as a nice addition to the original album. I especially enjoyed the ‘making of’ section featured at the DVD featuring interviews with Gerrit and Jens.

– – – : The only reproach I can imagine about this album and Funker Vogt generally speaking would be the somewhat repetitive sound formula. But if you like this band you’ll only, but enjoy “Aviator” even more than 10 years later!

Conclusion: I’m not always fond of re-releases, but the ones of Funker Vogt released as “Collector’s Edition” are simply great and always adding a real extra.

Best songs: “Thanatophobia”, “Blind Rage”, “City Of Darkness”, “Paralyzed”, “My Fortune” + “Lost In Translation”, “City Of Darkness – 2^nd-Hooklmine-Mix”, “Child Soldier – DJ-Mix 2017”, “White Trash – AE8 Remix”.

Rate: (8½).

Artist: www.funkervogt.de / www.facebook.com/officialfunkervogt

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

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Dark-electro, EBM.

Background/Info: 2017 has been an important year for electro-veterans of Funker Vogt. After a long period of commotion the band finally struck back with a new album featuring a new singer (cf. Chris L from Agonoize, Sexorcist). This EP moves back to the album “Code Of Conduct” featuring multiple remixes, and also reveals 3 brand-new songs.

Content: The EP takes off with a “Video Version” of “Wahre Helden”. This song was not exactly my favorite cut from their new album, which in a way symbolizes a new start for the band. It however features the sonic trademark of Funker Vogt characterized by a powerful kick, dark synth lines and bleeping sequences. Among the new cuts I noticed real cool songs, which remain in the typical vein of the band, but with more persuasive vocal parts.

You next get 2 remixes of “Gladiator” and 2 of “Für Immer” and 2 more of  “Tanzbefehl”. Funker Vogt remixed a few songs themselves, but it also is an opportunity to hear the work of Agonoize, Cephalgy and Novakill.

+ + + : This is an interesting EP as it delivers 3 new cuts. And I can assure you “Strike Force” and especially “Bloodbrother” both are great and powerful cuts in the traditional enraged format of the band. I like the rage emerging at the surface while “Bloodbrother” also reveals a great lead.

I’m not a huge fan of remixes, but here again I discovered a few brilliant remixes and I especially have to mention a great contribution from Agonoize and Kunstwerk.

– – – : I unfortunately also discovered a few remixes, which don’t bring any bonus to the EP. I can imagine making an ‘orchestral’ version might be fun, but it’s not exactly a successful result.

Conclusion: Funker Vogt is definitely back on track and the new line-up, still conducted by the genius of Gerrit Thomas, is getting better and better.

Best songs: “Bloodbrother”, “Strike Force”, “Tanzbefehl – Kunstwerk Remix”, “Für Immer – Agonoize Remix”.

Rate: (8).

Band: www.funkervogt.de / www.facebook.com/officialfunkervogt

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

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Electro-pop, indie-pop.

Background/Info: This is the third full length for the electro- & indie-pop Swedish formation Me The Tiger. They literally took me by surprise on previous albums, but especially the previous one “Vitriolic” left me breathless. This new opus sounds like an album with a strong reflection about our world, their leaders and politics generally speaking.

Content: “What Is Beautiful Never Dies” is a strong title for an artistic composition, which moves on there where previous productions stopped. The electronic structures have been empowered by guitar playing resulting in a powerful and yet still very melodic opus. The sweet and somewhat fragile, but sensual vocals of Gabriella totally match the music.

The opening cuts are pretty dynamic and powerful, but there are also softer and more emotional cuts.

+ + + : This band is progressively gaining in maturity becoming one of the hottest ‘young’ bands from the past few years. They make me think of The Birthday Massacre, but with an indie touch and pop approach. But there’s a similar harmony emerging at the surface of the songs. I also like most of the choruses, creating a kind of climax. There are numerous songs I can mention, but I’ll just name “Kerosene” and “Hollow” that feature a devastating bass line. The vocals remain another essential topic of this band; it’s delicate and yet passionate.

– – – : This is a great piece of music, but unfortunately I’m not at all convinced with the rather poorly inspired artwork. It appears to be a point the band maybe has to reconsider to catch more attention.

Conclusion: “What Is Beautiful Never Dies” appears to be a prophetic title for an album, which will for sure become one of my personal favorites of the year!

Best songs: “Hollow”, “Kerosene”, “Your Empire”, “I Thought Sleep Would Do It”, “Saknaden”, “What Is Beautiful”.

Rate: (9).

Band: www.methetiger.com / www.facebook.com/MeTheTiger

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

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Funker Vogt was set up in 1995 and got instantly successful. Gerrit Thomas (composing) and Jens Kästel (vocals) progressively became one of the leading bands from the dark-electro & EBM scene. They released legendary work on Zoth Ommog, Bloodline, Synthetic Symphony while their previous full length got released on Out Of Line. When Jens Kästel left the band in 2013 the band had to search for a new vocalist. Sacha Korn (‘Sick Man’) joined in creating a real media storm. A new singer and a new label had to be found so Chris L. (Agonoize, The Sexorcits, Dance Or Die) joined in and Repo Records recently released the new album “Code Of Conduct”. I got in touch with Gerrit Thomas and Chris L. but started the interview with a question for label owners Kai Schmidt and Björn Böttcher (who both got involved with Funker Vogt as well) to know what they think about it all.

You can order the band’s newest album right here.

(by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: You (Repo Records) guys are quite familiar and pretty close to Funker Vogt so how did you perceive all what happened around the band during the past few years and what does it mean to you and Repo Records to have released this new album?

Repo Records: After our split in 2010, we have all kept a distance from each other. So we have certainly read about all this, but at that time it didn’t affect us that much. We all decided to go separate ways in 2010, without knowing if we ever will get together or not. And at that time, we managed this ‘divorce’ as harmonic as such a thing can happen.

As we have been personally involved in the old releases, we wanted to make them available again. So we approached Gerrit with this idea. After some negotiations we found an agreement.

Last year Gerrit told us that he wanted to restart Funker Vogt and if we were interested to release also new material. After so much time has passed, we thought that the time was right, to work together again. And it works very well so far.

For us this release really matters as Funker Vogt was a big part of our past. And from the label side it’s nice to have them on board for the very first time with a brand new release.

Q: Gerrit, after the departure of Jens Kästel, there was a lot of commotion around the new singer Sacha Korn who got rapidly replaced by Chris L. I can imagine it must have been a relief to release this new album “Code Of Conduct”?

Gerrit: We worked on some songs for about three years until they were sung by Chris and finally got released. It was a very hard time before Chris joined the band. So, the release of “Code Of Conduct” was a kind of start into a new era for us. And now, we’re so happy about all the good reactions.

Q: I can easily imagine all the commotion that happened must have been one of the darkest chapters in the band’s history. How did it feel for a musician to face all these events and what do you think about it right now?

Gerrit: Everything comes to an end -also hard times and dark chapters. Time heals all wounds! There had been lots of bad things against the band in itself, but also personally against René and me. Many things that were not justified. But I don’t want to rewind this by going into details here. We’re just happy to start again now.

Q: I should say “Code Of Conduct” sounds in the purest tradition of Funker Vogt, but with another singer instead of Jens Kästel. Tell us a bit more about the writing of the album and how did the integration of Chris L. happened?

Gerrit: The writing process remained exactly the same as before. I did the instrumental parts by always knowing where the vocal parts should later be. Then Chris got the instrumentals, wrote some fitting lyrics and sung them. Chris got that Funker Vogt-feeling from the very beginning, so we never had much to discuss or change a lot of his work. It simply fits!

Q: Chris, I can imagine it’s not an easy thing to become the new vocalist of such a famous band. What does it mean to you personally to have joined Funker Vogt and how did the collaboration happened with Gerrit?

Chris: We have been friends for a long time, I didn’t thought about it that much; we just did it, maybe because I never had in mind to replace Jens… I can live very well with the shitstorm…

Q: Funker Vogt has been always much more than simply hard electronic dance stuff, but still a band with a critical perception about society and our world. What about “Code Of Conduct” and tell us a bit more about the song “Brexshit”?

Chris: Every single day is an inspiration; turning on the news and see all the shit that is going on gives more inspiration then I actually need. Europe is falling apart as a community; it’s a good idea but it doesn’t seem to work as long as people are only taking care of their own needs…

Q: What have been the main changes and evolution in the global production process from the very first album “Thanks for Nothing” towards “Code Of Conduct”?

 Gerrit: Puh, the whole production has completely changed all over the years. 21 years ago I worked with real synths, drum computers and samplers and recorded all the stuff with DAT tapes. Now, it’s all made with hard drives on computers – from the first note through the vocal recording to the mastering. Therefore everything’s much easier and works faster than twenty years ago.

Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: EBM, dark-electro.

Background/Info: Funker Vogt is back on track unleashing their newest full length after years of artistic silence, but with serious commotion about their new singer. The new singer finally became Chris L. (Agonoize, Dance Or Die, The Sexorcist) while Gerrit Thomas remained the main operator behind the machines. Since their previous singer and in a way ‘image’ of the band Jens Kaestel left Funker Vogt, the fans were awaiting this new work for quite a long time. It also is the first ‘new’ studio album released on Repo Records, which already released work from Gerrit Thomas’s side project (Ravenous, Fictional, Fusspils 11) plus ‘deluxe’ re-edits from successful Funker Vogt albums.

Content: Sound-wise nothing has really changed. You instantly recognize the stamp of Gerrit Thomas in the danceable kicks, EBM structures, raw technoid sequences, melodic leads and the global power emerging from the songs. The main change of course is the vocals by Chris L. The new singer is an experienced and talented artist, but with a different timbre of voice so that’s for sure an important change.

Most of the songs have been sung in German, but you also will hear English sung cuts as well. The debut tracks are a bit hesitant, but quite progressively Funker Vogt is gaining in power while elevating the dance vibes.

There are some bonus cuts featuring a song together with Gary Wagner (Dance Or Die, Winterhart, Ruhestätte Schwarz), remixes by Rise Of An Empire plus Intent:Outtake and an extra new cut.

+ + + : I always have liked the work of Funker Vogt because they have a very personal sound you immediately can recognize. The sound hasn’t changed that much throughout the years and even if “Code Of Conduct” is not the band’s best album in history, it however features a few potential dancefloor songs. Speaking for myself I preferred Jens Kaestel’s timbre of voice, but we simply have to get a bit more familiar to the new singer. I especially like the vocals in English, but the main strength is the catchy lyrics (especially in the choruses). The choruses are well-crafted and accentuated by great leads. Somewhere in between dark-electronics and EBM this album stands for the resurrection of a great band and a new chapter in their history.

– – – : I haven’t been convinced by both debut songs, which are a little bit hesitant, but quite progressively the album gets better and better. I again have to say it’s not an easy thing to replace a great singer from one of the leading formations in their genre.

Conclusion: The song “Tanzbefehl” clearly says what Funker Vogt is all about: ‘Musik ist Krieg’ (‘music is war’)! And this work features a few sonic bombs!

Best songs: “Für Immer”, “Gladiator”, “Der Letzte Tanz”, “Deutsch Bleibt Deutsch”, “Tanzbefehl”.

Rate: (8).

Band: www.funker–vogt.com / www.facebook.com/officialfunkervogt

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

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: EBM, dark-electro.

Background/Info: Funker Vogt is back releasing their first new work since 2013. The legendary German formation still driven by Gerrit Thomas had some turbulent years after singer and frontman Jens Kaestel left the band. But he got replaced by Chris L. who you for sure know from his involvement with Agonoize, Dance Or Die and The Sexorcist. This EP is the first new stuff from this ‘reformed’ formation and is also a first teaser to the new album.

Content: Sound-wise nothing has changed! Funker Vogt remains inspired by powerful dark-EBM revealing the genius of Gerrit Thomas. Funker Vogt is a band with a very own sound DNA and that’s an aspect you directly recognize. The title song is powerful, danceable, featuring great arrangements and dark-technoid sequences.

The vocals of Chris L. of course are different than Jens Kaestel, but the least I can say is that it works! The EP features two different versions of the title song plus remixes by Patenbrigade Wolff and Winterhart. There also is a B-side song entitled “Blut Und Schmerz”.

+ + + : Funker Vogt is back on track and that’s for sure real good and great news for the fans and all lovers of dark-EBM. It will take some time to get used to the new singer, but in the end, he fully succeeded on this EP. I especially like the catchy lyrics of the title song. “Der Letzte Tanz” is a solid title track featuring all the familiar elements of Funker vogt. Power, dance and melody! I also have to mention the interesting diversity in the remixes and especially the epic-like remix of Winterhart.

– – – : As I said it will take some time to get used to Chris L; it’s not an easy thing to replace a charismatic singer of a band like Funker Vogt!

Conclusion: Funker Vogt is back on the EBM front and this first sonic raid is not their biggest success although a real nice comeback!

Best songs: “Der Letzte Tanz – Tanzmix”, “Der Letzte Tanz – Winterhart Remix”, “Der Letzte Tanz – Patenbrigade Wolff Remix”.

Rate: (7).

Band: www.funker–vogt.com / www.facebook.com/officialfunkervogt

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

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

The EBM cult act Funker Vogt has just released a brand new teaser video (see above) with holds snippets from 7 new tracks, all taken from the brand new album “Code of Conduct”.

Out by the end of June is “Code of Conduct“, the newest Funked Vogt album. “Code of Conduct” comes 4 years after the release of the band’s last album “Companion in Crime”. Along with their new singer, Chris L.(Agonoize/The Sexorcist), Gerrit Thomas and Rene Dornbusch will present the new single “Der letzte Tanz” followed by the new album “Code of Conduct.”

The 16-track album includes the following bonus tracks: “Theater of War”, “Army of the Doomed”, “Der letzte Tanz (Rise of an Empire Mix)” and “Der letzte Tanz (Intent:Outtake)”.

This is a Repo Records worldwide release which especially US fans can order from this fine mail order.

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.

side-line.com

Out by the end of June is “Code of Conduct”, the newest Funked Vogt album. “Code of Conduct” comes 4 years after the release of the band’s last album “Companion in Crime”. Along with their new singer, Chris L.(Agonoize/The Sexorcist), Gerrit Thomas and Rene Dornbusch will present the new single “Der letzte Tanz” followed by the new album “Code of Conduct.”

The 16-track album includes the following bonus tracks: “Theater of War”, “Army of the Doomed”, “Der letzte Tanz (Rise of an Empire Mix)” and “Der letzte Tanz (Intent:Outtake)”.

This is a Repo Records worldwide release which especially US fans can order from this fine mail order.

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.

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: EBM, dark-electro.

Background/Info: There has been a lot of commotion since Jens Kästel left Funker Vogt. By the end of 2016 the band announced that Chris L. from Agonoize had joined in to become the new singer. While awaiting new work of this leading formation Repo Records released an impressive “Collector’s Item” of the “Navigator”-album. This opus was originally released in 2005 on Synthetic Symphony. Next to the original album this work also features bonus tracks, a bonus CD featuring the EP’s “Fallen Hero” and “Killing Ground”, rare and unreleased songs. Last, but not least there also is a DVD featuring Funker Vogt live in Montreal (Canada) at the famous “Kinetik”-festival of 2008 plus a few clips.

Content: This is an opportunity to rediscover Funker Vogt at its best. The powerful electronics mixing EBM and carrying, dark melody lines plus a constant dance tempo made the fame of Gerrit Thomas and his main formation. This is also an opportunity to rediscover some of the band’s most famous and legendary hits originally featured on “Navigator”. Jens Kästel’s unique enraged and commanding way of singing was another essential element of the German combo. “Navigator” mixes power, rage and melody lines. Both bonus songs were originally featured on the limited edition of “Navigator”.

The 2nd disc brings us back to the aforementioned EP’s and especially to one of the band’s greatest hits in history “Navigator”. You’ll also (re)discover remixes by The Birthday Massacre and Underwater Pilots. The rare and unreleased songs are mainly taken from mixes they made for the German magazines Sonic Seducer and Zillo.

Last, but not least the DVD reveals 13 songs from the “Kinetik Festival” of 2008, which of course was the same period of the “Navigator”-album. Except that the songs from this concert were filmed and recorded in Montreal, the fans will recognize the same show, which was featured on the DVD “Warzone K17 –
Live In Berlin”. You also will (re)discover the clip of “Fallen Hero” and the ‘making of’.

+ + + : This is the right collector’s item, but maybe also an opportunity to rediscover EP’s you didn’t know and Funker Vogt on stage. The extracts from the live show in Canada is the real bonus of this release. Soundwise, “Navigator” confirms that the sound of this band is timeless and especially featuring the very own sound DNA created by Gerrit Thomas. There’s a perfect harmony between the power of bass lines and the hard kicks at one side and the melodic leads at the other. Jens Kästel did the rest and was a great live performer.

– – – : You really have to like Funker Vogt to endure this collector’s item. I maybe expected a bit rarer and especially unreleased material.

Conclusion: This special edition of “Navigator” awakened my curiosity to hear new Funker Vogt stuff. “Navigator” remains a great piece of music!

Best songs: “Navigator”, “Fallen Hero”, “Killing Ground”, “The End” + “The End – Extended”, “Navigator – Zillo Mix”.

Rate: (8).

Band: www.funkervogt.de / www.facebook.com/officialfunkervogt

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

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Electro-pop, indie-pop.

Background/Info: The Swedish trio Me The Tiger took me by surprise last year with their official debut album “Vitriolic”. The work revealed an interesting and refreshing electro-pop sound. The band is now back on track re-releasing their original self-released album “Me The Tiger”. The work was originally released during 2013 as an 8-track digital work. This new version features the 8 original songs plus an extra cut.

Content: “Me The Tiger” features a refreshing pop-format revealing a harmonious mix between electronic parts and guitar. The guitar is more present on this composition. It sounds a bit rock-like while the electronic passages inject typical pop vibes featuring carrying melody lines. The sound is dark and still pretty indie-like. There’s a nice twist between powerful passages and reverie parts.

The electronic treatments are pretty raw and yet always melodic. Several songs are quite transcendental and there’re several climaxes on the album. Another essential element of the band is the fragile and sensual way of singing by Gabriella Åström. She brings passion and emotion to the songs. She sometimes makes me think of a kind of ‘lolita’-voice although she can sing with passion and rage as well.

The extra song “Borlänge” is a cool addition to the original work and a new elevating piece of music.

+ + + : There’s a perfect match between guitar and electronics. The electronic treatments are characterized by carrying melody lines and some refined arrangements. The songs are pretty elaborate and often ending in a true apotheosis. The production of the vocals is another essential aspect of this work and band. Last, but not least, the song “Pocket Sized Edition Ending” is a real hit!

– – – : There’s no real minus point on this album although I think the artwork could have been a bit more creative and artistic.

Conclusion: This album simply deserves to get re-edited. There are several essential cuts on it and I even prefer this work to the “Vitriolic”-album. It simply confirms this is a talented formation injecting a fresh breeze to the electro-pop universe.

Best songs: “Pocket Sized Edition Ending”, “Slottet”, “All We Had”, “Ambulance Disco Light”, “Borlänge”.

Rate: (8½).

Band: http://methetiger.com /   

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

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com