British producer Simon Carter has a knack for collaborations—think of Studio-X or his more recent work with German singer Fabsi. At the end of last year, he released one of his most ambitious projects, inviting 11 guest singers for 11 new songs. The lineup includes notable names such as Marc Massive (Massive Ego), Xavier Morales (Ruined Conflict), Stefan Netschio (Beborn Beton), Technomancer, For All The Emptiness, and others.

Simon Carter’s signature style and influences remain unmistakable, driven by his consistent dance beats. Underlying genres such as Electro-Pop and Future-Pop are clearly present. The production is polished to the finest detail and sounds highly professional. Musically, the result sometimes leans too ‘commercial’ for the underground scene while being too dark for mainstream Dance music. However, several tracks achieve a perfect synergy between music and vocalist. The album is further enriched with subtle choruses, creating an uplifting effect. I would say a successful challenge. (Rating:7½).

Listen to “Dream Away feat. Ruined Conflict”:

https://simon-carter.bandcamp.com/track/dream-away-feat-ruined-conflict

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

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Genre/Influences: Industrial-Techno, Dark-Techno.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: DJ Simon Carter -known from his collaboration with Studio-X and Fabsi but also active under his own name plus Humans Can’t Reboot and Narconic, strikes back with a new EP featuring seven tracks.

Content: The title song is driven by a brutal, unpolished, hard, techno kick with spoken samplings and a cold gimmick running through it. You’ll discover 3 alternative edits of the title song at the end of the EP. The 3 tracks left are still driven by elements of Dark-Techno but the tempo is slower and the tracks more elaborated. 

+ + + : I personally prefer the 3 ‘B-sides’ cut instead of the title track. These cuts are more sophisticated and I especially like the slower tempo mixed with refined bleeps and icy sequences. “The Living And The Dead” is a genius piece of Dark-Techno moving progressively till reaching a climax. “Simon (Body Trap)” is a noticeable piece for its Techno-Body sound. I also have to say a word about the different ‘alternative’ edits of “Don’t Blink” which I personally prefer for their darkness, Industrial- and even EBM elements.

– – – : The original edit of the title song is the single cut which couldn’t convince me. I especially don’t like the brutal, unpolished, flat kick. 

Conclusion: Simon Carter confirms with all of his projects that he’s involved with, to be an atypical artist active in the wider fields of Techno music.

Best songs: “The Living And The Dead”, “Simon (Body Trap)”, “Don’t Blink – Industrial Version”.

Rate: 7½.

Artist: https://simoncarter.info /  www.facebook.com/HumansCantReboot

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: Industrial-Techno.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: The collaboration between British Simon Carter and German Fabsi started during lockdown. After a debut-EP followed by the remarkable first full length “The Bitches Potion” the duo strike back with a new opus featuring eleven songs.

Content: The album moves on where its predecessor stopped; a heavy sonic potion of Dark-Techno and other elements like EBM and Industrial. The half spoken and whispering-like vocals by Fabsi again inject this sensual, ghost-like, touch to the work.

+ + + : I already liked the debut album by the duo which confirms at “Hex, Herbs ‘N’ Techno” they’ve found a magic sound formula to mix Techno mix with other influences. I’m not affirming they innovate but deal with an exciting, personal approach. The work is recovered by a magic flavor which is accentuated by Fabsi’s spooky vocals. Simon Carter perfectly knows how to make people dance and that’s what this project has been made for. “Moonchild” is a true masterpiece, kind of title track for an EP revealing danceable vibes and irresistible sequences made by great sound treatments. The song still has a sexy touch as well. 

– – – : The last part of the work isn’t my favorite one so the best comes rather at the debut and first part.

Conclusion: Bewitching Techno music by a sexy British/German duo.

Best songs: “Moonchild”, “The Power Of The Moon”, “Mondkind”, “Cleansing”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: https://simoncarter.info /  www.facebook.com/HumansCantReboot

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

(Photo by Bira) Out on March 24th is a remastered limited edition vinyl series from Chris & Cosey, which will see many of their albums available for the first time, or for the first time in decades.

The series launches with “Elemental 7” on green vinyl, “Muzik Fantastique!” on pink vinyl, and “Feral Vapours of The Silver Ether” on yellow vinyl. The colour vinyl pressings are limited, and will include a printed inner sleeve of archival photos.

“Elemental 7″ is the soundtrack to the film of the same name (on Cabaret Voltaire’s Doublevision video imprint) that saw the duo working once more with John Lacey. Lacey had previously worked with Cosey in COUM Transmissions and introduced Chris Carter to the collective.

Listen to “Dancing Ghosts” from this album.

On “Muzik Fantastique!” The duo went for a more dynamic and melodic approach, Below is the video for the album track “Melancholia”.

“Feral Vapours of the Silver Ether” will be available for the first time on vinyl, and was the second release under the Carter Tutti name. On it, the duo mixed electronic and acoustic elements. Listen to the album track “Feral Vapours” right 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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This summer Helalyn Flowers launched a remix contest for “Halos”, the last single taken from their “Àiresis” album (available as download and double CD). “Halos” is the opening track of the album and also the most (synth)poppy song of all.

This remix EP holds 13 tracks with remixers reinterpreting this rather addictive song with their own soundpallet. Besides the 6 winners of the remix contest that are Restriction 9, Vdoc, Blue Ant, Digital Shadows, Aggrax Kouture and Luca Truzzo, the Italian artists Noemi Aurora and Maxx Maryan also invited long-time friends and other label-mates in the likes of Aiboforcen, Elektrostaub, People Theatre, Aesthetische, Junksista and Simon Carter to offer their remix skills.

The EP is available right now on Bandcamp and will be distributed on other platforms on October 21st.

For the occasion the band also releases a video for the album edit.

Eldrina Mich

As Eldrina Mich I work as a go-between and a devil’s advocate when it comes to Side-Line. If our own staff needs to be interviewed then ask the questions no one else dares to ask.

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Genre/Influences: Electro-Pop, Experimental.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: American project Entrzelle strikes back with a new work which is also the first new album since 2016. The opus features twelve songs plus four remixes.

Content: The global approach in sound and production remains in the line of the previous album “Total Progressive Collapse”. There’s a sophisticated side with an IDM touch on top. These songs are danceable. And there’s a ‘softer’ side which even sounds like ‘electro-slow dance’. Remixes have been done by Psy’Aviah, Reichsfeind, Elektrostaub, and Simon Carter.

+ + + : I especially like the hardest side of the album which reveals all the intelligence of the project. It stands for Electro-Pop but injected by influences of Clock DVA, Haujobb ao. The title track is an absolute masterpiece and even the best cut I’ve heard from this project. I also like the icy, transcendental, approach running through “Everyday Criminal”. Among the remixes I especially recommend the ones by Reichsfeind and Simon Carter. 

– – – : The ‘softest’ cuts are ruining all the good aspects of the work and especially the production of the vocals is too bad here.

Conclusion: I have mixed feelings listening to this album which is mixing great parts and forgettable passages.

Best songs: “Dust On A Razorblade”, “Everyday Criminal”, “Tax On Modern Life”, “Everyday Criminal – Reichsfeind Remix”, “Everyday Criminal – Simon Carter Remix”.

Rate: 6½.

Artist: www.entrzelle.com / www.facebook.com/entrzelle

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

Simon Carter isn’t the most familiar and successful name from the underground Electro scene although you should know him from his great collaborative productions together with Studio-X and his solo-project SD-KRTR. The British producer is now back on track unleashing a new album he released together with the German female singer Fabsi. The self-released “The Bitches Potion” is a solid and merciless piece of Industrial-Techno music featuring the sensual, half-spoken like vocals of Fabsi on top.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: What can you tell us about your artistic/musical background and what incited you to get involved with music projects?

Simon: I’ve always had a big love of music and in truth it’s dominated most of my adult life. I have a real eclectic taste and something I’ve always said to myself is that no matter what the genre is, there will be something, some fine detail contained within that I can appreciate and learn from.  I’ve been making Electronic music since the age of 12, so without giving my exact age away, that’s well over 20+ years of experience in this game. Something that not a lot of people know is that I actually started out by making happy Hardcore! I’ve since experimented with many different genres, styles and yes I’m still learning each and every day.

Q: How do you perceive yourself as an artist/musician and producer? Do you’ve specific criteria and references when working on new songs and/or album?

Simon: I’ve been doing this a long time now and I still don’t have all the answers, I think I never will! As with all things in life, as we get older we do change, I’ve learnt so much, I’ve improved so much and I’ve had both some wonderful and not so wonderful experiences. One thing I have changed in this last year though is to take myself and my music even less seriously. I originally started making music as a hobby for fun and somewhere along the way it became less fun and more business oriented. I took a step back from it all but thankfully this project has really put a spring back in my step and reintroduced the fun element. I’m enjoying making music again.

Q: I think most people know you from your work together with Studio-X so what makes this chemistry?   How did you start this new collaborative project together with Fabsi and who is she?

Simon: That’s right, myself and Studio-X released 3 albums, 6 EP’s and 1 single, all on the Belgian record label Alfa Matrix and we both had respective solo projects on that label too, although by my own admission my SD-KRTR solo-project was far too heavily focused on a more commercial Electronic/Pop sound which didn’t really suit the scene and I learnt from that.

Having said that, “Rise” and “Judgement Day” are 2 of my most requested tracks people want to hear me play. The Studio-X collaborations were crazy days when I think back, we were so young and we both had so much free time to dedicate to music. The creativity was just flowing like a waterfall. We always worked really well together and I think the proof of that is in the sheer volume of tracks we made together. Studio-X has a great dance floor sound that compliments my own and I’ve always been a big lyric writer so we gelled together perfectly. We’re still good friends and who knows if they’ll be more from us in the future, I am certainly one to never say never!

Fabsi is a German diva who I met online during lockdown, bonding over music streams. We both have a varied taste in music but it quickly became apparent we should collaborate together on a project. I was really quite taken with the sound of her voice and I knew I could make good use of her soft, sultry spoken vocals in tracks.

Q: Did you’d something like a plan and/or sound in mind when setting up this project? What can you tell us about the writing of the album and how did the cooperation happened?

Simon: Over a year ago we released an EP called “Beautiful Destruction” which was really supposed to be just an amusing challenge. The idea behind it was as follows ‘Using Fabsi’s Beautiful Destruction vocal, attempt to make as many conceivably different versions before going insane!’ I think I made 10 or so different versions of that track and the EP was surprisingly well received and I did go a bit insane! 

The collaboration work happened remotely as Fabsi resides in German and I live in the UK. We toiled closely together on the lyrics and I helped with a few suggestions on vocal recording techniques but Fabsi was a natural which allowed me time to focus on producing the music. We both wanted the musical direction to be heavily influenced by Techno and Industrial, that was the sound we were aiming for and it was nice for me to come out of my hard danceable Technoid comfort zone and try something new. I think we surprised a few people with the amount of Industrial elements included in this project.

Q: What did you try to express by the album title “The Bitches Potion”? And what’s the importance of the lyrical content?

Simon: So this was also something new for me, creating an entire album/project based around a very specific concept. Fabsi had the idea that the concept/theme should be related to witches/witchcraft.

The title of the album was also Fabsi’s idea, she had the thought that the tracks are individual ingredients and together they make up the potion. Then to make it a bit more unique we changed ‘witch’ to ‘bitch’. I think the title is matching perfectly to the sound, the theme and to the both of us!  I was also excited to work with Fabsi’s native German vocals which you can hear on the track “Hex Hex (Wir Sind Die Hexen)”, so even when we switch from English to German the witchy theme remains.

Q: While all works together with Studio-X have been released by Alfa-Matrix, you self-released “The Bitches Potion”. Is there any reason for this? Might we expect new work from Simon Carter  & Fabsi?

Simon: I am enjoying making music again and also enjoying having 100% ownership of my music. The record label discussion is an interesting one. Since releasing the “The Bitches Potion” a few record label offers have come in for this project. I know a record label would give this project greater exposure and more respect among promotors but the world is a very different, constantly evolving place these days and I feel happy in the knowledge that I have complete control in regards to every specific aspect of this project, its distribution and its future.  I thoroughly enjoyed my time on Alfa Matrix and I still contribute remixes for their roster of awesome artists.  They are a fantastic label and I can only say good things about them but I am also enjoying learning the business of being my own label / manager / distributor / promoter etc.

Is there more life in this project? Absolutely! We have plans to release a new EP before Halloween. It will essentially be 3 dancefloor, DJ-friendly singles in 1. The release will include some fantastic remixes from personal musician friends whom I’ve been close with for 10+ years.  It would be nice to play some of these tracks out live too.

I also have a new Humans Can’t Reboot album coming out this year which is going to be full-on Synth-Pop and I am also working on a vocal Trance album under my Narconic name. So, I’m extremely busy but I am glad to be back and to be enjoying producing and releasing music again. 

Thank you for having me and thank you for giving independent artists their fair chance to contribute to this dynamic scene.

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

US based electropop / noire futurepop artist David Chamberlin strikes back with the 3rd full length album by Entrzelle. The release is available now from Bandcamp and on CD via the Alfa Matrix webstore, and of course from all other digital music services.

David explains the concept: “The songs deal with subjects ranging from personal conflict to social commentary, from loss to euphoria. This is an album about hope and perseverance, letting go and moving on. Writing these songs has helped me in my own life, and I hope that listening to them can help someone else too.”

The experimentation on this album has been kept to a minimum, instead focusing on songwriting and production. The tone is darker and the songs are more direct. Expect a mix of upbeat electro sequences and addictive noisy synth pop melodies.

Next to the 12 new songs you also get 4 bonus remixes by label companions in the likes of Psy’Aviah, Reichsfeind, Elektrostaub and DJ Simon Carter. Advised for fans of Rotersand, Covenant, Seabound, Imperative Reaction, Aesthetic Perfection, VNV Nation, Etc.

Check out all the new tracks below plus the album teaser.

Here’s the videoteaser.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Industrial-Techno.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: British producer/singer/DJ Simon Carter -who released multiple collaborative releases together with Studio-X and German singer Fabsi last year released the EP “Beautiful Destruction”. Here’s now the album featuring eleven songs plus seven remixes.

Content: This production is clearly driven by solid Techno music which has been empowered by Industrial components. It creates a hard-banging production featuring Fabsi’s sensual vocals on top. The production of the vocals is mainly half spoken while the lyrics are in German.

Remixes have been accomplished by a diversified list of artists featuring Teknovore, Moaan Exis, Matt Hart, Ruinizer, SD-KRTR, Humans Can’t Reboot and Narconic. Notice the last 3 projects are still projects Simon Carter is involved with.

+ + + : I’m used to hearing Simon Carter together with Studio-X composing hard-danceable Technoid stuff, but this work moves far beyond all expectations. This project sounds harder and tougher. There’s a strong Industrial input getting this Techno sound evil and dirty. The cold sound treatments -especially right at the beginning of the album, are irresistible. I also noticed mind-blowing sound blasts. Together with the hot vocal parts this work stands for pure dance-sensation. I also have to say a word about great remix contributions from Teknovore injecting EBM vibes into “Hex Hex” and Moaan Exis getting “The Witching Hour” pretty raw.

– – – : Simon Carter took me by surprise except by the remixes from his other side-projects which don’t really add a bonus compared to the original versions. I regret that this album hasn’t been released like most of his other works by Alfa Matrix. This album deserves to be released as a physical format!

Conclusion: Industrial-Dance terror made by Simon Carter and sexy vocals by Fabsi. This work is an absolute must have.

Best songs: “Hex Hex – Wir Sind Die Hexen”, “Beautiful Destruction – Album Version”, “The Witching Hour”, “Nanobots – Are You My Mummy?”, “Manifestation
Spell”, “Hex Hew – Wir Sind Die Hexen – Teknovore Remix”, “The Witching Hour – Moaan Exis Remix”.

Rate: 8½.

Artist: www.facebook.com/HumansCantReboot

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 Australian techno industrial act Studio-X is back with a fresh 6-track EP, “Here to stay”.

Expect a minimal title track with a big kick drum, catchy computerised vocal samples and some dark industrial effects. The EP holds a VIP version of the title track next to 4 new tracks: “Butene Machines”, “This Is My Life (feat. Avarice In Audio)”, “Terror Bull (feat. Bridgette)” and New Blood.

You can check the complete EP below, for now it’s exclusively available on Bandcamp.

About Studio-X

Studio-X was formed in Adelaide, Australia, in December 2008. In 2009 they released a self-distributed single, “SX v0.1”.

Two years later they signed up with Alfa Matrix and released their debut, “Neo-Futurism”. That debut was followed by “Breaking The Void” (with Simon Carter) in 2014, and in 2015 a further Simon Carter collaboration was released, “Ad Astra Volantis”.

Two years later the project landed “Neural Torment” followed by “Wrong” in 2018 and in 2020 Simon Carter joined again to record “Disconnected”. In between the project released several singles.

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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It has been a hectic year, also for Alfa Matrix, but luckily their bands took the time to work in their studio to record new material. Out now via the Alfa Matrix Bandcamp page is the label’s 10th edition in the “Matrix Downloaded” compilation series, again offering you a – free – insight in what the Belgian label is all about. You can discover 64 tracks right here on Bandcamp.

The download holds tracks from Cubic, Psy’Aviah, Aesthetische, Digital Factor, Reichsfeind, Llumen, Zombie Girl, Diffuzion, Matthew Creed, Circuito Cerrado, Circumpolar, Venal Flesh, Mentallo & The Fixer, Freakangel, Alien Vampires, I:Scintilla, Schwarzblut, Totem Obscura, Reactor7X, First Aid 4 Souls, Lederman / De Meyer, Implant, AD:keY, Kant Kino, Die Robo Sapiens, ELM, Pouppee Fabrikk, Armageddon Dildos, Plastic Noise Experience, Synapsyche, Avarice In Audio, Elektrostaub, Junksista, First Aid 4 Souls, Benestrophe, Mental Exile, Star Industry, Halo In Reverse, Lovelorn Dolls, Helalyn Flowers, Essence Of Mind, Rector Scanner, Elektroklänge, Metroland, Lights A.M, Cosmic Armchair, Aiboforcen, H.O.W., 808 DOT POP, Suicidal Romance, Entrzelle, Technoir, Neuroactive, Mondträume, The Psychic Force, Studio-X, Studio-X Vs Simon Carter, Neikka RPM, Komor Kommando, Siva Six, Aengeldust, Acylum, Dunkelwerk and Növö.

Exclusive face masks

Next to that you can also get the download together with a face mask, out in a very limited series. You can either buy them separately or get all 3 in one. Check the set of 3 Face Masks (Blue Matrix + Endzeit + Red EBM Alert) or the separate masks.

Note that EVERY face mask order comes with a free compilation CD on top: “Sounds from the matrix 022” with 20 extra tracks.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Techno-pop, hard-techno, dance-pop.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Lawrie Masson (Studio-X) and Simon Carter earlier this year released their newest album “Disconnected”. “Our Promise” is a song taken from that album. It has been reworked into a few alternative edits while you’ll also get other ‘remixes’ and new songs. 

Content: “Our Promise” was not my favorite song from the album, but it definitely belongs to the heaviest dance-pieces. This EP is clearly dance-orientated and the female vocals of Bridgette Collins only accentuate the ‘dance’ approach. You’ll also discover reworked versions of other albums songs like “Disconnected”, “Choices”, “I’m Alive”, “The Only One” and a new version “Stronger” (originally released on the album “Ad Astra Volantis” / 2015).

Two from the three new songs are featuring vocals by Bridgette Collins while the other track left is a hard-techno inspired piece.

+ + + : I’ve always liked the albums from this Australian project (reinforced by British DJ Simon Carter), but the EP’s are often food for the techno/dance clubs. So if you’re into hard techno/dance music with a touch of pop on top, you’re going to like this release. But Studio-X isn’t dealing with ‘cheap’ techno stuff; the songs are well-crafted and carried by great sound treatments, filtered sequences and hard-beating kicks. The new song “You Will See ” is for sure an attention grabber –and I especially like this track because there are no real vocals on it, but samplings instead. The original version of “Our Promise” with male vocals remains another cool song, but I also recommend the “2020 Version” featuring Bridgette Collins. She also reveals a sensual way of singing on “Solar Flare”, which is one of the other new songs.

– – – : This EP is sometimes a bit too ‘dance’-driven to my taste.

Conclusion: If you want to discover the real techno power made with intelligence from Studio-X I can only, but advise you to purchase the albums. And if you’re more into a clubby mood, this EP will bring you to dance.

Best songs: “Our Promise – Original Version”, “Our Promise – 2020 Version feat. Bridgette”, “Solar Flare”, “You Will See”.

Rate: (7).

Artists: www.facebook.com/officialstudiox / www.facebook.com/sy.carter

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

Out now is a brand new 11-track EP for the dance electro outfit Studio-X vs. Simon Carter. The duo decided to use the global lock-down situation as an opportunity to distill a new 11-track EP selecting the most played songs from their recent “Disconnected” album and giving them a full club dimension.

The EP, clearly targeted at the dance crowd, also puts the focus on the album’s female fronted songs, most of them revealing the vocal talents of Bridgette Collins.

Besides revisiting their last album both hard dance DJ’s Simon Carter (UK) and Lawrie Masson from Studio-X (Australia) also inked 3 brand new tracks with “You Will See”, “Solar Flare” with Bridgette behind the mic again and “Lost At Sea”.

You can check out the tracks 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!

side-line.com

The Belgian electro label Alfa Matrix is launching 8 new Bandcamp exclusive releases today from AD:keY, Aesthetische, Die Robo Sapiens, First Aid 4 Souls, Helalyn Flowers, Neuroactive, Psy’Aviah and Studio-X vs. Simon Carter. At the same time the label also officially releases the new albums by 808 DOT POP and Avarice In Audio today.

Good to know, if you want to support artists and labels to survive during this Corona crisis, Bandcamp is again waiving its revenue share on all sales today. All the purchases placed on that day will therefore support the bands and labels present on the platform.

The new releases can be found 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!

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Techno-pop, trance-pop, industrial-dance.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Studio-X captain of the crew Lawrie Bayldon joined back together with Simon Carter. It’s the third album between the Australian composer and English DJ Simon carter while Bridgette Collins who sung on the last album (cf. “Wrong”) did the female (backing) vocals. “Disconnected” also is the project’s sixth album since “Neo-Futurism” (2011). 

Content: If you know Studio-X, you won’t be surprised discovering a new hard-banging techno-driven work. The techno inspiration is constantly present, but always mixed with other influences. It sometimes creates a harmonious contrast and even makes me think, ‘Snog goes techno’! The songs are characterized by heavy, stumping dance kicks and overwhelming sound manipulations.

+ + + : Studio-X remains the most explicit techno- and dancefloor driven project from the Alfa Matrix roster. But it’s not easy, cheap techno music or music featuring commercial dance tunes, but a perverted techno approach, which can be sometimes refined with pop elements and next driven by d’n’b patterns. In the end it has something raw and industrial-like. It sometimes feels like Lawrie Bayldon is going mad behind his machines, turning the knobs and filtering sound sequences like a possessed. Just pay attention to songs such as “Ghosts” and “The Only One (Deranged Moron)”. But I also have to mention “Take flight – 2020 version”, which sounds different; a bit mysterious and featuring guitar samplings. Last, but not least I also have to say a word about the particular vocals’ production, which is totally fitting with this kind of sound experiment.

– – – : I’m always making the same comment about the work of Studio-X; it remains a heavy technoid production, which I can imagine will only catch the attention of a restricted number of underground music lovers more familiar with EBM, industrial, dark-electro and related styles.

Conclusion: “Disconnected” is techno music for tough guys!

Best songs: “Ghosts”, “The Only One (Deranged Moron)”, “I’m Alive – 2020 Version”, “Take Flight – 2020 Version”, “Nightlife”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.facebook.com/officialstudiox / www.facebook.com/sy.carter  

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

Alfa Matrix continues the ‘Matrix:Reb00ted’ series, this time with 2 remix albums by Belgian artist Psy’Aviah displaying his electro dance trip pop remixes cruising through the Alfa Matrix band catalogue. The releases are first released via Bandcamp and will follow on all other platforms in the next weeks.

Here’s what is available on both volumes plus also a preview of what to expect.

Matrix:Reb00ted – The Psy’Aviah Guerrilla – Zion [Electro Dance] Warfare [07]

This volume holds 15 songs from Alfa Matrix’s massive music repertoire remixed by Psy’Aviah. Offering the electro dance side of the Belgian band you can expect a harder selection of modern dancefloor assaults with these bands: Ayria, Suicidal Romance, Zombie Girl, Junksista, Leaether Strip, Essence Of Mind, Nebula-H, Diffuzion, Schwarzblut, Diskonnekted, Krystal System and Psy’Aviah. You can check all the songs below and download it from Bandcamp directly.

Matrix:Reb00ted – The Psy’Aviah Guerrilla – Zion [Trip Pop Electro] Warfare [06]

This volume also holds 15 songs from Alfa Matrix’s massive music repertoire remixed by Psy’Aviah. The “trip pop electro” edition reveals a selection of more moody and catchy synth electro songs thanks to bands like Mondträume, Metroland, Aiboforcen, Helalyn Flowers, Acylum, Junksista, Entrzelle, Llumen, Virgins O.R Pigeons, Halo In Reverse, Schwarzblut, Mildreda, Totem Obscura and Psy’Aviah, also including guest vocals by Kyoko Baertsoen, Mari Kattman and Fallon Nieves. You can check all the songs below and download it from Bandcamp directly.

Previous volumes

Here’s a list of the 5 previous volumes which Alfa Matrix released in the past with remixes executed by Kant Kino, Simon Carter, Acylum and Aesthetische !

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Techno-body music, IDM.

Background/Info: Brazilian duo Guilherme Pires –  Fabricio Viscardi were known in a previous sonic life as Aghast View. They next moved on under the Aesthetische moniker, which saw the early dark-EBM of Aghast View being transposed into a more progressive tech no-body sound. This new work is their first album since “HybridCore” (2014).

Content: The regular album features 10 songs, which are mixing intelligent techno music –as main basis of the composition, with EBM and IDM. The result is an up-tempo work with sophisticated composition featuring an interesting guest on the song “Barking Up The Wrong Tree”. Sascha Klein (Neuroticfish) was asked to contribute and he did with a surprising ghost-like way of singing. This album features 6 songs plus 4 remixes. Among the remixers you’ll find label mates Psychic Force and AD:Key.

The second disc brings us 10 more songs. It’s an interesting disc as all songs were previously released on digital format and are now on CD for the very first time. There’s an interesting selection of extra songs featuring interesting guest singers such as Mari Kattman, Diana S (Junksista) and Simon Carter. Neuroticfish is also featured with a remix of “We Follow Blindly” (previously released on EP). The songs are once again mixing technoid influences, but still some dance-pop passages. The song featuring Simon Carter is for sure one of the hardest ones from the album.

+ + + : Aesthetische stands for ‘modernism’; a sonic exorcism of techno, EBM, electro-pop and IDM. The sound formula reveals a well-crafted and styled composition, which most of the time is driven by hard, danceable beats. The Brazilian duo were one of the most talented EBM formations from Brazil (as Aghast View) and now became real sonic architects transposing techno music towards a higher dimension. Just pay attention to “What Year This Is?”, which is a brilliant exposure to their writing skills. The presence of Sascha Klein is another noticeable element, but the guest singer who real had the greatest impact on me is the unavoidable Mari Kattman singing on 2 songs. I also recommend “Dirt”, which has been remixed by Simon Carter in a harsh and violent edit.

– – – : If you want to discover new stuff by Aesthetische, you’ll maybe be a bit disappointed. The main album only features 6 new songs and that’s not enough for a so-called ‘new’ album. The album also appears to be a real challenge, the techno element being very explicit.

Conclusion: Aesthetische is a band breaking the codes; they simply make the music they like without following trends!

Best songs: “What Year Is This?”, “Barking Up The Wrong Tree featuring Sascha Klein – Clubmix”, “Berlin” + “We Follow Blindly featuring Mari Kattman”, “Blue Print featuring Mari Kattman”, “Dirt – Simon Carter’s Club Edit”, “An End In Itself”.  

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.facebook.com/aesthetische

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

Out now is the all new album by the Brazilian dance electro duo Aesthetische. CD1 of “Co3xist3ns3” holds 10 new tracks, including a track featuring nobody else but Sascha Mario Klein from German electro stars Neuroticfish. This song is also featured here as a club mix and as a remake by label mates Psychic Force.

The bonus disc offers a selection of 10 more songs which were featured on previous digital-only releases. You can order this limited 2CD set right here.

On this club oriented bonus disc you’ll get remixes by Neuroticfish, DK Simon Carter and the duo itself. You can also expect collaborations and featurings with singers in the likes of Mari Kattman, Noemi Aurora (Helalyn Flowers), Diana S. (Junksista) and Xev (Diffuzion).

You can already listen to the album below (the bonus disc is ONLY available on CD and not as download).

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

Based in Adelaide (Australia) Studio-X has been set up in December 2008 by Matthew Martin and Lawrie Bayldon. They got rapidly signed to the Belgian label Alfa Matrix and released their official debut album “Neo-Futurism” in 2011. On the next two albums “Breaking The Void” (2014) and “Ad Astra Volantis” (2015) Lawrie Bayldon went on without Matthew M., but joined hands together with Chris Carter. For the fourth full length “Neural Torment” (2017) Studio-X worked together with the Italian project Technoid. During the last months of 2018 Studio-X already launched a new opus entitled “Wrong”, which is without a shadow of a doubt the most diversified work in Studio-X’ discography. This time Lawrie Bayldon worked together with female singer Bridgette Collins accomplishing a more pop-orientated work carried by the familiar techno vibes this artist has used to produce.

( Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries )

Q: After an album released together with Matthew Martin, two other albums featuring Simon Carter and the latest one with Italian artist Technoid,  for the new “Wrong” album you now joined hands together with Bridgette Collins. Did you feel it was time to inject a new member and what has been the input and impact of Bridgette on “Wrong”?

Lawrie: Bridgette began singing on many of my side-projects before we got together as a couple. She helped very much on the latest album and did some vocals on many of the songs as well.

Q: “Wrong” definitely sounds as your most versatile work although it remains mainly driven through techno influences. How did you explain this evolution in sound and what kind of work did you really want to achieve?

Lawrie: I sort of stumbled upon this idea, I guess after many years of making hard dance sounds we felt it was time for something a little different, hence the industrial-breakbeat sound.

Q: Vocals also now take a larger place in your work compared to vocal samples in the past releases. Is this the new STUDIO-X artistic direction?

Lawrie: It is likely that I will continue to use this voice style in the future, I really enjoyed writing lyrics and singing on this album.

Q: How did it feel for you to experiment with new influences? Did you have specific criteria and references and maybe a different way of working/producing?

Lawrie: Not really, I more or less came up with the idea very quickly, Bridgette and I completed this album in under 3 months so it was a very quick process. 

Q: The title of the album and all song titles are pretty short and straight; just one word! Even allowing you to make some kind of short story with these words on the back of the CD… It’s pretty intriguing, but what did you try to express and what is “Wrong” all about?

Lawrie: We just tried to express a new wave of industrial electronic music, the lyrics and music are an expression of randomness, what we were feeling at the time and our tendency to be unique.

Q: How does Studio-X stand between digital- or physical release of your music? Should we all accept the evolution and that CD’s are no longer selling -maybe except the biggest names?

Lawrie: We live in a generation of digital everything, we are happy just sharing our music however we can. CD’s are not exactly great for the environment so we are happy things are progressing this way.

Q: I dare thinking it’s quite odd for an Australian formation dealing with mainly techno music to be signed on a European label whose core scene is quite different. What have been your experiences so far with Alfa Matrix (you are also involved in other projects on the label like Prozium and Avarice In Audio) and how do you see the further development of Studio-X? 

Lawrie: Yes and many other side-projects, as for Studio-X, we are planning to continue exploring our musical journey. Alfa Matrix has been the best label I have ever worked for and we have much respect and love for them. 

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: Dance, techno, electro-pop.

Background/Info: Behind this new name reinforcing the Alfa Matrix roster is hiding Simon D Carter. This British DJ and producer was already involved with several projects, but got some fame as part of Studio-X (feat. Simon Carter). “Lost In Time” is a solo-album and yet not totally solo as he asked several female guest singers to join in. We earlier this year already discovered the “Rise”-EP featuring Noemi Aurora (Helalyn Flowers) while a previous album “Retro Electro Wave/The Remixes” got released as well.

Content: I honestly didn’t know what to expect and got really surprised by the dance-stuff approach. Simon Carter clearly deals with techno and dance music while he also experiments with some d’b’n patterns and a few electro-pop influences. He got the help of seven female singers. Most of them are totally unknown, but the most noticeable names are Noemi Aurora (singing on “Rise”) and Lis Van Den Akker (who already sung on Psy’Aviah songs).

+ + + : All I can say is that this is a professional and high tech production, which will appeal to lovers of dance music and other commercial techno productions. The contribution of most vocalist is one of the main strengths of the work. Simon Carter clearly has a nose to find talented singers. It remains pretty surprising to hear Noemi Aurora singing on more ‘commercial’ music, but all the vocalists are absolutely fabulous. Sound-wise “The Girl From The Station” is one of the single cuts with some pop approach and I would have liked to hear more from this.

– – – : This album is a real challenge and especially as being released on an ‘underground’ label. This work has nothing in common with underground music and even sounds miles away from traditional electro-pop fields. This work is a great production, but maybe not on the right label.

Conclusion: I’ve been quite surprised discovering this album, which is clearly meant to conquer dance and techno clubs. I guess if Simon Carter wouldn’t have been familiar with Alfa Matrix, this album would have never been released on this label.

Best songs: “The Girl From The Station”, “Naphill Atrebas (Part III) – Starry Nights”, “Rise”.

Rate: (6).

Band: www.facebook.com/SimonCarter.AlfaMatrix.Records

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

Back in March 2017, UK techno/breakbeat DJ Simon D. Carter formed SD-KRTR via which he launched the “Rise” EP. Out now and available here for ordering is “Lost In Time”, his debut album. For those who prefer downloads, go straight to Bandcamp to get yours.

For the full length album Carter teamed up with half-a-dozen female vocalists taking you from catchy upbeat synthpop songs to slower tracks with some breakbeat elements and of course the signature club-friendly dance-floor slammers.

The guestvocalists include Katie J., Patricia, Noemi Aurora (Helalyn Flowers), Gemma Macleod, Lis Van Den Akker, C.L. and Charmae. You can discover the complete album 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!

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Techno-body, industrial-rave, techno.

Background/Info: “Neural Torment” resulted from the common efforts between Australian sound guru and producer Lawrie Bayldon and Italian musician Roberto Ricci aka Technoid. Studio-X became a quite familiar name and a prolific artist active on the Alfa-Matrix roster. Next to his collaboration with Simon Carter, he also joined hands with Avarice In Audio.

Content: The main basis of this work clearly sounds inspired by techno music. But there are more influences running through this work. The debut cuts reveal impressive and hard noise treatments reminding me of the magic of Seb Komor. It sounds dark, furious and especially constructed with impressive sound manipulations plus enraged vocals.

We’re next moving throughout more ‘classical’ techno fields revealing passages with pitched vocals. And quite progressively we’re moving back to harder fields driven by stomping rhythms. The work becomes a bit more trance-like and industrial-minded, which might remind to Noisuf-X.

+ + + : I’m not that familiar with Technoid, but Studio-X ones more deals with a furious and merciless techno-genre mixed with dark and industrial elements. Both debut cuts are absolutely amazing for their writing and sound treatments. The final cuts are getting back to great electronic music merging techno together with industrial-rave. The work is quite diversified, but clearly revealing a few club stompers!

– – – : I’m missing somewhat cohesion between the songs. It feels a bit like both artists simply tried to achieve varied music ideas inspired by hard-techno fields, but maybe missing a guiding line.

Conclusion: “Neural Torment” appears to be a real great match between 2 artists sharing a similar passion for techno music mixed with darker underground influences.

Best songs: “Down On Your Kness”, “Cybergoth”, “Leave Us Alone”, “Soul Reaper”, “Where Is Your License”.

Rate: (8).

Bands: www.facebook.com/officialstudiox / www.facebook.com/TechnoidDJ

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

Alfa Matrix has launched the 1st edition of its new compilation series: “Matrix​:​Reb00ted”. The 1st volume is entered around the remixes the Norwegian dark electro act Kant Kino completed over the years, hence the sub-title for the first volume: “Zion [EBM] Warfare [01] – the Kant Kino guerrilla”.

On the download compilation – which can be downloaded here – you find 15 songs from Alfa Matrix’s massive music repertoire which got mixed by Kant Kino. For those who are familiar with the band’s remix sound, you know you can expect a unique blend of EBM basslines, upbeat sequences and melodic synths.

The bands remixed by this duo include Front 242, Nitzer Ebb, Leather Strip, Bruderschaft, Pouppée Fabric, Amgod, Komor Kommando, Implant, Aesthetische, Essence Of Mind, Studio-X vs. Simon Carter, Kant Kino themselves, Junksista and the label’s most recent discovery from France Crytek.

Available now on Bandcamp, you can listen to the trackless 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!

side-line.com

Since the release of their – now sold out – debut album “Neo-Futurism”, Studio-X’s producer Lawrie Bayldon has been involved in various side-projects including a series of somewhat darker and poppier vocal albums and EP’s with UK DJ Simon Carter (SD-KRTR) while also becoming an active member of the modern EBM industrial Avarice In Audio gang.

But out in a few weeks will be “Neural Torment”, the follow-up to ”Neo-Futurism”, counting 13 tracks. This time Bayldon decided to collaborate with the Florence based Italian electronic artist Roberto Ricci aka Technoid. Ricci is a well known Italian DJ/music producer versed in various genres including Hard Dance, Hard Trance, Hard NRG and Industrial who transitioned as a DJ from 1996 to music producer in 2012.

The album is available on CD (via the Alfa Matrix webstore) and via Bandcamp.

Below are 2 tracks you can already listen to. Closer to the release you can expect an exclusive music stream on Side-Line.

And if you want to hear some more, watch the below YouTube trailer.

For those who missed the debut album “Neo-Futurism” by Studio-X, check 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!

side-line.com

It was Record Store Day this past weekend and for the occasion the Belgian label launched a special 30% discount code ( RSD2017 ) which is available to use until the end of this week. You can apply the code in the label’s webshop or on the label’s Bandcamp page. You will get 30% off on everything that is added in your basket (except on the forthcoming Metroland and Alien Vampires box sets).

Happy hunting!

Included in this massive discount action are releases by 32CRASH, Acylum, Aengeldust, Aesthetische, Agonised By Love, Aiboforcen, Alien Vampires, Ambassador21, amGod, Armageddon Dildos, Avarice In Audio, Ayria, Bruderschaft, Cosmic Armchair, Crisk, Cynical Existence, Depeche Mode (the tribute releases), Diffuzion, Diskonnekted, Dive, Dream Recall, Dunkelwerk, Elektroklänge, ELM, Entrzelle, Epsilon Minus, Essence Of Mind, Freakangel, Front 242, Gaytron, Glis, Halo In Reverse, HausHetaere, Headscan, Helalyn Flowers, Hungry Lucy, I:scintilla, Implant, Internal, Inure, Junksista, Kant Kino, Klutæ, Komor Kommando, Krystal System, Leaether Strip, Lovelorn Dolls, Malakwa, Male Or Female, Mari Chrome, Mentallo and the Fixer, Metroland, Mind:State, Mnemonic, Mondträume, Monolith, Nebula-H, Neikka RPM, Nitzer Ebb, Növö, O.V.N.I., Plastic Noise Experience, Pouppee Fabrikk, Prozium, Psy’Aviah, Razorfade, Recoil, Regenerator, Saeldes Sanc, Schwarzblut, Sebastian Komor, Seize, Sero.Overdose, Shaun F, Simon Carter, Siva Six, Star Industry, Stray, Studio-X, Suicide Inside, Tamtrum, Technoir, The Cure (tribute), The Psychic Force, Totem Obscura, Trisomie 21, Unter Null, Venal Flesh, Virgins O.R Pigeons, Virtual Embrace, XMH, Zombie Girl, … plus a long list of compilations.

And in order to save on shipping costs, it’s recommended to combine this with the label’s 2 newest releases although they are not discounted.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Cinematographic-EBM, ambient-EBM.

Background/Info: Llumen is a Belgian solo-project driven by the creative spirit of Pieter Coussement. The band ever started as a 3 member formation, but since 2009 Coussement remained the only member on board. An interesting facet of this musician is the fact he works as a researcher at the ‘Institute of Psychoacoustics and Electronic Music of the University of Ghent (Belgium)’ where he develops new user interfaces and instruments for electronic music. This essential aspect of his daily job is of course transposed into his music activities and has an impact on the Llumen sound.

Content: The previously released EP “Cold In December” was a solid teaser to welcome this debut album. And Llumen took me by surprise unleashing a mature and sophisticated production mixing different electronic genres. I often got the impression to hear a hybrid between Haujobb -for the more atmospheric and complex side, and Covenant -for the danceable and intelligent EBM/future-pop approach.

Llumen is not reinventing any single electro-underground genre, but clearly deals with an elaborate and bright side of electronics. The songs are diverse, moving from cinematographic passages with orchestral arrangements towards refined constructions and other great sound manipulation sometimes evoking Seb Komor.

The limited edition will give you the opportunity to discover remixes by Vudovox, Diffuzion, Mildreda, Sinfusion, Venal Flesh, Psy’Aviah, Totem Obscura vs. Acylum, Benjamin’s Plague, Noire Antidote, Antibody, Diskonnekted and Simon Carter.

+ + + : I was especially flabbergasted by the intelligence of the writing and maturity of the production. “The Memory Institute” doesn’t sound at all as a debut album. The already familiar songs from the EP remain some of the main attention grabber, but I can also mention “Silicon Cinema” and “Where We Collide”. There’s this sweet harmony between evasive atmospheres perfectly matching with the rather clear and controlled way of singing on one side and some harder and more kicking passages on the other.

Most of the remixes bring a cool alternative version to the original versions of the songs. I here get a little preference for the work of Psy’Aviah, Venal Flesh, Diskonnekted and Vudovox.

– – – : You have to be a little bit patient when listening to this work. Llumen is not exactly the kind of sound that will immediately move you into dance. You have to let it grow on you to really catch the impressive strength of the production.

Conclusion: Llumen walks on a sonic path, which is less visited by other artists. It’s not the easiest and accessible sound, but I’m sure it will be loved by fine tasters.

Best songs: “Lux Aeterna”, “Where We Collide”, “Silicon Cinema”, “Force Of Nurture”, “The Memory Institute” + “Cold In December – Psy’Aviah”, “Lux Aeterna – Venal Flesh”.

Rate: (8).

Band: www.llumen.be / www.facebook.com/Llumen–official-192854384064057

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

“Today he has no means He’s alone and anonymous, but written in his cells he’s got the marks of a genius”, with these Front 242 lyrics (“Headhunter”) the Belgian electro label Alfa Matrix has launched quite an impressive EBM day action offering no less than a 30% discount on all of it’s physical (and download releases) including the much wanted Front 242 vinyls sets.

All you need to do is use the code ebmday242 to get 30% off on all of the labels releases (ltd editions, boxsets, t-shirts, vinyls, …) purchased via the Alfa Matrix webstore and the official Alfa Matrix Bandcamp page.

The code ebmday242 is only valid today and this weekend and will be applied on all products you have added in your basket.

And that’s not all! the label has also added a huge list of VERY low priced compilations right here.

Included in this massive discount action are all physical and download releases by 32CRASH, Acylum, Aengeldust, Aesthetische, Agonised By Love, Aiboforcen, Alien Vampires, Ambassador21, amGod, Armageddon Dildos, Avarice In Audio, Ayria, Bruderschaft, Cosmic Armchair, Crisk, Cynical Existence, Depeche Mode (the tribute releases), Diffuzion, Diskonnekted, Dive, Dream Recall, Dunkelwerk, Elektroklänge, ELM, Entrzelle, Epsilon Minus, Essence Of Mind, Freakangel, Front 242, Gaytron, Glis, Halo In Reverse, HausHetaere, Headscan, Helalyn Flowers, Hungry Lucy, I:scintilla, Implant, Internal, Inure, Junksista, Kant Kino, Klutæ, Komor Kommando, Krystal System, Leaether Strip, Lovelorn Dolls, Malakwa, Male Or Female, Mari Chrome, Mentallo and the Fixer, Metroland, Mind:State, Mnemonic, Mondträume, Monolith, Nebula-H, Neikka RPM, Nitzer Ebb, Növö, O.V.N.I., Plastic Noise Experience, Pouppee Fabrikk, Prozium, Psy’Aviah, Razorfade, Recoil, Regenerator, Saeldes Sanc, Schwarzblut, Sebastian Komor, Seize, Sero.Overdose, Shaun F, Simon Carter, Siva Six, Star Industry, Stray, Studio-X, Suicide Inside, Tamtrum, Technoir, The Cure (tribute), The Psychic Force, Totem Obscura, Trisomie 21, Unter Null, Venal Flesh, Virgins O.R Pigeons, Virtual Embrace, XMH, Zombie Girl, … plus a long list of compilations.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: EBM, body-pop.

Background/Info: Kant Kino is not exactly the kind of band releasing new albums on a regular basis. “Kopfkino” is their third full length since “We are Kant Kino” released in 2010. The Norwegian duo seems preferring quality instead of quantity! “Kopfkino” delivers 14 new cuts plus a bonus of 15 songs on the bonus edition. The work is inspired by the daily life, which the members like to explore this way creating instant images in our mind. This kind of ‘inner-movie’ is called in German ‘Kopfkino’, which literally means ‘head cinema’.

Content: Kant Kino has always stood for old-school inspired EBM. It remains the main basis of their new full length, but I experienced the work as becoming more elaborate and even featured a few traces of ‘pop’. Don’t get me wrong, it remains pure EBM, but with an original and more personal touch on top. The songs are maybe a little softer than before, but they gained in maturity.

You’ll hear hard-hitting bass lines with a danceable kick on top mixed with catchy elements like crystalline bleeps. A few cuts are featuring female guest (backing) vocals, which is an aspect of their work they already experienced on previous work.

The limited edition of “Kopfkino” is an interesting selection of extra ‘new’ songs and remixes. Globally speaking the new cuts remain animated with solid EBM components while refined and getting catchier by some pop influences. The remixes have been made by an interesting selection of bands like Matt Echo, Atropine, Technomancer, Simon Carter, Electro Ferret, Lurendrei and Antibody. Epilektrician and Electro Ferret have each contributed to the writing of one new song.

+ + + : I definitely like the continuum revealed on “Kopfkino”. Kant Kino is not repeating them, but evolving in sound trying to integrate new ideas and different influences while holding on their EBM basis. The songs are more elaborated and diversified. Some of the most noticeable cuts are “Closer”, the more powerful “Annihilate”, the body-pop duo “Wrong” and another duo called “Want”.

On the 2^nd disc I especially want to tip the new songs “Third Down”, “Sino (vs. Epilektrician) and “Silhouettes” (vs. Elektro Ferret). I also noticed a cool remix by their compatriots Technomancer.

– – – : I’m just missing a bit of the initial power, which was more present on previous albums. The body-pop approach is interesting, but I hope they don’t explore it more deeply.

Conclusion: “Kopfkino” is an album the fans were awaiting for a few years now. The work reveals a band in progress and evolution so even if “Kopfkino” is not my favorite opus of Kant Kino I think it’s a great piece because of its evolution in sound.

Best songs: “Closer”, “Annihilate”, “Wrong”, “Step Up” + “Third Down”, “Sino vs. Epilektrician”, “Silhouettes vs. Elektro Ferret”, “Maybe – Technomancer Remix”.

Rate: (7½).

Band: www.kant–kino.com / www.facebook.com/kantkinofanpage

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

We enter the final few hours to enjoy a 50% reduction on all of your purchases via the Alfa Matrix Bandcamp page. You get a discount of 50% when using the discount code january50432. Just enter it when checking out. The code is valid on ALL of the releases on the label’s Bandcamp page.

Included in this massive discount action are releases by 32CRASH, Acylum, Aengeldust, Aesthetische, Agonised By Love, Aiboforcen, Alien Vampires, Ambassador21, amGod, Armageddon Dildos, Avarice In Audio, Ayria, Bruderschaft, Cosmic Armchair, Crisk, Cynical Existence, Depeche Mode (the tribute releases), Diffuzion, Diskonnekted, Dive, Dream Recall, Dunkelwerk, Elektroklänge, ELM, Entrzelle, Epsilon Minus, Essence Of Mind, Freakangel, Front 242, Gaytron, Glis, Halo In Reverse, HausHetaere, Headscan, Helalyn Flowers, Hungry Lucy, I:scintilla, Implant, Internal, Inure, Junksista, Kant Kino, Klutæ, Komor Kommando, Krystal System, Leaether Strip, Lovelorn Dolls, Malakwa, Male Or Female, Mari Chrome, Mentallo and the Fixer, Metroland, Mind:State, Mnemonic, Mondträume, Monolith, Nebula-H, Neikka RPM, Nitzer Ebb, Növö, O.V.N.I., Plastic Noise Experience, Pouppee Fabrikk, Prozium, Psy’Aviah, Razorfade, Regenerator, Saeldes Sanc, Schwarzblut, Sebastian Komor, Seize, Sero.Overdose, Shaun F, Simon Carter, Siva Six, Star Industry, Stray, Studio-X, Suicide Inside, Tamtrum, Technoir, The Cure (tribute), The Psychic Force, Totem Obscura, Trisomie 21, Unter Null, Venal Flesh, Virgins O.R Pigeons, Virtual Embrace, XMH, Zombie Girl, … plus a long list of compilations.

The discount code only lasts till January 31st midnight, so make sure to use it asap!

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Minimal-electronics, EBM.

Background/Info: Tcheleskov Ivanovitch is now already active under the Grandchaos moniker for more than 10 years. Based in Belgium this artist is a kind of electro-veteran who was the founder of Ivanovitch DLO while he now also set up a new project together with Jacky Meurisse (SA42) called Grand O Chaos.

This work was originally released as 2 separate 12” vinyls entitled “Days” and “Memories” released on Urgence Disk Records. The main song “Memories Is A Poison” was originally released on the last album “We Suffer When The World Changes” (2014).

This CD format is strictly limited to 100 copies!

Content: We get a total of 8 songs (4 on each 12”), which have been remixed by an interesting selection of artists. The “Days”-EP is more into minimal-electronics and EBM featuring remixes from 2XNI, Franck Kartell, Nomenklatür and Azlack.

The “Memories”-EP sounds a bit different and more experimental, but still technoid-like. We here get remixes by Noamm, Artion, Simon Carter and 14 Anger. Simon Carter and 14Anger transformed the original version into a hard-kicking techno vibe.

+ + + : The remixes from the “Days”-EP are simply devastating. The analogue sound sculptures from Franck Kartell and especially Nomenklatür left me breathless. This is great electro music made of power and magic of sound creation! No presets here, but amazing and overwhelming sound treatments leading the listener into frenetic dance moves. The remix of Azlack reminds me of Nitzer Ebb’s “Murderous”.

– – – : The experimental- and techno-driven side of this work is less convincing. It brings for sure extra diversity to the work, but it feels a bit ‘unnatural’ as it’s far away from the original Grandchaos sound.

Conclusion: This EP features a great diversity in the remixes, but the most EBM-driven ones are absolutely amazing. This is the modern sound of EBM that will for sure make you ‘move your body’!

Best songs: Memories Is A Poison – Remixed by Nomenklatür”, “Memories Is A Poison – Remixed by Franck Kartell”, “The Light In The Mist – Remixed by Azlack”.

Rate: (8).

Band: www.grandchaos.be / www.facebook.com/GRANDCHAOS-144968152245744

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: Industrial-pop, experimental-pop.

Background/Info: Boog and Diana S. are back on track and with a real special work. “American Love Story” is a kind of mini-album featuring 7 songs plus 7 remixes. “American Love Story” is the soundtrack the German duo scored for the award winning horror short film by talented director Timur Örge (“Mumukuba”). Boog and Diana S. got 6 hours to write a song and they simply did it (cf. “Gift”). The film director seems to have been so impressed with the song, he postponed the film and asked the band to write the complete soundtrack. This is what “American Love” is all about with some extra remixes on top.

Content: The opening cut is a reworked version of “Trust No Bitch” revealing an experimental approach. This minimalism is quite characteristic for the complete tracklist. Several influences are joining in. The songs move from dubby passages towards a kind of funky touch to pure wafting pop music. The songs have been accomplished by numerous effects and the now familiar sexy, whispering vocals of Diana. This work is not exactly into pure ‘dance’ vibes and feels like having been written for a special purpose like a film.

The remixes have been made by label mates Simon Carter, Kant Kino, Diffuzion, Avarice In Audio and Acylum while there also is a remix accomplished by Flesh Eating Foundation. There’s an interesting diversity in the remixes from the great industrial-pop vibes by Simon Carter to the tormented darkness by Acylum. Notice by the way that except a remix of “Rage” by Kant Kino all the other bands have remixed “Trust No Bitch”.

+ + + : Interesting concept and Junksista revealing a more minimal and experimental style. I can imagine this release is one of their biggest consecrations as most of the artists are simply dreaming of composing a soundtrack. “Trust No Bitch” remains a great song while Simon Carter one of the hottest artists when it comes to getting a pure dance remix.

– – – : Despite of the great concept and consecration, this is not the best work of Junksista. The experimental approach is somewhat ruining the power they have composed in the past. It sometimes more like a mishmash of influences upon an industrial-pop structure.

Conclusion: No doubt about it, Junksista remains one of the hottest revelations from the past years although this is not my favorite release of the band. It however reveals an interesting concept, which I think has to be discovered together with the film.

Best songs: “Trust No Bitch”, “Rage”, “Trust No Bitch – Simon Carter Remix”, “Trust No Bitch – Avarice In Audio Remix”.

Rate: (7).

Band: www.junksista.de / www.facebook.com/Junksista

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

UK DJ Simon Carter and his Australian partner in crime Lawrie Masson of Studio-X announce an extended 12-track EP including 10 previously unreleased brand new tracks.

The title track “Sunrise” is taken from their “Ad Astra Volantis” album and is also available here in a new extended and faster club edit. Also included is the track “I Love You (So Deeply Completely)” featuring guest vocals by A2B2 showcasing the current EDM dance virus the band has been injecting in their sound. Tomorrowland is never far away on this release although it stays faithful to the electro roots of both musicians.

You can check out the tracks below and download them right here on Bandcamp.

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

All new orders going via the Alfa Matrix webstore will be including volume 17 of the label’s popular free Sounds Of The Matrix compilation series. It’s again an excellent way to discover what this Belgian label and more precisely its bands are up to. The compilation will be added to all orders including physical products.

This time you’ll find 20 tracks from the following bands, including the label’s latest new addition, the Swedish act Elektroklänge. Here’s the complete list of bands on the compilation presenting their newest work: Junksista, Diffuzion, The Psychic Force, Psy’Aviah, Ayria, Zombie Girl, Kant Kino, Avarice In Audio Feat. Mondträume, Entrzelle, Sin.Sin, Studio-X Vs. Simon Carter, Elektroklänge, Metroland, ELM, Neikka RPM, Schwarzblut, Venal Flesh, Helalyn Flowers, Pouppee Fabrikk, Alien Vampires.

You can also get the compilation separately from Bandcamp as a low-priced 20-track standalone download compilation. Listen 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!

side-line.com

The russian dark electro act Obsidian FX (aka the duo R.DarkArt and D.Fox) are back with a brand new EP, “Harpies”. Released via the Xperiment XII label, the new album holds 7 original tracks next to 7 remixes by Cellhavoc, Ironhand, Simon Carter, Violet7rip, The Left Hand of Creation, Sarcophagic and Chainreactor.

You can download the EP right here on Bandcamp for just 5 dollars and you can preview it below. Recommended to those into dark idm and dark ambient with a pinch of dark electro rhythm and vocals.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Techno-trance, body-techno.

Content: Studio X Vs. Simon Carter is the union between an Australian techno-trance sound genius and a British DJ/artist. I think that this duo is without a shadow of a doubt one of the most controversial projects signed at Alfa Matrix. Their pronounced techno-trance inspiration sounds like miles away from the standard patterns of electro-underground music.

The earlier this year released EP “Dance With Me ‘Dance With The Devil” already gave us an idea about this 2nd studio album and the least I can say is that it sounds like a pure sonic explosion. I really consider this band as one of the hottest and most clubby formations from the entire scene. The sound is not just techno & trance-minded, but is carried by an impressive production work.

Lawrie Masson is a fucking genius. I don’t know if the man needs to take some hallucinogens to find his inspiration, but he has found the sonic elixir to compose smashing and intelligent dance stuff. Some elements reveal a darker and more underground touch, which comes through in a few industrial sound treatments and other EBM passages, but globally speaking “Ad Astra Volantis” is an invitation to embark for a great transcendental sound trip.

The songs are mainly characterized by impressive flat bass lines and breaks leading you to a real climax. If you don’t remember how it feels to get an orgasm, just put this CD in your disc player, play it at maximum volume and I can assure you’ll soon get back into it. This album indeed sounds like pure sex!

There’s an impressive succession of real masterpieces, which are sometimes joined by some sweet pop elements. A few tracks are even reminding me to the sound intelligence of Daft Punk, but transposed into a hard-techno style. The song “Stranger (Dream With Me)” feat. Trix is one of those tracks.

There for sure is diversity at this album. Some tracks are a little bit of a cool down, but always covered with pure dance elements. I also have a little preference for the somewhat robotic-like “Forever Alone Lost And Unknown”, which sounds like ‘nintendo’-electronics.

“More Than This” is another special cut, which evokes some Madonna elements, but once again transposed into a harder technoid production.

A quite important element is the vocals’ production. That’s for sure what makes the difference with usual techno standards, which are not familiar with vocals. The vocals have been used as a kind of effect on top of the music and, which are perfectly matching with the hard sound.

“Ad Astra Volantis” will especially appeal for lovers of techno music and hard-trance, but open-minded electro lovers will possibly be convinced as well. Notice by the way that the album features 16 songs while the digital edition brings you 18 (!!!) extra songs.

The digital edition reveals 5 exclusive songs plus a real orgy of remixes by bands like C.Lekktor, Aestetische, Binary Division, Pre.Emptive Strike 01, Waves Under Water, Die Braut, Grandchaos ao. This is a way to discover more familiar names from the dark-electro and EBM scene trying to add their personal stamp to the songs.

Conclusion: This is an album you’re either going to like or not; there’s no way in between! One thing is for sure, you can better avoid listening to Studio X Vs. Simon Carter if you’re allergic for techno-minded productions. I found it simply irresistible and proving that techno music can be intelligent as well.

Best songs: “More Than This”, “The Storm Of Life”, “Shooting At The Stars”, “Lies”, “Dance with Me ‘Dance With The Devil”, “Forever Alone Lost And Unknown”.

Rate: (DP:9)DP.

Band: www.officialstudio-x.com / www.facebook.com/officialstudiox / www.facebook.com/sy.carter

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: Trip-pop, electro-pop.

Content: Yves Schelpe, the artistic force behind Psy’Aviah has achieved his new full length “Seven Sorrows, Seven Stars”. It will be the 5th official full length by this Belgian formation, which is really hard to define and especially to label as one particular genre.

The electronic eclecticism is without a shadow of a doubt one the band’s main forces, but at the same time still the point making that this band never reached a deserved wider recognition. Every single album sees Yves Schelpe exploring new paths, which are progressively taking a distance with the established electronic-underground patterns like EBM and dark-electro. Since Emelie Nicolaï left the band as the singer, Schelpe started to work with the different guest vocalists and he now again takes his audience by surprise. Ellia Bisker is an American jazzy singer and member of Sweet Soubrette while J. Airi is a Jamaican singer.

“Never Look Back” featuring Ellia Bisker is a sweet, wafting sensation on, which Psy’Aviah explores trip-pop paths. It’s a graceful and deeply artistic creation with a rather warm feeling. This song possibly reveals what the new full length will sound like.

The other title song “Words” featuring J. Airi is an exclusive EP song, which is a bit similar in the genre and especially the delicious reverie part of the song is absolutely great. Psy’Aviah clearly experienced with new ideas, which are miles away from the early –and more danceable stuff.

We next get 3 remixes of “Never Look Back” and 2 remixes of “Words”. And here again Psy’Aviah asked for artists, mainly dealing with other influences and musical genres. The result is quite diverse and sometimes really surprising, and even pretty clubby.

There are 2 potential club remixes of “Never Look Back”. There’s a great groovy and even sexy remix by Gavril’s and other hard pumping remix by label mate Simon Carter. This is a great piece of danceable music, but I also like the way the pure dance lead is coming through.

Another cool remix is the one of “Words” by B-Sight. This producer transposed the original version into a more IDM format and I was deeply impressed by the way the vocals of J. Airi emerge to the surface here. This is a really talented singer.

Both remixes left are not as noticeable although we have to mention the remix of Jean-Marc Lederman (Weathermen).

Conclusion: Psy’Aviah doesn’t care about compromises and established music genres, this band is just moving in a deeply creative way. Even if I’m not sure Psy’Aviah is active in the right scene, this work will catch the attention of open-minded electro-lovers.

Best songs: “Never Look Back – Gavril’s DJ Remix”, “Words – B-Sights Remix”, “Never Look Back – Simon Carter’s Clubbed Up Remix”, “Never Look Back”.

Rate: (DP:8)DP.

Band: www.psyaviah.com / www.facebook.com/psyaviah

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

In record time the Brazilian act Aesthetische (aka Guilherme Pires and Fabricio Viscardi from ex-Aghast View) has become a household name in the wave of new industrial acts that are incorporating fresh dance elements in their work. It makes that this scene can continue to attract new fans and also top DJs from outside the scene have already picked up various tracks from their repertoire over the past few months.

It won’t be a surprise if I tell you that due to their way of making industrial music sounding young again, they also have been selected for our upcoming “Face The Beat: Session 3” compilation which you’ll be able to download from December 26 on.

Established in August 2011 Aesthetische are again proving they are revitalising the industrial scene with the very fresh sounding release “Cold Is Clean”, a 5-track download EP, out now on Bandcamp.

This time the Brazilian duo offers you collaborations with Xev from Diffuzion fame on an all-new rework of the classic track “Touch the Cold Glass”, and with Mari Kattman, on two versions of a completely new track called “Blue Print”.

Next to that you get the instrumental piece “Unity” a club-driven remix of the track “Dirt” produced by the the renowned DJ Simon Carter.

A top notch release which I can only warmly recommend you! Available right here on Bandcamp.

Eldrina Mich

As Eldrina Mich I work as a go-between and a devil’s advocate when it comes to Side-Line. If our own staff needs to be interviewed then ask the questions no one else dares to ask.

www.side-line.com

Alfa Matrix has launched massive Black Friday sales for its releases available on Bandcamp and via its CD/DVD/vinyl webstore. Use the code blackfrid during checkout on Bandcamp and in the online webstore of Alfa Matrix and you’ll get an immediate discount of 50% for your Bandcamp orders (including lots of download only EPs) + you’ll benefit of a 25% discount (minimum order of 20 Euro) for your Alfa Matrix CD/DVD/vinyl webstore orders.

The code is valid until December 6th, so act fast!

Included in this discount action are also all of the label’s newest releases by such artists as Alien Vampires, Zombie Girl, Studio-X vs. Simon Carter, Ayria, Entrzelle, Metroland, etc.. Hundreds and hundreds of releases that is.

Go to the Alfa Matrix Bandcamp page or the Alfa Matrix CD/DVD/vinyl webstore now, and use the 50% discount / 25% discount code blackfrid during checkout.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Dark-electro, electro-industrial.

Content: This newest EP by Acylum has been released nearly at the same time of the “Venom”-EP. “Venom” revealed a completely new song plus an extra exclusive track while “Hate” brings you back to the dark inferno of the “Pest”-full length.

The main song “Born To Be Hated” was reconstructed into a so-called “Shot Two”, which remains pretty faithful to the raw electro-industrial Acylum sound. It all sounds brutal and harsh, which is an element you once again will discover in the production of the vocals. It’s an overwhelming dark-electro style, which is highly danceable, but still influenced by a sort of tormented layer. Acylum is the kind of band that can’t leave you unmoved.

“Born To B Hated” was remixed on this EP by 4 different formations, which each have tried to inject their own touch to the song. Xentrifuge and First Black Pope both did it a rather familiar dark-electro and industrial way, and both of the remixes are pretty well-crafted.

The biggest surprises were accomplished by a more clubby-danceable remix of Simon Carter and totally transformed and impressive work of Venal Flesh. The remix of Venal Flesh really deserves a special mention for their creative work.

The few remixes left are also songs that were originally released on the last album. The “Pest” song was remixed by two bands, but I here especially noticed the amazing work by Llumen. This new-signed Alfa-Matrix band transformed the original song into a modern dark cut with vague technoid elements and a kind of avant-garde approach.

“My Knife” was remixes by two different bands as well and I here especially recommended the brilliant and somewhat body-minded remix by VV303.

Conclusion: “Hate” reveals not as many surprises compared to “Venom”, but a few remixes transposing the original songs into a new approach and sound dimension are worthy of examination.

Best songs: “Born To Be Hated – Shot Two”, “Pest – Llumen Remix”, “The Knife – VV303 Bunker Remix”, “Born To Be Hated – Venal Flesh Remix”.

Rate: (DP:8)DP.

Band: www.facebook.com/Acylum.Music

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

The Belgian electro goth metal act Lovelorn Dolls return with the 13-track counting “Happy Valentine” single. For this release, the female-fronted Brussels-based duo also recorded an unplugged ghost-piano version together with Maja Marcucci next to the original version.

Next to that 4 different artists collaborated with the duo to create 4 remixed versions, starting with the band’s own producer Maxx of Italy’s Helalyn Flowers, the UK dark techno club DJ Simon Carter, Belgian electro pioneer Jean-Marc Lederman (The Weathermen, Ghost & Writer, …) who made a very attractive minimal rework and Restriction 9.

Also included are 7 (!) bonus live songs recorded during their stunning performance at the tumultuous Eurorock festival in May 2015. They survived it, and you can now hear that performance live.

You can already download this EP, which will be officially out on October 9., from Bandcamp and get already 3 tracks. Below is a trailer for the new EP.

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

Studio-X vs. Simon Carter return with their second album “Ad Astra Volantis”, which got preceded by their recently released “Dance With Me ‘Dance With The Devil'” download EP. You can expect a harsher and darker EBM/industrial album than its predecessor. Simon Carter and Lawrie Masson also invited female vocalist Trix to sing on a few songs including opening dance pop song “Lonely”.

The album is out as a regular CD (get it here) counting 16 tracks and as an extended download album (download it here) counting 34 tracks including 5 exclusive unreleased bonus tracks augmented with some 13 additional alternative versions and remixes by artists like C-Lekktor, Aesthetische, Venal Flesh, Pre:Emptive strike 0.1, Binary Division and many more.

You can preview 3 tracks 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!

side-line.com

Bestselling electro artist Zombie Girl returns with a brand new studio album on the Belgian Alfa Matrix label, “Killer Queen”, and this in various formats.

The album was produced & engineered by none other than the team consisting of Kurt Maas & Dave Rave Ogilvie, mastering was done by Lawrie Bayldon from Studio-X fame. You can again expect fat beats, dirty female vocals and also 2 covers, Berlin’s “Pleasure Victim” and The Cure’s “Fascination Street” (which also appeared on the The Cure tribute compilation “A Strange Play”).

The album is also available in a deluxe 2CD carton box edition with a bonus disc including an exclusive collaboration with Helalyn Flowers (and guest backing vocals by n0emi) and other remix work by artists in the like of Psy’aviah, Acylum, Simon Carter, Venal Flesh, Llumen, Pax Sono, Avarice In Audio, Eexxee, Cardinal Noire, Black Nail Cabaret, Shades:Of:Hell, Complex Mind, Diffuzion and so on.

A 28-track counting download is also available from Bandcamp, with an immediate download of 4 tracks.

And there’s more, in a mail to its clients Alfa Matrix offers a coupon code to get 25% discount on the complete Zombie Girl back catalogue in the label’s CD/DVD webstore at www.alfa-matrix-store.com . The coupon code is 41654, just insert it when checking out and you’ll get 25% reduction on the Zombie Girl back catalogue material, both normal and 2CD sets. The offer is only valid until the release date of the album, that is October 31st, so make sure to use it before that!

For those who prefer the digital download, use the discount code september5236584 to get 25% off the normal price on Alfa Matrix’ Bandcamp page. The code can be used on as many items as you want and expires at the end of September.

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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UK’s Simon Carter and Australia’s Studio-X mastermind Lawrie Masson, strike back with an all new 10-track EP announcing the forthcoming album “Ad Astra Volantis”. The 10-track release is available as a download via Bandcamp and holds no less than 7 (!) bonus songs to accompany the title track. The 2 other tracks are an alternate edit and a 00tz00tz remix of the title song.

Available now for immediate download!

You can listen 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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