The self-proclaimed “pagan synth” duo, Esoterik is back with a new single, “Shadow” , taken from the forthcoming EP, “Archetypes”.

The “Shadow” stands for an archetype, a silent observer always watching from behind the scenes, waiting with indifference for what comes to pass. The band adds: “They say you must make peace to move forward, but isolation has always tasted better. Nothing is inherently good or bad and imbalance provides perspective. Without a light to shine the subconscious feeds eternally. However, in absence of light a shadow cannot exist.”

On the upcoming EP Esoterik examines the tropes that have weaved a thread across societies for centuries. “It’s such an interesting topic and really highlights the power of language whether written or passed down via word of mouth. The legends hold a commonality that span through time and culture. Before the world was connected by technology, these stories held the experiences and wisdom for generations to come. Whether they are steeped in symbolism or ritual, the lessons are still infused and if sensational that only ensures the survival beyond our limited life spans.”

“Shadow” is available on all major digital platforms including Spotify.

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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Miseria Ultima, the Finnish dark electro revelation, has just released its fourth studio album, “Arctic Esotericism”. This album continues their exploration of the cold ethos and philosophy of the North, diving into themes of existence from birth to death.

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

The album opens with the powerful track “Displayed For Punishment”, setting a harsh aggrotech tone. This is followed by “In Murder” and “Virtue And Desolation”, featuring fast-paced, icy melodies. “Thorns And Tragedy” stands out with its grief-laden atmosphere, offering the band’s signature Skinny Puppy like style. Other tracks such as “Spiritual Nailbomb” carry desperate undertones, while “Storms of Atonement” is a mid-tempo, depressive piece.

“Arctic Esotericism” will for sure appeal to fans of bands like Amduscia, Suicide Commando, C-Lekktor, Alien Vampires, and especially early Skinny Puppy. You can already check out a few tracks below.

About Miseria Ultima

Miseria Ultima is a Finnish industrial electro band formed in 2016 by Aleksi Martikainen (vocals) and Kimmo Huhtala (synths). Their music blends elements of EBM, aggrotech, and dark electro, creating a unique sound characterized by cold, melancholic atmospheres and intense, aggressive beats.

The band has released several well-received albums, starting with their debut “Phosphor” in 2017. This was followed by “Graygarden” in early 2020, which continued to build their reputation in the dark electro scene. In 2022, they signed with the Alfa Matrix label and released their third album, “In Colors of Void”​​.

Miseria Ultima draws inspiration from the harsh, cold environment of northern Finland, translating the stark beauty and desolation of their surroundings into their music. Their lyrics often explore themes of mortality, grief, and introspection, influenced by their experiences and philosophical reflections​. Read the review of ‘Arctic Esotericism’.

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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(Photo by Artaebtekar Arash Bolouri) Here’s a rather strange but intriguing project we got pitched. Out 12 July 2024 on Oscar Powell’s Diagonal Records on digital and vinyl is the all new album by Sote (Ata Ebtekar), a maximalist computer music maker. “Sound System Persepolis” features 5 new compositions.

“I think it’s lazy to just be moving around hi-hats and kicks these days,” Ebtekar explains. “That’s not going to be unique music. I’m interested in getting to the feeling that a kick and a snare give to you, via the possibilities of pitched and structured patterns of tones and harmonics.”

Check out the teaser below to know what to expect.

The material is actually intended to be performed live, on muscular and multi-channel soundsystems whether gallery or club. “Often sound design and sound synthesis is very serious academic music – I love a lot of that music, but ‘Sound System Persepolis’ connects this back to the body,” says Ebtekar. “I want the listener to be active with their brain and I want all their organs and limbs to be moving to different rhythms.”

Having made music through various means over the course of his long career – including electroacoustic music rooted in Iranian instrumentation, pure noise music, and analogue synthesis – since he and his family returned to Iran ten years ago, Ebtekar has made music purely inside a computer: “My family moved to Tehran with three suitcases each, so now I just use a computer – sanctions meant I couldn’t ship anything back. If you have the skills and knowledge, you can achieve any sound you want.”

The album’s five track titles might, at first glance, look randomly generated, but are in fact coded references to the audio synthesis language each one uses, plus the album title and various geographical locations in Iran – the Zagros mountain range, the salt desert Lut, the Hyrcania forest, the Caspian sea, and Iran’s mountain Damavand.

With the release of “Sound System Persepolis”, Sote’s catalogue runs to 15 albums (both under the Sote moniker and as Ata Ebtekar), plus a few 12″s, remixes and a number of other projects.

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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(Photo by Geoffrey Meuli) The Liège based Belgian drone artist Phil Maggi (Ultraphallus, IVA BEDLAM, Cities A.D.) explores ‘imaginal’ ideas of French philosopher Henry Corbin on his new album “The Encrimsoned” which is dedicated to Hardy Fox (The Residents) and which began which began with the 2018 release “Animalwrath”. The album is out on September 20th via the Sub Rosa label.

Maggi enlisted an ensemble of collaborators for the final recordings including Radwan Ghazi Moumneh (Jerusalem In My Heart) (voice, organ, noise), Maja Jantar (voice), and Tom Malmendier (drums, objects) – who all played on the first volume “Animalwrath” – as well as new recruits Xaviere Fertin (bass clarinet, clarinet) and Sebastien Schmit (Drums, gongs, steel tongue drum, percussion).

Watch “The Encrimsoned” teaser below.

About Phil Maggi

Phil Maggi (1980) is the founding vocalist of the heavy-rock band Ultraphallus, the creator of electronic avant-pop combo IVA BEDLAM and has developed an extensive body of work as a solo musician with releases on labels including Idiosyncratics and Sub Rosa Records. He also participates as an improviser in the Qumrân Grounds project and is involved in numerous other collaborations.

With his various projects, he has shared the stage and/or collaborated with Keith Rowe, Philippe Petit, Oxbow, KK Null, Tuxedomoon, Thor Harris, Hey Colossus, Nadja, Moe, Hati, Batur Somnez, Jerusalem In My Heart, Sote, Phill Niblock among others. He has also closely collaborated with Radwan Ghazi Moumneh (Jerusalem In My Heart), Brooklyn hip-hop legend SENSATIONAL, Eugene Robinson (Oxbow), Thisquietarmy, Yannick Franck (aka RAUM), Maja Jantar, Oren Bloedow (Elysian Fields), ssaliva and many more.

About the Sub Rosa label

Sub Rosa is a record label based in Brussels specializing in avant-garde music, electronic music, world music and noise music. Directed by Guy-Marc Hinant and Frédéric Walheer, Sub Rosa has released over 250 titles of experimental, drone music, noise music, Musique concrète, ritual music and film music.

Sub Rosa was established at the end of the ‘80s, and expanded its catalogue in the mid-‘90s through the release of electronic music. The soundtrack album by Laibach for the Neue Slowenische Kunst production “Baptism” was one of the labels’ early releases. 

The label has also released archival material related to prominent twentieth-century avant-garde figures such as Marcel Duchamp, William S. Burroughs, James Joyce, and Kurt Schwitters. Sub Rosa also releases material from a number of important electronic music composers, such as (Luc Ferrari, Henri Pousseur, Tod Dockstader, Nam June Paik, Francisco López); and traditional music from around the world in anthologies of Inuit sound, the Master Musicians of Joujouka, Tibetan music and Bhutanese music, recorded by John Levy).

An interesting label, for the more ecclectic minds.

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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