Syrian &#8211; SIDE-LINE

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.

Italian electro pop project TourdeForce revisits past in ‘Compendium vol. 1’

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Tue, 07 Jun 2022 08:09:51 +0000

The Italian project TourdeForce, aka Christian Ryder, sees a first compilation released of his older work, called “Compendium vol. 1”, but in reworked versions.

The tracklist of this compilation includes a selection of fourteen songs made between 2009 and 2013 during the “Colours in Life” era and the material has been remixed by such bands as Syrian, Foretaste, Luca Urbani and Dekad. The remixers also added extra vocals to their reworks.

Next to this you get brand-new mixes, rare and unreleased tracks such as “Falling in The Dark” (produced in 2012 for the Japanese Eurobeat market), an episode featuring Nova Pulsar (Ecuador) and two demo versions.

Here’s a videoteaser.

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.

Italian electro-wave project TourdeForce releases tribute to Death In June: ‘Six in the Key of Death’

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Fri, 28 Jan 2022 17:22:17 +0000

Out on February 21st is “Six in the Key of Death”, a tribute to Death In June by TourdeForce, the electronic music project founded by Christian Ryder in Bergamo, Northern Italy in 2004.

The release, a mini-album holding 6 tracks, comes after the conclusion of the “Anger Trilogy” (“Jedem das Seine” – 2014, “Very Industrial People” – 2018, “Vargtimmar” – 2021). The tracks covered are: “Fields of Rape”, “Holy Water”, “The Calling”, “Nowhere Street”, “She said destroy” and “Come before Christ and murder Love”. You might want to order this release pretty fast as there are only 200 copies available.

TourdeForce are currently working on a special album for EK Product, featuring 15 previously unreleased tracks: all new songs, a cover-version for a song by Diorama, remixes of TdF-tracks by Foretaste, Dekad, Syrian and others plus a number of demos.

For now, check out the trailer for the Death In June tribute right below.

And here is a video for the track “Nowhere Street”.

A Kiss To Resist EP by SUICIDAL ROMANCE Burning Love / Remember Me EP by SUICIDAL ROMANCE Whisper Goodbye EP by SUICIDAL ROMANCE

Cult electropop act Suicidal Romance re-releases 3 EPs which were unavailable for quite some time

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Wed, 12 May 2021 10:47:46 +0000

Good news for the Suicidal Romance fans, the Estonian dark electropop act has decided to re-release 3 of its EPs which have been unavailable for quite some time. Available right now via Bandcamp (and in 3 weeks from now on all other platforms) are the following EPs: “Whisper Goodbye” (2013), “Burning Love / Remember Me” (2012) and “A Kiss To Resist” (2008).

The cult dark pop duo Dmitry Darling and Viktoria Seimar recently returned with their rather stunning new EP “Runaways”, so the re-release of their older material does not come as a complete surprise.

“A Kiss To Resist” EP was originally released in November 2008. This 13-track EP was the follow-up release to the band’s debut album ”Love Beyond Reach”. Included is also an excellent cover version of Erasure’s “Always” and a collaboration with Lost Area’s singer Jan Moser. Next to this you got an acoustic version of “Call Me” next to various upbeat electro remixes from acts in the likes of Aesthetic Perfection, Massiv In Mensch, Syrian and many more.

“Burning Love / Remember Me” EP was originally released in October 2012. The 13-track EP came out after the release of the band’s 3rd studio album “Memories Behind Closed Curtains”. It featured two new tracks including the very first song ever sung in Russian by the band. Hovering between romantic synth pop and female-fronted dark elektro, these two cuts were accompanied by quite a diverse selection of additional remixes from acts like Diversant13, ES23, Kant Kino and many more.

The “Whisper Goodbye” EP was originally released in December 2013 and features 7 tracks revealing the harder side of Suicidal Romance. For the occasion the band teamed up with Pete Crane (SHIV-R) as guest vocalist on the club hit “Slave/Slave” as well as with remixers in the likes of Die Sektor, Reaxion Guerrilla, Incubite, CeDigest and Psy’Aviah.

You can check out these re-releases right below.

If you want the vinyl release of Syrian’s 2013 album ‘Death of a Sun’, be VERY quick – 4 days left to order one of 100

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Fri, 22 Jan 2021 14:19:03 +0000

Syrian is an Italian futurepop / synthpop band which was once signed to A Different Drum, the largest synthpop record label in the world in the early to mid 2000s. The band released various albums and singles over the years.

Today the band announces that “Death of a Sun”, released in 2013, will be re-released on vinyl in a limited edition of 100 copies, available now for pre-order. The album is scheduled to ship in March 2021, but… only if enough people will pre-order the release. If the project will be canceled, everyone will be refunded. Which is a fair deal.

The campaign will end in 4 days, so be quick!

Here’s the track “Dreaming” from the album.

‘Click Interview‘ with Armageddon Dildos: ‘We Are On The Highway To Dystopia!‘

Inferno Sound Diaries — Tue, 15 Dec 2020 18:00:00 +0000

Uwe Kanka and Dirk Krause set up ARMAGEDDON DILDOS in 1990. The German duo from Kassel became an instant successful EBM formation with a great live reputation. They got signed to the legendary Zoth Ommog label and became one of the EBM flagholders from the 90s. When Dirk Krause left the band, Uwe Kanka decided to went on. He released a few more albums on Ausfahrt and Alfa Matrix “Dystopia“ released on Alfa Matrix is the band’s new full length and also the first new one since 2011. It also is the most diversified opus in the band’s history. From EBM to Electro-Rock to Electro-Pop with an 80s touch on top, the new work sounds as the most mature and achieved one to date. Time to ask a few questions to Uwe.

Dystopia (Bonus Tracks Edition) by ARMAGEDDON DILDOS

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: I realized the first ARMAGEDDON DILDOS EP’s “Never Mind/Pressure” and “East West” were released exactly 30 years ago now! What do you keep in mind from the early, successful years and how did you see the band –and yourself, evolving till today?

Uwe: Dirk Krause and I met in a joint rehearsal room in Kassel. He made Synt-Pop with his band while I was involved with harder sounding New-Wave guitar music with the formation Beat The Beat. It quickly became clear that we were on the same wavelength. We wanted to break new ground together, make harder electronic music; powerful, aggressive, sweaty. We were young and didn’t know any limits. With the record deal with Zoth Ommog and the success of the first singles, we felt confirmed walking on the right path. It was an incredibly dynamic and lively time with lots of gigs and fantastic fans.

The cut came in 2000 when Dirk left the band. We had grown apart, musically and privately. I chose to continue alone with ARMAGEDDON DILDOS. The first few years weren’t easy for me. I had to buy new equipment and get used to it. The advantage, however, was that I could implement my ideas more uncompromisingly. For me, “Dystopia” is the logical consequence of this tough and instructive time.

Q: “Dystopia” is the first new album since “Untergrund” (2011). Why did this new work took that long and did you ever consider to stop composing new songs?

Uwe: I just take the time it takes for me. It has always been like this. We also published “Herbstzeitlose“. Then there is the work on remixes. And no, I never thought of stopping composing.

Q: Let’s talk about “Dystopia”, which I personally consider as the most mature and still most diversified work since you’re composing the songs. When did you start the writing and what has been the input of Mathias Black and Sven Mouhcine?

Uwe: All songs, except for “High Up In The Sky“, were written in the last four years. I started with the compositions and texts on my own. Later on, Mathias receives the material in order to edit it musically and soundly if necessary. After that, I continued to work on it in order to produce the final versions with Mathias. We were in direct contact with each other, including Sven, during the entire process. Sven plays the keyboards and sings since 2012 and is responsible for all questions about the band’s live hardware and software, the entire sound and technical process including video recordings on stage.

Mathias and Sven are extremely competent in their work and have meanwhile become indispensable for the smooth performance of the Dildos. We also get along very well, which makes things easier.

Q: The cover of the album and its title both remind me to the legendary novel of George Orwell “1984”, but the album is a critical perception of our society and the world we’re living in, right? Does dystopia became reality!?

Uwe: The big problems of our time such as environment and climate change are no longer national problems. The effects can be felt worldwide. Poverty and famine, crisis areas such as the Syrian conflict and the resulting waves of refugees affect us all. The growing gap between rich and poor and the associated social unrest knows no boundaries. And I’m not mentioning Corona. And yes, we are on the highway to dystopia!

Q: Your daughter, Malin, is already featured on this album. What does it mean for you as father to see your daughter joining in? And what does she think about ARMAGEDDON DILDOS?

Uwe: Malin has already worked on “Morgengrauen” and “Untergrund“. So this is not a new situation for me. She is professional, has a very special voice and excellent empathy. It is always a great pleasure to work with her.

What does she think about the ‘Dildos’? Well, I don’t think it’s like she’s listening to ARMAGEDDON DILDOS at regular basis. In the end, it’s just not her music, but out of the many songs I’ve written, there’re probably a few ones she really likes.

Q: Reality today is that artists no longer can play live because of the pandemic. What do you think about this situation and what will be the impact for the further years?

Uwe: These are tough times for culture enthusiasts, artists, event organizers, club owners and all of those who’re involved with it. I have never experienced something like that. Unfortunately, the entire industry in Germany lacks government support.

I hope that soon something will happen and that we all together can get out unscathed from this situation. It is important that we find our way back to the ‚pre-Corona‘ status very quickly. Music belongs to the stage !!!

Blume – Ashes (CD Album – WTII Records)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sat, 18 May 2019 18:30:36 +0000

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

Background/Info: Blume is an Italian trio, which released their debut album “Rise From grey” in 2010 on the defunct A Different Drum. They next joined hands together with WTII Records unleashing “Autumn Ruins” in 2013. “Ashes” is their third album, which has been released by the end of 2018.

Content: Getting back with a new opus after a hiatus of five years is not an easy thing, but “Ashes” will definitely appeal for all lovers of electro/future-pop music. It’s a powerful composition mixing astral influences together with hard, danceable beats. The vocals of Enrico Filisetti are pretty charismatic, which creates a right balance with the power-pop sound of the band. “Ashes” sounds as the imaginary fusion between Covenant, Syrian and Neuroticfish.

+ + + : This ‘come-back’ truly sounds as a real tour de force. This is great and modern future-pop music carried by mature song writing, carrying melody lines and ultra-danceable vibes. On top of it all you’ll discover a great vocals production. Even if this album is ultra power-pop driven I also noticed an accomplished, emotional-like song (cf. “Desolation Road”). But as I said I prefer the danceable side and recommend the somewhat darker “Nightmare”. There’re some superb, naughty sound treatments running through this song.

– – – : The only single reproach I can imagine is the somewhat repetitive sound- and song formula.

Conclusion: I remember the more hesitant debut album from Blume. It was not that bad, but “Ashes” clearly sounds as their most accomplished work to date. This is great and refreshing future-pop music!

Best songs: “Nightmare”, “Scarlet”, “Iron Age”, “Desolation Road”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www .facebook .com /blumemusic

Label: www .wtiirecords .com / www .facebook .com /WTIIRecords

Syrian – Sirius Interstellar (Digital Album – Syrian)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sat, 19 Jan 2019 20:30:11 +0000

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

Background/Info: Italian formation Syrian gained recognition during the glorious days of future-pop music. After having released most of their work on the now gone A Different Drum and one single EP on Infacted Recordings, the duo struck back during late 2018 with this self-released 8-tracks album.

Content: Time seems to have no real impact on Syrian’s sound and influences. The tracks are mixing good-old danceable future-pop with pure dance-pop tunes. There also is their unavoidable space-like touch, which remains one of their main characteristics.

+ + + : If you’re nostalgic of future-pop music this “Sirius Interstellar” will definitely bring you great danceable vibes. Syrian remains great melody makers and future-pop experts. The vocals also remain an essential element in their songs. The final song “Hyperdrive” has something atypical although pretty dance as well, but more reminding me to Niels Van Gogh.

– – – : Time didn’t really affect Syrian’s sources of inspiration, but the point is that today future-pop music hasn’t a similar magic as 10-15 years ago now. I always have liked this band’s stuff, but it’s with pain in the heart I have to admit that the magic is a bit gone now.

Conclusion: Does Syrian has to evolve and try to create something more contemporary? It’s an interesting discussion we can have, but they simply do what they like to do. I however think they’ve to inject a new boost in their work and I’m wondering how they’ll go on.

Best songs: “Hyperdrive”, “Ecstasy”.

Rate: (6).

Artist: www.spacetalk.net / www.facebook.com/syrianband

‘Click Interview’ with Stars Crusaders: ‘We Like To Blend The Sounds And Mix Ingredients To Create Something Different And Hard To Label’

Inferno Sound Diaries — Mon, 13 Nov 2017 18:00:02 +0000

Stars Crusaders is a ‘crazy’ Italian electro/future-pop band, which released their first official work in 2014. The band clearly revealed alluring electronics mixed with sci-fi themes. They now have released their second full length album entitled “Welcome To Hydra”, which invites the listener on a new mission towards the future, reaching the year 2517 where ‘all humans are moving to Hydra, looking for a new era of peace and prosperity, but a dark shadow appears on the horizon’. I invited the sonic cosmonauts to take a break on their mission and answer a few questions.

(by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Can you briefly tell us how Stars Crusaders saw the daylight and what have been the main sources of inspiration?

Yeda: Hello humans. We are Yeda, Davedax, Symorg and C1-C0. Dave and Symorg were schoolmates. They play electronic music since those years. In 2014 they started looking for a singer for a new ‘electro syfy’-project. I met them for the first time during the audition, and it felt like love at first sight. STARS[+]CRUSADERS were born that day. We immediately began to compose songs together and in less than one year we got the debut album ”New Horizons” finished. At the end of 2014 C-1C0 joined the band as a live drummer to add power to the live performances.

Our music combine elements of synth-pop, future-pop and EBM. The project is inspired by the world of science fiction, the songs are like chapters of a narrative, an epic saga set in distant galaxies.

Q: You’re definitely into electro-pop music, but what does this music style mean to you and what kind of ‘pop’ band are you?

Symorg: We are electronic music lovers and science fiction enthusiasts. Our music is like a syfy movie soundtrack. Listening to our music you can choose: let your mind travel through outer space or let your body dance like never before, or both. It’s up to you.

Aside from the personal tastes and influences, we try to break away from the bundle, we are not looking for something totally new or unknown but we like to blend the sounds and mix ingredients to create something different and hard to label.

Q: You’re clearly inspired by sci-fi themes, inviting the listeners for a new mission through the future. What is it all about and where does this ‘concept’ and/or fascination come from?

Yeda: Everything starts with the syfy concept. I wrote a short story divided into chapters that we used as guide writing music and lyrics. Dave composes tracks and loops inspired by chapters of the tale. Then I create melodies. We work together changing structure, verse and refrain until we are satisfied. Last step is to choose the sounds and the final arrangements. In the writing process the rhythm comes first, then melodies and lyrics. The first song composed together is “AETERNA”, and it’s also the first chapter of the saga. The real beginning of the journey.

As for music we use the concept story as guide writing the lyrics. Symorg and I work together, we turn chapters into songs. However the meaning of the lyrics is intentionally mysterious to leave free interpretation. Each song is independent, you can listen to it and feel your personal emotions and find your intimate significance. For instance on the first album “AETERNA” is the beginning of the journey, but could be also about death, “IN THE VENUSBERG” is inspired by “Tannhäuser” (opera) by Richard Wagner, in the second one ”THE GREAT EXODUS” is about the exodus of humans to a new planet, but also describes fear and hope of migrants and refugees of today. ”UNDER ATTACK” lyrics were written just before the terroristic attacks in Paris. Those days we realized that many words of this song became headlines and breaking news around the world. We were writing about science fiction, interstellar battles in distant worlds, but we were actually describing the present.

You can free download the complete narrative on line if you want to find the ‘key’ to understand the lyrics or maybe you prefer to find your personal meaning by your own. All the songs and chapters of the concept have hidden Easter eggs, enjoy your hunting!

Q: Talking about the future, how do you imagine Stars Crusaders within 5-10 years and what are the items (maybe dreams) you want to achieve?

Davedax: We will soon be occupying a “WELCOME to HYDRA tour” that will be developed in 2018, while we will lay the foundations for the third album that will close the trilogy of the Stars Crusaders.

In our future there will be number 7 … to you to find out why ….

It is useless to hide the fact that we are ambitious and want to consolidate our role in the world’s future-pop scene and we will do it through our music, our style and our desire to communicate with our Electro SyFy.

Q: What are the main facts and memories coming into mind when you look back at the composition and recording of the album “Welcome To Hydra”?

Davedax: “Welcome To Hydra”’s creation has lasted about two years, so we have a lot of memories and had numerous fun moments in the rehearsal and studio room. We did so many concerts when we played the first album, but we were thinking and already discussing the second album. I remember a beautiful and energy-rich episode on the “Dark Xmas Festival” in Madrid in December 2015 where we were to finish the first single “UNDER ATTACK”.

We had created a very powerful song, but we needed something that definitely closed the song … well, this just happened before we got on stage, this event had given us an energy never seen before … a memorable moment. We got very beautiful and constructive moments when we worked on collaborations with female singers and other important bands such as Syrian who gave their voice (Andy Lab) for the song “SOULLESS”.

Creating a song, an album is for us a SINGULARITY that, as it is analyzed for space, is a unique event that tends to endlessly … as we are infusing the time when our music will be reproduced to give access to our world, out of time and space.

Q: What did you try to express on the new clip “Gemini” and what’s the importance of making clips today?

Yeda: The song is about Jungian concept of ‘shadow’, the unknown ‘dark side’ of our personality. ‘Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is’. (Carl Jung).

The video is inspired by “The Seventh Seal”, a crusader plays a chess game with his shadow. We tried to reproduce the ‘immortal game’ played by Anderssen and Kieseritzky in the 1851, same game used also in “Blade runner”. The “Shadow” starts with black pieces and in the end wins. It’s an oniric rappresentation of the struggle between the rational side and the dark side of our personality.

Making a video is no longer essential for a band, we are no longer in the 90’s and the MTV-generation. Every second is uploaded to Youtube 300 hours of video!! Spending energy and money for a videoclip is now useless but anyway we still have a lot of fun shooting videos. The director Domenico Morreale is a professional, but also a friend who always succeeds in translating our bizzare ideas into images.

Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries

Electro Bromance – We Are Like A Time Bomb! (CD Album – Deepland Records)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sun, 15 Oct 2017 19:30:12 +0000

Genre/Influences: Future-pop, techno-body.

Background/Info: Electro Bromance is a Brazilian duo unleashing its debut full length. They previously released a self-titled and self-released EP. A few songs from the EP have been featured on the album as well.

Content: The opening cut reveals a solid techno-body sound mixed with some pop elements. Quite progressively the real source of inspiration emerges at the surface. Electro Bromance is dealing with electro-pop, which they mixed with other influences such as EBM and future-pop. You’ll also notice a few dance-pop cuts. The songs have been composed with electronics and guitar. I also have to mention the very efficient vocal parts. The singer’s timbre of voice sometimes reminds me of Robert Smith.

+ + + : This album is a nice surprise. It’s not that often we discover cool electro-pop from Brazil, but this album is worthy of examination. The opening song is something harder and somewhat into techno-body music, but it’s a phenomenal song. It sounds a bit like Syrian meeting Komor Kommando. The other cuts will appeal to nostalgic future-pop freaks. Electro Bromance feels comfortable experimenting with different influences, but in the end it all remains good underground-pop music. From danceable songs to other cuts supported with some melancholia to a kind of wave-pop music, this album is a real cool surprise.

– – – : I regret there’re no other songs than the opening cut in this harder techno-body style. But I have to admit Electro Bromance feels comfortable dealing with more familiar electro-pop fields as well.

Conclusion: Brazil and electro-pop music is not exactly a successful match, but Electro Bromance must be the exception to the rule. They’ve accomplished a sexy debut album featuring multiple great songs.

Best songs: “Euphoria”, “Dig Deeper”, “Erotic Playground”, “Beloved”, “Black Phillip”.

Rate: (8½).

Band: www .facebook .com /electrobromance

Label: www .facebook .com /DeeplandRecords

Love Beyond Reach (Bonus Tracks Version) by SUICIDAL ROMANCE

Suicidal Romance back catalogue reissued via Alfa Matrix Bandcamp page – immediate downloads available

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Tue, 22 Dec 2015 15:53:01 +0000

Since their inception in 2006, the Suicidal Romance duo Dmitry Darling (frontman of Freakangel fame) and female vocalist Viktoria Seimar have established themselves within the alternative darkwave / electro scene with well crafted song that stick well in your head.

A few months ago Alfa Matrix already released the “Rêves & Souvenirs” digital album (available here) which selected 15 tracks of the project’s career, but now the band’s back catalogue gets a well deserved bonus extended re-release while the duo is working on new material. 3 releases are now being re-issued via the Alfa Matrix Bandcamp page with a load of bonus tracks and all-new frontcover designs by Tomoki Haysaka of Sheerheart in Japan.

All 3 releases are immediately available.

The first is “Love Beyond Reach” (available here), originally released in 2007. This was Suicidal Romance’s debut album which got mixed and mastered by Vasi Vallis (Frozen Plasma, Reaper). This extended edition includes bonus tracks from the EP “A Kiss To Resist” with special guest vocals by Jan Moser (Lost Area, Yade) as well as a cover version of Erasure’s classic song “Always”.

The 2nd re-release is “Shattered Heart Reflections” (available here), originally released in 2010, again mixed and mastered by Vasi Vallis (Frozen Plasma, Reaper). This extended edition includes bonus tracks from the EP “A Kiss To Resist” plus remixes by among others Aesthetic Perfection, Syrian, etc..

Shattered Heart Reflections (Bonus Tracks Version) by SUICIDAL ROMANCE

The 3rd reissue is “Memories Behind Closed Curtains” (available here), originally released in 2011. This time it was mixed and mastered by Jan L. (X-Music Productions). The extended edition includes bonus tracks from the “Burning Love / Remember Me” EP and remixes by among others Wormz, Studio-X, Diversant13, etc..

Memories Behind Closed Curtains (Bonus Tracks Version) by SUICIDAL ROMANCE