Out via Swiss Dark Nights on February 16th is the all new album “Black Magic” by the Italian electro trio They Die. The album is the follow-up to the “Emptiness prevails” album (July 2022).

They Die was founded by Giorgio Ricci of Templebeat (Dynamica-Machinery, Sub/Mission, 21st Circuitry) but unlike the legendary 90s Electro/EBM-act Templebeat, They Die offer a much more ‘gothic’ and darker touch.

The band’s new album (the 3rd in their still young existence) contains 9 original tracks, including the brand new single “Our Blood“.

You can check out the full album 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.

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Italian formation They Die saw the daylight in 2020. Driven by three experienced musicians who knew each other from other projects they are/were involved with, the band released two noticeable albums so far. “Deviant Love” released in 2021 by Jetglow Recordings sounds as pure Cold-Wave reminding legendary 80s formations. They last year stroke back releasing “Emptiness Prevails” on Swiss Dark Nights. Giorgio Ricci, Massimiliano Griggio and Simone Scarani confirmed the strong potential of the debut work. I consider They Die as one of the most promising formations from Dark-Wave scene. I got in touch with ‘Simon Scar’.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: I think you set up They Die in 2020. How did you guys met and can you give us more details about your music background?

Scar: Exact, They Die exist since 2020; set up by three members that have been collaborating together for some time in various projects, First Black Pope, Black Beat, Templezone, Templebeat… A lot of music made and lived in the underground, always within the dark Industrial scene. They Die was born out of our need to be able to express our most…’romantic’ part;  our decadent vision of love.

Q: What kind of band and sound did you’d in mind when setting up the band? Do you’ve specific sources of inspiration and/or references when composing your music?

Scar: When I compose, the music is born first and then I add vocals and lyrics. I never have a band in mind… I have a billion hahahaha, that is like everyone I am influenced by many bands, especially from the 80s and 90s, always alternative. With They Die I initially wanted to pay homage to the bands that made me grow by recreating in my own way the atmosphere created by those pieces that I heard as a teenager in the alternative disco in my area

Q: For a new band you’ve just released your second full length album. What means music -and especially They Die to you and how do you perceive the evolution from “Deviant Love” towards “Emptiness Prevails”?

Scar: Music is magic, something invisible that generates emotions, spreads in the air, envelops you, hits you, moves you in time. Having the power to create music, to generate that magic is an honor for me, and I can’t live  without it; my whole life has been and is based on music. Right now They Die is the name I use to speak to the world, to express myself, to excite… on the one hand…. and on the other it’s my way of talking to myself, of looking inside myself, of keeping myself alive.

From the first to the second album I think you notice a certain maturity in the sounds and in the production in general. I always try to do better and I’m very picky, sometimes even too much, actually no it’s never too much hahaha

Q: Tell us a bit more about the new work? What is “Emptiness Prevails” all about how did the album took shape?

Scar: “Emptiness Prevails” is that emotional emptiness that is perceived in the stomach when we lose someone, someone who was part of us, that overwhelming feeling of emptiness that makes us seem to have taken away a part of ourselves. The album was written much more consciously than the first one, and it feels, above all because with “Deviant Love” we had received good reviews and attracted good attention, thanks above all to Yami Spechie who gave us the opportunity to upload our videoclips on his Youtube channel, and we didn’t want to disappoint expectations. We did our best and I’m very happy you’re enjoying it, I notice it from the amount of web compilations that arrive every day with our songs featured on it.

Q: You mentioned the influence of the 80s Dark-Wave music but what means this music to you?

Scar: The 80s are the years that left me the most influences on an artistic and aesthetic level; they were the years in which synthesizers exploded, music was cold and fashion was square…. I clearly remember as child I was listening to the radio and it often happened that my mother came into the room and found me near the radio in tears, and she asked me: ‘why are you crying?’… and I returned to reality: this music is sad… I was already a little Goth… I have gravitated to the dark environment all my life, it is a subculture that has lived in time since the 80s, musically it has a thousand of facets and sub-genres, but more generally it is a way of being and of seeing the world

Q: What are the plans for the next few months and how important are live performances to you?

Scar: We have just joined the Blackweb tour-booking agency and therefore we hope to continue promoting “Emptiness Prevails” even better with live performances. In the meantime I have started writing new songs for the next album which will be released in 2023. I have always performed live and it was my therapy; I am a very shy and lonely person and finding myself with all eyes on me always is a challenge against myself. Two or three hours before the show my hands start shaking and I need to be alone and concentrate, and as soon as the show ends everything relaxes and I feel drained.

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: EBM, Body-Pop.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Paolo Chemnitz (vocals, lyrics, samples) and Saffio (music, programming, mixing) have been active under the Klonavenus moniker since 2005. They mainly self-released an impressive number of EP’s. A first official album was released in 2012 on EK Product. They next released “Angst” on Space Race Records (subdivision of EK Product) and now unleashes “Motion:less” featuring eleven songs.

Content: Klonavenus has always composed music at the edge of EBM and Electro/Wave-Pop. It’s not that different with the new compositions, which are driven by hopping sequences and rhythms. The songs are accomplished by solid melody lines illustrating the ‘Pop’-side of the band. Some of the hardest cuts remind me a bit of early Icon Of Coil, but here again polished with some extra Electro-Pop melodies. Both last tracks are remixes by A Copy For Collapse and Templebeat.

+ + + : “Motion:less” is a cool work, which is mainly carried by excellent melodies. What I especially like is the perfect balance between EBM power and Pop melodies. The work is danceable, sometimes moving towards darker fields, but always accessible. Both debut songs are noticeable passages, but I also have to mention “Emotionless” reminding me of the early steps of Icon Of Coil. Another great song is “My Crying Bride” featuring female vocals by Valerie Hely. She injects a sensual touch on top of Paolo Chemnitz’ singing. There also is a cool instrumental song (cf. “Neon Blue”). Last, but not least there’s this surprising remix of the title song by Templebeat.

– – – : I think the production of the vocals could be improved; the way of singing becomes rather monotone after a while. I can’t say this album is featuring potential hits, but we get several noticeable songs instead.

Conclusion: “Motion:less” is not the kind of album that will set the EBM and Electro-Pop scene(s) alight, but it’s an honest work, which I enjoyed listening to.

Best songs: “My Crying Bride”, “Emotionless”, “Neon Blue”, “Dies Irae”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.facebook.com/Klonavenus

Label: www.spaceracerecords.com / www.facebook.com/SpaceRaceRecords

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 via Space Race Records on September 25th is the return of the Klonavenus to the scene with the album “motion:less”. The project consists of Paolo Chemnitz and Saffio and the duo here present their 3rd album.

Expect 11 songs offering a combination of EBM, darkwave, synthpop and industrial. Also included are remixes by A Copy For Collapse and legendary Italian Electro/EBM-combo Templebeat.

From Italy with dark wave love

Klonavenus was formed in Rome in 2005 by Saffio (music & programming) and Paolo Chemnitz (vocals & lyrics). After two demos, the duo signed a contract with The Fossil Dungeon label and released “Metropolights” in 2007. One year later the band released a compilation of previously unreleased tracks. In 2010 they returned with the single, “The Loser” while held remixes by Dismantled, Autodafeh and Ginger Snap5.

In the Winter of 2013, Klonavenus released the official video for “Electro Body Killer”, directed by the Italian independent filmaker Domiziano Cristopharo. We had to wait until 2015 to see the band’s second album “Angst” being released, recorded in Berlin and mastered in the US by Rob Early (Retrogramme). The album also includes remixes by Spektralized, Cygnosic and Blank.

After two years of silence, Klonavenus released a new EP as a free download (“Last Life On The Left”), then appeared at the end of 2018 in a double compilation (“Complicity Content”) released by the label E|K , with a new song called “Welcome To Violence” featuring the voice of Elisa Tomaselli. At the same time, KV released “We Fly Away”, a 7″ vinyl.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil.

side-line.com