The Porta Nigra Festival 2024 is scheduled at the Stadsfeestzaal Aarschot on the 1st and 2nd of March. This event features quite a varied lineup of electronic and industrial music acts.

First Day – 1 March 2024: The festival begins with Front 242, Nitzer Ebb, The Juggernauts, and Mirexxx. An afterparty follows, hosted by DJ Borg, with DJ sets by The Black Widow between performances.

Second Day – 2 March 2024: The lineup includes VNV Nation, Kosheen, The Arch, and The Obscure, with an afterparty by DJ Wildhoney. The Black Widow provides music between the day’s performances.

Entrance to the afterparties is included with each festival ticket.

Tickets for the event are available for purchase, offering access to both days of performances.

For more on VNV Nation, see VNV Nation launches extra North American tour dates with Traitrs on Side-Line.

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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Genre/Influences: EBM.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Belgian formation The Juggernauts is back on track unleashing their first new work since the debut album “The Juggernauts Are Coming” (2016). Several changes happened in the meantime. The band is still driven by Peter Mastbooms aka ‘Borg’ while GlennKeteleer (Radical G) is no longer a member and was replaced by two new members. “Fear” is also the first release by Bodybeats Records -a Belgian label named after the live organization driven by ‘Borg’.

Content: “Fear” is a song that was originally released during the lockdown while a few more songs were already played live. The sound is driven by good-old EBM which is often connected with 90s productions. The title song is featured in 3 different (re)mixes. The 3 songs left are still EBM-like, driven by growling vocals and samplings on top.

+ + + : “Fear” is a cool title song which sounds like refreshed 90s EBM filled with retro-effects. There’s a more explicit EBM edit with raw, metallic percussion. The 3 songs left are more than simply B-sides. This is dark, melodic EBM with a message you can clearly discover behind the many samplings of Donald Trump. “Snitch Bitch” sounds explicitly EBM and also is the hardest cut.

– – – : “Fear” is the title song from this EP and yet it’s not an absolute hit.

Conclusion: The Juggernauts are back on track revealing a fully enjoyable EP so I’m really wondering what will be the next studio work of the band.

Best songs: “Fear V2K18 – 12” Mix”, “Fear V2K20 – C19 EBM Remix”, “Snitch Bitch”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.thejuggernauts.be / www.facebook.com/TheJuggernauts

About The Juggernauts

The Juggernauts is the Belgian EBM project of Peter Mastbooms, known as ‘Borg’, formerly of Vomito Negro and a live member of The Klinik. The project was co-produced in its early years with Glenn Keteleer, known as Radical G.

The debut album, “The Juggernauts Are Coming”, was released on Out Of Line Records on July 22, 2016. The “Fear” EP, reviewed above, followed as the band’s first new release since that debut, and as the first release on Bodybeats Records.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

After the previous album “Derailed” released in 2017, it seemed that there were no further plans for Instans. Luckily the Swedish project driven by Fredrik Djurfeldt has been reactivated and this year released a new album entitled “Trans Sector Hyperdrive”. The work released on Advoxya Records reveals a new opus filled with Minimal-Electro, which has been defined as ‘Neo-EBM’. The sound is miles away from EBM standards, which makes the album original, but also very efficient. I should say a great work, which also proves it’s still possible to remain creative in the rather conservative EBM scene. I talked about the album with Fredrik.  

(Picture credits by Bengt Rahm / Interview courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: “Trans Sector Hyperdrive” has been released a few months ago now so how do you look back at the album with hindsight? What are the main points of satisfaction?

Fredrik: I am quite happy with it, almost proud. I have always liked making thematic albums, and this time I decided the space race with all of it´s broken promises urgently needed to be dealt with. When I grew up, back in the 80´s, we were lead to believe that by the year 2000 everyone could travel to the moon and stuff like that. They lied to us, and now we are told how by 2030 anyone who really wants to will be able go on vacation on Mars. Same old story, and it is still a lie. This album is my reaction to it, and I think it came out the way I intended it.

Q: What have been the triggers to start composing this album? And how did the writing- and production process happened?

Fredrik:Fact is, Instans was meant to be dead by now. When we played at Front Fabrik Festival in Poland three years ago, we had planned for that to be the end. Then Dima, the brains and muscle behind Advoxya Records, somehow managed to kick me back into gear. We made up plans for nine shows in Russia and five in the United States, and I wrote half the album before lockdowns and travel bans came into effect. I completely lost motivation, and abandoned the project until Dima again kicked me into gear.

So there was a phase one, and a phase two. First, I enthusiastically wrote a bunch of tracks, then lockdowns, and then I wrote the rest of the album. The positive side effect of not playing live at all during phase two, is that I wrote slower tracks that I probably would not have otherwise.

Q: Are you a perfectionist? What are your personal criteria to say a song/album is finished?

Fredrik:I won’t not say perfectionist, no. Trying to be perfect tends to end up as self-censorship, and censorship is never a good thing. I tend to work the other way around, actually. First, I spend two or three hours working on the track. Then, some time later, I will go back and spend another hour working on it and it is usually done. In my experience, more work tends to ruin the track. There are of course exceptions from that rule, but it is the general idea.

I would also like to quote Steve Albini from his famous latter to Nirvana: ‘If an album takes more than a week to make, someone is fucking up.’

Q: Instans is a solo-project although for “Trans Sector Hyperdrive” you asked a few guests to join in. Tell us a bit more about these collaborative tracks and the input of Peter Mastbooms aka ‘Borg’ and Jonas Fredriksson?  

Fredrik: Both are good friends and we have been working together in other ways over the years. I am a full time member of ALVAR, and so I have been working actively with Jonas since 2014.

Borg and I have been playing the same venues many times over the years, him with The Juggernauts and The Klinik, and me with Boar Alarm, Alvar, Severe Illusion and No Sleep By The Machine. In the case of Borg, I found it particularly interesting to have a JUGGERNAUT perspective for one of the tracks, considering the overall theme of my album.

Q: The sound of INSTANS remains characterized by a minimal EBM approach, which isn’t comparable to any other EBM formation. I dare to say a band with an own sound-DNA! What makes this atypical EBM-sound and what’s your perception of contemporary EBM?

Fredrik: My first attempt at song writing was probably when I was four or five years old, that is when I could reach up from the floor to my fathers piano. I am not sure how much that influences me to this day. Then, when I was six or so years old, I started experimenting with left over electronic equipment my father brought home from work. He is a scientist, so the equipment was not meant for music production at all. Still, I was able to make lots of exciting noise with it. That is probably the earliest roots of my music. That is probably also the first time I experienced what 220 Volts through the human body feels like.

Then, when I got my first computer, a Commodore VIC-20, I wrote music with that, or at least I tried. It must have been a nightmare for anyone around at the time, because the sound chip in that machine is really stupid and I had to write the software in Basic. The C64 came after that, and I became a huge fan of Rob Hubbard, Martin Galway and all the others. Again I had to write all the software I needed, but the SID chip is far better, and working with machine language is far, far more exciting. That era was certainly influential on the future sound of Instans.

To be really honest, I don´t listen to much contemporary EBM. I am more fond of older music from when the sound was not so annoyingly perfect, clean and outright boring as is usually the case today. There are still a few bands around, who understands what music is all about, but we seem to be going extinct. Let´s hope the younger generation wakes up to how boring things have become, and start making music more painful again.

Q: What brings the future for Instans and your other projects? Might we expect a new Severe Illusion-album?

Fredrik: The world has changed in some dramatic ways in recent years. It was an ugly place before, for sure. But now, we are seeing repression on a level that will soon make fascism look like a walk in the park. Touring has become near impossible, and that makes it even harder for any independent musicians out there. As long as we accept lockdowns, vaccin passes, and all the other repression that came along with the Scam-demic, things will get progressively worse until live music is a thing of the past for all of us. If we have learned anything from history, it should be that you can not give that kind power to politicians and expect them to ever give it back without a fight. That is the grim question which determines the chances of future releases, and of course not just for me.

That being said, I am very happy with the new Instans album, and I would love to move forward with it now as it is again an active project. I have started the work on a new album by Analfabetism, that I am really excited about. I have made some field recordings at what remains of a weapons factory built in 1620. There, weapons were made for the Swedish army who spent over 100 years, plundering, pillaging and murdering in Western Russia. That will be the sound of the next Analfabetism album.

There are plans for a split-release between my project Boar Alarm, and Ulf Lundblad´s Two Dimensional Skull. Most of the music is ready for that one. We have also been talking about making a new Severe Illusion album, and there is a new label involved in that project. With a little luck, we should start working on it in January.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: EBM, Dark-Electro.

Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.

Background/Info: Last year Crete formation PreEmptive Strike 0.1 released their seventh full length “Progeny Of The Technovore”, which in my opinion was the band’s most accomplished work to date, kind of opus magnum! A lot of things happened in the meantime, but especially the departure of core memberGeorge Klontzas has been a main fact. Jim The Blaster and Yiannis Chatzakis (also involved with Degenerated Sequences) moved on and now released their first work together. The EP is a kind of mini-album featuring four new songs plus four remixes.

Content: Both debut songs are quite representative for the sound of the band; a perfect mix between elements of EBM and dark-electronics. The stumping kicks, carrying melody lines and spoken samplings are once more joined by the harsh vocals of front man Jim The Blaster. We next get 2 softer songs, where the power has been replaced by dark atmospheres.

There are 4 remixes by Belgian artists. Llumen, Implant, The Juggernauts and IC 434 remixes each one from the 4 original songs.

+ + + : PreEmptive Strike 0.1 is back and that’s an important thing especially after the departure of their sound operator. It’s not an easy thing and even a challenge striking back after the great last album, but both debut songs reveal an interesting potential. The original sound and global approach of the band remain intact. The spirit of the band is still alive; it stands for danceable, melodic and powerful music with enraged vocals. Another interesting aspect is the Belgian connotation of this work! That’s maybe easy to explain as the last live performance of the band happened in Belgium and was organized by one of the band’s greatest fans. PreEmptive Strike 0.1 seems to have real good souvenirs from this show and that’s what probably explains the choice of the remixes. I heard a very good job done by Llumen remixing “Evolution/Retribution”. Implant and IC 434 both give a little boost to the least convincing songs from the EP. Last, but not least I also have to say a word about the great sci-fi artwork of the digipak, which fits with the concept of the work.

– – – : The opening song “Evolution/Retribution” sounds a bit compressed, creating a muffed effect. I think the new work can’t totally compete with the last album of the band, but if this is a kind of new beginning, I’m definitely faithful the best is yet to come!

Conclusion: PreEmptive Strike 0.1 gives us a solid exposure from the potential of the new line-up, kind of PreEmptive Strike 0.1 – V.2!

Best songs: “Wormfaced Cadavers”, “Evolution/Retribution”, “Evolution/Retribution – Llumen Remix”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist: www.preemptivestrike01.com / www.facebook.com/Pre-Emptive-Strike-01-100462328053194

Label: www.digitalworld.audio /   www.facebook.com/DigitalWorldAudio

About PreEmptive Strike 0.1

PreEmptive Strike 0.1 was founded on the Greek island of Crete in 2002 with the purpose of making EBM music. Early releases include “Enzymes” (2003), “Lethal Defence Systems” (2006), “Extinction Reprogrammed” (2008), “The Kosmokrator” (2010), “T.A.L.O.S.” (2012) and “Pierce Their Husk” (2014), followed by “Epos V” (2015), “Through The Astral Cold” (2017), “Progeny Of The Technovore” (2019) and the “Harbinger” EP (2019).

The “The Dread Files” EP, released via Digital World Audio in 2020, followed the departure of longtime member George Klontzas, with Jim The Blaster and Yiannis Chatzakis carrying the project forward.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: EBM, Electro-Wave, Experimental.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info:  Belgian artist Kevin Strauwen –who’s also involved with The Juggernauts, has already released a few works under the True Zebra moniker. The last released album “123” was a kind of ‘best of’ released on Wool-E Discs. The new work deals with ‘the collapse of the self and the resulting disconnect with love’ and has been exposed throughout seven songs.

Content: “Idiorhythmic” looks more like a mini-album, but is quite diversified. True Zebra covers different ideas, but all songs have been built up around an Electornic basis. From Electro-Wave mixed with EBM (especially the bass lines) to rather Minimal- and even Experimental passages this work sounds definitely more consistent than what I’ve heard before. The song “Move” is a real good example of the growing experience of the project.

+ + + : True Zebra takes care to mix an EBM influenced work together with dark atmospheric treatments. From solid and menacing bass lines to minimal sequences to haunting atmospheres, this album features a few noticeable songs such as “Logistica And Thelemia” and “Move”. This project has a real interesting potential to create a very personal EBM.

– – – : It’s a pity there are only 7 songs featured. The last song is more a kind of outro with an experimental appeal, but driven by a retro touch.

Conclusion: True Zebra has focalized on a more explicit Electro/EBM production and this new work reveals a bright future for this project!

Best songs: “Logistica And Thelemia”, “Move”, “Connection Is Addiction”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/truezebra

About True Zebra

True Zebra is the electronic solo project of Belgian musician Kevin Strauwen. Discogs lists a self-titled debut EP in 2012, followed by the albums “Adoremotion” (2014), “War Of The Words” (2016) and “123” (2018), before “Idiorhythmic”, reviewed here.

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Dark-techno, IDM, industrial, EBM.

Background/Info: Belgian DJ/producer/musician Glenn Keteleer is an artist of many talents. We know him in the underground scene for his involvement with The Juggernauts and his solo-project Radical G. Linear Straight is another of his projects, which is more techno driven. The album “Roscosmos” was released at the end of 2018 by the Berlin based Konsequent label.

Content: Linear Straight has gained a serious reputation in the techno scene, but sounds much more than simply techno-music. “Roscosmos” is a fusion between different influences, which are all mixed with techno elements. From complex IDM passages to electro-industrial sound treatments to bombastic arrangements to EBM bass lines to dark groovy sequences, “Roscosmos” covers a wide spectrum of sonic ideas.

+ + + : If Linear Straight is considered to be a techno-artist, he clearly deals with a very personal- and atypical style. I like the diversity of his sound canvas and I have a preference for the IDM touch running through the title track. But I also fully enjoyed the bombastic techno of “Ancient Flute” and the darker approach of the already familiar “Rational Velocity” and “The Year Of The dragon”. Some EBM-driven bass lines are pretty cool as well.

– – – : I sometimes get the impression Glenn Keteleer doesn’t experiment with more EBM elements –and that’s a pity, but on the other side that’s precisely what he’s doing as Radical G.

Conclusion: Linear Straight sounds as techno music for ghosts; dark with some drama and danceable!

Best songs: “Vegen”, “The Year Of The Dragon”, “Roscosmos”, “Rational Velocity”, “Ancient Flute”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.facebook.com/LinearStraight

Label: www.facebook.com/konsequentrecords

About Linear Straight

Linear Straight is a solo alias of Brussels, Belgium musician Glenn Keteleer, active on the Belgian techno scene since 2002. He is also known for the EBM and electropop act Radical G and for his work with The Juggernauts, and regularly performs as a DJ at Berlin clubs including Tresor and Griesmühle. “Roscosmos”, released via the Berlin label Konsequent at the end of 2018, is his first full-length album as Linear Straight.

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: Rock-wave, electro-wave, EBM.

Background/Info: True Zebra is a Belgian solo-project driven by Kevin Strauven (who’s also involved with The Juggernauts). True Zebra self-released 3 albums in between 2012 and 2016. This official debut opus features tracks taken from the previous albums.

Content: Kevin Strauven is actually working on a complete new album so this kind of ‘best of’ is a good way to get introduced to his eclectic sound universe. The songs are covering different influences, which resulted in a somewhat versatile work moving from minimal electronics to rock-wave to EBM. The vocals are rather sweet-like.

+ + + : I definitely prefer the electronic-driven songs, carried by noticeable vintage synth layers. The minimal-like “Under Control” is a great piece of music, which reminds me a bit to Crash Course In Science. In a more EBM-vein “Transition” is carried by a solid bass line. Last, but not least I also have to mention the somewhat groovy-minded “Not Like Him No”.

– – – : I don’t have anything against diversity, but the different influences don’t always fit with each other. You get the impression to hear a band clearly in search of its sound identity. The transition from one song till another is sometimes abrupt. The rock-wave style (like featured on “The Silence”) can’t convince me at any single moment.

Conclusion: I should think that for True Zebra the best is yet to come. I sincerely hope this artist will mainly focalize on the electronic side of his work, which is promising and revealing a few cool cuts.

Best songs: “Under Control”, “Transition”, “Happen”, “Not Like Him No”.

Rate: (6½).

Artist: www.truezebra.com / www.facebook.com/truezebraofficial

Label: www.wool–e–shop.be / www.facebook.com/woolediscs

About True Zebra

True Zebra is a solo project of the Belgian musician Kevin Strauwen, also known for his work with The Juggernauts. Strauwen self-released three True Zebra albums between 2012 and 2016, a self-titled debut, “Adoremotion” (2014) and “War Of The Words” (2016), before “123” compiled tracks from all three as his debut on Wool-E Discs. Strauwen has also remixed for Implant, including the 2017 single “The Phone Call” and the 2020 EP “Phantom Pain”. True Zebra followed “123” with the mini-album “Idiorhythmic” in 2020.

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 8th instalment in the Electrostorm electro-sampler-series will be released in early May.

This new volume will hold 17 tracks by the following bands: Hocico, Combichrist, Agonoize, Dive, Too Dead To Die, Solitary Experiments, Blutengel, Massive Ego, Melotron, Rummelsnuff & Asbach, The Juggernauts, Cephalgy, CHROM, Ashbury Heights, Solar Fake, The Sexorcist and Any Second. The latter is the brand new Agonoize-side project.

You can already order the compilation right here.

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.

Background/Info: The Juggernauts is a Belgian band featuring Peter Mastbooms aka ‘BORG’ (music, lyrics and vocals) and Glenn Keteleer (music and producer). BORG is a veteran of the Belgian scene who was involved in bands like Vomito Negro and The Klinik. Glenn Keteleer got some fame with his Radical G project and is more involved into minimal-electronics and techno-body music. The Juggernauts released a promising debut-EP “Phoenix” in 2013, but we had to wait 3 more years to discover their debut full length.

Content: From start on you rapidly will recognize a typical old-school inspired EBM, which might remind you of bands like Front 242 and Nitzer Ebb while some darker elements are a bit in the Klinik-vein. The inspiration doesn’t bring anything new, but the global production reveals a high-tech approach.

This duo has found a right balance between a retro-EBM sound and the modern technology and knowledge of a techno-inspired production. It’s not exactly a reinvention of EBM, but it’s more into classical EBM with a refreshing touch on top.

Several songs clearly evoke the golden years of EBM. You’ll easily recognize familiar and old-fashioned ‘242’-shouts and other dry EBM bass lines à la Nitzer Ebb. This work is carried by sharp-cutting bass lines and dry snares in the purest 80s vein. The compositions are well-crafted and elaborated.

+ + + : The Juggernauts are not just making good-old EBM, but they took care to accomplish it with a unique touch and approach. The sound is into pure vintage elements while refreshed with a powerful and modern production. There are several potential dancefloor killers. Even if the title song opening this album clearly doesn’t sound like a potential club-hit, this song is a real masterpiece for its global progression and sound approach.

– – – : The album features 10 songs, but 4 songs were already released on the “Phoenix”-album. We get updated versions instead, but only 6 new cuts is not that much for an album we had to wait for 3 years now.

Conclusion: The image of The Juggernauts looks pretty futuristic while the sound is clearly inspired by retro-EBM. The robotic image might be seen as symbolizing the modernism and minimalism of the production. This album clearly sounds like an exciting EBM opus revealing many outstanding cuts.

Best songs: “Follow”, “Phoenix – V.2K16 Extended”, “Plastic World”, “Infacted – V.2K16”, “Damaged Illusions – V.2K16”.

Rate: (8).

Band: www.thejuggernauts.be / www.facebook.com/TheJuggernauts

Label: www.outofline.de  / www.facebook.com/outoflinelabel

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