Italian darkwave composer Roberto Del Vecchio, the mind behind The Last Hour, has released his latest collection, “It Is the Hour.” This project is a curated mix of remastered past works alongside new versions of older songs, offering a fresh interpretation of the band’s atmospheric sound. The release evokes dizzy memories of fading illusions, death, and the timeless space between dream and reality.

The new collection serves as both a reflection on past musical chapters and a continuation of the band’s evolution, as Del Vecchio explores themes of life, death, and the suspended moments that lie between.

The Last Hour is no stranger to the dark music scene. Founded in 2004, Del Vecchio first gained recognition with the song “Into Empty Depth”, which appeared on the Cold Meat Industry sampler “Flowers Made of Snow”. His career has spanned several decades, with the project’s self-titled debut album released in 2008 on Other Voices Records. The follow-up, “Deadline”, came in 2014 via Seventh Crow Records, and the band’s most recent album, “Black Eyes”, was released in 2022, featuring Carlo Baldini on bass and synth.

The Last Hour is an integral part of Del Vecchio’s long-standing career in the dark music genre. Over the years, he has worked on other projects like Gothica and Les Jumeaux Discordants”, further cementing his influence on the scene”. “With “It Is the Hour,” Del Vecchio once again demonstrates his mastery in blending nostalgia with forward-thinking soundscapes, inviting listeners to reflect on life’s transient nature.”

Fans can explore “It Is the Hour” on major platforms, including Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon.

And here is part two.

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: Electro-Wave, Electro-Pop.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Behind The Last Hour is hiding Italian composer Roberto Del Vecchio. He received some recognition with some of his other projects like Gothica (which released albums on Cold Meat Industry) and Les Jumeaux Discordants. He now strikes back with a new album of The Last Hour which is the first one in seven years.

Content: The Last Hour has less in common with Del Vecchio’s other projects. This music is driven by 80s influences getting us back to Electro-Wave. The songs are rather rudimentary and into dreamy atmospheres. Passages remind me of Neuroactive and also for the vocals’ production. There are a few short songs on the tracklist which also has a Cinematic feeling.

+ + + : The Last Hour has an own style of Electro-Wave/Pop. I personally prefer the darker part of the work and especially recommend listening to “The Dead Of Night” -which might appeal for Neuroactive fans. The somewhat whispering style of singing is also a cool aspect of the work.

– – – : The production needs a bit more elaboration.

Conclusion: This album is an easy listening but without true ups.

Best songs: “The Dead Of Night”, “Black Eyes”.

Rate: 6.

Artist: www.facebook.com/thelasthour04

Label: www.facebook.com/thewhiteroomnetlabel

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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“Desertland” is the all new album for Shadoworld, which is actually the duo consisting of Roberto Del Vecchio and Old Boy aka Claudio Carluccio. Especially Roberto Del Vecchio will ring a bell, he is an Italian composer since 1994 and founded projects such as Gothica (Cold Meat Industry), The Last Hour (Other Voices Records / Seventh Crow Records) and Les Jumeaux Discordants (Athanor Records). Claudio Carluccio from his side is an Italian multi-instrumentalist he worked with various musicians.

Shadoworld debuted in 2017 with a self titled album on The White Room Netlabel, followed by the “Silver Rain” in 2018.

On “Desertland” you can expect dark folk with a touch of western style and modern electronica, combined with neo-classical. The band’s label describes it as music that “in some parts reminds of Nick Cave, Death in June, Depeche Mode, Johnny Cash, Ennio Morricone, Mark Lanegan.”

Check it for yourself 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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The french label Athanor, known for releasing occult and/or ritual ambient and industrial music, has returned.

Available in a strictly limited edition of 300 copies in digipak and 20 pages booklet is the newest release by Les Jumeaux Discordants: “Les Chimères” (you can order one of the 300 copies right here).

The album is the first all new release in quite some time from Athanor, the cult label that counts releases in its catalogue from such bands as Les Joyaux De La Princesse, Ain Soph, Zero Kama, Blood Axis, Golgatha, Shinkiro, Mental Measuretech and many more.

You can expect the use of heavy percussions reminding of Les Joyaux de la Princesse, Camerata Mediolanense, Les Sentiers Conflictuels, Blood Axis, early Laibach or Dead Can Dance. This is the second album based on Gérard de Nerval’s poems “Les Chimères”, Charles Baudelaire, Empedocle and Angelo Tonelli.​

Les Jumeaux Discordants is a ritual project born in 2005 by the union of Roberto Del Vecchio’s music and Aima. Roberto Del Vecchio (The Last Hour / ex Gothica) is a composer since 1994 while Aima started her project in 1996 working around poetry, photography, music and multimedia.

Here’s how they sound:

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: Cold-wave, cinematographic, dark-pop.

Content: Roberto Del Vecchio got some recognition as former member of Gothica and later on as Les Jumeaux Discordants. But this Italian artist is also active under the moniker of The Last Hour and has already released several productions.

This new opus featuring 10 songs is not that easy to define. There are for sure some cold-wave influences running through the music, but Del Vecchio also injects elements of pop, neo-classic and even pure soundtrack music. “Deadline” this way becomes a rather diversified and open-minded album. The songs have been accomplished with great electronic treatments, which are a truly essential element of the work. The opening cut “Heartbeat” illustrates the darker side of the band while somewhat evasive, but intelligent electronic arrangements complete the song.

One of the main characteristics of this album is the vocals. Roberto Del Vecchio sings a somewhat half spoken style. He has a rather grave timbre of voice, which injects a cavernous touch to the work. I here can tip “Everything Fades Away” and the cool “Winning” as references in the genre.

“Deep Blue Space” reveals a different side of the album, for its desperate and cinematographic approach. This song sounds a bit like it is reflecting feelings of isolation. Another attention grabber is “Utopia”, which features guitar parts and a somewhat neo-classic touch. But my absolute favorite song is the title track, which is more into cold-wave music, but still revealing a bombastic pop touch. Del Vecchio took care for most of the elements of this work although he got some help from a few guest musicians.

Conclusion: The Last Hour is mixing different influences together resulting in a dark and eclectic production.

Best songs: “Deadline”, “Winning”, “Heartbeat”.

Rate: (Elise Din:7)Elise Din.

Band: www.facebook.com/thelasthour04

Labels: www.facebook.com/thewhiteroomnetlabel / www.facebook.com/seventhcrowrecords

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