Here’s one from a few years ago, 2021 to be precise, when Electrozombies celebrated the 30th anniversary of the And One debut album “Anguish” with a tribute album titled “Anode”. “With many bands, the release cycle gets longer and longer as they continue to exist, leading to prolonged periods of drought for fans,” says Electrozombies. “With this tribute, we aim to shorten the waiting time until And One’s next album.”

Since we didn’t feature the news back then, we bring it today.

The tribute also reflected Steve Naghavi’s admiration for Depeche Mode. Electrozombies found inspiration in a childhood photo of Naghavi surrounded by Depeche Mode posters. “There are countless Depeche Mode tribute compilations. Why not one for And One?”

Their research led them to the 2019 tribute “Cover Sind Cover”, which had too many repeated tracks. “We aimed for a tribute with more variation,” they say. Thus, “Anode (An Electrozombies tribute to And One)” was born.

“Anode” features 10 cover versions of And One tracks. The compilation also introduced new talents discovered through Submithub, alongside established scene acts like Beat Noir Deluxe, Auger, and Beata Beatrix. It is only available via streaming platforms including Spotify.

Tracklist for “Anode (An Electrozombies tribute to And One)”

1. Fatal Aim – The Only Guest
2. Noble Savage – Wild Pain
3. Ultranoire – Friends In Heaven
4. Split Vision – Shining Star
5. Mind Machine – Sometimes
6. Alphamay – Techno Man (Feat. Luftkraft)
7. Beata Beatrix – My Angel
8. Beat Noir Deluxe – Killing The Mercy
9. Orpheus In Red Velvet – Consequence Of Time
10. Auger – Military Fashion Show

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-Pop, Minimal-Electro, Indie-Pop.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Laborant is a solo-project driven by Árvai Krisztián who’s known from his involvement with Black Nail Cabaret. “Visions” features seven songs with Hungarian guest singers.

Content: Árvai Krisztián is inspired by different influences while the singers also inject their very own touch and style. “Visions” is moving from Electro-Pop to pure Minimal- and even Experimental Electro to harder passages carried by EBM bass lines to Indie-Pop. Among the guest singers you for sure know Josef Stapel (Ultranoire) and Emke (Black Nail Cabaret).

+ + + : The album sounds a bit like a compilation but it’s a fascinating and diversified achievement. There’s a true harmony and even symbiosis between the musician and his singers. Árvai Krisztián reveals to be a talented and even visionary artist. From this work I recommend the somewhat harder, dark and yet sensual “D.I.M.S.” featuring Manoya and the brilliant last cut “Blindside” featuring Tam​á​s ‘Tonyo’ Szab​ó. This song will appeal to IAMX fans. “Fixation” featuring Emke is another cool and minimal-like track.

– – – : There’s only one single track (cf. “Runaway” featuring Kaiko) which is forgettable.

Conclusion: Laborant is an exciting side-project from the Black Nail Cabaret machinist.

Best songs: “Blindside”, “D.I.M.S.”, “Fixation”, “Craving Blood”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.facebook.com/krisztian.arvai

About Laborant

Laborant is a solo-project of Krisztián “Devon” Árvai, producer and songwriter of Black Nail Cabaret. “Visions” was released on August 16, 2022, featuring seven songs with Hungarian guest vocalists including Josef Stapel (Ultranoire), Emke (Black Nail Cabaret), Manoya, Tamás “Tonyo” Szabó and Kaiko, moving between electro-pop, minimal electro and indie-pop.

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, Dark-Pop.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Earlier this year First Aid 4 Souls released the “Fire”-album, which was a kind of conceptual work on, which the band’s mastermind worked together with Hungarian compatriots/singers like Emke from Black Nail Cabaret, Josef Stapel from Ultranoire or yet Vic Willow from Planetdamage. “Dreambox” is an EP taken from this work featuring a selection of fourteen songs.

Content: “Das Messer” feat. Emke and “Dreambox” feat. Josef Stapel are the main songs from the EP. Five remixes from each song have been made while you’ll also get remixes of the songs “Burn”, “Ordinary Demonism” and “Freedom” all featuring vocals by Vic Willow. As a little extra “Bring Back Armageddon” is a new song featuring Nick Sonick from Wet Lips. The main particularity of the work is that István Gazdag is responsible for all remixes. From orchestral to 80s, to more Industrial-driven to EBM to refreshing Pop he tried to create different edits.  

+ + + : “Das Messer” remains a great union between the sophisticated Dark-Body-Pop of first Aid 4 Souls and the charismatic vocals of Emke. This woman has such a charisma emerging from her voice that she cannot leave you unmoved. The “Zombie Club Mix ” has something more Industrial-like while the bouncing “Batcave”-version both are attention grabbers. “Dreambox” featuring Josef Stapel remains a cool song as well. There’s a duality between the EBM sequences and the more Pop-like way of singing, but here again it perfectly works and especially the “Club Mix” is worthy of examination. I also like the songs featuring Vic Willow while having a preference for the punchy “Club Mix” of “Burn” and the sophisticated “Club Mix” of “Freedom”.

– – – : The new song “Bring Back Armageddon” is a more pompous, orchestral song, which can’t compete with the other cuts from the EP. This EP is mainly meant for the fans.

Conclusion: The songs on this EP reveal the eclectic Electronic format from one of the best Hungarian formations in the genre.

Best songs: “Das Messer feat. Emke”, “Dreambox feat. Josef Stapel – Club Mix”, “Das Messer feat. Emke – Batcave Version”, “Freedom feat. Vic Willow – Club Mix”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/First-Aid-4-Souls-180876236297

Label: www.alfa-matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix Read the news on ‘Dreambox’.

About First Aid 4 Souls

First Aid 4 Souls is a Hungarian electro project driven by Istvan Gazdag, active for over a decade and signed early on to the Some Bizarre label, which released a double CD of the project’s work in 2008 alongside acts such as Coil, Soft Cell, Cabaret Voltaire, Swans, Test Dept and Einsturzende Neubauten. The 2020 concept album “Fire”, released via Alfa Matrix, paired Gazdag with Hungarian singers including Emke of Black Nail Cabaret, Josef Stapel of Ultranoire and Vic Willow of Planetdamage. “Dreambox” collects a selection of remixes and extra tracks from that album, all reworked by Gazdag himself.

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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Hungarian artist István Gazdag aka First Aid 4 Souls got quite some applauses for his recent conceptual “Fire” album. The album showed much more melodic and orchestral compositions compared to the previous harsh and dark EBM album “Keep This World Empty”.

On the album István Gazdag worked with such singers as Ultranoire’s Josef Stapel, Black Nail Cabaret’s dark pop frontwoman Emke or yet Vic Willow. Out now, is the “Dreambox” EP offering alternative versions of the album’s two favorite songs that are “Das Messer” and “Dreambox” again featuring said singers of course. The reworks range from retro electro new wave versions to bombastic orchestral remakes.

But next to the aforementioned songs you also get new versions of a few more album songs (“Burn”, “Freedom” and “Ordinary Demonism”). The EP holds 14 (!) tracks with most tracks being over 120 BPM up to 170 BPM. As an extra you get the exclusive and previously unreleased collaboration with Nick Sonick of Wet Lips on “Bring Back Armageddon”.

Enjoy this very club friendly release below, via download on Bandcamp or via Spotify.

And for those who prefer Spotify: Read the review of ‘Dreambox’.

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, body-pop.

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Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Last year Hungarian electro/EBM act First Aid 4 Souls joined hands together with Alfa Matrix unleashing the great album “Keep This World Empty”. The band’s mastermind, Istvan Gazdag, is now already back on track releasing a new and somewhat conceptual work. “Fire” in a way pays homage to the Hungarian underground scene LD50, which reassembled bands and fans. First Aid 4 Souls invited several Hungarian artists to release this new work. The featured artists are Emke from Black Nail Cabaret, Josef Stapel from Ultranoire, Vic Willow and ‘Damage’ from Planetdamage.

Content: Nine of the twelve songs are featuring Vic Willow as the singer and the least I can say is that this artist has a great timbre of voice. He sometimes reminds me of Gary Numan, but he’s injecting passion to the songs. And the songs are moving from pure EBM towards electro-pop tracks. Some cuts are supported with poignant atmospheric layers. This is a real diversified work, also experimenting with orchestral arrangements, funky grooves and even a rather cinematographic last cut. Emke (Black Nail Cabaret) is also an artist with a unique timbre of voice. She really rules over the song and I have to say that Istvan Gazdag created a meticulous composition fitting with her vocals.

+ + + : First Aid 4 Souls is a band I’m keeping an eye on for some years now. I’ve never been disappointed and this new –and particular work, only confirms the talent of Istvan Gazdag. This musician operates as a true sound architect who feels comfortable with different styles of electronic music. But I have to say that the opening song “Burst Of Anger” is just like an amazing sonic assault! The song is driven by menacing bass lines, hard dance kicks and a great lead while the charisma of singer Vic Willow is doing the rest. “The Worm Queen” is another great song with the same singer and here again it reveals intelligent EBM. The somewhat more groovy driven “Burn” –again featuring Vic Willow, is also an attention grabber. I also remain fascinated by the female power of Emke. Last, but not least I like the ‘Hungarian’ concept of the work!

– – – : I noticed a few cuts, which can’t convince me; probably because electro-pop isn’t Istvan’s best exposure.

Conclusion: First Aid 4 Souls remains to me one of the hottest newcomers from the Alfa Matrix stable; this is intelligent EBM mixed with a few more influences.

Best songs: “Burst Of Anger”, “The Worm Queen”, “Das Messer”, “Burn”, “Ordinary Demonism”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.facebook.com/First-Aid-4-Souls-180876236297

Label: www.alfa-matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix

About First Aid 4 Souls

First Aid 4 Souls is a Hungarian project led by ex-Vacuum member István Gazdag, active for more than ten years by 2020. The band signed to Alfa Matrix for the 2019 album “Keep This World Empty”, discussed in a January 2020 Click Interview. “Fire” paid tribute to the Hungarian underground community LD50.hu, gathering guest vocalists from the local scene; First Aid 4 Souls followed it later in 2020 with the EP “Dreambox” and, in 2021, the album “Stainless Steel Eyes”.

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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(Photo by Brigi Major) Veteran Hungarian artist István Gazdag joined the Alfa Matrix label in 2019 for the release of the dark EBM album “Keep This World Empty” (get it here on Bandcamp) which was recorded with his partner in crime Mortum on vocals. Gazdag has been very active in the avant-garde electronic / industrial scene since the late 80’s with numerous and quite diversified releases on various labels under his belt and some great remix work for such cult acts like Coil, Soft Cell, Test. Dept., Cabaret Voltaire or Einstürzende Neubauten.

On the new “Fire” album (available now from Bandcamp) you get a collaboration effort with several key-protagonists from the electro industrial scene in Hungary. As a result the release is released under the ‘First Aid 4 Souls feat. LD50’ named after the famous cult sub-culture community site LD50.hu where all the fans and artists in the country gathered. A bit like our legendary Side-Line forum (where trolling became kind of a sports we must admit).

But back to Hungary, the legacy of the LD50.hu forum van be found back on this 12-track album via studio collaborations with other Hungarian artists like Black Nail Cabaret’s dark pop diva Emke, Ultranoire’s singer Josef Stapel, provocative artist Vic Willow (and his voice evoking David Bowie and Gary Numan) or yet the writer/futurist Damage of Planetdamage.

The result is a mix of 80’s tainted moody electro wave with a dance floor edge and noir melancholic vocals. It also shows that the Hungarian dark wave scene is far from being dead, on the contrary. A daring yet very accessible release.

Check out this excellent release below, you can download it right now from 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. 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 Richard Besenczi) The Hungarian dark pop duo Black Nail Cabaret have launched their new song and video on Youtube. “No Gold” is the forerunner song and video from the upcoming album, to be released in the spring of 2020. The 5th album is surrounded with some secrets that will be revealed in the beginning of the New Year.

Here’s what the band says about the new song: “Change is inevitable. Mental or physical, local or global, it’s always happening. Sometimes we have to drop the old skin to give place to the new growing underneath. his song is a daydreamer, but at the same time it is taking action. It is a way of letting go, of people’s expectations, of our own expectations, of our symbols… to enjoy it a little, you know.”

Here’s the video.

Black Nail Cabaret formed in 2008. The band consists of Emese Arvai-Illes (vocals) and Krisztian Arvai (keyboards). They have been playing shows across Europe since their stage debut in 2010. Their 3rd album “Dichromat” was released by the German label Basic Unit Productions. Black Nail Cabaret has since established their own record label Dichronaut Records with fellow Hungarian synth noir band Ultranoire.

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-pop, wave-pop.

Background/Info: Based in Frankfurt am Main (Germany) the duo Josef Stapel – Szilard Kun have already released two album and are actually working on their new opus, planned to be released later on this year. “Isolation” features two songs that will be released on the next album and one, older, but exclusive B-side cut.

Content: The last album (cf. “Intronaut”) already was a fascinating listening and this new EP is exactly the same. The main difference is that I experienced the songs as more personal. “Isolation” is dark synth-pop experience featuring retro sound treatments and an evasive sensation.

+ + + : The spooky pop approach is pretty exciting. There are some minimal sound treatments running through the songs. “Fading Into you” is a real cool cut, with an exciting vintage touch on top. But I also have to mention the previously unreleased “State Controlled Illusions”. Last, but not least I like this kind of singles/EP’s featuring 3 different songs; it’s retro-like and in my opinion, much more exciting than EP’s featuring a countless number of remixes.

– – – : I’m maybe missing a little power boost in the songs, but you don’t hear me to complain.

Conclusion: There’s no better way to introduce your next full length than releasing such a cool EP!

Best songs: “Fading Into You”, “State Controlled Illusions”, “Shell We Live In”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.ultranoire.com / www.facebook.com/ultranoiremusic

Label: www.scent-air.com / www.facebook.com/ScentairRecords

About Ultranoire

Ultranoire is a synthpop duo of Josef Stapel, based in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, and Szilard Kun, in Hungary. The pair had released two albums, including “Intronaut”, before issuing the “Isolation” EP reviewed here, with a follow-up full-length in the works at the time.

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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Black Nail Cabaret is a Hungarian formation, which was originally set up in 2008 by Emese Arvai-Illes (vocals) and Zsófia Tarr (keyboards). Zsófia Tarr left the band in 2016 and got replaced by Krisztian Arvai. Black Nail Cabaret is a rather atypical formation active at the wider music fields of electro-pop music. That’s maybe the reason they define their sound as ‘dark avant-garde pop’ or ‘synth noir music’. After a self-released debut full length and two official albums released on Basic Unit Productions, Black Nail Cabaret’s newest opus “Pseudopop” has been released on Dichronaut Recrods –a label they set up together with Ultranoire. “Pseudopop” is for sure their most accomplished- and still intimate work to date.  

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: I realized Black Nail Cabaret has been already set up in 2008. How do you look back at this first artistic decade? What have been the main facts and best memories?

Emese: It is incredible, it has been such a journey. We have been going step by step, evolving on the way and there is still so much ahead! The main thing is that we are still learning, about music, about the industry and about ourselves. Being on tour is always the sweetest memory of all, going to new places, introducing our music to new audiences. 

Krisztian: In summary, we produced 10 releases out of, which we had 4 studio albums, we played in many countries of Europe, and so on. This has definitely been an upward path and we just hope it will continue in the same pace. It makes me proud that our spirit, and of those who work with the band hasn’t faded in the last 10 years.

Q: Sound-wise I always have experienced your music as something enigmatic; definitely electronic- and pop-like, but still atypical. Music with a very personal sound identity, a kind of sonic-DNA! How much important is it for you as artists to create something personal and how do you perceive this sound?

Emese: Sonic-DNA, I like that! I think there is no other way, butgoing deeply personal. The current album is always a mixture of all impulses –musical and artistic, that affected us in that 1-2 year period. I always have to dig down to find a new concept I can give birth to and live for in the following 1-2 years. I can tell you that the new concept after “Pseudopop” is already on the way. It’s hard to close this tap of ideas!

Krisztian: Emese’s melodies are crucial and define the quality of the musical background and the outcome of the song. We were never keen to follow any trends and we didn’t force anything into a song that had no place in it. This is fortunate in one way, however it is one of the reasons that we may never be part of the mainstream.

Q: The front cover of your album reminds me to the Rorschach test while the title of your new album “Pseudopop” is quite intriguing as well. What is it all about?

Emese: I consider this album to be a contemporary pop record, with dark alternative roots. ‘Avant-pop’ if you like. Deep down it still has its darkness, even though it is melodic and upbeat at times. I started doing Rorschach paintings for “Bête Noire” and there had been many for the single only, so I continued painting, using the song titles as references, or sometimes randomly. We kept the ones that we could relate to the most.

Q: I personally experienced “Pseudopop” as your most intimate work, which also is an aspect that comes back in the lyrical content. Can you give us a few more info and details?

Emese: I try to grasp everyday life as it goes by and usually write a lot of lyrics on the way, while traveling, or at night when something keeps me awake –like it was with “Icarus”. I sometimes struggle with insomnia and find it hard to fall and remain asleep. One night I was watching the lights from the streets reflecting on the ceiling and it felt like our bed drifted out of the room and we are floating in the night. Something gave a constant A sound. It was eerie and beautiful, instantly I felt grateful for not being able to sleep, so I wrote it all out. That said, I think this album was a great lesson to open up more and to let go of the expectations, and to rather focus on what is trying to crawl out to the surface.

Q: How do you consider “Pseudopop” in the evolution –considering items such as writing, recording, production, of Black Nail Cabaret?

Emese: I am really proud of “Pseudopop”; I think we managed to keep on progressing. That is the main goal with every album, to outdo the previous work in a way, or rather doing something different. In order to release the pressure of it, we like to explore new directions. One gets so many impressions in one year that it is inevitable to be affected by it. It will push us to slightly different paths, methods, visuals our sound.

Krisztian: A band can maintain the audience’s interest until it can remain in contact with its fans and manages to bring the expected quality. There is atmosphere and depth in the songs, but it still resonates with our followers. “Pseudopop” is a good example for all this. There is an old-school flavor to it but its sound is in line with other great productions of recent times. Our technical and professional development has helped us to keep up and to bring this to life. We are on a long learning trip. I don’t think “Pseudopop” is the best we can do, we have to keep looking forward.

Q: You both are Hungarians based in the UK. Do you feel concerned as citizens and artists about ‘Brexit’ and what are your further plans and ambitions?   

Emese: We are based in Hungary since 2017. We moved back after Brexit was announced – although this wasn’t the main reason of it. However I still do work in London as do many of my friends as European citizens and travel back and forth, therefore I am concerned about what will happen to EU employees as at the moment everything is still uncertain.

One part of me is idealistic and is hoping that the UK will somehow remain. Artistically I am not sure if it means any difference, as I assume we could still travel to the UK with our gear to play gigs there, except we would need to use our passports instead of the ID card.

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: Electro-pop.

Background/Info: Set up in 2008 the Hungarian duo Black Nail Cabaret aka Emese Arvai-Illes (vocals) and Krisztian Arvai (keyboards) are back on track. After having released 2 albums on Daniel Myer’s (Architect, Haujobb) label Basic Unit Productions, Black Nail Cabaret together with Ultranoire set up their own label: Dichronaut Records. “Pseudopop” is the bands third official full length –while they self-released the debut album “Emerald City” in 2012.

Content: If you’re familiar with the electro-pop sound of Black Nail Cabaret you know this band is an atypical formation in the genre. The new songs aren’t that different, revealing an intimate mood and precious song writing. A few tracks are a little bit more into ‘dance’, other passages are sensual, but globally speaking this is more the kind of pop music to dream away on.

+ + + : There where so many electro-pop bands are holding on to the same influences and standards, Black Nail Cabaret deals with an own approach. It’s pretty diversified, like reflecting multiple influences, but in the end I would say they’re composing intelligent electro-pop. Emese Arvai-Illes is a talented vocalist and not only for her sensual timbre of voice, but the vocals are in perfect osmosis with the music. I also have to say a word about the lyrics, which clearly seem to be important as well. Here again I noticed an unusual approach; this is an electro-pop band dealing with other subjects than the familiar electro-pop themes about lost relationships etc. Song-wise “Bête Noire” –which has been also released as EP-title song clearly is the most danceable cut and a real potential hit. I also have to mention the more groovy “Trigger-Happy”, the wafting “Rhythm X” and deeply sexy (just pay attention to the lyrics) “La Petite Mort”.

– – – : The album features 10 songs and there’s just one little piece (cf. “90s”) which couldn’t convince me. I think there’s no reason to complain.

Conclusion: The front cover of this album is clearly inspired by the famous Rorschach test; it’s intriguing and perfectly symbolizing the work of Black Nail Cabaret: unique, a bit mysterious and deeply artistic.

Best songs: “Bête Noire”, “Trigger-Happy”, “Rhythm X”, “La Petite Mort”, “Icarus”, “Resonance”.  

Rate: (8½).

Artist: www.blacknailcabaret.com / www.facebook.com/bncband

Label: www.facebook.com/dichronautrecords

About Black Nail Cabaret

Black Nail Cabaret is Emese Árvai-Illés and Krisztián Árvai, formed in Budapest, Hungary in 2008. The duo self-released its debut album, “Emerald City”, in 2012, then issued two albums through Daniel Myer‘s Basic Unit Productions before co-founding Dichronaut Records with Ultranoire.

“Pseudopop” was the band’s third full-length. Black Nail Cabaret’s most recent album, “Chrysanthemum”, was released on 1 March 2024, and the duo confirmed 2026 tour dates across Hungary, Germany, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom in support of it.

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 Hungarian dark pop duo Black Nail Cabaret is returning with a brand new album today, the 20th of November, titled “Pseudopop”. You can order it now via the band’s own record label Dichronaut Records.

A rather stunning video is available now for the track “Rhythm X” and can be viewed for the very first time on Side-Line right below.

It was created by Zoran Varga, who previously worked with the band as a photographer. The song was primarily created as a “dancer” song, and it has consequently been brought to life with Peter Copek dancer/choreographer’s help. The song is also an homage to the art of Marina Abramović, particularly to her famous ‘Rhythm 0’ performance from 1974, where she was the object and the audience was invited to do whatever they wanted to her.

“We don’t want this record to be labelled”

As far as the music itself, the band is not keen on having it labeled: “We don’t want this record to be labelled, because genre labels are equivocal and arbitrary at best. We believe that pop music can be meaningful and avant-garde, and that alternative music can reach a wider audience and not just a group of people. Nowadays some genres overlap each other, giving a chance for something new to be born – and we think this is exciting as there is so much to learn!”

Black Nail Cabaret formed in 2008, the band consists of Emese Arvai-Illes (vocals) and Krisztian Arvai (keyboards). They have been playing shows across Europe since their stage debut in 2010. Their 3rd album “Dichromat” was released by the German label Basic Unit Productions. Black Nail Cabaret has since established their own record label Dichronaut Records with fellow Hungarian synth noir band Ultranoire.

Warmly recommended!

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: Synth-pop.

Background/Info: Ultranoire is Hungarian-German duo unleashing their second opus on Scentair Records. They define their music as ‘synth-noir’-music.

Content: Ultranoire deals with the purest imaginable synth-pop format. This music directly appeals for fans of Depeche Mode and De/Vision. The songs are into melancholia, which totally fits to the ‘synth-noir’ definition. It’s a delicate composition accomplished with piano-like arrangements and masterly carried by the sensual vocals of singer Josef Stapel.

+ + + : No doubt about it, Ultranoire has been clearly inspired by Depeche Mode revealing to be talented copyists. Their music is accomplished and accomplished with great arrangements and melancholic atmospheres. I also like the singer’s timbre of voice, which also reminds to Depeche Mode. He injects now a sexy touch and then pure emotion. The song “Yesteryears” is not my favorite one, but I mention it because it probably is one of the most personal cuts.

– – – : The main point with bands inspired by Depeche Mode is that they never will sound as Depeche Mode. They’ll always remain in the shadow, being labeled as ‘copyists’! So Ultranoire in a way suffers from a lack of sound identity.

Conclusion: If you forget Depeche Mode for a few minutes, I can assure you Ultranoire is a real fascinating formation. I’m not afraid of emulations and definitely not when they’ve been accomplished with talent. So ‘yes’ I like this album, which I would simply recommend to all synth-pop lovers.

Best songs: “Poisoned”, “Yesteryears”, “Technicolor Lies”, “Playing Dead”.

Rate: (8).

Band: www.ultranoire.com / www.facebook.com/ultranoiremusic

Label: www.scent–air.com / www.facebook.com/ScentairRecords

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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