(Picture via Darkvolt) Belgian Antwerp-based dark electro artist Darkvolt has a new album out, “Songs for Halloween” through DressCode Black, a sub-label of Detroit-Berlin. Musically this release offers eerie soundscapes and industrial beats and is available both digitally and physically on CD, just in time for the Halloween season.

The album features eight tracks including collaborations with other artists in the dark electro and industrial scene. Among the album’s featured artists are:

• Marieke Lightband (Psy’Aviah) on “The Skeleton King”.
• Axel Machens (Placebo Effect) on “Trick or Treat”.
• Jan Dewulf (Mildreda) on “The Curse”.
• Vain Sacrosanct (CauseNation) on “Candyman”.
• Chesko Geert Vandekerkhof (Der Klinke) on “Midnight Stalker”.
• Peter V. (Pro Patria) on “The Mask”.

“Songs for Halloween” is available for streaming on Spotify, Bandcamp, and other platforms, with physical CDs available for purchase through DressCode Black’s official channels.

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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Belgian EBM act CauseNation is set to release “The Remix Collection” on September 6th, 2024. This new compilation, out via the Antwerp based DressCode Black label, features a lineup of remixes that re-imagine some of CauseNation’s tracks.

On remix duty we find Vomito Negro, Novakill, Darkvolt, First Aid 4 Souls, Nova State Machine, Enzo Kreft, Cirque d’Ess and VV303.

“The Remix Collection” is already available on Bandcamp and will be available on all major platforms, including Spotify, starting September 6th, 2024.

Tracklist:

1. Mark of Cain (Vomito Negro remix)
2. Hearts Beat Strong (Novakill remix)
3. Demons of the Night (Darkvolt remix)
4. Mark of Cain (First Aid 4 Souls remix)
5. The Things You Promise (Nova State Machine remix)
6. Hearts Beat Strong (Enzo Kreft remix)
7. Mark of Cain (Cirque d’Ess remix)
8. Hearts Beat Strong (Darkvolt remix)
9. Divided We Fall (First Aid 4 Souls remix)
10. The Things You Promise (VV303 remix)
11. Demons of the Night (First Aid 4 Souls remix)

CauseNation is based in Antwerp and was formed in 2015 by Vain Sacrosanct, Dries De Vreeze, and Jonas Herrnia. The band made its debut with the single “The Things You Promise” which was mixed and mastered by Claus Larsen.

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, EBM, Cinematic.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Hungarian First Aid 4 Souls remains ultra-prolific already releasing new work. Core member István Gazdag wanted to revisit his Electro-Goth roots and paying ‘tribute to the work of geniuses who laid the foundations of Synth Dark-Wave and to his personal heroes that are Bauhaus and Tones On Tail.’ The EP -which rather looks as a mini-album, features seven songs. Belgian singer ‘Vain Sacrosanct’  (Causenation) sung on five cuts while Canadian-Hungarian female vocalist Linda Daemon (Kr3ll, Black Mamba…) and UK Pop singer Mark Duffield each sang on one song.

Content: We’re used to hear First Aid 4 Souls dealing with sophisticated EBM but István Gazdag also took us by surprise exploring other sonic fields during the past years. The EBM influence is definitely present at this work but there indeed is a good-old 80s Electro-Wave influence as well. The work sounds more atmospheric and even evasive on a few passages. The Electro-Wave tribute is accentuated at a few cuts by guitar sounds.

+ + + : Gazdag has already accomplished a meaningful production which sounds different from the ‘traditional’ sound of the project although featuring cool cuts. There also is a true symbiosis between his music and the charismatic vocals of Vain Sacrosanct. My favorite cuts are the ones revealing an explicit EBM touch but there’s also something to say about both debut cuts featuring an ominous atmosphere.

– – – : I can’t say First Aid 4 Souls is too prolific but it sometimes becomes difficult to catch the red line between all the different albums and EPs of the project.

Conclusion: A very personal but accomplished tribute to some of István Gazdag’s favorite 80s artists.

Best songs: “Now You Can See Me”, “The Sweetest Temptation”, “Alpha Female”, “Laudator Temporis”.

Rate: 7½.

Artist: www.firstaid4souls.com / www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063628544089

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

Listen to “Laudator Temporis Acti”:

About First Aid 4 Souls

First Aid 4 Souls is the project of Hungarian artist István Gazdag, signed to Alfa Matrix. The prolific project moves between EBM and Electro-Wave, and the “Laudator Temporis Acti” EP was described by Gazdag as a tribute to Bauhaus and Tones On Tail.

The seven-song release features Belgian singer Vain Sacrosanct (Causenation) on five tracks, with Canadian-Hungarian vocalist Linda Daemon (Kr3ll, Black Mamba) and UK singer Mark Duffield each contributing one song.

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 musician István Gazdag, in collaboration with Mortum, has unveiled a brand-new EP titled “Laudator Temporis Acti” under the First Aid 4 Souls banner. The EP is available for immediate download on Bandcamp.

This 7-track EP is a nod to the past, with the band embracing their electro-goth origins and paying homage to iconic bands such as Bauhaus and Tones On Tail. Additionally, István Gazdag has incorporated contemporary inspirations from the thriving post-punk cold wave genre, drawing from bands like Sextile and Paradox Obscure among others.

For this unique project, István Gazdag joined forces with old friends. This includes Vain Sacrosanct, the lead singer of the Belgian cold electro group Causenation, with whom Gazdag previously co-released an album titled “Stainless Steel Eyes”. The EP also showcases talents like the renowned industrial metal singer Linda Daemon, who has Canadian-Hungarian roots and is known for her work with Kr3Ll and Black Mamba, as well as UK’s noir pop artist Mark Duffield.

The fresh EP is available for listening below. Read the review of ‘Laudator Temporis Acti’.

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.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info:  First Aid 4 Souls’ mastermind István Gazdag is a prolific artist who also like collaborating with other artists. After last year’s released album “Fire” on which he worked with several of his compatriots, the Hungarian artist now released this work together with Belgian artist  ‘Vain Sacrosanct’ (Causenation). They know each other as István Gazdag already remixed Causenation and mixed plus mastered the last album.

Content: This work is clearly driven by EBM influences, which is a quite familiar style for First Aid 4 Souls. The main particularity is the vocals performed by Ivan Heyligen aka ‘Vain Sacrosanct’. This guy has a charismatic way of singing so in a way it creates a sonic illusion of FLA (for the music) meeting Covenant (for the vocals). But First Aid 4 Souls isn’t that typical EBM band, but always injects a very own input, which mainly comes through in the choruses of this work. You’ll notice somewhat Pop-refined choruses getting the record pretty accessible.

+ + + : István Gazdag never stops to impress me; he has the skills to adapt himself to the singers he’s working with. So each album has something different from the previous one although there’s a common thread, which is easily recognizable in every single production. There’s this darker EBM approach reminding FLA, which always comes back. “Broken Promise” is a good exposure of this ‘Canadian’ sound. I however prefer “Skin” for the mix of EBM and Electro-Pop and “B.R.O.”, which is a harder and definitely club-driven song with a Future-Pop touch on top. This album also is an opportunity to discover a talented singer involved with the promising Belgian formation Causenation.

– – – : First Aid 4 Souls is always in search of new ideas and experiences. But I’m personally missing the sound and spirit from albums like “Dark Tunnel” and “Keep This World Empty”.

Conclusion: This is one more new collaboration by First Aid 4 Souls and the least I can say is that this work sounds like a perfect match between the Hungarian sound master and Belgian singer.

Best songs: “B.R.O.”, “Skin”, “Broken Promise”, “Who’s Gonna Walk The Line”.

Rate: (7 ½)

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

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

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

Besides working together with Mortum on the next First Aid 4 Soul harsh industrial album, Hungarian artist István Gazdag also enjoys experimenting with other artists and expanding his sonic spectrum through collaborations.

For “Stainless Steel Eyes” he worked together with Vain Sacrosanct, lead vocalist of Belgium’s cold electro act Causenation. On this 12-track album, the duo went resolutely for vintage synths and the good old electro industrial sound from the 80’s. Especially the track “Who’s Gonna Walk the Line” is a real ear wurm as you hear below.

The release is available on Bandcamp as a high quality audio download and from all other services as well.

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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