Along with the reissue of “Ritual”, which appeared on CD for the first time, Zoharum is simultaneously releasing this album by Wieloryb. “God’s Final Breath” was released only in digital format via Antyscena last year and is now finally receiving a CD edition as well, although without the bonus tracks.

If you are familiar with Paweł Kmiecik’s Polish project, you will immediately recognize his affinity for Rhythmic-Noise, while also appreciating the way he uses it as a foundation to incorporate Trance/Tribal influences alongside additional Electro elements. The result is an exhilarating production in which power and dark atmospheres merge with hard-hitting beats, provoking frenetic dancefloor energy in the listener. Here and there, raw, possessed vocals are added -and according to me these tracks are the best ones- while other tracks reveal subtle yet highly effective EBM influences. One particular piece even recalls the era when Ministry fully embraced an Industrial direction, although Wieloryb reshapes this into a kind of Industrial-Ambient/Cinematic experience.

This is an extremely versatile opus; perhaps not the definitive reference album in Wieloryb’s catalogue, yet still a highly successful release containing several essential and crushing musical gems. For me, Wieloryb remains one of the most visionary projects within the broader Industrial scene. (Rating:8).

Listen to “Break The Chains”:

About Wieloryb

Wieloryb is the Polish project of Paweł Kmiecik, who also records with G.A.S. It began as a duo in the 1990s before becoming a solo project, building a catalogue of rhythmic-noise releases that included work for the Hands label. “God’s Final Breath” reached CD through Zoharum in 2026, issued alongside a reissue of “Ritual”.

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

Wieloryb originally started out as a duo sometime in the 1990s, but evolved into a solo project by Polish artist Paweł Kmiecik (also active within G.A.S.). The project gained some recognition through various hard Rhythmic-Noise releases on Hands. Over the past year and this year, there has been a lot of buzz surrounding Wieloryb: new material, but also reissues such as “Ritual”. Originally released in 2021 on Antyscena as a digital album, it was reissued by Zoharum on CD with three additional tracks.

Wieloryb has never stood still, and the Rhythmic-Noise influences have now expanded into an Industrial-Trance format, spiced with heavy kicks, hard repetitive loops, and spoken samples. It is an overwhelming experience from an artist who defies musical boundaries and, above all, expands them. He appeals to a broader audience, but one that appreciates power and darkness. The three bonus tracks do not offer much additional value, with the exception of the final track. Here, Wieloryb seems to have rediscovered some ambient-oriented material from his archives, while the closer delivers pure, primal power.

Wieloryb is the kind of artist who brings a breath of fresh air to the broader Industrial landscape, while also sounding right at home in an underground Techno temple. (Rating:8½).

Listen to “Fly – Bonus”:

About Wieloryb

Wieloryb is the Polish project of Paweł Kmiecik, who also records with G.A.S. It began as a duo in the 1990s before becoming a solo project, building a catalogue of rhythmic-noise releases that included work for the Hands label. “Ritual”, first issued digitally on Antyscena in 2021, was reissued on CD by Zoharum in 2026 alongside “God’s Final Breath”.

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

(Interview by Karo Kratochwil) For many listeners, Wieloryb is one of the projects that proved Polish extreme electronics can hit with the same force and invention as anything coming out of Belgium or Germany. Formed in 1994 in the Trójmiasto area and first associated with EBM, the project quickly developed its own dialect – raw, physical, and confrontational – captured early on in releases like ‘1’, later reissued by Requiem Records and rediscovered by a new generation.

With ‘No Flag’ (Requiem Records), Wieloryb steps further into a hybrid zone where hardware-driven rhythm and industrial pressure meet generative processes and AI-assisted systems. The point is not to replace human intent, but to stress-test it – turning technology into a field of tension, and identity into a question mark rather than a banner. Below is a conversation with Paweł Kmiecik, the mind behind Wieloryb, about the early days of Wieloryb, rhythm as pressure, visuals as parallel language, and what “no flag” means in a world eager to label everything.

Wieloryb interview

(S+) You formed Wieloryb in 1994 in Trójmiasto and were quickly seen as one of the first Polish representatives of EBM. When you look back at the early days of ‘1’, ‘2’ and ‘3’, what do you feel you were reacting to—musically and socially—and how do you hear that material now, after the Requiem Records reissues gave it a second life?

Paweł: My strongest emotional attachment is to the Wieloryb album “1”, because it was created during an extremely intense period. It was a constant struggle. With equipment that was almost impossible to access. With unstable early electronic technology. And with a complete lack of understanding from the local scene.

At that time, punk rock dominated in Poland. Guitars, sweat, direct confrontation. We came with computers, drum machines and electronic generators. For many people, this was unacceptable. “The machines play instead of you” was something we heard constantly. We were outsiders. In that sense, it is very similar to how artists working with AI are sometimes perceived today.

Out of that tension we coined a slogan that defined us and deliberately provoked the scene: “We can’t play any instruments, and we are the best at it.” It was not a joke. It was a rejection of the idea that music must be validated by traditional instrumental virtuosity.

Today, I hear the Wieloryb album “1” as a document of raw intention. No strategy, no career thinking, just emotion and resistance. The Requiem Records reissues gave this material a second life and confirmed that what was once seen as a limitation was actually the foundation of Wieloryb’s identity.

(S+) Your sound has always balanced industrial grit with a very physical sense of rhythm. How did your approach to rhythm and texture evolve from those first releases to the new Wieloryb release ‘No Flag’?

Paweł: At the beginning, rhythm was almost disciplinary. Rigid, repetitive, functional. Over time, rhythm became physical rather than dance-oriented. I stopped thinking about groove and started thinking about pressure.

Technically, this evolution came from deeper work with hardware drum machines, analog generators and layered rhythmic structures, combined later with digital and generative processes. Conceptually, rhythm stopped being a backbone and became a field of tension. On No Flag, the music does not move forward smoothly. It pushes, resists and presses against the listener’s body.

(S+) ‘No Flag’ is described as a manifesto and as a world without flags, divisions, or clear borders between human and machine. What does “no flag” mean to you personally?

Paweł: “No Flag” is a refusal of simplified identities. National, political, cultural or technological. A flag is a shortcut, and shortcuts are dangerous.

This album is not about choosing sides. It is about stepping outside predefined frameworks. The border between human and machine is no longer a conflict for me. It is a condition. Emotionally, No Flag comes from exhaustion with narratives. Politically, it is a conscious refusal to be easily classified.

(S+) You treat AI and generative algorithms as something closer to a catalyst than a gimmick. How does that collaboration look in practice?

Paweł: First of all, AI does not replace traditional instruments in my work. Hardware synthesizers, electronic generators and drum machines remain the core sound sources. AI enters the process as an external intelligence that proposes structures, relationships and unexpected variations.

I allow algorithms to suggest forms, rhythms or textures at certain stages, usually early or mid-process. But meaning, selection and emotional weight are always human decisions. The machine can propose form, but it has no memory, no fear, no intention. That line is never crossed.

(S+) There is always a fear that AI flattens individuality. How do you prevent that?

Paweł: By never using AI in a neutral or “default” way. Systems are restricted, misused, forced into errors. I am interested in moments where algorithms fail or behave unpredictably.

Those errors are often kept. Glitches, instabilities, awkward transitions. Paradoxically, these moments feel more human than polished perfection. Identity is not produced by AI. Identity is the filter through which AI is allowed to speak.

(S+) The visual side of Wieloryb feels tightly connected to the sound. How do you design that dialogue?

Paweł: Sound and image are parallel processes. One does not illustrate the other. Sometimes a visual concept triggers sound. Sometimes finished tracks demand a specific visual logic.

Generativity plays a similar role in both domains. What matters is not style, but tension. The visuals and the music share the same energetic state rather than the same aesthetic vocabulary.

(S+) On ‘No Flag’ you create dense clusters of sound that hit both physically and emotionally. What are you listening for when building these structures?

Paweł: I listen to the body, not to meters. Of course I work consciously with frequencies, sub-bass and psychoacoustics, but the final decision is instinctive.

A track is finished when it becomes uncomfortable. When it applies pressure. No Flag was designed to be physically demanding, not aggressive, but uncompromising.

(S+) Wieloryb has always experimented with technology. What do you see as the next step in the human–machine dialogue?

Paweł: I am interested in autonomous systems that react to space, time and audience in real time. Not as a gimmick, but as a living component of performance.

For me, rhythmic noise is not a genre. It is a language. Technology is not a goal, but a medium for testing the limits of perception and control.

(S+) Finally, where will we be able to experience ‘No Flag’ live?

Paweł: This material works best in liminal spaces. Between club and gallery. Between concert and audiovisual installation. Places where the audience is not sure whether to dance or to observe.

It is not about the number of shows. It is about context. No Flag needs space to breathe and to apply pressure at the same time.

Karo Kratochwil

Based in Wrocław, I work as a music journalist and photographer covering electro, industrial, EBM, gothic, and darkwave. My work includes features and live coverage, as well as concert, portrait, promo, and theater photography. What interests me most is the connection between artistic intention, what the work communicates, and what unfolds live on stage, all in pursuit of the bigger picture behind the music.

Genre/Influences: Industrial-trance, industrial, industrial-tribal.

Background/Info: Wieloryb definitely is one of the most noticeable projects in the industrial avant-garde style. Hailing from Poland this formation has already released several productions. “Semantik” is the 4^th official full length, which was already released on Hands.

Content: The main influence of Wieloryb clearly appears to be industrial music. This is a solid basis, which next serves to get mixed with some avant-garde influences, which sometimes are not that industrial-minded at all. It creates this industrial-modernism moving the work into hard-banging trance-industrial passages. This album features multiple cuts where hard-techno and industrial music has been merged together. The sound treatments are absolutely amazing revealing high tech production skills.

The debut part is absolutely overwhelming while we next get a few cuts which are more into ‘traditional’ industrial inspiration. The final part is already different and sounds like industrial-tribal music, which might remind you of This Morn’Omina. This is a more mysterious sound spiced with some Eastern influences and driven by shamanic rhythms.

+ + + : “Semantik” consists of 3 parts: you get a great trance-industrial debut revealing magnificent cuts followed by classical power-industrial works and a final industrial-tribal passages revealing a few more impressive tracks. Wieloryb clearly stands for intelligent and sophisticated industrial music made of brilliant sound treatments and a transcendental production. This is an album with several great songs.

– – – : My only regret is the somewhat average like industrial part featuring 3 cuts, which doesn’t deliver anything new.

Conclusion: If you’re in search of refreshing industrial productions, “Semantik” definitely sounds like a reference! This is a new master act by this inventive sound architect.

Best songs: “Behi Jessir – 44 Second Long Remix”, “Statistik”, “Crash Report – Dance Mix”, “Newo – Wieloryb vs. Selektronik”, “Organ”.

Rate: (8½).

Band: www.facebook.com/NOISE.WIELORYB

Label: www.handsproductions.com / www.facebook.com/hands.official

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