They started with Code-64 and continued with Xenturion Prime. In the meantime, this Swedish act is already wrapping up work on its fifth album and is treating us to this 3-track single as a preview.

The title track is a strong continuation of their previous work—efficient and solid Electro-Pop driven by a powerful bass line and blasting sound treatments. All three tracks, including a cover of a song by Kansas, are carefully produced with particular attention given to the vocal production.

A solid title track is followed by a strong B-side, though the cover, in my opinion, feels unnecessary. (Rating:7½).

Listen to “Leviathan Alpha”:

https://xenturionprime.bandcamp.com/track/leviathan-alpha

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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Out this Friday via Progress Productions is the brand new single from the Swedish/Norwegian trio Xenturion Prime, “Leviathan Alpha”. “Leviathan Alpha” is the first single taken from the upcoming album from Xenturion Prime, the follow-up to 2024’s remix album “Prisma_Refracted“.

As a bonus the single holds the B-sides “VHS” and a cover of “Dust In The Wind” originally released by the band Kansas.

About Xenturion Prime

Xenturion Prime emerged in 2013 from the dissolution of the Swedish band Code 64. In 2014, they released their debut album, “Mecha Rising”, followed by “Humanity Plus” in 2017.

Five years later they returned with “Prisma”, which was remixed for “Prisma Refracted” in 2024 featuring collaborations with artists such as Valhall, Lights A.M, and Vanguard. Anno 2025 Xenturion Prime conists of Hans-Olof Mattsson, Bjørn Marius Borg and Erlend Eilertsen (Essence Of Mind).

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 Xenturion Prime) Out on April 12 is the all new album by the Swedish/Norwegian synthwave/futurepop duo Xenturion Prime (formally the members of Code 64) aka Bjørn Marius Borg and Hasse Mattsson (Hans-Olof Mattsson). The CD version of this album will be limited to just 300 copies.

This limited edition remix album is based upon the “Prisma” album (2022) and all the tracks has been reworked totally by acts such as Valhall, Lights A.M, Vanguard, Midnight Resistance, Karin My and Technomancer just to name a few. Back in 2022 our reviewer said this about the “Prisma” album: “The band still has something apart from the rest which makes their originality and strength. The global production has been improved from album to album but especially the uplifting  effect from the choruses is a noticeable evolution.”

Check out “Embers” in a Midnight Resistance remix.

Tracks:

• Embers (Midnight Resistance Rmx)
• Last Dance (Technomancer Rmx)
• Renegade (Xenturion Prime Radio Edit)
• Moving on (Tianzi Rmx)
• Premonition (Bariuz Rmx)
• Memory Lanes (Mars TV Redux)
• Shades of Light (Valhall Rmx)
• Distant Voices (Karin My Rmx)
• Renegade (Vanguard Rmx)
• Starburst (Lights A.M Version)
• Pathfinder (Cosmoplex Rmx)

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

Out on December 16th via Progress Productions in a limited edition of 300 copies worldwide is the all new release from the Swedish duo Johan Kronberg and Henrik Karlsson aka. Seven Trees.

The release is a remix album based on their album “Dead/End”, which was released last year. In addition to tracks being “re-treated” by the band themselves, we find acts like Xenturion Prime, Sleepwalk and Run Level Zero as well as new acts such as Skylog.

The album comes in a digipak with artwork of artist Axel Torvenius.

Tracks:

1. Game over (Strobe Mix)
2. Dystopic Illusions (Blind Denial Remix)
3. Phased out (Scatha Floorkiller Remix)
4. Game over (Zephyr Sequenced Rework)
5. Vein of Charcoal (Remixed by Sleepwalk)
6. Phased out (Remixed by Xenturion Prime)
7. Valium Dreams (Dark Ambience Rework)
8. Final Program (Enter the Void Remix)
9. Veins of Charcoal (Remixed by Run Level Zero)
10. Phased out (Remixed by Skylog)
11. Veins of Charcoal (Flourescent Remix by tEaR!dOwN)
12. Dead/End (I am not well Mix)

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 Swedish electropop act Code 64 are releasing their brand new album “Broken Rhythm” on November 18th. The release will be available in digital format on streaming platforms and as a limited edition CD which will only be available on the band’s Bandcamp page where you can already pre-order the release.

As you can guess, the Lysekil based band is now self-releasing the material. Also good to know, the album was recorded by Christian Espeland and Henrik, the original singer of this project. Christian told us that “you can say it is the follow up album from our classic album ‘Departure’ from 2006.” That promises!

Here’s already a first track to check out.

About Code 64

Code 64 is a synthpop, darkwave, electronica band that signed with the small Norwegian record label, “Angel Productions” only three years after establishing themselves as a group. They released their first album “Storm” in 2003, which contained nine original tracks.

Following this release they continued to work, releasing “Departure” in 2006 on the new label Memento Materia. Code 64’s sophomore album saw US distribution for North America in 2005, when the band signed a multi release licensing deal with A Different Drum. “Departure” was re-released as a 2 CD this time with as bonus disc the “Sea of Stars” single featuring remixes and an exclusive b-side.

Shortly after the release, Henrik Piehl left the band due to musical disagreements. He was replaced by Bjørn Marius Borg and in 2010 the band released its third studio album, “Trialogue”. On July 23, 2013, Code 64 announced that Christian had left the band to spend more time with his family, and the project was disbanded. Hasse Mattsson and Bjørn Marius Borg would then reemerge as the duo Xenturion Prime.

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: Electro-Pop, Body-Pop.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: “Prisma” is already the fourth full length album released by the members of ex-Code 64. Bjørn Marius Borg and Hasse Mattsson brings use eleven new songs.

Content: Xenturion Prime takes off with an overwhelming intro which is directly followed by cool Electro-Pop songs carried by elevating choruses. One of the softer songs features female guest vocals. Next comes a harder cut carried by a solid EBM bass line while the chorus remains Pop-like. The album sounds varied, switching ‘power-pop’ together with happy sounding tunes.

+ + + : Xenturion Prime always brings entertaining Electro-Pop with some extra power and/or EBM on top. The band still has something apart from the rest which makes their originality and strength. The global production has been improved from album to album but especially the uplifting  effect from the choruses is a noticeable evolution. My favorite song however appears to be the most unique from the album. “Renegade” has a strong EBM connotation although still Pop driven.

– – – : The initial magic of the band is a bit gone although Xenturion Prime remains an interesting listening. The song with the female vocals is one of the single pieces which couldn’t convince me.

Conclusion: Intelligent and efficient Electro-Pop!

Best songs: “Renegade”, “Embers”, “Memory Lanes”, “Shades Of Light”.

Rate: 8.

Artist:   www.facebook.com/xenturionprime

Label: www.progress-productions.com / www.facebook.com/progresspro

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

(By our Norwegian correspondent Jan Ronald Stange / Modulo One press release)
Modulo One just released a cover of Ukraine’s Eurovision Song Contest entry from 2007, “Dancing Lasha Tumbai” by Verka Serduchka. Joining them on vocals is Cath Räisänen (ex Xenturion Prime).

All proceeds from the single go to the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund, and the band will also match any proceeds with donations of their own.

Here’s Anders Schau Knatten’s own words about this release:

SL: Why did you choose to cover this song?

Anders: Doing a harsh electro cover of this song has been on my list of ideas for several years, I just hadn’t gotten around to doing it until now. It’s such a fun and energetic piece of music! The melody fits well in the harsh electro genre, and the silly German lyrics sound just like any harsh electro song (Eins, zwei, drei, tanzen!).

I also really like to play with genres, and this was a good opportunity to have a go at making proper harsh electro for the first time. We’ve been close before with Isolation (2020), but this time we really went all the way with the vocals too.

SL: And releasing it now is related to the war?

Anders: As I mentioned, this has been on my list of ideas for years. But with Russia’s war on Ukraine I started thinking about it again. I think it’s good to remind ourselves of good and fun things that come from Ukraine. If you haven’t seen the original, check it out on YouTube! It strikes me as a performance Putin would not be happy about. Then of course there’s the controversy around the words “Lasha Tumbai” which is more relevant than ever. And if you read the rest of the lyrics with the “dancing is a synonym for fighting” industrial cliche in mind, the whole thing reads as a call to resistance.

SL: What does “Lasha Tumbai” mean, and what’s the controversy?

Anders: No-one knows, it doesn’t really mean anything. There was a big controversy around it, since it sounds suspiciously like “Russia Goodbye”. The artist tried to claim it meant something in Mongolian, but that turned out not to be the case. So there’s probably a hidden meaning here, even though politics are not allowed in ESC. It’s a good time to say “Russia Goodbye” these days, and a good time to dance when it’s done!

SL: It sounds like this is something you care a lot about?

Anders: As a Norwegian, Russia is my neighbour, and I don’t like Putin’s behaviour one bit. It’s important that Putin is stopped, and it’s important that we help rebuild Ukraine when this is all over. So anything that can raise awareness, and especially put a positive light on our friends in Ukraine is good. Oh, and there’s a lot of good music coming out of Ukraine as well! Artbat for instance is one of my favourite bands at the moment. Also, Side-Line magazine just released a compilation called Electronic Resistance, filled with Ukrainian underground music, in support of Ukraine: https://sidelinemag.bandcamp.com/album/electronic-resistance-a-darkwave-post-punk-compilation-from-the-ukrainian-underground

SL: And the proceeds go to Ukraine Humanitarian Fund, what’s that?

This is a fund set up by the UN, who distribute it to partners at the front line in Ukraine. You can read about it at https://crisisrelief.un.org/t/ukraine. One doesn’t make a lot of money from music these days, but anything we earn will be directed there, and we’ll match it with donations of our own as well (limited to ¢200). So, if we make e.g. ¢100 from this, we give ¢200 to the UN fund.

Listen to the track at Bandcamp:

Jan Ronald Stange

Sometimes – when I’m not cooking, biking, listening to music or attending concerts, I write stuff for Side-Line.com. Mostly about Norwegian bands, but it’s been some Swedish, English, American, Danish, German and others too… 😉

www.facebook.com/jrstange

Swedish Electro-Pop formation Vanguard became a familiar and recognized name in the Electro-Pop scene. One of the band’s members Patrik Hansson decided to start a side-project called Uncreated. Several EP’s were released revealing a catchy, powerful, sound. This is danceable Electro-Pop getting people happy. The debut album “Eternal” released in 2019 was a successful production. By the end of 2021 Uncreated unleashed its second opus “Symbiosis” featuring an impressive list of guests singers.  Mark Hockings (Mesh), Björn Marius Borg (Xenturion Prime), Louise Marchione (Planet R/Thermostatic), Mikael Engström (Covered In Snow), Richard Flow (Machinsta) and Arielle Andersson (Octolab) contributed to this fascinating album released by Conzoom Records.

(Picture credits Peter Engman / Interview courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: What made you start next to Vanguard a solo-project? How do you differentiate both projects in sound, influences and production? 

Patrik: I have always wanted to work with other singers. That was actually one of the reasons I looked for a companion back when I met Jonas and we started Vanguard, but it turned out that I was the one grabbing the microphone. So, the dream to work with other singers lived on and Uncreated is the result of that.

When it comes to differentiate the projects it has become easier the more I have worked with both Vanguard and Uncreated. One obvious thing is the singers ofc, but also the production differs more and more. Vanguard has a tendency to go towards a darker atmosphere whilst Uncreated feels more optimistic so to speak. I don’t know in what direction it will go from here though.

Q: A solo-project smells like ‘total freedom’; to do what you want without any compromises. But what are the main difficulties and challenges you encounter when being the single member at board? Do you have external critics and/or advisors? 

Patrik: I always try to get input from people I trust when it comes to songwriting and production. Rob Dust has always been kind enough to help me out when it comes to production.

The co-writers/guest-singers have a lot to say as well. It is important that all involved are as satisfied as possible. I know I have some limitations when it comes to production etc, but the more I work with it, the better I become. 

Q: How did this ‘symbiosis’ between you and the singers happen? Did you handle specific criteria to choose the singers to work with? What have been the different stages you’d to go through to get the job done?

Patrik: I simply choose to ask singers whose voices I really like. Not all accepted but I am really happy that so many wanted to join me as well on “Symbiosis” as on all earlier releases. In some cases I had a song ready for the guest to record and in some cases I only had an instrumental track. On most instrumental tracks I had an idea of a melody, but I let the guest decide if they wanted to write something themselves or not, both lyrics and melody.

Q: How did the transition happen between your debut album “Eternal” and “Symbiosis”? What aspects of the production did you try to change and/or improve? 

Patrik: With “Eternal” I created a small foundation to grow from so to speak. I only had one guest on the album (Mel Guntzelsson). I wanted to spread the word just a little bit before I invited more guests. I guess it worked out quite well since I have been joined by great singers since then. Each release has helped me to spread the word about Uncreated to a bigger audience. After every release I let the songs ‘rest’ for a while before I listen to them again. In that way I have managed to take small steps in the right direction after every release.

Q: “Hand Grenade” featuring Mark Hockings rapidly became one of Uncreated’s most successful songs. Tell us a bit more about this song and the collaboration with Mark properly speaking? How did you know it was a song for him?

Patrik: Mark did a remix of “Break Free” (feat. Dennis Schober from Solitary Experiments) and that is how I got in contact with him. It was during that process that I told him I had a free spot for the upcoming album. I was really surprised that he accepted to join. I sent him an instrumental track and gave him time to work with lyrics and melody. The result was beyond my expectations. He also added a few elements to the production which really improved the impact of the song.

Q: What are your further plans with Uncreated? How do you expect the project evolving and what are you actually working on? 

Patrik: At the moment I’m gathering inspiration to do more tracks. I still have a list of singers I want to work with. Actually Magnus Dahlberg from the Swedish band More is currently working on lyrics for a track. Let’s see where that ends! But I have no release with Uncreated planned in the near future.

Vanguard will release “Spectrum” this spring and then we have some gigs coming up too. I want to focus on that. But if I know myself, I will probably get in one of my ‘zones’ when I least expect it. In that case things can go fast.

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: Electro-Pop.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Patrik Hansson (Vanguard singer) released the second album of his solo-project Uncreated in November 2021. The opus was released right after a few singles featuring guest singers.

Content: Patrik Hansson got some good company to achieve this work. He asked guest singers to join in. Mark Hockings (Mesh) and Björn Marius Borg (Xenturion Prime) were already featured on the previously released singles while Louise Marchione (Planet R/Thermostatic), Mikael Engström (Covered In Snow), Richard Flow (Machinista) and Arielle Andersson (Octolab) completed the list. Patrik is singing on a few songs as well. The music remains pure Electro-Pop -and still more poppy than Vanguard, driven by hopping sequences, retro sound treatments and danceable beats.

Nite did a remix of “Hand Grenade” featuring Mark Hockings. The CD version features 2 bonus songs which are extended versions.

+ + + : The concept of working with guest singers is not new but rather surprising for Patrik Hansson who’s a talented singer himself. It however resulted in extra diversity while the artist could probably focus more on songwriting and production. “Hand Grenade” remains an outstanding song, but I also have to mention the other single “Rebuild The Future” featuring Marius Borg and the more aggressive “Alive” featuring Richard Flow. I also enjoyed “One Night In Blue” featuring Louise Marchione’s delicate timbre of voice. Nite also accomplished a cool remix of “Hand Grenade”.

– – – : I only noticed a few ‘softer’ songs which couldn’t convince me but which injected a break to the work.

Conclusion: Uncreated only confirms its immense potential, being next to Vanguard, another great Electro-Pop project of Patrik Hansson.

Best songs: “Hand Grenade”, “Rebuild The Future”, “Alive”, “One Night In Blue”, “Hand Grenade – Nite Remix”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.facebook.com/uncreatedofficial

Label: www.conzoomrecords.de / www.facebook.com/conzoomofficial

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

Valhall returns – one year after their second record “Grimoire” – with a special remix edition: “Grim/More”. The Swedish duo offers here a remixed version of “Grimoire” that takes each track from the original. Remixers on duty were Artoffact Records recording artists Seeming, Ritualz, and Glass Apple Bonzai, along with friends Xenturion Prime, SØLVE, and more!

And there’s more, the remix album also holds an exclusive track: “Hivemind”.

You can now exclusively for Side-Line readers listen to a first track from the album – which will be available on CD as well – below!

Valhall was initiated early 2012 and mixes genres with a focus on Witch House, Wave, Neofolk and Dark Electronics.

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

Bjørn Marius Borg and Hasse Mattsson were previously involved with Code 64. They in 2013 set up a new formation called Xenturion Prime and rapidly released a debut EP entitled “Rise” on Progress Productions. They next went on releasing the debut album “Mecha Rising” in 2014. The Swedish duo finally became a trio for their newest opus released in 2017 entitled “Humanity Plus”. This is a noticeable and artistic piece of space-like electro-pop music mixed with some EBM elements and cinematographic passages. It definitely was one of the most creative- and simply best electronic albums from 2017.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: What do you keep in mind from your involvement with Code 64 and how did the move happened towards this new band?

Xenturion Prime: Xenturion Prime is in many ways a continuation of the vision we had for Code 64, but it didn’t feel right to keep that name as it was just one of the original members (Hasse) who left. The positive thing about starting with a fresh, new band name back in 2013 was that we could revamp the sound completely and just be creative. But if you listen to the last Code 64 single “Accelerate” it pretty much sounds like Xenturion Prime! “Accelerate” became the template for our first album “Mecha Rising”.

Q: You’ve now released your second album. Which elements from “Mecha Rising” did you hold on and what did you try to improve, maybe introduce at “Humanity Plus”?

Xenturion Prime: We simply took what we felt were the best elements of “Mecha Rising” and made them better on “Humanity Plus”. We developed a core sound for the band on the first album, and refined it for the second one. Of course, getting Cathrine on board greatly expanded the sound, and made it easier and more fun to experiment with what we had. We try not to stay in the comfort zone, but instead challenge ourselves and improve our skills along the way.

Q: You mentioned Cathrine Räisänen Andersen, which I think is the girlfriend of Hasse Mattsson, right? How does it feel to get involved in a band with your girlfriend and what’s the impact of Cathrine on the new work?

Xenturion Prime: Yes, its true that Cathrine & Hasse are a couple. Having Cathrine in the band brings another dimension to the sound, especially with the vocals and on stage. It’s easier to complete our ideas, and there’s even more space for experimentation!

Q: It’s not that easy to define or label the sound of Xenturion Prime, but it clearly sounds as the fusion between multiple influences. How do you explain this diversity and do you’ve ‘limits’ you don’t want to trespass?

Xenturion Prime: Well, we half seriously call it ‘Powersynth’, but we haven’t really defined what that is. It’s definitely a fusion of many different elements and inspirations. We’re more interested in evolving as a band than to stay ‘pure’. It’s more fun this way! There are no fixed limits as long as we think it fits the sound.

Q: “Humanity Plus” sounds rather intriguing as album title. What’s hiding behind this title and in, which is the theme(s) featured in the artwork?

Xenturion Prime: “Humanity Plus” or “H+” is the abbreviation for Transhumanism, which inspired the artwork and music on the album. We are not involved in the Transhumanist movement, but it’s definitely something that interests us. Combine this with a love for all things sci-fi and futuristic, and you have the heart of Xenturion Prime in our current state!

Q: How do you transpose the Xenturion Prime sound on stage and what’s the importance of performing today?

Xenturion Prime: In our live shows we bring the epic sound from the studio to the stage with some extra visual and musical elements. The key word is energy!

With so much music being released and so many good bands out there, it’s more important to play live now than ever before so that we will be noticed among the masses. In other words: feel free to book us at contact@xenturionprime.com (laugh).

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, psychedelic, cinematoghraphic, experimental.

Background/Info: Bjørn Marius Borg and Hasse Mattsson were previously active under the Code 64, but they have also set up Xenturion Prime. A first album (cf. “Mecha Rising”) got released in 2014. The band is now back on track featuring Cathrine Räisänen Andersen as an extra member.

Content: Even if “Mecha Rising” was a successful album I wasn’t totally convinced with the complex approach. “Humanity Plus” remains ‘complex’ although more accessible. The work rather sounds as a synthesis between different influences, but with an omnipresent astral/space like dimension. There are four so-called “Artifact”-tracks featured, which are instrumentals with a strong cinematographic appeal, but still with influences reminding me of Van Gelis. It just reinforces the link with space-music and I sometimes get the feeling they’re composing space-EBM.

The majority of the songs are carried by hard-pumping kicks, great bass lines, noticeable sound treatments and cool vocals.

+ + + : I like originality and that’s what this album stands for. Xenturion Prime realized a real masterpiece! The instrumental cuts feature great soundtrack music, which is overwhelming, somewhat dramatic and mainly dreamy. The other tracks left are hard-hitting cuts accomplished with genius sound treatments. The psychedelic touch hanging over the work is something particular, but definitely an element you rapidly recognize. Another important element are the beautiful string parts this work has been made of. Xenturion Prime this way builds a bridge between early electronic music and contemporary productions. I also noticed a more aggreppo song (cf. “Neoexogenesis”) reminding me a bit of Dance Or Die.

– – – : There’s just one single and more electro-ballad like song (cf. “Departed”), which can’t convince me. This is a great piece of music although maybe not the most accessible album of the year.

Conclusion: Hard to say if “Humanity Plus” will become one of the best albums of the year, but there’s no single doubt it definitely is one of the most original and I dare to say, visionary work of the year. This is an intelligent electronic format, which can’t be compared to any other formation!

Best songs: “Vimana”, “Milestone”, “Neoexogenesis”, “Traveler”, “Artifact I”, “Propulsion”.

Rate: (8½).

Band: www.xenturionprime.com / www.facebook.com/xenturionprime

Label: www.progress–productions.com / www.facebook.com/progresspro

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: Electro-rock, rock-pop, hard-rock, synth-pop, punk, experimental.

Background/Info: Fast forward 30 years.  Industrial music scene promoter, cancer survivor and musician, Jim Semonik (label owner of Distortion Productions and active in multiple bands) has brought his fundraiser “Electronic Saviors: Industrial Music To Cure Cancer” to the aid of many a cancer victim.

It is with this intent that his label, Distortion Productions, LLC and Electronic Saviors offer up a tribute to the robots in disguise with “Respect The Prime: 1986 Revisited”. For the first time ever, the classic soundtrack from 1986’s “Transformers”-movie has been rebuilt from the ground up.

Bands: Xenturion Prime feat Trulos Haugen, Ghostfeeder, Bella Morte, Victor Love, Caustic, Everything Goes Cold, Latexxx Teens, am.psych ao.

Content: This sampler features 17 formations dealing with a rather diversified inspiration. No doubt about it, the original songs probably influenced the bands to experiment in sound and style. This album reveals several hard-rock minded pieces, which is a total surprise.

Other cuts move into electro-rock and vague electro-pop. But you also will hear some elements of metal music and even punk. Several songs are instrumentals, which accentuate the soundtrack feeling. Only one band (cf. am.psych) has been featured with two songs. One of them is the theme of “The Transformers”.

+ + + : The idea to release a music compilation as a way to bring some aid to cancer victims is not new, but still a great mark of solidarity and commitment. This is a record you’ll buy because of its initial concept while the content will for sure deliver a few nice surprises. am.psych is not exactly a newcomer although not exactly a familiar name and their electro-rock music reminding me a bit of The Swamp Terrorists.

– – – : Sound-wise this sampler is really versatile and simply mixes the most different and sometimes opposites genres together. There’s not much cohesion between some songs.

Conclusion: I’m definitely into the goal and concept of “Electronic Saviors” although the content of this edition can’t totally convince me!

Best bands: am.psych, Everything Goes Cold, Thoughtform, Ghostfeeder.

Rate: (7).

Label: www.distortionprod.com / www.facebook.com/distortionproductions

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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Two years ago the Falkenberg (Sweden) based act Spark! lost its frontman Stefan Brorsson.

Brorsson left the band due to personal reasons. Whereas at first Mattias Ziessow decided to continue using a list of guest singers, such as people from Spetsnaz, Patenbrigade: Wolff, Leather Strip, Dupont, Pouppee Fabrikk, NordarR and Xenturion Prime just to mention a few. That endeavour also included a collaboration with Christer Hermodsson (ex. SPOCK, Biomekkanik). In the end the duo decided he’d be a perfect frontman for Spark!.

Spark! 2.0 is a fact now, and you can hear the result on “Maskiner”, an album which offers 11 new tracks. You can order that album right now via this mail-order.

You can already check one track 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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