Korine, “A Flame in the Dark”

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Korine
A Flame in the Dark
Born Losers Records

Korine occupy an interesting corner of the broader synthpop/new wave revival movement; the Philadelphia based duo of Morgy Ramone and Trey Frey have successfully invoked both wistful melancholia and youthful hope in their songs, pulling in elements from darkwave and pop-punk for flavour. Their latest, A Flame in the Dark, is an interesting quantity in their catalogue, not peaking as high as previous records, but showing stronger songcraft overall across the album.

The issue with the two proceeding LPS from the band (The Night We Raise and Tear) was that their best songs made the surrounding cuts less memorable. Damnably catchy, instantly memorable cuts like “Burn the World”, or “Fate, or “Train to Harlem” made it hard to give the rest of their material a fair shake. A Flame in the Dark might lack earworms of the calibre of those cuts, but the floor for songwriting and performance has come up considerably.

A cut like “Blue Star” is a perfect case in point, balancing post-punk bass and bright synthwork with a nuanced vocal from Morgy, hitting the mark between hopeful keening and mopeyness with aplomb. Arrangements remain straightforward, but are cannily tuned in service to songs with breakdowns and transitions creating more movement and dynamics than ever before; note the variation in the vocal line on the first and second verses of “Twist the Knife” that reflect the punchiness of the chorus, and how “The Line” confidently stays at a slower tempo to really let it big feelings come across.

Better songcraft might seem like a poor trade for the mega-hooks that built Korine’s following, but it ultimately benefits the listening experience a great deal. In isolation a single like “Anhedonia” is a solid cut, but in the context of the variety and shape of the record its speedy rhythm programming and sing-songy melody elevate the surrounding cuts, creating more movement, more contrast and a more complete album experience. If (like this reviewer) you had Korine pegged as a singles band with okay albums, then A Flame in the Dark might require you to recalibrate your listening – those that do will find charms aplenty to enjoy.

Buy it.

A Flame In The Dark by Korine

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Minuit Machine, “Queendom”

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Minuit Machine - Queendom

Minuit Machine
Queendom
Synth Religion

It would be tempting to consider the sleek club stylings of the new record by longstanding French darkwave project Minuit Machine in relation to changes in the project’s personnel. With Hélène De Thoury, the long-term writer and producer of the project having retired from music due to the tragic side-effects of COVID, Minuit Machine is now the solo project of vocalist Amandine Stioui. And while there’s plenty in Queendom which could go on to distinguish this era of the band, the changes it makes are often subtle ones.

Given how directly club-focused the pre-release singles which begin the record are, it might be easy to forget how 24, the last LP to be helmed by De Thoury, held similar priorities. But if 24‘s rhythmic focus felt like a bootstrapping of the icy spaciousness of the band’s roots, using massive, echoing kicks as radar-like probes of Minuit Machine’s hazy atmospheres, Queendom feels much more nimble and insulated, with its arpeggiated programming sitting square in the listener’s face rather than on some distant horizon. Whether in the freestyle halftime of “Denied” or the moody bass which paves the way for slowly unfurling synth peals on opener “Hold Me”, Stioui’s found ways of keeping even the most insistent of beats approachable and almost cozy.

Queendom thus isn’t a total break from Minuit Machine’s existing style, but for every moment which hearkens back to the past, there’s another which takes a quiet detour down a lesser trod path. The icy, stabby leads of “Cent Fois” call back to the stormy midnight raves of Violent Rains‘ club bids, though Stioui’s laid back and disarming vocal approach (also appearing on third single “Party People”) brings the drama somewhat to heel. That more off-the-cuff delivery is carried through on the melancholy “Mes souviens”, the with its reflective and understated vocal standing in stark contrast to the pensive slowburn of the title track, which still feels of a piece with the shimmering darkwave monoliths which cemented the band’s rep a decade back.

Between De Thoury’s departure, Stioui stepping up to the plate as a composer, and the presence of collaborators like Lloyd Philippon (RAUMM), there are a slew of factors which could have either botched Queendom‘s equanimity, or at least pushed it beyond fans’ hopes and expectations for a new Minuit Machine record. That it finds some ways of tastefully changing up the project’s delivery while still keeping one foot in the elements which made it so enthralling initially is a victory in itself.

Buy it.

QUEENDOM by Minuit Machine

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Tracks: March 31st, 2025

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Hey friends, the year is 1/4 over somehow, and it’s been nothing but fresh horrors and anxiety for everyone we know, and we assume that is likely true for you as well. With nine months to go, and many of our most anticipated records yet to drop, we find ourselves waiting for one of those bolt-from-the-blue type releases, where a band previously unknown to us comes out of the gate swinging and grabs us with something that feels fresh, of the moment, and exciting. The fun thing about that of course is that you never know when it’ll happen, but no year of music appreciation is complete without something like it to compliment the host of great acts and albums we’re already following. If you hear anything like that, you make sure to leave us a comment y’hear? Until then, check some of these Tracks.

Nico Amara

Nico Amara

Sheitan, “Heaven Tonight”
Recently reactivated after a more than 20 year hiatus, Swedish act Sheitan shifted from pure black metal to death n’ roll over the 90s, and are now accentuating the goth rock elements that could be found in the corners of the latter half of the original run. You wouldn’t know that there’s anything in the project’s DNA as anti-commercial as black metal within a couple of seconds of new single “Heaven Tonight”, though, replete as it is with anthemic yelps and Steinman-styled hooky bombast. Think Cold Cave and Panic Priest coming together in order to cover “I Just Died In Your Arms Tonight”.
Heaven Tonight by Scheitan

Morze, “Москвички”
One of the staple bands of Saint Petersburg’s Oberwave Records, Morze is pretty much a constant on the label’s compilations and as a remixer for other label acts. Their originals tend to favour a smokey laidback darkwave vibe, which is what makes new single “Москвички” such a pleasure; inspired by Serge Gainsbourgh, it’s a nice slice of mid-eighties-styled exotica balladry of the kind you rarely hear folks taking on in the dark alternative space. Throw this on, light up a smoke and stare into the middle distance when the sax kicks in.
Morze — Москвички by Oberwave Records

Solo Ansamblis, “Nuobodu”
Lithuanian oddballs Solo Ansamblis have been plying a left-field approach to post-punk that’s been alternately quirky and austere, avoiding most present day tropes and trends in the genre. But that road less travelled approach hasn’t kept their new LP Scenos from racking up some solid numbers and plaudits in the couple of weeks it’s been out. A tune like this peppy closer, half Snowy Red, half Sparks, is just the cure if you’re feeling burned out on the monochrome approach to post-punk taken by so many eastern European acts these days.Scenos by Solo Ansamblis

Fuedal, “Seam Grip”
We were pretty into LA act Fuedal’s 2023 release UNIT ONE, which situated itself nicely between industrial, body music and a dash of darkwave. It’s been a few years, but you better believe our ears perked up when we heard “Seam Grip”, the first track to be released from the forthcoming Max Continuous Power; it’s got a bangin’ dancefloor ready beat, some great percussion programming, a sinister bass guitar riff backing up the synth programming and some menacing vocals. Catchy and nasty, just how we like it.
Max Continuous Power by FUEDAL

Unboned, “Minha Dor”
Unboned’s Rosa EP comes courtesy of the UK’s Meta Moto, who consistently put out some pretty interesting releases within and without the range of our coverage. Unboned falls pretty squarely within that vague boundary, and while their latest seems to be working the funky electro-darkwave angle, they’re previous releases have revealed roots within the synthpunk and industrial genres. Per the BC liner notes, the EP draws heavily from Portugese cultural heritage, which is not something you get to hear a lot of in the dark alt space, we’ll be keen to check this rest of this out when it drops.
Unboned – Rosa EP by META MOTO

Nico Amara, “In Chains”
The first single from Swiss newcomer Nico Amara places a premium on texture, restraint and tension as it straddles lines between classic coldwave, modern darkwave, and a pinch of pure dark ambiance. The stripped down composition could be compared with a number of French minimalists new or old, but the piece comes alive in the interplay between Amara’s breathy vocal and the misty resonances coming off the synths and percussion like steam off city streets at midnight.
in chains by NICO AMARA

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We Have A Commentary: Test Dept., “The Unacceptable Face Of Freedom”

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Test Dept - The Unacceptable Face Of Freedom

On this month’s commentary we look at a nearly 40 year old classic which feels as though it could have been released in response to the world at large today: Test Dept.’s The Unacceptable Face Of Freedom. In addition to the record’s searing indictment of the intertwining of capitalism and fascism at the expense of the working class, it marks a turning point for the band, with their classic industrial percussive sound now being tempered with an increased focus on sampling and programming, pointing the way forward for post-industrial music. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, download directly, or listen through the widget down below.

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Observer: LIMINID & Covert Forces

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LIMINID - Collapsed Wave Function
LIMINID
Collapsed Wave Function
self-released
The current project of Morgan Mayer, previously working in a more electro-industrial guise as INEXORA, LIMINID brings a decidedly cinematic approach to dark ambient, doom jazz, and downtempo sounds on its latest EP. Ethereal whispers weave through “Weeping Willow” over ruminating bass, while half-time breaks clatter over echoing orchestral stabs on “The Ghost It’s In The…” Certainly some of Mayer’s long-standing interests in Vancouver industrial can still be ferreted out on Collapsed Wave Function, but despite its sharp drum programming the languid, dreamy pace of “I Like The Dark” is much more Doubting Thomas than Puppy. For all of its measured pacing there’s a real sense of drama throughout these five tracks; like a properly executed film score, Collapsed Wave Function knows when to erupt into kinetic noise and motion and when to recline and descend into deep, murky depths.
Collapsed Wave Function by LIMINID


Covert Forces
self-titled
self-released
There’s very little information out there regarding lo-fi British Columbia-based industrial/EBM project Covert Forces. In fact, the only real information that accompanies the self-titled 5 track EP on Bandcamp is a list of influences, handily reflected in the music itself. Opener “Listen and Obey” is an atmospheric track that leverages a simple bassline and busy cymbals to move it forward, with atmospherics provided by its samples and pads; the trick being that the whole track is dipped in grime and smashed with cassette style compression, with obscures and renders it queasy in equal measure. “Browbeat” (and in fact the rest of the release) is just as opaque, although it’s bassline and cracking snare emerge more audibly from the fog in contrast to the unintelligible vocals and are reduced to pure desperation under layers of reverb and delay. Finding the songs in the seemingly deliberate fog of the mix is fairly difficult, although it does have the effect of making it all feel pretty ominous; the bass and grinding synthwork of “Flesh Covered Machinery” and crushed together and blasted out at the listener, forgoing the convenience of modern recording for undiluted menace and disquieting uncertainty.
COVERT FORCES by Covert Forces

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We Have A Technical 551: An Oubliette Of Electronics

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Clipping

We’re reaching just across some borders this week, talking about a pair of records which abut upon the industrial and goth worlds but aren’t entirely part and parcel of them. First up is the latest and very cyperpunk-themed record from the industrial-tinged hip-hop trio Clipping. Next, we’re talking about Chicago experimentalist Circuit Des Yeux’s new dark art rock opus, which lifts from the same ur-sources as goth. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, download directly, or listen through the widget down below.

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Devours, “Sports Car Era”

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Devours - Sports Car Era

Devours
Sports Car Era
Surviving The Game

Now five LPs into the game, both the musical style Jeff Cancade has been plying as Devours as well as his recurring themes and lyrical poignancy have become familiar to those who’ve been tracking the manically omnivorous electro-pop project. New record Sports Car Era is Devours through and through; any fragment of its chiptune bleeps or a single one of its biting quips is sure to bear Cancade’s stamp. While Sports Car Era doesn’t reinvent or revolutionize Devours’ remit, it does recapitulate many of the successes of its precedents in a strongly distilled, hooky, and at times downright aggressive form.

All the hallmarks of classic Devours material make their presence felt within the first couple of Sports Car Era‘s tracks: chopped up throwback rave pastiche, caffeinated hyperpop, and breathy ethereal chimes. But pay attention to their arrangement and delivery and you’ll notice more abrupt gear shifts and on-a-dime drops, not to mention a subtle but constant feeling of rhythmic pressure and intensity, even when Cancade’s still painting in brighter pastels. The descending, sing-song lilt of the chorus of “Swordswallower” belies just how driving and dark the verses are. “Quite Possessed” feels equally muscular and menacing. Even on an ostensibly softer song like the fragile “November”, there’s a stripped-down and dialed in focus on the pulsing bass, part Jan Hammer, part Berlin.

The social themes taken up in Homecoming Queen crop up again – the title cut laments being “squeezed out of the city and priced out of existence” – as well as the darkly confessional break-up/kiss off tracks Cancade’s become known for. Sometimes it’s pure poison pen vitriol, but there’s often a melancholy streak running through those sorts of tunes, either pining for a romance more idyllic than the stumbling and awkward failings of reality, as on the incredibly catchy “Loudmouth”, or in touching upon the complexities of beauty standards and expectations regarding the performance of gender in dating on “XY” (“I catch myself every time I start to deepen my voice during sex”).

This isn’t to say that Sports Car Era feels especially dark or harrowing throughout – we’re still talking about someone capable of singing “I promised you once I would never write / About our failed relationship, baby I lied” with wit and verve on a track called “Canada’s Next Top Fat Otter”. But Cancade’s charm and humour’s always been rooted in an unyielding honesty in his songwriting, no matter how artful. When the title track closes with the refrain “Somedays I just wanna help you burn it down”, there’s no artifice or poise, just raw disillusionment. Recommended.

Buy it.

Sports Car Era by Devours

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Vague Lanes, “Divergence & Declaration”

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Vague Lanes
Divergence & Declaration
Viasonde

Bay Area duo Vague Lanes is made up of Mike Cadoo (of celebrated industrial act Gridlock, and boss of abstract electronic label n5md) and Badger McInnes, and features both members on bass, with the former playing melodic six-string, and the latter on 4-string rhythm duties. Their sophomore LP Divergence & Declaration favours a pensive, atmospheric sound that recalls both the ethereal movement of the 90s and the post-rock inflected sounds of mid-2000s acts like I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness and These New Puritans. It’s a record of very precise moods, that finds a balance between regimented rhythms and more fluid sounds.

One aspect of Vague Lanes’ approach that is both a benefit and a hindrance is the strong uniformity of its musical palette. The density of its textures and the consistency of its design make it an enveloping listen and creates some geniunely intense moments; the climax of “Weight of Days” is as heavy as its title suggests, and arrives in such natural fashion that arrangement of synth pads, vocals and crashing electronic drums that feel inevitable, like something that had to happen. Alternately there are moments where the songs get lost in the production, like on closer “Exo”, where the melody in its pads, vocals and lead bass part is hard to separate from many of the earlier songs of a similar tempo. That said, there’s some cannily placed combo-breakers that give the album some flow, such as the loose shoegazey sway of “Cellophane” and the fluttering synthlines that accent “At the Edge”, providing some dynamics in the early and late portions of the record respectively.

One especially notable aspect of the LP is the compelling nature of Cadoo’s vocal work, which provides much of the record’s character. Followers of his work will know that his work as Dryft and bitcrush was instrumental, and while he certainly acquitted himself on Vague Lanes’ 2022 debut Foundation and Divergence, he sings here with a reassuring evenness that compliments the sound design’s constancy. On tracks like opener “Heptahedron” (which also features some drumwork from industrial man-about-town Martin Atkins) he leans in and pulls back during the transition between sections, staying grounded even as the song’s other waves of reverb and cracking snares rush around him. Elsewhere, on the propulsive “Unraveling” his baritone sets the table for the ascending emotion of its back half, establishing its yearning desperation and then laying back as the song drifts ever upwards.

A record like Divergence & Declaration is always going to be one whose appeal lies in how well its tenor matches the listener’s own feelings. The steady pacing and the melancholic (if not elegiac) tone is so much a part of it that you’d be hard-pressed to want to throw it on in casually; wanting to hear it is a deliberate choice, a quality that mirrors the records own intentionality. It’s a well-made and admirably considered effort that presents Vague Lanes’ musical vision in complete fashion.

Buy it.

Divergence & Declaration by Vague Lanes

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Tracks: March 24th, 2025

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Given the relatively niche state of much of the music we cover, we sometimes run the risk of mistaking a handful of coincidences for a larger trend. The italo-EBM crossover had its relatively brief moment in the sun, and while Boy Harsher-styled darkwave and pure TBM have certainly crested as larger forces, they’ve both had a long tail. What we haven’t seen is any particular newer trend in new releases or club sets that seems to be on the rise. Sure, plenty of individual acts are exploring new territory or revisiting old stomping grounds, but it feels like it’s been a minute since the needle shifted in one particular direction in Our Thing…or maybe that’s just our own biases speaking. Anything happening in your corner of the world which you think points to the shape of things to come, dear reader? Let us know in the comments after checking out this week’s tracks.

H.A.L.T.

Vancouver Brutalism: H.A.L.T.

Youth Code, “No Consequence”
We first wrote about Youth Code in a Tracks post in December of 2012, before their first tape release dropped. Since that time they’ve been a fixture of our coverage, releasing EPs and albums (including record of the year honoree Commitment to Complications) that have continuously made us excited, energized and spoke to the post-industrial sounds that mean so much to us, while forging their own legacy in the genre. The duo have been relatively quiet since the release of their King Yosef collab LP back in 2021, so the simultaneous arrival of the news that they would be dropping a new EP Yours, With Malice and their new single “No Consequence” was well received here at the HQ to put it mildly. Youth Code are back, they sound as angry as ever, and we’re here for it. Missed y’all, and glad to see you again.

Ghost Twin, “Rockin’ Back Inside My Heart”
The news that the sad passing of Jaimz Asmundson in 2024 did not signal the end of his darkwave project Ghost Twin with wife Karen Asmundson was both surprising and heartening, and to find out that there was new music from the Winnipeg band so soon is equally so. Industrial Symphony No. 1 features selections from recordings Jaimz and Karen did for a live tribute to the David Lynch helmed avant-garde concert film of the same name, a match made in heaven (where everything is fine) as the Ghost Twin sound so perfectly matches the dreamy, vaguely sinister and emotionally real vibe of the film and its director and it’s music. “Rockin’ Back Inside My Heart” is a true pleasure to hear, and we eagerly anticipate the rest of the EP in April.
Industrial Symphony No. 1 by Ghost Twin

Sixth June, “Memories Of God”
We have a new EP from Sixth June to look forward to next month, and the first single from it is a reminder of just how smooth and capable the Berlin-based duo sound when operating in their wheelhouse. An elegant and tasteful combo of new wave, synthpop, and darkwave, it walks that fine and uncanny line between being intimate and aloof which Sixth June have been treading for over a decade now.
AFTER THE WAR by SIXTH JUNE

Autodafeh, “Fastlane”
There hasn’t been an LP of new music from German EBM act Autodafeh since 2015, surprising given how prolific the 242-indebted act were for a few years around the beginning of the 2010’s. “Fastlane” is a pleasing update to their sound, keeping some of the neo-old school body music sounds that grabbed us way back when, but bringing in some modern production – this will work for club play with a general industrial night just as well as it would at Familientreffen. Curious to hear the rest of the new record Greed to see how it shakes out.
Fastlane by Autodafeh

Phil Western, “Asleep/Awake (Vuemorph collage)”
Phil Western’s 2019 passing still feels palpable here in Vancouver, between visiting venues he played and worked at and seeing any number of the countless local artists he collaborated with. It’s nice, then, that the forthcoming remix tribute compilation speaks both to that local legacy and its worldwide reach, with everyone from Robert Shea of Graceland fame to Mark Spybey to Tim Hill to Ivan Winke pitching in. Frequent collaborator Dan Handrabur’s reworking of sounds from the often overlooked World’s End LP is a deep and pleasant reworking of that record’s dreamy ambience.
Afterflash: A Remixed Tribute by Phil Western

H.A.L.T., “Forever Dead”
Speaking of Vancouver, here’s the latest from our local goth true-schoolers, H.A.L.T. Lithe and nimble, it does a solid job of getting their rhythm-driven approach to the genre across, with a stripped-down arrangement and delivery which feels right out of 1983. Feeling burnt out on just about all new goth fare bearing a heavy amount of darkwave influence? This’ll serve as an excellent combo breaker.
Forever Dead (Video Version) by H.Ä.L.T.

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