Observer: Wound Care & Zalvox

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Wound Care
Existing Without You Hurts
Body Musick
Californian duo Wound Care, made up of Felicia Marie and Aldo Giovanni De La Cruz (Memory Clap Acid) make a punky, body-infused version of electro that hearkens back to both millennial electroclash and to more primal synthpunk sounds. The latter influence is apparent in Marie’s vocals, which lean into dramatic and often sardonic territory: on “Pretty Pretty” she asks “Do I Owe You A Pretty? Of course I do!”, the derision thick and heavy while rattling kicks and chattering synthlines go off around her. The minimalism of their compositions doesn’t take much away from their weight, with tracks like “Dead to Me” evolving from a short sequence of analogue beeps to a small symphony of EBM-bass, sampled voices repeating the song’s title and pitched shrieks that feel simultaneously arch and a little dangerous. It’s not all bombast though, with some songs dipping into funkier territory (like “Mala Conexion” with it’s swinging percussion programming and chirps of acid melodies) or languid soundscapes (closer “Moon Flower”, which has the air of a random krautrock record being played at half-speed down a drainpipe). It’s all quite effective and often unpredictable in ways that continue to engage through multiple listens, with even the straightest cut, the Sex Park collab “LuST”, taking a fairly standard darkwave arrangement and filling it with tumbling percussion and chaotic overlapping reverbed vocals, never settling into any groove that could be called comfortable.
Existing Without You Hurts Me by Wound Care

Zalvox - Zalmoxis Peak
Zalvox
Zalmoxis Peak
self-released
Drawing parallels with the new project from frequent Haujobb collaborator Rinaldo Bite (aka Ribi) is easy enough – recent work from X Marks The Pedwalk and Black Nail Cabaret are handy points of reference – but the sound design pervading the first EP from Zalvox gives Zalmoxis Peak a uniquely foreboding unity, abetted by vocals from Dorain (who’s lent her voice to a barrage of electro/wave acts over the past couple of decades). The deep pads and the textured timbres of the production tics which weave through these five tracks will be familiar to those who’ve tracked Bite’s previous work and his high-def approach to sound design, but bit by bit the project’s appreciation for classic minimal wave comes across in its less is more arrangements and icy instrumentation. And it’s in the paradoxes of that style that Zalvox really excels: despite the gloom of the keys and choice of production, pieces like “Pasithea” and “Somnus” are given a reflective mood and resolute dignity by virtue of Dorain’s grounded yet plaintive voice.
zalmoxis peak by zalvox

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We Have A Technical 541: Hair Vs. Hair

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Lana Del Rabies

Lana Del Rabies. Photo by Laura Montrose, @fleshvoids.

The thorny issue of requests and how they do and don’t fit into goth-industrial club formats is the subject of this week’s podcast, with Alex and Bruce talking about the issues that come with ‘big tent’ club formats, how patrons expectations have shifted in the streaming era, and do their level best (but occasionally fail) to avoid turning into bitter middle-aged DJs griping about their lots. We’re also talking about the recent Lana Del Rabies set we caught here in Vancouver, and the details of the just announced Nine Inch Nails tour. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, download directly, or listen through the widget down below.

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Obscure Formats, “Cryptid”

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Obscure Formats - Cryptid

Obscure Formats
Cryptid
M-Tronic/Component Recordings

Now reactivated for more than a decade, the second act of Providence’s Component Records has lasted longer than its initial run at the turn of the millennium. Those old enough to remember Component releases by the likes of Neutronic, Dryft, and Proem will likely be struck by the similarities and differences between them and the label’s current aesthetic, with records by Hex Wolves and Solypsis still sitting at the Component’s original nexus between post-industrial and IDM, but reflecting changes in each of those worlds in the interim. That’s a writ which also applies to the latest from Component Records honcho Rob Galbraith, with that balance being maintained even in a very minimal delivery.

Far more stripped down and less noise-driven than Galbraith’s current work as half of Snowbeasts, Obscure Formats has made some minor adjustments since debuting in 2015 but has held to a dark and minimalist style. With Snowbeasts partner Elizabeth Virosa sometimes in tow, the project’s focused on beat-driven, percussion and bass forward tracks like the eight which make up Cryptid. While a minimalist take on techno and EBM sounds very familiar these days, there’s very little of Perc or Berghain styled TBM as we’ve come to know (and perhaps grow weary of) it here. Instead, the slowly modulating wails and pinging arpeggios which shift in and out of “Thunderbird”, and similar moves made on Cryptid, feel like classic moves and modes pulled from some of the earliest records Galbraith would have had a hand in producing or releasing. Sure, the odd bit of modern polish is applied here and there, but not so much as to obscure the grit and immediacy of such direct fare.

Despite its back to front focus on club tunes, what’s most impressive about Cryptid are the particular subtleties that come out of Galbraith’s minimalism. Rather than using a one size fits all approach, minor programming and mixing tics keep the relationships between seemingly similar elements in flux across the record. The rough, woozy bassline underpinning “Dover Demon” feels like classic techno while there’s a distinctly French electro flavour to the similarly foreboding bass of subsequent track “Basilisk”. These are minor differences to be sure, and aren’t quite enough to make Cryptid feel like a traditional LP in the pop or rock mold rather than a kit of club cuts. But the differences in sub-genre, and maybe more importantly the particular eras of club culture they each connote, should let discerning DJs find just the right tool for the job within that kit, and are a fitting reflection of just how long Galbraith and Component have had a hand in darker club releases.

Buy it.

Cryptid by Obscure Formats

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The Legendary Pink Dots, “So Lonely in Heaven”

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The Legendary Pink Dots
So Lonely in Heaven
Metropolis Records

It’s nigh impossible to chart the arc of The Legendary Pink Dots; with decades of official and semi-official albums, EPs, single, compilation and live releases, and a staggering number of line-up changes, the multi-national act led by Edward Ka-Spel defies both easy categorization and narratives. In many ways their psychedelic synth ethos arrived fully formed in the early eighties with their first batch of records, and has followed its own quixotic and winding path since, adding and subtracting instruments and contributors, revisiting old songs with new ideas, and staying unique to the band. That contradiction, their constancy in the face of change is part of the band’s core appeal: once you become a fan of LPD, there’s a deep comfort in hearing a new record from them regardless of whatever personal, spiritual or literal apocalypse it addresses. 

Which brings us to 2025’s So Lonely in Heaven, a record that embodies the mercurial sensibilities of the band while continuing the thread of their last full-length mainline release The Museum of Human Happiness in 2022. Where that album was very much a response to pandemic restrictions and the broad damage it inflicted on the global psyche, their latest addresses the now nearly cliche subject of who we are as people in the current online era. That intersection of identity, technology and society isn’t new to the Dots (they’ve been addressing it directly as far back as 1998’s Nemesis Online and probably earlier in various places), but the specifics are new. We live in a time where we can live a curated existence, presenting ourselves as we wish, and existing even past our own expiration as simulacra. As the title of the LP suggests, that ghostly life can be lonely and isolating, and exact costs which can be difficult to see clearly. 

This is of course the kind conceptual underpinning Edward Ka-Spel can make a meal of as a singer and lyricst, and he does so in his own inimitably bizarre fashion here. “Rejected the flesh/Now we’re floating in purgatory, that’s all that’s left” he croons on the opening title track, somehow infusing the statement with both whimsy and melancholia, accompanied by strings, post-rock guitars, washes of cloudy synths and a simple arrangement of synth percussion chirps, like birdsong as rendered in an 8 bit video game. Those kinds of observations might seem almost naive or facile at a glance, but there’s a certain surreal science fictional truth uncovered on them. “My liver keeps my best friend sober/since he crashed the car” he intones on “Pass the Accident”, a statement that would seem funny if it didn’t seem plausible that renting out our own life giving organs wasn’t some insurance company oligarch’s wet dream. While there are plenty of moments of hope and light here (“Dr. Bliss ’25” is at least musically somewhat uplifting with is bubbling synth arpeggios and piano) the overall mood is on the dour side; the record concludes with the jazz-noir of “Everything Under the Moon”, where Ka-Spel, ever the frustrated prophet, lets us know that “Exits are locked/there’s no space for sympathy”. It’s a warning too late to save us, although we probably wouldn’t have listened to it anyway. 

Musically, So Lonely in Heaven is the first major release for the band since the exit of founding member Phil Knight, aka The Silverman, although it’s hard to tell if the synthesist’s absence has impacted the sound of the band. As with their last suite of albums the focus is on textured guitar from now veteran guitarist Erik Drost and synthesized keys and atmospheres from Ka-Spel and relative newcomers Randall Frazier and Joep Hendrikx. There’s few instances of the band’s sometime forays into deep space ambience, with most of the record taking a more grounded approach, using the occasional bit of inorganic percussion or a tightly wound bit of sequencing to reinforce the technological themes at play. It’s an effective mode for the band to use, and yields a few standouts like the sad horn-adorned ballad “Sleight of Hand”, the folk-by-way of e-bow of “Wired High: Too Far to Fall” and the lush and luminous “How Many Fingers in the Fog”. Really though, it’s a contiguous album, more impactful when taken in as a complete experience. 

Assessing the quality of a new Legendary Pink Dots record is most likely a wasted effort; the band’s charms are far from universal to those not already inducted into the fandom, and those same aficionados (this reviewer included) are likely to enjoy basically anything the band does to one degree or another. Suffice to say that The Legendary Pink Dots persist as they have for more than four decades now, ever more themselves in ways that defy the abstraction and artifice that stand between musicians and their audience. The catharsis of So Lonely in Heaven is found not in its subject matter or musicianship, but in the fact that The Legendary Pink Dots persist. Sing while you may indeed. 

Buy it.

So Lonely In Heaven by Legendary Pink Dots

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Tracks: January 20th, 2025

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We don’t dip our toes into live event promotion that often, especially these days, but we were happy to pitch in a little bit in helping our friends at The Invisible Orange in presenting the Vancouver stop on the Lana Del Rabies and God Is War tour that’s just wrapping up. We had a solid turnout (especially for a noise show on a weeknight), vibes were good, and the performance from the artist behind our favourite album of 2023 was fantastic. We’ll talk about it in a bit more detail on the podcast later this week, but it’s legitimately rewarding when something you had even a small hand in bringing to fruition comes off so well. On to this week’s tracks!

Oh Ye Gods!

Minuit Machine, “Cent Fois”
The speedy and decidedly bright EBM programming of the latest single from the reformulated Minuit Machine brought all manner of high-gloss Euro electro from a while back (think [:SITD:] or Timewave-era Grendel) but there’s no mistaking Amandine Stioui’s vocals for anyone else’s. Short almost to a fault, the contrast between the precision of the programming and the airy, almost whimsical tone of the vocals has us wanting more in this style, or maybe an extended club mix at least.
CENT FOIS by Minuit Machine

Analog 80, “The Ghost of Skinny Puppy”
Belgian producer Analog 80 pays tribute to Canada’s greatest musical export (suck it Bryan Adams) on this appropriately titled cut from the forthcoming LP The Ghost of Silicon. Not a straight up homage, it’s a song that speaks to the more atmospheric and percussion driven numbers of the band’s early catalogue – think “Stairs and Flowers” – while integrating it with Analog 80’s own new beat inspired style of body music. A fine bit of moody electro-industrial that recalls plenty of mid-90s scene cuts from the likes of Zoth Ommog, a flavour we never tire of. 
The Ghost Of Skinny Puppy by Analog 80

Henric da la Cour, “Hey You, Hell No”
It’s been 7 years since Sweden’s Henric de la Cour released an LP, and he’s not wasting time in the lead-up to the release of My Bones, Your Ashes at the end of the month; with first taste “Dead Hank” last week, we’ve now got two additional tracks to check out, the orchestral ballad “Interlude” and “Hey You, Hell No”, which is giving off some mid-90s Depeche Mode type vibes. The one-time Yvonne vocalist has been missed in the HQ during his absence, with his first record especially holding a special place in our hearts, thanks in no small part to de la Cour’s excellent lyrics and emotionally honest delivery. Expect a full review in just a few weeks once we get to hear the whole thing. 
My Bones, Your Ashes by Henric de la Cour

SARIN, “No Anesthetic”
Unlike many of the producers who jumped onto industrial techno, SARIN has stayed relevant to our interests by showing he’s a lot more than four on the floor club bangers. Take for example new cut “No Anesthetic”, which aside from it’s wormy acidic synthline doesn’t have much in common with most techno; instead it’s a low-tempo atmospheric cut, that makes the most of a spooky vocal sample and some clattering metallic percussion. Great stuff, and an excellent taster for this year’s as yet unnamed 12″ release.
No Anesthetic by SARIN

Ye Gods, “Kochari”
Antonio Maiovvi’s Ye Gods project made a massive impression on us with its 2022 LP Babalon Works. Linking considered but not wilfully obscurantist occult themes with Maiovvi’s equally considered and sculpted approach to beatmaking, it was wildly different from the giallo style of work through which we first came to know Maiovvi, and instead brought the softer sides of Coil and Ulver to mind. The electro-pastoral soundscape of this taster from forthcoming LP The Arcane & Paranormal Earth has us looking forward to finding out what new textures and concepts that record will bring; watch this space for a full review soon.
The Arcane & Paranormal Earth by Ye Gods

Sophrosyne, “Scorpionic”
Sophrosyne’s 2021 debut LP remains one of the most interesting releases related to industrial metal we’ve ever covered at ID:UD, taking the aesthetic underpinnings (if not the actual sound) of cybergrind into the future, linking gabber, noise, and extreme metal with irreverent zeal. The new Scorpionic EP carries on from that point, with tracks like As before, if you’re into Cattle Decapitation (the band, not the crime), old gabber records, and roguelikes, you’ll likely love this.
SCORPIONIC EP by Sophrosyne

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DJ Surreal – January 19, 2025

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Invader Zim – Opening Theme Mix
Infected Mushroom – Converting Vegetarians
Stormkern – Stand Up
Solar Fake – Fuck You
Wolfsheim – Heroin, She Said
Tragic Error – Tanzen
VNV Nation – Retaliate
Rotersand – Exterminate, Annhiliate, Destroy
Faderhead – TZDV
Combichrist – Prince of E-Ville
Aesthetic Perfection – Gods & Gold
A Perfect Circle – Counting Bodies Like Sheep
Filter – Hey Man, Nice Shot
Deftones – Passenger

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Observer: Freddy Ruppert & Brood Faye

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Freddy Ruppert - i dreamed we lost everything
Freddy Ruppert
i dreamed we lost everything
Static Definitions
A far cry from his lo-fi synthpop work in Former Ghosts and the tortured noise of his early This Song Is A Mess But So Am I recordings, the recent releases from Freddy Ruppert have taken a haunting, halting approach to noise and sound collage, much more Sylvian or The Caretaker than power electronics. The Prague-based producer’s latest, i dreamed we lost everything, makes the most of a light touch to synthesis, sampling, and crackling atmosphere across a half hour of understated but varied listening. From the unease produced by the Soliloquy for Lilith-like hums of “all things left unsaid” to the pastoral arpeggios of the title track, Ruppert’s taken the time to think about how sound design feeds into composition and vice versa. There’s no one-size fits all approach to either though, with the oddly peaceful and dusty industrial ambience of of “shoeboxes” being worlds apart from the quavering way closer “memory leak (lost voices)” unfolds with cinematic grace. Legitimately affecting and surprisingly relistenable experimentation.
i dreamt we lost everything by Freddy Ruppert


Brood Faye
The Tank
self-released
It’s hard to draw a bead on California’s Brood Faye; the music on debut LP The Tank fits broadly into the current wave of electronics that draws from both darkwave and EBM, but with an alternately sardonic and riled-up attitude that feels pretty singular. It’s not hard to imagine hearing a cut like “Pinyon Prick” with its whispered vocals and speedy rhythm programming in a club setting, but its not a mode that the project sticks to for long, with follow-up “Me and Larry” transitioning into a punky bit of funky electro with yelled vocals that fill out the mix. That departure is nothing next to a full-on squelchy electro country and western number of “Farrah Fawcett”, which itself comes after the chillingly matter-of-fact monologue of ambient interstititial track “Muhannad Posts and Troy Voicemail”. Whether on the manic, spitfire rhymed vocals of “Gov Psy Op” or the comparatively straight mid-tempo swing of “Sweet Assassin”, Brood Faye keeps things lean, DIY and unpredictable, all qualities we could use more from the dark alt scene at large.
The Tank by Brood Faye

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We Have A Technical 541: Wisdom & Moss

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Double Echo

Double Echo

The first classic, two albums formatted episode of the new year has us looking at the finely balanced ethereal darkwave of Double Echo, and the immediate and genre-hopping techno-EBM work of Alen Skanner. We’re also talking Terminus, the passing of Manufacture’s Brian Bothwell, and the prospect of a new NIN tour. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, download directly, or listen through the widget down below.

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INVA//ID, “The Agony Index”

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INVA//ID - The Agony Index

INVA//ID
The Agony Index
self-released

The on-again, off-again path LA’s INVA//ID’s taken since starting up some seven years ago has both built a sense of intrigue around Christopher Rivera & co.’s hardcore inflected approach to classic industrial rock and metal and something of a sense of frustration. The band will drop a release with no warning and then vanish for months on end, and that’s not to mention the task of navigating the reworking, repositioning, and at times flat out deleting of previous releases. To their credit, new LP The Agony Index was announced more than a year ago and has been scaffolded with an archival release, plus a pair of standalone singles over 2024, including a cracking version of Wax Trax deep cut “Show Me Your Spine”, which was a regular presence in our DJ sets. Seeing release on New Year’s Day, The Agony Index is an unrelenting, everything and the kitchen sink release which, while at times unwieldy, underscores why so many in the North American industrial world have had INVA//ID’s name circled for several years.

If INVA//ID’s rep for hardcore-tinged industrial suggests either Youth Code or the one-off EP from supergroup Error to newcomers, they won’t be entirely shocked by the downtempo industrial dub and skittering rush of the pair of sub-two minute tracks which open the record, but there’s plenty more in store. Few acts today are as good at refreshing sounds most will associate with classic Wax Trax releases, and the way that “Torn” piles up a stack of grimy basslines and programming should be catnip to fans of 90s industrial rock in general. A tune like “Auto Erotic Transmission” finds a nice balance between those elements and hardcore, linking Rivera’s anthemic bile to a nodding, Psalm 69 era Ministry groove.

Spend enough time with The Agony Index and the more organic and original qualities of INVA//ID come through. “Empty” ranks among the best and most ambitious pieces INVA//ID’s yet produced; building its groove bit by bit out of soupy drones, there’s been enough bleepy and stuttering programming and well paced kicks added by the time its plainly delivered chorus hits that it stands out as the rare electro-industrial slowburn of a quality only a handful of current acts could craft. On the flip side, late album highlight “G.F.M.” points to a whole other strength: doling out pure and simple industrial thrash for its own sake, no muss, no fuss.

If The Agony Index has a failing it’s in its editing, or lack thereof. It’s not that a handful of the tunes which abutt highlights like the above tracks are decidedly weaker than them, it’s that in the context of a 65 minute, 17 track monster of a release like this it’s often difficult for the moods or subtler distinctions in those tracks to stand out. On the one hand, that’s good value for money and one can understand the band wanting to deliver something of real significance after a lengthy (by their standards) gestation period. On the other, it can somewhat occlude the tight and fierce immediacy which is one of the band’s calling cards. In any case, unwieldy or not, The Agony Index offers all manner of payoff for those who’ve been holding out for its release, and a solid introduction for those just catching wind of INVA//ID.

Buy it.

The Agony Index by INVA//ID

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Soft Vein, “Through Blinds”

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Soft Vein
Through Blinds
Artoffact Records

The 2023 debut album from Soft Vein was an exercise in miserablism; it had solid songwriting and thoughtful production, but the universally bleak and depressive tone of the affair is what sticks out when recalling Justin Chamberlain’s darkwave debut. New record Through Blinds tweaks the project’s approach towards a more melancholic direction, no less downcast, but avoiding the pitfall of having mood and atmosphere completely overshadow its charms.

Like the debut, Through Blinds weds bleak monochrome textures and mournful vocals to solid rhythm programming and swatches of synth and guitar, with things kept cool and tempered even at higher tempos. Where it largely differs is in how effectively it those elements are kept in balance, with some of the brighter sounds shining a light through its shadowy temperament. Tracks like “Gray Space” let synth bass and drum programming act as a proper foundation, never succumbing to the swells of discordant pads, with brighter leads accenting and adding melodic dimension to the proceedings. Similarly, the arp that runs through “Oblivion” has a warmth to it that acts as a pulsing heartbeat, allowing Chamberlain to underplay his vocals, the song kept minimal in arrangement but intriguingly emotional.

Those traces of light certainly don’t cause the album to approach anything like happiness however; make no mistake this is still a gloomy affair. Even in its most propulsive moments like “Wasting Days” and “Black Bag” keep minor key sadness in focus, anchoring their gated snares and thrumming bass with longing and wistful vocals and cloudy pads. The tension between how tempo-forward the programming is and how generally dejected Chamberlain sounds is a pocket of sorts – when the album dips into more ambiguous rhythmic territory as on closer “Dreaming”, the effect is more striking simply for how infrequently Soft Vein succumb entirely to despair.

With those glimpses of hope that come out through the heartsick fog shining ever brighter for avoiding being snuffed out, Through Blinds becomes almost hopeful in temperament. It’s overcast and often doleful, but allows for the suggestion that better days might still be on the horizon. It could be the fraught moment in time, but that’s a comforting thing for a darkwave record to being in these early days of 2025.

Buy it.

THROUGH BLINDS by SOFT VEIN

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