Gothic BC

Sally Dige
Holding The Sun
Dige Records

Berlin by way of Vancouver songwriter Sally Dige’s 2017 LP Holding On stood apart from both the pulsing minimalism of her solo debut and her previous work in Cult Club alongside Laslo Antal of Sixth June. Taking synthpop and darkwave into a jangling, echoing hall of mirrors, Holding On made for a marked contrast from the increasingly club-focused approach which has dominated darkwave, for better or for worse, now for nearly a decade. Coming a full eight years after that record, Holding The Sun offers a brighter read on the styles and sounds in Dige’s orbits, and one which perhaps frames her talents as both a songwriter and singer in an even better light.

There’s no sense beating about the bush; Holding The Sun is a decidedly lighter record than anything we’ve yet heard from Dige, both in its extended forays into dreampop, folk, and the most radio-friendly alternative rock of the 90s. None of these sounds, like the mandolin-like guitar strum which begins opener “It’s You I’m Thinking Of”, or the new age spaciness of “Strength In Me”, would have seemed too far out of reach for Dige at an earlier moment in her discography, but Holding The Sun indulges in those softer shades for almost all of its well-edited half hour, bringing to mind the likes of R.E.M. and the lush hybrid of dreampop and darkwave crafted by Tamaryn.

This shift in style might have only proven to be a lateral aesthetic step were it not for the fact that the clutch of songs on Holding The Sun are almost uniformly the best yet released by Dige, regardless of vulnerability or influence. Immediate but still full of subtle appeal, the sober declaration of “It’s You I’m Thinking Of” and the crafty rise and fall of “I Will Be The Sun For You” measure up to whichever of a number of pop vocal powerhouses one might care to compare them to. The stripped-down nod of “Sow The Path”, with its strums and strings staying low in the mix even as they gather and crest, eschews traditional pop hooks, but that restraint puts all of the focus where it belongs: on Dige’s vocals, which build in power even as they seem to bob and weave through the strings.

It’s rare that we find ourselves writing about music as bright and accessible as Holding The Sun here at ID:UD, but that’s as much a product of the aesthetic paths cleaved by artists after we’ve gotten on board with them as it is our editorial mandate. Dige’s path’s taken her away from many of her peers who’ve prioritized dark club success for the sake of terrain in which, frankly, stronger talents as a songwriter are needed to stand out, and that road less traveled has paid off wonderfully here. It sometimes takes courage to be as vulnerable as this. Recommended.

Buy it.

Holding the Sun by Sally Dige

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We’re getting into the dog days of summer, even out here on the temperate west coast, but that also means the time’s just about nigh for our annual trip over the Rockies to enjoy Terminus Festival, a tradition that’s become as integral to this site as our Year End coverage. As always, we’re looking forward to hanging with festival fam old and new – come say hi if you’re also making the pilgrimage! On with this week’s tracks…

S Y Z Y G Y X

Lebanon Hanover, “Torture Rack”
Between Pixel Grip and now veteran darkwave duo Lebanon Hanouver, we’ve had two prominent bands drop full LPs without much (if any) pre-release hype. Is this a new trend, directly countering the waterfall strategy we’ve seen over the past few years? In any case, a quick skim of Asylum Lullabies points to a sludgier and less polished side of Larissa Iceglass and William Maybelline’s work, suggesting dalliances with no wave and the likes of Lycia and mid-period Swans.
Asylum Lullabies by Lebanon Hanover

Comaduster, “The Less You Know (feat. Seeming)”
What if we were to tell you that two of our favourite acts, both of whom have forthcoming LPs this year did a track together? And that it’s a nice distillation of both of their styles, in a way that contrasts and highlights each of their strengths? Well, we’d obviously be talking about “The Less You Know”, the companion track to Comaduster’s recent single “Way With Me”, featuring none other than Alex Reed, aka Seeming. From the former you get the broken beat, hyper-detailed sound design and arrangement, the latter brings the beautiful lyricism and clarion vocal style, all of which comes together with a lovely sense of offbeat melodics that suits them both well. Check that rocking climax!
WAY WITH ME + THE LESS YOU KNOW by Comaduster

Fractions, “Light”
A slight turn away from the purely monochrome vision of techno showcased on the last few releases we heard from them, this new single from Fractions is far more colourful, while still holding to the same exacting, granular production style which made the Czech duo’s work so immediately appealing on their 2018 debut with Fleisch. Picking up on some cyber-themed sounds in current techno, while also calling back to the use of those sounds on industrial floors of decades past, and even peppering in some post-punk guitar, there’s a lot of dimension in this jumpy cut.
LIGHT [MGX001] by Fractions

Die Sexual, “Desire”
Die Sexual have kept a steady stream of new material coming basically since their first tracks were released back in 2023. Hot on the heels of “Magic Never Dies” comes “Desire”, taken from a three track EP of the same name and it does exactly what the husband and wife Los Angeles duo have always been good at: it’s club-ready, sits nicely at the nexus of modern EBM and darkwave, and has strong sexual elements that are fun and not excessively cartoonish. We’re getting to see them next week here in Vancouver, and are looking forward to catching their live show which we’ve heard good stuff about.
Desire by Die Sexual

INVA//ID, “Dogma”
The particular sub-style of heated and compressed Wax Trax industrial which LA’s INVA//ID have honed in on of late continues to pay dividends. We’ve heard the group shift through a whole slew of iterations of industrial metal across their career, but their solid cover of “Show Me Your Spine” seems to have foresaged a plunge into furious and expertly abraded fusions of synthesis and heavily processed and sampled guitar, like this one from new EP The Path.
The Path by INVA//ID

S Y Z Y G Y X, “Stranger”
We dropped the ball not catching S Y Z Y G Y X’s two spring singles “Climax” and “Sylph”, both of which are part of a very slick style of modern club music that draws from modern club sounds, hyperpop, darkwave and body music in equal measure. The Washington D.C. based artist has a new record Sinner coming August 1st, and we’re def feeling the aforementioned songs, as well as the slightly murkier and more opaque sound of “Stranger”. Adding this to the review-on-release queue immediately.
SINNER by S Y Z Y G Y X

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Ghosts for Comfort
Serpent
self-released
You could absolutely be forgiven for thinking that the music from UK duo Ghosts for Comfort’s new EP was some recently unearthed and polished up dark electro demo from roughly 30 years ago. Everything, from the straightforward bass programming, to the plinky melodies and digital pads, to the pinched vocals (which are particularly reminiscent of early X Marks the Pedwalk) to the thudding, reverbed drums, screams 90s dark electro. That’s not a criticism mind you; Serpent is a refreshingly straight take on the style made popular by Zoth Ommog and Celtic Circle, delivered with a heaping dose of antipathy. While tracks like “Murder” and “The Seed” trade in the rough, rattling sounds of dark electro’s earliest evolutionary steps forward from EBM, the EP features hints of the baroque sound of later acts in the genre; the lo-fi funky bass and drums of “Prey” are accented by a twinkling lead that calls to mind Leaether Strip, and there’s a dash of Rudy Ratzinger’s imperial period evident in the ornate arrangement of instrumental “Dead on Arrival”. Still, the EP is at its best at its most immediate, as evidenced by opener “Detonate”, whose drums and springy lead are formed into a skeletal arrangement that doesn’t roll forward so much as it lurches towards the listener with ill intent. It’s an acquired taste no doubt, but those with yen for it will find it appropriately caustic and unpleasant.
Serpent by Ghosts For Comfort

Mjöldryga
Pulvis Ad Mortem
Fluttering Dragon Records
The latest project from Fredrik Djurfeldt is of a piece with the gasping, unrelenting death industrial the Swedish artist has produced under the Analfabetism handle and most recently in collaborative project Hexophthalma. Mjöldryga’s debut finds him teaming up with Tomas Östergårds, whose work has tilted in a more dark ambient direction, but Pulvis Ad Mortem has precious little in common with that genre save for its steely and unyielding commitment to cold, impassive hostility. Refluxive waves of guttural feedback and distorted yowls make up the bulk of Pulvis Ad Mortem, from the circling static blasts of opener “Armar Ramlar Av” to the shuddering stutter of closer “Claviceps Purpurea” which blurs vocals and noise into a smeary grey morass. The tremoring radio pulses and samples perched atop the ebb and flow of sine waves on “Antoniuseld” or the almost naturally windswept stormy churn of “Bockahorn” are a reminder that the ur sources of this sort of noise are never too far from our day to day, regardless of whether we’re tossing a record like this on or not.
Mjöldryga – Pulvis Ad Mortem by Fluttering Dragon Records

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As is our custom when there’s a new record from industrial legends Laibach, we’re taking to the podcast to discuss it rather than simply knocking out a review. A deeply collaborative record between Slovenian and Iranian musicians, Alamut is a record steeped in history and which draws together diverse strands of Laibach’s own musical past and future as well as contemporary art music composition from around the world. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, download directly, or listen through the widget down below.

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ESA
Sounds For Your Happiness
Negative Gain Productions

With a steady release schedule and having recently crossed its two decade tenure, Jamie Blacker’s ESA project’s long been an established quantity for rivetheads and DJs on both sides of the pond, and with good reason. Blacker’s long had his heavily stylized (and elevated) form of modern rhythmic noise down to a science; cue up any of the last handful of ESA LPs and you know you’re getting punishing beats and minimalist yet hi-def programming with some flourishes lifted from neighbouring genres like gabber and aggrotech, with a personal tour of hell offered by Blacker’s unmistakable vocals, an experience less like tagging along with Charon or Virgil and more like being dragged on a chain by a rampaging Cerberus. The latest ESA LP, arriving with the eerily prosaic title Sounds For Your Happiness, keeps that hot hand going with a dense and lengthy barrage.

Built upon metallic programming and flitting between classic industrial club kicks and blast beats, Blacker sounds at home venting bile atop cuts like “Pound Of Flesh” and lengthy closer “The Gallows You Built For Yourself”. The immediacy of an oontzy banger like “Caligula” belies a deceptively complex arrangement, with chopped samples sidechained to beats and later being filleted into thin digital stutters for dramatic effect. It’s not all technical flourish, though, with the swinging chug of “It Will Never Be Enough” evoking death metal, or at least Ministry in their more downcast modes, and Blacker’s road warrior swagger in full effect on “Something For The Horsemen”.

The lengthy run time of the majority of the twelve tracks allows for a lot of shifts; the effect is marked when acidic washes of trance-cum-electro-industrial pads break through the thudding edifice of “Ratchet” at the six-minute mark (replete with some acid-house styled gospel samples). The same goes for the first appearance of truly ‘clean’ vocals from Blacker mid-album on “Rats Come Together”. The samples, breakdowns, and other tics and quirks peppered into the spaces between assaulting measures help to keep you on your toes through these epics, and occasionally add some levity (like the whinnying which punctuates “Something For The Horsemen”).

If there’s a weakness in Sounds For Your Happiness it might just be that there can be simply too much of its merciless assault, even with the aforementioned shifts and variances, over the course of its sprawling 75 minutes. It’s hard to cite that as much of a fault when none of the tracks feel repetitive or superfluous and each holds up well as a standalone piece, and may just be a question of endurance. As always with ESA, the beatings will continue until morale improves.

Buy it.

Sounds for your Happiness by ESA

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Mari Kattman
Year of the Katt
Metropolis Records

Mari Kattman has been a steady presence in the broader industrial and darkwave community for the better part of the last decade or so, first as a striking guest vocalist with artists such as Comaduster, iVardensphere and Neuroticfish, as well as half of Helix with her partner Tom Shear, and as a solo act in her own rite. While the Boston chanteuse has a few self-released albums in her discography, Year of the Katt is the culmination of the dark, club-ready sound she’s been exploring over the last few years of EPs and singles. In practice the record splits the difference between Kattman’s considerable vocal charisma and power, and her growth as a songwriter and producer.

To that point, the entirety of Year of the Katt is written, produced, and performed by Kattman, and consequently plays to her strengths. One of her gifts has always been in conveying her personality through her performance, and the material here certainly leans into that, often quite literally. Opener “Typical Girl” paints a portrait of Kattman through candid admissions (“I’m a difficult person”) and taunting self-examination (“Who’s gonna love you now?”), and the deployment of an affected and effective sneer that makes a character of her own self-doubt. Similarly, “Anemia” takes its cues from her experiences with the titular condition, heightened and then turned outwards, slinky and inviting with a healthy dose of laidback menace that complements its big detuned synth hook and medium tempo rhythm programming. The theme of self-examination carries culminates nicely on closer “Pain” where Kattman gives thanks to adversity as a motivator and teacher, matching it up to a surprising but not unwelcome assembly of body-music ad-libs, a tasteful guitar solo, and one of her most straightforward and catchy arrangements.

The clubbable trad-scene mix of synthpop, EBM and dark electronics that informs Year of the Katt is a natural fit for Kattman, and she shows a strong understanding of how to put songs in the style together. While there are plenty of fun touches in the design of the record (the use of morse code and modem samples as rhythmic devices is clever, as is the throwback futurepop construction of “Take Myself Back”), the palette is kept minimal and effective, allowing lots of space for the vocals. Perhaps that’s a function of how often Kattman uses a cool, breathy delivery, sometimes ramping to higher registers, as on “Take”, or into her forceful but smooth mezzo range, like “Little Bullet Girl” and “PunisHER”. If anything the album is light on moments where she goes to full strength, although one has to assume that’s a conscious decision for the sake of consistency in mood and style across the record.

With that in mind, Year of the Katt ends up being something of a coming out party for Mari Kattman as a writer and producer. It’s less-focused on showing off her already established bonafides as a vocalist, and more about her ever advancing skills in song and albumcraft, a feat that it handily achieves.

Buy it.

Year Of The Katt by Mari Kattman

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Hey friends and neighbours, thanks for stopping in for Tracks this week. As with every week, it’s kind of overwhelming how much music there is to write about right now, and how many artists we’re already following closely are putting out new stuff, but this week feels particularly stacked for IDUD faves. Indeed, with the year half over and still a solid dozen albums yet to drop that we’re anticipating, not to mention the inevitable surprise drops and brand new acts yet to emerge, it feels like we have yet to see the complete shape of 2025 musically. If you have some stuff you want us to know about, please feel free to put it in the comments, we’re always on the lookout. Tracks ahoy!

Lousiahhh x Helsmoortel, “Sugar & Violence”
Louisahhh has been one of the bravest and most exciting presences in leftfield electronic dance music for a few years now, both in her solo material and her collabs with Maelstrom amongst others. Her latest project is an EP sized team-up with Belgian producer Helsmoortel, and finds her applying her strident, forthright vocals to a cool electro beat on “Sugar & Violence”, sinister and alluring in equal measure. Given how harsh a lot of Louisahhh’s material has been, this ends up being a move towards a smoother, if no less bracing sound.
Sugar & Violence by Louisahhh x Helsmoortel

Diesein, “Monday Morning”
The difference between Laslo Antal’s work as one half of Sixth June and that in his solo project Diesein hasn’t ever been stable for too long, with the latter’s releases at times tilting very close to the atmospheric, sultry darkwave we expect from Sixth June, and at times wandering into very poppy or confessional songwriter territory. This taster from forthcoming third Diesein LP splits the difference, coating the elegant core of Sixth June writing with some brightly coloured synth fondant psychedelia.
I like it / I hate it by DIESEIN

XTR HUMAN, “Sledgehammer”
We had the pleasure of seeing Johnannes Stabel perform as XTR HUMAN here in Vancouver a few months back, and it solidified our view that the project is some of the best modern EBM going. New single “Sledgehammer” is another great example of what the project does best, marrying classic body music basslines and drums with shouted vocals and a healthy dollop of raved-up techno, hitting the balance between them just right. With his next Canadian performance looming at Terminus in a few weeks, this is just the thing to get us even more hype for some stomping, sweating dancefloor action.
Sledgehammer by XTR HUMAN

Ash Code, “Scar”
We’ll absolutely cop to darkwave burnout being a real phenomenon, both while seeking out new tracks for ID:UD and for the club, but we have no such concerns when it comes to Italian stalwarts Ash Code. We’ve been hearing tracks for September’s Synthome since November, and the last few that’ve seen release, like this absolutely oppressive and smothering number which sounds like a Soft Moon/Frozen Autumn hybrid we never knew we wanted, are raising its profile as a contender to be reckoned with in a very crowded scene.
Synthome by Ash Code

Blood Rave, “Dead Inside”
Speaking of bands we saw at Verboden, our second time seeing Napa’s Blood Rave perform was revelatory; we liked the modern electro-darkwave act plenty the first time we saw them last year, but the performance and the quality of the material on this year’s Exponential Decay showed some considerable advancement in a relatively brief period of time. And we weren’t the only ones feeling it, as evidenced by the number of Blood Rave shirts we saw for the rest of that weekend. “Dead Inside” will no doubt be on plenty Summer gloom playlists, ours included.
Dead Inside by Blood Rave

Ghosts For Comfort, “Murder”
The debt UK duo Ghosts For Comfort owe to classic dark electro is apparent from the moment you cue up any track on their new Serpents EP. Thankfully, it’s a style they pull off well. Raw, grimy, and minimalist in construction and production, tunes like this draw a line between classic Klinik and some jacked up new beat rhythms.
Serpent by Ghosts For Comfort

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Moon 17
TX_1320
self-released

It’s been almost two years since Kansas City duo Moon 17 released their first tracks: “Jellyfish”, which bridged mutant EBM and modern darkwave in a cascade of glitches and orch hits, and “Mirror Side”, a mean slice of lo-fi industrial with screamed and crooned vocals and churning programming. While active live, it wasn’t until the recent surprise release of the debut album TX_1320 that we got another taste of Zack Hames and Samantha Conrad’s self-described “sci-fi industrial”, a style that finds them dipping into classic and contemporary sounds in intriguing fashion.

The HAL 9000 samples set against spacey ambience that introduce the record on “Velcro Shoes” act as a mood-setter, but it’s on the first proper song “Ronnie Rocket” where Moon 17’s ambitions come into focus. The slow-rolling tempo of the song and screamed vocals are plenty appealing on their own, enhanced by some choppy programming, the placement of drum hits and synths playing off one another, and the wormy funk lead that recalls Nine Inch Nail’s funkier moments. There are plenty of those clever ‘nice touch’ moments for those paying attention; little production details and arrangement choices that take songs from solid to quite good. Hear how smoothly the guitar on “Bersicker” (courtesy of Cort from Spike Hellis) transitions from chugging rhythm to mirroring the vocal line to peeling off into a solo, or how the chaotic second half of “Helios” reflects the almost gentle build of it’s opening minutes.

For their obvious attention to detail in the recording, the band never get lost in the weeds when it comes to delivering on their hooks. That lack of preciousness means that for all the fun layers of FM bass, gated and looped samples and mountains of percussion that fill-out “Cherry”, it’s never at the expense of screamed and shouted lyrics and corroded synth-hook. Similarly, while the instrumental “Spark” dips into piercing chiptune and sountracky ambience, there’s an intentionality in how those sounds support its recurring and recognizable motifs.

The tightrope-walk of keeping TX_1320‘s intricate construction and appropriate roughness around the edges balanced with the focus on the songs themselves is no small feat, and one that certainly justifies the wait for Moon 17’s debut. As both a highly listenable (and re-listenable) collection of modern industrial cuts, and a statement of purpose for Moon 17, it’s a winner. Recommended.

Buy it.

TX_1320 by Moon 17

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In a wide-ranging open topic conversation, we discuss our thoughts about the purpose, value, and reception of negative music reviews in Our Thing. What’s the line between constructive criticism and a hatchet job? Why write them or, conversely, avoid writing them? All that and plenty of questions in between await on the latest episode of We Have A Technical. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, download directly, or listen through the widget down below.

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Empusae
The Alchemist’s Rift
Arcane Dirge

Nicolas Van Meirhaeghe of Empusae’s always had a relatively brisk release schedule since his 2002 debut, but that pace has accelerated to a super-human level over the past few years with a near-constant slew of new music from the Swedish dark ambient vet, ranging from some expected collaborations (continuing his work with Shinkiro, teaming up with Peter Bjärgö of Arcana) to absolutely left field ones (the Præter project, which saw Van Meirhaeghe working with choreographers and fashion designers). Those have all done a solid job of showing Empusae’s flexibility as a project and Van Meihaeghe’s growth in both sound design and composition, but new proper stand-alone LP The Alchemist’s Rift offers the opportunity for a clear reappraisal of Empusae’s progression.

Despite a fairly short run time The Alchemist’s Rift serves as a solid reintroduction to the range of sounds and styles Empusae has at hand and moves through them at a fair clip; ranging from the cosmic grandeur of “The Echo Of Shadows” to the way the ritual minimalism of foreboding opener “Invocation (The Fractured Self)” blossoms into hi-def symphonic sweeps. That’s not to say that it’s underdeveloped or rushed; all six pieces are given more than enough time to establish themselves, and the loose theme of alchemical exploration of the beyond threads nicely through it.

More than anything, The Alchemist’s Rift showcases just how well Van Meirhaeghe’s technical sound design chops have grown alongside his compositional ambitions. Album centerpiece “Through The Rift” builds to an evocative and ever-shifting arpeggiated riff both mechanical and wholly abstract pads and percussion creating a constant sense of movement and drama. It’s a tour de force of composition which doesn’t just point to old cliches about “cinematic” sounds and “soundtracks to non-existent films”, but should call the likes of undisputed masters like Zimmer and Jóhannsson to the minds of film score aficionados.

For those who often find releases marked with the dark ambient tag to be too static or droning, The Alchemist’s Rift offers kinetic action and fully sculpted individual pieces, as well as a properly executed LP structure. Mature without being too ponderous or self-reflective, it’s the sort of record that Van Meirhaeghe might not have been able to pull off with such aplomb a few years back, but now is able to fully realize.

Buy it.

The Alchemist's Rift by Empusae

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We’re rejiggering our week’s posting given the slightly odd experience of our national stat holiday falling on a Tuesday, so it’s Tracks today and reviews coming on Wednesday and Friday. And hey, if you’re at all curious about how we as Canadians feel about celebrations like Canada Day or patriotism in general during this strange new era of trade war, well, that’s something we specifically touched upon in our Patreon-only bonus Bombers podcast this past weekend, but we certainly don’t need to dig into that now while offering you six fresh cuts.

Grimmer than thou, it’s Lebanon Hanover

Sleek Teeth, “Same”
The hybrid style of LA duo Sleek Teeth have made them one of the most talked about bands of the last 12 months, and a new tune like this only pushes them further up the list of bands we’re most pumped to see at Terminus at the end of the month. Expertly blending synthpop, EBM, classic rave tracks, and a plain old sense of pop songwriting pays off for them well with “Same”, and keeps their run of Kite-like quality control going with this being just their sixth track to go public.
Same by Sleek Teeth

Comaduster, “Way With Me”
If you checked out the podcast last week, you heard us talking about how much we’re anticipating the new album from Comaduster, a full five years since the project’s last missive Darker Matter. Our first taste of that soon the be announced record is the single “Way With Me”, a classic example of Real Cardinal’s insanely detailed production and sound design, as filtered through his particular style of emotional songwriting. If you’ve never heard Comaduster before, this tells you what you need to know about the band’s ordered chaos, if you’re already a fan like us, you’ll appreciate the mixture of the familiar and the alien here. Welcome back, you’ve been missed.
WAY WITH ME + THE LESS YOU KNOW by Comaduster

Zanias, “Dawn”
We were talking on last week’s podcast about artists with records in the pipeline we’re looking forward to, and since then Zanias has dropped another tune from her forthcoming Cataclysm LP. Lyrically it offers a clear historically materialist read on the current panoply of disasters and atrocities we’re all weathering, and continues to sprinkle in just a little hint of contemporary hyperpop into the emotive mix of ambient and electro we heard on Cataclysm‘s preceding title track.
Dawn by Zanias

Street Sex, “Turn Blue”
It’s been a few years since we’ve had some new machine-operated death trips from Texas nightmare merchants Street Sects, but it looks like August will bring not just a new Street Sects album in Dry Drunk, but also Full Color Eclipse, an LP released under the slightly nudged name Street Sex. If the sound of this track is representative, it looks like we’re in store for a slightly more electro and funk influenced spin on Street Sect’s sound, but don’t worry – with lyrics like “fuck until your eyes pop out, then maybe you’ll never suffer again” they’re not exactly getting coy on us all of a sudden.
FULL COLOR ECLIPSE by STREET SEX

Synthetische Lebensform, “Distance (feat. Eudgen Provkov)”
We’re fans of Russian electro-industrialists Synthetische Lebensform, and thus were very keen to check out the first single from them since the release of their February LP Current Profile. While initially suprised by the vocal style and emphasis on guitars on the song, we were quickly taken with the song’s dramatic chorus and scope, which brings :SITD: of all bands to mind. Not what we expected, and all the more interesting for it. An album of this wouldn’t be unwelcome.
Distance feat. Eudgen Provkov by Synthetische Lebensform

Lebanon Hanover, “Torture Rack”
We kinda neglected to mention Lebanon Hanover in our rundown of forthcoming 2025 albums, probably because we didn’t know that Fabrika was releasing Asylum Lullabies on July 10th. “Torture Rack” features the influential darkwave duo at their most gloomy and funereal, with Larissa Iceglass solemnly intoning each lyric with the duo’s signature gravitas. Not exactly a Summer fun time single, unless your summer plans include glumly staring into the middle distance, which lets face it, many of the folks reading this probably do have on the agenda. Fuck us up Lebanon Hanover.

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For this month’s Patreon-supported bonus podcast, we’re talking about the second LP from Wes Eisold’s post-punk/synthpop act Cold Cave. A record that has taken on more emotional resonance as it (and we!) have aged, so there’s gonna be a lot of talk about feelings, not to mention Cold Cave’s unique place in the transition from the landfill post-punk boom into the contemporary darkwave era. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, download directly, or listen through the widget down below.

The post We Have a Commentary: Cold Cave, “Cherish the Light Years” appeared first on I Die: You Die.

A Shrine To Failure
Undone
self-released
Despite the heavy trad-goth connotations of German duo A Shrine To Failure’s name, promo photos, and hell, even choice of fonts, there’s precious little influence from gothic rock or deathrock to be found on their debut Undone…at least on the surface. The beats and synths which make up most of Undone aren’t that dissimilar from the instrumentation that makes up so much run-of-the-mill darkwave in 2025, but A Shrine To Failure press them into plaintive, heart on sleeve tunes which hearken back to a broader pool of inspirations. Tunes like “Reverie” and “This Is Surrender” borrow from all manner of classic goth acts both in terms of lyrical drama and musical flair, or at least more adept contemporaries like Wingtips and Rosegarden Funeral Party who have a clear read on how much goth history was built on pop and rock fundamentals. Despite its minimal and modern construction, “Bleakware” brings a decent amount of melody and harmonics without relying too heavily on its pure darkwave rhythm. Similarly, the straightforward staccato punch of “Starving”‘s synth program builds alongside increasingly anxious vocals, almost recalling early Ashbury Heights. A very strong debut from a band with clear songwriting chops beyond their tenure. Recommended.
undone by A Shrine to Failure

Viva Non
Natural
self-released
Winnipeg’s Viva Non has been a lot of things over the course of last decade, touching musically on darkwave, industrial, techno and ambient. With the James Hofer recently announcing a return to performing and releasing synthpop-styled material, the most recent EP Natural takes the role of summarizing the project’s instrumental technoid era, a role that it does in fine fashion. “Hollow” is encapsulates the shuffling, rhythmic sensibility of Hofer’s live PA sets, its judiciously placed kicks and snatches of programming immersed in waves of hissing static and low hypnotic drones. Alternately, “Break” dips into straighter kick-snare patterns, but subtly layers in more synth parts, some chirpy, some fluid and snake-like, all leading to a tense crescendo that recalls Mlada Fronta amongst others. “Encircle” in both its original form and its Filmmaker remix embodies Viva Non’s focus on mood via production; the former keeps its pads and non-percussive elements ephemeral, the latter has them follow in the wake of the beefed up drums, suggesting distance and scale through placement in the mix. If this is the last EP of this style for Hofer for the foreseeable future, its certainly a fine capstone for this incarnation of the project.
Natural by Viva Non

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The Galan Pixs

We have a classic two albums episode for you this week folks, including the last decidedly industrial-related work from German act The Galan Pixs, plus the experimentation of latter-era Portion Control with their SEEDEP3. We’re also looking ahead at some records set to be released in the back half of 2025. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, download directly, or listen through the widget down below.

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General Dynamics
Where Animals Play
X-IMG

The styles of the two respective members of General Dynamics (William Maybelline of Lebanon Hanover and Qual, and Emad Dabiri of SARIN and half a dozen other projects, not to mention boss of the X-IMG label) were well established by the time the side-project’s debut, Weaponize Your Dreams, arrived at the tail end of 2022. So much so, in fact, that the record was more of a test case of the pair’s chemistry rather than of what its component parts might sound like. Second LP Where Animals Play carries that forward with another clutch of nasty yet club-ready tunes which triangulates Dabiri and Maybelline’s broad reach of classic post-industrial and brings it to bear with their own flow and aesthetic.

The album’s titular first full track draws most of General Dynamics’ sonic and thematic interests together and distills them into a noxious cask-strength spirit where the Dionysian slaughter of gods sits side by side with samples from old phone sex line ads and taut, pinched, and wormy bass programming. It’s in that combination of Maybelline’s unmistakable voice and lyrics (this is, after all, a man who can effortlessly flip between quoting “American Psycho” and releasing songs with titles like “Rape Me In The Parthenon”) with Dabiri’s yen for VHS kitsch and sleekly produced modern TBM that General Dynamics finds its strengths. Anyone with an interest in classic dark electro or modern EBM should be able to hop aboard Where Animals Play easily, but spend enough time in the swampy stomp of “Something Unnatural” or with the scraping lope of “Creepin’ In” and you’ll see just how effective the duo are in putting their shared interest in the grimiest of 90s material to good use – one can easily imagine them talking shop about yelworC for hours.

In closing out with “Chasing The Scream”, which keeps the record’s noiser and more pained impulses in check for the sake of a speedy cyber-autobahn cruise of nimble, simple arpeggios and icy pads, the structure (and well-edited run-time) of Where Animals Play reads almost like a winking acknowledgement of the ease with which Maybelline and Dabiri’s instincts gel and fit into current club culture. General Dynamics is a project which couldn’t help but sound exactly as it does, and while it’s as idiosyncratic and specific as the extant work of the artists who made it, it’s also primed to inject some vintage toxic sludge into modern club sets.

Buy it.

Where Animals Play by General Dynamics

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Static Ghost
Breaching Flesh
Verboden Records

Olympia-based industrial act Static Ghost has become something of a regular live presence in the Pacific Northwest, bringing a stomping mixture of body music, rough-edged production and bracing energy to the stage. The ease with which audiences latch on to Static Ghost’s material is almost certainly thanks to its immediacy and lack of pretense, qualities that were matched by the one-man-project’s recorded output which has largely emphasized mid-tempo grooves and a healthy dose of the aggression for flavour. New release Breaching Flesh follows that same path, but with an added emphasis on atmosphere and arrangement, adding nuance to the sturm and drang that has defined the project up ’til this point.

Which is not to say that Static Ghost has mellowed out at all; songs like the album’s title track still hinge on tightly wound bass and discordant synthlines and samples, the uneasiness of the distorted vocals pairing well with the reconstituted screams and shouts embedded in the mix. Where things really start to take shape though is in the places where those same elements are tweaked to create different moods. “Virus” has a rhythm that feels very natural for the band, but makes a point of playing up the foreboding pads in the background and switching up the transitions between sections, with a resulting unease that suggests hostility more than it enacts it. Similarly, the stop-start progression and chirpy acid of “Burnt Evidence” and the minimalist hiss of “No Future” still have plenty of groove, but draw out their builds rather than barreling towards their conclusions, allowing more potent grooves to build.

Where the projects ambitions and Breaching Flesh‘s execution clash are in the production, which maintains its DIY-charm, but sometimes detract from the dynamics and textures being brought to the material. First proper song “Identity” could almost be mistaken for early period :Wumpscut: with its medium-tempo and the breathy synths behind its heavy drums, but certain details become lost in the mix, obscuring details in favour of impact. Elsewhere, the clacky bass sound of “Choked and Strained” and the eventual filter swept synthlead feel strangely anemic, as though their bodies have been hollowed out. It’s not an issue for every song on the record, and can probably be chalked up finding their way around the expanded toolset. When things all fit together as on closer “Seeing Self”, Static Ghost balances the forcefulness of their live show with plenty of mood and character.

Buy it.

BREACHING FLESH (digital) by STATIC GHOST

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And hey, second week back to regular schedule and The Senior Staff are just working through the backlog of albums, singles and EPs that came across our virtual desks during our Spring hiatus. Last week had us holding forth on some of our more anticipated 2025 releases from Youth Code, Pixel Grip and Bootblacks, and hopefully this week we’ll be getting to a few more of the records that have been getting us hype. Strong year so far at just about the halfway point, and plenty to come from the likes of ESA, Moon 17 and Sally Dige (to pick 3 names out of a hat) that we’re keen on. What have been your faves so far this year? Make sure to let us know in the comments! On to Tracks!

Ultra Sunn, “The Beast In You”
Ultra Sunn have come a long way since their earliest releases as part of the early 2020s electro-darkwave boom, finding their own strengths, namely in the vocals of Sam Huge and their own voice as songwriters. The first single and title track from the forthcoming The Beast In You shows still more growth, leaning into synthpop dramatics that recall And One’s more baroque moments amongst others. Check those organ and choral sounds, and how nicely they mesh with the band’s rubbery basslines, it’s a great match and is certainly one of the strongest songs from a band that has already been doing good things in that department.
The Beast In You by ULTRA SUNN

Static Ghost, “Identity”
We’ve been tracking Olympia’s Static Ghost for a number of years now, both through a slew of singles and EPs as well as a spate of sets up here in Vancouver which have cinched the producer as one of the most energetic and enjoyable EBM-related acts Cascadia can claim. Now with a first full LP out, tracks like this which blend modern TBM with classic dark electro iciness will hopefully begin to find Static Ghost a wider audience via Breached Flesh.
BREACHING FLESH (digital) by STATIC GHOST

Dark Chisme, “Breathe, Break It”
Speaking of acts reaching out beyond the Pacific Northwest, we’d certainly hope that you’re already clued into Dark Chisme after the heavy duty touring the Seattle duo embarked upon in support of their excellent self-titled debut over the past couple of years. The second new track to be released since that LP keeps the hot hand going, with plenty of drama being worked from Christine Gutierrez’s vocals weaving through a less-is-more arrangement and some big, futurepop-esque programming crashing through at exactly the right times. Dark Chisme have everything in place to keep on rising into the tier of North America’s strongest acts, full stop.
Breathe, Break it by Dark Chisme

The Devil & The Universe, “Beelzebub Unchained”
It’s been a few years since we’ve heard new material from Austrian oddballs The Devil & The Universe, but they’ve resurfaced on Swiss Dark Nights with a pair of new singles. While “Primordial Temples” gets the smokey subtlety of their style across, this number’s far more bombastic, pushing their blend of darkwave and neo-classical to the maximalist limit with some help from Stockholm’s Aux Animaux.
Beelzebub Unchained by The Devil & The Universe

Ortrotasce, “Mirror Stitched to Static”
Just over a year since the release of Ortotrasce’s last LP of excellent classic synthpop comes a new missive from the US-based act. The project’s prolific 2024 release schedule maintained an excellent quality to quantity ration, and we’re pleased that the first song we’ve heard from them this calendar year doesn’t buck that trend; funky analogue bass, chirpy percussion and those low-key vocals and pleasing melodies that put us in mind of early 2000s electro from the likes of Soviet and Solvent. Great stuff from a band you should be keeping an eye on.
Mirror Stitched to Static by Ortrotasce

Die Sexual, “Magic Never Dies”
Hey, a new one from Los Angeles sexlectro duo Die Sexual, who have put out more than a couple dancefloor heaters in recent years (check “Need to Sin” and “Darkest Hour” for a couple of our faves). “Magic Never Dies” plays up the band’s strengths, namely disaffected but still insistent vocals, solid rhythm programming and minimal but propulsive synth programming. Also really feeling that post-chorus vocal break and bridge, just a nicely produced and structured addition to the track that separates from other comparable electro-darkwave.
Magic Never Dies by Die Sexual

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Bootblacks
Paradise
Artoffact Records

Paradise is the record that New York’s post-punk trio Bootblacks have been threatening to make for a few years now, lit from the smooth melodics and studio sheen of its predecessor Thin Skies and stoked by extensive touring and the band’s own unique appeal. While those who have seen vocalist Panther Almqvist, synthesist Barrett Hiatt and recently added guitarist Kalle Fagerberg play live will attest to the band’s considerable charms, this is the first time that the band have fully captured that on record, via a considered mix of songwriting, excellent production provided by Xavier Paradis, and the band’s lively delivery.

From its very first moments, when a warbling staccato synth chirp is immediately encased within a sweeping, warm vista of pads and ambience on “Forbidden Flames”, it’s clear that Paradise is a record with a specific musical vision. As opposed to the sprawling, everything and the kitchen sink reach of Thin Skies which seemed to hot-swap genres mid-track at times, there’s no mistaking any of the numbers on Paradise as stemming from anywhere other than this iteration of Bootblacks. Some credit is no doubt due to producer Paradis whose own work as Automelodi presages the album’s glossy mixture of italo disco, darkwave, and art pop.

It’s a natural fit for the band, whose work has always strained against the accepted boundaries of the post-punk sound they were corralled into. The record’s warm and often euphoric disposition works in every configuration, allowing for the groovy mid-tempo bounce (partially contributed by Chris Vrenna) of “Only You” with its smooth sax solo to share space with the wormy disco pulse of “Can You Feel It? (Anymore)”, whose summery, spacey pads give the track’s verses a “From Here To Eternity”-styled sense of intrigue. Even darker or more lowkey moments, such as the Siouxsie-connoting, smoky downward guitar lines of “Wilderness” or the increasingly discordant directions closer “Melt” sprawls out towards, are swaddled in Paradise‘s larger package and aesthetic, maintaining that holistically bright mood.

The secret of Paradise‘s balance of easy-going vibes and rapturous, sneakily-intense climaxes (see “Leipzig” where a steady pace begets some of the most insistent new wave thrills this side of prime-era Duran Duran) is in how it’s a perfect reflection of the strengths Bootblacks have always had. Almqvist has never lacked for vocal presence on stage, and hearing his laconic charm captured so perfectly here is one the LP’s great pleasures. Similarly, sharp programming and chorused-out guitars have always been part of the band’s identity, but their configuration in these these songs is fresh and impressive; listen to the shimmery delays on the lead of the title track, or the way the octave bass of “When You Want” lands around the percussion.

Even accounting for the shifting focus between atmosphere and hooks, the impressive unity of ambition and execution, and its compulsive listenability, this record’s greatest feat is in how it captures the band in the extended, joyous moment in which they’ve fully come into their own. Weird as it is to say for a band of their tenure, Paradise sounds like Bootblacks speaking their native language for the very first time. Highly recommended.

Buy it.

Paradise by Bootblacks

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Sixth June

We’re catching up with a whole slew of news and live show business off the top of this episode as your regularly scheduled ID:UD programming resumes, and we’re returning to the ever-popular Pick Five format. From powernoise to goth rock we’re each picking some especially long tracks and talking about how that length has shaped our impressions of them. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, download directly, or listen through the widget down below.

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Pixel Grip
Percepticide: The Death of Reality
self-released

It’s been a little over four years since Pixel Grip’s breakthrough sophomore album Arena was released, a perfect record for that exact moment in time. The Chicago based-trio’s genre-bending mix of EBM, darkwave, and club music, all served with audacious confidence was the ideal soundtrack for a world just emerging from pandemic restrictions and returning to dancefloors en masse. The lengthy wait for a follow-up record and the band’s growing rep as a live act, mean that 2025’s Percepticide: The Death of Reality has some significant expectations attached to it on arrival.

Perhaps as an acknowledgement of, or in direct defiance of those expectations, the record opens with a track that couldn’t be more different from the buzzing, acerbic posture of Pixel Grip’s signature hits “ALPHAPUSSY” or “Demon Chaser”. Where those songs got over on the basis of attitude and whipsmart rhythm programming, “Crow’s Feast” is a soft, reflective cut that finds vocalist Rita Lukea at her most open, likening heartache and disappointment to being eaten alive, while a tasteful and minimal arrangement of synths plays out behind her. It’s hard not to see it as something of a power move and a statement of purpose in one; we already knew that Lukea and bandmates Tyler Ommen and Jonathon Freund can heat up dancefloors, but opening with an exploration of the emotions behind their sexually-empowered anthems changes up the context for the album significantly. Hence why the already familiar single “I Bet You Do” (originally released in 2023) feels different here, its fuckboy-kiss-off lyrics coloured by the vulnerability that preceded it, but without taking the cutting edge off of its chittering synthlines and snappy drums.

That dichotomy, although not as pronounced in its opening tracks, is at the heart of the record. For every sweaty, bass-forward dancefloor burner like “Stamina” (whose “Daddy come over/Fuck me over and over” hook is as memorable as any PG have ever recorded), there’s a slowburn joint like “Noise” where the band dial it back and rely more on atmospherics and melody as conveyed by ghostly synths and trappy cymbal programming. Most intriguing are the moments where Pixel Grip split the difference between grinding it out and confessional soul-baring; “A Moment With God” is as close to pure synthpunk as the band have ever gotten, its drums and bass guitar rolling along while Lukea flips between a wounded croon and dismissive shout.

Percepticide shows more of Pixel Grip than anticipated, and in ways that fit nicely with the bratty, sexually-liberated, nightlife image they’ve been cultivating up ’til this point. It’s got the bangers you’d expect certainly, supplemented with some emotional sincerity and some of their most developed songwriting to date; a record that explores club life, and the emotional fallout of what happens on and off the dancefloor.

Buy it.

Percepticide: The Death of Reality by Pixel Grip

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