Gothic BC

Caustic Grip
Beneath the Skin
Slice Records

No points for guessing the primary sonic touchpoint of Australian electro-industrial project Caustic Grip; even if they weren’t named after the seminal Front Line Assembly LP, sole member Scar Scarlett Shred isn’t shy about drawing inspiration from that bands early 90’s catalogue. Where new mini-album Beneath the Skin distinguishes itself is in how Shreds applies those genre-defining sounds to a variety of song templates, with surprisingly broad results.

Caustic Grip acquit themselves well in the record’s most FLA moments, applying many of the Leeb and Fulber production ideas in effective fashion. Listen to the use of stereo placement of drums and synthlines on “FVTVRE CORPZE”, and the use of sampled synths to create ultratight syncopation across its arrangement – the influence is palpable, but not imitative. You can hear the same kinds of programming and sampling ideas at play on the club-ready title track, where dueling bass parts from the left and right channel come together with concussive force into a snare-driven rhythm that pulses with retro-cyberpunk energy.

Where those tropes are straight from the electro-industrial playbook, it’s interesting to hear Shreds work them into purer EBM numbers, sliding the detail oriented programming and sound design into body music’s muscled structures. “GOING DOWN” has a bass lick and shouted gang vocals in the neo-old school style, the percussive intensity of its hits obscuring the clever shuffling of melodic and rhythmic synthlines across its runtime, upping the track’s depth considerably. “SUBMERGED” goes the full modern mutant EBM route (think PC World or Physical Wash) but gets mileage out of miniscule bits of synth modulation, its repeating motifs given an organic sense of growth and evolution.

Perhaps the record’s most surprising moment comes in final track “ASUNDER”, its lengthy dialogue-sample intro unfolding into a lush ballad, albeit one informed by the proggier side of modern post-industrial music. As a topper for the release, it paints a fuller portrait of the melodic and atmospheric ambitions of the project, taking Caustic Grip further afield from its foundational influences and suggesting the larger musical world it inhabits.

Buy it.

Beneath The Skin by Caustic Grip

The post Caustic Grip, “Beneath the Skin” appeared first on I Die: You Die.

Gorgyra
Hecate
Detriti Records

Representing a wide diversion from Detriti’s usual beat of coldwave and lo-fi body music, the debut release from Iranian/German project Gorgyra was a cryptic and minimalist foray into classical mythology by way of neo-classical and folk instrumentation. Now officially a duo, Gorgyra’s first full length expands upon and fleshes out the project’s tantalizing promise, addressing a range of mythic and philosophical themes via a similarly wide range of musical modes.

Like its predecessor, Hecate links elements of Persian folk and broader neo-classical traditions with the moods and atmospheres (if not the instrumentation) of ritually-minded dark ambient. That in and of itself would be a sufficiently strong foundation for a record, but founding member Azin Zahedi is bringing her pedigrees in the art music and electro-acoustic spheres to full bear here, and between the weathered chorale of “Amor Fati” and the hauntological piano of “Nyx” a host of production and studio techniques add smoke and depth to Hecate.

Gorgyra’s focus remains upon dark renderings of ancient and folk music, however. “Athena”, a ruminative blend of deep drones and nimble hammered strings brings Arcana or Dead Can Dance to mind. On paper, it should feel of a kind with the ritual pulse and flute of “Mithra” (and surely there’s no figure to better represent the link between the ancient worlds of the west and middle east), but while the former has a loping and inviting slink bordering on darkwave, the latter has a stark and sober wariness as the flute casts questing light through the underworld.

While still drawing upon Greek myth and philosophy (with a little bit of Latin sprinkled on for good measure) in its titling, the variety of traditions and production styles Gorgyra trade in crack the gods and fates out of dusty historical frames and give them free and immediate movement in the mind of the listener. But at points the haunting beauty and simplicity of the music transcends production or historical reference. On “Ananke”, a mournful woodwind is recorded in isolation, at a distance, free of ornamentation or post-production. The breath, timbre, and slowly turning tones of the piece stand on their own, out of this time and the past alike.

Buy it.

Gorgyra – Hecate by Detriti Records

The post Gorgyra, “Hecate” appeared first on I Die: You Die.

Hope your new year and holidays were festive, safe, and relaxing, kids. As is our wont we used at least some of our downtime to catch our breaths and look a bit further afield at some lists, sites, and genres we don’t have much time for during the regular crush of ID:UD coverage for some off-topic listening over the holidays, but we’ve also been keeping track of material from our side of the fence that was released over the break or which initially slipped past us over the past couple months. In short, we’re well-rested and ready to bring you another year’s worth of darker alternatives, starting with the first Tracks post of 2024!

Curses looks to the sky for answers.

Curses presents Tutto Vetro, “No Mercy”
Recently on the podcast we brought up Curses as an example of one of the producers who took the potential of italo-body to places far beyond simple novelty, and damn if the Ombra International impressario didn’t put the button on that endorsement with the release of No Mercy last week. An EP of tracks that pays tribute to the Valencia sound of the 90s, the four cuts on the EP all have that sweet combination of techno-body and hot NRG sounds that hit us just so. First big instrumental banger of the year right here.
T̷U̷T̷T̷O̷ ̷V̷E̷T̷R̷O̷ : 'No Mercy' by Tutto Vetro, Curses

Varg I Veum, “The Dim Glass”
We were sad to see Italian goth rock act HAPAX pack it in last year, but a new project featuring vocalist Michele Mozzillo is carrying forward at least some of that project’s stern and sober approach. Varg I Veum cleaves in a much more explicitly darkwave direction than anything HAPAX attempted, though, with melodies and atmosphere taken directly from the most classic iterations of that genre. Getting some real Frozen Autumn feels on this bouncy number from the duo’s self-titled debut LP.
Varg I Veum by Varg I Veum

Lana Del Rabies, “Mother (MVTANT remix)”
Lana Del Rabies’ Straga Beata was our album of the year for 2023, if you haven’t heard or read our feelings on the matter you can still find our extensive write up on the first page of the site at the time of this posting. Naturally a remix album is an interesting endeavour when the subject is material this singular, but we’re pretty into the lineup assembled for Becoming Everything: Strega Beata Remixed; Tassel, Plack Blague, Bara Hari, Cruel Diagonals, Bestial Mouths and Hallows are all acts we follow and enjoy and who acquit themselves more than ably here. We’re especially into MVTANT’s body makeover of the harrowing “Mother”, fit for the club or the rave in the abandoned subway station.
Becoming Everything: STREGA BEATA Remixed by Lana Del Rabies

Years of Denial, “Sensory Box”
South Korea’s Gwi Myeon Records comes into 2024 swinging with the absolutely stacked industial techno 鬼面 : VA 01 compilation. Check the line-up: Headless Horseman, IV Horsemen, Codex Empire, Alien Skanner, Mind Matter and numerous others, firing on all mechanical engine cylinders. Peep Years of Denial’s excellent “Sensory Box” and then just snag the whole thing.
鬼面 : VA 01 by Years of Denial

Static Dancer, “In Moment”
This is something a little different than what we’ve come to expect from Pildoras Tapes, but it’s showing us that a) the Colombian label isn’t painting itself into a corner with distinctly grimy or lo-fi body music and b) the South American body music renaissance is approaching the sound from all angles. Perhaps taking a page from recent Bite and Fleisch releases, Colombian producer Static Dancer makes his debut with an EP of cuts like this which link an interest in roots EBM with current retro-rave sounds.
Einflüss by Static Dancer

Termination_800, “Ritual Of Extermination”
After releases for Crave Tapes and Wie Ein Gott, Parisian producer debuts on X-IMG with the The Flesh Is Weak EP, featuring mixes by the likes of Max Durante and Iron Court. TBM’s crossover moment in the UV spotlight might be over, but there’s still plenty of charm and aggression in pieces like this which show off Termination_800’s talents for pinched and metallic production.
The Flesh Is Weak by Termination_800

The post Tracks: January 8th, 2024 appeared first on I Die: You Die.

Revolting Cocks – Beers, Steers & Queers
Cabaret Nocturne – Blind Trust
Leaether Strip – Crash Flight 232
Skinny Puppy – Worlock
The Mission – Beyond The Pale
Type O Negative – In Praise of Bacchus
:Wumpscut: – Christfuck
Depeche Mode – Happiest Girl (Jack Mix)
Snowbeasts – Let’s Be Animals (Obscure Formats Mix)
Ringfinger – Softly Choke
Wire Spine – Safe
Djedjotronic – Smog On The Dancefloor
Front 242 – Never Stop! V1.1
Love & Rockets – It Could Be Sunshine
Die Form – Bionic House Inc.
Brixx – Trigger Identification
She Past Away – Asimilasyon
grabyourface – Haine
Maelstrom & Louisahhh – Burn
Assemblage 23 – December
Rosetta Stone – Adrenaline
the Cramps – What’s Inside a Girl
Black Rose Burning – Night Terrors
Ministry – Just One Fix
Neuroticfish – Bring The Noise
Arnaud Rebotini – Death Rides A Horse
Qual – Life In The Mirror
NNHMN – Omen
Empathy Test – Fear of Disappearing
Aesthetic Perfection – The Ones
Killing Joke – Sanity (The Insane Mix)
Fragrance. – Forevermore
Mari Kattman – Fever Shakes
Ou Est Le Swimming Pool – Dance The Way I Feel
Ladytron – Discotraxx
The Sisters of Mercy – Dominion/Mother Russia
Agent Side Grinder – Bloodless
Kill Shelter & Death Loves Veronica – Death Kiss

The post DJ MissBDeath – January 7, 2024 appeared first on Vancouver Descent.