Gothic BC

Lost Signal
Anatomy of Melancholy
Metropolis Records

Originally emerging in the futurepop era with the Tom Shear produced debut LP Catharsis, Charles Rehill’s Lost Signal has been only intermittently active in the years since, releasing a follow-up in 2006 along with a smattering of other tracks and short releases. Their new LP Anatomy Melancholy arriving nearly twenty years after its predecessor is something of a different animal than Rehill’s previous records, mostly forgoing club-ready material for more sad and staid songs, albeit ones that stay true to the project’s mournful and contemplative ethos.

In many ways that shift feels entirely appropriate for a new Lost Signal record in 2024, and to Rehill’s credit, both the production and his vocals have rarely sounded better. On the former point, the lush strings, glitched percussion and keys of “By a Thread” sound more fleshed out than anything the project has released up to this point, with each sound articulated in the mix to allow for the track to blossom into an even fuller and more emotional form for its climax. Similarly, “Fall on My Sword” (a title that hearkens back to the project’s early use of combat as metaphor for personal struggle) uses a simple percussion loop and sneakily propulsive bassline as a canvas for layers of pads and reverbs that feel both elegiac on the verse, and hopeful on the chorus. It’s a mood well-suited to Rehill’s vocals, which have taken on a quiet confidence that wasn’t always present in previous releases; the weight of experience present in his delivery really sells the introspection of the record, so that a number like single “Clover” sounds as and sincere as its mournful tone requires.

There are however more than a few moments where the album struggles under the weight of its heartache, and its gradual pacing. The closest thing to an uptempo number is “Bridges Burning”, and while it has some engine in its rhythm programming, its chorus and outro drop into half-time, which while appropriate for the loss and regret it expresses, saps its momentum and prevents any catharsis that might have resulted from a climax. That issue is even more pronounced on cuts like “For What It’s Worth”, which while busy in terms of carefully placed stereo percussion and synth flourishes, never feels like it progresses, mired in a gloom that while no doubt sincere is also very sedate. The fact that it’s followed by equally somber tracks in “Enough” and “Trail’s End” make the generally doleful tone of the record oppressive. Closer “Ebb” has a glimmer of hope in its chiming synths and processed breaks, but it feels slight coming off so much despondency.

So then, Anatomy of Melancholy is paradoxically Lost Signal’s most accomplished record from a production, songwriting and performance perspective, while also being hard to enjoy as a sustained experience. Sad rumination is Rehill’s native language as an artist, and it’s hard to fault him for leaning into it, but the pacing and overcast mood can very easily overpower many of the record’s subtler and more thoughtful charms, to the point that its best songs work better in isolation from the album’s disconsolate whole.

Buy it.

Anatomy of Melancholy by Lost Signal

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As alluded to on last week’s podcast, like half of the Internet we’re up and running over at Bluesky. Not to belabour points which countless others have made, but even beyond the more immediate arguments against skulking around the smouldering remains of Twitter, at a selfish level we’re seeing much more engagement with our work over on Bluesky despite only having a fraction of the followers. That’ll change as more folks migrate and feeds begin to fill up, but for now the vibes are good. We’ll still cross-post to Twitter for the time being, but will probably sundown our account within a month or two. Enough of that, on with this week’s Tracks!

Minuit Machine, “Hold Me”
The future of Minuit Machine has been interesting to contemplate for the last couple of years; tragically, Hélène de Thoury was forced to retire from music due to health issues relating to covid, which left vocalist Amandine Stioui as the sole member of half of the French darkwave duo. New track “Hold Me” is reassuring, in that it continues the evolution of the project from its coldwave inspired earlist releases to the sleek modern dancefloor sound of their most recent albums, with Stioui bringing her distinctive vocal style to a track with an addictive bass lick co-produced with RAUMM’s Lloyd Philippon. A good track that offers reassurance that Minuit Machine’s run is far from over.
HOLD ME by Minuit Machine

SIIE, “Grand Virage”
We don’t know much about German darkwave act SIIE, but boy is this cut of modern dancefloor action up our alley. Rejecting the minimalism of many comparable acts for a more grandiose and thick swell of electronics, there’s just something very different and very impactful about this song, especially the French-language vocals which give it the right bit of continental charm. Gonna have to go back and look into more by these cats and keep a lookout for their future releases as well, there’s something here.
Grand Virage by SIIE

MVQX feat. SPÆCIALISTA, “Break The Chains”
One of the roughest and rawest diamonds from the surge of South American body music of a few years back, Brazil’s MVQX has effectively maintained radio silence for three-plus years save for one brief archival release. Reemerging with a new single featuring some work from Columbia’s always excellent SPÆCIALISTA, MVQX has lost none of his edge with this cavernous but still lo-fi trek through acid-EBM and solid state hardware programming.
Break The Chains [ARCHIVE] by MVQX, SPÆCIALISTA

Amrou Kithkin, “Pleasures & Atrocities”
Polish duo Amrou Kithkin have been at it for long enough to see periods of interest in various forms of post-punk and darkwave come and go, but they haven’t let faddishness deter them from their thoughtful, understated, and in this case downright vulnerable style. The b-side of a new single (released in the ever-popular 3.5″ floppy format, in case you were wondering), this track slowly draws a sober line of severance with slow-burn restraint which sits in quiet opposition to the flashier paths taken by many current acts in this milieu.
A Lamb at Nightfall / Pleasures & Atrocities by Amrou Kithkin

Rhombus, “Running From My Shadow”
Few bands as deeply steeped in trad goth rock can make it sound as lithe and innervating as Huddersfield’s Rhombus. Balancing vocal harmonies with the proper guitar workouts and atmosphere you’d want in the style, this new single also communicates the effortless energy and sunset glory which first drew us into their orbit more than twelve years ago. It’s been a little bit since their last full length, and if there’s another in the works this is a strong and shiny first statement of it.
Running From My Shadow by Rhombus

Sturm Diesel Hands, “Castle Freak”
What happens when American beefy beef boys Diesel Dudes/Morning Hands meet Swedish body blood brothers Sturm Café in their studio? They write a song about Castle Freak of course. While the track may not resolve the immortal question of whether the titular character from the Stuart Gordon classic did in fact rip his own ding dong off (some say no, others aren’t so sure), it sure does end up being a lot of fun, combining the synthpop chops of the SC camp with the lo-fi charisma of the Dudes in that two great tastes that taste great together way. Also the other song on the EP “Silent Abyss” is sneaky great vocally in a way we’d never have expected.
Sturm Diesel Hands: Svensk-Amerikansk Vänskap by Sturm Café, Diesel Dudes, Morning Hands

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The debut LP of Wax Trax sleaze peddlers extraordinaire, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, is the subject of this month’s commentary podcast. Between the duo of Buzz McCoy and Groovie Mann getting in on the ‘darkened 60s psychedelia’ angle years before it went mainstream, to their placement within Wax Trax and industrial music overall in the late 80s, to the more restrained (and dare we say tasteful?) sounds which crop up in the band’s early work, there’s plenty to discuss. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, download directly, or listen through the widget down below.

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Faith In Flesh
Body Is Language
self-released
LA duo Faith In Flesh are cutting right to the chase, having released two EPs this year which spread across a wide range of electro-industrial and EBM terrain. Cronenberg samples, Leaether Strip atmospheres, and icy programming stabs get the mission statement across within the first few minutes of “Faith In Flesh”. The dense and spastic flailing of “Showreel” finds them capable of keeping a core rhythm swinging at a decent gait even as vocals and programming seem to collapse in upon their own mutated flesh. It’s not always the most compositionally immediate or hooky stuff, but the same could be said of a good portion of the acts Faith In Flesh are drawing inspiration from, and with the shifts Body Is Language makes from the grimmest of dark electro to funkier kicks, often within the same track, much of the fun comes from influence spotting. It’s not all throwback styles, though: the crooning vocal and sleek programming which skirt atop the rubbery breaks foundation of Body Is Language points more to recent acts with one foot in the past like Multiple Man or Kontravoid than Mentallo-styled ur-sources.
Body Is Language by Faith In Flesh

Mascarpone
Chronology of the Universe
Nocturbulous Records
The broader techno world’s dalliance with body music sounds has largely receded, and while many of the acts associated with that moment in time have also faded from view, several have stuck around, and are exploring sounds both closely related and further afield. The UK’s Mascarpone falls into the latter category, with a surprising but quite pleasing new EP of ghostly electro – and by electro, we mean like classic Detroit-styled electro, complete with fit-for-breaking noisy snares, rimshots, vocoders, cowbells and squirmy bass. Of course the genre isn’t all that far off from the darker electronic genres, ancestry in the teutonic menace and pulse of krautrock, but a joint like “Code Injection” makes the link abundantly clear: Kraftwerkian sequences and woops fly through the stereo field in foreboding fashion, while the simple analogue bassline is pumped by the syncopated kicks that give the sound its distinctive rhythm. Similarly, the robotic voices that haunt both “Antiscience” and “Heliocentric” bring a healthy dose of mechanized dread to their skeletal construction, recalling similarly dread-filled cuts from the turn of the Millennium by acts like Dopplereffekt. Functioning as a pure expression of classic electro and as a bridge to modern dark dance sounds (check the ghostly sounds that give structure and melody to “Spherical Mechanism”), it should serve as a reminder of the underlying DNA of electronic dance music of all genres we often take for granted.
Chronology Of The Universe by Mascarpone

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Potochkine

In an episode dedicated to splitting the finest of hairs and analyzing the specific dance steps of angels on pinheads, we’re each picking five micro-genres for discussion. Do they exist? Are they distinct from neighbouring styles? What can be learn or take from them? We’re also discussing Metropolis Records’ recently announced charity initiative and corresponding compilation series. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, download directly, or listen through the widget down below.

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Silent EM
Real Life
DKA Records

We last heard from NYC darkwave act Silent EM (aka Jean Lorenzo) in 2019, when their album The Absence impressed us with its strident and hard hitting take on darker-flavoured electronic dance music. In the intervening years we’ve heard more mingling of the electro-darkwave genre with body music and techno, but what new Silent EM LP Real Life brings to the table is the same feeling of desperation and uneasiness that defined its predecessor, albeit with some broader changes in approach.

The chief amongst these is the addition of more melodic and groovy compositions, providing some respite from the starker and more anxious songs that defined previous releases. That the album opens up with “Heart Sinking”, with its speedy, ascending bassline, peels of guitar and crystalline pad sounds feels appropriate; it’s not so far off from what you’d expect from a new Silent EM song, but its mood and instrumentation come across as more fluid, and less fraught than the funk by force of the past. Indeed, it’s almost a bit strange to hear Lorenzo sing a song like “Institution”, forgoing his stern and anguished vocals for a more matter of fact delivery that suits the song’s new wavey bounce, complete with stereo-panned grunts and rolling drums. With studio assists from Automelodi’s Xavier Paradis, it’s not entirely surprising to hear a bit more variety in textures and atmospheres here (Xarah Dion collab “Europa” certainly has their fingerprints on it), but it’s not at the expense of Silent EM’s established identity.

To that end, there’s a healthy dollop of the fast-moving, densely programmed sounds that are the band’s stock and trade here. “World of Sin” has the band’s signature combination of impactful drums, high-strung synthlines and relentless momentum, tightly assembled with care taken to allow space for Lorenzo’s wounded yowl. “Survive” slows things down, but its shrill synth trills and ghostly progression as layers of reverb and throbbing bass intermingle transforms the project’s stress and tumult into a more subtle if no less effective disquiet. Old and new meet on cuts like “My Versions of Hell” where sturm and drang are supported by inhuman choral sounds and speedy guitar riffs, familiar and novel in equal measures.

Real Life is something new from an act who had their aesthetics well-established, and with a move like that there’s always the danger that changing what worked could lead to a dilution of that identity. Thankfully Lorenzo has a good grasp of his project’s main appeal, supplementing his stormy ennui with fresh and invigorating ideas and approaches.

Buy it.

Real Life by Silent EM

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Skelesys
Fading Echoes
Pinkman

Berlin-based one-man project Skelesys has been plying solid and engaging club-focused darkwave for a few years via singles and remixes, but for Damian Shilman’s first proper LP the formula’s been changed into something notably different, and dare I say earthier. Fading Echoes is still a beat-driven listen with plenty of dancefloor appeal, but rather than filling itself to the brim with heavy leads or atmospherics, a minimalist strain of rock featuring twangy summer sunset guitar and crooning vocals instead carries the LP into a hazy but also decidedly grounded minimalism.

Lead single “Pictures In My Mind”, featuring some tag team work with Curses’ Luca Venezia (with whom Shilman’s worked previously), is as solid a mission statement as any, buttressing immediate chiming synths with roaming guitar and rock vocal harmonies. Turkey’s Affet Robot is perhaps as close of a current comparison as could be made, but that still doesn’t point to the dusty warmth that emerges over “Pictures In My Mind”. That rock-focused but sparse aesthetic is held over the rest of the record: Shilman’s vocals and a rueful, listless guitar slowly rotate in and out of the spotlight over a minimal lope on the languid “In The Dark”, while the stoic and weary “Digital Ghosts” suggests both airy dreampop and sullen neofolk.

Not all such gambits pay off on Fading Echoes, though. “Grey Days”‘ homage to classic French coldwave is spot on, and there’s some solid punch to the drums, but the atmosphere isn’t enough to account for a lack of a hook or direction, and at least one or two other tracks feel similarly underwritten. But I have something of a feeling that these misfires in restraint are the sort of tradeoff a project like Skelesys is willing to make in order to absolutely nail the overarching sound and mood they’re clearly aiming for. And when everything comes together, as on “Golden Eyes”, one can see why. Its laid back groove, suggesting The Jesus And Mary Chain tackling “The Boys Of Summer”, is charming enough, but all of the tiny tics and flourishes which ornament it – Shilman dropping his baritone an octave at just the right time, a guitar line that shimmers like a Mann film, what might be a couple of muted sax skronks in the background – carry it into a slowburn majesty unlike anything else you’ll hear in darkwave this year.

It’s no secret that the broader dark music world is positively awash in darkwave right now, for better and for worse. Between the established giants and the mediocre dregs, it can be difficult for an emerging project to establish itself, but Fading Echoes does just that for Skelesys, giving it a sound and identity fairly distinct from much else happening in the field. It makes for an unexpected and welcome statement of arrival for a project that’s been waiting in the wings for a while.

Buy it.

Fading Echoes LP by Skelesys

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Okay we make this plea every year, but it’s only out of some neurotic fear of missing out: if you have albums that you think would fit well in our Year End coverage, but that we haven’t reviewed or mentioned on the site, speak now. We try to keep up, and have a pretty good grip on what we need to get done between now and mid-December when our Top 25 needs to be solidified, but there’s always a few late contenders in the mix, and the field feels pretty open for some new entries as of this writing. Drop ’em in the comments below!

Menthüll, “Jargon”
Regular readers of these Tracks columns might be getting fairly accustomed to us featuring a Menthüll cut here every three or so months, but as long as the Quebec duo keep infusing their combo of synthpop, new wave, and cold wave with as much thought and originality as this number has, not to mention their ear for harmonies, that ain’t gonna change. This prose poem-driven piece maybe isn’t quite as direct as some of their more dancefloor focused stuff, but still finds a bevy of corners into which grooves and baubles can be stashed. Somewhat reminiscent of Severed Heads side project Coklacoma.
Jargon by Menthüll

Camlann, “Ronny (Burn in Hell)”
Our favourite indonesian darkwavers Camlann get real intense on new single “Ronny (Burn in Hell)”, and yeah, this rules. Their LP last year DISMANTLE! was one of our favourites from last year, largely for the number of ideas and styles it touched on while remaining very much its own thing. That record had some good growls and shouts on it, but nothing like this new cut, feels pretty pointed at someone in specific, who no doubt knows what they did to bring this out of the otherwise quite composed duo.
Ronny (Burn in Hell) by Camlann

Lights of Euphoria, “Surrender”
Infacted house band Lights of Euphoria have dabbled in a lot of styles over the years; they’ve been dark electro, ebm, synthpop, and most recently broadly an electropop act. New single “Surrender” has some of the charm of their best singles over the years, due in part to the smooth vocals of Jimmy McMahon and Torben Schmidt’s tastefully modern production. Just a pleasant little slice of something from an act who have persisted for some decades now.
Surrender by Lights Of Euphoria

Schwefelgelb, “IO”
It’s been a year since the last missive from German techno-body act Schwefelgelb, although we’ll admit to not tracking them super closely for a while there. It seemed that just as the new-school body music sound they helped pioneer was kicking off, they turned to more purely techno style production, which while quite nice were not totally our cup of tea. Not sure if “IO” is a return to form per se, but the vocals from Sid Lamar and the bassline make it feel like the sort of thing that drew us to them in the first place. Check that sick break mid-track, this slams.
Trigger by Schwefelgelb

No Filter, “Sauvages”
Here’s something well off the beaten path via AVANT! Records. France’s No Filter combine early synthpunk bounce with the stormy chants of classic oi. It’s a combination which doesn’t end up in the same oiBM territory as EkoBrottsMyndigheten or Container 90, despite some shared component parts, but instead conjures a strange hybrid of early 80s NDW or French coldwave being carried into Mad Max wastelands.
Sans Filtre by NO FILTER

Vacíos Cuerpos, “Vit​í​ligo”
Mexico’s Vacíos Cuerpos jumped onto our radar late last year with the project’s Hoy Solo Quiero Odiar EP, which added some speed and bounce to contemporary darkwave gloom. A string of stand-alone tracks this year have kept that delivery going, and the latest is no exception. Vocals and a hazy guitar line drift with hypnotic langour while tight and frenetic rhythmic programming whizzes past at double time, creating an uncanny speedball effect.
Vitíligo by Vacíos Cuerpos

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Pøltergeist
Nachtmusik
Bad Omen Records

A year can make a big difference. When I saw Calgary’s Pøltergeist play a hometown show at Terminus in the summer of 2023, I saw a band whose reach exceeded their grasp. They were a clearly impassioned act and had a vision for an anthemic and melodic style of post-punk, but there wasn’t just enough cohesion to the material or delivery to cinch things. They were much stronger earlier this year at Verboden Festival, and now their first LP Nachtmusik not only captures a band beginning to coalesce around strong instincts, but one bringing some welcome cross-genre pollination.

What is surprisingly easy to miss about Pøltergeist when you see them live is much more apparent on record: they’re metalheads. Metalheads who love and are self-admittedly inspired by The Chameleons, but metalheads nonetheless. In its early days, the idea of corrupting the pure and austere experimentalism of post-punk with boorish metal would have been unthinkable, but decades on with swathes of younger bands finding themselves enchanted with new darkwave and casting an eye backwards, such divisions seem petty and academic. The speedy drive of “Ethereal Nightmare” could easily be linked back to the earliest Twin Tribes material, but when it sits alongside the galloping triplets and shredding of “Yesterday Fades” (or songs called “Burning Sword” for crying out loud), the metal influence in its drum rolls and bellowed vocals can’t be ignored.

Thankfully, this combination isn’t just coasting on its novelty (Gallows’ Eve and Unto Others are the only other two bands who readily come to mind in terms of crossing these streams, but their specific interests in metal, goth, and post-punk are clearly distinct from Pøltergeist’s influences), but brings some proper tunes with it. The brooding “Cold In September” has a melancholy weight which belies its speed and immediate hooks, part modern Spectres, part Lovelife played at double speed. Ironically, the gloom of that cut sits a large distance from the spritely and crisp “Children Of The Dark”. Adjusting the ratio of power metal to NWOBHM, of pure goth rock to dancefloor darkwave, Pøltergeist pack a great amount of variety into a tight forty minutes, and are rarely found wanting in whatever build they settle upon.

Nachtmusik isn’t entirely without its faults. Some of the shredding is lost in a rough mix and a few harmonies and sections lose their way by trying to stand astride both of the band’s major genres. But those are the sorts of rough patches Pøltergeist have already begun smoothing out in their live delivery and seem more than capable of taking on in the future. Nachtmusik is a great proof of concept in terms of its chocolate and peanut butter blending of genres, but it’s also a damn catchy and satisfying record in the here and now which should make for some great late autumnal midnight skulking for metalheads and goths alike. Recommended.

Buy it.

Nachtmusik by Pøltergeist

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It’s a pretty diverse two albums formatted episode this week; we’re talking about the freeform, hip-hop and rock tinged EBM chaos of Scapa Flow’s final LP Heads Off To Freedom and Marhseaux’s big and direct 2013 electro-pop LP Inhale. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, download directly, or listen through the widget down below.

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OP-ART
The Final Act
Minimal Wave

OP-ART, an acronym for Oblique Pleasures Amidst Rough Times, is the pandemic-born analogue synthpop project of Andrew Clinco, more well-known as the enigmatic silver-skinned Deb Demure of Drab Majesty fame. As you might expect from the band’s name, the music on their debut LP has its origins as an additional outlet for Clinco during lockdown, although the record is far less insular and downcast than that might imply; The Final Act is by turns animated, psychedelic, baroque, and catchy, and often all of those things at the same time.

To be clear, when describing this record as synthpop, it’s much closer to the new-wave of early Numan, John Foxx and OMD (all of whom are name-checked in the press material for the record) than it is the pure bubblegum that is often associated with the genre. Which is to say doesn’t lack for catchiness, but that there’s a certain complexity to the production and songwriting that adds intrigue to the listening experience. Listen to how “Dystopian Custodian” slow plays things, starting with a relatively minimal arrangement of synthbass, drums and modulated vocals, with each repetition of the hook adding layers of programming and melody until the song’s final moments are positively grandiose. Similarly, there’s something delightful about how “Polyurethane” leans into its awkward rhythm, drawing a direct line between the funk of early electro and the locked in grooves of krautock, all topped with a punchy and theatrical chorus.

That Clinco knows his way around a tune is certainly no surprise, but there’s a distinct difference in the delivery of these songs and the excess of Drab Majesty’s guitar-driven opulence. It’s partially in how the vocals are kept in lower registers (either sung that way, or pitch-shifted down) to match the gritty tone of the drums and synths; “Hardscape” is a big song with lots of swirling textures that could recall some of Drab’s proggier moments, but the squeal and squelch of its hissy snares and the detuned warble of its pads pair with the croaking vocals to make it an animal of a different kind. Even the records most accessible moments like the Martin Dupont collaboration “11 Stars” have an economy to their design, visible as it jumps from section to section without ever abandoning the dead simple but ultra-immediate high speed bassline. Those kinds of decisions in layout and design often mask the actual complexity of the songs; the opening title track has bedroom synth simplicity at its heart, but reinvents its melody via vocal harmonies, and the addition of new synthlines that play with and against the song’s progression.

The charm of The Final Act is really apparent in how much of the record sticks, even after cursory listening. That’s certainly a function of the polish with which it’s presented (the mix is bold and bright even in its most esoteric moments), but you can’t help but admire the way these tracks stay musical, regardless of how alternately flamboyant and austere they can be. For those with a yen for the buzz and clamor of classic synthpop will find it here in abundance, spiked with a healthy dose of vibrant and engaging colour. Recommended.

Buy it.

The Final Act by OP-ART

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Solid sets by legacy acts continues to be one of the threads of the last year or so, with half of the Senior Staff (guess which) catching a set by stone goth legends The March Violets this past weekend. The material old and new sounding charming live, and Rosie & co have a great sense of themselves and how to win over a crowd even sans original member Simon Denbigh. They have three shows left on their NA tour in California this week; check them out if they’re in your town.

Sad Madona, sunlit but still in shadow.

Spark!, “Vi är två (Mot En Miljon)”
When we got word that original vocalist Stefan Brorsson was rejoining the Spark! camp, we did our best to keep expectations in check. Sure, the last full LP to feature Brorsson pairing with Mattias Ziessow has earned a hallowed place here at I Die: You Die as one of the best EBM albums of the millennium, but that’s a lofty standard to hold any new material to. Still, even more than intial single “66 ton krom”, this new number has everything we want in a Spark! track: energy, hooks, and an uncanny balancing of pop and EBM elements we’ve not heard the likes of since before or after the last time these two teamed up.
Vi är två (Mot En Miljon) by Spark!

Beborn Beton, “Ticket to the Moon”
Slow and low-key aren’t strangers to German synthpop stalwarts Beborn Beton, in fact pretty much everyone of their LPs has one or two torchy ballads that make proper use of Stefan Netschio’s wonderful voice. “Ticket to the Moon” is one of the original numbers that appears on the forthcoming remix EP To the Stars and in contrast to the previously released “American Girls” (a cheeky bit of bubbly synthpop in the club style) this is the BB’s going baroque; the song has sections, builds, flourishes, all to give it a certain stoic grandeur commensurate with it’s scope. These guys know their way around a proper bit of ornate songwriting, and don’t mind showing it off.
To The Stars by Beborn Beton

Nordvargr, “Our Lord Of The Abyss (Part Two)”
The recently represented box set of Henrik Nordvargr Björk’s Resignation material was a deep and immersive reminder (not that we needed it) of just how far Björk’s muse carries him from what most think of when “extreme” electronics are mentioned. The big man is taking up that project again, and the teaser tracks for Resignation IV submerge us in a hypnagogic and hauntological primordial soup, with some fractal-pop takes on ambient recalling Balam Acab.
Resignation IV by NORDVARGR

Sad Madona, “Blush”
More hypnotically sad shoegazey darkwave from Parisians Sad Madona is always cause for celebration, or at least as much celebration as you can manage while moping. Like all their previous songs, “Blush” has a preternatural sense of sorrow woven into it, with the ethereal production creating a ghostly effect; it’s like getting haunted by someone going through a break-up. But in a good way?
Blush by Sad Madona

Ash Code, “Nostalgia”
In case that Sad Madona track wasn’t enough to fix your darkwave jones this week, Italy’s Ash Code have just the scrip. Punching in heavily with just a little hint of grit, “Nostalgia” is another showcase of how the trio balances the beats, harmonies, and atmospheres that the style they’ve been trading in for a decade hinges upon, with just the right amount of wistful poppiness to offset the weighted doom.
Nostalgia by Ash Code

Harsh Symmetry, “Fossil Brain”
We’ve always enjoyed the post-punk stylings of Los Angeles’ Harsh Symmetry, but “Fossil Brain” brings something new to the table. The tenorous vocals and guitars that have defined the project’s sound up ’til this point are still here, but the song is built around bright synthwork, taking on bass and lead duties, entering the world of synthpop, albeit in the darker and moodier style.
Fossil Brain by Harsh Symmetry

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Nite
Have Mercy
self-released
Dallas’ Nite have a knack for writing hooks, a major advantage when working in the synthpop and new wave sounds they’ve been plying. Brothers Myles and Kyle Mendes have compiled their 2024 singles onto a single EP, one that conveniently shows off their artistic range. “Have Mercy” favours the moodier side of their sound, mixing both soft-spoken and sweetly sung vocals that fit nicely with the song’s fast moving bass and guitar sounds, the chorus immediately hummable after a single repetition. “All Your Pain” takes that track’s more lowkey elements and translates them into a much more grandiose vision of modern darkwave, clubbable thanks to its straight ahead 4/4 kick, but memorable because of the brightness with which its vocals stand out against its synths and guitars, the melodic bass solo putting it firmly over the top. “Price for Heaven” goes further into electronic territory, using synth bass a rhythmic chanting and yelling to create its groove; a standout composition thanks to its synth string break and sax solo, both lush and strident.
Have Mercy by Nite

XLV
Full Contact
Universal Broadcast Network
Andrew Dobbels’ XLV project has gradually become more focused and minimalist over the last few years, honing in on a style of rhythmic noise that focuses on tight loops with a balance of clear, percussive kicks and crawling feedback. But as the very brief Full Contact EP points out, that sort of focus and minimalism doesn’t have to be equated with low-fi powernoise nostalgia nor monochrome tracks with no dynamism or range. The rising wash of feedback of the brief introductory title track sets up the advancing kicks and retreating, sputtering waves of “Are You Going With Us” to offer a wide range of movement in its tight frame. Closer “Wave Target” feels like a speed run of Klinik’s classic “Slow Death”, but with fine production attention paid to the feedback which introduces it, the micro-pulses underscoring it, and the metallic timbre of its core beat. Full Contact is a brief affair – the digital release barely touches the ten minute mark – but that’s a big part of what makes it work. Without relying on the lengthy rhythmic hypnosis which a lot of stuff in the genre trades in, Dobbels keeps the idiosyncratic stutter and scrape of each of his miniature engines in the spotlight.
ꜰᴜʟʟ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴀᴄᴛ ᴇᴘ by xʟᴠ

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Hey, folks. As we talk about off the top, it’s both the larger global news and a much more personal tragedy that we’re both wrestling with this week. We’re trying not to let that effect the podcast too much, but given the themes and mood of our subject, the first new album from The Cure in sixteen years, a little bit of real life pain is going to sneak its way in. Listening to music we love and talking about it with the people we love has always helped us both, and if us two goofballs talking about Bobby Smith & His Cures helps you with your day in any manner, we’d be humbled and overjoyed. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, download directly, or listen through the widget down below.

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Normal Bias
Kingdom Come
Synthicide

Matt Weiner of TWINS and Chris Campion of Multiple Man’s 2022 EP as Normal Bias demonstrated a shared vision for a smooth and sultry version of body music, all without skimping on the funk that defines their main outlets. Their debut album Kingdom Come builds from that foundation, expanding on some of the electropop sounds that made their way into their first batch of tunes and showcasing Weiner’s excellent vocal work. Where the record still feels rooted in classic EBM rhythms, it’s the melodies that feel like the record’s guiding light.

The evolution of Normal Bias’ approach is emphasized by the contrast between the two songs that the band have ported over largely untouched from the EP, with both “Kingdom Come” and “Embody Control” seeming far more minimal in their construction than their neighbouring cuts. The former, now a title track, was a clear pointer towards the duo’s pop yen, but its broad, synth lead and gated snare seem far brassier in contrast to a song like “Holy”, which invokes Depeche Mode in complimentary fashion; firstly by Weiner’s wistful croon, and then through clever use of keys, pads and italo-disco claps and rimshots to create plenty of motion and energy. It’s a fine corollary to how “Falling Down” takes the slow boil menace of “Embody Control” and ramps it up to new heights, via the use of indistinct vocal samples and one of the project’s most insistent and punchy basslines.

The record’s turn towards more ornate variations of classic electronic pop composition is complimented by some lovely sound design and production choices that give the record a tasteful, high-gloss finish. A song like “Earth Dies Burning” benefits so much from how its orch hits and big fields of reverb interact with the vocals, dropping away to provide room for a slap-bass solo mid-track, one of many smile-worthy bits of popcraft. There’s just a real sense of class to the whole affair; witness how “Win Lose” invokes the classic Kraftwerk choir sound (the same one borrowed by New Order on “Blue Monday”), a move that would be crass if not for the way the song builds its pads and leads up and around it in reverential fashion, a genuine homage rather than rote imitation.

When writing about their debut, we opined that it was a proof of concept of sorts, and that Normal Bias were more than capable of taking that vision to even lusher and more polished territory. Kingdom Come is that promise realized, perhaps even more than we could have anticipated; so few acts thread the needle of electronic funk, soul and pop in such expert fashion. Recommended.

Buy it.

Kingdom Come by Normal Bias

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Leæther Strip
All Hallow’s Eve
Cleopatra Records

Covers have been a major part of Claus Larsen’s surge of productivity as Leæther Strip over the past decade. In addition to the Æppreciation series of cover releases, we’ve had a slew of artist-specific tributes, ranging from the expected (Depeche Mode, Skinny Puppy), to less immediate points of reference for Larsen’s work (Simple Minds). Pitching All Hallow’s Eve as a set of Halloween-themed covers feels like a bit of a stretch given some of the selections (Ministry’s “The Angel” or Human League’s “Being Boiled”), but that doesn’t mean that it can’t carry with it the range of atmospheres and influences that have kept Leæther Strip entrenched as a fixture in dark electronics.

Covers comps are as much about curation as actual execution, and at least on a first pass All Hallow’s Eve will likely pique or lose your interest on that basis. An overlooked classic like Tommi Stumpff’s “Massaker” or an effectively brand new track like Darkways’ “I Like The Night (And The Night Likes Me)”, which only saw its original release this past June, do more to both give a sense of Larsen’s tastes, past and present, and point his listeners to material they might’ve otherwise missed than the pro forma takes on The Cramps and Bauhaus.

But to the execution itself, John Carpenter’s theme to “Christine” is one of the better left-field choices here; long before the wave of renewed interest in Carpenter’s film scores, a kinship in terms of minimalist yet entirely atmospheric dark synthwork could be heard in early Leaether Strip material, and not just the explicitly symphonic Serenade For The Dead. Here, Larsen’s rendition sounds perfectly in harmony with one of the major musical modes which has run through Leæther Strip for decades. On paper, the approach to Siouxsie’s “Peek-A-Boo” – keeping the camp squeezebox but adding industrial stomp – shouldn’t work, but something about Larsen’s replication of the call and response verses delivered in the close, clean growl that he’s used of late cinches it.

Like I said, the Halloween theme to All Hallow’s Eve feels tenuous at times, but the flip side of that is that enjoyment of it isn’t limited to the spooky season. Its scope does a good job of touching upon sounds Larsen’s still mining in his original work, and its hit-to-miss ratio is pretty solid.

Buy it.

All Hallow's Eve by Leaether Strip

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Well, Hallowe’en is firmly in the rearview, which means it’s time for us to kick back, relax, and listen to some not-at-all-gothy music for a while. Which is what we would be doing, if not for the small complication that Bobby Smith gone and released a new Cure album and uh, yeah, we’re gonna have to listen to and talk about that. Tune in to We Have a Technical this week to hear us discuss it, presumably at length, but until then why not enjoy some selections from this week’s Tracks?

Unit 187, “Dick”
Vancouver’s American-style coldwave act Unit 187 returns unexpectedly, and we’re both surprised and very happy. The death of vocalist Tod Law in 2015 left us assuming that the band was no more, but 2024 brings us a reformed lineup, featuring founding member John Morgan, along with familiar faces Chris Peterson (Decree, Front Line Assembly), Ross Redhead (Decree), and Kerry Vink-Peterson (Stiff Valentine). New LP KillCure will feature songs written with Law before his passing along with brand new material. The first taste of the new Unit 187 is a re-recording of the classic “Dick”, from their stone-classic Loaded. Welcome back, we missed you.
Dick by Unit:187

Front Line Assembly feat. Cardinal Noire, “Heatmap”
Keeping on the Vancouver industrial tip, we’ve been lucky enough to hear some behind the scenes previews of the new Front Line Assembly remix record, featuring a slew of younger bands working with material from their AirMech soundtracks, but the first public taste of Mechviruses is here. Finnish electro-industrial heavyweights Cardinal Noire (whose new Vitriol LP will be seeing release in a month) have made no secret of their appreciation for the likes of Puppy and FLA, and they sound right at home adding some caustic stabs and growls to “Heatmap”.
Mechviruses by Front Line Assembly

Kælan Mikla, “Stjörnuljós”
Iceland’s ethereal darkwave witches Kælan Mikla return with the mournful “Stjörnuljós”, a different if no less powerful kind of song. Anybody who has seen them live or spent time listening to their records won’t be surprised by the intensity and emotion of the track, especially the deliberate way it builds from it’s minimal beginnings to a lush, funereal climax, the perfect music to listen to as Fall transitions to Winter.
Stjörnuljós by Kælan Mikla

Encephalon, “Illusions”
Encephalon is one of the bands that inspired us to start I Die: You Die, and in the time since the release of their debut LP The Transhuman Condition, they’ve never let us down. Each and every album has been a different experience, with their ambitious themes, songwriting and programming becoming more baroque and powerful, yet, when called upon they can still deliver a straight up club track. Hence “Illusions”, the second taste of what the forthcoming Automation All Along brings. Insistent and instantaneous, with hints of some of the record’s thematics, this is exactly what we want from Ottawa’s finest.
Automaton All Along by Encephalon

Mosquito, “Prince Of Immortality”
Here’s some right down the pipe continental goth rock brought to us by the fine folks at Swiss Dark Nights. Greece’s Mosquito went to ground shortly after their 2017 debut, but new LP Deep Slumber doesn’t have any rust on it, and delivers the sort of chilly and uber-dramatic goth rock that’s meant to be listened to in cold November winds. This might be a bit much for those who prefer their goth to have a bit of restraint, but if you still have your crimpers and winklepickers at hand, Mosquito will scratch an itch.
Deep Slumber by Mosquito

Strange Boutique, “The Night Birds”
With some autumnal goth in a very different vein, the slow reactivation of DC post-punk act Strange Boutique continues with this charming new single. We imagine many folks (like ourselves) were introduced to Strange Boutique after Monica Richards co-founded Faith & The Muse after the band’s mid-90s dissolution, but the space and style of Strange Boutique is a whole other world, and this tune has the sort of languid darkwave jangle that Richards’ voice suits to a tee.
The Night Birds by Strange Boutique

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Rue Oberkampf
Essenz
Young and Cold Records
Electro-darkwave has been one of the dominant sounds in Our Thing for the last several years with its greatest strength being the breadth of its appeal; its gothy enough to mope and swoon to, but uptempo enough to dance to. While plenty of acts have played with that formula, few have navigated it with the expertise of Munich’s Rue Oberkampf, whose new mini-album Essenz makes a strong case for the savviness of Julia de Juoy and Michael Mair (now a duo with member Damien De-Vir having very recently left the group). Those seeking retiring moodiness with electropop production will find it on opener “89 Degrees” where de Juoy’s vocals fill in the spacious mix with retiring poise, while those digging for big-room club fare can choose between the techno-touched rhythms of the busy “I Won’t Surrender” or the menacing funk of “Solitude (Essenz Master)”, a song built up from icy foundations to surprisingly lush heights. The previously released “Soror” and “Aeterna” (the latter being a brief but lovely bit of continental balladry) work as well here as they did in isolation, but the highlight is “Allein” where the use of French language lyrics and syncopated bass and drum programming have a sort of cabaret by way of the goth club appeal. Like all Rue Oberkampf material it’s charmingly moody, a vibe that they have completely dialed in.
Essenz by Rue Oberkampf

Crystal Geometry
Antith​è​se
BPitch
Maxime Fabre’s takes on TBM through his Crystal Geometry records have always benefited from his clear appreciation for forms of techno, EBM, and other genres well outside of the usual TBM bandwidth, and it’s in the peppering in of those other sounds that each of his releases have been imbued with their own flavour and made Crystal Geometry records stand out from the pack. New EP Antithèse is no exception, and its haunted house approach to hardcore and gabber gives its four tracks real dimension. We’ve heard Fabre tap into his appreciation for extreme metal in the past; the pentatonic guitar leads on “FCKTHNZS” are fairly distinct from the pure riffing that was used on on a number of tracks on I Stare Into Darkness, but when combined with black metal-styled vocals it makes for a great pairing with the track’s gabber style kicks. “Creepy Body” takes a similar ‘metal by inference’ approach with its ghostly arpeggios and goblin vocals which will likely connote God Destruction records for some folks and classic Lenny Dee sets for others. Whatever’s your poison, Fabre clearly still has plenty of means of refreshing and pushing the intersection of EBM and dark techno.
Antithèse by Crystal Geometry

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45 Grave

On this week’s Halloween-themed episode of the podcast, we’re simulating an experience that’ll be familiar to all DJs: fielding requests at a Halloween party. What tracks from within and without the boundaries of Our Thing might we be happy to play? Which would be anathema to us? Which might we consider if you greased our palms or plied us with liquor? We’re also discussing the passing of Winterkälte’s Eric De Vries. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, download directly, or listen through the widget down below.

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Webdriver Torso
End.
self-released

Five years is a long layoff for most bands under most circumstances, but in the case of LA’s Webdriver Torso that hiatus was amplified by it preceding the release of their first proper LP. After some intriguing EPs and singles which offered a lo-fi vision of industrial metal and mutant-styled EBM quite different from the forms those subgenres held at the time, the duo dropped off the radar a few months before the pandemic hit. Reemerging with a full LP, End. finds Webdriver Torso picking up right where they left off, albeit with broader shifts in the styles they work in now framing their sound in a new light.

Heavily processed guitar, murky programming, and alternately disaffected and coolly reflective vocals are the core elements Webdriver Torso bring and combine to produce either the gauzy minimalism of “Ravens”, or more brooding and weighty stuff like “444” (complete with synthesized shakuhachi as it ratchets up the gothic drama) and the hazy stomp of “1111”. The latter isn’t too far away from the style of much of their 2018 Listen_Die_EP, yet also sounds of a piece with much of the more driving, dancefloor focused darkwave we’ve been hearing from NA acts over the past two or three years. Again, if you caught Webdriver Torso live before their break or got a read on the sorts of influences they were drawing together for that first run, you’ll know that that’s never been their specific aim, but a lot around the band has changed during the layoff, and I imagine there are a host of younger folks just showing up to the party who’ll find their tastes sympatico with what Webdriver Torso have to offer.

The balance between End.‘s more languid and dreamy fare (the record ends with a cover of “All The Pretty Little Horses” which sounds like it’s being filtered through hospital anaesthetics) and its crunchier stuff gives it a range that belies its half hour run time and does a good job of showing off the band’s ability to link classic industrial metal to more abstract and meme-fried touchstones. If that link sounds akin to the formula HEALTH have used to such strong effect of the last years, sure, one could maybe hear a connection between that act’s recent work and the finely diced and sequenced chug and bounce of opener “Negative One”, but I’d posit that even earlier indie/noise crossover acts (NTX + Electric or even early Gang Gang Dance come to mind) are a fairer comp.

The ranging effects of the pandemic permanently sidelined plenty of bands, and I’ll admit that I’d taken Webdriver Torso for one of them. I’m glad to be proven wrong, in part because their existing work showed promise but was also clearly the work of a band who had more to offer once they got up to full speed. End. has them reemerging at that full tilt without any warmup needed, and perhaps even more suited to the current zeitgeist than they were before the layoff.

Buy it.

End. by Webdriver Torso

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