Gothic BC

Bill Leeb
Model Kollapse
Metropolis Records

Bill Leeb’s creative output has always been defined by collaboration, both in his main outlets Frontline Assembly and Delirium, as well as his countless side-projects. The announcement of the electro-industrial maven’s first LP under his own name naturally led to a lot of questions, namely whether it would be a proper solo LP with Leeb handling the lion’s share of the writing and production, or whether it would be in partnership with new or existing creative foils.

Model Kollapse is very much the latter, with the album being credited to Leeb and the production duo of Dream Bullet, one half of which is longtime FLA contributor and former live guitarist Jared Slingerland, plus some additional contributions from Rhys Fulber (Leeb’s current and most consistent counterpart) and Jason Corbett and Shannon Hemmett of ACTORS and LEATHERS. Additionally the mix and the master come courtesy of Greg Reely, whose technical contributions to the Front Line discography are no doubt responsible for large amount of its character and continuity.

With that established, the next natural question is what sets this record apart from FLA, or Noise Unit, or any of the other releases Leeb has put out in recent years. The answer isn’t especially clear from multiple listens. It has the same sleek ultra-modern sound as all of his contemporary albums, and the songwriting and vocal performance don’t deviate from what you would expect from him in 2024. If there was some specific idea or principle guiding the record’s construction from an identity standpoint, its not easy to pinpoint. In a recent interview Leeb stated that the record was largely conceived as he was working on the material for the Cyberaktif comeback, and while basking in the positivity of his tour with Ministry and Gary Numan, factors that suggest some desire to make music for his own satisfaction more than to reinvent his sound or push its boundaries.

And really that’s what you get: if you’ve heard Mechanical Soul or Deviator, you’ve basically heard most of what this record has to offer. That’s not a bad thing, those records have their adherents, but it is notable in that Leeb’s career has largely been one of reinvention and trying different musical styles on for size. The Initial Command and Millenium and Airmech are all significantly different versions of Front Line Assembly, just as those early ambient Delirium records bear little resemblance to the crossover worldbeat successes that were Semantic Spaces and Karma. Even if you hate his records that were drawing from the sounds of the day like FLAvour of the Weak or Echogenetic, you couldn’t fault him for just doing the same thing over and over. So it feels a little weird to realize that in 2024 he seems to have settled into a distinctive but samey post-EDM version of electro-industrial – the specifics vary here and there, but the overall design, the songs and the feel don’t. Model Kollapse is very well made from a technical standpoint, but it has nothing new to offer, no identity of its own. You could reasonably argue that Leeb doing Leeb is actually what you should expect from a record under his own name, but when it seems like that’s what he’s been doing in his other projects anyway, it renders the point kind of moot.

That said, it’s not a record devoid of intriguing elements by any means. Opener “Demons” uses some clever push-pull in the drum programming to underline its fast-moving bassline, a trick that also appears on “Pinned Down”, where it gives dimension to its chunky use of guitars and melodramatic breakdowns. There’s also the use of Shannon Hemmett as a vocalist on both “Terror Forms” and “Muted Obsession”, mirroring and contrasting Leeb’s robotic delivery on the former and providing some melody on the latter, a song that is one good hook away from being a really good, settling instead for pleasant. That latter issue is endemic to the record as a whole; you can find plenty of substance in its production and programming, but none of the songs have much to hang your hat on beyond the basics, one a bit faster, one slower, one heavier, one more textural.

That may or may not be an issue for the average listener; on our commentary podcast for Front Line Assembly’s classic LP Tactical Neural Implant we opined that most of Bill Leeb’s output is more about style then it is about songs in the classic sense. Whether or not you agree with that assessment, Model Kollapse does at least feel of a piece with other recent Leeb records in terms of the quality of its construction. In some ways that does make it very much a perfect example of the great maestro of electro-industrial’s modern work; whatever the project, and whoever is along for the ride, it sounds like Bill Leeb. Your enjoyment of the record will hinge on your interest in his very specific, very characteristic take on electronic industrial music.

Buy it.

Model Kollapse by Bill Leeb

The post Bill Leeb, “Model Kollapse” appeared first on I Die: You Die.

We alluded to feeling as though we were letting the industrial and EBM side of things down a bit on the podcast between some goth navel gazing and Joy Division/New Order reflection of late; we’re hoping that this past weekend’s Portion Control commentary and this (purely accidentally!) heavy hitting suite of new tracks tides people over ’til we have a rivethead-friendly podcast later this week.

Potochkine being so continental

ESA, “Rats Come Together”
Jamie Blacker don’t miss. The ESA mastermind has been exploring further musical boundaries in his contemporary material, and done a crack-up job in combining genres, ideas and production styles into noisy new forms. Check out this new joint “Rats Come Together” – you’ve got some rhyhtmic noise, big gothic organs, snatches of jazzy bass and drums, processed guitar riffs and a wild-ass melodic breakdown that you won’t hear coming. Never predictable, always boundary pushing stuff from one of the most consistent acts we’ve covered since the site’s inception.
Rats Come Together by ESA

Dancing Plague, “Days Of Heaven”
While the vocals and lyrics on the latest from Portland’s Dancing Plague are in keeping with the absolutely grim ethos Conor Knowles has built up around the project, it’s hard not to latch onto the brighter threads in this new number and tap your toes at the very least. Club-focused darkwave has been part of Dancing Plague’s pitch since the project came across our radar, but this borders on the sort of euphoric linking of trance and synthpop which we’ve heard the likes of Body Of Light mine for the last few years.
Days of Heaven by Dancing Plague

Swærm, “Worm”
The title of this new cut from Scottish producer Swærm is instructive – the squirm of its bassline and the grimy percussion and pads which smother it connote a subterranean squirming which doesn’t detract from its flood-ready immediacy. Coming to us via Up North Records, it’s bracketed by similarly sickly body music from the likes of Meshes and Spinal who’ve carved out similarly uncompromising reps with us; Up North’s Northern Nightmares comps are always fantastically curated and should be on the radar of anyone looking to flesh out EBM sets.
V​/​A – Northern Nightmares IV (UNR013) by Up North Records

Potochkine, “BI”
Always nice to have something new from French darkwave/synthpop act Potochkine, who were a staple of our DJ sets a few years back with their debut LP Sortil​è​ges. Where that album felt very much like an update of classic European darkwave sounds, the vibe we’re getting from “BI” is closer to the modern electro take on the sound. It’s also a more harried and insistent than we expected, a change-up that has us intrigued as to where the duo are headed musically in releases to come.
BI by POTOCHKINE

Ottoman Grüw, “Under My Skin, I Carry Your Bones (Feat. Prophän)”
Here’s some pitch black yet precise and satisfying (dare we use the term “functional”?) TBM from Brussels’ Ottoman Grüw and delivered to us by (who else?) X-IMG. The smokey atmospheres that swaddle just about every moment on the Womb tape are the real distinguishing characteristics of cuts like this one, aided in its evocative aims by Moroccan artist Prophän.
Womb by OTTOMAN GRÜW

XTR Human, “Abgrund”
Another banger from Germany’s XTR Human, hot on the heels of the excellent SCHRANK, one of our fave releases of the year to date. We caught Johannes Stabel doing vocals for INHALT this past summer, and were duly impressed by his presence and energy on stage, something that immediately came to mind while listening to “Abgrund”; the track’s speed and aggression are easy to latch onto, but the personality that Stabel brings to the table as a vocalist gives the track a lot of its personality.
ABGRUND by XTR HUMAN

The post Tracks: October 1st, 2024 appeared first on I Die: You Die.

This month’s commentary podcast dives into the often overlooked mid-period work of synthpunk pioneers Portion Control. Having an outsized influence on countless EBM and industrial acts, the band’s more melodic movements into “post-industrial” with plenty of dalliances with synthpop and post-punk are perfectly captured on ..Step Forward. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, download directly, or listen through the widget down below. 

The post We Have A Commentary: Portion Control, “..Step Forward” appeared first on I Die: You Die.

Haujobb
The Machine In The Ghost
Dependent

Every record by venerable German industrial duo Haujobb is a world unto itself; a self-contained assembly of atmospheres and structures that fit together in precise fashion. While each release can be listened to as a hermetic experience, one of the great pleasures of digging into a new record by Dejan Samardzic and Daniel Myer is tracing the path between each musical reincarnation. To wit; you don’t need to have spent a lot of time examining the last two Haujobb LPs (2011’s New World March and 2015’s Blendwerk) to enjoy the long awaited The Machine in the Ghost, but having done so reveals more dimensions in its design, and the specific way it articulates their vision of electro-industrial music.

With that in mind, the rubric by which the record is most easily understood is as a meeting of the band’s contemporary focus on analogue sounds, and the sleek, digital production of their late 90s and early 2000s output. A Möbius strip of sorts, it finds Samardzic and Myer taking the mechanical precision of their latter records, and feeding it back into the cybernetic worlds of their original run of LPs, with much of the album’s most intriguing ideas emerging directly from the ways in which those worlds do and don’t interface cleanly. The sound of a track like “Uselessness” illustrates the approach wonderfully: it starts as a slice of deconstructed electro where Myer’s vocals are orbited by a minimal arrangement of field-recorded clanks, hisses and analogue blips that eventually coalesce into a full-bodied chorus and melody, each shift between sections feeling like an image coming into focus before derezzing again. The appropriately titled “Opposition” stands in contrast to the latter song’s harmonious construction, with a claustrophobic assembly of detuned and atonal synths, its grainy pads in particular hearkening back the project’s previous focus on grimy, cyber-noir sounds. A guest vocal from Black Nail Cabaret’s Emese Arvai-Illes that might otherwise have felt smooth comes across as uneasy in this context, a stark contrast to the easier and lusher placement of similar vocals from Arvai-Illes on Architect’s phenomenal 2013 LP Mine. Both songs are vintage Haujobb and entirely new in ways that speak to a unified and intentional approach to creating (and subverting) the most basic musical binaries; minimalism taken to its most grandiose, melody reinvented through discord.

It’s that linking of motorik machinery and murky malaise which makes The Machine In The Ghost something of a spiritual follow-up to New World March (again, linked back to some of their most cyberpunk moments). Even when it seems to take a page from the icy kling-klang programming of Blendwerk, the directness of much of that record is skewed, bent, and refracted in myriad ways. Take the programming on “Under The Gun” – its spidery crawl is offset by a tumbling rumble of secondary, rubbery beats which belie the ostensible nimbleness of its lead. As with other moments on the record, it also finds Myer’s vocals in the sort of listlessly reflective croon which remains one of Haujobb’s defining characteristics. Similarly, “The Internation” adds extra suction and swampy weight lent to pinging machinery, like Kraftwerk playing at the bottom of a deep sea oil rig. In a different vein, the sparse “Singularity” somehow manages to find a connection between the downtempo moments on underrated masterpiece Polarity and both Myer’s voluminous dark techno work and Samardzic’s solo analogue body project DSX.

As we’ve said when writing about Haujobb in the past, there’s a special sauce, a je ne sais quois that not only differentiates the band from their ostensible peers (how many bands who got their start on Off Beat are still releasing worthwhile, let alone legitimately challenging and progressive records?) but also the various other projects Myer and Samardzic have a hand in. As a result, the only truly valid point of comparison for a Haujobb record is other Haujobb records, and The Machine In The Ghost indicates that there are new mutations, further abstractions, and deeper frequencies to explore. Recommended.

Buy it.

The Machine in the Ghost by Haujobb

The post Haujobb, “The Machine in the Ghost” appeared first on I Die: You Die.

Having just seen Peter Hook & The Light, we’re spending this episode discussing not just Hooky’s presentation of the Joy Division and New Order catalogs, but also how our thoughts and feelings about those two bands have changed over the past thirty years. By equal measures we’ll be getting into the nitty gritty of JD/NO lore and ephemera, but also wrestling with what has and hasn’t changed about ourselves since we first came in contact with music which has never lost its gravitational pull upon us. We’re also talking about some possible Tear Garden news. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, download directly, or listen through the widget down below. 

The post We Have A Technical 526: Maniacism appeared first on I Die: You Die.

Dame Area
Toda La Verdad Sobre Dame Area
Mannequin Records

Silvia Konstance and Viktor L. Crux’s 2022 Dame Area LP was titled Toda La Mentira Sobre Dame Area, or “All the Lies About Dame Area”, perhaps an attempt to wryly acknowledge the softer and more melodic focus of that record in opposition to the clamor of the Catalan duo’s preceding synthpunk and post-industrial albums. 2024’s Toda la verdad sobre Dame Area (“The Whole Truth about Dame Area”) returns to their noisier sound, bringing some of the lessons of its predecessor with it in terms of design and production, while upping the intensity by a considerable margin. Still using a toolset made up primarily of metallic and electronic percussion, minimal synth arrangements and the powerful voice of Silvia Konstance, Dame Area have never sounded this big, or this dangerous.

That sense of menace pervades every aspect of the LP, in both its most unhinged and quietest moments. A cut like “Esto es nuestro ruido” comes out of the gate swinging with distorted kicks and a repeating two note synth sequence that grows more manic with each passing moment, the track crescendoing when Konstance’s yelled chants are subsumed by waves of sculpted static and rhythmic-noise like drum patterns. Conversely “Vengo dall’aldilà” uses ominous, soundtracky bells and synth strings to create an atmosphere of peril around its organic drum sounds, its vocals kept in a sneering, far more dismissive than threatening and somehow more unnerving for it. The rhythm programming is dense and fast-moving, frequently switching between synthetic and organic hits in ways that keep things musically engaging. That variation gives a track like “Urlo di guerra” dimensionality; the change-ups between screeching sirens, thudding drum machine sounds and sampled clanks preventing monotony or exhaustion.

The other key to the record’s appeal is in how Dame Area find ways to make their mechanized sound feel organic. Yes, the arrangement of drum sounds on “Devoci​ó​n” is tightly quantized with engine-like precision, and yet the track never feels like it’s out of step with the screamed vocals, keeping them aloft instead of dragging them under. Similarly the bassline that pushes “Tú me hiciste creer” feels like it’s reinforcing the song’s shrieks and squeals, eventually leading to a rough landing on a field of coarse synth pads that almost feel like massive distorted sighs of relief.

And really that’s the most remarkable thing about Toda La Verdad Sobre Dame Area; it’s a record that feels relentless and ferocious, but never taxing. The production and mix really allow the listener inside the tracks, making them an active part of its pummeling, thudding attack instead of the subject. Certainly their best statement to date, Dame Area set out to tell truths that are all the more bracing and invigorating for their intensity. Recommended.

Buy it.

MNQ 166 Dame Area – Toda La Verdad Sobre Dame Area LP by Dame Area

The post Dame Area, “Toda La Verdad Sobre Dame Area” appeared first on I Die: You Die.

Sixth June
Stay!
Young & Cold Records

Berlin-based duo Sixth June have spent the last few years roaming further afield from the deeply atmospheric style of darkwave which Laslo Antal and Lidija Andonovhad on lock from their earliest releases. One-off singles, soundtracking, side projects, and even an ambitious 41 minute single track LP all found them making sorties into neighbouring acoustic and electropop terrain. New LP Stay! is a declarative return to a style which has only risen in prominence since the band’s excellent exercise in it, 2017’s Virgo Rising.

If you’re familiar with Sixth June’s back catalog, the apparent ease with which Stay! circles back to the band’s familiar strengths will feel immediately comforting; if this is your first point of contact with Sixth June, their ability to make relatively stripped down synth programming feel timbrally and harmonically rich will impress. Folks like myself will often hold Sixth June up using terms like “evocative” and “cinematic”, and I regret to inform you that Stay! is no exception in prompting that sort of verbiage, with an enveloping but tastefully restrained bed of synths framing many tracks in a visual light, from the Mann-like pulse of opener “Dance With Me” to the more reflective, Japanese kitchen-sink drama of “Sanjam”.

While generally feeling like the archetypal ‘return to form’ record, hints of Sixth June’s soundtracking and the Diesein side project can be traced out here and there. “Stay” sounds like a souvenir of their journeys well outside of darkwave they’ve brought back home, part REM-styled alt-country, part Lee & Nancy on lean. Regardless of origin or inspiration, there’s an odd counterpoint between the warm blanket of synths which makes up the body of “Wake Up” in the style of “Plainsong” or Julee Cruise and the staccato beat which kicks the track along.

By the time Stay! winds to a close even on a first playthrough its style will be palpable to existing fans and newcomers, yet a certain je ne sais quois always remains about the band. Andonov’s knowing, bittersweet tone on closer “Collapse” cinches the tonal tension which sits at the heart of so much of the band’s best work, pointing to a deeply warm and human interior while maintaining an austere and icy edifice. While uncannily familiar, there’s no one else who rides that sort of dynamic the way Sixth June do, and it’s great to hear them holding to that form. Recommended.

Buy it.

Stay! by SIXTH JUNE

The post Sixth June, “Stay!” appeared first on I Die: You Die.

There’s a lot of recently released records that we still have to catch up on at the HQ, and while that remains our current focus, we did want to draw your attention to the 525th episode of our podcast We Have a Technical last week. We’ve debated and discussed the topic of what constitutes “goth music” a lot over the years, and in many ways we felt like this conversation was the culmination of our various exchanges on the topic; it’s not quite an argument since we agree upon some pretty fundamental ideas about the subculture and music’s place in it, but it does get a bit spicy in ways that we hope were fun to listen to. Give it a download if you’re so inclined, and hey, we’ve even got some new tracks below for you to check out as well.

Carrellee

Sleek Teeth, “Operating”
It’s not often we get this invested in an act with so little material released, but Sleek Teeth have our rapt attention. The notification that the LA-based melodic EBM/electro act had released a third (!) song on Bandcamp was certainly good news, and as with their previous cuts, “Operating” finds a very happy medium between classic body music sounds and sweet synthpop style vocals and probably their strongest chorus to date. We’re wondering when we’ll get some kind of EP or LP to really sink our (not so sleek) teeth into, but this cut will get plenty of spins in the interim.
Operating by Sleek Teeth

Beborn Beton, “American Girls”
The reactivation of Beborn Beton for 2015’s A Worthy Compensation has had us (and plenty of other North American listeners) reconsidering the larger legacy and discography of the German synthpop outfit. A line from one of The Cure’s most depressing and decadent tracks and a Beach Boys reference aren’t what we might have expected to inspire the first single from the forthcoming To The Stars – consisting of a handful of new tracks plus a swath of remixes of material from last year’s Darkness Falls Again – but here we are.
To The Stars by Beborn Beton

Ortotrasce, “External World”
Man, it’s been a real good couple of years for American synth act Ortotrasce. If you enjoyed the material on the excellent Dispatches from Solitude earlier this year, then you should be pretty pleased with the sound of new cut “External World”; the pure classic Kraftwerkian-electropop that the project has been mining for a minute is extremely strong here, enhanced by clean, classy production and a lovely bit of vocoder action that gives the tune a little something extra.
External World by Ortrotasce

Carrellee, “Like A Ghost”
The almost folky approach to melodic darkwave brought by Carrellee was a left-field surprise to us at last year’s Verboden Festival, but since then the Madison-based artist’s honed in on the sound and scene, collaborating with Total Chroma and now set with an LP featuring the likes of Matia Simovich and Josh Bonati behind the boards. Production aside, Carrellee does well by her own strengths on this lead single, imbuing it with a spirit that’s half breathless wonder, half pensive concern.
Like A Ghost by Carrellee

Duophonic Noise Construction, “Always”
We’ve been closely tracking latter-era X-Marks The Pedwalk’s charting of a course through alternately lush and austere electro/darkwave which has shown a very different side of Sevren Ni-Arb’s work than the pioneering high-def dark electro and electro-industrial the project’s name was built upon. While conceptually out of left field, the first material from Duophonic Noise Construction, a collaboration between Ni-Arb and his son who’s been releasing electro under the LMX moniker for the past few years, sounds exactly what you might expect from the father/son duo given the breadth of both members’ entire catalogs. With a bit more punch than recent X-Marks but still holding the icy and smooth production we’d expect, it’s a promising start.
Always by Duophonic Noise Construction

Lana Del Rabies, “Paranoid”
Our album of the year 2023 honoree Lana Del Rabies has released a cover of Garbage’s “I Think I’m Paranoid” and god damn. While not necessarily as fraught or shiver inducing as the material that made Strega Beata such a powerhouse of a record, there’s something pretty bracing in hearing the slick alt-rock crossover sound of the original buried under noise, dark reverbs and churning, spitting guitars, half-noise rock and half power electronics. If you’ve never heard Del Rabies before this should serve as a good introduction to the ugly catharsis of their work.
Paranoid by Lana Del Rabies

The post Tracks: September 22nd, 2024 appeared first on I Die: You Die.

Prince – Emancipation
Atari Teenage Riot – Modern Liars
Otep – Equal Rights, Equal Lefts
BiGod 20 – Like a Prayer
Rotersand – Exterminate Annihilate Destroy
Aesthetic Perfection – Automaton
Carpenter Brut – Maniac
Ministry – Ricky’s Hand
Kooper Kain – Obsidian Tooth
Bloodpanic – Black Bird
Psychostick – I Can Only Count to Four
Scissor Sisters – Filthy/Gorgeous
Run Level Zero – Hand to Mouth
Apoptygma Berzerk – Coma White
A Perfect Circle – Rev 22 20
Rock This

The post DJ Joshy Neurotic – September 22, 2024 appeared first on Vancouver Descent.

Black Nail Cabaret – No Gold
Covenant – I Am
Royskopp – What Else is There?
Melotron – Kein Problem
Solar Fake – Pain That Kills You Too
The Knife – Like a Pen
Tragic Error – Tanzen
Suicide Commando – God is in the Rain
Amduscia – Profano tu Cruz
Aesthetic Perfection – Gods & Gold
Front 242 – Headhunter (Frontline Mix)
KMFDM – Juke Joint Jezebel
Thou Shalt Not – If I Only Were a Goth

The post dj sURREAL – sEPTEMBER 22, 2024 appeared first on Vancouver Descent.

Bill Leeb – Terror Forms (feat. ACTORS)
Isaac Howlett – House of Cards
Rue Oberkampf – Deine Augen
She Past Away – Inziva
Ultra Sunn – This Is Not About You
Bedless Bones – A Poison Tree
Louisahhh – Numb, Undone
Snowbeasts – Devour
Black Asteroid – Ashes And Dust (Extended) feat Actors
Odonis Odonis – Beast (feat. Tobacco)
Arabian Panther – Hafla For Our Dead
Trepaneringsritualen – Feral Me (Codex Empire Remix)
NNHMN – Arabische Ritter
Night Club – Die In The Disco
Urban Heat – Sanitizer

The post DJ MissBDeath – September 22, 2024 appeared first on Vancouver Descent.

Magnum Opus
Area Zero
Mosaique Records
South America’s (and specifically Columbia’s) EBM scene hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down since it began making waves well outside of its native climes several years ago. With releases on and collabs with familiar names like Pildoras Tapes and Ravetop, respectively, Bogotá’s Felipe Novoa, AKA Magnum Opus, has the sort of pedigree that should be prompting savvy DJs to be mining new EP Area Zero. They’ll be served well with four tracks tingle with a hint of psychedelic atmosphere while also delivering heavy techno kicks, as on “Ascension”. The specific execution of Area Zero‘s production touches both on modern finesse as well as the rougher and sleazier charm of vintage EBM. Never sounding forcibly old-school nor uncannily smoothed over, there’s a no-frills approach to the whole affair. That does lend to a little bit of repetition and sameness in both BPM and structure which is a bit surprising for a release this short, but no one of the tracks really feels weaker in comparison to any of its fellows. As mentioned, this sort of release is aimed for DJ listening and play, and body music selectors should have some fun sourcing whichever one or two of these cuts gets them itching to mix.
Area Zero by Magnum Opus

Hex Wolves
Bad Actor
Valley Electroniks
Santa Cruz producer Hex Wolves has been making industrialized techno since before the sound had its recent spurt of popularity, digging deep into the noisier, grittier sounds of the style with nary a care for mass appeal or courting playlist popularity. Yeah, the songs on Bad Actor have that shadowy, basement club feel to them, both hypnotic as on the chattering phaser driven synthlines of “Lack of Evidence” or punishing, as on the atonal bad trip inducing “Field of Flesh” where pitched up vocal samples and shuffling drums create intensely anxious vibes that never let up. The remixes of the latter track by FOTISMO and Spheric take the track and respectively more manic and laid-back-but-sinister directions, but it’s the closer “Temporary Sleeve” that wins the prize for most unsettling; the busy cymbal work and blocky bass are almost funky, until the waves of plonky metallic keys and typewriter percussion that clatter into the track at its midway point suddenly recast the track in a nastier light, as in the one lurching down the tracks towards you from the other end of the tunnel. This EP is never nasty for its own sake, but its no less unnerving for that.
Bad Actor by Hex Wolves

The post Observer: Magnum Opus & Hex Wolves appeared first on I Die: You Die.

“You must own at least nine Rosetta Stone bootlegs to get into the club. I don’t make the rules, I just enforce them.”

We like to mark every 25th episode of the podcast with some sort of special theme or format, and so on this episode we’re taking up the hefty topic of to what degree goth is a subculture tied to music. Grab your snakebite and Aquanet and expect gatekeeping, gateletting, takes spicy and mild, and no small amount of cattiness. We’re also talking about the passing of Roli Mossiman, the news of North American And One dates, and a Devours gig. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, download directly, or listen through the widget down below. 

The post We Have A Technical 525: Clod Man appeared first on I Die: You Die.

Run Level Zero
A Strange New Pain
self-released

Possessed by both the spirit of Vancouver-school electro-industrial and at times a downright Romantic sensibility, Sweden’s Run Level Zero have been charting a course which finds them standing astride industrial’s roots and a more florid, production-focused approach to European electro since their debut LP Symbol Of Submission was released nearly a quarter of a century ago. While the aforementioned binary in RLZ’s work found an even equanimity in 2019’s Swaerm, new record A Strange New Pain finds the different aesthetics of founder Hans Åkerman shooting out across the breadth of a spacious but at times aggressive record.

From the outset of Strange New Pain, Run Level Zero tie crunchy, layered industrial and EBM programming to more melodic styles with “The Message”. The loping stomp of the beat in tandem with emergent harmonies yields the sort of engrossing (if never showy or excessive) effect which made their Arctic Noise one of the most underrated LPs of its era and style. But much of the record opts to separate those component elements and push theme to their thematic extremes. On the heavier side, the manic pogo of “Cross Over The Line” would feel right at home at Familientreffen, while the dreamy swim of “You Are My Temple” and the bucolic synthpop of “The City And The Sword” (connoting the softer side of Claus Larsen’s work) couldn’t be further removed from such aggression.

Sometimes that split remains even in the course of one single song: “We Are Strong” has a squared off EBM rumble on its verses which is spitting distance away from the likes of Spetsnaz, but blooms into the sort of bright chorus that futurepop acts used to try to zero in on (the distinction between the two styles also lends some extra ambiguity to the aspirational lyrics linking an individual relationship to society-wide manifestos). Whether across a pair of songs or within one, though, RLZ continue to thread the needle in terms of hooks, production, and Åkerman’s vocal approach. This sort of balancing act has always been part of their playbook, it just feels as though the band is getting a bit more restless or ambitious in terms of casting back and forth between their various poles this time out.

It’s tough to say from the outside what role some recent line-up changes might play in these slight adjustments to RLZ’s approach; longtime member Ville Hising is out of the fold for this record, and recent addition Oskar Lygner (previously of synthpop act Backlash) looks to be taking a more pronounced role. Regardless of reason, these changes to the band feel like minor course adjustments rather than seismic shifts, and the care and depth they’ve always brought to their work remains unchanged.

Buy it.

A Strange New Pain by Run Level Zero

The post Run Level Zero, “A Strange New Pain” appeared first on I Die: You Die.

Sacred Skin
Born in Fire
Artoffact Records

If you take any time to read reviews of Sacred Skin’s material you’ll notice how often the Los Angeles band is often described in filmic terms, a function of how effortlessly the duo of Brian DaMert and Brian Tarney have invoked the stylish cool of eighties Michael Mann and Ridley Scott through their brand of synth-laden rock. Their songs are widescreen, hinging on DaMert’s emotional vocal delivery and the smooth production that brings the best out of them. New album Born in Fire goes all in on the things that have defined Sacred Skin up ’til this point in climactic and sometimes dizzying fashion.

That description might leave you thinking the record is non-stop bombast, and while it has its share of big moments, the band are smart enough to arrange the album with valleys around those peaks. Opener “Waiting”‘s synth bass and chorused guitar riffs complement a more laidback delivery on the first verses and choruses, slowly building in intensity as DaMert gradually deploys his full range, the song becoming a new wave rave-up by its conclusion. Those kinds of feints are the record’s bread and butter, from the way that the romantic mid-tempo groove of “Show You Love” explodes midway through with a flurry of guitar licks, to pivots into the light and funky (duet “Call It Off”) and the darker, more anxious post-punk sounds (“Paranoid”).

Of course one of the not-so-secret keys to the band’s appeal has always been that their songs are well-crafted, with distinct choruses and arrangement ideas. Indeed, for a band who obviously put an emphasis on style, they’ve clearly got an understanding of their own strengths and how to use them to get the material across. “The Lights” is a fine enough tune from a writing standpoint, but what sells it is the way it floats its vocals ever higher above the synth toms and pads, a perfect feeling of culmination for a penultimate track, especially where it allows closer “Static Blue” to help the record go out on a sincere and melancholic note. Similarly, “Surrender” has a killer chorus, but its the transitions between sections that really allow it to shine.

Born in Fire is a proper record in the classic sense, constructed so that its songs buttressing one another so the height and breadth of the material is never in danger of collapsing in on itself. There’s no phoniness or irony here, and that sincerity is critical in keeping the feeling of exhilaration from becoming exhausting as it progresses from peak to peak. Sacred Skin have made a record that trades in grandeur without ever losing its grounding, and tops even their previous highs with cool confidence. Recommended.

Buy it.

Born in Fire by Sacred Skin

The post Sacred Skin, “Born in Fire” appeared first on I Die: You Die.

It looks like 2024 is going to be a back-loaded year, folks. We just did some accounting behind the scenes and beyond the coverage you’ll find on the site this week we have at least a dozen high profile releases by projects we expect great things from coming in the next month or two. We’ll do our level best to not get caught in the weeds here, but we’d suggest keeping your heads on a swivel for your own sake over the next while if you’re at all interested in staying abreast of good new shit…which we have to assume you are, given that you’re reading this week’s Tracks post.

How can 5 guys be Solitary, experiment or not? The answer may surprise you!

Camlann, “Numb and Hollow”
It’s the return of our favourite Indonesian socialist goth-pop duo Camlann, and new single “Numb and Hollow” displays the exact reason we found their last LP Dismantle! so compelling. The group’s pop instincts and strong melodies remain, and are if anything stronger than before, but with a noticeably improved sense of production. All of this is without compromising their slightly off-kilter, genre-hopping style, which Nick Octopus on our Slack compared to modern Ashbury Heights, a compliment as far as we’re concerned.
Numb and Hollow by Camlann

Kurs, “Omen”
The debut LP from Italy’s Kurs a few years back impressed through its approaches to electro-industrial and dark electro which placed an emphasis on subtlety and atmosphere, though Muter had plenty of substance once you were drawn into its noir cyberpunk style. Follow-up LP Dreamer looks to be doing right by that precedent based on previous singles, and this just released taster has all manner of majestic and eerie sweep to go along with a foundation of classic programming. Really good slow-burn stuff which bodes well for one of the year’s sleeper LPs.
Dreamer by Kurs

Wingtips feat. Tim Capello, “The Verdict”
Another new Wingtips cut, and one that while unexpected 100% makes sense. Sax-goth has been bubbling under the radar for a few years now, an aesthetic that certainly has some nostalgic charm but needs genuine songwriting chops and production to get over. Who better than the Chicago duo, who never fail when it comes to making songs with that wistful, melancholic vibe, and never stoop to regurgitating the past when they can be pushing themselves forward. Check how much of this track builds around the elements introduced early, so when sexy-Sax man Tim Capello (yes, the Lost Boys guy) busts out his solo it feels like a massive climax, just as it should.
The Verdict (feat. Tim Cappello) by WINGTIPS

Perdí La Luz, “Blue Car”
You shouldn’t need us to talk up Andi Harriman’s curatorial skills at this point. In addition to her own productions, her talents as a selector and boutique label honcho are impeccable, and that’s why any new joint on Synthicide gets our attention. There’s a nice mix of the softer side of EBM (think Forces or Brixx) and some classic house (and maybe a hint of freestyle?) on this number by Seattle’s Perdí La Luz. The beat here is immediate, but it’s the experience of being snowed in by increasingly chilly waves of pads which cinches this track.
Rusty Nail by Perdí La Luz

Black Light Smoke, “CRIMES 1”
In contrast to the above, there’s sure as hell nothing subtle or understated about the new single from Rochester producer Black Light Smoke. Made up of some of the most rubbery programming you’re likely to hear this year, the kicks and pacing on this number hearken back to a pre-TBM era of crossover body music (yes, think Fixmer/McCarthy) in which electro’s moment in the sun was filtering into even the grimiest and darkest of EBM. There’s a whole lot of gallop in this which has us earmarking it for end of the night play.
CRIMES 1 by Black Light Smoke

Solitary Experiments, “The Great Unknown (Steril remix)”
German electro-industrial/EBM act Solitary Experiments are the sort of act that makes up the fundament of every scene; long-running, reliable and while never a top act, they reliably put out a few tracks every album that can be used for club play or mix purposes. That might sound like faint praise, but we have a lot of affection for SE, and are especially impressed with their 30th Anniversary compilation, featuring a bevy of remixes from across their whole catalogue. Check it; you’ve got Neuroticfish, Encephalon, Xotox, Mildreda, INVA//ID and plenty more, including this one from our faves Steril. Congrats on 30 years lads, keep playing it loud.
The 30th Anniversary Compilation by Solitary Experiments

The post Tracks: September 16th, 2024 appeared first on I Die: You Die.

World, Interrupted
When You See Me, Run
self-released
We haven’t heard anything from World, Interrupted since 2021, and if the music on their latest EP is any indication, things haven’t gotten any less bleak for the Polish darkwavers. While their preceding EP was a direct result and response to the global pandemic and the associated feelings of hopelessness and isolation, the songs on 2024’s When You See Me, Run suggest a larger world of emotions and ideas, if not a more upbeat one. Bookend cuts “Mirror” and “No Turning Back” use the same template the band established back in 2021, a kind of classic gravely serious European darkwave with some modern electro touches, expanded into much more aggressive territory; the former has heavier drums and more dancefloor oriented bass programming, while the latter injects plenty of staticky noise into the mix, conveying both fragility and turmoil. The two Polish-language tracks have a certain mystique all their own, “Nocny Ptak” using layered vocals to create deeper, more funereal moods that match its screechy guitar figures, and “Sama” splitting the difference between moody ambience and its clacky, tumbling percussion. The production is thicker without sacrificing too much of the lo-fi charm previously established, one gets the impression that World, Interrupted aren’t interested in anything that might detract from their austere and foreboding approach to modern darkwave.
When You See Me, Run by World, Interrupted

Hexophthalma
K​.​J. Anderssons Mardr​ö​m
Fluttering Dragon Records
A new collaboration between Tomasz Borowski of dark ambient project Fomalhaut and Fredrik Djurfeldt (of too many projects to name here), Hexopthalma’s debut taps into a rich conceptual vein and finds a register of menacing, solemn death industrial to suit. Named for a venomous spider which lives in the deserts of the Skeleton Coast of Namibia and inspired by the shipwrecks which mark that coast and the genocides which occurred there (we can always trust Djurfeldt to draw our attention to the lesser known atrocities of colonialism), Hexopthalma is a decidedly brooding bit of business. While pure crawling distortion is present throughout its seven tracks, it’s generally kept to the role of slowly and hypnotically looping while chilly harmonic pads and sine waves cast over the desert landscape the music is meant to evoke.”Giant Huntsmans hemska bett”, with its wet drips pattering across deep, toneless drones and occasionally punctuated by distorted winds and voices, is a prime example. Longtime aficionados of death industrial and Djurfeldt’s various entryways into that world will know that contrary to its reputation for pure abrasive noise, it’s a style which can prompt solemn and even peaceful reflection and contemplation, and as this record shows, even tilt towards the cinematic soundtracking of a beautiful, if foreboding, landscape.
Hexophthalma – K.J. Anderssons Mardröm by Fluttering Dragon Records

The post Observer: World, Interrupted & Hexophthalma appeared first on I Die: You Die.