Gothic BC

Kontravoid
Detachment
Artoffact Records

The arc of Cam Findlay’s work as Kontravoid has been one of aesthetic refinement. The 2012 self-titled debut LP introduced his take on synth music: a smoke machine and strobe-lit version of electronic darkwave whose gritty and saturated sonics have been the project’s calling card since. That sound has allowed Findlay to take Kontravoid through multiple genres and styles while maintaining a strong sense of identity; despite being an artist whose visual trademark is a featureless mask, there’s nothing anonymous about the his work. As with the excellent 2021 EP Faceless, new LP Detachment deftly applies those sonic markers to songs both melodic and driving to tremendous effect.

A not-so secret key to a lot Kontravoid’s best material is how good Findlay has gotten at synthpop hooks, and the record certainly doesn’t lack for them. Cuts like “For What It Is” and “Death Shot” have strong melodies woven into their arrangements of synth bass, snappy drums and Findlay’s processed vocals; the impact of their lead synthlines is a function of how dialed-in every element of the songs is to their delivery. There’s never been a more pop Kontravoid song than “Losing Game”, a cut that manages to split the difference between guest vocalist Chelsey Crowley of Nuovo Testamento’s nu-italo wheelhouse and Findlay’s own production and compositional trademarks.

The body music angle of the project is still well-represented on Detachment as well, with some interesting new angles introduced. If you’ve only experienced “Reckoning” via its hypnotic and utterly bizarre video, listening to music isolation from visual bombardment reveals some sneaky touches of big beat, expressed via its vocal sample punctuation and gated synthlines. “How It Ends” runs in a different direction, laying breakbeats underneath its pulsing waves of reverbed and panned electronics, a kind of robotic funk manifested via its syncopated bounce. Hell, “Sin Walker” is practically a futurepop jam, its arpeggios and tightly programmed drums evoking the melange of millennial dance music sounds that informed the industrial club genre.

The trick of Detachment is really how no matter what Findlay turns his hand to as a producer or performer, it still sounds like Kontravoid. The beatless synth-string led instrumental cut “In Reverse” is as characteristic of the project’s sound as the straight electro darkwave of “Fading”, or the menacing overture that is opening track “Awaken”. In a field crowded with acts mining the same influences and musical tropes, Kontravoid has ascended to best-in-class status by becoming a better version of what the project has been since the outset. For a catalogue whose recurring themes have been uncertainty, obscurity and self-doubt, Findlay has paradoxically become supremely confident in executing his musical vision, and Detachment is the proof. Recommended.

Buy it.

Detachment by Kontravoid

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Statiqbloom
Kain
Sonic Groove

Fade Kainer’s Statiqbloom has undergone a rapid series of changes over the past few years. From shifting from a solo project to a duo, to moving away from the dense, nightmarish electro-industrial sound which had defined the first half of the project to the windswept and forlorn minimalism of 2019’s Beneath The Whelm, to a sudden relocation to Germany and a shift back to a solo project for 2022’s markedly TBM-styled Threat. New LP Kain (and second on Sonic Groove) indicates that this turbulence might have passed, with Kainer very much following in the style of Threat.

Pieces like “Fire Of The Heart” with its cascading tumbles of distortion following each kick and the wormy, phasing shuffle of “Obsidian Obscura” are well-representative of the distinct Berlin flavour of this new incarnation of Statiqbloom. To wit, between Threat and Kain Statiqbloom now distinctly reads as a techno body music entity. Again, it’s a style Kainer is clearly invested in consolidating within Statiqbloom, but that new identity comes with the tradeoff of the dark psychedelia which defined early releases by the project, not to mention the risk of repetition. While there’s nothing wrong with tracks like “Cold Steel Howl” or “Treacherous Eyes” down the stretch, there isn’t enough to distinguish them from what’s come before; this is a style which is at times a difficult fit for the LP format.

There are moments which distinguish Kain from the broader TBM world, and which do show some links back to early Statiqbloom. The icy pads which shimmer in and out of focus on opener “Face Annihilation”evoke The Klinik at their most ghostly, and the sprained electro shudders of “Hidden From Form” are reminiscent of Statiqbloom debut Mask Visions Poison, which digs down to the earliest and most primitive foundations of dark electro and waters them with bile.

Projects making significant changes in style rather than standing pat is always going to prompt a range of reactions, and there’s a good case to be made that after the high water mark of Asphyxia Statiqbloom would have benefited from such a shift. As of now Statiqbloom’s two techno industrial styled records have yet to reach a comparable level in that new terrain, but given Kainer’s progressive refinement of the project’s original formula, another leap forward isn’t impossible, whether within Statiqbloom’s current milieu or some heretofore unknown one.

Buy it.

Kain (SGLP17) by STATIQBLOOM

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Another Bandcamp Friday come and gone has brought up (in addition to a wave of new releases we’ll have reviews of up shortly) that odd sense of unease which has pervaded the platform since the Songtradr purchase. Bandcamp United is keeping the home fires lit, and while the return of Bandcamp Friday almost feels like “business as usual”, it’s difficult to shake the feeling that we could be a rounding error in a hedge fund away from losing the platform which is keeping so many scenes and artists afloat. No news is good news, we suppose? In any case, on with this week’s Tracks.

[:SITDeeznutz:] (forgive me)

Data Void, “So Alien”
In case you missed our previous look at Data Void, the newly minted project is a collaboration between Don Gordon of Numb and James Mendez of Jihad. If you had any questions what these two electro-industrial heads might get up to together, let “So Alien” lay your curiosity to rest; the track’s bass, sneering vocals and big, dramatic pads feel like the sort of thing you might have heard from either artist at any point in their career, but given a slight production overhaul for a smooth modern touch. A little more down the pipe than preceding single “Nothing Changes”, but no less powerful for it, we’re getting mighty excited to hear what this record sounds like. The good news is it drops Friday, check this site for our take soon afterwards.
Strategies of Dissent by Data Void

[:SITD:], “Brieselang”
In news that surprises absolutely no one, the new [:SITD:] single sounds like [:SITD:]. That’s not a hack on it (if we didn’t like it we wouldn’t be sharing it in this space), but an admission that the band who emerged in the early 2000s with a widescreen version of the euro electro sound haven’t changed much in the intervening years. They’re good at stuff that sounds big, emotional, dark and above all danceable, and haven’t ever strayed from what brought them to the dancefloor. There’s something comforting in that; no matter what it feels like these Germans will always come through with that we’re hoping to get from them.
Brieselang by [:SITD:]

Spectres, “Dominion”
Presence, the new LP from hometown heroes Spectres, is nigh. A couple of weeks out from the first full length by the Vancouver peace punk act since 2020’s Nostalgia we have this last preview track, and especially in relation to the previous teasers, this tune indicates how the band might be attempting to walk the wire between the softer, melodic new wave sounds which have defined their recent years and the speedier and more stripped-down sound which was their calling card in the early years. In any case, stay tuned here for a full review of Presence in the weeks to come.
Presence by SPECTRES

Hex Wolves, “We’re Not Alone”
The new Hex Wolves EP is full of scraping claustrophobia which draws together technoid, powernoise, and the trippier side of electro-industrial; ie, exactly the sort of thing we’ve come to look forward to in Ben Thompson’s solo work beyond the more serene darkwave of D/SIR. Higher Order Ov Loud is fleshed out with a slew of remixes from the likes of Chase Dobson and Shane from W.A.S.T.E., spinning out from the dense core of Thompson’s programming.
High Order Ov Loud by Hex Wolves

Anaerobic, “Forever Stamp”
Did you know site favourite Alex Reed of Seeming has a noise project called Anaerobic? And that said project has a new release Sincerely,? Also that that release is 7 tracks of feedback, drones, static, and samples, then capped with a lovely acoustic folk number that cinches up the themes of the release (that being letter mail)? And that as with everything Alex touches, it’s got a deep thoughtfulness mixed with a singular sensibility that straddles the sublime and the ludicrous? You did know that? Well then lets sit down and enjoy “Forever Stamp” together shall we?
Sincerely, by Anaerobic

Virgin Prunes – Caucasian Walk (WLDV edit)
We imagine a lot of younger clubgoers aren’t especially familiar with the art and tradition of the bootleg remix, but its one which was instrumental in genre cross-pollination in dark clubs from the late 80s through the early 00s. Continuing his hot streak of bringing all manner of goth and darkwave classics into the present day, Spanish producer WLDV offers this mix linking the unhinged, St. Vitus-esque mania of The Virgin Prunes with the strict and icy darkwave of the present. Grab it before Guggi has it pulled!
Virgin Prunes – Caucasian Walk (WLDV edit) by WLDV

The post Tracks: March 4th, 2024 appeared first on I Die: You Die.

Suicide Commando – God is in the Rain
E Nomine – Das Tier in Mir
Emily Browning – Sweet Dreams
Disturbed – Sound of Silence
Aesthetic Perfection – Devotion
Assemblage 23 – Ephiphany
Chemical Brothers – Galvanize
Frontline Assembly – Virus (Hybrid Mix)
Alien Vampires – Kill the Authority
Prodigy – Omen
Voicecoil – Clear
VNV Nation – Control
Pendulum – Fasten Your Seatbelts
Rotersand – Almost Violent
Neuroticfish – I Don’t Need This City
Crystal Castles – Not in Love (ft Robert Smith)
Solar Fake – Just Like This
Covenant – I Am
Apoptygma Berzerk – Kathy’s Song
Black Nail Cabaret – No Gold
Gary Numan – My Name is Ruin
Josie Pace – Even If It Kills Me
In This Moment – Roots

The post DJ Surreal – March 3, 2023 appeared first on Vancouver Descent.

May Diem
Euphorie
Oberwave Records
While the music on Moscow-based duo May Diem’s EP Euphorie is sung in German and feels of a piece with many other acts plumbing modern darkwave’s various shadowy corners, there’s also a some broader electro sounds being worked into the mix in intriguing fashion. While most obvious on the cut “Maus” with its old school vocoder and funky doubled up kicks, you can hear it working its way into the wormy synths and halting rhythm of “Es Regnet”. Even thought the title track that seems like a more deliberate homage to neue deutsch welle in its alternatingly punky and icy vocals, there’s still a decent undercurrent of the groovy approach to composition that keeps them from laying down straight four on the floor kicks. Closer “Latex” does perhaps the best job of wedding that approach to programming with their S&M sex club ambitions; you get plenty of breathy vocals and hard-edged synths, but the syncopated rhythm flowing underneath gives it a rhythmic push-pull for extra oomph.
May Diem – Euphorie by Oberwave Records

Digital Geist
Traveling Without Moving
self-released
Don’t let the warm, loping bounce of opening downtempo track “Folding Space” fool you – while that Displacer-like track and a couple of other bracing pieces certainly show off the crisp yet rounded sound design Alex Kourelis has brought to much of his work as Digital Geist over the preceding decade-plus, new LP Traveling Without Moving is a far deeper and more ambient trip than that first blush suggests. Kourelis works with twinkling kosmische programming, rollicking timpanis, and (digitally) prepared piano, but as the record progresses it grows sparser and more abstract, implying a slow drift into the aether, away from any human point. The space of the record (in the stereo mix, that is, not just the cosmic or astral place) is immaculately conveyed, very much carrying the sense of landscape and placement within it we recently discussed in relation to dark ambient, and while it may not formally fit the definition of dark ambient, it’s certainly conducive to the sort of contemplation and reflection that genre connotes.
Traveling Without Moving by Digital Geist

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Current 93: Come Before Christ And Murder Mr. Plod. Photo by Ruth Bayer.

It’s a Pick Five episode this week, as a slightly irreverent one, as we’re talking about stupid songs we actually quite like. From brodustrial to novelty tracks to questionable lyrical choices, this one was a lot of fun to record. We’re also talking about the announcement of Front 242’s final shows. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, Google Podcasts, download directly, or listen through the widget down below. 

The post We Have A Technical 497: Please Steal My Stuff appeared first on I Die: You Die.

Analfabetism
Den Svagsintes Klagan
self-released

Since its arrival in 2014, Analfabetism has been a forum for the most unremitting and uncompromising of Fredrik Djurfeldt’s sounds. If you’ve listened to his Instans records alongside his more well-known work as one half of Severe Illusion, you’ll know that it’s no mean feat that Analfabetism (alongside the lesser known Knös project which it effectively replaced) has consistently been the coldest of its fellows, holding close to icy wellsprings of death industrial and dark ambient. New LP Den Svagsintes Klagan might use a less abrasive and more subdued toolkit than its predecessors, it’s no less weighty and unnerving.

This is the first Analfabetism record since Djurfeld relocated from the outskirts of Stockholm to the remote tundra of Norrland, and it’s tempting to read the muffled drones of ” Drängens Lyte Och Vemod” and “En Sämre Av Söner” as approximations of the long and brutal (even by Scandanavian standards) northern winters. The somewhat cryptic naming of instrumental tracks which Djurfeldt has used throughout his work continues here, but track titles which translate as “Forest Idiot” and “Then You Shouldn’t Believe It’s Summer”, not to mention allusions to folklore about forest hermits, back this up.

Of course, a trip into the woods with Djurfeldt is not going to be all placid camping – within those murky atmospheres the distorted and scraping vocal samples and white-hot high end noise which punctuate “Skogens Idiot” remind you of the power electronics and death industrial traditions from which the project emerged. The same noise which defined early Analfabetism records is very much present, it’s just distributed more sparsely. Still, that space frees things up for some unexpected moments, like the slow chiming melody which drifts through “Du Skall Då Fan Inte Tro Det Blir Sommar”, or “Drängens Lyte Och Vemod” electing to close with some wholly natural and undistorted string arrangements.

I feel the need to again stress that these harmonic and acoustic elements are in no way a softening of Analfabetism’s mood: Den Svagsintes Klagan remains deeply foreboding and menacing music which will likely scare off DJs looking for any trace of Djurfeldt’s EBM sounds or even those who like to chill out to the more laid back and contemplative ends of dark ambient. But if you’ve spent the last decade appreciating the harsher side of Djurfeldt’s work, this detour into dark forests will be a welcome one.

Buy it.

Den Svagsintes Klagan by Analfabetism

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Jäger 90,
R​ü​ckspulen
Oraculo Records

Despite remaining active as a live act with founder Thoralf Dietrich, German body music act Jäger 90 haven’t officially released any new music since their 2011 LP Fleisch Macht Böse. It was probably only a matter of time before a compilation like new release R​ü​ckspulen came together in some form; the project’s intense loyalty to the sound of EBM progenitors Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaf gives their small, but muscly catalogue a pleasingly timeless quality. Indeed, were one not already familiar with the band’s work, you would be hard-pressed to tell that these tracks came out in the mid-late 2000s rather than the early eighties.

As such, the Jäger 90 sound is simple by its nature; songs are largely made up of a analogue monosynth bass, drums, and vocals, with occasional snatches of synthwork for embellishment. That sparseness in approach requires songs to have a lot punch and a deep groove to keep from becoming boring, a lesson that Jäger 90 knew well and is evidenced by the cuts collected here. “Stiefelblitz” runs on a dead simple kick snare pattern and 16th note bassline, its sole melodic element a sporadically deployed synth bell sound and its half-spoken vocals. It’s only its slight variations in structure that allow for it to run for nearly four minutes without collapsing into monotony. Another byproduct of the deliberate limitations the project works within are that major impact a simple element can have; witness how the splash cymbals on “Denk Das Ist Ok” end up being the most important part of the track by their presence or absence at various points in its looping arrangement.

Unlike many of DAF’s other devotees, Dietrich and company recognized the deeply funky aspects of the Delgado and Görl’s sound, and how to use it to avoid the muscle n’ hate trap that so much neo-oldschool EBM falls prey to. The plodding bass and incredibly simple drums of “Stärker Als Du Meinst” work for the song because they stay deep in the pocket; slow but possessed of a lot of bounce. That the band open with “Un Tanz” and its head-nodding rhythm is a solid indicator that whoever compiled the release understood how important keeping things groovy was to the band, and how they achieved it through studied minimalism.

As with any act that is beholden to another band, Jäger 90’s adherence to their inspiration’s sound can cut both ways; some listeners will enjoy the tasteful and precise ways that the band pays homage, while others will find its close resemblance to DAF to be offputting. A release like R​ü​ckspulen ends up allowing for that by staying lean and putting the band’s best foot forward via careful track selection. That makes it an overall charming listen that provides if not a complete overview of Jäger 90’s catalogue, a solid vision of what they sound like at their best.

Buy it.

Rückspulen by Jäger 90

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Hey, it’s Bandcamp Friday this week. We’re still very cagey about the current state of Bandcamp post acquisition by Songtradr, which is why March 1st is a good day to buy some music; as always BC Fridays mean that artists get more of the pie from a sale. Whether or not you have any trepidation about the state of the platform or its future, that’s a win/win for artists and as good a reason as any to buy a bunch of tunes. Maybe even something from the tracks below? Just a suggestion.

Designer Violence

Kite, “Glassy Eyes”
Kite’s new single for Dais Records is a double A-Side, and while we’re very curious to hear the track “Losing” featuring Henric de la Cour (former bandmate of Kite’s Christian Berg in Strip Music and Yvonne) and Anna von Hausswolff, we can’t deny the simple pleasures of “Glassy Eyes”. If you come to Kite for the big feels and the power of Niklas Stenemo’s voice, pull up a chair; the song’s incredibly simple and sparse synth arrangement places Niklas at center stage for a showstoppingly sorrowful performance of the kind that have become the band’s trademark.
Losing / Glassy Eyes by Kite

Poison Point, “Flowers & Surrender”
Timothée Gainet’s hopping betwixt IV Horsemen and Poison Point (not to mention that incredible Aleister Blake tap y’all are still sleeping on!) as his main projects has kept him hungry, active, and never complacent. An odd mix of the punchy body music we’ve come to expect from Poison Point with an especially saucy and catty delivery, this number from the forthcoming Wandering Echoes might portend a steering into the sharper and more arch side of the early synthpop one’s been able to detect traces of in Poison Point up until this, um, point.
Wandering Echoes by Poison Point

Designer Violence, “Part Deux”
Queer Dutch synthpunks Designer Violence dropped one of the most direct and unapologetically political dark synth records in recent memory in last year’s We Gave Peace A Chance, and are right back at it with their thudding and sample-heavy new single. Like a DIY KFMDM who actually have something to say, Designer Violence are chopping up and reconstituting the detritus of the culture they’ve inherited as a survival mechanism as much as a means of expression.
Part Deux by Designer Violence

Chrome Corps, “DARPA Gets Down”
Chrome Corps is back with a new four track single from a forthcoming LP, and the project has switched their game up. We’ve always been fans of the Seattle-based project’s take on classic euro-EBM, and “DARPA Gets Down” finds them digging deep into the funkiest aspect of that sound, from the trademark FM bass, stuttered vocal samples and got-damned rap breakdown mid-track. And hell, the rest of the songs on the reease feature some new beat, acid and NRG touches that have us excited for the album when it drops.
DARPA Gets Down by Chrome Corps.

Ultra Sunn, “Some Ghost Could Follow”
Another track from Ultra Sunn’s forthcoming Artoffact debut US, and it finds the Belgian act digging into their nation’s storied electronic music history. When the band first came to our attention it was with the new beat remix of their hit “Night is Mine”, and “Some Ghosts Could Follow” has some of the same energy: listen to that stabby, spooky lead and its interplay with the bassline to create a dance groove ready for your foggy dancefloor of choice.
US by ULTRA SUNN

Glass Apple Bonzai, “Mysteries”
Lastly, a decidedly more new wave outing from longtime ID:UD fave Daniel Belasco marks the first taster from his forthcoming Brother Bones LP as Glass Apple Bonzai. Daniel’s ear and talent for stuff of this sort are no secret to anyone who’s talked shop with him in the past, and a slightly less synthpop focused GAB record is an intriguing pitch.
Brother Bones by Glass Apple Bonzai

The post Tracks: February 26th, 2024 appeared first on I Die: You Die.

Combichrist – This Shit Will Fuck you Up
Aesthetic Perfection – Big Bad Wolf
Jace Everett – Bad Things
Manson – Personal Jesus
Die Antwood – I Fink you Freaky
DJ Spaz – Ich kushte ein Madchen
Peaches – Fuck the Pain Away
She Wants Revenge – Tear You Apart
Snake River Conspiracy – Lovesong
Bjork – Army of Me
Repo! The Genetic Opera – Zydrate Anatomy
Aesthetic Perfection – Love Like Lies
NIN – Closer
Dioxyde – Geist
Brvmes – Haute
Wumpscut – Christfuck
Helium Vola – Omnis Mundi Creatura
Black Nail Cabaret – Spheres

The post DJ Surreal – February 25, 2024 appeared first on Vancouver Descent.

impLOG – Holland Tunnel Drive
Gene Loves Jezebel – Influenza
The Jesus and Mary Chain – On The Wall
Shhadows – Under Your Spell (Live Remix) feat. Vienna Vox
Ultra Sunn – Shake Your Demons
Ashes Fallen – We Belong Nowhere (Diaspora Mix)
Fundustrial – Whatever You Say
Kalte Liebe – Vebrauchte Nacht
Covenant – No Mans Land
For All The Emptiness – Sell The Sins
Black Rose Burning – Night Terrors
Cyberaktif – You Don’t Need To See
Electric Callboy – Tekkno Train
Male Tears – Sex on Drugs
Urban Heat – Sanitizer
ESA feat. Caitlin Corlyx – Eat Their Young
Skinny Puppy – The Choke
Depeche Mode – Halo

The post DJ MissBDeath – February 25, 2024 appeared first on Vancouver Descent.

Teased off and on for several years, it’s our commentary podcast on a singular record in both of the Senior Staff’s understandings of electronics, hip-hop, and industrial: Pop Will Eat Itself’s 1989 sophomore LP, This Is the Day…This Is the Hour…This Is This!. Chock a block with samples, yobbish irreverance and pop culture bricolage, it’s a riotous trip through a long-gone day-glo era of nuclear paranoia and appreciation for everyone from Public Enemy to Alan Moore. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, Google Podcasts, download directly, or listen through the widget down below. 

The post We Have A Commentary: Pop Will Eat Itself, “This Is the Day…This Is the Hour…This Is This!” appeared first on I Die: You Die.

French Police
Bully
self-released

Chicago act French Police have their sound nailed down tight on new LP Bully. While superficially comparable to any number of other bands in the current darkwave scene thanks to their programmed drums, bass guitar forward arrangements and chiming guitar lines, the band apply a lo-fi, smokey vibe to their material, obscuring the edges of individual musical elements in the mix, and capping them with vocals that vacillate between disaffected and longing as the song requires.

While that gives the band an identity and sonic calling card, there’s a lack of dynanism inherent in their approach that makes the songs all blend together. The material on Bully has its moments certainly, but there’s also a lack of hooks and readily identifiable moments track to track. Where there’s a very nice combination of bass and quickly strummed guitar on “Quiero Olvidar”, the song doesn’t have a real chorus or gear shift to hang your hat on – it feels like a collection of similar sections placed one after the other. And sadly that’s a description that could apply to almost every song on the record; “Stress Test”, “Espejo”, “Crush” all just whiz by, a blur of tightly wound bass and drums and reverbed guitar, difficult to describe in detail after the fact.

Which isn’t to say that Bully is entirely without merit. There are a lot of smaller moments which show the band have some ideas and different tools at their disposal; see the funky cymbal pattern and kicks which make their way into “Her”, giving the track a bit of disco drama that buoys its icy synths. “Dance to Play” displays some real songcraft in how it deploys a half-time breakdown that gives its more straight-ahead sections more juice when they return by way of contrast.

How much you’re able to enjoy Bully will likely boil down to how much their particular aesthetic appeals to you; if you like this specific combination of foggy textures and meat-and-potatoes rhythm and movement, you may be able to overlook the dearth of catchy songs and moments to sink your teeth into. Otherwise, its a largely passable but unengaging release from a band who clearly know their identity and how to get it across, but need some stronger material to apply it to.

Buy it.

BULLY by French Police

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