INVA//ID, “The Agony Index”

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INVA//ID - The Agony Index

INVA//ID
The Agony Index
self-released

The on-again, off-again path LA’s INVA//ID’s taken since starting up some seven years ago has both built a sense of intrigue around Christopher Rivera & co.’s hardcore inflected approach to classic industrial rock and metal and something of a sense of frustration. The band will drop a release with no warning and then vanish for months on end, and that’s not to mention the task of navigating the reworking, repositioning, and at times flat out deleting of previous releases. To their credit, new LP The Agony Index was announced more than a year ago and has been scaffolded with an archival release, plus a pair of standalone singles over 2024, including a cracking version of Wax Trax deep cut “Show Me Your Spine”, which was a regular presence in our DJ sets. Seeing release on New Year’s Day, The Agony Index is an unrelenting, everything and the kitchen sink release which, while at times unwieldy, underscores why so many in the North American industrial world have had INVA//ID’s name circled for several years.

If INVA//ID’s rep for hardcore-tinged industrial suggests either Youth Code or the one-off EP from supergroup Error to newcomers, they won’t be entirely shocked by the downtempo industrial dub and skittering rush of the pair of sub-two minute tracks which open the record, but there’s plenty more in store. Few acts today are as good at refreshing sounds most will associate with classic Wax Trax releases, and the way that “Torn” piles up a stack of grimy basslines and programming should be catnip to fans of 90s industrial rock in general. A tune like “Auto Erotic Transmission” finds a nice balance between those elements and hardcore, linking Rivera’s anthemic bile to a nodding, Psalm 69 era Ministry groove.

Spend enough time with The Agony Index and the more organic and original qualities of INVA//ID come through. “Empty” ranks among the best and most ambitious pieces INVA//ID’s yet produced; building its groove bit by bit out of soupy drones, there’s been enough bleepy and stuttering programming and well paced kicks added by the time its plainly delivered chorus hits that it stands out as the rare electro-industrial slowburn of a quality only a handful of current acts could craft. On the flip side, late album highlight “G.F.M.” points to a whole other strength: doling out pure and simple industrial thrash for its own sake, no muss, no fuss.

If The Agony Index has a failing it’s in its editing, or lack thereof. It’s not that a handful of the tunes which abutt highlights like the above tracks are decidedly weaker than them, it’s that in the context of a 65 minute, 17 track monster of a release like this it’s often difficult for the moods or subtler distinctions in those tracks to stand out. On the one hand, that’s good value for money and one can understand the band wanting to deliver something of real significance after a lengthy (by their standards) gestation period. On the other, it can somewhat occlude the tight and fierce immediacy which is one of the band’s calling cards. In any case, unwieldy or not, The Agony Index offers all manner of payoff for those who’ve been holding out for its release, and a solid introduction for those just catching wind of INVA//ID.

Buy it.

The Agony Index by INVA//ID

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Soft Vein, “Through Blinds”

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Soft Vein
Through Blinds
Artoffact Records

The 2023 debut album from Soft Vein was an exercise in miserablism; it had solid songwriting and thoughtful production, but the universally bleak and depressive tone of the affair is what sticks out when recalling Justin Chamberlain’s darkwave debut. New record Through Blinds tweaks the project’s approach towards a more melancholic direction, no less downcast, but avoiding the pitfall of having mood and atmosphere completely overshadow its charms.

Like the debut, Through Blinds weds bleak monochrome textures and mournful vocals to solid rhythm programming and swatches of synth and guitar, with things kept cool and tempered even at higher tempos. Where it largely differs is in how effectively it those elements are kept in balance, with some of the brighter sounds shining a light through its shadowy temperament. Tracks like “Gray Space” let synth bass and drum programming act as a proper foundation, never succumbing to the swells of discordant pads, with brighter leads accenting and adding melodic dimension to the proceedings. Similarly, the arp that runs through “Oblivion” has a warmth to it that acts as a pulsing heartbeat, allowing Chamberlain to underplay his vocals, the song kept minimal in arrangement but intriguingly emotional.

Those traces of light certainly don’t cause the album to approach anything like happiness however; make no mistake this is still a gloomy affair. Even in its most propulsive moments like “Wasting Days” and “Black Bag” keep minor key sadness in focus, anchoring their gated snares and thrumming bass with longing and wistful vocals and cloudy pads. The tension between how tempo-forward the programming is and how generally dejected Chamberlain sounds is a pocket of sorts – when the album dips into more ambiguous rhythmic territory as on closer “Dreaming”, the effect is more striking simply for how infrequently Soft Vein succumb entirely to despair.

With those glimpses of hope that come out through the heartsick fog shining ever brighter for avoiding being snuffed out, Through Blinds becomes almost hopeful in temperament. It’s overcast and often doleful, but allows for the suggestion that better days might still be on the horizon. It could be the fraught moment in time, but that’s a comforting thing for a darkwave record to being in these early days of 2025.

Buy it.

THROUGH BLINDS by SOFT VEIN

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Tracks: January 13th, 2025

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Well hey everyone, we’re already halfway through January this week, which might not seem like much, but given that this is usually a slower time of year for releases, it means we’re rapidly burning through our annual catchup time as we digest that list lingering bits of 2024. Things have started strong in Our Thing with a few choice releases (many of which have been or will be written about here shortly) and album announcements, and as always we’re keen to see what direction the year takes us, and what acts familiar and new will grab our attention. As always if there’s something we’re sleeping on, let us know in the comments below. Tracks ahoy!

Ash Code

Laibach, “I Want to Know What Love Is”
Slovenian industrial OGs Laibach have been a lot of things over the years, but their most memorable schtick has always been the recontextualization of pop and rock songs in their own, gravelly voiced style. In recent years, and thanks in no small part to now longtime collaborators Silence, they’ve gotten very good at making their chosen covers lush and lovely, as is the case with this version of Foreigner’s dad-rock (Dadbach if you will) staple “I Want to Know What Love Is”. One of the Senior Staff’s partners noted some Leonard Cohen-isms in the arrangement and performance, and damn if they weren’t spot on. Lighters up y’all.
I Want To Know What Love Is by Laibach

Kite feat. Nina Persson, “Heartless Places”
Tear-jerking Swedish synthpop faves Kite have been on a productive kick lately; the release of singles EP VII last year on Dais Records and a US tour would have been plenty for low-output-high-quality duo, but all of a sudden we’ve got a brand new single featuring Cardigans vocalist Nina Persson. With the last batch of Kite originals having been more on the low-key heartbreaking vibe, it’s nice to hear something a bit more propulsive if no less evocative. Hopefully it’s not long before their next missive, we like having ’em around.
Heartless Places (feat. Nina Persson) by Kite

Ash Code, “Living For The Sound”
As we head into 2025 with no sign of the ongoing omnipresence of darkwave ebbing, it’s nice to have a strong entry like this from now-veterans Ash Code. They’ve had a great balance of dark guitars and synths on lock from day one, and have been levelling up their songwriting while maintaining fantastic atmospheres, and this cut is no exception. Whether or not this cut which exemplifies those qualities will literally point to the trio’s first LP in a decade or not, we’re happy to be reminded of the band’s enduring power.
Living For The Sound by Ash Code

Obscure Formats, “Basilisk”
The reactivation of Component Records is welcome to those of us who remember the label’s pioneering work in codifying technoid as an intersection of IDM and post-industrial music some twenty years back. But in its new incarnation the label hasn’t stayed pat, and releases like this one from Snowbeasts side project Obscure Formats shows the payoff of the veteran curatorial instincts Rob Galbraith brings to the label and Galbraith’s own productions like this one. Part classic EBM, part current techno, part millennial French electro, there’s a lot of resonance woven into this dead simple, acidic banger.
Cryptid by Obscure Formats

Korine, “Anhedonia”
Just last week on the podcast we were discussing the forthcoming Korine album A Flame in the Dark and wondering what direction it would take the Philadelphia indie-post-punk-synthpop band. If “Anhedonia” is anything to go by, turns out it’s the same bright, hooky pop they’ve been doing for a while, but with some added electronics and lots of shimmery, dreamy production for flavour. Korine have written some of the most damnably catchy songs of the last couple years between their two previous LPs, we’d put money on this new one continuing that trends.
A Flame In The Dark by Korine

Sleep Forever, “Shine A Light”
Speaking of bright pop, we know from previous releases that Markus Weber likes to use his Sleep Forever solo project as an opportunity to dig into bouncy and colourful synthpop which would be out of step with his usual business as part of austere and at times quite harsh darkwave outfit Veil Of Light, and the first taster from the second Sleep Forever full-length only underscores that. Coming across like an early 90s OMD single if Andy and Paul had spent a bit more time in Ibiza rather than Merseyside, “Shine A Light” bodes well for Alter Ego.
Alter Ego by Sleep Forever

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Observer: Osccurate & Give My Remains To Broadway

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Osccurate
Computer Decay
Synthicide
The three original tracks and two remixes offered by Colombian artist Osccurate on recent EP Computer Decay are varied in style and approach, reflecting the wide variety of body music approaches the project has tried on thus far. Most notably unique in this regard is opener “The Witch and the Moon”, which finds room for spidery Flamenco-adjacent guitar melodies between it’s thudding mid-tempo EBM rhythm and swooping filter sweeps, the incongruity between organic and electronic sounds creating a tangible feeling of tension. While the title track (produced in collaboration with Bogotá-based artist Galope Messier) includes only a few fluorishes of six string atmosphere, the sound itself is notable for taking an italo-disco riff and bluting it into a far more sinister form, still bright, but foreboding in the context of the rolling bassline and processed vocals. “Ñalazos” is the most straightforward and driving track on offer, recalling sort of millennial post-electronica sounds of Juno Reactor and Empirion, with a tasty touch of squelchy acid for flavour. Any of those distinct approaches could yield a new pathway for Osccurate, although if the story of the project thus far is any indication, the next release may be just as varied in wholly new ways.
Computer Decay by Osccurate

Give My Remains To Broadway
Give My Remains To Broadway
This Party Sucksself-released
Toronto ne’er-do-wells Give My Remains To Broadway are back on their speedy (in both senses of the word) darkwave kick with new EP This Party Sucks, but as the title points to, their focus has shifted somewhat from the phantasmagoria of early releases like Beyond the Gates of Xouztoth towards more quotidian stressors: bad coke, worse relationships, regret. Croaky vocals point to the band having recorded these six tunes immediately in the aftermath of the titular shindig (“It’s not a pre-game, it’s a pre-World Cup”), but as with their extant material, surprisingly lush atmospheres and solid darkwave harmonies are packed into every corner of tight compositions like “I Know You Could”. At the band’s most approachable, the punkier side of their sound pushes through gloomy excess, with weary tales of being strung out and run down (“Crash Out”) sitting halfway between Terminal Gods and Crocodiles. They’ve shown themselves to be more than capable of juggling the signifiers of recent darkwave, but here they’re beginning to point to a more general approach to dark rock which could find them tapping into new audiences.
This Party Sucks by Give My Remains to Broadway

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We Have A Technical 540: Dadbach

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Choke Chain

We’re jumping into the new year with a podcast previewing forthcoming releases we expect to come in 2025 from a slew of our favourite artists: Encephalon, Spark!, Devours, and more. We’re also talking about the passing of Chemlab’s Dylan Thomas More, news regarding Ghost Twin and Kindest Cuts, and this year’s iteration of Cold Waves. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, download directly, or listen through the widget down below.

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Harsh Symmetry, “On-Screen Death”

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Harsh Symmetry
Harsh Symmetry
self-released

Los Angeles darkwave musician Julian Sharwarko’s Harsh Symmetry has always struck a fine balance between the use of electronics and guitars, with an emphasis on songwriting that dictates the form of any individual track. New album On-Screen Death continues in that vein, featuring both some of the project’s most synth-driven numbers to date, and injecting some unexpected but not unwelcome new dynamics into the band’s moody, overcast sound.

Part of the appeal of Harsh Symmetry has always been how deliberate everything feels; Shawarko’s songs feel very crafted in terms of structure and performance, with programming, guitars and the musician’s own tenor vocals all arranged in tasteful balance with one another. The downside is that can lead to songs feeling a little too mannered, always well executed but sometimes lacking in liveliness. Hence why a cut like the excellent “Quiet Pill” feels like such a nice change of pace; the lovely vocals melodies and bright chiming sounds that are the band’s bread and butter are here, but the outright funky bassline that drives the song injects just the right amount of bounce and groove to make it feel like something entirely new. Similarly, the pre-release single “Fossil Brain” throws some extra syncopation onto the drums, while Shawarko plays his rhythm guitar parts a bit more loosely to create a pocket with the squeaky synth lead.

Even more outlandish for the project is “Virtual Killer”, one of the most purely electronic cuts that Harsh Symmetry has ever released. Heavily leaning on its 16th note bassline and drum machine, it’s rhythm driven in a way that feels distinct in that its closer to the popular electro darkwave club sound. It’s a simple track by Shawarko’s standards, but shows a capacity to do something more thumping, with the record’s closing cut “Black Box (Lost)” taking it further with its grave vocals and scratchy guitar, abandoning ennui for some subtle menace.

At a tight six tracks, On-Screen Death feels almost like a testing ground of sorts, a place for Harsh Symmetry to try out some new ideas and approaches without needing to compromise the structure of a longer LP with too many stylistic change-ups. While it may not be as substantial in terms of pure songcraft as preceding LPs, the novelty of each song gives it plenty for fans to chew on, and a healthy dose of replayability to boot.

Buy it.

On-Screen Death by Harsh Symmetry

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Kreign, “III”

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Kreign - III

Kreign
III
Scanner

When we were pointed to the debut LP by Kreign a few years back (by no less an EBM luminary than Nordvargr) we were quickly impressed by the mix of polish and fury the Phoenix duo already had locked down. Tracks like “5 Layers Of Chaos” and “In That Frame Of Mind” spoke to a keen sense of EBM structures and history running back decades, but with a zip and pep that spoke to both contemporary European body music as well as American industrial club trends of the past decade or so. The band’s second LP, the confusingly titled III, hones in slightly more on the second half of that equation while still staying Kreign’s core course.

Those just joining the party should be taken by opener “Black Bile Emesis”, whose punchy swing and well-sculpted stabbing rhythms bely a fairly stripped down construction. As III unfolds, the anthemic anhalt stomp of much of the debut cedes the spotlight on III to the speedier, more frenetic flurries of “Iniquity” and “Collapse Imminent”. Depending on one’s listening habits these could be linked either to recent left-field EBM from Sweden and Germany, or perhaps a period from decades past when a tighter pool of labels and producers linked European and North American club tracks around slickly produced and immediate EBM programming. Hell, there could be a whiff of the rubbery and burping sampling of the likes of Visitor and Multiple Man on “Dark Triad” if one squints hard enough.

If it’s easy to mistake some of Kreign’s sound as continental, their vocals and thematics feel squarely American, alternating between tight, processed shrieks and droll crooning. The on-the-nose lyrics of “Work Your Body” (“Some like to build muscle mass / Some like to work on cardio-vasc”) bring the japery of Diesel Dudes to mind, but the tune itself is driven by a crawling funk you don’t hear too much in EBM on either side of the Atlantic, save for in tunes like “Disco King” from Kreign’s previous record. The nautical disaster theme of “S.O.S.” is similarly refreshing and direct, with deep sea klaxons accompanying lyrics about struggling to keep your head above the water.

A couple of III‘s tracks run a tad long (somewhat surprising for a record with such a high average BPM), but there’s very little fat on the record in length or overproduction, the latter being especially impressive given the real polish given to every piece of programming in Kreign’s arsenal. Sticking to that sense of curation and editing while still getting the manic energy the band clearly love about EBM is no small feat, and makes III a fresh and entertaining continuation of Kreign’s already solid modus operandi.

Buy it.

III by Kreign

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Tracks: January 6th, 2025

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Back at it after the break and in the New Year! We hope your festivities were enjoyable, whatever they were; ours were both low-key and family focused. The holidays’ rep as a slow news period held up in terms of tour/festival/general scene news so with not a huge amount of news to report off the top we’re setting ourselves on catching up with a few late year releases we might have missed, plus the smattering of stuff which saw release over the break, starting with the first Tracks post of 2025!

You can run, but you can’t. (HIDE)

Devours, “Sports Car Era”
Our favourite Vancouver synthpop gaylien Devours returns in a new form as he enters the titular Sports Car Era. As promised we’re hearing some darker and more discordant sounds and ideas in this taster from the upcoming album, and if like us you live in Vancouver, the opening line “I don’t want to go through life at a distance/Squeezed out of the city and priced out of existence” should hit you where it hurts. But then that’s the whole thing with Devours; outrageous sincerity and deep and occasionally excoriating self-examination. Every record is a gift, and we are hotly anticipating this one.
Sports Car Era by Devours

INVA//ID, “G.F.M”
New music from LA’s INVA//ID is always cause for excitement, and after Chris Rivera & co whetted our appetite with a fantastic cover of PTP’s “Show Me Your Spine” in 2024, we’re keen to dig into new full length The Agony Index. Tunes like this show off the uncanny knack the band’s always had for linking their roots in hardcore with seriously deep appreciation for vintage 80s and early 90s industrial rock, and with all the ferocity you’d want in such a combination.
The Agony Index by INVA//ID

HIDE, “I Lick the Blade Clean”
Chicago noisy industrialists HIDE keep getting more intense and difficult with each passing release. “I Lick the Blade Clean” is the second song we’ve heard from them in recent memory (the other being the just released “Suffer”) that highlights how much of the trappings of their sound has been pared down until what remains is noise, clatter, and deeply uncomfortable but necessary lyrics. If you’re missing noisy, unpleasant industrial, welp, here you go.
I LICK THE BLADE CLEAN by HIDE

Black.n, “Ignocracia”
Pildoras Tapes slowing its roll for most of 2024 was unfortunate, as they’ve earned a rep as one of the best curated sources for modern, grimy body music in Central and Sourthern America. Thankfully, they just offered something new up in the form of a solid tape from Argentinian producer Black.n. Tunes like this one do a great time of hearkening back to earlier moments in history when EBM and techno crossed over a la Fixmer/McCarthy.
No Nos Representan by Black.n

Menthüll, “Automode”
If you listened to our podcast flagging tracks from the past year you’ll know how closely we’ve been tracking Quebec duo Menthüll over the past years, and their run of winsome, whimsical singles continues apace. New cut “Automode” draws a line between modern, snappy electropop and classic synthpop, with a heavy dusting of the dreamy, continental coldwave style which first drew them into our orbit.
AUTOMODE by Menthüll

Cardinal Noire, “Just One Fix”
Finally, a little digestif from our favourite Finnish post-industrial loyalists Cardinal Noire, in the form of a double covers single featuring their version of Skinny Puppy’s “Inquisition” and Ministry’s “Just One Fix”. We enjoyed the December LP Vitriol from the duo, so having a nice follow-up in the form of two familiar, but rejigged numbers in their style is nothing but gold as far as we’re concerned. Due to licensing you can’t buy the Puppy cover on Bandcamp, but the Ministry joint is available for your listening and streaming pleasure right now.
Just One Fix / Inquisition by Cardinal Noire

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