Gothic BC

V▲LH▲LL
Skymningsdjur
Artoffact Records

Swedish duo V▲LH▲LL originally emerged as part of a wave of post-witchhouse bands in the early 2010’s, taking the esoteric and atmospheric elements of that genre and crossing it with broader industrial and darkwave sounds. In the years since they’ve distinguished their aesthetic, leaning hard on the Nordic pagan motifs suggested by their name, becoming more graspable and earthy, rooting their ghostly textures into more solid and developed songs. Their latest LP Skymningsdjur finds them revisiting some of their earliest motifs and ideas, and integrating still more new sounds into the mix.

One of V▲LH▲LL’s great strengths has always been in finding the balance between their electronic palette and their occult and fantastical subject matter. A song like “Hunger” shows how canny they are in doing so; violins and paired folky vocals floating in and around chiming synth-bells, flowing pads and fluttering hi-hat programming, sounding both traditional and modern, proximal and ghostly. It’s a vibe they can port through different styles, as with the synthwave adjacent “En Tid Om Ett Tag”, where pulsing bass and a jagged lead cut through the fog of reverb and delays, or the pounding “Calling for Storms”, whose melody and arrangement could port over easily into dark electro.

Still, for the band’s expertise in executing their sound, Skymningsdjur doesn’t have many truly standout cuts. To their credit everything on the record is at a minimum good, and expertly produced and performed, but its hard not to compare these cuts to earlier V▲LH▲LL songs in a similar vein. “Yuki-Onna” revisits the creepy faerie tale feel of songs like “Down in the Woods”, tossing in some tasteful gated guitar-sounds and some modular synth warbles, nicely done but less novel in this iteration. Closer “Devoured” revisits their earliest incarnation, thick with analogue bass and voices both distant and eerily close, lacking only a fresh hook to really put it over the top.

Thus Skymningsdjur falls into the territory of those catalogue albums that bring some new things to the longtable, but nothing that makes it particularly standout against their preceding LPs. It’s a band with a very defined sense of identity doing what they do, and doing it well, and to that end it can be a fine and enjoyable listen. Those seeking more of V▲LH▲LL’s brand of pagan electronics should be well pleased by it.

Buy it.

Skymningsdjur by V▲LH▲LL

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It’s very difficult to know what to say in this post, as we are still reeling from the awful events that transpired in Vancouver this weekend. It’s a tragedy, and comes in a year that has not been short of those, and we are greatly saddened for our friends and neighbours in the Filipino community. Aside from making direct contributions to organizations that are providing aid to the community and those directly affected, we would encourage everyone in the city reading this to donate blood, as there are many injured people still undergoing treatment for serious injuries.

Aurat

Rhys Fulber, “The Abyss (feat. Qual)”
An absolute stormer from Rhys Fulber, who has been exercising his brutalist techno chops for a bunch of recent releases, but heads back towards more song-oriented composition on this collab with William Maybelline. It’s a solid match, as the latter’s solo work has always had a strong current of the kind of electro-industrial that Fulber helped pioneer, with Maybelline’s grave vocal delivery fitting in nicely with the thudding concrete kicks and the 16th note synthlines that wend their way through the song. A great taste of things to come in the hopefully near future.
The Abyss (feat. Qual) by Rhys Fulber

Aurat, “Kismet”
It’s been nearly four years since we had new music from California’s Aurat, but the cacaphonic and haunting post-punk/goth act’s stock has risen drastically in that interim with a slew of well received shows. If we’re to take this new track as a statement of things to come, they’re beginning to work a lot more industrial clatter into their already dense sound, while still keeping Azeka Kamal’s fantastic vocals at the centre.
KISMET by Aurat

House of Harm, “Fight the Feeling”
Bostonian post-punk act House of Harm have always had a knack for sad, dreamy melodies, and for positioning them within rock solid arrangements that display a lot of songwriting saavy. New cut “Fight the Feeling” shows the same maturity and compulsive listenability of their last full record Playground from 2023, and with still more smooth production, especially on the vocals of Michael Rocheford which have really become something special and distinctive. A really nice cut from a band who rarely deliver anything other than really nice cuts.
Can't Fight the Feeling by House of Harm

Invalid User, “Cyber Baiting”
We’ve long been touting the releases of Bogotá’s Pildoras Tapes for the label’s presentation of grimy yet utterly modern body music with a South American focus, offering a valuable aesthetic counterpoint to the near stranglehold on modern dancefloor focused EBM Berlin seemed to be tightening for several years. This track, from their recent comp celebrating five years of work, allows label honcho Jose Marulanda to show off a thudding but pleasantly dense and nuanced club smasher under his longstanding Invalid User handle.
Anatomía del Control I by Invalid User

Empusae, “Invocation (The Fractured Self)”
Boy howdy but Nicolas Van Meirhaeghe of Empusae’s been on a tear. Factoring in the forthcoming The Alchemist’s Rift LP on Arcane Dirge, we’re counting at least six LPs, collabs, and EPs released by Empusae since the beginning of last year, and we’re likely missing a couple of oddities here and there. Thankfully that release schedule hasn’t led to a drop in quality, and the massive, bombastically cinematic take on neo-classical and dark ambient we’ve come to associate with his latter era work is on full display on this sweeping album opener.
The Alchemist's Rift by Empusae

Pain Magazine, “Violent God”
Pain Magazine is a new band from some familiar names; the project is made up of Louisahhh and frequent collaborator Maelstrom, and French hardcore act Birds in a Row. Apparently the principles decided to randomly try to do something together, and then ended up recording a whole-ass record of some pretty gnarly industrialized electro, with some real nice lush guitars, are used much differently than you might be expecting given the harsh nature of the synths and drum programing. “Violent God” also features one of Louisahhh’s most tortured vocal performances to date, a match for the tormented sound of the instrumental for sure. The forthcoming LP is now right at the top of our hotly anticipated releases for 2025.
Violent God by Pain Magazine

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A landmark for minimal, aggressive EBM for decades to come, the debut LP from Swedish legends Pouppée Fabrikk is the subject of this month’s commentary podcast. A deceptively varied listen, Rage infused EBM with a unique punk ethos, and as we discuss here, hinted at the voluminous discography frontman Henrik Nordvargr Björkk was to embark upon. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, download directly, or listen through the widget down below.

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Valisia Odell
Shadow Of A Dream
Detriti Records

Shadow Of A Dream is labelled as Greek singer Valisia Odell’s debut, but by the end of its breezy half hour run-time you could be forgiven for mistaking her for a stylist who’s been working in darkwave for decades. That’s actually half true, as Shadow Of A Dream is effectively a rebooting of the duo Strawberry Pills, who released a handful of singles and one LP in a minimal wave vein a few years back. The name change isn’t just marketing though, as the focus on Odell’s vocals gives the record a dramatic and engrossing throughline.

Odell’s vocal range and performance style has precious in common with, say, Lene Lovich or Rozz Williams, to grab a pair of grand dames of goth out of a hat, but like those veterans’ releases Shadow Of A Dream places Odell’s commanding vocals and personality right at the center, both in composition and production. That place in the limelight is something Odell makes a meal of, practically looming over the listener with swooping trills on “My Sin” and commanding Greek invective on “Makria” with authority.

Beyond the vocals, the core tunes on Shadow Of A Dream strike a nice balance between modern dancefloor cool and a more classic sense of darkwave harmonics. Handled by Aristomenis Theodoropoulos, who in addition to Strawberry Pills has served time in half a dozen post-punk, goth, and folks acts, tunes like “R.I.N.” and “An Arabian Tale” make the most of their stripped down synth instrumentation with less-is-more flourishes and harmonics. The stabby synth funk of “Breaths” recalls the too-briefly-with-us Animal Bodies more than more contemporaneous comparisons to Boy Harsher or Dark Chisme which I can anticipate others making. Late album highlight “The Light Shines Through” builds a fantastic dancefloor slowburn by juxtaposing shimmering bells against a simple kick and Odell’s untreated vocals against processed ones.

We’ve long held that atmosphere, however you’d care to define it, is darkwave’s defining feature. Of course, the means of producing that atmosphere doesn’t have to be limited to constant gauzy synth pads, and the way Odell’s vocals haunt this record are proof positive of that. Alternately vengeful, malevolent, and chiding, she draws deep from the wells of classic gothic drama and theatricality to thrilling effect here. Recommended.

Buy it.

Valisia Odell – Shadow of a Dream by Detriti Records

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We’re getting into the weeds of US industrial this week, discussing a record that captures a very specific early 90s moment, along with some formal experimentation in D.D.T.’s Discomedia, and one which consolidates the strength and range of cyberpunk stalwarts Cyanotic, The Trigger Effect. We’re also looking over the solid lineup and new location for this year’s Subtance Festival.  As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, download directly, or listen through the widget down below.

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Nevada Hardware
Split Scene
Thinkbreak Records

Doug Jones’ Nevada Hardware has a small but mighty catalogue of work. The project’s debut LP No Future from 2018, and the occasional compilation track and remix (including the absolutely storming version of “Rhythm of the System” cooked up for Klack) have shown Jones’ excellent capacity for producing stomping, Big Beat influenced instrumental electronics, with a healthy dose of guitars and some touches of Mortal Kombat style techno. It’s been a long wait for new album, but nothing about Split Scene suggests that time was wasted: at seven tracks and 25 minutes, the record bangs harder and demands to be played louder than any other material Jones has released to date.
 
Nevada Hardware’s secret is in mashing together some proven dancefloor sounds with an ear towards heavy grooves that are both funky and headbang worthy. “The more things change, the more they stay the same” intones the sample that starts the record, and “World Code 666” bears that out with its breaks-driven rhythm, army of sampled and processed guitars and vocal snippets with a build to a big cinematic climax – these are all well-established sounds, but there are few acts are this adept at invoking peak-era Crystal Method, Freestylers and your choice of PS1 era racing game aesthetics into such a potent form. Jones can modulate that for variety as required, melding it with gnarly high-speed techno on “In the Dark” or balls-out synth-driven crossover thrash on “Letters of Sympathy” without ever repeating himself, a feat of smart execution in and of itself. 

For all that clamour, there’s also some pleasing subtle touches that tie individual songs together. “The Suburbs Dream of Violence” is rapid-fire vocal clips and rolling drums on its surface, but the menacing chord progression that sits behind its chorus, and the fuzzed out breakdown are what makes it into a proper song. Similarly, the mid-tempo bounce of “Overload” channels disco’s rhythm guitar and drum interplay, melting it down and moulding it into a cyberpunk dance jam that will play to rivetheads and synthwavers alike. The laidback soul that makes its way into “Fluoride Stare”, and the touches of EBM programming and choral voices that inform the title track are easy to miss in the sturm and drang of it all, but they’re crucial to making the record more than just a collection of bangers. 

Don’t get it wrong though, Split Scene has more than its share of absolute barn-burners, each one distinct enough from the rest to stand on its own. An informal survey of other DJs and reviewers who had the record as a promo before the street date revealed that everyone had selected a different song as their personal favourite, a testament to its overall quality and its depth. Certainly one of the most kinetic records of the first third of the year, and by virtue of its giant-size hooks and stompin’ beats, one of its most fun. Recommended. 

Buy it.

Split Scene by Nevada Hardware

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An Easter weekend which featured a papal death, a John Cena title win, and 4:20 is certainly one for the books. We’re hoping you’re navigating the day to day surreal nightmare that is 2025 as best as can be hoped, dear reader. We’re trying to stay grounded by looking forward not just to the festivals we’ve been discussing on the podcast, but a few high profile upcoming releases by the likes of Bootblacks, General Dynamics, and Lead Into Gold, all of which we’ll be discussing right here, alongside Tracks posts like this one.

Skren

Youth Code, “In Search of Tomorrow”
We’re thankful as fuck that Youth Code are back after a few years absence, and with the release of the second teaser for the forthcoming Yours With Malice, we’re equally thankful that the LA duo are doing something we’ve never heard them do before. There have been YC songs we found personally inspirational, invigorating, and even hopeful, but rarely has the band leaned in on that sound in a melodic fashion as on “In Search of Tomorrow”. And they pull it off without sacrificing the scathing anger and energy that has always been what set them apart from the rest. Hit play below, and see what we’re talking about.

Skren, “Fragment”Do you, dear reader, ever feel nostalgic for X-Fusion, Xotox, [X]-Rx, and a whole mess of other German acts beginning with X from a couple of decades back? Düsseldorf’s Skren certainly do from the sound of their new EP Fragment, and whether you call it aggro, cyber, or Pro Noize you know it when you hear it, and boy howdy do you ever hear it on the title cut. Timed and executed just right, a joint like this is almost strong enough to make one forget how much of a stranglehold stuff of this ilk used to have on clubs.
FRAGMENT by SKREN

Spire Circle, “Burning Alive”
The late 90s moment when a whole wave of goth rock bands began to drift from their pure trad roots and began embracing a range of electronics from the broader worlds of darkwave and industrial is a very, very specific time, but it’s one Manchester’s Spire Circle have honed in on quite nicely with their new single. Balancing a thudding goth nod with just enough shiny synth flash, there’s a great machine-rocking drive here…which might even have a whiff of the likes of Gravity Kills around the corners?
Burning Alive by Spire Circle

Ships in the Night, “Blood Harmony”
We admit to not having checked out recent Metropolis records signee Ships in the Night ’til now, and feel bad for not having done so. The low-key, but still engaging energy of the recent singles from Alethea Leventhal’s solo project hit a really nice sweet spot between classic and modern darkwave, with enough pop sensibility to appeal to witchy goths and casual dark synth fans alike. “Blood Harmony” is especially quite nice, on a 90’s soundtrack kinda tip.
Blood Harmony by Ships In The Night

INVA//ID, “Slug (Wetworks Mix)”
INVA//ID started the new year off with an everything and the kitchen sink industrial rock release, The Agony Index. As we noted upon its release, it was the sort of record which felt crammed to the gills with ideas and sketches, some of which simply didn’t have time to stretch out, so a couple of mixes (plus instrumentals) which stretch “Slug” out from its minute and a half LP incarnation makes a lot of sense. The pensive EBM crawl of this one is a reminder of the menace INVA//ID can hold even when not piling on the guitars.
.Slug. by INVA//ID

MMK, “Ilsandra in Ruin”
A tip of the IDUD ballcap to modebionics, who tipped us off to the video for “Ilsandra in Ruins”, from MMK’s EP of the same name that came out in the fall of last year. We generally don’t go this far back for a Tracks post, but we think you’re likely to enjoy this one; it sits right in the early dark electro pocket, where bands were taking influence from the Vancouver sound, but melding it with continental EBM amongst others. Just a great slowburn of a track, with an excellent video to boot! 

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Death And Horror Inc. live in Toronto circa 1995.

How does community lead to the discovery of new music? How do changes in the circles we run in or means through which we communicate lead to changes in our musical diets? How do modern algorithms interrupt or aid those musical flows? These are questions probably best left to serious sociological researchers, but instead you’ve got us two chuckleheads talking about the subject on this week’s podcast. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, download directly, or listen through the widget down below.

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The Birthday Massacre
Pathways
Metropolis Records

Since their debut in 2002 Canadian rock act The Birthday Massacre have stuck to the promise of their earliest recordings, maintaining their dreamy, popsmart sound across a catalogue that is now some ten albums deep. While the band, still centered around founding trio of Chibi Taylor, Michael Falcore and Michael Rainbow has modulated their sound in various ways over time, they’ve never abandoned their defining aesthetics of dark fantasy.

The question at the heart of The Birthday Massacre’s new LP Pathways is whether a band that has existed for more than a quarter of a century can still conjure the same sense of youthful wonderment and reverie. One the one hand, they sound as slick and neon-glossy as ever, pulling off radio-ready pop-rock cuts like “Wish” characteristic poise. Vintage TBM, its big chorus built up from the hook introduced in the opening moments, and is adorned with tasteful synths and Chibi’s always charismatic vocal presence. That number along with a few other cuts (the charging title track, and the melancholic closer “Cruel Love”) are the kind of easy, fun, and above all catchy songs that band has never lost a knack for.

On the other hand, there’s a sense that the band are casting around for something different to do with themselves, with some puzzling results. “Sleep Tonight” brings back the downtuned riffing of the mid-period records, but it mostly ends up weighing the song’s melody down, its hook lost in a sea of guitar. Elsewhere on “Whisper” Chibi uses a growling delivery in contrast with her normal clarion vocal style, a choice that isn’t out of step with the plodding alt rock of the song, but doesn’t really gel with TBM’s characteristic sparkle and shine. The band have always had one foot in heavier sounds, but most of the record’s harder tracks feel like they would have worked better without the chug.

Pathways is roughly on par with The Birthday Massacre’s contemporary records, and has a few gems that speak to the songwriting and presentation that have always been their strengths. For a band of their vintage to still be able to do that effectively is certainly nothing to scoff at, and longtime fans will no doubt find some new favorites for their playlists and live singalongs.

Buy it.

Pathways by The Birthday Massacre

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Solo Ansamblis
Scenos
Artoffact Records

The broader world of post-punk has undergone massive changes over the past ten years, both in terms of reach and sub-styles. After a lengthy run of North American bands cleaving perhaps too closely to Joy Division and similarly weighty elder gods, the surprising crossover success of Molchat Doma has led to a somewhat lighter but similarly monochromatic wave of acts from former Soviet states holding sway, drawing younger listeners to the style but often delivering a fairly conservative read on it. While Solo Ansamblis do indeed hail from Baltic territory and at times trade in of-the-moment chilly and languid sounds, their willingness to run riot through electronic, funk, and krautrock inspired sounds on new LP Scenos is a welcome reminder of just how colourful post-punk can be.

This is far from the Lithuanian act’s first rodeo. Indeed, our first point of contact with them, 2020’s “Baloje” was an indicator of their interest in robotic funk and their willingness to buck contemporary trends five years into their career. Now ten years in, that free-roaming approach still holds on Scenos, with the morose and minimal opening title track giving way to the more squared off and intrepid stomp of “Oda”. But it’s when the chorus pedal on the guitar of “Švelnūs jausmai” adds a sheen of lithe funk to its motorik beat that the record’s combination of freewheeling surrealism and solid grasp of Neue Deutsche Welle throwback sounds really kicks in.

That ability to pick up on the subtler sides of classic post-punk is something which keeps adding depth and dimension as Scenos unfolds. The funky synth lope that pokes and threads its way through “Meilės Mašina” has far more in common with left-field synth classics like Grauzone’s “Eisbar” than just about anything happening in the field today. On the flip side of that, the detuned and grimy acid synth scribbling of “Tendencija” finds Solo Ansamblis taking a page from much more recent electronics to bring their already solid rhythms to modern nightclubs, albeit with a stutter-step.

By the time the Neu!-indebted “Nuobodu” and its reprise close out the album with a rave-up which feels like Snowy Red going motorik, the sense that Scenos leaves the listener with is one of variety and, well, fun. That last notion is one which might not come to mind very often with post-punk these days, but Solo Ansamblis’ ability to send their rhythmic talents casting out towards so many touchstones from the past and present can’t help but feel like a welcome and infectious change of pace in the current post-punk landscape.

Buy it.

Scenos by Solo Ansamblis

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It’s almost Spring time for real here in Rain City, and with that comes the rush of live music that kicks off our Festival-attending year as Verboden Festival looms large in the near-future. In just a few weeks we’ll be watching (and doing some MC’ing) for a whole swatch of great bands, many of whom we’ve not had the opportunity to see before, or see in our own hometown. As always, if you’re in town and attending, we’d really love to chat with you and maybe share a drink or three, it’s a great social atmosphere and there’s never a shortage of memorable performances to discuss. On to Tracks!

Hallows

Rotersand, “Black Night”
Rotersand covered Deep Purple. Yeah no point buring the lede on that one, and they did quite a job of it. The German act have always had some decent rock energy in their sound, although never quite so explicitly as this; the boogey of the original is maintained here, but done over in their inimitable style, especially benefitting from Rascal raunching up his vocals, and the solo and organ breakdown being replaced by some detuned synthwork and rolling drum programming that feels weirdly natural. Butt rock rarely sounds quite this club-ready.

Creux Lies, “Apocalypto”
After the walloping, baroque strength of sophomore LP Wrong Divine, you can bet we’re very keen to track the next moves by Sacramento post-punks Creux Lies. Stripped down and deeply black-pilled, “Apocalypto” is a far cry from the freestyle brightness of “Frozen”, and instead drives straight into the most doomed corners of post-punk’s origins. There’s enough filigree around the corners of the production to let you know that it’s still Creux Lies, but the gap between these two recent songs suggests that Creux Lies’ next LP will be a varied beast.
Apocalypto by Creux Lies

Hallows, “Despite Those Times”
A nice new one from Los Angeles’ Hallows, working a much more old school version of darkwave than has been popular for a few years now. The metal clanks, stoic vocals, and smooth analogue synthwork (aided and abetted by Matia from Inhalt on the boards) bring to mind the goth-adjacent synthpop of early Propaganda and Anne Clark, that nice sweet spot between dancefloor appeal and mopey moods. We haven’t had an LP from the band in a few years, it’ll be interesting to see whether this and the previously released “Find A Way” are leading up to a full record.
Despite Those Times by HALLOWS

Organist, “Thank God We Die”
Shaped by Justin Hagberg’s well-known fascination with occult and hermetic traditions and his less-known fascination with Alphaville, the fist single from the 3 Inches Of Blood axeman’s new project has a graceful lilt and just the right amount of pomp, as reflected in this lush video (much of the symbolism of which is likely flying over our profane heads). Entirely removed both from 3IB and his more saturnine work in Ritual Dictates, it’s as unexpected of a synthpop slow-burn as you’ll hear this year.

bent, “Liquid Bells”
Remember the days when gloomy, drippy dark electro from Germany held sway over clubs and labels worldwide? Munich’s bent certainly does, and their new single “Liquid Bells” is an excellent homage to that style (think Lam-‘Bras-era Pitchfork rather than Absurd Minds’ tribute to the α Ω period). Replete with the titular sound, it’s a track which nails the harmonic and at times anthemic side of songs of this stripe while still delivering all of the shimmering atmospherics you’d hope for.
Liquid Bells EP by bent

Tham, “Heartcore”
A couple of years ago we discussed how French producer ROÜGE had reverse engineered that techno-body version of aggrotech Anti Hero EP by ROÜGE“>on some of their singles, an interesting development to be sure. The new mini-compilation on ROÜGE features a preview track from techno producer Tham that suggests the same only moreso; to wit this is basically a modern hardcore track, complete with MC’ing, but with some slick cybered up production and a healthy amount of distortion. It’s fun as hell, maybe a touch intense for the average dancefloor, but this should find a home in the crates of those who like it loud, fast and fearless.
Echoes by Tham

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Nyxx
Salt EP
SHVDOW Records
NYC artist Nyxx’s take on the contentious industrial pop sound has proven versatile and mutable, as evidenced by the material on the recent salt EP. Made up of the title track and three collabs, two with the IDM-touched industrial songsmith genCAB and one with queer darkwaver Danny Blu, there’s a surprising amount of variety, while remaining true to Nyxx’s arch musical persona. Where “salt” itself captures a slinky, seething grind that comes complete with bent and chords and distorted growls, “Body Count” goes uptempo with Nyxx and Blu trading off bitchy one liners and a shouted hook behind a solid bit of bouncy electro. Even the genCAB team-ups are distinct from one another in their execution, with “Crown” hitting a mood between seething and melancholy, turning up the drama for its big chorus and tweaky breakdown, “Gun” (probably the project’s best track to date) is a rock solid slice of clubbed up electropop, thick with richly detailed production and tremendously catchy and charismatically delivered vocal hook. Between its variety and its balance of smooth and rough-edged electronics salt packs plenty into its tight 14 minute run-time.
salt – EP by Nyxx

Apocryphos
Ultimum Saeculum
Cryo Chamber
The latest in a slew of releases (solo and collaborative) which Robert Kozletsky has released as Apocryphos over the past decade since the dissolution of Psychomanteum, Ultimum Saeculum is a deep and subtle reminder of the sort of focused control and power Kozletsky holds in his drone-heavy style of dark ambient. Framed by the concept of the last 24 hours on earth, the record uses a host of field recordings and pedals to build warm and tremoring rises and falls. As with preceding Apocryphos work, Ultimum Saeculum is likely best suited for those already initiated into dark ambient, and those who have a taste for the style will be drawn in both by the uncompromising purity of Kozletsky’s take on it, as well as his talents in detailing and executing it, and it’s really in the latter that his latest excels. By the time choral-like harmonics emerge on “1200 (Astrophe)”, the listener’s already so attuned to the subtle textures which thread through the record that the blooming warmth of the piece’s chords shimmers all the more in contrast with the wind recordings in which it’s buffeted. From the undertow-like timbre of his core drones to the light dusting of just enough adornment, Ultimum Saeculum gets the details and the craft of dark ambient right.
Ultimum Saeculum by Apocryphos

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Assemblage 23

We’re offering up one of classic, easy going Pick Five episodes this week folks, as we each look back at some underrated singles. Which tunes came out too early or too late to hit the spotlight? Which hinted at roads less travelled by established bands? And which tickled the fancies of the Senior Staff just because? As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, download directly, or listen through the widget down below.

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Ye Gods
Black Moon
self-released

Antoni Maiovvi’s work as Ye Gods has emerged as a sustained, and perhaps most importantly, deeply considered branch of the UK expat’s expansive discography, which spans techno, italo, and post-punk. While the wit of the name might have initially suggest that Maiovvi was approaching the metaphysical and occult themes of the project with some sense of bemusement, there’s nothing shtick-heavy about Ye Gods five years into its tenure, as even a passing listen of Black Moon, the second in a suite of three LPs, shows. Instead, Maiovvi continues to release work which reflects a tactile, honest, and surprisingly approachable perspective on psychedelic styles and themes which producers have for decades opted to cloak in mystery.

Black Moon picks up closely after the preceding The Arcane & Paranormal Earth, and while careful listeners will detect some subtle changes in the details of these six tracks in comparison (for his part, Maiovvi has said that he was aiming for a less grounded and more dream-like release), the core elevator pitch remains the same. A combination of ambient and post-industrial soundscapes and beats coalesce and fragment, with an emphasis on sustained mood (think Deleuze’s take on durée) rather than noise or fraught drama. Indeed, a relative lack of distortion and abrasion makes Black Moon feel much smoother than Earth, though I’m too much of a secular ignoramus to know if that’s reflected in the differences in specific imagery or hermetic references in the two volumes (and don’t even think of asking me to contrast the two different magic squares on the cover art).

Still, Maiovvi draws and maintains interest via hypnotic repetition throughout Black Moon, and you don’t need to be a Thelemic initiate to understand the repeated “If cleanliness is godliness then dirt is my king” mantra on “Av HaTumah”, perhaps something of an answer to the similarly recurring question “of what substance are you made?” on Earth. These lines of questioning, be they purely philosophical or mystic, of trying to find a baseline for matter, reality, and perhaps most importantly, of experience, rest at the heart of much of the Coil discography Maiovvi is clearly influenced by, and quite frankly it’s refreshing to hear someone take up that aspect of that band’s legacy rather than the elements of pure shock, confrontation, and extremity. That’s matched in the musical direction of Black Moon, which even in its darkest moments, like the looping boiler room groans of “Complete Despair & Disrepair”, opts for a vague sense of the uncanny via pitched sampling of the Louis Malle film from which the record takes its name. Two thirds of the way through this trip the destination may not be visible to those of us along for the ride, but damned if it isn’t a smooth ride.

Buy it.

Black Moon by Ye Gods

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Autodafeh
Greed
Scanner

It’s been a solid decade since we’ve had a new LP from Swedish EBM purveyors Autodafeh, a time period where the neo-old school body music movement they were loosely affiliated with has largely dissipated from the broader dark alternative club consciousness. Known in their heyday for their various allusions to mid-period Front 242 (the most notable of which was the wink-nudge chorus of their single “Divided We Fall”), their 2025 comeback record Greed has many of those same markers, and some of the associated issues that come with their brand of fealty to the greats.

That’s a roundabout way of saying that Autodafeh haven’t changed super significantly during their hiatus. That’s not a bad thing necessarily, as there’s generally a lot less retro-EBM going around than in the early 2010s, allowing these songs to standout more easily. There’s more than a few fine examples of Autodageh plying their trade, such as mid-tempo nodder “Find Myself”, which works a steady groove and peppers in portentous samples of men speaking seriously and calls to prayer, all glued together with a simple FM bassline and a brassy synth lead. “Tame Your Body” goes a similar route, adding in plenty of extra percussion and synthlines that mirror the bassline to allow vocalist Mika’s spot-on DeMeyer-isms to shine.

That said, Autodafeh’s homages to legendary acts and songs have always been one of the things that makes or breaks them with listeners; either you’re cool with them paying tribute to the classics, or you find they veer too far into crass imitation. This was less of an issue a decade and half back when all their peers were competing to take the gold in the Muscle n’ Hate Olympics (indeed, their allegiance to 242 was even a little refreshing in a sea of Nitzer soundalikes), but it sticks out a bit more now than it did then. The bassline to “Shame On You” is half “No Shuffle” and half “Lightning Man”, similar enough to each to raise a few eyebrows, while the halting, slightly pitched delivery of the vocals on single “One Step Forward” brings “The Bog” to mind once you notice their similarities. This can often lead to playing a game of spot-the-reference that distracts from the listening experience, with things like the title track’s interpolation of the hook from The Invincible Limit’s “Push” eclipsing all other aspects of its composition.

This is of course one of those ear-of-the-beholder situations, and one never gets the impression Autodafeh are trying to pull a fast one. Indeed, they’re a band whose best moments have always been in service to the EBM gods, and it can be fun to hear them weave some further afield sounds into their tapestry, such as the minimal electro beep-boops of “Backstabber” and the Juno Reactor-esque 32 bit racing game rush of “Under the Blood Red Sky”. Greed does what Autodafeh has always done, and it’d be weird to expect anything else.

Buy it.

Greed by Autodafeh

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As we’ve been alluding to on the podcast for the past couple of weeks, world events are likely going to result in shows and tours being cancelled (as well as simply not being booked), as well as would-be attendees being incapable of attending live shows, or simply being hesitant of travelling to do so. We mention this by way of telling folks that if there are shows or festivals happening near you, the bands and promoters involved are likely going to be counting on local audiences more than ever. Obviously economic uncertainty in addition to travel security is a factor right now (oh, what a time to be alive), but if you do have the means to do so, consider dishing out a few extra shekels here and there to help out the artists in Our Thing as well as those working to put them on stage. On with this week’s Tracks!

Bootblacks, white coats

Comaduster, “Wavelike”
It’s been ages since we had new music from friend of the site Réal Cardinal and his Comaduster project, but the first seconds of new track “Wavelike” certainly made the wait worth it. If you know the project, you’ll no what to expect; incredibly elaborate sound design with endless amounts of micro-glitches and edits, married to honest-to-god-songwriting and melodies. Interestingly we’re hearing a lot of Cardinal’s interest in the current wave of hyper-comples progressive metal more than ever before. Great stuff, as it always has been and always will be.
BLACK SUN RAYS + WAVELIKE by Comaduster

Rhys Fulber, “Running Out Of Sand”
At the clip that Rhys Fulber’s solo run has been going, a layoff of nearly a full year since his last LP actually seems substantive…which is of course to ignore his heavy touring, remixing, and even photography schedule. Still, this stripped down and direct banger is a great reintroduction to the style Fulber’s been plying so well, its core programming and rhythm feeling both of the moment and calling back to the earliest roots of electronic dance, all augmented with just enough of the subtle atmospherics which Fulber’s imbued his standalone work with.
Running Out Of Sand by Rhys Fulber

Bootblacks, “Only You”
Bootblacks have been priming the pump for the June release of Paradise for a while now, releasing singles like “Forbidden Flame” and “Wilderness” that rank amongst the best songs in the band’s catalogue to date. New taster “Only You” continues that trend, taking the bands synth-tinged post-punk and wedding it to a groovy rhythm courtesy of Chris Vrenna (!!) and some smokey sax from session player Benjamin Harrison, resulting in a genuinely great rave-up that showcases the NYC band’s unique identity in full.
Paradise by Bootblacks

Unter Null, “Coming Up To Breathe”
We couldn’t tell you exactly when we shifted from thinking that Unter Null was simply on hiatus to presuming that Erica Dunham’s long-running industrial project had been permanently retired, but the sudden appearance of this new cut not only undoes those presumptions but has us flashing back to the lay of the land the last time we would have heard from Unter Null. Immediate and flashy with a healthy amount of acidic bite, this is a great reintroduction to one of the stalwarts of a classic club-focused style.
Coming Up To Breathe by UNTER NULL

Give My Remains To Broadway, “Coke – Remix (feat. Casket Cassette)”
Give My Remains To Broadway’s take on darkwave has relied on lean, speedy minimalism and a heavy influence from pop-punk and indie rock of generations past, and so it’s not especially surprising that their new set of remixes of the This Party Sucks EP don’t go for easy four-four club layups. Instead, reworkings like this one with a feature from LA’s likeminded Casket Cassette play things close to the chest, making only minor modulations to the already dialed in and focused original.
This Party Still Sucks by Give My Remains to Broadway

Mari Kattman, “Anemia”
Recent Metropolis Records signee Mari Kattman brings her signature powerful vocals and some mid-tempo dancefloor grooves with new single “Anemia”. If you’ve followed Kattman’s work between her numerous guest appearances, as half of Helix with Tom Shear, and her solo work the control and confidence of her delivery won’t be a surprise, but the single does show some growth in song construction, with a strong instrumental hook and nice tight dancefloor arrangement that compliment the vocal perfectly.
Anemia by Mari Kattman

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alienobserver
Metamorphosis
popnihil
Coming on the heels of a debut single last year, alienobserver’s first EP makes for a charming and considered slice of electro-pop with some airy touches of classic ethereal releases and a hint of modern darkwave. Blending sampled vocals and twinkling synths in the foundations of her tracks, the Orlando-based Meg Campbell uses a light touch to make a real impact on four brief pieces which put her hushed but clear and affecting squarely in the spotlight. Despite having the sort of range and delivery often used to hover in pure atmospherics, there’s tightly crafted songsmithing on Metamorphosis, from the warm summer drizzle of “You Got Me”‘s downward meandering harmonies to the straightforward lilting nod of “Kerosene Autonomy”. Campbell’s wounded delivery on “Heart Beats” recalls lesser known dreampoppers from generations past like Sully and Claire Voyant, while the subtle and classy string stabs in it point to sharp pop instincts of a broader cast. Understated doesn’t have to mean underwritten, and you’ll likely be pleasantly surprised by how addicting and easy to listen to alienobserver’s statement of arrival is.
Metamorphosis by alienobserver

WLDV
Primigenium EP
self-released
Spanish producer WLDV has made a regular habit of releasing short EPs every year or so, usually featuring a specific musical and thematic concept. Primigenium is a bit rougher-edged and more crunchy, as befits its subject matter, namely man’s primal instincts and the defiance of self-imposed order. The record’s two main tracks approach this in different fashion, each a mini-treatise of sorts: “Abomination” is more akin to the cinematic and giallo-horror styled vibe of WLDV’s classic material, with bright leads and spooky pads, but layers extra distortion and saturation to its percussion, the dialogue samples repeated and manipulated until the words start to lose coherence and become unnervingly guttural. In contrast “Nether Void” feels like an entirely new avenue for the project, a percussion driven vocal track that recalls Dive and early Synapscape, a slow-rolling distorted rhythm guiding its processed vocal down empty corridors, awash with metallic reverberation. Bookended by two complimentary short pieces that presage and summarize the use of space and harsh sonics, it’s as complete a statement as WLDV has made in the format.
WLDV – Primigenium EP by WLDV

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Iszoloscope in Ottawa

We’re going hard in the powernoise paint this week, as we look back on records from very different periods in the history of the subgenre, Tarmvred’s Subfusc and Iszoloscope’s The Edge Of Certainty. There’s a lot of lateral discussion about the genre on the whole, in addition to consideration of what stands out about these records so many years on from their release. We’re also breaking down the recently announced line-up for the thirteenth instalment of the Cold Waves Fest. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, download directly, or listen through the widget down below.

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Korine
A Flame in the Dark
Born Losers Records

Korine occupy an interesting corner of the broader synthpop/new wave revival movement; the Philadelphia based duo of Morgy Ramone and Trey Frey have successfully invoked both wistful melancholia and youthful hope in their songs, pulling in elements from darkwave and pop-punk for flavour. Their latest, A Flame in the Dark, is an interesting quantity in their catalogue, not peaking as high as previous records, but showing stronger songcraft overall across the album.

The issue with the two proceeding LPS from the band (The Night We Raise and Tear) was that their best songs made the surrounding cuts less memorable. Damnably catchy, instantly memorable cuts like “Burn the World”, or “Fate, or “Train to Harlem” made it hard to give the rest of their material a fair shake. A Flame in the Dark might lack earworms of the calibre of those cuts, but the floor for songwriting and performance has come up considerably.

A cut like “Blue Star” is a perfect case in point, balancing post-punk bass and bright synthwork with a nuanced vocal from Morgy, hitting the mark between hopeful keening and mopeyness with aplomb. Arrangements remain straightforward, but are cannily tuned in service to songs with breakdowns and transitions creating more movement and dynamics than ever before; note the variation in the vocal line on the first and second verses of “Twist the Knife” that reflect the punchiness of the chorus, and how “The Line” confidently stays at a slower tempo to really let it big feelings come across.

Better songcraft might seem like a poor trade for the mega-hooks that built Korine’s following, but it ultimately benefits the listening experience a great deal. In isolation a single like “Anhedonia” is a solid cut, but in the context of the variety and shape of the record its speedy rhythm programming and sing-songy melody elevate the surrounding cuts, creating more movement, more contrast and a more complete album experience. If (like this reviewer) you had Korine pegged as a singles band with okay albums, then A Flame in the Dark might require you to recalibrate your listening – those that do will find charms aplenty to enjoy.

Buy it.

A Flame In The Dark by Korine

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Minuit Machine
Queendom
Synth Religion

It would be tempting to consider the sleek club stylings of the new record by longstanding French darkwave project Minuit Machine in relation to changes in the project’s personnel. With Hélène De Thoury, the long-term writer and producer of the project having retired from music due to the tragic side-effects of COVID, Minuit Machine is now the solo project of vocalist Amandine Stioui. And while there’s plenty in Queendom which could go on to distinguish this era of the band, the changes it makes are often subtle ones.

Given how directly club-focused the pre-release singles which begin the record are, it might be easy to forget how 24, the last LP to be helmed by De Thoury, held similar priorities. But if 24‘s rhythmic focus felt like a bootstrapping of the icy spaciousness of the band’s roots, using massive, echoing kicks as radar-like probes of Minuit Machine’s hazy atmospheres, Queendom feels much more nimble and insulated, with its arpeggiated programming sitting square in the listener’s face rather than on some distant horizon. Whether in the freestyle halftime of “Denied” or the moody bass which paves the way for slowly unfurling synth peals on opener “Hold Me”, Stioui’s found ways of keeping even the most insistent of beats approachable and almost cozy.

Queendom thus isn’t a total break from Minuit Machine’s existing style, but for every moment which hearkens back to the past, there’s another which takes a quiet detour down a lesser trod path. The icy, stabby leads of “Cent Fois” call back to the stormy midnight raves of Violent Rains‘ club bids, though Stioui’s laid back and disarming vocal approach (also appearing on third single “Party People”) brings the drama somewhat to heel. That more off-the-cuff delivery is carried through on the melancholy “Mes souviens”, the with its reflective and understated vocal standing in stark contrast to the pensive slowburn of the title track, which still feels of a piece with the shimmering darkwave monoliths which cemented the band’s rep a decade back.

Between De Thoury’s departure, Stioui stepping up to the plate as a composer, and the presence of collaborators like Lloyd Philippon (RAUMM), there are a slew of factors which could have either botched Queendom‘s equanimity, or at least pushed it beyond fans’ hopes and expectations for a new Minuit Machine record. That it finds some ways of tastefully changing up the project’s delivery while still keeping one foot in the elements which made it so enthralling initially is a victory in itself.

Buy it.

QUEENDOM by Minuit Machine

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