Observer: At the Heart of the World & Zirkular Dion

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At the Heart of the World
Quaquaversal
self-released
Portland electro-industrialists At The Heart of the World have a short but potent discography; we were so taken with grit and vigor of their 2022 releases Inosculate and Paroxysm (handily compiled on the All Torments Are Just LP) that they immediately became a watchlist band. The long wait for a follow-up is finally over with the release of 3-track EP Quaquaversal, which takes the classic drippy, horror-infused post-industrial template and runs hard with it into still meaner territory. Opener “Not Worth Having” is all crashing drum hits and mixed clean and distorted vocals, but the track’s real impact lies in the way its wormy lead snakes its way through its cascade of percussion and waves of distorted reverb, eventually melting down in its final moments. “Lick the Face of God” is ambitious in its chaotic arrangement, forgoing any symmetry in how its various sections and breakdowns fit together, eventually fusing them into one final burst of mechanical ire, venting smoke and bile before falling apart. Their most ambitious moment comes on “Heaven is No More”, which starts with a slow-rolling melodic section, accented with distorted breaks before transforming into a swaying, rolling lurch whose intensity threatens to burn itself out launching one final volley. For their dedication to wrath and ruin, At the Heart of the World keep building upwards, even as it all falls apart around them.
Quaquaversal by At The Heart Of The World

Zirkular Dion - Hole
Zirkular Dion
Hole
self-released
With a number of releases on the celebrated (and on hiatus?) Detriti label, Ukrainian act Zirkular Dion has certainly passed over the desks of in the know tastemakers in the past, but new EP Hole also makes for a perfectly suitable jumping on point for those just catching up. The analog style of EBM plied by Zirkular Dion is as muscular as ever on these six tracks, without losing the lo-fi grit that’s defined it from the beginning. Even working with the somewhat limited and limiting toolkit of stripped-down DAF worship, with minor chord changes and twiddling of phase and filter being the only structural ‘progression’ within these numbers, there’s just enough variety on tape here to keep Hole from wearing out its welcome. The pinchy, almost snooty upturn on the programming of “Дыра” and the more anhalt trudge of “Жестокость” clearly spring from the same ur-source but with different expressions and moods. It’s not the most complex or dynamic fare, to be certain, but that’s kind of the appeal. If you’re the sort of listener with a craving for throwback EBM and find even the monochrome delivery thereof from the likes of Jager 90 to be a bit too showy, Zirkular Dion have the sort of disciplined workout you’re looking for.
Hole by Zirkular Dion

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We Have A Technical 550: The Veal

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Orgy

Orgy. We’d say you had to be there, but…you really didn’t.

It’s our sesexacentennial anniversary here at We Have A Technical, and no, that’s not a mispronunciation of some oddly named aggrotech album, but cod-Latin for our 550th episode. We like to do something special every fifty episodes, and this is no different, with the Senior Staff casting their eyes and ears back to some club hits which didn’t exactly curry favour with them upon release, and reappraising them. Has the music changed, or have we? We’re also giving some immediate reactions to the newly rerecorded “Every Day Is Halloween” (just be thankful we’re not really on Youtube with soyjak reaction faces). As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, download directly, or listen through the widget down below.

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Another Cold Summer, “Everything is Gone Now”

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Another Cold Summer
Everything is Gone Now
self-released

Existing in parallel to the last several decades of melodic post-punk, there’s been a gritty, industrialized strain of the genre that feels more descended from the ugliness of Big Black than it does the pop-friendly sounds of New Order or the like. While never quite as popular a stylistic offshoot, records by The Soft Moon, Odonis Odonis and their ilk have found a lot of power in the dark, mechanized version of the sound, and it’s that tradition that France’s Another Cold Summer inhabits on the compellingly unpleasant Everything Is Gone Now.

The sound ANC plies is rough and ready by nature; as noted on the Bandcamp liners, the record was recorded with a guitar, a few cheap synths, a $5 mic and a lot of valium, and was birthed in the 18 month wake of a stay at a psychiatric institution. That DIY approach and fraught personal circumstance don’t just inform the record but add to it. The desperate and distorted vocals that show up on “Sewer Princess” have an energy that unsettles, running alongside the simple synth lead and bassline, making their hypnotic progress a manic gallop to an uncertain finish. Elsewhere, the dirgey “Ice Grave Revisited” makes the most of tinny reverb and crushed sound design, all the more unnerving for not just a lack of polish, but its outright contempt for the very notion.

Of course wretchedness for its own sake doesn’t make for much of a listen – thankfully Another Cold Summer has some compelling instrumental grooves underneath those layers of grime. “Desecrate” is a hellish death-drive disco number, whose queasy guitar tone stands in contrast to its rock-solid mechanical rhythm. Elsewhere, the thrumming synthesizers that bounce along the kick-snare drums of “Worry” give the song an elastic quality that only serves to ratchet up the tension and acidic cynicism of its samples.

For all the harshness and disagreeability, there’s something deeply compelling about the album, a sense of genuine honesty that informs it, from the lurching desperation of “Fed Stalking” to the disintegrating trudge that closes it out on “Gangrenous Watchtowers”. Far from being a turn-off, the woefulness becomes something of an emotional base to experience (one hesitates to say “enjoy”) the album from, a vantage into dark and disturbing territory. Simply put, is no walk in the park, unless the park in question is adjacent to a waste treatment plant and inhabited by feral wildlife.

Buy it.

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Alphaxone, “Final Encounter”

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Alphaxone - Final Encounter

Alphaxone
Final Encounter
Cryo Chamber

Our regular tracking of Iranian dark ambient project Alphaxone over the past decade has almost been as much a product of the consistency of Mehdi Saleh’s work as its quality. In cuing up a new Alphaxone record you know you’re getting deep space drones with a focus on the glacially slow shifting of astral bodies and cosmic forces. Certainly not the most active stuff, but given Saleh’s skills in sound design, incredibly enjoyable to slip down into and lose yourself within. While some moments on the latest solo LP (after a slew of collaborations with other members of the Cryo Chamber roster) hold to that pure, deep drone which has defined much of the Alphaxone catalog, there are some subtle but somewhat surprising changes in mood and execution which run counter to the characteristically cosmic presentation of Final Encounter.

Pay close attention, and you’ll find that this is one of the most cinematic Alphaxone LPs, but not in the way that term is commonly used to describe vast, bombastic soundscapes. Instead, the focus and immanence some light patinas of percussion lend to the muted pads of “Cyberstate” suggest a much smaller scale and psychological fare. Think night-time drives through rain slicked cities or uncovering incriminating documents in corporate archives during a ’90s neo-noir, rather than the sci-fi epics much of Alphaxone’s work (and certainly the art and titles of Final Encounter) connotes.

The minimalism of “Underverse” has a similarly intimate and proximal feel, with its slight tubular quavers offsetting drones and setting the table for the slow chordal shifts of pads and some surprisingly organic and drippy sampling. That these minor adjustments can be seen to flip Alphaxone’s focus from the external and impersonal to the deeply internal and subjective could just be happenstance (again, the presentation of the record is not in line with this reading), or possibly the result of the sort of minimalist ambience Saleh and his peers have been holding to for so long beginning to make its presence felt more strongly in the past decade of film scoring.

Final Encounter in no way marks as drastic a change for Alphaxone; in the broadest sense its musical palette is perfectly in harmony with Saleh’s substantive discography. But in a genre as focused on the vagaries of mood and intimation as dark ambient, minor changes have big effects. Despite its stated focus on the external vast grandeur of space, Final Encounter feels as intimate and personal as anything we’ve heard from Alphaxone.

Buy it.

Final Encounter by Alphaxone

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Tracks: March 17th, 2025

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Beware the ides of March is some good advice, if you can actually remember when they are and don’t completely forget the celebrate them with a massive betrayal. I swear to god, I’ll remember to put the 15th on my calendar next year. Anyway, it’s now more than halfway through March, and weirdly despite Bandcamp Friday being at the beginning of March, this past week was a very very heavy one for new songs from acts we follow, with barely any effort required to round ’em up for this weekly post. Hope you’ll enjoy this batch as much as we have, and hey, why not leave a comment while you’re at it, we’re hoping to foster some more engagement here on the site proper what with Social Media’s slow and frankly kind of relieving death. Listen below!

Hey Riki, etc

Riki, “Pulser”
It’s been a long time since we got new music from Los Angeles synthpop chanteuse Riki; the 2020/2021 1-2 punch of her self-titled album (a certified classic in our opinions) and it’s follow-up Gold made us big fans, and despite having had the opportunity to see her perform in the intervening time, there’s been nothing new musically to chew on. Hence our surprise and excitement with the release of Pulser, a two track single that shows off the same alluring approach to synth music that drew to us to her in the first place. That said there’s a new edge to these tracks (co-produced by Dead on TV’s Dan Evans), a sort of art-pop vibe that is both vaguely menacing and intriguing. More soon please.
Pulser by Riki

Lead Into Gold, “Knife The Ally”
While reputedly involved in what is rumoured to be the last (hah!) Ministry record, Paul Barker’s not putting all his eggs in one basket for the time being and is holding strong to the great run that Lead Into Gold has been on since reactivating some seven years back with new LIG LP Knife The Ally set to release in June. Picking up where 2023’s The Eternal Present Left Off, Barker’s indomitable ear for groove and clattering percussion holds sway over the pre-release title cut, with plenty of Barker’s long-held affinity for the artier side of post-punk shining through the din as well.
Knife The Ally by PAUL ION BARKER

Ultra Sunn, “The Beast In You”
We’ve made no secret of our position that Ultra Sunn have had the foundational elements of modern club darkwave on lock for a while; it’s in the waxing and waning of their ability to showcase what makes them distinct from their peers that their recent material has been measured. Thankfully, new single “The Beast In You” does just that, placing the focus on the strangely engrossing vocal charisma of Sam Hugé. Between the way he threads through this bouncy number and the classic synthpop twinkle at the tail end of it, it feels like a bid to be measured by poppier standards than oontzier ones, and it’s a stronger track for that.
The Beast In You by ULTRA SUNN

Iszoloscope, “Hex Blowback”
Look, we’re trying not to completely go all in on the wave of patriotism sweeping Canada right now FOR REASONS, but hot damn if the news of fresh material from Quebec’s noisiest export Iszoloscope didn’t make us want to salute the flag right alongside Casey and Finnegan. Sure, Yann Faussurier’s been Euro-based for a while, but the dense metallic maelstrom of this new single, complete with the worming granularity and mercilessly tight rhythms upon which Iszoloscope’s rep in rhythmic industrial was cemented two decades ago has us flashing back to countless Iszoloscope sets at Usine C in the glory days of Festival Kinetik. Here’s hoping a salvo like this is a warning shot for the first Iszoloscope LP since 2018.
Hex Blowback by Iszoloscope

Dark Chisme, “Lost in the Night”
Some of our fave live shows and releases from last year were courtesy Dark Chisme, the Seattle based duo of Christine Gutierrez and E. The songs on the self-titled album have remained staples in our home and club listening, and so naturally we were amped to get new single “Lost in the Night”, a track that has the same ultra-catchy latin-flavoured electro-darkwave the band have built their rep on in such a short time, and plenty of the charisma that Gutierrez wields on stage as well as in the studio.
Lost in the Night by Dark Chisme

Brixx, “Prophecy”
Something new from Australian producer Brixx, whose previous release for the always dependable Synthicide got a lot of spins around the HQ. “Prophecy” is one half of the songs on the The Psychic Tapes EP, and finds a nice balance between some classic post-industrial sounds in its programming and stuttering vocal samples and a funky electro foundation. It’s just a really well-executed track in that it doesn’t stay in one place for long and reinvents itself a few times in ways that are both subtle and obvious, a handy technique that Brixx has proven very adept at.
The Psychic Tapes EP by Brixx

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DJ Surreal – March 16, 2025

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Prodigy – Smack my Bitch Up
Combichrist – Blut Royale
Aesthetic Perfection – Spit it Out
MSI – Faggot
E Nomine – Wolfen
VNV Nation – Honour
Covenant – Like Tears in Rain
Suicide Commando – Bind Torture Kill
Orgy – Blue Monday
Depeche Mode – Personal Jesus
Stacey Q – Two of Hearts
Scissor Sisters – Filthy/Gorgeous
RAD – Send me an Angel

The post DJ Surreal – March 16, 2025 appeared first on Vancouver Descent.

Observer: Adam Rå & Serpentskin

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Adam Rå
The Poisoned Chalice
X-IMG
Polish producer Adam Rå makes his X-IMG debut with the appropriately ominous The Poisoned Chalice, showcasing a lot more thoughtfulness than many of his peers in the waning techno-industrial crossover scene. Rå’s strength comes not only from programming solid rhythms and designing rich textures for his tracks, but in finding ways to make them musical, as opposed to being collections of loops and samples. The obvious examople is the title track, where a pumping bassline and percussion are overlaid by a ghostly vocal track, always lurking behind the thumping dancefloor arrangement and making the song feel compellingly haunted. Opener “Scars” does more with less, starting with a fairly standard techno-body setup, but subtly building up the surrounding atmosphere with a subtlety that stands in contrast to its kicks and synthlines. Especially great are the trance-like touches that set off “Cold Steel” and “The Smell of Rope”; the former building and breaking back down in organic goa-esque fashion, the latter using a gated vocal sound as a lead to tickle the ear, and matching the ducking and compression that push its groove to the finish line.
The Poisoned Chalice by Adam Rå

Serpentskin
Serpentskin
Serpentskin EP 1
Fleisch
While radically different from the last release we caught from Alison Lewis under her Zanias handle, the debut EP of her Serpentskin side project shouldn’t come as any surprise to those who’ve been paying attention to the programming flitting in the corners of the Chrysalis and Ecdysis LP, not to mention her work as a remixer and those she’s tapped to remix her own work. If Ecdysis took the reflective and spiritual themes of Chrysalis into the ambient/chill room, Snakeskin finds her not only making a beeline for the center of the main room dancefloor at peak hour, but also travelling back to the late 90s when trance, specifically of the euphoric blend, absolutely dominated clubs years before the dreaded “EDM” marketing ploy. The interplay between wordless, cooing vocals and the icy skiffs of programming on opener “Swallow The Flame Down” feel very much of a piece with the textural interplays we’ve seen in Zanias records for nearly a decade now, but with all of the galloping builds and crests of classic trance accentuated. Savvy heads who’ve noted Lewis’ collaborations with Alex Akers of the forever underappreciated Forces project will hear Lewis’ spin on Forces style rave anthems on pieces like the fantastically titled “Basking In The Light At Heaven’s Gate” (speaking of ’90s flashbacks). Both as a vocalist and as a producer it’s a milieu Lewis sounds incredibly at ease with, both reinaugurating the original era and records it pays homage to, and indicating just how much more she might have to show us even after the variety of her extant work.
Serpentskin EP 1 by Serpentskin, Zanias

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We Have A Technical 549: Baby Man

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Berndsen

We’re joined by a pair of Patreon backers, Gustav of Sturm Café and Eric of Everything Goes Cold, to talk about a pair of records: the throwback, funk-inflected synthpop of Berndsen’s Planet Earth and Babyland’s electronic junk punk swan song Cavecraft, respectively. We’re also chatting about a recent show by Vancouver’s own Devours. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, download directly, or listen through the widget down below.

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