Gothic BC

Ashbury Heights
Ghost House Sessions Vol. 1
Out of Line

Swedish electropop trio Ashbury Heights have traditionally been a band whose work comes in bursts; project founder Anders Hagström and his various collaborators will release a new (and frequently expansive) set of songs every few years, and then stay relatively quiet in the interim between records. Ghost House Sessions Vol. 1 bucks that trend somewhat, in that it’s been a record that has taken form in front of their devotees over the last four years, as the band released frequent singles, all leading up to the release of the LP proper in 2024. On the one hand, it’s coming a full six years since preceding LP The Victorian Wallflowers and could serve either as a redefining or reintroduction of the band. On the other, it’s a look back at the last several years of the band’s work, with enough material to both underline their familiar strengths and reach out in new directions.

That idiosyncratic approach is reflected in both the content and the form of the album. Assembled from a mixture of original compositions, collaborations and a smattering of covers and retakes, the fluidity of the release is such that the vinyl, Bandcamp and CD versions all feature different sequencing. It’s right there in the name – this is a record that feels like it was assembled from various distinct sessions over the course of a few years, less a complete statement unto itself than a sampling of what Hagström and Co have been up to for the past half-decade or so.

None of which is to say that this material is slapdash or subpar, indeed, their knack for damnably catchy hooks, sharp production and clever lyrics is on display throughout. “Spectres from the Black Moss” is vintage Ashbury Heights, with a sticky melody, Hagström matching his phrasing to the rhythm, his understated delivery sneaking in some acerbic jabs along the way. Fans of their club material will find more than a few cuts that scratch that itch, especially the collaborations with singer/songwriter Madil Hardis: “Wild Eyes” leverages her powerful voice for big anthemic thrills, and “A Cut in Place” where she offers a sweet counterpoint to one of Hagström’s most forthright performances. The band’s keen tracking of pop which has absolutely nothing to do with even the loosest understandings of goth-flavoured synthpop is maintained here as well: the modern EDM of “Escape Velocity” and the Eurovision worthy tapping of Ulrike of Blutengel for “A Lifetime In The Service Of Darkness” (who’s to say if the latter’s cribbing of “Rasputin” was intentional or not) are pure sugar rushes.

Still, Ashbury Heights have never stuck entirely to one template in their work, and there’s more than a few cuts here that go to unexpected places. A fan won’t be surprised when they hear “Is That Your Uniform” dip into the same double time playbook as a classic like “World Coming Down”, but that certainly won’t prepare them for the cod reggae of “In the Dark”, the lounge exotica of “Hard Week”, or the full-on oompah band arrangement of “Halcyon”. Strange as they may seem, these cuts just work, and for the same reason Ashbury Heights songs have always worked; because they’re catchy and clever. Hell, when the band go full-on ‘confidence building montage anthem’ on “You and Me Apart From the World” it seems like the most natural thing in the whole world because they have the hooks to back it up (not to mention the pro axework from live member Johan Andersson).

The product of starts and stops, lineup changes, the ad hoc pragmatics of recording during lockdown, and all of the other disruption that half a decade or so can bring, Ghost House Sessions is as weird and unkempt as Ashbury Heights, who’ve never been known to be minimalists, have ever been. But whether one wants to approach it as a traditional double LP or as an anthology release, it’s jammed to the gills with reminders of why so many listeners waited with bated breath for it, either sequentially tracking its individual tracks over the past few years or just jumping into its chaotic confectionary sight unseen. Recommended.

Buy it.

Ghost House Sessions Vol. 1 by Ashbury Heights

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Kontravoid. Photo by @ladoobscurodelaluna

The third and final of our Terminus interviews features longtime site fave Kontravoid. Cam spoke with us about new LP “Detachment”, the shifting scope and success of the project, and the significance of masking up. Also, some news about ID:UD’s presence at Purple City in Edmonton. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, download directly, or listen through the widget down below. 

The post We Have A Technical 521: Our Songs Are Better appeared first on I Die: You Die.

Urban Heat
The Tower
Artoffact Records

The rise of Urban Heat over the past two years has been impossible to ignore. Aided as much if not more by their captivating live sets as their recorded material, the Austin trio feel as though they’re in an entirely different register than they were when their Wellness EP came across our desk roughly this time in 2022. While the strength of the five songs given pre-release boded well for its batting average, the band’s chance to clearly codify the themes, sounds, and energy which are undeniable live on their first proper LP makes the arrival of The Tower a high-stakes affair.

Whether it was savvily built by the band’s touring and release schedule or purely the result of organic word of mouth, the hype for The Tower is quickly paid in full, with its ten tracks covering a broad range of material while simultaneously feeling even shorter than its already tight forty minutes. While Wellness and various singles have been tagged with a range of descriptors, it’s clear from The Tower that the band are genre agnostics, holding to no specific era or sub-style of post-punk or electro. Instead, they place primacy on hooks and Jonathan Horstmann’s vocal charisma and power. That’s not to say The Tower‘s blend of core sounds is underdeveloped – check the savvy nodding darkwave of “Blindfolds And Magic Bullets” or how thrumming programming and half-time breakdowns are woven into opener “Take It To Your Grave” – but the lasting impression of those pieces is their wounded poignancy and fist-pumping anthemics, respectively.

As for the aforementioned singles, the speed, immediacy, and club appeal of “The Right Time Of Night” and “Sanitizer” speak to a good portion of The Tower‘s strengths, but the vulnerability of “Seven Safe Places” represents an equal half of the LP, with gauzy synths and indeterminate but undeniably raw emotion guiding much of the record. “You’ve Got That Edge” splits the difference between the bracing and the tender, using a disarming lope recalling 90s alt-rock to build towards a triumphant chorus with precision (that the titular concept can be read either as sobriety or an understanding of self developed in youth is a parallel to the differing genre perspectives from which the record can be approached).

In our recent interview with the band I raised the issue of “Like This”, a song I saw as representing a quantum leap forward for the band upon its release, not finding its way onto The Tower. Upon reflection, I didn’t think about that (fantastic) song once during my time with The Tower. It’s a fully-realized, tightly-wound wound record which, if not fully capturing the road-built intensity of the band’s live set, is an ideal calling card for them as their ascent looks to continue. Recommended.

Buy it.

The Tower by Urban Heat

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Nox Novacula
Feed the Fire
Artoffact Records

Seattle’s Nox Novacula have a good track record when it comes to avoiding the pitfalls inherent in making modern deathrock. Working in a genre that relies heavily on a very specific set of sounds that have been codified for decades, the quartet have threaded the needle when it comes to pushing themselves and the scope of their songs, while keeping things spooky and punky in equal measures. Their latest LP Feed the Fire is their most impressive in this regard, injecting a significant amount of pulsing electronic backbeat to the proceedings, upping the complexity of their arrangements, while keeping the riffs razor sharp and their energy lively and unpredictable.

Album opener “Plague” is a mission statement in that regard, establishing some of the record’s biggest stylistic moves through its tightly wound attack. The ominous synth intro quickly gives way to a speedy assembly of drums, bass and spidery riffs, with vocalist Charlotte Blythe blazing through an apocalyptic set of lyrics that address political unrest and upheaval. The bracing nature of the track belies some of the smart arrangement choices that band makes, delaying the first chorus to give it some extra oomph by way of anticipation, and then letting the second act as an outro with a pointed finality. Nox Novacula have gotten really good at making songs that have so much head-nodding, fist pumping anthemic energy to them that you don’t even notice their clever choices; see how they reinvent the defiant chorus of “Wolves” via its big drum rolls, or how the guitar hook from “No Forgiveness” holds back ever so slightly, letting Blythe kick open the door before barging through it.

Which is not to say there aren’t songs where the band’s grander ambitions are easily apparent. The darkwavey “Stay” is easily one of the best songs the band have ever written: its synth bassline and simple arrangement of guitar and vocals ends up being striking because of its minimalism, the absence of sturm and drang becoming its own kind of echoing statement. Similarly, the band dip into some classic electropop in the synthline for “Flood”, an unlikely combination with its wiry bass and pogo-ready chorus. There’s certainly no absence of straight up classic deathrock (“Disappear” is a particularly good example), but the record benefits from smart sequencing, lacing some of its freshest ideas in between its more trad-oriented numbers.

Walking the tightrope between genre purism and innovation is no easy feat, but Feed the Fire does so with a rare confidence. It’s certainly Nox Novacula’s best statement to date, and one whose charms should be apparent to audiences from within and without the fishnet and spider-webs crowd thanks to its expert execution and fierce energy. Recommended.

Buy it.

Feed The Fire by Nox Novacula

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After a few weeks’ rest we’re back at the grind, with a whole slew of new records to discuss, as per last week’s podcast. Having some high profile records to dig into (not to mention some interesting local shows on the horizon) is always fun, and may give us a bit more sense as to overarching trends and motifs in a year which thus far hasn’t broken too far from last. But we don’t want to disappear up our own back-ends with meta-analysis when there’s so much new stuff to point you towards, starting with our first Tracks post in three weeks!

Sleek Teeth, sleeker sounds

Everything Goes Cold, “Nadir”
A decade on from the release of their excellent Black Out the Sun, Everything Goes Cold, the project of industrial scene fixture Eric Gottesman makes an unexpected return with the moody single “Nadir”. As with so many of EGC’s best songs it’s a song with a deep melodicism that meshes wonderfully with the electronics and Gottesman’s vocals to great emotional effect. Assisted with able production by Matia Simovich of Inhalt and with a single with an excellent Physical Wash remix, it’s a welcome return from a ever-familiar voice.
Nadir by Everything Goes Cold

Vioflesh, “Always”
Coming to us from Chile, the prolific Vioflesh deliver some immediate darkwave with their latest single. On the one hand the disaffected vocals and ghostly atmospherics here sound very of the moment, but there’s a little bit of punch and swing on the programmming which hints towards Euro-focused dancefloors of decades past. Having just a hint of that richer production in the mix is a nice reminder of what can still be done with the current sound.
Always by Vioflesh

Haujobb, “Opposition (Actors Remix)”
The looming prospect of the first new Haujobb LP in nearly a decade has us on tenterhooks, and as if the mystery of what Dejan and Daniel have cooked up wasn’t enough on its own, here’s an unexpected reworking of new pre-release single taken on by none other than Vancouver’s own Actors. It’s a pairing which sounds odder on paper than in practice, with the hazy club instincts Actors show in their less overtly rock moments pairing very nicely with the tense mechanisms of the original track.
Opposition by Haujobb

Sleek Teeth, “Endless”
Los Angeles’ Sleek Teeth have but one previous track to their name, the excellent “Gone” from October of last year, but that song was good enough to make us excited for future cuts from the duo. Turns out it was worth the wait, as “Endless” takes the same melodic EBM template into more fully fleshed out territory, complete with the same clanging percussion and funky bass programming, but a sticky-as-hell hook that should make it a playlist and club set staple over the waning months of 2024. Hopefully we won’t have to wait another 10 months for more music this good.
Endless by Sleek Teeth

Bara Hari and genCAB, “There Goes that Dream”
What do you get when you take the heartfelt singer songwriter stylings of LA darkwaver Bara Hari and combine it with the equally emotional glitched out stylings of the prolific industrial act genCAB? A really lovely track in the form of “There Goes that Dream”, a number that takes it cues from a shared sense of longing and loss, and synthesizes it into an increasingly intense ballad that ramps up in feeling as it pushes ever upwards. A lovely bit of business, and one that should appeal to fans of either act.
There Goes That Dream by BARA HARI, GenCab

INVA//ID, “Show Me Your Spine”
We have mixed feelings about industrial covers of industrial tracks, but it’s hard to look askance at this take on a classic Ministry/S’Puppy side joint. LA’s INVA//ID remain one of the most tantalizing prospects in the scene still poised to fully break through, but in the meantime relive one of industrial culture’s most memorable appearances on the silver screen.
Show Me Your Spine by INVA//ID

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The Mission – Severina (Aqua-Marina Mix)
This Morn’ Omina – One Eyed Man
Cyberaktif – A Single Trace
Memmaker – Deception
Fractions – Move Your Body (Dance With Me)
Male Tears – Regret 4 Nothing
Dark Chisme – Sombras
Actors – In Real Life
TR/ST – Icabod
Velvet Acid Christ – Caustic Disco
Caustic x Grabyourface – Not Your Body
Whiteqube – Design Flaws
Shhadows – Under Your Spell (Live Remix) feat. Vienna Vox

The post DJ MissBDeath – August 18, 2024 appeared first on Vancouver Descent.

This month’s Patreon-supported commentary podcast tackles the glammy-gothy new wave fusion of Edmonton’s dearly departed Cygnets. Featuring captivating vocals, savvy synth work, and hooks, hooks, HOOKS, Isolator is representative of everything that made them one of the most captivating and underrated bands of their time. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, download directly, or listen through the widget down below. 

The post We Have A Commentary: Cygnets, “Isolator” appeared first on I Die: You Die.

Male Tears smoking behind the shop class.

Our post-Terminus afterglow continues with another interview recorded during the festival – we’re joined by James and Jordan from Male Tears about new album Paradisco and how it weaves pop from decades past into current darkwave and goth aesthetics. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, download directly, or listen through the widget down below. 

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The first of our Terminus-related interviews is here, and with their new LP The Tower set to drop in just over a week, we’re very happy to share our conversation with Urban Heat. Jonathan, Pax, and Kevin were very forthcoming with their thoughts on the influence that the heterogeneous music culture of Austin has had on them, the craft of building a live set, and what it’s been like to be on the inside of one of dark music’s biggest breakthrough acts of the past two years. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, download directly, or listen through the widget down below. 

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