Gothic BC

Norillag
The Union Of Death
Virtues
One-woman Vancouver act Norillag places itself firmly within the metallic percussion school of industrial, regularly name-checking Test Dept and even going so far as to cover SPK on a previous release. The project commits to this tradition thematically as well as musically (its name being a reference to a Stalinist gulag and lyrics depicting stygian labour conditions), but first proper LP The Union Of Death weaves in enough additional instrumentation and influence to put a new spin on the clatter. In addition to obvious metal and punk influences (arriving with the instant cred of being recorded in the infamous Alf House), a good amount of sax tempers the sampled field recordings and junk percussion, keeping Norillag’s textures from ever fading into the murk. The strings which augment the sax and percussion on “Norilstroy’s Delirium” ends up sounding fairly close to Vampire Rodents, and when sax swoops and lilting, gothic piano take hold of “Eschatos (Part Two – Might Of Loss)”, one gets the sense of falling into the depths of a forgotten highland bog rather than the bowels of a factory boiler room.
The Union of Death by NORILLAG

Dream Hack
White Heat/Acid City
Surface Reality
Sam Evans’ EBM and industrial sound system Randolph & Mortimer has made more than a few nods to the broader world of techno and 90s underground rave culture, so its not a total surprise that his new Dream Hack project draws deeply from the well. The tracks on White Heat/Acid City bring Underworld to mind first and foremost, but that’s not the whole story on the three lengthy cuts (or the club edits that come with a purchase of the release). “Pleasure Maze”‘s 15 minutes spins up a choppy analogue loop and vocodered vocal in its opening minutes, adding layers of percussion, bright synthlines that build to a climax before slowly being stripped down to an enveloping bath of pads. “White Heat” follows a similar formula but its tempo and rhythm programming go much funkier, placing the beat against its robotic vocal refrain and pushing upwards until the clouds of delayed choral stabs part and allow passage. The titanic “White Heat/Acid City” is the real showpiece of the EP, as it seamlessly shifts from a far off piano that trails reverb behind it like a ghost, through a forest of breakbeats and cinematic strings before coming to a stop amongst bubbling chimes of its extended outro. It’s stellar feel good dance music of the type that is simultaneously clever and effortlessly joyous, so that even its ambient moments are infused with rhythm and momentum.
White Heat / Acid City by Dream Hack

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Covenant prep for takeoff in 1998.

At long last, we’re proud to present the 500th episode of We Have A Technical. We’re joined by Joakim Montelius and Eskil Simonsson of the legendary Covenant to discuss the entire history and discography of the innovative electronic project. From industrial to techno to EBM and from teenage friendships to major label deals to fractures within the band, Joakim and Eskil spent nearly three hours with us laying down what we hope stands as the definitive interview with this storied and beloved act. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, Google Podcasts, download directly, or listen through the widget down below. 

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Night Club
Masochist
Gato Blanco

Los Angeles duo Night Club make catchy, darker tinged electropop with a slightly tongue-in-cheek vibe, music that reads as being appropriate for goth club dancefloors, but not so steeped in that setting that it can’t work for broader electronic music fans. Indeed, the band’s first official LP was the soundtrack to shortlived adult animation series Moonbeam City, with that record’s synthwave template honed on each album since. New album Masochist continues that arc, with some of the sharper pop songwriting, production and lyrical hooks they’ve released to date.

The success of a formula like Night Club’s is largely dependent on how well a band can walk the line between keeping things light and accessible, and not losing the edge that separates it from mainstream electronic pop. It’s something that Emily Kavanaugh and Mark Brooks have always been good at, as with tracks like opener “Gone”, featuring an unexpected guest turn from Tool’s Maynard James Keenan. It cleverly balances some busy, acid-touched synthwork with melodramatic piano stabs and big choral moves on its chorus, big and gothic but supported by a stiff kick drum pattern that keeps it firmly clubbable. The transition into the archly delivered “Barbed Wire Kiss” is perfect, Kavanaugh shifting into a coy posture that suits the call and response vocal sections that fill out the effectively minimal arrangement of bass and straightforward drum programming.

Most importantly, the record has hooks and Night Club keeps them front and center. There’s not much to remember on tracks like “Crime Scene” beyond Kavanaugh’s belted chorus and punchline delivery of the titular lyric, but it’s strong enough to support a full-on clap and stomp breakdown in the song’s back half. The melodies are sticky, the beats are danceable and the sexy-psycho schtick is more often cute than cloying. In fact, the only real boring moments on the record are the ones where that formula gets out of wack; closer “Black December” is too light to support its elegiac lyrics, and if forced to choose between the staid if funky “Another Side of You” and the full-on Kylie Minogue jack of “Fatal Crush”, the latter is by far more appealing.

The fact that the band covers Funboy 3’s classic exotica by way of a Halloween sound effects record single “The Lunatics (Have Taken Over the Asylum)” is a pretty perfect summation of their whole deal; fun, spooky, and easy to hum after a listen or two. Considering how many scene acts absorb the broad stylistic moves of pop music without ever managing to write a melody worth remembering, that’s not nothing; Night Club know what they’re doing, and how to do it without overdoing it.

Buy it.

Masochist by Night Club

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Lovataraxx
Sophomore
Cold Transmission Music

Grenoble duo Lovataraxx put their interests and their influences right up front on their aptly-titled second LP Sophomore. Even a cursory skim of the record by a listener halfway conversant in coldwave will bring classic French acts like Norma Loy, Kas Product, and Martin Dupont (and possibly Swiss band Mittageisen) to mind. But once that milieu is established, those classic allusions will likely fall away in said listener’s mind, with the hooks and sheer busyness of the material taking hold.

Despite a heavy synth focus, Lovataraxx quickly show themselves to be capable of handling just about every mood and motif that coldwave brings to mind, hopping between the frantically icy skip of “Heidi Montauk”, the proto-house of “Earl Condition”, and the anthemic build of German-language album highlight “Träumen”. Despite each of these tunes bearing markers of halcyon days, Sophomore doesn’t trade in nostalgia for its own sake. The production on the beat-heavy “Tilda Vaast” and the morose synthpop of “Zerrissen” sounds up to date and ready for modern club floors, bringing the tasteful restraint of coldwave classics into the present without the need for “vintage” muddying of the sound.

As much as the listener can hear the acknowledged influence of minimal wave throughout the record, there’s nothing stripped down about Sophomore. The interplay between piano melodies and vocals which run through a range of verses, pre-choruses, choruses, and bridges on “Bruxism (Fire)” is as structurally maximalist and ornate as music of this style can be without feeling overstuffed (to wit, ten songs in fifty minutes is a much more ambitious LP structure than could be reasonably expected in this field). Lovataraxx bring drama, hooks, and excitement with an immediacy you just don’t hear very often in contemporary coldwave records.

Lovataraxx are walking a fine line, connoting the past but not depending on it or petitioning it for support. The sort of tasteful handling of long-established sounds the duo aims for here requires confidence, certainly, but also a good amount of skill and songcraft that simply can’t be fudged.

Buy it.

SOPHOMORE by LOVATARAXX

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Okay, okay, okay: no more shenanigans. The oft-promised and equally oft-delayed 500th episode of We Have A Technical is coming to you this Thursday. It’s the culmination of a goal that was loosely spitballed about over a decade ago, and we’re very happy that all parties concerned were able to commit the time and effort to make it something special and worth the wait. Sorry, we’re not sorry for being cryptic. Just hold tight a few more days with these new tracks to tide you over.

Selofan

Nightcrawler, “Destroy Me (Feat. S Y Z Y G Y X)”
While more traditionally as a synthwaver, Spanish producer Nightcrawler has been getting decidedly more darkwave in recent years. Check out new track “Destroy Me”, a collab with S Y Z Y G Y X’s Luna Blanc; it’s still got that neon-tinged programming the project has always dealt in, but viewed through a mirror darkly with synthlines becoming more sinister, vocals more obscured by reverb and delay and some crunchy textures that are anything but smooth and slick.
Destroy Me by Nightcrawler

Alpha Sect, “Your A Side Killed Me”
Greek producer Alpha Sect keeps showing up on solid comps or via arresting remixes, like his reworking of a Brixx track last year. His latest single offers a fascinating fusion of industrial and techno, but not at all in the vein one might expect upon seeing those two terms. This track and its similarly titled companion “Your B Side Saved Me” prioritize texture, harmony, and engrossing and murky programming over beats, though there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the rhythm here, either. Should appeal to those who enjoy Restive Plaggona.
La Naissance Des Morts by Alpha Sect

MVTANT, “Voraphobes”
The title of MVTANT’s forthcoming LP, Electronic Body Horror, is as good of an indication as any as to the style of Joseph Anger’s production. If this lead track is any indication, the first proper new release from MVTANT since 2019 should feature the loping pulses and pained gasps which guide Joseph Anger’s approach to EBM.
MVTANT "Electronic Body Horror" by MVTANT

MeLLLo, “The One”
Marianthi Melitsi’s solo MeLLLo project has been on a roll. With Marsheaux on an indefinite hiatus, MeLLLo has been an incredibly prolific project of late, and the distinction between this cut and “You And Me”, the previous track from the project also featured here, could not be more pronounced. Insular, frail, confessional, but still beautiful in its chilly early synthpop wistfulness, a tune like this shows just how keen of a songsmith Melitsi is even at her most minimal.
The OnE by MeLLLo

Selofan, “Sticky Fingers”
Damn, how did we not know Selofan had a new one on the go? We enjoyed 2020’s Partners in Hell, a record that showed the Greek duo were something of a special quantity in the current wave scene, especially when it came to balancing club appeal and some distinctly goth, and gothic musical leanings. Haven’t had time to dig into Animal Mentality yet, but opener “Sticky Fingers” is just perfect, appropriately dramatic, but with plenty of gloomy flair for the club to boot. Expect a review of the record soon.
Animal Mentality by Selofan

Zanias, “Burial (QUAL remix)”
Look, when thinking of William Maybelline’s work as half of gloom-merchant wave act Lebanon Hanover, or the miserabalist hard industrial sound of his QUAL project, nineties rave tropes probably aren’t the first thing to come to mind. And yet that’s excactly what you get from his remix of Zanias’ “Burial” (another in the very strong mixes that have been taken from last year’s phenomenal Chrysalis), with all the synth stabs and piano you could want. Unexpected, but no less bangin’ for it.
Burial (Qual Remix) by Zanias

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SPÆCIALISTA
Phenomenæ
Diffuse Reality Records
Those who’ve been closely tracking South American body music know that SPÆCIALISTA is one of the continent’s best producers, and the four tracks features on his new EP are further demonstrations of just how many styles and subgenres he’s comfortable working with, spanning the genre’s roots and its future. “1.3.1.2” and “The Chase” feel like continuations of last year’s Tainted EP, linking its scraping throwback EBM to roots electro breaks. But it’s in “Extraño Futuro” and “Dark Matter” that SPÆCIALISTA’s chops (and possibly his extra-electronic skills as a drummer) are showcased. The former is the sort of high gloss, high BPM techno-industrial horror show we’ve come to expect from the likes of Starving Insect, with none of the austerity and monochrome restraint of most European TBM. Its acid breaks and stabby flourishes recall some of the excesses of industrial-electro’s dalliances with techno some fifteen years back, yet delivered with far more aplomb than most of those acts could muster. “Dark Matter” is similarly nimble, with 90s rave, 00s electroclash, and current darkwave and EBM fusions all compressed into a sleek package. Solid stuff across the board from one of the most refreshing and invigorating producers in the game today.
SPÆCIALISTA – Phenomenæ by Diffuse Reality Records

Edgecase Development Corporation
ECEP II: Belt Objects
self-released
The first EP from Eric Oehler’s Edgecase Development Corporation was largely modern techno-body styled dance music, a harder-edged cousin to his work as one half of new beat and classic NRG he makes as one half of Klack, and a far cry from the lush, world beat influenced synthpop of his long-running band Null Device. EDC’s new EP might actually have more in common with the latter than previously, as Oehler takes many of the instruments and sounds that have informed his writing and productions as part of Null Device, and applies them to a decidedly nineties dance template. To wit, the new material has more in common with Juno Reactor than it does anything you’ll hear blasting out of speakers at your Berlin techno venue of choice. That comparison is most evident on “Hygiea”, which revolves around a trance-gated vocal chant, sampled Mediterranean string instruments and a syncopated drum pattern that cleverly works in polyrhythmic hand drumming. This isn’t pure Ben Watkins worship though; check out the funky layers of percussion on “Vesta”, their density creating plucky rhythmic variations for its funky bass and fluid synthlines to weave through. Where “Ceres” dips into acid techno, finding a contrast between that genres’ squelchy leads and the musicality of traditional Persian and Arabic musical modes, “Euphrosyne” plays the kick drum back in the mix to create a fluid groove, accented by the thrum of throat singing and fluttery descending melodies. Tastefully executed and global in scope, its an example of the ways in which Oehler’s musicality can apply to genres across the electronic music spectrum.
ECEP II: Belt Objects by Edgecase Development Corporation

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Old Gods: Hacke, Bargeld, Unruh.

As we often like to do when a new album by a landmark legacy band is released, we’re setting this week’s podcast aside for the discussion of Rampen – APM: Alien Pop Music, the brand new LP by industrial royalty Einstürzende Neubauten. We’re making some attempts to situate the record in relation to the rest of the latter-era Neubauten catalog, but also spinning off into discussion of Blixa Bargeld’s poetics, the exactitude of the band’s not-so-noisy percussion, and the experience of listening to a new record by a band as storied as Neubauten. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, Google Podcasts, download directly, or listen through the widget down below. 

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Street Fever
Absolution
Formality Trope

A full accounting of all the turmoil Idaho producer Street Fever experienced (or at least discussed publicly) since their last major release, 2020’s Gold Blood, is far beyond the scope or remit of a review like this. Suffice it to say that it’s been a time marked by grief, addiction, incarceration, institutionalization, and god knows what else. Four years is a long time for any artist to be on the sidelines these days, especially when those years have been so difficult. That context can’t help but shape the experience of Street Fever’s first full-length LP.

In its component sounds, Absolution very much follows in the style set forth by Street Fever back in 2015 with the Afflictions EP: a mix of EBM, of the moment techno and bass music, plus chopped and screwed hip-hop (in fact, three of Absolution‘s fifteen tracks are made up of back catalog numbers from previous releases). The rock-solid kicks and bass stabs of “Exhultation”, which connect the dots between current EBM and the earliest electro, while the detuned dive bombs and yowls which make up the much noisier “Betrayal” link Street Fever’s equal interests in industrial and hip-hop.

The precise min-maxing of those sounds and influences varies incrementally from track to track, with Athena Garza’s vocals lending some club-driven darkwave depth to “Fate” and “Sinner” heading into manic, over-driven rave territory. Each piece being a specific framing of a certain proportion of Street Fever’s aesthetics means that near imperceptible differences between them can make all the difference in how they hit to individual listeners. The updating of rhythmic noise on “Sensation” might be catnip to some, while others might find its klaxon-like caterwaul to be over the line.

Somewhat paradoxically, Absolution‘s full-length ambition makes it feel both unified and somewhat scattered at once. There’s certainly enough material here to get a full understanding of Street Fever’s aesthetic, and the combination of variety and repetition it communicates measures up to the task of an album’s construction. But at the same time, the short run-times and loop-focused structure of many tracks often connotes the opposite: a sense of standalone tracks collated for the sake of a compilation. Is Absolution a documentation of the work Street Fever’s been laying down over the past four years, or is it a unified reflection on those years and experiences themselves? Both, seems the likely answer.

Buy it.

Absolution by Street Fever

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Glass Apple Bonzai
Brother Bones
Distortion Productions

Daniel Belasco’s Glass Apple Bonzai started life as a synthpop act, but the sound of new album Brother Bones is a culmination of the Canadian artist’s move towards a fuller, more band-oriented setup for the project. It’s a change that makes a lot of sense for Belasco; while he’s certainly a dab hand as a synth player and vocalist, he’s also a skilled multi-instrumentalist and a producer. With the heart of GAB’s material always being well-written hooky songs, it’s less a change in identity than an expansion of what the band has always been.

To that end, you’re gonna hear a lot more bass, guitar and live drums than on any preceding Glass Apple Bonzai record here. And that works; while a track like opener “Mysteries” definitely has a slick, new wave sheen laid over its straight-ahead rock rhythm, the synth arpeggios anchor the track to the sound GAB has been plying since their first self-titled release. Further into the album, tracks like “The Changes In Your Heart” and the mournful “As The Stars Fill an Empty Sky” are equally of a piece with what Belasco has been doing with since day one, building out his arrangements around his deceptively simple synthesizer hooks, and using his rich baritone to full effect on his choruses.

If anything, the uplifting, yet melancholic vibe that Glass Apple Bonzai has been pursuing for a few records is bolstered by the rock instrumentation. Where a cut like “Day After Day” would have worked fine as a purely electronic number, the addition of electric bass and tasteful guitar licks around its synth stabs give it the kind of rock radio feel, head-nodding and easily remembered after the first listen. It’s also an avenue for songs that wouldn’t have worked as well without that approach; the wha-oh wha-oh chorus of “Stepping Outside” is all the better for the guitar lines that go off behind it, with the use of dueling instrument solos perfectly leading to as catchy an outro as Belasco has ever written.

While listening to the record for the purposes of this review, my music app would immediately start playing “A Million Foolish Hands”, the side 1, track 1 of the first Glass Apple Bonzai album, upon completing a playthrough of Brother Bones. That contrast between what Belasco is doing with the band in 2024 versus his earliest GAB recordings only serves to drive home how much the instrumental changes haven’t altered the essence of the songcraft and performance at the heart of the catalogue. It’s about the songs, and those remain as catchy, touching and sneakily clever as always.

Buy it.

Brother Bones by Glass Apple Bonzai

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Hola friends and wellwishers. Now that April is underway, and the year has given us a few really solid albums to sink our teeth into comes the time where we start to speculate on broader emerging trends in the world of Our Thing. Still early of course, but between the ever rising tide of French darkwave and some intriguing new goth rock coming up in North America, it sure feels like that could be the story of 2024. Then again who even knows what might still transpire in the next 9 months. A full on Ant-Zen style powernoise movement revival? Electro-goth taking off again in the UK? Aggrotech but make it funky? Probably none of those things, but its fun to speculate. Tracks away!

Lovataraxx

V▲LH▲LL, “Nocturnal Eyes”
Been a few years since we last heard from our favourite Swedish ghost vikings V▲LH▲LL, and absence has only made the heart grow spookier. Rising up during the early 2010’s post-witchhouse movement, the band expanded their sound to include broader elements of synth, darkwave and folk sounds. “Noctural Eyes” continues that spirit of forward movement by bringing in some electropop synths and growled metal vocals, both of which fit into the duo’s sound perfectly. New album when?
Nocturnal Eyes by V▲LH▲LL
Nocturnal Eyes by V▲LH▲LL

Lovataraxx, “Träumen”
The second album from French duo Lovataraxx trades in a pure and classic style of European coldwave. But unlike so many other acts in the same field, Lovataraxx aren’t eschewing melody and production as a means of communicating an austere and icy atmosphere. In fact, they’re charging forward with immediate and downright bouncy hooks like this one with a maximalist zeal you just don’t find very often these days. Strong stuff which looks to be making waves; we’ll likely have a full review of Sophomore in the weeks ahead.
SOPHOMORE by LOVATARAXX

Bedless Bones, “Burying the Carnival”
It’s not unheard of for Kadri Sammel to go straight to the dancefloor as Bedless Bones – while her recent albums for that project (all of which we enjoy a great deal) always have a few cuts that will light up your finer darkwave DJ sets, its how the Estonian artist balances atmospherics and beats and her own distinctive voice that make it all so compulsively listenable. New single “Burying the Carnival” is as good a club track as Bedless Bones has yet released, just hit play to find out why.
Burying The Carnival by Bedless Bones

Flint Glass & Ah Cama-Sotz, “Odawaa”
We’re big fans of Flint Glass ’round these parts, and not just because of the French producer’s penchant for Lovecraft. In addition to a set of immaculately produced solo records in the downtempo/ambient industrial style, French producer Gwenn Trémorin’s collaborations with the likes of Empusae have yielded wonderful results, and so the prospect of Trémorin teaming up with Herman Klapholz of Ah Cama-Sotz is an intriguing one. The mix of deep and broad landscapes and soupy programming on this cut suggests that the Wakan Tanka will deliver on the collab’s potential.
wakan tanka by flint glass & ah cama-sotz

Synapscape, “Dress Code Red”
Keeping things on the Ant-Zen tip, we have not one but two paired EPs from rhythmic noise godfathers Synapscape to look forward to later on this month. Dekadenz is comprised of the more experimentally minded Dressur and the more straightforwardly aggressive Catwalk Massacre, from which this track is pulled, closely following in the traditions Philipp Münch and Tim Kniep helped to establish decades ago. Always great to have new stuff from some noise legends who haven’t lost a step over the years.
catwalk massacre by synapscape

Dream Hack, “Liquid Dreams”
Dream Hack is the new project from Sam Evans of the mighty Randolph & Mortimer sound system, favourites of ours in recent years. Where R&M is all about Evans’ industrial roots and making political body music of the type that his hometown Sheffield is known for, Dream Hack is all about that banging 90’s techno – more Underworld than Cabaret Voltaire if you follow. Turns out its just as fun and compulsively listenable as anything Evans has ever done in any form already, which is to say y’all should throw this on the stereo, turns the lights down low and throw on a Youtube loop of some circa 1996 rave visuals for maximum effect. Just lovely.
White Heat / Acid City by Dream Hack

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Poison Point
Wandering Echoes
Avant! Records

2022’s Poisoned Gloves was a reintroduction for French act Poison Point: the change from a duo to the solo act of Timothée Gainet was matched with a change in sound, as the minimal wave and post-punk influences of the preceding releases were integrated more fully into the project’s lush, sometimes manic, sometimes depressive darkwave. In contrast to how that record was informed by a new stylistic focus, 2024’s Wandering Echoes stretches out again, finding new sounds and ideas to inform its songs.

Notably, Gainet has grown as both a performer and songwriter, and put in the work establishing the identity of Poison Point as a quantity amongst many continental genre acts. That means when he does spread his wings, either vocally or in terms of what kinds of songs he writes, the changes feel confident and comfortable. The unmistakable body music that comes through in the stuttered samples and the syncopated bass and cymbal programming of “Flowers & Surrender” don’t overpower the track’s shadowy whole, still fitting neatly beside its more traditional dark disco neighbours. Similarly, the personality of the project can fully change how we hear some of these familiar sounds; the little bit of balaeric piano that weaves its way through the echoing corridors of the funky “Slow Kill, Fast Love” is transported from the beach to the death disco, recast from joyous to plaintive.

The record’s unity is partly a function of production and mood meshing well, but is also thanks to how Gainet has made himself a vocal touchstone in his songs. Sounding wounded and desperate are certainly not uncommon in trad European darkwave, but there’s a specific, reedy defiance in how he delivers his lyrics on “Blue Idol”, as if reaching out only to shrink away behind its echoing toms for protection. It’s a pose that can communicate both reluctance and longing (the crooned and chopped up syllables of “Mysteries in Fire” the mournful ballad “Les Meurtrières De L’Aube”), as Gainet fights to stay above the waves of reverb and delay, sometimes to be swept away entirely by a track’s end.

Identity is the key to the success of any given act working in modern darkwave, as more and more acts have emerged on both sides of the Atlantic in recent years. Timothée Gainet has figured out how to sound distinct and cohesive when working as Poison Point, a familiarity that hasn’t limited the scope of what he can do with the project on Wandering Echoes. It’s a fine follow-up to his solo arrival, and one that continues to deliver on its promise in alternately expected and surprising ways.

Buy it.

Wandering Echoes by Poison Point

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Pictureplane knows Enigma made sex jams.

The thorny issues of social media and general online presentation and how they shape our understanding of artists is the subject of this week’s podcasts. From gaining additional context about a record to seeing other sides of artists to the perils of parasocial delusion, we’re talking about the ins and outs of what we do and don’t see of artists online. All that, plus discussion of the allegations against Arnaud Rebotini and our experience at the HEALTH show. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, Google Podcasts, download directly, or listen through the widget down below. 

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Rosegarden Funeral Party
From The Ashes
Young And Cold Records

The book on Dallas’ Rosegarden Funeral Party has been out for a while, or at least since 2019’s Martyr put it up on the marquee in blood red Adler letters: classic goth with anthemic 80s hooks. Whether one wanted to cite The Pretenders, The Cult, Heart, or any other number of 80s hitmakers, there’s always been an extra bit of polished pop je ne sais quois in Leah Lane & co.’s work. Third LP From The Ashes doesn’t veer too far from that core fusion, but is a good deal more sombre in its delivery of it.

From the subdued, insomniac lament of “First To Cry” through “Love Like Goodbye”, with Lane connoting Red Shoes-era Kate Bush as she hypothesizes about an ex over rolling drum fills and downcast synths, even the most cursory of listens reveals From The Ashes to be much more melancholy than anything we’ve heard from the band thus far. That moodier tone suits the breakup theme which runs through the lyrics of the record, with senses of regret, reflection, and the licking of wounds holding over the record until the triumphant closing title track.

Despite its depressed tone, From The Ashes still brings the odd rousing anthem of the sort we’ve come to anticipate from the band – “Pillar Of Salt” and the aforementioned storming “From The Ashes” stand out all the more because of their more sedate cohort – but more impressively the actual range of influences the band’s always drawn upon are still intact. The band still feel like a meeting between your preferred uber goth band (no posers allowed) and any number of peppy new wave acts classic or current, no easy feat when you’re trading in downtempo torch songs. And don’t let the moody ballads fool you – when sax is brought to bear it’s still delivered in raw and rough deathrock fashion, rather than in the 80s AM power ballad mold (much more Skeletal Family than INXS in that regard).

Given the current wave of “but, like, what even is goth?” online discourse, Rosegarden Funeral Party’s sidestepping of that shitstorm is not only graceful, but reframes its terms. It’s impossible to listen to “Doorway Ghost” or “Almost Heaven” and not hear classic goth by even the most strident of definitions, but as From The Ashes reminds us, that isn’t all the band is or is interested in. Even in moments of loss and heartache, Rosegarden Funeral Party get to have their snakebite and black and drink it, too.

Buy it.

From the Ashes by Rosegarden Funeral Party

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With one third of the year under our belts, we’re nowhere near ready to start eyeing up a potential year-end list (though there have been some very strong records thus far), but we’re always keen to start reading the tea leaves of broader sounds and trends. One that we’ve noticed is an interest in broader styles of darkwave. Sure, the club-focused, programming-heavy sound popularized by Boy Harsher is still a major force, but in recent months we’ve been noticing more and acts and records gaining attention which draw upon the more traditionally goth side of the genre. But, as with the baseball season, we’re still working with small sample sizes. On with this week’s tracks!

C Z A R I N A

Black Asteroid feat. Louisahhh, “Love”
Of all of the various collaborations announced for Black Asteroid’s forthcoming LP on Artoffact, Bryan Black teaming up with Louisahhh seemed the most natural. A combo of noise-driven techno and electro-rock rave-ups, it deftly skims across the past few decades of darker club sounds, while keeping the undeniable charisma Louisahhh has lent to all of her recent releases squarely in focus. Black has the resume to handle all of the various contributors to Infinite Darkness; we’ll see how the whole LP delivers on its promise in a month’s time.
Infinite Darkness by Black Asteroid

Run Level Zero, “Manifest”
The sun-skimming synth brightness which kicks off the latest single from Sweden’s Run Level Zero isn’t what immediately comes to mind when we think of their existing catalog, but comeback LP Swaerm indicated that the group wasn’t interested in simply reconstituting their North American electro-industrial influences. The thumping programming beneath its zippy fanfare shows that RLZ are still very much connected to their roots, though; here’s hoping we’ll have more material soon with which to fill out the picture of the band’s current outlook.
Manifest by Run Level Zero

Wants, “To Surface”
We’ve enjoyed the material thus far from Calgary wave act Wants, but new single “To Surface” definitely feels like a level up. Despite working a sound adjacent to the eighties mining end of synthwave, the project has managed to avoid the trap of aesthetics of over substance thanks in no small part of their grasp of songwriting and arrangement. This cut has that classic feel without being a direct homage or ripoff, certainly the best yet from these up and comers.
To Surface (Single) by Wants

Torch, “Atiit”
Dutch trio Torch gave us one of last year’s most classically gloomy releases, with Leaving Me Behind linking guitar and synth-focused strains of darkwave, yielding a morbid and atmospheric listen. New track “Atiit” picks up exactly where that record left off, threading a moody bassline with Hammer horror synths and getting Torch’s unblinking flair for the gothic across.
Atiit by TORCH

Hem Netjer, “Anubis (Echo)”
We’ve been longtime fans of Hem Netjer, and have been pleased to watch their evolution as both a live and recording act as their integration of industrial, world instrumentation and darkwave sounds have taken shape. The new version of “Anubis” linked below shows some of that growth as the original is leaned down and built outwards, suggesting vaster spaces and deeper wells of sound than the original = much of it thanks to added guitar and percussion that has expanded their live show. As always we’re keen to hear what comes next.
Anubis (Echo) by Hem Netjer

C Z A R I N A, “Exoskeleto”
We got hipped to C Z A R I N A via our friend Chris at Synthpop Fanatic (a website you should really be following), and immediately put our tabs of the Spain-based American act. The specific kind of regal, classic darkwave of the project is shot through with some millennial club sounds and puts us in mind of classic acts like Diva Destruction and Battery as well as modern purveyors like Ghost Twin Have a listen to new single “Exoskeleto” for a taste.
Exoskeleto by C Z A R I N A

The post Tracks: April 2nd, 2024 appeared first on I Die: You Die.

Crystal Castles – Not in Love (ft Robert Smith)
Assemblage 23 – Disappoint
Wumpscut – Deliverance
40 Octaves Below – Death Control
Combichrist – Blut Royale
E Nomine – Das Tier in Mir
Black Nail Cabaret – Black Lava
Depeche Mode – Dream Mode
Dead or Alive – Spin Me Right Round
Blur – Boys & Girls
RAD – Send me an Angel
Echo & the Bunnyman – Killing Moon
Siouxsie & the Banshees – Cities in the Dust
Solar Fake – The Pain That Kills You Too
VNV Nation – Epicentre
Mesh – Firefly
Neuroticfish – Waving Hands
Muse – Uprising
Felix da Housecat – Money, Success, Fame, Glamour
Inner Party System – American Trash
Faderhead – Electrosluts Extraordinaire
Daft Punk – Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
Alien Sex Fiend – I Walk the Line
Skinny Puppy – Pro-Test
Nitzer Ebb – Join in the Chant
Bloodhound Gang – Hold Your Head Up High
Richard Cheese – People Equals Shit

The post DJ Surreal – March 31, 2024 appeared first on Vancouver Descent.

Black Tape For A Blue Girl’s Sam Rosenthal – the young artist as a portraitist.

Some numeric jiggery-pokery? From us? To do with the chronology of We Have A Technical? Never. On this episode we’re looking at records from Black Tape For A Blue Girl and Black Strobe, plus running down news related to Nitzer Ebb, and the Cold Waves ans Terminus festivals. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, Google Podcasts, download directly, or listen through the widget down below. 

The post We Have A Technical 501: This Is Auspicious appeared first on I Die: You Die.

Spectres
Presence
Artoffact Records

The aesthetic changes made by Vancouver’s Spectres have been slow and incremental, and likely less immediately noticeable to hometown listeners like ourselves who’ve been seeing the pastel shades of reflective new wave added in increments to the band’s initially deathrock tinted style of post-punk, one show at a time. That transformation, which perhaps begin with 2016’s Utopia, now feels fully realized on their fifth LP Presence. But regardless of how closely the listener has or hasn’t been tracking that change, Presence feels like the brighter, melodic version of the band fully coming into their own identity.

Spotting the direct New Order parallels that started with several tracks on 2020’s Nostalgia (or even comparing the band’s overall shift to that made by Blitz) has been easy enough over recent years. With Presence it feels like the wistful yet sun-soaked moods Spectres have been basking in have simmered and settled to an even keel, with the band’s unchanging strengths now standing on their own in this new incarnation. Sure, you could take a microscope to individual tracks like “Justice And The Cross” and “One Day” and try to identify strands of DNA from The Wake or Comsat Angels (“Homeless Club Kids”, by turn of the millennium indie darlings My Favorite is knowingly quoted on “Real World”), but that’s not what shines through on multiple listens or after the record’s finished; the clarion choruses, subtle hooks, and Brian Gustavson’s vocal charisma do.

More than its precursors, Presence finds a balance between those strengths and the band’s poppier ambitions. The triumph and melancholy which flow in equal parts through “Falling Down” are the result of years of the band field testing their interests, but comes across effortlessly, as does the rhythmic flurry which drives “Dominion” but leaves enough space in the mix for ameliorating bass and vocal harmonies. Even more ambitious is the rhapsody of closing track “Start Again”, which begins with the sort of cold and bracing post-punk which first drew us to Spectres but shifts into a half-time elegy which owes more to doo-wop than any punk act.

There are exceptions to this motif – the minor key but still anthemic street punkof “Chain Reaction” feels like a conscious callback to “Remote Viewing” from Nothing To Nowhere, their now twelve year old sophomore LP – but on the whole Presence feels like a statement of arrival. That’s maybe an odd thing to say about a band of their tenure, and certainly Utopia felt like the culmination of the band’s sound at the time. But they haven’t stayed pat since then, and their drive to explore more melodic and plaintive sounds has brought them here, to a new vista they’ve discovered of their own accord. Recommended.

Buy it.

Presence by SPECTRES

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Dancing Plague
Elogium
AVANT! Records

There’s a tendency to sort variations of darkwave by region, partially due to differing interpretations of what constitutes the genre, but also thanks to some pretty distinct stylistic markers. With that in mind, there’s something distinctly European in the way Portland-based Conor Knowles approaches making icy electronic darkwave as Dancing Plague on new LP Elogium, eschewing the last several years of sounds that were in vogue in the wake of Boy Harsher’s success, leaning towards the stark, sorrowful sound of classic acts like The Frozen Autumn, or more contemporary producers like Sydney Valette and Poison Point.

It’s an impression that’s easy to get from the opening moments of opener “Dreamless”, its dense arrangement of 16th note bass, clear leads and straightahead drum programming serving as a backdrop for Knowles’ deep-voiced singing style, a low growl on the verse, an anxious but controlled howl on the chorus. It’s a style of delivery that is distinctive and gives the material a lot of personality but is also going to be deal-breaker for listeners who may be unaccustomed to hearing such naked melodrama; whether on the metallic percussion touched thud of “Rot With Me” or on the brightly toned “Cold Fire”, a song that would almost feel uplifting thanks to its catchy synth hook, if not for the anguished fashion Knowles delivers its chorus holding onto notes with a mix of grave determination and distress.

Leaning in on that kind of mournfulness can is a tricky proposition; if there’s even a hint of insincerity or mawkishness the whole thing can come crashing down. To wit, you need to commit to pull off this kind of theatre of misery. Thankfully Dancing Plague doesn’t waver for a moment, whether on the grief-stricken “Fading Forms” or the strident closer “Echoes of the Void” (the latter song bringing hints of self-excoriating anger that distinguishes it from the preceding numbers) Knowles doesn’t blink or waver. It helps that the instrumentals are constructed with energy and movement in mind, tempos are kept within dancefloor ranges and track times kept to what the actual compositions can handle. The fact that the vocals are so immediately the spotlight on these songs can distract from their efficient workmanlike execution, doing exactly what they need to do, no more and no less.

Without wishing to belabour the point, Elogium is the kind of record whose audience will self-select based on how accustomed or open to its vocal gravitas they are. If you can hang with Dancing Plague’s lamentation, there should be no problem in engaging with its forceful style of woe.

Buy it.

Elogium by Dancing Plague

The post Dancing Plague, “Elogium” appeared first on I Die: You Die.

Delays as we approach the 500th episode of We Have a Technical. We’re hoping it’ll happen this week, but if not it’ll be another fill-in of some kind as we try to make this schedule work, but we assure you, it’s gonna be something special when it does drop. In the meantime, we’re looking forward to the HEALTH show (with Pixel Grip opening!) this week in Vancouver, and for the long weekend affording us some time to catch up on all these new-releases. Have a listen to some of this week’s selections and let us know what you’re feeling in the comments.

Give My Remains To Broadway

ACTORS, “In Real Life”
Hometown heroes ACTORS return with the first single for their forthcoming 2024 album, and man is it smooth. The post-punk quartet have dabbled in these sorts of airy synth-driven tracks in the past, but there’s a rare power in the way “In Real Life” channels melancholy via Joason Corbett’s vocal delivery, production and arrangement to give us something snappy and emotional in equal measure. Always a pleasure to get new music from these cats, and to know it won’t be long before we get to see them perform a good new tune on stage.
In Real Life by ACTORS

Einstürzende Neubauten, “Ist Ist”
You’re just going about your day, minding your own business and god damn Einstürzende Neubauten comes around and puts out a new song. “Ist Ist” (not to be confused with the similarly titled “Was Ist Ist” from a ways back) is an interesting cut in a lot of ways – it feels very classic Neubauten in terms of its use of cacophonous metallic percussion, Blixa’s vocalizations and that characteristic uncoiled bass sound, but it also has the earmarks of the bands mellow latter years in the mix, reminding us of the fusion of sounds and ideas we got circa Perpetuum Mobile. Never a bad time with these legends. A North American tour wouldn’t be unwelcome fellas.

Edgecase Development Corporation, “Euphrosyne”
Edgecase Development Corporation is the techno project of Eric Oehler, who you’re likely familiar with via Null Device and Klack. In the case of new EP
ECEP II: Belt Objects, it’s an outlet for Oehler to indulge his interest in global music and instrumental electronics and do kind of a Juno Reactor thing, albeit with his own production sensibility at its heart; you get some very cool use of sampled instruments and voices melded with the programmed drums and synths in ways that make a very organic kind of sense. Well executed stuff from an artist who just consistently hits with us.
ECEP II: Belt Objects by Edgecase Development Corporation

Zalvox, “Zalmoxis”
Longtime Haujobb associate Rinaldo Bite, whose work folks will know from Liebknecht and DSTR, has a new project on the go. The first track from Zalvox draws a line between the cold, motorik-influenced approach to electro we’d expect from Bite, and some icy current darkwave via vocalist Dorain a la Black Nail Cabaret or recent X Marks. Gotta dig those little Predator-styled creaks in the corners. Sounds like a debut EP is in the hopper.
zalmoxis by zalvox

Analytica, “Anyone We Know”
Look, the rest of Canada gives Toronto a lot of stick for imagining itself to be the sum total of the country, but if there’s one thing those of us in Vancouver hold in solidarity with Hogtown, it’s everyone short of hedge fund shitheads being priced out of their neighbourhoods. The “utopian” construction of a city beyond the reach of its own inhabitants is a theme befitting the roots synthpop of Analytica, which links Neu!-esque kosmische daydreams with the Ballardesque alienation of early Mute.
Strategy Of Tension by Analytica

Give My Remains To Broadway, “Rend My Flesh”
Lastly, let’s stay in Toronto for some weighty and monochrome goth/post-punk from Give My Remains To Broadway. In addition to a legitimately witty name, they’re bringing lots of atmosphere and a decent balance between hooks and sheer misery which is a bit beyond their years. Should appeal if you like Fearing or MOLT.
Rend My Flesh by Give My Remains to Broadway

The post Tracks: March 25th, 2024 appeared first on I Die: You Die.

Our special two-part We Have A Commentary concludes with the second disc of the Gothic Rock compilation. While there are still some cuts by foundational acts to work through, we’re also looking at some refinements and elaborations on original templates through a handful of second wave acts, some ten years after the genre first coalesced. As always, you can rate and subscribe on iTunes, Google Podcasts, download directly, or listen through the widget down below. 

The post We Have A Commentary: “Gothic Rock” (Disc 2) appeared first on I Die: You Die.