Genre/Influences: Dark-Electro, Industrial, EBM.

Format: Digital, 2CD.

Background/Info: Italian Electro-act Alien Vampires strikes back with their first new studio-album in eight years. “Return Me To Hell” is a double disc featuring twenty one songs. The sixth studio full length comes 20 years after the band’s inception.

Content: Alien Vampires haven’t changed their initial approach composing harsh and merciless Electronic music. Harsh and provocative but still featuring ‘poppy’ melody lines, the work brings different influences together. Most of the tracks are powerful now and then boosted with extra guitar riffs. The second disc sounds more diversified, exploring Industrial-Rave fields -one of the cuts have been composed together with Chainreactor.  A few extra guests have been invited to achieve this work which comes to an end with a cover version of Skinny Puppy’s legendary hit “Assimilate”.

+ + + : Time is going fast but Alien Vampires haven’t lost their power and nose for provocation. Just take a look at the front cover of the album and you’ll immediately seize what this band is made of. But Alien Vampires are much more than an image, it’s a band with a great sound. There’s no true innovation but a perfect balance between elements of Dark-Electro, EBM, Techno-Trance, Industrial and even Dark-Pop. All ingredients have been shaken by powerful rhythms to produce dancefloor killers. The first disc sounds great but the second one moves a step further revealing a band at full speed and driven by adrenaline. Nothing sounds impossible for Alien Vampires and everything they touched turns into sonic gold. It’s hard to give a favorite track as there are multiple smashers featured.

– – – : The single cut that couldn’t convince me is the chaotic-sounding cover version of “Assimilate”. This could be cool to play live but poorly inspired on this album. I think there’s no reason to complain about this single cut as this album is probably the best one the ‘vampires’ have ever released.

Conclusion: A fully accomplished and diversified piece of Dark-Electro made in Italy.

Best songs: “Destroyer”, “10 Bags 10 Lines”, “Hyperbolic Doubt Feat. Chainreactor”, “Ready To Die”, “Automatic Writing”, “World In Denial”, “Time”, “Fuck Borders”.

Rate: 9.

Artist: Official Alien Vampires Facebook page

Label: www.alfa-matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix

(Photo by Eugene Richards) Vince Clarke unveils his first solo album today, titled “Songs of Silence”. This ambient album, spanning 10 tracks, is now available in vinyl, CD, and digital formats through Mute. Clarke celebrates this release with his debut solo show tonight at the LSESU in London, with Sunroof (comprising Daniel Miller and Gareth Jones) as the opening act. Additionally, a Q&A session featuring Daniel Miller is scheduled at Rough Trade East on Sunday, November 19th.

After writing numerous hits for prominent bands like Erasure, Yazoo, and Depeche Mode, Clarke has finally ventured into a solo project. The album, recorded in his New York home studio, showcases photography and artwork by renowned Magnum photojournalist Eugene Richards. Originating as a lockdown diversion, Clarke delved into the possibilities of Eurorack, a modular synthesizer known for its expansive and engaging configurations. “The process was incredibly enjoyable, and it was solely for my own pleasure initially. I never contemplated others hearing it. The learning and creative journey in my studio was the highlight,” Vince reflects. “It was a surprise when Mute decided to release it.”

As previously mentioned, Clarke adhered to two self-imposed guidelines for this album: exclusively using Eurorack for sound production and constructing each track around a single note, maintaining a consistent key. Vince humorously notes, “No one in my family, not even the cat, showed much interest in my studio work, especially after hours of drone sounds.”

Vince Clarke video singles

Here are the two previously released videos from the album.

Ronan Harris from VNV Nation was in his former life the very first webmaster of Side-Line. A little known fact, but it was Ronan who gave Side-Line a first online presence, albeit on a different url and not in the format that it is now. It showed his interest in technology, something that has stayed very alive within the VNV Nation master brain over the years. It had been a while since I had spoken with him, time goes quickly, but when I was asked if we were interested in a VNV Nation interview, it was a no-brainer that this was the right time to do it now, at a time when so many things are rapidly changing in the technology field.

I phoned Ronan at his hotel in the US, and talked about the current tour, his musical sidelines, the new VNV Nation album “Electric Sun” and of course how he looks at AI being (ab)used in the music industry.

A funny anecdote, a colleague once told me – referring to the tourist guide industry she worked in – that for her “Listening to Ronan is like using the high quality infoport audioguide instead of some cheap Chinese knock-off.” It took me a bit to understand what she actually said, this is lingo for her sector, not mine, but when I looked up the device I understood her reaction. Quality.

This is just a fraction of a very long talk, but it will give you an idea of the man behind VNV Nation, his skills and his long term vision on innovation and creativity.

SL: I see the moustache is staying there.

RH: Do you want it to go? I have people still coming up to me saying, like, you have a moustache now. What was the last photograph you saw of me? I mean, I must have had hair, because I’ve had this for 13 years now (laughs). It’s just my thing. I like your beard by the way, suits you well… I’m just looking at myself thinking Jesus, I look tired. I mean, we arrived here late last night, so I’m pretty much just out of bed, so you’ll have to excuse me.

SL: You look fine Ronan. Don’t worry. So I guess you are not in Hamburg but still in the US?

RH: Still in the US, we finished up the US, the first leg of the US tour, on Sunday. It’s 11:00 in the morning here and we finished that up and then we’ve got two shows in Mexico, starting this coming weekend. We’ve got a flight and right now we’ve got five days off. Everybody went home. I’ve got five days to work. I’m working with a producer here on some tracks for them. I work with a lot of different producers and different areas, and I do a lot of work under other names because I don’t want it to be connected with VNV. I also don’t want the music that I help people with to be judged, you know, by like people going, ohh what’s the VNV connection? It should be a piece of music in its own right. So I do everything from like orchestral arranging to ambient work to all kinds of crazy processing on the laptop. The laptop I’m using to talk to you now is the one I use in my studio. So I have a whole studio with me. Like tomorrow I’m gonna be working with a guy who does some kind of dark trance, but he’s like a a big name in his own genre and then I will also be working with someone on a synth wave remix. So lots of fun. I’m telling you man.

SL: I have know for a long time you are working with different people, commercial genres or what exactly?

RH: These are really successful artists. I mean, I’ve worked with two people recently who are legendary names. I won’t say who they are. In some cases it’s a real honor because I’m working with people who’ve been an inspiration for me. I don’t see me or what I do anymore as being part of any scene. And if you look at the audience at the concerts, it’s people from so many different backgrounds and so many different styles. They all get something out of it. That’s the people who like dance music. That’s the people who like the more electronic, melodic stuff because it reminds them of other bands. People are like kind of indie electronic, you know? There’s so many different people who get something out of it and listen to it and they hear what they are looking for in it.

SL: Being well-connected is a good thing I’d say.

RH: Correct. The connection of the people I work with is so broad. I mean, here’s really weird example. I’m connected with a lot of people who work for different bands. So when we were going on this tour, I had to ask the crew from Empire of the Sun if they could help me find a bus because there’s a shortage of everything in the United States at the moment. That was the big problem we had with the first shows of the tour. We had to postpone them because there were no buses. No drivers. All the lighting companies had all their main gear rented out. You know, it’s a huge country, so you’ve got to get the logistics of trying to get a light rig from one corner of the country if it’s the only place that has it, and then get it over to Tampa, FL or something. I mean this is the distance of going from, say, Helsinki to Malta. You know, for us in Europe it’s, yeah, the logistics are insane.

SL: Is it still a result from post COVID that everybody is touring or what?

RH: COVID changed so many things. I know a lot of drivers, a lot of people involved in equipment and, you know, all kinds of things to do with touring over the years. A lot of drivers couldn’t work during the the COVID era, they went off to do other jobs. They are happy because they are getting a permanent salary, getting benefits, they were getting things they never had before, so it was a game changer. A lot of people retired and said they were sick of this. They were sick of how they’re being treated and I think a lot of change is still coming, and I hear that from a lot of people I work with that they’re tired of how they were taken for granted in the past. You do this job, that’s it. And a lot more people, I guess are thinking about themselves and how to try to get the best for themselves. So when we started planning the tour in February, we started sending out emails to companies going, hey, we want this, we want this and what can you give us? And we were also trying to find budgets that fit what we’re going to do so we can make this work. And honestly, the first thing I noticed is that a lot of companies increased their prices 30 to 50%. I don’t want this to be a financial conversation, but hey.

SL: Touring the US as a European band which VNV Nation is, is not so simple anyhow.

RH: If you’re coming from Europe and you’re going to the United States to do a tour, you have to rent a bus, You’ve gotta get the crew because there is no way to do it in a van and there’s no way to pull a whole light rig behind you. And I want to put on a show. So I’ve been doing this for a long time. I’ve been doing this for 23 years here, so I know all the aspects needed and this was really the most stressful and the toughest tour organization ever. But it worked out. Unfortunately there’s a lot of people who have become really flaky. Like they commit to you and then the last minute they pull out. You know, I’ve I’ve got another job and they don’t feel there’s anything wrong with that. There’s no commitment or loyalty in some people, so you see how it’s affected everybody. But also this, when you play concerts you realize a lot of people are still getting used to being at concerts again even though America has a COVID surge at the moment.

SL: Masks included?

RH: It’s not like the serious one we were all dealing with, you know, back in 2020. But when we played the West Coast, a lot of people were wearing masks and a lot of people won’t go out. A lot of people won’t go out like this was a really, really big thing. And we heard this from every band. We heard this from the crew who work for like urban culture meets dance meets everything kind of artists in America. There’s these two guys who have this project called Odessa, and we know a lot of the people involved with them, like the lighting engineer and some of the sound people. And then we were talking to metal bands. And they were saying that as well. It’s really crazy, like hearing from fans saying that they they’re afraid to go out. So I think we’re still in a phase where people are learning that it’s OK to go to concerts when they wear masks. It’s not. You know, anybody who reads and wants to spend some time being intelligent knows that. The mask is there to protect others, you know.

SL: Herd immunity is still not an established mentality.

RH: Masks are not a bulletproof vest. I mean, life goes on, the world goes on. And the other thing that we noticed on these shows was when we played the first show in Detroit, that’s where we had to start because that was the 1st place we could get every element we needed for the tour, is that everybody’s out on tour, like all the big bands. They’re all out on tour and taking up all the buses, all the drivers, what’s left and all of the resources. We were talking to lighting companies we’ve worked with for years and they were saying they’ve got nothing we were looking for. They just have some really old lights and I said, well give us something, we’ll put it together, you know. The Detroit show was fine, we talked to a lot of people after the show and everybody just seemed grateful.

SL: At least some joy…

RH: There’s a lot of negativity. It’s not just COVID, it’s the economy here and this perpetual political bullshit that they have to put up with every day. You know, we have a little taste of it in Europe. They’re living it like on levels I’ve never seen. It’s absolutely insane. So I feel for them. But every single concept we played was exactly the same. People were so appreciative that they got to go out and feel this live experience again. So it was quite an eye opening experience.

SL: Talking about working on different projects, did you never work on a musical?

RH: Uh, yeah, I did. Not a ‘musical’ like you’ll imagine. I worked on an arts project with somebody who combined a lot of different elements and wanted to make something really creative. I create the video elements in the background for some other projects too. I’ve had people who wanted video work done where they have a gigantic wall and they want elements playing that are part of that show that become a like scenes within the whole landscape. I’ve done that. I’ve done a lot of sound treatments and created backgrounds, sounds and elements for them, or even pieces of music. So musical? Yes but not the commercial Broadway, you know like “Full Metal Jacket, the musical” or something. These kinds of bullshit things that people put together.

I hate commercial projects. I’ll be honest with you. I mean, still to this day I can’t listen to commercial music, even if it could be a really nice song. There’s always a part of me that thinks this was created to be a hit for a big company that’s purely about shareholders and money. The artist will always be told what to do, in what way. I have a lot of friends who work in Hollywood and they have great artistic ambitions. And then they talk about how their work is then taken, changed by a long line of anonymous people. Or someone else gets credit for it. So I try to work with people who are doing underground things. There’s a lot of people who ask, can I use a piece of music for like for a video or something? And it’s not profit. I’m happy to support small creative people because that’s what I was, you know.

SL: But is that also the aim with the VNV Nation studio you have in Hamburg?

RH: I’ve used it a lot because I have the resources of all the equipment. If you want to talk technologically with two very, very experienced people in trying to recreate that on the system, I can bring it with me around the world, so. We’ve managed to set something up because I’m gonna do work. As I said, tomorrow and the day after I’m working with another guy where I can bring pretty much my studio with me, full audio interface, everything. I can have 10 microphones running, and I can produce, I have everything I need. That’s a real miracle. I’m telling you, man. But when I do a lot of my work, it’s basically when I’m back in Germany and I can do my demos and ideas on the laptop and then take them into the studio and flush them into something bigger.

SL: A couple of years back I was at the Mute event at the Roundhouse in London and during a session with Pole I told him that if you’re really working indie, then the really small bands have no budget for studios. And actually, you hear it, there’s a lot of subpar material being released.

RH: There are a lot of people who want to in a band. Yeah. This is something I noticed when I had to rent a studio space for myself. Now as far as the studio goes, if I’m going to finish an album or if I’m going to create an album, there’s a lot of equipment. It’s gotta go somewhere and it’s not going in my basements because I don’t have a basement. So I’m not gonna fill up a bedroom and annoy my neighbors with this. I have to work in a way that I can be there at four or five in the morning. What I found was when I rented a room in a studio, a commercial studio, and these guys were doing really amazing work, because they were not working with big name artists, but people who wanted music for a project. Really, very, very creative stuff.

But when I met some of the young bands, it’s suddenly clicked that there’s a lot of people who hear a band in this genre, or they go to a club and they say let’s be a band. That’s kind of an exciting fantasy, you know? They’ve got the logo. They’ve got the photos, they got the name of the band and they haven’t got a song yet. They have no idea and they get in there and it’s like we want to sound like this band and they tell a producer like as if you’re saying to someone please help me, I wanna sound like this. It just doesn’t work like that. So I find that a lot of people I meet want to be in a band. I made music. I was writing songs and I really wanted to take this to the next level. And when you say about subpar, I think one of the miracles is that we all have the technology to do whatever we want. With our laptops. With our computers. But that also means that 99.999% have never bothered to learn how any of these tools work. You know, one of the reasons why I did “Matter + Form” in 2005 with a producer, it was because I was gonna get to learn some stuff. By doing every album, I had to learn more about production.

SL: What about your older VNV Nation recordings, how do you look at those now?

RH: I can’t listen sometimes to my older stuff because it was recorded on a budget. I mean, you know, “Empires” and “Futureperfect” were recorded with almost no money. In a very basic studio. I made “Futureperfect” with just the computer. “Empires” or “Praise the Fallen” were recorded in basements with a simple console and the guy knew how it worked, but the quality that was possible with the equipment was, you know, it wasn’t fantastic. But yet today you can listen to let’s say bullshit like EDM, which is just commercial loop crap. Whatever. The production techniques which they use are not like a choice. You have to do it or no one’s gonna listen to it, so. In that sense, the tools are there. People can use them if they want to create something better.

But I’m hearing even within, as you say, like the scene, – I don’t even know what the scene is anymore because it seems to be more fragmented musically than ever – but people really are trying to apply the knowledge of other genres. And this is just basic studio knowledge. And one of the things I did during COVID was that I closed myself in, myself and my partner and I said, look, we’re gonna look after ourselves and our close ones and our loved ones. And we will use it as a time of learning. I listen to a lot of music I would never listen to. And I mean, it really expanded my knowledge of music. But I found all kinds of crazy shit online, and I loved it.

But I spent a lot of time learning better techniques and I wanted to do that because I’ve always had these sounds in my head or these unfinished ideas. Because for one reason or another, I have never felt that I reached it. I can listen to the track “Electric Sun” and think, how did I make this? It was an incredible experience and also during COVID building my own studio with other companies who could not coordinate times because nobody could schedule anything, they all said that their guys were on furlough. The Germans called it quits, and they said we don’t have enough people. So I’m sitting there with just these framework walls thinking what the fuck am I going to do? It was a really long process. But it was also very beneficial. At the time I had about 85 songs, because when you’re working on something else, you get the best ideas. It’s like a part of your brain wants to stay active to fill in for the boredom. I have a synthesizer on my phone and I’m just constantly recording myself playing all these melodies that I’m hearing. I also was using my laptop, even just to write a demo, using the physical keyboard on the laptop as musical keys. 4 songs on the album were originally recorded like that. I was just sitting there playing like OK, this key is this, this key is this. You strip away all of the big technology and you come right down to the sense of it. Is it a good song? Does it work?

SL: I recognized more developed orchestral arrangements this time, I guess the orchestral VNV Nation album left an influence?

RH: Yeah, you can’t hide it, let’s say. I’ve always had orchestral elements in the albums anyhow. There was a cinematic element to that album, a cinematic flavour. I wrote a lot of pieces for it, which never ended up on the album. There were about maybe 27 songs I picked for it. And the worst part is that you come down to a list of, say, 14 or 15 songs. And I said, let’s finish as many as we can, but you’ll always end up writing new tracks while you’re doing an album. I mean, “When is the Future?” happened out of nowhere. One night, I was bored in the studio and I was going through really old tracks and I found a track that I wrote in 2007. It’s just the bass progression and the vocal line. That’s all it is and I pulled it up and had some sounds on the keyboard and just started playing it because it stuck in my head. It was the right moment. You know when you hear it and you think, OK, it’s a simple chord progression, but it works. “All our sins” for instance is astonishingly orchestral. Even if you’re playing synthesizer sounds, you’re approaching them to create an orchestral feeling. So it was quite cinematic. Even the arpeggios and the way I was doing the arpeggios on “When it’s the Future?” are based on a piece of classical music I like.

I work with four different arrangers and they can actually tell there’s more an orchestral approach in my music than what they’re used to with other artists. With other albums it was the same. I mean with “Of Faith, Power and Glory” there were still huge amounts of orchestral elements in there. It’s what you assumed to be orchestral, because you can do a track like something more experimental and you’re still channelling something you heard from Stockhausen or Stravinsky and nobody understands that. Or you’re taking a little element of a composer no one’s heard of in the the average everyday world. But then that’s just one element of my influences.

But on “Electric Sun”, I wanted the opening to be like the opening to a film and I originally had a whole orchestration piece for the opening of the album that I just took out. “Electric Sun” does the job because in the end I want the album to tell a story from beginning to end. That’s what I was asking people to do, to listen to it from start to finish. It was the opening of a film for me, and the ending of the album was the finale, the last credits appearing on the screen. Everything in between is the elements of the story that I imagined. I felt this time round that in the studio I had all the things, all the tools I needed, the atmosphere. Also, a studio shuts out the outside world.

So it’s just you, the walls, synthesizers you bring in to used. I went crazy with analogue synthesizers I have. I’m kind of like an obsessive, I’ve been collecting synthesizers since I first got a chance to buy one. I still have two synthesizers that I owned in the 80s. I’ve had them repaired numerous times because they’ve been overused. Synthesizers are used on all the old albums. They’re still there on every album. There were always about four or five analogue synthesizers being used for most of the sounds on the album. So this time I really went crazy on it. I wanted this vibe. It’s really hard to explain to somebody when you use a plugin what the difference is. And the difference is that when you put all the elements together, you will hear this great kind of feeling. The opposite argument to that is that there are some amazing albums that have been recorded by bands – that we have a great sentimental attachment to – that used a four track.

SL: The one doesn’t exclude the other, right?

RH: Of course. And the thing is now with all this technology, you’re listening to copy paste bullshit. It’s like, look, do you have an idea? Focus on your idea, then build around that. Try to do the best you can because you’ll hear the idea through it. But if it’s just an ensemble of random sounds for 30 seconds of pleasure in a club to make everyone think, ohh, this is a bit ‘oonzee’, it’s not achieving much. It’s throw-away and that’s a kind of like a sad factor for the iPad generation who grew up playing with simple things at home and it was just push a button, make a sound and they didn’t learn more than that. I can’t say if I need the whole studio or not. One of my idols is a mixer called Andrew Scheps. His philosophy and his approach to mixing… I just love hearing him talk because he talks about so many aspects of of the audio world.

He’s an icon and he has mixed some of the biggest albums of all time and he says he’s in the box now, meaning he just uses a computer. And he has many videos where he talks about it because there will be people who just want that connection with the old world and they think it sounds better or whatever. And he said it doesn’t. It doesn’t. It doesn’t. If you know, how to use the tool so you can make it sound how you want. But if you need the tools, if you need the physical things, then if that’s what gets you the results, then that’s the right tool for you. My idea was, OK, do you have a mouse? You have one finger. That’s it. So you have all of this equipment and you’re gonna use one finger to write an album? Are you kidding me? That’s like the joke I always make, it’s like painting the hallway of a house, but doing it from outside the front door and you’re painting through the letterbox.

SL: We’ve become so normalized to this I guess…

RH: When you’re doing these big constructions and you’ve got all this software and all these plugins, you have to have better controllers and things like that. I was sitting with some of the synthesisers and just playing with controls and just creating, it got me places that I never have been. I forgot in a lot of ways what that felt like. Yeah, I mean, I’ve always seen synthesizers on the albums, but this time I had a lot of new gear because of building a new studio and I wanted to have this connection. I know the guys who work for Sequential Circuits, you know, in San Francisco. One of them was a guy who booked our first concert in San Francisco. We were talking about new synthesizers and he said ohh, we have a great new one. When I did for example, the album “Praise the Fallen” I used this old sequential synthesizer on every track. I mean, I had only had a few synthesizers, so I had to make them work for me on every single song.

So I got this new synthesizer, which is like the third generation of that thing. It’s the brand new one, wonderful, does everything. And I said to my partner, like, I’m just gonna plug it in and I’m just gonna listen to some of the sounds, get my headphones on. I’ll be in bed in 1/2 an hour. You know, that was 11:00 at night, 5:00 in the morning I went to bed. I just fell in love. There’s something that connects you with this technology. The sounds, the way you control things, the way you play with it. You can control everything and play with the sounds. It’s the person and a machine. So I programmed about three banks of sounds for the thing, and I’m just having the best fun. And that’s what became like a lot of the basis, a lot of the background to a lot of sounds on the album. This organic sound gave everything a kind of a 70s vibe. There are so many incredible electronic artists from the 70s. I went back and started listening to NEU! again. I love a lot of old krautrock. There’s so many eras that we forget about. They’re so relevant that you can listen to them today and think, why am I not listening to this?

SL: I know you’ve always been quite interested in everything that is new technologically, whether it is for social media or whatever. You’ve always been interested. Now, professionally I work a lot with AI.

RH: You know my old job, so you know that I’m heavily involved into all this new tech.

SL: That’s why I’m asking. What is commercially available now doesn’t impress me compared to what I’ve seen in laboratories where they experiment with AI as far as music goes. That really does impress me. So I wonder, would it ever come up into your mind first of all to create an AI generated album using the laboratory stuff? Do you see anything that you would use as a musician? And would you ever consider using it for vocals as well?

RH: Here’s my problem with with generated music right now, we’ll start using it like people used mp3.com. I’ll give you just that as a simple example. People loaded it with shit. There was no way to listen to most of it. We’re gonna have exactly the same problem with AI because it’s going to be companies trying to sell you tools that say ‘hey look make your own track’. And I work with a lot of producers, there’s guys in the building where my studio is, and they all wwork ith loops. It’s cut and paste. Someone else is making loops for them. They don’t know who, but they’re just using the same loops everyone else is using. I think that’s boring. One of two things will happen. There will either be a backlash where you’ll have people posting on their album ‘This was made by humans completely organically’.

The possibilities of laboratory AI where it can sing. Yeah, we use tools right now. We use Photoshop and we use tuning, we use like ways to compress the vocals and EQ. We’re using tools as it is. It’s where the line is. I don’t want fake. I mean if somebody can use it when they are a Picasso and where they describe to a computer this wonderful creativity, then you’re using it as a tool, then I’m OK with it. But if someone is basically learning a computer ‘just write me a hit song’ then you’re David Guetta, you know that that doesn’t interest me at all.

I’ve had people offering me so many AI tools or generators. I don’t need core generators. For instance, the band had so much problems even just practicing the track “Invictus” on the album, because they said it’s incredibly complicated. I’m working with people who are really, really good, very professional keyboarders. I think I could do a lot myself, but what I would like to be able to do is to say, can you save me a lot of the grunt work that I don’t want to do so I can just focus on the ideas. That’s where it is gonna matter. I want my own ideas to be the forefront. You and I both know that all technology will be used by people to make bullshit. When the Apple iPhone came out, do you know how many fart apps there were? You know that’s how humans use it. They are stupid, puerile, childish. It’s funny for about 5 seconds and then after that it’s done.

Yesterday was an unusual day as we experienced a sudden surge in donations from Bandcamp, more than the typical amount. Upon reviewing our page’s statistics to determine the source, it became apparent that something was happening on Twitter. A swift investigation revealed that Robert Smith from The Cure had tweeted a link to our 2022 charity compilation, “Electronic Resistance – A Darkwave / Post-Punk Compilation From The Ukrainian Underground“.

“Electronic Resistance” (and also the follow-up compilation “Electronic Resistance – Reconstruction”) is a 55-track strong compilation which features darkwave / post​-​punk acts from the Ukrainian underground scene only. Compiled in – extremely – difficult conditions it offers you an insight into the Ukrainian dark underground and also reflects what all of them are going through. It suffices to see some of the titles to understand what we mean.

The compilation features artists from allover Ukraine, from Odesa, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Mariupol, etc.. Many of them are right now in the frontline, or help in all kind of services from the fire departement to field hospitals. Others are distributing food, others have been forced out of their destroyed homes.

Stan Przhegodsky (aka Owen Wowson on Twitter), whose band Black Light District is featured on the compilation replied the following to Robert Smith’s initial tweet: “I was 14 years old when I started listening to The Cure. Decades later, you post a compilation that I appeared on (track 17). As a Ukrainian, this is multiple levels of amazing. Thank you very much. Respect & admiration.”

I was 14 years old when I started listening to The Cure.
Decades later, you post a compilation that I appeared on (track 17).
As a Ukrainian, this is multiple levels of amazing.
Thank you very much.
Respect & admiration.

— 🇺🇦 Owen Wowson 🎷 (@technicolorfilm) April 23, 2023

Watching Ukrainian family have their lives destroyed before coming to the U.S. last year, fearful and with little, all things related have my instant support. Heartbreaking artists also lost work and gear. First, partial listen, particularly enjoying tracks 2, 17, 48 so far.

— Ilse (@Ilse_not_that_1) April 23, 2023

Robert Smith is the last in many artists who have been supporting our charity work, earlier on also the cult act Throbbing Gristle pushed decided to give us an online push a while ago.

Electronic Resistance – A Darkwave / Post – Punk Compilation From The Ukrainian Underground 🇺🇦https://t.co/ocpxxKgXfz pic.twitter.com/MvpNFqJS2m

— THROBBING GRISTLE (@ThrobbingGrstle) January 26, 2023

The tweet by The Cure’s frontman has now propelled the compilation back into the bestselling industrial music charts on Bandcamp on spot 3. As you can see it is being joined by Alfa Matrix’s The Cure tribute releases “A Strange Play – Tribute to The Cure“ and “A Strange Play (Vol. 2) – Tribute to The Cure“.

Below is said compilation and it’s follow-up, the recently released “Electronic Resistance – Reconstruction”.

The Ukrainian act Dva Dereva is back with the all new (excellent!) single “Black Spring” out on Microcosmos Records. The 11:12 minute strong track was written and produced by Nadya Makarova and Artem Cherchynskyi.

The Dva Dereva project was formed in 2010 and over the years has performed meditative and trance acoustic music using a wide range of ethnic and archaic musical instruments. Since the end of 2018, the project has begun experimenting with a new electronic sound. The experiments led to the emergence of a new approach that combines the sound of analog synthesizers, acoustic instruments, author’s lyrics and mantras of different traditions. In the band’s current sound you can hear elements of such genres as trip-hop, drone ambient or tribal ambient.

Readers will recognise the band from our Electro Resistance compilation series where they were featured with the tracks “Wind In The Desert” on “Electronic Resistance” and “Meet Me” on “Electronic Resistance – Reconstruction”.

What comes in mind when hearing the names Jürgen Engler, Marcel Zürcher and Ralf Dörper? Die Krupps! Right; but since a few years they also started a new side-project called Die Robo Sapiens. This new band moves back to pure Electronic music and will mainly appeal for EBM fans. The German project signed to Alfa Matrix unleashing a debut EP in 2018. We next had to wait four years till by the end of 2022 they released the debut album “Robo Sapien Race”. This work is one of the best EBM albums from the past year which is clearly featuring explicit retro elements. An album filled with power and still a part of fun… and that’s what Die Robo Sapiens  is all about. I asked Jürgen Engler a few questions for the interview.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: You guys have been next to Die Krupps involved in multiple other side-projects but what does Die Robo Sapiens stand for? How did the project come to life and how does it feel to start a new ‘band’ when you’ve been involved in a successful formation like DIE KRUPPS for so long?

Jürgen: The idea for Die Robo Sapiens came to me when I didn’t get the budget from the record company that I needed to produce an Industrial-Metal album. I also realized that I always ended up writing songs from time to time that didn’t quite fit that Die Krupps Industrial-Metal concept. So I decided to leave those songs purely Electronic. I know we also have fans who are more into the Die Krupps-EBM style tracks, so why not cater to them and give them something they will enjoy? It is a fun project for me as well, I can really play around with all my analog synths!

Q: Listening to your music and the debut album I got the sensation Die Robo Sapiens move on there where Die Krupps started to play with guitars. Is this what you mean?

Jürgen: The concept picks up there, but isn’t restricted to staying within that framework. I wanted to create somewhat of a niche for us, merging hard Die Krupps EBM with the sound of Düsseldorf-Electro, and with that I mean the roots. Kraftwerk and Die Krupps may stem from the same city and we know each other quite well, but they were never a direct influence on me. But I understand that Düsseldorf will forever be associated with Kraftwerk, and their music breathes Düsseldorf. So it was a logical progression for me to combine these musical styles. It sounds unique, and expands the genres. Niemals stillstehen! 

Q: While your debut EP was already released in 2018 it took a few more years to achieve the debut album “Robo Sapien Race”. Tell us a bit more about the writing and accomplishment of “Robo Sapien Race”? What have been the different stages in the writing and production of the work and what’s the input of each member?

Jürgen:At the time of the EP, I was ready to continue with the project, but the former record company threatened not to release the album if it was an all Electro album. They insisted on getting an Industrial-Metal album, so I was forced to move ahead and finish the new Die Krupps-album first. When that album was completed and the following tour, we continued working on the tracks that fit the concept. During the process it became more and more clear to me what the music needed to give Die Robo Sapiens a sound of its own. To me it’s always important to find your own style and niche. That’s how we did it since the beginning, don’t follow trends, spearhead them!

Q: It seems there’s a kind of concept behind this album dealing with ‘the dehumanization and technological dependency of mankind… without it you are nothing…’ How do you face this fact and how do you see the pros and cons of technology in the evolution of Electronic music -especially when compared to the 80s analog era?

Jürgen: I am fascinated by new technology, but I won’t let it dominate my life unless it is useful and making my life easier. Unfortunately, most people let technology dominate their life nowadays, and the balance seems off. We cannot make ourselves completely dependent on computers and machines, I personally refuse to becoming a Robo Sapien in my lifetime! We are the human race and should resist becoming one with the machinery. Although it’s a fascinating thought, it will be the end of humanity. I think the time will come sooner or later that man will be replaced by robo sapiens. I know I won’t be around anymore, and I have a feeling that’s a good thing.

Q: Soundwise you already mentioned the Kraftwerk-touch which is easily noticeable for the sound color and atmospheres but there also is the hard EBM side of DAF… and Die Krupps as well;-). How do you perceive it  and was there something as a ‘Düsseldorfer’ scene?

Jürgen: DAF are not a Düsseldorf-band, they were from Wuppertal and part Austrian. But Gabi did start his musical career in Düsseldorf, that’s true. I was friends with him before he even started a band. Ralf and I knew Kraftwerk because we all used to hang out in the same clubs and movie theatres around town back in the 70s. I later became friends with Karl and also Wolfgang. I didn’t get in touch with them regarding guesting on the album, but it’s a nice thought and I will keep it in mind. Regarding the so called Düsseldorf-scene, sure there was a scene, and it was transitional when Punk happened. Kraftwerk, Neu, La Duesseldorf were the first wave, then came DAF, Die Krupps and Propaganda. We had our background in Punk, and not in the late 60s experimental strain of the Hippy scene. Although it produced very interesting bands, the two scenes never really crossed paths musically, until I tried to unite them in the mid 90s, when I brought members of Cluster, Guru Guru, Amon Duul, Faust and Die Krupps together to produce the album “Space Explosion”. It was an eye opening experience.

Q: What brings the future for Die Robo Sapiens? Is the album just a ‘one shot’ project or should we expect more stuff and eventually live shows, remixes etc?

Jürgen:This album is not supposed to be a one off, the project will continue. I am open to all kinds of adventures, even live shows, and I know Ralf is too, if we can find the time to do it. Die Krupps is and will always be our number one, but it feels good to have another outlet for the purely Electro tracks. I enjoy the different approach, and I’m also interested in defining the Robo Sapiens sound even more. The deeper you delve into a musical project, the more you understand its own mechanisms. And I believe Die Robo Sapiens has a lot more potential. Time will prove my point. Die Zukunft hat begonnen!

At Side-Line we have always supported charities around the world. Now the time has come to show our support for the people of Turkey who have been hit extremely hard by the earthquake that took place this morning, February 6th.

The massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake shook Turkey and Syria causing massive damage early and a huge number of victims. Those numbers are expected to rise dramatically as many buildings collapsed with large numbers of people buried under the rubble.

We have set up a separate crowdfund page where you can send your donation. If you want to donate via Bandcamp, that keep on reading below.

Also this, ALL proceedings from the compilations on our Bandcamp page at sidelinemag.bandcamp.com this month will go entirely to Turkish Emergency Humanitarian Assistance as there is an urgent need for medical supplies and so on. We are working with local people to distribute the funds and aid.

IMPORTANT: The funds gathered from the Ukrainian charity compilations during this time will be covered by Side-Line so that we can continue to raise funds for Ukraine as well.

Merch: sidelinemag.bandcamp.com/merch
Music: sidelinemag.bandcamp.com/music

Other ways to donate:

• You can also fund directly to our Paypal account at info@side-line.com with subject “Turkish Relief”
• You can also send us Bitcoin at this wallet 3Gg5pi5KVhdTphHxhepvbQD9uWDZvgVZHK Please send a mail to info@side-line.com when done with the exact amount so we know who sent what.

Let’s unite once again to show we can make the world a better place.

There is no time to loose.

The time has come to start up a brand new charity compilation series at Side-Line, which will be titled “Electronic Bodies”. This time, and you might have guessed already, we will focus solely on (oldschool) EBM per request of our readers during an internet poll on our social media. Musically we direct our attention to the Electronic Body Music (EBM) as it sounded like in the early 1980s in Belgium plus on its earliest counterparts in Scandinavia, Spain and Germany.

Additionally – and this will also please many – we will also accept New Beat tracks as long as they fit the EBM sound pallet. Back to the golden age of the beats so to speak!

This call for submissions is open to new bands, unsigned bands and signed bands. The compilation will again be powered by Side-Line, released via our Bandcamp page only, and promoted to a whole range of magazines and DJ’s. And, he again doesn’t know it yet, but we will again invite Shane Aungst – now he knows – to do his magic work on the upcoming volume for an extra remix album.

For those bands who don’t produce EBM itself (anymore), we invite you to make an exception and just for the sake of this charity compilation create a true oldschool EBM track.

How can you take part in the compilation?

There are a couple of rules to respect in order to make it easier for everyone, especially for our chief editor Bernard Van Isacker who has been compiling every compilation since the start of our series.

1. Send 1 (!!!) mastered track in WAV format (GEMA free material and preferably previously unreleased) via wetransfer.com to info@side-line.com . We stress the fact that you can only send 1 track. Your best one that is. The reason is simple, there are thousands of submissions to go through.
2. Do NOT send files via email, such submissions will not be accepted! Only use Wetransfer.com.
3. We will contact you upon selection to send you some paperwork to complete.
4. The deadline for submission is March 27th 2023.

For the younger readers and musicians born after 1990, Electronic Body Music (EBM) originated in the early 1980s, primarily in Belgium and Germany. It emerged as a subgenre of electronic music, incorporating elements of industrial, synthpop, and new wave music. EBM is characterized by its heavy use of electronic instruments, repetitive beats, and political or socially conscious lyrics. New Beat evolved a bit later on and also involved repetitive and hypnotic beats. Thus the link is clear.

Do you consider yourself a die-hard fan of Depeche Mode? Then you won’t want to miss the chance to experience the iconic band’s history in London. Simon Helm, editor of Cold War Night Life and occasional contributor to Side-Line, has written a comprehensive guidebook, “Walking in their Shoes: A Depeche Mode Fan’s Unofficial Guide to London” as we reported two weeks ago.

There is a site up right now at https://walkingintheirshoes.info and you can order the ebook right here from various outlets.

In this book, Helm has meticulously traced the steps of Depeche Mode through the city by exploring the studios where they recorded and the stages on which they performed. He has gone through extensive records, CDs, and interviewed friends of the band and key personalities from their history, combined with the archives collected by fans for websites and fanzines.

Available as an ebook from all leading platforms, this guidebook takes you on a journey from the studio where the first demos were recorded to the stadiums where the band’s tours have landed. You will be guided with exclusive photographs and detailed information for each location, ensuring you won’t miss a thing.

With a passion for Depeche Mode that has lasted throughout his professional career, Helm explains why he chose to focus on London: “The band’s history is deeply intertwined with the city. While they are often associated with Basildon, many of the studios they recorded in and the venues where they made their name are located in London. This guide is for fans who want to stand where their classic recordings were made and their legendary shows were performed. It’s all here.”

Although many of the studios and venues have since been lost to time, Helm has meticulously placed them back on the map with pictures to give you a clear idea of where the exact locations once were.

This is an essential guide for any Depeche Mode fan visiting London and an opportunity to experience the band’s legacy in a unique and unforgettable way. Get your copy of “Walking in their Shoes: A Depeche Mode Fan’s Unofficial Guide to London” as an ebook right now. Recommended!

The new Bara Hari single “Violence Rising” is out now via Re:Mission Entertainment.And today we can also present you the video made for the occasion. This is the second video and single from the forthcoming Bara Hari full length, “Lesser Gods”.

Bara Hari explains the video: “‘Violence Rising’ tells the tale of someone who’s coming to terms with the fact that their self-proclaimed righteousness may actually be just as biased as the views of the opposer. Visually inspired by fairy tales and Renaissance art, ‘Violence Rising’ is a cinematic portrayal of a virtuous queen who falls from grace, meets her demise and is transformed into the wolf she so feared.”

Here’s the video.

Bara Hari is the solo project of multidisciplinary artist Sam Franco. Franco writes, records, and produces herself out of her studio in Los Angeles. Franco’s take on dark pop brings here close to the style mixing Florence + the Machine, iamamiwhoami, Marina, and Garbage.

In the two extra stills from the video you get an idea of the Franco’s elaborate costumes and set pieces which she makes herself to accompany her music videos.

It took four years to Solitary Experiments  to release a new studio album. The German formation lead by core members Dennis Schober (vocals) and Michael Thielemann (music) strike back with their most surprising album to date. “Transcendent” released by Out Of Line is featuring songs with famous guest singers like Dirk Ivens, Alice Elena Fossi, Patrik Hansson ao. It’s once again a totally achieved production mixing elements of Future-Pop and Dark-Electro. I asked a few questions to Dennis.

(Picture credits by Chris Ruiz / Interview courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Since your previous studio album “Future Tense” (2018) the world has been affected by Covid-19 which had a serious impact on most artistic activities. How did you experience this drama as citizen and artist?

Dennis: A very specific question. As a citizen, of course, I experienced everything just like everyone else. The only difference is that my day job in retail was not affected, i.e. I worked through the entire pandemic. Logically, I’m vaccinated and yes, I’ve also contracted Covid. As an artist, it was worse because so many events and concerts were canceled and that was really bad. You only realize how important it is when something is missing.

Q: Your new album “Transcendent” must have been written during the pandemic. I noticed you see this album as different from your previous works so how comes and what makes the difference -except the fact you worked with a few guest singers?

Dennis: Sounds strange, but exactly this collaboration was different from all the work before, because it was new for all of us. Of course, “Transcendent” doesn’t sound like “Future Tense” either, but that doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the pandemic period. We only had a lot more time to make music because all other dates were cancelled. It’s actually the first time that we’ve gotten so much material together.

Q: How did you get the idea working with guest singers? Did you handle specific criteria to work with them and how did these songs took shape?

Dennis: Since we created so much new and different material, I came up with the idea of simply giving someone else to sing the things that I don’t like vocally. Of course, I deliberately chose my partners based on which voice would go with which song. And of course I reached very high when choosing the artists. It wasn’t easy to get everyone enthusiastic about the project at first, and it took some time to get everyone’s approval and results. In the end, however, there was no rejection and I am very proud of what we have created together.

Q: The song “The Great Unknown” featuring Elena Alice Fossi sounds to me as one of your most surprising songs ever and yet I think it also is one of the best tracks from the album; kind of mix between Delerium and Push. Tell us a bit more about this song, its influences and the way it has been produced?

Dennis: I can’t say much about the production, because I always get the finished songs from Michael without a say, so to speak. But I like it when the songs are not always produced in the Future-Pop sector. He sometimes gives me a real surprise, like with “The Great Unknown”. I love it when the song is dark and has a light Trance note. I had a vocal line in mind from the start and I knew straight away that this number had to be sung by and with Elena Fossi. I wrote the lyrics and presented both to the band Kirlian Camera, which I’ve adored for years. The rest took care of itself…

Q: Next to “Transcendent” you also released a digital album called “La Voix De La Femme” featuring only female artists singing on ‘older’ songs. How did you get the idea of this album and how did the ‘selection’ of the singers happened? Don’t you think there’re not enough female artists active in this scene dominated by men? How comes?

Dennis: One thing led to another and the idea of guest vocals grew in me more and more. Instead of remixing, I imagined what it might sound like if someone else sang our songs. To top it off, I came up with the idea of only asking for female voices to achieve an even greater contrast. This has nothing to do with the current situation within the scene. I even think there are many female voices, you just have to deal with that. I knew some of the ladies personally, others had already sung something for friends of mine and some I discovered through research or we had already played somewhere together. Anyway, everyone made an impression on me. I provided a number of possible songs to choose from and each chose the appropriate one. Later on I came up with the title that fits perfectly with the said bonus EP. Did I already mention that the whole project is also international?

Q: You were touring in November together with Vanguard and Mental Exile. How do you look back at the tour and how did you see Solitary Experiments as live act evolving throughout the years? 

Dennis: Of course, that’s something you’d rather have to ask the viewers. First of all I would like to say that we are extremely satisfied with the shows so far. On the one hand, the audience is visibly grateful that concerts can finally take place as club shows again and the people are really in the mood. On the other hand, I would like to say a big thank you to our special guests. It fits together so well musically and personally that we will continue this year in exactly the same constellation. We grow with our tasks and a two-man band has now become a five-piece live formation with additional drums and a lot of light and show effects. Convince yourself of it!

Noxious Emotion, the electro-Industrial band from the NorthWest formed in 1992, is finally back. Michael ‘Mike’ Wimer and Shane Aungst are working on a brand new album, and have already finished a new remix for spankthenun.

For the duo it will be their first new collaboration since the album “Count Zero” (out via A.D.S.R. Musicwerks) from 1997.

Shane Aungst explains how the duo got together again after so many years: “Mike and I randomly ran into one another at a local club and got to talking about music and what we are each doing and I’ve dropped a couple hints at Mike in the last couple of years. While hanging out I told Mike how I had been asked to do a remix for spankthenun and I thought it was perfect timing for us to work together again.”

More news as we get it. You can check out the full back catalogue for Noxious Emotion right now on Bandcamp.

(Photo by Juergen Teller) Everything But The Girl are back together to record an album for the first time in 23 years, since their 1999 album “Temperamental” that is. The release was not planned as the duo says this on their Facebook page: “We never imagined at the start of 2022 that this would happen, and yet here we are.”

Everything But The Girl (occasionally referred to as EBTG) are an English musical duo formed in Kingston upon Hull in 1982, consisting of lead singer and occasional guitarist Tracey Thorn and guitarist, keyboardist, producer and singer Ben Watt. Their biggest hit was the song “Missing” which became a worldwide hit in a more electronic version, a bit like Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy The Silence” you can say which produced by Alan Wilder became a huge hit as well.

Until 2022, the band were inactive, and have not performed publicly since 2000. Thorn has said in interviews she dislikes performing live and will no longer sing in front of a live audience. After the group’s disbandment, Thorn and Watt released solo albums, and had indicated that it was unlikely they would ever record together again as Everything But the Girl.

The new Everything But The Girl album will be released in Spring 2023.

Jérôme Reuter never stops releasing new productions under his sonic alter-ego Rome. Reuter is a prolific artist who never stops releasing new master pieces. His newest opus “Hegemonikon” (Trisol) however reveals a little evolution in sound, the Dark-Folk sound getting injected with elements of Pop. I’d a new chat with Jérôme Reuter, talking about the album and the war in Ukraine.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: In a previous interview you expressed some doubts about how live performances and tours would evolve  because of the pandemic? What’s your answer and experiences two years later and how important was it to you to be back on stage again?

Jérôme: Playing live has become almost essential to my well-being, to be honest. And also, it is the only way to survive financially. Though it remains to be seen if that will still be true in a few years time, the way things are going… I don’t have any answers, but let me tell you (and most of the colleagues I have talked to about this so far agree): the pandemic was a joke compared to the war and inflation. The situation is much more severe now.

Q: One of your most ‘special’ and ‘emotional’ concerts must have been the one in Ukraine, right? How did the concert -which I think was a charity concert, happened? How did it feel and what did you keep in mind from this event and the contacts with citizens?

Jérôme: Yes, this was a charity concert I did to raise money for the refugee shelter in Lviv that we have been supporting since the start of the war. We did a first online stream (from my homebase, Fort Nera in Luxembourg) in March. And we decided to do the second one on Ukrainian soil to show support. We will of course continue to support our European brothers and hopefully be able to bring the full band for shows in Lviv and the capital in February ’23. As to what I witnessed there… Well… How to even begin to describe a war-time concert? To be honest, my last shows in Odessa and Kyiv (17-18.02.22) just a few days before the invasion were extremely intense and emotional. And this one in July was certainly no less impressive. Playing through air raid sirens to people who have lived through so many hardships… I lack the words. Anyway, I have never seen such strength and resolve in the face of possible annihilation. I am with the Ukrainian people all the way and I admire them for their courage and their tremendously inspiring fighting spirit. 

Q: You for sure must have a fan basis in Russia. Are you still in touch with people over there and could you imagine playing there again one day? What would you say to Russian people and music lovers?

Jérôme: Yes, we had some amazing shows in Russia. In fact, some of the best audiences we have ever had. Some of them were in touch when this all started, but it’s gone all quiet now. I have seen too much of this war and people very very close to me have lost friends in the fighting. Some are back from captivity, others are still unaccounted for. Maybe if all lands are returned, all prisoners released and the Russian leadership bears a completely different face I will think about going there again… but I don’t see that happening anytime soon.

Q: The new album “Hegemonikon – A Journey To The End Of Light” has a strong philosophical taste while I think it also appears to be a reflection about the current world we’re living in. What did you have in mind when writing this album and what does it exactly reflect?

Jérôme: I wrote it around 2020/2021, so the references to Ukraine and its capital in “No Second Troy” were…  let’s call it a happy accident. But of course, there is a particular mindset, conflict or aesthetic at the heart of this album that deals with the notions of empire -which are all around us now.

Q: I noticed passages of the album with an explicit ‘Wave’ and ‘Pop’ touch on top? It reminds me to Echo & Bunnymen and even Depeche Mode. Is this an aspect you recognize and was there any specific focus in the writing process?

Jérôme: Yes, that is quite deliberate, as a matter of fact. We have finally discovered analogue synths for us in the meantime and wanted to incorporate them into our sound which, in my view, is an interesting and rewarding musical enhancement to our sonic universe. You gotta keep re-inventing yourself to a degree.

Q: You’ve released an impressive number of productions and remain a true prolific artist. How important is music to you and more explicitly Rome as your sonic alter ego?

Jérôme: Rome is everything. Literally everything. It’s my life’s work and everything revolves around it.

Q: You already did a lot of things so what are the further plans and achievements?

Jérôme: Only time will tell. I am currently working on an album on Ukraine -not a big surprise, I guess, but it promises to be quite an interesting album, to my mind. Apart from that, I hope to be able to play live again more and more now…

(By Stéphane Froidcoeur for Inferno Sound Diaries/Side-Line Reviews) 2022 has been once again a sad, bloody and terrible year. Living in a mad world music once more remains a true therapy to appease pain and frustration. Concerts and festivals came back; the perfect place to meet friends again. Artists remain prolific releasing great studio work. So I’m once more closing the year by a personal selection of my very own ‘best of’-albums of the year.

Over 700 productions have been selected while 540  reviews have been made all over the year. Some productions have been refused because the style of music didn’t fit, while other reviews will be postponed to 2023. I’m really grateful to all labels, bands and promoters considering my work and efforts and I hope you’ll go on providing me new promos next year.

I one again have to express my deepest gratitude to Rich Bova (NEIKKA RPM) who for years and years now is reading, correcting and improving my reviews. Without Rich there would be no reviews. I also want to thank Bernard Van Isacker – chief redactor Side-Line Music Magazine – for the successful collaboration. 

Up now to 2023. I already reduced my activities this year and will move on reducing it in 2023. I made my first reviews and interviews back in 1991 (!). Some of the readers and artists weren’t even born when I wrote my first review for Side-Line. So after more than 30 years non-stop activities I think it’s not that strange to move on slowly.

I also want to express a big ‘F*** you’ to so-called ‘artists’ and label owners who don’t realise and appreciate the work I’m doing by making reviews and preparing interviews to get them in the spotlights. The attitude and less of respect shown by those people – luckily a very few number – is just unacceptable… but I’m afraid it reflects the world we’re living in… Behind a genius artist is not always hiding a great person… It’s quite strange to realise the ’biggest’- and long-time established artists from this scene often are the most accessible ones.

Writing reviews remains very ‘subjective’ and always a source of discussion, but keep in mind it will be always the perception of the reviewer. I can assure you I’m always trying to argue my reviews the best as possible. A review will be never objective, but has to be honest!

Like every year I’ve made a selection from the best albums of the year. This ‘TOP 25’ covers different styles like EBM, Dark-Electro, IDM, Synth-Pop, Ethereal, Dark-Ambient, Industrial, Cinematographic, Gothic, Post-Punk, Cold/Dark-Wave, Dark-Techno and a few related genres. It remains an exciting but tough exercise.

This ‘TOP 25’ is taken from the promotional material I got while compilations, ‘best of’-productions, EP’s and singles were not considered.

So, here’s my ‘TOP 25’ from 2022 and don’t forget to share it with your friends….

Top 25 albums 2022

1. IVARDENSPHERE: “Ragemaker” – Metropolis Records
2. DIE ROBO SAPIENS : “Robo Sapien Race” – Alfa Matrix
3. EBE04 : “Inrush – Give/Take
4. CALDON GLOVER: “Labyrintia” – Cyclic Law
5. ROME: “Hegemonikon” – Trisol
6. NEIKKA RPM: “Scorpio In The Hourglass – Alfa Matrix
7. VANGUARD: “Spectrum” – Infacted Recordings
8. SUICIDE COMMANDO: “Goddestructor” – Out Of Line
9. ELM: “Penetrator” – Alfa Matrix
10. OBERER TOTPUNKT: “Totentanz” – Danse Macabre Records
11. THE BIRTHDAY MASSACRE: “Fascination” – Metropolis Records
12. BLACKBOOK: “Confessions Of The Innocent” – DarkTunes Music Group
13. BEYOND THE GHOST: “Sundown” – Cryo Chamber
14. THEN COMES SILENCE: “Hunger” – Metropolis Records
15. PRINCIPE VALLIENTE: “Barricades” – Metropolis Records
16. DAWN OF ASHES: “Scars Of The Broken” – Artoffact Records
17. MONSTERGOD: “Ozymandias” – Space Race Records
18. STATIQBLOOM: “Threat” – Sonic Groove Records
19. AXIOME: “Field Guide To Alien Planets And Other Disco Balls – Audiophob
20. REICHSFEIND: “Darken” – Alfa Matrix
21. FIRST AID 4 SOULS: “I Am The Night” – Alfa Matrix
22. ORDO ROSARIUS EQUILIBRIO: “Nihilist Notes And The Perputual Quest 4 Meaning In Nothing” – Out Of Line
23. KILL SHELTER: “Asylum” – Manic Depression Records / Metropolis Records
24. JAGATH: “Svapna” – Cold Spring Records
25. KILL YOUR BOYFRIEND: “Voodoo” – Shyrec

A new Delerium album wil come out on February 3rd,2023 on Metropolis records. The release will be dedicated to the late Dave Heckman who passed away on Friday, July 29th this year, only 68 years old.

The album has been mastered already in September but you will have to wait a few months before its gets released. Rhys Fulber and Bill Leeb didn’t announce any guest vocalists yet but Los Angeles based singer Lillian Kanga Duchamp will be part of the line-up for sure.

No more details are known for the moment about the new Delerium album.

Delirium released its last album in 2015, “Mythologie”, which is the fourteenth studio album by Canadian band. It was their first album for Metropolis Records. The album was produced by Bill Leeb and Rhys Fulber with the help of Jared Slingerland and Craig Johnsen. Guestvocalists included Mimi Page, Phildel, Jaël, JES, Geri Soriano-Lightwood and Leah Randi.

Serbian industrial rock/electronic project dreDDup have released a new video “Roots of Them” to end this year, their 25th Anniversary celebration, in style.

The music video is mostly edited from video material shot in the period spanning the years 1998 to 2012, 70% of which was never before released to the public, with some new video footage as well. The whole was directed by a film director Mihajlo Obrenov.

This year the band has been shooting 10 music videos for some old songs that didn’t have a visual presentation yet but which are present in their live sets all the time.

“Roots of Them” was originally released in 1998 when the dreDDup members were just 16 years old. on the self-titled cassette. It was re-released later in 2019. by Librarion Records on a compilation which featured only 90s dreDDup tracks. Around that period the band was mostly influenced by Prodigy, Chemical Brothers and Praga Khan.

After their recently released new EP “Witch Heart Apparition”, the Finnish dark elektro duo Miseria Ultima (Aleksi Martikainen on vocals and Kimmo Huhtala on synths) now strikes back with their 3rd studio album on their new label Alfa Matrix.

The band’s trademark sound is clearly present again, so you can expect cold melancholic atmospheres and strong melodies with harsh aggressive vocals and dark elektro assaults. “In Colors of Void” will feature 11 songs dealing with mortality and tragic death and how we are facing grief and such sudden loss.

“It is all about chaos theory, choices, and causality – and also about psychic vampirism…”, says Aleksi Martikainen. “In songs like ‘Shutter’ and ‘Devoid Of Coloration’, I write about the sudden decay of mind after manipulation and also about the total death of self-consciousness…”

You can check the full album below. The release is also out on CD, next to the download version on Bandcamp.

Also check out the below videos including the official video clip for “Witch Heart Apparition” and one for “Caressing The Pale” in a Siva Six remix.

Komor Kommando, the industrial/EBM solo-project of Sebastian Komor (Icon Of Coil, Zombie Girl, Bruderschaft), finally strikes back with an all new 8-track EP, 9 years after his last release, the “Hail the rhythm” EP. This new EP, “One By One”, blends old and new, incorporating classic EBM vibes with a modern EDM inspired production and is available now from Bandcamp.

The title song “One By One” features guest female vocals by Azul Far from The True UnioN. Sebastian explains: “I was doing the mixing and production for her new release and after hearing her vocals I just had to ask her to sing on one of my new tracks. I was simply blown away! Her vocals took the song to places I could not even imagine at the time…” The song also comes in a remix by Brute Opposition and by Sebastian Komor himself who gave it a retro synth twist in its “xenomorph remix” version.

Next to “One By One” the EP holds 2 other brand new tracks: “Get Off The X” and the instrumental “Brahmua”. “Get Off The X” was remixed as well, by C-Lekktor, Anthony (H) And Clockwork Echo.

One of the best modern EBM acts is back alive and kicking! You can check out and download the full EP below on Bandcamp before it hits the other platforms two weeks from now.

The Ukrainian dark foll act Pororoka, one of the biggest surprises on our “Electronic Resistance” compilation featuring darkwave / post​-​punk acts from Ukraine, has released a new lyric video featuring the Ukrainian floral life.

The video is devoted to the beauty of Kyiv’s nature and features plenty of shots.

Ukrainians are currently paying a very heavy price defending their freedom in the face of Russian aggression. The unjust war launched by Russia has been going on for more than six months and has led to countless human deaths, untold suffering, and widespread infrastructure destruction. The ecological damage has also been considerable. In fact the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine estimates the current ecological damage at 395 billion hryvnias or nearly $10 billion US dollars. Authorities are continuing to document facts of air, soil, and water pollution.

Svitlanka Sugak, frontwoman of Pororoka, explains us the video: “This video was conceived as a way of showing the breathtaking beauty of Kyiv’s nature and the wide variety of flowers that grow on just one meadow in the city’s northern outskirts. During spring and summer of 2020-2021, when there were quarantine restrictions on visiting public places, I began walking unfamiliar locations observing and documenting floral life. I shot photos and videos of nearly 50 types of flowers in one location. I observed how one type of flower changes another, how the aggressive types take over more territory, how some of the flowers bloom several times from may to October. But alas, these days such walks have become an inaccessible luxury for me and my fellow Ukrainians, who have to deal with frequent air raid alerts and the need to seek shelter. Harsh reality sure has a way of giving you a fresh perspective on things and helping you to re-evaluate life. Today I see these flowers not as something abstract, but as children of our Motherland, symbols of hope that the enemy cannot destroy, hope that we will soon, once again be able to walk our land freely without the threat of bombs and shells raining down on us.”

Pororoka is Ukrainian dark-folk band founded in Kyiv in 2017. The band uses ethnic vocal technics and ethnic instruments and has its roots firmly in Ukrainian folk music. The name ‘Pororoka ‘ means a wave, which appears twice in a year on the Amazon River, when Atlantic Ocean invades into it.

You can watch the beautiful video below.

The Norwegian synthwave / darkwave / electronic dream-pop project Lights A.M returns with “Clouds”, a 10-track new album today. Lights A.M is the project of Erlend Eilertsen (aka Essence Of Mind’s frontman) and offers what he himself describes as being “quite melancholic, but always with a tint of hope and a deeper meaning; it is a reflection of life and how it can feel sometimes, from everything from dark days, sleepless nights and the loss of someone close, to hope, appreciation and the feeling of connecting to everything as a part of our journey.”

The label from its side describes it as “dream pop with elements from shoegaze and synth pop”. All in all very enjoyable music that can only come from the Nordics. The release is available now on Bandcamp and all other online streaming and downloadplatforms. You can check the full release below. In the next few days you can expect an interview with Erlend.

The release is the follow-up to last year’s well-received “Stories Without Words” and was teased by the 2-track single “Run Away”. Below are the official clips for the album tracks “Run Away” and “Another Life”.

Trepanation Recordings has announced the imminent release of “The Anchorhold Dissolution” by Leicester (UK) based Phil Stiles versus Seattle (USA) based DJ Shane Aungst on digital download and limited edition CD on 10th June. You can pre-order your copy, as well as a bundle featuring “The Anchorhold” and “The Anchorhold Dissolution”, right here from Bandcamp.

For this release the duo was influenced by the likes of Nine Inch Nail’s “Fixed” and Massive Attack Vs The Mad Professor. “Dissolution” is a fresh take on 2021’s “The Anchorhold” album with DJ Shane Aungst rebuilding the album from the ground up, remixing each of the pieces and adjusting the running order to create something entirely new. As we all know the splendid work Shane Aungst has delivered for our “Face The Beat” series, you can be sure that this album follows the same quality path.

Phil actually first encountered Shane via his remixwork for our very own “Face the Beat” series, produced in conjunction with Side-Line Magazine.

The result was not unlike the original Anchorhold collaborations, where each of the guest artists brought something wholly unique to the record, and the pair began talking. Initially, the idea was for Shane to remix one or two songs, but in the end ideas for a grander project formed – a full album remix that would allow Shane to put his own stamp on the whole record. The musical conclusion is “The Anchorhold Dissolution” billed as ‘Phil Stiles Vs Shane Aungst’.

Of the project, Phil said: “I honestly never expected that Shane would have the time or the interest to create an entirely new vision for the album. When we started talking, it was one of our various late-night rambles and we were chatting about some of the artists that we both love. Perhaps inevitably Nine Inch Nails came up, and we started talking about how amazing it was that Trent was able to present versions of his records that were substantially different and yet really added something to the experience.
The next thing I know, Shane starts sending through these amazing versions of songs from The Anchorhold. Each take offers something different, but what I didn’t release until the end was that Shane had a masterplan, creating a new sequence that saw the songs become increasingly splintered until the molten-vinyl finale of It Follows Me. For me, despite having worked for over a year on the original record, it was like hearing the album for the first time, and I am so happy that Shane was able to create something that took the intent of the original and filtered it through his own, highly individual vision.”

With new artwork, once again from Final Coil’s Jola Stiles, and additional mastering from Phil, “The Anchorhold Dissolution” is now available in pre-order. You can already check a first track, “C21H22N2O2”, right below.

Out now is “Yrjudas”, the debut album by ImJudas, the electro-rock solo project by Italian artist Maxx Maryan, founding member and male half of the electro metal duo Helalyn Flowers. Initially started as a noir dyed electro pop project back in 2016, ImJudas over the years added a rough guitar component.

Note that the 2CD version of the album ( available from the Alfa Matrix webstore ) holds a bonus disc featuring “Via Negativa” by Maxx’ deathrock metal project Black Shine Fever. On Bandcamp you can get both releases as seperate albums: “Yrjudas” / “Via Negativa”.

But let’s first dive into “Yrjudas” together with Maxx who we contacted earlier this week.

SL: Maxx, “Ritual” is an excellent example of 80s synthpop which has something of the typical anthems produced back then. Some Duran Duran, some Nick Kershaw and definitely lots of Killing Joke, it has it all. Were those eighties the perfect era for you musically speaking?

IMJUDAS: As a decade, the 80s represented my very first one of life, so it seems natural to me that I was heavily influenced by those sounds. Especially if you think that there is always a lot of music in my house, between my parents and my uncle who is himself a keyboard player, singer and lyricist. So, my first years of life were set to music by a very large part of what were Pop and Rock of that period, before, at the age of 7, I began to choose my records to buy and to take an active interest in the music scene. In particular, I remember that I have always paid a lot of attention to sounds and productions. The sound and the production of those years were space! So technological, atmospheric, full of effects and reverbs, keyboards to go, electronic drums … but above all great melodies.

That of the melody is a fundamental aspect for me and today I see that a lot of current music is lacking it. Yes, the 80s were the throne of good music for me. Alongside them are the 70s on one side and the 90s on the other, both mirrored and united by the desire to experiment and graft various types of sound. Above all, great cultural epicenters were spontaneously created. Most of the CDs I buy are usually albums from the 80s, be it Pop, Metal, Dance and more, and that reflects a lot of the music I make. Either way, mine isn’t a retro operation or kind of attitude, at all. I realize afterwards that I actually own entire skyline columns of CDs from that era! It’s simply because I really like it!

SL: Another track that has this feeling is for me the absolute hit track from your album, “People Of The Blame (canned anger)”. What is it about actually?

IMJUDAS: It is a protest song against the preset patterns of alleged protest that the system provides. It is above all an individual stance against the polarization processes of public opinion. Today people are exasperated, pressed about the mess that happens around and pushed to create an opinion and a kind of credibility in a few minutes, with a few clicks. But often the positions taken are those of the official factions. Expressing oneself freely is equivalent to being a fascist nowadays. Just look around, ‘politically correct’ reigns and it has the tones of a soft but exhausting dictatorship.

SL: Is there a perfect formula as far as songwriting goes for you?

IMJUDAS: In the initial approach I would say no. In “Yrjudas” there are songs born from the guitar (“Lost Boy”, “Without Us You’re Nothing”), from the voice (“People Of The Blame”, “There’s A Stranger In Your House”) or from synth and electronic programming (“Tulpa”, “Outcast”, “Apostatik”). Sometimes, since I always have so many lyrics already written without music, I improvise melodies on the sound of the words and so on. There is, however, a recurring element in my writing: inconvenience and devotion to chance. These are very important factors for me because they trigger a reaction in what is my primordial stream from which I extract my music.

SL: A track like “Origin” is fully industrialized as a song. On purpose to offer a black duck in the whole nest?

IMJUDAS: This is a very instinctive song. Paradigm of the raw idea that is refined thanks to the dynamics of pure chance. It all started with this tribal drum beat in my head and the obsessive “Guess who? Guess what?” chorus, which then kicked off the lyrics. I wanted the track to be dark and tricky. I knew I was doing something different than the rest of the album. It’s a bit like my signature, if you notice well it’s the same thing with “Spiritual Critical Gothic” on the Black Shine Fever album. I think it’s a way to take space inside me. Musically, I think “Origin” is very tied to my love for Coil.

SL: The project already exists since 2016, I have seen you gradually polishing your sound, how do you look back at your first recordings?

IMJUDAS: Actually, the project was born in the last days of 2013. The refrain of “People of the blame” was the first thing that went through my head, on the road with Helalyn Flowers, back home. I approached a few weeks later in the studio and the opening octave notes of “People of the blame” were the very first to be put on track. From there then in a chain with the rest, but not immediately in a fluid way. At that time I was very focused on what was to be the album “Sonic Foundation” by Helalyn Flowers (to which I will always be particularly connected to). It was only at the end of 2015 that I was able to put on a first 4 tracks demo that I ran among very few ‘experts’ (you were the very first) so far unreleased (but which I will publish as a bonus in the next EP / single taken from the album).

Initially, IMJUDAS was more an opportunity for me to go back to singing, and do it with my lyrics, since I have always written so many, always nourishing the need to interpret them through singing and music. I was born as a singer, before everything else. The first band I sang in I had when I was 13. So it was a bit like going back to basics for me. My voice, my words, a lot of melody on a synth carpet and a drum machine. Stop. This is how it all started. I think in my head it should have offered something really different than Helalyn Flowers (since I have never understood side projects that are almost the same as the mother-bands). This is why there were initially almost zero guitars.

But it already had a total rock soul. I don’t think you have to have high volume guitars to be rock. If I hear Depeche Mode or an album like “The Art Of Falling Apart” by Soft Cell I can see absolutely relevant rock and glam influences. This ‘format’ has survived over the span of the first released singles and covers I made of classics from Depeche Mode, Front 242 and Death SS. Then something started to get tight. I was born plunged in rock and the guitar is fundamental for me. Ok pure electronics, but, you understand, it is a PART of me, it cannot represent me 100%, but rather its hybridization with rock. I have therefore overcome my fear of somehow replicating my work with Helalyn Flowers, also because in IMJUDAS I can show further influences of my background, such as black music and rock n’roll of the 60s and 70s, otherwise outside context.

There was, therefore, a period of further layering of the songs with the guitar recording sessions, in which I can say that I had the feeling of having hit the heart of the project. A music band is a process of self-knowledge, it goes step by step, and each member offers his/ her slice of background. In the case of IMJUDAS, I had to dismember myself and then reassemble myself, like the deities of the old myths.

SL: Your usual partner in crime Noemi was not involved in this project, I guess she did act as a mirror to give you feedback no?

IMJUDAS: Obviously not in a main way, but still she is! Apart from the amazing art design that she was able to create in representation of her art factory Toxic Visions ( http://www.toxic-visions.com ), not only for IMJUDAS but also for “Via Negativa” by Black Shine Fever, logos, photos, artwork, everything!, but also for her writing contribution for the song “Cruel Times”, starting from her own idea of ​​voice, then for the guest soul choirs on “Without Us You’re Nothing” and finally for the electric bass parts on the track “Uranian (Ad Gratiam)” by Black Shine Fever that she actually played.

Yes, since the very beginning of the project she has always been a beacon for me, a source of encouragement and inspiration. It was she who encouraged me to share IMJUDAS with the world, at a time when I was withdrawn and wanted to keep these songs just to myself. Always precious advices on how to make the most of my voice. Usually I don’t follow anyone’s advice, nor do I go in search of external opinions, but her point of view is always very close to my heart, as well as for everything that binds us besides music, precisely because I have a huge esteem for her as an artist in toto. She is the only one with whom I have ever agreed on the approach on how to make a band and how to stand in the public eye.

SL: What was your modus operandi to record your material? Can you describe the process from demo to finished track?

IMJUDAS: As I said, I have a lot of respect for what chance can bring with it. I always start by not curing one component at a time before moving on to another, but I quickly try to pull up in the shortest way what looks like a definitive shape as much as possible. A sort of transparent primordial chaos, in which the final song is perfectly outlined. Synth, electronic drums and bass are the first instruments to be abused. I get very carried away by the sound banks I can come across, so I don’t start with a rigid conception, but with the general idea of ​​the song, because for me it is important to be able to make good songs and you can do a good song in infinite versions, with endless different sounds and it will always remain a good song. What I always do is sing, even improvising if I didn’t already have the scores in mind, on what comes out, even at an embryonic level.

It happens that I take my lyric book and I start pulling down melodies based on the phonetic sound as well. Then begins a series of overwrites, especially in terms of groove and dubbing of the instruments themselves. I am a lover of the wall of sound and large and airy productions, I am not a simple type, rather a very baroque one who, even when aiming for simplicity, always does so with a particular architecture. I try to have as much rhythm material, keyboards and electronics as possible (and even some choir-guides) before moving on to the guitars which represent a very creative and laborious phase within the recording sessions. As can be heard from listening, in this case I have a double soul: that of the rougher rock and the liquid and toxic one of dark and new wave.

Finally, the voices, for which I always allow myself a margin of improvisation that I like to ride as a chance to create new things that know how to amaze me and not make me remain closed in the fixity of the first expectation. I spare you the painful mixing and mastering processes because I still have to soak up the hangover from them!

SL: You also included an album of Black Shine Fever, a death rock/metal project, as a bonus disc with the ImJudas album on CD, that will be a shocker! Can you tell a bit more about the genesis?

IMJUDAS: Black Shine Fever was born spontaneously alongside IMJUDAS. Probably in the beginning one expressed what the other did not do. It started as an evolution in dark / punk and death rock terrain (but coated with black and death metal, the primeval one of Quorthon and his Bathory, so to speak) of an old black metal project of mine dating back to 1995, then took its own specific path, not only at a musical level but also at the level of an introspective path of self-knowledge, dismembering and dissecting parts of me under the effigy of spiritual torment and doubt.

This is why there is a perversely sacred air inside “Via Negativa”. I think it’s an album that has taken on the importance for me as a book that changes your life. In that case, I had to write and play it myself and then decipher its meaning. It was a very important experience and one that I will never forget. “Via Negativa” did not start out as an actual album project, it went through various stages of processing (there is also a three-track demo from 2015) before reaching its final form.

It was supposed to be released for a small indie label, but then the project vanished and I found myself holding one of my most important works in the drawer. “Via Negativa” was the black sun of “Yrjudas”, “Yrjudas” would not exist without the experience of Black Shine Fever. For this I asked Seba of Alfa Matrix to be able to release this double album, rejoicing in the final result.

SL: Was this a one off album or do you plan to do more with this, I actually like it a lot and it sounds so much better than what is usually available in that scene.

IMJUDAS: This double IMJUDAS / Black Shine Fever album is the result of spontaneous events, a story written by itself, not started with the intent of the final form. For this reason, its expressive power is perceived, which is authentic and disconnected from commercial targets and expectations. It would be great to repeat. Not so much because I have unreleased material from Black Shine Fever, but more than anything else it would consolidate my personal format capable of expressing my artistic soul.

SL: Where did you get the choirs from the “Metanoia” intro?

IMJUDAS: It is an excerpt from the Kyrie, mass for 4 voices by William Byrd, English Renaissance composer and organist. I have always loved sacred music (and liturgical too), thanks to my father who is himself an organist and tenor. The idea of ​​incorporating Byrd’s Kyrie was inspired by an old Paul Chain song, “Armageddon”.

SL: How have you kept yourself busy besides writing music these past two dreadful years?

IMJUDAS: … writing music! Not so much for me, but on commission, see for example all the work I have done and am doing for Elyose, among others. I recently completed the album of my very first black metal project Okkultum Magnificentia (out now and available on Bandcamp ) which I founded in 1994, releasing various cassettes and vinyls between the 90s and the early 00s, before freezing everything and exhuming it in the last few years, closing the circle with an album such eagerly waited in the scene for two decades now. In the meantime, I am helping Noemi with the recording and production of her solo work which will be wonderful and will amaze many as well as further affirm her as the great artist she is.

Truth be told, the past couple of years haven’t been that bad for me. There was, yes, some boredom due to some limitations, but nothing that could define this period as “bad” for me. In the end I always do what I want, I’m a lawless. I am not afraid of institutions, I always keep myself informed and know my rights, so as not to be fooled by the authority on duty. For the rest, I keep going. I’m a master of getting by, epicurean, if you like. I live on the edge of society, I can consider myself an X-citizen. Music, the street and nature are my life.

SL: I lived during the cold war, you weren’t born yet I think? But it’s back again…. what is your take?

IMJUDAS: I was born in 1979, the golden year of disco music!, so, yes, I was there during the cold war. As a child, I experienced the end of the old Soviet Union live. My position is solely in favor of those who are suffering, losing, dying for something they never asked for. This is a war in which the mistakes of the world’s major economic blocs are being counted. When too many errors are recorded, then wars are waged to make a clean sweep. It is always like this.

This is a war fought by civilian volunteers and soldiers, both Ukrainians and Russians, who fall like flies for the interests of governments, greyness incarnate armored in the Kremlin, the White House and the European Parliament. People are treated as anthills and lands are exploited for resources. My empathy goes out to the poor people who are truly losing the important things in their lives. Both Ukrainian and Russian. And also to those who died during the war in Donbass from 2014 onwards.

We must not fall into ostracizing the Russian population, as I already see it happening. Culture is peace, it is unity. War is driven by the magnates and technocrats, not the people, unless they are systematically brainwashed at the cultural and media level by the states. This is a war for territory. In any case, talk is cheap. The fight costs life itself. As well as escape. And also to stay. Fuck the world, save yourselves.

This weekend Side-Line released “Electronic Resistance“, a 55-track compilation featuring darkwave / post​-​punk acts from the Ukrainian underground scene only on Bandcamp. Compiled in the past few weeks in – extremely – difficult conditions it offers you an insight into the Ukrainian dark underground and also reflects what all of them are going through. It suffices to see some of the titles on this compilation to understand what we mean.

All donations will go to the bands involved and/or a humanitarian project of their choice. Although this is a free compilation, we do encourage everyone to be very generous.

The release goes hand in hand with a photo book which will act as a testimonial of every band participating in this compilation. The release of this book is planned for early May as we are still working on getting all the material secured.

Also, everyone pre-ordering the photo book by mid-April will be added in the credits as sponsor. Benoit Blanchart from Alfa Matrix / Aiboforcen will take care of the design of the book.

And there’s more, the famous graphic artist Dirk Stallaert (Belgium) made a drawing which will be featured in the preface of the book. Compiler Bernard Van Isacker explains: “I know Dirk for years and have always appreciated his work whether it was for Nino, Nero or any other material he worked on, I also have various originals from him. In early March I asked him if he would be up for making a drawing. He succeeded in delivering a drawing which perfectly showcases the idea behind this compilation and the struggle the Ukrainian people, in this case musicians, are undergoing. And there’s more, but I will reveal that in a later stage.”

Besides this you can also support the artists by getting your ‘Electronic Resistance’ T-shirt, or a packet holding both the photo book and the T-shirt. For the big fans, you can also sponsor a band in direct via a special perk.

Let’s act, not just talk

The 55 bands reacted in record time on a call spread by Side-Line via social media in Ukraine and Ukrainian darkwave fans were themselves contacting bands to participate. The bands on the compilation represent a good example from the dark scene in the country covering post-punk, industrial, darkwave, dark folk, dark rock, noise and dark ambient and this from allover Ukraine, from Odesa, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Mariupol, and many other cities.

When we say that the release happened in extremely difficult conditions we refer to the fact that many of the artists are right now in the frontline, or help in all kind of services from the fire departement to field hospitals. Others are distributing food, others have been forced out of their destroyed homes.

Bernard Van Isacker adds: “Within the first 48 hours after that call for submissions went live in Ukraine, I received the largest bulk of the submissions, with some bands even using their phones to transfer files from the frontline. To not loose time Erlend Eilertsen (Lights A.M, Essence Of Mind) immediately started work on the sound in his studio in Norway the moment all material had arrived. Within 4 days we had the material ready for upload. In the meantime the biggest challenge was to set up a communication line with every band to secure the paperwork as well, not easy when you know you are trying to contact people who are on the run, or in metro stations seeking refuge or who are on combat missions. But in the end all got arranged. I must say that this is probably the most rewarding release I have worked on in years despite the long nights, little sleep and in-between all my other work which also needed to be done. But the feedback I got from the participating bands was very heartwarming.”

As we speak, the compilation has reached the number 1 spot in the industrial charts on Bandcamp, thanks to you, our readers who are very supportive once again.

Bernard Van Isacker: “I must say that this is probably the most rewarding release I have worked on in years. I have been completing this project every evening after all my day job and evening work was done, so it have been very short nights for me the past few weeks. But the feedback I got from the participating bands was very heartwarming.”

Van Isacker also plans to head for Ukraine: “I promised that the participating artists would also get their merchandise and books, so I’ll stick to my word and I will personally hand it over to them. I have already assembled a team around me who wants to go with me as part of a humanitarian convoy to deliver goods there. That will be organized by another action here locally in Belgium for which I have already laid the contacts. This is an ongoing story…”

Factory Records was a Manchester-based British independent record label founded in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus. The label featured several important acts on its roster, including Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, the Durutti Column, Happy Mondays, Northside, and (briefly) Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and James. Factory also ran The Haçienda nightclub, in partnership with New Order.

By 1992, the label’s two most successful bands caused the label serious financial trouble. The Happy Mondays were recording their troubled fourth album “Yes Please!” in Barbados and overspent their initial £150,000 budget with £230,000 reaching £380,000 in total. New Order from their side spent £430,000 on recording their comeback album “Republic”. London Records were interested in taking over Factory but the deal fell through when it emerged that, due to Factory’s early practice of eschewing contracts (New Order never had a formal contract with Factory), New Order rather than the label owned New Order’s back catalogue.

Factory Communications Ltd, the company formed in 1981, declared bankruptcy in November 1992. In 1994, Wilson attempted to revive Factory Records, in collaboration with London Records, as “Factory Too”. The first release was by Factory stalwarts the Durutti Column; the other main acts on the label were Hopper and Space Monkeys, and the label gave a UK release to the first album by Stephin Merritt’s side project the 6ths, Wasps’ Nests. A further release ensued: a compilation EP featuring previously unsigned Manchester acts East West Coast, the Orch, Italian Love Party, and K-Track. This collection of 8 tracks (2 per band) was simply entitled A Factory Sample Too (FACD2.02). The label was active until the late 1990s, latterly independent of London Records, as was “Factory Once”, which organised reissues of Factory material. Wilson founded a short-lived fourth incarnation, F4 Records, in the early 2000s.

Broken arms and drugs

Happy Mondays’ “Yes Please!” recordings are a story in itself. This was the fourth studio album by the Happy Mondays and Factory Records reckoned that following the succes of the non-album single “Judge Fudge”, the band deserved a budget of £150,000 for their next album, and as you read above, they didn’t spent £150,000, but £380,000 on their album.

After settling on producers Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth, both members of Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club, Happy Mondays decamped to Blue Wave Studio in Saint Philip, Barbados in February 1992 where the sessions were plagued by a variety of issues. Frontman Shaun Ryder for instance developed a crack habit. A public relations representative from the band’s label Factory Records even had to issue a statement on Ryder’s behalf, denouncing his drug use. Dancer Bez from his side broke his arm three (!!) times. With little finished material and a lack of lyrics the band returned to the United Kingdom where Ryder was admitted into a detox centre. Recording continued for two weeks in May 1992 at Comfort’s Place Studio in Lingfield, Surrey, where Ryder did his vocals.

The album “Yes Please!” received mixed reviews from music critics. It did sell 50,000 copies by the end of the year but that wasn’t enough by far to keep Factory Records afloat. The band disbanded in 1993, and have reformed several times in subsequent decades.

Here’s some MTV coverage on the band’s “Yes Please!” from a time when the channel still was worth checking out.

And New Order?

They signed with London Records, the label that was initially going to save Factory Records. Apart from New Order also Morris and Gilbert separately signed with the label for their side project The Other Two, whose debut album was originally intended for release on Factory. “Republic”, released around the world in 1993, spawned the singles “Regret”, “Ruined in a Day”, “World”, and “Spooky”.

Tony Wilson made little money from Factory Records or the Haçienda

In the end Factory Records owner Tony Wilson made little money from Factory Records or the Haçienda, despite the enormous popularity and cultural significance of both endeavours. Both Factory Records and the Haçienda came to an abrupt end in the late 1990s.

Wilson died of a heart attack in Manchester’s Christie Hospital on 10 August 2007 aged 57 following kidney cancer for which he was unable to pay the treatment. A number of Wilson’s music industry friends, including former Happy Mondays manager Nathan McGough, their current manager Elliot Rashman and TV stars Richard Madeley and Judy Finnegan, formed a fund to help pay for Wilson’s medical treatment.

Here’s a very rare interview with Wilson, one year before the label would fold followed by a splendid BBC documentary on Factory Records.

Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. During the late 1970s bands such as the Human League, Kraftwerk, and later on Gary Numan, Soft Cell and John Foxx helped pioneer a new synth-pop style that drew more heavily from electronic music and emphasized primary usage of synthesizers. Developed in the late 1970s it has seen several revival periods up until now.

We picked out the best synthpop albums from the past 4 decades (!!!). Here’s our list.

The Human League – “Dare” (1981)

The Human League are ‘oldies’ when it comes to synthpop. Formed in Sheffield in 1977 and initially an experimental electronic outfit, the group attained widespread commercial success with their third album “Dare” in 1981. The album contained four hit singles, including the UK/US number one hit “Don’t You Want Me”. The band’s third studio album, it was recorded between March and September 1981 following the departure of founding members Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh, and saw the band shift direction from their prior avant-garde electronic style toward a more pop-friendly, commercial sound led by frontman Philip Oakey. A remix album based on “Dare”, “Love and Dancing”, was released in 1982.

Talk Talk – “It’s My Life” (1984)

Talk Talk were an English band formed in 1981, led by Mark Hollis (vocals, guitar, piano), Lee Harris (drums), and Paul Webb (bass). The group achieved early chart success with the synth-pop singles “Talk Talk” (1982), “It’s My Life”, and “Such a Shame” (both 1984) before moving towards a more experimental approach in the mid-1980s. Not surprisingly that our next pick is “It’s My Life”, the second studio album by Talk Talk, released in 1984. The album enjoyed an enormous succes thanks to the big international success of its singles (notably “Such a Shame”). We have a soft spot for the tracks “Dum Dum Girl”, “Such a Shame”, “Renée”, “It’s My Life” and “It’s You” although the entire album is just extremely enjoyable.

Alphaville – “Forever Young” (1984)

The German synth-pop band Alphaville, which formed in Münster in 1982, achieved chart success with the singles “Forever Young”, “Big in Japan”, “Sounds Like a Melody”. All these were taken from their 1984 debut album “Forever Young” which was produced by Colin Pearson, Wolfgang Loos and Andreas Budde. Despite the success of the album and its singles, the band did not tour as they felt more like ‘studio rats’. It remains the band’s best output to date.

a-ha – “Scoundrel Days” (1986)

The Norwegian synth-pop band a-ha was formed in Oslo in 1982 by Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (guitars), Magne Furuholmen (keyboards and guitars), and Morten Harket (vocals). “Scoundrel Days” is the second studio album by the trio and offered a more mature sound compared to their debut “Hunting High and Low” (1985). “Scoundrel Days”, recorded in England in early 1986 and produced by Alan Tarney, sported such singles as “I’ve Been Losing You”, “Cry Wolf” and “Maybe, Maybe” which was released solely in Bolivia. “Manhattan Skyline” was the forth and final single released from the long-player.

Erasure – “Wonderland” (1986)

“Wonderland” is the debut studio album by the English synth-pop duo Erasure and was released in 1986. Although it was not an immediate success, the three singles released from it did become cult tracks overtime: “Who Needs Love Like That”, “Oh L’amour” and “Heavenly Action”. Although “Wonderland” was considered a failure, especially when comparing it to Clarke’s prior successes with Depeche Mode and Yazoo, the album became an all time favourite that laid the fundament of what was to follow in 1987 with the release of “The Circus”. The album was produced by Flood who would become a long-time collaborator.

Pet Shop Boys – “Actually” (1987)

Pet Shop Boys, the English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981, broke all records when they released “Actually”, their second studio album, in 1987. It was pushed forward by such great tracks as “One More Chance”, “What Have I Done to Deserve This?” (with Dusty Springfield), “Shopping”, “Rent”, “It Couldn’t Happen Here”, “It’s a Sin”, “Heart” and the majestic “King’s Cross”. In short an album filled with hits.

New Order – “Technique” (1989)

New Order was formed in 1980 by vocalist and guitarist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris. The band formed after the demise of Joy Division, following the suicide of lead singer Ian Curtis and were joined by Gillian Gilbert on keyboards later that year. Their experience of the early 1980s New York club scene saw them increasingly incorporate dance rhythms and electronic instrumentation into their work which resulted in their 1983 hit “Blue Monday” becoming and absolute monster hit. However, we picked out “Technique”, their fifth studio album. Released in 1989 by Factory Records, the album incorporates Balearic beat and acid house influences into the group’s dance-rock sound. “Technique” was the first New Order album to reach the number one spot on the UK charts and had such excellent singles as “Fine Time”, “Round and Round” and “Run 2”.

Depeche Mode – “Violator” (1990)

“Violator” is the seventh studio album by England’s Depeche Mode. It was first released on 19 March 1990 through Mute Records internationally, and through Sire and Reprise Records in the United States. Preceded by the singles “Personal Jesus” and “Enjoy the Silence” (a top-10 entry in both the United Kingdom and the United States), the album propelled the band into international stardom, and also yielded the singles “Policy of Truth” and “World in My Eyes”. The album is generally considered as their most accomplisched electropop album before they encorporated more rock elements in the next album, “Songs of Faith and Devotion”. The role of Alan Wilder was crucial in “Violator”, you only have to compare the first and final version of “Enjoy The Silence” to notice the huge difference.

Bel Canto – “Birds of Passage” (1990)

Bel Canto is a Norwegian music duo, originally a trio, fronted by vocalist Anneli Drecker and musically powered by Geir Jenssen and Nils Johansen. Signed originally to Crammed Discs, their second album “Birds of Passage” is considered as an absolute pearl holding an excellent production (aided by Giles Martin) and a long list of guest musicians who added acoustic elements to the cold nordic synths Jenssen and multi-instrumentalist Johansen. It was also the last album featuring Geir Jenssen. It holds the hits “Intravenous”, “Birds of Passage”, “A Shoulder to the Wheel”, “Time Without End”, “Continuum” and “The Suffering”. The band remains an often well-hidden pearl in electropopland.

De/Vision – “Fairyland?” (1996)

De/Vision, a German synthpop act formed in 1988, was at the peak of its electropop stardom around the mid-nineties culiminating in the outstanding “Fairyland?” album which had such great tracks as “I Regret”, “Sweet Life”, “Today’s Life” or “Bleed Me White”. The band was fronting a new wave of electropop bands in Germany but was generally considered to be the most consistent one as far as quality and output. Sadly enough the release, and also the band’s earlier material, are no longer available on Spotify.

Wolfsheim – “Spectators” (1999)

Wolfsheim was a synthpop duo from Hamburg, Germany, that consisted of Markus Reinhardt and Peter Heppner. Their fourth studio album was “Spectators” (1999) preceeded by two ‘pre-release’ singles from the album. “Once in a Lifetime” was released on October 16, 1998 and “It’s Hurting For The First Time” followed on November 30th. The LP was produced by Wolfsheim and José Alvarez-Brill and held 11 new songs. To this day, “Spectators” is the best-selling album by Wolfsheim with over 250,000 copies sold. The third single, “Künstliche Welten”, was released in 1999.

Iris – “Disconnect” (2000)

“Disconnect” is the debut album by the electropop group Iris. Released in 2000 via the US label A Different Drum, the synthpop label by excellence, its success was guaranteed by the now cult synthpop jewels “Annie, Would I Lie to You?”, “Lose In Wanting” and “Danger Is The Shame”. Originally formed by Reagan Jones and Mat Morris in 1993, after the release of their first album “Disconnect”, Matthew Morris was replaced with Andrew Sega, who pushed the band’s sound in a more experimental electronic direction. Sadly enough the release, and also the band’s earlier material, are no longer available on Spotify.

Elegant Machinery – “A Soft Exchange” (2008)

The Swedish synthpop band Elegant Machinery defined the Swedish synthpop movement along with such bands as Page, S.P.O.C.K, Sista Mannen På Jorden and Kiethevez. Heavily influenced by acts like Yazoo, The Human League, Depeche Mode and Rational Youth, the trio Robert Enforsen, Richard Jomshof and Leslie Bayne started the band in 1988 under the name Pole Position. The band was very successful in Sweden, with a number of successful singles and various awards. But it is their 2008 album “A Soft Exchange” that earned them a place in our list. The album was extremely mature yet very melodic and features such pearls a “With Grace”, “Do You Know”, “Feel The Silence”, “Bleeding Words” and “Is This The Way”.

Electro Spectre – “Dangerous Game” (2012)

The Norwegian electronic music duo Electro Spectre fronts the 3rd electropop wave. Isak Rypdal (writer-producer) and Alexander Björneboe (writer-singer) debuted in 2009 with the album “Watch It All Turn” (which was later reproduced and re-released in 2010). The duo has secured us from a steady and consistent output ever since. In our list we picked the band’s 2012 release, which is their second studio album entitled “Dangerous Game”. Included are such pearls as “Love Thief”, “Dancing Girl”, “World Keeps Turning” and “Tokyo Shuffle”.

Mondträume – “Empty” (2014)

Mondträume is the creative outlet of 2 Spanish talented artists Pikotto Vond Mond and Damasius Venys. In only a few years, the duo rapidly caught the attention of concert organizers, released several songs on compilations, and secured a label contract with Belgium’s electronic label Alfa Matrix where they debuted with the album “Empty”. The hits “Life Is Short”, “Parasite” and especially the synth pop pearl “Far From Pain” showcase why this band became one of the strongholders in the 3rd electropop wave together with such bands as Electro Spectre, and more.

Over the past 12 months Inferno Sound Diaries‘ Stéphane Froidcoeur selected nearly 750 productions of which 600 also got a review on Side-Line. Some productions have been refused because the style of music didn’t fit, while a lot of reviews are still to be published in 2022.

Stéphane: “I’m really grateful to all labels, bands and promoters considering my work and efforts and I hope they’ll keep on providing me new promos next year. My greatest gratitude and thank goes once again to Rich Bova (NEIKKA RPM) who for years and years now is reading, correcting and improving the reviews. I don’t have enough words to express my gratitude and without Rich I simply would have to stop this job. No need to say I’ve been once again disappointed by a few so-called ‘artists’ and label owners. The attitude and lack of respect shown by those people -luckily a very few number, is just disgusting… but I’m afraid it reflects the world we’re living in… Behind a genius artist is not always hiding a great person…”

2021 has been also a very special year for Stéphane as he celebrated his 30th anniversary of journalism with an impressive series of interviews featuring very different people from this scene. Stéphane : “Big thanks to Séba Dolimont, Suicide Commando, Juno Reactor, Raison D’Être, Jürgen Vanvlasselaer, Rich Bova, Armageddon Dildos and Bernard Van Isacker who kindly accepted to contribute to this celebration.”

Here are the interviews conducted:

• Celebration Interview with Bernard Van Isacker (Side-Line & Alfa Matrix)
• Celebration Interview’ with Uwe Kanka / Armageddon Dildos
• Celebration Interview’ with ‘Music Lover’ Jürgen Vanvlasselaer
• Celebration Interview’ with Rich Bova / Neikka RPM
• Celebration Interview’ with Peter Andersson / Raison D’Être
• Celebration Interview’ with Ben Watkins aka Juno Reactor
• Celebration Interview’ with Johan Van Roy (Suicide Commando)
• Celebration Interview’ with Seba Dolimont (Alfa Matrix)

Like every year Stéphane has made a selection from the best albums of the year. This Top 25 covers different styles like EBM, Dark-Electro, IDM, Synth-Pop, Ethereal, Dark-Ambient, Industrial, Cinematographic, Gothic, Post-Punk, Dark-Techno and a few related genres and is taken from the promotional material we got while compilations, ‘best of’-productions, EP’s and singles were not considered for this ‘best of’.

But now, here are the 25 best albums!

1. Rome – “Parlez-Vous Hate?” – Trisol
2. Circumpolar – “Awaiting The Dawn” – Alfa Matrix
3. Clicks – “Goth” – Dependent Records
4. Of The Wand And The Moon – “Your Love Can’t Hold This Wrath Of Sorrow” – Heidrunar Mykrunar
5. Crystal Geometry – “Distressing Visions” – Sonic Groove
6. Mechanimal – “Θόρυβος” – Inner Ear Records
7. Raison D’être – “Demonum“ – Cyclic Law
8. Zwaremachine – “Conquest 3000” – Phage Tapes
9. Eclipsed – “Holyiens” – Electro Frequent
10. Nattskiftet – “Stamplar In” – Progress Productions
11. Nnhmn – “Deception Island 2” – Zoharum
12. This Morn’omina – “The Roots Of Saraswati” – Dependent Records
13. Skrika – “Fifth Nature” – Cryo Chamber
14. Llumen – “Polygon Heart” – Alfa Matrix
15. Not My God – “Simulacra” – Metropolis
16. Seasurfer – “Metropolis” – Reptile Music
17. Ps Stamps Back – “Au Bout De La Nuit” – Ant-Zen
18. The Illusion Of Silence – “Gardens In The Dark” – Shadowplay
19. She Spread Sorrow – “Huntress” – Cold Spring Records
20. Blutengel – “Fountain Of Destiny” – Out Of Line
21. Agonoize – “Revelation Six Six Sick” – Reporecords
22. The Force Dimension – “Mortal Cable” – Sonic Groove Experiments
23. Cubic – “The Cubic Alphabet” – Alfa Matrix
24. Pyrroline – “Struggling” – Electro Aggression Records
25. Beckahesten – “Tydor” – Cyclic Law

Back in 1991 I started writing my first reviews for Side-Line magazine. I would have never thought to go on writing reviews and making interviews non-stop for 30 years. So 2021 is a special year to me, a kind of ‘celebration year’. I got the idea to celebrate this special event by interviewing people from the scene who all have a special meaning to me. The last interview in this series is one with Bernard Van Isacker. I definitely had to close the circle with this interview. Being active as Side-Line’s chief redactor and as one of the Alfa Matrix label owners, Bernard and I became close friends. We didn’t always agree on some topics, which finally brought me to leave Side-Line as staff member in 2016. We remained in touch and decided to move on working together, but in a different format. A lot of things have been said and written about Bernard -not always kind things – but I got the privilege and opportunity to see how he’s working and all what he’s doing. I can only, but deeply respect his involvement. Time to ask him some questions.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Lots of people from this scene know who you are, but how would you introduce yourself and how did you get in touch with the Electro/Industrial/Gothic scene? 

Bernard: My name is Bernard Van Isacker, 47 years old, and I have 2 kids. Magnus, 4 years old, and Sebastian, 16 years old, from my first marriage. I work currently as a social media manager, web developer and CRM admin for a multinational. I also run 2 holiday houses, but for the past 2 years they have been empty due to the corona pandemic. That was a big blow to our budget, so I had to take extra work to keep on paying our bills. But we survive.

I sleep basically 5 hours per night, take a small breakfast and lots of coffee at 6 in the local Panos –both the owners Mario and Hannelore are sweethearts -before I start work at 7:30 until, 10, 11 at night. I’ll probably die working (laughs).

I first got introduced to the Dark-Wave scene when I was 14 years old and was sitting next to a guy in class who said he had heard a really sick tape. That was Nitzer Ebb’s “That Total Age”. But you have to know that I was already heavily into Depeche Mode and New-Beat (yes!) so the ‘move’ to more industrial sounds was not really a surprise. Anyhow, Nitzer Ebb had more or less the same BPM as new beat so that was easy (laughs). By the time I was fifteen I was listening to Cat Rapes Dog. Their “Maximum Overdrive” remains legendary as far as I am concerned. And after that I got hooked to Inside Treatment, Pouppée Fabrikk, and other bands from Scandinavia. I only started to listen to German acts when I went to university, and that included bands such as Fortification 55, Project Pitchfork, Psychic Force, Trial, etc..  

As we speak I’m in the middle of compiling our newest volume in the “Face The Beat”-series for Side-Line. The 7^th so far. But shoot with the questions Stephane!

Q: I guess less people know you graduated in journalism so what did you try to add/change when joining Side-Line? And how did you happen to join Side-Line magazine? 

Bernard: That’s correct, I graduated in journalism and worked at a couple of newspapers before diving into the startup world of ecommerce. That was pre-Google so SEO was still something very rudimentary and traffic was basically created via price comparison sites and massive mailings, you can call it pure spam (laughs). 

But I worked for 4 years as a journalist, was able to write a lot of solid articles, but I got fed up with the easy way things were covered (while we all knew it were lies) and the easy way things were NOT covered (because some bishop threatened to sue the newspaper –and me, for defamation). I left that world disgusted. Add to that it is one of the worst paid jobs ever. 

I got fed up with the easy way things were covered in the press

Anyhow, whilst studying one of my friends, Yves Van De Veken, told me there was this magazine that was going to be published with an attached CD compilation full of Dark-Wave music and that they would have the first issue with the sampler later that week in the Metrophone cellar, in Antwerp that is, where I studied. I got the magazine, which was in a very stylish layout, liked the CD sampler and was hooked on the review section to read about new bands. I was at that time already working part-time as journalist whilst studying, and I got access to bigger bands which I thought could fit Side-Line pretty well, so I sent a mail to Seba (who I thought was a girl) and told ‘her’ that I could arrange bigger interviews for them. Seba wanted to test the waters I guess, and I told that I could do Hooverphonic, but could also check with Dirk Da Davo  in the next week to show what I was capable of. Apparently ‘she’ really liked what I wrote and asked for more. Paradise Lost, Marc Almond, Bel Canto, … the list of interviews I did for Side-Line grew by the day.  

But I had never met any of the team. The first time I met someone from the Side-Line team back then was actually you, but I can’t recall where that was, I think it was in Brussels, but for what exactly?

A few weeks later I met Seba –who you told was NOT a girl, at a Die Form concert in Ghent I think. If I’m not wrong Cédric and Benoit were also there. Since then we were like a band of brothers who went to concerts, either together or with one or two others. Sweet times I must say, we were all very young, had not yet lived ‘real’ life with all its hurdles and accidents.

Q: Early 2008 was a turning point in the magazine’s history. Former chief-redactor Séba Dolimont decided to stop his involvement so you became the new chief-redactor. The printed magazine definitely stopped and Side-Line remained only active as online magazine. How do you look back at the loss of the printed magazine and how did the transition happen? 

Bernard: I basically had always pushed to keep the magazine alive as a print magazine, but at the same time I had launched www.side-line.com in 1999 because the initial Side-Line website –on a different url, was basically just a page, looked bloody awful and served no purpose –no offense Ronan Harris. So when Seba told me that he had decided to stop with the printed magazine, my mental switch was fast and I decided to focus on the online magazine which by then was attracting a tenfold of the printed magazine anyhow. It was a no-brainer.

Going online only? It was a no-brainer.

With Seba stopping, we also lost most of the external contributors, which is logical since a print magazine has a more loose team whereas a news website has to work with a very productive small team, as Side-Line.com was by then already producing daily news updates. A small team is always easier to work with, and I had seen that with the print version of Side-Line I was already doing most of the interviews, delivering 99% of the news, while you already did most of the reviews. So, we had a winning team anyhow, why change that?

In short, yes, it had an emotional impact, but not a practical one. We had a good run, but the times were changing. And I for sure was not planning to miss the online train as you know.

Q: I think there’re significant differences between a printed magazine and an online page. Can you give us the pros and cons especially from your perspective? 

Bernard: Yes, the differences are there for sure and I think you will agree with me, but tell me if you don’t! I will give you the pros and cons as far as online is concerned, the cons will largely cover the pros for print.

Pros: 

• Write, enter it in the CMS, add a picture and post. Simple. In short: it’s fast.
• The news goes out instantly via a wide array of tools. One post on Side-Line reaches around 5000 people in the next few minutes via our different channels, above and under the hood. By the end of the day –when syndication and newsletters have kicked in, we have a 10.000 reach per item. This doesn’t mean people have read it, it means that they have at least seen the picture and title.
• The articles can be as long or as short as you want.
• We can add multimedia, which is a good way to add metadata to your articles. This was limited back in 1999 when we went online though.
• A small team can move mountains.

Cons: 

• There is a strict daily deadline to maintain each day.
• The rapidness also gives room to errors you might not have noticed or simply wrong info (although we only had a few incidents with that).
• Getting decent daily news is sometimes difficult, other times you get inundated by news,
• Some labels and bands have no clue how to write press texts and fill it with promo blabla. If there are no 4 lines of good solid facts, I usually do not publish it.
• In our case I have to be technically savy, have seo skills and have IT skills. And I know how to write. That’s a lot if something goes wrong, and we have had times when it really went wrong.
• Online income generation as a news website is not easy. Most of the labels still have no clue what online means and still think in an old school way. 
• A small team means problems when one leaves or falls sick.
• A magazine accept slow reading, a website not.

Q: Do you’ve an idea who’s reading Side-Line and is there a kind of reader’s profile? 

Bernard: Actually I do, thanks to a combination of datasets, which are limited as I hate being followed myself. The last dataset of November shows that 31% is female, 67% is male and 2% identifies not as male or female. Most readers come from the USA, followed by the UK, Canada, Germany, France, Australia, Mexico, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Poland, Holland, Greece and Denmark. We got data from 45 countries in total once we filtered out the accidental and spam traffic.

When it comes to the profiles, we have data of a survey that happened a few months ago on our website. 8200+ respondents later we see that half (51%) has an office job, 36% has an outside or factory job and 11% is unemployed and 2% is enjoying their pension. 

The same survey also showed us info regarding age and it goes synchronically with the data from our Facebook page: 4% is between 18-24, 34% is between 25-34, 25% is between 35-44, 27% is between 45-54, 5% is between 56-64 and 3% is older than 64. That info again corresponds more or less with the survey we did.

It shows we have mostly a very active public between 25 and 54 years old.

Q: Back in time the Side-Line forum was quite ‘popular’, but unfortunately also a place for bullshit and conflicts. Did you expect this evolution and was it the main reason to stop the forum? 

Bernard: The Side-Line forum was indeed very popular and at times had 20 to 50.000 visits a day. It was so popular that it had become a full time task to keep the spammers out, to keep things civilized, etc.. The discussion there were legendary. Some were in it for the fun, others to learn something new, and others just to anonymously troll. It was the graveyard of subtleness though (laughs).

The Side-Line forum was the graveyard of subtleness…

It ran its course, but I was so glad I could kill that baby. Just with one click: bye bye! By the end it had become uncontrollable and we had to delete 90% of all posts because the trolling really went overboard. No loss, it’s part of history, but I still have to laugh when I think of the silliness of it all.

Do you know that we once launched a T-shirt line where you could have your nickname printed on it? We sold a few hundred of those… really fun times!

Q: In the meantime, you also became one of the owners of Alfa Matrix, which became one of the leading labels of underground Electro music. What’s your input and impact in the label activities? 

Bernard: I take care of the IT, web dev, communication and digital distribution. I leave the A&R to Seba, as we each have our own department. But we do have to agree all 3 for signing a band or not. I also often am abroad and try to hook up with the bands in real life.

Q: Let’s go on with a rather tricky question. I think it’s very confusing for a lot of people to understand you’re chief-editor of Side-Line and still one of the Alfa Matrix owners. That sounds pretty incestuous, don’t you think? How do you manage both activities without too much conflict of interest?  

Bernard: Nothing tricky at all. I have never hidden the fact that I’m also behind Alfa Matrix and I am proud of it. Actually, I am not the only label guy behind a magazine, check Blabbermouth for instance, it is also successfully run by label people, possible because we have intel on both sides of the medal.

As far as conflict of interest is concerned: there is none. I don’t intervene in the reviews at all, and that’s where there could be a conflict of interest because reviews are subjective an sich. When it comes to news articles, Alfa Matrix gets as much attention as for instance Metropolis, and I bring it as dry as I do with all the other articles: facts, facts, facts and no promo speech.. Actually, sometimes Alfa Matrix bands complain because they have not gotten a good score on Side-Line. I then have to explain that reviews are completely out of my control to keep a healthy balance in the magazine.

I have a very clean conscience.

That other people claim otherwise on Facebook or so is their problem. I have a very clean conscience regarding this. 

Q: It’s also interesting to see next to Alfa Matrix, Side-Line is actually releasing digital compilations; the magazine also became a kind of label! The “Face The Beat”-series became a real success story. What’s the main goal of this compilation series and how do you select the artists? 

Bernard: Well, the move is not so strange I must say. In the early days there was Side-Line Records, some kind of precursor to Alfa Matrix. Then Side-Line produced compilations to go with the magazines. I just brought it to the 21^st century when I took over and compiled and launched the first “Face The Beat” as a Facebook compilation, hence the name, 10 years ago. 

The main goal is reflected by what Side-Line has all been about even when Seba first launched it: get people to know music from established and new bands. It’s a vision I embraced since the start. I added an extra touch and that is that all revenue goes to charity. 

The compilations are compiled like this: I do a call for submissions on all channels we have, there is one reminder and then I lock myself up for weeks with the material that I have received, usually thousands of demos and completed tracks. Once a first selection is made, I go through the material again that is selected and do an extra selection to make sure the best tracks are included. After that I send out the necessary paperwork and then usually almost everyone responds quickly. There are usually only 2 or 4 bands that are too late or never respond. It’s always a race to meet the deadline I have in my mind, but I usually make it on time. In the meantime, I usually have worked on the artwork and worked through the material with Erlend Eilertsen from Essence Of Mind and Lights A.M to make sure the tracks get the best possible sound on the compilation.

After that I launch it on Bandcamp basically and the platform does its work, with some help of me (laughs). It’s all a very intuitive process where clear communication is king. 

A lot of labels and bands still haven’t learned from ecommerce.

Q: You definitely were one of the first from this scene to have understood the impact streaming platforms would have. I remember you got a lot of hard reactions about it, but today you can tell to all of your critics you were right! How do you look back at this period and how do you expect things evolving during the next few years? 

Bernard: Yes, I must say that the short sight of a lot of people in the record business was reflected in the harsh attacks I got in interviews, on radio programs and on social media. Some even went so far to send me mails accusing me of killing the industry, that I was a traitor. One of my biggest critics in the end contacted me back years later saying that he was wrong and that I was right. I still appreciate him till the day of today. Only great people can apologize and say they were wrong.

The thing is, it’s not that I like this or that evolution, it is that I just can see what is going to happen and where our music industry is heading towards. Some new techniques will never take off, but it is my job at Alfa Matrix to keep an eye on what is happening in the industry and what is going to happen and see if we should invest time and money in it.

My hunch that propriety was going to be over and done with except for a solid and loyal base has proven to be correct. The success of both Spotify and Bandcamp show that my theory on mixed digital music consumption was spot on and that my critics didn’t have a clue what was going to happen.

It’s actually not the first time that I have had a conflict with my colleagues in the music sector. Back when I worked at an ecommerce startup, some shop owners said that we were killing their business. But when I once worked together with such a critical shop owner annex distributor he was unable to deliver the goods… because we sold tenfold of what he was able to get (laughs). One of the biggest channels of sales for that ecommerce shop was actually Side-Line. To give you an idea, when Depeche Mode released their single boxes, Side-Line single handedly sold all, but literally all of the stock available in Belgium in just a few days. They had to restock with copies from all over Europe because they were in limited supply. The same for the Erasure single boxes. And as far as the Covenant boxset “Synergy: Live In Europe” is concerned. That is the release we sold 10 times what the Belgian distributor had promised he was able to get… (laughs). And still we were the bad guys (laughs even louder).

I have to thank Warren Harrison from Hungry Lucy for that way of forward thinking. He opened my eyes as far as digital music is concerned and taught me to dissociate my own wishes from that of a public’s wish, and to open my eyes for new technologies. I doubt he realizes the impact he had on me. Now he knows (smiles). A good guy he is, a pity we lost contact a bit.

And the future will continue, but more in the propriety field where things are moving rapidly, think of NFT’s. Len Lemeire planted that seed in my head actually. Add to that that we will sooner or later be faced with cryptocurrency payments on a larger scale. I have a few other new technologies in mind that might be big in the near future.

One thing though that will remain key, is data. A lot of labels and bands still haven’t learned from ecommerce –namely that it is an opportunity to know who your fans are, and  they are now again missing the boat as they have put all their money on Facebook and other platforms that lock their fans into their platform without offering you any way to communicate except via their own platform. Deadly on the long run.

There is a story to this actually. I was approached by at least 2 major Indie labels in the past few years asking if I would be willing to –listen well, sell all of Side-Line’s data in order to set up an own label of Electro-Pop music. And these are indies who have had BIG artists on their roster. But they have never ever gathered data, never had a decent newsletter, in short they were flying blind once things went sour. 

Having said that, I also see bad evolutions, the platforms work more and more via AI to push releases to people in order to keep them as much as possible on their platforms. It unfortunately also leads to tracks, which are made to trigger these AI powered algorithms. The first automatically generated tracks are very ‘promising’ and they have been released for quite some time now. I personally am not happy with this evolution, as it removes the human genius from it, but like I said, we risk to see this more and more.

Q: It all looks like ‘younger’ people show less interest to write for a magazine. Why is it and how do you expect things evolving? 

Bernard: If we look across the board, most print magazines from our scene are gone, and when we look to the online press, most online magazines from our scene are gone or are unable to keep up with the daily news pace like we do for instance. I often get requests from people if they can start writing for us, but their mail always ends with this question: ‘How much do you pay?’ Knowing that we have never received any money, it’s rather cynic that people who have never proven a thing think they can ask money… So I will repeat it again, THERE IS NO MONEY TO MAKE with an online magazine about Dark-Wave. 

As far as contributors is concerned, I am happy with the team I work with now. I can count on you and Jan-Ronald, basically the main contributors next to me. You both have a very professional attitude and we are friends most and first of all.

The evolution will depend on the fact if there will be more people willing to invest money and time in these kind of projects like running a magazine. We all know that nowadays you will not earn a living from it, on the contrary, you need some financial backup to keep a website up and running, pay the licences for plugings, data storage, and so on. And that’s without the hours of unpaid work on top each day.

Q: I already had discussions with people –including label owners, who no longer belief in the real impact of magazines today because of streaming platforms and other channels like YouTube. What’s your point of view and do you think magazines are enough taking care to adapt and renew themselves? 

Bernard: Well, this is not a problem for us honestly. Side-Line online is still about kickstarting new and young bands. And that’s mainly why people check Side-Line as we have the finger on the pulse to know what might become hot and what not. Remember Suicide Commando, Apoptygma Berzerk, etc..? They got pushed by Side-Line back in the days when they were largely unknown. Once we give these small bands an initial push they have to continue and work from their side as well and that’s when they get in the flow of things with the streaming platforms for instance nowadays.

Side-Line online is still about kickstarting new and young bands.

Take a magazine like Side-Line away and many small bands will never ever get a platform to develop. The same goes for our compilations, they serve to push smaller bands to a wider public. Consider us as an incubator for talents.

Know that I also regularly get contacted by the biggest bands in the scene directly with news, because they know we will publish it and they know we have a very good reach on a daily basis.

The AI used by streaming companies is a very big part in the music consumption and trying to trigger it is not something that is easily done especially with smaller bands on indie labels like I said earlier. The streaming Ais therefore still leave a lot of pearls untouched. Roughly 5 to 7 million songs on Spotify have never been played you know… That is HUGE.

That’s where magazines enter. Take me for instance, I basically have no time to start looking for new music, and I always look into our own review section for new material. So as a gatekeeper a magazine still has its purpose, at least from my point of view. I once did a test and played a few tracks and checked what the services would deliver as suggestions. They didn’t offer anything extra that interested me compared to what I got from your reviews, but instead offered a lot of junk extra so that I would have to weed out anyhow. It kinda proves that these Ais are still not capable of matching the human ear and feeling. Maybe that will happen in the future, I think so, or I would be really disappointed in our human genius (laughs).

That is of course as far as my own consumption goes. 

Now, I talked about the gate keeping function which has been the purpose of a good magazine. It’s my belief that a niche magazine which has a steady output of well selected news and articles will keep that gatekeepers function intact. Let me explain, most music magazines have over the years changed their focus on more popular bands, new music styles, added games, clothes, TV and showbiz in their mix just to get traffic. Look at NME for instance that is now ruled by clickbait articles and rubbish content. It has nothing left that reminds of the good old NME. All of its roots have been removed for the sake of clicks.

Another example is Techcrunch. This online tech magazine was the best back in time, but then it got taken over, and suddenly they started to pour out tons of clickbait articles, which had nothing to do with what the magazine was about in its early days and that was: talking about startups. I used to be a daily reader, I stopped simply because I couldn’t keep up with all the extra news being posted that was way out of the scope they had in the past. 

Less is often more, also for magazines. 

It comes to this, stick to your roots and make sure you have a continuous and regular number of articles posted.

From a label’s point of view, I have always worked on both. Now, since I usually work with new bands, it’s not always easy to have them launched rapidly like we could in the past. It now takes time. And I also understand the labels when they no longer see clear. There are roughly 1500 journalists out there that claim to have a magazine that handles Dark-Wave. 80% of which basically has a blog that has 10 visitors a day. Good for them, but I don’t believe in them. Basically, and we have to be very honest, there are close to no magazines left in this scene with a wacky team like ours that is day in day out constantly working to get a certain number of articles online.  

Those left still reach around 50.000 people daily on their websites and socials combined per day. And that’s a rough estimate but I’m very close, I think. Not exactly peanuts in a scene this small like ours. And quite a good crowd to for instance push smaller, unknown bands to.

In short, yes, I do believe in our future, as long as we stay loyal to our vision and mission. The numbers show it, we are reaching more people than ever, and not thanks to Facebook, but thanks to our daily newsletter, push notifications and all the other channels combined.

Q: Next to Side-Line and Alfa Matrix you’ve been also involved as organizer -and later as organizer ad hoc, of the now defunct famous Belgian underground festival ‘Eurorock’. A lot of things have been said about that festival. How do you look back at this event(s) with hindsight? 

Bernard: A bit like SABENA, such a bad experience never again (laughs). 

I’m still unable to talk about the first 2 editions I invested money in, due to some legal matters, but suffice to say you always have to look out who to trust. I lost a lot of money there, and evicted myself right on time from that very toxic situation. The 3^rd time, I was contracted – as I never wanted to be an investor again- but never got paid. In the end I had to solve most of the shit together with the stage managers who just like me were contracted and never paid. The shit thrown at us afterwards by people who have no clue is  exemplary yet not exceptional in this or any other scene. 

I made sure that every single band I had placed there was paid correctly. Most were grateful I made this happen, others cashed in and badmouthed me in public. So far for the thanks (grins). But I never forget… nor forgive (laughs).

Q: I know you prefer avoiding the question, but next to music you’re also politically engaged. What can you tell us about the subject?

Bernard: I’m not really trying to avoid it, I just think it’s not part of my work for Side-Line or Alfa Matrix, period. I always have tried to never mix it with both although some people are trying to frame me one way or another, usually because they don’t get my sarcasm. But now that you ask about it, yes I’m politically active in one of the biggest elected and ruling parties here in Flanders. That has been an excuse from extremists and activists to attack me in public, call my employer and frame me as ultra conservative, ultra catholic or even a pur-sang fascist. Well, sorry for those lunatics, but I’m as much a nationalist as any Norwegian hanging the Norwegian flag in their garden (that’s roughly every Norwegian with a garden) and as catholic as Macron. And as far as the other words used by ‘my’ critics, I don’t like the woke culture that is being pushed in our faces. Period.  

For the rest I’m happily married with a Mexicana, one of my best friend is a Turkish Muslim, one of my closest friends is transgender, and in my scarce free time I help people with learning disabilities to learn social skills. That should say enough. For the rest, I keep politics out of Side-Line and far away from Alfa Matrix because it’s basically not music. I don’t ask our readers about their political ideas either and I frankly don’t care.

However, I must say that over the years we never had remarks from readers when we post reviews or news from hardcore communist bands, but that we always get harassed by a very tiny group when a more conservative band is being covered. That’s a pure fact. I never discriminate, but I see some others discriminating people because they don’t agree with the ideas of this or that band. Rather disturbing…

I have a very good story actually regarding this. I once got an email from a guy, who started a rant because we had posted a review of a certain band on Side-Line. He called them fascists, racists, etc, etc.. But when I went checking his Facebook profile, I immediately understood why he was specifically attacking that band. His Facebook was filled with anti-semitic and anti-Israel rants… and the band he talked shit about had a Jewish singer. Shocking, but reality. 

The same for some BLM activists who have been attacking Side-Line in the past because we talk about –and I quote: ‘White men bands’. It is the same as attacking Motown Records because they have a  black repertoire. Most of the criticism can be explained by checking who is saying what about whom.

I know 2 famous bands in this scene who have made anti-semitic rants behind closed doors, I was shocked and told them this was really not right. One band member –member himself of a communist party, has since then been talking shit about me whenever and wherever he can, I guess in order to cover himself in case I make his name and emails with rants public. I also know bands who are very homophobic, but for the sake of things pretend they are pro LGTB-rights. In short, if I would write a book about the dirty wash I have witnessed over the years I think I would have a bestseller (grins). 

I personally don’t believe in left or right. I believe in doing good or doing bad.

Anyhow, I personally don’t believe in left or right. I believe in doing good or doing bad. I prefer doing good, under what political umbrella that may be. I also believe in taking responsibility for your own actions, and hard work. Locally I’m quite appreciated because I talk and listen to everyone, what their skin color, political belief or sexual orientation may be. And if they have a legitimate claim or need, I will try to help.

Q: Quite recently the Side-Line server crashed and you started a crowd funding to pay the costs. Your action was quite successful and Side-Line has been reactivated, which seems to prove Side-Line still means a lot to labels/artists and readers. How do you look back at this stressed period? 

Bernard: I was like ‘NOT AGAIN!’ when I realized it was not just an issue of rebooting the server when the server didn’t fire up as planned. We already had lost our previous site years ago due to a server issue and lost years and years of data… so you can imagine I was kinda stressed (laughs). But luckily enough, I had been working with this software engineer (editor’s note: Martin Rosselle) in another IT project. He is working for some of the biggest companies I know and he literally has made a name as being somebody who solves problems, a Winston Wolf in the software sector as you wish. I contacted him and told him we really needed the site back operational pretty fast and if he could help out. He canceled all his freelance work he had planned and asked me to come over so I could follow closely and help with the work. The error we had, was even for the engineers at our hosting company quite a real conundrum. Hell, they even asked us to please keep them informed as to how we would solve it because they had run out of options.

I took a 5 days unpaid leave, jumped in my car at 5 in the morning and drove 3,5 hours to set up shop at Martin’s place. In the car I was thinking of how to finance this endeavor… I’m already pumping thousands of Euros into Side-Line each year, but corona made that a lot of my income had completely vaporized so an extra financial blow like this was just very, very difficult. 

Then while I was having a coffee at a motorway restaurant, somebody sent me a WhatsApp message saying: ‘Hey Bernard, I saw your message that the site is down and that you guys are working on it. If you set up a crowdfund, I’ll gladly help!’ I was like, ‘really would people help out?’ So whilst doing the last hundred kilometers I was thinking ‘why not, if it gathers enough to pay half of the bill then that would already help a lot ‘. 

But it turned out to be really overwhelming… I’m still emotional when I think of it really… I saw the donations pouring in, from readers, bands, small labels, small PR companies, artists. I was actually very positively surprised that it were the smaller labels and bands next to lots of readers that came forward to support this crowdfund. I haven’t heard a word from the big labels… One of the biggest label bosses in this scene did send me an email… asking when their news would be up… no help, no question, nothing. It strengthens me in my vision that we have to stay an incubator for new talents and new and smaller labels, as they are definitely more connected with us… 

I did learn another lesson from this though, and that is that I need to delegate more. Jan-Ronald Stange has been helping with design, and I contracted Martin for our server maintenance and security so that we can intervene directly with the right people when needed. 

Q: What have been the best and worst memories from all the years you’ve been involved with Side-Line? 

Bernard: The worst: seeing others suffer. You know what I mean. 

The best: it is wonderful to stay friends for all these years with people with such different characters inside the team. And Side-Line also opened the gate towards other people I respect, I got in contact with Jan-Ronald Stange thanks to a lunatic groupie, so that ended well (laughs). And I shouldn’t forget Anne-Laure, Erlend, Marianne, Leydi, Simon and so many other people who have become close and reliable friends thanks to Side-Line.

Basically, working at and with Side-Line is the proof for me that one doesn’t need to stay in his/her own echo chamber to respect and be respected. You know that as well, I have told you that in a recent text message remember?

Q: Are you sometimes thinking about the end of Side-Line and also the end of Alfa Matrix? What should be the best way to say goodbye? 

Bernard: I have a pretty compulsive character, however, Side-Line has been a constant element in my life for the past 30 years. I always dedicate 2-3 hours per day to the magazine, writing articles, working on the site’s cms and machinery behind it, answering a ton of emails… It survived 2 marriages so far as well (laughs)! So no, it’s a part of me, and I haven’t really thought about stopping although there have been moments that I think, who the hell am I doing this for… But then you get a big thank you mail from a band or reader or label and that’s enough to kill off those negative feelings.

But if we would close shop, I guess it will be with a big bang (smiles). But so far so good.

If we would close shop, I guess it will be with a big bang.

The same goes for Alfa Matrix, as long as we can find good bands to push, we’ll continue.

Q: You and I have had some personal issues, but I think that thanks to Side-Line, we became and still are good friends. Any specific souvenir or anecdote you want to share? 

Bernard: Ah yes, we have gone through some turmoil you and me. I guess that is just part of good friendships, it’s like a marriage I guess, either you make up or you go to a lawyer (laughs). I guess we both learned from our private wars and have learned to respect each other. And that is what counts, we learned to see what unites us, not what divides us. And we never had to hire a lawyer (laughs)!

But speaking about the special moments… Well, racing on a German motorway at 200 km/h in a BMW to get home in time to drop of some equipment and then realize we could have delivered it 2 days later as well…. That was quite a memorable and especially dangerous moment we shared (laughs). Honestly, it was completely irresponsible, and I would never do it again, whatever the reason. Had we crashed, a magazine would have disappeared, a label and a few bands would never have seen the light of day and my sons would for sure never have existed and most importantly this: some others could have been injured or killed. I never drive fast nowadays, if I’m too late for a meeting so be it, but usually I start on time, it also avoids unnecessary stress and gives me the option to also have a coffee underway.

I also remember some sectarian veggie restaurant somewhere in Brussels where we ended up via John Sellekaers I think? That was quite weird for me… the food was ok though, but I’m not really into sects (laughs). But aside from that, I kinda miss sitting in a restaurant with all of us, you, Seba, Benoit, Cedric, and a few others which are still part of my inner circle, but who I don’t see enough. Luckily at least you and me did a good restaurant now !

Patrick Knoch set up Elektrostaub in 2007. Elektrostaub  can be defined as Electro/Future-Pop and is a solo-project with guest singers. After the first official album “Birthday And Death” released in 2017 on Echozone, the German project joined hands together with Alfa-Matrix. The new album “Reliance” features guest singers Patrik Hansson (Vanguard, Uncreated), Henrik Iversen (Namnambulu), !DISTAIN, René Anke (Logic & Olivia), Stefan Netschio (Beborn Beton), Jan Dieckmann (Norderney), Alex Rush (Unity One), Claudia Uhle (X-Perience), Damasius Venys (Mondträume, Mental Exile), Alex Nórdika (Nórdika) and Darrin Huss (Psyche). The work is a diversified, danceable and ambitious piece. I asked a few questions to Patrick Knoch.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Patrick, tell us a bit more about your music background and how did you come to set up Elektrostaub? 

Patrick: I received musical education in my childhood at a Yamaha music school, mainly on the electronic organ and keyboards. In the early 2000s I founded a band and later decided to start a solo project to better implement my own ideas and ideas.

Q: Elektrostaub is clearly driven and inspired by different forms of Electronic music, but ‘Pop’ definitely appears to be the main source of inspiration.  What are your examples and references in music and how would you analyze your own composition? 

Patrick: I’ve always been a fan of Electronic music and I liked the music of Depeche Mode, Camouflage, Erasure to name a few. Later, Silke Bischoff, Vnv Nation, Solar Fake, for example. So it was relatively obvious that I should try to make music in this direction myself.

Are you looking for powerful beats, flying, melodic and dreamy surfaces as well as modern sounds and catchy Electro-Pop songs? Then you’ve come to the right place with Elektrostaub. Due to the large number of singers involved, the styles of the respective bands also flow into the project and increase the spectrum of versatility.

Q: You mentioned the large number of singers so why do you prefer working with guest singers instead of a real band singer? And what’s your connection with the guys of !Distain? 

Patrick: In the beginning, the main idea was to do remixes and write instrumentals. Later on the idea came up that I could have guest singers set it to music. 

On this album all lyrics come exclusively from the guest singers. I think it’s important that my guests can get involved in the project themselves.

I have known Manfred and Alex from !Distain since the beginning of Elektrostaub and they have become very good friends of mine. Producing songs together is similar to do house music with your family… lol.

Q: How did the writing- and production process of “Reliance” happened? And how did the collaboration with the different singers happened?  

Patrick: First I write the arrangements and instrumentals. When that happens I think carefully about which singer could sing the song best. In most cases I choose artists whose music I also like and whether I personally like the voices or would simply go very well with the song.

When the process is finished I write to the respective artist and ask if they are interested.

After receiving the vocal tracks, I embedded them into the arrangements and then created the final mixes.

Q: There’s an impressive evolution in sound and production from your debut album “Birthday And Death” (2017) towards “Reliance”. How do you look back at your debut work and the transition to “Reliance”? 

Patrick: Thanks so much. I would think it’s just a constant development and advancement. Perhaps the experience gained plays a role. I don’t really like to look back, I love to look forward 😉

Q: How do you expect Elektrostaub evolving and what are the further plans regarding aspects like live shows, remixes, singles and clips? 

Patrick: I will start work on the third album soon. I will write several arrangements and instrumentals again and then proceed as always. I still have some remixes to do in the near future. I’ve been doing a few lately and they’ll all be out soon. Live shows are not planned or very feasible due to the fact that I don’t have a permanent singer.

In which direction will Elektrostaub evolve? I can’t say that today. I’ll just try to develop myself musically and hope to take the next steps.

The synthpop / futurepop act Chrysanth has released a brand new single, “Towards The Sun”. It’s available on Bandcamp now and will be on Spotify from December 31st on.

The single contains two new songs, “Towards The Sun” and “The Sound” and a remix of “Black Rose” from the previous album. The single acts as a teaser for a new EP coming in 2022.

Chrysanth is the project of a duo consisting of US producer Andy Brennan and Canadian vocalist Jason Qiu. The project was featured on Sideline’s “Face The Beat 3” and “Face The Beat 4” and also landed on Alfha Matrix’ EBM2 compilation.

Check out the single below.

Tangerine Dream announce their sophomore album “Raum” – after the passing of TG founder Edgar Froese. The album is due out next February via Kscope/Eastgate Music, inaugurating the ‘From Virgin to the Quantum Years’ tour. The new album will follow in the sonical footsteps of the November’s EP “‘Probe 1-8” featuring Berghain resident Barker and Grand River remixes.

The video for “Raum” is a Super-8 document of the band’s creation process at their Berlin Neukölln studio.

Tangerine Dream nowadays consists of Thorsten Quaeschning, Hoshiko Yamane, Ulrich Schnauss, Paul Frick. The quartet says their new work is directly inspired by Froese’s Cubase arrangements and Otari tapes.

For now enjoy this new Tangerine Dream video for the single “Raum” which comes in a special single edit.

Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music band founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The group has seen many personnel changes over the years, with Froese having been the only continuous member until his death in January 2015. The best-known lineup of the group was its mid-1970s trio of Froese, Christopher Franke, and Peter Baumann.

Out now is a brand new video by the Greek electro project Siva Six: “Alpha”. The track for the video is taken from the band’s brand new album “DeathCult” which is out now on Alfa Matrix.

“DeathCult” comes right after the release of the “Ghost Dance” EP earlier this year, and is the band’s long-awaited 5th album to date.

Here’s the video for “Alpha”.

The new “DeathCult” album features 12 songs all centered about the concept of the great mystery and the awful tragedy that death is. For the recording of this new album Z (vocals) and U-Ri (keyboard) counted on Psychon for the mix, mastering and production of the material.

You can check the new tracks below and on Bandcamp. The CD version is available right here from the Alfa Matrix webstore.

Accelerating Blue Fish was a Swedish label releasing S.P.O.C.K and Page among others during the eighties and early nineties. In 1988 it released the by now classic vinyl compilation “Synthetic Sounds From Accelerating Blue Fish”. 33 years later that compilation finally gets a digital release.

“Synthetic Sounds From Accelerating Blue Fish” will land on all digital platforms on December 3. In addition to Page the compilation also features, among others, Sista Mannen På Jorden, Random Toxy (which was actually Ausgang Verboten who are also featured on this compilation) and Håkan Lidbo (under the name Libido).

Regarding Ausgang Verboten, they were a band from Malmö, Sweden, which was heavily influenced by Kraftwerk. The Band was formed by 16 year old Patrik Book in 1983, and later joined by Jesper Hanning.

In short it’s a real who is who in the early Swedish electronic pop scene.

Full track list:

1. Page – “Vad Ska Jag Hitta På”
2. Libido – “=⎹ _ – /⎹⎹ -⎿ _ / -“
3. Random Toxy – “Stanley Wop”
4. Libido & The Thin Male Nude – “Fingerprints”
5. Page – “Het Raket”
6. Ausgang Verboten – “Estética”
7. Libido & The Thin Male Nude – “B4ICOunt23”
8. Sista Mannen På Jorden – “Egen Rymddräkt Finnes”
9. Random Toxy – “Wierd World”

Out via the Oakland-based label COP International Records is Johnny Tupolev’s first proper release “Desperate – The Ep”. For this release the German trio (Tom Berger, Jens Grebe and Dietmar ‘Didi’ Noack) worked together with John Fryer in the production seat. You may expect early nineties American cold wave augmented by 21st-century production skills.

Also on board is Christopher Hall (Stabbing Westward) as a remixer while label mates Sick Jokes completed a ‘Dark Star’ remix of “Shot in Black and White”. The accompanying video for “Desperate” was directed by Frank Petzold and Christoph Vitt.

You can download the full EP below.

Out on January 28th 2022 via Dependent in a box-set is the Mesh live show release “Touring Skyward (A Tour Movie)” featuring an extended (3 ½ hours playing time. Released on blu-ray with 2 exclusive live-CDs holding 23 tracks, recorded in various places during the band’s last tour.

All 3 discs are coming inside a large-sized hardcover book, featuring 60 pages with exclusive artwork and tons of live pictures, various crew member liner notes and much more.

The video footage – shot and produced over a period of 4 years – also holds backstage material shot on the tour-bus, and other usually restricted or private locations. You also get interviews with the two founding members of the band, Mark Hockings and Richard Silverthorn next to detailed depictions of the stage set-up of all musicians involved, fan interviews, and many more insights.

The live material was shot during gigs in Hamburg, Königsstein and Köln (Cologne).

About Mesh

Mesh formed in 1991 after lead singer Mark Hockings and Richard Silverthorn (keyboards) met each other at a concert where Richard Silverthorn’s band was playing. Soon afterwards, Neil Taylor, Silverthorn’s former bandmate, joined the band on keyboards. The creative writing was split between Richard Silverthorn, who composes the music, and Mark Hockings, who writes the lyrics.

Mesh were signed by the Swedish label Memento Materia and an EP, “Fragile”, was released in 1994. This was followed by a full album, “In This Place Forever”, in 1996. In 1997 the band released an extended version of “Fragile”. A compilation album, “Fragmente”, was released in 1998, and a new studio album, “The Point At Which It Falls Apart” in 1999. By then the Side-Line readers already had gotten to know the band via the attached CD-sampler that was released with the printed magazine.

In 2002, Mesh were picked up by Sony Records, and released a new album “Who Watches Over Me”. In 2006 a new album, “We Collide”, was released, produced by former Depeche Mode producer, Gareth Jones.

On 13 September 2006 Taylor announced he was leaving the band after 15 years to pursue other interests. Hockings and Silverthorn decided to continue as a duo, using an augmented line-up for live shows. Initially, Geoff Pinckney replaced Taylor at live shows.

The new line-up signed to Dependent Records as their European record label. Metropolis Records represents them in the US and South America. “A Perfect Solution” was released in 2009. It was produced by the German dark electro producer Olaf Wollschläger. Olaf has continued to work with Mesh on subsequent releases. In 2011 the band followed up “A Perfect Solution” with a remix of the album, entitled “An Alternative Solution”.

On 26 August 2011 the band announced via Twitter that Geoff Pinckney would no longer be playing live with Mesh as he wished to focus on his other musical project, Tenek. He was replaced by Richard Broadhead. Live drummer Sean Suleman also joined the line up around this time.

In 2013 the band released “Automation Baby”. “When Looking Skyward” followed in 2016. In 2015 the band played with a classical orchestra at the ‘Gothic meets Klassik’ festival in Leipzig. The show was recorded and initially scheduled for release in 2016 but the release got delayed to late 2017 to expand the live recording with some additional studio tracks recorded at Tonscheune Oleak.

Since the release of the “Tulpa” EP in 2017, ImJudas has appeared on various compilations, including our very own “Face The Beat 5” with the track “Without Us You Are Nothing”. With the 6-track EP “Ritual”, Italian artist Maxx Maryan – male half of the electro rock duo Helalyn Flowers – launches the last EP before the launch of his debut solo album “Yrjudas” scheduled for an early 2022 release.

Besides the title track we also find an Aiboforcen remix of the B-side “So Untrue” featuring Noemi Aurora, and 4 remixes of “Ritual” by 808 Dot Pop, Cubic, Reichsfeind and Acylum.

You can download the EP right now from Bandcamp, check the previews below.

And this is the debut EP which was released in 2017, “Tulpa”.

(Photo by schokopixel.de) Last month we informed you that worldwide paper shortage would delay the release of the new Lacrimosa album. However, some good news reached us from the Swiss label Hall of Sermon a few moments ago and that is that the new studio album by Lacrimosa will still be released this year.

Shortage of paper was not the only (last) hurdle to get the album ready on time, because also the production process took quite some time and organization to make it happen.

Says the band: “Originally, the album was supposed to be finished and released a little earlier, but due to the restrictions of the last few months, a lot of work had to be postponed and plans had to be changed. Digital networking makes a lot possible, but some production steps, such as orchestral recordings, can ultimately only be carried by all musicians coming together in one recording hall, playing together. But now the work is done and completed and the long awaited album comes out still in 2021!”

After their worldwide live-streaming show from the ISS Dome Düsseldorf for their 30th anniversary, the band is now ready to launch their new studio album this year. More information will follow shortly!

Ahead of our newest compilation mastodont “Face The Beat: Session 7”, we first deliver you a special compilation from Insane Records, “The Insane Vaults“, through which we offer you the opportunity to discover a specific label, in this case Insane Records.

Compiled by label owner Evgeniy Vorozheykin for Side-Line in the Autumn of 2021, it holds a nice overview of what this label has on offer: from industrial, harsh electro, over pure EBM to goth.

You can download the compilation for free via Bandcamp. Just like all other free compilations released via Side-Line, also this one is a charity compilation with all donations going to the projects we support.

The history of Insane Records starts at the end of 2013, but took an official format on the 21st June of 2014 when they released their very first CD.

Here’s what drives Evgeniy Vorozheykin, Insane Records labelowner: “In my youth I had a WarCraft III clan, I was a manager and we participated in leagues, although I didn’t really know how to play it myself. I also created my own industrial/gothic news site (in Russian) back then and made compilations. Apparently I like to organize things so from there on I said, let’s go for it. So I started my ‘career’ as a label owner in 2012 when I launched the Artificial Sun label. But that one closed in 2013 already as it didn’t meet my ‘internal needs’ after which I launched Insane Records with a more complex idea behind it. I hope that it’s not just me who needs all this and that we all contribute to the overall scene. I hope for your responsiveness with the material I release.”

Enjoy this new compilation!

(Photo as posted by Star Industry on Facebook) Very, very sad news has reached us from the Belgian gothic act Star Industry as the band announced the sudden death of bass player Stijn Kuipers in a Facebook update. In a reaction the band asks to respect all peace and serenity.

Stijn “Stign” Kuijpers (born in 1969) was one of the founding members of the band when they formed in 1996.

Our sincere condolences to the band, his friends and family. Rest in peace Stijn.

Some very dirty business is being unearthed as Jérôme Reuter goes public with the news that he was contacted by an US attorney, ordering him to cease using the name ROME immediately, as his clients – the band Sublime with Rome and its frontman Rome Ramirez – have trademarked the word/name ‘Rome’. This also explains why some of the ROME material has completely disappeared from online platforms such as Apple music, Spotify, etc..

For strategic reasons, Reuter did not go public with this yet until now.

Jérôme Reuter explains: “I had never attempted to trademark “Rome”, as I believe in the sanctity of the idea that is ROME, without needing the approval of any domestic or foreign office. Rome is obviously and most notably the name of a city, but also an empire and stands for an important root of our common European heritage. Trademarking such a name or word is something both impossible and ridiculous. Furthermore, the name happens to be derived from my first name, and thus, I believed there was no need to trademark it – which is a very costly thing in itself anyway, especially for an outfit operating in countless legal territories around the globe. Whatever the little battles and skirmishes of this disgusting modern world, I never wanted any part in them, but I was dragged into this dreadful legal battle by Mr Ramirez nonetheless and I have to defend myself against this attack whether I wish to or not.”

As Reuter did not comply with the US attorney’s demand to cease all activities as ROME, Rome Ramirez has had some of his music (i.e. the most successful and recent releases) banned from online platforms for ‘trademark infringement’, “to show his resolve to push a fellow musician into a corner during the second year of a pandemic”, Reuter adds. Reuter has had to assemble legal teams in both the US and EU to fight this. And this comes with a tremendous financial cost, as you can imagine.

In order to finance his legal actions Reuter is selling some special items via fantotal.

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European trademark of the name ‘Rome’ canceled

With the help of his European legal team, he has managed to cancel the opposite side’s European trademark of the name ‘Rome’. Jérôme explains: “This is a partial victory in an a series of battles we are fighting to win this war that was brought to our doorstep. This is also the reason why we were able to reinstate all our music online in the EU. I have never tried to stop Mr Ramirez from using his name, even though he most obviously started using it after me. But I do not believe in going after a fellow musician, especially when times are hard for everyone to begin with. I am deeply saddened that I need to devote what time, money and energy I have to this fight, when I should be working on more important matters.”

Sublime with Rome was born out of… abusing a trademarked name itself

Sublime with Rome is a musical collaboration between Eric Wilson, formerly of the American ska punk band Sublime, and singer and guitarist Rome Ramirez. The group’s name is not only a reference to the singer’s first name, but to the fact that they chiefly perform songs by the original Sublime, which was fronted by Bradley Nowell until his death in 1996.

But now comes the biggest surprise… Ramirez began performing with Bud Gaugh (also formerly of Sublime) and Wilson in 2009, where they played under the name “Sublime”, until Nowell’s estate issued a legal challenge to the use of the trademarked name for a venture not including Nowell. As a result, they changed their name to “Sublime with Rome” in January 2010.

A bunch of true punks, in a very bad way.

(Photo by Jana Divis ) Out today, October 22, is the newest single from the Pacific Northwest post-punkers Datura who (briefly) depart from their traditional post-punk roots to give you “Everything Turns Black”, a darkwave, synth-based track, just in time for Halloween.

Datura will ring a bell with those who checked out our free post-punk compilation “Post​-​Punk (Genesis)” on Bandcamp as the band is featured on the release with the track “Orphans” (track number 6).

Datura consists of frontman and guitarist David Betancourt, Tiffany Shafer and Jake St. John on drums. The band formed in 2018 when David and Jake met through a mutual friend. Tiffany joined in 2019. Later that year, the band released their first EP, “Orphans”, and began playing shows around the Pacific Northwest.

In 2020, Datura released “Bury Me”, their second EP, with the intent to tour the West Coast. The COVID-19 pandemic caused the tour to be canceled, so the band retreated to their practice space in 2020 to finish writing their first full-length album. Datura plans to release the album in January of 2022 with the help of a couple of labels.

Here’s the single which can be downloaded on Bandcamp.

The experimental industrial act Testube has just released a brand new single + music video titled “Themself” as a fundraiser for True Colors United, an organization that works hard to improve the lives of homeless LGBTIQ+ youth. Jeff Danos (Testube) describes the sound as follows: “The new song is a dark and gritty composition with post-punk undertones, raw bass guitar, harsh stuttering percussion, haunting synths, and heart-wrenching vocals.”

Jeff Danos tells us this about the song and video: “When our daughter came out to us as a teen, we wanted to surround her with our most unconditional love and acceptance, to ensure that she felt the confidence and support she needed, to truly be herself. While I certainly know what it feels like to be rejected for being different, I can’t imagine how terrifying it can be for a young LGBTIQ person striving to become their true, authentic self. Some of these youth are treated with disgust and hatred by those around them, even by their own families. It is also common for some LGBTIQ youth to be forced from their home, with nowhere to go. With that in mind, this video was produced as a fundraiser for True Colors United, an organization founded by the one and only Cyndi Lauper, that is implementing innovative solutions to youth homelessness that focus on the unique experiences of LGBTIQ young people.”

Donations can be made here.

Testube is trying to raise $2,021 for this year. Listeners can also download the new Testube single titled “Themself” via Bandcamp as a pay-what-you-can release, where all proceeds from the sales of this single will also be donated to True Colors United.

Why you should support this cause

In the United States, 4.2 million youth experience homelessness each year, with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth 120% more likely to experience homelessness than their non-LGBTQ peers. In fact, up to 40% of youth experiencing homelessness identify as LGBTQ. True Colors United works tirelessly to improve the lives of these teens and give them the dignity and respect they deserve during this difficult time in their lives.

View the video for the song below.

Belgian born Thomas Peters better known as Tommi Stumpff became a true reference in the world of 80s EBM. Albums like “Terror II” (1988) and “Ultra” (1989) became successful productions featuring hits like the legendary “Massaker”, but also “Lobotomie” and “Meine Sklavin”. Nearly twenty years after his last studio production, there’s a new (mini)-album hitting the streets. “Alles Idioten” released on Danse Macabre Records features six songs mixing solid Electronic bass lines together with the Industrial power of the guitar play and enraged vocals. The production is getting us back to the powerful- and rough sound of the artist. Stumpff is now a true band already working on new songs.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: “Alles Idioten” is your first new work in years. What have been the triggers to start composing music again and what are the most significant changes/evolutions compared to your early years? 

Tommi: I was seeing bands with guys of my age, and that gave me the idea to start jamming again. I met up with Rüdiger Schuster at the Amphitheater back in 2014 and we decided to give it a shot. The big difference from my solo career is that this time, we’re hitting the stage as a band –with guitars. The sound became harder and more metallic. The baritone guitar from Sam H. Hunt is also part of our sound now.

Q: Are you nostalgic? I mean how do you look back at the songs and albums you released in between 1982 and 1993? And how did you perceive the evolution of music (and the scene) after you stopped yourself making music? 

Tommi: No, I’m not that nostalgic, but the music from that era –especially what I had been doing back then –well, I like it more than ever before. After all, it wasn’t long ago that I re-released my old albums “Zu Spät Ihr Scheißer”, “Terror II” and “Ultra”. Songs like “La Lueur”, “Lobotomie” and “Creve Petit Con” in particular –those are ones we still play live nowadays. It’s as much fun for me listening to them as it ever was.

I can’t think of any big jump that I’ve made from the music I was doing back around 1993. But I hadn’t spent that much time with it, either. 

Q: I think it’s nearly impossible comparing the 80s with the music of today and yet, I get the impression listening to “Alles Idioten” brings the good-old Tommi Stumpff sound alive. Tell us a bit more about the writing- and recording process of the album? What are the main points of satisfaction and what have been the main difficulties/challenges you encountered? 

Tommi: It all begins when I start working on an idea I’ve in mind, and then I start putting the Electronic parts into place. Either I start with a melody, or I’ve already got a line in my head. The lyrics always come last. 

Being able to switch to digital instruments in Linux was a great opportunity, giving me more control over the sounds I was creating than I ever had before. The analog parts –guitar and vocals, are recorded in a conventional manner at Dungeon Studio, Rhenania, with the help of Marcel P. 

Q: Because of the ongoing pandemic it’s rather strange to unleash a new album in such hard times. “Alles Idioten” however sounds as an appropriated title to reflect the world we’re living in. But what is it really all about and what did you try to express by this title and the lyrical themes? 

Tommi: It will take more than a pandemic to keep me quiet. The songs were already done and had to get out there. What’s interesting is that 90% of everybody thinks that 90% of everybody else are a bunch of idiots – which may very well reflect reality. 

Our new album “Alles Idioten” is. When the situation calls for it, it feels good to shout “Geh Sterben” ([fuck off and] “Go Die”) or “Alles Idioten” ([you’re all just] “A Bunch of Idiots”).

Q: Your music has been often connected with EBM, but I always experienced your sound as ‘atypical’. It’s not that different for the new work. How important for you is it to always have had this particular sound, kind of sound DNA? 

Tommi: Sounding different from everything else has always been very important to me. Needless to say, the new songs have the personal Tommi Stumpff touch too. I always tried creating distinctive sounds from the very outset, and that hasn’t changed, although I do make most of my sounds with Yoshimi and Linux. Whenever a certain sound captures my attention, I’m quick to record it and use it in one of my pieces. 

Q: You lived in Brussels (Belgium), Paris (France) and of course Düsseldorf (Germany). How important has been the impact of the places you lived on your music? And what did you keep in mind from you stay in Belgium and France? 

Tommi: None of that really influenced me that much. I started playing guitar when I lived in Brussels, and when I came back to Düsseldorf at the age of 16, I wanted to launch a career in music. We played in a schoolboy band back then. 

The things I remember most about Belgium and France were the schools –and the smells. Brigitte Bardot lived near our place in Paris. 

Q: Do we have to see “Alles Idioten” as a ‘one shot’ experience or do you’ve concrete further plans?

Tommi: We’re not calling it quits. We’re working on new songs. 

(Photo by Ravenous & Pixel Breed) The new song “Roots” is the first new Ravenous release in over 20 years. It is available as a digital single in all relevant stores today. An official lyric video is available on YouTube and can be seen below.

“Roots” is the opening track for Ravenous’ upcoming 25 years anniversary album “Forward to the Roots” which will be released on 29 October on Repo Records and is the 4th album of the trio consisting of Björn Böttcher, Gerrit Thomas and Tim Fockenbrock.

The album is a mix of new songs (“Roots”, “Here Again” and “Free Me”), unreleased tracks and rarities from the band archive ranging from unreleased versions of tracks from the 1996 debut (recorded by X-Marks the Pedwalk’s mind Andre Schmechta), to unreleased remixes, demos and rarities.

Also included is the never released re-recording of the single “Frozen Tears” (originally planned for 2001 but never released).

Enjoy the official “Roots” lyric video.

About Ravenous

Ravenous was born somewhere in 1989 and after their debut album on Off Beat they would release a second album, “No Retreat And No Surrender”, on Zoth Ommog in 1998. “Phoenix” followed in 2000 on Bloodline. And after that the lights went out.

During these 20 years apart, the band members have musically gone their own ways: While Björn Böttcher, after an extensive live artist career with Funker Vogt, ultimately delved into label and artist management with RepoRecords, Gerrit Thomas took a career in music production. Tim Fockenbrock, for his part, worked with several bands outside the scene and even deployed a dubbing career.

After the two chart-hitting singles “We Are Dreamers“ (#1) and “Wake Up“ (#4), German synth pop act Elektrostaub is about to release the 14-track album “Reliance” featuring quite and impressive list of artists who surround him on future pop / synthpop album.

On this record Patrick Knoch works with Henrik Iversen (Namnambulu), Nórdika and his good old friends from !Distain. But he also invited a sort of “who is who” from the indie synth pop scene on this release, with special additional guest singers in the likes of Stefan Netschio (Beborn Beton), Darrin Huss (Psyche), Damasius Venys (Mondträume, Mental Exile), Patrik Hansson (Vanguard), Claudia Uhle (X-Perience), René Anke (Logic & Olivia), Alex Rush (Unity One) and Jan Dieckmann (Norderney).

Impressive to say the least!

You can expect a mix of melancholic synth pop and dancefloor future pop with a harder EBM edge. The release is available now in pre-order on CD and as download via Bandcamp where you get 2 tracks already.

Check out the album trailer below.

On November 5th, Helix will self-release a brand new digital-only EP entitled “Bad Dream”, featuring 4 brand new tracks and remixes from Mark Hockings (Mesh) and Andrew Sega (ex-Iris, Hallowed Hearts). The EP will be available on Bandcamp and the usual digital and streaming platforms.

Helix is the brand new collaboration between Tom Shear (Assemblage 23) and vocalist Mari Kattman (known for her work with Psy’Aviah and Mari & The Ghost). The debut album for the duo was released on August 24 2018, called “Twin”.

Here’s already a trailer.

Right on the heels of their new studio album “Minor Side-Effects” (available here on Bandcamp) with the original line-up of the band, Jarkko Tuohimaa, Vesa Rainne and Ville Brusi from Neuroactive are now revisiting their cult debut album “Morphology” that was initially released in 1994 on Cyberware Productions.

“Morphology (redux)” is available for immediate download from Bandcamp with other services to follow in the next weeks.

The material was instead of being simply remastered completely re-recorded using today’s technologies and the artists accumulated studio experience and know-how over the last 27 years.

“The project started with the original multitracks. We went through old masters and decided what we wanted to keep and what we wanted to record again and we ended up with good mashup of old and new”, says Jarkko Tuohimaa.

On this new album you’ll hear the more banging EBM approach of Neuroactive from the early days with metallic beats, punchy analog basslines and smooth long lead vocals.

You can check it out below.

After the release of the “Ghost Dance” EP earlier this year, “DeathCult” the long-awaited 5th album of the Greek electro project Siva Six is finally to be released on November 19th.

The new album will feature 12 songs all centered about the concept of the great mystery and the awful tragedy that death is. For the recording of this new album Z (vocals) and U-Ri (keyboard) counted on Psychon for the mix, mastering and production of the material.

The band’s last new studio album was the 2016 released “Dawn Of Days”.

You can already check 2 new tracks below and on Bandcamp. The CD version is available right here from the Alfa Matrix webstore.

And if you missed out on the ‘Ghost Dance” EP, you can check it out below.

The video for “Ghost Dance” was released as well.

(By our Norwegian correspondent Jan Ronald Stange) Out on November 12 is the new album “Imposter”, a collection of songs from Dave Gahan & Soulsavers. This is Dave Gahan’s third collaboration with the Soulsavers, following their releases “Angels & Ghosts” in 2015 and “The Light the Dead See” in 2012. 

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As stated in their press info: “They didn’t write these songs, but listened to them, studied them, and gave them new life. It is a reflection of Dave’s life, a story told by others, but in his own distinct voice.

Recorded at the legendary Shangri-La Studios in Malibu, these versions of songs you know and some you might not range from sparse to lush, somber to joyful. The choices and sequencing were deliberate and meaningful, It shines a light on the enduring strength of poignant lyrics and well-executed melodies.“

We’ll get the first taste of “Imposter” on October 8^th with the release of “Metal Heart”, written by Chan Marshall (Cat Power), first released in 1998.

Tracklist:

1. The Dark End of the Street (Chips Moman/Dan Penn)
2. Strange Religion (Mark Lanegan)
3. Lilac Wine (James Shelton)
4. I Held My Baby Last Night  (Jules Bihari/Elmore James)
5. A Man Needs a Maid (Neil Young)
6. Metal Heart (Cat Power)
7. Shut Me Down (Rowland S. Howard)
8. Where My Love Lies Asleep (Gene Clark)
9. Smile (Charlie Chaplin, John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons)
10. The Desperate Kingdom of Love (PJ Harvey)
11. Not Dark Yet (Bob Dylan)
12. Always on My Mind (John Lee Christopher, Jr., Mark James & Wayne Thompson)
    

More info at http://davegahan.com / https://www.instagram.com/theimposter/

When we first heard from the Swedish band Circumpolar, Jonas Mattsson and Patrik Wallin, it was very clear that this band was bound to fill the gap that has existed for more than a decade in the electro scene, and that’s good olschool darkwave electro which we got to appreciate with bands such as the original Skinny Puppy, Abscess, Fortification 55 and many others, albeit with an up-to-date production.

This newcomer act took us literally by surprise with the release of their “We Will Remain” EP, this was like the scene in “Ratatouille” (2007) where Anton Ego tastes his dish, the ultimate flashback to those good old darkwave days.

Out by mid-November but now already in pre-order via Bandcamp and on 2CD via the Alfa Matrix webstore is the album “Awaiting The Dawn”. We already got to hear the complete album, and it surely was right what we expected: dark and somber darkwave electro with tormented vocals. The limited CD edition of the album comes out as a digipak double-CD with a 9-track bonus disc gathering the two “We Will Remain” and “Until The End Of Time” EP’s which appear on CD for the very first time.

On Bandcamp you can get the album separately so you don’t need to buy the EPs a second time. If you haven’t got the previous two EPs, don’t hesitate. You can check the material out below. Very warmly recommended.

If you want an extra glimpse of the new album, then check out the teaser below.