- Bootblacks – Forbidden Flames
- Vaselyne – Necromancer
- Moris Blak (Feat Gencab) – The Abstract
- Black Angel – Killer
- Brides – Private Apocalypse
- Grabyourface – Haine X Guillotine
- Dead Cool – Faith Or Misery
- The Waning Moon – Annabel
- Who Saw Her Die – Burn It All
- Dues Ex Lumina – We Are Dead Tonight
- Bootblacks – Forbidden Flames – Brand new single we have all been waiting for. Well worth the wait. New lineup, new Post Apocalypse Disco sound. Panther is charging to the front of the mix with a Dave Gahan croon that I didn’t know I was missing in life until I heard it. Northern light synth pastels twined with dancing delay guitars. Holy crap this has me excited for the next record.
Forbidden Flames | Bootblacks (bandcamp.com)
2) Vaselyne – Necromancer – Another trip to our charts for Amsterdam shadow rock Vaselyne. Loving this chorus vocal right out of the jump. Like Abba on a bad acid trip. You really feel the protagonist emotions of scared and horny as you back towards the corner from this stalking master of the undead. Slow, filthy, captivating. Really love the Kill Shelter remix as well.
Necromancer | Vaselyne (bandcamp.com)
3) MORIS BLAK – The Abstract with GenCAB – Two great tastes that taste great together. Boston Bass Wizard Moris Black pulls back the mayhem to combine electro emo songsmith David Dutton to make this absolute banger. Songs don’t need to be this catchy while making me want to break stuff. This track would make every club night better.
The Abstract with GenCAB | MORIS BLAK | MOЯIS BLAK (bandcamp.com)
4) Black Angel – Killer – Matt with another flame thrower opening riff out of his headstock. I just did a full review of the album but this single is definitely the flagship. Large, leathery, audacious, a danger energy that doesn’t quit. These vocals are two people standing on the back of a moving motorcycle, balanced and fearless.
KILLER | Black Angel (bandcamp.com)
5) BRIDES – Private Apocalypse – Adrian has really found his true voice in this project. Just slipping between the cracks of The Swans and Sisters why spitting poetry in the voice of Gmork from The Neverending Story. People really need to get aware of Brides because they are bridging the gap between traditional goth and the filthy dark future.
Private Apocalypse | BRIDES (bandcamp.com)
6) grabyourface – Haine X Guillotine – Our favorite French Sadustrial Revolutionary Marie with a poignant call to arms. The opening salvo is a lovely spoken word build into a gatling gun drum machine. This makes my brain feel like it is inside Akira.
You made our lives hell.
You turned every second into suffering.
There is gonna be retribution some day.
We will burn your palaces.
We will burn your banks.
You starved us so well, you have made us capable of literally eating you.
But while you’re dying in the flames of the hatred you have sowed.
Never forget.
You killed us before we killed you.
Haine X Guillotine | grabyourface (bandcamp.com)
7) DEAD COOL – Faith or Misery – North Carolina darkSynth with a new single who’s opening volley slashes so hard it must have been done on a keytar. Johhny spits out lyrics with lip curled menace. Angela’s bass line is hot asphalt winding through the city. A banger that asks an important question.
Faith or Misery | DEAD COOL (bandcamp.com)
8) The Waning Moon – Annabel – Ariel Maniki and Zac Campbell return to the chart once again. Complex as a spell weaving the mist around the battle field. A high speed ballad of fingertips and rumble. I could see this project becoming the main focus for both of them.
Annabel | The Waning Moon (bandcamp.com)
9) Who Saw Her Die? – Burn It All – Terrordustrial from Louisville, Kentucky, Stephen Beasey and Brian Cain served up this mechanical spider nightmare fuel. I’m glad I got to visit the broken world in this single, because I would shiver at the idea of seeing it in reality.
Burn It All | Who Saw Her Die? (bandcamp.com)
10) Deus Ex Lumina – We Are Dead Tonight – Berlin by way of Buenos Aires, velvet cloth unspooled and wrapped around the room in synthy seduction. I close my eyes and I am in a cathedral rave where all the statues and painting’s eyes are following me. I didn’t know much about this band before but they are a great find.