Author: soundsandshadows (Ken Magerman)

I am the writer of the music review page Sounds and Shadows and lead singer of the band Amaranth.

Caustic – “FIEND I”

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There are a lot of things that make Industrial Music, Industrial Music. Intensity, absurd sounds, samples of movies everyone should stop sampling (I’m looking at you Full Metal Jacket). One of the others at the top of the list is authenticity. True industrial music is a gory high fidelity pulsing vein of truth that lays an artist bare spread eagle on a sun dial at high noon with a metal pole bursting through their chest for all to see. That is who Matt Fanale is. That is what this record is.

FIEND I | Caustic

released August 20, 2025

All songs by Caustic/Matt Fanale, except Thirsty Dog, lyrics by Nick Cave

No AI went into the making of this. Don’t be a hack.

Why do we love Madison Wisconsin Industropunk Caustic? The punk rock ethos? The intelligent political vinegar? Is it the fact that Matt loves bad ass beats as much as you do and dedicates his life and time to making sure your fuking bones quake when his bassline drops? Pick an answer. One truth remains, for 1.5 decades now Caustic has been giving you both barrels of fearless phosphorus dragon round industrial music and the Fiend dual albums leave it all on the floor.

Favorite tracks:

“I Love You Matt, but fuck off” – Pure Industrial bare boned self-flagellation. It’s mean, it’s fearless, it’s beats are thrashed within an inch of their life. I love the craft, I love the energy. This the sound a 16 year old me screamed at the moon for.

“Pushing Rope” Part of the amazing beauty of Caustic is to scream rusty nail anger while tearing yourself down a peg. It is real, it is relatable, it is staring at your own mortality how fuking dare you universe.

“I‘ll Throw A Mountain At You” – “When you’ve got nothing to lose I’ll throw a mountain at you” Unhinged aggression with glitchy beats relatable in the modern times. I love the classic growling cadence and exposed emotion.

FIEND I | Caustic

Rather you are talking Caustic, DaddyBear, or Klack, Matt Fanale is a geyser of propelled emotion and boot stomping beats. There is a Part II of Feind out and I look forward to reviewing it too. Matt is one of the real ones, Caustic is a legend.

Blood Dance – Walk the Night

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Akatoxkatl Martinez and Blood Dance from Mexico City are one of the most exciting new talents in the modern darkscene. I reviewed the single Wicked King in 2022 and was immediately struck by the craft and passion. The best goth music comes from artist with a message bubbling out of their souls. Blood Dance embodies that deeper meaning and inner fire. This record is pure death rock spread over infectious dance beats. If you are going to bring old soul death rock into the modern world, get a producer that is a legend of the sound like Franck Amendola of Corpus Delicti.

Walk the Night – Album | Blood Dance

blood-dance.com

Physical, organic, and raw this record stalks you with a hunger. It has an energy that moves you on the dance floor, but you can hear that no attention was given to making pop singles. This is the grimy filthy batcave sound that drew the weird kids out of their caves and into the underground. A devil may care attitude that roars punk anger as much as goth macabre. Akatoxkatl‘s voice is haunting, full of gothic beauty. Yet never far from a snarling menace beneath the surface.

Favorite Tracks:

Baptism – “We’re gonna rise up now and scream revenge We’re gonna come down on them like four horsemen We’re gonna rise up now and scream bloody revenge” This is an absolute slow crawl banger. There is nothing more goth than iconism. This track does the soul and pageantry but flips the script with a faith much older than Catholicism. I love than downbeat synth lines. The vocals rise and break with reckless passion.

Compromise – “I’ll bring down heaven from above And give you all those things you want Forget the pain you’ve felt for far too long.” I am a sucker for a good romantic goth song and an album of napalm bangers. Writing a genuine love song that isn’t cheesy is the hardest thing for a musician to accomplish. This one burns true with a slick backbeat and a sizzling guitar solo.

www.instagram.com/blooddanceband/

Mexico City has a rich tradition of darkscene music. One of the most passionate fan bases in the world. It’s a thing of beauty to see that tradition perfectly carried on by the next wave spiritual successor Blood Dance.

Walk the Night – Album | Blood Dance

Mark E Moon “Pop Noir”

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I love that modern goth is always expanding and pushing the boundaries of what fits in it’s box. I also love bands like Mark E Moon from the Isle of Man that write a love letter to the classic goth sound with every new release. It always takes a fresh new form, but the passion for early proto goth is etched in their dna. This latest release Pop Noir is rich with shadowy vibrations from the underground club sounds of UltraVox “Vienna”. Mark, Phil, and company are at their core precision artisans. They make songs with intention and exacting detail. The perfect skillset to embrace the challenge of euro club proto goth. Mark is always projecting a different inflection to his resonant baritone. This release is dripping with a raw sensuality that would make Dave Gahan blush.

Mark Sayle (lead vocals, keys, guitars)
Phil Reynolds (guitars, keys, bass)
Katie Redmond (guitars, keys)
Joseph Prince (drums, samples, keys, vocals)
Steve Halsall (bass guitar)
Shelly Rourke (vocals)
Marie Reynolds (vocals)
George Parsons (keys & guitar)

Front cover artwork by Greg Rolfes
Design & layout by Phil, Mark & Joseph

Pop Noir | Mark E Moon

When I think of Mark E Moon the captivating guitar riffs define the sound for me. This album is so synth centric I worried those deep hook leads might take a back seat. They continue to shine from the core without needing to dominate. The title track “Pop Noir” has this amazing delayed New Order “Movement” sound that left me spellbound. It’s so hard to hear this record and not fall in love with it. Touching every note that pulls the emotional strings inside us.

Favorite Tracks:

Use of Weapons – “See the fortress in the dead of night , The long guns and the probing searchlights. A civil war and a waiting game, He walks a path by another name. ” This track has a classic Mark E Moon feel, but what a driving punk spirit banger. I love this flickering guitar lead and the protest song edge in mark’s voice. This might be a deep cut but one I couldn’t turn away from.

A Kiss Before Dying – Always open with a banger. This opening track embodied the homage to proto dance goth. Winding down damp back alleys in search of hidden dance clubs. The drum beat hear is an electrifying stampede to push Mark’s crooning hook. The choir chorus really spits the sky. This track should be rocking every dark dance night in the states.

Pop Noir | Mark E Moon

Mark E Moon continues to be one of the most underrated bands of the modern darkscene. A group that understands and appreciates the ethos of what drew us to the macabre and strange. Balancing the line between straightforward concepts and complex dynamics. Another hit for the legend of Mark E Moon.

Curse Mackey “Imaginary Enemies”

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A brand new solo album from Texas front man extraordinaire Curse Mackey (Evol Mothers/Pigface/My Life with The Thrill Kill Kult) and it’s the most vicious offering to date. Curse brings a vocal talent capable of standing in for Peter Murphy and a poetic spirit of William Burroughs splashed against the canvas of early 90s Wax Trax. Following 2022 Immoral Emporium this fresh construction tackles the modern trauma of self-reflection and paranoia composed in the post capitalist world. Dripping with religious pageantry and gothic ideals Curse weaves and electronic tapestry to challenge a world of degrading empathy.

Produced by Curse Mackey + Chase Dobson
Lyrics by Curse Mackey
Performed by Curse Mackey + Chase Dobson
Mixed by Chase Dobson

▶︎ Imaginary Enemies | Curse Mackey

Every new solo album is a step further into Curse’s own weird madness. A place where lyrics and emotion become the focus. Where percussion and atmosphere are the rails the high-speed locomotive travel along. This record represents the final offering in the trilogy. The narrative nature and precognition are part of what makes these songs transcendent.

Favorite Tracks:

Discoccult – Out of the gate, this is a banger. The tone is thrumming. I love the catholic iconoclasm and cadence. This was one of my favorite of the new tracks to see live. Anxious and complex with an effortless delivery.

“Save a prayer for this nightmare
The punishment of dreams
madness masquerades
In sacred geometries”

Blood Like Love: I’m not positive this is a Killing Joke reference but with the Martin Atkins connection it wouldn’t surprise me. The vocals tap into the blizzard blue beauty Curse is always holding behind the aggression and anger. The spoken sample is so haunting. I respect the courage of placing this glorious curveball in the center of the album.

“A Soft Moon and a Silent Servant
Dear Darling Lover, how shall we recover?”

Once again Curse has proved as a solo artist he is using lyrical complexity and emotional narrative extremely rare in the emotional scene. This 3 album story culminating in Imaginary Enemies shows an architects intention in a world of singles and rapid content. His stage show with the accompanying tour condenses a vast emotional display of a stadium show down to the intimate exposure of a small club.

Imaginary Enemies | Curse Mackey

Video Premier : LOVETH BESAMOH “Inside” [Single] (Inner Basement)

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Rotterdam, NL — Cameroonian-born producer and songwriter LOVETH BESAMOH opens a new chapter with “Inside”, the first single from his upcoming EP Riverbed. Out July 18 via Inner Basement, the track is a swirling, emotional entry point into a record that explores longing, emotional distance, and the desire to be seen.

Written and produced by Loveth and recorded with his live band, “Inside” blends hazy guitars, detuned synths, and submerged vocals into a dreamlike soundscape. The lyrics “Let me inside / I’ll break again in your display” cut through the fog with disarming honesty.

Really cool live video the song is an emotive blend of brooding post punk and psychedelic Velvet Underground vibes. Deep rich baritone vocals and delicate brush stroke percussion lead into a 2 minute explosion. I really like how the video leads into a live performance. The intensity level really lends well to organic live chaos.

Visit LOVETH BESAMOH online:

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/lvth

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/loveth_besamoh

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087441694015

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@lovethbesamoh

Bandcamp: https://lovethbesamoh.bandcamp.com/album/weather-report

Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/loveth-besamoh/1499028593

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1VFftaa0TUrjjQ1bhpBCvX?si=yXJcbAxvQN-GTngaFsfK7A