Author: soundsandshadows (Ken Magerman)

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

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

Bootblacks “Paradise”

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One of my favorite bands of the modern darkscene. I feel like I have been on this journey through style changes, line up changes, one things stays consistent. It’s always something fresh, always something real, and always at the top quality of any genre they dive into. Post Punk, Slick Indie, Italian Dark Disco, I never know where Panther, Barrett, and company will go next. I could not have predicted this. A complex deep cut British synth. Flavors of the criminally underrated OMD album “Crush”. Another gorgeous presence is the muted Saxaphone in a modern sound, something sure to always win my heart. with every track I am staggered by the crisp tone and razor edges. Bootblacks for me conjures images of a smokey underground club with flickering gasoline lights. Paradise is a rise to main stage neon crystal waves of Simon Le Bon.

https://bootblacks.bandcamp.com/album/paradise

All songs by Bootblacks
Lyrics by Panther Almqvist
Produced & Mixed by Xavier Paradis de Larochelle
Mastered by Hillary Johnson @ Kale Shelter Studios
Additional Arrangements by Xavier Paradis de Larochelle
Additional Engineering by Hillary Johnson
Cover Art by Carlos Pure
Additional Art by Russell Hymowitz

Additional Instrumentation:
Drums & Programming on Only You by Chris Vrenna
Saxophone on Only You by Benjamin Harrison
Saxophone on Leipzig by Oskar Carls
Saxophone on Can You Feel It? (Anymore) by Oskar Carls
Background Vox on Fade Away by Alice Gift
Percussion on Melt by Adam Amram
Bass on Melt by Russell Hymowitz

Favorite Tracks:

Forbidden Flames – “Saw you dive in the shallow end  Crack in the door, the light creeps in.  Make me clean, make me yours  Take me away my love, I’m not ready to quit ” Always open with a banger, rule number one. The verse is one of the most “Classic” sounding Bootblacks tracks. This works well to set the transition of the chorus that lets the starlight pour in. Keyboard line is such a hook here. Loving the echo vocals by Alice Gift. A shock and beautiful set up for what comes next.


Only You (feat. Chris Vrenna & Benjamin Harrison) – “What have you lost?  You don’t have to say  Is it love?  Doesn’t have to be that way” – This track is pure sex coming out the pores of your skin. Every part humming in a rise and fall unity to then be capped off with that perfect sax riff. This would be a great intro song for the next James Bond movie.

Paradise – “Heaven’s not so far  Not so far away  If you plan to stay I can show you it all ” Title track is a sleek Tron laser bike ride through a midnight city. Pather’s vocal’s have a honey dripping chorus effect. The double beat snares are crackling light. Every track is felt as much as head in the percussion.

(This interview feels like a million years ago now 🙂 but it was 4 🙂 )


Wilderness – “In this life we’re not alone  You’re the only one I’ve ever known  When the sky turns to black  It’s your call that keeps me coming  ” – Something primal and cold. A beacon we hold in our hearts that draws us to each other in times of danger. The synth line is so light on it’s feet, unpredictable. Panther’s vocals hold a bit more of that Thin Skies menace and growl.

“Paradise” represents another leap forward in evolution for a band unafraid to go wherever the spirit directs them. The precision, innovation, and passion of the songs marks them as one of the prime trend setters of modern darkscene. If you have never seen their live show, it is an experience beyond these heart pounding songs. Watching this high speed journey the last 5 years has been a privilege. Don’t waste another moment before jumping on the Bootblacks train.

The Funeral March “It All Falls Apart”

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In 2024 I lost a friend and the scene lost a passionate supporter in Joe Whiteaker. Joe Recorded “It All Falls Apart” in 2023, which would end up the final EP from The Funeral March of the Marionettes. The remaining band and William Faith worked together to release Joe’s final vision in March 2025. This record is a story, an important story, a human story. Joe always had a beautiful voice. One that dripped with soul. This was truly the culmination of his journey.

The Funeral March of the Marionettes is:
J. Whiteaker – Vocals, Bass, Keyboards, Programming
D. McCaskey – Bass, Programming, Backing Vocals
W. Thiele – Guitar, Backing Vocals

Additional performances by:
Ria Aursjoen (of Octavian Winters and AURSJOEN) – Vocals on “Stars at Night” and “Save Us”
Rob Hyman (of [melter]) – Drums on “Save Us” and “It All Falls Apart”
Renard Platine – Bass VI on “Bobblehead”

Remixes by Tweaker, Bellhead, and The Joy Thieves

https://thefuneralmarch.bandcamp.com/album/it-all-falls-apart

Stars At Night : The album opens on this sinister misty streets in autumn banger. Gorgeous opening tom lead right out of the Martin Hannett playbook. I love how well the music matches the concept in the lyrics. Life is fast, brutal and full of beauty. “The stars at night are burning silver Burn bright and quickly fade away Our fates are written on flash paper Touched to the flame and burnt away”. You don’t need the context to feel the universal core of mortality.

Shadow Games : The tone and vocals speed forward for a more modern edge. A New York City early 2000s feel that lets Joe croon and resonate. The Rhythm section is more open and pastel to let the poetry breath. A haunting chorus hopeful and tragic in equal measure. “No matter which path that you take It all ends the same Fire reflects in your dark eyes A moth drawn to the flame Silently, you will make your move In this fatal game”

Bobblehead: Slowing things down for introspection. A touch of shoegaze slush and delay to the cadence. I love that understated guitar line that matches the baseline. The lyrics drip with longing and the melody is a whisper that leaves you leaning in to be a part of the secret. “How did you keep from showing? Did the awful secret break your heart? The distance kept on growing You knew that one day that you would depart”

Save Us: Comes snarling up with delayed Love and Rockets guitars and some hunger to the vocals. William Faith has his fingerprints on a lot of the tone and sound of this record, but here most of all. Obsidian axe death rock stalking towards you with purpose. The punk rock political overtones really bleed out of this track. The background wails at 2:20 gave me chills. I love different tracks for different reasons but if I had to pick a favorite gun to my head it is Save Us. “The world is on fire now As we watch it burn Dance on a funeral pyre Everyone will take their turn”

Joe was beloved by this scene and Chicago in particular. it took a lot of people and a lot of love to make this happen. I have an interview with Darius we recorded shortly after the memorial show which I will add to this review. The 4 standout remixes by Tweaker, Bellhead, and The Joy Thieves. The art by Greg Rolfes (eleven12design.com). The Mixing and Mastering by William Faith (williamfaith.studio). All came together to show the lasting legacy Joe had on all of us. If you are new to The Funeral March of the Marionettes maybe go start with “Resurgence” and work your way forward, but they really did save the best for last. This was the highest evolution and the way I always want to remember a friend and artists who shared everything in his heart.