The Russian White – Distortion Production artist from Reading Pennsylvania with a new terror disco release on October 4th 2024 just in time for the spooky season. Cathedral pageantry organs and demonic chants set the stage for a sinister tale of synthesized anguish. Masterfully mixed and mastered by Tim Heireth who highlights Tom’s vocals of spewed vulgarity at an uncaring god.
Produced by Tim Heireth and The Russian White Mixing:Time Heireth Mastering: Eric Broyhill at Monsterlab
Tom Rhymer: Vocals,Synths, Beats Michael Colon: Synths, Effects
John Jacobus: Guitars on Vampire Drugs and Black Nikes Dan Milligan: Drums on Black Nikes Andrew Straubel:Guitar on Vampire Drugs The Number H: Vocals on Funeral Art
This is an album of sinister specters singing New Order “Corruption and Lies” hooks in a post-apocalyptic concrete bunker. That narrative line between science fiction and supernatural terror. A glorious synthesis of era and genre clashing together into something fresh and disconcerting.
Favorite Tracks: Vampire Drugs – I love the glitchy witchhaus vibes of this slowly expanding burner. Tom’s overlapping vocals of distorted rage ghost and clean expressive emo create a clashing barrier of modern and traditional that hits you right in the heart.
We Disappear – This track really captures that retro New Order meets filthy sensual club glitch. It’s dangerous, fresh and modern in an infectious way that makes steam rise from the dancefloor.
I love the mysterious blend of modern electronica and homage to the traditional past. Be on the lookout for live performances. This is a band at the top of my must see live soon list.
It’s Bandcamp Friday, darkness swirls around my head and Halloween fast approaches. What a great time for some quick hit music reviews from some of the best in underground darkscene artists. I’m working on another article for some of the bigger names in the scene with new releases. These bands are for experimental listeners looking to find new bands everyone doesn’t know about yet.
Wandering Whispers – Uneasy Listening – Amazing Detroit artist Lela Marionette with a brand new project she embarked on in 2023. Filthy soundscapes stumbling around a warehouse labyrinth of 90s Detroit rave culture. Pulsing slow heartbeat base. Music meant to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up while Lela whispers frightening poetry to the back of your ear. Love the liberal use of slutty muted horn synth effects.
This project is meant to feel very instrument heavy emotional resonance. I love these ghostly vocals from Lela and hope they come forward more in future releases. They really tie the haunt together.
The Bleak Assembly – until the world stops hurting – Newest release out of Denver from the collaboration between Kimberly of Bow Ever Down and Michael Smith of Fiction8. Additional shoutout for the wicked artwork by Greg Rolfes / eleven12design.com. TBA always conjures amazing visuals when I hear it. The perfect music for the most powerful moment in an anime. The mixing and mastering of this album are superb. The concepts here are so natural energy, so finding a perfect sonic balance is key to the message. Shoutout for giving Sounds and Shadows a Thank You in the liner notes 😉
The Powerful Sun: Gorgeous opening track with a slushy shoegaze guitar line. Kimberly has a gorgeous and distinctive voice that always sounds powerful without pushing itself. I picture her on a beach aquabending streams of water reflecting the sun. “What is it you’re fighting for”
Only Truth Remains: You can’t go wrong on this album, and the songs all maintain a consistent vibe. If I had to pick a favorite, this has such an amazing Til Tuesday darkpop sound with a chorus that lived in my head for days. Kimberly’s voice rises like warm air over the sand. The dueling guitar lines on the solo with such effortless precision create so much without grasping for a spotlight. This one got deep under my skin.
Cyborg Amok – Cellophane Grind – Brand new single from the New Jersey father son electro rock duo of an August album Pin’s and Needles. Thick basslines and thundering 70’s darkrock tones. I love Brydon taking lead on the vocals here to conjure some Jim Morrison energy. Everything here feels big, spooky, and psychedelic. Doom rock like this is a bit of a lost art and I am loving this snapshot CA has captured.
Sierra Miffed – Demo – Kalamazoo MI’s own power punk trio including Jena, Leah, and Katy (Katy Needs A Life/Sounds and Shadows) with their debut release. A high-speed rollercoaster of emotional deliver and tight turns. Fan’s of 90’s indie edge like Muffs or Vaselines will love this clever spit in the face of convention.
Favorite Track: Untitled Banger – Normally a primarily instrumental punk thumper doesn’t get on my radar. What can I say, this cooks. It’s got energy, craft, and a devil may care attitude I can’t help smile and stomp my feet to. Can’t wait to get out and see this band live. I have a feeling the energy is next level when the wall of sound hits you in the face.
MORTAL REALM – Stab In The Dark – Adam V. Jones, of Haex with a new project on Negative Gain coming like a charge into the breach. Prepare to be pummeled by a spiked gauntlet of sound. I really like how light on it’s feet this full plate dance beat bobs and weaves. There is a consistency of electronic bop, but the vocal style and emotional spectrum shows great range.
Death Debt– I didn’t know that Adam had a Martin Gore style in his bag of tricks, but I am loving it. Sassy and synthlacious this retro wall shaker hits all the notes.
Nostrum Nepenthe – What in the Industrial Ronnie James Dio is happening here? Gnashing teeth and stomping boots flinging out berserker bard tales of pain and destruction. This track is great for the club, or beating the piss out of rich boys in the dumpster out back.
Blood is my reward The call of the void The moment is gone Blood is my reward The call of the void The moment is gone
BRIDES – Sundown – New three track EP from Adrian Borgia in Norway off Produkt 42. One of the most underappreciated expressionists of the modern scene. Track one Amour opens with swirling New Dawn Fades energy. A love ballad crooned by a broken demon. Adrian has mastered the art of being a single voice dragging a long cape of immense weight behind him.
Favorite Track:Apocalypse In Slow-Motion – This is a slow watching your heart burst from your chest, fall on the dirty ground, and get run over by a steam roller sound. Somehow that demonic growl still feels hopeful. An ending you long for, a rebirth to come. A difficult concept to describe, you know it when you hear it though. Adrian always leaves me memorized with the minimalist efficiency of his songs. An adventure of flavor with 5 simple ingredients.
Sword Tongue – Diamonds To Rust – Power Trio Jennifer Wilde, Gaetano Maleki, and Dan Milligan with a dreamy 4AD mystical Siouxsie “Superstition” feel. Jennifer floats like mist on top of the rotating toms and vibrating bass. Amazing to see how in synch this project has become. I think the first few releases were still asking themselves who they wanted to be. Diamonds to Dust definitively shows they have found the answer. This single shines with a complexity and sense of purpose that has been lacking in the scene. I love this clarity of direction.
Camlann – Numb and Hollow – Immensely talented young folk from Jakarta, Indonesia who are creating darkscene music on a level I couldn’t have conceived of at their age. Sophisticated and exotic with a sharp foil of capitalist excess. The way this hits a pop anthem chorus while existing in the same track as the darkest imaginable David Lynch surrealism is an incredible artistic achievement. A sensational contradiction that casts a spotlight on the hypocrisy of the world. Another impressive evolution. No one is making music like this.
Vocals and Guitar: Ony Godfrey Synth, Analog Bass, and Drum Machine: Fauzan Pratama Produced, Mixed, and Mastered by David Novotny
Albie Mason (Scary Black) from Louisville KY is one of the most criminally underrated talents in modern goth. In addition to his visceral and dynamic gothgaze music, he is an accomplished visual artist with credits that include our own album cover for Amaranth Gothtimism. With this ambitious new project Albie Damned we enter a mythic fantasy of self-exploration complete with corresponding visuals in the style of Adventure Time. The music is such a drastic change showing the range of Albie’s talent. Track 2 Open World has an amazing 8 bit Bat Out Of Hell du wop feel that got it’s hooks in me early. The guitar work is full of complex phaser shoegaze adding depth of character to the cartoon vampire vocals. The beats here are simple and accessible, but the concepts and construction make raw emotional brilliance behind of mask of cartoon theme songs. The effect is quite staggering. I’m genuinely baffled I am one of 8 people who have bought it on bandcamp so far.
Track 4: Torch delves deeper into the dungeon. Adds some trip hop flavor and darker rasping Scary Black style vocals. These songs all feel like individual adventures with a loose connection. Track 6: Everynite is a dream of flying over the shadow realm, full of Andrew Eldrich swimming through a sky of glitter. Wicked guitar licks to accent the journey. Track 10 : I Can’t Dance pours on the sleaze and motion of a filthy mini boss. Loving the falsetto harmonies here to prop up the main villain.
I know Albie intended this as a side project to work through some things between Scary Black releases, I hope he comes back and gives this it’s due. Something beautiful, dark, with a veil of innocence that makes it vulnerable and true. I’d love to see a full compliment of the drawings to match up as music videos to the songs.
There is something special happening in darkscene music. This year I have been going to shows of new goth/post punk/darkwave bands and seeing them packed with young people who are embracing this subculture. Who are finding these themes and tones to make them their own. Twin Tribes, Actors, Vision Video, Then Comes Silence, Bootblacks, Male Tears, Leathers, Urban Heat, I Ya Toyah, touring the country telling folks it is good to be strange. This is the energy that is giving me hope. I have not been at my new goth pulpit as much as I like this year. As we pass the half way point of the year I will try and share what I have been listening to so far in 2024 that gives me hope for the future.
Dead Astronauts – Ghosts – The international synthwave group comprising Jared Kyle and Slade Templeton, has resurfaced with their highly anticipated 4th studio album, “Ghosts.” I love the experience and expertise on display for the art of songcraft. Each texture and shade are masterfully chosen. Honed with precision, displayed with technique. What truly makes them top tier is the narrative order, balance, and construction of every track.
Written and produced by Dead Astronauts Mixed and Mastered at Influx Studios Art and Design by JthreeConcepts
Mistakes: This track is deeply relatable. It has a beautiful Construction Time Again Depeche Mode bouncing beat with earnest reflection and buttery vocal delivery. A brief shimmering single that leaves you wanting more.
The Red Dress (feat. Florence Bullock): Beautiful city street flashing streetlamps streaking by at a furious pace. Wonderful vocal accents from A New York native, residing in Los Angeles, glitbiter, aka Florence Bullock. This track hugs the curves of a twisting road with a high performance engine. Perfect song to start an adventure to.
You try To survive Boy you’ve got clout You’ve got your knives out Trying to stay alive
Urban Heat – Seven Safe Places – The Austin TX band that has become an obsession for me. There is a special feeling when a band comes to a place beloved and familiar, but took an entirely different road to arrive. A punk rock vitality with soulful smooth edges and flawless technique. This was an April release single for the upcoming August album “The Tower”. Johnathan is one of the true distinctive voices in the modern darkscene. An energy and talent that would make any band shine. Combined in this trio powerhouse Urban Heat has distinguished themselves with the other A level artists of the next wave. This single has a Peter Hook lead guitar bassline that hugs every curve. The vocals are frantic and emotive. It’s a song built to gleam in the modern landscape. Become a true believer now and see Urban Heat out on tour, I assure you, the tickets will be more expensive and harder to find the next time around. Look for an interview with the band soon on youtube 🙂
Tears for ʇhe Dying – In the Shadow of the Midnight Sun – I first saw the amazing emotional tidal wave of Adria and Tears for The Dying at Southern Gothic in Athen’s Georgia and was enraptured by the emotional impact and reckless truth of dynamic songwriting. Deathrock is a genre that traces it’s roots back several decades, so finding visionary new ground is no easy task. With slithering sinister concepts and vocal ingenuity TFTD pays reverent homage to Christian Death and Specimen while inserting modern elements and broader concepts like “Dead Girl Dancing” a gorgeous synth laden apocalypse pop anthem that steps outside of the box. This is one of those amazing bands that every artist in the scene respects deeply even if you have never heard them. A true inner circle talent.
Favorite Track: Kaiju – Slow big and full of destruction as the name implies. I love this winding guitar and tempo shift that allows Adria’s cadence and Mick’s rolling percussion to make dynamic stories of trampling feat and terrifying beasts.
Special mention: Jolene (Dolly Parton Cover) – It takes a special performance to take one of the greatest ballads of all time and make it your own. Everyone needs to give this a spin.
THEN COMES SILENCE – Trickery – Recently I got the extreme privilege of opening for Swedish based band Then Comes Silence on tour with Vision Video. I had reviewed them before. This was one of those bands you truly can’t fully appreciate until you have seen them live. I have witnessed so many impressive performances in the last five years, I hope you take to heart when I say this is the tightest, most energetic band I have witnessed in recent memory.
I used to have a joke that Rush was the greatest group of compiled musicians who’s album I didn’t want to buy. Not being my style. In the modern darkscene I think Then Comes Silence is the greatest group of compiled musicians who’s album I very much want to buy. Part of the elegance of Trickery is how it doesn’t sound like they set out to make a great post punk album. The cohesion, passion, and construction present here would have fit any genre or style just as easily. It just happened to come in one of my favorite forms.
The album has a wide range of sounds, lots of thunderous rock bangers where Jonas tom punishing drum accents make TCS stand out in a field of bands leaning towards electronic drums. Slippery shadow disco club tracks like Feel The Cold create contrast and highlight Alex rich broad beam vocals. Songs like the collaboration with Dusty “Stay Strange” bring a horror punk mod feel that ride Hugo’s wall of sound guitars. Whatever the tone, it always seems to land.
I would be hard pressed to choose any song on this album as a top track, Never Change was definitely one that crept up on me. Stellar underlying harmonies, a crackling backbeat that always hits on the outside of the synths. This whole record has an underlying tone of hope, rising out of the mire of tough times. This track captures that feeling the hardest for me.
Alex Svenson – vocals, bass and synthezisers Jonas Fransson – drums Hugo Zombie – guitars
Additional musicians: Dusty Gannon (Vision Video) Emma Nylén (Emmon) Gözde Duzer (Aux Animaux) Jörgen Wall (Whale, Thåström, among others)
This is a 10/10 album in contention for top 10 records of 2024.
Eva X – Fiction – July 5th single from Electronic producer Gaby (Eva X). The single includes two remixes of the previous single Dopamine Blind by Sawtooth and Enter Face. Retro 80s pop with soul on the intro, fed into the grinder of metal tooth electro rock. Gaby’s voice keeps growing in confidence and glamour with every new release. This would pop at a mainstream club or goth/Industrial night.
Cemetery Sex – Leviathan – This is a young band generating an enormous amount of buzz from Washington DC. Artist that truly embrace the goth ethos of inclusion and counter culture pouring into the batcave of gothic roots. Anastasia has an undeniable presence in her words and delivery. The music is serpentine and hungry. To have young people with such an intrinsic understanding of the culture with both their music and mindset truly fills me with hope for the future. When Cemetary Sex burst onto the scene, they understood the assignment. Be ready to hear A LOT more about this band in the coming year.
PIG – Red Room – Raymond Watts has left an indelible stamp on the industrial scene for decades. One of the key reasons is his ability to find fresh untread ground with which to blend with industrial. Soul, funk, metal all are wound into spiritual inspiration to fortify the alloy of his art. Red Room took me to another place, late 70’s glam like Alice Cooper and TRex colliding pageantry, sensuality, and filthy grinding machines. A tight compact bullet that enters your brain before fragmenting into something larger and more explosive. Leaving you changed by the fragments left behind.
A rogues gallery of contributing artists, both old school and new class Alexis Mincolla (3Teeth), Chris Hall (Stabbing Westward), and the PIG Choir: Chris Connelly (Revco, Ministry etc), Emily Kavanaugh (Night Club), I Ya Toyah, Marc Heal (Cubanate) and Burton C Bell (Fear Factory), En Esch, Susannah Doyle, Anita Kyoda, Mark Alan Griffiths, Mike Watts, Jimmy Livingstone, and more!
This is an album best served live with sweat running down the walls. Catch them on tour with Curse Mackey, Unitcode:machine, Stoneburner, and more at a city near you. I’m going to both Coldwaves (Chicago) and Smalls (Detroit)
Favorite Tracks: Dirty Mercy – This opening is absolutely filthy.
ACTORS – Dead Inside – Vancouver based band Actors have been at the forefront of Nextwave Darkscene music since the start of the Rennaissance. This new single as a prelude to the tour of one of the top live music experiences of 2024 shows the group showing no signs of slowing down. The first time I heard it I was struck with Jason’s sultry whispering Jarvis Cocker vibes. of the cohesion and telepathy of one of the tightest acts of the modern era. The crisp brush crack drums Adam delivers use timing as art to build the tension. Shannon’s rippling cascade of dark water ripples. Kendall a forceful step on nimble feet. Every time I think, this is it, Actors have reached their peak, the journey continues up a mystical mountain.
MALE TEARS – Paradísco – La Based neosynth band Male Tears has filled me with hope for the future. There is nothing more beautiful than a group of young people discovering a fresh path to classic sounds. James and company went through a major lineup transition before the release of this EP and came out the other side with a hopeful passion. Soulful new depth and determination to find the beauty in the darkest reflections of life. Fans of Petshop Boys, and Duran Duran will find an homage to bright crystal sounds on the sonic spectrum that hold the truth of dark introspection. Great guest appearance on track two by our friends Corlyx. A beautiful harmony of James mournful beauty and Caitlin’s alien ethereal whisper. As well as track 3 “Sex On Drugs” a gorgeous and heart retching single that could have been the missing track off (Actually 1987) with features Caitlin (Corlyx), Azy Bats (Obscura Undead), and Ryan King (Witchhands). This is a modern day classic that stirs my heart with that same feeling of unburdened delivery. Male Tears is something special and memorable this scene needs to embrace with both arms. They are currently on their first major tour and I encourage everyone to be a part of this revolution on the ground floor.
Catch them in Detroit 10/1/24 at Small’s in Detroit with Crune and yours truly 🙂
This was the press release, so OBVIOUSLY I was all in 🙂
” Foam in the Ocean”, from Seattle, Washington garage-pop, post-punks SEASIDE TRYST is their take on the Hans Christian Anderson classic “The Little Mermaid” which is arguably one of the more devastating allegories of queer longing. In the original story, instead of becoming a beautiful, Disney-fied woman following a kiss, Ariel disappears forever after she turns into foam in the sea.”
New release from the Seattle WA DreamGoth band full of dark post punk driving bass and elegant Galaxy 500 dreampop. Lovely energy of wistful exploration crashing into isolation. The vocals are warm bright eyes searching an alien place. The video really embraces the caring culture of the queer community. I was an immediate fan.
