Category: Review

I Took a Week Off To Promote My Mental Health. So Lets Review Some Music

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It has been a tough few months. A Lot of stress, but also a lot of exciting news. Sounds and Shadows keeps finding new ways to grow like last months S & S Darkscene Chart. I did Bandcamp Friday reviews last week, but I wanted to write a few tonight and just spend some time with new music. As always reach out to me or one of our other reviewers if you have something you want to hear us write about.

Machines With Human Skin – Transience – Brand new album from Chicago Industrial artist Adrian Halo. I’ve been spinning a bootleg CD copy of this Adrian handed me at Coldwaves festival. I’ve really loved watching his growth and progression. As a songwriter and producer I hear continual learning with every release. Such an underrated aspect or organic growth. I love how this album uses the power of a whisper. The power and anger comes forth, but not with exploding bass, ear splitting guitars, and screams. When you deliver lyrics with a breathy and melodic intensity it makes you lean in to listen. Makes you want to be inside the circle and absorb the emotion. The bounce of these basslines really create movement and give the wispy chant a vehicle. This is my favorite work MWHS have put out to date, it is effortless, soulful, and the mix really sits in the pocket without forcing the intent.

https://machineswithhumanskin.bandcamp.com/album/transience

Hey look, It’s Adrian and I in the Post Punk Industrial Museum

Favorite Track: Invisible – This song really struck me in part for the clean and focused tone. In part for the raw and exposed aspect of the lyrics. It’s glitchy with a high energy pace and curled lip defiance. A firehose of pressure and political discourse fired with crystal cool water and builds.

Recorded at Maynott Studios, Chicago, IL
Mastered by Jules Seifert at Epic Audio Media, London, UK
Artwork: Jim Marcus

Sequential Zero – Second Sequence – Some of the great Australian goth talent teams up with Orcus Nullify axe master Bruce Nullify. Ant Banister of Sounds Like Winter provides a haunted, emotive delivery on vocals. The dark disco style Lenn drums create an abstract Cabaret Voltaire openness. The tracks are gripping hands of tension, holding the mind and forcing introspection. This release really excites me for the future of the project. So many talented voices finding a space together and lifting each other up.

https://sequentialzero.bandcamp.com/album/second-sequence

Helix – Bad Dream – It surprises me I don’t think I have reviewed the powerhouse team up that is Mari Kattman and Tom Shear (Helix). I will rectify that now. Bright, bold, and teaming with energy. Mari has an elegance to her voice that feels like a bird of prey gliding on an air current. This is music that makes my legs pump with a desire to concur the world. I’m genuinely mad at myself I haven’t listened to them more before now. Track 2 Slip has a gorgeous triphop backbeat that captures the idea of movement on ice. I love the subtle changes in the vocals cadence, everything happening in the same volume and range, yet creating movement with tiny variations. Masterful songwriting and execution.

Favorite Track: Run (Hallowed Hearts Remix) – These tracks have all really impressed me. This one though managed to take that same beaming energy and fire it through a violet lens of darkness. The shadowy tones open up even more space for Mari’s vocals to shine. I put this track up for the S & S Darkscene charts. These layered guitar leads add a whole other level.

https://helix.bandcamp.com/album/bad-dream

daddybear – Hypnotic (feat grabyourface) – It seems whenever Matt Fanale (Caustic/Klack) and Marie Dragontown (Grabyourface) team up glory ensues. This beat is grinding dance floor magic. Marie’s vocals are sensual and terrifying. The whole song is a promise of ill intent which remains tantalizing while communicating destruction. After a few collaborations anytime I see this team put out a new song, it is an automatic buy. I have been requesting it in every Twitch Dj stream I jump into.

https://daddybear.bandcamp.com/album/hypnotic-feat-grabyourface

Goth Professor – Swamp Gothic (Halloween Single) – Unnerving atmospheric horror trance from Florida’s Goth Professor . I really didn’t know what to expect wadding into these swampy waters. If you want to invite 9 guests to a mansion, feed them delicacies, then commit a murder everyone remaining is left to solve. This is the soundtrack you need.

https://gothprofessor.bandcamp.com/album/swamp-gothic-halloween-single

Follow The Leaders (A Killing Joke Tribute)

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Coitus Interruptus Productions quotes writer Steve Taylor from his 2006 book, The A to X of Alternative Music, as saying “Killing Joke have inspired all dark music since 1981” going on to posit that “Scrape the surface of just about any Industrial Metal or Alternative Rock band worth their salt, and you’ll find some aspects of the prolific and powerful Killing Joke.”

With that bold statement, they bring us Follow the Leaders (A Killing Joke Tribute), an 11 track compilation that dares to take on the challenge of honoring one of the greatest progenitors of the post-punk/industrial metal genre.

Snowbeasts start it off right with their take on the KJ classic Wardance. Primal rhythms with a darkly polished sheen. This wardance knows it’s not just about brutality and wounds its prey with  subtle efficient strikes… Makes you wanna pogo along like a flashback to an 80’s punk show by way of a Berlin discotheque. 

From there we move onto Element, and their version of Turn to Red. Element trades the punk reggae vibes of the original for more darkwave sound and turns up the dub a bit to make this one hard not bob your head to its tranced out vibe.

Next, The Blue Hour brings us The Gathering. I am not sure how they do it, but TBH takes this classic Killing Joke track, and channels the ghosts of Bow Wow Wow, and still makes the track sound fresh.

Riotgun takes on the herculean task of covering one of the most well known KJ tracks, Eighties. You have to give these guys credit… This is the one track that I had the most concern about when I heard about this compilation. Yet I think they do an admirable job of keeping the aggression in place and not turning in an unintentional parody of the original. Hats off to Riotgun… Well played!

Here in the middle of the group, we find three of the best tracks of the compilation in my opinion…

Shhadows brings us a dreamy, trip hop inspired version of my all time favorite Killing Joke song Love Like Blood. For all its dreamy, spaced out qualities, it still keeps its power.

Trance to the Moon tackles Love of the Masses. This song hits me with the same angst of a song like Love Like Blood from a new direction, and I feel the pain in every note that vocalist Monet Alarie hits. Like a love gone wrong, it leaves you longing for another kiss.

And rounding out this triad of greatness is The Joy Thieves (featuring I Ya Toya) with Money is Not Our God.  Ania Tarnowska, takes no prisoners with her vocals on this bombastic assault against capitalism, propelled through the night by the punishing rhythms courtesy of Dan Milligan and crew.

On The Death and Resurrection Show, Missing Witness brings us a version of the song that we might have seen if Jaz and the Gang had gotten snared in the Wax Trax net circa 1986. The track evokes the feel of Ministry tracks The Angel and Over the Shoulder. Very cool old-school Chicago industrial vibes here.

The Raygun Girls bring those Big Paul Ferguson Beats to the front of the line on their take on  Hosannas from the Basements of Hell. This is the most Killing Joke like track on the whole record, yet doesn’t cross that line over into cover band purgatory.

This World Hell by Dead Receptors is an interesting track full of contradictions. Its brutalist vocals and staccato clipped synths are weighted down by the sleazy/funky bass and drums that remind me of great tracks like Golgotha Tenement Blues from Machines of Loving Grace. 

And finally, HadesMachine shows us out with Euphoria. A Goth rock banger tinged with siren call synths pleading for us to show some urgency, like a vampire biker gang racing against the dawn.

Overall this compilation curated by Coitus Interruptus Productions is a worthy tribute to one of the great pioneers of the post-punk/industrial sound. Go pick it up as a pay what you want offering at: https://coitusinterruptusproductions.bandcamp.com/album/follow-the-leaders-a-killing-joke-tribute

‘Slow Crush’ Redefines Shoegaze with Sophomore Album “Hush”

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The incredible Belgian band, Slow Crush, has been making a name for itself in the post-punk and shoegaze scenes for the last few years. They’ve been called “My Bloody Valentine with a post-hardcore edge” by Guitar World and are described as “the sound to a beautiful alternate reality” by Kerrang. Now they’re bringing their dreamy and abrasive sound to the next level in their latest full-length album “Hush”.

“Hush” album cover

I can’t start to tell you how much I love this album. After listening through it the first time, I was hooked. If you’re a lover of pedal driven music, you will too.

This album will take you many places with it’s simultaneous offering of harsh abrasiveness and delicate dreaminess. While the instruments are fluid and the vocals are angelic, the entire album has a pleasing fullness and overarching heaviness that makes even the harshest sounds favorable and welcomed in abundance.

“Hush” is the sophomore album by Slow Crush which exceeds it’s incredible predecessor “Aurora”. With shimmering melodies, soothing vocals by Isa Holliday, noise and chaos added on top, this album brings next-level emotion and intensity. The album was born from the ideas floated around between tour gigs in the beforetimes and brought to life by the worldwide lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s because of these circumstances that the album can both be light and melodic while carrying the weight of the world outside.

Slow Crush

Drown: The opening track of the album which sets the tone for the what follows. With shimmering guitars and whirling noises, this song makes me feel like I’m seeing the world through frosted glass. There’s no way to describe how beautiful this track is. With dual vocals, a simple strumming guitar, and keyboard creating a lush atmosphere, I had tears in my eyes and couldn’t wait to hear the rest.

Swoon: This songs pace is a little faster. Opening with a crash of noise and drum fills, this track quickly takes a dark, pulsating turn. Throughout the song, there’s an amazing showcase of grinding guitars, obscure noises, and dissonant vocals that somehow create an absolutely beautiful post-rock track.

Lull: This is the first single released off the album and it’s the perfect track to showcase how heavy and beautiful this band can be. The song starts and it seems like it’s going to be soft and pretty. When the drums and guitars kick in, the song layers up. Without lacking in beauty, the overdriven guitars create a wave of loudness that gives me goosebumps. Check out the video below!

Official Music Video for “Swoon” by Slow Crush

This album will surely make your album of the year list if you love shoegaze and post-punk. With walls of sound, celestial-like vocals, and shimmering instruments, “Hush” will throw you back to your favorite artists like My Bloody Valentine and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, while adding some new spices to the mix.

“Hush” will be available October 22, 2021 on vinyl, cd, and digital download via Quiet Panic. Also, stay tuned for updates on the bands upcoming WORLD tour!

SINE’s : Desire, Denial and Paramania paints with all the colors

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Earnest without pretension, and somehow both distinct and familiar, SINE’s : Desire, Denial and Paramania is a warm hug from a spiky leather jacket.

https://sineofficial.bandcamp.com/album/desire-denial-and-paramania

SINE, an Austin based electro-industrial bona-fide rock band, has Control, which happens to be the name of the first and my favorite track of the album, “Desire, Denial and Paramnia”. The music crunches and creaks while lead singer and founder, Rona Rougeheart, shifts and mixes vocal styles, presenting the dichotomy and conflict of her lyrics without over-characterizing or identity segmentation.

And yet, the versatility and range continues throughout the album, not only vocally, but in production, structure, tone color, and cadence. The production is impeccable and Rogueheart wears her influences openly, yet doesn’t fall prey to mimicry or pantomime. Her artistic vision and sensibility remain clear while showcasing a thorough gradient of electro-industial-goth-rock. SINE’s latest foray almost feels like a greatest hits album, yet is showhow a cohesive and fully listenable experience from start to finish.

Exclusive Video Premier of Crying Vessel “Nevermind”

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Band: Crying Vessel

Label: Cleopatra Records

Album: May 2022 release “Before Life was Death”

Members: Slade Templeton (Vocals/Guitar//Bass/Keyboards) Basil Oberli (Percussion)

https://cryingvessel.bandcamp.com/

I have been an enormous fan of this project for several years. Crying Vessel has raised the bar in terms of complexity, artistic vision, and glamourous pizazz in modern goth/darkscene. Making music that touches on the darkest concepts of human nature, while appealing to our desire for macabre beauty and human connection. In addition to the music, Slade and Basil have always been deeply influenced by cinematic narrative. Particularly facing fear and searching for beauty in the alien and unknown.

With the new single “Nevermind” we are drawn into a journey of mystical ritual and symbolism. Slade has constructed a world around his music and continued it through his novel “Truth of the Shadows”. Imagery of pushing the boundaries between this world and the next. You can feel the strength of intent that goes into each detail in both lyric and image. The Illustrator of the novel Fabio Rincones is also director for this video. I love the continuity of vision there.

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/55288295-truth-of-the-shadows

OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEOCREDITS:Talents–Andrea Rodríguez, María Niño, Ysi Romero Director–Fabio Rincones Edit & Color-Fabio Rincones Production Assistants–María Niño, Aureliano Contreras Assistant Director–Pierina Espinoza Director ofPhotography–Victoria Uzcátegui Camera Assistant–Ana Sanabria Gaffer–Ana Sanabria Art Directors–Fabio Rincones, Pierina Espinoza Make up–Pierina Espinoza Wardrobe–María Niño Prop Master–Fabio Rincones Puppeteers–Fabio Rincones, María Niño Location Manager–Aureliano Contreras Special Thanks to:Casa MudejarNissrim El AysamiRicardo Lopez PradaRodolfa