Category: Review

Old Scotch and New Sounds That Leave A Smokey Taste In My Throat

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Sitting down to write and absorb for the first time in a few weeks. I love the way my boundaries keep getting stretched further by the sounds I am hearing. I feel like the Goth/Industrial genres are a buffet of ever widening flavors to test that adventurous streak in my heart.

SYZYGYX and ELZ AND THE CULT – ANXXX – Two of the sexiest bands on Cold Transmission team up for this razor hot single. Trying to put this in a box of genre or previous sound is a herculean task beyond me. This is found metal sculpture sounds, wet leather, and heavy breath. Static glitch dance beats are a 3D computer image of horror pop fingers on the back of your spine. Elz’s voice is captivating and sensual. Luna steps outside her breathy whisper to scream out with terrifying demonic exultation. The result is a horror film spectacle that leaves you frozen to the floor. Elz spoken word poetry shows a William Burroughs raw creativity and free form emotional overcharge. Everything these bands do is glorious art. Working together it is a powerful and un nerving statement.

https://syzygy-x.bandcamp.com/album/anxxx

Actors – Strangers – Another single, another amazing slow tease from Actors. This song has a synth heavy influence with wonderful understated staircase guitar. The energy is star crossed and introspective. That kind of infatuation that rattles your DNA and leaves you be lost in the journey of knowing someone that first time. The change in bass players really adds a bright bursting color to the tone. Jason takes the reins on the vocals here and every phrase is a come hither lilting rise. The way he sits in the mix like it is the scenery of this story. This album can’t come soon enough.

https://actors.bandcamp.com/track/strangers

Echo Haus – Deth Werk – New single from Echo Haus, one half of Chicago based Lorelei Dreaming. AJ does a focus on electronic imagery and scenery in their music. This one instills a picture of a hospital intensive care unit. The thrumming heart beat blips and tension. The journey seems to dive into the patient around 1:27 and becomes a part of the blood stream. Twisting and turning past organ and system. I love their ability to transport you with frequency and modular shift. Sometimes I want to focus on the words and energy of music. Sometimes I want to to hide behind my eyes and drift through the world. Echo Haus is the latter.

https://echohaus.bandcamp.com/track/dethwerk

aliasynesthesiamusic – Stop Go – Beautiful twisting tension track. I feel that sense of Bjork surrealism pop with shadowy edges. As though she is a character in a Mario Brothers adventure. City hopping on angel wings from one cloud to another and never able to escape this digital prison. One of those solo ritual dance songs made for your alone time in your room. A true imagination fuel mind gripper. This really gets me excited for the future releases. Beautifully produced and expertly crafted.

https://aliasynesthesiamusic.bandcamp.com/track/stop-go

Burnt Souls – Desolation – An Australian recommendation from Ant Banister (Sounds Like Winter) who is always a spot on source of great music. I love the complexity of emotion and overlapping sound. They have some flavor of The Church and even The Smiths but Colin Gallagher has a unique and delicate voice that really slips through the cracks of it’s own ground. It definitely rides that lo-fi throwback tone which sits perfectly within itself. The drum transitions flow like water through a rocky path. Every emotion seems to find it’s focus without screaming out. I love the steady control and thoughtful precision. This is one of those albums you can throw on and feel something different each time. Be drawn to a new aspect every time. This isn’t a record of bangers, it’s one that needs to be absorbed.

Favorite Tracks: Sacrifice, Hate, I Used To Love

https://burntsouls.bandcamp.com/releases

The Ghost Of Bela Lugosi – No Way Home – I can’t take a trip to Australia without visiting my good friend Vin Price. Every single he puts out is a master class in song writing and creativity. I know I say this every time I review him but he is staggeringly underrated. This track is a beautiful synthesis of the past and future with barbed hook guitar riffs, cascading tempo shifts, and ensemble cast vocals (even though it is all him). It’s a wobbling stumble through streets with broken lights. Following the voice of the one you love to certain danger. A power your can’t ignore. Every time I hear a new TGOBL track it instantly becomes my favorite.

https://ghostoflugosi.bandcamp.com/album/no-way-home-remix-remaster

Klack – Deklacked V1 – Matt and Eric are back at it once again. This time they have brought all their friends to share in the power of the Klack. To understand the power of Klack you need to grasp the friendship of the members. This in turn becomes a contagious connection which draws in the artists in this scene like moths to a flame. You can feel the affection of all these artists to these songs as they lovingly craft new lights and blips to make them their own. Assemblage 23 , Sweat Boys , Null Device, Caustic, and many more put the tender heart in a blender and spew forth visceral blood and guts to fling at the walls of your dance hall. If you love EDM/EBM no one is doing it at a level higher than Klack.

https://klack.bandcamp.com/album/deklacked-vol-1

IN FIRE AND IN BLOOD – Review by Eddie LaFlash

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Hello titty bois and titty girls, this is Eddie LaFlash from Decent News and until Ken decides I’m too shitty at writing reviews I’ll be doing this for a while. Today I’ll be covering a single that Ken sent my way. IN FIRE AND IN BLOOD by ∆AIMON.

In fire and in blood - ∆AIMON

First off I’ll start with the title track. I want to start off by saying that this single has an incredible mix. Starting with these reverbed piano swells that lays a base melody for the track. It lays down a catchy yet ambient passage that gets interrupted with a cascade of strong ass synth pads before these Dave Gahan-esque vocals punch you right in the feelings. The song structure here is good, it directs you exactly to where the progression should leaving you with a very non jarring listen which is exactly what a great track like this should have. I would’ve preferred the female vocals to be a little higher in the mix, but that doesn’t matter because this track holds its ground so well.

Now we move onto the title track except this one has Wrecked in parenthesis. Now remember that bit I said about track one being a non jarring experience? Well, if you’d like a more jarring experience then the Wrecked mix will blow your fuckin pp off. While all of the elements and structure are present in this version, the kick has a breath of punchy distortion added aswell as some more frantic and upbeat hi hats. Dynamically, this has a little more looseness in the groove. One of these versions is guaranteed to tickle your fancy.

Track 3 is a cover of Scarecrow by Ministry. Now I’m not the biggest ministry fan (surprise) but that in no way effect how I feel about this cover. The crows in the intro got some “OOOOOO” points from me. That combined with the driving bass and the buttery sawtooth lead makes this track a nice long smooth drag off a cigarette. Then the chorus hits you abruptly and you get a little spooked and you drop your ciggy into your lap, but its okay. It’s a good spook, and you just go back to smoking your cigarette.

Overall, its a great listen. There’s alot of variety between the 3 tracks in this single that should hit everyone’s taste buds. ALSO, ∆AIMON gets even more “OOOOOO” points for having acoustic drums on this release. Not that that matters to me, its just cool to see and it definitely shows with how dynamic the percussion is on this release.

https://aaimon.bandcamp.com/album/in-fire-and-in-blood

An in-depth interview with Modal Citizan

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Who is Modal Citizan? Well, they’re a dark, alternative rock group based in Virginia. They recently came out with a new album, titled Control Alter Deplete, which S&S covered in a Bandcamp Friday review. Their members are Adam Fueston on guitar, Shaun Waff on bass, and Ryan Jones on vocals, keyboard, programming, and production.

Time for an interview!

First up, how did this project/group form?

Ryan: Excellent question! It started as an emotional outlet (side project) about two years prior to the band forming. The raw material was shared with various folks. Initially, everything was digital – no live instruments. It was recommended (by some music enthusiasts) to get some raw instruments onto the tracks. People pressed me to do so. So, I made some posts on message boards (Ads).

Ryan: Exactly.

Shaun: saw the posting Ryan had put online and said he was going to contact him and asked if I would be interested and I was thinking hmm 🤔 sure let’s hear what he’s got.. We all got together and had mutual interest and got to work.

Adam: I actually got some tracks and played to one of them and sent it back. Since then we have worked more organically and worked on a lot on the rest of record etc.

The bandcamp page cites “several influences from the 90’s”. What influences, specifically, were these?

Ryan: Adam, Shaun, you guys wanna take that next question?

Shaun: Ryan has crazy ideas for songs and we just keep building from those ideas and voila!

Adam: For me what influences us is so vast and encompasses a ton of different music but we all are def same age and of the era when the downward spiral came out and there was a lot of cross pollination of industrial and rock happening.

Ryan: Yeah. I’d say that, though we have influences from music with which we grew up, we’re definitely our own sound. We strive to break the mold and hold true to our own style.

Oh for sure

Adam: I went to see sister machine gun, KMFDM etc. during that time…Shaun was there most of the time ha ha we went to same school and are both from same town. I agree with Ryan 100 percent on that.

Shaun: There’s allot for me…I love classic rock, old metal, industrial.. Pink Floyd, skinny puppy, in, Chemlab, Tori Amos, ministry, etc.. It’s crazy how I really like allot of genres of music.. But what we create is pretty awesome.

Ryan: I mentioned to the guys, recently, that we have the luxury of being so far removed (years) from those sounds to the point that they’ve morphed into something different inside each of use.

This next one’s a question for the gear nerds out there, but also relevant to your sound. What’s your favorite instrument or piece of hardware you use? If not hardware, digital tools also apply.

Adam: Great way of putting it. I agree as well. As far as what I use with band since I’m the guitarist I’d say my Axe fx and I have an evh guitar that I used for maybe 70 to 80 percent of the album.

Ryan: I mainly use Arturia keyboards and f*ck with sounds all day long to get it to sound as sick/fitting as possible.

Shaun: I play a Strandberg Boden5 and a Warwick Taranis.. Love both basses allot.. Mesa cabs and Dark Glass gear.

Ryan: We’re a Logic Pro X shop

Adam: Yeah we work almost exclusively with logic although we will fuck with anything LOL I have same stuff at home.

Onward! What was the process of creating Control Alter Deplete like? It’s quite an extensive album with impressive mastering/mixing on it as well. How long did it take you, from conception to completion?

Ryan: First off…Thank you for the kind words. Wow. Conception to completion…Alpha to Omega…About a year. What’s quite interesting about that is…We created the Podcast in that stretch. Recorded/Mixed/Mastered and dished it out.

Shaun: 12-14 hour studio days, every weekend at least one day or two.. Lots of beer and chicken wings.

Ryan: Indeed, Shaun

Shaun: A lot of dedication.

Ryan: Yeah. We’re a no-nonsense, professional, respectful shop.

Adam: We def allowed some things to morph and some songs actually started from jams and weird things too so it’s interesting in that there appears to not be a def formula although a lot of songs come from Ryan first. Shaun is telling the truth abt the long hours and chicken wings…a lot of IPAS and dark beer as well 😂

Shaun: You have to love and nurture each song till you think it’s mature for the audience. And mostly we want to capture everything and not miss an idea.

Ryan: Yes! Yes! We create/jam to completion. When that emotion is fully captured (not cutting corners), we know we did it right.

Shaun: Definitely a work shop of ideas and honing

What does the album title mean? It made me think of the phrase “control alt delete”…is it a pun off this?

Ryan: Indeed. Glad you caught it!

Adam: Ryan can elaborate, yes it is.

Ryan: So, there is a correlation drawn between programs and humans / human emotions. I write software professionally (past millennia). So, to answer the question directly. The things we do in this life. Narcissism, hate, sociopathic mindsets…There is a process. Controlling something or someone…Altering it to conform to what you want…Then, the final act… Depletion. It’s quite interesting…The one that is initially in the wrong attempts those things. Then, the wronged, spin right back around and can use the same methods to win. Each element in programming as a similar facet. We create. The construct wrongs us. Then, we turn around and we create other constructs to eradicate those errors.

Shaun: It’s a vicious cycle really

Ryan: Indeed. Ultimately, no one wins. There is no escape. Which is why, on the album, there is emotional turmoil on conflicted feelings.

I like that explanation

Now, on the album art itself. There’s the aggressive insect-like figure, then your logo. Care to elaborate more on the creative direction here? What’s the story behind it.

Ryan: Oh. The Assassin Bug…Adam?

Adam: The album story actually deals with Gods law and the revenant is sent to eradicate sinners…the bug is actually an assassin bug.

Ryan: Yes!

Adam: Which exists to destroy the things that can harm the garden. Which is the purpose of the revenants…what God sends them to do anyway.

Ryan: Shoves that needle deep inside, injects poison, the insides turn to soup, the bug drinks the soup. Adam, exactly. Controls the prey, alters it, depletes it. Prior to the band forming, I saw that bug for the first time on the doorstep of someone that was literally killing me inside. I thought it was an alien or something. I snapped the picture. That exact picture was used on the album art. Everything we do has meaning. If it doesn’t make sense for the project, we toss it out.

Adam: That is true. We made a conscious effort to do songs that are part of the story. And cut a lot of things.

Ryan: We want people to be blown away when they start digging – or, pulling on the string. It keeps going.

Nice. Do you have any material planned for the future?

Shaun: There is still a lot of material in the back log to be worked.. And it’s coming.

Ryan: Future material? Exactly. As Shaun said. That’s an understatement – but true, in the least.

Adam: Seriously we are pretty deep into what will be the next release at some point.

Shaun: And allot of new ideas daily…Ryan has lots of ideas and keeps me and Adam on our toes.

Ryan: All true. I swear I get a new idea in my head a couple times a day. That goes for the music and the Podcast.

What creative direction would you like to explore in the future? Any stylistic exploration, dream collaborations, etc?

Shaun: It’s a crazy building process…

Adam: We feel like we wanna give people a chance to absorb this album so we are spending our time on the new stuff. We want to do some videos etc. for this one …the first of which will be for Crossing Over. Which has been shot and is editing and so forth at the moment.

Ryan: Yeah. We recorded Crossing Over (a full video product complete with cast and crew) last weekend. Regarding stylistic exploration…

Can’t wait to see it!

Shaun: And really special FX

Ryan: So, style…We’ve found something unique. Sean Beavan, Shannon O’Shea and others have talked to that. Our sound/style will continue on its special creative path.

Adam: We actually have experimented with lots of things we don’t really have rules. We did a track with a dub step artist and applied 8 string metal guitar to that. We try all sorts of different things to keep it interesting and enhance what we do. As long as it feels right and is Modal Citizan.

Ryan: Believe it or not, it’s quite difficult to create songs that don’t follow the standard verse/chorus formula and still make them incredible.

Shaun: I feel the sounds and style will be consistently getting more creative but hold the edge it has currently.

Ryan: Agreed

Shaun: Hell yeah!

Ryan: We groove to our own rhythm. Maybe it’s because I grew up on Motown and The Doors and Manson and Nails. Some of our riffs and grooves are so nasty. My penultimate statement may be why.

Adam: We could def play you some things that are going way outside of what is expected stylistically. We allow ourselves to try everything. We will talk abt Michael Jackson and James Brown and even try to pull inspiration from that too. It’s literally anything and everything that moves us.

Ryan: Indeed. #SocialInhibitionist.

Photography credit to Gigi Hoggard

First Friday of February. That Means Bandcamp Day is upon us Again!!

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As 2021 begins and the world continues it’s isolation we find comfort where we can. For me that has been finishing an album, enjoying our ShadowBook Facebook group, and finding amazing new music to drop my hard earned duckets down for on Bandcamp day. The first Friday of every month Bandcamp gives all of it’s proceeds from album sales directly to the artist. So let me fire through what will be taking up residence in my ever expanding collection.

Stoneburner – No Light No Spark – It is fairly well known Steven is a friend of the page. That is why I appreciate it so much he never makes me forfeit my integrity by consistently putting out increasingly amazing albums. In this one he calls upon an army of Industrial compatriots to remix some of his recent work. (Bellhead/Assemblage 23 / Machines With Human Skin / Dogtablet/ Sister Sarin / Stabbing Westward / Joy Thieves / Bativia / Hollowboy / Pill Brigade). It’s always a joy to here material you love, reimagined by other people you love. Often they do something I always want to hear from Steven, which is giving even more clarity to his concepts and poetry.

Standout Tracks: All of them.

Amnesialand (Dogtablet – Soldier Ant Mix) Static strikes like brushes, a machine powers up, Steven’s rapping flow is clarified and direct. I love how the drums slide off the beat behind him.

Are You There The Way I’m Here (Assemblage 23 Remix) A slow and deliberate grind that isolates the lyrics. Striking hard on the front beats. Just wave after wave of giant stone wheels crushing the land before it.

No Light No Spark (Terror Management Theory version) Giant and terrifying in it’s scope. This track stomps around on iron legs with drunken fury. A stalking beast of a song.

https://stoneburnerofficial.bandcamp.com/album/no-light-no-spark-deluxe-remix-ep

You can never have too much Stoneburner in your collection.

SINE – Desolate District Feat. Chris Connelly – This is an absolute burner single that came out last year. It’s starburst drums and satin vocals, weaving through a shattered landscape. Then it adds in Chris Fuking Connelly. I love this call and answer flow of the vocals. The power of the drum beats shakes your spine. This song is a dance club hit every place in America needs to be thumping through a system. When Connelly is the icing on your cake, that is one hell of a cake. Hot poetry like this “The name’s contagious, written in smoke
You force fed energy, starved and soaked
You misread crime when you look at decline
Desolate district dissolute signs”

https://sineofficial.bandcamp.com/track/desolate-district-feat-chris-connelly

Die Robot – Frantic – Portland’s cybernetic punk energon cubes released this single in May last year. It’s that perfect synthesis of funky electropunk and smash your face flying robot fist. Great mixture of voices and sensual inflection. I got done stomping my feet to this single and picked up the whole discography. My advice is get this and then when your legs can’t dance anymore build better ones out of broken robot parts.

https://dierobot.bandcamp.com/track/fanatic

I Ya Toyah – Out Of Order – Chicago/Poland’s favorite one women sound extravaganza has this eagerly awaited sophomore EP out 3/26/21 which is now available for preorder. So far one single is available and just like every time Ania puts out something new, my jaw hit the floor. Instead of napalm energy, this new sound is a cutting laser or focus and complexity. Like a fine wine every moment it lingers in your throat offers a new flavor and tone. This is a must order and early contender to be on albums of the year. It’s so seldom you see someone with the talents of Ania work as hard as she does at her craft to grow exponentially with each release.

Also a bundle package available Unisex T-shirt designed by Chicago artist Danesh Kothari, printed on soft and natural Bella Canvas, plus limited edition holographic sticker, and CD in 6 panel art wallet with 6 page lyric and art insert.
Photos and art by award winning European artist Krzysztof Babiracki.
15% of each physical album sale goes to American Foundation for Suicide Prevention to aid mental health cause. Ania is an amazing human changing the world with everything she does.

https://iyatoyah.bandcamp.com/album/out-of-order

The Churchill Garden – Fade Away – Gorgeous new dreampop single with a team up of Andy Jossi and (Whimsical) singer Krissy Vanderwoude. This track is a tear rolling slowly down the cheek just as the sun strikes it to make it sparkle. I kept feeling my heart rise up towards my throat as layer after layer emerged and joined a cacophony of tender sweeping wind. Music to make your feel.

https://thechurchhillgarden.bandcamp.com/track/fade-away

Luis Vasquez – A Body Of Errors – I hate to be that guy, that says I was at that one show. I’m just kidding, I love to be that guy. I got to see The Soft Moon at Berghain and it altered the course of my sonic life. This new solo album is a percussion driven instrumental masterpiece. Rising cities, cities destroyed, the screams of a dying age. Textural emotive hums infusing the body and blasting a prism of colors into the mind. I’m not usually one for instrumental works but just like anything when it is done at this level it is something that moves you. Future Sounds of London with the edgy tension of Coil. I want to be back in that bunker in Berlin riding the wave of this journey of sound.

https://thesoftmoon.bandcamp.com/album/a-body-of-errors

Doors In The Labyrinth – The Shadow Of The Monolith – I love when a band has so many present influences that their is no effective way to categorize it. New album from the Pittsburgh native Josh Loughrey has a textured coldwave isolation crashing up against sizzling guitars and wilderness crooning vocals. Full album release is 3/15 but this first single is full of promise and explosive energy. I had the opportunity to see Josh open for Adoration Destroyed/Lorelei Dreaming and this is an artist with a bubbling volcano of passion ready to explode.

https://doorsinthelabyrinth.bandcamp.com/album/in-the-shadow-of-the-monolith

Collapse of Dawn – of dreams and nightmares – This is a sound that really leans into it’s album name. A sinister stalking wispy electronic sound. Both Saphirra Vee and Melodywhore contribute vocals and it is a powerful combination to give the shadow images both sensuality and dark intention. My personal favorite was “Silent Howl“, it managed to elevate the surrealism to further the dream metaphor. Just like a dream or nightmare I think the true star of the show were the tiny brushstrokes of sound you don’t remember you heard until later reflection. Everyone who listens will get their own story. I’m glad I heard mine.

https://collapseofdawn.bandcamp.com/album/of-dreams-nightmares-2

Kandinsky Noir – DOM​-​J (Feat. Grabyourface) – This track immeadiately puts you back on your heels with explosive force and smashing guitars. Very old school industrial tone with a sharp high speed modern sound. The effect is made even stronger with a wonderful guest vocal by Marie of Grabyourface providing French lyrics. This one is even more special for me because the collaboration came out of our Sounds and Shadows group. A beautiful textured jam with teeth and blood.

https://kandinskynoir.bandcamp.com/track/dom-j-feat-grabyourface

Dissonance – Damage 1st Assault (Feat Melodywhore) Ok I am a long time fan of Cat Hall, she has one of the most underrated voices in modern electronic. So when I say this is my favorite track I want you to appreciate the weight of that. James lays down a filthy grinding beat that really let her voice off the chain. Puts me in mind of that aggressive feminine power of Lords of Acid and My Life With The Thrill Kill Cult. All broken glass and velvet sass. I can’t wait to hear more from this powerful collaboration. The single also features some powerful remix work from Joe Haze , Machines With Human Skin, Steven Olaf, and more.

https://dissonanceband.bandcamp.com/

Rhys Fulber of Front Line Assembly Talks Tech, Music Trends, And Classic FLA

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photos by Bobby Talamine

I’ve been asking every artist this question, and my apologies if you’ve already had to answer it many times: How did the pandemic affect your workflow- both for this album and for your other projects?

A lot of the best known records I have made were all made under self imposed lockdown like conditions, but usually with a few other people in the room. This time I am alone and sending files back and forth, which Bill and I were doing already because we lived in different cities, so its not a major adjustment as far as working on music goes. In fact the pandemic brought me back to Canada and Bill and I actually completed the song “Unknown” in the same room so that’s an inverse effect.

I feel like Mechanical Soul has a much more old school “classic” FLA sound than say, the previous release Wake Up The Coma. I know it when I hear it but it’s sometimes hard to describe. At this point if somebody asked you to describe the “classic” FLA sound, what would you say? How much of it has stayed the same for all these years and what has changed?

I guess the “classic” FLA sound is a one-bar EBM bass line and then a big chorus part supported by pads and Bill’s voice. I think music goes in cycles and its come back around to where we started in a way. EBM was a techno buzzword a few years ago with new, younger artists exploring that style. I guess if you stick around long enough your original suit comes back in fashion. However Bill and I are always listening to new music and that will always influence you to some degree. I think the key here is adding upgrades here and there while keeping the body intact. Also doing live techno sets in that environment helped me incorporate some of those dynamics into the new FLA as well. There are arrangements we would not have done in the early 90s on this record.

I love that you brought on Jean-Luc DeMeyer for “Barbarians.” How did this collaboration come about? I see it’s a reworking of “Future Fail” from Artificial Soldier…

It was just a case of reusing a great vocal and giving it a backdrop where it can shine more clearly. Bill loved that vocal and felt it got a bit buried under a busy uptempo track and though slowing it down and going more epic would highlight it more. He sent me the half time drum loop and then I built the music around that and the vocal. Vocals are usually added last to our music so this time it was the other way around. Jean-Luc has such a unique voice and lyrical style it can easily function as a foundation.

 Tell us about some other projects you worked on in 2020, i.e. Cyberpunk 2077 and your solo album Diaspora. I love the track with Sara Taylor [of Youth Code], not just as a Black Flag fan but because it has such a cool energy between the two of you.

Cyberpunk was a fruitful project. I did 6 pieces for it but only 2 made the game, but working in that style spun off into my solo album Ostalgia. The tracks “Fission” and “Apostel” were developed from the game demo tracks and the style of the others influenced a few others on the album. The FLA track Stifle was also originally for the game. I had the idea of doing an electronic version of “Slip It In” for a while because the riff to me sounded like a great EBM riff. I was worried about the perception of the lyrics, so I thought having a female voice would be a more interesting juxtaposition, and Sara immediately came to mind with the power of her delivery. She came by my studio in Los Angeles and we had it down in a couple hours.

You guys also worked with Dino Cazares from Fear Factory on this album…I’m assuming this connection dates back to your work with them in the 90s but it was surprising and refreshing to hear guitar on an FLA album, since it doesn’t happen often. Was this your idea or Bill’s?

This was Bill’s idea. Stifle was a Cyberpunk track originally and Bill liked it and put down his vocals. After that he thought adding some guitar stabs would elevate the track even more so I asked Dino and of course he did a great job with minimal instruction. I have been doing some keyboards on an upcoming Fear Factory album (!!! -Ed.) and talk to Dino fairly often so it was easy to make happen.

I’m asking about the track with Dino also because it seems like guitars are showing up in a lot of electronic music lately, which again reminds me a little of the late 90s, yet it seems like there is a lot more crossover nowadays between genres.

I hate to phrase it this way because I sound like such a stereotypical clueless music journalist, but where do you see electronic music going next?

Its hard to say because electronic music is a broader and broader term. Most hiphop and pop music is technically electronic music, so in a way it’s already everywhere. I think we are seeing more circling back as well. I am hearing productions that now sound like the early and mid 90s as opposed to the 80s influence thats already everywhere, so it will probably just be overlapping circles in either direction.