Category: Review

Review of Strvgers: Exhumed Vol. II

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Band: Strvngers
Album: Exhume Vol II 
Lable: Negative Gain Records
Members: Maria Joaquin and Kyle Craig

https://strvngersngp.bandcamp.com/

Bio

https://www.facebook.com/strvngers/

So this is an album from Alberta Canada’s post punk/darkwave act Strvngers. It’s another band from Negative Gain records and I feel like maybe I am giving that label too much face time in my reviews but they just keep putting out great music so screw it I’ll keep reviewing it. A couple other strange things from the albums I usually review on this page are that it is covers and remixes (I prefer a focus on new original material) but I can tell you it screams and scintillates with fresh takes and original sounds. While it has an obvious dark tone I have to say this album is not gloom and doom. It’s fun, upbeat, and made for the club floor. The production and drum beats are searing fire and full of movement. Joaquin’s vocals are pure energy and have a beautiful pop quality while showing a great range of styles and colors. This album is a true death disco of spinning lights and weaving textures. The production is all seamlessly blended full of complex synth tones to create a cyborg automation of moving metal. It’s also diverse and challenging, every song finds a new voice which keeps the listener challenged. It’s sexy, it’s fierce, and it is proof that dark music doesn’t have to be sad bastard whining. If a DJ rolled out this album as playlist I would dance my ass off and not be sad.

I remember in my jaded youth being deeply into the dark brooding of goth and the testosterone driven angry Industrial and seeing Die Warsaw the first time and thinking this music can be more. It can be fun, and bursting with life and warmth. That’s what I hear from Strvngers. Ever track is a shot of adrenaline straight to my cold withered heart. It’s beautiful and wraps you in a welcoming hug that says we are all a part of this scene together. It’s industrial with a message of hope.

Standout tracks: 
Dancing with Myself (Billy Idol Gen X cover) – Ok this opens with that signature guitar riff but in a bright synthesized form. The tempo seems only slightly sped up but it feels more energetic. I love me some Billy Idol but the straight Adrenalin energy and beauty of the vocals makes this dance classic modern and uplifting.

Party all the Time – (Eddie Murphy Cover) This keeps the 80s retro flavor of the original but more of a Killing Joke sound than an Eddie Murphy one. The tone definitely has a feminine flavor of ladies taking over the dance floor which changes the whole meaning of the song. It’s a fun anthem with a really cool breakdown of bleep bloop madness and a giant wall of sound chorus.

This is not a Phase (remix) – The original song has a very 2000’s emo feel. However this remix does a beautiful job of adding a darker tone. The vocals come from the bottom of a well and chant out a teenage rebellion anthem. I’m not sure if it is a shout out to one of my favorite 80’s horror movies Return of the Living dead but it serves well in that way of a driven almost punk scream.

Cry Little Sister – (Gerard McMahon cover) This is an incredible homage to The Lost Boys using perfect samples of lines from the film with an edgy vocal feel. The sustain vocals on the whole album are brilliant and uplifting but on this song they are really turned loose.

Overall this album is just plain fun. I had a hard time picking favorites in the covers. They are all a glittering explosion of stop motion dance in a dark wave world of intense foreboding. This record was not afraid to just enjoy itself on the surface without trying to plus the depths of human emotion and I found it refreshing. It shakes, it bleeds, it needs to be in your next dance party.

Review of S Y Z Y G Y X: The Graveyard Compilation

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Band: SYZYGYX

Album: The Graveyard Compilation

Label: Cold Transmission

Members: Luna Blanc and Josh Clark

https://syzygy-x.bandcamp.com/album/the-graveyard-compilation

Do you know that feeling when you watch a truly suspenseful horror film? The first time you saw Suspiria, or The Exorcist. When you are gripping the edge of your chair uncomfortable, unnerved, feeling your heart race faster in your chest but you can’t look away. You know this is just a film and not happening to you but are still overcome with a terrifying dread that the world is monstrous and mysterious. That you might not have as firm a grasp on what is real as you thought you did? That is what I felt the first time I heard Washington DC TerrorElectroGoth band SYZYGYX.

SYZYGYX is An astronomical term denoting the disposition of three celestial bodies on a line. This is an incredibly deep and bad ass band name. This album is a compilation of “Broken Mirrors” EP (Burning Grave Records), “Encounters” EP (Cold Transmission), and “Is That All There Is” (Burning Grave Records). ” A very impressive body of work that all has an extremely avant garde tactile feel that creates a wonderful range in style and structure over the course of one collection. There are some elements of this unique sound that really tie everything together. For one Luna has such a wispy sensual voice that is full of haunted beauty. The music isn’t edgy or industrial, it has a medium pace dance beat. With a lot of subtle percussion notes to build tension and add flavor. The synth sounds are so wide ranging and expressive. When Josh adds in contrasting resonant monotone driving vocals it creates a dialog. A superb and fringe effect.

Luna and Josh with Cold transmission

I really enjoy a band that makes higher concepts and chic visual sound feel so effortless. When cool has a sound. How could you get Ladytron and The Goblins to create a soundtrack for a Italian horror film set in the New York club scene? To me that was the clashing contrast of elegance in SYZYGYX.

With 16 tracks that were chosen as standouts from the EPs it’s hard to pick favorites but lets give it a go.

Avoid the Void – Luna’s gentle whisper over this lancing synth sound. The snapping drums. There is something so Siren like in her calling voice. “You’re nothing, you are a waste of skin” I can’t argue. I think this song really struck me for the subtle touches which is what the band does so effectively.

Velvet Lips – What an offbeat and interesting phrasing on the vocals. The drums seem almost at odds with the melody creating this terrifying tension. Shrieking background sounds and subtle hints of beauty to the dark and sinister texture. The bridge change up almost feels like throwing the song in reverse while going 60 mph. It jars me, it captures me, it leaves me transfixed and wondering. The ending drum beats are like metal bars on steel drums and have this infinitely east coast alley feel.

Runaways – The closer is the perfect encapsulation of what this album is working towards. Luna’s voice is bouncing between her sharp stabbing and her breathy soothing. The Synths have a continual build. It definitely feels like running away from something but with no destination in mind. The voices of consequence on your shoulder calling you towards a change. Then the vocals become clear and the synth becomes a spaceship taking the journey to a strange and foreign place.

Overall the album is vast, hard to place in a box, and sinister. That’s what I felt made me love it more and more. Each block of songs stepped outside themselves and the whole of the sound stepped outside of the norm. It’s strange, it’s beautiful, it’s thought provoking. This is music for a private dance party not everyone is invited to. An intimate music. A puzzle to be solved together.

Review of ELZ and the Cult: Psychodrama

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Review by Ivan Delint

Band: ELZ and the Cult

Album: Psychodrama

Label: Ampirik Records

Members: ELZ

Eylul Deniz on synths

Efe Akincioglu on the bass

https://www.facebook.com/pg/ELZANDTHECULT/about/?ref=page_internal

https://elzandthecult.bandcamp.com/album/psychodrama-cold-transmission-edition

I walked into this review not knowing what I was really getting into, I heard a little bit from Ken, whom only said “try this one, I think you’ll really like this”. I dug it and I said sure why not. Was I in for a SURPRISE!

I like to dive into my reviews without knowing ANYTHING about the artist, as I listen to their music I hope that they invoke a sense of wonder from me, wonder that’ll ultimately will lead me to become obsessive with knowing everything I can about them. With ELZ, It was that but in a different way, I didn’t expect myself to hold off on knowing more about them, until after the listening. I found myself so lost in their sound and only their sound that I didn’t want any other information to possibly ruin that experience for me.

Here is my journey through ‘PSYCHODRAMA’ :

Invention of Faith – Faith is a recurring word in this album, as stated before I didn’t know much about ELZ and the Cult during this listen and as I write this I really wish I had lyric book of sorts to decipher what this space journey of delicious horror was all about. Great opening track, very Mass Effect, very Muse (if you’ve heard their new album you’ll know what I mean), very She Wants Revenge.

Faith in Me -A sort of continuation from the intro track, this cyber-punk/cyber-goth, vampires in a Ridley Scott space film sound is just a perfect kind of dark. The chorus is lovely. “I have lost faith in me”… preach!

Cold War – ELZ and the Cult, keeping with the persistence of that bass synth, moves more into an aggressive industrial beat with track two. The dirty vocals that become prominent throughout the ‘PSYCHODRAMA’ make their first appearance here. The track maintains a steady darkness while still being dance floor friendly, a nice mix that’ll fit any gothic DJ’s playlists. Goth Pop indeed.

Growing Pains -Wake up! The gunshot New Order-esque drum intro coming at you from a very very dark chord progression should keep you on your feet. The vocals maintain the grime, the style however moves into a Lebanonn Hannover with Russian Utro behind the mic area. I’m loving it. This song is ready for International goth floors. Dj’s, remix this, GET AT THIS.

Die Once More – With ‘Die Once More’ ELZ and the Cult give us a break. A brief of a lull in the aggression. (As if one could say that about this album). The entire release is very industrial and literally any track could be mixed/remixed into a club banger. Creating an accessible album like that is really difficult.

Last Family Supper – The intro here is something out of a 90’s cyberpunk video game and the album, when it decides to chill, is really just sci-fi/horror space ambient suspense music. Prepping us for something killer, no doubt. The vocals once again evoke a Lebanon Hannover vibe while the drums beat like a march. The lead synth keeping it all a touch away from depressing and into real of wonder and excitement. ELZ and the Cult spoke about dying once more and again and again in ‘Die Once More’ but here he speaks about not giving up, he cannot die, he will not die and he doesn’t know why. This person is conflicted and all this conflict is fighting a cold war within his heart and mind. ELZ is the fallout. This soul is burning hot and bright within the darkness that it expresses. My favorite track thus far.

We Never Met – Moving deeper into the record, ‘We Never Met’ gives us joyful, maybe hopeful, feelings and honestly everything about this album just bleeds a sense of happy sadness. I call that life. The vocals are now touching a The Horrors vibe, something I hadn’t thought about the first couple of listens. This is a really cool track that flowed and evolved beautifully. I feel that ELZ and the Cult got the bangers that they thought everyone would like out of the way and are now exposing their true self. This is what i wanted all along and I love it. If you’ve made it this far, they reward you and it’s that journey that we as the listeners must make and upon catharsis we land a very important connection with the artist. We are no longer just listening to ELZ and the Cult, we are now experiencing ELZ and the Cult.

Dreams in Their Darkest Moments – (Interlude) Interludes are amazing, they can do so much to an album in such a short amount of time. Refresh your pallets, friends. I feel a sense of movie soundtrack from this. This band not only makes banger club hits but can, and I’d put money on this, easily find themselves soundtracking the next block buster sci-fi/cyber noir.

Gremlins – Excellent transition into Gremlins, seamless. This song gets me moving, the lyrical melody is also great. I wish for more clarity in the voice, less grime, nevertheless he’s hitting all the right spots. This track is also the best example we have of EZL and the Cults melodic range.


Manipulation – Cool drum work on track ten. It seems that every song has some new sound, tone, synth sound in it. Keeps for very interesting listening the most minimal song in the album, for sure.

The Witching Hour -We are now at song eleven and I must say the beat behind this, easily the most danceable song on this record. “In the witching hour the monsters come to play” So damn good. I have to be honest here, I started listening to ‘Psychodrama’ early in the morning here in Los Angeles. I had a nice cold dark brew. ELZ and the Cult, during the process of listening, have helped me upgrade from a dark roast coffee to a Dark Seas Mission Brewery Imperial Stout, ready to keep the death dance party going. Thanks!?

Dystopian Prayer – NIN all the way, with a tad of Vazquez’s The Soft Moon in it, the most different and experimental of all the tracks in my opinion. ‘Dystopian Prayer’ is a nice “near the finish line” song showing us what this project is capable of and perhaps what is yet to come.

Funeral of Queen Mary -Everything about this says the end. Finish line. Operatic! A Clockwork Orange! It’s epic and it’s majestic. Dark, evocative, dark pop at it’s finest. ’Psychodrama’ was a hell of an experience.

Overall this album was a powerful and diverse journey., in the way a film maker creates a story with a variety of shots and perspective ELZ and the Cult have created a musical journey that takes accessible dark pop and combines it with the challenge of raw emotion and dark sensual beauty.. It’s a broken roller coaster traversing a shattered futuristic city.. It builds, it fills, and it does not disapoint.. You need a ticket for this ride.

Post word by Ken Magerman

Review of Monographic: Structures

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and: Monographic

Album: Structures

Lable: Cold Transmission Records

Release Date: Oct 12 2018

Members: Björn Ullmann (vocals/Guitar) Ric Freymann (Guitar)

Recorded 2017 by Javier Ortiz at Brazil Studios (Madrid, Spain) 
Mixed and mastered by Timo Höcke at Wellenschmiede (Hamburg

https://monographic.bandcamp.com/album/structures

https://www.facebook.com/pg/MonographicBand/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1402518143386479&ref=page_internal

So my newest review is for a German band off of Cold Transmission records called Monographic. Since I have been listening to a lot of post punk music you definitely start to get lost in the landscape of this standard post punk sound. So when I hear a new one I am really looking for something that sets them apart from the pack. I also need a level of quality that pays homage to the predecessors of the genre. I know a tall order but Monographic checks those boxes. Lets first talk about where they break new ground. The singer Bjorn Ulmann croons in a beautiful baritone which is so missing in this style. He slips from highs to lows to change tone and build emotion. You can hear his hint of an accent in his well delivered English lyrics that reminded me of Marc Burgess of the Chameleons. He also has enough razor in his voice to cut past the monotone drone of his contemporaries. He sings in a lilting and energetic singing volley with the dancing guitar rifts. I found myself drawn to the straight forward truth of the lyrics. Lets talk drums, my heart was pounding from the use of driving and prominent toms that reminded me of the Happy Mondays. For being dark post punk music the drive and energy had a bright flavor that I found captivating.

The songs are extremely well played with the faithful quality you are looking for in a retrospective post punk sound. This is a very city scape feeling sound. Movement and dark streets at 2am bustling home with pretty people going exciting places. It has that heartbeat thrum of life that can be captured in the sound of a band that has lived and breathed the face of an urban landscape. The guitars are full of motion and Ulmann’s chanting vocals give a blue collar punk edge that offsets the technical complexity of the guitars and music. It’s stripped down and driving in a scene full of synthesizers and texture. Monographic focuses on the driving bassline of the roots. Taking this step back in time I feel added further originality to the sound.

Stand out tracks include:

Addicted – This is a straight forward post punk driver that definitely had a feel of the Chameleons. It was sharp and edgy just to this side of post punk without crossing into a punk level of snarl. It’s a topic easy to relate to. The guitars are thick and Ulmann’s cadence keeps motion and blood flowing through the song until it’s end.

The Old Ones – Not sure if this was an HP Lovecraft shout out but it definitely had a dark and frightening elder tension. This makes excellent use of those toms to create a driving tension. I love the breakdown which drops everything away then allows the scalpel precision guitar to cut through the darkness.

Out of Time – I love when an album builds you into what you think of as the sound of this band and then flips the script on it’s head with a totally different tone and sound. This was that track. It has a bright vibrant energy that has flavors of The Church and other New wave progressive sensibility. It has an edge on the front of the beat to create urgency and is a wonderful lift in the middle of the album.

Overall this album is very familiar. It is building on concepts I know and love, but rather than re inventing the wheel it changes and blends just enough of these familiar themes to find it’s own voice. The production is first rate and the fast medium tempo keeps your foot tapping through the end. I wanted to hear more chances taken, to push further to the edge. At the same time I bask in the warm glow of a tone and sounds I love done with a unique twist that kept my attention. Listening to this album is like seeing an old friend with an exciting new story about where life is today. Hear that story for yourself.

Review of Warsaw Pact : Extended Play 1

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Band: Warsaw Pact

Album: Extended Play 1

Label: Self Release

Members: Ivan Delint , Ludwig

https://warsawpactla.bandcamp.com/album/extended-play-i

https://www.facebook.com/pg/TheWarsawPact/about/?ref=page_internal

Warsaw Pact is the creative vision of LA based Ivan Delint and Ivan Ludwig. I first became aware of them by an outstanding remix on the Antipole album of the song Someday 45. The first thing I said to Ivan when I heard this EP is this sounds very New York living in LA. A sound of what if The Jesus and Mary Chain quit shoegaze and went post punk in Andy Warhols loft. You can really hear the post punk influence but less the popular motif of classics like Joy Division/Bauhaus, more the resurgence from Interpol/The Editors. I think the other thing that really grabbed me was how a lot of Post Punk adds layers of production and clarity to what the elders had done before to create a new sound. Warsaw Pact has attacked the equation from the other side. They started at Interpol and stripped it back with a Lo-Fi edge. The bass lines are weighted and thick, the guitars are syncopated and dance on top. It’s the big buzzing wall of fuzz created by the additional guitar and Ivan’s out front vocals that create the effect I think of as Warsaw Pact.

Emotionally what I am hearing here is an erratic and twisting story of confusion and discovery. Maybe this is what reminded me of the lyrical and cadence delivery of Jim Reid. Knowing you have something to say but doing it with that lashing trauma of youth where you just can’t find the words to express yourself. It’s actually a much more difficult emotion to capture as a song writer than you might think. It’s something I relate to and can appreciate burying myself in through someone else’s eyes. It makes me feel that Ivan still has another voice waiting to be revealed on future albums that is not so influenced by the music that shaped him.


We are somewhere between an album and an EP here at 8 tracks. I found the way the tracks were listed really interesting. With a 1st track called “Introduction” and the 4th called “Interlude I” Almost a nod to an opera or soundtrack flow of the music. Here are the songs that grabbed me most.

DeadVlei – Right in with that driving thunder bass and quick chord changes. This song more than others gave me that The Chain feel. With that back ground repeated cadence and echo washed vocals seething with intensity and edge without using volume to get the effect.

Lights – I think this track definitely has the most curbside appeal. It bounces around the puddles of a rainy dark street. Ivan’s vocals sit to the back a little more and the effect of having the bass to the front really adds a weight and power to them. I like the spoken word background breakdown. Lends a sort of art house feel to this song. If a video is shot for the album this is the song i picture first .

Midnight Cure – Very exposed in this song. The vocals charge to the front spinning around. This song is a person lost in a labyrinth wandering through the endless passages. The drums on this song have a much crisper drive in the snare snaps and it helps create motion and urgency. I want to know the rest of the story in this song, maybe I will ask Ivan in the interview.

Overall this record is the capture of a moment in time. The guitar work is stellar and puts me in mind a bit of Antipole. I love the displaced feelings, I love the New York Art House cliche’ feel. I even love that emotion of feeling lost that reminded me of New Order Movement in a where do we go from here way. However I think this also sets a bar for Ivan and company, I want another record, I want the clarity and focus of vision for the next one. I want to hear how this story ends.