Friday 11/5 marks another Bandcamp day and I get to pour through a slew of amazing releases. Remember tomorrow all proceeds from sales on Bandcamp go directly to the artists who are in desperate need. We all need songs to fill our hearts in these days. Here are the ones filling mine.
MAN1K1N – Don’t Let Me Try – Brand new single from Boston shadowcrawl duo Man1K1n. Two ones to represent each of them. We have an upcoming webcast post with the act. This is a powerful song about personal loss Johnny E. Veil turned sonic and it really stirs the tendrils of emotion that suicide and mental health conjures for all of our lives. The percussion laid down by Cristian Carver is driving and precise, washing over in hurky jerky horror film atmosphere. Johnny’s vocals growl like a demon voice from within. I love the concept and how much genuine blood was poured into every word. This was an independent release but we have heard promise of an upcoming album ready to throw a match on this pooling shimmering gasoline.
https://man1k1n.bandcamp.com/track/dont-let-me-try
Stabbing Westward – I Am Nothing – Brand new single from rockdustrial legends Stabbing Westward. I just saw them at Cold Waves in Chicago, not only have they not lost a step. This new material seems to add a layer of complexity and depth to everything they have been doing for decades. Chris Halls voice grows more powerful and bristling with clarity and violet laser focus. Add in production from the legendary John Fryer and a remix from Jim Marcus. I love the flurry of katana guitar slashes and cyborg samurai cadence. Stabbing Westward still finds a way to transport me back to my 16 year old bedroom and awash with emotions and glorious vampiric dark tones. COP continues to release the cutting edge of the growing Industrial Rock genre. SW is their flagship.
https://stabbingwestward.bandcamp.com/album/i-am-nothing
Carrion – Revenant – If you didn’t know S & S contributor Hide Tepes was a huge LA hard rock Motley Crue fan in addition to making experimental textural noise you will after this track. The hard and high energy strikes of the drums, the crunching metal intensity of the guitar riffs have a very Psalm 69 recklessness. The lyrics are delivered with a harsh chaos demon venom. There is something so powerful about hearing an artist get lost in the moment. This is not a performance, it is a summoning. Further energized with a remix by Texas band Dread Risks who add a further layer of tribal intensity. I will be deep diving this entire album as it unfolds. Hide lays out a track by track explanation below of this decent into ego destruction.
The whole album is going to be available to pre-order tomorrow for both CD and digital + doing a limited edition bundle where you get the CD of the new album, the cassette of the previous one as well as two patches.
Lyrics: Maggots crawl to kiss the feet of a new God Used and abused, to be disposed in the dark Sucked dry by the hordes of the revenants Another body in the grave of their shallow praise Die the death just to come back hollow Feral angels rise, ripe with decay. Pray to me, what you sow I will reap, Pray to me.
https://officialcarrion.bandcamp.com/album/revenant-2
I Ya Toyah – Pray ( Stabbing Westward Remix ) – Chicago’s one woman army is back with a new remix from the previously discussed Stabbing Westward and their is nothing I don’t love about this song. The rises and falls of this high speed car chase give space and pacing for Ania to shine through city streets. her energy is a beacon that draws you in and fills you up every time you are near. Walter Flakus is a proven master of taking great vocal talent to it’s height. This remix makes me long for an Ania/Chris Hall duet. Make it happen.
https://iyatoyah.bandcamp.com/album/pray-stabbing-westward-remix
WHITE NOISE TV – GENERATOR – Berlin band I have never reviewed before featuring: Oliver Staats, Bernd Abromeit, Lars Goehring. I really like the expansive opening salvo of high energy electronic sound. As the vocals come in they have a daring Peter Hook Revenge flavor. Melodic with a lashing edge. Production is top rate which is essential when blending the post punk vocal style and cascading EDM music. Great breakdown at the 2 minute mark to let the bottom drop out and stand on the hill in defiance. In general an impressive job of taking familiar ideas and stitching them into a fresh concept. I think the most ringing endorsement I can give this is I was three minutes into the first track and they had already won me over as a fan. Get ready to hear more about White Noise TV.
Bedless Bones – The Iron Bough – We already have a review posted of this album on Sounds and Shadows. My favorite band from Estonia on Cold Transmission. Set to release 11/25/21. Every time I take a moment to listen to BB I am always surprised I don’t think of them more. They have such a powerful and spiritual infused sound or organic soul with a lost age feeling. Kadri Sammel has one of those truly unique voices that stands out in a sea of similar postpunk/darkwave vocalists for their cadence and range. If you held a live wire up to Dead Can Dance or This Mortal Coil and shocked them with electric intensity, that would be the majesty of Bedless Bones. Cool green leaves dripping with rolling drops of water.
Bending The Iron Bough | Bedless Bones (bandcamp.com)
The Cult Sounds – Now i can say I was officially surprised by this cover. I think of St Louis The Cult Sounds of an edgy dangerous take on the post punk concept. The Moody Blues are a definite guilty pleasure of mine. This holds so true to the psychedelia beauty and romantic nature of the original. It also really shows off the talent and chops of the band in such a different vein than their amazing progressive album “Death Of A Star”
https://thecultsounds.bandcamp.com/track/nights-in-white-satin
kid.saint.nothing – Disgust – Ok I know this is a friend from Kalamazoo, but I am always astounded by the truth and delivery of Reggie. An exceptional talent in the scene returning once again with a passionate fury of raw veined exposure. It’s music that has that fearless, nothing to lose realness that can’t be faked. Pounding low fi metal edge with poetic soulful lyrics that ring clear beyond the crunching chaotic distortion of the music. I love the drum transition from a backbeat hip hop into throbbing metal. Reggie’s ability to flow seamlessly between styles while exposing their truth of being always reveals a new aspect with every album. More people need to know about this. The Pixies cover sounds more like the original plot of the Pixies than the Pixies do .
https://kidsaintnothing.bandcamp.com/album/disgust-ep-2
The Wake – Emily Closer (Kill Shelter Remix) – New remix of legendary Ohio goth band The Wake by our dear friend Pete Burns (Kill Shelter). This song is such a driving dark jam, and Pete drives the car right into a crystal palace of reflections and crashes a dark fairytale ball. Splashes of keyboard color shine light on a dark canvas of surrealism. This track is welcome at my goth prom anytime.
Aesthetic Perfection Feat: Isaac Howlett – Save Myself – Here we have two of the top vocal talents in the modern scene teaming up to create something of staggering beauty. Empathy Test and Aesthetic Perfection share a lot of mutual space, both blending the lovely and pleasing with intense emotion to create a full pallet of human experience in song writing. They also couldn’t be more different stylistically in how they achieve this effect. This song really told a story to me, not just in the music and lyrics present. In the delivery, tone, and cadence that they volleyed then harmonized. Almost as though the perspective of what they were singing was shown through a alternate refraction. Plus it is so earth shattering pretty it made me warm inside. Musically I felt it swung more to the AP perfection side of the spectrum, but the vocal performance highlighted the contrast of two top level artists. I hope this is just the start of possible collaborations. I fully expect this will rocket to the top of the dark scene.
