Tag: Industrial

Artists Donating Proceeds To People Hurting In Ukraine

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The world is a bit scary right now. A lot of giant dark clouds hang over us. What is happening to the people of Ukraine is first and foremost in many minds. Art/Music has always been a means of expression for the suffering of the world. As well as a way to give hope. So as reports started coming in several bands in the darkscene released singles with proceeds going to support humanitarian efforts. I will share some of those now

Lifeline International – Come Together – So I will age myself here, but back in 1985 the famine happening through out Africa gained public attention when pretty much every popular star in music came together to preform a single called “We Are The World”. When I heard this Beatles cover electrified and amplified by Christian Petke (COP International) and Legendary producer John Fryer my heart stood on it’s edge in that same way as in 1985. This track features : members of Faith No More, Stabbing Westward, Rammstein, The Hardkiss (Ukraine), Revolting Cocks, Filter, Pigface, Agnostic Front, Basement Jaxx, Gravity Kills, The Cassandra Complex, Mesh, blackcarburning, The Joy Thieves, Deathline International, Vaselyne, and Black Needle Noise. I know that might not feel like Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, and Kenny Rogers to the rest of the world. To Goth/Industrial fans, it’s pretty close. Massive fuzzy funk riffs, earth shaking percussion explosions, vocals that deliver distinctive sounds and seamless overlap. The opening track of Abbey Road which was supposedly written for Timothy Leary’s attempt to become Governor of California has always struck an emotional chord of counter culture rising up for change. The addition of Queen’s We Will Rock You at the end is a fitting signature to the journey. There is a VERY good reason this has remained the number one seller on Bandcamp in any genre.

https://copinternational.bandcamp.com/album/come-together?fbclid=IwAR1TeoC2Su1dgJD9JeEao_G0CMMXHs6XzEcCxrIdD09j_G4834CbKdJBUtc

A Cloud of Ravens – The Call Up – Brooklyn NY goth rockers ACOR follow up their stand out album Another Kind Of Midnight with this shadow disco flavored cover of legendary punk act The Clash. Mathew’s vocals are a crooning whisper in contrast to the original, yet never lack for intensity. A cutting electronic veil of synths and foot stomping percussion. They are donating all proceeds to International Rescue Committee. This transitioned from a 4/4 vamp banger into a elastic and textured dance floor electricity. I think Strummer would have appreciated.

https://acloudofravens.bandcamp.com/track/the-call-up

Ashes Fallen – Stand Your Ground (for Ukraine) – This single from California goth rockers Ashes Fallen was featured on their album “A Fleeting Melody Out Of A Fading Dream“. This version with all proceeds to Direct Relief for their humanitarian mission in Ukraine. It features a remix by The Axiom Divide. The original is such a mist rising from concrete dark edge call to arms banger. The remix pulls back the teeth to reveal James emotional vocal performance and subtle colliding synth streams. It adds a reflection of sorrow to the aggression of the original.

Ashes Fallen is James Perry, Michelle Perry, and Jason Shaw.
The Axiom Divide is Jay Tye, Brent Heinze, and Misti Laubscher.

https://ashesfallenmusic.bandcamp.com/album/stand-your-ground-for-ukraine

Warm Gadget – Lost Weekend – So this is an enormous value compilation for $12 featuring 99 tracks. All proceeds go to Vostok SOS and the Ukrainian Red Cross. An ambitious undertaking in it’s scope and delivery. With contributions from more than 27 countries: Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Slovakia, Sweden, Turkey, UK, Ukraine, USA and others. There is too much here to go through every individual band. I will focus on this one track from Oregon based hammering hard rock synergy Warm Gadget. I always get chunky Helmet slither math vibes from them. I love the stretch and build happening here. You would be seriously hard pressed to get a better musical value to support the cause.

Tim Vester :: Vocals, Lyrics & Effects

Colten Williams :: Programming, Guitars, Keyboards, Bass, Samples, Production, Engineer & Additional Vocals

Austin Williams :: Additional Vocals & Guitar

Billy Mickelson :: Additional Guitar

https://componentrecordings.bandcamp.com/track/lost-weekend

Thieve6 – Inside Out – Ok, this is shameless self promotion. However it is also a single with all proceeds going to Razom, a humanitarian relief charity chosen by Myah who had just lived in the Ukraine as part of Peace Corp. Those that follow Sounds and Shadows have probably heard of my fanboying for 90s Alt rocker Eve 6 and his twitter page. It has gotten to be a bit of a running bit in the Facebook group. So when Dan Milligan of Joy Thieves/The Burying Kind fame about doing a cover, Collin and I (Amaranth) went to work. We had no idea when we started what Dan would eventually bring together. I’m proud of the result, and proud to raise money for the cause it goes to. We also got to bring in the talented Whitney Flaherty to produce the inspired cover art. I’m still waiting for Max to ask me :If I like the Heart In A Blender Song“.

Ken Magerman: lead and backing vocals, clips and phrases
Collin Schipper: guitars, backing vocals, wicker cabinet
James Scott: bass guitar, origami
Myah VanTil: backing vocals, faith in nothing
Damien Faust: guitar, finalistic rendezvous
Dan Milligan: drums, guitar, synths, ginger ale

https://thieve6.bandcamp.com/track/inside-out

Now for those of you that prefer a more direct support. I will call out some bands in our scene in the Ukraine that are suffering and could use your support.

Icy Men – Low Light – Based in Kyiv/Kiev our friends on Cold Transmission Music Lytvyn and Den Stavitskiy who we have reviewed previously do a frozen darkness coldwave that resonates in the heart. The driving bass in abandoned subways, pounding movement. Frosty breath vocals delivered with cutting logic. I fell in love with this record in 2020 and hold a good thought for the next release.

https://icymen.bandcamp.com/album/low-light

BlazerJacket – Get Out (feat. Dirty Bird 13) – Another artists from Kyiv Denis Cherryman has a new retrowave shimmering single of oil on water in the morning sun. Creating an image of serenity before the violent guitar crunch and broken glass vocals shatter the surface of the water. Without warning another change from Psalm 69 Ministry fury to hypnotic retro melody hook. I love the bold transitions, I love the message of warning. Have a thought for Denis, I look forward to his next release.

https://blazerjacket.bandcamp.com/album/get-out-feat-dirty-bird-13

Sexual Purity – Suffer | Hope – I love the erratic percussion builds from Dnipro based Coldwave artists Sexual Purity. Anastasia has a captivating and emotionally tortured voice. It drips with animal hunger and menace. The style is very minimalist like a swirling nightmare you can’t hold in your mind. I look forward to more exploration of diverse styles in the future offerings. I was haunted and intrigued. Track 3 “In The Ocean” was a standout for me in the way the vocals took a more jagged and dangerous edge.

Music by Oleksii Donets
Vocal and Lyrics by Anastasia Romanova

https://sexualpurity.bandcamp.com/album/suffer-hope

When the world is suffering it is often artists who put the emotions into a physical form. Here we are just scratching the surface of amazing bands that offered up their art to support the people effected by this horrible conflict. Hopefully one of these offerings inspired you to do something for those suffering. Please if you know of another artists doing a song with the proceeds going to humanitarian relief leave a link and comment below

Aethyr Abyss Void by HAEX

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You know how you have music playlists for certain activities? There’s your music for exercising, for driving, for getting your freak on, etc. It’s especially nice when you find a band that works for you on more than one level. LA’s HAEX clicks many of my checkboxes for music that’s good in the car, the shower, or just simply blasting loudly to annoy your neighbors.

December of 2021 saw the release of Aethyr Abyss Void, HAEX’s full-length debut effort. Adam V. Jones and Sarah Graves are the creative forces behind HAEX and have carved a nice niche of themselves in the LA scene. This album is relentless. The beats pummel you into submission. The vocals have the growl of an underworld demon calling from the depths to claim your soul. The songs are heavy and dark with aggressive guitars that work well alongside the electronic assault.

Aethyr Abyss Void is one of my recommended albums of 2021/2022. You will not be disappointed. Just put it on and enjoy, no matter what activity it’s providing background music for. And you can never go wrong by giving it your complete, undivided attention as well.

Adam and Sarah answered some questions from us when we spoke earlier in February…

  • Who are your influences and what did you take away from those artists?
    Adam: We’re both pretty eclectic in our music tastes. Both of us enjoy Industrial but we are also influenced by Black Metal, Hardcore, Hip-Hop and Pop.
  • I get a cinematic feel from your music. Do you draw inspiration from sources outside of music, per se?
    Sarah: We’re inspired by emotions which are inspired by energy, like a coiled serpent
    Adam: Sounds in general inspire us, we’ve made tracks that started from non-musical ideas, more than musical ones. We sample every interesting sound we can.
  • Please describe a typical day in the studio. What is the chemistry like?
    Adam: Generally our most productive work is when we’re in the same room. We prefer to prepare an atmosphere that allows the music to come naturally to us, we kill the lights and lite candles and incense and the music writes itself.
  • What’s next for you? How are you forming/adapting your plans in the age of COVID?
    Sarah: What’s next is taking this album into the live realm and working it on the road
    Adam: In a city near you wink
  • What is your take on the current state of the dark music “scene”?
    *Impressions, opinions, funny thoughts, etc.
    Adam: Some reptiles bury themselves in a hole every winter, the only difference between cold-blooded and warm-blooded mammals is we make this look good.

https://haex.bandcamp.com/album/aethyr-abyss-void

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

Video Premier of SYS MACHINE “Poison In My Skin”

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The first single from the new project of Illinois Industrial Metal artist David Ssd. Who has completely shifted gears with this slinky sensual atmospheric drift. A new EP forthcoming in December called “Graceful Isolation” featuring 6 original tracks, 3 of which feature vocals from Kimberly of BOW EVER DOWN with remixes from ASSEMBLAGE 23, THE JOY THIEVES, SPANKTHENUN, BLUE EYED CHRIST, MISSSUICIDE, MICROWAVED, Steven Olaf and AUDIO BUDDHA. Artwork is by Greg Rolfes of Eleven12 Design which will be unveiled soon. When you read the names that stepped up to be a part of this, you understand why it has the community buzzing with excitement.

https://sysmachine.bandcamp.com/

The sound and video are a creeping unrelenting strength of movement and woven textures. A motion horror video game of strange lights and symbols tingling on the back of your spine. Kimberly’s emotive vocals sound like a lost record played on a haunted phonograph. Otherworldly and lost in time. They speak a warning to anyone that would dare stumble into her realm. The build and fall of measured electronic background against waving arms and murky waters. With sizzling will o wisp guitar leads lighting the way on this desolate journey. Assemblage 23 has been owning dancefloors for many years, they know just how to stir the pot of this heady brew. I look forward to the whole EP and future of Sys Machine.

Kim (Bow Ever Down)

OFF BEATINGS by spankthenun

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Claus Larsen leaetherstrip.bandcamp.com
John Mirland leaetherstrip.bandcamp.com/album/inhuman
Batavia batavia.bandcamp.com
Hostile Architect abelisk.bandcamp.com
Eva X eva-x.bandcamp.com
Rebel Empire rebelempiremusic.bandcamp.com

All music written and performed by SPANKTHENUN. Lyrics by SPANKTHENUN and Claus Larsen. All tracks mastered by SPANKTHENUN.

It’s some of the harder-edged stuff I’ve heard lately. It makes me think of the days when I’d go see live industrial bands in the basement of old Club Soma in San Diego back in the early 90s. Industrial was still fun and new to me back then. SPANKTHENUN recaptures that feeling. This Dallas duo has been very busy during the lockdown with a string of releases throughout the last year. Their most recent single, ‘Off Beatings’, features their frequent collaborator, Claus Larsen of Leæther Strip. The Bunker Tapes VOL. II, the full album, is due at the end of October. Remixes by Batavia, Eva X, Hostile Architect, John Mirland and Rebel Empire guarantee there’s something here for anyone who wants to stomp the dance floor. It has a raw naked aggression that’s held together with a groove. Should be played loudly.

https://spankthenun.bandcamp.com/album/off-beatings-2