I haven’t done a Bandcamp Friday review in a minute. I still really appreciate that Bandcamp as a company still cares enough about supporting musicians to waive their fee one Friday a month. Already it is the best way for new up and coming artists to get their albums into the hands of fans in the modern era. So today I did a post in the Sounds and Shadows group asking for some new releases and I will fire through several and give my impressions. If you see value in learning about my favorite new Darkscene music releases, Interviews, and Updates. Please follow us on Facebook/Instragram
Metamorph (Margot Day) – Sweet Nothings GRENDEL RMX – New York artist Margot Day with this new remix single from hard Industrial legends GRENDEL. It’s a cool surprising sound outside the normal vibe I expect from Grendel. A driving electroclash vibe with some interesting instrumentation and retro video game synth panels. Erik Gustafson (Adoration Destroyed/Eva X) did the production work and it’s very sleek, lots of tight sharp curves to the sound. Margot has a lovely whisp like delivery. Beautiful strobe light club hit.
Sweet Nothings (Grendel Remix)” — available May 1 on all platforms. Artist: Metamorph x Grendel Release: Sweet Nothings (Remix) Date: May 1 , 2026
credits
released May 1, 2026 Sweet Nothings by Margot Day Voice + Flute – Margot Day Remix by Grendel Photo: Margot Day by Brian Wimer Cover Art: Damian Z.
Circuit Preacher – Bloodthirsty – Spicy new single from the Richmond VA Industrial Pop trio on DarkTunes. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing them live before and they are an EXPERIENCE on stage. The track builds like an angry thought from the back of your mind. The chant is a powerful call to action, we the people outnumber the power that keeps evil in the world. I love the big block synth panels and sizzling riff at 2:52. A cleaner meaner Front 242 for the modern era.
Are these the rocks you said would cry out in praise? Buildings on children yelling their parents names God watches through a slit in the gate A special kind of hate
Transient Spirits – Eye For An Eye – Really cool London band I had never heard before. A trio with syncopated prog goth precision that reminded me a bit of one of my modern favorites Palais Ideal. Really dialed in with some unique and engaging vocals that had an almost angry spitting Bryan Ferry glampunk flavor. I’d never checked them before but will definitely be following them going forward.
released June 15, 2026 Wil Ferraz – Vocals and Guitars Selçuk Özcan – Drums Matthew Sheppard – Bass Curtis Elvidge – Production, Mix, and Master
Tears for the Dying – World’s End – The modern Mistress of Deathrock Adria Stembridge from Athens GA never disappoints. That signature dialed in guitar tone lashes around her head like a cracking whip. Accented by a sharp stabbing staccato chant forcing a truth into the light. All under the current of a thunderous driving bass. This is the future of Deathrock music.
The empire’s finally dying Blood stains on our hands Swallowing needles On indigenous lands Eyeing teenage girls Fingers turn to knives They get away with murder A nation paralyzed
Owari no sekai Owari no sekai Owari no sekai World at an end!
released July 24, 2026 Written and performed by Adria Stembridge.
Vocals, guitars, bass, programming, and recording by Adria Stembridge at her home studio.
Additional production, mixing, and sound design by Jason Nesmith.
Mastered by Jason Nesmith at Chase Park Transduction
DAM3ON – I believe in your Ghosts – Another North Carolina electronic act from Chuck Giezentanner with a haunting warm spooky themed dance banger. Great vocals and spicy synth lines that have your spirits sliding up the walls. Like a Halloween themed VNV Nation. Chuck is definitely making a sound folks need to be aware of.
The return of the Darkscene singles chart. I was inspired a few years ago to create a recognition chart that was not pay to play. Where anyone could submit and be voted on by our diverse group of Djs, Reviewers, Artists, Superfans, and promotors. I took the top 10 vote getters of the 1st three months of 2025 for you to check out here. In April I will start a fresh poll, so if you have a single in the broad darkscene genre, please submit in our group or on our patreon which is free 🙂
Slighter X Fatigue – EDGEBOI
Grabyourface – Feeling Morbid
Die Warzau – I Am A Camera
Cassandra Complex – Cover of Suzy Sabotage Nazi Goths Fuk Off
Bellhead – Theats
Steven Archer – Acceptance Song
Roger Ebner – Break It Up
Brides – Love In The Dust
Tears For The Dying – Jolene (Dolly Parton Cover)
Kali Dreamer – New Twilight
Cliff and Ivy – Devil’s Helpers
SLIGHTER x FATIGUE – EDGEBOI – Amazing team up of the California sonic sculptor Colin Cameron and Lillian of Sawtooth. I’m a fan of both projects so this was a collaboration with high expectations. This track kicks in the door to the club with maximum thump. I love the saucy cadence of Lillian’s vocals, she is really twirling the lasso of truth here. I dare you not to move when this is banging.
2) grabyourface – Feeling Morbid – French sadtrance artist with another emotive album of spiraling poetry and sinister underground beats. This track is my favorite single. Marie’s vocal cadence drips from the mouth like hooka smoke. This new album really hits the sweet spot between a more advanced production and the raw lofi style of Sea. You really need this album.
3) Die Warzau – I am a Camera – This release has several remixes, I submitted the RED mix. Some of my earliest Industrial music memories are of Die Warzau. That magical funky glitch poetry falling down a spiral staircase like a mechanized tornado. The chaos of this song surrounds you and draws the ear to different instruments in every phrase. They stand up in 2025 just as powerfully as in 1994.
4) The Cassandra Complex – Nazi Goths Fuck Off (Suzi Sabotage cover) – Two brilliant artists I love blended together into weaponized nazi slaying glory. Rodney Orpheus (Proto goth legends The Cassandra Complex ) covering modern anthem Nazi Goths Fuk Off. This has a spicy bopping electro wave bass drone wave that Rodney’s sharp tooth baritone slides over the top of. Goth is political, it always was, and both these artists understood the assignment in 2025.
5) BELLHEAD – Threats – My favorite Chicago double bass dark indie darlings with a sexy new single full of menace and William Burroughs energy. The guitar and basslines are a Wimbledon champion match of high speed volley that really raises the stakes. Ivan’s growling whisper is superb. If you have been sleeping on Bellhead you need to wake up right away.
6) Steven Archer – Acceptance Song – Solo album from March by Steven of (Ego Likeness, Stoneburner, probably 5 other projects). I’ll review the entire EP soon, but this was the single that really struck me first. I love how different it sounds than his other work. You can feel he had some uncorked feelings that didn’t fit in his other boxes but needed to burst forth like Athena out of his head. Some 70’s prog pop flavors fastened to the deck of crunchy modern industrial beats. Beautiful vocal effects give a David Gilmore flare and beauty I rarely hear him explore. The result is magnificent. The drum fills feel so organic I genuinely can’t tell if they were a machine. The mystery keeps me fascinated.
7) Roger Ebner – Break it Up – There are certain themes I discuss in S & S often and one is my love for Sax in modern music. Roger’s story is inspirational and his talent remarkable. The Pigface saxophone virtuoso put out this sassy IndustrialFunk mixed by Krstoff of BILE, and Vessy Mink on vocals. The result is smokey, carnal, and full of flickering motion. I included the recent interview below which is a must see if you don’t know Roger’s story.
8) BRIDES – Love In The Dust – A new heist film single from Norway by apocalypse pop artist Adrian Kjøsnes. Crooning like Eldrich, with reverent pipe organs, and tank tread bass. BRIDES continues to stand out among the underground for creativity and precision in a world lacking in either.
9) Tears for the Dying – Jolene (Dolly Parton Cover) – The Queen of modern deathrock doing a sultry swampgoth version of the Dolly Parton classic. This song is so iconic it is really difficult to make it your own, but Adria has infused it with her essence. Haunting and nostalgic with a hint of danger. Magnificent.
10) Kali Dreamer – New Twilight – Since this album released in Feb from Ohio goth artist Markise Johnson i can’t stop telling people about it. We need a return to romantic goth music. Longing and beautiful in a circle of candles writing poems in a cemetery. The production level is a huge step forward and Markise vocals are breathtaking. This is a tight race with A Covenant Of Thorns for best romantic goth since The Cure “Disintegration” I said what i said.
Special Mention) Cliff and Ivy: Alaska’s goth duo – Devil’s Helpers – Since I was doing three months together for this chart I threw in an honorable mention from the Alaskan goth duo Cliff and Ivy. Nice thrashing guitar death rock with Ivy’s hungry wolf snarl vocals. If you need a song to drink everclear and spit into a bonfire, this is your jam.
There is something special happening in darkscene music. This year I have been going to shows of new goth/post punk/darkwave bands and seeing them packed with young people who are embracing this subculture. Who are finding these themes and tones to make them their own. Twin Tribes, Actors, Vision Video, Then Comes Silence, Bootblacks, Male Tears, Leathers, Urban Heat, I Ya Toyah, touring the country telling folks it is good to be strange. This is the energy that is giving me hope. I have not been at my new goth pulpit as much as I like this year. As we pass the half way point of the year I will try and share what I have been listening to so far in 2024 that gives me hope for the future.
Dead Astronauts – Ghosts – The international synthwave group comprising Jared Kyle and Slade Templeton, has resurfaced with their highly anticipated 4th studio album, “Ghosts.” I love the experience and expertise on display for the art of songcraft. Each texture and shade are masterfully chosen. Honed with precision, displayed with technique. What truly makes them top tier is the narrative order, balance, and construction of every track.
Written and produced by Dead Astronauts Mixed and Mastered at Influx Studios Art and Design by JthreeConcepts
Mistakes: This track is deeply relatable. It has a beautiful Construction Time Again Depeche Mode bouncing beat with earnest reflection and buttery vocal delivery. A brief shimmering single that leaves you wanting more.
The Red Dress (feat. Florence Bullock): Beautiful city street flashing streetlamps streaking by at a furious pace. Wonderful vocal accents from A New York native, residing in Los Angeles, glitbiter, aka Florence Bullock. This track hugs the curves of a twisting road with a high performance engine. Perfect song to start an adventure to.
You try To survive Boy you’ve got clout You’ve got your knives out Trying to stay alive
Urban Heat – Seven Safe Places – The Austin TX band that has become an obsession for me. There is a special feeling when a band comes to a place beloved and familiar, but took an entirely different road to arrive. A punk rock vitality with soulful smooth edges and flawless technique. This was an April release single for the upcoming August album “The Tower”. Johnathan is one of the true distinctive voices in the modern darkscene. An energy and talent that would make any band shine. Combined in this trio powerhouse Urban Heat has distinguished themselves with the other A level artists of the next wave. This single has a Peter Hook lead guitar bassline that hugs every curve. The vocals are frantic and emotive. It’s a song built to gleam in the modern landscape. Become a true believer now and see Urban Heat out on tour, I assure you, the tickets will be more expensive and harder to find the next time around. Look for an interview with the band soon on youtube 🙂
Tears for ʇhe Dying – In the Shadow of the Midnight Sun – I first saw the amazing emotional tidal wave of Adria and Tears for The Dying at Southern Gothic in Athen’s Georgia and was enraptured by the emotional impact and reckless truth of dynamic songwriting. Deathrock is a genre that traces it’s roots back several decades, so finding visionary new ground is no easy task. With slithering sinister concepts and vocal ingenuity TFTD pays reverent homage to Christian Death and Specimen while inserting modern elements and broader concepts like “Dead Girl Dancing” a gorgeous synth laden apocalypse pop anthem that steps outside of the box. This is one of those amazing bands that every artist in the scene respects deeply even if you have never heard them. A true inner circle talent.
Favorite Track: Kaiju – Slow big and full of destruction as the name implies. I love this winding guitar and tempo shift that allows Adria’s cadence and Mick’s rolling percussion to make dynamic stories of trampling feat and terrifying beasts.
Special mention: Jolene (Dolly Parton Cover) – It takes a special performance to take one of the greatest ballads of all time and make it your own. Everyone needs to give this a spin.
THEN COMES SILENCE – Trickery – Recently I got the extreme privilege of opening for Swedish based band Then Comes Silence on tour with Vision Video. I had reviewed them before. This was one of those bands you truly can’t fully appreciate until you have seen them live. I have witnessed so many impressive performances in the last five years, I hope you take to heart when I say this is the tightest, most energetic band I have witnessed in recent memory.
I used to have a joke that Rush was the greatest group of compiled musicians who’s album I didn’t want to buy. Not being my style. In the modern darkscene I think Then Comes Silence is the greatest group of compiled musicians who’s album I very much want to buy. Part of the elegance of Trickery is how it doesn’t sound like they set out to make a great post punk album. The cohesion, passion, and construction present here would have fit any genre or style just as easily. It just happened to come in one of my favorite forms.
The album has a wide range of sounds, lots of thunderous rock bangers where Jonas tom punishing drum accents make TCS stand out in a field of bands leaning towards electronic drums. Slippery shadow disco club tracks like Feel The Cold create contrast and highlight Alex rich broad beam vocals. Songs like the collaboration with Dusty “Stay Strange” bring a horror punk mod feel that ride Hugo’s wall of sound guitars. Whatever the tone, it always seems to land.
I would be hard pressed to choose any song on this album as a top track, Never Change was definitely one that crept up on me. Stellar underlying harmonies, a crackling backbeat that always hits on the outside of the synths. This whole record has an underlying tone of hope, rising out of the mire of tough times. This track captures that feeling the hardest for me.
Alex Svenson – vocals, bass and synthezisers Jonas Fransson – drums Hugo Zombie – guitars
Additional musicians: Dusty Gannon (Vision Video) Emma Nylén (Emmon) Gözde Duzer (Aux Animaux) Jörgen Wall (Whale, Thåström, among others)
This is a 10/10 album in contention for top 10 records of 2024.
Eva X – Fiction – July 5th single from Electronic producer Gaby (Eva X). The single includes two remixes of the previous single Dopamine Blind by Sawtooth and Enter Face. Retro 80s pop with soul on the intro, fed into the grinder of metal tooth electro rock. Gaby’s voice keeps growing in confidence and glamour with every new release. This would pop at a mainstream club or goth/Industrial night.
Cemetery Sex – Leviathan – This is a young band generating an enormous amount of buzz from Washington DC. Artist that truly embrace the goth ethos of inclusion and counter culture pouring into the batcave of gothic roots. Anastasia has an undeniable presence in her words and delivery. The music is serpentine and hungry. To have young people with such an intrinsic understanding of the culture with both their music and mindset truly fills me with hope for the future. When Cemetary Sex burst onto the scene, they understood the assignment. Be ready to hear A LOT more about this band in the coming year.
PIG – Red Room – Raymond Watts has left an indelible stamp on the industrial scene for decades. One of the key reasons is his ability to find fresh untread ground with which to blend with industrial. Soul, funk, metal all are wound into spiritual inspiration to fortify the alloy of his art. Red Room took me to another place, late 70’s glam like Alice Cooper and TRex colliding pageantry, sensuality, and filthy grinding machines. A tight compact bullet that enters your brain before fragmenting into something larger and more explosive. Leaving you changed by the fragments left behind.
A rogues gallery of contributing artists, both old school and new class Alexis Mincolla (3Teeth), Chris Hall (Stabbing Westward), and the PIG Choir: Chris Connelly (Revco, Ministry etc), Emily Kavanaugh (Night Club), I Ya Toyah, Marc Heal (Cubanate) and Burton C Bell (Fear Factory), En Esch, Susannah Doyle, Anita Kyoda, Mark Alan Griffiths, Mike Watts, Jimmy Livingstone, and more!
This is an album best served live with sweat running down the walls. Catch them on tour with Curse Mackey, Unitcode:machine, Stoneburner, and more at a city near you. I’m going to both Coldwaves (Chicago) and Smalls (Detroit)
Favorite Tracks: Dirty Mercy – This opening is absolutely filthy.
ACTORS – Dead Inside – Vancouver based band Actors have been at the forefront of Nextwave Darkscene music since the start of the Rennaissance. This new single as a prelude to the tour of one of the top live music experiences of 2024 shows the group showing no signs of slowing down. The first time I heard it I was struck with Jason’s sultry whispering Jarvis Cocker vibes. of the cohesion and telepathy of one of the tightest acts of the modern era. The crisp brush crack drums Adam delivers use timing as art to build the tension. Shannon’s rippling cascade of dark water ripples. Kendall a forceful step on nimble feet. Every time I think, this is it, Actors have reached their peak, the journey continues up a mystical mountain.
MALE TEARS – Paradísco – La Based neosynth band Male Tears has filled me with hope for the future. There is nothing more beautiful than a group of young people discovering a fresh path to classic sounds. James and company went through a major lineup transition before the release of this EP and came out the other side with a hopeful passion. Soulful new depth and determination to find the beauty in the darkest reflections of life. Fans of Petshop Boys, and Duran Duran will find an homage to bright crystal sounds on the sonic spectrum that hold the truth of dark introspection. Great guest appearance on track two by our friends Corlyx. A beautiful harmony of James mournful beauty and Caitlin’s alien ethereal whisper. As well as track 3 “Sex On Drugs” a gorgeous and heart retching single that could have been the missing track off (Actually 1987) with features Caitlin (Corlyx), Azy Bats (Obscura Undead), and Ryan King (Witchhands). This is a modern day classic that stirs my heart with that same feeling of unburdened delivery. Male Tears is something special and memorable this scene needs to embrace with both arms. They are currently on their first major tour and I encourage everyone to be a part of this revolution on the ground floor.
Catch them in Detroit 10/1/24 at Small’s in Detroit with Crune and yours truly 🙂
Upon hearing of Tess LaCoell’s (Violet Wanda) collaboration with DJ Marionette for the Trans charity album “Transversal”, I said I want to hear it as Tess made an intriguing argument that we all should. After listening to the first 3 tracks, I told Tess that not only would I play the entire album in the Overtime section on my Birthday edition of my “New Music Fridays of the Modern DARKSCENE” show on June 28, and that it would be ideal as I hadn’t done anything for PRIDE (even though I consider myself an ally). Not only did I promise that, I foolishly also promised I would review the entire album even though I previously only did one or two line reviews of singles I really liked.
Now I rarely go into genres and sub-genres on my show as I askew pigeon-holing band into into static labels (“It’s A Trap”). Instead I consider my shows “Genre Fluid”, a term I borrowed months ago from Betty X’s exclusive T-shirt design. Now that seems like a piece of kismet as Tess wrote in the Liner Notes of “Transversal” that Betty X has a saying, “Artists Helping Artists”. I just hope this DJ can do the same with this review. Lofty goals but honestly I could play this entire album, soup to nuts, anytime. Buy it on Bandcamp at:
Top tracks include, in track order, Dead Girl Dancing, Loneliness is A Poison, Panic, I’m A Raver, Countdown, A Trap, and Pre-Sentient (the Violent Wanda remix of the Valor 13 track).
1. Tears for the Dying – Dead Girl Dancing
Gorgeous synth starts this song and album off and sets the bar for this album before the beat kicks in to a danceable song of death coming for you, feeling disoriented, and realizing there’s nothing tethering you to the World anymore. “See me, hear me, take my hand/Let′s go for a walk in the boneyard/
See me, hear me, take my hand/Let’s dance in the fog”. Very deep. Not about giving up on life but moving on and finding reason to dance anyway.
2. DJ Marionette – Splinter
A dark rhythmic danceable number that would keep me on the dancefloor when I was ready to stop.
3. Ghoststomper – AIRLOCKCONTAINMENT
Plodding stomper that keeps you sane while your computer runs its end of day repots.
4. Dee Decay – Maijulie
A hard rhythmic mystical instrumental romp
5. Hyperestis – Loneliness Is A Poison
“Loneliness is a poison/delivered by a kiss/ remember if I get too close/always remember this…” The grinding rhythm of this song starts and you think it’s a lovers’ lament after a breakup with their last argument echoing in their head and turns into a dark revenge fantasy.
6. Zvrra – TTF (Time To Fight)
This is a whirling dirvish EBM instrumental. Total fun.
7. Cameron Evesque Davis – Panic
Breathing through a panic attack. Whether the panic or real or not this song could be the danceable mantra to shake yourself loose.
8. Jordana – I’m A Raver
I can’t tell you much about this drum and bass “raver,” as it made me want to jump on the dancefloor leaving my phone and wheelchair behind. Powerful stuff.
10. Violet Wanda – Countdown
What can I say about Tess LaCoell’s contribution to this album except it’s the best instrumental on the album.
11. Jordana – A Trap
This track is the emotional and spiritual center of this album centering on being descriminated against for who you are and who you love. Plus it helps that this has the beats that flows that makes one want to dance as you fight the powers that be and are the brick walls that would dare to snatch your own empowerment.
9. Valor 13 – Pre-Sentient
This electronic steps through an AI’s awakening into sentience initiated by Valor 13.
12. Valor 13 – Pre-Sentient (Violet Wanda remix)
A faster, danceable remix by Violet Wanda that shows our now Sentient hero, ready to fight for the validation of its own existence whether regardless if the sentience is just a veil for what this album is about.
