Tag: William Faith

Looks Like Meat Is Back On the Menu

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April was a really tough month. Emotionally, physically, finding the spoons to write anything was more than I could bare. A lot of amazing things came out which kept me company in these dark moments of reflection. Finding a way to describe it and share it with all of you ended up more than I could bare. So tonight for the first time in a long time I find myself in front of the keyboard with that spark again. That sweet inspiration returned, ready to pitter patter my calloused fingers against the keyboard and tell you about some of the great new music which makes this compressing life bearable. I hope you find something new among my musings to share and love.

Cult Of Alia – Patterns Beat Emotion – Brand new single from Dara of Cruex Lies. Pyromancy Disco full of flashing lights and rising smoke. This project is on Cold Transmission which is always a vote of confidence. I love the vocal delivery on this track. It’s fearless and steady with just a hint of snarl. This track also has an energy of the bands namesake from Dune. Swirling sand, science fiction, and spirituality at a fever pitch. I don’t spend enough time in reviews talking about lyrics. This one is a cold razor.

I feel my face will just betray me
So lets destroy those pleasantries
An honest look is just a warning
Of something deep that wants to breathe

Patterns Beat Emotion | Cult Of Alia (bandcamp.com)

Albadore – The Forgotten Future – This album from Flint MI Dj Michael Absher is a tad outside our usual wheelhouse. An electrodelic jazz infused crackle full of Kerouac verse and Ginsberg meter. Timely record scratches to break the trancey silk edges and pay homage to the church of vinyl. 21 distinct tracks with a wide fusion of flavors. Michael really runs the full spectrum of sounds and blends them with precision and cunning. Sometimes I hear a band and think, the primary song writer was a Bass Player/Drummer/Singer, by what the focus seems drawn to. In this ambitious sound you really hear a DJ making music. The focus is on seamless transitions and following the natural path of the listener. Put this album on at your next party and just let it guide the energy of your night.

The Forgotten Future | Albadore (bandcamp.com)

The Funeral March – Persephone – Rockford, Illinois postwave led by J. Whiteaker breaks the water with a new EP paying homage to a favorite topic of mine Greek Mythology. The first thing you always hear hook you in are the GORGOUS The Cure Pornography style guitar work that really steals the show. I also find myself lost in the misty vocal style Joe croons to cast contrast against The Cure. This EP feels very familiar, it wears it influences on it’s sleeve. It explores enough of it’s own path to feel fresh. The imagery heavy lyrics and romantic weight are a missing and welcome jewel in the modern scene.

Favorite Track: Kiss Me With Your Last Breath – It’s so slushy and hunter green floating above still water. The Cure guitar influence is very heavy here but the slippery electronic drums and Joe’s ghostly echo vocals make dancing lights to capture the imagination.

Persephone | The Funeral March | The Funeral March of the Marionettes (bandcamp.com)

Fixed Lens – Swept Out To Sea – New single release from Berlin razor synth band I was turned onto by Nichole Ferree who runs the Boston Dark Spring festival. This has that lovely driving bass and infectious guitar delay of post punk, but the vocals lean HARD into the punk aspect. The energy is reckless, dangerous, speeding through the underworld a split second from destruction. Instant fan.

Swept Out To Sea | Fixed Lens (bandcamp.com)

ego likeness – Live to Tell – The first new release from goths premier couple Donna and Steven in a hot minute. A Madonna cover. Madonna is sacred to me, she changed pop music forever. Gave it soul, made it matter, changed forever how we think about women’s sexuality. Certain artists I really wouldn’t recommend a cover of. How would you add to it or change it? Madonna is firmly in that category. The only way it ever works, is a fresh take by someone who displays such a reverence for the source material. That the original soul burns through in their voice. That is what Donna does here. That is what she captures, and it is fuking beautiful.

Live to Tell | ego likeness (bandcamp.com)

G.W. Childs IV – You Don’t Know – I’ve been talking about the Yee Haw synth cowboy G.W Childs a lot recently. Paired up again with living legend John Fryer to paint an electric pastel desert of tumbling weeds and neon hover cars spewing sand and racing back home to his family on the ranch. It’s an electronic Yaz infused cattle drive into the sunset. It features four remixes of the stand out single “Tarrent County” by some of my favorite artists Ashes Fallen and proto goth legend Rodney Orpheus (The Cassandra Complex). Available on COP International.

You Don’t Know | G.W. Childs IV (bandcamp.com)

thePicassos – Weird Sisters (feat. Sarah Rose) – My feet are immediately tapping for this swing rich team up of Detroit eclectic rockers ThePicassos and Sarah Rose of (Sarah and the Safe Word) on this run away wooden rollercoaster through an abandoned carnival. This baseline is high stepping zoot suit fire and skeleton shimmer. The Picassos have become masters of taking any fringe style and making it distinctly their own. i really can’t wait to hear where they go next. Charles is a modern-day poet of experience beyond just words in a song.

▶︎ Weird Sisters (feat. Sarah Rose) – Single | thePicassos (bandcamp.com)

The Bellwether Syndicate – Vestige & Vigil – Chicago darkscene darlings William Faith, Sarah Rose, Philly Peroxide, Stevyn Grey, and Corey Gorey with their eagerly anticipated full length album which has immediately concurred the airwaves. In 2023 if you are going to release an album, I think it is key that it runs a vast range of styles and emotions while maintaining a primal core which defines you. This is what Bellwether Syndicate knocked out of the park on the first swing. From driving hot rod flame spewing bangers like “Noir Thing” to old school gothic rock anthems like “We All Rise” it’s a twisting maze of human experience full of complexity and intention. Once you get past the fist pumping energy and absorb the lyrics the political punk rock ethos cuts another layer to appreciate. Every baseline and shimmering guitar reminds you of the rock roots that cast a reflection to Faiths quintessential darkwave vocals. It’s easy to get lost in thoughts of how is this the first full length album from this band. Until you take time to add the experience and catalog of the individual parts.

Favorite Track: Republik – Hard to go wrong with any song on this expertly crafted album. This single has always held such a captivating tempo and delivery that it randomly leaps into my head and explodes a electric pulse of pure energy . The toms, the pin prick guitar leads, the unstoppable yet elegant vocals make this song an unforgettable banger on an album chocked full of them.

I haven’t interviewed The Bellwether Syndicate, that is an unforgivable crime I will correct shortly. You really need this record.

Vestige & Vigil | The Bellwether Syndicate (bandcamp.com)

I hope you found something that moved you. I hope you follow and like our page and others like it. There is a glorious dark scene Rennaissance happening and there is no time like the present to jump on board.

Sapphira Vee Becomes a Genre Blender with Trippy

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Back in the ancient past (2010 or so), a young, devilishly handsome DJ interviewed William Faith and asked if he had any advice for up-and-coming artists. Faith recounted the difficulty of crafting a truly original sound and suggested focusing on combining influences in hitherto unseen ways—the more disparate the inspirations, the better. After all, a smoothie can taste wholly different from its ingredients; the blending creates something new.

Trippy | Sapphira Vee (bandcamp.com)

This conversation played on repeat in my head as I dug into Trippy, the latest release from New York’s Sapphira Vee. Already known for experimenting with a variety of goth/industrial subgenres, Vee tries on trip hop for her new EP. She admits the four songs might not be “pure” trip hop, and I agree; while Vee wears the Massive Attack, Sneaker Pimps, and Tricky influences on her sleeve, these inspirations cling to her goth/industrial roots, forming a unique growth for her most distinctive release yet.

Four different artists join Vee—one for each song—yet the choice to use trip hop as a springboard creates a singular style despite each performer’s varying backgrounds. Cis Machina and Dogtablet both favor slower hip hop beats mixed with stringed instruments straight out of a Portishead single, while 2Bit Heroes delivers a Massive Attack-inspired synth wave and John D Norten relies on  traditional bass, guitar, and strings. Yet in all cases, the mood reminds me of early 2000s goth rock or, in the case of “Tangential,” industrial. Maybe it’s the droning strings, minimalist staccato riffs blended with held guitar, or the delicate use of spooky piano that jogs my memory, but to combine this atmosphere with a more traditional trip-hop backbone results in a sound both familiar and breathtakingly fresh. In the post-punk revival of the past 5 years, any act that can reshape history in a way that inspires new possibilities with sounds that came before rather than simply rehashing them deserves recognition. Vee and all her co-conspirators on Trippy: consider yourself recognized.

You want to ask, “Which Portishead single?” but you already know.

The biggest lesson Vee gains from trip hop, however, is how to do more with less. Goth and industrial prefer bombastic deliveries, with melodramatic melancholy defining the former while the latter prefers explosive anger. Yet even Trippy’s cover image implies a muted efficiency: a simple picture of Vee in a hoodie subtly morphs into a mind-bending waterscape easily missed at first glance. In the same light, no screamed or crooned theatrics are on display here; Vee’s lyrics are sung half-hushed, bordering on whispers or spoken word. She mostly abandons overwrought metaphors; while some staple tropes such as “what goes around comes around” and the tried-and-true comparison to bait fishing pop up, Vee spends most of her time musing on personal issues rather than aiming for some wide, universal circumstance. Thus, Trippy stands as possibly her most vulnerable release: no extra flash or flair, just a woman and her friends making music they love about themselves.

Standout Track – “Blindsight”: The most obvious trip hop song on the EP, Dogtablet’s collaboration results in a short, potent jam showcasing Vee’s reserved but effective lyrics. There’s just enough left vague to allow for opposed interpretations; either Vee sings about a desperate—though terrifying—need for vulnerable openness or she uses the illusion of exposure to safely manipulate any she might fear. Leaving the song on loop results in introspection that will eat away more of your day than you might realize.

Top 12 Sounds and Shadows Darkscene Singles of 2022

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I am so proud of how the Sounds and Shadows Darkscene Singles Chart has grown in the last 2 years. This chart is chosen entirely by our groups Artists, Djs, Reviewers, Promotors, and Superfans. I took the number 1 pick from each month this year. So they were all top picks in no particular order.

Jan – Gravity Corp – Another Day

Feb – Dead Cool – Game Of Trust

March – Lycia – Simpler Times

April – Stoneburner – Contacting Iris

May – Leathers – Runaway

June – Dead Cool – Send Me An Angel

July – Kill Shelter (Feat Stefan Netschio) – In This Place

Aug – Pilgrims of Yearning – La Mar

Sept – Leathers – Ultraviolet – Artoffact Records

Oct – Panic Priest – AngelSteal – Negative Gain

Nov – Matt Hart – Terraform

Dec – The Bellwether Syndicate – Beacons –

Gravity Corps – Another Day – Spacey driving dance beats from Mark Sousa. This futurepop trance rhythm with the melodic bass whisper vocals and sharp mastering of Eric Oehler (Klack). This is sensational music to fire finger guns on the dancefloor to.

https://gravitycorps.bandcamp.com/track/another-day-ep-version

Dead Cool – Game Of Trust – Wilmington, North Carolina stellar splashing synthwave goodness full of mystery and mayhem. Ringing front striking vocals and cascade keys. The husband and wife John and Angela Yeagher create a sinister story that is always driving forward. Awesome cover art to complete the image by Morgan Elizabeth.

ttps://deadcool.bandcamp.com/track/game-of-trust

Lycia – Simpler Times – A triumphant return for the Arizona based trance coldwave band. This track is a perfect blend of pastel light and dark hues. Oil spreading in a rain puddle. Mike VanPortfleet‘s vocals sit deep within the mix to create a gentle specter haunting your mind. I love seeing a band I loved in my youth break new ground while keeping their soul.

https://lycia.bandcamp.com/album/simpler-times

Stoneburner – Contacting Iris – Steven Archer is always pushing the edge hard and furious. This time by interweaving with Sci Fi author Peter Watts with a punishing new sonic canvas so relevant to the emotional mindset of the population. This artistic journey keeps getting larger and more intricate.

Contracting Iris | Stoneburner (bandcamp.com)

Leathers – Runaway – Another gorgeous smash hit from Shannon Hemmett of Vancouver. As part of the darkscene darlings Actors this synthy dreamwave project continues to grow and impress with every release. Masterful execution with a personal delivery.

https://leathers.bandcamp.com/

Dead Cool – Send Me An Angel – I had no idea anyone had 2 number one wins in 2022 but here we are 🙂 From Wilmington, North Carolina the darkwave duo of Johnny and Angela Yeagher made this broken glass glittering on concrete version of the 1989 Real Life dance classic. A cool take on the original with much more menace to change the feeling. The band continues to be a fan favorite with our listeners and a number 1 single win speaks to their bright future.

https://deadcool.bandcamp.com/track/send-me-an-angel

Kill Shelter Feat (Stefan Netschio) – In This Place – I have a full review on S & S as well as an interview with Pete releasing tomorrow. However it is fitting this single off an early contender for album of the year is top song in July. Stefan of Beborn Beton delivers heavy resonant drops of tone into an unlit cave pool. 10/10 absolute banger

Asylum [European Version] | Kill Shelter (bandcamp.com)

Pilgrims Of Yearning – La Mar – I was so ecstatic to see the Boston shadowsynth band finish in 1st place. Delicious 90’s Siouxsie with texture snake delay guitars. Juls delivers a haunting and soulful performance. This is a must have in your collection. One of the most criminally underrated bands in the modern darkscene.

La Mar | Pilgrims of Yearning (bandcamp.com)

Leathers – Ultraviolet – So we had two double winners in 2022. Just shows how much of this year was a blur to me. Shannon deserves every great thing that happens to her though. New single from the Canadian synth extravaganza that is the project of Actors members and currently on tour with them. I love how if this was ever a “side project” it has evolved into a distinct powerhouse of twilight all on it’s own. There is a reason it was a definitive #1 in our most voted on chart to date. Force of nature single you need.

Ultraviolet | LEATHERS (bandcamp.com)

Panic Priest – AngelSteal – Jack has a gorgeous and razor streaming style between the cracks of the darkscene. Warm crooning Baritone, waterfall backdrop synths, and lightning crackle guitar leads. Panic Priest always needs more recognition and having this single as number 1 is a fitting start. People need to start recognizing Jack as one of the top voices in the modern scene. Interview coming up with Jack in Jan 2023

ANGELSTEAL | Panic Priest | Midnight Mannequin Records (bandcamp.com)

Matt Hart – Terraform – Great to see UK artist Matt Hart get the number 1 spot. This single is a banging narrative short film in sonic form. Dystopian sci fi full of underground machinery, perseverance and rebirth. I love the sharp edges and skull smashing mid-tempo beats.

TERRAFORM – SINGLE | MATT HART (bandcamp.com)

The Bellwether Syndicate – Beacons – Chicago show stopper’s have a brilliant new single that roars like a muscle car charging down Woodward Ave. Flames spewing out the engine to chase back the darkness. William croons with an extra edge of piercing determination. The mix is clear but always feels like a toe on the line which makes it feel dangerous, on the verge of shattering the glass bubble. They just took this song on the road with Then Comes Silence from Sweeden. Of everyone I currently follow in the modern darkscene, no one has more “rockstar” energy than William with a mic in his hand.

Beacons | The Bellwether Syndicate (bandcamp.com)

August 2022 Sounds and Shadows Darkscene Singles Chart

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Time again my friends for the latest installment of the Sounds and Shadows Darkscene singles chart. As always these are singles released in the month of August from the very loose definition of Darkscene. They are submitted by the S & S collective of Djs, Reviewers, Promotors, Bands, Artists, and Superfans around the world and presented for you. If you are an artists with a release for September 2022 please submit on the S & S Facebook page.

  1. Pilgrims of Yearning – La Mar
  2. The Bellwether Syndicate – Dystopian Mirror
  3. Vision Video – Beautiful Day To Die
  4. Ultra Sunn – The Speed
  5. The Joy Thieves Feat: I Ya Toyah – Love Is A Battlefield
  6. Rohn/Ledderman – It Hurts
  7. Brute Opposition – Destroy This Place
  8. Black Rose Burning (Feat: Delphine Coma) – Under Twin Suns
  9. Black Needle Noise – Fair Winds
  10. Double Eyelid – Leaving These Stones Unturned
  1. Pilgrims of Yearning – La Mar – I was so ecstatic to see the Boston shadowsynth band finish in 1st place. Delicious 90’s Siouxsie with texture snake delay guitars. Juls delivers a haunting and soulful performance. This is a must have in your collection.

La Mar | Pilgrims of Yearning (bandcamp.com)

The Bellwether Syndicate – Dystopian Mirror – What a howling wolf hot rod banger from the Chicago legends. I love the reckless charging feel of a band of people that have done so much they have nothing to lose. This is peak window down night driving music. William Faith really brings the swagger and menace to this track, really showing his range. Open your next road trip with it, then put it on the playlist 4 or 5 more times on the trip.

The Bellwether Syndicate (bandcamp.com)

Vision Video – Beautiful Day To Die – This is gorgeous. Dusty and company really summoned their inner Smiths for this elegant and tragic ballad that would be the reflective song in your hero’s darkest moment in the movie. There is a very good reason Vision Video is quickly becoming one of the biggest names in modern darkscene.

Haunted Hours | Vision Video (bandcamp.com)

ULTRA SUNN – The Speed – Belgian darkwave danceperatos on Cold Transmission Music bring a thic and pounding bassline and sex dripping David Gahan vocals. This is that talking piece your next party needs.

Summer 22 | ULTRA SUNN (bandcamp.com)

The Joy Thieves (Feat: I Ya Toyah) – Love Is A Battlefield – Denver label Riveting Music known for doing charity tribute albums released Girl Power to raise funds for Global Fund For Women. The Chicago super group did this version of the PaT Benatar classic with Ania from I Ya Toyah singing. It is a show stopping explosion of electronic chaos and hard rock fury. Every time The Thieves tackle a classic cover I think is untouchable, they find a way to come crashing through the wall and convince me they are the one band that deserves to cover this song.

Love is a Battlefield | The Joy Thieves | Riveting Music (bandcamp.com)

Rohn – Lederman – It Hurts – I really do fall in love all over again whenever Jean-Marc and Emileigh launch forth another single from the ether. The layered vocals with different presence and riot grrl energy gives it a frantic sting. Jean Marc makes every build feel fast without feeling intense. A futuristic railway traveling at blistering speed but never out of control. Stefan Netschio of (Beborn Beton) did my favorite remix which kept the laser flickering at maximum velocity.

It Hurts! | Rohn – Lederman (bandcamp.com)

Brute Opposition – Destroy This Place – I didn’t know the Jacksonville Florida band well. Cool chanting Front 242 Industrial vibes. Definitely well produced and a proper homage to old school industrial. I also love the positive message in the lyrics. Don’t give up, take these fukers down with you.

Destroy This Place | Brute Opposition (bandcamp.com)

 Black Rose Burning – Under Twin Suns featuring Delphine Coma – New York science fiction songsmith George Grant has teamed up with some other goth superstars to remix his Dune inspired banger Under Twin Suns. This version is done by Ashe of Delphine Coma who blasted the sandworm bassline and left George’s captivating vocals calling from within the desert canyon. I love when you can hear the appreciation for an amazing song in the remix. This remix is a loving tribute.

https://blackroseburning.bandcamp.com/album/under-twin-suns-reborn

Black Needle Noise with Ruby Friedman and Colin McGuinness – Fair Winds – So this band is almost unfair in it’s level of talent and pedigree from COP International. Starting of course with living legend John Fryer who is unparalleled as both a producer and song writer. The song was originally slated for a TV show about the Isle of Man. It features vocal stylings from Ruby Friedman who strikes forth with epic expansive chilled wind power. It’s more landscape experience than ear worn, but it leaves the hair on the back of your arms standing up with it’s power.

Fair Winds | Black Needle Noise with Ruby Friedman and Colin McGuinness | Black Needle Noise (bandcamp.com)

Double Eyelid – Leaving These Stones Unturned – My amazing friend Ian from Toronto with another underwater horror hit. I love the stalking menace of this track. It’s a secret, a whisper, a song you are inside of full of supernatural build which culminates in emotional release. People need to stop sleeping on Double Eyelid.

Leaving These Stones Unturned | Double Eyelid (bandcamp.com)

If you have a single release in September or know of one in the broad Darkscene genre please submit in the Sounds and Shadows Facebook group.

September Bandcamp Day Is Nearly Upon Us. What Does Your Collection Need?

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I haven’t been churning out reviews at my normal pace, but that does mean I have a glorious golden stack of darkscene music to prime your soul for the Halloween season. I have some long awaited releases to discuss. Some fresh new bands I have discovered. Some spooky new corners of music I have stumbled into. So let’s dive into some of the sexy dark sounds which are haunting the beginning of Autumn

Double Eyelid – Leaving These Stones Unturned – Do you know what I love to hear in the modern scene? An artist no afraid to unapologetically embrace the theatrical melancholy of goth. This is something Toronto based band Double Eyelid grasps well. Ian has a voice dripping with lost lament on a turbulent storm of bass. The song swells and collapses. The lyrics are a confession of buried truth too frightening to face. Powerful revelation in a time of surface reflection.

released August 16, 2022
written by Ian Revell
……………………………………………………….
Ian Revell – Vocals, synth, programming
Sky Shaver – Guitar
Sean Beesley – Additional synth

Produced and mixed by Live Evil Productions
Mastered by Noah Mintz for The Lacquer Channel

Leaving These Stones Unturned | Double Eyelid (bandcamp.com)

SINE – Mantis 2 – Follow up EP to Mantis 1 by the Texas chaos electronica artist Rona Rogueheart. Powerful resonating attacks open the experience. As though you peeled away the smooth edges of Portishead trip hop and revealed something crueler and jagged while maintaining the wet sensual humidity of a packed stone wall club.

Photo by Victoria Renard

Rona Rougeheart / lead vocals, drums, programming
Words by Rona Rougeheart
Music by Rona Rougeheart / Charles Godfrey
Guitar on “Jetset” by Daniel Beaty

*Except:
Written by: Robert James Smith, Steven Severin
Music by Mark Pistel / Rona Rougeheart

Produced by Charles Godfrey / Rona Rougeheart
Recorded at Omenview and Scary American, Austin, TX
Mastered by Mark Pistel at Room 5, San Francisco, CA

Favorite Track:

Virtual Realitease – This track stalks with contrasts and extremes. The thundering club bass, the heavy shimmer of throaty vocals, the razor edge of alure and menace. I love the range of the EP which is always changing the journey. The pastel rain-streaked sorrow of “Je Suid“. This track just hits different though. I’m just not hearing this blend of sounds enough in the modern scene and it has me hooked.

Mantis 2 | SINE (bandcamp.com)

ULTRA SUNN – Summer 22 – Belgian cold wave artist Ultra Sunn on Cold Transmission Music with a double single release that bops with Violator keyboard transitions and sizzling Gahan vocals. A purposeful driving beat of motion while keeping the tempo just below chaos. Expertly mastered by Pete Burns the tone flickers like a bright flame on a distant candle. These tracks both have a place on your summer darkscene party mix.

Summer 22 | ULTRA SUNN (bandcamp.com)

thePicassos – Exhumed – I love nothing more than the chance to shout to the sky about a gifted and haunting band in my own backyard of Michigan. We even have the honor of playing with them at Skull Festival 11/20/22 at Noir Leather in Royal Oak Michigan. This album which dropped August 2022 is a darting ebony fencing match of furious clashing metal that strikes and counters with such speed you lose sight of the precision in the illusion of chaos.

https://www.skulldetroit.com/?fbclid=IwAR2ofT3j53lHO9IsR3rh7By4L-iUBllSsT5v0SZ20YYq3sR4zFMGURd8PBo

Charles Urban

So many glorious and eclectic dark elements at play here. Twangy Latin spice notes in the guitar. Haunted murder ballad Nick Cave tones. The vocals are a roller coaster blend of Gordan Gano and Frank Black. Great use of guitars for percussion, not overdone and adding powerful accent. I looked online to learn more about the band and found little. Luckily I am set to interview them tomorrow for the podcast. Fills me with excitment for a bright future and I am so glad I found them in Michigan.

Favorite Track: Smoke and Mirrors – Part of my love here is the vast range from track to track. This one had huge Pixies “Doolittle” energy. Slashing guitars with a booming clean bass tone. A haunting effortless truth to the delivery. I enjoyed all the songs for different reasons, this one seemed to compile the best flavors of everything going right.

Exhumed | thePicassos (bandcamp.com)

The Bellwether Syndicate – Dystopian Mirror – Chicago show stopper’s have a brilliant new single that roars like a muscle car charging down Woodward Ave. Flames spewing out the engine to chase back the darkness. William croons with an extra edge of piercing determination. The mix is clear but always feels like a toe on the line which makes it feel dangerous, on the verge of shattering the glass bubble. They just took this song on the road with Then Comes Silence from Sweeden. Of everyone I currently follow in the modern darkscene, no one has more “rockstar” energy than William with a mic in his hand.

Released August 5, 2022
William Faith: Vox • Guitars
Sarah Rose Faith: Vox • Guitars
•
Corey Gorey: Guitars (live)
Philly Peroxide: Keyboards • Percussion (live)
Stevyn Grey: Drums (live)

The Bellwether Syndicate (bandcamp.com)

Pilgrims of Yearning – Hadal – Long awaited release from Boston transplants POY which hits the mark perfectly. I love hearing a band grow from album to album by keeping the mystical wanderlust that made their sound stand out, yet graduating their production and layering to make the energy sharper. Juls voice captures a haunting Siouxsie “Superstition” 90s vibe while the guitar rhythms fold and dart like a weaver on a loom. This is a band that really exposes their story with brazen courage and beautiful delivery. A contagious spooky tendril of psychedelic darkness winding around your vision.

Favorite Track: Storms – One because I love the duet, two because I love a banger and this bassline is a live wire flapping on the street in a storm. It gets in your blood and never lets up. Like a jaguar running it is equal parts danger and beauty.

Hadal | Pilgrims of Yearning (bandcamp.com)