The weekly compendium 04/04/2014

It has felt like a long week this week. I have no idea why though. But it is nearly the weekend, and that means another round-up of all the goings on at IVM headquarters.

We've had news from Dan Barrett on his new VenalFlesh project, Nero Bellum of Psyclon Nine issued a statement regarding the band's recent controversies, and we've had more acts announced for WGT. Speaking of which, Dominic gave us a nice preview of the event to whet your appetites. I rambled about festivals in my monthly Editorial column. And it was reviews galore as we set our ears upon the new outings from Pop Will Eat Itself, Cryo, The Tunnels of Ah, Costume, and Angelspit.

Over on facebook it has been busy with great new videos from Combichrist and Gary Numan. Reza Udhin of Killing Joke and Inertia has launched a new project, as have a couple of Abney Park's crew. Fatal Casualties have premièred a new track. And finally Christian Death will be embarking on a 20th anniversary European tour for the album 'Catastrophe Ballet'.

That's it for this week. I'm going to go and get psyched up for Wrestlemania this weekend (… At least it isn’t football!), so for now I'm going to leave you with this.

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More acts announced for WGT

The latest names for this year's Wave Gotik Treffen have been announced.

Joining the already impressive line-up are:
WHITE LIES (GB) , ARCHITECT (D) , NEON (I) , SYNTECH (D) , ROBERT ENFORSEN (S) , AL ANDALUZ PROJECT (D) , ROBOTIKO REJEKTO (D) , SVARTSINN (FIN) , ALMARA (D) , LAND:FIRE (D)

The bands join an already heaving roster that includes the likes of Absolute Body Control, Aeon Sable, Alcest, Beastmilk, Apoptygma Berzerk, Faderhead, Frontline Assembly, Hocico, Lacrimas Profundere, The Hiram Key, The Klinik, Siva Six, XP8 and Xotox.

This year's festival will take place 6th June until 9th June. For the latest announcements and to order your tickets, please visit the official website.   

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Review: Angelspit – 'The Product'

ANGELSPIT
'The Product'
BLACK PILL RED PILL 

It's been a year since we've heard from these Industrial giants, and boy has it been worth it. Zoog Von Rock has been building this release for months and now finally 'The Product' is here!

Focusing on a number of things, such as his clothing designs, working with other artists (including a project with Brian of The Gothsicles) and paving the path for the new album, Zoog has been a very busy boy, and With Amelia taking a short break, he has managed to create something of a storm in a thirteen track album!

With a little help from some friends, Angelspits' 'The Product' breaks all the chains of their former releases. The production value has entered another level and they have managed to break free of the hooks that kept them stuck in transit.  From the very start, 'Hot mess' leads you into a false identity, pumping you full of elevator music and then kicking you square in the nuts with the driving drums and heart pounding riffs you know full well from Angelspit. It's follow up, 'Because God' is a track to get spanked to. It's a waterfall of anarchy splitting your soul in half and tattoos an inverted cross onto your heart, but don't worry, everything is fine...

'Cause there's also something a little different in the mechanics of this release. There is influences and somewhat homages in the sound of the songs. With 'Creeper' you get a real sense of the 80's, more notably the sound of Jim Thirlwell and his Foetus project. It's sneaky, synthy and has a good style of humour that could only be brought from his sordid little mind. It's a perfect little ditty that is sure to erupt on the scene over Halloween.

'Baal Arise' is what the band would sound like if they had survived a night in Silent Hill, with Pyramid Head himself on the percussion, and it's follow up 'Velocity' is a totally different direction with a modern electronic sound. In truth there are many tracks that stand apart from each other. 'Cut Sick' is a teenage girls' way of rebelling, and 'Walking In The Woods' is the closest you will get to a ballad, feeding you a song that Jack Skeleton himself would have as his first dance at his wedding.

If you want proof that established artists on the Industrial scene still have something to offer, then Angelspit should be at the top of the list. Their sound has evolved perfectly and for those who stopped listening cause they felt the music had gone stale, be prepared for a return.

It's time for you to try 'The Product'!

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Review: Costume – 'Costume'

COSTUME
'Costume'
MY KINGDOM MUSIC

Italian electro-pop duo Costume, featuring Nude vocalist Tommy Box, have only been around for a short time, but as their self-titled label début will attest, they have already honed their sound. Mixing the mass-appeal of 80's synthpop with the dark sheen of 90's darkwave Costume create a big dance friendly sound that won't fail to get bodies moving.

Their formula isn't anything radically new or experimental. But it isn't derivative either. The duo have arrived at their own take on the synthpop sound that combines the melodies of Depeche Mode and Erasure with the big atmospheres of Covenant. Tracks like 'Love & Romance', 'Kiss One (2.3)', 'So Low (Have You Ever Been)', 'Toy-Boy Illusion', 'Stars', and 'Fire' are undeniable dance floor hits. Their relentless beats, infectious melodies, sing-a-long choruses and room-filling vibe are simply the perfect fodder for both club and live play.

What's interesting though is that this feels very much an album of two haves with side a brining an ultra-sleek dance manifesto to the fore. While side b featuring a more experimental slant to the songs and production as well as additional vocals from Steven Jones & Donna Destri (Blondie, The Ramones). It's an interesting move considering the old vinyl convention of being able to turn an album over and change the atmosphere has all but died out. It's a brave move, and one that pays off.

As said previously the first six tracks have a huge and modern flavour to the production with its ultra-sleak mix. While the final six tracks feel a little more varied in their execution, which yields some interesting results. It might not be an approach that will find a willing reception from every listener, but it certainly sets them apart.

Costume have created a very interesting and unique album here. It's dance credentials are solid, as it's “alternative” tag. The construction may not be everyone's cup of tea, but if anything, it invites speculation as to what the band's follow-up will hold.

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Review: Tunnels Of Āh – 'Lost Corridors'

TUNNELS OF ĀH 
'Lost Corridors' 
COLD SPRING RECORDS 

Coming from former Head Of David vocalist Stephen Ah Burroughs, Tunnels Of Āh takes us somewhere else entirely from the world of noise rock and post-punk. The sound of 'Lost Corridor's is very organic, arcane and abstract. Drones are sharpened with an audible scrape of bow on string, sounding very close, especially in headphones. This gives the music a feeling of intimacy and its eldritch atmosphere a combination of the immediacy of the moment and invokes something more primal and ancient.

A spoken voice enters occasionally whispering with a portentous sounding rasp. There may be a temptation to turn the volume way up to try to decipher the words, but sometimes one is better off not knowing. This is a shaman is invoking the spirit to manifest, not a priest admonishing his flock. And if one has done this, the first seconds of 'Shattering The Black Crone' can make one jump out one's skin. Said crone, now shattered, is left in s swirling, wabbering dust of the most electronic part of the subterranean soundscape.

Track titles like 'From A Cracked Hive (Black Insect Laughter)', 'The Nightjar Sang A Kalpa Blaze' and 'A Net Of Woven Starlight' could almost be read together like a poem, the meaning of which would most likely need a pouring of esoteric light into one's trepanning hole to decipher.

Give Tunnels Of Āh acoustic instruments and reverberating catacombs and this art could be performed without compromise, like Coil as played on renaissance instruments. In a part of the world of aural artistry where so much of the aesthetic is alien, otherworldly or alienated, it could be seen as remarkable to observe what Tunnels of Āh can create without layers of electronic washes or heavy-handed applications of reverb. In fact it is hard to picture 'Lost Corridors' as having been created in a studio and not hidden under catacombs wherein are hid portals of passage between dimensions.

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Review: Cryo – 'Retropia'

CRYO 
'Retropia' 
PROGRESS PRODUCTIONS

Sweden makes me think of the synthpop band Covenant. Cryo makes me think of a place where you fall in a dead lake. You will not come out the same innocent, working human you thought you once were. 'Retropia' is a composition by Martin Rudefelt vocals and production work, with the live hitting of drums by Tony Gottberg when on stage echoing from Malmö.

‘In your eyes’ awakens the album with old electro body pulses and a flanger at the wheel. Then right on 1 minute, the beat hits third gear and we are falling down a concrete staircase. The EBM of Cryo is already breeding darkness like cigarette fumes in a badly lit basement. Torture spelt in black & white upon dirty grey cement walls, mixed in with a dance floor cocktail.

‘Believer’ is dark pound of fast steel distortion and the scraping of angle grinders and muscle movement on stone floors.  No one knows what’s happening down there, maybe iron filings hitting naked flesh from that addictive sound.

A rupture in the reflections of both victim and persecutor with the trauma that both suffer is experienced in ‘The Portal’. The engine is slowed down completely with 'Common Man'. The melancholy of Cryo is very apparent. A living breathing organ of the band, in a similar way to what Adrian Hates is able to produce with Diary of Dreams. To put on the scale of 1-10 this album is a dark no hope 9 .

Back with a thud the lampshade starts to swing as that body is lifted up on a reel and sprayed with cold water. Then thrown into a black bag with drum slams and defiling slow base,  the process of ‘I Use You’ flows with electronic smiles. That melancholy hasn't gone anywhere just turned unwillingly evil.

It feels a bit‘Too Much’, our narrator is questioning his role as he walks round town, with an 80s synth montage with an addictive beat. Remembering what he has locked up, and thinking of his revolving circle.

We’re back in the basement and it’s to observe the 'Shelter' of the captive. You are looking far too long at her, so with a split decision you throw her out of her blackout cage and throw her in rubber and lock her in the boot of the car as we go for a drive on the EBM Motorväg.

‘So Close- Part 1’ and we are going down that route in our brain, where we know that at the other end we are not coming out. With a rhythm at heart rate, those thoughts of the former life flash past and then back to that first memory of the new life with the swinging light. Soon being bound in a new skin with blunt metal tools, you take a last look at your old skin as it is sealed shut.

‘Part 2’ and the chaotic voice is back to wake you and remind you the process is not finished, as bright whiteness drifts in and out of your suffocated vision, as if in a white dessert, you know that things are happening to you, with a light tingling hidden in the background, but at the moment you are in this dark white dessert, that keeps you lost in dizziness of insomnia. By the end of the track you don’t know if you’re alive.

Smash we can hear the roar of the car engine, we are back in the boot and on the main road with the speed.

In the front seat, Absolut and smoke with a blasting stereo for props and a disillusioned menace at the wheel. The car stops; he runs to open the boot,the darkness you are so used to, the night is perfect. But as soon as he lets you out the police are back with bright lights and gun shots fire. The distorted mind voice is back, and your captor falls to the ground, though confusion hits, as you don’t know whether to run to the police or stay at his side. You stay, until dragged; that is ‘Part 3’

Cryo is a reptile of poison, it's EBM, though a level of toxic corrosion that peals the skin away of normal old style, into a web of destructive energy and despair. Seeing as the duo is Swedish, it can only be suited to considering this album as a story of Stockholm syndrome.

Reviewed by Dominic Lynch aka LX-E

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Review: Pop Will Eat Itself – 'Watch The Bitch Blow' EP

POP WILL EAT ITSELF
'Watch The Bitch Blow'
PLEDGEMUSIC 

After the surprisingly return of PWEI in 2011 with 'New music designed by a sadist' the Midlands based industrial crew return with their eagerly anticipated 'Watch The Bitch Blow' EP.

It seems to have been a very busy year for the band this year, with the hopes of a new album out by Autumn and even an un-official FIFA single to go up against Gary Barlow. This EP plays as a pre-cursor and is also raising money for the rest of the years' endeavours via Pledgemusic.

Although promoting themselves as the "New Look PWEI", the group have come back strong, shaking off the 'demo-like' former album and have seemed to have picked off where 'Dos Dedos...' left off. The title track is a perfect come back to the band's old style, with a little modern touch from dubstep drum styling that for once doesn't seem to overtake the song. As well as that the vocals really give you a feeling that the band have gone back to their activist roots, although it's content about the 99% movement is a little out of date, but we'll forgive them this time.

The next tracks 'Hollow' and 'Babylon R.I.P' are re-hashes of old tracks that were done at the time of the bands' break up back in 1995. 'Hollow' has a more eerie gritty vibe that seems more late 90's Industrial than what they are used to playing. It's a fitting change of pace from the former track and is sure to be a live favourite. 'Babylon R.I.P' has had a long trip. Starting as an ambient outro to 'Dos Dedos...' the band then re-worked it for the special edition version released last year, only to be again disappointed by it's outcome. This final take has been nearly ten years in the making and seems to not really make any waves. It's good to hear today's producing techniques turn it into something new, but it's still very laid back.

The last three tracks are remixes, and in true PWEI style they come in three different sounds.  The remix of 'MASK' is a typical re-working that you could play in a club and people wouldn't notice much of a difference, but it has a groove vibe that any fan of the alt genre would enjoy. As remixes go it seems a little dated (it wouldn't stand out of the 'Two Fingers...' album that's for sure) but in a genre that's being besieged by hardstyle and dubstep re-hashes it's a slight relief to hear something we can all relate to and enjoy.'Every Day Is A World War's remix is more of a 90's mix that you may find on an Apollo 440 b-side. You can have it on in the background but it's not much good for anything else. 'Wasted (Part 2)' is a follow up to the outro track on '...Sadist' and is a true spirit of Dub. It's great to see that PWEI haven't fallen into the traps of modern Industrial acts and gone down the lazy dance route of remixes and stayed where their sounds work best.

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Editorial: April 2014

Well Spring has sprung... more or less. One of the things I love about being British is the fact that I can never predict what the weather is going to do. It could be a perfectly pleasant and sunny morning that may warrant taking off my jacket as I walk to work. However, come lunchtime I could very well be cursing my short-sightedness as I look out the front door at a torrential downpour knowing that my umbrella is still in my car. That might not sound like a major inconvenience to most, but I have to park a fair walk away from work. It keeps me on my toes anyway.

But that brings me round to the main point of this month's Editorial ramble. Festivals!

Yes it is finally festival season with some amazing looking shindigs this year, both at home and abroad. In the UK we can look forward to Resistanz, Whitby Goth Weekend, Infest, Bram Stoker Festival, DV8 Festival and of course the first Alt-Fest (to name but a few). While further afield there are some great looking line-ups courtesy of Wave Gotik Treffen, M'era Luna, and Dark Munich Festival on the continent. As well as the twentieth annual Convergence in the USA if your bank balance is a little more flush than most.

And that isn't mentioning all the varied local day festivals and club festivals that crop up regularly each year.

It's not all been plain sailing though. There were doubts as to whether or not Infest would even go ahead this year. And sadly the promising looking Dark-Cide-Fest took a major knock and has had to be postponed due to their headliner pulling out. A big shame as by our review of last year'sevent, you'll see it was a good do.

But for all the positive work the organisers and bands put into these events, there is always the negative vibes ever present. In my time as an active participant in the alternative music arena, I've heard just about every criticism you can imagine levelled at festivals and their organizers. “It's too parochial”, “It's too niche”, “The promoters only book their friends”, “Why would I want to play to a small room in the UK, When I can play to a big field on the continent?”, “It's too samey”, “It's always the same people in the crowd” etc. etc. etc.

These points, some of which may very well be valid (although may now be moot due to Alt-Fest), do however miss the point entirely. The festival isn't about petty squabbles, or the size of the audience. It's about fans, loyal fans, coming together to celebrate the music they love. Just look at the following and reputation Resistanz has inspired in just a few short years... and isn't industrial supposed to be dead?

Though if you are truly feeling disenfranchised by the industrial/gothic festivals as a performer, there is nothing stopping you from applying to the main festivals. The Sisters Of Mercy and New Model Army have bagged a space each at Sonisphere this year for example and The Sisters haven't released a new album since the early 90s! Personally I could easily list plenty of established and upcoming bands with crossover potential for a number of main festivals that would go down a storm if they'd only apply. But that's just me. But those people need to actively apply themselves because they're not going to come to you unless your name is Marilyn Manson or Nine Inch Nails.

I suppose the moral of the story is enjoy and embrace your festivals, no matter how big they are, or else genuinely try and and break into the mainstream festivals and increase your exposure.  

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Psyclon Nine frontman issues statement

After much online speculation, rumour and hot on the heals of the announcement that two long-term members of Psyclon Nine were leaving the band, frontman and founder Nero Bellum has broken his silence to address the issues dogging the bandt.

In the statement, Bellum addresses the controvercies surrounding the Kickstarter campaign that funded the band's fifth album, as well as his personal health and the future of Psyclon Nine as a band. You can read Bellum's statement in full below, or on his facebook page:

“I'm 25 paragraphs into a status update in which I address all of the current goings on of myself and Psyclon Nine. I don't want to post half of the story but, I am a little spacey and exhausted from staring at the computer monitor so, I decided to give you a short update from my phone. 

1) I am not dead 

2) I stepped away from the Internet due to health reasons unrelated to rumors and posts from ex band members 

3) I am truly sorry for the delays with the kickstarter incentives and merchandise. I've sent out quite a few packages since I've taken charge however, it was so backed up by the time that I took over that I couldn't handle it all at the time. 

4) I am happy to say that after a much needed break and a little therapy, I am feeling much better and I have managed to set everything up to make sure that every one of you receives every back ordered piece of merch over the next several weeks. Shipments will begin on Monday. I will be including something special for all of those who have had to wait. 

5) I had nothing to do with the cancelation of the European tour and I am in negotiations to bring Psyclon Nine to Germany to perform at the Dark Munich Festival as planned. 

6) I have spoken with my band members and let them know that I've decided to lay Psyclon Nine down to sleep. It has been a long, beautiful ride but, looking back on the last several years I feel that I had lost my personal connection with the meaning behind the band and I don't feel that it's fair to the band, myself or the fans if I allow the band to continue to proceed in the direction that it's been heading. I realize that this is a very vague and possibly bizarre statement and I will address this in greater detail very soon within the massive announcements that I am currently putting together. 

7) After announcing my departure from Psyclon Nine within my inner circle and expressing my reluctance to continue the project with certain members, a couple of positions opened within the lineup that will allow me to work with some amazing and talented musicians of high regard (both personally and professionally) that will allow us to perform one last series of concerts to be announced in the future. 

It is only important to me at this point to give our fans what they are owed and what they deserve. All of your words of encouragement, your stories of how the music has helped you, how you've gained some sort of inspiration had truly helped me through an extremely dark part of my life and I will be going out of my way to make sure that I can get back out there to give you all something special. 

Although I feel that it's time for me to refocus my abilities and ambitions, I do not plan to leave you empty handed. I truly love you all for the support that you've given me (deservedly or not) and please know that I will be doing all I can to make sure that we go out with a bang. 

Very truly yours, 

Bellum”

The band's latest album '[Order Of The Shadow: Act I]' and it's remix companion EP '[Disorder: The Shadow Sessions]' are currently available from Metropolis Records.

As of the time of writing there are no further details regarding tour dates. For more information lease visit the band's Facebook page.

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Preview: 23rd Wave Gotik Treffen – The Darkness of Whitsun

The 23rd Wave Gotik Treffen

6^th-9^th June 2014

A festival for 23 years has proceeded in the eastern land of Germany, established on the idea of two Gothic followers; they had a dream creating a dark minded gathering, covering all corners of the subculture, which could be relaxed, music orientation and celebration during Whitsun.

In 2014 throughout Leipzig 20,000 Visitors are expected to flood Leipzig in stygian light, as Wave Gotik Treffen takes its place as the international meet up for the questionable souls.

The Music

All across the city 200 artists will perform covering sounds from synthpop to Medieval, and compared to other Gothic festivals, there is something for everyone. One thing that will most likely be your problem will be choosing the artists you want to see. With a program the size of three A4 sheets on both sides, is your list of bands for 4 days spread across 30 venues. The bands come in all their Sizes from the big headliners to the unknowns, discovery is what naturally occurs here. That includes the venues, from the underground lairs of the Moritizbastei, the Industrial tomb of Werk II and the Magnitude of the Soviet built Markthalle.

Names such as Hocico, Apoptygma Berzerk, Siva Six, The Klinik, Solitary Experiments and XP8 have already been announced. To check out the continuously updating list of confirmed artists, check out the link below:

http://www.wave-gotik-treffen.de/forumwgt3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=19543

2014 Exclusives

An exhibition by Alien artist HR-Giger will be on display exclusively. Also the Auto Mobil International festival will be taking place within the same weekend, thus collections of hearses will be on display with professional photo shooting taking place.

Shopping

Halle 1 is the epicentre of the Gothic market. Open from midday on Friday, the variety of garments accessories and bondage rope on offer is vast. All genres are usually catered for and clothing if seen should be bought, as by the time you’ve though about it and returned it will most likely be gone, as some of the bespoke quality that comes to Wave Gotik Treffen is unsurpassable, especially all in one place.

Opening times for Halle 1:

Friday 12pm-1am

Saturday 11am-1am

Sunday 11am-1am

Monday-11am -11pm

Tickets:

4-Day-Tickets for all events within the 23rd Wave-Gotik-Treffen Whitsun 2014 are available for €99 (including advance sale charges).

Do not Fret! Free Public Transport

One great thing about the festival is that public transport throughout Leipzig is free for those with their wristband. Though do bear in mind trams will be busy, and a few thousand people in black could possibly have the same travel time as you!

Travelling

Airports to fly to would consist of Leipzig/Halle, Dresden, Berlin or Frankfurt. Leipzig/Halle is a small airport, so it could be easier or cheaper to fly to one of the other several and take advantage of the German rail network to get to your destination.

Driving is easy enough if you are willing to do so, though be aware of the need to purchase emission stickers if driving through Leipzig city centre to the main ‘Agra’ Messepark. Otherwise you should be fine.

Parking tickets for the festival can be also purchased off the official WGT site at €15.

Accommodation

The Festival has the "Obsorge" camping grounds amounting to the cost of €25 per person. Though seeing as the events go on throughout Leipzig, there is a fruitful volume of accommodation available to suit you and could also allow you to be closer to what you came to see at WGT.

Future

The festival looms three months away. After the performance of last year, there is no reason not to see as large, or if not a larger number of beautiful animals of black retake the city of Leipzig. So now all that is left is to hand wash the delicate garments and pack the sunblock!

Preview by Dominic Lynch aka DJ LX-E

Links

Check out Sad goth for the lonely planet guide to WGT!

www.sadgoth.com

www.wave-gotik-treffen.de/english/

http://bahn.com

http://wikitravel.org/en/Leipzig

www.facebook.com/WaveGotikTreffen

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