Last year, the instrumental band The Royal Arctic Institute returned with a revamped lineup and a new EP, “From Catnap To Coma.” They’ve now followed that up with another EP, “From Coma To Catharsis.” All the members of The Royal Arctic Institute have extensive musical backgrounds with their own projects and backing/session work. The group … Read more
Florida-based industrial/aggrotech group MissFit Toys have returned with a new album, “The Nine” (Distortion Productions). Formed in 2007, the project was initially the solo project of Richie V. Suriv before being fleshed out into a band. “The Nine” is full of dark electronic tracks with distorted vocals, bringing to mind classic industrial/electronic music but taking … Read more
“The Emerald Age” is the latest album from Madison, Wisconsin-based dark electronic pop band Null Device. The tightly-arranged music balances a cold synthetic edge with infectious melodic elements and emotive vocals. There isn’t a weak track on “The Emerald Age,” and the splitting of vocal duties between members Eric Oehler and Jill Sheridan brings additional … Read more
Taking place from March 31- April 2, 2023, Dark Force Fest is a new music festival featuring some of the best established and up-and-coming Gothic, Industrial, Darkwave and Post-Punk artists. Put on by VampireFreaks, it builds upon their previous events, but with an increased focus on live music. The festival features such acts as HEALTH, … Read more
Chris Connelly initially set out to create an album of Nico covers, but after reading Jennifer Otter Bickerdicke’s You Are Beautiful and You Are Alone, he decided to expand the project with original compositions about Nico’s life. The result is Eulogy to Christa: A Tribute to the Music & Mystique of Nico, a fantastic double … Read more
Snake Island, the new album from Mona Mur, sees the Berlin-based artist building upon her dark electronic sound with a newfound interest in playing guitar. Collaborating with Ralf Goldkind, Mur balances abrasive elements with moodier atmospherics. Creative production and sound design throughout gives Snake Island an absolutely unique sound. Since emerging in the early 80s, … Read more
The following interview was done in 2021, in advance of the Letters to Cleo tour last fall.They have now announced 2022 dates: 11/4 Soda Bar San Diego, CA TIX11/5 The Roxy Theatre West Hollywood, CA TIX11/17 Portland House of Music Portland, ME TIX11/18 Paradise Rock Club Boston, MA TIX // Two Day Pass11/19 Paradise Rock Club Boston, MA TIX // Two Day Pass In … Read more
Australia’s The Church are back with a new video for “The Hypnogogue”, their first single since 2017’s “Undersea”. Like their excellent 2017 album man woman life death infinity, the song has unmistakable hints of classic Church but is thoroughly modern sounding. “‘The Hypnogogue’ is set in 2054… a dystopian and broken down future,” explains Steve … Read more
Best known for their synth-pop hits “Forever Young” and “Big in Japan,” Alphaville has now released Eternally Yours, a double album containing symphonic versions of classic songs. Alphaville founder/frontman Marian Gold teamed up with film and television arrangers Max Knoth and Christian Lohr and the German Film Orchestra Babelsberg to re-imagine the music in orchestral … Read more
A Free Society is the debut album from Night Crickets, a collaboration between David J of Bauhaus and Love & Rockets, Violent Femmes drummer Victor DeLorenzo, and solo artist Darwin Meiners. Bringing together post-punk, psychedelic, pop, art-rock and other styles, it maintains a very spontaneous and organic feel despite being recorded entirely long-distance. Over a … Read more