A Stockholm barbecue, a rather enthusiastic rendition of Glen Campbell’s “Rhinestone Cowboy” and an unexpected meeting between musicians from two different musical traditions: the beginnings of Unify Separate were hardly conventional. When Scottish vocalist Andrew Montgomery, formerly of Geneva, met Swedish producer Leo Josefsson in 2015, their contrasting artistic backgrounds became the foundation of a partnership that continues to evolve more than a decade later.

The Scottish-Swedish electronic duo’s forthcoming third album, “The God Particle”, is due on November 6, 2026, and introduces harder electronics and more assertive rhythms while confronting questions of mortality, political uncertainty, technological dependence and personal vulnerability. Andrew’s expressive vocal style remains central, but Leo’s increasingly elaborate production gives the new material a noticeably different physical presence. The album follows the single “Heart Aches”, released October 29, 2026.

Josefsson’s creative activities, however, extend considerably beyond Unify Separate. His history with Statemachine and LOWE, production work with Priest, collaborations with Rednex and Nassim Al Fakir, and increasingly extensive visual work for Diary of Dreams and The Mobile Homes reveal a musician whose interests have never been particularly obedient to genre boundaries.

In this conversation with Karo Kratochwil for Side-Line, Leo discusses the creative tension between his and Andrew’s musical backgrounds, the almost obsessive pursuit of technical perfection and his reservations about artificial intelligence. He also shares stories involving Richard Oakes of Suede, Adrian Hates, Priest and the unexpected rewards of simply having the courage to ask.

Interview with Leo Josefsson

Karo: Leo, the story of how you met Andrew Montgomery is rather wonderful: a barbecue in Stockholm, a spontaneous rendition of Glen Campbell’s “Rhinestone Cowboy,” and the beginning of a musical partnership. What did you hear in Andrew’s voice that made you immediately recognise its potential alongside your electronic compositions? And after more than a decade of working together, does he still manage to challenge your musical instincts?

Leo: Growing up with a lot of synthpop and various forms of electronic music shaped my musical identity in many ways. In my late teens, I also listened to a lot of indie pop, mainly from the UK, and Andrew’s former band Geneva was definitely on my radar.

When we met on that rather boozy night in 2015, we were taking a break from LOWE, and I was getting a little tired of my own vocals and being the frontman for so many years. I felt it would be nice to step back into the kind of role I’d had in Statemachine – behind the machines, taking on the occasional lead vocal.

I instantly felt that Andrew’s angelic voice would be incredibly interesting to explore. It was obvious that his voice complemented my darker presence, and the potentially fascinating combination of indie and synth immediately sparked production ideas.

And yes, working with a vocalist of Andrew’s calibre constantly challenges me to create the kind of soundscapes his voice deserves.

Karo: You came from the Swedish electronic scene with LOWE and Statemachine, while Andrew’s musical history takes us back to Geneva and the British indie scene of the 1990s. Those are two quite different traditions, particularly in their approaches to melody, emotional expression and production. Have you gradually developed a common musical language, or is the tension between those backgrounds precisely what keeps Unify Separate interesting?

Leo: That’s an interesting question. We both have very different musical (and cultural) backgrounds, and it’s incredibly liberating to see how well they come together when we’re writing music. There’s no ego involved, but our ambitions are always very high. Andrew’s melodies differ vastly from mine, and that clash can sometimes lead to really interesting results. So in a way, we’ve created a common musical language, but it’s constantly taking on new shapes. Or dialects, if you will. 🙂

Karo: “The God Particle” is a rather provocative title for an album concerned with human vulnerability, grief and existential uncertainty. You’ve described music as something that helps make sense of life’s contradictions. But can music actually provide answers, or does its real value lie in allowing us to confront questions that resist rational explanation? Has your understanding of what music can accomplish changed over the years?

Leo: I wouldn’t necessarily call “The God Particle” a provocative title, but perhaps a brave one. It tackles some very big subjects about existence and how we perceive life. I don’t think music necessarily provides answers, but it can help us navigate feelings and difficult times. Something that can “hold your hand” when you’re lost or simply need some perspective. It can also be incredibly powerful to listen to music you wouldn’t normally listen to. It can take you places and make you feel at home in the most unexpected surroundings.

I wouldn’t say my understanding of music’s impact has changed dramatically. It’s more that I’ve learnt so much about myself over the years that I now have a better understanding of the effect music has on me. How it can heal or distract. Soothe or impact. (Wow, that’s actually a pretty good lyric line!) 🙂

Karo: There’s a noticeable shift between “First Contact,” “Music Since Tomorrow” and the harder electronic direction of “The God Particle.” You’ve previously acknowledged that touring exposed a need for more dynamic material. How much of the new album was shaped by that physical experience of performing? Did you begin writing differently because of what you observed onstage, or did the live performances simply confirm an evolution already underway?

Leo: We’re incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to play so much in Germany, where we really feel a strong connection with the audience. That connection is very powerful. We give every last breath we have on stage, and in return, we receive so much energy from the audience. It’s an amazing exchange. We’ve definitely brought that energy back into the studio and into our songwriting. We feel very much at home with emotional synthpop, but we also really enjoy exploring more aggression and more direct arrangements. It feels like a natural step for us. It’s something that’s been there beneath the surface for quite some time, and now it’s finally coming out. And I think you might be surprised when you eventually hear some of the songs we’re already working on for the future.

Karo: The new album moves between collective anxieties and intensely personal emotions, with titles such as “Slow Armageddon,” “Kill the Machine,” “Heart Aches” and “Forever Chemicals.” Are you and Andrew increasingly interested in the relationship between private emotional life and the larger systems that shape it? And do you worry that apocalyptic imagery has become so familiar in electronic music that listeners risk becoming immune to its meaning?

Leo: Yes, I can definitely say we’re interested in both our personal lives and the bigger picture. I’m much more introverted when I write. I hardly read anything, neither books nor the news, whereas Andrew reads a lot. And I mean A LOT! His knowledge of history, politics and just about everything else is quite remarkable.

Andrew writes most of the lyrics, and I’m constantly amazed by how many layers they contain and how differently they can affect you depending on your mood when listening. I think our different perspectives sometimes create something that even we find astonishing.

Our apocalyptic imagery comes naturally to us, and we don’t really compare ourselves to what other bands are doing. The world is taking turns that we can barely keep up with, and we’re simply trying to find some beauty in all of it.

Karo: You’ve spoken quite openly about your pursuit of technical perfection, particularly during the making of “Music Since Tomorrow.” But technical sophistication and emotional impact aren’t necessarily the same thing. Has your understanding of a successful production changed? Do you ever find yourself deliberately resisting the temptation to improve something because its imperfections communicate more than a perfectly controlled arrangement could?

Leo: To answer this, I think I need to approach it from a slightly different perspective.

Growing up, I never really considered that I might have some kind of diagnosis that could explain certain aspects of my personality. And perhaps I don’t. But in recent years, it’s as if something has awakened in me. Part of that might be down to the pandemic. Another part probably comes with age, increased self-awareness and experience. I’m more emotionally driven than ever before. It’s almost as if I’ve been hiding a person inside me who’s now determined to come to the surface.

In everyday life, the perfectionist side of me is becoming quite ridiculous. When I load or empty the dishwasher, everything has to be in exactly the right place. When I choose a T-shirt in the morning, it has to feel 100% right. Sometimes I change several times before I’m satisfied.

And this mindset definitely carries over into the way I write, produce and mix music. I’ve invested thousands of hours in technical aspects of music production that probably aren’t particularly healthy, or even necessary! Many of these details aren’t even noticeable to the human ear. But I believe they can be felt. And knowing what I’ve put into creating and finishing a song makes an enormous difference to me personally. I don’t take shortcuts. (And I’m not talking about Command-Z here!) If creating a bassline means running it through several saturation boxes, plugins and effects pedals before recording it back through an amplifier to achieve exactly what I’m after, then that’s what I’ll do.

I practise something called hybrid mixing and top-down mixing, which means that, at an early stage, I run the mix bus through various pieces of hardware, compressors, EQs, saturators and colour boxes, as well as plugins. To make things even more “difficult,” I also use analogue summing and outboard inserts that affect how the mix sounds and feels. It’s a time-consuming process, and it certainly complicates things. But at the same time, it gets me to where I want the production to be. So yes, I want things to be perfect. But perfect is boring.

That’s why I always try to leave at least a couple of things slightly unpolished, unexpected or deliberately out of place.

Perhaps “Slow Armageddon” is a good example as well, or more noticeable than “Return to Exile” (?).

Karo: You’ve taken on a more prominent vocal role within Unify Separate, including songs such as “DETOX” and “Return to Exile.” You’ve described the human voice as another instrument, but surely singing also changes your relationship with a composition. Do you experience a different kind of vulnerability when performing your own material? And how do you and Andrew decide whose voice can communicate a particular emotional perspective most convincingly?

Leo: Yes, that’s true. The voice is often the most important instrument! This might sound strange, but I think that even applies to instrumental music. I believe that when you listen to music, your inner voice somehow resonates with the melodies and harmonies. That’s how you connect with the music, whether there are words or not. I think Andrew’s voice and mine complement each other, sometimes surprisingly well, and that’s a tremendous asset for Unify Separate.

More often than not, it’s obvious that Andrew’s voice outshines mine. But sometimes I can perhaps contribute a different emotional spectrum that completes the arrangement. And there’s definitely a certain vulnerability in stepping forward vocally, especially when you’re used to being the person behind the machines. But perhaps that’s also what makes it interesting.

Karo: Electronic musicians have always embraced technological innovation, yet you’ve expressed reservations about AI and automated creativity. What concerns you most: the potential disappearance of human authorship, the economic consequences for working musicians, or the possibility that artistic expression itself becomes increasingly standardised? And where do you personally draw the distinction between technology that expands creativity and technology that begins to replace it?

Leo: OK, here’s where I feel I have to take a stand and bring up something I find both important and quite interesting. Before AI, the creation of art and music was almost taken for granted. It was as if it had somehow lost some of its value, or at least suffered from a kind of inflation. Now that AI has entered the world of music creation, it’s almost as if “real music” can suddenly be appreciated in a different way. And I think that’s a good thing.

We’ll have to see what the long-term effects will be, but I’m quite confident that AI’s greatest potential lies in areas such as science, education, logistics and medicine. For me, the distinction is between technology that helps us express something and technology that tries to replace the person doing the expressing.

To truly connect with music, I believe the listener needs to feel a connection with real emotions, rooted in real human experiences. Not some cosmic meltdown of AI calculations and algorithms served up as music that a machine thinks we want to hear. And I think this distinction will become even more obvious when experiencing music live. Performed by humans. For humans.

Karo: Your relationship with Diary of Dreams has developed into something rather more interesting than the live collaborations many listeners already know about. You’ve recently been involved in the video for “my Vertigo,” and Adrian Hates publicly thanked you, Darkhall Filmstudio and Cthulhu Media, adding that you’d saved him. What exactly happened behind the scenes? How did you become involved in the band’s visual work, and how much creative freedom does Adrian give you when translating his musical universe into images?

Leo: We’re incredibly fortunate that Diary of Dreams have taken us under their wing and given us so many opportunities to support them live. That has opened quite a few doors for us, so a huge thank you to them and especially Adrian Hates for that!

Adrian and I have actually been talking for a long time about working together on visuals and music videos for Diary of Dreams. As for the “saving” part of his message, I think that mainly refers to the fact that, due to circumstances beyond our control, we had to postpone filming and production. At one point, meeting the deadlines seemed almost impossible. I tried to be as flexible as possible and worked incredibly hard within a very short timeframe to help bring his vision to life. So I imagine that’s at least part of what he was referring to.

I’m also involved in the video for “der Dunkelheit,” which premieres at 8 PM tonight (the very evening I’m answering these questions!) Adrian has a very clear vision of what he wants, but he’s also been extremely open to my ideas. We’ve been bouncing ideas back and forth until we both feel we’ve found the right approach. It’s a really rewarding creative process. I think “my Vertigo” turned out beautifully, with Adrian performing in a black-box studio environment that works incredibly well with the song.

For “der Dunkelheit,” the other song in the double release, we filmed Adrian in a similar setting, but also created a complementary storyline here in Stockholm. We cast Liv Östberg, who happens to be Richard Oakes’ stepdaughter (yes, Richard from Suede!) and she delivered an amazing performance.

It’s been a very rewarding experience, and I really enjoy being able to contribute to the visual world of Diary of Dreams.

Karo: You’ve also co-produced Priest’s “Altered State Police” with Linton Rubino and handled the album’s mixing. Priest already have a very distinctive sonic identity, so I’m curious about the negotiations that take place when another producer enters that creative environment. Where did your ideas genuinely change the direction of the record? And does producing another artist’s music sometimes offer greater freedom than working on your own compositions, where you’re inevitably attached to your original intentions?

Leo: Yes, this was a great honour for me! We actually talk about this in more depth in my podcast Under the Skin With… PRIEST, available on YouTube.

Linton and I connected when we played with Priest in Jönköping last year. I think we both realised very quickly that we should work together. Just a few weeks later, Linton came to my studio in Stockholm and played me some of the songs he was working on for “Altered State Police.” I loved everything I heard and immediately embraced his vision for the album. It was almost as if a circle of trust was formed right there and then. Linton had already done some really solid pre-production work, and it felt as though he was handing over his babies to me. I think he wanted me to treat the album with my somewhat unusual production techniques and, of course, have access to my synth collection and all my analogue gear. 🙂

So there weren’t really any negotiations. I took his productions, treated them with enormous respect and made them mine. Actually, not mine – ours!

I also had a very clear ambition that I wasn’t prepared to compromise on. I wanted the entire album to feel like a journey through sound and emotion, with all the songs fitting together as one coherent piece. I had a plan for how to achieve that. I experimented with lots of different audio chains, combining hardware and plugins, to find a sonic approach that would work across the entire album and make it feel like one entity.

Throughout the process, Linton was highly involved, giving feedback while also allowing me a tremendous amount of creative freedom. That trust was incredibly important to the final result. I don’t think we fundamentally changed the direction of the album. Rather, we allowed it to evolve into something that truly did the songs justice. Linton’s songwriting and the way he’s embraced his role as a singer are incredibly impressive.

I’m far too biased to evaluate my own contribution objectively, but I’m extremely proud of what we created together.

Karo: Your collaboration with Richard Oakes of Suede is particularly interesting given Andrew’s history with Geneva and Nude Records. His contributions to “The Void” and “Waiting Game” brought a different musical sensibility into Unify Separate. Did Richard fundamentally alter your original arrangements, or did he understand immediately what the compositions needed? And what distinguishes a meaningful artistic collaboration from simply inviting an accomplished musician to contribute to an existing recording?

Leo: This is actually a very inspiring story, and perhaps something others can learn from. Let’s call this little exercise “The question is free.” If there’s an opportunity, take it! (Am I Jesus? Hmm. My last name is after all Josefsson = son of Joseph!) Anyway…

We’d had the amazing opportunity to open for Suede in Stockholm, and in my world, that meant there should be something more to it than just the incredible experience itself. So I suggested to Andrew: “Why don’t we ask Richard if he’d like to play the guitar parts I’ve sketched out for The Void?” Andrew, being very British and polite, immediately said: “No, you can’t do that! He’s far too busy!” And I thought: “Well, yes, he probably is. But you never know…”

So I asked. And Richard was actually honoured! The stars aligned, we managed to find a date, and he came to my studio in Stockholm. We had a fantastic time recording together. I had to rub my eyes a couple of times because, hey: Richard Oakes is actually in my studio playing guitar for me!

The recording went really well, and Richard came up with ideas we would never have thought of ourselves. His contributions genuinely made a difference to the song. We still had a couple of hours to spare, and being rather shameless, I asked if he’d like to hear another song that was almost finished. That song was “Waiting Game.” He immediately picked up the guitar again and started playing. I pressed record. The rest is history.

Unfortunately, Andrew couldn’t be there that day, but I had quite a surprise waiting for him. Richard Oakes playing on not one, but TWO songs on the album! So yes, the question is free. The worst that can happen is that someone says no, perhaps even slaps you in the face with it. But at least you gave it a go!

Fun fact: The young girl’s voice you hear on “The Void” is actually my daughter Juno’s contribution. And yes, she was named after the synthesiser! 🙂

Karo: LOWE and Statemachine remain important chapters in your career, and LOWE’s recognition at the Scandinavian Alternative Music Awards belongs to a period when the Scandinavian synth scene had a rather different infrastructure. Looking at that scene today, what do you think has genuinely improved, and what has been lost? Has the disappearance of some of those older institutions made independent electronic music more fragmented, or has it opened opportunities that would once have been impossible?

Leo: I feel incredibly fortunate to have been part of this scene for so many years and to have played in two bands that mean the world to me. The places they’ve taken me and the people I’ve met along the way are things I’ll always treasure.

I’m not necessarily aware of every change that’s taken place, but it’s obvious that the way people consume music today is very different. There are so many new genres crossing over and sometimes helping the scene evolve. At the same time, I think it can all become a little confusing. Especially now that everything can be measured. There was a time when the number of CDs you sold at a gig could tell you something about your popularity. Now it often feels more like a competition of numbers and algorithms that nobody can really explain or fully understand.

I’m happy that some of the old record labels and distributors are still hanging in there. I feel quite nostalgic about that, and it’s something I find genuinely precious. I’m certainly not convinced that the synth scene is dying. But who knows what the next generation will choose to keep and cherish? And as you say, all these new possibilities also mean that people who might never have discovered the scene before can now find it and connect with it.

Viva la Synth!

Karo: Your work also extends to The Mobile Homes, a band with its own considerable history within Swedish electronic music. How does your approach change when working with artists whose aesthetic identity is already firmly established? Do you see production primarily as interpreting somebody else’s intentions, or should a producer sometimes be prepared to challenge the very qualities an artist considers central to their sound?

Leo: I grew up listening to The Mobile Homes and was a huge fan, so I feel like I know in my bones how they should sound. There’s never really been any conflict or complicated process in that respect. I’ve been involved in a few of their music productions, but even more so in their visual work. I’ve filmed and directed quite a few of their music videos (probably around ten by now!). It’s been incredibly rewarding to contribute to their visual identity and overall concept as well.

As a producer, I believe one of the most important things is to make the artist feel comfortable, relaxed and confident in what they’re doing. Your role is to get the very best out of their performance, listen carefully to their vision and, most importantly, truly understand it. And perhaps even amplify that vision.

Because at the end of the day, it’s their music and their legacy that matter most.

Karo: Your production work with Rednex, including the 2024 viral version of “Cotton Eye Joe,” offers an extraordinary contrast to the alternative electronic scene. You’ve also contributed to the Grammis-winning project by Nassim Al Fakir. Having experienced such different musical environments, do you think commercial success, cultural visibility and artistic achievement have become increasingly disconnected? And has witnessing the mechanics of viral success changed how you approach promoting Unify Separate, or made you even more sceptical of the industry?

Leo: This probably won’t go down particularly well in the synth scene, but hopefully there’ll still be a place for me after this interview. (Smiling nervously.)

I’ve actually been working with Rednex on and off since 2000. I hope that didn’t hurt the readers’ eyes too much! It’s been both a fun and challenging ride.

And working with my good friend Nassim Al Fakir, one of Sweden’s most popular public figures, and receiving a Grammis (the Swedish Grammy) has certainly strengthened my confidence.

I’m not a particularly sceptical person. I think that if you’re willing to explore different musical directions, there’s an enormous amount you can learn. It’s a bit like an actor who, at least once in their career, should crawl around on the floor barking like a dog, just to understand what that experience is like.

That’s why I’ve embraced so many different kinds of music, including commercial music. Sometimes to make a living, of course, but most importantly to learn, develop and evolve (and buy a lot of synthesizers!). I think commercial success and artistic achievement are two very different things. Sometimes they meet, sometimes they don’t. But there’s something valuable to learn from almost every musical environment.

Rather than making me feel disconnected, these experiences have given me a kind of bird’s-eye view of my own musical process. And I don’t think going viral is something you can really plan for. It’s often just a fluke that happens when you’re focusing on something else entirely.

Of course, I hope our music with Unify Separate will touch as many hearts and souls as possible. But I believe that takes hard work, determination and a little bit of luck. Although, if there’s some kind of music lottery I can enter, perhaps you could point me in the right direction? 🙂

Karo: Finally, with “The God Particle” approaching release, Unify Separate seem to be entering another particularly active period. Are you planning to take the new material further across Europe, and has the harder electronic direction changed your ambitions for the live presentation? Between Unify Separate, LOWE, your production work and now visual collaborations, you seem to have developed an unusually broad creative life. Is there still a musical direction you haven’t explored because you’ve never found the right circumstances, or perhaps the right person, to make it happen?

Leo: Yes, we’d absolutely love to play more shows across Europe, and we genuinely believe we’re a band that can deliver a great live performance at any level. Small club or arena. Andrew’s voice can knock just about anyone off their feet, and I think our music and visual presentation are incredibly powerful live. (What!? A Swede actually saying something positive about himself!?) We believe our harder direction and more varied live set have the potential to reach an even wider audience.

I’m amazed almost every day that I get to work creatively with so many talented people, whether it’s through music, visuals, photography or other creative areas. I’m always open to new collaborations, especially within the synth and electronic music scene. And as it happens, I’m currently involved in a project with one of Sweden’s biggest rock stars, so stay tuned for that!

But most importantly, check out our new album “The God Particle.”

And don’t be afraid to pick up the phone.

We’re coming for you!!

(Final word: don’t forget to buy more synthesizers!)

About Leo Josefsson

Leo Josefsson is a Swedish musician, songwriter, producer, mixing engineer and visual artist whose career reaches well beyond the boundaries of the electronic music scene in which he first established his reputation.

His early work with Statemachine placed him within Sweden’s developing synthpop movement, while LOWE provided an opportunity to explore a more expansive combination of electronic arrangements, melodic songwriting and live performance. As the band’s frontman, Josefsson contributed to albums including “Tenant,” “Kino International” and “Evolver.” LOWE and Statemachine received recognition at the Scandinavian Alternative Music Awards, helping establish his standing within Scandinavian electronic music.

Parallel to his activities as a performing musician, Josefsson developed an extensive career as a songwriter and producer. His credits include work with Rednex, Yaki-Da, Shebang and Daze, as well as collaborations across Swedish commercial pop. He worked with producer Oscar Holter within the Capitol Records/Universal environment, contributing to the development of artists including The Pusher, Alex Saidac and Robin Stjernberg. His songwriting and production credits also include “In My Head” by Tilly and Elliphant.

His work with Swedish musician and entertainer Nassim Al Fakir contributed to the Grammis-winning project “Årets Album.” These experiences reflect an unusually broad professional trajectory, ranging from underground electronic music to commercial pop, children’s music and international productions.

Josefsson’s contemporary production work includes collaborations with The Mobile Homes and Swedish electronic act Priest. On Priest’s 2026 album “Altered State Police,” he worked alongside Linton Rubino as co-producer and mixing engineer, helping shape the album’s overall sound through extensive experimentation with analogue equipment and digital processing.

His studio work has a particularly detailed approach to electronic sound design. Operating through his Stockholm-based Kiss the Needle studio, Josefsson combines analogue synthesizers, outboard equipment, saturation, hybrid mixing and digital production techniques. He has also taken responsibility for recording, producing, mixing and mastering Unify Separate’s albums, giving him considerable control over their sonic identity.

Alongside his recording career, Josefsson has developed an extensive body of visual work. He has directed music videos for The Mobile Homes and collaborated with Adrian Hates on the visual presentation of Diary of Dreams, including the 2026 videos for “my Vertigo” and “der Dunkelheit.” Photography, filmmaking, editing and visual storytelling have become important parts of his professional activities.

As a member of Unify Separate, Josefsson contributes synthesizers, programming, production, songwriting and vocals, working alongside Scottish singer Andrew Montgomery. The project provides a particularly interesting meeting point between his background in Swedish electronic music and Montgomery’s history in British indie rock.

About Unify Separate

Unify Separate is the Scottish-Swedish electronic duo formed by Andrew Montgomery and Leo Josefsson in Stockholm in 2015. Their collaboration brings together two distinct musical histories: Montgomery’s background as the frontman of British alternative band Geneva, whose releases on Nude Records attracted considerable attention during the 1990s, and Josefsson’s extensive involvement in Swedish synthpop through Statemachine and LOWE.

Initially performing under the name US, the pair released their debut album, “First Contact,” in 2019. Their second album, “Music Since Tomorrow,” originally appeared digitally in 2022, followed by a remastered CD edition in 2023. The record expanded their arrangements through guitars, more elaborate production and contributions from Suede guitarist Richard Oakes, who performed on “The Void” and “Waiting Game.”

Performances alongside Diary of Dreams, as well as appearances in Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom, played a considerable role in the duo’s artistic development. Their 2025 “Heavy Meta” material introduced a harder electronic direction, subsequently expanded through remixes and further singles.

Their third studio album, “The God Particle,” scheduled for November 6, 2026, continues that evolution. Combining more forceful electronic production with Montgomery’s expressive vocals, the record examines personal loss, political uncertainty, technological anxiety and the search for meaning in an increasingly unpredictable world.

The duo’s music remains closely connected to their contrasting artistic backgrounds: Josefsson’s precise electronic construction and Montgomery’s melodic sensibility create a distinctive relationship between emotional immediacy and technical sophistication. More information is available on the duo’s official website.

Swedish duo Comfort Module released its new album “The Close” on Lamour Records on October 23, 2026. The album pairs industrial EBM with alternative rock and electronic ballads.

“The Close” is available as a digital album and on CD, the latter in a DVD case limited to 150 copies. The tracklist runs:

1. Driving
2. End of the Rope
3. My Only Friend
4. I Am
5. Broken
6. Martyr
7. Astray
8. Setting Sun

The album was written, arranged and produced by Comfort Module. Pär Steen sings lead vocals, with additional vocals on “Driving” by Marie Steen and a choir on “My Only Friend” performed by Tusen Tungor, conducted by Linnéa Landström. It was recorded and mixed at Studio Soundrug and mastered by Joakim Westlund, with cover photography by Daniel Stigfelt and graphic design by rolfcarlwerner.

About Comfort Module

Pär Steen and Henrik Fexeus formed Comfort Module in Stockholm, Sweden, in 2025. Their debut album, “Undertone,” won the Synthsläggan award for Debut Album of the Year and was followed by two volumes of remixes featuring Agent Side Grinder, Rivet and Motormännen.

“The Close” is Comfort Module’s second album.

Coldwave and post-punk project Obychno Odyn released its new album “Адинамия” (“Adynamia”) on October 30, 2026, alongside an official video for the album’s opening track, “Погибель” (“Doom”).

The nine-track digital album is self-released. Its tracklist runs:

1. Ненавистно
2. Погибель
3. Уходят люди и часы
4. Мир угасает во тьме
5. В никуда
6. Холодная ночь
7. Утро
8. Lalala
9. Жизнь пролетает нелепо

“Адинамия” is available as a digital album on Bandcamp.

About Obychno Odyn

Ukrainian musician Vadym Protsenko founded Obychno Odyn as a coldwave and post-punk project in 2025 in Bucharest, Romania. The project is now based in Turin, Italy. Bassist Marcello Aloisio joins Protsenko for live performances.

Obychno Odyn’s debut album, “Излияние” (“Outpouring”), followed on July 27, 2026, released digitally and on a 29-copy cassette edition with illustrations by Obychno Odyn. “Адинамия,” released October 30, 2026, is its follow-up, led by the single and video “Погибель.”

Melbourne post-punk act Ohms released its single “Aeroplane Jelly” on October 30, 2026. The digital track is the final single before Ohms’ debut album, “Wechselströme.”

All instrumentation and lyrics were written and performed by Lachlan P. Rother. The track was recorded and produced in a collaborative effort between Timothy Dunn, Andrew Robinson, Stuart MacKenzie and Rother, and mixed by Robinson and Rother. Mikey Young handled mastering.

Ohms also released an official video for “Aeroplane Jelly,” directed by Triana Hernandez and filmed in Peru, with camera work by Victor Torer and a performance by Calcio. The single’s artwork is taken from the video. Typography and design are by Sebastián Quintero.

“Aeroplane Jelly” is available as a digital single on Bandcamp.

About Ohms

Ohms is the Melbourne, Australia project of Lachlan P. Rother, formerly of U-Bahn and currently also a member of GLASNOST and High Control Group. Under the Ohms name, Rother has released a run of singles including “No Chance,” “Neon Violence,” “Declined (A Requiem For Human Services),” “Geworfenheit” and “Bimbo’s Inferno.”

“Aeroplane Jelly,” released October 30, 2026, is the final single before Ohms’ debut album, “Wechselströme.”

Belgian electro-industrial act Suicide Commando and US EBM project Assemblage 23 released the collaborative single “I Am Your Darkness” on October 30, 2026, via Out Of Line Music, pairing a radio edit with an extended “Kill Your Demons” version. Side-Line contributor Karo Kratochwil reviews the single below.

Forty years into Suicide Commando’s existence, Johan Van Roy has found an intriguing counterpart in Tom Shear of Assemblage 23. Their respective musical languages are instantly recognisable, although they approach intensity from different directions. Van Roy’s harsh, almost punitive vocal delivery and relentless electronic rhythms contrast with Shear’s more melodic, emotionally articulated approach. On “I Am Your Darkness,” these characteristics meet in a collaboration that makes considerably more sense than the stylistic differences might initially suggest.

The “Radio Edit” wastes little time establishing its intentions. The rhythm is fast, tightly programmed and characteristically uncompromising, while the synthesizers introduce a melodic urgency that has more in common with contemporary futurepop than traditional harsh electro. The vocals retain that familiar abrasive quality associated with Suicide Commando, yet the melodic construction carries a distinctly Assemblage 23 sensibility. The arrangement does not let one musical personality dominate the other; it preserves their differences. The resulting tension is precisely what gives the track its character.

The extended “Kill Your Demons” version develops the melodic side more fully. The electronic arrangements feel more expansive, with a sweeping, anthemic quality that contrasts rather effectively with the aggression of the vocals. Its forward momentum is practically irresistible, but the emotional register is more complicated than the rhythm initially suggests. There is an interesting ambiguity in transforming such difficult psychological material into music designed for collective movement. The dancefloor becomes a place where distress and exhilaration can occupy the same few minutes.

The collaboration is particularly successful because neither musician has attempted to disguise his musical identity. The familiar elements are all present, but their combination introduces a different balance between vocal aggression, melodic accessibility and rhythmic force. “I Am Your Darkness” is a convincing piece of contemporary electro-industrial music, direct enough to make an immediate impression and sufficiently well constructed to reward repeated listening.

Tracklist

1. I Am Your Darkness (Radio Edit)
2. I Am Your Darkness (Kill Your Demons)

About Suicide Commando

Founded in 1986, Suicide Commando has become one of the defining projects of European dark electro. Belgian musician Johan Van Roy has spent four decades developing a sound built around distorted vocals, confrontational lyrical subjects and meticulously programmed electronic aggression. From Critical Stage and Mindstrip to Axis of Evil and Goddestruktor, his recordings have helped establish a musical vocabulary that remains instantly identifiable. The new collaboration arrives during the project’s 40th anniversary year.

About Assemblage 23

Assemblage 23 is the long-running project of American musician Tom Shear, whose work occupies a fascinating intersection between electronic body music, synthpop and emotionally driven futurepop. Since the project’s beginnings in 1988, Shear has demonstrated a particular ability to combine muscular electronic arrangements with unusually personal songwriting. His 2025 album “Null” continued that trajectory.

Interestingly, this is not the first musical connection between the two projects. Assemblage 23 previously remixed Suicide Commando’s “One Nation Under God” in 2004 and “I’d Die for You” for the 2022 album Goddestruktor. “I Am Your Darkness” develops that existing artistic relationship into a direct collaboration. A five-track physical EP follows on December 3, 2026, with additional interpretations by DSTRTD SGNL, KLLSIGNL and J Wølf.

German darkwave/synth-pop duo OH MADONNA released the single “Obsession Nouvelle” on October 30, 2026, via Cold Transmission Music, following the duo’s debut single “Touch” on the same label. Side-Line contributor Karo Kratochwil reviews the single below.

OH MADONNA have an enviable understanding of how to make electronic music seductive without sacrificing its physical impact. Their latest single, “Obsession Nouvelle,” has that wonderfully immediate quality which cannot be manufactured through production alone. The rhythm is insistent, the synthesizers beautifully tempered, and the melody possesses an almost insolent ability to lodge itself in the listener’s memory.

The composition moves with confidence and a certain delicious irreverence. There is a cool, almost aristocratic elegance to its electronic arrangements, interrupted by a rhythmic urgency that refuses to let the music become too comfortable. The influence of ’80s synthpop is unmistakable, although the production has a contemporary sharpness, free from the excessive nostalgic sentimentality that sometimes plagues this particular musical territory.

Its greatest attraction lies in the songwriting. OH MADONNA understand that electronic sophistication means little without a memorable musical idea, and here they have several. The transitions are beautifully handled, the energy remains consistent, and the melodic structure has enough personality to make repeated listening a genuine pleasure. “Obsession Nouvelle” is a splendid little piece of dark electronic pop, intelligent in its construction and gloriously unconcerned with hiding its accessibility.

About OH MADONNA

Behind OH MADONNA are GEISTHA and nana del gray, two artists who met in Mannheim’s club scene and eventually brought their respective interests in music, visual art and literature into a shared project. Their collaboration is especially interesting because neither discipline appears subordinate to the other. The visual component belongs to the same artistic imagination as the music; it does not function as an elaborate accessory to it.

Their fascination with religious iconography, human desire and the contradictions of intimacy gives the project a wider cultural context, although the songs are perfectly capable of standing without that conceptual framework. And perhaps that is the crucial distinction. The imagery may invite interpretation, but the melodies do not require an explanation.

Cold Transmission Music deserves considerable credit for its discerning catalogue, and OH MADONNA are an excellent addition to it. With their debut album approaching, “Obsession Nouvelle” suggests that GEISTHA and nana del gray have a particularly rewarding musical partnership on their hands.

Lopsha, the Adelaide, South Australia post-punk and darkwave project of Aleksei Prokhorov, has released “For Akira I” as a free download on Bandcamp. The album came out October 30, 2026, and opens with “Basement Air,” accompanied by the video for “Don’t stay blind.”

On YouTube the video carries the title “Don’t stay blind,” the line repeated through the track’s vocal. “Basement Air” runs 2 minutes 24 seconds. The video is a paper cut-out animation. It follows a family at home, each person absorbed in a separate routine, and a small girl who keeps praying with her eyes shut. Flashes of a hospital corridor cut into the scenes inside the house. A woman’s voice repeats the title line, “Don’t stay blind,” for the length of the track.

‘Basement Air’ opens Lopsha’s ‘For Akira I’

Prokhorov describes “For Akira I” as “written in the spirit of the Silent Hill 2 soundtrack.” He calls the album the first half of a two-part tribute to Akira Yamaoka, the composer of that soundtrack, and states that every song on it is an original composition. The eight-track, roughly 33-minute album is available as a free download through Bandcamp.

Tracklist

1. Basement Air
2. Sodium Light
3. Negative Pressure
4. Mercury Halo
5. Concrete Bloom
6. Nearer Elsewhere
7. Dial Scar
8. Bedside Zero

About Lopsha

Aleksei Prokhorov records solo under the name Lopsha from Adelaide, South Australia. His output spans classical guitar, ambient black metal, and darkwave and post-punk material. He writes, performs and records all of it himself.

Prokhorov’s catalogue traces back to a live acoustic concert billed as “Crystal Ship,” recorded in Tver, Russia, on 26 May 2010. He played guitar alongside Ilya Podoynitsyn on second guitar, flute and percussion, with Artem Sergeichev reading his own poetry and three Zambian musicians on percussion and backing vocals. Recordings from that night, including “Spring,” “Thunderstorm,” “Mustang” and “Koyunbaba IV” (the fourth movement of Carlo Domeniconi’s “Koyunbaba”), make up the 2026 album “Music of Open Doors.”

In 2026, Prokhorov released “Where Grief Goes Quiet” as Lopsha, a nine-track, 73-minute instrumental ambient black metal and drone album. Its track “Dormant,” an 8-minute 42-second instrumental, got its own official video, filmed at night from his car on the Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia, on 22 September 2026.

“Basement Air” opens Prokhorov’s newest album as Lopsha, “For Akira I,” released October 30, 2026 as the first half of his two-part tribute to Akira Yamaoka, and offered as a free Bandcamp download.

The Belgian project Implant, led by Len Lemeire, has completed its fifteenth album. To announce its arrival and whet fans’ appetites, the band has released the EP “I’m Only Happy When You Bleed”, featuring five tracks and three remixes.

Implant is a band that manages to avoid self-repetition while remaining distinctly recognizable. What strikes me about this EP is that the tracks are more subdued, each contributing to a particular atmosphere. It isn’t exactly ‘cinematic’, but rather feels like an experiment or a Freestyle Exercise, With Nods To EBM, Ambient, and Electro-Pop. Blend all these elements together, and you get a rough idea of what this EP is all about. Personally, I find that the tracks—especially the title track—lack a real climax. For me, the standout is “Pills (In F Sharp),” which has a slightly harder edge, a cool EBM-driven bassline, and a rich array of sounds and effects, all topped off by Len Lemeire’s vocals. I hate to say it, but the remixes—particularly those by Crash Course In Science, with their minimalist approach, People Theatre, with their vintage textures, and Aiboforcen—are all far more inspired than the original title track.

I’m used to a higher standard from Implant, but let’s wait for the full album before drawing any broader conclusions. (Rating:7).

Listen to “I’m Only Happy When You Bleed – Crash Course In Science Remix”:

About Implant

Implant is the electro-industrial project Len Lemeire started in Belgium in 1996. The debut CD single, “Fun,” credited to Lemeire alongside Geert Machtelinck, was pressed in a numbered edition of 1,000 copies that year. The project’s catalogue spans harsh EBM, industrial dance, electro-pop and dark synth across releases including “Implantology,” “Audio Blender,” “The Productive Citizen” and the EP “Fading Away,” closing most releases with the line “Did you have your Implant today?”

Implant released the free download single “The Drive” in December 2023. The twelfth studio album, “The Chaos Machines Part 1 – No More Flies On The Windscreen,” followed in May 2024. Lemeire discussed its modular-synth approach and a duet with Noemi Aurora in Implant interview: ‘Embrace chaos through the machines!’. The trilogy continued with the limited vinyl EP “The Chaos Machines Part 2 – Scratching The Surface” in September 2024 and closed with the album “Judging Sinners – The Chaos Machines Part 3” on February 7, 2025, again featuring Noemi Aurora and covered in Exclusive interview with Implant judging all those sinners.

“The Kinematics Of Doubt,” Implant’s fifteenth studio album, follows on October 30, 2026. “I’m Only Happy When You Bleed,” out now as an eight-track EP, is the second single revealed from the record.

Disorder Festival, a two-day event dedicated to the international goth, coldwave, darkwave, post-punk and EBM scenes, revealed its full lineup for February 6-7, 2027, in Montreuil, just outside Paris. The latest additions are And Also the Trees, VLURE, Yan Wagner and Paradox Obscur, joining the previously announced Martin Dupont, Frustration and David Shaw and the Beat. The event spans four venues in the same neighbourhood: La Marbrerie, Le Chinois, Le Bal Chavaux and La Bicyclette.

British post-punk band And Also the Trees formed in the early 1980s. Their album “Virus Meadow” marks its 40th anniversary in 2026, the same year the band released the album “The Devil’s Door.” VLURE contribute rave-punk, Yan Wagner brings dark pop, and Greek duo Paradox Obscur add electronic sounds to a lineup spanning post-punk, coldwave, darkwave and related genres.

Full lineup for Disorder Festival

Martin Dupont, Frustration, And Also The Trees, Corpus Delicti, Vlure, David Shaw And The Beat, Yan Wagner, Paradox Obscur, Abu Nein, Blind Delon, Body Shop, Heimberg, L’Écuyer, Laura Krieg, Lila Ejhä, Lone Assembly, Lunar Lock, Servo, SHV/ARZ, Talk To Her, The Spoiled, Theo Vandenhoff, Winter Severity Index and Years Of Shame.

Tickets for Disorder Festival are on sale via Shotgun.live.

About Disorder Festival

Disorder is a new festival built around the international goth, coldwave, darkwave, post-punk and EBM scenes, debuting in Montreuil on 6 and 7 February 2027 across four venues: La Marbrerie, Le Chinois, Le Bal Chavaux and La Bicyclette. Side-Line first covered the event’s inaugural fifteen-act announcement in October 2026, when organizers said a further wave of bookings would follow on October 30. That second wave has now confirmed And Also the Trees, VLURE, Yan Wagner and Paradox Obscur alongside the previously announced Martin Dupont, Frustration and David Shaw and the Beat, rounding out the full festival lineup. The event is organized with local press relations by Take Me Out.

Belarusian electro-metal duo Nitroverts released their sophomore album, “True Nature of Antimatter,” on October 30, 2026, via FiXT. The eleven-track album follows 2023’s “Endogenous” and was written by Yann Zhanchak and Ars Nikonov, with vocals by Zhanchak and guitars, electronic programming, mixing and production by Nikonov, also known for his retro-synth project Fury Weekend. Cover art is by Nikonov.

The album combines alternative metal, nu metal, industrial rock, punk and hard rock across eleven tracks: “Under My Skin,” “Breakout,” “Unreal,” “Invincible,” “Dirt,” “Counterparts,” “Into Yesterdays,” “Spiral,” “Only One,” “Consent” and “Sirens.” A visualizer video for “Sirens” is out now via FiXT.

Nitroverts began in 2021 with the debut single “Starting Point,” followed by the debut album “Endogenous” in mid-2023. The duo released the EP “Into Yesterdays” in September 2025 and the single “Spiral” in April 2026 ahead of “True Nature of Antimatter.” FiXT, the album’s label, was founded in 2006 by Klayton (Celldweller) and James Rhodes.

“True Nature of Antimatter” is available as a digital album on Bandcamp and via FiXT’s other stores.

About Nitroverts

Nitroverts are an electro-metal duo from Minsk, Belarus, formed by vocalist Yann Zhanchak and multi-instrumentalist/producer Ars Nikonov, who also records retro synth music as Fury Weekend. The duo debuted with the single “Starting Point” in 2021, followed by their first album, “Endogenous,” in mid-2023. The EP “Into Yesterdays” followed in September 2025 and the single “Spiral” in April 2026, leading into their second album, “True Nature of Antimatter,” released October 30, 2026, via FiXT.

Darkwave/EBM duo Ghostbells released the single and video “Phantoms” on October 30, 2026, via Out Of Line Music. The track follows “Curses” and “The Silence” as the latest step toward the duo’s debut full-length album.

The song centers on two people separated by death. “Phantoms is about two people who are bound by love into the afterlife. One person crosses over before the other, and the living eventually reunites with their lover,” the band stated. The track pairs icy new-wave melodies with a 1990s EBM pulse and club-ready production.

The release follows an extensive Latin America tour as direct support for label-mates Hocico. Earlier in the year, Ghostbells played Infest Festival in the UK and Dark Summer Open Air in Germany, supporting Blutengel and Chrom in front of an audience of around 3,000. The duo has also remixed Blutengel’s “Schwarzer Engel,” Cemetery Skyline’s “Torn Away” and Blitz Union’s “Evolution.”

Ghostbells have further dates in Texas and Florida this November, followed by Plage Noire Festival in Wangels and Obsidian Echoes Festival in Essen, and an appearance at Amphi Festival in Germany in 2027:

• 13.11.2026 – Tampa, US, New World Tampa
• 14.11.2026 – Miami, US, Las Rosas
• 20.-21.11.2026 – Wangels, DE, Plage Noire Festival
• 28.11.2026 – Essen, DE, Obsidian Echoes Festival
• 24.-25.07.2027 – Cologne, DE, Amphi Festival

“Phantoms” is available to stream on Bandcamp and Spotify.

About Ghostbells

Ghostbells are a darkwave/EBM/synth-pop duo on Out Of Line Music. Side-Line has followed the band since the digital EP “Three Levels Of Dark And Dance” in December 2025, followed in 2026 by the singles “Curses” in August and “The Silence” in September. Earlier in 2026 the duo also released the EP “Catacouture.”

Across 2026 Ghostbells played Infest Festival in the UK and Dark Summer Open Air in Germany, where they supported Blutengel and Chrom, before touring Latin America as direct support for Hocico. The band has also remixed Blutengel’s “Schwarzer Engel,” Cemetery Skyline’s “Torn Away” and Blitz Union’s “Evolution.” A debut full-length album is in the works, following “Phantoms.”

British pianists and composers Mark Springer and Jimmy Galvin play a joint charity concert at The Mount Without in Bristol on November 26, 2026, with all proceeds going to the Bristol Drugs Project. Each performs solo and with a full string orchestra from the Bristol University Music Society, and Springer gives the live debut of material from “Sleep Of Reason,” his 2025 album written with Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys and the Sacconi String Quartet, backed by a guest vocalist the promoters are keeping under wraps. Tickets for the 19:30 show are on sale now.

The bill also lists vocalist Kate Grant, performing as Isadora Vibes, among the night’s acts. Galvin, a Bristol-based composer and pianist, is also set to perform with the string orchestra and draw on his own catalogue, including his most recent album, “Spiritual Data,” released through Stoned Love Recordings.

“Sleep Of Reason” pairs Springer’s piano, string quartet and quintet arrangements with lyrics and vocals written by Tennant, developed after he read Francisco Goya’s print series “Los Caprichos” and its best-known image, “The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters.” The album runs in three parts: a six-track quintet section of voice and strings opening with “Phantoms And Monsters,” a three-track string-quartet set, and four solo-piano pieces to close. It was released through Sub Rosa and Exit Label in 2025.

“Looking up from my piano I see so much of the world that Neil has captured in his lyrics […] The words, Sleep of Reason, speak to the power hungry politics all around us and making this music now feels like my only rational move,” Springer said of the album. Tennant, who wrote the lyrics in response to Goya’s prints, described them as “sardonic and dreamlike, looking back to Goya’s nightmares but then reflecting on my experiences in 21st century popular culture and media.”

“Sleep Of Reason” is available as a digital album on Bandcamp, with CD and vinyl editions through Sub Rosa.

Jimmy Galvin is a Bristol-based composer, pianist and visual artist whose neo-classical music has drawn comparisons to Erik Satie, Bill Evans and Glenn Gould. He has released two solo piano albums, “A Million Seconds Make Eleven Days” and “Spiritual Data,” and performed the former live on BBC Radio 4’s “Loose Ends” in September 2018, to the show’s audience of around a million listeners. He has composed music for the BBC and Channel 4, including the independent film “Lido,” and exhibited paintings alongside artists including Peter Blake, Damien Hirst, Antony Gormley, Jake and Dinos Chapman and Mark Wallinger, with his work auctioned through Christie’s and Bonhams for charity. “Some of the most beautiful haunting original neo-classical music you will ever hear,” The New York Times said of his work. Galvin has organized a benefit concert of his own before: in 2021, he played a solo piano fundraiser for the Bristol Drugs Project at Bristol’s 15th-century St Stephen’s Church, the same charity the November 26 concert with Springer now supports.

About Mark Springer

Mark Springer is a British pianist and composer who first came to attention as a teenager in the experimental group Rip Rig + Panic, formed in 1981 with former Pop Group members Gareth Sager and Bruce Smith alongside singer Neneh Cherry. The group released three albums, “God,” “I Am Cold” and “Attitude,” before disbanding in 1983. Springer then began a solo career with the all-piano album “Piano,” released on Virgin Records in 1984, the first entry in a catalogue that has since moved between Virgin and Exit Records.

His Exit releases include “Nature/Music/Food/The Stars and The Planets” (2000), featuring drummer Clive Deamer, and he has worked extensively in opera and installation art. In 1994, he collaborated with artist Damien Hirst on “Agongo,” an opera installation staged at St Mary’s School during the Edinburgh International Festival. He wrote the music for “Army of Lovers,” an opera with a libretto by novelist David Flusfeder, which premiered at the Castello di Potentino in Tuscany in August 2018 and was staged at London’s Playground Theatre the following year.

“Sleep Of Reason,” Springer’s collaboration with Neil Tennant and the Sacconi String Quartet, followed in 2025 through Sub Rosa and Exit Label. The Bristol concert with Jimmy Galvin on November 26 gives the album its first live performance with a full string orchestra.

Belgian dark electronic project Llumen returns with its fourth album “Winter Eden” on Alfa Matrix. The digipak is sold on the label’s webstore; the twelve-track record is also sold digitally and as part of a three-way bundle with new albums from Implant and C-Lekktor.

Side-Line reported the album’s announcement in August, when Pieter Coussement confirmed the twelve-track running order and the lead single “The Leftovers”: Llumen announces fourth album ‘Winter Eden’ for 30 October, led by the single ‘The Leftovers’. “The Leftovers” was already released as a two-track single on Spotify.

Bundle pairs ‘Winter Eden’ with new Implant and C-Lekktor albums

The bundle package groups “Winter Eden” with Implant’s “The Kinematics Of Doubt” and C-Lekktor’s “Antimateria + C:file”, all three set for the same 30 October 2026 release date on Alfa Matrix. Llumen and Implant also share a double release party for their respective albums on 20 November 2026 at mOtown in Sint-Joost-ten-Node, Belgium, repeating a format the two acts first used for a joint Antwerp show in October 2021.

About Llumen

Llumen is the dark electronic project of Pieter Coussement, based in Ghent, Belgium. The act started out as a three-piece before Coussement continued alone from 2009, building a sound that layers old-school EBM, gothic textures, techno and future pop, with Front 242, Haujobb, Diorama, Assemblage 23, Suicide Commando and Covenant as declared reference points. The name itself is a nod to Front 242’s “U-Men”, a track Coussement later covered for the 2016 Alfa Matrix compilation “Recovery >For You< – An Alfa Matrix Tribute To Front 242”.

The debut album “The Memory Institute” reached an expanded bonus-tracks edition on 13 January 2017, and “Polygon Heart” followed on 18 June 2021, described by Coussement as his most autobiographical record after a health crisis reshaped his songwriting process. The nine-track EP “Die Stille Totgeschwiegen” arrived on 30 November 2023, covered at the time in Belgian electro act Llumen is back with 9-track EP ‘Die Stille Totgeschwiegen’ – Out now, and third album “The Breaking Waves” followed as a limited 2CD set on 17 May 2024, reported in Llumen is back with an all new album as a limited 2CD set and discussed at length in Llumen interview: ‘The Breaking Waves’ album acts as a reflection of inner turmoil.

Beyond his own catalogue, Coussement has produced official remixes for Noemi Aurora, C-Lekktor, Pre-Emptive Strike 0.1, Implant, Alien Vampires and Mildreda, contributed a version of Depeche Mode’s “Halo” to “Alfa Matrix Re:covered Vol. 3” in 2019 and covered Front 242’s “Gripped By Fear” for “Recovery 2 For You” in 2026. Live, Llumen performs as a three-piece and has played Infest, Mechanismus, Castle Party, BIMfest and electriXmas, most recently at Infest in Manchester in August 2025. “Winter Eden” is the project’s fourth studio album and its first full-length since “The Breaking Waves”, now confirmed for CD pre-order ahead of the 30 October release and the double release party with Implant.

Belgian EBM act Implant today released its 15th studio album “The Kinematics Of Doubt” on Alfa Matrix, thirty years after Len Lemeire started the project. The fourteen-track album is issued on CD and digital, and is also sold in a three-way bundle with new albums from Llumen and C-Lekktor.

The tracklist runs “The Observer Effect”, “Underneath The Neon Lights”, “Pills”, “I’m Only Happy When You Bleed”, “Civilization”, “Sanity”, “Framed”, “Transaction Failure”, “Are You Crying?”, “Talking In Your Sleep”, “Beyond The Code”, “No Apologies Required”, “On TV” and “Wounds”. Lemeire builds the album’s title from a term borrowed from physics, where kinematics describes movement without addressing the forces behind it; the label describes the record’s theme as doubt treated as motion rather than hesitation, running through songs about control, surveillance, obsession and identity. Lead single “Underneath The Neon Lights” carries the dancefloor pulse of the record, while “I’m Only Happy When You Bleed” is built on a 3/4 rhythm, and “Pills”, “Framed” and “Sanity” work as more direct EBM cuts alongside the slower “Civilization”, “Talking In Your Sleep” and closer “Wounds”.

“Underneath The Neon Lights” is also available as a single on Spotify.

Double release party with Llumen on 20 November

Implant and Llumen launch their respective albums together on 20 November 2026 at mOtown in Sint-Joost-ten-Node, Belgium, repeating a format the two Belgian acts previously used for a joint release show in Antwerp in October 2021; Side-Line reported the date as part of Llumen’s “Winter Eden” announcement in LLUMEN announces fourth album ‘Winter Eden’ for 30 October, led by the single ‘The Leftovers’.

About Implant

Implant is the electro-industrial project Len Lemeire started in Belgium in 1996; that year’s debut CD single “Fun” credits Lemeire alongside Geert Machtelinck and was pressed in a numbered edition of 1,000 copies. Built on relentless EBM sequencing, physical electronics and a recurring catchphrase, “did you have your Implant today?”, the project has carried a catalogue that spans harsh EBM, industrial dance, electro-pop and dark synth across releases including “Implantology”, “Audio Blender”, “The Productive Citizen” and the EP “Fading Away”.

Implant released the free download single “The Drive” in December 2023, followed by the twelfth studio album “The Chaos Machines Part 1 – No More Flies On The Windscreen” in May 2024, a record Lemeire discussed in Implant interview: ‘Embrace chaos through the machines!’, where he described the album’s modular-synth approach and its duet with Noemi Aurora. The trilogy continued with the limited vinyl EP “The Chaos Machines Part 2 – Scratching The Surface” in September 2024 and closed with “Judging Sinners – The Chaos Machines Part 3” on 7 February 2025, a ten-track album again featuring Noemi Aurora and covered in a follow-up feature, Exclusive interview with Implant judging all those sinners. “The Kinematics Of Doubt” follows as Implant’s fifteenth studio album and, on Alfa Matrix’s account, its first release conceived outside that trilogy since 2024, arriving alongside the 20 November double release party with Llumen.

London industrial group Test Dept and Welsh theatre company Brith Gof released the single “Arddylegog Ganu / Heroic Society (Early Studio Sessions, Reworked 2026)” on October 30, 2026 via Artoffact Records. The track is the second advance single from “Gododdin: 2026 Remaster,” a 3CD/1DVD box set expanding the pair’s 1989 album “Gododdin,” due December 4, 2026.

The single is accompanied by a video created by Jason Barton using footage from the stage premiere of “Gododdin” at an abandoned car factory in Cardiff, Wales, in December 1988. Test Dept founders Graham Cunnington and Paul Jamrozy built the new version from early studio session tapes, which the group says “were digitised and used as a template for a reworked version of the entire soundtrack.” The tapes carried early vocal takes later refined for the original album release, along with rhythmic material and samples not used on that version.

“Arddylegog Ganu / Heroic Society” follows the earlier advance single “Gwr A Aeth Gatraeth / Prologue (Early Studio Sessions, Reworked 2026),” both drawn from the sessions made for the original 1988 live soundtrack to “Gododdin.” The box set widens the original album’s seven tracks to 26, adding reworked studio sessions and a 1989 live recording from a quarry in Polverigi, Italy, plus a DVD documentary with footage and interviews. Full involvement came from Brith Gof members Lis Hughes Jones, John E R Hardy and Heike Roms, with audio remastered by Paul Lavigne at Kontrast Mastering and new artwork by Paul Jamrozy and Stefan Alt.

“Gododdin” is based on “Y Gododdin,” the earliest known poem in the Welsh language, telling of 300 Celtic warriors who fought a vastly larger invading force. Test Dept and Brith Gof’s staging combined live percussion and bagpipes with Brith Gof’s physical performance, music and Welsh-language vocals, premiering in Cardiff before further shows in Italy, the Netherlands, West Germany and Scotland in 1989.

“Arddylegog Ganu / Heroic Society” is available as a digital single on Bandcamp, Spotify and Apple Music, ahead of the full “Gododdin: 2026 Remaster” box set, which is open for pre-order as a 3CD/1DVD set and on red vinyl.

About Test Dept

Test Dept formed in London in 1981, building a reputation for percussion-driven industrial music performed on scrap metal and salvaged machinery alongside political and labour-movement themes. The group’s live soundtrack for “Gododdin,” created with Brith Gof and premiered in Cardiff in December 1988, ranks among the most important theatre events staged in Wales, touring Italy, the Netherlands, West Germany and Scotland through 1989 before its studio recordings were released as an album in 1989, produced by Ken Thomas.

Test Dept signed to Artoffact Records in 2025 for a series of catalogue reissues and new material, beginning with the 4xCD “Industrial Overture” box set collecting early studio and live recordings, and the announcement of the “Gododdin: 2026 Remaster” box set. “Gododdin: 2026 Remaster” is the second release in that reissue series, arriving a year after “Industrial Overture,” with new material from the band expected on Artoffact in 2027.

English experimental industrial act Coil‘s remastered reissue of “Gold is the Metal (With the Broadest Shoulders)” is out now, October 30, 2026, via Mute and Threshold House, with vinyl and CD editions following on November 20. The release comes with a new video for “Cardinal Points,” built from footage of John Balance, Peter Christopherson and Stephen Thrower filmed in 1988 by René van der Eijk and directed by Alexander Oey for the program “Sound of Progress,” edited into the video by Ossian Brown and Davide Pepe.

“Gold is the Metal” is the first of four early Coil albums Mute and Threshold House are reissuing, each remastered with restored artwork, previously unseen imagery and new sleeve notes. The album is the third in a trilogy that began with “Scatology” and “Horse Rotorvator,” built from material sidelined during the sequencing of “Horse Rotorvator.” Stephen Thrower, who wrote the reissue’s new sleeve notes, describes it as “the culmination of a ‘magnum opus’ in the artistic sense, the closure of a trilogy – Scatology, Horse Rotorvator and Gold is the Metal – rounding up even our most jagged, cryptic, frictional, intemperate materials into a final balanced form.”

The album’s collage structure draws on field recordings including a brass band recorded in Mexico, a snippet of a British television documentary about young boxers, and a Thai boxing arena recorded by Christopherson. “Metal in the Head” preserves the sound of a hired Fairlight sampler malfunctioning and randomly distorting the music during recording.

Coil formed in London in 1982, when John Balance began using the name for a solo project. He had met Peter Christopherson, then a member of Throbbing Gristle, at a 1980 Throbbing Gristle show, and the two started performing as Coil in 1983 before leaving Psychic TV in January 1984 to work on the project full time. Their 1984 debut, the one-sided 12″ single “How to Destroy Angels,” was followed by Stephen Thrower joining as a full-time member from 1987 to 1992. On the reissue series, Coil are credited as Balance (1962-2004), Christopherson (1955-2010) and Thrower.

Threshold House was Coil’s own label, launched with “Gold is the Metal” in 1987. For this reissue, its artwork has been reconstructed by Thrower and his partner Ossian Brown, a member of Coil from 1999 to 2004, expanding on the original design with archive material including artefacts, photographs, artworks and personal notes made by Balance. Threshold House has been reactivated by Thrower and Brown for the new partnership with Mute, in association with the estates of Balance and Christopherson.

The series continues with Coil’s soundtrack for Derek Jarman’s “The Angelic Conversation,” the unreleased music Coil recorded for Clive Barker’s “Hellraiser,” and the compilation “Unnatural History.” Side-Line has tracked the reissue campaign since its announcement, including the expanded “Hellraiser” sessions and the earlier preview of the track “Either His, or Yours.”

“Gold is the Metal (With the Broadest Shoulders)” is available as a digital album on Bandcamp, with vinyl and CD editions arriving November 20 through Mute.

About Coil

Coil formed in London in 1982 as a solo vehicle for John Balance, who had met Peter Christopherson, then a member of Throbbing Gristle, at a Throbbing Gristle concert in February 1980. After Throbbing Gristle dissolved in 1981, Christopherson joined Genesis P-Orridge in Psychic TV, where Balance also worked before the pair left in January 1984 to concentrate on Coil full time. Their debut release, the one-sided 12″ single “How to Destroy Angels,” came out that year on L.A.Y.L.A.H. Antirecords.

Stephen Thrower became a full-time member from 1987 to 1992, the period spanning “Scatology” (1985) and “Horse Rotorvator” (1986) on Some Bizzare, and “Gold is the Metal (With the Broadest Shoulders)” (1987), the first album on the band’s own label, Threshold House. “Love’s Secret Domain” followed in 1991. The 1990s also saw Balance and Christopherson work under aliases including Black Light District, ELpH and Time Machines.

Coil’s catalogue through 1999 and 2000 included “Astral Disaster,” “Musick to Play in the Dark Vol. 1,” “Queens of the Circulating Library” and “Musick to Play in the Dark Vol. 2,” followed by “Black Antlers” in 2004. John Balance died that November after a fall at his home; Peter Christopherson completed the band’s final studio album, “The Ape of Naples,” released in 2005, before his own death in Bangkok in 2010.

Side-Line has tracked Coil’s reissue catalogue, including the 10th-anniversary 2LP edition of “Backwards” and the 10th-anniversary “Recoiled” remix album with Nine Inch Nails. “Gold is the Metal (With the Broadest Shoulders)” is the first release in the new reissue partnership between Mute and the reactivated Threshold House.

Ministry and former New Order bassist Peter Hook each contribute a cover version to “Thousand Days Of Yesterdays – A Tribute To Captain Beyond,” a various-artists tribute album due November 20, 2026 via Cleopatra Records. Both acts rework the Captain Beyond signature track “Dancing Madly Backwards (On A Sea Of Air),” included as separate bonus tracks on the CD and digital editions. Ministry’s own next album, “Hate To Go,” is in the works, according to the label.

The tribute itself is built around the 1970s progressive/hard rock band Captain Beyond, a project formed by former Deep Purple vocalist Rod Evans with Iron Butterfly alumni Lee Dorman and Larry “Rhino” Reinhardt and drummer Bobby Caldwell, formerly of the Johnny Winter Group. “Thousand Days Of Yesterdays” reinterprets 19 songs from the band’s early catalogue, 13 of them on the blue vinyl edition, with contributions from Hawkwind’s Nik Turner, Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson, Pentagram, the Flower Kings, the Quill and others. The CD and digital editions add six further bonus tracks beyond the vinyl tracklist, including the Ministry and Hook versions.

The album marks Captain Beyond’s first full tribute collection, built around songs from the band’s self-titled 1972 debut and its following albums.

“Thousand Days Of Yesterdays” is available for pre-order as a digital album, CD and vinyl LP through Cleopatra Records’ Bandcamp page, due November 20, 2026.

About Ministry

Ministry is the industrial band led by Al Jourgensen, formed in Chicago in 1981. Starting out on a synthpop-leaning sound with the 1983 debut “With Sympathy,” the group shifted toward the heavier, sample-driven industrial metal style that defined albums such as “The Land of Rape and Honey” (1988), “Psalm 69” (1992) and “Filth Pig” (1996), and that has kept the band active across four decades of lineup changes around Jourgensen. Side-Line has tracked Ministry’s recent activity, including the reworked early-years compilation “The Squirrely Years Revisited” via Cleopatra Records and the “Dancing Alone” remix by Jurgen Engler. The band’s cover of Captain Beyond’s “Dancing Madly Backwards” arrives as its own next album, “Hate To Go,” is in development.

Norwegian group Wardruna released “Helvegen II” on October 30, 2026 through By Norse Music, a new recording of “Helvegen,” one of the band’s best-known compositions since its original 2012 release. The track comes with a new music film directed by Finnish filmmaker Tuukka Koski, and the single is also available on colored 12″ vinyl.

Wardruna founder and composer Einar Selvik said the re-recording grew out of how the song has been used by listeners over the past fourteen years, including at funerals, weddings and births, and in communal singing traditions outside Scandinavia, now performed in multiple languages. “For some years now, we have been quietly working on a new recorded version of ‘Helvegen.’ Not to replace the original, but to reflect what the song has gradually become,” Selvik said.

In the music film, Finnish dancer Sofia Ruija portrays a deceased person through dance, accompanied by a raven named Krummi as a silent witness to the transition. “At some point, we realized that the song no longer existed only as the version we recorded in 2012. It had become something larger, shaped by the people who embraced it and by the countless moments in which it had been given a place and a purpose. This recording is our way of acknowledging that journey,” Selvik said.

The single carries two versions: “Helvegen II” and “Helvegen (Skaldic Version),” the latter exclusive to the vinyl edition.

“Helvegen II” is available as a digital single on Bandcamp, with the 12″ vinyl edition open for pre-order through the band’s own stores.

About Wardruna

Wardruna is a Norwegian group based in Bergen that builds its music around Nordic cultural and esoteric tradition, combining historical instruments and poetic metres with lyrics in Norwegian, Old Norse and related languages. The band’s sound took shape across the “Runaljod” trilogy – “Runaljod – gap var Ginnunga” (2009), “Runaljod – Yggdrasil” (2013) and “Runaljod – Ragnarok” (2016) – built around the 24 proto-Norse runes, before moving toward stripped-down, acoustic writing on “Skald” (2018). “Kvitravn” (2021), which explored Northern European magic, spirit animals and animism, reached number one in Canada and Austria and number two in Germany, among top chart placements in thirteen countries overall. A live album, “Kvitravn – First Flight of the White Raven,” followed in 2022, and the band’s most recent studio album, “Birna,” came out in 2025 to similarly strong chart results.

Founder, composer and multi-instrumentalist Einar Selvik grew up on the island of Osterøy north of Bergen, where an early interest in runes and Scandinavian history led him toward music rooted in historical sources after years in metal bands. He has studied pre-Christian Norse culture, philosophy and mythology since 2002, lectured on Old Norse history and music, and collaborated with artists including Mari Boine, Tina Guo, Matoma and Eivør. Outside Wardruna, Selvik composed music for the History Channel series “Vikings” (2014) and, with Jesper Kyd and Sarah Schachner, the soundtrack of the video game “Assassin’s Creed Valhalla” (2020).

Side-Line first covered Wardruna in 2020 around the announcement of “Kvitravn.” “Helvegen II” marks the band’s first new release since “Birna,” revisiting a song that has become one of its most personal to listeners since 2012.

Belgian electro-industrial act Suicide Commando and US EBM project Assemblage 23 released the collaborative single “I am your Darkness” on October 30, 2026 through Out Of Line Music. The digital release pairs a radio edit with an extended “Kill Your Demons” version. A five-track physical EP follows on December 3, 2026, available for pre-order now.

Suicide Commando mainman Johan Van Roy wrote the track as a confrontation with depression and self-doubt, set against pounding industrial rhythms and EBM programming. Assemblage 23 is the solo synthpop and EBM project of US musician Tom Shear, who joins Van Roy on the collaboration; Shear’s own project most recently released the album “Null” via Metropolis Records.

The lyrics present the inner voice of depression as an external presence, with lines such as “I am your darkness / I am your pain / I am your master / and I am your reign,” while the chorus, “Kill your demons / kill your fear,” reads as defiance, not resolution. “The song deals with depression and our constant fight against our own monsters and demons,” Van Roy and Shear said of the collaboration.

The physical EP adds three remixes: DSTRTD SGNL reworks the track for the dancefloor, label mate KLLSIGNL delivers a “Wendigo Cut,” and J Wølf contributes a further remix alongside the Kill Your Demons version, the radio edit and the DSTRTD SGNL mix.

“I am your Darkness” is available as a digital single on Bandcamp, with the physical EP open for pre-order there ahead of its December 3, 2026 release.

About Suicide Commando

Suicide Commando is the solo project of Belgian musician and producer Johan Van Roy, formed in 1986. Beginning with a series of self-released demo tapes in the late 1980s, the project has released music in the harder electro and EBM underground for four decades. The 1994 debut full-length “Critical Stage” started that run, followed by releases including “Mindstrip,” “Axis of Evil,” “Bind, Torture, Kill,” “Implements of Hell” and the 2022 album “Goddestruktor,” which reached number 9 on the official German album charts. Club tracks such as “See You in Hell,” “B.T.K.,” “Die Motherfucker Die” and “Hellraiser” remain staples of the dark electro scene.

Side-Line has tracked the project’s recent catalogue work, including the “Final Stage” EP revisiting the debut album, the 20th-anniversary reissue of “Axis of Evil” and the single “God Of Destruction.” Suicide Commando marks its 40th anniversary in 2026, the same year “I am your Darkness” brings Van Roy and Shear together for the first time.

Suicide Commando tour dates

Suicide Commando is on tour across Europe through 2027, with dates confirmed as follows:

• November 7, 2026 – Zürich, Switzerland
• November 14, 2026 – Rotterdam, Netherlands
• December 11, 2026 – Bielefeld, Germany
• December 12, 2026 – Oberhausen, Germany (sold out)
• December 19, 2026 – Milan, Italy
• January 15, 2027 – Barcelona, Spain
• January 16, 2027 – Madrid, Spain
• January 30, 2027 – Aarschot, Belgium
• February 11, 2027 – Glasgow, UK
• February 12, 2027 – Sheffield, UK
• February 13, 2027 – London, UK
• February 14, 2027 – Bristol, UK
• May 7, 2027 – Berlin, Germany
• August 7-8, 2027 – Hildesheim, Germany (M’era Luna)
• October 23, 2027 – Jönköping, Sweden

(By our Norwegian correspondent Jan Ronald Stange. Photos by Tom Lund) Norwegian band Don Juan Dracula released “I Think It Hurts” on October 23, 2026 through Switch Off Records. The band usually mixes synthpop, rock and indie into energetic, catchy songs – the new single is a slower, more sombre downtempo track. The digital release pairs the original with a remix by Mörmaid.

Mörmaid is the project of Oslo-based producer, songwriter and vocalist Live Sollid Schulerud. She released her debut album “Pearlescent Dark” on May 23, 2024, and opened for Don Juan Dracula at Goldie in Oslo on May 23, 2025.

We’ve written before about their comeback single “Burn”, the SnifferGod rework of that track and the follow-up “Be The Same“, while realizing too late that their third single last year, “Play With Me“, went under the radar (slap on my hand for that!).

The new song differs from the previous releases in several ways, from the tempo to the cover and the video. In an email interview a week after the release, vocalist and songwriter Henrik Lysell talked about all three, as well as the band’s plans for 2027.

Interview: Henrik Lysell on Don Juan Dracula’s ‘I Think It Hurts’

Side-Line: The slower tempo, less playful, more serious-themed – is “I Think It Hurts” a new direction for DJD? Or complementing/balancing other songs?

Henrik Lysell: I wouldn’t really call it a new direction. I write quite a few slower songs, but they don’t all end up being released as singles or making it onto an album. We love playing upbeat music and getting a party going, but this is another side of Don Juan Dracula.

“I Think It Hurts” came about while I was sitting in the basement with my Moog Sub 37, singing whatever came out. I hadn’t written any lyrics beforehand. I just needed to get something off my chest, and this song was what came out of that.

There’s no doubt we’re entering a slightly darker period. The red is giving way to black, and the cover reflects that shift. But we’re still Don Juan Dracula, so there will always be a playful side to what we do.

Side-Line: The cover image breaks with previous styles – I think someone mentioned that it was a family member?

HL: The photo is actually of my grandmother, Eva, my dad’s mother. She’s no longer with us, and although she was always proud of me, she probably would have refused to let me use this particular photo on the cover! I loved her with all my heart, and she was a very important person in my life. I’ve always loved this picture. There’s something about it that I find visually beautiful, and it felt right for this song.

Side-Line: And the video is also quite different from the previous ones of the last few years; no AI, just getting ready to go on stage. What inspired that idea?

HL: Honestly, it started with a lack of time. We wanted to release the song now, and it needed a video, so we went back to footage from our show at Artilleriverkstedet last December, where we played to 400 people.

What I like about it is that you get to see behind the scenes, beyond the glossy AI videos and the stage personas. It’s us backstage, getting ready, being together. There’s a lot of friendship and love in this band, and I think that comes through. It doesn’t tell the story of the lyrics directly, but it shows the people behind the song. That felt right for something this personal.

Side-Line: How has the feedback on the release been so far?

HL: The feedback has been really good. People seem to appreciate hearing a slower, more vulnerable side of us. And the Mörmaid remix is insanely cool. We honestly couldn’t have asked for a better result. There will probably be more downtempo songs from us in the future too.

Side-Line: Any future plans and releases?

HL: Definitely. We have lots of songs nearly finished, so there’s plenty of new music coming, with an album planned for 2027. We’re incredibly proud of what we’re working on, and I don’t think we’ve ever felt more creative.

On December 12, we’re back at Artilleriverkstedet in Horten for our Christmas party show, just like last year, and we’re aiming for another packed house. Expect old favourites alongside plenty of new songs. The visual side is changing too, with the red giving way to black. You’ll see a slightly darker, more serious Don Juan Dracula, but we still know how to throw a party. See you at the show!

Tickets for Don Juan Dracula at Artilleriverkstedet on December 12, 2026

Stream “I Think It Hurts” here: Spotify | Apple Music | Deezer | Amazon Music | Tidal | YouTube Music | Pandora | iHeartRadio

About Don Juan Dracula

Don Juan Dracula come from Åsgårdstrand in Horten, Vestfold, and used Oslo as their home base in the early years. The band mixes guitar-based pop with synthesizers and electronics, and performs in white suits. The first official release, the “Perfect Girl EP”, came out on Switch Off Records on February 11, 2002, with songs by vocalist and guitarist Henrik Lysell and keyboardist Henning Krane, and Ola Eriksen on bass. The “Happy Boy EP” followed on April 28, 2003.

With Thomas Lute on drums, the band recorded the debut album “Young Debutantes II” with producer Alex Møklebust of Seigmen and Zeromancer, mostly at the band’s own rehearsal studio. Switch Off Records released it on March 7, 2005, shortly after the “Take Me Home EP”, a remix release built around the album’s lead single. On August 12, 2005, Don Juan Dracula opened Øyafestivalen in Oslo by landing in a rented helicopter next to the stage while their local school band played.

After the tour for the album, the band took a short break, then returned in 2006 with shows in New York and at Beijing Pop Festival, where Placebo and Supergrass were also on the bill. The second album, “New Sensation”, followed on June 23, 2008. The band recorded and produced it themselves, with mixing by Ed Buller and Stephen Hague. It remained their last release for almost 17 years.

The comeback started on February 14, 2025 with the self-produced single “Burn”, with Fredrik Fagerli Dahle as the new drummer. Møklebust remixed the track as SnifferGod in March 2025, and “Be The Same” came out on April 11, 2025.

On May 23, 2025, the band played Goldie, their first Oslo concert in 17 years. “Play With Me”, with the B-side “Bloquée”, followed on October 31, 2025, and on December 13, 2025 the band played a Christmas show at Artilleriverkstedet in Horten.

The current lineup is Henrik Lysell (vocals, guitar), Henning Krane (synth), Ola Eriksen (bass), Fredrik Fagerli Dahle (drums) and Dino Trto (guitar). “I Think It Hurts” is the band’s first release of 2026, arriving a year after “Play With Me”. Don Juan Dracula plan an album for 2027 and return to Artilleriverkstedet on December 12, 2026.

The Klinik’s compilation “Box” returns on October 30, 2026 as a remastered triple-vinyl edition through Antler Records, the label that first released it in 1990. The set brings together 19 tracks that Marc Verhaeghen and Dirk Ivens recorded between 1984 and 1988 at The Lab, a period in which the duo developed the cold, stripped-down electronic sound that the band became known for within the Belgian EBM scene. Music on the original recordings is credited to Verhaeghen, lyrics to Ivens.

The original “Box” sold out in its limited pressing and became a sought-after collector’s item; it was later reissued on Hands Productions in 2004. This new edition comprises three heavyweight black 12-inch records in an expanded single sleeve carrying the original front cover, with a double-sided printed inner sleeve featuring previously unpublished photographs by Inge Bekkers. The recordings were digitally remastered by Pieter De Wagter (Equus) in 2026. “Box” is available to pre-order through Antler Records.

About The Klinik

The Klinik was formed in Belgium around 1982 by Marc Verhaeghen. In 1985, Verhaeghen, Dirk Ivens and Eric van Wonterghem of Absolute Body Control joined Sandy Nijs of The Maniacs under the name Absolute Controlled Clinical Maniacs, soon shortened to The Klinik. Nijs left the following year to form Hybryds, and van Wonterghem left in 1987, leaving Ivens and Verhaeghen as the duo behind the band’s best-known work, released through Antler.

The Klinik’s 1991 album “Time” was the last the Ivens/Verhaeghen duo made together before the pair went separate ways; Ivens went on to form Dive, while Verhaeghen continued the project, dropping “The” from its name. Ivens and Verhaeghen reunited for live shows in 2003 and 2004, and again for the album “Eat Your Heart Out” in 2013, their first studio album together in 22 years. Side-Line reported in 2017 that the band remained active without Ivens.

Solo artist Belladonna released her self-titled debut single, “Belladonna,” on October 25, 2026 via DOLLCORE Records in Tokyo. The track pairs classically trained operatic soprano vocals with a neoclassical arrangement, combining 1970s Americana with 18th-century classical opera. Belladonna self-directed the single’s video, which Swedish artist Endigo produced. She named the project after the 1973 Japanese animated film “Belladonna of Sadness.”

“Belladonna” is available on Spotify and YouTube.

About Belladonna

Belladonna is a solo artist signed to DOLLCORE Records, a label based in Tokyo. She describes her sound as sitting at the dark end of pop, pairing operatic vocals with neoclassical production.

Malmö darkwave act Abu Nein released “Ghost Puppeteer” on October 30, 2026 via Icons Creating Evil Art, the first of three singles leading up to their new album “Is Anyone Awake?,” due February 5, 2027. The 3:39 track combines driving electronics and synthpop hooks with a theme centred on autonomy and cutting ties, and includes a baile funk-styled “Ye Ardina” vocal sample through its chorus.

“Ghost Puppeteer” was produced by Erica Li Lundqvist and Tobias Bernstrup, who also wrote the music between them; Lundqvist wrote the lyrics, Bernstrup mixed the track and Doruk Özturkcan handled mastering. The single follows a line-up change that leaves Lundqvist as the band’s sole remaining songwriter, working alongside Bernstrup to shape the group’s next chapter.

“Ghost Puppeteer” is available on Spotify.

About Abu Nein

Abu Nein debuted in 2020 with “Secular Psalms,” an album nominated for a Manifest Award and winner of the Synthsläggan Award for Best Swedish Debut Album. The band’s third album, “III: Dark Faith,” won the Manifest Award for Best Swedish Synth Album. Abu Nein has performed across Scandinavia and Europe, including Wave-Gotik-Treffen, Amphi Festival, NCN Festival and Prague Gothic Treffen, and has shared stages with Kite, The Legendary Pink Dots, Minuit Machine and She Past Away.

Reviewers have described the band’s sound as “Speak and Spell era Depeche Mode if Siouxie Sioux replaced Dave Gahan,” according to ReGen Magazine, and as “an artful take on modern Darkwave, fueled by evocative and melancholic gothic-infused Post-punk poetry,” according to White Light // White Heat.

Swedish synthpop act Diskodiktator released a remix of “Bättre Tider”, taken from their album “Det Trötta Hatets Stad,” reworked by Peter Sjöholm of the project Computer Killed The Record Store. Sjöholm, who the band describe as rarely remixing other acts, reworked the track and added his own vocals to the new version.

The remix is part of a two-way exchange between the two acts: Diskodiktator is returning the favour with a remix of a Peter Sjöholm track, due out as a single the following week.

“Bättre Tider” streams via Spotify.

About Diskodiktator

Diskodiktator is a Swedish synthpop act whose album “Det Trötta Hatets Stad” (“The City of Tired Hatred”) combines minimal synth electronics with Swedish-language lyrics. The band’s earlier album “Inte Så Svart” was reviewed on Reflections of Darkness. Peter Sjöholm, who remixed “Bättre Tider” for this release, records under the name Computer Killed The Record Store.

Aesthetic Perfection and Swedish synthwave trio Priest released the single “Rorschach” via Out Of Line Music, a day ahead of the two bands’ joint European tour. “Rorschach” pairs Priest’s synthwave sound with Aesthetic Perfection’s industrial pop, and is named for the inkblot test, with lyrics about being seen only through other people’s projections instead of as one is.

“Rorschach” is available on Spotify. The single caps a year for Aesthetic Perfection that included a US headline tour and appearances at Till Fest in Leipzig, M’era Luna Festival and Summer Breeze Open Air.

Suckers For Punishment tour dates

Aesthetic Perfection and Priest launch their joint “Suckers For Punishment” tour on October 30, 2026 in Sheffield, running through the UK, France and Germany before wrapping up in Hamburg:

• October 30, 2026 – Sheffield, UK
• November 1, 2026 – London, UK
• November 2, 2026 – Paris, France
• November 3, 2026 – Cologne, Germany
• November 4, 2026 – Berlin, Germany
• November 10, 2026 – Munich, Germany
• November 11, 2026 – Frankfurt, Germany
• November 12, 2026 – Hannover, Germany
• November 13, 2026 – Leipzig, Germany
• November 14, 2026 – Hamburg, Germany

Aesthetic Perfection returns to the US in spring 2027 for dates with Powerman 5000, running April 12 to May 22, followed by an appearance at AMPHI Festival 2027 in Cologne on July 24 and 25.

About Aesthetic Perfection

Aesthetic Perfection is an industrial pop project led by Los Angeles-born, Austria-based producer Daniel Graves, with Los Angeles native Constance Antoinette and New York-based drummer Joe Letz. Over 25 years, the band has released seven full-length albums, blending industrial, pop and goth elements. Its past collaborators include Sean Beavan (Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson), Jinxx (Black Veil Brides) and Rhys Fulber (Fear Factory), and its music has featured in Netflix originals and on the “Underworld: Awakening” soundtrack.

Priest is a Swedish synthwave trio featuring former members of Ghost. Side-Line has previously covered the band’s cover versions of Rammstein’s “Engel” and Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus.”

Baltes & Zäyn released “Bride of Frankenstein” on October 31, 2026 via Echozone. The tech-noir electro single is built around the mad-scientist trope of the 1935 Universal film of the same name, directed by James Whale as a sequel to his 1931 film “Frankenstein,” and starring Boris Karloff with Elsa Lanchester as the Bride.

The song’s lyrics were written by ZÄYN in 1988. The instrumental was sketched in 2023 on a vintage Yamaha QY-700 hardware sequencer and completed by BALTES the same year. “Bride of Frankenstein” follows the duo’s earlier single built around a crossover between a Godzilla-style kaiju and Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis,” continuing the pair’s recurring use of horror and science-fiction film references, and arrives timed for Halloween.

About Baltes & Zäyn

Baltes & Zäyn release tech-noir electro through the German label Echozone, with a recurring focus on horror and science-fiction film imagery across their singles, including the kaiju-themed single that preceded “Bride of Frankenstein.”

The Grab Society, the duo of Manfred Thomaser and Ulf Müller, released “Eternal (Halloween Mix)” on October 30, 2026 via Echozone. The single expands the group’s earlier track “Eternal,” released close to two years ago, into a Halloween-themed edition centred on a vampire narrative, again featuring Lady Annabelle alongside Jörg Tochtenhagen.

The release sets a spoken radio-play segment inside the song, extending the track to a run time of close to 43 minutes. The tracklist comprises “Eternal (Halloween Mix feat. Annabelle & Jörg Tochtenhagen)” and an instrumental version of the same mix. The cover artwork was AI-generated by Julian Blaustein together with The Grab Society. The single’s release, timed for Samhain and All Hallows’ Eve, continues the narrative thread of the original “Eternal,” giving its protagonist a second life within the story.

About The Grab Society

The Grab Society is the project of Manfred Thomaser and Ulf Müller, releasing dark electro and electropop through the German label Echozone. Lady Annabelle and Jörg Tochtenhagen, both credited on “Eternal (Halloween Mix),” have contributed to the group’s work before, on the original version of “Eternal.”

Endzustand released “Human Kapital” on October 30, 2026 via Echozone, the second single from the EBM act’s current album “Macht Gesellschaft.” The track is out as a digital single with three remixes attached, by Wellencocktail (Achim Dreßler), Genom Staahl and Plastikstrom.

“Human Kapital” addresses the value of the individual in a society where, as the band’s own description puts it, millions work daily while a small number profit and continue to accumulate wealth. The lyrics treat work, performance and availability as metrics that reduce a person to an economic figure, without offering a slogan or rallying cry in response.

About Endzustand

Endzustand is an EBM act on the German label Echozone. Its current line-up is Ralle on vocals and Rudi on drums.

“Human Kapital” is the second single pulled from the band’s album “Macht Gesellschaft,” and arrives with the three remixes from Wellencocktail, Genom Staahl and Plastikstrom.

SRK Group, the dark electro project of producer Sebastian R. Komor, released the single “Bleeding Heartsicle” on October 30, 2026 via Infacted Recordings. The release date was set for Halloween, and the single’s artwork carries the SRK Group logo rendered in dripping orange lettering.

“Bleeding Heartsicle” is SRK Group’s second release. The project debuted on September 11, 2026 with “Spitfire”, also via Infacted Recordings, which Komor wrote, produced, mixed and mastered at his own Xenomorph Production Studio. Like its predecessor, “Bleeding Heartsicle” keeps SRK Group in dark electro and EBM, built for club play.

“Bleeding Heartsicle” is available as a digital single on Bandcamp.

About SRK Group

SRK Group is the newest outlet for Sebastian R. Komor, a Polish-born, Norwegian-raised producer now based in Canada who has spent around three decades in the electronic underground. Komor is best known as a longtime member of Icon of Coil, and his project history also includes Monofader, Zombie Girl, Komor Kommando, Moonitor and Melt. Through Bruderschaft, he worked alongside Ronan Harris of VNV Nation, Joakim Montelius of Covenant and Stephan Groth of Apoptygma Berzerk.

Beyond his own projects, Komor has built an extensive catalogue as a producer, remixer, mixer and mastering engineer, crediting work with Apoptygma Berzerk, Front Line Assembly, Ayria, Glis, Circle of Dust, Clockwork Echo, Soft Vein and SPANKTHENUN, among others, and he has also remixed material for Aesthetic Perfection.

SRK Group launched on September 11, 2026 with “Spitfire,” a track combining dark electro, EBM and club-oriented electronics that Komor described at the time as “personal, loud and danceable.” “Bleeding Heartsicle,” released seven weeks later, is the project’s second single.

Doncaster, UK duo Peak Flow released the single and video for “Never Coming Down” on 30 October 2026, across streaming platforms and on Bandcamp. Written by the duo, James Rollings and Jools Rollings, the song addresses the emotional intensity of entering a new relationship, caught between euphoria and vulnerability.

Musically, “Never Coming Down” pairs the band’s hooks with distortion and heavy fuzz, aiming for a sound that is both euphoric and uneasy. The accompanying video was shot among headstones in a graveyard setting, matching the song’s push and pull between elation and unease.

“Never Coming Down” follows the remix of “Don’t Die in Your Sleep,” a song about the sudden death of a close friend that deals with grief, helplessness and guilt. Of their songwriting generally, the duo has said: “All our songs are about different emotions that occur in life and we try to write songs that are powerful and catchy.”

About Peak Flow

Peak Flow is a post-punk and goth duo from Doncaster, UK, formed in April 2023 by vocalist and lyricist Jools Rollings and instrumentalist James Rollings. The band has described its sound as sitting between synth, industrial and post-punk, citing the influence of 1980s synth bands, 1990s industrial acts and post-punk groups such as The Jesus and Mary Chain and Joy Division.

The duo’s early singles “Running To You” and its remix were followed by “Don’t Die in Your Sleep,” reissued as a remix in September 2025, and by “Repetition.” “Never Coming Down,” released 30 October 2026, is the band’s latest single and video.

British gothic rock band The Mission released the single “Kindness Is A Weapon” alongside a lyric video, announcing the album “Songs for Kith and Kin”, due 2 April 2027 via Cooking Vinyl. The 15-track album is the band’s first since “Another Fall from Grace” in 2016, and will be available on CD, cassette and double vinyl, with preorders open through the band’s official store.

“Kindness Is A Weapon” had already appeared in the band’s live sets before a hiatus around Wayne Hussey‘s open-heart surgery, with Hussey continuing to revise its lyrics until the song was recorded in June 2026. The surgery and recovery also delayed the wider album, originally planned for 2025. Hussey described the song’s premise plainly: “You can use kindness as a weapon for good, and you have to let things go at some point.”

Hussey, guitarist Simon Hinkler and bassist Craig Adams are joined on the album by drummer Alex Baum, who joined the band in 2022 and co-wrote the track “Roll With the Punches”. Hussey produced “Songs for Kith and Kin”, with César Lamschtein recording at Faro House Studios in José Ignacio, Uruguay, and additional orchestral sessions in Montevideo; the arrangements add keyboards, sitar and tamboura around Hussey and Hinkler’s guitars.

Hussey has said the album moves from concerns about his health and the wider world toward family, friendship and home, a progression reflected in its title. “Kindness Is A Weapon” is available to stream now; “Songs for Kith and Kin” is available to preorder on CD, cassette and double vinyl, in two colored-vinyl pressings, through the band’s official store.

The Mission’s first album since ‘Another Fall from Grace’

“Songs for Kith and Kin” follows “Another Fall from Grace”, released in September 2016 and produced by Tim Palmer, which marked ten years in the band’s catalogue this past September. That album featured guest vocal contributions from Julianne Regan, Ville Valo of HIM, Gary Numan and Martin Gore of Depeche Mode. “Songs for Kith and Kin” is credited to the same core lineup of Hussey, Hinkler and Adams, with Baum now established as the band’s drummer.

About The Mission

The Mission is an English gothic rock band formed in Leeds in 1986 by Wayne Hussey and Craig Adams after the pair left The Sisters of Mercy. They recruited guitarist Simon Hinkler and drummer Mick Brown, performing first as the Sisterhood before settling on The Mission and signing to Mercury/Phonogram’s Chapter 22 imprint. The band’s debut album, “God’s Own Medicine”, followed in 1986, reaching the UK top ten, with the single “Wasteland” reaching number 11 on the UK singles chart in January 1987 and “Tower of Strength” reaching number 12 in February 1988.

The band’s second album, “Children” (1988), reached number two on the UK album chart. Further studio albums followed through the 1990s and 2000s, including “Carved in Sand” (1990), “Masque” (1992), “Neverland” (1995), “Blue” (1996), “Aura” (2001, released on Playground) and “God Is a Bullet” (2007). Hinkler left the band in 1990 and rejoined in 2011, the year a wider band reunion was announced; Adams has also had two periods away from the lineup, returning in 2011. “The Brightest Light” followed in 2013, and “Another Fall from Grace” in 2016, released through Eyes Wide Shut Recordings and reaching number 38 on the UK album chart.

Alex Baum joined as drummer in 2022. “Songs for Kith and Kin”, due 2 April 2027 via Cooking Vinyl, is the band’s first studio album in over a decade, introduced by the single “Kindness Is A Weapon”.

Leipzig darkwave project Kalte Steine released “Hexentanz” on 29 October 2026 as a self-released digital single, a German-language track drawing on the witch folklore of Germany’s Harz Mountains. It is the project’s eighth single and its first German-language release since June 2026.

The song is set at the Hexentanzplatz, the Witches’ Dance Ground above the town of Thale, where regional legend holds that witches gather each year at the devil’s invitation before flying on to the Brocken peak, also known as the Blocksberg. The lyrics name the gathering’s head witch, Watelinde, and follow two visitors drawn into the circle around her fire until dawn finds the clearing empty. Kalte Steine has said the song comes from firsthand knowledge of the area’s lore: “I grew up in the foothills of the Harz Mountains. There are many old myths and legends surrounding the Harz.”

Musically, “Hexentanz” opens on piano and storm sounds before a drum machine, bass and a cold guitar figure establish the track’s momentum, with brief synth pulses and crow calls threaded through the arrangement.

Where ‘Hexentanz’ sits in the Kalte Steine catalogue

Kalte Steine’s first four singles, “Shattered”, “Dysthymia”, “Wüste aus Beton” and “Kinder der Nacht”, were sung in German and released on Bandcamp in June 2026. The project then moved to English for three further singles: “Crying Out” (29 June 2026), “Drowning” (20 August 2026) and “Love Is A Lie” (24 September 2026). “Hexentanz” returns to German for the project’s eighth release. All eight tracks are self-released, with no label and no album to date, sold directly through Bandcamp and on streaming platforms.

About Kalte Steine

Kalte Steine is a darkwave and post-punk project based in Leipzig, Germany, that has not published a lineup or disclosed how many people are involved in its recordings. Recording activity became public in June 2026 with four German-language singles built around drum machine, bass, a single-line guitar, synthesizer and vocals set back in delay and reverb: “Shattered”, “Dysthymia”, “Wüste aus Beton” and “Kinder der Nacht”, tagged by the project as alternative, darkwave, goth, gothic and post-punk.

“Crying Out”, released 29 June 2026, moved the project’s writing into English, a language it kept for “Drowning” (20 August 2026) and “Love Is A Lie” (24 September 2026). “Hexentanz”, out 29 October 2026, returns to German and to the rural folklore of the Harz region where its author grew up, extending the project’s recurring themes of isolation and unease into older, shared stories of dread.

Canadian electronic duo Delerium released “Dream Palace” on 30 October 2026 via Metropolis Records, a collaboration with US dream-pop duo Magic Wands and the second single from the album “Exaudire”, due 22 January 2027. A music video for the track, directed by Shahrnaz Nancy Southwick and Magic Wands, premiered alongside the single.

“Dream Palace” follows “Into the Light”, the first single from “Exaudire”, released in September 2026 with Diamanda Galás. Magic Wands, also signed to Metropolis Records, contribute guitar and vocals to “Dream Palace”, with Dexy Valentine of the duo writing the lyrics.

Valentine described how the collaboration came together, then how the video turned the song into a brief escape into another world: “The music Delerium sent us put us in a trance and we listened to it repeatedly to see how we could complement it. We came up with some guitar and a vocal melody, while lyrically I went with the dreamy feeling the song was giving me. The words were inspired by the music and also the end scene of ‘Contact’, a ’90s movie based on a Carl Sagan novel.” On the accompanying video, centered on a girl opening a wooden box, she added: “The imagery for it […] is about a girl opening a wooden box. As she looks into it she finds herself in a parallel universe.”

“Exaudire” will be Delerium’s 16th studio album and its 12-track lineup pairs Bill Leeb and Rhys Fulber with five guest vocalists in addition to Magic Wands: Mimi Page, Diamanda Galás, Inna Walters, Phildel and Jaël.

About Delerium

Delerium is a Canadian electronic music duo formed in 1987 by Bill Leeb and Rhys Fulber, who had just left Front Line Assembly, the electro-industrial group they continued to lead in parallel. Delerium began as an outlet for Leeb and Fulber’s dark ambient instrumental compositions, distinct from Front Line Assembly’s harder electro-industrial sound.

By the mid-1990s, the project had shifted toward largely downtempo songs built around guest female vocalists, a format that produced the duo’s best-known work: “Silence”, featuring co-writer Sarah McLachlan, from the 1999 album “Karma”, whose Tiësto remix became a worldwide dance-chart hit in 2000. Delerium signed to Metropolis Records, the label that already carried Front Line Assembly, for the albums “Mythologie” (2016) and “Signs” (2023). Delerium songs have appeared in the films “Brokedown Palace” and “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider”, and “Silence” was more recently heard in the BBC drama “Industry”.

“Exaudire”, Latin for listening, hearing and being heard, is Delerium’s 16th album, arriving on CD and limited oxblood-colored double vinyl. “Dream Palace” is the duo’s second new collaboration with Magic Wands after the album’s title track credits, following the dream-pop trio’s own releases on Metropolis Records, including “Switch” (2023) and “Cascades” (2025).

Chinese-Danish dance-punk duo Green Tea Bitches releases the Halloween single “Ghosts” on October 30, 2026. The Copenhagen-based duo describes the track as pushing its dance-punk sound into “grimier post-punk territory,” built on a punchy electronic beat, fuzzed-out guitars and a theremin line.

“Ghosts” follows a narrator who boasts of fighting a polar bear and crossing the sea in a soda can before admitting, in the song’s chant-like hook, “I’m scared of ghosts.” The duo’s guiding philosophy, stated in its own press materials, is “bad taste means freedom.”

Green Tea Bitches formed in Copenhagen in summer 2025 and played more than 40 shows in its first year, including appearances at SPOT, Live At Heart and SHARPE. The band has released three singles in 2026 and is scheduled to perform at ESNS (Eurosonic) in January 2027. “The band (Green Tea Bitches) buzz through their set with endless energy and leave the hot, jumping room somewhat stunned,” according to CLASH.

About Green Tea Bitches

Green Tea Bitches is a Chinese-Danish dance-punk duo based in Copenhagen, formed in summer 2025. The band blends post-punk and electro-punk elements with a self-described “bad taste” aesthetic, and played more than 40 shows in its first year, including SPOT, Live At Heart and SHARPE. Green Tea Bitches released three singles through 2026 before “Ghosts,” out October 30, 2026, and is booked to perform at ESNS (Eurosonic) in January 2027.

Dom Rolando and Vaneesha Dusoruth, an American duo performing under the name Hallows, have now reached their third album. Following their debut on Cold Transmission Music in 2022 and a follow-up on Young And Cold Records in 2023, they have now joined forces with Artoffact Records for this ten-track opus. The album revolves around themes of human connection and loss.

Musically, the record is steeped in a vintage atmosphere, built around analog synthesizer sounds. The duo collaborated with an experienced producer who is well versed in analog equipment. What stands out is the almost blissful quality of the synths, complemented by 80s-style effects woven throughout the tracks. The synthesizers sound warm and inviting, fitting perfectly within the duo’s Electro-Pop approach. There is a well-crafted balance between calmer, almost sweet tracks and more dynamic compositions, driven largely by their rhythmic structures. Hallows have struck an excellent balance between classic 80s influences and a contemporary sensibility. The prominent female vocals add a touch of sensuality to the production, occasionally joined by her male counterpart. The album concludes with two remixes: the first, a very strong track by Inhalt, and the second, a remix by Nuxx.

While some tracks could perhaps have benefited from a more pronounced climax, “Dream” remains a highly pleasant and enjoyable record. Hallows do not simply imitate the 1980s; instead, they draw on those influences to create something that feels distinctly modern. (Rating:7½).

Listen to “Despite Those Times”:

About Hallows

Hallows is an American dark wave and post-punk duo formed in 2018 in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. The project later relocated to Seattle and is now based in Los Angeles. Hallows consists of Dom Rolando (vocals, guitar, synth, drum programming) and Vaneesha Dusoruth (vocals, synth, bass).

The duo released the EP “Subtle” on Phage Tapes in 2020 and contributed a track to the Spotlight compilation on Cold Transmission Music the same year. Hallows’ debut album, “All That Is True,” followed on Cold Transmission Music in 2021. The duo appeared on the label’s “Spotlight Vol. 2” compilation in 2022, then released a second album, “A Quieter Life,” on Young And Cold Records in 2023. The single “Regret” followed in 2025.

Hallows’ third album, “Dream,” was released on Artoffact Records in 2026. The ten-track album includes remixes of “Find A Way” and “Dream.”

Boys Noize has released “Nächstenliebe” featuring Brutalismus 3000, a new single from his upcoming album “7LLVSION,” out November 6 via ONES and ZEROS. The track is built on a step-sequenced bassline in the tradition of EBM pioneers DAF, an act the German producer and his guests cite as a direct influence.

Brutalismus 3000 vocalist Victoria Vassiliki Daldas delivers Dadaist, German-language vocals across a sparse, half-time beat, with a baile funk-styled vocal cutting through the chorus. “7LLVSION” is Boys Noize’s first solo album in five years and follows the single “1+1+1,” made with vocalist ZEP. The album’s full tracklist also features TAICHU, Mayah Alkhateri, ABRA and Safety Trance.

Boys Noize, the project of German-Iraqi producer Alex Ridha, spent the past two years working alongside Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross: he toured with Nine Inch Nails on the “Peel It Back” world tour, co-produced much of the “TRON: Ares” soundtrack, including the Grammy-winning single “As Alive As You Need Me To Be,” and formed the collaborative project Nine Inch Noize with the pair, debuting with a headline Coachella set.

Tracklist: Boys Noize – ‘7LLVSION’

1. Illusion
2. 1+1+1 (feat. ZEP)
3. Take Me Out
4. Nächstenliebe (feat. Brutalismus 3000)
5. HYYTUP
6. Baile DF (with Adame DJ, feat. Thalia Abdon, MC Da França)
7. Wake Me Up (with Locked Club)
8. I Need Luv (with Safety Trance, feat. ABRA)
9. Sh5b0mbe
10. Shut It Down (feat. TAICHU and Taube)
11. Ycore (feat. Mayah Alkhateri)
12. Sireneh

About Boys Noize

Boys Noize is the solo project of Alex Ridha, a German-Iraqi producer, DJ and composer who has written and produced for A$AP Rocky, Bon Iver, Frank Ocean, Arca, Virgil Abloh and Lady Gaga, and remixed Daft Punk, Depeche Mode, Miley Cyrus, Tame Impala, The Chemical Brothers and A.G. Cook. He co-founded the duo Octave Minds with Chilly Gonzales and produces and performs with Skrillex as Dog Blood. Ridha runs the labels Boysnoize Records and the newer ONES and ZEROS, and scored films including “Who Am I” (2014) and Oliver Stone’s “Snowden” (2016).

In 2025 and 2026, Ridha performed alongside Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross throughout Nine Inch Nails’ “Peel It Back” tour and co-produced most of the “TRON: Ares” soundtrack. The collaboration was formalized as Nine Inch Noize, debuting with a headline Coachella set and a same-week studio album. “7LLVSION,” Ridha’s eighth solo album and first in five years, follows that run, with “Nächstenliebe” offering the clearest EBM reference point on the record ahead of its November 6 release.

About Brutalismus 3000

Brutalismus 3000 is the Berlin duo of producer Theo Zeitner and singer Victoria Vassiliki Daldas, who met in 2018 and formed the band in 2020. The pair built an online following during the COVID lockdown period before taking their sound to European club and festival stages, including EDC, Primavera Sound, Coachella, Ultra and Lollapalooza. Their 2023 debut album, “Ultrakunst (Live From Earth),” was followed by the sophomore record “Harmony,” which drew on dubstep, trap, punk, nu-metal and techno. “Nächstenliebe” marks Brutalismus 3000’s feature on Boys Noize’s “7LLVSION.”

Ironic Sweden have released a new version of ‘Get It Right’, reworked by UK producer and vocalist Sophie Rae, via Town & Towers Records. The synthpop and electropop duo’s “Get It Right (Sophie Rae Remix)” keeps the original’s electronic core while moving the track toward a club-oriented, deep-house-leaning arrangement.

Sophie Rae, credited as an independent producer and vocalist whose work combines electronic production with her own vocal performances, built the remix around new rhythms and layered vocal dynamics. Ironic Sweden described the result as a way to give the song “new life, new meaning and expression.”

“Get It Right (Sophie Rae Remix)” is available to stream on major digital platforms via Town & Towers Records.

Ironic Sweden’s recent single run

Side-Line has tracked Ironic Sweden’s run of singles through Town & Towers Records: the band offered a double single via the label in March 2024 and followed it with ‘Media Whore’ in March 2025. The Sophie Rae remix of “Get It Right” extends that chronology with the act’s first outside remix collaboration documented on Side-Line.

About Ironic Sweden

Ironic Sweden is a Swedish synthpop and electropop act released through Town & Towers Records, the Gentofte, Denmark-based label run by Stig Wintendorff. The band’s Side-Line history begins with a double-single release via the label in March 2024, followed by the single and video “Media Whore” in March 2025.

With “Get It Right (Sophie Rae Remix),” Ironic Sweden hand the song to an outside collaborator for the first time in its documented release history, pairing the group’s electronic songwriting with Sophie Rae’s production and vocal work for a club-focused reinterpretation of the original track.

Los Angeles solo artist WVM has released a Halloween special anime music video for ‘The Echoing’, out now on YouTube and Instagram. The clip sets the goth-tinged electronic single inside a supernatural, anime-style story for Halloween, with direction by WVM.

“The Echoing” combines ’80s goth influences, electronic textures and blues-influenced guitar in a track WVM wrote and performed on all instruments and vocals. The song was mixed by Sean Beavan and WVM. Beavan has previously worked with Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson, among other acts.

“The Echoing” is also available to stream on Spotify.

WVM’s back catalogue and side projects

WVM is the solo project of a Los Angeles songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist working across electronic music, alternative rock and cinematic sound. Side-Line covered WVM’s single “Sown” in January 2017, an earlier entry in a catalogue that has grown to include collaborations with Christopher Berg, Sean Beavan, Josh Freese and Chris Vrenna, with music placed in television, trailers and video games.

Outside the catalogue of singles, WVM built Ludwig’s Empire, a browser game centered on the song “Empire” and a mascot character named Ludwig. Players who complete the game receive a code for a free Bandcamp download of that track.

About WVM

WVM is based in Los Angeles and works alone in the studio as a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, writing and performing the material himself before bringing in outside collaborators for mixing and production. The project’s catalogue spans electronic music, alternative rock and cinematic scoring, and Side-Line first covered WVM’s output with the single “Sown” in January 2017.

Since then, WVM’s work has included collaborations with Christopher Berg, Sean Beavan, Josh Freese and Chris Vrenna, and placements in television, trailers and video games. WVM also created Ludwig’s Empire, a browser game tied to the song “Empire.” “The Echoing,” mixed by Beavan and WVM, carries the project’s ’80s goth and electronic influences into a new Halloween-themed music video released this week.

Paulina Fae has released ‘The Way That Only Night Can See’, a four-song ethereal wave EP, through Projekt Records. The release arrived October 29 as a name-your-price Bandcamp download, with wider streaming availability following on October 30.

The EP blends atmospheric electronic textures with soft, layered vocals across four tracks. Opener “The Earth Listens” moves through fallen leaves, soil and the steady pulse of the ground beneath the listener’s feet. The remaining three songs, “Flame Lily,” the title track “The Way That Only Night Can See” and closer “Dreaming in Slow Motion,” move through roots, shadows and hidden, unseen places.

Tracklist:

1. The Earth Listens
2. Flame Lily
3. The Way That Only Night Can See
4. Dreaming in Slow Motion

“The Way That Only Night Can See” is available now as a name-your-price digital download on Bandcamp, with release to other streaming services on October 30.

About Paulina Fae

Paulina Fae makes ethereal wave and dream pop, blending electronic production with soft, atmospheric vocal arrangements. “The Way That Only Night Can See” is her release through Projekt Records, the Philadelphia-based label whose ambient, dark ambient and dream-pop catalog has included Stratosphere’s name-your-price Bandcamp album “Cyclus” and releases from VEiiLA and The Palace of Tears. The EP continues her focus on atmospheric, nature-rooted songwriting set against textured electronic backdrops.

Italian composer Pietro Zollo has released ‘Surface Tension’, a twelve-track, two-disc minimalist drone album, through Projekt Records. The album arrived October 29 as a name-your-price Bandcamp download, with wider streaming availability following on October 30.

‘Surface Tension’ moves through slowly evolving drone structures that unfold through repetition and gradual change. Layered drones and synthetic tones form the album’s underlying surface, with piano, viola and woodwinds emerging and receding within it. The full sequence runs close to two hours across two discs.

The album’s two discs build a continuous exploration of tension and release, using the physical phenomenon of surface tension, the cohesive force that holds a droplet of liquid together, as a structural metaphor for shifting inner states. Each track title names one of those states, from the “Static Flow” of the opening disc to the closing “Surface Swell.”

Disc one:

1. Surface Tension
2. Static Flow
3. Surface Echo
4. Veiled Light
5. Micro Drift
6. Subtle Strain

Disc two:

1. Veiled Reflection
2. Surface Memory
3. Surface Fade
4. Still Current
5. Glass Skin
6. Surface Swell

“Surface Tension” is available now as a name-your-price digital download on Bandcamp, with release to other streaming services on October 30.

About Pietro Zollo

Pietro Zollo is an Italian composer who makes minimalist drone, ambient and meditative sound. “Surface Tension” is his release through Projekt Records, the Philadelphia-based label whose ambient and dark ambient roster has included Stratosphere’s name-your-price Bandcamp album “Cyclus” and reissues from Black Tape For A Blue Girl and Lycia. The album continues Zollo’s focus on slowly evolving drone composition, built from layered synthetic tones and acoustic instrumentation including piano, viola and woodwinds, and structured around the physical and psychological readings of tension and release that give the record its title.

Polish artist Pan Siateczko releases the drone album “I Missed Train That Left Before I Was Born” on the experimental label Antenna Non Grata, out 26 October 2026 as a name-your-price digital download on Bandcamp.

Each of the album’s six tracks takes its title from a small, mildly absurd everyday situation and stretches it into a slow, loud, serious piece of minimalist drone: “A Solemn Funeral For A Houseplant That Received Too Much Enthusiasm,” “A Sneeze At The Auction And The Accidental Purchase Of A Cabbage Oil Painting” and “Standing In Line For Twenty Minutes Only To Find Everyone Is Just Hiding From The Rain” are among the titles. The pieces run from around nine to over fourteen minutes apiece, built from layered oscillators, bass felt as much as heard and long stretches of near-stillness, and the record closes with its first real silence after more than an hour. Pan Siateczko is the recording name of Łukasz Siatkowski, who also works as a visual artist and writer under his own name.

About Pan Siateczko

Pan Siateczko is the music project of Polish artist Łukasz Siatkowski, who also publishes graphic work and writing under his own name. “I Missed Train That Left Before I Was Born” is his latest release on Antenna Non Grata, an experimental label built around minimalist, drone and noise-adjacent work. The album continues the deadpan, slow-built approach to mundane subject matter that runs through the project’s titles, treating small everyday indignities with the same weight and duration as the label’s other dark ambient and drone releases.

Skycabin release their “COVET” EP on 28 October 2026, a five-track record from the California-based duo of Farbod Khoshtinat and Sepand Bahrami that moves through dark pop, trip-hop and industrial-leaning electronics. The EP moves through different shades of wanting: escape, connection, possession, growth and the pull back home.

The title track opens the record with Khoshtinat’s vocal carried over a slow build before distorted guitar breaks into the arrangement; Khoshtinat has described it as the most personal song on the EP, tying together ambition, immigration and the idea of home. “Mirage” follows a relationship that cannot be recovered on its old terms, while “Object of Desire” takes a heavier, industrial-leaning turn that the duo trace partly to Nine Inch Nails. “Midnight Ghost,” released as a single on 30 September 2026 with its own official video, deals with feeling out of step inside one’s own community, riding a dark-house pulse. The closing track, “Hysteria,” puts its lyrics against the collective anxiety the duo observed within the Iranian community during the upheaval of early 2026, and against their own interest in the Dancing Plague of 1518; it ends the EP on fast breakbeats and abrasive synth layers, with no resolved finish.

“COVET” is a return to Skycabin’s core two-person set-up after outside vocalists and musicians featured on earlier releases: Khoshtinat handles vocals, lyrics and arrangement, Bahrami leads instrumentation, composition and mixing, and both share production and songwriting. The duo recorded using a Moog Sub Phatty and a Nord Lead 4 alongside guitar and bass, with percussion built from a Nord Drum 3P and programmed samples; Khoshtinat tracked vocals in Los Angeles while Bahrami built out the instrumentation and mixing in San Francisco, and Christian Wright mastered the EP’s singles at Abbey Road Studios.

About Skycabin

Skycabin is the project of Farbod Khoshtinat, based in Los Angeles, and Sepand Bahrami, based in San Francisco, two musicians originally from Iran who first met in Malaysia around 2013 and spent the following years collaborating before formally founding Skycabin in 2020. Both were part of Iran’s underground music scene, where music was recorded and circulated without official permission. Khoshtinat has also directed music videos for artists including Snoop Dogg, T-Pain and Pitbull, and directed an award-winning short film on Iran’s democracy movement that was screened for the United Nations, the Directors Guild of America and the Motion Picture Association of America; Bahrami works as a sound engineer and producer with more than a decade of studio and film credits. Drawing on Massive Attack, Björk and Radiohead, the duo describe their own sound as a dark pop project with a trip-hop twist. They introduced themselves with the single “Insidia” in January 2023, a song about seduction and identity, and have since built out “COVET” through the advance singles “Object of Desire” and “Midnight Ghost,” released 30 September 2026.

Arizona artist Feral Business has released a Halloween video for “Move That Skeleton”, an alternative dance-rock track issued through the artist’s own label, 1st Drop Music. Feral Business is the project of musician Bear Cole.

The roughly three-and-a-half-minute video sets the song inside a gothic dance party, with a singing skeleton leading a dance army joined by vampires, ghosts, a Wolfman and a krumping gargoyle. “Move That Skeleton” is drawn from Feral Business’s existing catalogue. The Halloween video is the new element. The recording itself is human-made, while the video’s animation was produced in LTX under Cole’s own creative direction.

About Feral Business

Feral Business is the recording project of Arizona musician Bear Cole, released through his own label, 1st Drop Music. The project’s sound sits in alternative dance-rock, and “Move That Skeleton” is a goth-adjacent dancefloor track. The “Move That Skeleton” Halloween video extends the song’s existing catalogue life with a new seasonal visual.

Los Angeles industrial and goth band SKUMLOVE has signed to Candlepower Records, a subsidiary of Virgin Music. The signing comes with a new single, a cover of “Blood And Roses” by The Smithereens, arriving on all major digital platforms on October 31.

“Blood And Roses” was written by Pat DiNizio and originally appeared on The Smithereens’ 1986 debut album “Especially for You”. SKUMLOVE frontman and founder Skum Love recorded the cover with drums tracked at Michael Ciravolo’s Saints In LA studio in Sun Valley; Kevin Kipnis produced and engineered the track at BFOK Studios, with Ciravolo co-producing. Mastering was completed by Grammy-nominated engineer Maor Appelbaum in Los Angeles.

Skum Love said the original song had stayed with him for years before he found his own approach to it. “The original song really touched my soul. The struggle between mental health and love plays a big part in many of our lives. Pat DiNizio was truly one of the world’s best songwriters. I knew I wanted to do my own version of this song and it took many years to figure out the ideas that were in my head. I did not want to take away what he created, but add upon it without losing the message. I think we did it justice and opened the song to a new generation.”

About SKUMLOVE

SKUMLOVE began in the Los Angeles underground as an independent project built around Skum Love, starting from homemade recordings and self-released CDs before growing into a nationally touring act. The band has shared stages with Danzig, Type O Negative, Prong, Static-X, Fear Factory, Ministry, Godhead, Spineshank and Combichrist, and its catalogue includes collaborations with Dino Cazares, Burton C. Bell, Tommy Victor, Tony Campos, Mark Gemini Thwaite and Michael Ciravolo.

More than two decades in, SKUMLOVE has continued releasing new material, including the singles “The Dark,” “EGO” and “Ride or Die,” the last of which 16volt remixed. “Blood And Roses” is the band’s first release through Candlepower Records, pairing SKUMLOVE’s industrial and goth sound with a song from outside its own catalogue for the first time under the new deal.

Black Doldrums have confirmed a run of mainland European tour dates for April and May 2027, in support of their album “Repetition Compulsion”, out 13 November 2026 through Fuzz Club Records. The London post-punk trio’s current itinerary lists fourteen shows across the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Austria, with further dates still to be announced.

“Repetition Compulsion” closes the band’s “State of Mind Trilogy,” a three-album exploration of identity, memory and human connection that began with 2022’s “Dead Awake” and continued on 2024’s “In Limerence.” The tour follows Black Doldrums’ first single from the album, “Repetition.”

Black Doldrums tour dates

• 14.04.2027 – Maastricht, NL – 043 Muziekgieterij
• 15.04.2027 – Groningen, NL – Vera
• 16.04.2027 – Venlo, NL – Kalt & Duuster, Grenswerk
• 17.04.2027 – Siegen, DE – Beautiful Vortex Festival
• 18.04.2027 – Berlin, DE – Urban Spree
• 19.04.2027 – Kusel, DE – Kinett
• 20.04.2027 – Hannover, DE – Cafe Glocksee
• 21.04.2027 – Copenhagen, DK – Raahuset
• 22.04.2027 – Malmo, SE – Plan B
• 23.04.2027 – Stockholm, SE – Klubb DOD
• 24.04.2027 – Jonkoping, SE – The Hush Hush Club
• 27.04.2027 – Bielefeld, DE – Freak Culture Club
• 28.04.2027 – Kronach, DE – Tiger Lounge
• 30.04.2027 – Vienna, AT – Lot
• 01.05.2027 – Heidenheim, DE

More dates are due to be added to the run.

About Black Doldrums

Black Doldrums is a post-punk trio from London, UK, built around the creative and personal partnership of Kevin Gibbard and Sophie Landers. The band released its debut album, “Dead Awake,” in 2022, followed by “In Limerence” in 2024, both through Fuzz Club Records. “Repetition Compulsion,” out 13 November 2026, closes the “State of Mind Trilogy” that runs across all three albums. The band’s April and May 2027 European dates follow heavy UK and European touring behind the first two records in the trilogy.

The Pixel Rain release their debut album “A Sense of Danger” on 29 October 2026 on Bandcamp. The eight-track record closes out a rollout of advance singles the Southeast London project has run since June, mixing dark electronics, post-punk and synthpop.

The Pixel Rain is led by Aron Siegler, a Hungarian musician based in Southeast London, who combines guitar, electronics and industrial textures with a pop sense of melody, citing The Jesus and Mary Chain and The Horrors among his guitar reference points. The album gathers the four singles released ahead of it, starting with “Last” on 19 June 2026, a track built around authority figures surveying a world of their own making, with a video shot in Hungary. “Glitching Sky” followed on 2 October as the fourth and final advance single, pushing Siegler’s electronic side toward futurepop and synthwave, with Siegler citing VNV Nation and Chvrches as reference points for the track.

‘A Sense of Danger’ tracklist

1. “Sacrifice”
2. “Last”
3. “All The Lovers”
4. “A Sense Of Danger”
5. “Danse Macabre”
6. “Pieces Of Love”
7. “Glitching Sky”
8. “All Night Long”

About The Pixel Rain

The Pixel Rain is the project of Aron Siegler, a musician from Hungary now based in Southeast London, who mixes dark electronics and post-punk. The rollout toward “A Sense of Danger” began with “Last” on 19 June 2026, the first track released from the album, followed by “Sacrifice” and the title track “A Sense of Danger” as further advance singles. “Glitching Sky,” released 2 October 2026, closed the advance campaign before the full album’s release on 29 October. The eight-track “A Sense of Danger” is The Pixel Rain’s first full-length release.

Grove Anemone and DustCats release the album “Terroir Unterbreslau” on 30 October 2026 through Ubocze Rec., a netlabel based in Wroclaw, Poland. The eight-track record mixes ambient, industrial and drone textures and is available digitally on Bandcamp.

The album is a collaboration between Jakub Sobieralski, who records as Grove Anemone, and Jakub Knoll, who records as DustCats. Its title plays on the German name for Wroclaw, Breslau, and continues the pair’s work exploring the city through sound. In their own description of the record, the two describe a city as a body under strain:

“A city is a vast body. Heavy, bloated, overheated. Made of concrete, glass, badly healed scars, full of splinters and fingernails digging into its skin. After the rain, it sweats rust from cracked gutters, flooding tunnels and garages.”

They extend the image to the people who pass through that body: “Those who belong here and those still learning the names of the stops. Bringing the whole world together, if only for a moment, in a single queue for bread.” The pair describe the record’s sense of place as split between two layers of the same city, “our Besźel and Ul Qoma, two cities stitched together with crooked basting stitches. One shines by day. The other breathes beneath it.”

‘Terroir Unterbreslau’ tracklist

1. “Szczury”
2. “Nocny Gaj”
3. “Pantografy”
4. “Niemcy w ścianach (strzeż się)”
5. “Nasyp”
6. “Fosa”
7. “Rytuał na skwerku”
8. “Poniemieckie”

About Grove Anemone and DustCats

Grove Anemone is the recording name of Jakub Sobieralski. Besides “Terroir Unterbreslau,” he has released the albums “Blurring” and “After Hours, No Labels” through Ubocze Rec. DustCats is the recording name of Jakub Knoll, who has previously worked with Hye-gang on the collaborative releases “Tired with all these, for restful death I cry” and, together with Rozmaryn, “Ashes,” both also out on Ubocze Rec.

Ubocze Rec. is a nonprofit netlabel and art collective based in Wroclaw, Poland, that releases music on digital formats, CD, CDr and cassette, and organizes concerts and events in the city alongside its catalogue. “Terroir Unterbreslau” is the pair’s first full collaborative album under both names, arriving as the latest release on a roster that has grown to include acts such as Skutki Uboczne, Sewagesurfers and Giorgio Fazer.

Montreal darkwave trio Sexsomnia released the single “Subspace” on 28 October, the first preview of the band’s upcoming EP “Raven(ous),” expected in early 2027.

Philip Faith recorded, engineered and mixed the track and wrote its lyrics; Martin Bowes of Attrition mastered it at The Cage Studios in the UK. Faith takes the sole lead vocal, a first for a Sexsomnia single after earlier releases paired his voice with guest vocalists. “Subspace is the Eden of the senses,” Faith said of the track. The single arrived alongside a companion video.

About Sexsomnia

Sexsomnia formed in Montreal, Canada, in October 2021, built around Philip Faith (bass guitars, drum programming, keyboards, vocals) and Pat Gaudette (bass guitars), with Michael K. Rien (electronic percussion, synthesizers) joining soon after. The trio builds its sound on two bass guitars instead of a lead guitar, pairing darkwave electronics and dancefloor rhythms with influences including The Cure, Joy Division, Propaganda and Ladytron. Faith has also worked with Decoded Feedback, Third Realm, Edward Ka-Spel, Oneiroid Psychosis and Blind Agony; Gaudette has played with Unruled, Hexapheen and NowFuture; Rien runs the electronic project Earth Chronicles and was formerly in the nu-metal band Special Ops.

The band’s debut album, “Transcendent,” came out in 2024 through French label Manic Depression Records. In August 2025, Sexsomnia released the “Forbidden” EP, featuring guest vocalists Marita Volodina of Stridulum and Isabelle Young alongside an Attrition remix of “Nigrum Viduam,” with Bowes again handling mastering. “Subspace,” released 28 October 2026, is the first single from the forthcoming “Raven(ous)” EP.

French dark electro duo Dark Minimal Project released the single “I’m Not in Love” on October 16, 2026, via Danse Macabre Records. It is the first single from an upcoming album due in 2027.

Guillaume VDR wrote the words and music and handles voices and keyboards; Ange Vesper plays keyboards and pads. Peter Rainman produced the track with Dark Minimal Project and handled mixing and mastering.

“I’m Not in Love” is available now on Bandcamp.

About Dark Minimal Project

Dark Minimal Project is a Lille-based electro darkwave duo formed in 2022 by Guillaume VDR and Ange Vesper. The pair released their debut album, “Cold Black Room,” that year, referencing Depeche Mode’s “Satellite” from “A Broken Frame.” A second album, “Ghost Of Modern Times,” followed in 2023, with arrangement and mixing by Peter Rainman and a tracklist structured as a chronological story between a human and a droid.

The duo’s 2025 album, “Pleasure Is A Sin,” was followed in May 2026 by the EP “And Sometimes,” featuring dBoy of the Paris cold-wave trio Je T’aime on four of its five tracks. Dark Minimal Project has also worked with Front 242, Dominatrix and Das Ich on past remixes.

“I’m Not in Love,” released October 16, 2026 on Danse Macabre Records, is the first single from a new Dark Minimal Project album due in 2027.

German singer Nena released “Chokmah” on 29 October 2001 through Eastwest Records. The album turns 25 this year.

Florian Sitzmann produced “Chokmah,” whose title takes its name from the Hebrew word for wisdom. The thirteen-track album runs: “Chokmah,” “Heute hab ich die Sonne mit dem Mond verwechselt,” “Carpe diem,” “Lass die Leinen los,” “Ich hör mir zu,” “Lichtarbeiter,” “Rede lieber nicht zu viel,” “Kann schon sein,” “Silbermond,” “Club der Leisen,” “Du gibst,” “Leuchtturm” and “Dafür ist das Leben zu kurz.”

About Nena

Gabriele Susanne Kerner, known professionally as Nena, began her career fronting the Neue Deutsche Welle band Nena, which took her nickname as its name. The group scored an international hit in 1983 with “99 Luftballons,” propelling the self-titled album onto charts worldwide before the band split in 1987. Nena continued as a solo artist through the late 1980s and 1990s, recording in both German and, briefly, English.

“Chokmah” arrived in 2001 as part of a run of German-language solo albums bridging Nena’s earlier new-wave period and her career resurgence later in the decade, which included a string of greatest-hits and covers collections and a string of German chart-topping albums from the mid-2000s onward. Nena has continued recording and touring in the decades since “Chokmah,” balancing new studio material with revivals of her 1980s catalogue. “Chokmah,” one of the quieter, more introspective records in that run, turns 25 this October.