This is already the sixth album from the French act Dekad. We had to wait another four years for “A Distorted View”, but fortunately the excellent predecessor “Nowhere Lines” (2022) remained fresh in our memories.

Operator JB Lacassagne has prepared ten new tracks for us, preceded by the single “I Should Have”. The album offers a diverse selection of material: on the one hand, harder, darker, and highly danceable songs infused with clear EBM elements, interwoven with the characteristic beeps and sequencer patterns so typical of the French Boredom label; on the other hand, quieter, more ethereal, and even ballad-oriented Electro-Pop compositions. Throughout the album, these contrasting elements are held together by a strong foundation of melodic Pop sensibilities. The first half of the album is simply outstanding. Despite the wide range of influences and styles, one excellent track follows another. From menacing atmospheres and aggressive sequences filled with dark sonic manipulations to soft, dreamy passages enhanced by refined arrangements, Dekad seems capable of turning everything he touches into gold. The closing tracks lose a little of the momentum established earlier on. They are by no means weak, but they do feel somewhat less inspired compared to the album’s strongest moments.

From a technical and production standpoint, this may well be Dekad’s finest album to date, although I still have a particular fondness for its predecessor. Either way, “A Distorted View” is an essential listen and a welcome highlight within today’s often rather predictable Electro-Pop landscape. (Rating:8).

Listen to “Adrenaline”:

https://boredomproduct.bandcamp.com/track/adrenaline

Spanish synthpop and futurepop act Culture Kultür release their new album “Atomic” tomorrow, June 6, 2026, through Caustic Records, with a launch concert on the same date in Madrid. The Culture Kultür “Atomic” album is the group’s first full-length since “Humanity” in 2019.

Tickets are sold online right here and in physical outlets Rara Avis and Escridiscos.

The album was preceded by the single “Atomic Radio”, which we covered when it appeared in March 2026. Caustic Records also issued the band’s “Time” on vinyl in 2025.

About Culture Kultür

Culture Kultür is a synthpop and electronic project from Málaga, Spain, formed in 1992 around José Luis Clotet, who performs under the name Josua. Singer Salva Maine joined in 1999 and has fronted the band’s recordings since. The live line-up has included Distortiongirl on keyboards.

The group’s studio discography includes “Reflex” (1999), “Revenge” (2001), “Reborn” (2005, Out Of Line), “Spirit” (2010, Caustic Records) and “Humanity” (2019, Caustic Records). The band’s catalogue moves between synthpop, futurepop and darker electronics, and it has been signed to Caustic Records for the recent years.

“Atomic” is the band’s latest album, released on June 6, 2026, alongside the launch concert in Madrid.

Norwegian darkwave and cyberpunk duo Rule of Two have released a cover of Depeche Mode’s “It’s No Good“. The Rule of Two “It’s No Good” version is accompanied by an official music video directed by band member Kristian Liljan.

The cover is Rule of Two’s fifth single of 2026, following “Afterlife” via Polypiel Records on May 7 and “All Time Low” in February.

‘It’s No Good’: the original

“It’s No Good” was released on March 31, 1997, as the second single from Depeche Mode’s ninth studio album “Ultra” (Mute Records, April 14, 1997). The track was written by Martin Gore and produced by Tim Simenon, recorded at Eastcote Studios in London and Larrabee West in Los Angeles, and mixed at Abbey Road Studios. It reached number five in the United Kingdom and number one in Denmark, Spain, Sweden and on the US Billboard Dance Club Play chart.

About Rule of Two

Rule of Two is a darkwave and cyberpunk duo formed in Oslo, Norway, in 2023 by Ronny Flissundet and Kristian Liljan, both from the Oslo metal and alternative rock underground with prior activity in Damokles, Dunderbeist and Kite.

The project blends eerie synthesizers, mechanical rhythms and glitch textures into a sound the duo describes as taking a darker, more industrial direction with each release. Their debut album “Aiming for the Sun” was announced by Side-Line in November 2025. The “It’s No Good” cover, out June 4, 2026, is their first cover of a Depeche Mode track.

Montréal-based darkwave and dark synthwave producer Das Mörtal has released the double single “Parasite & Ghost” via Lisbon Lux Records. The release also serves as a preview of the forthcoming mini-album “DECVY I,” scheduled for October 29, 2026, on the same label.

The double single pairs two tracks that occupy distinct stylistic territory. “Parasite” is described as a fast-paced darkwave track about illness. Regarding the track, Das Mörtal says: “An illness has affected my body for some time now, and Parasite was made under a pain that I can’t quite shake off.” “Ghost” is a witch-house-infused pop single, with catchy vocal melodies and driving kick drum-infused percussion.

Alongside the double single, Das Mörtal has announced “DECVY I,” a mini-album due October 29, 2026, via Lisbon Lux Records.

About Das Mörtal

Das Mörtal is the project of Cristobal Cortes, a Santiago, Chile-born producer who grew up in Montréal. His musical journey began in Berlin, where he relocated roughly a decade and a half ago seeking electronic music with a more aggressive, punk-oriented edge than the minimalist house and techno sound that dominated the Montréal scene at the time. In Berlin, Cortes encountered the DJ culture of clubs associated with Ellen Allien’s BPitch Control label, an experience that informed his understanding of dancefloor dynamics and formed his subsequent production approach.

Back in Montréal, Cortes developed the Das Mörtal project and found a label home in Lisbon Lux Records, a Montréal-based imprint that helped disseminate his music internationally. His debut album “Always Loved” was followed by further EPs and singles, and his catalogue expanded to include the full-length “Bury To Sorrow” (October 2023), a twelve-track record featuring a collaboration with Dance With the Dead.

An instrumental version of the album was released in May 2024. His most recent work before the current release was the EP “Origins” (October 17, 2025), which included the single “Falsche Daten”

And now there is the double single “Parasite & Ghost”. “DECVY I” follows on October 29, 2026, on the same label.

A fan (interesting that we are being informed this way in 2026) of the Portland EBM duo Puerta Negra informed us that they have released the lead single and official video for “Complejo de Victima,” the first track issued from their EP “Metafísica,” due June 12, 2026 on Oráculo Records. The single is sung entirely in Spanish, with vocals by María Aguirre, and its video was directed by Zach Flanary.

Oráculo Records is a Spanish label whose recent catalogue Side-Line has covered through labelmate releases such as Neon Electronics’ “Liberation”.

“Metafísica” will be the duo’s third release, following the 2022 debut “Costo Humano” and the 2023 EP “Playa Sola.” A vinyl edition will also be available for pre-order through the label’s Bandcamp page.

The EP runs to six tracks: “Ventana Cerrada,” “Quien Es tu Dios,” “Complejo de Víctima,” “Explosión Cósmica,” “Después Del Cuerpo,” and “Ojo De Aguja.”

The video for “Complejo de Victima,” which translates as “victim complex,” was directed by Zach Flanary and shot in black and white.

About Puerta Negra

Puerta Negra is a duo from Portland, Oregon, formed by María Aguirre and Mark Arciaga. Aguirre, who handles vocals, previously played in Vueltas; Arciaga came from Lizard Skin. The project takes its name from the Los Tigres del Norte song “La Puerta Negra” and writes its lyrics in Spanish.

The debut “Costo Humano” arrived on March 8, 2022 through the Berlin label Detriti Records, issued on cassette as a run of 40 copies. The six-track release was co-produced and mastered by Susan Subtract. Oráculo Records later pressed “Costo Humano” to vinyl, on 180-gram black vinyl mastered by Daniel Hallhuber at Young and Cold Studios in Germany.

In 2023, the duo released the EP “Playa Sola” through the New York label Synthicide, a 12-inch pressing limited to 250 copies with a full-colour insert. KEXP featured the track “Caída al Mal” as a Song of the Day in May 2023. The duo’s discography is documented on Discogs; no Wikipedia entry for Puerta Negra was found.

“Metafísica” continues the duo’s work with Oráculo Records, which previously handled the vinyl edition of “Costo Humano,” and is set for release on June 12, 2026.

Meanwhile, Artaud Seth and Ashley Dayour have been active as Near Earth Orbit (N.E.O.) for more than ten years and have built up an impressive discography. With this latest work, they once again delve into dystopian themes that, unfortunately, seem to be drawing ever closer to reality. This time, the focus lies on controlled chaos, manipulation, and rebellion within an authoritarian world order, inspiring the duo to craft nine compelling tracks.

Musically, the band remains faithful to its distinct and idiosyncratic style: dark and often obscure, with guitars and electronics perfectly balanced and reinforcing one another with remarkable intensity. All of this is crowned by a charismatic voice that is impossible to ignore. N.E.O. does not necessarily impose a message upon the listener, yet a powerful sense of urgency and energy radiates throughout both the music and the vocals. The result is an overwhelming experience in which Industrial influences and epic arrangements guide us into a seemingly endless universe of terror. Several tracks also incorporate subtle EBM elements, particularly within the bass lines, further enhancing the aggressive and unsettling atmosphere. At times, this evolves into a truly Cinematic experience, though the band consistently maintains a perfect equilibrium between all these influences.

As far as I am concerned, this stands among the band’s strongest and most polished albums to date: a complete concept work, accompanied once again by strikingly dark and artistic artwork. (Rating:8).

Listen to “The Purge”:

https://nearearthorbit.bandcamp.com/track/the-purge

The Portland, Oregon-based synth-punk duo Point Line Plane has released its self-titled debut album, “Point Line Plane,” on SKiN GRAFT Records. The release marks the first-ever vinyl pressing of the record, which was originally co-released on CD by Xeroid Records and Sincere Brutality in 2003 and has been out of print for more than twenty years. Formats include LP, CD, digital and an Ultimate Edition.

The vinyl edition is pressed on 8-Bit Blue Vinyl, limited to 1500 numbered copies worldwide. Packaging includes a double-sided “Footlong” OBI with artwork by Portland designer E*Rock. A CD edition includes one bonus track not available on the LP. The Ultimate Edition adds a large-format booklet containing a memoir titled “The Future Belongs to Analog Loyalists” by guitarist Mitsuru Tabata, a comic by Rob Syers, and a pull-out poster.

The lead single is “Death Dance 2000”, which has an official music video.

About Point Line Plane

Point Line Plane was formed in Portland, Oregon, around 2002 by vocalist and keyboardist Joshua Blanchard and drummer Nathan Carson as a synth-and-drums duo. Blanchard had previously performed as part of the Sensualists. Carson co-founded the Portland doom metal band Witch Mountain in 1997 and has run the booking agency Nanotear.

The band’s self-titled debut was recorded and released in 2003, co-issued on CD by Xeroid Records and Sincere Brutality. That year the duo also released the single “Curse Chorus Curse / Sh…Boom” on S-S Records, contributed a cover of “Give The Future A Break” to a Screamers tribute compilation, and completed a split release with The Planet.

In late 2003, Howard Gillam (also known as Supersprite) joined on second synth, expanding the lineup to a trio. As a trio, the band recorded “Smoke Signals,” released in 2004 on SKiN GRAFT Records. The band also produced the score for the feature documentary “Haunters.” Point Line Plane disbanded in 2005 after approximately 150 live performances.

Both founding members continued other work. Blanchard also performs as Major Hex. Carson remained active with Witch Mountain, which has toured internationally and released records on Profound Lore Records and Svart Records. He also hosts The Heavy Metal Sewïng Cïrcle on XRAY FM, runs Nanotear Booking, and has published fiction.

The original duo, Blanchard and Carson, announced their return in 2026 when SKiN GRAFT Records proposed the remastered vinyl reissue of the debut. “Point Line Plane” (SKiN GRAFT Records) is out now.

Russian punk collective Pussy Riot announced “CYKA,” their debut full-length album, scheduled for release on June 12, 2026, on digital streaming platforms. The fourteen-track record compresses fourteen years of the group’s activity – including protest actions, imprisonment and exile – into a single body of work. The album title translates from Russian as “bitch.” Lead single “Candy Dopamine,” featuring Avenged Sevenfold, is out now with an official music video on YouTube.

“Candy Dopamine” was co-written by Pussy Riot with Avenged Sevenfold vocalist M. Shadows and guitarist Zacky Vengeance. The track mixes pop with alternative rock and features guest vocals from M. Shadows alongside heavy guitar work. Pussy Riot founder Nadya Tolokonnikova described the song as a statement on prescription and designer drug culture: “It started with my dependence on antidepressants, but it’s also looking at everyone now, mentalhealthmaxxing and looksmaxxing via pills and injections. It’s not a judgment, it’s just an observation, and my personal experience with these things is that I have to be in a long-term relationship with them for my PTSD and depression.”

This is the second collaboration between Avenged Sevenfold and Pussy Riot. In 2023, Tolokonnikova appeared on a reworked version of the Avenged Sevenfold track “We Love You,” re-released as “We Love You Moar,” raising awareness of the situation of LGBTQ+ people in Russia.

The album’s earlier single “Disobey” was released in May 2026. Its music video consists of footage from Pussy Riot’s “Storm of Venice” protest action at the 61st Venice Biennale, in which more than fifty members of the collective stormed the Russian pavilion with clouds of pink smoke. Ukrainian activist group FEMEN joined the demonstration, which was staged in protest at Russia’s return to the international art event. The 90-second track features distorted guitars, shouted vocals and chants of “disobey,” with lyrics in English and Russian condemning fascism and political silence.

‘CYKA’: collaborators, tracklist, and Putin challenge

Other confirmed contributors on “CYKA” include B-Real of Cypress Hill (on the track “Gore”) and singer-songwriter Salem Ilese (on “Utopia”). Russian President Vladimir Putin is listed as a contributor on the self-titled track “Cyka.” Tolokonnikova adds: “I’m not gonna give him royalties though, they can add it to my list of crimes.”

Tolokonnikova also announced a public challenge to Putin to fight her at the UFC Freedom 250 event, scheduled for June 14 at the White House. In her statement, she says: “All these old men ruining the world right now act tough, but we see through their fragile egos, and I’m not afraid to call them out. I challenge President Putin to a cage match. He loses? He gets the fuck out of Ukraine.”

About Pussy Riot

Pussy Riot is a Russian punk and protest collective founded in Moscow in 2011. The group operates as a loose, rotating collective but is closely associated with founders Nadya Tolokonnikova (also known as Nadya Tolokno) and Maria Alyokhina (known as Masha). The group staged performances in public spaces across Moscow as acts of political protest, often wearing brightly colored balaclavas.

In February 2012, three members – Tolokonnikova, Alyokhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich – were arrested following a performance inside Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. They were convicted of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” and sentenced to two years in a penal colony. Samutsevich was released on appeal in October 2012; Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina served their full sentences, released in December 2013. The trial attracted international attention.

Following their release, Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina continued their political activism and released music under the Pussy Riot name. The group collaborated with Boys Noize on “Rage” in 2021, and with Boyfriend on the electropop single “Dance With the Devil” in 2023. In July 2025, a new Russian law criminalized searching for Pussy Riot content online. In April 2026, Tolokonnikova was formally indicted by Russia’s Investigative Committee for alleged violations of the country’s “foreign agent” law.

“CYKA” is Pussy Riot’s debut full-length album. It is released June 12, 2026.

Following the previous album “Select”, which mainly featured a curated selection of tracks taken from Subverge’s existing releases, this new opus brings together a collection of unreleased, previously unknown, remix, and collaborative tracks. Henrik Karlsson personally selected the thirteen songs included here.

There is perhaps slightly more diversity in terms of sound and influences on this record compared to Select, although the foundation of the compositions remains very much intact. Subverge continues to craft a highly distinctive form of Dark Ambient, occasionally enriched with slow rhythms and subtle percussion. Throughout the album, one can clearly hear Karlsson’s unmistakable fascination with Electro music and his irresistible urge for experimentation and sonic exploration.

The result is a deeply cinematic work that, aside from a few vocal contributions, remains largely instrumental. Subverge excels at building dark atmospheres and allowing them to evolve gradually, much like the tension unfolding within a thriller film. Among the collaborations, the outstanding track with Access To Arasaka deserves special mention, serving as a true apotheosis of the album.

Above all, Henrik Karlsson once again confirms his extraordinary talent for composing visionary and dark Ambient music, distinguished by intelligent sound design and remarkably refined production work. (Rating:8).

Listen to “Purple Storm”:

https://aliensproduction.bandcamp.com/track/purple-storm

The Witch Said No is a relatively obscure project from Russia that has been active for several years and has already released a number of recordings in its home country, including a debut album. Very little is known about the project itself, which only adds to its mysterious aura. Earlier this year, the band released a new EP through the Slovak label Aliens Production, featuring three new tracks alongside six remixes.

The Witch Said No delivers a powerful form of Dark-Electro driven by bombastic heavy beats and overwhelming repetitive sequences, topped with an almost completely unintelligible, hateful vocal style. The title track is certainly an interesting discovery, while the two remaining new songs follow a similar direction but prove slightly less convincing. The remixes of the title track were created by KIFOTH, Deadjump, Human Vault, Novakill, and TC75. The EP also includes an alternative version of an older track.

What stands out most here is undoubtedly the title track itself, which shows strong potential, alongside several successful remixes — especially Novakill’s contribution, which turns out to be my personal favorite. (Rating:7).

Listen to “Call The Dead”:

https://aliensproduction.bandcamp.com/track/call-the-dead

Athens duo Incirrina have released the album “Trace” on the German label Cold Transmission Music. The Incirrina “Trace” album runs to 11 tracks and follows the duo’s two previous albums, “8.15” (2019) and “Lip Led Scream” (2022).

The band describe “Trace” as built around freedom, identity and resistance. The 11 tracks were written between 2023 and 2025 and recorded through a 24-channel console, using analogue electronic instruments and the duo’s vocals. The album follows “Lip Led Scream” (2022), the duo’s first record for Cold Transmission Music.

“Trace” is issued on vinyl (black and crystal-clear), CD, a limited cassette and digital. “Mutate” and “Always Here” were released as advance singles, and “Mutate” has an accompanying video on YouTube. The album is available through Cold Transmission Music (coldtransmission.com) and the band’s Bandcamp.

About Incirrina

Incirrina is a dark electronic and minimal synth duo based in Athens, Greece, formed in late 2017 by George Katsanos (synthesizers, drum machine, waterphone, vocals) and Irini Tiniakou (synthesizers, vocals). The duo describe their work as “dark, poetic, electronic,” pairing analogue synth lines and drum-machine rhythms with Tiniakou’s vocals. Tiniakou first appeared as a guest vocalist on a release by the Greek act Metal Disco before Incirrina became a project in its own right.

The duo debuted with the album “8.15” (2019, Geheimnis Records), a record drawing on the work of the 18th-century poet William Blake. They followed it with the digital maxi-single “Utter” (2020) and a 2021 split maxi-single with The Man & His Failures, “Devastations / R.Daneel,” on Smash Records. Their second album, “Lip Led Scream” (2022), was their first release for Germany’s Cold Transmission Music, which has handled their releases since. In 2024 they released the double single “Immersion” (“Presence” and “Alien Room”), also on Cold Transmission Music.

In an April 2023 Side-Line reviewer Inferno Sound Diaries described “Lip Led Scream” as “a pure Cold-Wave production which is sometimes reinforced with harder, EBM, elements” and as “a well-crafted and fully enjoyable work without any single cut to throw away,” rating it 8/10.

The duo have performed in Greece, Germany, Belgium, Hungary and Croatia, with festival appearances at Plíísken Festival, Morphic Festival, Cold Transmission Festival. Death Disco Festival – The Warm Up, Athens Music Week, Metavasis Festival and the Athens Digital Arts Festival.

“Trace,” their third album, is their latest release for Cold Transmission Music.

Steve Roach‘s “Quiet Music” series, originally recorded between 1983 and 1986 and released on Projekt Records, will be available on vinyl for the first time as a complete 3LP set. The Steve Roach “Quiet Music” 40th Anniversary edition is pressed on three ultra clear 140g LPs in a limited edition of 300 copies, and will be out August 7, 2026 so Audioglobe informs.

The set collects all three original “Quiet Music” albums in one outer sleeve with black paper inner sleeves and a two-sided credits insert. The pressing is 140g ultra clear vinyl, limited strictly to 300 copies.

The full tracklist across the three LPs is as follows.

• “Quiet Music 1”: A1 “The Green Place, Part I” (24:44); B1 “The Green Place, Part II” (24:52).
• “Quiet Music 2”: A1 “See Things” (5:45); A2 “Towards the Blue” (3:20); A3 “Something in Tears” (5:18); A4 “A Few More Moments” (13:05); B1 “Air and Light” (25:51).
• “Quiet Music 3”: A1 “Dreaming and Sleep” (18:16); A2 “Quiet Canon” (7:28); B1 “Sleep and Dreaming” (24:47).

Here’s what Steve Roach says on “Quiet Music” at 40 years: “In looking at the arc of my music, 40 years after creating Quiet Music,” Roach stated in the release materials, “I still feel an unbroken connection to this same inner breath and pulse I was discovering within myself and my creative life at that time. Even with everything that was going on in the early ’80s — musically, culturally, politically — this music came to exist in its own dimension, outside of that time, separate from the day-to-day climate in which I was surrounded. I was yearning to express a timeless and universal soul-tone, a safe haven within the music.”

Composer Harold Budd said this when the release first came out in 1986: “I think Steve Roach’s Quiet Music is his best album. It’s not that it’s simply pretty (which it is), but there’s an odd edge lurking in the background that moves it miles away from ‘New Age’ torpor. This is a lovely album from a composer working at the top of his skills.”

About Steve Roach

Steve Roach is an American composer and performer born in 1955, based in Tucson, Arizona. He began working with synthesizers in the early 1980s and established an international reputation through recordings released on Projekt Records, among other labels.

His 1984 album “Structures from Silence” – reissued on its third vinyl edition by Projekt in April 2025 – is considered a foundational work of ambient music. The “Quiet Music” series originated in commissions for healing-arts programmes and was released on cassette in 1986; the recordings draw on synthesizers, flute, electric piano and natural sounds.

Roach has continued releasing new studio and live work at high frequency; Our most recent coverage concerned the limited 2CD live release “La Rosa — Live in Tucson, 2025” in May 2026. The “Quiet Music” 3LP set, out August 7, 2026, marks the first time the complete series has been issued on vinyl in a single edition.

Norwegian solo artist Chris Wicked releases a gothic rock and dark synthpop cover of Depeche Mode‘s “Enjoy the Silence” on June 2, 2026, via Raven Black Productions. The Bergen-based artist here mixes gothic, cinematic and alternative rock. This is the third single from his forthcoming EP “Black Horns & Black Hooves.”

Chris Wicked explains his reasons for choosing the song: “Enjoy the Silence has always been a song that resonated with me. The atmosphere, the sense of longing and the timeless darkness within the melody have inspired me since I was young. We didn’t want to copy the original — we wanted to reinterpret it through our own musical universe.”

The cover arrives as the third single from the upcoming EP “Black Horns & Black Hooves” on Raven Black Productions. It follows “Utan Dina Andetag,” a cover of a Kent track released in December 2024 as the first single from the project, and “Wicked Game,” a cover of the Chris Isaak song released in September 2025 as the second single.

About Chris Wicked

Chris Wicked is a solo artist from Bergen, Norway. He came to wider attention as the founder and vocalist of Malice In Wonderland, a Norwegian rock band formed in the late 1990s before releasing a debut album and single “Lucifer’s Town” in 2005. Musically Malice In Wonderland’s sound combines glam, goth and hard rock elements. The band toured across Europe and Asia, sharing stages with acts including Def Leppard, and appeared in television productions.

Their final album, “The Royal Brigade,” was released in December 2013, mixed by John Fryer, known for his work with Depeche Mode and Nine Inch Nails. In August 2015, Malice In Wonderland announced their break-up and completed a series of farewell shows in Norway and abroad.

Chris Wicked subsequently announced a solo career, recording under his own name. His debut solo album, “Aleine,” was released in 2021 via Apollon Records and featured guest appearances from Gaahl (Gorgoroth), Hoest (Taake), Niklas Kvarforth (Shining) and V’gandr (Helheim). In 2024, he released the dark Nordic folk single “Northern Heart” on Raven Black Productions.

Malice In Wonderland returned in 2025 to mark the 20th anniversary of their 2005 debut, releasing new and reimagined material including “I’ve Chosen Darkness (Over You)” and a revisited edition of “Lucifer’s Town” in 2025, followed by the single “Dying Breed” in 2026.

Cold Spring Records has announced a vinyl repress of Trepaneringsritualen’s “Perfection & Permanence” death industrial LP, due June 12, 2026. The edition is pressed on moss green vinyl, limited to 500 copies. The original LP was released in 2014 and has been out of print for nearly a decade.

The repress replicates the original 2014 LP programme in full across two sides.

• Side A: “Venerated & Despised” (2:34), “A Black Egg” (3:54), “Castrate Christ” (4:37), “Liken Ingen Jord Vill Svälja” (2:34), “Alone/A/Cross/Abyss” (3:48).
• Side B: “Thirty-Nine Lashes” (2:37), “The Seventh Man” (3:24), “Konung Krönt I Blod” (3:30), “A Ceaseless Howling” (3:29), “He Who Is My Mirror” (5:17).

About Trepaneringsritualen

Trepaneringsritualen is a death industrial and ritual ambient project founded by Swedish artist Thomas Martin Ekelund in 2008, initially based in Göteborg, Sweden, and later relocating to Berlin, Germany.

The project released its first full-length, “Deathward, to the Womb”, in 2012 on Cold Spring Records. Side-Line reviewed the album at the time of release. “Perfection & Permanence” followed in 2014 on the same label, issued simultaneously on CD and LP; the white vinyl LP edition was limited to 500 copies.

In 2017, Trepaneringsritualen released the full-length “Kainskult” on Tesco Organisation, and the project also collaborated with MZ.412 on the live document “Post Industriale / Rituals” 2LP. The same year, the project compiled two earlier split LPs on the CD “Yours Is a Kingdom of Death”.

In 2018, Trepaneringsritualen and Nordvargr released “Alpha Ænigma”, a collaborative album. The project subsequently appeared on Cold Spring’s compilation “Arise – A Cold Spring Sampler” in 2023. In 2021, Thomas Martin Ekelund partnered with Henrik Nordvargr Björkk on “Lidaverken Del I: Att i Vådeld Förgås”. The project has released further albums including “ᛉᛦ – Algir; eller Algir i Merkstave” (2019) and “The Totality of Death (A)” and “The Totality of Death (Ω)” (both 2024).

The repress of Trepaneringsritualen “Perfection & Permanence” is available via Cold Spring Records.

Denver project Neo Dimes has released “Alone,” a ten-track debut full-length album spanning darkwave, neo-industrial, alternative rock and synthpop. The album arrived on vinyl and cassette on May 19, 2026, with the digital release scheduled later this month later. Neo Dimes is the solo project of Denver-based musician Stephen Edmunds.

“Alone” addresses digital-age isolation, algorithmic control, surveillance capitalism, online extremism and the experience of aging into a world shaped by technology. The record mixes neo-industrial, alternative rock, darkwave and synthpop.

The album’s artwork is built around a visual narrative: each of the ten single covers functions as a chapter, representing themes of paranoia, persuasion, control and acceptance, which combine to form the final album cover.

Edmunds commented as follows on the album’s intent: “I recently lost a career right as my daughter came into the world — a world where she has fewer rights than her mother did and where tyranny is creeping into every facet of life. We’re addicted to the technology in our pockets that opens us to the world by consuming us entirely. It’s omnipresent and inescapable, and I’m pissed off.”

Several tracks were released as singles ahead of the album. “Beasts” addresses what Edmunds describes as the radicalization of young men in the wake of the collapse of the American dream. “Angels” casts digital connectivity and surveillance as a modern substitute for guardianship. “Don’t Think” addresses manufactured consent and propaganda. “Trigger” connects personal experiences of addiction, anxiety and isolation. Note that a music video for “Trigger,” directed by Ty Borkowski, was also released.

About Neo Dimes

Neo Dimes is the solo project of Stephen Edmunds, a Denver, Colorado-based musician. Edmunds has spent most of his life as a musician, starting with guitar in hardcore and metal bands before moving into shoegaze and experimental music. The Neo Dimes project developed over approximately seven years, during which Edmunds worked through the production and compositional process largely through self-teaching.

The project made its first public appearance in late 2024, when Edmunds contributed a remix of “Careful What You Wish For” by Highlands. The first original Neo Dimes material appeared in late 2025, with the single “Angels” released on October 30, 2025, followed by “Beasts” on December 9, 2025. Further singles, including “Don’t Think,” preceded the album’s release.

Edmunds cites Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode and Deftones as primary influences, with The Cure, Joy Division, Brian Jonestown Massacre, My Bloody Valentine and The Prodigy also cited as formative references. “Alone” is the first full-length release under the Neo Dimes name.

French duo Potochkine‘s 2025 album “Sang d’Encre” is back in a second limited vinyl pressing on the young & cold label Audioglobe informs us. The new edition is limited to 333 copies on grey splatters vinyl.

The first vinyl edition of “Sang d’Encre,” issued in late 2025, was pressed on red transparent with black marble vinyl. The current pressing uses grey splatters vinyl. Both pressings are limited to 333 copies. The album is also available on CD and digital.

“Sang d’Encre” holds seven tracks: “Bi,” “Endorphines,” “Partir,” “Tristesse Fantasmée,” “Bonnie,” “Pénurie de Larmes,” and the closing ambient piece “La Source.” Two tracks have accompanying videos: “Bi” and “Endorphines”.

About Potochkine

Potochkine is a French dark electronic duo formed in Paris in 2016, composed of vocalist Pauline Alcaïdé and producer Hugo Sempé. The pair built their sound around French-language vocals, electronic rhythms and a production approach drawing on EBM, electro and elements of darkwave and coldwave.

The duo’s debut was the EP “Libérez votre imagination” (2016), which introduced their combination of dark electronics and theatrical staging. They followed with the self-titled album “Potochkine” (2018) and “Mythes” (2019), before releasing “Sortilèges” in 2021 on young & cold – their first release for the German label. A remix companion, “Sortilèges dans le club,” also appeared in 2021. The single “Endorphines” was released in 2024 ahead of “Sang d’Encre.”

“Sang d’Encre” was released in autumn 2025 on young & cold as Potochkine’s fourth studio album and their second record for the label. The second vinyl pressing, on grey splatters vinyl, is available now through the young & cold webshop and its distribution network via Audioglobe.

Tomasz Lukowicz has already earned his stripes with his Fractal project, through which he has released a truckload of productions. With Replicant, he reveals another side of his skills, and on the debut album “Critical Point”, he delivers 11 compelling tracks.

Replicant sounds very different — more like an experiment in which the operator takes us deep into his sonic laboratory, completely unleashing his creativity in sound design. He supports these experiments with slow rhythms and broken beats. Lukowicz reveals himself here as a true sound architect, showcasing an impressive sonic landscape. I particularly enjoy the depth he creates in his bass lines, as well as some of the space-like electro arrangements. The whole album remains entirely instrumental. A touch of vocals or sampling here and there would not have felt out of place, but “Critical Point” already stands firmly on its own. The album even contains a few minimalist gems that are simply impossible to ignore. This is the kind of release that would have appealed to fans of the Tympanik Audio label back in the day, but which has now found the right home on Aliens Production.

Call it Experimental with a touch of IDM subtlety, or simply Electro freestyle — this debut album is certainly an intriguing discovery. (Rating:8).

Listen to “Depressing Fate Of Humanity”:

https://aliensproduction.bandcamp.com/track/depresing-fate-of-humanity

Industrial solo artist Staytus, the project of Sam Grundemann, has signed with the US label Cleopatra Records last month and now released the digital single and video “S + M” on May 29, 2026. The single is the first announced collaboration between Grundemann and Cleopatra Records.

Musically “S + M” mixes industrial, electronic and nu-metal elements. Thematically the track deals with separation, unresolved emotional connection and the idea of reunion within a “twin flame” relationship.

“This song lives in that space between losing someone and never fully letting them go,” Grundemann adds. “It’s about the kind of connection that doesn’t just end—it lingers, evolves and keeps calling you back. Signing with Cleopatra Records felt natural because they’ve always embraced music that carries that kind of emotional weight.”

“S + M” is accompanied by a video which was directed by Vicente Cordero of Industrialism Films known for his work for acts including Skold and Stabbing Westward.

About Staytus

Staytus is the solo project of Sam Grundemann, an Arizona-born musician, producer, songwriter and audio engineer now working from the Los Angeles area. Staytus began as “a personal project” and musically blends industrial, electronic and nu-metal elements.

We first covered the project in March 2022 when the project released three tracks from the debut album “Disease Of The Mind”. The debut album “Disease Of The Mind” was released digitally on September 9, 2022 and contains 13 tracks. Staytus followed it with “Wasteland Of Broken Hearts”, released on October 27, 2023 as an 11-track digital album.

In 2025, Staytus released several standalone singles and film-linked tracks. We covered “How To Be A Serial Killer“, the closing track in the “Twisted Frames” series, followed by “Headache“, “Heart Attack“, “Kiss N Tell” and “The God, The Artist, & The Creator“. Those releases involved collaborators including Matt McJunkins, Sean Beavan, Mikal Blue, Jeff Friedl, Anthony Laurie and Patrick “Embryo” Tapu.

The Slovak electro and minimal-wave project ImiAFan – aka 4mg Records founder Imrich Végh – has released a digital EP, “Elmúlt idő” (Passed Time), on Bandcamp, with a wider streaming release scheduled for early June. The EP pairs the original title track with a set of remixes.

Alongside the original title track – first issued at the end of 2025 – the EP features remixes by Bornia (Andy Dufter, ex-Staatseinde), Hadron Lundgren (Budapest) and Keen K (Berlin electro/italo), plus a MANASYt “Bigfoot Mix” of the older track “Stupaj.” The lyrics draw on a four-line fragment by Szenes Iván, taken from Kovács Kati’s landmark Hungarian electronic track “Kérdés önmagamhoz” from 1980.

About ImiAFan

ImiAFan is a Slovak electro, synth-pop and minimal-wave project led by Imrich Végh, active since around 1999–2000. The project describes itself as an “electro / synth-pop project producing probably the most microscopic hits based and forgotten in Slovakia.” Long-time collaborator Miki Bernáth (of Damolh33) handles mixing and mastering, while Végh also runs the 4mg Records label.

Side-Line has covered the band on several occasions, including a 2019 “Click Interview” with ImiAFan vs. 4mg Records, in which Végh described himself as “more like a music activist,” and a 2019 report on the project’s 12-inch release via Falco Invernale Records. The project also appeared in Side-Line’s coverage of the Synth Slovakia 2017 compilation.

The new digital EP, “Elmúlt idő” (Passed Time), was self-released via Bandcamp on May 29, 2026.

About 4mg Records

4mg Records is a dedicated non-profit underground music label, founded in 2003 in St. Catharines, Canada, by electronic musician Imrich Végh (aka ImiAFan). The label underwent a major geographic shift when it relocated to Slovakia in 2006. Operating out of Central Europe ever since, the imprint focuses on cultivating a tight-knit international network of underground artists, prioritizing artistic expression and cultural connection over commercial success.

Sonically, the label explores the darker and more experimental corners of electronic music, with a catalog deeply rooted in minimal synth, darkwave, ambient, and industrial sounds. 4mg Records has become a trusted home for both emerging acts and seasoned veterans of the avant-garde scene, featuring releases and collaborations with iconic names like The Legendary Pink Dots, Edward Ka-Spel, Isobutane, and Click Click. Their curated compilation projects, such as the Wave Earplug series, are wellknown for showcasing diverse, global underground talent.

4mg Records bypasses mainstream distribution models to focus heavily on tangible, collectible formats. The label routinely presses music onto high-quality vinyl, cassettes, and limited-edition compact discs.

Some of the band’s best-known releases include:

Albums & cassettes

• Edward Ka-Spel – A Carrington Event (2024): A highly sought-after cassette album from the iconic frontman of The Legendary Pink Dots, delivering trademark psychedelic and avant-garde ambient textures.
• The Legendary Pink Dots – Live At The Rave Milwaukee 20 June 2000 (2025): A curated archival live concert release preserved on limited-edition cassette for collectors of industrial and experimental music.
• IMIAFAN – Clearly Defined (2024): A minimal-synth and hardware-driven electronic LP from the label’s founder, Imrich Végh.
• Isobutane – – to 0: A release from Slovak electronic producer Isobutane, exploring intricate IDM and ambient landscapes.
• Click Click – Gelsenkirchen 1997: A documentation of the historic UK EBM/industrial band’s raw electronic energy.

Compilations

• Wave Earplug Series (e.g., Wave Earplug No. 7): The flagship vinyl compilation series from the label, showcasing an international roster of artists spanning raw electro, synthwave, darkwave, and pumping acid sounds.
• Vinylized Series (e.g., Vinylized Vol. 1): Co-released with Stroboskop, this compilation series shines a spotlight on Slovak electronic innovators, weaving together experimental synth-pop, acid, and IDM.
• 2023 – 2003 = 20 Years of 4mg Records (2024): A comprehensive anniversary compilation celebrating two decades of the label, featuring tracks from Edward Ka-Spel, Sololust, Click Click, and Isobutane.

You can check out these and other releases directly on the 4mg Records Bandcamp.

Los Angeles deathrock band Ex-VoTo has released “Laodicea,” an eight-track EP on their own Poor Alice Music label in an ultra-limited pressing of 100 copies each on vinyl and CD. The release combines four new studio recordings with rare and previously compilation-only material, including covers of Bauhaus and Siouxsie and the Banshees.

Side A collects four new studio recordings: “Angel,” “Fear Me,” “I Want to Stop,” and “Say Goodbye.” Side B features “Emmanuelle,” “Resurrection Mary,” a cover of Bauhaus’s “Slice of Life,” and a cover of Siouxsie and the Banshees’s “Monitor.”

“Slice of Life” appeared on Bauhaus’s 1981 album Mask. “Monitor” appeared on Siouxsie and the Banshees’s 1978 debut album The Scream.

The new EP follows the release of the anthology “Don’t Look Back (1982–1990)” on Phantom Chord. The anthology compiled songs from Ex-VoTo’s original 1990 “Don’t Look Back” EP alongside rare recordings from the 1982–1990 period that had not previously seen official release.

The original “Don’t Look Back” 12″ EP was issued in 1990 on Poor Alice Music and New World Records, pressed on translucent blue, purple, and black vinyl, and recorded at Poor Alice Studios in Garden Grove, California.

Ex-VoTo ‘Laodicea’ California tour dates, June 2026

To mark the release, Ex-VoTo plays three California dates beginning June 5, 2026.

• June 5, 2026 – Queen Bee’s, San Diego, CA – Supporting Kommunity FK, with The Exile and Nervous Gender (Re-Loaded).
• June 6, 2026 – Klub Terminal at La Santa, Santa Ana, CA – Supporting Kommunity FK, with Gitane Demone + Paul Roessler and Ravens Moreland. The press release lists this show as Los Angeles; a confirmed ticket listing places the venue at 220 E. 3rd St. (Basement), Santa Ana, California — Orange County, not the city of Los Angeles.
• June 7, 2026 – Club Gallows, Los Angeles, CA – Ex-VoTo headlines, with Pilgrims, In A Darkened Room, Funeral Process, and Bizarron.

About Ex-VoTo

Ex-VoTo was formed in 1982 in Los Angeles by Larry Rainwater, David Rhine, and Linda Patti. Based initially in Orange County – where the prevailing scene was still dominated by punk rock – the band relocated to Los Angeles to build a following. Their early sound combined drum machines, synthesizers, and heavy guitars at a time when live drummers were the norm, drawing audience friction and, from fellow Deathrock bands, recognition.

In 1988, the track “Falling Apart” appeared on Bomp! Records’ “American Gothic: The Krypt Kompilation”, a compilation featuring bands from Los Angeles’s gothic club The Krypt. The placement brought the band to the attention of New World Records and XXX Records. The result was “Don’t Look Back” (1990), Ex-VoTo’s first official vinyl release, a four-track 12″ EP recorded at Poor Alice Studios in Garden Grove and co-released by Poor Alice Music – the band’s own label, which Rainwater has operated independently since then – and New World Records.

Throughout the 1990s, Ex-VoTo contributed tracks to several Cleopatra Records gothic compilations, including “The Goth Box”. “Anno Domini” (1995) collected studio versions of their earliest songs, including “Falling Apart” and “If I Never.” “The Light of Day” (2003) moved toward a darkwave electro direction. “Doloroso” (2006) returned to a guitar-driven deathrock approach, and “Antioch” (2009) was the first album Rainwater set out to write as a unified work rather than a collection of individual songs.

The band relocated from Los Angeles to New Orleans, and subsequently to Houston following Hurricane Katrina. The core of the lineup has remained Rainwater on bass and lead vocals, and Linda Patti on keyboards and backing vocals. The current lineup adds Heather “Spleen” Rainwater on keyboards and backing vocals and Patrick Midnite on guitar and backing vocals.

“Laodicea” is their first new recorded release since “Antioch” (2009), seventeen years on.

Australian musicians David Thrussell and Darrin Verhagen, working together as David Thrussell & Shinjuku Thief, release “The Call of Cthulhu” on June 19, 2026 via Metropolis Records. The spoken-word album is a retelling of H. P. Lovecraft’s 1928 short story, issued as a deluxe 2xLP, with a digital edition to follow.

The album sets Lovecraft’s story to a soundtrack, narrated by Thrussell with music by Verhagen. It follows the structure of the original text in three parts: “The Horror in Clay,” “The Tale of Inspector Legrasse” and “The Madness from the Sea.” Thrussell has worked with Lovecraft source material before: in 2025 he released a Lovecraft-themed record with Flint Glass on Ant-Zen, as reported by Side-Line.

“The Call of Cthulhu” is released as a deluxe 2xLP on “crushed bone” colour vinyl, with original artwork by Richard Grant (I+T=R). A digital release will follow, with no date confirmed for it at the time of writing.

About H. P. Lovecraft’s ‘The Call of Cthulhu’

“The Call of Cthulhu” by H.P. Lovecraft is a 1928 horror story that pioneered “cosmic horror”. It follows an investigator piecing together clues about a terrifying, ancient, octopus-dragon-human hybrid entity and its global cult, exploring the psychological devastation of humanity when confronted with unimaginable, alien powers.

The story is told as a nested mystery through the notes of Francis Wayland Thurston, and is broken into three main parts:

1. The Horror in Clay
The story opens in 1926 with Thurston investigating the estate of his late great-uncle. He discovers a bas-relief sculpture created by a local artist named Henry Wilcox. The sculpture depicts a grotesque, tentacled monster that Wilcox made while experiencing feverish dreams of cyclopean cities and monstrous monoliths. Thurston connects this artifact to similar strange reports and ancient voodoo cults, discovering that people around the world are sharing nightmares about this being: Cthulhu.

2. The Swamp Cult
Thurston learns about a New Orleans police raid on an isolated, swamp-dwelling cult in 1907. The police uncovered horrifying rituals and human sacrifices. The cultists worshipped “The Great Old Ones,” ancient, alien beings who ruled the earth ages ago and are now sleeping beneath the sea. They chant the infamous phrase: “In his house at R’lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming.”

3. The Sunken City and the Sea
The narrative shifts to a manuscript written by a Norwegian sailor, Gustaf Johansen. Months earlier, his ship was chased and attacked by a mysterious vessel. Johansen and his surviving crew landed on a bizarre, uncharted volcanic island in the South Pacific. They unwittingly discovered the sunken, geometric nightmare-city of R’lyeh. After stepping on the island, they accidentally awakened Cthulhu. The entity slaughtered the crew before Johansen managed to ram Cthulhu with his ship, temporarily breaking apart the creature’s formless, regenerating body long enough to escape.

About David Thrussell & Shinjuku Thief

David Thrussell is an Australian musician and composer based in Melbourne. He co-founded the industrial and electronic project Snog in 1989 with Tim McGrath and Julia Bourke, and went on to run the related projects Black Lung, formed in 1994, and Soma.

Shinjuku Thief is the project of Australian musician and soundtrack composer Darrin Verhagen. It began in 1992 as a trio of Verhagen with Charles Tétaz and François Tétaz, taking its name from Nagisa Oshima’s film “Diary of a Shinjuku Thief,” and worked in a dark ambient and cinematic style, with several records conceived as soundtracks to imagined films. Verhagen released much of the project’s catalogue on his own Dorobo label and later through Projekt, alongside work for theatre, dance and film and a teaching post at RMIT University.

“The Call of Cthulhu” is the first release credited to David Thrussell & Shinjuku Thief.

hackedepicciotto – the duo of Alexander Hacke and Danielle de Picciotto – release the album “Lichtung” on July 10, 2026, via Mute Records, on CD and limited candy-colour vinyl. The hackedepicciotto “Lichtung” album is the duo’s first collection to be sung entirely in German, and follows “The Silver Threshold” (2021). A new track and video for “Zeitenwende,” the fifth track on the record, is now available.

“Lichtung” – German for “clearing” – takes its name from the home the duo established on the outskirts of Berlin after fourteen years of nomadic life. Hacke and de Picciotto have described the album as marking a departure from repetitive drone-based approaches in favour of more complex sound structures and electronic terrain. The album is the duo’s most extensive use of the German language to date.

The full tracklist is: 1. “Lichtung” 2. “Vogelfrei” 3. “Wiederbelebung” 4. “Erntedank” 5. “Zeitenwende” 6. “Draussen” 7. “Einig” 8. “Der Marschall.”

A video for “Wiederbelebung” was released in March 2026 ahead of the album announcement.

hackedepicciotto tour dates 2026-2027

hackedepicciotto have announced a number of live dates to accompany the release, including June 27, 2026, at silent green Kulturquartier in Berlin (with Sonic Morgue), and July 10 and 11 in Portugal – Porto at KISMIF Museum of Science and Lisbon at Galeria Zé dos Bois. Below are all of the dates.

• 6 June – Frankfurt (DE), Ono
• 10 June – Regensburg (DE), Ostentor Kino
• 13 June – Düsseldorf (DE), Art:Walk Festival, Weltkunstzimmer
• 27 June – Berlin (DE), Silent Green – a celebration of LICHTUNG
• 10 July – Porto (PT), KISMIF Museum Of Science Of Porto
• 27 Aug – Poznan (PL), Estrada w Centrum
• 1 Sep – Geneva (CH), Cave 12 Festival la Bâtie – NEW DATE
• 12 Sep – Den Bosch (NL), William Twee – NEW DATE
• 15 Sep – Prague (CZ), Archa – NEW DATE
• 16 Sep – Brno (CZ), Kabinet Mu – NEW DATE
• 20 Nov – Amsterdam (NL), OCCI – NEW DATE
• 27 Nov – Sofia (BG), Club Pave – NEW DATE
• 30 Jan 2027 – Lübeck (DE), Treibsand

About hackedepicciotto

hackedepicciotto is the project of Alexander Hacke and Danielle de Picciotto, partners in life and work. Hacke is a founding member of Berlin industrial act Einstürzende Neubauten and a contributor to numerous projects over four decades, including Crime and the City Solution.

De Picciotto co-founded Berlin’s Love Parade in 1989 and has released extensive solo work as a musician, visual artist and author; she also performed with Space Cowboys and the later incarnation of Crime and the City Solution.

The duo began presenting work as hackedepicciotto in the 2010s and released “Menetekel” as a 2LP in 2017. Side-Line covered the announcement of “The Silver Threshold” in August 2021 and the accompanying video for “Kirchhain” in November 2021; “The Silver Threshold” was released November 12, 2021, on Mute, and stands as the duo’s most orchestrally arranged record to date. Side-Line also covered the announcement of three reissues on Mute in 2023 and the release of their first live album in 2024.

“Lichtung,” out July 10, 2026, is their first studio album since “The Silver Threshold.”

Dessau old-school EBM project T.A.N.K., led by Reinhard Hüber, has released its third album “Broken Mirror” via Electro Aggression Records. The release is available as a digital order and CD order through the label’s Bandcamp page. We first reported the album in January 2025, when Electro Aggression Records announced a new batch of upcoming releases.

The Bandcamp pre-order already unlocked three tracks: “Fight or Suffer”, “Reject” and “Bloodsucker”. Electro Aggression Records has also posted the YouTube previews “Broken Mirror album snippets”, “Fight or Suffer | EAR 019 preview” and “Reject | EAR 019 preview”.

About T.A.N.K.

Reinhard Hüber, who has a 1990s German punk background, launched T.A.N.K. in Dessau in 2001. The name stands short for “Taktischer Angriff (auf’s) Nervenkostüm”. The first live appearance took place at the first Electric Tremor Festival in Dessau on March 22, 2002.

The self-released “T.A.N.K.” EP landed in 2002. It was followed by the debut album “Musica Denaturale” on Ars Electrique in 2003. In 2011, the project contributed “Game of Men” to the 4CD set “Old School Electrology Volume One”. The second full-length, “Return”, came out in 2017 on Electric Tremor Dessau.

In the Electro Aggression Records orbit, Hüber also turned up through remix work connected to R010R and Synaptic Defect before “Broken Mirror” moved into the foreground as the next full album. “Broken Mirror” is be the project’s third album holding 19 tracks.

Kristof Bathory brought Dawn Of Ashes to life in 2000. The first albums by this American artist were released through the now-defunct Noitekk label, immediately grabbing listeners by the throat with their raw, icy, and uncompromising blend of Dark-Electro and Aggrotech. More than twenty years later, this musical visionary can look back on a rich and successful career during which the project evolved through several distinct eras — from its original Dark-Electro-driven sound to Industrial-Metal, before ultimately returning to its Electronic roots on the previous opus, now infused with the Cinematic influences Bathory also explores in his solo work.

With over two decades of dark visions, sonic aggression, and constant musical transformation, Kristof Bathory remains one of the most uncompromising figures within the scene. With “Anatomy Of Suffering,” released on Metropolis this spring, he not only confirms his return to a more Electronic approach, but also delivers a remarkably mature work in which he continues his meticulous exploration of mental anguish and psychological suffering. Dawn Of Ashes has always remained a project with a striking visual identity, perfectly aligned with the disturbing themes it addresses. As a listener, you can feel the suffering permeating every aspect of the project, balanced by a profound artistic vision and emotional depth. Time for a conversation with the artist himself. (Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Dawn Of Ashes interview

Q: What does Dawn Of Ashes mean to you after more than a quarter of a century of existence, and what comes to mind spontaneously when you look back, even just for a moment? And, with the knowledge and experience you have today, what would you like to say to the young Kristof Bathory of the year 2000?

Kristof: Dawn Of Ashes is an ongoing, evolving reflection of myself, revealing the different phases of my maturity and growth through both the music and the lyrics. There are things I can unearth from the past and give new purpose to in the present, and there are other things better left buried deep within the tomb. If I could speak to my younger self, early Kristof, I would tell him to make wiser decisions and to have patience before making impulsive choices.

Q: Your new album “Anatomy Of Suffering” seems to leave little room for interpretation, but could you still tell us a bit more about it? What is the backstory of this opus, how personal is it, and how did you translate it into music?

Kristof: “Anatomy Of Suffering” is a descent into the mind of suicide, pain, and the grotesque rot that festers within as a result of severe mental corrosion. It is both a deeply personal expression and a means of connecting with those who endure this same inner decay.

Q: Psychological suffering has long been a recurring theme in your work, and I sometimes wonder how introspective and therapeutic music can be. Could it not also lead to even more suffering? What fascinates me is how obscure, dark, and even destructive themes can culminate in an artistic peak. How do you perceive that process?

Kristof: I suppose it all depends on how you interpret it and how you absorb it. Art is subjective—it can either reflect destruction or illuminate a path toward blissfulness. Sometimes, suffering is a necessary part of healing.

Q: Your music and influences have clearly evolved over the years, and your latest albums seem to represent a kind of synthesis: a return to the Dark-Electro of your early years combined with the Metal and Industrial influences that followed. How did this evolution come about, and what different stages did you go through to arrive at the final result of “Anatomy Of Suffering”?

Kristof: My return to Dark-Electro is not only a response to the demand from the fans, but also a result of all the work I’ve done in the Dark-Ambient world. My love for synthesizers and Eurorack modular systems reignited my passion for Electronic music. While I haven’t completely drifted away from Metal, I’ve become far more selective with it, finding myself increasingly drawn to Electronic and Ambient music instead.

Q: Now that Dawn Of Ashes is leaning more towards its Electronic side again, I assume this also impacts your live performances. How is that going these days, and do you notice a different audience or fanbase attending your shows?

Kristof: Dawn Of Ashes is now more focused on performing both the older Dark-Electro material and the newer Dark-Electro work. We’re putting live Metal performances on pause for now, as this approach makes touring easier and allows us to focus more fully on the Industrial side of the live experience.

Q: A final question that I consider quite important concerns the visual aspect that Dawn Of Ashes has always invested in. I’m thinking, for instance, of the music video for “Viral Decay” from the new album. What are your thoughts and experiences regarding a current zeitgeist in which ‘wokeism’ on the one hand and algorithm-driven censorship culture on the other stand in stark contrast to what you create?

Kristof: To be honest, I’ve been much more careful with the visual side of things, as I feel some of the early Dawn Of Ashes themes leaned too heavily into edgelord aesthetics and shock for the sake of shock. Now, everything needs to carry substance and meaning. If the content is controversial, it has to symbolize something deeper—something metaphorical rather than merely provocative.

Post-punk icon Peter Murphy has released “Swoon (Magic Wands Remix)” as a single via Metropolis Records. The track is a reworking of “Swoon,” the lead single from Murphy’s 2025 album “Silver Shade”.

The original “Swoon” was issued in February 2025, featuring Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails on backing vocals and album producer Youth on bass. The new remix comes from the U.S. dream-pop duo Magic Wands (Dexy and Chris Valentine).

“Our take on the song was about chasing a very specific feeling, like a kind of natural high,” the duo explain. “The goal was to build on the emotion in Peter’s vocal and surround it with a fast-moving, euphoric wash of guitars and synths, capturing the rush of a true swoon.”

About Peter Murphy

Peter Murphy is an English singer born in Northampton in 1957. He co-founded Bauhaus in 1978, and the band’s debut single, the nine-minute “Bela Lugosi’s Dead,” was released in 1979. Bauhaus recorded four studio albums before splitting in 1983, and the band has reformed several times since. Side-Line has reported on the group’s activity, including a 2018 world tour announcement alongside David J and the cancellation of a 2022 North American run.

Peter Murphy’s solo career began in 1986 with “Should The World Fail To Fall Apart” (Beggars Banquet) and continued through “Love Hysteria” (1988), “Deep” (1989) — which included the U.S. single “Cuts You Up” — “Holy Smoke” (1992) and “Cascade” (1995). His later records reflected his interest in Sufism and his adopted home of Turkey, and the catalogue extends to “Lion” (2014), produced by Killing Joke bassist Youth. After a heart attack in 2019, which Side-Line reported as he announced his first live date back with Bauhaus, Murphy returned to recording.

His studio album “Silver Shade,” billed as his tenth solo full-length and reuniting him with producer Youth, was released by Metropolis Records on May 9, 2025, as Side-Line reported at the time. The record features contributions from Trent Reznor, Tool’s Danny Carey and Justin Chancellor, and Boy George, who duets on the closing track “Let The Flowers Grow.” That song was later issued in remixes by Juno Reactor and Delerium. The album was preceded by the singles “Swoon” and “The Artroom Wonder.”

Metropolis Records now issues “Swoon (Magic Wands Remix),” a reworking of the “Silver Shade” track, released on May 29, 2026.

Choke Chain (aka Mark Trueman) releases the EP “Decomposition” on July 10, 2026, via Negative Gain Productions, on CD, vinyl LP and digital. The “Decomposition” EP combines 1990s-style dark electro with hardcore punk.

Choke Chain describe the EP as raw, with no moment of relief. The release draws on the dark electro of Leæther Strip, :wumpscut: and Mentallo & The Fixer, set against hardcore punk aggression.

“The EP was mostly written during a time where I was very close to giving up,” said founder Mark Trueman. “Everything felt completely hopeless, and still does to some degree. I really tried to put all of that feeling into these songs.”

“Decomposition” can be previewed and ordered on Bandcamp ahead of the July 10, 2026 release on Negative Gain Productions.

About Choke Chain

Choke Chain is the dark electronic project of Milwaukee, Wisconsin musician Mark Trueman, founded around 2018. The act combines the dark electro of the early-1990s European scene – the Zoth Ommog and Wax Trax! lineage of EBM and industrial – with the energy of Trueman’s hardcore punk background. The sound is built on pounding rhythms, harsh textures and frantic vocals.

Side-Line covered the project with a review of its debut EP “Chain Tactics” in October 2020. Our reviewer Inferno Sound Diaries described it as “old-school EBM made in America and reminding me the golden years of Wax Trax! and more specifically Revolting Cocks; the mix of European EBM and American Industrial music,” adding that “even if this is old-style Electro, it has something refreshing.” Choke Chain followed with “Endless Death” and “Invoking Shadows” (both 2021) before collecting its material into the first full-length, “Mortality” (2023).

The project has performed at Chicago’s Cold Waves festival (Cold Waves X, 2022) and at Roadburn in 2025, plus the Substance and InFest festivals. The new EP, “Decomposition,” arrives on July 10, 2026, on Negative Gain Productions.

The Norwegian electro-industrial project TAZER has released a new single, “Raise The Voltage,” via Hellektrokution Records. The track is taken from the album “Taze Is The Rule,” released April 30, 2026.

“Raise The Voltage” is the fifth track on the full-length “Taze Is The Rule,” a ten-track album combining electronic rhythms with distorted guitars.

“Raise The Voltage” is available via Spotify, YouTube and Bandcamp.

About TAZER

This Norwegian electro-industrial project has been active since 2024 and is signed to Hellektrokution Records. The line-up consists of Calico InHell, Drumnibal and Oni X01.

The project’s debut single, “A Razor Can Slit, A Tazer Can Kill,” was followed by the self-published EP “9001 Volts.” The band first appeared on Side-Line in November 2024 with the single “A Razor Can Slit, A Tazer Can Kill”, and returned in October 2025 with a Halloween video for “I Put a Spell on You”.

The ten-track album “Taze Is The Rule” was released through Hellektrokution Records on April 30, 2026, and “Raise The Voltage” is taken from it. The standalone release date and format for the single were not specified in the press materials.

About Hellektrokution Records (HKR)

Hellektrokution Records (HKR) is an independent record label founded in 2026, focused exclusively on emerging artists working in industrial, dark electronic, and electronic metal. The label operates under the symbolic designation “Hell, Norway” – a reference to the actual village of Hell in Trondheim municipality, used as a conceptual anchor for the label’s aesthetic and geographic identity.

Besides TAZER, the label signed Toxxic Project (a dark synthwave project by Sebastián Cortez) and the US-based female EBM artist Cylia Vex.

Henrik Karlsson might ring a bell for fans of Seven Trees. However, it has been several years since this Swedish project released any new material. In the meantime, one of its members, Henrik Karlsson, began releasing his own music under the sonic alter ego Subverge. Four albums have since been released on his own label, Arcane Dirge. A selection of nine tracks from those albums has been brought together on this compilation, “Select”, and supplemented with three previously unreleased tracks, which also conclude the album.

Seven Trees and Subverge are not really comparable, except for their shared Electronic foundations. That said, Subverge appears to draw inspiration from the legacy of Cold Meat Industry. A pronounced Dark-Ambient influence runs throughout the album, although it rapidly evolves into a more Cinematic sound. The result is an overwhelming production built upon an extremely dark undertone, frequently supported by slow rhythms and powerful orchestral percussion. At times, I even detected subtle Tribal elements. Dark strings color the atmosphere, while more delicate piano arrangements provide contrast and depth. Repetitive sequences create a sense of foreboding and further reinforce the album’s gloomy mood. To be fair, I must admit that the three previously unreleased tracks—seemingly older compositions that simply never found their way onto an album—do not add much to the overall experience and therefore offer little real bonus value.

Nevertheless, “Select” presents an excellent overview of Subverge’s work and serves as the perfect introduction for newcomers, as well as an ideal opportunity for existing listeners to (re)discover the project. As far as I’m concerned, this is an absolute masterpiece. (Rating:8½).

Listen to “Silver Circles”:

https://aliensproduction.bandcamp.com/track/silver-circles

Starsign emerged in the 1990s and was driven by the German duo Oliver Teßmer and Matthias Blechschmidt. At the time, they released several EPs, along with an album that appeared in 2003. After that, things went quiet for more than two decades, but the duo revived the project a few years ago. Following several high-profile singles, they released “Silver Linings” earlier this year, featuring 10 tracks.

The influences running through “Silver Linings” are quite diverse, yet they fit perfectly within the Electro-Pop genre. The songs move between quiet, floating pieces on the one hand and more danceable tracks on the other. Depeche Mode can occasionally be felt lurking around the corner, while other tracks seem inspired by Mesh. However, Starsign is by no means a copycat; rather, they have managed to blend these diverse elements into a smooth and enjoyable whole. Some songs are beautifully crafted and reveal subtle details in the production. Personally, I prefer their ‘heavier’ tracks, and although I do miss an undeniable standout hit on the album, “Silver Linings” still has a great deal to offer. (Rating:8).

Listen to “Shiver”:

https://infactedrecordings.bandcamp.com/track/shiver

When The Neon Judgement called it quits in the late ’90s — although they would return regularly, mainly for live performances — Dirk Da Davo decided to continue solo with Neon Electronics. Over the years, he received support from Glenn Keteleer and Pieter-Jan Theunis. The first self-titled album was released in 1999, ushering in a career that now concludes in 2026 with this final record.

Neon Electronics has gone through several stylistic periods in terms of influences and genre, but on “Liberation” — which feels more like a mini-album — the project returns to ’80s influences. The music and atmosphere radiate Cold-Wave, driven by danceable beats. There is a fine balance between guitar and electronics, resulting in a dark atmosphere enriched by eerie vocals, while additional influences from Techno and EBM also emerge. More than ever before, I hear clear references to The Neon Judgement, though I doubt anyone will mind.

This release contains six tracks (only five on the vinyl edition) as well as two remixes by Ancient Methods and Patrick Codenys of Front 242. The album bids farewell to us with Neon Electronics at its very best, and somehow that genuinely hurts the listener. This is a highly accomplished and technically refined production filled with hidden gems waiting to be discovered. I would also like to highlight the excellent remix by Patrick Codenys, which, in my opinion, even slightly surpasses the original track. The bonus track included on the digital edition is likewise a brilliant piece of work in which melody and sonic chaos blend beautifully together.

“Liberation” is a brilliant release that immediately feels like the epitaph of Neon Electronics and, as far as I am concerned, a project that will be deeply missed. What’s next, Dirk? (Rating:8½).

Listen to “Liberation”:

https://oraculorecords.bandcamp.com/track/liberation

Swedish electronic artist EMMON and Zweite Jugend join forces on “Salz”, a reworked and reimagined version of a Zweite Jugend track released via Icons Creating Evil Art. What began as a remix idea turned into something far less predictable: a club driven, tense and physical piece that brings together Zweite Jugend’s reduced EBM architecture with EMMON’s high impact electronic language.

The result is a collision of methods, instincts and voices. “Salz” moves through repetition, desire, pressure and transcendence, carrying the severity of body music into a more expansive contemporary club space. In this interview, Emma Nylén of EMMON and Eli van Vegas of Zweite Jugend discuss how the track changed shape, why collaboration still matters in electronic music, and what older and newer currents in EBM can still learn from each other.

EMMON and Zweite Jugend discuss ‘Salz'”‘ collaboration

Karo: “Salz” began as a Zweite Jugend track and then became a shared work with EMMON. What was the element in the original version that had to remain intact, and what needed to be opened up, intensified or challenged?

Emma:We immediately fell for the groove and the repetitive vocals in Elis Transendenz’s version, and asked if we could do a remix inspired by that groove – but we failed completely, and it accidentally turned into a techno banger with Chemical Brothers influences instead.

Karo: At what point did this stop feeling like a remix or guest feature and start feeling like a new artistic statement with its own identity?

Emma: There was probably never a clear boundary – it evolved organically into something other than just a remix. Since we were never satisfied with our original remix version, we eventually let go of control completely instead. At first we thought it sounded like garbage, but the track kept growing on us until we started to love it.

Karo: Emma’s voice and production presence bring a very distinct kind of pressure to the track. How did EMMON’s contribution change the emotional temperature and physical direction of “Salz”?

Eli: I think, the lyrics are exactly that kind of universal that these can be used on different genres. Songs that represent this kind of black and white like intimacy and a night out at a club. I originally wrote the lines for Krischan Wesenberg‘s solo project which was progressive house in one way or the other. So yeah, it was meant to be fitting into a techno driven context. As the lyrics are about experiencing sexuality in a transcendental way, having a second person in the story makes perfect sense. It opens up the opposite perspective which is basically the same. Or, it wouldn’t be transcendent otherwise. So it wasn’t just a technical learning how to work together. It just felt natural. And I think that I love how it turned out with Emma‘s and my voice combined. Like as this version was always meant to be.

Karo: Zweite Jugend’s sound often works through reduction, analogue tension and direct physical impact, while EMMON brings a more expansive club instinct. How did you negotiate the space between austerity and excess?

Emma: We did not, we just had a flow creating the track aming it to be a dance floor banger and hoped (knew) that ZJ would like it, haha!

Karo: The lyrics in “Salz” move through repetition almost like a fixation. What does repetition allow you to express here that a more narrative structure would weaken?

Eli: It is a fixation. Yes. And that‘s the whole dried here. If you are at the border to transcendence you would not want to leave that mental and emotional space so you keep on going. It‘s like being at a rave at 5 a.m. and you close your eyes and the very next thing that you realise is that it’s noon. It‘s a state of euphoria.

Karo: The track feels built for the body, but the body it imagines does not feel simple, happy or purely hedonistic. It feels tense, driven and haunted. What kind of physical state did you want “Salz” to create?

Emma: Like that manic, inspiring, intense energy you could feel in your guts at an illegal rave party in the mid-’90s.

Eli: Well, the initial idea behind the lyrics was to keep it at the personal level. Now it has opened up to a two-pieced perspective with not only gives it different ingredients but also takes the song to a whole different level. I think, what only this new version brings into account is the complexity. It introduces it for the very first time. The described mental state can be either plain and simple our reflect on the holistic condition of the content.

Karo: EBM has always carried a certain severity, but “Salz” also has sensuality and atmosphere. How important was it to keep the track dangerous without turning it into pure aggression?

Emma: Not at all, it was just a happy accident that came from combining us together. The mood of the track is more like the forbidden feeling of doing something you desperately long for, but aren’t allowed to do.

Karo: Emma, your work has always carried a rare combination of control, force and elegance. In this collaboration, did you feel you were entering Zweite Jugend’s world, pulling them into yours, or creating a third space between both?

Emma: Since Jimmy and I were completely free creatively to do whatever we wanted, you could maybe say that we totally hijacked the track until it became its own creation.

Karo: Eli described inspiration as something that does not have to move in one direction. How important is reciprocity in a scene that often builds its mythology around strong individual identities?

Eli: I feel that the very ancestors of this genre (if you want to just call it one) were all about collaborations and featurings. People came in and left some elements to bring used and left again, or they stayed and became the myth that you are talking about. But behind that it wasn‘t that narrow minded at all. And I feel it is about time to collaborate more to create even greater arts, now that many of the ancestors are gone or retiring. To keep the spirit of this kind of music alive we need to embrace different approaches and let them clash into one work. Just to be separated in other cases.

Karo: “Salz” connects different generations and approaches within the electronic underground. What can older and newer currents in EBM still teach each other when they meet without nostalgia?

Eli: Nostalgia is a very emotional point of view. It can be useful to reflect on old days or to even learn something. But it doesn’t say anything about this present and the past. It‘s most definitely on us to create that future. EBM is more or less dead and now lives in way more open scenes that build on that. If that’s the question, let‘s just accept the past for what it is and build a future that we want to have. Let the younger generation of creators be expressive and successful.

Karo: Collaboration can reveal blind spots in an artist’s own method. Did working together change the way you hear your own sound, your limits, or your future direction?

Emma: What we especially love is working on all kinds of inspiring collaborations, because it’s such an effective way to gain perspectives and discover things you never would have found otherwise. That’s how Jimmy and I both love to work — together and with other artists.

Eli: I always wanted to work with bands like Emmon. Personally, you can’t tear me down to one genre. Today I would listen to NIN und tomorrow it might be Röyksopp. To be honest, I‘m always very disrespectful with my own work. That‘s the essence of being an artist. You have to be your biggest critic. A collaboration is a good way to break this a bit as you might find someone else in your own soul. And that‘s it exactly, colliding souls that build emergence. This just happened to me with Salz and Emma. We are now connected forever. I have left a print of my soul in hers and so she has in mine.

Karo: This collaboration sounds less like a side note and more like a possible threshold. Did “Salz” open any ideas for future work together, either in the studio or on stage?

Emma: Maybe, we’re totally open for all kinds of expressions that inspire us and try not to work with any limitations at all.

Eli: With Zweite Jugend we can now retire. That at least is our approach after we have now the feeling that our story has been told. Which opened up to take some time and see how we want to sound in the future and how to progress without losing the identity. As soon as I heard what Emmon would bring to the table, I was fascinated and inspired. I mean, the least to take from this is inspiration. You never know, probably we should do more collaborations. And we don’t talk about live featurings, because it‘s obviously a things that we most likely should and must do. As soon as our paths cross anyway or on purpose.

Zweite Jugend & EMMON release “Salz” on May 29, 2026 via Icons Creating Evil Art. The track revisits Zweite Jugend’s original version and pushes it into a shadowy, hypnotic club realm, where analogue EBM tension meets EMMON’s darker electronic drive. “Salz” will be available worldwide on major streaming platforms, with an official visualizer also released on YouTube

“Arousal” is already the third album by Italian duo Les Longs Adieux. With this new release, Federica Garenna and Frank Marrelli continue to build on their established sound while simultaneously allowing new influences and subtle evolutions to emerge.

The album still breathes the spirit of the 1980s, yet this opus perhaps leans even more toward Electro-Wave territory, enriched with wonderfully vintage synthesizer textures that create a certain sense of magic. Throughout the record, a melancholic atmosphere dominates, beautifully reinforced by melodic choruses that give many of the songs an emotional depth. One particular standout is “Le Soldat De Plomb,” which incorporates a few French lyrics and is, in my opinion, by far the strongest track the duo has written so far. The song feels like a genuine gem and showcases exactly what Les Longs Adieux is capable of achieving when everything falls perfectly into place.

After this high point, the album loses a bit of momentum, though it remains an enjoyable and atmospheric listen throughout, even if no additional tracks quite reach the same level.

Les Longs Adieux undeniably possesses potential. They may not have fully realized it yet, but “Arousal” contains at least one truly remarkable song that is bound to resonate deeply with listeners. (Rating:7½).

Listen to “Le Soldat De Plomb”:

https://leslongsadieux.bandcamp.com/track/le-soldat-de-plomb

Ljubljana EBM and electronic rock act Borghesia will see their 1989 album “Resistance” reissued by Matrix Music Arhiv (MMA) on 26 June 2026. The release is available across four formats: a limited purple-and-white double vinyl, a black double vinyl, a double CD, and a limited-edition cassette of 100 copies. The double vinyl and double CD editions include a bonus live album, “Dal Vivo a El Paso”, recorded in Torino, Italy in December 1988. The album has been remastered for this release.

The original album occupies LP1/CD1 across all formats. Tracks are: “Theme One (Resistance Mix)”, “Message”, “If”, “Konflikt (Conflict)”, “October”, “Rumours”, “Young Prisoners”, “Discipline”, “Mali Čovek (The Little Man)”, “PIAS”, “Police Hour”, and “More Resistance”.

The bonus live recording, “Dal Vivo a El Paso” – the title translates from Italian as “Live at El Paso” – makes up LP2/CD2 on the double vinyl and double CD editions. The recording was made during a European tour stop in Torino in December 1988 featuring very different, raw and at times ‘dubbed up’ versions of the band’s early tracks.

Tracks are: “Hunters (Lovci)”, “Am I?”, “Sentenced To Death (Na smrtno kazen)”, “Who Turned Off the Light? (Kdo je ugasnil luč?)”, “Him (On)”, “Naked Lunch (Pasto nudo)”, “So Young (Tako mladi)”, “Rugged City (Ogolelo mesto)”, “Mud (Blato)”, and “Naked, Uniformed, Dead (Goli, uniformirani, mrtvi)”.

The cassette edition, limited to 100 copies on purple MusiCassette, contains the LP1/CD1 tracks only.

About the original ‘Resistance’ release

Borghesia’s “Resistance” was first released in 1989 on Play It Again Sam (PIAS) in Europe, Wax Trax in the US, and Jugoton in Yugoslavia. It was among a sequence of Borghesia releases on PIAS between 1987 and 1991, which were also licensed to Wax Trax in the US and Canada.

The album’s production sounded like it was created in a bunker, using stolen military equipment and synthesisers. Matrix Music Arhiv connects the reissue to current political conditions: “The dark clouds of violence are already looming over Europe, they’ve never really left the Middle East, and the levers of power and capital ever so louder, not even covertly at all incite: war, war, war!”

Side-Line published a Click Interview with Borghesia in March 2019, in which Aldo Ivančič discussed the band’s history, their place in EBM’s early period, and the 2018 album “Proti Kapitulaciji” on Moonlee Records.

About Borghesia

Borghesia was formed in Ljubljana, Yugoslavia (now Slovenia) in 1982 by Dario Seraval (vocals, programming) and Aldo Ivančič (drums, programming), along with video artists Zemira Alajbegović, Neven Korda, and Goran Devide. The project grew out of the alternative theatre groups Theatre FV-112/15 and Teater Performans.

Early releases appeared on the Slovenian label Zalozba FV and the Italian label Materiali Sonori: “Ljubav je hladnija od smrti” (1985) and “Their Laws, Our Lives” (1986). From 1987 the band issued a series of records on PIAS: “No Hope, No Fear” (1987), “Escorts and Models” (1988), the single “Naked, Uniformed, Dead” (1988), and “Resistance” (1989). PIAS releases were licensed to Wax Trax in the US and Canada.

Borghesia and Laibach both appeared on “Trans Slovenia Express”, a compilation released on Mute Records in 1994.

Following “Resistance”, the band released “Message” (PIAS, 1990), “4×12” (Blind Dog Records, 1991), and “Dreamers in Colour” (PIAS, 1992). The band halted all of its activity in 1995 with “Pro Choice” on Zalozba FV.

The band resumed activity in 2009 and a retrospective double CD, “20th Century – Selected Works”, appeared on FV Music the same year. “And Man Created God” was released on Metropolis Records in 2014.

A year later Dario Seraval appeared as a guest vocalist on dreDDup’s track “Etika” for the Side-Line free compilation “Face the Beat: Session 2”.

“Proti Kapitulaciji” followed on Moonlee Records in 2018, and “Un Chant d’Amour” appeared on Final Muzik in 2021. The current touring lineup includes Irena Tomažin and Jelena Rusjan (vocals) and Andrej Mazi (guitar) alongside core members Seraval and Ivančič.

The MMA reissue of “Resistance” is released on 26 June 2026.

This single slipped our radar but is more than worth announcing. A few weeks ago the Belgian electronic project Kilmarth released “Avant de céder…“, a three-track instrumental digital single combining glitch, dark minimal, and experimental electronic textures. Written, produced, and mixed by Cedric Wattergniaux, the release is available on Bandcamp.

The three tracks are a first glimpse of ayet unnamed forthcoming album. Note that the third track is a reimagined version of an earlier Kilmarth piece.

Four months ago, in January 2026, Wattergniaux released the concept album “Cherophobia” through Adventurous Music, the Leipzig-based micro-label focused on experimental electronic works. That nine-track album explored the fear of happiness, and featured seven guest vocalists including Deranged Psyche, Mad Mac, Eeerisei, Silly Shadow, Heri B., Natasha Moreno, and Clémence Legrand.

About Kilmarth

Kilmarth is a Belgian electronic solo project founded in 2007 by composer, producer, and French teacher Cédric Wattergniaux. The project name references Kilmarth, the Cornish house at the centre of Daphne du Maurier’s novel The House on the Strand.

The project debuted in 2018 with the CD mini-album “Catharsis”. In 2021, Wattergniaux issued the EP “Derrière Le Miroir”, which pushed into minimal-electro and cinematic territory and later produced the video-focused single “M-Fia41”. A Side-Line interview from 2018, “Music Is A Legal Drug That Has The Immense Power To Make Us Escape”, offers further background on the project’s origins.

In 2022, he released the two-track single “Baryum”, introducing a darker post-industrial ambient angle. The 2023 mini-album “Better Days” introduced a singer for the first time in the project’s history.

January 2024 saw the release of “Sociological Veranda”, Wattergniaux’s first full-length IDM album, combining dark electro, glitch, ambient, drum and bass, and cinematic elements across its tracklist. That same year, the single “Vergessen” appeared with the jazz-infused B-side “ToExposeTheTruth”. In November 2024, the EP “My Son of The Moon” followed.

In early 2025, Kilmarth collaborated with D-Fried on the album “Micrometeoritic Flowerpot”. The “Cherophobia” concept album for Adventurous Music arrived in January 2026. “Avant de céder…” followed two months later and is available on Kilmarth’s Bandcamp page.

Along with the reissue of “Ritual”, which appeared on CD for the first time, Zoharum is simultaneously releasing this album by Wieloryb. “God’s Final Breath” was released only in digital format via Antyscena last year and is now finally receiving a CD edition as well, although without the bonus tracks.

If you are familiar with Paweł Kmiecik’s Polish project, you will immediately recognize his affinity for Rhythmic-Noise, while also appreciating the way he uses it as a foundation to incorporate Trance/Tribal influences alongside additional Electro elements. The result is an exhilarating production in which power and dark atmospheres merge with hard-hitting beats, provoking frenetic dancefloor energy in the listener. Here and there, raw, possessed vocals are added -and according to me these tracks are the best ones- while other tracks reveal subtle yet highly effective EBM influences. One particular piece even recalls the era when Ministry fully embraced an Industrial direction, although Wieloryb reshapes this into a kind of Industrial-Ambient/Cinematic experience.

This is an extremely versatile opus; perhaps not the definitive reference album in Wieloryb’s catalogue, yet still a highly successful release containing several essential and crushing musical gems. For me, Wieloryb remains one of the most visionary projects within the broader Industrial scene. (Rating:8).

Listen to “Break The Chains”:

https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/track/break-the-chains

SPKtR – the industrial and electronic project formed by Graeme Revell (SPK) and his son Robert J. Revell – has released “La Encantadora Furiosa” as its second digital single of 2026, against the backdrop of a Bandcamp ban that removed the project’s debut single “The Last of Men” after the platform’s AI detection tool flagged the human-produced track as AI-generated.

The video-single “La Encantadora Furiosa” is now available on Apple Music, iTunes, YouTube Music, and Amazon, among most major streaming platforms. It is not on Spotify.

The single preceded SPKtR’s first live appearance at Wave-Gotik-Treffen in Leipzig, Germany, on 25 May 2026, where the band performed with special guest vocalist Evi Vine – who has previously collaborated with Graeme Revell.

SPKtR Bandcamp ban: ‘The Last of Men’ removed over AI flag

SPKtR’s debut single, “The Last of Men” – released in March 2026 as a two-track digital release comprising “The Last of Men” and “The Last of Men (video edit)” – was removed from Bandcamp on 11 May 2026. Bandcamp cited an alleged violation of its Acceptable Use Policy. The platform’s AI analysis tool had determined the track contained “Music or audio created, composed, or generated by artificial intelligence.”

The band replaced the Bandcamp page with this statement: “This 2-track release has been removed from Bandcamp for allegedly violating Bandcamp’s Acceptable Use Policy. Ironically, Bandcamp’s own deployment of an AI-generated analysis tool has determined that the track ‘The Last of Men’, written, performed, recorded and produced by the verifiably human musician and composer, Graeme Revell, contains ‘Music or audio created, composed, or generated by artificial intelligence.'”

The removal carries an additional layer of context: the video and artwork for “The Last of Men” were indeed openly AI-generated, a deliberate artistic choice by the project. When the single launched in March 2026, Revell stated: “AI is simply the contemporary coal face. It isn’t a shortcut or a replacement for artists. It’s an instrument.”

About SPKtR

SPK was founded in Sydney in 1978 by Graeme Revell and Neil Hill. The project moved to the UK in 1980, and released the “Meat Processing Section” EP, the 1981 debut album “Information Overload Unit” on Side Effects, and the 1981 live cassette “At the Crypt” on Sterile Records.

SPK followed with “Leichenschrei” in 1982/1983 and the compilation “Auto-Da-Fé” in 1983. In 1984, “Machine Age Voodoo” marked a clear shift toward a more electronic and dance-oriented sound, with Sinan Leong joining as lead vocalist.

SPK continued with “Zamia Lehmanni: Songs of Byzantine Flowers” in 1986 on Side Effects, followed by “Digitalis Ambigua: Gold & Poison” in 1987 and “Oceania Live” in 1988.

After SPK’s original run, Revell built a long career in film and game scoring including song credits for “The Crow”, “The Craft”, “From Dusk till Dawn”, “Sin City”, “Blow”, “Call of Duty”, and “Dune”.

Formed in Summer 2025 The SPKtR lineup consists of Graeme Revell and Robert J. Revell, now based in Auckland, New Zealand. A first single, “The Last of Men”, is out now.

“La Encantadora Furiosa” is The SPKtR’s second release, following the Bandcamp-removed debut single, and arrives as the project establishes its release and performance schedule for 2026.

Wieloryb originally started out as a duo sometime in the 1990s, but evolved into a solo project by Polish artist Paweł Kmiecik (also active within G.A.S.). The project gained some recognition through various hard Rhythmic-Noise releases on Hands. Over the past year and this year, there has been a lot of buzz surrounding Wieloryb: new material, but also reissues such as “Ritual”. Originally released in 2021 on Antyscena as a digital album, it was reissued by Zoharum on CD with three additional tracks.

Wieloryb has never stood still, and the Rhythmic-Noise influences have now expanded into an Industrial-Trance format, spiced with heavy kicks, hard repetitive loops, and spoken samples. It is an overwhelming experience from an artist who defies musical boundaries and, above all, expands them. He appeals to a broader audience, but one that appreciates power and darkness. The three bonus tracks do not offer much additional value, with the exception of the final track. Here, Wieloryb seems to have rediscovered some ambient-oriented material from his archives, while the closer delivers pure, primal power.

Wieloryb is the kind of artist who brings a breath of fresh air to the broader Industrial landscape, while also sounding right at home in an underground Techno temple. (Rating:8½).

Listen to “Fly – Bonus”:

https://zoharum.bandcamp.com/track/fly-bonus

Ivan Pavlov, who records as CoH, co-founded Soisong with the late Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson in Bangkok in 2007. The project produced the octagonal “Soisong EP” tour CDEP in 2008 and the full-length “xAj3z,” which documented two European tours. The project held its final concert at Hau 2 in Berlin on June 5, 2010 – without Christopherson, whose health had declined to the point that he could not fly. Christopherson died in Bangkok on November 25, 2010.

A 2012 event at Bar Bonobo in Tokyo, the venue where the project’s first concert had taken place, marked a symbolic close.

On May 22, 2026, Pavlov released “Soisong Book” – a 160-page faux-leather hardcover limited to 222 numbered copies – through the official Soisong store. The book draws on email correspondence, private photographs, official announcements, manifestos, and items Pavlov describes as “fake documents”: promotional materials created during the project’s active years. Two CDs are affixed inside the cover: a 2007 Tokyo concert recording pre-dating Soisong’s formation, and a new studio album by trumpet player Julio Ecclesiast, who contributed to “xAj3z.”

Side-Line spoke with Pavlov about the archive behind the book, the nature of some of Soisong’s listed performers, the night in Berlin, and what follows this release.

Soisong interview

SL: The book draws heavily on email exchanges between you and Sleazy. How large was that archive, and what guided your selection process? Were there exchanges you wanted to include but felt were too private?

Ivan Pavlov: I have about a thousand emails in my mailbox filed under ‘Sleazy’, but since it’s a Soisong book, only those that relate to the process have been included.

SL: You described upscaling late-2000s cellphone photos and low-res Myspace images using current technology. Where did you draw the line between restoring what was there and altering it? Did any images come out looking wrong once upscaled?

Ivan Pavlov: Good upscaling algorithms do not alter images to anything one would be able to notice in print, so no, the printed images look the same as their low-res originals.

SL: The book includes what you describe as “fake documents.” Can you give a specific example – were these created during the project’s active years, or produced later for the book?

Ivan Pavlov: You can see them in the book. For example, as part of the campaign for Soisong album called ‘xAj3z’ we had published a so-called Report from an, obviously non-existent, Investigating Committee. The report speculated on and promoted the shape of the CD package as an extraterrestrial object, with multiple illustrations. This was all made back in 2009.

SL: 222 copies is a precise figure. Is there a reason for that specific number, or was it determined by print-run economics?

Ivan Pavlov: You may find in the book a rather extensive dialogue about choosing the name for the project. I won’t expand too much on that, but ‘song’ is ‘two’ in Thai language. As for the economics for any kind of small editions – it is tough, indeed.

SL: The first CD captures the 2007 Tokyo concert where CoH and The Threshold House Boys Choir performed as separate acts – a pre-Soisong moment. Why that recording specifically? Was it already in the archive, or did it require sourcing?

Ivan Pavlov: Back then, a few days after the show I received 2 CDs from the sound engineer who was at the main desk during the concert. One with a room recording, i.e. including the sound of the audience, one with the clean signal. I now made a mix of the two and I see it as a document well related to Soisong – in the book you will find a mention of the show, and the subsequent discussion on playing live.

SL: The second CD contains a new studio album by Julio Ecclesiast, the trumpet player from “xAj3z.” How did that collaboration come about – did you approach him, or did the idea come from him? How much input did you have in the direction of his album?

Ivan Pavlov: Just like several other participants in Soisong, Julio mostly exists in domains of imagination, listener’s imagination included. Which already back in 2009 had become a rather typical, important part of Soisong’s approach to choosing the performers.

SL: Soisong’s packaging choices were consistently unusual – the octagonal CDEP, the warning on “xAj3z” that it could only play in CD players with a flat horizontal tray. How much of that approach came from Sleazy, and how much from you?

Ivan Pavlov: I would usually come up with rough geometrical design ideas, which we then perfected through a mutually encouraging dialogue.

SL: The final Soisong show took place at Hau 2 in Berlin on June 5, 2010, without Sleazy. What do you remember about that night, and what was the decision behind going ahead without him?

Ivan Pavlov: There was no decision making as such, as far as I remember we were about to play a few shows in Europe, but then Sleazy’s health suddenly declined which didn’t let him fly. The show in Berlin was too late to cancel, so we went on with this kind of ‘remote version’. Sleazy recorded a video message to the audience, and a video stream for me to play during the show. I played the music. It felt quite lonely on the stage, I admit.

SL: Christopherson died in Bangkok on November 25, 2010 – the city where Soisong was based. How did you decide what to do with the project’s archive after that? Was there a point where you considered closing it entirely?

Ivan Pavlov: Soisong is pretty much closed ever since Sleazy’s departure. Whatever has been published afterwards – these are just echoes of the past on their way to the future. Soisong was only meant to last until 2012, so in 2012 we organised the symbolic final event at Bar Bonobo, in Tokyo. That’s where Soisong played the very first concert, commonly referred to as Test Run #7. During this final night at Bonobo in 2012, with the help of the bar’s owner Koichi Sei and a few other friends, the recording of Test Run #7 was released in a small edition of sealed Walkman CD players. Some years later, I also managed to put together the unfinished Soisong album ‘kAm1e’. Now comes the book, which is pretty much just a collection of artefacts. I believe we would have published this kind of the final statement if Sleazy was alive, too.

SL: Dais Records released a remastered deluxe 2LP of “xAj3z” in 2025, with one previously unreleased track, “Lom Tum Lai Kwee.” How did that reissue come about, and what was it like returning to that material?

Ivan Pavlov: Dais expressed interest in re-issuing the two Soisong releases on vinyl. I wouldn’t have been able to pull that off on my own, and the idea seemed attractive. So I agreed and we did it. As for coming back to Soisong material – be it email conversations, images or music – it always feels warm, feels like coming home.

SL: You said the book’s creation was fuelled by “the same joyful enthusiasm and sense of fun as every other publication.” How would you describe Soisong’s working method to someone who only knows the music?

Ivan Pavlov: Encouraging joyful enthusiasm in each other, and working with a sense of common fun – that is the only method we employed.

SL: Does “Soisong Book” function as a closing document, or is there still archive material that could surface in future releases?

Ivan Pavlov: The book is the final Soisong release. I might do a few more commemorative fake radio-broadcasts for soisong.bandcamp.com. I would also definitely like to work more with Julio Ecclesiast, which largely depends on how he feels about that… but officially as Soisong, there are no further releases planned.

About Soisong

Soisong was an experimental electronic music project formed in 2007 by Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson and Ivan Pavlov (CoH), based in Bangkok, Thailand. Christopherson had previously worked with Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV, Coil, and The Threshold Houseboys Choir, while Pavlov released music under the CoH name. The project combined Pavlov’s computer-based composition with Christopherson’s work on artificial vocals and what the project described as “South Seas” instrumentation.

The first release, “Soisong EP,” was an octagonal tour CDEP issued in 2008 in disposable-design packaging, with the release title doubling as a password for additional material on the project’s website. The full-length “xAj3z” followed, in octagonal packaging and carrying a warning that the disc could only play in CD players with a flat horizontal tray. Live activity included the 2008 Test Run Tour – with dates in Tokyo, Rovereto, Copenhagen, Bilbao, Amsterdam, Moscow, and Athens – and a 2009 reunion tour with shows in Linz, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Wroclaw, and Cologne. The final concert took place at Hau 2 in Berlin on June 5, 2010, performed without Christopherson.

Christopherson died in Bangkok on November 25, 2010. A 2012 event at Bar Bonobo in Tokyo, site of the project’s first concert, served as a symbolic close: the recording of that original Tokyo show, Test Run #7, was issued in a small edition of sealed Walkman CD players. Pavlov subsequently assembled the unfinished album “kAm1e.” Dais Records reissued “xAj3z” as a remastered deluxe 2LP in 2025, with the previously unreleased track “Lom Tum Lai Kwee” added to the Bandcamp edition released on May 30, 2025. “Soisong Book,” released May 22, 2026, is confirmed as the final Soisong release.

Belgian duo Gare Noir is driven by Sam Claeys and Frits Standaert, both also known for their involvement with Red Zebra. After Red Zebra pressed the pause button, the pair began working on their own material, which first resulted in a series of singles and eventually culminated in the release of their debut album “This Is Gare Noir”, featuring twelve tracks.

It quickly becomes clear that both musicians draw heavily from the golden era of the 1980s and the New-Wave movement, yet they manage to inject enough personality and individuality to make the album feel remarkably diverse. Starting from a foundation of New-Wave and Post-Punk, the duo occasionally takes detours into Pop and Rock territory, creating a record that constantly shifts in mood and texture. The entire album is masterfully stitched together, alternating between harder moments and more ethereal passages. Several songs evolve toward genuine climaxes, largely thanks to strong arrangements, clever build-ups, and the sheer power of certain choruses. The charismatic vocals naturally add even more strength and identity to the material. Above all, however, these songs radiate a sense of enjoyment and spontaneity. At times, I can hear traces of Ultravox blended with elements reminiscent of Heaven 17, before the album gradually moves into darker and more distinctive territory.

Personally, I would not have minded if the album had leaned even further into darker atmospheres, but it is clear that “This Is Gare Noir” aims for a broader audience rather than confining itself to a specific niche scene. (Rating:8).

Listen to “We Spin”:

https://wagonmaniac.bandcamp.com/track/we-spin

Over the past few years, Ukrainian artist Dronny Darko has become a familiar name within the Drone, Cinematic, and Dark-Ambient landscape. Better known under his alias Dronny Darko, one has to go back to 2012 to find his very first release. Since then, he has evolved into an exceptionally prolific artist, unveiling countless albums, including a wide range of collaborations. His sonic universe serves as a platform where darkness, introspection, and existential unrest take center stage.

Dronny Darko’s latest album, “Dark Shadows Across A Disordered Mind”, released through Cryo Chamber, feels like an intense descent into the depths of a fractured mind: claustrophobic, emotionally charged, and at the same time hypnotically beautiful. With icy drones, distorted textures, and an almost Cinematic build-up of tension, he conjures an auditory nightmare that continues to resonate long after the final note has faded. As far as I am concerned, this is not only one of his darkest works to date, but perhaps also his most personal. What follows is the account of our conversation. (Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Dronny Darko interview

Q: As a Ukrainian artist, it feels only natural to begin by addressing the impact the war has had on you personally. To what extent has this situation influenced your music—perhaps even turning it into a form of emotional outlet? And what role have music and the act of creation come to play for you in times of war?

Oleh: Sound has always been an essential part of my life—it’s not something that emerged in response to circumstances, but rather something constant that I return to regardless of what is happening around me. The war didn’t fundamentally change my relationship with sound, but it did influence my internal state.

It introduced a certain weight, grounding me in a more immediate, physical reality. At times, it felt as though my perspective narrowed, becoming more focused and restrained. However, I see this not as a loss, but as a phase of recalibration. I’m currently working toward reconnecting with that broader, more intuitive ‘antenna’—that sense of openness and sensitivity that allows me to translate abstract emotional states into sound.

Q: Since your first release in 2012, you have built an incredibly prolific body of work, including numerous collaborations. Where do you situate your latest album, “Dark Shadows Across A Disordered Mind”, within this extensive discography, and what were you aiming to express or achieve with this new opus?

Oleh: Yes, there is a deeper personal connection in this work. While much of my previous material has been more focused on abstract or environmental landscapes, this album leans more into internal space. Perhaps aside from “Outer Tehom”, this is one of the few releases where inner emotional states played a more direct role in shaping the sound.

Current events inevitably left their imprint, and for once, I felt compelled to express something more introspective. Still, I tend to avoid over-defining these inner worlds—the listener should have space to interpret and experience them individually.

Q: The album title suggests something deeply introspective and psychologically charged. What is the underlying meaning behind it, and how closely is it connected to your own inner state during the composition process?

Oleh: Yes, there is a deeper personal connection in this work. While much of my previous material has been more focused on abstract or environmental landscapes, this album leans more into internal space. Perhaps aside from “Outer Tehom”, this is one of the few releases where inner emotional states played a more direct role in shaping the sound.

Current events inevitably left their imprint, and for once, I felt compelled to express something more introspective. Still, I tend to avoid over-defining these inner worlds—the listener should have space to interpret and experience them individually.

Q: To my ears, “Dark Shadows Across A Disordered Mind” feels like one of your darkest—if not the darkest—albums to date. How do you perceive this yourself, and how strongly is the atmosphere tied to the themes you explore?

Oleh: I believe the title reflects the sonic character of the album quite accurately. To me, it evokes the sensation of moving through an empty hospital corridor—sterile, quiet, yet charged with an underlying tension. Every small sound becomes amplified in that environment. There’s a sense of systems being overloaded, of something not functioning as it should, and that creates a kind of internal disorientation. The music mirrors that feeling: subtle, restrained, but constantly on the edge of unraveling.

Q: Did this album mark any significant evolutions or innovations in your creative process or sound? More broadly, how does the transition from one release to the next unfold for you? To what extent does innovation play a role—whether in terms of concept, thematic focus, or the use of new techniques and instruments?

Oleh: With each new album, I try to introduce some form of evolution—whether subtle or more pronounced. Experimentation is a core part of why I continue creating. For this release, I was particularly interested in working with tape-based processes. I had been wanting to explore that medium for some time, and conceptually, this project felt like the right space to do so. Tape introduces its own imperfections and textures, which aligned naturally with the themes of distortion, memory, and psychological fragmentation present in the album.

Q: You have collaborated with a wide range of artists over the years. What do you seek in a collaboration that differs from your solo work? And, picking up on the idea of evolution, are there specific collaborators who have pushed you artistically in new directions?

Oleh: Collaboration offers a completely different creative dynamic. It allows you to observe how another artist thinks, how they approach sound, and what techniques they rely on. For a collaboration to be meaningful, there needs to be a sense of complementarity—if both artists are doing the same thing, there’s little room for growth.

I tend to gravitate toward working with people who challenge me, often those I perceive as more skilled or experienced in certain areas. It’s less about being ‘pushed’ in a direct sense, and more about a mutual shaping of each other’s sonic environments. Through that interaction, new directions emerge naturally.

Q: I imagine you are already working on new material. Can you share anything about what’s ahead, and what other plans you have for the remainder of the year?

Oleh: At the moment, I’m working on a collaboration with my wife, Sasha, under her project ProtoU. This material is quite different from my usual work—we’re focusing more on acoustic elements and organic sound sources. The thematic direction is centered around Ukraine, which brings a different kind of emotional and cultural depth to the project.

We’ve also recently connected with a craftsman and musician who builds and plays traditional ethnic instruments. He shared a range of recordings with us, and we’re now in the process of integrating these sounds into a cohesive musical narrative. It’s an ongoing exploration—figuring out how to shape these raw elements into something that feels both authentic and meaningful.

Flemish trio Kregel was formed in 2016 and began releasing EPs in 2020. In the meantime, the band has already arrived at “#7,” a new release featuring four fresh tracks.

Kregel is quite a remarkable band because there are not many acts like them around. Musically, they are deeply rooted in the spirit of the 1980s, particularly the New-Wave and Post-Punk era. That alone is not unusual nowadays, but what truly makes the group stand out is their decision to sing in their native language while delivering wonderfully absurd and abstract lyrics although with a deeper and sometimes sensitive content. Of course, the concept is not entirely unprecedented. Fans of Aroma Di Amore and Arbeid Adelt! will immediately recognize where part of the inspiration originates. Still, Kregel succeeds in translating those influences into something that feels fresh and contemporary. “#7” sounds wonderfully Post-Punk throughout, with one of the tracks even containing a subtle nod to The Stooges. At times the music may appear somewhat simplistic, yet this is compensated by its sheer effectiveness and the dark, menacing atmosphere that runs through the entire EP. The songs gradually build toward hypnotic crescendos and repeatedly invite the listener onto the dance floor.

Kregel may ultimately remain a phenomenon primarily appreciated within Flanders, but I genuinely believe the band possesses enough originality and potential to break through much further. As far as I am concerned, this is one of the finest Belgian discoveries of recent years. (Rating:8).

Listen to “Dode Mus”:

https://wagonmaniac.bandcamp.com/track/dode-mus

Long Beach industrial metal band Heavenly Trip to Hell just released their new single and accompanying video, “Yo No Quiero Ir Al Cielo“. The track was recorded by Addasi Addasi at Fuel Music Studios and is available on all platforms.

Lead vocalist G Christ explained the concept behind the track: “The song was inspired by the fact that we do not want to go to heaven where certain people can’t get in. I want to go to a heaven where everyone gets in.”

The single is the band’s first confirmed release since “Millions of Flowers,” which we covered in November 2024 (Heavenly Trip To Hell drops new single & video, ‘Millions Of Flowers’).

About Heavenly Trip to Hell

Heavenly Trip to Hell – also known as HTTH – is a six-piece industrial metal band from Long Beach, California. The band blends industrial metal with goth and heavy metal. The band has been active for nearly 30 years.

The current lineup consists of G Christ on lead vocals, Sergio on bass, Vicky Vicious on synth and keyboards, Jose on drums, Kurt on lead guitars, and Frank on rhythm guitar.

In November 2024, we covered the band’s prior single, “Millions Of Flowers’“. The May 2026 release of “Yo No Quiero Ir Al Cielo” is the band’s newest single.

Heavenly Trip to Hell has had two songs placed in the soundtrack of the DC Comics and Warner Bros. animated film Batman Azteca: Choque de Imperios, directed by Juan Meza Leon. They also contributed the single “Yo No Quiero Ir Al Cielo” to the soundtrack of the thriller film Blackout, directed by Shane Aquino and released on May 5, 2026 via Uncork’d Entertainment.

The band has also appeared in Road Dogs, a documentary directed by Shane Aquino that follows touring bands on the road. Road Dogs has screened at multiple international film festivals.

Austin, Texas-based electronic solo artist SINE – the project of Rona Rougeheart – has released a new album, “La Mordre,” on Metropolis Records. The 10-track record is out now in digital and vinyl formats. An official video for the previously released single “Blood + Wine” also dropped, you can view it below.

“La Mordre” contains ten tracks, four of which appeared as standalone singles before the album release: “Trauma Bondage” (September 2024), “Succumb To Me” (September 2025), “Blood + Wine” (27 February 2026), and “Cruel” (3 April 2026). The remaining six tracks are new to this release.

Several tracks were self-produced by Rougeheart; others were co-produced with Curse Mackey (Pigface, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult) and AwareNess (calm.). Mastering was handled by Mark Pistel (Consolidated, Meat Beat Manifesto).

Rougeheart describes the album’s narrative arc like this: “When I started to gather the demos that I really wanted to include on the album, I saw a story unfolding. The songs, in order, put together a picture of someone navigating a new and exciting but seemingly treacherous path with eyes on this ‘big prize’ or breakthrough – and they’ll do anything to get it. It’s a seductive tale with vampiric tendencies and a little loosening of moral values; a glittery story that will hopefully make you want to know more.”

SINE Divine Creatures Tour – US dates August 2026

SINE will tour the US in August 2026 on the Divine Creatures Tour, joined by Seattle-based act Nuda. Curse Mackey will DJ at select shows. The confirmed dates are:

• 7 August – Seattle, WA – Funhouse
• 8 August – Portland, OR – Coffin Club
• 9 August – Eugene, OR – The Sparrow & Serpent
• 11 August – Reno, NV – Holland Project
• 12 August – San Francisco, CA – Above DNA
• 13 August – Bakersfield, CA – Jerry’s Pizza
• 14 August – Los Angeles, CA – Monty Bar
• 15 August – Coachella, CA – Red Falcon Dispensary & Lounge
• 16 August – Phoenix, AZ – Lighthouse Kava Bar

Further dates will be announced.

About SINE

SINE is the solo project of Rona Rougeheart, a drummer, vocalist, producer, and multi-instrumentalist based in Austin, Texas. Rougeheart uses the term “Electronic Boom” to describe the project’s sound, which blends sub-bass, beats, and industrial elements with lyrics that incorporate sarcasm, humour, and social commentary.

The project’s early releases appeared on Austin’s eMERGENCY heARTS label. SINE’s 2021 album “Desire, Denial and Paramania” was released on 7 October 2021 and featured collaborations with Curse Mackey, producer Sean Beavan (Nine Inch Nails, 3Teeth), and vocalist Chris Connelly (Pigface, Revolting Cocks). The album also included a Meat Beat Manifesto remix by Jack Dangers.

In January 2022, SINE released a remix of “Attack” by Adrian Sherwood on eMERGENCY heARTS, and in August 2022 issued the EP “Mantis 2” on the same label.

SINE signed to Metropolis Records ahead of the 2024 album “Luxuria”, released on 19 January 2024. That record was produced by Claus Larsen of Leæther Strip and included the single “From Beyond” featuring Leæther Strip.

Over the course of her career, Rougeheart has collaborated with Adrian Sherwood, Meat Beat Manifesto, Clan of Xymox, Chris Connelly, Mark Pistel, Andee Blacksugar (KMFDM, Blondie), Xiu Xiu, and the late Mark Stewart of The Pop Group.

“La Mordre,” her second Metropolis release, arrives roughly two years after “Luxuria” and marks a step into a longer, more expansive album format.

In my opinion, Trilogy is a rather underrated Electro project that emerged a few years ago. Founded and driven by former Trial member Erick Miotke and featuring vocalist Jens Müller (previously active in Human R3source), the German duo returned this year with the double CD “Forced Perspective”.

The main album contains no fewer than eighteen tracks, material the band worked on over the course of several years. As a bonus, listeners are treated to an additional disc featuring the exact same tracklist, but with every song reworked by a different remix artist. The album itself is an extremely elaborate and carefully crafted work in which inevitable Trial influences occasionally resurface, though the atmosphere feels distinctly different and the vocals give the project its own unmistakable character. Trilogy is not a continuation of Trial, but a band with a clear identity of its own. Musically, the influences move somewhere between EBM and Dark-Electro. Certain tracks evoke the atmosphere and precision of Skinny Puppy and Front Line Assembly, while I can also detect parallels with Yelworc. The compositions sound meticulous and polished down to the smallest detail. Dark string arrangements, refined icy bleeps, and old-school EBM elements merge seamlessly with pounding kicks and harsh vocals.

The extra disc is far more than a simple bonus addition. Not only does it revisit the complete tracklist, but each song is transformed by an impressive roster of remixers. I would especially like to highlight contributions from Sleepwalk, Serpents, Terminal State, AD:Key, Pyrroline, and Mildreda, all of whom deliver outstanding reinterpretations. Other notable appearances include T.A.N.K., Brain Leisure, Digital Factor, and the legendary Project Pitchfork. In some ways, this bonus disc may even surpass the original album thanks to the additional variety and perspectives it offers.

“Forced Perspective” is an absolute tour de force and an essential release for every connoisseur of intelligent Dark-Electro and EBM. (Rating:8½).

Listen to “Combat Surfer”:

https://electroaggressionrecords.bandcamp.com/track/combat-surfer

American harsh noise artist Richard Ramirez and Contagious Orgasm have released the collaborative noise cassette “Different Substances” via SSSM.

“Different Substances” is available as a cassette and digital album.

About Richard Ramirez and Contagious Orgasm

Richard Ramirez is an American noise artist originally from Houston, Texas. He brings a mix of harsh noise wall, power electronics and drone and has been active since 1989. Besides the projects Black Leather Jesus and Werewolf Jerusalem he is also the founder of Deadline Recordings.

We previously mentioned Ramirez in the review of the Maurizio Bianchi / Coalminer + Allies album “Antimateria” (out via Grubenwehr Freiburg), where Coalminer’s collaborations included Richard Ramirez on the track “Gaping Crevism”.

Contagious Orgasm is the project of Hiroshi Hashimoto from Japan. Contagious Orgasm has been active since 1987 and brings a mix of experimental electronic music, including noise, industrial, rhythmic noise and ambient. Hiroshi Hashimoto also runs the SSSM label.

We previously covered the project when the Contagious Orgasm single “Through The Cracks Of Entrapment” was released on Ant-Zen.

The Grab Society, the German dark electro and electropop project of Manfred Thomaser and Ulf Müller, today release the single “Reincarnation (Wiedergeburt)” on Echozone. The single contains two tracks: “Reincarnation (Wiedergeburt)” (3:16) and “Reincarnation (Wiedergeburt) (Instrumental)” (3:16).

An official video accompanies the release:

The central figure stands before two doors, each representing a passage toward a new existence: “On one side, the dark, stinking swamp bubbles; on the other, friendly synth tracks point the way toward the light.”

About The Grab Society

The Grab Society is a German electro and synth-pop project formed by Manfred Thomaser and Ulf Müller. Thomaser’s other active projects include !distain, Arsine Tibé, DEMOKRATIE, and The Independent Season. Müller has worked with Projekt Ich, M.U.N.T Connection, VOUL, SMOTCH, U.M. Fiedel, Tränenwelten, Mission Zanzibar, and 2MBK.

The project launched on 28 April 2023 with the debut single “Outsider (Außenseiter)” on Echozone. A second single, “Underrated (Unterschätzt)”, followed on 23 June 2023. The third single, “Room (Raum)”, was released on 26 January 2024. “Free (Gratis)” appeared on 2 August 2024. A fifth single, “Eternal,” featuring guest vocalist Annabelle, was released early May 2025.

On 30 May 2025, Echozone issued “Extended (Volume I)”, collecting extended versions of all five singles to that point. On 11 July 2025, the project released a cover of the Trio song “Da Da Da ich lieb dich nicht du liebst mich nicht aha aha aha”, which included an Arsine Tibé mix and the original B-side track “Dislocated.” “Reincarnation (Wiedergeburt)” is the first The Grab Society single released in 2026.

Soisong, the experimental electronic project founded by the late Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson and Ivan Pavlov (CoH), have announced “Soisong Book,” a hardcover publication documenting the project’s history. The book is released on May 22, 2026 through the official store and is listed as available from 22:05 CET.

The release is not exactly a standard music album. “Soisong Book” is a 160-page full-colour, faux-leather hardback edition, limited to 222 numbered copies. It documents the project from its first planning stages through later “after-effects” and draws largely on email exchanges between Christopherson and Pavlov. The book also includes private travel and concert photos, official announcements, manifestos, fake documents and audience photographic contributions.

Ivan Pavlov gives us some more info: “It took me quite some time to find and put together all these late-2000s cellphone photos and low-res images made for Myspace, to upscale many of them with the use of today’s technology, to select from a thousand of emails as few as possible… but the work didn’t feel hard at all.” And he adds: “The book is a proper Soisong release in the sense that the process of its creation has been fueled by the same joyful enthusiasm and sense of fun as every other publication, or action documented within”.

The book contains two compact discs affixed inside the cover. The first disc presents a pre-Soisong recording of a 2007 concert in Tokyo, where CoH and The Threshold House Boys Choir performed as separate acts. The second disc contains a new post-Soisong studio album by Julio Ecclesiast, the trumpet player who also appeared on the final album “xAj3z”.

About Soisong

Soisong was an experimental electronic music project formed in 2007 by Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson and Ivan Pavlov, also known as CoH. Christopherson was known for his work with Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV, Coil and The Threshold HouseBoys Choir, while Pavlov worked under the CoH name. The project was located in Bangkok, Thailand.

The duo’s work was a combination of Pavlov’s computer-based music and Christopherson’s approach to artificial vocals and “South Seas” instrumentation.

The first release was “Soisong EP,” an octagonal tour CDEP issued in 2008 in disposable-design packaging. The release also used the title as a password for additional material on the project’s website.

The duo followed with “xAj3z,” the project’s first full-length album. The CD used octagonal packaging and carried a warning that it could only play in CD players with a flat horizontal tray.

The duo’s live activity included the 2008 Test Run Tour, with dates in Tokyo, Rovereto, Copenhagen, Bilbao, Amsterdam, Moscow and Athens. A 2009 reunion tour followed with shows in Linz, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Wroclaw and Cologne. The final Soisong show took place at Hau 2 in Berlin on June 5, 2010, without Christopherson.

After Christopherson’s death in Bangkok on November 25, 2010, later project-related releases continued to document the project’s archive. “Soisong Split” was published in 2012 and included Pavlov’s CoH “Soisong” EP together with unpublished Christopherson sketches made available through the project’s website. The official store lists the CoH “Soisong” EP as a two-disc octagonal release recorded in 2010 and 2012.

Dais Records announced the first wide vinyl reissue of “xAj3z” in 2025 as a remastered deluxe 2LP edition with one previously unreleased track. The Bandcamp edition was released on May 30, 2025 and added “Lom Tum Lai Kwee” to the tracklist.

PIG, the industrial rock project led by Raymond Watts, has released the new album “Hurt People Hurt” today, May 22, 2026 via Metropolis Records. The album is available as LP, CD and digital release and holds 10 tracks.

The album was written by Watts and Jim Davies, known for his work with The Prodigy and Pitchshifter. Watts says: “”Hurt People Hurt” is the shepherd to pain, shoehorned between the masochist and the drama queen within. It’s full fat PIG where the weak will walk and the sick will see.”

Two singles were released before the album. “Tosca’s Kiss” was the first preview, with a video directed and edited by E Gabriel Edvy for Blackswitch Labs. The second single, “Sex & Suicide“, was released on April 10, 2026. The lyric video was directed by Grete Stitch Laus.

PIG 2026 tour dates

PIG will play two sold-out Tokyo shows on June 25 and 26, 2026. The band is also scheduled for Cold Waves XIV on September 25, 2026, with Stabbing Westward, Acumen Nation, 16 Volt, Purest Form and Kaput.

UK dates have also been announced for December 2026:

• 10 December – Manchester, Rebellion
• 11 December – Bradford, Nightrain
• 12 December – Glasgow, Ivory Blacks
• 13 December – London, The Lexington

About PIG

PIG is the long-running industrial rock project of English musician Raymond Watts, which he formed in 1988 after earlier work in London, Hamburg, and West Berlin. Before launching the project, Watts had already worked on early KMFDM material with En Esch and Sascha Konietzko, and had also been active as a live and studio sound engineer for Einstürzende Neubauten and Psychic TV. He later toured with Foetus on keyboards and guitar.

The first release was “A Poke in the Eye… with a Sharp Stick”, followed by “Praise the Lard” (1991), “A Stroll in the Pork” (1992), “The Swining” (1993), “Sinsation” (1995), “Wrecked” (1996), “Genuine American Monster” (1999), and “Pigmartyr” (2004), later reissued as “Pigmata”. Small detail, several 1990s releases first appeared in Japan, including “The Swining” and “Wrecked”.

Watts is also a founding member and recurring collaborator of KMFDM. He rejoined that orbit in 1994 for the PIG vs KMFDM release “Sin Sex & Salvation”, later worked with the Japanese projects Schaft and Schwein, and also wrote music and sound design for fashion and exhibition work, including Alexander McQueen’s “Plato’s Atlantis” and the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition “Punk: Chaos to Couture”.

After the Watts release “Pigmartyr”, the project resumed under the PIG name with “The Gospel” on September 9, 2016, followed by “Risen” on June 8, 2018 and the covers album “Candy” on June 21, 2019. The project then returned with “Pain Is God” on November 20, 2020, followed by “The Merciless Light” on September 23, 2022. That run continued with “Red Room” on May 17, 2024, the “Feast of Agony” EP on September 27, 2024, the remastered “Wrecked” on March 7, 2025, and the remix album “The Merciful Night” on November 14, 2025.

Jim Davies was a recurring collaborator the past few years. And now there is the brand new album “Hurt People Hurt”.

Flesh Field, the US electronic/industrial project led by Ian Ross, release the limited physical 2CD artbook edition of “On Enmity” today, May 22, 2026, via Dependent Records. The album was first released digitally on February 20, 2026. The physical edition is issued as a 48-page hardcover artbook with two audio CDs and a bonus disc containing seven exclusive tracks. The edition is limited to 500 copies.

The bonus disc adds “Hegemony” featuring Tom Shear of Assemblage 23, “Molten Resolve (16 Volt Remix),” “Supplication (Lost Signal Remix),” “Ballad Of The Renegade (Mildreda Remix),” “Unwanted (Orchestral),” “We Will Be Forgotten (Schneider Remix),” and “Supplication (Omen Code Remix).”

Ross describes “On Enmity” as an album that “documents the aftermath of trauma” and adds: “It’s not about recovery. It’s about adaptation to ruin.” The album was recorded and mixed by Ian Ross at Deadwyre Studios in Northern Virginia. Da5id Din mastered it at Corrosive Audio in San Francisco. Colin Ross contributes backing vocals on “Indestructible” and “A Boy Named Resurrection.”

On June 4, 2026 Flesh Field will play at The Renegade in Arlington, Virginia, with Lost Signal.

About Flesh Field

Flesh Field is an American electronic/industrial project formed in Columbus, Ohio, in 1996 by Ian Ross. The project name refers to a non-medical term Ross coined for psychological defence mechanisms in rape victims. Rian Miller joined in 1997 as vocalist. The early line-up released “Viral Extinction” in 1999, followed by “Redemption EP” in 2000 and “Belief Control” in 2001 through Inception Records and Trisol/Matrix Cube.

In 2004, Wendy Yanko replaced Miller as vocalist. Flesh Field released “Strain” that year through Metropolis Records and Dependent Records.

Ross announced the retirement of Flesh Field in 2011. That same year, the project issued “Tyranny Of The Majority” as a free internet release. Flesh Field tracks kept appearing in media and games, including “Beneath Contempt” in “True Blood” and “Uprising” in the 2023 film “The Mill.”

Flesh Field returned in 2023 with “Voice of the Echo Chamber” on Metropolis Records. In 2024 the project released the EP “Voice of Reason”. The current core studio line-up is Ian Ross, who handles vocals, keyboards, programming, instruments, and production.

Meanwhile, it has already been nine years since Freakangel released their last album, but the Estonian music phenomenon has finally sprung back into action. Over the past few years, the band has released a couple of singles, now brought together on this new EP alongside an additional brand-new track.

“Control” is a somewhat surprising song if you are used to the brutal and ruthless intensity of this band. It leans more toward a dark and atmospheric approach: moody, layered, and driven by a compelling male-female vocal interplay, before culminating in a finale where everything completely explodes. “Death Bloom” then takes us straight back to the essence of what Freakangel stands for: a steel-hard sound with the perfect balance between electronics and guitars, topped off with a possessed vocal delivery. Fans of Combichrist will definitely appreciate this track. The final song delivers a powerful combination of sheer aggression and Cinematic atmosphere, closing the EP on an intense and memorable note.

Now all that remains is to look ahead and hopefully start counting down to a brand-new full-length album, because Freakangel has certainly been missed within the scene. (Rating:8).

Listen to “Control”:

https://alfamatrix.bandcamp.com/track/control-9