Browsing Tag

industrial

n1ne8zero transcended the mundanity of the ordinary with their industrial debut, ruminate_illuminate

Posted on 3 March 2024

With harsh NIN-esque snares amidst the industrialised techno progressions that slither through the augmented production, the debut single, ruminate_illuminate, from n1ne8zero is a cacophonous juggernaut of an earworm which pays ode to industrial pioneers while modernising the genre and sealing its fate in the modern music landscape.

The biomechanical beats, tension-fraught builds, explosively euphoric breaks and deliciously distorted guitars all pull together to deliver a mind-mashing instrumental track that transcends the mundanity of the ordinary and stands as a testament to n1ne8zero’s ability as a boundary and convention obliterating innovator.

Setting their debut release apart, ruminate_illuminate comes with an immersive cerebral touch through the intricacies in the labyrinth of instrumental layers and the way the transcendent elements juxtapose the visceral chaos offered to alleviate the listener from the external chaos that permeates our perceptions and worlds. We can’t wait to hear what lingers in n1ne8zero’s pipeline after this phenomenally strong debut.

ruminate_illuminate was officially released on February 16^th; stream the single on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Maze Of Afflictions launched a tumultuous Electro House juggernaut with ‘Step Outside The Silence (89Keys Remix)’

Posted on 31 January 2024

Maze of Afflictions’ latest Electro House offering, Step Outside the Silence, is a tempestuous and ground-breaking track that redefines the boundaries of electronica. It’s a sonic odyssey that demands attention and captivates the listener from the first beat to the last.

The track begins with an electrifying energy, taking glitchy motifs and elevating them to a monumental level. The result is a tumultuous juggernaut of sound that is both overwhelming and utterly irresistible. Maze of Afflictions demonstrates a masterful understanding of the genre, pushing the limits of Electro House while paying homage to the heavy trip-hop tracks and industrial sounds of acts like Celldweller.

The unexpected and brilliantly executed rap interludes are a broadside that transforms the entire dynamic of the song while adding a raw, gritty edge that complements the electronic backdrop perfectly. This fusion of genres is seamless, creating a track that is as innovative as it is infectious.

The track’s volatile yet cathartic progression is a rollercoaster of sound that is impossible to experience just once. While electrifying nature makes it a seductive and sublime journey through sound. The Atlanta-based producer has created a piece that is superlative in every sense, from its intricate production to its powerful delivery.

Step Outside the Silence showcases Maze of Afflictions’ exceptional talent and unique vision, marking them as a force to be reckoned with in the EDM scene.

Step Outside The Silence (89Keys Remix) will drop on the 31^st of January; stream it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

IDN synthesised an electrifying electronica hybrid in his sophomore LP, Voyager

Posted on 21 January 2024

IDN’s LP “Voyager” is an electrifying escapade into a realm where electronica melds with a kaleidoscope of genres. Each of the 14 tracks on this LP is a crucial fragment of an intricate cosmic voyage, transcending the norms of conventional electronica with audacious flair.

IDN, an LA-based queer Iranian-American polymath, infuses his diverse inspirations – from video games to sci-fi and psychedelia – into a groundbreaking sound. This LP is a unified interstellar journey, which pulses with life, intertwining industrial, dub, and psytrance into a hybrid tapestry of sound.

The genius of “Voyager” lies in its seamless blend of hi-fi sophistication and lo-fi rawness. This juxtaposition creates a soundscape that feels both futuristic and deeply rooted. With glitchy breakbeats and dub-infused electronic twists leading the listener through a labyrinth of auditory discovery, you will want to grab your passport to the 5^th dimension before delving in.

The Voyager LP landed on January 12; embark on it via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Midnite Gossip illuminated the airwaves with the darkwave indietronica alchemy in ‘Streetlights’

Posted on 28 December 2023

Midnite Gossip, the Calgary-based indie-pop duo, has once again demonstrated their unique flair for blending genres with their nocturnal odyssey, Streetlights. The synthesis of moody pop, darkwave, industrial, and electronic post-punk elements come together to create a soundscape as enigmatic as the night itself.

From the first caustic beat, the tone is set for a journey through the urban night. The twilight of the synth lines glimmers beneath Nicky Markin’s vocals, providing a haunting backdrop to the siren-esque vocal harmonies to draw you deeper into an entrancing mix that lingers in your subconscious, echoing long after the outro.

The fusion of 90’s industrial synth wave with modern club anthem vibes creates a sound that is both ‘pretty but gritty’, a hallmark of Midnite Gossip’s style, which is influenced by The XX, Phantogram and St. Vincent. With their upcoming debut EP eagerly anticipated, Midnite Gossip is clearly a duo on the rise. Their performance at the Satellite Music + Arts Festival, alongside artists like Felix Cartel and Ruby Waters, has already cemented their status as one to watch.

Check out the new official music video for the Mickey Valenz Remix of Streetlights which premiered on December 21 via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Fleisch – FIREFLY: Meet the New Icons of Industrial

Posted on 5 December 2023

Fleisch have dropped their latest viscerally augmented industrial earworm, FIREFLY, allowing the darkwave electronica genre to evolve around the pulsating euphoria that spills from the fierce interplay of influence from Rammstein and Depeche Mode.

With synth carved hooks that will latch onto your consciousness for days between the harsh ensnaring industrial metal rancour that riles your rhythmic pulses, FIREFLY pays ode to the three-piece’s inspiration while refusing to let it define their anthemic sound, which keeps the techno tempo upbeat and the tones dark to deliver the ultimate industrial floor-filler.

If Zeromancer, Combichrist, and Powerman 5000 feature heavily on your playlists, you’ll easily find space for Fleisch and their authentic take on the genre.

FIREFLY buzzed onto the airwaves on December 1^st; stream it on Spotify.

Follow Fleisch on Facebook and Instagram.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Bitvert oscillated doom through his harbingering experimental deep bass track, Distress Signal

Posted on 4 December 2023

Bitvert’s experimental deep bass single ‘Distress Signal’ is an scintillating foray into the realm of underground electronica, seamlessly merging dark textures and tonalities with an omnipresent sense of impending doom. More than just a composition; it’s an experience, an auditory journey through the depths of electronic music’s more shadowy corridors.

Distress Signal starts the transmission with a harbingering sense of doom that is immediately palpable, it pulsates through the oscillating basslines that forge the spine of this musical beast. To evoke a primal response, enthralling and unsettling in equal measure, Bitvert bolstered the resonance in the bass which exhibits his reverence for the DIY ethos of punk.

The sharp cuts of the snares in Distress Signal add a layer of urgency to the track; they are meticulously crafted to cut through the deep bass, serving as a stark contrast that enhances the overall texture of the piece. This percussive element lends the track a glitchy trip-hop nuance, further diversifying the auditory palette.

When you hit play on the filmic, almost Lynchian ingenuity, you are more than a passive recipient of sound, you’re transported to a dark, brooding and intensely atmospheric realm. It’s an auditory odyssey that pushes the boundaries of electronic music and leaves a lasting impression.

Distress Signal will be transmitted on December 4^th; stream it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

KURO unveiled their electro-metal manifesto on how to bring down the alt-right with ‘Wake Up and Choose Violence’

Posted on 24 September 2023

As calls to socially progressive arms go, they don’t come much more compelling than KURO’s latest single, Wake Up and Choose Violence. With the harsh industrial metal instrumentals amplifying the lyrical volition that unravels as a manifesto of poetic vengeance, the sonically jugernautical Glasgow outfit reached the pinnacle of the punk ethos.

The blast beats hammer down as heavily as we should be coming down on the alt-right provocateurs who revel in the contempt they breed and their subsequent notoriety as the synthesis of the heavily distorted guitars and synth lines visualise the disorientating dystopic dissonance of our depressing modern epoch.

By pointing out how we fought for rights only to neglect them when it matters the most, the adrenalizing razor-sharp rap metal vocals cogently foreshadow a further descent into extremism, marginalisation, and prejudice unless we follow the titular command. Resistance isn’t futile; it is fundamental.

KURO Said:

“Wake Up and Choose Violence is a reactionary track written in response to the sheer amount of audacious counter-reformative movements and laws placed by right-wing identifying groups. In simpler terms, we’re sick of our right to protest being taken away, the lack of racism being tackled, bills for trans and queer rights being blocked and the growth of far-right ideologies being accepted.

It is about standing up to all that, finding your viewpoint and sticking to it, and standing up for those who don’t have a voice. The music video exhibits this in which we included people from many walks of life and gave them a platform to express their viewpoints and show why it’s time for a progressive change.”

Stream the official music video for Wake Up and Choose Violence on YouTube, add the track to your Spotify playlists, or purchase the single on Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Teo unveiled their boundary-breaking debut single, A Portrait in a Broken Mirror

Posted on 20 September 2023

With an intro which evokes ‘40s nostalgia via static-decorated radio samples of blues before breaking into a news broadcast running a narrative of WW2, the debut single, A Portrait in a Broken Mirror, from the enigma of an artist, Teo, certainly makes its mark.

After three minutes of reliving the atrocities of the Second World War, Teo cinematically brings in their harsh electronica sonic signature, which dominates the middle ground of happy hardcore and industrial in a similar vein to Otto Von Schirach’s monolithic sonic manifestos. Taking a break from the high-octane motifs, the single starts to traverse an eerie and ethereal atmosphere before the rancour comes back in full juggernautical swing.

Even though I’m usually all for uninhibited experimentalism, an 18-minute debut single, which pays little mind to listener accessibility, is hard to paint as one triumphant in its innovation.

A Portrait of a Broken Mirror hit the airwaves on September 6^th; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Fallsurge left us on the ‘Tripwire’ of his industrial-rock-meets-post-punk hit

Posted on 26 June 2023

Tripwire by FALLSURGE

After beating the skins for Swervedriver and 5:30, Jez Hindmarsh formed his post-punk meets electronic rock project, Fallsurge. Post-punk has had its fair share of angsty icons, but they’re deathly pale when put in comparison to Fallsurge, especially after the release of Tripwire.

With hints of Celldweller and Skinny Puppy in the production and PJ Harvey’s Down By the Water in the rancorous atmosphere against the protestive post-punk snarls, Fallsurge is one of the most inventive alt-electronica acts since Prodigy.

And yeah, that should probably go down as blasphemy, but the caustic industrial cuts in Tripwire against the cold chaotic sonic whirlpooling guitars, laid down by the LA-based guitarist, Dave Dupuis, created a pioneering cocktail of viscerally vitriolic alchemy. We’re officially stoked to hear what follows.

Stream and purchase Tripwire via Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Baby Tap possessed the hardstyle genre with the maniacal aggression in DEMONS

Posted on 6 June 2023

Hardstyle got infinitely harder with the latest release from one of the most versatile Electronica artists and producers in any scene. Baby Tap’s latest feat of synthesised obscurity, DEMONS, is enough to rival the most visceral hits in $uicideboy$ and Wage War’s respective discographies.

The adrenalized aggression of the flawlessly finished released effortlessly resonates as galvanizingly chaotic energy, which won’t fail to leave you psyched by the UK-based experimental artist’s possession of the hot and heavy domain of electronica.

It may be different from what we have heard from Baby Tap before, but the cornerstones of subversion, darkness and cyberpunk harsh techno remain, and we stand firm on our position that asserts Baby Tap as one of the most seminally superlative acts in the UK right now.

DEMONS will officially release on June 6th; bastardise your ear canals with it by heading to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

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