Browsing Tag

industrial

12 Below – Jetsam: Austere art-rock

Posted on 21 May 2021

South Florida’s most avant-garde art-rock artist 12 Below is back with his sophomore single, Jetsam, which pulls together as a dark and discordant mash of industrial, darkwave synth-pop and post-punk.

With an intro that shares reminiscence to Manchester post-punk outfit The Chameleons before the soundscape switches into a phantasmal feat of electro-rock that any fans of Dir En Grey or Celldweller will be familiar with, you’ll be hooked from the first haunted note to the last.

The ethereally ambient soundscape was constructed with effect-loaded guitars and glassy keys in downtempo progressions, for the visceral kick, 12 Below loaded caustic drums and a heavy serving of bass. I can’t tell you how refreshing it is to hear an artist similar to NIN, who also makes the dark electro sound their own.

Jetsam is now available to stream via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

DOLLSDONTCRY – ‘Manticore’: A harsh, dystopian future writ purely in sound

Posted on 30 March 2021

Leaving aside the obvious mentioning that dolls sometimes DO cry – Tiny Tears, anyone? – DOLLSDONTCRY, from Lucedale, Mississippi, via Alaska, has created a nightmarish soundscape of grinding, driving instrumentalism in the vein of early Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, or Revco music. Think a little ‘Pretty Hate Machine’, ‘Psalm 69’, or ‘Linger Ficken Good’, without vocals, and you’ve a pretty good idea of what’s on offer here. Opening with some heavily distorted bass riffing, it’s a landscape of bleeps, machine-press crashes, sampled roars, and rising sequenced keyboard parts.

It’s always difficult for young artists to make their voices heard effectively with instrumental work, but this is an excellent track, a harsh, metallic, post-Terminator world of sound, evocative and stimulating, with a definite voice.

You can hear ‘Manticore’ on Soundcloud. Follow DOLLSDONTCRY on Instagram.

Review by Alex Holmes

Paul Edward Yu – T Montana: Cinematically Harsh Alt Electronica

Posted on 17 January 2021
https://soundcloud.com/pauledwardyu/t-montana-1?in=pauledwardyu/sets/the-shape-of-sound

With their latest release, songwriter, session guitarist and electronic producer, Paul Edward Yu, proved himself to be in the tragically small minority of artists with the ability to squeeze emotion from electronic sequencing alone.

Their 2020 album, ‘the shape of sound’, is home to a plethora of electrifyingly evocative instrumental tracks, but the perfect introduction to the Boston MA-based artist’s psychedelic stance on electronica is the single, ‘T Montana’.

It’s a progressive minefield of aural curveballs, the cold ambience the prelude serves is soon stripped-back and replaced with harsh cinematically caustic industrial elements contrasted by strikingly bright tonal textures. But discernibly, Paul Edward Yu saved the best for last. After the dub-laden tremulous breakdowns, the guitars tear through to the front of the mix in a way not easily forgotten.

T Montana is available to stream and download via Bandcamp or you can check it out via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

JJ Mickey delivers adrenalizing Techno ingenuity with “Razor Elegant”

Posted on 17 November 2020

Canadian artist and producer JJ Mickey has dropped their most mesmerising release to date, Razor Elegant. From carnivalesque kaleidoscopic whirlwinds to build-ups which will leave you tense with anticipation, you can expect all of that and more.

The excitement I usually reserve for bands such as Nekrogoblikon started to manifest as soon as Razor Elegant hit it’s momentously entrancing peak. With the artist’s proclivity to play around with 8-bit and 16-bit Chiptune along with their affinity for Trance, Industrial and Classical, JJ Mickey delivered an insanely (quite literally) immersive drop with Razor Elegant.

If you have a penchant for experimental producers, you’ll definitely want JJ Mickey on your radar.

You can check out the adrenalizing mix for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Artist and Producer Ian Chamberlain has released their cinematically Avant-Garde single “Disruption”

Posted on 14 August 2020

With an intro which wouldn’t be out of place in a Nils Frahm composition, Ian Chamberlain kicks off his latest single “Disruption” with a teasing Neo-Classic start before throwing an unexpected aural curveball your way and throwing you headfirst into an experimentally electrifying soundscape.

The Adelaide, Australia-based artist and producer poured his passion for both Classical music and mechanical sounds into Disruption. Which may give you an indication of just how distinct and alchemic their sound is. Yet, to truly appreciate their talent, you’ll have to immerse yourself in the cinematically avant-garde single yourself.

Listening to Disruption is practically a full-body experience for the way the visceral notes seem to make every cell in your body stand to attention. For your sake instead of theirs, hit play. It’s not every day you’ll get to encounter such a mind-blowing feat of ingenuity.

You can check out Ian Chamberlain’s single Disruption for yourselves by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Kevin Braun has released their all too relatable single “Dark Side of the Mind”

Posted on 5 August 2020

I’m fairly sure I’m not the only one who will have been getting acquainted with the darker side of my mind in recent months, and I’m fairly sure I’m not the only one who will find Kevin Braun’s piercingly resonant single Dark Side of the Mind a playlist-worthy hit.

The Alt-Rock single experimentally incorporates elements of both Industrial and Pop. Which may not seem like an aural match made in heaven, but under Kevin Braun’s alluringly deft production, they fit hand in glove.

Thanks to the grinding rhythms, it’s as sexy as Nine Inch Nails’ more sultry tracks and as visceral and electrifying as Static X’s noisy mechanical hits. The contrast between the ferocity of the instrumentals and the harmonic magnetism of Kevin Braun’s vocals ensures you’ve never heard anything quite like this before. Even if you’ve been struggling to get excited by new music lately, Dark Side of the Mind won’t fail to hit the spot.

You can check out Kevin Braun’s latest single for yourselves via Spotify or SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

painted people – Hope You Understand Me: A Sonically Electrifying Meeting of Shoegaze and Industrial

Posted on 3 August 2020
https://thepaintedpeople.bandcamp.com/track/hope-you-understand-me

LA Alt-Rock artist painted people released their genre-defying latest single “Hope You Understand Me” on July 18th. We’re already utterly infatuated with their arrestingly high-octane sound.

New offerings of Shoegaze and Industrial tend to be fairly archetypal. Yet, under painted people’s deftly experimental prowess, the two seemingly contrasting genres fit hand in sonically electrifying glove. It’s safe to say that you won’t ever come across such a galvanizing track which features elements of Shoegaze and Dreampop.

If you’re anything like me and you’re always looking for fresh ingenuity from up and coming artists, you’re sure to appreciate the pioneering appeal in the indulgently kaleidoscopic single. It’s euphoric, it’s chaotic, but it still oozes all of the dreamy absorbing accordance of Shoegaze. What more could you possibly ask for?

You can check out painted people’s single Hope You Understand Me via Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

jecht_0 – Signs: Viscerally Charged Industrial Electronic Rock

Posted on 25 June 2020
https://soundcloud.com/jecht_0/signs/s-V1H57bmUn8x

Sydney based artist and producer jecht_0 has recently dropped their masterpiece of an Electronic Rock album “Pt2”. With nice bitey infusions of Industrial in the tracks, any fans Celldweller, 3teeth, Orgy and Nine Inch Nails will definitely want the album in their ears.

While each of the tracks is a soul soother for the angsty and disillusioned, the perfect introduction to jecht_0’s viscerally atmospheric style is track 1 “Signs”. The viscerally charged aural storm may throw plenty of harsh discord your way. But atop of the sonically fierce fuzz are jecht_0’s evocative vocals which will allow you to feel every word in the raw arrestive lyricism.

Alternative artists whose tracks truly resonate as unique aren’t found every day. Yet, with jecht_0 the distinction practically slaps you in the face. Pair that with the flawless production of Signs and you’ve got another reason to start getting excited about the exceptionally promising breaking artist.

Signs is available to stream via SoundCloud with the rest of jecht_0’s album.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Izzy Spint – The Power of God and Anime: Rap Meets Pop Meets Experimental Synthwave

Posted on 6 January 2020
https://izzyspint.bandcamp.com/track/the-power-of-god-and-anime

Atari Teenage Riot fans are going to want to check out Izzy Spint’s insanely fresh Synthwave single “The Power of God and Anime”.

The delectable mash of Pop, Hip Hop, Rap, and experimental Electronica is more than a perennial earworm. It’s a thunderously infectious progressive hit which constantly throws dizzying aural curveballs your way.

The harmonically melodic Pop choruses amongst the harsh discordant chaos are quite frankly ingenious. The Power of God and Anime isn’t just a track which you can get on board with. It’s one that you can quite easily get obsessed with. Izzy Spint is definitely an artist to watch.

You can start your love affair with Izzy Spint’s experimentalism by heading over to Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Levi Para has released their latest ominously cinematic Electronica treat “Rush”

Posted on 31 December 2019
https://soundcloud.com/levipara/rush

Cinematic Industrial artist Levi Para has recently dropped their latest EP “House of the Unknown”. Whilst each track is a dystopian delight to behold, there’s no better introduction to their sound than “Rush”.

If you can imagine what it would sound like if Hanz Zimmer, David Lynch and Bernard Herrmann would sound like if they had an aural love child which they adored, you’d be able to almost get an idea of how chilling Levi Para’s sound is. It’s safe to say that until this release, Industrial Darkwave had never sounded quite this epic.

Complete with horror samples and sonic infusions which are sure to appease any fans of the early Doctor Who series’ Rush is one of the most tantalisingly horror-fuelled eclectic smorgasbords you can sink your teeth into.

You can check out Levi Para’s indulgently dark single Rush for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast