Here we go, folks, the last Tracks post of 2019! These weekly posts really do make up a good portion of the lifeblood of this site, as we’re constantly trying to keep up with new business from bands both well established and brand spanking new. Plenty of acts which have gone on to be staples of Our Thing have first made our acquaintance in these posts, and just as many may have only briefly skimmed the site once or twice before trailing off to god knows where. At the end of the day, these posts are the product of two people spending as much time as is possible hunting down new dark music, and we hope you’ve found some fare which whets your whistle in the past year.

I mean, it could be a Green Toupee, but seems kind of unlikely

Laibach, “Honourable, Dead or Alive, When Following the Revolutionary Road (Arduous March version)”
Some odds and sods from the Grand North Korean Laibach experience continue to emerge, most recently in the form of the Party Songs EP. Single “Honourable, Dead or Alive, When Following the Revolutionary Road” (available in two versions on the EP) is lifted from Korean opera Tell, O Forest, which was originally produced under the guidance of Kim Jong Il. If that sounds like what you bait a trap with if you were trying to catch Laibach, well, you’d be right. But it’s also worth noting how good the band is at these distinctly non-bombastic, subtle arrangements these days. Truly a multi-faceted era from one of our favourite OG acts.

How Green is my Toupee, “Louise Shows Us Her Insecticide Collection”
Our fave Croatian post-industrial, post-electropop psychedelicists How Green is My Toupee return with a brand new EP, amusingly titled Limited Edition Boxset. While not actually available in the titular format so far as we can tell, it is being released on vinyl by She Lost Kontrol. That should be a must-get for those of us who have been following Domagoj Krsic’s singular output; despite having amassed an impressive discography under various aliases, there’s precious little of his work available in physical formats.

Stoneburner vs Out Out, “Butyric Acid”
Hey, y’know that ‘acquaintance’ of yours who’s always complaining about how political industrial’s gotten lately? Tell them have a listen to this Consolidated tribute from Voidstar and a smile and shut the fuck up. Between Battery Cage, Caustic, Cervello Elettronico and this industrial metal jam-up between Stoneburner and Out Out there are plenty of reminders here of how blunt and direct shit used to be. Still having to advocate for choice as the clock ticks over to 2020 really sucks, by the way.

The Necromancer’s Union, “Undead”
The always busy Daniel Belasco has had a hell of a year for side-projects. On top of releasing an album with his main outlet Glass Apple Bonzai, he put out music by his classic industrial project Razorback Hollow and now a second EP from his goth rock endeavour The Necromancer’s Union. If have a yen for classic second wave riffs, beefy drum machine rhythms and a smattering of electronics for atmosphere and flavour, this should hit the spot. And if you’re a fan of Daniel’s ear for hooks in any context, good news, those are here in spades.

Lapse Of Reason, “Sorrows”
Every now and again we like to take a breath and remind ourselves, if not only others, that aufnahme + wiedergabe’s status as a premier dark techno tastemaker didn’t arrive ex nihilo. The label’s roots in darkwave, goth, and related genres might be somewhat occluded nowadays, but the icy pads and Italo sensibilities of Lapse Of Reason hearken back to that time, if not all the way back to the Italo/darkwave nexus of early Hipnosis records.

Nordvargr, “Inner Monarch Awakened”
Few artists haunt our stoop so fervently as Henrik Nordvargr Björkk. Whether in his EBM, dark ambient, or death industrial guises he’s never too far afield. Everyone’s favourite Swedish giant looks to be sending 2019 off with a new full length from Cyclic Law, heavy on all the classic grinds, triumphs, and CMI-styled noise his eponymous project is now synonymous with.