We’ve been talking it up on the socials, the podcast, and in this space last week, but just in case you hadn’t heard we wanted to again let folks know about the slick new line of I Die: You Die and Death To False EBM merch we’re releasing in tandem with Artoffact/Second Tooth as an EBM Day special, with our share of proceeds going to Doctors Without Borders. The merch is starting to show up at folks’ doors already and they seem pretty happy with the fits, so take a gander if you haven’t already while cuing up this week’s tracks.
Verttigo entering their Crow Era like Steve Borden
Verttigo, “Tomorrow Is Gone”
Hey, something new from Edmonton’s Verttigo, a new wave influenced darkwave act who have been on our radar for a few years now. Post some lineup changes, the band reunited with early collaborator Jasmine Ming-Wai Ma as frontwoman and have recorded their debut album Tomorrow is Gone, due March 13th. The title track and first single should give you an excellent taste of what the band are all about; taking some textures from dreampop and shoegaze and wedding them to some pushed rock arrangements, with no shortage of attitude and some fine harmonies as a bonus. We’ll hopefully have the chance to catch them live again soon, until then we’ll be spinning this to keep our appetites for the LP whetted.
DSX, “Slow Revolution”
Just a few episodes of the podcast ago we were discussing the particular style of Dejan Samardzic’s DSX project, and lo and behold, there’s a new EP on the horizon. Does this fit with the particulars of the project’s established analogue electro? Well, yes and no. The vocals, courtesy of Dejan’s wife and longtime scene mainstay Aletta Welling fit the project’s history of deep menace as, do the detuned buzzing pads that make their way into the mix, but the use of some elements like orch hits and digital string stabs feel very new to the DSX style. Cold Ballads drops in a week on March 1st, we’ll be there to give you the lowdown.
Black Magnet, “Room Full Of Hammers”
We’ve been riding hard for Black Magnet’s jacked up and pissed off take on industrial metal since 2020’s Hallucination Scene and the Oklahoma act have delivered ever since, most recently with last year’s addictive Megamantra. A pair of tracks which emerged after the sessions for that record have just gone up on the band’s Bandcamp, along with some thoughts from main man Jason Hammontree regarding album release cycles versus freer form experimentation and process which this seething maze of riffs and razorwire programming, and its groove metal flavoured counterpart emerged. They’re just starting an east coast leg right now, catch ’em if you can.
Sonic Area, “Spiritus Contra Spiritum”
Like the rest of the broader industrial world we’ve been losing our minds over the sudden arrival of new Converter material, but that’s not the only hotly anticipated release to have been dropped by Ant-Zen this month. The first LP in five years from Arco Trauma’s Sonic Area project is out, and at least on paper continues with the spiritual bent of 2021’s Ki, this time infusing throwback techno moods and styles with Jungian theory. We’ll leave it to you to determine whether And Shadow holds up to that brief, but the always crisp and elegant sound design Trauma’s known for is balanced with very thoughtful and meditative instrumentation on this cut.
Monolith, “Yama”
By happenstance we’ve spoken about the ebb and flow of Eric Von Wonterghem’s work with Absolute Body Control as well as behind the boards as one of the most prolific mastering engineers in the industrial world on the podcast a number of times of late. But the longstanding Belgian institution’s solo work as Monolith remains an imposing, well, monolith in the history of rhythmic industrial and related genres. New LP Yama seems on first pass to be heading in a slightly more ritualistic direction than 2023’s Concrete Playground with its suitably bricked out TBM sound, but there’s still lots of impassive percussion bolstering the slinky minimalism and echoing atmospheres on pieces like this.
Mal-Ism, “Une Saison (En Enfer)”
We haven’t been keeping super close tabs on Russian label Oberwave Records lately, although they haven’t been quiet by any means. Amongst the spate of singles, EPs and other releases they’ve put out recently, the sophomore mini-LP from Moscow-based Mal-Ism stuck out to us, working the template of mid-tempo electro, with whipcrack snares and lots of alternately bleepy and poundy sounds for dancefloor play. Some of the other preview tracks lean towards a bigger cinematic sound that pairs nicely with the beat-driven structures, so this might have some real utility in your more electronic leaning peak time DJ sets, or your atmospheric vibes based opening spot.
