Pouppee Fabrikk 2013

Pouppe Fabrikk will release their first new album in 12 years on Alfa-Matrix.  The album entitled The Dirt is actually comprised of unreleased material dating back to the late eighties and early nineties.  The material is newly recorded and promises plenty of old school thrills.  Orderable now from Alfa-Matrix.   http://www.alfa-matrix.com/

New FrontLine Assembly and Funker Vogt released July 09 on Metropolis

Metropolis has been bringing us the Old School with devotion this year and it looks like the Summer is no exception:
May 14
Suicide Commando- When Evil Speaks
May 28
Skinny Puppy - Weapon
June 11
Covenant - Last Dance

July 09
Front Line Assembly - EchoGenetic
01. Resonance
02. Leveled
03. Killing Grounds
04. Blood
05. Deadened
06. Ghosts
07. EchoGenetic
08. Exhale
09. Exo
10. Prototype
11. Heartquake

Funker Vogt - Companion In Crime
01. Columbine
02. Mein Weg
03. Religion
04. Six Feet Under
05. Kampf Den Maschinen
06. Gott Noch Nicht
07. Kill On Command
08. Our Life
09. Kapitulation
10. Warrior
11. The Firm
12. Revolution
13. Brueder
And that's just Metropolis' Releases.  I love 2013.

And One .....The End?

Apparently, the upcoming German tour by And One is their last.  Which makes the news that their is a new And One album entitled "Magnet" even more surprising.  The fact that the album is to be released by Out of Line could not be confirmed with the Out Of Line website.   I would sure love to know more about Magnet. If you have any info please send me a comment.  Thanks.

Best EBM from 2013 so far

Like an uninvited guest who refuses to leave, winter is still here.  Forget what your calendar says, because if it is still snowing it's winter.  So here we are on a snowy March 25th.  Which makes me angry. What kind of angry?  The kind of angry, where I put on some boots and stomp out the snow, I am that kind of angry. Thankfully five albums are providing me with the perfect soundtrack to stomp out winter.  Here they are in no particula order.

Vomito Negro - Fall Of An Empire
This might be the best Vomito Negro release ever.  It is a defining release. Containing all the elements we have come to expect from Vomito Negro.  The bleak sound, the angry discourse, the urgency layered underneath the snyths, it's all here.  The best introduction to Fall Of An Empire is "Power On Demand". The track plays like a more sluggish "Join In The Chant" with fuller lyrics.  Vomito Negro reminds us why we loved late eighties Belgian EBM by displaying the dark menace and minimalism that they are known.

Kant Kino - Father Worked In Industry
The title of the new Kant Kino makes me sing Erasure's "The Circus" but I can set that aside because this release gets me up on my feet.  Kant Kino's second album is awesome EBM.  Bringing strong melodies and anthemic choruses to most of the songs on  Father Worked In Industry, it's hard for me to pick out one track as an introduction.  But if I was forced to select one track it would have to be "Push Your Buttons."  "Push Your Buttons" has a vocal delivery that is reminiscent of two of my favorite songs, The Prodigy's "Firestarter" and Skinny Puppy's "Assimilate."  After hearing "Push Your Buttons", you'll know what to expect.  Given the fact that I have sited the strong vocals on "Push Your Buttons"  to represent Father Worked In Industry, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the guest vocalists.  Karine Kristiansen, Hanne Hausgard, Komputergirl and Claus of Leaether Strip also provide excellent vocal performances on Father Worked In Industry, giving this album greater vocal variance.

Spetsnaz - For Generations To Come
Since my first introduction to Spetsnaz, I've heard many other bands trying to replicate the old school Nitzer Ebb sound.  For my money no other band does it as well as Spetsnaz.  Not even Nitzer Ebb sound as much like old Nitzer Ebb as Spetsnaz does.  Having said that don't expect any challenging innovations from For Generations To Come.  This is pure direct EBM as designed by DAF and refined by Nitzer Ebb and Orange Sector.  And if you've come for that old school sound For Generations To Come won't disappoint.  The stunner on this release is "Who Made You God?"  The disgust and anger is so pronounced, you want to listen to hear spit on the microphone.  It's damn good.  Maybe as good as "Perfect Body", definitely as good as "Bloodsport" and "Reign of Wolves".

Pankow - And They Shun The Cure They Most Desire
Pankow have been back since the early 2000's but this release seems bigger. Maybe because it's the first Pankow release Stateside in two decades or because Out Of Line and Metropolis are promoting it better. Pankow And They Shun The Cure They Most Desire might not even be EBM, but I hope it is.  Because I would like to see EBM be able to expand and take chances like this.  Stand out tracks and likely singles are "Crash and Burn" and "Dirty Old Men."  The darkly humorous lyrics of "Dirty Old Men" carry the song with little accompliment.  The gruff shout along feels EBM even without a beat.

The Klinik - Eat Your Heart Out
The first album to feature new material with both Dirk Ivens and Marc Verhaeghen in two decades.  Eat Your Heart Out comes with high expectations.  My initial listen subverts my expectations because The Klinik have created something new within their niche.  Dirk is delivering his vocals with a calm that makes you uneasy.  Lyrics like those on "In Your Room" should not be so calm.  "You killed me before/ I'm beggin for more/ behind the door/ I Am Yours" You would expect a shout or response,  Dirk's calm and confident vocals are disturbing.  Which is what we expect from The Klinik, it's just that they have left behind some of the smothering dark menace and replaced it with a mature tension.  If I am allowed to cheat and pick a second song for Marc's contribution, it would be "Bite Now Bite."  The static pulses and echoing drum smoulders.  It's a slow burn that I know will warrant multiple listens.

2013 has five great releases and I haven't even heard the new Leaether Strip or Autodafeh.  "Feet on the ground, fists in the air"
 

Front Line Assembly August 2013

Mindphaser has just given their website a great new layout and design.  Perhaps the most exciting thing in the new layout for FLA fans is a picture of Bill Leeb recording vocals for a new album.  The album is set to be released in August 2013.  On the rumor side of things; will we see a fall tour with Die Krupps.  Fans of both bands know that a reuniting of the 1996 Front Line Assembly and Die Krupps tour was set to happen in 2011.  Unfortunately, Die Krupps was unable to get visas in time for the U.S Tour.  Jurgen Engler had said in Gothic Beauty 2012 that he still wanted to do a U.S Tour with FLA.  The new Die Krupps "Machinists of Joy" is set for a 2013 release.  Here's hoping everyone has visas and that the FLA/Die Krupps tour happens in 2013.

VNV NATION Transnational

Back in the early 2000's it would have been unthinkable that a new VNV Nation release would be in the same month as a new Covenant.  But this is 2013 and VNV Nation have a new album entitled Transnational to be released this September.  VNV Nation also posted via their website that touring will begin in Europe in October.  U.S. dates most likely in 2014.  VNV Nation are also working on a Classical recording which will include all the tracks from last year's Gothic Meets Classical.  Also announced that Ronan will be performing with a classical pianist for the Goth Cruise.  It looks like a big year for both VNV Nation and EBM.

Haujobb 2013

Haujobb will release a new album in 2013 for their 20th anniversary, entitled "Blendwerk".  Many thanks to www.ReleaseMagazine.net for breaking this story.

Covenant Leaving Babylon

I can hardly believe this but a new Covenant album entitled Leaving Babylon is slated to be released in September 2013.  For those of us Covenant fans who have been around awhile, it seems unlikely that an album will be released on the first date announced.  Both "Modern Ruin" and "Brave New World" suffered from delays of over a year.  But I'm choosing to be realistic that September 2013 Metropolis will release a new Covenant.  The official Covenant Facebook page describes it as: "Beat-heavy yet introspective; Leaving Babylon is Covenant’s sonic exploration into uncharted emotional waters. It’s the feeling of memory made sound—the melancholy of Sweden in the wintertime, the strange beat of electric hearts, and the longing for forgotten parties. "

Spetsnaz return with new album

It seems when  Nitzer Ebb disappear, Spetsnaz reappear.  And with Douglas McCarthy promoting and releasing his new solo album "Kill Your Friends", it means at least a temporary hiatus for Nitzer Ebb.  Which must mean a return for Spetsnaz, right?  Right, Spetsnaz return after a five year abscence with their new album "For Generations to Come" on March 1st released by Scanner/Dark Dimensions.  No word on Stateside availability just yet.  But it's best to keep an eye out at the usual outlets: Isotank, Storming The Base and Cop International (Copint).   

Heres the tracklisting:

Ignorance is Bliss

Onwards

Between What Ifs and Might Have Beens

Fake!

Thorncrown

Mine

Brainfood

Who Made You God?

Dead Man's Eyes

True To Form

Elegy

http://www.facebook.com/pages/SPETSNAZ/23395943282

Litany Net offers details on Skinny Puppy The Weapon

Fans of Skinny Puppy are familiar with the Litany.net, the best and most informative Skinny Puppy site on the www.  Well the folks at Litany have scored again with the track listing and provoking thoughts about the new upcoming Skinny Puppy album weapon.  Check it out here: http://litany.net/  Many thanks to the crew at Litany.  Pre-orders for Weapon: http://www.metropolis-mailorder.comhttp://www.metropolis-mailorder.com

Pankow Preview

Pankow has a new album coming out on Metropolis on March 12th.  Their German label Out Of Line posted a snippet on their youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Hu7E2FO1Ks 
As you read at the end of the preview Out Of Line will release the new Pankow on March 1st.  Already a busy day with the release of the new Faderhead and the new album from The Klinik.

The Klinik Eat Your Heart Out

The Klinik: a new full-length album "Eat Your Heart Out" is recorded. The release date is scheduled for March 2013, more info coming soon! Members are Dirk Ivens, Marc Verhaeghen and Peter Mastbooms but because of continuing health problems, Marc cannot join us live on stage in the near future.

That's the news directly from Dirk Ivens.  With a little help from Storming The Base, we know it will be released via Out Of Line and that it will feature nine tracks.  "Eat Your Heart Out" will be released on both CD and White Vinyl.   My question is when will The Klinik get a U.S. release?  If ever there was a time for a U.S.label to license a distribution for The Klinik, this is it.  

Skinny Puppy Weapon

Some fantastic news for all fans of dark-electro, Skinny Puppy's new album "Weapon" will be released  in May via Metropolis Records.  Thanks to Claus of Leaether Strip for breaking this news.  You can view the album cover artwork on Leaether Strip's facebook. https://www.facebook.com/LeaetherStrip
Cover is once again done by Steven R. Gilmore who was responsible for the early classic album covers as well as Handover and Bootlegged, Broke and In Solvent Seas.

Suicide Commando When Evil Speaks

Suicide Commando have completed their new album "When Evil Speaks".  The finished album has been submitted to Metropolis Records and Out of Line.  Projected release for "When Evil Speaks" is May 2013. A snippet of  the new track "In Guns We Trust" can be heard on Soundcloud:  https://soundcloud.com/suicide-commando-1/suicide-commando-iixiii-in

Two North American live shows are scheduled for Suicide Commando in May 2013.
http://festival-kinetik.net/kinetik13_lineup.htm  Montreal Kinetik Festival
http://venue.thegramercytheatre.com/event/00004A309BB96FA5  New York City

March and April Releases

Okay, January is nearly over and then it's just the shortest month of the year, that feels the longest and we can all defrost and use our boots for a better purpose. To help us stomp the snow off our boots, it's time for a look at the upccoming releases.

March

Faderhead – Faderhead 4 L-Tracks March 1 Germany

Pankow – And Shun The Care They Most Desire March 12 Metropolis Records US

Ghost & Writer - Red Flags March 12 Metropolis Records US

PsioniC – Alternation March 15 Infacted Records Germany

Seven Trees - Expanding The Unknown March 22 Infacted Records Germany

Leaether Strip – Serenade For The Dead II March 22 Emmo.Biz Germandy

Informatik - Playing With Fire March 26 Metropolis Records

April

Mesh - Automation Baby April 09 Metropolis Records

Torul - Tonight We Dream April 09 Metropolis Records

Wumpscut – Madman Szpital April 09 Metropolis Records

Snog – Babes In Consumerland April 23 Metropolis Records

Klinik -New Album – Dirk Ivens Marc Verhagen Out of Line

http://www.infacted-recordings.de

http://www.emmo.biz.de

http://www.metropolis-records.com/

www.isotank.com

All Roads Lead To Kraftwerk Dussldorf EBM

My belief is that all electronic pop music stems from Kraftwerk. My second belief is that each region where Kraftwerk was heard, musicians intrepreted the music of Kraftwerk and created new genres of music. In Detroit, the motorik rhythm of Kraftwerk resonated with the automakers and futurists and it became Techno. While in Chicago in the wake of the Disco Riots of 1979, Kraftwerk cross-pollinated with Georgio Moroder and given orgiastic vocals recalling disco's hedonism, the music became house. In the Boogie Down Bronx, Kraftwerk became the samples that fueled early hip hop records. For many in England Kraftwerk became the impetus for electro-pop, O.M.D.,David Bowie and The Human League are some of the most famous. But how was the music of Kraftwerk interpreted in their hometown. In Dusseldorf, Germany a hub of advertising, factories and the Academy of Fine Arts, how were Kraftwerk perceived? If you were to ask the other two main musical exports of Dusseldorf, you might be surprised. DAF claim to have no musical influences. Die Krupps claim that Kraftwerk were seen as old and uncool. I would like to offer some insights that may contradict these claims.

Kraftwerk, DAF, and Die Krupps, are the three big bands from the Dusseldorf area. It could be argued that there similarities come from being from the same region and the same era. But if you look closer they seem to have other similarities. Kraftwerk first used the idea of hitting metal with metal for a rhythm on their album “Trans Europe Express, the track “Metal On Metal” is the first of it's kind. This idea seems natural when you consider that Dusseldorf is the home to so many factories. “Ein Produkt der Deutsch-Amerikanischen Freundschaft” seemed to use an industrial factory for an instrument. The first Die Krupps a noisy music concrete piece entitled “Stahlwekrsynfonie”, which contained as many people pounding metal on metal as possible. Of course neither DAF nor Die Krupps stayed as purveyors of noise. Both bands changed format to electronic sounds. DAF to a tougher leaner electronic dance music they called “korpermuzik”. Die Krupps to a looser electronic music with more rock and punk stylings. DAF and Die Krupps were trying to emphasize the human aspect of the Man Machine equation. They both created music of muscle and sweat. It was the exact opposite of the equation that Kraftwerk was portraying with their album “The Man Machine”. The similarity that all three had was the ethic of work and the rhythms of the factories. If you represent the opposite of an image with the same tools are you still related? If you react against something is it still an influence? What does it all mean?

What does it all mean? My argument is even if you react against something it is still an influence. I also still believe that all electronic music in a popular context relates to Kraftwerk. So once DAF and Die Krupps left their experimental stages and tried to create popular electronic music they were dealing with the influence of Kraftwerk. I also believe coming from the same city they had a bias to be similar, because they had other outside influences that were the same. But because of that, both DAF and Die Krupps had to try very hard to distinguish themselves from Kraftwerk. Or lazy music journalists would have labelled both of them as Kraftwerk clones, or define it as a Dusseldorf sound. My final thought is that Dusseldorf is the birthplace of EBM. Whether it is cited by Kraftwerk to explain the sound of “The Man Machine”, or the term korpermuzik (body music) coined by DAF to describe their music, or it's the worker right's anthem of “Wahre Arbeit Wahrer Lohn” (Fair Work Fair Pay), EBM has a distinct Dusseldorf characteristic.

Suggested listening:

The Man-Machine – Kraftwerk I won't fault you for whatever your favorite Kraftwerk album is. Go ahead tell me it's the Tour De France soundtracks, I'll understand. But I think for an EBM context of presenting the type of music and image that reflects Dusseldorf, it's The Man-Machine. The Robots speak to automation, The Model to the nightlife and The Man-Machine to the workers in the factories.

Alles Ist Gut – DAF The personal, the political, here you have, and it's all muscular and sweaty. Laibach covered “Alle Gegen Alle”. “Der Mussolini”, dictators as dance craze. DAF claimed they rejected any sounds that sounded too much like any other band. So here it is, the album that has no influences and influenced about everybody in EBM. Nitzer Ebb owe them and Die Krupps a big thank you.

Volle Kraft Voraus – Die Krupps The debut full length from Die Krupps featuring “Wahre Arbeit Wahrer Lohn”, which would become a dance hit in 1989 under the name “Machineries of Joy.” Raw and vital this album has a punk rock style to it's electronics.