Inabsencia

Once I found a band while I was not looking for it.It happened to be resting quietly in the shade of a giant tree.As all founders of things do it was given a name and all was happy for a time.After many pleasant times the magic started waning and I lost the band.It fell somewhere and I never saw where it landed.But fortunately I stumbled upon an idea.After the bruising settled I gave this a name too.But I was scared at first, but gradually i became used to it and called it The Dead Society.Then one day while standing mesmerised but the growth of a purple velvet daisy, it opened its eye.Shocked and confused but later coming to terms with the horror I started a radio station.Poof!..out of nowhere and there it was.Gothik Radio.
My radio playing the best in Gothik rock, deathrock, post punk,minimal electronic and darkwave...including reviews, interviews and all the latest music news from all the important labels!
GOTHIK RADIO::CLICK HERE....
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REVIEWS:
Scream Silence - Aphelia
Making their entry onto the gothik stage in 1998, Scream Silence from Berlin, has up until this point released album after album of what can be described as top quality music. Where once they seemd to fill only the emptiness that was left when Dreadful Shadows decided to call it a day, they have grown and matured to , in their own right, possibly one of the most important gothik rock bands in the scene today.With a completely unique style and what must be one of the most emotional and unique voices I have ever heard.
Aphelia, is another tremdendous release that firmly cements their status in the scene today.An album so filled with astonishing beautiful music that it is practically impossible to select a single track above another.An album that makes me proud to be a goth again because of the standard of this music!
My Eyes is the first track and starting off a beautiful atmospheric and meloncholy drenched piano.The solemn baritone voice lingering over the music.Until the chorus apporaches with a full blast, stamping itself into your brain, that it has arrived in full glory.The voices flying up to a range so in contrast with the initial entry but so beautiful that it feels like (as someone special told me) they rip your guts out,twists it around in a few knots and finally decide to stamp it. Leaving you in a complete state!
Harvest immediately builds on this but with a faster tempo this is pure gothik rock.A truly great song that will certainly be played on many dance floors.
Song after song the journey continues, Kerosene is another amazing song.But I might as well list every song on the album and write the same thing over and over again.
This is a great release,one that will take you on a journey
One that will fill you with emotion.
And one that will make you proud that you listen to gothik rock music again!
I could not recommend this highly enough!
www.myspace.com/screamsilencemusic
Fangs On Fur- Fangs on Fur
Interesting band this, more and more so if you start reading what they have to say, but ridiculously so, when you read what they have to say about themselves! Evidently they are about having fun,rocking hard and both in equal measures.
But then moving on to the music there is not much to fault them with. Reminding me of New Days Delay they have the same energy, same feel and atmosphere.
Fangs on Fur is the first track and is just a great anthem-like song. Starting of with syncopated drums and bass,joined shortly by the very melodic guitars the song starts rocking in full force when the voice kicks in - sometimes melodic but mostly an edgy manic sound in the voice. I really like this track a lot!
Cigarette continues where the first tracks left off. The same melodic guitars, the same edgy voice, the same rocking music. F-Boy F-Girl is far more punk and I can almost hear the Toy Dolls in this.
I must confess that from theis most unusual band comes a rather unusual offering that will strike a chord with many people that are into deathrock.
A great promo and I really am looking forward to them releasaing an album!
Pretentious,Moi?- DEMO 2007
Some time ago Manuskript released an EP called I can't believe it's not Goth, well how wrong this would be if it was the title of the promo from Pretentious , Moi. But why use this comparison you ask, because the man behind Prentious , Moi is also in Manuskript.And at times there is a faint reminder of that fact, but mostly you are dealt with an incredibly good offering.
Having heard Malina, as most of you probably have by now,I can say that it is but a taste of things to come.
WitchHouse starts off with some keyboard wizardry things twirling about. And drums that wants to almost sounds a bit techno-ish!And while this might sound like a recipe for disaster, it is saved by the guitar that sneaks it way into the mix.And very soon the intro scare is lost on you the voice makes it's first appearance.A very good chorus follows the verses, and this is a reoccuring aspect of the band.
Now and Again starts off with a great guitar riff, same great voice.Very emotional track this. Building up to a great chorus Living Dead and Undecided is again more rock then the previous mentioned tracks.Another great guiatr riff, solid drums and bass guitar. And by now the familiar great chorus.I must confess that this really does not sound like a UK band to me but definately more german, similiar to Behind the Scenes.
This is a great promo and I really can not wait for the album! Excellent!
The Trespass - Symptoms of Reality
Born in June 2001, fortunately so, from the mutual impulse of brothers ( twins I may add) Vince and Benjamin Cousin. Originally starting out as a five piece with standard rock setup of vocalist,bass, guitarist, keyboardist and drummer. This formation has gone through several mutations but thankfully the core two has always remained the same.
Musically it seems inspired by the cold wave of the eighties, alternative rock and some progressive rock of the seventies culminating in a delicious mix of music that feels almost uncomfortably cold and dark but also seems to hold out a light as if it promises a last little hope and light.
Comedown starts with melancholy keyboards, a bass that seems to be as lost as the voice that soon joins in this rather sombre affair. Put soon the drums and bass find each other rhythmically and a guitar makes it presence known , but in the same time adding to the drama that unfolds.The voice escalating in its hopelessness.And by this I mean it in the bestest possible way as this track is just damn brilliant.I love it!
Mindshriek continues the coldwave with a more prominent bass and drums arrangement.Very convincing vocals!
Chemical Trails is a slightly more of rock affair starting of with strong guitars. However this does get subdued in the verse but re-emerges in the chorus.Another strong track. The Fading Flower is certainly one of my favourites on thsi album.Starting with a great rhythm, great vocals.A very good arrangement and well structured song. Great Chorus.Something about this track has just sunk its claws in me!
In Decay.../To the seventh sky (ending) is a more subdued, again melancolic track.Beautiful though.Starting with the piano and joined by the accoustic guitar. But surprise , surprise it changes (well actually if you view the next tracks as part of it) and I am reminded of Russian polka music! as it builds up into a frenzied crescendo. Interesting!
Ashes Like Snow is another brilliant track and showcases again just what a great band this is!
What a wonderful album this is!
Certainly Recommended!
Ataraxia- Kremasta Nera
Archaic mantras, ritual movements and lunar elegies, whisperingss of magic spells and eastern litanies,all this within Kremasta Nera.Ataraxia's latest offering, forging together tribal rhythms and dark ceremonies inspired by the magic of natural symphonies. This album is inspired by the lights and shadows of an extinguished civilization, realised through a mixture of acoustic sounds, strings, electronic and eastern percussions and beautiful evocative vocals.
True to the well known and credited style of Ataraxia, delivering everything you would have hoped to expect from the band. This records truly carries you away into another world, where ritual is an everyday occurance and the gods are closer to man. Opeining with The song of Axieros, it immediately sets the ritual atmosphere, the living shadows and heavy incense.
The Nine Rituals is a lovely tribal affair,The percussions is very rhythmic,accompanied with an accoustic guitar and lovely vocals. One of the livelier tracks on the album...but then Ataraxia is not entirely known for lively tracks.But this is a very nice track!
Kremasta Nera follows this, a slow track with beautiful guitar and instrumentation.Very emotional vocals.Truly an offering to the gods. This music just speaks with volumes.
Ochram is also a lovely track, more eastern in flavour.Again the rhythmic tribal percussion and the instrumentation again is fantastic.One really can fault the music . I really enjoy the eastern sound scapes created on this track.
Certainly Ataraxia's music is not for everyone.But one has to give credit where iot is due, and they certainly deserve it with this album. The music remains truthful to the concept.Beautiful, evocative, emotional and ritualistic. Klethra is just another fine example of how well they have succeeded in this.It transports you instantly to their world.
Beautiful guitar melodies through out makes this a very enjoyable album.With solid tribal percussions and the emotional vocals.
A delightful album!
Object - Ep#1
Now I dont know too much about their history.Where and how they started. However after a first album released in 2003, more rockish but already with traces of the cold and the skinned,they have decided to erase the past.
Presenting us with 5 tracks that are promising and certainly delivers. This is more about coldwave flirting with post-punk. A great sense of melody. Swirling somewhere between The Chameleons and Mono with a touch of Joy Division and draped in the shadow of French coldwave.
L'as En Toi (S'efface En Moi) starts with drums and the voice speaking. Soon enough the bass guitar jumps into the mix with the voice continueing it 's journey, crescendoing in the chorus where the voice and the guitars explode onto your ears.
Ou Est Quand ? Starts of more melodic with guitars and drums soon joined by the bass. The voice this time sings.Taking us on a musical road we can identify with.This is a lovely track.
Sauf Le Démon is absolutely fantastic and I really like this track!Great mix of instruments. Wonderful melody creating a sense of anticipation and edginess.
I can not find a single track on here that is not good! These guys are definately one to watch out for.Playing along side legends like Jad Wio can we expect anything less!
A great solid album from a very talented band!
Highly Recommended
http://www.myspace.com/objectlegroupe
Other Day - Karmapolis
Other Day was founded in 1995. After some changes in the line-up, they’ve found stability as a trio with Sad(Sven) as singer, D’eep, the instrumentalist and Mike Bornschein. In their early days, their goal was to create a combination of dark wave, Romanticism with some classical elements, not far from the ingredients of the German expressionists of the 90’s such as Das Ich, Goethes Erben and Relatives Menschsein. “Karmapolis” is their third album!
Using synths and electronics in what they see as a classical approach ignoring all Industrial or Electro intrusion, they set the atmosphere for an escape in to dark and moody landscapes.Evoking emotions that seem comfortably nested deep into your soul.
Sung mostly in German,( non - german speaking people loose some of the emotional context of this album.
The album starts with a powerful but seren flow and never lets go of it . Dreamy and heavenly female vocals counter pointing the dark male voice. There is no ethereal lightnesson this album, similiar to early Goethes Erben.
Armenia reminds me of Relatives Menschsein,but a excellent song expressing that the drift through pain and loneliness is not a pleasant one.
An Uns Vorbeiis layered drones, with a melancolic melody and piano setting the background to the beautiful interaction of the male..femal voice.
Hauchendes Zartis my favourite track on this album, very classical in the appraoch and from the start you know you will like it. Strangely I am almost reminded of early Mortiis, think "Keiser av en dimensjon ukjent" when it starts but the that is where it ends.A beautiful emotional track!
A beautiful record that takes you deeply on an emotional journey.
Highly Recommended
http://www.myspace.com/otherday
Reptyle - Consequence
Formed in 1999 they comfortably fill the space between the Sister of Mercy ,Fields of the Nephilim and perhaps the Cure. Very melodic guitars ,great drums and rhythmic bass blends all the ingredients for a lovely dish of superb gothik rock. One thing to me that stands out is the guitar riffs on this album.Great!
The voice is unique souding but nestled safely in what you can expect from a gothik rock band. Sometimes it wants to remind me of a voice I have heard before but I never quite can seem to place it. Suffice to say it is a low key deep voice but varies in timbre enough to keep it very interesting and emotional.
Just Like You is a fine example of the great guitar riffs and thunderous drums and bass that explodes into your face! A very edgy track, sometimes almost epic sounding.Filled with great melodies!
Under The Hammer and Suffer continue this great album , showcasing the diversity that we can expect from this very talented band.
Tower Of Bridges starts of at a slower pace, setting the mood for this track but certainly picks up the pace before too long setting us firmly in the rocky part of gothik rock.However we hear more accoustic guitars here which reminds me of FotN.
A great solid album from a very talented band!
Great Album from an exciting band!
http://www.myspace.com/reptyle
Varsovie - Neuf Millimetres
Varsovie, interesting, just imagine, what it must feel like to have a hammer hit a nail right between your eyes, I am talking about the experience in that it will be rather unforgetable and not neccessarily about the pain that comes with it, so is Varsovie rather like the nail ( or the hammer?). A bit of both actually.
Intelligent and emotionally charged like lightening it unleashes itself onto your ears, stabbing at your senses until you submit to this glorious feast. Delight for ears and head in equal measures.
Handling the guitars like the finest blades they carve a path of rage and intensity in to the music.The drums an onslought of urgency and finally a voice that adds to it the cadenzas of torture and ravaging madness.
Neuf Millimetres starts with the drums and and a lonely guitar striking what could almost be considered something of the cold and melancholy.Slowly the bass creeps in and the voice seems to noticably become more agitated and frantic.What starts rather composedly soon descends into realms of frustration.
Varsovie and Leningrad picks up the pace with even more frantic energy. The drums are thunderous and unrelenting as is the guitars.However do not mistake this for lack of melody or composition. This is intelligently crafted music.
Some Days stands out on this disk, purely because it seems to slightly slow down the pace on this terrific disk. Almost anthem like in the chorus.And filled to the brim with melodic poison and emotion.A lovely track!
This trio certainly has the talent and the emotional capacity to go far. A wonderful disk!
Highly recommended for those into post punk/goth
Order of Isaz - demo
These are a few guys from some big names in the scene coming together to create what is essentially a must have. A few things struck me immediately , fortunately none of them caused massive bruising, but they did leave a mark. Firstly the quality of the musicianship here is certainly worth noting.The guitar and bass weaving together and producing rather interesting and beautiful counter point to each other,and the same can be said about the guitars. Certainly these guys know how to play their instruments.For some reason on first listen I was a bit reminded of the guitar playing of In Flames...melodic with great harmonies, or was it Therion?
Secondly a voice kept nagging in my head that the vocals sounds like very much like Behind the Scenes,no no.What was it... walking through the Wonderland?
Ah yes, Malaise!
This is powerful emotionally charged gothik rock with brilliant guitar riffs and great vocals! a Delight for ears all around.
Walk in the Park is an absolute beauty.Crafted and seamed together with such masterful hands that it just has to become a must at all clubs!It's brilliant guitars and vocals will make itself a home in your head in a very short time.
Screeching Owl isa passionate affair with some incredibly strong moments that reeks with emotion.Great guitar moments, great quiet moments. It features great dynamics.
I am fortunate to have listened to this and I hope they release an album soon enough. A wonderful disk!
Highly recommended for those into gothik rock
The Secret Meeting - Ultrashiver
Lets state the obvious thing here that The Secret Meeting is a collaboration between kaRIN & Statik of Collide and Dean Garcia of Curve fame.
"Ultrashiver"is their debut release,recorded and produced via journeys across the pond ( I wonder how big the carbon footprint of this record is or whether they will state that on the cd boxes!) Perhaps it should come with a CD information pack that states how green or not so green this release is.
None the less the creation process has produced a journey through what mostly sounds to me like trip hop. It has elements of the sleek and sensual.The vocals are emotional but I must confess a bit dull.I found it hard to really distinct netween the tracks.
There are certainly moments on this disk where I thought this is really good sounding.But really all got a bit lost on me. Perhaps the fact that trip hop is as appealing as eating my own vomit made me a little bit less then qualified to really give an honest opinion of this record.
Musically this release has moments of the delicate and the menacing, at times noisy and and at times beautiful. Echoes of Collide and Curve can be heard , of course, but I found it all rather bit taxing and challenging to listen too.
Do not discard it because of my lack of understanding.
Black Ice - Myopia
After the formiddable Terrible Birds, Black Ice returns again with a recording that could be termed a classical album. Classical in the sense that it returns to some very well known ideas for them i.e the staccato drums, conjuring vocals and full sounding bass guitar. Add the postpunk guitar to this witches cauldron and you have the great sounding Black Ice - Myopia
Here I must mention that the voice this time rounds explores some more diverse elements then in Terrible Birds and one can this time round fully appreciate the talent and quality of this vocalist.
All sorts of subtle and often processed soundscreep into the music to amalgamate into a rather sinister and theatrical sound where the sounds of the batcave and deathrock are coupling with a good measure of some traditional gothik elements.
Later on though they do become rather experimental with soundscapes that seemed to have been plucked from dispair and darkness. Intelligent lyrics keeps this very versatile band at the fore front of this genre
In the Dark is a great track with the voice truly carrying the song, already the familiar Black Ice sound is evident from the sparse drums and bass.The haunting guitar hovering just in the back ground.So beautifully written. but such hauntingly beautiful melodies
Signals has to be one of my favourite tracks.Just nothing wrong with it.Such a feeling of emptiness and dispair surrounds this track, you can not help but feel empathy.But this is turned around to anger and relief in a way as the song progresses. Brilliant!
Imitation / Imagination, My Fever are slightly more experimental but also stand out.Beautiful catchy melodies and almost a feeling of the post apocalyptic in this.
I strongly recommend this release!
Sopor Aeternus - Les Fleurs Du Mal
After a near two year silence SOPOR AETERNUS returns with a breathtaking beautiful new album. A funeral dirge draped in victorian follies and darkest glamorous. Tip toeing over open graves and swwirling across lonely plains this exhilarating release is a probably the best so far. Each release keeps on surprising me.This time it is not only the flimsy victorian dress of a washed-out dusky pink, but it is the music and words once again where the impact is most astonishingly felt. ..
At times a lamenting chant, others a play between a baritone and the splendid falsetto of an castrati in despair, but overflowing the cauldron of emotion.
It is practically impossible to to rate one track above the other.They are all so wonderfully crafted.
La Mort d'Arthur is quintessentially Sopor Aeternus.The music, the voices.I dont have the words to express the true greatness of this release. Only that it will be one that is played for a very long time and quite likely to become a timeless master piece!
Very Highly recommended!
Star Industry - Last Crusades
Proof with out a shadow of doubt that gothik rock is very much not dead, nor slumbering in some forgotten cupboard or suffering from any ailment that might be ascribed the elderly. Welcome back Star Industry, a band that broke onto the scene making a big noise with an instant dance floor classic.
Now returning with Last Crusades.Ten tracks that fosters an initial pleasant nostalgic feeling to the first album but quite apropriately ventures into new territory. Sometimes the voice ventures into Carl McCoy territory, at other it is Andrew Eldritch, however never loosing the very recognisable Peter Becker accent.
Let me say that I feel there are no bad songs on this release, they are all so good but some are just better.The same intelligent use use of electronics is present as previously accompanied by the same great guitar, drums and bass.
Diving between emotions each track weaves it own expression with the use of instrumentation. Making this a very well arranged and crafted album. The rhythm section is superb with the drumming sounding dynamic and the bass offering a relentless pulse. Sin and The Return Of David Gunare absolutely beauties and the clearly show the maturity of the artist.
Last Crusades however will be a another club classic and is intelligently and beautifully sewed together to culminate in as close to perfection as these things can get.
Highly recommended for those into gothik rock
London After Midnight - Violent acts of Beauty
After a decade ( give or take ) London After Midnight finally returns with another release. However this time with an entirely new line-up and seemingly a new sound. At first listen I could not quite make up my mind about this and in order not too say anything bad about , I listened again and again.
Now I finally think I have a fair opinion of this release as some records do take their time to grow on you.This one however does not.
Initially I wanted to compare this with the very good and solid first two releases of the band but from the start the only thing familiar is Brennan voice.
The Beginning of the End is actually not too bad considering the electronic noises and sampling going on.Actually this is one track that I actually did start to enjoy after several listens.
Feeling Fascist? seems to be infkuenced by Marilyn Manson and I must admit to to being a rather unexciting affair.While it does certainly introduce a livelier tempo and can be considered to be more reminicent of the bands past , it fails to introduce the same satisfaction to the listener.
Heaven Now is actually a very good track and one I think is worthy of subsequent plays and so is Pure and The Pain Looks Good on You.
But I am afriad that is about it.
All in all a rather dissappointing release.
Garden Of Delight - Darkest Hour
Another brand new release from these veterans of gothik rock and one of the biggest names in the scene. Sadly it is also their farewell bid to us as they leave the stage for the last time.Spanning a career filled with incredible high lights it is difficult not to become nostalgic at this point when memory is turned to 1991 and the first album Enki's Temple.Releasing 7 album in 7 years ( and if I am not mistaken 7 live shows) to bring into reality the 777 of Alister Crowley.Then came the spell of Chaos God followed by the concept albums again by Garden Of Delight/ Lutherion.
This album is the perfect parting gift to us.Filled with messages and concepts either directly or indirectly. Immediately noticeable is that the songs are ore epic on this album, longer songs that are rich in dynamics and mood. The first half ( the beginning 5 tracks) are the more aggressive ( or earthy/grounded) songs.Furiously taking us away to a place where the skies are dark and hope is all but dead.The intensity of the tracks remain unhindered.
Transmission is a great song with a great mixture of everything G.O.D we have come to love. Pounding drums, furious guitar and the incredible voice of Artaud.This songs has the esoteric edge G.O.D is known for as well as the brilliant movement from thunderous aggression to a desperate near silence.
Reign follows on this these two are bound for classic status.Absolutely brilliant tracks.
Lamentum is the strat of things spiralling to a more desolate and desperate nothingness.Followed by the beautifull Still
A Coherent, harmonious and melancholy farewell from one of the Gothic scenes biggest acts.
A brilliant release.
Camp Z - Violent Memories
Manu returns with a new release after a year with "Violent Memories".Immeditately the wedding of electronica and aggresion, envisioned with the use of guitars, becomes evident.Perhaps electronic punk is but one way to describe this but even so it still lacks the depth to completely describe this release.
I am specifically reminded of Ministry in "Fight".The voice also contains a more venomous quality and this serves as a great introduction to the new offereing that is Violent Memories.The symbiosis of machine and guitar.
The following tracks continues rather naturally from this exploring various states coldness and aggression with "Terror" leaning quite heavily towards Punk.
Prinitive Rebirth offers up an almost Norma Loy type cold wave which quite clearly acts as an indicationof the versatility of this artist.
Walked in Lineis a great cover and a worthy rendition.. All in all this ia great return for Camp Z building on the previous release while still being able to offer gems of innovation