MONA MUR, vocalist of her own class, “iron maiden of bloody passions”, signed together with Alexander Hacke, FM Einheit und Mark Chung (all of EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN) responsible for 80s undergroundhits such as “Snake”, “120 Tage“ or “Eintagsfliegen”. Her first 12” “Jeszcze Polska” (SUPERMAX 1982) immediately claimed London’s NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS’ “Single of the Week” slot: “Her weapons are a passionately bloody voice and a gift for multiligual puns she applies to acerbic commentaries.” A violently neo-expressionist sound of darkest shades and concerts in manic intensity and morbid slowbeat-chic were foundation stones for her cult image and reputation in the international avantgarde music scene until today. Her songs are to be found in movies such as Fatih Akin’s much acclaimed drama “Head On/Gegen die Wand”.

Mur, also a successful martial artist (3rd DAN Taekwondo) and composer for video games (”Kane & Lynch2:Dog Days”, “Ballance”, “Velvet Assassin”), found a congenial musical partner whose name stands for sophisticated programming and explosive stage appearances: EN ESCH, striking front man and co-founder of the german/US electro-industrial outfit KMFDM, multiinstrumentalist and producer (SLICK IDIOT, PIGFACE). After twenty successful years in the Techno-Industrial scene and countless live performances around the world, the spectacular performer and talented guitarist now enjoys a cult-hero status in his larger-than-life stage persona.

Mona Mur / En Esch on Storming the Base!
Myspace

Post-industrial revolution schemes

Phases of decline have frequently proved to be an unusually fertile breeding ground for the arts. This was particularly striking around the fin de siècle, when frivolity and a lust for life collided with regression and an apocalyptic atmosphere, resulting in an expression of very individual aesthetics. Today, only a few years after the beginning of the new millennium, there are increasing signs of change in many areas. Faltering social systems, a society that has gone slightly haywire, a state of emergency in education and crises in the cultural industry provide ample reason for pessimism. At the same time, a climate of change is once more bearing artistic fruit, in artists such as JESUS ON EXTASY. For all those who still require evidence of this fact, the first two releases from the German metal-industrial outfit have received the deluxe re-release treatment–including bonus tracks–on Canada’s Artoffact Records.

When vocalist and pianist Dorian Deveraux and guitarist Chai founded the band in Germany’s Ruhr region back in 2005, they decided to dedicate themselves to nothing less than revolutionising a genre which had used itself up. They felt that industrial music, originally the soundtrack of the machine age, had become obsolete with the demise of the heavy industries. The time had arrived for sounds which combined the decay, which was perceptible all over the Ruhr, with euphoric elements - in other words, for JESUS ON EXTASY’s hedonistic mix of post-industrial and glam rock.

Jesus on Extasy on iTunes
Official Jesus on Extasy website
Myspace

Dead When I Found Her is the studio project of Portland, Oregon’s Michael Arthur Holloway, a professional electronic musician and producer who sites Skinny Puppy, Haujobb, Mentallo & the Fixer, Forma Tadre, Doubting Thomas, amongst other pioneering industrial aritsts as influences. Tracks from the debut album Harm’s Way have been the talk of music forums since they started to appear on Myspace and Soundcloud in 2009, and the attention the project has received is nothing short of impressive. The project soon found a home on Artoffact Records, and 12 tracks were selected for the debut release. Dead When I Found Her re-creates classic late-80’s/early-90’s industrial without sounding cliched, adding a modernized sonic signature to a dark and brooding foundation.

Dead When I Found Her on iTunes
Official Dead When I Found Her website

Ascii.Disko has been an important figure in house, synthpop, and EBM circles since L’Age D’Or released the debut Einfach EP in 2002. Along the way, Ascii.Disko has collaborated with the likes of The Presets, Punx Soundcheck, Kloq, Mini, and many others. With two full-lengths under their belt and nearly 20 12″ releases, Ascii.Disko is in high demand as a DJ and performer the world over. Stay Gold Forever Gold cements Ascii.Disko’s status as one of the highest energy electronic acts featuring 12 tracks of non-stop dancefloor shakers and nearly 80 minutes of music!

Press: “Ascii.Disko is without a shadow of a doubt one of the main and most talented electroclash formations of Germany.” —Side-Line

Ascii.Disko on iTunes
Official Ascii.Disko website

Attention cadets, incoming transmission! Destruction is imminent: Memmaker are here to destroy all human eardrums and interface with your women, undermining earth society forever. Comprised of Guillaume Nadon and Yann Faussurier (of Iszoloscope), Memmaker have forged a rare and explosive compound of hard-trance, driving electro grooves, and immense industrial beats against which mankind is utterly defensless. Limbs will be shattered and tossed like straw as the full force of their unstoppable sonic barrage is unleashed upon humanity, animating those torn and smashed extremities in a violent whirl of fists and bodies as their complete takeover of your central nervous system compels you to MOVE. Bodies will be tossed on concussive tremors of bass, and the screams of ecstasy and resignation will drown in the impossibly infectious rhythms.

In 2010, Artoffact Records signed Memmaker to release an updated 2CD Deluxe Edition of the band’s debut release. How To Enlist In A Robot Uprising: Deluxe Edition comes with extra tracks that never made it on the first edition, as well as a full-length bonus CD featuring remixes by Rotersand, Xotox, Fractured, Stendeck, Liar’s Rosebush , and other fine electronic artists. The album is totally remastered and sports new cover art. Memmaker is one of the new breed of electronic aritsts making harsh electronic dance music, and How To Enlist In A Robot Uprising: Deluxe Edition is the perfect expression of dark, driving energy.

Memmaker on iTunes
Official Memmaker website

The project Absurd Minds was founded in 1995 by Stefan Grossmann and Tilo Ladwig. At that time they were musically inspired by the electro-scene of the early 90ies. From 1995 - 1999 Absurd Minds released 3 different CDs with just a very small amount of copies. In 1999 they had their first live onstage appearance in Dresden at the live-club Bunker. In the same year Absurd Minds caught the attention of the german record-label SCANNER. Since that time label and band work together very closely.

In January 2000 the first single BRAINWASH was released. A few months later the first album DECEPTION followed and created quite a stir within the electro scene. The same year Absurd Minds had their first onstage-appearance at the Wave Gotik Treffen in Leipzig. Several concerts across Germany followed.

In December 2000 the second single COME ALIVE was released. In the beginning of 2001 the band again went to a record studio to produce their second album and to prove that DECEPTION was not just a lucky shot. The follower of DECEPTION, the second album DAMN THE LIE, was released a few months later and welcomed with enthusiasm by the fans. During the production-time of DAMN THE LIE, the band integrated Timo Fischer, who was just an additional live-musician (bass guitar/drums) before, as a steady bandmember. At the same time the band intensified their live activities. They were touring Switzerland, Belgium, Denmark and, of course Germany. Among many other places they had concerts in clubs like Markthalle Hamburg, Die Insel Berlin, Musikbunker Aachen and, once again, they played at one of the biggest darkwave-gothic-electro-festivals in Europe, at the Wave Gotik Treffen in Leipzig. Highlight of the their touring in 2002 was a festival in South America, in São Paulo/Brazil. Absurd Minds were headlining the festival there. In 2003, while recording their 3rd album, Absurd Minds still managed to play some live-gigs. During this time they made their way around, playing the Eurorock festival in Belgium and had concerts in Sweden, the Czech Republic and Austria.

Absurd Minds’ 3rd album THE FOCUS was released in October 2003. Besides the standard CD, THE FOCUS is also available as a extended double CD, which is limited to 2000 copies. The pre-released single MASTERBUILDER made it up to position 2 in the German Alternativ Charts (DAC). The recent (2nd) single release HERZLOS made it into the German Alternativ Charts (DAC) as well and was placed at position 4. In 2004, in addition to some concerts, ABSURD(minds) played at the Wave Gotik Treffen again.

The 4th album NOUMENON was released in November 2004. NOUMENON made it up to position 3 in the German Alternativ Charts after Depeche Mode. The Limited Edition comes presented as a double CD in a gatefold digipak and includes the Bonus CD ‘PhaenomenoN’ which includes 5 exclusive mixes.

In 2010, Absurd Minds caught the attention of Canadian label Artoffact Records and signed a deal to present their 5th and most polished album, Server Or Suffer, in North America. Ten years after the first release, Absurd Minds has not lost any of their energy or independence. Serve or Suffer surprises and will go down as classic industrial for the 21st century.

Absurd Minds on iTunes
Official Absurd Minds website

If Lithium comes into contact with the skin, it can cause severe chemical burns. Lithium salts, on the other hand, are used to treat bipolar disorders, mania and depression. But these are by no means all of the applications of that chemical element with the atomic number 3, because in combination with Omega, the last letter of the Greek alphabet, Lithium forms an acoustic drug with a highly addictive quality:

Omega Lithium!

This potion was concocted in 2007 by four talented alchemists in the small Croatian town of Umag – a musical no man’s land where bands are rarely noticed by the outside world. Consequently, it was like a lottery win for Omega Lithium when the label, Artoffact Records (Xandria, Haggard, Alice in Videoland, among others) from Toronto, Canada, listened up and offered to support the quartet in the American distribution of their aphrodisiac, which is even legal. Their penchant for chemical substances is also reflected by the title of their debut album, “Dreams In Formaline”. Formalin is an aqueous solution, a mix of formaldehyde and methanol which is used to preserve bodies and anatomical and biological preparations.

Proceeding from this concept, the musicians from Croatia asked themselves what a person who has been preserved in formalin dreams: is there anything to conserve our thoughts and stop us from looking for more – to protect us and at the same time stop us from perceiving the real world? Is our reality only a formalin dream, after all? Twelve profound tracks see Omega Lithium get to the bottom of these and other questions relating to social conflict, conspiracies and the dark side of humanity. At the same time, this new sonic drug is intended to combat the rampant consumerism of western civilisation. “By definition, consumerism is the equalisation of personal happiness with consumption and the acquisition of possessions”, guitarist Malice Rime explains. “It makes people lazy and indifferent, in addition to becoming stupid and easy to manipulate.” Omega Lithium rebel against this condition with philosophical depth, enthralling harshness and great passion, because these four musicians want to shake up and move their listeners. And their rousing creations are definitely not suitable for lazing around, but encourage the urge to move and inspire the cinema in their listeners’ heads.

The band’s figurehead is 19-year-old vocalist Mya Mortenssen, whose looks are on a par with her powerful and surprisingly deep voice and is definitely a force to be reckoned with by the international competition. Along with Mya, guitarist/main songwriter Malice Rime, bassist/lyricist Zoltan Harpax and drummer Torsten Nihill have created a powerfully sinister sound which occasionally brings to mind the atmospheric goth metal of acts such as Lacuna Coil and Evanescence, yet is always independent and marked by a variety of influences. Omega Lithium combine cutting metal riffs, rock elements, electro beats, machine-like coolness and haunting atmospheres at the interface of industrial, goth and metal. Music fans will be hooked on “Stigmata”, which has true hit potential and is supported by a darkly morbid video clip with Tim Burton references; “My Haunted Self” with its male-female antiphon and an extremely creepy aura; the title track, “Dreams In Formaline” with strong industrial influences; and the bombastic “Snow Red”.

Producer Victor Love (Dope Stars Inc., Epochate), who cooked up the toxic mix together with the band over two months at the Subsound studios in Rome, played an important part in the album’s successful recording. Subsequently, the wonder drug was expertly polished by Vincent Sorg (Schandmaul, In Extremo, Die Toten Hosen, among others) at the Principal Studios in Münster as part of the mastering process. The result is a contemporary, powerful pick-me-up which has us discover lots of interesting details during this musical trip. This thoroughly addictive drug was perfected by graphic artist, Seth Siro Anton (Paradise Lost, Soilwork, Moonspell, among others), who created the atmospheric, tailor-made artwork for “Dreams In Formaline”.

Having said all that, the formidable self-confidence of the four musicians from Croatia is certainly justified, after all Omega Lithium see themselves as the heralds of a new era. “Music has a strong presence and has changed whole generations”, Malice Rime reflects, hoping that his band’s tracks will cause a new way of thinking and animate listeners to question things and take over responsibility for this ruined world we live in. Whichever way you look at it: Omega Lithium must be the first drug which can be recommended without reservations – with no known risks or side-effects!

Omega Lithium on iTunes
Official Omega Lithium website

Anno domini 1991: the most unusual band that the world of hard rock has ever seen came together in Munich. Asis Nasseri and Luz Marsen founded the four-piece HAGGARD, who initially specialized in an unusual, very playful variety of death metal. Two years later they recorded their first self-produced CD “Progressive”, which was considered more than a mere succès d’estime. Before long HAGGARD embarked on a tour with cult heroes Amorphis and Desultory as openers, presenting their music to the broad public for the first time. Death metal fans were suitably impressed with their technical dexterity and unusual song structures.

Another two years on, HAGGARD began to integrate classical instruments into their music since they felt that the increasing technical element in death metal had manoeuvered them into a dead end, and mastermind Asis so longer considered that particular style of songwriting a challenge. Since the band had, next to metal, always been into medieval music, they decided to embark on a new musical path and write material for a larger group of musicians, integrating three new band members with purely classical instruments (violin, cello and piano) as well as a soprano into the band.

Their “Once … Upon A December’s Dawn” demo tape (recorded in 1995) indicated this new direction. Their followers reacted enthusiastically during HAGGARD’s subsequent tour with Illdisposed, with whom they already played with their complete new line-up. At this stage it had become obvious that the metal community were decidedly in favour of their fusion of classic and metal, so the band decided to continue on their chosen route.

Soon afterwards the group increased to a 16-piece and released an absolutely unique melange of classical music and uncompromising heavy metal on their sensational 1997 release “And Thou Shalt Trust … The Seer”. The album met with positive reviews by journalists from every genre and was praised to the skies. The musical journey through the Middle Ages, supported by an interesting lyrical concept, showed for the first time that classical music, tough death metal and bombastic choirs make for an unexpectedly successful combination. And what is more: HAGGARD created a sonic masterpiece as it had never been heard before, gripping the listener emotionally and offering everything from melodic, dreamy elements to aggressive and driving passages that every open-minded rock fan likes to hear.

From 2000 through 2008, Haggard recorded three albums for German label Drakkar and cemented their status as one of the world’s best metal acts. These three official studio albums, Awaking the Centuries, Eppur Si Muove, and Tales Of Ithiria have now been released by Artoffact Records for the American market.

Haggard on iTunes
Official Haggard website

A touch of feminine sensuality, a hint of far away strange places where only wishful dreams will take us, carried on wings of metallic hardness and at the same time accompanied by that certain darkness - these images come to mind when listening to the music of Xandria, a band who can look back on four successful albums.

Following the stir that the band had already created on the underground scene with several demo songs which had been released on the Internet, Xandria laid the cornerstone of a long career in 2003 with their debut “Kill The Sun”. The release was greeted by enthusiastic reactions and made directly for the German Media Control Charts, followed by a tour all over Germany. When they headed for the album charts one year later on the black wings of “Ravenheart”, carried by Celtic winds, a mythical element had become an ingredient of their music. They stayed in the charts for a full two months, making no. 36, and enchanted their growing fan base with the fantasy clip which accompanied the title track “Ravenheart” and has come to be considered a classic of the genre. The press were unanimous in their praise, and tours and festival performances followed. Summer 2004 saw the band play the main stage of the Summer Breeze festival and the Busan International Rock Festival in Korea - the biggest in Southeast Asia -, where they wowed 30,000 people. “Ravenheart” went on to beat the pants off the debut’s success, the band joining the ranks of the luminaries of the scene.

Xandria on iTunes
Official Xandria website

A musical guru with many balls in the air, Toronto’s Joe Byer is one of those behind-the-scenes producers who seem to be involved in an endless stream of projects without ever getting the props or credit he rightfully deserves. His project V01d has been active for years as a for-hire remixer and a world-class producer for acts such as Angelspit, Ayria, Diskonnekted, Interlace, Massiv in Mensch, Standeg, Human Decay, and many others. He has toured the globe as a live keyboarder with Ayria, and his remixing talents have been sourced by labels as renowned as Alfa Matrix, Sub.Session, Artoffact, Brume, as well as several others. The man is simply a walking musical resume; a CV that would make even the top players in this scene take note.

V01d has released a digital single collaboration with Ayria for Artoffact Records, and this Fall he will drop the 2CD limited This Is Not A False Alarm Anymore.

v01d official site
v01d on iTunes

Urceus Exit was originally conceived in 1992 as a solo project for Richard Duggan. Having produced seven independent releases by 1996, Richard began performances in 1997 with various hired live musicians as well as a video artist. Offering an alternative in electronic art, Urceus Exit prefers to challenge the perspective of our continually changing environment, and, most importantly, our journey through it.

Urceus Exit has released the full-length album Contra on Artoffact Records, as well as the single Metro, and three digital-only releases available on iTunes, Napster, Emusic, and other fine music retailers.

In 2009, Urceus Exit will release a new double CD on Artoffact Records entitled Compensation For the Sound of Silence. The album will be presented in a limited edition cardboard pak and also be available as a 1CD digital download from iTunes, complete with a PDF booklet. Urceus Exit will also tour across Canada in August and September, 2009.

Urceus Exit official site
Urceus Exit on iTunes

Comprising two electronic music pioneers, Bernd Madl and Mathias Knopp, Individual Totem began making music in the early 90s and released their home-made album, Aspects Of Theories And Reality in 1994. Following this, the band was signed to Off Beat in Europe and Pendragon in the United States and released two now-classic CDs: S.E.T.I. in 1996 and Mind Sculptures Flesh in 1997. These three classic albums were re-released digitally by Artoffact Records in 2008.

Following a long hiatus and a comeback that never materialized, Individual Totem eventually released the WWW EP digitally on Artoffact Records in late 2007 and a limited 2CD new album, Mothfly, which sold out quickly.

2009 will see a new remastered 2CD limited edition of the band’s early cassette release Mumia Vera, including bonus tracks and rarities.

Individual Totem website
Individual Totem on iTunes

Kobold was started in early 2002 by Cody Cast (Index) and Mike Heighway. Over the next few years the promotional EP, A Taste of Copper, was carved. The promo caught the eyes and ears of Artoffact Records, who signed the band in the first months of 2006 - shortly after Cody’s elected departure to pursue his solo project Trapped in Amber. During the summer of 2006, Swante J., of BiaXial Creep, was welcomed into the fold.

Kobold’s first full-length album, The Taste of Copper was released on November 7th, 2006 and has been met with positive reviews. “The music is downright dark; the content is haunting, spine-tingling, exactly what industrial music and gothic culture purport themselves to be. Kobold’s vision is balanced by a sense of seriousness - and a sense of ironic immediacy - which is overpowering.” The album is considered to be “an addictive and marvelous release” of “modern and controlled glitch mixed with old-school industrial vocals and samples.” Kobold offer “unheard experimental electronic tunes [...and] fantastic programming abilities.”

Into the future….

Kobold on iTunes

Björn and Sven Jünemann, aka Standeg, are no strangers to the electro-industrial world. Having been involved in early incarnations of Haujobb, the Jünemanns helped craft early Haujobb hits such as Homes and Gardens and Eye Over You and participated in the recordings of the classic albums Homes and Gardens and Freeze Frame Reality. A few years ago, the ground-breaking label Dependent Records placed Standeg songs on their influential Septic compilations, creating a buzz around Standeg unprecidented given the duo’s small output.

Unique in their sound but following in the tradition of a long history of excellent electronic-industrial, Standeg’s music is a significant and surprising addition to your collection.

Standeg on iTunes
Official Standeg website

I have known Wade Anderson, aka Prospero, for years now and seem to bump into the man everywhere. I’ve seen him freak out on a dance floor to Covenant’s “Call the Ship’s to Port” and I also know that he loves noise and tribal rhythms. I’ve seen him dancing to the hardest EBM tracks at Savage Garden as well as take in one of Displacer’s lovely IDM performances in Montreal. If there is someone who enjoys the variety the scene offers, it’s Wade.

That is what’s so great about his new album, Folie à Deux; Wade’s influences are everywhere and the name of the game is variety. I hear the hammering EBM beat on “The World That I See,” and I remember Wade on the dancefloor, at Savage Garden, jumping around to Grendel. I hear his smashing cover of Malhavoc’s classic track “Discipline” complete with vocals by Jennifer Parkin of Ayria and think could anything possibly be more Toronto? Malhavoc, Ayria, Prospero… makes an ex-pat Torontonian teary eyed!

Prospero on iTunes

Having released several highly successful albums in Scandinavia and Germany, Colony 5 made their way to the shores of America with their highly charged album Fixed in 2005. That album, as well as its remix company Re-Fixed, was released by Storming the Base with great success, and these two releases helps launch Colony 5 in America as one of the most original and interesting synth bands. 2006 and 2007 saw the band touring in every corner of Europe, and a single, Knives, was released in December 2007 on Artoffact Records.

After being founded as a simple hobby in 1999, Colony 5 has surely come a long way. The band has seen several line-up changes, but the current incarnation of Magnus Kalnins and P-O Svensson is the strongest ever. Their latest album–their best album–Buried Again, will be released on Artoffact Records on March 4th, 2008.

Colony 5 on Myspace
Colony 5 on iTunes

Run Level Zero is a band creating electronic music in the same vein as the European and Canadian ebm/industrial masters. The band hails from Stockholm, Sweden. The current line-up is Hans Åkerman (vocals), Ville Hising (keyboards) and Ola Sundell (live drums).

Since their debut Run Level Zero has been an active band on the electronic music scene, appearing on a number of compilations and remixing artists such as Pzychobitch, Punto Omega, Clan of Xymox and Psyche. The band has toured Europe twice (supported VNV Nation in 2001 and Assemblage 23 in 2005) and toured the United States in 2006.

Arctic Noise (forthcoming) is their first CD release for Artoffact. We are also issuing their digital EP, Shattered Silence in 2007.

Run Level Zero website
Run Level Zero on iTunes

On Run With The People And Hunt With The Hare MISSOURI finally freed themselves. Call it whatever you like - electro-soul, deep-down-and-dirty R&B or casio-funk & blues - but there is nothing you could compare it with. And definitely not many have as much style and grace. “What goes up must come down” Red sings in “Up And Down” to a beat that is pushing softly and a funky guitar lick. The coolness in the songs comes from the coolness within. The loser at the bar starts lingering to the dancefloor, the drink still in his hands, without looking back. It`s Michael Caine as Marvin Gaye. It`s discomusic for existentialists. It pushes forward and goes deep inside. What the writer wanted to say is: the new MISSOURI Album is the hottest shit.

Red – Vocals, Keyboards
Frank Mollena – Guitars, Beats
Christian “Wuschi” Ebert – Keyboards, Backing Vocals
Carter Cain – Pedal Steel and other Guitars, Beats, Backing Vocals
+ Patrick Göbel – Live Drums

Proceed to the Missouri website
Missouri on iTunes

Beautiful Leopard lands somewhere in the realm of traditional post rock and slow country, a place which reminds us of Mercury Rev, Guided By Voices, even at times of Johnny Cash singing for Do Make Say Think. There’s a bit of Pavement in there, a bit of Stars, too. Psychedelic organ contrasts with a lonely, melancholic voice, only to be patiently put to bed with a crying guitar. Guest appearances of cello, trombone and accordion contribute to a fully rounded album that never disappoints.

Dust-dry desert country and good times!

Beautiful Leopard website
Beautiful Leopard on iTunes

With cocky female vocals, slamming drums, stomping electronic basslines and a strap-on keyboard, Alice in Videoland has gained a reputation for a live show that rocks your socks off! Their unique blend of EBM, Punk, Synth and 80’s Rock generated quite a fuss on European clubs and festivals throughout 2003..2004..2005..2006 … and now 2007.

Featuring Toril Lindqvist on Vocals, Anders Alexander on Drums, Johan Dahlbom on Bass, and Dominique on Syntheziser, Alice in Videoland take the influences of DAF, The Clash, Rob Hubbarb, and Nina Haagen and combine them with a unique combination of styles all their own. They mix electro, 80’s rock, dance and pop with a style and vocals that call to Cyndi Lauper, Joan Jett and Gwen Stefani!

Alice In Videoland on iTunes

Despite their obscure name, the Hamburg band Das Weeth Experience have their solid band history on their credit.

Travellers of thousands of miles, this is to be heard from „The Accentric Sounds of Das Weeth Experience“, hundreds of gigs and quite a respectable amount of demolished guitar amplifiers. But nevertheless, it did not become „the“ (if you just let me use this horrendous non-word) official album.

Through their fourth album, Das Weeth Experience blow a stoic wind, of which it is impossible to say, whether it blows from the desert or from the coast. Only one thing is for certain: its home is not with music TV, ring tones or target group research. With their classic instrumentation bass-drums-guitar/vocals and with an analogue attitude, they achieve what other bands spend years for in studios: songs with space, time and atmosphere. Sometimes, less is still more. Titles like „Blue“ or „Munich Kitchen Rocket“ soak the mind in scratched melancholy, in a serious way and without any hysteria. „Rusty Stars“ shows that to be heartily pissed off about present situations doesn’t necessarily mean to end in bitterness and that even a cosmic cargo spaceship, tipping over an enourmous load of earth scrap on saturn may be something somehow graceful… if it is reborn as a guitar solo. And even Pink Floyd would probably sell Syd Barrett for an instrumental song like „ElvisHeroinJazz“ (OK, they aleady have, but it didn’t really come to much). Due to the processing of Tobias Levin, the whole of it sounds so continuously pressing and sophisticated, that even „Stereoplay“ wouldn’t fault it.

Can records actually be out of time and simultaneously rooted with both legs here and now? And do they have legs nowadays? And watches? Who is to decide all this???? But, to put it with an old telly spot: You can’t beat the Feeling…

This ought to be a better world, but it is still going to take some time. At least, from time to time, there is some great earful of music to listen to. „The Accentric Sounds of Das Weeth Experience“ belongs to that. And if it wasn’t for promoting the album, we could almost believe what they try to whisper between the lines: art is not commercial.

Das Weeth Experience on iTunes

The Canadian, Montreal based duo Headscan fuses futuristic dancefloor oriented music with dark cinematographic soundscapes. The band combines the best elements of trance and electro industrial resulting in a sound that is fresh and exciting, while holding true to its predecessors in electronic music.

Claude Charnier (electronic flow control) & Christian Pomerleau (human frequencies) have been active in Montreal’s local alternative music scene for some years now, particularly within the techno industrial outfit Insurgent, playing a hard and intense mix of electronic and acoustic music. Co-founder of that band, Claude did the music for two cds, “System Structure Security” and “Supercollider”, before leaving the group in 1999 to focus on a mainly electronic music project. Christian came to be the singer of Insurgent later in that bands history before creating Headscan with Claude , bringing also his talents in motion graphics and web design.

Signed to Artoffact Records in 2001 they’ve released their first album entitled Shaper and Mechanist to great reviews worldwide. Dark moods, electronic voices, bubbling basses and relentless beats create a futuristic soundscape for the new dark ages inspired in parts by the writings of science-fiction author Bruce Sterling.

Observing the impact of new technologies on society and its influence on the transmission of ideas, the band evokes the public domain as being a vast field of human memory. Their second album, Pattern Recognition, was released in 2005 on Artoffact Records (worldwide) and Alfa Matrix (Europe).

As the continuous onslaught of modern technology breaks down the barriers of culture and geography, the public domain becomes embedded in our collective mind; where the spirit meets the mechanical.

Headscan on iTunes

As clear-cut electronic soundscapes blend with distorted aggression, a new machine is born. Throbbing with intensity and aggression, it constitutes the merging point of ancient insights, a disillusioned present and the unfolding veils of tomorrow. It is a foundry for intelligence and instincts, for reason and lust, for the stark reality and that which lies beyond man’s comprehension. It is an essence of progress. It is Interlace.

Interlace is also a virtual laboratory, a realm of enlightenment. All academic fields are represented here, and art is the room that encapsulates them all. In cautious hands, knowledge is molded into sonic and visual expressions that will shake the foundations of a society taught to settle for less.

Interlace was blue-printed nearly a decade ago and has gradually developed since. Other artistical engagements delayed the realization of the project until the fall of 2001. At this time, the members agreed to enter into a collaboration with swedish alternative label Memento Materia. Subsequently, the debut album Innuendo was written and produced during an intense three-month period.

Interlace do not simply make albums; they create works of art. The Swedish trio lives in a collective in which each member has specialized duties commensurate with his preferences and abilities. Great care is taken to ensure that everything is correlated in order to leave behind a homogenous impression. As the album artwork is clearly a key part of this, it is only fitting that the cover to their second album, Imago, be designed by world-renowned British artist Dave McKean (known for his work with Tori Amos, Alice Cooper, Frontline Assembly, Skinny Puppy, just to name a few). The interaction between the musical, visual, and thematic components serve to create a unique product showcasing a potential that other bands only dream of. Interlace have conceived Imago as a one hour journey of progress and evolution that reflects both inner struggle of man and the harsh reality in which we live. But this trip is anything but pleasurable: Imago is darker, more menacing, and more complex than its predecessor, while retaining that album’s strengths: powerful vocals, intelligent lyrics, and integrated conceptualization and presentation.

Interlace on iTunes

Massiv in Mensch are one of the new breed of electronic artists seamlessly blending techno, industrial, and punk with their hard-hitting assaults on the dance floors! Based in German, the heart of the dark electronic music world, the duo comprised of Daniel Logemann (vocals) and Mirco Osterthun (programming) create electronic body music with heavy doses of techno and trance. Their vision of human revolution pits mankind against himself, and their music seeks to find hope and courage on a technological battlefield.

Ranked as one of the top new artists when their debut was released in 2000, the German-based group have been growing steadily ever since and have built up a large fan-following. With four full-length albums released by Artoffact Records, Massiv in Mensch show no signs of slowing down. Their latest, Clubber Lang, continues to push the band’s vision and has been hailed as their most innovative record to date.

Massiv In Mensch on iTunes

Monster Movie are Christian Savill {Sagittarius} and Sean Hewson {masculine}. Monster Movie were formed in 1989 with a different name and with different people. There have been other names since then. One member of Monster Movie was in a band called Slowdive. One of them wasn’t. Monster Movie were formed again in January 2000 under the name Monster Movie.

Listen, Monster Movie featured on a split single with ‘dreamend’, it was released on the 6th October 2002 by Graveface Records. Some people liked it, other people chose to sleep their sad lives away in ignorance. Since then Monster Movie have completed their second album offering, To the Moon, this was released by Clairecords. To the Moon was a consolidation and elevation of Monster Movie’s ‘gifts’. Monster Movie unleashed transistor a 7 track mini album for Graveface Records in December 2004. With this release Monster Movie reached out and touched everyone, whether they wanted to be touched or not.

Monster Movie completed their third album All Lost in November 2005. Recorded in weston-super-mare and released by Graveface Records and Artoffact Records in 2006. The new 12 track album again features Rachel Staggs of Experiemtal Aircraft & Eau Claire on vocals. Thrillingly, their ability to ‘heal and grow’ is still present and still unequalled by other men.

Finally and ridiculously, Monster Movie have also invented a cosmic dice on which they are the only people to have ever thrown a six. Their wish is your command.

Come to boyland.

Monster Movie on iTunes

Founded in 1990 in Oldenburg, Germany, it didn’t take Steril very long to get signed to Off Beat, to record international club hits such as Egoist and Deep, to get licensed to American and British record labels, and to tour with some of the most important industrial artists of the 90s. After the collapse of Off Beat and an extended pause, Steril re-surfaced in the new millennium with a new album and single on the rock-synth label Strange Ways. Many shows and festival appearances followed, after which Steril recorded their fifth studio album, Realist, for Artoffact records in 2006.

Steril’s music is an amalgam of styles. Always hard, edgy, and bombastic, it penetrates and creates memorable moments of bliss and adrenaline.

Steril on iTunes

In an era when new artists are formed, signed, and forgotten in under a year, cabaret, hailing from Poland, have been making music as a duo since 1997. In this time, they have been honing their art and drawing on musical and cultural references as diverse as porcupine tree, Leonard Cohen, and Depeche Mode. Comprised of Jaroslaw Pawlik and Michal Bieniek, with guests, Cabaret composes auditory poetry about the human experience, alienation, totemism and taboo. Their music is raw and earthy, warm and sincere; a refreshing alternative that will rekindle your soul and add a new dimension to the electronic music market. The single ‘electric chair song’ and album Homophobia were released Artoffact Records in 2005.

Cabaret on iTunes

Located in Dortmund, Germany, the synthpop duo Psyche has been making music for 20 years. Featuring Darrin Huss on vocals and Remi Szyszka on synths, Psyche simply makes marvelous synthetic pop music. Ranging in themes from the meaning of art to the state of the internet, and drawing heavily on their history as well as history in general, the music is thought-provoking and engaging. The result is a fantastic array of material, from pumping floor-fillers to ambient piano pieces to funky radio pop.

Psyche has released two studio albums, one remix album, a best of, and an EP on Artoffact Records and has been involved in over 100 remixes and compilation appearances during their long career. When they are not in the studio, the duo is constantly touring, playing for fans in dozens of countries every year.

Psyche on iTunes

Based in Germany, the trio known as Netz is a non-political music and multimedia art project which saw its creation in 1992. Focusing on dry, cold sound patterns, Felix Baumgartner, Angelo Ferroni, and Thomas Leeb first released the now out-of-print Auf Ewig EP and followed that up with the seminal “werk01” on Flatline Records. Shortly thereafter, they joined Artoffact Records and have since released three albums.

Stylistically, Netz describe their music as electronic power pop. Their avant-garde approach to pop music is at once revolutionary and enigmatic. The art project has held several multimedia performances in both Germany and Canada and have been featured on several multi-national compilations.

Netz on iTunes

Composed of the maze on vocals and der mate on keyboards, BLANK is italy’s latest export to the industrial dance realm. Drawing inspiration from early italian acts such as Pankow and Templebeat, as well as modern dance legends Paul Oakenfold and Tiesto, Blank caught the attention of the electro underground with their self-produced demos released in 2000 and 2001.

Their first promo, “424C414E4B”, was released in july 2000 and made available completely free to download via their website. With about 600 downloads in just a few weeks, the promo gained a lot of attention in the scene, received enthusiastic reviews almost everywhere and was played in clubs all over the world.

The year later, the band released their second promo, “Brain Trigger”, which was even more successful than the first, again with hundreds of downloads, extremely positive reviews and hundreds of club plays.

Their music is for the dancefloor and for the heart, combining thought-provoking lyrics with an overdose of energy to create new, fresh, and exciting dance music.

Blank on iTunes