WL//WH Weekly Post-Punk // Darkwave // Dark Synth Tips

Weekly Post-Punk // Darkwave // Dark Synth Tips – MAY 2024 – #21-24

photo by Alek Lindus

PICKS OF THE WEEK:

  • Gelsenkirchen, Germany goth /electronic /darkwave solo artist, Die Tödin “Wild” single

Even if I cannot decipher the language, the German act keeps delivering doomy and visceral minimalistic ‘true’ darkwave, rare these days, imbued with an abrasive, aggressive and hypnotic desolate spleen. The new single dances on a throbbing alienating yet lively stream of humming bass lines and pounding drum beats, episodically creased by excruciating and screeching guitar riffs, surrounding vibrant restrained anxious spoken words with relentless abrasive disintegrations of a strangled and hopeless deadly reality.

  • Sydney, Australia dark coldwave act Disaster “Dark Remains” single

An enigmatic act from Sydney suggests subtly unsettling and shadowy Factory Records atmospherics of introspective melancholy that seep in the relentless resonant pulses of a hypnotic bass line, slowly swept by liquid drifting synths of longing’s desolation along with sparse prickly poignant guitar chords, whilst ghostly haunted vocals, fearing the darkness inside with muted yet penetrating layers of emotional feelings.

  • Kyiv‘s goth /dark punk /deathrock act Old Cat’s Drama “U pitmu” single

Kyiv‘s trio Old Cat’s Drama returns with an angsty slab of emotional-ridden hard-edged Deathrock to conceive the journey of a person spiralling out of control increasingly lost in the dark injecting swirly darts of frenetic and sinister scratchy guitar riffs through a vibrant bed of humming basslines and urgent hard-hitting drum beats, whilst manic piercing vocals fall briefly into a subdued narcotic and shadowy interlude of lost resistance, to rise again with tragic, fatal defiance.

  • US ambient /psych /dark folk duo of Kalee Beals & Min Naing, aka Blood Hunters “Fleeting Memories” from the album “Death is a Goddess” physically soon on Fiadh Productions
  • Italian neoclassical /neofolk /darkwave group formed in 1985, Ataraxia “Aqua Mater” from the new album “Centaurea” via The Circle Music
  • San Bernardino, CA esoteric experimental electronic minimal synth drone duo of Peter Kris (PK) and Norm Heston (NH), GERMAN ARMY “A Gilded Lifecycle” from the upcoming cassette EP “Plot A Recurring Cycle” [Pildoras Tapes]
  • Early 80s German experimental electronic collaborative side project by Liaisons DangereusesChrislo Haas (DAF) and Beate Bartel (Mania D. / Matador), aka CHBB “Go Go Go!” from the archival self-titled LP (12″ vinyl contains all the tracks from their 1981 run of four limited cassettes, know as the CHBB tapes) [Soulsheriff Records]
  • Brussels/Amsterdam  noise-rock /wave /post-punk trio Beatrix “Not For Sale” from “Beatrix” EP via Kontakt Group
  • German synthpop /coldwave /darkwave act Occlude “Hollow Heart” from “Hollow Heart / They Decay” [apt.3027] via appartement 3
  • German experimental/dark ambient /post-punk /darkwave/post-punk project of Anna Nin, Glaring “Hope” first track from the upcoming EP
  • German/Belgian brand-new industrial /synthwave /dubstep /dark electronics project between Inmesher (Rope Sect) and Lykaios (Hemelbestormer, Lhaäd, Rituals of the Dead Hand), NOX “Black Nebula” from the upcoming debut “Entity” LP 12″ [NEUROPA RECORDS]
  • Rome, Italy-based Post-punk /New Wave /Darkwave solo project UmbraMatte “You are poison”
  • Italian goth /post-punk /coldwave /dark wave duo Iamnoone “In Fear” 2-track single “In fear + Death is not the end” via Cold Transmission Music
  • Vienna-based solo Cold Wave /Dark Wave Project by Mikhail Shlepin, aka Скубут “Pogranichnyi” title track of the LP “Pogranichnyi”
  • German Post-punk /Coldwave duo based in Dortmund, Isocult “Moth” single
  • San Diego, CA goth /post-punk /darkwave duo Eddie Lopez and Luis Angel Martinez, aka TWIN ION ENGINE “Aeonian Prismatica” from the debut album “Dark Fetish”
  • US goth /synth /post-punk solo project TWIN TEARS “Lead With Discretion” single
  • Longview, WA cold wave /post-punk solo project No Kids Pets OK “Have you forgotten how to love” single via Star-Track
  • Lithuanian goth /dream-pop /post-punk /dark wave solo act Varnakis “Lay Me Down to sleep” single
  • Russian post-punk /new wave band from Ufa, Vorsicht Vorsicht “Плен / Сaptive” from the second LP “Соль Земли / The Salt Of The Earth” [Discosomething Records]
  • UK eclectic post-punk /darkwave solo project from Kendal, Claustraphobia “The Gate” single
  • Dublin, Ireland synthpop vocalist-songwriter-producer & poet Aidan Casserly aka Empire State Human – “Night Over Me” (Wave In Head cover, 2000)
  • Stockholm synth-pop solo project of Josefine Lindber, Pelotone “Sommaräng” single
  • Leeds, UK synth-pop duo formed in 1979 by Josephine Warden & Brian Moss, aka Vicious Pink “Not Your Kind of Girl” from the unreleased album “Unexpected” LP 12″ [Minimal Wave]
  • LA power pop /new wave pink goddess Angelyne “Sex Goddess” off of the sophomore pink vinyl album “Driven to Fantasy” via Dark Entries Records
  • Casablanca, Morocco Arab wave /coldwave /new wave solo project GAOUTA “Emo core” from the debut “EMO” EP
  • Bern, Switzerland minimal /synth wave duo Sadie La Chèvre & Nora Düster, Extra Bleu Ciel “Einschlafen”
  • Baltimore, Maryland-based, minimal wave /analogue electronics veteran Jason Sloan, L’Avenir “The Snow” from the new album “Imagination” via EINS:ZWEI:ACHT
  • Iranian-born minimal synth /wave solo female electronic project of Tushna Pirrongelli based in Miami, NINA BELIEF “The Wanderer” title track of the 2-track single “The Wanderer”
  • Belgian industrial / EBM masterminds FRONT 242 “Take One” remastered reissue of the 1983 classic “Endless Riddance (Remastered)” EP 12″ [Alfa Matrix]
  • German NDW /techno /dance dark wave solo act based in Leipzig, нат.аша “tra.inen” 1st single from the album “666evil” via UNTERSCHALL
  • Texas-based EBM /Italo /dreampop /synth-pop artist LLORA “Glove” from cassette S/T album [SYNTHICIDE]
  • Athens, Greece EBM /industrial /darkwave /synthpop /poetry project Πύργος Αθηνών “Ιπποδάμεια Θλίψης” single
  • Hungarian dark electro /synthpop duo Post Analog Disorder “I Find My Way” single
  • Norway dark synth-pop artist Fabbrica 82 “Alone” single
  • Berlin-based Synth Dark Pop band WHITE NOISE TV “Drowning Winds” single
  • Liège, Belgian EBM /kraut /post-punk /synth-punk duo Le Prince Harry – “Le Hachoir de Judas” 2nd single off the album “A Long Way Down” [Teenage Menopause]
  • Toulouse, South of France-based Coldwave /Synth-Punk one-man band, trait d’ union “tout ira bien” from the debut album “adieu la fête” via Frozen Records
  • Oakland, CA dark minimal analog synth wave project Void Palace “No Hesitation” from “Machine of Vision” EP 12”
  • German goth /industrial /electro /darkwave act Mechanical Moth “Gedankenkarussell” single via Scanner
  • London-based goth /industrial /dark electronic duo, Dead Lights “When The Lights Come Down (feat. MARC MASSIVE)” new single via darkTunes
  • Amsterdam-based legendary goth electro-wave band formed in 1984, Clan of Xymox “Suffer (SINE Remix)” from the remix album “X-Odus” on Metropolis
  • Swedish EBM /synth-pop /electronic, political music project based in Gothenburg, Proletarian Poetry “New World” from “The World We Live In” EP
  • Russian minimal synth /synth-pop project ITALLIKA “I’ll Be Your Favorite Game” single
  • Madison, Wisconsin goth synth-pop solo project of Jill Sheridan (songwriter, vocalist, and longtime member of Null Device), Eye New Dark “Tell Me (Klack Remix)” from the debut single “Tell Me / Smile My Dear”
  • Bavaria, Germany NDW /darkwave /synthpop solo act DIAF “Lucid in Lava” single
  • Berlin-based darkwave /post-punk /synthpop DIY project of composer and musician Alexander Leonard Donat, aka VLIMMER “Lichtbruch” from the single “Lichtbruch b/w Under Pressure” via his own Blackjack Illuminist Records
  • German veteran gothic /wave /post-punk band The House Of Usher “Echoes (remix by Gintronic)” from “November” single
  • Mexican post-punk /new wave project Vacíos Cuerpos “Sácame De Aquí (Alkalá remix)” from the 2-tracker “Rostros”
  • Queens, NY indie /post-punk /disco /wave duo The Heart Attack-Acks “I Get So Moody When I’m Not in Love” single
  • Los Angeles‘ darkwave /synth-wave project Amor de Paris “Together Forever, Forever Together” single
  • Mar Del Plata, Argentina indie rock/darkwave /post-punk band Buenos Vampiros “Puedo ver el mar en tus ojos” 1st single from the upcoming third LP via Casa del Puente Discos
  • Hungary darkwave /post-punk band kékmandarin “Hold alatt” single
  • 80s Manchester‘s wave /post-punk legendary band Chameleons “Where Are You?” title track of the upcoming EP “Where Are You?” via Metropolis 
  • Madrid-based Darkwave /EBM /Post-Punk duo Espiritu Escalera “Pura Excomunión” single
  • Los Angeles post-punk /darkwave Latino goth solo act DEATH BY NATURE “Absurd” from the EP “PALABRAS SIN VOZ”
  • New Orleans 5-piece Post-Punk /Gothic Rock band, MISSING “Lone Souls” single
  • Luleå, Swedish gothic rock duo Scheitan “Lost In Time” from the debut LP “Songs For The Gothic People” via The Circle Music
  • Fargo, North Dakota gothic rock /post-punk /deathrock band Miikana “Ascending Flames (Demo)” from the first 2-track “Miikana (Demo 2024)”
  • Portland, OR Post-punk /Deathrock band (Ex-Black Feathers), Angels Of The Void “The Countess” single
  • Sweden darkwave /gothic rock band Dark Side Cowboys “Night Rain” from the 14th studio album “Beyond”
  • Bloomington, Indiana 3-piece darkwave /post-punk /deathrock band formed in 2017, Swan Wash “23 Years” off the debut full-length “Shadow Shadow” via Sister Cylinder
  • Bristol, UK experimental industrial avant rock 4-piece LICE “Red Fibres” from sophomore LP “Third Time At The Beach” [AD 93]
  • Belgian industrial /dark electro /technopop duo, aka METROLAND “World economic forum” from the album “Forum” via Alfa Matrix
  • Chicago‘s 4-piece noise /post-punk band Model Living “Smarthouse” from the upcoming LP “Agreement”
  • Leipzig-based lo-fi /synth-punk solo project by the Swiss-Italian musician Giuliano Iannarella, aka Autobahns “Loss Of The Rights” first single off the upcoming “FIRST LP” via Legless Records (AUS), Phantom Records (EU), and Feral Kid (US)
  • Sydney, Australia lo-fi garage /synth-punk act VIRTUAL COMBAT “Fuzz Ripper” from “Fuzz Ripper/Dum Vision” single
  • London, UK garage /post-punk /punk rock outfit LUXURY APARTMENTS “OUT ON THE STREETS” from S/T LP
  • Olympia, WA lo-fi /garage punk /rock n roll /synthpunk trio The Gobs “Gimme my steel reserve” (Ramones cover) from “Pop Off” EP
  • Finland gothic post-punk /synthwave /instrumental project Wistfulness “To Shatter in the Embrace of Evenfall” from the first single “Evenfall” by
  • Polish fantasy /comfy synth /dungeon synth project Old Secret Spell “Pilgrim” from cassette album “I” [Personal Uschi Records]
  • Polish dark ambient /fantasy /horror /dungeon synth project Towerhouser “Towerhouser” from the upcoming album “Death of an Amateur Genealogist”
  • New Zealand dark ambient /old school dungeon synth project artist Ziri, aka Secret Sorcery “Awoken From Its Infernal Dream” from the debut cassette album “The Curse of Fenncraag” [Fiadh Productions]
  • Virginia-based ambient /forest /comfy /dungeon synth act What Was Said in the Woods “A Lament for the Felled Forest” from the cassette S/T album

Katarzyna Olter