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

• Portland, OR coldwave /synth darkwave /new solo project from Griffin Campbell (Mind Prisoner, Nightsister, Psychic Guilt), Trace of Light – “Fall Apart” [Isolation Club]

Pulling its name from a song of Brian Vega‘s solo project Lovers Guilt, the equally solo endeavour Trace of Light drops a first single that deals with falling apart whilst yearning for light. Blending steady plodding beats and a thick, shaking haze of buzzing bass lines with obsessive, aching melodies that surreally drift with layers upon layers of shiny swirling synth loops to fuel a disturbing sense of desperation, encapsulated by a devotional vocal longing, turning to ghostly agony under heavy swells of tearing distortion.

• Vienna-based Heavy Metal /Post-Punk /Darkwave trio Nyx Cult “Light of Darkness” debut single
  

Newcomer trio from Vienna debuts finely with a single firmly anchored in the ’80s darkwave tradition, with vague metal hints, without seeking any particularly bold departures and perhaps missing a pinch of grit. “Light of Darkness”, about seeking wisdom through shadows, silence, and truth, drives steady mid-tempo drum patterns, along with doomy bass pulses, icy wheezing synths, and melancholic, spectral atmospheric guitars, to fuel deep echoes of sadness and pain, encompassing solemn, heartfelt female vocals.

• Philadelphia synthpop /synthwave duo Von Hertzog and Rob Rowe, aka VH x RR “Pick Out The Dead” single
  

Even as they lately distil their releases, the ‘virtual’ duo never fails to hook us in with their meticulously produced, emotive, and crystalline contemporary synth-pop, which seamlessly nods to melody and dancefloor, without forsaking its dark roots. About a final kiss with an empty heart during the incineration of a relationship, the song is a hypnotic, gripping coalescence of crisp drum programming, buzzing, pulsing low-ends and chiming, nostalgic synths that surround wistful, anxious broods, backed by falling cries, conjuring ominous ideas of thrilling danger and dissociation.

• Goth /dark folk live acoustic project of Vienna-based Lucas Lanthier (Cinema Strange, the Deadfly Ensemble) and Berlin‘s Frank Vollmann (Telegram Frank Vollmann, Frank the Baptist), aka DIRTY WEATHER “The Living Show” intro song on the Dirty Weather 3 tour
  
• Minimal synth /postfolk /darkwave band from Hungary, CAWATANA “Real, Open (NCN2026 Version)” in preparation for the forthcoming special darkfolk/postindustrial set at NCN Festival in Deutzen bei Leipzig, Germany, on September 6, 2026.
  
• Houston, TX post-punk /goth-rock band STEREOCCULT “Heart Like A Coffin” from “Of Passion And Decay (Chapter I)” EP
  
• Trondheim, Norway post-punk /darkwave /neo-folk band led by Mats Davidsen, aka Painted Romans “The Passing Craze” [Single]
• Moscow post-punk /new wave three-piece band Human Tetris “Separated” from “Side” LP
  
• Los Angeles-based new wave /post-punk five-piece band Cure For Youth “Scars” from the upcoming debut album “Synthetic World” [à La Carte Records]
• Ukraine/US coldwave /post-punk collaboration Квартира номер 6 x My Manifesto “Побег” single 
  
• Portugal post-punk /gothic rock /darkwave duo Walter Teixeira and João Pinheiro, aka Shadows Veil “Game” from the album “Fallen”
  
• Salt Lake City, Utah post-punk /darkwave solo project BALDUVIAN BEARS “Big World” from the upcoming LP “Through Bloom” [darkTunes]
• Minsk, Belarus Post-punk /New Wave /Darkwave /Dark Electronic solo project of Anton Yeroma, Dusken Harmony “The Secret Flower” single
  
• Los Angeles-based shoegaze /gothic rock /new wave /post-punk solo project of musician Laura Pleasants of Kylesa, The Discussion “She Said (Lost Tapes Remix)” [Artoffact Records]
• Polish industrial /post-punk band from Płock, Schröttersburg “Kremator” from “Ignis” LP [Bat-Cave Productions / Zoharum / D.I.Y Koło Records / Hidden Beauty Records / Esion Records]
• Bristol, UK electronic /gothic rock/ post-punk band NAUT “Bury Your Freedom” single
  
• Stockholm, Swedish goth-rock /post-punk band Then Comes Silence “Judgement Day” single [Metropolis]
• Portland, OR darkwave /goth synth-pop act NIGHTSISTER “Timber” from the upcoming album “Confession Chamber” [Isolation Club]
• Montpellier, France goth /techno /darkwave /synthpop duo Denuit “Suffocation” from the upcoming “nothing lasts | forever” LP
  
• Brazilian goth /post-punk /minimal electronics /darkwave duo Andromeda “Dor” from “Hypnose” EP
  
• Arnstein, Germany electronic /coldwave /minimal wave project Fremdkörper “Die Anderen” title track of the debut LP “Die Anderen”
  
• Belgian shoegaze /coldwave /dark wave /minimal electronics music & visual project led by Holly Naboo (Naboo/The Hermetic Electric), OCD “Come Back” from the upcoming debut album “33Rpm”
  
• London-based synth-pop /minimal wave project led by Nathan Nothing, Nothing New “New Not New (Motion To Regret mix)” from the remix EP “New and Improved”
  
• Melbourne, Australian veteran coldwave /Krautrock /electronic-rock band Black Cab “Strange Attractions” single
  
• Southern Italy-based synth-pop /minimal wave /analog electronics solo project of Brooklyn musician Sean McBride (aka half of the duo Xeno & Oaklander), Martial Canterel “Walls Unidentified I” title track of the latest album “Walls Unidentified I”
  
• Los Angeles-based synthpunk /minimal wave /paranoid synth project of James Thornton, LOSSES “Life-Like” title track of the upcoming EP [Stanze Fredde]
• Spain’s arcade punk trio Sistema de Entretenimiento “Equipo de demolición” from the s/t EP 7″ [Prison Records]
• Hamburg, Germany synth-wave /minimal synth duo Bêtes Sauvages “Dreibeinhund” (2023) originally included in the Kernkrach Records compilation “AMY”
  
• Melbourne-based synth-pop /darkwave /electronic /post-punk project by George Pappas (former keyboardist of the ’80s band Real Life), Alien Skin “Simulation” from “Black Flowers Remember” EP
  
• San Diego, CA minimal synth /synth-pop /coldwave act Mercury Girl “Low Altitude” single
  
• Copenhagen, Denmark-based mortuary darkwave /EBM solo project She Can’t Afford Mascara “SADMA” fundraising single
  
• German Black Metal /Dark Electro /EBM /Deathwave act Verrottet “Am Strick” from “Totenritual”, a remixed and re-recorded collection of the two previous EPs [Ván Records]
• Chicago-based goth /dark wave /coldwave /synthwave trio REPLICANT “Leather & Lace” single
  
• South-East London industrial post-punk project The Pixel Rain “Sacrifice” off the forthcoming debut album, “A Sense of Danger”
  
• Berlin-based synth /industrial metal act Kandinsky Noir feat. VALANÄIS “THERE IS NO HOPE IN SIGHT” single
  
• Madison, Wisconsin darkwave /synth-pop solo project of Jill Sheridan (songwriter, vocalist, and longtime member of Null Device), aka Eye New Dark “More than Perfect” from “Adore” EP
  
• Berlin-based EBM /electroclash /new wave /synth-wave pop collaborative project of Greek-German dark-disco couple Local Suicide and Bavarian electronic producer Kalipo, Dina Summer “Rat Race” from upcoming mini-LP “Children Of The Night” [Iptamenos Discos]
• Peaches x SIERRA VEINS “Take It (SIERRA VEINS Remix)” EBM /synthwave reimagination of Peaches’ original by French musician Sierra
  
• Los Angeles-based darkwave /industrial pop duo of Actually Huizenga & AJ English, aka Patriarchy “Servile” from “Appendices” EP
  
• Berlin-based darkwave /synth-pop /minimal wave /dance dark electronic duo of Lee Margot and Michal Laudarg, aka NNHMN “Turn Me On” from the upcoming “Opera of Lust and the Art of Sorrow II” LP [K-DREAMS RECORDS]
• Canadian industrial/EBM /electro dance project from Toronto‘s Jennifer Parkin, aka AYRIA “Feeding Your Monsters” from the LP “13 Stitches” [Artoffact Records]
• UK EBM-infused /trance /techno producer Simon Carter (feat. Ruined Conflict) “They Want Control” third collaborative single 
  
• Russia/Germany industrial synth-pop /future pop collaboration Mental Discipline & Wiegand “Fliege Fort” single  [skyQode]
• Dortmund, Germany veteran future pop /synth-pop /analog electronic duo Christian Purwien (formerly of Second Decay) and Thomas Kowa, aka HELDAUTOMAT “Anders sein” (originally released in 1994) single
  
• Louisville, Kentucky industrial /darkwave /gothic rock duo Who Saw Her Die? “Jealousy” single
  
• Gothic rock band from Finland, Distant Stares “Kuolonunelmia” single
  
• Southern California Vampire Goth /Darkwave /Post-Punk solo project la Misère “Vice and Virtue” from “Cult of Venus” EP
  
• Berlin-based darkwave /gothic rock /post-punk DIY solo artist Daniel Knutz “Will Give You My Love” from “Echoes” (Album) [COLD TRANSMISSION MUSIC]
• Melbourne-based goth/post-punk band led by Steven Schnorrer, Locust Revival – “Romeo Spikes” from “Grim Reflections” EP
  
• Newcastle upon Tyne, UK goth /post-punk /darkwave duo Vampire Valentine – “Another Day”single from upcoming s/t debut album [Morella records]
• Chicago kraut /art rock /new wave /post-punk trio Plum “Bodies in Motion” from the second LP “Bodies in Motion”
  
• Berlin-based wave /noise /post-punk band (ex-Pigeon), Tense “No Cure” title track of the upcoming LP “No Cure” [Mangel]
• California new wave /hardcore punk band The Nu-Viles “Lead & Speed” from “A Taste Of..The New Wave” 7″ EP [Vinyl Dog Records]
• California hardcore punk outfit The Losers – “Reaper” off “Somebody Kill Me” EP 7″ [Poison Vision Records]
• Bordeaux, France anarcho /peace punk band HARO “POINT B” from the first “DEMO” EP
  
• Vicenza, Italy ambient /dark folk solo project Blizzard “Far beyond the mist”
  
• France Epic /Cosmic Dungeon Synth project Forge of Nova “Power & Conquest” from “Sterevenn” LP
  
• French ambient /fantasy /dungeon synth project Sylfvr “Sprawling Roots Drink the Purest Water” from “Tranquil Dusks & Restless Hedges” LP [Fiadh Productions]
• Dark ambient /dungeon synth project Misery “Soul Extraction (The Dark Art of Sacred Umbral Necromancy)” from “Beneath the Black Sigil of Nocturnal Sovereignty” LP [Serpent’s Sword]
• Würzburg, Germany dark ambient /berlin school /naive synthesizer project Kalle Wyrsch “Kalle Wyrschs Ritt auf dem Feuerwurm” from the split cassette album “Zwerge des Untergrunds” with Balin [Personal Uschi Records]