DWTD – NewRetroWave – Stay Retro! | Live The 80's Dream! https://newretrowave.com Stay Retro Mon, 12 Feb 2018 18:05:37 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.7 https://newretrowave.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/cropped-10906530_846941002018082_8508920941385779369_n-1-32x32.jpg DWTD – NewRetroWave – Stay Retro! | Live The 80's Dream! https://newretrowave.com 32 32 Dance With The Dead – B-Sides: Vol 1 https://newretrowave.com/2017/01/30/dance-with-the-dead-b-sides-vol-1/ https://newretrowave.com/2017/01/30/dance-with-the-dead-b-sides-vol-1/#respond Mon, 30 Jan 2017 22:10:52 +0000 http://new-retro-wave.com/2017/01/30/2017130dance-with-the-dead-b-sides-vol-1/ The devilish duo Dance With The Dead are being resurrected back into the spotlight with the release of “B-Sides: Volume 1.” Although this album is comprised of various unreleased and compilation tracks, it is quickly shaping up to be a truly fiendish fan favorite.  

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The devilish duo Dance With The Dead are being resurrected back into the spotlight with the release of “B-Sides: Volume 1.” Although this album is comprised of various unreleased and compilation tracks, it is quickly shaping up to be a truly fiendish fan favorite.  




On a twitter post, the Orange County based producers simply promoted the album as “Tons of music that never made it onto our records!” However, “B-Sides” is transcending it’s own title. B-sides are usually known for content not good enough to make the A-side cut, but here we have a collection of excellent tracks blended expertly together to form a cohesive whole – something not usually seen in a collection of unreleased material. Were talking grade A premium zombie killing music folks!

In spite of the album’s cohesiveness, the mix of songs still leans towards eclectic. “B-Sides: Volume 1” ranges from tracks comprised of an odd mix of power and speed metal (sans the big hair) to the more familiar mix of diabolic, always surprisingly danceable synthwave. 

“B-Sides: Volume 1” feels like it’s melodies were ripped straight from the head spinning original Exorcist and piped through a duo of synthesizer and electric guitar. Tracks like this would be just as fit as the soundtrack to Castlevania as to a dancefloor – an odd combination where it’s easy to miss the mark, and Dance With The Dead nails it. The crisp production on this album will have metalheads and darksynth fans rising from their graves to rave together.




The standout tracks on this album seem to be “Banshee,” “Entity,” “Blood Moon,” “Venom,” “The Man Who Made A Monster” and of course the bangin’ climax at the end of “The Awakening.” That’s over a third of the album that are must-listens for any fans of darkwave. With tracks like this hiding in the attic, we can only wonder with excitement whats coming next from Dance With The Dead!

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]]> https://newretrowave.com/2017/01/30/dance-with-the-dead-b-sides-vol-1/feed/ 0 Synthwave LA and Spaceland Presents – ENCRYPTED @ The Echoplex! https://newretrowave.com/2016/03/29/synthwave-la-and-spaceland-presents-encrypted-the-echoplex-2/ https://newretrowave.com/2016/03/29/synthwave-la-and-spaceland-presents-encrypted-the-echoplex-2/#respond Tue, 29 Mar 2016 15:36:25 +0000 http://new-retro-wave.com/2016/03/29/2016329synthwave-la-and-spaceland-presents-encrypted-the-echoplex-2/ For those located in Cali, please take note:

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DANCE WITH THE DEAD / PROTECTOR 101/
FUTURE HOLOTAPE / SYNTAX

This is our first huge event so we need all you Synth-heads to come out and have a good time! 

Presale – $12 (Goes on sale 3/15) 
Advanced – $14
At the Door – $16

Performances by…

DANCE WITH THE DEAD – 
https://dancewiththedead.bandcamp.com/ 

PROTECTOR 101- 
https://protector101.bandcamp.com/ 

FUTURE HOLOTAPE- 
http://futureholotape.bandcamp.com/releases 

SYNTAX- 
http://30thfloor.uk/album/island-universe

Come down and enjoy some Retro wave vibes.

 

More details here:

https://www.facebook.com/events/588698311286791/

]]> https://newretrowave.com/2016/03/29/synthwave-la-and-spaceland-presents-encrypted-the-echoplex-2/feed/ 0 DANCE WITH THE DEAD – The Shape https://newretrowave.com/2016/02/08/dance-with-the-dead-the-shape-2/ https://newretrowave.com/2016/02/08/dance-with-the-dead-the-shape-2/#respond Mon, 08 Feb 2016 15:31:54 +0000 http://new-retro-wave.com/2016/02/08/201628dance-with-the-dead-the-shape/ Dark synthwave is booming, even spawning a couple of small specialized live festivals in Europe. Perturbator, Carpenter Brut, all enjoy cult status and are very often a starting point for all the newcomers to synthwave.

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DANCE WITH THE DEAD – The Shape

Dance with the Dead showed up on the radar in 2013 with their solid debut album titled “Out of Body” and quickly became regular guest of many Retrowave playlists. It was a good mix of 80s pastiches with a dark twist. Dark synthwave just sort of started forming as a subgenre and this release perfectly complemented Lazerhawk’s “Skull and Shark” LP released around the same time.

Fast forward to 2016 and DWTD have several releases behind them and what seems a frenzied following. Dark synthwave is booming, even spawning a couple of small specialized live festivals in Europe. Perturbator, Carpenter Brut, all enjoy cult status and are very often a starting point for all the newcomers to synthwave.

The basic formula – faster tempo, minor keys and distorted arpeggiated synths – is now generally known to all and has truly helped to carve out a strong niche. The Shape alone has generated incredible buzz from raving fans, the kind that orthodox synthwave producers can still only dream of.




In fact, there seems to be a trend developing where dark synthwave acts no longer really list themselves as anything retro, synthwave, 80s and such. For example, Carpenter Brut simply states “electro” on their Facebook page and DwtD use different tags on their Bandcamp but none specifically “retrowave” related.

It’s telling that the artists enjoying greatest attention are the ones seemingly doing away with ties to the retrosynth labels – but that’s best left for another discussion. Their other common denominator is the big sound and – what used to be just flirting with metal conventions – a full blown love affair with plenty PDAs.

And “The Shape” is full of exactly that. While the debut was plenty more balanced and told a more rounded story, The Shape stays firmly in the territory of “bigger is better” and really doesn’t feature that much of a synth sound. Here, heavy guitar takes center stage and other sounds are more of the Skrillex school than Sellorekt.

Obviously, the intention here is to provide the optimal live show experience (DWTD) for all those ex metal heads who sometimes seem to make up the majority of the fans of darker Synthwave.




And nothing wrong with that, in fact I, otherwise nonplussed by Carpenter Brut’s stuff when listened at home, had quite a lot of fun seeing them live recently. Their music finally clicked with me and made much more sense with a proper light show, a cleverly edited video background and yes, big motherfucking speakers.

I’m guessing DWTD dudes are going with the same intent as unfortunately, otherwise their album really doesn’t quite hit the mark. Stripped of much what made their debut great – melodic variety and the retro feel – “The Shape” is best enjoyed as a dance record in a club performed live.

Listening at home, the repetitions and production veering on the one dimensional side become a little too obvious and none of the track really transcends the filler status. Probably works well as a good workout or driving album though.

That’s not to say the album is not okay, it’s just not great. The high-water mark of the album comes in the middle with Screams and Whispers, the track that stands out with its sheer energy and an epic main motif.

It’s immediately followed by Adrift, an outlier on the album and the only respite from the sense-devouring sound of the rest of the album. It’s really full of emotion and longing and you simply can’t help but wish we had another pit stop like this on the album (minus the mega cheesy guitar solo).

All in all, The Shape will satisfy the hardcore fans and the fun-seeking male 20-something college students not really looking for sophistication. For the rest of us, the crescendo-to-the-crescendo approach could be a little too much and the main feeling will be of a déjà vu.

6.5/10

COMMUNITY RATINGS

Filip grew up on a diet of Masters of Universe, Nightmare on Elm Street and MTV. Born in Croatia, currently lives in Brussels but considers himself a citizen of the planet.

fi***********@**********ve.com

]]> https://newretrowave.com/2016/02/08/dance-with-the-dead-the-shape-2/feed/ 0 The New DANCE WITH THE DEAD Album Will Be EPIC! https://newretrowave.com/2016/01/26/the-new-dance-with-the-dead-album-will-be-epic/ https://newretrowave.com/2016/01/26/the-new-dance-with-the-dead-album-will-be-epic/#respond Tue, 26 Jan 2016 20:46:06 +0000 http://new-retro-wave.com/2016/01/26/2016126the-new-dance-with-the-dead-album-will-be-epic/ The new DANCE WITH THE DEAD ALBUM will be EPIC!

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The new DANCE WITH THE DEAD ALBUM will be EPIC!

Listen up here:




2016 will be AWESOME for DWTD fans!

😉

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