Pure Acid Hell by Grimbeard

Grimbeard ‘Pure Acid Hell’ is out now via Bandcamp and Spotify

Sierra is currently on Carpenter Brut’s ‘Leather Terror Tour’ on his across the US and Europe. 

Last Breath is out now via Spotify.

Check out ‘Inner Speech’ on Bandcamp, Spotify and other streaming platforms

Every hit lands square on target with devastating results and the fuzzy basslines are finetuned to raise hairs throughout the album’s 11 tracks. Cyberpunks best not miss on this top-shelf release by darksynth’s newest recruit lest they want to miss some of the season’s heaviest singles.

Be sure to grab a digital download of the album, as it comes with a pdf and audiobook of the album’s story.

Favorite tracks : The Fear (feat.Magnavolt), Back to Sleep Again (feat. King Protea), Highrider (feat.DreamReaper)

Starfarer ‘The Dark’ is out now on Bandcamp and Spotify.

Just released last week via Brutal Resonance Records, “The Book of Revelation,” is a masterful mix of EBSM, darksynth, and industrial. Urban Matrix called it his “…musical interpretation” of the Book of Revelation, boasting titles like ” The Great Dragon Was Hurled Down,” “The Blood Of The Lamb,” and “He Who Accuses Them,” along with some fantastic OG Gustav Dore album art featured in Paradise Lost.

Well, if the apocalypse had a sound, “The Book of Revelation,”  has certain nailed it. The album manages to sweep between oppressive atmospherics, intense minor-key synths, and astute percussion with ease. It’s a truly nasty ground-pounding amalgamation of sounds as fit for a horror film as to the dancefloor. Perhaps a comment on the release’s bandcamp page summed it up best:

Somewhere between a slo-burn horror soundtrack and a night out in the gallery warehouse district, keep your wits about, as you’re about to be flattened by The Book of Revelation.
– Bandcamp user overfar

As plagues and forest fires sweep the land and our oceans begin to boil, it’s easy to think that perhaps we really are living in the end of days. Well, have no fear folks, for at least now the perfect soundtrack for these dark times is upon us with “The Book of Revelation!”

Enjoy at your own risk!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsScxaAxusI 

‘Fire Within’ is available for streaming and digital download via Bandcamp

Vile, twisted and incredibly abrasive, Microchip Terror has served yet another polarizing classic that switches up comfort with unapologetic subversion. Fans of pure Japanese cyberpunk mayhem (think Shinya Tsukamoto and Shozin Fukui), your prayers have been answered.

Microchip Terror ‘Illegal Experiments 2’ is out now on Bandcamp and Spotify.

“Death of the Soul” is a fantastic mix of darksynth and EBM, a perfect match made in depths of hell. In typical Perturbator fashion, the track is perfectly mixed and polished. It’s driving EBM rhythm is accompanied by some truly bleak synth melodies and haunting some haunting backup vocals that together make for a devilishly delightful listening experience. It is also perhaps one of the most dancefloor ready tracks Perturbator has released in recent memory – although watchful fans may have already heard a sneak peek of “Excess,” another single from “Lustful Sacraments” on his soundcloud page two years ago.

James Kent, aka Perturbator related in a brief interview with Revolver that “The track takes inspiration from old-school EBM à la DAF or Front 242,” Kent tells us of the song. “Valnoir  has managed to perfectly pair visuals that reflect the nihilistic tone of it.”

Lustful Sacraments

“Lustful Sacraments” will be Perturbator’s fifth full-length studio album.  It comes after years of waiting – his last full length “The Uncanny Valley” released way back in 2016.  Like most of you, we’re very excited to hear the rest of this album, which officially drops May 28th via Blood Music.

In the same article, Kent also explained the new album is “…about bad habits, dissatisfaction and addiction. An overall look at how we, as a species, lean towards self-destruction.” Beautiful.

Grab a listen to the track below and grab those albums quick before they’re gone! They’re only limited to a few hundred copies all together.

Preorders here if you’re in the US, and here if you’re in the EU.

Track List from “Lustful Sacraments”
1. Reaching Xanadu
2. Lustful Sacraments
3. Excess
4. Secret Devotion (ft. True Body)
5. Death of the Soul
6. The Other Place
7. Dethroned Under a Funeral Haze
8. Messalina, Messalina
9. God Says (ft. Hangman’s Chair)

The music video for ‘All About Love’ is a suspenseful, bloody tale about the search for identity, love and bloody murder.

Strap in, dim the lights and hit that full-screen button, you’re in for a ravenous joyride!

2021 is off to a terrific start with what will most likely be one of Retrowave’s most ambitious indie videos to drop this year.

Warning: This video contains scenes of graphic violence. Viewer discretion is advised.

‘All About Love’ was directed by Parker Ryan and stars Whitney L.Rio, David James Slama & Parker Gaan.

Sierra’s All About Love is out now on Bandcamp and Spotify.

Sierra made her debut in 2017 with her Strange Valley (Lazerdiscs Records), establishing herself as one of the scenes most promising newcomers with her slick, hard-hitting tracks melding sounds of cavernous darkwave ambiences and tribal EBM aggression with a twist of Synth melancholy. Her second EP Gone doubled down on her fierce debut through a gripping dive into inner depths of longing and anguish.

Wanderers beware, for what lies ahead holds no promise of mercy…

Be sure to check out Sierra on Facebook, Instagram and Bandcamp for the latest news updates.

All about Love is now available for pre-order on Bandcamp.

What’ve you got to share and recommend to your fans and readers?

I picked First Man (2018) by Damien Chazelle. It’s a film that really touched me and that actually inspired me when I was writing my second EP Gone. I feel like it was really overlooked and it slipped under the radar despite it being a big-budget movie. Most people I mention it to haven’t seen it, so I figured it this would be the right occasion to get it out there. It didn’t stay very long in theatres either, it’s a shame.

It’s a really touching movie that really focuses on emotion and character psychology as opposed to flamboyant cinematography. It illustrates fear in all of its different aspects: fear of the unknown, fear of losing a loved one… There’s this one scene revolving around the missions that preceded Apollo 11. We learn about all of the people that lost their lives before we finally made it to the moon. It’s got this really gripping scene depicting the failed Gemini 8 mission.

The music is gorgeous and really touching. Again, it’s fairly subdued compared to many other blockbuster movies. It’s got a lot of themes played on the harp, which is fairly unusual but also really ethereal and smooth-sounding. There’s also some Theremin in there too, to tie in with the more traditional sounds of space. I though it worked really well; it always comes in during really emotional scenes. It made me want to write a melody a Theremin, which is how I ended up writing the main melody for ‘She’. I originally wanted to write an ethereal, spatial-sounding track without drums. I ended up with a two-part track; the first part being the ethereal section and the second part dropping the heavier sounds. I wrote the first part a few days after watching First Man. I was filled with the movies’ sense of melancholy and nostalgia.

It also ties into your musical world of escapism and voyages into the unknown.

I like the idea of having a cinematic feel to my tracks. I’m a big fan of Sci-fi and Thrillers, so there’s naturally a bit of these two genres that bleed into my tracks. I’d love to compose a score for a thriller or sci-fi movie. That would be a dream!

Do you remember what first opened you up to these worlds?

For thrillers, I’d say all of David Fincher’s movies. I’ve been a massive fan of his for the longest time. When I was little, I’d watch loads of films that weren’t for my age, and I remember that Se7en really shocked me [laughs], it really left an impression on me. I also used to read a lot of books by Jean-Christophe Grangé, like Blood Red Rivers. My interest in thrillers gradually grew over time.

Your music is pretty dark, even hostile at times, which sets you apart from a number of artists on the Lazerdiscs Records roster, who generally showcase a more overtly ‘nostalgic’ retro sound. Does nostalgia play a role in your creative vision for Sierra? Are you more inspired by the future or the past?

I always turn to the past when I write. I struggle to label myself as ‘Synthwave’, because I don’t exactly fit the criteria, but I love the movement and its relationship to analog sound. I love grain, I love pads and Blade Runner inspired sounds. I love the strong sense of melancholy and the fact that it’s turning to the past. It takes you back to the Eighties and early Nineties. My music isn’t exactly like that, but I always write with a nostalgic mindset. It’s probably why my melodies don’t always sound so happy. Writing music is this super psychological trip where I feel the need to dive back into things. 

To what extent does this sense of melancholy tie into the sounds of Synths? Having written Folk music before, did you feel a shift in your songwriting mood when moving from acoustic arrangements to electronic music?

When I was writing folk, I’d used all sorts of instruments like my guitar, ukuleles and other things, but I feel like there weren’t that many possibilities to add new elements. The cool thing about electronic music is that you can work with Synths or with samples. I love working with samples. You can create an entire world with the simplest sound you’ve dug up. The possibilities are endless and you can add tinges to your sound with the addition of the tiniest of sounds. It’s a lot harder to do this with acoustic instruments. I’d like to work more with samples on my next releases. I’ve been toying with the idea of including my mother’s voice in there, or recordings of my sister playing an instrument; sounds that will trigger flashbacks whenever you listen back.

You mean like aural memorabilia.

Yes, like a memory box. I haven’t done that enough yet, but it’s something I really want to do. I’ve been doing lots of field recordings in the street and during my travels, and I’ve been using this time in quarantine to organize everything into a soundbank. The people listening to the music probably won’t even notice these things, it’s more of a personal thing.

Finishing off, have you any announcements to make or updates to share?

I’ve been working on my live shows and on quite a few remixes. I released a remix of Alex and Tokyo Rose last month, a Lazerpunk remix, and I’ve got a couple more on the way. I’ve started writing again, too. I’m not sure what it’s going to turn into, but it’s in development.

I’m not the super productive type that writes one track after the other. Whenever I dive into the songwriting process, there’s usually a month or two where I basically take inspiration from loads of different things and test new things out, like plug-ins, new synths, new samples… I basically go on a scavenger hunt for ideas. These can be sounds but I mainly work with images. I create mood boards, too. Then, I start developing loops of song ideas. I start looking at which ones I like; which ones I feel like expanding on. I write all of my songs at the same time. That’s basically where I’m at right now. I’m taking my time, no pressure.

Interview translated from French.

Be sure to catch the latest on Sierra via social media:

Facebook

Bandcamp

Soundcloud

Twitter

Instagram