Perspective by Agent Murphy

Favorite Tracks: Nice Shot! ; Keep our Hearts in Line

Agent Murphy ‘Perspective’ is out now via Bandcamp.

Announced as being his most personal effort to date, Origins is a steadfast set of tracks that stays true to the artist’s name brand whilst raising the stakes to new cinematic heights.

Dynatron’s third comes off fully conscious of the time past and aims to take us that extra step further from where we’d expect a 2021 release to land. Origins is a contemplative album dreamed up with a grand scope in mind, brought to life by dreamy synth soundscapes. The producer’s affinity for the hard and heavy transpire through key tracks such as ‘Close Encounter’ and ‘Tumbling Upwards’, adding a rougher edge and a heightened sense of grandeur to the album’s starlit melancholy. As on previous efforts, Jarre’s influence shines across the album’s majestic production whilst also leaving room for some sharp Carpenter-Esque timbres and tenser melodies.

On the whole, Origins is a very cohesive next step in the Dynatron saga. Hasseriis’ roomy snare-driven beats are still as efficient as ever at getting your head swaying like a headbanging space-traveller vibing out in zero-G. Every track plays out like a long lost diary log from a lone journey into the grand unknown, an introspective voyage along trails of stardust and galactic wilderness. Getting lost hasn’t sounded this good in a long, long time.

Favorite tracks: Close Encounter, Uncertain Destiny, The Machine

Dynatron’s Origins is out now via Blood Music.

Analog enthusiast to the core, this Finnish producer has garnered a substantial, loyal following thanks to his successful Youtube channel and captivating live performances covering classic synth anthems. After teasing the imminent release of a third album back in April with the ‘Hope’ single, we’re finally introduced to this epic Blade Runner 2049-inspired sci-fi opus. Throughout its 20 tracks, Urban Dreams perfectly embodies the oneiric cyberpunk essence alluded by its own title. Fans of Jean-Michel Jarre and Vangelis will feel right at home listening to the album’s symphonic new-age electronica sounds, as Kebu borrows heavily from the sounds of eighties sci-fi scores, working exclusively with analogue Synths and drum machines whilst also adding a few modern touches to the production.

Favorite tracks : Chased by the Ghost of Yesterday, Late for the Meeting in the Maze

Kebu’s ‘Urban Dreams’ is out now on Bandcamp and Spotify

Rites of Love and Reverence marks the sixth full-length release by Michigan-based producer Gost. Having established his moniker amongst the most successful in Synthwave with Behemoth, Gost has since broken free from the stylistic confines of the genre, starting with Possessor, an album still unmatched in its sheer sonic brutality.

With this sixth album, Gost keeps the ball rolling with some hard-hitting, cavernous subterranean club bangers. After a spellbinding introductory sequence, the record blows up right in your face with a face-melting barrage of distortion and pummeling drums. The album keeps a great balance between dance-friendly, industrial post-punk sequences and blood-pumping thrillrides through the nine circles of hell. Listeners best be warned, however, for Rites of Love and Reverence offers very little respite for the uninitiated and locks you into its cavernous, club nocturnal decadence with a compressed, loud mix sustained nearly all throughout its 44-minute runtime. On tracks like ‘We are the Crypt’, ‘Coven’ and ‘Burning Thyme’, Gost delivers some of his best vocal performances to date. More than the mere add-ons you hear on all too many Darksynth album, the raspy, filtered vocal melodies complements the sonic aggression with a sensual yet harrowing edge. Bold as the album may be, Rites of Love and Reverence is an album built on a solid foundation of darksynth. What sets the album apart is how seamlessly it incorporates its coldwave and extreme metal influences… and how unapologetic it is about it.

Overwhelmed as some listeners will undoubtedly be after listening to this album, one can’t help but praise the sheer boldness of Gost’s output. Rites of Love and Reverence may not be the album some of you wanted to hear, but every second of it sounds like an album its creator was dying to make.

In an age where commodity trumps personality, Rites of Love and Reverence is an album that forces you to meet the artist on his own terms in order to deliver nothing short of a masterpiece.

Gost ‘Rites of Love and Reverence’ is out now via Century Media.

The Gothenburg Synthwaver takes us on a night cruise through a majestic technopolis.

Listen to The Disk Hunter

9. Powernerd – Destroy to Create

Powernerd suits up in chrome battlegear and delivers an action-packed EDM-meets-Synthwave EP full of electrifying basslines and punchy beats.

Listen to Destroy to Create

8. Sierra – All About Love

Sierra’s existential angst reaches meets new depths of violence, lust and depravity.

Listen to All About Love

7. Gress –  MMXX

Pure industrial dark synth Armaggedon made in Russia. The soundtrack to your neighbour’s moving out.

Listen to MMXX 

6. Nightstop – Stalking Danger

Night driving music full of scintillating synths and funky beats. Old tropes shine anew through brilliant execution.

Listen to Stalking Danger

5. Makeup and Vanity Set – Tesseract

The masked Synthlord teams up with cyberpunk artist Liam Wong for a short trip down the murky back-alleys of NeoTokyo.

Listen to Tesseract

4. Florida Skyline – Machinekore. (Demos)

A collection of tracks by a young prodigy from Russia, who tragically passed last December.
Blending Vaporwave, Synthwave and EDM, Sophia’s posthumous demo EP is an unrivalled display of sophistication and raw talent.

RIP Sophia

Note:  100% of proceeds collected from Florida Skyline’s Bandcamp are donated to Transgender Equality Related Organisations.

Listen to Machinekore. (Demos)

3. Mitch Murder – Artifact

A fantastic set of leftover tracks from the Swedish producers’ Cyberpunk 2077 sessions, compiled into an EP. Perfect to fuel up your shootouts across Night City.

Listen to Artifact

2. STRNGR – Bumping Uglies

A filthy couple of dark electro tracks by Cincinnati’s bloodthirsty STRNGR.
For those who like their Synthwave black and unsweetened.

Listen to Bumping Uglies

1. Sellorekt/LA Dreams – Back at the Office

A brilliant throwback to Office life in the 80s’ at the crossroads between Synthwave and Vaporwave.

Listen to Back at the Office

List Compiled with help from Andrew Zistler.