Favorite tracks: Lupex Alpha, All Out

Mitch Murder ‘City Wars : Tokyo Reign (Original Soundtrack) is out now via Bandcamp.

In true DD fashion, the new songs eschew the gimmicks of cyberpunk-themed darksynth, aiming for pristine production value and tracks that build and maintain an exhilarating amount of momentum all throughout the EP. Daniel Deluxe makes the distinction between action and brutish violence, striking a tasteful middle ground that sets his songwriting apart from other darksynth composers.

Ghostrunner Project HEL by Daniel Deluxe

Daniel Deluxe’s Ghostrunner Project HEL soundtrack is out now on Bandcamp and Spotify

First off, can you explain how the concept behind Cryostasis came to you?   

The whole idea came after my father passed away last February. At that time, I started to think a lot about the mental process of dying and what actually happens to our consciousness. After asking myself the classic questions (“What do we feel? Where do we go?”), I started to develop the concept of cryosleeping as an analogy of death in the form of a long and pleasant dream that leads to our final destination. In essence, Cryostasis is a personal homage to my father and a metaphor about death.

It explores how our brains, instead of shutting down, start a frantic and beautiful journey through an interstellar endless dream. In this sense, I decided to create an album with only one song that goes through different sections and moods to illustrate the different stages of this dream.

From a compositional standpoint, how did you approach writing an album centred around dreams and frozen time?

This was a challenging yet rewarding experience because I had to change a lot of my creative process and the usual tools I use to achieve what I had in mind. First, I decided to keep drums at minimum. Also, I wanted it to be more melodic than my previous albums, and I worked more than ever in chord progressions and sound design to create that dreamy atmosphere. All was unexplored territory for me, but I think it translated into an album that sounds like nothing I have done before.

What’s your relationship with the world of dreams and astral projection?

I dream a lot. It’s one of my favourite things in life. I would be dreaming the whole day if I could, really!

Actually, in my teens, I went to high school in the afternoon. It sucked, but at least I could sleep a bit more in the morning. One of these days, I was dreaming that I was in a closed room full of smoke. I could barely breathe, and there was a strange and loud noise, like that of a waterfall. I suddenly woke up and there was actually a lot of smoke in my room. Also, the sound of the waterfall was still there in real life. I followed the smoke and the sound and discovered that the boiler had fallen down and was on fire. The sound was actually the water from the broken pipe hitting a window. It was crazy how that dream warned me that something strange was going on. I guess I can say that dreams have literally saved my life.

Are you a lucid dreamer?

I might say I am a lucid dreamer, but that would not be very accurate. Some years ago, I started to take control of my dreams, but only when they become annoying. So, I dream like everyone else, not knowing that I am dreaming at all, but when bad stuff starts to happen, I suddenly realize that I am dreaming. So, only when a dream starts to become a nightmare, I become a lucid dreamer and take control most of the time.

Are there any plans to release any music videos for this album?

Yes! On November 26 I will also release a visualizer with the whole album on my YouTube channel.

Describe the best context (listening conditions) to listen to Cryostasis.

The best way to enjoy Cryostasis is by putting your headphones on, laying down, pressing the play button and closing your eyes.

Finishing off with the question I end every interview with: name one of your favourite albums, movies and books.

Favourite albums: Blade Runner OST by Vangelis, Radiohead – OK Computer and Opeth – Damnation.

Movies: Blade Runner, American Beauty and Schindler’s List.

Books: Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, Demian and Foundation Saga

Thank you very much for the interview. See you in the stars!

Thank you to AT for taking the time to answer our questions!

 Don’t forget to check out ‘Cryostasis’ on Bandcamp and Spotify.

Engineered by Astral Tales, Cryostasis™ offers a unique experience beyond time, beyond the confines of our limited lifespan in a world of endless possibilities. Our cryochambers offer the highest level of comfort modern cryonics has to offer, guaranteeing the blissful rest of a lifetime.

Our oneiric support staff is on standby 24/7 in case of subconscious turbulences in order to make sure your deep dive into the dream world remains as relaxing and pleasant as possible.

Get ready to float through immaculate landscapes of pure light, into the astral spheres, witness the heavenly interstellar lullabies, waltz around the effervescent rays of Polaris and meet your soul’s ultimate fulfilment at Horizon’s End.

Take a step back, step out and let Astral Tales show you what life beyond life has to offer.

Cryostasis by Astral Tales

Sweet Dreams and enjoy the journey, whatever your destination may be.

Astral Tales’ ‘Cryostasis’ is available now on Bandcamp and Spotify.

The listening experience is tense but oddly soothing, the ambience is bleak yet welcoming (Think Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross’ ‘Gone Girl’ score meets Kenji Kawai’s ‘Ghost In The Shell’ soundtrack.)

For the uninitiated, this is as warm a welcome into the world of Dreampunk as you’re ever going to get.

Collectors and fans of top-grade physical releases will also be happy to know that the album is being issued on fancy, Full LED on-body printed cassette tapes (Limited to 75 copies) with an Obi Strip.

So turn down the lights, tune in and bask in the dying lights of human civilization.

Grid Failure is available for streaming on Bandcamp via No Problema Tapes and on Youtube via Vapor Memory.

Tesseract by Makeup and Vanity Set

Clocking just under 17 minutes in runtime, this latest EP is sure to have you spinning its tracks on repeat and thirsting for more. Thankfully, Makeup and Vanity Set has got you covered, as for those unaware or those who’ve just plainly lost count, this marks no less than the artists’ 14th project to drop on Bandcamp this year alone.

Be sure to check Makeup and Vanity Set on Bandcamp, Facebook and on his official webpage to keep up to date with the latest news and releases.

A veritable spoonful of explosive, post-apocalyptic sci-fi action to make the exhausting election coverage go down, the film is a godsend that is sure to bring you back to those golden years when end times looked a lot more fun. In an age of great divide and turmoil, Cyborg: Deadly Machine is a humanistic reminder of human resilience spelt in the form of a love letter dedicated to classic Eighties and Nineties action flicks.

The French filmmakers deliver above and beyond all expectations, thanks in no small part to the phenomenal score by Synthwave acts Fixions and Meteor (out now on Bandcamp)

Cyborg : Deadly Machine (Movie Soundtrack) by Meteor / Fixions / Kid Zan / Magic Dance

Consolidating cheesy one-liners, stunning stunt work and old-school practical effects eye-candy, the Masebrothers successfully recreate the feel of the classics we all know and love to create a piece of indie retro cinema for the ages.

The French version will also be premiering on Youtube tonight via this second link.

Be sure to Subscribe to the Masebrothers Youtube channel and like their Facebook page to catch the latest news on their upcoming projects and releases.

Centred on a conversation between a human and chatbot, the video makes a dark, daring descent into the depths of human apathy in the Internet Age and is sure to wipe off any glimmer of leftover optimism you may have had after watching Netflix’s The Social Dilemma documentary.

(Makeup and Vanity Set – Algorithm / Directed by Saman Kesh & Justin Hopkins)

MAVS’ latest album Endless Destiny drops this Friday via Data Airlines and is available for pre-order.

This original soundtrack has all the intensity of Carpenter Brut’s signature darksynth style that fans know and love. However, being an OST, we also get to hear a variety of orchestral overtones usually not so forward in Brut’s traditional releases.

The varying themes from the film are communicated perfectly through this score, and add a layer of brilliantly dark and moody complexity to the producers usual style. A vinyl edition of the soundtrack will be released by No Quarter Prod later this year – stay tuned to social media for more info!

It was truly a stroke of luck to have the chance to see this film in theaters. It is a fantastic piece of sci-fi cinema. Check out the BLOOD MACHINES website here for more info on how to see it – and listen to the original soundtrack here now!

Hey guys,

We are giving the opportunity to be featured in an amazing upcoming horror project named IN SEARCH OF DARKNESS. To all of you out there who are fans of Horror, gore and all the gruesomeness that goes with it, this is the competition for you! Please see the below link/ video for more info:

John Carpenter is now officially a part of this MAJOR project.

Please note all submissions NEED to be 100% exclusive, unreleased material that you are willing to give to this documentary and to NewRetroWave, LLC for the digital and physical release of this soundtrack on NRW Records. Please also note the submission has to tie in with 80’s horror and theme. You can only submit ONE SONG per artist. If more than one is submitted you will automatically be disqualified. We are ONLY accepting Dropbox links. Any other link sent to us will automatically be disqualified. If you would like a chance to be featured in this documentary and in the official digital and physical release of this soundtrack, please submit below. Please lastly note, in order to submit you MUST be registered to our NRW online network or else your submission will stay on pending and never go through.

NOW CLOSED! THOSE WHO ARE SELECTED WILL BE NOTIFIED AND WE WILL PROCEED WITH THE DETAILS FROM THERE. ALL OF THOSE WHO DO NOT MAKE IT/ ARE SELECTED, YOU ARE FREE TO POST YOUR SONG WHEREVER YOU WANT TO AS YOU HOLD ALL RIGHT TO YOUR SONG.

Up! …DOWN……up…… All the way DOWN!!!

Enjoy!

As a kid, I faded in and out of the comic book thing. Storylines changed rapidly, and it always seemed like they were in the middle of one when I’d jump back in. I always liked the characters, however, especially the really colorful (and powerful) entities in Marvel’s “cosmic” setting. One of the titles I often checked in with was Fantastic Four, and they were always out in space dealing with malevolent living planets or matter-consuming mega-giants bent on subjugating Earth. The FF had some allies out there too, and one of the more interesting ones to me was Norrin Radd, the Silver Surfer.

Silver Surfer had his own comic book, but would show up elsewhere pretty regularly. He became the herald of Galactus to save his lover’s life when his world was claimed by Galactus, then turned on the planet-gobbling demigod when the crosshairs were set on Earth. Obviously there’s tons more that could be said, but I’m not an expert. I know he holds the Power Cosmic, which makes him sort of like a shiny version of DC’s Superman with a cool surfboard. He’s a cosmic badass, is the point, and he belongs out there in space where things get heavy constantly.

I mean, who the hell wants to work for this guy? Flies up on his Rascal scooter with planet all over his face and yells at you to fly through the broken ferris wheel over and over. this is not what I signed up for, Galactus.

Silver Surfer got his own NES game in 1990, and it’s a divisive subject among retro gaming fans. Some of them think it does the character no justice, not to even mention its incredible difficulty. There are many who do like it, including myself, but even I won’t say it’s a classic. What I will say is that it has its merits.

“OKAY, WE’RE DONE SCREWING AROUND OUT HERE, GO GET THAT DEVICE FOR ME. I COULD PROBABLY DO IT MYSELF AS ONE OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE’S MOST POTENT BEINGS, BUT YOU… YOU DO IT.”

The game plays like a shoot-em-up more than anything else. In fact, that’s pretty much what it is, alternating from side-scrolling to top-down depending on the stage you’re in but maintaining the same formula regardless. The story is pretty stock and simple: you, the Surfer, have been summoned by Galactus to retrieve some kind of Cosmic Device to combat the intrusion of the Magick Realm upon reality. Of course, the device is in pieces, each one held by a different villain somewhere in space. You get to choose which order you do the levels in, kind of like Mega Man. Finishing each stage involves avoiding some pretty heinous obstacles while shooting enemies with silver pellets. You can collect little spheres that act as an extra shooter for you, so you’re firing two or three pellets at once. You can also get extra bombs, which are helpful since they clear the screen. Anyone familiar with the shmup genre will tell you that clearing the screen is helpful, since a common tactic for ramping up difficulty is to cram it full of things trying to kill you all at once. And trust me, there’s plenty of that going on. For a guy with the Power Cosmic, Silver Surfer sure has a lot of cosmic things willing and able to murder him at a moment’s notice in this game.

From the gruesome to the weird, mundane or cosmic, you can’t say the game doesn’t at least LOOK cool.

I’ll be honest, the only boss character I recognize in the regular stages is Mephisto, because he’s basically Marvel Comics’ Satan. I never heard of the other ones before, but they check out. The boss of the Magik Realm is pretty clearly Mr. Sinister, a villain who apparently later downgraded to picking on the X-Men. None of the bosses are terribly hard, but getting to them is. In typical shoot-em-up fashion, you often find your attention divided evenly between clearing a path with your weapons and avoiding frequent pile-ups that can lead to instant death. There’s a lot of narrow dodging, and having those extra sphere-things to provide you a wider swathe is crucial to survival. Dying once means you have to build your arsenal back up from scratch, and it can be frustrating.

So frustrating, in fact, that this is the “you lost a life” screen. It’s just him crying. 100% appropriate.

The graphics are pretty good, and in fact there’s a lot of background visuals that are praiseworthy in their detail and effect. The music, though, is what this game is held high for (when it’s held high at all). Composed by Tim and Geoff Follin, the score is a thrilling combination of breakneck prog-rock goodness and flowing melody. In an era when Konami and Sunsoft were using proprietary cartridge-mounted add-ons to augment the NES’s sound suite, this soundtrack gets tons of bump and spank out of what’s already there. I highly encourage you to take a listen!

I’m going to rate this game differently than others; I’m giving Silver Surfer as a whole 6/10, but its music gets a 10/10. The game itself is a decent addition to the shooter genre that I feel gets a bum rap, but I will admit that it’s a tad on the ridiculous side. What really saves it is the soundtrack, which is mind-blowing.

See you at the end of the month, folks!

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