“Backwards” is the first studio album by Unusual Architecture, a duo born in Ferrara (Italy) in 2019, released by the Brazilian independent label Wave Records.
This album is the result of the collaboration between the two members of the Unusual Architecture project: Davide Carlotti, saxophonist, keyboardist and synth programmer, and Susanna Zaghi, singer and lyrics writer. Both were previously members of Intelligence Dept., one of the most prominent bands in the history of the Italian new wave.
The sounds of “Backwards” are characterized by pressing rhythms, hammering sequencers, but also by rarefied atmospheres with a dark character. All this is overlaid by Susanna’s voice, always intense and rich in nuances, and Davide’s sax and keyboards, which create the musical fabric that blends with the sounds of electronic drums and synthesizers.
CD / Digital Album
Toiling in the dusk and shadows since 2017, Child of Night are no strangers to grey areas; The dark corners subtly illuminated by the first hint of the rising sun.
With this in mind, Child of Night present their first full-length release: “The Walls At Dawn.” The songs on the record address themes of transformation and illumination set against the backdrop of a collapsing empire.
The resulting sonic exploration is appropriate for consumption by those facing the dystopian reality of an unfamiliar world while experiencing the powerful urge to dance in the darkness.
Equal parts analog synthesizer exploration, noisy industrial dance beats, and swirling guitar-driven post-punk; C.O.N. seeks to have their sonic sensibilities firmly rooted in the traditions of their idols as well as carving their own unique path.
CD / Digital Album
Best of compilation from one of pioneers of Belgian darkwave / coldwave / synthwave. Geert Coppens and Peter Bonne started the band AUTUMN in 1981 and in 1982 they moved to TWILIGHT RITUAL project who recorded 9 albums and 2 singles. In 1985, Peter Bonne aka Chrismar Chayell founded A Split Second with Marc Ickx, and TR stayed as second plane for years. The iconic album RITUALS, including the hit CLOSED CIRCUIT was a rare item to found in the 80′s and 90′s.
Twilight Ritual was born in Geert’s mind during the first Autumn years. It was building integrity, clearer identity, admittance of mystery and surreal impressions. During Autumn recording sessions, musical style and experiment varied strongly, which is recognized in the various tape releases. However, some tracks had clearly more ‘spirit’ or ‘personality’ than others. It became clear that a new project was born out of Autumn work : Twilight Ritual.
Geert Coppens and Peter Bonne have been involved in many different projects, including many different musical styles, about which you can read more on other pages on this site, e.g the Micrart Group story, the Autumn history or within the A Split Second history.
The spirit of Twilight Ritual lingers on beneath the work of Autumn through A Split Second. The work of Twilight Ritual is diverse, yet concise. The Twilight Ritual work in the eighties inspired many other musicians, and became known throughout the world.
2 x CD / Digital Album
Active for about a year, Скубут [Skubut] is the 80s influenced Cold Wave / Post-Punk moniker of Russian young musician Mikhail Shlepin based in Vienna, Austria.
Cold, yet equally poignant, filled with dark, beautiful, aching sorrowfulness, ably blends the sharp, edgy iciness and minimalism ala Lebanon Hanover with the distinctive, intense melancholy and emotional turmoil of Russian ‘doomer’ bands.
First track “Акт самоубийства” deals with hidden obsessions that unravel in a suicidal fantasy realized alone in a bathroom with blood dripping down the walls, while someone knocks on the door, too late to help.
A seductively dark and penetrating spell exhales from the numb meander of the dense droning mists built by an ominous, rumbling bleak bass line, awash by looming, humming eddies of icy synth, whose persistent pulsating morbid obscurity is scratched by cascading slivers of trembling and ethereal, tinkling guitar reverberations, charged by crispy claps and quick muffled percussive patterns, drawing perpetual melancholic edges around morose, deep male vocals releasing shame, guilt, and pain into the nocturnal subconscious desires of an eternal, haunted peace, leaving us ultimately at the mercy of deafening silence.
CD / Digital Album
“D’une Pierre deux Tombes” is the twelfth Opera Multi Steel’s studio album. It includes 8 tracks in its vinyl version and 12 tracks as cd format. For this last opus, the band turns back as a trio, in the original line-up of its beginnings, namely Patrick L. Robin, Franck Lopez and Catherine Marie. In 2018, Catherine, Patrick and Franck lost their respective mothers. This album was therefore partly conceived as a posthumous tribute to two dear ones, hence its title in French which takes the form of both a pun and a macabre observation.
All the tracks, even if they still contain what makes the sound and the particular style of the band are imbued with a sadness and a nostalgia arguably more present. The theme of death and vanity is more powerful than ever (Cimeterre, L’Après-Mort…). Opéra Multi Steel develops in this album a bit darker music than usual. Melodies and vocal harmonies are always favored, supported on several tracks by Future Pop sounds of strings and electronic rhythms which reinforce the tragic mood of the concept (L’Annonce, La Nuit des Doutes, Intercession…).
The album, in its cd version, is punctuated after each track by the sound of the old cuckoo clock that remained alone on the walls of the empty house of Patrick and Franck’s mother after her disappearance as the witness of a persistent presence. We can also hear the last phone vocal message from his mother to Patrick. This cathartic album, over the songs, takes the form of a sound testament aimed at exorcising fate and facilitating resilience.
The cover artwork, made by Brazilian designer Hernan Czauski with photos taken by the band’s members in several ancient French cemeteries, features details of 19th century sculpted tombstones that evoke both the eternal Silence of the Grave, the Fidelity beyond Death and the inconsolable Sorrows.
LP / CD / Digital Album
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