Spookshow Inc. – Visions Of The Blinded World pt I & II

Nov3

Four years after Part I unleashed its “furiously agitated entrapment of industrial, metal, and electro rock”, a rousing accompaniment to an impending apocalypse, Part II of Visions Of The Blinded World is here to not only continue the arcane adventure but take it into a whole new level of dark deeds and senses trespassing contagion. The project is from Norwegian trio Spookshow Inc., a band which has been curiously ignored by bigger attention so far, a blind eye which if continuing after the full release of Visions Of The Blinded World will be criminal.

The beginning of Spookshow Inc. goes all the way back to 2003 when Lucky Spook (guitar, programming, songwriting, producer) and Soltex (vocals) came together and began creating and nurturing their individual fusion of industrial and heavy metal with electro rock. As proven by the 2014 released Visions Of The Blinded World pt I, there are plenty of other rich flavours to the band’s asylum of sound, Middle Eastern hues alone an inescapably alluring ingredient. With the band’s line-up completed by bassist/keyboardist Sharaz who featured on the final few songs recorded for its predecessor, the second part of Visions Of The Blinded World is an even richer affair of sound and styles, a bolder adventure in an already eager collusion of essences sure to appeal to any appetites for the likes of Pink Floyd, Prodigy, Rob Zombie, KMFDM, NIN, and Pitchshifter.

Visions Of The Blinded World pt I & II has been released as a complete package and should be listened as one to grasp its full dark majesty though each part firmly captivates alone too. It makes for a journey which leaves ears, body and imagination as aroused as they are disturbed, as inspired and animated as they are haunted. As we have covered part I previously, which you can read here, we will explore the second part of the creative emprise, a canter through the haunting shadows and ravenous dissonance of a dystopian landscape lost in extinction luring bedlam. Note though that the first ‘side’ of the album contains two brand new tracks in the shapes of the Seven Trumpets, a track sparked by the biblical legend of the same name but an echo of a split personality, and the horror movie like Lizard Eyes.

Pt II opens up with Virtual Insanity, electronic sparkling the gateway to an infernal surge of electro rock predation as ravenously hungry as it is virulently catchy. Even so, its instinctive urgency has an underlying premeditation of devious intent, melodies and calmer but darker twists adding to the track’s inescapable invasion. Something akin to Rabbit Junk meets Fear Factory, the track instantly has the project’s second part off to a flyer but also connects seamlessly to the nature and presence of the first part of Visions Of The Blinded World.

Already breathless from the superb thickly rousing start, the band show no mercy as Devil’s Triangle surges in with similarly uproarious energy and intent, Spook’s guitar gnawing away at ears as beats swipe at the senses, Soltex’s vocals in turn matching their boisterous appetites with eagerness and attitude. Again momentary detours bring darker trespass rather than a chance to take a breath, it all adding up to another galvanic assault.

Next up Mindgame does bring calm, its melodic caresses courted by demonic tones of voice and intimation, a sonic Garden of Eden oasis in some ways. Featuring XRC, the track smoulders with toxic beauty; those Eastern hues enticing with siren-esque seduction as darkness await new arrivals. Enthralling and haunting in its distraction, the song slips away for the advancing savage addiction and voracious heavy swing of Little Pill. Eating away at thoughts and senses from its initial original cinematic drama to its esurient stalking, evil soaking every note and castigating syllable, the track with Subliminal Mentality guesting equally got under the skin and nagged away thereon in.

Blackbird From Karachi with D.Tschirner involved is a deceptive creature; evolving from its initial serenade into another predatory confrontation courting chaos and corrosion with almost pernicious incitement, every moment unpredictable and disturbing before the outstanding Prison Planet casts its specific trap. A galactic tango which had the body bouncing and imagination conjuring as intrigue and espionage fuel every contagious touch, it in turn departs to encourage the emotionally harmful but physically infectious dance of Falling Down Pt. I. All three tracks simply hit the spot, repetition occurring across the whole of the album as proven yet again by the dark carnival of Cold Frantic Boy, this another track mixing flirtation and catchy harassment with cinematic intimation as cold vocals bring their own toxic fascination pretty meaning submission to its dark glamour was inevitable.

Across the likes of Match Of The Century / A. Crowley Vs. A. Einstein with its increasingly volatile and ominous disquiet around a hypothetical chess game between the two protagonists and Kissing In Graveyards featuring Underworld, another slice of aural insidiousness, the album continued taking ears and pleasure into new dark corners, the release magnetically broadening its maze of sound and creative villainy before stretching it again with the glorious Midnight Tango, a mesmeric psych surf piece with a caress of The Doors and Calling All Astronauts to its dark rock ‘n’ roll.

The final pair of Follow Me, a carnal trespass of pestilence-laden temptation, and Battle For Babylon with R. Carey (an English- New Zealand based artist better known as Fiery Jack (The Teapot Goblins)) a guest in its stark yet rousing smouldering epilogue, provide a compelling conclusion to the relentlessly enthralling release. In some ways they lack the rousing bait of their predecessors but in just as many are cast in mutually potent lures of dark emotive suggestion.

As suggested the biggest rewards come from listening to Visions Of The Blinded World pt I & II as one but certainly not essential as proven by the individual galvanic prowess of each track. Spookshow Inc. has created a landscape bred in the world’s turbulence and destruction; Part I made us want to know more, the stunning Part II sparked the desire to be lost in its impeding tempest with the band’s sounds for company.

Visions Of The Blinded World pt I & II is available now @ https://spookshowinc.bandcamp.com/album/spookshow-inc-visions-of-the-blinded-world-pt-i-ii

https://www.spookshowinc.com/ https://www.facebook.com/spookshowinc/

Pete RingMaster 02/11/2018

Lara Smiles – All For You

Aug25

There are times when you can only expect plaudits and ears to come chasing an encounter and one such moment is surely to surround the release of the debut album from British singer songwriter Lara Smiles. A truly magnetic festival of resourceful sounds and lively imagination, All For You is as rich in its variety and enterprise as it is determined in its aim to get the body bouncing and involved in inhibition losing fun. It is a treat of an introduction which just seems to get more impressive and manipulative by the listen.

With music never far from her ears and passion since a young child, seeds laid by the sounds her parents were playing, Lara has grown to embrace a host of styles and flavours which has nurtured the variety and diversity in her own writing and music. Among a host of major inspirations, the likes of Tina Turner, The Beatles, Paul Simon, Queen, Prodigy, The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Muse, Beth Ditto, Green Day and Middle Eastern music heavily feature yet as her first full-length reveals, they have only gone to spark her own musical individuality. Since emerging she has also become a praise drawing presence on the UK live scene supporting the likes of Pete Doherty and playing some of the biggest festivals, including Glastonbury four times, the Isle of Wight Festival, and The Great Escape as well as also finding herself collaborating with The Orb, guesting on the new Shed Seven album, Instant Pleasures, and singing with The Australian Pink Floyd Show for the past eight years.

Mixed by Jamie Grashion and legendary producers Michael Rendall and Martin Glover aka Youth (Primal Scream, The Orb, Pink Floyd), her self-produced debut album is poised to thrust Lara into the limelight in her own rights. That is our expectations here and every venture through All For You only cements our thoughts.

Breeding a boisterous and tenacious, often ferocious blend of alternative rock and contagion loaded pop with a just as eager appetite for punk, electro and industrial rock with plenty more besides, the album opens up with the swiftly and increasingly magnetic Coincidence. A spiral of electronic enticement entangles ears first as crisp beats pounce, their combined lure soon reinforced by the hungry riffs of Lara’s guitar. Instantly intrigue and drama lines every emerging tendril turning, it evolving crystalline glamour and beauty as the song breaks into a melodic stroll alongside the seductive tones of Lara. The mercurial edge to the track though continues as its writhes around like a creative dervish, tantalising and fascinating at every turn whilst getting the release off to a tremendous start.

It is an overall inescapable enticement which continues through the following Save Yourself. Bubbling electronics and boisterous guitar align to the darker stroll of Joe Singfield’s bass as the rustle of Sara Leigh’s beats tease before leading the song in its own individual canter. In turn there is a devious urgency and aggressiveness which breaks out as the chorus escapes a calmer build up though that too has a dramatic edge which just sparks the imagination as potently as ears. Lara’s vocals have rich variety which relish her imagination and the equally diverse tapestry of sounds she ventures forth across this track alone it emerging as a compelling slice of punk lined pop ‘n’ roll.

The album’s title track comes next, bounding in on an irresistible incitement of a bassline which continues to manipulate as vocals and melodies dance. Ridiculously infectious and persuasive to hips and vocal chords, the track simply seduced compliance and participation whilst igniting an already firmly placed appetite for the release before Dictate Peace explores a whole new landscape of Eastern spiced teasing and imagination. Its summery stroll and breeze radiates captivation but also the darker shadows and strains of drama which impose their intrigue throughout; it all adding to a riveting invention which sees the listener taken through a web of creative espionage.

And It Hurts follows with its initial gentle elegant charms to the fore. They continue to entice as the fire in the heart and belly of the song smoulders and ignites note by note. With its blaze increased, energy erupts but so too another striking collusion of textures and flavours with the track continuing the great unpredictability of its predecessors and their instinctive contagion.

The folkish grace and melodic beauty of Oh How is pretty much aural intoxication straight after, Lara’s voice intimation carrying seduction and radiance while Disconnected provides a controlled but virulent contagion of pop rock with a compelling blend of spikiness and winning grins to its stomp. In turn, Zombie preys on the senses and body with its emotive irritability and electro funk catchiness. Like all tracks, it soon reveals its individually inventive escapade of unexpected twists which only accelerate its slavery of ears and involvement.

Penultimate song, The Fightings Over, needs mere seconds to have everything robustly involved in its punk ‘n’ rock bred bounce as thoughts align to its lyrical exploration, a tempestuousness in its air and attitude only adding to the incendiary theatre perfectly setting up the contrasting mellow and glowing yet melancholic repose of final track, Turn It Around. The individuality of this pair alone songs epitomises the variety thick All For You as a whole and of Lara’s songwriting which seems so effortlessly to cast real diversity and adventure.

There have been a few releases which have truly inspired and aroused us here this year, a couple this month alone and All For You sits boldly alongside giving real undiluted pleasure. Whether it sees Lara Smiles a household name we will see but it will surely establish her as one of our most exciting and unique talents.

All For You is released September 7^th via iTunes and other stores with its album launch show @ the Sebright Arms, London August 30^th.

http://www.larasmiles.com/ https://www.facebook.com/larasmilesmusic/ https://twitter.com/LaraSmilesMusic

Pete RingMaster24/08/2018

Sick N’ Beautiful – Element of Sex

Jul11

pic by Stefano Mastronicola

There are some bands which instinctively allure attention and it is fair to say that Sick N’ Beautiful is one such persuasion as their recent headlining UK tour proved. Their new album Element of Sex swiftly and increasingly shows why they made a potent impact through those shows alone, a release which whilst lacking the visual theatrical drama of their live presence uncages ten virulent slices of devilish rock ‘n’ roll.

“A gang of rockin’ freakshow pirates from outer space”, Sick N’ Beautiful is a quintet creating an industrial hard rock web of intrigue and sonic animation awash with creative drama. Brewed with sci-fi and cyberpunk visuals whilst embracing inspirations from a kaleidoscope of artists including Rob Zombie, Nine Inch Nails, Alice Cooper, Kiss, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and No Doubt, the “intergalactic refugee’s” music is a cascade of flavours and enterprise within its hard rock nurtured imagination. In boldness and drama there is something of The Tubes to the band’s presence too which only adds to its magnetism live and now within Element of Sex.

Familiarity and inventive uniqueness collude from the first breath of the album with opener Fire True, an orchestral coaxing the first lure quickly infested with wiry tendrils of guitar which in turn entice the instantly rich ear grabbing vocals of Herma. Within seconds the track is an imposing wall of thick infectious sound speared by the scything swings of drummer Evey. Pop catchy and metal aggressive the track imposes and seduces in equal measure with the organic drama of the band’s imagination in every syllable, note, and twist.

It is an infectious tempest of an encounter instantly backed and eclipsed by next up Megalomaniacal. Straight away it has more urgency and greater flexibility in its attack; snarling, biting, and dancing with the senses like a carnal celebration behind the fiercely magnetic prowess of Hermes. Big Daddy Ray’s bass has a great rockabilly swing to its growl at times whilst guitarists Rev C2 and Lobo spring a trap of enterprise so easy to relish especially when the song takes a breath from its boisterous invasion.

The calmer All Wanna Go To Heaven through its initial less energetic entrance, compared to its predecessors, only leads into a snare of boldly catchy and melodically enticing temptation. The voice of Hermes once more stands tall and captivating within the song, a given proven track by track as the sounds around her cast their creative theatres. Pop, rock, and metal strands all go into its ear wrapping weave before the contagion of Hellawake continues the diversity bred within the Sick N’ Beautiful’s sound with its electro pop meets industrial punk shuffle.

Through the tempestuous roar and character of Slam! and the salacious sonic exploits of Hexxx (The Element Of Sex), the album just gets more hectic and fun, both songs a spark for ears and body with their extremely danceable antics, the outstanding second of the two especially manipulative as it grabs limbs like a puppeteer.

Cryptid similarly just opens up the throttle from its first gasp; rhythms and imposing incitement within the scuzzy tides of guitars wired with melodic and hook laced tempting. It is another where certain moments unite with ears like an old friend whilst bringing wholly new propositions alongside for a compelling mix exploited just as ably by New Witch 666 (The Rising). Its EBM-esque opening is a deceit for the dark shadows and intent lurking closely behind and a continuing enticement as those textures take rein of the devilish affair. Though its rabidity is under control for the main it is there festering in the track’s meaty body and demonic intent.

The skilfully woven Heart December (Gates II) with its dark drama and gothic rock grandeur was a slow burner for our ears, a track which never quite ignited as those before it but continues to be a compelling intrigue on ears and imagination even against the album closing blaze of C*Mmunion. Aggressive and at times musically grouchy but as greedily catchy as you could wish, it brings the album and the torrent of fun to a rousing conclusion.

And that pretty much sums up Element of Sex as a whole; insatiably infectious, relentlessly rousing, and unapologetically fun. Maybe Sick N’ Beautiful is a proposition which is at its very best live when all of its elements come together musically, visually and indeed dramatically but their new offering shows their songs make for very potent propositions all on their own.

Element of Sex is out now on the band’s own Rosary Lane Records; available @ https://www.sicknbeautiful.com/store and other stores.

https://www.sicknbeautiful.com/ https://www.facebook.com/sicknbeautifulband/ https://twitter.com/sicknb

Pete RingMaster 10/07/2018

Seething Akira – Sleepy Skeletor

Jul6

Since emerging back in 2011 within the sea faring surroundings of Portsmouth, British crossover outfit Seething Akira has been teasing away at rich attention with increasing success. We suggest though that it has been a mere nagging compared to the hunger the band can and should expect with the release of debut album Sleepy Skeletor. It is a web of alternative metal and electro rock imagination with plenty more to entice and ensnare. It is a sleepless affair rousing body and spirit which even in its calmer moments has the body bouncing and imagination feasting.

Created by Charlie Bowes (songwriter/keyboardist/vocalist) and Kit Conrad (lead vocalist), the band has leap from local success to national recognition through their sounds and a dynamic live presence which over the years has seen them shares stages with the likes of Skindred, The Qemists, Hacktivist, Senser, Don Broco, and Pop Will Eat Itself as well as play Bloodstock Festival, Victorious Festival, Breakout Festival, Mammothfest amongst others. This year the band was chosen as one of five upcoming bands, alongside, Saint Apache, Damn Dice, The Rocket Dolls and The Sixpounder, to support Pitchshifter on their first UK tour in ten years. The Incoming Transmission EP of 2012 was when our fascination with Seething Akira began, it becoming so much keener as for so many others through their acclaimed 2015 single Airstrike, a song frequently eclipsed and more than matched by the offerings within Sleepy Skeletor.

Walking a fine balance between alternative metal, industrial rock, and electro punk; never fully committing to any but always entangling the richest traits of all and more, Sleepy Skeletor opens properly with The Monster from Brussels. Instantly the synths of Bowes provide an infectious pulse, the guitar of Harvey Ware swiftly adding its lure before the rest of the band jump in with fevered energy to create a Senser like confrontation. Thick and imposing, it is a captivating wall of temptation creating a grooved stroll alongside a Beastie Boys inspired vocal arousal rather easy to become addicted to, its tenacity interrupted by melodic washes of intimation and seduction.

It is an outstanding start quickly matched by recent single Matching Poles of Magnets. With steelier textures to its electro metal predation, bands like Axis Mundi and Silent Descent coming to mind, the track twists and turns with instinctive and rapacious adventure before Half Empty brings a warm calm to the senses. Immediately vocals echo this mellow breath with their melodic unity but equally a rising discontent in the heart of the song brews as things become more intense and irritable. It never reaches an aggressive state though, revolving through melancholic elegance and emotive exposure as a weave of rich enterprise wraps vocal reflection.

I Am The Devil, another single released earlier this year follows, instantly infests ears with its electro metal rumble and a hook which needs meres seconds to have us lustfully wanting more. Something akin to G.R.I.M meets dirt encrusted Pop Will Eat with the rousing catchiness of Hadouken, the track throbs and snarls as the rhythmic prowess and incitement of bassist Richard Ellis Speaight and drummer Stu Radcliffe manipulate.

Featuring Olly Simmons from Brighton band The Qemists, Backlash is next up and similarly merges heavy almost dissonant attitude and sound with electronic trespass as it prowls the senses. It is a predacious edge which never dissipates across the track’s mercurial but persistently invasive landscape. Another of the songs released prior to the album as a single in 2018 ensuring its anticipation was heightened; the absorbing encounter passes over attention to the outstanding Pack Animals. It too has a whiff of Senser to its emotionally and lyrically charged incitement; synth and guitar weaving an intimation of intrigue and danger around the threat of the rhythms as once again vocals irrepressible entice.

The character of successor Paralysed is similarly natured and conjured but swiftly evolving into a melodic croon and seduction which inspired even greater participation before the cycle repeats with greater volatility but equally greater elegance in its respective moments.

The album ends with firstly Even Angels Break Hearts which sees Dani Uziel guesting and finally Disconnect. The first of the two is a fluid blend of sonic antagonism and melodic beauty with Uziel’s tones simply beguiling, she almost like a siren luring ears into Conrad’s feral attack and the song’s tempestuous depths. The second provides three and a half minutes of electro punk metal thick in attitude and malcontent but equally rich in rousing energy and adventurous imagination.

Major attention upon Seething Akira has been a little overdue to our mind; Sleepy Skeletor should remedy that, arousing a whole new tide of fans to their insatiably and dramatically potent sound.

Sleepy Skeletor is out now; available on all major streaming platforms.

Upcoming shows:

Sleepy Skele-tour:

July 6th – Anvil, Bournemouth (Album release show)

July 7th – The 27 Club, Liverpool

July 8th – Mulberry Tavern, Sheffield

July 9th – Satan’s Hollow, Manchester

July 10th – The Underground, Plymouth

July 11th – Fat Lil’s Bar, Witney

July 12th – The Unicorn, Camden

July 13th – The Junction, Ashford

July 14th – The Sussex Arms, Tunbridge Wells

July 15th – The Joiners, Southampton

———————————————–

August 25th – Electrowerkz London supporting CUBANATE

August 26th – BYLINE FESTIVAL, Pippingford Park, Ashdown Forest with Pussy Riot, Badly Drawn Boy, The Vapors, The Blow Monkeys, John Cleese, Hugh Grant, Alexie Sayle…

November 19th – Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth supporting PITCHSHIFTER

http://www.seethingakira.com/ https://www.facebook.com/seethingakira https://twitter.com/SEETHINGAKIRA

Pete RingMaster 03/07/2018

Lords Of Acid – Pretty In Kink

Jun7

We cannot say that techno and acid house are genres we have an instinctive appetite for here but we certainly have a hunger for electro adventure with plenty of confrontation; something you certainly and persistently get with Lords Of Acid. Their new album Pretty In Kink is a riot of electronic eclecticism, twelve tracks infesting body and imagination with creative deviancy and virulent contagion and a collection which salaciously arouse the senses.

Lords Of Acid is the brainchild of Belgian musician Praga Khan, an artist releasing his first single back in 1988. The project apparently evolved from his “extensive experimentation with drugs, Crowley-ian sex magic, and esoteric paths of self-deprivation and mutilation known only to himself”, the band the vehicle for him to “further encapsulate the seductive messages and raw sex of his ever-evolving musical vision.” The new album sees Khan link up again with long-time collaborator Erhan Kurkun and the entrance of new vocalist Marieke Bresseleers.

Praga Khan

Pretty In Kink opens with Break Me, the track emerging from celestial mists with a dulled but imposing throb around which electronics flirt. The immediately striking voice of Bresseleers soon rises from its midst, her vocals openly powerful but equally devilish in their character and delivery. The track continues to pulsate and almost menacingly entice, its electronic simmer simultaneous threat and captivation with infection spilling from every note and syllable.

The compelling start continues with Ma Fille De Joie, it too laden with appealing shadows and electro temptation this time from an industrial seeding. There is a touch of Kraftwerk to the song; its seductive prowl almost predacious at times but persistently darkly flirtatious before Sex Cam Girl opens its creative legs for ears to devour its dark electro juices. With swaying grooves and raw melodic swerves to its gait, the track entices as it fingers the senses and like its predecessors left intrigue and hips consumed with eagerness.

The following EBM spiced trip hop lined Flow Juice took things and attention up another level, the track electro addiction in the making. Bresseleers is the perfect tease amongst the similarly tempting antics of the synths and beats, all getting under the skin with viral ease. As potent a start to the release that the first trio of songs make, the album really came alive for us at this point, next up Like Pablo Escobar escalating the new gear in persuasion. Pure drama from its initial shimmer and bass bred hook, the track rises up into a rousing slice of electro rock again one as imposing as it is manipulatively catchy with guitars and synths colluding in their cinematic theatre.

Neither Before the Night is Over or Androgyny leapt on the passions as instantly as those around them yet with their respective melodic Heaven 17-esque smoulder with underlying volatility and sinister synth pop seduction, each blossomed in captivation by the play as too did Goldfinger, a track borrowing from the classic Bond theme but using the essence to wrap its own techno espionage.

They were soon firmly eclipsed though by the electro punk of What the Fuck! a track with a great Senser-esque feel to its vocal attitude and electronic belligerence. It is superb; a wonderful sonic irritant always commanding an eager scratch while So Goddamn Good straight after is a song which seduces as it croons. Pop and hip hop spawned vocals unite across the track, melodic caresses and sonic blistering teasing together alongside as again Lords Of Acid simply steal attention.

My Demons Are Inside from an underwhelming start for personal tastes was another which eventually wormed into the psyche, its KMFDM like instincts and breeding nagging its way into the passions though it is soon over shadowed by the album’s best track for us. Closing up the release, We Are The Freaks was quite simply irresistible from its first breath. Drama oozes every pore as industrial confrontation rises to its deviant feet to subsequently embrace a minatory Latino taunting. It is a glorious end to an album which not for the first time sees Lords Of Acid enjoyably tainting the music scene with their rivetingly unique electronic disease.

Pretty In Kink is out now via Metropolis Records; available @ https://lordsofacidofficial.bandcamp.com/album/pretty-in-kink

http://www.lordsofacid.com https://www.facebook.com/lordsofacid/ https://twitter.com/RealLordsOfAcid

Pete RingMaster 06/06/2018

Das Fluff – Ringmaster

May9

As writers, we are constantly inspired by the sounds and records we cover; words sparked and imagination stoked by the craft and invention of others. It is a rare honour to return the favour but that is exactly what we have managed to do. Last year we introduced ourselves to electro/art rock outfit Das Fluff, the brainchild and creative vehicle of Berlin/London-based vocalist/writer/producer Dawn Lintern, through firstly the single Far Gone and in turn the band’s current album Flower With Knife. It was our review of the latter which seemingly sparked the imagination of Dawn into writing a new track. That song has now become the band’s new single, Ringmaster, and even without the bias of our lucky involvement it has to be said it is one mesmeric seduction of a proposition.

The single comes ahead of a fourth album the band is currently working on, the magnetic tones and lyrical agility of Dawn uniting with the electronic experimentation of Christian Ruland. It is a proposition among fans and media alike for which anticipation is full and one sure to be escalated after the release of Ringmaster.

The song opens with a melodic sigh swiftly joined by the caress of guitar and throb of rhythmic shadow. Just as quickly the alluring voice of Dawn slowly swings from their textures, her tones writhing around the sounds like a sultry dancer whilst coaxing ears and imagination with seductive intimation. There is a dark carnival meets shadowed burlesque breath to the track, an alluring glaze which adds further colour and shape to its instinctive romance and darksome heart.

Haunting and transfixing, like a flirtatious sunset lined with melancholic beauty, the song is pure captivation and alone more than enough reason to get excited about the band’s forthcoming full-length. Ringmaster is a track which outshone even our pride spun hopes and comes with a stunning video which you can see on our Video Selector page, another pleasure from Das Fluff.

Upcoming Das Fluff live shows:

May 25 – Petersburg Art Space / Berlin

June 2 – Electrowerkz / London

June 9 – Stigmata / Glasgow

June 16 – Zosch / Berlin

http://www.dasfluff.com https://www.facebook.com/dasfluff/ https://twitter.com/DasFluffTwit

Pete RingMaster 09/05/2018

Pavillon Rouge – Dynasteia Klub

Mar2

Continuing the conflict in their self-acclaimed “War on the dancefloor”, French metallers Pavillon Rouge are poised to unleash their latest assault in the shape of third album Dynasteia Klub. It brings an escalation in their sonic violence, drama, and virulent trespasses as well as thickly bound fascination as the band’s fusion of electro, industrial, and blackened extreme metal breaches new thresholds and heights in creative dissension. It is a one of a kind hostile pleasure invading body and psyche like a contentious puppeteer.

Formed by guitarist/programmer Mervyn and drummer YVH back in 2008, Pavillon Rouge swiftly made a potent impact with their merger of black metal and hardcore techno bound in atmospheric suggestion but especially caught attention and acclaim with debut album Solmeth Pervitine three years later. Its success and strengths were subsequently eclipsed by its successor Legio Axis Ka in 2015, an inescapable assault and incitement capping a time seeing the Grenoble hailing outfit play with the likes of Psygnosis, Himinbjorg, Svart Crown, and The CNK. Both releases were fuelled by a sound which showed real individuality and now finds even stronger character and adventure within Dynasteia Klub. It has the body dancing, the imagination conjuring, and the senses cowering to its bold invasive tempest; guitarist/vocalist Mu Cephei, bassist E.Shulgin, drummer XVH, and Mervyn, a line-up completed live by guitarist ADB, voraciously trespassing with industrial uniqueness.

Album opener L’Harmonie et la Force instantly spreads an atmospheric breath around ears, intrigue and shadows blending within its intimation as melodies begin to vein the lure. All the time a rhythmic pulse is brewing, looming closer with portentous hues and eventually driving the heart of the sonic incursion. Vocals scowl and holler as beats throb, melodic enterprise as toxic yet magnetic as the black raw intensity of the track. Within seconds the body was bouncing, ears devouring, and enjoyment brewing, the track increasingly offering the kind of predacious enterprise which marked out the last album but with greater craft and maturity not forgetting fresh character.

The following Ô Legions, Ô Triomphes initially gives respite for the breathlessness drawn by its predecessor, synths colluding in the song’s melodic weaving though all the time you sense an underlying voracity and urgency which soon takes the reins of another quickly and fiercely addictive challenge. Even then it still retains its control as vocals and heavy shadows accentuate its theatre of threat and manipulation though a mercurial edge lines it all ensuring a lack of predictability.

The album’s title track immerses the senses next, its weave of electronic, industrial, and grievous metal an infestation of irritable infectiousness around vocal and rhythmic discord and temptation respectively. There is a cosmopolitan hue to the guitar’s melodic web, a theatre echoing the lyrical aspects such as discipline, joy, and forgiveness bred in the release’s Ancient Greek Philosophy inspired themes. Again the band refuse to release the listener from its invasive physical tenacity; ebbs and flows in its gait only adding to the inescapable infectiousness before Le Rayonnement Du Temple Nouveau brings a relative calm with its initial invitation. Soon though, an intrusive tapestry of sound and emotion envelops ears, its grasp dark and suggestive as it explores the senses and imagination.

From its first breath, the outstanding In Aenigmate grips with insatiable hunger, senses whipping rhythms pushing its boisterous trespass as guitars and bass flirt with the same rapacious intent while Bodhisattva offers a kinder intensity though it is just as potent in its creative maze and emotional ferocity led by vocal friction. An inventive fusion of the familiar and fresh, the song did not quite inflame the passions as many before it but with the body uniting in its energy and appetite in its drama, the song left pleasure full before the more atmospherically and physically barbarous Notre Foi Brûle Encore took limbs and lungs on another solicitous ride. As with all tracks, unexpected twists and turns add to the drama of its insatiable intent without ever bringing a deviation from the creative, emotional, and corporeal voracity.

The album concludes with firstly another of its pinnacles in Dans L’ailleurs Absolu; a song which, if not in sound, rhythmically and intensively has something of an early Killing Joke feel to it behind a collage of samples and riveting textures. Its unbridled magnetism draws the listener into the closing ethereal embrace of Ad Augusta. Unsurprisingly it has a tempestuous heart which breeds ravenous rock ‘n’ roll, a storm of enterprise continuing to be draped in the melodic poetry of synths.

It is a tremendous, energy sapping end to an album which relentlessly devours the listener as much as it persistently pleasures them. Like many we were hooked on Pavillon Rouge’s warfare thanks to Legio Axis Ka, now the even more creatively powerful and striking Dynasteia Klub brings lust into play.

Dynasteia Klub is released March 30^th through Season of Mist.