Attrition Interview

Can you first introduce the band and give us some background to how it all started?

I started ATTRITION way back in late 1980… I’d been running my punk/post punk fanzine “Alternative Sounds” here in Coventry from ’79 – ’81 and I knew I always needed to make my own music… it began with me and my then girlfriend Julia… added a drummer and my brother on guitar… soon changing to Julia’s brother Ashley on synth and I bought a drum machine…so we quickly turned from a traditional guitar/bass/drums/ vocals line up to a more electronic sound…

Have you been involved in other bands before?

I had always been a visual artist (painter/sculptor at art school) and knew nothing of writing music… so this was my jump in the deep end… see what came out of it… we just experimented with our sound over the first few years in particular…. But still do from time to time…

What inspired the band name?

It came from “War of ATTRITION” … after the first world war…I’d always been fascinated with it as my Grandad was wounded on the Western Front at Ypres in 1917…. And I had always heard about it as I grew up…. in 2015 I finally wrote an album of interpretations of WW1 poems, from all sides….”Millions of The Mouthless Dead” – something I always had to do… I wrote it with Anni Hogan (Marc and the Mambas etc.) and was happy to have a special guest reading in German from Wolfgang Flur on there (ex Kraftwerk)

Was there any specific idea behind the forming of the project itself and how you wanted it represent your thoughts and emerging your sounds?

A burning desire to say something…. There was too much going on I really needed that outlet…. I still do

…and that desire still leads the way?

A lot is the same… we can never recover our naivety and things have obviously got more professional over time…. And maybe I’m not the angry young man I was in 1980…but yeah… not so very different J

Since your early days, how would you say your sound has evolved?

I’ve always used technology a lot…it’s my instrument…I never learned a traditional one… and that has evolved massively over time… and that has made a difference to the sound. I’ve also taken on more musical influences… dance, classical etc… and have met so many amazing musicians over the years that have come on-board… added their talents… moved on…. It’s been an evolving project… which is how I like it..

Has it been more of an organic movement of sound or more you deliberately wanting to try new things?

A mix of both… I never know what I will come out with when I start a track…and I like to see where the twists and turns lead me… there are no real rules…. But I have written soundtrack scores so that is a different approach from the outset… and in instrumentation there have been times I wanted to try working with someone new.. .for example when I introduced real violin and viola and cellos on some songs… the old samples hardly got used again…. I think that experiment worked pretty well

Presumably across your years being involved in music there is a wide range of inspirations; are there any in particular which have impacted not only on the band’s music but your personal approach and ideas to creating and playing music?

Well ATTRITION is mostly me… but I take on influences from people I have worked with…and that is often as much an approach as it is the style… I love learning…. If I ever thought I wasn’t doing that any more then it would be time to stop..

Is there a process to the songwriting which generally guides the birth of songs?

In all of my work… regardless of the final piece or style… I start with abstract atmospherics… electronics usually… and gradually rhythms and melodies emerge… alongside the words if there are to be any…. Much like order from chaos…. I believe in that

Where do you, more often than not, draw the inspirations to the lyrical side of your songs?

From my personal life… philosophical and religious thought… political ideas… “sex, death and religion” as some would say..

Would you give us some background to your latest release?

The new single, ‘The Great Derailer’ , has just been released (on CD, download and streaming) and will be part of the forthcoming album, ‘The Black Maria’…much of my lyrical work is inspired by my subconscious thought…. And in a simple way “The Great Derailer” is my anarchist God…if you like…. I released it on Brexit day J

Do you go into the studio with songs pretty much in their final state or still provide room for them to develop as you record?

Since I put my own studio together in the nineties, The Cage, I work all the time on pieces of music and they gradually develop into an album… (and this is between my mastering and production work for many other bands and labels… so I never get enough time for me!…. but it is my day job so I am always surrounded by music…. And I love that) …but yes in the early days of the eighties we had very limited studio time paid for by the various record labels and we had to have everything pretty much ready to put down for the time we were in there…. Not always a bad thing actually…we learned a lot from that!

Tell us about the live side to the band, presumably a favourite aspect of the band?

I do love recording as much as live but yes touring is such an inspiration… I have a varying line up as I work with people all over the world, and I’ve been lucky to have toured on most continents at various points in my career… a wonderful experience… apart from my 2 beautiful kids I would say a highlight of my life…

It is not easy for any new band to make an impact regionally let alone nationally and further afield. How did you find it back in the day and see it now?

Coventry had a great live scene when I started… after the buzz of two Tone but as much for all the other acts… personally my experimental electronics was a bit too much for the local scene back then… so we moved away to London and later I moved to Holland for a while where there a much more receptive scene…. I’ve been back in Coventry for years and I’m pleased to see it really picking up for live music, especially music with more of an edge… I think it’s true everywhere… it’s such a big thing to do making a band work… and it’s hard… but it’s so worth it if you can dedicate yourself to it

How has the internet and social media impacted on the project to date? Do you see it as  a necessary ‘evil’?

The internet in all its forms has been really helpful… having started with the fanzine I was always used to networking myself and the internet is such an opportunity for that…I can’t even imagine how I arranged tours in Europe in the eighties before email…. But maybe the reason I am still here is because I did… It’s never been easy…it never should be.

Once again a big thanks for sharing time with us; anything you would like to add or reveal for the readers?

…and thank you very much too. As I said, the new album will be out later in the year… and I am currently setting up dates for 2020… So far confirmed…

April 3rd: The Tin, Coventry, UK

June 13th: Woodgothic Festival, Sao Thome Das Letras, Brazil

June 17th – Gothic Ba, Buenos Aires, Argentina

June 19th – Producciones Mortem Collec-tions, Santiago de Chile

June 20th – Tumbas Eternas Producciones, Lima, Perú November

28th: Winter Ghosts Symposium, Whitby, UK

…and do check out our various sites…

http://www.attrition.co.uk/   https://www.facebook.com/ATTRITIONMUSIC   https://attritionuk.bandcamp.com/   https://www.youtube.com/user/attrition   https://twitter.com/attritionuk   https://open.spotify.com/artist/5yAtVvdaWrTxW4GPC18643   http://www.thecagestudios.co.uk/

Thank you! Martin Bowes. Coventry. England. 2020

Pete RingMaster 27/02/2020

Copyright RingMasterReview: MyFreeCopyright

She Made Me Do It – Scorched

She Made Me Do It is a band which weaves compelling adventures not only in sound and the web of flavours making up its character but also from the rich shadows within the depths of both and the duo’s imagination. Across a host of releases and tracks it has provided a kaleidoscopic landscape of intimation and contagion which has maybe been no more compelling than within new EP, Scorched. Its five tracks share intense enterprise and rich drama, the release a bold venture into the outfit’s creative psyche and one eagerly tapping into the cinematic conjuring of the listener.

The successor to their acclaimed Drenched EP, Scorched finds the twosome of Shaheena Dax (Rachel Stamp) and Will Crewdson (Rachel Stamp, Adam Ant, Scant Regard, The Selecter, Bow Wow Wow, Flesh For Lulu) infesting their alternative electronic rock with the richest tapestry of genre varied threads to escape the London based pair yet. Theirs has been a proposition always embracing the ripest essences of punk, new wave, post punk but the new encounter borders on the ravenous in its seizing of fresh diversity.

Scorched opens with the band’s new single, Love’s Demise bounding in on a tide of voracious rock riffs and swinging rhythms before the swiftly joining tones of Dax show just as much hunger in their melodic enticement. Crewdson’s guitar continues to snarl as its infectious nature aligns with that of Dax, hard and punk rock spices taunting as electronic fingers tease in the riotous but controlled stomp.

The rousing start is only accentuated by Fun and Games, a track which lit up the airwaves with its uncaging as one of last year’s best singles. A calm but keenly coaxing electronic pulse dances in ears first; it’s subdued but apparent skittishness soon surrounded by a contagion of air splattering beats and attention burrowing hooks, it all courted by the delicious dark bassoon-esque grumble of the bass. The infection loaded stroll is soon equipped with greater temptation as Dax brings her perpetual craft and captivation, alt pop and punk insisting on uniting with the track’s rock instincts to dig deeply and relentlessly under the skin.

Throughout both, shadows lurk if in a subdued state but now flood the sounds within the EP’s stunning third track and our senses. It is a cover of The Cure’s Three Imaginary Boys, a slice of already undeniable greatness given a whole new breath of drama and potency. Crewdson and Dax draw out the anxiety and tension of the original, increasing both as they escalate the post punk heart of the original. It is pure drama, emotions caught in a dense spiral of apprehension and inescapable contagion as the band equip the song with a cinematically claustrophobic air soaked in an emotional cold war amidst a crepuscular soundscape.

The equally exceptional Poison Aura follows, it too a dark senses consuming address of ears and thoughts even with the golden glow of Dax’s voice an absorbing light across the track’s caliginous tone and post punk nurtured landscape. The encounter ignited the imagination as much as ears as again a theatre of intimation provided a palette of suggestion so easy for the imagination to paint with.

For all the thick ravenous shadows the band breeds, each track is a surge of greedy catchiness too, the band’s pop instincts fuelling the heaviest dark and equally the most boisterous light, final track Fatal Confidante epitomising all in its esurient virulence and pop punk featured tenacity. As much as the EP’s tracks infest ears and imagination with the creator’s craft and fascination, all invade feet and body with a matching zeal, the last song on offer unscrupulous in getting the listener bouncing.

With a cover any band on a similar endeavour will have to truly go some to match and a striking quartet of inimitable and unique She Made Me Do It goodness, the sensational Scorched confirms the duo as one of the UK’s most exciting and imaginative encounters; one we have already been enslaved by and do not apologise for urging all to check out with even greater lust.

The Scorched EP is out now, available @ https://shemademedoit.bandcamp.com/album/scorched-e-p

https://www.shemmdi.com/   https://www.facebook.com/shemademedoitpage   https://twitter.com/SheMMDI

Pete RingMaster 05/02/2020

Copyright RingMasterReview: MyFreeCopyright

Skulk, The Hulking – Afterbirth Of A Nation

It is fair to say that 2018 has ended its tenure with some of its biggest highlights release wise among which Afterbirth Of A Nation has to be one of if not the most compelling and enjoyable. The second album from one man project, songwriter and satirist Skulk, The Hulking, the offering is an imagination rousing, ear gripping slab of unique enterprise which had us drooling in no time.

The successor to his 2015 debut album, In Sickness and in Health, the new encounter this time sees Skulk joined by creatively like-minded musicians in guitarist Ashley Levine, drummer Fernando Morales, and bassist Vern Woodhead. In turn this has brought a far broader palette to the bold and adventurous escapade seeded within its predecessor. The band has merged the electronic, hip hop, and punk of that first encounter with the feral and ferocious antics of metal in its varied guises within Afterbirth Of A Nation; the result something akin to a rabid fusion of Dog Fashion Disco, System Of A Down, Five Star Prison Cell, and Agent Orange but distinct in its character and forcibly magnetic incitement.

Afterbirth Of A Nation opens up with Hide Your Children.  Straight away sauntering in, the bass begins luring ears with the dark jazzy mystique of the song blossoming alongside. Soon after the unique and captivating tones of Skulk unveil the drama and mischief of his words as the Bauhaus like lure of the encounter boils up into a metal inflamed blaze. Settling back down, new hues and enterprise rise up around the infectious rhythmic stroll and hip hop nurtured vocals; it all making for an irresistible introduction to the release.

It is a resourceful and striking beginning only accentuated by next up He Who Finishes First Is Finished First. Leading with teasing guitar bait, the song swaggers in with eager rhythms and a vocal prowess which just made us want to get involved. It is simultaneously composed yet manic, every second a devious seed and ingredient to an adventure which swiftly got under the skin echoing those earlier mentioned clues to the Skulk, The Hulking adventure.

The track is simply superb and quickly matched by the devilish swing of By Hook Or By Crooked Automatic Assault Rifle. Like a psychotic carousel it swirls in ears, from time to time slowing momentarily to add fresh adventure and revelry around another potent lyrical trespass before scooping up the listener in its carnival-esque hunger.

The darker, predacious presence of Grind (Money Crotch) intimidates as it seduces with its slow swing, bass and guitar portentous in their tempting before its lid is lifted and ferocious discontent spills out. It too is just a moment in the track’s mercurial landscape, a captivating web of sound and vocal enterprise exposed and expanded by the cycle before making way for the tenebrific grumble of Joe Candidate with again Skulk sheer magnetism at its heart. A sombre slow and simple crawl with bursts of carnal irritability, the song just seduced from start to finish, much as the album itself.

Through the mischievous punk inflamed swing of Cancer and the funk ‘n’ jazz saunter of Make It Sew, an already rising addiction to the album was simply escalated, creative devilment and vocal tenacity their inescapable fuel while This Commercialism Sure Means Business… brings an unhinged, indeed certifiable blaze of punk and blues funk tinged rock ‘n’ roll full of derision and tenacity which similarly had us leaping to feet while giving an eager roar.

And the goodness just simply continues; The Proper Way To Fail bringing back the meandering but purposeful amble the band so easily breed to entice and ensnare ears and appetite with. Unapologetically infectious especially within its delicious chorus, the track was manna to the imagination before Add Her All had the same also eating out of its creative rock ‘n’ roll hands and in turn We, The Terrorism enticed physical spasms and attitude soaked vocal involvement in its virulent nonconformist furor.

Afterbirth Of A Nation ends with the unstable temperament and exploits of May It Never End; a loco of sound and boldly resourceful enterprise which left only a hunger for more as it sealed quite simply one of last year’s major highlights and an encounter no one should let slip by.

Afterbirth Of A Nation is out now @ https://skulkthehulking.bandcamp.com/album/afterbirth-of-a-nation

https://www.facebook.com/skulkthehulking/   https://twitter.com/skulkthehulking

Pete RingMaster 04/01/2019

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Polar Station – Lowlands

Listening to the sound of Italian band Polar Station is like waking up in the morning sun. It is warm, perpetually tantalising with just a hint of indefinable intrigue bringing the unknown to the senses and imagination and within their debut album, Lowlands, just captivating.

Hailing from Frosinone, the 2013 emerging quartet consists of Silvia Zambon (vocals / synth / vocoder), Cristian Angelini (guitar), Daniele Gabrielli (synth / programming / FX), and Manuel Bianchi (drums /electronic percussions). The band released two EPs in 2014 and ‘15 respectively which received good praise and attention. Both showed their sound to be a magnetic blend of electronic variety with dream pop sensitivity and magnetism, aspects now colluding to make for one infectious and compelling exploration within Lowlands.

The album opens with the band’s well-received single of last year, What It Feels Like. Vocoder spawned vocals initially lure ears amidst a synth cast crystalline shimmer before the angelic yet earthbound tones of Zambon embrace the senses. Her voice is pure beauty, essences of suggestiveness and melancholy lining its grace and magnetism, the latter a description which perpetually repeats across the whole landscape of the album. The instinctive sway of hips told all about the persuasion of the irresistible encounter, a temptation just as vocal within its successor.

Wake up Call makes a gentler entrance but one just as vibrant, stretching its elements and essence around the golden coaxing of Zambon and elegant melodies from Angelini. The song continues to slowly rise with every second of sound and voice pure sunshine for ears and spirit until finally drifting away into the more industrial lure of Something. Its earthier synth beckoning is soon enclosed in the seduction of Zambon’s vocals, synths and guitar teasing and tempting with melodic enterprise and mystique alongside. Both songs never find the boisterousness of the first yet each provides a sublimely bewitching and individual kiss on the senses and imagination to be just as potent.

Through the creative and emotional drama of Silence and the haunting elegancy of Fragile, the album reveals new shades of sound and light whilst stretching its captivation. The second of the two is a brief almost interlude like moment yet rich in heart and melodic suggestion to be its own potent moment within Lowlands before Ordinary Life dances romantically on ears and thoughts with melodic temptation and electronic delicacy as rigorous in intimation as it is gentle on touch. There is flame to its breath though, heat shaped by the excellent touch of Angelini.

The shadow kissed smoulder of Midnight is equally as romancing on the ear, its dark but radiant layers enthralling under the alluring glaze of Gabrielli’s ever tempting synth while Committed to What provides noir lined atmospherics over an inescapably catchy shuffle pulsing with the creative manipulation of Bianchi. Again both songs bring fresh angles to the sunspot that is Lowlands, each a new transfixing escape.

The album closes out with Golden Flares, a starry serenade of voice and sound with bold strength to its depth and a hint of tempestuousness to its heart. As the album, it is a song which instantly grips attention and appetite but only blossoms to greater heights over time and listen.

Polar Station is a band most likely in the colder reaches of attention for most but after Lowlands could and should be a blaze on the broadest radars.

Lowlands is out now on iTunes and Spotify.

https://www.facebook.com/PolarStation/

Pete RingMaster 02/05/2018

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Serenading webs and trapping harmonies: introducing Tali Dennerstein

Tali Dennerstein is a British rock singer, songwriter, and producer who is beginning to lure eager attention with her unique mix of Pop/Folk Rock, Gothic Rock, Grunge and Dark Ambient Music. It is a kaleidoscope of flavours embraced by imagination and invention as evidenced by her latest release and videos. We seized on the chance to find out more by talking to the lady herself, exploring her creative beginnings, her solo project, new EP and more besides…

Hello Tali and thanks for taking time out to talk with us.

Can you first give us some background to yourself?

I’m an alternative rock singer, songwriter and producer. I’ve always been very passionate about music and from a very early age, I grew up listening to a lot of 80’s and 90’s Gothic and Grunge Rock music, which really inspired me to want to start my own musical journey. I’ve always enjoyed writing lyrics and after being in a few different bands, I decided to become a solo artist, mainly because I liked having control of the direction my music was taking.

You mentioned previous bands. How have those experiences impacted on your own musical explorations?

I’ve been in a few different bands in the past. My first band was a more electronic /trip hop style band and my last band was a heavy rock/grunge band and I think it definitely helped me to decide the style and direction that I most enjoyed working with. I’ve also collaborated with a couple of artists online and recently I’ve also started a synthwave side project, which has been really fun to work on because I love the 80’s electronic sound and it’s been fun to do something so completely different.

Many solo projects decide to go under a created moniker; you?

As a solo artist I decided to use my own name, although I did consider having a band name but I just couldn’t think of anything that was good enough.

Was there any specific idea behind the direction you wanted your work and sound to offer?

I had a lot of song material, which I’d written over many years that I hadn’t really had a chance to do anything with for a long time and I really wanted to get as much of it completed and out there, as possible for people to hear. That was my main reason for starting my solo music. I also really wanted to try and create my own sound by merging both gothic and grunge rock styles together, as those were my two favourite genres of music styles, when I was growing up. I like folk and electronic music too, so I also tried to add some of these influences into my sound as well.

Are you driven by the same creative things and intent from being a fresh-faced musician or have they evolved over time?

As a solo artist, I’ve only really just begun so it’s relatively new for me but I think the same thing drives me as a songwriter and that’s always been to create meaningful music, that people can enjoy and relate to and that helps them in some way.

Since your early days as a songwriter how would you say your sound has evolved?

My sound has evolved quite a bit. I started with a very 90’s indie pop and folk rock and ambient electronic sound but my next album will be much heavier and a lot darker, both lyrically and musically.

Has it been more of an organic movement of sound or more you deliberately wanting to try new things?

I do like to experiment with different ideas and sounds, so I try new things to hear how they might add to a song but with regard to changing the direction of my music to a heavier sound that was deliberate because it’s how I felt the songs on my future album worked best and it just felt right. I do still like to write softer more folk rock and electronic tracks, as well but I tend to go with what feels right for each individual song, when it comes to creating the right sound.

Presumably a wide range of musical tastes you have an equal array of inspirations; are there any in particular which have impacted not only your music but your personal approach and ideas to creating and playing music?

I’m inspired by a lot of artists and bands but my biggest inspirations are Curve, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, and Nick Drake. I love Curve’s Doppelgänger album and the way the guitars create just this huge wall of distorted sound. I also loved the way they used a lot of electronic elements, which merged in with the guitars. It made the tracks sound quite industrial, even though they were considered a shoegaze band. They had a very interesting and unique sound. I’ve also been very inspired by how grunge bands wrote their lyrics. They were often really deep and introspective and really made me think about what message they were trying to convey. I liked the fact that the lyrics weren’t straightforward and were hard to figure out and that everyone could find their own meaning in them.

Is there a particular process to your songwriting?

I always start by recording any melody ideas that come to my mind and I get a lot of ideas every day, so I like to keep my sound recorder next to me no matter what I’m doing. I tend to think of the subject matter usually after I’ve thought of the melody and that’s because I get an idea for the theme, usually based on the feel of the melody.

Where do you, more often than not, draw the inspirations to the lyrical side of your songs?

I’ve drawn a lot of my inspiration from some very tough situations I’ve had to face in my life, so my lyrics have sometimes reflected my hopes for things to improve, as well as my need to face the pain and fears I feel each day, due to my situation and to become stronger, despite the circumstances. I’ve also written lyrics based on things I’ve experienced in the past, such as heartbreak or bullying or about things that are happening in the world around me, that I feel strongly about such as war conflict and also about peace.

Could you give us some background to your latest release?

My latest release is a 7 track EP called Live For Tomorrow and I recorded the songs a while ago but I’ve only just recently released them.

Give us some insight to the themes and premise behind it and its songs.

The first song is called Summertime and it’s a very upbeat pop rock song, with a feel good Summer vibe. It’s about releasing and letting go of negative thoughts and instead embracing all of the small but meaningful and beautiful things that life has to offer, that we sometimes don’t always see, when we’re stuck in a cycle of depression. It’s also about keeping hope alive and just trying to stay optimistic. The second song is called Tonight and it’s a folk rock song. It’s about a girl being led on a journey, to find herself and unknowingly being guided by invisible forces in the right direction who are watching over her and protecting her. It’s lyrically written in a fairy tale style. The third song is called Live For Tomorrow and the track is an indie pop song, about a relationship that just isn’t working out and it’s about just accepting things and looking to the future and letting go of the past. The fourth track is called Hurt. It’s a slow electronic ambient song and is about unintentionally hurting someone you love and feeling guilty about it and how you miss them after they’ve gone. The fifth track is called See The Sun. This one is very 90’s Brit pop, in style and it’s about closing the door to the past and looking forward towards a brighter future. The sixth song is called Skyline and is about being there for someone who’s hurting and telling them you’ll always be there for them. The final track is called Far Away. That song is about imagining a better world, where hatred, greed and fear don’t exist.

Do you go into the studio with songs pretty much in their final state or prefer to develop them as you record?

I usually have some idea of how I think a song should sound and then I use that as a base to develop and add any ideas later on. I also work with a really great producer, and we work together until each song sounds right, so it’s a slow developmental process right up until a song is finalized.

Tell us about the live side to your music?

I love performing but at the moment, due to my circumstances I can’t perform, although I’d really love to. I’ve been concentrating on recording from home, as many songs as I can and I’m hoping sometime in the future, I’ll be able to perform them live.

It is not easy for any new artist to make an impact regionally let alone nationally and further afield. How have you found it?

I honestly don’t know because I usually use social media to get my music heard. I don’t think where I live, there’s much of a music scene.

So the internet and social media has been a potent impact on your music? Some see it as something destined to become a negative from a positive as things progress and grow. How do you see things?

I think social media is a great and very positive way for helping musician’s and bands to get their music heard. It can take time but it’s amazing to be able to connect directly with music lovers from all around the world. I think the only negative aspect is that there are a lot of musician’s and bands trying to promote themselves on social media and it can be hard to get people to click on music links as the market is saturated but it just takes determination and hard work and it is worth being on social media in the end.

Once again a big thanks for sharing time with us; anything you would like to add or reveal for the readers?

I’m giving away 3 free songs to whoever signs up to my mailing list, plus an extra free track off of my latest EP.

Explore the music of Tali Dennerstein further @ https://www.facebook.com/TaliDennerstein.music as well as https://talidennerstein.bandcamp.com/album/live-for-tomorrow-ep and https://twitter.com/talimusicartist

Pete RingMaster 13/07/2017

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Circle of Dust – Machines of Our Disgrace

As treats go, the re-release last year of all four Circle of Dust albums was rarely rivalled, until the last sigh of 2016 that is and the unveiling of a brand new collection of songs from the 90’s emerging industrial / electronic-rock project. Circle of Dust was the introduction to the craft and stirring talent of artist/producer Klayton, the fore-runner to his acclaimed and inspiring project Celldweller though the differences to the pair of propositions is an open roar no more potent than in the breath-taking Machines of Our Disgrace.

The quartet of Circle of Dust releases in Circle of Dust, Brainchild, Metamorphosis, and Disengage and also the Misguided album from his side project Argyle Park had been ‘lost’ to our ears for over twenty years with the rights to all unavailable to Klayton after the labels they were released through shut down back in the nineties. After two decades chasing, he re-gained ownership of the rights in 2015 and set about re-mastering each of the five full-lengths last year, expanding all with additional demos, unreleased bonus tracks, acoustic/alternate versions of tracks as well as some new remixes.

Whether they were the spark to writing new Circle of Dust songs and creating a brand new episode in its distinct landscape of adventure or a new album was an idea already in motion matters little in the face of an imagination lit and gripping proposal offered by Machines of Our Disgrace. Entangling metal and electronic essences in a virulently infectious industrial incitement, Klayton and album set another bar for others to be inspired by. There is formidable steel to riffs and a backbone of rhythms which invade the senses with a crunch throughout the release while surrounding them a multi-varied and ever present snarl stalks sound and lyrics.

Opening with the suggestive air and throbbing ever intensifying lure of brief encounter re_Engage, the album swiftly consumes ears and thoughts with its title track. From behind an initial sample, repeated throughout, Machines of Our Disgrace looms, advancing with rapacious intent before launching its metallic riffs and wiry guitars grooves. Electronic provocation unites with this predacious embrace, senses and imagination infested and pleasured by the predacious tapestry as Klayton’s tones prowl with harmonic enterprise and invasive potency.

It is an exceptional full start sparking body and emotion and backed just as powerfully by next up Contagion. Living up to its name, the track soon surrounds ears with a treacle like melodic tempting, subsequently beginning a relentlessly catchy enticement with just a whiff of Ministry to it, that evolving into a more Dope/Society One like trespass as Klayton’s vocals prowl and question while the song reveals its full repertoire of creative stimulation.

There is no relinquishing of imagination and appetite with Embracing Entropy next. Featuring Celldweller, i.e. the combining of Klayton’s two unique creative sides, the track pulsates with intrusive drama and invasive energy. As across the whole of the release, samples are skilfully and evocatively used whilst sounds feverishly bubble, igniting senses and thoughts in turn. From blisteringly agitated to melodically seductive, the song is a theatre of sound and texture, inescapably persuasive and hungrily addictive.

Just as powerful is the ferocious presence of Humanarchy, the track a ravenous threat of metallic and vocal rabidity locked in allegiance with a just as imposing electronic swing while after the warning of Signal, the following alt_Human uncages a sonic tempest as enjoyably challenging as its lyrical examination of science and morality. Fuelled by rapacious infectiousness, the song easily infests body and imagination with a swift and almost prurient craving.

Hive Mind is a simmering, bordering on predatory croon tempting ears like a blend of synth pop era Ministry, Ghost In The Static, and Nine Inch Nails while straight after Outside In and Neurachem serenade and growl respectively. The first of the pair is an absorbing melodic embrace, almost warm in its touch, whilst its successor is an irritable and fiercely captivating trespass binding ears with metallic and introspective melodic seducing, both adding further pinnacles to the lofty heights of the release.

A sonic kaleidoscope evocatively devours ears next with k_OS, samples narrating its dramatic landscape before Neophyte bubbles and bursts in electronic espionage for another irresistible, contagion loaded adventure for the imagination to lose itself in.

The album closes with Malacandra, a brooding fog of sound and atmospheric suggestion haunting ears and thoughts alike across its instrumental soundscape. It is an edgy and emotionally charged piece of noir lit evocation bringing a superb adventure to a powerful and magnetic close.

Even though Celldweller has forged pleasure and lust in ears and imagination, Circle of Dust has been missed, its distinct industrial presence an absence never filled until now with the exceptional Machines of Our Disgrace where Klayton swiftly suggests he is ready to push genre boundaries once again.

Machines of Our Disgrace is out now via FiXT across most online stores and @ https://circleofdust.bandcamp.com/album/machines-of-our-disgrace-2 or http://fixtstore.com/circleofdust

http://circleofdust.net     https://facebook.com/circleofdustofficial    http://klayton.info

Pete RingMaster 17/01/2017

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Inwolves – Involves

In music the imagination needs feeding as much as ears and that is certainly what Involves masterfully achieves. The new album from the dark cinematic invention of Inwolves, the release takes the listener on a host of individual journeys and sonically eventful adventures which, whilst carrying their own suggestive dramas, sparks the mind to create its own imagined exploits in tandem. It is one of the most fascinating and provocative collections of aural experiences and sonic explorations for thoughts and emotions to immerse in, and in turn one of the most beguiling listens in a long time.

The project consists of Karen Willems, previously a drummer for a.o. Yuko who has also worked with Dirk Serries on Cycle and the Zita Swoon Group among several side projects, alongside Jürgen De Blonde and Ward Dupan. Their sound draws on the inspiration of seventies “kosmische musik” as it ventures into explorations of electronic and spatial soundscapes drawn from the predominant palette of drums, guitars, and synths textures. To be honest listening to Involves shows that any attempted hint to their music is persistently redundant as each track comes, infests, and seduces the imagination with its own uniqueness. To put it simply, the band creates expansive tapestries of sound and styles which certainly our interpretations can only attempt to provide a clue to.

Involves opens with I Va Va Vimedoom, an initially shadow wrapped persuasion swiftly engaging ears and thoughts with its melancholic synth cast entrance. There is a childlike innocence to the single melody courting the darker hues, though it soon, as the senses, enveloped by the portentous electronic smog that rolls in like stormy invasive clouds. Peace becomes tempestuous, emerging finally again to stand as that lonely initial charm within an absence of everything which shaped its birth.

It is a magnetic thought provoking start, though further contemplation is put on hold as Minimal steps forward next to bewitch and seduce. From its post punk scented electronic opening, exotic melodies and rhythms jostle for attention; eventually sharing ears as a south west Asia flavoured tempting wraps the senses and imagination. Closing eyes and allowing thoughts to wander brings a personal flight across Abyssinian and Mesopotamian landscapes but one surrounded by lurking dangers and encroaching dark times which in turn leads to thoughts to the destruction of ancient sites by modern terrorism.

The track is irresistible, as too is the following sinisterly toned Vladimir. The track is again an imagination nurturing episode on the album’s creative narrative. It easily incites mental and emotional involvement as its popping beats become entangled in a dark web of sonic and suggestive intrigue which blossoms around them. There is a kinetic virulence to the rhythmic shuffle also gripping attention before the track suddenly turns on its head and swims with synths into a dark bluesy and increasingly intensive devouring of the senses. There is a sixties hue to its controlled yet intimidating new tempestuousness, Procol Harum coming to mind initially as streams of orchestral and gothic flames rise up to evoke further persuasion upon the listener.

Strange Waltz provides exactly what its name implies; its opening muggy sonic climate eventually descending into clarity and a slow and flirtatious but again sinister three step shuffle as darkly romantic as it is emotionally apocalyptic, and ridiculously compelling. Maybe not the intention but the instrumental plays like a death dance within the imagination, suggesting and enthralling before the cosmopolitan business of Intown takes the listener down a whole different highway. Krautrock and slimline but pungent industrial essences converge on ears, the analogue embraced romancing of the recording, as across the album, memory provoking as too the bordering on obsessively rhythmic prowess which invites thoughts of bands like Kraftwerk and Neu! to the hypnotic endeavour.

Involves is completed by firstly, the invasively dark and increasingly distressed and psychotic Dirty Monks, a track unleashing a maelstrom of tortured voices and souls within its cathedral spawned ravenously shadowed depths. Its suffocating majesty subsequently makes way for the closing suggestive alchemy of Be Kind. The track is a cosmically spiced venture with Devo-esque tones to its electronics and Landscape like mystique to its discord and melody woven spatial drama. It is also another enslaving attention as it leads ears into a revolving flight of intimate and broad aural stimulation, every turn fresh from the previous with vocals an extra stirring spicing to the array of captivating textures.

It is hard to accurately describe Involves or its individual temptations but fair to say each will feel a unique experience for every singular exploration into a band which specialises in creating, to borrow the last words of their press release, “a world of endless possibilities.”

Involves is out now via Consouling Sounds and @ http://inwolves.bandcamp.com

https://www.facebook.com/Inwolves-266399616750821

Pete RingMaster 30/03/2016

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

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