THE YEAR OF THE HELLSCAPE......
2017 witnessed the rise of synth laden Doom Pop, and three artists in particular honed in on goth atmosphere & apocalyptic aesthetic....
Ever wondered what walking around a ruined metropolis undone by man’s bitter loneliness & greed would sound like…..
The Philadelphia based project creates soundscapes that partner up with the singular nightmare of traversing a post-apocalyptic gauntlet of dust & despair. Turns out that the sound of future failures is a minimalist one, where synths manage to gurgle and soar, where percussion skitters and voices echo through cement grey hallows.
The truth is, LUNACY is very much from the present and “Beneath the Fold” is very much a gestating piece of unnerving industrial post-punk that borrows enough from the past while predicting our ghostly demise. Rising from within a metallic cloud of endlessly looping six-string, nerve fraying percussion, and gothier-than-goth vocals, the forever shrouded LUNACY makes good on its name and doomsday intent.
LUNACY’s latest single “Road To Foil,” never allows you to feel comfortable and that’s perfectly encapsulated during a brief moment of the track’s final third in which (some) of the noise dissipates, where the song readies itself with one last gulp of air and one last charge into the nether before vanishing completely...
LUNACY’s new ‘Disposition’ EP drops on 12/19 via Mental Healing (US) and Black Verb Records (Germany)
Stuck in a rut? Forever being screwed over by the powers that be? Burdened by the inability to properly soundtrack the failing pursuit of capitol gains, well I may have found a temporary solution to your aural fix…..
…..this is WALK ONTO SUN.
The Los Angeles based project of Ben Engebretson, who handles every aspect of Walk Onto Sun, specializes in downtrodden soundscapes that navigate the surreal realities of modern life. Walk Onto Sun’s “Feral Plains” rides a hypnotic groove that falls in line somewhere between Blade Runner-esque darkwave and Tricky indebted trip-hop.
“Feral Plains” is aided by a Lynchian-like flare for the cinematic, as Walk Onto Sun dissect the minimalism of dense space while tweaking layers of sound, from cutting snares courtesy of Steve Holmes to ominous synths. Engebretson’s vocal haunts from the back of the room, acting as your narrator of doom while floating over the proceedings and taking stock of every pained head-bob…..
Walk Onto Sun’s latest EP ‘Grow Static’ is out now via Plaster Cast Recordings
The word drive and synthesizers seem to go hand in hand these days, as No Colour can attest on their latest EP ‘Drive All Night.’
No Colour, the Philadelphia based duo of Sean Green (vocals/lyrics) & Kevin McTague (production/sound design), deal in mood and the slow burn, choosing to build their songs layer by layer, synth by synth, and by utilizing the philosophy of addition & retraction. The group toes the line of many dark genres, from electro-goth to witch-house, with film-score like structuring.
No Colour’s “Pale Spectre” deals in blown out synth-scapes, while benefiting from some Cliff Martinez-like eeriness as Green laments: “This room is cold like midnight / An awful time of day / I stare at my reflection / But feel no recognition.”
What No Colour accomplished on their latest album ‘Drive All Night’ was creating a space where specific sounds, clipped memories, and mood combine to overhaul the senses one song at a time....
No Colour’s latest EP ‘Drive All Night’ is out now via End Transmission Recordings
@endtransmissionrecordings