It’s been a rough day and a half for us at the HQ, as we imagine it’s been for you. We’ve been listening to records, watching movies and music vids, sharing memories and stories, crying, laughing, and reflecting. A loss this big has aftershocks, and putting things down just for a day to grieve isn’t going to stop them from coming, nor will it stop the stream of new music entering the (now dimmer) world. So here’s the Tracks post we had prepped for yesterday. We’ll have a podcast up tomorrow which’ll aim at discussing the impact of Bowie on the music we cover here, and then it’ll be back to usual, in a sense. Nothing has changed. Everything has changed.

Rein

Rein: Smoke 'em if you got 'em.

Blac Kolor, “Skele Ton (Schwefelgelb Remix)”
We’re hotly anticipating the new EP from Blac Kolor, one of the most interesting (and underrated) artists working the techno-industrial crossover sound. Stormfly drops this Friday, and from what we’ve heard it’s an extension of the deep sound design and smart use of space and texture this project has always had a penchant for. Check this hot EBM style mix of the lead off track “Skele Ton” from Schwefelgelb and be on the lookout for more words on the EP when we get to hear it in full.

Rein, “Can’t Handle Me”
SwEBM newcomer Rein (who sat in with fellow Stockholm newbloods The Operating Tracks a couple of months back) just released an eponymous five track EP which gets in and out in a quarter of an hour. Super stripped-down basslines and Crass-style working class rage are the order of the day, but the personal fury on this cut makes us think more of Restricted Area. If we have one complaint it’s that the vocals need to be further up in the mix: there’s personality in spades here, and it should be given free rein. Definitely one to watch.

Steril, “Animal (Front 242 cover)”
We caught hell a few months for suggesting that Front 242’s 05:22:09:12 Off wasn’t very good. The debate over that album’s merits rages on, but hey, if nothing else it gave us “Animal”, a decent song which our old pals from Germany, Steril have given a spin for a recent mammoth compilation of 242 covers. More details on the release can be found here, in the meantime we’ll be doing a careful side by side of this version and the original. Which is better? You decide!

Khobra, “Bladeless”
More provocative techno/EBM crossover from the Deth crew in Toronto. This starts incredibly tight and housey but ends up spacetrucking out to far more astral climes, almost bringing Australia’s conspicuous by their absence FORCES to mind. A super-limited 7″ is out now (“Disclaimer: Lathe cut vinyl can be a little noisy and is mono”) along with the digital.

Neurotech, “Compass”
Slovenian symphonic metal outfit Neurotech committed fully to the trance/industrial sound that sits at the edge of their aesthetic for Evasive, their latest full-length, and the results are impressive. Wulf’s somewhat proggy style dovetails well with the synthwave touches he works in, with the tracks avoiding both repetition and ponderousness. Should appeal to fans of mind.in.a.box and recent Mlada Fronta.

Wolfsheim, “The Sparrows And The Nightingales (Ancient Methods ‘Ode To The Night’ Remix)”
When we first heard from the homeboy Marc Church that Dark Entries were gonna be releasing a new 12″ of Wolfsheim’s synthpop classic “The Sparrows and the Nightingales” with a remix by techno-industrialist Ancient Methods our reaction was a resounding “what?” That was followed very closely by a resounding “Wow!” upon hearing the mix, a clanging and aggressive dub of a seminal club song that is rapidly approaching it’s 25th birthday and is well worth bringing back from overplay exile. If this is the sort of thing Dark Entries is branching out into in 2016 we’ll be pretty pleased.