Dark/Gothic

Artist: Of Montreal Label: Warners

A new original sin. A new paradise. A new beginning, created by yet another ending. We all die every day, we all breathe every day. This endless duality becomes especially apparent in the works of electronic chameleon Die Form. Founded almost 40 years ago as a revolutionary live act for the both lustful and visionary BDSM scene, the infamous French artistic couple Philippe Fichot and Éliane P. to this day retained two of its essential features: their unique artistry – and their knack for throbbing club hits right on the black pulse of the present. They balance on a knife’s edge, embrace both death and life, night and day, pain and love, evil and good. It’s never just black or white for them. Instead, it’s the myriad shades of grey that rule their art. It’s the myriad shades of grey, after all, that rule our lives. “Baroque Equinox” is a carnal and courageous thrust into a new age. A manifesto both showing the future and looking back at was once was. A new equinox. Night and day are alike, a metaphor that could not describe Die Form any better. Day and night, Eros and Thanatos united, even perennialy tied to each other. The one is impossible without the other, and for one sweet and endless moment it remains unclear in which direction the pendulum will swing. Only one thing is certain: It will push the masses to the dancefloor with a gripping beat and visionary electronics. Brilliantly crafted by these pioneers of electronic music, “Baroque Equinox” embraces powerful Electro and the Avantgarde, baroque’s mesmerising opulence and a sterile beat, rhapsody and brute force. Sinful night and innocent day set the stage for a work of hypnotising potency, for a panopticon of Electro, Industrial, Techno, classical music, sex or eroticism?, poetry and the Butoh theatre of the far east. Never before have peccable club culture and artistic ambition been getting along so well. The times in which the French couple freely gave in to fetish and sex are equally over as their era of pure Bach worshipping which catapulted them out of the dark scene and into the consciousness of serious music lovers worldwide. Today, as a mark to celebrate this special event of a baroque equinox, they give birth to a new beast about to bestow new facets upon the world of Dark Electro. A beast with a Janus face and two hearts. A suffering human being in a post-apocalyptic dystopia, a creature carrying the untouched purity of nature in his heart and the marching beat of the industrial revolution in his mind. “Baroque Equinox” is a moment floating freely, a state that can any minute turn towards light or darkness, towards silence or chaos. Just like in one of Gustave Courbet’s ("L'origine du monde") pictures in which a hint of a looming abyss is ever present despite all aesthetic beauty, this album is a true testimony for the times we live in and yet sounds like having fallen out of time. How they still manage to pull off something like this after a staggering 40 year career? This, to be sure, will once again remain their secre Record Label: Trisol Music Group Style: Goth Rock

Moontower is a solo studio album by the Swedish musician Dan Swanö. Dan Swanö described the album as sounding like “If Rush played death metal in the 1970s”. The album cover is a close up of Swanö's own eye. Record Label: Black Mark Style: Metal

Artist: Third Realm Label: Distortion Productions

Artist: Stiff Little Fingers Label: Edel Germany Gmbh / Hamburg

Artist: Chris Spedding Label: Cleopatra

In designing the PALAIS IDEAL, John Edwards (guitars, vocals, synths, programming) and Richard van Kruysdijk (bass, baritone guitar, backing vocals, synths, programming) have joined ranks with bands such as Editors, She Past Away, Lebanon Hanover, Trentemøller and Ikon, who have also drawn inspiration from works by The Cure, New Order, The Sound and the Sisters of Mercy. As musicians and producers, both members have worked on projects for independent and major labels and collaborated with members of Bauhaus, Tuxedomoon, Christian Death, The Legendary Pink Dots, Clan of Xymox, Swans Constructed from fragments of post-punk, new wave and goth. Foundations are provided by vintage synthesizers and drum machines. Sweeping guitars and vocals create overarching structures. Romanticism and stark modernism are fused into an energetic new style. Record Label: Dark Vinyl Style: Dark Wave

Artist: HARALD GROSSKOPF & EBERHARD KRANEMANN Label: Bureau B

The first ever reissue of "What Is This Thing Called 'Disco'?", a landmark Australian post-punk artefact originally released in 1981 as an LP with accompanying 12" single. One of the first records from the Australian underground to incorporate disco elements into the reigning post-punk asethetic, "What Is This Thing Called 'Disco'?" sits alongside records by international counterparts like Flying Lizards or Yellow Magic Orchestra in its combination of art school formalism and dancefloor hedonism. Melbourne artist Philip Brophy is best known for his work with 70s/80s art-punk provocateurs Tsk Tsk Tsk (pronounced with three clicks of the tongue). Asked to stage an exhibition in Melbourne in 1980, Brophy decided to put disco into an art gallery context. He created 'fake' band Asphixiation to mime on stage along to tape, and recorded "What Is This Thing Called 'Disco'?" as the backing tracks. In 1981, iconic Melbourne label Missing Link released a two song 12", and later that year the band released the album themselves, repressing the 12" and including it in the package. 36 years later, Chapter Music has lovingly remastered and reissued the album + single package, with new liner notes and photos. Record Label: Chapter Music Style: Indie Rock

Top dead centers are existences that have departed from the vices of bourgeois expectations and define their own norms. And turn the lever over it ... Be afraid! Anxiety disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, borderline, burnout, depression, social phobias, flight into religion or illusion - the structures that crystallize out on the (psychic) ​​iceberg below the surface of the water are very complex. The neurosis has long been the social norm. Why else should we accept damaged characters in leadership positions? And why else should we accept a system that allows a minority to benefit from the fact that the branch on which the majority is sitting is slowly but surely sawn off? The tension between anxiety and pleasure is like an addiction. Trapped between fascination and paralysis, we pursue the Pied Piper and Arsonist, who wander around in our midst. Since the world has been shown to be much more crazy than expected, the neuroses are flourishing! And while the passengers of the non-sinkable Titanic were clumsy from Champagnre, we are drunk of our adrenaline - and watch as incredulously as those drifting our ship toward the iceberg. Record Label: Danse Macabre Style: Goth Rock

Artist: Croatian Amor Label: Posh Isolation

Standing with one leg in medieval times and the other in modern metal, Apocalypse Orchestra weaves their own special tapestry of music. The tones of the hurdy gurdy and the bagpipe entwines the heavy guitars and music separated by over 800 years meet. The band was formed by musical partners in crime Mikael and Erik based in Gävle, Sweden. Inspired by their love for folk music and slow metal they decided to combine the two. With a foundation of original music and lyrics but also incorporating melodies from as far back as the 11th century the goal was to create a musical homage to a era long since gone. The songs tell of flagellants, plague doctors, tales of hell, the meaninglessness of war and of suffering; they are all chapters in the bands grimoire. To balance it out they also shine a light on medieval art, science and enlightenment. When several songs had been composed the band was completed with the addition of Jonas, Rikard and Andreas. The Orchestra have since played live on many occasions and has been seen at both clubs and festivals, as well as performing live with the Gävle Symphonic Orchestra. Apocalypse Orchestra always looks forward as well as inward, to seek answers to some of history's big questions. How did people find meaning and momentum? How did they find joy in life when two out of three died from the black death? Was there happiness under the heavy yokes of faith, and what was the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow? Record Label: Despotz Records Style: Metal

The eighth instalment of the popular Electro-sampler-series yet again offers a selection of new songs from the most important scene bands and the most promising newcomers. The jam-packed CD contains more new and unreleased tracks than ever before... and all of this at the price of a CD-single. The Electrostorm compilation-series has always been somewha Record Label: Out Of Line Style: Dark Wave

MERCIFUL NUNS bring something back to the scene that has long been forgotten: spirituality, thoughtfulness and a great depth. The charitable nuns, around their mastermind, Artaud Seth, return with the ninth part of their epic journey through pansophic traditions, holy wisdoms and mystical insights. This time the journey leads us into the world of the ancient Indian philosophy. AUM provides a lyrical context against the backdrop of hypnotized soundscapes that are full of energy and carefully orchestrated arrangements and will undoubtedly meet the high expectations of the evangelical fan base. A-U-M transports the audience into a shamanistic ritual of deep Hindu traditions. Close your eyes and clasp the vibrations A-U-Ms. Like a master of ceremonies, Artaud provides instructions for body, mind, and soul in his very own concise manner. Be ready to listen and embark on a journey full of deep secrets. Let yourself be on a remarkable and well designed album, which works well on several levels well. Post Goth at its best! Record Label: SolarLodge Style: Goth Rock

The 2004 work as re-release including three remixes of the limited remix edition. PRODUCT INFORMATION In the torrent of animal feelings between love and hatred Bruno Kramm and Stefan Ackermann LAVA: glow and LAVA: ashes to a rushing stream of human abysses. The musician's conceptual double-album demonstrates a virtuosic diversity of styles between symphonics and industrial gothic beyond all classes, which impressively underlines the unique position of the ego in the Gothic scene. Unspoken sound-worlds hit LAVA on the primordial cry of emotions and created a pull into the human suffering of the naked creature between existence and hope. The re-release of the album contains three remixes of the limited remix edition. Record Label: Danse Macabre Style: Goth Rock

Pablo Casals (cello) & Rudolf Serkin (piano)

Artist: Ides Of Gemini Label: RISE ABOVE LIMITED

Record Label: Snowhite Style: Alternative

What happens after death? Whether religion, philosophy, medicine or art - this mystery has always characterized the work of numerous disciplines. The Berlin-based dark-metal band Eden Weint Im Grab also deals intensively with this subject - and is now dedicating a more than 70-minute concept album to the great question of all questions with "Na (c) htodreise". #### The 15 songs are like a journey through the beyond and the underworld, just like the "Divine Comedy" by the Italian poet Dante Alighieri. Each piece stands for a station on an imaginary space map. Attempts were made to convey the different moods through texts and music. The basis is punchy dark metal with catchy hooklines and massive reef-violence, but the use of violin, viola and cello has a chamber music character. #### PRESS #### "... but the disc holds (...) also those accustomed playful and extraordinary moments, the EDEN WEINT IM GRAB have always distinguished and stand out from many genre colleagues." (Legacy 13/15) #### "Eden cries in the grave have set a true monument with their new album." (Tommek's music world 5/5) #### "Na (h) todreise" - the coming new one The work of EDEN WEINT IN THE GRAB ¬- has everything you can expect from a dark metal album: a gloomy atmosphere that creates a feeling of earthy depth and tension, dark, partly worn melancholic melodies and a morbid text- Concept. The electric guitars and Alexander Paul Blake's vocals set the right accents Record Label: Einheit Produktionen Style: Metal

The brand new 15th studio album from musical pioneers WIRE! It arrives on the 40th anniversary of their debut performance. Yet it's about as far from nostalgia as you could get. This is the sound of a uniquely addictive 21st century psychedelic post punk. Colin Newman and Matt Simms' guitar work is alternately jagged and luminous, whilst bassist Graham Lewis' ear-catching lyrics are vivid yet oblique. Meanwhile, drummer Robert Grey provides a virtual masterclass in percussive minimalism. But it's how the various instruments mesh together which really counts. And Newman's production creates a sonic space in which even the smallest gesture is accorded some recognition. Highlights include the optimistic dazzle of "Diamonds In Cups", which has an almost T-Rex style buzz and chug and the moody swing of "This Time". Elsewhere on the musical spectrum, there's the menacing widescreen grandeur of "Playing Harp for the Fishes" and the breakneck paced guitar pop of "Short Elevated Period". WIRE are one of the world's most ground breaking bands, their influence acknowledged by bands as diverse as Blur, Sonic Youth, R.E.M. and Savages. But they have never been interested in exploiting past glories. For WIRE, there is only ever one possible direction; forward. So it's perhaps not surprising that over recent years, they've played strings of sold out shows, achieved career best record sales and been cited as a strong influence by yet another generation of bands. WIRE's last three albums have garnered nothing but rave reviews. Consequently, although it may be being released on the band's 40th anniversary, "Silver/Lead" is an album which has nothing to do with the past and everything to do with the future Record Label: Pink Flag Style: Indie Rock