With one track on the Enfant Terrible compilation "Radio resistencia" at their active, Distel are now releasing, always for the same label, the debut limited to 300 copies 7". Already active as drone/experimental act Hadewych, the guy behind Distel bring on the turntable two great tracks of slow anxious electronic. Whispered vocals and hypnotic loops are the main elements of "Mrk" and "Regn" which, in balance from cold wave and electro industrial, are able to give to minimal pop a new meaning by adding tension and mystery. Great release!

Those of you who got a chance to hear „Revenge“ (2005) and „Ignorance“ (2007) by Alien Produkt are familiar with their rather unique EBM sound; very club oriented, the beats are comfortable for your feet, nice melodies and some emotional touch is there too. AP changed to another label but did not change its sound. „Honour vs Falsehood“ is the first EP from the planned two to mark the return of the band that was founded 12 years ago back from their break. In total there are 14 track and over 70 minutes of music here. Two of the compositions have never been released before.
One of the best things about this EP is that it features a relatively high number of remixes of numerous songs instead of boring the listener with 3 tracks remixed in 10 versions each. The only exception from that is “Oscilacion Parasita“ presented in 4 versions. Make no mistake the track is good, but listening to it 4 times in an hour is rather tiring as it would be the case with any song, no matter how much you like it.
The remix of “Slender” by Mechanical Moth and “Reality - Out Of Control (blood room remix by asseptic room) are certainly among the most intriguing compositiond on the CD.
To sum it up; this is a solid EBM work that would work just fine in clubs, (also while driving, working out and whenever you may want a kick.)

Strip In Midi Side is a band coming from Sarno, near Salerno, Italy. They just produced a demo CD with five tracks (you can check four of them on their myspace page): "A strip in your midi side", "Everyday like this", "The dreams", "Bring me down" and "Sweet bastard". They call their style neuro-pop and claim themselves influenced by Depeche Mode and Marilyn Manson. Well produced and mixed Strip In Midi Side's music is a a nice blend of electronic pop and guitar riffs. Personally I hear more Duran Duran than Depeche Mode or Marilyn Manson (check the refrain on "The dream") and this isn't a critique because I love the first two Duran Duran's album as well as the ones recorded with the original line-up reunited. Anyway, Giotto (vocals/synth), Amon (bass/vocals), Maks (guitar) and Akrid (synthesizer/programming/noises) are ready to get signed and they deserve it because their music is energetic, melodic and catchy. "Bring me down", for example, would fit well the alternative dance floors as it is a mix of goth, electro and new wave.

It was back in 1982 when Bon Harris and Douglas McCarthy started recording their first demos. Their equipment was very limited: drums, a sequencer and McCarthy’s charismatic voice; all in the vein of the punk culture that was still big in those days. The upshot of those recording was that NE became the flag ship of a new music genre, later labeled as Electronic Body Music—EBM.
NE as a trio featuring Bon Harris, Douglas McCarthy and Jason Payne is responsible for recording such classic albums that innovated the music scene like “That Total Age”, “Belief” and “Ebbhead” which every true EBM fan should be familiar with. “Big Hit” of 1995 was the last full length NB album released before the band decided to go separate ways. I think it is clear that “Industrial Complex” is THE most anticipated reunion album of the current year.
My personal impression of the album is throughout positive. NE succeeded to record an up-to-date sounding CD and yet remain loyal to their typical old sound. Another good thing worth mentioning is that McCarthy actually sings on this album unlike the usual case with his other project Fixmer and McCarthy where he mainly shouts.
The opener “Promises” strikes the listener right away with that familiar old-school EBM sound and the lyrics make you deliberate about the time you’ve got on your hands and what to do with it. “The time is not on your side” – how true.
“Going Away” is actually a ballad, believe it or not. Piano leads the melody and the use of electronic effects is absolutely minimal. The lyrics are about realizing how the gap between you and a person you love grows which will eventually end up in a separation.
“Hit you Back” is about rejection. “No matter what you do, I’m not in love with you” – who has never heard those words?
“Down on your Knees” has got some Depeche Mode touch to its sound, in my opinion. Really slightly. “I don’t Know You” is a nice mid-tempo song you can dance to without getting out of your breath. Actually, the lyrics do fit a place full of young adults. “Travelling” is a song about getting to know yourself and discovering things you were not aware of. Well, like Socrates used to say; know thyself.
There is a number of further songs truly worth to be checked out: “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang”, My Door is Open” and a powerful “Payroll”.
Unless The Sisters of Mercy unexpectedly come up with a brand new record, this is the re-union album of the year.

Limited to 499 copies (plus a deluxe edition of 99 boxes containing also a bonus MCD and a DVD plus other gadgets) ENOERAEW is the collaborative project of Massimo & Pierce (Black Sun Productions, Anarcocks, Queen Lear) and Stefano Rossello (:Bahntier//, Detune-X, Ketvector). Black Sun Production in the past have collaborated with Coil (they performed live with them during their later period and collaborated also with Lydia Lunch, Val Denham, Sudden infant, Niko Skorpio, Sonne Hagal and Andrew Zealley to name few) while Stefano has Justin Bennet (live drummer of Skinny Puppy, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, Peter Murphy, and many others) collaborating with him in :Bahntier// since 2005. ENOERAEW sees the trio creating ten original tunes (some born reworking older tunes) plus a cover of Virgin Prunes' "Sweet home under white clouds" which ideally are inspired by the work that Coil did since their early years filtered through Stefano's electro industrial bleeps and rich rhythmical layers and the theatrical experimentalism of the Swiss duo. The result is a ritualistic hypnotizing moment made of melodies, chants and rhythms. Love/desire, magic/death themes are the core of the tracks and make of ENOERAEW an album you'll gladly check...