Coming from Liguria, Italy, Fallen Tears born in 1999 and since then produced only one album titled "The drowned world". Formed by Giorgio Bormida (already active in the 90's with Sense and FEM), Elio Isaia and Jean Paul Braghin (he's also active as Architect's Eye, an industrial project which released two albums for Darkcell Decline label) the band is distributing their latest album titled FAITH. The album is a sort of hazard the band wanted to pursue because if the title recalled you the third The Cure album, well, you guessed it right, because the Fallen Tears' second album is their version of that album. The band knew that it was impossible to re-create the same atmospheres and they could had died by The Cure's fans hands into the attempt. Fortunately their covered it without being true to the original album but being true to the sound of the bands of that period. So, "The holy hour", "Primary", "Other voices", etc. have being recorded like they were covered by bands such as My Bloody Valentine, The Jesus And Mary Chain, etc but keeping always in mind the band's personality. I listened to this CD four times before talking about it because it is a risk to tell to people if it is a good album or not and I must admit that it is. The trio did a good work into giving their version of those tracks without trying being clones or without sounding ridiculous. Good atmospheres and good arrangements (with the cool use of some electronics) are doing the rest. It is available through CD Baby for 11$ and there you can check the first three tracks. P.s. There's also a brief original track after 40 minutes of silence but it sounds like a dark atmospheric ambient outro and it isn't indicative of the original songwriting skills of the band...

Must Have Been Tokyo is band hailing from Lucerne-Switzerland, and the "Insects" ep collects songs written beetween 2003 and 2006. It sounds great and basically in all the 8 tracks the rhythm guitar and percussions curl around minimal postpunk basslines - less is more following Gang Of Four's shaolin. There are compelling hybrids like the track "Aah" which has some fearless eurowave analogue synths embedded into an all-English postpunk tune - possibly my favourite here and surely a killer track when played live. In seeking a way forward with Wave and Postpunk, mhbT have come up with something both bizzarre and danceable. They say "dance music for people who can't dance", but even "dance music for rainy days" would fit nicely. Contact the band through their website or myspace for a copy of the ep.

Project of Riccardo Prencipe, born while he was still playing with Lupercalia, Corde Oblique is a personal place where he gathers different guests with the intention of create something magical. VOLONTA' D'ARTE sees Riccardo on classical guitars and medieval lute and guests coming from Ashram, Spiritual Front, Dwelling, Argine and Lupercalia at vocals, piano, clarinet, violin, percussions, etc. The thirteen tracks are in balance from medieval atmospheres and melancholic acoustic ballads. Usually I'm not keen to this kind of music but I have to admit that Corde Oblique is a different thing. Tracks like "Before Utecht" (a piano/acoustic guitar duo) or the tense and energetic "Kaiowas" (the less classical inspired track) create a strong atmosphere where with the undoubted professionalism is half of the recipe's ingredients, the other half is into the heart of the people who created it.

Released back in 1988 and reissued in 1994 by Musica Maxima Magnetica, KSHATRIYA has been the first vinyl album from Ain Soph. After their tape trilogy and after "Ars regia" on Necrophile, the Roman combo (back then there were still Crucifige and Clau D.E.D.I. on the line up) decided to have a different approach regarding their way of making "magickal music". If the first three tapes were pure ritual music, with "Ars regia" and specially with KSHATRIYA, they passed from functional music to "spiritual" music. If on their first years Crucifige and THX were focused on magick and rituals, KSHATRIYA see them approaching the magical themes under a different point of view. Eliphas Levi made them switch their approach from men who experimented to warriors who want to focus their lives on pride and honor, trying to forge their spirit to deserve a high level into both the human and "divine" scale. For this reason their picked such a title: the Kshatriya were the warrior caste, for the early Vedic civilization, who were led by the divine light (you can read more about them following this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kshatriya). Musically the five tracks of the album see the combo leaving their ritualistic humming, embracing a form of industrial paganism with "eucharistical" moments (see the amosphere of the final part of "Stella maris" as well as "Decimus gradus"). This album sees also the important help of Eliana on vocals. She created a sort of hypnotizing chant helping Ain Sopth into the creation of their most significant album of their new course. You can check again this piece of Italian industrial ritualistic history, thanks to this new Hauruck! SPQR reissue.

Limited to 300 copies this 7" split single contains two songs from Comando Suzie and O Paradis respectively. The first band see also Demian of O Paradis as guest guitar. Comando Suzie present a nice neo-folk song but approaching the genre in a personal way, with a certain experimental touch regarding the background noises but with also a pop sensibility really functional. I really liked its atmosphere. O Paradis' song "Pergamino" sounds like an outtake coming from the session of the latest album "Cuando El Tiempo Sopla" because of Demian's way of creating dreamy atmospheres with his experimental approach to acustic ballads. A nice single which really surprised me making me know Comando Suzie.