Active since 1996 and named taking inspiration from the the poem "Gesang Weylas" of the German romantic writer Eduard Mörike, Orplid are a duo formed by Frank Machau and Uwe Nolte. Their fourth album GREIFENHERZ will be released at the end of November and it will be a pleasant surprise for their fans and for all the ones who are willing to listen to something fresh into the neo-folk/industrial genre. The album has a wide range of influences and sound solutions that many names came to my mind, even the Portishead. Let me explain first, don't freak out! Ok, relax a bit and take a deep breath because Orplid didn't change their sound or their industrial approach to neo-folk, they only widened their sound palette. Using dramatic male and female vocals (sorry but I can't tell you who helped them because on the promo CD is missing her name) and orchestrations along with acoustic guitars and martial drums they created a great atmosphere which is enriched also by the massive use of melodies. I named Portishead because of how they used the organ pads/clean guitars on "Des Sperbers Geheimnis" and also for the use of sampled strings/female vocals on "Traum von Blashyrkh". It's great how they worked on these atmospheres adding more theatricality. You know, when you listen to Portishead you feel like a feeling of emptiness, well, Orplid kinda filled that emptiness with their dark vein. Despite my audacious comparison GREIFENHERZ has so much more to offer, thanks to acoustic ballads, electronic atmospheric tunes enriched by choirs (see "Der Anarchist" and the following "Gesang an den Horusfalken"). Great CD indeed! Don't miss it!

Robert Marciniak is a really active guy: he runs with Marcin the Rage In Eden label / distribution, always with Marcin he did an album under the Across The Rubicon moniker plus during the latest year and half he did a couple of Rukkanor releases ("Despartica face one" and the Rukkanor/Cold Fusion collaboration "Silk road"). His latest Rukkanor's release is this DESPARTICA FACE TWO. As for the first part, DESPARTICA's lyrics are excerpts of classic 19th and 20th century poetry (William Butler Yeats, Emily Dickinson, William Blake, Emily Bronte, etc.) but this time the music differs a lot from the the last year's release. If on "Despartica face one" martial industrial was the main style, on DESPARTICA FACE TWO Robert surprised everyone by changing almost totally the sound palette as 80's electronic with a bit of e.b.m. has been his main influence. Try to imagine a martial bumping version of Visage, with the same decadent/romantic atmosphere(check the vocal/piano duet of "When you are old") but with a little bit more aggressive attitude: just like an industrial version of early John Foxx. The clean vocals of Robert (only on "The dead" he treated them) balance really well the music, creating an interesting contrast. This is one of the best albums of this year's fall!

Alternating post punk impetuosity, a bit of neo-folk, a bit of new wave, a light martial/tribal touch with a heavy sprinkle of dark atmospheres, Kannonau packed their first official full-length INITIUM with eleven tracks. Listening to the tracks it's evident to a smart ass like me the impetuosity I named earlier but punk music taught that geniality and honesty is the best way to express yourself and music should born from the union of the both. Following this lesson the three members of Kannonau did their best and succeeded into giving a vibrant touch to their songs. The theatrical singing highlight their poetical English/Italian lyrics and the music create a good suspended atmosphere in balance between rock (the use of traditional rock instruments) and industrial culture solutions (the choice of creating twisted and dark atmosphere with everything you have).

This isn't my cup of tea because This Void Inside play a genre I'm not interested into but I know that they could raise a certain interest within the goth audience so if you are into Him you could find DUST quite interesting. This Void Inside mix metal riffs, synth melodies and catchy refrains with easiness and taste. Tracks like "Send me a sign" or the ballad "Time will tell" are good for the average MTV audience. The tracks tend to repeat a consolidated scheme but there's a good balance of different kind of atmospheres.

After two years in the working D.Loop made it and thanks also to the revived Spittle Records (they originally released the "In limbo" MLP back in the 80s) Limbo fans are able to listen to songs that only few had the chance to listen to. EARLY WORKS (1984-1987) gathers the very first songs recorded by the Tuscan combo for their first demotape (self released back in 1984), for the "In limbo" MLP plus early compilations participations and a bunch of unreleased tracks. The two CD pack comes in a deluxe package that reproduces a gatefold double album package with inner covers and all. Using original graphics as well as the color version of the painting they originally used for their first tape, the release contains also interesting liner notes both in Italian and English language. The whole recordings have been remastered and the result is really good: clean and powerful. The sound has no flaws and it gives you the opportunity to check the early goth electronic tunes of the band. The Virgin Prunes inspired vocals, the powerful bass guitar, the raw synths, everything is there to be discovered or revived into your memory. Personally these are the Limbo's recordings I prefer, because they were sounding like a post punk electronic band on the wild. You can check some tracks and purchasing the CD directly from the band through their myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/limboit