This joyous bundle of tribal music and ritual industrial and other such related genres has been a bit of a mainstay on Brutal Resonance for quite some time. When they released their follow up to “Netjer” last year I gave it quite a few spins but never got around to reviewing the damned thing so here I am. What you can expect from this album is what you’ve heard from Worms of the Earth in the past done in a way that shows his master of the craft. Good production as rolling synths reminisce the sound of Egyptian deserts and a time when pharaohs ruled. Depending on which track you dive into, you might receive a blessing of dark ambient rhythms more so than the tribal-electronic mainstay – such as on ‘Sigil of DHWTY’. Another showcase from the artist who does it quite unlike everyone else.

This is an album that I’ve been hearing rumbles about throughout the dark scene since 2023. The echoes blasted over into 2024 as I saw it hit a couple of End-of-Year lists so it was about time I checked it out myself. From the opening moments of ‘Bereishit’ we get some pretty damned good beats; at least with this song, the electronic bass is more like a heavy pulse, heavy breaths.  The Hebrew chants done up by guest artist Chava Sanberg are rather poor, however; unproduced, not in line with the music, and sounds like something that should be on a demo reel rather than a studio album. The vocal problems don’t stop there, either, as on the very next track the vocals are soft, weak, and buried in the mix; I had this same issue with songs such as ‘Number One’, ‘Can’t See’, so on and so forth. I can’t really tell whether or not Vee has a good voice or not. However, the beats are rather stellar once again breaching a line between classic electronics and trip-hop. It’s a polarizing album in which most of the music I can enjoy, but the vocals fall flat on almost every song. And when the vocals are just as important as the music, I fail to see how I can enjoy it in full. 

The husband / wife duo Helix, featuring Mari Kattman and Tom Shear, have come out with their brand-new EP “Unimaginable Place”. A brighter and lighter flavor for each favoring synthpop antics without the tropes attached, aside from catchy dance beats. The title track is dancefloor single that’ll likely light up dancefloors whereas ‘Lie to Herself’ and ‘Grey’ will be songs that you play when you need a good cry, or an emotional ballad to get you through the day. ‘Hurt Like Me’ is a good uplifting track with a harder bass and hopeful synth lines. I wouldn’t go so far as to say this is my favorite output from Helix, but it’s a good addition to their discography. It’s lacking a WOW factor that makes me want to come back over and over again, but it’ll fit in nicely on playlists. 

I sometimes feel as if some people will judge an entire album based on one song, and I firmly believe this is the case with Cyberaktif’s comeback album “eNdgame”. The single ‘Broken Through Time’ has been talked about and discussed to death with many saying how good it is – and I whole heartedly agree. I think it’s a great single and outdoes the rest of the album. However, that does leave the rest of the album which is…Well, it’s good, but not great. To sum up my thoughts for the most part, it’s a very safe album that plays into classic electro-industrial elements without ever pushing the envelope. Of course, due to the members’ experience in the field you probably won’t find better production in the field better than this. But songs such as ‘Bitter End’ more or less bore throughout its duration whilst the vocals are subpar; overall, it would have been better as an instrumental than not. And I feel the same for the the rest of the album; make it an instrumental. I can’t complain about the music too much; it’s what you expect from Cyberaktif. I just would have liked to see something that pushed a bit more. 

This is one that I stumbled upon while browsing through some of Dependent’s catalog. I never really expect much but coming across this one was lovely. Dark electro in 2024 with grand production values and enough variation to keep me coming back for more. ‘Lobotomy’ features elements of glitch amidst the oppressing beats whilst ‘Friendly Fire’ dives right into a dancefloor ready club beat. Even the opening tracks, such as ‘Karma Oyster’, are riveting and addicting with EBM-eccentric basslines and industrial sampling. This doesn’t come without complaints, however. Some of the songs can come in at nearly six-minutes long, and that isn’t necessary for most of them; a minute or two cut from the track would have made them better and not as tiresome as there’s not enough meat on the bones to support the length. Mildreda’s vocals could also use some work; they’re serviceable but an hour of hearing distorted whispering becomes boring. Do something different, guest vocalists or something, but for fuck’s sake, do something different with the vocals.

This dude became an immediate subject of fascination after I listened to his collaborative album with Youth Code. That was filthy as fuck, but it wasn’t until I listened to his solo material after that I realized how much of his sound broke through on Youth Code’s seminal release. And since then I’ve been following him. Just in January he released a double-single and it’s fucking phenomenal. The first track is an all-out war of industrial metal and a bit of sludge in between. Booming guitars and explosive kick-drums with a touch of noise whilst Yosef nearly vomits his lungs from his chest. ‘Shame’s Mirror’ gives a sense of lounge with some noise walls behind it all before we’re thrust into rougher territory. A fascinating display of aggressive industrial metal from the one and only.