For those who are unaware, I do see myself as a bit of a gym buff. I am not strict in the sense that I obsess over calorie intake or that I lift for competition, but it is a hobby of mine nonetheless. I go four days a week as a hobby and enjoy lifting things up and putting them back down. During those four days, however, I am always on the hunt for great music that helps me get through my two-hour routines. I have over one-thousand songs on my phone but not every single one of those songs are appropriately suited for slinging weights. Keeping with the same rotation of songs can get boring and quite dull. Thus the hunt for new music begins. 

One of my favorite haunts for discovering new playlists for the gym is YouTube – as is it is for many, many other music enthusiasts. While scrolling through the various industrial playlists that are uploaded to YouTube on a weekly basis, I discovered the “Revenge II” mix on the Aim To Head Mix channel. What brought me to this playlist more than any others was the sheer number of views it had; as of this writing, there are five-point-five million views and counting on it. It is a rarity for me to find an industrial or dark electronic playlist with that many fervent fans. So, either it was a YouTube algorithm mishap or this channel was doing something incredible. So, I clicked on it. 

As soon as I heard the familiar samples from Sierra’s hit single ‘Unbroken’ starting off “Revenge II”, I knew I was in for a while ride. What I received on “Revenge II” is exactly what the title suggests; it’s a huge mix of dark techno, industrial dance beats, and cyberpunk angst. What made this playlist stand out as well, however, was it’s opposing adherence to genre standards. Rather than just giving me forty-five minutes of similar sounding songs, “Revenge II” is a carefully curated playlist warping through dirty underground club beats, hip-hop shenanigans that belong in a sprawling and futuristic metropolis, and further electro bliss. 

This is why I was absolutely delighted to be electronically greeted by the creators of Aim To Head, Matteo Della Millia and Simone Mastrangelo, via e-mail over a shared and mutual love for dark electronic music. But, before I get into the goals and dreams of Aim To Head, it’s important to introduce the showrunners in full. Millia and Mastrangelo are long time friends who have always shared a passion for music which culminated in their 2012 band Scossa. While it is a far cry from what they would become, the acoustic guitar-based project was nonetheless fun to play in in parking lots. 2015 saw the first iteration of Aim To Head, wherein the duo played industrial / nu metal. Their first single ‘Be Drone’ was released in November 2016 on their channel Aim To Head Official. 

It was not until 2020 that project began to focus on producing copyright free instrumentals, as well as promoting various artists in the underground. Due to the change in goals, Aim To Head gained a ton of exposure – more than they anticipated – and gained numerous subscribers to their YouTube channel and Spotify profile. In order to keep up with demand and keep their projects separated, Aim To Head decided to split their priorities into three different channels; Aim To Head Mix, Aim To Head Official, and Aim To Head Release. The differences between the three are easy enough to follow. Aim To Head Mix is where they upload their playlists such as the previously mentioned “Revenge II”; Aim To Head Official is where the project releases their own music; and Aim To Head Release is the record label which the duo just started in January of 2021.

Throughout their ten month period of being active in the dark electro community, Aim To Head has gained two-hundred thousand subscribers on the Aim To Head Mix channel as well as over one-hundred thousand subscribers on their Aim To Head Official channel. Throughout it all, however, the duo stays ever humble. They talk about their goals as follows: Our mission is to become a reference point in the electro scene, helping upcoming artists to promote their works and, most importantly, bringing our idea of sound closer to as many people as possible.

Aim To Head has been consistently releasing multiple playlists on a monthly basis, ranging from cyberpunk, dark club music, dubstep, industrial metal, witch house, and much, much more. It’s a channel that’s true to their words in supporting the underground and is a network that I will personally keep my eyes on for a time to come. For more on Aim To Head, you can subscribe to their channels below.