What starts out like a female-fronted power-noise album inspired by Dive, instead quite suddenly turns into an electronica record of intense emotional contents inspired more by 80es bands like Ultravox, but definitely not out of touch with the present. The beautiful Elena Fossi, also one of the newest members of the historical electro/dark band Kirlian Camera, further reveals her talent as a songwriter and musician with Siderartica, a three-piece project she heads, aided by her brother Andrea and by Andrea Savelli. The entire album is made with MC-505s, treated guitars turned into frozen harmonies and of course heavy sound processing and vocals (treated, reverberated, whispered, sung, spoken and even operatic): in other words this is not your average pc/mac-chopped-up-samples record! Actually no samples were used at all here, except in the album's only remix by Gianluca Becuzzi (aka Lamachina) which uses Alva Noto samples. Considering the material and the referrals of these sounds I am surprised no theremin was used, but we are not too far off from that anyway. The eleven tracks of "Night Parade" (9 original compositions, one remix and one Joy Division cover of "Atmosphere" - another influence of the Siderartica sound, if you will) delivers joy and sadness, great electronic music and glacial industrial-ambient soundscapes, pounding beats and minimal rhythmical patterns. All this graciously enriched by female vocals singing English, Italian and German lyrics (all printed inside the beautiful, blue-ish, thick and glossy booklet of the standard version). Unfortunately Elena didn't send us the 102-copies limited metal-box edition so we can't tell you anything about how that looks. If you are after the Kirlian Camera/Stalingrad influence you will get some, sure, and even though the cold siberian apocalyptic vision is mostly present and the ethereal vocals remind of KC's female and romantic touch, this is not necessarily as martial, as claustrophobic, as grand and as complex as the sound of the masters. I am not trying to oversimplify here or to file it under easy-listening pop music, not at all, I am just letting you know that you are dealing with a great project, a great sound, but also with a differnt sound, an original creature, and basically with the softer, smoother and more melodic side of this italian singer; not just with a KC clone (as if that would be of any interest to anybody anyway). Elena Fossi's debut is a great proof of musicianship. Get it while you can!

Dunno,this is a little too 80's to me,like they are trying to live up this whole 80's revival thing. Not too much my style actually,but if you're into that give this a try. It has a little bit of goth element to set it apart too. Not really my thing but not bad at the same time,just a matter of taste. RAting:6. Recommended for Apop fans (except these guys are better. Apop now sucks so fucking bad you wouldn't believe it!)

Gothic metal is kind of a vague term once you see into the metal underground,as alot of bands like to use it in the same way bands like Slipknot use it: to market themselves and nothing more. This band,Rotting Christ, I heard quite a while ago when I had their first CD "Triarchy of The Lost Lovers" and I can safely say this band fits the goth-metal mold. Nice dark imagery devoid of the Dio-esque cliches,and most of all mixing mood with melody and heaviness, not allowing the powerchords and riffing to choke the emotion. Not too far from Paradise Lost, whom I still have a thing for. The opening track "Daemons" starts off with a nice little opera atmospherics before jumping into the sludgy speed section. Track 2,"Lex Talionis" which is sung in Greek I believe,does stumble a little bit on the drumming but clears up easily by the chorus. The speed these guys play at it amazing as well,but again not forsaking the emotion involved. Track 4,"Nightmare" is a good slow one that catches me,and probably strikes me as my favorite for it's slow drawling vocals laced in with the snarling vocal lines. Overall,good slow gothic (black) metal with an intellegence and good use of sampling with the Delerium-like opera vocals. Some good atmoshperics here overall, and should please both black metal fans and goth fans alike. Beats Cradle of Filth,that god awful excuse for music. Rating: 10 Also recommended are Septic Flesh,also from the great land of Greece,though at times they are more death metal.

Vampyre is a slight departure from previous releases only in the sense that after producing Gates of Delerium which is heavily FX oriented the band wanted produce a more music oriented CD. That does not mean that Vampyre is completely devoid of effects because it is not. However what you do get is a stronger focus on the electronically produced symphonic sounds produced like only Midnight Syndicate can. These symphonies are haunting and ominous with a sense of impending dread which has become somewhat the trademark sound of the music of Midnight Syndicate. Midnight Syndicate has found a unique nitch in the music consumer market by focusing on the Haunted Attraction Industry. They have become a major staple for professional haunts worldwide and major Halloween productions. Their music is also loved by Halloween aficiandos, horror film/music fans, and gothic music lovers worldwide. Since it's creation the band's goal has been to create music that aids the listener is transporting themselves to worlds of their own creative imaginings. As usual, their most recent release comes with the same promise. Vampyre while having less FX involved in the compositions is not any less creative or thought provoking but instead proves that Midnight Syndicate can accomplish their goals without the heavy use of FX. Their musical compositions are dark, brooding, and imaginative enough on their own. This release, as the title suggests, focuses on the nightmare world of the master of the undead, the Vampyre. While powerful are foreboding these creatures also have tendencies toward depression begin caught in a life without end. Walking for eternity and stalking their prey in the night their unlife can be either ecstasy or damnation. Midnight Syndicate aptly capture the mood of this creature in their compositions, sometimes sounding full like a film score and at other times like a lone creature tinkering with a cathedral organ or harpsichord and still at others capturing the internal longings and defeats that a life such as theirs could bring them. Basically, Midnight Syndicate have once again proved their status in the industry and of their talents. It's simply amazing what these guys can do musically in creating imaginative music. However, after speaking with Ed from the band I can promise you the next album will contain more FX for those who love them.

This much anticipated follow-up to the 2000 release A Shocking Hobby is a trance heavy Tresor-styled electronica release with Industrial and Noise influences like only Speedy J can mix them. Loudboxer takes you from one track to the next smoothly like a DJ mix disc with no breaks. Lots of hard beats and heavy trance. In fact to be honest at first I began asking when is it going to 'do' something when I listened for the first time only to realize that Speedy J had already created such a trance-heavy mix that I was listening to the most subtle intricacies he had incorporated into the themes. "Inter Zil" is the first track you'll hear any voice on and it is a heavily synthed vocal speaking about these effects of how subtle tones can create mental 'shapes and patterns' and sounds like something from a Plastikman disc but the thought is very much what this album is all about. This track is also the first actual 'break' in the beats and is instantly followed by the heavy pound of "Kreck". One thing is for sure, Speedy J does not follow normal patterns or song structures and creates some highly innovative and original electronica that is mind boggling at times to say the least. As for this album just when you think it is becoming rather repetitious Speedy throws you a 'loop'. His musical form is not about the obvious but about subtleties and the intricate structures they can create on their own without following standard formats or methods. Very subteranean while maintaining an aire of industrial harshness. The live track is rather unusual and displays just how chaotic he can be at times as well. Personally I think this album should come with a warning stating, "Do not drive or operate heavy machinery while listening to this CD".