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Da5id Din und Tyler Newman sind Musiker zweier erfolgreicher, aber dennoch unterschiedlichen Musikprojekte: din_fiv und Battery Cage. Aber mit Informatikentsteht jedoch mehr als nur die einfache Summe Ihrer musikalischen Weltanschauung: Während Tyler den bauchgefühl-emotionalen Ansatz bevorzugt, beschreitet Da5id den rationalen Weg. Obschon beide Gesang und Instrumentierung zu gleichen Teilen beisteuern, ist dies auch die einzige Gemeinsamkeit.

Lies mehr auf NORTHERN-GOTHICS.DE - Webzine & Community für die Schwarze Szene in Norddeutschland.

Industrial Radio

Aborym//...and Oceans//2wo//A DARK HALO//American Head Charge//Anaal Nathrakh//Artifact//Atrocity//Battery Cage//Biomechanical//Blaze Bayley//Blut aus Nord//BUCK-TICK//Carfax Abbey//Celldweller//Chaotica//Chemlab//Clawfinger//Counterblast//Crematory//Crossbreed//Cubanate//Cyclotron//DÅÅTH//Dagoba//Danzig//Death SS//Deathstars//D'espairsRay//Devolved//Die Krupps//Discordia//Disharmonic Orchestra//Disillusion//Dødheimsgard//Dominion III//Dope Stars Inc.//Econoline Crush//Electric Hellfire Club//Engel//Fear Factory//Fleischmann//Forgotten Sunrise//Front Line Assembly//Fudge Tunnel//Genitorturers//Genkaku Allergy//Ghost Machine//Godflesh//Gothminister//Gravity Kills//GZR//Halo//Hanzel und Gretyl//Head of David//In Slaughter Natives//Jerk//Jesus on Extasy//Karaboudjan//KeeN//Kill II This//Killing Joke//Klank//KMFDM//Knorkator//Lard//Left Spine Down//Malhavoc//Malmonde//Marilyn Manson//Meathead//Megaherz//Ministry//Misery Loves Co.//Mnemic//Monster Voodoo Machine//Mortiis//Mushroomhead//N17//Necromance//Nine Inch Nails//No-Big-Silence//Nocturne//October File//Of the Wand & the Moon//Old//Oomph!//Opiate for the Masses//Optimum Wound Profile//Pain//Pig//Pigface//Pitchshifter//Prong//Psyclon Nine//QP-CRAZY//Rabbit Junk//Rammstein//Raunchy//Red Harvest//Revolting Cocks//Ruoska//Schweisser//Scorn//Scum of the Earth//Shovel//Skrew//Slaughterhouse//Stabbing Westward//Stahlhammer//Static-X//Stiff Valentine//Strapping Young Lad//Sturmgeist//Sub Dub Micromachine//Subway to Sally//Synthetic Breed//Tanzwut//Templebeat//Testify//The Amenta//The Axis of Perdition//The Berzerker//The Great Deceiver//The Kovenant//The Mad Capsule Markets//Think About Mutation//Threat Signal//Training for Utopia//Treponem Pal//Tristwood//Troll//Turmion Kätilöt//Twin Method//Unheilig//V:28//Vampire Rodents//Vargotah//Velcra//Vigilante//Violent Work of Art//Vond//Waltari//Weissglut//Zaraza//Zyklon//animositisomina//Ceremony Of Opposites//Cold Dark Matter//dark side of the spoon//Era One//Filth Pig//Gloria//Hybreed//new world rage music//Passage//Reign Of Light//rio grande blood//Solar Soul//The Land of Rape and Honey//The Last Sucker//The Last Temptation Of Reid//The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste

At about 1:30pm today there was a knock on my apartment door. It was the post carrier with an international package from Infrarot that required my signature. Inside this package was the long-awaited Septic VIII compilation. I can not begin to explain the significance of this arrival; it's not just for me, but it is a symbol for the next stage of intellectual dance pop, or the next generation of infectious electro-industrial futurepop. While it is not the first release from the newly reopened label, Dependent, this release signifies the change needed in the stagnant scene that has been bombarded by impostors and amateurs with pirated software and a Myspace account.

There is a broad range of tracks, although they are all (of course) targeted for the dancefloor with 4/4 tempos and a relatively consistent bpm throughout the album. This does not draw away from the excellent and innovative use of electronics. I haven't the time to praise every track individually, but I will say that the most anticipated tracks were Mesh's "Who Says (Rough Mix)" and Edge of Dawn's "Stage Fright." Far from disappointing, these tracks exceeded my expectations by a large margin, and I have to resist the urge to play them too much because I don't want to kill them before their albums come out.

I enjoyed the Aerodrone track, Ready to Love (demo), and I'm glad Gary Zon is having fun pretending to be better than the rest of the scene kids. I guess it is best to capitalize on those ridiculously self-entitled middle class american kiddies, but if he hasn't become even remotely successful in his endeavor then he really is just another circle-jerk scene kid making hipster music. He might as well get a real job and focus on Dismantled in his "hobby" time. This sounds harsh, and I support Gary more than he probably knows, which is why I think it is sad to hear him putting so much of his talents towards that "seen/scene-kid" bullshit, when I know he has a gift for complexly layered industrial soundscapes and sophisticated song arrangements.

The Encephalon track is really cool. One of the best things about this project is that none of their songs are the same. They seem to still be seeking a definite sound, but all of their output is outstanding. The recently released E.P. Drowner contained the original mix of Responder, the remix of which was released in 2006 on Septic VI. In addition was the song "Rise," which was featured on the film Gene Generation. Ronan Harris of VNV Nation supplied the score for this futuristic cyberpunk film, and Combichrist also contributed tracks. I'm not entirely sure but I believe that the Combichrist tracks are select tracks from the Darkside bonus disc to the 2005 album to Everybody Hates You. Anyways, the Encephalon track Scar On Scar is feature on Septic VIII and what it has in common with all the other Encephalon songs I've heard so far is that it sounds completely different from all those that came before it. It has a really interesting contrast in sections. Sometimes it sounds very harsh like noise terror/hellectro, and other times it sounds good futurepop. The vocals at parts remind me of the singer from Battery Cage on the album "A Young Person's Guide To Heartbreak" which I consider to be a very good thing, considering that is one of my favorite albums of the last few years.

Speaking of Battery Cage, Tyler Newman's other project, with Da5id Din as Informatik, has been working very hard over the last couple years, releasing two albums, a single, and hosting a remix contest that yielded a remix album. The Informatik sound has once again shifted further away from the electro-industrial sound of Direct Memory Access and Synax. There is still a hint of futurepop present in the sound, but they are another band who have embraced a rock approach to their musical aesthetic. The track that appears on Septic VIII is also available on the new album Arena. This track is somewhat of a tease because it is not new anymore, even the remix is almost a month old now. It usually skip over the first three tracks because I am more interested in the Mesh track, but if you haven't been following Informatik over the last year, this is the best place to start.

And that is the beauty of the Septic series: dependable, quality, intelligent electro-industrial futurepop. They are an excellent access point for great, but otherwise unknown artists and also for the listeners desiring a fresh sound.

Come for the old favorites, stay for the new talent. And remember: if Dependent doesn't have a hand in it, it's just techno.

1. Wenn es sein muss - dann aber sofort (0:37)
2. Mediengruppe Telekommander - Bis Zum Erbrechen Schreien (Album Version) (3:21)
3. Calva Y Nada - Aufprall (4:07)
4. Kirlian Camera - Denied Sky (4:37)
5. à;Grumh - Danger Zone (Love Song) (4:33)
6. Shock Therapy - What Compels Me? (3:09)
7. Tyske Ludder - Jingle (0:11)
8. Sleeping Dogs Wake - The Wheel (6:32)
9. Dupont - Behave (Total) (4:24)
10. Battery Cage - Caged (5:46)
11. The Original Gabber - Headbanger (5:05)
12. Cyborg Attack - Cyborg Attack (3:48)
13. Pitch Yarn Of Matter - Brother Sun, Sister Moon (4:58)
14. Nancy Sinatra - Bang Bang (2:39)
15. Novo Homo - Prinzessin (3:29)
16. Ganymede - Are You Falling In Love Again? (Single Mix) (3:43)
17. Informätik - Entropy (Syntax Mix) (5:09)
18. Maniacs - Wir Haben Was Zu Sagen (2:22)
19. Lords of Acid - The Mirror (4:08)
20. Electric Hellfire Club - Evil Genius (6:47)
21. Tyske Ludder - Monotonie (Suttercaine Remix) (4:45)
22. Johnny Cash - (Ghost) Riders In The Sky (3:49)
23. Lights of Euphoria - Give Me You (4:31)
24. Korpiklaani - Wooden Pints (3:44)
25. Burntime - Hast Du Angst? (4:31)
26. Tommi Stumpff - Lobotomie (3:44)
27. Messer für Frau Müller - Best Girl From USSR (3:06)
28. ©ondomium - Noise Loc (4:16)
29. The Kovenant - In The Name Of The Future (4:56)
30. Kim Wilde - The Second Time (3:54)
31. d-konstruct - All Systems Activated (4:26)
32. Herbst in Peking - Bakschischrepublik (2:35)
33. Destroid - Broken And Abused (4:24)
34. Opera Multi Steel - Massabielle (4:40)
35. Leger des Heils - Geistesmahnung (4:00)
36. Reversal Penetration - Humanradius (3:58)
37. Vampire State Building - A Tooth For An Eye (5:17)
38. Powder Pussy - Cryogenicpussylover (5:45)
39. Der Blutharsch - Untitled (2:54)
40. Praga Khan - 2004 (Life) (Radio Edit) (3:50)
41. Pankow - Brucia Europa (Brenne...) (2:10)
42. IC 434 - Drowning By Darkness (3:02)
43. Eurocide - Atomare Liebe (3:11)
44. Deathline International - Destroy (3:42)
45. Controlled Bleeding - The Fodder Song (4:53)
46. The Invincible Spirit - Howling (3:19)
47. Tyske Ludder - Jingle 2 (0:20)
48. Einherjer - Far Far North (7:07)
49. Areu Areu - Mr. X / Modern Technology (3:07)
50. Ice Ages - I Come For You (5:30)
51. ThouShaltNot - Cardinal Directions (4:01)
52. Härtzbrecher - Danke (2:58)
53. Trailer - Amphie 2009 (1:30)
54. Sweet - Hell Raiser (Die Krupps Remix) (7:00)
55. Days of Fate - Through Fingers Runs The Dust (4:39)
56. Ionic Vision - Jugend (4:21)
57. The Newlydeads - Night Of The Living Dead (4:22)
58. Data Bank A - Another Way Home (4:32)
59. Härtzbrecher - La Guitara En Oro (4:37)
60. Statemachine - Comprehensive (3:55)
61. Snog - The Human Germ (5:28)
62. Fraction - Crime Pays (4:37)
63. Grendel - Red Rum (4:48)
64. Juno Reactor - Pistolero (Radio Edit) (3:22)

Industrial Radio

Industrial metal is a musical genre that draws from industrial music and heavy metal, using repeating metal guitar riffs, sampling, synthesizer or sequencer lines, and distorted vocals.Founding industrial metal groups include Ministry, Godflesh, and KMFDM.Eventually it reached a mass audience, led by the "one-man-band" Nine Inch Nails.

Industrial metal's new-found popularity led to some criticism from other artists associated with the industrial scene. Subsequently, it is most well-known in various European permutations. Industrial metal groups have produced many acclaimed music videos, and the impact of the style has been reflected in many other genres of music, including hardcore punk, glam metal, and hip-hop.


Artists You Should Know

Aborym//...and Oceans//2wo//A DARK HALO//American Head Charge//Anaal Nathrakh//Artifact//Atrocity//Battery Cage//Biomechanical//Blaze Bayley//Blut aus Nord//BUCK-TICK//Carfax Abbey//Celldweller//Chaotica//Chemlab//Clawfinger//Counterblast//Crematory//Crossbreed//Cubanate//Cyclotron//DÅÅTH//Dagoba//Danzig//Death SS//Deathstars//D'espairsRay//Devolved//Die Krupps//Discordia//Disharmonic Orchestra//Disillusion//Dødheimsgard//Dominion III//Dope Stars Inc.//Econoline Crush//Electric Hellfire Club//Engel//Fear Factory//Fleischmann//Forgotten Sunrise//Front Line Assembly//Fudge Tunnel//Genitorturers//Genkaku Allergy//Ghost Machine//Godflesh//Gothminister//Gravity Kills//GZR//Halo//Hanzel und Gretyl//Head of David//In Slaughter Natives//Jerk//Jesus on Extasy//Karaboudjan//KeeN//Kill II This//Killing Joke//Klank//KMFDM//Knorkator//Lard//Left Spine Down//Malhavoc//Malmonde//Marilyn Manson//Meathead//Megaherz//Ministry//Misery Loves Co.//Mnemic//Monster Voodoo Machine//Mortiis//Mushroomhead//N17//Necromance//Nine Inch Nails//No-Big-Silence//Nocturne//October File//Of the Wand & the Moon//Old//Oomph!//Opiate for the Masses//Optimum Wound Profile//Pain//Pig//Pigface//Pitchshifter//Prong//Psyclon Nine//QP-CRAZY//Rabbit Junk//Rammstein//Raunchy//Red Harvest//Revolting Cocks//Ruoska//Schweisser//Scorn//Scum of the Earth//Shovel//Skrew//Slaughterhouse//Stabbing Westward//Stahlhammer//Static-X//Stiff Valentine//Strapping Young Lad//Sturmgeist//Sub Dub Micromachine//Subway to Sally//Synthetic Breed//Tanzwut//Templebeat//Testify//The Amenta//The Axis of Perdition//The Berzerker//The Great Deceiver//The Kovenant//The Mad Capsule Markets//Think About Mutation//Threat Signal//Training for Utopia//Treponem Pal//Tristwood//Troll//Turmion Kätilöt//Twin Method//Unheilig//V:28//Vampire Rodents//Vargotah//Velcra//Vigilante//Violent Work of Art//Vond//Waltari//Weissglut//Zaraza//Zyklon//animositisomina//Ceremony Of Opposites//Cold Dark Matter//dark side of the spoon//Era One//Filth Pig//Gloria//Hybreed//new world rage music//Passage//Reign Of Light//rio grande blood//Solar Soul//The Land of Rape and Honey//The Last Sucker//The Last Temptation Of Reid//The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste


Must Have Albums

Aborym-Fire Walk With Us
Aborym-Generator
Aborym-Kali Yuga Bizarre
Aborym-With No Human Intervention
Anaal Nathrakh-Hell Is Empty, and All the Devils Are Here
Blacklodge->SolarKult<
Celldweller-Celldweller
Control Human Delete-Terminal World Perspective
Count Nosferatu Kommando-L'Hymne à la Joie
Count Nosferatu Kommando-Ultraviolence Über Alles
Deathstars-Termination Bliss
D'espairsRay-[Coll: Set]
Diablerie-Seraphyde
Diabolicum-The Dark Blood Rising
Dødheimsgard-666 International
Dødheimsgard-Supervillain Outcast
Econoline Crush-The Devil You Know
Fear Factory-Archetype
Fear Factory-Obsolete
Fear Factory-Soul of a New Machine
Godflesh-Hymns
Godflesh-Messiah
Godflesh-Pure
Godflesh-Selfless
Godflesh-Slavestate
Godflesh-Songs of Love and Hate
Godflesh-Us And Them
Havoc Unit-h.IV+
Kidneythieves-Zerospace
Killing Joke-Hosannas from the Basements of Hell
Killing Joke-Killing Joke
KMFDM-Hau Ruck
Kreator-Renewal
Manes-Vilosophe
Marilyn Manson-Antichrist Superstar
Marilyn Manson-Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death)
Meathook Seed-Embedded
Ministry-Animositisomina
Ministry-Filth Pig
Ministry-Houses Of The Molé
Ministry-Rio Grande Blood
Ministry-The Land of Rape and Honey
Ministry-The Last Sucker
Misery Loves Co.-Misery Loves Co.
Mnemic-Mechanical Spin Phenomena
Mnemic-The Audio Injected Soul
Morgoth-Feel Sorry for the Fanatic
Mysticum-In the Streams of Inferno
Nailbomb-Point Blank
Old-Lo Flux Tube
Old-The Musical Dimension of Sleastak
Oomph!-Ego
Oomph!-GlaubeLiebeTod
Oxiplegatz-Sidereal Journey
Pain-Dancing With The Dead
Pain-Nothing Remains The Same
Pain-Rebirth
Pitchshifter-Desensitized
Punish Yourself-Sexplosive Locomotive
Rammstein-Herzeleid
Rammstein-Mutter
Rammstein-Reise, Reise
Rammstein-Rosenrot
Rammstein-Sehnsucht
Red Harvest-A Greater Darkness
Red Harvest-Cold Dark Matter
Red Harvest-Hybreed
Red Harvest-Internal Punishment Programs
Red Harvest-Sick Transit Gloria Mundi
Rob Zombie-Hellbilly Deluxe
Samael-Eternal
Samael-Reign Of Light
Samael-Solar Soul
Scarve-Irradiant
Scorn-Vae Solis
Static-X-Wisconsin Death Trip
Strapping Young Lad-Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing
Strapping Young Lad-Strapping Young Lad
Sybreed-Antares
Sybreed-Slave Design
The Amenta-n0n
The Axis of Perdition-Deleted Scenes from the Transition Hospital
The Axis of Perdition-The Ichneumon Method
The Kovenant-Animatronic
The Kovenant-S.E.T.I.
The Mad Capsule Markets-OSC-DIS (Oscillator in Distortion)
V:28-VioLution
Voivod-Phobos
White Zombie-Astro-Creep: 2000- Songs of Love, Destruction and Other Synthetic Delusions of the Electric Head
Zeromancer-Eurotrash
Zyklon-Disintegrate

Artists to check out:

...and Oceans- Symphonic Black Metal (early), Industrial/Electronic Metal (later)
49 Hydrogen Device- Industrial Death/Thrash Metal
A Colour Cold Black- Thrash/Doom/Death Metal (earlier), Thrash/Alternative/Industrial Metal (later)
A DARK HALO- Industrial/Thrash/Groove Metal
A.N.A.E.L.- Melodic death/black/industrial
Aazed- Industrial/Groove Metal
Abel- Industrial/Thrash Metal -(Prt)
Abigor- Black Metal (early), Industrial Black Metal (Now)
A-Bomb- Industrial Death Metal
Aborym- Industrial Black Metal
Abyss- Industrial Black Metal -(Ita)
Abyss Angel- Raw Death/Black Metal with Industrial/Noise elements -(Mex)
Acheront- Industrial Black/Dark Metal
AcoD- Industrial Black / Death Metal
Acrybia- Death Metal/Industrial
acting out- Thrashcore/Industrial Metal
Aggression Overload- Industrial Black metal
Agnus Dei- Post-Thrash/Industrial metal -(Esp)
Ajna- Industrial Thrash Metal
AKERRAK- Death metal with industrial influences
Alien Deviant Circus- Industrial Black Metal
All of a Murder Art- Industrial Death Metal
Amarna Sky- Doom Metal with Industrial/Oriental Folk/Progressive elements
amaurosis- Industrial/Experimental Black Metal
Ananta- Groove/Industrial Metal
And Christ Wept- Industrial Death Metal
Anethera- Industrial Death/Doom Metal
Anetia Insignis- Symphonic Thrash/Death Metal with Industrial, Electro & Tribal Influences
Angel- Death Metal (old), Industrial Metal (new) -(Prt)
Angelcoma- Gothic/Black Metal with Industrial Influences
Anger- Industrial Metal -(Ita)
Anguish in Exile- industrial death metal
Anorma- Thrashcore/Industrial
Ansur- Industrial Black / Death Metal -(Fin)
Anti- Dark/Industrial Metal -(Swe)
AntiNomus- Black Metal (early) Industrial / Ambient (now)
Anti-Systematic- Gothic/Industrial Metal
Antithesis- Industrial Black Metal -(Fra)
Apollyon Sun- Thrash, Industrial
Apostasia- Symphonic/Industrial Black -(Fra)
Aramazd- Industrial/Folk Metal
Arcadia- Industrial Thrash Metal -(Ita)
Arditi- Industrial, Neo-Classic, Ambient
armed- Death/Grind influenced Industrial Metal
Army of in Between- Extreme Horror Metal (new) Gothic/Industrial (old)
ArSyN- Heavy/Thrash Metal with Industrial Influences
Art 238- Brutal Death Metal with Industrial/Dark Ambient influences
Art in Exile- Dark/Gothic Metal with Industrial overtones
Artsonic- Technical Thrash Metal (early), Melodic Industrial Metal (now)
Asguard- Melodic Death Metal, Gothic/Industrial Metal
ASP- Gothic Industrial Metal
Asylum- Industrial/Gothic/Symphonic Black Metal -(Hrv)
At Dawn- Gothic Rock/Metal with influences of Death Metal and Industrial -(Ger)
At Home In Hell- Industrial Thrash/Metalcore
Atomik Division FFF- Industrial Black Metal
Atomtrakt- Industrial / Dark Ambient
Atrocity- Death metal (early), Ethno / gothic / industrial (later) -(Ger)
Atrophia Red Sun- Doom Metal (early),Progressive Death/Industrial Metal (later)
Atys- Experimental/Industrial Black Metal
Audi Sile- Gothic/Industrial Metal
Aurora Forrest- Blackened Death Metal (2006-2007), Industrial Black Metal (2007-)
Avernum- Industrial Black metal
Axis of Evil- Death/Thrash/Industrial Metal -(UK)
Azure Emote- Death Metal, Industrial, Avant-garde
Balbulus- Industrial Metal/Post-Rock/Electronica
Balder Dead- Industrial Black Metal
Barracuda- Death'N'Roll/Industrial Metal -(Blr)
Beautivile- Industrial/Groove/Death Metal
Begrim- Melodic Industrial Death Metal
Betrayal- Thrash Metal (1988-1994), Industrial Gothic Metal (1999- ) -(US)
Beyond- Industrial Metal -(US)
Bilharze- Industrial Thrash/Death Metal
Bioeraser- Modern Death/Thrash/Industrial
Biotech- Thrash Metal (early) / Industrial Metal -(Esp)
Bitrayer- Ambient Industrial Metal
Black Bile- Industrial/Groove Metal -(Fin)
Black Comedy- Industrial/Gothic/Thrash Metal
Black Hole Generator- Industrial Black Metal
Black Temple- Industrial/Gothic Metal
Black Tribe- Experimental Black Metal, Industrial/Noise
Black Warrant- Heavy Metal with industrial influences
Blacklodge- Industrial/Black Metal
Blackstream- Black Metal (early) - Black Noise Industrial (now)
Blazing War Machine- Symphonic Black Metal / Industrial Metal
Blessed- Technical Death Metal (with industrial influences) -(Swe)
blessedbethyname- Extreme Industrial Metal
Blind- Industrial/Death Metal -(Pol)
Blood Circuit- Black/Thrash/Industrial Metal
Blood From The Soul- Industrial Hardcore
Bloodstar- Industrial/Doom/Thrash Metal
Blutrausch- Industrial Death/Thrash Metal
Blutwurst Breath- Industrial Death Metal (early), Industrial (now)
Bog Morok- Death/Doom Metal (old), Industrial
Born of Fire- Thrash Metal/Industrial -(Bra)
Brain Junkies- Industrial/Thrash Metal
Brood- Industrial Death Metal
Butcher Priest- Industrial Metal
C.O.D.- Industrial Metal -(Rus)
Candiru- Industrial Metal
Canker Bit Jesus- Heavy/Thrash Metal with Industrial influences
Caos Dementia- Industrial Metal
Cardiovascular Sub-Hypothermia- Experimental Death/Grind/Industrial Metal
Carmolest Physicist- Death Metal/Grindcore with Industrial Influences
Carnal gore- Industrial Death/Thrash Metal
Carrier Flux- Industrial Blackened Gothic Metal
Catalepsy- Industrial/Death Metal -(Est)
Cataria- Progressive Thrash Metal with Industrial elements
Cathanion- Industrial Gothic/Black Metal (early) Industrial Ambient Music with Metal Touches (later)
Cavevomit- Grind/Death/Industrial
Cease.and.Desist- Industrial Death Metal
C-FICTION- Metalcore with some Industrial influences
Chamber Seven- Industrial/Heavy/Thrash Metal
Chao:Sphere- Industrial Death Metal
Charlie Drown- Industrial Thrash/Gothic Metal
Cholera- Industrial black metal (early), dark ambient/industrial (now) -(Fin)
Choronzon- Blackened Industrial Metal -(US)
Circus Maximus- Industrial Black Metal -(US)
Cobi's Death- Industrial Death/Grind
Coilback- Industrial/Thrash Metal
Coldseed- Gothic/Groove/Industrial Metal
Comandorul Hoisan- Industrial Metal
Conflict- Industrial/Death Metal
Control Human Delete- Industrial/Black Metal
Convergence- Atmospheric/Industrial Dark/Death Metal -(Aut)
Cootchiebeast- Black/Death Metal/Industrial
Corpsegore- Industrial Death Metal
Corvo- Industrial Gothic Metal
Count Nosferatu Kommando- Industrial Black Metal (early), Electronic Metal (now)
Counterblast- Industrial/Doom/Death
Crash- Thrash Metal (early) - Industrial/Electronic Brutal Thrash Metal (later) -(Kor)
Crawl- Industrial Death Metal -(US)
Crematory- Gothic Death Metal (early), Goth/Industrial -(Ger)
Cruento- Industrial Black/Doom Metal - Ambient
CRYOSTASIUM- Black Metal / Ambient / Industrial
Cryoxyd- Industrial Death Metal
Cultes Des Goules- Black Metal/Industrial Rock
Cuntworm- Dark Ambient/Industrial Black Metal
Cursing Eye- Industrial Black/Death Metal
Cyan- Death Metal with Gothic/Industrial Elements
Cyberya- Industrial/Power Metal
Cyborg- Death/Thrash with Industrial elements
Cycle- Industrial Thrash Metal
Cynicon- Industrial extreme metal
Daath- Industrial Death metal
Dagoba- Groove/industrial metal
Dahmer- Thrash/Industrial/Grind -(Ltu)
Damian Kross- industrial death metal
Daor- Industrial Death/Thrash Metal
DAOS- Industrial Black Metal
Dark Army- Black/Thrash/Industrial Metal
Dark Autumn- Black/Death/Industrial Metal -(US)
Darklight- Industrial Metal (old) / Ambient/classical (new) -(Hun)
Darkset Theory- Industrial Death/Black Metal
Darwin's Theory?- Industrial Black/Death Metal with some Punk Influences
Dave Cardwell- Progressive/Thrash/Industrial Metal
Dazzle- Industrial/Groove Metal
Dead By Morning- Industrial Black Metal
Dead Industry- Industrial Death Metal
Dead World- Industrial Death Metal
Deadpool- Death/Grind/Industrial Metal (early), Industrial Metal (later) -(Aus)
Death Machine- progressive/industrial metal
Death SS- Black Doom/Heavy/Speed Metal (early), Industrial Metal (later)
December Wolves- Death/Black Metal, Industrial Post-Black Metal
Deflore- Industrial Metal
Dehumanation- Industrial Blackened Death Metal
Deliverance- Speed/Thrash Metal, industrial -(US)
Demacretia- Industrial Death Metal
Demon Project- Death Metal with Industrial/Jungle influences
Der Tod- Progressive/Industrial Metal -(Ita)
Desalin- Experimental black/Industrial metal
desolationance- Thrash Metal with Industrial influences
Deus Ex- Black Metal/Industrial
Devastation Inside- Industrial Black/Death Metal
Devin Townsend- Progressive/Industrial/Atmospheric Metal
Devolution- Industrial Death Metal -(US)
Diablerie- Industrial/Electronic Metal -(Fin)
Diabolicum- Industrial Black Metal
Diabolos Rising- Darkwave/Industrial
Die Allergie- Industrial Metal
Died Like Flies- industrial death/black
Diesel Theory- Death/Thrash with industrial overtones
Dimension F3H- Space / Industrial Metal
Dimensional Psychosis- Industrial/Black Metal
DinUmbra- Industrial Metal (early) - Gothic Industrial Metal (now)
Discordia- Industrial/Techno Metal -(Aus)
Disumana Res- Industrial Thrash Metal
Division X- Industrial Black Metal
Divisive Skin- Industrial Death Metal
Divizion S-187- Industrial Black Metal
Dødheimsgard- Black Metal, Avant-Garde/Industrial Metal
Dogmeat- Industrial Metal
Dominion III- electronic/industrial black metal
Doomdozer- Industrial/Death Metal
Dr Death- Industrial gothic metal
Draxsen- Doom/Industrial Metal
Drug Induced Coma- Industrial/Black Metal
Dual-Coma- Thrash Metal with industrial influences (early) - Melodic Death Metal (now)
Dunkel:heit- Industrial / death metal
East-Area- Industrial Death/Thrash Metal
Eibon La Furies- Industrial Black Metal/Ambient
Ekasia- Industrial Black Metal/Ambient
Electrance- Industrial Metal
Empire Auriga- Ambient/industrial black metal
Empty Playground- Industrial Death Metal
Enforcer- Industrial/Thrash Metal -(US)
Ensslin- Black Metal/Industrial
Epidemic Cause- Industrial Death Metal
Equilibrium- Industrial Doom/Death Metal -(Fra)
Erowid- Black/Death/Industrial Metal
Escalationunit Chaos Engine- Industrial Groove/Death Metal
Escapism- Progressive Metal/Rock with Industrial & Psychedelic Influences
Evil Adam- Industrial/Alternative/Heavy Metal
Evil Side of Math- Industrial Thrash Metal
Exposed Flesh- Industrial Death Metal/Grindcore/Metalcore
Ezgaroth- Industrial, Black Metal
Fall Of Because- Experimental Industrial Metal
Fallen Man- Industrial/Thrash Metal with Death Metal Influences
False God- Black/Doom Metal with Industrial Influences
Father Of Sin- Death/Thrash with Industrial Influences
Feantury- Dark Metal/Raw Black Metal/Black Industrial
Fear Factory- Industrial/Death Metal (early), Groove/Industrial Metal
FearOfHatred- Gothic Industrial Death Metal
Feldgrau- Black/Death/Industrial Metal
Fetish 69- Industrial-influenced Metal
finish me off- industrial/groove metal
Flash Terrorist- Industrial/Thrash Metal
Forêt Morte- Industrial Drone Doom / Ambient / Experimental
Forge- Industrial Black Metal -(Fra)
Forgotten Sunrise- Atmospheric Doom/Death Metal (early) - Electro / Industrial (now)
Forklift- Industrial/Death Metal
Frag- Industrial Thrash Metal
Fragment- Industrial Post Thrash -(Che)
Fredrik Thordendal's Special Defects- Industrial/Experimental/Thrash Metal
Fucktory-X- Industrial Black Metal with Death/Doom influences
Funeral Revolt- Industrial Death Metal
Funerary Dirge- Industrial Funeral Doom, Dark Ambient
Furnace- Industrial Metal -(US)
G.P.I.- Death/Thrash/Industrial metal
Gacy Balloon Animals- Death Metal, Industrial
Galvanic- Atmospheric Industrial/Gothic Metal
Gargamax- Industrial heavy metal
Geezer- Sludge, Industrial
Generation- Industrial/Thrash Metal
Genetic Threat- Industrial Death/Grind
Gevolt- Industrial/Folk Metal
Ghostly- Extreme Drone/Industrial Metal
Gigandhi- Industrial Metal / Atmospheric / Ambient
Gigiena Mozga- Industrial/Death Metal
Godflesh- Industrial metal, Experimental industrial
Godkiller- Death Metal (1994), Black Metal (1995-96), Industrial Black Metal (1998), Electronic Metal (2000-) -(Mco)
Golgotha- Industrial Death Metal -(US)
Gorduw- Raw Black Metal, Industrial/Dark ambient
Gore Priest- black ambient/industrial
GOREGOD- Industrial Death Metal -(Rus)
Gorgonea Prima- Industrial black metal
Gothërfall- Symphonic Black Metal with Industrial influences
Grave In The Sky- sludgecore, industrial-doom
Grenouer- Thrash/Death Metal (early), Industrial Metal (now)
Groteska- Groove/Industrial Metal
Ground Zero System- Industrial Metal
Gutural- Industrial Metal -(Esp)
Haemorr Drench- Brutal Death Metal/Industrial Grind
HammerFist- Industrial/Thrash Metal
Hard-Boiled- Industrial Thrash Metal
Harvyst- Death Metal/Industrial
Hate- Death Metal (early) - Death/Black Metal with Industrial Influences (now) -(Pol)
Hategrama- Industrial/Death Metal
Hatemonger- Industrial Metal
Havoc Unit- Experimental Black/Death/Industrial Metal
Head of David- Experimental Industrial Metal
Heavenly Trip To Hell- Industrial Half-Thrash/Groove Metal
Helel- Industrial Black Metal
Helheim- Industrial/Black Metal -(Nor)
Hell Society- Industrial Metal
Herrschaft- Electro/Industrial Metal
Hesper Payne- Sludge Doom / Industrial
Hesperus Dimension- Black Metal/Industrial
Heteromorphic- Death/Thrash/Industrial Metal
Hidden Hate- Death Metal w/ Industrial tendencies
himera- industrial metal
Hoarfrost- Industrial Death/Grind -(US)
Hordes of Satan- Extreme Industrial/Doom Metal
HSSH- Atmospheric Black Metal with Industrial elements
human herd- Black/Industrial Metal
Human machine- Industrial Death Metal
Human Void- Black/Death/Industrial Metal
Hybernoid- Industrial Death Doom
Hyperion- Industrial Death Metal -(Pol)
Hypnosis- Death/Industrial Metal -(Fra)
I.M.C.- Industrial Death Metal
Iberna- Extreme Industrial Metal
Ice Ages- Darkwave / Electronic / Industrial
Icedhead- Black Metal, Industrial Metal
ID:VISION- Industrial Black/Death Metal
Ignis Æterni- Black/Gothic/Industrial Metal
Illegal Operation- Industrial Power Metal
Illogo- Industrial Grind/Death Metal
Imperthean- Black Metal/Industrial
Impure Domain- Industrial Black Metal
In Nomine- Industrial/Black Metal -(Ita)
In Season- Melodic/Industrial Death Metal
Inactive Messiah- Atmospheric Death Metal with Industrial Influences (early), Melodic Death Metal (now)
Inane- Technical Death Metal with Industrial influences -(Ita)
Inchoate- Industrial Doom Metal
Industrial Estate- Industrial Black/Death Metal
Infaust- Industrial Metal -(Ger)
Infected- Industrial Death Metal -(Aus)
InfectHead- Industrial/Death Metal
Infection Code- Industrial/Thrash Metal
Infectious Maggots- Industrial Grind/Death
Infra Black- Industrial Metal
Inner Thought- Death Metal/Industrial
Inside Four Walls- Thrash with Industrial Elements
Insidious- Industrial Death Metal -(UK)
Interactive Desires- Industrial Black Metal
Interlock- Industrial/Extreme Metal
Internal Healing- Industrial Death/Thrash Metal
Interria- Metalcore/Industrial/Thrash Metal
Iperyt- Industrial Death/Black Metal
Irdhing- Folk/Industrial/Pagan Black Metal
Iskariot- Industrial Black/Death Metal -(Hrv)
Ism- Industrial/Black metal
It Is I- Industrial Doom / Sludge Metal
J.T.R. Sickert- Industrial/Gothic Metal
Jack Rose- Melodic Power Metal (early), Alternative/Industrial Rock (later)
Jesu- Industrial/Ambient Post-Rock
Jesus Skin- Death metal / Industrial
John DX- Industrial Metal
Kakihara- Thrash/Death/Groove Metal with Industrial Influences
kalt- Industrial/Black Metal
Karelia- Symphonic Heavy/Power Metal (early), Gothic/Industrial Metal (now)
Karkinoz- Industrial Black Metal
Karnysera- Industrial/Thrash Metal
KATAR- Industrial Black Metal
Kauze- Industrial Groove Metal
KeeN- Gothic/Industrial Metal -(Ita)
Kera.zero.kommand- Industrial Black Metal
Khadaver- Industrial/Thrash Metal
Kill the Thrill- Industrial Metal
King Chaos- Industrial Black/Death Metal
Korrozia Metalla- thrash, speed (later grindcore, punk, industrial)
Kreuzweg Ost- Industrial, marches
Kryoburn- Industrial Metal
Kryptic Mist- Thrash Metal/Industrial/Crossover
KSK- Industrial Dark/Black Metal
Ktulu- Thrash Metal (earlier) - Groove/Industrial Metal (later)
Kudai- Industrial Thrash Metal
Kvntvr- Melodic Black/Death Metal, Industrial
La Division Mentale- Industrial Black Metal
Landfill- Death Metal/Industrial
Lebenssteuer- Industrial/Gothic Metal
Leiden- Gothic/Industrial Metal
Leper Lupus- Industrial Doom/Death metal
Leprecon- Industrial Black/Death Metal
Levers- thrash metal, industrial
Lies Are All You Have- Atmospheric/Industrial Gothic Doom
Lily Marleen- Industrial/Thrash Metal
Lost in lunacy- Death metal, industrial metal
Lost Souls- Industrial/Thrash Metal
Lunacy- Industrial Black Metal -(Rus)
Lunacyde- Industrial Death Metal
Lunatic Asylum- Industrial Metal with Thrash Elements -(Pol)
Lunatics On Parole- Progressive/Industrial Thrash Metal
M.A.C. Of Mad- Industrial Death Metal
M.Pheral- Industrial Death Metal
Machinerie Perfect- Industrial Black Metal
Mad Brains- Death/Groove Metal with Industrial elements
Maggot Pigs On Tuesday- Industrial Metal
Maggot Twat- Death Metal/Grind/Industrial
Magistral- Drone/Ambient/Industrial -(US)
Malhavoc- Industrial Metal
Malignant Eternal- Black Metal/Industrial
Malmonde- Gothic death/thrash with industrial elements
Maniac Saint- Progressive/Power Metal with Industrial influences
Mantas- Heavy Metal (1988), Industrial Death Metal (2004-) -(UK)
Mars On Earth- Industrial Black Metal
Massive Destruction- Industrial / Thrash Metal
Masterlast- Industrial Metal
Maze Of Cako Torments- Industrial Death/Black Metal
MCB- Heavy/Speed Metal, later Industrial
Meathook Seed- Industrial Death Metal (1992-1993), Industrial Rock (1999)
Mechanical Manipulation- Thrash Metal/Industrial
Mechina- Black Metal/Industrial Metal
Mekano- Industrial Metal
Mental Oppression- Industrial/Gothic Metal
Mercenary Agression- Industrial Black Metal
Merry-Go-Drown- Progressive Thrash/Industrial Metal
Mesmerized- Industrial Metal -(Mys)
MetalGear- Industrial Death Metal
Metatronik- Progressive/Industrial Metal
Mezzerschmitt- Industrial Black Metal
Miksha- Industrial Metal
Mind of the Dodecahedron- Industrial / Death Metal
Mindshaker- Industrial/Thrash Metal
Mine[Thorn]- Black Metal (early) - Industrial Metal (Now)
Ministry- New wave (early), Industrial/Electronic (mid-80's), Industrial Rock/Metal (today)
Mis.Divine- Death/Thrash/Industrial Metal
Misery Loves Co.- Doom/thrash/industrial metal
Misvita- Industrial Black/Death Metal
Monarkh- Dark Ambient/Experimental Industrial
Monastery- Death Metal (early), Gothic/Industrial Rock (later) -(UK)
Monotremata- Experimental Industrial Metal
MOONFIRE- Black Metal, Industrial
Morb- Experimental Death/Industrial Metal
Morbit- Experimental Melodic Death Metal with Industrial Influences
Mord- Industrial Black Metal -(Ita)
Mord'A'Stigmata- Doom/Death/Post Black Metal with Industrial/Electronic influences
Morgue's Last Choice- Doom/Dark/Industrial Metal
Moritura- Industrial Death Metal
Morose- Black Metal, Industrial (later)
Mors In Tabula- Industrial Black/Death Metal
Mort- Black Metal with industrial influences -(Swe)
Morte Interna- Industrial Black Metal
Mortem Parto Humano- Industrial Black Metal/Ambient
Mortiis- Ambient, Darkwave, Industrial/Gothic (new)
Mosh Baby- Experimental Gothic/Industrial Metal
Mucus- Industrial/Death/Thrash Metal -(Pol)
Mussorgski- Industrial Black Metal
Mutilated Corpses- Industrial Metal/Grind
MX- Power Metal, industrial/country/rap/rock -(US)
Mysticum- Industrial Black Metal
Mythosis- Industrial/Groove Metal
Nailbomb- Industrial Thrash Metal
Nailpain- Industrial Death Metal
Nameless Orchestral Project- Black Metal/Industrial
Nebel- Industrial/Grind/Black Metal -(Ger)
Nebel- Industrial Black Metal -(Ita)
Nebula Gates- Black Metal (early) - Progressive Industrial Metal (later)
Necromance- Gothic/Industrial Metal -(Ger)
Necromanicide- Metalcore, Industrial Grindcore
Needleye- Death Metal/Industrial
Neil Hess- Industrial Doom Metal
NekroDrako- Industrial Death/Black Metal
Nenasty- Dark Doom/Gothic/Industrial Metal
Neo Inferno 262- Industrial Black Metal
Nerve- Industrial Thrash Metal -(Tha)
Neurotic Decay- Melodic Death/Thrash with Industrial influences
Neverend- Groove/Industrial Metal
Next Waste Dimension- Industrial/Death Metal
NeXuS- Industrial/Thrash Metal -(Ita)
Nick Dafos- industrial/metal/ambient
Night Eternal- Industrial Black Metal
Nightshadows Lament- Neoclassical/Industrial Doom Metal
NKVD- Industrial Death Metal
NME Within- Thrash Metal/Industrial
Nocratai- Industrial Black Metal
Noctiferia- Symphonic Black/Death Metal (early), Industrial Metal (later)
Nocturnal Fears- Death/Industrial Metal
Nomore164- Industrial/Progressive Metal
NoPlaceToHide- Death/Thrash Metal (earlier)/Industrial Metal/Metalcore (now)
Notbiwak- Industrial Metal (early), Death/Grind (now)
Nothing- Dark Ambient / Industrial -(US)
Nuestra Familia- Post-Thrash/Groove Metal, Industrial
NUx- Industrial Heavy Metal
Nyne- Industrial Black Metal
O.L.D.- Grindcore (early), Industrial/Avant-Garde Metal (later)
Oblivion Machine- Industrial Death Metal
obsesión compulsiva- Industrial/Death Metal
Obsidian- Industrial Death Metal -(US)
Occisas- Death Metal/Grindcore/Industrial
Octanic- Industrial Metal
Odium- Industrial/Death Metal -(Swe)
Oestre- Post-Thrash/Industrial Metal
Omen Faculty- Industrial/Groove Metal
OOO- Industrial Black Metal
Oracle- Thrash/Gothic Metal (now) / Industrial Metal/Rock (old) -(Idn)
Ordo Tyrannis- Industrial Black Metal
OVERPAST- Gothic/Industrial/Doom Metal
P.H.O.B.O.S.- Industrial Doom Metal
Pain- Electronic/Industrial/Techno/Metal -(Swe)
Pain Control- Modern Metal with gothic and industrial elements
Painflow- Industrial Metal
Painful Joy- Thrash/Electronic/Industrial Metal
Panzerdivision- Industrial Death Metal
Panzram- Industrial/Black/Doom Metal/Ambient
paradigmshftr- Death/Doom/Industrial Metal
Parity Boot- Industrial Metal
Path- Industrial/Heavy Metal/Hardcore
PCYST- Industrial Black Metal
Pentatonik- Industrial/Thrash Metal
Perpetua- Metal with Heavy Industrial influences
pesticide- Thrash/Groove Metal/Industrial -(Ger)
Phal:Angst- Drone/industrial
Phantazo- Industrial black metal
Phobophobia- Industrial Death Metal -(US)
Pitchshifter- Industrial Metal (early), Industrial Rock/Mallcore (later)
Plague Bringer- Death Metal/Industrial/Grindcore
Planet AIDS- Funeral Doom/Drone/Industrial/Noise
Plastic Whore- Industrial/Death Metal
Plutonium- Industrial Black Metal
PORE- Industrial Black/Dark Metal
Prickrott- Industrial Black Metal/Grindcore
Primary Slave- Industrial Death/Thrash Metal
Proctor- Industrial black metal
Pro-Death- Industrial Death Metal
Program 4- Industrial Black Metal
Project Fear- Thrash Metal/Industrial
Projecto 103- Industrial Heavy/Thrash Metal
Prong- Crossover/Thrash Metal (earlier)- Half-Thrash/ Industrial Metal (later)
Prophecy- Industrial Death Metal -(Pol)
Prosthetic Orchestra- Industrial Gothic Rock (early), Industrial Doom, Death Metal (now)
Psalm- Industrial Death Metal -(Fra)
Psionic- industrial black/death metal
Psy Enemy- Thrash Metal / Crossover / Industrial
psyclops- Industrial Thrash Metal
Psy-Kick- Industrial Metal
Puissance- Neoclassical/Industrial Music
Puncture- Industrial / speed metal
Puritas Virginum- Industrial Black Metal
Quintessence Of Hate- Industrial Black Metal
Qwestion- Progressive/industrial metal
Raices Torcidas- Industrial Death Metal
Rain- Industrial/Black/Dark Metal -(Che)
Rain Skiktlu- Industrial Alternative/Death Metal
Raism- Industrial Metal
rAwheAd- Thrash/Groove Metal, Thrashcore with Industrial elements -(Ger)
Razor Key Exit- Black Metal/Industrial
Reactor- Industrial Death Metal -(Ukr)
REAKTOR- Industrial/Thrash Metal
Realms of Blood- industrial/black metal
Reanimator- Death Metal (early) - Industrial Death/Fusion/Thrash Metal -(Svk)
Red Harvest- Industrial/electronic metal, Thrash metal (first album)
Requiem- Electro/Industrial/Gothic Metal -(Swe)
Reverence- Black metal (early) - Industrial / Experimental Black Metal (now) -(Fra)
Rhondian- Doom Metal (early) / Industrial (later)
Roadkill Sodomizer- Industrial Black Metal
Roncsipar- Industrial Stoner Metal
S.N.O.T.- Industrial Metal
Samael- Black Metal (old), Electronic/Industrial Metal (new)
Sanata Vopilif- Industrial (early)/Experimental Grind/Death Metal (now)
Sanatorium Association- Thrash/Industrial Metal
Sanguis In Nocte- Industrial/Medieval/Folk Metal
Satan- Black Metal with Industrial Infuences -(Ita)
Satarial- Folk/Black Metal/Industrial/Gothic Rock
Scapegoat- Groove/Industrial/Thrash Metal -(US)
Scarve- Industrial Death/Thrash Metal
Scheimm- Post-Thrash/Industrial Metal
Scheinkraft- Industrial Black Metal
Schizoid- Industrial Metal/Hardcore -(Can)
Schwarzach- Black/Death/Industrial Metal
Scorngrain- Industrial thrash metal
Scourge- Death Metal/Industrial/Black Metal -(US)
Screams of Chaos- Industrial / Heavy / Death Metal
Secret Wisdom- Heavy Industrial
Senmuth- Industrial Doom Metal, Ethnic Ambient, Electronica
Septic Project- Industrial Thrash Metal
Set in Stone- Industrial Metal
Settled in Silence- Progressive Melodic Death Metal/Industrial
SEX MACHINE- Industrial Metal
Sex Trade- Industrial/Thrash Metal
Shade Empire- Melodic Industrial Death/Black Metal
Sick Human art- Black Metal with Industrial Influences
Sintech- Industrial Black Metal
Sipher- Gothic/Alternative/Industrial Metal
Sjenovik- Industrial/Folk/Black Metal
Skiltron N.V.101- Industrial/Black Metal
Skin Chamber- Industrial Metal
Skin Limit Show- Industrial Metal
skorungur- Industrial Black Metal
Skrew- Industrial Thrash Metal
SKULLSHIFTER- Death/Thrash Metal with Industrial Undertones
Skweeg- Industrial/Thrash Metal
Skymning- Melodic Power/Death (early), Industrial Death/Black (current)
Slave One- Industrial Metal
Slave's Mask- Industrial with Black Metal influences
Slughunter- Extreme Industrial Doom Metal
Smear- Industrial Death Metal/Deathcore -(UK)
Social Deformity- Industrial Death/Grind
Sonic Violence- Industrial Metal
Sonichaos Aeon- post black metal, industrial
Sophia- Martial Industrial
Soundsurgery- Industrial/Thrash Metal
Spektr- Industrial/Ambient/Black Metal
Spider Kitten- Stoner/Doom Metal with Industrial influences
Spin- Industrial Metal
Spitkiss- Dark Industrial Gothic Metal
Spliph- Black/Death/Industrial Metal
Splitzen- Industrial Thrash/Black Metal
Sprawl- Industrial/Post-Black Metal
Stagnatus- Industrial Black Metal
Stahlmantel- Techno (old), Industrial, EBM (new)
Stake of God- Industrial Black Metal
Strapping Young Lad- Death/Thrash with Industrial Overtones
Suiced- Industrial/Black Metal
Sunset- Doom/Death Metal (early), Gothic/Industrial (later) -(Rus)
Supra Plazma- Industrial/Black/Death Metal
Swamp- Industrial/Death Metal -(Fra)
Sweet Disease- Gothic/Industrial Metal
Sybreed- Industrial/Groove Metal
Symawrath- first : Black Metal; later : Industrial / Electro Dark Rock
Symphony of Sorrow- Gothic/Industrial Metal
Symptoms- Industrial metal
Synastry- Industrial Death Metal
Syntetik Mizantropy- Industrial/Black Metal (old), Electronic (now)
T.O.M.B.- Experimental Black Metal/Industrial
T.O.T.- Industrial Death Metal
T3CHN0PH0B1A- Electronic/Industrial/Blackened Metal
Taken By Wolves- Industrial Black Metal
Tao Menizoo- Death/Thrash Metal with industrial elements
Tchort- Black Metal, Industrial/Ambient -(Rus)
Tearless- Gothic Metal, Black Metal, Industrial
Technocracy- Thrash/industrial metal
Terminus- Death Metal (early) / Industrial Metal (later) -(UK)
Terra::POLARIS- Black Metal with Industrial Influence
Terrodrown- Industrial Black Metal
Terror Organ- Death/Industrial
THD- Industrial Thrash Metal
The Amenta- Industrial Death Metal
The Axis of Perdition- Industrial Black Metal/Dark Ambient
The Berzerker- Industrial Death/Grind
The Bizarre Blue Spectre- Industrial Death/Doom
The Bloodcult- Industrial Gothic Metal/Ambient
the Cold Beyond- Industrial Black Metal
The Deafening Silence- Industrial/Dark/Death Metal
The Devin Townsend Band- Progressive/Industrial/Atmospheric Metal
The Electric Hellfire Club- Industrial/Electronic (early), Industrial Rock/Metal (now)
the hag- Industrial Experimental Metal
The Heavils- Alternative/Groove Metal with Industrial Overtones
The Hordes- Industrial Black Metal
The Kovenant- Electronic/Industrial Metal
The Kunst Conspiracy- Industrial Gothic Metal
The Nefilim- Industrial Death/Goth Metal
The Project Hate MCMXCIX- Industrial Death Metal
The Republic of Desire- Industrial thrash/death metal
The Sixth Incubator- Death/Industrial Metal
The Wicked- Melodic Black/Industrial Metal
Theatre of Tragedy- Gothic/Doom/Death Metal (early), Industrial/Electronica, Gothic Metal/Rock (late)
Thee Maldoror Kollective- Black Metal (early) / Industrial/Avant-garde (now)
Thorn Fetish- Industrial Thrash/Groove Metal
Thorns- Black/Industrial metal
Three Sixes- Industrial Thrash Metal
Throne Of Molok- Industrial Death/Black Metal
Thunderkraft- Folk/Industrial/Deathcore
Thy Mesmerized- Industrial Black Metal
Thyrane- Symphonic black metal (old), Blackened industrial metal (new)
Tidfall- Industrial Black Metal
Tiefgefroren- Industrial Death Metal
Tonkraft- Industrial/Thrash Metal
Total Devastation- Industrial Death Metal
Totenstille- Black/Death/Gothic/Industrial Metal -(Arg)
Tourettes- Post Thrash/Groove/Industrial Metal
Tourettes Syndrome- Post-Thrash/Groove/Industrial Metal
Tragedy Begins- Black Metal/Industrial/Electronica
Transe- Progressive Industrial Metal
Transmission- industrial gothic metal -(Pol)
Tribus- (early) Tribal Industrial Metal (now) Thrash Metal with Tribal elements
Tristwood- Industrial Death/Black Metal
Troll- Symphonic Black Metal (old), Industrial Black Metal (now) -(Nor)
Tronraner- Industrial Black Metal
Tronus Abyss- Medieval Black/Folk Metal (early) - Industrial Black Metal (now)
Tudor- Black Metal (early), Thrash Metal with industrial influences (now)
Tumor- Industrial Metal -(UK)
Turning Of The Gears- Industrial Death/Doom
Twist- Industrial Death/Black Metal
Two- Gothic/Industrial
Tyrannium- Black Metal with Industrial elements
Tyrant Imperia- Black Metal (early) Death/Black with Industrial elements (now)
Umbah- Avant-garde industrial death metal
Unburied- Funeral Doom Metal, Experimental Industrial/Noise -(Fin)
uRAn 0- Industrial/Black Metal
URSS- Industrial Death/Thrash Metal
Utopian Sexgod- Industrial Death/Black Metal
V:O:I:D- Industrial Death/Black Metal
Valefor- Black/Dark Ambient Industrial
Valenta- Black Metal with Industrial Influences
Varga- Industrial/Groove Metal (early), Mallcore (Oxygen)
Veivi- Heavy Metal (early), Industrial Heavy Metal (later)
Venus- Heavy Metal/Industrial Rock -(Chl)
Vergeltung- Industrial/Melodic Death Metal -(Rus)
Veritas- Power/Thrash Metal (first demo), Industrial Metal (second demo) -(US)
VERUM- Industrial Metal
Vessels of Wrath- Industrial/Gothic/Thrash Metal
Vexierkasten- Death/Thrash/Industrial Metal
Vindikation- Progressive/Industrial/Death Metal
Visceral- Grind/Industrial Metal -(Bra)
Void- Industrial Black Metal -(UK)
Vomit- Death Metal/Sludge/Industrial -(US)
Vonn- Extreme Drone/Doom Metal with some Industrial and Noise elements
Vorak- Industrialised Black Metal
Vortech- Progressive/industrial thrash, heavy metal
Vortex- Industrial Black Metal -(Hun)
Vortex Syndrome- Black/Death/Industrial Metal
VS777- Industrial Black/Death Metal
Walking Corpse Syndrome- Death/Black/Industrial Metal
War Plague- Industrial Black Metal
Waste Disposal Machine- Industrial Metal
Waymanyka Shastra- Industrial/death/thrash/hardcore
Wedding Party- Gothic/Industrial Metal
Wewelsburg- Industrial Death/Thrash
Whaw!Zaiks- Industrial/Thrash Metal
whipkraft- Industrial Gothic Metal (early), Progressive Death Metal (now)
White Zombie- Industrial, Groove, Post-thrash
Wide Open Cage- Industrial Metal
Winter Offensive- Military Electro-Industrial with Black Metal Influences
Womb Of Maggots- Atmospheric Death Metal w/ Industrial Influences
Woods of Belial- Industrial Black/Doom Metal
Worm- Industrial/Death Metal -(Egy)
Wormachine- Industrial/Groove Metal
Wretched Asylum- Industrial Death Metal
Wunde- Black Metal/Noise (early) - Extreme Industrial Noise (now)
Xenolith- Industrial Black Metal
XESS- Gothcore (earlier), Industrial/Electronic Gothic Metal (now)
X-Hells- Thrash/Industrial/Heavy Metal
XSad- Industrial Death Metal
Zaghurim- Industrial/Ambient/Black Metal
Zaraza- Experimental/Industrial Funeral Doom
Zerber- Thrash/Death/Progressive/Industrial Metal
Zero Tolerance- Industrial Thrash Metal -(Fra)
Zero Vision- Thrash Metal / industrial elements
Zerokarma- Death/Doom/Gothic/Industrial Metal
Zhraja- Dark Folk Metal with Industrial Elements
Zorglüb- Industrial Black Metal
Zuul FX- Industrial Thrash/Death Metal
Zyklon- Industrial Death/Black Metal

2008 is coming to a close, and although there is still time to uncover a gem in this barren wasteland of electronic music, I do not have high hopes that what I've heard is the best this year has to offer. Of this year's releases, I purchased:

Aesthetic Perfection - A Violent Emotion
Battery Cage - Forever Never Ends
Burikusu!!! - 2080
Faderhead - FH3
Imatem - Journey
Imperative Reaction - Minus All
Informatik - Beyond
Iris - Hydra
KMFDM - Brimborium
ohGr - Devils In My Details
PlasmaMan - Option B
Seabound - Come Forward
Standeg - Ultra High Tech Violet

There is no sense in rating these albums. For one thing, they have nothing in common with each other besides the fact that they are associated with the same scene, and probably not even. My favorite album out of all of those was without a doubt Burikusu!!! - 2080 because it was the most innovative, accessible, and intelligent release I've heard in a while. The Seabound live album was also very cool, and restored my faith in the live album. Listening to some of those tracks contain more energy than the studio versions, although I do believe they are long overdue for a new studio album.

The new Informatik was very interesting, and although at first I was very drawn to the whole album, my attraction has settled on two tracks in particular, It Always Ends The Same and As We Lay Silent. Faderhead suffered the same fate. I really enjoy the catchy-ness of Electroslut Extraordinaire, but as with other FH albums, after the first track on the album, my attention begins to wander and I find something else to listen to, or I just loop the first track.

I'm still listening to the new Standeg and ohGr to form educated opinions about them, but on first impression there is very little I'm excited by, and if I end up appreciating either albums it will be after several listens and much rationalization.

PlasmaMan, the side project of Cesium_137 (or Cesium:137), had an EP release of some very trance-oriented material. Now, I'm not one for trance, but I have to say I enjoy this music quite a bit. It was really fun to listen to while I browsed the stacks at the library. Cesium_137 is an artist that I really appreciate on the grounds that they are constantly meshing different generic elements (elements of genre) of electronic music to make something ever-changing.

Forever Never Ends, the followup to 2006's A Young Person's Guide To Heartbreak, the first purchase I made this year, was highly anticipated after how much I enjoyed Battery Cage's previous two releases. But it was disappointing, and left a lot to be desired. The new tracks weren't very good, and the remixes were even worse. I hate to be this critical on an artist who released an album that I love so much, but these guys are hit or miss. Sometimes there sound is right on, and others (too often) it is over-the-top.

I skipped over many Metropolis releases this year because of their shift into rock-oriented electronic music that deviates from the thematic and aesthetic paradigm that I find delicious, but I keep hoping that they are phasing different bands through the roster as a type of market research. It is my hope that 2009 will see new releases from the "heroes" of my end of the industrial spectrum, i.e. VNV Nation, Covenant, Mind.In.A.Box, Assemblage 23, etc. In the meantime, I will distract myself by finding listenable qualities in the midst of all this mediocrity.

Time for part two of my rundown of my views on 2008 in music. This week it's my favourite tracks of the year - in these mp3-based times, this isn't necessarily a collection of singles, more the best individual tracks I've heard this year (and were released in the last twelve months since last year's list).

10
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
DIG, LAZARUS, DIG!!!

Since a near-flawless "Best Of" about ten years ago, not a lot of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds material has really caught me like the old stuff did. Well, that is until this album, and the Grinderman album that preceeded it. This latter release is important here, as it has clearly acted as some form of catalyst to Cave since - Dig!!! is teeming with life and humour in a way that recent albums have lacked. The title track is for me the best thing on the album, too, a hilarious reimagining of Lazarus, transplanted to New York and not very happy about being resurrected...

09
Rabbit Junk
Black
This Life Is Where You Get Fucked

Previous Rabbit Junk albums, it now transpires, only hinted at the crazy lengths that JP Anderson was going to go to on his latest, much-delayed album. Split into three distinct sections, it was the middle section (subtitled "Ghetto Blasphemer") that was the one that gained most attention, and with good reason. A stupendous clash of black metal and hip-hop, and it works best on Black, a brutal, roaring track that steamrollers the listener into submission.

08
Left Spine Down
U Can't Stop The Bomb
Fighting for Voltage

By a country mile the best track on a generally strong compilation (Gears Gone Wild), and then the opening track on LSD's opening album, this is a spectacular punk meets industrial track with a chorus that should be sung along by crowds in stadiums. It's stop-start dynamics only heighten the effect, the only downfall being those same dynamics make it a bitch to DJ with (just try dancing to it...)!

07
The Mirimar Disaster
Control.Alter.Delete
Volumes

As I've noted recently, for me this year there has been a distinct lack of metal releases that have actually caught my attention, which is reflected in the make-up of this list. This, however, is a notable exception - TMD's finest moment so far, and nicely timed as this EP got them a fair amount of attention in the UK metal press, too. It's not so much "business as usual" as a more direct approach to their established, sludgy metal sound, and it's all the better for it.

06
Lucidstatic
Blackout
Gravedigger

As an introduction to a previously unknown artist (and an album I made a blind purchase of, only having read the description of it on the Tympanik website), this was a hell of a way to do it. Four minutes of rampaging breakcore that constantly twists, turns and leaves you gasping for breath as it shudders to a halt.

05
Mercury Rev
People Are So Unpredictable
Snowflake Midnight

This album initially left me confused, a feeling quickly replaced by enchantment, particularly after I heard this track. A jaw-dropping, spaced-out epic that has me envisioning the massive sounding drums, reverbed vocals and twinkling electronic washes being played out across a starry night sky before fireworks explode across it as the song reaches it lengthy peak. Ten years ago Mercury Rev made an album in awe of the expanses of America. Now, they've proved their vision and scope was way, way bigger than just somewhere on the earth.

04
Cyanotic
Alt.Machine
prehab 25mg-ep

The pick of the new tracks on Cyanotic's latest EP (a precursor to the forthcoming new album the medication generation, due in 2009), this is the kind of bruising dancefloor-industrial that most bands shy away from making nowadays. More's the pity, really - this is awesome. One friend, who'd never heard them before, noted recently that this is a mix of Cubanate, Pitchshifter and Ministry, and I'd say his description isn't far wrong. For those of you that know older Cyanotic material, this is Deface having spent a few months pushing weights.

03
Memmaker
Death Audio Blow Your Brains
How to Enlist in a Robot Uprising

From both a DJ and punter's perspective, this was probably hands down the most fun dancefloor track released all year. Not a lot to it, really - the title sampled over and over, a stomping beat, and lots of effects swirling around. Sounds easy, right? Let's just say the whole is considerably more than the sum of the parts.

02
Everything Goes Cold
I've Sold Your Organs on the Black Market to Finance the Purchase of a Used Minivan
Prepare To Be Refrigerated

It's all my friend Nigel's fault that I heard this in the first place, on a Dark Assimilation show right back at the start of the year, and after it slowly got it's hooks into my brain it was kinda obvious I was going to buy the EP (well, certainly value for money if not an EP - four new tracks, a short instrumental and eleven remixes). While the rest of the EP - including many of the remixes - are great, this track still sounds top of the pile. A fantastic sound, catchy hooks and some great, biting humour (and perhaps the best song-title ever).

01
Mind.In.A.Box
What Used To Be (Short Storm)
What Used To Be [CD Single]

Released right at the end of 2007 (i.e. after my 2007 lists, so it counts here), this track marks the point where this intriguing, unusual electronic act stepped out of the shadows and bathed their sound in a glittering light. The eight-minute full version of this track was the centrepiece of the band's third album Crossroads last year - and this version was released on a promo CD and then also Advanced Electronics Vol. 6, and is a much snappier, more immediate track that leaps straight into the chorus and then hits height after euphoric height for over four minutes. Needless to say, it's hands down the best thing Mind.In.A.Box have ever done, and also just happens to be everything that "Futurepop" ever promised to be but never quite delivered.

Finally, a quick mention of other tracks that were shortlisted but didn't make the final ten (in alphabetical order):

65daysofstatic | Dance Parties (Distant)
Ad·ver·sary | Waiting For Gira
Amanda Palmer | Astronaut: A Short History of Nearly Nothing
Battery Cage | Crush And Spurn (Bone Crusher Mix)
Diskonnekted feat. Frank Spinath of Seabound | storm
The Verve | Sit And Wonder
XP8 | Juggernaut

What are the best songs you've heard in 2008?

July 23, Wednesday
So, day one started ok: smooth departure from Rome, sleepless yet comfy flight to Newark, bump-free landing there, unbelievably not existing cue at US Immigration, hassle-free passage of customs an then...
Newark closes on us just after boarding our LA bound plane cos some fucking storm is working its rainy way up toward the airport! damn!
After the first hour waiting on the plan the crew starts offering us a "one off deal" to de-plane, meaning that we were all free to leave the plane if we didn't feel like waiting more, but we would not be allowed back.. how could you refuse an offer like that? by doing what we did: snoring louder!
Then, after a FIVE hours wait (!!!) control tower deems us worthy of leaving New Jersey and our planeful of malcontents takes off heading west.
Flight time (another 5 hrs) is spent zombified and still unable to sleep.. only brief lapses into unconsciousness that can't honestly be called sleep.
Night flights are cool... you're surrounded by darkness and followed by two sets of constellations stars above and cities below... or maybe they're more akin to neural networks of lights... still, it's a fascinating show.
It got even more scenographic in the middle of our flight when we flanked the thunderstorm which was slowly receding to our right as we kept moving westward.. imagine two layers of clouds: a lower one flat and regular and carpet-like topped by several bulging formations with massive lightning activity going on. Definitely a beautiful sight (when seen from afar and moving away form it..)
Eventually we land in LAX and find Clint (Carney, System Syn singer and tour manager) waiting for us. We try to act like not as brain dead as we actually are and after some small talk we arrive to Clint's place to crash.
That's it.. we're in the US and we're about to start touring!!
Sleep now.


July 24, Thursday
Eight o'clock and I'm fully awake... not quite the "good night sleep" I was hoping for, but hey I can't help it so I get up. Marco's awake too and we hit the 'net straight away, catching up with our people in Europe, friends, enemies, hung-ups and fuck ups.
It's not long before Clint & Heidi get up too and we have breakfast, it's not even 10 am and life is already looking 10 times better than the day before!
Jody (merchandiser, second driver and chaos maximo) shows up too so Clint and him can go pick up the rental we'll use for the tour.
It downs to me that this day is all going to be about buffering, basically killing time before the first show... but there's plenty of miles to be driven and plenty of things to organize or finalize so it's not really killing time, but you know what I mean. Today we'll drive to Phoenix, AZ, as a stop over on our way to El Paso, and leaving LA Clint, Jody, Marco and I pick up the rest of our merry traveling freak show: Jaymie, Adam, and Jay.
Traffic is evil.
It hates us.
And we hate it back, venomously.
Still we arrive in Phoenix at Nick's place well after midnight and after a rather hurried meal cooked by our extremely kind host, we all do our best to sleep.. and some are sonorously more successful then others!


July 25, Friday
Friday morning we're all a bit grumpy... well I am and so everyone else is too in MY HEAD.
Moving a 7 people platoon isn't easy, so it take us a while to tidy up and go have breakfast, which is consumed in a farm themed restaurant that we walk to (!!!) in the already blistering Arizona morning heat.
Leaving Nick's we pick up his Virus Kb that Syn are going to use on stage. It comes in a big fuck off flight case that i doubt will fit the already brimming van, but it does... we all love playing tetris don't we?
The trip is smooth and largely uneventful, but still we arrive in El Paso one hour later than we programmed, so we skip hotel check-in in favor of sound check and head directly to the venue which is a sort of bikers bar.
The venue is pretty big and the stage is too, and even with both bands gear set up it doesn't look cramped.
So we eat, set up the merchandise stall, sound check (with as little co-op from the local engineer (and I use the word lightly) as possible and fuck off to the hotel, leaving Jody behind to man the stall (sorry mate..)
There isn't much time to relax, but we do our best to then we dress up, put on some make up and head back to the venue. There we realize our estimates on turn out hadn't been too far from the truth (unfortunately) and to kill time as we wait for the last punters to arrive, we hit the bar for a few rounds of shots.
Finally we're in party mode and going on stage becomes a fun prospect again.
And fun it is indeed!
As usual in these situations we don't get a great sound on stage, but we can work with that. It's my first gig in the US so I'm hyper even in these conditions. So hyper i manage to kick a drink somebody had left to the front stage, not my fault really, should have been expected, but i regret it as soon as I discover the drink was actually meant for us! BITCH!!
Anyway, people cheer, clap and dance so apparently we're a good opening band.
System Syn sound really cool, it's the first time I see them live and they come across as a real live band, i like it.
And the public like it too.
We pack as soon as Syn finish their last song and after the mandatory pics, signatures and drinks we call it a day and go to sleep.
One gig into the tour and i know I'm definitely going to enjoy this...


July 26, Saturday
Alarm goes off at 6 am and we all curse.
I come off sleep too abruptly and as usual in those cases it takes me ages to get anything done, but eventually we pack all our stuff and head for breakfast... "dad" (that's Clint for us and now you too) has been very clear, we gotta leave at 7 in order to get to San Antonio in time so we all rush stuffing our faces as quickly as possible,
The trip to San Antonio is better than the one to El Paso... don't know if it's possible but we pass through a better looking type of desert. Yeah, life is all about details.
In the van we doze, read, listen to iPods, chat or play "the game". It consists of picking up a subject and come up with words that begin with the first or last letter of the word said by the person before you (weapons, causes of death, etc).
Sounds boring? because IT IS!
But it helps, so...
Anyway, the platoon has formed only 3 days ago and already the "what? PUPPAAA!" routine is established and going on strong with the americans.
We arrive in San Antonio at about 5 pm and go straight to the hotel to check in. The venue tonight is Atomix which looks like a giant purple Lego brick from outside, but inside is really cool, as are John the promoter and the local audio guys. Load in, set up and sound check proceed smoothly and we're all pretty satisfied with the sound, we know we're going to kick ass tonight.
Dinner is a nice and surprisingly italian tasting pizza, after which we head back to the hotel for general chilling out and getting ready, but truth is I really want to be at the Atomix this time because the party is promising, when we passed by the venue there were already a few people waiting to get in...
At 10 pm we're there and there's people to meet and greet: there's Mark of Sigsaly rec, Dark Texas and wife from "the unnamable online forum", Alex of CTRL, Lisa and several other smiley faces eager to say hi and make us feel welcome. Show time is pushed to 11 pm and comes the time Marco goes on stage and starts Download Me (p2p Version), I wait for the intro to finish by the stage psyching myself up because I learned how important those first 3 minutes of the gig are.
My personal highlights of the set are The Art Of Revenge and Cuttin'n'Drinkin and the good monitoring allows me to be a bit more expressive this time.
After Seed we're off stage and we hit the party hard. San Antonio liked us and people buy lots of merchandise, ask for signatures and offer us shots (mine's a Jaeger thanks) which vibes me up just nice, I dance some and cheer for SS on stage. In between tracks "dad" thanks XP8 and I feel obliged to bring him a beer on stage, but unfortunately he misunderstands my intention and just clicks his mic to the bottle as in a toast... oh well more booze for me then.
Eventually the party ends and some of us retreat to our room for a sort of afterparty, but the bottle of vodka ends very quickly and since we didn't manage the delivery anything else we call it a day and go to sleep.
Yeah we call it a day, a pretty good day.


July 27, Sunday
Pretty boring drive day as we transfer from San Antonio to New Orleans, but puppa reigns, puppa rules.
There are some random "Random" moments like when somebody (Jake I think) yells out a "Deh!" and the whole van starts singing that song by Harry Belafonte, very much in the Beetlejuice style.
Surreal.
We get to New Orleans at half past midnight and we're greeted by Alicia and Angel, who will host us for the night and that would have been promoters of our gig there if it didn't had to be moved to Baton Rouge. Sleeping space is little but will do for one night.
That said some of us don't want to go to sleep straight away, so Alicia drives Angel, Jake, Marco and me (but not Jody who is a pussy) to the French Quarter to the Dungeon, a bar just off Bourbon Street. Drinks start flowing and we also hook up with Gemini who DJs and bar tends there.
We're not allowed upstairs where the music is because it's already full and anyway Gemini has just finished her shift and wants to leave, so we pour our last drink in plastic cups (can't walk the streets with bottles in hands in the US) and proceed to another bar.
We drink some more and then move to yet another bar for MORE DRINKS!
This last bar is quite cool and we're joined by more "asylum types" (our types) for the drinkies. We're all quite flustered and Jake in particular looks like he's having a great time: knifes are big in New Orleans and while he gets to show his "piece" a couple of girls pull out their purses jack-knives, flick-knives, machetes and fucking daggers... or so it seems to me.
Anyway when our driver decides she's had enough we leave.
Oh sleep!
Oh sweet coma!!


July 28, Monday
Some time in the morning i wake up, no alarm involved.
Today we have to transfer to Baton Rouge for the gig, but before leaving we want to see some more of the French Quarter by day, plus there's lots of business to be taken care of in the internet but the house has no network, so Daddy, Marco, Jaymie, Adam and me get in the van and go look for a internet cafè or similar.
We find a coffee shop with free wireless and have breakfast/lunch/random meal. Daddy has a lot to do, so we leave him behind and proceed on foot toward the French Quarter.
Or better in the other direction.
By the time we turn on our heels and pass by the coffee shop again we've wasted 15 minutes, sweated 15 litres, and aged 15 years.
Yeah it's hot in New Orleans at 1.30 pm in July. Hardly surprising.
The French Quarter is nice, it manages to tourist friendly and tacky but in a slightly sinister way... I feel an all pervasive sense of humor and irony around which is great. Marco leads us to the Marie Laveau's House of Voodoo on Bourbon for some "alternative shopping" and after that to the Voodoo Museum.
We don't have much time left so we go back to Alicia's and pick up the other guys and go to Baton Rouge. There's little traffic and we get there pretty quickly so we have time to check in at our Hotel, La Quinta this time.
The Industry, today's venue is small yet perfectly formed, so to speak, even if it's dominated by a huge overpass looming on its back. The stage is tiny and cramped with both bands gear and the rented PA takes a while to be set up, but eventually we all sound check satisfactorily.
Today is the first gig where we get also a local opening act, they're called Torrent Vaccine and they consist of Brad, a laptop and deep bass.
I like it quite a lot, even if performance wise he should think of something more entertaining.
Which leads me to our gig which is highly entertaining (I am entertained, hehehe). We shuffled the songs a little bit and it pays, the show flows a lot better now, I really get into the performance and when the stage is not enough i wander through the public. I really pity Marco who is trapped in a forest of keyboards and stands from his usual moves and jumps. My highlight today is Das Licht and again Cuttin'n'Drinkin.
System Syn suffer a little bit more than us for the technical situation sound wise because they have a much more complicated set but manage to pull off another great show.
Great stuff.
We're all very tired and quite drunk but as some of us didn't catch any dinner we decide to stop for food at iHop, New in jokes roll in and old ones shoot out in weird tangents... in a demented sort of way it is nice.


July 29, Tuesday
Travel day, this time we have to go from Baton Rouge to West Palm Beach and it's a long long way, something like 12 hours.
Plus on our way out we get a bloody road block and we waste something like two hours trying to find the place to get on the freeway again.
Today we're all pretty grumpy and despondent, we cannot relax much in the van and each one of us blames it on his special someone.
Personally, I finally hook up the laptop power pack to the van cigarette lighter adapter the guys bought to play Resident Evil and that keeps me busy and relaxed, though not very social.
Eventually we settle to stop a few miles before West Palm Beach because we're all too burnt out.
Bad day.


July 30, Wednesday
Today we play West Palm Beach and we all sort of look up to it to readdress the tour feel, we need some optimism back in the van.
When we stopped the day before I thought we were a lot closer to West Palm but we're still a good couple hours away. The hotel the promotes hooked us at is quite nice and we decide to spread a bit room wise for extra comfort...
Today we finally manage to do some laundry and life is indeed looking better in Florida.
Another thing that is looking better in FL are clubs... I really really like Respectable Avenue. High ceiling and high stage, lots of space to move and arrange keyboards, moving lights and smoke machine, good PA and lovely decor (big spooky yet not stupidly goth wall paintings and HUGE sofas).
All in all we're all pretty stonked.
Sound check is a little less smooth than usual though, I get the feel that there's a bunch of new gear in the club that the sound guy still has to familiarize with. So there's a whole lot of feedback going on at times or tits up monitoring or weird effects howlrounds, but eventually we reach a point when we can say we're satisfied and go back to our rooms to get ready for the night.
West Palm Beach at night is quite striking... for the untrained european eye it really is charming as it's not as bubblegum pastel pop deco as Miami.
Anyway, let's not wander off too much, this is a log, not a memoirs thingy.
Marco and I get ready and Dad drives us and Adam back to the venue first (the rest of the Synners need more time and we're supposed to be on stage shortly. At the venue we find we've finally been delivered the tee shirts we were supposed to get in San Antonio and at brief inspection we find them gorgeous, much better print and colours than the Italian prints we had.
Can't wait to see people going around in them.
Which they do eventually.
We get on stage at 10:15 pm and it's a proper blast! I don't hear myself perfectly, but the music pumps just right and I get into it. A lot. I think i strut a little too much today, but I feel the rock'n'roll vibe and I go with it.
Today Cracked and Seed are massive. On the breaks of both the songs we managed a really cool build-up and people fire us up back... cool shit.
System Syn are on next and as usual they rock.
When the concert finish there really isn't much of a club going on, it's Wednesday for fuck sake and people leave quite early.
But we're professionals and we think ahead, that's why we have 1 bottle of vodka, 1 bottle of Jack and some beer and sodas in our room fridge.
Someone (me) has the great idea of sticking our video cam in a corner and tape as much as possible of the afterparty. Just thinking that I'll have to go through all of it sickens me now, but hey there might be some good blackmail material in there!
Thank you West Palm Beach for pulling us up again.


July 31, Thursday
When we leave West Palm for Orlando I marvel at how well I feel considering the night before binge... I must be growing accustomed to rhythm of touring.
That, or I'm getting a habit.
We stop for breakfast in a really nice and healthy style restaurant and as I'm a bit concerned about my parched throat I get a corn soup as a side. Marvelous choice.
(I'm so rock'n'roll I know)
Anyway, the trip to Orlando is shortish and after a nerve battle with G.P.Gess (our very inconsistent and slightly spaced out satellite navigation system) we "reach destination on right". DJ Matt and Jon greet us and make us all comfy at their apartments.
At 7:00 pm we leave for AKA Lounge, tonight's venue. Being downtown finding a parking space is a little problematic, so Dad parks in the bus lane, just in time for the passage of the bloody bus! Oh well, just go round the block once and come back.
Load in isn't really easy cos we're second floor and there's no lift but we're pretty efficient with our gear by now.
I like the club. It's got a nice brick walls traditional bar atmosphere and a really nice sounding PA and decent sized stage with good monitoring. Cool.
After soundchecks Dad, Jaymie, Marco and I go check a tattoo shop for piercing, Dad is looking for new plugs but doesn't find what he's looking for, while Marco and I both buy new lip-rings.
Show are postponed to allow more people in, but the final turnout won't be too good anyway... shame.
Also today we get an opening band, even if again it's not a band, but another solo project: I KILL PXLS who plays a really cool style of electro with songs about video games (what they call it "bleep" round here). The act is cool, but definitely needs to work on the stage presence a bit... unless he intends to play in more disco oriented clubs in between DJ sets. But really the songs are both fun AND cool.
We're on next and we get the little crowd to dance some even if they look a bit "detached", but hey, maybe it's Orlando style.
Highlight today is not a song in particular but a moment in a song: I'm on stage strutting my stuff with my shirt off and along comes a girl and sticks a dollar bill down my waistline! Fucking hilarious!!
I ask Marco to end on Waiting, something you should never ever do kids; rule #23 of the gigging musician in fact says that you always end your set with one of the more up-beat and energetic songs, but today I feel we've got nothing to prove to anyone and besides System Syn will have the crowd next thoroughly entertained shortly so we're not letting anyone down.
With System Syn on stage I proceed to arrange the "entertainment" for the night which will turn into a very long one.
Marco in fact hooks up with his friend Kassandra and her mates: Spider, Crystal and Virus and at the end of the club night, at around 2 am XP8 and Synner Jake get a lift to the guys place for some mindless self indulgence...


August 1, 2, 3, 4, Monday
Four days in a single post?
Are you lazy or something???
No, it's just that I'm all wired up right now and I can't sleep so I thought I might as well do this, and the three days before today were kind of boring so I don't think they deserve a post of their own.
Basically what's gone on before today is that we've travelled from Florida to New York and that's it.
Well we've exploited John's (DJ23) hospitality for two days... sort of recharging our batteries in Delaware and just sleep, but that's about it,
So to get to the interesting bits, today we leave Delaware at a reasonable time and in three hours we reach our hotel in New Jersey. Here we have the luxury of almost three hours before leaving for the venue which is pretty fucking unusual, we were so used to rush from one one place to the next, always trying to keep up with a tight schedule that now I almost fear we'll slack!
Honest.
We all spend time on the internet, I get to chat a bit with Francesca and all, we watch Stephen King's "Carrie" on a laptop cos TV sucks big time, and then we're ready and we hit the road for the big apple.
But G.P.Gess doesn't really want's us there.
Or at least so it seams to me.
She keeps giving Dad wrong turning points, recalculating her shit, losing satellite connection and to cut a long short we go through the Holland tunnel twice!
Damn it!!
Eventually we reach the bloody venue and we're greeted by Rob who turns out to be the coolest promoter this far. We don't get the coolest club owner but hey, you can't have everything, can you.
We thought we'd be late, but everyone in NY is late, so there's no problem whatsoever.
The light and sound guys are all pretty cool and cooperative and we all get the feel this is going to be a really great show, because guys let's admit it: PA and light is two third of an electronic music show!
Anyway, back stage area gets more populated by the minute, new acquaintances, net friends and old friends turned enemies turned fairies.
And we begin wiring the wires.
XP8 gig starts at 11.15 pm and we go on stage and we fucking own it!
Seriously tonight I really get such a great reaction from New York it's insane. Highlights of the evening for me are Muv Your Dolly (strangely enough) and Lies... yeah, we played it! It has been a while since we last did and it was nice seeing that it still works.
The end of the set is where it belongs, but hell it's tough to be energetic round then.
But you do it.
You give your last bits and THEN you can drop.
Bomb like.
System Syn rock just as much as we did and checking out the lights they're getting I'm pretty confident we just had and awesome show.
Right during the Syn show things start to get very very blurry, but there's nothing that important to be remembered anyway.

I guess...


August 5, 6 Wednesday
I wake up kind of sore and wrecked after the New York gig and as we check out of our New Jersey hotel to move westward to Pittsburgh, I sort of make a point to behave more responsibly from now on... well at least for the day.
We reach Pittsburgh by dinner time (which doesn't mean much as we have meals at whatever time we find time to) and settle for a pizza place which is surprisingly good. Seriously, this is the best pizza I've had in the US so far!
Anyway, we hit a hotel just outside downtown and that's pretty much all for us today.

On wednesday we check out at the usual time ready to have breakfast and check in in the hotel booked for us by the local promoter... shame we couldn't be in the same one for these two days, but hey rock'n'roll right? We don't want to get too spoiled, do we?
So we settle down in this new hotel, chill for a while and then go to the Altar Bar, our venue for tonight.
The venue is cool: it's a church, as in a proper church (allegedly still used for service on sundays) but it's got a really big stage and a very nice sounding and bloody powerful PA.
The backstage area is also huge, it's actually a whole separate bar downstairs, but we soon realize why we have so much space: we'll be sharing stage and show time with Rein[Forced] (a extra support band we were not aware about, but really pleased to have on board) and Elysium Playground, a group of fetish performers. Watching a whipping cross being set up in a church is quite funny, yet appropriate if you think about it...
So, sometimes in the evening Rein[Forced] get on stage and they're OK, actually they're better than OK, but have a really poor response from the public which is a shame, because they really pound it, but you know, if you get Hentai Anime going on while a band plays people get distracted!
I know because I did.
After they leave the stage is time for the fetish performance which is all about the seven capital sins and the plot kinda works, but maybe not all the performers, but who cares, it's entertaining.
And then it's our time and I have a blast!
Highlights? I can't bloody remember now, but there must have been some. Like all the bloody songs.
And I don't want to be rude to System Syn, because I actually danced to them (especially I Am Here), but after the show I get totally side-tracked and careless and I don't think there's anything worth mentioning here.
Excuse me guys, but that's how it is...


August 7, Thursday
I wake up in a lousy mood, I guess it had to happen sooner or later... I'm well pissed off alright.
Thankfully by the time we check out and get in the van it gets sort of better and I'm not a miserable git to the rest of the company.
Today the van will take us to Chicago Illinois where System Syn drop off Marco and me at Matt (DJ Pathogen)'s place as they proceed to Kenosha, WI to stay at some friends' place on their way to Milwakee. Our plan instead is to hit a club night Matt is running and meet up with Eric, who's flying in from San Francisco to join XP8 on stage for a couple of dates. Sweet.
We arrive at Matt's almost at the same time as Ann (DJ Cytokine) and her convertible Volkswagen Golf and we drive to the airport with the top off. Sweeter sweet.
At the airport we spot Eric's haircut right away and spot also a little problem: three XP8er in the golf back seat? with a bass flightcase on their lap? definitely NOT pleasant! Oh well, at least it's a short drive.
So strange, this is the first time Eric and I meet in person but the old stereotype of "feels like we've always known each other" really does apply here. Although we're indeed kinda forced into intimacy in that damn back seat!
Anyway, back at Matt's we freshen up a bit and get sort of ready for the night out, which starts with a pretty decent Thai dinner in a really "hip" part of Chicago. Did I already say "sweet"?
After dinner we go to the club and outside we meet Sean from Cyanotic, awesome guy and great sport. The club evening isn't really happening, not enough people maybe, or maybe everybody is more interested in hanging out outside the club chatting and cracking jokes than dancing. We have a great time nevertheless and I even get to taste the DEATHKEY shot. Among several other drinks... well you know, we're all in a celebratory mood of a sort.
At some time in the night Matt and Ann call it off and we all move to Club Neo which is playing 80's tonight, which would suck, but at least it's a "happening" party and we're all still buzzing and don't want to go to bed just yet. At the club I actually manage to dance a couple of numbers and consume more alcohol and nicotine than reasonable, considering that tomorrow is gig day, but hell we're partying.
Somehow I manage to lose some important "event" and I'm told we have to leave as Matt has work the day after but we're leaving by cab because Ann already left (??), but that's hardly a problem as fares are reasonable in Chicago.
We say bye to Sean and manage to convince him to call in sick tomorrow at work and travel with us to Milwakee for the gig.
Well let's say that he's pretty easy to convince.

Sleep at Matt's is quick and dreamless.


August 8, Friday
Marco's alarm wakes all us up, with the possible exception of Mr. Gottesmann, who looks terribly comfy all bunched up on the sofa ;-) .
We leave Matt's place quite early as he has to go to work and head toward Union Station where we'll catch our bus to Milwakee. We have time to waste and we do so in a cafè where we have light breakfast and heavy wireless, yes! Marco is very happy!!
When time comes we go to the bus stop and cool Sean has make it in time to join us, just barely. This is funny, you can't actually purchase Megabus tickets onboard, but you can only buy them on-line or via call centre, Sean use the second method and get the confirmation code exactly as the staff asks for it. Cool, Thunderbirds are go!
On the bus we're teased by the screening of "Collateral" which looks like a really well made crime film, but a) the volume is just about enough to get you intrigued and pissed off at losing important bits of dialogue and b) the dvd restarts about 4 times, so in the two and half hours we spend on the road we only get to see the first 45min or so. On the bus we're also teased into believing we can actually sleep.
FAIL!

At 1:30 pm we arrive in Milwakee and walk to the venue Club Anything. Walk? in the US?? yeah well sometimes it does happen. And it wasn't even a short trek, especially for Sean who's carrying Eric's bass.
By sheer coincidence (as if we believed in them... we don't) we arrive exactly at the same time as System Syn... they all look like they've had a good time in Kenosha and a good night sleep, I don't want to know what we look like to them. After somewhat formal introductions we get into the venue as the owner is already there. We'll later find out he actually lives just upstairs.
Gary, the promoter is nowhere in sight, there's a worrying lack of communication going on with the guy and duly we worry. We'll later discover that Gary used to work in tandem with a girl who disappeared without warning leaving him on his jack at the very last moment, meaning that he had to do a bunch of things all by himself and with very little time.
Anyway, Dad and Jaymie go looking for some vegan approved food and after some loitering the rest of us decide to hit the closest of the many Mexican restaurant of the area. There we're hit by some reasonable, yet slowish, food and by a guy offering to roadie for us in exchange of a free entry; now: 1) please man, don't do these things with a band you'll never see ever again, it's a strategy you can use with a local band and possibly build a career from it, 2) don't print "XP8 crew" tees before you get the 100% confirmation it's going to happen... I mean, why wasting your money in such a way?
Anyway, we load in and fuck off to the hotel we've been confirmed at, leaving Eric and Sean behind for space restrictions though. But we don't get to chill much, we just get to shower and change for the evening and we're back to the venue for sound check.
Which goes surprisingly well! I'm still a little worried about introducing Eric's bass in the mix but I think it will work out especially for the visual impact.
Oh, and I really have to stop judging PAs in the US by the size of the venue...
After our sound check Christine Death 1337 asks for an interview for Chain DLK and we're glad to accept even if it's a bit awkward for several Bobby Mesh reasons ;-)
And then the waiting game starts, oh how we love the waiting game.
XP8 goes on stage at 11 pm and we rock it. We get a pretty decent crowd and they all seem well into it.
Today's best are the last two numbers: Das Licht and Seed with a cheering crowd to die for.
After the show we get the usual rounds of drinks, chats, autographs and a little dancing, with a good dose of System Syn who all look really in good shape for this show.
Another cool date under the belt, Denver here we come!


August 9, 10 Sunday
At 11 am our grumpy yet strangely merry crew re-assembles outside the Hotel and head for "Branded Steers" which is not a gay s/m joint, but a rather nice restaurant which shares the parking lot with our hotel so makes perfect sense for a breakfast stop before hitting the road again... well for some of us makes sense.
The trip for Denver is very very long and we end up stopping somewhere in Nebraska to sleep.
We arrive in Denver in the early afternoon and after a very few minutes spent freshening up a bit at our hotel, we have to leave for sound check after a brief stop for guitar strings for Jake and bass picks for Eric.
Although it wasn't brief at all, thanks to Eric... ;-P
Tonight we play at The Falcon which is basically a bowling alley with a club attached, but you still have to walk through the alley to get to the toilets, which is plain weird, but I'm getting ahead of myself, so let's rewind to load in.
We wander through a couple of parking lots before finding the backstage entrance, but that's normal G.P.Jess fuck ups we're all used to. The stage isn't too large, but it would still reasonably sized if we didn't have to share it with a third band. I mean it's normal to move a few things around between sets, but still... Jake get the worst of it with most of his shit disconnected and moved sideways a bit carelessly.
At the venue we hook up with Dave from Vendetta Records who's the local promoter and seems like a nice guy and with our friend Fetish Dolly who'll DJ tonight in between gigs.
While the Synners sound check Marco, Eric and I go out for a rather good burger just across the street and I think they do the same when we check. Sound seems OK, even if I already know I'll have problem with monitoring my voice here... I kind of torn at the idea of having to use in-ear-monitors, because I know they are the way to go to have reliable vocal monitoring every night, but for one we don't have our own engineer and second I feel I'd loose the feel of the crowd. Dunno, we'll see.
Anyway, after checks we head back to the hotel to get ready for the night properly and, as tonight we won't actually sleep at the hotel as we'll leave for Salt Lake City at 4:00 am, so we use our rooms to relax as much as possible now.
When we get to The Falcon again there's already a nice crowd there and we spend the time before our show chatting, watching the support band and networking (which means drinking in XP8speak).
At 10 we go on stage and hell it's good. Tonight I can hear Eric better and every now and then I sneak a look round to the left to check what he's doing and yeah, having a bass player rocking on stage is cool. But we'd need more space to do this properly.
On stage is bloody hot and when I take off my shirt backstage is totally drenched in sweat, and I mean dripping... gross! So for the rest of the evening I'll be wearing only my G-Starr jacket.
After the show we keep networking (shots now) and watch the Syn show: "who am I to say I'm sorry, who am I to sell you dope, I'm jerking off to midget porn, while sucking off the pope"
That's what Dad sings!
Honest!!
Sometime before midnight the evening at The Falcon ends and after loading the van and a couple of rounds of autographs, XP8 plus two Synners and a few selected cohorts go to Church for mass.
Seriously, the club is called Church and is in fact in a church basement with a goth/alternative/whatever floor and an industrial floor.
Good time ensue.
Much networking.
One day we'll post some pics.
Sometime in the evening Eric leaves us, he'll be staying at a mate's house for the night and will fly back to San Francisco in the morning.
I don't get to say goodbye because I don't see him go, which bugs me, but hey I'll catch up with him again in a few days when we play his hometown so.
Anyway, as you all should know by now, it doesn't matter how trashed we get, we're professional trashers, and we show up at the hotel just in time to get ready and leave.
Sleep in a van is hard to achieve.
Coma isn't.


August 11, Monday
Eternal gratitude to Dad and Jody for driving us safely all the way from Denver Colorado, to Salt Lake City Utah when they had all the right to be as wasted as us.
We arrive in Mormon country capital at around noon and reach Rob's place quite easily. Our local promoters are pretty decent blokes with plenty of space and we all crash in very comfy beds or couches immediately. I think I manage to sleep a couple of hours but I'm not sure.
Tonight's venue is called Club Vegas, yet another unassuming rectangular brick in the middle of a city packed with a hell of a sound system. The stage is huge, and it's a joy to fill it with electronic instruments instead of drums and amps!
You know, I love showing metal type people how much electronic music live can rock.
The back stage is quite large too and very comfy, if maybe a little cold... they really blasting the A/C back here.
We meet Jason and Batosphere Riot (local support band) and enjoy their gig and the DJ selection but we start to realize that attendance is going to be a little disappointing. Salt Lake City doesn't seem to respond too much to our tour coming to town, but maybe it's because it's monday... dunno.
When we get on stage though I concentrate on the back of the venue and just rip it.
You know, my take on this is: whoever shows up for the show deserves the show and we give it to them!
And so sadly the evening is pretty uneventful also for the Syn, who also rip it on stage.
So possibly is for the turn out, or for the stress build up, or whatever is in the air in Salt Lake City (bad vibes apparently) but we get a big showdown in the parking lot right before leaving the venue... parental advisory: strong language and adult content!
Thankfully once we're back at Rob's place and drinks get around our little dysfunctional family goes back to normal behavior and we can go back to party mode.
Well, the others can, because I make the mistake of sitting down on a terrific rocking/swivel plush chair which eats me and I fall asleep with a glass of mixed vodka in my hand.
But I don't spill a single bloody drop!
I wake up like when everybody else is in the hot tub and I'm like alone in the living room, so what do I do? I drink what's left in my glass, brush my teeth and GO TO SLEEP FOR FUCK SAKE!!!


August 12, 13, Wednesday
I don't remember Dad giving us a wake up time, but somehow we're all ready at about the same time and Edgard takes us to a restaurant near the freeway ramp we'll eventually have to take and we have a truly great breakfast. I get a french toast combo AND a cheese cake!
Nice.
Today we cover a lot of miles, I'll have to look it up because I'm curious, but anyway we get from Colorado, through Idaho to Oregon.
Anything interesting happened during the ride? well Marco and Adam both buy cool Smith & Wesson's pocket knifes at a native american themed gas station, there was plenty of sex talk, drugs talk and shit talk.. you know five bored guys in the back of a van talk.
Oh and Robitussin of course.
At half past midnight we get at Adam's place which is very cool. Four cats and a dog are part of the welcoming party and they're all overly kyooot.
We get some beers, get some snacks, smoke some fags in the porch and then we all ease into oblivion watching female beach volley on the tv.

In the morning I'm the first to wake up, so I head straight for the shower and take all the time i need for the three "S".
We're all pretty slow and chilled this morning, I guess that it is exactly what we're supposed to be today: finally relaxed. By 4 pm everybody's had his bathroom turn and we leave the house heading downtown.
We stop at the record store run by Derek, our local promoter, and hook up with Erica (Unter Null) who's travelled all the way from Washington State to see the show. It's been two years since I last saw her and I'm glad to see she's in good shape, obviously touring with C/A/T and Bobby Mesh gave her a much needed boost.
We strike a deal with Derek in which we pay for as many CDs as we want to purchase in his shop with copies of The Art Of Revenge, which apparently he's had problems sourcing (damn!), cool!
After the shop we briefly hit a nearby Starfucks for various guises of caffeine and then we go to The Fez Ballroom for soundcheck. The venue is really nice, with cool decor, a large stage and most importantly a really powerful PA.
There's a long wait between load in and the actual sound checks, and we spend the time being sociable and networking (yeah, in XP8speak). After the local FOH engineer is ok with the sound of both bands we all leave for Aura a really nice fusion restaurant just round the corner from the venue. My food is good but service is quite slow: 3 forks.
(Oh by the way, as we eat on the big screen to our left they project the olympics and guess what? yes, female beach volley is on...)
By 9.30 we're back at the venue and there's a local support act, a guy I didn't catch the name of, playing some cool dark electro and a couple of dark ambient pieces.
People keep flowing in and by 10.15 when we go on stage there's a nice crowd on the floor.
Apparently they don't move much in Portland, but all seem to appreciate the music between tracks and so we kick it.
My highlights for the night are Our Time, because it had been a while since we last played it, and Seed.
System Syn are on stage shortly after our last song and they play an awesome set tonight. I tape three of their tracks (starting from I Am Here which I love... did I already said so?) and proceed to enjoy the rest of the evening.
After the last of the public leaves we load all our gear in the van and go back to Adam's.
We won't sleep much...


August 14, Thursday
The travel from Portland to San Francisco is brutal.
Totally and utterly brutal.
We BLING "arrive at destination, on right" at about 5 om and the guys at DNA lounge tell us we can't load in until 7 so we have two hours to waste.
We decide to go eat somewhere and end up in an Indian restaurant in a hip yet low key part of town. I love the food, but come out of it stuffed to the gills... proof that you can have too much of a good thing.
Oh and by now I'm desperate for painkillers.
Not because I'm a fucking junkie, but because the lack sleep in Portland meant approximation of sleep in the van with a blasting A/C.
Man, my lower back hurts so much it cuts my breath whenever I make the wrong movement.
Which is about any movement.
Which is NOT something you'd want the day of a show.
Shit.
Anyway, at 7 we're back at DNA Lounge and we load in.
I like this place immediately. For one thing we've got HUGE backstage area, then there's the free wi-fi and the place has a major PA! Good.
Eric joins us straight from work and while System Syn sound checks we indulge in a silly interview for Noisecape TV with Peter taking care of the camera.





Tyler of Battery Cage/Informatik shows up right during the interview and, after our sound check, he drags the unwilling, kicking and screaming XP8 (yeah, right) to what I would call to pub crawling.
After a visiting a couple of bars on Folsom, we realize it's almost show time and head back to the venue hooking up with the other Battery Cage along the way.
The first local band is on when we get in. The play terrorbanana so I'm not that impressed, but I still discern songs underneath the monotone wash of vocal distortion, so who knows... maybe they're good.
Back stage is pretty lively before our show and I like that, we all switch into party mode and hit the stage.
Fantastic.
Physically I'm ok, psyched and pumped. Vocally not as much as I'd like to be, but hey, it's not like my vocal parts are that difficult to sing anyway, so I'm safe ;-)
Obvious highlights for me tonight are the two songs we never played before, but manage to pull off egregiously nevertheless: What Time Is Love (with Tyler and Eric rapping with Marco the KLF classic) and Deathkey, which worked surprisingly well and made me think we should do it more often.
After the shows we all get boozed up and in a party mood, so that when the club closes we all want to keep it rolling and head straight for Tyler's for a Vodka, Jaeger and Die Wundershozen fueled after-party.


August 15, Friday
What the fuck?
I'm on a couch in a living room with a TV on and two other guys in other two couches... ah yeah, I'm at Eric's, right.
Man, my head...
Marco's awake and checking the internet (I think), then he goes in another room (Eric's I guess) and comes back with a wonderful piece of information: "he's driving us to Jody"
You see, we've been out and about yesterday night, but we have to show up at Jody's place to join the happy white van for the LA trip.
Ok, time to get going.
The groggy electro power trio gets in the car and Eric drives us pretty quickly to the Okland address Dad gave us and we see the van straight away, parked in the sun and ready to get "on the road again".
Scenery wise the trip is rather nice, sure the Pacific Coast Highway would have been even better, but time is money right?
We arrive in LA quite in time in fact and separate in two groups to get ready at Jaymie's and at Dad's on the way to Das Bunker.
When we actually get to Das Bunker it kind of takes a while (and an Adam-FAIL) to understand we can in fact get inside the venue and don't have to wait for load in. So we load in.
Franck (local promoter and Das Bunker mastermind extraordinaire) is in shortly after and gets the stage ready as most of us have dinner with take-out from the vegan restaurant downstairs (boy, isn't Jaymie happy now) and then Synners set up on stage and we set up our merchandise. As they begin sound check Francesca texts me and I meet her downstairs and... man it's been just three weeks, but it feels like a much longer time...
Anyway, as Syn sound-check I take Francesca out to get something to eat, which on a deserted, past 9 pm West Pico Boulevard means take out chips and salsa in a dingy San Salvador place. We make it back just in time for our sound-check and as per usual we're through with is pretty soon.
So it's again that time of the day: the time when everybody plays the "waiting game".
People start to flow in and I can tell this is going to be the best attendance so far, obviously because it's regular club night, but still I can tell a lot of people are here for the shows. Everyone is pretty buzzed by the evening vibe.
Eventually the waiting ends and we're allowed to go on stage.
People are pretty cool and I see much response going on left, right and centre with people dancing and cheering for the whole set... there's even one guy with an Italian flag, and lots of people in the first rows follow us singing the songs during the whole gig. Our set is a few songs shorter than usual due to time restrictions, but still we squeeze in a song we haven't played for a while: Still Lives, just for the sake of having a different show for LA, and a new song from the next EP that goes down very well with the Bunker crowd.
At the end we dedicate the whole US tour experience to Paul and that's how it should be, period.
After the show there's an autograph avalanche waiting for us and much hands to be shaken, pic to be taken and drinks to be drunk. I remain at the club for as long as it takes to finish business, but what I really want now is acknowledge that the tour is over and go back to my hotel room. And so we do.
I hug everyone at least twice and hit the street, get a taxi number by someone at the door, call the number, get into de taxi, ride to Beverly Boulevard, get everything in our hotel room.

The tour is over.

- Marko