Avant! – AV!094 (2024) Plastic Estateは イギリス・ウェールズ出身のコンテンポラリーシンセポップアクト。雰囲気と洗練に重点を置いたデュオは 洗練されたポップミュージックが特徴的で ロマンスと輝きの豊かなパレットを呼び起こす。デュラン・デュラン (Duran Duran) のサイモン・ル・ボン (Simon Le Bon)、KEXP (KEXP)、BBCラジオ (BBC Radio) などから支持を集め、LAプリースト (LA Priest)、ホーム・カウンティ (Home Counties)、リアル・ライズ (Real Lies) などとの満員御礼のライブや、リチュアル・ユニオン (Ritual Union)、スターン・フェスティバル (Setn Festival) などの地域の大規模なフェスティバルに出演している。 以前Avant!で7インチとLPをリリースし, 現在セカンドアルバムをリリースしており, その中には10曲の新曲が含まれており、BBC Radio Walesの「Welsh A-List」に加えられ、高い評価を得ている。彼らの2枚目のアルバムは、彼らの新しい時代を歓迎しています。彼らのサウンドは、ダークなサウンドのルーツから離れ、West Coast Soundの「Hi-Fiラグジュアリー」や2010年のChillwaveの光沢からの新鮮な影響を受けて、より明るく洗練された美学へと進化しています。さらに、「Code D’Amour」は、今日のポップとは何かを考えさせてくれる。長い間、それはメロディー、ハーモニー、感情の代名詞となってきました。 最近、それはまだ感情についてのもののように見えますが、あまり良いものではありません。おそらく、世界がこれまでと同じように醜いからでしょう、あなたは気づいていますか? しかし、ポピュラー音楽の基本的な役割はどうでしょうか? それは、社会生活の絆を表現し、同時に祝福し、強制することです。楽しかった時は?確かに、変えなければならないことや戦うべきことはたくさんありますが、良い雰囲気は単なる娯楽としてではなく、文字通り人々の間に共同体の感覚を築くことができます。もしあなたが今そのような音を探しているなら、これ以上探すべきではありません。 Plastic Estate is a contemporary synth-pop act from Wales, UK. With an onus placed on atmosphere and refinement, the duo evoke a rich palette of romance and lustre with their polished marque of pop music. They have garnered support from the likes of Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran, KEXP and BBC Radio, and played sold-out shows with the likes of LA Priest, Home Counties, and Real Lies, as well as playing at large regional festivals like Ritual Union and Sŵn Festival. Having previously released a 7” and LP with Avant! Records, they are now releasing their second album, including 10 all new tracks gaining critical acclaim being added to BBC Radio Wales’s ‘Welsh A-List’. Their sophomore album hails a new era for the act; moving away from darker sonic roots, their sound has progressed to a brighter, more polished aesthetic with fresh influences from the ‘Hi-Fi luxury’ of West Coast Sound, and the gloss of 2010s Chillwave. What's more, ‘Code D’Amour’ makes you wonder: What is Pop today? For many years it has been synonymous with melody, harmony and emotions. These days it seems to be still about emotions but not very good ones, probably because the world is as ugly as it’s ever been, have you noticed? But what about the fundamental role of popular music which is to represent and at the same time to celebrate and enforce the ties of social living? What about the good times? Yes, there is a lot to be changed and to fight for but good vibes are not just for recreational use, they can literally build a sense of community among people. If you are looking for that kind of sound right now, you should look no further. Bandcamp 試聴 https://plasticestate.bandcamp.com/album/code-damour

Avant! – AV093 (2024) One mere year after their previous pitch-black sounding album Krypt, LA outfit Male Tears is back with a new full-length and – oh boy – everything is changed. The used-to-be duo is now a four piece with James Edward as the sole founding member remaining and apparently this new line-up helped the original vocalist to shapeshift again. Remember their very first debut album from 2021 and those dark synthpop sounds? With their upcoming fourth album (in only three years), this American electronic-pop act from Southern California doubles the stakes once again and where Krypt was all about being goth and gloomy and disturbingly paroxysmal, Paradisco is somehow quite the opposite. Eight new tracks of pure italo disco, hi-NRG and freestyle bliss that pick up where the band left off three years ago to pursue much darker realms. Now that the quest for darkness is done, it is time to polish our nails and dress up for the night-out cause there's more in life than feeling sorry for yourself. Yes you will need to cut out the deadwood but there is no change in stillness. So join Male Tears and their new arsenal of bangers and floor fillers with assertive titles such as Out of my Life, Regret 4 Nothing and Leave it Alone. Get yourself wrapped up in one warm cover of delicate nostalgia and reborn romanticism, driven by sounds that pay homage equally to Miko Mission and Ken Laszlo, Lisa Lisa and Exposé and, well yeah, even The Smiths because say what you wanna say but you simply cannot not love The Smiths. Embrace the vintage vibes that organically propagate from this new record's grooves and get in the mood for this new course in full-on 1980's Pop. Bandcamp 試聴 https://maletears.bandcamp.com/album/parad-sco

Avant! – AV!092 (2024) Synth Pop / Dark Wave project from Seattle, Washington, USA. Four years and one pandemic after his latest “Dreams of a dark Building” EP, the herald of dungeon synth pop is finally back from his shallow grave. Life has not been gentle with Seattle-based solo producer Parker Lautenschlager over the past few years, imposing its unpredictability and forcing him to channel all the feelings that come with it into Profit Prison’s music. It’s no surprise that his first full-length album “Gilt” marks one futher step towards the dark corners of italo / hi-nrg body music. Typical Profit Prison’s vocals and melodies, reminiscent of OG synth masters Kraftwerk, Giorgio Moroder and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, are still here, buried in the mix and waiting to haunt the listeners and drag them down in one sulfurous dancing spiral. Lead single “Sophia” juxtaposes some weirdly camouflaged vocals with one heavenly chorus that seems willing to revive your fortunes while instead it literally sings "But I lost it all". “A Matter of Tact” displays pop escapism over some throbbing minimal synth tension, “Seven Words” sounds like a throwback to 70's italo filtered through the eyes of a 21st century punk rocker. “Katalina” has a rampant synth à la Carpenter climbing over a story of loss… “An Ascetic” is a solo ramble reaching for the inner light on a carpet of cold keys. What's more, tracks got longer in Parker’s recent songwriting, with most of the songs being now five minute long and reaching peaks of seven minutes with the closing, almost progressive disco jam of “A.R.P. (Amphetamine Research Project)”, nothing short of a lucid dream on the floor of Studio 54. Last but not least, the artwork by French artist Robin Roche delivers medieval-yet-punk graphic vibes to match just perfectly the sounds on this record. Bandcamp 試聴 https://avantrecords.bandcamp.com/album/gilt

Avant! – AV!091 (2024) Blind Seagull : Post Punk / Cold Wave band from Kaliningrad, Russia. Formed in 2014. 10 Year Anniversary compilation LP. Ten years ago, on 21 April 2014, Russian enclave of the Baltic Kaliningrad-based trio Blind Seagull started off its adventure in the soon to be known as Sovietwave aka Russian post-punk underground. Ten years later they have accomplished to release nine full-length albums on all sorts of limited edition formats such as LPs, CDs, tapes with most of them being sold out for years. It was time to bring many of these tracks back to life, picking up the best among them and reissuing for the global post punk/darkwave niche. Fifteen cuts previously released by labels like Detriti, Sierpien, Pine Hill through which the band led by Denis Zarubin has shaped its own brand of icy coldwave, one pretty classic and extremely fresh and contemporary at once. On top of these we have one more track exclusive to this release which is a eurodance-oriented remix for their minor hit Animals Die in the Scaffolding. Think of a bunch of goth kids screwing around at the local carnival and you'll get the vibe! Decade Of Effort is due on April 21, 2024 on white vinyl LP limited to 300. Lettering by Spanish artist Sara Fornés. Bandcamp 試聴 https://avantrecords.bandcamp.com/album/decade-of-effort

Avant! – AV!090 (2024) Poison Point is the trancey body music solo project operated by Paris-based producer and live artist, Timothée Gainet. Started off in 2016, he shared the stage with bands such as Drab Majesty, Xeno & Oakland, Adult, Rendez-Vous and Silent Servant, shared remixes with Qual, Sydney Valette, Blind Delon, all this while running his other industrial techno outfit IV Horsemen. You can tell Timothée is a busy guy and yet he managed to grow Poison Point since his debut Album on Third Coming, getting releases out on Aufnahme + Wiedergabe and Young & Cold. Over the years, his sound gradually shifted from the motorik post-punk of the early recordings to one much more dancefloor-oriented dark electronics with some sort of nice military pop.. If one could see this coming with 2022’s album “Poisoned Gloves” (Young & Cold), his new full-length is a major step-up in Poison Point game. Skilfully produced by Gainet himself and mastered once again by Mr Baggio for the best groove, “Wandering Echoes” drops nine new floor fillers for the romantic and the nostalgic at heart. Just click Play on the first track “Blue Idol” and you will be hurled into a crystal world of imaginary memories while floating on the scales drawn by the synth arpeggios. Rude awake to the lead single “Mysteries in Fire” and his intoxicating body music and start wandering the room around you. Keep up the pace with further bangers loaded with electricity, romance and angularity like “Flowers & Surrender”, “Echoes of Dreams”, “Slow Kill, fast Love”... Get sweaty as you reach the end of this music journey’s final track “Les Meurtrières de LʼAube”, properly sung in Gainet’s native tongue French, will show you the way to the rest of the just. If your favourite vibes dwell somewhere between Phase Fatale and Lust For Youth, “Wandering Echoes” is the record for you. Bandcamp 試聴 https://avantrecords.bandcamp.com/album/wandering-echoes

Avant! – AV!089 (2024) Portland/Oregon based act Dancing Plague has been a steady presence in the dark/cold electronic music scene for quite a few years now. Since 2016 Conor Knowles’ solo project has been putting out one constant flow of inde- pendent releases on multiple formats such as vinyl LPs, EPs, tapes and CDs, creating one sonic palette rich with EBM, goth, industrial and synth influences. On their 5th studio album, Dancing Plague continues to flesh out and perfect their unique brand of crushing darkwave. “Elogium” explores themes of loss, regret, rebirth and growth coupled with throbbing basslines, rave synths, and pounding drums. Knowles balances aggressive waves of electronics with enough pop sensibilities and catchy hooks to be inviting to those new to the genre. His skills can be clearly appreciated on tracks like the first single “Fading Forms”, which explores the somber feeling of the years passing you by. Knowles’ emotive baritone crooning paints a melancholic picture of the slow fading of time as you feel like you’re fading with it. The words fall like snow onto cold fields of pulsing 80s synths and pounding drum machine rhythms that bring forth nostalgic familiarity but feel fresh at the same time. Fans of classic icons such as Depeche Mode, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails as well as contem- porary torchbearers Cold Cave and Kontravoid do not sleep on this. Plenty of disturbing beauty to be found in the depths of the underground. Bandcamp 試聴 https://avantrecords.bandcamp.com/album/elogium

Avant! – AV!088 (2023) The new record builds and expands upon the three-piece’s enthralling shadow-pop sound, a mix of midnight atmospherics, 90s era jangle pop, and contagious synth drenched hooks that further elevate the transcendent vocals of lead singer Michael Rocheford. Rounded out by Cooper Leardi (guitar / synths) and Tyler Kershaw (guitar / synth), House of Harm have amassed an impressive following as something of a best kept secret among their growing fanbase, leading to sold out shows on both coasts by the power of word of mouth alone. The band members have been drawn to music for as long as any of them can remember, and the drive to be around like-minded artists and make their own noise drew them all to Boston after high school. There they all quickly enmeshed themselves, playing in other bands before meeting each other. Ever since, House of Harm have been quietly making a name for themselves among music fans with darker pop persuasions via a steady stream of releases in single, ep and album form. That attention to detail and workmanlike approach at the expense of chasing instant gratification seems to be paying dividends after years of steady effort. The journey of their new album Playground saw House of Harm stay true to that ethos. The band painstakingly narrowed the record down to an efficient 10 tracks that they felt made the most sense, both standing on their own as well as fitting into an LP that built a cohesive world for the listener to get lost in. The album’s name also reflects the experimentation and happy accidents that came about during the writing and recording process. On “The Face of Grace” they set out to explore different dynamics by writing a song entirely without drums, but couldn't help themselves from putting emphasis on the song’s 6/8 waltz time signature. “Two Kinds” is another first for House Of Harm in that it’s predominantly driven by acoustic guitar. That aforementioned vulnerability shows up in other areas of the songwriting process as well with “Two Kinds”, one of their most revealing songs to date from a lyrical standpoint, written from a place of reflection and weakness and tackling feelings uneasy to be put on display for public consumption. Taken as a whole, the end result is an album representing a collection of the band’s most raw and expressive songs yet. Bandcamp試聴 https://houseofharm.bandcamp.com/album/playground https://avantrecords.bandcamp.com/album/playground

Avant! – AV!087 (2023) After a hiatus of quite some time, the Belgian duo composed by the world renowned model Kim Peers and post-metal band Amenra’s guitarist Mathieu Vandekerckhove, is finally back with a new full-length album. Four years have passed since their debut Benevolence. Meanwhile Skemer took the time to let all sides of their personality grow and eventually explode. You remember their minimalist cold wave deconstructions equally made of brutal and erotic components. A duality deeply rooted in the band’s music as well as in their line-up and obviously their live shows, where romantic and ethereal atmospheres collide with the gothic side of electronic and techno music. This is even more present on their new LP Toasts & Sentiments. Eleven new cuts where every side of Skemer’s nature gets its own share of expression only to leave you wrapped in one pitch black cloak. A few episodes in the duo's native language Dutch, add even more mystery to the occult receipt. Get in the introspective, tranche insistent riff on the opening track Eyelashes and get catapulted, quite literally, on the dark side of the moon. Keep on wandering the alien surface with Seen and its solemn gait. Pick up your pace with the pounding drums of Easy To Embrace and Kiss Me Kill Me. Go down the stairs to the dungeon of the club culture with lead singles Overgave and Out Of Favor claustrophobic electro. Remain bogged down in the darkness with New Born Babe, get slapped by Apocalypse’s industrial trance crescendo. Rest and collapse with the final track’s texture of ambient synths and reverberating guitars. It may have taken four years for Skemer to present their new creation but it was definitely worth the wait. Walk the night with us. Bandcamp試聴 https://skemer.bandcamp.com/album/toasts-sentiments https://avantrecords.bandcamp.com/album/toasts-sentiments

Avant! – AV!064 (2019)(2023) Skemer is a brand new cooperation between singer Kim Peers, who's also a model for Vogue, Steven Meisel, Prada and guitarist Mathieu Vandekerckhove of post-metal band Amenra and his personal project Syndrome. Two very different worlds collide and lead to minimalist dark wave deconstructions that are equal parts brutal and erotic. This duality is reflected in the name Skemer, which next to its obvious English meaning of 'intriguer' also stands for ‘dusk’ in Mathieu’s native tongue West-Flemish, as well as in their debut album. Recorded just a few months after meeting, a sense of urgency shines through in the tracks that build Benevolence. The winding sensuality of Sunseeker juxtaposed with the pounding harshness of Best, the faint twirl of Call Me versus the solemn gait of Heartbreak. Just like with their effervescent live performances where Peers seductive vocals coalesce with Vandekerckhove's austere beats to meld into a transcendent fury. Everything has a double nature in the hands of Skemer. Bandcamp試聴 https://skemer.bandcamp.com/album/benevolence

Avant! – AV!086 (2023) Deluxxe is a new post punk/new wave band from Buffalo, NY. It was formed by Mason and Greg, and later completed with Nick, Bailey and Mackenzie, sharing members of Oi and hardcore bands such as Violent Way, Bad Blood and Exhibition. Their punk background can be heard in the music, but it’s the love for new wave, post punk, darkwave, and goth that led to creation of their debut record "If You Were Me”. Written in the cold winters of Buffalo, you can almost feel the harshness of the weather affecting the sounds that propagate from these grooves. Icy and frostbitten but somehow still relevantly civic and urban. The Chameleons and The Sound are two main references here, but that whole cold dimension is rocked by a strong pop vein reminiscent of After The Snow-era Modern English and occasionally enhanced by an hoarseness typical of a young Paul Weller. Passionate lyricism proper of Echo And The Bunnymen and hopeless romanticism à la Sad Lovers And Giants get balanced by a sharp songwriting which keeps everything in perfect order, giving you exactly what you need, nothing more and nothing less. You can tell some skinheads are involved here because the outcome is so tidy and neat, without losing one inch of atmosphere or enchantment. If you are wondering how something that was invented forty years ago can still sound, literally, fresh and cool, look no further because what this band delivers lives just up to its name. Bandcamp 試聴 https://avantrecords.bandcamp.com/album/if-you-were-me

Avant! – AV!085 (2023) After relocating from New York to France, Charles Rowell began stuffing his suitcase with various synths and samplers while taking cheap bus rides to bordering countries. While living out of a hotel in north east Paris, he played his demos for Third Coming Records who quickly released the Bad Trip EP in 2020. Concerts became more frequent after the pandemic, with the release of Spellwound and a few have become infamous with guitars smashed to pieces, broken glasses, unruly audience front flipping onto the stage. With Paris providing the background and a scene of friends such as avant-garde drag artist Tuna Mess and industrial techno veteran Poison Point who pushed his creativity even further, Crush Of Souls constant spirit is that it remains unpredictable and thrives on collaboration. This is even more true with his upcoming album (A)Void Love. Written over a period of intense insomnia that coincided with a run of shows playing guitar for Australian legend Harry Howard, Crush Of Soul’s main man Charles Rowell finally found rest after writing and recording the last song entitled World of Fear. Six months prior he had quit his job as a chef, traveled east to Prague for inspiration and returned ragged and sleepless. Rowell’s insistence on keeping the instrumentation simple and clean came from an arduous two years of literal blood, sweat and tears. Every bit of drama, eastern excursion and sleep psychosis can be found within the walls of (A)Void Love. Acoustic guitars and dramatic synths provide a cold wilderness for the various rhythms to inhabit; touches of minimal electronics, cold wave and synth pop can be found while the song writing remains classic for lovers of Echo & the Bunnymen and Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds. There’s always been a thread of synth-punk, death rock and DIY noise running through all of Charles’ projects (Crocodiles, ISSUE, Flowers of Evil), however Crush Of Souls pushes harder and further into the darkness with the new album (A)Void Love. Bandcamp 試聴 https://avantrecords.bandcamp.com/album/a-void-love

Avant! – AV!084 (2023) The duo formed by Andrea P. Latorre and Sergi Algiz is a specialist in shedding skin and gladly combines new heteronyms in Fake is Real, their sophomore album after their self titled debut in 2018 and subsequent EPs Against Strong Thinking and Maybe a Body, which have been full of reinterpretations and remixes. Another sign is that they trust their modus operandi to mutation and the idea that nothing is ever quite said. It’s been three years of work, growth and numerous performances in venues and festivals throughout Europe. In Fake is Real, SDH go out once again in search of nightclubs that are familiar, but never obvious. The occasion is tremendous and the list of honorees is select: beginning with the producer Kris Baha, who has provided forcefulness to the rhythmic base and prominence to the voices. The dress code transcends the categories of dark wave, to dress as mischievous EBM, with accessories from new dance, acid house and disrupted but melodic techno, with structured twists that come to caress the electronic psychedelia. Ready to play? Let's play. Let's change our epidermis, let's confuse our coats in the dark. Knowing that only in the dark is where everything unpronounceable can have a place, SDH go all-in. Their darkwave résumé allows the duo to blend diverse electronica and leftfield sounds such as big beat, eurodance, synthwave, hard trance and body music in a very personal and emotional way. You may hear influences drawn from Da Blitz to the Prodigy, Yves Deruyter to Faithless, yet everything is so SDH you just can't mistake them with any other band out there. Not unlike early 90's-era Coil, the music here is as important as the idea behind the band, a unit conceived to explore and operate on the margins of the music genres it supposedly belongs to, making it hard and therefore so damn interesting to define what's been done. A work open to so many influences, that it gives a pleasant vertigo to be involved in it. If you've ever been afraid of the night, Fake is Real offers you a reconciliation with all its rhythms that invites you to move together in the club. Bandcamp 試聴 https://semioticsdepartmentofheteronyms.bandcamp.com/album/fake-is-real

Avant! – AV!083 (2023) Here comes something unapologetically goth. Male Tears is the dark electro group consisting of vocalist, James Edward and synthesist, Frank Shark. Hailing from Los Angeles, what began as a solo project re-established itself as a duo in 2021, simultaneously moving from the breezy sounds of the first self-titled album to darker realms with their sophomore Trauma Club. Krypt is their third full-length recording and it shows a fully grown ensemble capable of pushing everything over the top; blending elements of darkwave, goth rock, EBM and futurepop into a sound they call Dark Rave. Naturally drawing inspiration from the Californian goth tradition (45 Grave, Christian Death) and the Canadian post-industrial brood (Skinny Puppy, FLA), as well as the best UK synthpop (Depeche Mode, The Human League), Male Tears emphasizes the most glamourous, and at once, gruesome aspects of the whole gothic subculture, bringing everything to the next level, resulting in a contemporary and cutting edge album. Eight new cuts that alternate rarefied synthwave (Krypt), dark eurodance (Slay) with goth techno-pop (Sleep 4Ever) and pounding electro-industrial (I Expire) to create something we may call New Romantic Body Music. It's no wonder we wanted the scene’s top studio, La Distilleria, run by Maurizio Baggio, to master this for the most bombastic outcome. And yet Krypt is not just about the music, it’s about one up with the times attitude that can review aggressive EBM in the light of an extravagant pop sensibility and a theatrical grandeur worthy of the Blitz Kids from London circa 1979-80. You may think it takes quite a bit of nonchalance to do so but the L.A. duo easily succeeds at this. Akin to their aesthetics, they may seem spooky from the outside but their approach is nothing stuffy. Quite the contrary, everything regarding Male Tears is a celebration of life’s most bizzare shades, driven by some of the best dark humor you’ll find around. So Dance with me, my dear, on a dancefloor of bones and skulls / The music is our master The devil controls our souls. Bandcamp 試聴 https://maletears.bandcamp.com/album/krypt

Avant! – AV!081 (2023) Synth-Pop/Synthwave project from Switzerland. Two years after their previous effort, regular as clockwork, Swiss throbbing synth pop duo Veil Of Light is back with a new album and what can we say? These guys keep on getting better and better. If you have followed the Zurich-based outfit over the past few years, you must have noticed the constant moving towards 80’s FM new wave and synthpop tones – without losing their electro/body music outline - that have marked the band’s parable, especially since their latest Landslide LP. Sundancing is their sixth full-length and it stays the course, bringing what we’ve just said to the next step. Nine new dancy and bright tunes with emotional depth that blend lush instrumentation and robust rhythms, guided by funky and rubbery basslines. Syncopated rhythm sections match suburban cool synths in the lead single Apricot Kiss and Hypersleep, while Raindancing and Tonight summon a sinuosity long gone since the mid Eighties. The musical backdrop here serves as the fundament for emotional vocals delivering lyrics dealing with the fragility of love, joy and loneliness. There’s some subtle addictiveness to these songs, one that will gently grab you by the collar of your coat and stick the refrains from Sundancing inside your head for good. Veil Of Light might make it look easy to keep it neat without being minimalist, intimate without being depressing, romantic in the most true sense of the word, but we know that's possibly the hardest thing to do. Bandcamp 試聴 https://veiloflight.bandcamp.com

Avant! – AV!073 (2021) Industrial / Wave / Synth/ Post Punk project from Zürich, Switzerland 5th Album Landslideは彼らにとって間違いなく最も手の込んだアルバム 通常の8曲ではなく, 10曲の新曲をColdwaveにインスパイアされた楽曲とシンセポップキャッチーなメロディーの完璧なバランスで音楽的にNew Orderの雰囲気とThe Klinikが彼らのElectroへのよりソフトで残忍さを減らしたアプローチを試みている間にある。スイスのデュオがどこから影響を受けているかは明らかです。 しかし, 新しいプライバシーの感覚はこれらの新しいトラックのすべてに反映されており,これまで以上に個人的な歌詞によって強化されています。 新たな発見の旅へ誘なう 全10曲 Bandcamp 試聴 https://veiloflight.bandcamp.com

Avant! – AV!080 (2022) The Australian master of the dark synth arts is back and - boy – he is out for blood. We've been missing Marc Dwyer solo project Buzz Kull since his latest single Last In The Club from late 2019 and since back then we knew he was up to something. At first glimpse, the minimal wave days of We Were Lovers seem far away now that Marc has gone full Club Body Music with his upcoming new album, but there is a thread that binds Buzz Kull hits from the past such as Into The Void, Avoiding The Light and New Kind Of Cross with these ten new cuts: a thread of darkness proper to the most handsome man in the game and that’s here to stay. Rise From Your Grave, a phrase gleaned from the 1998 SEGA game, Altered Beast, is a throbbing, thoroughly danceable song underpinned by a sepulchral fog. The single arrives with a music video directed by Joel Burrows. Echoes of 90’s era Front 242 and Front Line Assembly will resonate from tracks like Fascination and Dead Inside; elements of early body music flirting with the dark side of British synthpop will rave from the grooves of Dancing with Machines and Man on the Beat, while late 80’s Belgian new beat cellar-like vibes rise from Do You See and Burn it to the Ground. But Buzz Kull's third full-length is not just about music subgenres we all know and love, it’s about a feeling that comes alive only with the dark and drives you through the small hours just to leave you drained and filled at once. The creature of the night is on the loose, the sticky dancefloor its natural habitat, its lust for the upside-down world of the club can't be cured. Bandcamp 試聴 https://avantrecords.bandcamp.com/album/fascination

Avant! – AV!074 (2021) Nuovo Testamento is a new half-American half-Italian trio featuring members from Horror Vacui, Sheer Mag, Tørsö, Terremoto and Crimson Scarlet Produced by sound engineer Maurizio Baggio (The Soft Moon, Boy Harsher) with vocal recording by Riki and featuring guest vocals from B. Sven Gustavson (Spectres) Nuovo Testamento初のフルレングスアルバム 世界的なパンデミックの最中に単独で記録されたNew Earthは,光に彩られたダーク・イタロ・レコード 8つの新しいトラックのためにダンスシンセサイザーは魅力的な人生の豊かな夢と憂鬱のバランスを完璧に取っており, ギターは一歩退いて, ディスコビートが床を埋め尽くし, 楽しさが広がる。このレコードはダンススペースへの復帰を予想し,体験の共有を想像し,個人の力を称賛している。 ゴスクラブシーンからHi-NRGのクラシックへの国際的な影響を反映し, イタリアのBaby Record / Mute Records, そしてその間のスペースを思い起こさせる。 Bandcamp 試聴 https://nuovotestamento.bandcamp.com/album/new-earth

Avant! – AV!079 (2022) hørd creates electronic music inspired by darkwave, soundtracks, fantasy movies, oscillating between epic compositions, EBM and techno pulse, and also more contemplative tracks. Two years after his previous Bodies LP, French synth solo project Hørd is back with a new full-length. Started in 2014, producer Sebastien Carl has proven himself to be able to gather a cult fan-base around his creation, collaborating with artists as Hante, Winter Severity Index and Radical G, remixing goth legends Clan Of Xymox and performing live in most European countries. Debuted by Giallo Disco in 2016, two records on Avant! have followed until this upcoming fourth album. While the music keeps on flirting with darkwave aesthetic in a forward- thinking way, the sound is now clearer than ever. Elements of EBM, shoegaze and techno are reflected through arctic synth pads, ghostly reverbs and urban spleen-filled lyrics to create haunting soundscapes, but Sciences also features beat-driven lead singles that twirl space synths and rounded kicks all over the place like never before. Enhanced by the great mixing and mastering job done by scene-guiding light producer Maurizio Baggio, you’ll find balearic arpeggios and clangorous trance crescendo on Arrows, italo suggestions over groovy acid house beats on Ice, while mid-tempo synthwave marches menacingly on Turn and vibrates deeply on Fires. Typical nebulous atmospheres are now less blurry and more on point without losing a single bit of enchantingness, marking a major step-up in Hørd discography. Bandcamp https://avantrecords.bandcamp.com/album/sciences

Avant! – AV!067 (2022) M!R!M is the solo project of Iacopo Bertelli (aka Jack Milwaukee), Italian multi-instrumental artist based in East London. His 3rd album [2020] still holds firmly to the vibes that recall the most dreaming 80s. Trapped between hope and melancholy each track evolves smoothly into another one until it gets to a mystical end, a point of no return. An engaging work that doesn’t remain only inside the robes of shimmering synth-pop tunes but also explores more intimate and private territories as an ode to the most deep feelings. Pulling from the ‘pop' approach of mid 80's synth-pop pioneers like New Order, The Wake,Tears For Fears to most iconic figures of the Italian 80’s era, M!R!M dialed in on a clear under-standing of its own specific sound, which has since evolved. Bandcamp https://m-r-m.bandcamp.com/album/the-visionary

Avant! – AV!059 (2022) New Kind Of Cross LP. A mere 18 months after the release of 2017's Chroma, Buzz Kull (real name Marc Dwyer), has returned with his sophomore album. Traversing EBM, darkwave and goth sounds with ease, New Kind Of Cross traverses much darker waters than Dwyer's last effort. Bandcamp https://buzzkull.bandcamp.com/album/new-kind-of-cross

Avant! – AV!078 (2022) Blind Seagull (official capitalization) is a Post Punk / Cold Wave / Soviet Wave band from Kaliningrad, Russia. Formed in 2014. 2, 3分の曲は短めで甘く, ダークウェーブの魂の追いかけるようにカットされ,ドラムマシーンを踏み鳴らし,フローズンギターアルペジオ, 緊張感のある低音リフ,レーザーシンセ, ノイズレイド, ゴシックコーラルの介入によって その方程式は時折揺れ動くが タイトルトラックのIndustrial PièceとExperimental Giants Xiu Xiu 'Fear'とのIDM的なコラボレーションはこのバンドがいかに傑出しているか, そして彼らのニュー・アルバムがいかにその最良の証拠であるかを示すだろう。 非常にクラシックでありながら,新鮮な現代的なコールド・ポストパンクの宝石 全12曲 Bandcamp https://blindseagull39.bandcamp.com

Avant! – AV!076 (2022) M!R!M is the solo project of Iacopo Bertelli (aka Jack Milwaukee), Italian multi-instrumental artist based in East London. 最新4thフルアルバム 80's FMのレコメンドが生み出す想像力に富んだ世界を再現することに成功, しかし非常になじみ深い次元のさまざまな場所から多くの音響的な手がかりを散乱させている。まるでM!R!Mが新しいトラックを1つ1つボトルに入れてメッセージを送ってきたような, そしてそれぞれのメッセージは異なるストーリーを伝える。 "Desert Love"は他に類を見ないほどにイタロを絶叫し, 仲間のアーティストNuovo Testamentoと一緒に4人で作曲された。 "Say Nothing"はSDHシンガーのAndrea Pérezのバッキングボーカルをフィーチャーし夢のようなシナリオを呼び起こす。 80s Synth Pop Duo Turquoise Days – Grey Skiesのカバーも収録 M!R!M サウンド & メモリエクスペリエンスの旅へ... Bandcamp https://m-r-m.bandcamp.com/album/time-traitor

Avant! – AV!077 (2022) Semiotics Department Of Heteronyms 前作のAgainst Strong Thinkingミニアルバムから2年, スペインのTechno-meets-New Wave Duo SDHが新しいキラーEPをリリース タイトルトラックは身体認識, 声を持つこと, そしてそれを使うことについての力強い歌で,90's Trance / Progressiveの痕跡を伴う鼓動するEBMによって支えられ, 高揚感のあるグルーヴと催眠術のような感情の完璧なバランスで終わる。 Bサイドは より夢のようなシナリオの探求の場であり, Italo & Synth Popの至福に満ちたレトロなムードでノスタルジーの領域を深く掘り下げている。 SDHのアイデンティティのこの2つの側面を強化するために最高のエレクトロニック プロデューサー2人を招きそれぞれ1曲ずつリミックスしました。 (Remix – Phase Fatale & Pablo Bozzi) Techno and Body music to Synth Pop and Electroまで 幅広い電子ビートを奏でナイトクラブの雰囲気を感情的でロマンチックなヴォーカルが包む... Bandcamp https://semioticsdepartmentofheteronyms.bandcamp.com

Avant! – AV!068 (2020) スペインのEBM Synth Wave Duo SDH (Semiotics Department Of Heteronyms) 2020年リリースの12" EP Bandcamp https://semioticsdepartmentofheteronyms.bandcamp.com/album/against-strong-thinking