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Новый альбом итальянской группы LOST REALITY не хватает звезд с неба, но даже при своем на первый взгляд “средненьком” содержимом вполне может стать событием или приятным сюрпризом для поклонников мелодичного поп-рока, электророка и постпанка. В большинстве композиций дуэта прекрасно соблюден баланс между гитарными партиями, клавишными, электроникой и битами. Проникновенные мужские вокалы также недурны. В двух-трех…

Great production skills but lacks serious hit potential. Nine Seconds debut album “Poladroids” was somewhat torn between pure synthpop songs and songs of more industrial EBM character. Sound and production, however, was of the highest class and promised well for the future release. Prior to the second full-length album was the big issue of the…

TOURDEFORCE : Il coraggio dell’impopolarità. di Roberto Alessandro Filippozzi “Jedem Das Seine”, ultima fatica firmata TourdeForce, si è fatta attendere per più di quattro anni: un lungo periodo nel quale Christian Ryder, fondatore e mastermind dell’act lombardo, si è ritrovato solo a gestire la propria creatura, come egli stesso spiegherà più avanti. Una sorta di ‘giro…

Nothing To Confess è il secondo album dei Nine Seconds, trio di origine svizzero/tedesca che ha trovato attenzione – ed un’etichetta, la Space Race Records –  in terra italiana. Formata dal vocalist Oliver Spring coadiuvato da René Ebner and Thomas Kowalzik – tutti provengono da esperienze precedenti, il primo considerato un riferimento del dark electro…

Last year we noticed the return of this Swedish duo based in Uppsala. This town ever was a kind of epicenter of the Swedish synth-pop scene. Wilhelm Äretun (vocals, programming) and Emma Hortlund (lyrics, synthesizers) are now back on track with a new album featuring 12 songs. “Falling Apart” is the first song and I…

This Belgian formation was active during the late 80s and has reactivated 2 years ago with the album “Report From The Dark”. It’s not exactly an album that caught my attention so I didn’t have that many expectations about their new work. 2ND Civilization however improved the global production while holding on to their main…

The Italian band TourdeForce has been active since 2004. The band was set up as a duo, but throughout the years Christian Ryder remain the single member on board. The band released several albums, but never gained a wider recognition. Joining Space Race Records appears to be an opportunity to get a wider distribution. I…

Второй альбом немецкой группы NINE SECONDS представляет слушателям солидное, жирное и энергичное, вдоль и поперек опутанное силовыми кабелями модерновое электро/EBM, которое звучит на порядок интереснее, жестче и цельнее материала дебютного альбома “Poladroids” (2013). Команда, укомплектованная вокалистом Oliver Spring (SLEEPWALK, TEAR!DOWN, NERVE CONFLICT) и клавишниками Rene Ebner и Thomas Kowalzik (NO COMMENT), действует на тех же…

Da qualche giorno sta circolando in rete il nome della band “Tourdeforce”, autrice del brano “Adolf Hitler Platz“. Abbiamo cercato ed intervistato Christian Ryder, cantante e autore del testo, per scoprire cosa lo abbia spinto a pubblicare un brano talmente controverso da aver fatto sold out in tutto il Nord Europa ed essere, allo stesso tempo,…

Questo album è la prova che chi dice che l’era dei cyberpunk si sia conclusa, che le copertine coi circuiti siano ormai passate di moda e che l’electro industrial sia un genere per nostalgici ha sbagliato le proprie previsioni. Nothing To Confess è il secondo album del trio Nine Seconds, composto da nomi di rilievo…

An electronic duo from Uppsala, Sweden, formed in 2002. Emma Hortlund (lyrics and synthesizers) and Wilhem Aretun (Vocal and programming). Other well known duo’s in electronic music, that have been around before Mechatronic formed! Check out Nine Circles (Netherlands) (1980s) and the Frozen Autumn (Italy) formed in 1993. All share similarities in style and sound.…

Boasting an album that should be able to make any person on a dancefloor want to move their ass, is a collaborative effort between vocalist Oliver Spring (Sleepwalk, tEaR!dOwN, Nerve Conflict), and keyboardists Rene Ebner and Thomas Kowalzik. With their 2013 album Polaroids achieving what I’ve been told to be a good success, the trio…

I wrote about Tourdeforce four years ago, when I reviewed their debut album “Colours In Life”. Since then, Christian Ryder released other two digital albums on the My Owl Music label. “Jedem Das Seine” is Tourdeforce latest album and it has been released by the Italian Space Race Records label. The album theme is controversial…

Christian Ryder, un disco contro i filtri della Storia. La canzone impegnata è davvero morta? Non proprio, se pensiamo a certo rap che esprime la rabbia giovanile del nostro tempo. Poi c’è chi si eleva oltre l’attualità e la quotidianità e interroga la Storia con la S maiuscola. La interroga e la rimprovera perché ritiene…

Two years after the release of their debut Report From The Dark, the Belgian outfit 2nd Civilization present us their second album Let’s Play. Another fine piece of music that they will bring live on stage on the 22nd of november in the B52 Club in Eernegem. We had a chat with the ever so…

The sparkling return of Nine Seconds is a great event in the electro scene, especially for the high quality of their music and for the importance of the line-up, consisting in the vocalist Oliver Spring (Sleepwalk / tEaR!dOwN / Nerve Conflict ) in collaboration with the keyboardists René Ebner and Thomas Kowalzik (No Comment). After…

The Bergamo based TourdeForce born in 2004 originally as a duo formed by Christian Ryder, assigned mainly to electronic equipments, and Eric Raven to the vocal compartments and electric guitar. Since 2008, when Eric left the line-up, the design has assumed the identity of a one-man project represented only by Christian, but in perpetual synergy…

It’s been two years since Belgian act 2nd Civilization rose from the ashes of their ’89 and ’90 demo recordings, re-fleshing the old school tracks with new age gimmicks to form Report From The Dark. With a stellar reception from the album, they were sure to not place themselves back into a dormant state, and…

Belgian from Aalst, 2ND Civilization was founded in 1986 initially purely as amateur purpose by the duo Koen D / Johan VS, both impassioned of drum-machines, synthesizers and of the rational electronic sounds created by Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft, Trisomie 21 and Kraftwerk, of the synthpop invented by the early Depeche Mode and of the emerging technologism…

Nell’enorme calderone delle realtà electro belghe, i 2nd civilization sono gli ennesimi destinatari della lezione dei loro predecessori più illustri, primi fra tutti Front 242. Dopo aver raggiunto lo status di cult band in seguito allo scioglimento a seguito della pubblicazione di due demo nel 1989 e 1990 e dopo essere tornati nel 2012 con…

Year 2002, in Uppsala, Sweden, Wilhelm Äretun (vox / programming) and Emma Hortlund (lyrics / synths) generated Mechatronic, a project whose musicality originally combined EBM / synthpop / futurepop elements of particular interest to the alternative electronic-dancers and lovers of technological North-European sounds, a scene into which the two performers they effortlessly move as good…

Ci sono voluti più di quattro anni per poter stringere fra le mani il successore di “Colours In Life”, ma alla fine Christian Ryder, assolti gli impegni con gli altri suoi godibili progetti Porta Vittoria e Consenso, è riuscito a portare a termine la missione. Rimasto praticamente solo al comando (salvo che per qualche piccolo…

Terzo album per il duo svedese composto da Wilhelm e Emma, autori di un synth pop leggero e groovy, dalle ritmiche ben articolate e varie, melodico al punto giusto, a cavallo tra synth pop e futurepop. Dodici brani che alternano sapientemente momenti più soft, da quasi-ballad come in Beyond the silence, inni assimilabili al lavoro…

Though it might not be setting a blaze of originality, Dystopia the new album from Swedish synth pop band Mechatronic, is a rather charming and enjoyable encounter. It makes no demands and does not really stretch senses and imagination but the twelve- track release does offer a contagious embrace to make a very satisfying forty…

Mechatronic is a Swedish synthpop act that has been reviewed twice before on the site to little to no fanfare. And, well, hopefully this release will change the pace a bit. Twelve tracks of synth goodness lies in my wake to explore, and between them all, I have fifty two minutes to get through. So,…

Italian synthpop act Tourdeforce, AKA Christian Ryder, carries on the traditions laid out by acts such as Frozen Plasma, Client and Covenant with his brand of accessible and hook-laden electronica. But Ryder has a few tricks up his sleeve to keep things interesting on his latest outing ‘Jedem Das Seine’. Fleeting hints of ambient and…

Si potrebbe dire di Christian Ryder che appartenga alla vecchia scuola ovvero al vecchio modo, più che di comporre, di pensare un certo tipo di musica. Seppur parzialmente distante dalle cacofoniche soluzioni e sperimentazioni create dal cilindro dei suoi avi, le liriche proseguono lungo la tradizione che vuole l’analisi dell’informazione come uno dei punti cardine…

“PARENTAL ADVISORY“! Unglaublich, aber wahr: Ich darf / muss eine CD mit diesem gefürchteten Hinweis rezensieren. Dabei handelt es sich nicht um rüden Gangsta-Rap direkt aus einer millionenschwer eingerichteten Ghettokulisse, sondern um Electro-Wave, den treue Leser des Medienkonverters bis dato selten in lyrisch “kritischen“ Gefilden verorteten. Doch beim neuesten Album des italienischen Ein-Mann-Projekts “TourDeForce“ ist…

The synthpop in the mind and love for the melodies in the blood: these are the winning features that the Swedish Wilhelm and Emma transmit since 2002 by their project Mechatronic. The music created by the duo is an harmonious union between futurist pop with vague EBM nuances, created through voice clearness, danceable drumming and…

Content: Hailing from Roma this trio gained some recognition with the album “Bugged Karma” released by A Different Drum as a very limited release of 300 copies for the label’s VIP-series. I honestly never heard of the band before, and so I was really wondering –because of the very positive feedback I’ve heard, what they…

Note di basso reiterate, base electro e voci effettate il giusto: questo è l’inizio di Unfaithful Believers, disco e nome dietro al quale si cela un musicista navigato come Gianluca Becuzzi, coadiuvato da Elena De Angeli (che ha scritto tutti i testi), con il supporto di Fabrizio Biscontri in sede di arrangiamento e produzione (il…

Christian Ryder, the frontman and “mind” of the Italian project, has the rare capacity to transform his music into something unique and unrepeatable, performing compositions of highest level that always hit the target. In the new album “Jedem Das Seine”, the polychromatic combination among electrowave, electropop and 80’s intuitions, generated sound perspectives extraordinarily attractive and…

“In a company like this no one is innocent”: la Noise Trade Company è una società toscana che produce oscurità dal 2008. Nata per volere di un musicista di lunga esperienza, “l’alchimista” Gianluca Becuzzi, già socio degli storici Limbo, sue le low vocals e la composizione electro, e incardinata su incorporee vocals di Elena De…

Nati come duo nel 2003 in quel di Roma, gli Zero-EQ hanno iniziato a fare sul serio solo nel 2009, allorquando una loro traccia composta “solo per divertimento” (“Violence – Proto Version”) si è imposta all’attenzione della scena electro indipendente. L’album d’esordio “Bugged Karma” è uscito nel 2012 per la ben nota label americana A…

This is an Italian Electropop-trio providing a first EP-release signed to the well-established Space Race Records, a sub-label to Italy’s premiere Electro/Industrial resource EK Product. Zero-EQ has been founded in 2003 by Phenix (Andrea) and IO (Gianluca) and they started with an imaginary, unreleased album with the funny title ‘Greatest Hits 2003/2004’. Some first tracks…

Gli Zero Eq, un progetto romano nato intorno al 2004 ad opera di Phenix (Andrea) e  IO (Gianluca) cui di recente si è aggiunto Tyler (Emiliano), dopo Bugged Karma del 2011 e qualche singolo, hanno da poco pubblicato un buon EP con il quale sperano di conquistare anche da noi il credito già ottenuto in…

Rome-based synthpop trio Zero-Eq have been around since the early 2000s and have had a few releases to their name already, notably the album ‘Bugged Karma’ which was released on US label A Different Drum in 2014. The band’s third EP, ‘Fall’, released this time on Space Race Records provides a stop gap before the…

If you are looking for some easily accessible synth pop which is just as potently offering new intriguing promise then you can do a great deal worse than heading over to the Fall EP frim Italian trio Zero-Eq. Consisting of five virulently infectious and persistently enterprising songs with a quartet of highly pleasing remixes, the…

In just a little over a week, Space Race Records is releasing Zero-Eq’s Fall EP. This Italian power-trio has been well received with both their greatest hits release that collected tracks from the ’03/’04 era of the band, and has also been given positive reception with the “Bugged Karma” EP. Following on that, the synth…

I Noise Trade Company sono un ingegnoso cult-project toscano in costante progresso dal 2008 gravitante attorno una pluralità di stili transitoriamente collegati al post-punk, power-electronics, industrial, downtempo, dark-ambient, cold/darkwave e post-rock. Nell’area “recensioni” dell’anno 2012 di Vox Empirea, attraverso la descrizione dell’album pubblicato nel 2011 “Post Post Post”, è disponibile la completa biografia e discografia…

Nuovo progetto per il prolifico Gianluca Becuzzi, storico nome dell’underground italiano e mente dei grandi e seminali Limbo. I Noise Trade Company – questo il nome del gruppo – è un trio che vede la presenza – oltre che di Becuzzi – di Elena De Angeli (che firma anche tre brani) alla voce e di…

By Steven Gullotta After reviewing the Italian duo’s debut release, Dead Surface, with a fair score, I decided to have a little chat with Pietro Oliveri about the album, the project, and even their forthcoming work. Read on to find out more about this unique act. Well, as a personal question and a question for…

Se i Public Domain Resource fossero due ragazzi venticinquenni, probabilmente farebbero future-pop, harsh-EBM o aggrotech… Ma Pietro Oliveri (synth, programming, voce) ed Ugo Crescini (voce) sono verosimilmente negli ‘anta’ a livello anagrafico e provengono dalla scena degli anni ’80, e proprio Ugo lo ricordiamo alle prese con le primissime sperimentazioni in campo industrial nella seconda…

Italian electro duo Public Domain Resource are a new name in the scene, but with their début full-length release ‘Dead Surface’ they’re intent on making sure that you won’t forget them in a hurry. Blending 80s synthpop with 90s ebm, the band is very dance orientated, but with a good grasp of sing-a-long lyrics that…

Forefront-project of incalculable value, the Donamorte create music that transcends from every conceivable simplicism reserving upper-class sounds and ardently symbolic lyrics! The interview published on Vox Empirea gives to the reader any biographical information regarding the Italian project Donamorte, while this analysis about their debut-album suggestively entitled “Gemini” will highlight the reasons for which the…

Недавно итальянская группа DONAMORTE презентовала широкой публике как минимум интересный дебютный альбом “Gemini”, который отражает оригинальное видение “темной” музыки ее участниками и содержит мелодичный и меланхолично-романтический песенный материал, собранный из конструктора на базе синт-попа, инди-рока, индастриэла и darkwave. Вокалист трио Armand Donamorte обладает неплохим голосом, не требующим особого привыкания. Ко всему прочему он старается по…

What we have here is a blend between synth pop and EBM from an Italian duo that calls themselves Public Domain Resource. Their debut album is what I bring to you, under the name of Dead Surface. And, well, it’s a decent album, but it’s nowhere near fantastic. The vocals present in all of the…

Until the arrival of their debut album it is probably not too far-fetched to assume a great many like us were not aware of Public Domain Resource and their magnetically crafted contagious sound. The recently release of Dead Surface has certainly addressed that lapse and such the potency of the synth pop bred waltz marking…

Public Domain Resource è un nome non ancora molto noto e rappresenta un duo italiano – per la precisione di Bergamo – formatosi l’anno scorso, che ambisce a farsi conoscere nel panorama synth-pop/electro nostrano e non. Ugo Crescini e Pietro Oliveri avevano comunque esperienze pregresse in ambito musicale risalenti fino agli anni ’80: questo spiega…

Content: Donamorte is a new name active on the electronic front. It’s an Italian formation set up by Armando ‘Donamorte’ Ammerata in 2011. He was joined by 2 extra members taking care for the programming and guitar playing. Donamorte released a digital EP and got signed on Space Race Records (sublabel of the EBM-minded EK…

Content: This new Italian synth-pop duo was set up in 2012 and rapidly gained some recognition in their homeland. That led the band to get an offer from Space Race Records to release their debut album “Dead Surface”. I’m not that excited by some reactions this band got. The mix of rather EBM-orientated bass lines…

Talking about the Bergamo based power-duo Public Domain Resource it means highlighting the compositional validity and talent of the new Italian avant-garde music: the project, initially founded in 2012 by Pietro Oliveri (music/synths/programming/vox) as a solo-act, began its way in the same year through the freelance single “Under The Ground” which soon placed at the…

An emerging and talented band, in posses of inventive as well as maker of a musicality that correlates the electronic particularities of trance and industrial, combinating wonderfully them with the nostalgic decadence of gothic: they are the Donamorte, a promising Italian trio that Vox Empirea wants its public to know. Welcome to us! Armand Donamorte…

Конечно, похвально, что лейбл Space Race Records (синт-поп/электропоп ответвление лейбла EK Product) в пику разнообразным кризисным явлениям на мировой музыкальной сцене продолжает свою изыскательскую деятельность по поиску новых групп, но не всегда открытия компании достойны “нобелевки”. Вот и итальянский дуэт PUBLIC DOMAIN RESOURCE с дебютный альбомом “Dead Surface”, пускай и исполняет качественную, энергичную и незамутненную…

Nine Seconds is the rather unexpected collaboration between ex-Sleepwalk-singer Oliver Spring and the No Comment founders Rene Ebner and Thomas Kowa. I didn’t exactly imagine a singer of harsh electronics joining hands with refined synth-pop musicians. And yet it happened and this album was preceded by the 12” vinyl “Irresolution”, which was self-released. Space Race…