UNKNOWN PLEASURES : BLANK DOGS

In case you wanna know more about this band, we have to dissapoint you as there's nothing known from this project.
Not enough research done?
Nah, but the founder of this band (Mike Sniper) is the kind of guy who wants to do everything in silence and even on stage you can observe him while his face is masked with some towel (makes you think of that Cabaret Voltaire sleeve "Micro-Phonies".
And the music?
Well, this Brooklyn based project uses a rhythm box, post-punkguitars and distorted vocals.
Something like Cold Cave? Yes exactly but only more fuzzy and more punky but it's the kind of record that could have been made in 1985 and it's genius!!!!
The hell with all that retro hippieshit, bring back the 80's!!!!
www.myspace.com/blankdogtime

SINGLE REVIEWS : SOFT CREST - NEON CHROME EP

Reviewing some band from which you know nothing isn’t always that easy but then again the question rises what can be said about some band that just launches its first EP.
We can start talking about telling you which university they went to or in which garage they recorded their EP but that’s all irrelevant stuff that leaves you cold as you’re only interested in one thing : how do they sound like?
Well, this band from California immediately sound quite recognizable by its shoegazesound that fits well the style from the later My Bloody Valentine but you can also put Seefeel as a reference as it’s all quite danceable (well we know that not all kids would dance to this but that’s another matter).
“Neon Chrome EP” promises a lot even if we have to be honest by telling that the production could be better but then again we know that such bands can’t afford the expensive studio-equipments as we can definitely hear a band with potentials.
Recommended for shoegazefans who love their stuff a bit more psychedelic and experimental.

www.myspace.com/softcrest

ALBUMREVIEWS : CIRCLE BROS - YOU'LL BE MISSED

Bluesanct is an American DIY-label which is specialized in what can be labelled as experimental music with a dark undertone and I guess Cindytalk (once associated with 4-AD) might be the best known act on the label.
Orphanology is a sublabel from Bluesanct and one of their latest offerings brings us straight to the best town in the world (Gent, no doubt) where we find Circle Bros, the one man band from Wim Lecluyse : famous (well kind of, I guess) for being the founder of Morc records.
This cd-r release has been made around the same time their main album “Haven” got born (released on Morc) but according to Wim these songs are only a bit more darker and with five titles that all end on “less”, that’s the least you can say.
I never said it’s easy to categorize the music from Circle Bros even if automatically it will end up in the drone-section but something like industrial music with a psychedelic touch makes as much sense (I think….).
I even do think it’s not that far away from the Slowdivesound in their “Pygmalion”-days.
As always a mighty release from a band that never sounds predictable as every forthcoming second is a little surprise in its own.

www.morctapes.com

http://morczine.tumblr.com/

ALBUM REVIEWS : FOR AGAINST - NEVER BEEN

Some bands are only known by a handful of people but you can be sure that this little amount of fans are totally wild about ‘em.
Every musicfan can come up with such bands and For Against are such a band as well.
I mean, I know nobody who is aware of For Against and isn’t in love with them.
This band from Nebraska already started their post-punkadventure in 1984 which was a nice mixture of the coldness of Factory-influences and the warm dreampop of what was once 4-AD.
This sound got them immediately on the legendary Independent Projects label, an institute that by many 80’s fans is seen as the American version of Factory.
After some line-upchanges and 8 albums, these Americans are back on the front and they just keep on doing in what they’re best : making excellent dreampop and shoegaze.
Their dreampop always had hints to British examples (Pale Saints, Felt, Dif Juz) and that’s not different on this new album.
Nine songs are taking you on a journey that’s been made from a carpet of shoegazeguitarsounds.
Still can’t decide if it’s funny or tragic that one of the mothergroups of the dreampopscene releases a new album in this shoegazeboom where changes are big that youngsters who come up with one EP are running away with the victory.
But then again, life has never been fair cuz if it was, For Against would have been huge.
Buy this cd!

www.myspace.com/foragainst

On the website of the label you can find some mp3’s and you’ll see that this label has re-released their three first classics “Echelons”, “December” en “In the marshes” as well.

www.words-on-music.com

UNKNOWN PLEASURES : CHELSEA WOLFE

Blame it on Obama, blame it on whoever might be responsible for it (maybe even no one) but I like my music in 2010, but my music seems to come from America.
Chelsea Wolfe for instance.
Who is she? Well she’s hot, she’s goth and she is full of talent.
You see from the moment a band is linked to the mighty sounds from Dum Dum Girls or ColdCave then you know that you’re aiming at something good.
Not that this female singer-songwriter sounds like the above mentioned bands but she also seems to seek her inspiration in the dark 80’s gothpop.
Some will say she’s like Cat Power (she might be), unimaginative reviewers even will say she’s like Tori Amos (she’s not) but over here we say this Californian woman that seems to be born for the future is like if you should have locked up Siouxsie in a room for countless days, only armed with a guitar…yes, it’s that fragile and I guess it’s that good.
To discover!

www.myspace.com/chelseawolfe

PHOTOSHOOT REVCOWORLD, KMFDM (ANTWERPEN, TRIX 30/07/2010)

Thank you so much Peter, respect!
And respect to the one and only Mr Luc Van Acker, best Belgian export since the beer!

INTERVIEW WITH VOICES OF DESTINY

LET ME ASK IT FROM THE BEGINNING….WHY DOES A BAND HAVE SUCH A GENIUS SOUND ON THEIR DEBUT?
Thank you so much for the compliment! We gave our best during the production of 'FROM THE ASHES' and with Andy Horn as our producer we had a great support to make that record sound as good as possible. We are really satisfied with the result and believe that it turned out that good because we spent so much time on the recordings. We were sitting in our personal studio called the Krabbesackduschder Studios all night long during the summer of 2009 and had a great time.

BELIEVE ME I HEAR A LOT OF ALBUMS PER YEAR, DIFFERENT STYLES, AND YOURS CAN END UP IN MY TOP TEN AND YOU’RE TALKING TO SOMEONE WHO’S EVEN NOT THAT MUCH INTO METAL….
EXPLAIN THAT…..
Thanks again! That might be the result of us trying to create songs that do not only sound like Heavy Metal but also have some catchy parts in them. We do not focus on sounding as “true” as possible. In our opinion a song, no matter what musical genre, should just sound enjoyable despite all the aggression or heaviness that might be in it.

I UNDERSTOOD YOU ARE QUITE A YOUNG BAND, HOW DID YOU GET IN TOUCH WITH SUCH A BIG LABEL (MASSACRE RECORDS)?
We got in touch with Massacre Records by accident more or less. In October 2008 we were planning a live show with some other Metal bands from our region. One of them was already signed at Massacre Records and we had been told that some representatives of the label would visit this concert to see their band playing live. They saw us, asked for a demo and offered us the deal.

I WILL BE NOT THE FIRST, NOT THE LAST BUT ONE OF THE POWERS, IF NOT THE POWER MUST BE THE VOICE FROM MAAIKE….
I GUESS YOU’RE AWARE OF THAT…
Yes, we as the four boys in the band are very happy with our choice of Maike as our lead singer. Her voice on the record as well as her performance in live shows complete our idea of a good Heavy Metal line-up.

NEVER GOT TIRED THAT PEOPLE ARE COMPARING YOUR VOICE TO THE ONE OF TARJA TURUNEN FROM NIGHTWISH….
Well we are being compared to several Metal bands with female vocalists. Not necessarily to Nightwish due to the sound of Maike's voice and the sound of Tarja Turunen but just female fronted bands in general.
Yes, we are kind of tired of it but we don't really care anymore. There will always be people saying so.

IF YOU COMPOSE A SONG, WHAT’S IN MIND : A CONCEPT FROM SOME HISTORY OR JUST A WONDERFUL SONG…..
We do not really follow any special concept working on our songs. The product just has to fulfill our perceptions of a good song. It has got to and carry a message aswell.

OF COURSE YOU CAN SAY I AM A MOPESTER BUT I ALMOST GOT TEARS IN MY EYES WHEN I HEARD YOUR MUSIC, I MEAN…IT’S SO BEAUTIFUL…..
If you mean “molester” of course not! It's always great to get such a positive feedback and nice comments!


IN ALL HONESTY, APART FROM WITHIN TEMPTATION, OVER HERE THE GOTH METAL SCENE IS ALMOST TOTALLY IGNORED…I GUESS YOU DON’T HAVE THAT PROBLEM IN GERMANY….
It definetely is not totally ignored. But we always had and have to search very closely to find opportunities to play live. It is not very popular. In most cases we were the outstanding bands between all the other newcomer rock bands. And “outstanding” is not necessarily positive.

I KNOW IT’S A TRICKY QUESTION FOR A BEGINNING BAND, SO SORRY FOR THAT, BUT I GUESS EVERYTHING’S FOCUSED ON THE GERMAN MARKET RIGHT NOW, NOT?
No, it's not. Our main fanbase might be in Germany but our label managed to make a deal in Russia and Japan too. And we also got a lot of positive feedback from Southamerica.

THERE WILL ALWAYS BE PEOPLE AROUND WHO WILL SAY THAT MUSIC LIKE YOURS CAN’T BE ORIGINAL ANYMORE…WHAT DO YOU SAY THEN?
We don't steal melodies or copy rythms. Our music and the ideas on which it is founded are as original as the work of any other band. We are aware of the fact that we do not reinvent the wheel talking about our line-up. But we compose and arrange our songs with heart and we will not change anything just to be so unique. We just make the music we love.

WHAT DOES SUCCESS MEAN TO YOU ANYWAY????
Although we are far from being famous or getting rich with our music, we already reached a very important step of being succesful in our opinion. Noone of us would ever have thought that we would get signed so suddenly. We never were sure that it would happen anyway. But from one second to another we were no longer the no-name band in our small rehearsal room. We signed a worldwide recorddeal with the well-known label Massacre Records and even released a full-length album. That's what we always had dreamed of so we already are kind of succesful.

DO YOU LISTEN TO OTHER STUFF BESIDES METAL? I MEAN MOST OF THE TIMES METALMUSICIANS ARE THE MOST OPEN MINDED I MET TO BE HONEST….
We share your view that metalmusicians are very open minded in many cases. Our favourite bands do belong to the metal scene though. But we are interested and do listen to any kind of music.

WHERE DOES THE NAME VOICES OF DESTINY COMES FROM…DOES IT HAVE A SPECIAL MEANING OR JUST AN OKAY THING TO HEAR?
Actually it was a spontaneous idea to name our band “Voices of Destiny”. Our drummer Erik came up with it and we liked the sound and the meaning. It just fits the style of our music perfectly. Anyway we do not attach too much importance to the name. It's all about the music.



WHAT’S YOUR FAVE RECORD OF ALL TIME AND WHY….
The five members of Voices of Destiny do not have one favourite record in common. It varies widely.

I GUESS THIS CAN ONLY BE ANSWERED BY MAAIKE : WHY DO YOU HAVE ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL VOICES IN TODAY’S MUSIC’S SCENE?
Thank you :)


THE LAST WORDS ARE YOURS………………

Hey guys! We hope you like our music and of course we hope to see you on tour soon!
Check out our Homepage from time to time to get the latest news!
Keep on rocking!

Voices of Destiny