German producer Johannes Stabel, the mastermind behind XTR Human, powerfully performs a narrative of soci0political consciousness auf Deutsch, reflecting his own state of mind and that of Germany itself, evolving through introspection and primal beats alike. Across G.O.L.D’s ten tracks, Stable brings our zeitgeist into a new realm, where the anger and frustration at our current existence is refined into kinetic energy and the desire to move your body. Influenced by the pop hooks of Austrian New Wave legend Falco, the tracks are swaddled in dark beats and political ideals, the album is bursting with catchy hooks and groove-laden rhythms: the perfect philosopher’s metal to transmogrify your existence through driving EBM bass, soaring synth lines and coldwave atmospheres.

This is evident in the above video directed by Clay Adamczyk for the pulsating Maschine, a melodic synth-laden song about mankind’s destructive relationship with the earth. Leben Ohne Licht, directed by Dominik Jureschko / lmtlase studio which translates to “life without light,” is both dark and haunting, and features a mesmerizing collaboration with Luca Gillian (Die Selektion) on backing vocals.

Many of the songs delve into Stabel’s own experiences as a German, from explorations of the Deutsch mentality of persistent fear to tackling the fake news, jingoism, racists, and coronavirus deniers on hypnotic bangers Dark Germany and Dieser Klang. Starker Junge, a dissection of toxic masculinity, drops down onto the listener with sparkling synths and razor-sharp guitar, while capitalist critique Fleisch is a pogo synthpop anthem that could send any floor into a twirling frenzy. The real showstopper on the album is Angst, a Depeche Mode-tinged anthem of anxiety.

This culminates in another video collaboration with director Clay Adamczyk, Wie Ein Gott, a brutal critique of the glorification of violent gun culture, particularly in the United States, and references Richard Connell’s classic short story The Most Dangerous Game.

XTR Human, which began in 2012, is the solo project of Johannes Stabel, who hovers in the sonic realm somewhere between coldwave, EBM, and post-punk…riddled with dystopic ethereal sounds, lofty synth harmonies, powerful bass lines, and piercing vocals.

Play it loudly.

Follow XTR Human:

• Website
• Facebook
• YouTube
• Instagram

The post Maschine in the Darkness—XTR Human’s Synth-laden “G.O.L.D” LP appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

Ash Code are often referred to as a darkwave band, and the trio from Naples, Italy does make icily Nietzschean, danceable dark sounds that constitute a kind of mashup between goth club music, coldwave, and dark synthpop. With song titles like “Oblivion,” “The Void,” “It’s Time to Face the Abyss,” and “Posthuman,” it’s perhaps not surprising the band counts acts like Joy Division and Soft Moon among their influences, and singer Claudia has noted that philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche’s Untimely Meditations has acted as an aesthetic influence on the trio’s outlook and music, too. While a palpable strain of nihilistic philosophy does run through Ash Code’s approach, perhaps more surprising is that the band also counts deep cuts by acts like Siekiera‘s Nowa Aleksandria among their primary musical influences. This cocktail of inspiration culminated in 2018’s well-regarded, and compulsively danceable, Perspektive LP.

On the heels of the success of Perspektive, US-based Metropolis Records has announced a couple of Ash Code reissues for the US as well as a possible North American tour for 2019. As with their friends in  She Past Away—who have worked with Ash Code before—Ash Code have a European label (in this case, Swiss Dark Nights), who will be handling European distribution of their back catalogue, while Metropolis will take over the North American side of things.

In light of the exciting news about the stateside reissues of the Oblivion and Posthuman LPs, I decided to catch up with Ash Code and see what their plans for 2019 are.

Ash Code was interviewed by Oliver for Post-punk.com in January, 2019.

First, some basics about the band–who’s in Ash Code now and when did you begin?

Alessandro: Ash Code was born between the last days of 2013 and early 2014. I sing and program the sequences, Claudia plays the keyboards and sings some of the parts, Adriano plays the bass VI and the drum pad. However, during shows, we exchange instruments according to the song. We feel that makes the live performance more dynamic and interesting.

Will Ash Code be coming to the US in 2019?

Adriano: Coming to the US is a main goal of this year and we are very close to it. We received multiple requests from folks in the US in the past few months, so we hope to make it a tour soon. It’s not an easy thing to accomplish, but the deal with Metropolis will help us a lot. So, for you American promoters and bookers out there, it ìs the right time to get in touch with us!

Who came up with the name “Ash Code” and what does it mean?

Claudia: We were playing with some words that have the same initials as our names. We chose the name together. We immediately liked the association of “Ash” and “Code” for evoking an existential meaning behind it. Additionally, it’s linked to our city Naples, whose Vesuvius volcano reigns almighty.

Your 2018 LP Perspektive has made a lot of magazines’ and websites’ “Best of 2018” year-end lists. How does it feel to see your latest LP get such recognition? How long did it take to write the songs, record, and produce the LP?

Adriano: We mainly make music to express ourselves, but I must admit that the accolades do satisfy us greatly. After two LPs, it wasn’t easy to make something new without repeating the same formula, but we hope with Perspektive we succeeded. By the way, Perspektive took a year and a half to write and record.

You’ve signed a deal with Metropolis Records recently. Can you explain to readers this covers? Will you make a new album for Metropolis or will there only be reissues in the pipeline?

Alessandro: Metropolis will take care of Ash Code in North and South America. During the autumn they released our last LP, Perspektive, and the first two in special American editions on CD and LP. This deal will prove to be a big help, especially for making our music more accessible for fans in the Americas who will no longer have to pay a fortune in shipping costs.

Are you staying on the Swiss Dark Nights label?

Alessandro: Yes we are, basically Metropolis and Swiss Dark Nights have split the various territories for releasing our LPs. Metropolis in the Americas and Swiss Dark Nights in Europe. This will enable each of them to focus on maintaining the areas they know best in this big world.

I noticed Doruk of She Past Away mixed and mastered the last LP—how long have you known She Past Away and have you ever worked with them or with Doruk before?

Alessandro: We made our live debut supporting She Past Away in Naples in early 2014. Since then we have shared the stage with them many times and we became good friends even outside of the environment of music.

For our first two albums, we worked with an Italian producer, but for Perspektive we decided to experiment a bit more. We liked Doruk’s previous work and tried to get him involved. Mainly, everything was managed via e-mail and much to our surprise it was super easy to work together. He worked quickly, knew exactly what we were looking for and where to put his touch. In the future, we hope to work with him again.

I noticed the official video for “Perspektive” featured Luca Gillian of Die Selektion. Have you all worked with Luca before? How did the video come about and how was it to shoot and film it?

Alessandro: We were looking for something new for the title track, so we picked an interesting drum beat, different from our usual dancey ones, then added a strange handmade string instrument I found online and for the first time we decided to sing in German. Out of all of the European countries, we have the strongest following in Germany and receive a great deal of feedback from there. Claudia was perfect for the verses but we had a male voice in mind for the chorus and Luca was the right choice. We met him personally during Die Selektion’s first Italian tour in 2012, his voice is very particular and dark; he fit very well. The song is about “keyboard warriors” and our director Elio De Filippo wrote a video concept about it. The characters scenes were filmed in chroma key, the band’s scenes in a club outside Naples, and at Luca’s home with a phone…but Luca’s hologram scenes are the ones I like the most!

What bands would you say were the most direct influences on Ash Code’s sound? Would you categorize yourself with any specific genre tag, like “darkwave,” or “coldwave” etc? If so, or if not, why or why not?

Claudia: Our sound is influenced by many bands, historical ones like Joy Division, New Order, Depeche Mode, The Cure, and Siekiera although contemporary bands are also a great source of inspiration for us such as The Soft Moon, Cold Cave, and Agent Side Grinder. We’d rather not barricade ourselves into a label or strict genre, we certainly have dark sounds that can fit easily into the “Electro / Dark Wave” scene. But we also like to experiment and don’t want to be narrow in our thinking.

How is the rest of the dark music scene in Naples? Is it very lively, and do you all feel as if you all fit in there? 

Claudia: Naples has always been a very lively musical city and has produced very good artists of international notice. Before us there were Trees, Argine, Ashram, and Corde Oblique. Some of them are still active.

We all learned to play in local bands but with Ash Code it became a bit more serious and professional. Currently there are other great projects like Geometric Vision, Hapax, and Dark Door. Unfortunately, the audience is very small. Outside of  the big events we can only get about 200 people out to a show and that’s counting the audience of the region.

A question I try to ask all bands: If you were stranded on a remote island, and could, through some magical means, play records, but you could only take 5 records with you for the rest of your life, what 5 records would those be?

Claudia : Very difficult question… I’ll try:

Surely one by the Cure, probably Disintegration. Then, I would bring Nick Cave – Skeleton Trees, David Bowie – Space Oddity, Bauhaus – Mask, and the last one by Dead Can Dance – Dionysus (since it came out I can’t stop listening to it).

Alessandro: Siekiera – Nowa Aleksandria, IAMX – The Alternative, New Order – Power Corruption & Lies, Twin Peaks – OST, Bauhaus – Gotham .

Adriano: Joy Division – Closer, Nine Inch Nails – Downward Spiral, Sonic Youth – Goo, My Bloody Valentine – Loveless, The Sisters Of Mercy – First And Last And Always.

Anything else before we sign off?

Claudia: This year will be very important for us, there will be news about touring soon, we’ll keep you informed. We’re already working on new tracks, and we’ve been inspired in recent months by some important literary readings and concerts we attended, so we have already started to work on a new LP.

===============

Ash Code have a website maintained by Metropolis Records here: https://www.metropolis-records.com/artist/ash-code
Ash Code also have a Facebook page here.
Ash Code’s 2018 Perspektive LP is on Bandcamp here.

The post An Interview with Darkwave Darlings Ash Code about a Possible US tour and New Label Reissues appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

The song is a catchy and playful intermingling of guitars, drums, and bass that are reminiscent of the compositions from post-punk revival artists from the early 2000s.

On the song’s themes, Structures had this to say:

“Dancers talks about these dances that we perform most often in duets, dances of lovers, challenges, very trying dances. They are chess games, disguised battles in which conquest is the main engine. In the end, it is always and above all question of winner and loser.”

This follows the recent premiere of video for the EP’s title track whose rhythmic vocals harmonize with reverb with well crafted lyrics, cadence, and intonations that hypnotically suggest that the listener should sing along to a song whose themes on the surface resonate with ironic designation.

The band clarify about the song:

“Long Life is a piece that offers a total let go, a confession of someone willing to get rid of everything he has and what he is. It is the acceptance, Long life illustrates a passage to the maturity, a changeover being done not without a certain violence and rage. But the interpretations and the readings are multiple, free to everyone to find hers.”

Long Life is out on September 28th with a release party on October 25th at  Petit Bain in Paris with Die Selektion and FTR.

Order Here

Live Dates:

• DEC 08 – LES 4ÉCLUSES, DUNKERQUE (FR) w/ RENDEZ-VOUS
• NOV 23 – LE RISQUONS-TOUT, MOUSCRON (B)
• NOV 16 – LA CENTRIFUGEUSE, PAU (FR) w/ RENDEZ-VOUS
• NOV 15 – LE MAGNÉTO, BAYONNE (FR) w/ RENDEZ-VOUS
• NOV 14 – LA RUMEUR, LILLE (FR) for/ FESTIVAL HAUTE FREQUENCE
• NOV 7 – AU CABARET DE SULLY, LILLE (FR)
• OCT 25 – RELEASE PARTY, PETIT BAIN, PARIS (FR) w/ DIE SELEKTION + FTR
• OCT 5 – LE DEEP INSIDE KLUB ROCK, DIJON (FR)
• SEP 29 – L’USINE, ST-PIERRE-LES-BITRY (FR) for/ FESTIVAL PICARDIE FOR EVER
• SEP 27 – LA MAC, BORDEAUX (FR) for/ CAMPULSATIONS FESTIVAL
• SEP 21 – LA POINTE LAFAYETTE, PARIS (FR) w/ LAST NIGHT WE KILLED PINEAPPLE
• SEP 20 – LA GARE SAINT SAUVEUR, LILLE (FR)
• SEP 13 – LA CONDITION PUBLIQUE, ROUBAIX (FR) for/ FESTIVAL CROSSROADS

The post French Post-Punk Quartet Structures Premiere “Dancers” appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

On how that redemption may be found, the band explains:

“We believe that every point of view is worthy of respect, every personal ‘perspective’. Ethical law is ‘respect’ par excellence, which originates from an empathetic feeling towards the others. If we learn to perceive each and every other person, even different species, while remaining ourselves, there won’t be anything negative in that”.

“Perspektive”, the band’s first foray into singing entirely in German, features additional vocals from Die Selektion’s Luca Gillian.

In writing the song, Ash Code elaborate:

“We wrote the text nauseated by the current world of online media, fake news and ‘keyboard warriors’ fury. …It definitely wasn’t easy to write in German and we have to thank some of our German friends and Luca Gillian of Die Selektion for this.”

On a musical level we have tried to craft something really different from the past; rhythmically and using e-bow on the Bass VI and a Micro[D] even. An handmade instrument that can be played like a violin or through hitting.

The video was created by Elio De Filippo again and representing a bleak future where emotions are synthetic products poured into artificial avatars, unable to raise love and destined to shut down by boredom. From an unconventional perspective where no one tried to gaze ever… an eternal flow of ignition, simulation, suffering, extinction.”

The album also features mixing and mastering from She Past Away’s Doruk Ozturkcan and is “enriched with remixes by artists of the electronic, darkwave and industrial scene: Agent Side Grinder, Hante, We Are Temporary, The Ne-21, She Pleasures Herself and Selfishadows.”

F

Ash Code’s Perspketive will be available via Swiss Dark Nights / Manic Depression Records on 18th May, 2018 in a limited edition of 2000 CD and 500 vinyl copies, as well as digital formats.

The first 30 days of preorder will include special items and rarities only available during that time.

Pre-Order Here

Confirmed Tour dates:

• 27.04.18 IT – Bologna, Neuropa Festival w/ Gang Of Four, New Model Army
• 05.05.18 IT – Prato, Exenzia Club
• 18.05.18 DE – Leipzig, Wave Gotik Treffen
• 25.05.18 IT – Roma, METAMØRFOSI
• 07.07.18 DE – Detmold, Owls ‘n’ Bats Festival 2018 w/ Skeletal Family, The Foreign Resort, Laura Carbone, TRAITRS, Sweet Ermengarde
• 18.08.18 BE – Mont-de-l’Enclus, W-Festival w/ Paul Young, Front Line Assembly, She Past Away, Limahl, Heaven 17 and many more
• 24.08.18 CZ – Prague, XIII. Prague Gothic Treffen
• 25.08.18 DE – Regensburg, TheWave II
• 15.09.18 CH – Versuchsstollen Hagerbach, Eine Nacht im Bergwerk w/ Covenant
• 12.10.18 RU – Saint Petersburg, TBA
• 13.10.18 RU – Moscow, TBA
• 26.10.18 NL – Almere, Moonreaktor II w/ Lifeless Past, Stuck Between
• 27.10.18 DE – Hamburg, TBA
• 10.11.18 AT – Vienna, Schattenwelt.at Festival

The post Ash Code Premiere the Video for “Perspektive” Featuring Die Selektion’s Luca Gillian appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

More info on the Anniversary Party Here

Also, today on aufnahme + wiedergabe—two noteworthy EP releases are out:

Schwefelgelb | Dahinter das Gesicht

Veil of Light | Ursprung Remix

The post 6 Years of aufnahme + wiedergabe | An interview with Philipp Strobel appeared first on Post-Punk.com.