Twin Tribes is a dark synth / post-punk duo based in Brownsville, Texas. Formed by Luis Navarro (vocals, guitar, synth, drum machines) and Joel Niño, Jr. (bass, synth, vocals) in 2017, the band gathers their influences from the period of the dark ‘80s. Darkwave, post-punk, and coldwave are genres that the band summon using analog synthesizers and drum machines; dark melodic sounds, lyrics of the undead, the occult, and parallel universes are what conjure Twin Tribes.
2019 was indeed a banner year for goth-pop duo WINGTIPS, who released their debut record, Exposure Therapy, on Toronto-based Artoffact Records. The duo comprises Chicago-goth mainstays Vincent and Hannah, producing unforgettable music that has already captured the attention of media and festival taste-makers alike.
The new record, which finds its guitar work inherently in the vein of Disintegration-era Cure, while injecting electronic elements you might hear at home on records by OMD, is an androgynous sound of transition. Interpolating darkly shimmering layers of angular guitar and pulsating darkwave, WINGTIPS sharpens their anthemic rush with an increasing penchant for melody and an atmosphere equally informed by post-punk as sweeping electronica. Exposure Therapy is a contextualization of new romantic for post-millennial end times, and a refreshing mix of synthpop and darkwave with hooks so compelling they are cinematic in scope.
Formed in 2012, The Bellwether Syndicate is fronted by veteran artist William Faith (vocals/guitars), and Sarah Rose Faith (vocals/guitars). While the studio recordings are made by William and Sarah alone, the live lineup includes Paul Sin (bass), Philly Peroxide (keyboards/percussion) and Stevyn Grey (drums). The band have always sought to color outside of prescribed genre lines, endeavoring to push past the boundaries of style into something substantial and vital.
The Bellwether Syndicate present a powerful and commanding live performance, where the sound and substance of the recorded work truly comes to life; where the art is made whole by the audience.
The Rope formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2009, and released their eponymous debut EP in 2011. After a series of line-up changes, in 2015 they released their second EP, Waters Rising, and soon began work on their first full-length album, Lillian, which released in the spring of 2019. Influences on their dark post-punk sound include Killing Joke, Bauhaus, Chameleons, and The Sisters of Mercy.
God Module is the dark electronic musical project of Jasyn Bangert. As underground musical trends have come and gone over the years, God Module have stayed at the forefront of the dark electronic scene. Mixing harsh musical styles (punk, death rock and metal) with his love for electronic music (EBM, industrial, synthpop and techno), God Module was created. Incorporating imagery and aesthetics from his interest in the horror genre and the paranormal, God Module has taken on a dark persona over the years. The band is currently signed to Metropolis Records in North America and Infacted Recordings in Europe, and released their eighth studio album, The Unsound, in July 2019.
Jasyn has brought his childhood dreams to life as musical nightmares, taking all the common electro - Gothic - industrial cliches and systematically tearing them apart. They are unnaturally stitched back together again to create a constantly mutating soundtrack to the most disturbing horror film you will never see.
Peter Stone started writing electronic music in 1985 when he acquired a rare PPG Wave 2.3, EVU, and Waveterm. By 1991, the solo project Xorcist was born, along with a widely-received release, Damned Souls on 21st Circuitry Records. Over the next ten years, Xorcist released six more CDs, was featured on countless compilations, had two side projects (XENON and Diode Fetish), scored several CD-ROM video games, grew the online social media community, CyberDen, to over global proportions, worked on MTV's Aeon Flux series, toured as a technical guru for the 1993 Lollapalooza CyberPit installation, co-owned and co-ran the bay area's largest Gothic and industrial club, House of Usher, and somewhere in there, did a national Xorcist tour.
Then on 9/11, 2001, the world changed and Xorcist was forced onto the back-burner while jobs disappeared and higher priorities took precedence. But finally, in 2018, Xorcist returned with a new full-length release entitled: GOD.
Xorcist continues to write and release various singles (all available at Bandcamp), and is looking forward to performing live once again for both old and new fans all over the world.
S Y Z Y G Y X • Luna Blanc and Josh Clark have always had a passion for art/creating. Josh has an extensive background in electronic music and audio engineering; formerly known as DJ Impulse, he used to make music under monikers Sinthetix/Corrupt Souls in the drum ’n’ bass genre, gaining worldwide recognition in the scene before permanently retiring from it. Luna has always experimented with keyboards and music composition from a young age, but pursued photography, writing and film in college—constantly involved in the arts throughout her life. Once Luna and Josh met, it became obvious after just a few months that they would be making music together.
To keep it interesting, they're always taking turns on everything in their sound: vocals, arps, riffs, bass, drums, pads, and the production/engineering of the different aspects of their sound. There is nothing in the process of making music that one does more than the other, in the attempt to explore both artists capabilities. Every single aspect of their work, from making sound from scratch to EQ’ing and engineering the sound is made by either Luna or Josh, and is what makes two artists one S Y Z Y G Y X. Josh and Luna continue to grow and learn about sound by also mixing and mastering all of their own music. They work from their home studio in the Washington, D.C. metro area, and continue to evolve within their sound.
S Y Z Y G Y X’s first EP, Hex’n Equinox, was released in 2018 on Cleopatra Records. As they experimented with their sound and in trying to find themselves in their music, they, later in 2018, released their sophomore EP, Broken Mirrors, under their home label, Burning Grave Records. As they progressed with their composition and engineering, they signed their next EP, Encounters, to German label Cold Transmission, and in 2019 released their debut LP, Is That All There Is, under home label Burning Grave Records. Their second LP, Fading Bodies, was released in the fall of 2019 under the label partnership of Negative Gain Productions (US) and Cold Transmission (EU).
Hailing from Louisville, Kentucky, Scary Black is the solo project of multi-instrumentalist / singer / songwriter Albie Mason. Everything is written, recorded, mixed and mastered in his bedroom studio with knowledge he gained from watching hours upon hours of online videos, and years of trial and error. With the guitar as his primary instrument, he shreds away alongside chugging bass synths. Haunting vocals place themselves in the mix like a ghost trapped between worlds with no hope of escape.
The Kentucky Vampires, a dynamic and unapologetically Gothic Rock band, has their roots in the city of Louisville, Kentucky, and have quickly become well known in Goth circles throughout the world. They deliver stunning lyrics and instrumentals about ancient times, sinister love, and acts of sorcery, and are a part of the revival of Gothic Rock in its evolved forms, even having been compared to legends such as Bauhaus and The Sisters of Mercy, among others. Soon after creating their first album, they were signed to Secret Sin Records in 2019, after which they began work on their second album, due to be released this year.
Originally a three-piece band fronted by Scary Black singer Albie Mason, with Abbas Marler on bass and Zac Campbell on guitars and programming, TKV has evolved over the years with Albie leaving to do his own music and Abbas stepping up for vocal duties. After going through a number of bass players, The Kentucky Vampires finally landed a permanent member in Motuvius Rex. While assessing the future with more focus on live performances, TKV has also recently added veteran drummer Thom Warnock (the longtime drummer for the metal band Stagecoach Inferno) to the band.
Founded in Louisville, KY by Alyc Diaz as a solo project in 2014, Vyva Melinkolya is trans-fronted, aggressively ethereal music—slow, moody shoegaze and dream pop with swirling melodies and drum machines. Vyva’s live lineup currently consists of Alyc (vocals/guitars) and Andrew Garrett (guitar).
