Bimfest 2025, the bands one by one: CryptoChroma (Dark Demo(n)s winner!)
As is tradition every year, Bimfest takes place at the end of the year. This year as well, on December 19 and 20 in the De Casino venue in Sint-Niklaas, the beats and bleeps will once again hit you from all sides. It will be here sooner than you think!
CryptoChroma is a Belgian electronic music project known for its cold, analog soundscapes built from synthesizers, vintage equipment, and atmospheric textures. The project, founded in the mid-80s (!), has remained active through various musical collaborations and has steadily developed a style that emphasizes mood, introspection, and the darker sides of electronic music.
CryptoChroma’s debut album NUMB (2020) explores themes such as fear, post-apocalypse, alienation, and greed, all wrapped in an ’80s aesthetic. Their latest album Ominous Clouds was released exclusively on vinyl in 2023 by Red Maze Records / Strange Arts.
CryptoChroma maintains a solitary, exploratory spirit but always keeps a personal, deeply atmospheric approach to sound. CryptoChroma was chosen by the audience of the 2025 Dark Demo(n) event as the best live act of the night! They will appear at Bimfest and will open the festivities on Friday, December 19 at 8:00 PM!
Kurt Ingels (Dark Entries Magazine)
As is tradition every year, Bimfest takes place at the end of the year. This year as well, on December 19 and 20 in the De Casino venue in Sint-Niklaas, the beats and bleeps will once again hit you from all sides. It will be here sooner than you think.
Akalotz, originating from Kaiserslautern and active since 2007, is a German electro/EBM/industrial duo known for their pounding rhythms, dark atmospheres, and aggressive shouts. Founded by Thorsten Haury (vocals & production) and later joined by Nico Klenner on drums, the group combines classic old-school EBM energy with melodic, dark electro elements.
Their albums Shift to Evil (Electro Arc, 2014), Confront (Electro Aggression Records, 2017), and Angry Body Machine(Scanner, 2024) show a steady evolution: heavier, more refined production and stronger songwriting, while maintaining the raw, dance-floor-ready core that characterizes them so strongly.
Their live shows deliver powerful energy, driven by machine-like beats, commanding vocals, and strong visual performance. Akalotz is EBM with conviction, depth, and pure force.
Akalotz will play on Saturday, December 20 at 5:30 PM on the Bimfest stage!
TICKETS
Kurt Ingels (Dark Entries Magazine)
On this day, 46 years ago John Peel broadcasted Joy Division's 2nd Peel Sessions!
Today it’s been 46 years since Joy Division’s second Peel Session was broadcasted for the first time by John Peel on BBC radio (December 10th, 1979).
All tracks, previously unreleased at that time, were recorded in the London BBC studios on November 26th, 1979.
The EP of this recording was released in 1986 by Strange Fruit records and spent seventeen weeks in the UK Indie Chart, peaking at number 3!
Joy Division - The Peel Sessions (II)
A1. Love Will Tear Us Apart 3:20
A2. 24 Hours 4:05
B1. Colony 4:08
B2. Sound of Music 4:20
This December, 46 ago, Throbing Gristle released the album 20 Jazz Funk Greats. It was released in December 1979 by the band's own label Industrial Records. It is regarded as the band's best work, with music magazines naming it the best album of the 1970s, and the best industrial album of all time.
Actually it is the band's first real full studio album, as prior albums contained both live and studio recordings. The album was recorded on a 16-track tape recorder borrowed from Paul McCartney after Peter Christopherson had worked on some artwork for McCartney.
The album was produced meanly using effects units and instruments from Roland and Boss.
The album's cover photograph was taken at Beachy Head, a chalk headland on the South coast of England known as one of the world's most notorious suicide spots.
In a 2012 interview, Cosey explained the album cover and tongue-in-cheek title:
“We did the cover so it was a pastiche of something you would find in a Woolworth’s bargain bin. We took the photograph at the most famous suicide spot in England, called Beachy Head. So, the picture is not what it seems, it is not so nicey nicey at all, and neither is the music once you take it home and buy it. We had this idea in mind that someone quite innocently would come along to a record store and see [the record] and think they would be getting 20 really good jazz/funk greats, and then they would put it on at home and they would just get decimated.”
The 1981 issue of the album released on Fetish Records featured an alternate version of the cover art in which an apparently dead and naked male body is seen lying in front of the band. In 2013, Radiohead graphic designer Stanley Donwood selected the artwork as his favorite album cover.
20 Jazz Funk Greats
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A1. |
"20 Jazz Funk Greats" |
2:51 |
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A2. |
"Beachy Head" |
3:42 |
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A3. |
"Still Walking" |
4:56 |
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A4. |
"Tanith" |
2:20 |
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A5. |
"Convincing People" |
4:54 |
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A6. |
"Exotica" |
2:53 |
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|
|
|
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B1. |
"Hot on the Heels of Love" |
4:24 |
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B2. |
"Persuasion" |
6:36 |
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B3. |
"Walkabout" |
3:04 |
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B4. |
"What a Day" |
4:38 |
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B5. |
"Six Six Sixties"
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All tracks were written by Throbbing Gristle:
- Genesis P-Orridge – vocals, bass guitar, violin, vibraphone, synthesizer
- Cosey Fanni Tutti – guitar, synthesizer, cornet, vocals
- Chris Carter – synthesizer, album sequencing, drum programming, vocals
- Peter Christopherson – tape, vibraphone, cornet, vocals
Today, 47 years ago, Public Image released its debut album First issue!
Public Image: First Issue is the debut studio album of Public Image Ltd, formed and fronted by Jonny Rotten aka John Lydon after he left the Sex Pistols in January 1978. First Issue was released by record label Virgin on December 8th the same year and it is still considered as one of the pioneering records of post-punk.
It entered the UK Albums Chart, where it stayed for 11 weeks and reached #22 on 23 December 1978. The single “Public Image” entered the UK Top 75, where it stayed for 8 weeks and reached #9 on 21 October 1978
In 1979, a court in Malta had stopped selling the album because the lyrics of “Religion” offended public morals and decency.
After hearing the test pressings Warner Bros records also decided not to publish the album in the United States because the sound of the record was considered as too uncommercial for an American release. PiL were asked to re-record parts of the album and although the band recorded new versions of some tracks the album was never released in the US. Only in 1980 Warners released the song “Public Image” on the compilation album “Troublemakers”, the only album track released in the US until the 2013 release of the entire album.
On 18 June 2013, the album was finally officially released in the US via Light in the Attic Records.
Upon its release, Public Image: First Issue received only 2 out of 5 stars review in Sounds and NME was similarly negative, quipping that "unfortunately the 'image', public or otherwise, is a good deal less limited than many of the more practical factors involved in this venture."
However, it is now considered as a groundbreaking post-punk classic. Pitchfork Media stated "First Issue's industrial-strength stompers anticipate the scabrous art-punk of the Jesus Lizard and Slint, while Levene’s guitar curlicues on “Public Image” are the stuff Daydream Nations are made of." It is, along with Metal Box, included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Public Image: First Issue
1. Theme 9:05
2. Religion I 1:40
3. Religion II 5:40
4. Annalisa 6:00
5. Public Image 2:58
6. Low Life 3:35
7. Attack 2:55
8. Fodderstompf 7:40
Personel:
John Lydon – vocals, piano
Keith Levene – guitar
Jah Wobble – bass, vocals and fire extinguisher on "Fodderstompf"
Jim Walker – drums, vocals on "Fodderstompf"
DISCOGS
