The Berlin-based Electro-shockers Agonoize have always managed to be one of the most polarizing and popular bands in the scene. With this comprehensive anthology of their first decade of work on 4 CDs in a lavish Digibook, limited to 1000 copies and including a lot of rarities and unreleased songs, they are not only effectively drawing a line under this first chapter of their career, but also delivering an essential milestone for any collector of hard electronic music.

For many of those who are notoriously living in the past, Agonoize have been and will always be “the scene's downfall”, while they are “the hottest shit” to enter the world of Electro in the past decade for the vast majority of the rest of the scene: Agonoize love to polarize and they are doing so with a big grin on their faces. A major key to their popularity is probably that they've never really cared too much about what other people expect from them. With their very own vision of Harsh-Electro that is built on a plethora of ultra-fattened-up beats, hard bass lines and brutal shouts, but always infused with an addictive sort of catchiness, they manage to turn any club into a slam dancing hell. In their lyrics, they love breaking just about any kind of taboo you can think of and are never shy of picking a fight with all the organized religions, states and idiots in this world, while being so tongue-in-cheek about it that they actually make hitting it where it hurts tremendously fun.

If you add their massive blood-soaked live shows to the mix, it is hardly any wonder that this group has enjoyed quite some popularity in the scene. “Reborn In Darkness” - The Bloody Years 2003-2014” celebrates the first decade of work from the Berliners on a whopping 4 CDs, with CD 1 containing a selection of the best club hits from the band, including the long-deleted club-standards “Koprolalie” and “Glaubenskrieger.” The second disc sports a selection of remixes of the band's biggest club hits, a lot of them also deleted and rare, while disc 3 and 4 contain a wealth of rarities, alternative versions and (the holy grail for diehard fans) previously unreleased material. This strictly limited anthology is not only the unique opportunity to own all the most important tracks from this seminal band, but also a must-own for fans and long-time followers! (...and experience from the past tells us that limited Agonoize-editions are usually sold-out rather fast.) Caution! There is blood on the dance floor!

Rizzle Kicks star Harley Sylvester makes his feature film debut, alongside a host of top British acting talent in hard-hitting, stylish thriller The Guvnors. Directed by Gabe Turner (In the Hands of The Gods, The Class of ’92), it’s produced by Fulwell 73 Productions and co-produced by author and bona fide football firm insider Cass Pennant, the film comes to DVD and Blu-ray on 29 December courtesy of Metrodome Distribution.

It’s dog eat dog on a South East London Estate, gangs rule with fear and intimidation and gang leader Adam (Sylvester) will stop at nothing to earn respect and prove he runs things. 

Mitch (Doug Allen – The Firm, Gangster No.1) has left behind his tough estate upbringing, and violent past as leader of a notorious football firm The Guvnors. Now living in the suburbs, he’s the doyen of respectability and quiet confidence, until young upstart Adam attempts to drag him back in, desperate to inherit Mitch’s reputation and vanquish his legend. 

Two generations steeped in violence collide and the two men are forced to reconcile their past and face the future as secrets are revealed, blood is spilt and lives are shattered. 

Turner’s violent thriller explores the sinister, inescapable legacy of a life of violence in all its forms. 

The Guvnors stars David Essex (Stardust, Eastenders), Martin Hancock (Coronation Street, Kingdom of Heaven), Jay Simpson (Utopia, Foyle’s War), Charlie Palmer Merkell (Plastic, Our Girl), Paul Reynolds (Trevor’s World of Sport, Press Gang), Vas Blackwood (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Mean Machine), Tony Denham (The Football Factory, Vendetta) and Richard Blackwood (Anuvahood, The Richard Blackwood Show).

The classic television series The Six Million Dollar Man is going to be remade as a film — but now that we're in 2014, its star is going to be at lot more expensive. Deadline reports that Mark Wahlberg is going to star in the remake, which will instead be called The Six Billion Dollar Man. The film will have Wahlberg playing Steve Austin, who in the original series was a former astronaut who is saved after a terrible accident thanks to some very expensive equipment that effectively turns him into a cyborg. With those added powers, he then goes on to be a secret agent for the government.

There isn't a lot more known about the film right now, though Deadline reports that it'll be directed by Peter Berg, who was behind Battleship and Hancock. The property is very much in a strange spot: though it's ingrained in pop culture, it's far from a familiar name with younger viewers. Perhaps its longevity has Wahlberg and Berg thinking that it's worth attempting to revive and reintroduce. At the very least, doing that successfully will require a lot more than accounting for inflation.

Drawing inspiration from a wide range of EBM and industrial based music such as VNV Nation, De/Vision, Nitzer Ebb and KMFDM, Vain Machine’s signature sound features dirty-driving bass lines, sweeping pads, razor sharp leads and rhythmic electronic percussion underpinning infectious melodies. 

Established by Beau Baker and Omar Quinones in 2013, the two met in a chance encounter when Beau answered an ad Omar posted looking for musicians to assist in remixing a single for Omar’s project, ROOM 1202. While ROOM 1202 dissolved in 2007; the two musicians remained in close contact and after working with various partners, the duo began pushing forward and creating new ideas that formed the core sound of Vain Machine. 

In May 2013 the band self-released a series of tracks which generated a great deal of interest in their music, both online and in their hometown of Los Angeles. The band began playing live shows in November 2013, including the 24th anniversary of local goth-industrial store Ipso Facto, and supporting for the Los Angeles Synthpop Society with local band Savi0r. After only a few live shows they were also selected to open for legendary German electropop act De/Vision. 

In September 2014, Vain Machine signed a contract with UK-based independent electronica label AnalogueTrash Records for the release of their upcoming single and album. Their label debut, Push, is released in November 2014 as a digital single featuring the original mix of the track and three remixes from Slave Unit, Mykyl Pagan and David Burdick. A full length album is currently in the final mastering stages and will follow shortly.

Everyone born between 1970 and 1980 has undergone a THE CURE brainwashing, voluntary or not, filled with genius songwriting pearls by Robert Smith & co. Whereas other bands that grew up alongside with them ended up with albums that no longer stand the test of fandom, THE CURE has been able to maintain an overall quality throughout the years, constantly offering unforgettable extended live shows made of nostalgic classic mixed with newer songs, and always reminding us that the unique "THE CURE magic" has remained intact!

Today the Alfa Matrix label roster is paying homage to this great and unique band: THE CURE, choosing classic radio hits but also songs that are less known to the public-at-large but which deserve even more to be heard again, showing that the songs written by Robert Smith and current/ex-members also lend themselves to different music style treatments... All electronic music genres have their very own ambassadors on this 31-track double CD compilation from electro dance to pop rock through dark elektro and modern EBM. Compiled by and for THE CURE fans, "A Strange Play - a tribute to The Cure" will offer you astounding interpretations of classic hits like "A Forest" (MARI CHROME), "Just Like Heaven" (LOVELORN DOLLS), "Charlotte Sometimes" (KANT KINO), "Lullaby" (CYNICAL EXISTENCE), "The Walk" (STAR INDUSTRY), "The Lovecats" (JUNKSISTA), "Fascination Street" (ZOMBIE GIRL), "Lovesong" (SEBASTIAN KOMOR), "Close To Me" (METROLAND), "Pictures Of You" (DIFFUZION), "Why Can't I Be You" (PLASTIC NOISE EXPERIENCE), etc. But some Alfa Matrix bands also dug deeper within THE CURE's huge discography and vast repertoire of songs, covering tracks like "In Your House" (ALIEN VAMPIRES), "Jumping Someone Else's Train" (KANT KINO), "Cold" (TOTEM OBSCURA), "The Drowning Man" (TECHNOIR), "A Strange Day" (AIBOFORCEN), Lament (MONDTRÄUME), "The Figurehead" (SCHWARTZBLUT), "A Night Like This" (XMH), "The Baby Screams" (ARMAGEDDON DILDOS), "Fight" (I:SCINTILLA), "Anniversary" (AESTHETISCHE), "Burn" (HELALYN FLOWERS & ESSENCE OF MIND), "Friday I'm In Love" (COSMIC ARMCHAIR), "Prayers For Rain" (HALO IN REVERSE & REGENERATOR), "Disintegration" (AVARICE IN AUDIO), "Trust" (ACYLUM), "All Cats Are Grey" (AIBOFORCEN), or yet "Sleep When I'm Dead" (NEIKKA RPM). 

THE CURE was, is, and will continue to be a major influence and reference, conscious or not, for many underground artists and music lovers. We hope that together with us you will rediscover THE CURE in a way you didn't expect, cruising through their vast catalogue in different soundscapes but always remaining faithful to the band's darker sound.

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