Over 30 years after making their debut, legendary industrial post-punk band The Cassandra Complex have finally rereleased their classic self-produced first album Grenade in a newly remastered version on digital streaming and download services.
The Cassandra Complex are based around the nucleus of principal songwriters Rodney Orpheus (vocals, computer) and Andy Booth (guitar, keyboards), with the addition on this album of John Marchini (bass, saxophone), Keith Langley (percussion) and Jez Willis (bass, keyboards) [the last of whom would later go on to form Utah Saints].
“I had started off listening to a bunch of early 70s synth rock stuff , like Kraftwerk, Hawkwind, Suicide, Can, and Bowie’s Berlin albums, then got into early industrial acts like TG and Cabaret Voltaire, and combined that with punk influences we loved like Buzzcocks, Joy Division, and Gang of Four,” says Orpheus, the Northern Ireland-born singer of the band. “We ended up with a synthesis of all of those disparate elements on a record that sounded quite unlike anything else around at the time, especially on the UK scene.”
Despite getting little reaction in their homeland, the album quickly achieved critical and commercial success in the growing goth/alternative music scene in Europe, selling over 20,000 copies for their small independent label, with the band doing multiple sold-out tours in support of it.
“We were never really happy with the version that came out on the original record. At the time we just didn’t have the money or the technology to make it sound the way we envisaged it,” says Booth, “But now we can finally release it the way it sounded in the studio when we recorded it.”
In recent years, both Orpheus and Booth have become significant players in the background of the modern music biz: Orpheus as a producer and technology designer, and Booth as a music lawyer. However in 2019 they have once more been touring successfully with The Cassandra Complex, playing to thousands of fans at festivals in Germany, Belgium, and Spain.
AMPHI FESTIVAL 2020 releases third band wave with Mesh, Zeromancer & many more
XVI. AMPHI FESTIVAL 2020
25. & 26.07.2020 – COLOGNE | TANZBRUNNEN
THIRD BANDWAVE WITH MESH, ZEROMANCER AND MANY MORE
Autumn is here! While you are curious to learn more about which bands are joining the 2020 line-up next, it has been their goal to invite a number of established Amphi heroes alongside a considerable amount of artists, who haven't appeared on Amphi's stages just yet. Today, cumulated in a full-on third wave, they raise the curtain for:
MESH + ZEROMANCER
NACHTBLUT + FROZEN PLASMA
CAT RAPES DOG + DUPONT + STURM CAFÉ
THE FOREIGN RESORT + DER FLUCH
PERFECTION DOLL
All in all, 36 bands have been confirmed so far. Stay tuned for more, as the fourth and supposedly final wave will follow soon!
Original Amphi Festival tickets and "Amphi/E-tropolis 2020" combi-tickets are exclusively available at Amphi Shop, www.amphi-shop.de!
Additional festival information is as always to be found at www.amphi-festival.de or www.facebook.com/amphifestival. Also feel free to join us at www.instagram.com/amphifestival!
Confimed artists so far:
VNV NATION + EISBRECHER
OOMPH! + THE BIRTHDAY MASSACRE
DIARY OF DREAMS + SUICIDE COMMANDO + SOLAR FAKE
MESH + AESTHETIC PERFECTION + ZEROMANCER + SHE PAST AWAY
LETZTE INSTANZ + IN STRICT CONFIDENCE + STAHLMANN + NACHTBLUT
FROZEN PLASMA + ROME + HELDMASCHINE + EMPATHY TEST + SONO
MINUIT MACHINE + CAT RAPES DOG + RROYCE + DUPONT + STURM CAFÉ
SCARLET DORN + CHEMICAL SWEET KID + WISBORG + THE FOREIGN RESORT
JOY DIVISION UNDERCOVER + DER FLUCH + JOHNNY DEATHSHADOW
SCHWARZSCHILD + BRAGOLIN + ALIENARE + PERFECTION DOLL
+ many additional artists & supporting programme coming soon
UK Gothic Rock Band HER DESPAIR Release Official Music Video for 'The Exorcism' - New EP, Exorcisms Of Eroticism due November 22nd
UK-based gothic rock band HER DESPAIR proudly announces the release of their new video, "The Exorcism."
"The Exorcism" appears on HER DESPAIR's forthcoming EP, Exorcisms Of Eroticism available on November 22nd.
For fans of: Sisters of Mercy, HIM, Fields of the Nephilim
"The Exorcism" revolves around the intoxication of lust; that overwhelming desire for someone to the extent that it feels you could be possessed. The term “exorcism” here, is very much a euphemism. Musically we wanted to draw on influences such as Suspiria, focussing on dance synths rather than our more usual sounds. We wanted something that was suitably hard-hitting, but could also get the dance floor moving.
The accompanying video encapsulates the mood of the music perfectly, and we would recommend you watch it, if you dare.
BIOGRAPHY
HER DESPAIR began as a solo studio project with the release of the 2015 album Hymns For the Hopeless. Showcasing the melodramatic sound and aesthetic of gothic music with the accessibility of punk and the stylings of heavy metal, the project has subsequently evolved into the current full line-up.
Drawing influence from such classic acts as The Sisters of Mercy and Fields of the Nephilim, alongside more contemporary bands such as HIM, Rammstein and The 69 Eyes, HER DESPAIR create their own unique twist on the styles they are inspired by.
Mournography, the follow-up EP and debut release as a full band, was released in July 2018 in association with Spectre Records and Dewar PR. Recorded at Whitehouse Studios with producer Matt Bew, the EP helped the band develop and engage their audience significantly; both personally and through frequent use of social media.
During Summer 2019, work was completed on the latest opus; Exorcisms of Eroticism. Recorded again with Matt Bew at Whitehouse Studios, HER DESPAIR have evolved and improved the formula demonstrated in their previous output, stating:
Exorcisms of Eroticism is the dark and dramatic collection of six new gothic rock anthems from HER DESPAIR. Designed to unravel the mysteries of the theologic and the erotic, each song is set to a storm of symphonic instrumentation; providing the perfect soundtrack for your sorrows. The Mourning fades, now the Exorcisms begin...
HER DESPAIR continues to expand their fan base throughout live performances as both headliner and support in cities across the UK including London, Leeds, Leicester, Oxford, Bournemouth and Reading. 2019 has also seen HER DESPAIR perform at Darker Days Festival, with further concerts confirmed, including the Marquis Masquerade Goth Festival in Whitby. Clouds of smoke and lights theatrically immerse the audience, providing the perfect setting to experience the compelling material.
For More Information:
https://herdespair.bandcamp.com/
Bauhaus' David J announces 'Missive to an Angel from the Halls of Infamy and Allure' LP and Euro/UK tour!
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Bauhaus' David J announces 'Missive to an Angel from the Halls of Infamy and Allure' LP. Missives and Miles Euro/UK tour announced in support of new album
The new album features contributions from Anton Newcombe (Brian Jonestown Massacre), Toby Dammit (Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds), Paul Wallfisch (Swans), Sean Eden (Luna), Rose McGowan, Asia Argento, Emily Jane White, Annabel (lee) and the great Czech violinist Karel Holas, amongst others. The new album was recorded in Prague, Berlin and Los Angeles, as well as Beck Studios in Wellingborough, England, where Bauhaus cut their seminal 'Bela Lugosi's Dead' back in 1979. This is a 'coming home' of sorts as Glass Modern Records is essentially the reactivated Glass Records, the label that released David J's earliest critically acclaimed solo works. This album is intended as a cyclic swan-song, the last track, 'I Hear Only Silence Now' being a new version of the song that was the first on David J's 1983 solo debut 'Etiquette Of Violence'. Ahead of this album, David J released two singles - 'The Auteur (Redux / The Starlet's Cut)' featuring actress, activist and writer Rose McGowan and 'Migena And The Frozen Roses' featuring actress Asia Argento and Brian Jonestown Massacre frontman Anton Newcombe. A two-track version of the single, including David's rendition of 'Read 'Em 'N Weep' (written by Ian Hunter), is available exclusively via Bandcamp. David J will be supporting this album with a European and UK tour. David recently completed a massive world tour for Bauhaus' Ruby anniversary, joining former bandmate Peter Murphy. Sold out venues around the world proved once again that Bauhaus' music is as vital now as it was 40 years ago. Bauhaus will also be playing several reunion shows at LA's Palladium on November 3th, 4th and December 1st. The latter show was added due to the first two selling out within minutes.
Ahead of this, David J will be bringing his distinct charm and sonic swagger to audiences in Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, France and the UK. David's trio features the great Karel Holas on violin for most dates. Karel played on the album, which was recorded at his First Floor studio in Prague. Fiona Brice (John Cale, Placebo, Elbow, John Grant, Simply Red) will play violin for Lisbon, Leira, Porto, Barcelona, Madrid and Paris shows. Robert Vasicek, who also contributed to David's album, will play piano.
Keep up with David J |
Today it’s been exactly 28 years since Industrial/Metal band Ministry released Jesus Built My Hotrod!
Jesus Built My Hotrod was released on November 7th 1991 as the first single from their fifth studio album Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs. It was written by the band's frontman Al Jourgensen, bassist Paul Barker, drummer Bill Rieflin, session keyboardist Michael Balch, and the Butthole Surfers lead singer Gibby Haynes, and was co-produced by Jourgensen and Barker. The industrial metal track features elements of rockabilly and psychobilly, and is influenced by the Trashmen 1963 hit "Surfing' Bird", and Flannery O'Connor novel Wise Blood; the song’s instrumentation is defined by its polyrhythmic structure.
The single reached No. 19 in the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart with approximately 128,000 copies sold as of mid-July 1992, preceding the later success of Psalm 69.
Jesus Built My Hotrod 12”
A. Jesus Built My Hotrod (Redline/Whiteline Version) 8:13
B1. Jesus Built My Hotrod (Short, Pusillanimous * So-They-Can-Fit-More-Commercials-On-The-Radio Edit)
B2. TV Song
Lyrics
Soon I discovered that this rock thing was true
Jerry Lee Lewis was the devil
Jesus was an architect previous to his career as a prophet
All of a sudden, I found myself in love with the world
So there was only one thing that I could do
Was ding a ding dang my dang a long ling long
Ding dang a dong bong bing bong
Ticky ticky thought of a gun
Every time I try to do it all now baby
Am I on the run
Why why why why why baby
If it's so evil then?
Give me my time, with all my power
Give it to me all again (wow)
Ding a ding a dang a dong dong ding dong
Every where I go
Every time you tell me baby
When I settle down
Got to get me a trailer park
And hold my world around
Why why why why?
Ding ding dong dong dong ding dong
Dingy dingy son of a gun
Half my time I tell you baby
Never am I all for sure
Why why why why why baby
Sicky sicky from within
Every time I stick my finger on in ya
You're a wild wild little town bitch
Now how 'bout ding a dang dong dong dong ling long
Dingy a dingy dong a down
Every time you tell me baby
When I settle down
Got to get me a trailer park
And hold my world around
Why why why why?
In my dang a ding a ding a ding dong
A sticky sticky son of a gun
Ding a danga danga dong dong ding dong
Why why never know
Why why wack a dong a dang ding dong
Then you take it on the bill
Ding dang dong don't dong
Whoa!
I want to love ya!
Why why why, why why darling
Do you do you tell me to play?
Half the time I talk about it all now baby
You know what I'm talkin' about I said
Why why why it'll
Ticky ticky ticky ticky son of a gun
Ding ding dong a bong bong bing bong
Ticky ticky thought of a gun
Bing bing bang a bang a bang bing bong bing a bing bang a bong
Binga bing a bang a bong bong bing bong bing banga bong
Bing bing bang a bong bong bing bing binga binga banga bong
Bing bing bang a bang bang bing bong
Ding dang a dang bong bing bong
Ticky ticky thought of a gun
Every time I try to do it all now baby
Am I on the run
Why why why
It'll ticky ticky ticky ticky ticky ticky
Dawn of a gun
Bing bing bang a bong a bong bing bang a
Ticky ticky thought of a gun
Bing bip bip a bop bop boom bam
Ticky ticky through the day
If you got a doubt 'bout baby
The memory is on the bed
Why why why why why
Darlin' uh it don't know
When my time is on
Might tell me never do it on his own
If my time was all as is yours
Make me burn a wish
When my time with you is brutish
No I'll never not ever
Why why why why why why baby heavy hell
Alone and it's here it's this thunder
The thunder oh thunder
Oh!
Jesus built my car
It's a love affair
Mainly Jesus and my hot rod
Yeah, fuck it!
(Allen Jourgensen / Paul Barker / William Fredrick Rieflin / Gibson Haynes / Michael Bruce Balch)
