Today it is exactly 35 years since the Belgian Goth-fathers of the EBM (Electronic Body Music) released their fourth studio album Front By Front (PIAS / 28.10.1988). An album that came only one year after Official Version (1987) and with which these gentlemen managed to refine the EBM recipe almost to perfection. Front 242 was clearly on the roll and Front By Front contained, just as its predecessor, a lot of dance floor fillers and also classic tracks, like Until Death (Us Do Part), Circling Overland, Im Rhythmus Bleiben, Welcome to Paradise. And of course maybe one of their most famous and successful singles / songs until this day, Headhunter. Front By Front is therefore considered one of the best Electro / Industrial albums ever made, not only by fans but also by critics around the world. Headhunter's remarkable video, filmed and directed by the well-known Dutch director / home photographer of Depeche Mode, U2 and Joy Division, Anton Corbijn, received heavy rotation on MTV and other music channels of that time. Due to the remarkable presence of eggs in this video clip, the song soon acquired the nickname 'Egg Hunter'. Despite these seemingly successful releases, Front 242’s home label and distribution partner Red Rhino Europe went bankrupt the same year and was taken over by PIAS (Play It again Sam). After the release of Front By Front, it would be a 3 year long wait for the fans until the follow-up album Tyranny> For was released. In 1992, the Front By Front album was remastered and was put in a new jacket for the re-release on the American major label Sony / Epic.

DISCOGS

Negative Gain Productions artists, Total Chroma have just unveiled their new full length release, Lapland. From the frost kissed expanse of the North, the synth punk inspired album emerges from Total Chroma's creative sanctum, an exploration of his Sami lineage.

The Sami, for those unacquainted, are the indigenous denizens of the Arctic, a people whose song has echoed across the icy plains, fjords and tundras of Scandinavia and Russia for millennia, and whose history, like the labyrinthine forests of the North, is both rich and shadowed.

With every note, Total Chroma's main architect, Isku Katerwol, delves deeper, and as he descends, the narrative grows increasingly somber. We're led on an odyssey, not just of a people's extermination of culture but a reflection of Katerwol's own metamorphosis.

The track "Such Filth", for example, becomes an anthem of cyclical birth, echoing the ethos that from the murk and mire, radiant beauty can ascend. It's a chant, a hymn to origins and the phoenix-like rise from desolation. On the subject of "Starvation", Katerwol muses: This song, though cloaked in fiction, unveils a tale of a love once effervescent, now dulled post the 'honeymoon phase'. Both souls, parched for each other's touch, find themselves trapped in a vortex of unsaid emotions and suppressed needs.

Sonically, Lapland’s auditory palette is rich, coloured with the gritty hues of post-punk, the electric vibrancy of synth pop, the pulsating rhythms of EBM, and the melancholic undertones of minimal wave. It's an alchemy that Katerwol has mastered, creating tracks that resonate deeply, echoing both the icy vastness of the North and the warmth of human emotion. Each song becomes a journey through time and self, a testament to Katerwol's prowess as an artist and the timeless resonance of the genres he so deftly melds.

Lapland is available on vinyl LP format and digitally on all major platforms including Bandcamp via Negative Gain Records.

open.spotify.com/artist/16pXvpAM5yKkKtSXi6QiTh

On this day, exactly 34 years ago, Nitzer Ebb released ‘Control I’m Here’ (MUTE71). It was the first single taken from their second and upcoming studio album ‘Belief’ (STUMM 61- release date: 09.01.1989).

It reached position 100 in the UK Single Chart and position 14 the US Dance chart.

Control I’m Here (CD) - Tracklist

Control Im Here (Zero Option Mix)
Control Im Here (Instrumental Club Mix)
K.I.A.
Control Im Here (Hardcore Mix)

Control i'm Here - Lyrics

we close our eyes
close them in your dreams
close them in your home
i'm here to stay
i won't go away

you don't need me i'll slip away
you can there me i'm not to say

you'll hopin that i'll buy you
i'll slip into your open mouth
shut the door

control i'm here

Songwriters: McCarthy / Halford

DISCOGS

The Czech gothic rock band, Cathedral In Flames unleashed their version of Billy Idol's legendary song, "Rebel Yell" on Friday 13th October.

In their version of the iconic song, Cathedral In Flames toyed with tempos, added strings and flirted with blast-beats for the first time in their history. Produced by the legendary John Freyer, the song retains the anthemic fast-paced chorus, which is further supported by a stylized comic book video.

Singer Phil Lee Fall says, "The songs were basically made to order. And we had a lot of arguments over it. We couldn't figure it out for a long time, but when Gatsby threw in the tempo changes, everything clicked. And John added the blast beats symbolically at the very end."

And Gatsby adds, "I've never liked this song, so I approached it in the end in the style of seeing if something interesting could be made out of a thousand times stale little ditty. How it turned out, judge for yourself. I'm washing my hands!"

open.spotify.com/artist/34Cm7Z6i8Ih7t5K12aZ4kZ

On this day, 43 ago (23 October 1980), UK industrial music pioneers Throbbing Gristle released simultaneously two 7” singles, Adrenalin/Distant Dreams (Part Two) and Subhuman/Something Came Over Me. They were both sold in camouflage printed plastic bags.

‘Adrenalin’ and‘ Distant Dreams' might well be some of Throbbing Gristle's more accessible songs but still feature weird tape loops and odd lyrics by Genesis P. Orridge’. So in the musical context of 1980, these songs were still a long way off from mainstream music.

Worth noting, the 7" version of "Distant Dreams (pt. II)" has a different mix comparing it to the one made available as bonus on later Grey Area CD editions of "Mission Of Dead Souls”.

The Subhuman/Something Came Over Me single was everything but accessible for the mainstream music lovers with Subhuman being more of a soundscape of scraping metalics while Genesis screams and shouts his lyrics over them. However ‘Something Came Over Me’ definitely has the most pop/rock song elements and melodies, however they are countered by Genesis P. Orridge undisguised ode to a white sticky substance.

The artwork features the painting Apotheosis of War by Vasili Vasilyevich Vereshchagin on the front cover and a canal bridge underpass.

Both singles entered the UK indie charts peaking at 23rd (Subhuman/Something Came Over Me) and 26th (Adrenalin/Distant Dreams) (Part Two)) position.

Subhuman/Something Came Over Me ( 7" IR 13)

A:Subhuman" – 2:53
B: Something Came Over Me" – 3:43

Adrenalin/Distant Dreams (Part Two) (7" - IR 15)

A: Adrenalin" – 3:59
B: Distant Dreams (Part Two)" – 5:30