The Unclean

A beginning. Club lights pulse, smoke undulates, bored goths sit around… then a loop starts, a beat to kill for kicks in… bodies move rapidly to the dance floor and a voice says ‘Forever…’, or Apop for short, is Stephan Groth, Geir Bratland, Fredrik Brarud, Angel and Anders Odden.

God Module combine elements of EBM, Techno, Darkwave, Goth and Synth Pop to create a style of music that is as powerful as it is melodic. Pounding beats mix with unforgettable synth hooks, deranged film samples and creatively effected vocals to make up the sound that has undeniably become their own.

For over 10 years Bella Morte has continued to play a unique, well blended and haunting sound that sets them very clearly apart from anyone else. The band is Andy Deane on vocals, Tony Lechmanski on Guitar, Jordan Marchini on Drums, Micah Consylman on the Synths (mainly the keytar during live performance) and now Tony Pugh playing Bass; previously Gopal Metro. I have had the pleasure of seeing these guys play live on more then one occasion, and all i can say is don’t fukn miss their show!

Assemblage 23 is a Tom Shear, a Seattle WA based futurepop/synthpop/EBM audio powerhouse. Assemblage 23 was officially born in 1988, after Shear experienced the industrial dance music played by an opening DJ for Depeche Mode. The style of this genre deeply impressed Shear; he believed he had finally found the sort of sound he wanted for his music. From the official website: Assemblage 23 got its start in 1988, when at a Depeche Mode concert, founder Tom Shear heard the opening DJ spinning industrial dance music. Prior to hearing this type of music, Shear had been creating primarily synth-pop and post-punk type music, as well as playing bass in a punk band. Hearing industrial music for the first time proved to be something of an epiphany for Shear, as he had finally found a form of music that combined the electronic sounds he loved from his synth-pop background with the heavier, darker aggression punk represented.

In 2003, Andy LaPlegua began to create/destroy with his new project called CombiChrist, an elctro/industrial/ebm powerhouse with harsh scathing vocals and ass kicking grooves to destroy the dancefloor Just in case you don’t know, Andy is of Icon of Coil; and if you don’t know who Icon of Coil is, go the fuck away! (j/k)

VNV Nation is Ronan Harris (electronics, lyrics, vocals) and Mark Jackson (drums). The name itself stands for Victory not Vengeance and, from the guys themselves…”The meaning behind this stylised motto is that one should strive to achieve, not sit in bitter regret.”
VNV Nation are originally from Dublin & London and are now based out of Hamburg. They skillfully combine elements of trance, synthpop and electronic body music (EBM), into what they call futurepop.

I always have an ear to the blood soaked ground. Often I find podcasts/stations worth mention, so I’ve put together a small list of the ones I’m listening to right now. Find them after the jump…