Track Listing: Thin Air, Ego, Synthetic , Brittle, Radical (saint blaze), Zionsank v1, Enigma (feat. Victoria Lloyd of Claire Voyant) leavethisworld, Dataseed, Zionsank - Assemblage 23 remix, Brittle - Stromkern remix, Enigma - Tony Estrada remix.

I must admit my exposure to these lads was limited and due to the excessive proliferation of electronic acts out there, my suspicions aren’t easily diffused. Fortunately Cut.Rate.Box’s “Dataseed” was a refreshing surprise. “Thin Air” jump starts your mental accelerator and you go from Zero to Mach1 in thirty seconds! G. Wygonik and Clint have produced a synergy that totally engages you. Their work has an inviting familiarity about it and this dynamic duo have cited Front242 and Coil (John Balance R.I.P.) as influences. That being said, their work is varied, and masterfully layered and very much their own. It will appeal to everyone from the Dancefloor Devotee to the Headphone Addict!

I was also unexpectedly seduced by “Enigma”, with guest vocals by Claire Voyant’s, Victoria Lloyd. A doubly sexy listen! Not a weak track on the whole album. Speaking of vocals, kudos to G. for not burying his vocals beneath hundreds of filters. His voice his clear, incisive and intelligible. You can actually understand what he says! In light of this you might want to checkout the website for the editorial concerning this work; it’s an interesting read.

To top it off the remixes by Assemblage23, Tony Estrada and company, is a righteous Mash Up! Haven’t heard remixes like this since Einstürzende Neubauten’s Ende Neu-Remix. An excellent addition to your aural collection! (Reviewed by KM)

Track Listing: The Paper, Angel Lie, Sleepwalker, Sleepwalker (Radio Edit).

This four song e.p., (well, really three tracks, one remix) left me lukewarm. Their influences are varied, and although this is an interesting blend of gothic rock and industrial on an ethereal bender, no one track hooked me in. I believe this Minnesota-based trio has potential, but I’d pass on this. (reviewed by MM)

For more information, check out www.astralgrey.com

Track Listing: Medea, A whisper, Canzone Per Anceo, rosary, I Doni, Reveil, Autrefois, Delicate Magnetism, Strings.

Another pleasant surprise! You don&3146;t have to be a NewAge/Globalist/Rennie/Pagan to like this album! To digress for a moment, “Pagan”, in it’s original context simply meant, “country dweller.” And this is the context I am using it in, for there is a feral, rustic beauty to this album.

Relative newcomers to the scene, this trio will capture you with their musicianship and lush production. It doesn’t hurt their credibility that they hail from island of Sardinia, How cool is that? Seriously though, Alessia’s vocals are clear, strong and lyrical, Daniele’s guitar and Mara’s keyboards weave a masterful seduction throughout. “Reviel” just sent shivers down this sceptics back! Though the track that will hook you first is, “Canzone per Anceo”, delicious!

This group just reinforces, the reputation of how easily Italy seduces visitors – and I speak from experience! Short of actually experiencing the actual country, Chirleison will engulf and enchant you. You’ll find yourself taking repeated trips via this album! Another worthy addition to your music library! Available through Fossil Dungeon. (reviewed by KM)

Track Listing: Confessions, Condemnation, Gone Silicon, Ivory Tower, IDentify, Databass, Otherside, Every Futures Past, Stargazer, Vacant, Zero Hour.

Hypnotic and addictively tuneful synth/vocal music that sticks in your head like pop music without degenerating to poppishness. This potent stuff works on every level musically and lyrically. While the opening song, Condemnation, has you ready for serious headbanging, featuring powerful metal-like vocals over driving synths, the album soon deserts the “angry young man” stance for more contemplative, introspective material, without losing it’s smoldering darkness. Provocative in subject matter as well as sound, “Blackout” will leave you actually thinking as you compulsively hum the melodies. (reviewed by AF)

For more information, check out www.ptinc.net

Track Listing: Sunsky, Pig’s Feet, Generations, Bleed, Take It All, Heathen, Legends, Sinsa, Through the Days, Visitor, Instincts, It’s Over, Saved, Liberate Tutemet.

Unexpectedly funky for darkside music, Fektion Fekler draws from rock sources not usually found here. Almost like jazz fusion or jam-band music at times, it seems more pagan than darkwave with gothic threads running through the fabric. Other songs are acoustic, folk oriented, with an emotionally sensitive vocal delivery. Adept musicianship, including some sweet guitar solos as well as airy, ethereal moments. It makes me imagine hearing this band live at some sort of outdoor festival in a forest full of pannish demigods and sylvan females, though the subject matter seems “real-life” derived for the most part, often with a genuine tenderness that is affecting, rather than affected. (reviewed by AF)

For album information, check out Metropolis.

Track Listing: A Troubled Dream-Infested Slumber, Cyclopean Monolith, Necronomicon, Return to Innsmouth, The Esoteric Order, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, We Shall Dive Down Through Black Abysses, R‘lyeh Rerisen.

As I began to listen to this material for the first time, I couldn’t help thinking that it would make a perfect soundtrack for H.P. Lovecraft’s “At the Mountains of Madness”, my all time fave HPL tale. Then I find out the work is, in fact, all about Lovecraft and his Cthulhu Mythos, which the previously mentioned story examines in great detail. It is an impressive feat when a musical composition sans lyrics can point so explicitly to exact subject matter, since the human subconcious can make practically anything from suggestive sound. It tends to vary wildly from individual to individual. Inspired electronica artist, Jason Wallach, has crafted something of a masterpiece here, and it bears repeated listening well. Be forewarned though, it is probably not a good idea to fall asleep to this music... you might not awaken to the sane world ever again. (reviewed by AF)

Available through Middle Pillar Presents.

Track Listing: Last Pharaoh, Taste, Beyond These Streets, Just As Sound, Are There Angels?, Lucid, Crook and Flail, Cleo Kisses Caesar, Bluish Jewel, Spill, Love, Shut the Door, Headhunter, This Heaven, Taste (AI: Android Infatuation mix)

The latest CD from Denver’s favorite dark offspring, Project 12:01, is like a 1920s/30s art deco era dream of ancient Egypt come to life in the vital, throbbing flesh. Sultry, seductive, relentless, and at times, achingly beautiful. Melissa London and Noel Johannes are at their convincing best with this album. The songs deal with Cleopatra, earthly control-freak extraordinaire and one of history’s most potent females. She was swept away by passion and the promise of love, her romantic entanglements and ultimate suicide by asp (Egyptian cobra) bite and her quest through the afterlife and interaction with spirits.

A notable effort made all the more impressive by the fact that Project 12:01 is a self-produced, self-released band. These folks are true children of the internet. Perhaps now that they have grown to opening for KMFDM, Wolfsheim, et al, we will get a chance to experience them on tour, since, as everybody in Denver seems to know, they are a fantastic live act. (reviewed by AF)

For more information, check out www.project1201.com