A fun re-imagining of the Doom theme.

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Demonwarp - Fading Flesh

"Cybernetic demons await—dare to listen?"

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#bandcampcodes #industrial #darksynth #darkelectronic #synthmetal #music

Lightchapter – Where All Hope Begins Review

By ClarkKent

Death metal generally dabbles in the dark, the grisly, the violent, and the brutal. With the aid of ’80s-style synths, Lightchapter plays a version with a lighter, more hopeful touch. The aptly-named Where All Hope Begins marks album number two for this quartet out of Denmark. The band’s mission is to merge “despair and hope” and also “pain and joy” through not only their sound but their lyrics. Even on a blog that celebrates the angry and still makes fun of the brief Happy Metal Guy stint, I imagine something that infuses joy and lightness would find a welcoming audience. After all, Countless Skies showed how a band could successfully write an uplifting progressive death metal record, and that one was well-liked around these parts. Do we dare get our hopes up for Lightchapter?

While synth is a core part of their sound, this ain’t no dungeon synth. Lightchapter strikes a balance between old-school synth rock and more modern melodeath. Following an intro tune, “Leading the Way,” that evokes Stranger Things-style synths, “Where All Hope Begins” sets the album going on its marriage between industrial death metal acts like Orbit Culture and ’80s synth rock stalwarts like Depeche Mode. This isn’t a brutal version of death metal but a much softer approach. Guitars have more reverb than bite, cutting down on the heaviness, and the drums similarly don’t punch with the punishing heft of a Brodequin. The ’80s stuff also helps to soften the sound, with the synths providing a layer that lightens the already light guitar tone. Then there’s those familiar ’80s drum tones—the gated reverb and toms—that’ll warp you back to your carefree days listening to Duran Duran and the like. Lightchapter also features some deathcore breakdowns, though not obnoxiously (“The Unholy Mass,” “Revenge”). This blend of styles finds its most effective execution towards the end of Where All Hope Begins, particularly on the catchy “Little Death.”

Due to the lack of brutal guitars and thunderous blast beats, Where All Hope Begins turns out to be a rather chill album. This is true despite the harsh growls from Mikkel Ottosen. In fact, his vocals complement the instrumentals well. The combination of Anders Berg’s reverb guitar tone and melodic riffs and Tobias Høst’s restrained drumming makes this a surprisingly relaxing listening experience. It’s true that songs like “What I Have Become” start out fast and heavy, but the heart of the song is soft tones and chill tempos. The softer moments gave me whiffs of Slipknot’s ballads, but also the lighter tunes on Rivers of Nihil’s latest. Lightchapter doesn’t quite hit the soaring emotional highs that Andy Thomas often reached, but that’s all part of their mellow charm. The hopeful tone is a breath of fresh air in the usually dark world of death metal.

If anything lets Lightchapter down, it’s a lack of hooks. The melodic leads and synths aren’t particularly catchy for most songs, nor are the choruses all that memorable. Some exceptions show how much stronger Where All Hope Begins could have been. “Unholy Mass” features not only a great synth line, but a memorable chorus when Ottosen sings “Father, you have forsaken me.” The final three tracks unleash Lightchapter’s true potential. “Little Death” is the album highlight, utilizing a catchy riff and synth combo that emphasizes Lightchapter’s strengths. The best chorus belongs to “My Own Kind,” which is the only song that comes close to reaching those Andy Thomas-level highs, thanks to the guitar tone. Combine the hooks of the one with the cathartic emotional highs of the other, and these guys could have something great on their hands. The finished product is an enjoyable record that doesn’t quite stick—but it shows how Lightchapter can get to that point next time.

Unfortunately, Lightchapter is releasing Where All Hope Begins at the end of a hectic release month, and on perhaps the biggest release day, where it’s competing for attention with Amorphis, Mors Principium Est, and Revocation. If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed and burned out from all of the must-listens this month, a spin or two of Where All Hope Begins could help ground you. Sometimes an album like this that tries something a little different without going off the rails is just what you need to settle your frayed nerves. Lightchapter has crafted an album that shows promise for this young band. If anything, it’ll at least give you some measure of hope.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 10 | Format Reviewed: ~175 kbps VBR mp3
Label: Self-Released
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Site
Releases Worldwide: September 26th, 2025

#2025 #30 #Amorphis #Brodequin #CountlessSkies #DanishMetal #DepecheMode #DuranDuran #ElectroDeathMetal #IndustrialMetal #Lightchapter #MelodicDeathMetal #Metalcore #MorsPrinicipumEst #OrbitCulture #Review #Reviews #Revocation #RiversOfNihil #selfRelea #SelfReleased #Sep25 #Slipknot #SynthMetal #WhereAllHopeBegins

Ola haut auch immer wieder absolut geilen Shit raus 😍

Ola Englund - THE GUILLOTINE (New single 2025)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yXpa7zCpbM

#SynthMetal #Metal #Music

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Demonwarp - Fading Flesh

"Cybernetic demons await—dare to listen?"

https://getmusic.fm/l/FDlGgY

#bandcampcodes #industrial #darksynth #darkelectronic #synthmetal #music

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Demonwarp - Fading Flesh

"Cybernetic demons await—dare to listen?"

https://getmusic.fm/l/azRaGO

#bandcampcodes #industrial #darksynth #darkelectronic #synthmetal #music

DOT-STAR.EXE
by @MASTERBOOTRECORD / Razor 1911
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1st place in the Revision 2025 Streaming Music Compo
Released: 2025-04-20
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▶ https://demozoo.org/music/371168/

#MasterBootRecord #MBR #Razor1911 #Revision2025 #streamingmusic #synthwave #darksynth #synthmetal #industrial #cyberpunk #computermetal

Cruce Signatus – II Review

By Eldritch Elitist

One of the scant morsels of criticism I offered to Pillaging Villagers’ self-titled 2022 opus was not explicitly aimed at the record itself, but rather at my perceived longevity of the project. David Frazer’s first solo outing, while a blast to spin to this day, feels like something best suited as a one-off excursion. For this reason, I approached his follow-up project, the instrumental metal/synthwave/electronic mashup that is Cruce Signatus, with a grain of skepticism. From day one, Frazer planned Cruce Signatus as a four-act experience, and for as much as I enjoyed its first volume, it again engendered a nagging sense of doubt as to its shelf life. By its end, the self-titled debut painstakingly explores seemingly every corner of its hyper-specific vision of cinematic metallo-electro-neo-baroque-wave. For this project to truly grow, Frazer would need to up the stakes through an expanded scope, elevated drama, and a broadened emotional palette. Less than a year on from its predecessor, II has done precisely that.

My chief criticisms of Cruce Signatus were levied at its lack of variety in both tone and tempo, and II goes so hard in addressing the former that it somehow absolves itself of the latter. II does feature a handful of tempo shake-ups in its back third, but the record so often drastically departs from its predecessor’s uniformly villainous tone as to not really need them. Opener “Conversio Militiae – Viam Justorum” debuts in expected fashion, all dramatic chords and ascending arpeggios invoking a classical idea of Hell, before gracefully pivoting into a movement that I can only describe as “1990’s JRPG End Credits Theme”-core. Swaths of II feel overtly uplifting, and even when it doesn’t, tracks like “Milites Christi II – Gesta Francorum” are so whimsical and dynamic as to substantially differentiate this record from Cruce Signatus’ first act. Simultaneously, II feels so loyal to Cruce Signatus’ established identity that no one could mistake it for a project under any other name. As an expansion of that identity, II is revelatory.

II is full of unexpected victories for a project with an already impressive foundation, with one of the most surprising being just how well it succeeds as a standalone experience. Cruce Signatus’ first act split the difference between soundtrack and traditional album in its construction, and while II retains the soundtrack vibes, its individual tracks feel more self-contained. Each has a distinct identity, resulting in a tonal trajectory that gives the record a pronounced overarching structure akin to a classic “hero’s journey” narrative. While the mid-album cuts (namely “Milites Christi” I & II) feel gritty and combative, the bookends exhibit neon-drenched euphoria, with the massive closing track “Poena” making for what feels like the most gratifying possible conclusion at the end of the journey, ominous stinger foreshadowing Act III notwithstanding.

Beyond Cruce Signatus’ structural and tonal innovations, II just straight up fucking jams. While bearing plenty of introspective moments, II represents an exponentially more energetic, almost power metal-fied take on this project’s sound over its predecessor, which is honestly difficult to wrap my head around considering that it’s also unquestionably the more varied of the two records. It helps, then, that II’s high-end feels notably less shrill than that of Cruce Signatus’ debut, though parts of “Pro Emendatione Malefactorum” occasionally grate through loftily ambitious reprisal. I do find that the overall mix feels less punchy and impactful this time around, but as the electronic soundscape remains lush and engaging, minor production gripes hardly detract from the experience.

II is such an impressive evolutionary leap for Cruce Signatus that even its micro adjustments impress. That each track now naturally blends into the next, eschewing the debut’s odd fades to total silence, is nearly as strong a signal of this project’s growth as its bold leaps into unprecedented emotional territory. Moreover, II fully assures me that this project has more than enough juice to play out its full, four-act structure. If Frazer’s ambitions are this high halfway through, I’m ecstatic to hear where this project goes by its end. Just don’t wait until then to jump in, because II stands shoulder to shoulder with the best records of the burgeoning synth metal scene on its own merits. Oh, and I’ll retract what I said three years ago: I’ll take another three Pillaging Villagers records, please.

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: PCM
Label: Self Release
Websites: crucesignatus.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/crucesignatusband
Releases Worldwide: April 4th, 2025

#2025 #40 #AmericanMetal #Apr25 #CruceSignatus #II #InstrumentalMetal #PillagingVillagers #Review #Reviews #SelfRelease #SynthMetal #Synthwave