News editors: Mikael Kahrle & Johan Carlsson

Assemblage 23 working on a new album
• Tom Shear aka Assemblage 23 has gone into the studio and commenced work on a follow-up to last years successful "Failure". The title is not really set yet, but he calls it "Defiance" so far. Two songs named "Document" and "Drive" are almost finished, and more tracks are on their way. He is hoping for a release in the fall of 2002.
Tom is also busy with remixes for others, and his recent work includes mixes for In the Nursery, Angels & Agony, and Informatik (which is still being worked on). A remix for his former label mates Concrete Nature is still to come. /Johan Carlsson

Das Ich signs to Massacre Records

• German "electro-horrorists" Das Ich mark their thirteenth release on May 27 with "Anti-Christ". They have signed a new record deal with Massacre Records, for release and distribution. A single will proceed the album sometime in April. Das Ich will be appearing at That Spring festival in Magdeburg, Germany on March 5 and the Ostara festival in Karlsruhe, Germany on March 30. A world tour beginning in the US is also in the works. /Peter Marks

Subversive mutterings from Snog
• Odd electronic act Snog, originating from Australia, is back. A new single entitled "Justified Homicide" has been released by the ever-insidious International Mind Control Corporation. It sees David Thrussell using spaghetti western stylings as well as abrasive techno sounds.
Also: a new album from long-dormant side-project Soma is due later in the year. /Peter Marks

Download's "Inception" jams ship to fans


Jamming in progress at Subconscious Studios.

• "Inception" SUB14, the first freshly baked CD has left Subconscious Studios in California. CD one of seven "From the Vault..." limited edition subscription series has been shipped directly to fans. Most songs on "Inception" are from 1994 with some spillover into 1995 and include musicians Cevin Key, Dwayne R Goettel, Phil Western (Off and Gone/Plateau) and Mark Spybey (Dead Voices on Air/Zoviet France). Expect the highly anticipated "Puppy Gristle" CD (number two) to ship later this month. These CDs are not available in stores. /Alex Veronac

Last tour before the end of The Inchtabokatables
• The German band The Inchtabokatables founded the genre "Mittelalterrock" (middle age rock). They will be on tour for the next two months under the name "Wir haben fertich" (we are done). The Berlin area band has influenced other German artists in the last eleven years like Rammstein, Die Skeptiker, Blind Passengers, Feeling B and In Extremo.
The last concert of the tour - and the band - is on March 3 at the Paintballfabrik in Neubrandenburg. /Jens Krause

"One Night in Paris" with Depche Mode

Andy Fletcher live in Stockholm 2001.
Photo by: Jens Krause (Release)

• Watch out for a Pay-per-view event with Depeche Mode (on different channels) in March. Titled "One Night in Paris - the Exciter Tour 2001", the broadcast will be a full "Exciter Tour" concert from The Palais Omnisports de Paris Bercy in Paris. The concert film was directed by Anton Corbijn, shot with 13 different cameras.
- I think the pace of the show was very important for a band that has been together for 20 years. We challenged ourselves and we challenged the audience, and I think it was very much appreciated, Andy Fletcher says.
During February and March, there will be a Depeche Mode television special broadcast on various European TV stations. The special will feature highlights from the "One Night in Paris". The dates are as following: (Sweden, February 15, SVT), (United Kingdom, February 20, Channel 4), (Australia, March 13, Channel V), (Poland, March 16, TVP1) and (Switzerland, March 16, SF2).
The fourth and last single off "Exciter", "Goodnight Lovers" is released today. /Jesper Lakman (Uselink), Mikael Kahrle

Daniel Ash: new album and tour
• The self-titled third solo album by former Bauhaus, Tones on Tail and Love and Rockets guitarist Daniel Ash was released on February 5. Daniel says that he has prepared quite a daunting set list of songs from all the bands he has been in for the upcoming spring 2002 US tour. /Peter Marks

Coming to a beerhall near you?
• Girls under Glass, The Fair Sex and Drog! will be on a short tour from March 28 through April 6. They will visit Bochum, Arnhem, Zwickau and Hannover with Angels & Agony supporting and then its off to Gottingen, Potsdam and Hamburg with NCOR supporting. Breathe will make a guest appearance at the Gottingen show. /Peter Marks

KMFDM ready to chat

• Tonight, on Friday February 8, 3:30 pm ET (21:30 CET), there will be a chat with KMFDM's frontman Sascha at USA Today. Get there early to submit a unique question ahead of time. For more details, check out: http://cgi1.usatoday.com/mchat/20020205004/tscript.htm. /Alex Veronac

Roadie and model wanted
• We hear about bands looking for different kinds of help all the time. Here are two examples.
Sigue Sigue Sputnik have a roadie gig available for anyone who wants to do the European festival circuit with them this spring. See www.sputnikworld.com.
Also, A Perfect Circle are looking for a (preferably) female model for upcoming photos to keep in the theme of their recent music. No underage or shy ones, check: www.aperfectcircle.org. /Alex Veronac

Ivory Frequency's music destroys club sound systems
• Dependent's newcomers Ivory Frequency will unleash their debut album on March 25. The Greek band's first single "Today" featured such heavy bass frequencies that so far the sound systems in three different clubs have broken down. /Johan Carlsson

The time is now for VNV Nation

Photo by: Dirk Eusterbrock/Raumgleiter

• VNV Nation's new album "Futureperfect" is out now, and the time has come to pick a new single. "Beloved" hits the streets in March, containing remixes by Deine Lakaien and Apoptygma Berzerk. "Futureperfect" did a surprisingly high entry at place 26 in the German album charts, the Media Control Charts.
Ronan Harris and Mark Jackson from VNV Nation will also do a DJ tour of Germany throughout the whole of March. This tour will be a kind of moving release party for the album. Later, in April, VNV Nation have scheduled four exclusive live gigs in Germany. /Johan Carlsson, Mikael Kahrle, Jens Krause

Spring brings 18 new Moby songs
• The 7th album from Moby is now announced for release in May 2002. The album is said to be titled simply “18”.
- The record is being called "18" because there are 18 songs on it, but there are other more obscure reasons, Moby says.
The album is said to feature “special guest appearances” but no names have been released yet.
The first single, “We Are All Made of Stars” is due out in April. There will be a worldwide tour supporting the album throughout this and the next year, although no specific dates or countries have been named yet.
The previous album by the genre-breaking artist, “Play” sold over ten million copies worldwide and managed to break into the mainstream without conforming to it. /Peter Takizawa

Ohgr declines spot at Wave Gotik Treffen

The charming Nivek Ogre backstage 2001.
Photo by: Alex Veronac (Release)

• Delays have forced Nivek Ogre's Ohgr project from playing the Wave Gotik Treffen and some other European festivals. The final mix of the second Ohgr studio album is currently being completed. The as-of-yet untitled CD was recorded while waiting for their first CD "Welt" to be released finally. Once album number two is released, Ohgr will finally tour EurAsia as promised in late 2001, with the support of their label Eagle Rock (UK).
Disappointed WGT fans would not only miss Ohgr but if Cevin Key (Skinny Puppy) once again joined the touring band, a collaboration with Legendary Pink Dot Edward KaSpel might have brought on an impromptu Tear Garden reunion gig! There are no scheduled Skinny Puppy shows at this time and their exclusive Doomsday reunion performance live DVD is not scheduled for release.
Ohgr's recent "Minus" live video can be seen at: ftp://www.ohgr.org/minus/. /Alex Veronac

TOY at your local Hard Rock Café
• The "Dream with Me" videoclip with electropoppers TOY (formerly Evil's Toy) has been added to a special commercial DVD compilation, which is on rotation in all Hard Rock Café's and various bars, department stores and clubs all over the US. The Evil's Toy videoclip of "Virtual State" was also added to this compilation. /Peter Marks

Further revelations from Fields of the Nephilim camp
• Members from Fields of the Nephilim, The Nefilim and Sensorium have teamed up to form a new band named NFD. There is no explanation of the name, but they are finishing up 14 demo songs with producer Greg Brimson (Metallica, Bush, Rammstein) at the helm. The line-up of the band is Peter White and Simon Rippin of Sensorium, Tony Pettit (Fields of the Nephilim, Rubicon) and original Nefilim guitarist John Carter. Still no new Fields of the Nephilim album in sight though. /Peter Marks

Bright future for Canada's first EBM and wave festival


Hocico live at EBMfest.
Photo by: Alex Veronac (Release)

• The first EBM and wave festival in Canada, EBMfest at Toronto's Reverb, recently was a success. Preparations are already underway for 2002.
Two local bands opened, Delica and Weave. Imports Hocico from Mexico City played to a full house. The Italian/Canadian combo Decoded Feedback headlined playing with a live drummer for the first time. /Alex Veronac

The latest on Mexican EBM duo Hocico
• Hocico's long awaited European tour in support of their new CD "Signos De Aberracion" starts on March 7 in Germany and takes them through France, Belgium, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Estonia and Finland in April. The cousins play the Swedish Alternative Music Awards in March. Their new CD is to be released on Out of Line (and locally on on Cyberware Productions) on February 11. /Alex Veronac

Dkay.com: release date and European tour

• Jürgen Engler's Dkay.com have scheduled their second album for April 22. A new European tour starts on May 8, with only two gigs in Germany and the rest in Sweden, France and UK (all dates yet to be fully confirmed). Two support acts are hired, Genitortures and Last Rites.
A The Sisters of Mercy cover version of the Engler favourite "This Corrosion" is expected to show up on a new tribute compilation by the company Zoomshot (run by German magazine Orkus). /Jens Krause

The end for Rational Youth
Canadian synthpop legends Rational Youth have decided to quit. This statement reached us today:
"We have decided that it is time to retire and put the name Rational Youth to rest. Accordingly, there will be no further recordings by Rational Youth, and plans (along with work that was in progress) for a new album have been scrapped. Likewise we will not undertake any further touring in the future, although we will leave open the possibility that we might get together temporarily at some point to appear live as Rational Youth - if the spirit moves us and the occasion is special - but in any case, the band has officially ceased operations.  
Thanks to all who have supported us.
Tracy Howe and Jean-Claude Cutz."
Rational Youth is a band with many fans among our readers and we have previously strongly recommended, in particular their classic "Cold War Night Life", on numerous occasions. We were somewhat surprised that the band's comeback a few year's ago didn't result in a larger following for the band. /Mikael Kahrle

Sisters of Mercy live member releases new solo album


Chris Sheehan live at Doomsday 2000.
Photo by: Alex Veronac (Release)

• New Zealand borne Chris Sheehan's new solo album is set for release this month. "Sounds Like Chris Starling" is currently in pre-order and will be out on EX34 Records (UK). Chris' full-time gig is the guitar helm for UK based Andrew Eldritch fronted beatbox grinders Sisters of Mercy. Prior to that, Chris formed and fronted The Starlings in the UK. Chris' debut solo album is called "Planet Painkiller". /Alex Veronac

Norway's Zeromancer tours Europe
• Norwegian ex-patriot Zeromancer starts their European tour in London on February 2. The quintet plays extensively in Germany and throughout western Europe. The "EuroTrash Tour" ends in Denmark in March. The Eastwest Records artist last played Europe in early fall 2001. Undergod is supporting the tour. /Alex Veronac

"Panacea Shares Needles with Tarmvred"
• A nine track CD called "Panacea Shares Needles with Tarmvred", written by the three artists Panacea, Needle Sharing and Tarmvred was released on January 8. It is a blend of industrial, drum'n'bass and noise, which is what you get if you combine these artists previous music.
Tarmvred will also go on tour during February. The tour is called "Tarmvred Subsnow 02-02 Tour" and will visit eastern Canada and USA. A lot of other bands is joining in, such as Wilt, Codec and Iszoloscope. A tour CD called "Subsnow 02-02" is coming later, with new tracks from Tarmvred and songs by almost all the bands featured on the tour. It will be limited to only 400 copies. /Alex Veronac, Johan Carlsson