News editors: Mikael Kahrle & Johan Carlsson

Skold joins Marilyn Manson, Twiggy departs

Skold in LA studio.

• Marilyn Manson has announced the departure of long-time friend and bassist Twiggy Ramirez from his band. To fill the void, Swedish co-producer of "The Golden Age of Grotesque," Tim Skold has been enlisted as bassist. Skold, as you will recall, was recently member of KMFDM (pre-break-up), MDFMK and also toured with Ohgr in 2001.
- I have spent eight months transforming this band and our new songs into an unstoppable juggernaut, and sadly Twiggy wasn’t able to make himself a part of it, says Manson himself.
"The Golden Age of Grotesque" is near completion and expected to be unleashed this fall. Marilyn Manson is enjoying their latest single release cover "Tainted Love" topping some charts in Europe. The song is not heard on North American radio.
Marilyn Manson's upcoming court date on June 14 will be for reduced charges of disorderly conduct, from when Manson was arrested after a July 30 performance in Detroit for allegedly rubbing his groin against a security guard. No word on whether Skold will take on a serial killer moniker or whether he is still part of the current KMFDM.
See upcoming DVD footage from Manson’s performance at last year's Reading Festival in London here. /Alex Veronac

Boytronic signing with Strange Ways for new album
• Legendary German synthpop band Boytronic has signed a deal with Strange Ways Records. The new material has been in the works for quite some time, but now it seems we will finally hear new songs. The album "Autotune" is scheduled for a September release with a single titled "Living without You" to be released in August. The current line-up consists of original vocalist Holger Wobker and keyboardist Hayo Panarinfo, former member of the reincarnated Boytronic of the late eighties and early nineties. /Niklas Forsberg

Legendary SAMA venue likely to close down

Lustans Lakejer live at Kåren.
Photo by: Peter Åstedt (Release)

• Popular Gothenburg (Sweden) new romantic and EBM club Romo Night celebrates its six year anniversary this tomorrow.
- It might be the very last Romo Night ever, organiser Tobbe Eriksson says.
Hosting night club Studs is experiencing financial problems and some sort of change is imminent.
- We are happy we can even open at all this time.
Furthermore, the University building with nightclub Studs and classic venue Kåren is likely to be refit next year. Next week, the University board is expected to accept a proposal which closes down these activities forever.
- The house will become a full-fledged student centre with access denied to outsiders, just as it is supposed to be. There is no room for the main hall or a dance floor anyway, project leader Lars Götborg tells Release today.
Kåren is "historic" ground for our music and can show up an impressive list of live artists like Front 242, Nitzer Ebb, The Prodigy, Lustans Lakejer, Front Line Assembly, Einstürzende Neubauten, Laibach and many more. And here, Fad Gadget's last gig ever took place just days before he died.
- We have understood the cultural importance of Kåren as venue, but it is a student centre. We should not risk tax money in areas outside our domain. Others will have to take care of the Gothenburg venue situation, Götborg explains.
It looks like both Romo Night and the Kåren event Swedish Alternative Music Awards will have to look for new homes.
- SAMA will continue and it will stay in Gothenburg, Tobbe Eriksson assures us. Romo Night co-organises the annual event - and so did Release in the early days of SAMA, then SEMA.
Some gigs and club nights might remain though.
- It will be probably be business as usual until somewhere in 2003 when all the changes start, Lars Götborg says.
There will also be a Romo Night day on August 13 at Göteborgskalaset, Gothenburg's huge annual downtown party. Electronic music pioneers Twice a Man will headline. /Mikael Kahrle

Modified SynthCon in Hollywood
• A much modified SynthCon 2002 handed out the American Synthpop Awards in Los Angeles. The 2001 Awards were presented on May 26 to Freezepop (best band), Provision (best new band), De/Vision (best international band), Assemblage 23 for "Disappoint" (best song), Assemblage 23 for "Failure" (best album), "New Wave Undercover" from Synthphony (best compilation) and Ganymede for Electrosquad's "Moment of Truth" (best remix). /Alex Veronac

VNV Nation leaves Dependent



• The successful electronic act VNV Nation has parted ways with Dependent, their label in Europe. Instead, the band now works with Kai Lotze, who has previously managed Project Pitchfork and worked as a concert agent.
The split came after artistic and strategic differences with their former manager Stefan Herwig. VNV Nation is now in discussions with a couple of new labels. /Johan Carlsson

The Bill Leeb story continues
• In an official statement from Wave Gotik Treffen, the festival now announces that they themselves does not know if it was Bill Leeb on stage or not (!). They say that they received a message from Front Line Assembly's management that Bill had serious stomach problems after the flight from Vancouver to London and had to stay in bed for two days, but that he didn't want to cancel the show anyway. They go on to say that the band did not give any interviews on the gig day, and mentions other circumstances that still make them unsure if it really was him or not. The WGT team is going to investigate the matter because the contract was bound personally to Bill Leeb. /Johan Carlsson

Erasure heads back into the studio
• Vince Clarke and Andy Bell - perhaps more famous under the name Erasure - have gone back into the studio together with the producer Gareth Jones to record new tracks. They are making a cover album as we have reported earlier, and they want to have more tracks than is necessary so they can pick out the best ones. If all goes well, the album will be in the shops in early 2003. /Johan Carlsson

The Future Sound of London finally back



• The British ambient duo The Future Sound of London consisting of Gary Cobain and Brian Dougans will soon be back with a new album on Hypnotic Records. The album is called "The Isness", and the sound is supposed to be very adventurous, mysterious and warm, whatever that means. We will find out on July 2. /Johan Carlsson

Rhys Fulber producer of new Paradise Lost album
• The British quintet Paradise Lost is currently in the studio making demos for their ninth album. 16 tracks have been demo-ed, including a cover of Bronski Beat's "Small Town Boy" and one of Dead Can Dance's "Xavier". The album will be produced by Rhys Fulber, of Front Line Assembly and Fear Factory fame, and it will come out on Gun/BMG. The label has recently signed the band, but it is contracted to Koch in the States.
USA will also see the re-release of "Draconian Times" including two bonus tracks on July 11, and "Believe in Nothing" follows on August 13. Later this year, the upcoming album will come out, and then "Host" will hit the American public. All these releases makes it probable that the band will tour in North America for the first time since 1993.
A DVD called "Evolve" is scheduled for a June/July release, and features two live concerts, as well as every promo video they have made, and some home videos. /Johan Carlsson

Key left in charge of Download after Philth goes solo

Phil Western.

• Phil Western (aka DJ Philth, Cap'm Stargazer) has decided to leave Download and side project Plateau in favour of future solo work at his home in Vancouver, Canada. Western had just completed work on the upcoming "III Steps Forward" and Plateau's "Iceolater" releases for Cevin Key's Subconscious Studios. This news come just days after a scheduled Download gig was cancelled, though not related to the departure. See earlier Download news below - from May 23.
Western's sound is very apparent on Download's "Effector", their last studio longplayer. Excerpt MP3:s of Western's various projects can be found here. "III Steps Forward" is set to be distributed to subscribers in the next few days. /Alex Veronac

Haujobb and Icon of Coil tour cancelled
• Last week we told you Melotron had cancelled their tour together with Icon of Coil and Haujobb. Now, the complete tour is cancelled due to personal reasons for Icon of Coil. A new tour will be set up in the near future. /Mikael Kahrle

Bill Leeb or not Bill Leeb, that is the question

Photo by: Arron Moses

• According to Mindphaser, the unofficial website for Front Line Assembly and sideprojects, the band used a stand in for front man Bill Leeb at last week's show at Wave Gotik Treffen in Germany! If true, this certainly qualifies as a huge scandal. No official statement has been made in connection to the gig or afterwards. We have contacted amongst others Wave Gotik Treffen, the band and their label Metropolis, but we have not got any official word on this yet. Official sources have had the chance of denying this disturbing information for several days, but have chosen to remain silent. We will of course keep you posted.
I was there myself and thought it did not really look like Bill Leeb on stage, but I was not prepared to believe they had actually replaced him at the time. Playback (!), lots of smoke on stage, and "Bill" was facing away from the audience most of the time. Discussions started immideately and have been going on ever since. The picture above is from the mentioned performance, so maybe you can judge for yourself. /Johan Carlsson

SynthCon acts change

Psyche live at DarkRave, Toronto 2001.
Photo by: Alex Veronac (Release)

• Attendees of SynthCon this weekend in Hollywood will find that top act performances by Psyche, Neuroactive and likely S.P.O.C.K have been cancelled.
Organisers are putting together replacement acts prior to the festival start on Friday. Bands mentioned include Leiahdorus and Intuition in early evening time slots. The promoters have decided to reduce ticket prices for those attending as well to comfort fans. Confirmed artists include Wave in Head (Germany) and Freezepop (USA). Red Flag (USA) is to play the eve prior to the festival nearby the main venue.
SynthCon's DVD is released featuring highlights of the previous year's events.
Psyche have confirmed their Montréal gig on May 26 (this info changed on May 25). Neuroactive still plan on playing Detroit later this summer. /Alex Veronac

Another successful Treffen
• This year's edition of Wave Gotik Treffen is now over and again a success. It was an eventful occasion with many many important live bands like Soft Cell, Front Line Assembly, The Mission, Haujobb and Hocico. The festival caters to both fans of gothic and electronic music, but it also made it difficult to choose what I was going to see, as many good bands played at the same time.
Some 17 000 black clad people showed up in Leipzig, but thanks to the festival being held all over the city, it never became too crowded.
A funny trivia is that the Swede Johan Malmgren performed in as many as three different bands during the weekend; Aaron Sutciffe, S.P.O.C.K and Elegant Machinery. The latter incidently performed their last gig ever, and presumably, so did Front Line Assembly. We are waiting for some answers in order to tell you more about their show.
Next years festival will be held from June 6 to June 9. /Johan Carlsson

Download gig cancelled too soon

Cevin Key backstage (2000).
Photo by: Alex Veronac (Release)

• Download's one-off show set for June 20 in San Francisco (USA) has been cancelled soon after initial tickets were bought by fans. Regretfully, the gig announcement came premature as both the band and venue started to promote the gig but final contract details were not approved. Disappointed Download fans were to be treated to Cevin Key's entire "Drumosaurus" rig and a cast including Phil Western (keys and noise devices), Tim Hill (as video vivisector) and soundboard duties by Frank Verschuuren (ex-Legendary Pink Dots).
We hope to announce another live date soon. See earlier gig announcement news below from May 20. /Alex Veronac

Ministry album slated for fall release

Photo by: Sanctuary

• Ministry's follow-up to 1999's "Dark Side of the Spoon" is entitled "Animositisomina" and is due for a fall 2002 release, presumably on their new label Sanctuary Records. Al Jourgensen's take on the band's recording schedule was described as:
- Trying to beat the gestation cycle of a blue whale pup, which is fourteen months.
He assures the faithful however:
- This time, that little blue whale pup is fucked because we're gonna do it in two-and-a-half months or my name isn't Orville Redenbacher. There's only one song which is even close to slow on this album, so it won't be getting played in a Boca Ratan (FL, USA) retirement community.
Some new tracks which have been completed: "Crucial Bitch", the title track of the album and "Impossible". This new work has been compared to their 1989 masterpiece "The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste", except that this time it is ever harder and faster. /Peter Marks

Melotron cancels club tour

• Melotron have cancelled their club tour together with Icon of Coil and Haujobb. But the new EP "Gib mir Alles" is scheduled for a June 3 release. /Jens Krause

It's a new album and single for Barry Adamson
• One of the founding members of The Bad Seeds, Barry Adamson will release his tenth solo album entitled "The King of Notting Hill" on August 19. A single called "Black Amour" will precede the album on August 5. This will be the first album of new compositions since 1998's "As Above so Below".
Mr Adamson's style is one of anguished tone and poignant instrumentals which lend a certain cinematic feel to his work. He has written soundtracks for numerous movies, most notably for Derek Jarman's 1989 opus "Last of England" and David Lynch's "Lost Highway" in 1996. There are no plans for a tour at this time. /Peter Marks

Reclaim is dead
• The German synthpop act Reclaim is dead. Mastermind Oliver Thiede works on a new electronic crossover project with female vocals under the name Clear of Junk. The front man and singer of the old Reclaim line-up now works under the name Eccentric. The music is a mixture of modern technoid and electronic sounds. /Jens Krause

Breaking News: Ohgr cancels touring plans but Skinny Puppy reborn?

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

• Swedes have once again missed out on a chance to see Nivek Ogre and Cevin Key perform together in Sweden. Ogre posted the following statement on May 18:
"Due to several factors including problems with the healing and therapy of my broken hand, and a studio time urgency related to the reformation of Skinny Puppy, Ohgr is withdrawing from the Arvika Festival as well as the preceding Netherlands and supervening London shows. We apologise for any troubles caused by these changes. There are no future plans for an Ohgr tour prior to the release of album 2, tentatively planned for winter of this year."
Older disappointed Skinny Puppy fans will remember the 1992 European "Last Rights Tour" dates (including Sweden) that were cancelled due to illness. The Ohgr tour dates in Amsterdam and London were not publicly announced yet but have been shelved as well.
The flip side of this cancellation is that the remaining members of Skinny Puppy look to be busy in the studio recording with Ken "Hiwatt" Marshall behind the mixing board. This is the closest news we've had to confirming a Skinny Puppy recording since last year's recording of "Frozen Sky" on Key's latest solo CD.
Catch previous Ohgr news here. /Alex Veronac

Covenant single in June/July
• The new Covenant album we mentioned last week is named "Northern Light" (preliminary release early October). The title of the first single (June/July) is not yet revealed though. /Mikael Kahrle

That funny exploding noise in your head
• The Bex and M'era Luna festivals will both feature The Sisters of Mercy as the headlining act (June 28 and August 10 in Switzerland and Germany respectively). Does this portend a new album? Unlikely. Will there be massive amounts of strobes and fog? Affirmative. Could this possibly be worth seeing at all costs? Definitely. /Peter Marks

Ka-Spel reissued on double vinyl

• Edward Ka-Spel's "Tanith and the Lion Tree" has finally been lended to a vinyl release.
The two platter LP set will be limited to 512 hand numbered copies on heavy 220 gram grey-coloured vinyl. Originally released in 1991 on CD and cassette but not never realised on vinyl it becomes an instant collectable. Sides three and four in the collection contain the original bonus tracks ("Phoney War" and "Old Man Trouble"), as well as three brand new, previously unreleased bonus tracks amounting to 30 minutes. The original album has been remastered and mildly reworked by Ka-Spel himself to better suit the vinyl format.
This is the first release from Flesh Eating Ants Records (Canada) which has on line audio samples at their web site. The 2LP is currently in pre-order and it will be shipping early June world-wide. Edward Ka-Spel's main project, The Legendary Pink Dots started a European tour on May 14 in Amsterdam, which takes them through to mid-June. /Alex Veronac

The Mission's Craig Adams departs
• The Mission UK are in the process of finding a replacement for bassist Craig Adams, who left the group to return home for personal reasons. Currently, The Mission are on tour in support of their latest CD "Aura" from late 2001.
This would not be the first time that a sudden loss of a member has stricken the band while on the road. Original guitarist Simon Hinkler (ex-Artery, Red Lorry, Yellow Lorry) left the group in the midst of their 1990 tour and was replaced temporarily by none other than Tim Bricheno (ex-All About Eve). /Peter Marks

Download to play live, new CD coming

Western and Key.

• Cevin Key's Download project is to once again play live since the "Eyes of Stanley Pain" tour in 1996. Unfortunately, only one date is planned in San Francisco, USA on June 20 at a 700 person capacity venue.
The gig will be after the upcoming shipment of Download's new limited edition "III Steps Forward" CD to vault subscribers. This collection includes previously unreleased remixes and extra new material produced this year with the help of member Phil Western which can be pre-ordered here.
Anxious Download fans will feast on material never been performed live from "III", "Effector", "Inception" and "III Steps Forward" depending on the set list. A live web cast from the venue the night of the gig will be here.
As mentioned above, Key has been demo-ing music for an upcoming Skinny Puppy-style recording with Nivek Ogre.
Catch earlier Phil Western news here. See earlier Subconscious Studios "Into the Vault" CD series announcement here. Read Anders Wiik's "Effector" review here. /Alex Veronac

Vomito Negro are back
• Which would be the title of the first new album by the Belgian EBM group Vomito Negro since 1992's "Wake Up"? Gin Devo left the group earlier in the year under less than amicable circumstances. Guy Van Meigham has been busily promoting the new work and the band plan shows at many festivals. Can releases from other Belgian groups like Blok 57 or Poesie Noire be far off? /Peter Marks

150 acts now heading for Leipzig

• The eleventh Wave Gotik Treffen in Leipzig starts tomorrow with about 150 performances in total over four days! This is certainly one of the world's most important annual events for our music. Johan Carlsson will be our eyes and ears in Leipzig this year.
We hear that UK act Alien Sex Fiend will not perform as scheduled. Festival attendees can still see top acts like Soft Cell, Front Line Assembly, The Mission, Diamanda Galas, The Fall, Sex Gang Children, Clan of Xymox, Haujobb, Legendary Pink Dots, Lydia Lunch (with the Anubian Lights), Neon Judgement, Cassandra Complex, Elegant Machinery, De/Vision, In Extremo, S.P.O.C.K, Moonspell, T.O.Y., Mortiis, Neuroticfish, Suicide Commando, Technoir, Funker Vogt, Aaron Sutcliffe - we could go on forever. /Alex Veronac, Mikael Kahrle

New guitarist, CD and tour for All About Eve
• Perhaps some of the most interesting news to come from the UK in some time; long-standing guitarist Marty Wilson-Piper (The Church) has departed All About Eve and has been replaced by Toni Haimi. And the band has released a new disc entitled "Return to Eden", which is a collection of their pre-Phonograph records released from 1985-1987. Former guitarist Tim Bricheno (ex-Tin Star, now with Jok) has done the liner notes and both the front and back cover artwork.
Recent shows on their tour of the UK have contained new songs which are the first since 1992's "Ultraviolet" and will hopefully be included on their new full-length album which is due later in the year. The band are on tour throughout the month of May with some occasional dates over the rest of the summer.
All About Eve would best be described as multifaceted rock with the odd literary indulgences befitting an English group. They have existed since 1985 and have released four studio albums spanning from 1987-1992. The band reformed after imploding in 1993 to support The Mission on tour in 1999. /Peter Marks

Covenant album recordings finished
• We hear that the new Covenant album is now recorded. October is being mentioned as a possible release month. /Mikael Kahrle

Clan of Xymox remixed by Front 242 and Michael Balch

Clan of Xymox with mastermind Ronny Moorings back to the right.

• Clan of Xymox's double remix disc will be out shortly on Metropolis Records. It will feature remixes by Front 242, Michael Balch (ex-Front Line Assembly), Sophya, Cut.rate.box plus a myriad of others. The band has also posted tracks from the 1990's albums "Metamorphosis" and "Headclouds" in MP3 format for download. These albums, released as Xymox, represent a more techno approach by Ronny Moorings and bear little resemblance to the current work.
- I've distanced myself from those releases, he says. /Peter Marks

Filter ask fans for help with live set list

• Filter's third CD, "The Amalgamut" arrives July 30 (US) on Reprise Records. Band leader Richard Patrick says he recently took a trip across his native USA and came up with the title meaning "where are you from", in terms of personal heritage.
The MTV darlings are to start gigging prior to its release as part of the 16 date American Locobazooka! festival along with Gravity Kills and others. The band will add second guitarist Alan Bailey to their line-up. Filter is asking fans to help with the upcoming live set list via their web site. /Alex Veronac

Haujobb on tour with Icon of Coil and Melotron
• Haujobb, Icon of Coil and Melotron is an appealing live package for many electro fans. Live dates have been arranged from May 24 in Leipzig through June 14 in Copenhagen.
No word yet on the forthcoming Haujobb release "Vertical Theory", but the single "Penetration" (see review shortly) would appear to affirm that Dejan still remains firmly in the Haujobb camp and has not left the band or the music business as previously thought.
Tracks from the latest single by Haujobb can be listened to at the official Daniel Myer site; in addition, one can hear the entire albums of the impossible to find Dots&Dashes and S'Apex projects at this site. /Peter Marks

David Sylvian touring

David Sylvian live in Toronto 2002.
Photo by: Alex Veronac (Release)

• It has been many years since the disbanding of the once glam UK quintet Japan. Singer/songwriter David Sylvian has been producing solo and collaborative musical efforts for 20 years now. Sylvian finished his North American mini-tour promoting his latest "Everything & Nothing" double CD in Los Angeles on Tuesday. Touring members included David's long-time collaborator and brother Steve Jansen (drums), Matt Cooper (keys), Keith Lowe (basses) and Tim Young (guitar).
David Sylvian recently did a guest vocal and video appearance on Tweaker's single "Linoleum" which he played live. Sylvian performed the new Tweaker song as well as a couple Japan-era classics live. /Alex Veronac

New single from Luke Slater plus some live dates
• The latest release from Luke Slater's celebrated album "Alright on Top" is the second single "Stars and Heroes", out on June 24 via Mute. This single once again features Ricky Barrow as the vocalist and is available on CD and two 12" singles. All formats contain mixes by Felix Da Housecat, Pilgrem&B.L.I.M. and Adam Beyer and Henrik B. The CD version has an exclusive new track called "Look at the Stars." Some live dates have been booked including the Arvika, Primavera and Glastonbury festivals in addition to DJ dates in Belgium, Turkey and Croatia. /Peter Marks