Peter Jennings Disciples

 “Well despite the name being plural, there’s only one permanent member of Peter Jennings Disciples,” explains band founder and  musician Reverend D.$

 

The band name Peter Jennings Disciples serves as an homage to two people, the late Canadian-American news anchor Peter Jennings and Reverend D.$ old friend Mike Freding.  The band name was inspired by a conversation between Reverend D.$ and Freding.  

 

“Mike was an incredible musician in the style of Dave Grohl : drums, guitar, piano, vocals -Mike could it it all” Reverend D.$ says of his friend.  Joking around one day Freding described Peter Jennings as using the ABC news “as a cover for an international street gang.”  

 

This conversation with Freding stuck with Reverend D.$ and “when brainstorming names for my project, the idea morphed from gang to religious movement, with Peter Jennings as the messiah and other journalists and anchors as prophets and saints - except for Ted Koppel, who is anti Jennings”.

 

The subsequent death of Freding cemented Reverend D.$ decision to use the band as a way to honor his friend and inspired him to live up to the musicianship Freding embodied. “Peter Jennings Disciples is like Mike : a blend of silly and serious” according to Reverend D.$

 

Despite the band having only one actual member, Peter Jennings Disciples has welcomed collaborations with other musicians.  Toney Vecchio a multi-instrumentalist from Atlanta played guitars for the song “Wild Girl”.  “We met on Discord where I had shared a demo of the song.  Toney reached out to see if I’d like to have him record some guitars for it.  I loved what he came up with for the song, especially the guitar solo, and I hope we get to work together soon” says Reverend D.$.  

 

Reverend D.$ has also collaborated with Joe Whiteaker a musician with the band The Funeral March Of Marionettes, he worked in IT with.  “When I started producing my own music Joe offered to help.” He contributed lyrics and vocals to the song “Don’t Close The Window” on Peter’s Jennings Disciples first album Good News.  

 

With a dark undercurrent pervading the music of Peter Jennings Disciples, Reverend D.$ uses his music to process the world around him.  He describes it as  “like seeing and hearing something, taking it in, and examining how it makes me feel, makes me think.”  Being somewhat of a self described pessimist Reverend D.$ is not surprised that darkness is revealed in his music.  Though he acknowledges that there is no light without darkness he feels that the world needs a voice that “counter balances the saccharine, feel good messages we get from most pop culture”  and counters it with it being alright to say “ the world is fucked up and we are all damaged”.

 

“There have been times in my life when I’ve felt utterly alone and in darkness and pain” reveals Reverend D.$ and so through his music he hopes to reach people feeling like that and ensuring that through the music of Peter Jennings Disciples they do not feel alone in their sadness and darkness.  Reverend D.$ credits the Metallica song “Fade To Black” as one of those songs “its no exaggeration to say it saved my life”.  

 

“New songs for me often start with a beat” is how Reverend D.$ describes his creative process when writing new songs.  He uses his phone to beatbox random ideas into the voice notes app.  Using a drum machine to then programme the main beat of the song as well as variations to use for fills for different sections of the song, he puts that into the audio workstation and sketches out the skeleton of the song.  Being a self described “software junkie” Reverend D.$ then goes through his sample libraries and software synth to find the right sounds for the song.  

“After layering in various synths, drums and other elements, I get the lyrics written and lay down the vocals, if the song calls for it.” Reverend D.$ explains.

 

Having had the creative impulse for as long as he can remember Reverend D.$ has dabbled in a wide variety of creative pursuits including poetry, prose and music, sating his desire to manifest something into the world.   A few of his inspirations are people-watching, nature and other art.  “I can’t count the number of times I’ve been to a show and wanted to pull out the keyboard or strap on the bass after watching other people perform.”  Reverend D.$ also cites his wife, a surrealist painter and multi media artist, as another source of inspiration for him.  

 

Various musical sources have also served as inspiration for Reverend D.$ in particular 90s West Coast Gangster Rap as well as rock acts like Rush and Veruca Salt. One of the biggest influences however has been Nine Inch Nails.  “I didn’t like NIN at first.”  Reverend D.$ first exposure to Nine Inch Nails was “Closer” a song he didn’t feel spoke to him but when a friend exposed him to “Wish” he was hooked.  “It was the perfect entry point into Industrial for a kid who’s listened to a ton of Metallic and Megadeth before getting into grunge bands like Nirvana and Soundgarden.”  Reverend D.$ recalls “ Incidentally “Wish” was the first song I ever performed in front of an audience, at a house party in high school.  I ended up hanging upside down from the rafters, covered in electrical tape, doused in grape soda.“ 

 

When describing the genre of the music of Peter Jennings Disciples,  Reverend D.$ found it more helpful to actually coin his own terms to describe the bands music.  “ I came up with the “alternadustrial” genre tag because, honestly, I have no idea what sub genre my music really fits into.”  Having at times been described as having Rust Belt Roots Reverend D.$ explains that his hometown of Rockford , Illinois is a typical Midwest town where manufacturing dried up and after the city fell on hard times has been trying to reinvent itself.  He believes just like his hometown which is a post-industrial city he is making Post Industrial music.

 

Reverend D.$ believes that the micro-segmentation of music into genres and sub genres is about a digital algorithm that is “designed to keep people engaged with things that are comfortable and safe.” Reverend D.$ acknowledges the importance of listening to human curated playlists and being exposed to music you may not have heard by listening to DJs is a good way to combat this phenomenon.

 

In term of Peter Jennings Disciples general aesthetic Reverend D.$ describes himself as hands off and prefers to allow other creative people to help with this.  He cites the example of amazing Tattoo artist Shawn Gwaltney from Madison, Wisconsin who has designed  both EP covers for Peter Jennings Disciples.  After giving Gwaltney the vague description of “a mash-up of Ted Koppel and Darkness, Tim Curry’s character in Legend” he was able to create exactly what Reverend D.$ required.

 

Not having much experience beyond a few house parties and small shows prior to starting Peter Jennings Disciples, Reverend D.$ is grateful for Joe Whiteaker for inviting him to join the current lineup of The Funeral March Of The Marionettes allowing him to overcome stage fright and be more comfortable in front of a live audience.  The opportunity to be part of The Funeral March Of The Marionettes has also served as learning experience for Reverend D.$.

 

Reverend D.$ future hopes for Peter Jennings Disciples is that the band moves forward and allows him to discover new sounds, mixing techniques and new parts of his psyche.  He believes that the only way to learn and develop as a musician is to push forward.  Each new song serves as a snapshot of where Reverend D.$ is as a musician, songwriter, engineer and performer.  His goal is “to get better and closer to the sound I hear in my head with each release.” 

 

Peter Jennings Disciples has already started work on a third EP which includes “Desperation” a song that was suppose to be on the EP Bad News.  A set of remixes of songs on the Peter Jennings Disciples EP Bad News, featuring other talented musicians is set for release later in 2022.  Beyond this Reverend D.$ hopes to collaborate with more musicians and play more shows. 

 

When asked what might inspire a novice to the music of Peter Jennings Disciples to listen to it, Reverend D.$ says “if your musical taste leans toward the dark side you might find something resonates with you in Peter Jennings Disciples.  The beats are hard, the guitars are aggressive and the lyrics come from a place of honesty. “

He also adds “Oh if you are in a cult to a deceased news anchor, you should definitely give Peter Jennings Disciples a listen. “

Links 

 

Website : https://www.peterjenningsdisciples.com/

 

 

The Bleak Assembly’s EP We Become Strangers

  

“What if you met your younger self and your younger self didn’t recognize you? 

 

Such is the premise of the debut EP We Become Strangers by the Dark Wave project The Bleak Assembly,comprising of Kimberly Kornmeier from Bow Ever Down and Michael Smith from Fiction8.  

“I'm still not sure what the inspiration is.  When the world fell apart in 2020, this is the sound that came out” is what Smith says about the band’s new Post Punk Dark Wave EP, We Become Strangers. 

 After having worked on an album for the band Fiction8 for several years, the pandemic hit and Smith found himself playing guitar more and making electronic music less.  Struggling with writing lyrics for the music he was creating and not really having a clear idea about what to do with it he had heard that fellow musician Kornmeier enjoyed vocal collaborations.  Having been on the same label Smith knew her and sent some of the demos to get some feedback and see what she thought.

 

“I knew it wasn't her sound - it wasn't mine either - but I was blown away by what she sent back.  I knew pretty much immediately that I had to release this material.  It all came together very quickly.”

 The first song on the EP “Slow Down Time” immerses the listener into a nostalgic post punk landscape accentuated by beautifully wavering and distorted vocals and fascinating pop hooks.  With a soaring rhythm and a hypnotic beat “Wash It Away” is accentuated by the imploring and enticing lyrics vocalised brilliantly by Kornmeier.  “Fragile Like Glass” has sharp textures and takes a step into a more electronic environment with the concept of fragility poignantly presented through the lyrics and Kornmeier’s haunting vocals.  The final song on the EP  “Lost and Vacant” begins with syncopated staccato sussurations surrounding the questioning  lyrics and excellent vocals of Kornmeier.  

This EP submerges the listener into a soundscape of discovery and change and is well worth taking the plunge into.  

 

Links :

 

Bandcamp: https://thebleakassembly.bandcamp.com/album/we-become-strangers

 

 

Raven Said’s Album Chants To Dissolve

 

 

Goth Rock Revival duo Raven Said describes their new album Chants To Dissolve as

“ talking about those spiritual essence that represent a certain alchemical phase of Solve. From the invisible and inaudible flattering of a butterfly's wing to the deafening roar of the inescapable wave of the Coming Future.

 

Solve is a transitional process between the Nigredo and Albedo phases in basic Alchemy. Physically - an effort aimed at changing the composition, without an exact result (the transition to Albedo may not occur and the process will turn into Nigredo). In a philosophical context, this means that the future is not defined and there is only the possibility of one or another existence. A certain point of polyfurcation, a set of evolution.

 

Occultism, and in a wide sense - the desire to comprehend the secrets of human existence, to touch the forbidden, to go beyond the mind and feelings - are infinitely interesting things for reflection. I would say that we ourselves are melancholy-romantic persons, all this is close to us.  Our lyrics are more likely to have a special mysticism, expressing subtle metamorphoses of the human psyche, secret desires and passions filled with a sense of incomprehensibility and despair.”

 

 

Influenced by old-school Goth Rock the band describes their musical tastes and influences as retrospective with old-school Goth Rock and sprinkles of Glam Rock, guitar experiments of the 70s, Psychedelia of the 60s and Baroque music all serving as sources of inspiration.  The bands new album is awash in these very influences. 

 

“A Flowering and a Flattering”, the first track on Chants to Dissolve is an undulatory wave of haunting and strikingly retro sound taking the listener along a familiar yet excitingly new path.

The track “Transparent Sorrow” features guest vocalist Aeleth Kaven from La Scaltra whose vocals guide the listener through a thick and broody soundscape, fusing beautifully with the male vocals on the song.  “Except My Love For Her” is an old-school epic soundscape dragging the listener forward with entrancing vocals and haunting lyrics.  With a jarring, maniacal  sound “Sredni Vashtar” has exotic undertones and harsh imploring lyrics. “Immersive Waves” plunges the listener into a sea of whispered incantations with an undertow of hypnotic music.

 

Raven Said’s album Chants to Dissolve is a beautiful dark adventure riddled with little hidden secrets and gloomily enchanting discoveries. 

Links :

Bandcamp: https://ravensaid.bandcamp.com/album/chants-to-dissolve

Silence Embrace’s Meta Queer Dolis

  

 

“The album is a means of exploring places I’ve been mentally and as an artist in a format that’s meant to feel like a movie, it starts with a rough night intro and drops you in at the peak of intensity, adding climax and ending with a summation of the journey “ explains Silence Embrace about the new album Meta Queen Dolis.  

 

The title track of the album “Meta Queen Dolis”, a word play on Metal Gear Solid, provides a menacing and disorientating beginning to a journey where the listener is immersed in a grueling soundscape populated with the disparaging reminiscent sounds of obsolete electronic hardware.  

“Someone’s Dead” has an underlying ratcheting hiss coaxing and cajoling the listener through a disorientating landscape filled with taunting disembodied voices and daunting whispers.  The track “Jagged Edges” takes the listener to disconcerting and entrancing frontiers with its strobing dark industrial sounds and jagged lyrics.  Rhythmic and intrusive “The Mask” has dark and introspective lyrics littering the musical landscape.  A dark trance track, “The House Awaits” has a hypnotic, undulating sound that is accentuated by melodic haunting lyrics in a gloomy nebulous soundscape.  The final track of the album, “Pandemic”, feels like a whirling crescendo to the album with fluctuating rhythm and an inkling of something hidden beneath its dark witch house sounds.

 

Overall this album is a delightfully ominous, dark and surprising journey into hidden and secret places. It’s a journey well worth taking.

Links : 

Bandcamp : https://silenceembrace.bandcamp.com/album/meta-queer-dolis

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/SilenceEmbrace23 

Derision Cult

“The things that bind us can be a common derision” according to Derision Cult band member Dave McAnally.  An article on the cult movie  “The Room”, a film that received cult status not due to popularity but  more because of its unconventional and bizarre storytelling, narrative and technical flaws and the off-kilter performance of the main character, explained  how the unpopular nature of the film led to a cult of derision.  The band felt the title Derision Cult, “fit perfectly with what we started writing about.” 

 

After having stepped away from music for a decade McAnally came back to music as a way to talk about some specific observations he was making in his work in digital advertising.  Having another project called Sys Machinewhich McAnally describes as “chill electronic blues music”,  he also did a collaborative album called Graceful Isolation.  Having enjoyed that process McAnally decide he wanted to “step up the production on Derision Cult.”  Gabe Wilkinson of Microwaved suggested that McAnally should connect with musician Sean Payne.  Familiar with Payne’s work with bands Cyanotic and Conformco, McAnally believed that Payne would be a great fit for Derision Cult.  “We hit it off and have a lot of common interests.  He brings a LOAD of production value and all around know-how with what makes an industrial track tick.” Says McAnally of Payne.

 

Inspired to explore themes of media manipulation, bombardment and overstimulation McAnally draws on twenty years of experience as an advertising executive which he explains is “drawing on people’s needs and desires to manipulate how they see the world. “ With a clear understanding on how advertising exploits the concern and apprehension of the general public McAnally noticed “ In the last couple to years, especially through the pandemic, emotions got really charged and I saw a lot of instances where brands and media prayed on anxieties and fears to sell more products.”  The Derision Cult album Mercenary Notes provides the band with a way to “navigate those realities vs just complain about them” according to McAnally.  

 

McAnally’s advertising experience and well known analysts and authors such as James Whittaker, Scott Galloway and Perry Marshall have all been sources of inspiration for Derision Cult.  A fan of 80’s Chicago Wax Trax era music as well as Outlaw Country Music, McAnally has also found motivation in what he describes as “the lyricists in the country and Americana world- the way they tell stories and turn phrases”.  

 

Prior to Mercenary Notes, McAnally describes his creative process as relatively simple with him starting with a riff and building a track around it.  Collaboration with Payne has resulted in the two musicians melding their creative processes.  McAnally explains “I built full on demos and then we basically deconstructed them and rebuilt everything”.  With many guests and collaborators on the album the duo marked out who was right for each part. “A big thing I learned from Sean was the value of time.” McAnally says.  With no real time restraints on the creation of the album, the band were able to just let things “sit and let your ears hear them differently.”  McAnally believed some of the tracks needed that, especially “The Year Hope Failed”and “Life Unlit” which went through some real changes.  

 

Very much inspired by the last album, Charlatans Inc, Derision Cult’s new album Mercenary Notes comes out of a very different place.  McAnally describes the last album as coming from a very tumultuous time in his life, “Covid wiped out my company and I was stuck in a particularly stressful time with no income etc”.  With these new realities McAnally found himself in his home studio creating heavy and aggressive riffs as a sort of therapy, leading to an album he describes as “one dimensional”. For Mercenary Notes, McAnally and Payne decided that the new album needed to retain its blues, metal, country riffs while adopting bigger beats, layers and more synth elements.  Having built a new business and come out of the challenging times Charlatans Inc was written in, Mercenary Notes is a reflection on those achievements as well as being a more musical journey with variety.  The album has according to McAnally, inspired him to think differently and “is more about solutions and moving on.”  

 

With plenty of experience performing live doing acoustic and old country Americana songs McAnally enjoys the immediacy of live performances “When you’re live whatever happens, happens.  It’s less about getting it right and more about creating a unique moment in time.”  Although Derision Cult has not performed live it is something that may happen in the future.  

 

Having moved on to Glitch Mode, McAnally describes Derision Cult as more of a collective now then a band.  With Mercenary Notes Part One finished the collective will be working on Mercenary Notes Part Two for which they already have most of the tracks.  “My hope is to turn it into a cast of characters that contribute to that overall cult of derision.”  With plans to bring on musicians from different genres to perform with Derision Cult, McAnally has some thoughts about recruiting some Modern Outlaw Country performers to add to the layers of the band’s sound.

 

For those unfamiliar with Derision Cult’s music McAnally says “if you listen to Mercenary Notes it’ll be a journey! We’re here for you on the treadmill or when you’re alone in your thoughts!”

Links:

Bandcamp: https://derisioncult.bandcamp.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/300southdungeon

Dutch Dungeon Synth Band Nortfalke

                                                                        Image from Facebook

The band name Nortfalke represents an interest in the mysticism of the Middle Ages and “nature and dark energy”, according to the band.     Using the word Nort meaning North in the local official language of Schiermonnikoog, and Falke, the word for the falcon, Nortfalke is a name that expresses both the band’s Northern European culture, the winter and harshness of that season as well as the power and stature of a bird of prey.

 With a grandfather that was a great local jazz pianist Nortfalke founder explains “I think he inspired me a lot to make music and get lost in the world of sounds”.  Having taken piano lessons from around seven years of age, by thirteen he was playing music in a band. By fifteen years of age he was performing Doom Metal and Black Metal.  Influenced by bands such as Norwegian Black Metal band Burzum and more recently non-commercial music styles such as the Berlin School and Krautrock. 

 “I am writing soundtracks for nature, at least this is how I see it” is how Nortfalke founder describes his music.  Finding endless inspiration in heavy clouds, the stormy sea and the forest by night, he also incorporates spirituality and mysticism into his music.  “There must be something hidden within the music.”  Inspired by old and obscure movies from the 70s and 80s, sword and sorcery movies such as “Hawk the Slayer” and “Conquest”, Nortfalke creator also cites French filmmaker Jean Rollin’s films as a source of inspiration.

 The sophisticated ambient Dungeon Synth music created by Nortfalke involves “analogue synth bass or nice cosmic sequence, a big wide pad with a great strymon hall/delay”.  Once the first tones are heard Nortfalke finds the inspiration flows. Dutch recording engineer and musician  JB Van Der Wal has helped with the mixing of most of Nortfalke’s albums

 When describing his creative process Nortfalke founder explains “First I get a global idea of the direction and atmosphere.” Once he has decided what synths to use he says “the magic happens”. Although he has endless inspiration time is always a limiting factor on how much he creates.

 Nortfalke is very involved in the aesthetic and style of the music produced by the band.  “I did make the frames for the debut and made the artwork of Schijnsel by old school cut and paste.”  Nortfalke founder explains that he makes most of the band photographs himself .  For Seefonktjuenderee, Frank Verhulst did the band photo and helped out with some of the band’s artwork.  Several individuals have also helped bring aesthetic and artistic aspects of Nortfalke to fruition.

 The joy of playing live music is enhanced for Nortfalke by meeting new people and catching up with old friends.  “My music is very layered so it's not possible to re-create it exactly like on the record” explains Nortfalke founder and this as well as technical difficulties can cause some stress but playing live allows Nortfalke to visit new places and go out beyond the recording studio.

 Having just completed a tour with Swiss Extreme metal group Bölzer,  Nortfalke’s future plans involve making more records,  “I hope to create music like this for a long time.”  While currently working on a spiritual, ambient album Nortfalke also plans to create a Berlin School or Krautrock style album.  Nortfalke has lots of future ideas including “a total old school ds album” and “an album with only casio’s” as well as album “without synths but with other instruments such as piano and organ.”  A film score is also a future ambition of Nortfalke.  In the near future Nortfalke will be featured on an upcoming compilation of Dutch Dungeon Synth via Heidenshart Records with other bands such as Old Tower and Vetus Supulcrum. 

 For those who have never listened to any of Nortfalke’s music the band suggests “take your time to listen to it, you really need time to get into it.”  Nortfalke founder says “I make music for myself” but “if others like it that’s a big bonus.”   If you enjoy stylish ambient Dungeon Synth music with a provocative spiritual twist Nortfalke are for you.

 

 Links :

Spotify : Spotify – Nortfalke 

Facebook : (1) Nortfalke | Facebook

Youtube : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9HB2cI_BD20L96fK6ZdTMg

 

Kiss of the Witch by Metamorph

 

“Alchemy. Alchemist. Wizard. I love it when magic happens.” This is how Margot Day of Metamorph describes the band’s new album Kiss of the Witch.  Produced by Erik Gustafson, who Day says takes her songs, her voice and flute, recorded in the jungle and forest, and using his own form of alchemy creates “intoxicating and melodic song elixirs”.  With a  bewitching blend of Electro Goth, Kiss of the Witch is a beautifully woven Gothic love story of sorts.   

 

“Once upon a time there was a girl and her and her true love were caught in a world apocalyptic avalanche that opened a portal. The Avalanche trapped her true love in lockdown in the Star Fort. She goes on a journey quest through the towns and the forests hoping to find the magic that will reunite her with her twin flame and save the world. She sees the magic shoes in the Witch’s store window. The Witches have been waiting for her, saving the magic shoes for her. She puts on the shoes, the magic star pentagram on her forehead activates her superpowers – it’s the Kiss of the Witch. She magically teleports to the Star Fort, and her kiss awakens her twin flame – causing a ripple effect - and the world to awakens from the nightmare dream that is engulfing many of us now with the politics, climate change, war, pandemic. Twin Flames united. Love wins. Magic and Love save the world.”

Is the lyrical way that Day encapsulates this magical and luscious album.

 

The first track on the album “Love in the Wreckage” uses hypnotic beats and provocative lyrics to entice and lead the listener through a chaotic and apocalyptic landscape. The title track of the album “Kiss of the Witch” beguiles and seduces with its beautifully solicitous lyrics and its seductive vocals.  

 The alluring combination of Day and daughter Julifer Day’s vocals in the remake of the 80s song “Empress” by Goth New York based band The Plague, originally headed by Day, is spellbinding.  

 

Inspired by the Queen of the Night flower and its euphoric perfume, Day wrote and recorded the song “Poison In The Air”. The Queen of the Night flower is a very large hallucinogenic flower that blooms at night and is poisonous to some people. Exhilarated  by what Day describes as the “perfect goth flower”, the song “Poison in the Air” has a mesmerizing beat with dark undertones.  The song both transports the listener into soporific worldly dimensions while having an undercurrent that hints at a frustration with world politics.  With a dreamy electro beat “Dream Curve’ lulls and caresses as it creates a tempting soundscape.

 

“I won’t fall apart if you hold me heart to bloody heart”, proclaims the lyrics in the captivating song “Heart to Bloody Heart”. Creating an undulating gothic landscape littered with iconography and emotive vocals “Heart to Bloody Heart” is a gothic wish of hope and redemption. The last song on the album is a tantalizing club dance remix of “Love in the Wreckage” from Xris SMack.

 

Kiss of the Witch is a beautifully crafted dark Gothic fairytale of love, hope and magic. 

Links : 

Bandcamp : https://margotday.bandcamp.com/album/kiss-of-the-witch

YouTube: https://youtu.be/FyesUmkrk64

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/Metamorphmusic