Margot Day of Metamorph’s Playlist

 Margot Day of Metamorph has created an exclusive playlist for Melodic Machinations and you can listen to it here 

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/38GnS0kNECOoIUFVsUGJv0?si=QYQYvhjeTRCdwyEJq6guAA

Sorrows by In a Darkened Room

 “We wanted to feel the beauty in this chance to create while untethered by the restraints of “normal times“, but the sense of ever-present doom on our doorstep weaved a constant thread of sorrow into our music.“ is how CJ Duron of  Texas based Dark Wave band, A Darkened Room, describes the genesis of their debut album Sorrows. Exploring the solitude and repetition suffered through the Pandemic, Sorrows embodies that dire and confusing time experienced by human kind.

 

“Descend“ is an introspective and melancholy track with a haunting melody and vocals that tug and wrench at the listener, dragging  them into a dark and shadowy soundscape.   With a hypnotic and repetitive beat that is elevated sporadically and teasingly, the gloomy lyrics of “Final Vow“ are delivered by oppressive, resonant vocals that inspire an almost funereal dread.  “Doom and Gloom“ has a reflective and atmospheric beat with languid and melancholic lyrics perfectly enhanced by the slow and reverberant vocals.  Creating a sense of sadness and yearning “Walls of Sadness“ features shimmering tone guitars and an incessant and provocative beat.  “Sleep Again“ starts with an upbeat tempo and a glimmer of something beyond the dark depths of the music with the echoing vocals seeming to encircle the listener in a dizzying evocative maelstrom.  A gentle and almost lulling beat the track “Burnt by the Sun“ undulate,  giving the listener a peek above the darkness only to be burnt by the sun and plunged once more into the depths.  “Hollow“ is melodic with a staccato beat and heavy brooding vocals, hinting at something emerging from the darkness but being somehow empty and hollow and forever changed  by the experience.  An anthemic beat and a heavy guitar riff heralds the track “Water Under the Bridge“. The vocals have a lighter more ethereal sound and the song inspires a feeling of emergence from a grim and gloomy place. 

 

 

With vocals by CJ Duron,  Svia Svenlava on bass and Kandi Keys on keyboard, the album Sorrows is a  testament to a sense of dark dreamlike introspection and melancholy woven carefully into the eight beautifully crafted songs of the album. 

Links :

Band Camp : https://inadarkenedroom.bandcamp.com/album/sorrows-2

Spotify : https://open.spotify.com/album/1OetO9FbhafseRpfBz1pGK?si=xVD3Tkj5Sdy5a7mYoPc7DQ

YouTube : https://youtube.com/@inadarkenedroom3143?feature=shares

 

 

 

 

Janne Partanen’s Playlist

Finnish  Melancholic Death Metal Musician Janne Partanen

From the bands Alfa Pentatonik, Hautajaisyö and  Marraskuun Lapset 🤘 created an exclusive Playlist for Melodic Machinations and here it is !

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4atLA69BVopWTZljV0jnAL?si=V1ZCTmPoRTGqiBIcsvJe8g

Persephone by The Funeral March

 

Dark Alternative group The Funeral March have released a new EP called Persephone, taking inspiration from the Greek Queen of the Underworld. The EP explores such provocative themes as hope and loss, dreams, desperation and despair. 

 

The track “Figured“ begins with a captivating and wild insistent beat and a maniacal thrum.  The purposefully  unsettling and moody lyrics are delivered with reverberating  vocals that seem to echo from the depths of a tumultous and dark void.   “Nite Nite“ is heralded by capricious riffs within a lurching soundscape that is alluringly disorientating while the lyrics and vocals are beckoning and beseeching.  With a heavy and dissonant guitar “Two As One“ entices the listener into a hypnotic and dizzying soundscape coaxed by mesmerizing vocals.  “Kiss Me“ is an intoxicating track with lyrics that add to the feeling of taking a dreamlike plunge into grim yet  seductive depths.  The music and vocals are purposefully awry and off kilter adding to the surreal dark feel of the track.  With a sinister and portent beginning “Wasted Moon“ incites a feeling of unease.  The heavy guitars and resonant vocals on the track inspire a sense of dazed foreboding.

 

The EP, which was mixed and mastered by Adam Stilson (Panic Priest), with cover art created by Greg Rolfes (eleven12 Designs) features exceptional tracks which will appeal to anyone interested in exploring the darker side of alternative music.  

Links:

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

BandCamp : https://thefuneralmarch.bandcamp.com/album/persephone

We Dissolve by the Gleaming

  

We Dissolve is a cathartic tribute to a former self once riddled with depression, habits, partners and friends by Texas based band The Gleaming.  The new EP represents an evolution from the closure of a dark past to a future that is more positive and meaningful.

 

“Run Faster” embodies the dark danceable electronica sound that The Gleaming so artfully composes.  The lyrics are poignant and the entire song gives the feel that there is forward moving energy.  Featuring a collaboration with Vestite “Rat Me Out” is a wonderful blend of dark electronica with ethereal and pulsating vocals.  The melancholic lyrics and atmospheric trance-like beat perfectly build up a sense of looming anticipation.  “The Voyager” starts with a rather buoyant beat giving the impression of sailing along in smooth but unpredictable waters.  The ethereal vocals take the listener on an undulating sound journey accentuated by pulsating peaks and hypnotic whirlpools.  With a futuristic and throbbing soundscape the lyrics of “The Ashes” are a very aggressive tribute to a traumatic past self.  The brooding and intense song perfectly represents the need to shrug off violently aspects of a disturbing past.  “We Dissolve”, the title track of the EP has a sinister and foreboding sound with lyrics and vocals that perfectly express the feeling of leaving the past behind.  The song has a deep and purgative element taking the listener on a journey of redemption.

Overall the EP We Dissolve is an otherworldly, dark and purifying journey through ominous, atmospheric melodies and rhythms.  The musical elements and the bleak and portentous but ultimately purging lyrics, make it a memorable and impactful EP.

Links:

BandCamp : https://gleamingsound.bandcamp.com/

YouTube : https://youtube.com/watch?v=A87UAIflneg&feature=shares

used and violated by for all the emptiness

 

With a fascinating blend of such genres as Futurepop, Glitchcore, 90s industrial and EBM for all the emptiness  is a musical project started by vocalist and composer Jonathon Kaplan.  Inspired by the emotional response that music can evoke in others for all the emptiness has released a new EP entitled used and violated.  

 

The title track “used and violated ” is an innovative piece that is driven by a pulsing baseline and beat interspersed with glitchy and stuttering sounds woven in the mix.  The vocals are provocative and the lyrics are dire and resonant.   “dead inside” begins with haunting vocals entwined with an ascending beat.  The song progresses as dueting vocals, one ethereal and one askew and aggressive, twist and turn through an Industrial Futurepop soundscape.  Distortion and disorientation heralds the track “all I am” with the melodic female vocals creating an intoxicating accompaniment to an almost robotic awry male voice.  The music perfectly complements the provocative lyrics.   “sell the sins” is a stunning musical blend of various genres all accentuated by dark and menacing lyrics.  With music that reeks cleverly of emergency and urgency “at the brink”  builds a sense of fear and dystopia.  The off kilt vocals add to the cultivated growing feeling of peril.

 

Overall the EP used and violated is a wonderful example of how genre boundaries can be pushed and result in something creative, unique and exciting. 

Links: 

Bandcamp : https://foralltheemptiness.bandcamp.com/album/used-and-violated

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

Spotify : https://open.spotify.com/album/609L5vhxz9YwgAT4I1L24i?si=n26C5EBEQf-i4ZMHhr7GLg

Witchlit by Metamorph

Witchy flautist and singer Margot Day from Metamorph  celebrated the full moon with the release of the single “Witchlit” from the bands upcoming LP due out later in the year.  “Witchlit” is a spellbinding song that takes the listener on a journey through an intoxicating and melodic soundscape enticed  by haunting and alluring vocals.  Exploring the unyielding yearning and search for love and twin flames, despite the possibility of abuse and sadness, “Witchlit” encourages casting a light into the darkness and through this bold illumination finding the love we so desperately seek.  

With perfectly crafted instrumentation throughout the track the  beautiful and  beguiling sounds enhance the gothic and  witchy feel and compliment the songs subject matter.  A wonderful example of an illuminated gothic track, “Witchlit”  perfectly  captures the pain and beauty of love and the dystopian world around us but gives the glimmer of hope that if we search and shine  through the darkness we will find serendipitous treasures.  

Links :

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/0BaaUmnIaJmKDSi943FWmx?si=QFAG5jg7SUuHRs4LBNeGqg

YouTube: https://youtube.com/watch?v=aiEdEap9AjM&feature=shares