Good news for fans of Harsh EBM and industrial music. The new album from Belgian Harsh EBM artist Johan van Roy, better known as Suicide Commando. The long awaited follow up to ‘Forest of The Impaled’ will be entitled ‘Goddestructor’. This will be a double record with a 11 new songs and a bonus remix album featuring artists such as C-Lekktor and Assemblage 23.
You can check out the cover and track-listing below:
CD1 01 KILL ALL HUMANITY 02 I’D DIE FOR YOU (v2.0) 03 GOD OF DESTRUCTION 04 JESUS FREAK 05 STERBEHILFE (EUTHANASIA 2021) 06 DESTROYER OF WORLDS 07 LAND OF ROSES 08 BANG BANG BANG 09 SIN 11 BUNKERB!TCH (CENSORED)
CD2 01 God of destruction – Cryo remix 02 Sterbehilfe – Rob Dust remix 03 I’d die for you – Assemblage 23 remix 04 Jesus freak – Dead When I Found Her remix 05 Bang bang bang – C-lekktor remix 06 Bunkerb!tch – F U C K B O T remix 07 Jesus freak (die in agony) 08 Sterbehilfe – FGFC820 remix 09 Destroyer of worlds – Nano Infect remix 10 Kill all humanity – Tactical Sekt remix 11 I’d die for you – Elektro Terapi remix
‘Goddestructor’ will be released in a range of digital and physical formats on 22 July 2022 via Out of Line Records.
Iza had a chat with Belgian artist Johan van Roy from the Harsh EBM/ industrial band Suicide Commando about touring during the COVID 19 pandemic, live streams and his upcoming single and new album.
Here’s the full interview:
Last year you released a new single called ‘Trick or Treat’ and now there’s a new album in the works. Can you tell more a bit more about what can we expect from the new album?
Meanwhile the album is completely finished. Most of the songs were written during the pandemic and I think you can also hear it in the result, it sure did not become a “happy” album nor an easy listening album. It still has the typical suicide commando ingredients but I also think this became the hardest suicide commando album to date, somehow you can feel the frustration of the last 2 years in the new songs. So it will be a bitter black album !
Suicide Commando’s music tends be very harsh sounding for EBM with lots of violent themes. Where does all violence come from?
I think we all have violence inside of us, it’s just a matter how to deal with aggression and violence, and for me my music is the perfect way to get rid of my aggression, my violent emotions … for me my music is also my therapy. Furthermore we’re living in a world full of aggression and violence, just switch on the radio or the television and you get bombed with violence in the news, open the newspaper and you get confronted with violence … so my music is just a reflection of what we see or hear in every day life.
The pandemic has caused lots of distruptions with tours and shows being cancelled. Even the shows that weren’t cancelled went ahead with lots of restrictions. What are your thoughts on playing live shows under Covid 19 restrictions?
Well I considered it as a necessary evil. Of course it was really frustrating not being able to go on tour and have contact with our fans and audience. But on the other hand I’m happy we at least could do a few live shows, even those with a sitting audience. It was a weird feeling to play in front of a sitting audience, but I’m still happy we could do these few shows. We now finally can start doing live shows again in more normal conditions, it’s still a bit strange as you notice people are still cautious and reluctant, and some people still prefer to stay safe at home, but slowly things will get back to normal … I hope !
Archive footage – Suicide Commando live at Electrowerkz, Slimelight London, UK in 2013.
Another thing that the pandemic has brought about was the rise in popularity of livestreams. Have you ever considered doing a Suicide Commando livestream?
We got a few requests to do such livestreams but in our constitution it was as get as impossible as we all live pretty far away from each other, and Torben (my live keyboarder) even lives in Germany, so coming together for such a livestream wasn’t even possible.
Has the Russian war with Ukraine had any influence on your new song Bang Bang Bang?
The song “Bang Bang Bang” was written already some months ago, so the song itself has nothing to do with the current war in Ukraine. The song actually is about gun violence, but of course it also got a new dimension with the current war. But no matter what, the message is clear, guns kill !
Finally once this pandemic is over and all the restrictions have been lifted are there any countries which you would like to tour for the first time?
Tour for the first time won’t be an easy thing as we already played in so many different countries all over the world, but of course I still have some dream locations left, for example I’d love to tour Australia or Japan one day.
Suicide Commando’s new single ‘Bang Bang Bang!’ will be released on April 14 in digital download and limited edition MCD via Out of Line Records (Europe) and Metropolis Records (USA & rest of the world).
Meanwhile you can check out his new video for ‘Trick or Treat’:
The Mexican industrial duo Hocico are back with a new album. The follow up to ‘Artificial Extinction’ will be called ‘HyperViolent’. Check out the cover and track-listing:
1. When The Trumpets Of Hate Blow 2. Broken Empires 3. Acts of Aggression 4. Un Sepulcro Sin Cadaver 5. What Are Nightmares Made Of? 6. Hacked Society 7. El Jardin de Las Locuras 8. Backstabbers 9. Lost World 10. Black Reflection 11. N.W.O. 12. Crown of Knives 13. Peccata Mundi
HYPERSIDE EFFECTS (Bonus CD): 1. Weapons of Resistance feat. Aaron Matts 2. Odio Bajo el Alma (Version Mariachi) 3. Black Mirror 4. Dog Eat Dog (Desputes Remix) 5. The Fall
‘HyperViolent’ will be released in the following physical formats: double CD, vinyl, cassette, a limited collector’s edition box as well as digital download on 14th April 2022 via Out of Line Records.
In the meantime you can see their video for ‘Backstabbers’:
Two Witches, Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio, Leaether Strip
Klubi, Tampere
4-5th July
Lumous Gothic Festival is Finland’s largest goth event. It was established back in 2001 and has become an annual event held in central Tampere. The music on offer is strictly non-metal, ranging from goth rock, darkwave, industrial and EBM to neofolk. The actual festival is a four day event but the main shows take place on the Friday and Saturday.
Friday
The opening act was meant to be the Russian Harsh EBM band Steelgrout. Sadly they were unable to make it due to some problems with their Visas. Their replacement was the Jyväskylä-based Finnish EBM act Unzyme. Before their substitutes started, they actually played a message from Steelgrout to the audience in which the Russian band apologizes for not being able to make it. Unzyme describe their sound as “biomechanical pop” which is essentially synthpop with lab experiments as a their main theme. Their set was entertaining and it was a good start to the night. 3.5/5
Next up was the Swedish goth rock band Malaise. I’m not a massive fan of goth rock, but these guys were better than I expected. They combined the classic goth rock sound of bands like The Sisters of Mercy and Fields of The Nephilim with EBM for a sound that is truly unique and memorable. I really enjoyed their set and this was my favourite performance of the night. 4/5
The final act of the night was another Swedish band – Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio. Their sound is not an easy one to classify; it’s a mixture of dark ambient, neofolk and industrial. They are a returning act to Lumous having played their before back in 2002. Their music has this eerie, soundtrack feel to it and the pace is mostly slow. The problem I had with them is that they were playing dark ambient in the early hours of the morning, by which time my energy was running out. I was too exhausted to stick around until the end of their set. 3/5
Saturday
The night started with a performance by the Latvian industrial band Autogen. Their style is a mixture of industrial noize and rhythmic/powernoize with an experimental flare akin to the likes of The Klinik. Some tracks were more danceable than others. They also had an interesting range of stage props ranging from fake blood, a fire extinguisher and a contraption that looked like a defibrillator. Their set was definitely entertaining as a result, but I wasn’t super keen on the music itself. 2/5
Next up was the Finnish rock band Two Witches. Their lead singer Jyrki Witch is one of the organizers of the festival. I like their old songs but I’m not too familiar with their new work. Luckily they played a mixture of old and new material including “Zombie Walk” (from the latest album) along with some old classics such as “Vampire Empire” and “Burn The Witch”. They are one of the best and the most energetic goth rock bands that I’ve seen in a while. 4/5
The night ended with a performance from the main band I came to see, the Danish harsh EBM duo Leaether Strip. I’ve seen them live last year and it was great to see them again. These guys really give it their all, playing all their hit tracks including “Evil Speaks”, “Strap Me Down” and “Don’t Tame Your Soul”. It didn’t take long before I joined in, dancing along with the rest of the audience. 5/5
So there you have it. Another summer, another Lumous Festival. It’s always great to see that the goth and industrial scene in Finland is alive and well. I just wish that they would organize more events like this in the future.
Valkyrian Music 