ok to start things off again today’s Alternative Beauty Of The day is MissMalice. you can check out her website here or view her model mayhem ( from where this picture was taken from) portfolio here !

After listening to Elevated Beings in it’s entirety  it became clear to me that AMUL9 offered more then just their punk rock style but they also fell into  that music with a message category. Now by music with a message  I mean it’s that type of speak up/out about something you stand for or believe in message ( a very good example of this would be like  Rage Against The Machine).  It’s messages such as racism, peace and  strengthening ourselves  AMUL9 coveys to the listener in each tracks.  Which I must say that they did an excellent job at getting the messages across with each track.  It wasn’t like it required super deep thought to get the point across (like some bands and artists do when they emulate this style). At the same time though it wasn’t like it didn’t require no thought at all. It really was the happy medium. Of which I’m not to sure about you guys but if more were to get this happy medium down I think I would open my music library to include more similar artists/bands.

Elevated Beings really was a refreshing listening experience (not that I ever get sick of my normal style of music but it’s good to mix things up a bit every now and then). This being AMUL9 ‘s first album release I can say that I for one will be looking forward to checking out future releases from them.

If you guys would like  more info on AMUL9 do check out their website over here. You will be able to find a short biography of the band, a lyrics section, tour dates, album release dates and a behind the scenes video with AMUL9. Which I highly recommend that you do watch as you will get a much deeper feel for the band and the music they have to offer.  I would like to thank Eddie Minzenmayer ( Latex Records) for giving me such an opportunity to hear some pretty great music! For more information on other Latex Records releases you can visit the Latex Records site over here.

please do note that no album artwork was available at this time. When such artwork does become available post will be updated.

Don’t forget to tune into DJ Mirage’s show ever Sunday night at 10pm est on my other home away from home Darkside Radio!

In the second Retro Album Review to hit the site (for those of you that missed the first one you can view that by clicking here) I will review/ give my thoughts  on Experiment Haywire’s Cooler Than Genocide EP ( This will be this first of three Experiment Haywire reviews hitting the site so make sure to check back for more).

My first exposure to Experiment Haywire was The Remix Riot album that came out in December 2009 under the MachineKunt record Label.  After listening to the remix album I really wanted to hear more and not to mention wanting to hear the original versions of the songs that were remixed for this album. One of those songs in particular was  Cooler Than Genocide ( UberByte mix)!

The Cooler Than Genocide EP is a four track EP that was released back in June 2008(again by MachineKunt Records). One of the things with a remix album is it can  gave you  a false sense of what the artist or band has to offer. What I mean by that is even though you had enjoyed a remixed track does not mean that you will enjoy the original version. You can hope you will but your never too sure when your first listening experience came from a remix album. However this was not the case with the EP at all! In fact it had me hungering for more!

It’s the evenly ( not too have not too soft )distorted vocals, the catchy beats and strong lyrics ( of which were the same things that made me love the  Remix Riot album) that really makes this solo music project stand out in my opinion.  The best example of this on this EP ( one that really embodied all of  the qualities I mentioned above) is Cooler Than Genocide. Don’t count out the other tracks found on this EP though as they were all very enjoyable!

So if you guys haven’t checked out Experiment Haywire yet I highly recommend you do and head over to her website here. The site has tons of  information on Experiment Haywire and the mastermind behind the project Rachel Haywire. If  this review got your curiosity peaked or the website did and you want to treat you ears to some Experiment Haywire you can do so at her BandCamp store right here!

Having said that this brings me to this spotlight on the Aztalan Turf podcast. The Aztalan Turf podcast is a bi-weekly well put together music show that’s first episode  graced the waves of the internet on March 2010. The show plays a wide range of music genres such as rock, EBM, synth pop, industrial, electro,  and goth just to name a few.

One of the things that the host and mastermind of  the Aztalan Turf podcast Renee made clear during the show is that she pretty much likes to plays music that she has  encountered and enjoyed or interested her versus music being played for the sake of playing music.  Which for those of you that have read previous spotlight I have done on  some of the other podcasts/shows out there ( for example  Sounds From The Sandbox, Latex Radio, and DJ Mirage’s show every Sunday night on Darkside Radio) you will see that this is a reoccurring theme. It’s this theme in my opinion that you really get to personalize your show/podcast. It becomes almost like an extension of your interests and passions shared with your listeners who have almost similar interests and passions and it really makes for an enjoyable listening experience( like the one I had last week with the Aztalan Turf podcast).

So as an individual with very much similar interests in the music genres played on the show I would highly recommend you guys give it shot! All of the episodes (1-13) are still available on the Aztalan Turf site here. If you like what you hear in episode 13 do go back and give a listen to some of the older episodes as well ( I know I will be).

I wanted to start this new feature here because I would love to review/give my thoughts on older albums (released a year ago or longer) that I have enjoyed (or disliked). So what better way to kick off this feature then with one of my all time favorite albums Debris ( ok so you know it’s going to be a good review lol)!

Now when my ears first embarked on this enjoyable journey into the world of electro/ industrial music this was one of the first albums that I encountered. Now don’t get me wrong sure I listened to a few industrial bands/artists (KMFDM, Ministry, Skinny Puppy, NIN)  before hearing Ayria’s Debris. Mainly my music taste was heavy metal, power metal, speed metal ect ect . So after listening to Ayria, Combichrist, X-rX, Unter Null, UnterArt, UberByte, Leaether Strip, 16 Volt, Zombie Girl, Front Line Assembly and  many more it was the refreshing and unique sound that these bands/artists offered that  really sold me into this genre ( not to mention the previous enjoyment of the bands/artists that I named above) !

Now Debris is Ayria’s first full length album. Debris was released under the Alfa Matrix Label back in 2003. Now for those of you that haven’t listened to Debris yet and are more familiar with Ayria’s newer works (such as Harts For Bullets) you will find the album to have  more of a different but enjoyable sound to it! The sound that this album emulates is more of an electro/ synth pop/ trance-ish style then more harsher beats emulated on the Harts For Bullets album. The sound style evolution wasn’t just out of the blue ( so you weren’t really like WTF when it happened). It was a progression that you could really start to hear on the Flicker album.

Debris offered a ton of amazing tracks vocally and musically ( even more if you got the bonus LTD edition album which is a bunch of awesome remixes). Tracks such as Horrible Dream ( the XPQ-21 Mix I love), Mercury ( I also love the remix of this song if you haven’t heard it yet please youtube it) , DOS, Disease, Beta Complex, and most of the remixes ( if not all ) found off the bonus disk are excellent examples of what I mean.

So if your a long time Ayria fan then I really hope I did this album justice by giving my thoughts on it! If your new to Ayria or haven’t given Debris a shot yet then I highly recommend (and I can’t stress that part enough) that you do ( and yes go for the limited edition I’m sure you’ll love it just as much as I have)!

Yep your eyes do not deceive you! You are seeing an album review for Making Monsters! For those of you that haven’t heard already Making Monsters came out on August 31st as an early digital download release ( the psychical CD will be available on September 23). Now I did spend awhile debating on if I should pick up the digital download as I planned on picking up the actual CD when it came out. One of the deciding factors in me  picking it up (other than it being a new Combichrist album)  was that I got the chance to do the review for all of you before September 23!

Now before I get into my thoughts on this album I want to point out that these reviews I write up are always written in my honest opinion and should be taken that way. What I might enjoy or not enjoy others might or might not. I can give you guys my thoughts and opinions on my personal experience after listening to an album but in the end it really comes down to how well you enjoyed your own experience!

So with that little disclaimer out of the way now I’ll get on with the review. I was really excited for Making Monsters when news of it’s release first broke. Then when the first single from the album Never Surrender hit the internet ( on Vampire Freaks) my excitement grew even more.  So now with the digital download  in my Itunes library I was  all ready to listen to some new Combichrist. After listening to the album I must say honestly I felt a little let down.

Now I’m not saying that it was a horrible album or anything like that.  It’s just to me it felt like this album was a little weaker then previous albums. The best way that I’m finding to describe and back up that last statement  is that with the exception of Never Surrender a lot of the tracks beats and vocals were really less in your face when compared to tracks off of other albums. Which really makes it come off as a very different listening experience. These are just my first thoughts though. Could the album end up growing on me ? It very well could so I’m not counting it out yet as one night I might just say “Hey, let me crank up some Making Monsters.”

So if your a Combichrist fan (I’m sure   this goes with out saying) but most of you will pick this album up regardless as I  myself probably will still pick up the CD when it’s released (band loyalty). However if your new to Combichrist I would highly recommend that you go through some of their older albums before you listen to this one.  It’s just so your more familiar with the sound that made us fall in love with their music!