Avant! Records
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Over the past few years an increasing number of bands hailing from the former USSR have been appearing on the screens and the phones of the so-called Western world's underground music enthusiasts. With most of them being pretty obscure and only a very few ones having established a worldwide following (Motorama, Molčat Doma) the Sovietwave tag has worked usefully enough as a tool to identify a wide range of bands each one with a different sound and yet something in common.Visit product page →
Whether it be the harsh weather or just the distance creating an exotic effect, there is some icy-cold touch with these bands that immediately makes you know they're from Russia, regardless of the language they perform. This goes for Blind Seagull too.
The trio from Kaliningrad, a small russian enclave on the Baltic Sea between Poland and Lithuania, has been around since quite a few years now, releasing tapes and limited edition vinyls on labels like Detriti, Sierpen and Pine Hill.
Finally taking up the challenge of writing a longer full-length (previous albums were seven or eight track long at best), the trio led by Denis Zarubin has created twelve new songs that shine a light on the impressive skills of this young combo to deliver very classic and yet extremely fresh and modern cold post-punk gems.
Keeping it short and sweet, their twothree minutes long compositions cut right to the chase of the darkwave soul: stomping drum machines, frozen guitar arpeggios, tense bass riffs. The formula is occasionally rocked by the intervention of laser synths, noise raids and gothic chorale, while the industrial pièce of the title-track and the IDM-tinged collaboration with experimental giants Xiu Xiu 'Fear' will show how this band stands out and how their upcoming, new album is the best proof of this.
RIYL: Clan Of Xymox, Bauhaus, The Danse Society, She Past Away, Soviet Soviet.
Tracklisting:
Side A
1. In The Open Field
2. Carpenter
3. Passing By
4. Asphyxia
5. Nothing To Feel
6. How We Communicate
Side B
7. Body
8. Inanity
9. Stray
10. Fear (feat. Xiu Xiu)
11. Stars Tonight
12. Personal Decay (A A U U) -
The Australian master of the dark synth arts is back and - boy - he is out for blood. We've been missing Marc Dwyer solo project Buzz Kull since his latest single Last In The Club from late 2019 and since back then we knew he was up to something.Visit product page →
At first glimpse, the minimal wave days of We Were Lovers seem far away now that Marc has gone full Club Body Music with his upcoming new album, but there is a thread that binds Buzz Kull hits from the past such as Into The Void, Avoiding The Light and New Kind Of Cross with these ten new cuts: a thread of darkness proper to the most handsome man in the game and that’s here to stay.
Echoes of 90’s era Front 242 and Front Line Assembly will resonate from tracks like Fascination and Dead Inside; elements of early body music flirting with the dark side of British synthpop will rave from the grooves of Dancing with Machines and Man on the Beat, while late 80’s Belgian new beat cellar-like vibes rise from Do You See and Burn it to the Ground.
But Buzz Kull's third full-length is not just about music subgenres we all know and love, it’s about a feeling that comes alive only with the dark and drives you through the small hours just to leave you drained and filled at once.
The creature of the night is on the loose, the sticky dancefloor its natural habitat, its lust for the upside-down world of the club can't be cured.
Tracklisting:
Side A
1. Rise From Your Grave
2. Do You See
3. Last In The Club
4. Man On The Beat
Side B
5. Beyond The Ceiling
6. Fascination
7. Dead Inside
8. Dancing With Machines
9. Burn It To The Ground
10. Heaven Will Find Me -
Sold outOne-time pressing of 500 on 45rpm black vinyl 12". Comes with thick insert sheet with lyrics and credits.Visit product page →
Long due vinyl press of Contrepoison second EP.
We have been glad and proud to debut Pierre-Marc Tremblay's electronic solo project back in 2011 with his first ...Until Next Morning EP.
Since then Contrepoison has shared an ace split with Vatican Shadow and put out a couple of tape releases on his own Sans Issue record label. Digitally released in 2012 by Hospital Productions and Heartworm Press.
The closest comparison we could make is early Cold Cave again, but there's more here: something dead-eyed and drugged proper to this sound.
Make sure to check the sludgy bass thrust and distant, dingy vox of I Keep On Searching and the bleak, tormented coldwave pop of Nectar Of Destiny.
Tracklisting:
Side A:
1. Every Dream I Have Is About You
2. I Keep On Searching
Side B:
3. No Need To Dream
4. Nectar Of Destiny -
Deep, somber vocals filled with sorrow and anger cap it all. 45 rpm 12" vinyl + insert. A press of 500.Visit product page →
Contrepoison is the brand new solo project by Pierre-Marc Tremblay, young Canadian musician who’s been also involved in other extreme bands in the last years.
First step has been the self-released demo tape …Until Next Morning followed by the double-cassette compilation Around the Dragon's Broken Neck Hangs the Medal of St. Lazarus on Hospital Productions, both sold out damn soon.
So now it is time for a proper vinyl release and here we go: the 45 rpm 12” press of …Until Next Morning.
As you may already know Contrepoison is the French meaning of the word "antidote" and Contrepoison can be seen as an antidote for love.
This 4-track EP shows the darkest and most anguished side of the human feeling, where drum machines sound like heartbeats and synthesizers are as liquid as tears.
Tracklisting:
Side A:
1. Until Next Morning
2. The Snake has Bitten Its Tail
Side B:
3. Heartbeat
4. To Never, Forever -
Visit product page →Available on smoked vinyl LP limited to 300.
Legendary 2010's indie band Crocodiles' guitarist Charles Rowell's new synthpop-meets-gothic rock project. Think Nick Cave crooning over Martin Rev's minimal electronics or The Lords of the New Church-era Stiv Bators jamming with Wayne Hussey and Tony Wakeford. After relocating from New York to France, Charles Rowell began stuffing his suitcase with various synths and samplers while taking cheap bus rides to bordering countries.
While living out of a hotel in north east Paris, he played his demos for Third Coming Records who quickly released the Bad Trip EP in 2020. Concerts became more frequent after the pandemic, with the release of Spellwound and a few have become infamous with guitars smashed to pieces, broken glasses, unruly audience front flipping onto the stage. With Paris providing the background and a scene of friends such as avant-garde drag artist Tuna Mess and industrial techno veteran Poison Point who pushed his creativity even further, Crush Of Souls constant spirit is that it remains unpredictable and thrives on collaboration.
This is even more true with his upcoming album (A)Void Love. Written over a period of intense insomnia that coincided with a run of shows playing guitar for Australian legend Harry Howard, Crush Of Soul’s main man Charles Rowell finally found rest after writing and recording the last song entitled World of Fear. Six months prior he had quit his job as a chef, traveled east to Prague for inspiration and returned ragged and sleepless. Rowell’s insistence on keeping the instrumentation simple and clean came from an arduous two years of literal blood, sweat and tears.
Every bit of drama, eastern excursion and sleep psychosis can be found within the walls of (A)Void Love. Acoustic guitars and dramatic synths provide a cold wilderness for the various rhythms to inhabit; touches of minimal electronics, cold wave and synth pop can be found while the song writing remains classic for lovers of Echo & the Bunnymen and Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds.There’s always been a thread of synth-punk, death rock and DIY noise running through all of Charles’ projects (Crocodiles, ISSUE, Flowers of Evil), however Crush Of Souls pushes harder and further into the darkness with the new album '(A)Void Love'.
Tracklisting:
Side A
1. Unloved
2. The Gift
3. World Of Fear
4. Lie(Be)
5. Youth In Smoke
Side B
6. Reaper John
7. Who Will Silence The Pigs
8. Zone
9. Statues Fall For Love
10. Servant -
New, second press on White Vinyl limited to 300. Comes with lyrics insert.Visit product page →
Deluxxe is a new post punk/new wave band from Buffalo, NY.
It was formed by Mason and Greg, and later completed with Nick, Bailey and Mackenzie, sharing members of Oi and hardcore bands such as Violent Way, Bad Blood and Exhibition.
Their punk background can be heard in the music, but it’s the love for new wave, post punk, darkwave, and goth that led to creation of their debut record "If You Were Me”.
Written in the cold winters of Buffalo, you can almost feel the harshness of the weather affecting the sounds that propagate from these grooves. Icy and frostbitten but somehow still relevantly civic and urban.
The Chameleons and The Sound are two main references here, but that whole cold dimension is rocked by a strong pop vein reminiscent of After The Snow-era Modern English and occasionally enhanced by an hoarseness typical of a young Paul Weller. Passionate lyricism proper of Echo And The Bunnymen and hopeless romanticism à la Sad Lovers And Giants get balanced by a sharp songwriting which keeps everything in perfect order, giving you exactly what you need, nothing more and nothing less.
You can tell some skinheads are involved here because the outcome is so tidy and neat, without losing one inch of atmosphere or enchantment.
If you are wondering how something that was invented forty years ago can still sound, literally, fresh and cool, look no further because what this band delivers lives just up to its name.
"If You Were Me” is out September 22 on black vinyl LP limited to 300.
Tracklisting:
Side A
1. Waiting For a Sign
2. Queen of Hearts
3. In Another Place
4. Moving On
Side B
5. Sweet With Sin
6. Phantom Figure
7. Common Ground
8. Lightning in a Bottle -
Sold outAfter the digital release of the Genderland single in June, the new 6-track EP by DRIFT. is out.Visit product page →
Musically, the new songs complement each other. Throbbing beats are punctuated with melodies, vocals floating in layers, their dreamy veil disguising a strong message. Strong and anything but stable. Lead song Genderland with its rumbling bass, syncopated electro-reggae rhythm and dub effects, it's Ace of Bass filtered through Darkwave.
Paradise throbs and clanks and drones and pulses with expectation, celestial multitracked vocals. Lines, by contrast, is a bubbling and burbling, bass-driven affair, complete with a melodic nod to West End Girls. Social Front marries its message of female empowerment to bouncy electropop, influenced by post-punk performance artist and No Wave singer Lizzy Mercier Descloux. Calculations draws the EP to a close in a fittingly anthemic manner.
If first EP Black Devotion was all about searching for a sound, her new recording signals a shift, a drift towards self-determination, a PVC-clad step into the murky mixed-message waters of 21st century gender politics.
Tracklisting:
Side A:
1. Paradise
2. Lines
3. Genderland
Side B:
1. ????
2. Social Front
3. Calculations
Release Date: 03/11/2017 -
Sold outA Requiem For Father Murphy is the latest and final offering from the iconic Italian occult duo, Father Murphy. Composed in the classical Requiem format, Rising follows the "Trilogy of the Cross", a series of records that recounts the journey of the fictional character Father Murphy, and subsequently the band itself.Visit product page →
The album was mixed and mastered by long-time collaborator Gregory Saunier (Deerhoof), who is instrumental in helping craft Father Murphy's sonic descent over the years.
With Rising, the legend of Father Murphy reaches its culmination. Having gone from religious fanatic, to heretic priest, and ultimately concealing to his final fate on the cross, Rising is the moment Father Murphy finally meets his death. Taking the form of a requiem, Rising will be the final album from Father Murphy.
It brings an end to a journey into faith; one longing for salvation and embracing failure. Across the Italian occult duo's 2015 Trilogy of the Cross'(the Calvary cassingle, Croce LP, and Lamentations EP) Father Murphy's sound reached down into grave new depths, more inspired than ever by music from their Catholic heritage. They've long been integrating a wider variety of field recordings, empty space, drones, and sonic processes alongside their core elements of pounding percussion, ecclesiastical organs, gnarled guitars, and ritualistic chanting.
Again working with longtime mixer/masterer Greg Saunier (Deerhoof), Rising takes the group's music into new territory. The format of a requiem mass for the dead'in this case for the late Father Murphy himself'brings with it all manner of traditional structural codes, musical reprises, and lyrical rhyming schemes.
Certain moments see the music adhere far more closely to requia traditions, including the grander sounds of timpani or trombone, and following the metres and rhyme schemes borrowed from traditional texts.
The words themselves have all been rewritten for Father Murphy's requiem however, disengaging from their standardized religious message. The lyrics across Rising are far longer and more complex than the shorter chants and verse that made up previous albums, while the variety and sheer detail of sounds used by the duo has never before been wider or more daring.
With Rising: A Requiem for Father Murphy, the project reaches its zenith.
Tracklisting:
Side A:
1. Introit
2. Kyrie Eleison
3. Gradual
Side B:
4. Tract
5. Sequence
Side C:
6. Offertory
7. Sanctus
8. Agnus Dei
9. Communion
10. Pie Jesu
Side D:
11. In Paradisum
12 . Libera Me -
Sold outHand Of Dust is a trio from Copenhagen. They somehow belong the Posh Isolation brood but they play a personal variation of dark rock music with roots in folk and with a lot of focus on songwriting and lyrics.Visit product page →
Originally formed in order to play the acoustic songs of singer Bo Høyer Hansen as an electric setting, it quickly grew into a band. In September 2012 the band released a demo tape and in January 2014 they put out a 7" EP on NY label Blind Prophet called "Without Grace Or Glory".
Recently Hand Of Dust reentered the studio and recorded two songs. Speaking of this upcoming 7' single, Danish webzine VORTEXAS says "I remember seeing them playing one of their first concerts: I nudged the guy next to me and exlaimed 'They got like a neo-folk thing going, but electric, don't they?' to which he answered: 'Nah, they're more like Dead Moon.' In a way I hear both". With some good ol' Gun Club vibe, we might add.
For now you may enjoy these two new tunes: not many bands these days can create such a personal sound when it comes to dark folk/rock music. One time pressing of 500. Comes with insert.
Tracklisting:
Side A:
Walk In White
Side B:
A Sight For The Living -
Sold outGoth peace-punk 5-piece strikes back! Since 2013 debut In Darkness You Will Feel Alright, the band has been touring both the Old and the New Continent and is now ready to deliver eight new tracks filled with disenchantment, scorn and a proper share of irreverence in leather.Visit product page →
So this Return operates on two levels. First of all and most intuitive, being this their second album, it is their own return. Second meaning relates to the current state of asphyxiating climate of restoration in national politics. A few governments fell in the last few years and after a brief time of confusion, a new clean face in a white shirt is leading (but is he actually?) the country.
By the looks of facts so far thou, one might be wondering if these government fools have a clue of what they're doing. Lucky for us, Horror Vacui surely do!
European press by Avant! & band's own imprint Legion Of The Dead of 700 on black vinyl. Comes in printed innersleeve featuring lyrics and band pics.
Tracklisting:
Side A:
1. Return Of The Empire
2. 5000
3. The Right Cure
4. 'Till The Last Drop
Side B:
1. Light Of Darkness
2. Time
3. Opus Tenebris
4. Desperate Adelia -
Sold out33rpm black vinyl 12" Limited edition of 300.Visit product page →
Wilds is the second full length from Philadelphia based post-industrial group Hot Guts. What started off as a raw and gritty Post-punk band in 2007 eventually evolved into a more refined foray into territories that cross between the electronic and organic, as well as the harsh and beautiful.
Currently a duo, Wes Russell's signature rich baritone and unorthodox guitar stylings (at times more reminiscent of construction machinery than a guitar) are still very present while counterpart Shari Wallin (also of Void Vision) provides the synths and drum machines as well as backing vocals.
Within this web of minimal electronics there are hints of EBM, Neofolk, Tribal Industrial but there is an element of experimentalism that has always been present in Hot Guts that keeps things sounding fresh, and strangely contemporary throughout the recordings.
Tracklisting:
Side A:
1. All Suns
2. Will Carry
3. Kite and Shadow
4. Gold Silent
Side B:
1. Fires
2. The Name of the World
3. Drift
4. A Kindness -
Visit product page →Release Date: 15/12/2023
House of Harm are proud to announce the forthcoming release of their new album Playground, out December 1st, 2023.
The new record builds and expands upon the three-piece’s enthralling shadow-pop sound, a mix of midnight atmospherics, 90s era jangle pop, and contagious synth drenched hooks that further elevate the transcendent vocals of lead singer Michael Rocheford.
Rounded out by Cooper Leardi (guitar / synths) and Tyler Kershaw (guitar / synth), House of Harm have amassed an impressive following as something of a best kept secret among their growing fanbase, leading to sold out shows on both coasts by the power of word of mouth alone.
The band members have been drawn to music for as long as any of them can remember, and the drive to be around like-minded artists and make their own noise drew them all to Boston after high school. There they all quickly enmeshed themselves, playing in other bands before meeting each other. Ever since, House of Harm have been quietly making a name for themselves among music fans with darker pop persuasions via a steady stream of releases in single, ep and album form.That attention to detail and workmanlike approach at the expense of chasing instant gratification seems to be paying dividends after years of steady effort.
The journey of their new album Playground saw House of Harm stay true to that ethos.
The band painstakingly narrowed the record down to an efficient 10 tracks that they felt made the most sense, both standing on their own as well as fitting into an LP that built a cohesive world for the listener to get lost in. The album’s name also reflects the experimentation and happy accidents that came about during the writing and recording process.
On “The Face of Grace” they set out to explore different dynamics by writing a song entirely without drums, but couldn't help themselves from putting emphasis on the song’s 6/8 waltz time signature. “Two Kinds” is another first for House Of Harm in that it’s predominantly driven by acoustic guitar.
That aforementioned vulnerability shows up in other areas of the songwriting process as well with “Two Kinds”, one of their most revealing songs to date from a lyrical standpoint, written from a place of reflection and weakness and tackling feelings uneasy to be put on display for public consumption.
Taken as a whole, the end result is an album representing a collection of the band’s most raw and expressive songs yet.
Tracklisting:
Side A
1. Before The Line
2. To Last
3. Roseglass
4. The Face Of Grace
5. Soaked In Pastel
Side B
6. Two Kinds
7. Endlessly
8. Ignore The Taste
9. Moving On
10. Place It Back -
Third edition on Clear vinyl limited to 300.Visit product page →
Boston is not exactly worldwide known for its coldwave or synth pop artists. Most of us know the Capital of Massachusetts because of its hardcore legacy that still continues today. And yet, just like flowers in a rugged land, here comes House Of Harm, a post-punk trio whose new approach to the genre was showcased on their two tape EPs, earning them a cult international following as well as an imposing line up of supporting gigs opening for Editors, She Past Away, Lust For Youth, and The Cure's Reeves Gabrels.
Nine songs where timeless melodies of Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me-era Cure perfectly match French coldwave moodiness, enhanced by Cocteau Twins ethereal airiness and Creation Records seminal shoegaze sounds. Just enough light reaches House Of Harm's base layer, giving life to infectious hooks and unforgettable mantras. The gritted core of every song makes expansive moments of release cathartic, always tethered by commanding drums.
Check out the very first single they wrote Isolator and its melancholic synth pop refrain, or Against The Night whose darkwave is as claustrophobic as One Hundred Years. Catch sounds almost like a Sarah Records hit, while the title-track hurls us back into the bleak realms of the Sisterhood.
Different influences but everything is just in its place simply because House Of Harm are the rare band where you can feel every individual member's devotion to each song's world.
RIYL: The Cure, Depeche Mode, A Flock Of Seagulls, For Against, Drab Majesty. -
Sold outHøRD is the solo project of Bordeaux-based synthwave producer Sebastien Carl.Visit product page →
Started in 2014, Sebastien has proven himself to be able to gather a cult fan-base around his creation in a short time, collaborating with artists as Hante, Winter Severity Index and Black Bug and performing live in most European countries.
After a first album on Antoni Maiovvi and Vercetti Technicolor's Giallo Disco and an EP on SNTS' own label Sacred Court, his second full-length record is due September 14 on Avant! Records.
Parallels features eight new compositions that further focus HøRD's distinguishing features: abstract almost liquid synth passages, deep analogue beats, veiled vocals. Uptempo or slow, instrumental or sung, danceable or rarefied it doesn't really matter as the album as a whole ends up resulting in a strong cinematic appeal.
A soundtrack for a journey away from the present time and into an intimate, maybe even nostalgic dimension.
Release Date: 09/11/2018 -
Two years after his previous Bodies LP, French synth solo project Hørd is back with a new full-length.Visit product page →
Started in 2014, producer Sebastien Carl has proven himself to be able to gather a cult fan-base around his creation, collaborating with artists as Hante, Winter Severity Index and Radical G, remixing goth legends Clan Of Xymox and performing live in most European countries.
Debuted by Giallo Disco in 2016, two records on Avant! have followed until this upcoming fourth album. While the music keeps on flirting with darkwave aesthetic in a forward- thinking way, the sound is now clearer than ever. Elements of EBM, shoegaze and techno are reflected through arctic synth pads, ghostly reverbs and urban spleen-filled lyrics to create haunting soundscapes, but Sciences also features beat-driven lead singles that twirl space synths and rounded kicks all over the place like never before.
Enhanced by the great mixing and mastering job done by scene-guiding light producer Maurizio Baggio, you’ll find balearic arpeggios and clangorous trance crescendo on Arrows, italo suggestions over groovy acid house beats on Ice, while mid-tempo synthwave marches menacingly on Turn and vibrates deeply on Fires.
Typical nebulous atmospheres are now less blurry and more on point without losing a single bit of enchantingness, marking a major step-up in Hørd discography.
Tracklisting:
Side A
1. Arrows
2. Ice
3. Blood
4. Turn
Side B
5. Challenger One
6. London
7. Fires
8. Bridges -
Sold outLP comes in printed innersleeve with lyrics. Elegant 4-side Digipak limited to 200.Visit product page →
Koban is a young duo hailing from Vancouver, Canada. They had their first album out on Broadway To Boundary back in 2013 but it really was their 2014's EP on Weyrd Son that got our attention.
Now their second full-length is ready and with it Koban achieved to extend and improve the great results of their previous Vide EP.
Cold yet catchy dark post-punk driven by caustic drum machines, featuring French-speaking female vocals and English-speaking male voice, powered by synths and guitars as sharp and dangerous as a rusty blade.
Tracklisting:
Side A:
1. This Pursuit
2. Instinct of Ego
3. Lesser
4. Elias See's
5. Between the Differences
Side B:
1. Illusion
2. Certain Tears
3. Maladie
4. Le Cauchemar
5. We Run Red Lights -
Sold outKorine is a Philadelphia based duo consisting of members Morgy Ramone and Trey Frye. The pair blends new wave nostalgia, early emo and punk with a modern pop sensibility, contrasting upbeat rhythms against sullen, emotionally evocative lyrics.Visit product page →
Forming in late 2017, the duo’s first EP Corsage gained the band quick traction and a series of tour dates through 2018 which led to the release of the debut album New Arrangements. In 2020 the following sophomore album The Night We Raise heavily expanded the signature sound of the group while continuing to showcase the pair’s DIY mentality and receiving praise from Bandcamp, Post-punk.com, and Pop Matters.
Following a year of isolation, Korine returned to touring supporting chillwave pioneers Small Black and made their international debut appearing at Wave Gotik Treffen in Leipzig in 2022. Tear is the band’s third full-length and definitely their best one to date. While the style stays the same we’ve come to love, the sound is more seductive than ever, with deep bass lines resounding under throbbing synth riffs, while mechanical beats will make you dance in the dark and romantic hooks will take place in your head never to leave again. T
here’s some sort of teenage majesty in the duo’s capacity for just great, classic but strongly 90’s- fueled alternative pop hooks that leaves us divinely unarmed and if you’ve checked out the first excerpt Mt. Airy you know what we’re talking about. If not, a new single called Burn The World is out now as well and we’re thrilled to announce we will release the European edition of Korine’s new album on black vinyl LP.
RIYL: Cold Cave, Lust For Youth, Soft Kill.
Tracklisting:
Side A:
1. Mt. Airy
2. Burn The World
3. Lost In The Dark
4. Chimera
5. Crystalline
Side B
6. Deicide
7. Train To Harlem
8. Dream Dancer
9. The More I Try
10. Forevermore -
Sold outLimited edition of 300. 33rpm black 12" vinyl. Comes with insert sheet with lyrics.Visit product page →
Lost Tribe's Solace is an epic odyssey through the graveyard dimension of punk, drawing inspiration from early crust, 80s California deathrock, UK anarchopunk, and the more tribal side of postpunk bands like Killing Joke.
Solace combines piercing bass lines with earthquake-like drumming, strong vocals, darkly atmospheric synths, and razor-like guitars to weave a spell of death, lamentation, destruction, and disease over the listener.
Punk from the wrong side of midnight.
Tracklisting:
Side A:
1. Disease
2. Rise or Fall
3. Century
4. Untitled
Side B:
1. Untitled
2. Midnight Rain
3. Conquer
4. Dungeon of Stones
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