“It could be White Reaper’s best album. It’s entirely possible that the album is flat-out-great, maybe even a classic of its form,” declaredUPROXX, while Treble attested “The journey to reclaim rock as an outlet for ballistic fun may very well start here.” Stereogum praised White Reaper’s “ideal balance of pop accessibility and rocking-the-fuck-out abandon,” and+rcmndlistenaffirmed “They’re everything a rock band should be this day in age, and for that, they deserve the title of world’s best.”
The heavy metal ‘n’ roll, dark, madcap visionaries collectively known as AVATAR — vocalist Johannes Eckerström, guitarists Jonas Jarlsby and Tim Öhrström, bassist Henrik Sandelin, and drummer John Alfredsson — have unleashed yet another track from their upcoming magnum opus and ninth album Dance Devil Dance, out Febriuary 17 via Black Waltz Records, distributed by Thirty Tigers. Pre-order the album HERE.
In celebration of 36 years, MY LIFE WITH THE THRILL KILL KULT will hit the road this Spring after a four year hiatus. The “Evil Eye Tour” kicks off May 14th, 2023 at the Nile Theater in Mesa, AZ. The set list for the 14-date western US tour will focus heavily on the band’s early career on both the Wax Trax and Interscope record labels (1987 – 1997). Joining TKK as direct support will be Detroit’s avant-garde electronic duo ADULT. and underground pop purveyor KANGA completes the bill.
Hailing from Chicago’s renowned Wax Trax! Records stable of artists, MY LIFE WITH THE THRILL KILL KULT have been conjuring up sonic tales of sex, blasphemy and kitschy horror since 1987. The band helped develop the industrial music genre, yet have continued to expand their style, creating one of the most diverse repertoires in modern music. Electronic rock, heavily influenced by both disco and funk can best describe their sound, while spoken-word samples lifted from B-movies gives the band their signature mark. They have released 14 studio albums, a slew of remix compilations, and have contributed to a variety of soundtracks and film scores, including a cameo performance in the 1994 cult movie classic The Crow.
Artist Franke Nardiello and musician Marston Daley, two Chicago neighbors who enjoyed late night binges watching trashy exploitation films and horror flicks, wanted to make their own movie to be called “My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult”. While the project never came to fruition, they wrote some music to be the accompanying soundtrack. Both worked at the Wax Trax record store, and when label founders Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher heard the songs, they were intrigued. Using the film title as the name of the band, they released a 3-song EP in early 1988. The response was overwhelming, and it was clear fans wanted to hear more.
Taking the stage names Groovie Mann (Nardiello) and Buzz McCoy (Daley), the duo began to focus on music full time. They created an occult meets leather biker image to compliment the band’s name which included enlisting a bevy of voluptuous back-up singers / dancers known as the BOMB GANG GIRLZ. In June of ’88, they flew to label mate Luc Van Acker’s studio in Belgium to record their first album, I See Good Spirits and I See Bad Spirits. It was recorded in just ten days, and mixed in another ten days at Southern Studios in London. The fans ate it up! They followed up with two hard-hitting dance floor 12” tracks – Kooler Than Jesus (1989) and Cuz It’s Hot (1990), which features no-wave chanteuse Lydia Lunch on vocals. The New York Times wrote, “Sex, blasphemy, big beats and go-go dancing; they’re all in a day’s work for My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult”. This attracted the attention of indie fans, as well as the ire of the PMRC and conservative religious groups in practically equal measure. By the time of their sophomore release, Confessions Of A Knife (1990), they were far and away one of the biggest selling acts on the label.
1991 saw the release of their third album, Sexplosion!, a calculated sonic and visual departure from their previous work. 1950’s pin-up models replaced the demonic imagery, while sleazy stripper horns, disco beats and house diva vocals (provided by artist Shawn Christopher) took prominence over the more abrasive musical elaments.They put together a provocative stage show, complete with spinning police lights, mirror balls and a stocked bar with bartender to serve the scantily clad musicians and dancers while they performed. Alternative Press reviewed the show as “Sin-sational!”, while Melody Maker described it as “A Cabaret from Hell”. It was a huge success, and the album sold so well (fueled by the phenomenal radio hit “Sex On Wheelz”) that the group signed a deal with Interscope Records shortly afterwards and released two more albums – 13 Above the Night (1993), and Hit & Run Holiday (1995).
Hollywood also embraced the KULT, recognizing the unique cinematic aspect in their sound. Most notably, the band scored five songs for animator Ralph Bakshi’s Cool World (1992) and wrote the lap dance song for director Paul Verhoven’s saucy Showgirls (1993). Comedies BASEketball and The Flintstones Movie prominently feature songs from the Hit & Run Holiday album. They have been roasted by MTV’s Beavis & Butthead, and were written into the story line of the film Sexy Evil Genius which also features the song “A Daisy Chain 4 Satan”. Most recently the club hit “Kooler Than Jesus” can be heard blasting in Season 3 of the Netflix series Narcos.
The band moved to Rykodisc in 1997 and re-released their entire remastered / repackaged catalog, along with five more studio albums, including an homage to 70’s disco era called Gay Black & Married, and the sultry and decadent Filthiest Show In Town (2007). They also formed their own label, SleazeBox Records, in 2001, enabling the release of a growing number of side-projects in addition to new TKK material.
Today SLEAZEBOX.com boasts the complete THRILL KILL KULT catalog, in addition to related works such as Mann’s DARLING KANDIE, and McCoy’s self titled projects. They continue to work with Wax Trax! Records for the purpose of re-issuing special limited edition vinyl. Buzz and Groovie still record and perform live along with veteran band mates Mimi Star (bass) and Justin Thyme (drums), all the while making a reputation for themselves as one of the most notorious and controversial cult bands of their generation.
SOCIETY 1’s new single, “The Fight Within” is now available on all streaming platforms accompanied by a music video. The song was mixed by Chris Collier (Korn, Whitesnake) and features the drumming of Dagon Destroyer.
The music video is directed by Lord Zane and produced by Dagon Destroyer.
This week, symphonic metal titans EPICA will finally kick off the Epic Apocalypse Tour 2023, a European co-headline tour with APOCALYPTICA, that will take them to 21 countries over the course of the next 3 months.
Just in time for the first show in Vilnius (the band’s first ever performance in Lithuania), they have released a new live video for ‘Rivers’, an atmospheric ballad off their latest full-length release Omega. Filmed in Santiago de Chile during the band’s Latin American Tour in 2022 by Panda Productions, the new live video is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcLGgfyOmZE
Finnish Love Metal pioneer, Ville Valo (VV) of HIM, has today released his debut solo album, Neon Noir. Available via Heartagram Records, distributed by UMG/ Spinefarm, all digital & physical versions can be found HERE.
Ville Valo comments: “I firmly believe Neon Noir sprinkles some much-missed glitter all over modern day doom andgloom. It’s 12 lessons in reckless abandon without spilling the red.”
Watch VV’s brand new video for album title track, ‘Neon Noir’, HERE.
Dark Art Conspiracy 
You must be logged in to post a comment.