Track Listing: Unload, Desperate, Mistake, Zeitgeist, Lies, hold Me Down, After the Storm (Version), I Live, Burn Your Bridges, Take No More, Zeitgeist (Velvet Acid Christ Loomis Mix), Desperate (Lost Signal Mix).

Pissed-off, gothic-industrial, club-mix hypnotic darkwave. Guitars and computer electronica backing male vocals hushed with subdued anger. A spinoff side project of better known band, Emergence. Ranges from melancholy, easy lope to near rave-frantic tempos. The music seems to be chewing and swallowing slowly, confident that it will eventually consume the listener.

For more information, check out their official site.

Track Listing: magnifishit, daL, haZe, pedafly, jaHer, politikiL, lestiduZ, pasturN, ambiantz, ugLi.

You know what to expect. Heavy electronica leaning toward industrial with vocals often electronically altered. What I like about the way this band does it is that they actually sing the ring modulation and vocoder stuff, rather than just going for the Darth Vader effect like so many lesser bands do. In other words, it’s art. The current offering is all about control freaks, whether they be world power brokers or the girl next door. It will take over and control you... mwahahaha. Very effective consciousness expanding music here.

For more information, check out their official site or their Myspace Page.

Track Listing: Vigília, Acordar, Ainda É Noite, Sou Eu!, Forget Me Not, Some Love Please?, Da Minha Ausência, Enthralled, Fujo De Mi, What If...?, Opus DCXVI.

Iberian string group (classical & 12-string guitars, violins, bass...no drums). Female vocals, mostly sung in Portugese, with some songs in English. Delicate acoustic textures, occasionally broken by a surge of quick urgency. Difficult to classify, since they don’t fit neatly into any particular genre, though they have played European goth/darkwave festivals. The album opens and closes with short instrumental works; the opener a sort of mood piece, the closer more up tempo and somewhat jazz-like; it’s all sunlight and shadow in between.

For more information, check out their official site.

Track Listing: Vanessa (radio), All That She Wants, Vietnam, Mexican Standoff, If I Was hit By A Meteor, Louise I'm Listening, Monkeypuzzle, Journey To Storyville (Electric).

Vintage rock and glam meets indie. Did The Kinks have grandchildren? This Bristol, UK band seems to have been raised on 60s and 70s pop/rock and taken it all to heart. They would fit well with many guy bands of that era. There is a girl in the group – she is the synth player; the vocals and spirit are unmitigated guy. Their song, “Vanessa”, might even have made a radio hit back in the day.

For more information, check out their official site or their Myspace Page.

Track Listing: Vinland Saga, Farewell Proud Men, Elegy, Solemn Sea, Leaves’ Eyes, The Thorn, Misseri (Turn Green Meadows Into Grey), Amhrán (Song Of The Winds), New Found Land, Mourning Tree, Twilight Sun, Ankomst.

Comprised of Liv Kristine Espenœs Krull, former singer of Theatre of Tragedy, together with the lineup of metal band, Atrocity, Leaves Eyes (the band name is a clever pun on the singer’s first name) is an epic Norwegian/German gothic metal septet. Their music is heroic and evocative, yet also embraces a sensitive aspect and bits of something like Celtic drone and classical influence with kettledrums and strings.

Vinland Saga is a tribute to the 11th Century voyages of Leif Eiríksson to Greenland and other places in North America. The group will be playing at the Metal Female Voices Fest in Wieze, Belgium this coming October along with a stellar list of other gothic metal acts, including the awesome Elis, who we reviewed here last month. Why don’t I still live in Europe?!

For more information, check out their official site or their Myspace Page.

Track Listing: Sirens, Only Love, AWOL, Take Me Away, The Whim And The Will, Orbit, The Night And You, Godspeed, Speak To Me, Venus Burlesque, Rogue heart, Tears Of The Sun.

This NY/NJ pop/rock band already has a large worldwide following which is bound to grow. They also have an impressive discography. They are reminiscent of better female fronted groups of past eras (Blondie, The Pretenders, Concrete Blonde, The Motels, et al) in that, in addition to very engaging vocal quality, they feature high quality original song writing, with plenty of vocal and instrumental hooks that keep pulling a listener in. Musically, they are nicely balanced amalgam of new wavishness and retro rock, heavy on the surf music and vintage 50s twangy guitars.

The overall effect is more atmospheric than vintage sounding though, as if Cocteau Twins went retro. A surprise at the end of the album... an a capella with electro fx track. This group is definitely worth checking out if you haven’t already.

For more information, check out their official site or their Myspace Page.