Italian neoclassical/darkwave band Ataraxia has released a new single and video, "Breath Of Soundrops", from the just-released, via Rune Serpent Europa, compilation album The Five Senses. "Breath Of Soundrops" features Francesca Nicoli on vocals and lyrics, Vittorio Vandelli on classical guitar and programming, and Giovanni Pagliari on keyboards.
The band comments: "The light of the Tao entered into ecstatic connection with the night of the Tao. Duality united creating the perfect circle. The night of the Tao fell asleep and the light of the Tao welcomed its breath. A dream was born. The night in communion with the light dreamt of a boat on a lake with soft and delicate colours where the two experienced a deep peace. The energy of the Tao produced waves spiralling everywhere like circles in the water. The water was the quantum field beyond space-time. The title of this song is the essence of that dream: the breath, the lake drops and the sound born from this mystical union."
The Five Senses compilation is a tribute to Italian painter Saturno Butto. The compilation features previously unreleased tracks from artists including The Magus, Lisa Hammer, Ataraxia, Schatten Muse, Amphoterism, Phobia Effect, Elder Futhark, Experiment Death Patient, Staat Und Organisation, Puppe Magnetik, Regard Extreme, Stabat Mortii and Kathodos. Link

French dark‑folk collective Skáld have issued their new track "Dǫkksalir", unveiling/unleashing/revealing gentle, hypnotic melodies that drift almost like a lullaby — perfectly suited...
Having performed at the annual German alternative‑music festival M'era Luna in early August, Canadian electronic rock/dark pop act The Birthday Massacre will return to Europe in late...
Dutch witch‑rock visionary Annicke Shireen unveils her new single “Loud Hag”, accompanied by an official music video. The track is taken from her forthcoming debut solo album Delirium,...
Italian melodic dark/doom metal force Shores Of Null present “Son Of The Tide”, the second glimpse into their forthcoming album Homesick, set for release on 16 October via Dusktone...
"I think it's basically a mutation of a lot of different things — like a hybrid creature nobody quite knows how to categorise. A heretic, I guess." - Håvard Ellefsen (Mortiis)
"We were kind of exploring dark subject matters and darker sounds. I really like that, and this is the direction we are going right now." - Larissa Vale
"With Hypocrisy, I'm very "home", but with Pain, it's an adventure, just like going into the jungle only with a knife and no glass of water and trying to survive." - Peter Tägtgren
"I like to call our music suicide pop, because our songs are pretty easy to listen to, but the topics are very negative and quite dark. It's pop, but negative pop." - Simone Salvatori
