Late Spring/Early Summer 2023

Mistress is back after a brief hiatus. There was so much new music to cover in goth, industrial and metal, so much. Not to mention anniversaries of certain releases, events and such forth. You might of noticed the cover of this Subterranean mega mix which I will talk about later.

I think I found the theme song for this mix set and going forward their the intro track by Abandoned Toys, wonderful neoclassical project with a very gothic atmospheric sound with their song Where Tides Defy the Moon. Be prepared to hear it again on upcoming Subterranean mix sets. Now we do have new music from Velvet Wounds, Dalias which is a new act from Chile. And of course we got more new music from Ritual Howls and more.

After a good dose of post punk to start us off with I wanted to touch upon a special block interrupting our normal routine to introduce this Rozz Williams block. The anniversary of his suicide came and went this past April 1st. There are some classics there from the debut and his last album with some of the original line up in Ashes. What also released recently was this tribute album coinciding with his death or maybe it was a coincidence. Who knows?

This block does feature some track off of this tribute album. I was thinking it's just recycle material that Cleopatra Records puts out but no, this is completely original with modern acts. Speaking of but not included in this mix which I wanted to add but didn't is that Cleopatra recently remastered the 1990's Death Mix with new artwork and a slightly different but at the same time updated tracklist. I'm guessing they didn't had the rights to a lot of the mixes anymore like THD who are missing among others. Not surprising given the band isn't around anymore. Others tracks by Rozz are within this block such as his solo career, Premature Ejaculation and of course Shadow Project. On a sidenote Shadow Project 1334 is a thing which is spearheaded by Rozz's former wife Eva O. Wonder if they are still around?

We do have a lot of new goth rock music that came out these past months. One that caught me by surprised was a new release by former vocalist of Theatre of Tragedy, Liv Kristine. Some of you are probably wondering why is she in the goth rock segment? Shouldn't she be in the gothic metal portion? Yes and no. For those that remembered the band's album at the time Aégis which featured heavy goth rock song structure. There is a reason for that. The man behind the song writing of that album was Tommy Olsson, goth rock musician. He has also been in obscure Fields of the Nephilim inspired sounding band Elusive and is currently in two modern goth rock bands, these are Long Night and the more popular October Burns Black. If you dig that Aégis vibe, then the latest Liv Kristine will feel right at home.

Along with new music from Ukrainian one man band Black Light Distract, seriously, check out his work. Also featuring new music from my personal new favorite goth band Oscura Daemonia teasing a new single for their upcoming album. Really looking forward to hearing it once it's fully out. New music by a goth favorite, The Cemetary Girlz. We also have 2 anniversaries I briefly touched upon. Tristania's debut Widow's Weeds just turned 25 years. Amazing how times flies. Now they are a gothic death doom band at the time of the album but they had this one off goth rock piece I couldn't help but put it into this beautiful set piece. And of course a classic from Nosferatu, their debut album Rise turned 30 recently as well. Personal story, I remember finding these guys through compilations that Cleopatra put out. They turned out to be one of my most favorite goth rock bands to spin during those long car rides back home from college class. Can't believe it's been this long.

*Recent photo of the band Girls Under Glass from their new album Backdraft

This season we were blessed with so much darkwave music. Both goth and industrial leaning darkwave from Sad Madonna, This Eternal Decay to new hits like The Frozen Autumn which is a goth stable to one I didn't except like Not My God which is a project of Skold and Nero of Psyclon Nine. What really surprised me was brand new music from Girls Under Glass. This is their newest album in almost 20 years! Their previous album before this was Zyklus back in 2005. Really excited for this one as the single showcased here features dungeon synth/industrial artist Mortiis.

We also celebrate 30 years of Hocico as the band announced it on social media these past months. Another anniversary that came up was Ministry's With Sympathy which turned 40. Skinny Puppy's final album Weapon turned 10 as well which was another anniversary that was touched upon here on Subterranean. For those giving hope for a new Skinny Puppy record, it's not going to happen as the band called it quits this year right when I took my hiatus. Weapon might of not been the best but it was at least new Skinny Puppy material at the time and I say that's better than nothing. Farewell old friend, thank you for the tunes and the memories.

We also include new music from Statiqbloom that recently came out as well as heavy industrial hitters as Lead Into Gold, Godflesh and 3teeth. There is a new single from Long After Midnight which features a friend of mine, go check them out! If you are looking for new industrial music check out Sentient Ruin, yes it's a metal label but they have really been diversing their roaster with underground and new up and coming industrial artists as 8 Hour Animal, V:XII, Isolant and more.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Hanzel Und Gretyl's album Über Alles which was a turning point for the band. This was the first album on Metropolis Records which were at their peak as a label as a sidenote. From this point on, the band moved to a much heavier sound than ever before when they were previously on the now defunct Energy Records. With each passing album they only grew heavier and heavier until eventually they started to play with black metal influences today.

Speaking of heavier territories, Subterranean is near the end touching lightly upon more new music from Deathstars, The 69 Eyes and Sanz. We also have new artists as This Dying Age, check them out if you are into death doom metal. And look up gothic metal band Orphans of Dusk, especially if you are huge into Type O Negative.

*Photo taken from the linear notes of the S.E.T.I. album

A couple more anniversaries that needed to be included were Therion's Symphony Masses - Ho Drakon Ho Megas which turned 30 this year. If memories serves right this was the final release of the band before moving away from doom death metal and venturing off to more symphonic/power metal. And of course let us not forget The Kovenant's final album S.E.T.I. which was also the first album the band went into a full on industrial/cyber metal direction. The album turned 20 this year. It's a shame too because the band just simply stopped putting up new music right at the peak of their career. Would of been interesting to hear what record they would of cooked up after this piece. The still currently is still around technically speaking. Supposedly the next piece is Aria Galactica which was described as a return to form of the band back to symphonic black metal but the album has been in the works and/or on hold since the mid 2000's. Who knows if we will see the release in the next 10 years, I'm doubtful but I'm been surprised before. So who knows?

*Taken from the linear notes of the album Cruelty and the Beast

The Wall-Eyed, Vain and Insane. Subterranean draws to a close as we are taken away by Cradle of Filth magnum opus album, Cruelty and the Beast. This is a special block dedicated to the band and the anniversary of the album which turned 25 this year. Often regarded as the best album by most fans of the band, this is their first conceptual album revolving around the story of Countess Bathory and their most dark and abrasive record to this day.

This block includes music from the album interwoven with snippets of interviews between songs as well as bands that that were influenced by Cradle of Filth and worked with the band to so capacity during this era. Bleeding Through, Graveworm, Lamia Antitheus to even the latest Old Corpse Road have cited the band as a big influence. Some music that is also included and I had to throw them in there is Chrisitan Death with tunes from their album Born Again Antichristian. Dani Filth does appear as a guest vocalist in a couple of their tracks as well as Cradle of Filth's own guitarist Gian Pyres as guest musician.

The tracks from the Cruelty and the Beast album within this mega mix set are from the Remastered and Remixed version of the record. Why the remastered? Why remixed? Fans are split between this version and the original unmastered version. Personally I don't care which one, just give me fucking Cruelty. But for those that do not know, back when this album came out the band was unhappy with the production of the record and some parts sounded muddled within the complex and chaotic song structures. That could be a good or bad thing depending how you see it. Not to mention backing vocalist Sarah Jezebel Deva which sidenote has worked with varies of black metal bands under her belt, she was a mainstay within the band. Her vocals were pushed so far in the background you could barely hear her at times. However this added to the haunting atmosphere of the record, like a Ghost in the Fog if you will... The current remastered version has better sound production, instruments are much clearer and Sarah's vocals are much more presentable but at the same time the record loses a bit of that chaotic sound of the instruments from the original and the haunting background vocals of her. It honestly depends on which way you hear it...