News Archive: January > June 2002

This section archives the news of the first half of 2002, as it has appeared on BDAMD.
27.06.02 Red Zebra plans new 'best of'
Red Zebra At a moment that their new album 'Don't put your head in a bucket' is hitting the charts, it seems that 80s wave collective Red Zebra are planning a new collection of their best material to date. 'From ape to zebra' was released in 1992 by Antler. Stocks have sold out since than but despite popular demand, the record company isn't planning another pressing of this item. So 'The art of conservation', as the album is called for now, would become quite similar to this previous release. Label or precise release date are unknown for now.
21.06.02 Moody summer with vidnaObmana
vidnaObmana And more news from the Belgian summer festivals: vidnaObama seems to have found a sparring partner with Joris De Backer as they will appear together on stage at the Gentse Feesten (23.07, St-Jacobsmarkt, Gent) and the Nacht van de Musea (03.08, Elzenveld, Antwerp). The planned concert on 27.07 in St-Petersburg (Russia) got postponed till 2003.
Currently available from vidnaObmana are 'Innerzone' (with Steve Roach, Projekt), 'The shifts recyclings' (with Asmus Tietchens, Soleilmoon Recordings) and 'Tremor' (Release/Relapse)
21.06.02 Eurorock reveals line up
Eurorock 2002 The line up of this year's Eurorock, Belgian's main festival for wave-gothic-electro-industrial, was announced today. It features - amongst many others of course - several Belgian acts: The Dawn Visitors, Obverse Reality, The Neon Judgement, Geschmäcksverstärker, Suicide Commando, Monolith, This Morn' Omina, Hybryds and Implant.
The festival starts with a big party on Thursday the 1st of August, celebrating 5 years of Eurorock. Headliners are John Foxx and Corvus Corax (02.08), Covenant and The Gathering (03.08) and Soft Cell and Noisex (04.08).
20.06.02 New website for Dark Entries magazine
Dark Entries Belgian magazine Dark Entires reinforced its online presence with a new website featuring the usual information on the scene: news, interviews, reviews, links, agenda, ... And they made it easier for you to find their place in cyberspace, by the means of their new url http://www.darkentries.be. As it also contains the articles written for the paper version of the magazine, it ensures hours of reading in both Dutch and English.
By the way, Dark Entries announces the third chapter in their Dark Demons demo sampler series, which should guarantee a new shipload of Belgian acts worth to discover.
20.06.02 IC 434 presents new album live
IC 434 They've been out of sight for a while but Antwerp EBM act IC 434 has returned with a new album 'The banished', released on Body Records, a sub-label of Dirk Ivens' Daft Records. Geert de Wilde will present his new compositions live at the Twieoo in Ghent on the 28th of July, backed-up by keyboarders Sven Kerstens and Bert Cruysweegs.
Support act for the night is Propulsion, who will showcase their newcomer 'Flesh & blood' which is also released this month.
19.06.02 Star Industry alive
Alive Festival The modest Alive Festival in Sankt-Vith (B) has been following its very own course for several years now, inviting alternative acts you won't see at for instance Pukkelpop. On stage on previous editions were amongst others Crematory, HIM, Star Industry, Front 242 and Oomph!. This year's edition again offers 3 days of electronica & rock with a.o. The Sisters of Mercy and Star Industry playing both on Sunday 28.07. The festival starts on the 26th of July.
06.06.02 Alfa Matrix gathers in Belgian bands
Alfa Matrix Next to Aïboforcen, the band powered by label owner Séba Dolimont, the young Belgian label Alfa Matrix signs two new Belgian names to its roll: Implant and Nebula-H.
Nebula-H is a new band formed by Deranged Psyche (ex-Fuze Box Machine singer) and Mika (This Morn' Omina) who promise to bring EBM with a futuristic techno twist. Their debut album "H" should be released round October 2002.
Implant is of course well known for their very unique interpretation and combination of electro, industrial and trance music. Round October/November, their already 4th album entitled 'Planet euphoria' will hit the shops. New material will already be presented during the band's performance at Eurorock this year.
29.05.02 Spiral of Silence strike back with new single
Spiral of Silence - Seed dump As of today, the new single 'Seed dump' is available exclusively through the band website. Next to the title song, produced by one of the godfathers of Belgian alternative rock Kloot Per W, it contains the unreleased track 'Walk away' and a cover version of Joy Division 's 'Dead souls'.
You can try to help getting this single into De Afrekening by voting here. Check out Spiral of Silence live on the 1st of June at the B52 in Eernegem or on the 6th of July at the Gruis night at the ACU in Utrecht (NL).
Spiral of Silence further reports their debut album 'Leap' is available through the Energeia mailorder service. In the mean time, they're still looking out for a label to release their full 'Decadent'.
15.05.02 Kagan radio gives away meet & greet with Von Magnet
Kagan Kagan radio - one of the most respected radio shows in Belgium - is back in the air since the beginning of February. And now you can win a meet & greet with Von Magnet on the 24th of May at their concert in Antwerp (CC Luchtbal). All you have to do is answering to this question: "What's the title of the Von Magnet album that was released by the Belgian label Kk Records in 2000?". More info on the radio pages of the Kagan website.
15.05.02 Belgium at the Wave Gotik Treffen
WGT 2002 This Vale of Tears announced that they're unfortunately not able to play at WGT this year, much to their disappointment. They hope to hit the stage next year. Belgian bands that will perform in Leipzig are a.o. Breath of Life, Hypnoskull, Imminent, Neon Judgement, Sonar, Star Industry and Suicide Commando.
10.05.02 New edition of Dark Entries magazine out now
Dark Entries 38 The new Dark Entries Magazine has arrived, issue 38 already. Coming as a special double cover issue (Within Temptation vs Vomito Negro) it features interviews with the cover bands and acts such as Cinema Strange, Hocico, IC 434 (part 2), KMFDM, No Comment, This Morn' Omina, Inkubus Sukkubus and articles on The Sound, The Gothic Novel, loads of news and cd-reviews. The magazine comes in 52 printed A4 pages for 3,75 Euro.
07.05.02 Bal Fatal lives up to its name
Bal Fatal Several recent disappointments such as the closing of their usual party hall 't Syndroom and of course the forced cancellation of their second festival, seem to become lethal for the Sint-Niklaas based organisation Bal Fatal. With a party coming up on the 11th of May - which had to be moved to 't Kompas because 't Syndroom decided to stop all activities - it seems impossible to find a suitable solution to this problem. This means that it will probably be the last time you can enjoy Bal Fatal in its present form!
02.05.02 News from the Suicide Commando HQ
High Voltage III You won't be able to miss Suicide Commando on stage this summer. Already confirmed are Wave & Gotik Treffen in Leipzig (Germany, 18.05), Metamatik IDsekt 2002 festival in Vicenza (Italy, 06.07), Eurorock festival in Lommel (Belgium, 04.08) and M'era Luna festival in Hildesheim (Germany, 10.08).
Furthermore, you can pre-order the High Voltage III sampler, compiled by Johan Van Roy (Suicide Commando), which will be officially out on May 24th. It's a collaborative release between COde and the new german label Dying Culture. High Voltage III contains material and mixes from bands like Solitary Experiments, Stin Scatzor, Prothese, Project-X, Aslan Faction, E.S.R., Empusae, Mnemonic, Kil67, Cryogene ...
And Johan Van Roy already announces the Noise Terror III festival which most likely will take place on saturday the 26th of October at M.O.D. in Hasselt (Belgium), date to be confirmed. And you can help. Send Johan an e-mail stating which electronic-industrial band(s) you would like to see at Noise Terror III, and if possible, they'll make your wishes come true. From all mails they'll select some winners who'll get free tickets for the festival.
02.05.02 New book by Mick Mercer out now
'21st Century Goth' is the title of Mick Mercer's 4th book which is available as of today. It includes 276 pages, 174 photos, including 20 full-page photos. This book concentrates on what is on the Net that is Goth-related, and breaks it down into sections. 5517 sites are reviewed or listed.
The contents are as follows: bands (960 reviewed - 982 listed/categorised), clothes/goth-related businesses (371 r - 34 c), clubs (159 - 60) goth people (709 - 404), goth sites (285 -108), locations (241 - 124), resources (44 - 47), zines (192 - 27), webrings (47 - 76), visual rock (33 - 31), sites of interest - which contains much weird material (417 - 166).
BDAMD features in this publication with the comment: "Big on news and reviews, with good detail in scene links". The publication can be ordered online at Amazon.de.
24.04.02 Vomito Negro split in unclear circumstances
There's little doubt about the fact that Guy Van Mieghem and Gino De Vos decided to call it quits. It seems that Guy Van Mieghem will continue to use the name Vomito Negro, while Gino De Vos has already set up his own project Dreamwaver.
However, due to the apparent troubled circumstances in which this decision was taken, BDAMD will not publish any further statement on this matter until the clouds clear up a bit. Of course, you're free to leave your comments on the BDAMD guestbook.
09.04.02 The Last Fall update
Dark atmospheric act The Last Fall, a solo project by Alain Posset, recently released its first website. Although we're talking about a newcomer, the site looks very professional and is certainly worth a visit. In extension to its Identifile on BDAMD this January, it offers the usual information including mp3s and the possibility to order releases directly from The Last Fall.
Unfortunately, as of today, there is no news on a possible release date of the new The Last Fall album 'Unknown treasures'.
06.04.02 Second Bal Fatal Festival cancelled
Following the disappointing news earlier on Vomito Negro not being able to perform, it's now confirmed that the second Bal Fatal Festival is cancelled completely. This festival was to be held in Sint-Niklaas on May 11 with IC 434, Hypnoskull, A Split Second, Vomito Negro and a special late night act by Sonar.
If you already have a ticket, you can return it to the seller and get your money back. Meanwhile, the organisation will probably try to get the announced line-up on stage later on.
02.04.02 Full schedule for vidnaObmana
As part of his Inferno tour, vidnaObmana returns to Sint-Niklaas after some 15 years to headline the annual Independent Music & Arts festival on April 6. A month later, on the 17th of May, he'll perform in Lier (B) together with jazz musician Joris De Backer at a concert organised by the Flemish classical radio station Klara (VRT). This show will be broadcasted live. Additional performances are planned for the USA (May) and Russia (St-Petersburg, July).
In the mean time, the long-awaited collaboration album of vidnaObmana with Steve Roach (Projekt) will be released soon. Also due to come out, this time on Klanggalerie, is a limited 7" containing songs of the 'Tremor' and 'Spore' recordings: 'Isolation trip/Path of distortion'. For more info on this and other releases, visit vidnaObmana's excellent website.
27.03.02 Ah Cama-Sotz to release new album on Hands
A busy bee as always, Ah Cama-Sotz will be releasing a new album soon on the German label Hands. Check out the 'recent belgian releases' column to the right to stay up to date.
In further news, ACS made it easier for its fans to find the website. Today, it launched www.ahcama-sotz.com which will be offering to usual news, information, mp3s and graphics in their very own style.
26.03.02 Vomito Negro cancels all concerts for 2002
The news section on the Side-Line website reports Vomito Negro won't play live until the end of 2002. Reportedly, frontman Guy Van Mieghem will undergo a surgical operation to reconstruct his left arm. This news affects amongst others the Bal Fatal Festival (Sint-Niklaas), which furthermore features A Split Second, IC 434, Sonar and Hypnoskull on the bill. It is not yet clear whether the release of the album will be delayed as well.
01.03.02 Eurorock summer festival indoors
The 2002 edition of Belgium's biggest dark alternative music festival Eurorock will be held indoors for the first time. The organisation took this decision to prevent situations similar to those of the history of the festival. Visitors of the 2001 edition probably remember a tent taking off into free space. Also the weather, as hard to predict or control as it is, played a more important role at this festival the past few years then most would have wished.
For exact location, itinerary and pictures of the Soeverein event hall in Lommel, go to the official Eurorock press statement.
In the mean time, more acts are announced to perform at Eurorock 2002. Belgian bands are: Suicide Commando, Ancient Rites, Hybryds, Monolith and The Dawn Visitors.
19.02.02 Buropolitik searches remixers
With a new album in the pipeline, EBM duo Buropolitik are looking for bands who are interested in remixing two tracks for a forthcoming mcd. One track is called 'Safety word' and can be found on their current album 'Fall and forget'. The other song 'DeathChamber' is still in the making.
Buropolitik recently participated on the Dark Demons sampler and featured on the bill of Eurorock Indoors last January. You can listen to some audio files on their website.
15.02.02 Spiral of silence finally broken
It's been quite a long time since their latest release, but cold wave band Spiral of Silence is coming out of the dark real soon. Together with the famous Belgian alternative musician-producer Kloot per W, SOS will a record a new single due to hit the streets by the end of March. For this moment, there is no confirmation wether the album 'Decadent' will be released soon as well.
12.02.02 Kagan radio back on air
Today, Kagan aired its first radio show in over two years. Famous for their combination of hits, unknown acts and tracks, information, agenda and specials, Kagan is one of the longest running radio shows at Radio Scorpio (Leuven, B). You can listen to an hour of wave-gothic-electro-industrial every Tuesday between 21:00 and 22:00. Furthermore, Radio Scorpio is working on online broadcasting, which will enable a larger public to listen to Kagan.
The playlist of this first transmission will appear on the Kagan site soon. Starting in 1992, Kagan celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, but more news about that will be revealed later.
07.02.02 New album for Vomito Negro
The following statement appeared on the New Empire message board: "After ten years of silence, partly due to Guy Van Mieghem being injured, Vomito Negro will this year release a new album. According to the unofficial site supported by Guy Van Mieghem himself, the new material will be quite different from the earlier efforts of the band, and contain many different musical influences." The unofficial site further reports Triton will release the new album on May 15.
This message becomes even more reasonable knowing that Vomito Negro features on the bill of the 2nd Bal Fatal Festival (Sint-Niklaas, B) early May, together with a.o. A Split Second and IC 434 (check the events page for more details).
05.02.02 Siglo XX back from the dead
After earlier messages saying Siglo XX guitar player Antonio Palermo was planning his come-back in the music business with The Honeymoon Cowboys, it is now reported that Siglo XX will reunite. The last sign of life came in 1989 with their album 'Under a purple sky'. Let's hope we'll be able to experience these icons of the Belgian scene live as soon as possible.
20.01.02 Antonio Palermo (Siglo XX) back with new band
  Antonio Palermo - known as guitarist with the 80s cult band Siglo XX - formed a new band called The Honeymoon Cowboys. After a long term of silence, he was back on stage last year as a special guest at several concerts with Spiral of Silence. So it's no surprise that two members of the latter band will participate in this new project. Information about possible other members or the musical style they will follow is not given yet.
13.01.02 Some changes for BDAMD
  I've got a few short messages concerning BDAMD. First of all, as of January 12, the domain name was finally activated. From now on, you can reach these pages through www.bdamd.com. For now, this url will only be used as a forward url which is easier to remember then the one given by the webhost.
Second, BDAMD no longer offers a mailorder service through FrontStage. Most of you will know why, others can read the January newsletter.
And third, because a website about music should offer some as well, the BDAMD IdentiFiles are being updated with soundbits. Eventually, I hope to add links to music on every IdentiFile. Check the IdentiFiles page to see where you can listen to some tracks.
09.01.02 Absolute Body Control tapes available for download
All tracks by Absolute Body Control will be available for download at the official Dirk Ivens website in the coming weeks. Every now and then, the songs of another tape will be uploaded. But be quick, because every tape will only remain online for a short period. Keep up to date with the Dirk Ivens newsletter for which you can subscribe at his website. The files will be in .mp3 format and can be downloaded at the discography pages.
06.01.02 Many concerts and festivals in early 2002
  It seems several Belgian organisations woke up or at least increased their activities considerably. Although you can find all concert and party information at the BDAMD events page, here is a short round-up of the upcoming festivities:
26.01 - De Schuur/Breendonk - Verloren Fest
26&27.01 - Hof ter Loo/Antwerp - Eurorock indoor & preselections
02.02 - Cahier de Brouillon/Hoogstraten - Black box festival
02.02 - Twieoo/Ghent - Obverse Reality
09.02 - Twieoo/Ghent - Zeromancer
01&02.03 - Kuipke/Ghent - 10 years The Invitation
13.03 - Twieoo/Ghent - Hocico, Accessory
16.03 - Magasin 4/Brussels - Sounds from down below
06.04 - Kompas/Sint-Niklaas - Independent music & arts festival
20.04 - tbc! - Bal Fatal festival
02.01.02 Dark Entries launches 'Dark demons - The second breed'
Following the overwhelming succes of the first Dark Demons sampler, the Belgian magazine Dark Entries give away the 'Second breed' with their nr. 36 issue. It involves 13 Belgian demo acts who hopefully get the chance to reach a bigger audience: Empusae, Massaker Staccato, Buropolitik, Virtual Ice, Obverse Reality, Act Dramatic, Liquid G, Slave Seperation, Crossvaults, Erato, Art of Decay, Sin-Tek and Foochow. Links to (most of) these acts can be found in our database. This release is a must-have if you want to keep up to date with the vivid Belgian scene.




page updated on 15.05.2003