ELAY ARSON - Franz

Synthmetal duo ELAY ARSON has made a name for themselves for their unique approach in blending both synthwave, cyberpunk and metal genres together into one powerful sound they can call their own. Heavy -and often times even double - kick pedals under sweeping crystalline arps laden with tasteful, sonic guitars, syncopated bass riffs topped by guttural death vocal work mixed with melodic vocoders that would at times go into epic prog rock. For those who like their synths in the heavier end, but still retaining a sci-fi, cyberpunk atmosphere that can range from expressively vibrant to smokey, dark and progressive, this dynamic duo is for you.

Elay Arson is Daniel David Larson & Devin Harrison. Larson, from the American Southwest and a former US Army Sergeant and Iraq War veteran, often draws influences from his wide-scale life experiences. Devin Harrison, an outstanding guitarist and guitar teacher by trade, joined the project in 2017 and the two have been working together ever since.

Their latest release, FRANZ, is an electronic rock opera about a murderous man-car Frankenstein hybrid that came out of a freak accident at the Tesla manufacturing plant. (Curse you, Elon!). Featuring the vocal talents of artists Becca Star, C Z A R I N A and Hard Working Men, this collection of eclectic heavy electro tracks deliver a seamless cyberpunk narrative of metal and blood-thirsty horror. Read the story below and check this creative, supremely-executed record out which is one of our top picks for the year.

Franz – A METAL Truck Opera
“Practically drives itself”

Quarter 4, 202X, the first Tesla Cybertrucks start rolling out of the factory. Projected as a commercial success. An automotive revolution. The electric truck with bold & cold design.

Unfortunately, a freak assembly line accident occurs at the Tesla plant before the final product launch. On the day of a visit by CEO Elon Musk and Cybertruck designer Franz von Holzhausen, an overhead truck drops from its support platform and crushes Franz under his own creation. Never one afraid of the dark, Elon Musk faced the challenge in a unique way.

Musk attempts to bring his deceased employee back to life with underdeveloped "Neuralink" technology powered by a Cybertruck battery. The battery belonging to the truck that killed Franz.

In this secret Frankenstein-esque experiment, Elon unknowingly fuses the eternal soul of Franz to the vehicle.

The billionaire CEO thought the procedure failed. After hiding the lifeless corpse of his former designer in a nearby field, he orders his factory to resume vehicle production and dispose of the now non-functioning auto that fell on Franz.

Mere hours after the disposal order, the cursed machine could not be found by any Tesla employees. All had presumed someone else took care of the task.

Elon gave little thought about what had happened and made no public acknowledgment of his actions. He was mostly noticed on Twitter for his intellectual posturing, bragging about his lifestyle, and the financial success of the Cybertruck. In doing so, routinely leaving an embarrassing series of public messages to the chagrin of his music star spouse. Business as usual.

Weeks pass by.

In the cover of a dark mountain forest, Franz gains newfound consciousness. Hazy memories of names, locations, and sensations. Not quite man, not quite AI, a new life form. Possibly a superior being. A god. A creation ignored. Unintended and unknown to his creator. As Franz's newfound consciousness grew, so did his anger.

Reports of mysterious disappearances and grizzly murders in the areas surrounding the Tesla plant started occurring. Those reports were mostly ignored even as they increased. That is, until the morning the severed head of Elon Musk was found on the front steps of Tesla headquarters.

Franz announces his return from beyond the grave in a "hostile takeover" of the entire Tesla company via email.

He wants to design a new future. Recreate Elon's experiment. Create more sentient trucks. Truck supremacy. For this, he will need bodies. Many freshly dead bodies.

Franz grows out of control. No longer killing in secret. Rampaging in broad daylight. A bloodthirsty machine hellbent on murder and seeking revenge beyond recompense. The unstoppable force that could drag a Ford F-150 uphill. Rage envelops the sentient machine.

A brave selection Fremont citizens are forced to kill a beast born of a wealthy madman's hubris. Together, they hunt Franz in hopes of ending the reign of terror.

For more Elay Arson, visit elayarson.bandcamp.com

CAT TEMPER - More Than A Feline

Boston, MA-based meowsician CAT TEMPER unveils his monstrous 10-track full-length LP and his first non-instrumental release “More Than A Feline,” featuring vocals by various international artists in the synthwave, darkwave, post-punk, retro electro and industrial genres. The record delivers a delightful, vast array of feline-themed bangers, showcasing clever lyricism spanning from quirky, cuddly, lovable to fierce and ferociously deadly over some seriously catchy melodies - all written and performed by the collaborating artists over Cat Temper’s distinctive brand of synthwave instrumentals.

Synthpop star OCEANSIDE ‘85 (Victoria, BC) opens the record and desperately laments over forlorn feline love in “Sweet Cheetah.” Electro funk artist SWAYZE predatorily hunts and traps his love prey in “Cat’s Eye.” Darkwave artist JENNIFER MAHER COLEMAN (Upstate, New York) yearns to come close to her clawed beloved without sustaining injury in “Claws Out.” Synth pop artist FRISKY MONKEY (Atlanta, GA) rues with a broken heart as a victim of insatiable dark love in “Nine Lives.” Retro Electro artist CASEY DESMOND plays a ravenous game of cat and mouse in “Purrfect Crime.” Darkwave duo GULF BLVD (Tampa, FL) reveal what goes in the mind of a cat-tator wanting to dominate humans and turn them into slaves in “Slaves To The Feline Race.” Synth and electronic rock artist C Z A R I N A (Galicia, Spain) sharpens her claws as the stealth-mode frightening and uber fierce killah ninja in “Doom Puma.” UPON EVENTUAL COLLAPSE flexes all his muscles of steel as the beast of prey in “Big Bad Cat.” VIOLET CANDIDE (Vienna, Austria) goes into an outer space adventure in golden fur ball suits to save the galaxy from evil space rats in “Space Catets.” And finally dark synth artist THE VESSEL OF VVOV (Kuovola, Finland) closes the record with death and glory in the name of the feline gods in epic “The Swarm of Ulthar.”

CAT TEMPER is Mike Langlie, a veteran design director by day. When he’s not busy making the world a more colorful, sleeker place, he spends his time dabbling on synths and adding to his most expansive toy keytar collection.

For more CAT TEMPER, visit cattemper.com

VON HERTZOG - All The Pretty Faces (Feat. C Z A R I N A)

Philadelphia-based Cold Wave and Retro-Future Artist and Producer VON HERTZOG recently dropped a new cover of The Killers’ track “All The Pretty Faces,” featuring Galicia-based American artist CZARINA (formally styled as C Z A R I N A), who provided both vocals and guitar performances. The track mixes cold wave, dark electro and raw lo-fi 90s alt rock back drop with CZARINA’s hallmark darkwave and post-punk vocals, all culminating into an epic and emotional crescendo.

“The is a song I've loved since I first heard it in 2007. Finding out Flood and Alan Moulder produced it only made perfect sense to me. Getting a chance to reinvent it with CZARINA was something too good to pass up. Landing in quarantine after spending ‘2 long years in a strange strange land,' I found this song somewhat autobiographical about my pre-pandemic life. ‘Help me out I need it,’ because there's no going back,” explains Hertzog, as to why he chose this track.

“I love The Killers. It was refreshing to be able to do a track that is just so raw, so gutsy and true to the good ol’ untethered punk vibe. The song is about being hurt and all the bottled up anger on edge that needs to be screamed out into the void. It was quite an experience being the voice for this and to bring out a certain level of emotional distress in the performance. I was very glad that Von asked me to do it,” says CZARINA.

Kent “Von” Hertzog is an accomplished, seasoned producer who initially emerged in the hip-hop world in 1996 under the alias DJ Luciano. He has tenured as a resident engineer at 1650 Studio and 36 Chambers, working closely with prime hip hop artists Violator’s JoJo Pellegrino, Pretty Ugly, R.A. The Rugged, Ghostface Killah and Wu-Tang’s Shyheim. At the wake of his father’s untimely death, Hertzog launched Von Hertzog in 2013 - a synth retro-futurist music project that gives nod to ‘80s retro electro. Since then he’s released six singles, two EPs, and three full-length albums, including the soundtrack to video game Neon Aileron. Hertzog is also the owner and main engineer for mixing/mastering house The Social Club. He is also the “VH” in the rising cold wave duo VH X RR under Lakeshore Records.

C Z A R I N A is Vero Faye Kitsune, an award-winning American synth and electronic artist, songwriter, producer and filmmaker based in Galicia and London. CZARINA has captured recognition for her uniquely stylish performances and dynamic approach to songwriting, production and audio-visual creative direction. She is under the German-French darkwave, industrial and goth music label darkTunes Music Group.

For the latest news on Von Hertzog, visit vonhertzog.bandcamp.com

For CZARINA, visit www.czarinaofficial.com.

DEAD ASTRONAUTS - “Forgetting Me”

Lo-Fi New Wave act DEAD ASTRONAUTS dropped their latest single and neon-lit visuals “Forgetting Me” from their upcoming full-length LP “Silhouettes.” The music video depicts a young couple trapped in a lackluster domestic relationship, slipping further in a cold, loveless downward spiral drag. The woman’s growing resentment leads her to creating a fantasy where she kidnaps her partner and torments him in raves before his eventual murder, ending in a rather beautiful and dramatic celebratory dance. It makes viewers wonder how this relationship began in the first place, and what could have caused the dissonance that brewed into such poetic rage. 

Blending the lines of Darkwave, Goth, Post-Punk and New Wave, Dead Astronauts launched in 2011 and recently regrouped as a trifecta consisted of some notable acts in the synth scene. The group is led by Seattle-based vocalist, musician and designer Jared Kyle and LA-based synth artist Florence Bullock, a.k.a. Glitbiter.  Switzerland-based Record Producer, Slade Templeton (Crying Vessel, Influx Studios) stepped in to help bring the Dead Astronauts’ new modern and edgy sound to life in 2019 and 2020 and round out the band. Dead Astronauts are back and ready to reignite the flames. Their new album “Silhouettes” will be out on Cold Transmission in 2021. 

For more Dead Astronauts, visit www.deadastronauts.com