Vortex Empath Xen (V.E.X.) Share First Two Singles – “Demon Dimension” & “Split Orb” from New album Out on Psychic Eye 3/27

The post-punk, industrial-inspired queer duo V.E.X. is at it again with their new full length.

Vortex Empath Xen plays Oakland 3/27 w/ False Figure @ Elbo Room Jack London. Oakland

 VORTEX EMPATH XEN “Between Worlds”,  which comes out 3/27 on Oakland’s own Psychic Eye. Here we bring you an exclusive stream of the first two singles, “Split Orb” and “Demon Dimension” V.E.X. further develops their ever-evolving sound with dark these two powerful post-industrial / post-rock tracks, utilizing all of their signature sonic elements;  arpeggiated bass and synth lines, funky, chaotic melodies, complex arranging, pummeling drum machines, buzzing horns, mangled samples, angular, distorted, blown-out guitar, and everything gelled together with the duo’s iconic evocative vocal styles, which skate atop the cauldron of twisted sounds perfectly and solidify their art as one of the hardest to quantify into a single genre, V.E.X can simply not be defined in this way.  If you remember, we reviewed the duo’s other project MOIRA SCAR “Wound World Part 1” (also released by Psychic Eye) and you can read that here and order the CD, at the same time your hopefully ordering this one, which held a similar complexity, however “Between Worlds” takes the creativity to another undiscovered level. Sonically, the duo is at times more post-punk, at times, more experimental and always pulling from a queer, post-industrial framework, VE.X. is constantly shifting and re-adapting their sound and visions to the cutting edge of a  violent world. From the band:

“Demon Dimension is a Deep Delve into Depressive Paranoiac Mind traps Human brain like hamster on wheel spinning around it’s cage for eternity.Discordant screams waking in a nightmare.”     – Lucifer Gamma Ray  & Roxzan Zatan

Lucifer Gammaray and Roxzan Zatan split vocal duties on this pair of singles, undulating between a more operatic style such as found on the break of “Split Orb” or like the orator of controlled chaos, the singing/screaming dichotomy on  “Demon Dimension” increases the intensity in a very real and visceral way. After only hearing the first two tracks, we know “Between Worlds” is going to be an underground queer staple of post-rock/post-industrial.

“Split Orb is a journey across time and space from within/outsider/multiplxpersonaliti cell/root/complex, we are growing into new beings, what we have been what we are becoming, change is the moment, hybrid hubris, we are flesh channels for source/spirit, we are unbecoming.” –  Roxzan Zatan & Lucifer Gamma Ray

 

 

PREORDER NOW from: Psychic Eye Records

LISTEN LIVE: V.E.X. Plays Elbo Room Jack London 3/27 with Mystic Priestess,  False Figure &  more. 

 

 

 

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DECAYCAST Premieres: Post-Industrial Darkwave duo V.E.X. Shares New Video “Dancing At The End Of Time”

DECAYCAST Premieres: Post-Industrial Darkwave duo V.E.X. Shares New Video “Dancing At The End Of Time”

Bay area artists Roxy and LuLu, as V.E.X., (and a myrid of other projects) have been playing music and creating art together for years on end in the bay area and beyond, yet somehow always bring something refreshingly new and politically necessary to the table, and their latest single, supported with a brand new video here “Dancing At The End Of Time” is certainly no exception.

From the artists;  “Dancing At The End Of Time” is a low-fi synth ballad of remembrance and resistance in a dying world, the true story of two femme freaks gentrified out of the city but not out of their souls, holding onto their love in spite of all the hate, dedicated to crafting underground subculture music for outcasts, the forgotten, and those fighting back in this genocidal abusive white supremacist capitalism patriarchy death spiral.“

“Dancing At The End Of Time” offers a celebratory, yet real and  visceral look at two femmes resisting the violent forces of oppression and gentrification through the streets of a forgotten and endlessly morphed San Francisco.  “Dancing…” gels haunted vocals and murky, analog synth arpreggiations, creating both a serene and haunting vibe which encapsulates the listener into a tale from the past.  Watch the  video below and read some words on the track and video from V.E.X. below. The track is from an upcoming split with Moira Scar.

“Roxy and LuLu have been playing music together since 2001, as The Floating Corpses, Angel On The Nod And The Phantasy Defylement, Terrran Traumantics, Moira Scar, and V.E.X. being the most recent incarnation. V.E.X. (Vortex Empath Xen, formerly Voltage Empath Xanaxax, Ventriloquest Ectoplasmold Xanaxax) is Lu Lu “Lucifer” Gamma Ray and Roxzan “Roxy Monoxide” Zatan as industrial-dark-wave synth-punk surreal-doom noise-romance duo. V.E.X. creates, V.E.X. records, V.E.X. plays shows.”

Check their bandcamp below and make sure to check for select tour dates and an upcoming split with Moira Scar.https://xanaxax.bandcamp.com

     – Meniere Zappone

 

DECAYCAST Reviews: MOIRA SCAR “Wound World Part 1” (Near Dark, 2018)

 

Bay Area queer deathrock stalworts MOIRA SCAR are back with their new full length on CD/CS/ and  digital via Oakland’s NEAR DARK imprint, which is run by dark gothic outfit, OTZI whose newest offerings, “Ghosts” was  covered HERE a few weeks ago. Moira Scar currently is in trio form with their latest offering  with Roxy Monoxide: guitar, sax, vocals, LuLu Gamma Ray: synthesizers, vocals, and Aimee S: drums. Moira Scar’s newest full length, “Wound World Part 1” boasts seven snappy, punchy, femme forward dark punk/death rock cuts,  intentionally building upon their unique, sought after, indimable sound of their previously released full lengths, “Psychoid”  and “Scarred For Life”. With an augmented lineup, and a slightly darker and more rock forward sound, “Wound World Part 1” might be the most intentionally straight forward, intense  and focused sound the outfit has  concocted yet, and the  recording production suits the  sound perfectly. Thick pummeling percussion, wailing, screaching vocals, fuzzed-out chugging, angular guitar riffs and the staple walls of  reverb’d saxophone.

“Snap Back” might be the most traditionally “Moira Scar” sounding cut on here blending heavy bass riffs, walls of  sax with driving punk inspired hard hitting  drumming and the signature  layered vocal efx stylings which could take the  sonic shape of anything from low  distorted  growls to high pitched shrieks of intense washes,  utilized to great success on the track “Chrysalis Skull” The operatic style walls of  vocals blend perfectly over the frantic, manic heavy  drumming and thick slabs of  guitar and  bass work. Slower, more  post rock inspired track “Zeta Rainbow” offers chugging, blown up guitar riffs with dragging slagged out bass lines with more  traditional breakdowns where the guitar and  dual vocal  processions shine brightest.

Moira Scar’s  sound is  thick, violent,  present, and demanding of the space it requires and  deserves. Death rock, like any “sub-genre” can be formulaic, boring, and  predictable, but “Wound World Part 1” is the complete opposite; fierce, unique, cathartic, and nasty!. In a time where we need it most,  Moira Scar once again, and perhaps with more force than ever proves they are  here to stay with some of the most forward thinking and necessary sonic offerings within the contemporary rock scope. This record rallies against the dying, boring, overdone and under thought  droves of CIS white-male “dominated”capitalistic rock scenes, by raising the bar and  flushing the  boring and  inspired rock trends down into the sewer where they have belonged this entire time, and serve as an assault on the  normative, re-hashed, uninspired music that often fills the  airwaves. Moira Scar is a weapon against a  violent, patriarchal system of despair, confusion, and  entanglement and  “Wound World Part 1” is the next logical step in the bands seemingly endless progression of reinvention. One of the most important contemporary dark rock acts going, period. This record is not to be overlooked.

Order the  New record HERE and  HERE

MOIRA SCAR

NEAR DARK RECORDS

decayREVIEWS: GROUP RHODA “Out Of Time, Out Of Touch” LP (Night School Records, 2012)

GROUP  RHODA “Out Of Time, Out Of Touch” LP (Night School Records, 2012)

 

The freshman LP from Bay area antiquated calypso dark, synth crafter GROUP RHODA. This  album opens up a palette of  new, yet historically sound territory in a concise and smart hybrid stylized record. GR offers the listener a cobustion of exploding space dust, writing a narrative based under the cloak of science fiction fact mantras of fucked up up up non pop non music music. Palpitating drum machines support arpeggiated synths and keyboards, important yet subtly giving breath to well placed vocal hymns, present yet dissonant procrto-pop song structures,  crawling heads of funky texture time and timbre amalgamations — an intelligent species of sound variety, washes the brain in sonic bleach — out front vocal melodies, with space based lyrics to boot  round out this  hybrid-style proto pop offering from bay area resident, Mara.

GROUP RHODA paints a drodweamy, sonic desert island, yet a oobmetaptghysical hurricane eye approaches off the coast of subtle silence – slides up
Your back and into the conscious rain Suspended between a memory room
Raft and orchestrated melodies from accellerating space ships GROUP RHODA dangles theories and structures in front of the listener, that are both from the future and the past. At times dark, minimal
Synth and at times more lush sounding electronics this album breaths a bit of variety, which is dime….funky arpeggiated bass lines and calypso style percussion, purring drum machines and whispering, shaking, powerful vocals
Round this record out quite nice.

STUCK between a pastel wash and a deep maroon hell – this album paints both a bleak and blissful sonic offering Get it from GROUP RHODA locally in the bay area or from the label direct. Crazy strange art from both SUZY POLING and NICOLE GINELLI.

Night School Records.