6/30 16 VOLT @ The Middle East Downstairs with Bella Morte, Broken Neck Lullaby and Cyanotic

Monday, June 30, 2008
The Middle East Downstairs

16 VOLT
Bella Morte
Broken Neck Lullaby
Cyanotic

18+
$12adv/$15dos

8PM Doors

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16 VOLT

16volt began in 1991 with the mission to merge the raw guitars of early punk with the heavy beats and energy of industrial dance music. In 1992, 16volt ’s founder and frontman, Eric Powell, signed with the Cargo Records industrial subsidiary and now infamous Re-Constriction Records. 16volt’s debut, “Wisdom,” was co-produced by David Ogilvie (Nine Inch Nails, Skinny Puppy) and Keith “Fluffy” Auerbach (Ministry) and was released in 1993. Met with worldwide acclaim from fans and press alike, “Wisdom” officially put 16volt on the map and, along with Powell, was credited with helping spawn a genre of industrial known as “coldwave.” That same year, 16volt hit the road, playing shows to club crowds on the West Coast of the United States.

In 1994, 16volt skipped the industry-standard “sophomore jinx” and released the slightly more raw-sounding “Skin.” This release brought more praise and won features in Alternative Press, Kerrang!, CMJ, Industrial Nation, B-Side, and more. “Skin” reached the #2 slot on Rolling Stone’s alternative charts and charted everywhere from the United States (CMJ) to France, Germany, Ireland, and Japan. 16volt hit the road again for club shows and radio junkets and destroyed it everywhere they showed up.

16volt’s third release came in 1996 by the name of “LetDownCrush.” Co-produced by Jeff “Critter” Newell (Ministry, Filter) and featuring special guests Stella (Stella Soleil, Sister Soleil), William Tucker (Ministry), Marc LaCorte, and Bryan Black (Haloblack, Motor, Xlover), the release once again proved that 16volt was a major force to be reckoned with. Interviews and features followed in huH, B-Side, Alternative Press, Kerrang!, CMJ, Industrial Nation, Guitar Player, and many more respected national rags. LDC charted again, this time at #1 on the Rolling Stone alternative charts and globally on college and commercial radio. This release also marked the debut of 16volt’s national touring career. Vowing to stay on the road for as long as possible, Powell and his crew toured for over nine months in a custom van, making their way around the United States several times with the likes of Chemlab, Bile, Acumen Nation, and Korn.

The touring paid off and interest in 16volt grew. The band returned home to be wined and dined by some much larger labels. In 1998, 16volt signed with Slipdisc/Mercury/PolyGram and got to work on the band’s fourth release, “SuperCoolNothing.” Produced by Bill Kennedy (NIN, Megadeth, Sepultura) and Joseph Bishara (Drown, Danzig), SCN was the band’s most aggressive album to date. This time, Powell and Co. got a hand from special guest Chris Vrenna (NIN, Tweaker) on drums. Upon completion of the album and the most intense promotion schedule to date, they hit the road, playing shows with the likes of Orgy, The Flys, and Candlebox. During the first two weeks of touring, however, Mercury/PolyGram was purchased by Seagram’s, creating a ripple that would send 16volt back home and cause the firing of the entire Mercury team slated to work on the SCN record promotion.

Two weeks after the chaos, SCN was released with no promotion, no touring, and no support. 16volt quickly began to search for another label to pick up the pieces, but it was too late and the mess too large. After close to a year of fighting, lawsuits, and the inability to make something good come from the bad, Powell shut down operations and pulled the plug.

After a long and well-deserved hiatus, the band convinced an investor to buy back SCN from the dead labels; they then re-released it on their own as “SCN2.0.” The double-disc set included remixes by Filter, Orgy, Deadsy, and Crazy Town, in addition to some demo tracks that the band had started working on. Powell gathered the troops and began to mount a comeback.

Shortly after the re-release, 16volt was tapped by Sony to provide the soundtrack to a new PlayStation 2 game called “Primal.” At the end of production, 16volt had furnished 12 tracks and was actually digitized into the game as the opening-cinematics band.

To celebrate the release of “Primal,” 16volt hit the road in 2002 with KMFDM for a North American whirlwind, completing 34 shows in 36 days. Most of the dates were sold out, and by KMFDM’s own admission the tour was one of the best packages they had ever put out. 16volt returned home on the tour bus and inked a deal with Capitol Records. The band then spent 11 months working on demos and being bombarded with pressure to compromise, which ultimately forced Powell to walk away and head back underground.

In 2005, Powell inked a one-off deal with Cleopatra Records to release 16volt’s first-ever “best of” collection. The double-disc set titled “The Best of Sixteen Volt™” features fan-picked tracks on one disc and the first-ever live release of 16volt on disc two. Powell cleaned house, went into isolation, and began working on the next phase of 16volt.

In August of 2006, Powell had a new record under his belt called “FullBlackHabit” that he began shopping to indie labels. He found a new home at Metropolis Records and inked a worldwide multi-album deal. The new record, slated for release in early 2007, features guests appearances by Paul Raven (Ministry, Killing Joke, Prong); Steve Pig (KMFDM); Bildeaux (Necrofix, OHN); Kraig Tyler (Chemlab, Virus23, Crazytown); Scott Robison (Drøne); and Jason Bazinet (SMP).

Artist Website: http://16volt.com/

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BELLA MORTE

Based out of Charlottesville, Virginia, Bella Morte was formed in 1996 by Andy Deane and Gopal Metro. That same year the duo churned out a cassette only EP titled Remorse, which quickly went out of print.

In 1997 the young band went on to win the Virginia Battle of the Bands and used the proceeds to record their first full-length album, Remains. The debut was recorded at the Sound of Music in Richmond, Virginia, and included re-recorded versions of five tracks off of their 1996 release.

Two years followed and Bella Morte released their second album, Where Shadows Lie, in 1999. The album featured two tracks with Ben Whitlow on guitar. Originally released on their independent label, the record was picked up in 2000 by Cleopatra Records.

2001 was another big year for the up and coming act. Howitzer Records released Bella Morte’s Death Rock EP on vinyl, which featured four previously unreleased tracks, and was limited to 300 copies. The EP quickly went out of print. Bella Morte also hit the road during that year with the Cruxshadows for a staggering 53 date US tour. Shortly afterwards and just in time for Halloween 2002, Bella Morte re-released their first two albums and their first EP on their own independent record label.

The band gained the attention of Metropolis Records, who released their album, The Quiet, in November of 2002. Produced by Kevin McNoldy at Crystalphonic Studios in Charlottesville, Virginia, The Quiet features both Ben Whitlow and their then new guitarist, Tony Lechmanski, on guitar.

Their next creation, As the Reasons Die, blended heavy guitars and dark synth lines to create something entirely their own. Displaying over 49 minutes of the most energetic, daring music to hit record-store shelves in a long time, As the Reasons Die showed many different sides of Bella Morte’s sound and moved seamlessly between genres from song to song without ever seeming in-cohesive. Four months after the release, Bella Morte created Songs for the Dead, an EP nostalgic of 80s punk and death rock. This guitar fueled EP features plenty of fist pounding chants and fast paced drum beats reminiscent of a sound that has been lost for nearly two decades and proves triumphant amidst the monotonous wasteland of present day pop punk.

Bella Morte returned for 2006 with the follow-up to As The Reason Die. Incorporating elements of punk, rock and dark electronics on their newest release Bleed The Grey Sky Black, the rock outfit have truly outdone themselves. Bleed The Grey Sky Black is heavier than anything Bella Morte has released up until this point. Tracks like “Torn,” “The End Ahead,” and “As the Storm Unfolds” offer up high energy to motivate, while “On The Edge,” “Dust,” and “An Enemy Without” give time to reflect.

Artist Website: http://www.bellamorte.com/

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BROKEN NECK LULLABY

Artist Website: http://www.myspace.com/misterdickface

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CYANOTIC

Cyanotic signals the return of aggressive electronic rock, melding elements of classic industrial dance, electro, drum ‘n’ bass, rhytmic noise, IDM and metal to create a unique sonic assault.

The band enjoys a rapidly growing fan base, thanks to strong support via word of mouth and sharing the stage with the likes of Skinny Puppy, Front Line Assembly, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Meat Beat Manifesto, Chemlab, Andrew W.K., Acumen Nation, DJ? Acucrack, Stromkern, 16 Volt, Dismantled, Bile, Nocturne, and many more.

Cyanotic had its beginnings in early 2k2. The band’s first release was a collection of demos and remixes entitled “Mutual Bonding Through Violation”, which was released in the summer 2k3 via Cyanotic’s own label, Glitch Mode Recordings. The limited edition E.P. of 1200 copies, now out of print, was met with immediate praise and extremely positive reviews.

The summer of 2k5 saw the release of Cyanotic’s debut full length album. “Transhuman”, a 12 track electronic diatribe combining aggro punk attitude, machine driven beats, infectious synth rhythms, brutal guitars and layers of sonic experimentation, expertly mixed by Jason Novak of Acumen Nation / DJ? Acucrack and Chris Cozort of Iammynewt.

The original “Transhuman” sold out as of August 2006. Due to popular demand, Cyanotic began work on a 2-disc deluxe edition, Transhuman 2.0, with co-producer J. Prost (of mindfluxFuneral) soon after the “Hail the Glitch” summer 2k6 tour. The double album features the original “Transhuman”, as well new songs, alternate mixes, bonus tracks and guest appearances from members of Front Line Assembly, 16 Volt, Acumen Nation, DJ? Acucrack, mindfluxFuneral and Rabbit Junk. Transhuman 2.0 saw its release via WTII Records and Bit Riot Records in July 2007.

Amongst all the shows, promotion and recording, the group have completed production work and remixes for bands including Pigface, Chemlab, 16 Volt, Acumen Nation, Rabbit Junk, See Colin Slash and many more. A very active fan community has since grown around the forums at the Cyanotic website, located at cyanotic-online.com.

A new full length album, “The Medication Generation”, is currently in production and set for release in fall 2008.

“… loud and powerful to say the least” — REGEN

“… brutal and merciless” — SIDE-LINE

Artist Website: http://www.myspace.com/cyanoticonline

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