GOST

Valediction

CENTURY MEDIA

Synthwave’s most extreme adherent unearths fresh new horrors

ago synthwave seemed an intriguing niche – a burgeoning aberration borne of nostalgic predilection for 16-bit videogame soundtracks and opens his latest album with industrial-strength blastbeats so intense they punch into electro-noise territories that would make Alec Empire proud. Percussive intensity isn’t where the industrial/metal influences stop; the serpentine screech that accompanies s pulsating electrodance is pitch black in its demonic exhortations. Elsewhere, on the likes of , you could be listening to Depeche Mode, so effective is the combo of dance-pop hooks within svelte, goth environs. ’s all-consuming sonic intensity is juxtaposed with pared-down electronica, rapidly switching between bacchanalian posturing and uncontrolled rage. combines a static-embattled, mid-paced beat and a rich Peter Steele-esque baritone, breakbeats shattering the repose. conforms to standard synthwave tropes, made all the more engrossing for its perpetually unpredictable edge that’s becoming ever a more dangerous listen than the majority of GosT’s peers.