NEW GOTH /// Post Punk Goth Rock Darkwave Coldwave Synthwave EBM

https://soundcloud.com/weareofwax
🛒 https://ofwax.bandcamp.com/track/severity
🔊 https://youtu.be/sd5O7yFv34I

Jakarta-based post-punk trio Of Wax follows up their first EP with double singles “Severity” and “Crows”. Staying true to the fantasy universe they have built in their 2024 release “Tribes”, the two tracks convey the vision of a fictional landscape, located neither in the distant future nor the past. The aesthetics and lyrical motifs of the songs are borrowed from Italian giallo movies of the 1960s and 1970s, reflecting a desire for a world that may or may not have existed.

The creation of “Severity” and “Crows” involved arpeggiated vintage synthesizers, drum machines, and layers of heavily reverbed and modulated guitars. This deliberate borrowing from cinematic soundscapes reflects the band's fascination with a world that is at once glamorous and menacing, conveying a collective yearning for a stylish, anachronistic reality.

"Severity" is a cold, driving anthem of stark consequences, driven by a motorik chant and arpeggiated synths. In contrast, "Crows" leans into the edgier elements of the band's post-punk influences, utilizing deep, echoing vocal delays and expansive reverbs to paint a picture of an ominous, shadowed urban environment within their fictional world.

PREMIERE: Of Wax - Severity [Palm House Records]

Midnight Passage return with "Medium", the new single from their forthcoming album "Ritualist", a signature coldwave through a hypnotic guitar riff, shaded with shoegaze textures and driven by an industrial groove.

Guitar, Synths, Vocal, Lyrics – Yegor "Melnigore" Melnik
Drums, Synths, Production, Arrangement, Mixing – Nikita "St. Theodore" Theodorov
Mastering – Alexander Moralez

Medium (Snippet)

Wolfprint Anthem

Uzakta

Pasadizo

Templo

Firme

Midnight Passage (the second word pronounced in French as “passage” /paˈsɑʒ/) was formed in 2020 by Yegor Melnikov (@melnigore) and Nikita Theodorov (@st_theodore). The duo combined their backgrounds in electronic and guitar-driven music to create a sound blending post-punk, coldwave, industrial, darkwave, and minimal wave. Inspired by Europe’s early ’80s aesthetics and bands such as Asylum Party, Little Nemo, Deafear, Grauzone, and Fad Gadget, they refined a minimalist musical identity. Their sound’s foundation features icy synths, vintage drum machines, and bass guitar — often treated as a lead instrument.

In 2020, the track Vision was featured on a cassette compilation by Spanish label Soil Records. In 2022, the band released their mini-album Sleepwalker, mastered by Alexander Moralez (The Bleak Engineers). The project garnered acclaim, including a dedicated review on Post-Punk.com, and was shortlisted among the publication’s Best of 2022 releases.

‘’Midnight Passage’s debut album, Sleepwalker retains the timeless post-punk melancholy tension — that sound of bleakness awash in desire – within the six track mini LP that was released in May of this year. Written on vintage drum machines, FM synths and guitars, there’s a serenity to the album’s minimalism that is best exemplified in the opening track, “Desire.” Melnigore’s vocals are impactful as he sings, If you can’t help but cry, just call my name in the night / I can show you the light.’’ – Post-Punk.com, 2022

‘’The duo plays a fascinating, atmospheric, and glacial classic post-punk infused with noir melancholy that delves deeper into the heart of darkness of the human psyche to envelope the listener in a sensual black velvet glove of intimate and painful gloomy introspection.
The title track, “Sleepwalker”, off of the just-released debut 7-song EP, deals with obsessive lyrics that muse in a vicious circle of denial and pain, driven by a groovy, sleek and emotionally crushing brooding bassline, punctuated by a steady sharp drum machine, and somberly ethereal, sparkling guitar melodies, layered with subtly droning synth veils, whilst impassioned breathy baritone exudes frustration and angst through a whimsical, aching fantasy of fear, love, and helplessness.’’ – WL//WH, 2022

Contact: midnightpassageband@gmail.com