They are not to blame that much, those who support the idea that Halloween should be cancelled this year, first of all because 2020 has been super scary on a very realistic level anyway, and secondly due to the fact that there will always be those who won't be following regulations during the celebrations, and the modern curse which has fallen upon humanity will be further spread. Halloween shouldn't be cancelled though; nothing should, except maybe for that timeless idiocy which has been plaguing the human brain since the dawn of time.
Our Halloween playlist this year includes only tracks from 2020, passing through those genres which are known for favoring the darkness, the gloom and the macabre, and allowing them to become parts of their DNA: darkwave, synthpop, industrial, post punk and deathrock, gothic and extreme metal, and of course synthwave whose horror aesthetics and narratives have been a huge factor to the style's appeal.
It's composed of sounds about which we post all year, but it features many acts we've never covered before, acts which deserve attention and appreciation, like the deathrock bunch, Athens GA's Tears for the Dying, Istanbul's The Voodoo Spells, Chicago's Order Of Night, NYC's Cemetery Echo, and Deathsvn from Chile who did a great take on a Dead Can Dance song.
From the heavier, metal inclusions, the cool return of Powerman 5000 should be noted, as well as the gothic metal extremity of new act, Not My God, composed of Tim Sköld (Marilyn Manson, Shotgun Messiah) and Nero Bellum (Psyclon Nine), while it's also worth mentioning how Paradise Lost show no signs of fatigue after all these years, and have just released another strong full length.
The synthwave bunch features usual suspects, Confrontational, John Carpenter, Carpenter Brut and GUNSHIP, alongside the consistently on the rise Vector Seven, and the very productive, Slasher Dave.
It's a pretty diverse mix, with every inclusion winsome for its own reasons, and everything worth looking up, further explored and deserving of support.
Happy Halloween!
Astari Nite - Gloomy Witch
Ripple Tapes - (Living) in the Dead of Night
Vandal Moon - Dead
Distant Mirror - Fiends in Human Shape
DARK - NIGHTMARE
Thrillsville - Lockdown
Gossip Cult - Cemetery Eyes
Rats and Daggers - Vampires
Threat.Meet.Protocol - The Witch Trials
Ratboys - I Go Out at Night
Tears for the Dying - Go Die
The Voodoo Spells - Gallows Tree
Order Of Night - Roll In The Dead
Cemetery Echo - Transylvanian Moon
Deathsvn - The Arcane
The Humms - Level with the Devil
Powerman 5000 - Black Lipstick
Not My God - Sowing Discord
VAZUM - Vampyre
Vanik - Night Danger
POSSESSOR - Coffin Fit
Raging Speedhorn - Hard To Kill
Paradise Lost - Ghosts
John Carpenter - Skeleton
Confrontational - Black Glasses
Slasher Dave - Night of the Jack-O-Lantern
Electric Dragon - Nightmare (Feat. Kriistal Ann)
Carpenter Brut - Gone Now
Das Mörtal - It Comes
Vector Seven - Where's My Chainsaw
GUNSHIP - Black Blood Red Kiss (feat. Kat Von D)
ZR