Darkwave and synth have been seeing a push in popularity thanks to the hugely successful Netflix series, Stranger Things. The television show which is set in the eighties opening theme has acted as a gateway into synthwave with more and more people checking out the dark and ominous blend of electronic sound.
We Are Magonia is a trio that formed in France in 2017. With their third album, Triangle Unicode (NewRetroWave), the band states, “What we do is basically electronic music made by metalheads. Usually, our music is a mix of what we have been doing and something new that we discovered that has influenced us.” What this spells is a sense of relief for metalheads looking to check out the band. This isn’t your glow stick waving, reflective clothing wearing, electronic club music. We Are Magonia’s style is more on par with Perturbator and John Carpenter.
Triangle Unicode opens with the ominous ‘Written in Blood’ that slowly builds like an impending battle and follows up with the title track full of fast heavy beats with underlying bleak texture. It’s the perfect track for your next undead get together, or vampiric disco. ‘La Crypte’ brings in plenty of darkened atmosphere with a slower and eerie sound that beautifully captures feelings of dread and uneasiness.
‘Go to the Devil’ showcases a few eerie vocals that float throughout the dark synths giving a nice eighties goth rock vibe to the track: We Are Magonia do a great job throughout this album building a dark atmosphere that can be haunting one moment and quickly turn to a more upbeat (but still eerie) pulsating beat in the next moment.
‘Electronic Guillotine Pt 2’ is one of the biggest highlights of the album. The intro feels and sounds like it belongs in a Castlevania game with its haunting beat. It’s difficult to decide whether or not to slay monsters or bang your head while listening to the track.
The album utilizes plenty of shifts of style and tone that keeps the music fresh and free from falling under the trap of all tracks sounding the same which happens to many synthwave artists. There is plenty to enjoy throughout the nine tracks of Triangle Unicode and easily accessible to the metalhead or hard rock fan who may have been thinking about checking out darkwave or synth.
Buy the album here:
https://newretrowave.bandcamp.com/album/triangle-unicode
8 / 10
ANDREW RISCH