Chiasm & John Fryer Announce The Release Of Debut Album Missed The Noise

Out March 5 Via Indie Label COP International

Pre-Sales Available Now HERE

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The Industrial-Electronic Project Of Emileigh Rohn

Teams Up With Noted Collaborator John Fryer

(Black Needle Noise & Producer Behind Depeche Mode, NIN)

On LP, Featuring Previous Singles “Away” & “Are You Okay?”

Evocative New Single “Intertwined” Released Today

Hear it HERE

COP International Records is pleased to announce the indie label’s first release of the new year: the anticipated debut album from Chiasm And John Fryer. Called Missed The Noise, the full-length LP will arrive March 5 and includes 11 bold tracks including the previously released singles “Away” and “Are You Okay?”—the latter playing directly into the current landscape amidst COVID-19, racial tensions and economic distress with a poignant “check-in” for listeners, and to let them know they are not alone.

The project of Detroit-based musician Emileigh Rohn, Chiasm has become known for cultivating lush, eclectic, eerily dystopian sonic landscapes with delicately balanced vocals for the past 20-plus years. On this latest release she teams up with collaborator John Fryer, the mastermind behind the project Black Needle Noise and the noted producer who was worked with Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, 4AD, Cocteau Twins and Love and Rockets.

Pre-sales for Missed The Noise are currently available HERE.

Today, Chiasm And John Fryer also release a new taste of the album with the eerily cinematic track “Intertwined,” which can be heard HERE.

Says Rohn of the album, "Working with John [Fryer] was a completely fresh experience for me that reinvigorated my passion for writing. The opportunity arrived, thanks to COP International, at a time I wasn't sure of my next direction in music at all. I had released my solo album Reset in 2019 and I was ready for a new approach. Creating Missed The Noise was unprecedentedly fast-paced and insightful for me. I became capable of trusting my instincts and pushed my creativity forward without over-questioning. The collaboration felt easy. I loved what John did with each track, and we worked delightfully smoothly together in my experience. I thoroughly enjoyed the process, and am certain it has influenced how I will continue my art forever. I am so thankful."

And Fryer adds, "It was extremely exhilarating working with Emileigh. As soon as I heard the vocals for the first song, everything seemed to click like all of a sudden the stars aligned and off we went on this incredible journey and ending with the wonderfully fantastical album Missed The Noise.

Missed The Noise comes on the heels of a busy 2020 for Chiasm, which saw her release the Away EP in June and the “Are You Okay?” single and remix EP in August, which also featured John Fryer and contributions from label mates Stabbing Westwardand Jean-Marc Lederman (Front 242/The Leathermen) as well as Third Realm and Glass Apple Bonzai.

The newest release follows a long line of notable releases from Chiasm (established in 1997), including the 2001 album Disorder with the track “Isolated” that was featured in the television show NCIS as well as in the Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlinescomputer game. Rohn has also collaborated with genre stars Attrition, Carphax Files, Jean-Marc Lederman, Third Realm, :10:, and Acclimate.

All of Rohn’s previous releases had been self-written, programmed, performed and produced in her Michigan studio known as the MausHaus. The music, and the project name (which refers to the optic chiasm, a crossing of optic neurons in the brain that allow people to have continuous and peripheral vision), are in dedication to her full-time career in the field of science.

Here is what the press has had to say about Chiasm:

“’Away’ is a beautiful song featuring dense, stuttering electronics and Chiasm’s trademark ethereal vocals that shift into an echoing, high-pitched chorus… a massively overlooked talent in the industrial and dark electronic scene.” —Synthpop Fanatic

"Emileigh Rohn's voice is somewhere between Bjork and kaRIN of Collide—soothing in sound and yet jarring in message.” —Outburn Magazine

“The Detroit-based performer has put out some austere material the past 20-something years, industrial-drenched noise explosions and implosions, but ‘Away; is considerably more accessible thanks in part to her collaboration with John Fryer, producer for the likes of Depeche Mode and Nine Inch Nails…. a dramatic, hard-rubbed-synthesizer brand of electro, a Goldfrapp-meets-Grimes instrumental context for the vocals of Rohn, who at times sounds like a dead ringer for the Bangles’ Susannah Hoffs.” —Knoxville News Sentinel

"What Kate Bush is to pop culture, Chiasm is to electronic music." —Zillo

"The often dismal character of the Motor City is known for inspiring a host of instrumental techno artists, but Chiasm (Emileigh Rohn) chooses to express her angst through very intimate and intense audio exorcisms that juxtapose her ethereal, haunting vocals and confrontational snarls with murky, minimalist industrial sounds. … An audio diary full of electro energy and honest emotion that gives the idea of 'girl power' a whole new spin." —CMJ

"Emileigh Rohn's music is one of the often overlooked treasures of the dark electro/industrial genre." —LiarSociety

Iconic producer John Fryer releases haunting 'Nocturnal' single with soprano Helena Mamich

John Fryer photos by Martha Schuster Helena Mamich photos by Daniel Jones (+ photos via Dropbox by Ivo Turk)

John Fryer photos by Martha Schuster
Helena Mamich photos by Daniel Jones (+ photos via Dropbox by Ivo Turk)

Legendary producer John Fryer presents his latest single 'Nocturnal'under the Black Needle Noise moniker, featuring Croatian-Australian soprano Helena Mamich.

This single follows close on the trails of BNN's 'These Mortal Covers'album, a covers-based album, released via Cleopatra Records and involving collaborations with a handful of varied vocalists, including Anjela Piccard, Pinky Turzo, Beca, Tom Berger, Magic Rebecca Coseboom, and Betty X.

"I had made the music and was talking to my good friend Marija Buljeta and said I was looking for an opera singer for it and as luck would have it she was friends with Helena Mamich, who she recommended to me and the rest is herstory as they say. Helena has worked wonders on this song and we give you 'Nocturnal'", says John Fryer.

"Adding the dark voice into the context of darkness we get Nocturnal" or the Latin proverb "De nocte Consilium", explains Helena Mamich.

As one of the most innovative sonic architects in our age, “John Fryer has practically soundtracked your entire life” (Impose Magazine). His musical imprint is massive, having shaped the sound of bands from Nine Inch Nails and Cocteau Twins to HIM and Depeche Mode. He is also one of just two masterminds behind This Mortal Coil (along with Ivo Watts-Russell – not only producing, but also keyboards, strings and synthesizer sequencing).

John Fryer started his career in 1979 at London’s Blackwing Studios (London) and soon began working with seminal bands on 4AD, Mute, Rough Trade and Beggars Banquet, including Depeche Mode, The Wolfgang Press and Cocteau Twins. His achievement in helping develop the latter’s pioneering ethereal and ambient sound ultimately led Watts-Russell to recruit Fryer as his partner for This Mortal Coil.

Since then he has produced many iconic artists, including Love and Rockets, Swans, HIM, Cradle of Filth, Clan of Xymox, Nitzer Ebb, Dead Can Dance, Yaz (Yazoo), Xmal Deutschland, Fields of the Nephilim, De/Vision, Stabbing Westward and many others. Fryer has also produced many film soundtracks, such as Seven, Clerks, Johnny Mnemonic, Mortal Kombat, Faust and Resident Evil: Apocalypse.

'Nocturnal' and 'These Mortal Covers' are available everywhere digitally, including Apple Music, Spotify and directly from Black Needle Noise via Bandcamp, along with their debut album 'Before The Tears Came' (CD, vinyl, digital) and following 'Lost In Reflections' LP (vinyl, digital).

Very soon, the good folks at Los Angeles' 33.3 Music Collective will also be offering CDs of the new album exclusively as a gift when you purchase something via the Black Needle Noise website.


Keep up with Black Needle Noise
Website | Bandcamp | Facebook BNN | Facebook John | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | Spotify | Press contact

Keep up with Helena Mamich
Website | Soundcloud | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn | Press contact

Stabbing Westward Signs New Record Deal With COP International

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Industrial Rockers Continue Reunion Momentum & 

Return To The Studio With John Fryer,

Legendary Producer On The Band’s Seminal Early Releases

New Album Wasteland To Be Released In 2020 

The Band’s First LP In Nearly 20 Years

Just months after releasing their first new material in 18 years, Stabbing Westward continues their newfound momentum, today announcing a recording deal with COP International to release the band’s upcoming fifth studio album Wasteland alongside at least one new single in 2020.

In January, the respected industrial rock band released the EP Dead And Gone with all new material, featuring the bold title track as well as the darkly atmospheric and dreamy “Crawl,” the riveting dancefloor fury of “Cold” plus remixes that showcases a revitalized band performing at the same heights of intensity that originally made them a success. Hear the new music here: https://stabbingwestward.bandcamp.com/album/dead-and-gone

The EP’s title coyly illustrates that Stabbing Westward is in fact neither dead nor gone, but rather ready to pick up where they left off after a string of mid-‘90s hits that dominated alternative radio and film soundtracks, including “Shame,” “Save Yourself,” “So Far Away” and “What Do I Have to Do?”, and resulted in two Gold records.

To recapture that early chemistry, the band—featuring original founding members Christopher Hall (vocals/guitar) and Walter Flakus (keyboards/programming) as well as longtime bandmate Carlton Bost (bass) and newest member Bobby Amaro (drums)—has again recruited their original producer, the legendary John Fryer for the upcoming Wastelandrelease. It will be the first LP from the band since 2001. Fryer, whose production credits include Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, 4AD, Cocteau Twins and Love and Rockets, was behind the boards on Stabbing Westward’s seminal early albums Ungod (1994) and Wither Blister Burn + Peel (1996).

"It's grand to be working with Stabbing Westward again,” says Fryer. “The first two albums we made together were some of my finest work as a producer."

Stabbing Westward frontman Christopher Hall adds, “I was so excited to have the opportunity to go back to the very roots of Stabbing Westward by working with John again. John really helped us develop our sound on our first album and then helped us take a huge leap forward with our second album. Even though this is our fifth full length, after such a long break it feels like a new beginning and it's very cool to have John at the helm once again.”

Fellow founding member Walter Flakus adds, “I couldn’t be more excited to be working with John again. The creativity we found on the first two records continues to drive where we want to take Stabbing Westward in the years to come. I’m so happy to rekindle that flame.”

Christian Petke, founder of COP International, also says, “We wanted to put the dream team of Stabbing Westward and John Fryer back together again.” Of the collaboration with the band, he adds, “First and foremost we are fans. We truly appreciate the talent and skill of the musicians that entrust us with their creations and we will do whatever it takes to help them to create their best work on their own terms. What is of utmost importance to us is to give our artists a boutique experience. We want to create a partnership that is probably closer to a management deal than a traditional record contract.”

More information will be released soon regarding Wasteland and a new single from the album, as well as other developments Stabbing Westward has in store for 2020 and beyond.

About Stabbing Westward

Blending the scathing electronics of underground industrial/rock with the emotive melodies of goth and a decidedly radio-friendly sensibility, Stabbing Westward rose to great heights in the mid-‘90s alternative boom. Formed in 1986 by Walter Flakus and Christopher Hall, the band went from underground cult sensation to the heights of critical and commercial success thanks to such songs as “Shame,” “Save Yourself,” “So Far Away” and “What Do I Have to Do?”. To this day, these songs remain anthems of heartache, dejection, rage, betrayal and depression. With two Gold albums and numerous hit singles, Stabbing Westward fell from grace with the 2001 self-titled album amid personal and professional turmoil, disbanding the following year and leaving a void in modern music that was somewhat filled by Hall’s later work in The Dreaming. However, it was the release of that band’s Rise Again in 2015 that the seeds were sown for a reunion. That album saw Flakus once again making music with Hall, with Stabbing Westward guitarist Mark Eliopulos joining The Dreaming onstage in Chicago for a set of past hits. In 2019, Hall and Flakus came together again to release the Dead And Gone EP, the first new Stabbing Westward material in 18 years. Written and produced by Flakus and Hall over the course of three years, and recorded in multiple states and time zones, these new songs capture the very essence of the Stabbing Westward sound. Adding longtime bandmate Carlton Bost (Orgy, Deadsy, The Dreaming) and new drummer Bobby Amaro (Orgy) to the official lineup, the band has also once again recruited the talent of producer John Fryer—instrumental on early albums “Ungod” and “Wither Blister Burn + Peel”—for a new album, to be released in 2020 through a new partnership with COP International.

Find Stabbing Westward Online

Website: https://www.stabbingwestward.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stabbingwestwrd

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stabbingwestward

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDSEWAjgbzSaEIdbeCOJWXw