The Last Hour/Deadline/The White Room Netlabel/Seventh Crow Records/2014 Full Length Review

  The Last Hour  are  a  project  from  Italy  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  on  this  recording  plays  post  cold-darkwave  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2014  album  "Deadline"  which  was  released  as  a  joint  effort  by  The  White  Room Netlabel  and  Seventh  Crow  Records.

  Electronic  music  beats  and  a  dark  ambient  sound  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  clean  singing  gothic  vocals  being  added  onto  the  recording  a  few  seconds  later  which  leads  up  to  more  of  a  darkwave  direction  and  the  synths  have  a  very  dominating  presence  on  all  of  the  tracks  and  at  times  the  music  has  an  80's  feeling  to  it.

  As  the  album  progresses  the  music  gets  more  experimental  and  also  brings  in  elements  of  alternative  music  to  the  old  darkwave  sound  that  is  present  on  the  recording  and  there  are  a  great  amount  of  programmed  drum  beats  throughout  all  of  the  tracks  along  with  one  song  being  an  instrumental  and  at  times  you  can  hear  elements  of  industrial  in  the  songs  along  with  some  bass  and  acoustic  guitars  being  added  into  the  music  briefly  later  on  during  the  album.

  The  Last  Hour  creates  a  very  tragic  and  melodic  style  of  post  cold-darkwave  on  this  recording  and  the  music  has  a  very  dark  and  tragic  sound  to  it,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  the  infinite,  the  unconceivable  worlds,  the  cosmic  space  and  the  nowhere.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  from  The  Last  Hour  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  coldwave  or  darkwave,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Everything  Fades  Away"  "Deadline"  "Utopia"  and  "Alpha  &  Omega".  8  out  of  10.

Buy CD: Seventh Crow Records
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The Last Hour Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the musical project, since the recording of the new album?

The single "Oblivion", a preview of the new album, came out on 23 September via The White Room Netlabel (https://thewhiteroomnetlabel.bandcamp.com/album/oblivion). "Winning", cover of the English post-punk band The Sound, appeared on "There Must Be A Hole In Your Memory - A Tribute To The Sound & Adrian Borland" (The Beautiful Music), release created in support of the film "Walking in the Opposite Direction" (facebook.com/AdrianBorlandDocumentary).

2.You have a new album coming out in December, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the new recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

Music is post-cold dark wave with the extensive use of synthesizers. The new album sounds more electronic and groovy than in the past, but with dark mood as always.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects you explore with your newer music?

The new album is entitled "Deadline", a boundary line that we can’t cross without dying risk. In "Deadline", I communicate with the universe, with the silence of God, searching for a sense to breathe. I talk about the fight between illusion and reality, life and dream. "Deadline" is the door towards the infinite, the unconceivable worlds, the cosmic space, the nowhere.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'The White Room'?

The White Room is my Digital Record Label specialized in Darkwave, Gothic, Dark Ambient, Electronica, Experimental music (https://thewhiteroomnetlabel.bandcamp.com). It's also the name of my recording studio and the title of an instrumental song of my side project Les Jumeaux Discordants. The white room, the empty room, it's useless to fill it with objects, it's useless to make noises, where dreams don't exist, where music is silence, where universes are nullified.

5.With this project, you record most of the stuff by myself, do you feel this gives you more freedom as a musician to do what you want with your own music?

Yes, it gives me more freedom. It's essential to create music and to express myself in the best possible way.

6.The new album is going to be released through both The White Room netlabel and Seventh Crow Records, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

Seventh Crow Records will release "Deadline" in physical CD. It's a Paris-based independent record label, created by Sébastyén D. and Lélia in 2007. Originally specializing in neofolk and darkwave, the label now expand to indie folk, anti-folk, indie rock, post-punk, no wave, gothic rock and industrial (https://seventhcrowrecords.bandcamp.com).

7.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of darker forms of music?

Sometimes I get messages and beautiful words from around the world. It gives me the energy to continue with my works.

8.On the new album you worked with Carlo Baldini of My Terminal And the Trip and The Nine Tears, can you tell us a little bit more about this collaboration?

The collaboration between me and the multi-instrumentalist Carlo Baldini began with the song "Winning" wherein Carlo played bass. Later, he mixed and mastered the whole album and composed music of the song "Falling Away". He made a great work.

9.Where do you see yourself heading into musically during the future?

I will work for new projects because music is my life.

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

I listen to several kinds of music, my favorite artists are: Dead Can Dance, Joy Division, Einstürzende Neubauten, Diamanda Galas, Death In June, Depeche Mode, Björk, My Dying Bride… Nowadays I'm listening to the new Blonde Redhead and Lisa Gerrard albums.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

I love the visual arts, to travel, to visit museum, to immerse myself in nature, literature (E.A. Poe, Thomas Mann, Gabriele D'Annunzio, George Byron...) and cinema (Ingmar Bergman, Stanley Kubrick, Roman Polański, Lars von Trier...).
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12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

'Such men are like clockwork, which is wound up, and goes it knows not why. Every time a man is begotten and born, the clock of human life is wound up anew to repeat once more its same old tune that has already been played innumerable times, movement by movement and measure by measure, with insignificant variations’ (Arthur Schopenhauer).

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The Last Hour/Oblivion/The White Room/2014 Single Review

  The  Last  Hour  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  a  mixture  of  darkwave,  coldwave,  ambient  and  gothic  music  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  single  "Oblivion"  which  was  released by  th e  White  Room.

  A  very  dark  sounding  synth  starts  off  the single  along  with  some  melodic  singing  a  few  seconds  alter  and  the  music  starts  having  more  of  a  darkwave  and  gothic  sound  to  the single  as  well  as  adding  in  programmed  beats  and  elements  of  ambient  and  coldwave.

  The  second  track  starts  off  with  some  electronic  music  elements  almost  bringing  in  a  dubstep  feeling  along  with  some  melodic  vocals  a  few  seconds  later  and  after  awhile  more  goth,  darkwave  and  alternative  elements  find  their  way  into  the  track.

  The  last  Hour  creates  a  very  atmospheric  mixture  of  goth  and  darkwave  with  these  2  songs  as  well  as  making  the  genre  more  up  to  date,  the  production  sounds  very  powerful  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  The  Last  Hour  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  goth,  darkwave,  coldwave  and  ambient  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Oblivion".  8  out  of 10.      

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