Reel Reviews - Official Site

Love Bites by Vampire Step-Dad is a modern day classic of the synthwave genre. I don’t suggest that lightly either. As a fan of outrun or whatever you want to call it, I am well aware that there have been several releases in the past couple of years that deserve attention but none, if I am to trust...

Read more: Love Bites: A Review of Vampire Step-Dad’s FIRST Masterpiece

 Insert coin.  Push play.  Wrap your hands around the joystick and let Computronic’s Even The Score tale you back to the glory days of playing Atari for hours on end.  Whether at the local skating rink or at home in front of the Atari 2600, the hours spent there never seem wasted.  They are, as one song on this cycle suggests, etched “forever in my mind” ...

Read more: Computronic's Even the Score: Because Life Can Change with the Flip of a Coin

Without a doubt, OniTECH sounds as if it – in cassette form – was found clutched in the fingers of a well-dressed corpse that washes ashore some ashen beach on the east coast.  This release is a dark and disturbing thread of truth that hints at a bigger mystery  ...

Read more: Cement and Synthesizers: The FutureSHOCK Lexicon of low.poly.exception’s OniTECH

The boy wakes up. His hair is a mess that no comb will be able to contain.  Dirk the Daring, the best knight in the kingdom of King Ethelred, stares back at him from his wall.  The kid, a little pudgy around the middle, flexes in the mirror before slipping on his shirt.  He goes down the stairs.  His Big Dog ...

Read more: Greyskull’s Eighties Kids: Nostalgic Ear Candy for Saturday Mornings (and NIGHTS!!!) of Smurf...

Imagine it.  Close your eyes and set the scene.  You are alone on the highway.  Maybe this is a highway through a glorious city of neon lights.  Maybe it is a desert highway with only dunes and starry skies above.  Regardless, you are solo on this night and the destination ...

Read more: Connected: Echosynthetic Fest (2018) - Movie Review

The plane shoots out over the Pacific Ocean and angles ever so slightly. I look down. It is dark but you can see that there are piers below; long stretches of wood in man’s attempt to walk on water. The dark green of the ocean reflects upwards; rippling as the waves roll against the endless wall of ...

Read more: MemoriɅl BeɅch: The BrilliɅnt Belief in Ʌll Those LɅNights

One release.  Three songs.  Fifteen minutes.  And I can't stop grinning.  This is good; this is real good. The synthwave scene NEEDS this release. There is a hunger heard in Lyde’s expertly organized arpeggiations; a fierceness of raw power that stealthily decimates all would-be contenders. Not that there isn’t ...

Read more: Hungry Like the Wolf: Lyde’s Debut EP is UNLEASHED

There is a darkness to this place. A Hellhole that infects everyone. It spreads like cancer, covering everything in a sticky stain of venom ... with just a hint of nihilism.

Look closely and you will see a small child, its sex is indeterminable, but its fear is not. The child shivers. It is up against a cold steel wall.  This strange place is not unlike a cage. A silent scream is frozen in its expression and its eyes.

Read more: Gregorio Franco’s The Dark Beyond: A HEAVY METAL-Minded Masterpiece of Synthesized Terror

There is a war raging. Endless. Brutal. Lasers pierce human flesh. Severed hands, heads, and feet lay intertwined in piles of wires and plastics. The smell of burning flesh is overwhelming and the screams STILL echo down the stairs and through the air ducts. There is no safe space. There is only fear, stale breath, and the sound of machines busy at their dark work ...

Read more: New Moon of Madness: Glitch Black’s Emergent Behavior

Braddock, Pennsylvania. A young man, sensitive to the sunlight, has moved to the neighborhood. This is an idyllic area of this blue-collar town. Children play in fenced-in yards. Families picnic on the weekend. Sundays are honored with church attendance. And, on Monday, the adults go ...

Read more: The Monsters Among You: DREDDD’s Black Goat Part 2 - Music Review

A man with a slick hairstyle, neat and clean around the edges, chomps down on a loaded burrito. He’s standing at the corner of a crowded street. Some of it falls to the cracked sidewalk at his loafers. Thankfully, it misses his suit. The other cop, in a Hawaiian shirt and cool shades, grimaces ...

Read more: Feel the Burn: The Sizzling Synthwave of Le Louvre - Music Review

"It was the year 3218. Life on Earth has changed. The era of transhumanism was upon us. Extreme breakthroughs in human augmentation led the Earth's nation into a frenzy. The transhumans were starting to attack the humans in an attempt to purge the nation believing that humans were ..."

Read more: Isidor's Lord of Synth: What You Need - Music Review

 "In the day, a place of dreams and leisure, surrounding the city with glamorous subtropical paradises. At night a place of mystery and adventure, where the city streets hold wonderful places to visit with neon lights and art throughout the area.  Near the ocean shores of Miami Florida, Dream Shore "

Read more: Time to Boss Up: Beachfront Workouts & Dream Shore's Resilience - Music Review

It is the roll of thunder against an open sky. Booming into the distance with a machine gun-like progression of beats and noise. This is the sound of the future. Dark clouds are gathering above. It is as if the lone figure thrashing about below them has ordered this congregation ...

Read more: Dripping Dark: The Reign of Shredder 1984’s Undead Thrasher EP - Music Review

Do you always drive by night?" She said, looking at him with a worrying gaze. "Yes." He took a drag from his half burned cigarette while gazing the city lights below. "Isn't that dangerous? Especially in your line of work?" She turned her eyes to the city ...

Read more: Time to Run: Dimi Kaye’s Dangerous - Music Review

This is the imaginary scene that plays out in my mind when I listen to FacexHugger’s new release, Sci-Fi Violence. Already a favorite on the rotation, this album is a straight up killer at establishing a mood that screams into the shadows that surround this fictionalized search party. Space doesn’t want you ...

Read more: Green Milk & Satanic Synths: FacexHugger’s Sci-Fi Violence is No Sophomore Slump - Music Review

Sssshhhh. Listen. It is there, sliding down in between the falling rain. The End of Days is pouring down upon us. There will be no escape from the twisted and tortured existence as the kingdom of Man gives way to the rise of Beasts.  ...

Read more: Music Review - When Synth Met Metal: Gör FLsh’s “For the Kvlt”

Come on up to the house. The sun is setting on the beginning of a fabulous weekend. For the three girls at the center of this tale of transformation, the beginning steps of this secluded setting was easy enough. All that was required was a ...

Read more: Three Girls and One Friday Night of Fear: Atom Force’s After Dark - Music Review

There is a lone figure walking the street of this nameless city. No other soul dares walk this stretch of road so early in the morning. Not when the fog is this thick. Traffic lights aren’t even visible. But this man, wrapped in a trench coat, navigates the ...

Read more: The Disappearing Act: Inquis’ Dream Walker - Music Review

It is a bright summer morning. Mom and Dad are at work. You have the house all to yourself. The day ahead is full of endless possibilities. Baseball at noon. Biking up to the dam in an hour. Whatever you want. But you can’t get your mind off of the mystery  ...

Read more: Morning Waves & Evening Babes: Neon Black’s Wet Dreams - Music Review

This is a landscape of ash. Dark sunrises and even darker sunsets await those who venture out into this toxic wasteland. Some occupants, too poor to afford the rent as an off-lander, have no choice but to wander below as ravagers with breathing apparatuses covering ...

Read more: Get Back in Time with Jack Maniak’s Code 403 - Music Review

Mr. Franklin Kelp is a lonely man. He has a job, mind you, but it is managing paperwork and he needs not talk to other people. His co-workers, noticing the same crisp white collared shirt and slacks being worn every single day, keep their distance ...

Read more: Because The Spice Must Flow: Ferus Melek's Decay of the Mainframe - Music Review

Do you always drive by night?" She said, looking at him with a worrying gaze. "Yes." He took a drag from his half burned cigarette while gazing the city lights below. "Isn't that dangerous? Especially in your line of work?" She turned her eyes to the city ...

Read more: The Ethereal Daydream of Wolf Club’s Chasing the Storm - Music Review

“These days, caused by bad prospects on many levels, 80s pop culture offers a sanctuary for numerous people, who yearn for a positive future. ...

Read more: Vive la Révolution: The Uprising of Edictum’s Passage Back - Music Review

Sometimes your weakness... becomes your greatest strength. An accident left you hospitalized and alone. Zero chance of survival. An ideal candidate for an experimental cybernetic implant surgery. But there were unforeseen... complications ...

Read more: The Consoles Are Alive: Watch Out for Snakes’ UPGRADE - Music Review

It was due to the constant sense of moving.  That’s why Scott Anchors became an astronaut.  He dreamed of bursting through the force that held him in place for so long.  He never thought it would end up like this.  Captured.  Probed.  Studied.   ...

Read more: When EDM Grows Up: DARKNAUT’s Afterdark Machine - Music Review

2600 is an expedition to the deepest reaches of space and time in search for past glory days that may not even exist. Does this leave the future destined for dystopia, or will a shred of hope be found at the end of this journey?”...

Read more: MacReady's 2600: The Year We Make Music - Music Review

What if a form of control was manufactured through a synthetic new blood. 
Recipients of this blood would only find out too late to change their fate.
 Pumping cautiously through the veins of its host; taking hold like the gentle ebbing of the tide. Imprisoned from the inside, there’s no chance to escape the New Blood ...

Read more: Occams Laser and the New Blood: A Dark Wave Worth Riding - Music Review

This city breathes steel and spits fire.  It is a dangerous place where even the strong struggle.  But it is not without melody.  You hear its voice caught falling from the night.  Sleeping with the windows open, you feel fully aware and alive.  The highs in its  ...

Read more: TɅking Off like Fireworks: LɅNights Returns to SɅve the City - Music Review

Do you always drive by night?" She said, looking at him with a worrying gaze. "Yes." He took a drag from his half burned cigarette while gazing the city lights below. "Isn't that dangerous? Especially in your line of work?" She turned her eyes to the city ...

Read more: Get Connected: The Everending Summer of Die Scum Inc. - Music Review