Enhancement of the Danse Macabre Labelgroup: Ionium Records merges with XenoBiotic Records and distributes all releases on the authority of afmusic with immediate effect. The music genre remains the same. Ionium Records continues representing the distribution of innovative electronic music, with focus on the dark culture.

This label was founded 2004 by Sandra Knorr and Thomas Teehaa to publish works of the dark culture’s drawing card T.H. Industry. During the following years, Ionium inspirited the dark-scene and the dancefloor with self-contained electro-tunes. The unification with XenoBiotic enhance the back-catalogue by further exceptional artists, such as e:o:nity, Neon Insect or Decence.

Henceforth, Ionium’s founder Thomas Teehaa and Falk Merten, the founder of afmusic, will be responsible for A&R, promotion and the artist’s support service. Distributions as well as arrangements of Ionium will be managed by afmusic. Thus, a long-lasting cooperation becomes a commercial partnership and Germany’s most innovative subcultural record labels will be unified under one umbrella of Danse Macabre. afmusic remains Germany’s leading address for newcomer’s net-releases regarding the music genres Wave, Gothic and Independent.

Ionium offers a wide and increasing range of EBM, Industrial, Ambient and Synthpop. Together, both record labels use the advantages of the World Wide Web, which bands as well as fans can benefit from: bands have the chance to promote and distribute their music professionally and contemporary – fans have the free choice between a wide range of more than 50 releases and are able to listen to all offered songs in complete length for free.

From 1st September 2009, the entire back-catalogue can be found on the new Ionium website. Moreover, a lot of new releases foreshadow the dark culture. The upcoming releases are already quite promising. In addition to the new release of the successful debut “Strangled Voices” by In Vein (side-project of Gothminister’s keyboarder Tom Kalstad) and a new album from EGOamp published by Ionium, 3 single-releases of Halo Effect at once are in their starting blocks.

By this year’s end, numerous new releases will be available on both labels. The net-labels of the Danse Macabre Group offer new bands and fresh sounds via home delivery. It is worth throwing a glance at and bookmark: www.ionium-records.info

Am 01.11..2008, genau ein Jahr nach der Erstveröffentlichung, wird das Debütalbum ‘New Romantic Industry’ der italienischen Electro-Band Halo Effect als kostenfreier Download verfügbar sein.

Seit 2003 sind Halo Effect in der italienischen Alternativszene unterwegs und haben dank ihrer Konzerte und Demoaufnahmen die Aufmerksamkeit einer ständig wachsenden Zahl von Fans elektronicher Musik auf sich gezogen. Ihr Sound, beeinflußt vom nordeuropäischen Dark-, EBM- und Industrial, wird oft als “Depeche Mode ähnlich” beschrieben. Halo Effect teilten sich schon die Bühne mit Bands wie Melotron, DeVision, The Crüxshadows oder Covenant.

Das Album wurde von Halo Effect in Eigenregie produziert, arrangiert und aufgenommen und in Zusammenarbeit mit Nicola Di Già abgemischt. Neben den 13 eigenen Stücken findet der geneigte Hörer als Bonus das Nitzer Ebb Cover “Join In The Chant” auf der virtuellen CD. Ladet Euch das Album kostenfrei herunter und besucht die Myspace-Seite der Band (www.myspace.com/bandhaloeffect), um für euren Lieblingssong von “New Romantic Industry” abzustimmen.

Tracklist:

1. 30041946 (1:44)
2. Your Hopes to Die (4:14)
3. Things Fall Apart (4:06)
4. Spoilt (4:33)
5. Running to You (3:13)
6. One Million Lights (3:37)
7. Fragile (5:30)
8. Harder and Faster (3:44)
9. Nobody (3:52)
10. Before the Rain (4:13)
11. So Sweetly (4:52)
12. Waiting (5:12)
13. 11092001 (11:08)
    Bonus:
14. Join in the Chant (Nitzer Ebb Cover) (3:52)

Das Album wird als Free-Download bei den folgenden Netlabels erhältlich sein:

• afmusic (Germany) www.af-music.de
• Xenobiotics Record (Germany) www.xenobiotic-records.com
• Ekleipsi (Italy) www.ekleipsi.com
• Abandonment (Bulgaria) http://abandonment-net-label.hit.bg/
• Haze Netlabel (Bielorussia) http://h-a-z-e.org
• Kultura Industrialna (United Kingdom) www.ikultura.net