The Dutch trio DeWolff is known for psychedelic and blues rock with a lot of retro charm, often reminiscent of Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin. Hammond sound and vintage equipment were a must for recordings and live shows. With the "Tascam Tapes" the band now reduces itself to an old four-track recorder, a battery-powered synthesizer, guitar, a vocal microphone and drum samples - and presents itself in this way from its soulful disco side.

eclipsed: How did you come up with the idea to record this way?

The musicians from Mannheim, Leipzig, Hamburg and Berlin got to know each other during their studies at the Mannheim Pop Academy. "Soul splinters were our bachelor's project at the time," says drummer and main composer Fenix Gayed. "But we soon realised that we would like to continue with the band after graduation," adds guitarist Simon Kramer in the joint interview. "We all come from different musical backgrounds, and with the founding of the project there was a fusion of these influences. Currently Steven Wilson has inspired us with 'The Raven That Refused To Sing' and Haken's 'The Mountain'. Other notable influences include Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Dream Theater and Snarky Puppy. Earthside with their debut 'A Dream in Static' were also very important as they encouraged us to work with different guest singers for each song.

When he's right, he's right. "By 2020, however, that will be 16 or 11 years," remarks Dave Schmidt - that's right, this article appears a few days too late. In 2004 Schmidt, one of the most dazzling figures of the local space psychedelic scene, founded Sulatron Records and in 2009 the band Electric Moon. How did the label come about in the first place? Schmidt freely admits: "What else should such a music fanatic do, if he doesn't have a job and is somehow not able to have a normal job? After all, label boss is also a job. And he does it well, because Sulatron has released over 100 releases so far. A balance that is quite respectable. "It started off leisurely and peaked around 2012. Now it's running at a reasonably decent level. Unfortunately, there is not really anything left of the Krautrock revival or the vinyl boom, and CD sales are also declining significantly

Norbert Krüler alias Shamall had accumulated enough trouble besides creative abundance to present mankind with a new double CD concept album. On "Schizophrenia" he deals with all kinds of self-torture: "The whole album is about this socio-political, but also everyday schizophrenia. Actually, we all know exactly what one should do, but then we are masters in looking away and not doing it. When it comes to environmental protection, just take plastic waste as an example. Where did all those yellow bags come from? Or people who regret that our generation has failed in this task, but then just book a cruise. All these incredible contradictions. None of us are angels. And yet, so much could be accomplished in small ways. That's why the theme song says, "I'm walking down the street. I know what's wrong, but I'm not doing anything. I'm not even turning around.'"

It's been six years since the last album of the Texas band And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead was released, which is basically just a duo. On "IX", frontman Conrad Keely and his drumming counterpart Jason Reece took it a bit easier on the album, after the previous albums had partly paid homage to the noise phase of the early work: "I actually think in trilogies", Keely explains, "and this current trilogy started with 'IX' and now continues with 'X', and the next album I might even call 'XI', haha. Seriously, I was actually referring here to our more level-headed, melodic songs from the three albums from the early 'noughties, but that came about more spontaneously when we were composing and arranging

A little bit the development of Avatarium reminds of growing up: In the beginning, doom icon Leif Edling had full creative control over the project, but in recent years he has been withdrawing more and more - like a father slowly releasing his children into independence. For "The Fire I Long For", the fourth album, he wrote only three of the total nine tracks. The new creative centre is formed by guitarist Marcus Jidell, who also collaborates with Edling on Candlemass and The Doomsday Kingdom, and singer Jennie-Ann Smith. In a natural way, something new is constantly emerging. A good example is the ballad "Lay Me Down", where instead of hard riffs acoustic guitar and sensual vocal harmonies shape the atmosphere

They were burnt out, empty, aimless. After the second album "Start Stop Worrying" (2013) the motivation to continue making music had reached zero. The Shaking Sensations had fallen into an existential crisis. But now the quintet from Copenhagen presents a new, famous post rock album with "How Are We To Fight The Blight? Full of New Artrock, which is completely dedicated to the instrumental Walls Of Sound and combines opposites like quiet and loud, fast and slow or friendly and dark. Guitarist Jeppe Nygaard Christensen explains eclipsed the background.

eclipsed: How happy are you that a new album of yours has been released after all?

Jeppe Nygaard Christensen: We are very happy. Two years ago we didn't think that we would make an album together again. It is a great relief that the album is finally out. We are proud to have come back again with an album that we think is our best and most ambitious yet.