Aceface / Hearts At Stake / Knock It On The Head (Astariel's Lament)

SELF RELEASED

Aiming to inject some glamour and melodrama back into today's music scene, Astariel is someone who appreciates the importance of glamour, big ambitions and huge self belief.  Taking the dark, twisted electro pop of Soft Cell and mixing it with the appeal of David Bowie, Astariel creates a sound that has more than a glimmer of magic to it.

New single LET'S KILL FAME imagines Morrissey as an electroclash pioneer, melancholy tinged electro pop that wallows in dark melancholy and twisted pop charm.  ACEFACE is a haunting collision of mournful synth swells and tortured vocals, Astariel crooning in an androgynous tone that conjures up images of Marilyn Manson molesting Morrissey in some dark, dingy German techno club.  Elsewhere, HEARTS AT STAKE is an intoxicating slice of Soft Cell-esque electro pop and KNOCK IT ON THE HEAD (ASTARIEL'S LAMENT) sleazy avant garde art pop that reveals glimpses of the epic and baroque.

Astariel has that special quality to him, an undefinable essence that suggests him as someone to watch very closely.

BIOGRAPHY

Astariel was born into a town ruined by post-Thatcherism, and grew up in a hellish social climate. In his home town, there were two factions; the 'trendies' (now known as the 'chavs') and the 'moshers' (or those nu-metal kids that seemed to have evolved into emo). Belonging to neither, he was a social outcast at a young age, and often dreamed of leaving. So, like every good smalltown boy, he packed his bags and headed towards London.

London seemed fresh and exciting at the time, as things geared towards a new movement called 'electroclash'. Astariel found that individuality was a highly valued prize, and quickly gained infamy in the set-to-know. However, it all slowly came crashing down; too much, too soon. Electroclash folded and became old news, as did Astariel. So he slinked off to the sidelines and lamented his decline. All he had was a packet of B and H, a bottle of vodka and an acoustic guitar.

A very slow process started in Astariel's music career... Should he become an acoustic singer-songwriter? It was never in him to be that kind of act. What he wanted was to form an electro/ rock cross over... Something that people could dance to combined with the guts and emotional integrity of indie. The end result is something like what you hear now; gutsy electro with pop synchopation and technological menace.

"I've always been stubborn," says Astariel, "And I would always ardently be myself in everything I did. This is no exception. I'm often quite confrontational onstage because I want to challenge audiences, and some of my material surprises people when it's melancholic but in a 4/4 timing with a dance-y beat!."

He says about his music "I'm a romantic in the way I view the world and a cynic about romance, so most of my songs seem to take on a darker element. It's not intentional most of the time. I can't write a proper love song for example; usually people always write 'I love you' or 'I miss you'. It's never 'I fucking hate you for being such a cunt so I went out and got drunk' which is more along the lines of something I'm likely to write. I prefer to be honest and not treat my audiences like idiots."

Astariel usually gets compared to Bowie, Depeche Mode and Soft Cell because of his distinctive, full vocal, and is one of those landmark 'original' voices. 

Onstage, Astariel has appeared as anything from a pseudo-samurai to a 1920s vaudeville cabaret star. It certainly isn't a traditional gig where 5 people turn up, play and then leave. He has graced the stages of The Pleasure Unit, Bull and Gate, The Sun, Monkey Chews, The Watershed and Leonard's in London, The Horseshoe Inn in Wellingborough, as well as appearing at The Pink Festival in Cambridge in 2006.

D. M.

LINE UP

Astariel

Mr. Starkandy

DISCOGRAPHY

LET'S KILL FATE (Self Released>2007)

Aceface

Hearts At Stake

Knock It On The Head (Astariel's Lament)

LINKS

Astariel>www.astariel.co.uk

FURTHER LISTENING

Soft Cell

Marilyn Manson

David Bowie