Bleak Recordings is delighted to introduce Gloom, the inaugural EP from Portuguese dark wave band Decline and Fall, helmed by Armando Teixeira, Hugo Santos, and Ricardo S. Amorim. This release marks a significant entry into the genre, promising a distinct sound shaped by the trio’s combined expertise.
Armando Teixeira’s career, steeped in the pioneering of EBM and industrial music in Portugal, spans numerous influential projects like Ik Mux and Bizarra Locomotiva. Beyond his founding roles, he has profoundly shaped Portuguese music as a composer across diverse acts such as Boris Ex-Machina and Balla, and as a prolific record producer.
Ricardo S. Amorim, author and music historian, first met Armando Teixeira in 2015 while on assignment for an article. Their subsequent meetings rekindled Teixeira’s passion for his musical roots, inspiring him to compose music influenced by post-punk, new wave, and industrial genres. With years of evolved artistic experience, access to advanced tools, and continuously growing technical knowledge, Teixeira’s work now reflects a matured perspective far removed from his beginnings in the 80s.
Hugo Santos, a stalwart of the band Process of Guilt for two decades, where he explored the potent realms of rhythmic intensity and relentless repetition, sought collaborators aligned with his artistic sensibilities. This search brought him together with fellow musicians sharing similar musical affinities. Through the exchange of records—some already beloved, others newfound inspirations—their collective creativity thrived. It was this burgeoning fellowship that laid the groundwork for the formation of their new project, Decline and Fall.
The four songs on Gloom function as the architectural framework of a somber interior space, each track a wall enclosing a room thick with disquieting air. Collectively, these songs channel the spirit of Bauhaus, Clan of Xymox, and Fields of The Nephilim, carrying the listener through a stark exploration of the more troubling facets of the human condition.
In Belief, the listener encounters a plaintive reflection on conviction and doubt. Undone unwinds with an introspective spiraling, its lyrics peeling back the layers of self until nothing but raw emotion remains. Gloom, true to its name, plunges into brooding depths, its gothic soundscapes thick with an almost tactile sense of despair. Finally, Europa offers a slightly cracked window to the outer world, its melody tinged with the coldness of space yet reaching for a connection across the icy divide.
Listen to the Gloom EP below, and order here:
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