''Sonic Seducer'' is a German music magazine that covers
gothic rock
Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie ...
,
new wave,
EBM and other kinds of electronic music and culture. The magazine is noted for organizing the annual
M'era Luna Festival
The M'era Luna is a rock festival that encompasses a number of different styles such as metal, future pop, aggrotech, synthpop, gothic rock, dark wave, and ebm. It is held annually on the second weekend of every August, in Hildesheim, G ...
. Since its inception in 1994, the ''Sonic Seducer'' has become one of the major publications of the
dark culture
Dark culture (German ''Schwarze Szene''; Portuguese ''cultura obscura''; Spanish ''escena oscura''; Italian ''scena Dark'' or ''scena gotica''), also called dark alternative scene or Darkly-Inclined, includes goth and dark wave culture, most o ...
in Germany.
Content
The magazine focuses on a variety of musical genres like
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial ...
,
heavy metal,
mittelalter rock,
Neue Deutsche Härte,
electronic rock,
pop rock
Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, ear ...
,
futurepop
Futurepop is an electronic music genre that has been characterized as a blend of synthpop, EBM and dance beats, based on trance and techno.Peter Matzke, Tobias Seeliger: ''Das Gothic- und Dark-Wave-Lexikon.'' Schwarzkopf und Schwarzkopf, Berlin ...
,
aggrotech
Electro-industrial is a music genre that emerged from industrial music in the early 1980s. While EBM (electronic body music) has a minimal structure and clean production, electro-industrial tends to have a grittier, complex and layered sound wi ...
,
power noise,
crossover
Crossover may refer to:
Entertainment
Albums and songs
* ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album)
* ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987
* ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album)
* ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album)
* ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...
as well as
dark wave, gothic music and
industrial. Each issue contains interviews with bands and stories about bands and projects, reviews of concerts, record releases, books and games but also schedules of upcoming band tours and a news section. Moreover, there are frequent special editions on topics like Mittelalter rock, record labels, films or studio reports.
Since 1999, each issue comes with ''Cold Hands Seduction'', a compilation CD and sometimes a DVD which contains music by artists featured in the print issue. It focuses not only on established bands but it also presents upcoming artists.
Upcoming artists contest
''Sonic Seducer'' organises an annual "Battle of the Bands", a competition for upcoming musical artists. Since year 2000, 30 new bands without a record label deal are featured on the CD of the December issue. Together with the magazine's readership a professional jury elects the best acts that will be rewarded a label contract with
Out of Line.
Festivals
''Sonic Seducer'' presents the
M'era Luna Festival
The M'era Luna is a rock festival that encompasses a number of different styles such as metal, future pop, aggrotech, synthpop, gothic rock, dark wave, and ebm. It is held annually on the second weekend of every August, in Hildesheim, G ...
, a festival of the German alternative music scene that attracts some 20,000 attendants annually.
Once a year the board of editors compiles a M'era Luna Festival CD with songs by musical acts that are present at the festival. The subsequent magazine issues feature extensive reports and a DVD documentation.
See also
*''
Zillo''
References
External links
Official Website
{{Authority control
1994 establishments in Germany
German-language magazines
Music magazines published in Germany
Magazines established in 1994
Goth subculture