Gigahearts
Encyclopedia
Gigahearts is the second studio album by Italian
industrial rock
band Dope Stars Inc.
. Lyrically it focuses on traditional cyberpunk
beliefs and themes. The album was released in 2006 first in Europe and in other countries including North America and Australia in the following weeks. Like Dope Stars' previous album and EPs
, Gigahearts was recorded on the Trisol
record label and distributed by them in most of Europe, while Metropolis Records
was the distributor in the United States, Canada and much of the rest of the world. Other companies have handled distribution in some counties.
Upon release, Gigahearts garnered media attention for Dope Stars as one of the few industrial acts in Italy.
and they chose to keep the label for the new album. The band also decided to record again in Subsound Recording Studios in Rome, Italy. Gigahearts was recorded during the early months of 2006. Dope stars' lead singer and Gigaheart's producer, Victor Love stated that his experience of recording and producing tracks gave him the knowledge that enabled him to produce the album. He said that working with "://Neuromance" producers Thomas Rainer and John Fryer
gave him the opportunity to develop methods to guide tracks for the album as well as produce. Love felt that being able to produce the album himself gave the band a creative hold on the sound of the album and allowed them to convey the mood he had intended while writing the tracks.
Commenting on the role of songs on the album and their recording process, Love stated "It is really important in my opinion that each song should have its special role inside an album and should focus on a particular song idea. This idea should be expressed clearly and should not get lost in details to help the listener to focus on it and understand the feeling that inspired it. Also the production in this sense play a main role, cause each good production should look at the essence of a song and should make its best to put it in vivid light."
As with all other projects of Dope Stars, Victor Love wrote most of the songs for the album in one day. Love said the band spent more time in the studio than with their first album, and greater emphasis on production enhanced the ultimate effect. A single, "Beatcrusher", was chosen to be included on the Saw IV soundtrack
, This was following the band's inclusion on previous Saw film soundtracks.
Following the release of Gigahearts, Dope Stars Inc. toured extensively to promote the album until 2008 when they began focusing on writing new songs. They have since released a third EP album titled Criminal Intents/Morning Star
which was a precursor to the announcement of the planned release of their third album, 21st Century Slave
.
The album was big step in the evolution of Dope Star’s sound. Love says the band wanted to give a specific character and style to each song in line with their goal to complete the range of the band's sound, and to keep the arrangements "clear and direct" with less synth than in "://Neuromance".
or Peter Tägtgren
will like it.
Band
Production
Artwork
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
industrial rock
Industrial rock
Industrial rock is a musical genre that fuses industrial music and specific rock subgenres. Industrial rock spawned industrial metal, with which it is often confused...
band Dope Stars Inc.
Dope Stars Inc.
Dope Stars Inc. is an alternative and industrial rock band formed in Rome, Italy in late 2002, though the band was not officially formed until 2003. The band was founded by Victor Love, Darin Yevonde, Grace Khold and Brian Wolfram. They have four albums and three EPs released, with the latest being...
. Lyrically it focuses on traditional cyberpunk
Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk is a postmodern and science fiction genre noted for its focus on "high tech and low life." The name is a portmanteau of cybernetics and punk, and was originally coined by Bruce Bethke as the title of his short story "Cyberpunk," published in 1983...
beliefs and themes. The album was released in 2006 first in Europe and in other countries including North America and Australia in the following weeks. Like Dope Stars' previous album and EPs
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, Gigahearts was recorded on the Trisol
Trisol Music Group
The Trisol Music Group - GmbH , is a German business group and record label headquartered in Dieburg. Owning multiple sublabels, they specialize in producing musical works pertaining to darkwave, dark folk, gothic rock, deathrock, ethereal wave and other "gothic" genres of music...
record label and distributed by them in most of Europe, while Metropolis Records
Metropolis Records
Metropolis Records is a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania based record label, distributor, and mail-order store specializing in the post-industrial field such as electro-industrial, synthpop, futurepop, darkwave, and gothic musical genres....
was the distributor in the United States, Canada and much of the rest of the world. Other companies have handled distribution in some counties.
Upon release, Gigahearts garnered media attention for Dope Stars as one of the few industrial acts in Italy.
Background
Following the release of their debut album, ":://Neuromance", Dope Stars had plans to release a follow-up album immediately. The band had already signed a two-album contract with Trisol Music GroupTrisol Music Group
The Trisol Music Group - GmbH , is a German business group and record label headquartered in Dieburg. Owning multiple sublabels, they specialize in producing musical works pertaining to darkwave, dark folk, gothic rock, deathrock, ethereal wave and other "gothic" genres of music...
and they chose to keep the label for the new album. The band also decided to record again in Subsound Recording Studios in Rome, Italy. Gigahearts was recorded during the early months of 2006. Dope stars' lead singer and Gigaheart's producer, Victor Love stated that his experience of recording and producing tracks gave him the knowledge that enabled him to produce the album. He said that working with "://Neuromance" producers Thomas Rainer and John Fryer
John Fryer (music)
John Fryer is an English record producer. Best known for his production work, he also branched out as a musician as one of only two constant members of This Mortal Coil , providing keyboards, strings and synthesizer sequencing for the band, and its offshoot, The Hope Blister.- Career :Starting out...
gave him the opportunity to develop methods to guide tracks for the album as well as produce. Love felt that being able to produce the album himself gave the band a creative hold on the sound of the album and allowed them to convey the mood he had intended while writing the tracks.
Commenting on the role of songs on the album and their recording process, Love stated "It is really important in my opinion that each song should have its special role inside an album and should focus on a particular song idea. This idea should be expressed clearly and should not get lost in details to help the listener to focus on it and understand the feeling that inspired it. Also the production in this sense play a main role, cause each good production should look at the essence of a song and should make its best to put it in vivid light."
As with all other projects of Dope Stars, Victor Love wrote most of the songs for the album in one day. Love said the band spent more time in the studio than with their first album, and greater emphasis on production enhanced the ultimate effect. A single, "Beatcrusher", was chosen to be included on the Saw IV soundtrack
Saw IV (soundtrack)
Saw IV: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack for the film Saw IV. It was released on October 23, 2007 by Artists' Addition Records. The song "I.V." by X Japan, which plays over the closing credits, was not included on the soundtrack album.-Track listing:# Nitzer Ebb - "Payroll "#...
, This was following the band's inclusion on previous Saw film soundtracks.
Following the release of Gigahearts, Dope Stars Inc. toured extensively to promote the album until 2008 when they began focusing on writing new songs. They have since released a third EP album titled Criminal Intents/Morning Star
Criminal Intents/Morning Star
Criminal Intents/Morning Star is the third EP album by Italian industrial rock band Dope Stars Inc.. It was released on April 21, 2009 as an immediate precursor to their third album, 21st Century Slave, which was released exactly three months later on July 21, 2009. Lyrically it focuses on...
which was a precursor to the announcement of the planned release of their third album, 21st Century Slave
21st Century Slave
21st Century Slave is the third studio album by Italian industrial rock band Dope Stars Inc. and has been considered a big step in the industrial metal and electronica genre. Lyrically it focuses on traditional cyberpunk beliefs and themes...
.
Themes and composition
As with all of their albums, Gigahearts maintains the theme of technology and human beings interacting. The album title itself is a play on words of the computer term "Gigahertz" combining with "Hearts". The songs themselves take the same lyrical influences with instrument pieces being influenced by 80s Glam Rock and electronica. Victor Love describes the album as "11 tracks to kick your ass very bad but also to satisfy your desire of melodies and electronic exploration."The album was big step in the evolution of Dope Star’s sound. Love says the band wanted to give a specific character and style to each song in line with their goal to complete the range of the band's sound, and to keep the arrangements "clear and direct" with less synth than in "://Neuromance".
Critical reception
Professional reviews for Gigahearts have been limited. A critic from The Metal List, McAllen, gave the album a nine out of ten. The reviewer cited the strong lyrics of the songs as a bonus. In addition, McAllen praised the guitar solos and the feel of American Alternative music on the tracks. Another reviewer for Side-Line called Dope Stars "One of the best recent discoveries from the great Trisol label" and felt the new album would not disappoint fans. The reviewer felt the album stayed consistent with the band's established sound and noted the variety in the tracks moods from upbeat to aggressive as a positive. He also felt the electronic mixing and vocals were a high point of the album. The review concluded with a comment calling the album passionate and refreshing, and described the band as "the new generation of what Goth means in the 21st century" and gave the album an overall eight out of ten. A review by Metal Glory gave the album a very positive review of four out of five stars. The reviewer praised the varying tones of the songs while all of them are still able to be danced to. Labeling the band as "Gothic Industrial rock", the reviewer pointed out that while not all metal fans may like the album, fans of artists like Rob ZombieRob Zombie
Rob Zombie is an American musician, film director, screenwriter and film producer. He founded the heavy metal band White Zombie and has been nominated three times as a solo artist for the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance.Zombie has also established a career as a film director, creating the...
or Peter Tägtgren
Peter Tägtgren
Alf Peter Tägtgren is a Swedish musician and producer. He is the founder, main songwriter, lead vocalist, and guitarist of the death metal band Hypocrisy as well as the industrial metal band PAIN in which he is the only member....
will like it.
Track listing
Personnel
Creative personnel as follows:Band
- Victor Love – lead vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, drum machineDrum machineA drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
, synthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
, songwriting - Alex VegaAlex VegaAlessandro Pace, better known by his stage name Alex Vega, is an Italian musician and part-time DJ. Founder of the Gothic Doom Metal musical project known as The Foreshadowing, he was previously associated with the bands Dope Stars Inc. and Klimt 1918. Pace assumed the name Alex Vega in 2005 when...
– guitar - Darin Yevonde – bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Grace Khold – artwork
Production
- Victor Love – producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, programming, arrangements, mixing, recording - Andrea Secchi – mixing engineerMixing engineerA mix engineer is the person responsible for incorporating all the different recorded elements of music to make the final version of a song. These mixing professionals have many years of experience and training with audio equipment which has enabled them to master the art of audio mixing...
- Vincent Sorg – masteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
Artwork
- Grace Khold – design
Release history
| Region | Date | Label | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| World | November 17, 2006 | Metropolis Metropolis Records Metropolis Records is a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania based record label, distributor, and mail-order store specializing in the post-industrial field such as electro-industrial, synthpop, futurepop, darkwave, and gothic musical genres.... |
Digital download |
| United States | CD Compact Disc The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,... , Digipack |
||
| Canada | |||
| Europe | Trisol Music Group Trisol Music Group The Trisol Music Group - GmbH , is a German business group and record label headquartered in Dieburg. Owning multiple sublabels, they specialize in producing musical works pertaining to darkwave, dark folk, gothic rock, deathrock, ethereal wave and other "gothic" genres of music... |
||
| Japan | Deathwatch Asia | ||
| Italy | Subsound Records | ||