If you like Dance With the Dead, the artists to try first are 744, Voyag3r and Carpenter Brut. The thing that links them is a "rock" tag on their releases, a sign of guitar-driven or at least guitar-minded synth music, and it is the tag that matters most for this duo.
Two guitarists and a muted horror film
Tony Kim and Justin Pointer, from Irvine in Orange County, started working together in 2012 as a one-off project, according to OC Weekly. Both play guitar and synthesizer, and both move around the stage when they play live, which sets them apart from the many synthwave acts that stay behind their gear.[1] Their sources are horror and sci-fi soundtracks and electronic acts such as Justice and Kavinsky, and Kim has described recording with a horror film running silently on a screen and writing riffs to match the action.[1] He also described a crowd split between metal fans at the front and synthwave fans at the back.[1]
The archive lists 9 releases between 2013 and 2024, every one self-released. The first album is Out of Body (2013); the latest entry is the 2024 EP Dark Matter, six years after the previous release in the archive. Tags on the catalogue are darksynth, new wave, synth-pop and synthwave, with "rock" as the standout on individual releases.
Where the rock tag leads
- 744 (US, 8 releases, 2016–2023) shares the rock tag and rates 0.99 for similarity, the highest-ranked match overall. Start with the single Darkshift.
- Voyag3r (US, 6 releases, 2013–2022) scored a film: New York Ninja - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is on Death Waltz Recording Company, a label known for soundtrack reissues.
- Judge Bitch (Canada, 4 releases, 2013–2021) has the 2021 album Temple Serpent, on NewRetroWave.
- Carpenter Brut (France, 19 releases, 2012–2026) is tagged both rock and darksynth. In 2022 he told Metal Hammer he had wanted to make a metal album without guitars,[3] so he arrives at a similar place from the opposite direction. His 2026 album is Leather Temple, and his own circle is on If you like Carpenter Brut: artists to try next.
Darksynth without the band
If guitars matter less than the horror-and-chrome mood, a different set fits. This Moment (5 releases, 2023–2024) carries both rock and darksynth tags; the EP Materia, Espíritu y Conciencia is on Dark Grave. JEREMIAH KANE (Poland, 18 releases, 2017–2026) is darksynth on RetroSynth Records: try Charger. Scandroid (US, 26 releases) shares the rock tag but is vocal and cyberpunk-leaning; Lost In The Datastream is the one to hear. Perturbator is not in the tag ranking, but he is the best-known bridge between synthwave and a metal audience; see If you like Perturbator: artists to try next.
Older, gloomier, earlier
Ubre Blanca (UK, 4 releases, 2013–2023) has a 2023 album, Rhizome, filed as darkwave on Archaic Future Sounds. That word means something different from darksynth: it is a gloomier new-wave and post-punk tradition, and Darkwave vs darksynth: two dark genres people mix up explains the split. Lueur Verte (France, 5 releases, 2011–2016) is an earlier name; try Trinity. Metal Hammer's 2017 feature frames the genre as fed by 1980s exploitation and sci-fi movies,[2] and these smaller acts are where that is easiest to hear.
The matches on this page were found by tag overlap, since the duo have no label in our data to connect through. For the wider picture, What is darksynth? The heavy, horror-lit side of synthwave and What is horrorsynth? Synthwave for the slasher-movie crowd cover the genre, and Synthwave and 1980s film scores: Carpenter, Vangelis and the sound of the screen covers the film side. The Dark station (94.6 FM) is the radio fit; for a slower start try the Night Drive station (92.0 FM).
Records to start with
- Dance With the Dead · 2013 · self-released · LPTheir 2013 debut album, where the guitar-and-synth plan is already clear.
- Dance With the Dead · 2024 · self-released · EPThe 2024 EP, after a six-year gap in the archive.
- Carpenter Brut · 2026 · No Quarter Prod · LPThe nearest big name by tags, a 2026 release.
- Voyag3r · 2022 · Death Waltz Recording Company · LPA film score from a horror-friendly label.
- Judge Bitch · 2021 · NewRetroWave · LPA 2021 album with the rock tag on a synthwave label.
- JEREMIAH KANE · 2026 · RetroSynth Records · SINGLEDarksynth from a label that pairs it with pure synthwave.
- Ubre Blanca · 2023 · Archaic Future Sounds · LPA step toward the older, gloomier darkwave side.
Sources
- Dance With The Dead's Synthwave Unites Dance Kids and Metalheads · OC Weekly, 15 Aug 2018
- Resonant evil: how synthwave is taking over the underground · Louder / Metal Hammer, 2 Feb 2017
- Carpenter Brut: 'I thought it would be cool to make a metal album without guitars' · Louder / Metal Hammer, 30 Jun 2022