Skylight Webzine: Review of Inclusions track “Bleeding Facet” – 2023

Lelahel Metal: Interview – 2023

Sounds Good Webzine: Review of Inclusions track “Seven Times Burnt” – 2023

Skylight is a webzine that has been online since 2000 and specializes in presenting new artists from jazz, classical music, progressive rock, indie rock, alternative rock, punk, hard rock and metal. 

“Seven Times Burnt, a new song, gives us an engaging and overwhelming listen, the progression of which generates a vortex of aggressive vibrations, with rough and sharp connections that leave room for more technical and refined riffs, classics of the typical metal sound. A dynamic listen with an intense flavor with the intent, in our opinion, successfully makes the song as a whole very fluid and dynamic, thus making its excellent contribution to the cause.

With this single, Ivan undoubtedly leaves an excellent impression, playing with ease and naturalness and demonstrating how Minorarc knows how to move in his musical environment, offering a captivating and current genre that easily remains in the mind.”

Read the full review here.

Metal Junkbox: Review of Inclusions track “Meet The Blade” – 2023

Metal Junkbox is a channel that seeks to disseminate, share and create content about the world of Metal/Rock and all its aspects. They were born in the context of lockdown and pandemic, a very promising moment to create work that could be taken forward even with social distancing. They cover music globally and have collaborators from all around the UK, Ireland, Portugal, and Brazil.

“The Australian band Minorarc has just released its latest single titled “Meet The Blade” on September 1st, and it is part of the band’s fourth album, the recently released Inclusions. Minorarc is a progressive metal, dark classical and experimental electronic music project led by Australian producer Ivan Bullock. The band manages to navigate exquisitely through various styles and aspects, inserting considerable doses of its own identity. It is important to highlight the quality of the musicians involved, who are of the highest level.”

Read the full review here.

PROGland: Pre-Release Review of Inclusions track “Seven Times Burnt” – 2023

PROGland is a progressive rock page dedicated to sharing news about artists and new recordings.

“Seven Times Burnt is definitely an intense musical journey in song form. Starting with a slow and gloomy start on guitars and synths to the dramatic heavy build from the middle of the song, we have a song that takes the listener to another plane, be it mental or musical. Musical mainly because in addition to the dark side of the track, melancholy, intensity and adventure are feelings present in each chord and section. And all this in a synergistic, natural and subtle way, without sounding pedantic or dragged.

Finally, the musical journey present here is something unique. In weight, intensity and emotion. The truth is that the track and Minorarc’s unique work is a journey beyond pure music, but the journey of artistic authenticity. And the authentic beauty here is second to none, and perfect.”

Divide and Conquer: Interview – 2022

TEN Network Australia: Formula 1 Grand Prix, Rnd 16 South Korea S11/E55

Mystral Tide track “Aurora” was used in the Ten Network’s coverage of the 2011 Formula 1 Grand Prix. We are currently awaiting footage from the network as evidence. The APRA cue sheet is above.

AGIM: Interview – 2017

AGIM is a guide to dark alternative music by 100s of Bands & Musicians of Australia & New Zealand. 1000s of Songs in post-punk music genres such as industrial, gothic, darkwave, EBM and beyond. They conducted an extensive interview with Ivan about Dawn Industry’s projects.

Read the full interview here.

La Croche Lune: Project Listing by David D’Halleine – 2011

D’Halleine, David (2011). La Croche Lune. Lulu.com. p. 23, 45, 74, 189, 379. ISBN 978-1-4709-6520-4.

La Croche Lune is the mirror of a sensitivity and its reflections are born from an authentic passion for emotional music and the gothic movement. Focus, detailed files and playlists make up this book exposing a range of artists in styles including ambient, atmospheric, batcave, celtic, cold wave, dark ambient, dark electro, dark folk, dark wave, death rock, down tempo, dream pop, ebm, electronica, ethereal, future pop, gothic, heavenly voices, indie pop, neo folk, new wave, post punk, post rock, shoegaze, touching pop, as well as their broadcasters, associations, distributors, forums, labels, places, press, radios, webradios and webzines.

Mick Mercer: Review of Infectious Unease Radio Compilation 1, and Mystral Tide’s “The Error” – 2010

Mick Mercer is a well-regarded journalist and author best known for his books, photos and reviews of the goth, punk and indie music scenes.

“They’re not wrong when they call this a colossal compilation, with 4 CDs housed in a 4 tray dvd case, but as Gordon Taylor has been faithfully running his radio show in Australia for seventeen years it deserves something special to mark such an effort and this International compilation is certainly very special. He plays pretty much anything on the darker side of independent music, with a clear interest in electronic styles but there’s Goth, Post-Punk and Industrial hybrids aplenty, making for an absorbing cross-section of what’s happening today. Come and catch something…. MYSTRAL TIDE start things off superbly in ‘The Error’ with the delicate keyboards and softly pattering triphop-plus rhythm, which swells according to the vocal murmurings and is very neat…”

Read the full review here.

Alternate Parallel Reality: Minorarc CD Review – 2010

Sean Cooper has a very diverse musical background and has spent many years producing, supporting, reviewing and releasing music. From the long-ago days of major Australian band Tainted Violets, through to operating the independent label Zeitgeist Records, and his current project Alternate Parallel Reality, he is well known amongst the underground music community for his honesty, analysis and ability to write… long, in-depth and powerful rants about music, the industry, and above all his love of the sonic artform. 

Review: Sometimes an artist just has to look at their body of work and ask themselves if they’re using the best tools for the job, in terms of expressing their message. Sometimes that means a radical and extreme reinvention. Like Rimbaud, who left behind a prestigious and respected career as the most talented and promising poet of his day to become a pirate and gun runner (“this is my poetry now!”), Ivan Bullock has shed his skin and assumed an extreme new form. He decided he’d taken his former project Mystral Tide, known for it’s lush grandiose Gothic introspection, and assumed the identity of Minorarc… which is darker and considerably more menacing. The beauty has become the beast.

That’s not to say that Ivan’s turned his back on what he does best. You’ll still hear the expansive piano, the ethereal pads, syncopated percussion and elegant use of fade-in and fade-out. Tracks are still gothic in tone, operatic in structure and monumental in scope.

It’s mostly the attitude that’s changed. Where Mystral Tide lamented the human condition, Minorarc willingly embraces it. Where Mystral Tide was an archeological project, looking back and deeper for meaning, Minorarc braces itself and casts it’s hungry gaze to the future. Where Mystral Tide stared into the abyss, Minorarc jumps right in…

And what we end up with is an ambitious and impressive debut album that’s one of the deepest and most interesting I’ve heard all year. Featuring by Ben from Cassandra’s Myth and Brett from Sarcophony, we have a long-player that ranges from the classically ambient to the menacingly metallic – with touches of futuristic electronica and even the occasional hint of rap – though we’re not talking about anything gangsta…. recall the kind of vocals Love And Rockets employed on ”**** (Jungle Law)” or the vocal styles of some early Sister Machine gun tracks, and you’ll get the picture. Trust me, it fits perfectly.

To this Mystral Tide fan, it feels more like a natural progression than a complete makeover. When I first heard preview snippets of the new material, I thought about the difference between Carl Mcoy’s Fields Of The Nephilim and his much-harder Nefilim line-up. In fact, I thought a lot of the guitars, bass and vocals recalled and reflected this sound (though Mystral/Minorarc has a very different aesthetic, philosophy and dimensions given by pianos and classical influences that mark out Ivan’s work as unique). I know the last few discs have been mostly ambient, but if you’ve seen Ivan crank up the amplifier and jam along to Strapping Young Lad, you’ll know that the gothic ambience and atmospheres conceal a heart of metal.

Truthfully, and Ivan might not like me for saying this, I feel that the Minorarc album is everything I wanted the last two MT albums to be, and more. Mystral Tide releases are consistently good and I would recommend anyone with good taste in music to get themselves at least one or two in their CD collection… but while I feel that each release was improving, they weren’t evolving like I wanted them to. I yearned for the daring next step, the next chapter, the new insights and newer techniques. I didn’t want MT doing the same thing only better – I wanted signifiers of growth. I wanted a brave new vision. With Minorarc, I got my wish, with interest.

I won’t do a track-by-track review, because I loathe that reviewing style (which never fails to ruin the album for me, and reminds of people who evaluate a movie for you by telling you everything that happens in it. Not only do you get their second-hand surface-level insight, but they’ve also managed to rob you of the discovery and the secrets). What I’ll tell you is that we have an extremely ambitious and daring debut album that stands alone stylistically with all the gothic grandiosity you’ve loved before, but effortlessly fuses a harder edge (both attitudinally and sonically) and futuristic electronics to come up with a listening experience that you’d expect from darkwave legends at the peaks of their careers.

It’s sounds great too. It’s polished, with all the production skills Ivan’s refined over the years. It’s quite an accomplishment to make a new musical identity and give it both cred and a unique voice while still making it sound like an experienced established act that’s well and truly found it’s voice and mastered it’s craft. Minorarc is an embodiment of this principle, though.

Even though I’m reminded of classic recordings by Nefilim, Sex Gang Children, Velvet Acid Christ, nobody sounds quite like Minorarc. Nobody’s doing what Ivan and his cohorts are doing here. And somehow this brave new voice has produced a debut album that sounds like the peak of a career. I don’t think I’m being hyperbolic in the least when I say that the Minorarc album is a future classic that all goth, darkwave and industrial fans will want to have in their CD collections.

Did I mention that it comes with remixes that rock? I’m not just saying that because my own remix of In Prime is on there (and, IMHO, the best remix work I’ve ever done), but extremely good mixes from Milkrun and Nigel Moore appear to make this a very worthy release indeed.

If I sound like I’m excited by this album, you’d be very right. One of my favourite artists (and good friend) has made something that’s impressed the hell out of me. And considering the high expectations I’ve learned to have for his work, that’s quite something. I’m spending a lot of time listening to the Minorarc album, and I think you should too.”

IndustrialNation: Scene Spot Japan Article – July 2003

Grundy, Solomon (2003). Industrialnation. Issue 18. p. 10. ISSN 1062449X.

Industrialnation was an independent international underground music magazine based in Oakland, California. The magazine was founded in Iowa City, Iowa in 1991 by Paul Valerio. Issue 18 included an article covering the state of the industrial music movement in Japan, which makes mention of Ivan Bullock’s Mystral Tide project collaborating with hAj of Seij minus aÇ and their performance at Wave Gotik Treffen.

Goth Nation: Whirlpool of Souls CD Review – May 2003

Jay (2003). Goth Nation. Goth Nation Magazine. Issue 3. p. 32. ISSN 14474476.

Goth Nation (later known as Fiend Magazine) was an Australian publication dedicated to gothic culture and music.

“This is a very interesting disc from Canberra’s (previously, Tokyo’s) Mystral Tide, a band featured on the “Dissonant Structures” DCD compilation of last year. This disc might be a year old (at the time of writing) but is well worth tracking down.

The CD is largely instrumental and each track is unique with a common thread running throughout. What little vocals exist are unusually low in the mix, and are distorted and delayed, sounding very similar to the vocal treatments used sometimes by Velvet Acid Christ. Musically, most tracks seem to be based around a simple but repetitive monolithic bass sound with classically influenced piano forming a central feature. This is the main element which differentiates between this CD and a lot of EBM because while it is grounded in EBM, the piano gives the music a dramatic, orchestral feel.

The best track on the album is “Force”, starting off with a creepy synth line before a dense bass is lowered into the mix. There doesn’t seem to be any percussion whatsoever in this track, which kind of reminds me of the theme music for the “Halloween” films. Listen to this track in a darkened room. This CD is definitely worth hearing.”

The Drum Media: Whirlpool of Souls CD Review – May 2003

Pompor, Paris (2003). The Drum Media. Rural Press. Issue 654, 17th June 2003. p. 24.

“There’s something intrinsically dramatic & dark about this long player from ex-Tokyo producer Ivan Bullock, now facing a significantly lower skyline in hometown Canberra. Released without a great deal of fuss sometime ago on domestic label Zeitgeist, it’s available afresh, supported by his ability to do live shows locally.

There are elements of trance, industrial, ambient & even gothic amongst the surging grandeur of the string soaked, piano riveted, melodically anthemic electronics. Describing this first album journey as taking an “industrial/classical” route, Bullock also advises that in the year or so since it’s initial release overseas, the Mystral Tide sound has shifted as it scans the horizon for its future.

It’s this ‘Medieval facing the technology future’ image which illustrates so well the stirring chordal shifts & mythically tenebrous mood that spans the 15 tracks herein, where shadowy, dialogue invaded intros allow lurking electronics to eventually swell & charge from the misty backdrops. As a listener it’s quite easy to concoct widescreen darkworld fantasies unfolding to the synthesised & orchestrated rhapsodies.”

BMA: Canberra Locality Article – April 2003

Stanley, Shawn & GMAN (2003). BMA. Radar Media Pty Ltd. Issue 178, 24th April 2003. p. 16 & 19.

Canberra’s local street press mentioning availability of “Whirlpool of Souls” at Impact Records, and short article on the eXXcentricity fund raising event for 2XX radio.

Electroage: Whirlpool of Souls CD Review  – 2002

Electroage was a European music site, covering all forms of industrial and electronic music.

“Mystral Tide is a project from Ivan Bullock, an Australian currently living in Tokyo who delivers here a very intriguing album. Whirlpool of Souls is perhaps the middle point between darkwave and EBM, with an hint of ambient and classical; giving an unique and engaging work of electronic music.

Whirlpool of Souls has an undeniable soundtrack-like persona, and this album’s facet is where resides the strength behind Mystral Tide.

The melancholic piano of Abandoned opens the album, rapidly followed by a superb Lucid mixing orchestral movements with a distant EBM groove. Removed is the perfect representation of Mystral Tide movie-like ambiences, atmospheric synths are floating around whispered speech samples, melancholic piano and guitar echoes. More classical oriented and beautifully rendered are the three parts of Regression; while Isolation and especialy Return lead more toward technofied EBM with melodic piano and a subtle dose of ambient.

The whole album is a tenebrous affair, where smoky ambiences and electronic rhythms collide together for a surprising result. Even more surprising regarding Bullock’s minimal equipement used for the album, and Whirlpool of Souls just suffers from a sligthly unequal mastering and post-production.

Rare are those artists who are making such an impression with a first album, but behind Mystral Tide there is a true musician who isn’t afraid of breaking genre’s boundaries. The music is superbly crafted and the continuous melted ambience of beauty and fear makes of Whirlpool of Souls an impressive work of electronics.”

The New Empire Online: Whirlpool of Souls CD Review (Album of the Month) – 2002

Founded in 1998, The New Empire was a site from Bochum Germany, covering all kinds of alternative electronic music.

“An album made in Australia, recorded with minimal equipment in Tokyo featuring danceable EBM and almost classic, melancholic arrangements done with piano and guitar sounds is something special I’d say and so it is my task to bring this unknown “Dark Wave & EBM” act from Tokyo to the light. The musician is not Japanese – Ivan Bullock doesn’t even sound like it. A very intensive track is “Sinner” with the hectic piano and the soundtrack-like, epic synthy-layers. Only a very soft rhythm in the background makes up a fragile skeleton for the oppressing, powerful music.

Followed by the breath-taking “Isolation”. It’s a sad fact that the production of the album is a little bit too silent, because especially this track lives of the driving beat. Almost Jungle-like technoid beats combined with an enormous bombastic sound of synthetic strings and again a piano. The dark speech-sample is a perfect addition and makes the whole track really a killer.

A very wild and loud track is called “Perseverant”. Bombastic sounds like choirs and the pressure of a galloping beat combined with samples of horses and only whispered voices make it my favourite on the album.

A silent, melancholic track is “Creation” with some rattling and whiling sounds, string-arrangements and a sadly dripping piano.

Finally the album holds two rare and unreleased tracks (well, I guess if you consider the level of reputation of this project, all tracks are rare) as add-on. The whole music appears instrumental. No disturbing vocals here. If there are vocals in the tracks they are hidden between the sound. Like distant whispers, used like an additional instrument and not to shout some meaning into the world.

Wow, this album is good! It is really a joy to listen to the complex, atmospheric and catchy sounds of Mystral Tide. How the different real instruments are mixed with the electronic part of the music is unique and the whole sound appears homogenous and perfectly balanced. The sound is warm, dark, almost “European” and maybe you can find the influences of a megapolis like Tokyo in the technologically interpreted melancholy of the music.

A sad, brilliant masterpiece. And don’t wonder: the CD has 16 tracks but there are only 15 songs. Track 14 is 29 seconds of silence so it doesn’t count. Coolness: 10/10 Rating: 5/6″

21st Century Goth: Project Review by Mick Mercer – 2002

Mercer, Mick (2002). 21st Century Goth. Reynolds & Hearn. p. 65. ISBN 1-903111-28-5.

Mick Mercer published 21st the book 21st Century Goth as a compendium of gothic musicians and their work from around the world.

“Ambient and medieval inspired Gothic/Darkwave/Industrial solo project based in Japan. Nice site in English, with Japanese and German versions planned. Bleak imagery really doesn’t work on cheery approaches, which leaves the bio/news a touch neutered. Ivan Bullock’s solo Darkwave rumblings will impress.”

Metropolis Tokyo Magazine: Whirlpool of Souls CD Review – February 2002

Grunebaum, Dan (2002). Metropolis. Mark Devlin. Issue 411, 8th February 2002. p. 26.

Metropolis is a free monthly city guide and news glossy magazine published by Japan Partnership Inc. targeting the English-speaking community in Tokyo, Japan

“The latest entrant to Tokyo’s growing ranks of one-man production units working in tiny, six-tatami-mat recording studios is Mystral Tide, aka Australian expat Ivan Bullock.

A Tokyo resident of three years, Bullock seems to have spent most of his time at home with his keyboards, effects and mixers, if his debut album is anything to go by. A decidedly moody work influenced by industrial-oriented dance music, Whirlpool of Souls is a carefully constructed album that shows the results of Bullock’s years of classical study of the violin and piano.

The album kicks off with the ambient atmospherics of “Abandoned,” before continuing through 13 dark yet danceable tracks with names like “Sinner” and “Creation” that indicate the artists spiritual concerns.”

Windows 100% Tokyo Magazine – MP3 Feature – 2001

Various (2001). Windows 100%. CD-ROM. Shinyusha. October 2001 edition. T1111863100802.

The MP3 of “Altercated” track “Forged”, was requested and included on the CD-ROM accompanying this issue of Japanese PC and technology magazine, Windows 100%.