A launch party for Front 242’s live album “Black Out” has been set for Berlin on Friday 26 June 2026, with AD:keY providing the live act. The venue is Urban Spree, at Revaler Str. 99 in the 10245 district, and for the German EBM duo the gig is a homecoming of sorts: it is their first appearance in the city for nine years. Alfa Matrix puts the album itself out on 19 June 2026.
Alfa Matrix offers “Black Out” as a 2CD with three bonus tracks and as a 2LP on solid silver vinyl, and the digital deluxe edition can be found on Bandcamp.
Front 242’s last live record
Billed as the final live album by Front 242, “Black Out” was taped at AB Brussels in January 2025 during the farewell tour, which went on for more than forty shows in Europe and the United States. Onstage, Patrick Codenys, Jean-Luc De Meyer and Richard 23 had Tim Kroker behind the drum kit, while the studio mix and production were in the hands of David Baboulis of Soldout.
Listeners can pick a download, a 2CD digipak or vinyl pressings. The 2CD edition carries three exclusive bonus tracks, “MasterHit,” “Soul Manager” and “No Shuffle,” and the running order also takes in official recordings of newer songs from the live set, such as “Generator,” “Fix It” and “Hide & Seek.”
Date, venue and tickets
The night runs under the Machineries Of Joy name. The doors are due to open at 10 p.m., and a ticket costs €12 through the ra.co event page. According to the flyer, the Machineries Of Joy DJ team handles the decks, and Alfa Matrix is named as a supporter.
About AD:keY
Berlin-based AD:keY consists of Andrea Nowotny and René Nowotny. The project dates back to 2007, following René’s earlier project Rector Scanner, with Andrea joining as the second core member. René has also been a keyboardist for Armageddon Dildos.
From the beginning the duo has worked in German-language, old-school EBM with male and female vocals. That approach surfaced on the debut album “Thema Nummer Eins,” released by Electric Tremor Dessau in 2008 after the self-produced EP “Shout!” earlier that year. “That’s It!” (2010), “Astrogator” (2012) and “Anthropozän” (2015) followed.
AD:keY moved to Alfa Matrix in 2017, opening with the download EP “Shameless” and then the fifth album “Reanimator.” In 2018 the label made the older records available digitally, along with the Rector Scanner catalogue, and the duo also released the 16-track “10th Anniversary,” which blends reworked older material with new songs. Later releases include “Resonanz” (2020) and “0609” (2024), the seventh album.