Clockwork Pathogen by Backspace
"True electro practitioners! These guys have international potential! Im going to go ahead and compare them to Project Pitchfork and X-Marks the Pedwalk." - Afekdead - lowlife(dot)com
Backspace "Clockwork Pathogen" was first released back in 1999 via Church's own Systematik Audio Artz label. Available only on compact disc. Physical media before the rise of digital files, streaming and readily accessible downloads.
25+ years later, times change and "Clockwork Pathogen" finally sees a digital release via Bandcamp.
::: ::: :::
"Clockwork Pathogen" was our debut full-length CD. Highly influenced by the likes of Front Line Assembly, Prayer Tower, and much of the electro-industrial sound coming out of Europe. We loved the harsh industrial elements, danceable beats and modern sci-fi themes. We also weren't afraid to include some melodies in our work as well. Listening back on it now, I think many of the songs and style hold up well."
"This hasn't been remastered or cleaned up. The original ADAT and production files are long lost or not even workable. A lot of this material has been recovered from CD-R, MiniDisc and tapes. So, you get all the nuances, rawness, intentional and unintentional levels from different recording and mastering sessions before equipment was cheap/available, etc. Please bear this in mind when listening to these recordings. They're more a time capsule (our twenties) and I've really just wanted to get the material out there to have digital files versus simply physical media."
"Also, I was never happy with the original CD artwork, thus I redid it with hopefully a more modern aesthetic."
Hope you enjoy!
- Marc (Backspace member), January 2026
Tracklist
| 1. | Subtraction | 6:28 |
| 2. | Why Me | 7:00 |
| 3. | Sister (Remix) | 6:06 |
| 4. | Lies of Angels | 7:14 |
| 5. | Havok | 6:46 |
| 6. | Shame | 5:04 |
| 7. | Shadow Vision | 5:59 |
| 8. | Mirror | 5:36 |
| 9. | Clean | 7:04 |
| 10. | Sister | 6:37 |
Credits
Piotr Kornblum - Vocals, Programming, Synths, Tactics
Marc Church - Synths, Samples, Programming, Visuals
Dave Stechschulte - Synths, Backing Vocals
additional elements by: Steve Butkowski, John Courte, and Dave Baker
Created by Backspace 1999
Produced by P. Kornblum, R. Noonan and Backspace
Recorded at Izzi Digital Studios, MI
Engineered by P. Kornblum and R. Noonan
Mastered by P. Kornblum in the Lab
License
All rights reserved.
Backspace was a Detroit-based electronic act, formed in the late 90's, with a sound not unlike that of Front Line Assembly, Mentallo & the Fixer or In Strict Confidence. Later, the project took a cleaner approach to EBM before deactivating in or around '05.
In January '13, project founder Piotr Kornblum passed. The band was known to be working on new material at the time of his passing.