Profile of Alpha Matrix by Mark Bayross
Founded: 2001
Based: Brussels
Personnel: Séba Dolimont; Bernard Van Isacker; Benoît Blanchart
Alfa Matrix was set up by Séba Dolimont and Benoît Blanchart of the band Aiboforcen, first as a vehicle through which to release their music, quickly becoming something of a home for electronic and industrial artists who share their musical vision.
The label covers everything from synthpop to power EBM, trip-hop to drum n’ bass, but there is something of an Alfa Matrix sound that runs through all their acts, a sense of European futurism with intelligence and soul. Artists in the Alfa Matrix constellation include legendary bands like Front 242, Leæther Strip and Mentallo and the Fixer, alongside new and ground-breaking acts like I:Scintilla, Zombie Girl and 32Crash.
Add to this a regular series of compilations, as well as the fact that a number of key releases come in limited edition box sets, not to mention the fact that Alfa Matrix is the home of charity-driven darkwave supergroup Bruderschaft (a kind of Gothic Children in Need), and you can see why the label presents such a powerful force in the electro-industrial underground.
