Artist: Ultra Sunn
Title: The Beast In You
Genre: Cold Wave / EBM / Electronic / New Beat
Release Date: 3rd October 2025
Label: Artoffact Records
Album Review
“Be the light and face the beast in you” - I wear the beast in me openly on my skin. I’ve given it the lovely name “Tom”, and it manifests as a slightly stoned-looking demon. But that’s a story for another day. This is about ‘The Beast in You’, the second album by Belgian duo ULTRA SUNN, made up of Gaelle Souflet and Sam Huge.
Rising from Brussel’s nightlife, ULTRA SUNN have been developing their distinctive sound since their formation in 2019, weaving Belgian New Beat with EBM and Cold Wave, and giving it a fresh, modern edge through influences from 2000s Rock and contemporary Pop - bringing new energy to club dancefloors.
The Belgians quickly drew attention with several EP releases. Their 2024 debut album ‘US’ hit like a bomb. It’s no surprise that the duo was soon booked for live performances from Los Angeles to São Paulo to Berlin, playing both small and large stages. Building on the success of ‘US’, the new album dives deeper into the raw, primal energies that define their characteristic sound.
ULTRA SUNN channel the aggressive force and driving spirit of their influences, sharpen them with contemporary precision, and create with ‘The Beast in You’ a powerful distillation of classic EBM and the hypnotic rhythms of Belgian New Beat. Sam Huge’s distinctive baritone merges with Gaelle Souflet’s precise synth work, layered percussion, and propulsive bass lines. ULTRA SUNN challenge themselves musically and emotionally, finding new modes of expression - bolder, darker, yet more self-assured than before.
Frontman Sam comes from a Rock background. The electric guitar is his first instrument - his musical mother tongue, so to speak. It helped the duo explore new melodies and harmonies during the album’s composition. The guitar was often used as a tool for writing melodies, especially for choruses. Though it’s barely audible in the final tracks after being translated into machines and synths, it plays a key creative role. In the duo’s eyes, EBM and New Beat are inherently Rock-oriented genres. The energy and attitude remain the same, even without the guitar.
On ‘The Beast in You’, Gaelle Souflet and Sam Huge explore themes of transformation, resilience, and confrontation with one’s inner conflicts. They examine both inner strength and darker impulses that transform the human self, turning them into characteristic soundscapes built from analogue synthesisers and Huge’s hypnotic vocals.
The title track urges us to confront our inner struggles, to face the beast within, overcome it, and transform it into something positive. „Be the light and face the beast in you” serves as the album’s guiding motif - transformation through confrontation, executed with mechanical force. Uncompromising EBM rhythms fuse with precise analogue synths and the emotional intensity of Sam Huge’s vocals. The tension between hardness and empowerment defines both lyrics and sound. ‘The Beast in You’ lays the album’s energetic and conceptual foundation.
‘Fluorescent Sun’ feels cooler and darker - an expression of distance and the sense that true closeness seems lost in our digital world. Artificial light becomes a symbol of emptiness and longing. “I wrote you letters in the sky, on a paper bag from thousands feet.” Nostalgia and yearning meet urgent beats and layered synth textures. The beat is tighter, the mood more introspective. The recurring hook creates a hypnotic monotony.
Then comes ‘Wrong Floor’ - the album’s quiet heart. Sam Huge processes his mother’s struggle with addiction - without pathos, with controlled honesty. “You’ve hit the wrong floor, honey / Still I feel happy and divine.” The line is absurd, beautiful, and painful at once, which gives it power. Cold Wave austerity prevails over EBM aggression. Organ-like synths, minimalist beats, and cold soundscapes create an introspective space. Sam Huge’s voice carries the track with near-sacral gravity. For me, ‘Wrong Floor’ is the emotional core of the album - vulnerability instead of armour.
‘Hard Feeling’ comes like a release - cold steel, warm defiance. §It’s not my cross, I’ve got nothing to bear.§ No self-pity, no drama, just letting go with style. Musically clean and reduced - metallic effects meet delicate backing vocals, the bridge recalls the 80s without retro kitsch. §No hard feeling but just keep fighting§ sounds simple but sincere - a song that unites resilience and self-empowerment.
‘Fever and Denial’ flips the energy - sweet, toxic, feverish. The song thrives on contrasts: dark synth layers and hard drums open the track, while the chorus resolves the tension with brighter, almost optimistic lines. Lyrically, it depicts self-deception and internal contradiction: “You sip the truth from another glass, fake it all, let the moment pass.” It’s like watching yourself lie. The sound is a vortex of synths - spinning, gleaming, never still - a dance between control and chaos.
‘L.A. Drags’ is hypnotic, seductive, dangerously beautiful. Driven by EBM and Cold Wave synths, metallic percussion, and Sam Huge’s deep baritone, it unites surrender and resistance. §They sing like guns and pride; they are born in heat and suicide.” The beat marches, the bass growls - between them flicker pride, pain, and glitter.
‘Sugar Crash’ brings back raw energy. Industrial sounds, EBM grooves, Cold Wave attitude, and Post-Punk influences merge into a track that feels tense, manic, yet controlled. The lyrics are a rush of overload and desire: “Velvet static, sugar crash” - almost physically tangible. It feels like dancing on adrenaline, right before collapse. The text is a blackout in the mind: “Haven’t slept for days, I drift.” A track truly made for live performance.
‘You Came With a Blade’ turns personal and confrontational. Techno hardness meets catchy melody, harsh sound effects meet wide synth landscapes. Aggression and vulnerability balance each other - a relationship duel turned club anthem. “You said you wanted sweet and easy, but you came with a blade.” The clash of aggression, disappointment, and self-assertion is mirrored in expansive synth layers that heighten the drama - dense, sharp, radiant.
‘Guardian of Your Dreams’ drags the mood back into the abyss - voodoo imagery, nightmares - a dark ritual of bass and myth, almost cinematic. A pounding beat, ritualistic build-up, hypnotic repetition - and the striking refrain: “He walks through the bayou and the moonlight beams.” You can almost see it, somewhere between Lynch and Lovecraft. The track plays with religious and mythical symbols, yet at its core remains a reflection on inner fears. The driving beat and haunting refrain create hypnotic intensity.
Finally, ‘Golden Vein’ - and suddenly the space opens. After all the tension and struggle, light enters. The album ends on an almost spiritual note. Organ-like synths, shimmering layers, and Sam Huge’s compelling vocals create a resolution that feels like release. “Now I see the golden vein, running through the marble plain.” A line that lingers - relief made sound. The track feels conciliatory - organic, hymnal, warm. A conclusion that conveys peace, understanding, and hope, like a deep breath out.
‘The Beast in You’ is a mature, powerful album that consistently evolves ULTRA SUNN’s signature sound. An album you feel - physically and emotionally. ULTRA SUNN combine raw energy, precision, and lyrical depth. Each track adds a facet - from anger to tenderness to spiritual calm. Every beat carries, every chorus lands. It’s more versatile and refined than its predecessor.
The production remains sharply structured: precise beats, analogue synth textures, deliberate melodic layering. Sam Huge’s voice anchors the album, while Gaelle Souflet’s sound design forms its architectural framework. Transformation, empowerment, darkness, and light - all in a pulsing, sweat-soaked package. This album lives. It demands, moves, and liberates. And it leaves no doubt: “the beast in you” is not our enemy - it is what keeps you moving.
The album is available digitally, on CD, and in limited vinyl editions.
Tracklist
01. The Beast in You
02. Fluorescent Sun
03. Wrong Floor
04. Hard Feeling
05. Fever and Denial
06. L.A. Drags
07. Sugar Crash
08. You Came With a Blade
09. Guardian of Your Dreams
10. Golden Vein
Line-up
Gaelle Souflet - Synths, Drum Machines, Production, Visuals
Sam Huge - Vocals, Synths, Production
Website
https://www.ultrasunn.com / https://www.facebook.com/ULTRASUNN
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 9
Sound: 10
Total: 9.5 / 10
