August 2021 sadly saw the passing of one of the key figures in the emergence of the original goth scene, Ollie Wisdom, the former singer of the band Specimen and one of those involved in the establishment of The Batcave club night in London. Punk had the 100 Club, the futurist/new romantic movement had Blitz, and finally, with the establishment of The Batcave, the UK capital's "positive punks" had somewhere to go where their style of music and dress sense would not only be tolerated, but expected.
Almost forty years on from those early beginnings, the current global goth scene revival goes from strength to strength, as the wider variety of the
excellent new releases listed below will testify. In the same way as Wisdom’s
club helped to unify a diverse collection of bands operating independently in a
similar musical ambiance, in 2021 there is a growing army of DJ’s, an
ever-expanding range of magazines, and a huge variety of review sites devoted
to sharing the best of the scene, with the Sounds and Shadows Facebook group helping
those active in the scene to help each other to progress.
Although, as an inveterately creative artist, Ollie Wisdom himself moved on to different musical
pastures after the decline of the original scene, he would have surely have
been impressed by its recent renaissance and on the new musical boundaries
being tested across the sub-genres by those releasing new work this month.
This month's top picks (as usual grouped roughly by sub-genre rather than necessarily in order of merit):
1. Slow Danse With The Dead – Babble of Despair
The latest six track release from the prolific Albuquerque based
one man miserygoth project continues the artist’s high quality of monthly
releases, with title track Babble of Despair a thrillingly lugubrious
treat. With its catchy haunting guitar riff, up-tempo drum machine and bass
backing and an echoing mysterious vocal, it conjures the same dark disco vibe
as Mexican act Stranger and Lovers. Arguably his best track to date.
2. Double Echo – Melody Saw
Another act with a cool dark disco feel are US/UK act Double
Echo, whose latest album ☾ is out on
Fabrika Records, and Melody Saw has the zeitgeist-capturing signature
label sound of reverb guitar over an uptempo backbeat and cool synths, with
Ellon Souter’s soaring deadpan vocal reminiscent of 90’s legends Dubstar’s Sarah Blackwood on a
track which is the epitome of perfect dark pop.
3. Purple Fog Side and Elsehow – End of Summer
Russian and Belgian musicians combine on this melancholy
dark pop delight, with Pavel Zolin’s intricate dreamwave soundscapes the
perfect backing for Piero Delux’s emotive vocal, with an anthemic chorus with
lyrics which mournfully sum up the natural melancholy of this time of the year.
4. Buried In Roses – I Float Alone
US act Buried In Roses’ spirited gothgaze update of the
Julee Cruise classic I Float Alone is a highlight of their eight tack eponymous
first release for Swiss Dark Nights. Imagine a 4AD act restyled for the dark
twang generation and the appeal of the 90’s influenced North Carolina based
band is immediately apparent. Bandcamp link
5. Actors – Strangers
Canadian darkwave project Actors have generally played the 80’s
wave revival card a little too straight for my personal liking (and they hardly
need the minimal extra exposure I can give them), but Strangers, a
teaser released for their forthcoming album Acts of Worship which was
announced this month, is a wonderfully taut piece of dark pop built on a two
note bass drone with a menacing undertone, sounding like a heyday (the The Bends) Radiohead
covering Modern English’s 16 Days. This album already has impressive
pre-sales and could be the one to propel them into the mainstream.
6. The Cold Field – Reaching For Things You Cannot Hold
Australian duo The Cold Field are on top form on new album
Hollows, combining a very strong set of songs with a multi-faceted sound which
is a perfect summation of all that is so great about the current wave sound.
Insistent but unobstrusive drum beats, driving bass that underpins the whole song,
lush layers of synth alternating with more spartan single note effects,
syncopated broken guitar arpeggios and a distant, almost disengaged echoing
baritone vocal make for a mesmerizingly effective mix on lead single Reaching
For Things You Cannot Hold, an excellent gateway to an album which won’t be far
from the top of many Best Of.. lists come the end of the year.
7. Sun of Mithra – IV
The first band from Azerbaijan to feature in one of these
round-ups, Sun of Mithra’s new five-track release from their “filthy Baku
basement” features this wonderfully epic instrumental which combines gothic
bombast with shoegaze atmospherics on a mini-album which is otherwise
engagingly experimental in tone. Bandcamp link
8. Night Ritual - Eidolon
Eidolon is the lead track on the Philadelphia one man
band’s new release Unbecoming, and its retro reverb-drenched charm is significantly
enhanced by a deceptively simple but nagging guitar chord sequence, the overall
effect being classic Rose of Avalanche given a low-fi dancefloor remix.
9. Byronic Sex & Exile – At One With The Exiles
Whilst most artists would simply pre-release one track to
tease their forthcoming album (in this case Unrepentant Thunder, which is about Lord Byron’s
time [and death] in Greece) , UK goth national treasure Joel Heyes underlines
his workaholic credentials with an excellent six-track digital mini-LP
featuring not only three tracks from the autumn release but three other songs
exclusive to this release, including a wonderful update of the 19th
century Italian protest song Bella Ciao (best known for the 1964 Yves
Montand version) and the catchy At One With The Exiles, which is similar
in vibe to the standout track Your Name On the Wind on the last full BS&E
release, Cu Foc.
10. The Spiritual Bat - Mission
Not content with uncovering the best new trad goth talent,
the Swiss Dark Nights label has set up a new side label “Swiss Dark Nights
Steel” to release stellar new recordings by more established acts, the first
fruits of which are an excellent new EP by Italian veterans The Spiritual Bat,
with lead track Mission’s typically everything-and-the-kitchen-sink
female vocal Euro goth production smothered with an ample helping of improvised
violin mayhem by New Model Army collaborator Shir-Ran Yinon.
11. Chain Cult – We Are Not Alone
Greek trio Chain Cult released their catchy deathpunk single
We Are Not Alone this month on red or black 7” vinyl. Beginning with a
powerful driving bass riff of a style made famous by New Model Army, an
exquisitely produced barrage of deathrock guitar dominates the song which
features typically anthemic shouty vocals on what is one of the more powerful
releases this month.
12. The Engines – Puritans
From the wastelands of Hampshire (UK) come The Engines, whose
new LP contains a great slice of contemporary grunge-goth in Puritans.
With a fabulous turbocharged singalong chorus straight out of 1995, a
fabulously disinterested female vocal from El Woodcock and some great guitar
work from Merrin Hamilton, The Engines’ album is like a sassier version of
early dark psych influenced Catatonia.
13. Deliverance ft Zac Campbell – The Danger
Mexican trad goth rock band Deliverance’s excellent new
album ASTRAL came out this month, with the highlight being this track
which is sprinkled with the added six string stardust of The Kentucky Vampires’
Zac Campbell. A tight Lucretia-style bassline and Rui Delirio’s
typically excitable vocal delivery make The Danger a chugging old school delight.
14. Angel’s Arcana – Lord Of The Smoking Mirror
One of the most powerfully evocative tracks from the pomp of
the original goth era was Fields of the Nephilim’s Vet For The Insane,
famously featuring on the soundtrack of one episode of decade-defining stylish
cop show Miami Vice, and Greek one-man occult goth project Angel’s Arcana conjures up its
ghost in this sumptuously bombastic track from the new album The Reveries of
Solitude, with beautifully echoing guitar arpeggios complementing a
slow-burning rhythm section. Bandcamp link
15. Guillotine Dream - Another
The end of the month saw the very welcome release of the
teaser single from the forthcoming album Demigods from UK dark occult goth
legends Guillotine Dream. Fans of Fields of The Nephilim will love this further
refinement of the band’s sound after the “live in the studio” rawness of the
last album. Arc’s vocals are stronger than ever, whether a low growl or a more
echoey plaintive cry, whilst Mapk’s powerful drumming drives the song along. Lake’s hollow bass reverberates like a funeral death knell, providing the perfect platform for Arc’s subtle crescendo of guitar layers as the song
progresses.
16. A Pale Horse Named Death - Reflections Of The Dead
The third single from the forthcoming album Infernum in
Terra was released this month, and again sees Sal Abruscato openly flirting with
his Type O Negative roots in a slow-burning doomfest of descending basslines
and vast sheets of guitar freezing fog accompanied by the usual distant
slightly whiny vocal and Alice In Chains backing vocal close harmonies,
although those averse to fretboard onanism might want to tune out after the
first three magisterial minutes.
17. Vazum – Votive
Hot on the heels of their highly acclaimed V+ album
in the spring, Detroit duo Vazum are back with another great single, revamping
and supercharging a track Rat from previous album Vampyre Villa and showcasing their unique and unmistakeable deathgaze sound in the process. A pounding bass
beat, muscularly distorted and occasionally cacophonous guitar riffs and the
contrasting male/female vocal lines dominate another muddily memorable slab of
FX-drenched original goth rock. Sensory overload guaranteed. Bandcamp link
18. Ariel Maniki and The Black Halos – The Pale Horseman
Black Light, the long-waited latest album from Costa
Rican act Ariel Maniki and The Black Halos, finally dropped at the end of the
month, and with fifteen wonderfully-produced and varied tracks it showcases the
breadth of music styles which are covered by the broad term “goth”. From
straight guitar-based rock (Strangers, Mirrors) to more intricate
synth swathed tracks, the main constants are the strength of the melodies and
Maniki’s attention to detail in the production and mastering suites. Straying
further from genre tropes on this release, The Pale Horseman fuses diverse elements from
dark electro to dark twang to create an original largely instrumental song
which showcases Maniki’s skill at manipulating complex chord sequences and
combining them with strong melodies to create a unique track which is typical
of the variety of sounds one of the most intriguing albums of the year so far.
19. Just Another Monster – Eldritch Succubus
Whilst mall goth figurehead Marilyn Manson remains persona
non grata for many on the scene because of allegations made against him, his
music continues to inspire and none more so than Just Another Monster, whose
new single (which, let's be honest, attracted my attention because of its title) features familiar bone-crushing distorted sleazy riffs, affected
vocal over scuzzy bass verse bursting into a high octane singalong chorus and a
curiously dated industrial glam-goth metal appeal. Derivatively impressive.
20. Ghost Dance – Falling Down
Anne-Marie Hurst is back with a new iteration of the classic
80’s goth band, with teaser single Falling Down featuring her
distinctive strong yet silky vocal prominently. Musically, as expected there’s
a typically folky and catchy goth rock chorus to sing along to, but the verse
is a little funkier than with previous versions of the band and purists might
also point to the lack of a classic one string Gary Marx guitar motif. Nevertheless, a very welcome return.
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