The second section of the Top 50 of 2021 features a host of new names who either appeared on the scene for the first time this year, or who enjoyed a major breakthrough in 2021. Whilst inevitably many of the acts on the goth/post-punk scene have one ear on the sounds of the 1980's and 1990's, artists of the third wave are pushing the sound ever further, taking advantage of the new studio technology available to them and of channels of distribution which weren't around for use by the early pioneers of the genre. Times have therefore changed for fans, too: in the mid-1980's, I would have struggled to track down as many as fifty active bands on the scene in any given year, whereas now the challenge is to narrow the list down to just that number, given the sheer volume of high quality releases worthy of recommendation.
40 Doubts About Waking - Winter's Game
What better way to kick off our second countdown than with a slow-burning trad goth epic, Dutch band Doubts About Waking's sombre Winter's Game. A gravel-throated chorus, quintessential descending bassline, modulating arpeggio-based guitar bursts and melancholy keyboard swirls are all present and correct on a classic of the genre.
39 Cult of Helios - Lost To The Sky
80's goth legend Scott A Campbell's latest project enjoyed its most productive year to late, with a series of single releases including an unlikely but successful goth cover of the theme from James Bond's Skyfall. Lost To The Sky featured his lugubrious croon to full effect, along with the usual Cult of Helios slightly spacey guitar effects, conjuring up aural effects not dissimilar to classic Psychedelic Furs.
38 Years of Denial - Poison Door
The second track from the Honoris II tribute to The Sisters of Mercy album to feature in this countdown, Years of Denial's dark disco take on Poison Door is the perfect template for how to approach another artist's song, keeping the melody and tone of the original whilst transplanting it to a completely different genre. In this case, Years of Denial have transposed it into a dark electro dancefloor banger that would not be out of place in the seediest of Berlin basement dives.
37 Kaelan Mikla - Svort Augu
Having mentally pre-allocated a new Kaelan Mikla album an automatic place in this year's top ten, based on the outstanding quality of their previous, very diverse albums, it was something of a disappointment to find the new release filled with relatively bland dark pop which will no doubt, however, help to develop their career. Svort Augu was a wonderful exception, an eerie delight where the sense of mystery and menace which pervaded their earlier records was again prevalent.
36 Suffering For Kisses - To Kiss The Stars
SFK is another project which has featured regularly in this countdown in recent years, and although Seattle based musician Tony D'Oporto enjoyed a relatively quiet 2021, the release of latest EP Love and Demise featured a couple of new tracks, including To Kiss The Stars, which contained the usual deadpan vocal and downbeat melody associated with the miserygoth subgenre, but with a slightly fuller production than some of the earlier releases.
35 Animal Rojo - No Second Part
Just the one new track this year too from Guadalajara's Animal Rojo, but what they lacked in quantity they more than made up for in quality, with a stellar video for No Second Part filmed in the brilliant sunshine of the Mexican desert to accompany a scuzzy biker goth rocker of a song with legendary frontman Carolus Cat Noir's idiosyncratic vocal leading the way as ever.
34 Neonpocalypse - The Light
The Light was the first track teased by Alex Svenson for the forthcoming six-track EP from his new Neonpocalypse side project. The Then Comes Silence frontman retains his ear for a great tune and a subtle understanding of dynamics, but trades in his usual twin guitar approach for a synth dominated retro-futurist sound redolent of the early 80's heyday when DAF/Fad Gadget/Depeche Mode and others ruled the alternative dancefloor.
33 Mirror of Haze - Drifting Into the Void
Lie back and bathe in the sumptuous production of Mirror of Haze's FX-drenched modern classic Drifting Into The Void. With a very strong early 90's French coldwave vibe (with the vocal and instrumentation following the same key melody), the Norwegian project conjures up a wonderfully full and melodic sound, with gothgaze undertones on the lead track from one of the best albums of last winter.
32 The Raudive - Colours
The final track from Honoris II to feature in this year's Top 50, The Raudive's take on The Sisterhood's Colours is a wonderful revision and extension of what was merely an Eldritch sketch originally, but here transformed into a full work of art which enhances the power of the original.
31 October Noir - Serendipity
Since Fields of The Nephilim shamelessly stole the blueprint for The Sisters of Mercy's sound and look for Dawnrazor, there has been an ignoble tradition for bands who tread rather too close to another project's unique output. But if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then October Noir deserve credit for creating new music which seems to be entirely based on the creative genius of Type O Negative. Their 2021 album Fate, Wine and Wisteria is a fantastic recreation of the drab four's sound, with a slew of well-executed and carefully-constructed songs like Serendipity.
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