Siouxsie’s first gigs for over a decade, including a lightning
delayed show at Cruel World, The Sisters of Mercy’s first US jaunt for even
longer, the definitive end (apparently) of Bauhaus, modern legends like Then
Comes Silence and Diâvol Strain on tour in Europe and two new books on the
History of Goth have hit the shelves. Just another average two months in the world
of goth, a genre which continues to remain in an overtly "undead" state despite
the constant media pronouncements about its apparent demise.
Intriguingly, the last eight weeks has also seen the release
of new and well-received albums by both Ghost Dance (featuring Anne-Marie but
not Gary Marx) and Skeletal Family (with a new vocalist but with Trotwood and
Stan very much in situ), and German legends Girls Under Glass (with a new album
next month) and The House of Usher (see below) are also making welcome returns
to the scene. Treponem Pal released a great album which should please fans of Rammstein and the Young Gods, and Guillotine Dream put out a remastered version of their own latest LP. Fellow UK goth act Black Angel put on an impressive show in San
Francisco and released the remastered live recording on Bandcamp within a week, showing their media savvy
once again – other acts please note.
This last weekend the largest goth music event on the
contemporary calendar, WGT, took place in Leipzig, and the current exponents of
the genre have naturally continued to produce the high-quality new music to
which we have become accustomed, making the selection of the top ten releases
for April and May 2023 just as difficult as such a selection would have been in
the “golden year” of 1983, forty years ago.
1. Ground Nero – Stars
The Belgian/Manx trio are back with the
best song yet, a slow burner with vibes of both Some Kind Of Stranger and Emma,
showcasing to their best advantage both the expressive baritone croon of Mark E
Moon’s Mark Sayle and the bass driven shimmering guitar wall of sound created
by the two Flemish Peters, a stunning tribute to Sofie and well-deserving of the
accolade of Goth/Post-Punk Best New Release of April/May 2023.
2. A Cloud of Ravens – Parable
Brooklyn duo A Cloud of Ravens released their latest album Lost Hymns this month, with Parable the most recent single from it. The song showcases their earthy soft-punk appeal, melding the Celtic charm and sense of melody of Big Country with the wistful polemics of New Model Army whilst retaining their own distinctive sound. Tours this month with a most impressive trio of acts - Then Comes Silence, Clan of Xymox and The Sisters of Mercy - should help the project to reach its rightful place at the forefront of the current scene.
3. The Bellwether Syndicate – Noir Thing
Scene veteran William Faith’s current act the Bellwether Syndicate this month unleashed Vestige and Vigil, a confident and energetic album of in-yer-face punky darkwave including recent singles and this feature track, Noir Thing, which is an appropriate taster for the album, combining an on-trend scratchy verse with a hairdryer of chorus. A noted artist very much at the top of his form.
4. The Shallow Graves – The Phantom Heart
More slow-burning glorious gothic bombast
from German duo The Shallow Graves, with The Phantom Heart, the lead
track from their new Promo EP. Derivative, trope-laden and highly unoriginal it
may be, like their previous excellent work, but fans of classic graveyard goth
rock will love this EP from the former Wave Records act which even contains a
fairly straight cover of The Sisters of Mercy’s Peel Session classic, Good
Things.
5. Gallows Eve – Oneirocide
The Swedish trad goth band return with a well-crafted atmospheric up-tempo slab of goth rock, replete with guitar riffs, a strong vocal and an anthemic chorus. Nothing stunningly original, just no-nonsense high-quality eight-to-the-bar ole-fashioned goth rock of a type which never seems to go out of fashion.
6. Grey Gallows – Strangers
The title track from the Greek duo’s fourth album, which was released this month, is classic darkwave combining a distant guttural vocal, synth swirls, pounding bass and reverberating guitar in a complex and occasionally confused soundscape which will appear to those on both sides of the synth/guitar divide on the current goth scene.
7. Words and Actions - The Snake’s Head
There’s a distinctive Amphetamine Logic feel to this debut track from a solo project from Detriti Records’ head honcho Davide Lace. Although somewhat let down by the demo quality and the under-par vocal, the classic goth one-string riff and driving bass still make this a rewarding listen.
8. The House of Usher – Dreaming of You
Founded in 1990, German old school gothic rock legends The House of Usher released their twelfth album Echosphere last month, the first to feature their new third (!) guitarist. Whilst the sound overall remains impressively varied, the highlight for me is the jangly Rose of Avalanche-esque Dreaming of You, an upbeat love song without any of the sombre pomposity that can sometimes bedevil the trad goth genre.
9. WitchHands – Black September
More 80’s single-string guitar riffing from deathrock project WitchHands, this time with distinctive March Violets tones, both in the slightly shouty vocal and the impressive guitar tone, on this track (one of eight) from the Colorado band’s sophomore album No Gods, No Masters, released by the impeccable Polish label Bat-cave Productions.
10. Cemetary Girlz – The Last Kiss
The Last Kiss is the latest single from French gothic deathrock band Cemetary Girlz’s wonderful new album L’Envol du Corbeau on Manic Depression records. Outstanding post-punk guitar work, distant old school French coldwave vocals, sumptuous multi-layered production and mastering, and carefully-crafted songs make this album a masterpiece of a sub-genre which has been undergoing a real renaissance in recent years. The video, of some rather cartoonish goths doing their thang in cemeteries around the world, was released to coincide with World Goth Day last week.
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