Fresh from playing several festivals this summer, The Sisters of Mercy are kicking off their global tour this September. Named after the Leonard Cohen song, the Sisters of Mercy remain one of the most popular and influential bands in the Gothic rock and post-punk scene.
Enigmatic frontman Andrew Eldritch is the only constant of the band through the years, as the Sisters have had various incarnations. It’s a risky gig to go to – have they lost their touch? Imo they’re still pretty sharp. Eldrich is still as enigmatic and scary as ever.
Their material is raw. They blend Eldritch’s lyrical emotional expression drawing on poetry like that of Eliot and Byron with loud, experimental rock’n’roll noise featuring Doktor Avalanche – the Sisters’ drum machine. Influenced by artists like Bowie, Iggy, Motörhead and The Velvet Underground – no other bands have ever sounded quite like the Sisters.
They encapsulated the post-punk, post-industrial darkness of the time. The Sisters released tracks until the early 90s, when they went on strike against their label and stopped releasing new material. But the Sisters haven’t stopped writing, and lots of new material has made it onto their setlists. So if you want to hear new music from this band, you’ll just have to see them live, won’t you?
