Whatever genre descriptors one chooses to apply to the band, The Sisters of Mercy is one of the most persistent underground rock acts of the last four decades. With the band now consisting of founder/vocalist Andrew Eldritch, guitarist/bassist Ben Christo, guitarist Dylan Smith, and “Ravey” Davey Creffield operating Doktor Avalanche (the group’s affectionate term for drum machines), U.S. audiences are now being granted the opportunity to catch the band live for the first time in over 14 years. The Sisters of Mercy’s North American tour will begin on May 10 in Silver Spring, MD, followed by the May 13 appearance at the Sick New World Festival in Las Vegas; continuing until June 9, the tour will include stops in most major U.S. cities, concluding in Denver, CO. The band will be performing two gigs at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles on May 15 and May 23, with the latter date already sold out. Tickets for the tour will go on sale at 10:00am local time on Friday, February 10.
Since the band’s inception in 1980, The Sisters of Mercy’s lineup has been in a seemingly constant state of flux, with Eldritch and Doktor Avalanche remaining the only consistent members. The group’s second album, 1987’s Floodland being widely considered a classic in the annals of dark underground music thanks to tracks like “Dominion / Mother Russia,” “Lucretia My Reflection,” “This Corrosion,” and “Driven Like the Snow.” Despite eschewing the “goth” label, the term continues to be applied by many to the band’s sound and image. Due to Eldritch’s disllusionment with the music industry, which led to financial and legal difficulties and a long feud with EastWest Records, 1990’s Vision Thing has to date been the last release of new material from The Sisters of Mercy; a fourth album has long been rumored to be in the works, with Elfritch even hinting at the possibility prior to the onset of the Trump administration.
The Sisters of Mercy
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Ilker Yücel (Ilker81x)
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