Leeds, England, UK
- Andrew Eldritch - Vocals
- Doktor Avalanche - Drums
- Nurse - Nurse to the Doktor
- Chris Catalyst - Guitar, backing vocals
- Ben Christo - Guitar, backing vocals
Biography
One of England's leading bands of the 1980s, THE SISTERS OF MERCY play a slow, gloomy, ponderous hybrid of metal and psychedelia, often incorporating dance beats; the one constant in the band's career has been deep-voiced singer Andrew Eldritch.
Metal Hammer states: "[The Sisters are] a lean glittering groove machine for the new millennium, leaving the sullenly anachronistic reformations of their contemporaries far behind."
Eldritch originally formed the band in 1980 with guitarist Gary Marx and recorded its first single with a drum machine dubbed Doktor Avalanche. Guitarist Ben Gunn and bassist Craig Adams were added to make live gigs feasible, and THE SISTERS OF MERCY built a reputation through several singles and EPs. Gunn left the band in 1983 and was replaced by Wayne Hussey. THE SISTERS OF MERCY recorded their first full-length album, 'First and Last and Always', in 1985, but two years later, internal dissent had split them apart; Marx left to form Ghost Dance, and Adams and Hussey departed shortly thereafter. A legal dispute ensued over the rights to the name THE SISTERS OF MERCY; Adams and Hussey attempted to use the name Sisterhood, but Eldritch released an EP under the name to prevent its usage, and the two finally settled on the Mission. Eldritch chiefly utilised a corps of temporary sidemen from this point on (although former Gun Club bassist Patricia Morrison was an official member of the group for a short time) and rebounded with his two biggest-selling American LPs, Floodland and Vision Thing.
New and hence unreleased songs make up half of any THE SISTERS OF MERCY set these days, although the classics get a good thrashing in rotation. Having derived their light show from the Big Bang (gleefully inventing rave lighting in the process), THE SISTERS OF MERCY see no reason to tone it down, and will be exploding in all their usual glory at SOUNDWAVE FESTIVAL 2012.
"Be advised that THE SISTERS OF MERCY are going on tour again. We will behave very badly. We will wear some very loud shirts. We will wear some very wrong trousers. We will perform some very legendary rock music. It's what we do."
