For 40 years now, Sisters of Mercy have been spreading their mysterious and dark music to the rhythm of a mythical Doktor Avalanche. So many decades of building a real sonic cathedral, on the borders of cold wave and post-rock.
Time to make a deep impression and to become a major influence. If Andrew Eldritch's cult band is soon to resume concerts, still obeying a strict independence and refusal to release records, the Unknown Pleasures Records label has come to satisfy - and in what a way - the passion that Sisters of Mercy's music still arouses.
Bringing together an anthology of dark music in all its facets, 'Honoris II' is a fascinating dive into an impressive repertoire that is far more complex than the label 'gothic' has long suggested. Far, far away from this simplistic or reductive vision, the musicians covering Sisters of Mercy shed light on all the nuances and all the depth.
It's a whole current scene that celebrates the unique universe of an essential band. And if "Honoris II" pays it a vibrant and incredible tribute, it also allows the (re)discovery of exciting bands, demonstrating the vivacity and inventiveness of dark music. From this point of view, the tribute doesn't leave any respite and follows on from each other with covers, each one more brilliant than the last.
Among them, we can mention the dazzling "Giving Ground" by Wedding Anniversary, the ultra-powerful "Body Electric" by Chris Shape, the dark and sublime "Heartland" by Versari, or the terrible and beautiful "Floods I" by the Maman Küsters.
"In the end, 'Honoris II' is much more than a tribute. It's a wide-open door to the thousand faces of music that is reputedly dark. Sisters of Mercy appear for what they are: a band that is less tortured than powerfully avant-garde.
Yan
https://www.indiepoprock.fr/