Editorial: February 2014

It's that time again. It's been a good year for us so far. The readers poll gave us some interesting and well-received results. Our compilation has been downloaded hundreds of times, and our readership is on the increase with every passing week. But I was reminded last week by the announcement of the death of Cold Meat Industry – a cult label that pioneered some fantastic bands including the likes of Mortiis and Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio – that what goes up inevitably comes down.

But does it have to stay down?

That might seem like a hopelessly optimistic outlook on life, but over the past few years there has been a surge in bands who were long considered consigned to the annals of alternative music, who have been resurrected.

Across the gothic / industrial spectrum, there are a host of bands that gave it a shot back in the 80s and early 90s who disappeared just as quickly as they managed to press a solitary 7” single. Yet the past few years have seen many bands – some big, some small – regroup and have another crack at it. In the past couple of years alone the likes of The March Violets, Siiii, Shatoo, Naked Lunch, Fatal Casualties, Flesh & Fell, UK Decay, Lescure 13 etc. have all returned to release brand new, and thoroughly enjoyable albums, some of which have been up to 30 years in the making!

In my mind the trend seemed to start with the resurrection of Fields Of The Nephilim for their 2005 album 'Mourning Sun'. Admittedly there was the disowned 2002 album 'Fallen' as well but it was 'Mourning Sun' that really brought The Neph' in from the cold after fifteen years since their last studio album.

This was then followed by the unexpected new studio album fellow goth heavyweights Bauhaus on 2008's 'Go Away White'. Though old issues would split the band up again soon after it's recording, it nonetheless showed that anything was possible.

So, the world's economy sucks. The music industry is mutating and many independent labels are bearing the brunt of it. The clubs aren't as full as they used to be. Dubstep is everywhere... blah, blah, blah. But at the end of the day, the music is still there. There are new bands, old bands, and those that just never went away. I'm glad that there are those who still have some deranged self-belief that the music they wrote two decades ago can be re-worked and released to a contemporary audience, and that there is still an audience for it!

Posted in: editorial