2023 "Recortd Store Day" reissue of one of the most essential EPs in UK goth rock history

This seminal EP from 1983 is considered by many to be one of the best records in the Sisters' discography. Released prior to their iconic First And Last And Always (1985), these five songs rumble with an even darker, more doom-laden countenance than the goth-rock earworms of that debut album. I try to imagine what it might have been like discovering The Sisters of Mercy with this 12", hearing these hallucinatory dirges backed by a sledgehammer drum machine that the band members called Doktor Avalanche. "Goth" wasn't really even a "thing" then, and the band was imposing and enigmatic in a manner far removed from most of the UK post-punk underground. The spectacularly named Andrew Eldritch, with his ghastly baritone, permanent aviator shades, and all-black attire, was a totally unique frontman. The guitars of Ben Gunn and Gary Marx (the latter also of Ghost Dance) and bassist Craig Adams (who would later go on to leave the Sisters and form The Mission UK with Wayne Hussey)

When you hear me talk about "raw goth", this Ep is a touchstone. Richly surreal and marked by clever wordplay, Eldritch's lyrics for these songs vacillate from visions of intimate violence blown up to mass spectacle, the sensation of rain on naked flesh, to ritual immolation. Reading through them, you'll find seeds of what would germinate into further ideas and images in later Sisters Of Mercy albums. The art is stark, neon violet against pitch black. Minimal but direct design sensibility. And the music itself, it sounds like it's coming out of a dungeon. "Kiss The Carpet" with that bomping drum-like keyboard riff and steady high-hat hiss, moody guitar chords ringing out in the darkness, the bass entering in like a prowler, mean and droning as everything slowly coalescess around that simple melody. It's almost industrial-sounding. Especially when everything kicks in together and it turns into this monster gloom-rock hook, Eldritch moaning those inscrutable lyrics of his in that unique, menacing signature baritone. Such a cool machine-tinged post-punk dirge. And the whole EP is like that, Doktor Avalanche dropping borderline Casio drumbeats through the echoing doominess of "Lights" and the romantic crawl of "Valentine", sometimes shifting into a surprisngly heavy groove. Heavy? I wouldn't be surprised if some funeeral doom metal band has done a cover of "Fix". Yes, it's heavy, made stranger with the odd higher pitched, almost childlike backing vocals floating in the background before Eldritch comes slithering in.. I think "Burn" is as upbeat as things get on Reptile House; it picks up the pace a little, but still sounds totally menacing, with a driving, exotic melody and Eldritch's bizarre song lyrics echoing endlessly . One of the best songs on the record, in my opinion.

This is not the upbeat Sisters of the debut album - these songs have the same melodic sensibility, but the tempo is set to sulk. Slow and miserable, bedraggled and perfect. It's all sharp-edged guitar and lumbering bass and clattering rhythms moving sluggishly through a world of personal misfortune. A kind of numinous, apocalyptic dungeon-punk. Even when Eldritch steps back and the rest of the musicians are hammering out the shimmery, brittle chords and loud bass riffs (that instrument is foremost in the mix here), it's pure atmosphere. Easy to see how this influenced countless bands in its wake.