One of England's leading "goth" 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.
(There is some disagreement as to whether the group took
its name from an order of Catholic nuns or from the
Leonard Cohen song of the same name.) 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 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 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
utilized 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. He is currently the group's
only member.
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