The Sisterhood – Gift (1996)
Being vaguely familiar with Alan Vega (split w/ SunnO))) & Pansonic, old Suicide stuff) I had absolutely zero fucking clue that he ever collaborated with Andrew Eldritch. It wasn’t until searching for the lineup of this “side project” that I learned of his involvement. The goth world is truly transatlantic, eh?
So, Sisterhood. I read that this material was originally intended for a Sisters Of Mercy record and was only released as The Sisterhood because Eldritch wanted to kibosh plans by ex-members of Sisters to branch off using the name Sisterhood. Spiteful dickmove as it may have been, it worked, and The Sisterhood rebranded as The Mission. But, was this material really intended as legit Sisters Of Mercy stuff? I gotta call the bluff on that one.
The music is drastically different here. Eldritch is no stranger to long songs, but these are repetitive club bangers in the dark, almost industrial style. Think of it as a precursor to the kind of industrial techno you’d get in the 90s, but with the sparseness and repetitiveness of 80s hip hop. It is a far cry from the gothic rock or post punk of SOM stuff earlier or later than this, and I would consider this a complete and total side project in every sense of the word, and NOT a SOM album in disguise. This is closer to EBM / dance music than anything Sisters Of Mercy ever did.