(note: these are in no particular order)

I also can't list too many yet in large detail, I'm short on time. I'll add more as I think of them.

I like Rosetta Stone's music because there's just so much of it and it's all just about on par with each other. I feel like I could play that huge Anthology and just sit down or dance around, sing to it, etc? A lot of songs you're waiting for that one part to hit, but I think songs like Leave Me for Dead are popular in this subculture because the whole thing is powerful.

Porl King's voice can be strained in a kind of powerful way, I don't have the vocabulary to describe it, but it's a kind of intimate power. You'd have to hear it for yourself, and you definitely should go see!

A lot of things I can say about other bands, I come back to Rosetta Stone as a comparison. And even worse, I don't prefer Sisters of Mercy anymore because all the revival bands after them were so... just powerful with how it was built upon the foundation laid down. So that's how you get to a random goth glazing Rosetta Stone while none of their influences are anywhere to be seen.

Nosferatu (Goth Rock): A more dramatic, horror-themed (in the Paralysed Age way) band that has a similar sound to Rosetta Stone, as well as bringing a more classic goth sound. I personally like Close and Vampyres Cry, but those are just 'hits' out of a really solid mini discography.

Altar de Fey (Deathrock): In time I'll probably expand this to not be under another band, they're definitely a solid and good sound, but this is how it has to be for now. They kind of resemble a mix between Sisters of Mercy and Rozz Christian Death at times, I really like it. The singer is one of my favorites with what I heard of his voice, especially in Death to my Enemies I had heard of them around the time of Angels of Mercy, so I assumed it was revival by the sound of it... but then I was like.. the early 80s?? All this lore and the twists of discovering this band is why I'm eventually expanding this to their own plot.

They have a sound I can't really name, something that lets me know they're them when a song randomly shuffles in a way. I've listened the most to Living For Nothing and In Darkness You Will Feel Alright, plus a few songs from two other albums. I think it's the subject matter that makes it for me, a mix of Christian spite and general barking at darkness, then we get to "fight war not wars" commentary (from I Like It When A Soldier Dies). What I really like is Consolation Prize for the theme of Heaven versus Hell (in which you have your Consolation Prize) and Lost for the almost dreamy or surreal sound of the guitar. I honestly think those two are a high point for the band, but another might go to the titular song of the album, In Darkness You Will Feel Alright, which I think is their most popular...

One: I have no idea how to describe them. Like you've heard Just Can't Get Enough, Enjoy the Silence, World in My Eyes, Boys Say Go? Blasphemous Rumors? It's interesting because everyone's heard all those songs, but then I can say like do you like their album Songs of Faith and Devotion, Judas, maybe? And then everyone puts their hand down.

Two: My favorite song is Somebody, and I adore the one remix that adds the heartbeat. I have a the collection of Some Great Reward songs mixed with SOFAD and I axed the original Somebody to include that remix... My absolute favorite release itself is just the one where it's Blasphemous Rumors and Somebody together... Somebody is the little brother to Blasphemous Rumors, as they couldn't exist without each other (your research topic for today).

For an actual review, this band has a lot of different tastes and eras, and is a great representation of a band that evolves and changes through experimentation. We can go listen to Speak and Spell and dance to Nodisco and Boys Say Go!, and then we can go dark and goth-adjacent with Enjoy the Silence and Blasphemous Rumors. I know enough to know that the difference between these is just simply electric/synth pop and industrial influences, but even saying just that is a hard undersell.

For how many albums/releases there are, it would only take maybe two days to get through their actual base discography without the remixes. All their songs are delicious and up to 5-6 minutes long, but it's never a waste of your time. A lot of their decisions were controversial and maybe even just ever so slightly ahead of their time, and I have absolute respect for the music.

I don't know how to describe this band either, but for the opposite problem I have with DM... They're so good at their brand of goth rock that now I think of Sidelined as a baseline song... but Sidelined is easily one of the closest matches to just a mainstream rock song I can think of? But it's good, so what does one do?

At the same time we like Cats or Devils Eyes, really just the whole album, Tourniquets of Love's Desire. It's a really good classic that I love listening to, and through it I found out that the band is still really, really active on Youtube. They have all kinds of content about them, too, like their memorial concert, a good few live recordings posted? Might be worth checking out, as they're a REALLY good band.

They have another sweeter but still loud sound, like a version of Rosetta Stone that was devoted to a more melodic taste and was more vicious and had more ballads. And then there's some quieter songs, like they've made a new album I skimmed... I don't think they're coming back though, not with the death of a member and all, I think it's all legacy and so.

Actual vampires came up to the mic to deliver you Empire of the Vampire, and they want you to hear it.

The band has like a vampire horror theme to them despite I think only the one album being explicitly vampire-themed... but then that album has like EVERY song they're known for, so maybe they are just vampires? Tragedia Nosferata is their other main album you'd hear, and that's still vampires. So... vampires all the way down.

Their biggest hit and probably greatest song is Bloodsucker, maybe followed by Nocturne and Morella's Sleep. Patricia in Pain is similar too.

There's a mix of sounds underneath all the vampirism, too, don't be mistaken. But it's... not the same. But it might be just because we know of their other classics, so perhaps they'll be your taste?

I almost didn't add it because it is very deeply cliche of me, but then I realized I don't particularly care. Psycho Magnet is cool and digging through all the versions of Scenes was a nice pasttime for a particular day I had off... Claire's Horrors is a nice song, one I like specifically for its quirks, but I think songs like Kiss or Sacrifice are more popular. Of the most popular, my favorite is Where Good Girls Go to Die or A Letter to God.

With LAM, there is a mix of theatrics, general drama, and political lyrics at work. Brennan was beyond extremely critical of the Catholic Church, as understood in Kiss and A Letter to God, and just as a general theme across it all. Even as I talked briefly about other bands speaking on politics, the lyrics in these songs are direct and intense, easily something I could make a page on all on their own.

I don't have to spend a lot of time on this one, it's a classic and kind of required reading (listening) for the genre. The vocals are sharp and steady, dark and intentional, and the music is that classic guitar with a hint of darkwave-industrial for the vibe of the song. Each song is similar but all different, the kind of thing that makes a discography.

A good band who I was told had broken up or disbanded or just quit, and then I had actually stopped listening to the same 3 albums to find they're literally planning a tour and dropped an album pretty recently? I haven't listened yet, I've only gone for Sylphes, Obsessions, Twilight, and apparently skimmed through Rarities without even noticing. I think that alone is a sign of a timeless sound.

Their sound is so nice to me, something almost more polite than other goth music, but still super classic. There's a lot of energy to be found, but a good few of their songs are very easy to listen to compared to other bands. There is still that classic goth discordance and exploration, just softer and serving more of a mythical or storyteller vibe for the music. I think that's why Saraband is their most popular song, and by extension, Sylphes is the most popular album.