Radio Werewolf

Since contributing a track to the American Gothic compilation rather unsurprisingly nothing has been heard of Radio Werewolf. Harpsichords, sinister hammer horroresque vocals and rhymes not out of place in a school poetry competition (theme Halloween) my wife thinks these are absolutely great., sadly she is wrong. “Home sweet home is a catacomb” I ask you! Fortunately her taste in husbands far exceeds her taste in music.

Rain Fell Within

Nice Faithful Dawn type cover to “Believe,” quite a Gothic Rock/Metal kind of sound that could be Nuclear Blast. Appear to be on a label rather acely named Dark Symphonies. Good at what they do but nothing new or genre busting.

Raison Detre

I know very little about these other than I think the “in sadness silence and solitude,” album is pretty much the best example of a particular brand of Goth.

Track titles like “Deep Enshrouded,” and “passing inner shield,” coupled with the sounds of torture chambers and monasteries show the high water mark of  medieval dungeon Goth

Rame

A kind of dancier more techno “Future Sailor”. My fairy queen of cyberland indeed!

Rammstein
accusation of fascist tendencies overshadow this band who have gone on to become one of a small number of industrial bands capable of filling stadiums worldwide. They deliver a full on post-Ministry industrial assault

Random, Eric

“In Blood,” is a rather ace slice of Depeche Mode groove with an almost Orb’s ultraworld bleepy icing for good measure. Another from the Cage stable although I’m not sure you need to put a cage in a stable as it is unlikely to run away.

Rash

Bleepy electro industrial with distorted guitars. I know little about this lot other than the fact they probably hail from Chicago and there might be 4 of them.

Rasputina

It’s not often I admit I am wrong in fact my wife would probably tell you it’s less often than that. I may have originally described Rasputina as “Kind of like a girl singing Voltaire without a tune (which I suppose it might be).” Although I now admit I may have been a little hasty. That was in response to her/their contribution to the Buffy soundtrack CD but I have since acquired the “My Fever Broke,” EP/Mini LP and am prepared to revise my opinion.

Whilst it is hard to get a true feel for a band from a CD containing a lot of remixes as its hard to tell what is the artist and what the remixer Rasputina seem to have something about them. The cover features a lady in Victorian underwear in front of a clock reminiscent of Steampunk erotica and any goth prepared to cover Belle and Sebastian is clearly inspired. Some of the more mixed efforts are reminiscent of Tatu but the one original song in its original form on My Fever Broke is kind of like Scanners meet Siouxsie and still fairly electro for a lady who plays Cello.

The Belle and Sebastian cover? Beautiful minimalism and if your not going to cover the Sisters you might as well pick these as the songs will be better than pretty much any other of the Goth bands

Rational Youth

Quite detached vocals that have an almost Radical Dance Faction feel to them or more obviously Kraftwerk. Very synthy but with a very strong beat to hold it together.

Ravenous

Sound like the them to Randal and Hopkirk the Reeves and Mortimer version (which I think might be by Pulp)

Ray, James

Mr Ray has had a number of incarnations as far as Goth is concerned. Most famously I suspect as the Eldritch soundalike vocalist for the Sisterhood project but he has also produced material still on Merciful Release, through his Gangwar and The Performance vehicles before being reduced to hanging around in the wings at Rosetta Stone gigs hoping to be invited onto the stage rather like a young boy watching a kick around on the park.

Performance, part produced by Von Eldritch himself is almost like  Sisterhood meets those panpipe people/Dead or Alive cocktail.

Gangwar is minimalist sub sisterhood electro goth.

By all accounts a grumpy bastard if you spill his pint.

Razed in Black
Run of the mill high octane electro industrial

 “Oh my Goth,” maybe an unrepresentative novelty and any EP with multiple mixes of one track can be a distraction but it is pretty bouncy melodic EBM fayre in all its iterations

Razorblade Kisses

Very claustrophobic and sinister but somehow reminiscent of Avril Lavigne but with violins and that creepy music box sound that Nosferatu have been known to put to such good effect

Razorfeed

A lot Play it Again Sam industrial in feel. Samples and drums structured like proper pop.

Razor Skyline, the

A  bit Siouxsie and a bit Moonchild with even a little bit Kate Bush thrown in vocally.

Musically a bit electronic and a bit eastern.

Reactive Black

Imagine Ertha Kitt singing for Suspiria- German apparently

Realm, the

Typical 90s guitar Goth but perfectly listenable

Reaper

Mrs Librarian well and truly approves of this floor filling big sounding German industrial pop band. I can’t really say much more about them because the sleeve is in German.

Rebel Christening

Grooving in green era March Violets with big throbbing bass or In Excelcis

Rebentisch

Quite 80s synthy.

Reclaim

Remind me of some of Nightbreed’s very electronic bands early in the millennium.

Recycle

Drums heavy on the kick crunching guitars and vocals that sound ever so slightly compressed and distorted with a sprinkling of the Finnish speciality of pretty girls harmonising over the top. Seem to have a sample of a zx spectrum booting up or a fax machine they throw into the mix periodically.

Red

The LP Joy would suggest the sound of an amateur dramatic group putting on a bad opera. I have no knowledge of them beyond this to know if this is their low or high point

Red Apple Cvlt

Despite the name that has me a little lost, this EP seems to be almost entirely the work of one Eva Red. My initial thoughts were Derriere le Miroir. From Costa Rica apparently. Very nice maudlin and I think they are right to describe themselves as Dreampop but probably only just.

Red Cell
Noisy unrelenting electro/industrial with a bit of a poppy Germanic hook. “Related Skin,” is noisy unrelenting electro/industrial with a bit of a poppy Germanic hook.”Naked,” is broadly more of the same but in a more accessible way

Redemption Unnamed

Redemption Unnamed are another Gothic metal band  but  one that do seem to lurch sonically from pretty full on metal to early Siouxsie type Goth and back again sometimes  within a single track.

Red Flag

Red Flag can probably be most accurately described as the place at which industrial meets dungeon sounds and a very splendid place it is to be too.

Red Flags
Quite rumbly and guitary.
Think this might be one of those Amazon said they were Goth occasions but they sound like Scanners which is cool and have a bit of at atmospheric female vocal thing going on and theres a bit of an early New Model Army bass feel on some tracks. Almost  Moonchildy in places

Red Horses of the Snow

RHOTS is a collaboration between Mark Burgess of the Chameleons and Chris Hawtin (no idea). Dreamlike slightly dark shoegaze. Beautifully packaged and the one thing I have found out about Mr Hawtin is that he is also an artist and is responsible for the design  

Red Letter, the

Melancholic minimalist dark alt-pop with hints of orchestration.

Almost a glam-less Suede

Red Lorry Yellow Lorry

The Lorries (as they were eventually known) always caught me by surprise. They seemed to infiltrate the indie mainstream to the point I presumed them another Weddoes or something until the chap who introduced me to Ghost Dance said if you like the Sisters you’ll like RLYL.

The first thing I acquired was the “This Today,” 12” from a little record shop in Lincoln if I recall correctly and although I thought it was perfectly listenable it didn’t really suck me in although rehearing it some years later on a goth comp it proved it could hold its own against all comers.

If the compilation “Smashed Hits,” is still available its worth a tenner of anyone’s money.

A defector ended up in Ghost Dance and after their demise personnel ended up in the Mission perhaps unsurprisingly as RLYL also hailed from Leeds.

Knocked out 3 or so albums and a sprinkle of EPs initially at least on Red Rhino

Red Sekta

Further evidence that Red is as popular as black when it comes to Goth. Quite a late 80s Play it Again Sam kind of light industrial sound.

Owe something of a debt to Depeche Mode who are even covered on Anodize

Redzone

I’m not quite sure how to describe Redzone other than they are ace. Proudly proclaim all samples are in the public domain and there are proper strings thrown into the mix as well. Full on intense atmospheric electronic. Touches of the Utah Saints poke through but just as part of the overall mix rather than the driving force. If such a thing as Intelligent Industrial existed this would be it- and it might just be the name of my record label if I ever set it up!

Reed, Tory

Very 80s pop sounding. John Hughes anyone? This could have been a clever
Tori Amos pun but I suspect not. Vocals firmly 80s Brit Synth Pop.

Regenerator

Almost a Pulp meets Erasure but darker and softer

Rekoma

Menacing guitars growly choruses and sinister verses

Relatives Menschsein

Sounding almost like an electro-Joolz at times and the feel of an eastern European eurovision entry flirting with folk music.

Reliquary

Fairly generic female fronted modern Goth. Would have easily sat on the Ladies, Queens and Sluts comp.

Remo Park

Very mid 90s sounding European Goth although they might be at least 15 years older than that. Reminded at times of the more accessible Garden of Delight output

Remyl

If this is EBM I want my money back!

OK that’s a bit harsh but apart from being mentioned on Nightbreed merchandising I wasn’t really sure what EBM was although the compilation “Tomorrow Never Came,” claims to be EBM/Wave and this the opening act just sound like noisy industrial with distorted vocoded vocals.

Rendissance Noire

“Beyond the Circle of Light,” reminds me a little of the Gothic Flamenco CD I somehow ended up buying a couple of weeks ago. A five track mini album but very much focussed round that particular guitar style albeit with some wailing vocals alongside. Greek apparently though so to be fair pushing the boundaries of their Goth scene.

Reptyle

A bit bleepy, a little bit Wolfsheim but more guitar than electronic. Perhaps even Star Industryesque

Requiem in White

From what I have managed to hear (One track on the “Towards the Sky” compilation as I don’t have the £150 American CD sellers seem to have valued “of the want infinite,” at) RiW are certainly worth your attention if not you weekly pay check. Judith atmospherics with Moonchild vocals with a few special effects thrown in for good measure which is fine by me.

Update- courtesy of Myspace I have now managed to hear a little more. Moonchild vocals with a rumbling almost tribal rhythm section and a more general “In the Nursery,” kind of ambience.

RiW spawned both Judith and Mors Syphilis both with their own entry elsewhere and more mainstream moments remind me of a sedated Ghost Dance.

Restoration

the archetype early 90s goth 12" courtesy of Nightbreed. Traditional two tone artwork three tracks and nice symbolism

Resurrection Eve

Bleepy but in a proper 80s pop song kind of way pitching half way between AHA and Depeche Mode

Retrosic, the

Kind of traditional shouty vocalled industrial but with a bit more effort spent on the synthy bits. Nice and thick sound

Quite dark electro with some unsettling images in  their packaging. “God of Hell,” appears as though it  might be some sort of anti-fascist concept piece. Musically some of it is quite Sisterhood.

Return to Khaf’ji

Quite upbeat poppy 90s goth reminiscent of All Living Fear with a bit of a Ghost Dance and at times Garden of Delight vibe.

Appear to originate from across the Irish sea keeping them at least in terms of land mass if not sovereignty in the company of the Virgin Prunes.

Released material through Camden’s Resurrection (kind of like a buoyant Nightbreed.)

Revue Noir

Not sure how this isn’t the Dresden Dolls

Reyne, Jordan

Folk Goth with friends in influential places. Associate of the lovely Lucy Ward and recently supported March Violets. “Children of a Factory Nation,” is a highly polished collection of maudlin folk songs. There’s a bit of an Alanis Morrisette and Cyndi Lauper thing going on as well

Rhea’s Obsession

Richards, Monica

Very accessable and poppy with a slight medieval tinge and reminds me a little of some of the softer Siouxsie

Rico

 I think I know the name Rico from a collaboration with Gary Numan on something very catchy and industrial although “Shave your head,” seems to fall into much more Nick Cave/Crime and the City American Gothic territory albeit a very heavy incarnation of it.

Ringtailed Snorter

Slang expression for a pig apparently. Brooding and bleepy

Risque
I’m instantly minded of a cross between Ladytron and Athamay via Schmoof but thankfully more Ladytron. Quite a strong Annie Lennox/Eurythmics feel at times. Appear to be British and fond of saucy snaps for their cover art. Their cover of the Talking Heads classic, Psychokiller certainly raises a smile.

Ritual

Goth compilations, I’ve bought a few… and normally they are fairly predictaqble depending on the period they cover and lets face it your heart just sinks if it turns out to be a Dressed to Kill one.

Nigtht Creatures was a blind internet punt with no tracklisting and little informationm available away from Amazon but for once was a pleasant surpise

This lot were the only band I had not come across before and apparently only survived 2 singles (making them twice as prolific as Getting the Fear who also had Cult links) but the track included “Mind Disease,” is pretty good. It’s quite punky and the vocals are reminiscent of the subsequent ENDG. I think I can hear a sax which was not uncommon of the era I’m guessing (mid-80s)

Roach, Steve

Minimalist space ambience, released on Projekt

Robed in Desire

Relatively trad goth band who produced a 3 track demo tape they were selling at gigs in the second half of the nineties. Of the three tracks two evoke a Garden of Delight atmosphere whilst the third has an almost mid 80s Cure sound.
Presumably they managed to play Nottingham at least once in their careers or I can't for the life of me think how we ended up with the tape. Dragging it out of the cupboard to listen to recently I have to admit it has aged better than I would have expected.

Robots in Disguise

Like a rubbish Shampoo who were pretty rubbish in the first place. Sadly these are the “Goth Girls” of the Mighty Boosh fame but they are frankly sixth rate Elastica wank who wouldn’t recognise Patricia Morrison if she stepped on them.

Rockbitch
I guess pretty much what you would expect.from a predominantly female alt goth metal band.

Roladex

“Cathode Rays,” is the missing link between Fischerspooner and Ladytron.

Roland, Paul

apparently released the highly successful Danse Macabre LP before the Alice's House 12" which frankly sounds more like the Television Personalities than the Sisters

Rome Burns

3 track “Bereaved or Bereft” suggests RB aren’t too sure where to pitch themselves.

Spooky music just about lives up to its title as a gloomy piano ballad that seamlessly kicks into far superior Catharsis, which is organic sounding trad goth that reminds me in places of All Living Fear at their best.

Any band that salute “Blythe Power,” have to have something about them.

ALF similarities further emphasised by their tendency to cram more syllables than is strictly necessary into each line leaving vocals feeling rushed at times.

The more I listen to Rome Burns the more I struggle to quantify what they sound like. Two more LPs have recently fallen into my possession. 1998’s “Done and Dusted,” is starker and at times reminiscent of a stripped back maudlin James whilst 2003’s”Non-specific Ghost Stories,” is a bit electro like a bouncy pop version of All Living Fear. By the time of the latter there appear to have been some minor personnel changes as well as an expanded roster and that may in part explain the expanded sound or perhaps they just cheered up.

Rope, the

Another early NMA sounding outfit with some Chameleons lobbed in.

Rose of Avalanche

They were never at the forefront of Goth but always heading up the chasing pack. Early EPs showed a more psychedelic feel before settling into a proficient mid-Atlantic rock-goth sound  that gave them plenty of crossover potential.

One of the bands guilty of re-releasing virtually identical albums in multiple sleeves to annoy record buyers everywhere.

For a band from Northern England the singer sounds awfully like Lou Reed.

Rosetta Stone

The second goth band i ever discovered and with the Witch possibly responsible for releasing the last ever record of goth version 1.0.

Formed in Liverpool by lots of people called Porl "the Stone" released a clutch of EPs and a stunning debut LP, An eye for the main chance.

After the Witch however follow up single "Nothing" and subsequent album "Tyranny of Inaction," found them ploughing a more industrial furrow.

Although the band plodded on towards the millennium little original new material followed although the more dedicated fans were kept satisfied with a variety of remixed and rerecorded versions of their earlier work.

Rosetti’s Compass
A bit of a Moonchild wail going on with some fairly inoffensive synthy, drummy pop. “Black is the colour of his desire,” apparently

Roughhausen

Nice synth guitar combo in a heavy but bouncy industrial kind of way. Some tracks bleepier than others and quite a late 80s feel to some of it

Rozencrantz

“Chase the Dragon,” is full on power Goth. I can just imaging them preening in the video already. Nothing inoffensive but almost AOR by numbers arrangement and all.

Rubella Ballet
I’d never come across these but their inclusion in the “Cure and the Althernative 80s” magazine prompted me to check them out. Apparently this lot were so Goth they decided to wear day-glo
Musically can be quite similar to what you hear on those haunted house sound effect CDs you get at Halloween and their sleeves bear something of a resemblance to Creaming Jesus’s cartoony offerings.
Also quite punky and were clearly inspired by Crass’s manifesto
Rubicon
In my early days as a fledgling Gothling I would often get home and despair as to why Selectadisc had just sold me this crap from their Goth section and more often thsan not it would be that it was the new project of someone resting on their former glories.
This sub-Pearl Jam AOR Grunge-lite was actually the remaining members of Fields of the Nefilim that weren’t astute enough to bagsy the name.
If you were particularly obsessed by Pearl Jam’s “Ten,” this would proably do whilst you were resting that disc.

Ruins of Beauty

Probably more doom metal than goth but wouldn’t be out of place on crossover label Nuclear Blast and their guitarist is called Pendragon

Ruiz, Miguel

After at least half an hour of the Dedication compilation which for the most part has been variations on the theme of white noise Miguel Ruiz seems to have at least gone to the trouble of overlaying a number of tracks in some kind of structured and coherent way. There might even be some instruments alongside the appropriately timed samples.

Runes Order
Uplifting trance, no, only joking but compared to most of the bands on “Death Odors,” their contribution “Sacrificio Finale,” is relatively bright and mainstream. I should probably have put relatively in bold mind as this is still very much atmospheric ambient albeit of a slightly lighter vein.
Given the opportunity to fill an LPs Waiting Forever (Memories Remain)” worth of material RO do show a fair bit of variety and away from the rather bleak compilation where i first discovered them they seem quite interesting and varied. Almost Inkubus Sukubus at times (The Razordblade (Winter)”appear to be an Italian three piece and release through the wonderfully named Palace of Worm records. “Through the years,” even flirts with electro. “Angel,” focuses on the chord progression I have wasted far too many hours on because anything sounds good over- and it does! The album is very nicely packaged but I am a sucker for arty photo’s and matt card sleeves. There are even glimpses of shoegaze/Sarah pop!

Run Level Zero

Run Level Zero are a heavy but eminently dancey electronic industrial. Very full and lush sounding and excellent production. Swedish apparently. Of the four albums I have they appear as two pairs visually, “and thus we walked,” and “walk the psycho [path]” on Minuswelt and  “In between,” and “symbol of submission” on Prototyp, in fact on closer inspection I think each main release in fact spawned a companion remix affair. For fans of Frontline Assembly both stylistically but also literally as I acquired these alongside a fairly substantial FLA haul. Have a track called “Yellow Wallpaper,” which to be  fair is probably better than the one I wrote and certainly scarier.

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