Clan of Xymox

Variously named Xymox and Clan of Xymox, these Darkwave pioneers started out on the then exclusively Goth label 4AD. Their eponymous debut and 1987 release Medusa remain the two Xymox releases that enjoy the heaviest rotation at Goth clubs. With just enough rock elements to keep the spectral figures out on the dancefloor on the brink of a sweat, "A Day" and "Agonised by Love" mopped up puddles of tears and wrung them out in gentle waves of stacked synths. During the 1990s, Pieter Nooten essentially monopolized the direction Xymox took, leading them out of the funereal shadows and into brighter Dance Pop pastures. Go lightly should you care to follow Xymox through albums such as Metamorphosis and Headclouds, for the way is well manured. After a brief period of lying fallow, the once-again Clan of Xymox re-emerged in 1999 with Creatures, a welcome return to lonely Gothic moors worn to dirt by the dancing feet of night creatures.