- Band Members: Andrew Eldritch, James Ray, Andreas Bruh, Doktor Avalanche, Tim Bricheno, Craig Adams, Tony James, Patricia Morrison, Wayne Hussey, Ben Gunn, Gary Marx
- Genre: Rock & Alternative
- Influenced by: The Stooges, Pere Ubu, The Fall, Motörhead, Suicide, The Birthday Party
- Followed By: Deutsch Nepal, Most Precious Blood, The Prids, Paradise Lost, Theatre of Tragedy, Cemetary 1213, H.I.M., Heavens, Ken, Jay Aston, Oscar Mulero, Mercurine, The Dear & Departed
- Similar Artists: Barry Adamson, Nick Cave, The Chameleons UK, The Cult, The Cure, Love and Rockets, Peter Murphy, New Order, The Psychedelic Furs, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, Sex Gang Children, Southern Death Cult, Tom Verlaine, Gene Loves Jezebel, Rozz Williams, Sinéad O'Connor, Scarling
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. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide