In the mid-1980s a new musical trend emerged called gothic rock. The combination of melancholic (new wave) music, dark lyrics full of symbolism and black clothing resulted in the nickname 'bat music'. The most famous bands from this movement were Siouxie & The Banshees and The Sisters Of Mercy. After a falling out with singer Andrew Eldritch, guitarist Wayne Hussey and bassist Craig Adams left
… The Sisters Of Mercy in 1985 and The Mission was founded. Hussey became the face of the band and over time he developed into a fine singer with a passionate, sometimes tearful voice and a Bono-like appearance. In 1988 The Mission scored their only Dutch hit with Tower Of Strength, from the album Children. In the nineties things went less well with The Mission. New albums flopped and the fans of the first hour dropped out when the band started experimenting with new movements such as dance and electronica. Moreover, there were drug problems and mutual arguments, which made it seem around 1997 that the band no longer existed at all. Only in 2001 came the surprising news that The Mission was back together in original line-up and that a new album was being worked on. The result bears the name Aura and is absolutely not disappointing. The urge to experiment has disappeared and the band sounds like they did fifteen years ago. This means thirteen very strong songs with wide-ranging guitar reverb and lots of synthesizer bombast. Hussey cries and wails as usual and his lyrics are again full of religious symbolism and romance. It's good to hear that The Mission is back if only because now it becomes very clear where bands like Rammstein and Paradise Lost have gotten the mustard. (MvP)more
