The Sisters of Mercy

The Sisters of Mercy are an English rock band formed in Leeds in 1980. After achieving early underground fame there, the band had their commercial breakthrough in the mid-1980s and sustained it until the early 1990s, when they stopped releasing new records in protest against their record company, WEA. Currently, the band are a touring outfit only. The group has released three original studio albums: First and Last and Always (1985), Floodland (1987), and Vision Thing (1990). Each album was recorded by a different line-up; singer-songwriter Andrew Eldritch and the drum machine called Doktor Avalanche are the only points of continuity throughout. Eldritch and Avalanche were also involved in the Sisterhood, a side project connected with Eldritch's dispute with former members. The Sisters of Mercy ceased recording activity in the early 1990s, when they went on strike against East West Records, who they accused of incompetence and withholding royalties, and had pressured the group to release at least two more studio albums; instead, the label released the album Go Figure under the moniker SSV in 1997. Although the Sisters of Mercy were eventually released from their contract with East West, they have never been signed to another label nor released any new material. They have continued to perform new songs live. Former members of the group established the bands Ghost Dance and the Mission.