I first heard the name Dredg while my band was on tour in Europe with Katatonia. Vocalist Jonas Reknse had been talking about them and picked up their CD somewhere along the way. I heard a little of it on the bus, but for whatever reason never paid it that much attention. It was only when I returned home did he mention a few times “I think you’d really like this, you should give it a chance”. So I eventually picked up the album “El Cielo”.

Searching through some of my favorite band/songwriters playlists has proved to be THE most effective way for me to discover great music. Right before the Damnation album went into recording mode, I took a look at Martin and Martin’s playlists. Both read Paatos - Timeloss. The album title was what especially caught my attention.

On an uneventful day, I found myself on the Badman Recording Co. website hunting for more detailed information on Mark Kozelek. My curiosity got me clicking around when I ran into Lanterna. Searching thru some of my favorite band/songwriters labelmates’ had worked for me in the past, so I downloaded the ‘B Minor’ song off of the site. If you’ve seen the trailer for the movie ‘Catch Me if You Can‘, then you’ve already experienced what got me interested in them to begin with.

In 2001 there was a tremendous amount of hype around a German band called Lacrimas Profundere. Everyone was comparing the album “Burning a Wish” to old Anathema. Although I hate comparing bands to others, I have to strongly agree with this. Some have called the album too close for comfort, but I’m of the attitude you can rarely have too much of a good thing. I dig the album so I won’t complain. After the press died off after this album, I haven’t heard much more about the band.

If you are looking for something extra-dark this weekend I have just the song. I have never been a fan of industrial music of any sorts. In fact I usually have a fairly strong distaste for most stuff I hear labeled as “industrial”. If Germany’s Diary of Dreams falls into that category, they are certainly an undeniable exception. They are certainly gothic and I’m sure some would also label this as “darkwave”.

I don’t recall how I came across this band, but it was sometime in 2000 when the album “One of 18 Angels” was released. The album is song after song of pure unforgiving darkness.

I’ve wrestled with what to contribute next for a couple of days. I have been hesitant to contribute this, because it really came out of the blue for me. I had heard of the band Norwegian Extol for quite some time now, but every time I took a sample I never found anything of substantial interest. Because of this, I never really investigated them further. That and the fact that Extol is a Christian band and I’m extremely not into bands that preach religion. However if it is not ridiculous apparent the band speaking of their religion and the music is great, I can be accepting of that. So recently when I heard the latest single from Extol entitled “Pearl” off their latest album “The Blueprint Dives” I was so surprised at what I was hearing.

Mark Kozelek is one of the important musicians and song writers to me. Period. He writes some of the most heartfelt, bleak, depressing yet undeniably honest and human songs ever to grace my ears. He holds the throne of my favorite vocalist in this style, without question. You either worship or hate this man, there is no “he’s okay”. Which is why I am stirring in absolute frustration and anger that I was not able to see him perform this past weekend. I’ve had several friends who are also Kozelek devotees e-mailing me telling me how it was “one of the most heartfelt shows” they have ever seen. Damn you! I just didn’t think tickets would sell out two weeks ahead of the show. I hope I have another chance someday, because I have an extremely special place in my musical heart for his music.

Just like in any genre, I find myself sifting through a large amount of crappy gothic rock before coming across something truly fantastic. For some reason really bad gothic music can be more embarrassing to me than bad music in other genres. This has probably turned some away from the genre and it’s unfortunate, because there really are some gems to be found if you look hard enough.

One such gem is Sweden’s Bay Laurel. They released two full length albums, “Days of Joy” in 1996 and “Where Pain Comes to Die” in 2000.

There are numerous songs I wish to post about knowing that I must reference the legendary British shoegaze band Slowdive. I take for granted that everyone into dark music, specifically dark and dreamy music holds the three albums Slowdive released as absolutely sacred. But the fact is the band broke up many years ago and despite being named as a major influence to hundreds of bands, new comers may have never actually heard any of their magical songs.

Sometime in 2002 a friend and I were scouring various corners of the internet for some quality music from new bands. We came across quite a bit of third rate material (as usual) until we stumbled upon a promo EP by a new Norwegian band called “The Entity“. The band name wasn’t even promising (wish they’d get a real name..) but we were blown away when we hit play.