I don’t really use social media for much these days, other than checking out what mates have been listening to, and to spot anything that might have passed me by and maybe not been sent to RPM towers for us to review. One such album, released back in April of this year, is ‘Vestige & Vigil’ the debut album from American goth rockers The Bellwether Syndicate. So, I’d like to take the opportunity to thank the Gothfinder General, Mister Midnight himself, Jason Creighton, for bringing this album into my life, because it is one that deserves to be heard by everyone with a love of the dark side of music.

Sitting somewhere between the hyper intensity of mid ‘80s chart bothering Killing Joke, the metallic edge of ‘Vision Thing’ era Sister Of Mercy and the ‘Mechanical Animal’ stomp of Marilyn Manson, The Bellwether Syndicate are the brainchild of William Faith (formerly of Faith and the Muse, Christian Death, Mephisto Walz, Shadow Project and The March Violets) and Sarah Rose Faith (aka DJ Scary Lady Sarah) and in spite of being together for over a decade ‘Vestige & Vigil’ is their first long player (available on vinyl and CD along with download from the Bandcamp below, along with other online retailers like Amazon).

To give you an idea of just how impressive this album is it took me just one Bandcamp listen before I was ordering a copy on vinyl, as songs like ‘Beacon’, ‘Dystopian Mirror’ and ‘Republik’ simply steamroller your senses into BUY NOW submission, and if I were to single out one band that The Bellwether Syndicate remind me of most, then it is Janne Jarvis’ post Warrior Soul tour de force Hate Gallery. Which for those of us who know, is very high praise indeed, and for those of you who don’t, get Googling now.

If you like some glam with your goth then there’s the fantastic ‘Noir Thing’, which really is something else (ouch), and if its towering anthems you want then check out the Pete Murphy-like croon of ‘We All Rise’ that then literally explodes inside your head as the colossal chorus kicks in. Epic stuff!

There are some (slightly) lighter moments too hidden amongst all the darkness and these happen to coincide with Sarah Rose Faith taking over vocal duties for the sweeping ‘Clarion’ and then providing a wonderful almost whispered vocal counterpart to another great Faith melody line on ‘Golden Age’, a track that also reminds me of the band’s labelmates, Then Comes Silence. Now can someone please get The Bellwether Syndicate added to their Swedish counterparts 2024 UK tour…thank you.

2023 has so far been a great year for gothic tinged music, perhaps one of its finest since its 80s heyday, and ‘Vestige & Vigil’ is right up there as one of its true highlights.

Buy this album, it deserves to be HUGE!

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Author: Johnny Hayward