Clan of Xymox (Photo by M.M. Ller)
This week, Dutch dark wavers Clan of Xymox launch a USA East coast tour, and they perform at Baltimore Soundstage on Saturday, March 11.
Clan of Xymox most recently released the album Limbo in 2021 via Metropolis Records. Formed in Amsterdam in 1984, Clan of Xymox became one of the mainstays of the 4AD label. Along with label mates such as Cocteau Twins and Dead Can Dance the Clan’s dark electro-gothic approach to music quickly became the benchmark by which all other bands to follow were judged. Their self-titled debut, released in 1985 on 4AD, was highlighted by the club classics “A Day” and “Stranger.”
Watch the official music video for “A Day” by Clan of Xymox on YouTube:
In 1988, Clan of Xymox changed labels, moving to Wing, a subsidiary of PolyGram, and shortened their name to Xymox. After leaving Wing in the early ’90s, Xymox became the sole signing to the independent label, Zok Records. And in 1997, the band reclaimed their original name, Clan of Xymox, and began the work of reclaiming their original sound and glory. Hidden Faces, produced by Dave Allen (of Sisters fame) and John Rivers (of Love and Rockets note), hearkened back to the 4AD years.
In 1999, Clan of Xymox signed on with Metropolis Records, and the band delivered Creatures to a public that had been waiting for the true follow-up to 1985’s Clan of Xymox album for 14 years. Creatures not only captures the sound of their amazing debut (which has also been reissued in 1999 along with Medusa) but infuses it with the dark rock and Gothic guitar styles of such masterful bands as the Sisters of Mercy.
In 2000, Clan of Xymox returned with “Live,” a double live CD that featured 19 tracks and two videos. A re-issue of the ever increasingly hard-to-find Subsequent Pleasures EP featuring many obscure pre-4AD demos, as well as a new single, “Liberty,” followed.
Metropolis’s second studio album by the Clan of Xymox was 2001’s Notes from the Underground. One year later, the band released their first “greatest hits” CD simply titled, The Best of Clan of Xymox. For 2006, Clan of Xymox released the “Weak In My Knees” digital single as a precursor to the album Breaking Point. The album exhibited a more mature sound than on its predecessors and leaned more towards dark rock than gothic rock.
In 2009, the band’s 25th year, Clan of Xymox presented In Love We Trust. In Love We Trust proves above all that their creative potential is a long way from coming to an end. This holds true with 2011’s Darkest Hour and the covers album Kindred Spirits, a collection of covers from artists that the band cherishes such as the Sisters of Mercy, The Cure, Depeche Mode, David Bowie, Joy Division, Nine Inch Nails, Test Dept., and more. Still signed to Metropolis today, Clan of Xymox also released albums Matters of Mind, Body & Soul (2014), Days of Black (2017), Spider on the Wall (2020), and Limbo (2021) on the label.
Clan of Xymox
W/ The Bellwether Syndicate, Vosh
Baltimore Soundstage
Saturday, March 11
Doors @ 7pm
$27.50
All ages