Mercury’s Antennae are one of those bands who have a natural affinity with a very 80s inspired goth sound. Their ‘Among The Black Trees’ album (released in March 2025) presented nine tracks with a cold yet inviting sound, often heavily dipped in the waters of nostalgia. However, with goth sounds so well played, the release was impossible to resist. The Sisters of Mercy-esque ‘The Reflecting Skin’, Cocteau Twins tinged ‘As I Lay Hidden (Deer Island)’ and the stripped back, haunting tones of ‘Language of The Stars’, in particular, stood out, forming a trio of tracks that were among the band’s very best.
Showcasing the album further, the ‘Veil Opaque’ EP presents a couple of different takes on already familiar tracks alongside a previously unheard number, creating some very interesting sounds en route.
To lead things off, a reworked version of ‘The Veil Opaque’ creates a somewhat familiar introduction. The shimmering tones of the original cut are still very much present, creating a near perfect example of the band’s goth meets dream pop hybrid sound, but there’s a trippier feel to the piece this second time around. The intro dispenses with the clean sound and shares a half buried beat and muddy tone that sounds like a remix from the “chopped and screwed” subgenre, and doesn’t bode well. However, once the audio opens out and the drums fully appear, the band begin to sound more like their former selves. A fatter bass tone helps this version of ‘The Veil Opaque’ sound a little darker, and with the help of a more prominent drum sound, it takes on the mood of a deep cut from The Cure’s ‘Pornography’ album. As things progress, a trippy keyboard appears rather more broadly in the end mix, helping this to take on the mood of a goth classic from 1982 even more confidently, but the lead vocals capture the same ethereal tone as before, ensuring this sounds like essential Mercury’s Antennae despite any changes that may have been made.
‘Deer Island’ has undergone some rather more pleasing changes as part of a “Far Unknown Mix”. The multi-layered vocals still play a huge role in giving the performance an otherworldly quality, and perhaps even more so, since the electric/synth goth elements of the original cut have been removed, allowing for the various vocals to take centre stage. The Clannad-meets-4AD harmonics are the main focus and everything sounds utterly superb, bringing the essence of the Mercury’s Antennae sound to life like never before. Coupled with a bright and shimmering guitar sound, played as if this were a semi-acoustic live take, the dream pop roots of this band’s sound are incredibly strong here, and even with moments of solo lead guitar – now subjected to extra reverb to give more of a haunting quality – occasionally threatening to challenge those vocals. this is the EP’s highlight, without question.
With such a hard act to follow, the Witchmoth remix of ‘The Veil Opaque’ fares a little less well. Now titled ‘Through The Veil’, the remix retains the original vocal but places it against a dark, slow synth-goth drone and augments that with trip hop-esque beats, bringing a very 90s approach to the work. It sounds fine as a stand alone piece, however, since there’s plenty within the brooding atmosphere to catch the ear, but it’s definitely geared a little more towards the existing fan base as opposed to the first time listener.
Rounding out the EP, a new recording ‘O Virtus Sapientiae’ really isn’t going to be appealing to anyone unfamiliar with Mercury’s Antennae. A reworking of a twelfth century chorale by Hildegard von Bingen, it takes the band’s love of the ethereal and minimalism to its most extreme. For four and a half minutes, a synth lays a quiet drone. Taking a rigid stance almost throughout, it only notably changes key at the eleventh hour to allow for an extra layer of ghostly noise. Up until that point, the minimalist sound is overlaid by a solo vocal, delivering a Latin incantation in high tones, prefaced by wordless sounds which really add to the all round spookiness. This isn’t every day listening; you mightn’t even choose to listen to it every time you decide to pull this EP from the mass of digital files you undoubtedly have, but it’s a very bold work, and one that takes Mercury’s Antennae right back to their gothic source.
It’s probably fair to say that it’s the extant fans who’ll glean the most from the material here, but the reworked ‘Deer Island’ is so beautiful, it deserves to be heard by almost everyone. That track alone makes this feel like so much more than a stop-gap release from Mercury’s Antennae, and certainly worthy of the small cost of a download. A slow burner of a listen, their ‘Among The Black Trees’ album was one of 2025’s finest underground releases, and for anyone who loved that record, this EP will definitely provide some very welcome extra curricular listening.
December 2025