Excuse this for not being an article of my usual comedic standards. It is my first attempt at a serious piece. So, no sniggering at the back. A new episode of "THE GOTHSIP" is in the pipeline.

BEST 10 GOTH ALBUMS

RHOMBUS-OPEN THE SKY

DYONISIS-INTOXICATED

PRETENTIOUS, MOI?-PRETENTIOUS, MOI?

BLOODY DEAD AND SEXY-AN EYE ON YOU

AUTUMN CANNIBALS-SOLO

GROOVING IN GREEN-POST TRAUMATIC STRESS

SOLEMN NOVENA-KISS THE GIRLS

GOLDEN APES-DENYING THE TOWERS OUR WORDS ARE FALLING FROM

BEAUTY OF GEMINA-AT THE END OF THE SEA

THE LAST CRY-WALKING TO THE EDGE (2009)

2009 was a year where one band stood head and shoulders above every other. 2009 was about THE EDEN HOUSE. Stunning gigs and a debut album that shook the UK goth scene to it's foundations.

2010, therefore should have heralded in a new dark age and to a certain extent it did, albeit ignored by the mainstream and pretty much throughout the goth scene. Perhaps only three albums show any real efforts toward the "New goth" sound premiered on last years ground breaking Eden House debut album "Smoke And Mirrors".

RHOMBUS' second album "Open The Sky" and GROOVING IN GREEN's "Post Traumatic Stress", both being produced by The Eden House's Stephen Carey, owe a great deal to the dynamics and atmospherics of Smoke And Mirrors and lifts both albums away from being just good albums to being near classics. The other album DYONISIS' "Intoxicated" takes a lot of cues from Smoke And Mirrors with it's goth/ trip hop sound.

RHOMBUS "Open The Sky" perhaps comes closest to album of the year with the maturity that comes from a hard working touring band, well crafted catchy songs melt into dark atmospherics whilst witty and intelligent lyrics keep the band away from the usual goff clichés. Nods toward influences such as The Sisters Of Mercy, The Mission and Fields Of The Nephilim are there but never too far at the front as to make the album a pastiche.

This years other Carey production, GROOVING IN GREEN's debut album "Post Traumatic Stress". At first I thought the album somehow lost some of the bands live aggression with the lush production, and perhaps a harsher sound would have suited to bands twin guitar attack but on tracks like "Serpentine" and "Rise" the big production works to excellent effect.

If DYONISIS were commercially minded then heading toward a symphonic metal sound would have been their most sensible direction given the operatic vocals that feature in most of their debut album, but, to great credit, this years second album "Intoxicated" see them move into a more folk based sound. Whilst the almost All About Eve sound could be in danger of becoming twee folk rock, a great big rhythm section grinds away giving the album a "Trip goth" unique sound. Some of the operatic vocalising does tend to grate and I personally think it ruins what could have been an absolute classic album.

PRETENTIOUS, MOI? Sees Manuskript's Tim Chandler step out from his keyboards with a solo project that has been some 15 years in the making and well worth the wait it is. Swirling guitars combine with electronics to give an exciting new edge to the 90's goth sound.

BLOODY DEAD AND SEXY could very easily become very stale, very quickly with their obvious Christian Death influence but "An Eye On You", whilst again taking it's cue from Roz Williams era Christian Death, somehow manages to still sound fresh. Probably the most authentic of the recent crop of batcave/ deathrock bands.

AUTUMN CANNIBALS is Jeff Deihm from The Last Dance's solo project and debut album "Solo" is a hit and miss affair. Magnificent soaring anthems like "Peel" and "Monument To Shame" compete with average almost rockabilly affairs.

Probably the most disappointing album of the year comes from Northern Ireland's SOLEMN NOVENA. Whilst "Kiss The Girls" is by far from terrible it lacks the promise of the first EP and what should have been an atmospheric album is, for the most part, a one dimensional, untidy mess of guitars and drum machines. But when you listen to the albums highlights "Siren" and "Tell Me All Your Secrets" you realise just how good this album should have been.

GOLDEN APES "Denying The Towers Our Words Are Falling From" and BEAUTY OF GEMINA's "At The End Of The Sea" are pretty typical continental trad goth albums. Both well produced and well crafted but bland and lacking the original sparkle that makes the UK acts stand out. Some good moments and not as blatently plagiarist as some other acts of this genre, but far from having any sort of longevity.

Finally an album that was released last year but has really only come to notice in 2010. THE LAST CRY's "Walking To The Edge". A genuine gem of an album and on the back of some of the most intense and superb shows the country has seen this year, "Walking To The Edge" has picked up much playlisting and an ever increasing fanbase.

To conclude the goth section perhaps a couple of "mentioned in dispatches", whilst O CHILDREN don't really appeal to me, their song "Ruins" is a candidate for tune of the year. Other bands that have been making some fine music this year and ones to watch for in 2011 include ULTERIOR, and THE DEATH NOTES.

BEST 6 OTHERS

GRINDERMAN-2

RED SPARROWES-THE FEAR IS EXCRUCIATING BUT THEREIN LIES THE ANSWER

ANATHEMA-WE'RE HERE BECAUSE WE'RE HERE

NITZER EBB-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

HOW TO DESTROY ANGELS-EP

MORTIIS-PERFECTLY DEFECT

LINKIN PARK-A THOUSAND SUNS

Slipping out from the Goth box for a moment, 2010 had some fine and in some cases surprisingly fine albums. I suppose GRINDERMAN could loosely be described as goth but it's only goth credential being that Nick Cave is in the band. "Grinderman 2" is basically a dirty, scuzzy blues album and a very fine one to boot. Possibly the best thing Cave has been involved in since Murder Ballads.

I thought Post-rock had died a death in the late the late nineties but RED SPARROWES album "The Fear Is Excrutiating But Therein Lies The Answer" proves otherwise. Stunning guitar based soundscapes with mental blasts of noise.

ANATHEMA have been turning out stunning neo prog rock for some years now since they decided to knock doom metal on the head. "We're Here Because We're Here" is easily the best "rock" album of the year. Brilliantly crafted and produced and perhaps what Pink floyd could have sounded like if they hadn't got rich and lazy.

As far as industrial music is concerned 2010 has been pretty dreadful with only NITZER EBB's comeback album "Industrial Complex" really having anything interesting to say and even then it's very much an album that could easily have been released in the mid 90's.

Likewise HOW TO DESTROY ANGELS, at times the old Trent Reznor genius is still there and the female vocals give a fresh sound into what was becoming a stale concept. "A Drowning" and "The Space In Between" is Reznor at his emotive best but most of this EP is just obvious filler.

Surprisingly good though is MORTIIS' attempt at "proper" industrial. "Perfectly Defect" could easily be "Downward Spiral" era NIN in places and is a huge progression from his usual Comedy goth metal.

Another surprisingly good album is by LINKIN PARK. "A Thousand Suns" sees them taking on more electro sound, in places sounding rather Cruxshadows-esque. It still has parts of that horrendous emo-rap rubbish that made them famous but never-the-less a brave step from a band that could have played it safe and probably sold a lot more product.

All in all 2010 was a cracking year for alternative music and a real pity most of these artists are overlooked by all but a select few.