Dead Can Dance is an Australian duo that formed in 1981. Their music was described as “ethereal goth” in the early days but gradually evolved/expanded to include numerous worldly (and otherworldly?) influences, including African polyrhythms, Gaelic folk, Middle eastern, Gregorian chant, etc. I have an old friend who likes them, and that may be as close as I get. But I’m hoping to carve out the time for a deep dive. I think it’s good to keep some things in front of you. Most of all, death.
The band commented on their name and first self-titled album (per Wikipedia): “To understand why we chose the name, think of the transformation of inanimacy to animacy. Think of the processes concerning life from death and death into life. So many people missed the inherent symbolic intention of the work, and assumed that we must be ‘morbid gothic types’.”
Great Exudations 