In coming to a band like Siiiii it is important to understand that any comparisons made are simply done with the benefit of retrospective illumination, helping identify who they are similar to, but you mustnt think that influenced their creations. Siiiii were recording and gigging during the original Goth phase and the reason theyre unique among all those other unique bands is because they were in on the birth. Their ideas were solely their own, nobody elses. And just as we can look at Ausgang, Sex Gang, Danse Society or March Violets and see how they all bristled with their own characteristics (as opposed to, say, UK Decay and Bauhaus who, having already existed in a different form, had been partly shaped by what they saw in other bands which helped free their true capabilities and allowed them to glow brightly), so we will hear Siiiii and marvel. What I can tell you is that if you collect Goth records, if you have an interest in the 80's sounds, if you just love great songs and singing, these recordings offer something you may not hear much of during 2006. This is superb. It has an evocative blend of sounds, with thoughtful or anguished lyrics, and a simplicity which only proves how good the songs are. Moreover, it has an attitude and hunger about it which bands these days don't have, because anybody can form and record these days. © Mick Mercer 2005 But what makes this band so attractive, after all? Mainly, there is its versatility. With remarkable influences of Bauhaus and The Birthday Party, each one of their songs is a subgenre by itself. By the way, by coining the expression "death rock", Rozz Williams had in mind his dissociation from the concept, let's say, of "gothic music as the expression of a restrictive lifestyle". We could say that all that Siiiii produced reflects the time when reactions such as Rozz's were still unnecessary, a boiling moment in which the bands were more worried about their songs than with the tags that would or could be attributed to them. © Cid Vale Ferreira 2006 As if a wish came true, the three-years-long-lived British band Siiiii have returned twenty years after their 1983-86 adventure with a release of a handful of their original recordings, many of them already considered "legendary" hits in the gothic/post punk scene, that had remained in darkness and never been published. "Modern" is planned to follow it, with new material from the band. In this record you can find intense bass lines, naked & screeching guitars, a beautiful brooding voice and amazing lyrics. Siiiii's music is sometimes slow and compressed and sometimes wild and full of anger. Desolation and menace can be found hand in hand in songs like "Split", "Dust" or "Still Waters" - the combination of a punk spirit and a dark heart had never been so well defined. (7/8)CIM. Side Line Magazine Siiiii, from Sheffield UK, have had a truly unusual career indeed. Formed back in 1983, they were overly active for just about three years before folding, only to magically be resurrected back in 2006, year that saw the release of Ancient, the band debut release! Better yet, the 15 tracks featuring in this album are all recordings dating back to the initial period of activity of the band, now released for the first time in all their original tape-hiss glory. If you are a lover of all things goth, including over-the-top hairdos, then you'll be in love with Siiiii. Indeed, one of the initiators of the at scene, the 4-piece pioneered sounds that were shortly to become the bread and butter of the English scene. There is great songwriting, a superb vocalist, truly dark and moving atmospheres and an attitude moving from the strict post-punk of the opener Split to the wave of the closing bonus track. Ladies and gentleman, this is the real goth thing! So if you feed on the like of Bauhaus, March Violets, Joy Division, Danse Society, you know you will have to have a go at this one. Most importantly, the band has been gigging again and is working on brand new material. I guess it will be a real challenge for them after over two decades and I'll be very curious to see how hey measure up with the new millennium. Dark Life Mag. 2008