More than a year after Mick Mercer wrote me directly through email and the NAFT MySpace account, I finally got my copy of his goth catalog book Music To Die For. I was lucky enough to find a school mate living in the UK where I had my book delivered to and he had a friend who went home to the Philippines and brought the book with him. (Thank you very much Arnel & Me-Ann Mabbayad for the assistance!)

There had been some discussion about the list after I shared the info with another featured band (and they later posted it) in Multiply. It went in the direction of who should be there instead of appreciating that at least the Philippines was finally put in the goth map. The mission now is to provide a regular supply of info to Mr. Mercer for future volumes of this awesome catalog.

I liken it to a goth version of Lonely Planet. You know that catalog used by travelers who want to find things on their own? The subtitle is cool “The international guide to the last great underground scene.” Sounds about right! It covers ambient, cabaret noir, deathrock, gothic, gothic metal, horror punk, post-punk and psychobilly among others.

According to Mick, there are 8 "entities" from the Philippines featured in his book. So far I have found Names Are For Tombstones (yours truly), Aborted Life, Corvus Crowley, Dominion, Iconoclast (listed under USA though), Scarlet Tears, Sea of Rains in the bands section and My Gothic Heart in the websites section.

I may have missed a few more but it’s a large catalog with 600 pages of text and pictures. I will update this article again if I come across other Philippine bands.