Line #68 Music/EgoLikeness


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ego_likeness.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:"We're Ego Likeness. [[BadassBoast We're going to wreck your fucking life."]]]]
3
4	Ego Likeness is a Darkwave/Industrial Rock band from UsefulNotes/{{Baltimore}}, Maryland. It was formed in 1999 by Steven Archer and Donna Lynch, the same year as their marriage.
5
6	Their music is darkly atmospheric, often lyrically at the cynical end of SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism, while their songs refer to subjects from sources such as Myth/ClassicalMythology, Abrahamic religions, horror films, and science-fiction literature. After all, they did take their name from ''Franchise/{{Dune}}''.
7
8	They have toured extensively with Music/{{Angelspit}}, Music/{{Ayria}}, Music/TheCruxshadows and Music/{{Voltaire}} throughout Europe and North America and are currently signed to Metropolis records.
9
10	'''Discography:'''
11
12	'''Albums'''
13	* ''Songs From A Dead City'' (Demo 1999 and re-released in 2018)
14	* ''Dragonfly'' (2000 and re-released in 2012)
15	* ''Water To The Dead'' (2004)
16	* ''Order Of The Reptile'' (2006)
17	* ''Breedless'' (2010)
18	* ''When The Wolves Return'' (2015)
19
20	'''The ''Compass'' series of Extended Plays'''
21	* ''South'' (2007)
22	* ''West'' (2008)
23	* ''North'' (2009)
24	* ''East'' (2012)
25
26	'''Singles'''
27	* ''The Lowest Place On Earth'' (2008)
28	* ''Treacherous Thing'' (2012)
29	* ''New Legion'' (2015)
30
31	In addition to their music, Steven is a painter and Donna a novelist and poet. Their website is [[http://www.egolikeness.com/ here]].
32
33	----
34	!Tropes relating to Ego Likeness:
35	* TheAntiNihilist: "Save Your Serpent...[=---=]..." encourages this attitude:
36	--> Build no temple\
37	Just remember\
38	What you came from\
39	Who you are\
40	And you're owed nothing\
41	Just feel lucky\
42	To leave a trace of who you are.
43	* AnimalMotif: Wolves are mentioned throughout their discography and are portrayed as both [[SavageWolves violent beasts]] and [[NobleWolf noble creatures]].
44	** Birds in "Aviary."
45	** A sillier version, both designs of their "Garbage Witch" shirts prominently feature opossums.
46	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: From the chorus of "Burn Witch Burn": "You've connived and deceived and learned how to read."
47	* BookEnds: The first and last songs from ''Dragonfly'' end with "Does that answer your question?" [[labelnote:*]]It's a sample from ''Film/DeadRingers''.[[/labelnote]]
48	* BurnTheWitch: "Burn Witch Burn," of course.
49	* CoverVersion: Of "[[Music/TheSistersOfMercy Afterhours]]," "[[Music/ThePolice Tea In The Sahara]]," "[[Music/PJHarvey Down by the Water]]," and "[[Music/TheCars Drive]]."
50	* CrapsackWorld: "Funny Olde World," "Song For Samael," and "Burn Witch Burn" all depict the world this way.
51	* DarkWave[=/=]{{Industrial}}: They skim the borders between the two.
52	* {{Determinator}}: "Raise Your Red Flags":
53	--> Burn your white flags\
54	Refuse to surrender\
55	Then raise your red flags\
56	To remember.
57	* TheDogBitesBack: "16 Miles" is about a woman who flees after killing her [[DomesticAbuse abusive husband]].
58	* DontYouDarePityMe: A non-aggressive example in "When the Wolves Return":
59	--> I don't want pity\
60	That would make it all about me.
61	* [[ButterflyOfTransformation Dragonfly Of Transformation]]: The album ''Dragonfly'' has an overarching theme of personal rebirth.
62	* FeministFantasy: "New Legion" is a feminist DarkFantasy, with the first verse on the exploitation of women, and the second verse calls on various female monsters [[PayEvilUntoEvil to punish the wrong-doers]].
63	* FeatheredFiend: Birds are a very sinister symbol in "Aviary".
64	** CirclingVultures: The first verse...
65	--> In come the vultures / Through dusty air / To take you down and / Tear the ribbons from your hair.
66	** CreepyCrows: The third verse...
67	--> In come the blackbirds / In murders and in droves / To cover you in shadow / As they clean you to the bone.
68	** ThePhoenix: The fourth verse...
69	--> And here I come, the firebird / Don't offer up your sorrow / Today you see me crash and burn / But I'll be back tomorrow.
70	* HandicappedBadass: A large part of both Donna's and Steven's work, Ego Likeness included, is inspired by their lived experience of having ADHD and mood disorders, respectively.
71	* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: They get a lot of mileage out of this trope.
72	* {{Instrumentals}}: "Oceans and Bridges."
73	* KindheartedCatLover: Released the digital Sophie EP as a sign of gratitude to those who helped them pay for their hairless cat Sophie's vet bills.
74	* LighterAndSofter: "Funny Olde World" is a (relatively) up-beat song for them.
75	* LocationThemeNaming: The ''Compass'' [=EPs=] are named for the cardinal directions.
76	* TheLostLenore: A particularly disturbing example in "I'm Not Mary Ann."
77	* MysticalWhiteHair: Donna's bleached white hair deliberately [[InvokedTrope invokes]] this image.
78	** WhiteHairBlackHeart: Likewise, Donna invokes this in the "Treacherous Thing" and "New Legion" videos.
79	* OfCorsetsSexy: Donna frequently wears corsets live and also on the cover of ''Breedless''.
80	* OneWomanWail: "Aurora."
81	* RedOniBlueOni: In the "Treacherous Thing" video, Donna is the red and Steven is the blue.
82	* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: "Save Your Serpent...[=---=]..." is aversion. Snakes here are a symbol of UsefulNotes/{{Existentialism}}.
83	** Subverted again in "Funny Olde World," here referring to [[Literature/GoodOmens a certain angel who did not so much fall as saunter vaguely downwards]]:
84	--> It would seem you're just a snake / With an angel's heart.
85	* ShoutOut: Their name is one to ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'', as is their album and song ''Water to the Dead''.
86	** One of the b-side is called "[[Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland I'm Not Mary Ann]]."
87	** "Funny Olde World" as in [[Literature/GoodOmens "It'd be a funny old[e] world, he reflected, if demons went round trusting one another."]]
88	** Likewise, "You'd Better Leave the Stars Alone" is about ''Literature/{{Stardust}}''.
89	** "Leave a Light On, Thomas" takes its name from a quote in ''Film/TheProphecy''.
90	* TheSomethingSong: "Song to the Divine" and "Song for Samael."
91	* StockholmSyndrome: "I'm Not Mary Ann."
92	* SurrealMusicVideo: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R5MuQh3BSw Treacherous Thing]]" has one.
93	* TearsOfBlood: Donna in "Treacherous Thing" bleeds from her BlackEyesOfEvil, coupled with a SlasherSmile.

Context Music / EgoLikeness