Their first full length recording as a duo was 1997's Underworld. The two are well educated, with various degrees to their credit and Summer working on a Ph.D. in Anthropology. Summer has also had years of training in music. She writes many of the songs Machine in the Garden are playing. Some Goth bands are no longer writing new music, unlike The Machine in the Garden.
Gothic music uses such a variety of styles and has such a remarkable amount of variation in it.
I really think that goth is one of the only styles of music that is constantly evolving and changing and growing. Musicians I enjoy in the gothic genre are very well-trained and create music that does not cease to amaze in terms of its technical merit.