Gothic Metal Overview

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What is Gothic Metal?

Trying to categorize music into genres and sub-genres is difficult. Gothic Metal is one sub-genre that has many facets, which makes is nearly impossible to pigeonhole into a specific style. There are many sub-genres that crossover with Gothic Metal, such as Doom, Death, Symphonic, and Black Metal, and even some Industrial Darkwave (among others). So, although the focus here is on Gothic Metal, keep in mind that some of the items listed in this exercise may bleed into other realms.

Before Gothic Metal, there was Dark Rock or Goth Rock. The beginnings can be traced back to the late ‘70s and early ’80s with bands such as Bauhaus, Joy Division, Dead Can Dance, Sisters of Mercy, The Cure, The Mission, and Siouxsie & the Banshees. Throughout the ‘80s and 90s, Goth Rock increased its fan base and gave birth to a whole slew of new bands, such as Alien Sex Fiend, Sex Gang Children, Fields of the Nephilim, Christian Death, and Mephisto Walz. Although this may still not be Metal, you can hear the influence these bands would have as time progressed. In the early ‘90s the Metal really started to take hold, which is apparent with bands such Type O Negative, Cathedral, Candlemass, Anathema, Paradise Lost, Sentenced, My Dying Bride, and early Theatre of Tragedy.

Gothic Metal today has taken on a whole new breed of musicians and vocalists, most of which are coming out of Europe (e.g., Netherlands, Finland, Norway, Germany, Italy, etc), leaving the USA and England behind. Although Gothic Metal is starting to take hold in the USA, I feel the American record companies are ignoring this fact because they are too busy selling pop and alternative albums (many of which are boring, uninteresting, and downright blasé). They are overlooking sheer talent for cash, which is one of the greatest travesties of today’s music industry. Although most Gothic Metal is often dark in nature, much of it is also very beautiful. Take for example Evanescence’s album Fallen. This is a very dark album; however, Amy Lee’s vocals are very beautiful and mesh nicely with the heavy guitar riffs and tempo of the music.

Many of the gifted bands of this genre today are meshing many musical genres (Metal, Classical, Symphonic, New Age, and yes even Opera) to generate a complex and ethereal musical experience. Several bands have perfected this union of musical styles; especially those bands with female vocals.

A perfect example is Netherlands-based Within Temptation. Their first album, 'Enter', combines Death-style male vocals with beautiful, angelic female vocals (nearly operatic), layers of distorted guitars, heavy bass lines, and a healthy helping of symphonic keys; producing an otherworldly musical blend to appease your palate.

Another band, not dissimilar to Within Temptation, that has also reached the top of this genre, is Leaves’ Eyes, which sports former members of Theatre of Tragedy (Norway) and Atrocity (Germany). Their epic masterpiece, 'Vinland Saga', also perfects the crossover between music styles, much in the same way Within Temptation has.

Finland's Nightwish was able to help bridge the gap between Europe and the USA by way of their sixth album, 'Once', which is harder than the previously mentioned bands and has a more Symphonic feel to it.

Yet another band to make a real impact in the States was Italy's Lacuna Coil, who supported their album 'Comalies' by joining the Ozzfest Tour and was successful at putting their album on shelves at many retail outlets.

Now that the Gothic Metal genre has gained some momentum and commanded attention, hopefully the record companies and listeners alike will open their eyes and realize what wonderful music this genre has to offer. Evanescence is not the only band in its genre, and certainly is nowhere near the best. The following is a small smattering of bands (mostly female-fronted) and albums (in no particular order) you should consider procuring if you are interested in finding out more about the Gothic Metal genre:

Stream of Passion – 'Embrace the Storm'
Leaves’ Eyes 'Lovelorn'
Midnattsol – 'Where Twilight Dwells'
Alice’s Inferno – 'Alice's Inferno'
Unshine – 'Earth Magick'
Angel – 'A Woman's Diary: Chapter One'
Within Temptation – 'Silent Force'
Within Temptation – 'Mother Earth'
Within Temptation – 'The Dance (Enhanced)'
After Forever – 'Prison of Desire'
After Forever – 'Remagine'
After Forever – 'Invisible Circles'
Lacuna Coil – 'In a Reverie'
Lacuna Coil – 'Unleashed Memories'
Nightwish - 'Wishmaster'
Tristania – 'Ashes'
Tristania – 'World of Glass'
Sirenia – 'At Sixes and Sevens'
Sirenia – 'Sirenian Shores'
Sins of Thy Beloved – 'Lake of Sorrow'
Theatre of Tragedy – 'Velvet Darkness They Fear'
Theatre of Tragedy – 'Musique'
Theatre of Tragedy – 'Assembly'
Dreamside – 'Spin Moon Magic'
Mandragora Scream 'Whisper of Dew'
Mandragora Scream – Fairy Tales from Hell’s Caves
The Crest – 'Vain City Chronicles'
The Crest – 'Letters from Fire'
The Blue Season – 'Cold'
Trail of Tears – 'Profoundemonium'
Elis – 'Dark Clouds in a Perfect Sky'
Nemesea – Mana
Imperia – The Ancient Dance of Qetesh
Xandria – 'India'
Xandria – Kill the Sun
Silent Cry – Darklife
Shadows Dance – A Quatrain for the Damned
The Gathering – 'How to Measure a Planet?'
The Gathering – 'Nighttime Birds'
The Gathering – 'Superheat'
Lullacry – 'Crucify My Heart'
Lullacry – 'Sweet Desire'
Tapping the Vein – 'The Damage'
L' Ame Immortelle – 'Als Die Liebe Starb'
Lacrimosa – 'Echos'
Brave – 'Searching for the Sun'
Inkubus Sukkubus – 'Heartbeat of the Earth'
Regicide – Viorus
Macbeth – 'Malae Artes'
Flowing Tears – 'Razorbliss'
Penumbra – 'Seclusion'
Darkwell – 'Metatron'
Darzamat – 'Transkarpatia'

I want to be clear that there are many more bands that should have been listed here and aren’t. Including countless male-fronted Gothic Metal bands, which I have all but ignored here. Don’t get me wrong, I love tons of male-fronted bands, I just feel the future of Gothic Metal lies with the femme fatales.

I hope that I was able to shed some light (no pun intended) on this outstanding musical sub-genre, and hope that you will listen to and support this music and the artists. You can start showing your support by requesting that your local radio stations play these artists, asking your mom and pop record stores to carry these albums, sharing these albums with your friends, and going to see the shows.

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