Gothic Metal

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Gothic metal or goth metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music. Gothic metal combines the aggression of heavy metal with the dark melancholy of gothic rock. The genre originated during the early 1990s in Europe as an outgrowth of death/doom, a fusion of death metal and doom metal. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different styles of heavy metal music. Lyrics are generally melodramatic and mournful with inspiration from gothic fiction as well as personal experiences.

Pioneers of gothic metal include Paradise Lost, Theater Of Tragedy, The 3rd And The Mortal. Other pioneers from the first half of the 1990s include Type O Negative from the United States, Tiamat from Sweden, and The Gathering from the Netherlands. Norwegian band Theatre of Tragedy developed the "beauty and the beast" aesthetic of combining aggressive male vocals with clean female vocals, a contrast that has since been adopted by many gothic metal groups. During the mid-1990s, Moonspell, Theatres des Vampires and Cradle of Filth brought the gothic approach to black metal. By the end of the decade, a symphonic metal variant of gothic metal had been developed by Tristania and Within Temptation.

In the 21st century, gothic metal has moved towards the mainstream in Europe, particularly in Finland where groups such as The 69 Eyes, Entwine, HIM, Lullacry, Poisonblack and Sentenced have released hit singles or chart-topping albums. In the US, however, only a few bands such as Lacuna Coil, Evanescence have found commercial success.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_metal

Sub-genre collaborators (shared with Symphonic Metal):
  • DippoMagoo


gothic metal top albums

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PARADISE LOST Icon Album Cover Icon
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THE GATHERING
4.11 | 41 ratings
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PARADISE LOST Faith Divides Us - Death Unites Us Album Cover Faith Divides Us - Death Unites Us
PARADISE LOST
4.10 | 25 ratings
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4.09 | 26 ratings
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TRIBULATION The Children of the Night Album Cover The Children of the Night
TRIBULATION
4.16 | 12 ratings
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TYPE O NEGATIVE Life Is Killing Me Album Cover Life Is Killing Me
TYPE O NEGATIVE
4.03 | 34 ratings
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THEATRE OF TRAGEDY Aégis Album Cover Aégis
THEATRE OF TRAGEDY
4.06 | 19 ratings
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gothic metal Music Reviews

ATROCITY Werk 80

Album · 1997 · Gothic Metal
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UMUR
"Werk 80" is the 5th ull-length studio album by German metal act Atrocity. The album was released through Swanlake Records in April 1997. That´s less than a year after the release of "Willenskraft" from July 1996. "Werk 80" is a covers album, featuring covers of 80s pop/new wave tracks by artists like The Human League, Tears for Fears, and Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Considering that Atrocity started out playing deathgrind in the late 80s, and technical death metal in the early 90s, that´s a bit of a surprise move, but then again if you´ve payed attention to the stylistic diversity of the band´s material in the few years between their early death metal releases and the release of "Werk 80", it really shouldn´t come as a huge surprise. Atrocity have tried their hands on industrial metal, goth metal, groove metal, and neo-folk to varying degrees of success, so why not make a covers album of 80s pop/new wave hits, to add to the tally of strange/adventurous musical choices?

Atrocity manage to put their own spin on the cover tracks on "Werk 80", in terms of putting heavy jagged guitar riffs on the songs and goth and industrial tinged vocals (and the occasional harder edged shouting vocal part). There are both keyboards and samples used too, and the occasional female vocal part (mostly performed by lead vocalist Alexander Krull´s wife Liv Kristine). Some tracks are more interesting than others, but that goes for the originals too, and some tracks are better suited for Atrocity´s treatment than others, but "Werk 80" is overall a decent release. It´s nothing groundbreaking, and in most cases I´d rather listen to the originals, but it´s a well produced and well performed covers album and a 3 star (60%) rating isn´t all wrong.

HANGING GARDEN The Garden

Album · 2023 · Gothic Metal
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lukretion
Hanging Garden, the melodic doomsters hailing from Finland, have been on a creative roll lately, releasing three new records in less than 24 months. Following their 2021 full-length Skeleton Lake, the band released the EP Neither Moth nor Rust in early 2022. Now, they are back with their eight full-length record titled The Garden. As the album’s near self-title suggests, the band envisioned it as a sort of magnum opus encapsulating the quintessence of their musicality, constantly balanced between light and darkness, melody and heaviness. Without further delay, let’s then enter The Garden and discover the treasures that lie within.

Right from the start, the title-track sets the perfect ambience for the record that we have come to expect from Hanging Garden. The tempo is slow-paced, with the drums locked in a barren pattern of kick/snare and open/closed hi-hat notes that remains mostly constant throughout the track, emphasizing its plumbeous atmosphere. A slowly downpicked rhythm guitar adds to the gloomy vibe, while the lead guitar and keyboards provide contrast by weaving in slow, melancholic melodies and dreamy textures. The same interplay of light and dark is achieved through the layered vocal arrangements. Riikka Hatakka provides soothing, ethereal vocals, while her brother Toni Hatakka alternates between languid cleans and cavernous growls. The song structure is fluid, loosely based on recurring themes but without the predictable alternation between rigidly-defined verses and chorus. It’s a complex, dynamic, multi-layered composition that envelopes the listener with a thick blanket of melancholy, while offering lingering rays of light and hope. This evokes the same type of mellow, soul-piercing atmosphere we may find in the music of bands like Swallow the Sun or (for those who remember them) early EverEve.

Hanging Garden maintain this delicate balance throughout the album, gradually incorporating additional influences into their artistic palette. Songs such as “The Construct” and “The Nightfall” pay homage to Type O Negative, with clean vocals reminiscent of Peter Steele, while “The Song of Spring” and “The Fire at First Dawn” delve further into gothic atmospheres with a touch of Paradise Lost and Anathema. In other tracks, the extreme metal influences become more prominent, nudging the music towards the territory of melodic death metal (Insomnium and Dark Tranquillity, in particular). Overall, compared to their previous record Skeleton Lake, Hanging Garden seem to have shed some of the catchy gothic gimmicks in favor of a sound that is both heavier and more atmospheric.

Although The Garden’s 11 songs create pleasant soundscapes, the album still falls short of escaping the same pitfalls found in the band’s previous work. At 48 minutes of length, the lack of variation in pace, structure and ambience can be a drag. This is particularly noticeable in the mellower mid-section of the LP, where tracks between “The Fire at First Dawn” and “The Journey” tend to blur together, lacking strongly distinctive elements that differentiate them. Partly, this also reflects the band’s tendency to frontload their albums, which was also the case with the previous LP. The opening four songs contain the most inspired material, and listeners have to wait until the closing track “The Resolute” to experience the same strong response triggered in the first 20 minutes of the LP. However, even at its best, it’s hard to ignore the feeling that The Garden stays always too close to its influences, particularly Swallow the Sun. With around 50/60 new metal albums released each week, creative personality and originality are crucial to stand out from the crowd, and Hanging Garden fall somewhat short in this respect.

Overall, The Garden is an album that simmers rather than erupts, relying on its overall cinematic atmosphere to convey its beauty instead of catchy tunes that immediately grab you. While it may not reach the magnum opus status the band intended, it remains a strong example of melodic gothic doom/death metal that will no doubt please fans of Hanging Garden as well as other bands mentioned in this review.

[Originally written for The Metal Observer]

TYPE O NEGATIVE October Rust

Album · 1996 · Gothic Metal
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SilentScream213
My relationship with Type O Negative has always been troubled. Doom and Gothic Metal are some of my favorite genres, and Type O Negative practically invented the later (despite what people say, I am firmly of the opinion they have NEVER played the former). The thing about these genres is that they are known for being moody, melancholic, sombre, etc. Type O Negative, rather than representing these traits, are more so a parody of them.

Most of their songs are filled with tongue in cheek humor, sarcasm, overly vulgar sexuality, and Peter Steele’s ever so annoying “sensual tough guy” persona. It’s like if gym jocks tried making Gothic Metal. The joke interludes found on many of their albums send a pretty clear message they don’t really take anything too seriously.

Anyway, as for this album… Most of the music is pretty good. Red Water is great, even, with some actually melancholic and doomy atmosphere. Far too often, these songs are overlong and filled with all the annoying tropes of the band I mentioned before. The gothic guitar melodies and echo effects are usually quite nice, and Peter sounds good for the most part, but he still falls into parody territory too often.

It’s just a band that doesn’t sit well with me.

ATROCITY Willenskraft

Album · 1996 · Gothic Metal
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UMUR
"Willenskraft" is the 4th full-length studio album by German metal act Atrocity. The album was released through Massacre Records in July 1996. It´s the successor to "Blut" from 1994, although the gap between the two full-length studio albums is bridged by the two EPs "Calling the Rain (feat. Yasmin)" and "Die Liebe (feat. Das Ich)" (both released in 1995).

"Blut (1994)" and the two 1995 EPs saw Atrocity take a different and quite diverse musical turn away from the technical deathgrind/death metal of the band´s first two albums. Groove, goth, neo-folk, and industrial metal elements crept into Atrocity´s sound and their death metal/grindcore roots took the backseat. That development continues on "Willenskraft", which is also quite the varied release. There are a few death/thrashy affairs in "Blood-Stained Prophecy" and "The Hunt" featured on the album but that´s pretty much it. Some tracks feature a heavy industrial metal influence like the title track and "We Are Degeneration" and there´s also a gothic metal influenced track featured on the album in "Love Is Dead". The latter sounds a little like poor man´s Type O Negative to me. The musical style on "Willenskraft" is predominantly a heavy groove laden type of metal with raw throaty vocals in front.

"Willenskraft" is both a well played and well produced album, but the compositional diversity is not a strength in this case. It makes for an unfocused and incorrehent listen. It´s almost always praise worthy when an artist is able to genre jump but still make it work within the confines of their sound, but "Willenskraft" sound more like an artist who have lost themselves and their musical identity. The odd musical elements work in opposition and it´s seldom the tracks end up a satisfying listen. I feel frustrated half the time by the choices made by the band. When that is said "Willenskraft" could appeal to more musically open minded listeners than me or listeners who appreciate their music eclectic and varied, and overall it´s still a relatively good quality release. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

TYPE O NEGATIVE The Origin of the Feces

Live album · 1992 · Gothic Metal
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UMUR
"The Origin of the Feces" is a live album release by US, New York based heavy/doom/goth metal act Type O Negative. The album was released through Roadrunner Records in May 1992. It bridges the gap between the band´s debut full-length studio album "Slow, Deep and Hard" from 1991 and their sophomore full-length studio album "Bloody Kisses" from 1993. It´s a bit unusual (although it´s been done before by other artists), to release a live album, when you only have one studio album out, but Type O Negative were never the band to do things in a conventional way. Although "The Origin of the Feces" is credited as a live release, it´s actually a live in the studio recording with added crowd noises. In typical sarcastic fashion, frontman Peter Steele even has arguments with the fake audience (who screams back at him "You Suck") and suddenly the concert stops in the middle of the album because a bomb threat is called in. All manufactured for the entertainment of the listener, and it works.

The original version of "The Origin of the Feces" (which featured a cover artwork with a picture of Steele´s anus) predominantly features re-arranged versions of tracks from "Slow, Deep and Hard (1991)", where the titles of the tracks have been altered. In addition to those tracks the album also features a cover of Billy Roberts' "Hey Joe" (titled "Hey Pete" here) and the Type O Negative original "Are You Afraid", which is exclusive to "The Origin of the Feces" (the song never saw a regular studio version release). Reissues of "The Origin of the Feces" feature a different cover artwork (a black and green portrait of 1493 painting "The Dance of Death" by Michael Wolgemut) and a cover of "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath in a regular studio recording. Type O Negative put their own spin on "Paranoid" and make the song their own. The pace is much slower than the original, and they incorporate the main riff from "Iron Man" too. So while it´s still obvious that it´s "Paranoid" being covered, Type O Negative succeed in doing what any artist who covers another should aspire to, which is making another artist´s song their own.

"Are You Afraid" is a short, dark, and goth tinged track, which points forward to the sound Type O Negative would bring to the table on "Bloody Kisses (1993)", while the material off "Slow, Deep and Hard (1991)" are unconventional doom/hardcore tracks. They have been re-arranged here, and some of them are considerably shorter than the originals. Other than that the biggest changes involve changing some words, choir arrangements, and at one point singing in a British accent. "The Origin of the Feces" features a decent quality sound production, and while it´s not the most interesting release by Type O Negative, it´s still a quality release which is a greatly entertaining listen. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

gothic metal movie reviews

PARADISE LOST Draconian Times MMXI

Movie · 2011 · Gothic Metal
Cover art Buy this album from MMA partners
Warthur
Released to celebrate the 16th anniversary of the classic gothic doom metal album, Paradise Lost's Draconian Times MMXI simply has them play through the entire album in order, then add on some encores from their wider discography at the end. It's a decent capture of the Paradise Lost live experience, though ultimately they stick close enough to the studio rendition to make this a little redundant in the end. If you're very keen on this specific period of the band's career - after their early pioneering death-doom work, before they steered away from metal entirely to explore other gothic realms prior to their 2000s return to metal - then it's probably worth it, but even then you might find you just prefer to spin the studio album again.

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