Gothic Metal

Disclaimer: After reading this blog post, if you decide that you enjoy gothic metal, you are REQUIRED to dress like this. I’m serious.

Gothic metal is the fusion of doom metal and gothic rock. It started as an outgrowth of the death/doom music scene, which formed as a result of doom metal bands experimenting with the deep growling and double-kick drumming of death metal. We will talk about death/doom at a later time, as it is not considered to be a major heavy metal subgenre (it's more of a specific type of doom metal).

Musically speaking, gothic metal is all about the atmosphere surrounding the music. Gothic metal is always dark in nature, and often centers on slow and crushing guitar riffs. Vocals may vary in nature, but clean and sorrowful vocals are particularly common in this subgenre. Female vocalists are also frequently found in gothic metal bands, and some bands even use both male and female vocalists. The lyrics of gothic metal songs are usually melodramatic in nature and focus on gloomy topics.  

The term “gothic” has been associated with heavy metal since the early days of Black Sabbath, whose debut album is regarded to be a direct influence on gothic metal. The subgenre didn’t really exist gothic rock had been established as a genre of music in the early 1990s. Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride and Anathema were regarded as the leaders of early gothic metal music, with the name of the subgenre being partially derived from Paradise Lost’s second album, Gothic. These three bands were known as the “Peaceville Three” since they were all signed to Peaceville Records and were pioneers of death/doom. As their music developed, all three bands began to move into gothic metal territory.

Outside of the “Peaceville Three,” the only other major pioneer of the subgenre was Type O Negative, which was the brainchild of the legendary Peter Steele. The group’s third album, Bloody Kisses, earned the band popularity and is now considered to be a landmark gothic and doom metal record. Type O Negative continued to dabble in gothic metal throughout its career and helped to develop the subgenre’s depth until Peter Steele’s recent untimely death. 

In recent years, gothic metal has gained much mainstream popularity. Bands such as Evanescence, Lacuna Coil and HIM have taken gothic metal and given it a more melodic sound that has attracted major attention. Many of these bands took influence from Paradise Lost’s Draconian Times, which was known as the first major commercial-sounding gothic metal release.

Meanwhile, other bands have experimented with the subgenre and achieved commercial success based on their obscure hybrids. Nightwish has combined gothic metal with symphonic metal, and has managed to become one of the most successful gothic metal bands of all time. Cradle of Filth combined gothic metal with symphonic metal and black metal in order to create a style of music that is wholly original and received positively by fans of gothic metal music. 

Gothic metal is a style of music that has a worldwide following, and has proven itself to be a subgenre of many different shades that are conversely commercial and underground in nature. As time goes on, gothic metal should continue to develop further as new bands arise and experiment with the subgenre’s limitations.