Gothic Metal Music Guide: 9 Notable Gothic Metal Artists

Gothic metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music that combines the sonic aesthetics of doom metal, black metal, power metal, and death metal with the dark, sometimes ominous lyrical themes of gothic rock.

Gothic metal bands mine various corners of heavy metal for inspiration. Some goth metal bands like Cradle of Filth, Sirenia, and Moonspell base their vocal style around grunts, growls, and shrieks. Other goth metal vocalists, like Peter Steele of Type O Negative and Vibeke Stene of Tristania, sing in a clean, melodic style that recalls symphonic metal, progressive metal, and melodic death metal.

Gothic metal traces its roots to both gothic rock and the earliest heavy metal.

• Decades-old origins: The gothic metal genre arose from both goth rock and the death/doom metal scenes of the 1980s, but goth metal's roots extend all the way back to 1970s England. At the time, Black Sabbath was pioneering heavy metal using lyrics about the occult and gothic themes like the struggle between man and nature. In the early-to-mid 1980s, gothic rock bands like the Sisters of Mercy and the Cure brought gloomy themes to hard rock and alternative rock.
• A new scene emerges: It was not until the late 1980s and early 1990s that groups like Celtic Frost, Anathema, My Dying Bride, Type O Negative, and Paradise Lost established the signature gothic metal sound—a cross between gothic rock, doom metal, thrash, and even post-punk.
• Stylistic splintering: As the 1990s unfolded, the world of gothic metal did as well. Some groups like Nightwish, After Forever, Tiamat, and Within Temptation pushed goth metal in a symphonic direction. Others like Poisonblack, Evanescence, Entwine, To/Die/For, His Infernal Majesty (HIM), and Type O Negative have embraced a certain degree of pop hooks. Groups like Cradle of Filth, Moonspell, and Charon pushed toward true black metal, while others

Prominent gothic metal scenes exist in the United Kingdom, the United States, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Explore some particularly notable goth metal bands.

1. 1. Type O Negative: One of gothic metal's greatest commercial successes, Type O Negative hailed from New York City. Their records, notably 1993's Bloody Kisses, found a sweet spot between critical approval and mainstream interest. The group disbanded following the 2010 death of bassist and vocalist Peter Steele.
2. 2. My Dying Bride: One of the UK's earliest and most influential gothic metal bands, My Dying Bride has steadily released records and toured since the early 1990s. They are known, along with Paradise Lost and Anathema, as "The Peaceville Three" due to their prominent role on the Peaceville Records roster in the 1990s.
3. 3. Anathema: Remembered as both a gothic metal and progressive rock band, Anathema ended up as a two-vocalist band with Daniel Cavanagh and Lee Douglas providing notable contrast. The group's 1993 single "Sweet Tears" received airplay on MTV, a rarity among gothic metal groups.
4. 4. Paradise Lost: The English band Paradise Lost is associated with numerous hard rock genres including gothic metal and death/doom metal. Records like 1995's Draconian Times established Paradise Lost and tapped into the nexus of grim gothic lyrics and the pummeling assault of power metal and thrash.
5. 5. Theatre of Tragedy: This Norwegian band fuses growled and barked male vocals with clean, melodic female vocals—a style sometimes called “beauty and the beast.” The group’s mid-1990s records like Velvet Darkness They Fear (1996) shaped the gothic metal sound for many bands to come.
6. 6. Trail of Tears: Much like their Norwegian peers, Theatre of Tragedy, Trail of Tears toggles between gruff, angry male vocals and melodic female vocals. In addition to being a gothic band, they are often categorized as symphonic black metal.
7. 7. Midnattsol: Germany's Midnattsol approaches gothic metal from a folk metal perspective. They combine traditional instruments like violins with gothic lyrics pulled from German, Norse, and English mythology—all atop a bed of electric guitars, electric bass, and drums. Singer Carmen Elise Espenæs exemplifies the clean female vocals found in many gothic metal songs.
8. 8. Gothminister: As their debut album title, Gothic Electronic Anthems, makes clear, Gothminister combines gothic metal with industrial metal and darkwave. Although this hard rock band formed in Norway, they have found a particularly large audience in Germany.
9. 9. Katatonia: Swedish outfit Katatonia connects gothic metal to progressive metal. Early records tilted toward the death/doom genre, but they have expanded their repertoire on more recent releases like 2012's Dead End Kings.

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