The Decline of Gothic Metal and the Future
The Decline of Gothic Metal and the Future
An article by
Gothic Metalhead July 05, 2020
The years 1993-1996 are the years that I believe were gothic metal's biggest peak, containing some of the most influential albums: Type O Negative's Bloody Kisses, Tiamat's Wildhoney, Theatre Of Tragedy's self-titled album, The Gathering's Mandylion, Moonspell's Irreligious, and, of course, Paradise Lost's Draconian Times. By the late 1990s to the early 2000s, however, some new trends were developing within the genre. The "Peaceville Three" (Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, and Anathema) all showed signs of expanding and experimenting with their sound. Paradise Lost and Anathema abandoned their metal sound to reach for more experimentation, while My Dying Bride continued their traditional gothic death-doom sound with albums like The Light At The End Of The World and The Dreadful Hours. Paradise Lost would return to the metal scene in 2002, but Anathema left metal forever while still making some phenomenal music along the way. Another change came shortly after the releases of Theatre Of Tragedy's debut album and The Gathering's Mandylion: a new wave of bands started to emerge that had the so-called "beauty and the beast" vocal approach. This trend would continue through the 2000s, but the late 1990s had a few highlight bands, such as The Sins Of Thy Beloved and Artrosis. At the same time, Theatre Of Tragedy and The Gathering soon abandoned their signature metal sounds as well. The Gathering would prove successful in experimenting with How To Measure A Planet?, If_Then_Else, and Souvenir. Theatre Of Tragedy, however, proved less creatively successful after Aégis, having forsaken their signature sound and switched to a more industrial-focused approach that sounded more like an identity crisis. The late 1990s brought the first changes to gothic metal, with most bands unable to recapture the magic that made them influential to the genre.
The new wave of bands that emerged during the late 1990s continued to the turn of the century with the arrival of bands like Lacuna Coil and, later on, Evanescence. While this was happening, Finland was beginning to boom with new gothic metal bands (or what Metal Storm sometimes labels "Suomi metal"), the biggest of them including Sentenced, HIM, Charon, and more. Italy was also producing more bands within the genre outside of Lacuna Coil, such as Graveworm, Theatres Des Vampires, The Foreshadowing, and Novembre. During these times, it seemed that gothic metal had enough bands to keep the genre alive. The 2000s, however, brought many of the cliches that plague the genre, such as the saturation of "female-fronted" or "beauty-and-the-beast" bands that were so labeled and the confusion between gothic and symphonic metal. The point of this article, however, is to talk about what I mentioned in my title, which was something that I noticed upon doing research and after the years I've spent listening to this style of music.
If the gothic metal scene didn't feel the first shift during the late 1990s hard enough, then it certainly felt the shift throughout the 2010s. The early 2010s were met with a number of gothic metal bands breaking up, most notably Type O Negative; when Peter Steele died in 2010 at the age of 48, the band broke up and the genre lost one of its most influential and popular bands. The Finnish scene started to die out as well, with many other bands breaking up; these included Ville Laihiala's second band, Poisonblack, Charon, To/Die/For, Entwine, Lullacry, and HIM. Theatre Of Tragedy would also break up in 2010 and The Gathering would go on hiatus in 2014; Lacuna Coil has never returned to their gothic metal sound since the release of Karmacode, despite having once been a leading force for the genre, instead releasing one album after another of questionable alternative metal directions. Katatonia became one of the latest in the genre to walk away from gothic metal, shifting by the late 2000s towards a progressive/alternative rock sound that became more apparent by the 2010s. One theory that I have thought about (though I could be wrong) is that the underground's tastes in doom metal started to shift towards stoner doom and death-doom, with stoner doom becoming a popular style in the American underground. The 2010s were a time during which I realize the genre was in decline. There were two bands that had the potential to be the flag-bearers of the next generation of gothic metal: Woods Of Ypres and Trees Of Eternity. Both of these bands released one phenomenal gothic metal album, only to have their careers cut short; David Gold of Woods Of Ypres died in a car collision in 2011, a month before the release of Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light, and Aleah Stanbridge succumbed to cancer in 2016, seven months before the release of Hour Of The Nightingale. At first, I thought that this was a genre that desperately needed new bands to keep itself alive; as I kept digging for new bands and waited for new music to come out, however, I soon realized that there have been bright lights to come out of this last decade.
The 2010s had a few stars for gothic metal that I started to notice. The first band was Sweden's Tribulation. Originally a thrash/death metal band, Tribulation found their sound by the release of The Children Of The Night in 2015. This, alongside their next album, Down Below, found the band combining some of their death metal elements with noticeable characteristics of gothic metal, and they have received a cult following. Another band that kept the genre alive was Enshine, which was able to recapture the gothic doom atmosphere that was found in bands like Anathema and Saturnus while having a uniquely modern sound. The end of the decade also brought the arrival of newcomers Idle Hands. Releasing Mana in 2019, Idle Hands soon gained a cult following within the United States for their blend of traditional heavy metal and Sisters Of Mercy-style gothic rock atmosphere; they toured with King Diamond that same year (and even attracted a few acquaintances in my local Philadelphia metal scene who otherwise had never listened to gothic metal before). Other new bands would also emerge in the 2010s, including Angellore, Edenfall, Deathwhite, and Invernoir.
In addition to the few new bands that showed up in the 2010s, some genre-defining bands also returned to their roots. Paradise Lost would resurrect their gothic death-doom sound with 2015's The Plague Within. My Dying Bride, Draconian, Cradle Of Filth, Green Carnation, and Moonspell continued to release some solid albums and lead the genre into the future. The Foreshadowing remains one of the brightest lights in the genre, staying true to its unique lyrical themes and sounds during the last ten years. Fortunately, the period of 2019-2020 started seeing a small resurgence of gothic metal releases; Paradise Lost once again revisited their origins for Obsidian, one of the most transcendent comeback albums, and other bands like Lacrimas Profundere, On Thorns I Lay, and Dawn Of Solace embraced their gothic roots with their latest releases. Draconian are set to release another album in October of this year.
Even though gothic metal has always been a popular style in Europe, it is a genre that it seems to me is out of style in the United States. I'm one of the few people in the Philadelphia metal scene who loves gothic metal and the only person who has a gothic metal battle jacket. It never stopped me from being myself, however, and I'm still showing my love for this music; I wouldn't be the person I am today if it weren't for this style of music. What I started to realize over the last year or so is that I have stayed hopeful for this music that I love, and even though it's not as popular as the likes of thrash, prog, and stoner doom, this is music that I have a feeling will never die.
What are your thoughts on this article? Was there something I got wrong? Are there any details I left out? Are there new bans that I left out? Let me know; I'm open for discussion.
Guest article disclaimer:
This is a guest article, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest article, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
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Gothic metal has become quite cliche and generic, thus making the scene saturated. But then again I could say the same about stoner metal and old school death metal, and even last decade's dissonant black metal is starting to show signs. It seems that some genres like gothic and thrash metal were more unfairly treated for their lack of innovation, and even the innovation that gothic metal had stemmed more into going into some electronic territories that were no-go-zones for a lot of metalheads. I'm glad that we have some bands recently that have managed to make gothic metal exciting again, and you managed to name a few, but I hope we don't get just more Draconian clones. I am hoping for some more blends with the original 80s goth rock sound, and this year has had some prominent bands covering songs from that scene some more succesfully than others.
---- Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking One day there will be no heart at all?
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Will read soon, but many cases all female fronted bands well now its genre. They add to that genre, many symphonic, power metal bands whit female singer has been labeled as that genre, well flowing tears n withered flower , Luminaria are only few female goths  old Athargatis . gothic doom, and so on, well need read this, its interesting
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"  I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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Posts: 163 Written by RaduP on 05.07.2020 at 14:20 I guess that was a reason why it was hard to find another gothic metal band that really blew me away because of said cliches. With every genre of metal there is always cliches that are reliant unless we're talking about doom metal, death metal or black metal which can melt into so many fusions. For example, a lot of Italian gothic metal bands seem to rely on this vampiric/gothic horror sound where it's reliance lay on overused keyboards, the use of female singers, and overly dramatic tone (too many Theatres Des Vampires clones). The reason why The Foreshadowing is so amazing is that they managed to be different from their Italian contemporaries following the MDB/Katatonia route, but talking about dystopian and post-apocalyptic themes. In the case of gothic metal I guess those cliches caught up with them the last ten years which explains the lack of innovative bands popping up and the amount of bands breaking up.
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Posts: 64432
I dug genre thanks to gothmetal.net site is Dead now, i like This article, now you can write getting into. Btw if you like ToN, I got some album, ToN tribute album, so there was many good bands.
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die" I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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Posts: 163 Written by Bad English on 06.07.2020 at 10:34 Wow I didn't know there was a Gothic metal site in the past. And I'm always looking for new music so you can send me what you have.
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Posts: 64432 Written by Gothic Metalhead on 06.07.2020 at 12:00 IMO this one, need see, atm its in parents place https://www.discogs.com/Various-Blood-Sweat-And-Tears-A-Tribute-To-Type-O-Negative/release/1656629 Site was huge good gothic bands few unknown
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die" I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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Posts: 163 Written by tintinb on 07.07.2020 at 05:31 I did notice a lot of music coming out in the past year or so and when I see bands still making this music, and it's a good feeling to hear new music. I'm glad to hear the acceptance of the music lately its something that makes me happy.
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Posts: 552
Great article. It seems I know the genre better than I thought I did. I think the band that stands out for me there that I've never really given a proper listen is Draconian. I can't remember why that is, but I've never been drawn back to them. For some reason I've always been a massive fan of Novembre. There's something in there that really clicks with me. Any Black Metal/Gothic bands you'd recommend? I do like Moonspell a lot, but I can't think of any others.
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Posts: 163 Written by Ball Fondlers on 08.07.2020 at 11:20 Draconian is amazing! I do recommend them and listen to Arcane Rain Fell. To me one of the most depressing albums I've ever heard and one of my favorites in the genre. To be honest, they've had a lot of great albums, but that album is amazing. Gothic/black metal is tricky because some bands have been called melodic black metal for incorporating gothic elements. Graveworm and the first Moonspell album has elements of black metal. Rotting Christ even fiddled with Gothic metal and combined those elements with their black metal sound with albums like Triarchy of the Lost Lovers through Sleep of the Angels. Other bands to check out are early Theatres Des Vampires, Nachtblut, and Opera IX. It's still a form of gothic metal I need to dig more deeply into. I did recently discover an unknown band named dreams in darkness just last night that have released music on YouTube but has limited music to listen to. Very Gothic/black but sounds amazing. Been trying to get these guys on metalstorm and the metal archives. Here's a link: I really appreciate your feedback on the article. It makes me happy that people want to listen to the genre more often.
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Thanks Gothic Metalhead I'll check some of those out. Especially Draconian, I won't be surprised if I've already heard that album a few times before. I'll check Nachtblut too, but the bands that I see "Symphonic" attached to it, is usually a bit of a red flag for me. Bottom of the pile for those at least
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Great article! Gothic metal will always have a special place in my heart seeing as it was what got me into metal way back when. Bands like Theatre Of Tragedy, Tristania, Sirenia and The Gathering are still among my favorites that I revisit from time to time. One band that I hold in high regard in terms of gothic metal that you didn't mention is Beseech. Most of their early albums are great but Black Emotions especially is amazing. When it comes to Black/Gothic-bands i'd like to mention Dismal Euphony. Their debut is more straight-forward melodic black but Autumn Leaves - The Rebellion of Tides is very much gothic metal and a great album as well.
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Posts: 163 Written by Draugen on 09.07.2020 at 15:08 I appreciate your post. I think I've only heard beseech's debut album. It was good, but I need to listen to them more to see which album I like the best. I actually never heard of Dismal Euphony I'll have to listen to them today. Thanks for the recommendations.
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I literally forgot about this band. Siebenburgen is another example of gothic/black metal.
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What a well-written post. interesting insights. My first exposure to Gothic Metal was Full Moon Madness by Moonspell back in 2006 on a radio show called Black Sunday that played Metal exclusively. At that time there were a few Progressive Metal or Thrash Metal albums available in Pakistan, but nothing in the veins of Gothic Metal. After a lot of struggle, I managed to get a hold of The Antidote by Moonspell and immediately became a fan. 14 years later Gothic Metal is my most-listened-to Genre along with Doom Metal, courtesy bands like Moonspell, Draconian, The Foreshadowing, early Tristania, early Theater of Tragedy, Paradise Lost and some others. Now, at the age of 29 I'm finally setting out to try my own Gothic/Doom Metal project. Let's hope the flame stays alive!
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Posts: 163 Written by The Melting Snow on 10.07.2020 at 00:17 Full Moon Madness is one of the defining songs. I love that song so much and irreligious in particular was a great record to listen to. I'm glad that this music inspired you to want to do a gothic/doom project. I plan on doing something like that but want to do something incredibly different.
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It's all cool Crematory is keeping it alive and well.
---- Crackhead Megadeth reigns supreme.
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Posts: 3582 Written by Ball Fondlers on 08.07.2020 at 11:20 I'd strongly recommend you Dæmonarch, not just because it is a rather obvious choice (they are a Moonspell side project after all...) but because their only release is my favorite album of the year 1998. They're usually being tagged as melo-black and black metal is indeed the base of their sound, but the black core is coated with a thick layer of gothic, both musically and lyrically. Their music is devoid of the typical "beauty and the beast" vocals though and I guess that's why I adore their album Hermeticum so much. It's kinda funny that Graveworm and Siebenbürgen have been brought up, I still remember a 2000 tour featuring both bands... Anyway, the well-deserved headliner of the package was neither of them but Germany's most popular contribution to said sub-genre: Agathodaimon. Don't let yourself be distracted by the "symphonic" stigma, only their early works feature strong symphonic elements. I'd recommend you to dip into the album Chapter III and in particular the tracks "An Angel's Funeral" and "Sacred Divinity". Another symbiosis of gothic and black that has not been mentioned yet is Your Shapeless Beauty. Their aptly entitled last album My Swan Song is a hidden gem of gothic, black, death and doom and I'm still cursing the day of their silent disbanding. Officially they are still active but I can't believe that there will ever be a new album... Come what may, their song "Of Roaches And Shade" is the peak of black/gothic if you ask me. @Gothic Metalhead: great article - thank you! I've never really been into the "2nd wave of gothic metal", my enthusiasm faded as soon as the Peaceville Three had decided to drop their doom and death roots and when operatic/angelic vocals became the dominant trademark sound of the genre. However, there is one particular band I'd like to recommend to you as I'm pretty sure that you've never heard of them: Sweet Mother Of God from Norway. It was Dag Østby's (first vocalist of Conception) gothic metal project and their self-titled EP is one of the most precious CD's of my entire collection, I had to sell my soul to get my hands on it. Nowadays it's not really my cup of tea anymore, but I still remember how much I loved the interplay of harsh male vocals and a rather atypical, rockish female voice when it came out in 2002. This is the only digital version I know.
---- signatures = SPAM
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Posts: 163 Written by Gothic Metalhead on 12.07.2020 at 21:25
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Posts: 163 Written by Starvynth on 12.07.2020 at 15:09 Thanks for the recommendation. I will check out the band as soon as possible as well as the previous bands you've mentioned for gothic/black metal
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Posts: 163 Written by HyperDrifter on 12.07.2020 at 18:11 I'm glad you like the article. I gotta listen to Flowing Tears more often. Haven't heard their music besides one album or so.
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I think gothic is quite a large umbrella. While I do love bands like Type O Negative, Moonspell, the Peaceville Three and really enjoyed the latest Idle Hands, Angellore and Tribulation, there is a lot of gothic that I can't stand (particularly the bands that have the "beauty and the beast" vocals, or those that have loads of sympho in their sound). Even though the style's heyday was during the '90s, there are still some gems coming out today so I don't think gothic metal will perish. Great article by the way 
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Posts: 163 Written by nikarg on 13.07.2020 at 01:28 I can understand that you don't stand a lot of the beauty and the beast bands. I originally stayed away from it, but just searched for more bands that I thought were amazing. That is because there were so much bands in the genre. Searching for bands that are the same wow factor as Draconian is like mining for gold.
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Posts: 163 Written by HyperDrifter on 13.07.2020 at 13:43 I did notice their name on the list of highest rated gothic metal albums and never got the chance to hear them yet. I might have but probably forgot I can't really tell. Either way I'll definitely listen to them.
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Draconian's latest song (Sorrow of Sophia) is a fresh ray of hope.
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Posts: 163 Written by The Melting Snow on 16.07.2020 at 19:34 I listened to it yesterday. To be honest it's better than their last single and it does sounds like a ray of hope. Hence why they're one of the brightest lights in the genre.
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I'm no fan of Gothic Metal, but I've heard that the Deathship has a new Captain.
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