Aside from the traditional post-punk leaning goth rock and the more doomy/symphonic gothic metal there has also been a revival in the last decade or so of goth leaning into a more traditionally structured hard rock / heavy metal, whether extreme bands like Tribulation mellowing their sound into a gothic heavy metal shape or bands like Unto Others or Sonja adding a gothic coating on top of it. But usually these would have the melodic side be closer to heavy metal or hard rock or something in between. Final Gasp sit in a very similar space, but there's a slight difference in nuance, something I also noticed in a live setting.
While the post-punk origins of goth rock do create a strong link between goth and punk, Final Gasp go for an even stronger tie through a deathrock sound a la Christian Death to make the punk leaning feel more properly rowdy and aggressive, turning the Danzig-esque baritones into something that leans closer to hardcore, often employing shouts that border on harsh vocals while healthily alternating these with more melodic but nonetheless aggressive sounding singing. Vocalist Jake Murphy is the spice that keeps New Day Symptoms from sounding too close to its more traditionally heavy metal leaning colleagues.
A lot of the more overt deathrock of the band's debut, Mourning Moon, have been dialed back in the instrumentals for New Day Symptoms outside of Murphy's rough but far from manic performance, with the instrumental being more anchored in gothic metal, feeling cold without that repetitive mechanical feeling that goth rock often uses to feel cold. The production feeling this dense and noticeably more polished does create a fuller sound that contributes to that, with a lot of the gothic atmosphere coming from how the production channels the sound.
New Day Symptoms being more polished than its predecessor and also six minutes shorter does put the album in a weirder spot where it doesn't feel like it completely delivers on the potential of the debut, while still far from being a sophomore slump, it almost asks for a third Final Gasp installment to really stick the landing and either shift the balance stronger into deathrock or put more meat on the polished melodic side.
