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Heavy Metal Thunder Gothic Metal

Genres Heavy Metal Doom Metal Gothic Metal

Gothic Metal

Metal in mourning. Velvet, romance and melancholy, taking as much from The Sisters of Mercy as from Black Sabbath.

Active years
1991 – present
Origin
UK / USA
Family
Gothic Metal
Bands here
15

Before you press play

Explicit content

Graphic lyrics and artwork are a defining feature of this genre rather than an occasional accident — which of violence, gore or sex depends on the band. Worth knowing before you put it on in a room with other people in it.

Start here

Three records in order of how easy they are to get into — which is not the same as best first.

  1. Gothic Paradise Lost, 1991 The landmark

    The record that named the genre, made in Halifax by a band who had been playing death metal a year earlier. Female vocals, keyboards and a violin over down-tuned riffs — in 1991 nobody had put those things in the same room.

    Listen to Gothic

  2. Bloody Kisses Type O Negative, 1993

    Enormous, funny and genuinely romantic. Peter Steele had the deepest voice in metal and used it to write love songs.

    Listen to Bloody Kisses

  3. Wolfheart Moonspell, 1995

    Portuguese gothic metal with Mediterranean melodies underneath. Warmer than the English bands and all the better for it.

    Listen to Wolfheart

What it sounds like

Slow, melodic and in mourning. Doom metal tempos and weight combined with the melodies and atmosphere of eighties gothic rock, so the guitars are heavy but the songs are built around melancholy rather than aggression. Keyboards and strings are common, as are two vocalists — a clean voice against a harsh one, often a soprano against a growl. Everything is drenched in reverb. There is very little speed in it and almost no anger; the emotional register is romantic sadness played completely straight, which is either wonderful or absurd and is usually both at once. That knowing theatricality is a feature, not an accident.

  • Heaviness 3 out of 5
  • Speed 2 out of 5
  • Aggression 2 out of 5
  • Technicality 3 out of 5
  • Darkness 5 out of 5
  • Melody 4 out of 5

Where the name came from

'Gothic' references the gothic subculture and gothic rock of the early 1980s (The Sisters of Mercy, Bauhaus) — itself named after Gothic architecture's dark grandeur and the Gothic literary tradition of Poe and Shelley. Paradise Lost pioneered the metal fusion with Gothic (1991).

The bands

Hear these first

  • Paradise Lost UK
  • Type O Negative USA
  • My Dying Bride UK
  • Moonspell Portugal
  • Lacuna Coil Italy

And 10 more

  • HIM Finland
  • The 69 Eyes Finland
  • Tiamat Sweden
  • Trail of Tears Norway
  • Draconian Sweden
  • Novembre Italy
  • Dark Lunacy Italy
  • Ava Inferi Portugal
  • Siela Lithuania
  • Nightfall Greece

Where it happened

Counting this genre and everything descended from it.

  • Tokyo Visual Kei & Japanese Metal 6 bands
  • Japan Japanese Metal 6 bands
  • Netherlands Dutch Symphonic, Gothic & Death Metal 5 bands
  • Italy Italian Power, Gothic & Extreme Metal 3 bands

What it led to

If you liked this

Closest in sound outside this family, leaning towards the similar or the gentler rather than straight into the deep end.