Let's Share Some Goth

(Per JohnRice's request)

I didn't want to inhibit discussion of any sub-genre ; so I thought I'd keep the title vague. So from Goth-Rock to Darkwave-Ambient; what are some of your favorite bands/artists?

Re: Let's Share Some Goth

I'm so in on this discussion...

I'll start by saying, I seriously enjoy Evanescence. I know there is some unwritten rule that you're not supposed to, but I don't care.

I seem to lean toward the female vocal Goth bands. My appreciation probably hit its height after I saw the Silent Force Tour concert DVD from Within Temptation. It is one of my favorite concert DVDs. They are better live than in the studio.

Others I enjoy are...
Tool
A Perfect Circle
After Forever
Beseech
Edenbridge
Epica
Fields of the Nephilim
Leaves' Eyes
Theater of Tragedy
Tristania
Type O Negative

Re: Let's Share Some Goth

Wooooooo slow down magnuim. Lol!.

I too enjoy female fronted bands of many styles.

I did like Fallen. My only problem with Evanescence is what I'm sure many long time Lacuna Coil fans have. The similarities seemed a bit calculated. (See Lacuna Coil's Unleashed Memories). Lacuna Coil's latest Karma Code is much heavier than their last run(Comalies) with their guitars de-tuned even further down (around C/B Korn range).

Type O Negative is Cristina Scabbia's(Lacuna Coil Vocalist) favorite band.

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Yeah, you're right, there is a definite similarity between Lacuna Coil and Evanescence (plus some male vocals) though Cristina has a much more femanine voice than Amy Lee (who sounds like total crap live, BTW). I only have Comalies, but may get my hands on some more tomorrow.

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I saw Evanescence live early on the tour last year and I though Amy sounded pretty good.

Does Flyleaf fit in there? That chick can scream...not too bad live for a new/young band.

Does NIN count?

Tool & APC are easily among my favorites. The APC show last year was excellent, though I could have done without the Iha song. I love the guy, but not a big fan of his solo stuff.

I've heard of Type-O negative, but have not heard them. Where should I start?

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I'm not sure, but I think all their stuff may be OOP. Bloody Kisses is worth hearing, if only for their outrageous version of Summer Breeze.

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Flyleaf I wouldn't consider "Goth." I got the album thinking I was going to hear more scream ala "I'm So Sick" but no. I thought the album was very average. "I'm So Sick" is a great song though.

John, I haven't heard any Type O Negative. I'll try and locate the mentioned.

I tried Within Temptation a while back and I found it pretty over-the-top.

Get your hands on the Ambeon album(I believe there is only one). May be out of print but you can find it. Let's try and post some links maybe to some Myspace Band Pages. I'll PM a moderator and make sure it's cool.

John, I think you would like Unleashed Memories by Lacuna Coil much more than Comalies.

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I PM'ed Jack. Should be okay; if not Jack can delete this post

Here is the band I mentioned

http://www.myspace.com/ambeon

Re: Let's Share Some Goth

No problem with the link, Zen.

Also, what about some of the "darker" industrial bands? And what about, oh, Skinny Puppy and such?

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I went to the Ambeon page, which has streaming music. It's nice, but hardly what I would consider Goth. Seems reminiscent of Tori Amos.

It turns out I have both Karmacode and Unleashed Memories by Lacuna Coil. Don't think I've ever listened to them, considering I didn't even realize I had them.

Zen, if you have trouble getting any Type O Negative, send me a PM. An no, I'm not offering a blood transfusion.

Within Temptation is definitely in the symphonic style of Goth Rock. Unfortunately, The Silent Force Tour is only available in Europe and the CD is only available in a set with 2 DVDs. Yes, they are completely over the top and proud of it. The studio recordings lean toward pop, but this live recording is dintinctly heavier.

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My housemate is into Nightwish, which is kind of operatic rock, with a female lead. I've only heard it through the walls but I figured I should mention it as a band to check out, given how crazy my housemate is about them.

Re: Let's Share Some Goth

Dark is good Jack, though Skinny Puppies is a new on to me. I haven't been exposed to that much industrial stuff. It doesn't tend to be to my taste, but NIN would seem to fit in that area. As far as dark, the stuff I like best which I consider dark is Type O Negative (again) and Tool. When I think dark, it is more musically dark, not necessarily the lyrics.

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Nightwish is similar to Epica and Tristania, at least at times. Operatic is a good description. Very BIG music. They also (interestingly) remind me more than a bit of Rainbow. After all, Dio's voice is almost as high as a woman's

I'm listening to Once, the only Nightwish I have, and it's damn good. Big-ass music. I need to get my hands on some more.

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I haven't listened to what's on the Ambeon page but it was a person who turned me on to Nightwish, Within Temptation and Leave's Eyes. There's a female singer who is in two of the mentioned bands I think. Works heating up....gotta run.......I will definitely be back tonight.

And Jack, I love Skinny Puppy and a lot of the darker industrial stuff. I say we include that in the discussion. Lustmord would definitely fall into the Goth/Industrial category. A big favorite of mine.

to be continued

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I believe that may be Leaves' Eyes and Ambeon. I think she is also the one who has a sister who sings in a new band called Midnattsol.

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Liv Kristine from Leave's Eyes was in Theater of Tragedy. There are a few other female vocalists that played in more than one band. I'm a newbie with the whole symphonic goth rock/metal. I'm trying some of the ones you listed.

Jack, I love Skinny Puppy and a long career they have had. My favorite by them is still Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse. Since we're back in the 80's, Cindytalk was a very underrated industrial act. And Ministry are demi-gods within the genre.

Some early goth stuff for which I dyed my hair blue-black and sported the eyeliner to go out to the now burnt down Odyssey on Beverly(or Seven Seas) was most certainly The Cure. They were just starting to hit big here. I had a fake ID and had burnt out Joy Division's Closer. Then I'd say Siouxsie & the Banshees. Those were huge in the Hollywood club scene amongst all the straight new wave being played in 82-85ish. And you can't leave out of the discussion The Sisters of Mercy.

Some early stuff I know. I'm a geezer.

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John, I ordered Bloody Kisses.


With Ben Moody gone from Evanescence or gone from Amy Lee; I'll be interested to hear her album come November. I really like her voice and image. I just thought the band sounded very close to Linkin Park. She carried them I think.

Re: Let's Share Some Goth

It's interesting what different people consider goth. For instance, I wouldn't really consider The Cure to be Goth, probably a little more punk.

I'm interested to hear what you think of Type O Negative, Zen. It's mostly slow, methodical, minor mode. Interesting vocals. Definitely dark stuff.





I suppose one has to mention Rob Zombie/White Zombie. On one hand, his music is so "pop", but it's still fun. Good stuff to just crank up at the end of a bad day.

I have been waiting for some time to actually see a new studio album from Evanescence. Hopefully they will blaze some reasonably new territory, or at least keep being loud and pissed off.

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I was reading in Rolling Stone about her split from Moody and Mgmt. I was under the inpression the release will be under Amy Lee.

Yeah, the term "Goth" alone is vague and it does cover many genres. Maybe we should have titled it "Dark" music.

The Cure's image for one. The first two albums. Then, of course: Pornography, Disintegration and Blood Flowers are some very dark albums. Considered by many their "Goth Trilogy." Disintegration is one of the finest albums ever "goth" or not. The Head on the Door is pretty special too. We can agree on goth overtones?

I loved White Zombie; only to lose interest in his solo stuff.

Yeah John, I'll be sure to post here my thoughts on Bloody Kisses

What are thoughts on Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds? Another huge favorite of mine.

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When it comes down to it, I have some abstract definition of what I consider to be Goth. For instance, I am a huge Peter Gabriel fan, and while some of his music is definitely dark, I have never considered it Goth.

I have been listening to the first few songs on Unleashed Memories, and Lacuna Coil is growing on me. Plus, Cristina is a certified hottie and quite a singer to boot. Unlike some other groups like Leaves' Eyes and Within Temptation, she has a fuller, more "rock" sounding voice, so I can see the comparison to Amy Lee, though I haven't found that much similarity in their music.

BTW, I will get a chance to check out Wolfmother tomorrow, and maybe some more Nightwish.

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Bauhaus.

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Would marilyn manson be considered goth???? or maybe a sub-genra of?? When I think of goth I think of The Cure..and such........

R~

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I'll have to drop by Rasputins or something and see what I can dig up. I've also heard of Lacuna Coil, here basically, so I'll have to check them out too.

NIN's first album PHM and then TDS I would consider dark, but Broken/Fixed was mostly just angry rage (which I liked also). I like the newest stuff a lot too.

Skinny Puppy was one of my favorites from back in the day, and I liked Ministry's old stuff.

T.S.O.L.?

Some of you might like Team Sleep www.teamsleep.net - a side project of Deftones front man Chino Moreno. IMO, some of the prerelease tracks/versions are better than what made it to the album, but the album is still pretty interesting. The prerelease tracks have a very different feel from Deftones, but the album ended up sounding more like the Deftones...I still like it.

Check out Sloth www.slothmusic.com (site appears to be messed up right now). Saw these guys open up for Staind at the Filmore and I really liked them. Very good live, album does not quite capture that live energy entirely though.

I think Flyleaf has potential, but I agree the album is somewhat average; not too bad for a first shot though, but they have some maturing to do. I was actually hoping for a little LESS screaming, because I couldn't understand most of what she was singing at the show. Cassie is a good song; about Columbine.

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Guess I got here a little late, since most of the bands I listen to have been mentioned.

Xandria is another female fronted band that I dig.

Evergray probably should be mentioned. All male, and they rock pretty hard.

Therion is a pretty unique band, in that they actually have a choir singing. It is very impressive stuff.

Jason

Re: Let's Share Some Goth

Zen,

IMO, the definitive Type O is October Rust. Bloody Kisses is probably the closest they've come to commercial success, but to me October Rust will always be their best. But everything the've done since BK is fantastic in my book. I think if you like BK, you should probably try their other original releases since that record, which are October Rust, World Coming Down and Life Is Killing Me.

There's also The Least Worst Of, which is, you guessed it, a compilation record with some unreleased tracks and such.

The two releases they did before BK, Slow Deep & Hard and Origin Of The Feces are interesting, but I don't think it automatically follows that if you like the newer Type O, you'll like them. Type O is also due for a new album towards the end of the year.

Since Skinny Puppy was mentioned, I'll mention Front Line Assembly. Awesome electro-industrial stuff. Bill Leeb, one of the creators of the project, was originally in Skinny Puppy. FLA's last four releases have been awesome. My favorite is Implode, with Epitaph, Civilization and the recently released Artificial Soldier just a hair below them. If you really get into this stuff, check out the Vanished EP for a couple of kick-ass tracks that didn't make the Civilization record for some reason.

Leeb & Fulber's Delerium also did some very nice female-voiced techno albums. Check out clips from Semantic Spaces, Karma, Poem and Chimera. I've been hooked on those records for quite some time. Conjure One (Fulber's project) is another great moody electro-pop project.

With all these female-fronted bands being mentioned, I'll go ahead and say The Gathering is well worth your time if you like any of the others mentioned. Anneke has quite possibly one of the best and most emotive female rock voices I've ever heard. The band started out as sort of a death metal project in the early 90's, but then she joined and they started evolving with each subsequent record. Mandylion is almost a progressive metal record, but very moody. Nighttime Birds is a little more upbeat, and has some great hooks. How To Measure A Planet starts to get away from the metal sound, but also has some very memorable songs. They've gotten increasingly experimental on the last few records, but it's all still great stuff.

I'm sure I'll think of more, but I'll end on sort of a shameless plug.

I was part of a goth-progressive band called Braindance in the late 90's in NYC. The band has been on the verge of securing a good record deal several times, but it just never happened. All of their releases are independent, and they're currently working on their latest, for which I am once again recording the bass parts.

The most rudimentary comparisons are always to Type O, since Braindance's vocalist also has a lower voice, but to me there's always been more to the band making them unique.

You can check out clips from their last record here:

www.progressivedarkwave.com

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I know it isn't an electronic thread, but I have been very pleased with all of Delerium's stuff so far (all the albums are good, but the earlier ones are better IMO), and both Conjure One albums are very good; the newest one stays in heavy rotation at home.

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I just thought they were worth mentioning, as I think Delerium and C1 have had a decent amount of crossover success.

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SISTERS OF MERCY-whatever happened to Andrew Eldrich?

Did he go back to his day job as an electrician?

DEAD CAN DANCE 1,2,3-but especailly 1, before they were discovered by the "world" New-Age crowd.

Anyone remember THE VEIL (UK)lwith lead singer Andwella ?
was surprised when she wrote me a nice letter of appreciation to my writing her-back in what 1990?

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Those are some definite ones to look up.

I listened to Wolfmother on Friday and I have to say, it is not even remotely Goth, so I'm not sure why it was brought up. Not that anyone asked, but it seems to be highly "calculated" music and I am suspicious of any new group that is the object of such a marketing juggernaut,

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One thing I love is being turned on to a band with a substantial body of work. I'm listening to Bloody Kisses now at work. So far, I love this band's sound. The vocalist has an amazing deep voice. I did peak at their Myspace page...

http://www.myspace.com/typeonegative

I absolutely love "Love You to Death" off of October Rust which it looks as if I will order that also. Still absorbing Bloody Kisses now though.