"Gothic" Groups? (1 Viewer)

[Dan Smith]

Greetings,

First off I hate using labels so I'd like to say that I'm sorry for using the "Gothic" Group label, but it is needed to facilitate what I'm looking for.

I love the following cuts from Type O Negative and would like to find other tracks and/or groups that resemble this slow dark "metal".

• Christian Woman - Bloody Kisses Album
• Black No. 1 (Little Miss Scare-All) - Bloody Kisses Album
• Bloody Kisses (A Death in the Family) - Bloody Kisses Album
• Love You To Death - October Rust Album
• ... I think you get the idea ...

I have purchased many supposed "goth" style albums, but nothing seems as moody and gripping as the before mentioned cuts. I have 3 Moonspells that come the closest, but that's it. I have some Marylyn Manson and NIN tracks that are a good attempt, but too “commercial”. Others that I have that have a darker Goth element are:

• Therion - Theli and Vovin
• Sins of Thy Beloved
• Operth
• Arcturus
• Moonspell
• …

Most are Death/Black Metal and not as melodic as Type O’s gothic tracks. Any recommendations would be much appreciated.

Cheers

 

[Robert Burkes]

I would disagree with your assessment of NIN as "too 'commercial,'" but try A Perfect Circle. Their album, "Mer de Noms," is breath-takingly beautiful and, to me, very gothic. I would suggest any track off of that album. They also have a new album coming out in September called "Thirteenth Step." I'm very excited. Let me know what you think if you try APC. Good luck!

Rob

P.S. - Try downloading the song "The Hollow (Constantly Consuming Mix)." It's only available on an import single of "The Hollow," but it's gorgeous.

 

[TheLongshot]

Well, it is kinda hard to find a band with a vocallist like Steele, since he's pretty unique. The closest stylewise may be Nightingale, fronted by Dan Swano. About the only deep voiced vocallist that isn't a growler that I know of.

For a couple of "off the wall" recommendations, the new Porcupine Tree can be like that. Also, the band Sigur Ros, comes to mind. Porcupine Tree rocks out more, but Sigur Ros is probably more moody.

The Gathering also comes to mind. Female vocallist, the earlier albums are heavier than the later albums, which are more atmospheric.

Another band that may fit is After Forever. Again, female lead, with occational male growling. Hits the spot for me...

Jason

 

[Dan Smith]

Rob,

Thanks for the reply and suggestions. I downloaded the APC Mer de Noms tracks. Although it seem like good music and I will probably buy it when I can find it, it is not at all what I am looking for. Please bear with me here as I put my Flame Suit on. It's more like the post-Pearl Jam, pseudo-alternative, neo-rock/metal that plays on "cooler" rock stations, than the melancholy powerful gothic music that I'm looking for. It kinda reminds me of Radiohead.

Jason,

I love Dan Swano. His work with Therion on Theli and A'arab-Zaraq are some of the best metal in recent times. I too have always though his style quite Gothic. Thanks for the Nightingale tip. I did not know that he had a full time band.

Keep em comin guys...

 

[Camp]

You didn't mention if you only want currently active bands (of which, I know of none I would really classify as "Goth"). Try some of the older stuff -back when goth was really goth.

Joy Division
Sisters of Mercy
Bauhaus
Love & Rockets (some of their stuff)
Peter Murphy
Tones on Tail
Dead Can Dance (though they would represent the softer side of goth)
Some stuff by The Cure
Maybe some Bowie
Siouxsie & The Banshees


I agree that NIN shares some elements of what Goth was but I think of them more as "Industrial".

try A Perfect Circle

I don't know that track but I think of them as a pop/rock band. Certainly not my image of a goth band.

 

[Dan D.]

I would agree with Camp, both on the list and the classification of NIN (whom I do like quite a bit). Goth and Industrial certainly have a fair share of overlap in style, hence the fact that NIN has some very Goth sounding songs.

Bauhaus is an excellent selection, as is Sisters of Mercy Try the "Floodland" album.

Cleopatra Records puts out some good compilations (The Goth Box, The Black Bible) of lesser-known Goth bands.

If you listen to internet radio, check out http://www.perkigoth.com. It's an interesting mixture of Goth and 80's, but you hear some interesting, non-mainstream bands played.

 

[Kevin Farley]

Here's a couple more bands to check out:
Black Tape for a Blue Girl
faith and the muse

http://www.projekt.com/ is the label for black and faith.

I've heard about October Project and Christian Death being good as well. Haven't heard them yet though.

Try Skinny Puppy too, but they're on the fence btwn industrial and gothic. Get Mind: the perpetual intercourse, or what's really good is the 12 inch anthology. Great mixes for the dancy side of things.

 

[MickeS]

Dan, you should check out Paradise Lost. Their two early 90's albums "Gothic" (great name for an album, huh? and "Shades of God" have music similar to Type O Negative. The vocals might be too growly for you, but give them a chance.

/Mike

 

[James_P_Clark]

The whole "Metal" thing really throws me for a loop since metal isn't ever going to be my thing. Still, Darkness reigns and you've garnered some great recs especially on on Dead Can Dance, The Gathering, Sister's of Mercy, Joy Division, and Faith And The Muse. Don't really get Porcupine Tree's "In Abstentia" being goth but I have read others comment that it's darker than other PT releases. I don't really agree that it could be considered goth but that's just me and it could very well be just what you are looking for. A couple that might be what you are looking for:

Orgy (Candyass)
Stabbing Westward-Any of 'em but "Wither, Blister, Burn, And Peel" is especially awesome.
And maybe you're a Rammstein kind of guy, I know I'm not.

A couple more you could check out are:

The Cranes
Written In Ashes
Autumn Tears
Collide (Chasing The Ghost)
Abney Park-(Anything by this great band)http://www.abneypark.com/
The Mission UK
Wolfsheim although it's decidedly more darkwave but all the earlier stuff is killer. Latest kind of sucks, IMO.

And more Industrial
KMFDM
Covenant
Previously mentioned Skinny Puppy
and about a kajillion more that probably won't float your boat.

Good Luck,
jc

 

[Dan Smith]

Greetings all,

Thanks for all the recommendations, I love Rammstein and have their 3 albums (Mutter is a little too mellow, but still good) and I have 7 Skinny Puppies (I love Mind TPI, Vivisec VI and Rabies are my favs. I just purchased Process, it is slower but well composed and might turn out to be one of my fav).
5
On the industrial side of things I have many in my collection such as; Download, Front Line, Skinny Pup (as mentioned), NIN...

Have any of you heard of Therion (post 1995 Therion that is)? It is some of the most complex musical arrangements in any category. I love their old Death albums as I love their "metal" and "symphonic operatic metal".

On a side note, I have been listening to Death Metal for close to 15 years now. Bands like Suffocation, Death, Pestilence, Diecide, Entombed, Unleashed, Grave, Obituary, Cancer, Napalm. I love all of that also, but I have matured and that style of blast beat growling oriented "composition" is limited. I now listen to all types of music like Jazz, Reggae, Classical and so forth. Some metal band are able also to grow and mature, like Therion for example. Christopher Johnson had to give up singing if he wanted Therion to evolve into what it is today...

Having said all of that, I do love the "metal" element a lot, but I am now looking for quality vocals and compositions. Music that is not afraid to speed up and slow down while still remains heavy, deep and moody. Again, I love the "gothic", deep, melancholy side to most of Type O's stuff. Skinny Puppy is one of my all time favourite bands, but the singing now gets to me. Therion’s Theli is now one of my all time favourite albums, its awesome thoughtful compositions, deeply metal, with clean (Dan Swano) vocals and extremely emotional...

...blah, blah, blah...

 

[James_P_Clark]

For cring out loud-how did I overlook Switchblade Symphony? I'm still waiting to find out what Tina Root is going to do all by her lonesome. Deeply saddened that there won't be anymore from that outstanding Goth band. Still sounds to me that Dead Can Dance is going to be something you would enjoy.

Finally, it would be a mistake to overlook Gary Numan's "Exile" and "Pure". Dark, and relentless all the way through. It ain't synthpop and it sure as heck isn't "Cars".

Over and out and I'm going to resist the urge to keep adding to the list as more pop into my head by the minute.

jc

 

[Matthew Brown]

Not what anybody would call Gothic but SAMHAIN might float your boat. It's the band Danzig was in after the Misfits and before he went solo.

I think most of the Gothic bands I know have already been mentioned except Requiem in White.

Matt

 

[Simon_Lepine]

Hi fellow Montrealer, a few metal albums not mentioned yet:

If you don't know Opeth yet, you absolutely need to check them out, I recommend you Orchid first.

If you like Dan Swano, you could check out his former band Edge of Sanity, some of their stuff is quite heavy but they have a melodic side. Crimson is an album that consists of one 40 minutes song and is quite good!

You might also want to try Candlemass, the song 'Solitude' comes to mind.

And in the non metal stuff, I second Joy Division, really good stuff.

Hope this helps!

 

[Tony-B]

Try AFI (A Fire Inside). They are more goth-punk, but you might think they are too commercial.

 

[Kevin T]

hmmm, while i'm a super huge kmfdm fan, i wouldn't classify them as gothic. sascha describes the band as "ultra heavy beat". for a more slow, somber type beat you might wanna look into some pig cd's (raymond watts, also one of the founding members of kmfdm), sow (i find it hard to listen to at times due to the abundance of french, but nice music), and foetus (j.g. thirwell, master behind many nin remixes and excellent solo artist, great deep gutteral voice imo).

kevin t

 

[TheLongshot]

You know, I forgot to mention another group here: Evergrey. It is probably a bit faster than you are looking for, but Tom has a somewhat deep voice. Check them out.

www.evergrey.net

Jason

 

[James_P_Clark]

Hey Kev nice to see another KMFDM fan. Although I'm not a super huge fan, I have an ever increasing interest. Recently I got a line on the original orange version of "Naive" which I believe was pulled due to illegal samples or some such thing. Looking forward to hearing that for sure.

As to whether or not it could be called goth, I see your point and agree up to a point. I'm coming from the POV that everything goth originated with Joy Division and that Industrial music was born out of the faded out goth music of the 80's. While Industrial isn't necessarily goth, it almost by definition contains many of the elements both in terms of theatrical presentation and the darker, nihlistic presentation of the music. While Industrial music isn't goth per se it contains elements that could appeal to goth fans. At least that's how I see it.

Goth is tough to pin down, as are many genres. While the darker stuff gets the nod, there is also much that seems to go the opposite direction that's pretty much goth too. Dream Pop like Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, Delerium, and even Enigma are pretty darn gothic and there isn't necessarily anything all that dark or obviously menacing or eerie going on. Perhaps the best example may be Alphaville's "Forever Young" which is a goth anthem. Just a different way to look at the stuff I guess.

"Darkness is a state of mind"-Wolfsheim '99

Regards,
jc

 

[Ryan_TD]

well you could try
sisters of mercy - 'Slight Case of Overbombing'(greatest hits)
these guys were like goth rock - the singer sounds a little like peter steele
as far as goth music though - i'm not a fan - i wouldn't call type o goth or sisters for that matter
but other music that i like which has been known to be called 'goth' at times are:
dead can dance - kind of like goth old world music from the middle ages. cool stuff. lisa gerrard and brendan perry are the vocalists. they broke up after like 15 years and now lisa gerrard does music(vocals) on movie soundtracks - most notably Gladiator.
the cure has been called goth pop with albums like 'Pornography', 'The Head on the Door', 'Kiss me Kiss me Kiss me' and 'Disintigration'.
even the cult, had a semi-goth pop-rock album with 'Love'

 

[Rhett_Y]

You might want to check out the link below...

http://www.blackmetal.com/~mega/SF/index2.html



R~

 

[Dan D.]

I should throw in a more recent discovery, Covenant. Check out their "Northern Light" album (particularly the tracks "Bullet" and "Rising Sun"). Great stuff. Electronic, but with a classic goth sound.