Gothic music

Gothic Music is a relatively confusing term, in that it is necessary to distinguish it as used to mean goth music, whilst also being used to completely expell this meaning.

Goth Music

The term Goth music is associated selection of genres encompassing mainly gothic rock, darkwave, Industrial, EBM, synth pop and deathrock.

Bands under this term are often across genres, and hold little to any connection to each other musically. Commonly, bands are linked by their association with goth subculture, many of the bands integral fan base being goths and often marketing products associated with goths.

Gothic Rock

Gothic rock is part of goth music due to, in part, it being the signature icon of goths. This genre is also the mother of the term goth music due to its abbreviated name goth rock. Bands within this genre typically play for goths, and often feature fashion, ideals and sounds appealing to this audience.

Deathrock

Deathrock is considered a subgenre of Punk. The term was often used interchangeably with the first generation goth rock bands, even spawning a similar movement in the UK, at the Batcave club. Fans of this movement along with the "Gothic rock" are sometimes known as "Old School Goths". Deathrock bands typically play at clubs or at events (like the Drop Dead Festival) which specifically cater to those in Deathrock, Psychobilly, Horror Punk and Post-Punk scenes as well as Goths who enjoy first generation Gothic Rock.

Darkwave

Darkwave holds significant influences from Gothic rock bands, although they tend to incorporate elements that later effected the movement not found in Gothic rock bands.

Industrial

Bands in this form are often association with goth music by a large quantity of their fan base. Bands of this form do not emphasise this fact, some even despise it.

Some people foreign to the goth subculture misinterpret Industrial rock in particular as “goth”.

Synth pop

Synth pop migrated into Goth and Deathrock clubs near the end of the 1980s and throughout the 1990s, and has been common place from there on in. Much to the distain of many goth rockers who were not fond of a shift away from the movements rock based roots, some chose to leave the scene completely because of it.

Alot of newer members of the scene have accepted synth pop quite casually however, and those apposed to it who preferred the movement pre-synth pop, now frequent Deathrock clubs such as "Release The Bats" instead.

EBM

EBM is sometimes associated with goth for the same reasons as Industrial is.

People newer to the genre who listen to dance music, sometimes claim they listen to “EBM” in an attempt to associate themselves with the gothic label.

Gothic Music

Gothic Music is a neoglism, used to refer to music that fits within the classic meaning of the word gothic, rather than holding any connection to the modern day goth subculture.

This term refers to far fewer genres than its sister term, goth music. Bands in this genre usually have one or more traits that is inclusive wholey or partially of the meaning of the word gothic. This includes several forms of heavy metal music, rock music, and electronic music. This term however, is mostly used for specific forms of music that centralise on having these traits, and as such consists soley of gothic rock, darkwave and gothic metal. Notable is that goths disassociate themselves with gothic metal or the term gothic music due to its association with metal.

Gothic rock

Gothic rock fits in as being gothic music due to its imagery. Bands of this form often use gothic imagery akin to gothic art/literature, with the music often being designed to reflect the events depicted in the lyrics.

Darkwave

Darkwave shares the same reasoning as gothic rock as to its gothic defination.

Gothic metal

Gothic metal gets its definition from being completely absorbed in the definition of the word gothic. Gothic Literature themed Lyrics, beauty and the beast Vocals and medieval gothic Atmospheres are all focuses of the genre.

Common Confusions

Gothic vs Goth

Some people, most commonly goths, attest that, though not all music that meets the traditional meaning of the word gothic is considered to be goth music, all bands that form under the reference of goth music are gothic. This is a oxymoron in itself, as bands and artists under the label of goth music normally have little to nothing to do with the meaning of the word gothic. This oxymoron often causes great debate and confusion amongst most people, and often leads to the smudging of the terms together.

Gothic Metal vs Goth Metal

This genre is considered gothic by its usage of themes akin to the traditional meaning of gothic, and as such gets its name from that. The genre also suffers confusion with the term goth metal. This term implies that gothic metal as a whole is associated with goths, when the genre has little to no connection to them at all. Some argue however, that the Doom Metal subgenres gothic-doom anddoom-death are forms of gothic metal, and that due to bands in either form taking influence from gothic rock bands, that inheritantly makes such bands as these goth metal, while bands of the gothic metal genre are therefore relegated into distant, non-existant genres. This again, is fuelled mostly by the usage of the term goth metal.

See also

• List of non-goth musical artists popular within goth subculture