Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres. Both the music and the lyrics are intended to evoke a sense of despair, dread, and impending doom. The genre is strongly influenced by the early work of Black Sabbath, who formed a prototype for doom metal. During the first half of the 1980s, a number of bands such as Witchfinder General and Pagan Altar from England, American bands Pentagram, Saint Vitus, the Obsessed, Trouble, and Cirith Ungol, and Swedish band Candlemass defined doom metal as a distinct genre.
Tristania was a Norwegian gothic metal band formed in 1996 by Morten Veland, Einar Moen and Kenneth Olsson. Tristania's music is usually classified as Gothic metal with death influences, due to its strong tie and legacy within the gothic metal history. Their songs largely dealt with dark and sentimental topics, including depression, sadness, suicide, love, absence, and anger.
Lacrimas Profundere is a gothic metal band from Germany. Their name means "to shed tears" in Latin. Their stylistic aesthetic has changed over time; originally a gothic death-doom band, they have simplified their style to a more mainstream gothic rock/metal style with more influences from bands such as HIM, The 69 Eyes, before returning to their heavier gothic doom roots on their 2019 album Bleeding the Stars.
Virgin Black is an Australian symphonic gothic and doom metal band. The band was signed to The End Records and Germany's Massacre Records, through which it released four albums and one EP. A fifth album, originally planned for release in 2006, was released independently in 2018. As of 2021, they are signed to Australian record label, Dark Escapes Music. Formed in 1995 in Adelaide, they have achieved international acclaim during their career, receiving praise from such magazines as Orkus, Metal Hammer, Legacy and The Village Voice.
Symphonic metal is a cross-generic style designation for the symphonic subsets of heavy metal music subgenres. It is used to denote any metal band that makes use of symphonic or orchestral elements. The style features the heavy drums and guitars of metal with different elements of orchestral classical music, such as symphonic instruments, choirs and sometimes a full orchestra, or just keyboard orchestration.
Agathodaimon are a gothic/symphonic black metal band from Mainz, Germany.
Mekong Delta is a German thrash metal band formed in 1985 by Ralf Hubert with the goal to "musically outshine" all other independent releases at the time.
Midnattsol are a gothic/folk metal band from Germany. The band was founded in 2002 by Norwegian vocalist Carmen Elise Espenæs and German guitarist Christian Hector. The band's name is a modified spelling of the Norwegian word midnattssol, which means 'midnight sun'.
Draconian is a Swedish gothic metal/death-doom band formed in Säffle in 1994.
Gothic metal is a fusion genre combining the aggression of heavy metal with the dark atmospheres of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different styles of heavy metal music. The genre originated during the early 1990s in the United Kingdom originally as an outgrowth of death-doom, a fusion of death metal and doom metal. Lyrics are generally dark and introspective with inspiration from gothic fiction as well as personal experiences.
Theatres des Vampires is an Italian gothic metal band, mostly noted for the predominant theme of vampirism within their lyrics. The band's early material was credited as melodic black metal or symphonic black metal, but the group completely abandoned all black metal influence by the mid-2000s. Theatres des Vampires have released eleven full-length albums.
Nox Arcana is the American neoclassical dark wave, dark ambient musical project of Joseph Vargo. It was founded in 2003 as a duo with William Piotrowski, who left in 2008 to pursue a career in film score composing but still acts as its studio engineer whereas Vargo continued on as a solo act under the name. According to the Nox Arcana biography, the name in Latin translates to "mysteries of the night," but actually translates to "mysterious night;" "mysteries of the night" would translate to arcāna noctis.
Necromance was a Christian gothic metal band from Spremberg, Germany, formed in 1987, disbanded in 2002. Originally signed to Morbid Records as a death metal act and later signed to Pleitegeier Records after changing the music style, the band built a reputation in the underground scenes touring with groups such as Demigod. Necromance released two albums in the 1990s: White Gothic (1997) and Wiederkehr der Schmerzen (1999). Their 2001 album Tribulation Force showcased a strong industrial metal influence. The band has toured Europe, and performed on notable European festivals such as Freakstock in Germany. Their two latest albums were well received by magazines such as Rock Hard and Metal Heart. The band leader Runhardt Scheffler typically writes lyrics about the End Times.
On Thorns I Lay is a Greek death-doom metal band founded in Athens in 1992.
Give Me Light is the fourth studio album by the German gothic metal band Darkseed. It was released in 1999, with Nuclear Blast.
Ultimate Darkness is the seventh studio album by a German gothic metal band Darkseed. It was released in 2005, with Massacre Records.
Romantic is the third studio album by the German gothic metal band Darkseed. It was released in 1998, with Nuclear Blast. Songs 1-4 are from the band's 1996 ep, "Romantic Tales", and songs 5-8 are from the demo, "Darksome Thoughts" originally released in 1993,
Stefan Andreas Hertrich is a German vocalist for the band Shiva in Exile and formerly of Darkseed, Betray My Secrets and SpiRitual. The band is quoted as a "new age/oriental/gothic project" and was formed by Hertrich in 2003. The same year, Ethnic, Shiva in Exile's debut album, was released by Canadian label Trostlos Records. In 2004, the album won the Just Plain Folks Music Award in the category "Best New Age/World Album 2004". Since 2011, Hertrich is mainly occupied with writing spiritual audio books.
Ofermod is a Swedish black/death metal band, formed in 1996 by Michayah Belfagor.
Martin Motnik is a German bassist and studio musician, best known as the bassist for the heavy metal band Accept. He has also played in Darkseed, Eisbrecher.
