Gothic rock is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joy Division, Bauhaus, and the Cure.
Deathrock is a rock music subgenre incorporating horror elements and gothic theatrics. It emerged from punk rock on the West Coast of the United States in the early 1980s and overlaps with the gothic rock and horror punk genres. Notable deathrock acts include Christian Death, Kommunity FK, 45 Grave, and Super Heroines.
Cocteau Twins were a Scottish rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth by Robin Guthrie and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981 and replacing Heggie with multi-instrumentalist Simon Raymonde in 1983. The group earned critical praise for their ethereal, effects-laden sound and the soprano vocals of Fraser, whose lyrics often eschew any recognisable language. Fraser's vocals included unknown words she found in foreign language books, adding to the band's dreamy ambience. They pioneered the 1980s alternative subgenre of dream pop and helped define what would become shoegaze.
Daniel Gaston Ash is an English musician, songwriter and singer. He became prominent in the late 1970s as the guitarist for the iconic goth rock band Bauhaus, which spawned two related bands led by Ash: Tones on Tail and Love and Rockets. Recently, he reunited with bandmate Kevin Haskins to form Poptone, a retrospective of their respective careers, featuring Kevin's daughter Diva Dompe on bass. He has also recorded several solo albums. Several guitarists have listed Ash as an influence, including Dave Navarro of Jane's Addiction, Kim Thayil of Soundgarden, Hide of X Japan and John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Dark wave is a music genre that emerged from the new wave and post-punk movement of the late 1970s. Dark wave compositions are largely based on minor key tonality and introspective lyrics and have been perceived as being dark, romantic and bleak, with an undertone of sorrow. The genre embraces a range of styles including cold wave, ethereal wave, gothic rock, neoclassical dark wave and neofolk.
Black Tape for a Blue Girl is an American dark wave band formed in 1986 by keyboardist/songwriter Sam Rosenthal, the founder of Projekt Records.
Lycia is an American dark wave band formed in 1988 in Tempe, Arizona. The main personnel of the band are Mike VanPortfleet, Tara VanFlower and David Galas. Although only achieving minor cult success, the band is notable for being one of the ground breaking groups in darkwave and ethereal wave styles. Their 1995 album The Burning Circle and Then Dust received some attention for the power pop hit song "Pray" and "remains a high point of American dark rock", according to AllMusic. Lycia's music is characterized by rich soundscapes and layers of echoed guitars, dark and ethereal keyboards, doomy drum machine beats, VanPortfleet's melancholic, whispered vocals and Vanflower's vivid voice. Trent Reznor and Peter Steele are some of their more well-known fans.
Belgian rock refers to rock music produced in Belgium or written and performed by Belgian musicians. It was originally inspired by rock and roll music from America and the United Kingdom in the 1960s, but later evolved to be influenced by other genres including alternative rock and electronic music. Because Belgium is a federal state with strong cultural identities - a French-speaking area in the southern region of Wallonia as well as a Dutch-speaking population in the north region of Flanders - Belgian rock music uses these two national languages, as well as the English language.
Pagan rock is a genre of rock music created by adherents of neopagan traditions. It emerged as a distinct genre from gothic rock in the 1980s. Bands in this genre will often use pagan and occult imagery and deal with pagan themes. In some cases the definition is stretched to include rock bands embraced by modern Pagans.
Ethereal wave, also called ethereal darkwave, ethereal goth or simply ethereal, is a subgenre of dark wave music that is variously described as "gothic", "romantic", and "otherworldly". Developed in the early 1980s in the UK as an outgrowth of gothic rock, ethereal wave was mainly represented by 4AD bands such as Cocteau Twins, This Mortal Coil, and early guitar-driven Dead Can Dance.
The Frozen Autumn is an Italian darkwave band, formed in May 1993, characterized by a blend of melancholic vocals, atmospheric gothic-wave and 1980s-style electropop.
Aurelio Voltaire Hernández, professionally known as Aurelio Voltaire or simply Voltaire, is a Cuban-American musician, singer, composer, author, and animator. Known for his gothic style of dress and music, Voltaire is considered a leading figure in the dark cabaret music genre. He has released 13 studio albums, including Riding a Black Unicorn Down the Side of an Erupting Volcano While Drinking from a Chalice Filled with the Laughter of Small Children (2011), BiTrektual (2012), and Raised by Bats (2014). He has also created songs for the Cartoon Network animated series The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy (2001–2007).
mittageisen is a Swiss dark wave band of the early 1980s.
Waves under Water is a Swedish darkwave/synthpop band formed in October 2007 by the singer Angelica Segerbäck and the composer Johan Svärdshammar. The band has a romantic image which flirts with goth, steampunk and new romantic.
Bella Lune is a darkwave/dreampop band that was formed in 2007 in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. The band incorporates elements of darkwave, post-punk, synthpop, shoegaze, and ethereal music to create a dreamlike trance throughout their sound. Bella Lune cites many 80s post-punk and new wave bands as influences, including The Cure, Joy Division, Depeche Mode, Cocteau Twins, New Order, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bauhaus, and Love and Rockets.
The Breath of Life is a Belgian rock band.
Ash Code is an Italian dark wave band formed in 2014 in Napoli by the singer Alessandro Belluccio, the keyboardist Claudia Nottebella and the bass player Adriano Belluccio. Ash Code's music covers a wide range of genres including dark wave, post-punk, synth-pop and EBM.
Grave Babies is an American rock band formed in 2009 in Seattle, Washington. The band consists of Emily Gorman, Alex Noelke (bass), and Danny Wahlfeldt. The band released its latest album, Holographic Violence, in 2015 through Sub Pop-affiliated label Hardly Art.
Sextile is an American post-punk band from Los Angeles, California. The band consists of founding members Brady Keehn and Melissa Scaduto. The band takes its name from the aspect of the same name in astrology.
