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Gothic metal is a genre using elements from various forms of music, most notebly Symphonic Metal and Doom Metal. It developed in the early 1990s in Europe. Gothic metal is easy to categorise, however many people try to claim it is something it isnt sheerly due to it not being what they want it to be. Most fans and musicians have a firm concept of genre, but others (Mostly fans of Nu Metal and Metalcore) reject such categorisation as limiting or useless because they themselfs do not get credit for being in the genre.
History (1990-present)
In the 1990s, a group of young bands in Northern England borrowed from the early Gothic Rock sound of the 1980s and incorporated it with the slow, downtuned guitar dirges of Black Sabbath. Gothic Doom, as it was often called, is the beginnings of the genre. Bands most notable for this style included Paradise Lost, Moonspell, and Anathema.
Although Paradise Lost, Anathema used some female vocals in their music, Norway's Theatre of Tragedy was the first gothic doom metal band with a leading female singer, Liv Kristine Espenaes Krull (later replaced by another female singer, named Nell).
As time grew gothic doom metal had evolved in the mid-late 1990s to be faster and more connected to black metal. These bands focused on duel vocals, the use of both male and female, although not neccesserly operatic ones, and reduced doom metal elements significantly. These bands include Trail of Tears, Tristania, Macbeth, Penumbra and Evereve.
Misperceptions and Categorization
Although the style has seen much less controversy than other metal subgenres - and remarkably, fewer instances of debate - some arguments have gone on in regards to bands that have sported a gothic "image" versus those with direct genetics to the gothic metal genre.
When widespread news events surrounded Marilyn Manson, for instance, some media personalities and journalists categorized him as a "gothic rock" and "gothic heavy metal" musician, eventhough few elements in his music would be classifiable as such. The growing popularity of industrial music in the 1990s can be factored as a major source to this, considering several artists in the genre inspired a "gothic" styled dress amongst suburban youths which was similarly debated in authenticity by those who proclaimed themselves "true" members of gothic subculture.
Although gothic metal - like most metal subgenres - is easy to classify, some main attributes have remained fairly inconsistent:
- lyrics focus on a variety of subjects: religion and God, heaven and hell, romance. Striking the balance has only ever been that the lyircs are all Fantascide and Romanticide based. Typically, the subjects are set in a pre-20th century environment.
- vocals are normally sung by a male vocalist and female vocalist, but sometimes only one. The male vocals are either in a death grunt. Female vocals tend to be high and operatic, but sometimes sung in a regular tone with reverb usage for effects.
- the guitar(s) and bass are often in minor key, but can also be slow and heavily distorted, similar to as what would be heard in doom metal, but are most often akin to Black Metal. Along with percussion (and sometimes synthesizers), the pace and tone is sometimes dependent on the performance of the singer or the nature of the song.
There are also (occasional) instances in which gothic metal crosses over into other genres, such as power metal and symphonic metal.
Many people also confuse Nu Metal.Symphonic Metal and Gothic Doom bands with Gothic Metal. The genres are similar so the mistake is easy to make.
Bands that are often mistaken for Gothic Metal include: Sins Of Thy Beloved, Katatonia, Cradle of Filth, To Die For, Theater of Tragedy, Within Temptation, Cemetary, Type O Negative, Him, Lacrimas Profundere, Eternal Tears of Sorrow, Dimmu Borgir, After Forever, 69 Eyes, Opeth, Without Face, My Chemical Romance, Epica, Lake of Tears, Evanescence, Nightwish, Cathedral, Edenbridge, Anathema, Therion, Theaters Des Vampires, My Dying Bride, On Thorns I Lay, Lacuna Coil, Darkseed, Paradise Lost, For My Pain, Seasons End, Sentenced