need recommendations on Goth music

Goth music? Death/Doom is gothic enough for me. Go listen to Swallow The Sun, Daylight Dies, November's Doom, My Dying bride, Katatonia etc.

This has absolutely nothing to do with real goth music (apart from maybe Daylight Days, I don't know those).

I am into the goth scene for many years and quite fanatic despite my "advanced age" (well...) and trust me, none of those modern "goth" bands is actually goth. Gothic metal is not the same as gothic, as most of those bands (eg Within Temptation, Epica, etc) are more metal with a few goth sides rather than the other way around.

Sorry if I sound like a nagging purist here, I am not saying those bands are bad (far from), but they are not goth.

Marilyn Manson, NIN, Cradle of Filth, Rammstein, Evanescence, ... are all played often in gothic clubs which I really dislike. Some of them are good bands, and I do like Manson and NIN a lot, but they are not goth. Manson is something between industrial and metal, probably the same goes for NIN and Rammstein, the others are just metal. HIM being gothic (like some think) is a total joke.

The real gothic mainly can be found in the eighties. Bands that are gothic beyond debate are Bauhaus and (according to most) Siouxsie and the Sisters of Mercy (even though they don't like the goth label themselves and mainly Sisters could also be seen as very dark newwave). The Cure in their early days (Pornography, Faith, ...) was gothic without a doubt as well. I personally think Joy Division matches the goth criteria as well but this is up for debate, and JD were rising before the gothic term got into use when Bauhaus started. Bauhaus were the first band to be classified as "gothic".

Nowadays true gothic without influx of other styles is not common anymore. Unfortunately.
 
To answer the question and recommend bands:

- Silke Bischoff, or 18 Summers as they are called nowadays. Very dark music, even haunting, in their first two albums (listen to "666 Hellbound" and "The church-bells and razorblades"). Later on they evolved more into elektronic music but still very dark. They are notorious for their previous name (Silke was a murder victim in a very bloody hold-up in Germany) and for the CD booklets picturing naked girls in dark environments and often having wounds or religious items with them. My favourite goth band along with Bauhaus.

- Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble of Shadows: medieval gothic. Very dark haunting music with medieval instruments that, when combined, create some of the most unique and atmospheric sounds in the goth scene. The band has a big mistery about them: singer Anna-Varney claims to be extremely depressed (most lyrics are very abstract and poetic, like horror poems, and are about death and decay) and rarely leaves his home. His records are the way of communicating with the outside world though they never perform "for human audiences". Anna-Varney claims to be inspired by spirits, the so-called Ensemble of Shadows. Sopor Aeternus is Latin for eternal sleep, or death in other words. The band is unique musically and lyrically even though lot of us goths question how true the story behind the band is, it sometimes sound like a marketing trick. But the music is simply unique. Listen to songs like "Something wicked this way comes", "The goat" or "Tales from the inverted womb".

Alas, let me tell you about the beauty of the tomb
The stained glass, all violet, enhancing the gloom
Dark flowers, all withered, fragile and old
Yet their perfume still lingers, like a secret untold
Like a dream or a memory that floats in this vault,
waiting for a moment it shall be recalled
By some visitor maybe who is seeking relief
from a strange kind of sadness, some unknown disease
Its symptoms are madness, caught by the music in his head
sung by the endless choirs called The Voices of the Dead


The band is often labelled as the most depressing band on earth, though I question that as the lyrics are often too abstract and surreal to really sound true. Still, great combination of medieval music and goth.

- Nick Cave's haunting song "Song of Joy", one of the darkest songs I ever heard. Cave may not be really gothic (although some do say he is) but this song definitely is. Mind the brilliant intonation and threatening music.

- Bauhaus. Needless to introduce but they started the whole goth scene with their song Bela Lugosi's Dead which is a sort of anthem in the goth world. Other great songs: Hollow Hills (their darkest IMO), Passion of Lovers, Dark Entries, Double Dare, In The Flat Field, St Vitus Dance, All We Ever Wanted Was Everything, Burning From The Inside (haunting!), She's In Parties (great video!), ...

- some promising goth bands yet unsigned are also existing, best one I heard is London based The Ghost Of Lemora.
 
I don't get the association of "Goth" and satanism. It's so messed up, The Visigoths and Ostrogoths probably didn't even believe in Satan, or had nothing at all to do with him. The association probably came out of "Gothic" kids wearing dark clothes and dumb middle-school rumors of them worshiping Satan came out of it. Because middle-school kids love labeling people, and if they can't find something to support the label they make something up and look for tiny things people do to help support their lies.

there is no association really, most goths I know are wiccans btw

Hey Black Core, you have a wolf as your Avatar. Are you copying me now?

no, Tyler, I just love wolfs :)
 
I dislike people labelling themselves. So when someone says they are a "goth" just as any other label I find it lame. People probably label me as one, but I just live the way I want to and enjoy what interests me. I feel the whole wiccan belief is just an extension of the whole trend that any label becomes. I cannot take these 'wiccans' seriously at all.
 
This has absolutely nothing to do with real goth music (apart from maybe Daylight Days, I don't know those).

I am into the goth scene for many years and quite fanatic despite my "advanced age" (well...) and trust me, none of those modern "goth" bands is actually goth. Gothic metal is not the same as gothic, as most of those bands (eg Within Temptation, Epica, etc) are more metal with a few goth sides rather than the other way around.

Sorry if I sound like a nagging purist here, I am not saying those bands are bad (far from), but they are not goth.

Marilyn Manson, NIN, Cradle of Filth, Rammstein, Evanescence, ... are all played often in gothic clubs which I really dislike. Some of them are good bands, and I do like Manson and NIN a lot, but they are not goth. Manson is something between industrial and metal, probably the same goes for NIN and Rammstein, the others are just metal. HIM being gothic (like some think) is a total joke.

The real gothic mainly can be found in the eighties. Bands that are gothic beyond debate are Bauhaus and (according to most) Siouxsie and the Sisters of Mercy (even though they don't like the goth label themselves and mainly Sisters could also be seen as very dark newwave). The Cure in their early days (Pornography, Faith, ...) was gothic without a doubt as well. I personally think Joy Division matches the goth criteria as well but this is up for debate, and JD were rising before the gothic term got into use when Bauhaus started. Bauhaus were the first band to be classified as "gothic".

Nowadays true gothic without influx of other styles is not common anymore. Unfortunately.

Goth imo is not a clearly defined musical genre.. .what is goth to you might not be goth to someone else whose a fan of the music... Goth is also a lifestyle... Anything really can be "goth" per say within the context of rock music... gregorian chants mixed with a hard rock gloomy style can be goth... so can a harder industrial metal style with goth overtones... etc. the point is who are you to say what is goth music or not? ... Goth and all musical genre's are a state of mind & it's up to the listener to interpret if they consider something Goth or not...
 
This has absolutely nothing to do with real goth music (apart from maybe Daylight Days, I don't know those).
Marilyn Manson, NIN, Cradle of Filth, Rammstein, Evanescence, ... are all played often in gothic clubs which I really dislike. Some of them are good bands, and I do like Manson and NIN a lot, but they are not goth. Manson is something between industrial and metal, probably the same goes for NIN and Rammstein, the others are just metal. HIM being gothic (like some think) is a total joke..

Those bands are called goth/gothic because they are popular among many ‘goth’ kids and portray an image that appeals to those kids. Marilyn Manson is simply a hard rock band minor industrial influences, but people have a habit of looking a bands image and deciding what they are. Cradle of Filth is a gothic metal band (with other influences, mainly their early material though) and not at all because of their image. They could look dress like plumbers and 'Dusk and Her Embrace' is still a gothic metal album.

The term gothic can be applied to many things (novels, buildings, music, photography, art etc). So when a band plays gothic metal or rock it may or may not have anything to do with the roots in goth/gothic music.
 
It is true that gothic music is not defined as clearly as many other genres, I guess what is goth and what is not mainly depends on seperating the music from the rest of the subculture or not. If not, then you can consider bands gothic if they have a following in the goth subculture and then you could rate bands like Cradle of Filth and Evanescence goth. If you only look at musical characteristics I'd say bands like that are not goth, despite using some goth images and such. But it is true that it is open to interpretation so I stand corrected there.
 
I'll be Mr. Mainstream on this one:
Cradle of Filth's slower stuff is gothic in my opinion, My Dying Bride is doomful and borderline gothic IMO, some Amorphis, Novembers Doom, That's about all I can really think of. Maybe these bands I listed arent even goth, it all depends on what you mean. I prefer to call it dark/depressing metal (Sentenced, Katatonia, Opeths Damnation album etc)
 
I'll be Mr. Mainstream on this one:
Cradle of Filth's slower stuff is gothic in my opinion, My Dying Bride is doomful and borderline gothic IMO, some Amorphis, Novembers Doom, That's about all I can really think of. Maybe these bands I listed arent even goth, it all depends on what you mean. I prefer to call it dark/depressing metal (Sentenced, Katatonia, Opeths Damnation album etc)

Well, what do you mean by CoF's slower stuff? I would consider Cradle's first three albums to be gothic moreso "Dusk and Her Embrace" than anything. Their other albums have gothic influences her and there of course, except for "Damnation and a Day" which virtually has none. My Dying Bride is basically doom metal with death influences, and though I wouldn't say they are really gothic, but I can agree that you can definitely find the odd gothic influence, and depending on the album I suppose.
 
The only real goths have been dead for 1500 years. Get a fucking life. Black lipstick wearing queer-ass mother fuckers. Which one of you sucks the most dick, huh? Get into black fucking metal if you want darkness. Rancid scum.
 
uhm...
im quite worried that on a thread with 'goth music' in the name, only one person has mentioned Bauhaus...

Bauhaus were the band who started the whole goth thing.
just listen to them lol
then listen to Sisters of Mercy and Fields of the Nephilim
then Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Damned
then Dead can Dance
then Evanescence, Nightwish, All About Eve and Inkubus Sukkubus
then The Mission's early stuff
then The Cure's early stuff
also, make sure you like the Sex Pistols, as they started the punk movement and without them there would have been no goth.

You can also add to the bands suggested here other notables such as The Birthday Party, This Mortal Coil, Southern Death Cult, and Christian Death.
 
What I say is true. THE ONLY REAL GOTHS WERE THE VISIGOTHS AND THE OSTROGOTHS. They came from Gotar, sweden. These modern FAGGOTS are -not- from gotar sweden and aren't dead. If they wish they fucking were why don't you let me KILL them? And don't fucking tell me what to do like you own me. You don't. Also your girlfriends a slut.
 
What I say is true. THE ONLY REAL GOTHS WERE THE VISIGOTHS AND THE OSTROGOTHS. They came from Gotar, sweden. These modern FAGGOTS are -not- from gotar sweden and aren't dead. If they wish they fucking were why don't you let me KILL them? And don't fucking tell me what to do like you own me. You don't. Also your girlfriends a slut.

First of all, put down your Grade 9 history book, and grab some common sense. Secondly, hire a new writer because your immaturity isn't even entertaining anymore, its just predictable and weak.
 
What I say is true. THE ONLY REAL GOTHS WERE THE VISIGOTHS AND THE OSTROGOTHS. They came from Gotar, sweden. These modern FAGGOTS are -not- from gotar sweden and aren't dead. If they wish they fucking were why don't you let me KILL them? And don't fucking tell me what to do like you own me. You don't. Also your girlfriends a slut.

1. listen to Ars Diavoli
2. you haven't been here too long, I have so I do have the right to say how you should behave around here
3. calling me names is a sign of childish behaviour that is not accepted in here so either leave or the mods and admins will make you