Gothic Metal
tagStarted 1991Peak 1995-2007Last big hit still active
Located in 2 routes
Goth's atmosphere weaponized with metal's weight: down-tuned, crushing riffs and doom-slow grooves laced with keyboards, strings and church-organ gloom. The signature "beauty and the beast" vocal pairs a clean female lead against a guttural male growl. Romantic, funereal and grandiose, fusing doom heaviness with velvet melancholy.
History
Forged in early-1990s England by Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride and Anathema, who slowed death/doom and added gothic mood. America's Type O Negative brought droll, baritone gloom; Norway's Theatre of Tragedy codified the "beauty and the beast" vocal trade-off. Italy's Lacuna Coil and a wave of symphonic acts carried it to a commercial peak across the 2000s.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_metal
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heaven's_a_Lie
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velvet_Darkness_They_Fear
- https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-story-behind-the-song-my-dying-brides-the-cry-of-mankind