A History Of Gothic

Part I: Some Origins

What is gothic? This question can of course not be answered in one sentence. It's clear that gothic is not only about music, it's a lifestyle, a certain sensibility. According to the Collins Cobuild English Language Dictonary, the word"gothic" is used in three ways. First of all, 'a building such as a cathedral that is gothic has a style of architecture that is distinguished by tall pillars, high vaulted ceilings and pointed arches.' Furthermore, 'gothic is used to describe stories in which strange, mysterious adventures happen in dark and lonely places such as the ruins of a castle.' Gothic is also 'a style of printing or writing in which the letters are very ornate.' On this website, I use gothic mainly as a collective noun to describe a subculture, with many related musical styles, from gothic to industrial, from electro to dark folk. But let me first start with some origins.

The word 'gothic' is very old, and was used from the Renaissance on to signify the art style of the Middle Ages. It was named after the German tribe of the Goths, who once had invaded Italy and so had broken up the Roman Empire. In the 15th century, man hoped to revive the classical age, they had the idea of a rebirth or renaissance. The intervening period was called a Middle Age, and we still use this negative term. Because the Italians blamed the Goths for destructing the Roman Empire, they called the art style of this period Gothic, by which they meant barbaric. Of course this was a black & white view, during the Middle Age beautiful art was made too and there wasn´t a sudden rebirth of all the classical achievements in the Renaissance. And what to think of the technical inventions in architecture in the Middle Age, which made the huge Gothic cathedrals possible, like the Notre-Dame.

But there was more than architecture: "Contrary to popular perception, Gothic style refers to more than cathedral structures. The label applies to art, sculpture, glass works, decorative pieces and illuminated manuscripts from the mid 12th through the early 16th century" (Earthlore Explorations: Gothic Dreams). Religion played an important role in Gothic art, painters and sculptors for instance were less interested in depicting their subjects in a realistic way than in spreading a religious feel. Anyhow, it is clear that the word gothic originally has negative connotations, invented by the people of the Renaissance, who wanted to distinguish themselves from it.

During the Romantic Movement, around 1800, many people felt attracted to the past and a revival of gothic and medieval things came into fashion. Romanticism emerged as a reaction to the rationalism of the Enlightenment. Emotive, nonrational aspects were central to the movement, and the creative power of the individual. Romantics wanted to escape from the concrete historical situation. They used various ways to achieve that goal: some looked back to the medieval past, some sought it in religion or the supernatural, others tried to find it in Nature. During the Romantic period gothic became associated with the dark, the strange, the bizarre. Many symbols and themes in Romantic art have remarkable similarities wih the present gothic subculture. Romantic and Decadent writers like Byron, Shelley, Baudelaire and Verlaine were interested in the darker realms of human conscience and experience. Sexual obsessions played an important role in Romantic literature, books of that period contain many femmes fatales("la belle dame sans merci") and various sinful agonies of delight. To learn about the Romantic erotic sensibility, I advise the classic study The Romantic Agony by Mario Praz. The Romantic spirit was also clear in the visual arts. Painters like Caspar David Friedrich had a preference for dark, desolate landscapes. In architecture, a neo-gothic style was fashionable in the nineteenth century. Especially churches were build with gothic facades, to remind of the Age of Faith.

An example of the taste for the dark and the bizarre is the Gothic Novel, which became fashionable in the 1800's. It confronted the darker, shadowy side of the self. It also challenged accepted social and intellectual structures of the time. Gothic literature existed of a complex mixture of terror, horror and the mysterious, with action situated in out-of-the-ordinary settings. A typical character in Gothic fiction is the vampire. Examples of gothic literature are Mary Shelley´s Frankenstein, the work of Edgar Allan Poe and of course Bram Stoker´s Dracula. Stoker took the rather vague and contradictory picture of the vampire that had emerged from the nineteenth-century literature and earlier times and developed a fascinating, satisfying, and powerful character whose vampiric life assumed mythic status in popular culture. Contemporary authors who write in that tradition are Anne Rice ("Interview with the Vampire", with her major vampire character Lestat de Lioncourt) and Poppy Z. Brite (especially "Lost Souls").

Part II: British Developments

During the 1980's a new gothic movement came to the surface. It was preceded by punk, which came into life at the end of the 70's when there was a need for a distinctive non-conformist alternative culture. Maybe gothic came as a sort of reaction against punk, at the same time a group of people seemed to share certain needs and tastes. According to The Vampire Book; the Encyclopedia of the Undead: "Gothic music, as all counter-cultural forms, articulated an explicit nonconformist stance vis-a-vis the dominant esthablishment. It opposed narrow sexual mores and traditional established religions. (..) The music celebrated the dark, shadowy side of life and had a distinct fascination with death. Its slow, driving sound was frequently described as melancholy, gloomy, even morbid. Those enthralled by the new gothic culture found the vampire the single most appropriate image for the movement".

According to J. Gunn in his article "Bela Lugosi´s Dead; On gothic music and the inevitability of genre", there were obvious links between the new gothic movement and 19th-century Romanticism: "Lyrically, themes of death, destruction and explorations of darkness are common among gothic artists, as well as romantic themes of love and loss found in the gothic novels of the literary movement. The music, despite the addition of electronic sounds and dance-beats as the genre has evolved to present, continues to emphasize minor chords, sparse, minimalist rhythms, and slower tempos characteristic of an recognizable "eerie" or "gloomy" texture. Visually, gothic artists and fans seem to promote a death-like aesthetic that, para-musically, abides the dark timbre: pale white faces, black clothing, victorian-styled fashions such as corstes or ruffled shirts, medieval ruins and gothic architecture and so on."

It's hard to give an exact date of birth of gothic. At the end of 70's many new groups emerged with a somewhat dark sound and/or image. To name but a few: The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Damned, Adam & the Ants, Ultravox, Killing Joke, The Sound, the Comsat Angels and Joy Division.Their New Wave or dark pop music had a lot of influence on people who would later call themselves gothic. Perhaps the first real goth anthem was `Bela Lugosi's dead' by Bauhaus. The story goes that gothic originated from the London club the Batcave, but when this club opened in 1981, gothic already was well on its way. But the bands that performed there, like the Virgin Prunes and Alien Sex Fiend with their horror image, helped to spread the movement.

Someone who wrote a lot about the history of the early (British) gothic movement was the journalist Mick Mercer (writer of 'The Goth Bible'). He tries to explain the attraction of gothic (in a series of articles for the German Zillo Magazine in 1995): "Heutzutage ist offensichtlich, weshalb Goth intelligente Menschen anspricht, und weshalb er als Szene weiterhin blüht: weil Leute auch durch andere Dinge als nur durch Musik auf diese Bewegung stößen können. Filme, Literatur, Kunst, Dichtung, Mode spielen alle ihre Rolle beim anlocken der Menschen." (in short: It is clear why intelligent people are attracted to goth: it´s not only about music, film, literature, art, poetry and fashion play a part as well)

One of the first popular gothic bands in England was UK Decay, now not so well-known any more. In the same Zillo-article: "Es war diese Band gewesen, der das Etikett 'Goth' aufgedrückt wurde, und ihre Artwork basierte natürlich auf der inzwischen stereotypisierten Bilderwelt von Tod, Grabsteinen und Vampirismus. Das hatte ursprünglich in Fanzines begonnen, die aus Horror-Magazinen ausschnitten, was immer sie brauchten, um ihre Seiten lebendiger zu machen. (..) Mit dem Tod zusammenhangende Illustrationen waren es gewesen, weil das einfach cool war. Von da ausgehend entwickelte sich die Bilderwelt, die seitdem den Goth dominiert, und es hat alles mit den Fanzines angefangen!"

(In short: Uk Decay was labeled goth, their artwork showed imagery of death and vampires, which became stereotypes and whch originated from horror magazines) In the mid 80's gothic reached its height with the succes of bands like The Sisters of Mercy, The Mission and Fields of the Nephilim. Their gothic rock and image became the standard form of gothic for years (and maybe still is in Britain). Alice, Laura, Temple of Love, Tower of Strenght, For Her Light and Garden of Delight have become absolute classics. A problem was though that many later groups had difficulties to create their own sound, they tended to copy their idols too much. In England this type of gothic still is very popular, at dance parties a lot of old-style gothic is still being played and can be heard for example at the annual Whitby festival. Lots of contemporary English goth groups (e.g. Midnight Configuration, Inkubus Sukkubus, Rosetta Stone), can be found on 'The Hex Files' samplers, compiled by the aforementioned Mick Mercer.

But there were bands that were popular in the 80´s goth scene that followed other musical lines. Best example is Dead can Dance, whose self-titled debut is a typical goth album, but later releases have a more ethereal sound, with influences ranging from the medieval to the oriental. They have reached a broader audience in later years, but have split up recently. The Cocteau Twins, also of the 4AD label were even more ethereal. And the Dutch formation (Clan of) Xymox, who recently made a successful comeback, made people dance on tunes like Stranger and A Day, with a melancholy electronic sound.

Part III: EBM, Industrial, Dark Wave

But England wasn't the only place where `dark' music was being made. The Swans for example, originating from the New York avant-garde scene, made some great albums, like Children of God, White Light from The Mouth of Infinity and The Burning World. Only recently their career ended, but Michael Gira and Jarboe continue to make fascinating music. Another legendary band is Christian Death, perhaps the best known US goth band. They are still active, making numerous, often controversial albums, with a lot of B-movie and sexual themes. Most recommended are Only Theatre of Pain and Catastrophe Ballet. Contemporary American goth bands are for instance Faith & the Muse and London after Midnight.

Now that we have left Great Britain it is time to look at gothic in a broader sense. Because the music that is appreciated nowadays does not all lead back to the British goths. Take for instance more electronic based styles. Belgium was the founding father of Electronic Body Music (EBM), with cold, dark, rather minimal electronic sounds. Influences are electronic bands that started in the 70´s like Kraftwerk and Cabaret Voltaire. In the early 80´s a Neue Deutsche Welle brought DAF (Der Mussolini) and Die Krupps. But the real founders of EBM are Front 242, who became really succesful with their minimalistic beats, cold sounds, and militaristic commando outfit. Hits like No Shuffle,Headhunter and Tyranny for you still bring people to the dancefloor. The Klinik, Insekt, Dive, Click Click, A Split Second and later Suicide Commando are other big names here. Dive, the band of Dirk Ivens, formally the Klinik and also active with the noise project Sonar, still knows how to create a cold atmosphere, and Johan van Roy's Suicide Commando has had some dancefloor smashers like See you in hell and Desire.

In the U.S. and Canada they spoke of Industrial. The electronic heroes here were/are Front Line Assembly (with side-projects like Delerium and Synaesthesia) and the Canadian Skinny Puppy (also with various other projects). Both bands make pretty complex music, with many layers of sound, which is very suitable to hear with headphones on. FLA is easier to listen to, and easier to dance to. Classic albums are Caustic Grip (1990) and Tactical Neural Implant (1992), which should be in everyone´s EBM collection. Live concerts of FLA are very energetic. Skinny Puppy is less accesible, but made some dancefloor classics though, like Assimilate and Smothered Hope, compiled on the 12" Anthology. Most albums of Cevin Key and friends though, like Last Rights, are pretty hard to digest. Apart from these two giants some industrial bands rose to fame which used more guitar sounds in their music, like Ministry or NIN. Some less commercial varieties of these crossover style, like Godflesh, can be found on the Earache label. There are many contemporary American electro bands, like the popular Velvet Acid Christ, and for some reason their sound differs from European electro, most of the times American electro for instance has more (sampled) guitar sounds. A good introduction to U.S. electro is the 4 cd-box There is no Time (Ras DVA label).

So far we haven't spoken about Germany, where perhaps the biggest gothic scene can be found nowadays, as you can see at the yearly Wave Gotik Treffen in Leipzig. In the 80's Germany got its own succesful acts. For many German bands the label Dark Wave can be used. One of the first German acts in the gothic scene was Project Pitchfork, still a popular formation, although their style has changed a bit. A classic album is their debut Dhyani, which contains the typical dark vocals and critical lyrics of frontman Peter Spilles, combined with the dark technoid sounds which make Pitchfork suitable for the dancefloors. Another top act is Deine Lakaien, who nowadays even achieve chart succes in Germany. These skilled musicians make beautiful romantic songs like 'Love me to the end'. Alexander Veljanov is responsible fot the emotional vocals, musical masterminds Ernst Horn and Michael Popp also have succes with the medieval ensemble Qntal. Oh, and not to forget Sopor Aeternus (with the tragic he/she figure of Varney), whose first album was very dark but later work is a bit lighter, with some medieval influences. Song titles like Tanz der Grausamkeit and Im Garten des Nichts say it all, it is not such a happy view of life that is proclaimed here, not to speak of the album title Todeswunsch, a beautiful album though. There also emerged a whole bunch of German groups who began to sing in their own language. A good example is Goethes Erben, the band name says it all. Especially their first three albums, a trilogy, are recommended. During live shows they are at their best, with the theatrical entertainer Oswald Henke. Both Lacrimosa, with the romantic spirit Tilo Wolf, and Umbra et Imago, with the anthem Gothic Erotic from their debut Infantile Spiele are nowadays taking the metal path. Of course we have to mention Das Ich, their classic album is `Die Propheten'. They make long, complicated tracks, like Kain und Abel, to which Stefan Ackermann adds his intellectual lyrics. The dark electro band Calva y Nada have texts in both German and Spanish (!), sung with the instant recognizable low voice of Brenal. Der Prager Handgriff sound a bit similar, but their texts are mostly about political and social issues, an exception in the gothic world.
Many German bands have a somewhat Romantic mood in their music. Some good examples are Wolfsheim, Silke Bisschoff, Illuminate and Diary of Dreams. A label based in Liechtenstein which has obtained a lot of succes lately is M.O.S., with some great romantic bands like Weltenbrand and Die Verbannten Kinder Evas. They also release the work of L'Ame Immortelle, who combine romantic poppy songs with dark electro tracks.

From the end of the 80's on many good electro (a modern name for EBM) bands emerged, like Mentallo & the Fixer, X Marks the Pedwalk, the dark Leatherstrip (from Sweden), the even darker Yelworc, the list could go on and on. The big acts at the moment are :wumpscut:, who has made some powerful classics (like Black Death and Soylent Green) in a short time, and Terminal Choice (with side projects Seelenkrank and Tumor) with a very dark sound and image and the master song `Totes Fleisch'. This type of danceable electronic music is also sometimes called 'dark techno'. Other recent popular (and very danceable) electro bands are Covenant, Apoptygma Bezerk and Evils Toy. Intelligent Electro with techno/trance influences is made by the likes of Haujobb and Abscess. Typical electro/EBM labels areZoth Ommog and Offbeat. 

A lighter form of electro, both in musical style as in image, is Synthpop. It originates from the New Romantics of the early 80´s, the decadent scene influenced by glamrock, with synthesizers as their main instrument. Some hits of that time are 'Tainted Love' by Soft Cell, 'Vienna' from Ultravox, Gary Numans 'Are Friends Electric', 'Fade to Grey' from Visage and 'Eisbaer' by Grauzone. Hits like these can be found on the New Wave Club Classix compilation series. Examples of more commercial Romantics were Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran and the Human League. The last few years various new bands emerged which seem to take over this heritage. The biggest influence on these newcomers must be Depeche Mode. Some labels specialized in Synthpop are October Records, Visage Records and Energy Records. Some bands are And One, Infam, Elegant Machinery, S.P.O.C.K., Mesh and De/Vision, who all make catchy tunes with smooth synths and soft melodies. Perhaps Wolfsheim belongs to this list as well, but this popular German formation stands out for making intelligent and emotional music.

Part IV: Gothic Variety

But this isn't by far everything. So many different styles are being associated with gothic nowadays. Take dark folk for instance. The best examples are Current 93, Death in June, Sol Invictus and Fire + Ice. The first releases of Current are very experimental and hard to digest, but in later years they switched to an acoustic folky style, with the characteristic vocals of David Tibet. My favourite album is Of ruine and some blazing starre, compilations which form a good introduction to their oeuvre are Emblems and the '99 release 'Calling for vanished Faces'. Death in June´s first albums like Nada offer a rather classic gothic sound. The group is a bit controversial, because they are being accused of extreme right-wing tendencies. Later work, like Rose Clouds of Holocaust is folkier. Their latest album Take Care and Control is recommended, with a very dark ritual sound. Sol Invictus is the band around Tony Wakeford, who also has side-projects like the neo-classical L'Orchestre Noir. A good introduction to Sol Invictus is In Europa, which contains most of their best songs. The most prominent label in this genre is World Serpent, who release all the aforementioned bands. Another nice folky band is the Italian group Ordo Equitum Solis.

Yet another popular musical form is the medieval genre, maybe not very surprising, because gothic is often connected with the Middle Ages. Many musicians in this genre have a classical education. German examples are Qntal (with the hit Ad Mortem Festinamus, with a danceable beat), Estampie, Freiburger Spielleyt, the Sarband, early Merlons, and many others. Some try to make 'authentic' medieval music, others combine it with modern influences and electronics. The music of Corvus Corax and Tanzwut can be better described as energetic party music. Italy also has some influence, with Ataraxia and Camerata Mediolanense. Most of these groups don't only play for `gothic' audiences, but also in classical environments. A good medieval compilation is the `Miroque' series.
Yet another style is dark ritual music, of which The Moon lay Hidden Beneath a Cloud and Rosa Crux are examples. More militant representants are Blood Axis and Der Blutharsch.

Of course there are always bands that are hard to put a label on. Take Kirlian Camera from Italy, active for amost twenty years now and whose electronic music seems to change every year. Or the very sensual dark electro from the French Die Form (often with S/M themes), which surprises with every release. Another French band I like a lot is Collection d'Arnell Andrea, sounding very romantic with piano and strings. And where to place In the Nursery, who make bombastic orchestral music but also film soundtracks. And I won´t even begin about Laibach. A story apart are the releases from the Swedish Cold Meat Industry label, which have a unique own sound, always very dark and mysterious, from brutal experimental music like Brighter Death Now or Deutsch Nepal to atmospheric ambient from Raison d'Etre, neo-classical from The Protagonist, the ritual Ordo Equilibrio or the heavenly Arcana. More heavenly music can be found on the 'Heavenly Voices' compilations, which became the label for a genre with ethereal music and beautiful (female) vocals, like Love is Colder than Death, Black Tape for a Blue Girl or Stoa.

Another rather popular genre in the gothic scene the last years is industrial noise. Industrial music perhaps started in the mid 70´s, with the formation of Throbbing Gristle and the label they set up, Industrial Records, which tried to show the potential of noise as music. On this label experimental groups were released like Cabaret Voltaire, ClockDVA, Monte Cazazza and SPK. Other groups like Test Department, Whitehouse and Einsturzende Neubauten seemed to share the same interests. To make things complicated, (American) bands like Ministry are also called industrial, but their music can´t be compared to the aforementioned more experimental and noisier groups. Recently harsh industrial music gets a lot of attention. Esplendor Geometrico from Spain are active now for many years, more recent bands are Sonar (with Dirk Ivens from Dive), Imminent Starvation, Winterkalte, Noisex and Pal. Their rhythmic industrial music attacks the dancefloors of many clubs nowadays. A good label for this kind of music is Ant-Zen. And if you want to hear the real experimental noise, I advise a trip to Japan.

Of course this is only a very broad outline. I haven't mentioned numerous artists and styles and of course I have followed my own taste (and record collection) a bit. I also didn´t want to make the story too long. And the fact that I live in Holland also has its influence on the story. I hope to enlarge and also to update this outline regularly. That is necessary, not only to correct mistakes and omissions, but also because there are luckily still many new developments and artists in the scene, so gothic is not a relic from the 80's, as some critics say.
I don´t think that gothic will ever be a mass phenomenon. Some of the more superficial visual characteristics may be used by popular culture, but I think that gothic will remain an underground scene, although festivals seem to attract more visitors and some bands achieve chart succes, like Wolfsheim and Deine Lakaien in Germany. In Holland though, even so-called alternative magazines don´t write about gothic music. Lots of gothic bands are experimenting nowadays with other styles like techno or metal and maybe so can bridge the gap. There are some bands that are popular both in the gothic scene and in more popular circles, like Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson and Rammstein. Of course there are also connections with related music like gothic/black metal. Sure is that nowadays gothic has become a truely international phenomenon. There are well-known bands from all possible continents, like Ikon from Australia or Aghast View and Hocico from South-America. If you surf a bit on the Internet, you can come across gothic pages from people in South-Africa, Russia or Asia.

As you can conclude from the musical survey above, there is no such thing anymore like the standard form of gothic music, a wide range of styles is being played at gothic parties. There also is not such a thing as the avarage gothic person, there is room enough for individual tastes. Gothic is more than a type of music, it's a lifestyle, it's an attitude. Most people in the gothic scene want to distinguish themselves from the average, everyday world, where there is not much room for fantasy and deviation from the norm. Gothic can be a fantasy world to escape into, a dark romantic world. You can express a gothic feel in music, but also in clothing, art, literature, film. Some have a nostalgia for the past, others embrace modern technology. For some people music is the most important, for others it's more about the look. But it's all interconnected. And there is a variety of styles, not only in music. Take fashion for instance. Some goths wear romantic clothes, like dresses with lots of lace and velvet. Others prefer a fetish look, with leather and latex. And others don´t care at all if their clothing is gothic enough. Some symbols and icons have become usual in the gothic world, when you look at record covers, flyers, etc. Graves and things to do with death, vampires and witches, ruins and gothic architecture, romantic symbols like roses, Celtic symbols, fetish themes, but also modern `cyber' images and many more.

There have always been gothic fanzines and magazines. By the popular media however, gothic has always been ignored or ridiculed. Gothic is something for depressed people who all drink blood and are only concerned about their image, the music is pathetic or bombastic and hasn't changed since 1985. Take for instance the Dutch Pop Encyclopedia: "Meer dan bij welk genre dan ook ligt de nadruk bij het gothic-idioom op het imago (al zijn er natuurlijk uitzonderingen): zwarte kleding, make-up, hoop opgetoupeerde kapsels en een grotendeels passieve houding zijn de meest in het oog lopende kenmerken, reden waarom groepen uit het `gothic'-genre vaak nauwelijks serieus worden genomen en de bijbehorende muziek al gauw negatieve predikanten (sic) meekrijgt. Bovendien moeten liefhebbers van het genre die hun uiterlijk eraan aanpassen zich geringschattende kwalificaties als `zwarte raven' en `vleermuizen' laten welgevallen. Het is daarom niet verwonderlijk dat er vrijwel geen bands te vinden zijn die zich afficheren als `gothic', waardoor het genre iets kunstmatigs blijft houden. (..) Al met al is de bloeiperiode van het gothic-genre maar kort (begin jaren tachtig), maar er bestaan tot in de jaren negentig groepen en vooral fans die de gothic-ballon in de lucht houden" (in short: gothic is all about image, it is a superficial genre and a relic from the 80´s).

The last time, it's hard to believe, there has been some media coverage of the Dutch gothic scene. In the reasonable serious magazine Elsevier (3 October '98) a Millennium's Crypt party in Amsterdam was described, full of cliches and lack of knowledge. But o.k., at least they paid some attention. The more sensational magazine Nieuwe Revu featured tasteful photos of some of the more conspicous people from the Dutch gothic scene posing at graveyards, and commentary that gothic is a lifestyle full of horror and kinky sex. The prestigious Dutch magazine Oor, which pretends to be progressive, had a report from a goth festival in Nijmegen, early '99. It was their first piece on gothic in years if I´m not mistaken, and of course they wrote nothing about the music, they only placed some pictures of extreme-looking visitors. A Dutch popular Oprah Winfrey-like talkshow brought a whole show about goths, who were interviewed about their lifestyle. Most prominent questions were if they drank blood and if people are scared of them. But I have to be fair, at the end of the show there was some more understanding about the goth lifestyle. I just found it a pity that there wasn´t hardly any talk about the music...