Regularly checking the dictionary is a good habit for writers. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the following two explanations: 1. A rock and roll style that fiercely mixes guitar, bass and drums, and has an apocalyptic feel. or mystical lyrics; 2. Performers or followers of this music often wear black clothing and black makeup. But just as a master wouldn't go to a department store to buy an electric guitar, we can't entirely trust rock-industry outsiders like Oxford Dictionary.

As for the origin of the word "gothic", it originated from a tribe called the Sigots in early Europe. This tribe took pleasure in destruction and plunder and was known for its ignorance and lack of artistic taste. In the Middle Ages, an architectural style with spire cathedrals as the most prominent feature became popular, and the so-called "Gothic" architecture. During the Victorian period in Britain, horror novels created by a group of writers represented by Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelly and Bram Stoker were also described as "Gothic" style.

But it was still used to describe music and culture in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when the punk movement ended and post-punk emerged. First, Ian Astbury used the word "gothic pixie" when describing the band Sex Gang Children; later, Siouxsie Sioux (the core figure of Siouxsie and the Banshees) used the word "gothic pixie" when describing the new direction of her band. gothic"; later, Joy Division's manager used the word "gothic" on a BBC TV program in 1978 when comparing the band to mainstream pop bands.

Bela Lugosi's Dead, released by Bauhaus in 1979, was the first work to be labeled "goth", at least as everyone agrees.

Gothic music, as a follow-up to punk (death rock), has since developed into an underground culture consisting of a set of aesthetics and ideas composed of visual art, literature, music and clothing, and thus Countless underground communities have been derived. Although these communities have undergone great variations in various aspects since their development, there are two things that all Goths have in common: the color of clothing and music.

Of course the list of gothic bands starts with music!

Early proto-Gothic bands:

Bauhaus, Christian Death, Southern Death Cult (later renamed The Cult), Joy Division (Happy Division, but their appearance does not look too Gothic), Sisters of Mercy (Sisters of Mercy), Siouxsie and the Banshees (Siouxsie and the Goblins);

Quasi-prototype Gothic Bands:

The Fields of The Nephilim (a little less qualified than the bands above, but too old than the new bands), The Mission (UK) (their early works were considered very popular by the media) Goth), Sex Gang Children;

Soft goth band:

Dead Can Dance (Death Dance), Xmal Deutschland, Danielle Dax;

Metal /Industrial Gothic Band:

Creaming Jesus (a band with metal tendencies), James Rays Gangwar (a band that relies on samplers) (Many goths like to listen to Ministry, but Ministry is not Real goth band);

Experimental/folk style/occult (Occult) goth band:

Current 93, Death In June, Sol Invictus;

Neo-goth bands:

Nosferatu, Rosetta Stone, Shadow Project (a branch of Christan Death), Clan of Xymox (a band that relies on synthesizers and has a strong dance music flavor).

The Rise and Fall of Goth Culture

In the 1980s, goth bands achieved a series of commercial successes, such as The Sisters of Mercy, The Mission, All About Eve, The Cure , Siouxsie and the Banshees, Fields of the Nephilim and Christian Death, these bands have all had songs on the charts. The sound they define as "classic goth" is this: crisp mandolin-style semi-acoustic guitar, steady Single note bass lines, simple but fast beats, heavy synth effects and dark vocals. Although some "classic" goth bands have persisted to this day and are still loved by today's goths, they are no longer the protagonists of today's goth culture.

In the 1980s, Gothic clothing fashion developed from this music style, with long dyed black hair, pale skin, tight black clothes, pointed leather boots and a lot of silver jewelry (mostly used in early European and Egyptian religious designs). Black motorcycle leather jackets, black skinny jeans, black fishnet stockings and black flying sunglasses have become Goth's registered trademarks.

In the 1990s, Goth music gradually fell out of favor in the media, but Goth culture became increasingly powerful. The rapidly expanding nightclub industry allowed Goth organizations to form a huge network. The emergence of new, easy and cheap desktop publishing systems and home recording technology helped produce a large number of goth magazines and demos of varying quality, which made goth culture appear vibrant. The renaissance of Hollywood's Victorian horror films coincided with this time. A series of blockbuster horror films such as "The Crow" (Bruce Lee's son Bruce Lee died mysteriously while filming this film), "Edward Scissorhands" and "Interview with the Vampire" injected Gothic culture into new excitement.

Gothic fashion subtly changed accordingly, with curly hair, high ponytails and combat trousers a thing, long straight hair, Victorian velvet and lace a thing, leather and plastic clothing all a thing, but The difference is that this style bears no resemblance to anything popular in North America. The only thing that is ever popular in goth fashion is black skinny jeans.

In the 1990s, there were also some goth bands that made it onto the charts or independent charts, including Garbage, Rosetta Stone, Sheep On Drugs, Nick Cave, Nosferatu and Curve, etc. Their music styles were not entirely complete. They are the same as the previous generation of goth bands, but they all have a gothic singing style, dark music themes and dark synthesizer effects. Although most of them do not admit that they are goths, they look like they are. Gothic style, otherwise how to call them?

Although their influence is obviously inferior to that of the goth bands in the 1980s, in the 1990s, the meaning of "goth" culture has been greatly deepened. At this time, it is no longer just It means a music style, but it is also a fashion, an attitude towards life and a social landscape - the fashion is all black, the attitude is all gloomy, and the landscape is all blurry.

At the same time, there are also many goths who have not listened to much goth music, but dress and think in a gothic way. They like to listen to industrial music, heavy metal, high-tech music and non-Gothic music. Mainstream music. Popular bands favored by these goths include The Prodigy, Front 242, Cubanate, Menswear, White Zombie, Pop Will Eat Itself, Front Line Assembly and Nine Inch Nails, etc.

Goth as counterculture

1969: The hippies discovered the ugliness of the world, so they vowed to use love to change everything.

1979: Punks realized the world was still ugly, so they raised their middle fingers in defiance.

1981: The Goths saw through the world of mortals.

Identify a Gothic band

1. The music atmosphere of this band is weird and surreal.

2. The lyrics of this band contain gothic themes (weird, mysterious, miserable, desolate and desolate).

3. The appearance of the band members is very Gothic-like and dark.

4. The band calls itself a goth band, performs with other goth bands, and appears in goth compilation albums.

Four major goth record labels

Cleopatra, Projekt, Tess, Anubis.

Recognizing a Goth

Shy and unsociable.

Artistic tendencies.

Always black or dark-colored clothing.

A conspicuous religious ornament, but he changes his beliefs almost every day.

Never wear gold jewelry.

Pale, even in summer.

Reject all interesting social activities.

Gothic flavor?

Anything with a weird and dark atmosphere is a bit gothic.

As for music, there are hundreds of nouns like darkwave, goth techno, dark alternative, ambient ethereal, etc., all of which have a "goth flavor".

Describe it more specifically: dark lust, death sorrow, forbidden love, the beauty brought by complete pain, in short, the dark side of the human spiritual world.

Vampire culture satanism? Cult?

Gothic is not a religion or politics, nor has it anything to do with race or gender. Most goth bands are non-religious or even actively anti-religious.

Those visual signals of vampires, Catholicism, ancient Egypt and paganism are just conveying the "power of darkness" to connect to the feeling of gothic music.

Goths also have social tendencies like other social groups of the same age. You will find young conservative goths, communist goths, fascist goths and rioters. Government Goths, but this is really a very small group of people. The biggest tendency among the Goths in the 1990s was actually extreme apathy towards politics, because the views of almost all parties sounded the same and had nothing to do with it. usefulness. This is Rosetta Stone's favorite theme.

The reason why Goth exists

It is unfortunate that many people are dominated by a life without happiness and fulfillment. But Goth made this feeling of depression a way of life, in other words: pain is my life choice - it's an art.

Gothic may also be a form of spiritual therapy. If you talk carefully about your last suicide attempt to a white-collar worker who belongs to the mainstream society, then he may hide away from you with a strange look. On a sunny day, you may still be able to get it. Cheap sympathy. But in stark contrast, your fellow goths will never feel sorry for you, and the scars on your wrists will be treated with a serious, "You're cool!" All those who feel alienated from society will find their place among the Goths, because everyone here is unique.

Gothic Fashion

Anything black, or other dark colors, such as navy blue or crimson.

Can be see-through (thin nylon or fishnet-like fabric), but not exposed.

Silver jewelry.

Pale skin. This may be because they need a living dead appearance, it may be because they want to reflect the Victorian aesthetic of "pale skin is a sign of nobility", or it may be against the beach culture "the sun is bronzed" Beautiful” health theory.

Black hair, bleached very light blonde hair, red hair, or purple hair.

Black and white makeup. White foundation, black lipstick, black eye shadow, thin eyebrows.

Self-bondage decoration and fetish clothing. Leather, PVC, rubber, and latex are all essential fabrics. Medieval corsets were also extremely common.

A wide tie or collar with nails or a velvet cord tied tightly around the neck.

T-shaped ankh (ancient Egyptian symbol of eternal life).

Eye of the Sun God. The Sisters of Mercy's album "Vision Thing" popularized the symbol, and some people would have it tattooed on their bodies.

Pentagram. This is the pagan symbol of fire, earth, air, water, and soul.

The cross (symbol of Christ).

Opera-style capes, cloaks and mittens.

Chains and nails.

Body piercings. Goths are generally not as extreme as punks, they have some taste. In Utah, USA, the tongue is the preferred site, followed by the nose, and then the (unspeakable, private part) nipples.

Gothic hobbies

Art, especially music, photography and painting.

Humanities, especially literature, history and philosophy.

H. R. Giger’s fantasy creature art “Alien” and Dali’s surrealist visual works.

Kretek cigarettes are a longer-lasting, thicker, and more harmful cigarette.

Cats are favored by the Goths because of their unique gloomy temperament.

Candles and Christmas trees are atmospheric and gothic lighting fixtures.

Goblins, weirdos, spiders, cobwebs, graves, coffins and other things related to ghosts.

Are you a Goth?

Do you often feel that you have a devilish temperament? Do yours often wish it didn't appear again during the day? Do you always like black T-shirts?

Maybe you are a Goth, but you don’t know it.

Do you often indulge in feelings of depression and get a strange sense of joy in painful meditation? Then you really have gothic tendencies. However, if you like to get this feeling in a violent way, then you are not a goth at all, this is just mental illness.

Is your wardrobe full of black clothes? Then you might be a goth.

Do you think so?

Start with the basics: hair, face and skin, and clothes. Please see the top six goth models to deal with your own situation. Be careful not to wear any black T-shirt from Marilyn Manson, that is shock rock, not goth rock.

After that comes the look and complexion. It is extremely necessary to appear extremely desperate and painful - the world is like this, society is like this, how can you remain indifferent? Remember: you must control your joy! Never ever ever smile! There is nothing to be happy about! Among goths, smiling is equivalent to letting a cool guy like Robert De Niro play Donald Duck.

Furthermore, you can consider piercing a hole in a certain part of your body and adding some metal ornaments.

Of course you know that Gothic is not just a fashion, it is a way of life. Whether it is food, clothing, housing or transportation, you must show extraordinary darkness in all aspects of your life.

You can also keep a small rodent pet, such as a mouse or something. Rodents are the goths in nature. You should often communicate with them about philosophical issues.

There is also a special trick. You can buy a pair of coffins to use as a bed on weekends. That is really Gothic.

Afterwards you can check it out and ask yourself a few questions: Do I look like a ghost? Are my friends and family always intimidated by me? Do I dress like it’s Halloween Horror Nights every day? If the answer is yes, then congratulations, you are quite Gothic!

What the band said

London After Midnight:

“We are not vampires, we have not said we are, and I will not claim to be like those fools. Become a vampire. All stories about vampires are annoying as hell."

Dead Can Dance:

"Our band name reflects a reflection on the transformation of life, life. From death, death will reincarnate into life."

"Unfortunately many people misunderstand the symbolism we want to convey and simply attribute us to the harmless death rock frame of reference. , our music is about creating life, not taking away life, I know labels and the media like to pigeonhole bands, but we've always struggled with that, from new age to goth to classical, whatever. None of them are suitable for us. Our music evolved naturally. What we do is different from most contemporary bands. What we touch is the spiritual territory that others have not touched. ”

Human. Drama:

“I think the music we are making is completely original. Goths like our music maybe because they are more receptive to artistic and emotional music. They will accept different music from Dead Can Dance to Shadow Project. We are not on a goth path, but we can see goths walking on our path."

Christian Death:

“Because of our lyrics and our name, many people say that we are anti-Christ demons. But we are not against the doctrine of Christ. What we are against is the use of Christ’s name and doctrine to deceive the world and prey on the people. Behavior. Clergy have no authority to pass judgment on other people, only God does.

Our name actually refers to Jesus, who died for those who believe in Him. We have no intention of tainting him. "

Rosetta Stone:

"I want to make goth as accessible as possible. We make music for people on the dance floor. We don't glorify serial killers or romanticize vampires. change. ”

Gothic metal

Gothic metal can be said to be a music genre that has gradually gained momentum in the European rock metal music scene in recent years, although it is currently compared to speed metal. ), progressive metal and melodic death metal are still not huge in terms of their mainstream status. However, judging from the growth rate and number of releases of these emerging gothic groups every year, It is conceivable that it will definitely form a force that cannot be ignored in the future. In this article, I will start from the origin and development of goth in art and culture, to its influence on heavy metal music, and the development of gothic metal music. Detailed introduction

What is "gothic"? First of all, interpreted literally, it contains three meanings. First, architectural Gothic buildings such as cathedrals (cathedral), whose biggest features are tall beams and pointed vaulted ceilings and structures; Secondly, in literature, Gothic is used to describe those strange and mysterious adventure stories set in dark and lonely places (such as abandoned castles); thirdly, Gothic also represents a printing or writing style with quite gorgeous fonts.

The earliest word "gothic" was used during the Renaissance to distinguish the artistic styles of the Middle Ages (5th to 15th centuries). The German Goths invaded Italy in the 5th century and disintegrated the Roman Empire. In the 15th century, the Italians had the idea of ????revitalizing ancient Roman culture and set off a brilliant Renaissance movement. Because the Italians were concerned about the Goths' destruction of the Roman Empire. This period of historical love and hatred has always been difficult to let go, so in order to distinguish it from this period, they called the artistic style of the medieval period gothic, which meant barbarism to them. Although the word gothic originally had a negative connotation, in fact a considerable number of beautiful works of art were created at this time.

In the 12th century, due to the improvement of construction technology, a large number of Gothic churches were born, the most famous of which is Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Of course, the Gothic style is not limited to architecture. Sculptures, glass products, decorations, and colorful paintings are all deeply affected. This type of artistic creation continued from the middle of the 12th century to the early 16th century. In fact, religion plays a very important role in Gothic art. Both painters and sculptors like to use religious themes in their works, and are not very interested in realistic themes.

The Romantic Movement (Romantic Movement) which appeared around 1800 AD, Gothic and medieval culture were once again favored by people and revived. Romanticism can be said to be the influence of the Enlightenment (the Enlightenment). The reactionary, emotional, and irrational attitudes of rationalism were the center of this movement. During this period, Gothic began to be associated with darkness, strangeness, and weirdness. In fact, many of the symbols and themes of Romanticism are related to these. Gothic subculture is quite similar. Some writers during this period were very keen on describing the darkness and emptiness of the human heart. Sexual delusions, horror, and mysterious themes were widely used in literary works. In addition, in visual arts, Romantic painters also preferred dark and desolate landscapes. The most typical symbol in Gothic novels is the vampire. The classic work "Dracula" by Bram Stoker even includes images of vampires in the book, which can be said to be the origin of the vampire theme in Gothic literature in the 19th century.

When the time came to the 1980s, a new Gothic movement began to take place in the UK. The emergence of the Gothic movement may be regarded as a reaction to the previous punk culture (punk). In any case, the Gothic spirit Beginning to show its influence in music, Gothic music also likes to focus on the dark and empty aspects of human nature, and also has a strong interest in death. Slowness, sadness and even horror are all characteristics of its music, and vampires have once again become The best symbol of these themes.

In addition to musical performance, Gothic artist groups also visually display the aesthetics of death. For example, their faces are painted pale and they wear black clothing, or the frilly clothing of the British 19th century Victorian style, while the medieval Century ruins and Gothic architecture are also widely used. The British Goth movement reached its peak in the mid-1980s, with the most representative bands being The Sisters of Mercy, The Mission and Fields of the Nephilim.

In terms of music style, the British Gothic music of this period was called New Wave, which added a large number of synthesizers (keyboards) to rock music, as well as the aforementioned Gothic elements, and even brought It has an electronic flavor. After Gothic rock/New Wave was introduced to the United States, it further developed an industrial branch. Famous groups include Ministry and Nine Inch Nail. On the other hand, in Europe, it is more driven towards the development of electronic music.

Although Gothic music has mostly developed towards electronic music in various parts of Europe, and there are also some other transformations, in fact Gothic metal music also began to brew in the early 1990s, and finally in 1995 The first album of the same name by the famous Norwegian band Theater of Tragedy heralded the advent of the gothic atmosphere metal era.

But before we start talking about gothic metal, we have to start with doom metal. Doom metal is a heavy, dark, slow, melancholy and sad music type. Some people It is believed that the earliest origin of doom metal can be traced back to Black Sabbath's first album of the same name and the subsequent Paranoid album. However, the true doom metal style was established with Epicus Doomicus released by the famous Swedish group Candlemass in 1986. Metallicusgt;album begins. Quite a few doom metal bands were born in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The famous British band My Dying Bride later incorporated the violin arrangement into their band, becoming a pioneer for future desolate doom metal bands.

Doom metal also began to develop in many aspects after the 1990s. The album "Gothicgt" released by the British doom metal heavyweight band Paradise Lost in 1991 was influenced by gothic rock. Inspired, he became one of the first to apply female vocals and keyboard string underlay to metal music. Subsequently, Norway's Theater of Tragedy completely integrated doom metal with gothic elements, creating and establishing a new school of gothic doom metal. T.O.T. can also be said to be the main contributor to the revival of gothic style. The success of T.O.T. caused this gothic metal trend to spread rapidly from Northern Europe to the outside world.

Several characteristics of Theater of Tragedy have become the basic elements of gothic metal since then, especially gothic death, which has become the mainstream style today, such as the use of death metal’s brutal male accent (or even the scream of black metal) The duet form of black tune) paired with soft female vocals is the spirit of dark romantic Gothic. This contrasting style also symbolizes darkness (death tune and metal music part) and light, life and love (female voice, piano and symphonic part). And T.O.T. soprano vocalist Liv Kristine Espenas’ soft, otherworldly and graceful singing voice has already conquered the hearts of many men of steel. However, due to cultural differences in European countries, gothic metal has also developed and even extended into many different forms. In addition to gothic doom, in the Netherlands, The Gathering established pure gothic metal with beautiful female voices as the lead singer and an emphasis on spiritual feelings. , its lead singer Anneke van Giersbergen’s ethereal and rich timbre can be said to be a perfect example in the gothic metal world. Later, the other two Dutch gothic metal groups Within Temptation and After Forever also featured women with timbres and singing similar to Anneke. The famous lead singer shows The Gathering's influence on Dutch Gothic metal. However, The Gathering has gradually changed its style recently, and the metal content has become lighter and lighter.

In addition, Nordic bands have further integrated some black metal elements into gothic to become gothic black. Famous bands include Tristania and The Sins Of Thy Beloved, both from Norway. However, in fact, The development of gothic in Northern Europe has integrated gothic, doom, death, and black, so it is difficult to classify it into a single style. For example, in addition to the grand symphonic momentum, Tristania even uses clean male accents and black death accents. Attend diva and choir cantata.

Of course, the musical thinking of the Nordic orchestra does not end there. Sweden’s Therion has uniquely developed symphonic opera metal that emphasizes both orchestral instruments (synthesizer sampling sounds) and metal instruments. Some have recently adopted entirely professional male and female opera choirs. In addition, Finland's As Divine Grace uses calm and elegant atmosphere gothic to give people a feeling of seeing the prosperity of the world.

When it comes to traditional Gothic vampire culture, we must mention the British Cradle of Filth, which uses a large number of keyboards to create an extremely dark, evil and weird atmosphere, and successfully Integrating this gothic atmosphere into brutal black metal, and establishing Vampire Black Metal, C.O.F.'s achievement has given it a very high status in the black metal world.

In Germany, classical folk-style gothic folk has developed, such as Lacrimosa, Haggard, etc. In addition to synthesizers, these groups also use real orchestral instruments, so the classical flavor is quite strong, such as Lacrimosa directly Cooperating with the London Symphony Orchestra, Haggard's orchestra members include even 18 orchestral players, and the degree of classicalization is quite deep.

In recent years, Italy has become famous throughout Europe for its avant-garde metal and symphonic speed metal. However, its development in gothic metal is not far behind. Inner Shrine and Macbeth are among the leaders. The former has a bleak atmosphere. Sad and beautiful, the latter is full of romance and moving melody.

There are also some orchestras that focus on creating atmosphere, such as Dunwich and Crown of Autumn, which are full of medieval feel. Dunwich even uses medieval instruments and monk choirs.

As for other European countries, there are also representative bands, such as Poland's Sirrah, Hungary's Even Song, Romania's On Thorns I Lay, etc., all with completely different styles.

However, the development of gothic metal in the late 1990s also began to show a polarizing trend. On the one hand, it continued the gothic death route or increased the symphonic feel, but on the other hand, it returned to electronic music and industrial music. flavor, even the early new wave route. This phenomenon is particularly obvious in some big groups. For example, in addition to the aforementioned The Gathering, even Theater of Tragedy’s 2000 album lt;musiquegt; has almost lost the color of gothic death. , and became an industrial electronic rock band. At the same time, some old doom metal bands also slowly added electronic music to their music.

From the above introduction, we can understand that gothic metal music has developed comprehensively and is no longer limited to a single style. Gothic is not only a music form; As for life attitude, Gothic is a fantasy world that allows people to escape reality and enter, a dark and romantic world. In addition to music, Gothic spirit can also be expressed in clothing, art and literature, with a lot of Lace clothes, roses symbolizing romance, tombs, vampires, witches, ruins, Gothic cathedrals, etc., are all Gothic symbols. Of course, purely in terms of music, metal fans who generally prefer strong and direct music may find it difficult to accept the slow speed and atmosphere-focused gothic metal. However, if one can fundamentally understand the background and purpose of this genre, Depending on the artistic conception you want to present, if you adjust your mentality appropriately, you may be able to experience a different listening experience and fun.