Good gothy music to listen to

Kjbartolotta

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Hi beautiful AW people!

So, I've been meaning to take a journey. A dark journey into my long-suppressed inner gothyness, where purple curtains block out the sunlight and the air hangs malodorous with the tinge of clove cigarettes. And I need some music for accompaniment. Anyone have any suggestions?

Ideally, something in the vein of Dead Can Dance or the Cocteau Twins, but I've listened to both of them to death. Been also getting into Current 93 lately, which is a bit of an acquired taste. Also liking Of the Wand and the Moon, rather pretty and Scandinavian with all your expected themes of blackness and despair. Trying out other Neofolk bands, but that whole Martial Folk subgenre makes me a bit nervous. Less lyrics and more atmosphere is best, and I can hang with metal & industrial but want to stay on the more ethereal and pretty side of things if possible.

Thanks!
 

KTC

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My go-to back in the day was BAUHAUS. Also Siouxsie and the Banshees. Before Dead or Alive, Pete Burns had Nightmares In Wax...hard hitting shit.

You could slip a little further back and find the granddaddies and grandmommas of goth -- Marc Bolan, David Bowie, AC and VU
The Cramps. Robert Smith of the Cure is borderline...his music is so utterly happy, but his look was goth. He was also in Siouxsie for a spell. And in a great band called The Glove.

Ugh...my 80s are coming back to me. I'm about to fall into the hole...
 

KTC

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Tones on Tail were phem...and it was a side-gig from Bauhaus, so the sound is there.
 

KTC

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I'm bad at listing non goth as goth because of the incestuousness of the music back then. Right now I'm thinking of Gene Loves Jezebel. and the Cult.

I've seen all these bands in concert...some several times. Goth is really a sprawling thing with people on the outskirts and dipping in and out.
 

Kjbartolotta

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OMG, Bauhaus was my jam. Always love their blending of punk situationalism, glam, and macabre decadence. Why have I not heard of Tones on Tail!?
 

Kjbartolotta

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I've seen all these bands in concert...some several times. Goth is really a sprawling thing with people on the outskirts and dipping in and out.

Yeah, open-ended, I'll admit. Very amenable to people's personal definition of what 'goth music' is.
 

KTC

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OMG, Bauhaus was my jam. Always love their blending of punk situationalism, glam, and macabre decadence. Why have I not heard of Tones on Tail!?

They're awesome. You probably heard GO. It's such a great song. They're poppygoth.
 

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Ministry from my days way back ago too. They did my anthem once upon a time. EVERY DAY IS HALLOWEEN. I've given up hiding and started to fight.
 

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Specimen. Although they were borderline poser. When I went to a Specimen concert, my friends laughed and rolled their eyes. But I liked them.

Also, Lords of the New Church
 

Kjbartolotta

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Lords of the New Church was Stiv Bator's band right? Old enough to remember/young enough to have missed out on most of these, though I remember many fond car rides listening to Every Day is Halloween.

*Cough* Getting a nostalgia contact-high.
 

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Lords of the New Church was Stiv Bator's band right? Old enough to remember/young enough to have missed out on most of these, though I remember many fond car rides listening to Every Day is Halloween.

*Cough* Getting a nostalgia contact-high.

Yep. Stiv, Brian from the Damned, Nick from the Barracudas, and Dave from Sham69. Another compilation band. Lots of those in that genre. Like Robert Smith being in three bands at once.

I too am hitting nostalgia train. (-:
 

K. Q. Watson

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Type O Negative
Within Temptation
Tristania
Avrigus
A Pale Horse Named Death (Might be too metal)
 

Caitlin Black

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If you want some electronic goth in your diet, I'd suggest God Module first and foremost. But also Noisuf-X, Centhron (if you don't mind death metal vocals) and Eisenfunk (a bit lighter). :)
 

Caitlin Black

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I'd also recommend Combichrist or Emilie Autumn, except you asked for pretty... And yeah. Both of them have some fairly intense lyrics.

*notes that he hasn't seen Sisters of Mercy anywhere in the thread*

*assumes that Sisters were just taken as a given*
 

Kjbartolotta

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*assumes that Sisters were just taken as a given*

:) Carefully expunged as to not offend the musician's sensibilities. I remember being considered Goth was a big rage button issue for Andrew Eldritch, seems almost quaint to shy away from it nowadays. Yeah, my mouth waters thinking about those guys.

Am not opposed to intense lyrics per se.
 

onesecondglance

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The Mission? Classic goth from back in the day.

For something newer, try Katatonia. Night Is The New Day is amazing. It's a bit metal, perhaps, but it's pure distilled melancholy.
 

Kjbartolotta

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Katatonia & Purity Ring are right up my alley. Thank you both, wow this is fun.
 

Celia Cyanide

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Current 93 is one of my favorites, and yeah, they are a little weird. If you like them, you might like some of Death In June, which is also on the World Serpent label.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMW_2qqhNHM

If you like Dead Can Dance, and Cocteau Twins, you should really check out This Mortal Coil, if you haven't already. They were a lot of artists on the 4AD label doing weird covers, produced by Ivo Watts-Russell. Their best known song is a cover of Tim Buckey's Song To The Siren with Liz Fraser from Cocteau Twins on vocals

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFWKJ2FUiAQ

I also really liked lovesliescrushing. Their debut album was called bloweyelashwish, and it sounded something like My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth, but softer and prettier.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLe_-ZZbs5k

Another band on the same label was Love Spirals Downwards, a lot like Cocteau Twins. I saw them play an accoustic set in the 90s and I was super annoyed because the loud goths at the bar would not shut up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrdDeVjpnqg

Another neofolk band I always liked was Ordo Equitum Solis:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Uw5Yd7AYqs
 

writergirl1994

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"Closer" by Nine Inch Nails. My brother James describes it as a little 'edgelord,' and he's right, but I still really like it.
 

Albedo

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"Closer" by Nine Inch Nails. My brother James describes it as a little 'edgelord,' and he's right, but I still really like it.
tbf 90% of early NIN is edgelord, and that's ok. It's music for the perpetual 15yo angstlord inside me. I still crank Broken in the car on the way to work. Happiness in Slavery is the best going-to-work music.
 

Justobuddies

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Goth...but not metal...I think I can maybe do this.


Nope, nevermind.

{fanboy}

But I always reccomend Dimmu Borgir's last 2 albums Abrahadabra and In Sorte Diaboli which are both more symphonic goth metal, so takes a bit of an edge off the sound (also, ICS Vortex can wail). If you ever wonder what Twisted Sister would have sounded like if they were an Icelandic Metal Band check out their cover of Burn in Hell, it's the 80s with a goth metal twist.

{ end fanboy}
 

Richard White

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I have a compilation album you might enjoy - Unquiet Grave. 158 songs by 158 artists. You can find almost every flavor of goth music on that album which might point you toward some new groups you're not familiar with. It's a bit older (had it for a while now), but 158 songs for $19.99 on iTunes. Not too shabby.
 

JessEmMcKeown

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One of my favorites that weren't mentioned on here is London After Midnight.