Jump to content

The Official Gothic Metal Recommendations Thread


RelentlessOblivion

Recommended Posts

Re: some good gothic metal bands?

Well, the thing is that the general opinion was the Symphonic was too diverse to have its own catagory, so bands like Epica have to go somewhere, as they sure as hell aren't Power. I plump for goth due to the dark atmosphere and deep and heavy chord progressions. To answer Satan59, I think the point of pidgeonholing is partly to help guide discussions/future listening choices and partly because, in keeping with metal in general, it is a male dominated genre. Thus, unto the laws of metal came the edict of the hairy man, that pegs shall be forced into holes, mattering not neither how square be the peg nor round be the hole!
Epica aren't dark. They're rated G at best. Nothing remotely Gothic about them. They also aren't that heavy. They are more in the Power/cookie cutter field than anything else. Just with keyboards a chick vocalist.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: some good gothic metal bands?

Epica aren't dark. They're rated G at best. Nothing remotely Gothic about them. They also aren't that heavy. They are more in the Power/cookie cutter field than anything else. Just with keyboards a chick vocalist.
No, NTNR, Epica are not cookie cutter. They have pushed the boundaries of classical crossover further than anybody else as well as having seriously philosophic lyrics. I think that they are pretty Goth, but if you don't that's absolutely fine. However, they are not power and, as I say, they are certainly not cookie-cutter.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: some good gothic metal bands?

No, NTNR, Epica are not cookie cutter. They have pushed the boundaries of classical crossover further than anybody else as well as having seriously philosophic lyrics. I think that they are pretty Goth, but if you don't that's absolutely fine. However, they are not power and, as I say, they are certainly not cookie-cutter.
Yes, they are bland cookie cutter power crap. They push the boundaries of boredom like no ones business. They're not goth. They don't even have hints of it in their sound. They just have generic been there, done that riffs and songs. The female fronted band thing has lost it's novelty and for some reason they're still around.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: some good gothic metal bands? O well. Definitely fighting a losing battle on Epica here. :| For my money, I like them a lot and I don't see that they're particularly generic either. That said, I may as well recommend Shadowplay and Ensoph, they're two good but very different...'gothic' metal bands. Ensoph's more industrial.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: some good gothic metal bands?

O well. Definitely fighting a losing battle on Epica here. :| For my money, I like them a lot and I don't see that they're particularly generic either. That said, I may as well recommend Shadowplay and Ensoph, they're two good but very different...'gothic' metal bands. Ensoph's more industrial.
A friend of mine hyped them up to be the best thing ever and they fell so far beneath my expectations they're still falling. Like who ever you want just call a spade a spade. 8-)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: some good gothic metal bands? Right then. I've just finished 'The Unforgiving'. I'd say 'Iron', 'In The Middle Of The Night' and 'Shot In The Dark' are the only musically strong songs on this album. The rest is either a bit mild or markedly boring. And the lyrics kinda suck for many songs. Ironically, this is one thing about Epica that annoys me: they don't generally produce a strong album. :evil: They do about three or four consistently strong songs per album, and then about two or three songs that are four minutes long but only get interesting at about 1:45. That essentially means I'm paying almost twice as much as I ought. Finally, they'll have three OK songs, and two ballads. I do wish they'd just go full bore on their classical and metal elements for an entire album, leave out the ballads and try to do more good guitar work. The same goes for the lyrics; this is one of Epica's weak points as well. They tend to be boring or vacuously preachy, but occasionally they will write a fairly good set of lines. In the case of WT, 'Murder' was a song on The Unforgiving that had cool lyrics.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: some good gothic metal bands?

Right then. I've just finished 'The Unforgiving'. I'd say 'Iron', 'In The Middle Of The Night' and 'Shot In The Dark' are the only musically strong songs on this album. The rest is either a bit mild or markedly boring. And the lyrics kinda suck for many songs. Ironically, this is one thing about Epica that annoys me: they don't generally produce a strong album. :evil: They do about three or four consistently strong songs per album, and then about two or three songs that are four minutes long but only get interesting at about 1:45. That essentially means I'm paying almost twice as much as I ought. Finally, they'll have three OK songs, and two ballads. I do wish they'd just go full bore on their classical and metal elements for an entire album, leave out the ballads and try to do more good guitar work. The same goes for the lyrics; this is one of Epica's weak points as well. They tend to be boring or vacuously preachy, but occasionally they will write a fairly good set of lines. In the case of WT, 'Murder' was a song on The Unforgiving that had cool lyrics.
Most of their lyrics are dumb, but I don't listen for the lyrics. :D One thing I utterly loath about Epica would be the dry guitar tone similar to After Forever's (the founder Epica formed and then left AF, hooray trivia!)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: some good gothic metal bands? Agree with you Iceni about Epica, they would be so much more awesome if they followed your suggestions! :D As to WT, those are some of the best songs, and I agree the others can become a bit of a mush, to I personnally think Faster is the best song on the album, with in the middle of the night running a close second!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Re: some good gothic metal bands? I strongly dislike the usage of 'gothic' by the general metal community. Bands with an image, or bands with female singers are often simply labelled as gothic out of laziness and for reasons I cannot understand. To me, these albums are very gothic and are amongst my favourites: Theatres des Vampires - Bloody Lunatic Asylum Cradle of Filth - The Principle of Evil Made Flesh Moonspell - Irreligious Deinonychus - The Weeping of a Thousand Years Cultus Sanguine - Shadows' Blood

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: some good gothic metal bands?

Yes' date=' an odd name for a metal band. Most of their stuff isn't gothic, but The Weeping of a Thousand Years definitely is, and it's drenched in such a thick atmosphere.[/quote'] Everything I've heard from them is black/doom ala Bethlehem, so that one must be different, although there is a bit of a gothic element inherent in that style, mostly the melodramatic and cleaner passages.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: some good gothic metal bands?

Yes, you're right about them primarily being a black/doom band but for some reason, they decided to release a very gothic album. I actually discovered them through this album so I was a bit disappointed that the rest of their discography wasn't along the same lines, although I recall that Ark of Thought may have had some gothic moments too. Here are some tracks: Nuua036Ri1A gjIc8ervvIo
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: some good gothic metal bands? I'm not sure if anyone's mentioned these, but three of my favourite gothic albums are Epica's "The Phantom Agony", "Seducia" by Silentium, and "Embrace the Storm" by Stream of Passion. They're all ambitious, but very understated and mature albums, which probably slip under the radar for most people because of their less bombastic approach (unlike that of groups like Nightwish, Within Temptation, etc.). But by my reckoning, these are just about the best gothic metal albums produced - absolute gems!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: some good gothic metal bands? The whole Goth thing seems to me as image based nowadays, maybe cynically to sell? I always thought it was originally a mixture of image and atmosphere in the music. A metal band with both is The Vision Bleak-I really like them, but probably someone will come on and say they aren't Goth metal. One of the original Goth styles was captured brilliantly by The Damned. Their Black Album oozes dark atmosphere and is, IMO, an utter masterpiece.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...
Yes! Also, some people have called Type O Negative gothic metal. I don't know, they're a hard band to qualify sometimes. Fun to listen to, anyway. I miss Pete! :)
I've never considered them gothic. They're the epitome of doom. Ultra slow, heavy and dark. Great band regardless and yes I miss Pete as well. Cool guy though, I met him on their 'Life is Killing Me' tour.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

musically pretty good but I just find the vocals to be irritating so I would never be able to listen to that band for extended periods of time
This is how I feel about most gothic metal bands. But, I'm totally in love with Tristania's World of Glass album at the moment.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


  • Join Metal Forum

    joinus-home.jpg

  • Our picks

    • Whichever tier of thrash metal you consigned Sacred Reich back in the 80's/90's they still had their moments.  "Ignorance" & "Surf Nicaragura" did a great job of establishing the band, whereas "The American Way" just got a little to comfortable and accessible (the title track grates nowadays) for my ears.  A couple more records better left forgotten about and then nothing for twenty three years.  2019 alone has now seen three releases from Phil Rind and co.  A live EP, a split EP with Iron Reagan and now a full length.

      Notable addition to the ranks for the current throng of releases is former Machine Head sticksman, Dave McClean.  Love or hate Machine Head, McClean is a more than capable drummer and his presence here is felt from the off with the opening and title track kicking things off with some real gusto.  'Divide & Conquer' and 'Salvation' muddle along nicely, never quite reaching any quality that would make my balls tingle but comfortable enough.  The looming build to 'Manifest Reality' delivers a real punch when the song starts proper.  Frenzied riffs and drums with shots of lead work to hold the interest.


      There's a problem already though (I know, I am such a fucking mood hoover).  I don't like Phil's vocals.  I never had if I am being honest.  The aggression to them seems a little forced even when they are at their best on tracks like 'Manifest Reality'.  When he tries to sing it just feels weak though ('Salvation') and tracks lose real punch.  Give him a riffy number such as 'Killing Machine' and he is fine with the Reich engine (probably a poor choice of phrase) up in sixth gear.  For every thrashy riff there's a fair share of rock edged, local bar act rhythm aplenty too.

      Let's not poo-poo proceedings though, because overall I actually enjoy "Awakening".  It is stacked full of catchy riffs that are sticky on the old ears.  Whilst not as raw as perhaps the - brilliant - artwork suggests with its black and white, tattoo flash sheet style design it is enjoyable enough.  Yes, 'Death Valley' & 'Something to Believe' have no place here, saved only by Arnett and Radziwill's lead work but 'Revolution' is a fucking 80's thrash heyday throwback to the extent that if you turn the TV on during it you might catch a new episode of Cheers!

      3/5
      • Reputation Points

      • 10 replies
    • I
      • Reputation Points

      • 2 replies
    • https://www.metalforum.com/blogs/entry/52-vltimas-something-wicked-marches-in/
      • Reputation Points

      • 3 replies

    • https://www.metalforum.com/blogs/entry/48-candlemass-the-door-to-doom/
      • Reputation Points

      • 2 replies
    • Full length number 19 from overkill certainly makes a splash in the energy stakes, I mean there's some modern thrash bands that are a good two decades younger than Overkill who can only hope to achieve the levels of spunk that New Jersey's finest produce here.  That in itself is an achievement, for a band of Overkill's stature and reputation to be able to still sound relevant four decades into their career is no mean feat.  Even in the albums weaker moments it never gets redundant and the energy levels remain high.  There's a real sense of a band in a state of some renewed vigour, helped in no small part by the addition of Jason Bittner on drums.  The former Flotsam & Jetsam skinsman is nothing short of superb throughout "The Wings of War" and seems to have squeezed a little extra out of the rest of his peers.

      The album kicks of with a great build to opening track "Last Man Standing" and for the first 4 tracks of the album the Overkill crew stomp, bash and groove their way to a solid level of consistency.  The lead work is of particular note and Blitz sounds as sneery and scathing as ever.  The album is well produced and mixed too with all parts of the thrash machine audible as the five piece hammer away at your skull with the usual blend of chugging riffs and infectious anthems.  


      There are weak moments as mentioned but they are more a victim of how good the strong tracks are.  In it's own right "Distortion" is a solid enough - if not slightly varied a journey from the last offering - but it just doesn't stand up well against a "Bat Shit Crazy" or a "Head of a Pin".  As the album draws to a close you get the increasing impression that the last few tracks are rescued really by some great solos and stomping skin work which is a shame because trimming of a couple of tracks may have made this less obvious. 

      4/5
      • Reputation Points

      • 4 replies
×
×
  • Create New...