Gothic Rock Music

Gothic rock started as a offshoot of the punk movement led by groups like Bauhaus, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Cure, and Joy Division who created a new more introverted style of punk which focused on personal issues and ideas while paying tribute to the influence of early punk bands like The Sex Pistols, The Buzzcocks, The Clash, and Generation X.

Originally just an offshoot of punk gothic rock really came into its own in in 79 with the emergence of Bauhaus. One big difference between punk and goth are the personal politics. The punk movement was largely devoted to living only in the moment and using excess as a hedonistic political statement or more simply to just have fun right now. Goth is very introspective drawing from diverse elements of history and subculture like romanticism, gothic horror, art, science, the nihilist movement of Nietzsche, existential philosophy, and other academic subjects. Gothic themes largely focus on personal growth and knowledge and largely ignore outside politics although as with every generalization it has many exceptions.

Bauhaus was one of the first bands to fit the goth format. Their sound was strongly influenced by British glam acts like T-Rex, David Bowie, and others. They created quite a stir before breaking up. Some members went on to form Tones on Tail which brought a more surf rock and psychedelic flavor to the movement. Siouxsie & the Banshees and The Cure are well known for their gothic imagery but some argue only the early albums followed the gothic format. Joy Division was very influential in the genre until the death of Ian Curtis. Out of the ashes came New Order a markedly new wave band. Another strong influence is The Sisters of Mercy who created the goth dance movement.

The goth movement evolved at the same time as industrial music and the genre overlaps with the most marked difference being the more mechanized sound of industrial dance verse a more humanized goth movement. Goth music is Goth metal combining medieval Gothic music with heavy Doom metal. Goth metal often described as "beauty and the beast" because of the characteristic duets between Operatic female vocals and male death vocals. Some of the key bands in this area are Paradise Lost, Theatre of Tragedy, Tristania and Lacuna Coil.