All About The Metal

My Top 10 Gothic Metal Bands

 Gothic metal is one of my favorite metal subgenres, and I want to share my top ten bands in the subgenre. But before I get to that, I have a few honorable mentions to tell you about: 

Deathwhite 

 They've only released two albums so far, which were 2017's For A Black Tomorrow and 2020's Grave Image, but Deathwhite are a really good band. Their songs are both melodic and somber, and I found both their albums to be really enjoyable (Grave Image is one of my top albums of 2020 so far). 

Theatre of Tragedy

 Founded in Norway back in the 1990s, this one is more old-school than my other honorable mentions. I think Theatre of Tragedy were a pretty influential band back in the day, helping to popularize the 'Beauty & the Beast' vocal style. I think their best albums were probably their first two, Theatre of Tragedy and Velvet Darkness They Fear; these are pretty much classic gothic metal albums that helped define the subgenre. 

Walk in Darkness

 I love Nicoletta Rosselini's singing, and her voice fits Walk in Darkness' music perfectly. Their music is sad and somber, as this subgenre tends to be, but it's really enjoyable. They also have a short discography with only two albums so far, but apparently a third one is in the works. 

And now, my actual top 10: 

10. Semblant 

 Semblant are a band from the Brazil that I have seen listed as gothic, dark and melodic death metal, and they sort of are a combination of the three. The three albums they've released so far have all been great, and having a strong male and female vocalists in Sergio Mazul and Mizhuo Lin definitely helps. If you're looking for a heavy band with a strong male/female vocal combination, this is a band to listen to. 

9. Elis

 Elis was formed in the early 2000s when two members of the gothic metal band Erben der Schopfung, singer Sabine Dunser and guitarist Pete Streit, left the group and formed a band of their own. Sabine Dunser's sweet voice and the melancholy music paired well together, and they made the albums God's Silence, Devil's Temptation (2003) and Dark Clouds in A Perfect Sky (2004). Unfortunately, Sabine passed away in 2006 while the band was working on their third album Griefshire. They did have two more singers after that and released a fourth album, Catharsis, in 2009, but they split up in 2012. I was sad to find out they had broken up after discovering the band, but I would really recommend their music, especially Dark Clouds in A Perfect Sky. 

8. Type O Negative 

 Type O Negative are a classic gothic metal band. I myself only started listening to them earlier this year, but it didn't take me long to realize how great they were. Their third album Bloody Kisses (1993) was their breakthrough album, with two of their most popular songs being 'Christian Woman' and 'Black No. 1 (Little Miss Scare-All)'. It sounds like they had a pretty successful career up until the death of Peter Steele in 2010. Peter was their singer, bassist and main songwriter, and after his death the rest of the band chose not to continue without him. 

7. My Dying Bride 

 My Dying Bride are technically gothic/doom metal, and they're really more on the side of doom metal than gothic metal, but I wanted to include them anyway because they have become a fast favorite. The first time I heard was in January 2020, when they released "Your Broken Shore" from their latest album The Ghost of Orion. I had heard of them, but never listened to their music, so I started going through some of their discography. Although my favorite MDB song is currently "Feel the Misery" from Feel the Misery, I think their best albums are probably The Dreadful Hours and Songs of Darkness, Words of Light. If you like doom metal or want to try getting into doom metal, My Dying Bride is definitely a band I would recommend. 

6. Sirenia

 Sirenia was created by Morten Veland in 2001, after his departure from Tristania, and became a fast favorite once I started listening to them a couple of years ago. Their musical style has changed a bit over the years, from something similar to Tristania to a few albums with more of a rock sound and then back to heavier stuff again. My personal favorite albums are At Sixes and Sevens and Arcane Astral Aeons, but I would recommend listening to any of their albums. 

5. Tristania 

 Tristania were one of the first gothic metal bands I listened to, and they remain one of my favorites. I remember being mesmerized by Widow's Weeds when I listened to the full album for the first time, and I have no doubt it's one of the best gothic metal albums ever done. There are a couple of albums I'm not too fond of, but I believe they're still a great band. It's been years since they released any new music, and I have hoped they might make a new album in the future. Darkest White is one of my favorite Tristania albums, so it would be nice to have another album similar to that with the same vocal line-up. 

4. Paradise Lost

 Probably one of the biggest names in gothic metal, Paradise Lost were one of the pioneers of death/doom metal before also becoming one of the early gothic metal bands. I personally am not a fan of their death/doom stuff, but I love their gothic metal/rock albums, my favorites being One Second and Symbol of Life. I personally like listening to Nick Holmes' clean vocals better than his harsh vocals, but I think a gothic/doom metal style with a mix of Nick's clean and harsh vocals would fit them perfectly, which I'm excited for the release of Obsidian, because it seems like that's what the album might be. 

3. The Vision Bleak 

 I think The Vision Bleak are probably the least-known band on my top ten list. I discovered them randomly last year (the only gothic metal bands I knew at the time were Lacrimosa, Lacuna Coil, Tristania and Sirenia, and I wanted to know who else was out there), and they've just become a favorite since then. They've self-described their music as 'horror metal', their lyrics are very poetic, they tend to mix symphonic and doom metal elements into their music, and almost every album has had some sort of concept behind it. Their most recent album The Unknown is one of my favorite metal albums in general, and the opening song From Wolf to Peacock is my favorite song by them. 

2. Lacuna Coil 

 Well, it didn't take me long to love their music. There's something about their music that's just really enjoyable, and Cristina Scabbia and Andrea Ferro are an excellent male/female vocal duo (I know some people don't like Andrea's vocals, but I think he has good voice and his clean vocals have improved since the band's early days). Their first two albums were all gothic metal, but since Comalies they've been a mix of gothic and alternative metal and rock. I would say their best albums are probably their first three and Delirium, but my favorite song is now "Veneficum" from Black Anima (before that it was "The Ghost Woman and the Hunter" from Comalies).

1. Lacrimosa

 Lacrimosa were one of the first metal bands I ever listened to, when I was first discovering metal, although I didn't start really getting into them until a couple of years later. The band started out as a gothic rock/darkwave project in the early 1990s, but by their fifth album Stille (my personal favorite), they had evolved into gothic metal. To me they're just it; they kind of define gothic, and while there's a few albums I'm not too fond of, I love their music, and I don't think anyone else is going to be my top pick. 

 Now that I've officially finished this, I've been thinking about also writing a list of my top ten symphonic metal bands, since that's my other favorite subgenre. I'm not sure when I'll get around to it, but I think I know who my top ten would be, so let me know if that's something anyone would be interested in reading.