Gothic Rock

In the early 1980s, a neo-Gothic cultural movement gradually emerged in the UK and attracted public attention. Music plays a leading role in this. A new music form emerged that was born out of PUNK/POST PUNK music in the late 1970s, and was later called "Goth" by the public. It is popular among "pagans" in the UK (here specifically refers to people who do not believe in the Anglican Church). It has an obvious anti-traditional color and is hostile to orthodox sexual morality and religious beliefs; it praises darkness, the dark side of human nature and the beauty of death; although musically It contains electroacoustic effects and dance beats (in some branches after evolution), but the overall sound is slow, melancholy, depressed and morbid; it emphasizes minor harmonies, empty, monotonous melody and slow rhythm; visually, the band and Music fans have elevated death to an aesthetic concept: lace shirts, black leather pants, black eye shadow, pale makeup, Victorian styles, medieval costumes, and religious costumes have all become the favorites of "Goths." It's difficult to pinpoint a specific date for the birth of goth music, as a large number of British bands dabbled in this dark territory in the late 1970s. Joy Division, The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Damned, Adam & the Ants, Ultravox, Killing Joke, The Sound, The Comsat Angels, UK Decay and many other names that are familiar to us mainland music fans are filled with them. Their new wave and dark pop music influenced many later "goths". But the only thing that is clear is that the most "iconic" event of the British neo-Gothic movement was the release of the single Bela Lugosi's Dead by the British band Bauhaus in 1979. (Bela Lugosi was a famous film actor who played a vampire. He died in 1979). From then on, Goth music was out of control, and Bauhaus became the first "Goth" band in history. Although the adjective "Goth" initially also indicated the mainstream media's contempt for this band. A subsequent important contribution to the neo-Gothic movement was the establishment of a club called BATCAVE (Batcave) in London in 1981. Many bands with gothic names have performed there. Among them, Virgin Prunes and Alien Sex Fiend are the most famous. Although these two bands did not explore Gothic music as much as many of the bands we mentioned earlier, their frequent performances and terrifying stage Gothic image at the time were still Made a great contribution to the promotion of the neo-Gothic movement in Britain.

Some commentators wrote an incisive analysis of this neo-Gothic cultural movement: In terms of its origins, the neo-Gothic cultural movement obviously benefited from the influence of the romantic cultural trend of the 19th century. They are also deeply personal: romantic love and loss, the same themes of death, destruction and dark adventure that find references in Gothic novels. The birth and rise of the neo-Gothic movement in the UK was because it functioned well as a comprehensive art that integrated music, film, literature, fine arts and fashion.

In the mid-1980s, Gothic music, as a new genre in traditional rock music, achieved considerable success in the UK. Three bands, Sister of Mercy, The Mission UK and Fields of the Nephilim, Became the corrector among them. The music that combines black taste, romantic colors, NEWWAVE and a little metal elements has been enthusiastically sought after by the majority of music fans. In a sense, they have redefined Gothic music. (If you listen to the albums of these three groups and compare them with Bauhaus's works, the difference is obvious.) If we broaden our horizons, there are still some neglected goth groups in Europe, such as Alice, The works of Laura, Temple of Love, Tower of Strenght, For Her Light and Garden of Delight are also of a very high standard. Subsequent goth bands followed this movement and established themselves in the music scene.

And also the Trees, Xmal Deutschland, Love like Blood, etc. have launched new records with a gothic flavor. At the same time, some bad tendencies slowly spread in the traditional Gothic music genre. Many bands gave up their own musical creativity and were willing to follow their "idols". A large number of similar works were used indiscriminately by different bands. So much so that the current traditional goth music, generally known as "Gothic Rock" (Gothic Rock), is declining worldwide and has become a decadent cliché like a cheap horror comic book. However, they have still maintained a certain vitality and influence in the UK (perhaps because of the conservative nature of the British?) To this day, you can hear and see a large number of bands such as Rosetta Stone, Midnight Configuration, Inkubus Sukkubus... creating and them The same music of his predecessors is active in the underground and underground music circles.

In contrast to the bands above, there are some bands and the music they create that deserve our special attention. These groups were all deeply influenced by the British neo-Gothic movement in the early 1980s when they were formed, but soon they all created their own new musical paths, such as the famous Dead can Dance. The first album of this duo from Australia is very pure. Gothic works. But starting from the second album, unique chants, more and more medieval elements and oriental music elements have been integrated into the songs, which is very unique. Another thing to talk about is Cocteau Twins. The early gloomy style was gradually interpreted by the band members into an ethereal dreamy sound. Reinterpreting Gothic music itself from another perspective, these two 4AD pillar groups are regarded as the originators of many new dark music genres in the future. Having said this, we must give enough respect and gratitude to the British 4AD, an independent label that has supported Bauhaus, DCD, and CT. It is precisely because of its existence and insight that the neo-Gothic movement has had a broad and far-reaching impact on the music scene. Finally, we can’t forget Clan of Xymox from the Netherlands in central Europe. Their handsome and voluptuous appearance, which is similar to The Cure, and their melancholy, psychedelic and electronic dance-tinged gothic sounds have really attracted many pop music fans to invest in gothic music. embrace. Deathrock, EBM, Darkwave, Synth-pop...

In the previous chapter, we focused on the origin and development of Gothic music in the UK. But "dark blood" is everywhere. While the British neo-Gothic movement is in full swing, the American underground music scene across the sea is also deriving a "turbid current" directly derived from root rock. Rozz Williams in 1981 Formed the legendary band Christian Death, who used their coquettish appearance, apocalyptic lyrics, roaring guitars, and scenes like X-rated horror movies and pornographic movies to create a worldly hell. It is even more blasphemous and darkly morbid than many of its British colleagues. The American music media at that time dubbed Christian Death's music "death rock". In essence, death rock and gothic rock are the same thing. The only slight difference is that the American underground music scene has not experienced the anarchic punk riots like the British music scene, so the instrumental arrangements of deathrock come more from Mifit It is a kind of horror punk and mixed with many root rock elements, basically does not contain punk color. Although Rozz eventually broke up with the band, and ultimately ended his life in a tragic way 98 years ago. But the music family composed of Christian Death and the many bands it spawned, such as Shadow Project, Faith & the Muse, Gitane DeMone, etc., constitute a force that cannot be ignored in the North American dark music scene. In addition, London After Midnight was also a band of this style in its early days. The American dark label Cleopatra has always spared no effort to promote this kind of music.

From now on this article will explore some other dark music styles that are full of Gothic consciousness. Although the music form is far from traditional Gothic rock, its dark spiritual connotation is closely connected.

Here the gothic spirit crosses with various other musical styles to create some new sub-genres. And then dominate today's dark music scene.

First of all, we want to talk about EBM, the full name of Electronic Body Music. From the naming point of view, it belongs to a branch of electronic music. Initially, critics called the cold, dark and minimalist electronic music created by some electronic bands in the late 1970s and early 1980s EBM. Most people think that Front 242 is the first true EBM band. They brought the cold sound of strong electronic colors, monotonous simplified beats and militaristic commando style to the modern dance floor, a real violent revolution in music. . A series of groups followed: The Klinik, Insekt, Dive, Click Click, A Split Second and Suicide Commando. As this type of music itself evolves toward darkness and violence, Digital hardcore (digital hardcore) finally appears. The representative band Alex Empire is already familiar to many music fans, and we need not go into details. The situation in the United States is different. Although they also have a large number of EBM bands, these bands do not call themselves that and prefer to use Industrial to describe themselves. Such as Skinny Puppy, Front Line Assembly, Cevin Key, Velvet Acid Christ, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, etc. Although their music contains a lot of EBM temperament, they are still generally called industrial bands by the public.

The next thing I want to introduce is Dark wave, and what I want to point out in particular is that the specific meaning of the word Darkwave is now very broad and vague, and different countries and regions have different interpretations. There are American styles, German styles, and even Chinese styles. This article mainly introduces the German interpretation that is strictly distinguished and named according to the music itself. Today's Germany undoubtedly has the largest Gothic culture consumer group in the world. Although Germany is not the birthplace of Gothic culture, due to its long barbarian (no derogatory meaning) history and pagan cultural traditions, the Germanic people are surprisingly enthusiastic about Gothic culture. . The only country that can regard goth music as a mainstream music genre is currently Germany. Among them, the Leipzig Wave Gotik Music Festival held in June every year is a grand festival for dark music fans around the world. In Germany (it can also be said to be Europe), dark wave appeared as a music term in the mid-1980s. It mainly described the new wave music with a dark complex that filled the German music scene at that time, and emphasized the synthesizer/electronic color in the music. . The first famous dark wave band was probably Project Pitchfork. The dark lyrics and vocals combined with the gloomy techno music constitute all the elements needed for Dark wave. Yes, dark wave music also has a strong dance component. (In this regard, its European definition is completely different from its North American definition) Next is the famous Deine Lakaien, which is also one of the representative bands of German Dark wave. In addition, the popular German bands L'Ame Immortelle, ASP, Samsas Traum, etc. all have this style.

Thirdly, we need to explain Synth-pop (synthesizer pop), which is a decadent style that directly originated from the neo-Gothic New Romantic movement in the early 1980s, with synthesizers as the main instrumental form of expression. The representative bands of music are Duran Duran and the Human League. However, some bands that play with this style of music focus more on dark themes than the first two, such as Gary Numans, And One, Depeche Mode, Wolfsheim, etc., and the media will also count them as a member of dark music.

There are many branches of dark electronic music. In addition to EBM, Dark wave, and Synth-pop, terms such as Dark Techno/trance are often used to define groups such as Covenant, Apoptygma Bezerk, Evils Toy, Haujobb, and Abscess. . However, the boundaries between these terms are very blurred, and the musical elements of some groups are very comprehensive. So everyone just understands it in general.

There are also many labels that produce dark electronic music, the famous ones include Mute, Accession, Zoth Ommog, Offbeat, Warx, Metropolis...