What is goth?

Goth is a subculture which began in the late 70s/early 80s, developed and based around a specific style of arty and experimental post-punk, turned down gloomier avenues, now known as "goth rock".

The subculture itself consists of a group of music genres, sub-genres, and counterparts like goth rock, deathrock, darkwave, ethereal wave, and coldwave; fashion, which takes inspiration from a number of fashions such as punk and glam, cultures, iconographies such as Egyptian, and religions like Christianity; and a borrowed aesthetic which usually focuses on death, the dark, supernatural, mysterious, and occult.

A goth is generally someone who listens to and supports their favourite goth bands, by buying merchandise, and if they are able, partaking in their local scene by attending concerts and gigs, festivals, etc. or the wider online goth scene by watching DJs stream or engaging in groups or forums.

They may or may not wear goth fashion, which could include anything from the traditional goth and deathrock dress to adopted and borrowed styles such as period fashion (namely Victorian, Edwardian, etc.) and tribal, and Western.

The scene itself is built around a social community, music, DJs, fanzines, events & meet-ups, concerts, festivals, thrifting & a DIY ethos, nightclubs, and gigs; goth would not exist without this, nor can goth become entirely separate from music. Goth is the music.

Goth History & Background

Late 70s - Early 80s

The very early post-punk goth bands took inspiration from an array of glam, punk, and psychedelic rock bands, namely David Bowie, Roxy Music, The Sex Pistols, The Doors, The Velvet Underground, and so on. These bands today are known as either proto-goth icons or heavy influences, which are evident through the classic and iconic goth bands' music.

Post-punk itself was born when, towards the end of the 70s, artists had grown tired of the raw, traditionalism punk rock, and adopted avant-garde sensibilities and non-rock influences, including but not limited to, funk, electronic, jazz, and dance - in their music. Besides goth rock, post-punk gave birth to many other styles of music in the years following - synthpunk, indie pop, neo-psychedelia, and avant-funk roots can all be traced back to post-punk origins.

By 1979, punk was turning down gloomier avenues, with bands growing tired of the 3-chord thrash. Siouxsie and the Banshees’ second LP Join Hands made use of the flanger, a sound which would become the staple for future goth and dark punk bands, and Bauhaus’ August 1979 dub-influenced single ”Bela Lugosi’s Dead” would become a widely accepted beginning of the goth rock genre, due to the darker lyrical themes and audience misunderstanding.

With many more developments underway, such as the release of Killing Joke’s first EP, Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures, and The Damned’s “Plan 9 Channel 7”, journalist Dave Thompson wrote “Dave Vanian [The Damned vocalist] provided the look, the Banshees supplied the menace, and Joy Division the angst. Now Bauhaus provided the intellectual discipline, and the spore from which a new culture could be spawned.”

"The Goth tag was a bit of a joke," insists Ian Astbury. "One of the groups coming up at the same time as [Southern Death Cult] was Sex Gang Children, and Andi -- he used to dress like a Banshees fan, and I used to call him the Gothic Goblin because he was a little guy, and he's dark. He used to like Edith Piaf and this macabre music, and he lived in a building in Brixton called Visigoth Towers. So he was the little Gothic Goblin, and his followers were Goths. That's where Goth came from."

Establishment of the Subculture

The opening of the iconic Batcave in ‘81 or early ‘82 in Soho, London, ran by founder and band member of Specimen, Olli Wisdom (March 8, 1958 – August 23, 2021), is regarded as the beginning of the goth subculture and where all the aspects of the scene came together, consisting of the music, style and aesthetic. With its cobweb lined ceilings, black bin lined walls, and (real) coffin decorated door, the glam club is a heavy example of goths’ creativity, artistic expression, and DIY ethos. The club was a popular destination for many notable and recognisably post-punk and goth artists such as Nick Cave, Robert Smith, Nik Fiend.

Mid-80s

Heading into the mid-80s, Leeds-based The Sisters of Mercy arrived at on the scene at the forefront of the second wave, building their reputation up with EPs and singles and mixing the post-punk elements of Siouxsie & the Banshees and The Cure into hard rock, creating goth rock. Other bands playing a similar style, including Fields of the Nephilim, The Mission, Ghost Dance, The March Violets, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, and The Merry Thoughts either formed around the same time or played in a similar style.

90s & Onwards

Towards, the end of the 80s going into the 90s, however, electronic industrial music, namely bands playing genres like electronic body music (EBM) and later on, electro-industrial, started taking over the nightclubs, forcing post-punk and goth rock to retreat underground.

Goth, however, still lives on with many new bands establishing themselves throughout the decades.

The 90s saw bands such as Rosetta Stone, Nosferatu, Inkubus Sukkubus, Corpus Delicti, and Mephisto Walz carry the torch.

The 00s saw bands such as Pretentious Moi, Voices of Masada, Solemn Novena, Dr. Arthur Krause lead the scene.

Now some of the most well-known names from 2010s include Angels of Liberty, Sweet Ermengarde, Masquerade, Ritual Howls, and Merciful Nuns.

In the early 2020s, goth is now lead by post-punk/synthpop band Molchat Doma, post-punk/darkwave "gothwave" band She Past Away, and coldwave Lebanon Hanover. Russian/Ukrainian post-punk is especially booming right now, with many record labels releasing several albums a month.

Themed Days

Themed day submissions must be relevant to the subculture, music or history. Please do not use the themed day flairs if it isn't that day. If you wish to partake, please make sure your submission is posted after the bot has posted their mega thread.

The themed days are:

Music Mondays
Event Tuesdays DIY Wednesdays
Review Thursdays
Fashion Fridays
Spooky Saturdays
Soothing Sundays

Gothy Discord

Rules

Goth Event Locations

Looking for new music? 2021 Upcoming and Recent Goth Releases

Goth Genres Guide

Post-Punk / Goth: Arty post-punk bands which developed a darker sound. Examples include Bauhaus, Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Cure, etc.

Goth Rock: Bands which incorporated hard rock elements into post-punk groundwork of the first-wave bands: The Sisters of Mercy, The Mission, Fields of the Nephilim, etc.

Darkwave: Goth incorporating synth elements, which may include influence from synth-pop/new wave: includes Clan of Xymox, Lycia, London After Midnight and Diva Destruction, etc.

Deathrock: Goths' American counterpart, a spookier and more atmospheric version of punk. Bands include Christian Death, 45 Grave and Bloody Dead and Sexy.

Ethereal Wave: Mainly supported by 4AD bands, and described as being "romantic", "otherworldly" and "gothic". Bands include early Dead Can Dance, Cocteau Twins and early This Mortal Coil.

Coldwave: French/Belgian post-punk, with a more stripped/mechanical sound. Bands include Asylum Party, Norma Loy, and Little Nemo. Minimal/Electronic Coldwave: Lebanon Hanover, Sexual Purity, and Church Group.

Grey Rock: Portuguese goth rock. Bands include Morituri, Dead Dream Factory and Jardim do Enforcado.

Afterpunk: Spanish post-punk/goth. Bands include Décima Víctima, Malefixio and Cristales Goticos.

Goth Friendly Subreddits

There are also a couple other humble gothy subreddits hanging around. Go give them a shot! I'm sure they'd appreciate more activity.

/r/GothFashion

/r/AskAGoth

/r/DarklyInclined

/r/WaveGotikTreffen

/r/GothLifestyle

/r/gothrock

/r/gothmemes

/r/releasethebats

r/45Grave

/r/TheCure

/r/thechameleons

r/RozzWilliams

/r/gothclub

r/darkwave

r/deathrock

And some more general/dark alt. subreddits that might interest you:

/r/darkanimation

/r/GothicMetal

/r/subcultures

/r/industrialmusic

/r/Gothic

/r/DarkGothicArt

/r/GermanicMemes

/r/GothicLit_

This subreddit uses /r/naut