Essential Goth

Cinema Strange ist eine 1994 gegründete Gothic-Punk-/Death-Rock-Band aus Kalifornien, gegründet von den Brüdern Daniel und Michael Ribiat. Ihre Wurzeln sehen sie im traditionellen Gothic Rock der 1980er Jahre, mit Bands wie den Virgin Prunes oder den Sex Gang Children. Zudem sieht sich die Band beeinflusst von London After Midnight und den klagenden Tönen von Sopor Aeternus.

Nach einigen Wechseln festigte sich 1998 das heutige Mitgliedergefüge, mit Lanthier als Sänger. Jahrelang galten sie, die in den USA keinen Plattenvertrag erhielten, als Geheimtipp der Gothic-Szene der amerikanischen Westküste, bis sie 2000 durch das deutsche Plattenlabel Trisol die Möglichkeit erhielten, ihre Scheiben in großer Auflage in der alten Welt zu veröffentlichen. Seither liegt das Hauptaugenmerk der Gruppe daher auf Europa. Im September 2000 bestritten Cinema Strange ihr erstes europäisches Konzert im Zwischenfall in Bochum.

The March Violets are an English post-punk/gothic rock band formed in 1981 in Leeds, incorporating singers of both sexes, drum machine rhythms and echo-laden electric guitar, much in the style of fellow Leeds band the Sisters of Mercy. Seven March Violets singles reached the UK Indie Chart; the Natural History collection also was an indie hit.

Kommunity FK is an American post-punk/gothic rock band, formed in 1978, that helped establish what came to be known as the deathrock scene in Los Angeles, California, United States.

Virgin Prunes were an Irish rock band formed in 1977 in Dublin, Ireland. They disbanded in 1986 after the departure of singer Gavin Friday. The other members continued under the name The Prunes until they split up in 1991.

The Sisters of Mercy is an English rock band, formed in 1980 in Leeds. After achieving early underground fame there, the band had their commercial breakthrough in the mid-1980s and sustained it until the early 1990s, when they stopped releasing new recorded output in protest against their record company WEA. Currently, the band are a touring outfit only.

The group has released three original studio albums: First and Last and Always (1985), Floodland (1987), and Vision Thing (1990). Each album was recorded by a different line-up; singer-songwriter Andrew Eldritch and the drum machine called Doktor Avalanche are the only points of continuity throughout. Eldritch and Avalanche were also involved in The Sisterhood, a side-project connected with Eldritch's dispute with former members.

Il dark cabaret è un genere musicale nato negli anni settanta, generatosi dalla commistione e rielaborazione di generi musicali quali la darkwave, il rock gotico, il death rock, il post- e punk rock, il folk rock ed il glam rock, uniti ad una trasposizione estetico-musicale di generi teatrali come il cabaret tedesco decadente e risqué dell'era della Repubblica di Weimar, il vaudeville ed il burlesque. Sono inoltre presenti forti riferimenti al genere cinematografico noir.

Gli elementi distintivi del dark cabaret sono il pianoforte utilizzato in un modo trainante ed incisivo e voci maschili o femminili estremamente basse, influenzate da artisti come PJ Harvey. In alternativa, la musica può essere incentrata su strumenti come il violoncello, il violino, la fisarmonica o la tromba.

Clan of Xymox, also known as simply Xymox, are a Dutch rock band from Nijmegen formed in 1981 best known as pioneers of darkwave music. Clan of Xymox featured a trio of singers and songwriters – Ronny Moorings, Anka Wolbert, and Pieter Nooten – and gained success in the 1980s, releasing their first two albums on 4AD, before releasing their third and fourth albums on Wing Records and scoring a hit single in the United States. Their 1980s releases included synthpop/electronic dance music. The band is still active, continuing to tour and release records with Moorings as the sole remaining original songwriter and singer.

Clan of Xymox were formed in Nijmegen, Netherlands, in 1983 by Ronny Moorings (vocals, guitar) and Anka Wolbert (bass, vocals). A year later, Moorings and Wolbert moved to Amsterdam, releasing the mini-album Subsequent Pleasures as Xymox. The album was limited to 500 copies.

Play Dead were an English rock band from Oxford that grew out of the English punk scene of the late 1970s/early 1980s. The band made three studio albums and one-off singles for four different small labels — Fresh Records, Jungle Records, Situation 2 and Clay Records — before forming their own label, Tanz, for their final album, Company of Justice, produced by Conny Plank, which they released in 1985.

Skeletal Family are an English rock band formed in Keighley, West Yorkshire, in December 1982. The band was formed from the remaining members of an earlier group called the Elements, and took their name from the title of the song "Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family" from the 1974 David Bowie album, Diamond Dogs.

Rosetta Stone are an English gothic rock band formed in the 1980s by Porl King (guitar/vocals/keyboards) and Karl North (bass), plus their drum machine and synthesizer rack nicknamed "Madame Razor".

Non Stop Ride is a cover album by American Industrial rock band Godhead. It features covers of The Prodigy's Smack My Bitch Up, KMFDM's Virus and Blur's Girls and Boys.

Ghost Dance were a British gothic rock and post-punk band formed in 1985 by Gary Marx and Anne-Marie Hurst as both were leaving their respective bands. The band were originally signed to Nick Jones' record label, Karbon Records, then were later signed to the major label Chrysalis Records, before splitting up in 1989. In 2019, the band reformed with Anne-Marie Hurst being joined by new members, Tim Walker - guitar, Stephen Derrig - guitar, Phil Noble - bass, Dave Wood - drums and began work on new material. Reunion shows followed in the UK and the band signed to Voltage Records for a new album release in 2022

Gitane DeMone is an American singer, musician and visual artist. Her career spans more than 30 years. She came to prominence in the mid-1980s as the keyboardist and backing vocalist of the influential death rock band Christian Death. In addition to her work with Christian Death, Demone was previously a member of Pompeii 99, worked with Dreadful Shadows, and has had a solo career which has included three studio albums: Am I Wrong?, Stars of Trash and The Reflecting Shadow.

Bloody Dead and Sexy is a German deathrock band.

Corpus Delicti was a French gothic rock band active in the early-mid 1990s. In the late 1990s, the band briefly reformed as an industrial rock band called Corpus.

Suspiria were an English darkwave/gothic rock band. Formed in 1993, the line-up consisted of Matthew Carl Lucian and Mark Tansley.

Formed by Matthew Carl Lucian (vocals) and Mark Tansley (guitars/programming), Suspiria marked a decisive break in the UK goth music scene from the Sisters of Mercy-influenced guitar rock that had dominated the scene. Drawing on late 1970s techno experimentalists such as Cabaret Voltaire and The Human League, and the early 1980s synthesizer sound of artists such as Depeche Mode and Alphaville, Suspiria fused crisp electronics with heavily effected guitars to produce a much more dancefloor-orientated sonic backdrop to the melodramatic vocal stylings of frontman Lucian.

All Gone Dead is a deathrock/gothic/electropunk band formed in 2003 in London by Stich (previously of Tragic Black)

All Gone Dead is a deathrock/gothic/electropunk band formed in 2003 by Stich (Tragic Black). The band was formed by Stich in the fall 2003 while still living in Salt Lake City, Utah as a solo music experimentation. Stich moved to London UK in 2004 and turned his solo experimentation into a live band and soon evolved the music to fit in live musicians. When he moved the project to London he joined forces with Darlin Grave. Due to Stich and Grave’s popularity and connections in the deathrock and goth scene throughout the U.K, Europe and the U.S.A, the band began to grow more and more popular and renowned within various subcultures. The group's first home made demo, the three-track album “Conceiving The Subversion”. This demo earned them the awards of best unsigned goth band in Germany's Gothic Magazine. Their first album “Fallen & Forgotten”, produced by and with guitars by Joe Lonsdale at Joe Public Studios, was released in January 2006. Strobelight Records approached them with the offer for a record deal. In Russia they were also signed to Gavitator Records. By 2006 All Gone Dead were living steady on a European touring schedule and one of the most active bands in their culture. All Gone Dead appeared all over the world and in countess press articles with in the three years the project was active.

Specimen are a British band founded in the 1980s. Their music has been described as spanning many different genres of music, including glam, goth, punk and post-punk, and the band is widely credited as one of the pioneers of the goth subculture, both musically and stylistically.