gothic metal#Symphonic gothic metal

{{See|Name of the Goths}}

File:Paradise Lost in Saint Petersburg 2013-8.jpg's 1991 album Gothic inspired the name of the genre.]]

Some musicians have disputed the gothic label associated with their bands, including Rozz Williams of Christian Death and Andrew Eldritch of the Sisters of Mercy.Baddeley 2002, p. 248 In the gothic metal subgenre, members from such groups as After Forever{{cite web |author=McCormack, John |title=Interview with Joost Van Den Broeck of After Forever |url=http://www.metalmonk.co.uk/bands/features/AfterForever_interview.html |publisher=Metalmonk.co.uk |access-date=7 May 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080414235153/http://www.metalmonk.co.uk/bands/features/AfterForever_interview.html |archive-date=14 April 2008 }} and Nightwish{{cite web|author=Hall of Metal |title=Interview with Tuomas Holopainen and Anette Olzon of Nightwish |url=http://hallofmetal.com/ver_entrevista.php?id=34&leng=en |publisher=Hallofmetal.com |access-date=16 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071231110506/http://www.hallofmetal.com/ver_entrevista.php?id=34&leng=en |archive-date=31 December 2007 |url-status=dead }} have similarly downplayed or dismissed the gothic label from their music.

File:Tristania live.jpg]]

The music of gothic metal is generally characterised by its dark atmospheres.{{cite web |author=Bowar, Chad |title=Gothic Metal Artists |url=http://heavymetal.about.com/od/heavymetalartists/u/heavymetalartistsandstyles.htm#s7 |publisher=About.com |access-date=6 May 2008 |archive-date=23 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110823094100/http://heavymetal.about.com/od/heavymetalartists/u/heavymetalartistsandstyles.htm#s7 |url-status=dead }} The adjective "dark" is commonly used to describe gothic music in general while other terms that are less frequently used include deep, romantic, passionate and intense.Gunn 2007, p. 44 Gothic metal has also sometimes been viewed as "a combination of the darkness and melancholy of goth rock with heavy metal".{{cite web |author=Bowar, Chad |title=What Is Heavy Metal? |publisher=About.com |url=http://heavymetal.about.com/od/heavymetal101/a/101_history.htm |access-date=6 May 2008 |archive-date=4 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204191926/http://heavymetal.about.com/od/heavymetal101/a/101_history.htm |url-status=dead }} Allmusic defines the genre as a fusion of "the bleak, icy atmospherics of goth rock with the loud guitars and aggression of heavy metal" and further notes that "true goth metal is always directly influenced by goth rock — ethereal synths and spooky textures are just as important as guitar riffs, if not more so".{{cite web |title=Goth metal |url=http://www.allmusic.com/style/goth-metal-ma0000011855 |website=Allmusic |access-date=30 April 2016}}

Gothic metal is a varied genre with bands pursuing many different directions, from "slow and crushing variations" to "orchestral and bombastic". The doom metal background of early pioneers like Anathema,J. Purcell, Nathalie (May 2003). [https://books.google.com/books?id=AwJJR5vvlIsC&q=Anathema Death Metal Music: The Passion and Politics of a Subculture], pp. 23, 59. {{ISBN|978-0-7864-1585-4}}. Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride has been taken up by groups like Artrosis,{{cite web |author=Arancio, Dennis |title=In the Flowers Shade Review |url=http://www.soniccathedral.com/webzine/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30&Itemid=35 |publisher=Soniccathedral.com |access-date=6 May 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081225134611/http://www.soniccathedral.com/webzine/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30&Itemid=35 |archive-date=25 December 2008 }} Ava Inferi{{cite web |author=van der Wal, Kim |title=The Silhouette Review |url=http://www.lordsofmetal.nl/showreview.php?id=10577&lang=en |publisher=Lordsofmetal.nl |access-date=6 May 2008}} and Draconian.{{cite web |author=Fox, Erin |title=Interview with Anders Jacobsson of Draconian |url=http://www.thegauntlet.com/interviews/1064/Draconian.html |publisher=Thegauntlet.com |access-date=6 May 2008}} The black metal approach of Cradle of Filth, Theatres des Vampires and early Moonspell can be found in such subsequent bands as Graveworm{{cite web |author=Sharpe-Young, Garry |title=Graveworm |url=http://www.rockdetector.com/artist/italy/brunico/graveworm |publisher=MusicMight |access-date=19 April 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204023557/http://www.rockdetector.com/artist/italy/brunico/graveworm |archive-date=4 December 2008 }} and Samsas Traum.{{cite web |author=Sharpe-Young, Garry |title=Samsas Traum |url=http://www.rockdetector.com/artist/germany/marburg/samsas+traum |publisher=MusicMight |access-date=9 August 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219073601/http://www.rockdetector.com/artist/germany/marburg/samsas+traum |archive-date=19 February 2014 }}

File:The Gathering 2006.jpg of the Gathering, depicted above.]]

There is also a diverse range of vocal styles in gothic metal. Male singers in the genre range from the guttural growls and black metal shrieks of Dani FilthBaddeley 2002, p. 268 and Morten Veland to the clean baritone vocals of Østen Bergøy and the bass range of Peter Steele. For the female singers, the different vocal styles includes the screams and growls of Cadaveria, the "poppy" vocals of Tanja Lainio from Lullacry{{cite web |author=Bowar, Chad |title=Vol. 4 Review |url=http://heavymetal.about.com/od/reviews/gr/lullacry.htm |publisher=About.com |access-date=7 May 2008 |archive-date=27 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327171832/http://heavymetal.about.com/od/reviews/gr/lullacry.htm |url-status=dead }} and the operatic soprano style of Vibeke Stene from Tristania. There are more female singers in gothic metal than there are in any other heavy metal subgenre, but female vocals are neither necessary nor synonymous with the genre. Liv Kristine of Theatre of Tragedy and Leaves' Eyes notes that the gothic tag is often misinterpreted and points out that "not every band with female vocals is a gothic band". The genre is also known to attract more female fans relative to other subgenres of heavy metal music.Kahn Harris 2007, p. 71

The lyrics of gothic metal are known to be melodramatic, fantasized, romantic, dark or sometimes gloomy.{{cite web |title=Gothic Metal |url=http://radio.darkness.com/gothic-metal/ |publisher=Radio Darkness |access-date=30 April 2016 |archive-date=19 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219104009/http://radio.darkness.com/gothic-metal/ |url-status=dead }} For the three English bands that helped to pioneer the genre, their gloomy lyrics reflect their background in doom metal while their darker or melodramatic lyrics draw influence from gothic rock.{{cite web |title=Doom Metal |url=http://www.allmusic.com/style/doom-metal-ma0000004496 |website=Allmusic |access-date=30 April 2016}} The music of My Dying Bride has been noted as "dripping with treachery and pain" from a "lyrical fascination with deceit and transgressions of every variety".{{cite web |author=Jeffries, Vincent |title=Turn Loose the Swans review |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r203986|pure_url=yes}} |website=Allmusic |access-date=7 May 2008}} Lyrics that focus on suicide and the meaninglessness of life can be found in Anathema while Paradise Lost too has "never lost their depressive edge".{{cite magazine |author=Blackie, Andrew |title=PopMatters |url=http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/42122/paradise-lost-in-requiem/ |magazine=PopMatters |access-date=7 May 2008}}

File:Theatre Des Vampires.jpg manifests a deep interest in the vampire myth, a common staple of gothic horror fiction.Day 2006, p. xi]]

Gothic fiction, a literary genre that blends horror and romance, has been a source of inspiration for the lyrics of many gothic metal bands like Cadaveria,{{cite web |author=Harper, Rick |url=http://www.soniccathedral.com/webzine/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=256&Itemid=36 |title=Interview with Cadaveria of Cadaveria |publisher=Soniccathedral.com |access-date=7 May 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080608020013/http://www.soniccathedral.com/webzine/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=256&Itemid=36 |archive-date=8 June 2008 }} Cradle of Filth,{{cite web |author=Lee, David |title=Interview with Dani Filth of Cradle of Filth |url=http://www.metal-rules.com/interviews/COF.htm |publisher=Metal-rules.com |access-date=10 June 2008}} Moonspell,{{cite web |author=Rivadavia, Eduardo |title=Memorial review |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r828672|pure_url=yes}} |website=Allmusic |access-date=10 June 2008}} Theatres des Vampires{{cite web|last1=Borgioli-Jones |first1=David |title=Out of the Light and into the Dark - Theatres des Vampires' Sonya Scarlet Escapes the Scorching Summer Sun to Answer RockDetector's Fearsome 40 Questions. |type=Artist Interviews |date=21 July 2006 |url=http://www.rockdetector.com/interviews/artist,9240.sm |publisher=MusicMight |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070227220848/http://www.rockdetector.com/interviews/artist%2C9240.sm |archive-date=27 February 2007 |access-date=25 September 2013 }} and Xandria.{{cite web |author=Wolff, John |title=Interview with Lisa Schaphaus of Xandria |publisher=Soniccathedral.com |url=http://www.soniccathedral.com/webzine/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=122&Itemid=36 |access-date=10 June 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080804003210/http://www.soniccathedral.com/webzine/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=122&Itemid=36 |archive-date=4 August 2008 }} Critic Eduardo Rivadavia of Allmusic identifies drama and mournful beauty as requisite elements of the genre. For My Dying Bride, the subjects of "death and misery and lost love and romance" have been approached repeatedly from different angles.{{cite web |author=Stefanis, John |title=Interview with Aaron Stainthorpe of My Dying Bride |url=http://www.getreadytorock.com/pure_metal/my_dying_bride_interview.htm |publisher=Getreadytorock.com |access-date=7 May 2008}} The common gothic theme of lost loveKilpatrick 2004, p. 208 is a subject that has been tackled by such gothic metal bands as Theatre of Tragedy{{cite web |author=Rozz |title=Interview with Lorentz Aspen of Theatre of Tragedy |url=http://www.metalstorm.ee/pub/interview.php?interview_id=168&page=&message_id= |publisher=Metalstorm.ee |access-date=7 May 2008}} and Leaves' Eyes.{{cite web |author=Seaver, Morley |title=Interview with Liv Kristine of Leaves' Eyes |publisher=Antimusic.com |url=http://www.antimusic.com/morley/05/LeavesEyes.shtml |access-date=7 May 2008}}

Lyrics based on personal experiences are another common feature of many gothic metal bands such as Anathema,{{cite web |author=Pedro Azevedo |title=Interview with Vincent Kavanagh of Anathema |url=http://www.chroniclesofchaos.com/articles/chats/1-173_anathema.aspx |publisher=Chronicles of Chaos |access-date=7 May 2008}} Elis,{{cite web |author=Dunphy, John |title=Interview with Sabine Duenser of Elis |url=http://www.musictap.net/Interviews/SabineDuenserElisInterview060605.htm |publisher=Musictap.net |access-date=7 May 2008 |archive-date=18 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080918100721/http://www.musictap.net/Interviews/SabineDuenserElisInterview060605.htm |url-status=dead }} Evanescence, Tiamat,{{cite web |title=Interview with Johan Edlund, Anders Iwers and Fredrik Åkesson of Tiamat |url=http://www.tartareandesire.com/interviews/tiamat.html |publisher=Tartareandesire.com |access-date=7 May 2008 |archive-date=17 June 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080617114404/http://www.tartareandesire.com/interviews/tiamat.html |url-status=usurped }} Midnattsol{{cite web |author=Fisher, Mark |title=Interview with Carmen Espanaes of Midnattsol |url=http://www.musicaldiscoveries.com/reviews/midnattsol.htm |publisher=Musicaldiscoveries.com |access-date=7 May 2008}} and the Old Dead Tree.{{cite web |author=Matthijssens, Vera |title=Interview with Manuel Mundoz of The Old Dead Tree |publisher=Lordsofmetal.nl |url=http://www.lordsofmetal.nl/showinterview.php?id=1880&lang=en |access-date=7 May 2008}} Graveworm moved away from fantasy stories in favour of personal lyrics after finding them more suitable for their style of music.{{cite web |author=Van Berlo, Boris |title=Interview with Stefan Fiori of Graveworm |url=http://www.tartareandesire.com/interviews/graveworm2.html |publisher=Tartareandesire.com |access-date=7 May 2008 |archive-date=6 November 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081106130619/http://www.tartareandesire.com/interviews/graveworm2.html |url-status=usurped }} The lyrics of fellow Italians Lacuna Coil also do not feature any "fantasy stuff or something that you cannot find in reality" as their co-vocalist Cristina Scabbia finds it desirable that people can relate themselves to her band's lyrics.{{cite web |author=Wolff, John |title=Interview with Cristina Scabbia of Lacuna Coil |publisher=Soniccathedral.com |url=http://www.soniccathedral.com/webzine/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=115&Itemid=36 |access-date=7 May 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071026010837/http://www.soniccathedral.com/webzine/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=115&Itemid=36 |archive-date=26 October 2007 }} Similarly, the band Lullacry features lyrics on the subjects of "love, hate, passion and pain" because a person "can easily connect to a song" with lyrics "about human relationships".{{cite web |author=Elliot, R. W |title=Interview with Tanja Lainio of Lullacry |publisher=Musicaldiscoveries.com |url=http://www.musicaldiscoveries.com/reviews/lullacry.htm |access-date=7 May 2008}} A few bands, such as Saviour Machine and Virgin Black, deal extensively with Christian religious themes and navigating personal religious faith.{{Cite web |last=Prado |first=Michael |date=19 April 2022 |title=Review Clásico: SAVIOUR MACHINE – Saviour Machine 🇺🇸 (1993) - The Dark Melody |url=https://thedarkmelody.com/review-clasico-saviour-machine-saviour-machine-%f0%9f%87%ba%f0%9f%87%b8-1993/,%20https://thedarkmelody.com/review-clasico-saviour-machine-saviour-machine-%F0%9F%87%BA%F0%9F%87%B8-1993/ |access-date=7 November 2023 |language=es }}{{Dead link|date=June 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{Cite web |last=Rosenberg |first=Axl |date=27 February 2008 |title=Exclusive Interview With Virgin Black's Samantha Escarbe |url=https://www.metalsucks.net/2008/02/27/exclusive-interview-with-virgin-blacks-samantha-escarbe/ |access-date=7 November 2023 |website=MetalSucks |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=mpo |date=20 September 2001 |title=An interview with... Virgin Black |url=http://www.artfortheears.nl/NL/r/i/virgin.htm |access-date=7 November 2023 |website=www.artfortheears.nl}}

File:Black Sabbath debut album.jpg's self-titled debut album (1970) with its gothic cover art]]

Heavy metal music is perceived by many members of the goth subculture as the "crass, crude macho antithesis of everything that their music represents".Baddeley 2002, pp. 263–4 In contrast to the "softer" and "more feminine" character of gothic music, the heavy metal genre is typically associated with aggression and masculinity.Punter 2004, p. 61 Despite this difference, "a few bold souls have identified Black Sabbath's eponymous 1970 debut album as the first ever 'Goth-rock' record". The author Gavin Baddeley notes that the title track of the album "describes a satanic rite, complete with driving-rain and tolling bell sound effects, while the cover focuses on a black-cloaked, spectral-looking girl in a graveyard, shot through a sickly pale ochre filter". Other commentators have described Black Sabbath as the "absolute prototype gothic heavies"Hoskyns 2004, p. 69 and observed that by separating the band's music "from their heavy metallic connotations", one "could cull a killer Goth album from their first five LP's, with every future reference point and requirement intact".Thompson 1994

The "vaguely medieval, minor-key sounds" of Rainbow, Dio and Judas Priest have also been described as "gothic" prior to "the emergence of goth rock as a post-punk genre". The bands Blue Öyster Cult and Iron Maiden have featured some gothic lyrics in their music on songs such as "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" and "Phantom of the Opera".Baddeley 2002, p. 264 Deep Purple's song "Stormbringer" has been called a "goth metal treasure".{{cite web |author=Henderson, Alex |title=Stormbringer. Review |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r5337|pure_url=yes}} |website=Allmusic |access-date=28 July 2010 }} The Danish metal band Mercyful Fate had also demonstrated "a Gothic obsession with evil and the occult".{{cite web| author=Huey, Steve |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p4901|pure_url=yes}} |title=Mercyful Fate |website=Allmusic |access-date=7 May 2008}} Frontman King Diamond continued exploring his interest in gothic storytelling after establishing a solo career under his own moniker,{{cite web| author=Rivadavia, Eduardo |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r10921|pure_url=yes}} |title=Fatal Portrait review |website=Allmusic |access-date=7 May 2008}} issuing "a series of concept albums which told Gothic horror tales with sound effects and song".Baddeley 2002, p. 265 During the 1980s, the Misfits frontman Glenn Danzig also "occupied the no man's land between Goth and heavy metal". With the dissolution of his second band Samhain in 1988 and the creation of his own eponymous act, Danzig went on to combine heavy metal riffs with "a heavily romanticized, brooding, gothic sensibility".{{cite web| author=Huey, Steve |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p4024|pure_url=yes}} |title=Danzig |website=Allmusic |access-date=7 May 2008}}

The Swiss group Celtic Frost was another precursor to gothic metal, translating the influence they drew from gothic rock acts Bauhaus and Siouxsie and the Banshees into their own albums.{{cite web| title=Metal-Rules| work=Tom Gabriel Fischer Interview| url=http://www.metal-rules.com/zine/content/view/561/0/| access-date=7 May 2008| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080413062921/http://www.metal-rules.com/zine/content/view/561/0/| archive-date=13 April 2008}} The band's "radical fusion of violent black metal and elements of classical music" was dubbed "avant-garde" and had a huge impact "on the evolution of European heavy metal".{{cite web| author=Rivadavia, Eduardo |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p3857|pure_url=yes}} |title=Celtic Frost |website=Allmusic |access-date=7 May 2008}} Christofer Johnsson of Therion cites Celtic Frost's 1987 album Into the Pandemonium in particular for playing a key role in the development of the "gothic and symphonic wave of bands" in the 1990s, noting further that neither his group Therion nor Paradise Lost "would have sounded the way we did without Celtic Frost".{{cite web| author=Williams, Barbara |url=http://www.metalcrypt.com/pages/interviews.php?intid=55 |title=Interview with Christofer Johnsson of Therion|publisher=Metalcrypt.com |access-date=7 May 2008}}

Image:2014 WGT 14 Christian Death.jpg in Leipzig, Germany, in 2014]]

Gothic rock had emerged as an offshoot of post-punk in the 1980s but by the end of that decade, the genre had splintered into different directions with bands such as the Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees and the Mission incorporating "more pop and alternative elements" while the Sisters of Mercy, Fields of the Nephilim and Christian Death took on a "heavier, sometimes metal-influenced approach".{{cite web |title=Goth Rock |url=http://www.allmusic.com/style/goth-rock-ma0000002623 |website=Allmusic |access-date=30 April 2016}} The Sisters of Mercy was one of the leading goth bands of the 1980s, playing "a slow, gloomy, ponderous hybrid of metal and psychedelia, often incorporating dance beats".{{cite web |author=Huey, Steve |title=Sisters of Mercy |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p5443|pure_url=yes}} |website=Allmusic |access-date=7 May 2008}} The band only released three full-length albums with the debut First and Last and Always released in 1985. Their last album Vision Thing arrived in 1990 as one of the earliest attempts to mix gothic music with heavy metal.Leguay 2006, p. 211 Fields of the Nephilim had also released only three studio albums before their initial dissolution in 1991.{{cite web |author=Bush, John |title=Fields of the Nephilim |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p12933|pure_url=yes}} |website=Allmusic |access-date=7 May 2008}} They have since reformed, released more albums and been recognised for their influence on the "glut of metal bands" in the early 21st century "that incorporated obvious elements of goth into their sound — especially detected in their appreciation of symphonic and keyboard sounds (as well as their fashion sense)".{{cite web |author=Prato, Greg |title=Mourning Sun review |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r814532|pure_url=yes}} |website=Allmusic |access-date=7 May 2008}}

According to AllMusic, "goth metal first emerged during the early to mid-'80s, centered around Los Angeles' so-called 'death-rock' scene headed by Christian Death". Acclaimed as the "founding fathers of American goth rock", Christian Death went through a major personnel change in 1985 with the departure of the band's leader and founder Rozz Williams.{{cite web| author=Huey, Steve |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p3896|pure_url=yes}} |title=Christian Death |website=Allmusic |access-date=7 May 2008}} Guitarist Valor Kand took over the reins and, under his leadership, Christian Death subsequently pursued a more metal-oriented direction.Leguay 2006, p. 68. In particular, their 1988 album Sex and Drugs and Jesus Christ has been described by critic Steve Huey as "heavy goth-rock bordering on metal".{{cite web| author=Huey, Steve |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r3954|pure_url=yes}} |title=Sex and Drugs and Jesus Christ review |website=Allmusic |access-date=7 May 2008}}

File:Metalmania 2007 - Paradise Lost - Nick Holmes 02.jpg is the vocalist of the pioneering Paradise Lost. The group is known to have influenced many subsequent bands in the genre.{{cite web| author=Bowar, Chad |title=In Requeim review |url=http://heavymetal.about.com/od/cdreviews/fr/paradiselostin.htm |publisher=About.com |access-date=6 April 2008}}]]

As a musical style, gothic metal "truly began in the early 1990s in the north of England" with the three bands Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride and Anathema representing "the core of the movement".Baddeley 2002, pp. 265–6
* See also Sharpe-Young 2007, pp. 246, 275 They are also recognised as three of the major bands that pioneered the death/doom subgenre, showing why gothic metal originated from death/doom. All three bands were signed to Peaceville Records during the early 1990s and have since been known as the "Peaceville Three".{{cite magazine |author=Blackie, Andrew |title=In Requiem review |url=http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/42122/paradise-lost-in-requiem/ |magazine=PopMatters |access-date=6 April 2008}} They had roots in "frenetically abrasive death metal, but they were also influenced by what Paradise Lost vocalist, Nick Holmes, described as the 'really bleak, dark sound' of Dead Can Dance".Baddeley 2002, pp. 265–6

Paradise Lost were the first to form in 1988 in Halifax, England.{{cite web| author=Ankeny, Jason |title=Paradise Lost |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p13905|pure_url=yes}} |website=Allmusic |access-date=6 April 2008}} Their debut album Lost Paradise was released in 1990 and "helped define the rules of doom/death metal: grinding, de-tuned anthems of woe topped with death metal-style guttural vocals" while demonstrating that the band was "already reaching for realms unknown to their then-amateurish abilities and latent promise".{{cite web| author=Rivadavia, Eduardo |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r59207|pure_url=yes}} |title=Lost Paradise review |website=AllMusic |access-date=6 April 2008}} The band was "evolving at a fast clip" and in the following year, their second "aptly titled album" Gothic came as "something of a departure for the band's earliest fans".{{cite web| author=Rivadavia, Eduardo |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r180066|pure_url=yes}} |title=Gothic review |website=Allmusic |access-date=6 April 2008}} With a "less deliberate, more energetic arrangements", the album featured a "slightly cleaner approach to guitar crunch" and "cautious use of keyboards and even female vocals, which together added atmospheric nuances to the group's ultra-depressive power chords". Gothic was a chart success across Europe, particularly in Germany,{{cite web |author=Sharpe-Young, Garry |title=Paradise Lost |publisher=MusicMight |url=http://www.rockdetector.com/artist/united+kingdom/west+yorkshire/halifax/paradise+lost |access-date=6 April 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081008173713/http://www.rockdetector.com/artist/united+kingdom/west+yorkshire/halifax/paradise+lost |archive-date=8 October 2008 }} and has since been acclaimed as "one of the most influential albums" in heavy metal music for creating the gothic metal genre. Their 1992 album Shades of God continued the transition{{cite web| author=Rivadavia, Eduardo |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r178935|pure_url=yes}} |title=Shades of God review |website=Allmusic |access-date=6 April 2008}} while the follow-up 1993 album Icon represented "a turning point" for the band with the experimental use of synthesised strings, timpani, piano and angelic female vocals.{{cite web |author=Anderson, Christopher |title=Icon review |website=Allmusic |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r189583|pure_url=yes}} |access-date=6 April 2008}} By the time of 1995's Draconian Times album, Paradise Lost's music firmly stood "between stark, oppressive goth rock and crunching heavy metal".{{cite web| author=Jehnzen, Daevid |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r220394|pure_url=yes}} |title=Draconian Times review |website=Allmusic |access-date=6 April 2008}} With these five albums, the band had created "a bold collection of songs that sounded like Black-era Metallica played by a group who loved the Sisters of Mercy".{{cite web |author=Bansal, Vik |title=Paradise Lost review |publisher=Musicomh.com |url=http://www.musicomh.com/albums/paradise-lost_1005.htm |access-date=6 April 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512023136/http://www.musicomh.com/albums/paradise-lost_1005.htm |archive-date=12 May 2008 }} They have since been recognised as the band that "originally laid the gothic seed that other bands have been nicking and reaping in recent years".

File:Metalmania 2007 My Dying Bride Aaron Stainthorpe 003.jpg of My Dying Bride credits Dead Can Dance, Swans and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds as inspirations.{{cite web |author=Malmstedt, Kalle |title=Interview with Aaron Stainthorpe of My Dying Bride |publisher=Releasemagazine.net |url=http://www.releasemagazine.net/Spotlight/spotlightmydyingbride.htm |access-date=6 April 2008}}]]

From Bradford, My Dying Bride were formed in 1990. An EP, Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium, "sparked a lot of interest" upon its release in 1991.{{cite web |author=Bromley, Adrian |title=Dying With Pride |publisher=Chronicles of Chaos |url=http://www.chroniclesofchaos.com/articles/chats/1-34_my_dying_bride.aspx |access-date=7 April 2008}} Their first full-length release, As the Flower Withers, followed shortly after in the same year. The album was critically acclaimed by the press and "turned the Doom genre on its head".{{cite web |author=Sharpe-Young, Garry |title=My Dying Bride |publisher=MusicMight |url=http://www.rockdetector.com/artist/united+kingdom/west+yorkshire/halifax/my+dying+bride |access-date=9 August 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021173441/http://www.rockdetector.com/artist/united+kingdom/west+yorkshire/halifax/my+dying+bride |archive-date=21 October 2012 }} They added a violinist to their line-up for their 1993 sophomore effort Turn Loose the Swans. On this "groundbreaking" album, the group introduced a "much greater element of dark romanticism to their doomy music".{{cite web| author=Serba, John |url=http://www.chroniclesofchaos.com/articles/chats/1-194_my_dying_bride.aspx |title=The Bride No Longer Wears Black |publisher=Chronicles of Chaos |access-date=7 April 2008}} Vocalist Aaron Stainthorpe explains the band's pursuit of this direction:

{{cquote|We knew that when Celtic Frost disappeared and turned into a glam rock band, we knew there was a market there for this sort of over-the-top avant-garde band, someone who were doing something a bit weird and unusual. Paradise Lost were doing similar-ish kind of things, but I don't think they had this more romantic edge. We definitely worked for that gothic appeal, and I'm not really sure why.}}

Their 1995 album The Angel and the Dark River "marked a shift in the band's strategy, for the first time dropping the death growl of Stainthorpe in favour of a 'clean' vocal delivery". The rest of the group "followed suit, setting aside any death metal influences, carefully using violins and keyboards to enhance the group's brooding excursions" into "fauna-wilting gothic doom metal".{{cite web| author=Serba, John |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r297037|pure_url=yes}} |title=The Angel and the Dark River review |website=AllMusic |access-date=7 April 2008}} While the album was more experimental, the music was still dark and atmospheric.

Also forming in 1990, the Liverpool-based band Anathema released a "highly acclaimed" EP, The Crestfallen, in 1992.{{cite web |author=Sharpe-Young, Garry |publisher=MusicMight |url=http://www.rockdetector.com/artist/united+kingdom/merseyside/liverpool/anathema |title=Anathema |access-date=7 April 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121004232956/http://www.rockdetector.com/artist/united+kingdom/merseyside/liverpool/anathema |archive-date=4 October 2012 }} The "crushing emotional doom/death" of this EP remained on their 1993 debut full-length Serenades,{{cite web |author=Azevedo, Pedro |url=http://www.chroniclesofchaos.com/articles/chats/1-173_anathema.aspx |title=Delusions of Silence |publisher=Chronicles of Chaos |access-date=7 April 2008}} "the most traditional doom-styled album in their catalog".{{cite web| author=Huey, Steve |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p45081|pure_url=yes}} |title=Anathema |website=Allmusic |access-date=7 April 2008}} Their juxtaposition of the fragile and ferocious "fostered a keen fan base". Pentecost III was recorded in 1994 as another EP "that nonetheless ended up long enough to have qualified as a full-length". The year 1995 saw the release of this EP as well as the departure of Darren White. Guitarist Vincent Cavanagh took over vocal duties for their subsequent album The Silent Enigma released later in the same year. The album "marked an important turning point in the band's sound" with critics drawing upon comparisons to Pink Floyd, "bringing new appreciation from a more mainstream band of listeners but also causing a withdrawal of support from hardened Doom fanatics". Like My Dying Bride, this transition involved leaving behind their traditional death metal sound.{{cite web| author=Taylor, Robert |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r246634|pure_url=yes}} |title=Eternity review |website=Allmusic |access-date=6 April 2008}} They continued experimenting with their 1996 album Eternity, "stretching its songs into sorrowful, orchestrated epics" that "quickly proved to be their most original work to date". While Anathema's music has "changed a lot", their "main features remained a heart-rending melancholy and intensity".{{cite web |author=Matthijssens, Vera |title=A Moment In Time review |publisher=Lordsofmetal.nl |url=http://www.lordsofmetal.nl/showreview.php?id=8206&lang=en |access-date=7 April 2008}}

File:Type O Negative in performance (Columbiahalle, Berlin - 15 June 2007).jpg, performing at the Columbiahalle in Berlin, Germany, was one of the earliest gothic metal bands.]]

In North America, Peter Steele had formed Type O Negative in 1990 out of the remnants of his former thrash metal band Carnivore.{{cite web |author=Huey, Steve |title=Type O Negative |website=Allmusic |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p14583|pure_url=yes}} |access-date=10 April 2008}} With their debut album Slow, Deep and Hard in 1991, the New York based outfit pursued a "melodramatic goth rock style" that "encompasses long songs built on simple riffs, theatrical shouting vocals, churchy-sounding organ and vocal-harmony passages, and the odd mechanical noise".{{cite web| author=Huey, Steve |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r20728|pure_url=yes}} |title=Slow, Deep and Hard review |website=Allmusic |access-date=10 April 2008}} The Origin of the Feces followed in 1992, but it was their third album Bloody Kisses in 1993 that became their breakthrough album.{{cite web |author=Maki, Jeff |title=Dead Again review |url=http://www.live-metal.net/cdreviews_typeonegative_deadagain |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071030070411/http://www.live-metal.net/cdreviews_typeonegative_deadagain |url-status=usurped |archive-date=30 October 2007 |publisher=Live-metal.net |access-date=10 April 2008}} AllMusic reviewer Steve Huey noted that the album had a "twistedly affectionate send-up of goth rock conventions" and lyrics that "gleefully wallow in goth clichés — sex, death, Christianity, vampires, more sex, and death".{{cite web| author=Huey, Steve |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r188919|pure_url=yes}} |title=Bloody Kisses review |website=Allmusic |access-date=10 April 2008}} The album has since sold nearly a million copies in the United States, a surprise success that "obliged Goths to take notice" of the group.Baddeley 2002, p. 270 The trademarks of Type O Negative's music include the use of "downtuned, fuzzy guitars"{{cite web |author=Quentin Kalis |title=Life Is Killing Me review |publisher=Chronicles of Chaos |url=http://www.chroniclesofchaos.com/reviews/albums/2-3182_type_o_negative_life_is_killing_me.aspx |access-date=10 April 2008}} and a "deep baritone croon"{{cite web |author=Bowar, Chad |title=Dead Again review |publisher=About.com |url=http://heavymetal.about.com/od/cdreviews/fr/typeonegative.htm |access-date=10 April 2008 |archive-date=6 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071206064736/http://heavymetal.about.com/od/cdreviews/fr/typeonegative.htm |url-status=dead }} from Peter Steele, an "intimidatingly large, sarcastically self-deprecating original, whose dry, dirty one-liners and morbid machismo challenge those who insist the archetypal Goth is a po-faced androgyne".Baddeley 2002, p. 269–70. Type O Negative has since been recognised as a pioneer of the genre. In a review of their 2007 album Dead Again, critic Greg Prato of Allmusic declared that "before Type O Negative, there was really no such thing as goth metal".{{cite web| author=Prato, Greg |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r1021702|pure_url=yes}} |title=Dead Again review |website=Allmusic |access-date=10 April 2008}}

Also in North America, the brothers Jeff and Eric Clayton formed Saviour Machine in 1989. Described as a Gothic and symphonic metal band as well as art rock,{{Cite web |last=Magliano |first=Fabio |date=1 December 2020 |title=Eric Clayton (Saviour Machine) – I miei 10 album fondamentali |url=http://www.metalhammer.it/rubriche/2020/12/01/eric-clayton-saviour-machine-i-miei-10-album-fondamentali/ |access-date=7 November 2023 |website=Metal Hammer Italy |language=it-IT}}; {{Cite web |last=Ariatti |first=Alessandro |title=Saviour Machine - Saviour Machine I |url=https://www.metal.it/album.aspx/45144/saviour-machine-saviour-machine-i/ |access-date=7 November 2023 |website=Metal Hammer Italy |language=Italian}}{{Cite web |last=Rockstroh |first=Joe |date=1998 |title=Legend Part II review by The Phantom Tollbooth |url=https://tollbooth.org/reviews/sm2.html |access-date=7 November 2023 |website=The Phantom Tollbooth}}{{Cite web |last=Prado |first=Michael |date=19 April 2022 |title=Review Clásico: Saviour Machine – Saviour Machine US (1993) |url=https://thedarkmelody.com/review-clasico-saviour-machine-saviour-machine-%f0%9f%87%ba%f0%9f%87%b8-1993/,%20https://thedarkmelody.com/review-clasico-saviour-machine-saviour-machine-%F0%9F%87%BA%F0%9F%87%B8-1993/ |access-date=7 November 2023 |language=es }}{{Dead link|date=June 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} the group released its first self-titled album in 1993.

The year 1988 saw not only the formation of Paradise Lost but another early gothic metal pioneer, the Swedish band Tiamat. Their debut album Sumerian Cry arrived in 1990 and featured "slightly above average death metal".{{cite web |author=Rivadavia, Eduardo |title=Sumerian Cry review |website=Allmusic |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r396647|pure_url=yes}} |access-date=11 April 2008}} Their third album Clouds was released in 1993 as the band's first turning-point, "starkly reducing speed and heaviness for melody and atmosphere".{{cite web |author=Melzer, Alexander |title=Clouds review |url=http://www.tartareandesire.com/reviews/Tiamat/Clouds/1237/ |publisher=Tartareandesire.com |access-date=13 April 2008 |archive-date=10 November 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091110110114/http://www.tartareandesire.com/reviews/Tiamat/Clouds/1237/ |url-status=usurped }} The album made an impact on the European metal community for its atmospheric doom metal approach "enhanced with keyboards which are never out of place or over-used".{{cite web |author=Eldefors, Vincent |title=Clouds review |url=http://www.tartareandesire.com/reviews/Tiamat/Clouds/1237/ |publisher=Tartareandesire.com |access-date=13 April 2008 |archive-date=10 November 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091110110114/http://www.tartareandesire.com/reviews/Tiamat/Clouds/1237/ |url-status=usurped }} The next album Wildhoney was unveiled in 1994 as an "artistic and commercial breakthrough, fully realizing the sound hinted at on previous releases and eliciting effusive praise in metal circles for its brooding, Gothic atmospherics".{{cite web| author=Huey, Steve |title=Tiamat |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p14500|pure_url=yes}} |website=Allmusic |access-date=13 April 2008}} The album featured an interplay of contrasts between delicate acoustic guitar, gentle whispering vocals and angelic choruses on the one hand and massive riffs, industrial grind and death metal grunting on the other.{{cite web |author=Rivadavia, Eduardo |title=Wildhoney review |website=Allmusic |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r207016|pure_url=yes}} |access-date=13 April 2008}} On subsequent releases, Tiamat moved further into gothic territory with Johan Edlund "dropping the metal growling in favor of an unearthly croon".{{cite web| author=Huey, Steve |title=Deeper Kind of Slumber review |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r304744|pure_url=yes}} |website=Allmusic |access-date=13 April 2008}} The result has seen critics comparing Edlund's vocals to the Sisters of Mercy's Andrew Eldritch, "alongside musical comparisons to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds". The band has been recognised for producing some of the most "overtly Gothic material" from Scandinavia.Baddeley 2002, p. 267

As far back as 1985, Celtic Frost had used female vocals for some songs on their To Mega Therion album.{{cite web | author=Sharpe-Young, Garry | url=http://www.rockdetector.com/artist/switzerland/celtic+frost | title=Celtic Frost | publisher=MusicMight | access-date=14 April 2008 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080921133525/http://www.rockdetector.com/artist/switzerland/celtic+frost | archive-date=21 September 2008 }} Paradise Lost began making similar use of female vocals from their very first album Lost Paradise in 1990. Inspired by the use of female vocals on Paradise Lost's second album Gothic, the Gathering released their debut album Always... in 1992 with growling vocalist Bart Smits supported by female singer Marike Groot.{{cite web|author=Willems, Steven |title=Interview with Hans Rutten of The Gathering |url=http://www.gathering.nl/presse.php?id=200104_tgnl |publisher=Gathering.nl |access-date=14 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080103040059/http://www.gathering.nl/presse.php?id=200104_tgnl |archive-date=3 January 2008 |url-status=dead }} The music on the album was "firmly rooted in the dark, midtempo style of gothic and doom metal".{{cite magazine |author=Begrand, Adrien |title=Mandylion review |magazine=PopMatters |url=http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/381/the_gathering_mandylion/ |access-date=14 April 2008}} Their second album Almost a Dance arrived in the following year with new vocalist Niels Duffhues, "a strange choice for the band".{{cite web |author=Bickers, James |title=The Gathering |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p29848|pure_url=yes}} |website=Allmusic |access-date=14 April 2008}} Duffhues' "punk-ish" and "alt-rock" style of singing was widely seen as out of place with the music, a perception that was shared by the band themselves,{{cite web |author=Schoenmakers, Remco |title=Interview with Anneke van Giersbergen of The Gathering |url=http://www.dprp.net/specials/gathering/index.html |publisher=Dprp.net |access-date=14 April 2008}} and the album was "largely written off as a result." The Gathering decided to drop the use of male vocals altogether and instead brought in a lead female vocalist Anneke van Giersbergen for their third full length Mandylion, an album that "saw the band adventurously breaking away from the Gothic Doom fare of previous works".{{cite web |author=Sharpe-Young, Garry |url=http://www.rockdetector.com/artist/netherlands/nijmegen/the+gathering |title=The Gathering |publisher=MusicMight |access-date=14 April 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101114102216/http://www.rockdetector.com/artist/netherlands/nijmegen/the+gathering |archive-date=14 November 2010 }} The result was considered a "groundbreaking achievement" upon its release in 1995{{cite web| author=Rivadavia, Eduardo |title=Mandylion review |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r227780|pure_url=yes}} |website=Allmusic |access-date=14 April 2008}} with critics lavishly describing it as "the perfect pinnacle of gothic metal".{{cite web |author=Grant, Sam |url=http://www.soniccathedral.com/webzine/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=63&Itemid=41 |title=Mandylion review |publisher=Soniccathedral.com |access-date=14 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081225121405/http://www.soniccathedral.com/webzine/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=63&Itemid=41 |archive-date=25 December 2008 |url-status=dead }} The Gathering's "introspective atmosphere owed a creative debt to Dead Can Dance, and established them as a leading band in their native Holland [sic]".

{{listen

| filename = Theatre of Tragedy - A Hamlet for a Slothful Vassal.ogg

| title = Theatre of Tragedy's "A Hamlet for a Slothful Vassal" (1995)

| description = A simultaneous duet between soprano and death vocals can be heard in this 24 second sample from Theatre of Tragedy's self-titled debut album.

| format = Ogg

| filename2 = Tristania - Angina.ogg

| title2 = Tristania's "Angina" (1999)

| description2 = This 30 second sample from Tristania's second album Beyond the Veil feature three distinct vocal styles with a black metal shriek followed by soprano and baritone vocals.

| format2 = Ogg

}}

File:Liv Kristine.jpg helped to pioneer the beauty and the beast approach.]]

The term "beauty and the beast" refers to an aesthetic contrasting "angelic" female vocals with male growls or aggressive singing.{{cite web |last1=Reesman |first1=Bryan |title=They Will Rise: Metal's female ranks on the move |date=1 November 2007 |work=GRAMMY.com |url=http://grammys.com/Latin/News/Default.aspx?newsID=2653&newsCategoryID=3 |access-date=9 August 2013}}{{dead link|date=May 2017|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} Paradise Lost and the Gathering had already made use of this technique on some songs from their earlier albums, but it was the Norwegian Theatre of Tragedy that first released an entire album devoted to this approach with their self-titled debut in 1995. A second album, Velvet Darkness They Fear, arrived in the following year.{{cite web |author=Sharpe-Young, Garry |url=http://www.rockdetector.com/artist/norway/stavanger/theatre+of+tragedy |title=Theatre of Tragedy |publisher=MusicMight |access-date=25 September 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927131438/http://www.rockdetector.com/artist/norway/stavanger/theatre+of+tragedy |archive-date=27 September 2013 }} Theatre of Tragedy's third album Aégis in 1998 saw the band "venturing into fresh musical territory". The piano was replaced by electronic keyboards while Raymond Rohonyi opted to discard his death growls in favour of a "soft, spoken, sometimes whispering voice".{{cite web |author=Eldefors, Vincent |title=Aégis review |url=http://www.tartareandesire.com/reviews/Theatre_Of_Tragedy/A%E9gis/1247/ |publisher=Tartareandesire.com |access-date=18 April 2008 |archive-date=5 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080305214501/http://www.tartareandesire.com/reviews/Theatre_Of_Tragedy/A%E9gis/1247/ |url-status=usurped }} The music was more clean and soft, "stripped of guitar harshness" but with a "near flawless execution" that "prompted many European critics to award Aégis perfect review scores".

Other bands that contrast aggressive male vocals and clean female vocals continued to emerge in the late 1990s. Trail of Tears had formed in 1994{{cite web |author=Sharpe-Young, Garry |url=http://www.rockdetector.com/artist/norway/kristiansand/trail+of+tears |title=Trail of Tears |publisher=MusicMight |access-date=18 April 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607060510/http://www.rockdetector.com/artist/norway/kristiansand/trail+of+tears |archive-date=7 June 2011 }} while Tristania formed in 1995{{cite web|url=http://www.mortemia.no/ |title=Biography |work=mortemia.no |access-date=23 October 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005193222/http://www.mortemia.no/ |archive-date=5 October 2013 }} and the Sins of Thy Beloved were formed in 1996.{{cite web |author=Sharpe-Young, Garry |url=http://www.rockdetector.com/artist/norway/bryne/the+sins+of+thy+beloved |title=The Sins of Thy Beloved |publisher=MusicMight |access-date=18 April 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607060631/http://www.rockdetector.com/artist/norway/bryne/the+sins+of+thy+beloved |archive-date=7 June 2011 }} All three Norwegian groups released their debut albums in 1998. Tristania stood apart from the others with their use of three distinct vocal styles in the "operatic soprano Vibeke Stene, clean-singing counter-tenor Østen Bergøy, and harsh, black metal-style shrieker Morten Veland".{{cite web |author=Rivadavia, Eduardo |title=Tristania |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p406830|pure_url=yes}} |website=Allmusic |access-date=18 April 2008}} Their second album Beyond the Veil in 1999 made use of a ten members choir and featured violin passages from Pete Johansen of the Sins of Thy Beloved,{{cite web |author=Eldefors, Vincent |url=http://www.tartareandesire.com/reviews/Tristania/Beyond_The_Veil/1258/ |title=Beyond the Veil review |publisher=Tartareandesire.com |access-date=11 May 2008 |archive-date=6 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606104607/http://www.tartareandesire.com/reviews/Tristania/Beyond_The_Veil/1258/ |url-status=usurped }} earning "rave reviews" across Europe. By then, the band had risen to "the top of the goth metal heap"{{cite web |author=Rivadavia, Eduardo |title=Sirenia |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p534188|pure_url=yes}} |website=Allmusic |access-date=18 April 2008}} with their "lush, symphonically enhanced" approach. They were "dealt a potentially crippling blow" when singer, guitarist and principal composer Veland left the group to form Sirenia. Tristania has continued to prosper with subsequent releases{{cite web |author=Rivadavia, Eduardo |title=Ashes review |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r726892|pure_url=yes}} |website=Allmusic |access-date=11 May 2008}} and has since been "regarded as one of the world's premiere goth metal bands".

For over a decade, this beauty and the beast aesthetic has flourished with many representatives across the European continent. Cradle of Filth has also been known to make use of this approach through guest female vocalists such as Liv Kristine and Sarah Jezebel Deva.{{cite web |author=Sharpe-Young, Garry |title=Cradle of Filth |url=http://www.rockdetector.com/artist/united+kingdom/suffolk/ipswich/cradle+of+filth |publisher=MusicMight |access-date=25 April 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080921133607/http://www.rockdetector.com/artist/united+kingdom/suffolk/ipswich/cradle+of+filth |archive-date=21 September 2008 }} A few critics have since lamented that the approach has been "done to death by countless bands".{{cite magazine |author=Begrand, Adrien |title=Blood and Thunder: The Great Beast Resurrected |magazine=PopMatters |url=http://www.popmatters.com/columns/begrand/060518.shtml |access-date=18 April 2008}}

{{listen

| filename = Within Temptation - Mother Earth.ogg

| title = Within Temptation's "Mother Earth" (2000)

| description = Rapid orchestral strings move to the forefront on the chorus of this title track from Within Temptation's second album Mother Earth.

| format = Ogg

| filename2 = Epica - Facade of Reality.ogg

| title2 = Epica's "Façade of Reality" (2003)

| description2 = Orchestral strings underline this beauty and the beast exchange from Epica's debut album The Phantom Agony.

| format2 = Ogg

}}

Tristania was not the only gothic metal band that brought a symphonic edge to their music. Influenced by the Peaceville trio of Paradise Lost, Anathema and My Dying Bride, the Dutch band Within Temptation was founded in 1996.{{cite web |author=Shyu, Jeffrey |url=http://www.ssmt-reviews.com/int/within.htm |title=Interview with Jeroen van Veen of Within Temptation |publisher=Ssmt-reviews.com |access-date=22 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120215082933/http://www.ssmt-reviews.com/int/within.htm |archive-date=15 February 2012 |url-status=dead }} A debut album Enter was unveiled in the following year, followed shortly by an EP The Dance.{{cite web |author=Sharpe-Young, Garry |url=http://www.rockdetector.com/artist/netherlands/utrecht/within+temptation |title=Within Temptation |publisher=MusicMight |access-date=9 August 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715194216/http://www.rockdetector.com/artist/netherlands/utrecht/within+temptation |archive-date=15 July 2011 }} Both releases made use of the beauty and beast approach delivered by vocalists Sharon den Adel and Robert Westerholt. Their second full length Mother Earth was released in 2000 and dispensed entirely with the death metal vocals, instead "relying solely on den Adel's majestic vocal ability". The album was a commercial success with their lead single "Ice Queen" topping the charts in Belgium and their native Netherlands.{{cite web |author=Taylor, Robert |title=Mother Earth review |website=Allmusic |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r548440|pure_url=yes}} |access-date=22 April 2008}} Their third album The Silent Force arrived in 2004 as an "ambitious project featuring a full orchestra and 80-voice choir accompanying the band".{{cite web| author=Deming, Mark |title=Within Temptation |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p508773|pure_url=yes}} |website=Allmusic |access-date=22 April 2008}} The result was another commercial success across Europe and introduced "the world of heavy guitars and female vocals" to "a mainstream audience".{{cite web |author=Tuinman, Ferdinand |title=The Silent Force review |url=http://www.lordsofmetal.nl/showreview.php?id=4842&lang=en |publisher=Lordsofmetal.nl |access-date=22 April 2008}}

File:Sharon free.jpg of Within Temptation]]

Within Temptation's brand of gothic metal combines "the guitar-driven force of hard rock with the sweep and grandeur of symphonic music". The critic Chad Bowar of About.com describes their style as "the optimum balance" between "the melody and hooks of mainstream rock, the depth and complexity of classical music and the dark edge of gothic metal".{{cite web |author=Bowar, Chad |title=The Heart of Everything review |publisher=About.com |url=http://heavymetal.about.com/od/cdreviews/fr/withintemptatio.htm |access-date=22 April 2008 |archive-date=11 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080111030105/http://heavymetal.about.com/od/cdreviews/fr/withintemptatio.htm |url-status=dead }} The commercial success of Within Temptation has since resulted in the emergence of a large number of other female-fronted gothic metal bands, particularly in the Netherlands.{{cite web |author=Tuinman, Ferdinand |title=The Heart of Everything review |publisher=Lordsofmetal.nl |url=http://www.lordsofmetal.nl/showreview.php?id=9370&lang=en |access-date=22 April 2008}}

Another Dutch band in the symphonic gothic metal strain is After Forever. Their debut album Prison of Desire in 2000 was "a courageous, albeit flawed first study into an admittedly daunting undertaking: to wed heavy metal with progressive rock arrangements and classical music orchestration — then top it all off with equal parts gruesome cookie-monster vocals and a fully qualified opera singer".{{cite web |author=Rivadavia, Eduardo |title=Prison of Desire review |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r640587|pure_url=yes}} |website=Allmusic |access-date=22 April 2008}} A second album Decipher followed in 2001 with music that was described by guitarist Sander Gommans as being in the style of Within Temptation.{{cite web |author=Vermeere, Ralph |title=Interview with Sander Gommans of After Forever |publisher=Rockezine.com |url=http://www.rockezine.com/asp/rez_ainterview.asp?ID=460&interview=After%20Forever%20with%20Sander%20Gommans|access-date=22 April 2008}} Founding member, guitarist and vocalist Mark Jansen departed After Forever only a few months after the release of this album.{{cite web |author=Sharpe-Young, Garry |title=After Forever |url=http://www.rockdetector.com/artist/netherlands/after+forever |publisher=MusicMight |access-date=9 August 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927164117/http://www.rockdetector.com/artist/netherlands/after+forever |archive-date=27 September 2013 }} Jansen would go on to form Epica, another band that performs a blend of gothic and symphonic metal. A debut album The Phantom Agony emerged in 2003 with music that combines Jansen's death grunts with the "angelic tones of a classically trained mezzo-soprano named Simone Simons, over a lush foundation of symphonic power metal".{{cite web |author=Rivadavia, Eduardo |title=The Phantom Agony Review |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r674057|pure_url=yes}} |website=Allmusic |access-date=22 April 2008}} The music of Epica has been described as combination of "a dark, haunting gothic atmosphere with bombastic and symphonic music".{{cite web |author=Bowar, Chad |title=The Divine Conspiracy review |url=http://heavymetal.about.com/od/cdreviews/fr/epicadivine.htm |publisher=About.com |access-date=22 April 2008 |archive-date=20 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120162249/http://heavymetal.about.com/od/cdreviews/fr/epicadivine.htm |url-status=dead }} Like Within Temptation and After Forever,{{cite web |author=Matthijssens, Vera |title=After Forever Review |url=http://www.lordsofmetal.nl/showreview.php?id=9203&lang=en |publisher=Lordsofmetal.nl |access-date=22 April 2008}} Epica has been known to make use of an orchestra.{{cite web |author=Smit, Bas |title=Consign To Oblivion Review |publisher=Lordsofmetal.nl |url=http://www.lordsofmetal.nl/showreview.php?id=5322&lang=en |access-date=22 April 2008}} Their 2007 album The Divine Conspiracy was a chart success in their home country.{{cite news |title=Epica: 'The Divine Conspiracy' Enters Dutch Chart At No. 9 |date=14 September 2007 |work=Blabbermouth.net |url=http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/BLABBERMOUTH.NET/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=80811 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20070502104536/http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/BLABBERMOUTH.NET/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=80811 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2 May 2007 |access-date=9 May 2008 }}

This blend of symphonic and gothic metal has also been arrived at from the opposite direction. The band Nightwish from Finland began as a symphonic power metal act{{cite web |author=Rivadavia, Eduardo |title=Century Child review |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r641059|pure_url=yes}} |website=Allmusic |access-date=23 April 2008}} before introducing gothic elements on their 2004 album Once,{{cite web |author=Grant, Sam |url=http://www.soniccathedral.com/webzine/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=85&Itemid=36 |title=Once review |publisher=Soniccathedral.com |access-date=23 April 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080804003751/http://www.soniccathedral.com/webzine/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=85&Itemid=36 |archive-date=4 August 2008 }} particularly on the single "Wish I Had an Angel".{{cite web |author=Fulton, Katherine |title=End of an Era review |website=Allmusic |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r842788|pure_url=yes}} |access-date=23 April 2008}} They continued to mix their style of "bombastic, symphonic and cinematic" metal with a gothic atmosphere on their next albums Dark Passion Play in 2007 and Imaginaerum in 2011.{{cite web |author=Bowar, Chad |title=Dark Passion Play Review |publisher=About.com |url=http://heavymetal.about.com/od/cdreviews/fr/nightwishdark.htm |access-date=23 April 2008 |archive-date=21 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130521064022/http://heavymetal.about.com/od/cdreviews/fr/nightwishdark.htm |url-status=dead }} In the book Rough Guide to Heavy Metal, Essi Berelian describes Nightwish as "gothic film score metal".Berelian 2005, p. 250 The Swedish group Therion also introduced gothic elements to their brand of symphonic metal on their 2007 album Gothic Kabbalah.{{cite web |author=Bowar, Chad |title=Gothic Kabbalah review |publisher=About.com |url=http://heavymetal.about.com/od/cdreviews/fr/theriongothic.htm |access-date=23 April 2008 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303200239/http://heavymetal.about.com/od/cdreviews/fr/theriongothic.htm |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |author=Maki, Jeff |url=http://www.live-metal.net/cdreviews_therion_gothickabbalah.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071030070214/http://www.live-metal.net/cdreviews_therion_gothickabbalah.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=30 October 2007 |title=Gothic Kabbalah review |publisher=Live-metal.net |access-date=23 April 2008}}

With the release of their sixth album One Second in 1997, Paradise Lost brought a more commercial and pop-oriented direction to the genre they had helped created but the success of Draconian Times has not been overcome.{{cite web |url=http://www.paradiselost.co.uk/band-biography.html |title=Band Biography (from Official site |publisher=www.paradiselost.co.uk |access-date=19 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100610015835/http://www.paradiselost.co.uk/band-biography.html |archive-date=10 June 2010 }} Praised by Eduardo Rivadavia of Allmusic as a "radical but impressive departure", the album drew comparisons to Depeche Mode with nothing remaining "of their early death/doom metal origins".{{cite web| author=Rivadavia, Eduardo |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r308337|pure_url=yes}} |title=One Second review |website=Allmusic |access-date=6 April 2008}} Subsequent albums "progressively experimented with electronics and pop elements, with the guitars gradually getting pushed further into the background". The result was "an accessible sound and a strong emphasis on catchy choruses".{{cite web |author=Azevedo, Pedro |url=http://www.chroniclesofchaos.com/reviews/albums/2-3827_paradise_lost_paradise_lost.aspx# |title=Paradise Lost review |publisher=Chronicles of Chaos |access-date=6 April 2008}} Despite attaining "a huge reputation in Europe, where all of their albums have sold strongly", the group's status as "the progenitors of gothic metal" has been "constantly overlooked, both in their homeland and the US, possibly because of their determination to never make the same record twice".

In contrast, Cradle of Filth has become "one of the very biggest names" in their black metal genre with impressive albums sales and mainstream appearances on MTV,{{cite web |author=Jurek, Thom |title=Thornography review |website=Allmusic |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r854743|pure_url=yes}} |access-date=25 April 2008}} a level of success that has attracted accusations of "selling out" by the "black metal faithful".

Moonspell too has "lost a lot of fans who couldn't keep up with the changes" to their music.{{cite web |author=Tuinman, Ferdinand |title=Interview with Fernando Ribeiro of Moonspell |url=http://www.lordsofmetal.nl/showinterview.php?id=393&lang=en |publisher=Lordsofmetal.nl |access-date=13 April 2008}} In the opinion of vocalist Fernando Ribeiro, fans of the early 1990s were "less cynical and more open-minded in their hearts and minds" than they are in 2007.{{cite web |author=Matthijssens, Vera |title=Interview with Fernando Ribeiro of Moonspell |url=http://www.lordsofmetal.nl/showinterview.php?id=1922&lang=en |publisher=Lordsofmetla.nl |access-date=25 April 2008}} Nonetheless, the band has continued to experience success with their 2006 album Memorial debuting at number 1 on their native Portuguese charts.{{cite web |author=Sharpe-Young, Garry |title=Moonspell |url=http://www.rockdetector.com/artist/portugal/brandoa/moonspell |publisher=MusicMight |access-date=9 August 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927133145/http://www.rockdetector.com/artist/portugal/brandoa/moonspell |archive-date=27 September 2013 }} They were rewarded with the "Best Portuguese Act" award at the 2006 MTV European Music Awards,{{cite news |title=Moonspell Named Best Portuguese Act At MTV's Europe Music Awards |date=2 November 2006 |work=Blabbermouth.net |url=http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=61480 |access-date=25 April 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310211305/http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=61480 |archive-date=10 March 2007 }} a feat matched by Within Temptation in the following year with the "Best Dutch & Belgian Act" award.{{cite news |title=Within Temptation Wins Best Dutch & Belgian Act Award At MTV's European Music Awards |date=2 November 2007 |url=http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=84018 |work=Blabbermouth.net |access-date=25 April 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090221194949/http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=84018 |archive-date=21 February 2009 }} Within Temptation further received recognition as their country's best selling artist at the 2007 World Music Awards.{{cite news |title=Within Temptation Honored At World Music Awards |url=http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=84213 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120526213538/http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=84213 |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 May 2012 |date=5 November 2007 |work=Blabbermouth.net |access-date=25 April 2008 }}

File:Lacuna Coil live in Lima, Peru 2017.jpg

The Italian band Lacuna Coil has also become a "premiere act" of the gothic metal genre.{{cite web |author=Sharpe-Young, Garry |title=Lacuna Coil |url=http://www.rockdetector.com/artist/italy/lombardy/milan/lacuna+coil |publisher=MusicMight |access-date=9 August 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201195842/http://www.rockdetector.com/artist/italy/lombardy/milan/lacuna+coil |archive-date=1 February 2014 }} The group employs both a female vocalist Cristina Scabbia and a male vocalist Andrea Ferro, although the group uses less of a 'beauty and the beast' style, with Ferro primarily using clean vocals. Formed in Milan in 1994, they released a demo tape in 1996 strongly influenced by Paradise Lost and Type O Negative.{{cite web| author=Karma E. Omowale| title=Interview with Andrea Ferro of Lacuna Coil| url=http://www.fourteeng.net/LacunaCoil.html| publisher=Fourteeng.net| access-date=23 April 2008| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012050648/http://www.fourteeng.net/LacunaCoil.html| archive-date=12 October 2012| url-status=dead}} The band "turned a lot of heads in Italy's ambient/goth scene" with their self-titled EP in 1998.{{cite web| author=DaRonco, Mike |title=Lacuna Coil |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p293279|pure_url=yes}} |website=Allmusic |access-date=23 April 2008}} Their debut album In a Reverie was released in 1999 with a style that bore "some similarities to contemporaries like the Gathering and Moonspell".{{cite web |author=Huey, Steve |title=In a Reverie review |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r417320|pure_url=yes}} |website=Allmusic |access-date=23 April 2008}} Lacuna Coil's music was also "more accessible than many of their peers".{{cite web |author=Hinds, Andy |title=Unleashed Memories |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r524561|pure_url=yes}} |website=Allmusic |access-date=23 April 2008}} A second album, Unleashed Memories, arrived in 2001, but it was their third full-length, Comalies, that became their breakthrough album, "highly praised by the metal world after its release in October 2002". On the strength of Comalies, Lacuna Coil became the most successful artist in the history of their label Century Media Records as well as the highest selling rock act in their home country Italy. The band has also achieved the distinction of being the first and, as of late 2007, the only European gothic metal band to successfully break into the United States market with radio airplay and impressive album sales. Their highly anticipated{{cite web |author=Bowar, Chad |title=Karmacode review |publisher=About.com |url=http://heavymetal.about.com/od/cdreviews/gr/lacunacoil.htm |access-date=23 April 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513023813/http://heavymetal.about.com/od/cdreviews/gr/lacunacoil.htm |archive-date=13 May 2008 }} fourth album Karmacode was even more successful, debuting at number 28 on the Billboard charts, and also debuting on many European music charts. The Comalies and Karmacode albums "reportedly sold nearly 1 million units combined worldwide, a good chunk of that in the States". The band has also performed on the main stage of the American heavy metal festival Ozzfest.{{cite news |title=LACUNA COIL Singer Checks In From OZZFEST |date=14 July 2006 |url=http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=55099 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130201100255/http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=55099 |url-status=dead |archive-date=1 February 2013 |work=Blabbermouth.net |access-date=6 July 2008 }} Their next two albums, Shallow Life and Dark Adrenaline, debuted at number 16[{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=lacuna coil|chart=all}} "Lacuna Coil - Shallow Life"]. Billboard.com. Retrieved 7 May 2012. and number 15,{{cite news |url=http://legacy.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=169055 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130104214855/http://legacy.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=169055 |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 January 2013 |title=Lacuna Coil's 'Dark Adrenaline' Cracks U.S. Top 15 |access-date=7 May 2012 |work=Blabbermouth.net }} respectively, on the Billboard charts.

File:Evanescence_at_The_Wiltern_theatre_in_Los_Angeles,_California_08.jpg

In 2003, the rock group Evanescence from Arkansas, United States also found commercial success with the release of their debut album Fallen,{{cite news |title=Second Cup Cafe: Amy Lee Of Evanescence |work=CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/second-cup-cafe-amy-lee-of-evanescence/ |date=10 November 2007 |access-date=27 April 2008}} which has been described as a blend of gothic and alternative metal{{cite web |author=Smit, Bas |title=Fallen review |url=http://www.lordsofmetal.nl/showreview.php?id=2358&lang=en |publisher=Lordsofmetal.nl |access-date=27 April 2008}} and drawing comparisons to other alternative metal acts like P.O.D.{{cite magazine |author=Miller, Kirk |title=Fallen review |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/evanescence/albums/album/319429/review/5947042/fallen |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061022202235/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/evanescence/albums/album/319429/review/5947042/fallen |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 October 2006 |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=27 April 2008}} and Linkin Park.{{cite web |author=Loftus, Johnny |title=Fallen review |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r627641|pure_url=yes}} |website=Allmusic |access-date=27 April 2008}} In October 2011, Evanescence's self-titled album was released and represented a mix of gothic nu metal and hard rock.{{cite news|url=http://music.ign.com/articles/119/1199958p1.html |title=Evanescence: Evanescence Review |first=Chad |last=Grischow |date=12 October 2011 |publisher=IGN. News Corporation |access-date=14 October 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111025234759/http://music.ign.com/articles/119/1199958p1.html |archive-date=25 October 2011 }} Further comparisons have since been drawn between Evanescence and gothic metal groups like Within Temptation and Lacuna Coil.{{cite web| author=Albertson, Cammila |title=Karmacode Review |website=Allmusic |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r820428|pure_url=yes}} |access-date=27 April 2008}} Critic Adrien Begrand of PopMatters wryly notes that while Lacuna Coil "had been tirelessly building a fanbase in Europe since the late 1990s with their listener-friendly brand of goth metal", they had been overshadowed by "a bunch of corn-fed kids from Arkansas with a big publicity machine behind them [taking] the very sound the Italian sextet had helped pioneer, and present it to the American suburban goth kids in a much more pop-oriented, dumbed down variation".{{cite magazine| author=Begrand, Adrien |title=Karmacode Review |magazine=PopMatters |url=http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/lacuna_coil_karmacode/ |access-date=7 May 2008}} Cammila Albertson of Allmusic similarly locates Evanescence as one step further from gothic metal, offering the description of the band as "a pop version of an already diluted brand of metal". While Fernando Ribeiro of Moonspell contends that Evanescence is not a metal band,{{cite web |last1=Ficklin |first1=Jeff |title=Moonspell — Interview With Vocalist Fernando Ribeiro |date=11 December 2006 |location=Houston TX |publisher=metal-realm.net |url=http://www.metal-realm.net/index.php?page=fernandoribeiro |access-date=27 April 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090227003322/http://www.metal-realm.net/index.php?page=fernandoribeiro |archive-date=27 February 2009 }} publications such as the New York Times, Rough Guides, Rolling Stone and Blender have nonetheless identified Evanescence as a gothic metal act.{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DEEDD103BF93BA35751C0A9629C8B63 |title=A NIGHT OUT WITH: Amy Lee; The Goth Candidate |newspaper=New York Times |author=Chaplin, Julia |date=8 February 2008 |access-date=22 February 2009}}Berelian 2005, p. 114{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/11963302/review/11970630 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061023071508/http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/11963302/review/11970630/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=23 October 2006 |title=Evanescence: The Open Door |magazine=Rolling Stone |author=Sheffield, Rob |date=5 October 2006 |access-date=20 August 2008}}{{cite magazine|url=http://www.blender.com/guide/reviews.aspx?id=1169 |title=Evanescence (live concert) |magazine=Blender |author=Catucci, Nick |date=7 August 2003 |access-date=20 August 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090113092525/http://www.blender.com/guide/reviews.aspx?id=1169 |archive-date=13 January 2009 }} Adrian Jackson, former bassist My Dying Bride feels the American group is doing something similar to My Dying Bride's music, only in a more accessible direction.{{cite journal |url=http://www.decibelmagazine.com/features_detail.aspx?id=5875 |title=My Dying Bride |journal=Decibel |author=Grow, Kory |issue=28 |date=February 2007 |access-date=11 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070115180642/http://www.decibelmagazine.com/features_detail.aspx?id=5875 |archive-date=15 January 2007}} Gregor Mackintosh of Paradise Lost notes a generation gap between his group and Evanescence, suggesting that Paradise Lost has only influenced Evanescence indirectly through other acts like Lacuna Coil.{{cite web|author=D., Chris |title=Interview with Gregor Mackintosh of Paradise Lost |url=http://www.metal-temple.com/interview.asp?id=239 |publisher=Metal-temple.com |access-date=27 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080415105521/http://www.metal-temple.com/interview.asp?id=239 |archive-date=15 April 2008 |url-status=dead }} The success of Evanescence has been recognised for opening "new grounds" for gothic metal bands to "explore and conquer".{{cite magazine |author=McGrath, Ken |title=Interview with Robert Westerholt of Within Temptation |magazine=Blistering |url=http://www.blistering.com/fastpage/fpengine.php/link/1/templateid/10378/tempidx/5/menuid/3 |access-date=27 April 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061005013334/http://www.blistering.com/fastpage/fpengine.php/link/1/templateid/10378/tempidx/5/menuid/3 |archive-date=5 October 2006 }}

File:Ville Valo by welovethedark.jpg of HIM cites Type O Negative and the Peaceville Three as some of his influences.{{cite news |title=HIM: New Video Interview With Ville Valo Available |date=27 September 2007 |url=http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=81635 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120526213548/http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=81635 |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 May 2012 |work=Blabbermouth.net |access-date=11 May 2008 }}]]

Another act that has attracted both commercial success and controversy is the band HIM. The group has "not only dominated the charts in their native Finland but also across Europe and in particular Germany".{{cite web |author=Sharpe-Young, Garry |title=HIM |url=http://www.rockdetector.com/artist/finland/helsinki/h+i+m+ |publisher=MusicMight |access-date=9 August 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130923015344/http://www.rockdetector.com/artist/finland/helsinki/h+i+m+ |archive-date=23 September 2013 }} Their debut album arrived in 1997 as Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666 with music that "combines metal with '80s rock and some goth influences".{{cite web |author=Ravelin, Antti J |title=Greatest Lovesongs, Vol. 666 review |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r497614|pure_url=yes}} |website=Allmusic |access-date=9 May 2008}} HIM began moving towards a more "polished pop" direction on their next album Razorblade Romance in 2000.{{cite web |author=Ravelin, Antti J |title=Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights review |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r585810|pure_url=yes}} |website=Allmusic |access-date=9 May 2008}} The band describes their "Sabbath-meets-Depeche Mode sound" as love metal,{{cite web |author=Broadley, Erin |title=Interview with Ville Valo of HIM |url=http://suicidegirls.com/interviews/Ville+Valo+of+HIM/ |publisher=Suicidegirls.com |access-date=9 May 2008}} the title of their fourth album in 2003. Their subsequent release two years later Dark Light was their breakthrough album in the United States with a debut at number 18 on the Billboard charts,{{cite news |title=H.I.M.: 'Dark Light' Breaks U.S. Top 20! |url=http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=42530 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120526213553/http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=42530 |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 May 2012 |date=5 October 2005 |work=Blabbermouth.net |access-date=9 May 2008 }} a feat exceeded when their next album Venus Doom in 2007 made a debut at number 12.{{cite news |title=HIM On MTV Germany's 'TRL'; Video Available |url=http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=81895 |date=2 October 2007 |work=Blabbermouth.net |access-date=9 May 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071002221057/http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=81895 |archive-date=2 October 2007 }} Critic Lance Teegarden of PopMatters notes that HIM is "not the sort of act that conjures up a lukewarm response [as] people either like them or discredit them outright".{{cite magazine |author=Teegarden, Lance |title=Love Metal review |url=http://www.popmatters.com/music/reviews/h/him-lovemetal.shtml |magazine=PopMatters |access-date=9 May 2008}}

In the 21st century, gothic metal has enjoyed a strong mainstream presence in Finland with many representatives enjoying commercial success. In addition to the aforementioned HIM,{{cite news |title=HIM: 'Venus Doom' Enters Finnish Chart At No. 2 |url=http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/Blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=81152 |date=20 September 2007 |work=Blabbermouth.net |access-date=9 May 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011110257/http://roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=81152 |archive-date=11 October 2007 }} the bands Charon,{{cite news |title=Charon: 'Colder' Single Enters Finnish Chart At No. 5 |url=http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=45797 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120526213600/http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=45797 |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 May 2012 |date=19 December 2005 |work=Blabbermouth.net |access-date=9 May 2008 }} Entwine,{{cite news |title=Entwine Reach No. 3 On Finnish Singles Chart |url=http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=19378 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120526213558/http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=19378 |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 May 2012 |date=19 February 2004 |work=Blabbermouth.net |access-date=9 May 2008 }} For My Pain...,{{cite news |title=For My Pain... Climb To Position No. 7 On Finnish Single Chart |url=http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=59119 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120526213601/http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=59119 |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 May 2012 |date=4 July 2004 |work=Blabbermouth.net |access-date=9 May 2008 }} Lullacry,{{cite news |title=Lullacry Debut At Finnish #5! |url=http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=9214 |date=27 January 2003 |work=Blabbermouth.net |access-date=9 May 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031106194820/http://roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=9214 |archive-date=6 November 2003 }} Poisonblack,{{cite news |title=Poisonblack: 'Lust Stained Despair' Enters Finnish Chart At No. 2 |url=http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=57912 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120526213608/http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=57912 |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 May 2012 |date=7 September 2006 |work=Blabbermouth.net |access-date=9 May 2008 }} Sentenced,{{cite news |title=Sentenced Top Finnish Single Chart |url=http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=59119 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120526213601/http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=59119 |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 May 2012 |date=8 May 2005 |work=Blabbermouth.net |access-date=9 May 2008 }} The 69 Eyes{{Cite web |title=finnishcharts.com - Finnish charts portal |url=https://finnishcharts.com/search.asp?search=the+69+eyes&cat=a |access-date=26 February 2023 |website=finnishcharts.com}} and To/Die/For{{cite news |title=To/Die/For: New Single Is A Chart Success In Finland |url=http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=59119 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120526213601/http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=59119 |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 May 2012 |date=24 September 2006 |work=Blabbermouth.net |access-date=9 May 2008 }} have all found their singles or albums hitting the top ten of the Finnish charts. Of these bands, Sentenced notably formed as far back as 1989{{cite web |author=Sharpe-Young, Garry |title=Sentenced |url=http://www.rockdetector.com/artist/finland/oulu/sentenced |publisher=MusicMight |access-date=25 September 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927131418/http://www.rockdetector.com/artist/finland/oulu/sentenced |archive-date=27 September 2013 }} with their early albums in the melodic and blackened death metal vein. For My Pain... was formed as a supergroup with members from other prominent bands in Finland including Nightwish, Embraze, Eternal Tears of Sorrow and Reflexion.{{cite news |title=For My Pain: A New Finnish "Supergroup" |url=http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.Net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=2270 |date=22 March 2002 |work=Blabbermouth.net |access-date=9 May 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031102054150/http://roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=2270 |archive-date=2 November 2003 }}

• List of gothic festivals
• List of gothic metal bands
• Goth subculture
• Gothic rock

{{Reflist}}

• {{Cite book |last=Baddeley |first=Gavin |title=Gothic Chic: A Connoisseur's Guide to Dark Culture |publisher=Plexus Publishing Limited |year=2002 |location=London |isbn=0-85965-308-0}}
• {{Cite book |last=Berelian |first=Essi |title=The Rough Guide to Heavy Metal |publisher=Rough Guides |year=2005 |location=London |isbn=1-84353-415-0}}
• {{Cite book |last1=Buckley |first1=Peter |last2=Buckley |first2=Jonathan |title=The Rough Guide to Rock |publisher=Rough Guides |year=2003 |location=London |isbn=1-84353-105-4 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/roughguidetorock0003unse }}
• {{Cite book |last=Day |first=Peter |title=Vampires: Myths and Metaphors of Enduring Evil |publisher=Rodopi |year=2006 |location=New York |isbn=90-420-1669-8}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Gunn |first=Joshua |title=Dark Admissions: Gothic Subculture and the Ambivalence of Misogyny and Resistance |editor-last=Goodlad |editor-first=Lauren M. E. |editor2-last=Bibby |editor2-first=Michael |journal=Goth: Undead Subculture |year=2007 |pages=41–65 |publisher=Duke University Press |location=Durham |isbn=978-0-8223-3921-2}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Kavka |first=Misha |title=The Gothic on Screen |editor-last=Hogle |editor-first=Jerrold E |journal=The Cambridge Companion to Gothic Fiction |year=2007 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/cambridgecompani0000unse_i5u1/page/209 209–228] |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-79466-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgecompani0000unse_i5u1/page/209 }}
• {{Cite book |last=Kilpatrick |first=Nancy |title=The Goth Bible: A Compendium for the Darkly Inclined |publisher=St. Martin's Griffin |year=2004 |location=New York |isbn=0-312-30696-2 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780312306960 }}
• {{Cite book |last=Hoskyns |first=Barney |title=Into the Void: Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath |publisher=Omnibus Press |year=2004 |location=London |isbn=1-84449-150-1 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/intovoidozzyosbo0000unse }}
• {{Cite book |last=Kahn-Harris |first=Keith |title=Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge |publisher=Berg Publishers |location=Oxford |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-84520-399-3}}
• {{Cite book |last1=Leguay |first1=Stephane |last2=Glenadel |first2=Mario |title=Carnets noirs: musiques, attitudes, cultures gothiques, électroniques & industrielles Acte 1 La scène internationale |publisher=E-dite |year=2006 |location=Paris |isbn=2-84608-176-X}}
• {{Cite book |last1=Punter |first1=David |last2=Byron |first2=Glennis |title=The Gothic |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |year=2004 |location=Malden |isbn=0-631-22063-1}}
• {{Cite book |last=Sharpe-Young |first=Garry |title=Metal: The Definitive Guide |publisher=Jawbone Press |year=2007 |location=London |isbn= 978-1-906002-01-5}}
• {{Cite journal |last1=Thompson |first1=Dave |last2=Greene |first2=Jo-Ann |title=Undead Undead Undead |journal=Alternative Press |date=November 1994 |url=http://www.gothicsubculture.com/articles/undead.php}}

• [http://www.allmusic.com/style/goth-metal-ma0000011855 Goth metal] at Allmusic

{{Heavymetal}}{{Extreme metal}}{{Gothic}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gothic Metal}}

Category:Heavy metal genres

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