Gothic is usually not a strictly popular style, being given a tendency towards gorgeous poetry, ruthlessly sad elegies and endless drama. However, it spawned an engaged and still thriving subculture, keeping its aesthetic concepts alive long after the music's original heyday. The godfather of goth is the British former punk musician Joy Division. His bleak, remote, and obsessive introspective music and lyrics laid the foundation for the original structure of goth. But for all intents and purposes, what really gave goth life was "Bela Lugosis Dead," from Bauhaus' 1979 debut album. Grimly pre-punk bands like the Cure and Siouxsie & the Banshees had perfected the goth style during the same period, and their heavy music, intimidating looks and black costumes became an important part of their fan adoration. . As goth's popularity spread among a certain sensibility alienated by teenagers (first in England, where most goth bands originated, and later in the United States), its ideological ethos became increasingly eccentric. , and the initial timbre developed slightly.
The Cure, Siouqwie & the Banshees and the Mission UK became more popular and alternative elements in their music, while the Sisters of Mercy, Fields of the Nephilim and American band Christian Death Use heavy, sometimes metallic techniques. By the late 1980s, the original goth movement had ceased to exist, but the music mutated into new forms and continued to influence much of the black metal genre. During the '90s, goth music began to cross-pollinate with industrial music, creating hybrids that appealed to both sides, as did dark trends (who also combined 80s synths with dream pop). The second half of the 1990s also saw the sudden appearance of gothic influence in heavy metal; a new genre of reformed black metal bands imitated many gothic sounds and styles, while some alternative metal bands also followed the gothic style. Visual effects (including Marilyn Manson).
"Gothic" was used during the Renaissance to refer to a medieval art form.
It is named after the German "Goth" tribe, who invaded Italy and overthrew the Roman Empire. In the 15th century, people generally had the concept of Renaissance and hoped to return to the classical era. The period between the Classical Age and the Renaissance is called the Middle Ages. Because Italy resented the Goths for destroying their Roman Empire, people during the Renaissance always had a negative term for the Middle Ages. They called this period "Gothic" which means barbarism and rudeness. Of course we have to see both sides of things. The Middle Ages left many precious cultural heritage and outstanding works of art to the world. There were breakthrough improvements in architectural technology during this period, resulting in Gothic cathedrals like NOTRE-DAME (Notre Dame de Paris). Gothic art is not only reflected in architecture. From the 12th to the early 16th century, sculptures, glass products, decorations, etc. were all labeled as Gothic art. Religion plays a very important factor in Gothic works of art. Painters and sculptors used religious feelings more than realistic methods to express their themes. In any case, people during the Renaissance obviously implicitly rejected the word "Gothic".
During the Romantic Movement (ROMANTIC MOVEMENT) around 1822, medieval culture gradually became extremely relevant and became a fashion in the eyes of some people. Romanticism became the center of this cultural movement. Romantics hope to break away from the limitations of history, some hope to return to the medieval era, some seek ideals from religious or mystical attention, and others try to get answers from nature. They use their own different ways to achieve their goals. Throughout the Romantic movement, Gothic began to be considered to be associated with darkness, strangeness, ghosts, etc. Romantic and Gothic writers such as Byron, Shelley, Baudelaire and Verlaine were obsessed with expressing the dark side of human beings. Gothic emotions are also clearly reflected in visual art, with painters like Caspar David Friedrich showing darkness and desolation. In architecture, neo-Gothic style gradually became fashionable. During this period, many Gothic novelists continued to emerge. Gothic literature not only showed the dark side of human beings, but also challenged the orthodox thinking mode of society at that time. It was a mixture of horror and mystery.
The more typical characters in Gothic novels are vampires, such as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Brian Stoker's Dracula, and the descriptions in Edgar Allan's poetry collections. Stoker's descriptions of vampire incarnations are the same as in the past. The comparison has entered into an opposing perspective. (Contemporary writers Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire and Poppy Z. Brite's Lost Souls are also continuations of Stoker's style.)
In the 1980s, The modern Gothic movement began in the UK, and the emergence of the Gothic movement may be regarded as a continuation of the punk movement. In any case, the Gothic spirit began to show its influence in music. Gothic music expresses the gloom and emptiness of human nature as its themes, and it also has a strong interest in death. Slowness, sadness and even terror are the characteristics of its music.
The first person to use the term "goth" was British radio host Anthony H. Wilson, who was also Joy Division's manager. He once announced that Joy Division would be a gothic band. The band is different from other mainstream bands. As a modern cultural movement, Gothic culture began with the musical wave of PUNK rock in the late 1970s. When the latter gradually receded, Gothic culture survived as a marginal subculture. Gothic culture is a unique medieval retro-style cultural category of music, art and literature. Musically it inherits the musical style of European and American PUNK rock music in the 1970s. The strong retro tendency of the Gothic architectural style in Western Europe in the sixth century turned into the kind of mysterious and dark literature that is melancholy and grotesque. Gothic culture actually tends towards a non-violent, pacifist, passive and tolerant attitude towards life. But in many media it is misunderstood as an extremely violent, minority-hating and white supremacist fringe culture. Gothic culture always shows a lonely, alienated and gloomy spiritual temperament. It always explores those thought-provoking social issues, such as racial discrimination, war, and hatred. The spiritual fascination with death drives Gothic culture to constantly try to find another way of thinking about life, pain and death.
A new Gothic movement has become more and more influential throughout the 1980s. Compared with the punk produced in the late 1970s, which was a rebellious and non-conformist alternative culture, perhaps the emergence of the new Gothic movement is A reflection of punk. The Gothic movement opposed narrow moral, sexual concepts, and traditional religious beliefs. The music reflects the dark side of human nature and the unique fascination with death. The slow and powerful sound of the music is often expressed in depression, Gloomy, even morbid.
The neo-Gothic movement is obviously related to the romanticism of the 18th and 19th centuries. Lyrical themes of death, and the exploration of destruction and darkness are the characteristics of Gothic artists* **The same way of expression. Musically, some genres, although adding dance beats and electronic music elements, still use minor chords and slow rhythms to show obvious grotesque and inhibiting institutional characteristics. Visually, Gothic artists seem to like Reinforce a deathly aesthetic, with pale faces, black gowns, Victorian fashions (such as crepe-trimmed shirts), medieval ruins and Gothic architecture.
It's hard. Specifically determining the time when Gothic music was produced, some new groups in the late 1970s began to have a black component in their sound or appearance. Such as The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The dreamend, Adam & the Ants, Ultravox , Killing Joke, The Sound, the Comsat Angels and Joy Division. Their new wave and dark pop music styles had a great influence on later goth music. Perhaps the first real goth hymn was Bauhaus Bela Lugosi's dead.
The earliest British pop goth band was UK Decay (no one knows it now). In the mid-1980s, some bands like The Sisters of Mercy, The Mission and Fields of the Nephilim achieved success. Relatively successful, their gothic rock music and appearance became the standard form of goth and became the object of imitation by many later groups, especially in the UK. Excellent bands of this period include And Also The Tree, Xmal Deuschland , Love Like Blood, etc.
The old-fashioned gothic music style dominated the entire 1980s, while some bands explored new sounds and explored new musical routes. The best example is It's Dead Can Dance. After their typically gothic first album of the same name, the music absorbed elements from medieval and oriental music, and the style incorporated a lot of world music elements. In the following years, DCD gained more recognition, which is a pity. The thing is that the band has recently disintegrated. The Cocteau Twins and DCD are both from the 4AD company, and are representatives of 4AD's low-key psychedelic music style.
The UK is not the only place that produces black music, The Swans from the United States Early involvement in the avant-garde field resulted in several great albums like Children of God, White Light from The Mouth of Infinity and The Burning World. Another legendary band, Christian Death, may have It is considered by many to be the most famous goth band in the United States. They continue to make some controversial albums. The most recommended ones are Only Theater of Pain and Catastrophe Ballet. In addition, such as Faith & the Muse, London after Midnight is also an excellent goth group from the United States.