Gothic Metal

An outgrowth of the doomdeath movement in the early 1990's, gothic metal tends to be heavy metal music defined by a more orchestral feel in the instrumentation, oftentimes with operatic vocals. The majority of metal bands with female lead singers can be classified as gothic metal, although a lead female soprano is certainly not a requirement of the genre. Goth metal bands also commonly have a male vocalist singing alongside the woman, in more of a death metal growl; this style is known as "beauty and the beast" vocals, with prime examples being Theatre Of Tragedy and Tristania. Bands also frequently have choral backing to give their songs a more majestic, epic feel.

Gothic metal relies heavily on keyboards to synthesize many of the symphonic elements, but many bands also employ actual violins, cellos, flutes, and other instruments. Some, such as Virgin Black, have collaborated with local symphonies in live concerts and studio recordings, to give their music more authentic atmosphere and emotional impact.

Lyrically, gothic metal bands combine goth elements such as fantasy, romance, and Victorian settings, with themes from doom and death metal centered around desolation, the loss of love, and darkness. Concept albums are not uncommon, where all of an album's tracks tie together into a unified story.

Having originated out of doomdeath metal, gothic metal is much different than gothic rock, which evolved out of the punk rock and post-punk movements in the late 1970's. Both genres are labelled as gothic due to lyrical themes and dark imagery, but musically the two genres are miles apart, with gothic metal compositions being much more complex.

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