Music is the lowest common denominator of the black scene. It provides the entry point and carries all the sub-scenes that have formed over the decades in black coexistence. There is no single musical style. The common ground lies in the importance of music. It is not perceived as recreational fun or background music, but as an important outlet to express thoughts and emotions. The song lyrics often play a big role. They also address dark feelings, transport social criticism or offer space for escape from reality.
The beginning of this was made by post-punk, which developed from punk. It broke with traditional musical styles not only musically. The emotions that were transported were also different from the ideal world of popular music. The punks had already broken through the harmony, but in post-punk, melancholy, fear and coldness joined the rage.
This gave rise to very different musical styles, which are still being added to today. It is in the nature of things that there is no name for a development in the course of its emergence. Classifications are made afterwards and are therefore often not very accurate. Even the bands involved do not always agree with the categorisation. Gothic icon Robert Smith of The Cure, for example, announced in an interview that he never counted himself or his band as part of the Gothic scene. Music journalists and fans disagree. You can't please everyone. But there are a few cornerstones for the music genres of the black scene. Here are some of them.
Post Punk
Siouxsie and the Banshees left their mark on post-punk in the early 80s. Singer Siouxsie Sioux was able to recruit for her band none other than Robert Smith, who was later instrumental in the development of the black scene with his band The Cure. His makeup, hairstyle and style of dress were copied and individualised by the wavers and goths of the time. Fellow post-punk artists were also bands like Gang of Four, Joy Division or Talking Heads. The musicians picked up punk elements, but wanted more content and therefore gave the music style a new direction with different instruments, chords and lyrics. Punk wanted to destroy, post-punk wanted to criticise, provoke and shape its own future - gladly also by addressing grievances.
As always in the field of music, scholars do not quite agree on what all belongs to post-punk. Many also count the New Wave, which sounded poppy, as post-punk. Perhaps post-punk can simply be seen as a kind of music genre without dictates. The bands tried out all kinds of things, released record albums on small and independent labels and conquered the world from the underground.
Gothic rock
Gothic rock dominated the black scene in the 80s along with new wave. Bands like The Cure, Bauhaus or even The Sisters of Mercy formed out of or based on the post-punk scene. Even the then still meagrely sprouting music programmes on radio and television showed videos of these bands. A template for the Gothic scene that came together in the 80s and celebrated its dark heroes. Even the term "gothic" came figuratively from post-punk, as the bassist of Siouxsie and the Banshees gave one of the band's albums this designation. Since the term was mentioned more often, it was eventually adopted. However, the new gothic scene was manageable and so the musicians were seen playing across bands. They produced sometimes post-punk, sometimes gothic rock and experimented on many levels. Typical Gothic Rock songs are, for example, Bela Lugosi's Dead by Bauhaus, Alice by Sisters of Mercy or Spellbound by Siouxsie and the Banshees. Other gothic rock bands include Fields of the Nephilim, The Mission, The Cult and Rosetta Stone.
New Wave
Nobody really knows what post-punk is, what gothic rock is and what new wave is, or whether perhaps they are all the same thing. Or at least people argue about it. If you translate the term, you get a "new musical wave" that you can agree on. At least there was already a compilation at the end of the 70s that announced "New Wave" and united bands like the Talking Heads, the Ramones and The Damned. The fact is that New Wave replaced Punk and brought in bands of different directions. The New Romantics with Adam & the Ants or Visage were just as much a part of it as gothic rock bands, synth pop bands like Duran Duran or parts of EBM music. In Germany, bands like Fehlfarben, Einstürzende Neubauten and DAF celebrated their successes. So if you're not a musicologist, you lump everything that was heard in the black scene in the early 80s under the term "New Wave". The scene goers were the wavers. With Electro Wave, Cold Wave, Dark Wave and many other categories, you can subdivide the bands musically even more.
Synth Pop
Depeche Mode, New Order, OMD, Gary Numan: they all loved their synthesizers and brought them powerfully into their songs. A musical genre called synth pop developed. The pioneers were Kraftwerk, who brought the new sound to the stage with their ideas. The music was very danceable, but also somehow cold and oppressive. The music seemed to keep its distance from the listener. Synthetic soundscapes with almost emotionless voices enveloped the fans in a fascinating new musical sound. Electronic instruments were the order of the day. Typical bands of the genre were and are, for example, the Pet Shop Boys, Visage, Ultravox or New Order and Soft Cell. Well-known songs that are still played today include "Fade to Grey" by Visage, "Are friends electric" by the Tubeway Army, "Blue Monday" by New Order and "Master and Servant" by Depeche Mode. Later, the futuristic, cool sound was developed into more romantic offshoots of synth pop.
Industrial
Industrial of the 70s and 80s has nothing to do with what is nowadays called industrial music. If you don't believe it, you can listen to songs by Throbbing Gristle, who provoked one scandal after another back then. Industrial was not just a music genre, but a new art form in which destruction and self-destruction went hand in hand. Conceptual and action artists performed with the bands or as bands. In doing so, they balanced on the fine line between art and intolerability. They confronted the audience with visual and musical borderline experiences without protection. The music was not melodious, but reminiscent of an aggressive sound attack. In other respects, too, it was warlike and political on stage. Authorities, political rallies and military performances were to be seen. Horror in all its forms was exploited. Incidentally, this is where the screen presentation, which is still often used today, originated, showing films or news excerpts. A very well-known band of the genre is Laibach. In post-industrial, the music became more danceable and bearable.
Electro Wave
New Wave bands that work primarily with synthesizers fall into the category of "Electro Wave". A very well-known representative is Anne Clark, for example. Other bands mixed Electro Wave with EBM influences, resulting in a hard sound with melody. Project Pitchfork, for example, are well known for this. Other bands from the genre are Frozen Autumn or The Eternal Afflict. However, it is again not clear what Dark Wave is, and where the borders run to Electro Wave or other styles. Characteristic of the bands' vocals, however, were and are rather harsh vocal lines with socially critical lyrics. Vocal melodies - as in synth pop - are rarer.
Neoclassical
The genre of neo-classical is fairly new under the umbrella of black music genres. The idea was to make classical music attractive to a younger audience. Since around 2010, musicians such as Max Richter or also Jóhann Jóhannson have been assigned to this music genre. In the gothic scene, this trend is quite rarely represented and is only heard by a few devotees. At the WGT in Leipzig, classical concerts are sometimes held for fans at historical venues, but they have little in common with the new music genre. Critics consider this music genre to be a strategy of the record companies to find an antidote for the sluggish sales of classical albums.
Neofolk
Neofolk is currently the most controversial music genre within the gothic scene. For some, this music genre is one of the few genres with content and musical rebellion, for others neofolk is an expression of right-wing ideology with which one does not want to be associated. Many artists in this genre feel misunderstood when they enrich their music with political quotes from the past, walk a tightrope with the Nazi past and present themselves on stage in uniforms. For them, it is mostly about provocation; more rarely can solid connections to right-wing ideology be constructed. Neofolk originated in England in the late 80s. The bands Death in June and Sol Ivictus are considered to be the founders of this music genre, which later developed into an independent group and produced bands like Allerseelen, Blood Axis, Current 93 or Kirlian Camera. The music is often played with acoustic instruments and brings guitars, flutes, violins or drums to the fore, often accompanied by synthesiser sounds.
New German Death Art
The music of Neue Deutsche Todeskunst celebrated great success within the black scene at the end of the 80s. Bands like "Das Ich" or "Goethes Erben" mixed electronic music with neo-classic, gothic rock and wave and created German, abstract, poetic lyrics about all kinds of morbid themes, some with historical references. The label "Danse Macabre", co-founded by Bruno Kramm, part of the band "Das Ich", ensured a wide distribution of the music, starting from Southern Germany.
But the market was quickly saturated and so the label came to an end as early as 1994, and with it the music genre. The popular bands also changed their musical direction and disappeared from the scene again. In 2005, the label "Danse Macabre" was brought back to life, but it mainly dealt with other genres of music and helped the genre to a niche existence. As a result, Die Neue Deutsche Todeskunst gave voice to an emerging new generation of German-language scene artists, such as the "Fliehende Stürmen", who became more successful over the years.
Gothic punk
The term gothic punk only emerged in more recent years and retrospectively describes the early phases of gothic rock bands of the time. Terms like "positive punk" or "batcave" are often used to describe this music genre. "The Damned, Siouxsie & The Banshees and Joy Division began their first musical steps with punk, before acquiring their own unmistakable sound. Nevertheless, the punk origins of some bands remained the decisive characteristic in the following years. "The Southern Death Cult", the "Sex Gang Children" and also "Alien Sex Fiend" seemed to combine punk and gothic rock in a new and rough way. At that time, especially the London club "Batcave" became the musical melting pot of this music style and brought numerous new bands. With the end of the "Batcave" and the fading of the punk movement, gothic punk also disappeared in the mid-80s and dissolved into gothic rock. At the turn of the millennium, "gothic punk" got new impulses from bands like "Cinema Strange", who, in addition to the visual style, also reinterpreted the punk of the roots. The so-called "Batcave Revival" began.
Horror punk
Horrorpunk is a musical symbiosis of hardcore punk and death rock, enriched with rockabilly and surf rock elements of the early 60s. As early as 1977, the "Misfits" began to combine punk with sounds of that time, while the Cramps from New York spiced it up with punk rock and garage rock. Thematically and above all outwardly, they were oriented towards the classic B-movies and horror trash, i.e. horror films with completely exaggerated scary moments. Even after 40 years, horropunk is still in good health and was further developed by bands like Christian Death or 45 Grave. In the course of time, however, horror punk merged more and more with other music genres such as horrorbilly or horror rock, which almost completely merged into it. The double bass is often particularly influential in this music, which takes on a very special dynamic of its own by means of slap technique. Bands like "Bloodsucking Zombies From Outer Space", "Koffin Kats" or "Kitty in a Casket" are still very active and play concerts regularly. Although the overlaps with the gothic scene can be seen and heard very clearly, the complete and deliberate over-excitement of gothic motifs is reserved for horror punk, which sometimes even drifts into bloody slapstick.
EBM
EBM is short for "Electronic Body Music". The name says it all. The songs consist of repetitive sequezer runs, pounding and dance-like rhythms and - often shouted through a megaphone - lines of lyrics. On the wave of the emerging music genres "Post-Punk", "Industrial" and "New Wave", EBM gained more and more importance in the early 1980s and even resulted in a youth culture scene with its own style in 1987. EBM is always danceable. The lyrics are usually sung or spoken clearly and very deeply, even shouted or bawled. In the early days, DAF (Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft) shaped this genre before "Die Krupps", "Front 242" or Nitzer Ebb set new impulses and took over the helm. In terms of content, they limited themselves to chanting slogans. Women are rarely to be found on - and in front of - the EBM stage. Criticism of society, religion, politics or technology is part of many lyrics, but not to make a statement or take a stand. With the emergence of the techno and rave scene in the early 90s, more and more EBMers also migrated into the new camp.
Gothic Metal
Gothic metal is a combination of two musical genres, dark wave and metal, with the style-giving part coming from the metal scene. In the metal scene, there are already several subcategories that are independent and have a black attitude: Symphonic Metal, Dark Rock or Dark Metal. "Paradise Lost" or "Tiamat" shaped the newly created genre "Gothic Metal", while many other bands and metal niches crept onto the Gothic stages. "Gothic metal" became a collective term for various styles, such as symphonic metal, dark rock or even medieval rock. While Type O Negative and HIM could easily be subsumed under this collective term, connoisseurs had a much harder time with "Nightwish" or "Epica". They would be much more likely to fall into the category of power metal or heavy metal. Gothic metal brought together two scenes that only differ at second glance. While the metalhead has an energetic relationship to the music, the goth is more of an introverted listener.
New German Hardness
New German Hardness developed in the mid-90s and was particularly influenced by the band Oomph! who are considered the founders. In 1994, they mixed catchy electronic sounds with hard rock music, added memorable and catchy lyrics and celebrated the German language. While at the beginning the genre had to make do only with bands like "Fleischmann" and "Schweisser", Rammstein caused a real surge in popularity in 1997 with their album Sehnsucht. For some, it was just the rock version of the New German Wave, while others celebrated the new love for the German language. At the end of the 90s, record companies began massively recruiting acts that could be classified as part of the successful Neue Deutsche Härte. So they placed In Extremo, Subway to Sally and also Tanzwut in their portfolio to satisfy the demand for German, rock songs with crude lyrics. Rammstein gave the genre a further boost in popularity through international recognition. They defined Neue Deutsche Härte. Thus, with Rammstein, the lyrics became more controversial, the pronunciation clearer and the rolling "R" became the trademark of the vocals.
Medieval rock
Medieval rock combines historical instruments with hard rock and electronic sounds. The ancient lyrics deal with stories around the Middle Ages. A few are also historical in nature and are performed in the original. For example, the Merseburger Zaubersprüche by In Extremo. Bagpipes, shawm, harp, flute and lute enter into a musical partnership with drums, keyboard, guitar and bass. The stage performance also plays with motifs of the Middle Ages and they resort to torches, fire and medieval garments. Besides In Extremo, representatives of the genre include Subway to Sally, Rabenschrey and Tanzwut. Goths like to attend the concerts of medieval and medieval rock bands, but the medieval scene does not belong to the black scene. Medieval rock and medieval metal form their own niche and have nothing to do with the musical origins of the goths.
Gothic pop
The gothic scene - like almost every subculture - eventually became a good source of income for the music industry and fashion, and vice versa. The bands of the scene stretched their feelers beyond the black fringe and received encouragement. The mainstream entered the black music world. With it, more pleasing songs emerged that sounded like dark pop or even German-language Schlager. A prime example of this was Graf and his band Unheilig. Blutengel, In Extremo or Faun are also repeatedly subjected to strong criticism within the scene for changing their music for commercialism and offering flat songs for the masses. Even die-hard scene bands like Oomph! dared to take the step into the mainstream and even participated in the Bundesvision Song Contest. At the Echo Pop awards, however, they were excluded because of their song lyrics.