Gothic Metal Genre & Market Research

Gothic metal or goth metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal music that combines the aggression of doom metal with the dark melancholy of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different styles of heavy metal music. The genre originated during the early 1990s in Europe originally as an outgrowth of doom/death, a fusion of death metal and doom metal. Lyrics are generally melodramatic and mournful with inspiration from gothic fiction as well as personal experiences.

Norwegian band Theatre of Tragedy developed the "beauty and the beast" aesthetic of combining aggressive male vocals with clean female vocals, a contrast that has since been adopted by many gothic metal groups. During the mid-1990s, Moonspell, Theatres des Vampires and Cradle of Filth brought the gothic approach to black metal. By the end of the decade, a symphonic metal variant of gothic metal had been developed by Tristania and Within Temptation.

In the 21st century, gothic metal has moved towards the mainstream in Europe, particularly in Finland where groups such as The 69 Eyes, Entwine, Lullacry, Poisonblack and Sentenced have released hit singles or chart-topping albums. In the US, however, only a few bands such as HIM, Lacuna Coil, Evanescence and Cradle of Filth have found commercial success.
Music

The music of gothic metal is generally characterised by its dark atmospheres. The adjective "dark" is commonly used to describe gothic music in general while other terms that are less frequently used include deep, depressing, romantic, passionate and intense. Gothic metal has also been described as "a combination of the darkness and melancholy of goth rock with heavy metal". 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 moreso".
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 Filth and Morten Veland to the clean counter-tenor 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 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 subgenres 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.

The lyrics of gothic metal are known to be "epic and melodramatic". Gothic fiction, a literary genre that blends horror and romance, has been a source of inspiration for the lyrics of many gothic metal band. Lyrics based on personal experiences is another common feature of many gothic metal bands

Information was gathered from research on Wikipedia and other sights with focuses on Gothic Metal/Rock.



Market Research

I questioned 20 people from each of the age ranges below, and asked the question: Which of the following genres of music do you prefer?

The Options were:
- Rock
- Gothic/Metal
- Classical
- Independent

These are my results:



From this graph it is clear that the highest number of people who said Gothic/Metal was in the 16-20 age range. However the results also show that among the other ranges the Gothic/Metal genre still appeals to a select few, meaning the target audience is wider than expected. Predominantly teenagers however the adult more complex themes may appeal to an older audience.


The Focus Group

The Focus group was a chance to find out what an audience would expect and want to see in a music video of this genre. After finding out the majority aged, target audience (teenagers), I aimed to question members of this age group so I got three teenage girls to be my focus group. I sat them down in an empty class room and asked them to fill in a question sheet, while listening to a track of gothic music, to discover their views.



After they had listened to the song, we talked about their views, what they thought of the music, what images they would expect to see in a music video and what audience they thought the music was aimed for.



I noted down the sort of derelict images described, as well as the dark, morbid ideas which I intend to incorporate into my own music video. The audience was confirmed by the girls that teenagers would be the predominant target audience.

Gothic Music Video Analysis

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Evanescence is a classic example of Gothic Metal. In this music video of 'Going Under', from the album 'Fallen', the classic conventions and styles of the gothic genre are clearly displayed. From the very start of the video we see how the gothic look is very important to the genre. This usually focuses of dark colours, black hair, clothes and make-up. Piercings are also very common in the goth look.

As the video progresses we can see how the band displays one of the main conventions of the gothic genre, horror. Horror is important to this style of music, ass the music itself is dark, morbid and creepy. In the music video, this is the main theme of the piece as we see the inner, demon-like creatures seen by the band of backstage crew, members of the press and the fans. The style of music is also obviously conveyed through the intensity of the lyrics, using very gothic, morbid words like 'screaming, deceiving and bleeding for you', which also suggests the importance of the horror style in this genre of music.

The music video does stick to most points of Goodwin's Theory, first of all the strong links between the lyrics and the visuals. The main title of the song and lyrics in the chorus, link to the ongoing visual images of the lead singer 'Amy Lee', singing under water in a long white dress, which contrasts colours with her black hair. She sings, 'Im going under, Im drowning in you', again keeping the dark language. The visuals stay true to the gothic rock genre, images of death, demonic apparitions and characters are very common ideas linked to this kind of music.



This video is from the band Xandria. Again with female vocals the bands Gothic/metal genre is contrasted with the soft melody of singer Kerstin Bischof. In this music video the contrast is made very clear through the visuals. We see the female lead in the centre of a nightmarish setting, a graveyard surrounded by dead trees, setting up the morbid and conventionally Gothic scene. Her appearance makes the contrast clear, through the pure and angelic white dress, and the jet black hair colour conforming to traditional Gothic style and fashion. We also see the other band members standing around her all in Black clothing which again presents to us the Gothic horror genre.

Although the very poetic and theatrical nature of the music and lyrics, the video itself is essentially a performance music video. Showing lots of images of the band and female lead, appealing to its set audience. With the exception of the unrelated visuals showing a female body/corpse being slowly covered by some sort of magical undergrowth. This links very strongly with the importance of nature and the beauty of the natural world in the Gothic genre.



A video for the extremely Gothic metal band 'Cradle of Filth', this video expresses the darker and more horrific side to the Gothic genre of music. The very stereotypical Gothic image of the band is made very clear in this video, we can see how the band wishes to appear to its audience and the effect and emotion they want to provoke. The conventional, dark makeup of the lead singer creates a frightening image which links to the horror sub-genre, as well as the black, leather clothing and metal piercing giving a very grotesque but traditional image of 'the Goth'.

Through the music and lyrics very different styles are being presented, from the male vocalist's hardcore, metal 'growling', to a very orchestral and anthemic female singing at the beginning of the chorus. The video itself focuses on the difference between the singers and styles, through the shots showing two very different settings; one being the conventionally Gothic, dark, nightmarish wood, and then the bright, colourful, naturalistic landscape. All though this is an obvious contrast between styles and genres, the interest in nature remains strong link to the Gothic genre.