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.