--- title: "Gothic Metal" type: "MusicGenre" url: "https://themetalnet.com/genre/gothic-metal" parent: "Doom Metal" bands: 573 era: "early 1990s" --- # Gothic Metal **Gothic Metal** is a metal sub-genre, formative in the early 1990s. TheMetalNet maps 573 bands and 1,773 albums under it. Gothic metal fuses metal’s weight with the melancholy, romance, and atmosphere of gothic rock, favoring lush keyboards, mournful melodies, and often a beauty-and-the-beast contrast of clean female and harsh male vocals. England’s Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride grew it from death-doom in the early 1990s, while Type O Negative and Lacuna Coil brought their own dark, seductive takes. Tempos are slow to mid-paced and the mood is brooding and theatrical. Themes lean on love, death, sorrow, and the macabre. ## Facts | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Genre | Gothic Metal | | Level | Sub-genre | | Parent genre | Doom Metal | | Formative era | early 1990s | | Bands | 573 | | Albums | 1,773 | | Formation span | 1966 to 2026 | ## Notable bands (top 60 by prominence) - [HIM](https://themetalnet.com/band/him) (Finland, 1991) - [Lacuna Coil](https://themetalnet.com/band/lacuna-coil) (Italy, 1997) - [Paradise Lost](https://themetalnet.com/band/paradise-lost) (United Kingdom, 1988) - [Moonspell](https://themetalnet.com/band/moonspell) (Portugal, 1989) - [The 69 Eyes](https://themetalnet.com/band/the-69-eyes) (Finland, 1989) - [Tiamat](https://themetalnet.com/band/tiamat) (Sweden, 1987) - [Lacrimosa](https://themetalnet.com/band/lacrimosa) (Switzerland, 1990) - [Crematory](https://themetalnet.com/band/crematory) (Germany, 1991) - [Sirenia](https://themetalnet.com/band/sirenia) (Norway, 2001) - [Collide](https://themetalnet.com/band/collide) (United States, 1992) - [Lacrimas Profundere](https://themetalnet.com/band/lacrimas-profundere) (Germany, 1993) - [Theatres des Vampires](https://themetalnet.com/band/theatres-des-vampires) (Italy, 1994) - [Lake of Tears](https://themetalnet.com/band/lake-of-tears) (Sweden, 1992) - [Theatre of Tragedy](https://themetalnet.com/band/theatre-of-tragedy) (Norway, 1993) - [Tristania](https://themetalnet.com/band/tristania) (Norway, 1996) - [Type O Negative](https://themetalnet.com/band/type-o-negative) (United States, 1989) - [Gothminister](https://themetalnet.com/band/gothminister) (Norway, 1999) - [Umbra et Imago](https://themetalnet.com/band/umbra-et-imago) (Germany, 1991) - [Skold](https://themetalnet.com/band/skold) (Sweden, 1966) - [To/Die/For](https://themetalnet.com/band/to-die-for) (Finland, 1993) - [Entwine](https://themetalnet.com/band/entwine) (Finland, 1995) - [Novembre](https://themetalnet.com/band/novembre) (Italy, 1990) - [Mantus](https://themetalnet.com/band/mantus) (Germany, 1997) - [Sentenced](https://themetalnet.com/band/sentenced) (Finland, 1989) - [Trail of Tears](https://themetalnet.com/band/trail-of-tears) (Norway, 1994) - [Artrosis](https://themetalnet.com/band/artrosis) (Poland, 1995) - [Beseech](https://themetalnet.com/band/beseech) (Sweden, 1992) - [Darkseed](https://themetalnet.com/band/darkseed) (Germany, 1992) - [Deathstars](https://themetalnet.com/band/deathstars) (Sweden, 2000) - [Mono Inc.](https://themetalnet.com/band/mono-inc) (Germany, 2000) - [Moonlight](https://themetalnet.com/band/moonlight) (Poland, 1991) - [Love Like Blood](https://themetalnet.com/band/love-like-blood) (Germany, 1987) - [Pyogenesis](https://themetalnet.com/band/pyogenesis) (Germany, 1990) - [Amy Lee](https://themetalnet.com/band/amy-lee) (United States, 1981) - [Charon](https://themetalnet.com/band/charon-f033e544) (Finland, 1992) - [EverEve](https://themetalnet.com/band/evereve) (Germany, 1993) - [Silentium](https://themetalnet.com/band/silentium) (Finland, 1995) - [Coronatus](https://themetalnet.com/band/coronatus) (Germany, 1999) - [Krypteria](https://themetalnet.com/band/krypteria) (Germany, 2001) - [Mandragora Scream](https://themetalnet.com/band/mandragora-scream) (Italy, 1997) - [The Vision Bleak](https://themetalnet.com/band/the-vision-bleak) (Germany, 2000) - [D](https://themetalnet.com/band/d) (Japan, 2003) - [Lunatica](https://themetalnet.com/band/lunatica) (Switzerland, 1998) - [Penumbra](https://themetalnet.com/band/penumbra) (France, 1996) - [Virgin Black](https://themetalnet.com/band/virgin-black) (Australia, 1993) - [Autumnblaze](https://themetalnet.com/band/autumnblaze) (Germany, 1996) - [Anabantha](https://themetalnet.com/band/anabantha) (Mexico, 1997) - [Eden weint im Grab](https://themetalnet.com/band/eden-weint-im-grab) (Germany, 2000) - [Macbeth](https://themetalnet.com/band/macbeth) (Italy, 1995) - [The Old Dead Tree](https://themetalnet.com/band/the-old-dead-tree) (France, 1997) - [Шмели](https://themetalnet.com/band/band-2c0ebaf9) (Russia, 1998) - [Cadaveria](https://themetalnet.com/band/cadaveria) (Italy, 2001) - [Cemetery of Scream](https://themetalnet.com/band/cemetery-of-scream) (Poland, 1993) - [Farmer Boys](https://themetalnet.com/band/farmer-boys) (Germany, 1994) - [Lord of the Lost](https://themetalnet.com/band/lord-of-the-lost) (Germany, 2007) - [Darkwell](https://themetalnet.com/band/darkwell) (Austria, 1999) - [Poisonblack](https://themetalnet.com/band/poisonblack) (Finland, 2000) - [Ram-Zet](https://themetalnet.com/band/ram-zet) (Norway, 1998) - [Dark Princess](https://themetalnet.com/band/dark-princess) (Russia, 2004) - [Dominia](https://themetalnet.com/band/dominia) (Russia, 1999) ## Where it is played - [Germany](https://themetalnet.com/country/de): 61 bands - [Finland](https://themetalnet.com/country/fi): 41 bands - [Russia](https://themetalnet.com/country/ru): 39 bands - [Italy](https://themetalnet.com/country/it): 38 bands - [United States](https://themetalnet.com/country/us): 32 bands - [Sweden](https://themetalnet.com/country/se): 22 bands - [France](https://themetalnet.com/country/fr): 20 bands - [Netherlands](https://themetalnet.com/country/nl): 18 bands ## Bands formed by decade | Decade | Bands formed | | --- | --- | | 1960s | 3 | | 1970s | 4 | | 1980s | 20 | | 1990s | 178 | | 2000s | 202 | | 2010s | 59 | | 2020s | 23 | --- Source: [TheMetalNet https://themetalnet.com/genre/gothic-metal](https://themetalnet.com/genre/gothic-metal). Catalog data from MusicBrainz and Metal Archives. Full site index: https://themetalnet.com/llms.txt