Is goth rock dead? Or just peoples perception of what it is gone nutty?

Can I have some opinions please, because I'm not too sure.

goth rock? dead? nahh... i doubt it. It was never really 'alive' to begin with.

Plus, look at all the people just on this board that listen to goth rock.

It is being killed slowly and painfully by popular music (I refer here to everything from the Rasmus and HIM to CoF). But hey, at least that's giving us a purpose; to spread the knowledge!
Now go forth, my children MWAHAHAHAHA!




oops, got a little carried away there.




~AC

Actually, that was pretty funny antichrist.

I think Goth rock will be experiencing a popular* revival shortly, in a cyclical manner as everyone gets burned out on EBM and fuzzy legwarmers.
Fret not.

*'popular' meaning within the clubs and Gothic community.who knows what asinine trend the rest of the world may be embracing.

i believe to an extent, all of this might be more applicable to where you live.
as a resident of NYC, goth/industrial are very much alive and well, although the number of clubs and parties is on the decline.
L.A. seems to be thriving, as is New Orleans.
i think everytime a big budget 'goth/vampire' film hits,the scene seems to revive a bit, but eventually it would seem, everything must either morph or die. its been going on for quite some time and it has been a hell of a ride so far, but lets face the facts, it does not have the mass commercial appeal of hip-hop and never will.
these bands need to sell product to be sustained by and to in return, sustain the record labels themselves and aside from The Cure and a few notable others, no one is selling out hockey arenas anymore.
lets hope for the best and enjoy while we can. -j; )

Long black veil, I agree with what you say in terms of where you live. It feels very dead in here in Perth, in terms of what its now being considered to be.

And Antichrist, I'm trying to spread the knowledge, but no one listens! Ah well, I guess I've always been lonely when it comes to taste in music :p Which is kinda cool sometimes.

I think that goth rock is relatively dead as in it exists but it is no longer innovative. There's Deathrock which is just trying to be retro whereas goth rock was avant garde and innovative, it was making things that hadn't been done before (except maybe in Pink Floyd's "the Wall" and "Dark Side of the Moon") goth as a subculture (in my opinion) has only survived because it broadened up and made itself incredibly diverse by mingling in elements of industrial, electro, metal and the like, otherwise it would have ended up like the Punk, Hippy, and Mod subcultures: dead, but with a few people that cling on.

That is exactly what I was going to say! Out here in Belgium, you have to search hard to find Gothrock in CD stores (literally NO CXS, wherever I search :I ), but there are special Gothic nights every 2nd Friday of the month in a club in the heart of Antwerp. Not that I've been there, 16 is too young - at least, it is to my parents.

I've actually managed to spread the knowledge onto someone! I let my best friend listen to The Cure and Sisters of Mercy and such, and she liked it. She even asked me to borrow my copy of Bloodflowers. :p I really like the fact that seemingly no one knows my favourite bands though. It gives the music so much more of a personal and unique feel. Personally I'd die if someone pulls Crüxshadows onto n° 1 in the charts, just like they did to The Cure's The Lovecats a while ago

Where theres a will...
Goth is a pretty underground sub-culture, it shouldnt be that surprising to not find any albums in mainstream stores because its not a mainstream genre, especially not now.
If goth did become mainstream, riding high in the charts on a regular basis, and attracting the trend following masses, I think it would die, or atleast everything people love about it now would die.
I think its better off the way it is (though maybe not so dominated by EBM in the clubs) It's definatley the way I like it anyway.
The bands are out there, you just have to look for them, most probably arent, and likley never will be signed, it may not be fair, but thats the way it is.

i also wish to add, that the 'fetish' scene, which is usually tied into a lot of goth/industrial parties seems to bring exposure and 'new blood' in, as well.-j; )

Amen to that!

But I think this whole stage of wannabe-Goth bands will disappear once society has found something else, it's really just a fad that will be forgotten in a few years.

At least I tell myself that....

no way, it`s just that gothic music has exploded, so it can`t really be considered a "genre" anymore.
As it existed in the 80s as a pure rock genre, I guess it`s dead. Nowadays, there`s just so many different styles that can be called "gothic music". It envelops gothic rock, death rock/batcave, neo-classical, darkwave, ambient/experimental, industrial/ebm, and although people say it can`t technically exist, even a marriage with metal.
Gothic rock has always been somewhat of a liberal genre, growing and constantly changing and morphing to experiment with new styles and ways of creating dark sounds. It`s transformed into a blanket term. Just go to a festival like Wave Gotik Treffen to see how diverse this music has become.....
And for those who say goth is dead, obviously you`ve never been to europe .....

well I've never been to Europe, no.

Ahh, I agree totally with you. Do you like the diversification though?

Goth rock is undead :p