Okay you vampires, it’s time to creak that coffin lid open a further inch and dare to step outside, because it’s World Goth Day! Fans of dark music, it’s your time to rejoice and celebrate your own cathedral-dwelling niche! Today is all about you and the dark delights of goth culture.
Are you heading to Whitby later in the year? Do you already reside there, living like a year-long advert for all things darkly alternative? Maybe you’re just going to get gothed-up after work and head to your local graveyard to mooch around and surreptitiously quaff some pints of snakebite?
However you choose to celebrate World Goth Day, take a spooky second to hang with me, too! I have a quartet of goth-centric articles for you today, all gathered in one place for ease of access. Have a look at the chapters below and dive into your preferred tomb of content, or stick with me like a vampire bat throughout the whole entire collection of diabolical writings!
Step right this waaaay…
The Greatest Goth Bands Ever
Let’s begin with the bands themselves, shall we? They are, after all, the nucleus around which goth culture orbits. Goth takes at least as much from literature and movies of course, and has then influenced those areas as well as fashion. But for guitarguitar, our area is music, and this article focuses on my subjective reckoning on who the best goth bands were/are.
When I first wrote this article, I got a bit of pushback from the local goth community. ‘Dead Can Dance aren’t goth!’ (nonsense); Joy Division were before goth! (I know, it says so in the article!); and so on. What I took from this was that, ultimately, you were upset about the general and inclusive nature of the blog. I’d not delved deeply enough into the dark trenches of the genre, and brought out some hardcore fan-favourite bands. Goth culture is, if nothing else, high on representation, and so here I offer my extended, ‘director’s cut’ take on the greatest goth bands ever.
And yes, both Joy Division and Dead Can Dance remain on the list!
The Greatest Goth Albums of All Time
Where do you begin on your dark journey through goth music? Whilst some bands only managed a record or two before imploding like a vampire in sunlight, others lasted long enough to turn out 40 year old discographies. If you don’t have goth friends to guide you towards the best Cure album (it’s Disintegration), then you might waste too much time on one of their rubbish albums. Life is too short for this (mortal life, that is…) so let me be your guide through the underworld. Place your slender palm in my bony hand and I’ll take you straight to the greatest goth albums ever.
The Greatest Goth Albums of All Time
Goth Subgenres: Your Complete Guide
Yes, it’s not just about being a goth. It’s about specialising: branching off into a particular niche, and living a more intense version of your goth self. The goth culture actually straddles many worlds and aesthetics, and this blog will draw you towards those somewhat more esoteric corners of goth-dom.
Aleister Crowley and Witchcraft
Show me a goth who isn’t fascinated by Alesiter Crowley and I’ll show you a no-good phony-baloney faker. All goths love the lore and drama that surrounds the ‘Wickedest Man in the World’, and so if you aren’t quite up to date on the background of this massively unique person, then you need to take ten minutes and sit with this blog!
It’s not just about Crowley, either. I conducted a Q&A with Green Lung frontman Tom Templar to discuss the occult in music. I've looked into the occult influence on folklore, the Satanic Panic and a good deal more.This article covers a lot of ground, so consider it a primer and an introduction for the uninitiated.
Goth-Adjacent Interviews
Finally, I’ve been lucky enough to chat to a great many musicians over the years, and some of them are what I’d tentatively describe as ‘goth-adjacent’. Perhaps these musicians don’t play straight-up goth music (some do), but all of them exist in the sort of extended dark aesthetic at least, so I think you’ll enjoy the following…
We Love Goths
I do love goths. Goths are a passionate fanbase who fervently support their local scenes as well as the bigger bands who tour internationally. They connect with other goth fans, share the love and share the makeup. Goths know what they are into and they want it, over and over, and that’s a great thing. Goth fashion never really goes out of fashion, and goth music is ace. Goth crowds can look standoffish and aloof, but I’ve found many of them to be amongst the warmest and friendliest of people out there. They just look like vampires, which is fine by me.
This World Goth Day, reach out to the goth in your life and show them a little bit of love. They deserve it, and their icy darkness and Tim Burtonesque posturing actually does make the world a more fun place. Raise your half-drunk pint of snakebite now, friends! To goths!
