Real Fresh
Is Bela Lugois's Dead?Is Bela Lugois's Dead?
The Goth scene in the 90's has certainly contracted as compared with the 80s. Everyone seems to treat it as a joke and are trying to distance themselves from this "G" word. Even in the UK which was once the breeding ground for Goth.
But if you look hard enough, you will find that Goth is infact not dying but it just went back to where it rightfully belongs... somewhere out there in a small dark pub/bar, playing to a crowd with a higher ratio of women to men, all swaying to the music.And each night new bands are coming out, not only in the old Great Britain but all over Europe.. from Germany to Finland and maybe in Asia too. They are not hoping to be accepted or famous but are just trying to be different and they want to beat the critics for calling them pretentious and not really making music.
Goth has certainly chnaged its sound and look over the past few years. When once it was a part of the punk scene, now it has evolved to its own unique self. Goth is getting more and more diverse. Some bands are trying very hard to keep the old sound alive while others kept exprimenting with new sounds. Now there is Electro Goth, Ambient Goth, industrial Goth...and more.
Rosetta Stone was hail as one of the best Goth act in the 90s and is certainly making some impact with their unique mixture of Electro and Goth. With their debut album climbing the indie chart all over Europe and Wayne Hussey from the Mission claiming its time Andrew Eldritch passed his throne to them, Rosetta Stone is definitely a band to look out for.
Another successful act is SwitchBlade Symphony. Their cross between industrial and Goth really injects a new blood to the scene. Their "Serpentine Gallery" has given faithful followers something to look forward to and it should be noted that they have opened for the Sisters of Mercy earlier this year.
Record label, Projekt has given a new dimension to the sound of Goth....with bands like Black tape for Blue Girls, Lycia, and Love lies Crushing all doing what they call Ambient Goth. Some may describe this as noise from heaven?
As always, just when we all think that the Rave or Techno age are taking over, Goth comes and takes us down to the hideous alleyway, into the romantic labyrinths...
Goth is still out there....waiting for a chance to come back into the big time and to introduce the beauty of darkness to the world again. And maybe one day we might see Bela Lugosi at Tower Records buying Switchblade Symphony's latest album...
References were taken from : goth.org, Dark Side of the Web & Heaven, Melancholy
By Bret Ong