Post-punk goth rock vibes.
IST IST – Light A Bigger Fire
Tribulation – Sub Rosa In Æternum
This band started from death metal and from album to album steered sideways to finally arrive to this absolute classic goth metal sound represented on this last record. The throaty, harsh vocals from their past add an interesting flavor while the clean, deep voiced goth singing arrived to accompany it. I wouldn’t have their previous record on replay, but this one hits home. It’s a set of beautiful dark songs overall.
topographies – Interior Spring
Goth aesthetics, shoegazing dream pop.
Soft Kill – Metta World Peace
This sounds like how post-punk can be interpreted as bedroom shoegaze alternative hiphop in 2023. Which is just fascinating. To me this is coldwave mostly.
Unto Others – Mana
Last year my number one music was Unto Others – Strength, and now I’m listening to their first album, wanted to make an entry for this, too. I consider their second record the better one, but they are pretty close, this first one is also amazing. I’m still trying to crack why I am so much obsessed with this band’s music. They share some DNA with an old Hungarian goth rock band, F.O.System, which is also one of my all-time favorite bands, so that may play a part.
Silent Runners – Statues & Ornaments
Amsterdam goths.
topographies – Ideal Form
Goth rock mood.
Adam Tristar – Suicide Neighborhood
I saw Adam Tristar on a goth club night headlining after like ten other concerts. It was a duo performing live and they stood out so much from the others, like it would be a professional act after a list of DIY bedroom bands. Well, that’s probably a pretty good approximation of what happened.
The music is all along the goth aesthetics with electronic coldwave synths. Hits close to my heart.
Unto Others – Strength
Definitely one of my new personal hypes for this year. It is an epitome of a goth rock album that is right in the middle lane of my alley, pretty much occupying the whole street. It’s a perfect, epic record that gives me goosebumps. It’s also interesting how some heavy metal flavor is sprinkled in here and there.
I just checked my Last.fm stats and this album is already on the top of my artist and album lists for 2023. Wow, I knew I listened to this a lot, but I wasn’t aware this much. And with every listen it just grows stronger.
Kontravoid – Faceless
The last album from Kontravoid I found mainly EBM while this one is primarily cold wave. It’s not as great as the previous one but still worth noting.