Darkwave

Darkwave as a genre was born in the mid-late 1980s, as a result of experiments by representatives of a new wave (especially Gothic rock and industrial music ). In the 1980s, Gothic music developed in two keys - “canonical” ( gothic rock , post-punk ) and “experimental”. The new style just became the personification of this experimental branch. Simply, “darkwave” began to be called everything Gothic, which did not fall within a certain framework. A mixture of styles and cultures was always characteristic of him, both in terms of texts, expressiveness, and in terms of music. For example, in the works of some performers there is a noticeable strong influence of synth-pop ( Diary Of Dreams , Wolfsheim ), in others - post-industrial and club culture ( In Strict Confidence , Die Form ), in others - neo-folklore, neo-classics ( Sopor Aeternus , Deine Lakaien , Arcana, and representatives of the Swedish post-industrial label Cold Meat Industry ), etc.

European darkwave originated from bands like Das Ich , Deine Lakaien , Lacrimosa , Goethes Erben , Clan of Xymox , The Cure , Dead Can Dance , Cocteau Twins , Attrition , Xmal Deutschland , Skinny Puppy , Laibach , Alien Sex Fiend , SPK and partly the metal band Celtic Frost . Almost all of them, in the prime of their work, played darkwave, many later changed or complicated the style.

Almost all Gothic music at least partially falls under this definition, although there are representatives of the pure genre, the so-called “European darkwave,” as opposed to “American”, associated with shugeyzom , ethereal , ambient .

A major contribution to the development of the genre was made by Sam Rosenthal and his label Projekt . The label has existed since 1983 and was originally created as the basis for the release of Sam's own project Black Tape For A Blue Girl , he soon began to publish other groups, such as LYCIA and Attrition . Sam was concerned that many good bands simply didn’t reach the listener and decided to gather as many good, in his opinion, bands performing certain music under his wing, which allowed narrowing the concept of darkwave to certain genres, rather than the vague concept of “dark newwave side ":

I Sam Rosenthal began Projekt in 1983, as a cassette label to release my solo electronic music. It was a growth phase, musically, thus those early releases have been deleted ... In 1986, I moved to California and through depression and loneliness, I began making warmer, introspective personal music ... black tape for a blue girl was born. Projekt served as my way to release my art, without having to worry about the whims of a record label. In 1989, I released my first CD (ashes in the brittle air), and soon started to release music from other artists whose work impressed me as coming from the same passionate internal realm (Attrition and then LYCIA). Things grew, with Projekt taking more and more of my time, and the music began to reach fans in Europe too. In this new region, I discovered other labels with a strong vision and direction: Germany's HYPERIUM RECORDS, (who serve as Projekt's European distributor) and also COLD MEAT INDUSTRIES. Frustrated that such quality music is impossible to find in America, I started a distribution service in the fall of '93 to get this music to the fans — darkwave began. There's a lot of music out there, really, and I decided to be picky about what darkwave carries, because I believe this catalog must have integrity, rather than merely provide a massive quantity of music. I want you to feel secure that you are getting something good, rather than just something 'gothic' or something 'ethereal' or 'ambient'. Therefore, I only add new labels and releases that impress me ... Thus darkwave is here to serve you well. By presenting interesting music that might be otherwise unavailable or unheard of; music from artists creating powerful and adventurous work ... darkwave is a distributor of music I feel merits your attention; while Projekt releases the music I love and feel passionately towards ... To throw a wrench into clarification, I have a 'subdivision' of Projekt (called RELIC) to reissue out-of-print albums I enjoy, even if the music doesn't neatly fit within the pure projekt vision. These releases provide a backdrop, within which the realm of Darkwave music began.

- Sam Rosenthal

The characteristic representatives of the European branch are performers of the German and English Gothic waves of the late 80s. The peak of the popularity of darkwave on the world stage occurred in the period 1989-1996. Until 2000, classic darkwave is slowly losing popularity and is almost completely assimilated by related styles such as EBM , synth-pop , neo-classic , neo-folk . In the 2000s, darkwave forms generally became more accessible, simpler and, therefore, more commercially oriented ( Blutengel , L'ame Immortelle ), up to and including orientation to the club and DJ formats.

Musically darkwave is characterized by a gloomy, atmospheric, minor, filling sound. The structure of the works is predominantly like in ordinary pop music (verse-chorus), but often literary, narrative and theatrical presentation, and all kinds of experiments with the form of compositions, instrumental inserts are used. The rhythm is slow or medium tempo, less often fast, but with slow harmonic progressions or vocal parts. The vocals are very expressive, theatrical, sometimes distantly cold. A combination of male and female vocals or the use of different manners of singing, the deliberate “split personality” of a vocalist, and playing with contrasts are characteristic. The musical component is based on European pop-rock music (like all the followers of the new wave), as well as on the classics ( Wagner , Mozart , Shostakovich , Tchaikovsky , etc.). Despite the experimental nature, some isolation and commitment to the European music school are characteristic (for example, elements of jazz , blues , rap and hip-hop , alternative rock, grunge and other American music are extremely rare).

Most of the music albums - vivid examples of conceptual art , go in conjunction with special photo sets or graphics - this tradition was laid down in the mid-1980s by Dead Can Dance , SPK and Laibach . Many albums are positioned as a kind of "opera", "symphony" and "saga", that is, in general, gravitate to large musical forms. This feature is also characteristic of some other genres of modern music (see power metal , art rock , pagan metal , gothic metal , gothic rock , ambient ). Conceptualism has always prevented darkwave representatives from becoming popular, but has attracted music lovers and collectors who are fond of large forms, academic music, as well as visuals, role-players, fans of science fiction, fantasy, mysticism, esotericism, among their fans.

Lyrics are often melancholic , tragic in nature, cover a wide range of serious philosophical, psychological and religious topics and issues, mainly from the “dark” side, as opposed to positive, funny, naive creativity. Some groups completely refuse meaningful texts ( Clan Of Xymox , Cocteau Twins ), up to the use of the so-called. "Bird language" ( Dvar ) and a complete rejection of the text ( Mortiis ).

In the mid-80s, many bands performing music similar in sound to gothic rock began to experiment with sound and add electronic elements. In 1985, Pink Turns Blue was formed in Cologne , the group immediately released its first long play “If Two Worlds Kiss”, with rather dark nuances of the new wave style and electronic elements, which ensured the band the glory of the pioneers of dark wave. Around the same time, groups such as Little Nemo and Trisomie 21 appeared in France, inspired by the creativity of the post-punk bands Joy Division and The Cure , give impetus to the development of the coldwave genre, which is essentially an analogue of darkwave.

German darkwave is a national offshoot of world Gothic music, in Germany the genre is called it. Neue Deutsche Todeskunst (NDT) (New German Art of Death). Music in this style is characterized by a typically German dark romantic theme (see Grunewald , Schubert , Bruckner , Kraut Rock ). In the 1990s, darkwave replaced the gothic rock that reigned on the German dark scene in the 1980s. With the onset of the 2000s, NDT mostly flowed into EBM , which was perceived by many listeners as a degradation of the genre. To date, the most active: Lacrimosa (who came to the style of gothic metal ), Illuminate (similar), Diary of Dreams (synth-gothic), Das Ich , Untoten ( symphonic-gothic ), Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble of Shadows .

Darkwave in Russia was born in the mid-late 1990s, simultaneously with the emergence of the Russian Gothic scene. The works of characteristic performers reflect mainly European trends in the development of the genre.

Russian darkwave, unlike Russian gothic rock and postpunk , has practically no historical roots, and inherits the traditions of European Gothic music of the 80s. As a result, the music of Russian artists has little in common, and it is difficult to combine into a single musical movement. Groups: Otto Dix , Roman Rain , etc.

• Goths (subculture)
• German darkwave
• Gothic rock
• Synty pop
• Industrial
• Coldwave

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