Going Underground… The New Gothic Music Scene of 2013

In 2013 a new wave of underground Gothic music is breaking against the shore, with bands like Obscure Pleasures and William Control rising to the fore…

We all remember or have heard of days long past when ankh-eyed Goths roamed the streets, freely listening to Sisters of Mercy or Siouxsie or The Smiths, which everyone knew of and (mostly) liked. Now a new Gothic music revival rumbles in the darkest recesses of the alternative clubs of a fresh generation. While unique in their own right, these new breed Goth bands fit a theme and seem to be garnering more and more fan/media attention…

Bands Such as Obscure Pleasures, Fearless Vampire Killers, In Dante’s Eclipse, Ashes to Angel and solo artists such as William Control (formerly of cult band Aiden) seem to be taking the UK underground scene by storm and are slowly attracting crowds who want to be part of this close-knit community.

Fearless Vampire Killers: We do like a man in goggles.

Obscure Pleasures‘ first single Private Peep Show caught my attention just over a year ago, when I stumbled across it on one of my downloading sprees. A quirky use of upbeat synthesisers coupled with dark guitar riffs create a powerful impression which, alongside Joshua Bateman’s haunting vocals, create a sound not unlike original Dépêche Mode but with an even more sombre twist and dark, dark lyrics.

William Control (formerly of death rock band Aiden) came to light when he created the Control project, initially making music for himself based around Victorian themes (Victorian attire included) and for now his record label too. William Control’s music could be classed as dark wave Goth with its heavy use of synthesisers. However, he pairs the synth with sound effects he recorded in various places around London. Much of his work also includes poetry, and the Goth scene has long gone hand-in-hand with a love of poetry…

Technically underground, Fearless Vampire Killers are gradually coming to the attention of the mainstream rock media after playing alongside William Control and Obscure Pleasures on the New Faith tour. Currently playing the Kerrang! Tour alongside Black Veil Brides, Fearless Vampire Killers are sure to be tarred with the ’emo’ brush. However, a heavy melodic twist alongside the conceptual element gives a smoother edge that’s a lot easier on the ears than it could be… a definite must-listen for fans of My Chemical Romance (Fabulous Killjoys, you know who you are) and Lostprophets.

Orbiting the dark sun of these three main bands is a new Gothic solar system that includes the high-gravity planets Ashes to Angels, In Dante’s Eclipse, and Motionless in White. As with the dark sun trio, these bands have all featured in the New Faith tour together and seem to be very close (often the sign of an exciting new musical movement when you consider the early Seattle scene, the Manchester scene of the nineties and, and… well, so many of them, really. All scenes have to start somewhere).

So watch this space.

You never know… it might soon be filled with amazing bands from the new underground Gothic music scene coming to a dry-iced venue near you.

Credit to the talented Katie Imogen for immortalising William Control, seen here looking like a lovely great big bird of the Corvus variety.