Gothic rock artists deal with dark themes and intellectual movements such as gothic horror, Romanticism, existential philosophy, and nihilism. Notable gothic rock bands include Bauhaus, The Cure, Siouxsie & the Banshees, The Sisters of Mercy and The Mission.
Two early post-punk groups labeled "gothic" were Joy Division[1] and Siouxsie & the Banshees in 1979. Between 1978 and 1979 these bands developed a haunting sound and dark-themed lyrics.
(Joy Division)The band's dark and gloomy sound, which Martin Hannett described in 1979 as "dancing music with Gothic overtones", presaged the gothic rock genre. While the term "gothic" originally described a "doomy atmosphere" in music of the late 1970s, the term was soon applied to specific bands like Bauhaus that followed in Joy Division's wake.[55] Standard musical fixtures of early gothic rock bands included "high-pitched post-Joy Division basslines usurp[ing] the melodic role" and "vocals that were either near operatic and Teutonic or deep, droning alloys of Jim Morrison and Ian Curtis