{{Short description|Genre of music}} {{For|the 1956 documentary film|The Dark Wave}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2016}} {{fan pov|date=November 2024}} {{Infobox music genre | name = Dark wave | other_names = {{hlist|Doom<ref name="Richard" />|doom wave<ref>Dumeier, Michael: ''Smalltalk & Concerts'', The Mettmist music magazine, issue 1, 1984, p. 24<br />Janning, Frank: ''The Lawyers of Death'', SPEX. Musik zur Zeit, issue 9/86, September 1986, p. 10<br />Schubert, Dieter: ''Was ist ein Perfect Beat?'', My Way music magazine, issue 9, 1988, p. 20</ref>}} | stylistic_origins = {{hlist|New wave<ref name="Vice2012">{{cite web|last1=Ogiba|first1=Jeff|title=A Brief History of Musical Waves from NEW to NEXT|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/a-brief-history-of-musical-waves-from-new-to-next/|website=Vice|date=11 July 2012}}<br /> "Dark Wave was another late-'70s off-shoot of New Wave. The genre contained the gloomiest of the groups, featuring with slower tempos, deeper vocals, and intense lyrical content. Some bands include the Danse Society, the Sisters of Mercy, and Bauhaus. The Dark Wavers still exist, and the popularity of the genre has seen a revival in recent years."</ref>|post-punk<ref>Webb, Peter: ''Exploring the Networked Worlds of Popular Music'', Routledge Chapman & Hall, 2007, {{ISBN|0-415-95658-7}}, p. 60</ref>}} | cultural_origins = Late 1970s – early 1980s, Europe (particularly in the United Kingdom, West Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, France and Italy) | instruments = {{hlist|Guitar|bass guitar|drums|drum machine|synthesizer|sampler|violin|cello|piano|percussion}} | subgenrelist = | subgenres = {{hlist|Cold wave|dark cabaret|ethereal wave|gothic rock|neoclassical dark wave|neofolk}} | fusiongenres = | regional_scenes = {{hlist|France|Germany}} | other_topics = }} '''Dark wave''' (also known as '''darkwave''') is a music genre that emerged from the new wave and post-punk movement of the late 1970s.<ref name="Dittmann139">{{cite book|last1=Farin|first1=Klaus|last2=Neubauer|first2=Hendrik|title=Artificial Tribes: Jugendliche Stammeskulturen in Deutschland|date=2001|oclc=493304020|publisher=Tilsner|location=Bad Tölz|isbn=3-933773-11-3|page=139|edition=Orig.-Ausg.}}</ref><ref name="Hornberger">{{cite book | first1=Thomas | last1=Hecken | first2=Marcus S. | last2=Kleiner | title=Handbuch Popkultur | publisher=J. B. Metzler Verlag | year=2017 | isbn=978-3-476-02677-4 | page=79}}</ref> Dark wave compositions are largely based on minor key tonality and introspective lyrics and have been perceived as being dark, romantic and bleak, with an undertone of sorrow.<ref name="Dittmann139" /><ref>Schmidt, Axel; Neumann-Braun, Klaus: ''Die Welt der Gothics. Spielräume düster konnotierter Transzendenz.'', Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften 2004, {{ISBN|3-531-14353-0}}, p. 270<br />"Textlich und musikalisch ergibt sich für Dark Wave ein Stimmungsbild, das sich gezähmt zwischen Härte und Romantik bewegt, sehnsuchtsvoll und melancholisch, Wut kommt kaum aggressiv zum Ausdruck, alles wirkt ausgewogen und reflektiert."</ref> Common features include the use of chordophones such as electric and acoustic guitar, violin and piano, as well as electronic instruments such as synthesizer, sampler and drum machine.{{citation needed (lead)|date=April 2026}} Like new wave, dark wave is not a "unified genre but rather an umbrella term"<ref name="SAGE727">{{cite book |title=The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Music and Culture |editor-first=Janet |editor-last=Sturman |first=Eric S. |last=Strother |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9TuKDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22dark+wave%22&pg=PA727 |publisher=SAGE Publications |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-50635-338-8|page=727}}</ref> that encompasses a variety of musical styles, including cold wave,<ref name="Schilz84">Schilz, Andrea: ''Flyer der Schwarzen Szene Deutschlands: Visualisierungen, Strukturen, Mentalitäten.'' Waxmann Verlag, 2010, {{ISBN|978-3-8309-2097-7}}, p. 84.<br />"Dark Wave ist ein ... Oberbegriff für düstere Spielarten des Wave, der auch Gothic darunter subsumiert. Cold Wave bezeichnet eine Untergattung experimenteller, minimalistischer Elektronikmusik aus Frankreich."</ref> ethereal wave,<ref>{{Cite journal |first=Bryan |last=Reesman |title=The Scene Is Now: Dark Wave |journal=CMJ New Music Monthly |issue=68 |page=48 |date=April 1999 |quote=Female vocals, both wispy and operatic, have become fashionable, particularly in the Ethereal subgenre}}.</ref> gothic rock,<ref name="Schilz84" /><ref name="Uecker">Uecker, Susann: ''Mit High-Heels im Stechschritt'', Hirnkost Verlag, 2014, {{ISBN|3-943-77453-8}}<br />"Die Dark-Wave-Szene unterteilt sich unter anderem in den klassischen Dark Wave, den Gothic-Rock, elektronische Gruppen oder auch den Neofolk."</ref><ref name="Hornberger" /> neoclassical dark wave<ref name="Duden">Carstens, Olaf; Thalhofer, Frank: ''Duden - Das Fremdwörterbuch'', Bibliographisches Institut, Auflage 11, 2015, {{ISBN|3-411-04061-0}}, p. 726<br />"Genre der Dark-Wave-Musik, das durch verschiedene Stilmittel und Komponisten der Romantik, der Alten Musik oder der Neuen Musik inspiriert ist."</ref> and neofolk.<ref name="Uecker" />
In the 1980s, a subculture developed primarily in Europe alongside dark wave music, whose followers were called "wavers"<ref>{{cite book|last1=Farin|first1=Klaus|last2=Wallraff|first2=Kirsten|last3=Archiv der Jugendkulturen e.V., Berlin|title=Die Gothics : Interviews, Fotografien|date=1999|publisher=Tilsner|location=Bad Tölz|page=60|isbn=9783933773098|edition=Orig.-Ausg.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Matzke|first1=Peter|last2=Seeliger|first2=Tobias|title=Die schwarze Musik-Szene in Deutschland|date=2002|oclc=742385153|publisher=Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf|location=Berlin|isbn=3-89602-332-2|page=217|edition=2., erg. Aufl.}}</ref> or "dark wavers".<ref>Haumann, Melanie: ''Fetisch Weiblichkeit. Der Mythos der schönen Frau?'', Verlag für Wissenschaft und Forschung, 2001, {{ISBN|3-897-00326-0}}, p. 2<br />"Die Dark Waver, Waver – oder belächelnd auch "Grufties" genannt – sind eine Jugendkultur, die in den 80er Jahren aus der Punk-Bewegung entstanden ist."</ref><ref>Farin, Klaus: ''Jugend, Gesellschaft und Recht im neuen Jahrtausend'', Forum Verlag Godesberg, 2003, {{ISBN|3-930-98284-6}}, p. 66</ref> In some countries, most notably Germany, the movement also included fans of gothic rock<ref name="Richard">{{cite book | first1=Shirley R. | last1=Steinberg | first2=Priya | last2=Parmar | first3=Birgit | last3=Richard | title=Contemporary Youth Culture. An International Encyclopedia. Volume II. | publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group | year=2005 | isbn=0-313-33729-2 | page=[https://archive.org/details/contemporaryyout0000unse/page/431 431] | url=https://archive.org/details/contemporaryyout0000unse/page/431 }}<br />"The subculture of the Goths (in Germany called "Grufties") started in Britain in the early 1980s and derives from the gloomy, resigned side of punk and new wave, in the field of music called 'dark wave' or 'doom.'"</ref> (so-called "trad-goths").<ref>Hodkinson, Paul: ''Goth. Identity, Style and Subculture'', Bloomsbury Academic, 2002, {{ISBN|1-859-73605-X}}, p. 50</ref> However, darkwave is more synthesizer based whereas gothic rock is more guitar based.<ref name="SAGE727"/>
==History== {{multiple issues|section=yes|{{refexample|section|date=November 2024}} {{synthesis|section|date=November 2024}}}}
=== 1980s: Origins in Europe === [[File:Xymox 1989 220px.jpg|thumb|Clan of Xymox]] Since the 1980s,<ref name="Spex17">SPEX. Musik zur Zeit: Classified Ad by German distribution company EFA – Spots 5/85, issue 5/85, p. 17, May 1985, [http://fs5.directupload.net/images/151119/fj33oyol.jpg online picture]</ref><ref>Bobby Vox: ''Gorgonen, Hydras & Chimären – Interview with Marquee Moon'', E.B. music magazine, issue 3/86, p. 18, May 1986</ref><ref name="NewLife88">New Life Soundmagazine, issue 38, description of the single "Love Will Tear Us Apart“ by Joy Division, p. 10, November 1988</ref> the term "dark wave" has been used in Europe by the music press<ref>{{cite book|last=Völker|first=Florian|title=Kälte-Pop – Die Geschichte des erfolgreichsten deutschen Popmusik-Exports|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L03aEAAAQBAJ&dq=dark+wave&pg=PA182 |date=2023|publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH|location=Berlin/Boston|page=182|isbn=978-3-11-124515-7|edition=Orig.-Ausg.}}</ref> to describe the gloomy and melancholy variant of new wave and post-punk music.<ref name="Dittmann139" /><ref name="Issitt111">Issitt, Micah: ''Goths: A Guide to an American Subculture'', Greenwood Publishing Group, 2011, {{ISBN|0-313-38604-8}}, p. 111</ref> At that time, the term "goth" was inseparably connected with gothic rock,<ref>Schmidt, Axel; Neumann-Braun, Klaus: ''Die Welt der Gothics. Spielräume düster konnotierter Transzendenz.'', Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften 2004, {{ISBN|3-531-14353-0}}, p. 261.</ref> whereas "dark wave" acquired a broader meaning, embracing bands and solo artists that were associated with gothic rock<ref name="Issitt111" /> and synthesizer-based new wave music,<ref name="Hornberger" /><ref name="Rouner">{{cite news|last1=Rouner|first1=Jeff|title=The Seven Ages of Goth|url=http://www.houstonpress.com/music/the-seven-ages-of-goth-6500894|work=Houston Press|date=20 January 2011}}<br />"The term 'darkwave' came from back in the 1980s, and was one of the terms used to describe the Golden Age bands, as well as dark electronica acts like Gary Numan and Depeche Mode."</ref> such as Bauhaus,<ref>Matzke, Peter; Seeliger, Tobias: ''Das Gothic- und Dark-Wave-Lexikon'', p. 39, 2002, {{ISBN|3-89602-277-6}}</ref> Joy Division,<ref name="NewLife88" /><ref name="Wallraff">{{cite book|last1=Farin|first1=Klaus|last2=Wallraff|first2=Kirsten|last3=Archiv der Jugendkulturen e.V., Berlin|title=Die Gothics : Interviews, Fotografien|date=1999|publisher=Tilsner|location=Bad Tölz|page=47|isbn=9783933773098|edition=Orig.-Ausg.}}</ref><ref>Peter Jandreus, ''The Encyclopedia of Swedish Punk 1977–1987'', Stockholm: Premium Publishing, 2008, p. 11.</ref> the Cure,<ref name="Wallraff" /><ref name="Weidenkaff41">{{cite book|last1=Farin|first1=Klaus|last2=Weidenkaff|first2=Ingo|title=Jugendkulturen in Thüringen|date=1999|publisher=Tilsner|oclc=651857996|location=Bad Tölz|isbn=3-933773-25-3|page=41|edition=Orig.-Ausg.}}</ref> Siouxsie and the Banshees,<ref name="Wallraff" /> the Sisters of Mercy,<ref name="Wallraff" /> Anne Clark,<ref name="Nostalgia">{{cite book |title=Nostalgia or Perversion? |first=Isabella |last=van Elferen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o_gYBwAAQBAJ&dq=%22dark+wave%22&pg=PA127 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |year=2007 |isbn=978-1847182470|page=127}}</ref> Depeche Mode,<ref name="Weidenkaff41" /><ref name="Rouner" /> Gary Numan<ref name="Rouner" /> and the Chameleons.<ref name="Wallraff" />
{{Blockquote|The term darkwave originated in the 1980s as an indicator of the dark counterpart of new wave. Bands such as Cocteau Twins, Soft Cell, and Depeche Mode are exponents of this first generation of darkwave. Darkwave... employs relatively slower tempos, lower pitches, and more minor keys in its musical settings of melancholy texts than new wave.<ref name="Elferen">Isabella van Elferen, Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock: ''Goth Music: From Sound to Subculture''. Routledge Studies in Popular Music, 2015, p. 25, {{ISBN|0-415-72004-4}}</ref>|Isabella van Elferen, Professor of Musicology, Kingston University, London}}
The movement spread internationally, developing such strands as ethereal wave, with bands such as Cocteau Twins, and neoclassical dark wave, initiated by the music of Dead Can Dance and In the Nursery.<ref name="Matzke400–401">Matzke, Peter; Seeliger, Tobias: ''Das Gothic- und Dark-Wave-Lexikon'', p. 400–401, 2003, {{ISBN|3-89602-522-8}}</ref><ref>Nym, Alexander: ''Schillerndes Dunkel. Geschichte, Entwicklung und Themen der Gothic-Szene'', Plöttner Verlag 2010, {{ISBN|3-862-11006-0}}, p. 169</ref> French cold wave groups such as Clair Obscur<ref>SPEX. ''Musik zur Zeit: Classified Ad by German distribution company EFA'', issue 12/88, p. 58, December 1988</ref> and Opera Multi Steel<ref>[http://opera.multi.steel.pagesperso-orange.fr/About%20us.htm Opera Multi Steel - Official band biography]</ref> have also been associated with the dark wave scene;<ref name="SAGE727" /> Rémy Lozowski, guitarist of French cold wave band Excès Nocturne, described his music as {{lang|fr|new wave noire}} ("dark new wave").<ref>Illusions Perdues magazine: ''Interview with Excès Nocturne'', issue 1, p. 18, January 1989</ref>
Simultaneously, different substyles associated with the new wave and dark wave movements started to merge and influence each other, e.g. synth-wave<ref name="Vice2012" /> (a kind of new wave with synthesizers, also referred to as "electro-wave"<ref>Matzke, Peter; Seeliger, Tobias: ''Das Gothic- und Dark-Wave-Lexikon'', p. 222, 2003, {{ISBN|3-89602-522-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Gothic Electro. Die Funktionalisierung von Technik innerhalb des subkulturellen Kontexts |language=de |first=Bianca |last=Stücker |chapter=Electro Wave |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ElTximhNwPgC&dq=electro+wave&pg=PA76 |publisher=Europäischer Hochschulverlag |year=2013 |isbn=978-3-86741-863-8|page=76}}</ref>) with gothic rock, or began to borrow elements of post-industrial music. Attrition,<ref name="sordid">{{cite web|url=http://sortedmagazine.com/archive/magazine/sordid/attrition.htm|publisher=Sorted magAZine |title=Composing noises|date=1999}}</ref> Die Form (France), Pink Industry (UK), Psyche (Canada), Kirlian Camera (Italy) and Clan of Xymox (Netherlands)<ref>DeBord, Jason: ''[http://rocksubculture.com/2015/03/21/clan-of-xymox-at-dna-lounge-san-francisco-california-3192015-concert-review-photos/ Clan of Xymox at DNA Lounge]'', Rock Subculture Journal, March 21, 2015<br />"A pioneer of Darkwave music, the mix of Synth Wave, Post-Punk, and Gothic Rock had its golden age in the '80s among contemporaries like Bauhaus, Joy Division, the Cure, Sisters of Mercy, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Cocteau Twins, and Depeche Mode."</ref> performed this music in the 1980s. Other bands such as Malaria! and the Vyllies added elements of chanson and cabaret music. This sort of dark wave music became known as cabaret noir (or "dark cabaret", a term popularized by U.S. dark wave label Projekt Records).<ref name="Issitt111" /><ref>Stücker, Bianca: ''Die Funktionalisierung von Technik innerhalb des subkulturellen Kontexts'', Europäischer Hochschulverlag, 2013, {{ISBN|3-867-41863-2}}, p. 74</ref>
German dark wave bands were partially associated with the Neue Deutsche Welle (i.e. German new wave),<ref>Schmidt, Axel; Neumann-Braun, Klaus: ''Die Welt der Gothics. Spielräume düster konnotierter Transzendenz.'', Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften 2004, {{ISBN|3-531-14353-0}}, p. 256</ref> and included Xmal Deutschland,<ref>Schmidt, Axel; Neumann-Braun, Klaus: ''Die Welt der Gothics. Spielräume düster konnotierter Transzendenz.'', Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften 2004, {{ISBN|3-531-14353-0}}, p. 257</ref> Mask For, Asmodi Bizarr,<ref name="SAGE727" /> II. Invasion,<ref name="SAGE727" /> Unlimited Systems, Moloko †, Maerchenbraut,<ref name="Kilpatrick">Kilpatrick, Nancy. ''The Goth Bible: A Compendium for the Darkly Inclined''. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 2004, {{ISBN|0-312-30696-2}}, pp. 84/85.</ref><ref name="SAGE727" /> Cyan Revue,<ref name="Spex17" /> Leningrad Sandwich,<ref name="Spex17" /> Stimmen der Stille, Belfegore,<ref>Esch, Rüdiger: ''Electri_city'', Berlin: Suhrkamp Verlag, 3rd edition, 2015, {{ISBN|978-3-518-46464-9}}, p. 356</ref> and Pink Turns Blue.<ref>Oliver Sheppard: ''[http://www.cvltnation.com/pink-turns-blue-interview-german-darkwave-pioneers/ Pink Turns Blue – An interview with German darkwave pioneers.]'' CVLT Nation magazine, 9 September 2016</ref><ref name="SAGE727" />
=== 1990s: Second generation === [[File:The_Frozen_Autumn.jpg|thumb|right|The Frozen Autumn]] After the new wave and post-punk movements faded in the mid-1980s,<ref>Schilz, Andrea: ''Flyer der Schwarzen Szene Deutschlands: Visualisierungen, Strukturen, Mentalitäten.'' Waxmann Verlag, 2010, {{ISBN|978-3-8309-2097-7}}, p. 92</ref> dark wave was renewed as an underground movement<ref name="Welt258259">Schmidt, Axel; Neumann-Braun, Klaus: ''Die Welt der Gothics. Spielräume düster konnotierter Transzendenz.'', Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften 2004, {{ISBN|3-531-14353-0}}, pp. 258/259</ref><ref name="Kilpatrick" /><ref>Köble, Oliver: ''Editorial'', Glasnost magazine, issue 28, p. 3, July/August 1991<br />"Der Trend ist eindeutig: Die großen Star-Bands verschwinden immer mehr aus dem Rampenlicht, während eine Vielzahl junger Nachwuchsbands sich stetig wachsenden Interesses seitens des Szene-Publikums erfreut. Und ohne unangenehmes Gefühl darf gesagt werden, dass Deutschland momentan das absolute Zentrum der Wave-Musik ist."</ref> by German bands such as Girls Under Glass, Deine Lakaien,<ref name="Kilpatrick" /> Love Like Blood,<ref name="Wallraff" /> Love Is Colder Than Death,<ref>Matzke, Peter; Seeliger, Tobias: ''Das Gothic- und Dark-Wave-Lexikon'', p. 266, 2002, {{ISBN|3-89602-277-6}}</ref> Diary of Dreams,<ref>Matzke, Peter; Seeliger, Tobias: ''Das Gothic- und Dark-Wave-Lexikon'', p. 111, 2002, {{ISBN|3-89602-277-6}}</ref><ref name="Nostalgia" /> the Eternal Afflict,<ref>{{cite book |title=Die Welt der Gothics – Spielräume düster konnotierter Transzendenz |editor-first=Axel |editor-last=Schmidt |first=Judith |last=Platz |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HRcS05skjCsC&dq=dark+wave&pg=PA273 |publisher=Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften |year=2008 |isbn=978-3-531-15880-8|page=273}}</ref> and Wolfsheim, as well as Project Pitchfork and its offshoot Aurora Sutra.<ref name="Welt258259" /><ref name="Kilpatrick" /> Ataraxia and the Frozen Autumn from Italy, and the French Corpus Delicti also evolved from this movement and became the leading artists of the west Romanesque dark wave scene.<ref>Stableford, Brian: ''News of the Black Feast and Other Random Reviews'', Wildside Press 31 March 2009, {{ISBN|1-434-40336-X}}, p. 24</ref> These bands followed a path based on the new wave and post-punk music of the 1980s.<ref name="Wallraff" /><ref name="Elferen" />
{{Blockquote|In the 1990s, a second generation of darkwave bands became popular, including Diary of Dreams, Deine Lakaien, and the Frozen Autumn... The German band Deine Lakaien ... is audibly influenced by the dark synthesizer sounds of Depeche Mode.<ref name="Elferen" />|Isabella van Elferen, Professor of Musicology}}
At the same time, a number of German artists, including Das Ich,<ref name="Matzke311">Matzke, Peter; Seeliger, Tobias: ''Das Gothic- und Dark-Wave-Lexikon'', p. 311, 2002, {{ISBN|3-89602-277-6}}</ref> Goethes Erben,<ref name="Matzke311" /> Relatives Menschsein,<ref name="Matzke311" /> and Endraum,<ref name="Matzke311" /> developed a more theatrical style, interspersed with German poetic, metaphorical lyrics, called ''Neue Deutsche Todeskunst'' (literally ''New German Death Art'').<ref name="Matzke311" /><ref>Schmidt, Axel; Neumann-Braun, Klaus: ''Die Welt der Gothics. Spielräume düster konnotierter Transzendenz.'', Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften 2004, {{ISBN|3-531-14353-0}}, pp. 280/281.</ref> Other bands, such as Silke Bischoff, In My Rosary,<ref>Matzke, Peter; Seeliger, Tobias: ''Das Gothic- und Dark-Wave-Lexikon'', pp. 221/222, 2002, {{ISBN|3-89602-277-6}}</ref> Engelsstaub,<ref name="SAGE728">{{cite book |title=The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Music and Culture |editor-first=Janet |editor-last=Sturman |first=Eric S. |last=Strother |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9TuKDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22dark+wave%22&pg=PA728 |publisher=SAGE Publications |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-50635-338-8|page=728}}</ref> and Impressions of Winter<ref>Matzke, Peter; Seeliger, Tobias: ''Das Gothic- und Dark-Wave-Lexikon'', p. 219, 2002, {{ISBN|3-89602-277-6}}</ref> combined synthesizers with elements of neofolk and neoclassical dark wave.<ref name="SAGE728" />
==== United States ==== After 1993, in the United States the term dark wave (as the one-word variant "darkwave") became associated with the Projekt Records label,<ref name="Rouner" /> because it was adopted by label founder Sam Rosenthal after leafing through the pages of German music magazines such as Zillo, and has been used to promote and market artists from German label Hyperium Records in the U.S., e.g. Chandeen and Love Is Colder Than Death.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.projekt.com/order/orderform.html |title=Projekt:Darkwave, Catalogue November 1996 |access-date=17 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970130043245/http://www.projekt.com/order/orderform.html |archive-date=30 January 1997 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
{{Blockquote|I first became aware of the term "Dark Wave" back in 1992. It appeared in German magazines – such as Zillo – describing a style of European music that followed other "waves" such as New Wave ... I found those two words ("dark" and "wave") quite interesting. This was something underground, submerged, obscure... which swept over you, immersed you, surrounded you. It was a poetic phrase that could describe many different sounds. At the time, I was looking for a name for my little mail-order company. I wanted something that would encompass the variety of music available in my catalog.<ref>Various Artists: ''Darkwave: Music of the Shadows'', K-Tel International Inc., Liner Notes, Februar 2000</ref>|Sam Rosenthal, Projekt Records, 2000}}
[[File:Monica Richards & Marzia Rangel.jpg|thumb|right|Faith and the Muse (Monica Richards and Marzia Rangel of Christ vs. Warhol and Scarlet's Remains)]] Projekt featured bands such as Lycia, Black Tape for a Blue Girl, and Love Spirals Downwards, some of these characterized by atmospheric guitar and synth-sounds and female vocals.<ref>Dave Thompson, Kirsten Borchardt: ''Schattenwelt – Helden und Legenden des Gothic Rock.'', Hannibal Verlag 2003, {{ISBN|3-85445-236-5}}, p. 362</ref> This style took cues from 1980s bands like Cocteau Twins<ref name="SAGE728" /> and is often referred to as ethereal dark wave.<ref>Glasnost Wave-Magazin, issue 42, Description of the bands Trance to the Sun, This Ascension, p. 32/34, April 1994</ref><ref name="SAGE728" /> Projekt Records has also had a long association with Attrition, who appeared on the label's earliest compilations.<ref>Various Artists: [https://www.discogs.com/release/4974668 From Across this Gray Land], first appearance of Attrition on Projekt Records, 1986</ref> Another American record label in this vein was Tess Records, which featured This Ascension, Faith and the Muse,<ref name="Kilpatrick2" /> and the reunited Clan of Xymox.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Spracklen |first1=Karl |last2=Spracklen |first2=Beverley |title=The Evolution of Goth Culture: The Origins and Deeds of the New Goths |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3e9mDwAAQBAJ&dq=clan+of+xymox&pg=PA103 |publisher=Emerald Publishing Limited |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-78714-677-8|page=103}}</ref>
Joshua Gunn, a professor of communication studies at Louisiana University, described the U.S. type of dark wave music as: {{Blockquote|...an expansion of the rather limited gothic repertoire into electronica and, in a way, the US answer to the "ethereal" subgenre that developed in Europe (e.g. Dead Can Dance). Anchored by Sam Rosenthal's now New York-based label Projekt, dark wave music is less rock and more roll, supporting bands who tend to emphasize folk songcraft, hushed vocals, ambient experimentation, and synthesized sounds [...] Projekt bands like Love Spirals Downwards and Lycia are the most popular of this subgenre.<ref name="Kilpatrick2">Kilpatrick, Nancy. ''The Goth Bible: A Compendium for the Darkly Inclined''. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 2004, {{ISBN|0-312-30696-2}}, p. 90.</ref>}}
=== 2000s–2020s: Revival === During the 2000s, as part of the post-punk revival,<ref name="Boucanier">{{cite book |last=Boucanier |first=Thierry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vC3YDwAAQBAJ&dq=dark-wave&pg=PT341 |title=Goth. Histoire d'une subculture |publisher=Camion Blanc |year=2020 |isbn=978-2-378-48161-2 |page=?}}</ref> a new generation of bands rekindled several sonic characteristics of early dark wave music for a new generation of fans which proliferated into the early 2010s. Some prominent acts include She Wants Revenge,<ref name="Boucanier" /> the Soft Moon,<ref name="Boucanier" /> She Past Away,<ref name="Boucanier" /> Drab Majesty,<ref name="Boucanier" /> Twin Tribes, Selofan<ref name="Boucanier" /> and Boy Harsher.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mandel |first=Leah |date=24 January 2019 |title=Be 'Careful': Boy Harsher Pushes its Darkwave Sound to Thrilling Ends |url=https://www.npr.org/2019/01/24/687563403/first-listen-boy-harsher-careful |accessdate=18 December 2022 |work=NPR}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=3 September 2019 |title=Boy Harsher are the cinematic sound of heartbreak | Dazed |url=https://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/45840/1/boy-harsher-country-girl-uncut-ep-interview |accessdate=18 December 2022}}</ref> Alongside Belarusian band Molchat Doma.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wray |first=Daniel Dylan |date=2024-06-19 |title='The body was the drums, the brain was the synthesiser': darkwave, the gothic genre lighting up pop |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/jun/19/darkwave-the-gothic-genre-lighting-up-pop |access-date=2025-10-10 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
Substance is an annual darkwave and industrial music festival occurring in Los Angeles which began in the 2010s.<ref>[https://post-punk.com/los-angeles-post-punk-festival-substance-reveals-its-2022-lineup/ Los Angeles Post-Punk Festival Substance Reveals its 2022 Lineup]</ref> Meanwhile, Verboden is an annual Darkwave festival in Vancouver, British Columbia.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Verboden Festival |url=https://verbodenfestival.com/ |access-date=2023-05-02 |website=Verboden Festival |language=en}}</ref> The Wave-Gotik-Treffen festival in Leipzig, Germany, established in 1992, is considered one of the world's largest festivals for "dark" music and culture, taking place at Pentecost annually throughout the city. It attracts around 20,000 visitors from all over the world.
==Related genres==
=== Neoclassical dark wave === [[File:Dead_Can_Dance6.jpg|thumb|right|Dead Can Dance (Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard)]] '''Neoclassical dark wave''' is a subgenre of dark wave music<ref>{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia Gothica |first=Liisa |last=Ladouceur |chapter=Neoclassical|publisher=ECW Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-77041-024-4|page=192}}</ref><ref name="Duden" /> that is characterized by incorporating elements of classical music<ref name="SAGE728" /> to create an ethereal, dramatic or melancholy atmosphere.<ref name="Neoklassik">{{cite book |title=Die Welt der Gothics – Spielräume düster konnotierter Transzendenz |editor-first=Axel |editor-last=Schmidt |first=Judith |last=Platz |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0ykjKReN-ygC&dq=neoklassik&pg=PA282 |publisher=Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften |year=2008 |isbn=978-3-531-15880-8|page=282}}</ref><ref name="Stücker">{{cite book |title=Gothic Electro. Die Funktionalisierung von Technik innerhalb des subkulturellen Kontexts |language=de |first=Bianca |last=Stücker |chapter=Neo-Klassik |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ElTximhNwPgC&dq=neo-klassik&pg=PA82 |publisher=Europäischer Hochschulverlag |year=2013 |isbn=978-3-86741-863-8|page=82}}</ref> Neoclassical dark wave makes extensive use of orchestral components; many bands utilize modern production equipment (orchestra-derived synthesizer samples),<ref name="Neoklassik" /> while others make use of chamber orchestras and acoustic instruments (e.g. string and brass instruments and orchestral percussion).<ref name="Matzke400–401" /> Vocals in the subgenre can vary; female voices predominate.<ref name="Neoklassik" /><ref name="Matzke400–401" />
In the second half of the 1980s, former post-punk bands such as Dead Can Dance (''Within the Realm of a Dying Sun'', 1987<ref>{{cite book |title=365 albums die je beluisterd moet hebben |language=nl |first=Pieter |last=Vantyghem |chapter=The Serpent's Egg |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ze2EDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22neoclassical+darkwave%22&pg=RA8-PA30 |publisher=Lannoo Meulenhoff |year=2019 |isbn=978-9-40145-972-3|page=30}}</ref>) and In the Nursery (''Stormhorse'', 1987<ref name="Stücker" />) released influential albums which essentially laid the foundations of the genre.<ref name="Neoklassik" /><ref name="SAGE728"/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Bibliography== * Farin, Klaus; Wallraff, Kirsten: ''Die Gothics''. Bad Tölz: Verlag Thomas Tilsner, 1999, {{ISBN|9783933773098}}. * Mercer, Mick. ''Hex Files: The Goth Bible''. New York: The Overlook Press, 1997, {{ISBN|0-879-51783-2}}. * Steinberg, Shirley; Parmar, Priya; Richard, Birgit: ''Contemporary Youth Culture. An International Encyclopedia. Volume II''., Greenwood Publishing Group, 2005, {{ISBN|0-313-33729-2}}. * van Elferen, Isabella; Weinstock, Jeffrey Andrew: ''Goth Music: From Sound to Subculture''. Routledge Studies in Popular Music, 2015, {{ISBN|0-415-72004-4}}. * Hecken, Thomas; Kleiner, Marcus: ''Handbuch Popkultur'', J. B. Metzler Verlag, 2017, {{ISBN|978-3-476-02677-4}}. * Sturman, Janet: ''The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Music and Culture.'' SAGE Publications, 2019, {{ISBN|978-1-50635-338-8}}.
==External links== * {{Commons-inline}}
{{New wave music}} {{Goth subculture}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Dark wave Category:New wave music Category:Post-punk Category:Rock music genres Category:Electronic music genres Category:Fusion music genres Category:British styles of music Category:1980s in music Category:1990s in music Category:20th-century music genres Category:Music scenes Category:1980s fads and trends Category:1980s neologisms Category:Goth subculture Category:Underground music Category:Western culture