You're Haunting Me, Unstoppable, The Woman Who Fell to Earth

Three howls of the damned:

Blackbriar, "You're Haunting Me"

Ad Infinitum, "Unstoppable"

Cadaveria, "The Woman Who Fell to Earth"

Crawling King Chaos, Morning Star, Rex

Three howls of the damned for your sonic edification:

Cradle of Filth, "Crawling King Chaos"

King Woman, "Morning Star"

Vampire, "Rex"

Gods of Debauchery, Weakness and Lust, Psychic Wound

Three howls of the damned for your sonic edification:

Seven Spires, "Gods of Debauchery"

Blackbriar, "Weakness and Lust"

King Woman, "Psychic Wound"

Cathedral Walls, Dance with the Dragon, Strangled Idols

A few howls of the damned for heading in the weekend:

Swallow the Sun, "Cathedral Walls"

Dark Sarah, "Dance with the Dragon"

Cadaveria, "Strangled Idols"

Songs for the Dead

I've been working on some stuff for publication, which means I've been in need of background music. For the kind of mindset I like to work from, nothing really beats this recently posted King Diamond set that captures the unimpeachable Abigail album in a live performance:

Bloodletting on the Kiss, The In-Between, Firelights

Howls of the damned for a snowed-in December:

Bloody Hammers, "Bloodletting on the Kiss"

In This Moment, "The In-Between"

Swallow the Sun, "Firelights"

Rooms and Shadows, Blackest Magick in Practice, Let Sleeping Corpses Lie

Howls of the damned for a wintry Friday:

Swallow the Sun, "Rooms and Shadows"

Cradle of Filth, "Blackest Magick in Practice"

Bloody Hammers, "Let Sleeping Corpses Lie"

Noise, Burning Bridges, Blood, Tears, Dust, Stellar Tombs

Howls of the damned to entertain and edify.

Nightwish, "Noise"

Delain, "Burning Bridges"

Lacuna Coil, "Blood, Tears, Dust"

Draconian, "Stellar Tombs"

Layers of Time, Across the Sea, Victims of Contingency

Three howls of the damned:

Lacuna Coil, "Layers of Time"

Leaves' Eyes, "Across the Sea"

Epica, "Victims of Contingency"

Elena Verrier

There are a lot of channels on Youtube devoted to guitar covers, but one of my favorite's is Elena Verrier, who specializes in absolutely tearing up metal tracks.

Metallica, "Blackened"

"Resident Evil 3 Save Room"

Death, "Spiritual Healing"

Slayer, "Dead Skin Mask"

Nile, "Permitting the Noble Dead to Descend to the Underworld"

Forgive Me Father, Morgana Effect, Raise Your Banner

A few howls of the damned to close out the week:

Cradle of Filth, "Forgive Me Father (I Have Sinned)"

Theatres des Vampires, "Morgana Effect"

Within Temptation, "Raise Your Banner"

To Outlive the Gods, End of Time, Beneath Broken Earth

A few howls of the damned for your listening pleasure:

My Dying Bride, "To Outlive the Gods"

Lacuna Coil, "End of Time"

Paradise Lost, "Beneath Broken Earth"

Aurorae, 100.000 Faces, Darker Thoughts

Listen to them, the children of the night...

Triptykon, "Aurorae"

Cadaveria, "100.000 Faces"

Paradise Lost, "Darker Thoughts"

Fall From Grace, Dim Days of Dolor, Year of the Rat

A few howls of the damned for your listening pleasure:

Paradise Lost, "Fall From Grace"

Sirenia, "Dim Days of Dolor"

Tristania, "Year of the Rat"

One Man Black Metal

A documentary series on one-man black metal acts by Noisey.

Black Metal's Unexplored Fringes: One Man Metal, part 1

In the Darkest Shadows of Black Metal: One Man Metal, part 2

Everybody Dies Alone: One Man Metal, part 3

A Guide to 90s Gothic Metal

Gothic metal was a mainstay in my discman and the neon purple cassette player in my Dodge Spirit in the 90s. As a distinct style, Gothic metal grew out of the death and doom scenes; in many ways, the bands that innovated in that style were combining the heaviness of death metal with the depressive atmospherics of doom metal. 

The Peaceville label was essential at establishing the early perimeters. Their roster included three bands--My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost, and Anathema--that set the pace and locked in the tone. Their work in the 90s transcended their niche genre; without their work we might not have had the Gothic infusion into black metal (as seen in Cradle of Filth and Moonspell), the heavy pop of Type O Negative, the deluge of symphonic metal bands fronted by pretty women with pretty voices, or any of the modern funereal doom bands.

But what of the original bands themselves? How has their music held up? Where were the creative missteps?

Consider what lies below a audiographic survey course.

Anathema
I've always contended that there are some bands who only have three good albums in them. Anathema might best exemplify that thesis. The three heaviest albums of their career--both in terms of theme and musicality--are their first salvos. Everything after those records is lighter fare, but at the same time burdened with a curious leaden weight. 
Essential listening: Serenades, The Silent Enigma, Pentecost III/The Crestfallen
Jump ship at: the end starts with Eternity but you definitely want to gtfo by Alternative 4

The Gathering
Confession: I didn't discover the albums I like from The Gathering until much later than their original releases. Always... is a great example of the atmospheric doom variety of Gothic metal, but The Gathering reached their peak by introducing the heavenly voice of Anneke van Giersbergen into the mix. Things rapidly went downhill when the band began incorporating alternative and trip-hop influences into their sound. It's always a bad sign when bands who started out heavy start talking about Pink Floyd in their interviews.
Essential listening: Always..., Mandylion, Nighttime Birds
Jump ship at: How to Measure a Planet?
Try before you buy: Almost a Dance (musically solid, but the male vocals are an acquired taste (at best) or a hideous mismatch (at worst)

Katatonia
Katatonia's best years were their early period of sorrow-infused, death metal-influenced craftsmanship. Unfortunately, the combined efforts of vocal cord issues and a change in musical direction siphoned off that initial creative spark, resulting in an "alternative metal" sound that isn't very distinctive. In interviews, the band claims to have never really fallen into the Gothic metal camp, but their first two records fall well within the pantheon for me.
Essential listening: Dance of December Souls, Brave Murder Day
Jump ship at: Discouraged Ones

My Dying Bride
The most important of the "Peaceville Three" bands that refined the idea of Gothic metal in the 1990s, My Dying Bride are a band that I can't fault at any point in their now-lived career. There was a time when I considered 34.788%...Complete hot garbage, but I've come around to it in more recent years. (I still think it's one of their weaker albums, but even a weak My Dying Bride album is better than what most can achieve.) Hardcore fans have mixed opinions about the band's recent offerings, but I'm pretty much down to hear whatever My Dying Bride is currently up to at any point.
Essential listening: Turn Loose the Swans, The Angel and the Dark River, Like Gods of the Sun
Jump ship at: Give 34.788%...Complete a listen and make up your own damn mind

Paradise Lost
Considered pioneers of two genres--death-doom and Gothic metal--Paradise lost released a series of unimpeachable albums that have since been oft-imitated but never equaled. The members of Paradise Lost were consummate workmen; over the course of six years they released five massive albums. However, for reasons that are still obscure to me, they decided that what they really wanted was to be a slightly more muscular version of The Cure--and it didn't really work. Nevertheless, this is a story with a happy ending. They found their fire again.
Essential listening: Lost Paradise, Gothic, Shades of God, Icon, Draconian Times
Jump ship at: One Second
Jump back on at: The Plague Within

Theatre of Tragedy
Theatre of Tragedy erupted onto the scene with a unique style: heavy guitars, a melancholy atmosphere, lyrics penned in the style of Early Modern poetry, and the "beauty and the beast" style of vocals that pitted Raymond István Rohonyi's guttural-but-kingly voice against the clear, ethereal singing of  Liv Kristine Espenæs. Unfortunately, after two absolutely monumental Gothic metal albums, the band took a turn toward synthpop, lost Liv Kristine, and eventually ended up a rather pedestrian industrial metal outfit.
Essential listening: Theatre of Tragedy, Velvet Darkness They Fear, Aegis
Jump ship at: Musique

Tiamat
Tiamat is easily the most experimental band on this list, but their sound has always at least touched on the world of the Gothic. Whether or not the music is actually good is another story. Make no mistake, despite the variety of music the project has produced Tiamat is actually a pretty reliable listen--but where you find pleasure and what you should avoid is tricky to gauge as there is much more room for idiosyncratic personal taste to decide within their discography. Their first album, Sumerian Cry, is a bit too straight-ahead death metal for my tastes, but that album was followed by records that absolutely need to belong in your collection if you love this style of music.
Essential listening: The Astral Sleep, Clouds, Wildhoney
Jump ship at: A Deeper Kind of Slumber
Try before you buy: Skeleton Skeletron, Judas Christ
Jump back on at: Prey

Within Temptation
The vast majority of their career has been spent making music that's too soft for me, but that first album is a killer. Although everything that came after tends be to about love, nature, and fantasy, Enter is chock full of songs about ghosts and tragedy. Musically, Enter is the album where they really let the music breathe; the instrumental passages are more expansive, punctuating by the lovely female vocals (which would later become the main focus) and even occasional male growling vocals.
Essential listening: Enter
Jump Ship at: anything after Enter

Rosalie Cunningham, Lullaby of Woe, The Invocation

Rosalie Cunningham, An eve in the life...

Myrkur, "Lullaby of Woe" (form Witcher 3)

Dead Can Dance, "The Invocation"

Metal From the Dirt

Metal From the Dirt: Inside the Navajo Reservation's DIY Heavy-Metal Scene

Myrkur, Black Dahlia Murder, Earth

Myrkur Talks Power of Dreams Nightmares, Upcoming Folk Album
- Dan Epstein, Revolver

Every Black Dahlia Murder Album Ranked from Worst to Best by Trevor Strnad
- Chris Krovatin, Kerrang!

Dylan Carlson's track-by-track guide to new Earth album Full Upon Her Burning Lips
- Briony Edwards, Louder

Mirror Reaper

"Bell Witch partnered with Director Taylor Bednarz to create this feature-length music video to accompany the Mirror Reaper album. The film is a video collage comprised of dozens of archival films. Each of these clips are woven together with the album to build a patient, heavy, and haunting narrative. Listen to the full 83 minute album, Mirror Reaper, while being taken into the state of a lucid dream."

Check it out: