Dark wave (also known as darkwave) is a music genre that emerged from the new wave and post-punk movement of the late 1970s. 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.Schmidt, Axel; Neumann-Braun, Klaus: Die Welt der Gothics. Spielräume düster konnotierter Transzendenz., Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften 2004, , p. 270"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." 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. Like new wave, dark wave is not a "unified genre but rather an umbrella term" that encompasses a variety of musical styles, including cold wave,Schilz, Andrea: Flyer der Schwarzen Szene Deutschlands: Visualisierungen, Strukturen, Mentalitäten. Waxmann Verlag, 2010, , p. 84."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." ethereal wave,. gothic rock,Uecker, Susann: Mit High-Heels im Stechschritt, Hirnkost Verlag, 2014, "Die Dark-Wave-Szene unterteilt sich unter anderem in den klassischen Dark Wave, den Gothic-Rock, elektronische Gruppen oder auch den Neofolk." neoclassical dark waveCarstens, Olaf; Thalhofer, Frank: Duden - Das Fremdwörterbuch, Bibliographisches Institut, Auflage 11, 2015, , p. 726"Genre der Dark-Wave-Musik, das durch verschiedene Stilmittel und Komponisten der Romantik, der Alten Musik oder der Neuen Musik inspiriert ist." and neofolk.
In the 1980s, a subculture developed primarily in Europe alongside dark wave music, whose followers were called "wavers" or "dark wavers".Haumann, Melanie: Fetisch Weiblichkeit. Der Mythos der schönen Frau?, Verlag für Wissenschaft und Forschung, 2001, , p. 2"Die Dark Waver, Waver – oder belächelnd auch "Grufties" genannt – sind eine Jugendkultur, die in den 80er Jahren aus der Punk-Bewegung entstanden ist."Farin, Klaus: Jugend, Gesellschaft und Recht im neuen Jahrtausend, Forum Verlag Godesberg, 2003, , p. 66 In some countries, most notably Germany, the movement also included fans of gothic rock"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.'" (so-called "trad-goths").Hodkinson, Paul: Goth. Identity, Style and Subculture, Bloomsbury Academic, 2002, , p. 50
History 1980s: Origins in Europe
Since the 1980s,SPEX. Musik zur Zeit: Classified Ad by German distribution company EFA – Spots 5/85, issue 5/85, p. 17, May 1985, online pictureBobby Vox: Gorgonen, Hydras & Chimären – Interview with Marquee Moon, E.B. music magazine, issue 3/86, p. 18, May 1986New Life Soundmagazine, issue 38, description of the single "Love Will Tear Us Apart" by Joy Division, p. 10, November 1988 the term "dark wave" has been used in Europe by the music press to describe the gloomy and melancholy variant of new wave and post-punk music.Issitt, Micah: Goths: A Guide to an American Subculture, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2011, , p. 111 At that time, the term "goth" was inseparably connected with gothic rock,Schmidt, Axel; Neumann-Braun, Klaus: Die Welt der Gothics. Spielräume düster konnotierter Transzendenz., Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften 2004, , p. 261. whereas "dark wave" acquired a broader meaning, embracing bands and solo artists that were associated with gothic rock and synthesizer-based new wave music,"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." such as Bauhaus,Matzke, Peter; Seeliger, Tobias: Das Gothic- und Dark-Wave-Lexikon, p. 39, 2002, Joy Division,Peter Jandreus, The Encyclopedia of Swedish Punk 1977–1987, Stockholm: Premium Publishing, 2008, p. 11. the Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Sisters of Mercy, Anne Clark, Depeche Mode, Gary Numan and the Chameleons.
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.Matzke, Peter; Seeliger, Tobias: Das Gothic- und Dark-Wave-Lexikon, p. 400–401, 2003, Nym, Alexander: Schillerndes Dunkel. Geschichte, Entwicklung und Themen der Gothic-Szene, Plöttner Verlag 2010, , p. 169 French cold wave groups such as Clair ObscurSPEX. Musik zur Zeit: Classified Ad by German distribution company EFA, issue 12/88, p. 58, December 1988 and Opera Multi SteelOpera Multi Steel - Official band biography have also been associated with the dark wave scene; Rémy Lozowski, guitarist of French cold wave band Excès Nocturne, described his music as ("dark new wave").Illusions Perdues magazine: Interview with Excès Nocturne, issue 1, p. 18, January 1989
Simultaneously, different substyles associated with the new wave and dark wave movements started to merge and influence each other, e.g. synth-wave (a kind of new wave with synthesizers, also referred to as "electro-wave"Matzke, Peter; Seeliger, Tobias: Das Gothic- und Dark-Wave-Lexikon, p. 222, 2003, ) with gothic rock, or began to borrow elements of post-industrial music. Attrition, Die Form (France), Pink Industry (UK), Psyche (Canada), Kirlian Camera (Italy) and Clan of Xymox (Netherlands)DeBord, Jason: Clan of Xymox at DNA Lounge, Rock Subculture Journal, March 21, 2015"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." 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).Stücker, Bianca: Die Funktionalisierung von Technik innerhalb des subkulturellen Kontexts, Europäischer Hochschulverlag, 2013, , p. 74
German dark wave bands were partially associated with the Neue Deutsche Welle (i.e. German new wave),Schmidt, Axel; Neumann-Braun, Klaus: Die Welt der Gothics. Spielräume düster konnotierter Transzendenz., Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften 2004, , p. 256 and included Xmal Deutschland,Schmidt, Axel; Neumann-Braun, Klaus: Die Welt der Gothics. Spielräume düster konnotierter Transzendenz., Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften 2004, , p. 257 Mask For, Asmodi Bizarr, II. Invasion, Unlimited Systems, Moloko †, Maerchenbraut,Kilpatrick, Nancy. The Goth Bible: A Compendium for the Darkly Inclined. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 2004, , pp. 84/85. Cyan Revue, Leningrad Sandwich, Stimmen der Stille, Belfegore,Esch, Rüdiger: Electri_city, Berlin: Suhrkamp Verlag, 3rd edition, 2015, , p. 356 and Pink Turns Blue.Oliver Sheppard: Pink Turns Blue – An interview with German darkwave pioneers. CVLT Nation magazine, 9 September 2016
1990s: Second generation
After the new wave and post-punk movements faded in the mid-1980s,Schilz, Andrea: Flyer der Schwarzen Szene Deutschlands: Visualisierungen, Strukturen, Mentalitäten. Waxmann Verlag, 2010, , p. 92 dark wave was renewed as an underground movementSchmidt, Axel; Neumann-Braun, Klaus: Die Welt der Gothics. Spielräume düster konnotierter Transzendenz., Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften 2004, , pp. 258/259Köble, Oliver: Editorial, Glasnost magazine, issue 28, p. 3, July/August 1991"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." by German bands such as Girls Under Glass, Deine Lakaien, Love Like Blood, Love Is Colder Than Death,Matzke, Peter; Seeliger, Tobias: Das Gothic- und Dark-Wave-Lexikon, p. 266, 2002, Diary of Dreams,Matzke, Peter; Seeliger, Tobias: Das Gothic- und Dark-Wave-Lexikon, p. 111, 2002, the Eternal Afflict, and Wolfsheim, as well as Project Pitchfork and its offshoot Aurora Sutra. 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.Stableford, Brian: News of the Black Feast and Other Random Reviews, Wildside Press 31 March 2009, , p. 24 These bands followed a path based on the new wave and post-punk music of the 1980s.
At the same time, a number of German artists, including Das Ich,Matzke, Peter; Seeliger, Tobias: Das Gothic- und Dark-Wave-Lexikon, p. 311, 2002, Goethes Erben, Relatives Menschsein, and Endraum, developed a more theatrical style, interspersed with German poetic, metaphorical lyrics, called Neue Deutsche Todeskunst (literally New German Death Art).Schmidt, Axel; Neumann-Braun, Klaus: Die Welt der Gothics. Spielräume düster konnotierter Transzendenz., Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften 2004, , pp. 280/281. Other bands, such as Silke Bischoff, In My Rosary,Matzke, Peter; Seeliger, Tobias: Das Gothic- und Dark-Wave-Lexikon, pp. 221/222, 2002, Engelsstaub, and Impressions of WinterMatzke, Peter; Seeliger, Tobias: Das Gothic- und Dark-Wave-Lexikon, p. 219, 2002, combined synthesizers with elements of neofolk and neoclassical dark wave.
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, 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.
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.Dave Thompson, Kirsten Borchardt: Schattenwelt – Helden und Legenden des Gothic Rock., Hannibal Verlag 2003, , p. 362 This style took cues from 1980s bands like Cocteau Twins and is often referred to as ethereal dark wave.Glasnost Wave-Magazin, issue 42, Description of the bands Trance to the Sun, This Ascension, p. 32/34, April 1994 Projekt Records has also had a long association with Attrition, who appeared on the label's earliest compilations.Various Artists: From Across this Gray Land, first appearance of Attrition on Projekt Records, 1986 Another American record label in this vein was Tess Records, which featured This Ascension, Faith and the Muse, and the reunited Clan of Xymox.
Joshua Gunn, a professor of communication studies at Louisiana University, described the U.S. type of dark wave music as:
2000s–2020s: Revival During the 2000s, as part of the post-punk revival, 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, the Soft Moon, She Past Away, Drab Majesty, Twin Tribes, Selofan and Boy Harsher. Alongside Belarusian band Molchat Doma.