"Most goths I know and myself really enjoy listening to the Cure, Bauhaus, Switchblade Symphony, and stuff like that."

"romance, love, hate, spirit of mind, etc."

"Dark gloomy and depressing music. Probably anything that is out of the ordinary."

"dark, moody, atmospheric, energetic, lots of combinations..."

"wailing voices, dark lyrics and music, songs that evoke the feeling of death through imagery"

"There is no characteristics. The most Gothic music is that which is original. You just can't bloody put a label on it... that's the problem with Goth bands today... they think you have to play a certain way... the most Gothic band is the band who doesn't care whether or not their fans will think of their music as Goth or non-Goth... the most gothic bands just play their music and let the media give it labels and limits."

"Hard to say. Slow, melodic, fired with passion and/or sadness. Strong with desire, a bold, yet subtle statement."

"I think that it is somewhat magickal, brooding, metaphysical. My favorite is Type O-Negative."

"Goth's tend to listen to Industrial and Gothic music, though some listen to all sorts of music."

"gloomy, beautiful, romantic, dark"

"Very atmospheric, ambient, ethereal sounds...quite frightening if listened to in the dark, alone. Marilyn Manson is not goth, he is a freak."

"Very melodramatic and generally a bit classical sounding is what has coined the term 'goth music', the music you listen to does not havie anything to do with whether or not one is goth."

"Originally, a conscious attempt to emulate the moods and imagery of gothic literature. Today, lots of keyboards and singing about vampires."

"Whatever soothing music is to the heart's content."

"variaty'freedom i dont think you can really sum up goth music its such a wide range of styles."

"Dark gloomy lyrics, mid range guitars, key boards, minimalist drums ambient sound..."

"haunting w/ tramendus emotional content"

"Darkly beautiful... haunting melodies... Generally a sort of slower, throbbing beat... Of course, Industro-goth is a different matter... stuff like NIN, and Marilyn Manson for that category... Also creepy punk works as goth..."

"Dark, brooding, unintelligible, intelligible, and fearful. Something you hear that makes you realize the pretty world is really just a wrapper on the true face of what lurks in all of us. It`s a powerful coming together of chords, rhythm and voice that touches that part of the soul that knows of darkness."

"Dark, beautiful, eerie, sensual, such as Red Temple Spirits, And Also the Trees, 6th Communion, Legendary Pink Dots, London After Midnight, Diamanda Galas, Christian Death, Cranes, My life with the thrill kill kult, Skeletal Family, Mephisto Waltz, Rosetta Stone, the Wake, ect."

"dark, deep, meaningful and enchanting"

"black dark angry industrial punk"

"The problem with trying to classify goth music is that it's unclassifiable. There are just too many different styles and forms to come up with a concrete definition. Therefore, with the fact in mind that everything from Creaming Jesus to Siouxsie and the Banshees to Dead Can Dance is considered goth, I would have to say that the only unifying characteristic of gothic music is a healthy appreciation for darkness, either lyrically or musically. Goth is not necessarily depressive, but it generally exposes emotions and subject matter shied away from by mainstream music."

"Soulful, powerful, exotic, exilerating, seductive, all around addictive."

"mysterious sounds"

"you can't get it on CD..."

"The songs are often simple, yet intelligent. Musical virtuosity is an option."

"Heavy beat, surrealistic or philosophical lyrics, and melodies of all kinds and complexities."

"Music is very dark, eighties sounds, extreme bass sound."

"General dark mood, not applicable for mainstream tates, something you certainly wouldn't hear on the radio, exemplifying all things after surset and before sunrise, but done tastefully and with respect and a sense of humour..."

"Usually its 'dark' ...an overused word, but true. I guess it has a certain theatricality to it... definitely."

"Techno, heavy metal, death metal."

"Type O-, The Cure, Siouxsee and the Banshees, Bauhaus, London After Midnight, and anyone that Plays the music that stirs the soul into moving."

"Most goths prefer in general the dark comfort of a goth band such as The Cure, Sisters of Mercy, etc."

"According to me Goth music is the dark wave mingled with gothic metal. Obscure music for the soul."

"Music would be like sounds and droning and basically whatever you as a goth like because we are all so different. *(NO rap, country, R&B)"

"medieval and technomatrak (like skinny puppy, manson, nin)"

"melodic with dark undertones"

"dark depressing or hard"

"Slow, depressing, moody and lots of fun if you want to drag a party to an untimely end. I love it."

"All the music that feed the souls of goth people."

"There are infinite characteristics depending on any individual. There is love, and the cycle between the ceasing of one's existance to death and sex, they are all one and the same. Many are sad. A number of us want a great deal want for attention."

"Dark music is dark music....and other varieties of music are just that....but do they need to be labeled one way or the other to be considered either for it to be acceptible for one to appreciate it or look into it for what you want to take from it???"

"Dark, forboding, haunting songs, filled with pain and sorrow. And contrary to popular belief Marylin Manson is not goth music. He is shock rock"

"A freedom to explore the darkness inside and out."

"I think most goth music has one binding factor, it is dark."

"soothing, nostalgic"

"Goth music is esoteric, and rarely tolerated by the more ordinary society. It disturbs the rational part of culture, but I believe that they might understand it if these ridiculously normal people would simply remove their heads from their asses."

"sonatas to the death...symphonies to the darkness..."

"Deep lyrics, those of a "darker" nature."

"somewhat of a darker slant - including, but not limited to bauhaus, early cure, sisters of mercy, etc. may include industrial, such as skinny puppy, NIN, kraftwerk. Other favorites include tori amos, loreena mckennit, bjork... but these aren't guidelines or rules, just basic trends..."

"An appreciation for aspects of music that are not normally appreciated by mainstream culture. This could include dark lyrics, discord, minimalism or percussion based music. 'All things dark and horrible the Lord God made them all' -Monty Python (not very Goth, I know...)"

"Because of the variety of musical tastes and opions, it would be difficult to segregate the charateristics of goth music. To some, only traditional bands like Sisters of Mercy, Dead Can Dance, etc. are goth. To others new bands and other forms of goth music like Faith & The Muse, The Changelings, KMFDM, Manson, .....see the extremes here? I guess if you're looking for a neat answer - goth music is etheral, cletic based, dark, brooding,lyrical. At least when I became goth all those years ago (15+), these were the types of music which influenced us."

"project pitchfork, the shroud, christian death, sex gang children, switchblade solution, Nephilim, the mission, etc."

"Semi-Classical, Brooding or very Harsh, use of poetic and melancholy poetic lyrics."

"apocalyptic music"

"Almost any. Many goths listen to a wide variety of music, from light and airy to dark and morose."

"Goth music is music that may be darker but it makes you think."

"sad and operatic"

"dark, intense... free..."

"I would not know, I actually don't listen to 'goth music' I listen to industrial music but I still consider myself goth becuse of how I view the world and everything else and just how I think."

"Either flat or detuned music like an old out of tune church organ."

"Depressive or sexual."

"Gothic music tends to be dark and slow."

"It's got to have death-associated lyrics or other pessimistic tendancies."

"Listen to whatever you want to listen to."

"Lilting & melodious, mixed w/ hard, heavy beats."

"Dark lyrics and melodies, usually caused by hurtful pasts, bad relationships or some do it because others do, it's an expression."

"Goth music is a mixture of mystery & relaxing. Somber yet sweet."

"Can't really say....most (gothic music) is slow, somber, and dark... Others are fast, silly, or even somewhat funny."

"Whatever the hell they wanna listen to. It's not limited to one type of music."

"Personally, I find it quite difficult to say what makes a band gothic. Some bands have a dark image, some have a dark sound, others have just the opposite and they are all considered goth bands."

"About death, not life."

"Dead Can Dance, oh, you want characteristics, not names . . . ok. Dark, haunting, beautiful, stuff that makes you want to lie on the floor on your back with your arms in the air wriggling around moaning about all your angst."

"Loud..... crazy!!! Anything with real emotional issues!!"

"Romantic/sexy/surreal"

"In my opinion, goths tend to lean toward music that I find very rare in today's world... REAL MUSIC!!! Music which possesses within it the ability to tickle your soul. Real music cannot be classified nor labeled."

"Very mystical, depressing, thought invoking and other some such things."

"Highly poetic, slicing deeply to reveal that which most are afraid to contain."

"Drone guitar, old instruments, desperate and slightly bitter vocals."

"It is the artistic expression of unsatisfied desires."

"Hypotizing, smoothing, sensual sounds with deep, heavy lyrics."

"Dark, Bauhaus-esque or industrial, depressing lyrics, somthing you can shuffle around to and call it dancing."

"This is tuff to say, goth music is self-explanatory when heard, but i dont really believe in any 'GOTH' guidelines, as to what a goth band sounds like. I mean, p. murphy and siouxsie are way different styles, but are considered champion icons of classic goth."

"Chords that reverberate with the heart, and reflect the musings of the soul. It could range in style from Clannad to Black Sabbath. It is the Mood, the Lyrics, and the overall theme that makes it Gothik."

"Dark or moody (often over the top) subject matter. A different style of music: using more vocalisation/harmonisation and classical impetus as opposed to your 'guitar driven' pop."

"Their music is music that feels real, it doesn't have to be sad and deppressing just real and soulful. Something that just speaks to you and you want to scream with laughter when you hear it."

"Sound, just like light, directly effects matter. Types of sound have different types of effects. Music is use of sound to effect the material world. Musical each have a quality that physically manifests. Rhythum is the pattern that measures or controls these manifestations. Goth music tends to have a root or primal sexual-strength-fear-power type rhythum with dual deep passion and high transcendance type melodies. It expresses the integral dynamic of light and shadow within the soul of Nature using physics. This is how faerie music magick works."

"There is no 'Goth music'. If you feel gothic when you hear a song it could be considered Goth but there are no specifics."

"I can't say, it is hard to classify a large topic to one kink of music."

"Deep-voiced singers awash in reverb; minor key; general sense of gloom."

"deep voice/elements of electronika/real guitars/live precussion/angst"

"...well... that slow way of going and yet fast and delerious type... I can't explain it."

"intellegent, mystical in touch with the spirits, orchestral and industrial music, misunderstood"

"Real Gothic music is classical, like Scarlatti, Mozart or modern imitations like Enya, Loreena McKennitt."

"Mostly Black\Death metal NOT Marilyn Manson."

"High moving bass line, dinky gitar part, and strange lyrics sung with a deep voice or in German."

"Mopey lyrics and off key melodies... lately with a creepy industrial sound."

"For me its something that touches you deep down. Like Dead Can Dance, which lets my imagination go free. I do alot of writing to the images music creates."

"Many, mostly beautiful female vocals or deep male vocals with lots of synthesizers and much guitar fx."

"Solemn, slow, depressing, relaxing, soothing, melancholy, erotic, lovely, melodic, passionate, etc. There are just too many ways to describe 'gothic' music."

"Like one opera style, something lugubrious, when you heard that, you feel the grieving and solitude, but at the same time, in one way you know that this it's your happiness. (I don't speak very well English.)"