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Naamah

Progressive Gothic metal from Romania with vampiric themes apparently. Strong female vocals  

Naevus
More apocalyptic folk. Very big sounding and well done. No WS in sight which I think probably is testament to the quality of what they have put together. Some vocals almost make you think Lord Von is in the room.

Naio Ssaion

Imagine Eveanescence with a Tim Mincin lookalike on violin and you’ve pretty much got it. You could imagine this lot appearing on Eurovision for some barely recognisable  Eastern European state. Not bad just feel a bit derivative. They’re obviously proud of their violinist as he is centre stage on the cover of “out loud,” and only the reasonably pretty female singer is allowed on their with him but much of the time the violin is fairly lost in the mix and less prominent than say the Levellers.

Quite an odd looking bunch all in all but their stylist is clearly working hard and one of their number is wearing glasses which is quite reassuring to a spectacle wearer as they appear to be for the most part shunned by the Goth community.

I think this lot might hail from the ultra prolific Finnish scene

Naked and Famous

 Good early 80s post punk kind of sound. Siouxsie style tribal drumming etc

Naked Lunch
I think I might have come across this lot before. Quite 80s sounding definitely electro rather than Goth but the sort of electro that inspired early industrial bands. Pretty funky

Name, the

Kind of like U2 meet the Cult, a bit of Gene Loves Jezebel and the Clayton Troupe. Do a nice sandstorm chic and even seem to do some backtracking which reminds us of Lord Von’s eastern adventures

Nang-Faa

The mighty Nightbreed catalogue describes these as “Stream of consciousness,” which sounds more positive than my assertions that they make it up as they go along although I guess if I bought a case load I had to flog I might have chosen my words more carefully.

A bit Raison Detre/Dark Ambient and goes a bit world music/apocalyptic folk in places.

Naos
When i first put this on i wondered whether Naos was the word for Noise in whichever language this lot spoke. The opening bars are just sonic assault but then thrack one of “The Final Harvest,” morphs into an albeit intense drum lead industrial drone. Appears to be a Greek bloke with the middle name Wampyr so little wonder he ended up writing Goth it was kind of on the cards. The sleeve suggests there will be 9 tracks but my CD player only picks up 6. Works its way through the genre becoming quite neo-medieval for a time but equally capable of going “Garden of Delight,” on your ass.

Narcissus Pool
Life’s Bitch Tapestry released on the serious sounding Dark Beat records heralded from 98/99 pool and seems to very much live up to its time. Synth/guitar driven Goth of a perfectly competent but uninspired bent.
Certainly quite Depeche Mode. Very eighties sounding electro but not in a bad way

Narrator Mr Cricket, the

“Landscape 1” is a eerie blissful ambient soundscape that could sit quite happily on any dreamtime type comp. Taking up the first 7 minutes of “We’re on the planet,” it’s a fairly graceful commeration of the dead.

National Razor

“Stem of Thorns,” begins with almost U2 guitars albeit with a bit of Tull thrown in. Vocals are more guttural Goth though. Think they might be American but very good if you like guitar driven Goth and don’t need things up-tempo.

Goes a bit show tunes at times. Shirly Bassey loves the Sisters? Perfectly listenable and a bit Nick Cave

Nature Trails

Good guitar driven Goth circa 1990.  

Nazca
Caught me by surprise this lot. Can’t judge a book etc but from the packaging I was expecting cold European electro but instead I was treated to an almost True Blood esque Americana Gothic that could be from the same stable as Crime and the City Solution. What is even more surprising is that they appear to be Finnish. One for Mrs G me thinks.

Nebelhexe
There should be an umlaught on the last “E” but I don’t know how to do them on the keyboard. Imagine a very depressed Kate Bush. Seems to be the behicle for slef confessed pagan Andrea Haugen who has also worked under the name Hagalaz Runedance. At times it feels like an electro Siouxsie. Well worth a listen with cool titles like “Purple Nightshades.” I can’t quite put my finger on why but it also reminds me in places of Into a Circle


Necro Facility
Another one of those industrial bands that seem to see “Little Fluffy Clouds” sampling as a template to follow.

Necrophilistic Anodyne

Great name, musically touching on Masque era Mission but with a dry mid European vocal delivery. Feel they could do a very competent ENDG covers set.


Nefesh Core
These have a really 80s almost new romantic feel to their vocals with a much more modern electro meets metal accompaniment. Unusually this trio have no dedicated guitarist roping in additional assistance in most instances although bass player Ghigas does turn his hand on occasion.
At times debut “Getaway,” sounds like it could be the new All Living Fear album.
It would be unfair to say that they look like comedy LARPing wizards so I won’t

Nefilim

When the fields split up apparently Mr McCoy announced “I am the Nefilim,” and in a Sisterhood style decided to release this toss to retain a stake in the name.

One plus point is that if you are the sort of person that thinks a record makes a good novelty clock you can use the nicely etched side 4 of zoon to mount your hands. Otherwise its intense drums growley vox and mediocre guitars aplenty. Carl eventually say the error of his ways and which way his cookie crumbles and reformed his personal version of the fields presumable before his mortgage went into arrears.

Neina

I will give Neina the benefit of the doubt as Darkwave may have moved on significantly from what I understand it to be but I can’t help thinking this may have been a case of labelling as many genres as possible so that this shows up on everyone’s search on Amazon. It’s not bad ambient but certainly doesn’t have that sinister edge of someone like Raison D’Etre that conjures up images of dungeons but perhaps it isn’t supposed to. Perhaps this is the atmosphere of solitary on a prison spacecraft an entirely different concept. In fact this reminds me of a Drew Neuman CD I once acquired from the Nightbreed unlucky dip which I’ve only ever seen once again in a comic shop so perhaps Trev was ahead of his time

Neither/Neither World

Another dungeon band but featuring tracks of almost alt-country style with female vocals.

Nekromantik

I always thought Nekromantik were pretty shit, their USP being they weren’t Libitina so they weren’t aresholes. Having stumbled across a copy of “Fairy Catcher,” recently I can’t say I have significantly changed my stance although I have to accept better tracks like “Girlstickboy,” aren’t dissimilar to Suspiria who I always thought were overrated. Their instrumental “the Fairy Catcher’s Waltz,” works fairly well as well to be fair reminiscent of the Nosferatu instrumental at the beginning of “The Prophecy.”

I remember this lot from the bill of Goth all dayers but I’m not sure I ever saw them. They were probably fairly early on the bill whilst I was still hanging around the bar. Their 3 track CD “Dress it up in monochrome (and tell us that it’s art)” is rather better than the album and Dark Beat records which is an ace name in anyone’s eyes. On final track “Sneaking up behind Narcissus” seem to suddenly aspire to be Bowie.

Nekromantix

Today must be Gothabilly Saturday first the Cramps and now this lot. I suspect they are Danish and although "Return of the Loving Dead," is all macabre puntastic titles the trio dress in more of a traditional Rockabilly style but now that Gothabilly has been established as a thing its a pigeon hole they can happily be placed in.

Nemesea

Nice and listenable Gothic metal from Holland. Probably actually less metal than some and just post millennial heavy gothic rock. Not that dissimilar to Evanescence when you think about it.

Nenia

Not to be confused with Neina or other similarly monikored bands although my first assumption given they were so similar was that I had mistyped Neina when doing their entry but no. I have “la casa del dolore,” (NENIA) and “subconsciousness,” (neina) in front of me on the table and they are not one and the same. In fact despite both insisting on misusing capitalisation even that is opposites. Anyway back to Nenia (or was it neina), this is full on scary hanted house dark ambient stuff that actually freaked Mrs Librarian out so much she made me turn it off on first listen. 8 tracks of scarey Italian weirdness The title translates as house of pain but sadly no “Jump Around,” cover in sight. Mmm a dark ambient cover of “Jump Around,” now that gives me an idea.

Nenia C’Alladhan

What looks like Sopor Aeturnus, sounds like Sopor Aeturnus, from what i can tell contains all of the component parts of spoor Aeturnus but isn’t Sopor Aeturnus/ No this isn’t a poorly worded logic puzzle but is simply Nenia C’Alladhan. To be fair it took a fair bit of effort to ascertain this definitely wasn’t an SP release and there is a little “Sopor Side Project” logo buried in the packaging. I think the sticker on the front sums it up perfectly. “dark gothic fairytales. Medieval, folky & baroque” without a capital letter in sight.

Neon Judgement

Belgian electro-industrialists who produce dancey electronica. Swings from euro-disco to almost trip-hop/dub

Neon Zoo

I was at what I believe was Neon Zoo’s first ever gig, upstairs in a pub at Whitby, a kind of fringe event of the Easter Whitby Gothic 2005 if I recall. The music wasn’t that memorable, my two overriding memories being something I couldn’t place about the bass player, turns out he was a former chum from the old stamping ground, the one who introduced me to ENDG, Into a Circle and the Screaming Marionettes amongst others and frantically texting a friend back at the City Ground as Forest were caught in some kind of end of season tussle to seek precious updates, this was pre-smart phones and I was still on pay as you go so every text counted. Roll forward 15 and a bit years and I finally got round to getting a copy of their debut (sole?) album. I seem to recall they were a spin off of someone like Manuskript and musically they were quite synthy, a bit industrial lite, perhaps comparable to “Ultra” era Depeche Mode or even a Gothic “The only one I know.”

Neotek

At the poppy end of industrial dance.

Netherworld, the
Appears to be an eponymous album hailing from a Californian spooky bunch. This four piece go in for under stated packaging but a nice gilt framed candle band shot on the cover. A bit “Rose of Avalanche,” fairly alternative guitar rock. Sprinkles of Sisters melody with Mission indifference I’m sure this was the best Goth for your dollar in Santa Rosa circa 1994. (That’s probably a recommendation.)

Neuropa

Quite trancey techno but with Erasure vocals

Neurosonic

Worryingly reminiscent of Poison and their ilk.

Neuroticfish

Neuroticfish as well as having an ace name are one of the first bands in a long time that I heard on a compilation (the very commendable “Asleep by Dawn,”)and was compelled to order more straight away.

The Fish, as only I call them, are top notch poppy euro electro that would not seem out of place on the same bill as Wolfsheim and their ilk. Oh and their website address is ebmisdead.com which is pretty cool, and just as i was beginning to get my head round what it was!

Neutral

I thought this might have been a Trev Ghost special because packaging all looked very dancey and not in the least bit Gothapedia but to be fair whilst i can’t quite describe the barrage of sounds being thrown at me elements could describe all sorts of Gothapedia bands. Over the course of an album becomes a little more generic dance with an industrial slant.

Neutral Project
“Secondes,” is a CD single that appears to be French but is pretty good in a Church kind of way. There is something about French Goth I just kind of like and these add to that opinion.

Neu Zam

A bit Bauhausy, a bit Bat Cavey

NEVA

Clearly want to be the French ASF. Music is a bit more early 90s which given “fausse conscience,” was 1999 still makes them quaintly behind the times. Have to say despite my better judgement I quite like them. A bit of ENDG going on.

Neverwood

Rather pretty electro with nice female vocals and a bit of a trip hop feel. Capable though of going rather “Lounge,” and appear to harbour a Country act desperate to escape.

New Breed

A bit All Living Fear. Quite listenable and tuneful. Norwegian apparently.   I like these i feel hints of the Church. Very atmospheric but in a proper song way.

Newlydeads
The only newlydeads CD I own or have ever discovered for that matter is a remix cd so I can’t be 100% certain that the tracks are representative of their original works although I suspect they probably are. Seem to mix a traditional noisy industrial sound, shouty vocals included with a more sleezy rock approach a la Zodiac etc. Appear to cover Siouxsie and Love and Rockets.

New Mind
"Forge" is proper high octane ebm style industrial. I seem to have ended up with a US import which even boasts an extra track. Yey me!

New Model Army

I was always a little surprised NMA were thought of as a Goth band although I must admit I’ve never met a sister fan who didn’t love NMA but I guess I didn’t really discover them until their commercial peak when they had Ed in tow and were effectively an electric folk group owing as much to Steeleye Span or Jethro Tull (not that they’d ever admit it) as they did to Bauhaus.

However if Billy Bragg’s biography s to believed they spent their early days watching silent Vampire movies in darkened dressing rooms whilst the support band played before going on stage themselves.

Musically there early stuff is very similar to early Cure or indeed U2. To hear for yourself I recommend getting a copy of Radio Sessions, I prefer it to Vengeance but if you just want some great catchy punk/folk/little bit Goth I suppose get a copy of Thunder and Consolation or Ghost of Cain.

New Project
Unsure if this is a holding title for someone hoping to go onto better things or a witty name for a band when hours of squabbling didn’t result in a winner. If “In Formation” is representative frankly I don’t care.

An Industrial band that name check the Disposable Heroes – kudos, release music on “spikyblackcat,” nice, worth investing in? Not bad but nothing that is going to set the world alight and their art work looks a little too like NFD for me although to be fair if you like generic guitary industrial with a bit of a poppy edge I’m sure they  wash their face.

New Skin

A little bit Siouxsie but a more modern bouncier take

New York Room, the

Slightly Dead Can Dance, very atmospheric neo-classical with haunting female vocals and a touch of Kate Bush.

Nexus
I toyed with forming an electro Goth band called Nexus or it might just about have been Nexus 5, anyway it never got beyond drawing logo’s on my textbook at an economics lecture at Sheffield university but I think it might have been the time I designed what was to become the Starchamber logo mark one.
Cybernaut as an album is perfectly listenable albeit formulaic electro-industrial. Nothing to criticise it but nothing to recommend it over others who have a bit more oomph!

Nexxus
Mediocre electro. I had a project in mind with the monicre Nexus as mentioned above but that was just the one “X”. Have to say I intended to be better than this.

Nightporter

Quite a mid-90s guitar sound hitting a kind of Bolshoi territory in a quite gloomy almost Bauhaus kind of way

Nightwish

Beloved of Nemi, everyone’s favourite cartoon Goth (since death seemed to drop out of the scene,) Nightwish seem to be musically not dissimilar to Evanescence or Lacuna Coil yet have never grabbed me to the extent of their contemporaries.

Signed to the rather ace metal/Goth crossover label Nuclear Blast at times you can’t help wandering whether in a similar manner to Him they sell more merchandise than records.

1919

Sound a little like Hex era March Violets and a little like killing joke. If this sounds like your kind of thing you can do worse than the Cherry Red compilation available here.

9. Elma

Very electronic quite like bad techno with the accelerate button jammed on and industrial speech and samples a plenty

9xDead

9xDead look rather more like American hardcore punks than Goths and sound more like Type-O than any of your traditional Batcave bands. “cursed,” is released on Casket imprint home to more traditional Gothic Metal though like Vampyrous.

Nitzer Ebb

Then industrial electro pioneers pushing boundaries and heating up alternative dancefloors across Europe.

Now, imagine Peter Andre dressed as an Airline Pilot and wired to the mains whilst he tries to recall his past glories.

NKVD
Deep dark industrial but with some soft bleepy bits as you would expect form the Nice Reflect compilation

Nobody

Perfectly listenable traditional World Serpent fare

Noc Barrage
Very guitary like a more sinister Depeche Mode crossed with a more goth industrial W.A.S.P.

Nocomment

Very clubby electronica with hints of Wolfsheim etc. which I guess is not overly surprising as they have at times shared producers. Another one of those bands that goes a little bit Dubstar at times. One of the band looks worryingly like Jimmy Carr!

No Critics
My first thought as “The Door,” begins is the Church. Quite 80s Indie Goth in feel, Chameleons previously mentioned the Church etc. Released on Alice in... as AIW001 I’m not sure if this is the first release on that imprint?”Prayers behind the door,” is a good solid 5 track EP.

No Decay

Very Bleepy with almost Depeche Mode vocals. Remind me a little of Inertia

Noir

“Same Old Madness,” is quite good 90s sounding atmospheric Goth with a bit of DM thrown in albeit with a very regional British accent on the main vocal.

Noir Du Soleil

Top notch electro Goth that hails from Australia apparently. Debut album “Into the Sky,” began as a hand numbered affair available from gigs and when picked up properly by the ace sounding “Darkest Labyrnth,” was released as a deluxe edition with an added remix disk 2. Some of the tracks are quite Cure’y. Not in that they necessarily sound like the Cure directly but they do sound like the sort of bands that try to sound like the Cure. Disk 2 has some full on glow sticks in the air mixes too.

Noise Box

A very industrial “Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy.”

Noise Factory

Remarkably un-noisy given their name and contemporaries. A very minimalist Depeche Mode meets sinister computer game music.

Noise Unit

Fairly traditional electronic industrial. Appear to be a duo of Bill Leeb and Rhys Fulber and appear to be based in Canada. Noisy with quite electro vox.

“Schatten,” starts surprisingly tunefully for such a monikored band but that could just be a false sense of security thing. It does go a bit computer gamey after a while but still nicely melodic. Even seven minutes in there are no sonic surprises.

Nomad Project AV

Kraftwerk meets Wolfsheim meet Soft Cell with the gay disco turned down.

Almost Fischerspooneresque electroclash

Nomenclature

An intensive mix of instrumentation, pretty singing and the odd sample

Non
“intro/total war,” is a real Play it Again Sam style grind along. Kind of Ministry lite. Daniel Miller of Mute simply says it’s a track that can’t be followed. I don’t think he’s completely correct but he’s got a point.

Nooten, Pieter and Brook, Michael

Atmospheric 4AD artists. Brooding. Pretty good and proper songs rather than hiding behind instrumentals. Reminds me of some of the better U2.

Nord

Sweeps and squeals making a kind of futuristic industrial torture chamber kind of a sound. 

Northern Territories, the

A Gothic Glasvegas meet early U2

Northgate

Until being introduced to them through the Dissolution Fahrenheit compilation my only experience of Northgate was as a supplier of Housing Management systems for social housing organisations. I’m presuming the two aren’t linked.

This lot are atmospheric dungeons in a storm kind of music and I bet their homeless module still pisses on QL.

Having taken the opportunity to give them a bit more attention via "Liturgie pour la fin de la patrie," perhaps they are not the dungeon but at least the waiting room. A bit neo-classial in places.

Nosferatu

If there was a new wave of British Goth then musically and commercially Rosetta Stone were certainly league leaders but worth a flutter for the minor cup competitions playing attractive football and getting results were vampire obsessed Nosferatu. 

A collection of strong EPs collected on the “legend” compilation showed early promise although subsequent album proper “Prophecy” showed the early ambition was more of a creative peak, as lyrics like “I’ve seen Saturn’s rings and patterns,” are reminiscent of a junior school poetry competition although the opening instrumental that evokes memories of a twisted toy maker is the one stand out moment. 

The band returned to form to a degree with subsequent albums including Lord of the Flies with a guest appearance from Rat Scabies but their chance to snatch Rosetta Stone’s abandoned crown was gone.

Musically they were electro-harpsichord/guitar driven sinister Goth.


Nothing
Their logo is so complexly constructed you’d never untangle their name from it but Nothing are American quote Camus and thank Poppy Z Brite. Dark ambient noise. Could soundtrack a range of supernatural drama’s especially when they do add vocals.

Nothing (2)

I think I have another nothing somewhere, which might end up as a lyric if not true. This duo from Minneapolis do intense noise quite well. I always thought Jean Michelle Jarre actually did industrial a lot better than some of the acts that defined themselves that way particularly in the mid to late 80s and “The grey subaudible,” I am prepared to say sound like JMJ and is actually a well recorded project. I cannot currently confirm whether this and the band above are one and the same

Nova et Vetera
Think they may be French. Quite cool and guitar. I only have a water damaged CD-R making it rather hard to identify too much more especially as my four year old has just turned Flogging Molly up really quite loud in her room! Quite mid-90s sounding.

Nouvelle Phenomene
Sultry sexy minimalist almost ambient electro with a haunting female vocal but also a very cheap 80s electronic drum sound. Overall “Secret,” works very well though.

Nova Nova
Instantly conjures up “Higher State,” but then settles into something a little more original with proper goth electro and breathy female vocals

Novelty

Erasure meets the Housemartins with Vocoders and Breakbeats.

November Coming Fire
Everything about NCF is right. The name, the artwork, the song titles it’s just the music. It’s more Slayer meets Rage Against the Machine than the Mission I’m afraid to say

Novembre

little bit Judith big bit American college rock. Imagine a stoned REM playing Goth lite before turning into  Type O. before becoming shit shouty black metal and back again. certainly a roller coaster journey.

Novus
High quality electro that is very big sounding and competent that leaves me and Mrs Gothapedia thinking of Jean Michelle Jarre although to be fair he has rarely adorned his album covers with big twitted robots although he might have just not thought of it being too preoccupied with being the late 20th centuries best electronic composer. “Re-designing the future,” is a fantastic album although doesn’t quite fit neatly with the gothapedia genre’s and deserved to do far better in the mainstream although some of the vocals seem a little Inertia inspired. Very poppy and Euro Disco with a big snare sound. Mrs G was at times reminded of Apoptygma but that was not throughout.
The music is very bleepy with a female vocal doing apocalyptic folk type poetry. Other tracks put an Athamay type vocal over a euro-disco backing. Another duo the aforementioned album appears to be something of a labour of love taking at least 5 years to come to fruition. Sadly “Mother Russia,” is not a Eurodisco Sisters but something more akin to Schmoof meets Robert Miles copping off with any number of dance based Eurovision acts of the last ten years.

Nox Arcana

 Instrumental save for some eery spoken word bits to set the scene. “Necromicon,” appears to be some kind of concept album based on Lovecraft, albeit the atmosphere of Lovecraft rather than telling any stories per se. Very nice and haunting though.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that some of “Winter’s Knight,” might have been played on a Carillon. You’d be forgiven for having no idea what a Carillon is unless you grew up in  Loughborough which given  how non-existent the Goth scene has been there for the last 30 years I suspect you didn’t. Anyway, bells played like a piano really. This album is wonderful atmospheric neo-classical Goth type stuff with a seasonal theme, a mixture of original compositions and carols and  the  like. A stunning version of “God rest ye merry gentlemen,” which is a particular favourite of mine anyway.

Noxious Emotion
Run of the mill European electro industrial with a bit of Play it Again Sam thrown in. Nice and dancey with a John Hughes feel and nasty growly industrial vocals

Noxx, Sarah

A less crass Athamay meets Schmoof

Nude
if Nude represented their home nation (which appears to be Italy) in Eurovision I think they’d do alright. They play very accessible Euro-electro. Not dissimilar to other bands distributed through SPV in Germany.

Numan, Gary

Had something of an up and down relationship with Barclaycard and the Mighty Boosh adore him.

Throughout his career capable of genius and without doubt entitled to hold the title of electro industrial pioneer but equally guilty of a lack of self discipline at times.

The 90s unpublicised output is often better than some of his commercial peak. Through the boosh and a cameo in Hunting Venus he shows he has remained credible throughout but still gets muddled between a good electro melody and crap distorted noise

Numb

Industrial  electronica in an FLA kind of vein. Earlier material has a perhaps more Alien Sex Fiend/Sisterhood sound

Nurse with Wound

Pointless avante garde noise but surprisingly popular

Nylon Pylon

Perfectly competent bleepy electro that might not have made the Gothapedia cut except for the fact that Miserylab remix “Sister Siam,” which by remix i mean give a big beat makeover

Nymphaion
Slightly moonchild type ethereal melancholy. And has links to D’Arcadia, definitely mentioned elsewhere and Arthur Zab (Stupor) who might not be

NYX

A slightly Clannad/electro incubus with dépêche mode electro beats on Siberia whilst Headwind starts off as nice Depeche dueting with Moonchild vocals before jumping into Shampoo shouting over a Sonic the vampire hedgehogs 160bpm 8 bit soundtrack. These then jump back and forth, back and forth proving a perfectly competent band can have a pretty poor idea and run with it.



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