Darkwave Music | Discogs

Darkwave Music Description

Dark Wave, Dark wave or darkwave, is a music genre that emerged from the new wave and post-punk movement, along goth rock, of the late 1970s.

Dark Wave, also written as one word, is a term coined in the mid-'80s (probably by [EFA Distribution](http://www.discogs.com/label/2444-EFA)) to describe the dark and melancholy side of New Wave and Post-Punk music. It was applied to guitar-oriented bands such as [Cyan Revue](http://www.discogs.com/artist/560651-Cyan-Revue), [Leningrad Sandwich](http://www.discogs.com/artist/323691-Leningrad-Sandwich), [Joy Division](http://www.discogs.com/artist/3898-Joy-Division), [Fields of the Nephilim](http://www.discogs.com/artist/85994-Fields-Of-The-Nephilim), [The Mission](http://www.discogs.com/artist/99925-The-Mission) but also synthesizer-based New Wave artists such as [Attrition](https://www.discogs.com/artist/15562-Attrition), [Psyche](http://www.discogs.com/artist/43418-Psyche-2), [In The Nursery](https://www.discogs.com/artist/23686-In-The-Nursery) and [Clan Of Xymox](https://www.discogs.com/artist/58955-Clan-Of-Xymox). In the late 1980s and early 1990s, a second generation of dark wave bands appeared, primarily in Germany, in particular [Deine Lakaien](http://www.discogs.com/artist/45013-Deine-Lakaien), [Girls Under Glass](https://www.discogs.com/artist/68602-Girls-Under-Glass) and [Das Ich](https://www.discogs.com/artist/36930-Das-Ich). These were followed by a a group of artists around the [Projekt](https://www.discogs.com/label/2905-Projekt) and [Tess Records](https://www.discogs.com/label/37392-Tess-Records) labels in the US who developed a more ethereal sound, including [This Ascension](https://www.discogs.com/artist/114195-This-Ascension), [Faith And The Muse](https://www.discogs.com/artist/105840-Faith-and-the-Muse), [black tape for a blue girl](https://www.discogs.com/artist/84056-black-tape-for-a-blue-girl) and [Lycia](https://www.discogs.com/artist/97667-Lycia) (both labels also released material by Attrition and Clan of Xymox, respectively). Styles that have often been associated with the term include Gothic Rock, Cold Wave, Synth-Wave, Neofolk, Ethereal and Neoclassical (cf. 'Heavenly Voices').