Dark wave

[5][7] 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.

[5][22] At that time, the term "goth" was inseparably connected with gothic rock,[23] whereas "dark wave" acquired a broader meaning, embracing bands and solo artists that were associated with gothic rock[22] and synthesizer-based new wave music,[6][24] such as Bauhaus,[25] Joy Division,[20][26][27] the Cure,[26][28] Siouxsie and the Banshees,[26] the Sisters of Mercy,[26] Anne Clark,[29] Depeche Mode,[28][24] Gary Numan[24] and the Chameleons.

Attrition,[38] Die Form (France), Pink Industry (UK), Psyche (Canada), Kirlian Camera (Italy) and Clan of Xymox (Netherlands)[39] performed this music in the 1980s.

Invasion,[8] Unlimited Systems, Moloko †, Maerchenbraut,[43][8] Cyan Revue,[18] Leningrad Sandwich,[18] Stimmen der Stille, Belfegore,[44] and Pink Turns Blue.

[47][43] 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.

[59]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.

[64] Joshua Gunn, a professor of communication studies at Louisiana University, described the U.S. type of dark wave music as: ...an expansion of the rather limited gothic repertoire into electronica and, in a way, the US answer to the "ethereal" subgenre that developed in Europe (e.g. Dead Can Dance).

[66][31] In the second half of the 1980s, former post-punk bands such as Dead Can Dance (Within the Realm of a Dying Sun, 1987[68]) and In the Nursery (Stormhorse, 1987[67]) released influential albums which essentially laid the foundations of the genre.

[66][56] Other artists include Arcana,[31] Ataraxia,[66] Autumn Tears,[69] Camerata Mediolanense,[70] Dargaard,[71] Dark Sanctuary[31] Impressions of Winter,[72] Ophelia's Dream,[73] Les Secrets de Morphée,[56] Love Is Colder Than Death,[74] Stoa,[67] and WeltenBrand.

Some prominent acts include She Wants Revenge,[75] the Soft Moon,[75] She Past Away,[75] Drab Majesty,[75] Twin Tribes, Selofan[75] and Boy Harsher.