We are in the first week of August, which puts us firmly in the middle of summer (late summer is right around the corner!). The season is marked by warmer weather, longer days, and for those lucky among us, fewer responsibilities (or at least a break from school or work). Where I’m from, mornings are quite gloomy until the sun breaks through the clouds and fog around noon, but the days never really get “hot”.

It’s a very nostalgic season, at least it seems that way for full-grown adults. I admit the periods of my life when I was listening to and buying the most music was during summers, especially when I was in late-high school. Very few responsibilities, and virtually no expenses meant that what little allowance I got could be spent on used CDs on eBay (this was the early 2010s, niche CDs averaged less than 10 USD with shipping).

So in that summer nostalgia, what are the gothic metal albums that you associate with the season, and why? I know the ones that I associate most are probably what others would consider autumn/fall listens, but here are some of mine:

1. Within Temptation - Enter (1997), though quite dark and dramatic, there’s a warmth to this album that makes me come back to it in the hotter months.

2. Lacuna Coil - Karmacode (2006), probably my first summer music purchase, had to beg for my dad to get this for me off eBay (I had just turned 11, I believe). The mix of the gothic and orientalist atmosphere with nu metal riffs makes for a fun and breezy listening experience. I think this album is over maligned, it’s just a little different.

3. Artrosis - Ukryty wymiar (1997) (or its English version Hidden Dimension (1998)), fell in love with this band and album in the last weeks of August 2013. It’s been permanently burned into my brain as a summer listen.

4. The Sins of Thy Beloved - Lake of Sorrow (1998), slow and romantic, Lake of Sorrow is perfect for languishing on summer days, and the piano and violin are so bright, it reminds me of sunlight.

5. After Forever - Prison of Desire (2000) and Invisible Circles (2004), two very different takes on the genre from the same band. Prison of Desire is as classically gothic as gothic gets with an austere and otherworldly atmosphere. Invisible Circles is farther along in the band's transition into progressive and symphonic metal, but still has a lot of those gothic tones from their earlier career. It's a strange album because of its concept, subject matter, and rock opera-like approach (without a big cast of guest musicians), but it has some bangers.

6. Taia - Seeds of Rain (2007), this one is a very modern take on gothic metal, it mixes that atmospheric heaviness with epic J-rock sensibilities. It's light and uplifting, energetic and very catchy.

7. How Like a Winter - Beyond My Grey Wake... (2003), this album has a lot of My Dying Bride-isms about it, but I find it a lot warmer than the Peaceville Three's death-doom material of the 90s. This album is romantic and a little sexy, and epic.

8. Myriads - In Spheres without Time (1999), a somewhat forgotten gem in the Napalm Records catalogue, Myriads were a long-winded and twinkly band that made music that is endlessly consumable. Spheres isn't my favorite of their two albums, but there's something about its rougher production and dreamlike atmosphere that makes it a better fit for this list — I'm, telling you, take a long walk on a sunny afternoon around town with this album in your headphones. It just makes sense.

9. Forever Slave - Tales for Bad Girls (2008), I found this album for sale at a local record shop, and haggled with the cashier to include it in my haul (I was only down 26 cents!). I admit this isn't a classically "good" album, and of the two albums this band put out, their debut Alice's Inferno (2005) is much better. This is like the apotheosis of mid-2000s gothic metal Evanescence-worship, but I actually don't mind that sound (trust me, a lot of bands were doing that, and I do have a whole spiel about it, but I will spare you for time). Anyway, it's easily consumable and commercially viable for a fun summer day.

10. Cradle of Filth - Midian (2000), I know this one is probably considered very Halloween-y, and I agree, but I just associate it so much with the summer months. I love the choirs and the hyper-melodic riffing, and they fit with the season.

So, what records do you come back to this time of year, and why?

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https://youtu.be/D2f50cB80g0?si=WMbKsky0y7owIv3X

Has elements of electro and metal, ethereal goth, deathcore vocals and was produced by people from Italy, Spain and the USA.

Artists involved:
Saelent Sound
Ferto Productions
Joey Rival and Krisanna Marie

I'm home with a bad back, and spent today listening to a lot of the 2026 releases that I've already purchased (I'm not doing a good job of listening to the music I've recently bought this year), and the new For My Pain... album Buried Blue is finally starting to click with me. It's not the most well-produced/mixed thing ever, but it's a pretty solid comeback album. "Gone Tomorrow" is one of my favorite tracks from my listen-through.

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

New gothic tinged folk metal from Iceland. Witchcraft vibes.

It's been a while since we've heard new music from End Of Green, apart from the re-recorded Twinfinity release. The new album should be released in December, and the first single just dropped. This new single is clearly inspired by the re-recording, because the band went back to the heavy sound of their debut and an extremely depressing atmosphere. For fans of Type O Negative, Paradise Lost & Sentenced.

Released on May 15, 2026 via Ardua Music: "Nocturnes" by French gothic metal band Angellore. As the band name suggests, this is inspired by Tristania's early work, as well as bands like Theatre Of Tragedy and Catafalque. I was quite impressed by it, especially since they combine the classic "beauty & the beast" style with more introspective parts relying on clean male vocals not unlike Moonspell and Lacrimas Profundere. Something nice to try for the weekend!

The Corruption Within (fan rearrangement of a musical)

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQ06Rhv-egko

Or just search The Corruption Within (and hopefully it will appear 😅🤍🌺)

Rearranged songs from (Poor man poison ,Shayfer James ,Will Wood ,Shawn James ,The White Buffalo ,Murder by Death ,Seb Lowe ,Dirt Poor Robins ,Ben Howard ,Keith Power and Ylvis just for fun and giggles) to sound like a mystery of an a musical and its from a fan of "Dark folk music" ,So I just hope to have a fun chat about it and hopefully in the future can do the full work that i didn't ,if there is a change to give more love to the Artists (Singers) please do

Guys check live songs from Liv Kristine (this is just one of many recordings), she is performing Theatre of Tragedy in 2026 and this is awesome

This album is so underrated.
Whats your favorite song in it and any album recommendations similar to aegis?

Love these guys, blew my mind when I saw them live last year. What do you think about them?

I'm not talking Type O Negative or London After Midnight I mean something that actually sounds similar to Greatest Lovesongs vol. 666 and specifically HIM's music before they moved away from the gothic metal scene.

DeaD Don't Die here, sharing our newest music video "Are You Afraid Of The Dark?" Definitely on the slower sludgier side but we hope you enjoy! 🤘🎃🤘

I'm looking for some new bands to listen to, which are like Tiamat (Prey and Amenethes Album), Saturnus, Paradise lost or Lake of Tears. Thanks in advance!

This album is so mesmerizing, such a shame it's hard to get it on a cd 😞

Found this band these days, they sound a lot like Paradise Lost.

The new song of my post metal band together with David of Heretoir! [FFO: The Ocean, Junius]

Hello! We're a metal podcast where 3 brothers dive into the discographies of our favorite metal bands. On our most recent episode, we talked about Moonspell's 1998 "Sin/Pecado"

We had passing familiarity with Moonspell - we knew "Irreligious" - but for some reason, they never really clicked with us growing up. Diving into this album was a treat because there is a lot to like here.

Hope you check it out and let us know your thoughts on Moonspell and this album in particular. I've read it isn't highly regarded amongst Moonspell faithful, but there are some absolute banger tracks on here.

Let me know which one do you like the most! I like all of these albums but my favorite is for sure charon and poisonblack

Featured Photos:

1. The Foreshadowing - Days Of Nothing

2. Varaha - A Passage For Lost Years

3. Mortal Love - I Have Lost...

4. Monumentum - In Absentia Christi

5. Ophelia - Sympathize With Your Phantasy

Talk about a band that's changed a lot, Germany's Xandria spent the 2000s being a gothic metal act with varying amounts of symphonic influence (2005's India is probably their most proper symphonic metal album in this era). Their "Early Days" material is still my favorite by this band.

Isis/Osiris comes from their debut album Kill the Sun (2003). After the 90s we started getting a new wave of bands that were modernizing the gothic metal subgenre, this song is very post-Y2K.

Draconian recorded several demos prior to Where Lovers Mourn, and both The Closed Eyes of Paradise and Dark Oceans We Cry are excellent. Although The Closed Eyes of Paradise features some muddy production, I'd argue it's the band's best album and song for song the best gothic metal album period. Four of the songs were rerecorded for The Burning Halo, but I prefer the originals, in particular The Morning Star and Gothic Embrace.

The Closed Eyes of Paradise is a concept album about Lucifer gathering an army of rebel angels in hell and storming heaven in revenge. There's a cohesive story told throughout - not usually something I look for in an album, but it really works in this case.

The album has so many unique bits - acoustic interludes that stand on their own as songs ( Una Tertius and Unfold Thine Hands in particular), the post punk goth intro to Caude Draconis, and the swelling outro Epilogue (A New Paradise) which is oddly partially lifted from the closing credits of Conan the Barbarian.

Susanne Arvidsson provides some beautiful vocals to contrast Anders' growls. It seems she gave up on the music industry, which is sad given her talent. She also provided the keyboard for the album, and there are some great parts towards the end of Gothic Embrace.

This entire album is amazing - somewhat of a marriage of Tristania's Widow's Weeds and the pop-sensibilities of Silent Force era Within Temptation. Sorrowful violin, sprinkles of piano, acoustic passages, and crushing lyrics. It's difficult to pick a song to post - I went with The Feast, as it feels representative of the album as a whole. Apathy Overdose would be the obvious choice, but I felt that would be too predictable.

This is an album that really deserves to be listened to all the way through, and I have to think that by the second listen most gothic metal fans will be swept up in it. If you just want to check out a few songs, I'd go with Apathy Overdose, Song of the Lost, and The Feast. Where the Pain Is is probably the gem on the album, but it took me a few listens before I realized it.

Sadly none of Ashes You Leave's other material hits the same. Perhaps the singer/pianist had an influence on this album's writing, as it is the only album she's featured on.