Original Song (i Have No Idea What I'm Doing)

original song (i have no idea what I'm doing)

So, you want to find Type O Negative soundalikes?

As someone whose explored a fuck ton I have recommendations, I can't promise that they're necessarily good or live up to the original but I can tell you that they have elements that may sound similar. I'll list each of them and say my personal opinion on them. Frown They're just eh, following the stylings of the more mellower parts of Type O with none of the memorability of them. October Noir This would be my highest recommendation, I’d suggest you hear them for yourself. A Pale Horse Named Death Really really boring. Would not recommend. The comparison is mainly because it has former Type O members in there but it’s missing all of the oomph and hooks the band had. Maybe if you’re really into grunge-y alternative metal-type stuff you might like it, but it’s certainly not for me. Pist.On Their debut was produced by Josh Silver of Type O fame, and has an excellent cover of a Smiths song. I would only really recommend their first album. Wicked Sisters New and obscure band from Australia. I'd recommend giving a listen to their single "Necromantic" or their “We Suck” EP, the texture and riffing definitely reminds me of Type O. Carnivore Peter Steele’s previous band before fronting Type O. Sonically, it would be my favorite thrash band if not for the lyrics. Avoid at all costs if you're sensitive to misogynistic lyrics. I’m serious. He may or may not have meant some of the lyrics as satire but the fact it’s a man making the point using misogynistic language makes it backfire.  Vasaria Missing any sort of Type O texture, but the singer is also the current singer of Carnivore A.D., might be interesting. I'd recommend "Ugly as Sin".

End of Recommendations I think that's most of what I've found. Honorable mentions, as in, I do not hear it at all but for some reason they get compared a lot: Danzig Eh? It's mostly just bluesy heavy metal. Dude has a deep voice and they do some Sabbath-y riffs, but that does not make a Type O. Abysmal Grief Maybe if you're really into the "doom with keyboards" aspect of Type O, but there isn’t a lot of variety or hooks. In the Colonnades Their first album reminds me more of Spinal Tap if anything. Closer to Danzig than it is to Type O imo. Stillborn Heavy Metal/Doom Metal with some Gothic Rock influence, not really sure why they get compared. Life of Agony Specifically, River Runs Red. It was produced by Josh Silver and had drumming by a former drummer of the band. I hope this helps someone!

I may or may not have copied most of this word for word from what I typed on the metal archives forum but also it’s not like I can plagiarize myself.

Lesbian flag but it’s color picked from Dark Magician Girl!

Past Time Travel Ramblings

Hello, I'm gonna ramble about the logic of literal past time travel.

Okay preface. This is not a scientific essay. I am not a scientist, I barely passed every science class I've been in and remember nothing from them. No sources will be cited, and all of these ideas come from my own thoughts. I do not claim to be the first to think of anything, however, I do not see others speaking on any of this. I am most likely just not looking hard enough, but I'd just love to see the thoughts of others here and the input of people who know more than me on the subject.

Preface over, I'm going to be going over possible complications and mechanics that would have to be answered for if one were to build a real time machine, at least in my mind. The general problem, I believe, is bridging the gap between the mechanics of the universe and our social constructs. If that sounds confusing, I will elaborate.

Social v. Material

Shout in your room right now "Teleport me to London on the 15th of March in 1963."

Nothing will happen. You look ridiculous. For one, the universe doesn't know what a "London" is, we made that word up, nor does it know what that date is because we made up all these terms for time, nor would it know the notion of teleporting. Beyond that, who would hear you? Your neighbors, roommates, perhaps. The universe? Who knows. It won't respond though.

So if your goal is to use a time machine to go back to London on the 15th of March in 1963, the main or at least significant hurdle to overcome would be figuring out how to translate those terms into something a machine can understand. You can't hack the universe if reality isn't composed of any language you comprehend.

Location

One possible problem with a teleporting time machine, a part of the last issue, is setting a location for it to move to. There's no "universal coordinates" for anything to ever understand, so the instantaneous movement would have to do more with distance ("Move 5000 miles in this direction") than a name ("Move to 8.436 at the Fart Quadrant"). Then after that, how could you ever tell it a direction? The Earth constantly rotates and the universe knows no ups and downs. A computer can move you up if it understood the concept, but could it adjust for the spinning Earth's movement, in real time and constantly? Even then, think, London in 1963 isn't in the same place it is now, at least not in a specific technical sense that'd get your nerd glasses broken if you mentioned it to a varsity jacket jock. Sure, it is the same place on Earth, but everything in the solar system and everything else around it is moving constantly. That is to say, even if you solved the other problems and went to where London is now in 1963, you could just end up stranded in the galactic void waiting for a planet to hit you in sixty years.

Time

How do you make a computer understand the concept of 1963 A.D.? You can't, it could read you the definition if programmed but it could not in any meaningful capacity take you back to that time just by the phrase alone.

Okay, so instead of asking it to drop you into a year, what about pushing you back? Asking it to go back 60 years from the present 2023 to 1963. Such a thing would require us to find and observe a measurable unit of time that can send you back in time a certain amount for each of the unit. The further back you want to go, the more of the units. Also remember, the present is constantly moving forward. You may have to make a system where the units increase for each second the time machine isn't travelling. Or not, you wouldn't need to care if you're not the type to fuss over the exact second in a given day you time travel to. It would honestly be a little dumb to, anyways.

No Teleportation

So what we can conclude from those first two sections is that a hypothetical time machine could not teleport. It would have to involve some sort of pushing back in time. You cannot tell something to drop into a coordinate, but you can workshop it to move in the direction of where you want. How that'd work is beyond me, at least at the moment. It's like telling your car to "be" in New York instead of driving to New York, you'd have to drive it or nothing would happen.

The one big exception that would make it possible would be if we were able to harness something beyond our current understanding like a wormhole or a fantastical portal or something.

Past

If you want to build a time machine, you have to ask yourself at some point, to what extent does the past exist? Going back to a past implies our very reality remembers or records. For all we know, it only exists as far as our memories and social constructs around it allow. Imagine you're playing a video game and you never save and you're at the final boss. You're at the final boss and you've unlocked everything, that proves that you actually played the game this far. However, you couldn't go to a previous part of your playthrough because there are no previous save states. Does the universe "save" anything? How could one go back to a past that does not exist in any meaningful way beyond memory and explaining the present? I'm saying, you can't go back if there's nothing to go back to.

Time Travelers

Something that must eventually be asked on the question of real time travel is: where are all the time travelers? The idea is that if past time travel were possible, someone in the future could invent time travel and make it evident that it's possible by going to the past. Perhaps it is possible and yet nobody was able to invent a time machine due to the doom of humanity as the last advanced civilization on Earth before we could even grasp the mechanics of such a device. Maybe we're in an objective present as opposed to a relative one where a future hasn't been recorded yet for any supposed time travelers to even come from, which if false would have a lot of audacity as a theory. Maybe it's stupid fucking science fiction novel bullshit where we haven't seen evidence of time travelers because of a secret time-keeping organization strictly regulating such a device and also trying to prevent paradoxes or whatever the fuck and doing their job really well, that one is my least favorite.

Relativity

I'm gonna do this one assuming you all know the gist of the theory of relativity and the idea that time is relative to where you are, though I very well may have no idea what I'm talking about. Imagine this, we have Not-Earth and Earth. Not-Earth is an inconceivably long distance away from Earth to the extent that it goes through time slower comparatively than Earth does, though the human consciousness on both planets experiences both at the same rate. Remember the hypothetical measurable time units? My question is, would relativity suggest the hypothetical time units needed to go back a given amount of years would vary on location, or would it just need the same amount regardless of location?

The Science

This section is going to be brief because I don't know jack shit. From what I've gathered, past time travel can be possible according to certain scientific laws. Knowing whether or not past time travel can be achieved for certain, at least as it seems to me, seems like such a fantastical thing to know that it has to be out of our grasp for a long time. I'm not gonna link the article so either google it or call me a liar, but I saw an article about how scientists successfully simulated sending a particle back in time through a quantum computer. That suggests nothing on the possibility of physical particles time traveling back in time though, only that a computer can show us fantastical things which I know already from watching videos of horse dressage. That's a joke, I don't watch that.

In Conclusion

So, time machines capable of backwards time travel, what a mouthful. Basically, if you wanted to make such a thing you'd have to think of something so immensely clever and beyond the imagination and science we currently have. If it's ever done I'd love to learn how they solve these issues, at least the parts I could wrap my head. Hell, maybe even science fiction writers know how to jump the hurdles, even if they lack the technical fortitude.

If you got this far, thank you. I doubt this will interest much of anyone at all. If at least one person thinks it's an interesting read, though, I will be happy enough.

someone do this with Death

Pride flags colour picked from Cannibal Corpse albums 🖤💀

Non-Goth Music that Goths might enjoy

Along with what the title says, I will be elaborating on each. It’s mostly going to be metal because that’s my current interest but there will be non-metal recommendations, such as industrial rock or electronic music.

Epicus Doomicus Metallus - Candlemass

Not my personal favorite Candlemass album, that would be Nightfall, but it’s what I think would be most interesting to a Goth looking into other genres. To elaborate on why I think that, it’s the use of the vocals, subject matter, guitarwork, and keyboards. The vocals do an incredible job at communicating both storytelling and extreme emotions like anguish. The subject matter covers things like witchcraft, sorcerers, and wanting to die alone. The guitarwork and tone doesn’t sound anything like post-punk but it’s the way it complements the feelings of doom and anguish that might make it interesting to someone looking into other kinds of dark music.

TL;DR They’re slow, heavy, and dramatic.

I would like to highlight “Solitude” as my best recommendation to a Goth Rock fan, and “Under the Oak” as my personal favorite track.

Ministry

Not recommending any specific album, but specific songs from them. Hell, you might even consider some of Ministry’s work borderline Goth, but the overall genre is Industrial Rock/Metal, at least since they stopped making synthpop.

The tracks I’m recommending are as follows: “Every Day is Halloween” (single), “Golden Dawn” (from their album Land of Rape and Honey, which despite the name is actually referring to a plant and not the reprehensible act), “Cannibal Song” and “Dream Song” (both from The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste).

The first song is already kind of a goth music staple but I thought to include it anyways because I love that song.

DAF (Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft)

This one might be a little hard to justify just because of how all over the place they are, but personally I think they really have that post-punk attitude when it comes to their music. They’re basically this really experimental electronic band, hell their early stuff even has noise rock elements. If you’re into the more industrial experimental stuff and don’t need conciseness or melody then this might be an interesting band to look at.

I would like to highlight the tracks “Kebab Träume”, “Ein Bisschen Krieg”, and “Muskel”

King Diamond

I’m going to be blunt, you’re not gonna like this one if you don’t like traditional heavy metal. Along with that, you might not like King Diamond’s vocals. Yes, the band is named after the singer. Anyways, if you like Gothic Rock for the “spooky” Halloween-esque aesthetic, you might just fall in love with King Diamond. He’s an acquired taste for most, due to the unusual falsetto he displays all across his career. 

Personally, I fucking love King Diamond. I think instead of recommending any specific song I’d rather recommend whole albums due to the storytelling aspect that King Diamond weaves into most of his discography. To paint you a picture, most of King Diamond’s discography is concept albums that tell horror stories, cleverly using vocals to switch characters, and using keyboards to really give that cheesy but lovable Halloween Horror feel, along with some of the coolest guitarwork in metal, done by the likes of heavy metal legend Andy LaRocque.

Onto highlights, I would like to highlight Fatal Portrait, notably one of the few albums not to be a fully concept album, particularly the tracks “The Candle” and “Haunted”, and Them, a concept album with my personal favorite story, and Conspiracy, the sequel to Them story-wise, which is my personal favorite album.

Celtic Frost

This one might be an odd recommendation if you’re only familiar with their popular stuff, but I’d like to highlight a few tracks that may be of interest.

“Mesmerized” (from their album Into the Pandemonium)

Recommending this one mainly because the vocals are very reminiscent of Rozz Williams from Christian Death, at least in my opinion.

“Os Abysmi Vel Daath” (from their album Monotheist)

This is kind of a risky recommendation, since this song and the album in general is just experimental extreme metal. It’s mainly the vocal performance here makes me want to recommend it, though it might be a bit of a stretch. I love this song but I know it might not be for everyone, though if it gives at least one person a new song to listen to then I’ll be happy.

Zoon - The Nefilim

Industrial Extreme Metal, by the same people behind Fields of the Nephilim. This one is a bit of an oddball in the discography of the people who made it, but personally it’s the only album I like by them anyways. Unfortunately, this was the only album they did in this style and under this name. They do, however, still occasionally perform songs from this album as Fields of the Nephilim. My personal favorite track being “Shine”, which is honestly a bit of a power ballad.

The Downward Spiral - Nine Inch Nails

C’mon. You knew this one was coming. It’s an industrial rock album, and if you haven’t listen to them already you’re most likely going to LOVE “Closer”.

Sacrificed - Edge of Sanity (from The Spectral Sorrows)

It’s a straight up Sisters of Mercy-esque Goth Rock track that’s towards the end of a Death Metal album. The vocalist would go on to start a Goth Rock band, Nightingale.

I’m Going Slightly Mad - Queen (from Innuendo)

You may be confused. That Queen? Yes, same one that made “We Will Rock You” and “Bohemian Rhapsody”. This song is called Gothic Rock on wikipedia, but I’m including it anyways because Queen is not a Goth band.

Surprise - The Garden (Single)

This one might confuse you if you’re familiar with this band. From the instrumentation, to the vocals, to the subject matter, it just screamed to me “put me next to Goth music”. Listen to it for yourself and tell me if you get it. For some strange reason it was taken off streaming platforms unfortunately.

Deinonychus

This one is a black metal band with doom metal influences. Another riskier recommendation, what gives me the impression that a Goth might love this is a mix of the use of keyboards, the anguished harsh vocals, and the deep clean vocals. The best example I want to give is “The Weeping of a Thousand Years”, it’s like a bearded vampire speaks the clean vocals and someone tortured in the dungeon of a castle screams the harsh vocals.

Call from the Grave - Bathory (from Under the Sign of the Black Mark)

Another Black Metal band, this one even harder to justify. Bear with me, listen to the song and pretend that a zombie is the one singing. The song starts with this spooky ambience and then goes into this evil groove and later on has a solo that sounds like a funeral dirge, it’s awesome. I have no idea if anyone’s going to get why I’m putting this here along with the others, but if someone does that’ll be awesome.

Give Me Your Soul - Countess (from The Book of the Heretic)

Another Black Metal one, yes, but hear me out. This song is literally goofy spooky Halloween music, and it’s literally from the perspective of a demon who kidnapped someone. I fucking love this song, I just think if you kept an open mind you might love it as much as I do.

Floods - Pantera (from The Great Southern Trendkill)

Okay okay, hear me out again. This is literally borderline Southern Gothic, at least thematically, and topic aside it’s one of the best power ballads out of all of metal with one of the coolest solos literally ever.

Buried Alive - Venom (from Black Metal)

This song is hard to describe, it’s not quite a power ballad, but it’s definitely some sort of ballad. It’s catchy, it’s got a dramatic build up and it’s got groove (it has one of my personal favorite solos ever). Tell me what you think!

Black Sabbath

I find it a little funny that Black Sabbath had a literal “Living in a Box” moment by naming their first song on their first album after themselves. Anyways, this song, “Black Sabbath”, is dramatic and evil. It’s basically the first heavy metal song, and yet it has more doom in it than a lot of modern doom metal bands. Side note, Type O Negative has a fantastic rendition of this song, I could not more HIGHLY recommend giving it a listen.

I also recommend “After All (The Dead)” off of their album Dehumanizer. It’s got the doom and gloom but with that heavy metal oomph to it, so I hope you appreciate this song as much as I do.

Black Mummy - Death SS (from In Death of Steve Sylvester)

I must clarify again, the “SS” part of the name has nothing to do with the Nazis and is short for the singer Steve Sylvester. Anyways, this song has a more traditional heavy metal sound but in a bit of a spooky horror approach. You might ask if it’s anything like King Diamond, I can assure you it’s not.

Scream of the Butterfly - Acid Bath (from When the Kite String Pops)

This one is a bit of a ballad in an otherwise Sludge/Doom Metal album. Unrelated, but if you’re into metal with interesting textures I would definitely recommend this album.

Ghosts - Japan (from Tin Drum)

It feels like cheating to put a New Wave artist on here, but they’re still technically not Goth so I’m putting them anyways.

Filth - Swans

Noise Rock, it’s extreme music that isn’t metal. I’m including this one for a similar reason with DAF, because despite its genre it definitely has a bit of a post-punk attitude to things.

L’Eau Rouge/Red Water - The Young Gods

Industrial Rock with Dark Cabaret elements, oh my god this album is my baby I fucking love it so much. The fact more people don’t know about it feels like a crime. 

Gloomy Sunday - Billie Holiday

This is technically not her original song but I enjoy her version a lot. Thematically it’s very dark, so if you are into darker music I would definitely recommend this.

The Devil is an Englishman - Thomas Dolby (Single)

Again it feels like cheating to include a New Wave artist but there’s no way in hell anyone considers Thomas Dolby “Goth”. Though I will say this song was composed for a movie called “Gothic”. Regardless, I would definitely recommend this, it’s dark synthpop.

Auburn and Ivory - Beach House (from Beach House)

Feels like cheating to include dreampop, but why not. I have this song on a playlist with music that makes me feel like a French mime, if that helps give you an idea of the kind of song it is.

Kate Bush

That’s all.

Anna - K.U.K.L. (from The Eye)

This is from one of the bands Björk was in before. Very experimental rock, I would personally recommend the music video version that’s up on youtube instead of the Spotify version.

Einzelhaft - Falco

This album is mostly known for “Der Kommissar”, but I find that there’s other good songs on this album, particularly “Ganz Wien” and “Auf der Flucht”.

An Angel of Great and Terrible Light - Uboa (from The Origin of My Depression)

I’m gonna warn you, this song along with the album this is from may be a very emotionally heavy album for some. However, I’m built different. Anyways I fucking love this particular song from the album.

End of Recommendations

That’s all I have for now, if anyone has any suggestions I’d love to hear them! I hope this helps someone find new music to love!