Rockpedia

Compare

Two genres, side by side. The ratings are editorial judgements on a ten-point scale, not measurements. Where they come out level, the difference is in the prose underneath them.

First genre

Horror punk1979

Second genre

Gothic rock1979

Head to headHorror punk vs Gothic rock
Horror punk: heaviness 5, melody 8, speed 7. Gothic rock: heaviness 4, melody 8, speed 4.Heaviness5 / 4Melody8 / 8Speed7 / 4
Each corner is a ten-point rating. The further out, the higher.

The difference, by ear

The audiences overlap heavily. The music does not: goth is slow and reverberant, horror punk is fast and dry.

Both are sung cleanly, but gothic rock is much slower: 90 to 130 bpm against 160 to 200. Songs run longer in gothic rock: usually 4 to 7 minutes, against 1½ to 2½ minutes in horror punk. To hear the difference, play Misfits next to Bauhaus. They share a root in punk rock and arrived in the same year.

Put together from each genre's vocals, tempo, song length, key acts and place in the tree.

In figures

Heaviness
Horror punk5
Gothic rock4
−1
Speed
Horror punk7
Gothic rock4
−3
Melody
Horror punk8
Gothic rock8
level

Horror punk

1979 · New Jersey, USA

Where it sits

Rock › Punk rock › Horror punk

In short

Punk with B-movie horror imagery, baritone vocals and mutant doo-wop choruses.

How it sounds

  • Baritone vocals with vibrato, in a 1950s crooner style.
  • Doo-wop vocal harmonies over punk guitars.
  • Black-and-white horror-film imagery and lyrics.

Key acts

  • Misfits
  • Samhain
  • The Damned

Start here

The pickMisfits - Walk Among Us. Thirteen horror songs in twenty-five minutes.

Full page →

Gothic rock

1979 · United Kingdom · 1 subgenre

Where it sits

Rock › Punk rock › Post-punk › Gothic rock

In short

Post-punk with reverb, chorused guitar and a baritone voice. Its aesthetic passes straight into gothic metal and doom.

How it sounds

  • Guitar with chorus and flanger, thin and cold, drenched in reverb.
  • Melodic bass up front; some bands use a drum machine instead of a drummer.
  • Baritone vocals, often declaimed, with literary and funereal lyrics.

Key acts

  • Bauhaus
  • The Sisters of Mercy
  • The Cure
  • Fields of the Nephilim

Start here

The pickBauhaus - Bela Lugosi's Dead. Nine minutes that founded an entire subculture.

Full page →