"The term "gothic rock" was reportedly first used by critic John Stickney while describing the Doors for a 1967 review in the student newspaper The Williams Record. While the Velvet Underground, Iggy Pop, and David Bowie have all been cited as forebearers, the term only took hold on the other side of the Atlantic more than a decade later.
Indeed, by 1979, gothic rock essentially encompassed any British band that sonically dealt in sorrowful guitars, primitive beats, and howling melodies, were lyrically focused on the mournful and the dramatic, and stylistically, owned a wardrobe that never strayed beyond the pitch-black.
The subgenre would evolve over the following years, incorporating everything from pop and folk to metal and electronica. PJ Harvey, Nine Inch Nails, and Evanescence were just some of the major names who drew from its eerie well during the 1990s and beyond. But it was undoubtedly in the aftermath of post-punk when the scene enjoyed its imperial phase."
