Deathrock

Rozz Williams

Deathrock is a rock music subgenre incorporating horror elements and gothic theatrics. It emerged from punk rock on the West Coast of the United States in the early 1980s and overlaps with the gothic rock and horror punk genres. Notable deathrock acts include Christian Death, Kommunity FK, 45 Grave, and Super Heroines.

Characteristics

Deathrock songs usually incorporate a driving, repetitive rhythm section; the drums and bass guitar laying the foundation within a 4/4 time signature while the guitars either play simple chords or effects-driven leads to create atmosphere. Lyrics can vary, but are typically introspective and surreal, and deal with the dark themes of isolation, gloom, disillusionment, loss, life, death, etc.; as can the style, varying from harsh and dark to upbeat, melodic, and tongue-in-cheek. Deathrock lyrics and other musical stylistic elements often incorporate the themes of campy horror and sci-fi films, which in turn leads some bands to adopt elements of rockabilly  Despite the similar-sounding name, deathrock has no connection to death metal, which is a subgenre of heavy metal.

History

Shadow Project

The term “death rock” was first used in the 1950s to describe a thematically related genre of rock and roll, which began in 1958 with Jody Reynolds’ “Endless Sleep” and ended in 1964 with J. Frank Wilson’s “Last Kiss”. The term was also applied to the Shangri-Las’ “Leader of the Pack”.  These songs about dead teenagers were noted for their morbid yet romantic view of death, spoken word bridges, and sound effects. In 1974, the term “death rock” was used by Gene Grier to describe the same phenomenon in rock music.

The term later re-emerged to describe the sound of various West Coast punk bands.  It most likely came from one of three sources: Rozz Williams, the founding member of Christian Death, to describe the sound of his band; the music press, reusing the 1950s term to describe an emerging subgenre of punk; and/or Nick Zedd’s 1979 film They Eat Scum, which featured a fictitious cannibalistic “death rock” punk band called “Suzy Putrid and the Mental Deficients.”

Artists

45 Grave

Only Theatre of Pain, Christian Death’s 1982 debut album, is cited as the first American gothic album and cannot be easily classified as either a darker flavor of punk, horror punk or gothic rock. As a result, Williams, the band’s deceased lead singer (also known for Shadow Project and Premature Ejaculation) was considered one of the most influential artists in the goth and deathrock scene. Other influential male deathrockers included Patrick Mata of Kommunity FK and Larry Rainwater of Ex-VoTo.

Dinah Cancer has been referred to as the “Queen of Deathrock”, the “Goddess of Deathrock” and the “High Priestess of Deathrock” for her role as the frontwoman for 45 Grave during a time when female lead singers were still considered somewhat of a rarity. Other influential female deathrockers included Eva O and Voodoo Church’s Tina Winter.

Many artists in the United States released EPs and LPs prior to 1982 which would now be considered deathrock, such as Theatre of Ice and Mighty Sphincter. British bands also made major contributions to the deathrock sound by adding a strong post-punk influence, including Joy Division, Bauhaus and Siouxsie and the Banshees. Other bands from around the world added their own unique contribution to deathrock, including Xmal Deutschland in Germany, Virgin Prunes from Ireland, and the Birthday Party in Australia.

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