HIM

Despite the fact that on more than one occasion the band has set out to intentionally confuse the public with their name -- claiming that H.I.M. stood for "His Infernal Majesty" one week and "Hanson Is Murder" the next; changing their name on their second US release to HER; touring as HIM and HER as a result of a post-rock band in Chicago called HiM; and now officially calling themselves HIM -- these Finnish goth-metal dudes have stuck around since 1992, commanding a sizable following since the release of their debut Greatest Love Songs Vol. 666 in 1997. That album was highlighted by their chugging take on Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game." A series of albums followed, combining satanic imagery, poetic vocals and goth aesthetic into something the band calls "love metal" (also the name of its 2003 album). Several high-profile soundtrack appearances and a steady stream of releases have ensured the band remains in the public eye, simultaneously keeping the flames of goth alive. - MMCGUIRK

The Cure

Endurance and validity have long been words attributed to the music and career of England's most legendary alternative band. The band have gone from being the closet secret of the goth crowd to popular acceptance to sold-out stadium tours with nary a break in quality. Robert Smith's romanticism with all things morose was exemplified on their sparse early releases like Pornography and Faith. Smith's formerly monotone vocals took a turn upon the release of The Top in '84 and suddenly he had adopted a kind of feline yelp in his vocals, and tracks like "The Caterpillar" bubbled with an odd, lively energy. Through the end of the '80s the band honed their incredible pop skills to much acclaim as "In Between Days" and "Just Like Heaven" piped out of every incense-lit bedroom from here to Calcutta. Just as their early fan base had begun to drift as the band explored the exceedingly vibrant pop of "Why Can't I Be You" and "Hot Hot Hot!!!," they released Disintegration in '89. A wonderfully dark and beautiful record, marked by Smith's relentlessly stunning guitar work and fluid imagery, it proved to be the band's biggest success. It also laid the groundwork for how the band would spend most of the '90s. Spiking their work with an almost irritating giddiness and melodic melancholy, the band continue to be masters of lush, crimson-hued pop.

Type O Negative

Sometime between their first and second album, Type O Negative underwent a bizarre, lycanthropic transformation from ultra-Heavy Metal meisters to Goth burlesques. Singer Peter Steele nurtured a male vamp sexual persona driven by lust and fascinated by the points of convergence between passion and death. The band, meanwhile, took the tempo way down into a murky cauldron of Satanic mass keyboards and guitar notes that sounded like depth charges. The band's albums and performances invariably attempt to re-enact vaguely pagan Phallus-worship rites that are campier, but in the end only mildly more interesting, than standard "C*ck rock" proteges. - CDRISCOLL

Joy Division

Joy Division was formed after Peter Hook and Bernard Albrecht (later Bernard Sumner) saw the Sex Pistols perform in Manchester in the late 1970s. Initially calling themselves Warsaw, the band unleashed a form of punk that had all of the genre's calling cards and yet was too moody and emotional to fall under the strict leather and bondage pants guidelines quickly being established. By the time the band took the name Joy Division in late 1977, they were creating repetitive, tuneful dirges that could explode into frustration or travel into bleak, romantic territory marked by paranoid atmospherics. Above all, the group sounded like nobody else. The band quickly found solidarity with Tony Wilson and his nascent label, Factory Records. With producer Martin Hannett in tow and Peter Saville's stark design aesthetic, the group forged a sound that exuded despair, pathos and catharsis through punk rock minimalism. Much has been made of vocalist Ian Curtis's spastic, shuddering vocal work, but their music owed as much to Peter Hook's low, distinct bass tone and Bernard Sumner's skittering lead guitar, which provided much of the tension. Throw in Stephen Morris' manic, propulsive, Krautrock-derived drum attacks (thrown up very high in the mix on Hannett's influential, truly amazing production) and you had a sound and an energy that has yet to be reproduced. - JPRUETT