You Must Hear 7

neoclassical darkwave

Last updated: Sun Oct 19 2025 02:58:56 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

Description

Neoclassical darkwave blends classical instrumentation like strings and piano with gothic, ethereal atmospheres and darkly romantic vocals, emerging from the post-punk and gothic rock scenes of the 1980s. The genre evokes medieval and Renaissance aesthetics while exploring themes of melancholy, spirituality, and the sublime through layered synthesizers and orchestral arrangements. Its cinematic, often haunting soundscapes create an immersive experience that bridges ancient classical traditions with modern electronic darkness.

100 chronological releases

Place	Cover	Date	Artist	Album	Tags	Other places
85		1986	This Mortal Coil	It'll End in Tears (remastered)	ethereal wave ambient pop darkwave gothic rock	gothic rock # 30 ambient pop # 55 darkwave # 58 ethereal wave # 97
78		1987-07-27	Dead Can Dance	Within the Realm of a Dying Sun	darkwave ethereal	ethereal # 63 darkwave # 89
95		1987-10-06	Depeche Mode	Music For The Masses (2006 Remaster)	darkwave neoclassical darkwave synthpop	darkwave # 71
41		1990-07-02	Dead Can Dance	Aion	ethereal darkwave	darkwave # 26 ethereal # 61 neomedieval # 82
3		1991	Will	Pearl of Great Price	darkwave martial industrial neoclassical darkwave
69		1991	Love Is Colder Than Death	Teignmouth	ethereal
19		1995	Les Joyaux de la Princesse & Regard Extrême	Die Weiße Rose	dark ambient martial martial industrial neoclassical darkwave spoken word	martial # 83
71		1995	Fata Morgana	Fata Morgana	dungeon synth neoclassical darkwave	dungeon synth # 68 medieval ambient # 80
26		1996	Arcana	Dark Age of Reason	ambient darkwave	darkwave # 7
6		1996	Pazuzu	Awaken The Dragon	atmospheric black metal
24		1997	Secret Stairways	Enchantment of the Ring	dungeon synth neoclassical darkwave	dungeon synth # 47
45		1997	Black Tape for a Blue Girl	Remnants of a Deeper Purity (2014 Remastered Deluxe Edition)	ambient dark ambient darkwave ethereal wave neoclassical darkwave	ethereal wave # 9
14		1997	Grabesmond	Mordenheim	dungeon synth neoclassical darkwave
52		1997	Ophelia's Dream	All Beauty Is Sad	neoclassical neoclassical darkwave
60		1998	Dead Can Dance	Within The Realm Of A Dying Su	darkwave ethereal	ethereal # 54 darkwave # 75
92		1998-04-14	Lisa Gerrard & Pieter Bourke	Duality	neoclassical darkwave ambient
32		1998-10-13	Dargaard	Eternity Rites	dark ambient darkwave	darkwave # 15 dark ambient # 59
11		1999	Secret Stairways	Turning Point	neoclassical darkwave new age
42		1999	Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble of Shadows	Dead Lovers' Sarabande (Face One)	darkwave neoclassical darkwave
63		1999	Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble of Shadows	Dead Lover's Sarabande (Face One)	neoclassical darkwave
74		1999	Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble of Shadows	Dead Lovers' Sarabande (Face Two)	darkwave neoclassical neoclassical darkwave
37		2000	Moon Far Away	Sator	apocalyptic folk dark folk folk noir neoclassical neoclassical darkwave neofolk russian	folk noir # 54
27		2000-05-09	Vas	In The Garden Of Souls	female vocalists world	world # 34
23		2000-05-16	Chaostar	Chaostar	darkwave neoclassical
86		2000-11	Dark Sanctuary	De Lumière et d'Obscurité	neoclassical darkwave ethereal
49		2001-06	Dargaard	The Dissolution of Eternity	dark ambient darkwave	dark ambient # 47
57		2001-11-28	志方あきこ	緑の森で眠ル鳥	ethereal darkwave neoclassical darkwave celtic folk classical neofolk art pop freak folk indie folk poetry	progressive folk # 21 poetry # 25 dream folk # 62 neomedieval # 72
81		2003	Irfan	IRFAN	darkwave ethereal world fusion female vocalists	ethereal # 12 darkwave # 17 ethnic # 60 dream folk # 80 world fusion # 99
73		2003-01	Ordo Funebris	Cantar a la Morte: Fabula Triste	dark folk neoclassical darkwave neoclassical neomedieval	dark folk # 38 neomedieval # 89
56		2003-02-26	Emilie Autumn	Enchant	ethereal	composer # 1 choral # 8 world fusion # 23 avant-pop # 40 dark pop # 42 classical crossover # 55 ethereal # 68 dream folk # 70 gothic pop # 82 soprano # 95
20		2003-08-24	志方あきこ	廃墟と楽園	ethereal folk darkwave dream folk neoclassical darkwave world world fusion	alternative folk # 5 pagan folk # 18 soprano # 35 neomedieval # 60 dream folk # 69
43		2004-05-18	Vas	Feast Of Silence	ethereal world	ethereal # 17 iran # 25 sufi # 40 world # 62
89		2004-10	Narsilion	Nerbeleth	ethereal dark ambient darkwave neoclassical darkwave	ethereal # 7 dark ambient # 21
64		2004-11	Artesia	L'aube Morne	neoclassical darkwave
80		2005-02-12	All My Faith Lost ...	As You're Vanishing In Silence	ethereal neoclassical neoclassical darkwave
65		2005-02-14	Trobar de Morte	Fairydust	ethereal neofolk	dark folk # 10 gothic pop # 38 dream folk # 41 soprano # 57 neomedieval # 83
55		2005-07-20	志方あきこ	Navigatoria	ethereal folk dream folk world fusion world darkwave art pop classical neoclassical darkwave dream pop neofolk	dark pop # 11 poetry # 33 classical crossover # 40 poptron # 44 world fusion # 61 gothic pop # 69 soprano # 83 dream folk # 85
67		2006	Unto Ashes	Songs for a Widow	american ethereal folk neoclassical darkwave neofolk
8		2006-04	Narsilion	Arcadia	darkwave ethereal neofolk	dark folk # 13 neofolk # 51 neomedieval # 75
5		2006-10-21	Nebelkorona	Reminiszenzen an das Morgenrot / Relikte des Abendrotes	darkwave neoclassical neoclassical darkwave
47		2006-10-25	志方あきこ	Raka	ethereal folk world darkwave world fusion classical	classical crossover # 41 world fusion # 42 gothic pop # 53 neomedieval # 59 dream folk # 65 soprano # 94
66		2007	Bacio di Tosca	Der Tod und das Mädchen	darkwave neoclassical darkwave
68		2007-04-13	Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble of Shadows	Les Fleurs du Mal	darkwave neoclassical	darkwave # 13
38		2007-05	Abnocto	Simon magus	neoclassical darkwave	fantasy ambient # 30
91		2007-06	Artesia	Chants d'automne	darkwave neoclassical darkwave
87		2007-09-28	Hexperos	The Garden of the Hesperides	darkwave neoclassical neoclassical darkwave	poptron # 67
90		2007-09-28	Hexperos	Garden Of The Hesperides	darkwave neoclassical neoclassical darkwave	meditation # 16 poptron # 72
72		2007-11-20	Love Spirals Downwards	Idylls [Remastered Reissue]	dream pop ethereal wave gothic rock neoclassical darkwave	ethereal wave # 45
4		2008	Necrophorus	Moments of Sleeping Sadness	darkwave neoclassical darkwave
36		2009	Various Artists	Mythical records - Odyssey of rapture vol. 1	classical contemporary classical ethereal folk neoclassical darkwave
58		2009-02	Artesia	Llydaw	darkwave neoclassical ethereal
17		2009-03-15	The Moon and the Nightspirit	Osforras	ethereal medieval folk neomedieval	dream folk # 66 pagan folk # 69 medieval folk # 94 neomedieval # 96
50		2009-03-18	志方あきこ	Harmonia	ethereal folk new age world fusion classical crossover neoclassical darkwave world darkwave	neomedieval # 42 world fusion # 43 classical crossover # 48 pagan folk # 49 soprano # 62
10		2009-04-17	Nebelkorona	Des Nachts in tristen Nebeln	neoclassical darkwave
9		2009-05-25	Deleyaman	Fourth, Part One
25		2009-08-15	Stellamara	The Golden Thread	folk world fusion	world fusion # 91
84		2009-08-19	志方あきこ	片翼の鳥	darkwave neoclassical darkwave classical crossover ethereal	poptron # 49 lgbt # 54 classical crossover # 77 neomedieval # 78 soprano # 97
59		2009-08-28	Peter Bjärgö	A Wave of Bitterness	dark ambient neoclassical neoclassical darkwave tribal ambient	tribal ambient # 85
75		2010-03	Rajna	Offering	ambient neoclassical darkwave new age spiritual world fusion	spiritual # 57 world fusion # 71
12		2010-04	Dvar	El Mariil	neoclassical darkwave russia russian	russia # 35
53		2010-09-07	Blue Sky Black Death	The Holocaust	abstract hip hop electronic experimental hip hop neoclassical darkwave
76		2010-09-20	Hexperos	The Veil Of Queen Mab	apocalyptic folk dark folk female vocalists folk folk noir neoclassical neoclassical darkwave	dark folk # 49 apocalyptic folk # 75 folk noir # 86
30		2010-09-29	志方あきこ	謳う丘 ～Ar=Ciel Ar=Dor～	ethereal darkwave folk neoclassical darkwave world fusion	classical crossover # 16 progressive folk # 31 medieval folk # 44 dream folk # 59 neomedieval # 68
39		2011	Trobar de Morte	Beyond the woods - The acoustic songs	neoclassical darkwave
70		2011-02-18	Elane	Arcane	dark folk darkwave female vocalists folk noir indie pop j-pop japanese meditation neoclassical neoclassical darkwave neofolk pop world fusion	meditation # 17 dark folk # 27 world fusion # 63 folk noir # 78
46		2011-04-29	Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble of Shadows	Have You Seen This Ghost?	darkwave
13		2011-06-08	志方あきこ	白夢の繭～Ricordando il passato～	folk art pop ethereal dream folk freak folk darkwave neofolk singer-songwriter classical crossover j-pop neoclassical darkwave world emo gothic metal gothic rock pop visual kei	progressive folk # 17 classical crossover # 23 poptron # 40 gothic pop # 50 pagan folk # 60 dream folk # 72
88		2011-12-21	Artesia	Wanderings	ethereal neoclassical darkwave
61		2012-03-14	Arcana	Emerald	neoclassical darkwave
48		2012-06-30	Alizbar	Harp's fairytales	medieval folk neoclassical darkwave	medieval folk # 74
93		2012-08-09	Dead Can Dance	Anastasis	darkwave ethereal ambient	world # 27 world fusion # 45 ethereal # 62 darkwave # 93
18		2012-12-12	Nox Arcana	Winter's Majesty	darkwave
44		2013-01-01	Luc Arbogast	Odysseus	classical crossover ethereal folk neoclassical darkwave ambient classical darkwave neofolk world world fusion	celtic folk # 10 gothic pop # 19 neomedieval # 22 dream folk # 23 medieval folk # 33 classical crossover # 45 soprano # 52
79		2013-10-31	Nox Arcana	Legion of Shadows	neoclassical darkwave
35		2014-08-25	Luc Arbogast	Oreflam	ethereal neoclassical darkwave classical crossover darkwave folk medieval folk	classical crossover # 10 dream folk # 34 medieval folk # 51 neomedieval # 56
40		2015	Amber Asylum	Sin Eater	dark ambient neoclassical darkwave
29		2016-10-07	Cécile Corbel	Vagabonde	ethereal new age art pop celtic classical classical crossover darkwave dream pop easy listening folk gothic pop neoclassical darkwave soprano ambient chillout female vocalists world world fusion	avant-pop # 6 classical crossover # 28 gothic pop # 65 soprano # 84
33		2016-11-11	Luc Arbogast	Metamorphosis	gothic pop art pop classical crossover darkwave ethereal j-pop japanese pop comedy dark pop easy listening female vocalists folk neoclassical neoclassical darkwave new age ambient celtic chillout dance dream pop emo gothic metal visual kei world fusion	dark pop # 28 classical crossover # 42 gothic pop # 73
94		2017-06-07	LINGUA IGNOTA	ALL BITCHES DIE	neoclassical darkwave
99		2018-03-02	Anna von Hausswolff	Dead Magic	neoclassical darkwave
28		2018-05-18	Hekate	Totentanz	apocalyptic folk martial industrial neoclassical darkwave neofolk ritual ambient	ritual ambient # 40
96		2018-11-02	Dead Can Dance	Dionysus	neoclassical darkwave world world fusion	folktronica # 10 dark folk # 57 nerdcore # 76 poetry # 77 new weird america # 77 poptron # 85 ethnic # 85 tribal # 88 eurobeat # 93 moscow # 94 world # 94 china # 98 neomedieval # 99 ethnic fusion # 99 world fusion # 100
97		2019-07-19	LINGUA IGNOTA	Caligula	neoclassical darkwave
77		2020-03-13	Hilary Woods	Birthmarks	ambient ambient pop dark ambient darkwave ethereal wave neoclassical darkwave	ethereal wave # 58
22		2020-10-23	Rïcïnn	Nereïd	art pop darkwave folktronica gothic metal neoclassical neoclassical darkwave
15		2020-10-31	Trobar de Morte	The Book of Shadows	neoclassical darkwave
31		2021-03-05	Visionist	A Call To Arms	art pop neoclassical neoclassical darkwave post-industrial
98		2021-08-06	LINGUA IGNOTA	SINNER GET READY	neoclassical darkwave
82		2021-10-22	Circuit des Yeux	-io	art pop neoclassical darkwave
51		2021-12-01	Martha Skye Murphy	Concrete	art pop neoclassical darkwave neofolk post-industrial	post-industrial # 3
34		2023-02-03	Yikii	The Crow-Cyan Lake 鸦青湖畔	ethereal wave neoclassical darkwave post-industrial
100		2023-03-10	Sam Hunt	Outskirts	atmospheric black metal avant-garde metal black death metal black metal blackened crust blackened death metal brutal death metal brutal deathcore country pop cybergrind death doom metal death metal deathcore deathgrind depressive black metal depressive suicidal black metal doom metal drone metal finnish black metal funeral doom metal goregrind gorenoise gothic metal grindcore groove metal harsh noise harsh noise wall hatecore heavy metal melodic black metal melodic death metal metal metalcore neoclassical darkwave nerdcore nightcore norwegian black metal nsbm nu metal nwobhm old school death metal pagan black metal pagan metal phonk plugg porngrind post-grunge post-metal power electronics powerviolence progressive metal rac raw black metal russian black metal skinhead slamming brutal death metal suicidal black metal swedish death metal symphonic black metal technical death metal thrash metal true norwegian black metal usbm viking metal war metal yacht rock	swedish death metal # 1 pagan metal # 1 drone metal # 2 power electronics # 2 technical death metal # 3 heavy metal # 16 metalcore # 19 nu metal # 31 progressive metal # 39 thrash metal # 53 metal # 59 melodic death metal # 66 black metal # 72 post-grunge # 78 nsbm # 80 groove metal # 81 plugg # 81 death metal # 83 deathcore # 85 country pop # 89 goregrind # 89 brutal death metal # 90 gothic metal # 90 doom metal # 92 rac # 92 post-metal # 93 phonk # 94 old school death metal # 94 gorenoise # 95 symphonic black metal # 95 nightcore # 96 true norwegian black metal # 97 deathgrind # 97 harsh noise # 97 brutal deathcore # 97 grindcore # 97 nwobhm # 98 yacht rock # 98 blackened death metal # 98 viking metal # 98 harsh noise wall # 98 raw black metal # 98 war metal # 98 skinhead # 98 pagan black metal # 99 cybergrind # 99 hatecore # 99 melodic black metal # 100 porngrind # 100 avant-garde metal # 100 death n roll # 100 norwegian black metal # 100 powerviolence # 100 atmospheric black metal # 100 russian black metal # 100 nerdcore # 100 depressive black metal # 100 funeral doom metal # 100 suicidal black metal # 100 finnish black metal # 100 slamming brutal death metal # 100 black death metal # 100 depressive suicidal black metal # 100 death doom metal # 100 usbm # 100 blackened crust # 100
62		2023-11-03	Amor Muere	A time to love, a time to die		avant-folk # 30 eai # 99
16		2023-11	Yellow Eyes	Master's Murmur	dungeon synth	dungeon synth # 65 black ambient # 82
54		2024-03-22	Sylvaine	Eg Er Framand	chamber folk dark folk neoclassical darkwave neofolk	chamber folk # 26
2		2024-06-28	Uboa	Impossible Light	dark ambient death industrial harsh noise industrial rock	harsh noise # 72 death industrial # 93
1			志方あきこ	Katayoku no Tori	darkwave ethereal neoclassical darkwave	soprano # 15
7			志方あきこ	LAYLANIA	world fusion art pop indie pop neoclassical darkwave singer-songwriter darkwave folk freak folk poptron world	world fusion # 4 poptron # 37
21			Leila Abdul-Rauf	Diminution	ambient dark ambient drone ethereal wave neoclassical darkwave
83			Castlevania Sound Team	Akumajo Dracula X Gekka no Nocturne Original Game Soundtrack SELECTION	neoclassical darkwave soundtrack

Related genres

• darkwave
• neoclassical
• ambient
• ethereal
• dark ambient
• neofolk
• folk
• electronic
• drone
• classical crossover