What is Death Pop?
1.
First coined by Orgy bassist Paige Haley to describe the music of his band, Death Pop has grown to expand and describe a number of bands over the last decade.
Also written Deathpop or DeathPop, Death Pop is a loose subgenre of synth rock (commonly confused with industrial rock- due to the dark tone and heavy distortion of Death Pop).
Death Pop's basis is quite similar to its mother genre. Death Pop combines elements of New Wave, Glam Rock/Metal, Gothic Rock, New Romantic, and Alternative Rock.
Many Death Pop artists can be identified by their visual appearance, combining elements of Cyber-culture with Glam and New Romantic fashion. Orgy is a great example of this. Death Pop's vocal range is quite varied and usually ranges from Baritone to Countertenor amongst many artists and even within one band, again Orgy is a great example of this. Many of the vocals can also include a slight "grunting" or guttural sound (similar to the singing style of Marilyn Manson) Orgy and Zeromancer both heavily incorporating this.
The First Wave of Death Pop (1997-2001)
Orgy marks the official beginning of the "Death Pop" subgenre. Music in this era is very driven by the previous "Boyband Pop" era as well as the "modern" Industrial Rock era (marked by bands such as Nine Inch Nails and Razed in Black). The music is generally mellow but quite powerful. Orgy is the first Death Pop band but this era included bands such as Deadsy and Zeromancer that followed the Death Pop formula (Deadsy, however, is self-described as Undercore, also Deadsy was formed two years before Orgy, nullifying it's position as an "official" Death Pop band).
The Second Wave of Death Pop (2001-2005)
The second wave of Death Pop saw an evolution of the genre, bands incorporated a greater deal of synth and instrumental editing. Many artists also began crossing over and releasing remixes of their original tracks. The genre itself split into several subgenres. Two artists who became the pinnacle of the second wave of Death Pop was Orgy (with the release of Vapor Transmission) and long time producer and musician Celldweller. While Orgy managed to retain much of the "pure" Death Pop aspects, Celldweller was a multi-faceted artist who combined everything from Epic Trance to Choral arrangements. Another band that had begun creating a more Trance-based pop sound was Razed in Black with the release of his album "Damaged". Death Pop was now obscured in a sea of multi-faceted subgenres.
The Third Wave of Death Pop (2005-Present)
The third wave of Death Pop is identified by an era toward the end of the Nu-Metal craze. Many artists were developing all new paths. Nu-Metal/Industrial Metal act Deadstar Assembly's sophomore effort, Unsaved, incorporated a wider range of music including Death Pop; while Orgy's most recent effort, Punk Statik Paranoia, incorporated a lot more Nu-Metal similar to its previous tour mates Papa Roach, KoRn, and Limp Bizkit. Other acts have stayed pure and new up and coming acts pay a great tribute to the Death Pop genre, Spleen being the perfect example of this.
Examples of Death Pop bands:
- Orgy
- Zeromancer
- Spleen
Examples of bands that have incorporated Death Pop into their music:
- Deadstar Assembly
- Celldweller
- Razed In Black
