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Cyber Goths are truly the antithesis of all that is Goth. They like bright neon colours, worship futurism and technology, and listen to dance music that is as different from Gothic Rock as possible. So why are they called Goths at all? It could be because the music scene gradually evolved from Industrial, Goth’s experimental electronic cousin. It could be that the lyrics of their prefered music genre (Electronic Body Music, or EBM, eg. VNV Nation) are generally too deep and too depressing for other dance fans. It could be because they have weird hair. Identifying Cyber Goths is easy: they’ll be the most conspicuous ones in the club with their insane pony falls, goggles, futuristic rave-inspired clothing, towering New Rock platforms, and miscellaneous glowing bits and pieces. Despite being some of the most lively members of the scene, all other Goths seem to loath this type. Especially the Industrial fans. However it cannot be denied that the cyber scene is huge now, and is getting ever more popular.
Yeah, this one’s from 2005. Cybergoth faded away several years later tho there are still some “die-hards”.
Source / more: https://www.deviantart.com/trellia/gallery/25271332/goth-stereo-types Reposted with permission. I saw these elsewhere and emailed the artist/author who said it was OK to re-post them here.
Back when Neo still existed in Chicago, there were a few cybergoths there every weekend. I knew a few when i used to go to City Club in Detroit. AFAIK, everyone was cool with them. You’d see them at Skinny Puppy, KMFDM, and 16Volt shows, and also at Combichrist.
The whole post-1995 goth/industrial scene was way too small to get pissy about specific sub-genres of goth.
Yeah, in Ohio and Texas in the early 2000s. No one had any gripes with cybergoths
I get the feeling that post-1995 goth/industrial was a lot different in Europe than it was in the US. Espcially when it came to festivals and raves. I could be mistaken, tho.
“… Industrial, Goth’s experimental electronic cousin.”
[citation needed]
ikr… maybe “cousin” in the way you talk about people you’ve known since childhood even tho you’re not blood kin.
There’s a whole subgenre called “goth-industrial”. If they wanted to make a connection, they could’ve just used that.
I dunno, it just seemed like they were implying that industrial came out of goth or something like that.
Yeah, the artist also did a “goth family tree” where they showed “Rivethead” descending from Trad Goths, Fetish Goths, and Metalheads (?!) To be fair, I don’t think they intend this as sociological research. Indeed, they call them “stereotypes”.
Well, I’m glad somebody’s having some fun. The most obvious clue you shouldn’t take this seriously is on the right, where Geek Goth has influenced only one other type of goth, and that is Cyber Goth (for some reason). If this were an accurate chart, Geek Goth would have white arrows going to all of the other goths.
I really like this series, but yeah it has a shortcoming that it’s a little tough to tell how seriously to take the text. Compare to the cybergoth entry from “your scene sucks” (circa 2010)…
it has the accompanying text:
Often considered the neon pink-headed step child of the goth community, the over-the-top fashion of the Cybergoth is typically scoffed at by traditional goths. Looking something like a mix of Rainbow Brite meets The Matrix, they are by far one of the most flamboyant misfits of the goth subculture.
The appearance of the Cybergoth actually has nothing to do with the conventional gothic look, making them the very antithesis of the scene. The Cybergoth will often start by dressing in black but then over-accessorize with clashing neon color body mods, gas masks, goggles and live LED circuit boards, none of which serve any purpose whatsoever.
The key to being a pillar in the Cybergoth community is having a custom hairpiece, otherwise known as dread falls. This fake hair is typically ordered online and further customized from objects found at yard sales. The end result are dreads made of radioactive neon colors that look like something a unicorn might defecate. These elaborate hairpieces are a true sign of allegiance to their scene, much like a skinhead with a shaved head or an emo kid with scarred wrists.
Rave, cyberpunk, rivethead and goth fashion all look ridiculous on their own but combined takes on a whole new level of fail.
This, along with the web site title, clearly indicates that this is a mocking take.
Balanck’s text is more serious than yourscenesucks’, but less rigorous than wikipedia’s. It’s not bad, if you read it as one person’s take on the various types, i.e. you go up to someone and you’re like: “what do you think about Cybergoths?” and they tell you their thoughts.
I have noticed that all cyber goths look the same. And they dance the same way.
I suspect “back in the day” there was more variation.
I think goth is more punk than cyber goth. More making your own outfit than buying it from Hot Topics, which is ok.