John Robb Releases New Book “The Art Of Darkness – The History Of Goth”
Author/Music Scribe/TV Presenter and Bass Player for perennial post-punk survivors The Membranes, John Robb is a man who cannot sit still. When he’s not touring with his band, he’s presenting, moderating or writing for his popular UK music site Louder Than War. John has previously written best-selling books like ‘Punk Rock: An Oral History’ and ‘The North Will Rise Again: […]
Author/Music Scribe/TV Presenter and Bass Player for perennial post-punk survivors The Membranes, John Robb is a man who cannot sit still. When he’s not touring with his band, he’s presenting, moderating or writing for his popular UK music site Louder Than War. John has previously written best-selling books like ‘Punk Rock: An Oral History’ and ‘The North Will Rise Again: Manchester Music City 1976-1996‘. His latest opus is the 650-page ‘The Art Of Darkness: The History of Goth’, an in-depth account that he feels presents the first major and comprehensive overview of Goth music and culture and its lasting legacy, covering the music, culture and history of the scene from its post-punk heyday to the modern times.
The book pre-orders have sent it to the top of the book charts and the reviews have been unanimous and the book has sparked a goth revival in the media and other books following in its slipstream.
“My deep-dive into the wider culture begins with the goths sacking Ancient Rome…” – explains Robb expounding on his overview: “subsequently covering gothic architecture, Lord Byron and the romantic poets, European folk tales, Gothic architecture and painters; running through the first band to be called gothic – The Doors. We then journey through the Stooges and the Velvets and then on though glam rock and punk and the coalescing of all this into goth” –stresses John, talking about the cultural crossroads starting with the fall of Rome, Jim Morrison‘s references to the occult to modern-day Instagram influencers