Asrai is a gothic rock and metal band from Schiedam, Netherlands, founded in 1985 in the Rotterdam underground scene by twin sisters Karin and Margriet, adopting the Asrai name in 1988. Their output sits at the intersection of gothic metal and gothic rock, and the band gained wider European exposure with their 1997 debut album As Voices Speak, which received a German release through Poison Ivy Records. Later releases including Touch in the Dark and Pearls in Dirt (2007) refined their atmospheric sound, and a 30th anniversary collection, Hourglass, gathered key material and remixes.

Brighton trio Esben and the Witch — Rachel Davies, Thomas Fisher, and Daniel Copeman — formed in 2008 and built a reputation for atmospheric music that fuses post-punk, darkwave, shoegaze, and gothic rock into cathartic, densely layered compositions. Their debut album Violet Cries (2011) on Matador Records reached number 13 on the UK Indie Chart and brought widespread critical attention, followed by Wash the Sins Not Only the Face (2013) and A New Nature (2014). Subsequent records including Older Terrors (2016) and Nowhere (2018) on Season of Mist refined their sound toward heavier, more abstract territory.

Order of Isaz is a Swedish gothic rock and metal band formed in Stockholm in the winter of 2006, founded by vocalist Martin Got and guitarist Tobias Sidegård. The band released a self-titled EP in 2009 and their sole full-length album, Seven Years of Famine, in 2014, which featured covers of Dead Can Dance's 'Spirit' alongside original compositions blending gothic metal atmosphere with dark rock structure. Their work is tied to the Swedish gothic underground, with Sidegård bringing experience from other Scandinavian extreme metal projects.