DOMINION IST SCHWARZE MUSIK

Dominion is not merely a Goth magazine. Dominion is a magazine that covers a dark musical scene described in Germany as the Schwarze Szene that includes goth music, hence Dominion is Schwarze Musik.

It's not all Black and White

The Schwarze Szene emerged in Germany in the '90s as a way of describing several different dark musical genres and lifestyles. It is not a genre in itself nor a club with set rules and boundaries but rather a term that defines several different styles.

The underlying unifying thread within this movement was an interest in dark, alternative culture; the musical forms that met included darkwave, new wave, new romantic, goth, EBM and industrial, and towards the end of the 1990s, Schwarze Szene began to embrace metal and the fetish scenes. It is the former movements that interest Dominion most.

Not goth, say what?

The music that has come to be known as goth is a only a part of the Schwarze Szene; to describe the Dominion Universe as goth would put such a restriction on the material that Dominion could cover that the magazine would not be viable proposition either logistically or commercially.

There are a number of other excellent reasons to look outside this narrow definition. Many of the bands most people would associate with goth have never identified as such, most of those 'seminal goth acts' predate the existence of the term (the etymology of which is itself disputed) and some artists, for example The Sisters of Mercy, go to lengths to distance themselves from being included under the goth umbrella.

Goth doesn't adequately describe the music that people within the UK's Schwarze Szene are listening to, or the shows they are attending, or the music that is being played in the clubs and festivals. With Deviant UK, Devilish Presley, Faderhead, Gene Loves Jezebel, Luxury Stranger, Zombina & the Skeletones, Pro-Jekt and Zeitgeist Zero, the line-up of York's DV8 festival in 2010 contained some goth artists, yet the mixture of acts was decidedly in keeping with Schwarze Szene.

This means that here, in the UK, we already have a Schwarze Szene of our own; Dominion is therefore describing something that we are doing already.

Unity is Strength

The central message behind Dominion's identity as a Schwarze Szene publication is a positive message of unity; Dominion's Universe encompasses all of the artists, bands, festivals and people that move within that world.

The people who produce Dominion love the music and are involved within the scene. We share this common purpose and a common belief that there is a lot of new music being made that is exciting and relevant, and whereas the scene in the UK has much room for improvement, the good music that is being made deserves to be heard. It is our mission to bring this music to you.

(Image from Wikipedia).