Third generation (c. 1995 to the present) for Gothic Rock

In the 1990s, some of the influential 1980s "first generation" bands were still performing. At the same time, North American bands such as Switchblade Symphony (released by the Cleopatra label) and London After Midnight (released by Metropolis Records label in the USA) began releasing material. New English bands Included Children on Stun, All Living Fear, Vendemmian and Rosetta Stone. Other popular goth acts to emerge in the 1990s included The Crüxshadows, The Last Dance, Sunshine Blind, Trance to the Sun, and The Shroud.

In Germany, many labels such as Apocalyptic Vision, Apollyon Rekordings, Deathwish Office, Dion Fortune, Glasnost Records, Hyperium Records, Sounds Of Delight, and Talitha Records released Gothic compilations and recordings from bands such as Love Like Blood, Mephisto Walz, The Merry Thoughts, Requiem In White, and Two Witches. France produced some new goth bands such as Corpus Delicti, Dead Souls Rising, and Brotherhood Of Pagans. Thanks to internet communities and broader CD distribution through such a plethora of record companies, fans of these labels and bands were no longer regionally based; the music was becoming more globalized than before.

In the mid and late 1990s, major record labels, particularly in the United States and Germany, began marketing hard rock and metal acts as "gothic" or "industrial" bands. The formerly underground subcultural aesthetic of goth was incorporated into the sound and image of several popular mainstream bands such as HIM, Marilyn Manson, and more recently Evanescence although these bands did not produce goth rock. The term "goth" became associated in the public's mind with these mainstream bands, the Hot Topic chain, the "mallgoth" aesthetic, and the Columbine school shooting, which led to the US press' subsequent vilification and scrutiny of the goth culture [2]

Internally, the gothic subculture during this time had come to be dominated more and more by dance club attendance. Goth rock adapted in turn: contemporary dance club goth followed the footsteps of beat-driven industrial music, using many of the same production techniques and aesthetics, though danceable industrial music tended to be "harder" sounding while goth was "softer" sounding, with less distortion and minimal influence from techno and metal. Much modern goth often has the evolutionary feel of New Wave music or synth pop, though there are also "old school" or "first generation" gothic rock or faux-medieval acts.

Since 2000, some fans have embraced a Death Rock revival, returning to the 1980s music and fashions of the first generation of goth. Bands such as Cinema Strange, Quidam, Antiworld, and Black Ice, along with the website Deathrock.com, have contributed to the revitalization of the first generation-style goth, and Nina Hagen even headlined the 2005 Drop Dead Festival in New York City. The Cure and Bauhaus's high-profile performances since 2004 have also helped to promote the earlier goth sound, characterized by "jangly" guitars and less club-oriented arrangement.

Though the goth rock has diminished in popularity and its record sales have fallen off, there are still events, labels, and publications supporting it. Dancing Ferret Discs, Projekt Records, and Metropolis Records are releasing goth music in the American market, new Gothic Music is being produced by European labels like Strobelight Records, while the label Cherry Red has been reissuing early goth rock recordings in Europe.