the Wilde Wood

There are a few related areas of music, of which here shall appear some brief descriptions...

Art rock

Avant-garde

Not a specific genre, more a catch-all for bands that are unlike any others, with an artistic bent.

Batcave

The very early scene that evolved into Goth - taking influences from previous scenes from the 1960s through to punk the Batcave club provided a focus to the as-yet-unnamed London scene. Started for those tired of increasingly commercial New Romantic scene. It played glam and electro, turning more Gothic as early Goth bands such as Alien Sex Fiend and Specimen played there. The club went on tour and was reported on in the media, having an impact on fashion and popularity.

Coldwave / Cold Wave

Post-punk, developed in France and Belgium though inspired by Joy Division. Proto-artistes: Stinky Toys and Métal Urbain.

Dark alternative

Darkwave / Dark Wave

No-one really knows what it is... A techno-influenced adaptation of gothic rock. Maybe. Or a cross between New Wave and Postpunk, with darker lyrics.

Deathrock

American post-punk. Between them Deathrock and Goth (American) cover what is usually referred to as Goth in the UK.

EBM

Electro Body Music. Originally close to industrial. More recently associated much more with the futurepop style.

ElectroClash

A brand of synthetic punk music using 80s electro instruments (instead of guitars and drums): synthesiser, sampled handclaps, vocoder, sequenced bass. Named after New York festival in October 2001 (which featured FischerSpooner; W.I.T.; Peaches).
Examples: FischerSpooner; FC Kahuna; Ladytron; Mirwais; Felix Da Housecat; Autecher; Squarepusher; Peaches

electro-goth (not same as EBM)

Electropop (80s)

Ethereal

Futurepop

Basically boy band in eyeliner and with pvc accessories.

Futurist (70s)

Glam rock

Goth

Early goth was intense, creative and experimental. The artier end of punk. Much closer to punk in late 1970s and early 1980s than it is now. Main development as a sub-culture occurred between 1982-mid to 1983-mid. Early Goth based visually upon Bauhaus and Siouxsie and the Banshees. Most of the early Goth bands had tribal drumming. Important bands: Bauhaus; UK Decay; Banshees; Cure; Southern Death Cult; Sex Gang Children.
Second wave. Important bands: the Sisters of Mercy
Third wave

Goth (American)

More romantic and less gritty than UK Goth.

Gothabilly

Gothic metal

Goth metal

Gothic Rock

Horrorpunk

IDM

Intelligent Dance Music - subset of electronic music
What is IDM? Intelligent Techno

Industrial

Term created by Genesis P. Orridge in the 70s and applied to all bands on the Industrial record label. Now encompasses metal industrial, ebm industrial, techno-industrial, goth industrial and has relations to power noise and power electronics.
Examples: Leech Woman; Skinny Puppy; Covenant; Ultraviolence; VNV Nation; NON; NIN

Minimal

NDH / Neue Deutsche Härte / New German Hardness

Developed in 1990s, influenced by electronic dance music and industrial. Examples: Oomph!; Fleischmann; Rammstein; Megaherz; Witt; Weissglut.

Neue Deutsch Todeskunst

fusion

New Romantic

Also known as blitz kids, new romantics, the cult with no name.  ID and The Face? started within months of each other in 1980, as New Romanticism took hold.
The Blitz was /the/ club, with a tiny dancefloor.  After it became more corporate the Camden Palace became the place to be, with Hollywood celebrities attending.

New wave

No Wave

New York based art scene encompassing music, film, performance art and video. Artistes involved included Sonic Youth though influenced or Suicide, Helmet, Lydia Lunch and the Swans.

Post-punk

Antecendant?

Punk

A few punk bands, notably Siouxsie and the Banshees and Joy Division, laid the template for early Goth, eschewing the loud punk guitars for a stark hollow sound based around the rhythm section instead. USA bands that influenced early punks: MC5, the Stooges, Amboy Dukes, Television, the Ramones and the New York Dolls being a massive influence on the punk scene.

Punk-goth

Synth-pop

80s electronic mainstream(ish) bands like Soft Cell