Neoclassical darkwave is a genre combining dark and melancholic atmosphere with classical music. It was pioneered by Dead Can Dance and Black Tape for a Blue Girl, darkwave-related bands who mixed elements of ambient with classical music inspired sounds and ethereal vocals. One of the most common features of the genre are instruments such as piano, harpsichord, and bowed string instruments, which are often replicated or mimicked by synthesizers. The vocals are almost always clean, often operatic or hushed. Typical examples of the genre include Elend, Dark Sanctuary, and Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble of Shadows.
Neoclassical darkwave has been widely adapted into martial industrial music, with artists such as In the Nursery, The Protagonist, Triarii, and H.E.R.R. consistently integrating the two genres. Another style that neoclassical darkwave is often mixed with is neofolk, as evidenced in the works of bands similar to Ataraxia, Narsilion, and All My Faith Lost ....