Ethereal is a term that describes a subgenre of darkwave music. Typical of this kind of music is the use of atmospheric guitar soundscapes, including sound effects like echo and delay. A second typical characteristic is the use of breathy male or high register female vocals - often with hard to decipher lyrical content - and a strong influence of ambient music. This quality refers to music that is typically delicate, light and airy. The American music group Siddal described the music as follows: "A product of influences such as the Cocteau Twins, Low, Slowdive, The Cure, and Dead Can Dance, use a blend of ambient music, shoegazer style guitars, synths and sequenced rhythms." There are overlaps between ethereal wave, shoegazing and dreampop, with many artists being heavily influenced by 4AD bands, Dead Can Dance, Cocteau Twins, and This Mortal Coil, as well as early All About Eve and Siouxsie and the Banshees. The style is strongly associated with the Projekt label, which features some of the most well known names of the US scene.

Artists belong to the genre

	Ataraxia	Country: Włochy / Italy / Date of establishing : 1985
	Elane	Country: Niemcy / Germany / Date of establishing : 2001
	Faith and the Muse	Country: USA / Date of establishing : 1993
	God's Bow	Country: Polska / Poland / Date of establishing : 1997-04-01
	Gothica	Country: Włochy / Italy / Date of establishing : 1994
	Hexperos	Country: Włochy / Italy / Date of establishing : 2004
	Persephone	Country: Niemcy / Germany / Date of establishing : 2000