2000s
In the early 2000s, several new names appeared on the scene, including Britpop-influenced Lemon Joy, Merlin and Biplan. Lemon Joy and Merlin drifted to the side of pop/electronic music shortly after the release of their debut albums, while Biplan have stayed rather successfully with rock.
SKAMP is one of the most popular bands in Lithuania since its inception in 1998 and is well-known abroad. SKAMP blends Pop, Rock, Hip Hop, and Reggae genres into a unique alternative sound.
Pop-rockers Relanium formed in 1999. After signing a contract with Koja records, the band was renamed Laura And The Lovers. In 2005, Laura And The Lovers participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 with a song titled Little by Little, but failed to achieve significant success .
2005 marked the beginning of the recovery of Lithuanian rock music. The number of rock festivals has increased while new bands are slowly finding their way into the Lithuanian media, not to mention the hearts of the listeners. These include funky Saulės Kliošas, Bitės, and Inculto; rockers IR, Brainers, Gravel, Sportas, Arbata amongst others.
The Lithuanian gothic scene is not very big, but has strong support from Lithuanian Goths. There are several bands representing this style. Siela and Mano Juodoji Sesuo are considered the pioneers of gothic music in Lithuania. Saprophytes, from the small town of Pabradė play emotional metal with lucid references to New York metallers Type O Negative. The band seems to be a strong candidate among the elite of Lithuania's dark music scene.
Many rock bands claim folk influences. Žalvarinis is a folk metal band from Vilnius. Their music is typically very slow-paced with exclusively Lithuanian lyrics. Another interesting and original folk-rock band Atalyja is worth mentioning in this context.
Annual rock music festivals include Mėnuo Juodaragis (summer festival of neofolk, darkwave, and pagan arts), Kunigunda Lunaria (gothic/darkwave/industrial festival in Vilnius); Naujas Kraujas (new bands' festival); Kilkim žaibu (Baltic folk, pagan and black metal festival).
Read more about this topic: Lithuanian Rock